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2022: Our Year in Review
Keep an eye out for our postcard in the mail!
In the spring, we kicked off with a huge fundraising effort. Markward March Madness was a success and we raised money for new backboards and rims in the basketball courts, which we celebrated with a 3v3 basketball tournament in the fall!
We commemorated the renovation of Markward Plaza with a Spring Opener, with snacks and live music. We also assembled Adirondack chairs and picnic tables - an experiment in moveable seating outlined in the park's Master Plan. All nine chairs made it through the season (and restored our faith in humanity!).
Summer brought us a new Rec Center leader, Hilary Doe, and another successful season of summer camp at the Markward Recreation Center. And after a two year hiatus, the O’Connor Pool reopened to cool us all off!
We also partnered with Markward Rec Center throughout the year to bring you programming, like bingo, game nights, parent meetups, yoga, and tai chi. We tried a few new events too, like a Flea Market and Clothing Swap.
We also had a beautiful Love Your Park Day! We updated the park's signboards, set up a Little Free Library (a gift from our friends at Vicinity Energy and painted by our local Girl Scout troop), and we partnered with The Philadelphia School to smash and recycle old pumpkins.
As fall approached, we had a Fall Opener and celebrated Schuylkill River Park becoming a certified Level I arboretum! Our new arboretum status, generously sponsored in part by CCRA, allowed us to inventory and map all of our trees, plus plant and maintain new ones, like the pawpaw we planted in the new sensory garden.
We recently kicked off the holidays by caroling with friends and neighbors - keep a lookout for more activity and improvements in the new year!
Please consider supporting FSRP with a tax-deductible year-end donation so we can continue our care of the park in 2023.
Christmas Tree Recycling
Thanks to all who brought their Christmas trees to the park to be chipped. The mulch from nearly 50 trees will support established park trees and donations will support our work. Next year don’t put your tree on the curb! Bring it to the park!
Congrats to the Markward 3v3 Winners!
We took full advantage of our new hoops with the Markward 3v3 Tournament! The winning team, Highlife, took home the trophy. A big thank you to all the players, the refs, and everyone from Parks and Rec who helped make this a success.
Fall is Here at Schuylkill River Park
We said goodbye to summer and hello to fall with our fall opener, complete with a flea market, a marching band, snacks, and general block party vibes. Check out more from the fall opener on our events page.
Adirondack Chairs & Picnic Tables
If you build it they will come... and relax! After lots of hammering, painting, drying, gluing and yelling at the instruction manuals, FSRP built and added some super comfy, wooden Adirondack chairs and wooden picnic tables to the park. Please be kind to our new additions. We hope they're improving your enjoyment of the Park!
Ladybug Release Party
We had so much fun protecting the garden by releasing ladybugs!
Check out more on the Events page.
Love Your Park Day was a HUGE Success!
We weeded and spread mulch, cleared debris from paths and drains, picked up garbage, and sanded and painted our new Adirondack chairs. Once they’re dry, the chairs will be added around the park for everyone to enjoy! See more pics here on our events page.
Markward Plaza Renovations - It's Complete!
We had a wonderful time celebrating the re-opening of Markward Plaza! We hope you enjoyed the live music and chatting with our board members about the revised master plan.
Did You Know?
Some Fun Facts about FSRP
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We are you! We are neighborhood volunteers interested in seeing the Park thrive. Some of us are neighborhood newbies and some of us have been here for decades.
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FSRP holds annual Park cleanups in the spring and fall to give our Park gets a little more attention before and after its busy summer season.
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We fundraise and apply for grants to support all of our efforts, in order to supplement the city's budget for the Park.
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This means we spend thousands of dollars annually on pruning, planting, and landscaping throughout the Park! This maintenance makes the Park safer and more secure and keep the trees, shrubs, and plants healthy and hardy.
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We work with neighbors and the community gardeners to maintain and improve the planting beds around the Park.
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FSRP works with Philadelphia Parks & Rec and the Markward Rec Advisory Council to offer programming in the Markward Recreation Center and the Park to serve people of all ages.
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We work with the City on behalf of the neighborhood on important matters to help plan and shape the Park's future.
