How Much Do You Love Your Philly Park?

FROM A 3-foot-high Shetland pony to a 6-foot mustang, Zanna White, of It’s My Pony Party, not only does the party circuit but also uses her funds for The Large Animal Protection Society. Photo by Maria Merlino

BY MARIA MERLINO/ There’s no doubt South Philadelphians love their parks. And this week, hundreds of volunteers from Lower Moyamensing to Marconi have been showing their affection for their favorite urban tranquility by volunteering to spruce up their favorite hangouts.

Dozens of city employees and hundreds of neighbors participated in the first Love Your Park celebration held at Marconi/Christopher Columbus Parks. This was a mutual effort of the Dept. of Parks & Recreation, PHS/Philadelphia Green, Greater Philadelphia Cares, and the newly formed Friends of Marconi group. The purpose of the day was to focus the neighborhood’s awareness of the tremendous green asset and resource available right in our own back yard.

NPWS recognises that drones can sometimes be used in a park for recreational and commercial purposes that are unrelated to park management.

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Friends of Marconi President Rich Cedrone was full of go as his arm wound up in a 360. “We got together with other civic groups and the Dept. of Rec to form a temporary board,” he said. “Our mission is to beautify the park and make people aware of both sides of the park. We now have a 30-hour-a-week person to maintain the plaza. And since this is the Sports District, we would like it to be the gateway to the stadiums.”

ADRIANNE MOORE, J. R. Rowan, Janet DeLuca, Rich Cedrone, Gary Forte and Delia Antoinette dish out bake goodies at Marconi Park last Saturday. Event was precursor to city’s Love Your Park Week. Photo by Maria Merlino

Another group of volunteers was manning the yummy cake and cookie table. Secretary of Friends of Marconi Janet DeLuca made many of the goodies, such as the M&M cookies but she told me that, “we received donations from many bakeries including: Cascia’s, Carangi’s, Frangelli’s and Potito’s. Also, expert baker Maryann Motta contributed a gorgeous cake.”

The pony rides were held in Columbus. There I met Zanna White of It’s My Pony Party. She brought several of her mild mannered horses and a Shetland pony for the kids to ride. The line was long and the parents had their cameras out for a fun shot of their child saddled up. White told me that her horses are rescues and that she’s trying to get legislation passed so that backyard stables would be prohibited within the city limits. “Horses are starving to death due to negligence.”

FRIENDS of Marconi’s Rachel Reilly and active members of Lower Moyamensing Civic Association, baby Betty Rankin with her parents Rebecca and Matthew Rankin. Photo by Maria Merlino

Rachel Reilly, another Friend of Marconi, let me know that that some of the Civics donated money for the face painting, that the Arts and Crafts table was a part of Arts in the Park, that the Fumo Family Library did Story Time and that Gabrielle Revlock was the Hula H

With her beautifully painted face, Sarina Ciafre grins for the camera while expert face and body painter, Avigail Milder shows off her work at Marconi Park. Photo by Maria Merlino

oop instructor. “We’ll be back next year!”

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