Clemente Park & Playground Updates

Hello!  A big thanks to Trista, Chalo, Kim, Terrance, Davis and Sean for coming out to the meeting today! 

Items of note:

1) Kim and I will be meeting with the Department of Public Property which had a hand in drawing up the plans for the revitalized Clemente Playground (ground to break Fall '09) on Thursday to ask some questions and get some clarity on the following:

-trees; are any of the trees currently in the park going to be preserved? it is hard to tell from the plan

-Will the fence that surrounds the park be replaced?  If not, more painting days will be organized to ensure it is completely black by the end of the summer!

-To what extent will there be new signage for the park?

- Will the plan account for Doggie Pick-up bag dispensers and recycling bins?

- Will there be gates or gaps in the fence?

-Is there any plan to possibly include community bulletin boards?

-Is it possible to discuss the vacant concrete lot adjacent to Waring School and possibly converting what is now concrete into a garden for Waring students?

2) Movie nights

-Trista will be gathering information from resources around the city about organizing three movie nights throughout the summer in June, July and August.

-Popcorn and hotdogs will be in full effect!

3) Terrance spoke to the Police about installing a barricade for Mt. Vernon Street between 19th and 18th.  He will follow up and find out when we can expect this to be installed.

4) Picnic in Clemente Day idea proposed--will hopefully happen mid-summer- as it is a relatively self-sufficient event whereby families and individuals set up their own picnic in the park.  Our group will pull together the live musical entertainment that will happen.

5)  Weekly volunteer-led instructional activity idea was discussed.  The idea is to pull from our networks--any individuals (this includes all of you!) with any kind of talent or special skill to share; whether it's salsa dancing or yoga, scrap booking or basic personal finance, once a week we are going to try to schedule a series of free instructional/fun community events to take place at the rec center!  Anybody interested in sharing a skill for ONE NIGHT this summer with children or adults, please let us know!!!

Next kickball game will be Thursday, June 4th at 7 PM.  Next meeting for Friends of Clemente will be announced soon!

Updates!

We discussed a few things in the meeting last night.

1)  Fence Painting Completion

-waiting to hear back on whether the city has plans to replace the entire fence as a part of the   improvevment plan slated to start in the fall

-if the city will not replace the fence, we will schedule subsequent painting days

2) Movie Nights

-planning for 3 movie nights to happen on the 3rd friday in June, July and August

-Movies will be screened out doors at sundown and will be family friendly

-We are trying to figure out where to get a screen from - someone in the group has access to a projector!

3) End of Summer Celebration

-We discussed organizing a big summer festival in the park and many of the group members would rather have this kick off coincide with "back to school" to allow us to have more planning time

4) Better Communication Tools

-possibly starting a physical newsletter for us to communicate with the entire neighborhood- costs could be covered by strategic partnershis with local business

5) Summer programs and mentorship opportunities

Please shoot me an e-mail (fairmountisfun@gmail.com ) if you would like to talk about any of these further--or have anything to add to next meeting's agenda!

Next meeting and kickball game will be Wednesday, May 27th at 6:30 PM (Kickball at 7:30)

See yoou then!!!!!!!!!!!

NEXT KICKBALL GAME AND MEETING

May 13th, WEDNESDAY

Meeting at 6:30 (at the Rec Center located at 18th and Wallace)

Kickball at 7:30!!!!