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Deni Playground Improvements Coming

Councilwoman Sanchez laid out plans for major improvements to Deni Playground at a community meeting on November 27th.

The project will completely rebuild the children’s play area at a cost of $345,000.  Work will start this Spring and should be completed early in the Summer.

The meeting at St. Marks’s was very well attended with families who brought their children to see what was in the plan.  In addition to Councilwoman Sanchez, State Representative-Elect Joe Hohenstein, and ward leader Dan Savage were present as well.

The improvements were welcomed by everyone but there were some questions about the use of the playground for the future.  Accessibility and security were concerns with past experience of 4 wheelers getting onto the field and tearing it up.  The children’s play area is always open but the field below is locked now and is closed annually between December and March.

Sanchez made a point that the Friends of Deni group is very important to the future of the playground.  Friends groups work with City officials to plan and communicate neighborhood concerns.  Future issues to be addressed are the tennis courts, bathrooms and improved lighting.

Slideshow from the meeting is below.  It shows some renderings of what the plan is now.

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Deni Playground – Remembering Childhood Memories

by Julia (Robinson) Mitchell-Hoffman

When I was a child, I spent many hours playing at Deni Playground. I can remember being very young when my sisters would take my brother and I there. We would play in the sand box on the top level of the playground and also on the swings that had safety guards on them. My brother would climb the monkey bars and act like a monkey. As we got a bit older my sisters would take us down to the big kids playground where there were swings and a slide. My brother loved to be pushed on the swing and like to swing so high. My sisters loved climbing the rocks. My brother and I wanted to climb the rocks but our sisters would say no. There was no stopping my brother once he decided he was going to climb them. Till this day I still laugh when I think of how he would harass both of my sisters by climbing them and running along the rocks. One day he even threatened to make himself fall and tell my mom they were not watching him!!

As I got older the field across the street became more of an attraction to us girls as we would watch the boys play sports. We also loved watching them play basketball back at the playground. It was a safe place to play and always was a fun place. For the most part the kids all got along. There were occasional arguments but they did not result in much. It is funny sometimes how you forget these things of your childhood and when someone dies you are reminded of those places were you spent time enjoying childhood friends.

The field across the street from the playground was also a place where carnivals were held. I can remember playing ski-ball and so many awesome games, riding the amusements, eating cotton candy and walking hand in hand with my first boyfriend. Up the street from the playground was St Joaquim’s where we would go to Strawberry Festivals and have a great time, always returning back to the playground.

It is amazing to remember these times in a good light.  May each of us remember to be gentle with each other and with our own selves, striving to make a difference in this world.

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Remembering Childhood Memories – Deni Playground

Written by Julia (Robinson) Mitchell-Hoffman

When I was a child, I spent many hours playing at Deni Playground. I can remember being very young when my sisters would take my brother and I there. We would play in the sand box on the top level of the playground and also on the swings that had safety guards on them. My brother would climb the monkey bars and act like a monkey. As we got a bit older my sisters would take us down to the big kids playground where there were swings and a slide. My brother loved to be pushed on the swing and like to swing so high.

My sisters loved climbing the rocks. My brother and I wanted to climb the rocks but our sisters would say no. There was no stopping my brother once he decided he was going to climb them. Till this day I still laugh when I think of how he would harass both of my sisters by climbing them and running along the rocks. One day he even threatened to make himself fall and tell my mom they were not watching him!!

As I got older the field across the street became more of an attraction to us girls as we would watch the boys play sports. We also loved watching them play basketball back at the playground. It was a safe place to play and always was a fun place. For the most part the kids all got along. There were occasional arguments but they did not result in much. It is funny sometimes how you forget these things of your childhood and when someone dies you are reminded of those places were you spent time enjoying childhood friends.

The field across the street from the playground was also a place where carnivals were held. I can remember playing ski-ball and so many awesome games, riding the amusements, eating cotton candy and walking hand in hand with my first boyfriend. Up the street from the playground was St Joachim’s where we would go to Strawberry Festivals and have a great time, always returning back to the playground.

It is amazing to remember these times in a good light. As Kevin Miller, rest in the loving embrace of God’s amazing love, may each of one of us remember to be gentle with each other and with our own selves, striving to make a difference in this world.

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It Was a Fine Day for Frankford

deni webSaturday, August 17th, was a busy day for Frankford.  It started off at 9AM with a cleanup at Deni Playground, at Adams and Church, sponsored by Ray of Hope and PhillyRising.  I met Ray Gant, Many Citron, Rep. Clay and Tim Savage as well as Jason Dawkins over there.  Following the cleanup came the community day with information tables from various city agencies, refreshments, music, face painting and moon bounce for the kids.

Next up was Jam 2013 skateboard competition at Noon at the Whitehall Skatepark at Carmella Recreation Center at Torresdale and john valentin 2 webWakeling.  This was sponsored by the Department of Recreation, the Franklin’s Paine Skatepark Fund, and Vitamin Water.  The results of that competition are posted on the Franklin’s Paine web site.

Over at the Baptist Worship at 2PM was a community health fair sponsored by Health Partners.  Following the fair was the Crazy Praise Dance Showcase and a performance by the Grammy award winning gospel duo Mary Mary.  Attendance for this event was in the thousands.

baptist worship webThe Old Heads softball came and community gathering was going on all day at Gambrel recreation center at Wakeling and Ditman Sts.  It was Woodstock in Frankford with hundreds of groups and families getting together for cookouts, music and fun.  FKD 4 Life could be seen on many T shirts.  Credit goes to Kathy and Ike Hardy for once again pulling this together.  It is the highlight of the summer in East Frankford which brings back many people to Frankford as well as bringing together the entire community.

It certainly was a fine day in Frankford.fkd 4 life web