Tag: friends of overington park

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Overington Park Needs Your Help

This coming Wednesday, July 14, at 10:00 AM, Philadelphia Inquirer Reporter Kia Gregory will be visiting Overington Park to write an article about the serious damage that has been inflicted on the Park trees, and the danger to Park visitors, by dogs whose owners who are apparently involved in dog fighting.
Kim will be bringing a photographer. The article will hopefully help us to bring out community support so that we can protect our Park.
We need lots of you, Overington Park Friends, supporters and volunteers, to be there with us for the Newspaper interview & photo. We want the Reporter to see the great support that the Park has.
Please come if you can!
Here is more information:
Overington Park is having a serious problem with a few dog owners that are apparently using the Park trees to train “fighting” dogs. The dogs are off-leash, and set onto the trees to rip off the bark.  Nine newly planted trees are already damaged beyond repair. Now the
rest of them and many bigger trees are being attacked. After being spoken to by Park volunteers, these dog owners responded by setting fire to the dog bag station.
Because over $2,000 dollars worth of damage has been done, the 15th Police District has assigned a Detective to the case, but the Police really need the eyes of the community to make any progress.

We basically need to call the Police immediately if they see anyone having their dogs tear up trees in the Park, or otherwise abuse the Park or the dogs. It would be great if they could get photos or video clips too!

People can call 911 or 311 or you can call and/or email the 15th Police District directly at 215-686-3150 or police.co_15@phila.gov

Everyone has been enjoying Overington Park’s beautiful plantings and freshly painted benches, etc. Please help us keep our Park!

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Trouble at Overington Park

From Park friend:

I posted something on the message board about what has been going on in the park. Last night (Monday June 21st) they chewed through a tree ripping it in half and killing the tree. This makes 5 dead trees! They think this is funny. The city and PHS thought we were worth giving the new trees to make our park a better place, these thugs are making us all look bad. Someone has to see who is doing this damage. All we need is a picture of the guy in charge of the dogs that we can give to the police. If you see the dogs on the trees call the cops, or snap a discreet picture of the man and send it to me I’ll pass it on to the police. This guy won’t stop until all the trees are gone, then he thinks all the good people will leave the park to him to do his business. We must stop this PIG from taking our park! Please put the word out, we need help.

I was over there yesterday to get a picture of the tree.  No sign of the perpetrator but if there had been I would have been all over 911.  You just can’t let these things pass.  That park is too beautiful to let it be taken over by vermin.

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Overington Love Your Park event May 8th

Overington Love Your Park event was a big success!
We had 47 volunteers come out and plant , weed, and mulch our park, Frankford Garden Club members, Frankford ROTC members, a group from Philly Cares, neighbors, and Friends of Overington Park (Leiper and Overington Streets). We worked from 11:30 to 3:00. We gave away 44 recycling bins along with information on signing up with Recycling Bank.
Thanks to Maria Quinones-Sanchez, our councilwoman, and her aid, Jason Dawkins. We planted 50 seed packs in the park and gave away 150 packs to our volunteers, along with seed starting instruction workshops.  We painted over 9 benches that had been covered in graffiti. We added 2 new flower beds, and planted over 20 new plants and shrubs in our beds. We cleaned the sidewalks surrounding the park of weeds. We  received a snack, soft pretzels and water, from ward leader Dan Savage, for all our hard work.
A discussion was held about future work in the park, we spoke about water being opened, lighting being upgraded, park signs, and event planning. We came together, worked hard, laughed, and felt good about making the park a better place for everyone. Thanks to all the fine people who helped make this event a big success!  We couldn’t do this without you!
Diane Kunze, Friend of Overington Park
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Coming Up in Frankford

  • Frankford Special Services District Board Meeting
    When – Mon, May 3, 8:30am – 9:30am
    Where – St. Mark’s Church, 4442 Frankford Ave, Griscom Street entrance. (map)
    Description – Open to the public.
  • Rachael Ray Shines on Frankford High
    When – Mon, May 3, 10am – 11am
    Where – TV ABC (map)
    Description – Rachael Ray show comes to Frankford.
  • PSA 1 meeting
    When – Tue, May 4, 7pm – 8pm
    Where – Aria Health, Frankford and Dyre Streets, second floor conference room (map)
    Description – Patrol Sector Area 1 – bring your crime issues directly to the 15th district captain.
  • Frankford Garden Club Annual Day-Before-Mother’s Day Plant Sale
    When – Sat, May 8, 9am – 10am
    Where – In Front of the Frankford Library, corner of Frankford Ave and Overington St (map)
    Description – We will have “Growing from Seed” Workshop at the Sale and at the Park VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
  • LOVE Your Park Day in Overington Park Planting, Mulching Flower Beds and “Growing From Seeds” Workshop
    When – Sat, May 8, 12pm – 3pm
    Where – Overington Park (map)
    Description – LOVE Your Park Day in Overington Park Planting, Mulching Flower Beds and “Growing From Seeds” Workshop
  • Historical Society of Frankford program
    When – Tue, May 11, 7:30pm – 9:00pm
    Where1507 Orthodox St., Philadelphia, PA 19124 (map)
    Description – FRANKFORD’s “SLOW FOOD” EFFORTS and LEGACY HSF Collections and Frankford Friends School Students HSF’s 2010 exhibit features aspects of food in Frankford and the Northeast. Frankford Friends School students have been researching food, urban farming (such as Kensington’s Greensgrow Farms — national leader in urban farming), and other aspects of slow food. View HSF’s display of historic food use, preparation, and storage items.
  • Frankford Business & Professional Association Meeting
    When – Wed, May 12, 8:30am – 10:00am
    Where – Northeast Treatment Centers, 4625 Frankford Avenue (map)
    Description – The next general meeting for Frankford Business & Professional Association will be held on Wednesday, May 12 at 8:30am. There was a scheduling conflict with the previous locations. At this meeting there will be presentations from SEPTA on the upcoming construction of the Margaret-Orthodox El Stop and from The Enterprise Center on the programs they now offer for Frankford businesses.
  • Happy Birthday Frankford High Open House
    When – Sat, May 15, 10am – 3pm
    Where – Frankford High, Oxford Ave. & Wakeling St. Philadelphia, PA 19124 (map)
    Description – Join us for a full day of fun, food and reminiscing!! FHS students, staff and alumni are invited Be a part of the fun! Tours of the Building Memorabilia rooms Gathering spaces for clubs, teams, and music groups Frankford Souvenirs Tickets will be on sale for the 100th Anniversary Banquet November 26th Current
  • Italian Style Family Dinner
    When – Sat, May 15, 4:30pm – 8:00pm
    Where – St. Joachim’s Church, 1527 Church Street, Phila., PA 19124 (map)
    Description – MARK YOUR CALENDAR Every Third Wednesday from September thru May Italian Style Family Dinner The Dinners will be served from 4:30 PM to 8 PM in Fitzmaurice Hall Take-out will be available. COST: $8.00 for Adults, $4.00 for Children. Come Join us!
  • ANTIQUE (and COLLECTIBLE) APPRAISAL FAIR
    When – Sun, May 16, 10am – 3pm
    Where – Historical Society of Frankford, 1507 Orthodox Street, Philadelphia, PA 19124 (map)
    Description – ANTIQUE (and COLLECTIBLE) APPRAISAL FAIR Annual fundraiser. Have your cherished items appraised by local appraiser/auctioneer Barry S Slosberg. Who knows — you may have a priceless treasure just waiting to be discovered! Cost: $8 per item; maximum 3 items per person.
  • Northwood Civic Association Meeting
    When – Tue, May 18, 7pm – 8pm
    Where – St. James Lutheran Church, at Castor Avenue and Pratt Street. (map)
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Overington Park Recap

From Diane Kunze and the Friends of Overington Park:

We had 52 people come out and help clean up the park. ROTC from Frankford High School, grade school children from John Marshall School, Northeast treatment center gentlemen, Frankford Garden Club members, Friends Of Overington Park, and neighbors that use the park every day!

We painted benches, our cannon, and the SEPTA poles that had been tagged up and down  Orthodox St.. We cleared the flower beds and mulched them, trimmed our butterfly bushes, cleared the sidewalk of weeds, emptied trash cans, picked up and removed 60 bags of debris form the park.

The park looked beautiful by the time we were done.  People stopped to thank us for our good work in the park, and I would like to thank everyone for all the hard work that went into making the day a success! The park looks fantastic and will be well used by the people in our neighborhood. Another success in Frankford! Good day, good people, good time.

Our next event will be May 8th from 12 noon till 3. We will plant new bushes and flowers, open a new flower bed, mulch trees and beds, hold a seed starting demonstration, and give away seeds to our volunteers.

Thanks again for all the support you have given us! Diane Kunze, Friend of Overington Park

Diane also reports that the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society will be planting 15 new trees on Wednesday morning, April 15th.  Feel free to stop by and have a look.