Neighbors spruce up Hunting Park
By Jane M. Von Bergen
The Philadelphia Inquirer, April 11, 2010
Even though it couldn't have been a more pleasant day at Hunting Park (the actual park), with the sun shining and a breeze blowing, well, that dead cat smelled.
"The smell of success," joked ninth grader Tyrus Lightfoot, one of about 40 students and teachers from nearby Truebright Science Academy Charter School who volunteered for Philadelphia's third annual spring cleanup - this one titled "Keep Up the Sweep Up."
With more than 20 bags of trash to its credit, the crew was among more than 8,000 volunteers who signed up to clean 234 official sites, among them transit stops, recreation centers, empty lots, even a farm in West Philadelphia.
Saturday, the city's Streets Department distributed 5,000 brooms, 2,000 rakes, 1,800 shovels, and more than 50,000 trash bags.
"Go ahead and keep them. It's the gift that keeps on giving," Deputy Streets Commissioner Carlton Williams told the group at opening ceremonies at St. Joseph's Prep School. Later, 200 volunteers in 10 teams fanned out around the neighborhood, digging mattresses out of empty lots and sweeping sidewalks.
Mayor Nutter and actor Tony Danza, who is teaching this school year at Northeast High School, opened the day with remarks at the Prep, the mayor's alma mater.
"If any city deserves to be clean, it's Philadelphia," said Danza, who praised Philadelphia as the most underrated city in America.
Nutter told the crowd, which included neighbors, students, their parents, and a red-jacketed crew from the City Year volunteer program, that the city's goal was to turn the one-day cleanup into a permanent way of life.
"It's like brushing your teeth or taking a shower," he said. "You'll do one of those today, right?"
Everyone laughed.
Cleaning up is a mind-set. "We don't have to live like this," he said.
At Hunting Park, Truebright teachers had promised an extra reward to the students who found the weirdest refuse during their cleanup of the park. An early contender was a full pizza, unboxed and resting on a grate, along with two cans of pizza sauce.
Why?
Tierrah Pardo, 15, thought she had it nailed when she found a heating vent. "I want to know why there's a heating vent in the park," she said.
But when Lightfoot and two others found the dead cat in a tree stump - probably part of a group of feral cats that had taken up residence in the park's emptied swimming pool - they catapulted to the top for a trash trophy.
"I tried to give that cat CPR," joked Rober Williams, as Lightfoot and T.J. Adams laughed. (Don't worry - they had gloves and shovels.)
"I wish I could hang it in my room," Lightfoot one-upped as his teachers rolled their eyes. They were obviously used to him.
Urban blight. It's serious. It breeds discouragement and crime. But cleaning it up is more than picking up trash, which was part of the point Hunting Park United board member Rodnell Griffin was making Saturday.
"It's not just the trash," she said. "It's shared experiences. It's shared joy, shared stories, shared laughter.
"It is the involvement of people coming together for the larger goal of rejuvenating the park," she said, describing a new feeling of commitment and cooperation among neighborhood groups - some African American, some Latino, some white, some Asian.
"The trash is just a vehicle," Griffin said. "Maybe there'll be a conversation about how the trash got there and maybe people will modify their behavior."
That is what Khriee Millhouse, 17, also hopes: to encourage a change in behavior that will make the park safer and more welcoming for his brothers, 12 and 8.
"What bothers me is the violence," said Millhouse, who was picking up fallen tree limbs with a group from nearby Eighth Street Community Church. "We can come here anytime to clean up, but we can't do nothing if someone's shooting."
Not far away, Darrell Tripline was making his way slowly across the lawn picking up trash with his helper, Solomon, 3. Even though Solomon, because of his size, was closer to the trash, he had the important job of holding the bag so his father could fill it with debris.
Tripline, who grew up nearby, said his childhood had been centered on the park - football games and carnivals.
But, he said, the neighborhood had fallen on hard times, mirroring the decline in the park, which had been drawing troublemakers.
"This park needs help," he said. "If you have a park that's well-kept and doesn't have debris, those people don't want to come to a place like that."
"The smell of success," joked ninth grader Tyrus Lightfoot, one of about 40 students and teachers from nearby Truebright Science Academy Charter School who volunteered for Philadelphia's third annual spring cleanup - this one titled "Keep Up the Sweep Up."
With more than 20 bags of trash to its credit, the crew was among more than 8,000 volunteers who signed up to clean 234 official sites, among them transit stops, recreation centers, empty lots, even a farm in West Philadelphia.
Saturday, the city's Streets Department distributed 5,000 brooms, 2,000 rakes, 1,800 shovels, and more than 50,000 trash bags.
"Go ahead and keep them. It's the gift that keeps on giving," Deputy Streets Commissioner Carlton Williams told the group at opening ceremonies at St. Joseph's Prep School. Later, 200 volunteers in 10 teams fanned out around the neighborhood, digging mattresses out of empty lots and sweeping sidewalks.
Mayor Nutter and actor Tony Danza, who is teaching this school year at Northeast High School, opened the day with remarks at the Prep, the mayor's alma mater.
"If any city deserves to be clean, it's Philadelphia," said Danza, who praised Philadelphia as the most underrated city in America.
Nutter told the crowd, which included neighbors, students, their parents, and a red-jacketed crew from the City Year volunteer program, that the city's goal was to turn the one-day cleanup into a permanent way of life.
"It's like brushing your teeth or taking a shower," he said. "You'll do one of those today, right?"
Everyone laughed.
Cleaning up is a mind-set. "We don't have to live like this," he said.
At Hunting Park, Truebright teachers had promised an extra reward to the students who found the weirdest refuse during their cleanup of the park. An early contender was a full pizza, unboxed and resting on a grate, along with two cans of pizza sauce.
Why?
Tierrah Pardo, 15, thought she had it nailed when she found a heating vent. "I want to know why there's a heating vent in the park," she said.
But when Lightfoot and two others found the dead cat in a tree stump - probably part of a group of feral cats that had taken up residence in the park's emptied swimming pool - they catapulted to the top for a trash trophy.
"I tried to give that cat CPR," joked Rober Williams, as Lightfoot and T.J. Adams laughed. (Don't worry - they had gloves and shovels.)
"I wish I could hang it in my room," Lightfoot one-upped as his teachers rolled their eyes. They were obviously used to him.
Urban blight. It's serious. It breeds discouragement and crime. But cleaning it up is more than picking up trash, which was part of the point Hunting Park United board member Rodnell Griffin was making Saturday.
"It's not just the trash," she said. "It's shared experiences. It's shared joy, shared stories, shared laughter.
"It is the involvement of people coming together for the larger goal of rejuvenating the park," she said, describing a new feeling of commitment and cooperation among neighborhood groups - some African American, some Latino, some white, some Asian.
"The trash is just a vehicle," Griffin said. "Maybe there'll be a conversation about how the trash got there and maybe people will modify their behavior."
That is what Khriee Millhouse, 17, also hopes: to encourage a change in behavior that will make the park safer and more welcoming for his brothers, 12 and 8.
"What bothers me is the violence," said Millhouse, who was picking up fallen tree limbs with a group from nearby Eighth Street Community Church. "We can come here anytime to clean up, but we can't do nothing if someone's shooting."
Not far away, Darrell Tripline was making his way slowly across the lawn picking up trash with his helper, Solomon, 3. Even though Solomon, because of his size, was closer to the trash, he had the important job of holding the bag so his father could fill it with debris.
Tripline, who grew up nearby, said his childhood had been centered on the park - football games and carnivals.
But, he said, the neighborhood had fallen on hard times, mirroring the decline in the park, which had been drawing troublemakers.
"This park needs help," he said. "If you have a park that's well-kept and doesn't have debris, those people don't want to come to a place like that."