Last Saturday 50 members of the South Asian Society and the Muslim Students Association streamed into Clark Park to do University City a good deed. They donated four hours of labor to commemorate the International Gandhi Day of Service. The two groups are networks for young South Asians and Muslims who are affiliated with the neighborhood's schools and hospitals.
 
Friends of Clark Park had targeted the western side of the South Park, along 45th St. between Chester and Kingsessing, for the improvement area. We rounded up five trees for the volunteers to plant: a yellowwood, a tulip poplar, a pin oak and two tree lilacs. At the park entrance on the SE corner of 45th & Chester, a fan of 500 daffodils and 350 day lilies were planted. We accomplished a great deal of pruning and cleanup as well. Thanks, all you volunteers -- you can come back any time! Thanks also to Chris Leswing and Lew Mellman, who organized and supervised the project.
 
It was a lovely day in the park. As the volunteers worked above, 50 children were playing in the FoCP Youth Soccer Program below in the Bowl. Across Chester in the North Park, the World Peace Festival, an acoustic-music event, held forth on one side while the Farmer's Market bustled along 43rd St. All this activity was unfazed by an intermittent drizzle! Clark Park was a lively place to be that afternoon.
 
Neighbors are welcome to join FoCP's next general volunteer work day, which is scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 25. It's best if you contact us before you show up, so that we can plan the right amount of work for everybody. That afternoon the park will also welcome the arrival of Spiral Q's Peoplehood parade of giant puppets. If you haven't seen this before, it's quite spectacular.
 
-- Tony West
 

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