On May 31 from 9AM-1PM the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership will be running a cleanup effort in Frankford Creek! The cleanup will take place at Hunting Park and O Street in Philadelphia

The Frankford Creek greenway will connect Tacony Creek Park's new trail to the Port Richmond Trail, and in preparation for this new community asset, TTF is partnering with Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful, the Greenbelt Overhaul Alliance of Levittown, Keep Philadelphia Beautiful, Philadelphia Water Department, and PPR to clean up a large illegal dump site. TTF will provide the dumpsters and equopment, you provide the elbow grease and enthusiasm! Because of the physical nature of this project and the materials we will be moving, all volunteers must be age 16 and up. Please wear closed toe shoes and long pants and be prepared to work!

Do you live in Philadelphia and are you interested in getting involved in your community? The Philadelphia Department of Parks and Recreation (PPR) stewards over 10,200 acres of land throughout the city, from local neighborhood parks to diverse natural areas that serve as animal habitats for the region.

On Saturday, May 10th, PPR will celebrate LOVE Your Park Week with a kickoff service day in parks all over Philadelphia! Parks citywide will be out in full force to clean, green, and beautify their neighborhood space. This effort depends on thousands of volunteers (like you!) who want to pitch in to make a difference. Large or small groups and individuals are welcome!

Several Circuit Coalition member groups will be leading events to help clean up our parks and are looking for volunteers:

Bird Walk and Cleanup/Planting in Tacony Creek Park (7:45 AM Bird Watch, 10 AM Service, Meet at I Street and Ramona Ave.): Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership (TTF) is is hosting a FREE walk to look for birds residing in Philadelphia. Donuts, coffee, and binoculars will be provided. After the stroll through the park, TTF will be leading cleanup and planting in the park in honor of LOVE Your Park Week.

Lardner's Point Park Planting/Cleanup Day (10 AM-2 PM, Corner of Milnor and Levick): The Delaware River City Corporation will be celebrating LOVE Your Park Week by organizing a cleanup and planting in Lardner's Point Park! All planting/cleanup tools will be provided, as well as snacks, water and coffee. Bring yourself and be ready to WORK!

Cynwyd Trail Workday (Meet at 8:30 AM, Barmouth Station Trailhead, Bala Cynwyd): Together Lower Merion Township and the Friends of the Cynwyd Heritage Trail sponsor the Trail Workdays to join together to beautify and maintain the Trail. Tools, supplies, gloves and refreshments will be provided for volunteers. Come out and enjoy! For more information regarding volunteer opportunities, contact the Friends at . NOTE: Signing the Lower Merion Township Waiver is required for this event. Electronic and print versions of the waiver can be found here: LMT Volunteer Waiver (print version); LMT Volunteer Waiver (electronic signup).

For more information on LOVE Your Park Week and more service opportunities visit http://loveyourpark.org/

Solis is a neighborhood resident who was taking a break from riding her daughter's purple bike so her friend Pablo Cabrera could snap a photo.

"A few years ago, this was a mess," Solis told Scudder, pointing to the trail running under the Wyoming Avenue bridge. "When I used to take my daughter here to bike ride, you'd have to jump over all the trash."

"People would throw stuff off the bridge," said Scudder, who grew up in the neighborhood and now helps the Juniata Action Committee revitalize it.

"Now this trail is clean," Solis said. "So I'm riding my daughter's bike here because my doctor said I should get some exercise."

She and Scudder agreed that the new trail, which begins at I Street and Ramona Avenue, is a sign that things are looking up in Juniata Park.

Minutes later, Scudder came to a big, ugly concrete triangle at the neighborhood's gateway junction of Castor Avenue, and Wingohocking and Cayuga streets.

A truck packed with secondhand furniture was parked on Castor. Used bureaus and chairs were spread out along the curb.

Scudder displayed a Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Creek Watershed plan to replace the concrete triangle with a rainwater retention garden, hopefully by next spring.

He said that the Juniata Action Committee was founded by clergy like himself, like Father Thomas Higgins and Sister Elaine George of Holy Innocents Catholic Church, as well as Juniata News editor Tom Lineman, to counter the neighborhood's negative image.

Juniata Park made news in 2011 when an enraged man killed three teenagers he believed were feuding with his stepson, and again this month when a man shot a 21-year-old woman at point-blank range after robbing her.

What doesn't make news, Scudder said, is that most of Juniata Park consists of law-abiding people living in well-kept row houses.

A major player in Juniata's revival, Scudder said, is Cancer Treatment Centers of America, which took over shuttered Parkview Hospital in 2004, turned the eyesore campus on Wyoming Avenue near Castor into green space and supports local events like last month's Juniata Fest, which featured sword-fighting by medieval re-enactors.

Another big plus, said Sister Elaine George, is the Bottom Dollar Food store on Castor Avenue near Luzerne, a site where she led many cleanups when it was "an abandoned gas station where people dumped mattresses, tires and construction debris."

"We will always have a positive attitude toward helping Juniata Park because we are clergy," she said. "We see the silver lining. We can do this. We will do this."

Three organizations joined the ranks of the Circuit Coalition this summer.  The Coalition welcomed the Tookany/Tacony Frankford Watershed Partnership (otherwise known as TTF), the Scattergood Foundation and the Philadelphia Parks Alliance.  TTF and the Scattergood Foundation are both working to activate and extend the Tacony Creek Trail in Philadelphia and Tookany Creek Trail in Montgomery County.  TTF held six block parties over the summer and the Scattergood Foundation organized a 5K run and ribbon cutting in conjunction with the Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Dept this past April.  The Philadelphia Parks Alliance is a city-wide organization concerned with all aspects of the City's parks.  Their board chair is Bob Thomas, the region's leading trail architect and historian and a recent recipient of the Doppelt Family Rail-Trail Champions Award

We welcome more organizations to join us.  Would you like your non-profit organization to join the Circuit Coalition as a member? Or your municipality (or agency) as a partner?  Please read here how to join.

The first trail funded by the  DVRPC/William Penn Foundation’s Regional Trails Fund trail is complete!  The one mile Tacony Creek Trail will be dedicated prior to the inaugural Tacony Trail 5K on Saturday, 4/27 at 8:30 a.m. The dedication will take place on the grounds of the Friends Hospital. Friends Hospital is on land managed by the Scattergood Foundation, a major partner on the Tacony Creek Trail—a portion of which runs along an easement granted by the Foundation.  Speakers include Deputy Mayor Michael DiBerardinis, Joe Pyle of the Scattergood Foundation, Chris Linn of DVRPC and Sarah Clark Stuart of the Bicycle Coalition.

Friends Hospital is located on the Roosevelt Boulevard (U.S. Route 1) at the intersection of Adams Avenue in Philadelphia. All activities will take place on the grounds of the hospital, with the Community Day and Concert concentrated on the front lawn. Our dedication ceremony will be in front of the mailing building. A room is reserved for participants just inside the main entrance.

Directly following the Healthy Trails 5K is a FREE Community Day that will be held on the lawn of the Friends Hospital. The Community Day will feature local businesses, health organizations, and community groups to celebrate the members of the community.