In Clark Park in West Philadelphia, a family event will serve as the mechanism that creates the first beer garden in the park’s history on May 18th. The event will be hosted by the Friends of Clark Park in observance of the conclusion of the City’s Love Your Park week.

Clark Park kind of dark

When members learned about this year’s Love Your Park call for community members to be park stewards, they wanted to do something special, according to FOCP executive director Erin Engelsted. While the May 18th will be a family fun day that includes games, music and food trucks, it will also include the beer garden run by a licensed bartender. “We wanted to do something just to help the community,” said Engelsted. The FOCP are still looking for volunteers to help organize and run the event.

Famous park statue

“The goal is to promote the well-being of West Philly’s beloved green ‘town commons’ together,” it said on the FOCP website. It will be also be an opportunity for civic-minded locals to connect with other similarly interested folks.

The Love Your Park initiative is call for citizens to engage in their parks through cleanups and programming and to serve as a reminder that neighborhood green spaces are places for community engagement and participation. The initiative is the result of a collaboration between the Parks and Recreation Department and the Fairmount Park Conservancy. Be on the lookout for events in your neighborhood, if there’s a park somewhere nearby.

–Lou Mancinelli