The Friends of Pennypack Park took advantage of ideal conditions to collect and remove 44 bags of litter along with numerous large pieces of trash from the park’s Little City area on June 28.
Thirty-three volunteers showed up at Rowland Avenue and Welsh Road to take part in the three-hour effort, cleaning the bicycle path from behind Father Judge High School to the parking lot below Rhawn Street, the dirt path near Cresco Avenue and Stanwood Street, the creek banks and dirt path behind the band shell, along Winchester Avenue near Welsh, along both sides of Welsh and along Cresco between Welsh and Rhawn.
In addition to 44 bags of litter, volunteers collected two bags of recyclable cans and various other items: a shopping cart, two wine bottles, plastic straws and eating utensils, rusty wire cutters, two large buckets, an American flag, a flip flop, eight pairs of pants, multiple shoes, gloves, a mitten, T-shirts, a sock, sweatpants, a bike frame, numerous empty and charred fireworks boxes, a pocket knife, fishing bait, trim from a car, several hundred menus from Angelina’s pizza shop, a pile of Dunkin’ Donuts cups, lots of empty water bottles, wiring, a burned piece of a portable toilet and a finger puppet shaped like a queen.
In addition to dozens of individual and family volunteers, representatives from the Community Life Improvement Program and the Department of Parks and Recreation assisted in the cleanup, while ShopRite supplied gloves and trash bags.
The Friends of Pennypack Park conduct cleanups on the fourth Saturday of every month between March and November from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at rotating locations. The next one will be July 26 at Frankford and Solly avenues. Volunteers are welcome and should wear long pants and closed-toe shoes. The FOPP will supply equipment and refreshments. Call 215–934-PARK in case of bad weather. Visit the FOPP website for more information. ••
