Sixteen volunteers from the Friends of Pennypack Park helped make Northeast Philadelphia look a lot nicer for Pope Francis’ visit to the area last month. They removed 36 bags of litter and two bags of recyclable cans from the area of the park across State Road from Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility.
CFCF is the same prison that the pope visited on Sept. 27. One day earlier, the FOPP volunteers carried out their monthly cleanup.
The close proximity of the two events was nothing more than coincidental. The FOPP plans its park cleanup dates and locations a year in advance, long before the pope’s itinerary had been announced.
Nonetheless, the volunteers did their part to make Northeast Philly look its best on the world stage. Participants included Walt Calhoun, Dean Lynd, Ken Lewis, Rich Glaser, Kathy Volack, Katya Rebensky, Tim McAndrews, Alan Kaminsky, Robert McMunn, Cindy Masiejczyk, Karen Kaczorek, Roland Williams, Bill Henderson, George Scholl, Joyce Ferrero and Nance Kerns. The group got an assist from Mike Beutenmuller, Jim McCarthy Jr. and Joe Marcelewski from CLIP.
The crew worked along the wooded bicycle path between Torresdale Avenue and State Road, a location they hadn’t covered in two years. In addition to the bagged items, they removed a variety of objects from the woods including eight car tires, a tire and rim, a shopping cart, a funnel, a computer, a child booster seat, a plastic drawer, a chair cushion, part of a toolbox, chain link fencing, a broom handle, three coconut shells, cookie press templates, a bed frame, eyeglasses, a rug, a barbecue grill cover, three TVs, a rake head, a sweatshirt, three pairs of pants, a belt, six T-shirts, a track jacket, four sneakers, plaid shorts, part of a toy wagon, Styrofoam coolers, a soccer ball, a toy gun, two gallons of used motor oil, a catalytic converter, part of a muffler, two hubcaps, two 55-gallon drums, a burned parkbench, an air pump hose and a boat anchor.
The next cleanup will be on Saturday, Oct. 24, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Volunteers will meet at Sandy Run (Ryan Avenue and Sandyford Road). The public is welcome. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Wear long pants and closed-toe shoes. Gloves, tools and supplies will be provided by the FOPP, along with snacks and refreshments. ••
