Despite the recent rain, some of you may recall the few glorious days of sun granted upon us for a brief period in February. Several of our community members were especially grateful for the cooperative weather and sunshine, as they had already planned to meet at Panhandle Park for a busy day of volunteer work.
On the second Saturday of February, over fifty volunteers including several SFDS students and 6th grade parent Buzz Thompson, gathered together to support Panhandle Park Stewards’ efforts to keep our parks and playgrounds in good condition. After introductions and a review of the day’s agenda, everyone went to work on cleaning and greening the playground and surrounding areas. Many volunteers began by distributing healthy soil in the children’s garden and around the perimeter of the playground. A group of Day School students also sat at tables to combine clay, soil and water into Shasta Daisy seed balls.
After the winter rains, many of the park’s pathways have become inundated with mud, so volunteers focused on restoring maintenance for cyclists and other visitors by freeing the pathways from mud and grass using shovels and lots of hard work. Another team moved over to share some love with the huge cherry laurel located east of Masonic. Armed with wheelbarrows, rakes and pitchforks, they spread mulch beneath the tree’s great outstretched canopy, which will be repaid with appreciated shade in the warmer months to come.
We are grateful to Dale Danley, a Panhandle Park Steward, for his leadership and ongoing efforts to improve our neighborhood’s parks and playgrounds. On the second Saturday of each month, neighbors of the Panhandle of Golden Gate Park are invited to join the team in caring for our park. The next Panhandle Work Day takes place on Saturday, March 12 from 9am – 11:30am. To sign-up and/or find more information on past and future Panhandle Cleanup events, please visit Dale’s blog at http://panhandlepark.blogspot.com/. To all of you who volunteered your time last month to beautify our surrounding parks and playgrounds, THANK YOU!
