Today's Grand Opening Schedule:
- Thursday, July 2nd -
10 am - RIBBON CUTTING:
The Ceremonial Ribbon Cutting by (from left to right) John Hoey of the YMCA; Marisa Canino, President of the Friends of Our Playground at Stadium Place; Congressman Elijah Cummings; Delegate Maggie McIntosh and (behind Maggie) is District 4 City Councilman Bill Henry. Prior to the ribbon cutting, the representatives shared some inspiring thoughts and words with the eagerly awaiting crowd.
Everyone rushed in and played as they explored the newly rebuilt playground with great joy and excitement! Many involved were visibly moved to tears watching the children play (including myself). The sounds were fabulous... the bells from the built-in xylophone dinging... ecstatic screams from the tire swing...
Many agree that the rebuild is even better than before. The painting is beautiful, it is easier for parents to keep an eye on their children than before, and the rubber flooring is fantastic.
Come out and play and enjoy and see for yourself!
All day - PLAY ON THE PLAYGROUND!!
5:30 to Sunset (8-ish) - Community Celebration:
- African Drumming
- Light Food and Drink
- Fun activities for kids, including hula hooping and puppet making!
- World Premiere of Rob Hatch's documentary short film about the rebuilding of Our Playground!
- MORE PLAYING ON THE PLAYGROUND!!
COME ON OUT AND PLAY!!
- CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE PHOTOS -
The Rebuild went very well!
Many thanks to all the volunteers who helped in every way!
There was a wonderful turnout of people to help rebuild Our Playground at Stadium Place! The work proceeded in a well organized fashion, and the structures are completed! We have had fabulous artists come out to paint many of the new structures, the rubber flooring has been poured, and repairs have been made to the pavilion and to some of the fence. There are still a few finishing touches that need to be completed. Check back here to find out more specifics about when the Playground will be open to the public, as that becomes determined.
Volunteer opportunities are still available, please click here to learn how you can become an ongoing part of our Community Rebuilt Playground community. Another way to stay in the loop is to sign up to be on our Constant Contact email list. This way you will be the first to know all the latest developments as they arise.
About the Music and Tapas Celebration
We celebrated the completion of the build at a Music and Tapas Fundraiser on May 28.
75 people ate delicious food and listened to toe-tapping music.
Thank you to the following businesses and individuals who made the event such fun!
Curry Shack for their yummy samosas!
Dogwood Gourmet donated delicious curried chicken salad!
Trinidad Gourmet, our neighbor, gave us great rice and peas!
R&R Events provided elegant tablecloths!
Wine Source who is always there to help, gave us cups and discounted wine and beer!
St. John’s Episcopal Church of Huntingdon provided the great space!
The music was fantastic, and provided free to support the playground!
Much thanks for a wonderful evening to:
Sac au Lait - for Dixieland Jazz, that had the audience dancing.
'The New Playground Jazz Ensemble' - Bob Jacobson, Rhonda Robinson, Charlie Sigler and Glenn Angus for a wonderful selection of modern jazz.
Still have tools to pick-up?
Please email The Friends of Our Playground to schedule a time.
Thank you so much for your contribution and support!
The Rebuild in the News!
- WJZ-TV visited the table we set up at the Johns Hopkins Fair and interviewed Marisa Canino, the President of the Board of The Friends of Our Playground at Stadium Place. The piece aired on both the evening and late news on 4-26, as well as on the early morning news the next day. It is a really fantastic piece, and is on their web site.
You can click to view it here.
- Marisa was also interviewed by, and appeared on the FOX 45 morning show which aired on Tuesday April 27th.
- Check out the nice article about Our Playground Rebuild in the Baltimore Messenger!
CLICK HERE to read it.
- The President of the Board was interviewed on the Marc Steiner show!
You can listen to the podcast for free on his site by clicking HERE
- The Rogers Forge Blog posted an article about the Rebuild on April 14th. CLICK HERE to read it... leave a comment if you like!
- The Baltimore Sun published THIS nice article, has links to past articles, and also a blog you can read HERE
The Spaghetti Dinner was a huge success!
In fact, by 5:30 pm, the line was snaking around the tables inside, out the door, down the stairs, and down the block. An estimated 300 people attended: many waiting patiently until there was room inside to sit, many just coming in to donate and check out the spirited mood
of folks.
Our volunteers made four rounds of food, eventually running out of everything but sauce around 8:30 pm. Katie Beltz, with the Greater Homewood Community Corporation, reassured that, "Everyone seemed really excited to be there. There were long lines, but people were in a really good mood, and not really concerned about the food."
Very exciting for the rebuild is that a lot of new people attended. Young, old, professionals, students, neighbors, AmeriCorps volunteers... truly a diverse crowd gathered in support of the community and the rebuilding of the playground. Children and adults celebrated the new seed of hope and determination, while enjoying the performances of Be More Vocal and the
Judah Praze dance group, who are both from the Stadium School; the
Waverly School Band and Drum Line; the Barclay School Steppers; and
poet
Taylor Evans.
Much thanks to the New Waverly Methodist Church for hosting the event, to Della Notte Ristorante for the delicious sauce, to
Chiapparelli's Restaurant for their famous salad, to
Butcher's Produce for the salad fixings, to
Atwater's for their wonderful bread, and to
Ms. Desserts for the luscious cookies!
All were served by the wonderful women's group The Shining Stars! Thanks ladies!
Please check back every few days...
There will be new content added nearly every day.
Thank you.
