We premiered a TTF first this fall! We hosted our first Fall Festival on October 2nd. Community groups, friends, and family gathered at the big grassy field on Olney Avenue, between Tabor Road and Rising Sun Avenue. A popular spot for picnics, volleyball games, and our Movie Nights, this was the perfect spot to gather under blue skies.
We hosted our Creekmobile fishing game, yoga with Jenna Song, and our Story Trails, a collaboration with our local Free Library partners which enables children and families to read books in English and Spanish along the trail…and then get a free book at the Olney or Frankford library.
Daphne Smallwood,a Philly educator, artist, and founder of Freedom Marks, led the popular pumpkin painting!
Former AWE Fellow MyKyah Vessels led a native plant giveaway with plants from the Land Health Institute that included a pledge to grow native pollinators. This program was made possible by the Land Health Institute, a local nonprofit committed to education and community-led land revitalization.
Billy Brown, awesome local naturalist and Grid columnist, led a number of bird walks. We had a bunch of activities led by the Alliance for Watershed Education. The AWE team led activities around the AquaMarooned card game and photographer Heidie Mojica took free portraits at the Intertwined bench. They also hosted a communal painting project for a banner in solidarity against AAPI hate, led by Sarah Kavage and local artist John Zerbe in collaboration with the Lenapehoking Watershed Art group.
Bennett Compost, a new Tacony Creek Park business neighbor, tabled with samples of their compost and potting soils and talked with neighbors about the benefits of composting! The Office of Citizenship and Immigration Services provided information on services available to immigrants. Mama Carla Wiley was on hand with her Talking Quilt Project. Part of Olney Embrace Project, this beautiful quilt shares stories from the 5th Street corridor in Olney.We even had cider and donuts!
The headliner was a live performance of the Tacony Creek Park Suite, by Professor Randy Gibson. An Olney-based performer, educator, and composer, Professor Gibson composed the Suite inspired by his time spent along Tacony Creek. The concert was part of TTF’s Fall Festival and was a joint production with Olney Culture Lab of CultureTrust Greater Philadelphia.
The Fall Festival was part of River Days and was supported by the Alliance for Watershed Education, Councilwoman Cherelle Parker’s Office, Fairmount Park Conservancy, Jazz Foundation of America, Joseph Roberts Foundation, Philadelphia’s Office of Arts, Culture & Creative Economy, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, Philadelphia Water Department, and William Penn Foundation.