On a lovely sunny Saturday, nearly 100 volunteers showed up to help clean and green Frog Park. Volunteers cleared weeds and eucalyptus, picked up trash, moved mulch by the pollinator garden, cleared ivy and debris from the underbrush, sifted sand in the sandbox, swept and cleared the paths, cleared the creek bed, swept the play structures of debris, and painted over graffiti. District 1 Council Member Zac Unger showed up, as he has for every park event for many years, to help sweep the play structures.
Thank you to all the volunteers who attended, especially those who brought their children and demonstrated how, as a community, we steward our park together.
A big thank you to Bakesale Betty for the delicious cinnamon buns, to Ain't Normal for the coffee, and Boichik Bagels for bagels and cream cheese — all of which helped sustain the volunteers.
While Temescal Creek was turned on almost two weeks ago, a blockage in the culvert caused a flood early Saturday morning, so our thanks to the on-duty staff from the Alameda County Flood Control District who came out right away to turn off the pump and allowed the pond to drain. City staff will be clearing the blockage and then the creek will be turned back on.
The community turned out for the Earth Day clean up at Frog Park. Photos: Anna L Marks
(Left) Volunteer Tylen Lee and Theresa Nelson, Frog Park Co-Founder. (Right) Council Member District 1, Zac Unger.
A young man came to volunteer, and I recognized him as Tylen Lee, who grew up in the neighborhood and first started volunteering in the park when he was 8 years old. Back from college in LA, he joined the team working on cutting the ivy and removing debris. It was great to see him back in the park, along with other young people who remember playing in the park when they were children.
Our next event will be Creek-to-Bay Day in September, which is also the 25th anniversary of the Big Build, when more than 1,300 volunteers built the Big Frog and Little Frog play structures in only 10 days. There will be a celebration after the morning clean-up, watch for more details soon.
