Good time had by all

The block party to celebrate the new playground in Garfield Park was quite the success. We devoured 90 cup cakes, waded through 3 gallons of lemonade and 1 gallon of milk, colored an impressive number of Valentines, and tried out all the cool playground equipment.

I wish I had thought to count the number of kids and parents in attendance. I'm guessing there were 50 kids and 15 - 20 adults.

In addition to celebrating the playground, neighbors brainstormed ideas for the new community center the city is developing on Mountain View. The community center was made possible by a "Weed and Seed" grant the city received from the Department of Justice.

Ideas shared by the kids include a lending library, places for crafts, board games, and science projects, and homework support. Ideas shared by the parents include health and nutrition sessions, parent support groups, computer classes, and ESL classes.

No doubt our next block party will celebrate the grand opening of the community center, hopefully before schools lets out for the summer recess.

Out with the old, in with the new

Garfield Park has been without a playground since the end of December. During the first week of January, a work crew fenced in, then demolished, the old playground. During the second week, the crew erected a beautiful new-and-up-to-code structure, poured cement, and spread wood chips.

Then it rained. And rained. And rained.

But today is a new day, a sunny day. And, don't ya know, the fences are gone (though muddy tire tracks remain). The playground is open.

And the kiddos are thrilled! Already the playground is teeming with tots exploring the climbing wall, many slides, wobble bench and "skates," swings, and a modern version of the old school merry-go-round (a tall spindle-like cage with a much smaller circumference than a merry-go-round).

Our Neighborhood Watch will host a hot dog feast to celebrate the new playground at noon on Saturday, February 6. Swing by to say hi, eat, and play.

Thank you to our city officials and departments for bringing this new playground to Garfield Park!

[Side bar: On my way home from taking the pictures, I saw a black sedan drop off a prostitute on the north edge of the park. As I passed her, I told her the crotch of her underwear was showing. She said, "I like it like that." I called dispatch, of course. The families she walked past in the park looked horrified. Great -- so glad we can welcome everyone with a lovely playground and a prostitute of the trading-sex-for-drugs type (just a guess on her preferred currency).]

The Sights of a National Night Out

In case you didn't make it to Pomona's National Night Out celebration, here are a couple photos for your viewing pleasure.



Did you know Pomona is home to a line dance club? Did you know they created a line dance called the Pomona Shuffle? If only I had a video camera! ...


Much love in the air for the icons of the LA County Fair (what are their names?)...


Representatives from the Vietnamese Community of Pomona Valley...


Carrie Cruz, the Emergency Services & Risk Coordinator for Pomona, shares earthquake preparedness insights...


Pomona City Council members Soto and Lantz...


Home Depot sponsored a flower-planting booth for the kiddos...


The inflatable climbing wall was a huge hit...


Lots of places to register for prizes, get information, and learn about community offerings...

I tried taking a photo of members of the SWAT Unit. Alas, that one turned out really blurry; I bet they have a jamming device ;)

The Police Department's Mobile Command Center...



Here are the submissions for the flier design contest for next year's National Night Out. See what you think...

Walking Dogs Off-Leash

Thank you to Lt. Rilloraza, the Northest Area Commander, for sending the following update regarding a concern filed by a neighbor of Garfield Park:

"From June to now, we had 9 CFS regarding a subject walking his dog off-leash and in Garfield Park in the evening hours (between 2100 and 2300). This subject apparently would then yell to his dogs to try to get them to come to him which caused residents to get upset in the late hour. Officers responded to all calls for service but were unable to locate the subject with the dogs. Patrol officers conducted extra patrols but never observed the subject in the park. I had Officer M. Rodriguez go out to the residence at 529 N. Reservoir this month and he spoke with a subject who admitted taking his dogs off leash to the park during the nighttime. Officer Rodriguez explained he could not let his dogs run around unleashed at the park and the park closed at sunset. Rodriguez warned him that if he was caught allowing his dogs to run off-leash in the park he would be subject to a citation. This subject was very cooperative and stated he would stop doing this."

Please keep in touch with your Area Commander. Let her or him know of any concerns you have in your neck of the woods. She or he will get back to you with the relevant information. For those of us in the Northeast quadrant, Lt. Rilloraza is our guy. He can be reached at 909 802-7494 and AreaCommander_Northeast@ci.pomona.ca.us.

If you build it, they will come.

Over the past few months neighbors in the Garfield Park area have been in touch with the city via Councilperson Lantz concerning updates in the park.

The city initiated one of the hoped-for updates a couple weeks ago: a sand volley ball court. The workers dug a hole, put up the yellow caution tape, hauled in sand, and installed posts for the net.

This evening's entrance into the neighborhood revealed a fully "staffed" volley ball game taking place on the new court. What a delightful scene!

If you're on the market for a lovely sand volley ball court, consider the south end of Garfield Park. I'm not sure if the net stays with the posts or if players have to bring their own net; I'll keep an eye out over the next few days and will report back.

Other anticipated updates include new playground equipment (up to code and everything!), a basketball half-court, the removal of a strange little building, and up-lighting to show off the statue of the Goddess Pomona. Looking good, Garfield, looking good.

Good Riddins

The once-clustered picnic tables in the northwest corner of Garfield Park disappeared today. This is good news. Really.

Although one might imagine the picnic tables would have served as a wonderful gathering place for families interested in evening barbecues, the picnic tables instead served as a club house for ne'erdowells.

Lots and lots of suspicious activity took place there over the years. Tagging, drinking, drug sales. As Bill Evans, Parks Operations Supervisor, pointed out, "You wouldn't believe what is in those trash cans." I kinda wish I had asked for a list to post for you all.

The four picnic tables will be redistributed around the park over the coming weeks (maybe months -- I'm not sure of the planned time line). So, there will still be plenty of places for families to gather, just no one obvious spot for big groups nestled far away from the watchful eyes of people passing on Holt.

Eventually the concrete slabs that housed the picnic tables will get removed, though a neighbor suggested a basketball hoop for shooting hoops (if the slabs do get removed, I'm hoping to haul some of the broken concrete over to my yard to make a new flower bed ). In the meantime, we've got a killer four-square field. Come on by with your kick ball and we'll get a tourney going.

We anticipate further changes in the coming months. Possible additions include a volleyball court, a level practice field for youth soccer teams, and lighting and fencing to better protect the goddess. Possible deletions: the removal of the defunct storage building near the southwest corner of the park. Definite revamps: New playground equipment.

Thank you to the City of Pomona for helping beautify this wonderful postage stamp of a park!

Community in the park

Here are some images from today's Easter gathering in Garfield Park. The organizers, a local church, must be delighted with the turn out. Highlights included live music, an egg hunt, a sermon, and yummy food. The many attendees seemed to have a really wonderful time. Thank you to everyone for using the park in such a positive way! We hope to see you back soon.

We managed to distribute a big stack of fliers announcing our upcoming Neighborhood Watch meeting (April 25), the focus of which will be on strategies for giving the park a face lift.

Garfield Park bathroom: Three arrests

Those of us who live near Garfield Park may have noticed the three police cruisers in (that's right: in) the park around 12:30 today. I called the Watch Commander to see if he could share any information. Come to find out, officers had been in the park looking for someone wanted on a charge unrelated to the park when they happened upon people doing drugs in the bathrooms. Officers made three arrests. Thank you to the PD for keeping our parks safe!

Let there Be Light

Some time ago, a big ol' tow truck ran into a street light located along the west edge of Garfield Park. Neighbors noticed; the city did not. Well, that's probably not entirely true. Someone in the city must have noticed, because the ruined street light was a removed, and an orange and white thingamijig (I'm sure there's a more formal term) stood straddling the light's base.

In swoops NW. A neighbor brought the missing light to the attention of a Councilperson Paula Lantz, a regular attendee at the meetings. She did a little investigating. Come to find out, a number of sights in her district were awaiting replacement lights. Lantz worked with the appropriate city departments to order replacement lights and stayed abreast of the project's progress.

And now, I am very pleased to announce Garfield Park is home to one of these new lights. Thank you, dear neighbor, for thinking to bring this issue to the attention of our Councilperson. And thank you, Paula Lantz, for your work on our behalf.

Let there be light!