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!