Starr Garden Playground's multi-purpose room underwent a makeover this summer. The space, which hosts youth programs, now sports a beautiful mural.

Volunteers from Carousel Connections of Haverford painted the mural. Earlier in the summer, the organization volunteered to clean the park on a bi-weekly basis. The community greatly appreciated these efforts.

Carousel Connections creates opportunities for those with intellectual disabilities. Participants learn to live, work, and get involved in their community. They also gain independence.

Did you know that April is National Poetry Month? To celebrate, we bring you a collection of poems written by PPR staff and program participants.

The Epitome of Artistry

By Barry Farber, Venice Island Performing Arts Recreation Center

Punctuating the sidewalk Touching art with your feet Tattooed onto the pavement Embracing a Manayunk street

Follow a cityscape path from Pretzel Park to Venice Island Then arrive on foot To a watery Wonderland

And soon it will become Abundantly clear That something wonderful Is happening here

A green pump station, a recreational public park And a performing arts center is there When we came to the site There was live music permeating the air

Ecologically and enviornmentally sound Above and below the ground Harnessing the storm water When it rains all around   ...as if a dream come true   ...envisioned before you   ...we stepped into a bright future   ...a Watery Wonderland, THE EPITOME OF ARTISTRY

Two Sisters

By Chris Windle, Recreation Leader at Starr Garden Playground They’d come each remaining day, one late summer… Between camp’s conclusion and September’s shortening shadow. They’d come to draw the last scraps of summer’s fading promise. – to a tiny one room “school house”. What did I have? A tub of broken crayons…a ream of rough paper, a stack of battered water color sets and stiff plastic brushes. This was all that was left, which I offered with an apology… sad remnants, as I saw it, of other Children’s happy summer, left behind. Just a modest note, Truth can be oblique, residing in small places, usually not announcing itself. You may not understand it or even see it at all…at first… (It can sleep in memory, too.) With September they were gone, of course, then soon after the schoolhouse and I were as well. They left me with something though. A banner… a pronouncement, in bold black and pale blue Paint, on pink construction paper, edged in green and yellow…and stamped all over in swirls and crazy zig-zags. Stating, asserting… THE WORLD IS GOOD! Each time I look at it, I know… It is an affirmation… And a challenge.

Brother By Alberta Gibson, Facility Supervisor at John Anderson Cultural Center