Improving Tacony Creek Park Made Possible by Partners

There are now three little libraries in Tacony Creek Park. These libraries provide critical opportunities for young children to engage with and access free reading materials. That these are in Tacony Creek Park — surrounded by nature — creates an environment that’s even richer for learning. Read to Succeed Philly! installed two libraries that joined an existing library made possible by WHYY, which hosted a story time and interactive craft days in the park. Visit these little treasures at the Tabor & Olney, Whitaker & Loudon, and I St & Ramona gateways. And stay tuned for another educational opportunity with the River Alive! Learning Trail that will continue our work connecting youth to nature with animal sculptures, bilingual signage, water messaging, and learning opportunities.

Our First Fall Festival

— Luanda Morris, TTF Board Member a Feather,” an event coordinated and inspired by frequent TTF collaborator “Art God” Jay Coreano. Jay brought sixteen local artists to the park for a community day of creativity and unity while Evan Lovett of V.U.R.T. Creative touched up the bird murals under Whitaker Avenue. Over ninety children and adults were in attendance. Children drew with chalk on the trail, colored in educational activity books about clean water, made TTF pins, played cornhole, and painted on wooden birds for a future nature project in Tacony Creek Park.

Wild and Delicious

Similar to the delight of snapping a sungold off your porch tomato plant or picking apples at an orchard in the Fall, there are many edible plants to find in the parks and green spaces that make up the TTF Watershed. There are also plants that are foraged for medicine and crafts. But before you munch on random plants in the park, it's important to have information. That’s why we published the “TTF Foraging Guide,” written by Alliance for Watershed Education Fellow MyKyah Vessels. She led foraging walking tours in Summer 2021 and Spring 2022. Participants sharpened their eyes to track down common mugwort, black walnut, yellow wood sorrel, and more. Flip through the guide on our website and take it with you on the go.

On a big grassy field near Tabor Gateway in October 2021, the Tacony Creek Park community enjoyed their first ever neighborhood Fall Fest.

TTF teamed up with Olney Culture Lab to host a day of food, pumpkin painting, bird walks, games, storytelling, music, and more.

There was even a live performance of the Tacony Creek Suite, an original piece written by Olney-based musician Professor Randy Gibson and inspired by the beauty of too-often underappreciated Tacony Creek Park.

It was a fun and inspiring day of community coming together to learn, meet, and love the park.

Get AquaMarooned!

An out of this world concept that draws you closer to the natural world, AquaMarooned! is an active card game designed to be played outdoors that invites players to explore the flora and fauna of the watershed. The Alliance for Watershed Education (AWE) commissioned it with funding from The William Penn Foundation and others.

The card decks feature fantastical and whimsical illustrations and challenges like “Find a dead thing and give it a heartfelt eulogy. Most heartfelt wins.”

Aqua Marooned! was designed for the 23 AWE Centers, but there is a unique Tacony Creek Park expansion pack, as well as a Lenape expansion pack so you can learn more about historical and current Indigenous stewardship of the land.

Capturing Beauty and Wonder

Our 2nd “Eyes on Our Landscape” Photo Contest expanded to include the entire TTF watershed. We received over 150+ photo submissions from 58 adults, 12 youth, and 3 children. The photos submitted were an incredible celebration of the entire TTF watershed. Winners created diverse and intriguing visuals for the public to get a better understanding of what our watershed looks like. Thanks to our partner Olney Culture Lab! You can see these gorgeous photos by clicking on the Flickr icon on our website.

Woven Together

In the Spring of 2021, if you were walking in Tacony Creek Park, you might have come across “Intertwined,” three eye-catching sculptures made from woven natural materials. Sarah Kavage, the artist, and assistants wove together invasive grapevines harvested from the park to reimagine the relationship between trees and vines, place and migration. The sculptures are part of a large public art project “Water Spirit” organized by the Lenapehoking~Watershed art group of The Alliance for Watershed Education. Community members have embraced and named the bench that incorporates a sculpture the "Rainbow Bench."