Recreation & Fun

Wednesday, August 5th. What a day! Days like this make me especially proud to represent our parks and the fantastic staff members we have citywide.

At Play Day on the Green, about 3,000 kids showed up for a free, fun-filled day at Marina Green. The event was a huge success and exceeded my wildest expectations. Co-hosted by the San Francisco Parks Trust, Play Day on the Green included a bounce house, carnival games, rides, a dance show, sumo wrestling contests, treats and raffle prizes that included iPods and mountain bikes. The energy was amazing and the smiles on all of the kids’ faces said it all.

What makes this event especially rewarding is that each year, it’s done on a shoestring budget of $20,000. A huge thanks to the Parks Trust is due for their ongoing support and to our own recreation and park staff, led by Jim Wheeler, for organizing the event.

Afterwards, I made my way down to Buena Vista Park to participate in the Maccabi Games Day of Caring and Sharing. The Maccabi Games are a national sports event for Jewish teenagers held for the first time here in San Francisco.

More than 1,700 athletes from the United States and 10 countries around the world compete this week in various sports, including baseball, basketball, soccer, volleyball, flag f

ootball, swimming, dance and bowling.

Rec and Park pitched in big and hosted competitions at 15 of our park sites, including baseball at Big Rec (where Sheila Bradford, our legendary gopher hunter extraordinaire, trapped 45 gophers in the two days leading up to the event), soccer at the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park and tennis at the GGP Tennis Center.

During the Day of Caring and Sharing, we helped organize volunteer events at 15 park sites where kids, pulled non-native weeds, cleared trails and dog play areas, cleaned playgrounds, filled in cinder on sports fields and painted benches. Maccabi Games and JCC Organizers effusively praised our partnership with them at this event and even singled out the Rec and Park Department for recognition at their closing ceremonies on Thursday night at AT&T Park.

In my first month on the job, I don't think I've ever felt more pride about our recreation staff, gardening staff, maintenance staff and volunteer coordinators than I did today.