Join local community groups this Saturday (Nov. 17) for Love Your Park Day and help prep neighborhood parks for the winter. Here’s how and where you can help:

• Clark Park (43rd and Chester) – Friends of Clark Park will be raking leaves, spreading mulch, weeding, and picking up trash. Meet at the green and white shed on 45th St. between Chester and Woodland Aves. at 9:00 a.m., or just stop by when you can. RSVP here.
• Malcolm X Park (51st and Pine) – Friends of Malcolm X Park (Facebook page) will be doing some cleaning, bulb-planting, and leaf-raking in the park. Tools and refreshments provided. 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. For more information contact Greg Cojulun at 215-748-5329.
• Barkan Park (50th and Spruce) – Barkan Park cleanup is scheduled between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. For more information contact Mark Mendenhall at 215-476-2983.

If you know of other clean-ups, please let us know in the comments.

Here’s a couple of fun pumpkin carving and decorating events taking place in the neighborhood this weekend:

“Build it Bus” for pumpkin carving at Clark Park

Saturday Oct. 27, 1:00-2:00 pm

Woodland Presbyterian Church is hosting a Fall pumpkin carving and craft time in Clark Park. The “Build it Bus” will be there too! The bus is a place where kids can come and use woodworking tools to carve the pumpkins and make crafts. The first 50 to arrive will get pumpkins to take home with them. Look for the converted paratransit bus in the parking lot by the soccer field between 1 and 2 pm.

Pumpkin Day at Vineyard Community Church

Sunday Oct. 28, 1:00-4:00 pm

If you are looking for something fun and free to do this upcoming Sunday with your family, check out the annual Pumpkin Day event hosted by Vineyard Community Church. Due to the forecast calling for rain, it’ll be indoors, in the new church building located at 123 S. 51st Street.  If by chance the weather is gorgeous, the event will be held at Malcolm X Park (52nd & Pine). There will be plenty of fun things to do that involve all things fall, including pumpkin decorating, face-painting, fall crafts, jewelry making, games and prizes, and yummy fall treats!

A Mennonite choir performed in Clark Park this morning under the watchful eye of Charles Dickens and Nell. Luckily they left before the sword-fighting kids showed up.

The Merry Wives of Windsor in Clark Park. July 2012.

A fundraising campaign is currently underway to help bring more free Shakespeare shows to the neighborhood. Some of The Merry Wives of Windsor shows this past summer were rained out and end-of-performance red bucket donations were half of what is needed to make next year’s show possible. To support Shakespeare in Clark Park, please visit The Red Bucket Campaign page and submit your donation.

NOTE: The fundraising campaign ends on Sunday, 11:59 p.m.

Clark Park Youth Soccer, a non-competitive and family-friendly program, is looking for volunteer coaches to work with children between ages 5 and 11.

The Fall season begins on Saturday, September 22 and continues until November 17. Kids ages 5-7 practice and play at 10:30-Noon; kids ages 7-11 practice and play from Noon to 1:30. Each team has two to three coaches assigned (with a roster of subs).

If you want fresh air and exercise on Saturday mornings or afternoons and enjoy working with kids, please email to: clarkparksoccer@yahoo.com. Parents, students, or neighborhood soccer enthusiasts are welcome to apply. More information about the program is available here.

Twelve bike racks will be installed in the sidewalks around Clark Park this Saturday and Sunday. A group of volunteers from the Friends of Clark Park will do the work. Please contact Doug Naphas (douglasnaphas@gmail.com) if you would like to help with the installation or if you can lend any of the following tools: a hammer drill, a portable generator, an impact driver, a Shop-Vac, extension cords, a caulk gun.

Registration is now open for the Fall 2012 season of Clark Park Youth Soccer League, a recreational, non-competitive soccer program. The program kicks off on Saturday, September 22 and kids ages 5 through 11 are welcome to register. Registration information and forms can be found on this page. If you have questions, please email clarkparksoccer@yahoo.com.