Solano PLAY

We’re still here!  We’ve had several people email to ask what’s happened with the improvements to the Solano Playlot.  We are still moving forward.  Much of the work since the Spring Celebration/Egg Hunt has been behind the scenes – working with the city to finalize a design for the park and to work out the details.  More on this below.  (If you didn’t make it to the Spring party, check out the video to see what you missed!)

UPCOMING EVENTS: We’ve scheduled 2 events in the coming weeks.  Please mark your calendar.

Saturday, Sept 24, 10am – 2pm – Park clean up party:  We’re sprucing up the park in preparation for our 2nd Annual Halloween Party.  Come for half an hour or all 4 hours – up to you.  We’ll be sorting out broken toys, pulling weeds, cleaning the sand, and repainting.  The park plans will also be on display, and several people will be available to answer questions.  Please bring water, gloves, and a snack if you need one.

Sunday, October 30, 2-4pm, 2nd Annual Halloween Festival: Save the date!  More details to follow, but click here for a peek back at last year’s Halloween Party.

PLAYFUL COLORS CONTEST: After many months of work, the plans for overhaul of the Solano Playlot are nearly complete.  We want our hard working volunteers to make one of the last decisions — the color of the play equipment.  Our core group of planners has worked out 3 different color schemes for the play equipment, and we are submitting those to a vote.  If you’ve volunteered for one of our previous events or work parties, or are able to come out and join us on Sept 24th, you’ll receive an email with voting instructions in the coming weeks.

When will the new park be built?  We are not sure, as there are still a few more steps to go through.  Most likely not until spring, but we’re still crossing our fingers for fall.

If you have any questions or would like more information, don’t hesitate to email us at info@solanoplay.org.  Please share this with anyone else you think may be interested.

Thanks again for all your help and support over the past 18 months as we’ve worked to improve this park and build a strong community around it.

Melanie

It’s time to start building! This weekend we will build the first new play structure at the Solano Playlot. Join for an hour or more and help create an original, exciting new play feature in the park.  We plan to complete this structure on Monday.  Here’s our schedule:

Saturday: 12pm and 4pm
Sunday: 9am – 4pm
Monday: 9am- 12pm

While rain is not predicted for Saturday 2/26, if it does rain, we will begin our work when the rain stops. Come for as long or as little as you can. Kids are welcome and encouraged.  Plan to bring work gloves and clothes you don’t mind getting a little dirty.  In addition to volunteers to help build the structure, we would also love volunteers to help with refreshments and other things. Email me if you can help at melanie@solanoplay.org.

Also, if you missed our park design drop ins last weekend, they will be available this weekend, too.

Halloween is around the corner.  Join us for our first (and hopefully annual) Halloween Festival.

Where: Solano Playlot; IF RAIN, COME TO CLINTON AVE BAPTIST CHURCH, 3017 Clinton Ave at 30th St., next to Burg Park

When: Halloween!  Sunday, 10/31 from 3-5pm

What: Lots of fun activities for kids, including a costume parade and contest, face paintings, games, fire truck visit, but also things adults will enjoy, like our bake sale and cafe, where you can purchase baked goods and hot cider and sit with your neighbors and enjoy the parade.

Email us at info@solanoplay.org if you want to volunteer or contribute.

See you on Halloween!

Today Kaboom told us that Solano Playlot did not win the contest for new play equipment.  Unfortunately, Kaboom has decided not to release the actual vote totals or percents, and have said only that the contest was “very close” and that we came in 4th place.  While this news is disappointing for many of us who worked so hard to win, and especially for the hundreds of kids who would have benefited from new equipment, we have succeeded in creating a movement of people who care about Richmond’s parks, and Solano Playlot in particular.

I am so proud of how hard we worked and more importantly how we came together as a community to win for our kids and our community.  We have shown what is possible when we come together, and that is certainly more valuable than this prize.

Through this contest, we also have won the attention of many people who have access to resources that can help us improve this park. Winning new play equipment would have been great, but we still have a lot of work to do, and we don’t plan to let these results delay us even for one minute.