Friends of Forest Hills Playground

Friends, a good neighbor took photos of the lost & found items! Anything belong to you? Thank you kind neighbor/park hero!!

It's been some time, so while we're here:

-Our little park needs to rely on its users as this group (FOFHP) is dormant at this time from the impact of Covid. Be a park hero! Use it as a community service teaching moment for your kid----so easy with text! If you think someone else might do it, they might be thinking the same thing. Please text the city anytime you see repairs needed: DC311. Get this...Two swings were broken for some time. 311 and DC Department of General Services () were contacted Friday night. Rumor has it they have been worked on!! 24-48 hour timeline. How great is that? (Btw, these swings eventually break and hurt kids because users stand on the ADA swing (brown one) or throw the black rubber swings over the top bar to shorten them).

-For suspicious/dangerous/nuisance activities, MPD encouraged the community to use their anonymous text 50411. They said they rely on the community to be eyes and ears and what is seemingly small can possibly help. (Dial 911, of course, for an emergency)

-If you are trying to sell a service(yoga, music or tennis lessons, camp, etc), please, please do not tie/tape signs to the fence, posts, etc...please use the provided bulletin board. If you have already put your signs on the fence/posts/signage, please remove them/relocate them to the bulletin board.

-One last thing...If you see DC employees out there on the playground, field, courts, etc, please take a moment to thank them. They've been doing a great job before/through Covid and take good care of the park (despite the general increase in littering :-( ). I haven't met one yet who hasn't lit up with a big smile. Ps--We saw you working hard Thursday night Ricardo !

Friends of Forest Hills Playground rejoice! It appears as if shortly before the time of my last post, a crew had come in and removed the debris from the playground floor, and also wiped down the equipment.

So - for now - we seem to be in good shape for the Summer (yes - we realize the sand pit has no sand. We are working on it!). However we are still actively recruiting for helping hands on the Board. If you are interested please leave us a message here, or at [email protected] and look here for updates about upcoming meetings and events.

Also a friendly reminder to please respect social distancing as much as possible - so hard with toddlers! - and please wear masks if you cannot remain 6 feet apart. Let's do our part to keep everyone healthy and whole.

Hello Friends of Forest Hills Playground -

As we emerge from our quarantine we are so happy to have our little playground reopen. Not so happy - the current state of the park, which has suffered from one cancelled clean up and several months of neglect.

So, in the immediate, we would like to ask everyone to pitch in during individual visits - take gloves, take sanitizer - and pick up any litter or trash you see. Making playground beautification into a game could be a win-win for the park, and your child!

We are also pursuing the option of hiring a company to perform a professional clean up job. Once we receive quotes we may look to set up a GoFundMe to see if we can garner enough support. We will be scheduling a (remote) meeting of the board soon to review options to make the playground a pleasant place to play over the summer months. If you are interested in attending this upcoming meeting and learning more about the Friends of Forrest Hills Playground Board - please email or message us here.

Friends of Forest Hills Playground (and Park) is meeting Tuesday 2/25 to discuss current park conditions and plan for a spring fundraiser and cleanup. If you’re curious, have ideas for improving the park and playground, or are interested in volunteering now or in the future, please join us to meet current board members and learn more about upcoming events.

Meeting details:

Friends of Forest Hills Playground Board Meeting
Tuesday, February 25, 2020
7:30-8:30 p.m.
3001 Veazey Terrace, NW (just off Connecticut Avenue by Van Ness Metro, meet in lobby)

Thank you, The DC Line, for including our cleanup in your weekend events roundup!

https://thedcline.org/2019/12/06/the-dc-lineup-for-this-weekend-holiday-parties-presents-and-a-boat-parade/

Clean up our park and protect Rock Creek from 10-11:30am Dec. 7. And don't worry if you haven't signed up online. That just gets a waiver out of the way.

Friends of Forest Hills Playground looks forward to seeing everyone! And thanks again to our partners DC Department of Parks and Recreation, Rock Creek Conservancy and DC Metro Area Living, Erich Cabe Real Estate Agent!

We hope everyone had a ‘Super’ time at the Spooktacular!!! We would love everyone to post their favorite photos of the day on our page!

The Spooktacular is Saturday morning! Bring a treat and eat a treat. See some magic and march in a parade. Volunteer and meet your neighbors. The weather will be perfect for one last hurrah with that costume (especially if it rains on Halloween :-/).
https://www.facebook.com/events/2706880852737635/?ti=cl

Join us for coffee on the playground, 10-11 today. Help us pick up a little trash and/or sign up to bring a baked good/volunteer for the Spooktacular.🎃

When we clean up our waterways, we get baby dolphins!

Join us Saturday, 9-11am to plant native flowers in a Forest Hills Park rain garden (which filters pollutants from stormwater). And Sunday, 10-11am for coffee and a mini cleanup. Do it for the dolphins!

Dolphins are swimming, mating and even giving birth in the Potomac Researchers say hundreds of common bottlenose dolphins spend time in outside-the-Beltway waters of the iconic — and increasingly clean — Potomac River.

We hope you'll join your neighbors and Friends of Forest Hills Playground at the following events:

Saturday, October 5, 9 to 11am (new date): Plant new native plants and flowers at the newly-weeded rain garden next to the Forest Hills Park amphitheater (near the Brandywine Street entrance). This a community project led by DPR and two Girl Scouts. Students can earn community service credit from Friends of Forest Hills Playground. Sign up at tiny.cc/FHRainGarden.

Sunday, October 6, 10-11am: Coffee & Mini Cleanup. No rakes and brooms for this one. We'll spend a few minutes picking up trash that has accumulated around the park and enjoy coffee and treats courtesy of the new Friends of Forest Hills Playground board members. Meet them, learn about their plans, and learn how to help.

Sunday, Nov. 3, 10am to noon: The annual Halloween Spooktacular/Fall Festival (rain date Nov. 10) - and a final hurrah for the little ones' (and big ones') costumes. Planning is under way. We'll need items for the bake sale and people to sell them, plus some help with setup and cleanup. Students can earn community service hours. Can you help? Contact us at [email protected].

Silver Award Project Rain Garden