Underwriting support from:
Yoga in the Park in Eastown /Courtesy of Funky Buddha Hothouse
On Saturday, May 14, the Eastown Community Association (ECA) will host a community-wide Picnic in the Park event. The first half of the event will be a neighborhood beautification project, cleaning up Eastown’s Sigsbee Park, while the second half will be a community gathering, complete with food, entertainment, and activities for the whole family. The event will run from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at Sigsbee Park, located at Sigsbee St. SE and Benjamin Ave SE.
First, volunteers will help water trees, pick up sticks, spread woodchips, prune, and complete other park maintenance activities. These activities will help beautify the space and will provide the necessary maintenance work to prepare for summer use.
At noon, we’ll have a celebration to kick off the start of the summer park season. There will be free Yesterdog hotdogs, cupcakes from Connie’s Cakes, salad from Terra, and refreshments from Costco. An interactive drum circle with Wazobia Grand Rapids will start up at 12:15 p.m., and we’ll also have a free yoga class at 1 p.m., hosted by Funky Buddha Yoga Hothouse. Throughout the afternoon, there will be a variety of children’s games and crafts available, including a bounce house and face painting.
“We're really excited about this year because we've had a renewed interest in cleaning up Sigsbee Park and in trying to make it a more welcoming community gathering place,” said Marisa Sandahl, Executive Director. “Events like this are a fun way for us to both beautify our green spaces and bring neighbors together to enjoy such a great park.”
“Eastown’s parks are already incredibly valued communal spaces, where neighbors and friends gather together,” said Nicole Winter, Social Media and Special Events Coordinator. “We hope large parts of our neighborhood will take advantage of this free programming and will be able to interact with one another to build new shared memories.”
The ECA would like to thank Smitty’s Specialty Beverage, Yesterdog, Alpha Baking, Terra GR, Connie’s Cakes, Martin ReModel, Costco, Funky Buddha Yoga Hothouse, Wazobia Grand Rapids, and the Grand Rapids Public Schools for their continued support and sponsorship of this event.
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