Seaside Heroes Park

SPECIAL VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES AT THE PARK TOMORROW MEET AT ANZA ENTRANCE Everyone I run into in the neighborhood tells me how excited you are to see the two entrances to Seaside Heroes Park so lively and colorful because of new plantings that Parks & Rec installed w the help of 120 youth group volunteers a few months ago. We love it that you noticed. Since then, a number of plants have perished and need to be replaced. THAT'S WHAT WE WILL DO TOMORROW MORNING=> weed the entr...ance areas by Anza and Lomita and afterwards, we will install the 50 or so plants the city is contributing to the project and hopefully they will give us more mulch to spread as it helps inhibit the rapid weed growth! THE REASON OUR WORK TOMORROW IS SO IMPORTANT IS THAT THE PARK IS INCLUDED IN SUNDAY’S ‘SOUTH BAY WATERWISE GARDEN TOUR’ (http://www.southbaywaterwisegardentour.com/) LET’S MAKE SURE IT LOOKS ITS BEST! THE EVENT IS USUALLY HELD BETWEEN 8-11 AM BUT THIS TIME WE START AT 7 AND END AT NOON. Any amount of time you can give, we are grateful for. I’ve committed several city and Madrona Marsh ARC members to working with us. IF YOU ENJOY THE PARK, TOMORROW IS A PERFECT TIME TO COME OUT AND SHOW SUPPORT BY GIVING A HAND. EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATES IS OBVIOUSLY AWESOME SO COME MAKE NEW FRIENDS! I need a few people to help with sign-in and filling out waivers. This is a perfect job if you’d like to help but can’t do the physical work. BACKGROUND: The ‘2nd Saturday of the Month’ beautification event began in April of 2014 after I noticed how overgrown it had become. I later learned that because of the recession, the city staff had shrunk significantly and simply could not keep up with the many green spaces throughout the city, so our little park was pretty much ‘on its own’. I really didn’t think things through (or I may never have begun) so I reached out to neighbors, Nextdoor members, created signs for each entry of the park and showed up with whatever tools I had and luckily, people heeded my call. It makes me laugh now everyone brought their own trash bags which often broke. Now the city provides sturdy big trash bags and pick them up the Monday after our event. As time went on, the event got featured monthly in the HOME section of the Breeze, on SeasideNeighborhoodAssociation.org, SouthBayByJackie.com, Torrance city calendar and the park has a Facebook page. Middle and high school students have done their community service hours at the park, we’ve had church groups, scouts and so many different volunteer groups that I can’t recall the names of them all. THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO’S PITCHED IN OVER THE PAST FIVE AND A HALF YEARS! THANK YOU to Tracy Drake who is the Parks & Rec manager and remains a champion of our little park and THANK YOU to the city personnel. I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU TOMORROW!

SPECIAL VOLUNTEER ACTIVITIES AT THE PARK TOMORROW MEET AT ANZA ENTRANCE Everyone I run into in the neighborhood tells me how excited you are to see the two entrances to Seaside Heroes Park so lively and colorful because of new plantings that Parks & Rec installed w the help of 120 youth group volunteers a few months ago. We love it that you noticed. Since then, a number of plants have perished and need to be replaced. THAT'S WHAT WE WILL DO TOMORROW MORNING=> weed the entr...ance areas by Anza and Lomita and afterwards, we will install the 50 or so plants the city is contributing to the project and hopefully they will give us more mulch to spread as it helps inhibit the rapid weed growth! THE REASON OUR WORK TOMORROW IS SO IMPORTANT IS THAT THE PARK IS INCLUDED IN SUNDAY’S ‘SOUTH BAY WATERWISE GARDEN TOUR’ (http://www.southbaywaterwisegardentour.com/) LET’S MAKE SURE IT LOOKS ITS BEST! THE EVENT IS USUALLY HELD BETWEEN 8-11 AM BUT THIS TIME WE START AT 7 AND END AT NOON. Any amount of time you can give, we are grateful for. I’ve committed several city and Madrona Marsh ARC members to working with us. IF YOU ENJOY THE PARK, TOMORROW IS A PERFECT TIME TO COME OUT AND SHOW SUPPORT BY GIVING A HAND. EVERYONE WHO PARTICIPATES IS OBVIOUSLY AWESOME SO COME MAKE NEW FRIENDS! I need a few people to help with sign-in and filling out waivers. This is a perfect job if you’d like to help but can’t do the physical work. BACKGROUND: The ‘2nd Saturday of the Month’ beautification event began in April of 2014 after I noticed how overgrown it had become. I later learned that because of the recession, the city staff had shrunk significantly and simply could not keep up with the many green spaces throughout the city, so our little park was pretty much ‘on its own’. I really didn’t think things through (or I may never have begun) so I reached out to neighbors, Nextdoor members, created signs for each entry of the park and showed up with whatever tools I had and luckily, people heeded my call. It makes me laugh now everyone brought their own trash bags which often broke. Now the city provides sturdy big trash bags and pick them up the Monday after our event. As time went on, the event got featured monthly in the HOME section of the Breeze, on SeasideNeighborhoodAssociation.org, SouthBayByJackie.com, Torrance city calendar and the park has a Facebook page. Middle and high school students have done their community service hours at the park, we’ve had church groups, scouts and so many different volunteer groups that I can’t recall the names of them all. THANK YOU SO MUCH TO EVERYONE WHO’S PITCHED IN OVER THE PAST FIVE AND A HALF YEARS! THANK YOU to Tracy Drake who is the Parks & Rec manager and remains a champion of our little park and THANK YOU to the city personnel. I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU TOMORROW!

To the awesome volunteers who showed up on Saturday to get down and dirty pulling weeds... we are so appreciative. It seems people enjoyed the fresh air and doing something different than what they've been able to do the past 6 months. Enjoy video of Robert’s inventive method of removing weeds in between walkway pavers. Without his dedication for several years it would look ghastly - just sayin’... We now have a total of 2,217 hours into the project since April of 2014. Every person and every hour of work is important and we look forward to seeing you next month, on November 14th. Remember to add the event to your calendar now.

Back at it! Seaside Heroes Park beautification is ON! Last time we could do this was March before COVID put an end to it Come join us - we’re here till 11 am. Next event is Nov 14th 8-11 am.

Back at it! Seaside Heroes Park beautification is ON! Last time we could do this was March before COVID put an end to it Come join us - we’re here till 11 am. Next event is Nov 14th 8-11 am.

Looking forward to seeing everyone this Saturday! Hi everyone - we were given notice just yesterday by the city that we can resume our monthly park beautification event at Seaside Heroes Park. Since there are now 2 documents the city requires everyone to sign, plus the actual sign in form, I need help with that process at 8 AM. If you know someone who might like to help, please call or text me 310.920.9387 In order to keep COVID distance, I also need one more table for the si...gn in. Who can help? See more

Since we haven’t been allowed to hold my monthly beautification event at the park bc of threat of COVID, the weeds have taken over and many flowers planted last year have perished. I want to alert u to some great fans of the park who’ve come out on their own - please comment to let these people know how much we appreciate their commitment.

Even w the budget cuts to Torrance Parks and Rec I was pleased to see a crew last week cutting some low branches off the trees at the Kathryn entry to our park. This is good bc these branches were rubbing against the sign which was already replaced once for similar reason.

I’m overwhelmed by the concern past volunteers have expressed for the way the park is looking after 4 months without our monthly volunteer event. These pictures show clearly how the weeds are taking over. Several of u have decided to do something abt it by weeding on ur own.... If u need help on what to focus on please reach out to me. I can also supply u with big, sturdy trash bags. See more

William needed service hours for his rank advancement in Boy Scout Troop 966. I have been told that Troop 966 has a connection to the park because one of the fallen soldiers (Lt. Matthew Ferrara) was also in Troop 966. Thank u William (and friend) for helping out. Parks and Rec have recently had their budget cut SEVERELY and more than ever we need help at Seaside Heroes Park to keep weeds at bay. ... Several people have contacted me to say that since the city is not allowing our monthly beautificatuon events during COVID, they are going on their own to remove invasive species (weeding). What a strong statement about the local community’s interest in the park! If u plan to go, I can help out by showing u which areas to work on and providing large sturdy bags for the weeds u pull.

To all our awesome volunteers: I was hoping that we might be able to commence our beautification event in July - and thank u to all of u who contacted me to find out when u can come back - but unfortunately the increase in COVID-19 cases means that the city has asked us to be patient so we can all be safe side. I will be sure to announce it as soon as I hear that we can pick up where we left off. There will be plenty to do, that’s for sure.

We are awaiting word on when we can resume our monthly beautification which was suspended for April and May due to COVID-19 distancing rules. Anyone interested in helping out, please reserve June 13th between 8-11am and watch for news on Nextdoor, our FB and IG pages. Parks and Rec must reduce their budget by $600,000 and will lose 4 employees. We need help more than ever to keep our park beautiful so we can continue to honor our fallen heroes. Any questions, call Jenna Christensen, 310.920.9387

Our park is named for 3 young men from the neighborhood who died in Afghanistan and Iraq and to all veterans. We salute you!

Heres to hoping we will be back in June.Heres to hoping we will be back in June.

We are not back to doing our event quite yet but fear not, the weeds are patiently waiting for us

The park is becoming overgrown with weeds however, there’s no event next week due to Coronavirus. If u feel like going on ur own to weed, nobody will keep u from doing so - just be sure to keep 6’ distance from anyone who isn’t ur social cohort. Miss u all and look forward to a time when we can all meet up again. Be safe, be healthy - and if u think this thing isn’t that big of a deal, u should watch the 60 Minutes segment on the devastation in New York. It’s heartbreaking and incredibly frightening what is happening. The latest numbers for Torrance which include cases from City Strip: 255 laboratory test cases confirmed and 32 deaths

Friends and Neighbors, unfortunately due to instructions by the city of Torrance, the April park beautification event will be cancelled. We would like to take a moment to thank the 12 volunteers who braved the weather for our March event and helped add 27 more hours FOR A TOTAL OF 2200 HOURS SINCE APRIL 2014!! We will let you know when we can resume beautifying our neighborhood park!