Seattle Parks and Recreation is looking for nominations for the Denny Awards, which honor volunteer service to the city’s parks system.

The deadline for nominations is Nov. 1. The award is named for the Denny family, Seattle pioneers who donated the land that became the first Seattle park, Denny Park, in 1864.

The Denny Awards acknowledge and honor the crucial role volunteers play in neighborhood parks, community centers, and recreation programs throughout the city. Volunteers help Parks and Recreation staff and management in the work of the department and give valuable advice on important decisions about our Parks and Recreation facilities and operations. Volunteers pull ivy and plant native trees in our parks, coach kids’ sports, work as docents at selected parks, and serve on various advisory councils and boards.

Denny Awards nominees should meet the following minimum qualifications. The nominee must have:

• Demonstrated exceptional stewardship to parks and/or recreation;
• Provided stellar leadership related to enhancing and preserving parks and/or recreation programs;
• Demonstrated a significant personal commitment of time and effort to assist the Seattle Parks and Recreation department, and
• Gained respect of community peers for efforts to help Seattle Parks and Recreation.

If you’re at least 13 years old and interested in becoming a Salmon Steward, there’s a training session at Carkeek Park on Saturday, Oct. 16.

(It’s) a great way to learn about salmon and your park, get experience with small-scale public speaking, be a naturalist – teacher for a few hours, or get service learning credit. If you have interest in other areas of the park, this may be a new way to share your love of a park and other unique features you care about.

Salmon Steward training is from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Oct. 16 at the Carkeek Park Environmental Learning Center, 950 NW Carkeek Park Road. The training is free; bring a sack lunch and your calendar to sign up for four, three-hour docent shifts in November and December.

For more information or to sign up, call 206-684-0877. Register at least one week in advance.

Seattle Parks and Recreation has more furlough days coming up this week and next, to help close its budget gap. City of Seattle employees are taking 10 days off without pay this year.

On Friday, all community centers, swimming pools, and environmental learning centers will be closed, and there will be no grounds maintenance.

Next Monday, all administrative offices (communications, correspondence, Park Board support, web management, public outreach, human resources, finance and administration) will be closed, as will the Planning and Development Division and the Magnuson Park office.

Golf courses and the Amy Yee Tennis Center will operate on a normal schedule.

The pedestrian bridge at Carkeek Park will be closed on Thursday, Sept. 30, for final touch-up painting on the rails and deck. In February, Seattle Parks and Recreation and Seattle Department of Transportation made minor structural improvements, and cleaned and painted the bridge over the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad tracks on the west side of Carkeek Park. Now they need to do a little more painting before the project is completed.

The bridge will be closed from 7 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Thursday, so you won’t be able to access the beach until after 4 p.m.

Volunteers with Vision Greenwood Park are having their first work party to start building a community garden from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday (rain or shine.) They’ll provide coffee and snacks. Greenwood Park is at 602 N. 87th St.

Vision Greenwood Park has received a Neighborhood Matching Fund grant from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods to support construction of the community garden. The ‘matching’ part means that for every $1 of the grant, we have to supply $1 in volunteer labor or donations. This creates the opportunity to build community and neighborhood ownership while we build the garden.

Come out to help and meet your neighbors and make new friends. If you want a plot in the garden, the P-Patch program will give priority to people who have put volunteer hours into building it.

Please RSVP to so they can arrange enough coffee and tools.

The new community garden will be built in an undeveloped lot next to the east side of the park.

The Seattle Parks Department says Maroni Construction will begin work on Sandel Park’s playground renovations later this week. Sandel Park is at 9053 1st Ave. NW.

The $350,000 project is funded by the 2008 Parks and Green Space Levy, and is expected to be finished in January.

The final design fills in about two feet of the area of the existing upper playground and creates a larger playground more centrally located in the park. The design shared at the March 2010 Open House did not include the removal and grade elevation at the existing play area. This detail was the primary safety element in the Neighborhood Matching Fund design.

This final design addresses the visibility concerns that motivated the community to start the project. The new play area will have space to incorporate a wider variety of play equipment and will build upon the natural landscape of the existing park.

You can see a larger PDF of the design here.

Just a reminder that all Seattle Parks and Recreation swimming pools, community centers and environmental centers will be closed Friday for a furlough day.

On Monday, administrative offices, the planning and development division, and the Magnuson Park office will be closed.

Golf courses, the Amy Yee Tennis Center and all previously scheduled special events will operate as normal.

Seattle Parks and Recreation is taking furlough days on Friday, Sept. 10, and Monday, Sept. 13. It’s part of the 10 days without pay that city employees are taking to help with the budget shortfall.

On Friday, all swimming pools, community centers, and environmental learning centers will be closed, and there will be no grounds maintenance. On Monday, administrative offices, the planning and development division, and the Magnuson Park office will be closed.

Golf courses, the Amy Yee Tennis Center and all previously scheduled special events will operate as normal.

We couldn’t make it to Sunday’s Party in Greenwood Park, but Cassandra Allen and Mike Stringer sent us this report. Thanks Cassandra and Mike!

And thanks to Greenwood photographer Jay Boynton for the photos!

Residents from all over Greenwood came to the 2nd annual party in Greenwood Park. The band Pickled Okra played lively blue grass tunes and a barbecue featured donated food from eight local restaurants and grocery stores. The event celebrated the expansion of Greenwood Park to include two new lots along Fremont Avenue. Mayor Michael McGinn told the crowd, “When I go around the City and see the parks and projects going on in the neighborhoods, they are driven by committed volunteers. Volunteers are what make neighborhoods great. It is all of your time and talents that will make this park and Greenwood one of the best in the City.”

The party in the park was organized by Vision Greenwood Park, a neighborhood group that has formed to lead the community effort to expand the park. Cassandra Allen and Joanna D’Asaro co-organized the event. They were supported by a crew of twelve volunteers who procured donations, cooked burgers and hot dogs and staffed the event all afternoon.

The park expansion project includes a community garden, barbecue grills, and a multi-sport courtyard for basketball, soccer, street hockey, and skating. “We are happy to announce that Vision Greenwood Park has received a $60,000 grant from the Neighborhood Matching Fund,” said steering committee chair Michael Stringer. “As part of the matching contribution for this grant, we are raising money today, and will organize volunteer work parties to help build a community garden.” The first work party is scheduled for Saturday, September 25, from 10 AM to 2 PM. The first task will be to remove old fencing that currently blocks views across the park will open space for future garden plots.

The Party in the Park was a fundraiser as well as a celebration and raised nearly $2,000 in cash donations to support expansion of the park. Part of the fundraiser was a silent auction that featured donated gifts and services from nearly 30 local businesses plus the opportunity to have coffee with Mayor McGinn.

Donors to the event included:
- Phinney Neighborhood Association (donating the 3% transaction fee on all credit card payments!)
- Better Meats
- Mr. Gyros
- Gorditos
- Game Time popcorn
- Snoose Junction
- Lenny’s Market
- Molly Moon
- Pickled Okra
- Sip and Ship
- Top Ten Toys
- Gary’s Auto
- Fatty’s Pizza
- Boynton Photography
- Chocolati
- Wheatless in Seattle
- Whole Life Yoga
- Monkey Grind Espresso
- Pola Belle nail salon
- Rhea Healing Essential
- Terra Bella organic florist
- Carmelita’s Restaurant
- Gary’s Games
- Green Bean Coffee
- The Lash and Wax Boutique
- Seattle Mariners
- Spa Mama Seattle
- Georgia’s Greek Restaurant & Deli
- Romio’s of Greenwood
- Ken’s Market
- Greenwood Market
- Fred Meyer
- Safeway

The 6th Avenue NW Pocket Park at 6th Ave. NW and NW 76th St. was filled with kids and parents this morning for a puppet show, “The Tasty Tale of Brave Sir Bump,” by Zambini Brothers of Vashon.

Sir Bump prevailed over the dragon (who turned out to cranky because he was just hungry) by feeding him his picnic lunch.

The 6th Avenue NW Pocket Park (simply called “Our Park” by the locals) at the corner of 6th and NW 76th Street is hosting a puppet show at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Zambini Brothers of Vashon Island will perform “The Tasty Tale of Sir Bump.” The event is free.

The Green Lake wading pool survived the city’s mid-year budget cuts and will be open seven days a week this summer starting June 26.   However, the nearby Sandel Playground wading pool will be closed during park construction.  The mayor released his list of cuts today and decided to fully fund all community centers and swimming pools across the city. The only areas that took a big hit in the Parks budget were wading pools and park maintenance.

The mayor also decided against any cuts to the fire department budget in the wake of the deadly weekend fire in Fremont. You can see the complete list of cuts here.