Park’s facing the music

By William Kenny
Times Staff Writer

As far as late summer evenings go, Aug. 4 at Wissinoming Park was a classic.
A couple dozen T-shirt-wearing teens filled the asphalt basketball courts, sprinting end to end as if the thermostat read a cool 60 degrees rather than a humid 80-something.
Other school-age youths rode the paths and grassy hills of the 42-acre park on bicycles while a group monopolized the swing sets, some swinging furiously and others simply dangling in their seats.
A lot of adults were around, too, strolling the grounds with their pets, their children or their significant others. And some folks just sat, soaking in the rhythms of the Afro-Caribbean music group Synthesis.
Pete Tweed, president of the park’s advisory board, has been trying for years to facilitate more evenings like the one last week by orchestrating a summer concert series there.
Unfortunately, that’s been pretty hard to do with a cloud of uncertainty hanging over the park in light of the city’s severe budget crunch and clouds of rain falling upon the park seemingly at every turn.
Still, Tweed and his fellow board members press on, figuring that the one certain way to ensure the park’s demise is to discontinue the free concerts and many other programs offered there.
"Yes, we are tenuous, but you can’t stop because you might not be around (in the future)," Tweed said, explaining that the board will produce two more concerts in the coming weeks and plans to continue the series next year.
The park entrance is on Cheltenham Avenue, just east of Frankford Avenue.
"Our objective is to give the community a chance to get together in a beautiful environment — and not have to pay for it for a change," Tweed said.
In the last four years, the concert series have offered a little something for everybody. There usually are four primary shows each year, on alternating Wednesdays in July and August.
"We’ve had a Cajun band several times because people like them so much," Tweed said. "We’ve had an Irish band, a brass band, a jazz trio, a blues band. We had a band who played rock, too. We even had a string band. I might have gospel next year."
The remaining dates this year include Steve Guyger’s Blues Band on Aug. 18, followed by the Philadelphia Banjo Society on Sept. 1. Both shows will start at 7 p.m. and conclude at sundown.
That’s if the weather holds up. The series has been very unlucky with Mother Nature for the last couple of years. Tweed figures that to be a primary reason for the sluggish public response to the events.
"We started four years ago," he said. "And for some reason, less people have been coming every year.
"For the first year, I guess we averaged two-hundred and fifty or so each concert."
By contrast, organizers counted about 75 people for a performance by Touch of Brass in late July. Synthesis saw a similar crowd last week.
The decline has not been for a lack of commitment to the program by the board, financially or otherwise. Tweed is always on the lookout for entertaining acts that he might bring to the park. And he does a lot of costly advertising, too, spending $1,500 this year alone.
He considered expanding the schedule to six or more dates this year, but circumstances wouldn’t allow it.
"We would have done more (shows) this year, but the funding didn’t come in until very late," Tweed said.
In retrospect, it might be a good thing the board didn’t add more dates, considering all of the bad weather the area has had once again. In fact, the upcoming Aug. 18 show originally was planned for July 7 but postponed because of weather. Also, last week’s show was cut off at about 8:30 when lightning began to flash in the distance.
Moments later, the skies opened with a downpour. The series has had similar problems throughout its history.
"The weather has not been conducive to it," Tweed said. "Two years ago, it was ungodly hot. I don’t blame the people for not coming. Last year, it was the rain."
On top of that, news reports and rumors about the park’s closing because of city budget cuts have probably hurt crowds, too, Tweed says. After all, if people think the place is shut down, they’re not going to show up for a concert.
Actually, the park likely wouldn’t be closed altogether. But funding from the Department of Recreation could ultimately dry up for programs like the concert series, as well as its six-week summer camp. And the modest community room might end up as a maintenance office.
"We’ve been thinking, ‘We might be out of here,’ since last April, and we’re still here," said Tweed. "We’ve been hearing about the park closing, and not closing, and closing, and it just goes on."
Tweed would hate to see Wissinoming be transformed from an active park to a so-called passive park where users would be left to generate their own activities.
"The point is, this is to be used by the public," Tweed said. "If you have a place to do things and have programs, you should have them."
Park programs don’t get much more basic than free music in the summertime.
"Bring a chair, bring a blanket and bring your friends," Tweed said. ••
Reporter William Kenny can be reached at 215-354-3031 or bkenny@phillynews.com