Maya McFadden Photo
Wednesday’s pop-up event at Criscuolo Park.
On a normal day Criscuolo Park is filled with chess players, basketball games, and fishers. On Wednesday, dozens of neighborhood kids joined in on the park fun, for a family pop-up event.
The event was hosted by the city Youth and Recreation Department (YARD), which brought out its “Fun Bus” with arts and crafts, a bounce house, water slide, the New Haven pizza truck Jackie’s Pizza the Pie, a hot dog cart, ice cream bus, and DJ.
YARD used federal American Rescue Plan pandemic-relief dollars to fund an eight-part Family Fun Day series. It has hosted a cookout celebration every Wednesday since July. So far it has brought free food, games, and music to Edgewood, Quinnipiac Meadows, Hill, Dixwell, Annex, Newhallville, and Fair Haven.
Alexandria Brock, 73, sat in a lawn chair at Wednesday’s event watching great-grandkids Sean Williams, 7 and Egypt Williams, 3, play in the park’s splash pad. Brock and her great-grandkids, who live with her, have attended all seven Family Fun Day events so far this summer.
“They can’t get enough of the slide, water, and pizza,” said Brock.
Brock has lived in New Haven for more than 50 years.
“I come out here for myself too. I can’t get enough of their pizza,” Brock said after enjoying her third slice Wednesday. “And there’s nothing better than getting to relax and watch the kids be happy.”
The next and final celebration of fun is scheduled to take place at Winslow Park on Wilmot Road between Wayfarer Street and Brookside Avenue in West Rock next Wednesday from 2:30 – 5:30 p.m., for kids of all ages.
YARD’s Ronald Huggins, Tyler Evans, Tomi Veale.
YARD came to New Haven native and event coordinator Tyler Evans with the series plan. Evans and his team have been charged with set-up and break down, on-site coordinating during the events, and community outreach.
Two days before and then the day of each event, Evans walked the neighborhoods to broadcast the free outdoor celebration for families to destress this summer.
Evans described the series of events as a way to “bring community back after Covid.”
The largest celebration was at Roberto Clemente School in July. Hundreds attended the event. That event included a visit from the New Haven Fire Department (NHFD), which allowed kids to touch and learn about fire trucks.
“Parents can’t always have something fun and safe for their kids to do everyday. Stuff is too expensive or far,” Evans said. “Here they get entertainment for hours, and parents can meet city resources.”
Health Department’s Amanda Baldwin with daughter Genelle at Wednesday’s event.
The city’s health department and Griffin Hospital partnered with YARD for the event to distribute free thermometers and administer Covid vaccine doses at the event.
YARD’s goal is to host the Family Fun Day series annually if funds are available, said Youth Services Specialist Ronald Huggins.
Since the series kicked off, the event organizers have been checking in with the health department weekly to stay updated with Covid case numbers and changes to outdoor-gathering protocols in order to keep families safe Huggins said.
Youth @ Work Coordinator Tomi Veale joined the YARD event Wednesday to provide parents and teens with information about the program. Veale said the program is currently working through the process of engaging local nonprofits for its Year Round Work Based Learning Experience, which employs high schoolers during the school year.
Robin Moore-Evans distributed flyers to families at the event for the Elizabeth Celotto Child Care Center based out of Wilbur Cross High School. Moore-Evans, director of the center, encouraged families to apply for the free child care services for New Haven Public School (NHPS) student parents.
The program’s enrollment is down. It plans to have open enrollment going into the start of the school year until its full capacity of 32 children ages six weeks to 3 years old is reached, Moore-Evans said.
“Free child care that’s safe and secure lets them be teens and focus on school and extracurriculars,” Moore-Evans said. “When they come to the center they’re parents but they leave as teens.”
In addition to the Family Fun Day Series, YARD this summer has hosted a free youth concert, its annual movies in the park series, and free weekly yoga with the Elm City Yogis.