Austin Parks Foundation's It's My Park Day Spring 2020 - A Morning of Reuniting Friends of Parque Zaragoza / Amigos de Parque Zaragoza

This Austin Parks Foundation’s City-wide It’s My Park Day Spring 2020 for Parque Zaragoza Neighborhood Park really transformed into a truly special occasion as some of Parque Zaragoza's longest neighborhood park advocates and organizers attended and reminisced about the park, shared their stories and its history which dates back over 90 years. 

For the morning's setup and gathering I deliberately picked the swimming pool and old recreation center/caretaker cottage location I now refer to as 'the heart of our park'  because for at least 65 years up until 1996 all the community's activities and traffic flowed in and out from here. 

We enjoyed breakfast tacos from Joe’s Bakery and Coffee Shop (a local business supporter of the park for decades) and discussed some shared goals for Parque Zaragoza's future including the next ACL Festival grant application for adding a new amenity to the park as well as historical preservation grant application opportunities. We also are aiming to bring back some older neighborhood park traditions too.

A heartfelt thank you to Austin Parks Foundation, City of Austin Parks and Recreations Department and the Parque Zaragoza Recreation Center team for their ongoing support through facilitating our events. But especially all who made it including returning volunteers from our previous It's My Park Day, Fall and also City Council Member Pio Renteria, his wife Lori and our District 3 first dog, Hija (Spanish for daughter). 

I'm truly grateful and blessed that by learning about the history of this neighborhood park and its surrounding community who cares about it, I have found my own extended East Austin familia / family. 
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"Parks and Playgrounds are the Soul of a City." - Marty Rubin 

Parque Zaragoza's All Things Trees & Park TLC - Austin Parks Foundation's It's My Park Day Fall 2019

For Austin Parks Foundation's It's My Park Day Fall this year 55 Austin adult and youth volunteers participated in East Austin's historical Parque Zaragoza Neighborhood Park's All Things Trees project.
Volunteers helped mulch the park's heritage and newly planted trees and picked up trash throughout the entire park.

Additionally, we welcomed our park's 60+ newly planted baby trees of 30 varying species by creating tree identification signs for the new Zaragoza Diversity Grove.

A special thanks to all, Austin Parks Foundation for making these events possible and Keep Austin Beautiful for donating the mulch.  

"Parks and Playgrounds are the Soul of a City." - Marty Rubin 

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PZNA along with Austin Youth Volunteers Joins Austin Parks Foundation's Largest City-wide Volunteer Event dubbed 'It's My Park Day' Fall 2018 to Refresh Parque Zaragoza's Butterfly, Herb and Vegetable Gardens.

A special thanks to all who joined Parque Zaragoza's first It's My Park Day, a city-wide event hosted by Austin Parks Foundation but especially Austin Parks and Recreation Department Parque Zaragoza Recreation Center's Staff and Teen Volunteers, Austin Police Department Region 3 and Explorer Volunteers, RBI Austin and Youth Volunteers! In total we had just under 60 participants mostly Austin Youth Volunteers make our park project a big success. You can read about it in PZNA's Neighborhood Nose out later this week! So stay tuned. 

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Great fun and community turnout at the Parque Zaragoza playscape 2019 ribbon cutting celebration. 

A special thank you to all who made it. Parque Zaragoza Neighborhood Association would like to express gratitude to our community partners, Claudia Rocha and her team at Parque Zaragoza Recreation Center, Austin Parks and Recreation Department, Austin Parks Foundation, RBI Austin, St. David's Foundation, Austin Police Department Region 3, Austin Code Department, Austin Public Library and our Council Member Pio Renteria, District 3. It's because of this great team that our neighborhood and community park's future is looking so bright. ​

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PZNA October Meeting: 

Some photos from our monthly meeting at the Parque Zaragoza Recreation Center. Truly grateful for the community turnout. A special thanks to the dedication of our Council Member Pio Renteria, District 3 to listen to all his residents at the end of the day during midterm campaign season.

And also our Austin Police Department DRs Officer Perez and LeClair as well as Sgt. Ellsworth for taking time to hear to everyone’s ideas, questions and input about our neighborhood.

Earlier Founding PZNA Meetings: 

Photos include PZNA September Meeting, Austin Police Region 3 Community Engagement Meeting, Meetings with Austin Police Region 3 DRs about community updates and our very first park clean up in October 2017 before officially founding the PZNA.