March 17-23, 2005

mixpicks

'Pack Mentality

Park Life

Despite an occasional turn for the worse, Pennypack Park is still looking fertile for its age. This Sunday, Northeast Philadelphia's most beloved green spot turns 100 years old. The anniversary marks its 1905 establishment as a park to promote the preservation and purity of legendary swimming hole Pennypack Creek. Since the ensuing century has seen the pollution of many similar national spots, it's no small cause for the Friends of Pennypack Park and the Pennypack Environmental Center to celebrate with free birthday cake and reminiscing. Local amateur historians and admirers who know the park's 1,600 acres best will present old photographs, stories and artifacts which document the last 100 years. Though the park's original mission hasn't quite held up (Pennypack Creek permanently closed for swimming in 1954 due to high bacteria count), there's still an active bird club, new aquarium and model of an 18th-century gristmill, the first structure ever built on the park's site. Birthday party attendees will get the inside scoop on upcoming events to honor the park's century status, including a "species count" one weekend in May, when visitors can vie to find 100 different species of birds within the park.

Pennypack Park 100th Anniversary, Sun., March 20, 2 p.m., free, Pennypack Environmental Center, 8600 Verree Rd., 215-685-0470.

—Tami Fertig