Children play a game as part of Spring Break Funday at Northside Park this past Saturday.

This past Saturday afternoon, if you passed by the North Side Park between noon and 4 p.m. you saw dozens of children and several adults taking part in the Free Spring Break Fun Day.

Hosted by the civic groups Silent Voices, the Sons of Solomon Masonic Lodge and Women of Power, and supported by Visibility Outreach Touch Engage (VOTE.SoAR), the event provided a bouncy castle, activity stations at which kids could play games and win prizes, and grilled burgers.

By 1:00 pm, about 40 children were present, playing basketball or shooting a toy bow and arrow or having lunch and snacks. Meanwhile, for the grownups, a voting registration table was set up. 

Through the event, the coordinators hoped to raise awareness about the needs of the North Side Park. Sylvia Brown, one of the event’s organizers, said the large bathroom building had been locked since November. “They’re supposed to have been remodeled, but they haven’t been.”

Another organizer, Merchelle Thomas, said parks staffers had offered various explanations for the bathroom building still being closed, including the Coronavirus, the loss of a key and the lack of remodeling. “Let’s not play these games,” she said. “Let’s do the right thing.”

The reverse side of a bookmark that was distributed advertising the Spring Break Fun Day has a signup sheet under the following text:

“Neighbors across Hempstead County are coming together to share information, understand our government and support youth and their family circle. We’re out in the neighborhood to hear what things are like in the community.

ALL  [writer’s emphasis] neighbors can have a chance to live comfortably, raise a family and be welcomed. No matter what your background or your income or the color of your skin or where you’re from, most of us want the same things.”