community involvement | The Lucky Penny

Oct 11 2012

New York Cares Urban Adventures: Mini Golf!!

After moving to NYC in 1997 fresh out of High School I discovered that one of the benefits of living in a city known for never sleeping is that you can pretty much get anything, go anywhere, and do anything you want, whenever you want. The world is kind of on call 24 hours a day to us city dwellers making the convenience of city living often hard to think about being without if we were to ever (GASP) move out of Manhattan. As you can imagine, this way of life leaves New Yorkers wanting for very little however in 1997, to my dismay, I did long for one thing that I could not find anywhere in the Big Apple, mini golf. Being from Washington State I could not understand how this was possible and if you don’t understand why this was such a huge deal, then you clearly have never been to the Pacific North West. Sure there are majestic mountains for hiking, rivers for fishing, and lakes and beaches for swimming pretty much around ever corner in Washington State but it also rains there, a lot, making indoor activities a pretty crucial part of every day life. Bowling is clearly the activity that reins supreme as far as optimal indoor fun in the outer areas of the Emerald City, and in second place there is a tie between go-carting and mini golf.

I am happy to report that today Manhattan no longer suffers from the mini golf drought it once did when I first moved to here 15 years ago. There are several places to strut your putt around the city now and this past weekend I was delighted to partake in a little mini golf expedition with the amazing and talented students of the New York Cares Urban Adventure program. After a summer sans Urban Adventures my boyfriend John and I were more then ready to help kick off the school year of monthly Urban Adventures with a day of mini golf fun at Pier 25. When we arrived at Pier 25, we discovered that there were other large groups there that day also getting their mini golf on so we had to break up into smaller groups of 4-5 people (2 students, 2-3 volunteers) and ended up having to take turns mini golfing.

While the first of the five groups hit the mini golf course the rest of us partook in some fun and folly playing tag with the other students and volunteers in a playground nearby. It became such a successful game of tag that other kids who were not part of Urban Adventures also started to play with us turning it into one very awesome game of freeze tag which kept us busy for an hour until it was at last our turn to hit the green. Clubs in hand we headed towards the 18 holes of mini golf fun. After about the second hole it became clear that keeping score was probably a mute point, so we cast our competitive natures aside and decided to just play “for fun.” There were some lost balls and a few close calls (one of our golfers that day was a first timer and greatly underestimated her strength when it was her time to putt) and after about an hour we completed the last hole, turned in our clubs and headed back to their school in East Harlem

Next up on our Urban Adventure program is a day of fun with magic as a magician (who we saw on the last trip of last year) will be paying a visit to the students at their school for their very own private show. We will also be doing a sort of pot luck for the kids that day, still deciding what treat I want to bring, I can’t wait:)

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Tagged mini golf, New York Cares, new york city, NYC, Pier 25, putt putt, Urban Adventures, volunteering

Jun 28 2012

New York Cares Urban Adventures: Victorian Gardens at Wollman Rink

Well yesterday was officially the last day for public schools for the school year here in NYC and unfortunately that means the end of New York Cares Urban Adventures until the fall. A few weeks ago, I gathered with my fellow Urban Adventure volunteers and the amazing students we work with, to celebrate the end of a successful year of some pretty awesome Urban Adventures. From a scavenger hunt at the American Museum of Natural History, ice skating at Lasker Rink, walrus watching at the New York Aquarium, to our estuary exploration at Alley Pond (just to name a few), this years Urban Adventures took us all over the city and beyond. Although I am sad to say goodbye for the summer, I can’t begin to express how fortunate I feel to have been part of such a great group of volunteers this past school year but even more, it was an honor to be able to work with such an incredible group of hard working kids.

For our last Urban Adventure of the year we all gathered together at the Victorian Gardens at Wollman Rink in Central Park. Although the sun played peek-a-boo through the clouds that day, spirits were high as we ran around with the students, riding rides and just having some plain, old fashioned fun. My boyfriend, who was in town that weekend and was actually the one who introduced me to the Urban Adventure program, was able to join us, making it an even more special day for me and the kids. I am a big believer that being a kid at heart is a good thing and that “kid” came out as I flew down the slides, swung on the swings, and laughed and played with the students all afternoon. The day was over far too quickly however it was a wonderful way to end such an amazing year of adventures with the kids. I can’t wait until the fall when we all meet up again for our next round of Urban Adventures with New York Cares, but until then here are some pictures of our last adventure of the year. Enjoy!

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Tagged Central Park, New York Cares, new york city, NYC, Urban Adventures, Victorian Garden at Wollman Rink, volunteering

Jun 14 2012

New York Cares Urban Adventures: Alley Pond Environmental Center

There are so many wonderful things about living in New York City and some consider it not only to be the greatest city in the US but also in the entire world. City living means having constant access to some of the best restaurants, greatest plays, most raved about musical performances, stunning ballets, and extensive museums right at our finger tips. You name it we got it, yes NYC is at the center of it all and for the most part we city dwellers want for very little, that is except for nature. Although Central Park is by far one of the most beautiful parks in the US, in a city of over 8 million people, it can at times get a little crowded. That’s why when New York Cares Urban Adventures said our next trip would be to an estuary, I was beyond excited to spend a day exploring with the kids of New York Cares Urban Adventures in the wilderness outside of the city.

Only a 40 minute bus ride from East Harlem is a little place called Alley Pond Environmental Center in Queens, New York. The center is over 635 acres of forests, meadows, ponds, and fresh and salt water marshes and is home to more than 300 species of birds and other wildlife. This sanctuary is where we spent a most beautiful day with the students learning about the estuary, marshes, and the creatures that call Alley Pond home. The first hour we spent in their leaning center where the kids were introduced to the Alley Pond Environmental Center resident animals including a turtle, a rabbit, and a dove which they were allowed to pet using the ever so popular “two finger touch” system.

After the kids spent some time in the APEC center learning all about what they should expect to encounter on our estuary adventure, we finally headed out to do some exploring. We spent the afternoon investigating the wetlands that surrounded us, walking through lightly wooded areas and along the edge of the estuary, admiring the new spring flowers as we made our way around Alley Pond. Afterwards we headed back into the APEC leaning center where the students drew pictures of what they had seen and then we finished the day with a picnic lunch under some weeping willow trees before getting back on the bus to head back to the city. Sadly, our next Urban Adventure will be our last one for the year until school starts again next fall but we are ending it with a trip to The Victorian Gardens at Wollman Rink in Central Park which promises to be a fun filled day of riding rides and playing games at the seasonal amusement park. Here are some pictures from our most recent adventure, enjoy!