Under some glorious fall sunshine, Friends of Mosholu Parkland (FOMP) were back with gusto as they celebrated a delightful, organic-themed Fall / Halloween Community Festival in Mosholu Playground at P.S. 8 in Bedford Park on Saturday, Oct. 15.

 

The festival drew local kids dressed in Halloween costumes, as they munched on hot dogs, popcorn, donuts and treats. Some played in the playground, which was duly decorated with a natural fall/straw theme, some got busy making ragdolls out of fabric, while others colored and ran around playing various games in the beautiful sunshine.

Among their other community and parkland work, FOMP manage the local community garden, located beside the Keeper’s House at 3400 Reservoir Oval East in Norwood. The group are strong advocates of the environment and, as reported, of maintaining clean, healthy air.

 

One parent, who declined to be photographed or give her name said she loved the festival. “It was good to get out of the house on a beautiful warm day,” she said.

Republican candidate for Assembly District 80 in the upcoming general election, Phyllis “Tiz” Nastasio, who was recently profiled in the Norwood News, also attended the festival. She told us, “I’m attending this beautiful fall festival today at P.S. 8 Moshulu Playgrounds.” She added, “It’s amazing! Elizabeth and Aesha have done a great job! I am looking forward to spending a whole lot more time here!”

 

Sheila Sanchez, president of Northwest Bronx Democrats, was also in attendance with her grand-daughter, Mima. The Northwest Bronx Democrats have endorsed Nastasio in the upcoming election.

 

We also spoke to Aesha Valencia, public relations director for FOMP about the organization that went into the event. “This year’s fall festival is at Moshulu playground,” she said. “It is the next playground on our list to get renovated and updated. We haven’t been able to do our fall festival for the past two years due to COVID. We have had to pause a lot of our events and activities, but this year we are back doing our normal work.”

Indeed, the group has been advocating and sharing a flier on social media about the playground in hopes of increasing awareness about its needs as well as raising needed funding for its renovation, which, as reported, is situated only several feet away from a shooting which occurred last April.

 

Valencia added, “The fall festival is important for the children and adults of the community; they do look forward to it! We always make sure that we have activities for them and entertainment that they don’t normally see. We think it’s beneficial to have these events for the Mosholu community.”

Meanwhile, Catherine Gasta, actor, theater maker and mime artist, was also in attendance on the day, busily entertaining the kids with her fun costume, dancing and theatrics.

 

There were also some strange-looking, Zombie-like characters present, adding to the spooky, Halloween atmosphere.

Reacting to the day, executive director, Elizabeth Quaranta, said, “An amazing fall festival yesterday that was much needed at this Mosholu Playground, bringing awareness to it. It’s in much need of an upgrade.”

 

FOMP’s next main event will be on Nov. 19 when they will host a fall bulb-planting day on Mosholu Parkland. See attached flier further below for more information.

 

Summing up the festival, Quaranta later said, “Thanks to all those who came out! We had fun didn’t we? Let the holidays begin!”

 

 

*Sile Moloney contributed to this story.