The second annual "Springfield Unites" event is a community gathering to promote peace and positivity in the city.
In this Republican file photo, participants are shown listening to speakers at the first annual "Springfield Unites" event held at Forest Park last summer. This evening's gathering is expected to include music and fun. Organizers are asking participants to bring their own picnic dinners. SPRINGFIELD — A Forest Park gathering scheduled for Tuesday is being billed by organizers as "a beautiful day in the neighborhood," a chance for people to come to together on a summer evening to celebrate peace, positivity and resiliency in the city of Springfield.
The second annual "Springfield Unites" event, sponsored by the Mayor's Citywide Violence Prevention Task Force, will take place today from 5 to 7 p.m. in the park's picnic area near the Kennedy Eternal Flame.
"We're having it to show people it's not hard to get together and have some fun while promoting positive things" about Springfield, said task force member Gianna Allentuck, an adjustment counselor at Springfield's Elias Brookings Expeditionary Learning Museum Magnet School.
The goal, organizers say, is to celebrate the positive, resilient spirit of post-tornado Springfield while also enjoying food, music and summertime activities in the park. Organizers have asked those planning to attend to bring a picnic dinner, blankets, chairs, swimsuits, towels, basketballs, Frisbees, or any other recreational items, for an evening of fun with friends and neighbors.
In addition to music and Zumba — a recreational fitness craze involving dance and aerobic elements — the event will feature basketball games and a chance to cool off in Forest Park's water park.
Admission to Forest Park, located at 302 Sumner Ave., is $3. Parking is available near the park's Cyr Arena and farmer's market.
Formed 20 years ago, the Mayor's Citywide Violence Prevention Task Force is a collective of committed stakeholders who work collaboratively to develop solutions, interventions and prevention strategies to reduce violence in Springfield.
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno has asked city residents to help the powers that be fight crime in Springfield. "The police cannot do it all. The Mayor cannot do it all. The social service agencies cannot do it all. I need you, each and every one of you, to band together," Sarno states in a post on the group's Facebook page.
Members of the law enforcement community, including probation officers and city police officers, are expected to be in attendance at this evening's event. "We want people to know that when you see people in uniform, you don't have to be afraid," Allentuck said.