After championing major cleanup efforts on properties all over the eastside of Flint the last two summers, Kane Symons and a team of volunteers he works with have a deserved reputation for fighting blight in public and private spaces in the city. But an even more important aspect of that work is actually activating those spaces and using them once the cleanups are done. That’s what the second annual Choose Peace End Youth Violence event at Longway Park on June 27 was all about.
Symons, who is the park adopter at Longway through Genesee County Parks’ Keep Genesee County Beautiful initiative, has organized several service projects in and around the park. But the Choose Peace event provided the opportunity to bring hundreds of community members together to enjoy the space.
“It’s been a mission of ours for a couple years now on the eastside to create that family fun safe zone, where people can come, they can let go of their worries, and we can band together as a community,” Symons said. “Because we all know how we’re gonna heal from violence is community. It is getting these youth in different programs that we have to offer or events like this that get us together. It’s really for everyone to just know we’re stronger together and joined together over here, and we can get so much positive stuff done instead of negativity.”
The event included free food, bounce houses and yard games, snow cones, face painting, a balloon twister, a shoe and clothing giveaway for kids, and even a petting zoo from Cuddly Coos Farm in Swartz Creek with different types of animals that people could visit.
“At the end of the day, we’re here to make an impact and let everyone know we’re stronger together,” Symons said. “And bringing petting zoo animals to the Flint city kids that might not see an exotic Highland cow every day, they get to come up and cuddle or pet it and just come out here and forget their worries and have a good time and build bonds and relationships.”
The event came together through the work of a large group of volunteers and sponsors, including Flint City Kayak, Keep Genesee County Beautiful, Potter Elementary School, Blessed by Destiny & Sosa, Prescott Custom Flooring and Renovation, Centerfield Gutters, MS Renovations, Flint First Church, Eagles Nest Christian Ministries, Nellie’s Mac Shack, Miss Make it Happen, Dan the Balloon Guy, the Dunk Tank Company, and more. Flint City Council candidates Tracy Frazier (fourth ward) and Darell Brown (seventh ward) and mayoral candidate Micaiah Owns also participated in the event.
Symons noted that volunteers like Deszy Marie, Marissa Mitchell, and Andrew Brennan were integral in putting the event together.
The volunteer group he founded, Flint Area Neighborhood Operations (FANO), helped fund the event. Throughout the year, FANO provides residents with affordable yard maintenance and other services, and uses funds to help put on community events and purchase gas or equipment for various community cleanup projects. The group is always looking for volunteers and supporters as well as projects they can be hired for and can be reached through their Facebook page or calling Symons at (810) 347-4548.
The event was a positive use of Longway Park in the present, but Symons is also excited about what the future of that space holds. Thanks to funding pledged by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, new amenities will be a part of the spaces there soon. Nearby Potter Elementary is among the schools that will receive new playground equipment, and several upgrades to Longway Park were proposed for residents to vote on and prioritize for future Mott Foundation funding, including repaired tennis courts, and new bleachers and goal posts for the field that is used by the Flint Rogues Rugby Club for practices and matches.
“I’m very grateful to be the park’s adopter here, and it’s incredible some of the things that are going to come here (with the Mott Foundation funding),” Symons said. “They’re all coming after we took some time to clean (the park) up. And we’re not done. We got a lot more planned and things to do in the future.”
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