Why Is It Important to Come Play in the Snow on Sunday? It Could Help Beeman Park

* (Sunday the tons of snow coming to Beeman Park will be real snow gathered from the mountains, but also some machine-blown snow. Check out your real snow photos from last year, and please include photos of this year's snow-play day on Patch!)

There will be a in There will also be a mountain of toys collected for the for local food pantries and the.

But there will also be a collection plate this Sunday for the—commonly know to the locals as —because there is continuing concern that the park may have to cut some of the programs it offers the community.

When President Allan Dymond to help fund the upcoming event (which was to replace the usually held on the same day every year), he spoke of the dire situation of the popular city park, and the potential $60,000 of services the park may lose this year. 

“This park is a major part of our community, and it provides so many services for people of all ages,” Dymond said. “The budget cuts in the city are very severe, and we may need to pitch in a bit more this year to help them.”

So, along with the for homeless families and the for the Valley Interfaith Council feeding program, the city park will be soliciting donations, too when the expected thousands of people come to the park on Sunday afternoon. 

Studio City Park director Adam Monick said, “It will be a great event for the park, there will be a mountain of snow that will be piled over hay bales—50 tons of snow. It will be incredible.”

Monick is free to discuss the event—and even the fundraising for the city park—but he’s not allowed to talk about the budget, or the potential cuts. That job is only for Los Angeles City Recreation and Parks Executive Officer Regina Adams.

“Right now it is too early to say what budget cuts will be for any particular program, and there are no specific budgets for any particular park,” Adams told Studio City Patch late Friday.

The parks are paid for by property taxes from the community, and the budgets will be doled out next July. Adams also explained that the parks budgets are handled by region, so a certain allocation for Beeman Park would also come from the portion of the district budget that would also fund Weddington Park at the other end of Studio City, and other San Fernando Valley city parks.

Another issue that all city parks are facing, Adams explained, is the new rule that the centers must pay their own sanitation costs and electric and water costs out of their district budgets. That is what local activists figured out could cost up to a $60,000 deficit in the local park’s budget—and that would have to be made up for in a cut of services or personnel.

“That is probably where this number came from, but that is not the amount that will be cut from any budget, we don’t know that yet,” said Adams. She pointed out that Studio City has one of the most active community centers, and some of the most active volunteers involved in the Park Advisory meetings—which she said are all opened to the public.

The next Beeman Park Advisory meeting is at the center on Dec. 15 at 7 p.m.

, who is on the Park Advisory Board and has lived within a two-minute walk of Beeman Park since 1972, said her fears about budget crunches hitting the park may soon materialize. “Bottom line, the empty city/state/federal coffers are hitting home in a big way,” she said. “It takes a village, we live in one, I hope we can gather round and make this one work.”

Crigler wrote a passionate blog post (, saying in part:

Because of the City of Los Angeles’ budget crunch, many of the programs, such as sports, day camps, and classes at Beeman Park might be in danger. Our park must now “pay for itself” through its program fees and the generosity of sponsors.  If a program doesn’t cover its own cost, it could be cut.  We have already lost the Seniors’ Exercise Program.

For a donation of $100 or more, you will be listed as a “Proud Sponsor” with either your approved banner on the park’s fence, or, have your company name added to the Sponsor Board at the park, Crigler said.

Meanwhile, the Studio City activists are finding new and creative ways of drawing attention to the park—like the snow mountain.

“Have we had anything like this going on at any of the other centers?” Adams wondered out loud about the 50 tons of snow coming to Beeman Park this weekend. “Let me think. You know, I can’t recall anything like this has ever been done before in the city.”

And Monick assured that the snow will just melt away and be good for the grounds and not hurt the park.

“It’s an innovative idea, and if it brings people out, that’s a good thing,” Adams said.