Saturday’s event attracted community members, Reserve Officers, Santa Paula Firefighters, Explorers and Citizens Patrol to the park in the at times troubled neighborhood. 

Calla Dominguez, coordinator of the LPP Police storefront, who organized the Day in the Park with SPPD Cadet Martha Reynolds-Brown, said she was happy with the turnout as well as the “people enjoying the music and the food…”

The music by Juano & Friends was playing to an appreciative crowd said Brown.

“You should have seen the little kids rush up and start dancing when the band played a song by Selena,” Brown said of the continuing appeal of the late singing star.

City Councilman Jim Tovias was feeling slightly nostalgic: “I grew up around here,” before the park was created and Tovias said he and his cousins “played in the river!” 

Now decades later Tovias said he was looking forward to the restoration of the playground destroyed by an arsonist more than a year ago. 

Lucia Lara was there with her three children waiting for McGruff the Crime Fighting Dog and in the interim they climbed the rock wall, went into the bounce houses, and played games set up for the younger set.

“The weather is really nice and everyone is having fun,” and Lara said her children so enjoyed the company of the Explorers—and the tour of the patrol car—they were already asking about joining the youth post when they got older.

“It has always been a nice park but sometimes,” said Lara, “there is trouble,” ranging from the arsonist that destroyed playground equipment to gang related incidents. 

“This,” she added looking at the crowd having family fun, “is much better!” 

Mayor John Procter was enjoying himself watching the kids race to the top of the high climbing wall while City Councilwoman Jenny Crosswhite was the first on the dance floor every time the beat warranted it. 

“I really like the fact that people are interacting with the police,” said Brown. “This is how relationships are started…” 

McLean was warily eyeing the clown standup with a hole where the face should be, usually reserved for fun photos. Instead, soon McLean would be looking out as the target for the pie-throwing contest.

“I’ll take a pie in the face for the kids anytime, no problem,” McLean said gamely.

He was pleased at the families that were enjoying the park: “This used to belong to the gangs but now we’re having a community event to send a message to them. And, it’s going to replace the gang-use memories of the residents with people having fun at a family park with the police.”

An added benefit is gaining familiarity with law enforcement while enjoying fun activities also encourages people to report criminal activity. 

Soon the main activity was the pie-throwing contest when shortcakes were filled with white and chocolate whipped cream and aimed at McLean by kids, a few adults and several Explorers.

After a few pies fell short of the target McLean asked, “Where are the baseball players?”

“Be careful for what you wish for,” said Procter and sure enough the next pie, if not a direct hit, managed to splatter plenty of whipped cream on the target.

Saturday’s A Day at Las Piedras Park was the second held since 2013.