McKennan Park
The pergola and gardens in McKennan Park

Friends of McKennan Park

The neighbors who keep the park.

A neighborhood association, founded in 2014, for the blocks around the park.

What they do

  • Plant the park's floral nameplate every May.
  • Hang the lighted garlands on the boulevard every November.
  • Placed three of the park's seven historical markers.
  • Run the neighborhood rummage sale each June.
  • Win city grants for boulevard trees, and commissioned the 2020 master plan.

Reach them

Emailfriendsofmckennanpark@gmail.com
Onlinefriendsofmckennanpark.com · Facebook group
JoinOpen to residents of the city-designated McKennan Park neighborhood. Membership form
GiveChecks to FMPNA, 305 East 26th Street, Sioux Falls, SD 57105, fund in the memo line. Trees: donorbox.org/tree-planting-grant
MeetingsQuarterly. Summer is the August potluck.

The year

Six dates.

  1. January

    Hotdish Competish

    A neighborhood cook-off with the All Saints association.

  2. Spring

    Tree grants

    The Friends apply to the city's neighborhood grant program; in 2024 that put 40 boulevard trees in at $40 each instead of $190.

  3. Late May

    Nameplate planting

    A Saturday morning planting the park's 1940s floral nameplate in a new color of impatiens.

  4. June

    Rummage sale

    Dozens of households sell on one weekend. The 2026 sale was the eighth.

  5. August

    Potluck and annual meeting

    Under the picnic shelter, 5:30 to 7 p.m., with a decorated-bike parade for the kids.

  6. November

    Light up the boulevard

    68 lighted garlands go up on 34 poles along 21st Street and through the park. They come down in spring.

June

The neighborhood rummage sale.

One weekend each June, dozens of households sell at once and the Friends map every listing. Sellers register through the association. The 2027 dates post in spring.

Sale listingsRegister a listing

Board

Nine neighbors.

Contacts as published by the association.

Funds

Where donations go.

  • General printing, the website, electricity for the boulevard lights, picnic supplies
  • Flower about $500 of impatiens a year for the nameplate
  • Holiday Garland replacement garlands and lights; $8,000 raised in 2024 for a new set
  • Interpretive Exhibits the historical markers in the park
  • Boulevard Tree matching money for reforestation grants
McKennan Park Master Plan drawing, Confluence, November 2020
The 2020 master plan the Friends commissioned from Confluence. It proposed the pool the city has since built, the band shell work since done, and a refrigerated rink still unfunded. Read the whole plan.