Komatke, D6- Kalka Park is a brandnew 10-acre recreation park nestled in the foothills of the Estrella and South Mountains.
On Sat, Nov. 15 the grand opening of Kalka Park was met with a constant stream of people who milled throughout the day to kick-off initiation of the Park.
Activities began at 7:00 a.m. with a fun walk, followed by the ribbon cutting and day-long team competitions in the areas of skateboarding, basketball, baseball, and sand pit volleyball games.
The evening special attraction was the greased pig competition. Winners of the young and adult categories walked away with a piglet and $100 cash. The night closed out to the sounds of "Papago Warriors Section C."
The park was named Kalka Park in homage of local family members Billy and Becky Kalka. These two individuals, now passed, were highly gifted athletes, most notably, in the sport of basketball. Thoughts of these individuals on the court evoke images of long-distance hook shots to the sound of nothing but net.
The late-Billy Kalka volunteer- coached the "Komatke Mustangs" during 1967 -1974. As told by one of the original bat boys and star pitcher, Roland Salazar: "It is really nice that this has gone up for the kids in the community. We played our games in the dirt. The ground was hard. We got roughed up a bit but we always knew Billy had ice-cold sodas ready for us at the end of the game."
Thank you to D6 staff members who were responsible for organizing the games and entertainment. It was evident that much care and consideration went into planning the events of the day. No doubt more good times will follow as young and young at heart make use of the ramada and play areas.
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