Vallejo Vignettes – Park games in Vallejo

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Park games in Vallejo

I was born and raised in this little lovely city of Vallejo. As of late, it’s been riddled with various crimes and overshadowed with negative dialogue. 

This is why I’m always eager to share nice stories, like something I witnessed while I was at the park with my family and grandchildren. 

We always go to Washington Park, which is the closest to home. There my grandkids can play with friends, get some exercise and, more importantly, burn off some energy! 

A young lady sometimes hands out healthy snacks to the children at the park. The snacks are packaged, so you know there’s no foul play. One time she gave the kids boxes of apple juice, bags with little carrots and pizza Lunchables. 

My grandson is 8, and my granddaughter is 6 years old. That kind gesture meant the world to them.  

Another day a different young lady who frequents the park with her children gathered all the kids, including my grandchildren, for a game of red light, green light. I used to play this game as a child. Talk about nostalgia! All you could hear was the children laughing — and a few grunts.

These acts of kindness and parents creating a fun, safe space for the children warm my heart. 

I mentioned to my daughter that maybe we should look into providing outdoor games for the kids during the summer at the park, inspired by our childhood favorites.  

Vallejo has a bad reputation, but there are plenty of good things going on. Let’s all get involved. Take the babies to a park for some fresh air and be proactive. It makes a world of difference.  

— Jennifer Miller

A real community — with battle scars

I moved to Vallejo in January 2023. My entire life I moved around the country and parts of the Americas due to my parents’ profession and later my own. The Bay Area was somewhere I had been but never lived. Why not give it a year? Now, I can’t see myself anywhere else and Vallejo is a major reason for that. 

My move to Vallejo was a hard reset in life. The world was changing. My career was changing. I was changing. I needed to find a place of my own. A place where I felt comfortable. A place that just felt right. I found that quickly in Vallejo.

The community in Vallejo is real. As an outsider I can see it. The support this place has for its own is unwavering. People recognize you. People speak to you. I can see the connections people have with each other. They run deep.

Those connections run just as deep as Vallejo’s battle scars. They are visible throughout the city. I related to that. We all have our own battle scars. The city is working on itself. It’s a group effort. Community is built to lend a hand to each other. To support each other. I can see the effort and care people have for each other.

I am not sure how long I will live in Vallejo. No matter how long it is I know this was the right move for me a couple of years ago. This town is unlike any other in the Bay Area. I wanted to write this as a “thank you” to the city. So, thank you Vallejo.

— M.C.