"Teach Your Children Well" harmonized Crosby, Stills and Nash at its SummerStage concert Tuesday night. But on such a pristine evening — with the sun setting behind the trees, a mild breeze blowing, and a fashion parade of 7,000 hippies, hipsters, and others singing along — the theme could just as easily have been "Treat Your Park Well."

It was certainly the sentiment at the preconcert fund-raising cocktail party organized by the City Parks Foundation. With 330 guests, the event raised $160,000 for free arts programs in parks citywide, including 45 dance performances, 24 theater performances, 117 events for children, and 350 performances by master puppeteers from the Swedish Cottage Marionette Theatre.

With an annual budget of just over $10 million, the foundation also runs education and sports programs and community building initiatives.

But the SummerStage series is the jewel in the foundation's crown: Ten of last year's performers received Grammy nominations. Roy Hargrove, the National, Sonny Rollins, and Wyclef Jean are scheduled to perform in the next two weeks.

agordon@nysun.com