spirit of the riverwards - may 25, 2016

HYPERLOCAL DONE DIFFERENTLY

FISHTOWN + KENSINGTON + NORTHERN LIBERTIES + PORT RICHMOND + BRIDESBURG

THIS

WEEKMAY 25, 2016

VOL. 13NO. 20

PRESS

HOTOFF THE

WOMEN OFCOURAGE

8

SugarHouse’s Wendy Ham-ilton among those honored

at Lutheran Settlement House’s Women of Cour-

age Awards Ceremony.

PUBLIC SPACE

9

Plans for Adaire School-yard, Fishtown Rec and “Swimmo” take shape

after meeting.

FINANTA

15

Local financing and technical assistance firm presented with National

Small Business Association Award.

PHILLY DNC

10

City denies Kensing-ton-based activists permit for Economic Justice Rally

at 2016 DNC.

PUNCH LINE

10

Live Nation set to open new comedy club this July.

Continued on Page 6.

For coupons and deals on furniture and homegoodsCHECK OUT WAREHOUSE 34’S ADVERTISEMENT ON PAGE 3

VOL. 13NO. 20

One year ago the Philadelphia Federal Credit Union (PFCU) announced a partnership with the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program and plans to commission a mural that would be emblematic of the neighborhoods of East Kensington and

Fishtown. Following a selection process, local artists Jeffro Kilpatrick and Brad Carney designed a mural hand-picked by the community to be created on an exterior wall of A C Auto Body, located at the corner of East Dauphin Street and Frankford Avenue. The hard work and dedication of the artists, sponsors and community all culminated in the unveiling of the new mural, titled “Welcome to the Neighborhood,” on Saturday, May 21, just before the 2016 Kinetic Sculp-ture Derby and Trenton Avenue Arts Festival. “Over 2,000 people helped make this mural possible by voting for the design concept and artist or participating in a paint day,” Karen Eavis, Communication Specialist at PFCU, said. “Now we’re here to welcome

this wonderful piece of art to the neighborhood.” Eavis then introduced the always-energetic Jane Golden, Executive Di-rector of the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. “We really value artists [at Mural Arts],” Golden said. “In fact we are very loyal to local artists. I would say 95 percent of the artists we work with every year are from Philly and that is fantastic. But sometimes we like to become hyperlocal, so when it came to this project we really had an eye on who’s in the community.” Golden described her excitement for the project and the democratic se-lection process that proceeded it saying, “I like democracy in action.” “What I love about this project is that it's stories, it's people from the neighborhood and we also had three community paint days, which means that this process was really inclusive. So all of you, many of you, made your

The Spirit of the Riverwards – May 25, 2016

local lensT H E

THOM NICKELSIS A PHILADELPHIA BASED AUTHOR, JOURNALIST, POET, FILM CRITIC &

FEATURE WRITER FOR SPIRIT NEWS.

B Y T H O M N I C K E L S

I had reservations when I went to see "The Christians" at the Wilma Theatre because I could see that the play was not about so-called apostolic or traditional Christianity like Eastern Orthodoxy, Roman Cathol-

icism or Anglicanism, but about evangelical, fundamen-talist Christianity, or the kind of Christianity that tends to interpret the Bible literally. (God created the world in seven literal 24 hour days). Ads for the play gave the fundamentalist focus away with depictions of a minister holding a bible. Religious funda-mentalism has always been one of writer Gore Vidal’s pet peeves. He used to refer to Christian fundamentalists as bible thumpers when he wasn’t calling them Holy Rollers. Vidal believed that fundamentalism was “a sign of a break-down in the economy of the state,” and he said that wanted no traffic with a God who is “warden of the prison.” Growing up, fundamentalist Protestants were, for us Catholics at least, a strange lot. Most of them had odd pro-hibitions against dancing or alcohol while others believed that the only thing you had to do to “be saved” was to say that you “accepted Jesus.” Once you “accepted Jesus,” the work was over. Just saying the words “I believe” was enough. It was almost like Saint Augustine’s saying, “Love God and do what thou wilt.” Holy Rollers didn’t interest me as a kid, mostly because I found their services to be plain and boring. The occasion-al fundamentalist wedding I did attend was always devoid of mystery. While there was singing and sermonizing, there were no rituals, candles, incense, icons or statues or vestments — just wood paneling, a big holy bible and lots of hand clapping. I was encouraged to see "The Christians" by a former minister’s wife who told me that she had seen the play and was very impressed by it. “Everyone in the audience bowed their heads,” she said. “They were praying and singing along with the choir on-stage.” I could scarcely believe my ears. When was the last time you saw a Wilma audience, or any city theatre audience for that matter, bowing their heads in prayer? “I mean,” I told her, “what happened to the Octoroon agnos-tic element?” “No,” she assured me, “this was really good. The play raises some serious questions about God. Go see it!” So I took my friend’s advice and headed over to the Wil-ma to see the play with a secular buddy, a 23-year-old who we'll call S, who I met recently at a Center City Bach con-cert. S, to my surprise, had an enormous desire to see "The Christians", which sort of surprised me, considering that he’s never been a part of any religious tradition. Part of the reason he wanted to go was because he had heard so much about the Wilma, especially from the rush of online arti-cles and replies to my column on the Wilma, which was published in this newspaper about a month ago. S wanted to see what the Wilma was all about, whether the audienc-es there laughed inappropriately, gave robotic standing ovations or grouped together in cliquish same-age clus-ters in the lobby. (Okay, Wilma fans, please take the latter with a grain of salt). We caught "The Christians" on an ordinary weeknight rather than the press opening, so the audience was differ-ent. The ambiance was sedate, the tone softer. We were assigned fantastic seats, the second row, which surprised me because I had imagined that the Wilma brass would punish me for last month’s critical column.

"The Christians" opens with a robbed choir belting out gospel songs in that give me that old time religion mode. Seated directly in front of the choir and facing the audience are the church’s head honchos: Pastor Paul (Paul Debory), looking slick and professional in a well matched suit and shiny shoes; the assistant pastor, Josh-ua (Delance Minefee); the well coiffed wife of Pastor Paul, Elizabeth (Erika Lavonn); and church board member, El-der Jay (Ames Adamson). After the gospel numbers, Pastor Paul rises and begins his sermon in the best charismatic style. This preacher man knows how to work a crowd. The Wilma audience, in fact, becomes the congregation of the church, so the experience is very much like stepping into an actual mega church and hearing this stuff “for real.” This audience around me, however, was not bowing its collective head in prayer. Pastor Paul announces that the church is finally out of debt because the bank has been paid back in full. O glo-rious day! The choir sways back and forth as Elizabeth’s eyes glaze over (is that a tear?) and Joshua gleams. Every-body is happy, but not for long. Pastor Paul drops a bomb when he announces that he’s had a revelation from God. A revelation, of course, can come via a thunderbolt, hunch, or a series of dreams, but Pastor Paul doesn’t say how it happened, only that God told him that there is no hell and that everybody is saved and goes to heaven. Ev-erybody, meaning unbelievers, murderers, rapists, pick-pockets, serial killers, terrorists, child molesters and even world tyrants like Adolph Hitler. Ditto for Jack the Ripper, Richard Speck, the Boston Strangler, Ted Bundy — all re-ceive eternal glory in Heaven because there’s no Hell. In a manner of speaking, Caligula is just the same as Mother Teresa. An after life of total equality! The announcement causes disruption and schism. The first person to contest it is the Joshua, who states that he could never be coerced into believing or preaching such a doctrine. He announces God’s own revelation to him that there is a hell. He resigns his position and goes off to start his own church. Choir member Jenney (Julie Jesneck) comes forward and says that while she doesn’t believe that people should be good just because of the promise of a heavenly reward, there must be a hell because, after all, where is Adolph Hitler now? When Pastor Paul answers, “Heaven,” it’s too much for her and she makes her exit. The bespectacled gray haired Elder Jay also leaves and eventually the entire choir stands up and walks out of the church. It’s a disaster for Pastor Paul and Elizabeth, but wait, even Elizabeth is having second thoughts. She exits and returns, still unsure, and stays with the beleaguered pastor, at least for a while. "The Christians" is actually the best play I’ve seen at the Wilma in a long time. S. was also captivated and took a lot of notes during the performance. I told S during our walk down Broad Street that "The Christians" is really a big advertisement for the pitfalls of fundamentalist Christianity. I explained that because it is the fundamentalist way to interpret the Bible individually — there’s no central command post or teaching authori-ty among fundamentalists — ambiguous Bible passages can be read and interpreted any number of ways. The wide open interpretive field has led to the creation of thou-

sands of western Christian denominations or sects, each one insistent that its revelation is true and authentic. Talk about dueling banjos. Getting on my high horse, I told S that this is not true in Orthodoxy or Catholicism, where the grounds for bible interpretation comes from the early Church Fathers and the first 7 Ecumenical Councils of early Church. “You know, S,” I said, ”When individual believers in-terpret scripture for themselves, what you are left with is anarchy and thousands of tiny fundamentalist Christian sects, from storefront churches to Dallas based glass ca-thedrals that resemble stadiums." S had no idea, for instance, that in the early Church there was no scripture at all, only liturgy or ritual and prayers. The Bible as such did not exist. There was no such thing as salvation from the Bible in early Christianity. But there was incense, candles, icons and ritual. Of course, as S and I discussed, both sides in the de-bate in Pastor Paul’s mega church are guilty of simplistic thinking. Even Joshua, as smart as he was to move on and reject Pastor Paul’s Marxist revelation, goes too far afield after hearing a story about a young non Christian boy who was killed while saving somebody’s life. Joshua adamant-ly claims that the boy went to hell because he did not af-firm belief in Jesus before his death. “That’s the trouble with fundamentalism,” I told S. “It pretends to know the mind of God when one cannot possibly know the mind of God. This kind of Holy Roller mentality acts thoughtlessly with self righteous, Pharisa-ical fury and spiritual pride when it suggests without any doubts that “so and so went to hell.” Yes, "The Christians" is the best thing I’ve seen at the Wilma in a long time.


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We had a lot of weather thrown at us last week: We enjoyed 70s and sunshine and got depressed in the 50s and rain. This week we take a step up. The 80s emerge

out of the ashes and sunshine will be the norm, not the exception. In fact, every day this week could get to 80 or above. We might get “hosed” and see a day in the 70s, but after the nasty weather we’ve been through no one’s com-plaining about the 70s! I do not see any major storms this week. The chances for rain come from weak disturbances moving through the atmosphere. Thursday offers the best chance for showers, with other weak chances on Friday and Tuesday. The big

story this week is we introduce summertime humidity, es-pecially for Memorial Day Weekend. Also, with lows hang-ing near 70 some nights get ready to turn the AC on! Wednesday is a great weather day. Expect temperatures to soar to the 80s. The 80s will never feel so good after ex-periencing 50s only four days earlier. Thursday will be sunny warm and a bit humid. Tem-peratures will get to the upper 80s, but we will need to watch for scattered showers in the afternoon and evening. Friday features continued warmth in the 80s. We may have to deal with a round or two of showers, especially in the 8AM-1PM time period. At the least, look out for clouds. Friday evening looks dry.

MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND FORECAST: Saturday, Sunday and Monday are all fantastic days! Temperatures will be solidly in the 80s for the weekend with a pop to 90 likely on Monday. It will finally feel like summer! The unofficial start to the season will deliver the goods. Look out for higher humidity levels, so it will feel hot! Tuesday’s weather is still warm with sunshine and clouds. Some showers may develop in the afternoo,n but it doesn't look like a big deal. The weather winner of the week is the entire Memorial Day Weekend; the weather loser is Thursday!

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SEAN KEARNEYSTAFF WRITER

MEGAN MATUZAKSTAFF WRITER

Woman Of CourageW O R D S A N D P H O T O S B Y P A T R I C K C L A R K

L U T H E R A N S E T T L E M E N T H O U S E A W A R D S C E R E M O N Y H O N O R S “ W O M E N O F C O U R A G E ”

More than 350 people gathered at the Crys-tal Tea Room of the Wanamaker Building for the 11th annual Lutheran Settlement House Women of Courage awards ceremo-

ny and luncheon on Wednesday, May 18. The ceremony paid tribute to women making a difference in the commu-nity and served as a major fundraiser for the Lutheran Set-tlement House (LSH), a non-profit community organiza-tion located on Frankford Avenue in Fishtown that serves homeless families and individuals in the area. Welcoming remarks were given by Mayor Jim Kenney be-fore the first award was presented to Karen Hudson of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for Community Ad-vocacy. Hudson serves as the program leader of CHOP’s Homeless Health Initiative. This initiative provides LSH’s homeless shelter with important health services and ed-ucational sessions. In her acceptance speech, Hudson fought back tears as she told the audience, “I challenge all of us to pay it forward. To make the world a better, bright-er, and safer place.” Wendy Hamilton, the General Manager of SugarHouse Ca-sino, was presented with the Visionary Leader award. Sugar-House has worked closely with LSH in their employment program and spoke to the audience about their efforts to cre-ate jobs through the casino’s expansion. In addition, Ham-ilton leads a largely female leadership team at SugarHouse. When asked about SugarHouse’s involvement with LSH, Hamilton responded, “We love the work that Lutheran Settlement House is doing, so to be honored by this group is something that’s really very meaningful for everyone at SugarHouse. I’m the lucky person that gets to be the face of it but they’re really doing good work and we like to sup-port them in any way that we can.”

Lutheran Settlement Home paid tribute to wom-an making a difference at the Woman of Cour-age Awards, including Karen Hudson of CHOP and Wendy Hamilton of SugarHouse Casino

Wendy Hamilton of SugarHouse Casino Mayor Jim Kenney

The Crystal Tea Room was the site of the award ceremony.


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mark on this community in a big bold inspiring wonderful way,” Golden said, adding, “I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for helping us live that saying we love: Art ignites change.” Sandy Salzman, Executive Director of the New Kensing-ton Community Development Corporation (NKCDC), has seen art ignite change in her community. Both East Kens-ington and Fishtown have experienced plenty of change in the past decade or so, much of it sparked by the creative class and artists. “I do want to thank [PFCU] across the street, if you hav-en’t been inside you really need to go in and see the amaz-ing restoration made to that building [The old 26th Dis-trict Police Station]. It really is wonderful. And of course the Mural Arts Program for coming up with this unique way of having the whole community involved,” Salzman said. “They put out an RFP (request for proposal) for art-ists in the neighborhood to submit their artwork and then everybody in the community had a chance to vote on what they wanted on this wall. It makes it all the more special because of course the winning one was done by Jeff and [Brad] and it has people from the neighborhood.” Kilpatrick has been drawing local people for years. Well known for his “Sketches of Fishtown” series that was pub-lished in the Spirit News, he would draw various members of the community and offer a slice of their lives in his car-toons. With that being said, Kilpatrick had never worked on something this large before. “It’s crazy,” Kilpatrick said. “To see my tiny lines get that big is humbling. I’ve never been asked to leave something like this behind in the neighborhood. It’s an honor and the biggest thing i've ever done in the neighborhood.” While Jeff provided the characters and sketches for the mural, Carney, an accomplished artist with Mural Arts, acted as the sketches’ megaphone and helped aid Killpat-rick in taking his 5x4 inch sketches and blowing them up

to to 14x50 feet. “I’ve known Jeff for almost 15 years and I’ve been watch-ing him create stories one drawing at a time. When you look at this work of art, even if you don’t know a person [pictured in the mural] you can connect with the sensibil-ity his lines create with each person,” Carney said. “When I was paired up with him, I found it a joy to put a big scene together out of all of the “Sketches of Fishtown” he’s been drawing for more than 10 years. This is a chance to really show the work of this artist.” Locals depicted in the mural include Darla Jackson of the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym, Kilpatrick’s cousin and sign painter Sean Gallagher and Paul Malvey, known locally as a “tree man” who used to run NKCDC’s Land-Use manage-ment program. Malvey passed away four years ago. Another character painted on the mural is a young boy selling pretzels from a box. When asked if he included himself in the mural, Kilpatrick said, “I’m probably the pretzel boy. That was me and every other kid in the neigh-borhood.”

You can see the mural for yourself one the wall of AC Auto

Continued from Page 1. Body at Frankford and Dauphin. PFCU is holding a photo contest on Facebook where they are all calling for residents to post pictures of themselves in front of mural, and the best will be selected for a $100 prize. Winners will be announced on June 18. Visit PFCU’s Facebook for full details. The mural unveiling occurred just before the start of the 2016 Kensing-ton Kenetic Sculpture Derby and Trenton Avenue Art Festi-val. We’ve included photos from the derby here as well.

Jane Golden, Executive Director of Mural Arts./Max Pulcini

From left to right: Jill Dembinski, Jeffro Killpatrick, Karen Eavis, Brad Carney, Sandy Salzman, Maria Quinones-Sanchez./Max Pulcini

Jeffro Killpatrick and Brad Carney present an autographed print of the mural to Jill Dem-binski, branch manager at PFCU's Dauphin St. office./Max Pulcini

Mad Max imagery was everywhere on this kenetic sculpture./Bob Burton

The rain and mud didn't stop the fun./Bob Burton


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nomic justice, and then introduced his own new homeless outreach strategy at roughly the same time. She dismissed Kenney’s plan as a “basically cosmetic” effort to clean up Center City in anticipation of this summer’s DNC. Like Kenney, former Mayor Michael Nutter promised to “do more to help the homeless” before his 2008 election and during the early years of his administration. Annual federal funds for homeless Philadelphians increased under Nutter’s tenure. But the number of year-round beds the City provides homeless people decreased during that time. The Philadelphia Housing Authority helped 238 formerly homeless families find hous-ing through a single program in 2008. The Authority helped only 169 formerly homeless families find housing in 2015, the year Nutter stepped down.

Kensington Welfare Rights Union formed in 1991 and became PPERHC in 1999. They organize against poverty and draw attention to failures by local and federal government to address income inequality and their continued refusal to publicly acknowledge these failures. PPERHC most recently set up a tent city on American St. for homeless families during the Pope’s visit to Philadelphia last year.

Public SpaceW O R D S A N D P H O T O S B Y P A T R I C K C L A R K

DNC PHILLYW R I T T E N B Y J A C K G R A U E R & A U S T I N N O L E N

P H I L A D E L P H I A D E N I E S K E N S I N G T O N - B A S E D A C T I V I S T S P E R M I T F O R E C O N O M I C J U S T I C E R A L LY AT 2 0 1 6 D N C

The City of Philadelphia has denied a permit application for an economic justice rally scheduled during this summer’s Democratic National Convention (DNC). Regardless, Kensington-based Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Cam-paign (PPERHC) will hold March for Our Lives on the Convention’s opening

day. “Permit or no permit, we’re marching,” PPERHC founder Cheri Honkala said at a May 17 press conference on the issue.March for Our Lives will convene at 3PM, July 25 at City Hall and proceed south down Broad Street to the Wells Fargo Center where the Democratic Party will hold the Con-vention. The City in a letter to PPERHC claimed March For Our Lives will,

Philadelphia requests that PPERHC re-submit a “revised application with a different staging area, time and/or route.” Spirit News contacted Mayor Jim Kenney’s office with questions about the denial of PPERHC’s permit request. According to Kenney spokesperson Lauren Hitt, another or-ganization had registered with the City prior to PPERHC and claimed the same starting point for their march. Hitt added that Philadelphia “believes peaceable demonstrations are an important part of the Convention and we have already prepared to provide water and other ameni-ties to protesters in [Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park].” Disputes over Philadelphia’s demonstration permit scheme aren’t new.In 2000, the City denied applications by Honkala and two other organizers to rally during Philadelphia’s Republican National Convention, according to legal activist and author Kris Hermes. Honkala’s coalition marched on Broad Street without permission. The two other rejected permit applicants sued the City, which then reversed its denials. In 2001, Philadelphia denied organizers permission to hold a vigil for incarcerated journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal and host a demonstration against the death penalty at Dil-worth Plaza. The vigil’s organizers sued Philadelphia, arguing the protest permit scheme violated demonstrators’ constitutional rights and allowed the City too much leeway to deny applications. Philadelphia settled the suit in 2003 and permitted organizers to host the vigil and demonstration. Philadelphia adopted a new set of regulations shortly after the 2003 settlement and switched the responsibility of permit approval from police to the Managing Director’s Office, which reports to the mayor. Under the First Amendment, local governments can require demonstrators to obtain permits but they cannot use these permits to ban demonstrations. The U.S. Supreme Court in Hague v. CIO held that the

Honkala pointed out that Kenney tried to silence the PPERHC, which advocates for eco-

interfere with traffic in the area contiguous to the activity, and will unreasonably dis-rupt movement or circulation of vehicular or pedestrian traffic… [and] conflicts or in-terferes with a previously scheduled, annual or otherwise regularly-held event or cere-mony that is sponsored by or on behalf of the City.

privilege of a citizen of the United States to use the streets and parks for communication of views on national questions may be regulated in the interest of all; it is not absolute, but relative, and must be exercised in subordination to the general comfort and conve-nience, and in consonance with peace and good order; but it must not, in the guise of regulation, be abridged or denied.

Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Cam-paign founder Cheri Honkala and other group members address media at City Hall./Jack Grauer

Source: US Office of Housing and Urban Development. Continuum of Care Awards by Component. <www.hudexchange.info/grantees/pa-500/>

Source: US Office of Housing and Urban Development. Housing Inventory Count. <https://www.hudexchange.info/resource/3031/pit-and-hic-data-since-2007/>

Domb hackettW R I T T E N B Y S P I R I T S T A F F W R I T T E N B Y S P I R I T S T A F F

C O U N C I L M A N D O M B P R E S E N T S C H E C K T O W E B S T E R E L E M E N TA R Y F O R WA L K I E TA L K I E S

1 0 0 H A C K E T T S T U D E N T S PA R T I C I PAT E I N S O C C E R C L I N I C W I T H P H I L A . U N I O N S TA F F

Councilman Allan Domb presented a check for $2,462.85 to Principal Sherri Arabia and students from John H. Webster Elementary School at City Hall on May 18, 2016. With the money, thirteen walkie-talkies will be purchased to ensure the safe and orderly operation of the school.

As part of Councilman Domb’s campaign for City Council, he promised to donate his City Council salary to the school district of Philadelphia. This is one of the first dona-tions Domb is making to individual schools to fulfill this promise. Principals of Philadel-phia public schools are submitting specific requests up to $2,500 and the Councilman is choosing schools to receive donations based on need. Domb also presented checks to Warren G. Harding Middle School and Lewis Elkin Elementary School. With this money, Harding Middle School will purchase class sets of Bluford series reading books while Elkin Elementary School will contribute to the pur-chase of an online literacy program for its 900 students.

TruMark Financial sponsored a soccer clinic for 100 students from Horatio Hackett Elementary School on Monday, May 16 at Talen Energy Stadium in Chester, Pa. Philadelphia Union coaches and staff provided students training advice as

they rotated between different activity stations on the field. Union defender Ken Tribbett led an activity station, answered questions, and signed autographs following the clinic. Students learned soccer drills, received coaching tips from Tribbett and coaches, and received a lesson on the importance of saving money. The clinic was awarded by TruMark Financial to the Hackett students in recognition of their efforts to raise awareness about financial literacy throughout their school and the sur-rounding community. The school partners with TruMark Financial in their annual Kiss-A-Pig Financial Literacy Fundraiser. So far this year, the school has raised more than $1,000 to support TruMark Financial’s personal finance program, “Building Financial Futures.”

Councilman Domb poses with Webster students and staff with the check he presented them in City Hall.

Hackett students pose for a photo at Talen En-ergy Stadium, home of the Philadelphia Union.


nomic justice, and then introduced his own new homeless outreach strategy at roughly the same time. She dismissed Kenney’s plan as a “basically cosmetic” effort to clean up Center City in anticipation of this summer’s DNC. Like Kenney, former Mayor Michael Nutter promised to “do more to help the homeless” before his 2008 election and during the early years of his administration. Annual federal funds for homeless Philadelphians increased under Nutter’s tenure. But the number of year-round beds the City provides homeless people decreased during that time. The Philadelphia Housing Authority helped 238 formerly homeless families find hous-ing through a single program in 2008. The Authority helped only 169 formerly homeless families find housing in 2015, the year Nutter stepped down.

Kensington Welfare Rights Union formed in 1991 and became PPERHC in 1999. They organize against poverty and draw attention to failures by local and federal government to address income inequality and their continued refusal to publicly acknowledge these failures. PPERHC most recently set up a tent city on American St. for homeless families during the Pope’s visit to Philadelphia last year.

Public SpaceW O R D S A N D P H O T O S B Y P A T R I C K C L A R K

P L A N S F O R A D A I R E S C H O O L Y A R D , F I S H T O W N R E C A N D “ S W I M M O ” T A K E S H A P E A F T E R M E E T I N G

Public space improvements are currently in the works for Fishtown, as the Adaire Elementary schoolyard, the Fishtown Recreation Center, and the Lederer Pool, commonly referred to as

the “Swimmo”, are all slated for redesigns. The Trust for Public Land (TLP) is overseeing the school-yard and Rec Center projects in partnership with Phila-delphia Water and Parks and Recreation. A meeting was held on May 14th at the Rec where representatives from TLP and the Fishtown Rec Advisory Council met with res-idents to hear what they wanted to see out of a redesign of this magnitude. The Adaire project will add green stormwater features, modern playground equipment, and a new site layout to the asphalt schoolyard in addition to a rec center redesign. As we’ve previously reported, plans for the new school-yard at Adaire have been in the works for quite some time. Discussions started when Council President Clarke promised money to the school in a private meeting about 3 years ago with Adaire’s then principal, Jeannette Oddo. After Clarke was asked to attend a Fishtown Neighbors As-

sociation meeting in May 2014 to speak publically on the schoolyard issue, he made his promise for a new school-yard official. But Philadephia rules and regulations restricted Clarke from funding the schoolyard directly. When this informa-tion was released, a solution was necessary to make the promise happen. The Philadelphia Water Department and the School District of Philadelphia contacted TLP about the dilemma. This is how the Fishtown Recreation Center came into the picture. As a work around, Clarke promised money for renovations to the Fishtown Rec and TPL plans to match that amount to be used on renova-tions to the Adaire schoolyard. The Rec has seen better days and much of the equipment there is either broken or not up to code. During the May 14 meeting, Jared Brey of PlanPhilly reported that residents gave their two cents regarding the Rec’s layout, shade, equipment, fencing, signage and much more. The Rec Center is closely located to other public facilities around E. Montgomery Ave and Thompson street such as the Swimmo, an outdoor covered hockey rink, Fishtown

Community Library, the police station, Penn Treaty Mid-dle School, and Adaire Elementary. According to PlanPhilly, none of the other public proper-ties, including the actual Rec Center building, are part of the Trust for Public Land’s mission. This decision is not sitting well with some neighbors. Former Fishtown Neighbors Association board member Jill Betters explained in an email to PlanPhilly, “The Swim-mo, Penn Treaty Middle School, Fishtown Library, and the Fishtown Rec are co-located; not considering a master plan seems like a tremendous missed opportunity.” However, the Swimmo is currently undergoing a sepa-rate redesign. Jen Crandall, public relations manager at Parks and Recreation, confirmed to PlanPhilly that the de-sign process for the pool is underway. The project should be complete sometime in 2017. There will be extensive public outreach for the project in the coming months and the Trust for Public Land, Rec Center staff and volunteers are looking to involve kids in helping to redesign the playground, since they are the pri-mary users of that space.

W R I T T E N B Y J A C K G R A U E R & A U S T I N N O L E N

P H I L A D E L P H I A D E N I E S K E N S I N G T O N - B A S E D A C T I V I S T S P E R M I T F O R E C O N O M I C J U S T I C E R A L LY AT 2 0 1 6 D N C

Source: US Office of Housing and Urban Development. Continuum of Care Awards by Component. <www.hudexchange.info/grantees/pa-500/>

W R I T T E N B Y S P I R I T S T A F F

taps tournamentW R I T T E N B Y S P I R I T S T A F F

K E N S I N G T O N F O O T B A L L T E A M R A I S E S M O N E Y T H R O U G H H O O P S C O M P E T I T I O N

On Saturday, May 21 the Friends of Kensing-ton Football and the Kensington Tigers ran a Taps tournament at Kensington CAPA High School (1901 N. Front Street). Thanks to

Coach Ellwood Erb, Coach Justin and the Haskell Family, the team raised more than $500. Congratulations to the winners, Jason "J.Roc" Valentino and Elias "Mach" Mick-les, a N. Catholic and Kensington alumni.

WWW.SPIRITNEWS.ORG

fFrom left to right: Coach Justin Haskell, "Mach" Mickels, "J. Roc" Valentino, Coach Sean Ryan.

Lederer Pool, known loaclly as "The Swimmo", will be rennovated sometime in 2017

Much of the equipment at the Fishtown Rec is old, including the soft play surface.


Punch LineW R I T T E N B Y M A D I S O N H A L L

L I V E N A T I O N S E T T O O P E N N E W C O M E D Y C L U B T H I S J U L Y

For Fishtown residents, live comedy is about to become local. Almost a year after the opening of the Fillmore, Live Nation Comedy has announced the opening

of the city’s first major comedy club in more than a de-cade, “Punch Line Philly.” The new comedy club will open across from Live Nation’s newest music venue. Aiming to open in July, the 300-seat comedy club will feature VIP seating, an outdoor patio, lobby bar, and a full-service food and beverage selection including local craft beer and wine by the glass. The menu includes start-ers, salads, fresh-baked pizza, and sweets. With locations in San Francisco and Sacramento, Phila-delphia will become Live Nation’s first East Coast comedy clubhouse. “Philadelphia has an amazing comedy heritage and Punch Line Philly will feature the world’s best comedians in a one-of-a-kind Fishtown vibe with great sightlines, food and beverage,” said Ron Bension, President of Live Nation’s House of Blues Entertainment Division. “Our commitment to the Fishtown neighborhood runs deep and we’re excited to share this new offering.” As the world’s largest comedy promoter, Live Nation sold 2.5 million + tickets to more than 850 shows in 2015 and features a diverse roster of comics including well known talent such as Amy Schumer and Aziz Ansari at the Odd-ball Comedy festival and Kevin Hart’s “What’s Now” tour. Hart, a North Philadelphia native became the first come-dian to headline and sellout a NFL arena — and not just any stadium, but his hometown arena at Lincoln Finan-cial Field. Who’s set to kick things off at Punch Line? Canada’s Russell Peters is set to be the first comic to perform at Punch Line Philly, as he launches an all-star summer line-up. Peters will be followed, in order, by Bill Bellamy from “Last Comic Standing” (July 14-16), Robert Kelly from FX’s “Louie,” (July 21-23), Marlon Wayans from “White Chicks” and “Scary Movie” (Aug. 4-6), Pablo Francisco

(Aug. 10-13), DeonCole from ABC’s “Black-ish,” TBS’s “Angie Tribeca” and “Barbershop 2,” (Aug. 18-20) and Nikki Glaser, host of Comedy Central’s new “Not Safe with Nikki Glaser” (Aug. 25-27). Tickets for all shows in Punch Line Philly’s Premier Sum-mer Lineup went on sale last Friday. Complete informa-tion at www.punchlinephilly.com. On May 6th, Punch Line Philly hosted a comedy series at The Foundry, the Fillmore’s intimate, upstairs per-formance space, which included local comedians Chip Chantry, Jim Ginty and Dave Terruso. The Foundry also will be hosting a “Punch Line Presents” comedy event June 25 with Wheeler Walker Jr.

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Punch Line Philly photos courtesy of Live Nation


Mike O’BrienW R I T T E N B Y S P I R I T S T A F F

S TAT E R E P. O ’ B R I E N H E L P S A N N O U N C E A N E W O R G A N D O N O R R E G I S T R AT I O N I N I T I AT I V E

On Thursday, May 19, State Representative Michael O’Brien joined organ transplant recipients and Gift of Life Donor Program President and CEO Howard M. Nathan at the

Gift of Life headquarters to announce a new organ donor registration initiative. Donate Life Pennsylvania representatives have launched a new initiative that aims to increase the number of organ and tissue donors. Over the next few weeks, the initiative will spread awareness about organ and tissue donation by canvassing AT&T Station by the South Philly Sport Complex, and encourage riders to register to become organ and tis-sue donors. Canvassers will help riders register using http://www.donatelifepa.org/registration.

“We hope this campaign will encourage Philadelphians take the easy, life-saving step of registering to be an organ and tissue donor,” State Rep. O’Brien said. “With thou-sands people on transplant waiting lists and so many oth-ers unaware of how easy it is to sign up, I hope everyone takes 30 seconds to sign up.” “Life shouldn’t be a numbers game,” the initiative says, highlighting facts such as:· Someone in PA dies every 18 hours waiting for a life-sav-ing organ.· 8,048 people in PA are waiting for a life-saving organ transplant.· 3,487 people in PA were added to the transplant waiting

list last year.· Polls show that while 90 percent of people say they sup-port donation, only 46 percent of residents are registered organ and tissue donors on their driver’s license or state ID cards. “It has never been easier or faster to register as an or-gan and tissue donor. You can do it on your smartphone while you wait for the train. We are asking Philadelphians to consider the numbers and remember that behind every single one is a family hoping for more time with a loved one,” said Howard M. Nathan, President and CEO of Gift of Life Donor Program.

Left to right: State Rep. Mike O'Brien, heart donation recipient Laverne Clark, donor family member Cynthia London, and Gift of Life Presi-dent and CEO Howard M. Nathan.


CALENDARC O M M U N I T Y

N E W S @ S P I R I T N E W S . O R G • 1 4 2 8 E . S U S Q U E H A N N A A V E • 2 1 5 . 4 2 3 . 6 2 4 6

PAVED LOTS FOR RENTPaved Lots:

1720 N 2nd St REAR 10000sf for $700 per month 918 N 8th St 5000st for $800 per month932 N 8th St 3000sf for $500 per month

1720 N 2nd FRONT 5000sf for $600 per month

Warehouse:928 N 8th St. 2400sf for $1750 per month.

Add 3000sf paved lot for discounted rate of $350 per month

Ideal locations (Northern Liberties Vincinity). Minutes from center city, I95 and I76. Great for fleets, storage and parking

Contact: [email protected]

215.687.8391

NKCDC OPEN OFFICE HOURSNKCDC is hosting open office hours in the 19134 zip code at two locations. They will be at the Firm Hope Bap-tist Church on Tulip and Auburn Streets every second Wednesday of the month from 4-7PM. They will assist you with signing up for benefits like SNAP, connecting to housing counselors for any housing needs, rent and property tax rebates, food referrals, health insurance and safety or quality of life issues in your community. For further information contact Tess at [email protected] or 215-427-0350 x 139.

AL-ANON AT HOLY NAME CHURCH HALLMeetings are held every Monday night from 7-8PM at Holy Name Church Hall at 701 Gaul Street. Anything shared at a meeting stays there and everyone is welcome to attend. Al-Anon meetings are free, anonymous and confidential.

NETWORKING MEETINGSPhiladelphia Mastermind Group - Every Friday, 8-9:30AM, B2B Networking at Front Street Café (1253 N Front St.)HAPCO/DIG/GPAR - 2nd Thursday of the Month, 12:00-1:30PM. Lunch & Learn, real estate meetup at the Greater Philadelphia Association of realtors (341 North Delaware Avenue, Suite 200)DIG/HAPCO – 3rd Wednesday of the Month, 6:30-8:30PM. Philly Riverwards Sub-Group, Diversified Investors Groups meet up at Front Street Café (1253 N Front St.)For more information contact Joe Scorese 215-290-5108 or [email protected].

Friday, May 24SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETINGThe Fishtown Neighbors Association Safety Committee works to foster a sense of safety by engaging directly with police, city officials, residents and businesses to address ongoing, big-picture community concerns. The commit-tee focuses not just on crime, but also on safe usage of roads and public spaces. You can help by joining the Safe-ty Committee at the FNA office, 454 E. Girard Ave. from 6;30-7:30PM.

Sunday, May 26BEAUTIFICATION COMMITTEE MEETINGThe Beautification Committee is a group of local volun-teers dedicated to making Fishtown a more beautiful place to live. We are looking for new members to share in our vision, bring new ideas and help us to grow through community outreach, neighborhood cleanups, and a number of other projects and activities throughout the year. For more information or to share your ideas, please join us at our next meeting at the Fishtown Rec Center from 6:30-7:30PM or email [email protected].

May 28-30MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND EVENTSSaturday May 28, 9:25 AM - The first ceremony is at Tezzi Reitz Memorial service (Aramingo and Somerset). Second is Port Richmond Veterans memorial beginning at 9:25 AM (Richmond and Anne Street). Third ceremony is Port Richmond Vietnam Veterans and Korean Memorial be-ginning at 9:50 AM (Belgrade and Allegheny). This will be followed by a short break. Next, St Pete’s Cemetery (Tioga and Belgrade) to place flags on the graves of veterans.

Sunday May 29, 8 AM - Veterans Memorial Mass at St George’s Church 8AM (Venengo and Edgemont street).

Monday May 30, 8 AM - Ceremony at Casbah parking lot starts at 8AM Tioga and Thompson. 845 special graveside ceremony at St. Pete’s (Belegrade and Tioga)

Mondays 6:30-7:30 PMST. MICHAEL’S LABYRINTHOn Good Friday during Holy Week this year, St. Michael’s Church at Trenton Avenue and Cumberland Street opened their doors to walk the labyrinth that was installed on the second floor in the sanctuary of their church. Mon-day evenings from 6:30 until 7:30 the doors are open on Trenton Avenue for anyone who would like to experience the labyrinth. There is no right or wrong way to walk the labyrinth, and there is plenty of literature available that offers suggestions for your walk. You are also welcome to bring a journal or do art in that allotted time. Come one Monday and meet Yvonne Walker who will answer any questions you might have on the labyrinth and take the walk to bring faith, hope and love into your daily life.Contact St. Michael’s Church at 215-423-0792.

Sunday May 22-29BUSYBEE DESIGN WAREHOUSE SALEBusybee Design is selling furniture and home goods from its model homes and furniture store. The warehouse, lo-cated at 2541 E. Cambria St (Just off Aramingo Ave) will be open to the public from from May 22 to May 29, 3PM (Monday-Thursday) 12PM (Friday-Sunday). Busybee will be offering deep discounts on furniture and accessories in a variety of styles ranging from modern to eclectic. The sale is first come first serve.

Monday, May 30 12PMCPL CHARLES J. GLENN 3RD MEMORIAL DAY SERVICEA service will be held at the Corporal Charles J. Glenn 3rd memorial at Marlborough and Wildey Sts. Join the Phil-adelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial Society and the Philadelphia Police and Fire Pipes and Drums in remem-brance of those who served.

June 23 - 25, 6 PMST. ADALBERT PARISH SUMMER FESTIVALThe St. Adalbert summer festival is held at Allegheny Ave and Thompson St and features a flea market, Polish and American food as well as raffles. Thursday will feature music from the Polish American String Band, Friday will feature DJ Patty-Pat and Saturday will feature Continental Polish music. Friday is alumni night, St. Adalbert’s wel-comes graduates and former parishioners to come back and visit.

Saturday, June 11, 8-10 AMLADIES OF PORT RICHMOND APPLEBEE’S PAN-CAKE BREAKFASTJoin the Ladies of Port Richmond for their annual Pan-cake Breakfast fundraiser at the Applebee’s at 2501 Ara-mingo Ave. Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for children. The Ladies of Port Richmond organize and raise money to support breast cancer research.

Saturday, June 4NEUMANN FLEA MARKETThe Neumann Senior Housing Association (1601 E. Palm-er St.) is having a spring fling flea market from 9AM-2PM. No outside vendors. Bake sale, Avon special made goods, and flea market tables. Seniors 75+

Thursday, May 26POWERS PARKS FARMER’S MARKETCome attend the Farmers’ Market on Thursdays from 3-7PM at Powers Park (Ann & Almond Streets) starting on May 26. Free food available from local farms and kitch-ens.More information (vendors, etc.) is available on the Powers Park Conservancy Facebook page.

June 3 - 5VISITATION BVM PARISH FESTIVALVisitation BVM celebrate its 3rd Annual Parish Festival at 300 E. Leigh Ave. (corner of B St.) There will be a moon bounce, an obstacle course and bungee jumping for the kids as well as many games of chance with terrific prizes. Come and enjoy our funnel cakes, deep fried Oreos, Mex-ican tacos, Puerto Rican pastelillos and bacalaitos, grilled hot dogs and pinchos, Vietnamese spring rolls and wa-ter ice. Friday, June 3 from 5-9PM, Saturday, June 4 from 2-8PM, Sunday, June 5 from 1-5PM.

Saturday, June 11ELM TREE POST 88 FLEA MARKETThe American Legion Elm Tree Post 88 Auxiliary will hold a Flea Market & Bake Sale on Saturday June 11th, from 9-2PM. Table spaces are $8.00 each, and the flea market will be set up around the outside perimeter of the Palm-er Cemetery. Refreshments and baked goods will be sold inside Elm Tree Post 88, 1414 E. Palmer Street. The Vet-erans will also hold a flag retirement ceremony inside Palmer Cemetery around 1:30PM. Please bring your old, tattered flags to be retired. Rain date: Sunday, June 12th.For further information, please call Marge at 215-203-0270. Please feel free to leave a message if line is in use.

June 2 - 4, 9-11MOTHER OF DIVINE GRACE ITALIAN FESTIVALMother of Divine Grace Parish‘s annual Italian Festi-val will be held on June 2, 3 and 4; June 9, 10 and 11 at Thompson and Cambria Streets starting at 6 pm. Spa-ghetti suppers will be served every night in our air-condi-tioned school hall from 5 pm until 8 pm. (Take-out avail-able beginning at 4:30 pm.) Please join our parish and neighborhood communities and enjoy the delicious fried dough, pizza, sausage and peppers, meatballs, and roast pork sandwiches all cooked homemade and served in the food court; wheels of chance, moon bounce, and plenty of games for children of all ages; beer garden offering craft, domestic and imported beers, along with specialty drinks; and gaming hall. The Sounds of Sinatra will be performed live by a neighborhood favorite “Jack Dee” on June 4 and June 11 from 8 pm to 10 pm. Fun for the entire family! Please feel free to call Patty Ellis at 215.219.4703 for more information!


PAVED LOTS FOR RENT

Summer usually means class-free fun in the sun and elementary school students probably don’t have school on their minds. However, GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) Science in the Summer

is looking to change that in the Greater Philadelphia area. GSK is going to various libraries all throughout Phila-delphia and its surrounding suburbs as North as Quak-ertown and as South as Oxford. Of course that includes three different stops in the Riverwards during the month July. The GSK is traveling nationally to teach the fun and prac-tical knowledge of science to students who want to learn in different states. Most of this summer program is found in the Greater Philadelphia Area, Washington, DC, Balti-more and North Carolina, but after 30 years they are ex-panding across the United States to reach even more kids. GSK’s website says that students in Philadelphia will be given the chance to learn about bioscience. This will con-sist of finding out things about animals and plants — this includes dissecting flowers. Students will be able to also learn building blocks for life and how to avoid getting sick with knowledge on germs.

The dates go as follows:Fishtown Neighborhood Library - July 12-13 - 1217 East Montgomery AveRichmond Neighborhood Library - July 19-20 - 2987 Almond StreetRamonita de Rodriguez Neighborhood Library - July 21-22 -600 W Girard Avenue

Each library has a similar day planned out with two dif-ferent levels planned out for the day. Level 1 will be from 10AM-12PM for the 2nd and 3rd graders. Afterwards from 1PM-3PM the 4th-6th graders get their turn during Level 2. The days are filling up fast but there is still time for your elementary student to join. You can register for the library near you here. If the library you wanted is closed there are other libraries around Philadelphia that are listed and will be holding Science in the Summer!

Summer Science

W R I T T E N B YW H I T N E Y J O H N S O N

Thursday, May 26POWERS PARK FARMERS’ MARKETCome snag some fresh food and produce on the opening day of Powers Park (Almond and E. Ann Sts.) Farmers’ Market from 3-7PM.

Saturday, May 28MEMORIAL DAY CEREMONYPlease join the Walter L. Mason Federal American Legion Post 152 at the Port Richmond Tezzi-Reitz Veterans Me-morial, located at the intersection of Aramingo Ave. and E. Somerset St. for a wreath laying and flag raising cere-mony to honor the men and women who died while serv-ing in the US Armed Forces from 9-9:30AM.

Tuesday, May 31BECOMING A FINANCIALLY SUCCESSFUL ARTIST Join Marcus Harris of Santander for a 4 part series of pre-sentations on creating and building a strong financial cash flow for artists and creatives. This session will focus on how to prepare for the future.Contact Emily Carris 215-779-6826 [email protected]

Saturday, June 4PENN TREATY SCHOOL FLEA MARKETFriends of Penn Treaty School (FoPT) will hold a fami-ly-friendly Flea Market & Craft Sale on Saturday, June 4, from 9AM to 3PM. To rent a space, go towww.eventbrite.com and search "FoPT flea" or contact Brooke at [email protected].

Saturday, June 4LIBERTY LANDS FLEA MARKET & MUSIC FESTLiberty Lands (3rd and Poplar St.) will host a flea mar-ket and music festival. Benefits go to NLNA general fund which supports Clean Streets, the Community Center, and Liberty Lands. Flea market starts at 9AM, food at 12PM, and music starts at 4PM until around 10PM.For more information email [email protected].

Saturday, June 4ROCK MINISTRIES ROCK RUNRock Ministries serves in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia, one of the poorest and most distressed communities in America. Our mission is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those for whom crime, drugs and poverty are daily realities. The Rock feeds thousands of our Kensington neighbors each year at our various outreaches. These include the homeless and severely im-poverished, many of whom are dependent upon free food services. The run will go from 8AM-12:30PM, and start at 1815 E. Clearfield St.For more information and to register online, please visit runsignup.com/Race/PA/Philadelphia/RockRun

Saturday, June 4BRIDESBURG REC FLEA MARKETFlea market at the Bridesburg Rec (4601 Richmond St.). Bring your own table, spaces cost $15, 2/$25For more info 267-738-5414

Saturday, June 4OVERINGTON PARK FLEA MARKETFrom 9AM-1PM. Flea Market held around outside of park along the 1300 block of Orthodox Street,19124. Reserve a space $10. Please bring your own table. For more info, call 215-533-7747

Sunday, June 5FRIENDS OF CAMPBELL SQUARE FLEA MARKETCalling all flea marketers! It’s that time again, to clean out your closets and gather all the items that you would like to sell, so others can enjoy them as much as you did! The Friends of Campbell Square Spring Flea Market will take place on Sunday, June 5 from 8:00 AM – 1:30 PM. The fee is $20.00 (CASH ONLY / NO CHECKS) for a spot, PRE-PAID, at least two days before and can be dropped off at 3228 Gaul Street. (No vendors please!) We are asking ev-eryone to pre-pay, because this will make it easier for the seller to come the day of the flea market and just set up, on a first come/first served basis. The money collected, helps to defray the cost of all future events for the commu-nity, in Campbell Square. You must bring your own table. Each pre-paid merchant will be given a participant card to be displayed, at your spot, the day of the flea market. If you are selling anything that needs to be hung up, we ask you to please NOT hang items on the trees, and after the event,please take your unsold goods and trash with you! If you are interested in being a part of the FOCS Spring flea market, or would like more information, please contact Su-san Ongirski at 215-426-3766.

Saturday, June 11GLAVIN PLAYGROUND FLEA MARKETFlea Market from 9AM – 2PM at Frank Glavin Playground (2600 E Westmoreland St). Bring your own table, set-up space 2 sidewalk blocks width, $10.00 collected day of event. No spaces reserved, set up early on a first come ba-

sis. No food vendors please.

Saturday, June 11BODINE SCHOOLYARD GARDEN WORKDAYJoin Bodine staff & students, the Mural Arts Program & nearby neighbors as we work to restore & reimagine the space behind Bodine High School at 4th & George Sts. Come out to learn more about the project and lend a hand as we plant spring and summer plants. Share your ideas of how the schoolyard can live up to it’s potential as a vital community space.For more information contact Linda at [email protected] or 215.908-9035.

2016 CAMPBELL SQUARE EVENTS While every effort will be made to reschedule events can-celled by bad weather, we cannot guarantee that alternate dates will be scheduled. Please call John at 267-886-8799 or Susan at 215-426-3766 on event dates for possible cancellations, or check us out on facebook at Friends of Campbell Square.

May 30, Monday, 1-2PM MEMORIAL DAYJune 5th, Sunday, 8AM-l:30PM FLEA MARKETJune 21st, Tues., 7-9PM PASB (Polish American String Band)July 13th, Weds., 7-9PM CHARLIE GRACIE BANDJuly 27th, Weds. Dusk-FAMILY MOVIE NIGHT (tentative)

Interested in volunteering? We want YOU! For exam-ple, help with scheduled gardening and maintenance at Campbell Square on Wednesday nights, 6:30-7:30PM, Spring/Summer park events and all year round!

FISHTOWN LIBRARY EVENTSTuesdays: Super Storytime: Join Miss Dana after school for stories and crafts! Tuesdays @ 4:15PM/ For ages 3 and up

Wednesdays: Toddler Storytime with Greg Pizzoli - Join Miss Dana and author/illustrator Greg Pizzoli (Num-ber One Sam, The Watermelon Seed) for a special day of stories, songs, silliness, and surprises! Wednesdays @ 10:30AM. Tuesday, June 7, 2016From 6 – 7:30 PM, Free Home Buying Seminar with the Philadelphia Credit Union. Learn all about shopping for a home, negotiating the price and financing.

To register, visit the events and classes page at pfcu.com or call 215-934-3580

NOLIBS SUMMER CAMPThe NoLibs Rec Summer Camp is the perfect place to send your children to camp in Philadelphia. Our won-derful camp staff ensures that the camp environment is both safe and fun. We do activities, such as music, art, swimming, reading, and activities & games in the gym and playground, on site. We also go on weekly trips. Bus-es transport the children to bigger trips, and we also go on walking trips to the Rodriguez Library, Everybody Hits (batting cages), North Bowl, and Liberty Lands. The camp is for kids ages 6-12. For more information and to register, visit NoLibsRec.org.

SIXERS NEIGHBORHOOD BASKETBALL LEAGUEHancock Rec has more openings for players in their SNBL league held at Moffett Elementary School. For more in-formation please contact Coach Larry @215-685-9877, or come to Moffet to register on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 4-6PM.

WednesdaysSTORYTIME AT RICHMOND LIBRARYThis program is intended for children ages 1-4 and their caregiver. Siblings are always welcome. Daycares should call for separate appointments. Richmond Branch of the Free Library, 2987 Almond Street.For further information call 215-685-9992.

CIONE SIGNUPSSummer Camp for Cione Playground is now full. We are no longer taking applications.Arts and Crafts for Kids – Meetings for 5-12 years old. Arts and crafts have no cost and takes place every Wednesday from 6-7PM.Zumba – Adult classes are on Fridays from 7:30-8:30PM, and the cost is $5 per class.Tae Kwon Do – Upcoming classes in May. There will be a demonstration class on Friday, April 15 at 5:30PM.For more information call 215-685-9880.Chess Club – For beginner to advanced players of all ages. Meetings take place Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30-8PM.

ThursdaysST. ANNE WEEKLY NOVENA

St. Anne weekly Novena Thursday evening service, 7:30PM Church of Saint Anne, Memphis St. and Lehigh Ave.

May 27 and June 3CELEBRATE ARTS & AGING Explore & create with Anne Koszalka Fridays at St. Anne’s Senior Community Center at 10:00 to 11:30am (class meets in the computer room). This art history class with a “twist”, will explore the lives and work of several influen-tial artists, beginning with Georgia O’Keefe. The instruc-tor will present a brief history of the artist. The students will be able to view the artist’s work, using images in books and some students can use an iPad provided by the center, to search and explore the internet. The remaining class time will be spent on creating a quick painting or drawing inspired by the artist. Art supplies will be provid-ed for use in the class. Weekly Class Fee: Members 60+ $2.00, Non Members and under 60 $4.00

BRIDESBURG REC CENTER (4625 RICHMOND ST)Zumba – Classes are Mondays and Thursdays from 7-8PM, and the cost is $4.Spring Show Dance and Tumbling - Mon. and Tue. May 23 and 24. 7PM. $3. No photos or videos can be taken.Tumbling/Gymnastic Demonstration - Thurs. May 19 at 7PM. Everyone welcome.Beach Photos - Beach photos by <rs. Gooden will be taken in early June. Save the Gas! Beach photos will be taken at the Rec in an air conditioned room.Bridesburg Nursery School - Boys and Girls ages 2-4 as of September 1, 2016. 2’s Mon. and Thurs., 3’s Thurs. and Fri., 4’s Mon. and Wed.Food Pantry - Please donate nonperishable food and clothing for needy in the neighborhood. Drop off dona-tions at the Rec weekdays from 9AM-9PM. Scrapbooking – Scrapbooking group meets on Wednes-day evenings from 6:30-9:30PM. The cost is $5 per class and everything will be supplied except a book and photos. For more information call Miss Jackie at 215-685-1247.

WALKING CLUBThe Playgrounds and Rec Centers in Parks and Recreation District 2 are starting a Walking Club. Exercise as you wait at your child’s program. There is no cost to sign up, and the first 100 participants get a free t-shirt. Stop in and sign up at the Bridesburg Rec Center at 4601 Richmond St.For more information and to register, call the Center at 215-685-1247.


[email protected] 1428 E. SUSQUEHANNA AVE

215.423.6246

Advertise With Us!By placing an advertisement with the Spirit News,

you connect with the residents of Fishtown, North-ern Liberties, Port Richmond, and Kensington. The deadline is Friday at 5pm for display ads, and Monday at 12pm

for classifieds. All advertisements must be paid for in advance.

THE FINE PRINT:We reserve the right to edit, refuse or classify any advertisement.

Advertising is a privilege which must be protected against misuse. All classified advertisements subject to pre-payment. It is the responsibility of the advertiser to check the advertisements each time it is published. No responsibility is assumed by the newspaper for errors. Errors will be

rectified by reinsertion in the following issue only.

CLASSIFIEDSC O M M U N I T Y

A D S @ S P I R I T N E W S . O R G • 1 4 2 8 E . S U S Q U E H A N N A A V E • 2 1 5 . 4 2 3 . 6 2 4 6

PAY LESS

ROOFINGNEW RUBBER ROOFS

MINOR ROOF REPAIRSALUMINUM ROOF COATINGSHINGLES - GUTTERS - SPOUTS

215-743-8599FREE ESTIMATES - CALL GERRY

BARRY FISHER

House wiring, 100 amp circuit breakers, ceiling

fans & a/c lines.

OVER 27 YEARS EXPERIENCE

LICENSED & INSURED - LIC #PA040852/16493

ELECTRICIAN

215-327-3817

HOME SERVICES

HANDYMANPLUMBING - WINDOWS

PAINTING - DOORSCARPENTRY - CEILINGS

CEMENT - FLOORS

215-743-8599

Up to $1,100 cash for cars or trucks with bad engines or transmissions. $550 CASH for any complete junk car or

truck with or without

title. Call 215-669-1000

JUNK CARS

A DVA NC E D

& I N STA L L AT I O N S

ELECTRICREPAIRS

215-396-2206

L I C E N S E D

B O N D E D

I N S U R E D

S K I L L E D

“WE DO IT ALL”

100-200 AMP BREAKERSTROUBLESHOOT REPAIRS

OUTLETS - LIGHTS - SWITCHES

LOW RATESFAST SERVICE

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2 1 5 -92 7- 1 1 0 0

FAST SERVICE & LOW RATESLIC. - INS. BONDED

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APPLIANCES

REPAIRS

B&AALL MAKES

ALL MODELS

WASHERSDRYERSSTOVES

REFRIGERATORS24-Hour

EmergencyService

$10 ChargeFor Estimate

No ChargeWith Repair

YOU HAVE A NICE SET OF WHEELS BUT CAN’T FIND A PLACE

TO PARK THEM.

FAIR HOUSING IS THE LAW!

610-604-4411 - FJCSP.COM

Landlords must allow you to make reasonable accommodations to ensure full use of your apart-ment. Telling you that you can’t install grab bars and ramps is against the law. You can fight back.

If you suspect unfair housing practices, contact HUD or your local Fair Housing Center. Everyone

deserves a fair chance.

REAL ESTATE SALES:

new orexperienced;

freetraining

program.Call

Mike Dunphyat

215-840-8399

JOBS

Drivers: Get Home. No-touch! Excellent weekly pay! Strong family ben-efits package. Monthly

bonuses! CDL-A 1YR exp.888-406-9046

Drivers, CDL-A: Home EVERY weekend!! Dedicat-ed southeast! Waly away

lease, no money down. Drivers average $1500/wk.

855-321-4565

CHILDCARE

Childcare in home with stay-home

Mom. Reasonable rates. Short or

Long term. For info call Tiffany @ 267-750-8577

PARENTS

FOSTERPARENTS

PLEASECALL

Good, Loving homes needed

for children of all ages.

215-203-8733or

1-877-NFI4KIDor visit

nfi4kids.org

FINANTA honoredW R I T T E N B Y S P I R I T S T A F F

LOCAL F INANCING F IRM PRESENTED WITH NATIONAL SMALL BUSINESS ASSOCIAT ION AWARD

FOR RENT

29XX block of Frankford Ave

2 bdrm &1 bdrm efficiency

available credit check

Call 856-305-1556

28xx Frankford Ave

1 BR efficiency, $515+electric.215-634-7200

25xx Frankford Ave. efficiency

first floor$625/month

includes heat215-941-3000

Room for Rent30xx Frankford

Large, furnished, senior preferred

$495 includes utilities

215-941-3000

Available June 1st, 2016. Newly renovated 1st Flr Apt.

3BR, 1 BA, HW & ceramic flooring throughout, full size W/D, granite counter

top, DW, garb. disposal, CA, refrig. & micro. Sep. entrance and on site parking. $1200.00

per month includes gas.215-416-6945

Efficiency/room for rent

25xx Frankford Ave. $495/month

Senior Preffered215-941-3000

MITCHEL CLEAN OUT

Houses - ApartmentsCommercial Build-

ings. Basement - Ga-rages - Movings

References Available.Call:215-704-6643

2 BR ApartmentNewly Renovated.

25xx Frankford Ave. 1st floor,

$1125 + utilities215-941-3000

Port Richmond1 BR, kitchen, living

room and bath-room. Clean and

quiet. No pets. $650 + gas and electric

215-423-9746

Installer needed for growing startup com-pany. Opportunities

for advancement. For info call Greg at

844 469 3873.

Hair stylist Expe-rience come join our busy salon. Excellent salary

plus benefits call 215-922-3633.

32xx Frankford Ave.Efficiency $550

+ electricImmediate posses-

sion, no pets215-840-8399

For Rent. Fishtown House $1300 Richmond House $900

1 BR Apt. $775+ utilities, no pets,

credit checks, applica-tion fee

Call 215-425-3086


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Is there something going on that’s a little funky in your neighborhood? Anything you want us to look into? Have something juicy you want to leak? Know of something fun or interesting going on that you think we

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FINANTA honored

memorial daystatue

dedication

W R I T T E N B Y S P I R I T S T A F F

LOCAL F INANCING F IRM PRESENTED WITH NATIONAL SMALL BUSINESS ASSOCIAT ION AWARD

Natalia Olson-Urtecho, U.S. Small Business Ad-ministration Mid-Atlantic Regional Adminis-trator, and Antonio (Tony) Leta, U.S. SBA East-ern Pennsylvania Director, recognized South

Kensington-based FINancing And Technical Assistance (FINANTA) and FINANTA President Luis Mora-Rechnitz with an national SBA award on May 10th. FINANTA became the second-ever recipient of SBA’s Jody C. Raskind Lender Award, a recognition presented to a mission-focused lender that has distinguished itself in helping small businesses start, grow and expand. The award was presented for the first time in 2015 to honor mission lenders that demonstrate extraordinary com-mitment to the creation, growth and expansion of small businesses in underserved markets with a demonstrable impact on the communities it serves. “It’s absolutely wonderful to see our local partner, FI-NANTA, receive such a prestigious award for the great things they do for small businesses, particularly those in

underserved markets,” Leta said. “I’m very proud to see Philadelphia’s own FINANTA garner this exceptional dis-tinction for the work Luis and his team do, and for the in-credible impact of the role that they play, in helping small businesses start, grow and succeed.” FINANTA was created in 1996 and has since delivered services such as access to capital, technical assistance and credit building to low-to-moderate income entrepre-neurs and first-time homebuyers in Philadelphia who face cultural, social and language barriers. This approach has allowed FINANTA to help economically disadvantaged businesses to succeed for the long-term and create 1,500 jobs, and individuals and families who are borrowing for the first time, with more than 1,200 loans totaling over $45 million. FINANTA’s office can be found at 1301 N 2nd St. “For 20 years, FINANTA has economically empowered Philadelphia-area entrepreneurs through its lending and technical assistance services,” Mora-Rechnitz, FINANTA’s President, said. “We have distinguished ourselves by deliv-

ering services in a way which is acutely conscious of the cultural, social, and language barriers many of our clients encounter. FINANTA's innovative approach to economic self-sufficiency comes from years of research that led us to emphasize credit-building as the foundation for growth. The Jody C. Raskind award is a great honor for us and I’m very proud that FINANTA has won it.”

Pictured left to right: U.S. SBA Eastern Penn-sylvania Director Antonio (Tony) Leta FINANTA President Luis Mora-Rechnitz and U.S. Small Business Administration Mid-Atlantic Regional Administrator Natalia Olson-Urtecho.

The Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memorial will honor the 648 names on the wall at the annual Memorial Day ceremony at 12:30PM, on Mon-day, May 30 at Front and Spruce Streets. The two

new names will be unveiled prior to the wreath laying por-tion of the ceremony. Francis X. Corcoran and George L. Wilson were added to the National "Wall" in Washington D.C. Memorial Day 2015. Visitors to the Memorial grove will be able to see the lat-est addition to the area with the Crescenz statue now in place. Cpl. Michael J. Crescenz was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his valor in action during the Vietnam War. The life-sized bronze statue depicting him was unveiled at the Philadelphia Vietnam Veterans Memo-rial which honors the 647 of his brothers killed in action. The Committee that funded this beautiful memorial is to be commended for their hard work and diligence in seek-ing private funds to create this Chad Fisher sculpture. We encourage all to attend this Memorial Day event.

The Spirit of the Riverwards – March 2, 2016

We’ve been in business in Philadelphia since 1997. Every year for the last four years they’ve been raising taxes. If they go through with this tax we’re going to hurt a lot. You have to ask yourself, what are they doing with that money? Where is that money going? Enough is enough.

Join me and over 800 small businesses to oppose the grocery tax.

Paid for by the American Beverage Association, a member of Philadelphians Against the Grocery Tax

@NoPhillyTaxNoPhillyGroceryTax

NoPhillyGroceryTax.comCALL YOUR CITY COUNCIL MEMBER AT (215) 647-9562.

Dany Vinas PUBLICATION.indd 5 5/11/16 12:19 PM

spirit of the riverwards - may 25, 2016

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