It was a busy day yesterday and I thought about passing up the Historical Society of Frankford meeting but decided to go anyway and see what was on the agenda.  I knew there would be a video of Howard Barnes who was the former curator of the society.  He lived on Penn Street only a block from us and I have his autographed book so I thought I had heard it all.  The video ran over an hour but it was fascinating to hear this guy go on about the history of Frankford which he clearly had spent a long time researching.

Jim Young made his first appearance as the incoming President of the society since the departure of Paul Andell in June.  Jim spoke about some of the initiatives that the society will be taking on in the future.  Volunteers are always welcome and much needed.  I noted some new members sign up last night which is really the most valuable resource of this organization.

Before I left I met with Debbie Klak who has been following a discussion on the Gazette about the Overington mansion.  She dug up some clippings from the scrap books that the society has in its collection.  As time goes on those scrap books are golden with their treasure trove of information.  Posted below are some pictures of the meeting and also those clippings that may further illuminate the fate of the Overington mansion.  Click on any of the pictures for a more detailed view.

Thanks to Joseph Garvey for this tip.  The Oaklands was the name of the house owned by the Overington Family that sat in Overington Park.  In his own words:

Several years ago we blogged about the Overington Mansion. As a young child I would listen to my older neighbors on Pilling Street gossip about the Overington’s and how beautiful the house was. So I wanted to know who the Overington’s were. Recently you received an email from Sandi Gammon about Overington Park and that she was pleased that the park was being cared for by the Frankford Garden Club. Her great grandmother lived there “Poppy Overington” So I had to get in with touch with her. We emailed each other and she has a website about her family tree and tons of pictures of the Overington’s and the mansion. I thought you and your readers would enjoy her new site. Please feel free and leave a comment on site.

The link to the site is here and it has quite a few pictures that I have not seen before.  This one below is a picture of part of the celebration marking the opening of the Frankford El in November of 1922.  The Overingtons are in the group of people on the carriage.

Ronnie Polanecsky tells the story of how Overington House’s Marie Delany rid her street corner of drug dealers by playing Christian music in today’s Daily News:

Old-time standards like “Amazing Grace,” “The Old Rugged Cross,” “Nothing But the Blood of Jesus” and “The Lord’s Prayer.” You name the sacred song, it wafted three doors down to the intersection of Penn and Arrott streets, where dealers sold to addicts who stumbled up from the Arrott bus terminal.

Good times.

[link] Ronnie Polaneczky: Tunes beat drugs. That’s the gospel truth

LindaD posted over on our NEW message board and it’s definitely worth a repost here:

The Ama Nation is happy to welcome Overington House Inc , as Frankford’s first Affinity Partner! What does that mean you may wonder? AMA, America Approved Energy, is the marketing arm for Public Power. Public Power is an energy supplier new to Philadelphia. I am sure you know by now energy deregulation is here and customers can shop for a new supplier to get better rates on electricity. Public Power offers even more than just a great rate, they also offer a rewards program with points you can spend on merchandise and an Affinity program for non-profits to earn money for their organizations. To switch all you need to do is go to the webpage and sign up for free. Overington house, a Transitional Living Home for woman and children with an 11 year track record of success will get a monthly royalty payment for each customer that switches to Public Power at no cost to the customer or to Overington House! Now that is a win -win situation!
www.overingtonhouse.ichoosesavings.com

Check out our other discussions on the message board here.

Diane Kunze reports on the bulb planting  on Saturday November 13th:

We had some volunteers come and work like crazy, because they had seen our plea for help on your sight. We planted 1000 bulbs in the park! It should be wonderful come spring. Thanks to all our volunteers who came out, very last minute, and got the job done. Overington Park will look like a mini Longwood Gardens from Feb thru April. We planted bulbs in large groups around flower beds and a 50 foot run, between two beds, down Orthodox Street. The bulbs came to us from Longwood Garden, via PHS (Pennsylvania Horticultural Society). They were the biggest bulbs I’ve ever seen. The display should be spectacular! Keep an eye out this spring for the best daffodil show in Philadelphia right here in Frankford!

This is an email I got this week about the park from Sandi Gammon:

Hello, I was wondering if you could get me in touch with the “Friends of Overington Park” that are often mentioned on your website. My great-grandmother was Poppy Overington and she grew up on that property – they even had her wedding reception at the house there in 1924! My parents and grandparents took me out to the park about ten years ago and I remember being sad to see the shape it was in. I wanted to thank the people who help to keep it looking nice these days. Not only are they improving their community but they are unknowingly doing a great service to my family’s memory. I am so happy that people are enjoying the park and that it is cared for.

It’s nice to know others have seen the showplace this park is becoming.