Category: Features

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Focus on Frankford: Joe Krause

Five years ago Joe Krause was looking for a good house in a good neighborhood.  Philadelphia has a lot of those but he and his wife wanted some place that would give them both of those things without breaking the bank.

He had been through Northwood before and put it on his list of places to check out.  It took some time but eventually they settled into a home on Ramona Avenue.

In no time at all he met Debbie Klak, his next door neighbor.  He mentioned that he had been active in the civic association and town watch in the neighborhood where he grew up and she told him to check out the Northwood Civic Association meeting.

Joe and Josetta

Joe and Josetta

He attended the meeting in the first month after moving into Northwood and met Barry Howell and within a few months he was on the board of directors.  Now, five years later he is the president.

Being President of Northwood Civic is a huge investment in time but he says it is an investment in the future of the neighborhood.  With help from family and friends to watch his daughter Josetta when necessary, he makes time.

Josetta has been to more Northwood Civic meetings than most of the members and one of my fondest memories of Krause is of him trying to wrangle her as he spoke at a meeting when she was barely walking.  He seems always patient which is a trait that comes in handy now that he heads the Civic Association.

Krause is focused on not only the civic but also on his work with Frank Bennett at the newly resurrected Northwood Frankford Y at Orthodox and Leiper Streets.  They are working to revive the neighborhood icon.

In addition he is very much interested in improving Northwood Park which is on Foulkrod Street between Castor and Northwood Street.  The park is underutilized and yet could really be developed into a significant neighborhood asset.

With proper development that park could have something for all ages: nice tennis courts, a walking trail, benches for the seniors, tables for chess.  However it all starts with neighborhood involvement.

The neighbors have to come out and show and interest and get involved similar to what is going on up at Overington Park and over in East Frankford with Wilmot Park .

Naturally the Civic will continue to defend the Northwood Deed Restriction.  He finds that some of the new neighbors may not realize the value that the deed restriction provides them and the civic is trying to spread the word that it is a valuable asset to the community in maintain home values.

He sees Northwood going in a positive direction.  New business development over in the direction of the Cancer Treatment Center on Wyoming Avenue will create increased demand for nearby housing and Northwood is well positioned to take advantage of the demand.  Historically, Northwood is a neighborhood where people take care of their properties.  That was one of the reasons he moved into the neighborhood.  It is a neighborhood that, even today, holds its value.

For Joe Krause, it was the right choice.

 

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In First Meeting of Season, Friends of Overington Park Plan Their Year

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Tonight at the Historical Society of Frankford, the Friends of Overington Park held their first meeting of the year.

Phillip Balderston, attended the meeting representing PT Real Estate Capital, the new ownership of 4616 Leiper St, the apartments immediately adjacent the park.  They’ve been aptly branded Parkside Apartments.  He was referred to the group by Jason Dawkins through Counsel woman Sanchez’ office.  Balderston attended in the hopes of providing support to the park and enhance the neighborhood.  PT Real Estate Capital already owns properties in Frankford, including 4712 Leiper St.

The main issue on the agenda was setting the calendar for the rest of the year.

March 23rd will be the dedication of the new park shed.  The even is from 11 AM to 1 Pm.  It was a hard fought four years to get it.  Frankford ROTC students will ceremoniously carry over the equipment from the former storage locations in houses surrounding the park to be placed in the new shed.  There will also be a “very cheap” bottle of champagne to christen the shed.  They’re also getting a cake to thank PHS and Philly Parks and Rec for their help getting the shed.

April 13th from is the Mayor’s Spring Cleanup Day.  The event lasts from 10 AM to 1 PM.  They’ll be giving out pretzels.

May 18th is Love Your Park Day.  It will be the day of the group’s spring planting.  Kunze sought input from the group about participating in a plant sale that day sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and Philadelphia Parks and Recreation.  The plants will be donated to the group for the sale and Overington Park will be listed as a participating park on the sponsorship tee shirt.  They’ll also be given a 50 dollar gift card to a big box home improvement store.  Kunze said she’d use it to buy dustpans and brushes, since the never get those donated to them.  The group unanimously voted in favor and will participate. They were excited to see the return of the participant tee shirts after years of their absence.

The 3rd Annual Overington Park Meet and Greet has been proposed for the 3rd Saturday in June – June 15th.  They’re proposing a pot luck.  In years past, they cooked too much food.  They’re considering making it for all of the park volunteers and inviting other park groups to come and see the Overington Park.  There will be a best salsa contest[the dip, not the dance].  Balderston was drafted to judge.

It was revealed that after the quarterly Philly Rising meeting, State Rep James Clay approached the group to sponsor a movie night this summer.  Details are pending.  Phillip Balderston also promised to help with a movie night.

Towards the end of the meeting, Balderston asked what the park was like at night, to which Diane replied “scary”.  With the new shed now in place, the group’s grand dream turns toward lighting the park at night to help welcome use.

Other items:

  • Diane noted with joy that Parks and Rec had been emptying the trash cans around the park
  • the group is looking for folding chairs.  They now have enough folding tables, they need chairs to go with them.
  • there’s a particular bench called the drug bench, also known as the humping bench.  It was unclear at press time which bench this is though
  • they’re considering a standard work day through the spring and summer so that people can get in a routine and it’s clear which day you should show up
  • they brought up the need of a Facebook page, and I volunteered to steward them through an online presence.  They’re looking at interacting with other park groups better online

The next meeting will be April 3rd at the Historical Society from 7 PM to 8 PM.  It will move to the park when the weather gets better and the sun stays out longer.

[link] 6th Annual Philly Spring Cleanup Day – April 13

[link] Love Your Park Week – May 11 to May 18th

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Let’s Move It Philly Provides Information and Entertainment

There was a really great crowd Saturday, February 16th at St. Marks Let’s Move It Philly.  I stoppped by for a few minutes and took a quick tour of the health forum exhibits.  Also had time to stay for  Jeanine Kayembe (see her performance here) and a performance by four of the students from Harding middle school.

The girls, Jasmine Richardson, Janaya Alexander, Sabria Henderson and Samaya Smith-Bey attend the Carson Valley Children’s Aid C.H.I.C.K.S. program at Harding Middle School.  CHICKS stands for Creating Healthy Informed Confident Knowledgeable Selves. The program teaches the girls about the importance of building self esteem and confidence along with eating healthy, exercising daily and building good peer relationships.  See their performance here.

This was a great program by Carson Valley Children’s Aid.

 

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African American Burial Ground at Benjamin Rush State Park

African American Burial Ground in Northeast Philadelphia 

February 18, 2013

Digital Report by Joseph J. Menkevich

Introduction

As a member of the research committee of the Historical Society of Frankford and as an independent researcher, I felt a moral obligation to personally contact a number of the area’s AME & Baptist Churches and inform them of this Historical Cemetery. Many members of the Black Community thanked me, as most had never heard about it before.

On the outskirts of Benjamin Rush State Park there is a small plot of ground that once belonged to the Byberry Preparative Meeting (Society of Friends).

In 1780, the Byberry Meeting established a cemetery for Free-Blacks & former Slaves. After 200 years of custodianship, & for reasons still unknown, the Byberry Friends sold the African American Cemetery to the City of Philadelphia.

Today – as Benjamin Rush State Park undergoes it’s final stages of development, the “[African Amerian] Historic Burial Ground Not To Be Disturbed” appears to be safely inside the Plan of the Park, however that may not be the case. It is presently unknown if the City still retains ownership or not.

Presently (no matter who “owns” it), there is no clarity on the fate of this cemetery and thus-far, there has not yet been any State or City Official speak on it’s inclusion to the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places or for a ceremony & installation an Historical Marker.

On Thursday, January 27, 2013 – I met with State Park Manager Eric Ihlein at Benjamin Rush State Park and did we did a walk around the general area of African American Cemetery site.

Eric Ihlein explained many of the construction plans.  What I understood from the conversation is that the Park has funding & a budget, but the African Cemetery is not included in that budget. The plan for now seems to be an ongoing study by several “historical groups.” Here are my findings:

Continue reading African American Burial Ground at Benjamin Rush State Park

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Focus on Frankford: Ike and Kat Hardy

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Ike and Kat Hardy

I met Ike and Kat last spring while interviewing C. J. Waddy for another story.  They mentioned that they organized the Old Heads Softball game at Gambrel recreation center.  I had heard about it but had never been but the kept in touch and when the Old Heads finally came around in August I did a quick walk through for some pictures.

August 18th in 2012 was a beautiful summer day as we came down Ditman Street.  My plan was to park and spend some time but it became clear that parking was not an option as both sides of the street and the streets all around were already filled.  So plan B was to get dropped and walk through.

There were hundreds of people in family groups already there.  Some had been there all night to get the best locations.  Tents, canopy’s, picnic tables, gas grills, charcoal grills and people covered the landscape.  Music and the smell of food filled the air.  I walked through the happy crowd and happened to be there when a truck pulled up and somebody said the tee shirts are here.  The crowd moved en mass toward that truck clamoring for shirts.

I moved up toward Margaret and met Jason Dawkins playing chess with his son.  I Talked to Johnnie Mae Parker and her friends.  I took a lot of pictures and everybody wanted to pose, especially the kids.  It was a great experience.  Everybody talked about how great this event is and how it brings everybody out and those who have left back to Frankford.

Ike and Kat Hardy never set out to be community activists.  In 2005 several people were lost in Frankford due to violence.  One day Kat was walking down Tackawanna Street and there was a group of young men on the corner.  There had been an incident on the basketball court.  A lot of people got hurt.   She got into a discussion and told them grown people could get together, play a sport and just have a good time, why can’t you. She said I bet we can do that and nobody will get hurt, nobody will die and we’ll have fun and talk trash to each other and we’ll drink and party and have music and it will be a good thing.

So she went home to Ike and they started planning.  As Ike said, we started that right where the football field is now.   The first year we had 35 people.  We brought our food out there and made a sign on a shower curtain and a sheet.  And we went out there and played ball that night and all the young people were watching and they said can we play next year.

What started as almost a spur of the moment idea, has not become an “Old Frankford” institution. The challenges of organizing and funding it have grown as the event has grown. It takes time and a great deal of energy to pull it all together.  And yet they are determined to keep it going.

They get some help but the main burden falls on the couple themselves.  Funding the DJ and tee shirts and permits etc. is a significant expense and there is no sponsor or grant involved.  They solicit donations and in this economy that are hard to come by.  They have never made any money off the event and frankly there is no money to be made.  What is important to these two people is the unity and good will that it brings to the community.

Do the young people ever get to play on the old heads team?  No, they do not.  You have to be 40 to get on the team.  The young people on this day are the spectators.  They enjoy the food and music and on this day peace reigns in Frankford.  That can be a lesson to us all.