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Overington Park Meeting Tomorrow Night

Hi Friends,

Are you thinking Spring today with this weather?  Come join Park people at the Overington Park Meeting tomorrow night, Tuesday February 4th at 7 PM.
The meeting will be held at the Frankford Friends Meetinghouse, 1500 Orthodox Street 19124. Please use side door by Penn St. side.
Let’s talk about about the outdoors and our beautiful neighborhood park. Please bring your ideas. We welcome everyone?
Don’t forget to check out our Facebook Page, Friends of Overington Park for all events.
Thank you,
Friends of Overington Park (FOOP)
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St. James Reboot

By Kaitlyn Brown

St. James Lutheran Church, located in the Northwood section of Northeast Philadelphia, has been the spiritual home to thousands of Christians since it was founded in 1929. I know, because I’m one of them.

St. James was the first church my family belonged to. It’s where my brother and sister and I made our confirmations. It’s where my stepfather was saved 20 years ago and where he and my mother were married.

This is the place where my siblings and I –- and hundreds of other kids — participated in countless traditions like the Live Nativity, our annual production of “A Christmas Carol,” our Haunted Church in the fall, and ongoing Bible studies and coffee houses that brought the Word, wrapped so beautifully in music, to life.

Our beloved pastor, Paul Andell, lead the church for decades. He retired and moved away a few years ago. Unfortunately, the church was unable to survive his departure for a number of reasons, and the doors were closed last year.

Now, Pastor Paul is back. His love for St. James and his call to service were strong and deep enough to lure him out of retirement and back to Philadelphia. He’s ready to reboot St. James and is working with the church council to open the doors of this special place back up to the community that it had served with such love, acceptance and compassion for so many years.

On Jan. 26, Pastor Paul and the church band put together a service in the theater section of the church. The building has no heat or running water, but as you can see from the picture above, devoted members of the congregation bundled up in coats and wrapped themselves in blankets to attend.

St. James is a truly special place. Its spirit has stayed open even when its doors were closed.

But now St. James and Pastor Paul are back. But help is needed as they work their way through this transitional phase.

If you have ever been any part of St. James — whether you worshiped with us on Sunday mornings, or shared coffee and fellowship at our coffee houses, or went on mission trips with the Youth Ministry, or even just passed by and felt the community warmth and love of the Lord emanating from within… please consider making a contribution so that St. James can get back to being the faithful servant community that it once was.

Even if you can’t contribute, please share this with anyone you know who holds St James in their hearts.

Gofundme at this link: https://tinyurl.com/rht996d

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G.A.R. Museum & Library Open House Program

Sunday ‘Open House’ Civil War History presentation
Sunday, February 2, 2020 at 1:30pm
Dr. Cheryl Renée Gooch on
“Hinsonville’s Heroes: Black Civil War Soldiers
of Chester County, Pennsylvania”
Cheryl Renee Gooch( Ph.D ) Dean of Arts, Humanities & Developmental Studies
Cumberland County College

Dr. Cheryl Renée Gooch is the author of the newly published book
Hinsonville’s Heroes: Black Civil War Soldiers of Chester County,
Pennsylvania (The History Press, February 2018). Dr. Gooch will discuss
her book, which traces the stories of residents of Hinsonville, a free
black community, who fought for the Union. Named for Emory Hinson, a
black man who purchased acres straddling Lower and Upper Oxford
townships in Chester County, PA, the former 19th century village of
Hinsonville attracted both free and determined to be free people who
championed religious freedom, higher education, land ownership and equal
rights.
FREE & Open to the public! 
GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC MUSEUM & LIBRARY
Historic Ruan House • 4278 Griscom Street• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19124 •
(215) 289-6484 • www.garmuslib.org
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Frankford Northwood Y Status Report

Neighbors were both happy and concerned when Leiper Street LLC purchased the old Frankford Y building at 4704 Leiper Street.  The building had been deteriorating for years since it had closed.

When the owners, Steve Mavrakis and Steve Ostroff, appeared at the Northwood Civic Association meeting in December of 2018, they were greeted with many questions and a lot of skepticism.  What were they going to do with the building.  (see report about that meeting at this link.)  Was it going to be an asset to the community?

The building was in poor shape at that time but in the year since, a great deal of work has been done.  It is now available for lease, details at this link.

Below are some before and after pictures showing the progress of the renovations.  It’s a work in progress but Steve Mavrakis said it would be done and looks like it is going in the right direction.

 

 

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Kobe

KOBE

As a young boy he traveled from Philly to the bright lights of LA,
He was so young that nobody knew his name.
When he got on the court and showed them that he could shoot.
A young boy among men, boy he sure could play.
He left behind such a legacy; the game will never be the same.
Now the whole world knows that young boy became a man,
And Kobe was his name.

BY LENNY JAYNES