- Neighborhood Cleanup
When – Sat, June 12, 9am – 12pmWhere – Paul Street and Frankford Avenue (map)Description – Volunteers will work on a property there as well as at Hedge and Orthodox streets and at Tackawanna and Meadow streets. - Northwood Civic Association Meeting
When – Tue, June 15, 7pm – 8pmWhere – St. James Lutheran Church, at Castor Avenue and Pratt Street. (map) District Attorney Seth Williams is scheduled to appear
- Frankford/Northwood Spring Resource Fair
When – Sat, June 19, 10am – 1pmWhere – 4600 block of Paul Street, Philadelphia, PA 19124 (map)Description – Come join us for a day of fun, free food, activities and prizes. Sponsored by the Northeast Epic Stakeholders Group, Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez and State Representative Tony Payton.
- Town Hall Meeting
When – Tue, June 22, 6pm – 8pmWhere – Sankofa Freedom Academy, 4256 Paul St., Philadelphia, PA 19124 (map)Description – Town Hall Meeting on drug rehabilitation facilities and housing for recovering addicts. Drug rehabilitation and recovery have been of particular concern to Frankford residents, who have complained to city officials, including councilwoman Sanchez, about the large number of these facilities in Frankford.
- BUSINESS CARD EXCHANGE
When – Thu, June 24, 12pm – 2pmWhere – Agape Restaurant, 4524-26 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19124 (map)Description – The Frankford Business and Professional Association is hosting a Business Card Exchange for all local businesses, and organizations. Opportunity to network with other entrepreneurs and promote your business. Please join us for the Annual Business Card Exchange. This is a great opportunity to come meet other local merchants, share ideas, network, and promote your business. You can also learn about the other programs FBPA is working on such as commercial corridor block captions, UnLitter Us in Frankford, Frankford Avenue promotions and much more. Lunch will be served, please RSVP so we know how many to expect.
- Northeast Philadelphia EPIC Stakeholders Group
When – Thu, June 24, 5:30pm – 7:30pmWhere – Edmunds School, 1197 Haworth St. Philadelphia, PA 19124 (map)Description – The ultimate goal is to create a process that enhances the community’s ability to solve issues surrounding truancy, domestic violence, child safety and substance abuse.
- Frankford Civic Association Meeting
When – Thu, July 8, 7pm – 8pmWhere2nd floor conference room, Aria Health, 4900 Frankford Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19124 (map)
Tag: tony payton
Coming Up in Frankford
- Grand Army of the Republic Museum Open House
When – Sun, June 6, 12pm – 5pmWhere – 4278 Griscom Street, Philadelphia, PA 19124 (map)Description – Presentation at 1:30 PM: The story of Gettysburg battlefield National Military Park Herb Kaufman - Historical Society of Frankford program
When – Tue, June 8, 7:30pm – 9:00pmWhere – 1507 Orthodox St., Philadelphia, PA 19124 (map)Description – ANNUAL TEA and PROGRAM: RESEARCHING NORTHEAST HISTORY — A Local Historian’s Journey Frank W. Hollingsworth. Local historian and co-author of “Northeast Philadelphia: A Brief History” Frank Hollingsworth has conducted his research at various sites throughout the region — including right here at the Historical Society of Frankford. Learn of his approach to researching local history — utilizing the many techniques and resources available — and evolution from HSF member, to researcher, to lecturer, co-author, and recognized local historian.
- Northwood Civic Association Meeting
When – Tue, June 15, 7pm – 8pmWhere – St. James Lutheran Church, at Castor Avenue and Pratt Street. (map)
- Frankford/Northwood Spring Resource Fair
When – Sat, June 19, 10am – 1pmWhere – 4600 block of Paul Street, Philadelphia, PA 19124 (map)Description – Come join us for a day of fun, free food, activities and prizes. Sponsored by the Northeast Epic Stakeholders Group, Councilwoman Maria Quinones-Sanchez and State Representative Tony Payton.
- Northeast Philadelphia EPIC Stakeholders Group
When – Thu, June 24, 5:30pm – 7:30pmWhere – Edmunds School, 1197 Haworth St. Philadelphia, PA 19124 (map)Description – The ultimate goal is to create a process that enhances the community’s ability to solve issues surrounding truancy, domestic violence, child safety and substance abuse.
Happy 100th Birthday Frankford High School
I stopped in on Saturday to attend the open house in honor of Frankford High’s (Oxford Avenue and Wakeling Street, Philadelphia, PA 19124) 100th birthday. I was never a student there but how often can you go to any high school’s 100th birthday. Not many get to that age. You can read the Inquirer take on the event here.
The doors opened at 10AM but I waited till 10:30 for the official program in the auditorium before I got there. I took the video camera but really didn’t think there would be much to see. Speeches make lousy video. Two hours later, I had too much video and was tired from walking the halls and bumping shoulders with the throngs of alumni.
The program in the auditorium included comments from Arlene Ackerman, Superintendent of public schools, Maria Quinones-Sanchez, Philadelphia City Councilwoman, Jorge Santana, Chief of Staff for Tony Payton, State representative and Thomas Mills, President of the Frankford High Alumni Association. Principal Reginald Fisher kept the program moving along.
The program opened with the striking of the colors and singing of the National Anthem accompanied by the school’s pipe organ. the speeches followed and then there was entertainment. Following the entertainment Mr. Fisher asked alumni from various class eras to stand up. The earliest class represented was a gentleman from the class on 1932. (that would put him in his 90’s) He was the only attendee from the 30s. All the other decades were well represented.
After the program I walked the halls watching people. There were some great displays in the library that everyone seemed to enjoy. Lunch in the cafeteria must have felt like going back in time for many of these folks. I had a quick look at the kitchen and dining room that was remade by Rachael Ray. And then I was off to another assignment.
The Frankford High school building is a gem in the rough. The details that you will never find in a contemporary school are worth a tour any day; stained glass windows, murals, high ceilings, beautiful woodwork. The pipe organ is one of Frankford’s hidden treasures. It should be open for community concerts.
The video follows below. It is 10 minutes long.
Greenwood Estate at Rush Farm
Sometime, things do work out. What has been a long campaign waged by several neighborhood groups is showing some real results. The groundbreaking for the reconstruction of the Greenwood Estate at Rush Farm was held on Friday, April 30th. It was a beautiful day and a good crowd of the folks who made it all possible was on hand.
The house, located on property once owned by Founding Father Dr. Benjamin Rush, was recently named Greenwood Estate at Rush Farm. Speakers at the event include Cornel Williams, Manager, Philadelphia Healthcare Properties, Inc., Michelle Mardenborough, President, Greenwood Cemetery, Joanne Clare, Chief Director, Friends of Greenwood, and Barry Howell, President of Northwood Civic Association.
Participating elected officials included State Reps. Anthony Payton and John Taylor, along with City Councilman Daryl Clarke. They were joined by special guest 90-year-old Betty Ewart, who lived in the cemetery caretaker’s house as a young girl, and community leaders, the new cemetery owners and preservation team members. They all worked together in an unprecedented effort to save this beloved but neglected 19th century residence from the wrecker’s ball.
Below you can see a short video of the ceremony and an exclusive look inside the first floor of the house.
New Frankford Community Y Stakeholders Meeting
Felicia Richardson of New Frankford Developers Presenting
Friday night my father and I attended a dinner meeting at Gallo’s Friday night for a presentation on the new plan for what is going to happen to the New Frankford Community Y. Among the attendies were democratic ward leader Dan Savage, State Rep Tony Payton Jr and his chief of staff Jorge Santana, representatives from state senator Christine Tartaglione, and counselwoman Sanchez. Francis Clay and Barry Howell from the Frankford and Northwood Civics were also in attendance.
After an optimistic initial presentation, discussions of the Y’s future turned contentious and questions of legality were raised when the development team proposed to turn the non profit center into a for profit business, with the Northwood Civic voting last month to file a suit in Orphan’s Court to see the past financial records of the center.
The new proposal, (the main portion is linked at the bottom) has the Y staying a non profit with an infusion of funds from the for profit company New Frankford Developers, which owns an apartment building on the block. Exclusive the benefits to the community, NFD will profit by the management fee they will charge, along with intangibles such as having better neighborhood amenities to offer their tenants.
To ease neighborhood local fears, the Y will have an advisory board composed of members of the community and neighborhood associations and also noted they would not be opposed to signing a written community commitment agreement. As Jorge Santana pointed out, it wouldn’t be a legally binding document, but it would list, in simple terms, the commitment by the Y towards the community it serves.
When questions opened up, there were still issues toward the financial viability of the project, Tony Payton noted that the proposed budget had a high percentage of operating funds from government programs. Presentation leader Felicia Richardson said that it was a best case situation and that funding for many programs had not yet been secured. She said that the minimum opening programs would be the day care and computer centers and that they’d build out from there, she also noted that they’ve already secured a grant writer. Also raised was skepticism of how this plan would work while Terry Tobin was unable to keep operations afloat before. Richardson responded that she has composed a team, while Terry was a one man show.
Tons of other stuff to note:
- Apparently being defensive about a rumor I personally started on the message board about them turning the facility into a teen party mecca, they promised no disco, only family style parties and pool parties
- Barry Howell brought up that they’ve lost a lot of credibility with the Northwood Civic over the financial records issues, but that stated clearly he’s known Terry Tobin a long time and doesn’t believe Terry Tobin was involved with any financial improprieties. Ms Richardson welcomed Mr Howell to investigate the records
- they plan on renaming the Y after the late Edward Becker, the former federal appeals judge that once sat on the board. They stated they had already approached his family for permission
The meeting ended well, all parties expressed cautious optimism of the future, with the presenters pledging a fresh start.
New Frankford Y Proposal [PDF]
