On Saturday, Nov. 12, neighbors and friends are welcome to join the Friends of Clark Park, students of the HMS School and the Boy Scouts in honoring those who have served in the Armed Forces. Veterans Day Commemoration will begin at 11:00 a.m. near the Gettysburg Stone in Clark Park (44th and Baltimore Ave.). Everyone is welcome.

If you are a veteran, you will be recognized and honored too. Please call 215-222-2255 and leave your name and phone number.

The Rotunda (4014 Walnut Street) is hosting a few awesome, free events for all ages this weekend.

On Saturday, Nov. 12, from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m. young children and their parents/guardians are invited to celebrate the joy of reading at the Family Book Festival. Organized by the Parent Infant Center, the festival will feature arts and crafts for ages 7-under, read-aloud stories by WXPN’s Kathy O’Connell (host of Kids’ Corner), a concert by award-winning musical group The Cat’s Pajamas, and presentation by author/illustrator Brian Biggs who will introduce “Everything Goes: On Land,” the first in a series of books for youngsters who love trains, trucks and anything on wheels.

Kids will also have an opportunity to learn how to make a book and there also will be a book swap table. You can bring a slightly used children’s book to take home some new stories to share with your family.

On Sunday, starting at 12 p.m., the Philly Zine Fest 2011 will open its doors. This festival showcases local artists and small press publishers. This is a good chance to connect with local writers and get involved with creating new forms of accessible media. For the full line-up of the participating artists go here.

Finally, also on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. don’t miss an evening with Alash, a Tuvan throat-singing and traditional Tuvan music ensemble. Tuva is a small republic in southern Siberia and the ancient art of throat singing (khoomei) developed among the nomadic herdsmen of this region. Singing in this style gives the impression of wind swirling among rocks.

Here’s an opportunity to use your design skills and have your artwork displayed all along Baltimore Avenue (plus win a few prizes).

The University City District has announced an open call for participation in the Baltimore Avenue Banner Design competition. The winner’s work will ultimately be fabricated as a 24 x 36 inch banner and installed along Baltimore Avenue. The banners currently on display along Baltimore Avenue between 45th and 50th streets will be replaced next spring with new ones, possibly featuring your design.

Here are the details of the competition.

• The design competition is open to everyone.

• An individual can submit multiple concepts.

• There is a particular interest in work that is responsive to Baltimore Avenue and the neighborhood, but the sky is the limit!

• The winner will receive $200 in University City restaurant gift certificates and $300 in cash, and your artwork on over 70 banners.

• Submissions are due Friday, March 2. Late submissions will not be accepted.

If you are interested in submitting a design please email the following to Mark Christman at: mark[at]universitycity.org:

Name, Address, Email and telephone number, Proposed design (jpg or pdf), and one-two sentence description of proposed design(s).

A selection committee will be comprised of Baltimore Avenue and neighborhood business owners, artists and neighbors.

A small female beagle was lost at 4:15 p.m. She is possibly injured. She was attacked by an unleashed dog at 47th and Osage and took off down Osage. She is wearing a leash. If you’ve seen this dog please contact Maureen at: prewitt[at]aol.com

Note: This is not Mitsi, the beagle who’s been lost for three weeks now.

This week’s featured dog is Dede, a petite pit bull mix. She looks to be part hound and is just a baby still at six-twelve months old. She has the most endearing face and sad eyes, but honestly she is a happy, social girl.

Little Dede was found running loose on the streets all by herself and was brought into the ACCT shelter on October 13, 2011. When she came in, she was totally emaciated and weighed only 20 pounds! She also had a horrible case of fleas, which caused some hair loss on her back. Since she’s been at the shelter, Dede looks so much better. She has put on a few pounds and her fur is coming back in.

Despite having a rough start in life, Dede is a happy, friendly girl. Rather than getting depressed at the shelter, she has actually brightened over time. It’s so sad to know that the shelter is probably the best ‘home’ she’s ever had. But now she has a chance to start over.

Dede adores people and although she’s a bit submissive, she gets very excited to have people’s company. She approaches you with her head timidly low and her tail wagging like crazy! When you sit with her, she will try to snuggle up against you as close as she can get or climb into your lap for love and warmth. Even though Dede was pretty much starving when she came to the shelter, she takes food very gently and has no food aggression at all. She is a pleasant mannerly girl who never barks, whines, or growls.

Dede seems to be good with other dogs too. She was introduced to one of her shelter mates and she was very social and appropriate with him. She also has met other dogs while outside with her volunteer friends and she approaches them the same way she does people – timid yet very excited to say hello and interact.

If you would like to meet Dede and you have small children or other dogs, please bring them with you so they can meet Dede too. If you have cats, the shelter staff will test her to see how she reacts to them as well. You can’t help but love this dog and want to take care of her. For more information please email: Help4PhillysHomelessAnimals[at]gmail.com or stop by the shelter (111 W. Hunting Park Avenue, tel.: 267-385-3800).

There are only three performances of Curio Theatre‘s Eurydice left. This Thursday, Friday and Saturday are your last three chances to see this fabulous, critically acclaimed play. Tickets are $15-20 and can be purchased here. All performances begin at 8 p.m.