The development team for the 92-unit residential development project at 4224 Baltimore Ave has scheduled a second community meeting for Tuesday, June 18, at International House (37th and Chestnut), in the South American Room (2nd floor), from 6:30-8:00 p.m. The proposed design plan has drawn criticism from the community and the project developers are seeking residents’ input to help work out alternative designs. About 40 residents attended the first community meeting last month where they were broken into groups to discuss such issues as building design, retail spaces, unit types, and parking/transit.

At tomorrow’s meeting, the team will be presenting two or three design schemes for discussion and comment, according to an email message by Barry Grossbach, chair of the Spruce Hill Zoning Committee. “Undoubtedly, what comes out of this meeting will play a major role in shaping any final submission,” the message reads.

We’ll let you know about the third and final community meeting on this project as soon as we obtain more information.

Organizers of Make Music Philly, the inaugural free citywide music festival taking place June 21, have announced its first confirmed events and West Philly Local has the skinny on what’s going on in our neck of the woods.

So far, the following local venues are participating in the all-day music jubilee:

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 3260 South Street
11 a.m. – 2 p.m.: Sheena Grier (pop, R&B, soul)

XPN Free at Noon, 3025 Walnut Street
12 p.m. – 1 p.m.: Southside Johnny & The Poor Fools (rock)

World Café Life, 3025 Walnut Street
2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.: September Call-Up (indie-folk, indie-rock)
4 p.m. – 4:45 p.m.: Cult Choir (experimental, indie-folk, soul)
5 p.m. – 5:45 p.m.: Keepin’ the Family (bluegrass, folk, indie-folk)
6 p.m. – 6:45 p.m.: This Way to the Egress (cabaret, gypsy, roots)

University of Pennsylvania, Music Building, 201 S. 34^th Street
2:30 p.m. – 3 p.m.: Wesley Skold (world, Bossa Nova)
3 p.m.-3:45 p.m.: Classical Revolution Family (classical, other)
3:45 p.m.-4:15 p.m.: Matt Chylak (singer-songwriter)
4:30 p.m.-5:30 p.m.: The Chairman Dances (indie-rock, art rock)

The Rotunda, 4014 Walnut Street
8 p.m.: JACK Quartet (classical, experimental, other)

The Porch at 30^th Street Station, 2955 Market Street
7:50 am – 8:30 am: Scot Sax (singer-songwriter)
8:15 a.m.: Kyo Daiko (Japanese drum group)

People interested in checking out the different Make Music Philly events can search either a listing of city venues or a city map on the festival’s continually-updated website. There’s also still time for artists and venues to register as an official MMP event before it unveils next Friday.

As West Philly Local first reported in April, Make Music Philly is the city’s first entrance into Make Music Day, a global do-it-yourself music celebration that began in France in 1982 and made its way to the states in 2006. The June 21 festival will take place across Philly from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

–Annamarya Scaccia

Here’s a sampling of events you might want to check out. For more upcoming events visit our Events Calendar.

Fri, June 14

9 am – 5 pm – St. Francis de Sales, 47th & Windsor Ave – Donations to be sold at the St. Francis de Sales Flea Market are being accepted in the auditorium. You can bring almost anything, except books, clothing and large furniture.

6 – 9 pm – 40th Street Air Space, 4007 Chestnut St – 40th Street Artist-in-Residence Program is presenting The Past is Over, a solo exhibition of new work by 2012-2013 artist-in-residence Mike Harpring (pictured right). Please visit http://40streetair.blogspot.com/ for more information.

7 – 9 pm – 8 N. Preston St (40th & Preston) – Grand Opening of Inewsent Studio & Gallery – Many West Philadelphia artists are a part of tonight’s grand opening of Inewsent Studio & Gallery, located in the historic Bell Telephone Exchange building on 40th and Preston.

9:30 pm – City Tap House, 3925 Walnut St – Blue Grass Music in West Philly – The Brummy Brothers are back on the road again and this time they’re kicking it off in West Philly’s City Tap House. https://www.facebook.com/events/502534066468815/

Sat, June 15

9 am – 4 pm – St. Francis de Sales Auditorium, 47th & Windsor Ave – St. Francis de Sales is holding its annual flea market featuring bargains and homemade goodies. Lunch will be served. For more information call 215-222-2255 or 215-222-5819.

10 am – 1 pm – Church of the Holy Apostles and The Mediator, 51st & Spruce Sts – The Church of the Holy Apostles and the Mediator is partnering with ECOvanta to hold an electronic waste recycling event. In addition, Nexcut Shredding will be on site to provide secure document destruction for $1.00 per box.

10 am – 4 pm – Clark Park, 43rd & Baltimore Ave – All-Army Reunion – The city’s first All-Army Reunion is also a chance to mark the birthday of the US Army for all US Army veterans in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. An estimated 200-300 veterans will attend the event that’s also open to their families and the public. There will be contests, live music, guest emcees, food and refreshments and more. Tickets are $5 per individual and $10 per a family up to six. Tickets can be purchased online or at the event. For more information, visit: http://vetscomforthouse.org/

11 am – 4 pm – Porch at 30th Street Station – VIX Emporium and the University City District are bringing more than 50 local crafters to The Porch at 30th Street Station for the 2nd 30th Street Craft Market. There will be three of Philly’s finest food trucks too – savory slow-cooked barbecue by Vernalicious, gourmet Italian sandwiches by Lil Dan’s, and Mac Mart’s macaroni & cheese specialties. For more info, go to: http://www.vixemporium.com/craft-shows/30th-street-craft-market/

12:00 – 8:30 pm – 55th & Chester – Stop the Violence Kickback Block Party – Mont Brown, the Southwest Philadelphia Ambassador for the “Stop the Violence” movement, will kick-off the Block Party in this region of the city and hopes to deliver positive alternatives by promoting education, the arts and small business development. There will be free food, live performances by 30 artists and 10 DJ’s, as well as a host of local vendors selling merchandise.

Sunday, June 16

12 – 5 pm – Firehouse Bicycles, 50th & Baltimore Ave – Party on the Porch – Firehouse Bicycles has new Sunday hours this summer and is inviting neighbors to a party that will include Danophonic spinning records, free food on the grill, and deals on bikes. For more information, visit: http://www.firehousebicycles.com/blog/events

West Philly resident Siduri Beckman, Philadelphia’s first Youth Poet Laureate, has aimed her pen at Gov. Tom Corbett and state Republicans for education budget cuts that have disproportionately hurt poorer school districts. In A Word from the Cripples, which she gave us permission to reprint below, Beckman, a graduate of Penn Alexander and a Masterman ninth grader, speaks for the city’s public school students, the ones most impacted by the cuts.

The poem has received national attention – for good reason.

A Word from the Cripples

by Siduri Beckman

Siduri Beckman (Photo by Albert Yee Photo and reprinted from the Generocity website.)

I’ve got something
to say.
It won’t take long
Just as long as it took you
to snatch everything away
One fourth of the body is
the leg
You have crippled us
Cursing us to hobble
all of our lives.

You see us as a problem
the classic class problem
INNER CITY streaked like mud across our faces
they’re all on the street anyway.

Thrusting fear
into our hearts
Why make us feel
so small
helpless
Forgotten by the people
whose duty it is to remember

Turn your back on your city
that chose not to choose
you
Because they feared
and now do all fears dawn true.

We will show ourselves to be
as formidable a foe
as all of those frackers
who you refuse to tax.

Dismiss us
We cannot vote.
But in this country
we can speak.

As you may know, a new version of Rx will return this summer when new owners and chefs Ross Scofield and Danielle Coulter reopen the restaurant at 4443 Spruce Street in mid-July.

Under the new moniker Rx The Farmacy, the culinary couple and The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College graduates will revamp the once-busy corner BYOB that closed in 2011 into a home-style farm-to-table eatery. Their brunch, lunch and dinner menus will feature a smorgasbord of fresh ingredients tapped from Pennsylvania and New Jersey farm networks, and sausage and bacon made in-house. They’ll also steer away from GMO-saturated products, opting for peanut oil instead of the much-maligned corn and canola oils.

In other words: box pasta and frozen fish need not apply.

Don’t expect the “farm-to-table” catchphrase to monopolize Rx The Farmacy’s attention, though. It’s more of a lifestyle than an attraction—a hushed marriage between local, healthy, sustainable food and the laid-back dining experience. But if you consider Scofield’s childhood in Woodstown, New Jersey, this inconspicuous approach makes sense. After all, growing up in South Jersey’s farming community meant harvesting fresh vegetables right in his Greek family’s own backyard and using them in every meal. Continue Reading

Photos by Dylan Moore.

UPDATE (6/12/2013): The Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll has been postponed until July, 2013 due to heavy rain and thunderstorms forecast for this Thursday, according to an announcement on the University City District’s Facebook page posted this evening. We’ll post more information about the new date as soon as we have it.

The Baltimore Avenue Dollar Stroll, the highly-anticipated annual event celebrating local businesses where most things are just a buck, is returning this Thursday, June 13. The stroll begins at 5:30 p.m. (it is always a good idea to get there early to avoid the crowds) and a record-setting 35 businesses will offer $1 deals along Baltimore Avenue, between 43rd and 50th Streets.

Besides the long-time participants, like Milk & Honey, Dock Street Brewery and Firehouse Bicycles, there will be some newcomers who recently opened shops in the area, including Little Baby’s Ice Cream and The Green Tambourine. This Dollar Stroll also showcases new parklets at Fu-Wah and Little Baby’s Ice Cream and the new pedestrian plaza at 48th and Baltimore.

In addition to storefront businesses, food trucks and vendors such as Jimmies Cupcake Co., Sunflower Truck Stop and Lil Dan’s will also be selling $1 items along the avenue. Also, don’t miss live music and entertainment: XPN favorite, The Fleeting Ends will perform live at 46^th and Baltimore, along with fire artists and street performers such as the Give & Take Jugglers. There will be also giveaways, face painting and balloon artists.

If you can’t make it this week there will be only one more stroll this year, on September 12.

Check out the flyer below for more details on what businesses are taking part in Thursday’s Stroll and what they are offering. For more information about this event, visit: http://universitycity.org/baltimore-ave-dollar-stroll

Click to enlarge.