A serious fire was reported this afternoon at a junkyard in Southwest Philadelphia. West Philly Local readers reported seeing lots of dark smoke in that area and some smoke was visible in the sky from as far as 42nd and Walnut Streets. The fire broke out around 4 p.m. at Automated Waste Solutions Inc. at 1620 South 49th Street (near 49th St and Grays Ave), 6ABC reports. No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is unknown at this time.

A film crew from the documentary project El Sistema USA records Play On, Philly! students performing at Saint Francis De Sales last year. (Photo by West Philly Local)

Play On, Philly!, the vaunted, tuition-free after school music education program that takes students with no musical training and teaches them over a school year to perform classical music, will host a year-end concert on Wednesday, June 5, at the Please Touch! Museum (4321 Avenue of the Republic). The concert will feature 250 students from around the city, including many from West Philly’s Saint Francis de Sales School (917 S. 47th), Freire Charter School (2027 Chestnut St.) and West Philadelphia Catholic High School (45th and Chestnut).

This year’s show, entitled Beethoven Alive!, begins at 6 p.m.

The year-end gala is one of several Play On, Philly! concerts scheduled for the coming weeks. The others include:

St. Francis de Sales Choir Concert  – A salute to music from popular films.
Sunday, June 9, 2013 • 3:00 p.m.
Camphor Memorial United Methodist Church (5620 Wyalusing Avenue)

St. Francis de Sales Large Ensemble Concert  (final concert of the year)
Saturday, June 15, 2013 • 2:00 p.m.
West Philadelphia Catholic High School (4501 Chestnut Street)

Play On, Philly! began in 2010 at the Saint Francis de Sales School with 110 kids ages 6-13. The idea was to bring enrichment to their lives through music. Last spring renown jazz trumpeter Wynton Marsalis stopped by Saint Francis de Sales to talk to students in the program. Students go through a rigorous training program that includes three hours daily of after school instruction by some of the city’s best teaching musicians. Play On, Philly! hopes to establish a program in every city neighborhood.

– Mike Lyons

Folks who’ve strolled through Clark Park’s north circle on Sunday are probably wondering why people were whipping and rolling around shiny orbs. Well, we have your answer: they’re playing pétanque.

Every Sunday, players from West Philly to as far as Harrisburg gather to try their hand at the French sport of “boules” (or “balls”) as members of the new Philadelphia Pétanque Meetup group, the first of its kind in the city. Originated in 1900s, pétanque (pronounced ‘pay-tonk’) is a teamed game in which players toss metal globes in hopes of landing it as close to the “cochonnet”—a smaller wooden ball—as possible. According to Bill Craig, one of the Meetup’s organizers, pétanque is a “growing phenomenon” at the park, with the group sometimes drawing nearly 20-30 athletes a game.

“Pétanque is a game that appeals to men and women, old and young, all races and ethnic backgrounds, [and] professional backgrounds,” said the 43-year-old architect who launched the Meetup with West Philly residents Delphine Dahan and Matt Pagett in December. “The game is a bridge of sorts that links a very wide variety of people who would otherwise probably not interact with each other.”

Photos by Annamarya Scaccia/West Philly Local

When West Philly Local stopped by Clark Park on May 26 to check out the game, we found a diverse clutch of 12 pétanque players sectioned into three games laughing and engaging in light-hearted repartee while focused keenly on their next move. The social banter—meets—competitive spirit is due in large part to the sport’s pace and close proximity, said Craig, allowing a “nice sense of friendship and community” to form.

“I haven’t really been able to pinpoint why, but pétanque has a beguiling ability to relieve stress and allow one to relax,” he said. “It seems to be the perfect combination of cerebral and physical, not excessively taxing in either way but sufficiently engaging and demanding to be consistently stimulating and enjoyable.”

According to Craig, the organizers hope to establish an official Philadelphia pétanque club in the near future, joining other large metropolises like New York, Austin and Portland—all of which have clubs listed as members of Federation of Pétanque U.S.A, the game’s official governing body. There are also plans in the works to host a weekend-long local pétanque tournament in the fall, said Craig.

Philadelphia Pétanque meets every Sunday at 11 a.m. in Clark Park’s north circle, and every Wednesday or Thursday evening at 6 p.m. on University of Pennsylvania’s campus at 40^th and Walnut Streets. To join or RSVP for a game, visit https://www.philadelphiapetanque.com/.

– Annamarya Scaccia

Photo from West Philly Food Swap’s Facebook page.

If you’re a good cook/canner/baker or grow your own food read on. On Sunday, June 9, 2-4 p.m., the Chester Avenue Community Garden (4715 Chester Ave) and local produce buyers for Reading Terminal Market’s farm food stands Alexandra Jones and Jessica Bickis are hosting West Philly’s first Food Swap.

Here’s how it works: Bring your own creations, such as jars of jam, tubs of hummus, loaves of bread, bunches of herbs, or eggs from the chicken coop to share with others. The only rules are that items must be homemade or homegrown and should be individually portioned or packaged. Participants lay out their items on tables or blankets, and everyone browses the items and signs up on a “swap card” with an offer of what they want to trade and for what items brought by others.

The event is free and spots are limited so interested swappers are asked to RSVP at foodswapwestphilly@gmail.com.

To learn more about this event please check the West Philly Food Swap’s Facebook page. You can also check out these food swapping tips from a local food fermentation expert and swapper.

When was the last time you played at recess? The Philadelphia branch of Playworks, a non-profit organization that promotes play and physical activity at schools, is inviting local residents to rekindle the joy of play and lunchtime recess at Philly Recess Day, a free community event happening on Tuesday, June 4, from 12-12:30 p.m. The event draws awareness to the benefits of physical activity by offering adults all over Philadelphia the “chance to experience the joy of participating in their very own recess.”

Playworks will host games at The Porch at 30th Street Station and other locations in the city, but everyone is encouraged to participate in the event by having your own recess fun wherever you are (work, school, etc). If you need a reminder of what games you can play at your recess, download a free game book on the Playworks website.

Happy Recess Day!

Photo by Mike Lyons/West Philly Local

A 2-alarm fire this morning at an abandoned five-story apartment building at 4726 Chestnut Street prompted evacuation of people from an adjacent building. The fire broke out shortly after 6 a.m. and was under control around 7 a.m. The fire started on the first floor of the building. No one was injured, according to Deputy Fire Chief James Bonner.

The building is part of a row of attached apartment buildings along the south side of the block. Nine people were evacuated from the building at 4724 Chestnut and the building at 4728 Chestnut, also abandoned, sustained heavy damage.

Please note that Route 21 bus is currently on detour due to the fire. For more information, go to Septa’s website.

Update: The American Red Cross of Southeastern Pennsylvania (2221 Chestnut St.) is helping all nine people (five families altogether) displaced by the fire. The families will be given meals, a place to stay, and full casework services, all for free, according to Red Cross spokesperson Dave Schrader. If you would like to help, you can donate money to the disaster relief fund at redcrossphilly.org or to the local Red Cross House endowment fund by calling 215 405 8801.