Looped In, three social seating structures, popped up in Clark Park’s northern section earlier this week and will stay for a few weeks.

Clark Park was buzzing today, with several events taking place at the same time. Philly’s first Pétanque tournament was held in the circle of the northern section of the park. The tournament participants were trying to concentrate on their shots while the sounds from a kids’ concert, organized by the acclaimed Tune Up Philly afterschool program, and from Clark Park’s Farmers’ Market filled the air. The pétanque players also tried to avoid hitting new seating structures, called Looped In, which were installed in the circle a couple of days ago. Check out more photos below.

Local kids enrolled in the “Tune Up Philly” afterschool program performed on Saturday in Clark Park.

You can use the Looped In seating any way you like.

The 1st Philadelphia Petanque Tournament was held in Clark Park today, in the same circle where the Looped In structures were installed. The French game of boules is rapidly gaining popularity worldwide.

The Clark Park Farmer’s Market is every Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Photo by Michael Persico.

The news has spread like wild fire and we’re also happy to let our readers know – Philly’s homegrown fried chicken and donut shop Federal Donuts has set its eyes west of center and is expected to open a location at 3428 Sansom Street, which is on Penn’s campus. This will be the third location for this popular local chain. The somewhat bad news is that the new shop is not expected to open before early 2014. We’ll keep you posted on the date when we know more.

UPDATED 10/6/13 at 5:51 p.m. If you’re a runner and love a good challenge, there’s still time to register for the Third Annual Cobbs Creek 5k Run/Walk, taking place at 9 a.m. next Saturday, Oct 12.

Taking place now in the fall, the yearly Cobbs Creek race serves as a way to draw people—particularly locals—into the sprawling green space running along 63rd Street between City and Woodland Avenues. Overseen by the recently formed Friends of Cobbs Creek (Facebook page), Cobbs Creek Park features extensive hiking trails, full forests, a rambling creek and rushing waterfalls, and accessible recreational facilities such as basketball courts and playgrounds–all right within reach of even University City’s most eastern boundary. The park also offers children’s programming, like the Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Education Center, that will receive financial support from the registration fees, sponsorships and donations gathered from the run/walk.

“I don’t think a lot of people are aware of Cobbs Creek and it’s a shame. It’s really beautiful … It really feels like it’s part of your home,” said Alon Abramson, founder of West Philly Runners and member of Friends of Cobbs Creek. West Philly Runners is sponsoring the event along with Philadelphia Runner, Philadelphia Parks & Recreation, Philadelphia Water Department, and Fairmount Park Conservancy. “This is good opportunity to get more than just the people that live in the Cobbs Creek neighborhood to recognize this is within a few miles of us.”

In an effort to motivate more runners to register for the race and explore the park, West Philly Runners and Philadelphia Runner have organized a fun run for 9 a.m. this Sunday, Oct 6. The run will start at Philadelphia Runner’s University City location, 3621 Walnut Street and take participants to Cobbs Creek’s Education Center, 700 Cobbs Creek Parkway, for an informational session on the park. Brunch at Cedar Park Café is scheduled after the run.

Abramson theorizes that part of the reason fewer West Philadelphians east of 52^nd Street travel to Cobbs Creek Park is a deceptive perception of distance, assuming it’s much further from University City proper than it actually is. In fact, if 40^th and Market Streets is your starting point, you can traverse between less than two and a half to less than four miles depending on what section of the over 700-acre park you are visiting. And, depending on where you live in West Philly, traveling time to Cobbs Creek can take 5 – 20 minutes by car, 30 – 40 minutes by public transportation, or a 30 minute bike ride.

“As [part of] West Philly Runners, I’d love to get more runners … people to go that far west and people crossing the invisible divide,” Abramson told West Philly Local. “There’s a real racial boundary at 52nd Street that keeps people separated and segregated, so this is a great opportunity to cross that [border] and see that there’s a really safe, beautiful space. If we could get more people in there, it would be generally positive for the community.”

–Annamarya Scaccia

The activist group West Philly Food Not Bombs will start serving free food at Malcolm X Park every Friday, beginning today, according to their Facebook page. Some of our readers may know these folks as they used to provide free food to neighbors at the A-Space community center (Facebook page) on Baltimore Ave. The group said that free food, cooked and fresh, will be available every Friday from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the park.
Tonight is the last summer jazz concert at Malcolm X Park and West Philly Food Not Bombs will be “off to the side serving food.” Huey Middle School students with the instructors and University of Pennsylvania interns will be helping out too.

Here’s an assortment of events happening in the area this weekend. We hope this list is not too overwhelming. Enjoy your weekend and the warm weather while it lasts. For more upcoming events or if you want to submit an event, visit the West Philly Events Calendar.

Friday, October 4

Bindlestiff Books hosting author Stewart Acuff – 4530 Baltimore Avenue – 7:00 p.m. – This Friday, Bindlestiff Books will host Stewart Acuff, author of Playing Bigger Than You Are: A Life in Organizing. Acuff has spent more than 30 years as a union organizer, including several successful organizing campaigns in the south and serving as national Organizing Director for the AFL-CIO from 2001-2008. The event will be at the bookstore; copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing.

Photo by Kyle Cassidy.

Romeo and Juliet – Curio Theatre (4740 Baltimore Avenue) – 8:00 p.m. – Curio Theatre Company is continuing its season with a production of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Curio is taking a very different look at the story by exploring gender roles – they made the decision to case Romeo and Juliet as two teenaged daughters of warring families. The young women fall desperately in love and set off a heartbreaking chain of events.  The same-sex casting proves the universality of Shakespeare’s immortal tragedy of pure, teenage love. Previews begin October 3. The show opens Friday, October 11 and runs through November 2. All performances are at 8 p.m. For more info and tickets ($20), go here. Continue Reading

Community Connector program volunteers. Photo courtesy of PEC.

There are a patchwork of community groups, improvement districts and major institutions trying to distribute news to their constituents in West Philadelphia, from fliers piled in the entranceway of a local church to email chains and Facebook pages.

Some of these efforts, such as the University City District’s (UCD) printed newsletter, have achieved widespread distribution and are commonly seen at coffee shops stacked next to the latest weekly newspapers.

But without the resources of the UCD, how can community groups get important news like road closings or information about available services out into the community?

The People’s Emergency Center (PEC) is experimenting with a model that enlists members of the community to distribute the news themselves.

PEC’s Community Connector program drops off informational materials on a bi-weekly basis to volunteers located in the neighborhoods of Belmont, Mantua, West Powelton, Saunders Park, Mill Creek and Powelton Village.

The volunteers then distribute the materials to every house within a four block radius of their home. Volunteers must also hand in a completed log sheet when new materials are delivered and are invited to attend monthly meetings.

“We believe that direct face-to-face interaction is one of the most effective methods for disseminating information and building credible relationships with a community,” said Cassandra Green, manager of community outreach and partnerships at PEC.

The idea for the program was pioneered by The Enterprise Center in the Walnut Hill neighborhood. PEC was able to replicate it through the support of the Philadelphia Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), a local branch of the federal community development organization.

PEC was intent on figuring out a way to better get news out to the community because it wanted residents to know about its wide variety of programs addressing housing, unemployment, financial counseling and social services.

“Without knowing what assistance is available many residents who are eligible simply miss out,” Green said. “Information about these resources should be disseminated in the most direct way possible – through one-on-one human contact.”

For more information, contact Cassandra Green at 267-777-5893 or cgreen@pec-cares.org.

–Alex Vuocolo