Members of the Minor Threats Chess Club.

The Minor Threats chess club whose members are West Philly schoolkids in grades 3 through 8, is preparing again this year for a series of important competitions. Coach Jason Bui is planning to take his pupils, about 15 kids, to the following events happening in the next few of months: PA State Scholastic Chess Championships in Lancaster, Pa., the High School National Championships in Columbus, Ohio, the Junior High National Championships in Louisville, and the Elementary National Championships in Nashville.

“These trips make a huge difference in these kids lives. They experience so many “firsts” in life through chess. They learn so much about themselves and the world though chess,” Jason says.

This year, Minor Threats will be partnering with the Paul Robeson Chess Club and probably a few other teams on these trips. “We hope to take about 30/40 kids to each tournament. I’m trying to take more kids to more tournaments than ever before,” Jason said. However, most of the families Jason works with can not afford the cost of attending these trips. “Without the help of the community we will not be able to go,” he said.

Thanks to community support, in 2013 Jason was able to take 10 kids to the State Championships and eight kids to SuperNationals in Nashville, TN. In 2014, 14 kids were able to travel to the State Championships, 10 kids went to Junior High Nationals in Atlanta, GA, and six kids went to Elementary Nationals in Dallas, TX.

If you would like to help these young chess players again, please follow this link to the club’s fundraising page on GoFundMe.com.

If you have passion for active modes of transportation that you want to share with other community members and if you have good communication and problem-solving skills, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia would like to hear from you.

Philly’s first bike share program is launching this spring, and the Bicycle Coalition is currently hiring Bike Share station ambassadors to work with communities in the following West Philly neighborhoods: Mantua, Powelton Village, West Powelton, Saunders Park, and Spruce Hill. This is a part-time (approximately 5 hours/week) and seasonal (until October 2015) position and comes with a $1,000 stipend.

Bike Share Ambassadors will work primarily from home and at community events and will need to complete a two-week training.

A Bike Share Ambassador’s duties and responsibilities include:  Continue Reading

Community members are invited to the monthly meeting of the Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) on Tuesday, Feb. 10 to meet Henry C. Lea Principal Jennifer Duffy, who will talk about the happenings at Lea.

Duffy is in her first year as principal of Lea and one of about 50 first-time principals hired across the School District of Philadelphia this year. Duffy has placed a priority on raising academic standards and strengthen the school’s relationship with the University of Pennsylvania, where she is a doctoral student in Educational Leadership.

The SHCA meeting gets underway at 7:30 p.m. at the association’s headquarters (257 S. 45th St.)

In other Spruce Hill news, the zoning committee meeting to consider the well-publicized plans to build a residential/retail complex at 43rd and Baltimore (across the street from Clark Park) will be held Feb. 19 beginning at 7:30 p.m. at The University of the Science’s Rosenberger Hall (the small building on the west side of 43rd Street, just north of Woodland Avenue). This is the meeting originally scheduled for Jan. 26 that was cancelled due to weather.

The meeting actually begins at 6:30 p.m. when committee will consider a liquor license request from Fresh Grocer at 40th and Market and a residential project at 4100-02 Ludlow St. This is also open to the public. The 4224 Baltimore Ave. project discussion will begin promptly at 7:30 p.m. The development team for the site is preparing materials for presentation to the City Planning Commission’s Design Review Committee and will share those plans to date.

UPDATE: VIX Emporium, 5009 Baltimore Ave, is also selling Girl Scout cookies until they run out. Open Tues-Fri 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Sat 10 a.m.-6 p.m.

If you are looking for Girl Scout cookies in the neighborhood we saw a sign this week that they were being sold at the barbershop on S. 45th Street between Walnut and Sansom. There was a Girl Scout cookie table this afternoon at the corner of 45th and Walnut. There was also a table at the Fresh Grocer on S. 40th Street. And here’s more information on Girl Scout cookie table locations and dates in February and March in other parts of West Philly:

ShopRite of Haverford Ave., 6700 Haverford Ave.

Sat. Feb 7th: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Troop 9613
Sat. Feb 14th: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Troop 96
Sat. Feb 21st: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Troop 979

Pathmark, 4160 Monument Rd.

Sun. Feb 8th: 9:00 am – 6:00 pm – Troop 935

ShopRite of Parkside, 1575 N. 52nd St. & Lowe’s, 1500 N. 50th St.

Sat. Feb 7th: 11:00 am – 8:00 pm – Troop 9263 – Lowe’s from 3:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Sun. Feb 8th: 9:00 am – 7:00 pm – Troop 9689
Wed. Feb 11th: 12:00 noon – 7:00 pm – Troop 9957
Thurs. Feb 12th: 12:00 noon – 7:00 pm – Troop 91
Fri. Feb 13th: 9:00 am – 4:00 pm – Troop 9609/5:00 pm – 9:00 pm – Troop 9263
Sat. Feb 14th: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm – Troop 954
Sun. Feb 15th: 9:00 am – 7:00 pm – Troop 9957
Sat. Feb 21st: 9:00 am – 9:00 pm – Troop 97251 – Lowe’s from 3:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Sat. Feb 28th: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm – Troop 9997
Sun. Mar 1st: 10:00 am – 6:00 pm – Troop 9986

The annual One Book, One Philadelphia programming kicks off today, and here is some information on what will be happening at West Philadelphia public library branches. In their 13th season, One Book, One Philadelphia will have events through March 19, including book discussions, children’s craft workshops, historical presentations, panel discussions, and film screenings. Please note that a time capsule letter workshop will take place this afternoon at the Blanche A. Nixon/Cobbs Creek Library (see more below).

One Book, One Philadelphia is a joint project of the Mayor’s Office and the Free Library of Philadelphia. The goal of the project is to promote literacy and encourage Philadelphians to come together through reading and discussing a single book. The One Book, One Philadelphia Selection Committee chose Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline for reading and discussion in 2015. Here’s more information about the book from the Free Library of Philadelphia website:

“Orphan Train is the compelling story of Vivian, a 91-year-old widow once orphaned as a child, and Molly, a troubled teen who has been shuffled from one unstable foster home to another. The two women develop a bond, with Vivian treasuring her Irish immigrant roots and Molly finding comfort in her ancestral Native American tradition. The novel sheds light on an era when thousands of orphaned children were taken from crowded cities to face uncertain futures in the rural Midwest and connects with the importance of heritage and memories in shaping who we are, the value of intergenerational relationships, and the fundamental power of family.”  Continue Reading

WePAC head David Brown reads to Kindergartners at the Hamilton School (Photo from WePAC’s Facebook page).

The West Philadelphia Alliance for Children (WePAC) has reopened another public school library, this time at the K-8 Andrew Hamilton School (57th and Spruce). Students there have not had regular access to books in the school library, which will reopen one day a week, for 10 years, according to WePAC.

WePAC replaced most of the books, including non-fiction titles that were up to 85 years old, and spent hundreds of hours getting the library ready for Hamilton students. The library is the 13th that the organization has helped revamp, reopen and staff. Another 20 schools are on WePAC’s waiting list.

There are currently about 125 volunteers at WePAC who help operate the school libraries, which serve about 6,000 students weekly.

Most of the libraries that WePAC staff operate are on a modest schedule, opening one or two days a week. Part of WePAC’s strategy is to get libraries restocked and operating so that parents and community members can build on their work to keep the library going.