Here’s a reminder of what’s happening today around the hoods. And guess what? All of these events are free!

Night Market on Lancaster Ave @ 35th, 6 – 10 p.m. Update: West Philadelphia Orchestra will perform at the Night Market starting at 8 p.m.

Street Movies! at Malcolm X. Park (52nd and Pine), 7:45 p.m.

The Awesome Fest concludes at Clark Park (43rd and Baltimore) with the screening of Skanks. 9 p.m.

Also, the Clark Park Farmers’ Market is from 3 – 7 p.m.

Work in progress at the Lea School playground. (Photo courtesy of West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools)

UPDATE (8/14/14): The Greening Lea project has reached its fundraising goal after a sizable donation from the Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA), West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools reports. SHCA’s gift of $1,000 completed and even exceeded the $3,000 fundraising goal for Greening Lea’s August project several weeks early!

8/7/14: Here’s a great chance to make something good out of a bad situation. The Henry C. Lea School (47th and Locust) has a chance to get a great playground set from the recently shuttered Alexander Wilson School (46th and Woodland) and they need some help.

The new playground set was built at Wilson in November 2010 through a grant from The Hamels Foundation, the charitable organization of Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels. The plan is to move the playground set onto the Lea playground (near the existing structure there) at the corner of 47th and Spruce, roughly doubling the size of the school’s play area.

But the committee in charge of Greening Lea, the West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools project to make the Lea School’s footprint greener and more kid-friendly, needs to raise $3,000 to help cover the costs of transplanting the playground structure. The grant will help cover costs for a new porous surface that will be built under the new and existing play structure to make it safe for kids. The new surface will also help with the Greening Lea plan to manage stormwater run-off. The current massive asphalt playground, if future plans play out, will be converted into an inviting tree-lined space.

But that’s still in the future. The goal now is to get the new playground structure in place. The work at the playground has already begun. Click here to donate. As usual, any amount will help.

Photo courtesy Scribe Video Center.

As part of the annual (17th!) outdoor film screening series Street Movies!, Scribe Video Center will present a great selection of independent films on Thursday, Aug. 14 at Malcolm X. Park (52nd and Pine). Malcolm X. Park is the only West Philly location where the films are being presented this summer, from August 2 until August 21 (although you can catch them in other neighborhoods).  This year, the program includes animation, shorts, and powerful documentaries celebrating cultural histories and exploring issues of community concern. The events also include live entertainment and a video emcee to complete a great night of movies under the stars.

Tomorrow’s screening starts at 7:45 p.m. All the films are free and family-friendly! Emcee: DJ C (WPEB 88.1 FM).

Here’s more information on the films to be shown at tomorrow’s event (from the Street Movies! at Malcolm X Park Facebook page):

“The Mill Creek Documentary: Past, Present, and Future by Joyce Eli Bevins
‘The Mill Creek; Past, Present and Future’ documentary is an urban preservation outreach project documenting the Mill Creek Community during the 20th Century to date through personal interviews. The goal of the film is to serve as an outlet and resource to preserve, inform, empower, heal, and inspire the Mill Creek community, its residents and surrounding communities. (USA, 2014, 4 min)

711 Sidney King School of Dance by the 711 Precious Places Group and Scribe Video Center
The Sydney King School of Dance was one of several neighborhood-based black dance schools founded in Philadelphia during the 1940s, 50s, and early 60s. Responding to the cultural needs of a vibrant post-war black middle class, these studios produced world-recognized dance professionals and fostered a lasting appreciate for the arts. Through interviews with King’s students, this video underscores the role the Sydney King School of Dance played in supporting its West Philadelphia community and shaping the direction of American dance and performance. (USA, 2010, 10 min)

Creation Story by Natasha Ngaiza
Clay animation weaves in and out of live action to reveal the intimate relationship between mother and daughter, hair and history. (USA, 2011, 9 min)

The Moorish Science Temple of America: Branches to Philadelphia, Rooted in Peace by Moorish Science Temple of America, Inc., Temple #11 and Scribe Video Center
The Moorish Science Temple of America highlights its one hundred years of existence as one of the first Islamic organizations in America, and its historical impact in Philadelphia. (USA, 2014, 16 min)

Them That Do: Juanita Hatton by Lori Waselchuk
Part of the Them That Do series, which features local Philadelphia block captains. This segment highlights Juanita, who is passionate about keeping her neighborhood clean. (USA, 2014, 5 min) Editor’s Note: Check out a series of posts connected to Waselchuk’s multimedia documentary project Them That Do.

Revival From the Roots: Part 1 by Media Mobilizing Project
Media Mobilizing Project presents the first installment of a three-video series, “Revival From the Roots: A Tour of Neighborhood Schools.” The series follows Jerry Jordan, President of the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers, and Helen Gym, parents and award-winning education advocate, as they hear firsthand from students, parents and teachers fighting to turn around public education from the bottom up. Part one of ‘Revival From the Roots’ features West Philadelphia, with visits to school communities at West Philadelphia High, Lea Elementary, Penn Alexander Elementary, Barry Elementary, and the now closed Alexander Wilson Elementary School. (USA, 2014, 8 min)”

Abandoned property at 5237 Baltimore Ave. (Photo by Larissa Mogano)

A losing battle to get an absentee owner to clean up their property on the 5200 block of Baltimore Avenue has left nearby residents desperate for help.

“It stinks, it’s crawling with bugs and rodents and as we recently found out (the hard way) there’s now poison sumac growing there too,” said Cedar Park Cobbs Creek resident Larissa Mogano who lives next door to the abandoned home at 5237 Baltimore. “We’ve had more pests than ever: cats, mice, possums, skunks.”

The property has a long list of violations, according to a Department of Licenses and Inspections search, dating back to 2011. These include housing code violations for garbage and weeds. Most of the earlier violations have been marked “complied.” But a whole new list of violations, some issued as recently as August 4, have not.

Another neighbor, Pamela Gray, who lives in the other half of the brick double structure, spent $500 to replace a fence that was destroyed by a branch from an overgrown mulberry tree in the back yard. This same tree took out another neighbor’s back door awning last year. In the front, the porch roof has a gaping hole that invites squirrels to run around in the rafters at night.

Gray, who has lived in her house since 1972, said she once knew the owners as very nice people who kept the property in great shape. However, since they moved out over seven years ago, the property has fallen into disrepair. When contacted, the owners have repeatedly promised to clean things up, but these promises have remained mostly unfulfilled. Mogano has called Philly311, and posted to several websites including the Cedar Park Neighbors Facebook page, Publicstuff.com and SeeClickFix. Gray has called the Licenses and Inspections department of the City of Philadelphia several times and has contacted her city councilwoman, Jannie Blackwell.

The city has made cracking down on absentee property owners a priority in recent years and Mogano, Gray and others hope 5237 Baltimore will get some more attention soon.

“I just want the homeowners to clean it up so me and the other neighbors can appreciate our own back yards,” said Mogano. “I understand people wanting to hang onto their properties, and I hope they’re able to do that, but it’s disrespectful to the rest of us who live here not to maintain it in the meantime.”

– Selah Lynch

The Sloppy Film Fest, a West Philly-based one-day festival of short DIY films, is returning on September 6 and film submissions are currently accepted. If you have recently made a short film or video and would like it to be screened at the festival, submit it through August 25. You can either send a link to your uploaded video, or send a copy of the video file.

Here are the guidelines:

• Your film can be about anything
• No film is too short or too sloppy
• Start something new, or finish an old project
• Experimental. Quick and dirty. Fast and loose
• Aim for 5 minutes long/10 minutes max

To register your film follow this link. The event’s Facebook page is here.

Acceptees will be notified by email if their film has been selected for the Fest screening. The organizers say that it’s possible that they won’t be able to show every film that is submitted, but they hope they can. Please email sloppyfilmfest [at] gmail.com with any questions.

The festival, which is basically an evening of short films made by you, will be held at the Beaumont Warehouse (50th and Beaumont), starting at 9 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 6. There will be free admission, but donations will be collected at the screening to cover the cost of the space and equipment.

So, are you ready to become a local film star? Go ahead and submit your creation. Who knows, maybe your submission will win the coveted Palme D’Slop?

The Taney Dragons following their 8-0 win over Newark , Del. to win the Mid-Atlantic Championship on Sunday. (Photo from Taneybaseball.com)

So have you caught Taney Dragon fever yet? Whether you are a baseball fan or not it’s hard not to root for that group of 12- and 13-year-old Philly Little Leaguers led by fireballer Mo’Ne Davis (a girl in case you hadn’t heard), who will begin play at the Little League World Series on Friday.

Taney kicks off double-elimination group play in the World Series on Friday at 3 p.m. against the team from Nashville, Tenn.. That game will be on ESPN. If they win, they play again on Sunday at 7 p.m. If they lose, they are still alive and will play Saturday at 6 p.m.

The team, which is made up of kids from around the city including one who attends Penn Alexander school, was featured on ABC news last night. We’re talking “World News,” not Channel 6.  Here’s a story on Davis and the team in The Washington Post. She will be just the 18th girl to play in the Little League World Series since they began allowing girls in 1974 and the first American girl since 2004.

Taney secured the Mid-Atlantic Championship on Sunday behind a Davis’ six strikeouts to shutout the team from Newark, Del. 8-0 That win earned them a coveted spot in Williamsport, the first team from Philadelphia ever to make it.

Also, if you want to throw a few bucks their way to help defray costs of getting the team and their families to Williamsport, go here.

We’ll leave it there for now and keep our fingers crossed. Go Dragons!