Kùlú Mèlé African Dance and Drum Ensemble / Photo credit: Canary Promotion.

From November 6 to 9, West Philly’s Community Education Center in partnership with Drexel University will present the first-ever DanceAfrica Philadelphia, a four-day celebration of traditional and contemporary African dance, music, art and community.

Philadelphia is the sixth major city to present this spectacular event promoting the preservation of African dance and culture. Created by Charles “Baba Chuck” Davis in 1977 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, DanceAfrica has evolved into a weeklong annual celebration of African culture in New York with additional presentations held in cities around the country.

Local performing groups include Kùlú Mèlé African Dance and Drum Ensemble, Kariamu and Company: Traditions and Illstyle & Peace Productions, plus special D.C-based guests Farafina Kan. The Philly festival will also include the Afro Beauty, Health and Wellness Marketplace, the Philadelphia Folklore Project exhibition “Honoring Ancestors of Rhythm, Movement and Place,” family workshops and a lecture on African dance in America.

The festival events will take place at the Community Education Center, Drexel University (3141 Chestnut St) and Philadelphia Folklore Project (735 S. 50th St). Tickets range from $5-$25 and can be purchased online at brownpapertickets.com/event/428884. For more information, call the Community Education Center (3500 Lancaster Ave.) at 215 387-1911 or visit: http://www.cecarts.org/wp/danceafrica/.

The votes are in, the judges have made up their minds and we’re happy to announce the winners of West Philly Local’s 2013 Pumpkin Carving Contest. Thanks again to everyone who participated in the contest and to those who voted.

And the winners are:

The Readers’ Choice winner is the Scary Philly School Closings pumpkin (Pumpkin 3) and her creator Milena Velis. Nearly 250 votes were cast in the Readers’ Choice category and Milena’s pumpkin received 108 votes. As one of West Philly Local readers said in the comments, “Really amazed at the detail in pumpkin. And the statement on what is happening in our city.” Most of the voters agreed. Milena wins the grand prize, which includes two gift cards/certificates from local businesses of her choice, a $20 Four Worlds Bakery gift card  + two free tickets of her choice (to Penn Museum or Curio Theatre).

The winner in the Kids’ Category is 10-year-old Edward Brown who carved The Invisible Man pumpkin. Nice work, Edward! You win a $20 Lil’ Pop Shop gift card, and two Penn Museum tickets.

The winner in the Philly-themed category is Shir K and her West Philly themed Porch Kitties pumpkin.

The scariest pumpkin, in our judges’ opinion, is Bimal Desai’s Werewolf pumpkin. Congratulations, Bimal! You did it again.

Unfortunately, no pumpkins were submitted in the Funniest category, so our judges didn’t select a winner here. As a special prize, though we decided to award the pumpkin that finished second in the Readers’ Choice category – the Lou Reed pumpkin carved by our last year’s Readers’ Choice winner Nate Johnson. The Lou Reed pumpkin received 56 votes out of 249. Great job, Nate, once again!

We will be contacting all the winners shortly with more details about the prizes they won. And we would like to thank again the businesses who provided the prizes and made this contest possible: Aksum, Curio Theatre, Dock Street Brewery, Four Worlds Bakery, Cafe Renata, Honest Tom’s Taco Shop, Lil’ Pop Shop, Penn Museum, and VIX Emporium.

Last month, City Council passed an official resolution endorsing “Meatless Monday,” a national initiative to encourage individuals, families and businesses to curb meat consumption by taking a day off.

The resolution was sponsored by Councilman Bill Green and advocated by the Humane League, a national nonprofit working to reduce meat consumption and prevent animal cruelty. The organization worked closely with sponsoring Council Members to help them understand why less meat consumption is important.

“City Council looked at data regarding excessive meat consumption before considering the resolution,” said Rachel Acheson, Philadelphia director of the Humane League.

Of course, the resolution does not legally prevent anyone from getting their daily dose of protein, but it does show the city’s support for healthier and more environmentally sustainable eating habits.

“The beauty of ‘Meatless Monday’ is that it does not demand an ‘all or nothing’ approach. It offers a challenge that is do-able, one day a week in a catchy, creative way,” said Councilwoman At-Large Blondell Reynolds Brown, who co-sponsored the bill.

But will people actually give it a try? Some already have. Drexel University has been pushing Meatless Monday since last February. Drexel’s Sierra Student Coalition and Animal Welfare Association teamed up to promote Meatless Monday around the campus with the eventual goal of bringing the initiative into the university’s cafeterias.

This could serve as a precedent for the Humane League’s next big push. “Our eventual goal is to approach public schools,” Acheson said, adding that it’s crucial to change the eating habits of youth.

– Alex Vuocolo

(Photo via the Humane League)

Peoplehood Parade returns to West Philly streets and Clark Park this Sunday. Archived photo / West Philly Local.

Local parks will host some great community events on Sunday, Nov. 3.

The Spiral Q Theater is bringing its giant puppets back for the annual Peoplehood Parade that will kick off at 1 p.m. near the Paul Robeson House (4951 Walnut St.). The parade will proceed to Clark Park (45th and Chester Ave.) where it will be followed by a pageant at 2:15 p.m. Here’s some more information from the event’s Facebook page:

Join in the Parade!
Individuals, families and friends – all are welcome!
Come to the Paul Robeson House at noon to get a spot in the parade.
Bring your own puppet, costume, fancy parade outfit, your art and/or your heart and jump into the action or join in a Spiral Q section.

The parade organizers are also looking for volunteers who can provide help to seniors from the Renaissance nursing home who would like to join the parade and the action at Clark Park. Volunteers are asked to come to the home between 12:30 and 1 p.m. and bring the seniors in wheelchairs outside to wait for the parade, join the parade as it passes, and then stick with them until about 3 p.m. and bring them back to the home. The nursing home is located at 4712 Chester Avenue, which is a few blocks from Clark Park. If you would like to volunteer please contact Liza Goodell at community@spiralq.org.

Also this Sunday, Vineyard Community Church is inviting community members to a free “Fall Festival” for children in Malcolm X Park (51st and Pine). The event will take place from 1 to 4 p.m. and will feature fall themed arts and crafts, games, and activities.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our 3rd Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest and submitted their entries. Each year we are blown away by the creativity of our pumpkin-carving neighbors. This year we received many amazing entries again. It’s worth mentioning that this year, more neighbors focused on Philadelphia related topics, including serious ones like school closings.

So judge for yourself: check out the pumpkin photos below (click to enlarge) and then vote for your favorite. The Readers’ Choice winner will get the grand prize. West Philly Local will select winners in the following categories: Funniest, Scariest, Best Philly-themed, and Kids. The voting will close at midnight on Sunday, Nov. 3. We’ll post the results on Monday, Nov. 4.

Voting has ended.

[poll id=”4″]

As budget cuts slash deeper and deeper into the city’s public schools, teachers and principals need to get more creative in looking for resources to help students. Parents and community residents are a great place to start.

That’s why parents and community members are invited to the Henry C. Lea School (47th and Locust) on Monday for a community forum hosted by principal Sonya Harrison. The roundtable discussion will focus on the question, “How can all adults work together to improve student success at the Lea School?”

Two sessions of the forum will be held Monday. The first is 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. and breakfast will be provided. The later session runs from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and dinner and homework help are provided.

RSVP is required. To register, go to the office at the Lea School or call 215-898-1112 or email PPCE@gse.upenn.edu.

Head over to the West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools website for more Lea-related news.