Pssst. Hey, West Philly meat eaters! This Saturday, March 2, there’s a great opportunity to try meat from local farms and help neighborhood schools. Philly CowShare, a West Philly-based company that  sells “shares” of locally-raised, grass-fed beef and pastured pork, is hosting a one-day meat sale at the Calvary Center at 48th & Baltimore, from 2 – 6 p.m. A portion of the proceeds from the sale will go to the West Philly Coalition for Neighborhood Schools and Penn Alexander School’s HSA.

The sale offers a one-stop shop where you can learn about participating farms, buy a package of beef or pork to cook at home and even get some recipes! The following items will be available for purchase: steaks, roasts, ground beef, no-nitrate bacon, sausage, pork chops, and sampler packs (pre-orders for sampler bundles are available online). All meat is individually packaged, labeled, and USDA certified.

Philly CowShare helps connect “communities of responsible farmers and butchers with urban communities who simply want to eat well.” The company sells bundles of beef called CowShares and bundles of pork called PigShares that are available to purchase individually and as a group. Philly CowShare challenges the consumer to eat healthy meat and to eat meat more mindfully and wants to make sure that “the farmer and butcher are paid fairly and the animals are raised in accordance with their nature and in harmony with the land.”

To learn more about how Philly CowShare operates, visit their website or Facebook page.

Spruce Hill residents are invited to attend a second meeting to guide future development decisions in their community. This Action Planning Workshop will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 27, at the Wilson Student Center on the campus of the University of the Sciences (42nd & Woodland).

The session will again be led by Jennifer Hurley, a professional planner hired by the Spruce Hill Community Trust. Residents will be asked to confirm their community vision, brainstorm about ways to make it a reality, and plan next steps.

This meeting follows up on one in December that drew an unexpected turnout of about 90 people who were asked to indicate their likes and dislikes about directions that development could take in Spruce Hill. Hurley has taken that material and pulled it together in a presentation that may be viewed on the Spruce Hill Community Association’s website.

The Spruce Hill neighborhood boundaries run from Market Street to Woodland Avenue, 38th Street to 46th Street.

For more information about the planning workshop, contact Barry Grossbach, chair of the trust, at b.grossbach@gmail.com or at 215-349-7825.

About 90 people participated in the first meeting about the future development of the Spruce Hill neighborhood. (Photo from Spruce Hill Community Association’s Facebook page).

The University City District and VIX Emporium are teaming up to bring  a new cool event to West Philly. The inaugural 30th Street Craft Market is happening Saturday, Feb. 23, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., and we wanted to let you know more about the participants. It’s an impressive list of super talented artists and crafts people from all around Philly who will offer unique, handmade items such as jewelry, pottery, cards & prints, knits, glassware, natural soaps & body care supplies, children’s items and more. Here’s the full list of participants (you can see their profiles here).

Art Star
As The Crow Flies & Co.
The Captain’s Vintage
Dop Dop Designs
exit343design
J4 WoodWorks
Jen McCleary Art & Design
joeyfivecents
Ken Beidler Ceramics
Krista Peel
The Lettered Set
Lindsay Gilbert Glass
Malachy Egan
Manic Muse
Mellifera Candles
Nice Things Handmade
Nicole Rae Styer
Old Blood
Phea Jean
Precious Meshes
Punk RocKnits
Rachelink
Sardine Clothing
Seampoets
Stitch Prism
Suzanne Francis
Tadpole Creations
Threet Ceramics
Volta Organics
VIX Emporium
Wrong World Ceramics

The market will take place indoors, at the 30th Street Station (that’s something unusual for America’s third busiest train station!), so you don’t have to worry about the cold weather and can spend more time shopping.

For more information, check out the event’s Facebook page or visit VIX Emporium‘s or the University City District‘s websites.

In addition to the Little Baby’s Ice Cream zoning meeting, there will be two more important neighborhood development and safety meetings this Thursday, Feb. 21.

– Garden Court Community Association invites residents and business owners to join them at 6:30 p.m. at 4725 Chestnut Street for a meeting and potluck dinner. Small business and economic development within Garden Court (45th St. to 52nd St. and Locust St. to Cedar Ave.) will be discussed at this meeting. Here are some of the topics:

• Do you want information on starting a business?
• What kind of services and retail do you want to see in the Garden Court neighborhood?
• Are you interested in what community members can do together to improve business districts within neighborhoods?
• Are you a neighborhood entrepreneur interested in resources to help your business?
• What would you like to see in the neighborhood business districts (48th & Spruce and 52nd Street)?

The panel includes the following speakers: Angela Dowd-Burton (Executive Director, Office of Economic Opportunity, City of Philadelphia Commerce Department), Rojer Kern (Neighborhood Markets Manager, City of Philadelphia Commerce Department), Iola Harper (Senior Director of the Business Acceleration Group), and Mahari Baily, Esq. (Love Real Estate Group).

You can also hear updates on GCCA membership, planning, and education activities and more. For more information, please contact Kate Mills, Corresponding Secretary, at katewmills@gmail.com.

– A monthly community meeting with police will be held at Calvary Center for Culture and Community (48th & Baltimore), beginning at 6 p.m. Bring your questions and concerns and discuss crime and other neighborhood issues with Lt. Brian McBride and Sgt. Ron Washington of the University City Division of the Philadelphia 18th Police District.

Photo from last year’s Fun-A-Day show at Studio 34.

Some of your friends and neighbors worked hard to create a piece of art every day during the month of January, as part of the annual Fun-A-Day project and this Friday and Saturday (Feb. 15 & 16) all are invited to see the results of their work. Studio 34 (4522 Baltimore Ave) is hosting the Fun-A-Day art show from 7 to 11 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday nights and a Reading event from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Saturday. The event is free and open to the public.

The ArtClash Collective, a Philadelphia based group who has organized Fun-A-Day for nine years, invites community members of all ages to the show, hoping that it serves as an inspiration for those who attend. “We hope we can inspire you to make art!” reads a message on their website.

The Saturday event will include performances by Allison Polans, Gina Renee Fontana, and Second Opinion, beginning at 8:15 p.m. For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page.

Mariposa‘s Food Justice and Anti-Racism Working Group (FJAR) is building a library and seeking donations of books, zines and articles relating to food justice, organizing, pedagogy, gentrification, racism, and anti-oppression. Donations of cookbooks and primers about the food system and nutrition for both youth and adults are also welcome.

If you have books you’d like to donate, please drop them off in the store (4824 Baltimore Ave) or contact Mariposa for a pick-up by emailing: mariposa.fjar.library@gmail.com.

The library is expected to open this spring and materials will be available (during designated times) for borrowing by both staff and members.