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Recreation

Free chess tournament at Blackwell library Saturday

March 10, 2011

Attention young chess players. The Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional Library is hosting a chess tournament on Saturday to help bolster interest in chess among West Philly youths.

The three-round unrated tournament is open to anyone, youths and adults alike (although they will compete in separate tournaments). The event will also include an introduction to tournament play, refreshments and prizes. Organizers hope that they will garner enough interest to start a chess club at the library.

Here is the tournament schedule:

Registration: 1:00 – 1:30 p.m.
Introduction to tournament play: 1:30 – 2:00 p.m.
Competition: 2:00 – 4:30 p.m.

Players from the chess club at the Walnut Street West Library will likely be on hand for the tournament, according to their coach Joe Clarke. Speaking of the Walnut Street West club, several of its members competed last month in the Fourth Annual Checkmate Violence 24-Hour Chess Marathon at Temple University. The tournament took place Feb. 5-6. Club members George Cao, Saleh Ibrahim and Carter Davis, all 9, 10-year-old Sherwin Hosseinpour and 7-year-old Risa Azim all took home medals (see photo below).

About 200 players take part in the event, which includes a series of tournaments and activities, and about 100 play all 24 hours.

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Members of the Walnut Street West Library Chess Club. Front row (from left): George Cao, Sherwin Hosseinpour, Carter Davis and Saleh Ibrahim. Back row (from left): coaches Fred Austion and Joe Clarke. Risa Azim, who also took home a medal from the competition, is not in the photograph. (Photo provided by Joe Clarke)

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Event schedule for Clark Park

March 6, 2011

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There are always unscheduled small events at Clark Park. (Photo by Mike Lyons)

The Friends of Clark Park has released a tentative list of large events for this spring, summer and fall. The events still need to go through the permitting process of the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation. Because of the ongoing construction at the “A” park, all of the large events this year will take place in the “B” or “C” parks below Chester Avenue.

One recent fixture on the summer park calendar, the annual music festival Best Fest, will not take place this year.

The Friends of Clark Park has recommended that no large events take place in Park A this season.

Here is the tentative schedule:

April 16/23: Uhuru Flea Market
May 7: Spruce Hill May Fair
May 14: Uhuru Flea Market
June 28: Uhuru Flea Market
June 25: Summer Solstice Festival
July 23: Uhuru Flea Market
August 20: Uhuru Flea Market
September 10: Woodland Avenue Reunion
September 17: Fall Equinox Festival
September 17: Uhuru Flea Market
(These two events will coordinate space-sharing)
September 24: Youth Soccer Fall Season
October 15: Uhuru Flea Market

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Tree pruning workshop/potluck this Saturday

February 1, 2011

Join fellow tree enthusiasts (tree pruning enthusiasts to be exact) for the Second Annual Limb-Up this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Woodlands Cemetery (40th and Woodland).

The Limb Up is a discussion/workshop in starting a neighborhood pruning club. The event also includes pruning instruction followed by a potluck lunch. The workshop will take place outside the cemetery’s main gates. No experience is necessary.  The lunch and discussion will follow at the cemetery mansion, which will be open at 9:30 a.m. for potluck drop offs. Please RSVP to Christine at cwilleford – at – pennhort.org.

The Limb Up  is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society and its Tree Tenders program and UC Green.

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That snow isn’t all misery…

January 28, 2011

While many of us were slogging through the snow a lot of folks were over at Clark Park having fun. If you know people in the pictures, leave a comment below. We’re trying to put names to faces. Send us your storm photos and we’ll try to get them up on the site – editor – at – westphillylocal.com .

– Mike

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Jump for joy

December 27, 2010

If you can stand the wind – and it is brutal at times – there is good sledding to be had at Clark Park today. A nice little ramp has been set up near the maintenance building. See more photos on our Flickr feed. About a foot of snow fell in West Philly overnight.

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Wilson playground construction underway

November 15, 2010

Construction of the new playground at Alexander Wilson Elementary School (1300 South 46th), a project that has been years in the making, began today.
A member of the construction crew that was beginning to assemble the playground equipment said that phase would be done by Friday, “if all goes well.” Another crew will then lay down a rubber ground surface.
The playground has been near the top of the Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) wish list for many years and became a reality after a $50,000 grant from the Hamels Foundation, the charitable organization run by Phillies Pitcher Cole Hamels and his wife Heidi. The grant was the Foundation’s largest made to a Philadelphia public school this year. Mary Goldman of the SHCA’s Youth and Education Committee was instrumental in arranging the funding for the playground. Community members from the school and a variety of organizations have been raising funds for the playground for about 20 years.
The 183-square-foot facility will provide 21 activities and will be able to accommodate about 70 children at a time.


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