Here’s another great event for the whole family happening this weekend in the neighborhood. The University City Arts League (4226 Spruce St) invites friends and neighbors to their 4th annual Chili Bowl event that will be held on Sunday, Apr. 7, from 1 – 5 p.m.

As always, the UCAL staff will fill up bowls made in their pottery studio with different versions of delicious warm chili, veggie and meat, provided by nine local restaurants: Atiya Ola, Distrito, Gold Standard Café, Green Line Café, Guacamole Mex Grill, Harvest, Honest Tom’s, Milk and Honey, and Powelton Pizza. Once again, Greg Salisbury, head of SOOP catering, will be creating meat and vegan chili and Yards Brewing will be supplying beverages.

The annual Chili Bowl event raises funds for the University City Arts League’s Pottery Studio. (Photo courtesy UCAL).

Sounds great, right? All you have to do is to buy a beautiful hand-crafted chili bowl and you can eat all the free chili you want. And if you bring your kids, they all will eat free when their parents purchase a bowl! After you try all the chili you can vote for the best chili-maker in the neighborhood.

“This is a really fun event,” says Noreen Shanfelter, Arts League executive director. “It’s great for the whole family. We’ll have music and face painting for the children to enjoy.”

This event benefits the UCAL Pottery Studio. It will help cover the expenses of a new, third kiln that was recently added to increase capacity at the studio and new lighting.

Pottery is the most popular of all courses at the Arts League and is available for children, aged 5 to 12 after school Monday to Friday, and for adults on the weekends and on several weeknights.

For more information contact the Arts League at 215 382 7811 or visit www.ucartsleague.org.

On Sunday, April 7, Dock Street Brewery (50th and Baltimore) will become a venue for two great events – a fundraiser for Cedar Park Neighbors scholarships and a pop-up shop featuring local artists and merchants.

The 6th Annual Scholarship Fundraiser which supports local youths’ pursuit of higher education will take place from 4-6 p.m. and will include beer and pizza, a silent auction, and live music by local band Big Tusk. Tickets are $40 and are available at the door or online. To buy tickets online click here.

Dock Street’s first pop-up shop will begin at 1 p.m. and go on until 8 p.m., so you if you’re participating in the fundraiser you can definitely check out this event, too. Here’s a list of participants:

Pinups For Pitbulls

Recycled Lovers -Vintage clothing and accessories

El Vivimor -Vintage clothing and accessories

Terra Luna – herbal vinegars

Wicked Apothecary – all natural soaps and skin care products

Adelina Mictlan Jewelry – occult style jewelry

Thrillhaus – tees, painted skulls and prints

Cut & Paste Photo Booth

As the Crow Flies & Co. -re-purposed heirloom jewelry & retro style kids clothes

Bitten Sweets – handmade chocolates, crafted into devilish shapes

For more information on the vendors and the event visit: shopdockstreet.wordpress.com.

There will be a raffle to benefit Pinups For Pitbulls, a non-profit organization comprised of animal lovers, advocates and educators. A few of the vendors and local businesses are donating things to raffle off. Dock Street will have pizza slices and will be serving all six taps and new beer cocktails, such as Dude’s Manhattan, Rye Bloody Maria, Pilsner Brew-driver, and a few more.

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.

Many neighbors have been asking how they can help businesses and employees affected by the Christmas Eve fire near 49th and Baltimore and its aftermath. The fire destroyed Elena’s Soul Lounge and its demolition in the following days damaged two adjacent, popular business storefronts – Gary’s Nails and Cedar Park Cafe. On Friday, January 25, Cedar Park Neighbors and the Baltimore Avenue Business Association (Facebook page) are inviting everyone who wants to support these businesses to a community event held from 7-10 p.m. at The Cedar Works, the new community-oriented work and meeting space located at 4919 Pentridge Avenue. Donations for the affected businesses will be accepted at the door.

The event will include music and food & drink from local businesses. It’s also a great chance to meet and socialize with your neighbors and friends.

Here’s a Facebook page for the event where you can confirm if you’re coming: https://www.facebook.com/events/310834425703338/.

Also, if you are available to volunteer that night setting up or staffing the door, please email Michael Froehlich at: michaelrfroehlich@gmail.com.

UPDATE: Those who would like to donate to the businesses and employees affected by the Baltimore Avenue fire you can do so until Wednesday, Jan. 30 by going to the “Donate” section of the Cedar Park Neighbors website: http://www.cedarparkneighbors.org/join-cpn-donate/general-donation/ (indicate in the comments section that this is for the “Baltimore Avenue fire fund”).

As words of sympathy and support continue to pour in for Elena’s Soul Lounge, which was seriously damaged by fire on Monday, we are passing along information on the first fundraiser for this popular Baltimore Avenue spot. The fundraiser Jam Session/Concert to raise money for Elena’s Soul Lounge will be held this Friday, Dec. 28 at Major Events Banquet Hall, 5075 Lancaster Ave, 8 p.m. – 12 a.m. The fundraiser is hosted by IM3Media that helped organize Hidden Soul Wednesdays at Elena’s. More information is available here (Facebook page).

Photo courtesy of the St. Bernard Community Garden website.

A plot of land that dozens of gardeners have worked for over 15 years to convert from burned-out homes to a thriving community garden is going on the auction block.

Some 50 local residents garden at the St. Bernard Community Garden, which is now facing an obstacle that has ended many community gardens in the city. The land at 1010 S. St. Bernard (see map below), where many of the garden plots are, is privately owned and the owner stopped paying taxes in 1997, soon after fire destroyed homes on the plot.

On December 19, the property will go to sheriff’s sale. So the gardeners, with the help of some pro bono legal work, Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell and other community organizations, are trying to make sure the land remains a community garden. The city could step in and bid on the plot on behalf of the gardeners, but folks associated with the St. Bernard Community Garden say the city has a maximum bid it can’t exceed. So the gardeners are trying to raise more money to buy the land. So far they have raised more than $10,000. This is where you can help out.

There will be a fundraiser at Dock Street Brewery on December 15 that will include pizza, beer and a silent auction. 10 bucks at the door gets you a pint and a slice and there will be tons of items to bid on (can you say “holiday gifts”?) from a bunch of different local artists, artisans, restaurants and businesses.

Here is a Facebook page where you can RSVP.
 

View St. Bernard Community Garden in a larger map