West Philly resident Michael Froehlich and his 2-year-old daughter Zora love playgrounds. No wait, they really love playgrounds.

What began as the occasional bicycle excursion from their home on 48th Street to nearby playgrounds like Malcolm X. Park has turned into a full-on quest to document a bunch of playgrounds in this part of the city – 31 playgrounds in all.

“We went a little overboard,” said Froehlich, a legal aid attorney.

The result, the website zoraplays, is an invaluable guide to playgrounds that includes photos of equipment, sketches of the playground’s layout and a map showing the location. Each playground was within a mile of their home.

Froehlich said he and Zora’s goal is to help convince people that there is fun beyond the usual spots like Clark Park and Cedar Park.

“I hope that this project will show people that there are a lot of great playgrounds in our community so they should get on their bicycles and ride out and explore them,” he said.

The big question, of course, is which is Zora’s fav?

“I’d like to say that Zora has developed a discerning eye for quality playgrounds,” said Froehlich. “But the truth is that she loves all playgrounds. Tall slides, wide slides, single slides, double slides: she digs them all with the same gusto.”

As for Froehlich himself? “Malcolm X. Park,” he said. “There’s so much there.”

 
– Emma Eisenberg contributed to this story

40th Street Artist in Residence, a program that awards West Philadelphia artists one year of free studio space, is now accepting applications for the 2012-2013 residency. If accepted to the program, artists will be granted a studio space at either 4007 Chestnut or 4013 Chestnut Street, beginning on August 25, 2012 and ending August 15, 2013.

The program, founded in 2003 by artist Edward M. Epstein, addresses the need for studio space in West Philadelphia and assists artists with their career development. In exchange, residents are asked to share their creative talents with neighbors. Examples of this include creating a public installation or holding a workshop or class.

To apply, please complete and submit the application that can be found HERE by Monday, May 7, 2012. Email it to 40th.AIR.app [at] gmail.com or mail it to 40th Street Artist-in-Residence Program, 4007 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104. To read more about the program, click here.

In honor of the birthday of Paul Robeson, an acclaimed actor, concert singer, lawyer, athlete and social activist, The Lucien E. Blackwell Regional Library presents two programs in collaboration with the Friends of the Blackwell Library and the West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance.

On Saturday, April 7, from 1:00-3:00 p.m. two biographical films will be shown: “Speak of me as I Am” and “Paul Robeson, Tribute to an Artist.” Refreshments will be served.

On Tuesday, April 17, at 6:00 p.m. there will be a lecture by Frances Aulston, Founder & CEO of the West Philadelphia Cultural Alliance-Paul Robeson House. A reception will follow.

A series of panels depicting various stages of Paul Robeson’s life will be on display for both programs.

The Lucien E. Blackwell Regional Library is located at 125 South 52nd Street (corner of 52nd and Sansom). For more information call 215-685-7433.

This photo, titled West Philadelphia 7 am, was taken by West Philly based photographer Stephanie Ricci.

Send us your photo of the neighborhood at editor@westphillylocal.com

Mariposa Food Co-op is seeking a new Membership Coordinator to join their staff collective. They have recently expanded their operations and their membership is quickly increasing in size. They are interested in applicants who have previous experience managing large numbers of individuals, especially coordinating people in a volunteer organization and/or working within a cooperative model. A major part of this job is interacting with people, so Mariposa is asking that only candidates with exceptional communication and interpersonal skills apply for this position.

Compensation is $12.25/hour with a yearly raise. Benefits include health savings account, paid vacation and sick/personal days and monthly $25 in-store shopping credit.

Deadline for applications is April 14, 2012. Ideal start date is June 1, 2012. For the full job description and to apply, visit this page.

Reader Chelsea believes she was pressured into switching energy providers by door-to-door salesmen and wants other residents to be aware of this possible scam. Here’s what she wrote us in an email:

“I thought other West Philadelphians should be made aware of door-to-door salesmen who try to scam you into switching energy companies. Some people seem to know about this company already, but for people who are new to the area, like me, it seemed believable.

There were two well-dressed young men going door to door in my neighborhood (Spruce Hill area) from Direct Energy. They represented themselves as belonging to the parent agency of my electric provider and asked to look at my PECO bill to make sure that I was getting the newly-lowered rate customers in this area are supposed to be getting, since there was an “error” and “some customers were accidentally getting overcharged and hadn’t properly fixed it on their bills.” They claimed this “fixing” would be greatly expedited if they did it for me. They then called their managers to, in their words, make sure the new discount was applied to my bill, and then had me sign something and write down my account number. They quickly left before I could read the fine print of what I signed, but I looked it up afterwards and realized they completely misrepresented their affiliation: they are in no way affiliated with PECO, but are a competitor company.

What they do is take your information from PECO and use it to change over your energy provider to them. I don’t know if their company is any better or any worse, but people should be able to make their own decisions and not get pressured by this misinformation. If anyone else signed the form (as I did) they can call the company within three business days to cancel.”