Photo courtesy of The Woodlands.

Do you want to learn how to tend to planters and help beautify a historical cemetery in West Philly? The Woodlands is currently accepting applications for their 2019 Grave Gardeners program.

The Grave Gardeners are a group of volunteers who are each assigned a “cradle grave” at The Woodlands. These graves were originally designed to be planters and would have been planted and cared for by loved ones in the Victorian era. The Grave Gardeners tend to their assigned cradle grave throughout the entire growing season, from March to November. A wide variety of plant material will be provided to gardeners by The Woodlands. Group workshops, demonstrations, and planting happy hours are also scheduled throughout the season.  Continue Reading

Photo courtesy of UCD.

If you’re looking for environmentally friendly ways to dispose of your Christmas tree, there are a few options available in the area.

Philadelphia Streets Department’s Christmas Tree Recycling Program

As part of this annual program, now through January 12th, residents may drop off their trees at any of the following Streets Department Sanitation Convenience Centers (Monday through Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.):  Continue Reading

If you’re looking for something to do on New Year’s Eve and/or New Year’s Day, check out events below, plus some useful information on SEPTA service during these days.

There will be two New Year’s Eve fireworks shows on the Delaware River waterfront – at 6 p.m. and midnight. There are several locations where you can watch the show, including Penn’s Landing, Race Street Pier, and more. For more details, go here.

SEPTA will have enhanced New Year’s Eve service on Broad Street and Market-Frankford lines on New Year’s Eve:  Continue Reading

Staying in town for the holidays? Check out holiday hours for selected businesses, as well as SEPTA’s and City holiday schedules. We’ll update the list below when more information becomes available. If you’re a business and want to add your hours, please feel free to do so in the comments. Happy Holidays!

SEPTA

Dec. 24: City transit routes will operate on a Modified Weekday schedule.
Dec. 25: Buses, trains, and trolleys will operate on a Sunday schedule due to the holiday.
Dec. 26 – 28: Buses, trains, and trolleys will operate on a Modified Weekday schedule due to the holiday
Jan. 1: Buses, trains, and trolleys will operate on a Sunday schedule due to the holiday.  Continue Reading

The Millcreek Tavern at 42nd and Chester Ave. will soon be gone and a five-story, 42-unit residential building aimed at students could soon take its place.

Developers pitched a preliminary plan to the Spruce Hill Community Association zoning committee on Monday night for the building, which would require variances for height and number of units. Representatives of Core Development told the committee that they purchased the building about 10 days ago, are in the “very early conceptual stages” and have yet to apply for the variances.  Continue Reading

The non-profit owners of the Arvilla, an affordable housing building on the 4500 block of Osage Avenue, insisted on Monday that they will go through with the sale of the building despite pleas from some residents and neighbors.

Representatives of Mission First Housing Group, one of the largest providers of affordable housing in the city, said during a Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) zoning meeting that it can’t afford the necessary renovations required to maintain the 14-unit building and will go through with a sale that will likely convert the building to market-rate apartments.

“The costs of modernizing the building are much higher than we can cover,” Mission First’s Director of Business Development Mark Deitcher said. “We have to pull the plug on the building because of the capital needs of the building.”  Continue Reading