Neighbors are invited to the Walnut Hill Community Day celebration on Saturday, Oct. 11, from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. The celebration will take place on the 4700 block of Walnut Street in front of the old West Philly High School building. This is a great opportunity to meet other neighbors, get some valuable information about the neighborhood and its organizations, and to have fun!

The event will include a lot of family friendly activities: pony rides, face painting, moon bounce, and more. Also, there will be food and drinks, raffles, a farm stand and live entertainment.

The event is organized by the Walnut Hill Community Association (WHCA). The organization was found in 1961 by a group of neighbors, led by Charles Campbell, Sr., who “were concerned about the deterioration of their neighborhood.” WHCA, which is a volunteer organization, encourages neighbors to participate in community events and in other activities that help improve and strengthen the community. New volunteers are always welcome, too. Visit this page for more information on how you can help.

Journey2home public art project, dedicated to homeless youth, opens this Friday at 42nd and Lancaster. (Photo courtesy of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program).

The Philadelphia Mural Arts program has dedicated their new public art project, journey2home, to homeless youth in the city. According to last year’s data by People’s Emergency Center, more than 5,000 kids in Philadelphia are homeless. The project includes two murals created by artists Ernel Martinez and Shira Walinsky at 42nd and Lancaster in the Mantua neighborhood. The opening celebration will take place on Friday, Oct. 10, 4 – 7 p.m.

Journey2home is a year-long, socially engaged project initiated by the Mural Arts program in collaboration with youth enrolled in the Mural Arts Art Education Program. At the apex of a green space at 42nd and Lancaster sits a transformed shipping container, a metaphor for home. It has a front porch, an information bulletin board, a resource area, storage, and a dining room with table, chairs and bookshelves.

The two-wall mural, titled Home Safe, is located across the street from the shipping container and represents the culmination of two years of work with homeless and housing-insecure youth in West Philadelphia.

Community members are invited this Friday to a pop-up outdoor gathering space at 42nd and Lancaster where the project opening celebration will be held. The celebration will include the dedication of the Home Safe murals, as well as other art and sound installations, film, music and food.

For more details on the project, images and videos, visit the journey2home blog.

Here’s a short film about the project:

Police are searching for the person or people who slashed tires on 13 vehicles parked on the 200 block of S. Farragut and 4600 block of Locust on Wednesday. Many of the vehicles had multiple tires slashed and several also had scratches to the doors, according to a police report. Police say it appears the vandalism took place between 2 and 7:30 a.m., when the damage was discovered.

There were multiple tire slashings in the area in early January 2013 when more than 50 vehicles were damaged near 49th/50th and Hazel. A 27-year-old man was arrested later that month in connection with the slashings.

University City District‘s program, West Philadelphia Skills Initiative (WPSI), is seeking West Philly residents for security jobs in the area. Training will be provided. Here are more details.

WPSI’s Connect to Success training program, which connects West Philadelphians with the region’s premier employers, is partnering with Allied Barton Security Services and will train and prepare security professionals for work on the University of Pennsylvania’s campus. The next session for the program starts in November. In June, all graduates of this program received job offers from Allied Barton, according to a WPSI press release.

The Connect to Success program offers:

• 5 weeks of training and preferential candidate status with Allied Barton Security Services
• Performance-based stipends awarded for successful classroom performance
• Professional development and work-readiness skill-building
• Financial education and more

If you meet the criteria listed below, you’re welcome to apply for the program:

• Unemployed
• A resident of West Philadelphia – as defined by zip codes 19104, 19131, 19139, 19143, 19151
• A high school graduate or possess a GED
• Able to commit to at least 30 hours of weekly training beginning November 10, 2014
• Experienced in security, customer service, military, or hospitality (preferred)

Interested individuals can complete an online application here or download and print the program application (WPSI Application – Fall 2014_pdf) and then mail/fax it to WPSI. Application deadline is Friday, Oct. 24. There will be an information session about the program on Tuesday, Oct. 14 at 3730 Walnut Street (Huntsman Hall, Room 240). Please RSVP by calling 1-888-291-5404. For more information about WPSI, visit their website. You can also check out their Facebook and Twitter pages for updates.

UPDATE: Best House’s liquor license is being transferred to the owners of Local 44. The new establishment’s name will be Clarkville Beer and it’s coming in Spring 2015, according to its Twitter account. Local 44 owners are unable to shed more light on it yet as they’re still in the process of signing the lease. We’ll update when we have more information.

The Best House Pizza at 43rd and Baltimore has closed and a new restaurant/bar will open in that spot under new owners.

We don’t have many details on the change, but a source from the Spruce Hill Community Association said that the organization is waiting to see if the new owners will request any zoning variances, which would trigger a public hearing on the project.

The previous owners took over in 2006 and changed the name of the pizzeria from The Wurst House to The Best House.

The third annual All Hallow’s Read book hunt and swap will take place on Sunday, Oct. 26 at the Woodlands cemetery (40th and Woodland). The idea of All Hallow’s Read comes from English writer Neil Gaiman, author of books as Stardust, Coraline and The Sandman, to name a few, suggested that during Halloween people should give each other spooky books.

The Friends of Walnut St West Library are one of the sponsors of this year’s event and currently accepting book donations. If you have any scary books, fall books, or books about monsters, harvest or pumpkins you would like to donate, please bring them to the library located at 40th and Walnut (there is a book drop off box).

All Hallow’s Read 2014 will be held on Oct 26 from 12 – 4 p.m. and everyone is invited to find books hidden around the cemetery and then read them together with other book hunters. You can also bring your own books and swap them for other books available at the event.

More information about All Hallow’s Read at the Woodlands can be found here.