A group of local activists are organizing a rally, including a vigil, march, and speak out for Mike Brown and the people of Ferguson, Mo. on Saturday, Aug 23, at Clark Park (44th and Baltimore).

The rally starts at 7 p.m. The vigil will be followed by a march around the park, followed by speeches from community leaders. Participants are asked to bring a candle. Originally, the vigil and march had been scheduled for tonight but were postponed until Saturday due to thunderstorms in forecast. The Unitarian Universalist Church of the Restoration (Facebook page) is also one of the organizers.

The following speakers have been announced so far:

– Michael Coard, Civil Rights Attorney and Activist
– Jondhi Harrell, Director, The Center for Returning Citizens
– Reverend Dr. Kathryn Ellis, Minister, UU Church of the Unitarian Universalist Church In Mt Airy-Restoration

The Kemi McCoy Drummers will also participate in the rally.

The same group of activists are behind Tuesday’s rally at 52nd and Market Streets to protest Ferguson shooting (The Daily Pennsylvanian has a report on it).

For more information and updates, visit the organizers’ Facebook page.
 

Hey West Philly parents and guardians, you probably have some stuff in your closets that your kids have grown out of over the past year. Here’s a great chance to get rid of it, earn some cash, and support a neighborhood school. The annual “West Philly Grows Again” Kids’ Consignment sale, which benefits St. Mary’s Nursery School, is scheduled for September 20, 2014 and consignors are welcome to register. Here’s how the sale works:

If your items are accepted and then sold at the event you earn 50 percent of the profits. The other 50 percent will go to support the school. If you also volunteer during this fundraiser by working a 3-hour shift you can increase your percentage to 60 percent.

Gently used and good-quality children’s items are accepted at the sale, including clothing (newborn up to size 16), shoes, toys, books, baby and sports equipment, and more. Maternity and nursing clothing is also accepted. For the full lists of accepted and not accepted items and general consignor guidelines, check out this page. Click here to register ($10 consignor registration fee is applied).

The “West Philly Grows Again” Consignment sale will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 20, at St. Mary’s Nursery School, 3916 Locust Walk. Consignors, volunteers and shoppers are welcome. For more information, visit: stmarysnursery.org/consignment-sale. To check out sale updates as they arrive, visit the event’s Facebook page.

Update (8/21/14): Due to the weather forecast for Thursday night, Bat Night at the Woodlands has been canceled.

Here’s our roundup of outdoor events in the area where you can enjoy this nice August weather and food and drinks with your friends, listen to some great music and even learn a thing or two about nature:

Wednesday, Aug 20

Penn Museum’s Summer Nights Concert Series presents Brazilian duo Minas

Penn Museum, 3260 South St, 5:00 p.m.

Celebrating 30 years since moving from Rio de Janeiro to the Philadelphia area, Minas’s innovative yet timeless sound blends folk, blues, jazz, scat, and samba, with a unique combination of Brazilian and American roots. The concert will take place in the museum’s Stoner Courtyard. $10.

Thursday, Aug 21

Dîner En Sweatpants

Clark Park “A”, 43rd and Baltimore,  5:30-8:30 p.m.

Ticketleap invites folks to a silly, FREE event this Thursday in Clark Park. Bring your picnic blankets and baskets or buy some delicious food from the food trucks after the regular Thursday Farmer’s Market! http://events.ticketleap.com/diner/

Bat Night at the Woodlands

The Woodlands Cemetery, 40th and Woodland, 6:00 p.m.

Bring some dinner and your flashlight on Thursday from 6-9 p.m. for a rare chance to spend the evening in the Cemetery after dark and see the resident bats! Also, take a walk with a bat expert and learn about special plants that will attract bats to your garden. This is a free event and sweet treats from Lil’ Pop Shop will be available for sale.

Saturday, Aug 23

Outdoor Concert feat. Clap Your Hands Say Yeah w/ Illinois, and Mo Lowda and the Humble

City Tap House, 39th and Walnut, 3:00-8:00 p.m.

City Tap House is joining forces with the booking and production team from The Blockley and Brooklyn Brewing Company to throw a couple of August, Saturday afternoon concerts on their beautiful outdoor patio space. The first concert, on Aug 23, features local indie rockers Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, led by longtime frontman Alec Ounsworth. They’ll be sharing the stage with Illinois, also Philly-based rockers. Mo Lowda and the Humble, one of the city‘s finest up-and-coming groups, will open the show at 3:30 p.m. $15. 21+. Tickets are available here.

There will be a bus substitution on the Trolley Route 10 from 63rd and Malvern to 33rd and Market from 12 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 23, through 11:59 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 29, according to SEPTA. The substitution is due to Philadelphia Streets Department work in the area.

During the bus substitution, Route 10 riders can use trolleys Routes 11, 13, 34 and 36 for travel between 33rd and Market to 13th and Market. Buses will take passengers between the 33rd and Market Street trolley stop and 63rd and Malvern.

There’s no word yet on the extent of the road work scheduled in this area. Stay tuned for updates.
 

West Philly kids are doing great in sports and are in the spotlight of some current and upcoming sporting events.

The Taney Dragons. (Photo from Taneybaseball.com)

• The Taney Dragons, Philly’s youth baseball team that made it this year to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pa., keeps winning! In their second game, on Sunday, they defeated the team from Texas. We learned that there are at least three West Philly kids on the team. According to neighborhood sources, these kids are: Eli Simon, No. 4, a student at Penn Alexander School (43rd and Locust), Tai Shanahan, No. 7 (who had the game-winning hit on Sunday), goes to St. Francis de Sales (47th and Windsor), and Carter Davis, No. 9, lives on 49th St.

We’re very excited about the success of these and other young stars on the team (their amazing pitcher, Mo’ne Davis, is on this week’s cover of Sports Illustrated!). Taney’s 3rd game is tonight, at 7:30 p.m., when they will take on a team from Las Vegas, Nev. You can watch it on ESPN. Also, there’s a free Taney Dragons Pep Rally and Watch Party tonight, 7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m., in the City Hall Courtyard (Broad and Market Sts). Go Taney!

• It’s not every day when you get a chance to practice with tennis stars like Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, but a West Philly kid will be at this year’s U.S. Open. Eleven-year-old Tauheed Browning, a student at Legacy Youth Tennis and Education Center, is heading to Flushing Meadows, New York, to participate in Arthur Ashe Kids’ Day on Saturday, Aug 23, as part of the 2014 U.S. Open Tennis Championship. Tauheed will get to warm up with tennis professionals and another Legacy student, Brandon Caban of Drexel Hill, will compete against the pros in a target-hitting contest in the hopes of bringing back $15,000 to provide tennis and life skills education to more than 4,500 young people from the greater Philadelphia area, many of who come from low-income and under-resourced communities.

Tauheed is a student at PA Leadership Charter School, and is from Overbrook. He is one of the youngest Legacy student-athletes with very high potential, according to a spokeperson at the center.

Tauheed Browning. (Photo courtesy of Legacy Youth Tennis and Education)

Police are investigating a gunpoint robbery Monday night at a barbershop at 4702 Baltimore Avenue.

Police say two men entered the Hair Lounge at about 10:50 p.m. and demanded cash and property from patrons and employees. Both robbers were armed with silver handguns and one of the men fired a shot into the ceiling of the storefront business during the robbery, according to police. At least four people were robbed, but no one was injured during the robbery.

The robbers made off with wallets, cash, cell phones and even car and house keys. One phone was recovered after police contacted the carrier, which tracked the phone to the 1100 block of S. 47th. Police also recovered a silver revolver from inside the barber shop.

Police pursued one of the men, but lost him on the 4800 block of Baltimore Avenue. A witness chased the other man southeast and lost him near 46th and Springfield.