Don’t miss the annual Clark Park May Fair this Saturday, May 12, from 10am – 4pm. There will be lots of vendors, food trucks, games and activities for children, a raffle and a plant sale.

May Fair Raffle grand prizes this year are an iPad3, and a new Schwinn SID 3-speed City bike. University Pinball has donated the iPad, along with 10 vouchers for 100 tokens each at its Family Fun Center. The bike is being donated by Keswick Cycle. In addition to the grand prizes, many local merchants have donated prizes for drinks, dinners and services (see details here). Raffle tickets will be on sale at the Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) booth: $5 for six chances. There will be a special drawing on the day of the fair for the Schwinn bike, with a value of $470 – one chance for $5.

As always, the fair will offer up tasty food from selected vendor trucks, music from groups that play the Green Line, and lots of arts and crafts by West Philadelphia artisans. There will be a bounce tent and obstacle course ($5) for kids, along with free games and face painting.

Finally, the University City Garden Club will be holding its plant sale at the fair. Their booth will be located on the south side of Chester Avenue near 43rd street. NOTE: You can also shop for their plants on Friday, May 11 at 517 Woodland Terrace from 10am to dark.

If you have questions, please call the May Fair Committee at 215-349-7825 or visit www.sprucehillca.org.
 

A huge multi-home porch sale is being held this Saturday, May 12, on Melville and Locust Streets beginning at 9 a.m. Check out the flyer below for more details.

Here’s a couple of interesting art openings for your gallery crawl this Friday.

disTURBIA @ Art on the Avenue Gallery

If you haven’t noticed, Lancaster Avenue between 38th and 40th streets has become Philly’s newest gallery row.  Opening Friday May 11, Art on the Avenue Gallery at 3808 Lancaster Ave brings us disTURBIA, a show of mixed media sculpture installation and drawings by Romanian artist Raluca Ungureanu. Ungureanu defines “disTURBIA” as, “a term derived from the words  ‘suburbia’ and ‘disturb’ meant to describe the dark side of urban living.” Her work aims to engage the viewer in a dialogue about rootlessness and alienation in the big cities of today’s rapidly changing world. Born and raised in the mythic land of Bucovina, surrounded by a deep ancestral forest at the foot of the divine monastery of Voronet, one of the oldest in Europe, Raluca has carried the imprint of her origins, and has brought them to bear on renditions of New York and Philadelphia.

Free admission.  Through June 2.  Art on the Avenue Gallery.  3808 Lancaster Avenue.  artonave.org.  215-662-1074.
Opening: Friday, May 11, from 6 – 9 pm.
Gallery Hours: Saturdays and Sundays, 12 to 5 pm or by appointment.

Monsters Under the Bed @ 40th St Artist-in-Residence Program Gallery

The exhibition features a selection of puppets from Martina Plag’s puppetry atelier, “studium-praxis.” This installation specifically focuses on designs built at Martina’s 40th AIR Space studio over the past nine months. Each puppet or set displayed in the exhibition has been designed for a specific performance and to serve a very specific function.  The objects in Monsters Under the Bed are designed by Martina Plag, but most of them were made with the help of talented artists, each bringing their own unique approach to puppet making. Supporting artists include: Pam Raines, Stephen C. Layne. Bill Hanson, Deborah Glassberg, Laureen Griffin, Leah Walton, Lorna Howley, Leila Ghaznavi, and Cory Palmer.

Free admission. 40th St Artist-in-Residence Gallery, 4007 Chestnut Street.  40streetair.blogspot.com.
Opening: Friday, May 11, from 7-10 p.m.
Gallery Hours: May 18th & 25th, 3-7 p.m., or by appointment.

– Emma Eisenberg

Update (5/18): Andy is still missing. See the flyer below.

Neighbor Mary has lost her cat – one-eyed, large, black, with white chest and paws (tuxedo), no collar. His name is Andy. He jumped out the window at 46th and Chester last night.

If you’ve seen him, please contact Mary at 267.255.0709.

When the weather heats up and folks start opening their windows and doors more, many pets venture outside and many go missing. You can’t always prevent your cat or dog running out the door or sneaking out the window, but it’s easier to find them if they are microchipped and tagged.

If you want to microchip your pet, PAWS clinic might be a good option, especially for folks on tighter budgets. PAWS does microchipping for $20, which is about a third of what vets usually charge. PAWS is located at 2900 Grays Ferry Avenue. No appointments needed on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. For more information, visit their website or call 215-298-9680.

It is also important to have an ID tag on your pet. The style of tags and the amount of information on them may vary, but they should include your pet’s name and your phone number. Baltimore Pet Shoppe (4532 Baltimore Ave) has a new engraving machine and can now make pet ID tags instantly. Visit the shop’s website for more information and for tips on finding lost pets.

(Thank you Linda Lee for contributing to this story. See more in Comments).

Torin Myer of the 3900 block of Baring Street was apprehended early yesterday near 34th and Hamilton, a few blocks from the Drexel University campus. Police said he is not a student.

Police say Myer was exiting a convenience store and getting on a bicycle near 34th and Hamilton when Drexel University police Captain Fred Carbonara apprehended him. Myer had a BB gun, a knife, gloves and ski mask in his possession. Carbonara recognized Myer from the surveillance video made public last week.

“We had the area saturated yesterday,” said Detective Joe Murray from the Southwest Detectives.  “There was no way he was going to be able to walk around without getting caught. Just wish we had him sooner.”

Murray said Myer confessed to all four robberies.

Myer lived about four blocks from the Green Line Cafe at 3649 Lancaster Ave., which police say he robbed on April 30 and again on May 4. He is charged with robbery, assault and weapons charges in connection to those two robberies, one on April 26 at the Green Line Cafe near 45th and Locust and the May 6 robbery at the Chipotle Mexican Grill at 3925 Walnut St.

Police say Myer suffered from a “drug problem,” which in part explained his motives in the robberies.

He is scheduled to be arraigned later today.