Community members are invited to attend a meeting on the future development of Baltimore Avenue tomorrow at 7 p.m. at the People’s Baptist Church (5039 Baltimore Ave.).
The meeting is the next step in the “Baltimore Avenue Conversation,” a series of workshops and meetings on development topics ranging from senior/affordable housing and building facade improvements to business interests and landscaping. The meeting will include a brief review of the final recommendations of the Community Design Collaborative, a collection of design professionals who do pro bono work for non-profits.
Other scheduled presenters include:
• A representative from Friends Rehabilitation, who will talk about the process involved in building senior/affordable housing with examples from projects they have built around Philadelphia.
• Joe McNulty, Cedar Park resident and Baltimore Avenue commercial corridor coordinator for the University City District, will talk about commercial facade improvements.
• Leah Pillsbury from Mariposa Food Co-op will present information about the co-op’s expansion plans.
• Stephanie Chiorean from the Philadelphia Water Department will be speaking on greening plans for the City of Philadelphia.
• Danielle Denk will present a new proposal to bring a Garden Center to some of the empty lots at 51st and Baltimore.
A film crew was on hand at yesterday’s Tune Up Philly year-end performance.
Tune Up Philly, the unique after-school music program, concluded the school year yesterday with a performance at St. Francis de Sales Catholic School (917 S. 47th St.). The performance featured pieces by the full orchestra and choir as well as quartets and quintets. About 85 St. Francis de Sales students ranging from kindergartners to eighth graders, have taken part in the program, which takes students from beginning musicians to concert-ready over the course of the school year.
JUMP magazine did a great piece on the program last week. Read it here.
Unfortunately we had to leave the concert early and we missed the performance of the full orchestra. We have heard rave reviews though. Below is a slideshow of some of the performances early in the concert.
You will be hearing a lot more about this program in the coming year. Tune Up Philly will be at the Henry C. Lea School (4700 Locust St.) next year and, as you can see in the photos, a film crew was shooting yesterday’s concert.
Two young men masked with red bandanas and brandishing a BB-gun robbed a woman last week near 48th and Osage, but were quickly caught by police a couple of blocks away.
Police say two men approached the woman at about 10:20 p.m. on June 2 demanding money and credit cards. One was carrying what turned out to be a Beeman P-17 BB pistol and a third suspect later confessed to serving as lookout. The woman quickly called police and plainclothes officers from the 18th District spotted the three men near the 4900 block of Cedar Avenue. All three were captured nearby and the pistol, which was discarded during the pursuit, was recovered.
Two men were still in posession of the bandanas and all three confessed to the robbery.
Tune-Up Philly began as an after-school program of novice Saint Francis de Sales Catholic School student-musicians tentatively playing “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” at the beginning of the school year. Hours and hours of practice and a dozen or so concerts later, those same musicians will tackle Beethoven and Rossini today at the year-end concert from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. at the school (4625 Springfield Ave.)
The program, which features 6 to 13-year-olds and is designed to build self-esteem and a passion for music, has garnered praise across the city throughout the school year. Its director, Curtis Institute of Music graduate Stanford Thompson, hopes to take the program to the Henry C. Lea School (4700 Locust St.) next fall.
Today’s concert, which is free, will feature the Tune Philly Symphony Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Choir, and String Orchestra.
So here’s an idea: Get a bunch of smart people in a room together and let them talk about their passions in under seven minutes each. To help, throw in some savvy digital presentations. Oh wait, that is actually happening tonight at Studio 34 (4522 Baltimore Ave.).
Pecha Kucha (say peh-CHAK-cha) is the Japanese word for the sound of conversation. The word has taken on added meaning with nights similar tonight all around the world – a sort of show-and-tell for people with really good ideas. A complete list of presenters, including bios, is here.
The rules are simple: show 20 PowerPoint slides, talk about each one for 20 seconds. The night usually includes a lot of socializing as well.
Neighborhood Bike Works is holding the first of many June bike sales today from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. near St. Mary’s Church (3916 Locust Walk).
Today’s sale is being dubbed as a “preview sale” in preparation for the Big Sale next Saturday (June 11) at the same location from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Bike prices will be as low as $20 and some spare parts – like tires and tubes – will also be available. Keep in mind that the cheaper the bike the more likely you will need to do a little work to get it up and running.
Proceeds from the sale will go toward scholarships for the Neighborhood Bike Works’ summer programs.
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