The Spruce Hill Community Association recently hung the receipts for voting in their precinct in organization’s front window at 257 South 45th St. Voters in West Philadelphia went overwhelmingly for Democrats Joe Sestak and Dan Onorato for U.S. Senate and Pennsylvania governor respectively. Both men lost, of course, in the November 2 election.

Construction of the new playground at Alexander Wilson Elementary School (1300 South 46th), a project that has been years in the making, began today.
A member of the construction crew that was beginning to assemble the playground equipment said that phase would be done by Friday, “if all goes well.” Another crew will then lay down a rubber ground surface.
The playground has been near the top of the Spruce Hill Community Association (SHCA) wish list for many years and became a reality after a $50,000 grant from the Hamels Foundation, the charitable organization run by Phillies Pitcher Cole Hamels and his wife Heidi. The grant was the Foundation’s largest made to a Philadelphia public school this year. Mary Goldman of the SHCA’s Youth and Education Committee was instrumental in arranging the funding for the playground. Community members from the school and a variety of organizations have been raising funds for the playground for about 20 years.
The 183-square-foot facility will provide 21 activities and will be able to accommodate about 70 children at a time.


Teddy is a tabby (striped) kitty, long, with white paws and nose, about 12 lbs. His right ear is notched at the tip. He has no collar. He is an indoor-outdoor kitty who has lived on the 4500 block of Regent (between Chester and Kingsessing) since April ’09. He hasn’t been seen since Saturday (Nov. 13) afternoon. He is very friendly, fixed and microchipped, and up to date on his vaccines. He roams between the park and 46th, Chester & Kingsessing. His owner fears he may have been injured.

If you think you have seen him since Nov. 13, please call Barbara at 215-386-6461.

This is from University City off the Grid… During a tour aboard the Market-Frankford train of the “A Love Letter For You” mural series, Canadian Todd proposed to another Canadian, Meaghan. All you need is love…as the Penn Singers Light Opera Company sing…

The seventh piece in a documentary series on South African and the global apartheid movement will screen Nov. 16 at 7:30 at the International House (3701 Chestnut St.). Free At Last, the final piece in the seven-part series Have You Heard From Johannesburg, tells the story of the movement in the 1980s: “the alliance that brought together freedom fighters in South Africa as never before.” Director Connie Field will be on hand for the screening. She will also teach a documentary master class on her work before the screening at the Scribe Video Center (4212 Chestnut, 3rd floor). If you attend the master class, you get into the screening for free.

See map: Google Maps

Have You Heard Trailer

The remnants of one of last winter’s storms on 44th St. near Spruce.

A bill is in the Philadelphia City Council that would require building owners to shovel a wider path through sidewalk snow. Bill 100752, now in the Streets and Services committee, would require a 36-inch path (versus the current 30-inch path that is the current law) within six hours of the end of the snowfall.

The bill follows one of the snowiest winters in decades – a winter so snowy that restaurants and bar owners offered drastic price cuts for those who ventured out for a pint and a burger.

Councilwoman Donna Miller is sponsoring the bill, which would presumably make it easier for wheelchairs, baby strollers and people walking by each other to get by on the sidewalks in the event of deep snow.

Here is a link to the bill.