The Spirit – December 2, 2015

HYPERLOCAL DONE DIFFERENTLY

FISHTOWN + KENSINGTON + NORTHERN LIBERTIES + PORT RICHMOND + BRIDESBURG

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WEEKDECEMBER 2, 2015

VOL. 12NO. 46

PRESS

HOTOFF THE

#OURGIVING SPIRT

DRESSING WITH SPIRIT

ACCU REGGIE

MONK’S DOG PARK

CLEAN PLATE

COMMUNITY CALENDAR

THE LOCAL LENS

BALDSPOT!

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8-9

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11

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12-13

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The Friends of Palmer Cemetery

Primania comes to Fishtown.

Seven day forecast for the Riverwards.

Port Richmond gets a park for pooches.

Recipe for Salmon Gravlax.

Events and happeningsin the Riverwards

Thom tells us a ghost story.

Handmade games and puzzles.

The Force is Strong With This South Kensington Mural – Words and Photos By Thomas Weir

In “Star Wars: A New Hope”, Jedi Knight Obi Wan Kenobi explains to Luke Skywalker that “the lightsaber was an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.” Art too is an elegant weapon and graffiti is an expression of the pure energy that weapon can contain. Street art is

a living, breathing organic mirror of our times. Last week The Spirit took notice of a wall in South Kensington tagged with Star Wars-themed artwork. Next to the “Kylo Ren: caricature on the right side of the wall, white letters denote that the piece is “A Cash & Busta Collaboration.” Who are Cash and Busta (pronounced Boo-sta)? The Spir-it met up with these artists to figure out how they met and why they chose to pay homage to that “Galaxy Far, Far Away.” Neither Cash nor Busta are native to Philadelphia, but their paths crossed and led both men to the wall on 5th Street and Cecil B. Moore Avenue — an intersection that is home to one of the few ‘free’ walls in Philadelphia where artists can openly work. It is free because artists have built a relationship with the owner. All he asks is that the artists clean up after themselves and respect the space. Cash first started painting at the 5th and Cecil wall last June and when he first arrived he had the entire space to himself. But one day he showed up at the wall only to find that another artist — Busta — had painted over his piece. Cash wasn’t mad — in fact, he thought the graffiti was good.

“There was no animosity,” he said. “I respected his work.” Busta, originally from Columbia, is younger than Cash. He is scrawny, has scraggly facial hair, kind eyes and a sly, knowing grin. He painted over Cash’s original piece because “there wasn’t anything cohesive painted there.” “[But] when I came back I saw that Cash painted over [my work],” Busta told Spirit News. “It’s not a competition, it’s friendly, instead of just tags I want to put up a good piece. If you’re going to paint over something, make it better, you know, improve the wall.” A year ago Busta decided to make Philly his home. “I wanted to come [here] because it’s the actual place where graffiti was born. For me it’s the history,” he said. “I need to start from the beginning. My thing is never forget the past because by studying the past it will always bring you some-thing new… for me being here is learning.” That’s right, folks: Philadelphia is internationally recognized as the birthplace of graffiti. In 1968 an artist named Darryl McCray AKA Corn-bread started tagging his name all over Brewerytown. The artist’s infamy reached it’s peak after an incident involving the death of a gang member named “Corn” led local papers to mistakenly report that “Cornbread” the graffiti artist was killed due to gang-related violence. Cornbread wanted

Continued on Page 5.

COLLECTIVETHE

fPHILADELPHIA TEACHES KIDS HOW TO SAFELY SHRED

WRITTEN BY PTAH GABRIE - PAGE 4

The Spirit of the Riverwards – December 2, 2015Page 2

THOM NICKELSIS A PHILADELPHIA BASED AUTHOR, JOURNALIST, POET, FILM CRITIC &

FEATURE WRITER FOR SPIRIT NEWS.

local lensT H E

“ W A K I N G U P U N C L E F R A N C I S : A S H O R T S T O R Y ”

So there he was, my Uncle Francis, lying on his stomach in his Girard Avenue apartment. I knew I’d gotten into his place some way, though I can’t remember how. How I get from place to place

sometimes can be a blur. My father blames this on drink-ing, like that one time I collapsed near Johnny Brenda’s and Uncle Francis had to come and get me. I tend to drink too many beers (usually in the wrong places) to the point where I black out or just fall apart. Needless to say, I am used to not knowing where I am. I don’t even remember walking through Uncle Francis’ front door or even if he buzzed me in or not. Either way, I wound up standing in his bedroom doorway watching him sleep. How late was it? Maybe 3 or 4 in the morning, the bewitching hours, the hour of the wolf. The apartment was quiet except for the sound of passing traffic and the couple upstairs. Why are they so loud? Don’t they ever give it a rest? “Hello, hello, it’s Dan!” I said to my sleeping uncle. Why wasn’t Uncle Francis waking up? When I visit him, he’s usually walking around or sitting on his sofa read-ing. He then he puts on a pot of coffee (he knows I love coffee), but he wasn’t budging this time. I was afraid that something was wrong. Was he sick again? Or could this be something worse? I thought if I relaxed in his living room for a while he would wake up in time. Because of his bad heart I didn’t want to wake him out of a deep sleep. I felt I needed to sit and rest anyway — I was having thoughts of my mother who died last month. It was Uncle Francis who broke the news of her death to me. This must have been hard for him — he knew how close I was to mother. She died while I was on the Market Street El coming in from 69th Street, she’d been sick for so long. I was heading to Uncle Francis’ place and mother died while I was en route. My father called Un-cle Francis and told him the news so that he could tell me. When I arrived at Uncle Francis’ that day, he sat me down and told me what had happened. I called my father after that and cried. Uncle walked me back to the El and the rest of the month was a blur. I did not want to live. “Uncle Francis, wake up sleepy head!” I said to his dor-mant body. If he can’t hear me then we have a problem. “Hey lazy bones, snicklefrit, get the hell up!” That’s what he always called me when I was a boy — snick-lefrit, little snicklefrit. Crazy, huh? We do funny things in our crazy Irish family. We have aunts who hate alcohol and drink only tea paired up with uncles who hate tea and call their wives old maids. Mother liked Old Fashioneds and Manhattans, but her sister disapproved of alcohol, drink-ing mostly Arctic Splash and seltzer water. She even had an alcohol-free wedding and expected everyone to come and have a good time. “It was so Mennonite,” my mother told me. “The worst wedding I’ve ever attended. The only spicy thing about it was the onions in the salad.” “I have to stop thinking about waking him up,” I said to myself. “Why don’t I just crash on his sofa and sleep till morning when we can both go out for bacon and eggs at Paradise restaurant?” I found it hard to sit still so I paced the living room until I was looking out the big window that faced Girard. You can see everything and everyone from the window: joggers, taxis, vagrants, drug users, hipsters. I turned away and noticed how messy the living room was. This was untypical of Uncle Francis. He had a book of poems lying about and there were two pictures of me

propped up behind a crucifix. God, I’d never seen that be-fore. Uncle Francis was not religious. The Philadelphia Inquirer was open on his dining room table and I could see that he had a news story circled in red pen. Beside it was a small tablet and it looked as if he’d been taking notes. I could have read it if I wanted to, but I was feeling impatient and didn’t want to turn on the lights. I tried to sleep again but that didn’t work. I finally real-ized that the only thing to stop the restlessness was to go into uncle’s bedroom and wake him up, maybe shake his bed or even jump into it like I did when I was a kid. “Hey uncle, here I come!” I gave his mattress a tug, but nothing. I gave it another tug and still nothing. I thought, “This isn’t good. He’s not moving.” For a mo-ment I was afraid that I’d given him a heart attack, but then I took his right arm and moved it snug against his body. I repositioned his right arm by bending it at the elbow a bit. “Uncle Snickelfrit!” I started thinking about how God had taken my moth-er away from me — what if he had done the same thing with Uncle Francis? I’d have nobody to talk to. Two loved ones in one month! There was this sense of urgency about waking him up. I knew I had to act fast and that time was running out. “Uncle Francis please get up,” I said, tugging at his hair. Then I saw him move. He scratched his head where I had touched it. “Uncle,” I said again, patting him on the fore-head, but with this he turned over in his sleep, snored, made a coughing noise but then opened his eyes. He looked straight at me but then went to sleep again… One of his crazy jokes. I wondered if he’d been drinking, so I went into the living room and checked what he had in the refrigerator. I spot-ted a half empty bottle of Jamison. I went to pour myself a small glass because I knew that Uncle wouldn’t mind, but when I went to drink it I didn’t feel anything. The whole night was screwed up. First, I didn’t even know how I got here; second, Uncle didn’t even know I was there; third, I couldn’t even feel the booze. I reached for a smoke in my trouser pocket, but noticed that I didn’t have any. I checked the apartment for a ciga-rette, searching behind the sofa cushions because when I visit I always find plenty of lose stuff there. When I didn’t find anything, I went back to the dining room table and thought about reading The Inquirer article that Uncle had circled in red. I started thinking how I hated life and how life was not fair. What if Uncle Francis is getting ready to die? “This can’t be happening,” I thought, “I will dive into the bed and land on top of him and then slap his forehead to wake him up.” I did just that, slapping him lightly on the forehead and then — surprise, surprise — he did sit up in bed with a look of terror on his face. He looked around and then di-rectly into my face but he didn’t seem to be seeing any-thing at all. “Who’s there?” he said, placing his hand over his ailing heart. We looked at one another but there was still no reaction. Then he struggled to get out of bed and limped around the apartment. He walked past me. What is wrong? I ran up to him again but he didn’t notice. “Uncle Francis!” I slipped into his bed and curled up under the covers,

when he came back he laid down on top of me. He was on top of me, but I feel nothing. I just slipped out from under him. He felt something and he called my name and asked me to stop. “Please stop!” He can see me, but he can’t see me? Finally, Uncle Francis got out of bed and walked to the dining room table where he switched on a small lamp and began to look at the article circled in red. I read the news-paper standing over his shoulder.

“City Cites Pinched Wires In Man’s Electrocution” Pinched wires electrified a city street light that electrocuted a pedestrian Sunday night in University City, city officials said. Alexander L. “Pete” Hoskins, the city streets commissioner, said his department was still investigating how the wires be-came pinched. He said the pole, in the 600 block of University Avenue near the University Bridge over the Schuylkill, was knocked down May 28 and repaired the next day. The pinched, or touching wires, were found near the door leading to the repair box, he said. Hoskins said that all similar lights would be checked as a safe-ty precaution. He said he had no reason to believe the problem went beyond the one light. The Medical Examiner’s Office said it had identified the vic-tim as Daniel Joseph Reilly, 23, of the first block of North Maple Street in Lansdowne. Reilly was found with his neck and chin touching the light pole. He was pulled from the pole by Hoskins.

You can imagine my dismay and shock when I realized that I had been dead for a week. While I won’t go into the particulars of my transition, I do have advice for the living: Pray for a death that is not sudden, always have time to prepare, because when you die suddenly, as I did on that cold rainy night in November, it took a long time before I knew what had happened to me. I was not warned; nobody took my hand and guided me upwards; I was alone; there were no angels. And my previously deceased mother did not immediately come to my side with words of comfort. ·

Spirit News is happy to announce our next Spirit Happy Hour at Les and Doreen’s Happy Tap (1301 E. Susquehanna Ave.) on December 15th. Happy hour is from 5-8PM, specials include 1/2 off all drafts, buckets of 4 cans for $10, 1/2 off appetizers and $10 for pizza and 6 wings.

Come on by and discuss the news with the guys and gals who put the paper together!

Page 3The Spirit of the Riverwards – December 2, 2015

accu reggieS E V E N D A Y F O R E C A S T F O R T H E R I V E R W A R D S

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No reproduction or use of the material herein may be made without permission. The Spirit of the Riverwards Newspaper will assume no obligation (other than can-cellation of charges for the actual space occupied) for accidental errors in advertisements, but will be glad

to furnish a signed letter to the buying public.

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WEDNESDAY

RAIN ALL DAY.

HIGH56

LOW41

THURSDAY

DRYING OUT, WINDY.

HIGH49

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FRIDAY

BRISK & COOL.

HIGH48

LOW33

SATURDAY

SUNSHINE ALL DAY!

HIGH48

LOW32

SUNDAY

HIGH52

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MONDAY

A TRANQUIL DAY, AFTERNOON CLOUDS.

A CHANCE FORSHOWERS.

HIGH52

LOW39

TUESDAY

HIGH53

LOW43

STAYING NICE AND ATOUCH WARMER.

Last week’s weather gave us just about everything: We started cool, turned warm, got a little wet and then ended on a cold note. Even so, we can’t complain a smidge about November. Temperatures averaged

over 5 degrees above normal and we received only 63 percent of normal rainfall. In short, it was warm and dry. Now we have a fresh start with December. What’s in store for us this month? Well, expect much of the same temperature wise. Overall, it will be warmer than normal. However, expect to pack the umbrella more. It will rain a lot more as storms move across the county. There will even be a few chances for snow, but I do not see any big snow storms. We are going to

have to wait a while before we have a chance for those. The weather this week will feature wet and warmer condi-tions to start and end the 7-day forecasting period. It rains most of the day on Wednesday and then a storm comes up from the south to bring us rain or showers on Tuesday (12/8). Other than that it will be sunny, but you’ll need a coat. On Wednesday it’s gon’ rain! Expect rain and showers through-out most of the day. Temperatures will be in the lower 50s so it will be raw and wet. Yuck. The rain will move out on Thursday, but it will be a chilly day with a stiff breeze. Temperatures will stay in the 40s during the day. Friday, Saturday and Sunday will all be dry and cool.

Each day temperatures will rise to around 50 for a high and at night drop to near freezing. If you are out and about for eve-ning weekend festivities keep the coat nearby! We start the new work-week on Monday dry and a little warm-er. It will turn cloudy in the evening. On Tuesday we’ll watch rain move into the area from the southwest. Right now this looks like showers or possibly heavy rain. Either way, know that water will be falling from the sky on Tuesday!

The weather winner of the week is Sunday; the weather loser is Wednesday. ·

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when he came back he laid down on top of me. He was on top of me, but I feel nothing. I just slipped out from under him. He felt something and he called my name and asked me to stop. “Please stop!” He can see me, but he can’t see me? Finally, Uncle Francis got out of bed and walked to the dining room table where he switched on a small lamp and began to look at the article circled in red. I read the news-paper standing over his shoulder.

“City Cites Pinched Wires In Man’s Electrocution” Pinched wires electrified a city street light that electrocuted a pedestrian Sunday night in University City, city officials said. Alexander L. “Pete” Hoskins, the city streets commissioner, said his department was still investigating how the wires be-came pinched. He said the pole, in the 600 block of University Avenue near the University Bridge over the Schuylkill, was knocked down May 28 and repaired the next day. The pinched, or touching wires, were found near the door leading to the repair box, he said. Hoskins said that all similar lights would be checked as a safe-ty precaution. He said he had no reason to believe the problem went beyond the one light. The Medical Examiner’s Office said it had identified the vic-tim as Daniel Joseph Reilly, 23, of the first block of North Maple Street in Lansdowne. Reilly was found with his neck and chin touching the light pole. He was pulled from the pole by Hoskins.

You can imagine my dismay and shock when I realized that I had been dead for a week. While I won’t go into the particulars of my transition, I do have advice for the living: Pray for a death that is not sudden, always have time to prepare, because when you die suddenly, as I did on that cold rainy night in November, it took a long time before I knew what had happened to me. I was not warned; nobody took my hand and guided me upwards; I was alone; there were no angels. And my previously deceased mother did not immediately come to my side with words of comfort. ·


the collectiveW O R D S A N D P H O T O S B Y P T A H G A B R I E

P H I L A D E L P H I A T E A C H E S K I D S H O W T O S A F E L Y S H R E D

When I was in middle school, one of my friends had a half pipe on the second floor of his dad’s garage. In addition to skating, it was also the place where a few of us had

our first experience with underage drinking (probably malt-liquor). Needless to say, with little parental supervi-sion at times… well, kids will be kids. The Collective Philadelphia (TCP), located inside the Loom building (3245 Amber St.), reminds me of my friend’s loft, only without the teenage angst and 40 oz. bottles. It’s a place where kids from all over the city can safely learn skateboarding under the supervision of pro-fessionals. A.J. Kohn is a professional skater and enthu-siast of the sport. He’s one of the founders of TCP and, along with fellow skater Rod “The Ancient” Watkins, is living out his dream of running a space to teach neighbor-hood kids how to shred. The space is primarily used for skateboarding, but Kohn’s wife, who is an acrobat herself, uses the space to teach acro-batics classes. According to Kohn, TCP will accommodate just about any crazy themed idea you can come up with. “It’s kind of like it’s own black box theater,” Kohn said. “You can change it into anything you want.” He says TCP has hosted weddings and even a Survivor-themed birth-day party since opening February 2015. Both Kohn and Watkins enjoyed success in the skate-boarding industry, but as they got older they both felt like it was time to give back to the community. Kohn and Wat-kins were very influential in getting skateparks installed around the city — including the one at Pop’s Playground in East Kensington. According to Kohn, he teamed up with other skate enthusiasts and raised $20,000 from lo-cal businesses, the Franklin’s Paine Skatepark Fund and a grant from the legendary Tony Hawk. This successful fundraising caught the eye of then-Mayor John Street who gave Kohn’s group a charitable donation of $1 million (in supersized check form) to build other skate parks. Some chance encounters with Jesse Rendell, a fellow extreme sports enthusiast and son Ed Rendell, at FDR Park led to the governor freeing up $1 million of state money to match Street’s gift. With $2 million dollars and a green light to promote skateboarding in Philadelphia, Kohn and Watkins had gone from skaters being chased out of Love Park to build-ing communities through the sport they love. Today Kohn works for Philadelphia Parks and Recreation to develop and promote skateboarding throughout Phil-adelphia. The Collective Philadelphia is another way for him to teach kids not only how to skateboard, but how to use the sport to become civically engaged. Kohn believes that while it may be nice to have a skatepark in your neigh-borhood, it takes devotion to ensure it’s future. He teach-es some basic carpentry and masonry skills to kids so they know how to maintain their neighborhood park. “We’ve got to make sure these kids know how to act and that this is theirs to make or break,” Kohn said. The Collective Philadelphia has also teamed up with five local schools to offer skateboarding and acrobatics educational programs to school children at the space. “[These schools] were on a limited budget, so we made it work,” Kohn said. Each school received five skateboard-ing programs and five acrobatics programs each with 50-

70 children attended each class. “We kind of guided them and helped them learn how to grind,” Kohn said. Kohn and Watkins both admit they are fortunate to still make a portion of their livelihood through skateboarding. However they teach kids that they need to have something to fall back on, noting that pro skateboarding is a tough industry to make it in. “The sponsors look at you as an advertising machine and they’re trying to get every aspect of you as long as you can,” Kohn said. “As soon as you don’t become marketable any-more, you’re a disposable hero.” The Collective Philadelphia is a place for Kohn and Wat-kins to live out their dream, but seeing kids they taught at a young age teaching even younger kids is the biggest reward for them. It affirms that the duo aren’t disposable heros and punks unwilling to grow up, but actual role models. “All the things that makes them successful skateboarders transcends to real life,” Kohn said. “It becomes an incuba-tor for something that could grow into something bigger.”·

ROD “THE ANCIENT” WATKINS GIVES DEVIN FLYNN, 10, A VERT LESSON. FLYNN WON FIRST PLACE IN THE UNDER-12 DIVISION OF THE PHILLY CUP SERIES.

HATCHERT SALLEE TAKES HIS TURN ON THE LAUNCH RAMP. NO MATTER HOW THE TRICK TURNS OUT, THE STUDENTS ARE READY TO DROP IN FOR THE NEXT RUN.

A.J KOHN, LEFT, AND ROD “THE ANCIENT” WATKINS, RIGHT, ARE LIVING OUT THEIR DREAM OF HAVING A SPACE FOR YOUNG SKATEBOARDERS TO LEARN THE SPORT.

KOHN, WATKINS, KIDS AND PARENTS ALL TURNED OUT FOR A SUNDAY MORNING SKATE SESSION. ONE OF THE PARENTS WHO WASN’T SKATING WAS BUILDING RAMPS IN THE BACKGROUND.


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to make a statement and prove that he was still alive, so he broke into the Philadelphia Zoo and tagged “Cornbread Lives” on the side of an elephant. Newspapers around the country picked up this bizarre story and the modern graf-fiti movement was born. The Anti-Graffiti Network was founded in 1984 by May-or Wilson Goode as a measure to stop the inner-city youth from tagging in Philadelphia. Cornbread was hired by the mayor to advise the Network. Eventually this program developed into what we now know today as The Mural Arts Program, the largest public art program in the United States. Cash and Busta aren’t working with Mural Arts on their Star Wars piece but the influence of Philly’s public art his-tory is innate in their work. “Philly style, the influence from Philly is Philly,” Busta said. Cash is in his early 40s. He is stocky, like a football player. He sports a five o’clock shadow and paints with diligence and intensity. He spent the last 20 years working in NYC in high-end fashion. He hated it. “Nobody worries about fashion anymore, everybody just wears jeans and a tee,” he said. Now Cash is out of retire-ment and painting again. While he was in New York he kept an eye on the scene and was always paying attention to the tags and trends around the city. Cash went through a tough divorce last year, followed by a deep depression. He was very upfront that art is what saved him. Watching him work, you can see that he is pas-sionate about his craft. “Sometimes I’m painting for eight or nine hours and I don’t feel a thing, it’s calming to me. It’s a healing thing that happens.” Cash’s return to graffiti has a punk rock edge to it. He wants to get back to being “raw,” as he described it. He thinks that kids these days go into art without understand-ing their roots and the artists who blazed the trail before them. “It’s the whole thing, art, pick a genre, whether it’s graffiti, music, breakdancing — it’s something inner city kids always took from something else. Harking back to the 70s and 80s whether it’s a guitar riff from [Led] Zeppe-lin or a hip-hop sample from a soul record, we all followed a format and now I’m still following that same format.” The two artists, Cash and Busta, are students of history and they are here to leave their mark. They went back and forth several times painting over each other’s artwork. Connect-ing through Instagram Cash asked Busta, “I’m going to do a production of Star Wars. Want to come paint with me?” Coincidentally Busta has snapped some photos in NYC a few months earlier at the LEGO store, specially of the Star Wars characters on display. “I liked their colors and the positions of the lines,” Busta said. “I knew I was going to do something with [Star Wars].” The left side of the Star Wars wall in South Kensington is Busta’s. His name (or tag) lies in the center flanked by Darth Vader on the left and Yoda on the right. These two old-school characters (first introduced to the series in the

Continued from Page 1.

Spirit News and Friends of Bache-Martin invite you for a night of music, food and fundraising on Saturday, December 5, 2015, the Ukrainian League of Philadelphia

from 8-11pm. There will be a silent auction of local wares and art, food from RyBrew, Pizza Phanatic and more, and live music provided by local artists. We encourage a $10 donation at the door. All money raised on this evening will be split 50/50 between The

Spirit’s Kickstarter Campaign and The Bache-Martin School.

70s and 80s) are surrounding the artist’s name, which is intentionally written in a highly-stylized, contemporary style with elongated letters and stretched lines. Conversely, on the right hand side of the wall, Cash depicts Kylo Ren and Finn, two new characters debuting in the soon-to-be released “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”. The characters stand on either side of Cash’s tag, which is writ-ten in the block letter-style that was prevalent in 80s graffiti. There’s a visual mixing of styles and themes in this collabo-ration and it’s much deeper than Star Wars fan art. “When I hear that sound of the lightsaber it takes me back to 1977 when I was five. I hear that sound and I get ignited,” Cash said. “I relived that passion with my kids when The Phantom Menace came out in 1999 and now I get to put that creativity into my art.” The duo plan on doing more collaborations together. Cash is traveling to Miami and San Francisco in the near future to explore their graffiti scenes and work on new pieces. Busta is working on finding a Fishtown location for his next piece. You can follow their work on their insta-gram accounts. Their handles are @gclarkar and @busta.art respectively. ·

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clean plateW R I T T E N B Y C A S E Y A N N B E C K

S A L M O N G R A V L A X

Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day are essentially bookends to a bevy of holiday events. The next few weeks are a time of welcomed celebration; though there’s the occasional office lunch at a local restaurant, or catered function at a corner bar, most of my upcoming gatherings are house parties.

Almost all of December’s weekend evenings fill up once Thanksgiving is in the books, so my girlfriends and I have become accustomed to scheduling a casual, potluck style brunch for our holiday celebration. Regardless of whose turn it is to host, the spread is always delectable, accented by beautiful, seasonal centerpieces, mimosas and sweet and savory dishes. Gravlax and bagels is a classic brunch pairing, but never in my wildest dreams did I ever think of making the cured fish at home. It’s surprisingly easy and especially delicious. The curing process takes several days so make sure you pencil it in between holiday parties.

Salmon GravlaxAdapted from Splendid Table

The salmon (do 2 to 3 days ahead):1 teaspoon whole coriander seeds1 teaspoon caraway seeds1 tablespoon black peppercorns½ cup sugar1/3 cup coarse salt (sea salt or Kosher)1-1/2 pounds center-cut fresh wild salmon fillet1 tightly-packed cup of coarsely chopped fresh dill

In a small skillet toast the coriander and caraway seeds over medium heat until aromatic (3 minutes), shaking the pan frequently. With peppercorns, transfer to a small food pro-cessor and pulse until coarsely ground. Mix spices with the sugar and salt. Line a small glass dish with several large sheets of plastic wrap. Lay down half the salt mixture, then half the dill mixture. Top with salmon, skin side down. Top salmon with the remainder of the dill and the remainder of the salt, then wrap tightly in the plastic wrap. Place an-other plate on top of the salmon to weigh it down. Refrigerate in the glass dish for two to three days, turning the salmon every 12 hours to baste with the cure. Once the salmon is ready, unwrap and scrape dill and spices from the exterior of the fish. Pat it dry. Place it on a cutting board skin side down and slice very thin, on a slant, across the grain, freeing each slice from the skin. Fan the slices out on a platter and keep cool. Serve with bagels and cream cheese. ·

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dressing with spiritW R I T T E N B Y J O A N N A L E I G H S I M O N

P R I M A N I A C O M E S T O F I S H T O W N

If you happened to be passing down York Street on the evening of November 19th, you may have glimpsed an unusual scene outside of the 2424 Stu-dios, the brick building that encompasses the block

of York between Gaul and Cedar. Even though it was cold and raining, young people were lined up almost halfway down the block waiting for the doors to open to the Sky-box Event Center, the posh conference and events venue located in the building. Club music drifted from inside as the crowd chatted excitedly. Women teetered in sky-high sti-lettos and many of the men wore jackets and ties. The event that brought so many of Philadelphia’s young fashion-for-ward crowd to Fishtown in the rain was the celebration of the launch of the new Primark store at the King of Prussia Mall. Primark, which was founded in Ireland in 1969, is one of the largest clothing retailers in Europe. Along with chains like H&M, Forever21, Target and Zara, Primark boasts a devoted following of those seeking “fast fashion,” or trendy looks at affordable prices. American shoppers have been jealous of European’s access to Primark goods for years — and now residents of the greater Philadelphia area will finally be able to get their hands on the store’s stylish clothes for women, men and children. Their sec-ond U.S. location opens on Wednesday, November 25th at King of Prussia, the U.S.’s second largest mall, located just outside of Philly. The event, hosted by lifestyle company Refinery29, was like Fashion Week meets a London nightclub. Once guests made it through the line and inside, they were greeted by models in slinky black dresses passing champagne, wine and tasty bites including eggrolls and shrimp cocktail. Cameras flashed everywhere — attendees were encour-aged to take tons of photos and share them widely on so-cial media. Good thing many of the fashionistas present seemed to be very skilled at taking selfies. Past the bar where mixologists were serving up Pimm’s Cups, a traditional British cocktails comprised of fruit li-queur and ginger ale, guests got a chance to see what they came to see: the clothes! Suspended mid-air, organized by different outfits as if in a museum exhibit, stylish outfits gave event-goers a taste of Primark’s retail offerings. Each outfit vignette had a catchy name. “The Urban Explorer” was a menswear look comprised of a dark tailored coat, pressed slacks, a beige scarf, and a utilitarian-looking

backpack with a pop of neon green. My personal favorite look, dubbed “Faux Real,” showcased a burgundy faux-fur coat over a gold fringed mini-dress — a perfect holiday look. The crowd was loving the clothes. “I’m not always follow-ing the latest styles, but I think it’s exciting to see some Eu-ropean trends coming to the U.S.,” said Luke Frey, 22. The Temple student, who was enjoying the party atmosphere with a friend, went on to say “I checked out Primark online and they have a lot of great tops and sweaters.” When I asked her why Refinery29 chose to hold the launch party in Fishtown as opposed to King of Prussia where the store is opening, Account Director Kaitlin Drex-ler said, “It made more sense to host [this event] at a ven-ue in Philadelphia, particularly in Fishtown. The area is known for its young, hip scene, it was definitely a neigh-borhood we wanted to activate to help generate buzz for the store opening next week and to garner a strong turn out to our event.” I would say the event was a huge success — If the gor-geous clothes and fun party weren’t enough to pique folks’ interest, the next phase of the evening sealed the deal. Af-ter about 45 minutes of mingling and checking out the goods, guests were treated to a high-energy fashion show that took place on a catwalk suspended above the crowd. Male and female models paced up and down the runway in Primark clothes and accessories. As a grand finale they performed a choreographed dance complete with plenty of vogue-ing. Once party-goers were pumped up from the show, the evening’s entertainment began. KeKe Palmer, 22-year-old R&B singer and star of “Scream Queens” on FOX, took to the stage in a fabulous Primark faux-fur jack-

et and black bodysuit to perform her new single “I Don’t Belong to You.” After such a stylish and exciting night, I can say that in the near future, some Primark goods will most certainly belong to me. ·

PHOTOS BY TOM WEIR


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et and black bodysuit to perform her new single “I Don’t Belong to You.” After such a stylish and exciting night, I can say that in the near future, some Primark goods will most certainly belong to me. ·


#ourgivingspiritW R I T T E N B Y G R A C E S H A L L O W

F R I E N D S O F P A L M E R C E M E T E R Y M A I N T A I N A S Y M B O L O F C O M M U N I T Y P R I D E A N D I N V O L V E M E N T

Palmer Cemetery (1410 E. Palmer St.) is riddled with headstones, flowers left by loving family members and history. The cemetery was trusted to the community

of Kensington in 1765 by Anthony Palmer, the founder of Kensington who served the public for 40 years as a judge, commissioner and governor of Pennsylvania. Due to these efforts, a Pennsylvania Historical Marker honoring Antho-ny Palmer was installed at the cemetery in October 2015. Palmer Cemetery is a reflection of the history in Fish-town and is maintained by trustees Jim Kingsmill, Nancy Bartelle and John Lonergan — three individuals who give back to the neighborhood’s past, present and future. “It’s like managing a museum,” Kingsmill said. “Some of the people buried here go back as far as the 1730s… There are Revolutionary War soldiers, a lot of Civil War soldiers, World War I, World War II… We’re basically managing and maintaining what is the history of the neighborhood.” Despite being a landmark of the Riverwards in 1730, Palmer Cemetery still engages with the community today through projects like the installation of iron fences and cleaning aging headstones. Kingsmill said the Christmas tree lighting ceremony that started five years ago is one of his favorite moments so far in being a trustee. “We do it the first Saturday in December and that’s real-ly brought a lot of people from the community out… for a lack of a better phrase, it brought the place to life,” King-smill said. “[The cemetery] really wasn’t taken care of the way it should’ve been… So the first year we got in here I said ‘We are going to do a Christmas tree lighting.’” Nancy Bartelle, Palmer trustee and owner of BeDazzled Hair Salon (1365 E. Montgomery Ave.), also enjoys watching the community come together as a result of the cemetery. “[My favorite part is] when I walk in and my beef and beers are there and I see the people that are there and what they give me [like] the baskets, the money and the donations,” Bartelle said.

Community involvement is an integral part of the begin-nings of the cemetery. “In 1765, [Kensington] had to file [their] legal documents in Philadelphia… The trust itself, required that people from the community took care of the cemetery,” Kingsmill said. However, the cemetery was not always well-kept, which prompted Nancy Bartelle to get involved. “15 years ago, it was a mess… I started a cleanup group and that is exactly how it started… I had fundraisers, start-ing out with casino bus trips. With the money from that I bought the tools. Then it got bigger and then it got bigger and then it got bigger,” Bartelle said. Palmer Cemetery is unique because community mem-bers can be involved in life and death. Due to its 300-year-long record of burials, space is not an ample resource, meaning caskets can no longer be buried. “The old-timers that are still here want to be buried here and we have to turn a lot of people away… That’s a signifi-cant thing that I have to tell a lot of people,” Kingsmill said. The insistence of citizens to be buried at Palmer Ceme-tery is exemplary of the fixture it has become since it has personal value for many Fishtown citizens. Jim Kings-mill’s grandparents and great-grandparents, for example,

are buried at Palmer Cemetery. Nancy Bartelle said her mother and sister are resting there as well. “I grew up here. That’s the connection. The reward comes from just being able to take care of something I’ve known about my whole life,” he said. Bartelle expressed her passionate feelings about Palmer Cemetery as a landmark of Fishtown. “It’s a Fishtown thing. It’s always been. I just want to keep doing what we’re doing. That’s it,” she said. “It’s the only thing truly left that’s [just] Fishtown… Everything around here is new. This is the oldest cemetery on the East Coast and nobody owns it but us… I’ll probably work on it until I’m half dead.” Palmer Cemetery will be hosting its Annual Christmas Tree Lighting on December 5th, 2015 at 6PM. Want to help support Palmer Cemetery in its efforts to restore and maintain this historic part of Fishtown? They will be selling Christmas Wreaths at the cemetery starting 12/5 for $10. They are asking that as you purchase a wreath, to please consider placing it on the grave of a veteran buried at Palmer to support the idea that ALL Veteran’s Graves should be decorated during the holiday season. Still want to take one home? Buy two! ·


There will be a silent auction of local wares and art, food from RyBrew, Pizza Phanatic and more, and live music provided by local artists. We encourage a $10

donation at the door. All money raised on this evening will be split 50/50 between The Spirit’s Kickstarter Campaign and The Bache-Martin School.

Spirit News and Friends of Bache-Martin invite you for a night of music, food and fundraising on Saturday, December 5, 2015, the Ukrainian League of Philadelphia

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Poochie ParkP O R T R I C H M O N D S G E T S A

W O R D S A N D P H O T O S B Y L I N D S E Y M I L L E R

Until very recently, dog owners in Port Rich-mond had limited safe options for their dogs to play outdoors. There was no place for dogs to romp off leash before Mike Pizzola and oth-

er neighbors got involved to make a change. The neigh-borhood was in need for a place for just pups and so was born Monk’s Dog Run. The idea for Monk’s came into being after the communi-ty started acknowledging and speaking out about things the neighborhood lacked. With the ongoing project of 95 Revive, community members were able to offer opinions and thoughts on the betterment of the neighborhood. With this feedback being welcomed, members of a dog meetup were given a great opportunity to contribute. The need for a dog park was voiced — and heard! After Pizzola collected hundreds of signatures to prove the neighbor-hood was missing this necessity, residents lent their time and manual labor to turn nothing into something. The plot where Monk’s is located — the lot at Aramingo Avenue and Bath Street — used to be unkempt and over-grown, lined by ivy-entangled fences with intersections in cracked concrete filled with weeds. Volunteers helped clean up the lot, pulling out weeds, laying mulch and set-ting up a proper play place. The obstacles in the park are homemade; all things that were found and set up in the park. Tires, slats, pallets and the like are arranged in the park as obstacles for the dogs. “We wanted to return the parks to the people and make a place that is just for dogs,” Pizzola said. Local resident Lisa Stott says she used to take her dog all the way down to the Schuylkill River Dog Run far across the city or Fishtown’s Penn Treaty Park, though there is no fenced-in area. There are plenty of parks in the city of Philadelphia where dogs can walk on leashes, but very few parks for pups to run free. One month after its opening, knowledge of the park is spreading. Many people have found out about the park’s existence by simply driving by, but also largely through Facebook, where the park’s page has become a great tool for dog owners in the area. Bridesburg resident Laura Sul-livan and Stott explain how it is common to see dog own-ers posting photos of the dogs in action at the park, when they’ll be going to the park, and various updates. The page also includes photographs of the park in all the stages of existence so far — before, during and after the process of it becoming what it is today. It is so much more than it was only a few weeks back. Cur-rently, the lot right next to the dog park is also empty, but there are plans for this area as well. This space will be used to host events like flea markets, adoption days and meet-ups for families and their dogs. There is also talk of adding a smaller park off to the side specifically for little dogs. It’s all just beginning and the neighborhood is on board. Monk’s Dog Run has a one-year probationary period, as of October 26th, to prove it’s worth. Pizzola is more than confident that it will. The dog owners in the area are truly happy this park has come along. The park is community run, meaning the existence of Monk’s Dog Run is only possible due to the people who come with their pets to use the park. It’s an honor system with community mem-bers doing their part to contribute to keeping the park clean and safe. As long as the community stays happy with

Monk’s, then the park isn’t going anywhere. This is not to say the park won’t combat issues of its own. Just recently, palettes used as part of the obstacle course were disassembled and stolen from the park. Pizzola ex-plains how he would be even more angered with this act of vandalism had the supplies been purchased or donated; at least they were free. Nevertheless, when Pizzola updat-ed on Facebook to inform members, people were readily offering to help replace items, make the park more secure and so on. It is already abundantly clear that the commu-nity wants this park to stay and that people are willing to help in the ways they are able. With winter on the way, there is ample time to make plans for springtime at the park. This will offer time for develop-

ing all the ways to use the space when the weather warms back up. Pizzola intends to organize a sidewalk cleanup for the area surrounding the park, hopefully shortly after Thanksgiving, to gain more awareness about Monk’s be-fore winter really sets in. This is a huge win for Port Richmond as a community. As the space gains popularity and the dogs bring people to-gether who may not have otherwise connected, the space will only become more beneficial to the neighborhood and the Riverwards as a whole.

Monk’s Dog Run is located at Allegheny Ave. & Bath Ave. Hours of operation are 6AM - 10PM daily. Contact [email protected] for more information. ·


MEETINGS

EVENTS

CHILDREN

CALENDARC O M M U N I T Y

N E W S @ S P I R I T N E W S . O R G • 1 4 2 8 E . S U S Q U E H A N N A A V E • 2 1 5 . 4 2 3 . 6 2 4 6

NKCDC OPEN OFFICE HOURSNKCDC is hosting open office hours in the 19134 zip code at two locations. They will be at the Community Women’s Education Project (CWEP) on the corner of Frankford Ave. and Somerset St. the second Monday of the month from 4-7PM and Firm Hope Baptist Church on Tulip and Au-burn Streets every second Wednesday of the month. They will assist you with signing up for benefits like SNAP, con-necting to housing counselors for any housing needs, rent and property tax rebates, food referrals, health insurance and safety or quality of life issues in your community. For further information Contact Tess at [email protected] or 215-427-0350 x 139.

AL-ANON AT HOLY NAME CHURCH HALLMeetings are held every Monday night from 7-8PM at Holy Name Church Hall at 701 Gaul Street. Anything shared at a meeting stays there and everyone is welcome to attend. Al-Anon meetings are free, anonymous and confidential.

Wednesday, December 2PROPAC/PRTW MEETINGThe agenda for the 7PM meeting at the Columbia Social Club 3529 Almond St will include the 24th District PSA-3 crime statistics and updates, news about current and upcoming events in Port Richmond and a zoning issue for a deli on the 2700 block of Ann St. will be presented. Our PROPAC mem-bers Christmas Party will be held at this meeting.Please check the PROPAC Facebook page for updates.

Wednesday, December 9NLNA GENERAL MEETINGCome out to the Northern Liberties Neighbors Associa-tion General Membership Meeting from 7PM, at NL Com-munity Center (3rd & Fairmount). The meeting will regard the Festival Pier development and updates about the Piaz-za. Meet Sean Gavin, General Manager of The Piazza and Liberties Walk. He’ll give an update on the commercial situation there, and take questions.

Wednesday, December 16FRIENDS OF HACKETT DECEMBER MEETINGDecember meeting will take place at By My Side Space, the rear building of Atonement Lutheran Church, 1542 E. Montgomery Ave at 6:30PM. We are looking for new mem-bers, so don’t be shy. You do not have to have a student in our school. This is an opportunity for you to make a difference in your neighborhood. Children are welcome. We will have refreshments, but a $5 per family donation is requested.

GREENSGROW FARMS EVENTSJoin us on the farm for 10 days of fun holiday activities and workshops. The event kicks off with our annual Cus-tomer Appreciation Happy Hour and holiday lighting on the farm on December 4. The farm will be stocked with fresh cut holiday trees, wreaths, greens and gifts and we are open until 8PM during the week for holiday shoppers. Snowplay for Kids – Monday through Friday from 2–8PM and Saturday & Sunday from 10AM-5PM. Make a snow-man in this dedicated romping ground for kids ages 12 and under. Topped off with freshly made snow daily.Make & Take Activities for Kids – Monday through Friday from 6-8PM and Saturday & Sunday from 11AM-3PM. Stop by the craft table in the heated tent to make a fun winter ornament you can bring home. Children must be accom-panied by an adult. Appropriate for 12 and under.Kick-Off Holiday Lighting – Our 10 day event begins as we turn on the holiday lights on the farm with live music per-formances. Takes place December 4 from 6:30-7PM.Customer Appreciation Happy Hour – Come make merry with Greensgrow as our way of thanking you for another successful year. Enjoy a nosh and a tipple and 20% off hol-iday, trees, greens and more on December 4 from 6-8PM.Wreath Making Workshop – Learn to make beautiful holiday wreaths on December 4 from 6-8PM. Registra-tion is required.Holiday Bazaar – Support local artists! Handmade gifts from some of the neighborhood’s most talented crafters and artists. Takes place on December 5, 6, 12 and 13 from 11AM-4PM.

Greensgrow Winter CSA Begins & Seasonal Farmstand – on December 5 from 10AM-2PM.Hot Chocolate Bar – Warm up with a cup of cocoa and all the fixings when you visit the farm on December 5, 6, 12 and 13 from 11AM-3PM. Free, as long as supplies last.Wreath Making Workshop – Learn to make beautiful holiday wreaths on December 7 from 6-8PM. Registra-tion is required.Vegan Holiday Cooking with Miss Rachel – (from Miss Ra-chel’s Pantry) at the Greensgrow Community Kitchen on December 8 from 6-8PM. Registration is required.Holiday Drinks Workshop at Greensgrow Farms – Work-shop takes place on December 8 from 6-8PM. Registration is required.Knitting Circle – Come together to knit and crochet projects to donate to families who could use the extra warmth during this holiday season on December 10 from 6-8PM. Hot chocolate, cider and snacks will be provided. BYO Yarn and needles. Contact [email protected] for details.Family Activity Night – Bring the family for a night of old-fashioned holiday crafting on December 11 from 6-8PM. Free craft stations with an array of projects to take home. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Appro-priate for 12 and under.Ice Carving Demonstration – Come watch a local artist, Kim Phuong, make a pig and a penguin with simple tools and a block of ice on December 13 from 12-2PM.To register for these events, visit greensgrow.org.

HANCOCK REC FOOD DRIVEThe holidays are here and many of the people in our com-munity are unemployed, or under-employed. Many of the residents in the Hancock community have a need for food during the year, and especially at holiday time. In an effort to help bridge the gap, we will be holding a non-perishable food drive, at Hancock. We will collect non-perishable foods from December 1-22. Drop off hours are between 2-8PM on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday only. These goods will be given to our local pantries in the communi-ty as they provide meals for the less fortunate. Drop off the non-perishable goods at Hancock Recreation Center, 147 W. Master Street. Call (215) 685-9886 if you have any questions.

Friday, December 4COACH BAG BINGOSons of Italy Hall at 2537 E. Monmouth Street will host a Coach bag bingo at 7PM. Doors open 6:15PM. Tickets $30 no outside alcohol permitted. For more information or to purchase tickets, call Gina at 215-634-2553.

Saturday, December 5CHRISTMAS PENNY PARTYThe 1st Presbyterian Church at 418 E. Girard Ave will host a penny party at 1PM. Stop by for fun, food and lots of hol-iday items. Numbers will be called at 2PM. For more information call 215-739-5695 or visit 1stpresby-kensington.org.

Saturday, December 5TROOP 11 ANNIVERSARYTroop 11 is turning 25! We are having a reunion din-ner from 6-9PM at Grace Church and the Incarnation at Edgemont and Venango Streets. The dinner is open to any-one who was a scout or leader of Troop 11. Come out and socialize with some old friends and make some new ones. The cost is $30 for the dinner, and $10 for the commemo-rative t-shirt. Please let others know about this event. For more information email [email protected].

Saturday, December 5PATIENT APPRECIATION DAYPatient Appreciation Day at Allegheny Family Chiroprac-tic Center will take place from 8AM-2PM. All services pro-vided will be offered “free” in exchange for a donation of non-perishable food items or new toys to benefit those in need within our community. Santa arrives at 10AM. All new patients are by appointment only. Call today to reserve your spot at 215-425-1110.

Saturday, December 12CHRISTMAS BAZAARSt. Michael’s Church at Trenton Avenue & Cumberland Streets will be having their Christmas Bazaar on from 10AM-2 PM. Mark your calendars for picture taking with Santa, shopping at all the “goodie” tables that will be avail-

able such as Baked Goods, Santa’s Workshop, Tombola Table, Raffles and more. Plan to stay for one of our favor-ite lunch specials, or homemade soup and dessert. We are asking for those who come out to bring a canned good to support St. Michael’s Food Pantry.For more information call the Church at 215-423-0792.

Thursday, December 12NKCDC HEALTH INSURANCENKCDC is hosting a Service Area Briefing in partnership with OHCD, BenePhilly, Enroll America, and PGW from 10AM-3PM at the Coral Street Arts House. Representatives from BenePhilly and Enroll America will be on site to as-sist neighbors in signing up for private Health Insurance through the Health Insurance marketplace, Medicare and Medicaid, as well as other benefit programs including SNAP and LIHEAP. Appointments can be made through the following link: (https://www.getcoveredamerica.org/connector/?location=117264). Although walk-in’s are wel-come, appointments are suggested in order to decrease wait time and to have enough counselors present. You can also set up an appointment by calling Tess at 215-427-0350 x 139. Applicants must bring a Social Security number for themselves and anyone else they’re applying with, income information (though an income isn’t required to sign up), any immigration documentation if applicable and a utility bill if applying for benefits other than healthcare

Saturday, December 19COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS CAROL CONCERTJoin us for a show featuring a performance by the Sister Cities Girlchoir and organist Marian Geiger-Lynch from 1-3PM at the First Presbyterian Church, 418 E. Girard Ave. The event has no cost, but donations will be accepted and split between the Lutheran Settlement House, Sister Cit-ies Girlchoir and Penn Home.

TuesdaysFISHTOWN LIBRARY EVENTSJoin Miss Dana after school for stories and crafts at the Fishtown Library. Tuesdays at 4PM, from September 8 through November 3 at the Fishtown Public Library, 1217 E. Montgomery Ave. Preschool Storytime Wednesdays – This program is intended for children ages 1-4 and their caregiver. Sib-lings are always welcome. Daycares should call for sep-arate appointments.For more information call 215-685-9990.

WednesdaysPRESCHOOL STORYTIME AT RICHMOND LIBRARYThis program is intended for children ages 1-4 and their caregiver. Siblings are always welcome. Daycares should call for separate appointments. Richmond Branch of the Free Library, 2987 Almond Street.For further information call 215-685-9992. CHILDREN’S THEATER ARTS Come grow, play and explore with the Portside Arts Center. Students will use their imaginations and learn acting skills like speech, movement, improvisation and character de-velopment through the use of theatre games, exercises and preparation for performance. Children will showcase their skills in a shared performance that will be presented at the end of the term. The class will be taught by Portside’s celeb-rity acting instructor Angela Goethals, an accomplished film, television and stage actress who has appeared in films such as Home Alone and Jerry Maguire.For information and registration, visit http://www.portside-artscenter.org/theater-child or call 215-427-1514

DANCE PROGRAMMs. Jaclyn Scarborough will host hourly classes that take place on Tuesday evenings at 5:30PM for ages 3 and up. Also forming classes for 8 and older in jazz/Hip Hop from 7:30-8:30PM. Fee is $25 a month, with a $20 non-refund-able registration fee also required at sign up.

HANCOCK BASKETBALL RECRUITINGHancock S.N.B.L. 2015 is recruiting children from ages 6-11 years old to play in our annual co-ed Sixers Neighbor-hood Basketball League. We will be playing at John Moffet Elementary School’s Gym. The league will start in Decem-ber 1 through late March. Children must participate in the


sign ups

FAITH

MARKETS

trips

special events

SENIORS

able such as Baked Goods, Santa’s Workshop, Tombola Table, Raffles and more. Plan to stay for one of our favor-ite lunch specials, or homemade soup and dessert. We are asking for those who come out to bring a canned good to support St. Michael’s Food Pantry.For more information call the Church at 215-423-0792.

Thursday, December 12NKCDC HEALTH INSURANCENKCDC is hosting a Service Area Briefing in partnership with OHCD, BenePhilly, Enroll America, and PGW from 10AM-3PM at the Coral Street Arts House. Representatives from BenePhilly and Enroll America will be on site to as-sist neighbors in signing up for private Health Insurance through the Health Insurance marketplace, Medicare and Medicaid, as well as other benefit programs including SNAP and LIHEAP. Appointments can be made through the following link: (https://www.getcoveredamerica.org/connector/?location=117264). Although walk-in’s are wel-come, appointments are suggested in order to decrease wait time and to have enough counselors present. You can also set up an appointment by calling Tess at 215-427-0350 x 139. Applicants must bring a Social Security number for themselves and anyone else they’re applying with, income information (though an income isn’t required to sign up), any immigration documentation if applicable and a utility bill if applying for benefits other than healthcare

Saturday, December 19COMMUNITY CHRISTMAS CAROL CONCERTJoin us for a show featuring a performance by the Sister Cities Girlchoir and organist Marian Geiger-Lynch from 1-3PM at the First Presbyterian Church, 418 E. Girard Ave. The event has no cost, but donations will be accepted and split between the Lutheran Settlement House, Sister Cit-ies Girlchoir and Penn Home.

basketball clinic to play in games.For more information please call Coach’s Larry or Don at 215-685-9877.

CIONE SIGNUPSChess Club – For beginner to advanced players of all ages. Meetings take place Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30-8PM.Arts and Crafts for Kids – Meetings for 5-12 years old. Arts and crafts has no cost and takes place every Saturday from 12-1PM.Zumba – Adult classes are on Fridays from 7:30-8:30PM, and the cost is $5 per class.Tumbling – Class for ages 3 and up. Classes held on Mondays.Hip Hop Class – For ages 7 and up. Classes will be held on Mondays from 7-8PM.Both Tumbling and Hip Hop classes have a $20 Registra-tion Fee Non-Refundable and costs $25 per month. Cione Strikers will be holding registration for indoor soc-cer for ages 3-7. Tuesdays and Thursdays 6-8PM.For more information about these events, call 215-685-9880.

Saturday, December 5FLEA MARKETSummerfield/Siloam United Methodist Church, 2223 E. Dauphin Street, will host a flea market from 10AM-4PM. Tables are free for local residents, organizations, and businesses on a first come, first serve basis. Last day to re-serve a table is November 29. For more information or to reserve a table contact Tiff at 267-266-7702.

Saturday, December 5HOLIDAY WINTER BAZAAR The market will take place at Tacony Academy Charter School at 1330 Rhawn St. from 10AM-2PM. Anyone interested in selling their arts or crafts please con-tact Joan for information at [email protected] or call 215-439-4857.

SundaysSUNDAY BINGOSt. Anne Church will host bingo on Sundays in the Social Hall, Memphis and Tucker streets. Doors open at 4PM; bingo starts at 6PM. Cost is $10. Call 215-739-4590 for more details.

LUTHERAN SETTLEMENT HOME EVENTSLutheran Settlement House Senior Center, 1340 Frank-ford Ave. Computer Classes: Level 1: Mondays from 9-10AM, Tuesdays from 9-10AM and Thursdays from 12-2PM. Level 2 Classes take place on Mondays from 1-3PM and Thursdays 2-4PM. Dancercise with Rita, Mondays at 9AM, Tai Chi with Milt, Wednesdays at 12:30PM.For further information call 215-426-8610.

FridaysART WORKSHOP FOR SENIORSSt. Anne’s Senior Center, 2607 E. Cumberland St., is of-fering an art workshop for people age 50 and older. “Clay Creations” will meet weekly on Fridays, from 12:30-2 PM Participants will learn about the art of hand building to create pots and other clay forms. Those interested should register in advance.For more details call 215-426-9799.

SENIOR EXERCISE CLASSESExercise classes for people 50 and older will be offered at St. Anne’s Senior Center, 2607 E. Cumberland St. Class schedule will be Enhance Fitness on Mondays and Thurs-days at 9:30 AM, Chair Yoga on Tuesdays at 9:30 AM, Tai Chi on Wednesdays at 10 AM, and Line Dancing on the first and third Friday of every month. For more information call 215-426-9799.

Wednesdays FIRST PRESBYTERIAN BIBLE STUDY GROUPA Bible study group meets at First Presbyterian Church, 418 E. Girard Ave at 7PM . Come and bring a friend for in-formative, exciting and lively open discussions. As always, everyone is welcome.

ThursdaysST. ANNE WEEKLY NOVENASt. Anne weekly Novena Thursday evening service, 7:30PM Church of Saint Anne, Memphis St. and Lehigh Ave.

TuesdaysPRAYER MINISTRY First Emmanuel Prayer Partners Church, 711 W. Girard Ave. Prayer Ministry is looking for Prayer Partners. Every-one is Welcome to come pray with us.For further information call 215-456-9974.

Saturday, November 28DECK THE HALLS CHRISTMAS SHOWThe Ladies of Port Richmond will host a trip to the Amer-ican Music Theater Christmas Show, “Deck the Halls,” in Lancaster. The trip includes the show, a buffet lunch and outlet shopping. The trip costs $115.00 per person. For more information and to register, call MaryLou at 215-427-3222.

Monday, December 7 CAPE MAY CHRISTMAS TOUR The Polish American Cultural Center Museum Volunteers will sponsor a one day Cape May Christmas Tour on Mon., Dec. 7th. The group will meet at St. Adalbert Church (2645 E. Allegheny Ave.) at 8AM and return at 6PM. The itinerary includes visiting the Emlen Physick Estate House Muse-um, lunch at the Lobster House Restaurant, visiting three festively decorated Inns and generally experiencing the feeling of Christmas in the Victorian Age. Total cost is $105. A deposit is required to hold reservations. For details, call Theresa Romanowski at 215-922-1700 or 215-813-2780.

Tuesday-Thursday, December 8-10 COURT ST. FRANCIS DE SALES LANCASTER TRIP There are only 17 seats left for Court St. Francis De Sales Lancaster Show Trip. 3 Days-2 Nights. Tues-Thu, December 8-10, 2015. Cost $299 p/p double occupancy. $75.00 due on signing. Includes transportation, lodging, 2 continental breakfasts, 2 dinners, Miracle of Christmas show at Sight and Sound Millennium Theater, guided tour of Amish Country, Kitchen Kettle Village, visits to Vanity Fair Outlet and Rockvale Outlets for Christmas shopping, and more. For more information call Tina Dambach at 215-779-2054.

PORTSIDE ARTS CLASSESMake & Take Craft Class and Girl Power Arts – Fun art classes for children ages 7-10 yrs. Learn about famous art-ists throughout history and apply the lesson to a fun orig-inal craft or fine art project. Private Music Lessons for All Ages – Affordable and fun professional music instruction for children, teens, and adults. Drum lessons with Michael Arcata – learn rock, funk, and jazz style drumming. Voice lessons with Ariane Kolet – improve your vocal range and learn proper tech-nique while rehearsing songs of your choice.Adult Visual Arts Classes – Get creative! Learn how to use oil paint, glass, found objects, and recycled materials to create one-of-a-kind fine art. All materials are provided.To register go to portsideartscenter.org/

Saturday, December 12LEARN TO BREW BEERLearn how to home brew beer with Philly Homebrew Out-let from 1-4PM. Pre-registration is required and space is limited. The program will take place on the 3rd floor. (The elevator is out of service). This is an adults only program and children will not be permitted on the 3rd floor. Photo identification will be required. Contact Sheila O’Steen [email protected] to register.

SPIRIT NEWS HAPPY HOURSpirit News is happy to announce our next Spirit Happy Hour at Les and Doreen’s Happy Tap (1301 E. Susquehan-na Ave.) on December 15th. Happy hour is from 5-8PM, specials include 1/2 off all drafts, buckets of 4 cans for $10, 1/2 off appetizers and $10 for pizza and 6 wings. Come on by and discuss the news with the guys and gals who put the paper together!

SPIRIT OF PENN’S GARDEN FUNDRAISERSpirit News and Friends of Bache-Martin invite you for a night of music, food and fundraising on Saturday, Decem-ber 5, 2015, the Ukrainian League of Philadelphia from 8-11pm.There will be a silent auction of local wares and art, food from RyBrew, Pizza Phanatic and more, and live music provided by local artists. We encourage a $10 dona-tion at the door. All money raised on this evening will be split 50/50 between The Spirit’s Kickstarter Campaign and The Bache-Martin School.


[email protected] 1428 E. SUSQUEHANNA AVE

215.423.6246

Advertise With Us!By placing an advertisement with the Spirit News,

you connect with the residents of Fishtown, North-ern Liberties, Port Richmond, and Kensington. The deadline is Friday at 5pm for display ads, and Monday at 12pm

for classifieds. All advertisements must be paid for in advance.

THE FINE PRINT:We reserve the right to edit, refuse or classify any advertisement.

Advertising is a privilege which must be protected against misuse. All classified advertisements subject to pre-payment. It is the responsibility of the advertiser to check the advertisements each time it is published. No responsibility is assumed by the newspaper for errors. Errors will be

rectified by reinsertion in the following issue only.

CALENDARC O M M U N I T Y

N E W S @ S P I R I T N E W S . O R G • 1 4 2 8 E . S U S Q U E H A N N A A V E • 2 1 5 . 4 2 3 . 6 2 4 6

25XX Frankford Ave - Furnished

Kitchenette. Clean, senior

preferred $450 215-941-3000

32xx Frankford Ave - effeciency.

$550/mo. + electric; Immediate posses-

sion. No pets. 215-840-8399.

FOR RENT

Room for rent Kensington – safe, utilities included.

$250-320Per month

Call 267-475-3929or 267-235-9509

29XX block of Frankford Ave2 bedroom &

1 bedroom efficien-cy availablecredit check

Call 856-305-1556

Apt for Rent:2nd Floor One

Bedroom. Seniors preferred. $480,

utilities included. 215-739-7618

PAY LESS

ROOFINGNEW RUBBER ROOFS

MINOR ROOF REPAIRSALUMINUM ROOF COATINGSHINGLES - GUTTERS - SPOUTS

215-743-8599FREE ESTIMATES - CALL GERRY

BARRY FISHER

House wiring, 100 amp circuit breakers, ceiling

fans & a/c lines.

OVER 27 YEARS EXPERIENCE

LICENSED & INSURED - LIC #PA040852/16493

ELECTRICIAN

215-327-3817

HOME REPAIR SERVICES

HANDYMANPLUMBING - WINDOWS

PAINTING - DOORSCARPENTRY - CEILINGS

CEMENT - FLOORS

215-743-8599

PARENTS

FOSTERPARENTS

PLEASECALL

Good, Loving homes needed

for children of all ages.

215-203-8733or

1-877-NFI4KIDor visit

nfi4kids.org

Up to $1,100 cash for cars or trucks with bad

engines or transmis-sions. $550 CASH for any complete junk car or

truck with or without title. Call 215-669-1000

JUNK CARS

BUYING HOUSES

We buy houses for cash. Fast settlement.Call John

215-740-4629

A DVA NC E D

& I N STA L L AT I O N S

ELECTRICREPAIRS

215-396-2206

L I C E N S E D

B O N D E D

I N S U R E D

S K I L L E D

“WE DO IT ALL”

100-200 AMP BREAKERSTROUBLESHOOT REPAIRS

OUTLETS - LIGHTS - SWITCHES

LOW RATESFAST SERVICE

UPFRONT PRICES

AFFORDABLEELECTRIC

2 1 5 -92 7- 1 1 0 0

FAST SERVICE & LOW RATESLIC. - INS. BONDED

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APPLIANCES

REPAIRS

B&AALL MAKES

ALL MODELS

WASHERSDRYERSSTOVES

REFRIGERATORS24-Hour

EmergencyService

$10 ChargeFor Estimate

No ChargeWith Repair

YOU HAVE A NICE SET OF WHEELS BUT CAN’T FIND A PLACE

TO PARK THEM.

FAIR HOUSING IS THE LAW!

610-604-4411 - FJCSP.COM

Landlords must allow you to make reasonable accommodations to ensure full use of your apart-ment. Telling you that you can’t install grab bars and ramps is against the law. You can fight back.

If you suspect unfair housing practices, contact HUD or your local Fair Housing Center. Everyone

deserves a fair chance.

REAL ESTATE SALES:

new orexperienced;

freetraining

program.Call

Mike Dunphyat

215-840-8399

JOBS

–to fill a recently vacated seat

on its Board. The Board meets in the evening on the

3rd Wednesday of the month (excluding July & August)

to hear presentations from neighborhood organizations

looking for funding. (See also www.penntreatyssd.

com) Decisions are made the same night. Candidates must

have resided in Northern Liberties for at least five

years. If interested, please submit a resume or a letter of

interest to [email protected]

THE PENN TREATY SPECIAL SERVICES DISTRICT (PTSSD) IS LOOKING FOR A VOLUNTEER FROM NORTHERN LIBERTIES

Drivers: NE Regional Run. $.44cpm. Monthly Bonus. Home Weekly.

Complete Benefit Pack-age. Rider Program Immediately. 100%

No-Touch. 70% D&H. 888-406-9046

S91

1395

THE SPRING GARDEN INDOOR ANTIQUE & VINTAGE FLEA MARKET

S a v e T h e D a t e s

8 A.M. til 4 P.M. But Early Birds Are Welcome!

820 Spring Garden St., Philadelphia, PA 19123 (9th & Spring Garden) Antique Furniture, Collectibles, Vintage

Jewelry, Clothing & Accessories, Lighting, Industrial, Pottery, Primitives,

Artwork & Much More! Free Parking / Free Admission Food Court / ATM / Heated

PHILA. FLEA MARKETS PRESENTS

Saturdays December 5 & 19

January 2, 9, 16, 23, 30 February 6, 20, 27 March 5, 12, 19

215-625-FLEA (3532) www.PhilaFleaMarkets.org

Apt for Rent 28xx Frankford Ave 1 bedroom effeciency $515 plus electric,

heat included, 215-941-3000


There will be a silent auction of local wares and art, food from RyBrew, Pizza Phanatic and more, and live music pro-

vided by local artists. We encourage a $10 donation at the door. All money raised on

this evening will be split 50/50 between The Spirit’s Kickstarter Campaign and

The Bache-Martin School.

Spirit News and Friends of Bache-Martin invite you for a night of music, food and fundraising on Saturday, December 5, 2015, the Ukrainian

League of Philadelphia from 8-11pm.

Please join us for a fundraiser for

32xx Frankford Ave - effeciency.

$550/mo. + electric; Immediate posses-

sion. No pets. 215-840-8399.

26th District Crime Report – november 18 through november 24

aggravatedassault with

other weapon

residentialburglaries

thefts fromautos THEFTS STOlen autos rape

There were no homocides or aggravated assaults with guns reported in this time.

600 Thompson - 11/23500 Master - 11/24

1600 Marshall - 11/18800 Mercer - 11/19

500 E Thompson - 11/182100 Albert - 11/19

2600 Frankford - 11/211100 Oxford - 11/24

2600 Frankford - 11/18900 4th - 11/21

400 Jefferson - 11/21100 W Berks - 11/221000 Front - 11/23

1600 Germantown - 11/24

600 Master - 11/21800 W Girard - 11/18900 3rd - 11/18

2500 Coral - 11/19100 W Girard - 11/19

1100 3rd - 11/191000 Germantown - 11/23

2400 Jasper - 11/231800 Tulip - 11/241000 2nd - 11/24

1000 American - 11/24

2 2 10 4 6 1Robberies withguns / other

weapons

500 Cambridge - 11/21–

200 E Lehigh - 11/18100 W Wilt - 11/20

2500 Aramingo - 11/222500 Firth - 11/22

5

AFFORDABLEELECTRIC INC

RESIDENTIAL • COMMERCIAL

FAST EMERGENCY SERVICE

State License #PA068325City of Philadelphia Electrical License #17027

We will BEAT ALL ESTIMATES!

LOWEST PRICES! “We Do It All”POLICE, FIRE & SENIOR DISCOUNTS

100 AMP • Breakers Lighting • Outlets • Fuse

Repair • Ceiling Fans Switches • Dryer Lines

Doorbell Repairs

215-722-5993

10% OFFWITH THIS AD

Apt for Rent 28xx Frankford Ave 1 bedroom effeciency $515 plus electric,

heat included, 215-941-3000

RIVERRINK.COM/SPIRIT215-925-RINK101 S. Columbus Blvd. | Columbus Blvd. @ Market St.

HOLIDAY TREE LIGHTING PRESENTED BY PECO

DECEMBER 4, 2015 6 - 9PM

Temple Health Ready Care NE/Port Richmond AdThe Spirit of the River WardsHalf Page BW / 9.75” x 7.5”Wednesday, December 2, 2015

• Diagnosis and treatment of unexpected injuries and illnesses• X-rays and lab testing• Flu, tetanus and other immunizations• Sport, school and work physicals• Walk-in care, no appointment necessary• Most major insurances accepted

Your neighborhood urgent care. Open 7 days a week.

PORT RICHMOND2301 E. Allegheny Ave.(Tulip St. & Allegheny Ave.)

215-926-3535

TempleReadyCare.com

Temple Health refers to the health, education and research activities carried out by the affiliates of Temple University Health System (TUHS) and by the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University. TUHS neither provides nor controls the provision of health care. All health care is provided by its member organizations or independent health care providers affiliated with TUHS member organizations. Each TUHS member organization is owned and operated pursuant to its governing documents.

Documents

The Spirit – December 2, 2015