Frankford Gazette

Northwood Civic Funds Northwood Town Watch

Gil — Thu, 17 May 2012 02:40:06 +0000

First meeting of the Northwood Town Watch

Northwood Town Watch First Meeting

A weekend distribution of fliers throughout Northwood brought about 30 people to the initial organizational meeting of the Northwood Town Watch at St. James Lutheran Church at 6PM prior to the regular Civic meeting. An hour was spent on discussion of the role of the Town Watch, discussion of the proposed bylaws and election of temporary officers. A second organizational meeting is scheduled for Saturday, May 19th at 9 AM at the Knights of Columbus at 5323 Oxford Avenue. Anyone who is interested in participating in Town Watch in any capacity is encouraged to attend. Future Town Watch meeting will precede the Northwood Civic Association meetings.

At the Northwood Civic Association meeting,

the minutes of the last meeting were read. A verbal treasurers reports was made. A member questioned whether the new Treasurer has audited the previous Treasurer’s records. No audit has been done and the member asked that future reports be printed and made public. The Treasurer said that she would take that under advisement to the Board.

Frank Bennett VP and Joe Krause President of Northwood Civic

Members approved a motion to fund start up costs of the newly formed Town Watch with $300 to cover the cost of printing fliers, etc. Members questioned if the Town Watch will be funded in the future. Vice President Bennett said that the Town Watch would fund itself. This expenditure is to help get it off the ground.

A new member spoke about vandalism in the area of Kenwyn and Horrocks. Young people are breaking windows. A discussion followed about what is the most effective way to report this type of issue to the police. Some recommend making it a roll call item and others say the best thing to do is to attend a PSA meeting and talk to the Lt. directly. Town Watch members were present and will follow up on this issue.

Committees were formed to deal with Vacant Properties, Deed Restriction Issues and Zoning. Volunteers for the committees met after the meeting to provide contact information to communicate at a later time.

James Clay, Democratic party candidate for State Representative in the 179th district spoke to the membership and answered questions.

James Clay

The next meeting of the Northwood Civic Association is scheduled for June 19 at 7 PM at St. James Lutheran Church.

Green Building Taking Shape at Frankford Friends

Gil — Wed, 16 May 2012 13:18:38 +0000

Steel framing rose for the new building at Frankford Friends School last week. The project, the culmination of many years of planning at the school, will allow it to offer high-quality Friends education program to more local families by expanding the space in middle school classrooms. The new building will provide a multipurpose space, a music room, and three more classrooms. The building, which is among several new construction projects now happening in Frankford, was designed by DIGSAU and is being built by CVM Construction.

Energy use at the new building will be reduced through the use of a highly insulated envelope, an efficient HVAC system, exhaust fans, operable windows, natural light, highly-insulated walls, and solar shades that block summer sun while bouncing winter sun more deeply into the rooms. A large north-facing skylight in the multipurpose room minimizes lighting costs. Rain barrels will keep rain water out of the city stormwater system and provide free water for classroom and ornamental gardens. All materials and carpet will are low VOC. Budget allowing, the exterior will be clad in reclaimed red cedar.

The school, which has been on its historic campus since 1833, expects to enroll over 130 students in grades PreK-8^th in the coming year. There are still some openings in grades 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7; the others have waiting lists. For more information, www.frankfordfriendsschool.org

Sankofa Freedom Academy Has Charter Renewed

Gil — Wed, 16 May 2012 02:56:35 +0000

At its April meeting, the Philadelphia School Reform Commission voted to renew the charter for Sankofa Freedom for an additional five years. From the Inquirer:

The five-member commission voted unanimously to award five-year operating agreements to Multi-Cultural Academy and Sankofa Freedom Academy, based on their academic performance and because they fulfilled other requirements.

Multi-Cultural, a college-prep high school in North Philadelphia, pledged not to grow beyond its authorized limit of 275 students through 2017.

Sankofa, in Frankford, has an Afro-centric curriculum. The school now has 463 students in kindergarten through sixth and ninth to 11th grades. It agreed to abide by the maximum enrollment of 650 students, set in its original 2009 charter, when it completes its growth to a K-12 model in 2013-14.

In the present economic environment that is quite an accomplishment. Congratulations to the staff and students at Sankofa.

Frankford CDC Brings Expert Architect and Planner to the Ave

Frankford Community Development Corporation — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:29:24 +0000

Good design is a crucial part of a successful business and a thriving business district. That is why we were thrilled to bring design and architecture expert Kathleen Lambert directly to our business corridor this past Tuesday. Ms. Lambert, who has over 20 years of experience in architecture and planning, spent an hour with each participating business, discussing everything from interior design guaranteed to bring more customers in to the shop to facade changes intended to create a safer, more welcoming main street.

Ms. Lambert’s visit is just another in our on-going series of business development events. Over the past year, the Frankford CDC has held individualized counseling sessions with SCORE, Third Federal Bank, and the Small Business Administration, and we have ever intention of continuing to bring the experts right here to our community. The CDC believes that facilitating these opportunities for our business owners, and bringing resources right here to Frankford, is a critical part of our job.

We hope that Ms. Lambert will join us again, though we realize that the CDC and our partners on the Avenue now have the hard job: following up on all of her excellent recommendations!

If you’re interested in making an appointment with Ms. Lambert, please contact the CDC at 215-743-6580.

Love Your Park Day at Overington Park

Gil — Tue, 15 May 2012 00:59:42 +0000

From Lorraine Fortino and the Friends of Overington Park

Please join the Friends of Overington Park on Saturday, May 19, 2012, from 10 till 1, for Love Your Park Day at Overington Park! Along with our spring planting we are holding a perennial plant sale and seed give-away. Please come out and join us to kick off Spring in Overington Park and maybe help us plant some flowers! We need your support, hope to see you there this Saturday.

Love Your Park in Frankford

Gil — Mon, 14 May 2012 16:21:37 +0000

Love your park day

Saturday was a beautiful day and I was out to see what what was happening down at the library for the Frankford Garden Club before Mother’s day plant sale. Pictures are included in the slideshow below. I also stopped over at Wilmot Park and then tracked down the folks working on the pocket park at Meadow and Tackawanna. What a great day.

Northwood Civic Association Meeting May 15th

Joe Krause — Sun, 13 May 2012 18:47:09 +0000

Philly 2035 – Ian Litwin will provide an update.

4600 Frankford Avenue Project – Joe Krause will provide an update

Town Watch meeting – Anyone interested in participating in town watch should be at St. James at 6:00 PM on May 15 before the general meeting.

Imagining Frankford in Our Own Words

Gil — Sun, 13 May 2012 17:09:24 +0000

Dear Frankford,

We have been so honored to spend the past 6-9 months with you, hearing
your stories and learning about the neighborhood- its past and the
hopes you have for it.

You can now go online to catch a glimpse of what you have shared with
us: http://www.youtube.com/user/imaginingfrankford

Thank you for being so welcoming and generous! We hope that you will
share these videos with your fellow community members. Because there
were so many, it is going to take us a moment to edit all of them. As
they are completed they will be added to the website.

In the meantime, Cesar is working hard to design the 5 corridor
murals. Please check your in-boxes in June for news about this process
and how you can participate in the final mural design meetings.

Thanks for your support,

Netanel and Cesar
http://muralarts.org/explore/projects/imagining-frankford

Netanel Portier
Project Manager
City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program
The Lincoln Financial Mural Arts Center
at the Thomas Eakins House
1727-29 Mount Vernon Street
Philadelphia, PA 19130
215-685-0725 (office)
856-906-0078 (cell)
215-685-0757 (fax)

Make your donation to the Mural Arts Program today! Visit muralarts.org/support

Frankford High JROTC Change of Command Ceremony

1st Lt. Lee Nguyen — Sun, 13 May 2012 12:00:58 +0000

As the school year comes to a close the ROTC must choose new leadership.

Make way for the new leaders! The pioneer battalion has chosen new cadets to lead us into a new year. Cadet/COL Justin Mount has retired as the battalion commander and Cadet/LTC Antonio Torres has stepped up to the plate. We wish him great achievements in the future. Cadet Torres will lead us into more special projects to help the community. Congrats to Cadet/LTC Torres!

Picture caption: Cadet Justin Mount (left) and JROTC Senior Instructor (right) hands down the position of Battalion Commander to Cadet Torres (center).

((This is Cadet/MAJ Lee Nguyen Retired Pioneer Battalion S-5. It has been an amazing year working with you to get my battalion into news articles. This year I will graduate and will be handing down my position to a new S-5, C/1LT Jonathan Juarez. I hope you two have great communication as we did and work together to put the Frankford Pioneers into the local newspaper.))

Frankord Gazette Interview with the Frankford CDC Part 3

Gil — Sun, 13 May 2012 12:00:10 +0000

This is the third segment of the interview we did back in November with Tracy O’Drain and Michelle Feldman of the Frankford CDC. What does Michelle’s job encompass.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.