Forget about Black Friday. A great way to kick off your holiday shopping is by shopping locally on Small Business Saturday on November 28. Small Business Saturday was founded six years ago and has quickly become a great holiday tradition and one of the most important shopping days of the year.

We have a lot of great businesses in West Philly. From local gift and craft shops to book stores to small groceries to coffee shops and breweries, you can find unique holiday gifts and support your neighborhood tomorrow. For every $100 spent at local small businesses, $68 returns to the community. Your perfect holiday gift may be waiting for you just around the corner!

Here’s a great and delicious way to celebrate the end of the growing season and help a neighborhood farm. Mill Creek Farm board members, staff and volunteers are inviting West Philly neighbors to their 10th annual “Grow Strong” Benefit Party on Saturday, Dec. 5, 5-8 p.m.

The party, which will be held at the new Penn State Philadelphia Center (675 Sansom St.), will feature live music, local eats and brews, a silent auction and a raffle. Tickets ($25) can be purchased online or at the door.

Donations can also be made online to benefit Mill Creek Farm’s education and food access programming in 2016 and beyond: www.millcreekurbanfarm.org/donate.

Over $15,000 has been raised at previous benefits, the proceeds of which support free educational field trips and after-school programs for local public schools, a Philadelphia Youth Network high school internship, an apprenticeship program and a host of community workshops. Each year, over 5,000 lbs. of chemical­ free produce are harvested from the farm and sold at affordable prices at market stands within two miles of the farm. Over 1,000 lbs, of produce are donated annually to neighborhood food cupboards.  Continue Reading

Here’s some useful info for those who are celebrating Thanksgiving in the neighborhood. Also, if you’re looking for something to do today, there will be Holiday Tree Lighting with hot cocoa and live music in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art beginning at 5 p.m. On Friday morning, Nov. 27, special “Santa Express” trains will operate (see more details below).

• Public schools will be closed on Thursday, Nov. 26 and Friday, Nov. 27.
• Post offices will be closed, and there will be no mail delivery on Thursday.
• Trash/recycling collections will be one day behind schedule starting Thursday for the rest of the week.
• Public libraries will close at 2 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 25 and remain closed through Thursday, Nov. 26.  Continue Reading

Snapdragon Flowers & Gifts will soon be the newest business to join the Baltimore Ave shopping area in West Philly.

Owner Tolani Lightfoot resides in the Cedar Park neighborhood, where she settled and bought a house when she relocated from Portland, Oregon eight years ago. “I feel like West Philly is one of those wonderful neighborhoods where you have to live there and understand the neighborhood before opening a business,” she said.

Tolani, who has worked in the industry for 10 years, says she realized that there was a need for a florist shop with her creative vision after she was told that “she was too creative” at her former workplace at a traditional florist shop. The shop will offer a wide range of botanically inspired products, including ready-made floral arrangements. Snapdragon Flowers & Gifts will offer arrangements both for people and events. Some niche market arrangements will include small-scale urban gardens, living arrangements for the home, vertical gardens, Victorian inspired indoor gardens and terrariums along with drought-resistant plants.  Continue Reading

As was reported earlier this year, one of Philadelphia’s more successful charter schools, Independence Charter School, will be opening a new elementary school (ICS West) in Southwest Philadelphia in September 2016. The school will be primarily serving families in Southwest and West Philadelphia, as well as Overbrook.

To learn more about the school and its enrollment process, families are invited to one of the open information sessions held at area libraries. Two next information sessions are scheduled at the Cobbs Creek library. Updated information on community meetings can be found on the school website.

Currently, the following meetings are scheduled for prospective families:

Monday, Dec. 7, 10-11 a.m.
Friday, Dec. 11, 10-11 a.m.
Blanche A. Nixon/Cobbs Creek library branch
5800 Cobbs Creek Parkway (59th/Baltimore Ave.)

The school will initially be a K-3 for September 2016. A grade will be added each year, ultimately becoming a K-8 school, according to ICS West board member Dyana Reid.

The school is focused on global citizenship and language acquisition, and instruction will be about half Spanish/half English. “Students and families are not expected to already speak Spanish, though it’s fine if they do,” says ICS West board member Dyana Reid.  Continue Reading

Locust Moon comic shop is closing at the end of 2015 (Archived photo/West Philly Local)

We’re sad to report that West Philly’s only comic shop, Locust Moon Comics, will close at the end of the year, after just a few years of operation on 40th Street near Chestnut. The store started on Locust street in the old Urban Outfitters building in 2009 and moved to 40th and Chestnut in 2012.

Locust Moon is not just a comic shop, but also a small press, and owners Josh O’Neil and Chris Stevens want to focus on publishing after shutting down the store. Here’s what they posted on Facebook:

“Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for six wonderful years. We plan to redouble our focus on making and publishing comics. We’ve loved being a part of this neighborhood, and have cherished the chance to serve up piping hot comics to a smart and hungry readership.

Thank you for your passion, your superlative taste, your support, and all the love you’ve showered on our cats. We never would have made it this far without you.“