The Spruce Hill Community Association May Fair is this Saturday in Clark Park, where there will be music, food, a moon bounce and raffle prizes ranging from injera to haircuts to an I-Pad 2.

The 53rd annual fair runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the “B” section of Clark Park, south of Chester Avenue.

Children, especially, should enjoy it because this year some new kids’ activities will be added. Bring your little ones to try out things like a moon bounce and an obstacle course and to participate in a variety of games. Live music for kids will include performances by Alex & the Kaleidoscope Band (1:40-2:20 p.m.) and Jay Sand of “All Around This World” (2:30-3:10 p.m.).

The fair will also include food from popular local vendors, arts & crafts, live music, an expanded book sale, a raffle, and a silent auction.

Live music performances, brought by Green Line Cafe, will begin at 11:00 a.m. The Whippoorwills and The Old Fashioneds will be entertaining the crowd with country and folk tunes.

A long list of items to be raffled off is on the Spruce Hill Community Association website and Facebook page.

Raffle tickets are available now at University Pinball (4008 Spruce St.) and last-minute tickets will be available at the fair on Saturday.

At the silent auction, you can bid on a night’s stay at the Gables Bed & Breakfast and a 155 CD set of Bach!

Finally, there will be a plant sale during the fair organized by the University City Garden Club.

Yesterday’s storm dumped a single-day record of 3.11 inches of rain on the Philadelphia area, breaking the previous record of 2.43 inches set in 1986, according to the Associated Press. Flooding and power outages were reported all over the region.

Perhaps the most visible remains of the storm in West Philly is the temporary pond in the Clark Park bowl. Yesterday’s rain led to the cancellation of youth soccer in the park and the leftover water might cause problems for the soccer league in the immediate future.

Attention young chess players. The Lucien E. Blackwell West Philadelphia Regional Library is hosting a chess tournament on Saturday to help bolster interest in chess among West Philly youths.

The three-round unrated tournament is open to anyone, youths and adults alike (although they will compete in separate tournaments). The event will also include an introduction to tournament play, refreshments and prizes. Organizers hope that they will garner enough interest to start a chess club at the library.

Here is the tournament schedule:

Registration: 1:00 – 1:30 p.m.
Introduction to tournament play: 1:30 – 2:00 p.m.
Competition: 2:00 – 4:30 p.m.

Players from the chess club at the Walnut Street West Library will likely be on hand for the tournament, according to their coach Joe Clarke. Speaking of the Walnut Street West club, several of its members competed last month in the Fourth Annual Checkmate Violence 24-Hour Chess Marathon at Temple University. The tournament took place Feb. 5-6. Club members George Cao, Saleh Ibrahim and Carter Davis, all 9, 10-year-old Sherwin Hosseinpour and 7-year-old Risa Azim all took home medals (see photo below).

About 200 players take part in the event, which includes a series of tournaments and activities, and about 100 play all 24 hours.

The Friends of Clark Park has released a tentative list of large events for this spring, summer and fall. The events still need to go through the permitting process of the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation. Because of the ongoing construction at the “A” park, all of the large events this year will take place in the “B” or “C” parks below Chester Avenue.

One recent fixture on the summer park calendar, the annual music festival Best Fest, will not take place this year.

The Friends of Clark Park has recommended that no large events take place in Park A this season.

Here is the tentative schedule:

April 16/23: Uhuru Flea Market
May 7: Spruce Hill May Fair
May 14: Uhuru Flea Market
June 28: Uhuru Flea Market
June 25: Summer Solstice Festival
July 23: Uhuru Flea Market
August 20: Uhuru Flea Market
September 10: Woodland Avenue Reunion
September 17: Fall Equinox Festival
September 17: Uhuru Flea Market
(These two events will coordinate space-sharing)
September 24: Youth Soccer Fall Season
October 15: Uhuru Flea Market

Join fellow tree enthusiasts (tree pruning enthusiasts to be exact) for the Second Annual Limb-Up this Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Woodlands Cemetery (40th and Woodland).

The Limb Up is a discussion/workshop in starting a neighborhood pruning club. The event also includes pruning instruction followed by a potluck lunch. The workshop will take place outside the cemetery’s main gates. No experience is necessary.  The lunch and discussion will follow at the cemetery mansion, which will be open at 9:30 a.m. for potluck drop offs. Please RSVP to Christine at cwilleford – at – pennhort.org.

The Limb Up  is sponsored by the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society and its Tree Tenders program and UC Green.

While many of us were slogging through the snow a lot of folks were over at Clark Park having fun. If you know people in the pictures, leave a comment below. We’re trying to put names to faces. Send us your storm photos and we’ll try to get them up on the site – editor – at – westphillylocal.com .

– Mike