The May Fair Committee invites West Philly-based artisans and crafts people to have a table at Spruce Hill Community Association‘s annual May Fair, which will be held this year on Saturday, May 12 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Clark Park (43rd & Chester). Tables for those who are selling are $35 for the day with SHCA providing the table, table covering and a chair. Additional tables are $15.

Groups and organizations seeking to do community outreach are also welcome. Tables for non-profits not selling goods are $25. E-mail ma.wa@verizon.net for a sign-up sheet or leave a phone message at 215-349-7825. The fair is the day before Mother’s Day and will again have a bounce tent and obstacle course for kids, as well as children’s games, music and much more.

Philadelphia Weekly published an important story yesterday about opposition to the proposed rehab of the 52nd Street shopping corridor.

One street vendor, Bashir Postley, was vocal in his opposition to the city’s multimillion plan to “revitalize” the historic shopping strip.

“Let’s call it what it is,” Postley told Philadelphia Weekly. “They gonna take the urban culture out of 52nd Street and make it into a little shopping mall for white people.”

The city’s plan includes the refurbishment of storefronts along 52nd Street.

Many vendors are angry that the city has taken down the custom awnings erected in 1976 to shield shoppers and vendors from the elements. The city has said that it was a necessary first step to determine how much work needed to be done. The city had originally planned to take the awnings down in 2009, but protests from vendors put that move on hold.