PAWS Clinic is organizing a community Pet Day tomorrow at Cedar Park, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Low-cost shots and microchips will be available. See the flyer below for more information.

A West Philly resident proposed to his girlfriend at Sabrina’s Cafe in Powelton last weekend and made the national news.  Huffington Post says it was “the best brunch proposal ever” and we agree. Dante proposed to Audra by singing to her with accompaniment from a Philly area trombone player he found on Craig’s List. Congrats, folks! Check out the video below.

Bartram’s Garden and The Philadelphia Beekeepers Guild are inviting everyone to celebrate bees and honey with them on Sunday (Sept. 9). Bartram’s Garden is one of the venues hosting the 3rd Annual Honey Festival that will span three days in three locations this weekend. Check out the program below. For more information, visit http://phillyhoneyfest.com or contact: honeyfest@phillybeekeepers.org. For more upcoming events at Bartram’s Garden, click here.

10 am – 4 pm  – Annual Fall Plant Sale – all day long!
10 am – 2 pm  – Bee Discovery Day — Visit science stations, make a costume & march in the Be-a-Bee Parade!
10 am – Open Hive Talk — take a peek inside a real bee hive
10:30 am – How to Brew Honey Beer at Home: Part 1, with J. McMillan
11 am – PA Honey Queen Jessica Long demonstrates Cooking with Honey
11:30  – Mead-tasting
Noon – Honey Extraction
12:30 – Open Hive Talk
1 pm – Philadelphia Bees’ Stake in Pollination with Stephanie Wilson
1:30 pm – How to Brew Honey Beer at Home: Part 2 , J. McMillan
2 pm  – PA Honey Queen, Jessica Long demonstrates Cooking with Honey
2:30 pm  – Open Hive Talk
3 pm – Taste mead, braggot and honey-based homebrews; try Little Baby’s honey ice cream

Bartram’s Garden is located at 5400 Lindbergh Boulevard and is accessible by public transportation. Take No. 36 Trolley to 54th Street.

The Philly Fringe festival is back this month with its usual wide array of performances and venues. Many of the programs will take place in West Philadelphia. For the full list of festival events and to purchase tickets, see the Live Arts/Fringe Festival website. Highlights of local neighborhood events, in no particular order, include:

• Monsters: A Workshop and Happening on Sept 16, 3 pm at the Penn Museum. Participants will work with artist Douglas Repetto to make a herd of moving tables that will be set free among the artifacts.

• Le Mirage/Dead City Philly by DysFUNctional Theater. Sept 10 and 11, 8 pm at the Rotunda. A 1892 novella reimagined as a rock opera and set in modern day Philadelphia. Debuted at the Fringe festival in 2011 and back by popular demand.

• The Legend of Nahia by Duende Musical. Sept 7, 8, 12, and 15, 7 pm at the Calvary Center, 801 South 48th St. A story set in an imaginary town in Spain about a a female survivor of sexual assault healing through music, art, story telling, and dance.

• You Don’t Say by Tangle Arts Movement, Sept 13, 14, and 15 at 8 pm with a special show at 3 pm. Although the venue, Philadelphia Soundstages (1600 N. 5th St), is not in West Philly, neighbors are probably familiar with the group’s outdoor show in Clark Park, Tiny Circus. Their Fringe show purports to include a rope, trapeze, and a dinner table as the performers explore relationships and miscommunication all while defying gravity.

Continue Reading

A resident helped prevent burglary the other night by reporting suspicious activity on his neighbor’s porch.

On Tuesday, at approximately 12:10 a.m., he was driving on the 800 block of S. 48th Street looking for a parking space when he saw a man standing on the porch of one of the houses, police said. The neighbor knows the owners of the property and thought the person’s activities were suspicious. When the man opened the window and started climbing into the house the neighbor called the police.

Two police officers were nearby and quickly arrived at the location. They caught the suspect near the front windows of the home, both of which were pushed open, and took him in custody. Police say that one of the windows had an air conditioning unit that was pushed in. Nothing was taken from the house.

According to police, the suspect is a known burglar in the area. “Witness did an incredible job. Noticed a stranger on his neighbor’s porch and made the right call,” tweeted Detective Joe Murray from the Southwest Detectives.

Reed’s Coffee and Tea House at 38th and Lancaster is hosting a Democratic Convention Watch Party tomorrow, from 6 to 9 p.m. and all neighbors are invited. President Barack Obama is expected to accept the party’s nomination tomorrow evening. For more information and to RSVP, click here.