Lawncrest’s grove was cleaned up for the neighborhood’s annual Veteran’s Day commemoration Sunday. Photo/Jessica Lopez

The “Star Spangled Banner” rang out as Joe O’Rourke, a Vietnam War veteran, raised the American flag at the Lawncrest Recreation Center during a Veteran’s Day ceremony Sunday.

Lawncrest residents gave their support and appreciation to veterans from the Vietnam, Korean, Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Organizer Kathy Wersinger, a neighborhood liaison for Councilwoman Marian B. Tasco, D-9th, welcomed guest speakers Judge Patrick Dugan and Councilman-at-large David Oh to the ceremony. continue reading »

For $1, you’ll get three chances to dunk one of a dozen Lawncrest community leaders into a tub of water. Business owners, rec center coaches, pastors and more have volunteered for stints in the dunk tank, part of Lawncrest’s 97th annual Fourth of July celebration.

See photos from last year’s event below: continue reading »

Mayor Michael Nutter (hat) meets Heavy Hitta's boxing coach Lonnie Haile at the 2011 Philly Spring Cleanup on Rising Sun Avenue. Also pictured on left are clean-up organizers Kathy Wersinger of 9th District Councilwoman Marian Tasco's office and Matt Taubenberger of the Rising Sun Avenue Business Association. Photo/Ian Romano

The countdown is on for the fifth annual Philly Spring Cleanup, and residents can now register to volunteer for projects in their neighborhood.

“Thousands of volunteers, hundreds of projects and millions of pounds of trash and recycling have been collected over the last four years,” Mayor Michael Nutter said in his announcement yesterday in Kensington. “We’ve accomplished a lot, but I know we can do better this year.” continue reading »

Hugh Campbell, a 45-year-resident of Burholme, thanked Matt Taubenberger for sweeping up trash Saturday.

Campbell said he can’t shop at the stores on Castor Avenue because there is too much trash.

“It’s good to see a couple of young fellas cleaning up,” Campbell said. “I’m a product of New York City and left because it was so filthy.”

Taubenberger and a group of college students took part in Philadelphia’s spring cleanup by packing mulch into the street trees and sweeping the sidewalks on Burholme’s end of Rising Sun Avenue. Councilwoman Marian Tasco joined volunteers on the Lawncrest end of the street.

“One of the things that I really hate and see all the time is people throwing their trash right on the ground,” said Taubenberger, who plays an active role in the neighborhood as part of the Business Association. “I think when people walk by and see us cleaning up they realize how hard it is to keep the street clean and they try not to litter.” continue reading »

The Rising Sun Avenue corridor has gone through a drastic change in the eyes of the people who have lived there all their lives.  A community that once was solely described as a close-knit, working class residency is now suffering from a spate of robberies, violence and an overabundance of trash and unkempt houses.

Kathy Wersinger of Councilwoman Marian Tasco’s office is a 55-year-resident of the area and believes the problem to be renters.

“People that rent houses for a profit and don’t worry about the condition of them as long as they are receiving their monthly check,” contribute to the decline in quality of life, she said. continue reading »

Volunteers help clean the Grove at Lawncrest Rec Center to prepare for the annual Veterans Day celebration

Members of the Lawncrest community came together on Saturday to clean up “The Grove” next to the Lawncrest Rec Center in preparation for Thursday’s second annual Veteran’s Day celebration.

The cleanup activities were spearheaded by Kathy Wersinger, administrative assistant to Councilwoman Marian Tasco. “We’re here today to honor our veterans for next Thursday – Veteran’s Day,” she said. “We’re cleaning up this area of the Lawncrest Rec Center called the Grove. There are three memorials honoring our veterans from Korean, Vietnam, World War I and World War II. We’re going to make it a nice place to honor them on Thursday.” continue reading »

In part 2 of a two-part series, we explore Tacony’s and Lawncrest’s fights against absentee landlords in their neighborhoods.

Camille Capobianco, 37, grew up in Tacony. She said her neighborhood was once good, clean and friendly. Now, she said, residents are fighting the evils of what has become a nightmare epidemic in most neighborhoods throughout Northeast Philadelphia.

Absentee landlords have stricken most of the communities and have left local residents to fear, avoid and fight their new tenants.

“Most [absentee landlords] are from out of state, but there are some local slumlords,” Capobianco, a mother of three daughters, said.

Absentee landlords purchase cheap properties and then rent out the homes for investment. They tend to live far away from their properties, as well. Capobianco said many people have complained that these landlords do not have proper licenses most of the time, do not have property managers and do not care whom they rent their properties to as long as their houses are filled and rent checks arrive every month. continue reading »

Community Relations officer Mark Mroz received a city citation at the Dec. 15, 2009 Lawncrest Community Association meeting held at St. William's School. Councilwoman Marian Tasco's administrative assistant Kathy Wersinger also received a citation.

Two popular city employees who work heavily with the Lawncrest community received citations from the City of Philadelphia Tuesday night at the Lawncrest Community Association meeting.

Kathy Wersinger, administrative assistant and de facto neighborhood liaison for Councilwoman Marian B. Tasco, and Police Officer Mark Mroz, the affable community relations officer for the 2nd District, both were honored last night inside the St. William’s School on Rising Sun Avenue. At-large Councilmen Jack Kelly and Bill Greenlee were also on hand.

“Tonight we’re honoring two people who help make Lawncrest great,” said Association President Bill Dolbow.

continue reading »

The Lawncrest community came together Wednesday at “The Grove” next to Lawncrest Rec Center to celebrate Veterans Day.

The event, which achieved a crowd of more than 100 people, was planned by the Lawncrest Community Association, with help from the office of Councilwoman Marian B. Tasco, the Rising Sun Lions Club and the Phil-Mont Kiwanis Club.

People who arrived passed by headstone memorials near Rising Sun Avenue, which honored World War I and World War II veterans. In the back of The Grove stood a memorial honoring both Vietnam and Korean War Vets.

Kathy Wersinger, administrative assistant to Tasco, headed the celebration. “I think it is important to thank out veterans,” she said. “The only services I know of are downtown, and so this was a good way to bring people in the community together.” continue reading »