The Fallen Heroes Run (design seen here, by resident Mike Ennis) was one of many topics reviewed at the March Mayfair Civic meeting.

The cold, rain and wind kept many from attending last night’s Mayfair Civic Association, but President Joe DeFelice powered through the agenda nonetheless, keeping the meeting to a brief 40 minutes. Below are the highlights:

“Mayfair Memorial Playground is the No. 1 issue,” DeFelice said, who assured residents that progress on the playground is beginning to move quicker than it had been. With a goal of $50,000, the organization has raised $3,000 thus far, though is in the process of securing grants.

And tomorrow, DeFelice said, Beatrice Seybold, the former financial secretary of the 1950s-based Mayfair Improvement Association will sign a letter to be notarized and sent to Sen. Specter, which will reassign a $500 bond to the MIA to the Mayfair Civic Association. continue reading »

Here’s a summary of the week’s Northeast news we didn’t cover. See others here.

Community

Scientists from Dow Chemical were at Benjamin Rush High School Wednesday as part of an ongoing effort to help teachers make science more fun for students. Melissa Hogg, a ninth grade teacher at Rush, was featured in the story.

Continue reading for interesting information about the Erin Express, a 1968 murder case and more.

continue reading »

Mayfair CDC Executive Director Brian Patrick King mentions some of the politicians who've helped the organization.

UPDATE [March 9] — Flash portion added.

For Kim Wilson and her 5-year-old daughter Marian, the STARS Program housed in Mayfair’s John M. Perzel Community Center provides a support system for facing the struggles of a disability.

“When you get a diagnosis for your child, there’s a whole process you go through in coming to terms with the diagnosis,” Wilson, whose daughter has been diagnosed with mild autism, a severe articulation disorder and a sensory integration dysfunction, said. “But then you also find out that there is this larger community of families going through that same process. Part of what STARS did for us was learning that we weren’t alone in what we were going through.”

Now, STARS, a sports program for disabled children, and more than 50 other groups that call the state-of-the-art John M. Perzel Community Center home, are facing possible program cuts, increases in fees or even facility shut downs due to recent and projected state funding cuts. continue reading »

The logo for the Fallen Heroes Run, as designed by Mike Ennis. The 5K one among many topics at last night's Mayfair Civic Association meeting.

Members of the Mayfair Civic Association came together last night to update residents on pressing topics, like plans to rebuild Mayfair Memorial Playground, the Fallen Heroes Run and four recent zoning issues.

With little more than four months until the annual Fallen Heroes Run, Civic Association President Joe De Felice is pushing for funding to rebuild the playground off of Rowland Avenue at Lincoln High School, which is currently set for groundbreaking following the run. continue reading »

Updated 11/16/09 @ 10:10 a.m. with a response from Devon staff; Updated 11/16/09 @ 1:42 p.m. with a response from the Mayfair CDC

The Devon Theater announced Friday it will cancel the three remaining shows in its inaugural season due to lack of funding, according to e-mails obtained by NEast Philly.

“I, too, am shocked and utterly heartbroken to hear the news.  I was not made aware that such a huge portion of our funding was in jeopardy until very, very recently, and I did not think the solution to the funding evaporation would be so severe,” said associate artistic director Kim Reilly. “Sadly, it doesn’t have anything to do with the great work going on at The Devon on the stage and behind the scenes.” [Update]

The sudden call came a day after an energetic opening night of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in front of a near capacity crowd, but just a month after founding artistic director Michael Pickering resigned without public explanation. The “Joseph” show is not in jeopardy and will continue, Reilly said.

continue reading »

Pride for Mayfair and the Philles was in abundance at last night's Mayfair Town Watch meeting.

The still-developing Mayfair Town Watch will need members “from every age group” to be effective, the group’s president said at last night’s meeting.

Other town watch organizations “are made up of middle-aged guys,” President John Vearling told about a dozen members in the meeting room of the John M. Perzel Community Center. “We need that next generation to have our vision for town watch.” continue reading »

Mayfair Town Watch president John Vearling (center) takes suggestions from members of the newly formed group.

Though it already has an active civic, CDC and business association, Mayfair can add one more community group to its name: Mayfair Town Watch.

The group held its first official meeting last night to nominate and appoint board members, bounce around ideas and share personal experiences.

Town watch is about more than just patrolling, new president John Vearling said. In that sense, Vearling encouraged officers and members to get involved in every way they can – from telling friends, to sharing resources and making phone calls. “I’d like to see every person in this room grab two friends,” Vearling told members about how he’d like to spread the word about the newly formed organization. continue reading »

The land the Mayfair Civic Association is selling to neighbors. See more detailed plans below.

Mayfair residents got wind of some big changes coming to their neighborhood at last night’s Mayfair Civic Association meeting.

The first order of business came from Acting President Joe DeFelice, who announced that former president Scott Cummings has stepped down from his position to attend to personal issues. From there, DeFelice said, the civic association will be dissolved, all assets liquidated and all grants closed. This will all likely happen by the end of the year, he said, and then the civic association will start fresh. continue reading »

Updated: 9:37 a.m. 5/8/09

By Shannon McDonald

NEastPhilly.com and WHYY partnered last night to host a debate for the city’s three Democratic candidates for city controller, Alan Butkovitz, John Braxton and Brett Mandel. The debate was moderated by WHYY’s Chris Satullo and took place in the John Perzel Community Center, where the Mayfair CDC operates. Among the hot topics were real estate taxes, department audits and the day-to-day duties of Philadelphia’s city controller. WHYY has audio and video clips from the debate, courtesy of Alan Tu.

Tension was high at last night’s debate for the three Democratic candidates for city controller. Incumbent Alan Butkovitz joined his opponents Brett Mandel and John Braxton at a table in the front of the community room at the John Perzel Community Center in Mayfair, where insults flew back and forth and compliments were few.

On more than one occasion, moderator Chris Satullo had to reign the three men in, at one point commenting that the atmosphere had “gone from zero to nasty.”

A common theme of the night seemed to be Braxton’s and Mandel’s questioning Butkovitz on annual audits, the focus of previous debates between the men. Mayor Michael Nutter’s endorsement of incumbent Butkovitz also came up multiple times.

The two challengers took several shots at Butkovitz regarding what they considered his neglect for a major duty of the city controller position.

continue reading »

View Larger Map
By Shannon McDonald

NEastPhilly.com and WHYY will co-host a debate for the city’s three Democratic candidates for city controller tomorrow night. Two of the candidates, incumbent Alan Butkovitz and one of his opponents, Brett Mandel, have ties to the Northeast.

The city controller oversees Philadelphia’s finances, so this year’s election is especially important, and everyone from the NEast should take interest, since it’s fairly rare for two candidates for a major public office to be from the Northeast.

The debate will take place at 7 p.m. in the community room of the John Perzel Community Center, home of the Mayfair CDC. Come early, as seating is limited. If you cannot make the debate, e-mail us your questions for the candiates by noon tomorrow, and they will submitted along with audience questions during the debate.