The team ambushes Tony D’Aulerio in the base paths after he drives home the winning run for the Blue Sox in their extra-inning championship effort. Photo by Tom Rowan.

Eighteen active Philadelphia Police Officers are huddled together in front of the dugout at LaSalle High School’s state-of-the-art Ward Field on a humid Sunday afternoon in August. Most of the players are hunched over with their hands on their knees and listening intently as their manager below them, resting on one knee in the dirt, looks up at his team with his circular-framed eye glasses and reminds them that they were good enough to reach the championship game, and are good enough to win it.

Meet the Philadelphia Police Blue Sox: an amateur baseball team composed entirely of Philly’s finest, ranging in age from 22 to 50. The team is preparing to take the field against the Cherry Hill Phillies in the championship game of an 18-and-older, New Jersey-based, independent baseball league for working class heroes with a hobby. A league full of weekend warriors.

“Where’s Cappy?” The Team Manager Bill Stephan, celebrating his 30th year as a cop, asks while scanning the players faces. From the back of the group, along the protective fence on the dugouts rim, a wide man with a sweat-stain halo forming around the crown of his cap speaks clearly, slowly and in a low tone.

“Same things he just said,” Joe Gillespie, 42, the ace starting pitcher begins. “Make this guy throw pitches… lay off the umpires… you know, just stay in the game. The whole game. No clowning around, no talking in here about work. We have the rest of the afternoon to talk about that. We can hit this guy, we proved it last time we played them. Let’s just give it everything.”

“Nine innings, 27 outs,” added PAL officer and three-hole hitter Tony D’Aulerio, 50, clapping his hands together.

“Let’s go play hard fellas,” Timmy Stephan, 24, says with black war paint outlining his high cheekbones.

“Alright guys,” the skipper regains the group’s attention with a direct tone, then lowers it. “We dedicate this year to all the fallen cops, OK? Dedicate the playoffs to everybody, OK? We play this game for them…do it for yourselves, and do it for them…Let’s get it in.”

Both players and coaches, in their matching gray and blue uniforms, all join hands at the middle of the huddle.

“Listen to me, and repeat after me, OK?”

Repeating after the skipper, the team shouts in unison.

“SKERSKI! CASSIDY! MCDONALD! NAZARIO! LICZBINSKI! SIMPSON! PAWLOWSKI! HEROES!”

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Photo by Shaun Gallagher

The city of Philadelphia is filled with noises. From horns, screeching tires and even the occasional obscenity, it is hard to find serenity within city limits.

However, half an hour north of Center City lies Fox Chase Farm, the only working farm within city limits.  The area where Fox Chase Farm stands has been around since William Penn sold the land to Lord William Stanley of London in 1683.
Today Fox Chase Farm is more of an educational farm than what a standard farm is considered. They have events throughout the year to help promote education on varying agricultural concepts.

This is a short preview of what will be a longer feature on Fox Chase Farm, brought to you by NEast Philly and Philadelphia Neighborhoods. You can read the rest here, and stay tuned for our full feature.

Bob McCool keeps track on his laptop of how manytickets event coordinator Steve Kiszely (shirt and tie)hands out to each volunteer to sell. Photo by Tom Rowan.

A fire left Mike and Franni Prendergast homeless.

A lack of enrollment at the couples alma matter, Cardinal Dougherty High School, left Mike, the school’s alumni director for 30 years, without a job.

A night of recognition planned by Dougherty alumni and friends in reaction to these latest developments, as well as a celebration of the Prendergast family’s dedication to the Dougherty community, will hopefully become a stepping stone to restoring this family’s fortune.

Last night, the committee organizing the affair had its second meeting in the cafeteria of Torresdale’s St. Katherine of Sienna School to discuss various volunteering responsibilities and to hand out the tickets. The event will be held on October 16 at the Cardinal Dougherty cafeteria.

This story was reported by Northeast native Tom Rowan, and will be featured — along with several other stories — both on NEast Philly and Philadelphia Neighborhoods. You can read the rest here.

By Gail Austin

Just hours after she died Tanya Wilson received a Facebook message from a friend about the popular game, Farmville, which Wilson apparently played online.

That friend apparently did not know Wilson had been killed only a few hours earlier in a murder spree at the Kraft Foods factory where she worked in Northeast Philadelphia. continue reading »

Lonnie Haile helps one of his pupil's footwork. Photo by Laura D'Alfonso.

In part two of a two-part series, NEast Philly examines what goes into making an athletic association successful, and what two neighborhoods are doing to keep kids active. Read part one

With one of the more unique community athletics offerings in the Northeast, Heavy Hitta’s Boxing in Lawncrest has rapidly grown since the days in which its members sparred on the open field behind Lawncrest Recreation Center.

The swift advance speaks to not only the dedication of the club’s coaches and members, but to the neighborhood’s desire for a strong community sports representation. The club’s boxers are training vigorously for Fists Full of Dynamite, an Independence Day weekend boxing tournament to be held within Rec Center.

Founded by club president Rick Terrell in late 2009, Heavy Hitta’s Boxing moved from the field to the clubhouse just this past May. Terrell admits that the club nearly happened accidentally. continue reading »

Players assume defense positions for the Fok-Rok offense. Photo by Laura D'Alfonso.

In part one of a two-part series, NEast Philly examines what goes into making an athletic association successful, and what two neighborhoods are doing to keep kids active.

As youngsters, we rarely considered the time and effort that went into running the machine-pitch baseball teams we played for, much less the work it took getting us runts to play a remotely coherent seven innings. Looking at expansive youth athletics organizations like Fox-Rok Athletics Association, one wonders what has made this community staple tick for nearly 60 years.

Fox-Rok AA corresponding secretary Ken Warner said there is more to building a successful organization than might even come to mind for most.

“Without volunteers, we wouldn’t have an organization,” Warner admits. “You need to have community support.”

Warner remembers when he joined Fox-Rok’s board of directors as both the secretary and later webmaster. He reminds anyone new to the organization that everything they need is on the Fox-Rok website.

“They weren’t computer savvy and I happened to be at the time,” Warner recalled. “They had a lack of communication that maybe they didn’t realize. Written and oral communications is key today.”

Warner said there is even more at stake when getting a community athletics organization to operate effectively.

“You have to have a financial backing. It’s outrageous what this all costs us,” he said.

Warner says that Fox-Rok receives a good amount of its funding from local business sponsors. Some of which place their advertisements on team uniforms. While Fox-Rok girls softball coach Jon Doherty said agrees the financial aspect is important, he also thinks that there is even more that contributes to a successful community sports club. continue reading »

A Somerton Spartans player pitches a fastball during an NEPL game. Photo by Laura D'Alfonso.

Kids who play baseball and softball in the Northeast Peanut League were forced to stop for one week–not just because some of them were acting out of line–but their parents and coaches were as well. The league’s president, Frank Connelly, gave the executive order to quell the disorderly behavior.

“Prior to the beginning of May is our first half of the season. During that time, we were averaging about three ejections a night from both softball and baseball side,” said Connelly, who enforced the shut down in late May.

The reasons for ejection included the children spewing foul language toward umpires and each other, throwing equipment and arguing calls by parents and coaches to the point where it became inappropriate. continue reading »

Photo by Laura D'Alfonso

When faced with the reality of animal abuse, David Wolf, an already successful real estate investments owner, could have walked away. Instead Wolf put his passionate foot forward and took on a venture that would save thousands of greyhound’s lives.

The National Greyhound Adoption Program was established as a nonprofit organization in 1989 in Philadelphia. Wolf discovered the horrors of the greyhound racing industry just as he was about to slow down his life and spend time in Florida with his wife. After having a dinner conversation with a greyhound race organizer, it was revealed to him that the dogs’ fate was ultimately uncertain after their racing prime had ended.

According to NGAP’s official website, greyhounds are generally euthanized – if not either put up for adoption or taken in by greyhound rescue programs – using the least expensive methods possible. Because profit is the bottom line within the industry, reports of gunshot, starvation and even bludgeoning have surfaced. Wolf saw this as a call to action. continue reading »

What is it that motivates, or fails to motivate, an adolescent to learn? Both the Pennsylvania School Board and Abraham Lincoln High School, located on Ryan and Rowland avenues, opted to explore a possible answer to this question by completely restructuring the 60-year-old building.

According to project manager JCMS Inc., the renovation waves a price tag of $70 million on the recently finished construction of the new school building in September 2009.

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The Sanctuary Salon's models applaud the work of their hairstylist, Tiffany Bryant.

Hairstylists Tiffany Bryant, Lisa Woodley and Chanta Barrett put the finishing touches on their models’ makeup and hair behind a big curtain last Saturday night right before their models took the stage. Soon thereafter, the youthful participants strutted down the aisles and onto the runway at the second annual Hair Fashion Show.

The event, which was held at 2154 Bridge St. in Frankford, featured three local salons that hoped to demonstrate their professional work and creativity.

Lisa Woodley, a third-generation hairstylist and owner of North Philadelphia’s LSW Hair Designs, enjoyed participating in this year’s show. Woodley expected the event to have a positive impact on business.

“It’s a great opportunity for the community to come out and see a salon showcase their work,” Woodley said. “This will help us get more clients.” continue reading »