This Week: February 3, 2022

Editor - Barbara Halpern

Lead Writer - Richard Vaughn

Design/Layout and Writer - Travis Oliver

Hope Springs

Yes, it’s still cold.

Yes, it’s still dark.

And yes, Covid lives.

But have you looked at the calendar lately?

It’s February.

You know what that means, don’t you?

Spring is now about six weeks away.

Six weeks – that’s nothing.

Blink of an eye.

That means, before ya know it… sunny days, warm air, baseball... all that. And, not for nothing, but Covid is beginning to look like something we can actually learn to live with.

So stay the course, friends. Don’t give in.

We’re gonna get there.

CCRA/LSNA JOINT BOARD MEETING WITH THE COMMISSIONER OF POLICE AND

THE NEW 9TH DISTRICT CAPTAIN

On Tuesday, February 8, the CCRA Board will for the first time meet jointly with the Board of the Logan Square Neighborhood Association. The occasion is to introduce to the region both Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw and new 9th District Captain Colleen Billups.

This meeting will take place at 7pm and will be held in-person for both Board members and guests at Brandywine BEX. It will also be made available for members of both organizations by Zoom. Additionally, it will be recorded and be made available on our website.

This is our first opportunity to meet Commissioner Outlaw and Captain Billups in person. Both boards have identified five topics that will be discussed for ten minutes each, with a moderator and the police. Questions from members will be submitted through chat and asked of the officers as appropriate.

Our relationship to the police is a critical part of CCRA’s mission. Engaging with them, exploring how the leadership will respond to questions of concern to our members, and understanding how we can help them do a better job are all on the table for discussion. We also value our relationship with LSNA and want to use this as the first of several opportunities to work together on questions of interest to both.

To register for the event, click here.

We look forward to a stimulating and important conversation.

CCRA News and Events

Sense in the City - An Urban Conversation

Join Hugh Taft Morales of the Philadelphia Ethical Society for the second Sense in the City discussion: EQUITY, PUBLIC SCHOOLS and DEMOCRACY. Wednesday, Feb 9, Noon to 1:30 PM. Register HERE.

Let’s brainstorm about the following challenges to our democracy:

How should we think of the public school system? Are flourishing schools for all fundamental for the future of democracy? How should we approach equity in funding, given that schools in wealthy areas often are better funded and have additional support through extra fundraising programs? What is a fair funding formula? What role do charter schools play in our public dialogue about education? How should schools be structured so that they prepare young people to be engaged citizens?

Maggie Mund

CCRA JEDI Chair

(Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion)

Are you using the Merchant Partner 'Deals and Discounts' Program?

We would like to hear from our members! Please take this very brief survey and let us know your thoughts, so that we may improve on this popular membership benefit program. Thanks much!

CCRA MERCHANT PARTNER SPOTLIGHT

CCRA’s Merchant Partner program is a true Win-Win: It provides smaller local businesses with complimentary advertising and exposure while giving CCRA members generous deals and discounts. This week we spotlight boutique-y travel agency Excursions from the Square.

Excursions from the Square Says Get Up and GO!

Not just any travel outfit, Excursions from the Square is singularly unique in that it focuses on museums, architecture, history and the performing arts. Offering trips for both groups and individuals, destinations include the New York Botanical Garden, a Hudson Valley art tour and the Berkshires. Winter will be gone soon enough; book an excursion now!

(CCRA members receive a 10% discount on a one-day trip and a $25 discount on extended trips.)

Clean, Safe and Green

A “How To” Guide to Make our Streets Safer

OK, skeptics, but there really is an action toolkit for folks like us to help Philly achieve Vision 0, an international effort to eliminate all traffic fatalities and make our streets safe and accessible for all. Thanks to the collective work of the Bicycle Coalition of Philadelphia and AARP, here’s a guide to preserve the lives of all pedestrians, joggers, cyclists, kids and drivers - some who are “mad as hell and can’t take it anymore”. Run here to make your neighborhood safer.

Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

Penn Museum Celebrates Marian Anderson

How better to celebrate the remarkable life of Marian Anderson during Black History Month but with words and song?

The Penn Museum is doing just that with “The Letters”, a dramatic reading of the love letters between Marian and her husband, architect Orpheus “King” Fisher.

All the details and ticket info can be found here.

Follow the Life of Rice - Its Journey from Africa via the South - to your Plate

If you like lowcountry food, come listen to Sisters Valerie and Alethia Erwin at the Free Library, Main Branch, at 6pm on Feb. 16, as they guide us through the trajectory that rice has taken from Africa to The South and then here to our very own city.

They will also share their writings about and personal connections to Lowcountry cuisine—all while demonstrating how to make an absolutely perfect pot of rice. Dreamin’ of Dirty Rice? Click here to learn from the best.

Hello Tiger, and Happy Lunar New Year

Join two billion people worldwide in celebrating the most important day in the Chinese calendar: The Lunar New Year.

You’ll see parades, chants, outdoor celebrations and a whole lot more, the details of which start here.

Community News and Events

Bright Lights, Big City: Neon Museum Exhibit Debuts

As if a museum dedicated to neon isn’t cool enough, the Neon Museum of Philadelphia – yes, it’s a thing – is debuting its new, limited-time-only exhibit called “Neon Currents” starting Feb. 5.

The museum itself is actually a blend of both art and history, and “Neon Currents” features contemporary neon art from eight regional artists.

More light shed on this here. Museum website here.

4,500-year-old Mystery Solved, at Rex at the Royal February 16

Join Dr. Jill Weber at Rex at the Royal on South St on Feb. 16 as she unravels the mystery of the “kunga”, an animal described between 2600 to 2200 BC but for which remains had never been found until the 21st century AD, when they were discovered in a royal cemetery in Syria.

Intriguing, no? The event is both in-person and virtual; excavate the details here.

Voting Rights Re-Write? Discuss at the Constitution Center

If you’re one of the many scratching their heads over the current voting rights debate, you could do far worse than to attend the Feb. 15 Town Hall at the Constitution Center. It’s part of the Center’s ongoing conversation about the guardrails of American democracy.

And it’s free; details here.

Free Means Free at the Barnes This Sunday

First Sundays means Free at the Barnes, so join in as the Barnes celebrates its West Philly Everyday Places Artist Partnerships. Last year the project combined local social-impact artists with neighborhood sites to create engaging interactive works.

All details here.

Shuttered on Walnut

Walnut Street has taken a hit from both Covid and the 2020 riots.

Here’s hoping enterprising entrepreneurs soon take advantage of the now-shuttered stores. For a member’s perspective, please go here.

Useful links

Merchant Partners "Deals and Discounts" Program

Would you please support our local merchants and save money too? These local merchants will provide a deal or discount to any member who shows a current CCRA membership card and personal identification.

Alimentari Restaurant at Di Bruno Bros., 1730 Chestnut St, 2nd Floor

Astral Artists - Use promo code "CCRA" to receive a $10 flat rate on all tickets to their virtual concerts.

Blue Sole Shoes, 1805 Chestnut St, (215-496-9244)

Branzino Italian BYOB, 261 S. 17th St (215-790-0103)

Di Bruno Bros., 1730 Chestnut St. (215-665-9220)

Dom's Shoe Repair, 203 S. 20th St (215-972-0098)

Excursions from the Square (215-732-8487, 215-738-4500)

Eye Candy Vision, 218 S. 20th St (215-568-3937)

Frameworks Studio and Gallery, 2103 Walnut St, (215-567-6800)

Good Karma Cafe, 331 S. 22nd St, (215-546-1479)

Liberty Pet Vets, 265 S. 20th St (888-458-8587)

Nature's Gallery Florist, 2124 Walnut St (215-563-5554)