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Spring blooms at the Philadelphia Flower Show
The weather at the Philadelphia Flower Show was sunny and warm enough to wear a light jacket as spring arrived in the city at the Philadelphia Convention Center on March 8. Thousands swarmed the expo hall with sprouts and crowns of flowers fastened to their heads and bouquets in hand.
Mothers with their mothers, infants carried by fathers, and young couples holding hands attended the spring show. “I came to the show to spend time with my mom and enjoy the beautiful flowers,” said Amy Marks, a UPenn alum and ardent flower show guest. “I would say, making the flower crowns and seeing the individual artworks that were entered for judging, especially the dresses, was my favorite part.”
Amy’s mother, Michelle Zieser, much like many of the other guests, is an avid gardener herself, and tends to her own 18 by 20 foot garden of flowers and vegetables. She is a member of the Pottstown Area Garden Club and enjoyed seeing the lilacs, tulips and hyacinths at the Philly Flower Show.
The Philadelphia Flower Show, run by the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society, is one of the oldest horticulture shows of its kind in the world, said Ray Murphy, a gardener and Flower Show volunteer for 20 years. Roughly 250,000 people attend the show every year to enjoy exhibits, large and small. A “Horticourt” is held, where individual plants are judged in a variety of categories. Many exhibits showcased this year’s theme, Gardens of Tomorrow, with futuristic-inspired horticulture.
“I come every year with my mom and I’m not really that good at growing anything, but it’s nice to see all the small, intricate stuff that people worked on for months,” said Sam Szura, a guest at the event.
The flower show also offered educational exhibits, including Temple’s own exhibit, which won three awards this year. There are three sections in Temple’s exhibit: a community garden, a reflection pool and a hillside meadow. The garden is made of repurposed materials, including pallets and broken concrete, a moonlit pool with a mirror on the side made the reflection pool and the hillside showed “the ephemeral beauty of nature with wild landscape” and a vernal pool, said Cameron Coless, a junior art architecture major giving a tour of the exhibit.
“You get to see a lot of creativity and all of the different exhibits and I also love that the students get to be a part of it,” said Annmarie Ely, a volunteer representative for the Delaware Valley University’s Landscape Architecture Program. “It’s a really unique experience that they’re able to see their vision really come to life and see the public enjoy it.”
Rail Park hosts Lunar New Year for all ages
On a cold winter day, people from all walks of life came together at the base of Rail Park to watch Tai-Chi and dragon dances while enjoying pork and taro buns.
On Feb. 1, Friends of the Rail Park hosted a Lunar New Year Celebration at the Rail Park in Spring Garden. The Lunar New Year event has grown during the years from a couple neighbors to a large group of organizations coming together, including the Philadelphia Suns, Ballet SunMi, Crane Center Tai-Chi Team, Friends Senior Care Center Performance Team, DJ Kevin Kong and Penn Lions.
“It’s great just learning about other cultures and just seeing everybody come together for a great event,” said Daniel Jackson, a photographer for the Rail Park. “And I love it, everything from costumes to the excitement that everybody has for even on a day like today, it’s pretty cold, it’s a really great turnout.”
Rebecca Cordes Chan is the executive director of the Friends of the Rail Park and is a trained historic preservationist planner. Part of her work is to hold events like this to help lobby for the expansion of the Rail Park. Rail Park intends to convert three miles of historic railway into a park and path. Phase one opened in 2018 as a quarter mile long bridge, which is where the event was held.
“I’m Chinese, I’ve done Lunar New Year festivals my entire life,” Chan said. “So for me it’s very special to be able to share this with a very broad audience, especially in these times, Asian American History and Culture is American History and Culture. And so to me, it’s really important that we’re able to celebrate these things in public space and to invite a broad audience to enjoy it with us.”
Many of the guests come to Philadelphia from all walks of life, some who did not grow up celebrating the Lunar New Year, like local Lauren Taylor. She enjoyed the performance by the Penn Lions, ate a taro bun and bought a bouquet of flowers. She and her partner, Tom Nagelberg, heard about this event from a flyer in their neighborhood. They encouraged Philadelphia locals to explore the city’s public parks.
“For me, Lunar New Year is something that has a celebration in mind and a sense of diversity and culture that we didn’t get when I was growing up,” Taylor said. “So it’s nice to have just one more way to connect with the city. Any chance we have is awesome.”
A night of wonder and joy on 13th Street
The 1600 block of South 13th Street was filled with lights and activities on Saturday night as children and adults alike gathered for the opening night of The Miracle on South 13th Street, a month-long display of festive decorations.
Children had their faces painted and rode around the block on a miniature train. They got to meet Santa and other Christmas mascots like the Grinch and Abominable Snowman. Members of the East Passyunk neighborhood and their friends organized the annual Miracle on 13th Street event. People came with their families and pets, one even lugging along a cat in a stroller.
Each house is intricately decorated with a unique array of Christmas lights and decorations. They served hot chocolate, candy canes and other holiday snacks for the attendees. People danced to festive music, which could be heard throughout the block.
Former resident and event DJ Desiree Caldwell helped organize the event with her grandmother, who still lives on the block. She recalled what it was like when it first started. “It was just a street party, and everybody used to make food and bring food out, and it was just a neighborhood thing, and then every year it got bigger and bigger and bigger, and now it’s a national holiday,” Caldwell said.
One group of attendees came all the way from New York City for the event and waited eagerly to see the Grinch. “It’s cool to see a neighborhood come together for something like this,” said Kamri Alexander, one of the visiting attendees. Sam Linguist, another New Yorker, attends the party every year because his brother lives on the block. He loves to sit inside in the warmth of his brother’s house with hot chocolate and watch the festivities.
The people on the block used to just decorate their houses with lights for the holidays. But now the decorations have become more elaborate. Many of the houses have unique decorations like one house with a fake person hanging out the window in reference to the Christmas movie “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation.” Another resident set up a bubble machine for kids to enjoy.
The block party that once only brought neighbors together has now expanded into an iconic festive Philadelphia event, for children to sit on Santa’s lap and residents to come together to spread Christmas cheer. Alex Du, the event’s main organizer, grew up on the street and moved back to the area with his family a few years ago. “I’m just glad that it’s grown every year,” Du said. “You know we can bring some Christmas spirit to the city.”
Fall fun at the Sanctuary Farm’s Harvest Festival
On Saturday, Oct. 5, people from all across Philadelphia filled the blocks of 24th and Berks to enjoy the festivities of Sanctuary Farm’s Harvest Festival during a sunny fall afternoon. Giddy children ran to the goats as they arrived while their parents attempted to contain them. No matter their age, there was something for everyone to do at the festival.
This annual harvest festival was hosted on Sanctuary Farm’s property and included scarecrow making, face painting, free food, goats and many more activities. The festival garnered an audience of all ages from infants to senior citizens. There was a DJ and plenty of volunteers helping out at the event.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon, Sanctuary Farm serves the North West Philadelphia community with a free produce stand, which serves around 100 people each week. They also host gardening and cooking education classes for people in the community and children’s programming in the summer.
“I’ve been doing work in communities, living on the margins for years, and just kind of got frustrated with my patients not having access to what they needed to live a healthy life,” said Andrea Vettori, a nurse practitioner and founder of Sanctuary Farm. “Places to gather like this, fresh produce, education, farming, gardening, being out in nature in and of itself, is so healing.”
There were also organizations at the festival including The Food Trust, a nonprofit that focuses on helping people gain access to healthy and nutritional food. Sanctuary Farm partners with their nutrition navigator, an upcoming online map designed to help people find food education programs. All of the organizations at The Harvest Festival were connected to serving underprivileged communities.
“We’re at this specific event because it actually gives you a lot of opportunities to get healthy and to provide areas to get healthier access to foods and just to get into farming and a healthier lifestyle,” said Kelly O’Brien, an intern at the American Heart Association.
“The festival has grown out of both celebrating our harvest, but more importantly, celebrating our neighbors who have welcomed us here and have allowed us to grow here,” said Jane Seaburg, volunteer staff member for Sanctuary Farm. The inclusion of educational resources and fun activities shows the true essence of Sanctuary Farm.
The Temple News
hello dolly!
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Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
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Man vs Wild
It all begins with an idea.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.
Midori
It all begins with an idea.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
Don’t worry about sounding professional. Sound like you. There are over 1.5 billion websites out there, but your story is what’s going to separate this one from the rest. If you read the words back and don’t hear your own voice in your head, that’s a good sign you still have more work to do.
Be clear, be confident and don’t overthink it. The beauty of your story is that it’s going to continue to evolve and your site can evolve with it. Your goal should be to make it feel right for right now. Later will take care of itself. It always does.