Snapshot | John Peter Gabriel’s Spring
After a long winter, Muhlenberg College’s statue of John Peter Gabriel takes in the rewards of spring in full bloom.
Have a snapshot you’d like to submit to My West End? Send it along to AllentownWestEnd@gmail.com and we’ll post it.
On the Town | FOX 29 To Visit 19th Street!
As construction workers place the finishing touches on the West End’s 19th Street rehabilitation project, the streetscaping effort has already drawn the attention of a big-time news station: Philadelphia’s FOX 29.
This Wednesday, May 15, 2013, the station will send co-host Jennaphr Frederick to report on the development of the West End Theater District in her segment “Jenni on the Block.” Frederick will have breakfast with Mayor Ed Pawlowski at the West End Diner and then move down the block to check out the 19th Street storefronts.
The neighborhood needs your help! Come to 19th Street during the taping of the segment from 7:15 to 8:00 a.m. to show Philadelphia how awesome West Enders can be. To help, Ferrous from the IronPigs, the Phantom from the new hockey stadium, The Mule from Muhlenberg College, a 12-piece pep band, and dancers from the Steelhawks indoor football team will all be in attendance.
Bring your neighbors! Bring the family! Bring some coffee! (It’s early, we know, but it’s worth it.)
Can’t make it? Be sure to take a stroll through 19th Street soon. Check out the work they’ve done…
Benches and trees now line the sidewalks, which have also adopted attractive brick paver sections.
The 19th Street Theatre now has a unique sidewalk treatment to match its entrance.
Crosswalks across side alleys bear the West End Theater District logo.
Lampposts give the streets an old-school character.
Snapshot | St. Luke’s Half Marathon
Runners raced through Cedar Creek Park on Sunday morning during the St. Luke’s Half Marathon.
Have a snapshot you’d like to submit to My West End? Send it along to AllentownWestEnd@gmail.com and we’ll post it.
Help Out At The Great West End Clean Up!
Encouraged by the warm weather, homeowners in the West End are spring cleaning their houses and beautifying their yards. Why not then also give the neighborhood a good spring cleaning, too?
Come out! Clean up!
West End Event | Chili Cook-Off, Round 2!
Spring may be taking its sweet time heating things up in the neighborhood, but the West End Gastro Club is ready to light a fire under the West End. This coming Sunday, April 7, from noon to 5:00 p.m. at the West End Youth Center, the food-focused group will host its second annual chili cook-off.
This year’s competition will expand the menu from chili to include soup. “We are incorporating a soup contest to allow more creative expression from our contestants as well as to enhance friendly rivalry,” says West End Gastro Club co-founder Luis Loayza.
Plus, that means more variety for your totally-worth-it, eight-buck admission ticket. (Proceeds benefit the West End Youth Center.)
See you there, West End.
Event Recap | St. Patrick’s Day Parade 2013
Q: What do roller derby girls, men in tall fuzzy hats, and classic cars have in common?
A: The 2013 St. Patrick’s Day parade in Allentown
In case you missed the event (or was paying more attention to partying than you were to paying attention), here are some of the moments you may have missed—all as the parade passed through Allentown’s West End.
Bagpipers take a breather before launching into their next rousing song.
An old mode of transportation passes by a new.
The Allentown chapter of The Amateur Stuntmen of America dodge tree limbs. Or they could have been a particularly rowdy group in the union section of the parade.
This photo was snapped just moments before a member of the Lehigh Valley Rollergirls clothleslined our fearless photographer.
(Kidding, kidding)
One parade participant had trouble keeping step. Maybe he smelled the pretzel vendor?
West End News | Mayfair Relocates to Fairgrounds!
After years of holding the event at Cedar Beach Park in Allentown, Mayfair event organizers have decided to pick up and move the “Mayfair Village” to the historic Allentown Fairgrounds.
Why? The reason mainly has to do with space. “Some forms of staged art are difficult to hear outdoors,” says Arlene Daily, executive director of Mayfair, Inc. “Theater, comedy, poetry, and other performing arts will now be more enjoyable at Mayfair because we’ll have an indoor stage,” Daily says, referencing the Allentown Fairgrounds’ agricultural hall.
This year, Mayfair will take place from Friday, May 24, to Monday, May 27. For musical performers, artists, food vendors, and more information, check in with http://mayfairfestival.org/.
