Friends in the City


Friends in the City Newsletter


December, 2013

BEHIND THE SCENES AT STARGAZERS 

FitC Goes to a Local Winery

Did you ever taste a Petit Verdot wine grape? Do you know the difference between primary and secondary fermentation? Did you know what passive solar power is and how someone who has it can sell electricity to PECO? Twenty-one FitC members and guests journeyed to the Stargazers Vineyard and Winery on September 12, arriving by van and car, and learned about all these things-and more. Owner of the business with her husband John, Alice Weygandt was our "tour guide" for most of the day. Now in their 70's, they have been planting their vines since 1979 and making wine since 1996.

 

In a lovely hillside setting in southern Chester County overlooking the Brandywine Creek, Alice first showed us a planting of small dark purple berry clusters and allowed our curiosity to be satisfied: "Take one and taste it," she urged. A burst of juice and flavor! Yet not ready to harvest for a few weeks. More ripeness, more sun, more warmth, more gathering of flavor from the soil were needed.

 

09-2013 program
Winery owner Alice Weygandt explains the grafting and growing of grape vines

 

We saw and learned about many other elements that are part of a small-scale sustainable enterprise combining viticulture and commercial wine-making. Dane Wells, one of our group, quickly drew parallels with beer-making processes. To read more about this excursion, Click Here. 

BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE WALNUT STREET THEATER
205 Years Old (it, not us)

We were backstage, onstage, in the "green room" and the donors' lounge and all around the Walnut Street Theater for our tour in October. Our very knowledgeable and passionate guide told us engaging stories about the theater's history and current operations. Originally an indoor arena for horse shows, it evolved to full theatrical productions and now has over 1000 seats with unobstructed views. The Walnut's stage often featured Edwin Forrest, the most celebrated actor of the 19th century, and later a string of other notables including Henry Fonda, Helen Hayes, Ellen Terry, the Marx Brothers, George M. Cohan, and Will Rogers. Audiences could be similarly distinguished: in 1812, Richard Sheridan's The Rivals played to an audience which included President Thomas Jefferson and the Marquis de Lafayette.

 

The Walnut is a producing theater, which means they make their own sets and costumes, and they block and produce each show. The stage floor is rebuilt for each production, and set pieces are assembled, disassembled, and recycled.

 

Among other interesting sights were a series of thick hemp ropes weighted by heavy sandbags to control the movement of sets and curtains. Why use sand? Because if the bag springs a leak it will just drizzle the contents, which can easily be duct-taped, but using hundred-pound weights creates danger for actors and crew below.

 

The participants in this FitC tour are certain that others would enjoy it and urge a repeat performance.

FITC GOES BEHIND THE SCENES AT THE HEDGEROW IN MEDIA
Gunshots will be heard in this production...and they spell it THEATRE

One of the many liberties taken by the director of the Hedgerow Theatre production of Shakespeare's Macbeth was to replace swords with pistols and to advance the time period of the play's events by perhaps 500 years (whereas the Bard himself only advanced it by 100 or so). FitC day-trippers saw the three weird sisters costumed in capes and WWI vintage gasmasks and heard them speak their lines in hoarse and croaky tones, as eerie a trio as any played on the Elizabethan stage. Seventeen of us saw this Macbeth even attempt suicide (unsuccessfully) before finally being defeated and brought to ruin.

 

If we knew anything about the original play, we were prepared for ultimate justice to be administered. But we went along with the modernization and appreciated the efforts of the cast to pull it off. Did we accept the illusion created by this pistol-packing production? At our post-performance catered lunch, we chatted and uniformly said "Yes."

 

We travelled SEPTA regional rail in late October 2013 to get to this performance. Before the play began, we were treated to a private presentation by the company's artistic director (also an actress), Penelope Reed, who offered historical perspectives on the theatre and its founders. We learned that the building, a restored old mill, had been part of the Underground Railroad for slaves escaping over the Mason-Dixon Line, had Quaker linkages, and produced different items -- including grain, wood planks, and snuff-over its working life. In 1861 Reed's great-grandfather purchased the mill and thereby started a family dynasty of actors -- she's the 4th generation, and her son, who played Macbeth that afternoon, became the 5th.

 

Hedgerow was the first repertory acting company in the US. It was a major component of an artistic-cultural colony that included renowned furniture-maker Wharton Esherick, who designed sets for it. (Ten of us had our lunches seated around a remarkable Esherick table, and some ate from chairs he produced to pay for his daughter's acting lessons.)

 

Actor playing "Banquo" explains his role.

 

Joining us in the audience later were about 100 gifted and talented high school students from the Upper Darby School District who were not yet familiar with the play (it was to be introduced to them in two weeks). We wondered how they would receive it. They listened and watched politely, but possibly because they hadn't yet read it they asked no questions afterward -- of course, some of us front-row seniors did.

GRAVES PLAIN, GRAVES MAGNIFICENT, ALL TELLING STORIES
FitC Tours Laurel Hill Cemetery

People who use Kelly Drive, formerly the East River Drive, can't avoid seeing some mausoleums looking out over the Schuylkill River. One Saturday in early November, FitC did not pass by quickly but actually explored the riches of Laurel Hill Cemetery. Thirteen of us spent time wandering the grave markers and memorials with our charming and witty guide Michael Brooks, a retired professor of 19th century literature and culture. Some graves stood out: one for all the dead children in one family in days when child mortality was high, another for the slave-owning Philadelphian killed by a man he owned (precipitating the city's first race riot).

The cemetery overlooking the Schuylkill River.

 

Brooks regaled us with stories of internments, from the park-like cemetery's founding by Quakers and their early modest commemorations of the dead (no monuments at all) to Millionaires' Row, an area of mausoleums and obelisks for wealthy Philadelphians seeming to vie with each other even after death in extravagance and Victorian showiness. We lingered over memorials to two Spiritualists, people who believed that their spirits were not dead, only their bodies. We plan to return to Laurel Hill, with its grand view of the Schuylkill, for one of its many other tours.

Child mortality being high, this is a grave for several youngsters in a family.
MERCER MUSEUM AND FONT HILL CASTLE
Two Centuries Ago

On a bright, blustery fall day eight FitC adventurers trained out to Doylestown to visit the Mercer Museum and Font Hill Castle. The leisurely ride gave us an opportunity for extended chats, and the time passed quickly. We explored the Mercer Museum's collection of equipment and implements from the pre-industrial era. Where else can you see stage coaches, cider presses, hat forms, coal stoves, surgical equipment, butter churns and a vampire kit? We had a brief orientation with a docent and then wandered up and down to view the collection.

 

Lunch was not in an 18th century kitchen but in the Elkins Gallery featuring 19th and 20th century Bucks County paintings.

 

We then trekked to Font Hill Castle for a guided tour. The building almost defies description. It was intended to be a showplace for the famed Moravian tiles Mercer produced during the American Arts & Crafts Movement. Designed by Mercer himself, the building is an eclectic mix of medieval, Gothic, and Byzantine architecture, and is made entirely of poured reinforced concrete. Tiles are everywhere on the walls, floor, and ceilings. Even some furniture is concrete with tiles. We went up and down the winding staircases, taking it all in. 

 

FitC at Fonthill in Doylestown 

Train schedules did not permit us to visit the nearby Tile Works, so that gives us an excuse to return again to this earlier era of American creative art, artifact, and architecture.

A SPECIAL FITC EFFORT AT
WILLIAM PENN HOUSE
by George Stern, Program Coordinator

It's been my pleasure to serve as staff person for Friends in the City at William Penn House (FitC@WPH), which started early in 2012 with a grant from the Friends Foundation for the Aging. We hoped to create a model for building community among older residents of high-rises so that they could more intentionally support one another as they age in their homes.

 

Fortunately, several already active FitC members living there helped set up meetings with Residents Council leaders, WPH Board members, and management to explain our goals. While ideally they would have seen our work as a boon to residents and even a recruiting tool for new move-ins, house rules meant that they could not officially endorse the work of an "outside" group. Still, their tacit approval was important.

 

WPH's existing FitC members invited friends and neighbors to a series of parlor meetings to introduce them both to FitC and to the idea of building intentional community at WPH. From among those who expressed the most interest we established a Steering Committee, intended as a planning group and a base on which to build sustainability. Residents Sharon and Mike Tomalin agreed to head the Committee and ensure that the project would move forward.

 

Since the goal was to create "community" within WPH, it was not sufficient simply to invite people to general FitC programs. Moreover, many residents lacked the mobility to participate in much of what FitC has to offer. To gain visibility, we scheduled in-house programs and invited all residents. To read more about FitC at William Penn House, Click Here.

IN HAIRNETS ON THE ASSEMBLY LINE AT MANNA  
FitC's First Group Volunteer Activity

On November 11, 12 FitC members worked at MANNA for 3 hours helping to prepare meals in their kitchen at 23rd and Ranstead. We were greeted by the volunteer coordinator, shown to secure lockers for our belongings, and given a short orientation in the volunteer snack room.

 

Then we donned hairnets and aprons, washed hands, and put on gloves. Our first task was working on an assembly line. We portioned out servings of turkey shepherd's pie into containers, added mashed potatoes and green beans, placed the containers on an assembly line for sealing, and then labeled each dinner. In all, we packaged approximately 600 meals. The aroma of sage encouraged conversations about our mothers' Thanksgiving dinners and about Thanksgiving dinner mishaps.

 

Next we had a short break, with MANNA providing cookies, fruit, water and coffee and tea for volunteers. Our final jobs were slicing English muffins and dicing chicken.

 

We came away thoroughly impressed by the immense scope of what MANNA accomplishes with great good will and efficiency. MANNA provides three meals a day for seven days a week to our neighbors who are at nutritional risk due to life-threatening illnesses, all free of charge. Their staff is very helpful in guiding the volunteers and the kitchen is organized and equipped well.

 

We loved our visit and want to return. Look for another group volunteer opportunity in January or February. Thanks are due to our group of 12 and we in turn salute all of our other FitC members who regularly volunteer with MANNA. 

FitC Working the Line at MANNA
SENIOR EXPO A FIRST FOR FTC
Thanks to our new State Representative

At the invitation of State Representative Brian Sims, FitC participated in the Senior Expo he sponsored on October 25 at the First Unitarian Church on Chestnut Street.  With some FitC members as volunteers, Bobbi Cohen staffed a table marked with two large placards of the FitC logo as dozens of seniors moved around the room to learn of programs and services of potential use to them.   Among organizations represented at the Expo were Generations OnLine, Health Partners Plans, MANNA, PA Office of Consumer Advocate, PECO, Penn's Village, Philadelphia Corporation for Aging, Senior Law Center, SEPTA, and Veterans Affairs Regional Office.  Flu shots were made available through Rite-Aid personnel.  

 

The FitC team was able to interact with many visitors to its table, to provide our brochures and notices of upcoming events, and to collect names to add to our e-mail list.  Also, FitC donated a free membership to be raffled off with other prizes donated by some of the participating organizations. Such an event was a new experience for FitC and we were well prepared.

ETHNIC EATING IN THE SKY CAFE 
by Seamus Kearney
The smiling faces of 14 FitC-Folk who went to the Sky Cafe for November's Ethnic Eating outing.  An Indonesian restaurant in an Italian neighborhood west of Broad in South Philly, the Sky Cafe proved to be delicious!!  We were graciously welcomed as we dined on Nasi Ikan Balado [spicy fish rice platter], Nasi Ayam Sambal Hijau [spicy chicken rice platter], Soto Medan [medan style coconut broth chicken soup] and Nasi Campur Ayam Goreng [rijsttafel rice platter fried chicken] among others.  The spices were mild to hot and the flavors just right.  Betty, the owner, gave us good advice and service.  The experience proved so good that we decided to return.
Indonesian dining, South Philly style.
In This Issue
FROM THE EDITOR
About This Newsletter   

The many Fall events of the FitC community have yielded an abundance of articles and photos for our Newsletter. Today's edition features several in which FitC was privileged to go "behind the scenes" in different venues. The edition also profiles several FitC members who have volunteered to serve on our editorial staff. Because we are publishing an e-newsletter, access to longer pieces is accomplished through an additional "click."

 

Additional staff are still welcome: we need writers, a travel editor, and others willing to provide and edit copy for the FitC readership. Special thanks to Joan Wells for notes on the Walnut St. Theater, and to Dane Wells for photos of FitC at the Stargazers Winery.

 

Letters to the Editor are invited if short and focused on one point; published letters will be subject to editing.

 

Best wishes for a happy holiday season and a healthy new year.  

NEWSLETTER STAFF
Ruth DeCou

Assistant Editor and Indexer Ruth DeCou earned an A.B. in history and economics from Randolph-Macon Woman's College. An interest in business led her to a 35-year career with what is now Verizon Communications, where she progressed through 12 jobs in 9 organizations until final retirement in 1997. She was the first female Telephone Installation and Repair Foreman in Pennsylvania. Ruth has lived in center city for 50 years and met her husband John when he moved to the apartment above hers. She participates in a FitC play-reading group.

 

Mignon Adams

Mignon Adams, our Health/Wellness Editor, is Professor Emeritus at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, where as a medical librarian for 20 years she taught health science students to search the Internet, evaluate websites, and find evidence-based information. She continues to teach an online course in the biomedical writing program there and serves as editor for a technology company. And she sky-dives. Mignon co-chairs FitC's Program Committee and serves on the Communications Committee. Look for her at any of our vegetarian lunches or at any program involving technology.

 

Liz Woy

Liz Woy was born and raised in Manhattan, thereby making her an authentic urbanized City Mouse. A sixth-grade teacher wrote in her autograph book: "May all your editors deal kindly with your work," and for the most part they have. She has applied her skills to public relations, marketing, promotion, fundraising and speechwriting for governments, healthcare facilities, research institutions, and museums. She particularly likes speechwriting, and excels in putting words in other people's mouths. A steadfast technophobe, she'd rather use a quill pen.

 

RECENT EVENTS
Grays Ferry Crescent Walk
Saturday, September 21, 2013

A dozen FitC walkers met on a glorious autumn morning where the Schuylkill Trail and Locust Street intersect. John Randolph, who did so much to create the Schuylkill Banks, led us across the Walnut Street Bridge and through the Penn Park next to the Schuylkill River and highway. That part of the walk is urban, noisy, exciting. We passed a tennis match, ball-playing exuberant students, trains grinding on tracks and cars racing on the highway.

 

But when we walked down the slope to the Grays Ferry Crescent, our world changed. It was quiet except for the chorus of birds and our chatter. Trees replaced buildings along the river banks. The city disappears at the Crescent.

 

Even with the drumming of a North Dakota Indian next to his teepee and people building bird houses on the dock, the Crescent was peaceful. It's easy to think about pre-industrial Philadelphia at the Crescent and to feel a part of the flow of the river and of time.

9-21-13 program
John Randolph (in visor) explaining the new leg of the Schuylkill Trail

What's Pho Lunch?

Sixteen FitC people gathered in late September at Mi Lah Vegetarian for the first of our new monthly vegetarian lunch series. Among other Asian-style delicacies we enjoyed roasted cauliflower soup, butternut squash soup, summer rolls, crispy dumplings, drunken noodles, veggie burritos, stir-fry vegetables, and vegetarian pho. It was great to get to know each other better in a relaxed, friendly setting. No chopsticks, just good eating and conversation. The restaurant is located on 16th St. between Walnut and Locust. And what is Pho (pronounced "fah") lunch? It is a delicious Vietnamese soup dish.

Mi Lah Vegetarian
Lunchers at Mi Lah

FitC Volunteers Help Jackson School Spruce Up

On Saturday, September 28 seven FitCers participated in Spruce Up Day at the Andrew Jackson School at 12th and Federal Sts. Sandy Sudofsky painted decorative Egyptian designs on the walls of the boy's bathroom, Carol Jessup cleaned out the library closet and labeled shelves, Mike Tomalin sorted books for the 100 Books Programs (he also serves as a Reading Buddy at the school), and Elke Muller, Jane Weiss, Michi Tashjian and Pam Freyd sorted boxes of books to get them ready for barcoding. Everything was done under the direction of Debby Schultz, the very energetic and organized Volunteer Coordinator. Villanova students were also at the school painting and working in the library. Everyone associated with the school is very upbeat and dedicated to providing a great learning environment for the kids. As Elke said, "This was fun and we did good work." Kudos to the seven volunteers.

 

Look for other volunteer opportunities at this school.

Sandy Sudofsky Decorating Jackson School Wall

PECO's Awesome Green Roof

On September 26, twenty-two FitC members and guests toured PECO's green roof. Even on a slightly overcast day, we enjoyed the beautiful plants and grasses and the stunning city views. What exactly is this green roof? Answer: it is a thing of beauty and a functional, effective roof-top system that reduces the heating and cooling needs of the PECO building and helps keep rainwater out of Philadelphia's aged sewer system.

 

Two Pennsylvania Horticultural Society guides gave a thorough and informative tour. They explained the construction of the green roof, the materials used, the plants, and their beneficial effect on the environment. Green roofs, we learned, retain large quantities of rainwater, reducing runoff that contributes to flooding and water pollution. This roof is planted with succulents that withstand harsh conditions and also includes an observation deck.

 

So inspiring was this trip that we convinced FitC to schedule another in late spring when the roof is in full bloom!

 

Back to ground level, we enjoyed a tasty lunch at Bistro St. Tropez across the street and had a chance to talk with other tour participants.
9-26-13 program
FitC Members Atop the Green Roof

HEALTHY AGING/WELLNESS
HUH?

"Could you repeat that, please?" Perhaps you've noticed you're asking that question often. If so, perhaps it's time to have your hearing tested. Click here for an explanation of how hearing tests are done

 

Healthy Eating 

Eating healthily is important all through our lives. It's never too late to recognize and meet nutritional needs. Learn more by clicking here

FITC MEMBERSHIP
Get the Benefit
Friends in the City (FitC) is a non-profit organization of older adults in Center City Philadelphia,  working to create a community of people who want to enjoy everything our city has to offer and who believe in giving back to institutions and organizations that work to help those in need and to make our city great. FitC programs are planned and organized by volunteers.

The annual fee to join FitC is just $60. We are happy to have guests attend our events, and we welcome those who want to sample an activity before becoming a member. FitC members receive priority notice of events that often fill up quickly. To join: Download, print and complete this form and send it with a check for $60. to FitC, P.O. Box 2002, Philadelphia, PA 19103 or visit our website www.FriendsCenterCity.org.
FITC FORUM
Did you know...

 

Would you like the address of a non-profit that accepts used computers?

 

Do you know which charities will pick up large furniture?

 

Did you know that MANNA is looking for volunteer drivers to deliver meals during the holidays?


Find out about these and lots more on the FitC Forum

QUICK LINKS
NEWSLETTER STAFF
Editor - Bob Weiss

Associate Editor - Liz Woy

Assistant Editor/Indexer - Ruth DeCou

Copy Editors - Cirel Magen, Elke Muller, Gerrie Schmidt
Friends in the City | 267-639-5257 | [email protected] | http://www.friendscentercity.org
22 S. Front Street
Philadelphia, PA 19106

Mailing Address:  P.O. Box 2002, Philadelphia, PA 19103


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