On Friday, we had the privilege of hosting an Art Garden Party with our partners at Artology. Artology is “an art and science summer learning program with an emphasis on ecology and environmental justice [that] sparks students’ curiosity by utilizing Philadelphia’s park system as a vibrant interactive classroom.”
TTF has been partnering with Artology this summer, helping students merge science and art as they explore water through the use of different artistic media. On Friday, Artology students showcased their work at the vacant lot on the corner of Clearview Street and Washington Lane in our Awbury/Cliveden Model Neighborhood. The students created an artistic rain garden by “planting” their own abstract sculptures modeled on plants they had encountered near local waterways. During the party, students gave community members very informative and entertaining tours of their work. TTF is working on turning this space into a real rain garden, but for now, neighbors can enjoy Artology students’ amazing creative expression!
The moment we have been building up to, Clearview Street’s big Urban Energy Conservation Block Party, went off without a hitch Saturday, May 15th.
The Ogontz Ave Revitalization Corporation (OARC) supplied residents with energy saving devices for their homes, great food, upbeat music and a host of incredible opportunities form local utilities and organizations. With the beautiful weather, fun giveaways and great information, a good time was had by all.
TTF, thanks to generous donations from GoodLife bottles and Klean Kanteen was able to raffle off 30 reusable stainless steel water bottles so that residents of Clearview Street can model sustainable behaviors. TTF also installed rain barrels on a handful of homes to increase stormwater retention and raise awareness of watershed issues.
Contact OARC for more information on being Urban Energy Block:
1536 Haines Street
Philadelphia, PA 19126
Tel: (215) 549-9462
To celebrate the warm weather and herald in the spring, TTF hosted a container gardening workshop on Clearview Street. Residents worked with TTF staff to plant annual flowers and native perennial shrubs to beautify the block and manage stormwater. Here are some photos of the residents with their new plants:
Remember: In just two short weeks Clearview Street will be energy efficiency upgrades along with a huge celebration as part of OARC’s Urban Energy Conservation Program. Keep checking back for more information events and information on Clearview Street!
Arbor Day is a national celebration that encourages tree planting and care every year on the last Friday in April.
This Arbor Day TTF worked with the Roosevelt Middle School and planted over 150 seedlings on their campus! All of our wonderful helpers also took home a tree to plant at their house. Get inspired by these enthusiastic young kids and plant a tree in your neighborhood!
Be sure to check out the video below, which explains the Philadelphia Water Department’s Green City, Clean Waters plan. The plan “envisions transforming the city into an oasis of rain gardens, green roofs, treescapes, and porous pavements, which advocates say is cheaper than tunnels and makes for a more liveable, prettier city with higher property values and better community health.” Watch out for TTF Executive Director Sarah RobbGrieco, who is featured in the film!
TTF would like to give a huge THANK YOU to the amazing, motivated Model Neighborhood residents who turned out on Saturday morning for a great day of street cleaning, porch painting, and illegal dumping prevention.
We’d also like to thank the City of Philadelphia for donating supplies, Wawa and Fresh Grocer for donating food, Reverend Williams and the Chew and Belfield Neighborhood Club for their support and the Philadelphia Water Department’s Waterways Restoration Team for their time, manpower, machines and general awesomeness. With their help, we were able to remove tons of trash from the lot at the corner of Clearview and Tulpehocken Streets. In addition, Clearview Street residents came out to beautify their street by painting their porches and railings, cleaning the street and removing graffiti.
Here are some fun photos from the day:
Reverend Williams, Katie and Sarah pose with the Waterways Restoration Team
In response to the declining tree population in Germantown and a growing demand for street trees, TTF has created the Wingohocking Tree Tenders Group. The group will serve to educate residents on the benefits of trees in urban areas, help plan and implement new tree plantings, and help care for existing trees. This is an fun and exciting group of people who are focused on beautifing the Germantown neighborhood!
The Tree Tender Training is offered through the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society and includes tree biology, urban stresses on trees, tree identification, basic pruning and root care, tree planting, community organizing and access to a network of highly motivated and dedicated tree lovers.
The next training will be held on May 20th, 27th and June 3rd from 5:45pm-8:45pm at 100 N. 20th St, 19103. Sign up soon to get your certification!
To become a Tree Tender, contact:
Mindy Maslin
Pennsylvania Horticultural Society
215.988.8844 mmaslin@pennhort.org
To join the Wingohocking Tree Tenders, contact:
Ashley Schmid
Tookany/Tacony-Frankford Watershed Partnership
215.514.3952 ashley@ttfwatershed.org
Longtime TTF partner and dear friend Reverend Chester Williams was recently featured on NBC 10 in recognition of all of his hard work in the community. Watch the video below — TTF staff members Ashley and Sarah make appearances in it as well!
Check out this article about our recent Model Neighborhood Van Tour in the Germantown Chronicle. Scroll down to “Innovative Water Management Techniques in NW.”
From the article:
It’s fall. The leaves are turning. It’s a perfect time for water resource tours.
At least that’s what the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford (TTF) Watershed Partnership and the Wissahickon Environmental Center figured on Sunday October 4, when they took residents around the Awbury and Cliveden neighborhoods of the Northwest to examine the innovative work being done to clean drinking water at its source – from the rain that falls out of the sky.
. . . Partly in response to pressure from groups like TTF, states and municipalities have been adopting stricter storm water maintenance laws and the ethic of helping Mother Nature clean her water and protect her streams is slowly gaining popularity.
You can click here for more information on our Model Neighborhood Van Tour. Thanks to everyone who came out to make that day such a success!
The Model Neighborhoods program is the start of PWD’s $1.6 billion, 20-year effort to clean up its troubled combined sewer overflow system and bring it in line with federal EPA mandates by 2029. But it also represents a major foray into new territory for the city utility – managing storm water not just with pipes, but with strategically-placed greenery along streets throughout Philadelphia.
Using a grass-roots nomination process guided by local community partners, in this case the Tookany/Tacony-Frankford (TTF) Watershed Partnership, Inc., based at Awbury Arboretum, the Chew-Belfield Neighborhood Association, and the various block associations of this hilly region of the Northwest, PWD found the perfect block to begin with.
“The community picked the block, we didn’t pick the block,” said PWD Engineer Amy Leib. “But it wound up working well for us.”
