*******MOUNT AIRY BLISS******* OUR BASTION OF LIBERAL LEFTISTS: October 2007

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Halloween in Mount Airy - The Big Event

Halloween is HUGE for Mount Airy. We know just how to treat our children (and adults) to a spooktacular evening of haunts.

For several years, Henry Elementary School and Weavers Way Co-op in Mt Airy have hosted the Halloween Costume Flashlight Parade for Mt Airy residents. This event attracts hundreds of children and adults for a short parade, followed by world-class trick-or-treating along nearby streets!

This event is so successful because the local residents really get into it. Get ready to be scared! It won't be easy to score candy. Only the brave will fill their bags. You may need to walk paths to homes staged with black lighting, flying ghosts, hanging men, screaming witches, glowing jack-o-lanterns, fortune tellers, howling dogs and more. You'll see it all - block after block - haunt after haunt!

The parade begins at 6:30 in front of the Weaver's Way Co-Op.
Trick or treating to immediately follow.
Dress is: Horrid, or funny , or cute, or political, or elegant....or....

Check back tomorrow for photos of the event - if you dare!

About Mount Airy

Mount Airy is a neighborhood in the very Northwest corner of Philadelphia. We are a part of the city, yet our community is expansive with green open space and tree lined streets.

We are bordered to the North by Chestnut Hill (boundary at Cresheim Valley Drive) and to the South by Germantown (boundary at Johnson Street), to the East by Cedarbrook (boundary at Stenton Ave) and to the West by Manayunk/Roxborough (boundary at the Wissahickon and Forbidden Drive (Valley Green).

You may have seen us spotlighted in Oprah's O Magazine and in US News and World Report for our racial harmony and balanced integration. As a result of many years of racial harmony, we are a community rich with mixed marriages and mixed race people. We embrace our Gay and Lesbian neighbors - our African American neighbors - our Jewish neighbors - our mixed race-neighbors, our Christian neighbors....on and on.

If you're not getting the picture clearly, here it is: we are a tightly-knit community of people that the KKK would love to hate. What makes us even more intimidating is that we're educated, talented and conscious of our community and our place in the world - that makes us powerful - and makes Mount Airy a "dream" community for those of us who share the values nurtured here.

If you're not feeling comfortable with this, Mt Airy isn't the place for you. This isn't the kind of place where you can "pretend".

Philadelphia has been called the "City of Neighborhoods", each one being very unique. Mt Airy, as a neighborhood, is best known for it's racial harmony and well-educated residents (hence: the label "PhD Ghetto" given to Mt Airy), tree-lined streets, historic homes and landmarks, eclectic boutiques and restaurants (especially those along Germantown Avenue), resident pride and engagement and The Wissahickon (with more than 50 miles of trails and 1,800 acres).

It's "crunchy" here. So crunchy you could break a tooth! Think Birkenstocks meet Volvo Wagons. Personally, I have declared the Subaru Outback wagon to be the unofficial Mt Airy mobile. Newcomers have been overheard exclaiming "I've died and gone to Berkeley!"

The neighborhood played a role in the abolition movement. The first protest against slavery occurred here in 1688 and the Johnson House, a historic Underground Railroad site, is located here.

Because Mt. Airy is one of the few integrated communities in the United States, it has been the subject of academic research and numerous newspaper and magazine articles. Long-time Mt. Airy Neighbors Board member Pat Henning compiled an extensive bibliography on Mt. Airy. Pat died in June, 2005: see an appreciation of her contributions to the community.

Mt Airy's residents are very artistic and expressive. The Sedgwick Cultural Center, in the heart of Mt Airy, hosts an annual quilt exhibition.

The Mount Airy Learning Tree (MALT) is one of the most successful and long-running adult education programs in Philadelphia. MALT offers more than 200 courses per session and draws upon a local talent pool for instruction on everything from gourmet cooking to becoming a pilot.

But this blog isn't just about the things we can read in history books or newspapers about Mt Airy. This is about real LIFE in Mt Airy. This is about raising children here - and having your 3 year old come home to tell you that her friend, Maddy, has 2 moms and she thinks that's so cool, or the weeks that the pig mobile spent in Mt Airy, and the feeling of winning a court battle against a malt-liquor pusher disguised as a corner deli, or celebrating the new arrival of the beautiful new baby just adopted by parents at the preschool (2 white dads with an African American baby), the feeling of safety that you, as a woman, can walk the streets for exercise, alone in the evenings, the feeling of pride in that we have our own bank, fitness center, cultural arts center, food co-op, co-op schools, book store, dedication to shopping "locally" (small, locally owned businesses are consciously supported here), etc.

To be continued (this is a work in progress)

MOUNT AIRY BLISS OUR BASTION OF LIBERAL LEFTISTS

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Halloween in Mount Airy - The Big Event

About Mount Airy

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