MAYOR NUTTER ANNOUNCES FIRST ANNUAL MAYOR’S AWARD FOR DISTINGUISHED NATIONAL SERVICE

Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter announced the first annual Mayor’s Award for Distinguished National Service to recognize the outstanding contributions of a current AmeriCorps member, a current Senior Corps member and a National Service alumnus living in Philadelphia.

“National service is vital to the success of our city,” said Mayor Nutter. “AmeriCorps and Senior Corps members provide a cost-effective resource for stemming the drop-out crisis, engaging at-risk youth, enhancing environmental sustainability, catalyzing community revitalization, and much more.  Further, the significant contributions of National Service alumni are felt across our great city as AmeriCorps and Senior Corps members transition into important roles in their communities and the workplace.  Together, they are essential to what makes Philadelphia great.  I am proud to establish an award that will recognize the critical contributions of these important individuals for years to come.”

Each of the three award winners will receive four free tickets to a Phillies game in the Mayor’s Box and will have their names engraved on a plaque to be placed in or around City Hall.  The top four finalists in each category will be invited to join the winners at a Professional Networking Luncheon in May, sponsored by Comcast and hosted by Richard Negrin, Deputy Mayor of Administration and Coordination, and Managing Director of the City of Philadelphia.

“AmeriCorps and Senior Corps members make an intensive commitment to service, and our cities and our nation are much better off because of their dedication and sacrifice,” said Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service.  “I salute Mayor Nutter for creating this new award to recognize the contributions of outstanding service leaders.  We hope this award will inspire others to follow their own path of service.”

Nominations will be accepted until Friday, March 15, 2013 and the winners will be announced on Tuesday, April 9, 2013 during an awards ceremony at City Hall to mark the first annual Mayors Day of Recognition for National Service.  Anyone may submit one or more nominations, including current and former national service members, program staff, board members and the general public.  Self-nominations will also be accepted.  A committee of the Mayor’s Executive Team will identify the top nominees in each category and present them to the Mayor for final selection. 

Further information, including the nomination form, is available at www.SERVEPhiladelphia.com. In addition, a paper nomination can be picked up and submitted to the Mayor’s Office of Civic Engagement and Volunteer Service, Room 112 of City Hall.

Former School District of Philadelphia Superintendent Arlene Ackerman dead at 66

Former School District of Philadelphia Superintendent Arlene Ackerman died today of pancreatic cancer. She was 66 years old.

Today, Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter made the following statement on Ackerman's passing:

“Arlene Ackerman was a truly committed educator who demonstrated a profound passion for students and in particular the most disadvantaged students in our city. Through her leadership, Philadelphia took on the difficult, long-neglected task of turning around low-performing schools. Today, thousands of Philadelphia students are getting a better education thanks to her vision and advocacy. Her educational legacy will live on for many years through the initiatives that she championed. Our prayers are with her family and friends.”

If you can recall any innovations she made to help Philly kids receive a quality education in a building that wasn't falling apart in a safe environment, you're better than most Philadelphians, Mayor Nutter.

What I remember is Ackerman was fired in 2011 and when she was let go, she collected a buyout of close to 1-million dollars.

Then, she applied for unemployment.

I also seem to remember that she used tax dollars to run a school district communications department that was completely devoted to building and protecting her image as some kind of beloved leader with insight and  knowledge. She had this communications team organize rallies in her favor...even going so far as to make up signs for "supporters" to bob up and down at these rallies.

Now, while I'm sorry to hear of anybody's death, especially from such a painful disease as pancreatic cancer, I'm not going to re-write history. Mayor Nutter has to be respectful, but the rest of us don't have to play nice.

"...demonstrated a profound passion for students and in particular the most disadvantaged students in our city." Really? How does taking a giant buyout for incompetence and then applying to take more money that could be used helping those disadvantaged students profoundly passionate?

Cole & Heidi Hamels Named Philadelphia Sports Writers Association Humanitarians of the Year

Photo provided by the Hamels Foundation

Twenty-four inches long by six inches wide. That’s the length and width of the rubber on a major league pitchers’ mound. And from this small space, Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels can do great things. With his left foot pushing off that small rectangle during his delivery, he can be the Most Valuable Player of the 2008 World Series, baffling the lineup of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.  Or he can be the shining gem of this past, otherwise dismal, Phillies season, winning a career high 17 games and striking out 216 batters.

But the great things Hamels does from this tiny space have an impact felt far beyond the sixty feet, six inches—the distance from the rubber to home plate—where his foes face him. The impact doesn’t end there with the thump his fastball makes in a catcher’s mitt. It reaches the schools of Philadelphia and Malawi, Africa and the playgrounds of Turkmenistan and beyond.

Hamels, along with his wife, Heidi, have used the notoriety and money that have come from his pitching success to start the Hamels Foundation, a charity devoted to enriching the lives of children and giving them the tools to achieve their goals.

And for this, the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association (PSWA)—the oldest organization of its kind in the United States, and of which I am a member—have named the Hamels their 2013 Humanitarians of the Year. 

The Hamels will be recognized at the PSWA 109^th Annual Awards Dinner January 28 at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.

According to Hamels Foundation Director of Operations, GN Kang, the Hamels Foundation, created in 2008, has donated over $660,000 to over 20 Philadelphia public schools. (You may have heard how the School District of Philadelphia has recently proposed closing three schools that have received over $400,000 worth of playground and library equipment donated by the Hamels Foundation.) They will also have donated-- by the end of this year-- over 1.8 million dollars to improve education worldwide, including the building of a school in Malawi, Africa, a country where HIV/AIDS have left a million children orphaned an living in extreme poverty. The school is expected to be finished in 2015. 

Along with tending to the education of children worldwide, the Hamels Foundation is also devoted to helping children…well…enjoy childhood. In Turkmenistan (formerly part of the Soviet Union) the Hamels Foundation has donated to a Peace Corps volunteer who had written to them enough equipment and uniforms for two whole youth baseball teams for both boys and girls.

Those of us who have been fortunate enough to attend decent schools and live healthy lives can only imagine the good the Hamels and the Hamels Foundation are doing for the tiny minds and hearts of schoolchildren everywhere they have touched.

But it shouldn’t be hard to imagine that the good is coming from Cole Hamels and his team. After all, he’s used to doing great things in small places.

*To learn more about the Hamels Foundation, visit TheHamelsFoundation.org. To learn more about the 109^th Annual Philadelphia Sports Writers Association Dinner January 28-including a list of this year’s award winners and ticket information (tix are $95.00), visit PSWADinner.com.

* Here's a list of athletes/sports people who will be there:

Mike Trout Los Angeles Angels centerfielder

Larry Bowa former Phillis shortstop and manager

Todd Herremans Eagles offensive lineman

Carli Llyod Women's US Olympic Soccer team

Heather Mitts Women's U.S. Olympic Soccer team

Charlie Manuel  Phillies Manager

Jimmy Rollins Phillies Shortstop

Speedy Morris college/high school basketball coaching legend

Danny Garcia Boxing champ

Ruben Amaro Jr. GM of the Phillies

Tommy Green  Former Phillie

Elena Delle Donne University of Delaware basketball

Keenan Reynolds Annapolis (Navy) quarterback MVP of Army/Navy game
Ed Snider Chairman of Comcast Spectacor which owns the Flyers

Independence Seaport Museum Hosts 3rd Annual Lighted Boat Parade

It's nice to have written again.

The last time I covered a story was back in April of this year. The biggest factor for the hiatus was being around more to help my wife as we expected our first baby. This included, among other things, turning her office into a nursery.

Well, the baby, a boy, was born December 2. 

By Saturday, December 15, I had my press credentials dangling from my neck and a Red Sox diaper bag dangling from the stroller parked next to me as I covered the Independence Seaport Museum's 3rd Annual Lighted Boat Parade. Of course, my wife was there as well.

You can see the story, which ran in the Weekly Press here.

Below is a slideshow featuring pictures by Ramone Purcell and Angela Hess, courtesy of the Independence Seaport Museum.

As a boater (even the baby's nursery is nautical themed) and someone who loves history, I love the Independence Seaport Museum. Not only have I covered various exhibitions and events there, such as the exhibition on the history of mariners and their tattoos (which also gave people the chance to get real tattoos on the Spanish American War-era Olympia) and the antique wooden boat show they hosted,  but I've also been to the museum as a ticket-buying visitor with my wife, with my father when he's visited from out-of-town, and whenever I can find a reason to. I just wish they'd fix the interactive display where visitors are given the chance to use a tiny crane to lift cargo off a model ship. It has NEVER worked in all my visits to the museum.

I'm hoping that the boat parade--although a lot of fun this year--will be even bigger next year with local, private boaters (not just working vessels like tug boats) will take advantage of the opportunity to participate. These lighted boat parades are huge all over the country and Philly--with all the marinas along the Delaware--should become one of the biggest parades on the east coast.

Thinking and Acting Globally

You may remember a while back when I wrote about AJ Nanayakkara and his wife Kelly Fisher who founded Global Abilities to help those with disabilities in developing countries. (you can read it here) Well, the idea was picked up by Life In Action, a national magazine put out by the National Spinal Cord Injury Association, and I was asked to write a new piece on the subject.

That piece was published in the April edition. Read it here.

You'll be happy to know AJ has already been able to build a few tuk-tuks to help those with disabilities in Sri Lanka get around.

Nicole Johnson Co-Chairs Young Friends Winter Gala; Wants to Add More Color to Membership Palette

The Young Friends of the Philadelphia Museum of Art held their annual Winter Gala—a fundraiser for education/community programs and art acquisition—this past Saturday night. Over 400 guests, dressed to the nines, drank and danced in the Great Hall of the renowned art museum, and took advantage of the opportunity to see the Van Gogh Up Close exhibit in a more intimate setting.

Gala Co-Chair Nicole Johnson. Photo: A.N. Torres

Even amongst all these revelers, it wasn't hard to find gala co-chair Nicole Johnson. She’s tall, stunning, more statuesque than the actual statue of Diana that stands at the top of the Great Hall’s staircase, and she’s one of the few African Americans in attendance.

In between greeting guests arriving for the V.I.P. reception, Ms. Johnson took some time to talk with me about her involvement with the Young Friends and to share some thoughts about the prestigious organization.

KO: Nicole, first off, how did you get involved with the Young Friends?

NJ: It was by accident. I had moved away from Philadelphia a few years back for work. I had always loved the art museum, so when I came back to Philadelphia, I decided to become a regular member. When I came to sign up, they told me about the Young Friends. It sounded like a great way to reconnect and meet people in the city who liked art like I did.

Nicole Johnson. Photo: K. O'Connor

KO: Was it?

NJ: It was. Young Friends is also a great to give back to the community. One of the programs funded through tonight’s gala is bringing kids from Camden, New Jersey to the museum free of charge. We bus them over and for many it’s the first time they’ve been here. It’s really great to see the kids enjoy this space and all that’s in it.

KO: What’s the make-up of the Young Friends? Women to men, black to white, that kind of a thing.

NJ: Women to men? It’s more women than men, but we have some great men who are on the board with me. Racially, I think it’s been ok. I think there’s a little more to go in terms of integrating, but we have people with different, diverse backgrounds.

KO: You mentioned there’s a little more to go as far as diversity. What do you think is the reason the numbers aren’t quite what you’d like to see?

NJ: I don't have a really good answer. We have a lot of racially diverse people who attend Young Friends parties and other activities, but they're not becoming Young Friends members. We've talked about it,  how to bringing in more diversity. I've even worked with African American organizations in Philly to try and get some interest in what we're doing here at Young Friends, but that hasn't helped much. The Museum does a great job of being inclusive. People of all kinds come here to see the art, but something is missing. A possible explanation might be that, perhaps, people are growing up in environments where they aren't exposd to art, they don't see a lot of it and therefore never develop an interest. Maybe some people think you need to be an art expert to belong and they get intimidated. Even the building can be intimidating I suppose. You don't have to be an art expert to join. I'm not sure what the solution is, but as open a group as we are, we would definitley like to be more diverse.

KO: Maybe your program to expose kids from Camden and other places to art, somtimes for the first time, will help boost those diversity numbers down the line?

NJ: That would be wonderful, to have those trips to the museum inspire a life-long appreciation for art to the point of being actively involved in the art community!

KO: This being Black History Month, I'll ask, have there been other black chairs of the Young Friends gala or other events?

NJ: You know that’s interesting. I asked someone that same question tonight and apparently there have been others who have chaired or co-chaired the gala and other events and have served on the board. So, I’m honored to say that it has happened! I'm honored that I'm not the first one. It shows you that the Young Friends has always been for everybody.

WP: And how did you become co-chair of the Winter Gala? Is this something you volunteered for? Did you get elected?

NJ: I was asked by fellow members of the board and I was happy to do it. I enjoy planning parties and events and being involved.

KO:  Along with community outreach and education programs, the Young Friends use funds raised to acquire art for the museum. What kind of pieces are you buying?

NJ: There's a joke in the Young Friends about how we seem to always be buying silver! We buy other stuff and spread it out over all the collections. If you walk around the museum, and look at the little descriptions on the wall, you'll see pieces in all the galleries that say "made possible by the Young Friends" or something to that equivalent.

KO Last question. What is your favorite piece in the museum?

NJ: The Burning of the House of Lords and Commons by Joseph Mallord William Turner.

KO: I lied. Here's the last question. Why is it your favorite?

Burning of the House of Lords and Commons

NJ:  It's the first painting I ever felt a connection to. It was vibrant and I felt like I was right ther at the scene. It just took my breath away.

Van Gogh Up Close Opens at Philadelphia Museum of Art

On February 1, Van Gogh Up Close opened at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I attended the press preview of the show. I've attended a lot of them over the years, and I knew this one was special. There must've been 70 or so reporters taking in the talents of Vincent van Gogh.

I was there for the Weekly Press, but they've been unable to publish the story. It's been pushed back twice. I'm thinking space and budget issues.

So, the story is here. The whole story.

Check out the video as well, for a quick "tour" of some of the beauty to be enjoyed.

Want To Escape A Colorless Philly Winter? Van Gogh to the Philadelphia Museum of Art Immediately

Despite the unseasonably warm temperatures we’ve been experiencing here in Philly, it is still winter. Yes, the sun has been shining more than usual, but it’s shining on a city void of color. The Schuylkill doesn’t have a speck of blue in it. The Trees in Rittenhouse Square are naked and the grass is brown and lifeless. We feel as grey as the concrete we trudge on.

But there’s an easy way to change your spirits and reacquaint your eyes to color.

On Wednesday, February 1 the doors opened to Van Gogh Up Close, a major exhibit organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the National Gallery of Canada (the only two places where the exhibit will be in North America) that concentrates on Vincent van Gogh's work with landscapes, still lifes and flowers, the majority of which were painted between 1886 and 1890 in Paris, Arles, Saint-Remy and Auvers, France.

We’re talking over 40 paintings by one of the world’s greatest artists created in the most beautiful city on the planet and the rolling, expansive French countryside. It’s a combination guaranteed to make you feel better, folks.

I was fortunate enough to attend the Press Preview of the new exhibit January 27. It was a windy, rainy day and the dreariness I felt walking into the Philadelphia Museum of Art went away much quicker than the dampness in my clothes once I entered the gallery.

Right away, you’re greeted by Sunflowers (1888 or 1889) and the yellow of the petals—and the peculiar red center of just one sunflower—against a pale blue background set a tone of warmth and relaxation that is carried though the other paintings of flowers in the room.

Shortly after, you come across Outskirts of Paris: Road With Peasant Shouldering a Spade (1887).  The peasant walks down the middle of a dirt road with his yellow hat cocked to the side, flanked by green grass speckled with wildflowers, a row of green trees, and picket fencing as he heads away from the town in the background to more rural locales. The explanation that accompanies the painting talks about van Gogh’s expertise with perspective and how he can create a strong sense of depth in his paintings. That’s true, and evident to even someone like me who is certainly no aficionado, and the art can be appreciated for its technique. But what made this painting my favorite in the whole exhibit was that I found myself in it. The picket fence along the road angles off in the right foreground and I felt like I was taking in the warmth of the sun, the wind slightly bending the trees and the casualness of the peasant’s stroll and all the colors as a lazy guy leaning against the picket fence.

And that’s just the experience of two paintings in the exhibit. Multiply these feeling of happiness…or let’s just call it Spring…by another 44 paintings.

Sound too good to be true?

See for yourself.

Then tell me that when you look at Vineyards at Auvers (1890) you don’t find yourself wondering if  you can get some fresh goat cheese from one of the little white cottages at the bottom of the hill, or from someplace behind you in the village…

…before remembering that someplace behind you is a gallery hall and your winter coat, not a bundle with wines and baguettes, is clutched in your hand.


*Van Gogh Up Close will run at the Philadelphia Museum of Art till May 6, 2012 and costs $25.00. The exhibit features 46 paintings by Vincent Van Gogh and more than 30 comparative works such as Japanese woodblock prints and landscape photographs. Learn more at here.