Summer is over, but the party is just beginning in Mayfair. Actually, the neighborhood has a full lineup of festivities planned to celebrate the many end-of-year holidays.
During the bi-monthly meeting of the Mayfair Civic Association on Sept. 15, President Donny Smith reported that the organization will sponsor or co-sponsor a home decorating contest for Halloween, the annual Mayfair/Holmesburg Thanksgiving Parade and another home decorating contest for Christmas.
Not to be outdone, the Mayfair Community Development Corporation, with which the civic association works closely, will co-present the annual German-American Steuben Parade this weekend on Frankford Avenue.
In October, residents are encouraged to decorate their homes in Halloween themes and enter the civic association’s annual decoration contest. Judging will begin on Oct. 23 and conclude before prizes are awarded on Oct. 30. Entries will be compiled by the civic association in the form of a map so that visitors can tour the decorated houses. For information and to nominate a home, send an email to [email protected]
The neighborhood will celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday and the arrival of Santa Claus with Mrs. Claus on Sunday, Nov. 23, with the Mayfair/Holmesburg Thanksgiving Parade. It will also take place on Frankford Avenue. Local businesses and organizations are encouraged to participate by building floats. Entries will be judged for prizes, but must not exceed 12 feet high due to the Route 66 trolley lines overhead, according to Smith. Volunteers are also needed to serve as marshals. For information, send a message to the same email address.
A few weeks after that, judging will begin for the civic association’s annual Christmas Decoration Contest. The rules are the same as the Halloween contest. Judging starts on Dec. 14 and concludes with the awarding of prizes on Dec. 21. Entrants are reminded to keep their lights turned on well into the evening, as judges will be visiting each location at unspecified times throughout the week.
In other Mayfair business:
• The Mayfair Memorial Playground at Lincoln High School will host its third annual Spook-tacular Birthday Bash to raise funding for the purchase of new playground equipment on Saturday, Oct. 25, from 10 a.m. to noon. The cost is $3 per child. The event is open to children 10 and under and their escorts. Attendees are encouraged to arrive in costume, pick a mini-pumpkin from the “playground patch,” decorate it, play Halloween games and trick-or-treat at sponsors’ tables. There will be commemorative T-shirts and baked goods for sale.
• Smith reported that efforts by several Northeast civic associations and Councilman Bobby Henon to lobby for the division of the 15th Police District have resulted in some success. Although the police department has no plans to break up the district into two, it has assigned 30 additional officers to patrol the district in response to complaints of a shortage in police coverage. Most of the new officers will be assigned to Police Service Areas 2 and 3, which include Mayfair, Wissinoming and Tacony, Smith said.
• Marc Collazzo, district office manager for state Rep. John Taylor, reported that residents have options to combat abandoned or vacant and unmaintained properties in their neighborhoods. If a property is abandoned or vacant and has become a problem, there is a legal process for a qualified person or organizations to become conservator or administrator of the property. There are also measures that residents can take to report “bad” neighbors or tenants. Contact Taylor’s office at 215–744–2600 for information. ••
