Submissions to Out on the Town

Mayfair Civic Association president Joe DeFelice and me, Mike Scotese president of the Mayfair Business Association were asked to submit articles to Out on the Town for the Fallen Hero Run and the Mayfair May Fair.


Mayfair Fallen Heroes Run
by Joseph DeFelice

The 3rd Annual Mayfair Fallen Heroes Run will take place on May 14th, 2011 at 8:30AM at the Abraham Lincoln High School Parking lot (Ryan Ave at Sackett St) in Mayfair. The Run, which was started three years ago by the Mayfair Business and Civic Associations as the kick-off event to their Annual May Fair, was organized to honor Police and Fire killed in the line of duty.

In the late 2000s, Philadelphia felt a significant increase in the violent deaths of their men and women in Blue; the business and civic leaders of the Mayfair community (a Northeast Philadelphia Neighborhood) felt it was their duty to honor these men and women that protect them daily. The Run alternately honors either police or fire in subsequent years. The Previous two honors were Officer Gary Skerski (in the inaugural year), who was brutally murdered responding to a call in the 15th District and Firefighter John Redmond, who succumbed fighting a fire at a South Philly church. The first two years drew 150 and 280 runners respectively.

This years honoree is Sgt. Patrick McDonald, a highway patrol motorcycle cop who was killed in the line of duty in 2008. McDonald, though not from Mayfair, carried with him the strong neighborhood values that our own residents recognize from our community. The funds raised from this event will go evenly to the Hero Thrill Show, which benefits the Children of Police and Fire killed or injured in the line of duty and to the Sgt. Patrick McDonald Scholarship fund with residual going to help rebuild the Mayfair Memorial Playground which was originally laid in memory of those that served our community.

The Run is Twenty Dollars ($20) if registered online and Twenty-Five ($25) the day of the event. This year's Prime Sponsors are the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, the Firefighters Union Local 22 and Precision Mechanical plus many more sponsors from in and outside our community. For more information on the run, please visit www.mayfairbiz.com/run or find us on Facebook.

Joseph J DeFelice, Esq.
President Mayfair Civic Association


Ready or Not, It's Time for the 4th Annual Mayfair May Fair
by Scoats

The Mayfair Business Association is preparing for its 4th Annual Mayfair May Fair. The purpose of the May Fair is to get people onto Frankford Ave to have fun and to check out the businesses on our commercial corridor. The May Fair started off with the just the name Mayfair May Fair and we've been building from that for three years. Last year, with the assistance from Donny Smith in adding live music, the May Fair really started to take shape.

Here are some of the things going on this year:

- The Pretzel Factory, one several world class businesses on the Avenue, will continue to held their epic annual street fair as part the May Fair. They will feature a cheese steak pretzel eating contest (1st prize $500, runner up $250), games, prizes, pony rides, face painting, moon bounce, water ice and much more.

- There will be live music from noon to 4pm (or later) on Ryan Ave outside Pat's Music. Live performances by: Mike LeCompt, A.J. Slick, Boss Hydro, Static Lounge and Grafenberg. With acoustic sets by Mike McCullough, and T&N

- The 15th District Police Advisory Committee is once again holding their annual Community Day during the May Fair at the Cottman and Frankford Triangle.

- Numerous merchants will be holding sidewalk sales all along Frankford Ave from Harbison to Rhawn Street, and on with the 3500 block of Cottman Ave.

- Are you Sponge Boy worthy? Mayfair Shop n Bag will be giving away Dietz & Watson's Hot Dogs, Ice Tea/Lemonade, bottled water, Herr's & Utz snacks, fresh baked cookies and pastries, Phila. water ice and more. All while supplies last. There will also be music and the character Sponge Boy (not Sponge BOB) for the kids giving out balloons and posing for pictures. (11:00 am till 2:00 pm, maybe till 3:00 depending on how long supplies last)

- Frusco's Steaks will have live entertainment along with the return of the 59 Cadillac art car for the kids to chalk on.

- Bow Wow Meow Pet Mobile will be parked on the side of Prudential Prime Realty to conduct the best dressed pet contest. 3 awards to be given out.

- See-Saw Day Care invites families to a Tot Lot with lots of activities for kids. Bring your tricycles to the See-Saw Daycare parking lot at 7425 Frankford Avenue. They will have free helmets and fitting for the first 50 kids (ages 2-6) with their tricycles/bicycles (generously donated by the Brain Injury Association of Pennsylvania). They will also have educational pamphlets for parents on how to prevent and identify head injury in kids as well as many other educational materials and local resources from CHOP. After taking a spin around the parking lot, be sure to make a pit stop where the Optimists Club of Mayfair will sponsor fingerprinting for all kids.

- Stan's Health Food will be holding a Health Fair.

- We are working on setting up an Art Fair outside the Devon Theater. If you are an artist who like to participate, please contact us at scoats@greylodge.com.

- Need a breather from all that? Catch the Phillies, it's a day game, at The Grey Lodge Pub. Free hot dogs to anyone sporting Phillie's gear. Give-aways, including Yuengling shirts, and a pair of Phillies tickets! $3 Chesterfield Ale pints, $1 Pennsylvania Dutch Birch Beer pints.

- At 8pm, The Grey Lodge closes the Mayfair May Fair with Tubthumping with Tub Gin. Perform percussion on your own homemade instruments, such as tubs, to win prizes. There will probably be a real band too to fill in between contestants, and to play that eponymous song.

Where: Frankford Avenue from Rhawn Street to Harbison and the 3500 block of Cottman Ave.
When: Saturday, May 14th, 11am to 4pm. (there is no rain date)
For the most up to date details, please check http://mayfairbiz.com/

We hope you join us in strolling the Avenue for our 4th Annual Mayfair May Fair on Saturday May 14th. There will be fun for all ages.

Mike "Scoats" Scotese
President, Mayfair Business Association