Mayfair’s goal: Do one thing a month to keep people involved

Mayfair is creating its own niche in the Northeast by implementing ideas to try to keep the community fresh. From the third annual Easter Egg Hunt to the farmers market and its Third Thursday Arts Initiative, Mayfair wants to stand out from the rest.

Held at Headquarters, 7213 Frankford Ave., the Third Thursday event is a localized version of the popular Old City First Friday arts and restaurant event.

“I want to do different stuff to keep people interested and coming out,” said Bill Becker, Headquarters owner and Arts Initiative chairman. He also wants to also showcase his students’ work. Becker just started teaching 8- to 11- year-olds in the neighborhood how to draw. The classes started two weeks ago and said he has big goals for what’s next. He plans on adding another class and wants to offer adults in the community classes as well.

Third Thursdays began in January, when about 100 people came out to mingle and buy art, neighborhood business and organizations like the Mayfair Civic Association and Mayfair Business Association pitched in.

“We are trying to do one thing a month to keep people involved and interested in the neighborhood to show we have good things going on here,” MCA President Joe DeFelice said.

That includes help from the office Pa. Rep. Kevin Boyle, D-172nd, which has held movie nights, senior fairs and shredder events in the neighborhood. Those three events alone drew more than 2,000 people, according to Boyle’s Chief of Staff Seth Kaplan.

“We continue to make this neighborhood stronger day by day,” Kaplan said.

Following the Easter Egg Hunt and official launch of the farmers market, Mayfair has a number of other events on the horizon, including its annual Fallen Heroes Walk/Run and May Fair.

Tiffany Goforth is a student reporting for Philadelphia Neighborhoods, the publication of Temple University’s Multimedia Urban Reporting Lab.

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