“On the 18th” Happy Hour (Take 2)

We were originally planning to have our July “On the 18th” happy hour at *smiths, but after a tip from a Philly Smithie informing us about *smiths’ sexist window chalkboards, we decided this is clearly not an establishment we want to patronize. We’re moving the party to Devil’s Alley Bar and Grill, and we hope you’ll join us! Devil’s Alley has a great selection of fresh, seasonal beers and delicious wings. Thursday happy hour specials include: $3 featured drafts, $3 wine, $4 well drinks, $5 and under appetizers, $2 Yuenglings, and $5 Sangrias.

Where: Devil’s Alley Bar and Grill1907 Chestnut St, Philadelphia, PA 19103

When: Thursday, July 18th at 5:30 PM

How to find us: look for our new table tents! (see below)

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“On the 18th” Event

Join us this coming Tuesday, June 18th for another family-friendly “On the 18th” event! This month, we’ll be meeting up at Frankford Hall, a popular beer garden in Northern Liberties.

Where: Frankford Hall1210 Frankford Avenue (just a few short blocks from the Girard subway station)

When: 5:30 PM

How to find us: look for our new table tents! (see below)

 

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“On the 18th” Event

Our “On the 18th” event for May is a family-friendly outing to Franklin Square. Join us on Saturday, May 18th at 2 pm for some outdoor fun.  Franklin Square is one of Philadelphia’s five original squares, and was recently ranked one of the top five playgrounds in the United States. Centered around its beautiful fountain, Franklin Square also features the Philadelphia Park Liberty Carousel, a miniature golf course, and the renowned SquareBurger.

Franklin Square

Race Street, between 6th & 7th St. N

(look for the blue and yellow balloons!)

2:00 pm

*No rain date: if the weather is bad, we will send out an email the morning of the event to cancel*

Board Member Elections

We have a great slate for the Smith College Club of Philadelphia Board elections, which will take place at our upcoming Annual Meeting on May 4th. Please review the list below, and keep in mind that we can take additional nominations up to and during the meeting (there is no limit to the number of directors). If you’re interested or would like to nominate another Philly Smithie, please contact us at phillysmithclub@gmail.com.

Officers: 

President: Elizabeth Borland ’97

Vice President: Kate Fox ’07

Treasurer: Lindsey Allen ’08

Directors: 

Elizabeth Balcom* ’10

Lisa Platt Carmalt ’68

Jaime Estrada* ’12

Kelly Shipman* ’04

Tara Thompson Gontkosky ’02

Carolyn Trench* ’07

Current board members not on the slate since they were elected last year (term is 2 years).

Secretary: Lindsey Benitz ’03

Directors: 

Anna Kegler ’05

Susie Kwon ’11

Revising our club by-laws

We would like to modernize our club’s by-laws! Please feel free to review the proposed updated by-laws here, which members will vote on at the Annual Meeting. This amended version includes gender neutral language and term limits for officers (two two-year terms unless there are no other candidates). For comparison, the current by-laws are available here.

We look forward to seeing you at the Annual Meeting on Saturday, May 4th. Don’t forget to RSVP by this Thursday, 4/25.

Global Distinguished Lecture featuring Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, ’02

The University of Pennsylvania’s annual Global Distinguished Lecture will feature one of Smith College’s distinguished alumnae, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, ’02. Ms. Obaid-Chinoy is an Emmy and Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker, and this event will be a screening of her award-winning film Saving Face, on April 18th at 6 PM in Penn Museum’s Harrison Auditorium (3260 South Street, Philadelphia). This powerful film examines the trials faced by female survivors of acid attacks in Pakistan and their quest for justice.

Join us for a exclusive reception with Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy prior to the screening! From 4:45-5:45 PM, Sharmeen will join the Philly Smith Club for hors d’oeuvres in the University of Pennsylvania’s Williams Hall (36th and Spruce Streets; room 816). Sharmeen will have to leave promptly for the screening, so don’t be late! Afterwards we’ll make our way to the Penn Museum for the screening together.

After the screening, there will be a Q&A session with the filmmaker, followed by a reception in Irvine Auditorium’s Café 58 (details below). The Smith College Club of Philadelphia is a co-sponsor for this event.

When: Thursday, April 18th at 4:45 pm (screening at 6 pm)
Where: Exclusive Smith College Club of Philadelphia reception in Williams Hall (36th and Spruce Streets; room 816); Screening in Penn Museum’s Harrison Auditorium (3260 South Street, Philadelphia); University of Pennsylvania reception in Irvine Auditorium’s Café 58 (at 34th and Spruce Street).
RSVP: You must RSVP for this free event at globaldistinguishedlecture.eventbrite.com

Spring Semester Finals Care Packages!

It’s that time of the year again! The Philly Smith Club is gathering to put together care packages for current students, to help keep them awake and energized during finals studying. We will be meeting in the Fairmount area of Philadelphia on Sunday, April 21st at 2PM. We hope you can join us! As an additional energy boost for the care packages, we will be including a list of songs that Philly Smithies listened during their studying and/or study break time. If you’d like to help out with the care packages, or if you have a great study song that you’d like to add on the list, please email Susie Kwon (susiebkwon@gmail.com) to RSVP and receive further information.

When: Sunday, April 21st at 2:00 PM
Where: Fairmount area (email Susie Kwon (susiebkwon@gmail.com) to RSVP and receive a further information)

An Evening with Congresswoman Niki Tsongas ’68

Join the club for an evening with Massachusetts Congresswoman Niki Tsongas ’68 at the home of her Smith classmate Susan Untereker. Niki recently visited the NYC club and it was a big hit. We are delighted that she will visit with us and share her perspectives on women in Congress and what it’s like to be a Smithie on Capitol Hill.

Mark your calendars now for this exciting event!

Date: Thursday, July 25, 2013
Time: 6:30 PM
Location: The Murano, 2101 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103
RSVP: Email phillysmithclub@gmail.com to let us know you’ll be attending.

Annual Meeting at The Philadelphia Rare Book and Manuscript Company

Join us for our annual meeting at The Philadelphia Rare Book and Manuscript Company, located at the historic Frankford Arsenal in the Bridesburg neighborhood of Northeast Philadelphia. This is truly a historical hidden gem with something for everyone – historic architecture, rare books, ancient trees, military history, and of course, Philly history. The Philadelphia Rare Book and Manuscript Company is about a 12 minute drive north from Center City, or a 15-minute train ride from 30th Street Station (see details below).

We will be holding our annual meeting in The Philadelphia Rare Book and Manuscript Company’s beautiful building, a former officers’ quarters.

Come enjoy light refreshments, and a tour of the building with a full explanation of the history of the Arsenal, which dates back to 1814. After the tour, we will conduct our short annual meeting. We’ll give you a preview of exciting Club events in-the-works, and take a moment to elect new board members. Mark your calendars!

When: Saturday, May 4th 2013, 2:30 pm – 4:30 pm. RSVP by 4/25 (details below). 

Where: The Philadelphia Rare Book and Manuscript Company, The Arsenal, Building #4, 2375 Bridge Street, Philadelphia, PA 19137

Directions:

Driving: The Philadelphia Rare Book and Manuscript Company is about a 12 minute drive north on 95 from Center City, near Exit 27 (Bridge Street) at the Betsy Ross Bridge. Easy parking (directly in front of building, free). NOTE: We’ll be entering through the Bridge Street entrance. GPS tends to fail once you get into the Arsenal, so please take a look at the directions below before departing.

GENERAL
(Bridge Street Entrance)
    • Make your best way towards 2375 Bridge Street, Philadelphia, PA 19137 
    • Turn into The Arsenal (you’ll see a sign for The Maritime Academy Charter School, Franklin Towne Charter School and for The Arsenal)
    • At the checkpoint, say you’re visiting the Philadelphia Rare Book and Manuscript Room in Building #4, for the Smith event). 
    • Turn left at the T
    • When you enter the Parade Ground oval, go halfway around it you’ll see the building, which has a porch with white rocking chairs
From I-95 — Traveling NORTH
(Bridge Street Entrance)
    • Take Exit 27 off I-95 North, staying to the right
    • Swoop right onto Tacony
    • Turn right onto Bridge Street
    • Turn left into The Arsenal (you’ll see a sign for The Maritime Academy Charter School, Franklin Towne Charter School and for The Arsenal)
    • At the checkpoint, say you’re visiting the Philadelphia Rare Book and Manuscript Room in Building #4, for the Smith event)
    • Turn left at the T
    • When you enter the Parade Ground oval, go halfway around it you’ll see the building, which has a porch with white rocking chairs
From I-95 — Traveling SOUTH
(Bridge Street Entrance)
    • Take Exit 27 off I-95 South
    • Turn left onto Bridge Street
    • After passing the light at Tacony, turn left into The Arsenal (you’ll see a sign for The Maritime Academy Charter School, Franklin Towne Charter School and for The Arsenal)
    • At the checkpoint, say you’re visiting the Philadelphia Rare Book and Manuscript Room in Building #4, for the Smith event)
    • Turn left at the T
    • When you enter the Parade Ground oval, go halfway around it you’ll see the building, which has a porch with white rocking chairs
PARKING OPTIONS
You can either pull up right in front of the building or you can pull in between the stone pillars just past it to park in an area off the street. Also, a large parking lot is available to you via a right turn just past the big building with the carriage entrance, before you make the left towards Building #4; if you choose that, you can then walk back to the building along the Parade Ground.

Public Transportation: The most direct route from Center City is by Regional Rail. Take Trenton Line train to the Bridesburg station (15-minute ride). From there, it’s only a 10-minute walk on Bridge Street to the Philadelphia Rare Book and Manuscript Company. For those taking public transportation, we will plan to meet up and travel as a group. Here’s the plan:

We will take the Trenton line train (9717). It departs Market East station at 1:40pm, departs Suburban Station at 1:45pm, and departs 30th St. Station at 1:49pm, arriving at Bridesburg, our final destination, at 2:04pm. Smithies will aim to sit in the first car of the train—meet us there or on the platform at Bridesburg! NOTE: this train only leaves once every hour

Cost: $15 for members; $18 for non-members. (Now is the perfect time to renew your membership!). Payment can be made by check made out to “Smith College Club of Philadelphia” and mailed to “Treasurer, 918 Pine Street, 2R, Philadelphia, PA 19107” or through Paypal:

RSVP: Please send in your payment by 4/25 to RSVP for the event (if you are mailing a check, please email the us at phillysmithclub@gmail.com at so we’ll know to expect it). You don’t want to miss this. Check out this book below – it’s the first book on fly fishing written by a woman!

Elizabeth Borland, ’97 Awarded Alumnae Volunteer Recognition Award

LizBorland

The President of the Smith College Club of Philadelphia, Elizabeth Borland ’97, has been awarded the 2012-2013 Alumnae Volunteer Recognition Award from Smith College.  Liz is being recognized for her extraordinary dedication to bringing Smith alumnae together here in the Philadelphia area.  Since resurrecting the once defunct Philadelphia Smith Club several years ago, Liz has worked tirelessly to unite Philadelphia area Smithies. She and the other recipients will be presented with the award by President Christ during Reunion II Weekend in May.

Join us in congratulating our fearless leader for all her hard work!

(pictured above is Liz and her family at our walk along the Wissahickon River last June).