To dine, or not to dine?
New York Times puzzlemaster brings fine dining to Mt. Airy
by LEN LEAR

Left, Bibb and warm goat cheese salad, dressed in a citrus vinaigrette. Right, Shrimp and scallop dumplings, pan-seared and served with a soy and fig sauce.

To dine or not to dine; that is the question.
Whether to suffer the heartburn and heartache
of outrageously overpriced restaurants,
Or to take arms against a sea of undercooked
fish and, by refusing to eat them,
end the pretentious ripoffs.
(With apologies to William Shakespeare)

Like me, you may be mystified and frustrated by the New York Times crossword puzzles, but it is no puzzle at all to figure out why Hamlet Bistro, which opened May 21 at 7105 Emlen St. in West Mt. Airy, is already being received by diners in Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill as warmly as a puppy in an elementary school class.

Mt. Airy’s Julia Weekes makes city more beautiful every day
by ANNE BARR
Mt. Airy resident Julia Weekes. Weekes was in Paris last month to be named a “Woman of the Earth” by the Yves Rocher Foundation in recognition of her work bringing the beauty and transformative power of gardens to distressed communities in North Philadelphia. (Photo by Anne Barr)
“I’m pretty tenacious,” says Mt. Airy resident Julia Weekes. Weekes was in Paris last month to be named a “Woman of the Earth” by the Yves Rocher Foundation in recognition of her work bringing the beauty and transformative power of gardens to distressed communities in North Philadelphia.

With the foundation’s $6,000 award, Weekes is hopeful that her mission in Philadelphia will continue to blossom, and she’s hoping other tenacious Philadelphians will catch her vision and join her crusade to “bring Eden to the inner city.”

80-year-old Mt. Airy twins to be honored at Allens Lane
by AMY MASTERMAN
“Nobody will be excluded from our neighborhood,” was what Shirley Melvin and Doris Polsky vowed when they moved to Mt. Airy from Greys Ferry in 1943. Their family had been told that they might not feel comfortable as the only Jewish family in the neighborhood, but the girls, then 19, not only enjoyed their new home, but went on to actively create a place where people from all religious and ethnic backgrounds would feel welcome.

Part of their vision included a place where everyone could come together around the arts. For their remarkable contributions to the West Mt. Airy neighborhood, including the creation of Allens Lane Art Center, the 80-year-old twins will be given the 2005 Lifetime Achievement in the Arts Award at the Community Arts Festival on Saturday, June 4, 12:45 p.m., at Allens Lane.

The sisters were also presented with the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations 2004 Human Rights Award for Community Service, and they were featured in the documentary Neighborhood Ladies by LeAnn Erickson, which had several screenings in Philadelphia throughout the year.

Swan song for great Mt. Airy ballet dancer, 42
by MICHAEL CARUSO
As I watched West Mt. Airy’s David Krensing rehearse for his performance as Tybalt in the Pennsylvania Ballet’s production of Romeo and Juliet one day last week, I found myself once again impressed by the ease with which he danced the demanding moves of John Cranko’s choreography and the intensity with which he invested his characterization, even during a rehearsal. And yet, these performances will mark Krensing’s “swan song” from the world of professional ballet dancing.

When I asked him why he was retiring, he answered, “I’m 42, for God’s sake! It’s about time.”

As hard as it is for fans of David Krensing’s like myself to accept that he’s 42 years old — which is very old for an active male ballet dancer — it’s equally difficult to believe that he’s been a member of the company for 19 years, another remarkable milestone in a world more usually characterized by abrupt changes than longevity.

Hill actor, playwright, novelist and, now, Socrates
by CLARK GROOME
Gregg Almquist, a Chestnut Hill resident, is currently starring in Outrage at the Wilma Theater through June 19.

When Gregg Almquist entered the University of Minnesota in the late 1960s, “My major was going to be theater,” he said. “I walked up to meet [my advisor], and I saw all these people prancing around in leotards and kissing one another on the navel and things like that. I thought ‘No.’ I went and changed my major to classics. “I thought I’d translate plays. But then I started acting.” And here it is 35 years later, and the Minnesota native who now lives in Chestnut Hill is still at it.

During his career he has worked for John Houseman’s Acting Company, been on Broadway opposite Judd Hirsch and Cleavon Little in the original production of I’m Not Rappaport, worked at, among others, the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, D.C., The Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles, the Denver Center Theatre, the Guthrie in Minneapolis and, last season, locally at the Act II Playhouse in Ambler.