HughE Dillon: Tiger Woods at Bala Golf Club

If April showers bring May flowers, then June ushers in the garden parties, and this week I will be showcasing them—from Washington Square to Chestnut Hill and in between. The Friends of Schuylkill River Park had a cocktail party to benefit improvements and programming in Schuylkill River Park. Eat, Drink, and be Green took place in the Schuylkill River Park (Pine and Taney streets) from 7 to 11 p.m. on June 5th under a great big tent on the basketball court. Wine was donated by Moore Brothers, beer by Flying Fish Brewery, and vodka by Drinker’s Philadelphia. Bacchus Catering provided the delicious food, and BoConcept created a comfortable lounge in the middle of the party.

Although the park has been around for decades and has had an organized board overseeing the improvements as well as creating and enforcing the rules since 1988, this is the first year they’ve held a garden party to raise funds for the park, and it was a smashing success. ABOVE: Longtime volunteer Derek Freres, Fairmount Park Executive Director Mark Focht, Friends of Schuylkill River Park President Lynne Hopper, and Michael DiBerardinis, Department of Parks and Recreation commissioner.

ABOVE: Katie Cavuto Boyle, Andrew Boyle and Amanda Frankeny. ABOVE: Alexis Ciccone, and attorneys Ted Milstein and Susan Halpern (board member of Schuylkill River Park). Ted secured the band for the night, the very popular Screaming Broccolli. Alexis was curious if I knew what the city was planning to do with the unsightly meter poles throughout the City, and it just so happens this week Brownstoner Philadelphia had a great article on it here. Also seen at the Schuylkill Park Party: Peg Connor, Jt Christensen, Jackie Snowden, Lila Cockrell,  Bruce Hopper, Jackie Snowden, Steve Slaterbeck, Dwayne Christensen and Scott Porter.

With public funding for parks at a minimum, much of the responsibility for keeping the parks healthy has fallen to park users and the friends groups that represent them. Currently the park is looking forward to building a pedestrian bridge that will link the park to the Schuylkill River Trail. In addition to installing K9 Grass in the large dog run for easy cleanup, the park intends to install a sprinkler system to rinse down the artificial grass each night. The community garden is one of my favorite spots in the city. I even had a plot there in 1994.

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A few weeks back I attended one of the opening parties for City Tap House in University City. It was also a viewing party for The Bachelorette on ABC. Craig Robinson, a Philadelphia attorney, is a contestant this season and vying for the hand of Ali Fedotowsky.

ABOVE: Jason Dills, Barri Lewis, Aly Green (Silencia PR), Bachelorette contestant Craig Robinson, and Nadine Louw. Also seen at the party: former Apprentice contestant Erin Elmore, Megan Smith, Christopher and Krista Gabello, Meagan Heaton, Dustin Kaplan, plus lots of family and friends including Robinson’s co-workers at Weinstein, Schleifer & Kupersmith P.C.

ABOVE: City Tap House co-owner Gary Cardi and South Jersey’s Helene Eksterowicz, who was a big winner on ABC’s 2002 Bachelor, along with another party guest. (Of course, Helene’s engagement to Aaron Buerge didn’t work out.) Rumor has it that Craig is in the running for next season’s Bachelor if he’s not picked by Ali.

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Last Friday the Farm to City farmers’ market set up at the The Radian at 3925 Walnut Street. It’ll be there every Friday noon-2 p.m. City Tap House co-owner Gary Cardi stopped by the Visalli Farm Stand (Route 538 in Elk Twp., N.J.) and bought a few of their items. He returned later in the day and told Kelly Visalli that every Thursday she should call him and he will put in an order for New Jersey-grown fruits and vegetables. (Gary has good taste as this is my cousins’ farm, where I spent two weeks a summer working their roadside stand and fields when I was a kid!)

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Happy Flag Day! Now what are you doing on Fourth of July? If you want to hang out with Tiger Woods, Bill Cosby, Will Smith, Patti LaBelle, some Philadelphia Eagles, the Mayor and other celebrity guests, you might want to head over to the The 2010 AT&T National Golf Tournament Soiree at the Bala Golf Club. (If you use the code word GRETA before July 1st, there’s a $200 discount.)

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Check out my personal blog PhillyChitChat.com for daily posts or follow me on Twitter @iPhillyChitChat for up to the minute info on events and who’s doing what where.