Neighborhood focus: Delawaretown.

The bustling storefronts of "Little Wilmington."

Hello, everyone. With summer in full swing and the city council adjourning for a few weeks, I thought this might be a good time to continue a regular feature I began earlier in the year, Neighborhood Focus. In this section, I'll take a look at some of the interesting, notable parts of the Armitage Heights neighborhood that you may have yet to discover!

This next neighborhood we're going to have a look at is a personal favorite, another example of the richness of diversity in our community: Delawaretown (also known popularly as "Little Wilmington"), located on the border of Kendall Park and Armitage Heights. The neighborhood is generally defined as the area between 45th and 51st Streets, with Schofield Parkway to the north and Corwin Avenue to the south.

Delawaretown began as a hardscrabble blue-collar pocket of the neighborhood, inhabited primarily by the families of workers at the nearby Armitage Munitions Works, who set up operations in 1856. In 1901, Armitage was purchased by E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company (known generally as DuPont), who expanded the plant's output from munitions to include lacquers, cellulose chemicals and other non-explosive products. The plant became one of the most productive and innovative cogs in DuPont's empire, and beginning in 1905, huge waves of dozens upon dozens of Delawareans streamed into the neighborhood, searching to begin a new life away from their homeland. With them, they brought their customs, languages and ways of life -- early accounts of burgeoning Delawaretown are striking, like this, from a Mishipeshu Herald article on the area from 1910:

Strolling along 46th Street, one feels as if they have been transported hundreds of miles away to the Delaware River valley, with street vendors hawking what they call "tomatas," and everyone around carrying on in the puzzling dialect of the native Wilmingtonian. They dress in the native outfit of the Delawarian [sic], seemingly unaware of how odd their brown trousers, woolen coats and black shoes must seem to their non-Wilmingtonian neighbors...

One still gets that sense strolling down 46th Street on a busy weekend afternoon! You can still hear classic Delaware accents from the older shopkeepers ("wooder" for "water" -- still fascinates me!), who keep their shelves stocked with Delaware delicacies like delicious blue hen breast, peaches, crab puffs, chicken salad, carrot soup and mashed potatos -- all wrapped in DuPont cellophane, of course! The residents of Delawaretown are very proud of their unique heritage, and in fact, this small pocket of Armitage Heights has the largest population of Delawarean-Americans anywhere outside Delaware -- nearly 330. You'll often see storefront windows with pictures of noted Delawareans like George Thorogood, Pierre Samuel "Pete" du Pont IV, and Joe Biden (who, coincidentally, commands a 78% lead in Democratic primary polls in this area, as witnessed by the image to the left -- a common sight around this close-knit and politically vocal community).

And of course one can't forget the shopping! Though it's a small area, the Delawarean-American population in this pocket have managed to make their shops tax-free, much like their homeland. It's pretty easy to get a credit card, as well, since a number of major financial corporations have set up small incorporated storefront offices along 46th and 47th Streets.

This neighborhood, with it's great mix of seafood, tax-free incorporations, and phonemic æ-tensing, is a real gem. Be sure to visit for Thorogood Days in August, when the music of Delaware native George Thorogood and the Destroyers is celebrated in appropriately raucous fashion in a day-long street festival, or visit the Blue Hen, a charming tavern on Corwin Avenue at 49th Street that specializes in delicious Delaware microbrewery beers and seafood, and features live music on weekends, typically bands playing traditional Delawarean music. Listening to the music waft out into the streets, you can almost smell the salt-water and nylon in the air! It's not hard to feel the breeze coming off Lake Mishipeshu and feeling like it could be the Delaware Bay -- just like you're standing in the first state!

The road to recovery, Days 2-5.

Well, I'm very happy to tell you that I am writing this post not from my hospital bed at Mish Memorial, but from my offices at City Hall in Pierce Plaza downtown, and that tonight I'll finally be going back home to Wihinapa to get back to work!

My assistant Marisha thought it might be better to get me off of the laptop for a few days this weekend while I recovered. That's too bad -- while I was convalescing, I wrote some very interesting reviews of the new October Revolutionists album (it's excellent! It reminded me of U2 with fluegelhorns!), some reviews of the different jello flavors they had here (the green was the best, but the nurse didn't know if it was lime, cantaloupe or kiwi flavored. All those fruits are green, according to Wikipedia. My favorite all week was snapped for me by my nurse Carolyn, which I've posted above -- doesn't it look delicious? I'm not sure why some more of our great restaurants on Stanton Avenue aren't doing more with jello), a review of a 1970s-era action film I saw on cable television one night called The Man That Killed Tomorrow (I thought it was pretty exciting, especially the final scene where the cop, played by Armin Braganza, has a shoot-out with the corrupt bureaucrat, played by Walter Kerry, who is attempting to kill the Secretary of State, played by James Caan, on top of the Essex House, plus it was directed by Hanley native Robert Donald Salloway! Here's a shot of that scene I found on a fan website). I also outlined a new proposal for the infamous east metro rail transit plan, which I hope will help unite our core urban constituency here in the 3rd with our suburban friends in the 8th Ward (I'll reveal it soon, but here's a hint: "luxury box seats" a la the I-Line -- suburban luxury meets urban convenience!). I suppose all these things will be published at some point, but perhaps it's time to get back to work.

Thank again to everyone who wrote to wish me a speedy recovery -- I certainly appreciate it. I also wanted to take a moment to acknowledge the high volume of email I've received regarding the fate of Councilman Stephen Massey Keller. I want to say that though I am certainly not happy about being assaulted, I acknowledge that Councilman Keller is dealing with some very serious issues involving both alcohol and mass transit. It's no coincidence that he bopped me over the head with a model subway car, and it's no coincidence he was drunk while he did it. I want Stephen to find the help that he needs. What exactly that might entail we will see. I would be willing to drop the charges, of course, if he would seek treatment for his alcoholism and support my east metro rail transit authority plan to finally link up the 3rd Ward with points east.

I'll be at my desk, hard at work, in the meantime.

Your letters and emails.

Jordan Langley-Klein and Tyler Jachowicz, AKA "Docta Sabotage" and "L'il Warsaw" of the Kaos Krew, in St. Rumwald Academy's 2001 production of The Pirates of Penzance.

Friday is a good day to drag out the old mailbag, and have a look at some of the letters -- both electronic and paper -- you have sent me in the past month.

And what a month it's been! Ever since we published the British fashion photo of the so-called "Kaos Krew" this week, tips have been pouring in from all over the 3rd Ward identifying the two other members. It seems as if they are Jordan Langley-Klein, 22, and Tyler Jachowicz, 23, both of Armitage Hill (the lid was blown off of Scott Munsch's identity almost immediately). In fact, all three were celebrated members of St. Rumwald Academy's musical theatre and improv troupes, and appeared together in high school productions of South Pacific, Carousel and Paint Your Wagon! I wish that the Kaos Krew had chosen to share their talents in the performing arts; they could have been a great addition to our theater scene here in the neighborhood. Instead, we will have no choice but to extradite them and make them accountable for their countless misdemeanor offenses. It saddens me greatly that between these young men and Dr. Thomas Jefferson Harding, so much of what the national media focuses on in Armitage Heights is our attempted international extraditions (a recent issue of USA Today called us the "rendition capital of America"). We have so many other great things going on here, and one of the reasons I'm writing this blog is to let people know about the great stuff that goes on here: the dot-com Zeppelin parties, the delicious lo-mein tacos, the awesome non-emo rock bands and the historic architecture renovations. Those are what makes are neighborhood the best one in the metro area to live in. Those are what I want to focus on.

Some writers are unhappy that I have focused so much on the Kaos Krew. Alex in Kendall Park writes:

Look, I own a small business on Stanton Avenue and the Krew hit my marquee in October; they rearranged "While Supplies Last" to say "Slut Sips Whale Pile." It was an inconvenience, but it was nothing compared to the fact that I had a break-in two weeks later, and then another one in February where they made off with my cash register, ate some sandwiches in the breakroom refrigerator and urinated all over the special-edition Heights Beer-sponsored life-sized advertising cut-outs of Billy Draeger. That sort of thing is going on in your neighborhood, Sherman, and you're having embarrasing public hissy fits about these kids while actual hoodlums are out breaking into my store and peeing all over my limited-edition merchandise? Your priorities are totally ass-backwards, Larson. Do I have to be attacked by vandals with an artist's statement and press kit to get noticed around here? I'll take the sluts sipping the whale piles, thank you.

Alex's letter is tough but fair, and makes some good points. First of all, I wasn't aware Billy Draeger had signed a contract to advertise Heights Beer, but it makes sense -- the October Revolutionists are getting huge, and they're definitely big fans of the sort of "old-timey" look that Heights Beer has been branding themselves with in the last few years (I love those ads where the two mutachioed men on the old-time bicycles are chasing the ladies in bloomers!). But more importantly, Alex is right: we can't let ourselves think that the Kaos Krew is the only problem that we're dealing with crime-wise. Burglary, assault and arson has been up in parts of Hanley and Kendall Park this year, and it reflects badly on the whole 3rd Ward. I'll be posting some information about some of the various neighborhood watch groups so you can learn more about how you can get involved in keeping Armitage Heights and the whole 3rd Ward safe for everyone.

30 years of troublemaking. (Just kidding, guys!)

The first offices of the Free-Press, at 4220 Stanton Avenue in 1968. This building is now a P.F. Chang's Chinese Bistro.

Spring is finally here! I've finally been able to get my mountain bike out of cold storage and take her for a couple of spins around Lake Mishipsehu and Stanton Park! So if you see me out, be sure to say hello! There's also some great opportunities for outdoor dining -- check out the outdoor dining annex at triage (yes, it's all lower-case letters), the new restaurant at the new mixed-use space on the site of the old St. Aloysius Greek Orthodox Veterans Hopsital and Sanitarium.

The biggest party this weekend, though, will certainly be tonight's Heights Free Press 30th Anniversary Gala at the Evarts Avenue Tavern. In April 1967 in an old storefront on Stanton Avenue, novelist Kimball F. Burin, former Mishipeshu Herald journalist Gerber Schanfield, film and music critic Dan Lee Vondraczek, and entrepeneur Larry Forsyth released the first issue of the "Freep": fifteen mimeographed pages of political commentary (notably an attack by Burin on then-Police Commisioner F. Thompson Foster entitled "The Brownshirt in Blue"), reviews of underground records, new hippie poetry, a few wire reports primarily culled from Pravda, and an advice column written by an unnamed "blissed-out naked chick that's shacking up with Brother Larry" (she advises one letter writer to "turn on [his] lovelight and let it shine shine shine.") Looking back on it now, it seems impossibly quaint, but all the pieces are certainly in place for the "take no prisoners" attitude, surreal humor, rampant references to drug use, and in-depth writing that would become the paper's trademarks.

Of course, it's a long and complex history from there -- Burin left the paper in 1968 to focus on his novel-writing, Forsyth pulled his backing after joining the Moonies in 1971, and Schanfield was forced out in 1980 as executive editor after a running a series of articles detailing then-metro mayor Robert Snowden's supposed involvement in a cross-dressing ring. However, the paper has soldiered on, and has published nearly every noted local writer on the scene. The paper's eventual transformation from a mimeographed broadsheet to a slick, well-written, well-funded media giant is a true testament to the talent involved and the intelligence of the community. It has been a truly pioneering paper; for example, the Free Press was the first alternative weekly to publish an altered photo of President Reagan with a Hitler mustache (right).

Of course, I have been notably featured twice in the paper: once in 1988, when I wrote a brief review of U2's performance at the old Civic Center in Kendall Park (my only published music review!), and of course in 2005, when I managed to make the cover. Of course, they endorsed perennial Green Party candidate Dr. Thomas Jefferson Harding for the 3rd Ward Councilman seat in the last election, but I've always enjoyed working with the staff!

The anniversary corresponds, ironically, with the paper's recent sale to the Mishipeshu Media Group, LLC, who have vowed to keep the voice and spirit of the old Free Press alive and well into the 21st century -- and if you take a look at the recent articles they have run since the buyout, such as Snooze Alarm: Why Is the Legislature So Boring?, Hittin' it in the Heights: the Best Places to Get It On Around Your 'Hood!, and Get Your Dock Wet at These 6 Hot New Seafood Bars! you can see that they're just as dedicated to "edgy" writing as they ever were!

The gala will be held tonight, beginning at 8 PM at the Evarts Avenue Tavern, located at 3809 E. Evarts Avenue. There will be performances by Frost Creep, Teenage Law Student and a reunited The Dream of Horses, as well readings from Burin, the legendary "blissed out naked chick" advice columnist (in actuality, now the investment banker Katherine Mary Murray, who hasn't written for the paper since 1968) and popular and award-winning music and film critic Ted Norlander (left), who will read excerpts from his latest book, The Shah of Iran Keeps His Cool Side Cool: Essays On the Bloated-Out Carcass of Trans-American Culture In A Period I Do Not Actually Remember Much Of, 1979-1987 (called "brilliant and heart-breakingly insightful" by The New York Times and "the voice of a generation" by Slate.com). There will also be a few remarks by new majority shareholder and Mishipeshu Media Group, LLC chairman Ronald Malone. Billy Draeger of the October Revolutionists had been scheduled to give a solo acoustic performance, but his band has been scheduled to play The Jimmy Kimmel Show tonight -- way to go, guys!

Tickets are available at the Free Press's website for $25, or by calling Evarts Avenue Tavern at (436) 922-1928, or the Free Press's offices at (436) 661-0022 during regular business hours.

The golden age of Sino-Mex cuisine is now!

Egg rolls rancheros with a side of salsa, as only thje Burrito Pagoda can make it!

It's been about a year since the Burrito Pagoda opened in the old Cassock District on north Armitage, and I was as delighted as anyone at the adventurousness of Chef Miguel Sanchez and his wife Chef Jun Shan's resourcefulness and sense of adventure in their Sino-Mex cuisine. Well, the national media is finally catching up to what we've known all along -- check out this profile of Sanchez and Shan in the February issue of Gourmet Magazine!

Armitage Heights is gaining a reputation as a "foodie" destination for bold fusion cuisines, and it's no wonder. In the last year alone, three other Sino-Mex places have opened: the Jade Aztec in Kendall Park, Ciudad Prohibido in Armitage Hill, and San Xiao's in the Garden District.

All four are excellent -- the lo mein tacos, Hunan-style frijoles and tortas foo young at Jade Aztec are delicious, and Ciudad Prohibido makes a wonderful sweet-and-sour guacamole. Of course, the Burrito Pagoda still has, for my money, the best Generalissimo Tso's chicken available anywhere -- not to mention the simple pleasures of their legendary stir-fried nachos, a true late-night "mack down" favorite with students at the University of Mishipeshu!

Well, with all this talk about food, I definitely think I'll be sending my assistant Marisha for take-out today!

Foodie heaven!

Well, happy holidays to everyone! Since so many of you will be out and about for the season this month, there's a few new faces in the neighborhood I'd like to introduce to you over the course of the next few weeks leading up to Christmas!

For all you "foodies," I'd like to welcome chef Dan Franklin and his new casual restaurant the Upstairs Lounge to the area. The Upstairs Lounge is located at 2302-1/2 Stanton Alley SW, right on the edge of Armitage Heights. Veteran neighborhood diners will probably recognize that address as the former location of Derek's, the Red Room, the Armitage Grill, Lucy's, the 2302, Charlotte's, the Khyber Pass, Capone's Chicago Steakhouse, the Heights Cafe, the Dinner Bell, Vic's Frozen Custard, the Berliner, the Hillside Sub Shop, the East End Bistro, Dionysus, Mischa's Old World Bakery, the Downtowner, the Mason-Dixon Soul Food Shack, the Stanton Avenue Deli, and several other fine establishments over the last decade.

My assistant Marisha has just reminded me, of course, that the Over Easy was there, too. Do you remember that place? They made an amazing Eggs Benedict. I think that was after Lucy's, sometime in the late '90s.

Oh, and the Wonder Bar! That was a nice little place, too. Really cheap well drinks. I wonder what happened to them?

I think there was a dance studio there, too, for a few months.

At any rate, the Upstairs Lounge boasts an intimate, very "urban" feeling in their upstairs dining room, easily accessible from the rear of the old Jacobson Insurance Building near 22rd Street off of Stanton (not the new Jacobson building, the old brick one just north of it). Just follow 22nd, veer right into Stanton Alley Southwest (not into Stanton Alley Southeast, which is also right there), and the entrance is clearly marked at the second door to the left under the fire escape, up two flights on the exterior stairway. Ample parking is available at the meters three blocks over, off of Arthur Street, after 9 PM on weekends. Call for reservations and more detailed directions at (436) 339-7111, or find a map online at http://www.upstairslounge-armitage.com/. Tell Chef Dan that I sent you!

Our next monthly Coffee With Your Councilman will also be held tomorrow night at 7:00 PM at the Mysterious Brews Coffee Shop at 3900 West Carlyle Street in Armitage Heights, right in heart of the Garden District. I will be answering your questions on the city's exciting new plan to transform the old St. Aloysius Greek Orthodox Veterans Hospital & Sanitarium in Kendall Park into the new Gruyere Flats Luxury Condominiums and Artisanal Cheese Depository. Be sure to stop by and say hello!

Best,

Sherman