The Pittsburgh Mandolin Orchestra is back with their first spring concert of  2010 featuring international mandolin virtuoso Carlo Aonzo of Italy and Elena Buttiero, renowned Italian pianist, and tenor Gary Burdick of Pittsburgh..

The concert is Saturday, March 13, at the Synod Hall, 125 N. Craig Street (parking available in the Cathedral lot). The performance begins at 7:30 PM. Tickets are $15 ($12 with student ID) and are available at Acoustic Music Works, 2142 Murray Avenue, Squirrel Hill (412.422.0710) or by calling 412.257.0670. Tickets can also be purchased at the door or from any Pittsburgh Mandolin Society member.

A reception will follow the concert in the Assembly Room of Synod Hall.

Presented by the Pittsburgh Mandolin Society in cooperation with the Duquesne University Center for International Relations and the Honorary Consulate of Italy - Pittsburgh

After receiving over 140 responses to the Greenfield Portal Design Survey, we are evaluating and tabulating the results. To discuss these results and next steps, we’ve scheduled a community meeting for Monday, March 15, 2010, 6:30 PM, at Hough’s Sports Bar, 563 Greenfield Avenue (smoke free).  Feel free to stop by and hear what we’ve got and where we’re headed.

“Come Play With Us:”  On March 6, the Minadeo Playground Committee presents a Gala Affair featuring musicians from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.  Head down to Olive or Twist restaurant from 5-7 PM for jazz, light fare, libations, and silent auction.  Continue to CAPA High School for a Chamber Music Concert performed by Members of the PSO from 7:30-8:30pm.  Stay for our “Pittsburgh Cookie Table” and coffee after the show!  Tickets just $50.00 to benefit a great cause…the building of a playground at Minadeo Elementary School!

What: “Come Play With Us,” a fundraiser to build a playground at Minadeo Elementary School featuring musicians from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

When: March 6, 2010, 5-8:30 PM

Where: Olive or Twist restaurant, 140 6th Street in the Cultural District and CAPA School

Price: $50 to benefit the Minadeo Playground Committee’s goal of building a playground at Minadeo School

Kylie Scheidlmeier is hosting a pancake breakfast at St Rosalia’s Wuerl Hall on Saturday, February 27, to raise money for a trip to China as a student ambassador. The breakfast begins at 9 AM and ends at noon. Come out and support a young Greenfielder!

CMU Professor Priya Narasimhan and her students have spent the last few days creating a website, CityZenMobile, where Pittsburghers can report on city road conditions. Take a look before you head out, and if you’re so inclined, submit a report yourself!

And don’t forget that Pittsburgh 311 is operating around the clock at the moment. To report an unplowed road or request transportation assistance, give them a call or submit a form online.

Once again, St. Rosalia Academy is having a fish fry during this Lenten season! The first dinner will be on Ash Wednesday, February 17, and then each Friday up to and including April 2. Here are the details:

What: St. Rosalia Academy Fish Fry

When: Wednesday February 17; Fridays from February 19-April 2

Time: 3:00 PM-7:30 PM

Where: 411 Greenfield Avenue

A fish or shrimp dinner costs $7.50, and there will also be a bake sale, haluski, mac and cheese, cheese-stuffed breadsticks, applesauce, pierogies, coleslaw and soup. Sounds delicious - see you there!

Stash The Trash is a community-based organization looking to clean up the city through supporting litter pick-up programs and cleaning up overgrown sidewalks and lots.  In addition, they are working diligently to eradicate illegal dump sites and while they serve the entire city, they plan to focus on Greenfield in 2010 and clean up our 15 illegal dump sites.  (They have already cleaned up 5 over the past 12 months.)

In 2009, PA CleanWays did a survey assessing the city’s illegal dumpsites on public property.  They found 279 dumpsites throughout the City. Twenty of them were in Greenfield, one of the highest amounts for a single neighborhood! You can view the entire report here [PDF].

The Greenfield number is now down to 15, due to the efforts of the group and Joe Divack, a retired citizen who has been working through Stash The Trash to clean up the sites.

Please check out the StashTheTrash web site and consider signing up to help clean up the City and the neighborhood.  We will keep you posted as to their plans and future opportunities to assist in Greenfield clean-ups.

The Greenfield Game Night was canceled due to the snow storm and will be rescheduled for a later date.

Alright, Gamers! It’s time to dust off the Monopoly, Sorry!, and Cranium boards and bring your games down to the Greenfield Presbyterian Church (3929 Coleman Street, 2 blocks off Greenfield Ave at Coleman and Alger) on Saturday, February 6th at 7:30pm for another Greenfield Game Night! If you enjoy boardgames or even just think you might enjoy boardgames, you should come to the second Game Night! Try out different and varied boardgames, bring a favorite boardgame to share, or just come and socialize with your neighbors. If you’ve been following the Connect Greenfield Blog, you know that our resident Game Master, Shawn, can and will introduce us to some crazy new games!

What: Greenfield Game Night
Where: Greenfield Presbyterian Church (3929 Coleman Street, 2 blocks off Greenfield Ave at Coleman and Alger)
When: 7:30 PM, Saturday, Feb. 6

A few Greenfielders who love LOST are interested in getting together with other neighbors to watch the show and theorize about what it all means! If you’re interested, it will start at 7:45 PM and you’re asked to bring a snack. For more details, contact Maria: ma.weimer1 [at] gmail [dot] com, replacing the words with their proper symbols.

The Penn’s Corner CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) sign up is open! Fresh fruit, vegetables, and farm products are right around the corner.  Sign up for an 8, 24, or 32 week CSA season and take advantage of the convenient Greenfield pick-up location. While many CSAs and farmer’s markets don’t begin until May or June, Penn’s Corner CSA begins the middle of April and continues into November.   Click the following link to learn more about membership: 2010 CSA Membership Sign-Up

Penn’s Corner delivers weekly boxes of farm fresh produce to neighborhoods all around Pittsburgh. With a CSA membership, you will also receive a weekly e-newsletter with recipes, cooking information, and a list of what will be in the box that coming week.  The Greenfield CSA delivery is on Tuesday afternoons starting in April.  Each box will have between 8-10+ items a week. Almost every week will include seasonal fruit and another non-vegetable items such as gourmet mushrooms, wild honey, free-range eggs, local cheese, or fresh pasta.

Penn’s Corner also holds monthly Farm Stand sales throughout the year.  These sales are open to CSA members and non-members alike.  Each month a product list is generated based on what our farms have available that month.  Customers pre-order items by email, and orders are taken on a first come, first served basis.  Orders are then picked up at the Farm Stand location in Squirrel Hill on the designated day.

Products that are likely to be included in our February Farm Stand include locally raised meats, honey, shallots, fresh pastas, apples, greens, herbs, winter squash that has been processed for baking, and fresh breads.  The product list is sent out to people on the mailing list so if you would like to get information about when Farm Stands are scheduled or what items are available each month, visit Penn’s Corner’s website and sign up to be on their general mailing list.

Visit the website at www.pennscorner.com or contact Karlin Lamberto at 412-586-7577 with any questions.