Neumann-Goretti wins again, page 36
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w w w. s o u t h p h i l l y r ev i ew.c o m
JUNE 2, 2011
Frank-ophile A Lower Moyamensing singer yearns to emulate the success of an entertainment legend. By Joseph Myers R e v i e w s ta f f w r i t e r
A
lthough many teenagers gorge on the goods from the likes of Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga, Brandon Tomasello derives his kicks from the output of The Chairman of the Board, Frank Sinatra. The 19-year-old has begun to evolve his adulation for the legend, completing a 15-track album with 12 tunes his hero popularized. He will test his tones June 8 in an 8 p.m. performance at The Kimmel Center’s Verizon Hall. The show will team the native of 11th and Porter streets with students from his See TOMASELLO page 8
Sports
Dropoda Kafley ventured to the Growing Home Garden Tuesday afternoon. The impressive area has become a gathering spot for her Nepalese companions and has offered a new definition of refuge to formerly unwanted families.
Perennial spirit
s ta f f p h o t o b y g r e g b e z a n i s
Give me liberty
A Lower Moyamensing cyclist will make her 11th appearance at a prestigious local race. By Joseph Myers.............Page 35
Two sets of Asian refugees have made an expansive garden the chief source of their solace. By Joseph Myers r e v i e w s ta f f w r i t e r
“N
amaste,” Adam Forbes said often Tuesday afternoon, offering the Sanskrit term for “I bow to you” to ethnic Nepalese as they entered the “Growing Home Garden” on the 700 block of Emily Street.
The salutation’s figurative warmth matched the sun’s literal version as Forbes, a garden manager and community organizer for Center City’s Nationalities Service Center, continued his presence among the eager planters, all Bhutanese refugees, or Lhotshampa. Their five-lot garden, featuring 72 beds, has offered stability over the last three months, easing the acclimatiza-
tion to the United States for them and the Burmese exiles who assist them. Residing on Third to 12th streets from Snyder to Oregon avenues, the 70 families that manage the plots comprise one-tenth of South Philadelphia’s Nepalese and Burmese clans. Though the Burmese hold the See REFUGEES page 12