Join the Dad's for a fall potluck  at Tom & Alfred's home in Mt. Airy, from 12 to 3pm on Sunday September 19th.  Please bring a dish to share:

Families Last Name beginning with:  A to J bring an entree,  K to R bring a salad or side dish, S to Z bring an appetizer.

All are welcome!  Dads, Kids, Prospective Dads.  Free for Members, Non- Members are $10 per family or $5 for prospective dads.

Please RSVP to TOM, and include number of adults and children (with ages).

We look forward to seeing you at the potluck!

Join other PFP families at the ever-popular Linvilla Orchards for their annual Apple Festival on Saturday, September 25 at 11 am.  Look for people wearing PFP shirts or stickers at the entrance to Pumpkinland.  In the event of rain, we'll meet up on Sunday, September 26 instead.

From the Linvilla web site:

Hayrides, pony rides, face painting, children's entertainment, costumed characters, games & contests, music, apple treats and recipes, candy apples, Pumpkinland and lunch at the Linvilla Grill.

Enter the Apple Pie Eating Contest for the chance to win the champion title and a prize! Three age brackets: 6-10, 11-16, & 17 and over!

An apple a day sure does keep the doctor away! Pick-Your-Own crunchy, juicy apples right from the tree. Take home as many as you can carry to create some delicious apple treats like apple pie or candy apples!

Visit the Farm Market to sample an incredible assortment of our own crisp, juicy apples! Pick up a world famous apple pie, fresh apple cider, or delcious apple butter.

Chef Marc Vetri of Vetri, Osteria, and Amis Restaurants will also be performing a cooking demonstration during the festival on Saturday, September 25th. Check it out and learn some simple, delicious recipes featuring our very own scrumptious apples!

Directions and more info here: http://linvillaorchards.com/directions.php

Meet up with other PFP families at the Please Touch Museum at 10 am on Monday, September 27. Meet in the main hall under the big torch sculpture at 10am!

It can be challenging to find each other since the kids tend to come in and run to their favorite activity, so e-mail Stephanie at stephanie@phillyfamilypride.org or call her at 215-888-0722 if you want her to look for you.

Pack a lunch or visit the cafe - there are plenty of tables.

NOTE: If you're a Please Touch Museum member and can get others in with your membership, let Stephanie know. If you're not a member and would like to get in with someone else's membership, let Stephanie know that, too!

Philadelphia Family Pride is sponsoring a Family Matters Conference for LGBT parents and prospective parents to be held on the campus of Bryn Mawr College Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research on Saturday, October 16 from 9am - 4pm followed by a Halloween-themed Family Dance from 4pm-6pm. On site child care will be offered. 

Call for Workshops, Hands-on Activities -- You Name It!

The conference aims to reach parents from different experiences (including adoptive parents, single parents, prospective parents, transparents, partnered/married parents, grandparents, etc) and address family issues as a whole.

PFP is so excited to sponsor this event and we know that what will make this conference amazing is YOU. Of course, that can only happen if you BRING IT.

What can you do? What do you want to see? We need your proposals in order to put together a stellar conference, so wrack your brains and submit your ideas! (Do you have a super idea, but you don't want to/can't lead the workshop? Suggest it anyway and we'll see if we can recruit a facilitator!)

Some ideas about what we are looking for:

Hands-on, How-To Workshops - What are your special skills? Teach us!

Examples might be:

• "How to Work the System – the Ins and Outs of Foster-Adopt"
• "Home Insemination for Dummies"
• "Dealing with Difficult Situations – Real-Life Advice for Parenting in a Homophobic School System"

Panels/Discussion Groups - Such as:

• Single parents
• LGBTQ Family Wellness
• Poly Families
• LGBTQ adoption and surrogacy
• Reproductive Technology
• Trans-parent experiences and issues
• Children of LGBTQ parents
• Advocacy and activism

Or or or...Really! What do you want to do at the Family Matters! Conference? Who do you want to talk to? What burning issue would you like to discuss? What is your special skill? What experience or knowledge would you like to share? What would you liketo see happen at this year's amazing space?

We know the notice is short, but we also know you all have it in you to act fast and make it work!

Workshops will be approximately 1.5 hours long and will take place in a classroom setting. As we strive to honor a range of voices and experiences, people of color and transgender persons are strongly encouraged to submit proposals.

Please submit proposals via this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5GDQMLN

The deadline for proposals is September 1, 2010.

Contact PFP board member Marla McCulloch at marla@phillyfamilypride.org or 610-716-1136 for further information.

Meetup with other PFP families from 10am to 1pm at Smith Playground before they close for the season! Look for us at 10am as the gate opens or for folks wearing PFP stickers or t-shirts. This event is FREE and appropriate for children ten and under! RSVP to stephanie@phillyfamilypride.org if you'd like her to look for you.

Directions and more info at http://smithkidsplayplace.org/visit/

Join PFP families on a fall hike in the beautiful Wissahickon Gorge in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. Meet at Valley Green Inn at 10:30am.

See dinosaur bones, touch a snake in Outside In or get up close with butterflies at the Academy of Natural Sciences on the Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia on this PFP trip. More details to come!