City gets ready for Welcome America



Alex Lloyd Gross Photo Delaware Valley News.com Mayor Kenney carves his name into the sand

By Alex Lloyd Gross

During the summertime,  people like to go to the beach and play in the sand. Today, even Mayor Kenney got to play , just for a brief couple of seconds, when he signed his name into a sand sculpture at the Shops at Liberty Place.  Located on the ground floor of the center city skyscraper, people can walk in and see a very large sand sculpture depicting city events and prominent Philadelphia  citizens , like Ben Franklin  and Betsy Ross.

Alex Lloyd Gross Photo Delaware valley News.com Mayor Kenney speaks at the sand sculpture

The work of art will be on display until the end of July.  Kenney was on hand to drum up excitement for the WAWA Welcome America  festivities which will commence later this week.  This will include a free concert on the Ben Franklin Parkway with Boyz to Men and other artists.  There will be a parade and Philly POPS concert on July 3. All of it is free.

This sand sculpture uses 32 tons of sand and was carved by hand.  The city has been hosting a Welcome America celebration for 25 years. Past events have featured presidents and sitting foreign heads of state.