Although Penn Wynne is considered an urban neighborhood (based on population density), most streets are lined with large trees maintained by the Lower Merion Shade Tree Commission. Public parks provide additional green spaces as well as a variety of amenities for use by members of the community: • Penn Wynne Park (10 acres) on East Manoa Road: baseball, basketball, softball, tennis courts, soccer, comfort station, children's play ground, tot lot • Shortridge Park (12.3 acres) on Shortridge Drive between Remington Road and East Wynnewood Road - sledding area, nature park. • South Ardmore Park (18.2 acres) - baseball, basketball, soccer, softball, tot lot, tennis courts, children's playground, comfort stations. • Wynnewood Valley Park (10.9 acres) - basketball, tennis courts (with Pickleball Lines), children's playground, tot lot, nature park, picnic tables, comfort station, garden for the blind.
Penn Wynne Civic Association The Penn Wynne Civic Association ("PWCA") is dedicated to serving Penn Wynne residents. The organization defines the boundaries of Penn Wynne as the
Delaware County line to the west, Remington Road to the north, Lancaster Avenue to the east and City Avenue to the south. The PWCA is a community organization, not a political organization. The PWCA's goal is to remain neutral on political matters. However, the PWCA has on occasion taken up community causes that have broad support. For example, in the past, the PWCA has opposed Lankenau Hospital's proposed access route through Manoa Road and has been active in promoting public safety in the Penn Wynne community. The PWCA holds an annual
Fourth of July parade in the neighborhood. The parade route goes through the Penn Wynne area before ending at the
Penn Wynne Elementary School. When the parade ends, the PWCA hosts a Fourth of July celebration, where games are provided for children in the neighborhood, food is sold, and awards are given to community leaders. In addition to the annual Fourth of July parade, the PWCA holds an annual meeting in October, where the PWCA usually provides a forum for officials running for elective office. The PWCA holds its monthly board meetings every first Thursday of the month at 7:30 pm at the Penn Wynne Library on Overbrook Parkway.
Jewish community Penn Wynne has a large
Jewish population consisting of many
Orthodox Jews. It has been a popular destination of many Jews leaving the adjacent
Philadelphia neighborhood of
Overbrook Park.
Congregation Beth Hamedrosh, an Orthodox
synagogue that had been situated in Overbrook Park since 1958, bought a property in Penn Wynne in 2000. Following the process of getting zoning permits and fundraising, groundbreaking for the new synagogue building was started in May 2006. A ceremonial ground breaking was held on June 11, 2006.
Rabbis spoke, as did former Lower Merion Township Commissioner Lance Rogers, US Representative
Jim Gerlach, and Pennsylvania Assemblyman
Daylin Leach. The synagogue moved from its temporary location in Overbrook Park into the new site at 200 Haverford Road upon the completion of the building on May 31, 2007. The first weekday services were held on the evening of May 31. The sanctuary of the new building, now attached to the house originally on the property, was used for the inaugural
Shabbat services of June 1–2. A gala celebration event took place on Sunday, June 3, which featured the marching of
Torah scrolls from the local
Jewish Community Center along Haverford Road to the new site following speeches by rabbis, Commissioner Rogers, Assemblyman Leach, and the President of the synagogue, followed by food and dancing with live music in the sanctuary.
Chabad of Penn Wynne, originally located in Rabbi Zalman Gerber's house, moved to a store front on Manoa Road across the street from the new synagogue building of Congregation Beth Hamedrosh soon after the latter moved in, but Chabad moved out three years later following the termination of the storefront lease at the end of May 2010. In the same Manoa Road storefront block, for a short time in 2007, there was also Just Chill, a kosher water ice and ice cream store. On June 5, 2010, Chabad of Penn Wynne began to hold Shabbat services at the Family Hall of the local Jewish Community Center. Chabad attracted many new Chabad families from out of town and many of them moved to Overbrook Park. Chabad had to relocate due to the coronavirus pandemic and starting with Rosh Hashana in September, 2020, Chabad is now across City Line Avenue in Overbrook Park in the same shopping center that is home to New York Bagels. After 13 years with no synagogue, Overbrook Park again has a synagogue. The Jewish community on both sides of
City Avenue, the border between Philadelphia and Montgomery County, are considered to be one unit and are connected by an
eruv, a wire attached to the telephone and electric poles which allows religious Jews to carry things on
Shabbat. In addition to the Orthodox Jewish amenities, Penn Wynne is home to the Kaiserman branch of the
Jewish Community Center. ==References==