The Sanatoga Post

[ted id=http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/490]

The world observes the 39th anniversary of Earth Day tomorrow (Wednesday, April 22, 2009) with what the Washington DC-based Earth Day Network calls “a billion acts of Green.” Some of them are taking place in our own back yards.

Observing The Day At Lower Pottsgrove Elementary

Students at Lower Pottsgrove Elementary School will celebrate Earth Day by decorating grocery bags donated from Sanatoga Thriftway, 2190 E. High St., with messages about recycling, according to Pottsgrove School District publicist Beth Tripani. They’ll return the decorated bags to the store Wednesday to distribute them to customers, who also will be encouraged to reuse and recycle the bags.

The Achin’ Back Garden Center, 10 Penn Rd. in Limerick (PA) Township, just east of the Sanatoga village line, also has joined Lower Pottsgrove for an Earth Day project. It’s donating tomato plants for each first grader to take home. The school’s first-grade class also will plant 10 Colorado Blue Spruce saplings around the Lower Pottsgrove’s “EcoPond,” Tripani said, Wednesday at 1:45 p.m.

They Wear Green, They Go Green

More than 4,000 members of the Girl Scouts who live in Eastern Pennsylvania, including several troops in Montgomery County, will work through Sunday (April 26, 2009) to pull weeds, plant flowers and trees, clear trails, recycle sneakers, and make bird houses as part of Scouting’s week-long “Green Project.” On Earth Day in particular, troops are scheduled to join 27 Girl Scout staff members in planting trees at Valley Forge National Historical Park, 18 miles southeast of Sanatoga.

Save The Planet By Eating It

Earth Week is also National Park Week, and the National Park Foundation (NPF) suggests that one way to be more earth-friendly is to “buy and eat food from sources close to home.” It recommends visiting a neighborhood farm market or grocer that offers local produce, and using only ingredients purchased there to make a meal. Sounds like an endorsement of the Fresh Pickin’ Open Market, held each Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the corner of High and Charlotte streets. Buying local, the NPF says, “cuts down on energy used to transport food and ultimately helps all of our green spaces.”

Save Yourself By “Growing” Your Own Air

Watch a 4m:04s video featuring green office park developer Kamal Meattle of Delhi, India, hosted by the TED (Technology, Entertianment, Design) Network, in which he describes research showing three common plants grown in volume indoors can supply enough fresh air to improve occupants’ health. Press the “play” button, above.

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KNAUERTOWN PA – Trees – which provide shade, remove air pollutants, reduce storm water runoff, and offer fun and natural beauty – must be planted properly to live long and healthy lives. Learn proper tree planning and preparations on May 2 (2009; Saturday) from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. during a program at Pavilion 2 in Warwick Park, 191 County Park Rd.

Proper planting techniques, ongoing maintenance, and making the right tree choices will be covered by instructor and Consulting Tree Biologist John A. Keslick Jr. Pre-registration is required. For more information or to register, call John Spencer at 610-469-1916.

The park is located 3.5 miles west of the intersection of Routes 100 and 23, southwest of Pottstown PA.

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POTTSTOWN PA – Students of the Pottsgrove School District’s three elementary schools, performing with the All-District Elementary Band, will present their spring concert Wednesday (April 22, 2009) at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of Pottsgrove Middle School, 1351 N. Hanover St. The band will be under the direction of Kathy Williams.

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POTTSTOWN PA – “The Bible And Teaching Character,” a program presented by Kay Kulp, will be held May 4 (2009; Monday) at 7 p.m. during the monthly meeting of the Pottstown Area Homeschoolers at the Pottstown Public Library, 500 High St.

• This event has been added to The Post’s May calendar.

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• Boys Varsity Tennis at home vs. St. Pius X, 3:30 p.m.
• Coed 8th Track at home vs. Perkiomen Valley East, 3:30 p.m.
• Girls Varsity Lacrosse at home vs. Boyertown, Pottsgrove, 3:45 p.m.
• Girls JV Lacrosse at home vs. Boyertown, Pottsgrove, 5 p.m.

Provided by HighSchoolSports.net

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Published as a public service by The Sanatoga Post

They paid how much?

LOWER POTTSGROVE PA – Not a single home sold in the township made the list of top prices paid for area housing, as reported during the period of Jan. 19-27, 2009, by the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper.

This week’s top reported prices were listed Sunday (April 19, 2009) in “The Top 50,” the newspaper’s weekly review of highest prices paid for homes sold within the city of Philadelphia and the townships in its surrounding counties.

By contrast, during the same period, the top home sales price in Pottstown PA Borough, immediately to the west was $143,000; Limerick PA Township, east, $225,000; New Hanover PA Township, northeast, $234,990; Upper Pottsgrove PA Township, northwest, none listed; and in North Coventry PA Township, south, $156,000.

Related:

• What They Sold For, Jan. 10-18, 2009
• What They Sold For, Jan. 1-9, 2009
• What They Sold For, Dec. 22-31, 2008
• What They Sold For, Dec. 15-19, 2008
• What They Sold For, Dec. 8-12, 2008
• What They Sold For, Nov. 26-Dec. 5, 2008
• What They Sold For, Nov. 18-24, 2008
• What They Sold For, Nov. 10-17, 2008
• What They Sold For, Oct. 28-Nov. 3, 2008
• What They Sold For, Oct. 20-27, 2008
• What They Sold For, Oct. 13-17, 2008
• What They Sold For, Oct. 6-10, 2008
• What They Sold For, Sept. 29 -Oct. 3, 2008
• What They Sold For, Sept. 22-26, 2008
• What They Sold For, Sept. 15-19, 2008
• What They Sold For, Sept. 8-12, 2008
• What They Sold For, Sept. 1-5, 2008
• What They Sold For, Aug. 25-29, 2008
• What They Sold For, Aug. 18-22, 2008

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This one's an ear-bender, for sure.

SANATOGA PA – Players in the Pottsgrove Little League Tee-Ball and Instructional teams gathered Saturday morning at Gerald Richards Park, Buchert Road, for opening ceremonies to launch the league’s 2009 games. All were dressed in bright white pants and T-shits of their team’s color, but a few distinguished themselves by using their caps to make a fashion statement.

Deep over the eyes, to screen out the sun; or reversed, to let it in.

Finding just the right fit's important, you know.

Players and parents alike started the season right, with pageantry, sportsmanship, and lots of fun.

SANATOGA  PA – Weekend (April 18-19, 2009) jottings from a reporter’s notebook:

Having Contacts Helps

Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Assistant Manager Alyson Elliott is a member of a community advisory panel for Exelon Nuclear’s Limerick Generating Station. The township Board of Commissioners, recently asked if any of its members would care to assume her role there, agreed Elliott was the best person to continue as its representative.

Exelon pays attention to the township, too. A concert series that will be presented this summer in Sanatoga Park by the township Parks and Recreation Board is being underwritten in its entirety by a $5,000 contribution from the utility company.

What’s REALLY Important? Ask The Teachers

In Pottsgrove School District discussions last week over potential renovations to Ringing Rocks Elementary School, the people who teach at Ringing were generally happy about the prospects for additional classrooms, an expanded library, and a new gym floor. But, as they looked at tentative architectural layouts during a district Board of School Directors meeting, a burning question arose:

“Are we going to have more bathrooms?,” they asked. More specifically, “Will there be more toilets?”

Students at Ringing, it seems, encounter mid-morning traffic jams at the restrooms daily, with years-old facilities that are too small to handle the current student population. Although the architect’s tentative plans didn’t show bathroom interior configurations, teachers were assured the bathrooms, also, would be significantly upgraded when the building was refurbished.

A small cheer went up from the teachers.

Proof That A Good Credit Rating Helps

The school district refinanced more than $9 million worth of bonds last week, taking advantage of lowered rates to save more than $274,000 in interest payments. The refinancing auction was held electronically by district agents April 14 (2009), and had been scheduled for between 11 and 11:15 a.m.

Bidding activity was hot, though, in part due to the district’s past record of bond payments and its long-standing excellent credit rating. Instead of getting an expected 40-45 bids, it received a total of 53 from five different financial institutions, and the bidding time-frame was extended twice by two minutes each. Bidding finally ended at 11:19 a.m.

It’s nice, and profitable, to be so wanted.

Goodbye, Elmer, And Thanks

Dr. Elmer Friedberg

Greater Pottstown area residents, and many families in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township, lost a friend Friday (April 17, 2009) in the death at age 92 of retired Air Force Brigadier General Dr. Elmer Friedberg. Although he was, as he sometimes said, “Air-Force-Blue, through and through” – and received several military honors in both active duty and as a reservist – Friedberg was best known locally as an eye doctor, an optometrist. He helped correct and improve the vision of thousands of folks here for more than 40 years.

He was a modest and quiet man; thoughtful, but hardly shy. If Friedberg held a strong opinion on a topic, you heard about it pretty quick. His ability to express himself, and what he perceived as the community’s needs, served him and Pottstown well. He worked behind the scenes as a volunteer or board member with Creative Health Services, the American Red Cross, the Pottstown Drug Rehabilitation Center, the borough Human Relations Commission, and its Civil Defense Committee.

As he grew older, Friedberg mailed out his annual Christmas letters earlier and earlier; not because he feared ill health, he explained, but simply because they took longer to compose. In each letter he always referred to his wife of 57 years, Sue, as his “doe-eyed beauty.”

Elmer cared about people, both those close to him and those he never met but inevitably helped because of his passion for community involvement. He will be missed.

• Girls 8th Lacrosse at home vs. Spring-Ford M.S., Pottsgrove, 3:45 p.m.
• Girls 7th Lacrosse at home vs. Spring-Ford M.S., Pottsgrove, 3:45 p.m.
• Girls Varsity Lacrosse at Phoenixville, 3:45 p.m.
• Boys Varsity Baseball at Phoenixville, 4 p.m.
• Boys JV Baseball at Phoenixville, 4 p.m.
• Girls Varsity Softball at home vs. Phoenixville, 4 p.m.
• Girls JV Softball at home vs. Phoenixville, 4 p.m.
• Boys Varsity Tennis at Octorara Area High School, 4 p.m.
• Girls JV Lacrosse at Phoenixville, 5 p.m.
• Boys JV Lacrosse at Owen J Roberts, 5:30 p.m.
• Boys Varsity Lacrosse at Owen J Roberts, 7 p.m.

Provided by HighSchoolSports.net

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