The Sanatoga Post

SANATOGA PA – Health care news for Sanatogans (and anyone else!), Aug. 17-22, 2009:

• These events have been added to The Post calendar.

Monday, Aug. 17

Ready for the big event.

The first in a series of four weekly Lamaze classes for expectant parents will be held from 7-9 p.m. in the boardroom on the ground floor of Pottstown Memorial Medical Center (PMMC), 1600 E. High St., Pottstown PA. For more information, call 610-327-7147. Remaining classes are scheduled at the same time for Aug. 24, 31, and Sept. 16.

Tuesday, Aug. 18

The weekly meeting of the Domestic Violence Support Group sponsored by Pottstown Memorial Medical Center is held every Tuesday evening. For more information on times and locations, call 610-970-7363.

Thursday, Aug. 20

Blood pressure screenings will be conducted by staff members from Pottstown Memorial Medical Center on Aug. 20 (2009; Thursday) from 1-3 p.m. at Wal-Mart, Route 100, Bechtelsville PA.

A Caregiver’s Support Group will be held tonight and on the third Thursday of every month from 6-7:30 p.m. at Chestnut Knoll Assisted Living Facility, 120 W. 5th St., Boyertown PA. The group is specifically designed for givers of care to Alzheimer’s or dementia patients. It provides information and education, and also serves as a forum for learning from others. For more information, call 610-473-8066.

Friday, Aug. 21

Is your child safe in that car seat? Be sure. Learn from a certified car seat technician how to properly install a child’s car seat. An appointment is required; to make one, call 610-327-7145. The service is sponsored by Pottstown Memorial Medical Center.

Free dental screenings are offered weekly on Friday mornings by appointment beginning at 9 a.m. in the Boyertown Multi-Service Center, Spring Street, Boyertown PA. Patients interested in this service must call Community Health and Dental at 610-326-7405, and not the Multi-Service Center, to schedule an appointment. Patients will be informed of the dentist’s findings following the screening.

Photo by Clipart.com

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SANATOGA PA – There’s strength in numbers, Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township commissioners agree.

The Board of Commissioners recently authorized the township to spend $250 a year to become a member of the Montgomery County (PA) Consortium of Communities, a group of 40 municipalities within the county who have banded together to share the costs of some services and supplies.

And, it should be added, to do a little lobbying.

Of particular interest to commissioners was the consortium’s hiring earlier this year of a Blue Bell PA attorney who specializes in environmental law. The consortium asked him to meet with the Pennsylvania  Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and attempt to negotiate how new state regulations on storm water management will be written. Those rules are expected to be announced next month.

Storm water management is a touchy topic in Lower Pottsgrove. Township sewers tend to overflow when the weather gets wet, and it currently operates under a “corrective action plan” approved by the DEP. The plan is part of the reason the township Sewer Authority expects to spend millions of dollars in coming years to fix leaking pipes, stop water from being illegally drained into the sewers, and increase sewage treatment capacity.

The anticipated regulations reportedly could double the cost municipalities currently pay to manage rainfall and water run-off during and after inclement weather. The consortium’s representative, attorney Douglas Blazey, is a former official with the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

Board members voted unanimously June 18 (2009) to endorse the consortium’s articles of agreement, have the township become a member, pay the yearly dues, and have township representatives participate in consortium activities.

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POTTSTOWN PA – Orientation for sixth grade students entering Pottsgrove Middle School this year has been scheduled for Aug. 27 (2009; Thursday) from 4-7 p.m. at the school, 1351 N. Hanover St., according to Principal Bill Ziegler.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

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Published during the week just ended in The Sanatoga Post:

Saturday, Aug. 15

• Fwix Adds The Posts To Philly News Stream
  Stories from The Sanatoga Post, The Limerick Post and The Pottstown Post began appearing Thursday as part of a national news distributor’s website for Greater Philadelphia.
• Also, In The Limerick Post …
  • Blessed Teresa Announces Its First Festival
  • Songbirds Course Scheduled In October
• Also, In The Pottstown Post …
  • Walk In September Like The Nordics Do

Friday, Aug. 14

• Summer Reading? Some Complainin’: Bo-o-ring!
  Parents and students alike reportedly complained about the Pottsgrove High School’s summer reading choices to school board members. The classics no longer are, it seems.
• Four Times Ten, Plus One: The Reading Choices
  Four Pottsgrove High School summer reading lists have 10 choices each, and there’s an extra on the freshman list for good measure. Make your selections, and take The Post Poll.
• Learn How To Learn Online
  Montgomery County Community College’s Pottstown campus offers an introduction to e-Learning later this month.
• Also, In The Limerick Post …
  • Phoenixville Plans October Arts Stroll
  • Beads, Jewelry Featured At Show
  • 24 Hours In Limerick For Aug. 13, 2009
• Also, In The Pottstown Post …
  • 24 Hours In Pottstown For Aug. 13, 2009

Thursday, Aug. 13

• Surprise Enrollment Spurs Demographic Interest
  Higher-than-expected kindergarten enrollment across the Pottsgrove School District prompts the school board to consider updating its last demographics study, conducted in Spring 2005.
• District Assembles Ringing Rocks Planning Team
  Even though no designs are final and no construction has been authorized, a group to oversee the anticipated re-building of Ringing Rocks Elementary School is being assembled now.
• Stuff To Do This Weekend
  In Schwenksville, the annual Philadelphia Folk Festival. Hoot a nanny! In Sanatoga, the last summer concert. Souped-up Sousa! In Royersford, “Oliver, The Musical.” Please, sir, can we have some more?
• Car Wash Benefits Marching Band
  Stop by Saturday at Lower Pottsgrove Elementary and get your car cleaned, cheap, while helping a high school cause.

Wednesday, Aug. 12

• School Board OKs Administrative Switch
  Pottsgrove school directors authorized two of the district’s top administrators to voluntarily change positions.
• Lobbying Pays Off In Band Trailer Purchase
  Pottsgrove High School band boosters can rejoice. The equipment trailer they’ve been asking for has the school board’s approval. Next worry: when will it get here?
• School Districts Among Foundation Grant Recipients
  Pottsgrove, Pottstown and Spring-Ford districts all were winners in the eyes of the Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation. Separately, the Philadelphia Business Journal yesterday published an article on the foundation’s second assessment of community health.

Tuesday, Aug. 11

• Don’t Like 422 Tolling? Website Wants Your Alternative
  The operators of 422Corridor.com accept that the public doesn’t love the prospect of imposing tolls on the now-free U.S. Route 422. But if not that, they ask, what? Ball’s in your court …
• Dottoli To Do It The Sunnybrook Way
  The Frank Sinatra sound-alike singer is scheduled to perform next month in Sanatoga. Tickets are available now.

Monday, Aug. 10

• Federal Stimulus In MontCo Worth $108 Per Person … So Far
  An analysis by ProPublica shows more than $84 million so far has flowed into Montgomery County under the federal Recovery Act. U.S. Route 422 drivers and the Pottsgrove School District are among direct beneficiaries.
• How Berks, Chester Counties Compare In Stimulus Spending
  Unlike the national picture, of which ProPublica reporting is critical, it appears that in the Tri-County area the county of greatest need received the most stimulus money per capita.
• What They Sold For
  A weekly review of top prices paid for homes in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township and neighboring municipalities.
• Creeks Swell With Sunday’s Rain
  The National Weather Service issued a flash flood warning Sunday, as streams in Lower Pottsgrove and elsewhere filled with run-off. Up next today: scorching heat.
• Foundation’s Peeke Videos Available Online
  Video segments from the inspiring speaker who advocated lifestyle changes during the fifth anniversary dinner of the Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation now can be viewed online.

Sunday, Aug. 9

• The Post Week In Review
  For Aug. 2-8, 2009.

SANATOGA PA – Stories that appear daily in The Sanatoga (PA) Post, The Limerick (PA) Post and The Pottstown (PA) Post – online news resources published by Career Education Media Ventures (CEMV) of Sanatoga – are now being distributed to a Greater Philadelphia audience through the Fwix real-time local news network.

The Fwix Philadelphia news stream.

Fwix, which was founded in September 2008, filters news and information from blogs, websites and social media outlets, and aggregates it geographically to be presented to readers like a continuous news ticker for one metropolitan area on a single page.

All three Post editions were added Thursday (Aug. 13, 2009) to the Fwix Philadelphia stream. Their news feeds join those of more than 80 other organizations being tapped by Fwix from across southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey.

Fwix is the second national network to distribute CEMV content. Stories solely from The Sanatoga Post have been distributed nationwide by Topix since October 2008, and appear almost daily in local news feeds offered at websites of the Cable News Network (CNN), The Washington Post, America Online (AOL), Comcast, Earthlink, and Google News.

“We’re pleased to have stories from The Posts made available to Fwix’s readership,” Managing Editor Joe Zlomek said. “It not only broadens the reach of our publications, and brings us even more readers, but it also helps tell our Philly area neighbors what great places Sanatoga and Lower Pottsgrove, Limerick, and Pottstown are to live, work, and visit.”

Fwix has already established news streams for 63 metro areas in the U.S., and plans to expand internationally later this year.

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LOWER POTTSGROVE PA – Apparently the classic reads just don’t cut it anymore.

Bronte's "Wuthering Heights."

Maybe “Wuthering Heights,” the 1847 Emily Bronte novel of romance, passion, and doses of nasty human behavior – which now seem tame in comparison to the nightly news – isn’t real enough.

Maybe, given recent food contamination scares, readers have lost an appetite for “The Jungle,” Upton Sinclair’s 1906 treatise on corruption in Chicago’s meat-packing business. Less than tasty?

How about Frank Herbert’s 1965 science fiction best-seller “Dune” … the original, not all those the sequels. It’s got drugs (the spice Melange), sex (a whole lot of infidelity in those interplanetary Houses), and rockets roll. But it’s been covered by two movies and a television series.

Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle."

All three books appear on the now-ending 2009 summer reading lists of the 12th, 11th, and 10th grades, respectively, at Pottsgrove High School. And, according to complaints received in recent months by members of the Pottsgrove School District Board of School Directors, those collections weren’t too popular.

• See the lists, and give us your opinion!

Parents and students alike have indicated “there’s no sort of satisfaction with what’s on the lists,” board member Nancy Landes told district administrators Tuesday (Aug. 11, 2009), during the first of two August meetings at their offices on Kauffman Road.

Director Fred Remelius was, well, more direct. “Blech!” is how he’s heard the selections described, he said.

Summer reading usually is assigned to students by teachers at the end of a school year. It’s seen as a means of instilling independent critical thought, expanding vocabulary, and giving kids something entertaining to do when their arms are too sore to play with the Wii.

Of worms and men: Herbert's "Dune."

Pottsgrove High requires its students to read two novels, from lists of 10 choices per grade, during summer vacation, according to school librarians. Students are quizzed about the contents upon their return to classes.

While they may have completed the work, those who complained to board members seem to have finished without enthusiasm. They contend teachers need to make the choices “more interesting and exciting for kids,” Landes reported.

None of the educators at the board table offered a response. District Superintendent Dr. Bradley Landis nodded to acknowledge what he’d heard, took several notes, and then another board member changed topics.

Oh, memo to high schoolers who haven’t dispensed with their books yet: only 17 days left. Sorry ’bout that.

Book cover images from Amazon.com

Related (to the Pottsgrove School Board’s Aug. 11 meeting):

• Summer Reading? Some Complainin’: Bo-o-oring!
• Surprise Enrollment Spurs Demographic Interest
• District Assembles Ringing Rocks Planning Team
• School Board OKs Administrative Switch
• Lobbying Pays Off In Band Trailer Purchase
• Superintendent Confirms Plan To Switch Administrators

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LOWER POTTSGROVE PA – So, just what should Pottsgrove High School students have been reading this summer?  Here’s what’s on the lists, and your chance to comment on them (above) in a Post Poll.

12th Grade

• Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte
• A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes, by Stephen Hawking
• Instant Physics: From Aristotle to Einstein and Beyond, by Tony Rothman
• I, Claudius, by Robert Graves
• 2001: A Space Odyssey, by Arthur C. Clarke
• The Wicked Day, by Mary Stewart
• Out of the Silent Planet, by C.S. Lewis
• One Corpse Too Many: Brother Cadfael Mystery, by Ellis Peters
• Eaters of the Dead, by Michael Crichton
• Angela’s Ashes, by Frank McCourt

11th Grade

• The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design, by Richard Dawkins
• The Killer Angels, by Michael Shaara
• Gifted Hands, by Dr. Ben Carson
• The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair
• Bury My Hurt at Wounded Knee, by Dee Brown
• The Panda’s Thumb: More Reflections in Natural History, by Stephen Gould
• Slaughter-House Five or The Children’s Crusade, by Kurt Vonnegut
• The Far Pavilions, by M.M. Kaye
• Andromeda Strain, by Michael Crichton
• Robert Frost’s Poems, by Robert Frost

10th Grade

• The Selfish Gene, by Richard Dawkins
• East of the Mountains, by David Guterson
• Dune, by Frank Herbert
• Ever Since Darwin: Reflections in Natural History by Stephen Jay Gould
• Where the Heart Is, by Billie Letts
• Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature, by Linda Lear
• Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card
• Hiroshima, by John Hersey
• Out of the Dust, by Karen Hesse
• Frankenstein, by Mary Shelley

9th Grade (the only list with 11 choices)

• The Rocket Boys: A Memoir or October Sky, by Homer Hickman
• When the Legends Die, by Hal Borland
• Shogun, by James Clavell
• The Things They Carried, by Tim O’Brien
• Ties That Bind, Ties That Break, by Lensey Namioka
• A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry
• T. Rex and the Crater of Doom, by Walter Alvarez
• The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton
• Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, A Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson, by Mitch Albom
• The Pigman, by Paul Zindel
• Saying It Out Loud, by Joan Abelove

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The college banner.

POTTSTOWN PA – Montgomery County Community College‘s Pottstown campus will conduct two seminars Aug. 24 (2009; Monday) to explain its online e-Learning program to current and prospective students. Academic administrators will be available to assist students with registration.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

The sessions will be held from 12:30-1:30 p.m., and again from 5:30-6:30 p.m., in South Hall room 214 at the campus on 101 College Drive, Pottstown PA. For more information, contact Dr. Doreen Fisher, Director of e-Learning, at 215-641-6589.

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