The Sanatoga Post

The start of the season is close at hand.

POTTSTOWN PA – The Lower Pottsgrove Athletic Association (LPAA) begins accepting registrations for its 24th season tonight (Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2009) from 6-8 p.m. in the upper lobby of Pottsgrove Middle School, 1351 N. Hanover St., Pottstown PA. Boys and girls in grades 3-8 interested in playing recreational basketball are eligible to enroll.

• These events have been added to The Post calendar.

Registration costs $45 for players in grades 3-6, and $50 for grades 7-8. Cash or checks will be accepted. Checks must be made payable to LPAA Basketball. Registrations must be accompanied by appropriate medical release forms. For more information, call 610-970-2175.

LPAA enrollment continues at the middle school this week on:

• Wednesday (Oct. 28 ), 6-8 p.m.;
• Thursday (Oct. 29 ), 6-8 p.m.; and
• Saturday (Oct. 31), 9 a.m. to noon.

The season officially starts Nov. 28 (2009).

Photo by Janell Bargen via SXC

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Fall colors Sunday along Sanatoga Lake.

POTTSTOWN PA – Fall foliage color in what Pennsylvania’s tourism bureaus call their Southern Region, which includes Montgomery County, is reaching its peak now through Saturday (Oct. 31, 2009), according to the latest weekly report issued by state foresters.

The region encompasses all counties south and east of Monroe, Dauphin, Bedford and southeastern Somerset counties. As of last Tuesday (Oct. 20, 2009), that wide swath was reaching 60 to 75 percent of its color potential. But the best viewing can be had this week, the report said, because recent “cold wet weather and a couple frosty nights” have resulted in trees that “really turned up their colors.”

Fall’s beauty certainly was in evidence Sunday (Oct. 25, 2009) at Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township‘s Sanatoga Park, South Sanatoga Road, Pottstown PA, where colors of trees on the west bank of Sanatoga Lake were reflected on its surface. Geese paddled lazily across the water.

Geese livin' large on Sanatoga Lake.

Here’s the current foliage narrative about the region from the Bureau of Forestry in the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources:

“Sumacs and maples are crimson red and their leaves are falling, while gums and dogwoods are burgundy and passing their prime. Their shed leaves form a colorful mosaic on the forest floor. Birch, witch hazel, and hickory are showing golden yellow as they peak.

“Tulip trees have just begun to glow fluorescent yellow. White oak foliage is only beginning to show bright to rich reds, while red oaks are starting to show golden orange. Hickories are hung with golden orange leaves and poplars are showing bright yellow.”

At French Creek State Park in nearby Elverson PA, 18 miles southwest of Sanatoga village center, the foresters report “the real champions are sugar and red maples, which are glowing with color. Forest roads and hiking trials … are great locations to enjoy fall this week and next. The weather forecast looks promising for outdoor activities.”

Some trees lining Sanatoga Creek are already bare; others have yet to fully turn their colors. The best local foliage show is expected this week.

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Toss a treat into the basket, and win a prize. It really was that simple, even for a container of milk ... or a youngster dressed like one.

POTTSTOWN PA – The sounds of laughter and fun filled Sanatoga Park, 200 S. Sanatoga Rd., Pottstown PA, on Sunday afternoon (Oct. 25, 2009), where the Verizon Fall Festival was  held by Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township‘s Parks and Recreation Department. Hay rides, a children’s music show, games and crafts, treats, and a costume contest were among the day’s activities.

• See a Post gallery of 41 photos from the event.

How many spots on this dalmation? Don't forget to count the nose!

A young farmer finds interest in the candy inside his box.

A tractor-pulled hay ride traveled along South Sanatoga Road, carrying children and adults alike past hundreds of trees painted by nature.

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They paid how much?

POTTSTOWN PA – The top price paid for real estate within the township from Aug. 5-12, 2009, was $470,000, the Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper reports. The property is located at 989 Stuart Dr.

A second property, at 932 Oak Dr.,  sold for $157,000. A third, at 2101 Walnut Ridge Estates, sold for $145,000.

This week’s top reported prices were listed Sunday (Oct. 25, 2009) in “The Top 50,” the newspaper’s weekly review of highest prices paid for real estate sold within the city of Philadelphia and townships in its surrounding counties.

By contrast, during the same period, the top real estate sales price in Pottstown PA Borough, immediately to the west was $217,000; Limerick PA Township, east, $375,000; New Hanover PA Township, northeast, $362,370; Upper Pottsgrove PA Township, west, $332,838; and in North Coventry PA Township, south, none listed.

Related:

• What They Sold For, July 29-Aug. 4, 2009
• What They Sold For, July 24-28, 2009
• What They Sold For, July 20-23, 2009
• What They Sold For, July 13-17, 2009
• What They Sold For, July 6-10, 2009
• What They Sold For, June 29-July 3, 2009
• What They Sold For, June 22-26, 2009
• What They Sold For, June 15-19, 2009
• What They Sold For, June 8-12, 2009
• What They Sold For, June 1-5, 2009
• What They Sold For, May 25-29, 2009
• What They Sold For, May 18-22, 2009
• What They Sold For, May 11-15, 2009
• What They Sold For, May 4-8, 2009
• What They Sold For, April 27-May 1, 2009
• What They Sold For, April 20-24, 2009
• What They Sold For, April 13-17, 2009
• What They Sold For, April 2-12, 2009, was unavailable
• What They Sold For, March 30-April 1, 2009
• What They Sold For, March 19-27, 2009
• What They Sold For, March 18-20, 2009
• What They Sold For, March 5-11, 2009
• What They Sold For, Feb. 26-March 4, 2009
• What They Sold For, Feb. 18-25, 2009
• What They Sold For, Feb. 4-11, 2009
• What They Sold For, Jan. 28-Feb. 3, 2009
• What They Sold For, Jan. 19-27, 2009
• 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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BOXES FILLED WITH WARMTH – As of Sunday (Oct. 30, 2009), members of the Pottsgrove Pirates Under-10 Boys Soccer travel team (above and below) had collected more than 200 winter coats during a two-week coat drive that will benefit individuals who need the warm outerwear this winter. The coats, which were collected yesterday and last Saturday (Oct. 17, 2009) at Gerald Richards Park, 2130 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA, are bound for local organizations that will put them in the hands of children and adults. Team members, their coaches, and family volunteers called upon Lower Pottsgrove residents to donate coats in good condition, free of rips or stains, and clean. The result: boxes filled with comfort. The team is part of the Pottsgrove Soccer Club.

OPHTHALMIC SPECIALISTS OPEN NEW OFFICE – After several months of construction, Eye Consultants of Pennsylvania, which previously had been located on Sunset Drive in Pottstown PA, officially opened its new offices last Monday (Oct. 19, 2009) on about two acres of land in front of the Home Deport store on Armand Hammer Boulevard in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township. Work on the 9,500-square-foot building began in April. The location is one of three operated by the practice, which is headquartered in Wyomissing PA.

POTTSTOWN PA – On the Pottsgrove School District sports schedule for this week:

Today (Monday), Oct. 26

• Boys Junior Varsity Football VS. Methacton High School, 3:45 p.m.
• *Cancelled* Girls Freshman Field Hockey @ Owen J Roberts, 3:45 p.m.

Tuesday, Oct. 27

• Boys 8th Football @ Pottstown, 3:45 p.m.
• Boys 7th Football VS. Upper Perkiomen, 3:45 p.m.
• *Postponed  to 10/28/2009* Girls Freshman Field Hockey @ Boyertown East, 3:45 p.m.
• Coed Middle School Cross Country – Pottsgrove XC Invitational, 4 p.m.

Wednesday, Oct. 28

• Girls Middle School Soccer VS. Perkiomen Valley West, 3:45 p.m.
• Boys Middle School Soccer @ Perkiomen Valley West, 3:45 p.m.
• Girls Freshman Field Hockey @ Boyertown East, 3:45 p.m.

Thursday, Oct. 29

• Boys Freshman Football VS. Upper Perkiomen, 3:45 p.m.
• Girls Freshman Field Hockey VS. Spring-Ford HS, 3:45 p.m.

Friday, Oct. 30

• Senior Night for Band, Cheerleading, Football and Color Guard
• Girls Middle School Soccer VS. Perkiomen Valley East, 3:45 p.m.
• Boys Middle School Soccer @ Perkiomen Valley East, 3:45 p.m.
• Girls Freshman Field Hockey @ Methacton High School, 3:45 p.m.
• Girls Middle School Field Hockey VS. Pottstown, 3:45 p.m.
• Boys Varsity Football VS. Upper Perkiomen, 7 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 31

• Band at Manheim Central

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Published during the week just ended in The Sanatoga Post:

Saturday, Oct. 24

• Liquor License Fees Paid To Local Municipalities
  The state Liquor Control Board has issued its semi-annual checks for licensing fees collected for the municipalities. Pottstown was a big winner. Lower Pottsgrove? Not so much.
• Want Business Overseas? Connect In PA Seminar
  An upcoming state-sponsored conference may help Lower Pottsgrove business owners make the right connections to sell their goods and services abroad.
• Pottsgrove Student Wins National Merit Honor
  The senior is in rare company: the top 5 percent of students nationwide who took a college-specific exam.

Friday, Oct. 23

• Commissioners Warm To Energy-Saving Apartments
  Lower Pottsgrove commissioners gave preliminary nods of approval Thursday night to plans to build apartments in Sanatoga that would be certified as green and energy-efficient.
• PennDOT Offers Sanatoga Bridge Work Timeline
  Bidding next February, prep work in March and, if motorists are lucky, the High Street bridge repairs and road closings would start in June and be finished by September.
• Local Heroes Join Authors At Book-Signing
  Veterans from Sanatoga, Pottstown and elsewhere are featured in a book that will be the subject of a book-signing to observe Veterans Day next month.
• “Putting The Words On Paper Eases The Pain”
  The Post continues its observance of national Domestic Violence Awareness Month with a second account of area women who escaped from abusive relationships, and how others in similar situations can as well.

Thursday, Oct. 22

• Phillies Win!, Headed Back To World Series
  … and few people may be happier about that than the students of Pottsgrove Middle School, who recently rallied for the team.
• Commissioners Get An Early Start Tonight
  The Lower Pottsgrove governing board’s second October meeting will begin at 6 p.m., not the usual 7. Reason: a full agenda with lots to do.
• Stuff To Do This Weekend
  The Verizon Fall Festival on Sunday in Lower Pottsgrove’s Sanatoga Park, and earlier Halloween activities in nearby Boyertown and Trappe. The Gothic Gala art show opening Friday at Pottstown’s Gallery On High. And donate a clean used coat for the needy at the Pottsgrove Pirates’ soccer team coat drive.
• “I Am Going To Save Four People And Let One Go”
  The Post marks national Domestic Violence Awareness Month by presenting the first of two accounts of area women who escaped from abusive relationships, and how others like them can too.

Wednesday, Oct. 21

• Officers Resign In Historical Society Bickering
  Leadership has had a falling-out among Lower Pottsgrove historians, whose revenues depend in part on taxpayer-funded contributions from the township. Will society squabbling affect next year’s tight township budget?
• Celebrate Halloween At Sanatoga Festival, Other Events
  There’s lots of Halloween fun going on during the next two weeks, but the big local bash is this Sunday’s Verizon Fall Festival at Sanatoga Park.

Tuesday, Oct. 20

• Planning Commission Meeting Canceled
  Lower Pottsgrove planners have not yet confirmed a date, but it’s likely they’ll convene late next week.
• Hospital Wants You To Look Pretty In Pink
  Wednesday, the sixth annual Pink Day at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center, is intended to raise awareness of breast cancer. It’s handing out ribbons to mark the event.
• Commissioners Renew Brown Street Garage Lease
  The township Sewer Authority owns the building, but may consider selling it. In a new lease agreement, township commissioners have asked for right of first refusal in its purchase.
• Wanna Know Where Money Goes? Read Warrants
  Does the public really want to know how much Lower Pottsgrove paid last month for a wrench? Or toilet paper? Or whatever else it bought? One commissioner thinks the answer is “yes.”
• Pottsgrove Falcons Sports For Oct. 20-25, 2009
  Who they’ll play, where, and when.
• Keep Healthy This Week
  A review of free or low-cost local seminars, support groups, screenings, tests and clinics to help you stay healthy and fit, sponsored or conducted by community health care organizations.
• Trick Or Treat, It’s The Greaseband
  Celebrate an adult Halloween at Sanatoga’s Sunnybrook Ballroom with some rockers dressed, or not, for the event.

Monday, Oct. 19

• Meeting Moved Up For Buchert Ridge Presentation
  When Lower Pottsgrove commissioners meet Thursday they’ll do so an hour earlier, at 6 p.m., to accommodate a developer’s discussion.
• What They Sold For
  A weekly review of top prices paid for real estate in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township and surrounding municipalities.
• Pottsgrove Board Approves New Hires
  Eighteen individuals have earned new jobs from the Pottsgrove School District. Most of them are substitutes.
• Board OKs $11,000 Conferences Costs
  Education-related workshops and conferences are scheduled to be attended 27 Pottsgrove School District administrators or staff members.
• School Board Approves Special Education Costs
  Pottsgrove School District directors accept new contracts at a cost of between $20,000 and $25,000 per year per student.
• Wentz Program Covers Moravian Christmas
  A Peter Wentz Society-sponsored talk by a guest from Bethlehem will explain how old religious traditions became a part of modern holiday celebrations.

Sunday, Oct. 18

• The Post Week In Review
  For Oct. 11-17, 2009

Liquor license fees paid off in Limerick, too.

POTTSTOWN PA – Pottstown, Collegeville and Royersford boroughs, and Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick townships were among 61 Montgomery County (PA) municipalities that recently were paid licensing fees by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB) for the six-month period ending July 31, the board reported Friday (Oct. 23, 2009).

Fees are collected whenever a liquor license application, renewal or validation is approved, according to PLCB Chairman Patrick Stapleton. The money is distributed to the municipality where the license is located to help defray the cost of local law enforcement. PLCB cuts its license fee checks twice a year.

Receiving fee reimbursements, and the amounts paid, were:

• Pottstown, $5,450;
• Limerick, $4,950;
• Collegeville, $800;
• Royersford, $450; and
• Lower Pottsgrove, $250.

All municipalities combined received more than $2.3 million in fees, the board said. The largest distribution during the six-month period was for $385,875 to the City of Pittsburgh.

There are almost 20,000 liquor licensees and permittees statewide, including restaurants, clubs and beer distributors. To continue selling alcohol, licensees and permittees are required by Pennsylvania’s Liquor Code to renew or validate their licenses annually.

Established in 1933 at the end of the national Prohibition, the PLCB regulates the distribution of beverage alcohol. Additionally, the board operates 618 Wine & Spirits Stores. It reported sales of more than $1.8 billion in fiscal 2008-09, and a return of $494.5 million in taxes and profits to the state.

Photo from Clipart.com

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Another way to drum up more business.

PLYMOUTH MEETING PA – Pennsylvania business owners interested in selling their company’s goods and services abroad can network with trade representatives to find opportunities overseas during a Nov. 18 (2009; Wednesday) meeting that will be held from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Plymouth Country Club, 888 Plymouth Rd., Plymouth Meeting PA.

The event is one of several being conducted during “Pennsylvania International Week,” Gov. Edward Rendell said Friday (Oct. 23, 2009). The meeting series includes nine of Pennsylvania’s 24 authorized trade representatives: from Brazil, Canada, Chile, Czech Republic, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Taiwan, and the United Kingdom.

For more information on the Plymouth Meeting gathering, which is 27 miles southeast of  Sanatoga village center, call Dino Ramos at the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia, 215-586-4246.

The state Department of Community and Economic Development‘s Regional Export Network is hosting the week. The network is a group of international business development organizations located throughout Pennsylvania that serve as local points of contact and assistance for exporters.

Image from Clipart.com

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