The Sanatoga Post

Pottsgrove Middle School, North Hanover Street, Pottstown PA.

POTTSTOWN PA – The following students at Pottsgrove Middle School were named Wednesday (Nov. 18, 2009) with “distinguished honors” to its honor roll for the 2009-2010 school year’s just-ended first quarter:

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NEW YORK NY – During the winter holiday, no matter how un-winter-like the outside temperature may be, ice skating is a tradition at New York City’s Rockefeller Center, Fifth Avenue and West 50th Street. It can be costly, though: adults will pay up to $15 for 90 minutes of rink time, and another $9 if they need to rent skates for the session.

Ice skaters filled the rink Saturday night at New York City's Bryant Park, despite temperatures in the 50s. Admission is free.

The cheaper and, some visitors might add, more entertaining option is skating at Pond NY, the free ice rink in well-lit and cozy Bryant Park at Sixth Avenue and West 41st Street, just nine city blocks southwest of “30 Rock.”

A group of 36 travelers from the Pottstown and Reading areas made the Big Apple their destination Saturday (Nov. 21, 2009) for shopping and theater-going, and in the early evening they milled around the green jewel that is Bryant Park, where temperatures were still in the comparatively balmy low-50s after a day filled with bright sunshine and few clouds. Skaters were out in force, spinning ’round the park’s 170-foot-by-100-foot rink.

A similar group of visitors is scheduled to depart Limerick PA for a Dec. 5 (2009; Saturday) day trip to New York, sponsored by the Limerick (PA) Township Parks and Recreation Department. They, too, may want to spend time in Bryant Park, because there’s much more there than ice.

A market of upscale, European-style shops lines the perimeter of the park, selling everything imaginable ... for the right price.

More than 120 booths have been set up around the park’s perimeter, with the rink at its center. They form an upscale, and correspondingly expensive, European-style market of boutiques, artisans, designers, and food merchants called The Holiday Shops At Bryant Park. Consumers there can find and buy everything from furs to feathers, from diamonds to chocolate-dusted pralines, and almost anything in-between.

The Holiday Shops are open daily until Jan. 3, Mondays through Fridays from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Among decorative attractions at Bryant Park is a huge fountain.

Editor’s Note: When The Post takes a road trip, its readers go too. “Travels With The Post” is a series that reports on places and activities beyond our usual coverage area, but most often within a drive of three hours or less.

Other Travels With The Post:

• Garage Sale Bargains For 50 Miles
• On Independence Day, An Unlikely Lifeguard

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POTTSTOWN PA – On the Pottsgrove School District sports schedule for this, Thanksgiving Week:

Thursday, Nov. 26

• Boys Varsity Football @ St. Pius X, 10 a.m.

Saturday, Nov. 28

• *Scrimmage* Boys Varsity Basketball VS. Blue Mountain High School, 10 a.m.

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POTTSTOWN PA – Five different winter holiday concerts have been scheduled by the Pottsgrove School District between Dec. 3 (2009; Thursday) and Dec. 22 (2009; Tuesday). Admission to the concerts, which showcase the talents of Pottsgrove students is free.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

On the calendar are the:

• All-District Elementary Choral Concert, Dec. 3, 7:30 p.m., auditorium of Pottsgrove High School, 1345 Kauffman Rd., Pottstown PA;
• All-District Elementary Band Concert, Dec. 7, 7:30 p.m., auditorium of Pottsgrove Middle School, 1351 N. Hanover St., Pottstown PA;
• All-District Elementary, Middle and High School String Orchestra Concert, Dec. 10, 7:30 p.m., auditorium of Pottsgrove Middle School, 1351 N. Hanover St., Pottstown PA;
• Middle School Choral, Band and Hand Chime Concert, Dec. 17, 7 p.m., auditorium of Pottsgrove Middle School, 1351 N. Hanover St., Pottstown PA; and
• High School Band and Choral Concert, Dec. 22, 7:30 p.m., auditorium of Pottsgrove High School, 1345 Kauffman Rd., Pottstown PA.

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POTTSTOWN PA – A “Seniors Staying Healthy” Health Fair will be hosted by the Pottstown YMCA, a Freedom Valley YMCA branch, Dec. 3 (2009; Thursday) from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Y, 724 N. Adams St., Pottstown PA. The event is free to adults age 55 and older.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

YMCA staff members and community vendors will be present to help increase participants’ knowledge of common conditions associated with aging, while engaging in such activities as exercise demonstrations and massage.

For more information, call Kim Gray at 610-323-7300.

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Published during the week just ended in The Sanatoga Post:

Saturday, Nov. 21

• With Luck, These Kids Will Feel Lousy Tomorrow
  Area churches this weekend will give groups of local teenagers a peek into the harsh reality of the lives of the poor and homeless, some of whom can be found in Sanatoga and Lower Pottsgrove.
• Keep Healthy Next 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.
• Middle Schoolers Glimpse College Life
  It’s been a good month, so far, for field trips at Pottsgrove Middle School. One group of students visited UPenn, a second went to Kutztown University, a third to the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.
• Holiday Shows, Craft Fairs Open Today
  Local churches and charitable groups have got lots of interesting gift ideas to see, and tasty food items to try, in advance of the holiday season.
• Also, In The Limerick Post
  • 24 Hours In Limerick For Nov. 21, 2009
• Also, In The Pottstown Post
  • 24 Hours In Pottstown For Nov. 21, 2009

Friday, Nov. 20

• No Change Expected In Township 2010 Tax Rate
  Lower Pottsgrove commissioners plan to rely on a substantial transfer from savings to balance the 2010 township budget without increasing property taxes.
• Pottsgrove High Announces 1Q Honor Roll
  It includes every name of more than 200 students who earned either “honors” or “distinguished honors” during the first quarter of the school year.
• Also, In The Limerick Post
  • 24 Hours In Limerick For Nov. 20, 2009
  • Tickets Selling For Handel’s “Messiah”
• Also, In The Pottstown Post
  • 24 Hours In Pottstown For Nov. 19, 2009

Thursday, Nov. 19

• Lower Pottsgrove Introduces Budget Tonight
  The township’s tentative spending plan for 2010 will be released for public review during the Board of Commissioners’ meeting in Sanatoga.
• Stuff To Do This Weekend
  Load up on fine reading in Pottstown. Hit the holiday craft sales; there are two in Sanatoga, two more at Pottsgrove schools, and eight others elsewhere. Attend theatrical productions in Collegeville, Phoenixville and Blue Bell. Or soak up history at the Joanna Furnace.
• Feds Testing Response In Nuclear Emergency
  The Federal Emergency Management Agency is in Lower Pottsgrove’s back yard this week, so to speak, as it conducts a special series of tests in and around the Limerick Generating Station.
• Also, In The Limerick Post
  • 24 Hours In Limerick For Nov. 19, 2009
  • ‘Found Objects’ Art On Display At Ursinus
• Also, In The Pottstown Post
  • 24 Hours In Pottstown For Nov. 19, 2009

Wednesday, Nov. 18

• Hospital Union Workers Call For Thursday Vigil
  Contract talks between Pottstown Memorial Medical Center and unionized workers, scheduled weekly at a Lower Pottsgrove hotel, have stalled. In an attempt to get them moving again, union members will stage a candlelight vigil.
• Pizzeria Planned Next To Sanatoga Rite-Aid
  Vacant land west of the Rite-Aid Pharmacy on East High Street in Sanatoga village would be the new home of Bella Italia Pizza. Its outdoor dining patio is proposed to include a decorative water fountain.
• Band Championships: Pottsgrove 3rd; Rams Earn Win
  The Pottsgrove Falcons Marching Band marched away from the state championships Sunday in Hershey with a third-place finish and “most improved” honors in their division. Neighboring Spring-Ford captured top title in its division.
• Workshops Aim To Reduce Domestic Violence
  MCCC partners with other providers to begin a series of seminars, beginning next month in Pottstown, that confront the problem of violence among family members.
• Also, In The Limerick Post
  • 24 Hours In Limerick For Nov. 17, 2009
• Also, In The Pottstown Post
  • 24 Hours In Pottstown For Nov. 18, 2009
  • MCCC Drama Club Presents “Love’s Fire”

Tuesday, Nov. 17

• Planners OK Ringing Rocks Land Sketch
  Lower Pottsgrove’s Planning Commission thinks a last-minute right-of-way issue with construction of Ringing Rocks Elementary School merits a variance from the township Zoning Hearing Board.
• Trot With The Turkeys Nov. 25 At Sunnybrook
  It’s an adult dance and mixer, it’s just before the holiday, and it’s a fine way to relieve the tension the relatives may bring.
• Also, In The Limerick Post
  • What They Sold For … in Limerick
  • Chambers Gather For Annual Networking Event
• Also, In The Pottstown Post
  • What They Sold For … in Pottstown
  • Prayer Service Scheduled Thanksgiving Day
  • Judo Club Member Finishes First At Tourney

Monday, Nov. 16

• What They Sold For
  A weekly review of top prices paid for real estate in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township and neighboring municipalities.
• Ringing Students Volunteer As A Food Force
  Youngsters and adults at Pottsgrove’s Ringing Rocks Elementary School will roll up their sandwich-making sleeves Wednesday in a local volunteer effort.
• Pius Bingo Lovers Crowd Into Sunnybrook
  Lower Pottsgrove’s St. Pius High School knew it had another hit on its hands when hundreds of tickets for its annual fund-raiser were sold a week before the first number was called.
• Vets Honored On Second Sunday In Sanatoga
  Pottstown area Girl Scouts completed their primary task Sunday in an attempt to earn Girl Scouting’s second-highest award: they lavished praise on local veterans with the second of two special dinners.
• Pottsgrove Schools Craft Shows This Weekend
  Double your holiday shopping fun: two separate gift-hunting locations open this Saturday on adjacent Pottsgrove School District campuses.
• Also, In The Limerick Post
  • Kimberton Church Sets Crafts Bazaar
  • College Presents “Diary Of Anne Frank”
• Also, In The Pottstown Post
  • Scraping The Bark Of The Family Tree
  • All Smiles Now That Santa’s Here
  • LA Fitness Opens At Upland Square

Sunday, Nov. 15

• The Post Week In Review
  For Nov. 8-14, 2009

DOUGLASSVILLE PA – When groups of youths arrive today (Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009) in Douglassville, for what the Rev. Joe Motz hopes will be an exercise that changes their lives, they probably will have come from warm beds, washed in hot showers, dressed comfortably, and filled their stomachs with breakfast. When they go home Sunday, they should feel cold, hungry and miserable.

And that, the Berks County minister says, would be a good thing.

The reality of poverty and homelessness “is something that generally happens below the radar screen of most people, and the great majority of suburbanite teens,” according to Motz, pastor of St. Paul’s United Church of Christ in Birdsboro PA. To ensure they understand “poverty exists in the suburbs as much as it does in the city,” he says, a coalition of area churches this weekend will conduct a two-day seminar called “Shack-a-thon Unplugged.”

The event – part religious ministry, part social education – begins at noon in St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church in Douglassville PA, and then moves north across U.S. Route 422 to the Douglassville Shopping Center, 8 miles west of Sanatoga village. It will involve participants in projects to help community neighbors in need, and raise money for local organizations that assist the poor.

Members of the public are welcome to attend, says the Rev. Ken DeWalt of Hope United Methodist Church in Douglassville PA, who is among the event’s organizers.

The Homeless Among Us

Because the status of those who are homeless changes over time, it’s usually difficult to put a precise figure on the number of people living without, or living in inadequate, shelters. A series of studies done in 1996 concluded that about 1 percent of the U.S. population experiences homelessness each year. Thirteen years later, experts reported this July (2009), it still seems to be the best guess available. Based on that estimate, sometime during 2009 these people were without a home they called their own:

127 residents of Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township;
135 residents of Limerick (PA) Township;
43 residents of Royersford (PA) Borough; and
212 residents of Pottstown (PA) Borough.

Shack-a-thon also will subject teens to a brief – just one night – glimpse into the rougher life endured by people living at or below the poverty line. They will be given only $5 to feed 7 people. They will eat and sleep outdoors, in box shelters each person builds from materials provided. Temperatures tonight are expected dip into the upper-30s with high humidity, AccuWeather reports, so they will awake Sunday morning (if they slept at all) chilled and damp and ache-y.

Motz considers it the youths’ “Ah, ha!” moment.

“On Sunday morning,” the minister notes, “it has stopped being a fun event and has become something they are looking to go home from. It is in those discussion times that the youth ‘get it.’  They get that this is the reality of far too many people’s lives, and that they can probably do something about it in their own life, especially through their congregation.”

Participants come to realize how difficult it might be for some of their less fortunate peers to succeed in school while freezing at night, and having only minimum amounts of food during the day. They might understand, Motz says, that having a full-time job does not guarantee freedom from poverty. They also might recognize that climbing out of poverty isn’t easy.

Youths lack “an awareness of poverty beyond the stereotypes,” Motz believes. “The reason is that we hide our poverty from each other, because to be impoverished in our culture is shameful.” Society tends to think of people who face poverty issues as lazy, he adds, and Shack-a-thon succeeds when the stereotypes get pushed aside.

Shack-a-thon, now in its third year, is a project of the youth planning team of the Southeast Berks Ministerium. The organization consists of independent, Catholic, Episcopalian, United Methodist, Lutheran, United Church of Christ, and Evangelical Congregational churches in Douglassville, Birdsboro, Gibraltar, and Geigertown.

Related, on other websites:

• Students Sleep Out For Homeless Awareness (Norristown PA Times Herald)

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SANATOGA PA – Health care news for western Montgomery County residents (and anyone else!), for Nov. 22-28, 2009.

• These events have been added to The Post calendar.

Sunday, Nov. 22

A peer-led meeting of Resolve, the National Infertility Association support group, is scheduled to be held weekly on Sundays beginning at 2 p.m., sponsored by Phoenixville Hospital, 140 Nutt Rd., Phoenixville PA. Registration is required. For more information or to register, call 610-917-0006.

Tuesday, Nov. 24

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, Nov. 26

• Happy Thanksgiving! Be safe, and enjoy your meal!

Friday, Nov. 27

Free dental screenings will be offered weekly on Friday mornings in the Boyertown Multi-Service Center, Spring Street, Boyertown PA. Patients interested in this service must call Community Health and Dental Care 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.

A blood drive conducted by the Miller-Keystone Blood Center is scheduled to be held at Walgreen Pharmacy, 30 W. Ridge St., Limerick PA, from 7-11:40 a.m. Appointments are required. For more information, call 610-926-6060.

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POTTSTOWN PA – The University of Pennsylvania campus in Philadelphia played host last week (Nov. 9, 2009) to members of enrichment classes at Pottsgrove Middle School, as students learned more about what could lie ahead in their educational futures.

A group of Pottsgrove Middle School students toured the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia last week.

Led by guidance counselors Cristina Kleinfelter and Stephan Kincaid, 20 students journeyed on a field trip from the school, 1351 N. Hanover St., Pottstown PA, to the Ivy League university in Center City to see and hear “about how to prepare for college, the importance of academics, and overall college life,” according to Middle School Principal Dr. William Ziegler.

The trip coincided with the end of the school’s first marking period.

The UPenn trip is just one of several Middle School students are taking to discover academic worlds surrounding them. A different group of 25 students accompanied by guidance counselors visited Kutztown University this week for a tour there, and a third jaunt took some students to the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia to hear a professor speak on magnetism.

In the previous week, enrichment students undertook an altogether different sort of preparation, Ziegler also reported. They were getting ready for a building competition using Lego-brand toys.

Ziegler writes and distributes weekly updates of activities and events at the Middle School that are distributed free to students, parents, teachers and others interested. They are available for download as Adobe Acrobat documents from his page on the Pottsgrove School District website.

Ziegler also maintains a Twitter account which is updated about every three days.

Photos by Bill Ziegler

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POTTSTOWN PA – Local churches and charitable organizations want to help western Montgomery County consumers get a head start on their holiday shopping, with bazaars, fairs and shows that offer a variety of craft, food and other goods. Here’s a list of what The Post has been advised is open today (Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009) or Sunday. Be aware: most start early in the morning and end by mid-afternoon, so plan a route accordingly.

The holiday craft fair of the Sanatoga Fire Company, 2222 E. High St., Pottstown PA, will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the fire house. Handcrafted items, baked goods, and cookies will be sold. Lunch also will be served.

A holiday open house featuring appetizers and gourmet coffee, model rooms filled with holiday decorating ideas, and gifts for holiday shopping will be held Sunday (Nov. 22, 2009) from 2-5 p.m. during an open house at Sanatoga Court Assisted Living, 227 Evergreen Rd., Pottstown PA. Vendors include Longaberger, Pampered Chef, Mary Kay, Tastefully Simple, Stampin’ Up, Uppercase Living, Purse Connections, Silpada, Avon, Java Joint and others. Children can be occupied while their parents shop with gingerbread cookie decorating.

A holiday bazaar filled with baked goods, soups, the return of ham salad, crafts, books and a white elephant sale will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at St. Gabriel’s Episcopal Church, U.S. Route 422 East, Douglassville PA. A raffle and a chili cook-off also are scheduled.

The Pottsgrove High School Music League annual Holiday and Craft Show will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Pottsgrove High School, 1345 Kauffman Rd., Pottstown PA. This year’s event will coincide with a separate but additional show at Ringing Rocks Elementary School, ensuring extra shopping traffic. For more information, call 610-323-0808.

Hope United Methodist Church will host its annual Christmas craft show from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the church, 117 N. Monocacy Creek Rd., Douglassville PA. Door prizes will be given during every hour. For more information, call 610-385-7141.

St. Basil The Great Church, Kimberton Road, Kimberton PA, will conduct its Christmas craft bazaar from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the church. It features Crafts home-made by area residents and church members, wreaths, jewelry, Christmas ornaments, country wood items, pillows, crochted and knitted items, and baked good. Lunch will be sold from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The holiday bazaar of Parkhouse Providence Pointe, formerly known as the Montgomery County Geriatric and Rehabilitation Center, will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the facility, 1600 Black Rock Rd., Royersford PA. Residents’ crafts and ceramics products will be offered for sale, as well as those of outside crafters and baked goods. Lunch also will be sold.

A holiday bazaar and bake sale sponsored by the Calvary United Church of Christ will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the church, 1231 Route 100, Barto PA, four miles north of Boyertown and Route 100. Items from local crafters, as well as flea market goods, baked goods and lunch will be offered.

The annual Christmas bazaar of Boyertown Mennonite Church will be held from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the church, 275 Mill St., Boyertown PA. Plants, canned goods, a selection of books, baked goods, baskets, crafts, and a white elephant sale all will be available. A pancake breakfast will be sold from 7-10 a.m.; lunch, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. A silent auction will be conducted from 7-11 a.m.

More than 70 tables of craft items will be available for the 20th annual “Season’s Best Craft Festival” scheduled from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Gilbertsville Social Hall, 1456 E. Philadelphia St., Gilbertsville PA.

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