The Sanatoga Post

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Published during the week just ended in The Sanatoga Post:

Saturday, April 24

• Keep Healthy Next Week
  A weekly 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.
• VIST Financial Sells Stock, Raises Capital
  The company, which operates an insurance office in Sanatoga, is bringing in an additional $5.2 million in funding.
• Also, In The Limerick Post
  • Commuter Website Praises 2 Local Employers
    Firms in Collegeville and Valley Forge are held up as shining examples of how to encourage workers to use alternative transportation.
  • Montco Growers Part Of PA Preferred Program
    Fresh food producers in Royersford, Trappe and Collegeville are among those that would benefit by making a state agricultural program permanent.
  • King Of Prussia Firm Awards Cruise Prize
    Sundance Vacations’ latest top contest winner and his wife nominated each other in the Facebook promotion.
  • CHOP Wins Grant To Update Growth Charts
    The hospital, which operates a center in King Of Prussia, will revise charts of Down Syndrome children that haven’t been changed in decades.
• Also, In The Pottstown Post
  • Montco Growers Part Of PA Preferred Program
    Fresh food producers in Pottsown and Gilbertsville are among those that would benefit by making a state agricultural program permanent.
  • National Penn Reports Improved 1st Quarter
    The Boyertown bank holding company’s fundamentals got better in the just-ended three-month period.

Friday, April 23

• Pepper Spray Accident Empties Pottsgrove Cafeteria
  An accidental release of the spray meant to render criminals defenseless cuts short the last lunch period of the Pottsgrove High School day.
• Religious Cluster Wins Zoning OK For Building Use
  April is a happy month for the Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities. It won borough approval Wednesday for its use of a building purchased as its new headquarters, and it received a grant to help pay for operations.
• Notebook Worthy
  Is it anticipation, or anxiety, that drives all the questions about the arrival of Verizon services in Lower Pottsgrove? Also, fair trade coffee arrives at the community college; and a Limerick church celebrates an arrival in 1905. No, that’s not a misprint.
• Firm Testing Online Services With Rite Aid
  A Boston-based company plans to introduce live web consultations with Rite Aid pharmacists. The chain operates two stores in Lower Pottsgrove, and several others in Pottstown and surrounding municipalities.

Thursday, April 22

• Local Liquor Stores Would Go Private In Latest Proposal
  It’s been discussed before: the idea of selling off  state Wine and Spirits Shoppes, including those in Lower Pottsgrove and Pottstown, to raise needed revenue. But with this year’s huge state budget gap, it might be more than talk.
• Stuff To Do This Weekend
  A play at St. Pius High in Lower Pottsgrove. An adult dance in Sanatoga, and one in Birdsboro too. A jazz dance performance at Ursinus College. Wellness and fitness events in Pottstown, New Hanover, and North Coventry. Sheep-shearing in Worcester. How will you fit it all in?
• Student-Written Plays To Debut At Lower Pottsgrove
  Pottsgrove High School’s Ashleigh Kleinschmidt has big plans for a career in either the theater or interior design. Big may be understatement: she’s now a playwright and director, so the theater gig has already launched.

Wednesday, April 21

• Local Groups Observe Two Earth Days This Week
  Across the Pottsgrove School District, in Pottstown, and in nearby communities, activities to mark the event’s 40th anniversary are scheduled today and Thursday.
• Pruss Hill Road Guard Rail Now Repaired
  It’s taken a couple of months – long enough for the snow to dissipate and for work crews to finish other chores – but a replacement guard rail has now been installed on a dangerous curve along one of Lower Pottsgrove’s prettier roads.
• Planners Hear More About Proposed Pizza Restaurant
  The prospective owners of Bella Italia, next to Rite Aid on East High Street in Sanatoga village, are still awaiting review of traffic plans and a negotiated agreement to use an alley on the property’s west side.
• Also, In The Limerick Post
  • Royersford Writer Has 10 Tips For Better Meetings
    Proven leaders are among those who know the value of a short agenda, and stick to it.
  • Pay Buck For Bulb In Royersford, Then Get It Back
    Buy an energy-saving light bulb for nothing, zilch, zip, nada. But, shhhh!, you’ve got to know the secret.
  • In Phoenixville, A Yoga Session For Joint Health
    Be introduced to yin yoga, a specialty exercise, at Gateway Bodyworks.
• Also, In The Pottstown Post
  • Putting A Positive Perspective On Pottstown
    Whatever is going right in the borough (and there are plenty of such things, Sue Repko promises), you can expect to find more about it in a new blog.

Tuesday, April 20

• Talks Delay Take Down Of Sanatoga Mound
  The lack of an easement agreement reportedly is the reason the mound of earthen fill on East High Street near the Sanatoga interchange of U.S. Route 422 hasn’t yet been leveled.
• New Tenant Possible In North Charlotte Plaza
  Planet Fitness on North Charlotte Street could get a companion tenant in the shopping plaza it occupies by year’s end. Its developer hopes to wrap up the project then, too.
• Ringing Rocks Plan Approval Held Until May
  Paperwork is holding up preliminary land development approval for the expansion of Ringing Rocks Elementary School, according to the Pottsgrove School District’s engineer.
• Chamber Says Noon Networking’s A Winner
  Every thing old can be new again, particularly when business owners are trying to make new contacts.
• Also, In The Limerick Post
  • New Swim Club Splashes Way Into Limerick
    An affiliation between a Massachusetts swimming club and a Limerick group apparently will produce a new aquatic program for youngsters.
• Also, In The Pottstown Post
  • Putting A Positive Perspective On Pottstown
    Whatever is going right in the borough (and there are plenty of such things, Sue Repko promises), you can expect to find more about it in a new blog.
  • Boyertown Emerges From Hibernation With Celebration
    With video. The annual arrival of spring, officially marked Saturday by Building A Better Boyertown, brought food, fun, and dancing bears out to downtown.
  • Pottstown’s Weather Could Confuse Any Bird
    What happens when the temperature during a spring bird walk just outside the borough isn’t very spring-like? Magic!
  • Stuff That’ll Keep Boyertown Bodies Busy
    There’s no shortage of things to enjoy during coming weeks in Boyertown, as the Main Street Manager’s newsletter demonstrated Monday.
  • This Could Be A Honey Of A Good Time
    Pennsylvania’s only meadery, with Boyertown roots to boot, shows off its wares Tuesday on the Main Line.

Monday, April 19

• What They Sold For
  A weekly review of top prices paid for real estate in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township and surrounding municipalities.
• Bark Bash Brings In Thousands For Cancer Research
  With video. The annual Pottstown Area Bark for Life, relocated to Limerick because of a need for added space, attracts more pets, more humans, and even more funds for its cancer-fighting cause.
• Pottsgrove Falcons Sports For April 19-25, 2010
  Who they’ll play, when, and where this week.
• Also, In The Limerick Post
  • What They Sold For … In Limerick
    A weekly review of top prices paid for real estate in Limerick and Royersford PA and surrounding municipalities.
  • Calamity En Route To Collegeville To Meet A Chef
    After a journey as dangerous as eating fried chicken without a napkin, a backwoods Pennsylvania girl arrives at Wegman’s to meet her cooking heroine.
  • Phoenixville Blob Fest Gets Another Good Travel Review
    The Travel O’Destination website recommends Pennsylvania visitors take in the event that makes The Colonial Theater a popular attraction.
  • 24 Hours In Limerick For April 14, 2010
    An overview of Limerick- and Royersford-related news now appearing on other websites.
  • The Week In Review In Limerick
    For April 11-17, 2010.
• Also, In The Pottstown Post
  • What They Sold For … In Pottstown
    A weekly review of top prices paid for real estate in Pottstown and surrounding municipalities.
  • Pottstown Dental Program Offers Children’s Sealants
    Upcoming appointments at Communty Health and Dental Care are being co-sponsored by MCCC and the Pottstown Health and Wellness Foundation.
  • Pull Up A Colorful Chair
    You never know where a splash of color can brighten your day. Maybe even a restaurant in Pottstown …
  • Score Two For Zach In Hill Lacrosse
    An Orwigsbrug mother is proud as punch. Her Hill School son? Hopefully, just as proud (and not embarrassed by Mom’s publicity).
  • The Week In Review In Pottstown
    For April 11-17, 2010.

Sunday, April 18

• The Post Week In Review
  For April 11-17, 2010.

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SANATOGA PA – Health care news for western Montgomery County residents (and anyone else!), for April 25 (2010) and beyond.

• These events have been added to The Post calendar.

Monday, April 26

Go tobacco free.

Free meetings of “Winning Strategies,” the Tobacco-Free Support Group of Phoenixville Hospital, 140 Nutt Rd., Phoenixville PA, are held on the fourth Monday of every month beginning at 7 p.m. For information on its meeting location or to register, call 610-983-1288. The hospital also conducts an eight-session smoking cessation program monthly; it will be held during April on dates yet to be announced. Call the same phone number for information about these sessions.

Tuesday, April 27

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.

Wednesday, April 28

A free meeting of the Post-Partum Adjustment Group, usually scheduled for the fourth Wednesday of every month, will be held April 28 (2010; Wednesday) from 6:30-8 p.m. in Suite 300 of Medical Office Building II on the campus of Phoenixville Hospital, 140 Nutt Rd., Phoenixville PA. Registration is required. For more information or to register, call 610-983-1288.

A meeting of the Man-To-Man Prostate Support Group will be held Wednesday at noon in Classroom 1 in the Chesmont Office Building, 13 Armand Hammer Blvd., Pottstown PA. For more information or to register, call 610-327-7662.

Wednesday, May 3

A blood drive conducted by the Miller-Keystone Blood Center is scheduled to be held Wednesday from 2-7:30 p.m. in the St. James Lutheran Church, 1101 E. High St., Pottstown PA. Appointments are required. For more information, call 610-926-6060.

Tuesday, May 4

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.

Wednesday, May 5

Free skin cancer screenings for anyone not already under the care of a dermatologist will be offered May 5 (2010; Wednesday) from 4-8 p.m. in the Wound Center on the ground floor of Pottstown Memorial Medical Center, 1600 E. High St., Pottstown PA, the hospital announced Tuesday (April 6). For more information, or to register for a screening, call 610-327-7662.

Tuesday, May 11

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.

Photo from Clipart.com

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Pottsgrove High School, Kauffman Road, as seen from the north.

POTTSTOWN PA – Thursday’s (April 22, 2010) last lunch period at the Pottsgrove High School cafeteria was a shortened one when, according to Pottsgrove School District Superintendent Dr. Bradley Landis, a resource officer’s container of pepper spray “inadvertently discharged” and a portion of the building had to be temporarily evacuated.

The incident occurred at about noon, as students and staff members were dining. Several who “complained of some discomfort from the discharge” were tended to by school medical personnel, Landis said in an e-mail distributed to the media. Parents of affected students were notified of the problem, he added.

Goodwill Ambulance vehicles and Lower Pottsgrove police responded, and the school, 1345 Kauffman Rd., Pottstown PA, “went into lockdown while the fire department and police tended to the situation,” Landis wrote.

Montgomery County emergency records show that Ringing Hill Fire Department was sent to the scene at 12:14 p.m. for what was categorized as a “gas odor or leak,” followed by the department’s fire police at 12:26 p.m. for traffic control on streets surrounding the school.

Normal school operations resumed at 1:20 p.m., Landis reported. The officer involved was not identified.

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POTTSTOWN PA – April so far has been a month of warmer-than-usual temperatures, earlier-than-usual spring flowers and, for the Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities, doubly good news.

The American Legion Building at 57 N. Franklin St., Pottstown, photographed earlier this year. It soon will be the new home of the Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities' Outreach Center and offices.

The non-profit group that provides emergency assistance to those in need on Wednesday (April 21, 2010) was approved by the Pottstown borough Zoning Hearing Board for a variance that allows it to use a Franklin Street building it bought earlier this year as its new headquarters, despite being zoned in a “Traditional Town Neighborhood” district.

Only days earlier, the Cluster also announced it had won a $4,000 grant from the Montgomery County Foundation to supplement its general operating revenue.

The zoning variance for the former George A. Amole American Legion Post Home, 57 N. Franklin St., Pottstown PA, lets the Cluster “implement renovations and move to this new site as quickly as possible,” its president, George Bell, said. The building, which is substantially larger than the Cluster’s current quarters at 137 Walnut St., Pottstown, gives it room to both grow and adapt to future needs.

With increased usable office space, the Cluster “can enhance our supportive services, and become a leader in meeting individuals’ basic needs and transforming lives in the greater Pottstown community,” Executive Director Barbara Wilhelmy said. The organization has searched for a more suitable location for about 15 years, she added, and determined the Post home would offer program growth, safer work areas, and a greater community presence.

It bought the property in January (2010).

The 40-year-old Cluster, which represents a coalition of churches and religious groups in municipalities lining the U.S. Route 422 corridor from Phoenixville west into Berks County, probably is best known for providing emergency food, clothing, household goods and financial assistance to people enduring hard times. Demand for its services has risen significantly in recent years as a result of the economic recession.

The Montgomery County Foundation grant arrives at a perfect time, Wilhelmy noted. She proclaimed the Cluster as grateful for the foundation’s “ongoing interest in our programs … at a time when so many are in need.”

During 2009, the Cluster’s Outreach Center served 9,700 individuals through its food pantry, including those of 350 new households never seen before for services. Additionally, 1,976 persons were given clothing and household assistance; more than 1,600 persons sought financial or supportive assistance, and more than 18,000 individual meals were served at community sites.

The foundation develops and manages funds, primarily for permanent endowments, received from public and private sources. It distributes grant awards for charitable purposes, primarily to meet local quality of life needs.

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SANATOGA PA – Recent jottings from a reporter’s notebook:

A Verizon Corp. truck parked near a utility pole Tuesday (April 20, 2010) at Buchert Road across from the Lower Pottsgrove Police Department.

So, When’s FiOS Going To Be Here?

That may be the question now most-asked by Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township residents. The answer: a non-committal “pretty soon.”

Members of crews for Verizon Corp. have been busy in recent months – really, ever since the snow melted – stringing the fiber optic cable that will bring the company’s FiOS-branded television and other electronic services into Lower Pottsgrove homes. Trucks and workers have been spotted within the last three weeks on North Pleasant View Road, North Sanatoga Road, East High Street, and Welsh Drive.

When Verizon’s franchise agreement was approved last year by the township Board of Commissioners, company officials estimated the work would be done, and the services available, by August. In fact, in township areas closest to Pottstown services reportedly are already up and running, workers report. For those on Lower Pottsgrove’s east end, August still holds.

Drink It Up By The Cup

One Village Coffee, a coffee bean roaster and retailer at 18 Cassel Rd., Souderton PA, has found a new customer at Montgomery County Community College‘s campus in Blue Bell PA.

The college announced Thursday (April 22, 2010) via Twitter that the ATC Café on its Central campus in Blue Bell had begun serving “local, sustainable and fair trade” coffees supplied by One Village. The news of its new hot beverage vendor coincides with the college’s Earth Week observances.

There was no word on whether or when One Village Coffee might be served at the Pottstown PA campus as well.

Celebrating 105 Times, And Hopefully More

Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Limerick PA this Sunday (April 25, 2010) will observe the 105th birthday of parishioner Sophie Voyner with a special Roman Catholic Mass to be said in her honor at 10:30 a.m. in the church, 256 Swamp Pike. Voyner, now a resident of Manatawny Manor Nursing Home, will attend, the Archdiocese of Philadelphia announced Tuesday (April 20).

In Social Studies classes at the adjacent Blessed Teresa of Calcutta Education Center, students have learned about important events that have occurred since Voyner’s birth in 1905. They’ll conduct a presentation during the Mass, and well as present her with home-made cards, balloons, a birthday cake, and a spirited rendition of “Happy Birthday.”

For the record, Voyner’s actual birthday was Wednesday (April 21).

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BOSTON MA – American Well Inc., a Boston-based company that created an online system which lets consumers immediately connect with physicians from their homes or offices whenever they have a health need, on Thursday (April 22, 2010) announced it signed an agreement with the Rite Aid drugstore chain to test its service in selected Rite Aid locations.

Rite Aid’s interest plans to use American Well to let customers contact its pharmacists in live, interactive online consultations. Financial or other details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Rite Aid, headquartered in Camp Hill PA, operates 4,800 stores in 31 states, including two in Lower Pottsgrove, and others in Royersford, Limerick, Pottstown, North Coventry, Gilbertsville and Douglassville PA. The announcement did not specify if any local stores would be among American Well’s test sites.

Rite Aid said it would be the first drugstore chain in the nation set to bring American Well’s services to patients.

“We see the evolution of online care … spreading throughout the health care industry,” said Danielle Russella, executive vice president at American Well. “With this partnership, Rite Aid will pioneer the introduction of on-demand access to pharmacists through technology.”

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A version of this article also appears in The Main Street Post.

HARRISBURG PA – State-operated Wine and Spirits stores in Lower Pottsgrove, Pottstown, and elsewhere across Pennsylvania would be run privately under the latest proposal to bridge the state’s ever-increasing budget gap, according to a story in today’s (Thursday, April 22, 2010) online edition of The Pennsylvania Independent.

The Wine and Spirits Shoppe in Lower Pottsgrove's North End Center ...

The Harrisburg PA-based news service reports that Allegheny County state Rep. Mike Turzai thinks “bidding for private licenses to sell and distribute wine and spirits could bring the state a $2 billion windfall,” Independent reporter Jim Panyard wrote. Through the end of March, state tax collections had fallen short by $719 million; that sum is expected to grow to more than $1 billion by June 30, the end of the fiscal year.

Turzai, the House Republican whip, envisions auctioning off 100 wholesale distribution licenses, 750 retail store licenses, and the stores’ current inventories. Even after those one-time sales, Turzai claimed at a Capitol press conference that state alcohol sales would still generate about $500 million in revenue under his proposal.

It’s not the first time a sale of the liquor stores has been suggested. Former Pennsylvania Governors Dick Thornburgh and Tom Ridge both advocated the idea. Both got nowhere in highly politicized discussions.

... and on High Street in downtown Pottstown.

Pennsylvania and Utah are the only two states that maintain total control over their highly profitable alcohol industry. Pennsylvania-regulated mark-ups on the products generally run at about 30 percent, or 30 cents in profit on every dollar purchase. “The state’s beer, liquor and wine controls have drawn consumer complaints for decades over limited selections, higher prices and lack of convenience,” The Independent reported.

The stores are governed by the state Liquor Control Board (LCB), which declined The Independent‘s requests for comment. Locally, the LCB operates stores:

• in Lower Pottsgrove’s North End Shopping Center, 1300 N. Charlotte St.
• in downtown Pottstown, 212 E. High St., and
• in the Suburbia Shopping Center, 74 Glocker Way, Pottstown PA.

Under Turzai’s proposal, the LCB would be substantially reduced, and would become an enforcement and education agency.

Pottstown photo by Don Otis via Panoramio

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Lambs that arrived last year at Peter Wentz Farmstead in Worcester PA are ready to be sheared. See Saturday's Stuff To Do, below.

SANATOGA PA – Weekend activities for western Montgomery County residents (and anyone else!), April 23-25, 2010:

• These events have been added to The Post calendar.

Friday, April 23

“Curtains,” the spring musical production of the St. Pius X High School theater department, will be presented Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., and a Sunday matinee at 2 p.m., on the stage in Father Doyne Hall in the high school, 844 N. Keim St. Pottstown PA. Tickets for the evening performances will be $15 for reserved seating, $10 for general seating, and $8 for elementary age and Blue and Gold Card holders. A free-will donation will be received at the Sunday matinee.

An exhibit called “Ecoart,” which focuses on artworks created from recycled, uncycled and salvaged materials, will be on display Friday from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and Saturday  from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., at the Gallery on High, 254 E. High. St, Pottstown PA. The show also includes more traditional two-dimensional work focusing on art and the environment.

Registration is under way for the 15th annual summer basketball league operated by a partnership of Phoenixville Area Positive Alternatives (PAPA)  and the Phoenixville Area Recreation Department. Registration forms completed and submitted before April 30 (2010) will qualify for registration fee discounts. For more information, call Sandy Booth at 610-983-4110, or Dolly Winston at 610-933-7728.

The Ursinus College Dance Company will present “Swing Concerto,” a 1993 piece by jazz choreographer Danny Buraczeski for nine dancers, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Kaleidoscope Lenfest Theater on the college campus, Main Street, Collegeville PA. Tickets will be $5 for general admission and $2 for students and senior citizens. The performance will also feature works by guest artists Melissa Chisena, ballet, and Marilyn and Sekou Sylla, African dance.

Disc jockey Bruce Miller will play favorite music from the 1950s through the current hit list during an adult dance party scheduled for Friday from 8-11 p.m. in Reflections at Sunnybrook Ballroom, 50 Sunnybrook Rd., Pottstown PA. Admission is $5 for persons age 21 and older.

Saturday, April 24

A “Dr. Drill Boot Camp Clinic” for fitness and fund-raiser that’s open to the public will be held Saturday from 9-10:30 a.m. at the Pottstown YMCA, Adams and Jackson streets, Pottstown PA. Dr. Aaron Oberst, innovator and developer of Dr. Drill fitness program, is the featured instructor and motivational speaker. Tickets cost $10 per person. For information or a reservation, call 610-323-7300, Ext. 10. Proceeds benefit the annual Y Partners Campaign.

Pear Garden School of Tai Chi, Perkiomenville, will host World Tai Chi and Qigong Day on Saturday from 9 to 11 a.m. at Hickory Park, New Hanover Township PA. The day is a free health and healing event, and includes a sample Tai Chi Class and demonstrations of Tai Chi sword and fan forms.

Amity Boy Scout Troop 597 presents its third annual Antique and Classic Car Cruise and Carnival on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at St Paul’s United Church of Christ, 1312 Old Swede Rd. (Rt. 662), Amityville PA. Trophies will be awarded by people’s choice in each category during the rain-or-shine event, as well as Overall “Best in Show” and Overall “Scout’s Choice.” For more information, call 610-404-4922.

Montgomery County Community College will hold an open house on its Pottstown PA campus to give prospective students information about its educational programs. The West Campus open house will be held  Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon in North Hall, 16 High St., Pottstown PA. College admissions staff members will be on hand to provide individual academic advice, and also will answer questions.

Experience the annual shearing of the sheep and related activities typical of spring on a colonial-era farm during Sheep Shearing Day, scheduled for Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at historic Peter Wentz Farmstead, 2100 Schultz Rd., Worcester PA. The farmstead will highlight many of the trades and crafts typical of the late 18th through early 19th centuries in a rural community. Refreshments will be available for purchase, and the museum shop will offer a discount on several items.

Author and storyteller Gary Giles presents Wondabubba – a multi-media, literary-based experience with rich, vivid illustrations, creative sound effects and voices, powerful storytelling, and interactive discussion – on Saturday in performances at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. at the Tri-County Performing Arts Center, 245 East High St., Pottstown PA.
For more information and tickets, call 610-970-1199.

A Relay For Life dance to benefit the American Cancer Society will be held Saturday from 7-11 p.m. at the Birdsboro Fire Company, Birdsboro PA. Tickets cost $15, and the event will include door prizes, snacks, beer and soda. For information and tickets, call 610-404-1615.

Sunday, April 25

Sign outside the Historical Society museum.

The Lower Pottsgrove Historical Society has scheduled its free monthly museum open house Sunday from 1-4 p.m. at the society’s headquarters and museum in the former Sanatoga Chapel, 2341 E. High St., Sanatoga PA. Society members will be on hand to greet visitors, and light refreshments will be available.

The first Owen J. Roberts High School 5K Run and Walk, and its second annual Wellness Fair, will be held Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Owen J. Roberts High School Wildcat Stadium, 981 Ridge Rd., Pottstown PA. This event will benefit the Owen J. Roberts Best Buddies Chapter, which fosters friendships of intellectually disabled individuals. For more information, call Jo-An Rechtin at 610-469-5697.

The fifth annual motorcycle “poker run” by area veterans organizations to raise funds the benefit the Southeastern Veterans Center will begin Sunday at 9 a.m., and end at 4 p.m., at the center, 1 Veterans Dr., Spring City PA. The run is co-sponsored by Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 565 of Pottstown PA and the Freedom Riders Motorcycle Club of Montgomery County in Red Hill PA. All motorcycle makes and models, and all riders, may participate in the American Motorcycle Association-sanctioned event. It costs $15 per bike, or $25 with a passenger.

The Monarch Fire Company at 50 Pennsylvania Avenue, Monocacy PA, is having a flying board shoot Sunday at Noon. Call 610 385 3310 for more information.

Kimberton Waldorf School, 410 W. Seven Stars Rd., Kimberton PA, will host a free open house Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m. Information about Waldorf education and about the history of the local school will be available.

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By Beth Trapani

POTTSTOWN PA – Pottsgrove High School 10th-grader Ashleigh Kleinschmidt hopes to find a career in the theater, or perhaps interior design. She’s already got a leg up on the theater track: the 16-year-old has written a series of three short plays that will be performed early next month by students at Lower Pottsgrove Elementary School.

Ashleigh Kleinschmidt.

“I’m still toying with a title,” says Kleinschmidt, who also serves as student-director of the plays. “Flip-Flop Fairy Tales” is her leading candidate right now.

That’s because each play is a take-off on a classic: Cinderella, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and Sleeping Beauty. “There’s a twist to each one,” she says. “For instance, in Sleeping Beauty, when the prince goes to rescue her, she’s been awake all the time and is really moody and grumpy.”

Kleinschmidt is involved in theater at the high school, and has been dancing since third grade. She wrote the plays as part of her high school graduation project, which is required of all students in Pennsylvania. Graduation projects are meant to be meaningful experiences that give students an opportunity for in-depth learning on a self-selected topic. Projects are guided by high school faculty members and assessed by an evaluation team.

Jolynn Kleinschmidt, Ashleigh’s mother and a reading intervention tutor at Lower Pottsgrove, thought the plays would be perfect for her school’s drama club. Second-grade teacher Tom Yenchik directs the club, as well as musicals at Pottsgrove Middle School.

Yenchik, who first worked with Kleinschmidt in a middle school production of ‘High School Musical,’ describes the student as “a very hard worker. It is great to see her love for the arts grow.  I think she did a great job writing the play and working with the elementary students.”

Ten boys and 10 girls will perform the play. “It’s been a lot more work student-directing it than I actually thought it would be,” Kleinschmidt says. “You see something one way, but then you actually go to do it and it doesn’t quite work out that way. But it’s been extremely rewarding and a lot of fun.”

A show for parents and friends is scheduled for May 3 (2010; Monday) at 6:30 p.m. in Lower Pottsgrove Elementary, 1329 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA. The actor students will perform for their school classmates the following day (Tuesday, May 4) at 9:15 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Photo from the Fruitfly Files

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POTTSTOWN PA – Area residents are turning the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, officially observed tomorrow (April 22, 2010), into a two-day love-in of the planet. Events are planned in Lower Pottsgrove Elementary School, at the Pottstown campus of Montgomery County Community College, among Pottsgrove School District students headed for Virginia, at the county Cooperative Extension office in Collegeville, and with a movie in Valley Forge.

Earth Day, now sponsored by the Washington D.C.-based Earth Day Network and seven civic group partners, was founded in 1970 by then U.S. Sen. Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin as a college campus “teach-in” on the need for conservation amid a growing variety of environmental problems. It has flourished annually since, and this year is expected to include 289 different, coordinated campaigns and thousands of observances nationwide.

Here’s a sampling of what’s on tap locally.

Today at Pottsgrove High School

The timing could not have been more perfect.

Whether by coincidence or design, selected students from Pottsgrove High School are scheduled to leave today on the school’s annual advanced biology class trip to Wallops Island VA. They’ll spend the next three days involved in ecological studies at the Marine Science Consortium, a residential environmental learning center and field station on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. Participants themselves paid for the trip, which was authorized by Pottsgrove’s Board of School Directors.

Today at MCCC

Montgomery County Community College will host an “Earth Day Block Party” from 12:30-1:30 p.m. at its West campus, 101 College Dr., Pottstown PA, that’s free and open to the public. The event features student and faculty-created displays and activities, including carbon footprint calculations, database research tutorials, and information on composting and recycling.

Community organizations, including the Greater Valley Forge Transportation Authority, the Schuylkill River National and State Heritage Area (SRHA), and Montgomery County government will also participate, providing information on the Schuylkill River Trail, public transportation, carpooling, and the county’s land development plans.

The college will also sponsor a farmer’s market with vendors selling local, organically-grown fruits and vegetables.

Thursday at Lower Pottsgrove Elementary

Students at Lower Pottsgrove will decorate and then distribute 500 grocery bags donated from Sanatoga Thriftway, 2190 E. High St., Pottstown PA, teacher Shari Costanzo reports.  The otherwise ordinary grocery bags will be decked out with Earth Day slogans and accompanying artwork that encourages shoppers to recycle rather than discard the bags. Thriftway shoppers will receive the decorated bags that afternoon and evening.

The school has conducted the same project during the past 10 years, and receives overwhelmingly positive comments, Costanzo said. “Hopefully,” she added, “someone will think twice before throwing out a student’s artwork and re-use the bag.”

Thursday in Collegeville

How does a green thumb become even greener? Montgomery County’s Master Gardeners are ready to demonstrate the variety of ways.

The gardening group’s class on “Going Green” will be held at 7 p.m. in the Maple Room of Penn State Cooperative Extension at the 4-H Center, 1015 Bridge Rd., Collegeville PA. The session, naturally, will focus on environmentally sound growing practices. The cost is $20, and advanced registration is required. For more information or to register, call 610-489-4315.

Thursday in Valley Forge

“The Revolutionary River,” a new Public Broadcasting System documentary about “the extraordinary story of the Schuylkill River” – sponsored in part by the Pottstown-based Schuylkill River National and State Heritage Area – will be screened at 7 p.m. in the visitor’s center of Valley Forge National Historical Park, 1400 Outer Line Dr., King of Prussia PA. The movie is free and open to the public.

The film has yet to be televised, although negotiations are already under way to air it on PBS stations in Pennsylvania. The 47-minute production is the first of a six-part series that explores various National Heritage Areas in the eastern United States.

The same movie will be shown earlier in the day, at 11:15 a.m., in the South Hall Community Room of Montgomery County Community College in Pottstown.

Photo from dohosurf.org

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