The Sanatoga Post

POTTSTOWN PA – When athlete Kevin Kolb takes the field Sunday (Jan. 2, 2011) to play as the Philadelphia Eagles’ football team quarterback against the Dallas Cowboys, replacing the Birds’ injured-but-healing Michael Vick, some students at Pottsgrove Middle School may be watching more for usable fitness tips than the mechanics of a shovel pass.

Twenty-five students at the school, 1351 N. Hanover St., Pottstown PA, are enrolled for a second year in the “Fuel Up To Play 60″ health and wellness program sponsored by the National Football League (NFL), of which the Eagles and Cowboys are a part, and the National Dairy Council. The program focuses on teaching students to eat healthy, make health-smart choices, and exercise for 60 minutes each day.

• Watch a student-produced video about the effort, above, or see it at the middle school’s account on SchoolTube.com.

The initiative began in October (2010), about a month after school re-opened, according to physical education and health teacher Marilyn Eaton. Since then its participants have walked circuits around the school’s outdoor track, held push-up competitions inside its cafeteria, and even taken a field trip to go hiking near Pennsylvania’s Bushkill Falls.

Members have succeeded in completing three of the NFL’s Fuel Up activities, Eaton reported, and they meet regularly “to map out the rest of the challenges for the remainder of the school year.”

Besides Eaton, six other teachers – Christine Henry, Jen Forwood, Jim Polli, Gloria Fritz, Eric Engstrom and Steve Palladino – also help supervise events.

The NFL program dovetails with others at the school, and across the Pottsgrove School District, to encourage students to think more about personal health, middle school Principal Dr. William Ziegler added. Not surprisingly, it also helps promote football in general and NFL professional teams in particular. A large “Fuel Up” poster (below) is one of the first things students see when the enter the lobby on the school’s west side.

Given his successes this season, it’s likely some of the participants wish they could excel like Vick, who was hurt Tuesday (Dec. 28) while playing against Minnesota. And maybe, if only for Eagles pride, those who watch Sunday’s game are rooting for Kolb to do as well.

KING OF PRUSSIA PA – Rest easy, the AccuWeather forecasting service claims; New Year’s Day will be mild, and there’s no snow expected in western Montgomery County (PA) through next Saturday (Jan. 8, 2011).  The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) District 6 office in King of Prussia, however, says it’s ready for the worst in case the weathermen (and women) get it wrong. It recently released these snow-clearing statistics as proof:

In tons, the amount of winter road salt PennDOT is keeping on hand in the five-county, Philadelphia region.	In miles, the total regional road surface PennDOT will clean using 182 state-owned trucks and 220 others from private contractors.
In millions of dollars, what the agency budgeted for 2010-‘11 winter maintenance across its District 6, headquartered in King of Prussia PA.	The phone number to call to check traffic conditions on the area’s major highways, including U.S. Route 422. The web alternative: www.511pa.com.
10: The number of trucks in the regional fleet equipped with wing plows. 50: By percentage, the amount of added snow a wing can move away.	By count, the number of PennDOT salt brine trucks available to pre-treat area highways before a storm starts.
By named highway, the number of major regional roads – including Routes 422 and 100 – that are expected to benefit from salt brine coverage.	The number of municipalities, including Lower Pottsgrove, Limerick and Pottstown, with which PennDOT has snow-clearing agreements.

Feel better now?

The old siren, left, and the new.

POTTSTOWN PA – Two days after the New Year celebrations have ended, what may be western Montgomery County‘s most highly visible employer plans to sound off its noise-makers.

Residents across Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick (PA) Townships and the borough of Pottstown, as well as others within 10 miles of Exelon Nuclear‘s Limerick Generating Station (LGS), will hear not one but two different warning horns Monday (Jan. 3, 2011) between 2 and 2:10 p.m. as the energy supplier tests both its existing and newly installed siren systems.

Usually only a single test occurs during the first Monday of every month at points surrounding the nuclear-powered electricity generating plant, the cooling towers of which are visible for miles across the countryside. In recent months, however, LGS has consecutively tested its aging siren system and a new high-tech one installed earlier this year, to ensure the latter is ready for official use beginning in April (2011).

On Monday, the existing system’s 3-minute warning will sound at 2 p.m., to be followed by that of the new system, also 3 minutes long, at 2:05 p.m. The sirens are one of several methods intended to alert the community in case of emergencies at LGS. They also can be activated to warn residents of fires, floods, and tornadoes.

One feature of the new system is a back-up battery so its warnings can sound independently should electrical power be interrupted.

Exelon repeatedly notes that the sirens are not a signal to evacuate. In an actual emergency, residents are asked to tune to one of several Emergency Alert System radio or television stations serving the county for further information.

POTTSTOWN PA – “You do your best business on Main Street,” the old adage goes. For 21st Century small businesses, though, “Main Street” is the so-called information highway of the Internet. How can business owners make the most of their Web-visible virtual real estate? Volunteers of the Pottstown PA chapter of the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) offer these suggestions:

People stay the longest at, and do the most business with, websites with items that hold their interest.

• Look good, work well. While a website is now considered a must for almost any kind of small businesses — whether it’s a digital billboard or a full e-commerce site — simply having an Internet presence is not enough. Owners must continually monitor and re-evaluate its looks, function, and utility to ensure their site meets the needs of their business and, more importantly, their customers. Websites created several years ago, for example, may be due for a makeover. What seemed sophisticated two or three years ago might now look simplistic and even unprofessional compared with other, more effective sites.

• Grab guests by the lapels. In this age of limited attention spans, it’s also essential that business websites catch and keep visitors’ interest. Try adding interactive features such as surveys, guest books, auto responders, downloadable documents and an e-newsletter. Web hosts may offer some of these capabilities. And why not take orders online with a simple shopping cart feature? Resources include PrestoCart.com, MyCart.net, PayButton.com and EarthStores.com.

• Soak it in rich content. Animated art, professionally designed buttons, bars and banners can supercharge a site. They can be bought quickly and inexpensively with software and online delivery from providers such as NetStudio.com and ScreamDesign.com. Add interesting and timely content to sites, too. Consider hiring a freelance writer to produce original news, feature and how-to articles, related to your business, to post on the web. Putting fresh content up monthly could cost as little as a few hundred dollars.

• Know the competition. The Web offers tremendous potential for researching markets and competitors. A few top resources — some free, others fee based — include Business.com for general business research, KnowX.com for public records research, and Hoovers.com for company profiles and contact information.

• Find and be found. Even if a business publishes the best website in its industry, nobody will find it unless it gets listed with major Internet search engines. SearchEngineWatch.com offers a wealth of information about raising a website’s search engine profile using search engine submissions, as well searching tips, search engine reviews and ratings, and other resources.

Today’s businesses face a whole series of technology issues, and the Pottstown SCORE chapter can help owners deal with them. SCORE is a nationwide non-profit organization of more than 10,500 volunteers who provide free, confidential business counseling and training workshops. Call the chapter office at 610-327-2673 for more information.

Peter Simone.

NORRISTOWN PA – The landscape planning, design, and architecture firm that has done so much work with Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick (PA) townships and the borough of Pottstown in recent years, Simone Collins of Norristown PA, has become a partner member of the Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association (GVFTMA), that organization recently announced.

GVFTMA is a non-profit group created to advocate and promote a viable transportation network to benefit the area’s economic vitality. It now has more than 100 partner members dedicated to decreasing congestion and increasing mobility across the region.

GVFTMA’s “role is critical,” Simone Collins principal Peter Simone said. “Virtually every project our firm undertakes relies on one mode or another of transportation – rail, motor vehicle, bicycle or pedestrian.” The organization “helps keep us up-to-date on the latest area transportation projects and innovations. This allows us to convey important information to our clients … an invaluable service,” he added.

Simone Collins provides consulting services to public and private sector clients in planning, zoning, site design, and landscape architecture. The firm is known for its work in public parks, trails and public involvement strategies. Lower Pottsgrove, Limerick and Pottstown all are among its clients.

SANATOGA PA – U.S. Army Pvt. Jonathan M. Shaff, whose mother, Natalie Coway, is a resident of Welsh Drive in Sanatoga, has graduated from basic infantry training at Fort Benning, Columbus GA, according to the Joint Hometown News Service.

During his nine weeks in Georgia, Shaff received training in drill and ceremonies, weapons, map reading, tactics, military courtesy, military justice, physical fitness, first aid, and Army history, core values and traditions. He also became experienced in using weapons and weapons defenses available to infantry crewmen.

Shaff is the son of Anthony Shaff of Lake Park Ridge West in Acworth GA, and is a 2010 graduate of Pottstown High School.

SANATOGA PA – The legal rumble between Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township and a Reading-based owner of outdoor signage located within the township’s borders has been put on hold.

A digital sign operated elsewhere by a Lamar subsidiary.

Lamar Advertising of Penn LLC, 600 E. Neversink Rd., Reading PA, had announced in November (2010) its intent to challenge the municipality’s three-year-old law that restricts Lamar’s ability to erect and operate a computer-programmed electronic billboard on Porter Road. A different type of billboard, which can be seen by drivers on U.S. Route 422 and also is owned by Lamar, sits there now and was installed several years ago with township approval.

The starting point for the fight was to have been Lamar’s court of first resort, the township Zoning Board of Appeals. A hearing on the matter was scheduled for Dec. 14 but, according to a recent letter from township Solicitor R. Kurtz Holloway, both parties agreed to a postponement. They’re talking it over, Holloway wrote to the board.

If a settlement can’t be negotiated, the hearing might be rescheduled for January or February, and its date would be advertised in a legal notice.

Related:

• Anticipated Township Billboard Battle Gets A Reprieve
• Legal Fight Shapes Up Over Signs In Lower Pottsgrove
• Advertisers Propose Colorful, Electronic Sign In Township

An old wagon, decorated for the seasons, occupied the front yard of Little Farmhouse Treasures on East High Street in Sanatoga.

SANATOGA PA – Laura Lucci would like a little time off, and given the frantic pace at which most owners of small businesses must operate, few can blame her. So after nine years of successfully retailing home goods, country-styled gifts and custom furniture from a converted, quaint brick house at 2813 E. High St., Sanatoga PA, Lucci has announced plans to close her store, Little Farmhouse Treasures, in February (2011).

“Although I am slightly saddened to see it come to an end … I am looking forward to a much less hectic schedule,” Lucci explained to customers in a recent e-mail. “My kids and my husband are my life,” she added, “and we are extremely excited for our future, with exciting new things to come.”

Laura and Chris Lucci and their children.

Lucci’s shop, which was started Jan. 1, 2002, has been chocked over the years with primitives, candles, artworks and crafts, reproductions, an occasional antique or two, and a comfortable, cozy atmosphere. She relishes seasonal selling, and an old wagon on her shop’s front lawn usually was decorated for the time of year.

Sometimes her business worked on the honor system. For many Octobers, Lucci would fill a roped-off portion of the lawn near her store’s parking lot with pumpkins grouped by size. If the store was open, customers could pay for their choices inside. If it was closed, a sign on the store’s front porch indicated the pumpkins’ cost, and customers were trusted to leave payments in a nearby lock box.

The store often bustled with patrons during gift-giving holidays like Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, as well as during the spring, when many area families moved into new homes or dressed up the ones they already occupied.

“I am thankful that business has been good to me over the years,” she wrote. “Without my customers, my shop would not have been so successful. I am thankful for the friendships I have made … and hope that Little Farmhouse Treasures has helped bring warmth and charm into your homes.”

The store’s closing sale began earlier this month, with most items except furniture offered at prices of up to 50-percent off, and will continue until she locks the doors a final time on Feb. 27 (2011). During January and February, the shop will open only on Saturdays and Sundays.

Ever the business realist, Lucci suspects she will still have some goods left after the closing. She’s got a remedy for that, too. “We will be having two huge yard sales this spring (and) summer to sell the remainder items that are in storage,” she wrote, “so please keep your eyes open.”

Photos from Little Farmhouse Treasures

SANATOGA PA – If you’re a member of LinkedIn, the popular business networking website, and;

• If you’re registered as a Republican for voting purposes, generally support Republican causes, or think like a Republican, and;
• If you live in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township; then,

This news is for you. Even if you don’t qualify on one or more counts above, you may find it interesting.

The Lower Pottsgrove Township Republican Volunteers networking group was officially formed Sunday (Dec. 26, 2010) at LinkedIn by township Board of Commissioners President Jonathan Spadt.

By its own description, the group “exists to actively support the local, state and federal GOP elections which affect the residents of Lower Pottsgrove Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. We are a grassroots association of volunteers who work directly with the County GOP and our township Republican Committee.”

Entry to the group is somewhat exclusive, because it is open only to registered LinkedIn members (membership is free, by the way) who are accepted by its moderators.

POTTSTOWN PA – The Falcons girls’ junior varsity basketball team played against Phoenixville last week (Tuesday, Dec. 21, 2010) in the gym at Pottsgrove High School, Kauffman Road, Pottstown PA.

Phoenixville won, but the home team offered a worthy effort.

• Watch a video, above, created using Animoto with 14 photos taken during the game, or see it at The Post’s YouTube account.