The Sanatoga Post

Six-year-old JonBenet Ramsey

PHOENIXVILLE PA – A 90-minute seminar for parents and their children, which offers recommendations on how to stop bullying and increase the safety of school and college students and adults, is scheduled to be held March 2 (2011; Wednesday) beginning at 7 p.m. at Franklin Commons, 400 Franklin Ave., Phoenixville PA. The event is free and open to the public.

The seminar, part of a nationally known “Profiling Your Life” series, will be led by criminal analyst Dale Yeager, who during 1997 worked for the Boulder CO district attorney’s office in its original investigation into the murder of child pageant star JonBenet Ramsey. Yeager is considered an expert on bullying, according to Franklin Commons spokeswoman Teri Eide.

Yeager has extensive training in criminal psychology, forensic psychology, sex crimes investigation, and crime scene forensics and procedures, and domestic terrorism analysis, including advanced training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center from 2005 to 2008. He has consulted on a variety criminal cases.

His session could be specifically helpful for children between the ages of 4 and 12, Eide added. Advance registration is requested. For more information or to register, contact Laura Collins at 866-468-7962, Ext. 802, or send her an e-mail, here.

Photo from Google Images

SANATOGA PA – The $75,000 budgeted by Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township commissioners to be spent this year on renovations at the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA, should soon be put to use.

The Board of Commissioners set aside the money last December (2010) when they approved the final version of the 2011 township budget. The amount was envisioned as a spruce-up, fix-up, clean-up fund to tend to a variety of maintenance chores that, township Manager Rodney Hawthorne said frankly, should have been dealt with some time ago.

Hawthorne compiled a to-do list that includes interior and exterior painting, patching cracked plaster and wallboard, replacement of most carpeting, and other minor jobs that relate primarily to appearance. With the exception of repairs to one window, no structural work is involved.

Director of Codes and Zoning Officer Keith Place turned the list into a bid document, which commissioners last Thursday (Feb. 17, 2011) authorized Hawthorne to advertise in search of vendors willing to do the work. Assuming the price is right among bids submitted, the repairs could get under way by the time spring rolls around.

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ Feb. 17 meeting):

• Township Prepares For Bids On Building Fix-It List
• Watch Your Speedometer! Sanatoga Street Slows 5 Mph
• Township OKs Restaurant Liquor License For Chummy’s
• Township’s Reduced Bond Sale Rates High S&P Praise
• Lower Pottsgrove A Likely Co-Signer For Sewer Loans

Photo from Google Images

Michael McGroarty, and the new speed limit

SANATOGA PA – Slow down, Leadfoot, when you’re driving on East High Street through Sanatoga village. The speed limit has just changed, from 40 mph to 35.

Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Commissioner Michael McGroarty couldn’t be happier.

During the Board of Commissioners‘ meeting last Thursday (Feb. 17, 2011), Manager Rodney Hawthorne announced the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) had approved the township’s official request – one McGroarty suggested five months ago – to reduce the speed limit for safety reasons. New signs are already installed, Hawthorne said, and the restrictions are being enforced by township police.

McGroarty lives on Foxtail Drive, Pottstown PA, a mile north of the village business district and a good distance away from the thousands of cars that cruise East High as part of a daily commute. However, he’s been pushing for a lower speed limit on Sanatoga’s primary highway since his earlier days as a member of Lower Pottsgrove’s Planning Commission.

In the years McGroarty served as a planner, before he won election as a commissioner in November 2009, an increasing number of retail businesses and professional offices opened in the district that lines East High from Sunnybrook Road east to North Pleasant View Road. Although the economic downturn thinned their ranks since 2008, entrepreneurs are still interested in village sites.

Among them are developer Cilluffo Property Holdings LLC, which is slowly but surely pursuing its proposal to open a new restaurant, Bella Italia, on property at 2209 E. High St., just west of the now vacant Rite-Aid Pharmacy. Commissioners approved Cilluffo’s plans last October, and construction could start later this year.

Drivers passing Bella Italia, as well as the other firms along East High, must slow down anyway for traffic entering and exiting the travel lanes. An additional 5 mph margin gives them extra braking time and stopping room, McGroarty figured, and could reduce accidents. PennDOT, which studied the matter before granting the township request, agreed.

Although drivers need to keep their eyes on the road, the slower speed allows their passengers to spend a few more seconds looking for and locating village merchants. That exposure can’t hurt as McGroarty’s colleague, commission Vice President Bruce Foltz, tries to attract new owners or lessees to existing East High storefront vacancies.

Foltz, an electrician by trade, is almost a one-man economic development department. When Rite-Aid closed in June 2010, he began advocating for the township to help attract new businesses. At his insistence it is compiling a list of available retail and office locations, with an eye toward marketing Sanatoga as a desirable, busy place with consumer demographics comparably better than adjoining areas.

And, now, a lower speed limit too.

Related:

• Watch Your Speedometer! Sanatoga Street Slows 5 Mph
• Commissioners OK Italian Restaurant’s Plans, Without Alley
• It Could Be Awhile Before Sanatoga Pizza Oven Fires Up
• Alley To Sunnyside Ave. ‘Elephant’ In Restaurant Plans
• Restaurant, Doctors’ Office Return To Planning Board
• Owners Ask For Restaurant Variance Extensions
• Planners Hear More About Proposed Pizza Restaurant
• Pizzeria Owner Has History Of Restaurant Development
• Restaurant, Ringing Projects Win Conditional Uses
• Ringing Rocks, Restaurant Hearing Topics Tonight
• Pizzeria Planned Next To Sanatoga Rite-Aid

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ Feb. 17 meeting):

• Watch Your Speedometer! Sanatoga Street Slows 5 Mph
• Township OKs Restaurant Liquor License For Chummy’s
• Township’s Reduced Bond Sale Rates High S&P Praise
• Lower Pottsgrove A Likely Co-Signer For Sewer Loans

SANATOGA PA – The acquisition of a restaurant liquor license for Chummy’s Tavern at Sunnybrook Ballroom, 50 Sunnybrook Road, Pottstown PA, was approved unanimously and with little comment last Thursday (Feb. 17, 2011) by the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Board of Commissioners following a public hearing.

Commissioners agreed to allow Sunnybrook Management Partners Inc., a for-profit company that leases the tavern space from the ballroom’s non-profit owner, Sunnybrook Foundation, to apply for transfer of a restaurant liquor license formerly used at an East Norriton PA location. State law gives the board the right to decided whether the addition of another liquor license in the township is appropriate.

Foundation directors J. Wilmer “Wil” Hallman and Mark Pollock both spoke briefly on behalf of Sunnybrook. Hallman noted that restaurants which previously occupied a portion of the ballroom building operated with a liquor license, but it expired after the ballroom went into receivership.

“This is something we’ve always had,” Hallman said. “Nothing changes on-site because of it.” Chummy’s operates independently. The ballroom already has two other liquor licenses granted by the state; one for special occasions, the other for a performing arts facility. Both, however, restrict the times and conditions under which alcohol can be served.

Commissioners James Kaiser and Bruce Foltz were absent from the meeting, and did not vote.

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ Feb. 17 meeting):

• Township OKs Restaurant Liquor License For Chummy’s
• Township’s Reduced Bond Sale Rates High S&P Praise
• Lower Pottsgrove A Likely Co-Signer For Sewer Loans

COLUMBIA PA – Buildings that date back decades – heavy with stone and masonry details created by craftsmen of a bygone era – are being remodeled and re-purposed in portions of Columbia PA (top), a borough of about 10,000 people that sits on the east bank of the Susquehanna River, 63 miles southwest of Sanatoga.

Columbia reportedly was founded in 1726 by Colonial English Quakers from Chester County. Because the wide and mighty Susquehanna was only a stone’s throw away, the spot on the road west of York grew quickly in size from only four to dozens of families, most of whom were employed by water-related businesses.

Imposing carved rock facades, sculptured concrete scrolls (above) and carefully laid brick of many colors are evident in architecture across the borough. Depending on where one looks, however, buildings on which they can be found are in widely varying stages of upkeep. Some are well-maintained, particularly churches and those that house thriving businesses (below). Some have deteriorated significantly; broken windows and other openings have allowed weather to attack them both within and without.

Locust Street (above) one of Columbia’s primary east-west business byways downtown, is lined with storefronts that have served a successive string of merchants over the years. At the borough limits, near the river’s edge and the lengthy Wrights Ferry Bridge that carries U.S. Route 30 across the Susquehanna between Columbia and Wrightsville PA, former brick warehouses seen Saturday (Feb. 19, 2011) on Cedar Street were being renovated into new offices and shops.

Visitors to Columbia can tour a watch and clock museum, visit a former glass works, and shop in several local stores on North Third Street that specialize in antiques.

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:

• Masonry Details Matter In Downtown Columbia PA
• State’s Annual ‘Fun On The Farm’ Show Opens Saturday
• Above The Boardwalk, Life Never Seen In Sanatoga
• Postcard Road Trip: Chester PA Old Court House
• Postcard Road Trip: Wyomissing PA Public Library
• Sweet Treats Franchise On Rebound
• On The Road: Area Residents Take On New York
• Garage Sale Bargains For 50 Miles
• On Independence Day, An Unlikely Lifeguard

POTTSTOWN PA – A workshop intended to show small business owners and entrepreneurs how to use blogging and social media networks like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to market themselves online will be held March 7 (2011; Monday) from 7-9:30 p.m. in the conference center of the TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce, 152 High St., Pottstown PA.

The event, titled “Social Media Marketing,” is being sponsored by the Pottstown chapter of the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE).

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Participants also will learn basic social media etiquette, and things to consider when designing a marketing strategy. The session includes a discussion of best practices to increase market share and online visibility for targeted leads and engagement. Video, now a growing source of content for the Internet, will be reviewed as a method to market products and services, as well as creating and implementing a mobile marketing strategy.

Workshop instructors are Douglassville residents Drew Griffin, founder of Griffin Digital Media; and Hannah Tighe, founder of Chatterbox Social Media.  Both are consultants to local businesses, organizations and individuals.

Reservations are requested. An admission fee of $25 will be charged; additional participants from the same company registering at the same time will receive a 50-percent fee discount. Participants are asked to arrive for the session by 6:45 p.m. For more information or to make a reservation, call 610-327-2673.

SCORE is a non-profit organization sponsored by the U.S. Small Business Administration.  The Pottstown chapter provides low-cost workshops, and free and confidential counseling and mentoring, for local businesses.

Photo from Google Images

OLEY PA – A spring bridal show featuring a variety of wedding products and service vendors is scheduled to be held April 10 (2011; Sunday) from noon to 4 p.m. at the Oley Fair Center, 26 Jefferson St., Oley PA. An admission fee of $5 per person will be charged.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Sample wedding cakes, complimentary hot and cold beverages and other refreshments will be available for tasting. Several door prizes will be offered during the show. The event is hosted by Aimee Marie Photography and Christian Light Ministries. For more information, call 484-524-3307.

Photo from Google Images

SANATOGA PA – A panel discussion intended to help senior citizens and their families plan for future care needs is scheduled to be held March 8 (2011; Tuesday) from 6-7 p.m. at Sanatoga Court, 227 Evergreen Rd., Pottstown PA. The resource session is sponsored by Sanatoga Court and the Visiting Nurse Association of Pottstown and Vicinity.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Guest panelists will provide information on are variety of issues, including legal matters, veterans’ benefits, other entitlements, and more. Reservations are requested by Feb. 22 (Tuesday). For more information or to reserve a seat, call Melissa at 610-378-0481, Ext. 3003.

Photo from PatientVisitors.com

LOOKING THEIR BEST TO HELP OTHERS – Pottsgrove High School juniors Heather Romano and Brittany Karmel were the organizers behind a fashion show (above) held Friday (Feb. 18, 2011) to raise awareness of “To Write Love on Her Arms,” a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for people struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. Supporters of the group, some of whom have had their own difficulties with race, sexuality, mental illness and other issues, were among performers who talked, sang, danced and cavorted on stage (below) during the evening.

Romano (above at left) and Karmel (right) also introduced Heather’s grandmother (center), a cancer survivor, as their definition of “the true meaning of beauty.”

Related:

• Pottsgrove Fashion Show Fcused On Special Cause
• Video Lens Captures Pottsgrove Fashion Show’s Beauty

Photos and reporting for The Post by Aimee M. Herbert, Aimee Marie Photography

MARKING THEIR SUCCESSES WITH A PEP RALLY – Students at Pope John Paul II High School in Royersford PA had a grand time Friday afternoon (Feb. 18, 2011) as they staged a pep rally to celebrate recent sporting accomplishments. The school’s boys basketball team this month won the Pioneer Athletic Conference (PAC-10) championship; its cheerleading squad placed seventh in the nation during a recent competition in Orlando FL; and the school also unveiled its new mascot, the Golden Panther. The cheerleaders showed off their moves (above) to a gym filled with appreciative classmates and friends (below).

Victorious basketball players (above) gave a celebratory haircut to their coach, while the fierce and fearsome – but no less handsome – Panther stalked the sidelines (below).

Photos for The Post by Aimee M. Herbert, Aimee Marie Photography