The Sanatoga Post

• Watch a video of Saturday’s (Oct. 29, 2011) storm damage at one Pottstown home (above), or see it at the YouTube user account of LookWutZachSaid, here.

Other coverage:

• Electric Is Back! (Pottstown’s Blog)

POTTSTOWN PA – The wintery mix of wet snow and strong winds that Mother Nature delivered Saturday (Oct. 29, 2011) to Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick (PA) townships and the borough of Pottstown ranked among the worst October storms in the history of utility companies that serve those municipalities, providers said. As of this morning (Monday, Oct. 31, 2011) they were still struggling to return electrical power to thousands of household and businesses regionwide.

"Poor trees," lamented Pottsgrove school board Fred Remelius, as he posted this photo from his neighborhood Sunday on Facebook

Philadelphia Electric Co. (PECO), which supplies power to a majority of the area’s consumers, reported Sunday that damaged trees and electrical equipment interrupted service to more than 250,000 of its customers across the greater Philadelphia region.

The more than 12 hours of wintry weather caused widespread damage, especially in Bucks, Chester and Montgomery counties, PECO said. More than 30,000 locations in Montgomery County alone were without service until late Sunday.

Workers in Pottstown attempted to remove branches Sunday that threatened power lines

The story was similar with Metropolitan Edison (Met-Ed), the FirstEnergy subsidiary that supplies power to portions of Lower Pottsgrove and elsewhere in the area. At one point, company President Chuck Jones said, his workers were “responding to reports of downed wires in more than 15,000 locations.”

As of this morning at 5 a.m., Met-Ed reported 381 greater Pottstown customers, including those in Lower Pottsgrove, were without power; as were 1,437 in Boyertown, 277 in Barto, 175 in Perkiomenville, 81 in Gilbertsville, 22 in Green Lane, and four others in Sassamansville and Frederick.

Because of the extent of damage, the utilities said some customers might expect to be without service until later today or Tuesday. All available employees and contractors were continuing to work until service can be restored, they said.

Both reminded customers to stay away from damaged electric equipment, fallen trees and downed power lines. Passers-by should always assume equipment is energized, they noted, even if there is a power outage in the neighborhood. Customers without service who have not already contacted their electrical providers were urged to do so immediately.

Pottsgrove School District students who took to messaging by cell phone on the Facebook and Twitter social media platforms because their power was out at home hoped school would be canceled today. That wasn’t the case as of 5 a.m. today; they should plan to attend classes.

Students may have felt luckier elsewhere, though. The Boyertown and Owen J. Roberts districts delayed their openings today by two hours. The Daniel Boone district said it would not provide any school transportation on 13 different roads where power lines were downed or fallen trees were blocking passage.

Pottstown’s AM radio station, WBZH, went off the air Saturday after what it said was a power failure in the Maugers Mill Road area. “The (station’s) crew at Pottstown is working to get the generator started and the station back on the air!,” it said on its Facebook page, and added, “Stay safe everybody!”

The Mercury, on its Facebook page, also reported its Sunday print edition might be delayed or not delivered to some customers’ driveways because of poor weather conditions.

Over at the Tri-County Performing Arts Center in Pottstown, where its production of the musical “Pippin” was scheduled for a final weekend run, Saturday’s performance had to be canceled. Saturday tickets were honored for the Sunday matinée, though, and there was talk of adding another performance if necessary.

Out on East High Street in Lower Pottsgrove, the township Historical Society refused to let things like weather and power outages kill its Sunday open house activities. It proceeded as scheduled, and “we had a pretty good turn out,” President Beth Scherer said.

Other coverage:

• Free water and ice to Met-Ed customers without power (The Mercury)
• Power restoration in snowy East could take days (The Mercury)
• Curb Tree Damage Around Pottstown After Weekend Snow (Roy’s Rants)
• Now That You Got A Taste Of Winter … (The Pottstown Patch)
• Pottstown Shares October Snow Photos (The Pottstown Patch)
• Snow + Leaves = Crashing Branches (The Pottstown Patch)
• October Snow Woes (The Pottstown Patch)
• Residents say ‘Boo’ to white Halloween (The Mercury)
• Early snow pelts East Coast, cuts power to more than 2 million (The Mercury)

Photos from Fred Remelius (top); and from Jody Rhoads (above) via the Roy’s Rants blog

HARRISBURG PA – The public and state legislators could get their first look Monday (Oct. 31, 2011) at a proposal to re-draw Pennsylvania Senate and House districts in the wake of population results from the 2010 Census, The Pennsylvania Independent online news service reported Friday (Oct. 28).

The state Legislative Reapportionment Commission, a five-member panel charged with configuring the new legislative districts, is expected to announce its preliminary plan with separate Senate and House maps, The Independent reported. In the near future, the commission must vote for one plan that will set the district lines for the next 10 years.

Its decision could have potential impacts on Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick (PA) townships and the borough of Pottstown, because it may alter which areas are represented by current or future politicians. Political observers claim little if any change is anticipated locally, but even they acknowledge they won’t be certain of an outcome until votes are cast.

A prime point of contention has been determining which seats should be moved from the western part of the state, where the population has declined, to the eastern half, which has seen population growth, according to The Independent.

Although Congressional redistricting also is tied to the Census, and is still being worked on in the U.S. House, it is separate from the state proposal.

•  Read a story by reporter Eric Boehm, titled “New state Senate, House districts will be announced Monday” and published Friday by The Independent, here.

TRICK-OR-TREAT (INSIDE, WHERE IT’S WARM!) – Children in costumes of all kinds packed Friday night (Oct. 28, 2011) into the gymnasium and other rooms at the Freedom Valley YMCA branch in Pottstown PA (right) to enjoy its annual Halloween Safe House. Groups like Doug’s Corner, a community service organization consisting of students at Montgomery County Community College, and other businesses and service clubs donated and helped distribute treats while the kids went trick-or-treating from table to table indoors. Other supervised Halloween activities were similarly held Friday night at the Brusters ice cream franchise and the Philadelphia Premium Outlets both in Limerick PA. Some of the seasonal events were advanced, or moved back, by a day to Friday or Sunday (Oct. 30) in anticipation of a winter storm predicted to hit our area tonight (Oct. 29).

Photo by Alana Mauger via YFrog

POTTSTOWN PA – You’ve got three days left to vote for your favorite. Pharmacist, that is.

For the eighth consecutive year, Rite Aid Corp. – which operates stores in Pottstown, Gilbertsville, Douglassville, Royersford, Spring City, Phoenixville and Pennsburg PA – said it is marking October as American Pharmacists Month by asking its customers to vote for a pharmacist they think is their company’s best.

Voting is online, here, or by using a mail-in nomination form available at any Rite Aid. The company hopes customers will share stories of extraordinary service and describe what makes their pharmacist special. The pharmacists will receive corporate recognition; voters will be registered to win a prize of $2,500 in Rite Aid gift cards. Voting ends Monday (Oct. 31, 2011).

Photo from Rite Aid Corp.

The Animal Sounds Hayride by Learning Curve make Goddard's list of Top 10 toys

SANATOGA PA – Goddard Schools across the country, including the pre-school child care franchise owned by Ed and Maria Shaw on East High Street in Sanatoga, say that animals, blocks, balls and board games rank among their top 10 choices this year for safe, engaging and age-appropriate holiday gifts that encourage kids to learn.

Children and Goddard School teachers nationwide were the prime testers in the schools’ tests of toys designed exclusively for children in the pre-school age range of infants through 6 years old. Their results, announced last week (Oct. 19, 2011) in alphabetical order, are:

• Animal Sounds Hay Ride (manufacturer: Learning Curve);
• Bristle Block Stackadoos (B. Toys by Battat);
• Citiblocs Camouflage 100 Piece Set (CitiBlocs);
• Citiblocs Little Builders Rattle Blocs (CitiBlocs);
• Count Your Chickens! board game (Peaceable Kingdom);
• Elemenosqueeze (B. Toys by Battat);
• Hoot Owl Hoot! board game (Peaceable Kingdom);
• Little Shopper Playset (Earlyears);
• Sassy Sensory Ball Set (Sassy); and
• Soft Chime Garden (Lamaze).

All the games named met Goddard’s criteria for an interactive and child-initiated play focus; creative, social or engaging; and age-appropriateness. “We feel our Top 10 toys list will serve as a great resource for parents, grandparents and other family members as they enter the gift-giving season,” Ed Shaw said.

KEEPING THINGS FROZEN WHILE KEEPING THEM GREEN – A full wall of enclosed freezers and coolers now greets customers at Redners’ Warehouse Market in the North End Shopping Center on North Charlotte Street in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township. Redner’s recently took over and expanded into the center’s adjacent and vacant retail space formerly occupied by Frank’s Hardware. The extension gave the market about 5,000 square feet of additional floor space, and allowed the installation of its energy-efficient freezers with self-sealing doors. The market previously relied on open freezers that were more costly to operate.

Related:

• Redner’s Market To Expand Within North Charlotte Plaza
• Two Expansions Considered On Lower Pottsgrove Agenda

The Great Wall of China

WASHINGTON DC – Jonathan H. Spadt, a Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township resident and president and chief executive officer of the intellectual property law firm RatnerPrestia in Valley Forge PA, is among those making presentations this week (Thursday and today, Oct. 27-28, 2011) during the Intellectual Property Retreat of the Association of Legal Administrators in Washington DC.

The retreat featured sessions focused on various segments of intellectual property practice.

Spadt was joined by RatnerPrestia senior counselor and strategic adviser, Paul Prestia, and its Chinese business representative, Matthew Ma, in discussing “Law Firms and the Business Culture in China.” They talked about ways to manage business in China, identified why a Chinese strategic alliance may valuable, and created a guideline for establishing alliances with Chinese firms.

One example: the high school marching band has been invited next year to two nationally promoted parades

POTTSTOWN PA – Music teachers in the Pottsgrove School District have the problem everybody wants. They’re too successful.

Students at Pottsgrove’s High, Middle, and three elementary schools have been pouring into their marching band and concert band programs since music department improvements were made two years ago, teachers Kathy Williams and Victor Holladay told the Board of School Directors on Tuesday (Oct. 25, 2011). Now the department is running out of instruments, band uniforms, and classroom space.

The Pottsgrove High School Marching Band during a performance earlier this month at nearby Owen J. Roberts High School

Better still, Pottsgrove’s talented players are attracting some national notice.

The award-winning high school marching band has been invited to participate next year in two well-publicized parades. It has been asked to hit the streets April 13-14 (2012) as part of the 100th anniversary of the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC, and Dec. 26-30 (2012) for the Holiday Bowl parade and activities in San Diego CA.

The department’s efforts have “paid off beautifully,” Williams told the directors, and “these are happy problems, good problems to have,” Holladay chimed in. A host of smiling faces at the school board table, two of whose members – Michael Neiffer and Fred Remelius – have been marching band volunteers for several years, readily agreed.

Addressing those problems? Well, that could cost money, Williams and Holladay acknowledged, in a 2012-2013 school year budget that increasingly seems like it could be tighter than that of the current year. They asked the board to consider:

• Creating a supplemental position of assistant band director to work with both the high and middle school bands. The high school marching band consists of about 80 students; the middle school marching band, about 160 students; and the middle school orchestra, about 45 students. “We’re really in need of some help,” particularly as eighth graders move from the middle to high school and bring their band interests with them, Williams said.

• Budgeting for instrument and uniform purchases. The middle school has 24 drummers and only 11 drums, Williams noted as an example. Band uniforms, last purchased five years ago, “still look fabulous” and will last another 5 years, Holladay predicted, “but now there are not enough of them for next year” in appropriate sizes. At a cost of about $260 each, he’s hoping the board will include $6,500 to buy 25 more.

• Allowing them to attract even more participation. The bands’ successes have students buzzing about music in general, Williams said; she wants to capitalize on that excitement by offering new classes in composition and beginning drumming. Teachers are already discussing collaboration to ensure some courses could provide credit for more than one subject area.

• Looking into buying portable extensions to build out the high school stage so all band members could fit onto it. And,

• Granting permission for the proposed trips next year to Washington and San Diego. Students pay their own way for each, they noted, so the district cost is comparatively low.

The last item was easiest. Directors urged Holladay to submit appropriate paperwork to the district office for consideration at the board’s next meeting. Its approval was virtually assured, board members said.

As for the other, more expensive, requests, the board declined to promise the moon … or even a spare snare drum, but told the teachers it would give the matter more thought as the budget shapes up.

Other coverage:

• Band outgrowing its uniforms, requests more (The Mercury)

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Oct. 25 meeting):

• Successful Pottsgrove Music Programs On A (Drum) Roll
• Color Him White With Anger Over Pottsgrove Vandalism
• No Disciplinary Changes, School Committee Suggests

Photo from the marching band’s Facebook page