The Sanatoga Post

POTTSTOWN PA – As Friday night’s (Oct. 21, 2011) football game between Pottsgrove and Pottstown high schools approaches, both the Falcon and Trojan teams want their fans to be thinking “pink.”

During the varsity game that starts at 7 p.m. in the stadium at Pottsgrove High, Kauffman Road, Pottstown PA, players and staff members of both teams will join in a community-wide awareness program to show those afflicted by cancer, as well as those who have survived it, that “they are never far from our thoughts,” Pottsgrove Athletic Director Gary DeRenzo says.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Pink is the favored color of breast cancer survivors. For Friday’s contest the Pottsgrove Falcons will wear pink jerseys, while the Pottstown Trojans will wear pink tape accessories on their uniforms. Pink balloons will adorn the entrance to the stadium. Cancer awareness posters will be displayed by the Pottsgrove SNAP Team.

There will be pink-related fund-raising efforts, too, with proceeds to benefit the Phoenixville Cancer Center.

• Pottsgrove’s student government will host a “pink tailgate party” outside the high school cafeteria area from 5:30-6:30 p.m., featuring food, drink and music before the start of the game.
• Members of Pottsgrove’s National Honor Society will be sell pink T-Shirts promoting the event at a cost of $10. They also will also be doing face painting and pink hair extensions with the help of Salon Twenty-Two owner and 1995 Pottsgrove grad Tracy Reinhart Heebner and her staff.

The cancer center “is a grass-roots program that utilizes every dollar on families in need,” DeRenzo explained. It serves meals to those who are unable to cook for themselves. It travels to homes of those in treatment to transport patients to appointments, and provides help to clean homes so they do not fall into disrepair. “In other words, they support all those everyday things that many of us take for granted,” he added.

“We hope (area residents) will attend and support not only high school football, but also students and community making a difference in the lives of those fighting cancer,” DeRenzo said.

Photo from Google Images

KING OF PRUSSIA PA – Employees of Traffic Planning and Design Inc. in Sanatoga, the TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce in Pottstown, and GlaxoSmithKline in Collegeville were among 164 area workers who hopped aboard their bicycles and pedaled themselves to and from their jobs regularly between May and September, the Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association (GVFTMA) says.

The association recently wrapped up the 2011 edition of its annual Bike to Work Challenge. The 20-week-long program encourages employees to commute by bike, with the twin goals of keeping vehicles off roadways while maintaining a healthy lifestyle. This year’s participants biked 42,651 miles, saved an estimated 1,975 gallons of fuel, and prevented 38,307 pounds of CO2 emissions from entering the air, it said earlier this month (Oct. 3, 2011).

• Read a story titled “GVF Bike To Work Challenge Ends Another Successful Season” and published Oct. 3 by GVFTMA, here.

Photo from Google Images

A costumed youngster creates his own craft beneath an awning that provided ample shade from the Indian Summer sun during Lower Pottsgrove's 2010 Fall Festival

SANATOGA PA – Double-check a calendar, then mark it properly for the now-changed date of Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township’s annual Fall Festival. It had been scheduled to occur this Sunday (Oct. 23, 2011), but has been moved back by a week to Oct. 30 (Sunday), and still will  begin at 1 p.m. in the upper level of Sanatoga Park, next to the Tot Lot playground, at 200 S. Sanatoga Rd., Pottstown PA. It’s free, and open to township residents and their guests.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Sponsored by the Parks and Recreation Board, the festival features hayrides, games, and (of course) a costume contest. Children participating in the contest must be registered in advance; forms for the purpose are available at the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown, and also can be completed at the festival.

POTTSTOWN PA – Personnel actions recommended by the Pottsgrove School District administration were accepted last Tuesday (Oct. 11, 2011) by the district Board of School Directors A total of 72 district positions were affected; they include:

Approved as professionals’ appointments:

• Lydia Ramer Hunter, part-time German teacher, $21,838;
• Jason Gault, After School Tutor – Middle School, $31 per hour;
• Rick Royce, After School Tutor – Middle School, $31 per hour;
• Danette Baum, After School Tutor – Middle School, $31 per hour;
• Joy Stathopoulos, After School Tutor – Middle School, $31 per hour;
• Tom Bailey, After School Tutor – Middle School, $31 per hour;
• Dan Lenko, After School Tutor – Middle School, $31 per hour;
• Ashley Lanyon, After School Tutor – Middle School, $31 per hour;
• Justin Giles, After School Tutor – Middle School, $31 per hour; and
• Lydia Ramer Hunter, After School Tutor – Middle School, $31 per hour.

Approved as professionals’ substitutes:

• Marybeth Coggshall, Substitute Teacher – Alternative Ed, $31 per hour;
• Jennifer Kurtz, Substitute Teacher, $100 per day;
• Christine Walsberg, Substitute Teacher, $100 per day; and
• Kierstin Levan, Substitute Teacher, $100 per day.

Approved as support staff resignations:

• Michael Leszkowicz, Grounds/Maintenance, effective Oct. 7, 2011.

Approved as support staff assignment or classification change:

• Melody Milkovits, from Intervention Tutor Ringing Rocks – 4.5 hours, to Intervention Tutor Ringing Rocks – 5 hours;
• Susan Wolbert, from Intervention Tutor Ringing Rocks – 4.5 hours, to Intervention Tutor Ringing Rocks – 5 hours;
• Carol Roth, from duty aide Ringing Rocks – 3 hours 25 minutes, to duty aide Ringing Rocks – 3 hours 35 minutes;
• Hollie Kasper, from duty aide Lower Pottsgrove – 2 hours 30 minutes, to Kid Writing Lower Pottsgrove – additional 30 minutes;
• Peg McKelvey, from duty aide Lower Pottsgrove – 2 hours 30 minutes, to Kid Writing Lower Pottsgrove – additional 30 minutes; and
• Antoinette Thrasher, from Custodian – Pottsgrove High, to Custodian – West Pottsgrove.

Approved as support staff appointments:

• Eric Wagner, Custodian – Ringing Rocks, $15.77 per hour.

Approved as substituts:

• Samantha Crist, Substitute Aide, $9.21-$9.76 per hour;
• Carol Maholland, Substitute Aide, $9.21-$9.76 per hour;
• Lauren Holoka, Substitute Aide, $9.21-$9.76 per hour;
• Julia Tye, Substitute Aide, $9.21-$9.76 per hour;
• William Berry, Substitute Custodian, $10.85 per hour;
• Timothy Bowden, Substitute Custodian, $10.85 per hour;
• John Caperilla, Substitute Custodian, $10.85 per hour;
• Thomas Harrar, Substitute Custodian, $10.85 per hour; and
• Clara Fair, Substitute Custodian, $10.85 per hour.

Approved for student teacher placement:

• Madeline Bieber of West Chester University, supervised by Sara Beaver of Lower Pottsgrove, from Jan. 25-May 10, 2012;
• Deborah Buckwalter of West Chester University, supervised by Regina Parke of Lower Pottsgrove, from Jan. 25-May 10, 2012; and
• Melissa McKechnie of Valley Forge Christian College, supervised by Jamie Folk of Lower Pottsgrove, from Oct. 17-Dec. 9, 2011.

Approved as resignations from supplemental positions:

• Kim Sheeler, Drama Production – High School.

Approved for attendance at conferences:

• Mary Hill, Lower Pottsgrove Elementary teacher, and Mary Bradley, Ringing Rocks Elementary teacher, to attend MCIU Fundations training. Cost $260. Substitute coverage is required.
• Doriann Parker, district reading specialist, and Christy Kirsch, teacher on special assignment, to attend How Educators Must Navigate Through SAS, PVAAS, and Other Resources to Reach the 2013 Destination. Cost $479. Substitute coverage is not required.
• Stephan Kincaid, Pottsgrove Middle School guidance counselor, and Karen Martin, Ringing Rocks Elementary guidance counselor, to attend Anxiety Disorders in Children and Adolescents. Cost $471. Substitute coverage is not required.
• Stephan Kincaid, Pottsgrove Middle School guidance counselor, to attend Pennsylvania School Counselors Association 56th Annual 2011 Conference. Cost $560. Substitute coverage is not required.
• Karen Martin, Ringing Rocks Elementary guidance counselor, to attend Treating Anxiety in Youth: Clinical Strategies. Cost $145. Substitute coverage is not required.
• Shellie Feola, assistant superintendent, Todd Davies, director of education and assessments, Krista Rundell, secondary teacher on special assignment, Christy Kirsch, teacher on special assignment, and Doriann Parker, district reading specialist, to attend Digging Deeper into the Common Core State Standards: Going Beyond Awareness to Implementation. Cost $1,350 per person. No substitute coverage is required.
• Cynthia Scherer, Pottsgrove High School art teacher, Gwyneth Thomas, Pottsgrove High School art teacher, Kenton McGlone, Pottsgrove High School art teacher, Hether Bolyn-Becker, Pottsgrove Middle School art teacher, and Joy VanRuler, West Pottsgrove Elementary art teacher, to attend Seamless and Sustained: The Integrated Curriculum. Cost $135 per person. Substitute coverage is required.
• Eileen Forsyth, Pottsgrove High School gifted support, to attend Challenging the Gifted Conference 2011. Cost $175. Substitute coverage is required.
• Todd Davies, director of education and assessments, Rose Bilinski, Pottsgrove Middle School teacher, Amy Long, Lower Pottsgrove Elementary teacher and a Pottsgrove High School math teacher (TBD) to attend Five Easy Steps to a Balanced Math Program. Cost $550 per person. Substitute coverage is required.

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Oct. 11 meeting):

• Pottsgrove Board Personnel Decisions Affect 72 Positions
• Teachers Helping Classes Succeed, Newsletter Contends
• Poor Math, Reading At Pottsgrove High Frustrates Board

Photo from Clipart.com

Lower Pottsgrove's municipal building.

SANATOGA PA – Members of the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township Board of Commissioners’ budget committee apparently need more time to consider recommendations for next year’s spending plan.

The committee intended to meet twice – Oct. 4 and 18 – on Tuesday afternoons this month, Manager Rodney Hawthorne announced earlier. Another date, Oct. 27 (2011; Thursday), now is also scheduled, according to an advertisement today (Oct. 19) in The (Pottstown PA) Mercury newspaper, the municipality’s publication of record for legal notices.

The next meeting will begin at 4:30 p.m. in the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Sanatoga PA. Those discussions are separate from the full board’s regular monthly meetings. Committee sessions in years past have run for as little as one hour and as long and 2-1/2 hours.

Work on the budget has been under way for several weeks. The spending plan must be approved by commissioners before year’s end; public discussions on the document usually are held in late November or early December.

Although the notice does not specifically invite public input during the committee’s meetings, comments likely will not be denied, either.

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove 2012 budget):

• Township Schedules Another Budget Meeting Oct. 27
• We’ll Gladly Pay You In 2012 For A Truck Ordered Now
• Open Budget Meetings, He Complains, Not That Open
• Township Committee Planning Two Budget Meetings
• Thanks To Survey Input, Township Preparing Trash Bids
• Pottstown Library Asks Township For Higher Funding

POTTSTOWN PA – By tomorrow (Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011), the South Keim Street bridge crossing the Schuylkill River between the borough of Pottstown and North Coventry (PA) Township will have been officially closed for 12 months. Montgomery County officials initially predicted it would be barricaded for only eight weeks.

Those same officials would likely agree it’s been a rocky year for the bridge that once carried 9,400 vehicles a day from the river’s banks.

The Keim Street span across the Schuylkill River will have been closed one year this week

The bridge was closed temporarily Oct. 19, 2010, when structural problems were suspected. The county later determined it to be unsound, closed it permanently, and established new detours to get around it. Cost estimates for its repair or replacement ranged into the millions of dollars. At one point, Pottstown Borough Council created an uproar by suggesting removal of the bridge so that money, if allocated, might be used on other projects.

Because of the detours, a significant increase in motor vehicle traffic now travels east and west on Industrial Highway through Lower Pottsgrove to use the Hanover Street, Pottstown, bridge for crossing the Schuylkill. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation several months ago installed signals at Industrial Highway and Moser Road to help control traffic flow there.

Think of those events now, Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township engineering representative Chad Camburn said earlier this month, as somewhat ancient history. Although the bridge is still closed the good news, he told members of the Board of Commissioners during their Oct. 3 meeting, is that it’s officially important … again.

Members of the Pottstown Area Traffic Group, an organization formed to deal with potential traffic problems when the closure became effective, “now all agree the bridge is important to them and should be re-opened,” said Camburn, who is employed by township engineers Bursich Associates. That includes Pottstown and North Coventry, the two municipalities most affected by the closure.

Moreover, Camburn said, Chester County recognizes it must play a role in refurbishing the bridge, which could take years to be both funded and completed. Cost-sharing alternatives between Montgomery and Chester counties are being explored, he told commissioners.

Commissioners had no public comment on the traffic group’s consensus, but thanked Camburn for the report.

Related:

• Wednesday Anniversary: Keim Bridge Closed 1 Year
• Next Move On Keim Street Bridge Possible Next Week
• New Traffic Solution On Keim Bridge Detour Route
• Now Official: Keim Bridge Closed For ‘Foreseeable Future’
• With Keim Bridge Out, Signal Coming In To Lower Pottsgrove
• Supervisor Prefers New, Re-Aligned Bridge At South Keim
• Keim Street Bridge To Be Closed At Least Eight Weeks

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ meeting of Oct. 3):

• Wednesday Anniversary: Keim Bridge Closed 1 Year
• Red Tape Stalls Repairs At 422 And Armand Hammer
• Townships Talk About Coordinating Fun And Games
• Local Fire Crews In Schools This Week, Teaching Safety
• Township Bends To Give Garbage Bidders Choices
• The Problems At Pruss Hill Lurk Beneath Its Bridge
• Police Detail At Limerick Hearings Cost $1,468
• Pruss Hill Bridge Might Re-Open With Weight Limit

The former Sanatoga Union Sunday School

By Beth Scherer
of the Lower Pottsgrove Historical Society,
for The Sanatoga Post

SANATOGA PA – During more than 100 years of commercial and residential growth along East High Street in Sanatoga village, one of its earliest and most enduring features has been an unassuming and quaint brick chapel.

East High is a bustling thoroughfare today, filled with businesses like Pottstown Memorial Medical Center, Sunnybrook, CVS, Thriftway, K-mart, Sanatoga Fire Company, The Silver Shoppe, Cutillo’s, Sanatoga Animal Hospital, Sanatoga Corporation, Hill Top, and Turkey Hill. They’re accompanied by a couple of shopping centers, numerous doctor offices, other small businesses and many homes.

Back in 1891, however, the highway carried far less (and far slower) traffic. Much of the land along its shoulders was undeveloped fields and forest. And built to rise above the treetops was the bell tower of the old Sanatoga Union Sunday School, which now is headquarters for the Lower Pottsgrove Historical Society, 2341 E. High St., Pottstown PA.

Restoring the chapel is a continuing project of the historical society. Members obtained the deed to the structure during its centennial year, 1991, only six years after the society itself was founded. Its exterior brick has been refurbished and re-pointed.

Its real treasures, though, lie within, where youngsters once learned about the Bible while seated in pews there. The former chapel is recognized as a functioning museum, and is filled with many items depicting the vast history of Lower Pottsgrove PA) Township. The society is intent upon preserving the township’s heritage.

As with most non-profit organizations, the society depends on its membership fees and holds fund-raisers to pay its bills. It’s well-attended annual Strawberry Festival, yard sales, raffles, and public donations throughout the years have kept the society afloat, as have the time, energy and dedication given by its members.

The society this month will conduct a membership drive on Oct. 30 (2011; Sunday) during its open house from 1-4 p.m. It’s trying to grow, just as East High Street has, and encourages the public to come see what’s inside the chapel now.

Editor’s note: The Lower Pottsgrove Historical Society was formed in 1985 to share the heritage of Lower Pottsgrove Township with its residents. It meets on the second Wednesday of every month at its museum and offices in the former Sanatoga Chapel, 2341 E. High St., Sanatoga PA. Author and society President Beth Scherer writes about Lower Pottsgrove history monthly for The Post.

Articles in this series:

• Timeless Treasures Fill Historical Society Chapel Offices
• Hilltop’s Still Making History, 59 Years After Opening
• Historic Answer To Heat: Township Swimmin’ Holes
• Need A Local Hotel? There Once Were Four, Right Here
• What’s Changed Most In ‘Grove Grads? Their Schools
• Shantz’s Mound Presence Made Sanatoga ‘Pheverous’
• Stars Danced In Lower Pottsgrove Long Before TV Show
• Never Heard Of Sanatoga’s Longview Hotel? Here’s Why

Photo from the Lower Pottsgrove Historical Society

POTTSTOWN PA – Parents of students attending Lower Pottsgrove, West Pottsgrove and Ringing Rocks elementary schools can learn more about sharing the love of family reading – including emphasis on phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension – during a Family Reading Night scheduled for Oct. 27 (2011; Thursday) beginning at 6:30 p.m. in Lower Pottsgrove Elementary School, Buchert Road, Pottstown PA.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Reading Specialist Doriann Parker says the event will be accompanied by activities parents can practice and take home with them to enhance their child’s reading skills. For more information, call 610-323-0903, Ext. 3208, or contact her by e-mail, here.

Advance registration is requested by Oct. 24. Registration forms can be downloaded from the Pottsgrove School District website, here.

Photo from Clipart.com

With the blue and white Earth serving as a backdrop, the International Space Station is seen from Space Shuttle Atlantis in this 2008 NASA photo

POTTSTOWN PA – Keep your eyes on the evening skies over Pottstown now (Monday, Oct. 17) through the end of the month and, if you’re in the right place at the right time, you’ll be able to see the International Space Station whiz by.

“It will appear as a steady white pinpoint of light moving across the sky,” the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said. If weather conditions are right, though, “the Space Station can be seen with the unaided eye or through binoculars,” it added.

Because the space station travels quickly (tens of thousands of miles an hour), and because Pottstown is a relatively small spot on the planet, the viewing window of opportunity on any given day doesn’t last long. In fact, the longest period it will be seen in the sky over the borough (about 5 minutes), according to NASA, will be tonight between 7:17 and 7:22.

Look up at the night sky at an angle of about 62 degrees, the space agency suggests, and train your eyes toward the southwest. If you stood on the corner of North Pleasant View Road and East High Street in Sanatoga village, for example, you’d turn your head in the direction of K-Mart and the Sanatoga Thriftway, and look toward the top of the nearby water tower. Then start scanning for that fast-moving light. It will leave the area headed east-northeast.

There are 13 other days during October in which the space station can be spied above, usually for as much as 4 minutes and sometimes for less than a minute. It all depends on the station’s orbit and speed, and Earth’s rotation. On at least two nights this week – Wednesday (Oct. 19) and Friday (Oct. 21) – you get not one but two chances to find the space station.

• NASA has published a table of sighting dates and times for the remainder of the month here.

NASA routinely encourages sky-watching like this, not only for the space station but also for other satellites, seasonal constellations and the moon. It even suggests groups of people get together and hold “star parties” as regular events.

As if you needed an excuse to hold a party …

Space station photo from NASA

HARRISBURG — A new rating system proposed by Gov. Tom Corbett for public school teachers seeks to ensure that students are receiving the most efficient education in a $26 billion taxpayer-funded system, The Pennsylvania Independent online news service reported Saturday (Oct. 15, 2011).

Some school districts have barely 50 percent of their students performing at grade level, yet more than 99 percent of teachers statewide get straight A’s in performance evaluations, according to the governor. That’s prompted him to announce a new initiative that seeks to reward good teachers and filter out ineffective ones, The Independent reported.

Overhauling the evaluation system is part of an education-reform package it said Corbett wants the General Assembly to pass before the end of the year.

“The numbers just don’t fit the result,” Corbett told the service. “Right now, the evaluation system is merely a rubber stamp, and it must change if our students are to be the beneficiaries of good, committed educators.”

• Read a story by reporter Eric Boehm, titled “Corbett plans to grade teachers more like students” and published Saturday in The Independent, here.

Graphic from The Pennsylvania Independent