The Sanatoga Post

The assembled 2011 Pottsgrove High School Marching Band

POTTSTOWN PA – March on, Pottsgrove High School band members; march on. The district Board of School Directors said Tuesday (Feb. 14, 2012) it’s willing to put an additional $21,000 worth of pep into your step.

Directors voted to use a portion of about $60,000 raised in the district’s local merchant marketing campaign to pay in advance for marching band uniforms and percussion equipment. That allows the high school music department to place orders for those items before the end of March, ensuring their delivery for the 2012-2013 fall band season. Otherwise, it might not have gotten them until the season was almost over.

Band members, parents, and department heads applauded after the board decision.

Music education in Pottsgrove is happily suffering from a success problem, teachers Kathy Williams and Victor Holladay told the Board of School Directors last October (2011). Dozens of Pottsgrove Middle School students headed for the high school next year have already indicated they intend to join the band. Dozens more are ready to follow them from the elementary school music program in later years.

“The numbers are drastically improving,” Holladay said with a smile. “The band will more than double its size next year.”

Its fast growth, and its invitations to play later this spring in locations like Washington DC, have caused an immediate demand for percussion instruments valued at about $12,400 and 25 new band uniforms that will cost about $9,050, he explained Tuesday.

The department has already added those items to its 2012-2013 budget request. Problem is, Business Administrator David Nester noted, Holladay can’t spend what the board hasn’t yet approved … and potential acceptance of any budget remains months away. If the order is delayed, band members wouldn’t have their needs met until November or December.

Board President Michael Neiffer, who is a band volunteer and whose children are band members, notably abstained from voting. He announced his conflict of interest at the start of the discussion, but nonetheless advocated board approval of the advance purchase. “We don’t want to nickle-and-dime this,” he said specifically of the uniforms.

The money will be taken from revenue raised under the district’s partnership with the MarketStreet Sports Group of Lancaster PA. MarketStreet make a business of attracting local, regional and national companies to school districts primarily for advertising and promotional purposes. In Pottsgrove, it has signed the TriCounty Area Federal Credit Union, Mishock Physical Therapy and Associates, and Hallman Retirement Neighborhoods as clients.

The $60,000 fund was initially planned to be used for improvements and renovations to the high school girls’ softball field, Nester said. Enough money may be left to do that work too, he said.

Related:

• March On! Pottsgrove OKs Buying Instruments, Uniforms
• Successful Pottsgrove Music Programs On A (Drum) Roll

Related (to the Pottsgrove Board of School Directors’ Feb. 14 meeting):

• March On! Pottsgrove OKs Buying Instruments, Uniforms
• Pottsgrove Multi-Tasks Through MCIU Budget Approval
• State Suspends $3.2M In Ringing Rocks’ Reimbursement

Girl Scout Senior Troop 49 met in Lower Pottsgrove in the 1950s

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

SANATOGA PA – It occurs every year at this time, that gnawing hunger for Thin Mints, Shortbread, Peanut Butter Patties, and Caramel Delites. Those and other Girl Scout cookies are as much a part of the snack-time landscape across Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township as anywhere else.

Lower Pottsgrove Brownies bake holiday cookies for state hospital residents in 1959

Local troops during 2012 are marking the Scouts’ 100th anniversary. To commemorate the milestone, a new lemon flavored cookie – Savannah Smiles – was introduced this year to the popular cookie line-up.

Girl Scouting has been active in Lower Pottsgrove since the 1940s. The Sanatoga Grange was among the first Girl Scout troop sponsors in the area. Pottsgrove schools have also sponsored troops throughout the years.

Troops of the Pottstown Council of Girl Scouts helped earn money through cookie sales in 1956 for the purchase of Camp Forest Glen, which was near Huff’s Church. They enjoyed troop and day camping there for a number of years.

Many area women have volunteered their time and energy as Girl Scout leaders.  One of the most influential was the late Sally Moyer, former secretary at Lower Pottsgrove Elementary School, and former township treasurer. Girl Scouting opportunities in the township increased in the early 1970s due to her efforts. Her very active Cadet Troop 470 was sponsored by the Sanatoga Fire Company.

If you’re hungry for cookies this week, they’re still available. The Girl Scouts’ Cookie Finder website reports cookies will be sold by troops at these and many other locations:

• Today (Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2012) through Friday (Feb. 17) from noon to 9 p.m. at Coventry Mall, 351 W. Schuylkill Rd., Pottstown PA;
• Saturday (Feb. 18) from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. at he Philadelphia Premium Outlets, 18 W. Lightcap Rd., Limerick PA; and
• Saturday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. in Boscov’s Department Store at Coventry Mall.

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 from April through December 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:

• In Township, Scouts And Cookies (Yum!) Have A History
• Family Appliance Business Has Long History In Santa-toga
• Love NASCAR Now? You Would Have Adored Sanatoga
• 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

THEIR FIRST WIN OF 2012 – Members of the Pottsgrove High School’s Indoor Percussion Ensemble won their first competitive outing of the year Saturday (Feb. 1, 2012), with a judges’ score of 72.30 over Egg Harbor High School, which scored 64.40. Although many of the eight groups that entered the percussion segment of the contest fall into different classifications, Pottsgrove’s score ranked second-highest among all competitors. The show was sponsored by the Cavalcade of Bands Association at Wissahickon High School in Ambler PA. The ensemble is next scheduled to compete Feb. 18 (Saturday) in a contest at Ephrata High School.

• Watch a video of the ensemble, above, as they played Thursday (Feb. 9, 2012) for family and friends at the Pottsgrove High School gym, or see it at The Post’s YouTube channel. Pottsgrove graduate and composer Kevin Smith, whose “Dreamscapes” piece is played by the ensemble, opens the video by talking about the creative process.

POTTSTOWN PA – The performance “window” for members of the Pottsgrove High School Indoor Percussion Ensemble, which enters its second year of competition Saturday (Feb. 11, 2012) at a show in Ambler PA, is only eight weeks long. But as the group (some of whom are pictured above) learned last year, that’s time enough to earn awards from judges, praise from peers, and admiration from parents.

The 12-student ensemble left early Saturday for Wissahickon High School to join its first contest of 2012 against a field of eight other groups, many of them well-seasoned veterans. They’ll perform at 11:40 a.m., and then must wait until awards are presented at 5:30 p.m. to see how they fared. “It’s going to be a long day,” percussion instructor Eric Williamson noted.

It’s worth it, ensemble members contend. The competitions are sponsored by the Cavalcade of Bands Association Inc., the same group that oversees shows in which Pottsgrove’s far larger marching band competes. Doing well there brings honor to the Falcons, the Pottsgrove School District, and themselves, they say.

They’ve spent weeks since November in practice, perfecting their techniques and knowledge of this year’s piece. It’s an original composition called “Dreamcatchers,” written by Pottsgrove grad Kevin Smith (watching the group perform, below) and intended to give sonic definition to a young child’s dreams and nightmares. Parents, teachers and friends who heard it performed during a preview Thursday night (Feb. 9) in the high school gym loved it. “It was very listen-able,” one said.

The ensemble got started last year, and won honors during its first run. “That’s what got us thinking, ‘how can we do even better?’,” Smith said. “We were talking about this year even before last year ended,” he added, grinning.

The group is as different as its surprising initial results. They’re not a bunch of hard-core drummers, Williamson explained; about half its members play string, wind and other instruments with the marching band. Of the 12, five are not yet in high school. That speaks to their versatility, and the ensemble’s ability to continue building successes over several more years.

As it strides into the Wissahickon show, visitors there will see evidence of one more way in which the ensemble defies tradition. Rather than usual uniforms, and in keeping with the theme of Smith’s composition, its members will wear pajamas. They’ll be comfortable, warm and, they hope, winners too.

• See a Post gallery of seven photos, below, taken during the Thursday night preview show. Click on any thumbnail image to enlarge it.

On its way to the Cluster, thanks to Wegman's

POTTSTOWN PA – Wegman’s Food Markets, which operates a store in Collegeville and will soon open one in King of Prussia, is making a contribution this morning (Thursday, Feb. 9, 2012) that is likely to help hundreds of hungry families who rely on the free food pantry at the outreach center of the Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities, 57 N. Franklin St.

A Wegman’s driver is scheduled to pilot a 50-foot-long tractor trailer filled with the supermarket chain’s donated food into the outreach center’s receiving docks at 10 a.m., according to the Cluster.

Philabundance, a non-profit organization that distributes food to pantries for the needy across the greater Philadelphia area, is experiencing a temporary shortage which would have threatened this month’s Cluster delivery. Wegman’s, which is represented on the Cluster board, volunteered to step in and fill the gap.

It’s not the first time, either. Back in September 2009, only three weeks before the chain opened its Collegeville store, it dropped 17,000 pounds of food at the Cluster’s doors. That load included 20 pallets of canned goods, cereals, snacks, assorted beverages, condiments and baking mixes and ingredients.

At a time when local families’ needs are increasing and available resources are declining, said Cluster Executive Director Barbara Wilhelmy, both donations and the personal assistance of volunteers are greatly appreciated. Although financial support is always welcomed, donors can also deliver supplies to the outreach center themselves. Its most current (Jan. 13) wish list of needs for the food pantry and elsewhere can be found here.

Several Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township residents and ministers serve on the Cluster board or as spiritual advisers.

Photo from GoogleImages

POTTSTOWN PA – Members of Pottsgrove High School’s acclaimed classical auditioned vocal ensemble, the Choraliers, will participate next Monday (Feb. 13, 2012) at 7 p.m. in the annual Tri-County Honors Choir Concert to be held at Spring-Ford Area High School on South Lewis Road in Royersford.

• These events have been added to The Post calendar.

Selected singers from Pottsgrove, Norristown, Spring-Ford and Plymouth-Whitemarsh high schools have been rehearsing together since November (2011) “to produce a concert of gorgeous music,” Pottsgrove Director Of Choral Music Cynthia Foust said Tuesday (Feb. 7), and she expects they’ll be even busier Monday with final preparations and “an entire day of rehearsal … to polish our music.”

Representing Pottsgrove are students Abby Huddock, Andrea Paganelli, Anne Fischer, Danielle Gambino, Jasmyn West, Rhiannon Levengood, Rowan Meador, Stephanie French, Aaron Jaffe, Joe Daye, Justin Hernandez, TJ Galamba, Ashleigh Kleinschmidt, Emily Weaver, Erin Amole, Felicia Nester, Jazmin Reddick, Jennifer Korb, Kelsey Lloyd, Krisina Antonio, Shaina Wood, Tiara Mitchel, Andrew Koss, Jeremy Downey, Vincent Pellechio, Nick Wolfe, and Trevor Noll.

Choral directors involved in addition to Foust are Yvonne O’Dea, Spring-Ford; Amy LaRue, Plymouth-Whitemarsh; Lynn Danoff and Bruce Tonkin, Norristown. Retired Spring-Ford director David Nicol assisted as pianist during rehearsals.

Tickets for the show, available at the door, cost $7 for adults and $5 for seniors; students will be admitted free.

And, as they say in show business, that’s not all!

Pottsgrove’s Choral Department presents its pops concert, “A Night on Broadway,” on Feb. 16 (Thursday) beginning at 7 p.m. in the auditorium of Pottsgrove High School, Kauffman Road, Pottstown PA.

The Pottsgrove Show and Concert choirs will open and close the concert with selections from “A Chorus Line” and “Les Miserables.”

Solos from various musicals will be performed by Erin Amole, Brianna Pettiti, Anastasia Koss, Karley Moser, Jennifer Korb, Emily Weaver, Krisinia Antonio, Anne Fisher, Andrea Paganelli, Passione Nettle, Danielle Buchanan, Rebecca Smith, Jazmin Reddick, Sara Onyemaobin, Vincent Pellechio, Shayna Flint, Felecia Nester and TJ Galamba. Robin Ward will be piano accompanist.

Tickets, also available at the door, cost $5 for adults and $3 for students and seniors. Maroon and White cards will be honored.

Finaly, Foust notes the choral department will conduct its annual Bingo and Bling Night fund-raiser Feb. 24 (Friday) at the high school beginning at 7 p.m. Filled Longaberger-brand baskets and sterling silver Silpada-brand jewelry are among the prizes offered. Tickets cost $20 and can be bought at the door or in advance from Foust by calling 610-326-5105 Ext. 6501.

LIMERICK PA – Exelon Nuclear, which is credited for its financial support of Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township’s summer concert series, on Tuesday (Feb. 7, 2012) delivered a $150,000 donation to its host municipality, neighboring Limerick Township, to pay for programs and facilities of the Limerick and Linfield Fire companies, its police department, and local parks and recreation.

The check, presented to the Board of Supervisors by Limerick Generating Station (LGS) Site Vice President Bill Maguire, represented the fourth installment of a $600,000 Exelon contribution to the township during the past four years.

“Our goal at (LGS) is to be both a leader in our community and in the nuclear industry,” Maguire said. “Exelon employees have been, and will continue to be, deeply involved in the community, and this contribution demonstrates our ongoing commitment to Limerick … and the region.”

Municipal officials welcomed Exelon’s gift. LGS, supervisors’ chairman Kara Shuler said, “is a valuable member of our community and we look forward to having them here for many years.”

Exelon is currently in the process of renewing its nuclear Units 1 and 2 operating licenses for another 20 years. The station is located at 3146 Sanatoga Rd. in Limerick, just east of the Lower Pottsgrove-Limerick townships’ line.

Exelon spokeswoman Dana Melia noted the company also contributes more than $400,000 each year to regional charities and community organizations.

Photo by Sean Bonner via YFrog

WHITE ON THE GROUND, CANDY CANE IN THE WINDOW – “Mother Nature does some beautiful work,” notes Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township historical researcher Carol Isett, who received a candy cane amaryllis bulb for Christmas from her son and his family. Husband Glenn Isett, membership secretary for the township Historical Society, took this photo just as the bulb “was at the peak of its blooming time,” Carol reports. The arrival of (rare, so far this year) snow Wednesday (Feb. 8, 2012), which lightly covered the ground and trees, seemed like a perfect time to show it off.

Photo by Glenn Isett

SANATOGA PA – Traffic may move more slowly along South Park Road in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township, following two public hearings the Board of Commissioners has scheduled for Feb. 23 (2012; Thursday) at the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Sanatoga PA.

The board plans a hearing at which it will consider setting a 30-mph speed limit on South Park Road, which runs from East High Street directly into the upper (southeast) portion of Sanatoga Park. The park, already busy with joggers, children on playground equipment, and intense soccer games, is likely to get even busier this summer with baseball games, board members learned from Assistant Manager Alyson Elliott.

During the second hearing, commissioners will consider installing dual stop signs at the intersection of South Park and Eastern Street, as well as at the entrance and exit driveway for the park.

The hearings were authorized during the board’s Feb. 6 meeting, and were advertised Wednesday (Feb. 8; here and here) in The (Pottstown PA) Mercury newspaper, the township’s publication of record for legal notices. All the traffic-related measures are intended to increase safety of movement in and out of the park, as well as for residents whose homes line the road, Manager Rodney Hawthorne said.

The park’s soccer field, at its south end, has already seen significant use, Elliott told board members. Its baseball stadium, which in years past has been described as an underused asset, will host several games this year, she added.

Local baseball organizations have indicated they would be willing to help with the field’s maintenance and upkeep, too. The township is currently writing agreements to formalize those arrangements, Elliot said.

Related (to the Lower Pottsgrove Board of Commissioners’ Feb. 6 meeting):

• Speed Limit, Stop Signs Topics Of Park Road Hearings
• Talk About Really Dirty Crime: Township Trash Thefts
• Settlement May Be Near In Rupert Road Bridge Lawsuit

POTTSTOWN PA – Pottstown community radio station WBZH 1370-AM, promoting itself as “The Buzz,” plans later this week to announce what it called “the launch of a major campaign … designed to assist revitalization efforts throughout the Tri-County (Montgomery, Chester and Berks counties) area,” it said in an e-mail Sunday (Feb. 5, 2012).

Details of the campaign are to be revealed during a press conference Tuesday (Feb. 7) at 5 p.m. at the station’s broadcasting studios and offices at 224 Maugers Mill Rd. Pottstown PA, according to Programming Director Dave Devlin.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

WBZH is the reincarnation of former long-time radio station WPAZ-AM, which served Pottstown since 1952 but was closed and taken off the air in December 2009 by Great Scott Broadcasting and the remaining members of its founding Scott family. Delaware-based Great Scott sold the station to Four Rivers Broadcasting, and it re-opened in January 2011 with community-oriented programming, much of it created by volunteers.

“We are a partner in the revitalization of Pottstown and the growth of the surrounding area, providing a voice for the citizens and organizations in our area,” the station website said.

The station has expanded upon local interviews and high school sports broadcasts that seemed to make WPAZ such a listening staple, and also added programs with a wide variety of musical styles. last month it also launched a community calendar to collect dates and times of area events and happenings, and most recently issued a call to broadcast local musicians and bands.

Photo from Google Images