The Sanatoga Post

Lower Pottsgrove's municipal building

SANATOGA PA – Staff members at the Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Sanatoga, will enjoy Monday (Jan. 16, 2012) as a day off. The offices there will be closed for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. federal holiday.

Normal business hours resume Tuesday (Jan. 17) at 8 a.m.

POTTSTOWN PA – Talk about rhythm and moves, and you might well be talkin’ ’bout Pottsgrove High School Interim Principal Yolanda Williams.

It was the last day of school before winter vacation (Friday, Dec. 23, 2011) when the principal was challenged by some of her students to a little friendly dance competition in front of the Nintendo Wii video game console. Was she up to it? Bet’cher boots.

Williams followed a four-and-a-half-minute Michael Jackson tune with only a missed step here and there, but her moves easily kept up with those of the far younger students. She, and they, laughed through the exercise, and seemed to have a good time.

• Watch a video (above) of the principal at play, or see it at the YouTube channel of 999Hellkid.

POTTSTOWN PA – The New Year’s Day tradition that involves turning warm, sometimes scantily clad bodies into human popsicles – the Polar Bear Plunge at Pottstown’s Riverfront Park off College Drive – returns Sunday (Jan. 1, 2012) with the anticipated dip into the icy Schuylkill River and other activities that make the event worth attending and watching.

Hundreds of onlookers, and a few dozen brave but shivering swimmers, arrive every year at the park for the fun. It’s free, it’s open to the public, and organizers say they’ll practically guarantee visitors will have a good time. The swim registration starts at 9 a.m., followed by a couple of speeches at 10, the lighting of the borough’s flesh-warming bonfire at 10:15, and the plunge itself at 10:30.

Unless you plan to get wet of your own accord – that is, you’re willing to take a dive – better bring an umbrella along. Most weather forecasters predict rain Sunday, although the high temperature should reach 51 degrees. That’s later in the day, sadly; the morning thermometer is likely to read somewhere in the 30-degree range.

• Want an advance peek at what’ll happen? Watch a video (above) of last year’s (2011) edition of the plunge, or see it at The Post’s YouTube user account.

Pallets are already stacked in the park by the riverside, ready to be set afire Sunday

Other coverage:

• New Year’s Day event keeps growing (The Mercury)

The K-Mart store on East High Street in Sanatoga

SANATOGA PA – The fate of the K-Mart department store that occupies the largest building in the Sanatoga Village shopping center on East High Street isn’t yet known, following an announcement Tuesday (Dec. 27, 2011) by its owner, Sears Holdings Corp., of plans to close up to 120 under-performing Sears and K-Mart locations.

But the local K-Mart has weathered similar storms before – it survived Sears’ last round of closings earlier this year, and others in previous years – and surely its fans hope it will do so again.

“Terrible holiday sales, during what is the most crucial time of the year for retailers,” prompted Sears’ decision, according to an Associated Press story.

It noted that “Sears has yet to determine which stores will be closed, but there has been a clear shift in where the retailer will devote its resources.” It expects to “concentrate on cash-generating stores” rather than prop up marginally performing ones. Sears would not discuss how many, if any, jobs would be cut.

A list of the stores to be closed is expected to be made available separately.

The company, which operates Kmart stores, Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Land’s End, has seen rival department stores like Macy’s Inc. and discounters like Target Corp. steal customers away, according to The AP. The economy, it added, put a sustained financial squeeze on Sears’ most loyal customers, those in the middle-income bracket.

Sears regularly extended its namesake’s branded products into the K-Mart retail mix. At the Sanatoga store during this year’s Christmas holiday sales, for example, Kenmore-brand appliances were on display in the electronics department, and Craftsman-branded tools were being offered in the hardware department.

Sears, based in Hoffman Estates IL, said the closings would generate $140 to $170 million in cash from inventory sales. The retailer anticipates additional proceeds from the sale or sublease of real estate holdings.

Other coverage:

• Sources say Coventry Mall Sears among those to be closed (The Mercury)
• Sears plans to close up to 120 stores (WFMZ-TV)

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

It's still atop the hill in Sanatoga, although the exterior has changed

SANATOGA PA – One of Sanatoga’s best known home-grown businesses was busy again during the just-ended holiday season, helping would-be Santas fulfill the gift hopes of loved ones and family members. For those who wished for a new oven in which to bake cookies, or hungered for a high-definition flat-screen television, many opted to buy from the family-operated Sanatoga Corporation, 2783 E. High St.

Sanatoga Corporation has served  Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township residents and the greater Pottstown community for more 80 years.

Door-to-door radio sales launched the Sanatoga Radio Company

Oliver Wittenmyer, born as Oliver Doner, was the company’s founder. Oliver grew up in Sanatoga and started the Sanatoga Radio Company in 1925, by traveling to New York City to purchase radio parts. He then assembled the radios and sold them door to door.

Radio sales were eventually discontinued, but by then Oliver had expanded his product line to include home appliances. Sanatoga Radio Company soon became a full-service appliance store, and in the early 1960s the name of the store was changed to Sanatoga Corporation.

Charles Wittenmyer bought the business from his father in 1970, and remains its owner.  The store and showroom remain in the original location, and Charles’ children – Bryan, Karen, and Connie – all are involved in the business, along with a long-time staff.

Charles Wittenmyer was a recent guest speaker at the Lower Pottsgrove Historical Society.  He is a distant relative of Annie Wittenmyer, civil war heroine and Sanatoga native, and he spoke of Annie’s many contributions to the community. In addition, Sanatoga Corporation recently donated a new television and outdoor lighting to the society headquarters at the former Sanatoga Chapel on East High Street. The TV will be used for Lower Pottsgrove history presentations; the lighting will be a great addition to improvements at the chapel.

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:

• 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

Photo from the Lower Pottsgrove Historical Society

Graphic from Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township

Lower Pottsgrove's municipal building

SANATOGA PA – If you’ve got business to conduct with officials in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township, it’ll have to wait until after the Christmas holiday.

The township municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Pottstown PA, will be closed and – with the exception of police department employees – the people who work there will be on vacation from Friday (Dec. 23, 2011) through Monday (Dec. 26).

Regular office hours will resume Tuesday (Dec. 27) at 8 a.m.

MAKING HIS ROUNDS ON THE WEST SIDE – Volunteers of Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township’s Ringing Hill Fire Company took on the happy duty Sunday (Dec. 18, 2011) of accompanying Santa Claus on his annual visit to residential communities within its coverage area (above). Wearing sunglasses to reduce the glare of a bright morning, the jolly elf found families along Lynn Drive near Pottsgrove High School had arisen early to see him and say hello (below). They were rewarded for the effort with small gift bags filled with goodies.

A parade of Ringing Hill apparatus (above), featuring Santa at the center, made its way across portions of the township for several hours, bringing joy and good cheer.

POTTSTOWN PA – They’re tuning up their vocal chords at Lower Pottsgrove Elementary School for next week’s annual holiday sing-along.

Every child attending the Buchert Road, Pottstown PA school, and their parents too, will be invited to join in singing holiday songs Dec. 23 (2011; Friday) beginning at 2 p.m. The song fest will be led by conductor Rodney Boyer, and teachers will also present the student band and orchestra to entertain.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

The performances will be followed by parties at 2:50 p.m. in individual classrooms. Due to limited classroom space and student safety concerns, only homeroom parents and registered parent helpers will be in the classrooms for the parties.

The school will be close Dec. 24 through Jan. 2 (2012) for winter vacation.

Illustration from Google Images

POTTSTOWN PA – It’s during this time of year that Santa Claus separates himself from the pack of gift-giving pretenders. Sure, he’s busy making lists and checking them twice. Yes, he’s got all those reindeer to feed. And, of course, he visits children all around the world in a single night. That kind of schedule would leave any other red-suited fat man pooped; not Santa.

So it should be no surprise that, despite everything else he’s got going on, Santa will take time on Sunday (Dec. 18, 2011) to climb aboard a truck or two with volunteer members of Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township‘s own Ringing Hill Fire Company, and travel roads within the company’s 7.9-square-mile service area on the municipality’s west side. He’ll wave hello to residents and their kids, distribute good will, and toss some candy toward those he passes.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Fire company Secretary Kim Lightcap, in an e-mail to The Post, said its Santa Run will begin at about 11 a.m. “Keep your ears open and listen for the trucks,” her e-mail urged. There are no set times for routes or stops, so blaring fire sirens are the best indicator that “Santa (is) heading your way,” she said.