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

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

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

Safer motorcycle riding is on the minds of volunteers at the Ringing Hill Fire Company

POTTSTOWN PA – Volunteers from Lower Pottsgrove’s Ringing Hill Fire Company teach children what to do when a fire alarm sounds. They teach fellow members about how to be better firefighters and emergency responders. Now the company is looking to use its property for yet another teaching role: motorcycle safety.

Ringing Hill has asked the township Zoning Hearing Board to grant a special usage exception in the R-1 residential zone where its fire hall located – 815 White Pine Ln., Pottstown PA – “to teach a Pennsylvania-approved motorcycle safety program,” according to an advertisement published Friday (Feb. 3, 2012) in The (Pottstown PA) Mercury newspaper, Lower Pottsgrove’s publication of record for legal notices.

The board is scheduled to meet Feb. 21 (2012; Tuesday) beginning at 6 p.m. in the municipal building, 2199 Buchert Rd., Sanatoga PA. The hearing is open to the public.

If its exception is granted, Ringing Hill would be the only approved provider of motorcycle safety programming within a 10-mile radius of Pottstown, according to the Pennsylvania Motorcycle Safety Program. Others closest to the greater Pottstown area are in Phoenixville, Wayne, Emmaus, Leesport and Cheyney, the last being 23 miles away.

The program is supervised by the California-based Motorcycle Safety Foundation and the state Department of Transportation.

The foundation’s Pennsylvania website explained the program “was established to teach riders of all skill levels the basic fundamentals needed in order to safely operate a motorcycle. The MSP was created from legislation in 1984 and began one year later. The Motorcycle Safety Program is free to all Pennsylvania license holders.”

Its 15-hour basic rider course “is designed to prepare (motorcycle operators) for entry into the complex world of traffic,” the website said. A second, more advanced 6-hour course “was developed to address the skills needed for low risk, enjoyable on-street motorcycling,” it added. A third and newest course is similar to the basic session, but is specifically geared toward increasingly popular three-wheeled ‘cycles.

A set of courses to be taught at Ringing Hill, where there is plenty of isolated parking lot space for such activity, is classified as an “educational purpose” for the hearing board’s consideration.

Breakfast awaits

POTTSTOWN PA – A pancake breakfast fund-raiser supporting the Pottsgrove High School girls’ basketball team will be held Saturday (Jan. 21, 2012) from 8-10 a.m. at Applebee’s Restaurant, 833 N. State St., Pottstown, according to an e-mail sent Wednesday from the Pottsgrove School District.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Tickets cost $7 for the general public, and $3 for participants in the Lower Pottsgrove Athletic Association. For more information or to buy tickets, call Coach Mike Brendlinger at 610-970-2868, or ask a team member.

Photo from Google Images

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.

ON THE COURT AT POTTSGROVE HIGH – The girls’ junior varsity basketball squads of Pottsgrove and Upper Perkiomen high schools played Tuesday night (Dec. 13, 2011) at the Falcons’ home gym on Kauffman Road, Pottstown PA. See a gallery of 9 photos, below; enlarge any individual photo by clicking on its thumbnail image.

PHILADELPHIA PA – In an discouraging end to what was otherwise a stellar season that no one expected, the Pottsgrove High School Falcons’ football team ended its quest for more championship glory Friday (Dec. 2, 2011). Their opponents, the Archbishop Wood Vikings, scored the first six times they had the ball en route to a 41-22 victory in PIAA Class AAA quarterfinal playoff game at Northeast High School’s Charles Martin Memorial Stadium in Philadelphia.

• Read a story by reporter Tom Moore, titled “Wood rolls into state semifinal” and published Saturday (Dec. 3) by PhillyBurbs.com online news service, here.
• Read a story by writer Brian Zarley, titled “Falcons Faithful Make Philadelphia Exodus” and published Saturday by The Pottstown Patch online news service, here.
• Watch a video posted Saturday in which PhillyBurbs.com conducts post-game interviews with Archbishop Wood players, here.
• Read a story by reporter Darryl Grumling, titled “H.S. FOOTBALL: Pottsgrove exceeded expectations,” and published Saturday by The (Pottstown PA) Mercury newspaper, here.
• Read a story by Rick O’Brien, titled “Wood cruises into state semifinals” and published Friday (Dec. 2) by The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper, here.

Photo from Google Images

POTTSTOWN PA – Pottsgrove High School’s championship-winning football team (a great-sounding phrase, isn’t it?) will benefit from a whole lotta bingo playing this Sunday (Dec. 4, 2011).

The Falcon Football Club will hold a bingo game fund-raiser beginning at 1 p.m. in the cafeteria of the high school, Kauffman Road, Pottstown PA, to help cover expenses of the year-end football team banquet. Tickets cost $20 and cover 20 games. Food will be available. The cafeteria doors open at noon.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Special games will be conducted, with filled baskets as prizes, and door prizes also will be offered.

Photo from Google Images

By Glenn Isett
of the Lower Pottsgrove Historical Society,
for The Sanatoga Post

SANATOGA PA – The 2011 NASCAR season is now history, although news regarding last weekend’s (Nov. 20, 2011) Sprint Cup finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway has not yet seemed to die down. Sixty years ago, though, the points race had already been decided not in November but October, and specifically by Oct. 28, 1951, when the final 200-lap race was held at the Sanatoga Speedway.

Jimmy Ryan was points champion; Mose Moore was second and Monk Keller was third.

Gone but not forgotten: the fifth-mile Sanatoga Speedway, near what is now Sanatoga Park

Sanatoga’s place in racing history

Sanatoga Speedway was built in 1937 by Ed Moll, John Sweetwood, and Nick Pelacotti, near what is now Sanatoga Park.  It was a 1/5-mile flat asphalt track, and remained that size until its untimely demise.  It was primarily a midget track until 1941 and then closed during World War II.

With the end of the war, the racetrack obtained new ownership – and new showmanship – in the person of George Marshman. During the 1948 season he began racing “stock cars.” This was roughly a year before NASCAR held its first race in mid-1949.

The stock cars of Sanatoga were unlike the racers of today. They were primarily window-less, fender-less 1930-1940 Ford coupes, with an occasional Chevy or Dodge, and what was known then as a two-door sedan thrown in.  Most had flat head Ford V8 engines and three-speed on-the-floor transmissions.

How a grueling season gets rougher

By 1951, the season ran from April to October and included 47 meets.  This was possible because in many weeks there were two meets, and on Memorial Day, there was an afternoon and night program. Adding to this grueling schedule was the format of the program itself.

Depending on the number of entrants, there would be heat races of eight to 10 laps. Drivers who finished in the top 10 qualified for a semi-final. Then there were usually two semi-finals made up of the heat qualifiers. Again, there were a number of qualifiers for the feature race of usually 25 laps.

But, wait! There was one more chance to get into the feature event.  All non-qualifiers could race in a consolation race and usually the top two would qualify for the feature. It was possible that drivers could run four races in one meet. Just to show the tenacity of a champion, on May 30, 1951, Jimmy Ryan won the afternoon feature and finished third in the night feature.

Folks loved the race, but came for the show

Marshman, the showman, in 1954 hosted a demolition derby that featured a Sherman tank. It was always a thrill to see a car go through the wooden back fence only to have it come crashing back through further down the backstretch.

Long after he left the business, Marshman finally admitted that the fence-crashing was staged.  The fence was very loosely constructed near the beginning and the end of the backstretch.  There was a rudimentary road for the driver to follow, and there was a spotter near the entrance to the third turn to wave him back through to the track when it was all clear.

Suddenly, the roar was no more

In 1958, placards began appearing to herald the arrival of the fastest drag strip in the area. Land was cleared in preparation, but suddenly it all ended, without explanation. The once bustling, noisy, thriving attraction that drew thousands weekly was silenced.

Mother Nature has slowly taken back what was originally hers, except for a few random patches of macadam that can be found among the weeds and high grass. Old racing aficionados will tell you with a note of pride and a hint of misty-eyed melancholy that “this is where the fourth turn was.”

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 member Glenn Isett has joined society President Beth Scherer in writing about Lower Pottsgrove history monthly for The Post.

Articles in this series:

• 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