The Sanatoga Post

SANATOGA PA – Jottings from a reporter’s notebook:

Refined Music, Refined Atmosphere Too

It was a happy surprise to hear Cutillo’s Restaurant, 2688 E. High St., Sanatoga heading the list of venues and events being promoted Monday (Jan. 16, 2012) by Philadelphia jazz music radio station WRTI-FM. If you haven’t been there lately, Cutillo’s now presents live jazz by regional performers every Saturday from 9 p.m. to midnight in its lounge. Scheduled for Jan. 28 is “Evolution Jazz.”

Valley Forge Touts The Value Of Membership

Those who travel U.S. Route 422 past King of Prussia during the weekday commute can’t help but notice the strides construction crews are making in the renovation of the Valley Forge Conference Center and its adjacent hotel. They will soon become part of the Valley Forge Casino Resort and Spa. Although an opening is several months away, the resort is already selling three-month trial and full-year memberships for dining and entertainment.

An artist's rendering of the casino's interior

Casino access is included with both, naturally.

The gambling license granted by Pennsylvania to Valley Forge forbids casino access to the general public unless they are registered overnight guests at the hotel; visitors attending a convention, meeting or a private function; customers who spend a minimum of $10 in one of the resort’s restaurants, night clubs or retail stores; or who … you guessed it … are resort members.

Three-month trial dining memberships are currently being advertised at $20; entertainment, $30.

The Exeter Chick-fil-a

Fill Your Stomach, And Bring A Jacket, Won’t You?

Chosen 300 Ministries, which operates in Pottstown, will benefit from a coat-and-blanket drive to be held today (Monday, Jan. 16) just west up the road (U.S. Route 422) at the Chick-fil-a Restaurant in Exeter.

The restaurant and WORD-FM Radio are calling this a “Souper Coat Drive,” which ties neatly to one of the store’s newest menu items, Chicken Tortilla Soup. Visitors who donate a new or gently used coat or blanket will receive a thank-you coupon for a serving of Chick-fil-A’s soups. Restaurant operator Shawn Filby reminds you that he offers a “classic Hearty Breast of Chicken Soup” as well.

Chosen 300 is a non-profit that distributes coats, blankets and meals to the homeless and needy not only in Pottstown, but in Philadelphia and Reading as well.

How often can you say “I cut the cheese!” and mean something good?

Rebbie at a book-signing event

Last June (2011), Royersford resident and singer-songwriter-author Kevin Rebbie published a well-received children’s book, illustrated by animator Laura Bluett, called “Mr. Stinkas and The Little Cheese Shop.” Mr. Stinkas has a dog named “Old Bleu,” and they have adventures that we’re not about to spoil by telling you. Suffice it to say, the book is aptly titled.

Part of its appeal, besides being a hoot for kids, is that a portion of the book’s proceeds are donated to a foundation that supports pediatric cancer research. Rebbie’s been busy on a regional promotional circuit since Mr. Stinkas’ debut. He’s been to Wilmington DE, Philadelphia (several times), and King of Prussia through late last month to do interviews and book signings.

Now he’s offering a discounted price ($25, formerly $30; and free shipping) from his website on a package that includes an autographed and personalized copy of the 64-page, full-color book, an accompanying audio CD, and an “I Cut The Cheese” backpack. The charities (there are now three Rebbie supports) still get a cut too.

Editor’s note: Notebook Worthy is a series of occasional articles; find others like it, here.

Photos from Google Images, the Valley Forge Casino and Resort, Chick-fil-a Exeter, and Kevin Rebbie

The band's concert poster

SANATOGA PA – “Psychedelphia,” which describes itself in part as a “progressive jam-rock-fusion-psychedelic funk band” that “has great fun on stage,” announced Sunday (Sept. 4, 2011) via Twitter and Facebook they would play a free concert Oct. 7 (Friday) from 9-11 p.m. at Cutillo’s Restaurant, 2688 E. High St., Sanatoga PA. The event is open to those age 18 and older, band members said.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

“Psychedelphia played one of their very first shows at Cutillo’s” after the group’s founding in 2008,” it said on its Facebook page. The restaurant has “graciously asked us to return for an intimate evening of music. Not to be missed!,” it said.

The group’s debut album, “Paradigm,” was released in 2010, and has since been the subject of reports in major media outlets such as Relix, High Times, Glide and Music Connection magazines.

• Watch a video of the group (above), playing their rendition of “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” by Pink Floyd, or see it at the YouTube user account of amused2death2.

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

SANATOGA PA – School is out, it’s summer, and that means it’s vacation time! Maybe you’ll pack up the SUV and head down to the shore, or up to the Poconos.  In today’s economy, maybe you’ll just enjoy a “stay-cation” in Lower Pottsgrove with some out-of-town visitors. Did you know that, in years past, those hot-weather guests could of chosen lodging in one of at least four hotels here in the township?

They might have found a room at:

The Sanatoga Inn, now Cutillo's

• The Crooked Hill Tavern, later known as The Sanatoga Inn,  and then Cutillo’s Restaurant. It was opened in about 1770 by the Bosserts. It was a favorite stopping place for large six-horse and mule teams on the route from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh.

The Ringing Hill Hotel

• The Ringing Hill Hotel. It was located on what is now called Orlando Road, but was known then as “Swamp Road.”During the late 1800s it was described as a “good specimen of the country tavern.”

• The Pleasant View Hotel. Located on the northwest corner of East High Street and Pleasant View Road, where the former Rite Aid Pharmacy now stands, it was a private residence up until the late 1800s. That’s when David Ganger opened it as a hotel.  It became a regular meeting place for the Lower Pottsgrove School Board.  This building also housed the former Sanatoga post office during its final years before being torn down. Postal services today are offered across the street and a bit west down the block, at the Sanatoga Thriftway supermarket.

The Pleasant View Hotel

• The Long View Hotel. This last area hotel sat at the bottom of Sanatoga Park. A resort facility, it was owned by Civil War heroine and Sanatoga resident Annie Wittenmyer, and usually was filled to capacity during summer months. Fire destroyed it in 1905.

The Long View Hotel

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 Beth Scherer writes about Lower Pottsgrove history monthly for The Post.

Related articles in this series:

• 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

Photos from the Historical Society

Cutillo's Restaurant.

SANATOGA PA – John Cutillo and his family, owners and operators of Cutillo’s Restaurant, 2688 E. High St., are among those helping to organize and promote the third annual “Golf for Alzheimers” Tournament, to be held Monday (June 22, 2009), at Bella Vista Golf Course, 2901 Fagleysville Rd., Gilbertsville PA.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Alzheimer’s disease is a disorder that destroys brain cells. It causes problems with memory, thinking and behavior severe enough to affect work, lifelong hobbies or social life. Proceeds from the tournament will benefit both Alzheimer’s research and Manatawny Manor, a nursing home on Old Schuylkill Road in Pottstown.

The fundraiser is scheduled to start at noon with lunch, followed by golf at 1 p.m. To register for the event, contact Cutillo’s at 610-327-2910.

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Friends Janice Hull, left, of Bechtelsville, and Fay Ludy of Gilbertsville, came to Sanatoga as a hatter's pair.

Betsy Schaeffer of St. Peters PA.

SANATOGA PA – The hat Betsy Schaeffer wore Sunday afternoon (March 29, 2009) was a chapeau of her own creation: an outlandish green felt stovepipe with floppy brim, dotted with bright red flowers and featuring a three-dimensional lobster. To almost any observer it looked goofy and silly and frivolous. To Schaffer, it looked like a cure for cancer.

The St. Peters PA resident was among dozens of women who traveled to Cutillo’s Restaurant, East High Street, during the weekend to sip tea, enjoy lunch and raise money to benefit the American Cancer Society (ACS). All were part of The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, an event hosted by one of the teams that will participate in May’s ACS Relay for Life at Pottsgrove High School.

• See a Post gallery of other photos from the event here.

Organizers Bev Price, Sally Churgai and Erica Harting, all of Pottstown PA, estimate the event grossed several thousand dollars, a substantial portion of which – once expenses are paid – will be contributed by their Apple Basket Relay Team to the fight against cancer, a disease recognized as one of the country’s major health problems. This was their second year in staging Mad Hatter, and 2009 represents their 12th year in the Relay.

“We’ve been with it (Relay for Life) from its start here in Pottstown,” Churgai said. “It’s exciting, and we love doing it.”

Isa Sykes, age 8, of Elverson PA.

Xochi Sykes, age 11, of Elverson PA.

In keeping with the party’s theme, most guests covered their heads with millinery of either the staid or send-up varieties. Isa Sykes, age 8, of Elverson PA, smiled from beneath a crown of multi-colored horns that looked like a pin cushion run amok. Her older sister, Xochi, 11, carried a flowering vine garden on her head. Gilbertsville PA’s Fay Ludy opted for a more reserved pillbox shape, but had fun with its color: bright orange satin with white pinstripes.

And that lobster on Schaeffer’s hat? It was accompanied by a bold, block letter banner that proclaimed the party-goers were “Clawing Our Way To A Cure.”

During Pottstown’s Relay for Life, teams of people will gather May 30-31 at Pottsgrove High School’s stadium, 1345 Kauffman Rd., Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township, to take turns walking or running laps around its track. Each team tries to keep at least one team member on the track at all times, and contributions are collected for every lap. Pottstown’s Relay has consistently been among the most successful in Pennsylvania; this year it hopes to raise $1.1 million.

Bev Price, left; Sally Churgai, center; and Erica Harting, all of Pottstown, were co-chairs for the Mad Hatter's Tea.

SANATOGA PA – Cutillo’s Restaurant, 2688 E. High St., will be the forum Thursday (March 12, 2009) from Noon to 1:30 p.m. for the monthly meeting of the Spring-Ford Chamber of Commerce Women-In-Network (WIN). Its “Dress For Success” program features Cindy Brode, manager of the Dress Barn clothing store in Valley Forge, who will discuss cost-efficient ways to expand a wardrobe.

All luncheon participants will receive Dress Barn discounts.

Tickets for the event cost $20 for chamber members and $27 for non-members. For more information, call Beth Haveron at the chamber office, 610-948-1771.

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