The Sanatoga Post

Diamond Credit Union representatives Paul Schwab, left, and Lori Levengood talk with a student after their presentation this month

POTTSTOWN PA – Pottstown High School students are getting real-life financial help from some local experts.

Representatives of Diamond Credit Union, which has its headquarters on Medical Drive in Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township, are continuing a series of four high school visits each semester to offer their knowledge and professional experience as part of the students’ Personal Finance classes.

A Dec. 7 (2011) presentation titled “Credit, Credit Scores, and Not Paying” was the latest activity in the partnership between Diamond and the Pottstown School District, district Community Relations Director John Armato said. It featured Lori Levengood, Diamond’s vice president of lending, and Debt Counseling Manager Paul Schwab. They answered questions about the value of a good credit score and the repercussions of not repaying debts.

“Knowing how to balance your personal finances is a life skill that is even more important in current economic conditions. We’re happy to illustrate the real life applications of what the students are learning in class, and feel privileged to be able to add to the depth of their understanding of personal finance topics,” said Todd Rothenberger, Diamond vice president of marketing.

During previous visits, representatives discussed “Budgeting,” “How a Financial Institution Works,” and “The Difference Between Banks and Credit Unions.” Diamond is also scheduled to visit the class in January to discuss protection from identity theft.

Diamond is the 18th largest credit union in Pennsylvania. It has two additional offices in Reading, and holds more than $372 million in assets for more than 40,000 members.

Photo from Diamond Credit Union

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

Smiling U.S. Army veteran, and Ford Galaxie 500 owner, Brad Herron during a visit late last year to Pottstown High School, where his car is being restored as a community tribute.

POTTSTOWN PA – Only 52 days remain until U.S. Army veteran Brad Herron gets his car back.

Fifty-two days distant on anyone’s calendar is May 7 (Saturday), the first day in 2011 that the Pottstown Classics Car Club – whose membership includes several Lower Pottsgrove (PA) Township residents – returns to High Street in the borough’s downtown for its series of summer Nostalgia Night car shows. It’s also when keys to Herron’s own 1967 Ford Galaxie 500 will be handed over to him.

But, club members happily admit, it won’t quite be the car Herron grudgingly gave up back in October 2010.

The club, several Pottstown High School students, many local businesses and some private donors are diligently working to restore and soup up (the preferred term is “overhaulin’”) the vehicle to honor Herron. He’s a disabled Blue Bell PA resident who served the nation for six years of duty in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere as part of the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division.

Herron looks over his car with Pottstown Classics Car Club members shortly after it arrived in in the borough.

Besides his wife, Dina, there are few things Herron loves as much as his Ford. So when she contacted the club last fall, and asked if it knew of someone who might help her surprise her husband by overhaulin’ the car, its members responded enthusiastically. They also recruited sponsors – the list seems to be as long as the car itself – to contribute parts, services, manpower, and cash for the effort.

• Watch a video, posted late last month (Feb. 23) on the club’s Facebook page, that updates the car’s status and the work to complete it before the May deadline.

Ford enthusiasts claim that 44 years ago, when 1967 new model cars rolled into dealer showrooms, the full-sized Galaxie 500 was well admired. It sported “all new molding and ornamentation,” several safety features and “a large list of improvements,” 15 different colors and 25 two-tone combinations, and “many performance offerings,” according to the Dearborn Classics website.

It was a “muscle car” before that term became popular, some folks boast.

That kind of glory is envisioned for Herron’s vehicle, which currently sits in the high school’s automotive technology shop. Students and instructors there are installing parts as they arrive and doing body work.

Getting the car there months ago wasn’t easy, though. A ruse used by club members who visited the Herron home to sneak it off the premises first made the veteran hesitant, then suspicious, and then, when he finally tumbled to what was going on, relieved. A November 2010 story by (Pottstown PA) Mercury newspaper reporter Brandie Kessler chronicles those events.

Now club members are anxiously counting down the days until May, when the key presentation to Herron and the car’s unveiling will be part of their tribute to all area veterans. They’ll also use the opportunity to educate the public about post-traumatic stress disorder suffered by veterans returning from war zones.

In addition to May 7, Nostalgia Nights – which attracts thousands of visitors to Pottstown’s business district – are scheduled this year for June 4, July 2, Aug. 6 and Sept. 3.

Photos from the Pottstown Classics Car Club

The 1924 dedication marker inside Pottstown High School.

SANATOGA PA – Expect a small traffic jam Saturday afternoon and evening (Oct. 3, 2009) at Sunnybrook Ballroom, both inside and out, thanks to organizers’ apparent success in promoting a Pottstown High School (PHS) grand reunion of all classes that will run from 3-9 p.m. in the event center on 50 Sunnybrook Rd., Pottstown PA.

A continuing campaign by a group of volunteers to find the more than 12,000 living alumni of Pottstown High, and invite them to attend the dinner, dancing and display affair, has paid off. Volunteer Judy Bedell, PHS Class of 1957, reported Monday (Sept. 28, 2009) that about 450 people had already reserved seats then, and even more were expected to sign up during this week.

Local media outlets, she said in an e-mail, could be credited for “taking part and publicizing” the event. But some of those who already have tickets in hand also say Bedell and other organizers have been busy reaching out to fellow alums and encouraging their attendance.

It hasn’t been easy. For starters, the organizing committee lacked current addresses for many former PHS graduates. It knew who it needed to contact; it just didn’t know where to find them or how to reach them.

• PHS itself acknowledges the difficulty in trying to re-connect with the people who once walked its halls. High school administrators recently announced they had partnered with a company called Harris Connect “to produce a current alumni directory” of all PHS grads. The book is expected to include “recollections and stories of the 129-year history of Pottstown High School, along with photos from days gone by, up to and including 2008,” according to the announcement. The high school has asked alumni to expect to receive a phone call “for the purpose of verifying contact information.” Alums can also be proactive by calling in their verifications to a no-cost, toll-free phone: 866-515-0841.

Then, just as the reunion publicity ball got rolling, one of the volunteer group’s highest profile members – former Pottstown School District Superintendent Dr. Ray Feick – was unexpectedly pulled away to new duties. He was named interim superintendent of the Owen J. Roberts School District following its school board’s controversial firing of former Superintendent Dr. Myra Forrest.

If you’re a Pottstown grad and have an itch to see old friends, it might still possible to get last-minute tickets. They cost $35 per patron; call Jane Hamilton at 610-323-8200 in the Pottstown School District Administration Building, 230 Beech St., Pottstown PA, to check on availability.

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SANATOGA PA – An open reunion for the more than 12,000 living alumni of Pottstown High School is being planned for Oct. 3 (2009; Saturday) from 3-9 p.m. in Sunnybrook Ballroom, 50 Sunnybrook Rd., Sanatoga PA. All alumni and their guests will be welcomed, said PHS Class of 1957 member Judy Lambert Bedell, one of the evening’s organizers.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

The night will feature a DJ and dancing, a hot buffet, and a cash bar. Memorabilia from the high schools many classes will be on display, and alumni officers will be elected during a brief business meeting.

One problem the organizing committee faces, Bedell noted, is that it lacks current addresses for many former PHS graduates and so must rely both on media publicity and word of mouth to ensure all alums know they’re invited. It’s hoping “to fill Sunnybrook Ballroom like we used to do in the good old days,” so pass the word, she pleads.

Tickets for the event cost $35. Reservations can be made by e-mail through Pottstown School District spokesman John Armato; or by mail through Jane Hamilton at the Pottstown School District Administration Building, 230 Beech St., Pottstown, PA 19464.

Sign up to get The Sanatoga Post delivered free daily by e-mail.
Got news for us? E-mail The Post.

SANATOGA PA – An open reunion for the more than 12,000 living alumni of Pottstown High School is being planned for Oct. 3 (2009; Saturday) from 3-9 p.m. in Sunnybrook Ballroom, 50 Sunnybrook Rd. All alumni and their guests will be welcomed, said PHS Class of 1957 member Judy Lambert Bedell, one of the evening’s organizers.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

The night will feature a DJ and dancing, a hot buffet, and a cash bar. Memorabilia from the high schools many classes will be on display, and alumni officers will be elected during a brief business meeting.

One problem the organizing committee faces, Bedell noted, is that it lacks current addresses for many former PHS graduates and so must rely both on media publicity and word of mouth to ensure all alums know they’re invited. It’s hoping “to fill Sunnybrook Ballroom like we used to do in the good old days,” so pass the word, she pleads.

Tickets for the event cost $35. Reservations can be made by e-mail through Pottstown School District spokesman John Armato; or by mail through Jane Hamilton at the Pottstown School District Administration Building, 230 Beech St., Pottstown, PA 19464.

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Got news for us? E-mail The Post.