Heather Kauffman, the Cluster’s caseworker, will give an up-close view of the hardships faced by thousands of struggling households in the Pottstown community.
In addition, an excellent dinner will be served by the staff at Sunnybrook and guests will be inspired by the voices of two children’s choruses (Coventry Christian Schools Chorus and Voices of Hope from Saint Aloysius School) and an adult chorus under the direction of Teri Hoffman, accompanied by Dr. Myra Forrest.
George Bell, President of the Pottstown Cluster Board of Directors, promises that the evening will touch the hearts of all who attend.
Tickets for the dinner are $25 each and can be purchased by calling the Cluster office at 610-970-5995 or via credit card on the Cluster website atwww.pottstowncluster.org
Allan Altschull, Vice President of the Pottstown Cluster Board notes that the cost of the meal exceeds $25, but that there will be a “silent auction” and voluntary contribution envelopes that will hopefully more than offset the cost of the banquet.
The week of 9/19 is the last scheduled week for dinner ticket sales, so those interested in attending are asked to contact the Cluster as soon as possible.
The next Positively!Pottstown Happy Hour is happening this Friday night from 5-7 pm at the SCORE office in the New York Plaza building at 238-244 E. High Street in downtown Pottstown. Come out for casual networking, food by Bause-Landry Catering of Pottstown and complimentary beverages – all for just $5. Join SCORE as it celebrates 20 years in Pottstown, and you can also tour the first and second floors of this historic Pottstown landmark. Free parking is available at the rear of the building; the entrance is there too. RSVP to positivelypottstown@gmail.com ASAP.
Afterwards, head over to The Gallery on Highat 254 E. High Street for the opening of a brand new solo show – Fairy Tales Do Come True – by the artist DiGi. The reception there is running from 5-8 pm and it’s free and open to the public. Please RSVP by calling 610-326-2506.
DiGi’s show will run from September 16 through October 8, 2011. The show can also be viewed during the Gallery’s normal business hours: Tuesday through Friday from 10am to 4:30pm and Saturday from 10am to 3pm. The Gallery is closed Sundays and Mondays.
DiGi has an eclectic and accomplished background in a variety of fields. She has a Bachelor of Science in Economics/Finance and has acquired many computer graphics and foreign language certificates. She was a member of the United States Army Reserve where she acted as a Russian interrogator. She currently works for Vertis Communications in computer graphics as a premedia specialist primarily working as a Photoshop retoucher and color corrections expert. She splits her spare time creating works of art and teaching Middle Eastern Dance at local high schools and the Freedom Valley YMCA.
She has traveled the United States, Europe and Russia extensively, providing much inspiration for her work. She enjoys working in mixed media, including watercolor, colored inks, colored pencil, Russian lacquer style art, bead embroidery, bead weaving and tapestries. Her works have won many Best of Show and First Place awards, including Grand Prize for her hand-painted ornaments at the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., where they were exhibited during the Christmas season. Her works have been featured in major periodicals such as Family Circle, Delaware Today, ArtSpeak, and many other local publications.
Pottstown will literally open its doors to the community this Saturday, September 10th for a cornucopia of commemorations, demonstrations, displays, games, trolley rides, give-aways and more.
Come to downtown Pottstown for events from 11 am – 2 pm. The opening ceremony will feature the Pottstown Middle School Jazz Band at Smith Plaza at 11 am.
Afterwards, you can stroll around town and stop in at the Public Library, Tri-PAC, The Gallery on High, Pottsgrove Manor, The Carousel, Pottstown Karate Club, High Street Music, Farmers’ Market, Genesis Housing, MOSAIC Community Land Trust, PDIDA and the Hill School Art Gallery, to name just a few. There are all the restaurants and merchants too!
Then… Go to Pottstown High School from 2-5pm for more activities, food and fun. There will be over 30 organizational informational tables, displays of police, fire and military equipment, free entertainment, free food, a display of classic cars.
At 7 pm, the varsity football team will take on Pennwood (admission will be charged.)
Check out a more detailed, tentative schedule recently posted by Pottstown.Patch.com. And you can also find out about all the activities by checking out The Mercury’s new Open Doors blog. Last year’s Open Doors was a remarkably positive day for the entire community, and that spirit carried over to many events throughout the past year. Thanks to the many, many volunteers – being led by John Armato and Erika Hornburg-Cooper – who make this day possible.
Mr. Ken Klothen, Director of Economic Development for Montgomery County will be meeting tomorrow with members of the TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce and facilitating a seminar on the County’s Small Business Assistance Fund (SBAF). Downtown business owners have also been invited to attend.
The Small Business Assistance Fund is intended to help businesses retain jobs, expand jobs or begin operations, especially in central business districts. The program will provide low-interest financing for a portion of the costs of land, building, capital equipment, and working capital to businesses unable to fully finance these costs through non-public, commercial sources.
For more information, see the County webpage here and contact:
As part of their “Positives in Pottstown” series this month, The Mercury recently featured the local chapter of SCORE, an all-volunteer business counseling organization. SCORE is an acronym for Service Corps of Retired Executives. This non-profit, located at 244 High Street in the New York Plaza building, is celebrating their 20th anniversary this year and will host the next Positively!Pottstown Happy Hour on September 16th. Read the article here. And visit their website – pottstownscore.org – to learn more about SCORE’s workshops and mentoring options. They are a great resource not only for entrepreneurs starting new businesses, but for existing business owners who want to brush up on certain skills in order to optimize their operations.
If you’d like to attend the next Happy Hour and meet the folks at SCORE, send an email to positivelypottstown@gmail.com.
The following is a recent press release from Montgomery County Community College about an innovative summer science camp for Pottstown-area middle school students. Note that Pottstown resident, Anna Johnson, of Arkema Inc., a global chemical company with a research center in King of Prussia, also participated. Anna, who is a leader of Citizens for Pottstown’s Revitalization and on the board of MOSAIC Community Land Trust, spearheaded the first-ever “Science in the Park” this past June at the Chestnut Street Park in Pottstown. Kudos to Anna, MCCC and TD Bank for exposing area young people to the excitement and possibilities in the study of science and technology at a more sophisticated level than they would typically get to experience.
21 middle schoolers participated in MCCC’s Green STEM camp
July 25, 2011, Pottstown, Pa.—Twenty-one middle school students from Pottstown and the surrounding areas immersed themselves in Montgomery County Community College’s laboratory classrooms, as part of a one-week camp, “How Scientists View the Environment,” during June 27-July 1 at the West Campus in Pottstown.
The College created this Green STEM—Science, Technology, Engineering and Math—program as the result of a $10,000 grant received earlier this year from the TD Charitable Foundation, the charitable giving arm of TD Bank. The program encourages youth to explore this exciting, growing career field.
“To understand what it is like to be a scientist, you have to emulate the environment in which a scientist works from start to end, which is what we did during this week,” said Dr. Davi Gonzales, Biology Associate Professor at the College.
During the first day, Dr. Gonzales introduced the concepts of scientific method and experimental design. Through simple experiments with dice, students learned to form hypotheses, develop experimental designs to test their hypotheses and analyze their results.
Using Excel spreadsheets, the students learned about normal distribution, mean, standard deviation, 95 percent confidence interval and p-value. The students used these key concepts for various activities throughout the week.
“I thought it was cool that I could understand some of these difficult concepts. I learned about the t-test, p-value, scientific papers, experimental design and how to find a p-value by hand,” said 13-year-old Emily Daubenspeck, who wants to become a doctor. “I found the math aspect interesting because my dad teaches math, and he said his students were not learning this material until tenth grade.”
After learning the basics, students explored various environmental issues and pollution problems. They collected and tested water samples from the local Manatawny Creek and Schuylkill River to investigate the impact of pollution on soil and water microbial diversity and to conduct pH and
water filtration tests. They also studied different species of birds in their natural habitats in the Schuylkill River floodplain in Pottstown’s Riverfront Park and practiced population sampling techniques.
At the conclusion of the program, the students analyzed the data from their experiments and displayed and presented their results using graphs and tables and Power Point programs.
“What makes this program truly unique is that it was done at a community college with middle school students within five days,” Dr. Gonzales said. “Usually, these types of programs are done by research universities with much older students. It proves that you can teach college-level material to younger students. We were able to do this due to the tremendous talent of the faculty and staff involved.”
Dr. Jane Graden showed students how to conduct pH & water filtration tests
The week-long program was a collaborative effort of several MCCC instructors and staff, including Biology Associate Professor Dr. Davi Gonzales, Coordinator Ms. Cheryl Taylor-Mearhoff, Geology Professor Rob Kuhlman, Microbiology Instructor Dr. James Bretz, Assistant Chemistry Professor Dr. Janet Graden, Biology Instructor David Whalen, Math Assistant Professor Mark McFadden, Assistant Math Professor Barbara Lontz and Assistant Mathematics Professor Stephanie Isaac.
Additionally, Dana Swan and Anna Johnson of Arkema Inc., a global chemical company with a research center in King of Prussia, participated by sharing their knowledge and helping students in the lab. MCCC students Timothy Solomon and Barbara Jack also assisted in the classroom and out in the field.
The TD Charitable Foundation is the charitable giving arm of TD Bank N.A., which operates as TD Bank, America’s Most Convenient Bank®, is one of the 10 largest commercial banking organizations in the United States. The Foundation’s mission is to serve the individuals, families and businesses in all the communities where TD Bank operates, having made over $68.4 million in charitable donations since its inception in 2002. The efforts of the Foundation are coordinated locally through TD Bank’s community relations departments and are focused on the areas of affordable housing, education and financial literacy, and the environment. More information on the TD Charitable Foundation, including an online grant application, is available at http://www.TDBank.com.
The Montgomery County Community College Foundation is the designated tax-exempt, charitable arm of the College. The Foundation’s purpose is to raise funds to assist the College in developing programs, facilities, and services to enhance and enrich student life and to maintain a tradition of educational excellence. For more information, visit http://www.mc3.edu/giving/about/default.aspx.
If you or your organization have an upcoming event, or simply want to get the word out to the community about what you do, get in touch with Dave Devlin or Ross Landy. They want to hear from you!!
Photo courtesy of Betsy BarronI attended LointerHOME’s open house at 467 Farmington Avenue last Thursday and figured I’d blog about it this week… Then I got word this past Tuesday night that the home was already under contract for above the asking price! Looks like LointerHOME’s reputation is growing by leaps and bounds, as well it should. I thought I’d feature this project because it’s a great example of the opportunities in Pottstown for sound real estate investment in homeownership for developers who do quality work.
LointerHOME specializes in the renovation of distressed and foreclosed homes. They work in Miami, Los Angeles, West Chester and Pottstown, with their previous Pottstown project being a foreclosed Edwardian townhome on King Street. Their next project will take them to 426 King Street. The Farmington Avenue home and 426 King were acquired from the Borough after the Borough came into possession via free-and-clear tax sales.
This past Friday about 35 guests scarfed down sandwiches and an amazing salsa by Grumpy’s as they beat the heat in the air-conditioned comfort of LASERWORX, Custom Laser Engravers, at 236 E. High Street for another Postively!Pottstown Happy Hour.
We were welcomed by the Hoffmans: Steve, his wife Donna and son Jim. Steve and Jim are in business together and can provide you or your company with precision laser-engraving services on such surfaces as Waterford crystal, acrylics, metals, plastics, tile, granite, slate, wood, Corian and more. They carry dozens of options for attractive awards, plaques, signs, watches, medals, pendants, trophies, ribbons and gifts ready to be customized.
If you’ve never been in LASERWORX, you might also want to check it out for its architectural significance. It’s got beautiful, original stained glass in the entryway and on the doors and a tin ceiling inside. The name “Betty Lee” in mosaic tile in the entryway is a reminder of the former Betty Lee Women’s Clothing store at that location.
Upcoming Events
The Happy Hours have been taking place once a month downtown since October 2010. The idea is to move around to different businesses and showcase the food of different Pottstown restaurants. The $5 cover charge goes toward paying the food vendors. Anyone who lives, works or wants to network in Pottstown is welcome.If you or your business would like to host, send an email to positivelypottstown@gmail.com. We’re booking locations now for 2012. Here are plans for the rest of the year:
August – no Happy Hour – summer vacation! September 16 – Hosted by SCORE – 20 years in Pottstown! – at the New York Plaza, 244 E. High Street October – Hosted by Ben Moscia and Elise LeBoutillier at The Farmers’ Market, 300 E. High Street November – Hosted by Chris Longeway & Sam Rhame at The Milkman Lunch Co. & Cake Shoppe, 451 N. Charlotte Street December – Hosted at The Brickhouse, 152 E. High Street
This Wednesday, July 13th, at 7pm, the 78th Army Band out of Fort Dix, New Jersey will make an appearance at the band shell at Sanatoga Park. They are appearing as part of the Lower Pottsgrove’s summer concert series, sponsored by Exelon Nuclear. Check out Joe Zlomek’s story in the Sanatoga Post.
Joe also wrote via email: “To my knowledge, this is the first time in many years a military band unit has played an outdoor concert anywhere near Pottstown, and the first time in several years a unit has played in the greater Pottstown area at all.” They will be playing in much larger cities and towns this week, including Baltimore and Philadelphia, so this is a fantastic opportunity, so close to home, to hear our service men and women perform and to acknowledge their musical talent and commitment.
We featured Sanatoga Park in our Parks & Rec Series last fall for the Pottstown Area Health & Wellness Foundation; you can see photos here. The band shell and lawn overlooking the water provide a scenic setting for the community to come together and share a musical experience. So, gather up the family, throw a blanket or some lawn chairs into the trunk, and head over to Sanatoga Park this Wednesday night!
Positively Pottstown blog 