We did it! Positively!Pottstown teamed up with Code Blue and pulled off a raffle to support the July 4th festivities. We raised $600 for the Pottstown July 4th Committee AND gave away $300, Code Blue t-shirts and Positively!Pottstown re-usable bags to 2 lucky winners. The winners were Jim Bondi of Harleysville and Tom Ziemba of Pottstown. Tom and his wife have been coming to the July 4th Celebration ever since she was pregnant with their son… and he’s now 32 years old!
The ticket-selling team pounding the pavements of High Street during the parade and the fields at Memorial Park included myself, Judy Zahora, Chris Huff, Amy Francis, Stephanie Carmody and assorted spouses and children. Check out Code Blue and Roy’s Rants for other reports.
The raffle came together during the past couple weeks in the blogosphere when Amy Francis responded to my Homecoming Queen post. Smale’s Printery was able to turn the job around in a few days, and Chris Stafy and the rest of the July 4th Committee were all appreciative of the efforts and the results. We had a huge amount of fun hanging out and getting advertising support from Brad Fuller, Executive Director of the Pottstown Area Senior Center, who was on the mike all day long at the tent next to ours. The Senior Center did an amazing job raising the big bucks through the car raffle.
On a personal note, I had a blast hawking tickets and running into old friends and friends of my parents. Having lived away from home for about 30 years now, I can tell you that it goes straight to the heart when someone says, “Are you Richard’s daughter?” or “You look just like your mom,” which are a couple of the comments I got while selling tickets on the parade route. I’ve hardly ever heard that all these years, and it sure made me feel connected – that someone knew where I was from and who my people are. Thanks, Pottstown. The Drawing Mr. Fuller & me Balloon lifts off Iguana & friend
Yep, you read that title right. And I am of sound and sober mind as I type this.
Over the past three decades, I haven’t had much occasion to talk about this little piece of my past that doesn’t really fit with how I’ve ever thought of myself, but here goes…
I am a former Homecoming Queen.
The year was 1979, and by some fluke or fate or dumb luck, my peers at St. Pius X voted me Queen. It was a surprise and an honor.
But then I found myself, the following summer, automatically in the running for the title of Pottstown’s 4th of July Homecoming Queen. I believe the`system in place then is also in place today: if you put a penny into a candidate’s jar in various locations around town, she got another vote.
And that’s where my royal reign came to a definitive end. As we edged closer to July 4th, it was clear that I didn’t stand a chance. Recently, in the course of doing some research in the Pottstown Library, I looked up The Mercury’s coverage of the big day. Here’s how things shook out:
Kenya Heller – Owen J. Roberts – 87,482
Pam Walter – Pottstown – 46,764
Bernadette Diaz – Pottsgrove – 40,003
Susan Repko – St. Pius X – 6,420
I’ve double-checked my reading glasses and my typing and, no, there are no mistakes in those figures.
But that’s just one aspect of the story, albeit a humbling one. I’ll never forget how we were all treated to lunch at Lakeside Inn. And I’ll never forget riding in a convertible down High Street during the parade, perched on the back of the back seat, waving to the crowd. I shared the car with Bernie Diaz, who had been a good friend of mine in grade school at St. Al’s for a short time and who went on to play tennis at Boston College. And the fireworks were incredible.
I believe 1980 was the second year of Pottstown’s Fourth of July Homecoming Celebration, which now attracts thousands. Times are tough for people, businesses and government, but I hope we can hold on a little bit longer and find the funds to keep this tradition, one of Pottstown’s finest, going strong. In honor of all those people who put their pennies in for me all those years ago, I’m sending in $64.20. For those of you who plan to come to town to take part in this year’s celebration, or those of you who can’t make it but hold a special memory of Pottstown’s 4th in your heart, please send in a donation now. Pulling together, we can keep it going. Thank you. Make your check payable to Independence Day, Ltd., and send to:
MaryAnn Peters
Pottstown School District
230 Beech St.
Pottstown, PA 19464
All donations are tax deductible.
Unloading plants
Thanks to Tom Carroll of Preservation Pottstown for these photos from today’s gardening activities at the park at the corner of Washington and Chestnut!
Katy Jackson, one of the organizers from Citizens for Pottstown’s Revitalization, says via email, “We just arrived home from the park planting and it was superb!! The children in the neighborhood were as excited as they could be. They did a great job and each child has their own tomato plant, named, and several squash plants. It was a huge success…”
Kudos to all who helped bring the neighborhood together outdoors for this beautification and healthy living activity, and a big THANK YOU to Eric Schmidt of Colonial Gardens for the donation of materials!
Car Art Thanks to Tom Carroll of Preservation Pottstown for the hot-off-the-press photos!
Registration Here are a few glimpses of today’s First Saturday festivities at Smith Plaza, where the first annual PottsMUTTster dog show was held. I don’t have details on the winners in the many categories, or the grand winner, who will appear in the 4th of July parade… stay tuned! Erica & friend
Desserts First Cafe, Oak & Charlotte Sts. I’d been into Desserts First Cafe at the corner of Oak and Charlotte Streets with my mom and one of my sisters last summer just after they opened… I remember the HUGE piece of banana cake with cream cheese icing like it was yesterday. But even fresher in my memory is the lunch I had there a few weeks ago: a turkey wrap with provolone, cole slaw and Russian dressing. Keep in mind that the main advantage to having a wrap is that you’re not too full to enjoy dessert. This time I tried something I’d never had before: a mixture of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries in yellow cake. The berries had sunk to the bottom of the pan, so that when the cake came out of the pan, a layer of berries was on top. Then, baker/owner Sherry Sweeney topped it with pureed berries whirled into a smooth cream cheese icing that was silky light.
As you may have noticed by now, I’m easily distracted by and enthralled with desserts. But I must also rave about a cranberry juice and iced tea concoction that was just slightly sweet and was out of this world. Suffice it to say, I think you should give this neighborhood eatery a try. It’s got a cheerful interior, hardwood floors, ceiling fans, and cushioned chrome chairs at a few tables, along with 3 stools at the counter. The inexplicable Christmas tree in one window was decorated with some silk spring flowers, and I say, “Why not carry over the miracle of Christmas into the joy of spring?”
Desserts First is owned by Sherry and Rich Sweeney. It’s at 451 N. Charlotte Street. Give a call (610.327.3967) or check their website (www.dessertsfirstcafe.com) for current hours. They’re closed on Sundays. Photo coming soon…
In the meantime, check out Positively!Pottstown’s calendar for all of this weekend’s happenings, especially events that honor those who gave their lives in service to the ideals of democracy and freedom.
Pottstown’s Memorial Day Parade, brought to you by the Joint Veterans Council of Pottstown, will be held Monday May 31 at 10 a.m., starting at Good Will Fire Company at 714 E. High Street, going to Manatawny Street, and then on to Memorial Park. Veterans and community groups should begin arriving at 9 a.m. at Good Will to line up for the parade. No special registration is required. Just show up!
I’d like to give a shout-out to my dad, veteran Richard Repko, who sometimes plays Taps at the funerals of area veterans. For the interesting history of this moving musical tribute, see this at the West Point Connection website. The last I heard, my dad will be playing Taps in Memorial Park at the end of the parade. It always brings tears to my eyes. A heartfelt “thank you” goes out to all veterans for their service.
The hot, humid air in Father Doyne Hall tried to smother the 45-50 former players who showed up for the last game ever, but it didn’t stop old-timers and youngsters alike from running up and down the court for about three hours last Friday night. Those guys from this year’s graduating class of 2010 sure can shoot the 3! There was also an impressive showing from the – ahem – older grads, some of whom are still playing regularly. Former coaches on hand included Joe Donahue, Pete Sovia, Michele Repko Dunleavy, and Randy Reber, who will take over the helm for Phoenixville’s boys’ program next season. Thanks for the memories, St. Pius X! St. Pius X Basketball Alumni
While we’re on the topic of basketball, I’ve changed the photo in the sidebar to my beloved neighborhood hoop at Franklin Elementary School in the North End. I’ve stopped by to visit this hoop several times over the years, which looks to be the exact same iron pole, backboard and rim where I spent so many hours playing, practicing and shedding tears of frustration while growing up. I won’t go on here about the kind of love a person could feel for a simple thing like that, for that place. The blacktop is crumbling now, which makes me just plain sad, but also reminds me of why I’ve been coming back to Pottstown these days. There are a lot of complicated, interconnected and entrenched reasons why a playground blacktop would be crumbling. I’m just trying to do my part to move things in the direction of smoothing that out for the kids coming along now who deserve to have their ball come predictably back up to their fingertips when they make their next move. Game on!
Tonight I’ll be at Father Doyne Hall at St. Pius X for one last run up and down the hardwood. While I’m proud of a lot of things accomplished during my Pius years, being part of two Ches-Mont championship teams in 1978 and 1979 ranks right up there, mostly because a lot of people thought we couldn’t do it, but also because I now think of it as a defining period for me, personally and politically, although I would not have described it that way then.
In the course of doing research for a memoir I’m writing about growing up, I’ve spent some time at the microform reader at the Pottstown Public Library, reading old articles from The Mercury. As so often happens, while I was looking for one particular article, I got distracted by another.
Back in those days, a sportswriter by the name of Ken Murray* had a column in The Mercury called “Ken’s Corner.” On June 21, 1974 it was titled, “Is There Room For a New League?” and it was all about St. Pius X looking to get into a new league now that the Suburban Athletic Conference had disbanded. Murray wrote, “What league could the small Catholic school join without stepping in over its head?” He goes on to speculate about a league of smaller schools, perhaps including Pottsgrove, Upper Perk, Methacton and Landsdale Catholic.
I’m pretty sure I read that piece back then, even though I would have been just eleven years old. I was a sports junkie. I followed major league baseball, basketball and football. And that was the year that I – and a handful of other girls – barged our way into Little League baseball in Pottstown. Back then, competition – any competition – felt like a matter of life and death to me. (I’m not always proud of that, but that’s for another time.) As a tomboy, I’d had a chip on my shoulder for as long as I could remember. Anything a boy could do, I wanted to do better. And then sports opportunities for girls were federally mandated through the passage of Title IX in 1972, and I felt personally vindicated.
Another reason I’m pretty sure I was a regular reader of Murray’s column is because I’d met him right around that time. Eight days after the Pius piece, his column featured me, one of my teammates (Caren Holsberger), and our baseball team (M & M Green) in “A Lonely Battle for Sue, Caren.” (That’s the article I was actually looking for.)
In middle school at St. Al’s I dreamed of playing basketball for Pius (the Suburban Catholic League champs in 1974), and it’s not inconceivable that I carried a kind of “I’ll show you, Ken Murray and all you other doubters” attitude around for years until I got the chance. Pius entered the Ches-Mont my junior year. The league had some big schools – Coatesville, Downington, West Chester Henderson, West Chester East, Pottstown. Murray was absolutely right. Pius was a small school. It was the only Catholic school. And we were all white. Racial tensions from the 70s still ran high; I remember police escorting us off the bus at some schools. Playoff games and title games were fraught with emotion and a kind of danger. And we won. Yes, we had some amazing talent (shout-out to my classmate and teammate, Carol Glutz, the school’s all-time leading scorer.) But under Coaches Bernadette and Bill Travers, we also worked our butts off. Every day.
All of this opened my eyes to a larger world: laws got passed in Washington that affected me personally. Gender equity, race relations, and social unrest weren’t far-away concepts that just appeared in headlines. They played themselves out in our own towns and on basketball courts. I think I was also tuned in because I was in the midst of getting a Catholic education, steeped in the values of social justice. While I have not been a practicing Catholic for quite some time, that blood still runs through me. There’s no shaking that, nor do I want to.
So, when I step on the court at Pius tonight and pose for photos with our championship banner with my sister, Michele Dunleavy (varsity girls’ coach at Phoenixville), and my old teammates and friends, all this – and a whole lot more – will be running through my heart and head. And through my veins. St. Pius X will always be more than a building. Its spirit will continue to move through all those who walked its halls and played on its courts and fields – sometimes as though their lives depended on it.
The monthly meeting and speaker series organized by Citizens for Pottstown’s Revitalization will take place this Friday, May 21, from 7-8 pm at the PAL building at 146 King St., Pottstown, PA. The featured speaker is Tom Carroll, president of Preservation Pottstown, tireless community volunteer and all-around positive guy.
The theme of Tom’s talk will be “Building Community Vitality.” He’ll be telling a story that made a difference in his life and how he views communication with others. He’ll also touch on “What is a non-profit corporation?”, Preservation Pottstown’s history and where they are today. If you want to learn more or volunteer, call 215-316-6383.
If you’ve been thinking about getting involved in any aspect of Pottstown’s revitalization, or if you would like ideas and support for organizing a neighborhood watch or even a block party, come to a CPR meeting. They’re a group of friendly, engaged residents trying to make all of Pottstown’s neighborhoods the best they can be. CPR is online at http://www.vivapottstown.com.
The three candidates for Superintendent of the Pottstown School District will appear in a public forum tonight at 7 pm at Invictus Mininistries, 79 N. Hanover St. (at the corner of Beech.) They will all respond to the same questions, which can be found in this Mercury article. You can even post your own questions there, and the Mercury will pass them on.
Whether or not you agree with how this forum came to be scheduled, the bottom line is that it’s a chance for all residents to see the candidates speak and interact with the public, knowing they are one step from leading the district.
The candidates are Edgewood Elementary Principal Angela Tuck, Director of Education Jeff Sparagana, and Assistant Superintendent Reed Lindley. Each one has a wealth of experience in the district and a broad array of loyal supporters. The community is fortunate to have three candidates qualified to step up to lead.
Positively Pottstown blog 
