Category: People

TriCounty Community Network highlights upcoming area meetings and events

TCN Membership Meeting

 Rep. Tom Quigley to Speak on Local Job Creation

 Tuesday, May 15, 8am-10am

 Montgomery County Community College, West Campus

Community Room, 101 College Drive, Pottstown

Special thanks to our breakfast sponsor
Money Management International

 For more information or to register call 610-705-3301, Ext. 2.

Membership Meeting Agenda

8:00am-8:30am Breakfast & Networking

8:30am-8:40am Introductions

8:40am-8:50am Announcements

8:50am-9:00am Breakfast Sponsor Presentation

9:00am-10:00am Presentation

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TriCounty Community Career Fair

Wednesday, May 16, 10am – 1pm

Berean Conference Center

2675 East High Street, Pottstown

For more information call 610-705-3301.

Presented by the TCN Exelon Nuclear Workforce Development Program

 

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Think you’ll get rich quick by gambling?

You have a way better chance of being struck by lightning or dying from a bee sting

Please join us……..

Problem Gambling and the College Population

Guest Speaker – Joanna Franklin, MS, NCGC II

Thursday, May 10, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM

Montgomery County Community College

Central Campus – Advanced Technology Center – Room 101, 340 DeKalb Pike, Blue Bell PA 19422

~ and ~

West Campus by video-conferencing, South Hall – Room 213, 101 College Drive, Pottstown PA 19464

Target Audience:  College faculty, administrators, counselors, students, and Drug & Alcohol Professionals who provide services in Montgomery County

To register for this free workshop, please e-mail elaffert@montcopa.org or call: Eileen Lafferty, 610-278-3538

 

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 Fellowship Farm “Blossom Festival”
Open House – Join Us!

Kids & Family Fun, Learning & Nature Activities

Saturday, May 12, 1-4 PM

Fellowship Farm

2488 Sanatoga Road

Pottstown, Pennsylvania 19464

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 Aevidum

Live Music, Refreshments, Raffles & Resources

Monday, May 14, 7pm-9pm

Montgomery County Community College

Science Center – Entrance off Morris Road

340 Dekalb Pike, Blue Bell, PA

Aevidum is a depression and suicide education awareness initiative where informed adults empower students to know the warning signs of depression and understand that it is a treatable illness. Students use their gifts and talents to spread the Aevidum message of hope and advocate for other students. Aevidum’s message is delivered through interactive displays, high-energy assemblies, and community events.

 

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Girl Talk Series: Non-Traditional Careers

Why a Non-Traditional Career?

Where Should Women Pursuing Non-Traditional Careers Start?

Examples of Non-Traditional Careers for Women and Girls Ages 8 and Up.

Saturday, May 19, 2012, 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Free with reservation

YWCA Tri-County Area, 315 King Street, Pottstown

There is no cost to participate, but please reserve by calling 610-323-1888 x200

 

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 POTTSTOWN PRIDE

You can find the Winter edition of Pottstown Pride at www.pottstownschools.com. We are proud to highlight the accomplishments of our students, staff and graduates. Pottstown Pride also honors the memory of our fallen Trojans and provides us the opportunity to thank our supporters.

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Partnering to improve health, social and environmental conditions.

TriCounty Community Network

260 High Street, Pottstown, PA  19464

610-705-3301
www.TCNetwork.org

@TCN_Pottstown

Texas Hold ‘Em Poker Tourney tonight at the Carousel

See the details below for a Texas Hold ‘Em tournament that’s taking place TONIGHT at The Carousel at Pottstown. And click here for Evan Brandt’s blog post about it. Oh… and click here if you want to hear Kenny Rogers sing about knowing when to hold ’em and knowing when to fold ’em!

 

Political drama FARRAGUT NORTH comes to Tri-PAC

There’s plenty to do in Pottstown this weekend, but absolutely don’t forget to make room to see the new play opening at Tri-PAC. Farragut North only runs this weekend and next; get your tickets now! Here’s the teaser and details from Tri-PAC…

The political drama Farragut North comes to the Tri-County Performing Arts Center, 245 E. High Street, Pottstown for two weekends only, April 20-April 29.  Come and watch backroom politics play out during this political season!

It’s January in Des Moines, Iowa, during a tight primary race. Wunderkind Stephen Bellamy is young, aggressive, talented, and tremendously successful as press secretary for Governor Morris in his bid to run for President. Thrown into the scheming backroom politics of more seasoned operatives, Stephen struggles between the lust for power and loyalty to the cause. Named for the Metro Station that is the center of the Washington, D.C. lobbyist district, Farragut North was the major motion picture, THE IDES OF MARCH, starting George Clooney, Ryan Gosling, Paul Giamatti, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

The Tri-PAC cast includes Tyler Horn, Steve Reazor, Katherine Leary, Phil Ballantine,  Ken Mumma, Carly Fried, Porter Eidam, and Philip Seader.

 Tickets for all shows at the Tri-PAC are available online. Please note that seating is now reserved, so go to www.tripac.org to purchase your tickets now or call 610.970.1199 to ensure the best seats.  Showtimes are 8:00 PM on Friday and Saturday, and 3:00 PM on Sunday.   Tickets range from $13 for children 12 and under, $15 for students and seniors (65+), and $17 for adults. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more.  When available, tickets will be sold at the door.

Village Productions is a dynamic nonprofit performing arts organization that seeks to strengthen community, inspire creative exploration, educate, and entertain, through the presentation of quality performing arts events and educational opportunities geared toward a diverse audience. The new Tri-County Performing Arts Center at 245 E. High Street, Pottstown, PA is the home of Village Productions. You may contact Village Productions through their website at www.tripac.org, or by telephone at 610-970-1199.

Gearing up for a fantastic First Saturday in Pottstown on May 5th!

The first First Saturday of 2012 is shaping up to be an interactive arts and cultural extravaganza thanks to the ingenuity and effort of Daniel Dilliplane. Daniel has organized a day filled with local folks, performers, and artists sharing their hobbies, crafts, and skills FOR FREE with the public. Check out the Facebook page for Pottstown Interactive Art Picnic and check out he flyer below to see all the activities taking place all day long, in addition to the traditional May Fair at Pottsgrove Manor, Paint the Town Purple, and the Classic Car Show. There’s stuff to do all day long in Pottstown on May 5th so mark your calendar now!

Local Artists Celebrate Recycled Art at Gallery on High

Norah Cannon's "Fancy Feet"

The Gallery on High will host a reception this Saturday, April 14th, to celebrate their spring show, which is called Re-Creative. The reception will last from 12-2pm and light refreshments will be served. At 1:30 pm, a Best in Show prize will be awarded. This $100 prize is generously sponsored by the Building Industries Exchange of Pottstown and Vicinity’s Green Team. All Gallery receptions are free and open to the public.

Entries in this show had to be created from recycled, upcycled or salvaged materials. The artists created an incredible array of work. The recycled origins of some pieces are immediately apparent, while other pieces have a more subtle message. The theme of Re-Creative is wonderfully invoked in this show, as the artists each took something that is normally overlooked, thrown out or dismissed
and re-imagined that item.

Participating artists include: Robyn Burckhardt, Jann Everett DeChristopher, Natalie Cyphers, Susan Ploppert, Christine Burnley, Millie Lea, Gail Ann Herring, Sara Benowitz, Dora Siemel, Bob Hakun, Jon Parker, Joe Hoover, Danielle D’Aries,
Florence Mano, Lisbeth Bucci, Donna Steck-McMahon, Maggie Creshkoff, Sue Eyet, Norah Cannon and Julie Tonnessen.

Dora Siemel's “Buy More Stuff!”

Re-Creative runs from March 17 to April 21. Guests can view the exhibit during regular gallery hours: Tuesday through Friday from 10am to 4:30pm and Saturday 10am to 3pm. The Gallery is closed Sunday and Monday.

The Gallery School of Pottstown is a 501c3 non-profit community art school and gallery. The School offers day, evening and weekend classes to all ages.

The goal of these classes is to help students develop their creative skills through self-expression and independence. The Gallery on High hosts rotating shows featuring local artists. The Gallery also sells handcrafted, one-of-a-kind gift items.

The Gallery School of Pottstown
@Gallery on High
254 E. High St.
Pottstown, PA  19464
610-326-2506
www.galleryonhigh.org

Eastern Slavic music to be presented at St. John’s in Pottstown

 A free concert of sacred hymns and other liturgical music of the Eastern Slavic tradition will be presented by the Westminster Slavic Choir at 1 p.m. on Sunday, April 15, in St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church, 301 Cherry Street, Pottstown, Pa. 

            The Westminster Slavic Choir features students of Westminster Choir College, Princeton, N.J.  The vocalists all are either vocal performance or music education majors at Westminster, a division of Westminster College of the Arts, a residential college of music located in Princeton, N.J.  Westminster is a four-year music college and graduate school that prepares men and women for careers as professional performers and as music leaders in schools, universities, churches, and professional and community music organizations. As Westminster Choir College students, the talented young men and women of the Slavic Choir join their peers in performing with the world’s leading orchestras in venues ranging from the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia to Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center in New York.

The chamber choir is directed by senior vocal performance major Andrew Skitko III, a native of Pottstown, Pa.  Drew also serves as the cantor and music director at The Assumption of The Virgin Mary Byzantine Catholic Church of Trenton, N.J., where the Westminster Slavic Choir performs about once a month.

The concert will include works by composers Bortniansky, Vedel, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, and Hurko, as well as traditional chant.  Selections will be performed in English as well as Old Slavonic.

Parking is located in the rear of the church.  The church is handicapped-accessible via the ramp located from the parking lot. A free-will offering will be taken.  The concert is expected to last about one hour.

For further information, please contact Andrew Skitko III, choral director at 610-220-3479 or via e-mail at  skitkoa@rider.edu

Author of AMERICAN WASTELAND to speak at Hill School

Jonathan Bloom, author of American Wasteland, journalist, and blogger, will speak on the topic of food waste at The Hill School on Thursday evening, April 12th.

Bloom is the author of American Wasteland, a book on food waste. He is also  journalist and the blogger who created WastedFood.com. Bloom comes to The Hill as the third in a series of speakers who visited campus this year as part of The Hill’s academic theme for the year: Community. He will raise awareness about the issue of food waste.

Bloom’s address will take place in The Hill School’s Center For The Arts Theatre at 7:30 p.m. It is free of charge and open to the general public.

Bloom’s blog examines “why we waste food, why it matters and what we can do about it.” His work has appeared in The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, Variety, The Philadelphia Inquirer, TimeOut New York and Boston Magazine, among others. He lives in Durham, N.C.

MCCC, Verizon Foundation to Present Domestic Violence Awareness Program

To help increase awareness of the signs of domestic abuse, Montgomery County Community College and the Verizon Foundation will be presenting the documentary film, “Telling Amy’s Story,” on Wednesday, April 4, from 12-1:30 p.m. in the South Hall Community Room, 101 College Drive, Pottstown.

The community is invited to attend this free, informative program. Refreshments/light lunch will be served. For more information and/or to register to attend, please contact dkhateeb@mc3.edu.

The film documents the domestic abuse of Amy Homan McGee, a Verizon Wireless employee and mother of two who was abused and then murdered by her husband in 2001. Detective Deirdri Feshel, of the State College, Pa., Police Department, narrates Amy’s story, highlighting the steps that could be taken to stop a similar situation.

Representatives from The Women’s Center of Montgomery County and Laurel House will have information tables and will be available to answer questions after the film presentation.

The College, through using this film, wants to inform students and the community about the warning signs of domestic violence and abuse, the importance of contacting authorities and the availability of support services and community resources.

For more information about domestic violence, visit the Women’s Center of Montgomery County’s website at http://www.wcmontco.org/index.html or the Laurel’s House website at http://laurel-house.org/.   If you or someone you know needs help, contact the Women’s Center of Montgomery’s 24/7 hotline at 1-800-773-2424 or the Laurel House’s hotline at 1-800-642-3150.

Creative MontCo wants your input!

Are the arts important in your life and the life of your family? Do you spend time and money to learn how to paint or play an instrument or knit a sweater? Do you enjoy going to galleries, performances, or outdoor festivals? Would you like to see a few cafes with open mics in your downtown? Does the perfect nut roll or shoo-fly pie make you want to write poetry? Does a surprising piece of whimsical art in a public place bring a smile to your face?

Car Art!

These are just some of the ways that arts and culture touch our lives, and Montgomery County would like to hear from you about what specific places and activities are important to you in your town and throughout the region. Check out the survey here.Last fall Montgomery County launched a large-scale planning process called Creative MontCo. Their website bills Creative Montco as “a bold partnership of community members and organizations developing a comprehensive cultural and creative economy plan for communities throughout the county. Creative MontCo is dedicated to making Montgomery County a more vibrant place to live, work and play.”

The beautiful thing about the arts – besides just being, well, beautiful – is that arts and culture can be an economic engine for a local economy. All over the country, there are towns, small cities and even neighborhoods within larger cities, that have discovered their identities as centers of art, culture, and history and they have generated jobs and stabilized their tax base by understanding, expanding, and promoting their assets.

The Creative MontCo Steering Committee is being led by Montgomery County Community College president Dr. Karen Stout. The County has hired some really knowledgeable planners – The Cultural Planning Group – who understand how arts and culture can be good for residents and visitors alike and can stimulate economic growth.  They have have been surveying and meeting with artists, organizations, and groups ever since to find out what residents like, what they want more of, and what they envision for their towns in the way of arts, and culture, which I take to include historic and heritage resources as well as the natural environment (i.e., parks). 

To me, the term “culture” gets at the history of a place and how that is reflected today in the people that live there, the work they do, the traditions that live on, and the natural and built environments that are tied to all of that. For me, “the arts” includes any creative endeavor, including, say, beautiful cupcakes or the really old mosaic tiles in many of the entryways of the stores in downtown Pottstown.

So… what arts and cultural activities and events are important to you? Please take a few moments NOW to respond to their survey here.  And feel free to spend some time at Creative MontCo’s website, reading what others have to say and sharing your vision for the creative future of your county. 

 

 

Pottstown Area Health & Wellness Foundation article: Exercise proven to be a stimulus to learning

 Editor’s note: This is the latest article from the Pottstown Area Health & Wellness Foundation. More evidence that not only does exercise make us feel better physically and mentally, but it’s good for our brains too!

Teaching all kids, not just athletes, the importance of fitness and wellness, was the topic of conversation recently in Pottstown and Boyertown.  Dr. John Ratey, author, researcher and Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, traveled to the area recently to talk about the “brain-body connection.”

Dr. John Ratey, author of the book Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, began the day speaking to a group of 33 at the Pottstown Area Health & Wellness Foundation. Representatives from local school districts and organizations attended this small group discussion to learn the importance of incorporating activity and fitness into the daily routines of local school children.

“We were very excited to have Dr. Ratey visit Pottstown,” stated Dave Kraybill, Executive Director of the Pottstown Area Health & Wellness Foundation. “His research is very exciting and supports the Foundation’s goal of promoting exercise and active lifestyles.”

New brain cells are generated every day. According to Ratey, exercise promotes new brain cell growth and acts as a “brain fertilizer”, which optimizes learning.  In addition to the increased learning ability, exercise can help control aggression, stress and depression.

Later that day, Dr. Ratey traveled to Boyertown to address a group of more than 150 faculty, staff and Board members from the Boyertown School District. Neighboring school districts were also represented, in addition to local organizations.

Those in attendance learned about the relationship of the human brain development and movement, and how it directly relates to our ability to learn and process new information. Questions and answers focused around the connection between student’s physical activity, test results, depression and incidences of discipline.

According to Stephanie Petri, K-12 Health and Physical Education Lead Teacher, “The faculty and staff in the Boyertown School District found this information very exciting and are planning to incorporate 20 minutes of physical activity prior to the junior’s PSSA reading and math exams. Our goal is to increase student focus, decrease test anxiety, and improve student success. We believe the connection between exercise and learning will provide this outcome.”

The Pottstown Area Health & Wellness Foundation’s mission is to enhance the health and wellness of area residents, providing education, funding and programs that motivate people to adopt healthy lifestyles. Visit www.pottstownfoundation.org for more information about the Foundation. Discover Pottstown area’s online community at www.missionhealthyliving.org to learn and share great information on how to lead a healthier life. You can also follow Mission Healthy Living on Facebook and Twitter.

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