Category: Wellness

Good Friday Prayer Processional to start at 10:30

The Pottstown Clergy Association invites the Pottstown Community to join in a Good Friday prayer processional this Friday at 10:30.

All are invited to gather on the green between Zion’s United Church of Christ and Emmanuel Lutheran Church on Hanover Street. Children and strollers welcome! A “Time for Children” with the younger walkers will begin the processional.

Sometimes known as the “Cross Walk,” this one-mile walk is made so that the community can pray together for the peace and well-being of the community, to lift up those who offer their time and talents, and to bear witness to Christ’s love for the world.

See last year’s wonderful description of the procession written by Rosemary Keane here. Please note that parking is available behind the churches, and in case of rain, the walk will take place inside.

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.

Support TriCounty Community Network at Friendly’s on April 4th

Friendly’s Fundraiser

Visit Friendly’s at 200 Shoemaker Road, Pottstown

Wednesday, April 4th 

Between 4pm and 9pm

Support TCN and its programs in youth development, caregivers support, environmental awareness, family literacy, homeless services, domestic violence awareness, and workforce development.

 Get together with family and friends to help us, while you help yourself to some great food!

When you visit Friendly’s on the date and time above,
Friendly’s will donate 10% of the proceeds to our fundraising efforts!

 Enjoy great food and great fun while benefiting

TriCounty Community Network

For more information about TriCounty Community Network, contact:

 Jennifer M. Doyle, MPA
Executive Director
TriCounty Community Network
260 High Street
Pottstown, PA 19464
Phone: 610-705-3301
Fax: 610-705-3304

jdoyle@tcnetwork.org

@TCN_Pottstown

 Partnering to improve health, social and environmental conditions.

Pottstown Library celebrates Family Reading Month!

  Did you know that April is Family ReadingMonth? I did not know that. When my kids were little it was always family reading month! There’s nothing better than tuning out the noise of the rest of the world and settling into the world of a children’s book with your child on your lap or by your side, eager to turn the pages to find out what happens next.

The Pottstown Regional Public Library at 500 E. High Street is celebrating Family Reading Month with a chance for families to read together and win prizes! See details below. To learn more and become a library member, stop by in person, give a call (610-970-6551) or visit their website at http://ppl.mclinc.org.

Read with a family member for 20 minutes a day for 20 days until May 4, 2012. Registration opens April 1 and you must register by April 13, 2012 then… Read! Read! Read!

All books read for Family Reading Month must be borrowed from Pottstown Regional Public Library.

Read even MORE! Mark an “X” on each day you read for at least 20 minutes with a family member. Try to keep a list of titles—it’s fun to watch your list grow! You must bring your completed calendar into the library by May 4, 2012 to be eligible for prizes.

SPECIAL PRIZE DRAWING!

Each time you visit the library & check out books, you can fill out a prize drawing ticket for a chance to win a special prize.

Pottstown Family Center Offers Workshop for Fathers

The Pottstown Family Center is offering Dare To Be The Best, an interactive workshop for fathers.

Participants in Dare To Be The Best will be supported in being the best parent they can be through father-child interaction, case management, education, and advocacy. Information about community resources, services and programs will be available.

Dare To Be The Best will be held on six Wednesday evenings beginning April 11. Each session will run from 6:30-8 p.m. at Rupert Elementary School, 1230 South Street, Pottstown.  Free child care is available.

Pre-registration is required. Registration deadline is Thursday, April 5. For more information or to register, contact Rob Gaskill at 610-326-1610 ext. 239 or rgaskill@fsmontco.org.

Established in 1993, the Pottstown Family Center offers support programs and services that help families learn, grow and achieve self-sufficiency. Family Services has served as the lead agency of the Pottstown Family Center for nearly 10 years. For more information on the Pottstown Family Center, contact Family Services’ Pottstown Office at 610-326-1610 or visit www.fsmontco.org.

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.

Moms Club of Douglassville West joins “Fill the Media Lab” Food Drive!

I‘m lending my outreach/network to the MOMS Club of Douglassville West; they wanted to team up with a blogger to join in the “Fill the Media Lab” food drive, so here we are! Read on to learn how to contribute to their collection…

The MOMS Club of Douglassville West Kids Clothing & Equipment Sale is THIS Coming Saturday!

Saturday, March 24th 7am – Noon
St. Paul’s UCC Church, Douglassville

Find fantastic deals on gently used spring & summer clothing from newborn through size 16. Great toys, videos, books, baby strollers, high chairs, swings, car seats, maternity clothing and much, much more!

** NEW ** We are teaming up with Positively Pottstown and the Pottstown Mercury for the Fill the Media Lab Food Drive.

Bring in a non-perishable food item and be entered in a drawing for exclusive night-before shopping at the fall sale on September 15th, 2012.

Bring in a donation of LAUNDRY DETERGENT and get two entries!!

A portion of the sale proceeds will be given to The Greater Berks Food Bank and Relay for Life – Daniel Boone Area

Bake sale proceeds benefit St. Paul’s UCC for the generous use of their facilities

Click here for directions!

Hope to see you there,
Audrey McCouch
Chairperson, Sale Committee

Girl Talk Series continues at YWCA this Saturday: Body Image & Self-Esteem

When you look in the mirror, do you like what you see? Developing a positive body image and a healthy mental attitude is crucial to a woman’s happiness and wellness.

IMAGINE STARTING your day facing just one of these challenges: Depression, an eating
disorder, relentless unrealistic and hyper-sexualized media images, mean girl tactics at school
and online, or a boyfriend who belittles you. Ugh! Yet for our teen girls, these are just some of the many issues confronting them every day, taking a toll on their confidence, self esteem and physical health.

This workshop offers a safe, girls-only environment to make connections, embrace who they are
and talk about issues important to them. Discussions will include self esteem, healthy living,
exercise and proper eating. The goal is for girls to take away information and resources to give
them a strong foundation and the tools to develop into empowered, confident young women.
Join us for girl talk!

Saturday, March 24, 2012
1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Free with reservation
YWCA Tri-County Area
315 King Street, Pottstown
610-323-1888

Girl Talk Series:

May 2012
Non-Traditional Careers

July 2012
Cyber Bullying and Stalking

September 2012
Go Green!

November 2012
Advocacy

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