Tag: The Mercury

Hurricane Sandy safety info for Pottstown

Thanks to The Mercury, Roy’s Rants, Warren Holohan of Ink and Essence, and John Armato for all these pieces of info below  to help Pottstown residents keep themselves safe. If new info comes to me, I will get it up ASAP. Stay inside and take care!

  • Pottstown High School is a Red Cross emergency shelter during the storm. It was open last night and will be open during the emergency.  The High School is at 750 N. Washington Street. You can enter at the gym area.
  • Christ Episcopal Church at 316 E. High Street near the Farmers’ Market announced it is open for shelter and sanctuary for anyone in need due to protracted loss of electric, flooding or other catastrophes resulting from the storm. Bedding and other essentials have been put into place.  Contact Rev. Terry Highland at the church for more details:  610-323-2895.
  • In Pottstown, Hanover Street between Third and Fourth Streets has been closed for low tree branches and power lines.
  • The Coventry Mall will close at 2 p.m. today.
  • However, as of 10:30 a.m., Wal-Mart, K-Mart and Target all planned to remain open throughout the day.

Use this link here to access The Mercury’s regional storm updates as Sandy barrels through.

See Phillie Phanatic in Pottstown’s Halloween parade tonight!

According to The Mercury, the Phillie Phanatic will be at tonight’s Halloween Parade, which begins at 7 pm at Goodwill Fire Company and ends at Borough Hall. (Goodwill is at 714 E. High Street.)

Other entertainment includes the Boyertown Alumni Band and  the Pottstown and Pottsgrove middle and high school marching bands.

Everyone in the Pottstown region is invited to come out, watch, and participate in this SPOOKTACULAR hometown event!

9th Annual Carousel of Flavor this Sunday!

One of Pottstown’s premier events is taking place this Sunday in the 100 block of High Street – the 9th Annual Carousel of Flavor to benefit The Carousel of Pottstown project.

“Delight in tastings from the area’s best restaurants, discover handmade treasures from talented craftspeople, dance to the music, and just simply enjoy this day outside that puts the fun in our favorite Carousel fundraiser!” says the event’s Facebook page.

Seventeen area restaurants will be participating. Scout out what’s available, get your food tickets, then go and eat until your stomach’s content. And the wine and beer garden will be double in size this year.

The Carousel of Flavor runs from 12-4 pm. Thousands of visitors come out and every year it grows bigger; 7,000-8,000 are predicted to turn out this year. Get there early. For more info on what it’s all about, check out The Mercury’s story from yesterday here.

Assistant Superintendent at Pottstown to step up in wake of Lindley resignation

In what is turning out to be a day for education-related posts, please see Frank Otto’s Mercury story today about Assistant Superintendent Jeffrey Sparagana agreeing to put off his retirement in order to become acting Superintendent through this school year as the  district seeks a permanent replacement for Dr. Reed Lindley, who resigned unexpectedly on September 20th. A huge “thank you” goes out to Dr. Sparagana and his family for continuing to serve the community in this capacity.

“Pottstown Asst. Superintendent Sparagana to put off retirement” by Frank Otto.

Grand opening of Mercury’s Media Lab and PDIDA Visitors’ Center tomorrow at 11 am! HUGE Sidewalk Sale this Saturday!

The Pottstown Downtown Improvement District Authority (PDIDA) office at 17 N. Hanover Street will be opening its re-furbished Visitors’ Center tomorrow. The Center will include information on local events, businesses, and organizations, and the framed photos on its walls will give visitors a visual taste of Pottstown’s history.

Just across the street, The Mercury will unveil its newly-tricked out Community Media Lab, where members of the community can use computers, do research in Mercury archives on microfilm,  and grab a cup of coffee. Workshops on blogging and other aspects of linking the public with technology and communication tools are being planned.

PDIDA and The Mercury will celebrate with a “ribbon-joining” ceremony that begins at 11 am tomorrow and runs for about a half-hour. The first block of N. Hanover Street will be closed from 10:30 am – 1 pm.  Refreshments will be available in both locations. The ribbon-joining, as opposed to a ribbon-cutting, is meant to symbolize the spirit of cooperation between The Mercury and PDIDA in helping residents and visitors alike learn more about the history of Pottstown, take pride, and participate more in civic life.

Speaking of civic life… it’s everyone’s duty to BUY LOCAL! whenever they can! The recent, incredible BUY LOCAL! challenge in the Pottstown public schools, which netted over $55,000 in one month for downtown merchants, shows that there’s plenty of wonderful stuff to be had in downtown Pottstown. Why not come out and do it again this Saturday, July 21 from 11 am-4 pm when there is a GIGANTIC Sidewalk Sale taking place? PDIDA is still getting calls from vendors wanting a table at the event. There will be a face painter, juggler, clown/balloon artist, raffles and loads of FREE FUN, so come on down!

Healthy Lifestyles EXPO today at MCCC’s Pottstown campus

The Healthy Lifestyles EXPO takes place today, Friday, April 20 from 9:30am-1:30pm at Montgomery County Community College, West Campus, 101 College Drive in Pottstown. The EXPO is sponsored by State Representative Quigley’s Office, Montgomery County Community College, the Mercury, & TriCounty Community Network.

EXPO Workshops for Seniors & Caregivers 

Presented by the TCN CARE & Environmental Awareness Programs

10:00am – 10:30am – Saving Money with Medicare, Presenter: Virginia Cox, Boyertown Area Multi-Service

10:30am – 11:00am -Elder Law & Guardianship, Presenter: Robert Slutsky, Robert M. Slutsky Associates

11:00am – 11:30am -Senior Living Options, Presenters: Stacey Petroff, Home Instead Senior Care & Shirlee Barlow, Columbia Cottage Assisted Living

11:30am – 12:00pm-Financial Needs of the Older Adult, Presenter: Charles Delaney, Aging & Adult Services of Montgomery County

12:00pm – 12:30pm-Veteran’s Affairs Benefits, Presenter: Kathy Martin, O’Donnell, Weiss & Mattei

12:30pm – 1:00pm –How to Make a Family Emergency Preparedness Plan, Presenter: Dr. Lewis Cuthbert, Alliance for a Clean Environment

“Fill the Media Lab” food drive approaches goal!

Wow! Thanks to the sustained and last-minute generosity of residents, businesses, schools, churches, and community groups in the Pottstown region, the “Fill the Media Lab” food drive, spearheaded by The Mercury and other newspapers and bloggers, is nearing its ambitious goals in the final days of the drive.

 The Mercury reported today that items were still being collected over the holiday weekend. The latest tally put the food items collected at 14,711 and the number of bottle of laundry detergent at 669. The goals were 20,000 and 1,000, respectively.

There’s still a chance to participate in this unprecedented collection. The Mercury article states: “Anyone who may have missed the opportunity to drop-off items for our collection effort can still do so Monday as The Mercury offices were closed to the public over the holiday weekend. Our offices are located at 24 N. Hanover St. in Pottstown and the lobby is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.”

Economic report for Pottstown region to be discussed at Pottstown High this evening

Please check out Evan Brandt’s most excellent article in today’s Mercury on the economic impact analysis that was undertaken by the Pottstown Metropolitan Area Regional Planning Committee over the past year. There will be a meeting tonight at 7 pm in the cafeteria of Pottstown High School to discuss the findings.

The Pottstown Metropolitan Regional Comprehensive Plan is a multi-jurisdictional plan that includes eight municipalities: Douglass Township, Lower Pottsgrove, New Hanover, Upper Pottsgrove, West Pottsgrove and the Borough of Pottstown in Montgomery County; and East Coventry and North Coventry in Chester County. The Montgomery County Planning Commission’s website describes the intent of this plan as an effort “to ensure smarter growth in the region and better management of future development while retaining the unique historical, cultural, and natural amenities of the area.

Two consulting firms were hired to survey residents and business owners in these 8 municipalities and look at shopping habits, economic and demographic data; analyze it; and offer several scenarios to help these towns make informed policy and land use decisions about what kinds of business and residential development to encourage or avoid to improve their fiscal outlook. Come out to the meeting tonight to hear  what the economic future could be for the region and to understand the issues, options, and decisions facing elected officials and policy makers as they try to keep the Pottstown region economically competitive.

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

What do today’s Happy Hour, Food Drive & DECA all have in common?

The answer is simple: bringing people together.

Today’s Happy Hour is from 5-7 pm at Rich Ranieri’s Flooring and Carpeting at 218 E. High Street. Check out what this 30-year-old business has to offer in the way of quality flooring and paints! But before you head out the door, or while you’re on the way over, please consider picking up a jar of peanut butter, a can of tuna, a box of cereal, a canned good, or a bottle of laundry detergent for the “Fill the Media Lab” food drive, spearheaded by The Mercury, and being supported by the entire region. There will be a collection box at the Happy Hour for your items. Let’s make a decent showing!

Now, you might be wondering: What does this have to do with DECA? You might also be wondering: What the heck is DECA?? Evan Brandt’s blog post this morning at his awesome blog, Digital Notebook, will give you that answer. Lindsey Havyer, a Pottstown High School student, placed 6th in the 61st Annual State Career Development Conference held recently in Hershey. Her winning project was a community service project, where she organized a group of students to clean up downtown Pottstown on weekends between May and July 2011. Her strong finish earned her a chance to compete at the national competition in Utah this spring. But she needs $1200 to get there. She’s already cutting costs by traveling with a team from Pottsgrove.

Because Lindsey brought her classmates together in service to their town, the Pottstown Downtown District Authority (PDIDA) is taking up a collection from the downtown merchants so they can give back, not only to Lindsey, but to future students who focus their efforts on the downtown. PDIDA would like to establish an annual scholarship that recognizes those students.

What does this have to do with today’s Happy Hour? Because I got an awesome deal on the food for today’s event from Craig and Susan Bolinger of The Ice House, Positively Pottstown will be donating the difference to PDIDA to support Lindsey, who must raise her travel funds by March 28th. Donations can also be sent to the PDIDA Office at 17 N Hanover St. There’s no time to waste!

So… in addition to collecting food items for the food drive, we’ll also take donations for Lindsey Havyer’s travel fund. 

Thanks to everyone in advance for coming together to support each other and what’s best about our community. All of this, by the way, is a perfect example of the spirit of the Buy Local philosophy of our very own local radio station, WBZH, The Buzz, 1370 AM. More on that in an upcoming post… stay tuned!

* From Evan’s Digital Notebook: “If in the midst of this, you’ve been asking yourself, “just what the heck is DECA anyway?” You’re not alone.

It is apparently an acronym for  Distributive Education Clubs of America, although finding that information on the organization’s web site proved nigh impossible (thank you Google).”

Thank you, Evan!

 

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