Tag: The Mercury

Area food drive picking up speed

The “Fill the Media Lab” food pantry drive being conducted by The Mercury, The Sanatoga Post, other Post newspapers, and area bloggers who are part of The Mercury’s Town Square, is kicking into high gear. New businesses keep coming forward to offer their location as a drop-off point for donations of food and laundry detergent.

Residential and commercial real estate attorney Andrew Monastra has joined the local fight against hunger by offering his office at 740 E. High Street in Pottstown as a drop-off location between the hours of 8:30 am – 5 pm, Monday through Friday. Food collected there, as well as at Grumpy’s Handcarved Sandwiches (in the Farmers’ Market), is going to the Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities. During the first week of the food drive, Grumpy’s collected 117 food items and 15 bottles of laundry detergent.* Grumpy’s is also making a matching donation for everything they collect.

Andrew Monastra’s office is down near the post office in Pottstown; it’s that beautiful Grand Review Building. Andrew is always finding a new way to support the efforts of area non-profits. His Heartland Abstract title company makes a donation from each real estate transaction to either MOSAIC Community Land Trust, The Gallery School of Pottstown, or The Carousel. Please consider contacting Andrew Monastra for your next real estate transaction!

In other “Fill the Media Lab” news, The Sanatoga Post reported today that Zuber Realty (2117 E. High Street) has become the latest donation drop-off spot in Lower Pottsgrove Township, joining Pottsgrove High School (1345 Kauffman Rd.) and Chesmont Storage (1500 Industrial Hwy.)

* I’ve got a photo of the food collected, but I’m having “technical difficulties” with my camera. 😩 Will post photos as soon as I can!

Check out Mercury’s profile of Pottstown’s economic development director

Speaking of economic development and PAID, Inc., check out Evan Brandt’s story on Steve Bamford, the executive director of PAID. He’s been on the job for just a few months, but he’s already making things happen, one conversation at a time.

Glad to have you on board, Steve!

Busy, busy holiday weekend in Pottstown

There are so many holiday activities taking place this weekend. I’ll highlight a few here. Please check out the calendar for the details, and take a look at The Mercury’s coverage of all the happenings.

Get out this morning for the Doe Club’s annual Cookie Walk and Soup Sale being held in the lobby of the Elks Lodge, 61 High Street, from 9:00 AM to 12 noon. 

Edgewood Cemetery is holding a wreath sale at 9:30 this morning at the cemetery (High & Keim Streets).

A Cash Mob is meeting at The Farmers’ Market at 10 am. Bring $20 to spend at the downtown business of your choice. BUY LOCAL!

On the entertainment side, there’s the Coventry Singers concert, TriPAC’s “A Christmas Story,” and the Ballroom on High’s Christmas Showcase.

There’s a full schedule of events and family fun at the Carousel, Pottsgrove Manor and the Hill School on Sunday too. Check out the calendar here!

 

PAID hires Steven Bamford as executive director

Earlier today an article in The Mercury‘s online business section announced the hiring of Steven Bamford by PAID, Inc. to serve as the first executive director of the revamped economic development entity responsible for Pottstown’s revitalization. Roy’s Rants writes that Mr. Bamford’s first day will be November 10th. Mr. Bamford brings more than 20 years of economic development experience to the position. There is much work to be done, and it’s a relief and very welcome news to hear that Pottstown has got someone with his credentials working on its behalf.  Welcome aboard!

Mercury article features SCORE, next host of Positively Pottstown Happy Hour

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.

 

Mercury coverage of Heritage Action Plan

Here’s a link to the Mercury‘s coverage of the Draft Heritage Action Plan:

New plan aims to bring Schuylkill Trail users into Pottstown.

It was discussed by Council at their work session last week and will be on the agenda for adoption tonight:  Thanks, Evan!

 

Another happy Happy Hour

OMG. YUM.
A huge thank you to Tom Abbott, Nancy March and The Mercury for hosting yesterday’s Happy Hour; it was one of the best. Seems their Community Media Lab was just the right size to cause about 60-70 people to literally rub elbows, meet new folks and network.

The gorgeous food shown in these pictures was provided by Chef Michael Falcone and his Funky Lil’ Kitchen… Cucumber with salmon, shots of strawberry soup with a drizzle of creme fraiche, hummus, white bean bruschetta, little dollops of goat cheese on puff pastry and more, every bite a sophisticated taste sensation.

We were also treated to a donation of beer by Sly Fox Brewery. They’re new to Pottstown, moving their brewing operation to the Circle of Progress in the Pottstown Airport Business Center. See The Mercury’s story from today’s paper here. Thank you, John Giannopoulos, and welcome to Pottstown!

I still need to confirm the location of the next Happy Hour, but the date is set: Friday, July 15 at 5 pm. Hope to see you then!

J.O.B. Design & Construction hosts Positively!Pottstown happy hour this Thursday

In the case of J.O.B. Design & Construction headquarters at 64 N. Hanover Street, you’d do well to “judge a book by its cover.” Their historical renovation of the former Dr. Frederick Van Buskirk home is testament to the quality craftsmanship that is standard for J.O.B, which is owned and operated by John and Pam O’Boyle.

The building was on the “Historic Pottstown by Candlelight” house tour last December, but I missed it. I finally got a chance to stop by a couple weeks ago and get a tour from Pam. I was just blown away by the beauty of the original hardwood floors, moldings, trim, stair rails and shutters. For other examples of the extraordinary work of J.O.B, click on the “Portfolio” button on their website. They also own a green subsidiary – Halo Energy – that can help you harness solar power and make your home or business more energy efficient.

Johnny O’Boyle has been working in construction and remodeling since 1977. For nearly 24 years, he had his business on East 7th Street in Pottstown before re-locating to N. Hanover Street about a year ago, further cementing his commitment to Pottstown. John currently serves as President of the Building Industries Exchange of Pottstown and Vicinity and has donated J.O.B.’s services for construction of the World War II Memorial in Memorial Park.

We’re really pleased that John and Pam have opened up their business to host the next happy hour, which is this Thursday, May 19 from 5-7:30 pm. Food will be provided by Positively Pasta of 115 E. High Street. You can expect mouth-watering savory-filled puff pastries, potato skins, mini-meatballs and pizza bites. As always, there’s a $5 cover charge for appetizers; beverages are complimentary. If you haven’t done so already, please RSVP to positivelypottstown@gmail.com.

And please check out J.O.B. Design & Construction Co. Inc.for your next construction or re-modeling project!

Tri-County for A Cure Video Project

The weekend is finally almost here for Yoga on the Steps, which benefits the amazing organization: Living Beyond Breast Cancer.  In case you weren’t able to attend our last Positively!Pottstown Happy Hour and you haven’t seen this video circulating around the internet (especially on facebook), here’s the culmination of some fun ideas, a lot of great participation by local business owners and leaders, and the talent of a certain photographer, Melia Rios-Lazo of Priceless Moments

Owner of High Street Yoga and the creative force behind the video, Barbara Kosciewicz offered her thoughts today about the video.  She writes of the project:

Throughout the long winter, during each class someone would comment or giggle about a certain pose we could do in a location in Pottstown.  We dreamed for spring to come and decided it would be our spring project.   Before long, the idea began to grow and evolve into raising awareness and funds for our Yoga team Tri-County for a Cure that is attending Yoga on the Steps on Sunday May 15th. Suddenly the project became much  greater than ourselves and became something both fun and meaningful

You can read the rest of her thoughts on her blog, Yoga Wisdom for Everyday, which is also a Mercury Town Square Blog. 

There is still time to get involved with Yoga on the Steps:  you can donate to the Tri-County for a Cure team or even sign up to participate on Sunday.  Just visit www.yogaonthesteps.org to get the details.

Two important community meetings tonight

Two meetings tonight will provide key information on various aspects of revitalization and serve as proof of the new collaborative spirit taking hold in Pottstown.

#1  For anyone interested in the status of the Pottstown Area Industrial Development corporation (PAID), the entity responsible for economic development in the Borough, there will be a meeting to announce their new board members this evening at 6 pm at the library on the The Hill School campus. The reconstituted PAID board is an outgrowth of a recommendation by the Urban Land Institute in a 2009 report for the Borough to create a single entity for redevelopment and revitalization. See The Mercury’s article here.

#2 If you want to know more about what’s happening in the Washington Street corridor and how you can get involved, Genesis Housing is holding a meeting called “Let’s Talk” at 7 pm tonight at the Ricketts Center, where you can learn about new projects and help design a community mural. The Ricketts Center is at  640 Beech Street, Pottstown, PA 19464. Community members will be asked for their ideas for a new mural at the Chestnut Street Park and to help to set priorities and develop future projects. An update on Washington Street neighborhood projects,  including the new community garden and the Science in the Park event, will be discussed.  Community concerns about this area and other sections of the Pottstown will be explored with the hope of setting priorities for future projects.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the proposed mural in the Washington St. neighborhood will speak volumes on the tenacity and determination driving the revitalization of Pottstown.  Genesis Housing Corporation, The Gallery on High and Citizens for Pottstown’s Revitalization are in collaboration to develop a mural at the park located at Washington and Chestnut Streets.  The artistic coordinators, Cathy Paretti and Erika Hornburg-Cooper of the Gallery on High have selected Robert Louis Williams, an accomplished local artist to design and create the proposed park mural.  Let’s talk about the different types of murals and what this mural should look like – this is the chance for your input!

Judith Memberg, Executive Director of Genesis Housing Corporation, will provide an update on their Washington Street neighborhood housing developments including the rehabilitation of vacant properties for new home buyers and the homeowner rehab programs.  Information about the Pottstown Homeowner Rehab Program will be provided.

Genesis Housing Corporation serves Montgomery County as a non-profit community development organization and is dedicated to the development of affordable housing and to the education of consumers on housing and financial issues.  For more information, visit their website at www.genesishousing.org or call 610-275-4357.

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