New Washington Insights at Hopewell

The Landsdowne portrait

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site.

Just in time for Presidents’ Day, Valley Forge National Historical Park Archivist Dona McDermott will shed new insights into the life and times of President George Washington at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site on Sunday, Feb. 9.

Sponsored by the Friends of Hopewell Furnace, the free program will begin at 2 p.m. in the park’s Conference Center.

Using the famous Landsdowne Portrait, McDermott will discuss how Gilbert Stuart included symbols that reflected Washington’s career and legacy.

Stuart painted the portrait in 1796 and it has served as a guide for Presidential portraits ever since.

Dona McDermott manages the extensive archives and collections at Valley Forge.

A 30-year career employee of the National Park Service, McDermott has also worked at Independence Hall and Hopewell Furnace.

Before joining the National Park Service, she worked at the Atwater Kent Museum in Philadelphia and the Peter Wentz Farmstead in Worcester.

She holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Eastern University and a Master of Arts in history and certification in Museum Studies from the University of Delaware.

In 1771, Mark Bird established Hopewell Furnace. Bird raised a militia in support of the American Revolution and sent badly needed supplies to George Washington at Valley Forge during the harsh winter of 1777-1778.

There are numerous records of Hopewell cannon and shot being used by Continental forces during the Revoluntionary War. One hundred and fifteen big guns for the Continental Navy were made at Hopewell, and ten inch morter shells from Hopewell were used in the final battle at Yorktown in 1781.

While at Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site visitors are encouraged to go into the village, tour the buildings and learn about the Iron Making Industry and why Hopewell Furnace is important to our nation’s history.

With grounds accessible on Mondays and Tuesdays, the park is fully open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday and is located five miles south of Birdsboro, PA, off of Route 345.

For more information stop by the park's visitor center, call 610-582-8773, visit the park's web site at www.nps.gov/hofu, or contact the park by e-mail at hofu_superintendent@nps.gov.

Skating for a Good Cause

The Hill School's ice rink

Blogger's Note: The following was provided Thursday morning by Jennifer Bechtel at The Hill School:

The Hill School’s 7th annual “Skate Against Cancer” event will place on Saturday, Feb. 8 from 8 to 10:30 p.m.

The entrance fee is $3 and skate rentals will be available for $2. 

There will be raffles pizza and refreshments, and t-shirts for sale. 

A DJ will be playing music throughout the event. 

The public is invited to attend this fundraiser which benefits the American Cancer Society through the Pottstown Relay for Life. 

Last year this event raised more than $2,000 and the goal is to surpass that this year! 

It’s important to note that all skaters must where a knit hat when on the ice.

Everything You Wanted to Know from Last Night's Council Meeting

...as told with Tweets, Tout video (and additional explanation).

Give Blood

Beer, Bread and Bologna (Sounds like my diet in college)

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by the folks over at Pottsgrove Manor.

Historic Pottsgrove Manor will host an open-hearth cooking demonstration featuring “Beer, Bread, and Bologna” on Saturday, Feb. 8,  from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

In the 18th century beer was viewed as a “healthful family drink” and was popular among people of all social classes and ages.

Even the small town on John Potts’ plantation included a brewery, which shows how important the beverage was in colonial America. 

For this program, brewer Frank McMahon will demonstrate historic beer-making techniques over a fire in the courtyard outside of the manor house. 

Meanwhile, inside the warm kitchen, foodways historian Deborah Peterson will cook at the open hearth, preparing 18th-century-style bologna sausage and making bread in a bake kettle. She will also talk to visitors about common foods for the winter season during this time period.

As the brewing demo will take place outside, please dress for the weather. 

There is a suggested donation of $2 per person for this program. 

The site’s museum shop will also be open throughout the event and will offer special discounts on featured products related to food and drink.

Pottsgrove Manor is located at 100 West King Street near the intersection of King Street and Route 100, just off Route 422, in Pottstown. 

Pottsgrove Manor is operated by Montgomery County under the direction of the Parks, Trails, and Historic Sites Division of the Assets and Infrastructure Department. 

Regular museum hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tours are given on the hour. The last tour of the day begins at 3 p.m. The site is closed Mondays and holidays. 

Groups of ten or more should pre-register by calling 610-326-4014. 

For more information, call 610-326-4014, or visit the website at www.montcopa.org/pottsgrovemanor. Like Pottsgrove Manor on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pottsgrovemanor.

A Comprehensive Look

Pottstown's first Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 1960.

Since then, the borough has seen more changes than a chameleon at a laser Pink Floyd show and few of them good.

Primary among those changes was the draining away of Pottstown's industrial foundation; the engine on which Pottstown was built.

Think of the many problems we have today -- crime, low-paying jobs and unemployment, a crumbling tax base, a high number of rental properties -- and recognize that most of them go away with living-wage employment.

Pottstown had that with industry, but does not any more.

So what to do?

Plan for the future is all we can do and that's what's going on right now, with the

The draft plan considers downtown Pottstown an "opportunity site."

help of the Montgomery County Planning Commission.

For more than a year, the draft of the new comprehensive plan has been underway and it is now available for public review.

I have posted the draft on Document Cloud and you can read it by clicking here.

(If you like things more official, you cal also read it on the borough web site here.)

Understand that its a draft and it is being put out there for you to look and and offer comment about ways to improve it, flaws you may see or things you like about it.

Last month, county planner Meredith Curran Trego, who works with the Pottstown Planing Commission, gave borough council an overview of the draft.

Try not to be too surprised when I tell you there was little if any discussion about it. (Not sure if we want to suggest that the level of discussion may have reflected the level of understanding, but let's not go there.)

Meredith was kind enough to provide me with a copy of the presentation as well, which I have also uploaded to Document Cloud and you can read by clicking here.

It includes the basics, a public profile for example, that includes things like:

• Population: (22,377, a 12% decrease since the last plan in 1985); 
• Employment: (10,812 with 11,508 by 2040, a 6.4% increase in the next 26 years)
• Median income: ($46,066, nearly 40% lower than Montgomery County's median of $76,381)
• Median owner-occupied housing value: ($136,700, 46% below Montgomery County's median of $255,000)

It is on facts like these, and how our land is currently used -- 38.1% residential; 11.1% commercial; 8.8% open space and 28.3% industrial or institutional -- that a plan for the future must be built.

The overview identified several "opportunity sites" near the airport, along the riverfront and in the downtown among the 156 acres of undeveloped land in the borough.

The overview identifies several broad goals for the borough, including "grow business and employment (duh); "expand heritage tourism infrastructure and attractions;" "build on existing arts and culture activities and an economic development tool to bring more visitors into the town," and so on.

It also calls for improving and expanding the airport; capitalizing on existing rail infrastructure; and improving access and awareness to public parking, among other transportation-related goals.

Housing goals include "encourage the development of properly located multi-

family apartment complexes, attached townhouses and adaptive reuse of quality older structures for dwellings;" "support the transition of rental housing units into owner-occupied housing where appropriate;" "look to promote downtown housing by encouraging the renovation of the second- and third-floor stories above downtown retail spaces.

In terms of the borough's historic and cultural aspects, the draft will "preserve the historical as well as the architectural qualities of Pottstown's built environment through the creation of a comprehensive preservation program;" "work with the owners of historic properties to education them as to the value of their properties. Ensure that owners of historic properties receive appropriate technical assistance and financial incentives information from government sources;" "develop marketing and outreach for coordinated promotion for Pottstown's historic resources and offerings."

In addition to goals for maintaining and improving school buildings and water and sewer infrastructure, the comprehensive draft also calls for expanding and upgrading the existing library facilities and to "consider relocation to a site nearer to the downtown.

Obviously there is much more to the plan, and this merely scratches the surface, but its the kind of thing which will become the official plan without any public input.

So if you have the time, take a look through the plan and avail yourself of the opportunity being offered -- to have a say in the future of your community.