Riverside Art

Susan Williamson's "Haying Day" won Best of Show in the 11th Annual "Scenes of the Schuylkill River" heritage area art show, now on display through Oct. 17 at the Montgomery County Community College West Campus Gallery at 16 W. High St. in Pottstown.

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by the Schuylkill River Heritage Area.

The 11th Annual Scenes of the Schuylkill River Heritage Area Art Show opened to the public last week and features 82 original works that celebrate the Schuylkill River region through art.

Sponsored by the Schuylkill River Heritage Area in partnership with Montgomery County Community College, the juried exhibit will hang through Oct. 17 at the college’s West Campus Gallery at 16 West High St. in Pottstown.

This year’s show includes a total of 82 original paintings, drawings and photographs by regional artists. All works were carefully selected from 112 submissions by juror Lisa Tremper Hanover, Director and CEO, of the James A. Michener Art Museum in Doylestown.

This is the 11th year the Schuylkill River Heritage Area has organized an art event. 

"Blue Barrow Against a White Barn" by Nancy Durkin Green was

the second place winner in the show.

The Scenes of the Schuylkill Art Show began as a print competition in 2003, and has evolved into an annual exhibit that attracts more than 100 pieces of art each year.

“We are pleased that this art show has grown steadily over the years so that it continues to attract new talent and an impressive selection of artwork each year,” said Heritage Area Executive Director Kurt Zwikl. “Our goal in hosting this exhibit is to support and promote regional artists. At the same time we want to foster an appreciation through art of the diverse beauty and character of the Schuylkill River valley.”

Tremper Hanover selected three winning entries and two honorable mentions. Susan Williamson earned Best of Show for her pastel “Haying Day,” which depicts a Gwynedd Valley farm scene. She will receive $300 and will be presented with an award of distinction valued at $1,000, through Montgomery County Community College, from North Penn Art, in Lansdale.

The second place award went to Nancy Durkin Green for her watercolor, "Blue Barrow Against a White Barn," and David Thomas took third place for his photograph, "Allegheny Aqueduct." Durkin Green and Thomas were awarded $200 and $100, respectively.

In recognition of the Schuylkill as Pennsylvania’s River of the Year, the Schuylkill River Heritage

David Thomas took third place for this work, "Allegheny Aqueduct."

Area staff selected a Staff’s Choice award that depicted a river scene. That award went to Mary Kosar for her photograph, “Fog in Woods, Riverfront Park.”

The two honorable mentions selected included “Window Light at Hopewell Furnace,” a photograph by Ginnie Lodge and “Dawn at Lauer’s Run,” an oil painting by Russell Slocum.

Most works are available for sale, and a portion of all proceeds benefits the Schuylkill River Heritage Area.

The show is free and open to the public. 

Gallery hours are: Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Fri. 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 

For more information contact the SRHA at 484-945-0200 or the MCCC Galleries Director Holly Cairns at 215-619-7349, hcairns@mc3.edu. 

For photos of the winning entries and more show details: www.schuylkillriver.org/Detail.aspx?id=1546.

The Schuylkill River National and State Heritage Area, managed by the non-profit Schuylkill River Greenway Association, uses conservation, education, recreation, cultural and historic preservation and tourism as tools for community revitalization and economic development. For more information visit www.schuylkillriver.org.

Something's Developing in Lower Pottsgrove

Photo by Evan Brandt

This is the Lower Pottsgrove Commissioners listening to the 2013 audit report.

The Lower Pottsgrove Commissioners meeting Thursday night took a little over an hour and covered a couple of subjects.
The audit report was read, which was a challenge to consciousness; and Police Chief Michael Foltz

Photo by Evan Brandt

Benjamin Goldfarb shows a concept for developing 57 acres

off South Pleasantview Road.

offered a brief update on the condition of officer James Kenney, who was injured in a car crash earlier this week. (See below).

But the commissioners also heard a proposal from Reading Site Materials, owners of the Sanatoga quarry, to develop 57 acres off South Pleasantview Road.

One options includes only 155 single-family homes, and the other, commercial development on a little over seven acres facing Route 422 and 118 single family homes.

The commissioners also voted to set a public hearing for an overlay zone which would encourage open space preservation in exchange for increased, clustered development.

The Tweets from the meeting are below.

Regionalizing Animal Control? Crowd Control?

Photo by Evan Brandt

The Pottstown Metropolitan Area Regional Planning Committee is comprised of eight municipalities.

So a couple of nuggets out of Wednesday night's Pottstown Metropolitan Area Regional Planning Committee (boy that's a mouthful):

• The TSC Tractor store is moving out of the old Giant Plaza on State Street because, according to Borough Council President Stephen Toroney, the roof is leaking and the landlord won't fix it.;
• The regional comprehensive plan, not to be confused with the Montgomery County Comprehensive Plan or the Pottstown Borough Comprehensive Plan, is almost ready for official comment, to be followed by public comment, to be followed by adoption, to be followed by preparing for the new comprehensive plan....;
• Toroney floated the idea of some kind of regional animal control officer, still early;
• Upper Pottsgrove Commissioners Chairman Elwood Taylor floated the idea of other township police departments in the region helping out with the Pottstown Halloween Parade as a way to keep costs down...keep talking....

Anyway, here are the Tweets from the meeting..

A New Candidate and Some New Tech

Photo by Evan Brandt

Bill Parker announces his candidacy to the Pottsgrove School Board, and a TV audience.

So at only the second Pottsgrove School Board meeting being recorded for broadcast on PCTV, someone took advantage of the camera's presence to announce his candidacy for the school board.

Photo by Evan Brandt

Gus Tellis films the Pottsgrove School Board meeting for PCTV. 

It should air today, Wednesday.

Bill Parker, who provided a written copy of his comments to the press, said he believes the school
board is not being prudent wit tax dollars and that candidates should be sought for all six seats that will be open.

He also mentioned that Al Leach will be running as well.

Also on the table for discussion was the purchase, for nearly $100,000, of 120 wireless access points for establishment at the high school.

Tecvhnology Director Michael Wagman said they are not related to the 1 to 1 program that will put computers in the hands of every high school student, but are related to the high school renovation project.

The deal was done outside the bidding process for the high school project, Wagman said, because the district could get a better price and wanted to be hands on for equipment they would be servicing for the next several years.

Without further delay, here are the tweets from last night's meeting.

Rupert Still Not Ready

Mercury Photo by Kevin Hoffman

Work continues at Rupert Elementary School. 

One month after the Pottstown School Board was told Rupert Elementary School renovation work
would not be completed in time for the opening of school, there is still no definite opening date.

Superintendent Jeff Sparagana and Business Manager Linda Adams updated the board on the progress at all three of the schools which were under renovation this summer.

Sparagana said after the meeting that much will depend on the inspections scheduled to occur today and that he is unwilling to offer up a time frame for the opening of the renovated building until the results of those inspections are known.

Sparagana said as soon as the school is "substantially completed" they will begin to move in classroom items and library books currently in storage, hopefully in time for the start of the second quarter.

The school board had no questions for the administration on Rupert's status Monday night.

The board did, however, without comment of public explanation, unanimously approve another $125,000 in change orders for all three schools, the majority of which were for Rupert.

Here are the Tweets from last night's meeting, which lasted less than an hour.

Planning for College

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by Pottstown High School 

The Pottstown High School  Career & Counseling Center invites junior and senior parents and students to attend the Career & Counseling Center’s annual College Planning Night. 

This informational session will provide valuable insight to the post secondary planning and application process at PHS.

Topics for the evening include:
1. College Admissions Process
2. College Application Timeline at PHS
3. SAT and ACT Testing Information
4. PHS Career & Counseling Center Q&A

Contact the Career & Counseling Center with any questions at 610-970-6715.

There's Just Something About a Train

Photo by Evan Brandt

Mike Schreiber of southern Ohio is one of those
people lucky enough to have his life revolve around trains.

I can't explain it, but it's true.

There is just something about railroads.

The country was built by railroads, but it it not an experience common to my generation.

I grew up in the suburbs of New York City and there was a train to Manhattan about once an hour.

I rode it often, and didn't think much about it.

I was surprised and disappointed when I moved to Pottstown to discover there was no similar service to Philadelphia.

I was fooled by the Security Plaza train station.

But I've also never taken a long trip on a train, despite the fact that for generations in America, it was the only way to get anywhere.

Photo by Evan Brandt

Be honest, don't you want to just jump on board
and go somewhere?

Pottstown is a car town and American has become a car nation. We like the idea of leaving when we want, arriving when we want, stopping when we want. It appeals to our sense of independence.

Trains are more of a communal experience. We all wait on the platform for the same train; we're all ride to together, accommodating each other in little ways. Nobody's screaming infant is in our car if we don't want them there.

The equivalent these days is air travel, which few view as a romantic experience the way we look at trains.

And for a sub-set of Americans, trains are the only way to go.

I've written a story in today's Mercury about those people (click here to read it) and, I must confess, after covering the auction of the Greenbrier Express's assets Thursday, visiting the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke dozens of times while visiting family; and reporting on the Colebrookdale Railroad's Secret Valley Line Project, I'm beginning to wonder it I'm not one of them.

Here's a video of one.



(Click here to see Kevin Hoffman's photos from that auction. The slide show contains a few too many photos of yours truly, but hat's between me and Kevin. Ignore them if you can)

They have very specific knowledge about a wide range of things I suspect the rest of us know nothing about and, I will confess again, that makes me curious and feeling a little bit like I've been left out of

Photo by Evan Brandt

Among the secret specific knowledge of train people are a seemingly

innate knowledge of that things like this are for.

something. Because they all seem quite happy about their secret knowledge.

And let's face it, most of the best James Bond movies (and murder mysteries) involve a train journey.

However, it seems like quite a commitment and I'm not sure I have the time to devote to it. But I will remain fascinated nonetheless.

Anyway, along those lines, here are the photos I Tweeted during the auction Thursday. I hope you enjoy them.