Four Added to Pottsgrove's 15th Annual Honor Roll

 From left, Stephen H. Kalis, Joel P. Alutius, Andrew R. Reitnauer, William T. Regan.

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by the Pottsgrove Honor Roll Committee.

Four members of the Pottsgrove community were recently inducted into the Pottsgrove School District Honor Roll during the fifteenth annual luncheon at Copperfield's in Limerick. 

This event is sponsored by the Pottsgrove Retired Teachers and the Pottsgrove Education Foundation.

The Honor Roll recognizes members of the community who have provided distinguished service to the school district or who have made notable contributions to society since graduating from Pottsgrove.

This year's honorees were William T. Regan, Andrew R. Reitnauer, Joel P. Alutius, and Stephen H. Kalis.

William Regan graduated from Pottsgrove in 1955 and spent 38 years in the Pennsylvania State Police, retiring as a Major.

Andrew Reitnauer graduated from Pottsgrove in 1995 and is currently a forensic scientist for the Nassau county office of the chief medical examiner.

Joel Alutius is a 1981 Pottsgrove graduate and is currently the vice-principal and athletic director at Penn-Delco School District.

Stephen Kalis, a 1983 Pottsgrove graduate is currently a partner with Fox Rothschild LLP overseeing the real estate department.

Master of Ceremonies for the luncheon was James Basile. Honorees were introduced by Tom Roberts, Basile, Charles Yohn, and Steve Stavrou. Earl Boehmer offered the invocation.

Serving on the Honor Roll Committee are Basile, Yohn, Boehmer, Linda Cole, John Meko, D.J. Testa, Arlan Burkert, Addison Davidson, Barbara Clayton, Bernard Conley, Roberts, and Robert Rheel.

It's All About the Traffic

So there I was, making my way to the postponed Lower Pottsgrove Commissioners meeting with time to spare.

I stopped, got a slice of pizza, and headed over, only to arrive with the meeting in progress.

Ready to accuse an entire room of people of being part of an organized conspiracy to make me always late, it turns out my watch was five minutes slow.

Sooooo, sorry for any aspersions cast.

As the coming Mercury story will put together more clearly, last night's meeting was interesting primarily for the next phase of the procedure necessary to put traffic impact fees in place.

In the meantime, you will just have to be satisfied with the Tweets.

Is a Tax Hike Coming to Pottstown in 2016?

It's been a while since we had a lengthy borough council meeting, but a budget presentation will usually do the trick and this one was no exception.

And, when you have been through as many as I have, you can usually tell which way its going to go.

When the staff is proposing a 0% tax hike, that is very often the first thing out of their mouth.

When they have potential bad news, the presentation usually starts with the equivalent of "look at all we've accomplished" in an attempt to soften the blow.

And that's what we got Monday night, which is not to say they haven't accomplished a lot -- they have.

For example, already, it has been determined there will be no increase in sewer, water or trash collection rates and the proposed budget would spend nearly $300,000 less than the 2015 budget.

Maybe they figure that once they say "no tax hike" the council members stop paying attention.

Anyway, in addition to the budget -- which outlines how a 3.25% tax hike would be needed to close a budget deficit of more than $250,000 -- there was also a presentation on the final site plan approvals for the old Fecera's project.

Both could come up for votes at Monday night's meeting.

So you should probably brush up on the Tweets from last night's meeting. Here they are:

How Well Do You Really Know John Potts?

If you live in Pottstown, or any of the three Pottsgroves, you see or say his name 10 times a day.

But what do you know about the man, and the family, that gave this part of Pennsylvania its name? Chances are, not very much. 

Did you know he was one of America's first tycoons? Did you know he had 13 children, one of whom was a British loyalist?

This Saturday is your chance to change all that and get to know more about the man and is family.

On Saturday, Nov. 7 at 1 p.m., Pottsgrove Manor will host a lecture by historian Dan Graham entitled, “The Potts Legacy.”

An expert on the early Pennsylvania iron industry and a genaeoligist of the Potts and Rutter families, Graham has done extensive research into the development of the region. 

In this program, Graham will talk about Pottstown’s founder, John Potts, his descendants, and the impact they had on the shaping of early Pottstown and the surrounding areas.

The talk serves as the closing event for the site’s current exhibit, “Pride of Place: The Local Legacy of the Potts Family,” which runs through Nov. 8. 

The exhibit can be viewed on a guided tour of the manor house during regular museum hours: Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m.. 

oTurs are given on the hour. The last tour of the day begins at 3 p.m. 

The site is closed Mondays and major holidays. Groups of ten or more should preregister by calling 610-326-4014.

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. 

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.

Over the Hill and Through the Woods to Gilbertsville

So Douglass (Mont.) supervisors was not the meeting I meant to cover Monday night, but it is the meeting that I covered.

Because Douglass Township Manager Peter Hiryak has added me to his e-mail list, I received a copy of the agenda for last night's meeting in my in-box Monday.

It looked like pretty routine stuff, so I figured I had better go to Lower Pottsgrove Township Commissioners Monday night because, well, I didn't know what would happen, because the agendas are not posted, or sent out, to my knowledge.

So I went, early for a change, and found out that there was no Lower Pottsgrove meeting.

A friendly notice was posted on the front door for those clueless souls who believed the information posted on the web site about when the next meeting would be.

For those interested, the Lower Pottsgrove Commissioners have re-scheduled their meeting to Thursday night.

So look for my Tweets then if you're not planning on going yourself.

Knowing I had a few minutes, I headed off at completely legal speeds to get to the Douglass (Mont.) Supervisors meeting, arrived five minutes late (which was pretty good time if I do say so myself) and discovered they were already one-third of the way through their meeting.

Here are the Tweets from the Douglass meeting (after my visit to Lower Pottsgrove that is):

Five PHS Grads Inducted into Sports Hall of Fame

Photo by John Armato

From left, Carroll “Mush” Bechtel III , Howard Brown , Brent Voynar, and Ron Reinhart

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by John Armato, director of community relations for the Pottstown School Ditrict.

On Saturday five Pottstown High School graduates were inducted into the Tri County Sports Hall of Fame.

They are Carroll “Mush” Bechtel III, Howard Brown, Brent Voynar, Ron Reinhart and Claude "Deacon Reinhart.

Decaon Reinhart, Ron's father, has passed away. But this may be the first time in the 38-year history of the hall of fame the father and son have been inducted in the same year.

They have distinguished themselves not only in sports but in their professional lives and give us more reason to say proud to be from Pottstown.

• Ron Reinhart – During his four years of high school, Reinhart earned 10 varsity letters. From 1978-1982 he was a starter in both football and baseball. He also lettered two years in wrestling. He was the Male Athlete of the Year and the Tri County Male Athlete his senior year at Pottstown High School. He was a four year starter as a catcher in baseball and co-captain his senior season. He medaled twice in Sectionals in wrestling. He started on both the offensive and defensive lines in football, where he was named the ChesMont League 2-Way Player of the Year. He made numerous All-League teams from the Pottstown/Philadelphia area. He then started as an offensive guard on the undefeated team at Fork Union Military Academy before attending Shippensburg. He started on the defensive line four years, was the Defensive Player of the Week two times, Defensive Player of the Year, and named All-PSAC two times while at Shippensburg.

• Carroll “Mush” Bechtel III – “Mush” was a well-rounded athlete from Pottstown. He is best known as a hard-hitting football player for the Trojans. He started three years making All-ChesMont two times as a linebacker and fullback. He played on the legendary 1961 team. He also played basketball two years, and baseball three years. He also swam in the winter and summer. He then went to Colgate and played football for four years. He was named ECAC Weekly All-Star three times during his football career. After graduation from Colgate he went into coaching. He coached various sports at various levels. After his coaching days, he turned to officiating for swimming and baseball. He stayed active in the area doing radio and writing sports articles as well.

• Howard Brown – Brown is one of the most honored basketball players ever of the TriCounty area. He scored over 1,700 points and is secnd all-time in Pottstown basketball history. He led his team to four straight PAC-10 championships, three District I championships, two Eastern Conference championships, and the only State championship in Pottstown High School history (1993). He was named the Gatorade PA State Player of the Year, Mercury Player of the Year, and All PAC-10 several times. Brown went to Villanova where he played in the NCAA Tournament three times, and won the Big East championship in 1997. He scored more than 1,100 points in college and was known for his “all round” game. He is still ranked in the top 25 in many categories at Villanova University such as steals, assists, and rebounding. He was named Villanova’s Scholar Athlete of the Year in 1997. He then played professionally for 13 years in Spain and other European countries, where he averaged over 20 points per game three times.

• Claude “Deacon” Reinhart – Reinhart was widely considered one of the best athletes in the Pottstown area in the 1940s. He earned nine varsity letters at Pottstown High School, including three in basketball where he set a scoring record of 25 points in one game. He played first base and captained his senior year in baseball where he earned three varsity letters. He is best known as a football star where he played on the legendary 1946 team with Dave Detar among others that went 8-1. He was the first two time co-captain at PHS, and made numerous All-Star teams, including Philadelphia Area All-Scholastic, and honorable Mention All-State. He accepted a full scholarship to the University of South Carolina, but left early to come home with his family. He then played professional football with the Bethlehem Bulldogs in the American Football League.

• Brent Voynar – Voynar starred in baseball and football while at Pottstown High School. He excelled as a middle infielder making secnd Team All PAC-10. He played in the Carpenter Cup and was an All-Star with the Pottstown Steelers in legion ball. He quarterbacked the Trojans to a Co-PAC-10 championship in football and was named PAC-10 Player of the Year, Mercury Player of the Year, and 1st All PAC-10 QB. He then moved on to East Stroudsburg to play safety. He was named co-captain during his college career, and also made All-PSAC as a safety, ECAC Division II All-East safety two times. He served as a Graduate Assistant at ESU for two years when he picked up both an undergrad degree and a Masters degree.

Technically, It's a Turkey Dinner at Western Center

The Western Montgomery Career and Technology Center wants to show off the skills of its culinary students.

And they're doing it with a turkey dinner.

Held Monday evening, from 4:39 to 7 p.m. at the school, 77 Graterford Road in Limerick, the cost is only $12 for adults and $8 for children younger than 12.

As you can see, the menu is the kind that would make a Pilgrim proud.

Call 610-489-7272 Ext. 106 to make reservations.

The students who will be making the food hail from Pottsgrove, Spring-Ford and Upper Perkiomen school districts.