YWCA to Host Race Against Racism on June 23

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by the YWCA Tri-County Area.

Lace up your sneakers for the 2nd annual Race Against Racism, a 5K color run and walk to raise awareness and support for racial justice programming and events by the YWCA Tri-County Area, on Saturday, June 23, at Riverfront Park in Pottstown.

This event has been re-scheduled from the original date of April 28.

Registration fees are:  

Adult: (18+): $30 before 4/20, $40 after; 

Student: (grades K-12): $15 before 4/20, $20 after; 

Family (up to 5 participants/2 adults maximum): $60 before 4/20, $70 after.

Registration is available online at www. ywcatricountyarea.org

Runners begin the paved, mostly flat 5K (3.1 miles) course at 8:30 a.m.; walkers begin at 9 a.m. Packet pickup begins at 7:30 a.m. at Pottstown’s Riverfront Park Trailhead, adjacent to Schuylkill River Heritage Area offices, 140 College Drive, Pottstown. 

All participants will receive a T-shirt, a color packet, and finisher’s medal.

Race Against Racism is a family-friendly event with a fun color-powder twist that celebrates health, happiness, and inclusion. 

The event is held as a part of YWCA USA’s national Stand Against Racism, a signature campaign to build community among those who work for racial justice and to raise awareness about the negative impact of institutional and structural racism in our communities. 

Local sponsors include Wawa and Herr’s.

YWCA Tri-County Area is dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women and promoting peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all. YWCA Tri-County Area is a leader in women and girls’ advocacy and works to eliminate racism and empower women through quality affordable early education, adult literacy, youth development, and a host of programs to support the health and vitality of women, girls, and families.

Pottsgrove Middle School Students' Opioid Crisis Video is a Semi-finalist in State Senate Contest

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by Pottsgrove Middle School.

Students in Deb Macllvain’s class entered the Opioid Video Contest Program that is currently being sponsored in the PA Senate.

The group of students from Pottsgrove Middle School participated and submitted videos into this scholarship contest aimed at educating and bringing awareness to drug addiction. 

The students are: Yomary Villagomez, MaryKate Kaiser, Julia Walton, Alyssa Confino

The group of students that submitted a video from Pottsgrove are going on to the semi-finalists in the next round of statewide judging. 

Senator John Rafferty, R-44th Dist. visited Pottsgrove Middle School on March 23, to present students with certificates for their achievements. 

The winners of the contest, sponsored by Commonwealth Crisis, will received a $10,000 scholarship check, according to information Rafferty on his Facebook account.

The final video’s will be judged during the month of April and the state's First place winner wuill be announced within the next weeks.

The History of the Kitchen Garden Takes Root This Saturday at Pottstown's Unique Pottsgrove Manor

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by Pottstrove Manor.

Celebrate the arrival of spring and dig into history with Pottsgrove Manor at the opening of the 18th century kitchen garden on Saturday, April 14, from 11 a.m. to 3p.m.

Pull out the roots of the past and learn about the central role of gardens in Colonial America. Discover the many uses of plants, from food to medicine, with Thankful Sage Farm School. 

Get your hands dirty and help the colonial gardener plant and dig in the garden. Smell the different herbs and discover if you can match familiar scents to the right plant. 

At 1 p.m., join historian Clarissa Dillon to find out the important role of kitchen gardens in the 18th

The garden at Pottsgrove Manor

century. Visitors can also plant seeds and take them home to start their own kitchen garden. Rows of herbs, vegetables, and even flowers will soon be blooming at Pottsgrove Manor, make sure be there at the beginning to help all these plants take root in history.

Tours of the manor will also be available throughout the day. Explore Pottsgrove Manor’s new exhibit, “Good Night at the Manor,” to uncover the evening routines of the Potts family as well as their household staff. Tours last between 45 to 60 minutes. 

The museum shop will also be open, full of unique reproduction items, books, and toys for all to enjoy. Find handmade soaps and recipe books to inspire you to find all the uses for the plants in your garden

This program welcomes all ages and is rain or shine. There is a suggested $2 donation for the event.

Pottsgrove Manor is located at 100 West King Street near the intersection of King Street and Route 100, near the Carousel at Pottsgrove and Manatawny Green Miniature Golf Course, in Pottstown. 

Pottsgrove Manor is operated by the Montgomery County Division of Parks, Trails, and Historic Sites.

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.

Stadiums, New Superintendents and School Choice

The stadium at Boyertown Area Senior High School is currently closed to the public

It's probably safe to say that both the school board and parents who attended Tuesday's meeting hoping to get some glimpse of how long the district will have to go without the use of its structurally-challenged stadium left the meeting disappointed.

Tom Slowik, from the firm of Barry Isett & Assoc. outlined some proposed fixes for the stadium -- specifically a steel "exo-skeleton" as one board member put it, for the underside of the stadium and brick fixes and extra fasteners for the brick facade.

But the unanswered question is how bad are the pre-stressed concrete forms that hold up the seats and the riders?

The problem, said Slowik, is that the condition of the cables in the interior of the concrete is unknown and requires special testing from a special lab that could take several weeks. The absence of that information prevented him from giving either the school board or the anxious parents in the audience the two answers they crave -- how much? and how long?

Some of the parents conceded that with the timeline expanding the way it seems to be, it would be unlikely the stadium would be ready by the fall athletic season and alternative plans -- like using the stadium at Ursinus College, which plays on Saturdays -- should be explored.

Several board members spent some time explaining why the problems at the stadium -- stewing for as long as 10 years -- are not their fault.

Also of interest was the announcement by School Board President Donna Usavage that Juniata School District Superintendent Keith Yarger is the leading contender to be Boyertown's new superintendent. Richard Faidley resigned last year.

Yarger will visit on April 23 and the public will be invited to meet him, details to follow.

And in the guess-what-else department, Usavage also allowed the board to propose and pass a resolution not on the agenda and suggested by the Pennsylvania School Boards Association in opposition to proposed Senate Bill 2.

The bill would allow students in failing districts to take their state subsidy and go elsewhere, including a private school. The resolution passed 6-3, but not without some spirited opposition from board member Clay Breece.

Here are the Tweets from the meeting:

Pottstown Going to Pot, or Medical Marijuana, Again

After being passed over last year from one of the two medical marijuana permits Pennsylvania issued for the five-county region around Philadelphia, a company that wants to site a facility in Pottstown is trying again.

Jon Cohn, from Agronomed, appeared before Pottstown Borough Council Monday night and said not only is his company still interested in establishing a medical marijuana grow/processing facility in the borough, but they are also interested in establishing hemp-growing site as well.

Hemp is a cousin to cannabis, but does not have any of the psycho-active

Agronomed wants to grow both hemp and 

cannabis in Pottstown.

properties that have made marijuana so controversial. It also does not have any of the medicinal properties.

But, wonder plant that it apparently is, it has many uses, such as conducting electricity, housing insulation and more, said Cohn. "William Penn and George Washington grew hemp," he said.

The U.S. also imports lots of hemp from China, so growing it here would also help the local economy he said.

He didn't have to work too hard to convince council. Councilman Dennis Arms made a motion on the spot to issue a letter of support to allow Cohn to make his May application deadline. It was adopted unanimously.

Also adopted unanimously was a resolution opposing the closure of the YMCA in Pottstown that we have been doing just a bit of reporting on lately.

The other item of relative interest was council's unanimous decision to reject Twila fisher, the director of The Hill School's Hobart's run from the board of directors for the newly established land bank.

They apparently agreed with the concerns raised by former councilwoman Sheryl Miller that Fisher's position encouraging property purchases around The Hill School campus might create a conflict of interest.

They unanimously approved Cheryl Chiarello, who is on the blighted property committee; Andrew Monastra, who is on the Historic Architecture Review Board; Deb Penrod who is on the planning commission and Council Vice President Carol Kulp.

Whomever is chosen instead of Fisher cannot be any kind of borough officials, like the others, according to the by-laws set up in the ordinance creating the land bank.

Here are the Tweets from the meeting:

Free Coventry Singers Concerts Bring Promise, Hope

The Coventry Singers

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by the Coventry Singers.

The Coventry Singers present their spring concert “Promise and Hope”, April 14th in Boyertown and April 15th in Pottstown. 

The concert is comprised of music of historical significance and emotional impact. Pieces include Mozart’s “Ave Verum”, Handel’s “Hallelujah Amen”, and more contemporary pieces such as Stroope’s “Lamentations of Jeremiah” and Horvit’s “Even When God is Silent”, in honor of the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht, The Night of Broken Glass. 

The concert concludes with traditional spiritual music including “There is a Balm in Gilead” and “I Hear a Voice A-Prayin”.

The Coventry Singers, a choir of about 40 voices, have been performing in the Pottstown area since 1972. They have performed with the Pottstown Symphony, the Lehigh Valley Chamber Orchestra, and at Longwood Gardens Christmas Concert Series. 

More recently they have performed Handel’s Messiah with the Reading Choral Society, the National Anthem at the Reading Royals hockey games and participated in the Pottstown Relay for Life luminaria lighting ceremony. 

 
Dan Kershetsky is returning as director in his second season with the Coventry Singers. Dan, a 1981 graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, with a Bachelor of Science in Music Education, and a 1993 graduate of West Chester University, with a Master of Music Degree in Music Education, has spent 33 years in public education, most recently teaching in the Boyertown Area School District for 26 years. 

Nadine Lydic returns as piano accompanist. Nadine holds a bachelor’s degree in music education from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Her master’s degree in music is from West Chester University. She also is a retired teacher from the Boyertown School District and has been a member of the Coventry Singers for many years.

Featured musicians for this concert include Violinist Christopher Cinquini, orchestra director for the Reading Symphony Youth Orchestra and Boyertown Area Senior High School; Cellist Daniel Bishop of Exeter Senior High School; Clarinetist Robert Schwanger, a private woodwind teacher from Boyertown; and organist Matthew Wary, music director at Good Shepherd UCC.

Performances take place Saturday April 14th at 7 p.m. at Good Shepherd UCC, 35 W. Philadelphia Ave. Boyertown, and Sunday April 15th at 3 p.m. at St. James Lutheran Church, 1101 E. High St. Pottstown. 

 The concerts are free and open to the public. A freewill offering will be accepted. For more information about the Coventry Singers, visit their website www.coventrysingers.org or find them on Facebook at Coventry Singers-Pottstown, Pa.

GoFourth! Donate if You Want Fireworks July 4th

Photos by Evan Brandt

Volunteers Terry Fetterman, left, and Darlene Bainbridge man the Pottstown GoFourth gear table during the kick-off fundraiser Wednesday to raise money for fireworks at this year's Fourth of July celebration in Memorial Park.

The effort to raise money for fireworks kicked-eff Wednesday with a mixer at Montgomery County Community College's Innovation Hub on College Drive.

Several dozen folks listened to jazz, bought 50/50 tickets, ate finger food donated by local eateries

The food table was a popular stop Wednesday.

and quaffed beverages -- all for a good cause: Bringing fireworks back to Pottstown for Fourth of July.

In yet another attempt to squash a myth that will not die, let us say again that NO TAX MONEY IS USED FOR FIREWORKS!

That means, those who want them have to help pay for them and Wednesday's kick-off offered a way to do just that in a pleasantly sociable way.

But if you missed it, don't fret. There are still plenty of ways you can help bring back the fireworks.

Tax-deductible donations can be made by donating online at PottstownGoFourth.org, or by sending a check made payable to the TriCounty Community Network (TCN) and noting “Attention: GoFourth” in the memo line on the check.

Pottstown GoFourth Co-Chair Amy Wolf thanks the crowd.

Checks may be sent to Pottstown GoFourth! Festival, PO Box 1362, Pottstown, PA 19464.

Here are some other ways to help support the effort:

• Businesses or individuals may sponsor various entertainment providers and activities – and in exchange they will receive outstanding publicity and other benefits including (for upper level sponsors) preferred seating during the fireworks display. To learn more about becoming a sponsor, go to PottstownGoFourth.org or email PottstownGoFourth@gmail.com. To date, in addition to those sponsorships already noted, the Pottstown Mercury is a generous GoFourth! supporter.
• Roughly 20 food vendors are expected at the festival, additional culinary offerings are
  
  welcome. Vendor applications can be found at: www.pottstowngofourth.info/vendor-apps 
• Similarly, quality arts and crafts vendors will be featuring their wares, but additional artisans are encouraged to participate. Again, the PottstownGoFourth.org website provides relevant information. Vendor applications can be found at: www.pottstowngofourth.info/vendor-apps
• Friends of PottstownGoFourth! Festival can purchase GoFourth! merchandise, including the popular hats, which always sell out quickly. GoFourth! Merchandise can be purchased at www.pottstowngofourth.info/2018-gofourth-gear when available and while supplies last.

Look for updates about Pottstown GoFourth! at www.pottstowngofourth.org or www.pottstowngofourth.com and at www.facebook.com/PottstownGoFourth and www.twitter.com/GoFourthFest