July 4th Fest Moved to Labor Day, Parade Canceled

Photo by Evan Brandt

Fireworks will still be held in Memorial Park in 2020, except they have been moved to the labor Day weekend, on Sunday, Sept. 6 at 9 p.m. with a rain date of Sept. 12.

Blogger's Note: The following was submitted by the organizers of the Pottstown GoFourth! celebration.

After a great deal of thought related to the still-evolving Covid-19 crisis, Pottstown GoFourth! organizers are rescheduling the fourth annual family fun and fireworks festival to Labor Day Weekend.

This year's July 4th Parade has been canceled.

Sadly, this year's annual Fourth of July parade sponsored by the Pottstown Rotary Club has been cancelled. 

Both the parade and Pottstown GoFourth are entirely funded by donations and sponsorships, without a penny of taxpayer dollars. 

This year’s modified Pottstown GoFourth! Festival will occur on Sunday, Sept. 6, from 4 to 9 p.m. in Pottstown’s Memorial Park, with a spectacular fireworks display by International Fireworks of Douglassville, occurring at 9:15 p.m.

(While there is not a rain date for the entire festival, the rain date for fireworks only will be Sept. 12.)

Raymond rose, left, runs the Rain Gutter Regatta.

This year’s festivities will be kicked-off with the singing of the National Anthem by Jo Ann Bathurst at 4 p.m..

She will be followed by musical entertainment including Hector Rosado and Orchestra Hache, back by popular demand, and Funktion, courtesy of Entertainment Sponsor Precision Polymer Products. 

Activities geared toward families will include inflatable “rides,” a face-painting artist, and a Rain Gutter Regatta presented by Pottstown Cub Scout Packs 249 and 146 from 5 to 7 p.m. 

Community members interested in participating in the Rain Gutter Regatta should contact Raymond Rose at 484-366-7096.

Shire of Hartshorn-Dale will also return.

 Also back by popular demand will be the “Shire of Hartshorn-Dale,” demonstrating a variety of
Medieval and Renaissance skills and activities.

Once again, the festival will feature arts and crafts vendors and a food court area and beer garden. There are still some spaces left, but food vendor spaces will be limited this year to 10 slots. 

Registration of new, remaining food vendors will open on June 2nd. For more information visit: www.pottstowngofourth.com/vendor-apps.

Pottstown United Brewing is the official beer vendor of the Festival this year; and the PUB is brewing two special beers for the occasion, one to sell pre-festival from their 251 E High St. location and one to sell on festival day. 

A portion of these special beer sales will financially support the Pottstown GoFourth! Festival. To help name the brew please visit the GoFourth! Facebook page www.facebook.com/PottstownGoFourth/posts/2599962246926195  and offer your suggestions.

The Rotary Club duck  Race will go on in September.

While the Fourth of July parade has been canceled, Rotary still will hold its 29th Annual Duck Race on Manatawny Creek, also on Sept. 6, with a 6 p.m. launch. 

By selling duck sponsorships, the Rotary helps to fund charities in the greater Pottstown area,  including Pottstown GoFourth. To purchase a Rotary duck, go to pottstownrotary.org or purchase a duck at the GoFourth festival on Sept. 6. 

Last year, more than 3,700 ducks were placed in the creek. The participating agencies received almost $14,000 to support their program activities.

Festival organizers need to raise about $39,000 to put on this greatly anticipated event, as no funds are pulled from taxpayer dollars. 

The trolley offers Historic Holiday House tours in December.

Fortunately, GoFourth volunteers conduct fundraising events year-round, beginning with the Historic Pottstown Holiday House and Trolley Tours in December. 

 The ongoing fundraising has made it possible for planners to plan for the delayed GoFourth Festival this year despite the cancellation or delay of more recent fundraising events due to the pandemic.

A fundraiser originally scheduled for April 4 was rescheduled for June 5. Due to ongoing health and safety concerns, organizers are in the process of converting the fundraiser to an on-line event. 

Plans are for a “Family Feud: State vs Local” competition game show and basket raffle via Zoom and broadcast on Facebook live at 5 p.m. on the GoFourth! Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/PottstownGoFourth/.

Tax-deductible donations can be made by contributing online at PottstownGoFourth.org, or by sending a check made payable to the TriCounty Community Network (TCN); donors should note “Attention: GoFourth” in the memo line on the check. Checks should be mailed to Pottstown GoFourth! Festival, PO Box 1362, Pottstown, PA 19464.

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.com or email PottstownGoFourth@gmail.com.

This year's t-shirt has a tie-dye design.

Similarly, as noted, quality arts and crafts vendors can feature their wares, and community non-profit agencies are invited to participate in the event. Visit PottstownGoFourth.com website for relevant vendor applications: www.pottstowngofourth.com/vendor-apps.

Pottstown GoFourth! will be selling its always popular Festival merchandise, including newly designed, collectible 2020 Pottstown GoFourth! baseball caps and shirts, while limited supplies last. Friends can purchase GoFourth! merchandise at www.pottstowngofourth.com/gofourthgear

Once again Pottstown GoFourth! also will raise funds for next year’s 2021 Pottstown GoFourth! celebration and fireworks by selling a stunning 2021 calendar depicting beautifully restored, historic Pottstown homes.

The calendar spotlights more of Pottstown’s architectural gems through artistically rendered photographs by Carol Brightbill of Pottstown; the homes or buildings depicted will be featured on the Historic Pottstown Holiday House and Trolley Tours on Dec. 13, 2020.

 The Pottstown Holiday House and Trolley Tours also benefits Pottstown GoFourth!, with all house and trolley tour proceeds helping to kick-off next year’s celebration. Visit the Pottstown GoFourth! website to get your tickets early, as last year’s event had sold-out tours! www.pottstowngofourth.com/holidaytours

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

Struggling Collegeville Food Pantry Needs Help

Submitted photos

Grace Gordan from the Daily Bread and Rotarian Joe Groarke

Blogger's Note: The following was submitted by the Collegeville Rotary Club.

The Daily Bread Community Food Pantry in Collegeville -- the fourth-largest food pantry in Montgomery County -- is in crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the quarantine continues, businesses are closing permanently, and an unprecedented number of people are losing their jobs. Consequently, more and more Montco citizens need food assistance from Daily Bread.

The pantry serves more than 300 families or 1,200 individuals each month and serves a broad area in Montgomery County – from the northern reaches of Perkiomenville and Gilbertsville to the southern areas of Collegeville and Eagleville.

“We have a lot of new people who never dreamed they would need a food pantry,” said Daily Bread Food Pantry Co-Founder, Loretta Stever. “They are brought to tears when they first see the food - they didn’t know what they were going to do.”

Sodiah and Montae Thomas

“Due to the pandemic, we are seeing between 25-30 new clients each week. They have been laid off or furloughed,” continued Stever. “We’ve never experienced anything like it.”

The Collegeville Rotary consistently supports Daily Bread with service projects such as the annual Pancake Breakfast, Turkey Trot 5K Run/Walk, and numerous other events throughout the year to raise money and awareness for the organization.

With more stringent social distancing recommendations being made and enforced by the CDC and all levels of government, the Daily Bread Food Pantry may no longer be convenient for generous community members to drop off food and other items of necessity. 

Collegeville Rotarians Sodiah Thomas and Joe Groarke are volunteering their time and resources to make giving to the food pantry much easier.

Sodiah Thomas, owner of S&B Event Concepts & Catering, located at 25 Bridge St. in Collegeville, has turned her facility into a designated drop-off location for Daily Bread every Wednesday and Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m..

To make a contribution, call the S&B business office at 267-263-2616 in advance to inform them of any deliveries. 

Joe Groarke will pick up your food bank donations.

Donations are quickly retrieved from the drop-off point, so animals do not get to them first.

Additionally, fellow Collegeville Rotarian, Joe Groarke is on-call to pick up supplies from the porches of people’s homes.

“With everything that’s going on with Covid-19, I couldn’t sit on the sidelines,” said Groarke, a realtor with Keller Williams in Limmerick. 

“I know too many people who have lost their jobs because of this and became food insecure. I just help where I can,” he said.

Call or text Groarke, at 215-313-9392 with your information. He will schedule time and pick-up all donations.

Daily Bread Food Pantry, located at 3938B Ridge Pike, Collegeville needs the following items most of all:

• Any canned meat
• Cereal, juice, tomato products, spaghetti sauce, and jelly
• Baby wipes/ bars of soap /shampoo
• Laundry/dish soap and tissues
• Any cleaning products
• Side dishes like Rice A Roni, Hamburger Helper, etc.

The food bank's mission dovetails with that of the Collegeville Rotary.

Rotary members throughout the world take action to make communities better. They contribute their time, energy, and passion to carry out meaningful and sustainable projects that promote peace, fight disease, provide clean water, help mothers and children, support education, and grow local economies.

Right now, the Collegeville Rotary’s top priority is to alleviate the suffering of those severely impacted during the COVID-19 quarantine. 

For more information on how you can help or learn more about becoming a Collegeville Rotarian, call 484-854-1055 or visit www.collegevillerotary.org

Pottsgrove Ponders Summer Meal Distribution

Cars line-up for food distribution at Lower Pottsgrove Elementary School for meal distribution in late March.

As the school year winds down, the question of whether Pottsgrove will continue to provide meals to
its students is now on the table.

The question came up at the end of Tuesday's school board meeting.

Superintendent William Shirk said the district has already begun discussions with the company that provides the meals.

Pottsgrove School Board member Ashley Custer volunteers 

helping distribute school meals at Lower Pottsgrove.

"There are a lot of moving parts," said Shirk. "Stay tuned for more information."

As of May 11, the district has distributed 71,568 meals to student families since if began the week of March 16.

Five days worth of breakfasts and lunches are distributed on Mondays at two elementary school buildings in Lower Pottsgrove and West Pottsgrove.

At many school districts around the region, particularly in low-income regions, school districts have provided varying levels of food for students who my rely on those meals as part of their daily sustenance.

Normally, the only meals schools provide over the summer months are through township parks and recreation programs, such as in Pottstown. But the stay-at-home protocols now in place put those programs into question.

Prepared meals await distribution at
Lower Pottsgrove Elementary School in late March.

As a matter of some interest, Gary DeRenzo, Pottsgrove's director of co-curricular programs and
community relations, informed the board Tuesday that there was a drop off in the number of meals picked up at Monday's distribution.

He said 1,800 fewer meals were distributed and said there was similar drop-off after the Easter holiday.

"It may be there were more left-overs from Mother's Day, or more people went away to visit mom, we don't know, DeRenzo said.

Business Manager David Nester said it is also possible that as some businesses open up, "more people were back at work and not waiting for food."

When less food than has been prepared is picked up, DeRenzo said what can be frozen for use the following week is, and the remaining food is taken to families in the Rolling Hills public housing complex "to families that are unable to drive or have no transportation."

Hill Stages Virtual Performance of Virtual Trial Play

Blogger's Note: The following was submitted by The Hill School.

The Hill School's Ellis Theatre Guild will be presenting its first-ever virtual performance this week. Jury Trial is an original play written by Director of the Center For The Arts Chris McGriff.

More than 30 Hill School students make up the three casts. They all have been working hard from home to present this one-of-a-kind production. 

Each performance of Jury Trial is split into two episodes, which will take place live online Thursday, May 14 through Sunday, May 17. Free tickets are available at www.thehill.org/JuryTrial.

According to McGriff, the play deals with the" issue of technology and how far we're willing to go with it and how much we're willing to depend on it."

"I went to Disney World earlier on in the year and was so surprised to see that even in The Happiest Place on Earth, everyone was glued to their phones," said McGriff. 

"If you go anywhere in public, stop, and take notice, people are living in another world -- a digital one. If that's the path we're on, then what will it look like 20 or 40 years from now? More importantly, what will it take for us to change? COVID-19 is absolutely terrifying, and I think it's been an interesting wake-up call to all of us to look up and appreciate the beauty of the world and loved ones around us," he said.

Set in the year 2040, "Jury Trial" is a fast-paced, edge-of your seat thriller/mystery. 

In the future, all criminal cases take place online via a Zoom-like chatroom platform called the "Criminal Sentencing Portal." A terrible crime has been committed, and now a jury must deliberate the case and decide on a verdict while being streamed live to the world. 

The clock is ticking as they race against time to combat a powerful Artificial Intelligence known as the ONYX. No one is safe, and everyone is a suspect. Jury Trial promises to be a new kind of theatrical production that you will not soon forget.

"It has been a lot of fun to be able to incorporate film-level acting and subtle emotional choices that usually would not work in a large auditorium into Jury Trial," said McGriff. "Our biggest challenge is the fact that we're presenting each performance live, so anything could happen. Prepping for that has been a great learning experience for all of us."

Cast: Meena Ali, Payton Jobson, Eleanor Rice, Geordie Ravara, Colette Liggon, Sela Muto, Holly Perna, Kenechi Tabansi, Greta Haverstick, Grant Lupien, Gaby Henao, Tofe Akinyanmi, Naomi Ude, Andrew Spatarella, Dami Odubona, Bennett Cerullo, Martin Tran, Kendal Thomas, Brianna Hartman, Andreas Haperis, Mary Delan, Parker McQuaid, Benjamin Holladay, Jayden Nyce, Matt McCray, Tabi Mastrangelo, Max Robertson, Samir Khan, Tommy Simpson

This production is rated PG-13 for suspense and mild language.

Tax Collector's Death Means Post Must be Filled

Roy Reifsnyder.

The passing of Roy Reifsnyder last week has left a hole not only in the hearts of many Pottstownians, but also in the role of tax collector.

Perhaps best known to thousands of young ballplayers and their parents, myself included, for his 38 years of volunteering with the Pottstown Little League, Reifsnyder also spent eight years as a chaperone for the Pottstown High School marching band, as well as having a hand in planning Pottstown's signature July 4th parade every year.

And in January of 2016, Reifsnyder was appointed as Pottstown's tax collector after the person who won the election could not secure the bond necessary to fill the post.

With 37 years experience in accounting and taxes, Reifsnyder had no difficulty getting bonded.

He died May 6 at Pottstown Hospital at the age of 71.

And borough council only has 30 days to replace him, according to the borough code, Borough Solicitor Charles D. Garner Jr. said during Monday's council meeting.

The borough is looking for applicants for the post. To be appointed, one must have lived in Pottstown for at least a year, and be able to obtain a surety bond.

Borough Manager Justin Keller said changes made several years ago mean the job does not require much work, given that the borough staff performs most of the functions, and the salary is "a small amount."

"The person has to perform some perfunctory duties, that do not involve collecting the actual taxes," said Keller. "It's not a huge amount of responsibility." But because this is Pennsylvania, the post is required by law. 

And the borough must a person by its June 3 meeting to be in compliance, said Garner. If no one is appointed, the law passes the responsibility on to the borough's "vacancy board," which is basically borough council plus one additional "vacancy board" member, to appoint someone.

Failing that, the post can be filled by someone petitioning the Court of Common Pleas to be appointed.

Whomever fills the post will remain through 2021, the year that the choice is once again up to the voters.

"The most important thing is to find someone who is interested and wants to do it," said Garner.

Those interested should send a letter or email to Keller at borough hall. Council may choose to publicly interview applicants at the June 3 meeting.

Hennessey Delivers Masks to Southeast Vet Center

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by the office of state Rep. Tim Hennessey.

State Rep. Tim Hennessey, R-26th Dist., visited Southeastern Veterans Center recently to deliver three hundred N95 masks for the veterans in residence at the center.

“I asked my son to locate these masks and I purchased them so our veterans can be safe and secure in place. We owe our veterans not only our thanks, but also concrete steps to make them feel extra special and protected during this pandemic," Hennessey said in a press release."  Purchasing these masks is my way of helping our veterans.”

“I’ve been in frequent contact with staff at Southeastern Veterans Center and with the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs at Fort Indiantown Gap, which oversees our state veterans homes. They are doing all they can to see us through this crisis.”

“The Southeastern Veterans Center is a nationally-recognized medical center and one of the gems of Pennsylvania’s state Veterans Home system,” noted Hennessey. “Regular medical and nursing staff are being assisted by both the Pennsylvania National Guard and the federal Veterans Administration (VA) hospital in Coatesville. Medical detachments are on-site at Southeast Veterans Center to maintain excellent medical and nursing services for our veterans.”

This is the second order of N95 masks which Hennessey has purchased. 

In April, he delivered one hundred masks to fire companies and paramedic services across the 26th Legislative District. Hennessey has an additional seven hundred masks that will be delivered to police, fire and ambulance departments this week.

“This pandemic came upon us without much warning, and has hit us very hard, especially in southeast Pennsylvania. I am committed to doing my part to ensure they remain safe throughout this pandemic.”