Blogger's Note:The following was provided by Greater Pottstown Tennis and Learning
Greater Pottstown Tennis and Learning has been selected as one of three non-profits in Pennsylvania eligible for a State Farm Grant of $25,000 for the tennis and education center.
Anyone (over 18 years of age) can vote 10 times per day from now until Aug 23.
The group has also posted on social media if you want to share from the GPTL feeds which are listed at the top of our website: www.greaterpottstowntennis.org.
Pottstown has a great chance of winning but we all must vote!
Photo Courtesy of Marge McGann, USTA Middle States
At the ribbon cutting naming the Maple Street tennis courts in honor of Jim Corum were, from left, Brooke Musser, Chrissy Chase Sinatra, Jim White, Kerriann Herdelin, Jim Corum, Joe Collins, Deb Bennis and David Kraybill
Blogger's Note:The following was provided by Greater Pottstown Tennis and Learning.
Greater Pottstown Tennis and Learning honored its founding father by naming the new courts at the Maple Street Park in Pottstown the Jim Corum Community Courts at an official ribbon cutting and NETworking event on July 23, hosted by the TriCounty Chamber of Commerce.
Corum started tennis programs in the public parks in Pottstown in the early 1990’s and was instrumental in advocating for tennis instruction for under-served youth. Corum was active on the board of the USTA Middle States as Chair of the Multicultural Participation Committee.
“I could have never dreamed that the little community organization I founded in the early 1990’s would have ever grown into the national organization it is today.” said, Corum, 91.
The park revitalization effort is an excellent example of community development through tennis, combining both national and local funds to transform a public park.
In partnership with the USTA Foundation, USTA Middle States, Pottstown Area Health and Wellness Foundation, Pottstown Borough, the Limerick Employee Generating Association, BB&T Bank and private donors, GPTL has resurfaced the three courts, added a pavilion and made Maple Street Park a destination for tennis clinics, camps and free play days for the community.
GPTL runs free National Junior Tennis & Learning (NJTL) programs for over 1,000 youth in the Pottstown School District as well as free adaptive (special needs) tennis year-round.
GPTL coaches are heading up a new Pottstown Middle School tennis team and continuing to support the high school teams. By bringing free tennis into schools and communities, GPTL coaches model healthy lifestyle choices and build communities that promote health and wellness.
Corum started it all by reaching out to Pottstown families and offering his services on the courts as coach and mentor. The community tennis association that he founded in the 1990’s is now an Elite USTA National Junior Tennis & Learning non-profit 501 (c) 3 directly supported by the USTA Foundation as part of a nationwide network of 350 non-profit tennis organizations bringing tennis and education together to change lives in under-resourced areas throughout the United States.
For ways to support the mission of mentoring life skills, healthy behaviors and learning through tennis, visit www.GreaterPottstownTennis.org
TOP COP: Pottstown's Police of the Year, Det. Michael Glauner, second from right, is congratulated Wednesday night by Dept. Chaplain Everett Debnam, left, Chief F. Richard Drumheller, center, and Deputy Chief Mick Markovich, right.
Last night's borough council work session was not lacking in issues proposals, congratulations and at least one very big surprise.
Don't worry, I won't keep you waiting.
If by chance you are one of the unfortunate few not to follow my live, typo-ridden Tweets on Twitter, then you may wonder what I'm talking about. Here it is straight.
Councilman Dennis Arms Resigned
At the end of the meeting, when council members offer comments, Arms uncharacteristically asked to go last.
First the good stuff, he said. Arms recent married and took great pride in having the entire affair taken care of by businesses inside the borough. He thanked them, and said they had all done a superb job.
Then, and this is always a bad sign, he started reading from a prepared statement and I fumbled to get my live video up and running, only catching the last part's of his comments.
Here's what I got in video:
Thankfully, Arms was considerate enough to have copies of his comments prepared ahead of time to hand out to the press. Here is everything he said:
I have lived in Pottstown my entire life and imagined living, working and retiring in this borough. I started my term in 2016 under the impression I might be able to make a difference in my hometown. Unfortunately the last two years have been more than
Dennis Arms, right, on the night he was sworn-in.
frustrating. On numerous occasions I have had someone on council ask what we are voting on the night of the vote, blatantly admit they do not understand the financial reports provided, and as a council, vote on items without seeking the information necessary to make a decision.
I want to thank the residents of Pottstown, especially those in Ward 4, for trusting me to make the right decisions. I hope that our local media and most important, residents, hold their local government accountable for their actions. Please accept this letter as my resignation as Councilor, Ward 4 for the borough of Pottstown, as well as all other committees/commissions I have been appointed to effective this evening as I will be moving out of the borough.
Best of luck Mr. Arms.
Because council did not vote to accept his resignation, which may happen on Monday, the clock has not yet started on choosing his replacement.
Although Borough Solicitor Charles D. Garner Jr. did not weigh in last night, I suspect he will tell council the law gives them 30 days to make a replacement once they do accept the resignation.
The statue and proclamation prepared for
Det. Michael Glauner, Officer of the Year.
They may follow whatever process they wish to choose a replacement -- solicit applicants, conduct public interviews as they have in the past, or just pick someone out of thin air. The only requirement is that the person chosen lives in the Fourth Ward.
Should they fail to make a selection, a petition can be filed with a judge and the judge can make the appointment, but it is unlikely it will come to that.
Police Officer and Employee of the Year
The meeting started out on a higher note with the awarding of certificates, pins, resolutions, statues and plaques to two exemplary borough employees.
The first and more familiar was the presentation of the Police Officer of the Year to Det. Michael Glauner.
Here is the video of the presentation by Mayor Stephanie Henrick:
Afterward, he received a plaque with the proclamation, a statue, a pin and the warm congratulations of co-workers, family and members of borough council.
This was preceded by the Exceptional Employee of the Year award, which was presented to Laura E. Kline, who works at the wastewater treatment plant and was only hired in 2016.
Interim Borough Manager Justin Keller, left,
congratulates Laura Kline, the Employee of the Year
Interim Borough Manager Justin Keller said Kline is a very dependable and valuable employee of the Wastewater Treatment Plant.
"She will take overtime if no one else signs up for it just to be sure the plant operations are covered and to avoid others being mandated. Her knowledge of plant operations has been an asset in her troubleshooting ability. Laura is a valued and integral part of our Plant staff. She is respectful to her co-workers and can be found covering odd shifts as needed," he said in a release from the borough.
"Laura takes additional classes to uphold her wastewater license. She is responsible and accountable for her actions to ensure the wastewater is being treated efficiently and within the discharge limits. Laura is a great team player and all around employee. She goes above and beyond her job description and will go out of her way to help others. She is a great operator and takes initiative to learn new things to help her excel at her job,” he said.
Firefighter Incentives and New Fire Codes
Not to be left out, Fire Chief Michael Lessar Jr. was also in a position to make some news Wednesday night.
He first laid out a set of new requirements he would like council to adopt, including sprinkler systems and fire alarms for smaller new construction and for older buildings that experience a change of use.
Peggy Lee-Clark, executive director of the Pottstown Area Industrial Development Inc., the
Fire Chief Michael Lessar talks about his volunteer incentive plan.
borough's primary economic development organization, said she has concerns that some of those requirements may impede redevelopment of older downtown buildings because of the additional cost.
"Those buildings need a lot of love," she said, meaning it is very expensive to renovate the interiors up to code, and the additional cost of a sprinkler and fire alarm system may scare investors away from downtown Pottstown.
Lessar also asked council to implement an incentive system for the volunteer fighters. He laid out a point system, indicating that the borough has more volunteers than most, but he wants to incentive those who answer more calls, do more fundraising and get more training and certifications.
The maximum cost to the borough if all firefighters took full advantage of the program would be $45,000, but he said it is more likely to be $10,000 to $15,000.
Lessar said grants will be sought to cover the cost but, failing that, it would have to come out of the fire fund, which, he acknowledged, is pretty low on surplus funds.
There were some other interesting items, but you'll have to read the Tweets to find them.
Blogger's Note: The following information is provided by Kerriann Herdelin, Executive Director, Greater Pottstown Tennis & Learning
In years past, Pottstown School District has received large grants to run full day summer enrichment camps for six weeks for students who qualified.
Unfortunately, the School District does not have the resources this year to fund a full day program and will have to cut back to a morning only program this summer.
Nine community organizations have collaborated to continue to run a successful enrichment camp for the afternoon portion.
We have constructed a schedule that students will rotate daily to have access to each organizations offering, allowing the students to have various healthy experiences. Our camp will offer guest speakers, such as: Police Officers, Firefighters, Doctors, etc...
These community organizations below find it extremely important to keep the Pottstown students engaged in healthy activities throughout the summer and hopefully learn valuable lessons.
We hoping for local business sponsors to help with this important camp.
We have posted all this information on Greater Pottstown Tennis & Learning's Facebook page.
These are the organizations that are collaborating:
Pottstown School District
Pottstown YMCA
Community Health & Dental
TriCounty Community Network
YWCA Tri-County Area
Pottstown Regional Public Library
ArtFusion
Steel River Playhouse
Greater Pottstown Tennis & Learning
Blogger's Note:The following was provided by Greater Pottstown Tennis and Learning.
The United States Tennis Association Middle States Section has recently partnered with the Special Olympics of Pennsylvania to pilot a series of entry level tournaments/play events geared towards Special Olympics athletes.
On Sunday, Sept. 20 the Greater Pottstown Tennis Association will host its first Special Olympics Tournament and Play Day event at The Hill School tennis courts in Pottstown.
The tournament is open to all SOPA athletes and will feature three separate draws based on skill level of participants:
* Traditional (regular tennis balls)
* Green Dot (full court, slightly lower compression balls)
* Red Ball Short Court (ideal for beginner players)
The tournament registration fee is $5 and will cover the entry into the tournament, food/refreshments, giveaways and participation medal.
Questions should be addressed to Kerriann Herdelin at kerriann@gptatennis.com
"Greater Pottstown Tennis and Learning is one of the region's only organization currently offering an Adaptive Tennis program and this event is hopefully going to go a long way to grow this program and allow other youth in our area to participate in a sport they may have never thought possible," said David Faulkner, vice president of GPTL.
