Sixth Annual Pottstown CARES Clean-Up is Set for Sept. 22, More Caring to Come in Coming Weeks

Volunteers from a previous Pottstown CARES gather before the townwide clean-up.

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by PottstownCARES

This year’s Pottstown CARES fall clean-up will be held Saturday, Sept. 22, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.  

Also, several other CARES and Hobart’s Run-related projects are in the works, including an Historic Edgewood Cemetery community-wide clean-up and volunteer engagement event on Saturday, Oct. 20 (see more below).

The fall CARES clean-up event has again been registered as a Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful and Intercoastal Cleanup event. Debris bags, gloves, and safety vests are provided for volunteers by Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful and PennDOT.

Here is a glimpse at upcoming activities connected to CARES and Hobart’s Run co-endeavors:

 On Wednesday, Sept. 19, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Trinity Reformed Church of Christ, 60 N. Hanover St., there will be a “Common Threads” youth clothing boutique that will donate free, gently used clothing to middle and high school students in Pottstown. Trinity is partnering with CARES students for this event. Pizza and soda will be provided to “shoppers,” as well as music; this event will be a student “mixer” as well.

 Fall clean-up Saturday, Sept. 22, 8:30-10:30 a.m. A group including about 600 Hill students and faculty will pick up litter in the Hobart’s Run area, roughly bordered by Keim, Queen, Adams, and Jackson Streets; tend to a section of Historic Edgewood Cemetery; work in the downtown; assist with projects at Pottstown’s community gardens on Walnut Street and at the Olivet Boys’ and Girls’

Club/Rickett’s Center; pick up litter along Armand Hammer Blvd., Hill’s “Adopt a Highway” road; and work on rehabilitating a home at 702 Walnut St..

Pottstown High School athletics teams will focus on the area from Pottstown Middle School to the Redner’s market and the YMCA to Charlotte Street.

 The year the Pottstown CARES fall clean-up day will culminate with a CARES Activity Night that is being organized by Hill and Pottstown High School students for area youths and families.

The Activity Night will be held Saturday, Sept. 22 from approximately 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at The Hill School’s Lehrman Pavilion at the Far Fields and will feature snacks, music, games, and other kids’ activities such as face-painting.

 At the Activity Night on Sept. 22, The Hill School and Pottstown School District’s student-led

Hobart’s Run Student Leadership Committee will kick off local participation in World of Change, an international nonprofit that facilitates the collection of pocket change that in turn donates 100 percent of the proceeds to Pottstown charities designated by the students involved in this endeavor. 

The charities fall under “bucket” areas of housing, food security, education, financial literacy, health and wellness, and children’s play/discovery. World of Change was founded by Matt Hoidal, a Maine-based Hill School alumnus from the Class of ’90 who is committed to engaging youths in understanding citizenship and the potential they have to make an impact in their towns and throughout the world. 

The literacy “bucket” change collected through the World of Change drive will be applied toward buying children’s Winnie the Pooh books that student Pottstown CARES and Hobart’s Run leaders will hand out to kids during the Pottstown Halloween Parade on Oct. 23. 

The students are planning to march with a literacy-promotion themed “float.”

 On Saturday, Oct. 20, Historic Edgewood Cemetery will hold a community-wide “Stop Complaining, Start Caring for Edgewood Cemetery Day” beginning at 9 a.m. Details are being finalized, but Pottstown citizens are encouraged to volunteer at the cemetery for a few hours or the whole day, by raking, weed-whacking, mowing, and participating in other planning and improvement projects while learning about the cemetery and its rich local history.

Refreshments will be available; the committee also encourages participants to bring food donations to share in fellowship with other concerned citizen volunteers. Hobart’s Run and CARES volunteers are assisting with ongoing planning for this “bring your own tools” effort to noticeably improve the grounds. 

Through The Hill School, Hobart’s Run recently made a $5,000 donation toward Edgewood grounds maintenance – but, to sustain this community resting place, there is a tremendous and ongoing need for volunteers and financial contributions from throughout Pottstown. Individuals who would like to volunteer for this community engagement endeavor and/or make a financial contribution should contact Andrew Monastra at amonastra@wolfbaldwin.com or 610-323-7436. All are welcome, from creative master gardeners to weekend warrior weed-whackers!

 The Hill School’s Hobart’s Run and Pottstown CARES students will participate in the Pottstown Area Rapid Transit (PART) food and goods drive between Thanksgiving and Christmas to benefit the Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities. Hill, along with other organizations in town, will place food and other household item collection boxes on their premises. 

PART passengers will receive a $1 fare discount if they make a food or household goods donation when they board the bus during the Take PART, Give Back campaign. In addition, for every 100 pounds of goods donated via the campaign, PART will provide 10 bus passes to the Cluster for people in need of transportation.

CARES stands for Community, Awareness, Responsibility, Empowerment, and Sustainability.

The CARES organization is a collaboration between The Hill School, the Borough of Pottstown, the Pottstown School District, Montgomery County Community College, the Tri-County Chamber of Commerce, Lowes, and, most recently, Habitat for Humanity. 

A 501(c)(3), Hobart's Run works with its residents and property owners to revitalize the neighborhood through projects that create a clean, safe, and inclusive community; provide incentives for home ownership and home improvements; and generate positive, sustainable commercial and retail development. While initially addressing an area of approximately 600 parcels in Pottstown (Queen Street in the south, North Adams on the west, Beech, Grant, and Jackson on the north, and Keim Street on the east), Hobart’s Run strives to use successes in this focus area to spark and support revitalization throughout the Borough.

July 4th Events Canceled and Other Business

What much of the Pottstown area feared came to pass Wednesday night; official word that there will be no parade, no fireworks and no Independence Day festivities in Pottstown this year.

Marcia Levengood, co-chair of Independence Day Ltd., the non-profit organization which has struggled to field events for the last three years, said almost no contributions were received as a result of fundraising efforts.

Borough Council President Dan Weand reiterated that the borough never has, and has no intention to start now, of funding the event with taxpayer dollars.

And council member Dennis Arms wondered why council is complacent enough to allow Borough Manager Mark Flanders to spend $2,500 to hire a consultant to find a replacement for the departing Assistant Borough Manager Eric Batdorf, when the borough "has an HR department charged with hiring and recruiting," but won't spend money on a July 4th parade.

And so it went. You can read and watch more about that in the Tweets below.

On to the "other business."

First of all, Vice President Sheryl Miller sketched out a way that the Pottstown Human Relations Commission could be put back up and running. Significant among the changes sought are appointment of commissioners by borough council and not the mayor, as happens now.

The PART bus system, whose $2.3 million budget will likely be approved at Monday's meeting, will have a fare increase starting July 1 after a public hearing at which no one spoke.

The LERTA tax break, or as the Digital Notebook staff calls it -- "The Never-Ending Story" -- may finally be adopted at the joint council school board meeting on June 21

And what we all hope will be the final version of plans for the land on the former Mrs. Smith's Pies site at south Hanover and Industrial Drive -- now called Hanover Square -- will be voted on Monday.

That should be enough to keep me on my toes for a couple days.

Here are the Tweets 'N More:

Batdorf Leaving Pottstown for West Vincent

Erica Batdorf

It looks like Pottstown is going to have to find a new assistant borough manager.

The crack investigative team at The Digital Notebook has confirmed that Erica Batdorf, who first took the job as Erica Weekely, is moving on to greener pastures.

How do we know?

She told us when we asked. Sometimes things work out that way.

Batdorf is taking the job of Township Manager in Chester County's West Vincent Township.

And the borough is not wasting any time. The advertisement to find her replacement is already in circulation.

Batdorf first took the past in January of 2013 after the borough had gone several years without any assistant borough manager at all.

And like her predecessor Dave Forest, her primary responsibilities had to do with transportation, overseeing operations at Pottstown Municipal Airport as well as the PART bus system.

She also spearheaded efforts to get the free bike share program, Bike Pottstown, in place and racks put on PART buses so the bikes can be carried along the route.

Batdorf, who got married last year, also helped the borough and Pottstown School District obtain state grants for the Safe Routes to School program that will create more bike lanes in town, as well as the "walking school bus" system now being used by Rupert Elementary School.

That expertise in transportation recently had her tapped to become a board member of Communities in Motion, a Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association Foundation.

Good luck Erica, we'll miss you.

Bike Programs, Community Garden Win Awards

Assistant Borough Manager Erica Batdorf demonstrates how to
put a Bike Pottstown bike on the front of a PART Bus
this summer when the Bike and Ride program was announced.

Transportation initiatives based in Pottstown, and the borough’s community garden are now award winners.

Biking projects were recently recognized with three awards from Communities in Motion, a foundation associated with the Greater Valley Forge Transportation Management Association dedicated to sustainable communities.

The “Bike and Ride” program initiated this year by Pottstown Area Rapid Transit, which allowed for bicycles to be carried by PART buses, won the only award in the “Development” category.

The “Bike Schuylkill” program developed by the Pottstown-based Schuylkill River Heritage Area was one of nine award winners in the “Park, Recreation of Open Space” project.

The Bike Schuylkill program (known as Bike Pottstown in Pottstown), managed by the Schuylkill River Heritage Area, is a completely free bike share available in three Schuylkill River Trail communities: Phoenixville, Pottstown and Hamburg.

Schuylkill River Heritage Area Executive Director 

Silas Chamberlin, left, and grants program coordinator 

Tim Fenchel with their Star Award. 

The program’s signature yellow cruisers can be borrowed at no cost to anyone aged 16 or over providing a driver’s license or valid state ID.

“We are pleased to have this very successful program recognized by our partners,” said Schuylkill River Heritage Area Executive Director Silas Chamberlin. “Bike Schuylkill and Bike Pottstown not only encourage healthy lifestyles for people who ride on the Schuylkill River Trail, it also affords an alternative means of transportation. People borrow the bikes for doctors’ appointments, shopping and even job interviews.

In the “Planning” category, the “Walk and Bike Pottstown” program — which aims to improve walkability and bikability in Pottstown with Safe Routes to Schools and added bike lanes — was one of six award winners.

Communities in Motion also recognized Pottstown Assistant Borough Manager Erica Batdorf as the first ever “Sustainability Super Star” for her ongoing significant support of multiple sustainability projects in the Borough of Pottstown and beyond, including Walk & Bike Pottstown and Pottstown Area Rapid Transit.

MOSAIC Garden Director Laura Washington, with some

young visitors.

Batdorf, who is a board member of Communities in Motion, also gave a presentation at the award ceremony on the Walk and Bike Pottstown program.

* * *

It’s not just things in motion in Pottstown that have been recognized. An award was also provided to something that is very much rooted in one place.

Mosaic Community Gardens on Chestnut took home a Blue Ribbon at in this year’s Pennsylvania Horticulture Society’s Gardening and Greening Contest.

A blue ribbon and garden sign have been awarded to the gardens for its ability to motivate people to improve the quality of life and create a sense of community through horticulture in the category of Community Combination Garden.

Dump the Pump, Ride PART Free Thursday

THEN:  Pottstown has had a public bus transit
system for 40 years.

Thursday you can ride the PART bus system for free.

It's part of the 10th annual National 'Dump the Pump Day,' which encourages people to ride public transit and save money.

According to the American Public Transportation Association, the latestTransit Savings Report shows that a two person household that downsizes to one car can save – on the average – more than $9,569 a year.

NOW: Most bus routes converge
at the transit center downtown.

Public transportation doesn’t just help people save money, it also helps communities grow and
prosper.

For example, for every $1 invested in public transportation, $4 is returned in economic returns. Communities with public transportation are more competitive.

According to PART, in 2014, Americans took 10.8 billion trips on public transportation -- the highest in 58 years.

Now for one of those "Did you Know?" bullet lists:

• Since 1995, public transit ridership is up 39 percent, outpacing population growth, which is up 21 percent, and vehicle miles traveled (VMT), which is up 25 percent.
• People board public transportation 36 million times each weekday.
• Public transportation is a $61 billion industry that employs more than 400,000 people.
• More than 7,200 organizations provide public transportation in the United States.
  
• Every $1 billion invested in public transportation supports and creates more than 50,000 jobs.
• Every $10 million in capital investment in public transportation yields $30 million in increased business sales.
• Home values performed 42 percent better on average if they were located near public transportation with high-frequency service.
• Public transportation use in the United States saves 4.2 billion gallons of gasoline annually.
• Households near public transit drive an average of 4,400 fewer miles than households with no access to public transit.
• Public transportation use in the United States reduces our nation’s carbon emissions by 37 million metric tons annually. This is equivalent to Washington, DC; New York City; Atlanta; Denver; and Los Angeles combined stopping using electricity. 
• One person with a 20-mile round trip commute who switches from driving to public transit can reduce his or her daily carbon emissions by 20 pounds, or more than 4,800 pounds in a year.
• A single commuter switching his or her commute to public transportation can reduce a household’s carbon emissions by 10 percent and up to 30 percent if he or she eliminates a

  

  Now you can even bring your bike along on the bus ride.

  second car.

Now back to the important part, on Thursday, June 18, in celebration of "Dump the Pump Day," anyone can ride PART for free, all day long.

Who doesn't like free?

This also marks the 40th year that PART has served the greater Pottstown area with bus service, so you might say this is their thank you to their riders as well.

PEAK Performance and Little Libraries

Council's Wednesday work session was surprisingly light, but with a few delightful interludes.

Photo Courtesy of Dick Whittaker

This is what the Little Libraries look like.

One was a proposal by the Pottstown Rotary Club to put "Little Libraries" in at
least two (possibly more) locations around town.

People can simply take a book and return it, or not. It is a project of the club's Literacy Committee.

Another was a presentation by Pottstown Schools Superintendent Jeff Sparagana on the district's signature early learning program, called PEAK, which stands for Pottstown Early Action for Kindergarten readiness.

Council also seems inclined to move ahead quickly with the vacant property ordinance advocated by Community Champions which will provide a way to get a handle on derelict vacant properties in town.

You can read all about it in the Tweets below:

There's a Rack for That

Have you ever seen a place that you might like to bike, but you don't want to or can't bike to get there?

There's a rack for that.

And its on the front of Pottstown's signature PART buses.

VeloPorter bike racks, funded by a PennDOT grant, have been installed on all PART buses.

This allows bike riders to easily load their own personal bicycles, or any of the free Bike Pottstown bikes, onto the bus and ride to their biking destination.

A kick-off event with practice loading and explanations about how the service will work will be held today at Smith Family Plaza in front of borough hall from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

"Pottstown is growing as a multi-modal destination," according to Jennifer Ridgway, PART's director of operations.

She said being able to walk, bike or ride a bike to work or to school "is an affordable and sustainable alternative to traveling by car."

"The success of Bike Pottstown is no doubt related to the growing demand of the Pottstown community to explore our region, achieve a healthier lifestyle and enjoy the outdoors," said Tim Fenchel, grants coordinator for the Schuylkill River Heritage Area.

"The PART Bike & Ride Program will only enhance the user experience for bicyclists in the Pottstown area," he said.

PART, which stands for Pottstown Area Rapid Transit, serves a 54-mile area in the borough and the townships of Lower Pottsgrove, Upper Pottsgrove, West Pottsgrove, Limerick and North Coventry.

The Magic Bus, and Other Earthy Day Stuff

So come on, admit it. The last thing you expected to see in an Earth Day post was an exhaust -emitting bus!

In case you were wondering how to mark Earth Day today, you could just take the bus.

You can cut your carbon footprint today by riding Pottstown's remarkably extensive bus system for free.

That's right, all rides on Pottstown Area Rapid Transit, which was once called PUT but is now called PART are absolutely Free.

The name change allows on to "Take PART" ... get it?

In so doing, not only will you familiarize yourself with the bus system, but you'll be traveling in a more efficient manner, thus reducing the amount of carbon you are responsible for putting into the atmosphere.

In case you didn't know, its mankind's constant emitting of carbon, along with the destruction of carbon-consuming forests, which are largely responsible for the climate change with which we are all contending these days.

If you're looking for something more conventionally "earthy," there are a few of those too, almost all of them thanks to the folks over at Montgomery County Community College.

I had a fairly extensive round-up in The Mercury, but a lot of it happened over the past two days.

Here are a few that remain.

DEP's office building in Norristown, across from the 

Montgomery County Court House, may be the scene of a protest today.

Seeing as Earth Day was born out of the protest movement, you can protest the use of “fracking” to extract natural gas by gathering in front of the Norristown office of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, 2 E. Main St., Norristown, from 3 to 5 p.m.

The agency regulates natural gas drilling and the protest is organized by a coalition of 60 organizations opposed to this controversial drilling method.

But the most extensive events are at the community college's week of educational programs and activities April 22-29 in observance of Earth Day 2013 are all geared around a theme  "The Face of Climate Change." 

(I have omitted the events at the Blue Bell campus because no one should drive that far on Earth Day.)

On Monday, April 22, the day begins with free tire pressure checking stations from 8-10 a.m. in the South Hall parking lot at the West Campus 101 College Drive, Pottstown. Cars with the proper tire pressure get better gas mileage and, thus, put less carbon into the environment.

MC3's South Hall at 101 College Dr.

Also, from 12:20-1:20 p.m. on April 22, both campuses will host a series of displays in South Hall at 101 College Dr. Exhibits include Environmental Club, RecycleMania, Green Office Initiative, GVF/SEPTA transportation options, Campus Bookstore green items, and Siemens ESCO information, as well as a CulinArt Farmers Market.

Then, at 12:30 p.m. in the South Hall Community Room, entries from the Student Sustainability Film Contest will be screened, and awards will be presented.

On Tuesday, April 23 at 12:45 p.m., the College will screen the film "Thin Ice: The Inside Story of Climate Science" in the South Hall Community Room. 

Here is the film's trailer:

The film is a collaboration between Oxford University, Victoria University of Wellington and London-based DOX Productions. Debuting on Earth Day, the film is being screened globally free of change on April 22 and 23. For more info on the film, visit thiniceclimate.org.

Chari Towne's book

On Wednesday, April 24 from 12:30-1:30 p.m., the College's Dean of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Dr. David Brookstein will offer a presentation on “Alternative Fuel Vehicles – Environmental Opportunities and Challenges” with a video simulcast to South Hall in Pottstown.

On Thursday, author Chari Towne will discuss her book “A River Again,” which focuses on the environmental cleanup of the Schuylkill River in the 1940s and 1950s.

I wrote about Towne's book back in December when it came out.

The discussion will take place at 12:45 p.m. in the South Hall Community Room at the West Campus in Pottstown.

In addition to the above events, cell phone and battery recycling stations will be available all week in South Hall at the West Campus.

All Earth Day activities are free of change and are open to the public. 

For more information, visit the college's Think Green blog at mc3green.wordpress.com.

Local Heroes Club

Blogger's Note: This just in from the chamber:

The TriCounty Area Chamber of Commerce held its annual Golf Outing on Sept. 11.

Frank Strunk with Marcy Toepel

In honor of this date, Chamber Members were asked to nominate local heroes who were invited to participate in the Golf Outing compliments of Hickory Valley Golf Club.

These heroes were people who go above and beyond to better our community.

State Representative Marcy Toepel presented a Certificate of Recognition to each of these nominated individuals at the Clambake portion of the Golf Outing:

Frank Strunk, National Penn – Nominated by Leslie Unger and Shelly Stockmal.

Gary Pace with Marcy Toepel

Strunk is President of the Pottstown Vietnam Veterans Chapter and a member of the Pottstown Rotary. He has dedicated much of his life to his country and has been instrumental in helping to make Pottstown a better place.

Gary Pace, Pottstown Cluster of Religious Communities – Nominated by Barbara Wilhelmy

Pace is the PCRC’s lead volunteer chaplain. He is an example of someone who goes above and beyond for the needs of the organization and the people in the community.

Charlie Dickinson with Marcy Toepel

Charlie Dickinson – Nominated by Sylvia Landis, SCORE

Dickinson volunteers his time to plant and water the local hanging flower plants in downtown Pottstown taking responsibility for the beautification of the downtown.

For more information, visit www.tricountyareachamber.com or contact 610.326.2900.