Houlahan Tackles Topics in 1st Town Hall of 2020

Photos by Evan Brandt

U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-6th Dist., speaks Thursday at her first town hall of 2020, held in the Colonial Theater in Phoenixville. At left is an archival photo of  Phoenix Steel columns used during the construction of the Washington Monument, lent to Houlahan by Mayor Peter Urscheler  to "hang in her office as a reminder of Phoenixville."

Ar right, the line to get into last night's town hall went out into the street.

U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan, D-6th Dist., chose Phoenixville's Colonial Theater as the place to hold her first town hall of 2020.

Held Thursday evening, it differed from the 12 town halls she held in 2019, the most of any Congressional representative from Pennsylvania, in that it was not devoted to a single subject.

The Sixth District includes all of Chester County and part of Berks County.

Calling it the "State of the Sixth," she instead, she covered a broad range of topics before taking written questions from the audience.

Houlahan presents Phoenixville Mayor Peter Urscheler with
a certificate for being named "One of 10 Outstanding Americans."

Those subjects ranged from working to save jobs at the Sikorsky helicopter plant in Coatesville; working across the aisle to get a new trade pact with Mexico and Canada; steps to stem the opioid epidemic; legislation to drive down prescription drug costs; climate change; protecting pensions; education; paid parent leave and more.

Houlahan said she had kept her pledge to hold one town hall a month throughout the district in 2019, noting that she is now among four new Pennsylvania female representatives to Congress where previously, there had been none.

And together those four women held "20 percent of all the (Congressional) town halls in Pennsylvania. She added that there are now 127 women in Congress, 106 of them are Democrats, and women now represent 24 percent of the seats in the House of Representatives.

"Hopefully, we'll get to 51 percent because that's what percent of the population women represent,"
Houlahan added.

The 116th Congress has so far passed 400 bills, 275 of them bi-partisan, and 70 have been sent to the Senate and signed by the president.

"We're working to get more bills out of the Senate and onto the president's desk," Houlahan said.

Houlahan came armed with slides for her presentation.

In her first year in office, she said, Houlahan's office has roughly 9,000 phone calls, 3,500 letters and 73,000 emails "and we respond to everyone."

Running that office, she said, costs taxpayers $1.3 million per year but, by her calculations, her efforts and those of her staff have brought $1.8 million federal dollars back to the district, meaning "you're getting a 38 percent return on your investment."

That does not count the 500 jobs she and others worked to save when Sikorsky abruptly announced in June it would close its Coatesville helicopter plant by year's end, a decision which was ultimately reversed.

Nor does it include the 477,900 Pennsylvania jobs that were supported by a new trade pact negotiated with Mexico and Canada. Houlahan, who often talked about the need to sidestep partisanship and find compromise, said she supported the deal negotiated by President Trump because "two thirds of Pennsylvania's experts go to Mexico and Canada."

Houlahan addresses her vote to impeach President Donald Trump

She said she was reluctant to vote to impeach Trump because "our country is damaged. As you've hopefully heard in this conversation, our mission is to heal our country, and our community as well. In the beginning, I felt what was going on would only hurt the country even more."

However, "when the Ukraine situation and investigation came up, I and six other members of the freshman class, all of whom had served in the military or intelligence communities in the past, really felt like this was a different animal," Houlahan said.

Answering a question later about why she voted to impeach President Trump "when you know he's going to be acquitted," Houlahan said "because I take my oath seriously and there are some things that should not be permitted. I believe strongly that elections have consequences, but when you're playing with future elections, that's where I draw the line. It needed to be said that 'this shouldn't stand' and the vote allowed us to learn more about what we don't know."

"These are clearly challenging times," said Houlahan.

Here's s video of her prepared comments on the subject:


Houlahan said her most pleasant surprise once she got to Washington "was the quality of the people working there. They are really public servants, working really hard,"she said. "They might be working at cross purposes, but that's what we elected them to do. But that may be why it looks like nothing is getting done."

Mayor Peter Urscheler reads some of the written questions 

submitted for U.S. Rep. Chrissy Houlahan Thursday.

She said the picture painted by the media makes it look like Washington is city of extreme right, and extreme left, "but there really is a strong middle and you never hear about that."

Houlahan said she is a member of several caucuses, including the "New Dems," whose members are trying to find common ground with Republicans.

"I wish we could find compromise, find solutions and knock off the nastiness. I hear things like 'they started it,' and it comes from both sides of the aisle," Houlahan said. "They sound like 5-year-olds sometimes. We're so fractured. There's no room for empathy or disagreement."

It wasn't easy to find a place to sit in the 640-seat theater
during the Town Hall meeting Thursday night.

As an example, she pointed to the H.R. 1, the first bill passed after the new Congress convened, a "huge bill" that called for campaign finance reform, "dealt with Citizens United issues" of anonymous campaign funding, "and ethics in government."

But the bill's preamble was "largely partisan" and Republicans could not support that language "which is not super helpful."

But something needs to be done and perhaps its better to address those issues in smaller doses, she said.

"This is a broken system, a deeply broken system. My colleagues and I are raising resources all the time and some of the smaller parts of that bill are being pushed forward."

Houlahan ended by recalling a ceremony for the anniversary of the Sandy Hook school shootings and observing "tomorrow isn't promised to any one."

Houlahan concludes her first town hall meeting of 2020.

And so the nation should work harder to work together, she said, showing a picture of a quilt that hangs in her office. "We are that quilt. Stitched together for common purpose," she said, adding "and it can be stitched back together."

Quoting  Abraham Lincoln's first inaugural address, she concluded "we are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection."

And the (Inter-County) Band Played On

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by the Spring-Ford School District.

This year the Spring-Ford Middle School Band, under the direction of Mrs. Kris Jennings will host the 59th Annual Inter-County Junior High School Band Festival on Saturday evening, Jan. 24.

The concert will be held in the Spring-Ford High School 10-12 Auditorium beginning at 7:30 P.M.

The Concert Band consists of 125 selected 7th, 8th and 9th grade musicians from eleven surrounding school districts. The directors from the participating schools will each conduct one selection during the concert. 

The directors include: Kathy Williams, Pottsgrove; Mike Agatone, Boyertown East; Brian Leonard, Arcola; Michael Jordan, Boyertown West; Jason Hess, Owen J. Roberts; Kris Jennings, Spring-Ford; Cassidy Nalepa, Upper Perkiomen; Bill Bonnell, Phoenixville; Paul DiRenzo, Perkiomen Valley East; Dawn Krown, Perkiomen Valley Middle School West and Ben Hayes, Pottstown. 

The select Inter-County Jazz Band will also perform during the concert. 

The Jazz Band will be under the direction of Mr. Paul DiRenzo, the band director at Perkiomen Valley East Middle School.

Here is some video from last year's concert:

Selections from the concert will include traditional works like “William Tell Overture” by Rossini and “Nimrod” by Elgar, along with works from some of today’s well-known composers and arrangers of contemporary band literature.

There will be 11 seventh, eighth and ninth grade students representing Spring-Ford in this festival. These talented musicians are: ninth graders Morgan Turner, Niva Pandya, Kayla Christman, Lauren Knab, Dillon Rumsey, and Charlie Nawa; eighth graders Sarah Chiaradonna, Allie Platchek, Kristine Luo and Ainsley Bittner, and seventh grader Eli Siron.

Tickets for the concert are available in advance from any member of the Inter-County Band or at the door the evening of the concert. The cost of the tickets is $4 for adults and $3 for students.

If inclement weather would cause a postponement, the concert would be held on Monday, January 26th at 7:30 P.M.

A Cavalcading We Will Go

Photo by Evan Brandt

Drum Majors from all 12 high school marching bands that performed at the Owen J. Roberts Cavalcade Saturday line up at the end of the night to receive their trophies.

The weather cleared nicely Saturday for the 2014 Owen J. Roberts High School Marching Band Cavalcade, although by the end of the night, the chill had settled in and many in the stands were hard to recognize, wrapped in hoods, blankets and gloves.



Fifteen different bands performed and 11 of them were in competition.

The Spring-Ford Middle School Band and the Owen J. Roberts Middle School Band both performed in exhibition only.

Sadly for you, dear reader, that was about the time the battery on my iPhone gave out and my back-up plan collapsed as well.



I had taken along my son's iPod (without his knowledge or permission I confess) with the idea that I could capture the middle school bands on that, then take my iPhone to the car to charge during intermission in order to get the full performances of the two other local bands - Boyertown and Owen J. Roberts, which, as hosts, was the third band playing in exhibition.

But it turns out the iPod just didn't have what it takes batter-wise and I could not even capture all of Spring-Ford's performance, much less Owen J. Roberts, which followed.



So the good news is, that gave me extra time to charge the iPhone. The bad news was, it still wasn't enough.

The good/good news was, the iPod had enough charge to capture some of the performance of the Kutztown University Marching Band, the fourth band to play in exhibition.



That allowed me to capture some very spirited performances which were designed especially for the high school marching bands, which sit in the visitor side of the stadium after their performance and often only see the back of the other bands.

As is often the case, the high-energy performances was well-received by the appreciative audience who know how much hard work goes into making a good marching band show.



After that came the traditional gathering of the drum majors from each of the performing bands and the announcement of the scores, and the handing out of the trophies.

Locally, Pottstown was the only band to take first place.

Photo by Evan Brandt

The trophies await awarding at Saturday's OJR Cavalcade.

However, it should be noted that Pottstown, which had performed its classic rock-themed halftime show earlier in the day at the Pottstown Vs. Boyertown football game, won its division by virtue of being the only competitor in the division.

Phoenixville, whose show explores the thin line between genius and madness, as best I could tell, scored second in the American division among three competitors.

Boyertown, which has a Hansel and Gretel show this year, took third place in the Patriot Division from among five competitors.

Photo by Evan Brandt

The stands were quite full at Hank Bernat Stadium Saturday.

Here are all the results and the scores:

Independence Division

-- East Stroudsburg North: First Place, with a score of 76.9, which also won the high auxiliary and high percussion awards
-- Cinnaminson: Second Place, with a score of 74.6

Yankee Division

-- Pottstown: First Place, with a score of 73.55, which also won the high auxiliary and high percussion awards.

American Division

-- Sun Valley: First Place, with a score of 79.95, which also won the high percussion award.

Photo by Evan Brandt

Natalie Fuertsch and Izzy Gunson
both 8th graders in OJR MS, band keep warm

-- Phoenixville: Second Place, with a score of 78.15, which also won the high auxiliary award.
-- Great Valley: Third Place, with a score of 77.3.

Patriot Division

-- Nazareth: First Place, with a score of 85.35, which also won the high auxiliary award and the overall high music and overall high score awards.
-- Downingtown West: Second Place, with a score of 82.4.
-- Boyertown: Third Place, with a score of 82.
-- Upper Darby: Fourth Place, with a score of 81.45, which also won the high percussion award.
-- Neshaminy, Fifth Place, with a score of 80.6.

Below you will find the Tweets from the cavalcade, as well as the YouTube videos of the full performances of the local bands from schools covered by The Mercury -- Pottstown, Phoenixville, Boyertown and Owen J. Roberts.

Because the Tout videos will not play here, and open a new link, I have dispensed with including them in the Storify and simple embedded them above, as you no doubt have noticed.

I remind those unfamiliar with Storify, the program I use to compile my Tweets, that you need to click on the blue "Read Next Page" bar at the end to make sure you don't miss anything.

And the Award Goes To.....

Photo by Evan Brandt

Daniel Boone Senior Alyx Blumstock, left, and Junior Megan Jolivette prepare to give out the awards at the end of the 43rd Annual Sound Spectacular Jazz Band Festival at Daniel Boone High School Friday.

If awards were given for best sound system (microphones work when they’re supposed to) and best program (handy fill-in sheet makes keeping track of awards easy) the Daniel Boone High School would win them both.

Both were awaiting those who stopped by for the 43rd Annual Sound Spectacular Jazz Festival, along with some stellar performances by area bands.

Photo by Evan Brandt

THE JUDGES TABLE: The judges for the evening were 

Chuck Dressler, Bill Powers and Bob Wagner.

Two bands, the Pottstown High School Jazz Band and the Boyertown Area Senior High School Big
Band, were both rated as “superior,” the highest rating given by judges.

The Phoenixville Area High School Jazz Band earned a rating of “outstanding” and the Daniel Boone High School Jazz Ensemble was the host, so it was not rated, although it did perform Friday night.

Boyertown earned both the outstanding saxophone section and the outstanding trumpet section awards while Pottstown earned the outstanding rhythm section award.

North Penn High School won the outstanding trombone section award.

Photo by Evan Brandt

There was a pretty good size crowd gather as the night went on.

Two saxophonists, Kelli Hess of Boyertown and Marley Bryan of Pottstown, earned outstanding soloists awards, as did Donnie Jackson of Phoneixville.

Honorable mentions for outstanding soloists included drummer Jake Wunderlich from Pottstown and
Bennett Stump, also a drummer, from Wilson High School.

Because I have posted the three songs performed by both the Pottstown and the Boyertown bands twice before on this blog, I will not embed them here tonight.

I will be uploading them to YouTube (Perhaps tomorrow, it’s very late) and you can view them on my YouTube channel.

Also, I will make a playlist of the area bands from the show.

Photo by Evan Brandt 

The ABC Select Jazz Band from Amity Elementary School also played.

Because I could slip out in between when bands like Upper Merion and Ephrata were playing, I was
able to re-charge the batteries in the mighty iPhone and so was able to capture a today of 12 performances on video.

Instead, I will embed the videos of Phoenixville and Daniel Boone, because many of you will not have heard them before.

But before we get to any of that, I should mention that two of the district's elementary school bands played in exhibition, the Birdsboro/Monocacy Elementary Band and the ABC Select Jazz Band from Amity Elementary.

I was charging my battery when the Birdsboro school played but I did get a video sample of the Amity group. Here they are playing "Salsa Special."



And now on to the high schools.

First up is Phoenixville, which began with a singer with a lovely voice for a piece called "Afternoon in Paris," and although they announced her name, it did not appear in the program, so I cannot share it with you.

The soloist names the program did share were Donnie Jackson on trumpet, Karl Sewick on guitar and Spncer Rakoczy on drums.



Despite what is said in the program, this was followed by a number titled "Lady Bird." The soloists are Nick Kissel on trombone and Jake Gould on alto saxophone.



And finally, a very nice work called "Living in a Dream," with some truly excellent trumpet work by soloist Donnie Jackson. It's easy to see (or, rather, hear) why he won an outstanding soloist award.



And now its on to the hosts, Daniel Boone High School and its Jazz Ensembl.

They began with a number named "Pegasus," by Hank Levy. Soloists are Alyx Blumenstock on baritone saxophone, Nichole Risley on flugel horn and Bethany Hallwell on Flute, as well as Justin Frey on alto saxophone.



This was followed by "Unit 7" by Sam Jones, which features Justin Frey as a soloist in alto saxophone.



And Daniel Boone finished up with "A Time for Love, which features James Kalenda on trombone as the soloist.



Oh yes, as for the schools outside The Mercury coverage area, they were rated as follows: Brandywine Heights High School earned an "outstanding," Reading High School earned an "outstanding," Wilson High School earned a "superior," North Penn High School earned a "superior," Ephrata High School earned an "outstanding," and Upper Merion High School earned an "oustanding."

All right, so its 2:15 a.m.

Here's your damn playlist of all the tunes played by Pottstown, Boyertown, Phoenixville and Daniel Boone:

Hosting a Musical Host

Although Pottstown Middle School is technically this year's host, the concert will be held at the larger auditorium at......

This year the Pottstown Middle School Band, under the direction of Benjamin Hayes, will be hosting the 58th Annual Inter-County Junior High School Band Festival on Saturday evening Jan. 25.

The concert will be held in the Pottstown High School Auditorium beginning at 7:30 P.M.

.....Pottstown High School

The Concert Band consists of 140 selected 7th, 8th and 9th grade musicians from eleven surrounding school districts.

The directors from the participating schools will each conduct one selection during the concert.

The directors include: Kathy Williams, Pottsgrove; Mike Agatone, Boyertown East; Brian Leonard, Arcola; Mike Jordan, Boyertown West; Jason Hess, Owen J. Roberts; Kris Jennings, Spring-Ford; Cassidy Nalepa, Upper Perkiomen; Bill Bonnell, Phoenixville; Paul DiRenzo, Perkiomen Valley East; Dawn Krown, Perkiomen Valley Middle School West and Ben Hayes, Pottstown.

The select Inter-County Jazz Band will also perform during the concert. The Jazz Band will be under the direction of Mr. Brian Leonard, the Band Director at Arcola Intermediate School.

Billy Shears is unlikely to attend...

Highlights from the concert include: “Dies Irae” from Verdi’s Requiem, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts
Club Band” by Sweeney, “Children’s March” by Grainger, “Michael Jackson: Through the Years” by Brown, and The Washington Post March by Sousa.

There will be 12 seventh, eighth and ninth grade students from Pottstown participating in the festival. They include: Sarah Dudley, Casey Mest, Alysha Soto, Rachael Levengood, Emma Pargeon, Dylan Brandt, Nick Wilson, Austin Scavello, Madison Overholt, Kyle Kratzer, Caitlin Mclaughlin, and Eddie Butler.

Tickets for the concert are available in advance from any member of the Inter-County Band or at the door the evening of the concert. The cost of the tickets is $4 for adults and $3 for students.

If inclement weather would cause a postponement, the concert would be held on Monday, Jan. 27 at 7:30 p.m.

The Beauty in Our Own Backyard

A finalist in the "Wild and Scenic" category, Boyertown photographer "Martha," titled this shot "The Circle of Life..."

Paul from Phoenixville took this shot of Black Rock Sanctuary.
It is a finalist in the "Wild and Scenic" category.

So one thing I like about blogging is that it does allow me to be completely partisan at times.

This is one of those times.

This is the second year that the Schuylkill Action Network has conducted its "Schuylkill Shots" photo contest.

I'm afraid the notice of the contest slipped through the cracks here in the Digital Notebook's vast command center complex and its inherent bureaucracy, so I did not let our amateur (or professional) photographers out there know in time that they could submit entries.

Another entry from Paul, also in the
"Wild and Scenic" category is from the quarry
at St. Peter's Village.

Our apologies. Rest assured those responsible have been flogged and sacked.

But I can let you know, thank's to kind e-mail nudge from Shaun Bailey at the Delaware River Estuary group, about voting, particularly when so many of the top entries are from our own area.

"I just wanted to let you know that, so far, four of the top-10 pictures in this year’s Schuylkill Shots Photo Contest are from Pottstown. Online voting ends just three weeks from Sunday, or Dec. 15," he wrote.

To see the photos, simply visit Facebook.com/SchuylkillWaters, click on the “Fan Faves” box, which also says “Photo Contest,” and then click “Vote.”


Fully four of entries are from a Pottstown photographer who goes by "Carol."

(THIS JUST IN!: Our vast network of confidential sources informs us that "Carol" is actually Pottstown High School graduate Carol Brightbill. Good show!)

There are also entries from photographers from Phoenixville, Boyertown and Douglassville.

Carol from Pottstown, took this shot of French Creek. It too
is in the "Wild and Scenic" category.

Other finalists are from Philadelphia and New Ringgold, but they can get their own blogger to promote their photos.

Last year over 6,000 people from Philadelphia to Pottsville voted on the final selection of winning photos from over 150 submitted. Winning photographers will receive prizes of gift cards ranging from $100 to $250 to REI, Amazon.com, or Calumet Photographic.

The deadline for entries was Oct. 30. A panel of judges affiliated with the SAN selected 10 finalists per category by Nov. 15.

Titled "The Fisherman," this shot by Carol is a finalist in
the "Fun on the Schuylkill" category

The public now has until Dec. 15 to vote for their favorites to determine the winners. The judges will also vote for their favorite photos in each category to determine the “Judges’ Choice” Awards. Followers of the SAN on Facebook can also watch and comment on each entry as it is uploaded to the internet.

The Schuylkill River travels 130 miles through the cities of Pottsville, Reading, Pottstown, Norristown, and Philadelphia. In 1978, it was the first river included in the state’s Scenic Rivers Program. Today the Schuylkill is a source of drinking water for millions of people and a critical source of fresh water for the Delaware Estuary, where salt water from the ocean mixes with fresh water from the Delaware River.

This shot by Karen, from Douglassville, is also in
French Creek in St. Peter's Village. It is a finalist
in the "Fun on the Schuylkill" category.

The Schuylkill Action Network is a collaboration of agencies, companies, individuals, and nonprofit organizations founded to help clean up the Schuylkill River and the many waterways flowing into it. The SAN does this by collaborating on projects in Berks, Chester, Montgomery, Philadelphia, and Schuylkill counties, among others.

In this way, it helps to protect nearly 2 million Pennsylvanians, all of whom depend on these waterways for safe drinking water. 

Since 2003, the SAN has grown to include dozens of local, private, and public members, in addition to its five founders: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 3; Philadelphia Water Department; Delaware River Basin Commission; Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection; and the Partnership for the Delaware Estuary.

Another offering by Pottstown's Carol in the "Wild and Scenic" category is titled "Valley Forge Park in summer time."

Carol, from Pottstown, named this finalist in the "Wild and Scenic" category "Mr. Blue Eyes."

Candle Power at Lock 60

Blogger's Note: The following was provided by the Schuylkill Canal Association:

Celebrate the holidays with the Schuylkill Canal Association for the Holiday Luminaria, on Saturday, Dec. 15, 6 to 9 p.m. 

This magnificent holiday light show will be held along the Schuylkill Canal up to Lock 60 and the Locktender’s House in Mont Clare, just across the river from Phoenixville.

See one of the most beautiful sights of the season as you observe well over a thousand luminary candles reflecting on the canal waterway. 

Towpath Road is lined with candles from the Mont Clare Bridge / Rt. 29, all the way to Lock 60 and surrounding the Locktender’s House. Beginning at dusk, the candles are lit for a spectacular display. If there is a mist or light snowfall the scene is even more beautiful.

The Locktender’s House; built in 1836, is decorated beautifully for the holidays with natural greens and ribbons under soft light throughout the house. 

Meadowlark, a husband and wife duo playing their fiddle and mandolin, strum soft holiday music inside the house for all to enjoy. And our special guest, Santa Claus, will come for a visit by way of a Mont Clare Fire Truck at 6:30 p.m. to visit with the children and to spread some holiday cheer.

Meadowlark

All are welcome to visit and partake in the festivities of the evening. Holiday treats and beverages will be shared with all as we toast our friends with best wishes for a safe and happy holiday season.

New this year, SCA will be offering pre-assembled, ready-to-go, luminary bags for a minimal donation for visitors to take home for their use along their sidewalks. 

The suggested donation is $1 per bag or $5 for 6 bags. Each bag will contain all the necessary materials; bag, sand and a 10-hour votive candle, so all you will need to do is set up in an appropriate area and light. SCA volunteers will be stationed at the Locktender’s House ready to assist you with your order.

Come to enjoy the entire evening or just to see the beautiful candle light reflect along the canal and towpath. Ample parking is available at Lock 60, candles will light the way to the Locktender’s House and two handicapped spaces are available at the house.

Santa will visit as well.

No admission fee is charged however a $1 or more in donations will be gladly accepted. 

Only a steady downpour of rain cancels the event. 

 The site address is: Lock 60 on the Schuylkill Canal, 400 Towpath Road, Mont Clare, PA 19453. 

For more information and directions, please call SCA at 610-917-0021, via email at info@schuylkillcanal.com, or visit the web at www.schuylkillcanal.org.

A Fiery Festival

Every year, a new and uniquely built Phoenix goes up in flames.

Phoenixville is a borough which has charmed me several times and, as a writer, I count among its blessings its very name.

That's because it contains a symbol known to all and easily used as a way to promote the town.

Nothing better epitomizes this than the annual Firebird Festival scheduled to be held at 3 N. Main St. this Saturday.

Events at the site, opposite the Foundry Building, between Molly Maguire's and Pickering Creek, begin at 4 p.m., but, according to the schedule, a broad variety of events are also scheduled at businesses all around the site.

(By the way, that's how it is supposed to work when you have event downtown -- the businesses there figure out a way to capitalize upon it.)

Fire dancers will be among the attractions.

the fact that there are too many to list here should tell you two things: First, that there are a lot of them and, second, that I am kind of lazy.

Events include fire dancers, music, a carillion with 25 bronze bells, a parade down Bridge Street, storytelling, crafts and puppets.

The Phoenix itself, built new every year, gets lit at 8 p.m.

According to the elaborate and expertly arranged web site devoted to this festival:

A new and unique Phoenix is built each year.

The Phoenix holds an exalted place in the myths of many of the great world cultures.
The Egyptians called it the Bennu and depicted it as a heron with brilliant plumage and a fethered crest on its head. The Greeks called it by the name we use today; Phoenix, which means red, the color most associated with fire and with the sun, and described it as resembling something between an eagle and a peacock. Both the Egyptians and the Greeks believed that this fabulous bird lived in Heilopolis, The City of the Sun, and that at the end of its very long life - 500 to 1500 years - it builds its own pyre from incense and precious woods and is consumed in sacred fire. Out of the ashes springs the new phoenix thus symbolizing resurrection and renewal.

The 2008 Phoenix

The web site also closes the loop, by informing us how this ancient symbol came to be connected to Phoenixville's name and the iron and steel company that lent its name to the municipality:

In 1813, Lewis Wernwag, the owner of the first iron company built on the confluence of the French Creek and the Schuylkill River - known at the time as the French Creek Works - was looking at his furnaces one evening from a nearby hillside and saw a Phoenix in the flames. This vision inspired him to rename his company Phoenix Works. When the community that grew up around the iron works became incorporated in 1849 the name Phoenixville was a natural choice for the new borough.

A number of traditions have built up around this very imaginative event.

One of this year's crop.

Among them is, keeping with the myth, the creation of new Phoenixes from the old.

This is done with small clay birds that actually get fired in the fire of the outgoing Phoenix.

The finished product from a previous year.

Around 150 clay birds were created at the Phoenix Village Art Center, now ready to be fired in the Phoenix. Sunday morning after the burn, they will be exhumed from the ashes. 

But there is something new this year, a call for help.

This how the web site worded it:

The 2012 Phoenix is ready to be burned.

As this event grows bigger, so do our expenses. So this year we're asking a little something of y'all... we're setting up "ticket" booths for a Suggested Donation Admissionof $3 per person. If you can spare three Washingtons, it will help A LOT! If not, you're totally welcome anyway.
Either way, we're looking forward to seeing you at the festival.
There will be lots of hot food, cool crafts and brilliant performances, but hardly any credit card readers, so please remember to bring plenty of cash, and come have a grand time.

When Revitalization Attacks!

Whoever would have thought such silliness could help make
Phoenixville so successful 50 years later?

As a certified science (and science fiction) geek, it goes without saying that I have seen "The Blob" ... alright, I've seen it many times.

The quintessential schlock movie of the 1950s, it is made all the more remarkable for the fact that it features a young Steve McQueen.

It is built on a classic plot line, still used today, of the child or teenager who knows the truth about something but no one will listen to or believe them.

(First made possible in "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" no doubt.)

I also think this film is important because I'm pretty sure it was the inspiration for the bean bag chair.

But mostly, this film is important for Phoenixville.

The modern day version of "The Run Out."

As a story in Thursday's Mercury outlined, the seemingly flimsy fact that the film climaxes at the still-standing Colonial Theater has formed the basis for a weekend-long festival that fills the streets, stores and merchant cash registers of the borough's historic downtown.

This off-beat celebration is not the kind of thing most people think of when we say "heritage tourism," but that's exactly what it is.

It is a unique event that could not occur anywhere else in America; an event that is based on a historic event on which the borough has capitalized to bring people to their downtown.

My family attended for the first time last year with friends and I was surprised, pleasantly so, not just at the variety of activities there, and the fact that the merchants were all open for business, but at how completely packed the streets were.

The merchants are apparently enticed to participate with a window decorating contest with free on-screen advertising for six months to a year at the theater. Talk about buying local!

(Click here for more on this year's street fair.)

Understand, I am not a devotee of all things Fifties, although I recognize it is a powerful demographic and you have to go with what you're given. So the Elvis impersonator on Bridge Street didn't do much to float my boat, but it was obviously right up the collective alleys of many of the people there.

You mean the merchants were actually open when the streets
were filled with customers?!? Oh the horror...
(actually, this is a scene from "Caltiki, The Immortal Monster,"
which will also be shown this weekend.

(This year's street entertainment features: Hot Rod Scott & Professor Ouch of The Roots Rockabilly Roadhouse on  WPRB 103.3FM with special guests Ghoul A Go-G0, Wes Shank and the Original Blob, The Patient Creatures, The Violators Motor Club; and music by The Buzzards.

I am, unfortunately for my family, a fan of movies so bad they're good, so The Blob is right up my alley.

I tend to agree with the reviews posted on The Colonial's web site: "Bruce Eder’s description of The Blob is “like watching some kind of collective home movie of who we were and who we thought we were.” Or maybe it’s simply the best film ever to pit hot-rodding teens against a mass of silicone. It delivers the goods any way you look at it.”

Regardless, it was a delight to watch it with a crowd of screaming fans in the iconic theater instead of at 3 a.m. with a bag of stale microwave popcorn.


Last year was also, I'm ashamed to admit, my first time inside The Colonial, and I was impressed both by how much has been accomplished, and by how much more needs to be done -- Truly a work in progress.

Less impressive was the introductory film, made locally (and badly) which tried to match the tone of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and was, to be kind, but a pale reflection of that masterwork of camp.

I wonder if Klatuu, the giant robot in this film, was programmed
with Isaac Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics?

But the spirit was there, as it no doubt will be tonight when "the run-out" occurs, an annual (and sold-out) event during which the entire audience runs out of the theater at the point in the movie when, you guessed it, everybody runs out of the theater.

Truly life imitating art.

For those without tickets, you can still attend the Fifth Annual Blob Ball next door to the theater at P.J. Ryan’s Underground tonight, starting at 8:30 p.m..

This year's complimentary Sci-fi classics to be shown will include "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (the original), and something irresistibly named: "Caltiki, The Immortal Monster."

The point in all of this is not to simply highlight a pretty cool event, but to make the point that history is not just men in wigs and knee-breeches or knights in armor (although I will remain a fan of both until I die) and that the more towns learn to take advantage of the things that make them unique -- the quirkier the better, in my opinion -- the more success they will find from "heritage tourism."

Hat's off to Phoenixville for figuring this one out, and taking advantage of what assets are at hand.

30 Years of Canal Days

A Canal Day crowd around Lock 60

The Schuylkill Canal Association invites the community to its 30th anniversary for a grand celebration on Sunday, June 24, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.at Lock 60 and St. Michael's Park in Mont Clare.

A $5/person donation will be accepted upon entering the access road from St. Michael's Park to Lock 60, children 12 and under are free.

Please be advised, Towpath Road will be closed to vehicular traffic on June 24th, starting at 8:30 a.m. until 4 p.m.

A handicap-accessible shuttle bus will bring people back and forth, free-of-charge, from the parking area continuously all day.

This year's celebration will be dedicated to SCA's dear friend and devoted volunteer, Denny Porrini, who passed away in April.

There be pirates on that there canal!

In an e-mail announcing the event, Schuylkill Canal Association President Betsey Daley wrote: "SCA is proud to say it is our 30th anniversary of this annual celebration and what an exciting 30 years it has been! That small band of volunteers who came together all those years ago; to preserve, maintain and restore the Schuylkill Canal, should give themselves a huge pat on the back - their ambitious goals have been met.

"Just as the first Canal Day held in 1982, this year's celebration shines the light on the canal creating awareness of this premier community asset and the important significance it continues to play in the region's growth and prosperity," Daley wrote.

Closing the lock takes many hands

"SCA thanks our many sponsors, especially Exelon Generation & Phoenixville Federal Bank & Trust, for their overwhelming support. All of them provide the funding and/or in-kind donations making Canal Day a day full of family-oriented fun at a minimal cost overall to those participating. Many of the Phoenixville area merchants have donated prizes including gift bags or gift certificates that will be a part of the Brown Bag Raffle held on Canal Day; tickets for $1 or 6 for $5 will be available at the table in the Locktender's House yard," Daley wrote.


For more on the event and the Canal, click here.