New Faces at Borough Police and Tax Collector Posts

Mercury photos by Evan Brandt

Newly sworn in Pottstown Police officer Ryan Guth, right, has his badge pinned on by his sister Cara at Monday night's Pottstown Council meeting while Police Chief Rick Drumheller enjoys the spectacle.

There are some new faces in Pottstown borough as a result of actions taken at Monday night's council meeting.

First up is a new police officer, Ryan Guth, who was sworn in Monday night by Mayor Sharon Thomas.

Here's video of that:

Roy Reifsnyder Sr.

And then, Pottstown council -- for the second consecutive time -- acted to replace an elected tax collector who had to resign because they could not meet the requirements of the state.

Last time, it was the person who lost the election, Barbara Toroney. This time, its a new face that is probably very familiar to many, Roy Reifsnyder Sr., a lifetime resident known to many for his decades of involvement with the Pottstown Little League.

But Reifsnyder is also a recently retired accountant and comptroller for a large company and he stepped in -- at council president Dan Weand's request -- when the person who won the election, Coleen Belovich, resigned before she took office.

She could not meet the requirements, more specifically, the bonding requirements, of the office.

Reifsnyder will hold the office for two years and then must step down or run for reelection to the remaining two years of the term.

Here is some video of Reisfsnyder being sworn in:



Also applying for the post was Claude Erb, who goes by Curt.

Although he was not chosen, Council Vice President Sheryl Miller said she had several ideas about other ways he could volunteer to help the borough.

Several other interesting things happened which you can find out about by reading the Tweets and links down below.

Pottstown Brew Fest, Good for What Ales You

Photos by Evan Brandt

Even before the general admission gates opened, the tent for the Pottstown Brew Fest was packed with those who paid extra to come early and get first crack at all the micro-brews.

It was all good under the  big tent.

Sunday, the Pottstown Brew Fest held the second half of its first-ever event and by all accounts, it was a smashing success.

Steve Armstrong, owner of Armstrong Ales, will open a brew pub in the
spring, in partnership with Lilly's Grill, in the old Warrick Jewelers
in the 200 block of High Street.

It certainly seemed so to those of us who were there.

Your faithful reporter was there working The Mercury's table, giving away papers and goodies and, in the spirit of having the full experience, sampled a few of the brews as well.

In addition to see lots of people I know, which is always nice, I saw many many more people I do not know, which is, in many ways, more important.

This event brought people IN to Pottstown from the outside. According to organizer Tim Hennessey, the event sold about 1,200 tickets of a possible 1,500. Not too shabby when you consider that just 36 hours before it began, the word "hurricane" was on everyone's lips.

Russell and Christa Bender, left, came from Birdsboro and
Joe Kolarz from Boyertown, all brought their own pretzel necklaces.

Someone, who shall remain nameless, even whispered to me that people from (gasp!) Phoenixville, came here, to Pottstown, for some fun.

We could use more of that.

Not only were many, many of the brewers local; so too was most of the food providers.

I enjoyed an excellent crab chowder and pulled pork sandwich from the Heart Food Truck and Lilly's Grill, respectively.

Also local was the band, Celtic Spirit, which played Celtic music and Celtic versions of more modern songs, including works by The Doors and Simon & Garfunkel.


Games like giant Jenga; bean bags (questionably called "corn hole" by some) and a game where you swung a ring on a string and tried to get it to land on a hook were all available and surprisingly addictive.

Hats off to Hennessey and we hope to see an even bigger and more successful event next year!

Here are some Tweets from the day: