The Sanatoga (PA) Post | The Pottstown (PA) Post

The Latest …

• Flu Shot Clinics In Trappe, Pottstown Canceled
  Free flu shot clinics that were scheduled in Pottstown and Trappe will NOT be held next week as planned. Montgomery County’s Health Department ran out of vaccine, and its supplier hasn’t delivered more.
• Monday Deadline For Veterans’ Breakfast
  As they did last year, hundreds of veterans are expected to attend a breakfast-and-speaker event being sponsored next week by Limerick’s state senator. The registration deadline is Monday.
• Berman Collection Adds Wilson Artworks
  Eight abstract expressionist paintings are a recent gift to the museum on the campus of Ursinus College in Collegeville.
• Blood Drive Coming Nov. 14 To Limerick
  A Penn Road retailer will play host next Saturday to a Miller-Keystone blood drive. Can you spare a pint to save a life?
• Apple Promotion Grant Benefits Local Orchards
  Pennsylvania apple growers won money this week to better promote their product. Montgomery County orchards – including those in Royersford, Collegeville, and Pottstown – are among the intended beneficiaries.
• Visiting Team Studies Ursinus Diversity
  A group from Maryland spent this week at Ursinus College studying, and making recommendations on, its campus diversity initiatives.
• Sew The Colonial Way Next Saturday At Wentz
  Costumed historians and skilled craftspeople will demonstrate plain and fancy stitchery of the 1700s and 1800s at historic Peter Wentz Farmstead.
• Ahead On The Calendar
  Local events by the day, week or month. Got an event to add? E-mail The Post.
• Tomorrow’s AccuWeather Forecast
  At look at what the next day could be like, provided by AccuWeather.

Published Earlier …

• Limerick Yard Waste Drop-Off Nov. 14
  Leaves and other acceptable and bagged landscape waste must, by law, be composted not trashed. Get rid of yours next Saturday at the municipal garage.
• Limerick Plans Trips To Radio City, Longwood
  See the Big Apple’s bright Christmas lights! See the Rockettes strut their stuff! See how cheaply you can do both, thanks to Parks and Rec sponsorship. But tickets are going fast.
• Hands Off Your Cell Phone In Philadelphia
  Be forewarned: Philadelphia’s new cell phone prohibitions took effect this week. Violators get warnings now, tickets and fines next month.
• Limerick, Royersford, and Spring-Ford School District Election Results
  Available now in unofficial and tabular form from the Montgomery County (PA) Board of Elections.
• Limerick Prepares Saturday For Its Budget
  It’s a interesting way to spend a portion of the weekend: working on township finances for 2010. Important? Desperately.
• PMMC Schedules Celestial Bodies For Nov. 19
  What’s said to be the most popular annual event of the Pottstown hospital’s Healthy Woman lecture series returns this month.
• If Ya Gotta Go, Better Hurry …
  The bathrooms and fields at Limerick Community Park will close Sunday for the season.
• A Dime (Or Two) Short: PA October Revenue
  Millions of dollars short, in fact, even though some of us (we’re not saying who) did more than the state Revenue Department expected.
• Reps Thanked For Rail Hub Expansion
  Limerick congressman Jim Gerlach and others get credit for helping to increase business in Philadelphia.
• “1776, The Musical,” Being Staged In Phoenixville
  A tale of the Declaration of Independence, being put on – fittingly enough – at the Forge Theater.
• Historians Explore Santa Claus Myths
  You still believe, don’t you, that the jolly fat man in the red suit delivers gifts via the chimney? Yeah, so do we. An expert will explain why at a talk in Limerick.
• Craft Show Nov. 14 In Limerick
  Dozens of vendors are expected for the weekend event at Limerick Fire Company.
• What They Sold For
  A weekly review of top prices paid for real estate in Limerick (PA) Township and neighboring municipalities.
• Crafters Sought For Christmas Bazaar
  Blessed Theresa of Calcutta Parish is looking for the right crafters to present wares in its bazaar later this month.

Joe Zlomek, Managing Editor
Your comments are welcomed on any story. Got news for us? E-mail ‘The Post.’

POTTSTOWN PA – A shortage of seasonal flu vaccine, caused by the combination of a delay in shipments and heightened public demand, has caused the Montgomery County (PA) Health Department to cancel flu vaccination programs it originally scheduled for next week (Nov. 9 and 13, 2009; Monday and Friday) in Trappe and Pottstown, respectively.

“Seasonal flu clinics have been canceled until further notice,” the county announced Thursday (Nov. 5, 2009) on its website, because the department said it “has exhausted its available supply of the injectable vaccine and has not received additional … vaccine from our supplier at this time. We have administered seasonal vaccine more quickly this year than in the past.”

Clinics would be re-scheduled, the department said, if more vaccine arrived.

The canceled clinics were scheduled for Monday (Nov. 9, 2009) at St. Luke’s United Church of Christ, 200 W. Main St., Trappe PA, and Friday (Nov. 13, 2009) at Pottstown Health Center, King Street, Pottstown PA. They will NOT be held.

At its most recent free public flu shot clinic, the county said it administered more than 700 doses of vaccine in both injectable and nasal spray form. Since clinics began in early October, the department added, more than 4,000 vaccines have been administered.

Seasonal flu is not yet known to be circulating in Montgomery County, the department’s announcement noted. Most flu cases currently being reported, it added, were of the H1N1 (swine flu) variety.

Consequently, the department said, seasonal flu is unlikely likely to be a widespread problem until after the start of the new year. “Individuals are advised to continue checking with their personal health care providers,” its announcement said, “as well as community retail partners regarding availability of seasonal vaccine and scheduled community clinics.”

Editor’s note: This article updates an earlier story by The Post about the former availability of seasonal flu clinics. Although that story is archived on the web, its content is no longer accurate.

See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post.
Got news for us? E-mail The Post.

A flyer announcing the Rafferty veterans' breakfast in Sanatoga was e-mailed recently to veterans across the state's 44th District.

Veterans Day 2009.

SANATOGA PA – Monday (Nov. 9, 2009) is the deadline for veterans of all U.S. armed services who live in Pennsylvania’s 44th Senatorial District, represented by state Sen. John Rafferty, to register for Rafferty’s second annual Special Veterans Salute, to be held next Saturday (Nov. 14, 2009) from 8-10 a.m. in Sunnybrook Ballroom, 50 Sunnybrook Rd., Pottstown PA.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Hundreds of veterans are expected to attend the event, which includes breakfast and a guest speaker, according to Alex Charlton, director of outreach at the senator’s local office at 3770 Ridge Pike, Collegeville PA. “Last year’s event was a great success, and we look forward to having everyone return to help us honor your service to our nation,” Charlton wrote in an e-mail that was distributed late last month to all known veterans in the district.

Because Sunnybrook’s capacity is limited, a flyer accompanying the e-mail explained, only veterans who are pre-registered by Monday for the event can be admitted. Those who received the e-mail can register by responding to it, or by calling Charlton at 610-831-8830.

Rafferty’s district includes Lower Pottsgrove and Limerick (PA) townships, and Royersford and Pottstown boroughs.

See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post.
Got news for us? E-mail The Post.

"Fall of Ptolemy," by Ben Wilson, oil on canvas

COLLEGEVILLE PA – The Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College has been given several works by artist Ben Wilson (1913-2001), who is known for a personal style of Abstract Expressionism.

The gift of eight large oil paintings, two drawings, and a sketch pad was made by the artist’s daughter, Joanne Jaffe, from the Ben and Evelyn Wilson Foundation. It is one of 50 such gifts Jaffe has made of her father’s paintings and the sculpture of her mother, Evelyn Wilson, to museums and colleges and universities.

For its collection, Berman Museum director Lisa Hanover chose paintings that reflect high points of Wilson’s 60-year career as a painter, including Lamentation (1945), representing his early figurative work. The other works cover a spectrum from the 1960s through the late 1980s.

The Berman museum is known for its diverse collection and innovative educational programming.

Got news for us? E-mail The Post.

POTTSTOWN PA – Three blood drives conducted by the Miller-Keystone Blood Center are scheduled to be held at area locations next week. They include:

• Nov. 9 (2009; Monday) from Noon to 4:40 p.m., at Coventry Mall, 351 West Schuylkill Road, Pottstown PA;
• Nov. 11 (2009; Wednesday) from 3:30-7 p.m., at Mountain View Chapel, 68 Old Douglass Drive, Douglassville PA; and
• Nov. 14 (2009; Saturday) from 9 a.m. to Noon, at Achin Back Garden Center Inc., 10 Penn Road, Limerick PA.

Appointments are required. For more information, call 610-926-6060.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post.
Got news for us? E-mail The Post.

Crates of apples await buyers in Pottstown.

HARRISBURG PA – Apple growers across Montgomery County will be among the beneficiaries of a $62,500 federal grant awarded Wednesday (Nov. 4, 2009) to the Pennsylvania Apple Marketing Association to help promote and sell the state’s apples, acting Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding said.

The grant is part of a larger package of more than $780,000 in federal funding intended to increase the visibility and market share of the Pennsylvania’s produce, nursery, horticultural and nut products, Redding added. The money comes from the Specialty Crop Block Grant Program, which was authorized under the federal Farm Bill.

Among apple producers in the county, according to Pennsylvania State University’s AgMap, are the Joe Way Orchard in Royersford PA; Skippack Creek Farm in Souderton PA; Varner’s Farm, Willow Creek Orchards, and Bauder Farms, all in Collegeville PA; and Ringing Hill Orchard in Pottstown PA.

Others in the region include Vollmecke Orchards in Coatesville PA; Highland Orchards Inc. in West Chester PA; Frecon Orchard, Keim Orchard, Unger Fruit Farm Inc., Beekman Orchards Inc., and Shanesville Fruit Farm, all in Boyertown PA; Firstfruits Orchard in Douglassville PA; and Weaver’s Orchard in Morgantown PA.

Fourteen other projects also will be funded by the block grant. They include money for the:

• American Mushroom Association, $70,000 to enhance and expand the Mushroom Food Safety Initiative;
• Pennsylvania Landscape & Nursery Association, $74,200 to create an online stock guide and, in a separate project, develop the Roadside Green Infrastructure program;
• Pennsylvania Vegetable Marketing & Research Program, $41,000 to develop and enhance the program’s Web site and point of purchase supplies;
• Pennsylvania Wine Association, $33,000 to expand the quality and reach of Pennsylvania wines;
• Welch’s/National Grape Cooperative: $62,000 to implement a sustainable viticulture program; and
• several grants to Penn State for agriculture-related research.

“Pennsylvania farmers provide consumers with an abundant, affordable supply of nutritious fruits, vegetables and other specialty crops,” Redding said. “The grants will support local agriculture, increase the competitiveness of small producers, and expand direct marketing opportunities available to specialty crop producers, strengthening our agriculture industry.”

See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post.
Got news for us? E-mail The Post.

COLLEGEVILLE PA – A team from Maryland’s Washington College is on the Ursinus College campus, Main Street, Collegeville PA, through today (Nov. 6, 2009) to take stock of Ursinus’ campus diversity initiatives.

The project is being underwritten by a $300,000 grant from The Teagle Foundation of New York, which is paying Ursinus and four other liberal arts colleges to examine the impact of diversity on student engagement and learning, according to the college press office. Included in the study, besides Ursinus, are Washington, Goucher, and McDaniel colleges, all in Maryland; and Washington & Jefferson College in Pennsylvania.

The multi-year project uses campus teams to look at current diversity and suggest potential changes to the college curriculum and students’ daily lives.

The Washington College team is meeting with 11 focus groups. They include first year students, members of student organizations, juniors and seniors, tenured faculty, Resident Assistants, Athletics staff, tenure-track faculty, student members of diversity organization, Student Life staffers, and faculty members who teach diversity or global courses.

WORCESTER PA – Different types of Colonial hand sewing, typical of the late 18th through early 19th centuries, will be demonstrated by local living history specialists Nov. 14 (2009; Saturday) from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. in a program being conducted at Montgomery County’s historic Peter Wentz Farmstead, 2100 Shearer Rd., Worcester PA, 13 miles southeast of Limerick.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Visitors can try their hand at basic sewing stitches, fancy needlework, and quilting techniques demonstrated by costumed interpreters located throughout the Wentz farmhouse. Each trained craftsperson will also discuss traditional uses of the needlework techniques that date from the late 1700- early 1800s.

“Many museum collections showcase the beautiful needlework commonly performed by colonial woman. We hope visitors will take the opportunity to see women actually using these techniques to reproduce similar items,” Wentz educator Kimberly Boice said.

On exhibit at the house also will be vintage samplers, quilts, and everyday textiles from the museum’s collection. The restored 18th century Pennsylvania German historic site is owned and operated by the county and receives support from the Peter Wentz Farmstead Society.

See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post.
Got news for us? E-mail The Post.

LIMERICK PA – Two bus trips scheduled by the Limerick (PA) Township Parks and Recreation Department to the annual Christmas Spectacular shows at New York City’s Radio City Music Hall have already sold out. Two more are still available, however, as are free-time shopping travel to the Big Apple and an excursion to Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square PA to see the holiday lighting program there.

• These events have been added to The Post calendar.

Radio City jaunts on Dec. 7 (2009; Monday) and Dec. 17 (2009; Thursday) are filled to capacity, according to the township website. Two others, on Dec. 1 (2009; Tuesday) with a show at 5 p.m., and Dec. 5 (2009; Saturday) with a show at 11 a.m., still have seating at costs of $105 and $150 per person, respectively. Seats seem to be filling fast, so the Parks and Rec folks recommend calling them at 610-495-6432 to check availability.

Want to see the New York City glamor on your own, and have no interest in the show? Free time transportation is available on the Dec. 5 bus at a cost of $45 per person.

A trip package to Longwood Gardens on Dec. 12 (2009; Saturday) includes transportation and admission to the grounds; you’re on your own for dinner, but Longwood has snack shops and two restaurants. The cost is $65 per person.

A flyer with more information on the trips, and a registration form, is available for download from the township website.

Rake 'em in and recycle.

LIMERICK PA – Local residents should have already heard from Limerick (PA) Township trash haulers about a scheduled date later this month (November 2009) for leaf and yard waste pick-ups. If not, the township website advises, give your hauler a call. But if the hauler’s plan isn’t convenient, your next best option to get rid of yard waste arrives in a little less than two weeks.

A yard waste drop-off is planned for Nov. 14 (2009; Saturday) from 8 a.m. to Noon at the township public works facility, behind the municipal building at 646 W. Ridge Pike, Limerick PA.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

All yard and leaf waste, whether curbside pick-up or brought to the collection site, must be placed in biodegradable bags. They are available for purchase at local home goods retail stores, or at the municipal building. No waste will be accepted that is not appropriately bagged.

Township yard waste regulations, adopted in October 2008, comply with state Department of Environmental Protection requirements on yard and leaf waste disposal. The program intends to reduce disposal and encourage recycling of yard and leaf waste.

Although no yard waste drop-off is scheduled for December (2009), trash haulers by law must conducted a pick-up sometime next month too. Call your hauler for specifics.

See our galleries for photos that appear in The Post.
Got news for us? E-mail The Post.