Enchanting storyteller from Mt. Airy 90-year-old sculptor a force of nature by STEVEN STANEK When I first phoned Charlotte Stokes, she was noticeably shy and tentative, speaking in a slight telephone voice, “I don’t know what there is to write about. I’m not that interesting.” She was doubtful that an interview was worth my time or the Local’s ink, so I prepared for ways to get her to open up, certain questions that would extract the right anecdotes that make for good reading. When I arrived at her apartment in Cathedral Village, all of that went out the window.
by PAT STOKES Dating myself: years ago there was a goofy song “Shut the door; they’re comin’ in the window. Shut the window they’re comin’ in the door,” words that instantly came to mind as I perched on a chair near the counter in “BE,” Chestnut Hill’s wildly popular monogramming shop. Truly, during my recent visit, there was a nonstop parade of people arriving, leaving and lining up at the counter for the special goodies offered by this small treasure of a shop
Newcomer not thrilled by some aspects of Hill life by DEVON GRIEB After living in the small community of Ambler for four years, I thought becoming a resident of Chestnut Hill would be a drastic change. I have lived in Chestnut Hill for six months now and have finally realized that physically, Ambler and Chestnut Hill have some differences but aren’t so different; it’s the people who live in both areas who create the towns’ identities.
Grape expectations (and results) at La Famiglia by LEN LEAR
Since it opened in 1976, La Famiglia at 8 S. Front St. In Old City has been a paradigm of Philadelphia’s Restaurant Renaissance. Planned and executed with impeccable attention to detail by the Sena family, La Famiglia (literally, “the family”) is a small restaurant that would be right at home in a European magazine on interior design. There’s enough marble and gilt to decorate a museum dedicated to Liberace.
Stunning performance by Chestnut-Hill based group by MICHAEL CARUSO For an amateur American history buff like myself, it’s always a pleasure to hear 17th and 18th century music played in Old Christ Church. The structure predates American independence by half a century and is contemporaneous with the very baroque style upon which Philomel, the Chestnut Hill-based baroque instruments group, lavishes its attention.
