On track The long-awaited Green Ribbon Trail connection
between Fairmount Park and Fort Washington State Park
is finally set to become a reality by MIKE BENIGNO
A two-phase construction project set to begin as early as this fall will link Philadelphia’s Fairmount Park trail system with the Montgomery County trails, while widening a section of Northwestern Avenue to include a lane for joggers and bicyclists. “We’re building on what is already an extraordinarily popular trail,” said John Wood, chief of open space planning for Montgomery County. “Our idea is to finally make the historic connection between Fairmount Park and the Fort Washington State Park in the Whitemarsh Valley.”
Every year since 1989, a group of local residents and businesspeople have come together to help a family struggling to meet the needs of a severely ill or disabled child. Through July’s Run For the Hill of It footrace and a dinner-dance at Chestnut Hill College in October, the Friends of Erik, named for cystic fibrosis patient Erik Engwall, raise much-needed money for families forced to cope with severe illness while trying to pay bills in an era of rapidly rising health-care costs.
This year’s beneficiary is Nathaniel Makowicz, a 7-year-old from Spring City, Pa. Born 13 weeks premature, Nathaniel struggles with a host of medical problems, including hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy, cortical visual impairment, developmental delays and epilepsy. He requires a feeding tube to eat and special equipment to read and move around his home safely, as well as intense physical therapy.
Library garden plan unveiled at meeting The Friends of the Chestnut Hill Library discussed plans for Phase II of the garden project at their annual meeting on June 1. Pictured from left to right: Elizabeth Rogers, Mary Sue Welsh, and Joe Ascenzi of Laurel Hill Gardens.
byMEREDITH SONDERSKOV
“Information, information, information; that’s what our library patrons are looking for.” So spoke Elizabeth Bartle, outgoing president, at the annual meeting of the Friends of the Chestnut Hill Library on June 1 in the library’s community room.
Bartle pointed out that the participation and support of the Friends is vitally important in providing the funds to continue offering a variety of programs for children and adults that would otherwise have to be scaled back as a result of recent budget cuts. Not only does the library offer access to printed materials but also to the Internet and its tremendous sources of information, she said.
The Hirshorn Company’s plans for an addition to their building on East Highland Avenue and the resulting relocation of a driveway to a Chestnut Hill Parking Foundation lot were discussed at a CHCA Land Use Planning and Zoning committee meeting on June 2 at Hiram Lodge.
According to Adam Jacobs of Krieger Associates, the architectural firm handing the project, Hirshorn received eight refusals from the city, primarily based on complex violations having to do with the parking lot.
The Friends of the Chestnut Hill Library discussed plans for Phase II of the garden project at their annual meeting on June 1. Pictured from left to right: Elizabeth Rogers, Mary Sue Welsh, and Joe Ascenzi of Laurel Hill Gardens.