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Local Life
Mt. Airy psychic's storybook rise to top unforeseeable by LEN LEAR During the horrendous storm that flooded much of the Delaware Valley last month, one of the near-casualties was Mt. Airy psychic Vivienne McCarthy. Driving along Kelly Drive at the height of the torrential storm, Vivienne and her car were pulled into the Schuylkill River, where she came within a few breaths of drowning. A rescue boat eventually pulled her through the driver's side window to safety. Needless to say, the car was a total loss. "I know what you're going to say," said Vivienne when the subject was raised. "Since I'm a psychic, why could I not predict that this was going to happen, and why didn't I then stay away from Kelly Drive?" Let's just say that even psychics can't know everything. One thing we can know, however, is that the Mt. Airy resident's basic rags-to-riches... 'The Big Easy' quite difficult for Mt. Airy family by RICHARD McILHENNY For our first vacation as a family of four, we decided to head down to New Orleans (nickname, "The Big Easy'), where we were invited to attend the wedding of Geoffrey Paterson and Amrita Lal. Geoffrey is an old friend of the family who migrated to New Orleans after becoming an optometrist in the mid-1990s. Apparently, everyone is either seeing mirages from the intense heat, or they are so drunk out of their skulls and shocked to see whom they staggered home with from Bourbon Street that there is a huge demand for corrective eyewear down there. After realizing that he needed more out of life in the companionship department than the 16 or so cats he has collected (yes, Geoff is male), and being dissatisfied with dating scene there, he turned to the Internet and found Amrita, a beautiful and sweet girl of Indian descent who has no corrective eyewear that I know of, and they decided to tie the knot with a traditional Hindu ceremony, which in their case did not allow children. Ignoring this trivial detail, we decided for some reason to bring the kids, 23-month old Jesse James and three-month old Daniel Boone. I was a little... Chestnut Hill wedding; it doesn't come cheap by YAGA BRADY I shook my head in bewilderment at a pile of notes, printouts, receipts and bills relating to my daughter's recent wedding. My knowledge of weddings had been extremely limited -- until recently, that is. Not that I had never been to events called weddings. Of those that I remember, some were definitely less restrained than others, like the one where celebratory eating, drinking, dancing and such went on for two full days, with just a short pause for a nap here and there. My own wedding was definitely on the restrained side. It was the late '60s, an unruly and idealistic epoch in American history, when the manner in which a pair were joined in matrimony was supposed to be irrelevant. So, accordingly, we got married in a courthouse, in a ring-less two-minute ceremony attended by three acquaintances. On the day of the ceremony the bridegroom worked until early afternoon, just to have enough time to slip into cleaner clothes for the 3 p.m. event. After the ceremony, the newlyweds and three guests celebrated for about an hour, partaking of assorted sandwiches and champagne (one bottle). Memories, memories ... My past experience did not prepare me for what I encountered when I was readying myself for my daughter's nuptials in our Chestnut Hill home with 65 guests. Take caterers, for example. A representative of one of the prime firms of the area... by PAT STOKES Well, nothing like getting to the bottom of a problem, I always say. Which is what Brian Quinn is doing constantly these days in his business, Brian Quinn Basement Systems, at 525 Bethlehem Pike in Erdenheim. Until our interview, I had no idea that if you turn into the driveway next to the former Wheelpump Inn (Now Ruth's Lamps and Shades), you would come upon a large open space, totally hidden from the street. A most interesting area, full of history and full of possibilities. More about this in detail further along. For now, questions, questions. "Brian, what led you to be, so to speak, plumbing the depths in this fashion?" He explained. His dad had a construction business in Abington Township, where he lived. After college, Brian worked in the business, which included historic restoration on fine old homes and other buildings. Seeing the condition of the basements in these homes and noting the improvements that could be made, suggested the idea of a business specializing in basement facelifts. "There are so many great homes in Springfield and Chestnut Hill with basements that need attention," Brian says. "It might even be that the name Springfield refers to fields full of springs, i.e., lots of wet basements, even flooded basements (especially during the monsoon a few weeks ago), all desperately... Region's only girlchoir formed, thanks to Hill organist by MICHAEL CARUSO The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill is poised to play an integral part in the establishment of a new musical ensemble. Mark Anderson, the church's organist and director of music, has been named the conductor of the newly formed Pennsylvania Girlchoir of Philadelphia, which will rehearse at the church. The chorus will form the female counterpart to the Keystone Boychoir which, during only a handful of years since its own founding, has garnered international acclaim. Anderson, a resident of nearby Manayunk, explained the choir's genesis by pointing out that he and the ministerial staff at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church had discussed the notion of starting a girlchoir several years ago. "This area is a hotbed of some of the finest musical education in the nation," he asserted, "yet there isn't a single girlchoir in the region despite there being two excellent boychoirs: the Keystone Boychoir and the Philadelphia Boychoir." The Roman Catholic Archdiocesan Boychoir is a third such ensemble, but it functions within the mission of the Catholic Church in Philadelphia. Anderson's observations prompted him to meet with Joseph Fitzmartin, choir director at Penn Charter School and the founder and director of the Keystone Boychoir. "My intentions for getting together... |