February
9, 2006 Issue
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February
9, 2006 Issue
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Chestnut Hill Local Webmaster Don't Miss an Issue, Tell us what you see or ©2005 Chestnut Hill Local Winner of Three |
Jenks students
explore a world of plastic bodies
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Two fifth grade classes from John S. Jenks Elementary School, Germantown Avenue, took a field trip to the Franklin Institute, Feb. 1. The highlight of their trip: Body Worlds: The Anatomical Exhibition of Real Human Bodies.
The Franklin Institute is hosting the east cost’s premiere of Dr. Gunther Von Hagens’ Body Worlds; the exhibit began in October and will be open to the public until April 23.
Thank you, 23,695
times
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI
The Chestnut Hill Community Fund financially backs many of the Hill’s local events and organizations, such as Teenagers Inc., the Chestnut Hill Senior Services, Pastorius Park Concerts, Police Bike Patrol and Green Space Maintenance.
Water
Tower may benefit from Franklin’s values
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI
Community members are invited to discuss potential improvements to the Water Tower Park and Recreational Center, Feb. 12, from 4 to 6 p.m., at the Starbucks at 8513 Germantown Ave. The discussion is the first of many community meetings to be held throughout the Delaware Valley and Central Pennsylvania area as part of the Ben Franklin Coffeehouse Challenge.
Wawa faced bomb scare Saturday
Saturday morning, Feb. 4, police and the bomb squad responded to a bomb scare at Wawa Food Markets, 23 W. Highland Avenue. A man was asked to leave the market, and placed what he claimed was a hand grenade in a flower box outside of the store. Police and the squad responded, and found that the grenade was an empty shell. The North West detectives looking into the case said no arrest has been made that they are aware of, but they are following up on the man for questioning.
Meals on Wheels
needs help, clients
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI
Meals on Wheels, established in 1975, is “one of the most loving things going on in the Hill,” said Caroline Haussermann, volunteer and former president of this Chestnut Hill Community Association organization.
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In September the Wall Street Journal, not exactly known for restaurant reviews and features, ran an item about Mark Matyas. It mentioned that the Bucks County native, the executive chef at Le Grenouille, an astronomically pricey French restaurant in New York City, for 15 years, would soon be opening his own place, Slate Bleu, in Doylestown.
“This gave us instant credibility,” said Matyas, who learned his craft at the legendary culinary school, Cordon Bleu, in Paris. “As soon as we opened here in Doylestown (100 S. Main St., on November 28), people came in because of the item in the Wall Street Journal. I guess they ran the item because Le Grenouille was such a popular place with business executives.”
French
Bakery a home away from home for Hillers
by JIMMY J. PACK JR.
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Sometimes you can go back home again, and that’s what three generations of some Chestnut Hillers have been doing every time they walk into the French Bakery, located behind Cosimo’s Pizza at 8624 Germantown Ave., where the cozy cafe keeps company with Monkey Business, a local thrift store.
The French Bakery sells more than baked goods. The interior is warm with vintage diner tables for two or wrought iron chairs and tables that look as though they should be lining the sidewalks of Paris. Antique baked-goods cases hold raisin scones, coconut macaroons, fresh-made butter pound cake and lemon poppy seed muffins. The ceiling is lined with vintage fabrics, and owner Marianne Dodge always makes sure that CDs of local musicians are piped in calmly while diners eat.
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In 1936 Patrick McMenamin, grandfather of P.J. McMenamin, opened McMenamin’s tavern at 7170 Germantown Avenue in Mt. Ariy. And after Patrick retired in 1960, his son Charles took over the tavern until 1989, when his son P.J. became the heir to Mt. Airy’s most famous bar.
I am very close to worshipping the ground that the Wakim brothers walk on. Well, maybe not worshipping the ground, but I would at least make sure there was nothing slippery on the ground that they could fall on.
Springside’s impressive new field house will be open for business this weekend, and last Friday the Lions played their final basketball game in the school’s old gymnasium, the scene of so many disappointments over the decades. With its dying gasp, the defunct facility managed to cough up one last nasty memory for Springside, as the locals fell to visiting Agnes Irwin, 69-54, and closed out the 2006 Girls Inter-Ac campaign with a record of 1-5 (8-13 overall).
Mount St. Joseph Academy’s basketball squad started the new year with road losses to Nazareth and Villa Maria, but on their home court last week the Magic were able to even the score.
In light of Katherine “Kat” Bixby’s performance in last Tuesday’s Friends School League showdown, it seemed particularly appropriate that the Germantown Friends School guard plans to continue her hoops career at Ithaca College.
Senior point guard Julian McFadden’s 27 points were unable to boost Chestnut Hill Academy’s Blue Devils (6-14, 1-6 conf.) over Penn Charter on Feb. 3. The Quakers (17-9, 7-1 conf.), who honored their seniors before the game, handed CHA a 67-53 loss in a battle similar to the teams’ last match-up on Jan. 17.
Lakers alone in first place. The undisputed leaders in the Friday night basketball league are the Lakers as they went to 5-1 with a 66-44 win over the 1-5 Spurs.
Forwards Lindsey Tornetta and Kate Quintus rang up 20 and
17 points, respectively, as Chestnut Hill College fought off
a late challenge from visiting Penn State Berks County last
Tuesday night to secure a 62-54 victory.
Quintus paired her points with a game-high 17 rebounds for
a double-double and Tornetta took down seven boards for the
Griffins, who also received eight points from Tara Walsh and
seven points, seven rebounds, and three assists from Andrea
Carter.
With their second 6-1 squash victory over Springside School this season, the Penn Charter Quakers secured a tie for the Girls Inter-Ac League championship on Monday, January 30. Visiting Springside got a 3-1 win in the top spot from Emery Maine, but literally everything else went PC’s way, as the hosts captured each of the other matches in three straight games as they climbed to a 9-1 overall record.
St.
Martin’s Needlepoint Project
An artistic labor of love for Chestnut Hill church
by MIKE WALLS
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The first issue of the church newsletter Parish News was published in 1890, a year after the first service ever held at the Episcopal Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields at 8000 St. Martin’s Lane in Chestnut Hill. In that newsletter more than a century ago, several paragraphs were used to thank parishoners for needlepoint items which they had made themselves and donated to the new church.
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Sometimes a walk up the Avenue can be a revealing experience. Sometimes it can actually be credited with shining a light on previously held opinions, allowing new conclusions to come into view. This week I found myself taking in the look of The Street as a whole, the facades of the shops, that is, the windows, the décor, the visual message that each business brings to the Hill, and especially the way these factors interact to create an overall impression.
New
book explores hiking glories of the Wissahickon
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI
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As a beginning writer having not yet mastered the art of literary description, I find it difficult to describe the experience of strolling through a peaceful oasis amid the unheard bustle of a large city. But Victor Grove, author of Philadelphia: A Hiker’s Paradise, discovered a way to relate to his reader the tranquility he and his wife found each weekend on their walks through Philadelphia’s backyard treasure, Wissahickon Park.
Hill
area liberal ‘gives the devil his due’
by DAVID CROSS
I miss the Cold War. Of course, I don’t really. I remember too well the day the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan. I can still see the expression on Jimmy Carter’s face when he talked to the nation that night. I remember the grain embargo, the Olympic boycott and the start of the draft registration. Maybe it didn’t rank up there with memories of the Cuban missile crisis, but it was plenty scary.
The Pennsylvania Ballet returned to the stage of the Merriam Theater this past weekend for a program that saluted the enduring genius of George Balanchine. By linking together Theme and Variations, The Prodigal Son and Western Symphony, artistic director Roy Kaiser of Erdenheim met his own challenge to give local audiences a triptych that showed the breadth and depth of the late choreographer’s vision of dance as both traditional and inventive. His remarkable troupe of dancers also met his challenge by performing all three works brilliantly before a full house Saturday night.
At the Monastery Stables at the end of Kitchens Lane in West Mt. Airy, Thomas Fitzpatrick, 81 years old “plus tax,” arrives daily to care for his four horses. As “Famous Seamus, the Wonder Horse” lifts up his front leg to nudge his owner for a treat, Fitzpatrick brushes his mane and feeds him carrots from the pocket of his leather jacket.
Winner
of