August 21, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

From our readers

Misinformed smear

Jason Dorland’s uninformed, inaccurate and intentionally hurtful comments about Bill Lamb in the August 14 edition require correction and should never have been published in our paper. Free speech is a right that carries responsibility; we deserve better.

Bill Lamb is a lifetime Chestnut Hill resident who has dedicated the majority of his adult life to teaching young men at St. Joseph’s Preparatory school the valuable lessons of life through the wonderful sport of rowing.  Coach Lamb’s dedication, commitment and success is beyond reproach and best evidenced not through the stellar won loss record of his crews on the water throughout the world but through the success of his rowers in the classroom, in their college admissions record and their success in life.

Mr. Dorland, your comments hurt and you took a cheap shot at a man I am extremely proud to call a close friend.  I dare you to come to Chestnut Hill, meet the man you slandered and then, once you understand how inaccurate your comments were, you may apologize to Coach Lamb and our community by getting in a boat on our great Schuylkill River with your 1984 Canadian friends and getting you’re a** kicked in a race by Coach Lamb’s Freshman 8.

Fred Walker
Chestnut Hill

A pleasure to be in the Local

I wanted to take a minute and thank you for the zesty article you wrote about Misery Loves Comedy (“Hiller’s greeting card company proves Misery Loves Comedy,” Aug. 14 issue). Pat Stokes’ writing style is the punchy, flavorful type I truly admire. It is a great pleasure to be featured in the Local.

Elizabeth Hofheinz
Chestnut Hill

Agree with letter about ‘vultures’

I am in total agreement with Sarah McGuire of Lafayette Hill who wrote in last week about the meter maid “vultures” who prey on parked cars on Germantown Avenue. I also have seen them walking up and down the avenue, just waiting to write a ticket the second the time expires. Once I saw one writing a ticket, and I could swear the time had not even expired yet. They must be getting a percentage of the action. It certainly does not make people from outside the community want to shop here. It’s already hard enough to get people away from the malls, and these vultures must be making it ten times harder.

Anne Marie Barber
Flourtown

Rizzo: big sense of humor

When the name of Frank Rizzo came up in one of your “50 Years” issues, it brought to mind the following story.

The Rizzo campaign was having an open air gathering in Frankford (Philadelphia). They planned it for an early Friday evening. My friend (Mary) always had her hair “done” on Friday evening near that particular intersection. A large platform was set up and the area involved included the hairdresser where Mary was going. She had to park some distance away which didn’t please her at all. It meant that the walk back to the car would be lonely in the dark. She was fuming by the time she reached the shop so she called the mayor’s office to complain.

In an angry voice she said, “Big Fat Rizzo has blocked off all the streets around my hairdresser’s. It will be dark when I leave and I’ll have to walk back to my car alone which is blocks away. It just isn’t fair.”

The person she spoke to listened patiently and asked where she was and to whom was he speaking. She conveyed the information and hung up. Having gotten it off her chest and basking in the pleasure of her shampoo and set,

Mary was in the process of having her “comb out” when the door opened and a Philadelphia police officer stepped inside. He asked, “Where is the woman who called City Hall because she didn’t want to walk back to her car alone?” Everyone was speechless. Finally, Mary said, “I called.” The officer responded, “Well, Mayor Rizzo sent me to walk you back to your car. Will you be long?”

It seemed to me that not only was Mr. Rizzo a big man with a big heart but he also had a big sense of humor.

Ruth H. Stehle
Flourtown

Ignore-ance 

At the May 22,  meeting of the CHCA board, President Tolis Vardakis presented what he referred to as the “DCED Closeout Chronology.” The document was severely abbreviated and highly biased. It gave no background, provided no documentation, and offered none.

The “DCED Close-out Chronology,” in and of itself, is unimportant except as an example of how the current administration has manipulated facts in such a way as to create a distorted image. His purpose, or the author’s purpose, if Mr. Vardakis did not himself compose the “Chronology,” appears to be to assign blame rather than to inform the board of the facts and to offer proper remedial action.

Indeed, the document criticized the Oversight Committee and former association president Ron Recko for not having taken action on their own to correct the matter during his administration. The author seems to forget that no committee of the association, not even the Executive Committee, is authorized to take independent action without having its recommendation for action first approved by the board.

What is at issue with regard to this DCED Grant is the integrity of the Chestnut Hill Community Association and of the Chestnut Hill Community Fund, and of the actions of the Executive Committees and trustees during the last few years, relative to the use of these monies. The purpose of the Oversight Committee in bringing forward this matter is so it may be corrected and the integrity of those bodies reestablished.

The fact that the State closed out the matter and was not attentive to discrepancies in how the money was used in no way relieves us of our own responsibility either to the State, to the Local staff or to the CHCA membership. The state’s actions in this regard are irrelevant, except that they mirror our own laxity.

Ann Ward Spaeth
Former CHCA board member

Thanks to CHCA

Once again, the letter carriers and clerks of Market Square Post Office would like to thank the Chestnut Hill Community Association for recognizing us at the recent picnic and concert at Pastorius Park. It is humbling, yet greatly appreciated, to be cited alongside the firemen and police officers of Philadelphia.

This picnic, the tenth annual, featured great food, wonderful music, and a true sense of friendliness and support.

We would also like to thank the office of Mayor Nutter for the kinds words and presentation.

Again, we say thanks to the CHCA and all the residents of Chestnut Hill for remembering us.

Thanks again.

The carriers of
Market Square Post Office