September 4, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Local News

Creditors pursue Caruso’s owner for $2.5 million
Says debt “not really a big deal.”
by JOEL HOFFMANN

John J. Capoferri

Local developer John J. Capoferri is being sued for $2.56 million for failing to repay debts incurred when he purchased Caruso’s Market in March, according to city civil court documents.

“It’s not really a big deal,” Capoferri said in a phone interview last week, adding that the two civil suits pending against him would be resolved within 30 days.

Represented by Kerry Schuman, a partner in the Jenkintown law firm of Friedman Schuman, Penn Liberty Bank filed a civil complaint against Capoferri on Aug. 13 requesting $2,403,377.48 in damages.

Penn Liberty loaned Capoferri $2.2 million on Feb. 29, but Capoferri did not make loan repayments between April 1 and Aug. 12, according to the civil complaint. In that time, he accrued $90,007.98 in owed interest, $3,300 in late fees and $110,000 in plaintiff attorneys’ fees.

Bredenbeck’s Bakery owner maintains family tradition
by JOEL HOFFMANN

Bredenbeck’s owner Karen Boyd (Photo by Erin Vertreace)

“We don’t waste an inch of space,” said Karen Boyd, proprietor of Bredenbeck’s Bakery, as she led me behind two glass display cases (filled with cookies, donuts and Danish pastry) and into the humid baking room.

From start to finish, it takes about eight hours to make a wedding cake — but that’s the easy part.

Getting the bride to commit to a cake design is the real challenge.

“Some brides will call us two or three times before the wedding because they see something else they want,” Diana Anello said as she shaped a five-tier cake on Bredenbeck’s second floor.

On the campaign trail ‘08
Too young to vote but not too young to find inspiration at DNC
by LILY GOLD

Lilly Gold

I am 16 and I cannot vote.  I spend my days thinking about grades, my friends and what TV shows I need to Tivo.  And yet, the week before school started — with three summer reading books sitting on my desk and many of my friends home from camp  — I “jetted” out to Denver for the Democratic National Convention.

The idea of spending my last “free” week sitting in lecture halls and hearing speeches all day and night baffled some. Actually, it baffled me. I wondered if maybe I had made the wrong choice. But arriving in Denver was like walking through the looking glass and into a world that was full of people just like me — and people like who I want to become. 

To say that I want to be involved in politics when I grow up is a bit premature. I am fascinated by history, and the way I see it, you can either study history or make history, and there is no denying that this election has been historical. During the primaries I was not an Obama supporter or a Hillary supporter, but the atmosphere on the ground in Denver was thick with the possibility of change and the overwhelming sense of union in support of one man’s vision.  I was swept up; I felt a high that I never have before and doubt I will ever feel it again.  This was why I came to Denver. This is why I missed the last ceremonial week to say goodbye to summer. Change is happening and I wanted desperately to not just see it but to feel it run through me.

CHCA board hears report on Community Fund
by JOEL HOFFMANN

In the wake of a state probe into the fiscal practices of the Chestnut Hill Community Fund and the Chestnut Hill Community Association, CHCF president Jean Hemphill last week made a presentation to update the association’s board on the fund’s activities.