March 3, 1966

Third set of triplets born at Hill hospital

For the third time in 15 years, triplets were born at Chestnut Hill Hospital. A Wyndmoor couple welcomed three little girls in rapid succession on Feb. 24. The first was born at 7:34 p.m., weighing in at 3 pounds, 8 ounces. The parents have not yet decided on names for the babies. They have one other child, a 4-year-old girl. The mother is no stranger to the hospital, having worked in the laboratory as a part-time technician until recently. The father is a mechanical engineer.

Hill hosts two major athletic events this month

The wonderful world of winter carnival will bid goodbye to the season next week as the Wissahickon Skating Club presents its 1966 ice show and International Hockey Tournament. In addition, the 20th National Junior Badminton Championships of the American Badminton Association will be played at the Wissahickon Badminton Club on Valley Green Road.

March 4, 1976

Youths try to foil thief

In Chestnut Hill, curbing crime has become a community-wide activity. On Feb. 23, for example, a trio of teenagers was instrumental in trying to recover $323 stolen from the Wawa Market on West Highland Avenue after a male pointed a teargas gun at the manager and demanded money. As the male ran away, the manager and the teenagers gave chase, catching up with him in the Girard Bank parking lot, where he forced a woman out of her Volvo and jumped into her car. An employee at the nearby ARCO gas station joined in the effort but the male sped away. Police were called and said they would recommend citizen commendation awards for the youths.

March 6, 1986

Wissahickon Garden Club to landscape Jenks grounds

The John Story Jenks School grounds are scheduled for a major facelift. The Wissahickon Garden Club has decided on a three-year project that will transform the school property into an attractive, well-landscaped showpiece. They will plant two flowering magnolias on either side of the entrance to the school, as well as pines and evergreens. Flowering crabapple and Japanese dogwood are also among the plantings. “A shrub ground cover will present a tapestry effect on the steep slope on the Southhampton side,” said Linda Hunsicker, chair of the club’s civics committee. “We have designed everything to be very low maintenance... trees and shrubs will be in bloom when the children are in school.”

10,000 sq. ft. shopping complex set for EXXON site

The future of the former EXXON property at 7605 Germantown Ave. has finally been decided. The Chestnut Hill Community Association has approved support for variances that will permit the construction of a 10,000 square foot shopping complex on the site that is bounded by Mermaid Lane and Germantown Avenue, just above Cresheim Valley Drive.

March 7, 1996

Mike Hogan’s transfer demoralizes community

The community reacted quickly and with disappointment to the news last week that Officer Mike Hogan, the popular bike patrol officer whose position had been subsidized by local fundraising, had been transferred out of the 14th District to the 8th. The word spread quickly from storekeeper to storekeeper and then to the residents as they visited the stores. Telephone calls came into the Chestnut Hill Community Association, the Chestnut Hill Business Association and the Chestnut Hill Local. “What can we do?” was the oft-repeated question. “We couldn’t ask anything more of him and his being transferred is a grave loss,” said Dick Martin, chair of the public safety committee which oversees the Town Watch operation. “We are doing everything we can to get him back.”

Area leaders discuss promotion of northwest

Community leaders in Germantown, Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill will work together to promote the northwest corridor. During the first of what is expected to be numerous meetings, representatives of organizations in the three communities met on March 4. They want to explore the possibility of building a combination of activities in the area, pooling their resources to update a brochure about the area, and plan an event for 1997 or 1998 that celebrates all the communities together and separately.

March 9, 2006

City closes Water Tower Rec Center due to lead paint

The city announced on March 2 that it was closing the Water Tower Recreation Center at 209 E. Hartwell Lane immediately in response to discovery of damaged and chipped lead paint at the center. The Health Department had conducted testing on Feb. 22 after the city received a letter from a “concerned parent.” The testing and closure took many at the center by surprise. The temporary closing displaces dozens of programs that area families rely on for childcare and group activities. The center will remain closed for two to three weeks while the city works to remediate the issue.

March 3, 2016

New task force to protect historical fabric of the Hill

With the possibility of future, uncontrolled development, the board of the Chestnut Hill Community Association unanimously approved a motion to create a task force to protect and preserve the historical fabric of Chestnut Hill. The vote followed a presentation on Feb. 25 by Lori Salganicoff, executive director of the Chestnut Hill Historical Society, who warned of the threat that runaway development posed to the neighborhood’s open space as well as the buildings and properties that are deemed historically significant.