Nov. 3, 1966

Dr. Leon Sullivan thrills capacity crowd at library

“No longer is a man or woman able to succeed without education,” Dr. Leon H. Sullivan, founder and president of the Opportunities Industrialization Center, told a capacity crowd at the Chestnut Hill library last week. “The new dynamics” of our age have created new techniques and a whole new range of problems, he said, and the log-cabin-to-presidency rise has been all but erased as a possibility because of the new demands. The towering minister of Philadelphia’s Zion Baptist Church who, for his accomplishments in bringing hope into the lives of those held by the twin jailers of poverty and lack of education, was given the Philadelphia Award this year, explained that his OIC program was the result of the knowledge explosion that followed World War II.

Nov. 4, 1976

Corporal punishment policy discussed

The policy committee of the Springfield Township Board of School Directors has formulated a statement on corporal punishment. The statement, which was given a first reading at last Monday’s monthly board meeting, spells out specific guidelines for “the intentional infliction of physical pain upon a student for disciplinary purposes.” The board has defeated two previous attempts to establish a policy. The statement explains that the board does not favor corporal punishment and that it “shall be administered only in response to frequent, repetitive or disruptive misconduct which is deleterious to maintenance of a proper educational environment.” In the absence of specific guidelines, the Pennsylvania School Code permits teachers to act as parents in meting out “reasonable” corporal punishment. The school board solicitor explained at the meeting that by formulating a policy, the board is telling teachers and staff “to be careful.” The board invited input from township residents.

Nov. 6, 1986

Community-wide parking plan proposed

The Chestnut Hill Community Association’s Traffic and Transportation Committee is proposing a community-wide parking plan for its 1987 agenda. “What I see we have in Chestnut Hill is a gigantic parking problem,” the committee chair said. “A merchant needs customers and the Traffic and Transportation Committee should be sensitive to the customers’ needs. The business community has to thrive. But the residents have a right to parking, too.” The proposal is to divide the Hill into quadrants, make proposals for blocks, block by block, get residents involved and make some parking decisions. Permit parking would be installed on some blocks.

Nov. 7, 1996

Louisa May Alcott gets a marker

The public is invited to the dedication of a marker at Louisa May Alcott’s birthplace at 5427 Germantown Ave. in Germantown on Nov. 7. Alcott, the author of “Little Women” and other children’s books, also wrote a number of Gothic tales for adults and an account of her Civil War service called “Hospital Sketches.” She was an ardent abolitionist and supporter of women’s suffrage. Her father, Bronson Alcott, came to Germantown in 1830 to start a school for young children. The family lived in Germantown and Philadelphia for three and a half years before moving to Boston and Concord, Mass.

Nov. 9, 2006

Mt. Airy town watch wins city award

Twenty-one members of the Mt. Airy-Nippon-Bryan-Cresheim Town Watch filled the seats on Nov. 2 to conduct neighborhood business but took time to congratulate each other for receiving one of 13 human rights awards given by the city’s Commission on Human Relations. Mt. Airy USA was also a recipient of this award. As the plaque was passed around before the meeting, members were visibly proud of the recognition, and their pride did not waver when it was discovered that the plaque read “Mr. Airy-Nippon-Bryan-Cresheim” instead of Mt. Airy. Eighteen years after its inception, the group is not really a town watch in the traditional meaning of the term. It has evolved from a two-block crime watch to a 10-block community group that organizes annual community events, mediates neighbor conflicts and aids residents in need.

Nov. 3, 2016

Harry Potter fans have a hoot at ‘owl post office’

At the Harry Potter Festival from Oct. 21 to 23, the literary streak that links all the fans found its expression at the “Owl Post Office” at Greene Street and Carpenter Lane in West Mt. Airy, home of Philly Typewriter. The owner and staff handed out sheets of paper and lots of guidance, and no typewriter saw any down time. The activity was free, drawing young children who had never used typewriters before, budding writers, dedicated readers, serious writers, vintage buffs and elders revisiting a key tool of their earlier lives.