Carousel of Flavor
7th Annual Culinary Festival
Sunday Sept 26th, 2010
1200-4pm
Live Music, craft vendors and art on display,
Come out and experience many of 
the area’s greatest restaurants and a chance to sample the best food the region has to offer. There will also be a Beer Garden and Wine Tasting.
Proceeds benefit the Carousel at Pottstown
For more information: http://www.carouselatpottstown.org or
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Good things are happening at the library! The Pottstown Public Library will have a grand reopening and a name change. The Pottstown Regional Public Library will open its doors for the first time on Saturday, September 11th from 9 am to 4 pm. Light refreshments will be served from 11 am to 3 pm.
The library is located at the corner of High & Washington Sts,. in downtown Pottstown.
Voice: 610-970-6551
Internet: http://ppl.mclinc.org/
A new category for Pottstown School District has been added.
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Check this out! It is a very well done website promoting the iron heritage of three communities on the Susquehanna River.
I lived in Lancaster and never realized that Columbia, Marietta and Wrightsville were former iron producing centers. Pottstown certainly has a long, rich heritage of iron and steel production going back to John Potts. If we are looking for things to capitalize on to make Pottstown a “destination” like Bethlehem is for Musikfest this would certainly be something to promote, would it not?
Click on the link below to view the website. Under Features is the information on the iron furnaces but the site is a good example on how to capitalize on something!
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Had one of these bad boys tonight! Thought maybe I was at Olive Garden instead of Applebee’s.
Today, August 27th, completes year one of Roy’s Rants. We are still going strong and closing in on 700 posts!
We will continue to “tell it like it is”, to keep you informed and maybe put a smile on your face in the process. We will continue to shine the light of truth on issues facing our community, our state and our country. We will not waver from our commitment to present the facts so that our readers can make informed decisions for themselves.
Thank you to our readers and our fellow bloggers for all your support. We look forward to another great year!
This is not dirty so don’t get your shorts in a twist before reading further. A great article about the current economy.
http://winkbludreams.wordpress.com/2010/08/24/the-new-f-word/
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Our favorite mayor, Michael Nutter, has come up with another ludicrous idea on how to rip-off Philadelphians to fill city coffers. See link below for more details.
http://theryancokeexperience.wordpress.com/2010/08/24/city-to-charge-for-blogging/
TWO HUGE THUMBS DOWN for this lame-brained scheme.
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Bankruptcies are on the rise in a big way. Maryland, which ranks 21st out of 50 states for bankruptcy filings, has seen a dramatic increase in the number of people filing for bankruptcy since 2007, when the recession began.
In 2007, 11,200 bankruptcy cases were filed. In 2008 the number increased 46% and in 2009 the number again increased 36% for a total of 29,000 Marylanders filing for bankruptcy. This statistic includes business and personal filings.
Nationally, bankruptcies increased 20% last year. 1.6 million Americans filed for bankruptcy in the fiscal period ending June 30, 2010. This compares to 1.3 million filings for the same 12 month period ending June 30, 2009.
In October 2005 bankruptcy laws were changed due to people abusing the system. These recent figures have returned to levels prior to the 2005 changes.
Agnes Wetzel, of Bethel Park, has died of pneumonia. Agnes lived to the rip old age of 110! She was born in 1899.
Agnes lived with her daughter Bette and was remembered as a kind, gentle person. Agnes was also reported to be a very good cook.
Longevity runs in Agnes’ family. Her mother lived to be 98 years-old.
Ever since the economy nose-dived in 2008, enrollment at Harrisburg Area Community College has increased dramatically.
In 2008 enrollment at HACC’s 5 campuses was 19,866. Last year enrollment hit 22,529. This year enrollment is expected to come in at 25,000 students!
Community college offers students a close to home and much less expensive educational alternative versus going to one of Pennsylvania’s universities and staying in a dormitory or apartment. The cost per credit hour and the ability to avoid paying for room and board, on top of tuition, is economically achievable for many students.
Montgomery County Community College has also experienced an enrollment boom from the bad economy. Our own West Campus here in Pottstown continues to exceed enrollment expectations.
At the last Borough Council meeting it was announced that the Police Department has hired two part-time “Parking Enforcement” officers. Here we go again….
It is hard enough to attract people downtown to patronize businesses without adding over zealous parking police into the mix. Parking downtown is not for the faint of heart to begin with thanks to Mr. Hylton’s back-in diagonal parking.
Parking downtown should be FREE! Parking at the mall is free. Why do you think people go there instead? If we are trying to attract shoppers and restaurant patrons downtown this is an ass-backwards approach IMHO.
The small amount of money this generates, to cover the cost of two part-time people and a few thousand dollars into borough coffers, is a drop in the bucket compared to what customers will spend downtown on goods and services.
Bad idea. Boo hiss!
A few years ago, I remember a Mercury article with artist renderings and a map of John Potts Park which was to be created here in Pottstown. The park was going to connect Memorial Park with the Schuylkill River and the Schuylkill River Trail. I believe it also would include the Carousel and MCCC West campus as well.
The recent availability of funds for the Promenade is one more step in this direction. The more projects like this we can get completed the more attractive Pottstown will become. The new intermodal transportation center, the Mrs. Smith’s Foil project, the Reconnections project with North Coventry, Riverfront Park, MCCC West’s new parking lot and rehabilitation of the old PECO building into an environmental center, the Carousel and eventually John Potts Park are going to be a crown jewel for Pottstown.
I have a visual in my head of all this and look forward to the day when it becomes a reality. The pieces are falling into place. If we are patient long enough, good things happen.
There has been talk about this project recently which prompted me to do some research. The Promenade project has been on the books for some time, however funding kept it from becoming a reality.
PennDOT recently opened up their coffers and we are getting almost a million dollars to complete this project. I could not remember specifics on what the project entailed except that the name does infer certain things.
I found this information after doing to internet surfing:
Pottstown Promenade – was conceived as a pedestrian and bicycle link between Downtown Pottstown and the Montgomery County Community College. The promenade is expected to be constructed in 2005, and will connect Hanover Street to the bus stop facility adjacent to the community college with a link to Riverfront Park and the River Center at Pottstown.
Personally, I think this is a great idea because it addresses quality of life issues in an urban area. Green space is important if we are trying to attract middle-class people to Pottstown as taxpaying permanent residents.
The revitalization of Pottstown hinges on projects like these and the ability to attract new residents, business and industry.
Kudos to Jason Bobst, Borough Council and everyone involved for making this project a reality.
I read in today’s Mercury that Dr. Lindley made some administrative changes which were presented to the School board Thursday night.
I find the vote on Linda Adams very interesting. First of all she does a good job. Secondly, she is getting more responsibilities added to her position so why would we vote against her getting a pay raise? Of course, Mr. Hylton was a naysayer and perpetual BFF Nat White voted no, as expected. I was glad to see Ms. Harris was not listed as a no vote 🙂
I am rather puzzled why Rick Huss voted no. He was very much onboard hiring Dr. Lindley as Superintendent. If we have faith in Dr. Lindley’s ability to lead PSD into the future, why are we not supporting his decisions??????
IMHO we should give Dr. Lindley some credit and support him until he proves otherwise.
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Some recession-buster news! Gas prices are expected to drop between 10 and 15 cents a gallon after the end of summer holiday. That is, barring any disasters or unforseen circumstances. Oil prices are falling as consumers are staying closer to home this summer and not spending money fearing a relapse in the economy (smart move).
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Pottstown newcomer First Niagara Bank is expanding again. No sooner did the ink dry on the Harleysville sale that brought First Niagara here…they went bought another bank!
New Alliance Bank of Connecticut was purchased in a $1.5 billion dollar transaction. The deal will close the second quarter of 2011. This will give First Niagara Bank 340 offices, $29 billion in assets, $18 billion in deposits and about 5000 employees.
In comparison, the Harleysville sale price was $300 million.
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For my mid-state readers, this just in!
The number of mosquitos carrying West Nile Virus is increasing in Dauphin, Lebanon, York and Cumberland Counties. Carriers were trapped in Harrisburg City and Derry Township!
Be careful out there!
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Governor Christie is at it again. Creating green power, creating jobs, and getting national recognition for New Jersey! Did you know New Jersey is second behind California for solar power!
Hey Fast Eddie..this is the kinda stuff you should be doing instead of raising taxes and laying off state workers.
P.S. We need a new bridge over Keim Street!!
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This is very bad news! The City of Harrisburg and the Harrisburg Authority have defaulted on a $35 million dollar bond payment for the incinerator. Dauphin County is now on the hook for $35 million dollars by December 1st.
The payment was to come from two accounts. One account had .49 cents in it and the second account contained .84 cents. I have more change in my pocket!
I reported earlier that the city controller had come up with a plan for debt repayment on the incinerator, however, I would think this is NOT part of the plan to repay the debt. Unless defaulting on the loan is the only way to transfer the responsibility to the county, which was part of the plan, I believe.
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