Pottstown Halloween Parade Is Back On After Council Waives Half The Fee

Editor’s note:  Some of the council’s logic here is frightening.  The reason Pottstown is going broke can hardly be attributed to the costs associated with a couple of parades and fireworks. It’s the protuberant budget!  $38,000,000.00 for a town with 22,377 people is absurd.  Again, these few activities combined account for less than 1% of the budget.  The tax base can’t support a budget this size and cuts need to be made, but council is unwilling to do so (as they have demonstrated year after year).  Then, out of the blue they want to “tighten the purse strings” over a couple thousand lousy dollars that don’t make a hill of beans difference in the grand scheme of things.  I would be far more impressed with more substantive belt-tightening that would actually make a dent.

POTTSTOWN, PA — Borough council Tuesday night voted unanimously to waive half the fees for the annual Halloween parade, allowing the organizers to proclaim that they would raise the remaining $2,660 somehow and that the parade will go on as planned.

It is scheduled for Wed. Oct. 24, 7 p.m. on High Street.

“It’s such a good thing for Pottstown,” said Aram Ecker, speaking for the AMBUCS. “There are a lot of organizations involved and there is a lot of time put in for the costumes and floats. It’s been such a legacy and tradition in Pottstown, I don’t want to see it die.”

“The middle school marching band is so excited, they bought sweatshirts for the event. Their debut this year will be the Halloween parade and they’ve been practicing since the first day of school,” Ecker said.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20121009/NEWS01/121009362/pottstown-halloween-parade-is-back-on-after-council-waives-half-the-fee

No Religion: Pew Study Finds Rapid Rise In Americans Without A Particular Faith

The number of Americans who say they have no particular religion has grown rapidly in the last five years, a trend that researchers say has significant implications for coming elections and American culture more broadly.

A report released today by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life found that 20 percent of Americans say they do not belong to any religion or are atheist or agnostic, the highest percentage ever recorded in Pew polls and about 5 percent more than those who said they had no religious affiliation five years ago.

Researchers attribute the growth in the ranks of the religiously unaffiliated – or “nones” as they are sometimes called – to changing patterns of religious participation and belief among younger generations and a “softening” of commitment to religion among some older Americans.  People who rarely or never attend church are also more likely to say they are not affiliated with any religion than in the past.

A third of adults under 30 say they have no religion, a much higher percentage than is found among older generations or was measured among young people in past decades.

Read more: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/no-religion-pew-study-finds-rapid-rise-in-americans-without-a-particular-faith-1.1385152

Sunday Is Rare Opportunity To Drive Through Wilderness Near Harrisburg

It’s not often that Lancaster countians are offered the opportunity to drive through a wilderness area surrounded by wildlife, steep mountains and autumn colors only an hour away.

And for two of the last three years bad weather has washed out the popular one-day-a-year, self-guided driving tour on an old railroad bed through the haunting and beautiful Stony Creek Valley, a mere 16 miles north of Harrisburg.

But repairs have been made and unless another freakish storm blows through, the best Sunday drive around will take place on State Game Lands 211 in Dauphin and Lebanon counties on Sunday.

For one day only, the Pennsylvania Game Commission opens its gates to public vehicles, allowing the public a one-way leisurely drive for 17 miles through the heart of this heavily wooded narrow valley that traces lovely Stony Creek.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/753046_Sunday-is-rare-opportunity-to-drive-through-wilderness-near-Harrisburg.html#ixzz28qaRI3IV

Carousel At Pottstown Announces Winners Of Culinary Contest

POTTSTOWN – The board of directors of the Carousel at Pottstown have announced thewinners from the culinary contest held during the 9th Annual Carousel of Flavor restaurant festival Sept. 30.  The event, which is the nonprofit Carousel at Pottstown’s main annual fundraiser, raised $10,000 for the organization, which is in the process of renovating a building at 30 W. King St. to house a restored 1905 Philadelphia Toboggan Co. carousel.

Judging food entries from the 17 participating restaurants were Chef Christopher Allen Tanner, director of The Culinary Arts Institute of Montgomery County Community College, Career Coach Austin Hall, and culinary students Jackie Hill, Joe Bullock, Sean Collins, Kim Spuril, Chris Hatzai, Pedro Loero, Ameerah Williams, and Sandy Cumens.  Also awarded were the restaurant that raised the most money and the best-decorated booth.

Read more: http://business-news.thestreet.com/the-mercury/story/carousel-pottstown-announces-winners-culinary-contest/1

Reading City Council Approves Smaller Sewage Plant

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Berks County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Customers who use Reading’s sewage treatment plant on Fritz’s Island, and who will pay for a major overhaul that will begin soon, got some potential good news Monday.

Construction costs could be cut by up to $20 million if the state gives the go-ahead to a smaller plant that City Council approved Monday.

The U.S. Department of Environmental Protection not only approved the smaller plant in mid-September, it also extended the deadline to build it to 2018. The previous deadline was last month.

“It could mean less money that we’d have to go out and try to get (for the project),” Mayor Vaughn D. Spencer said.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=419670

Jerry Sandusky Sentenced To At Least 30 Years In Prison

BELLEFONTE, PA – Jerry Sandusky was sentenced today to at least 30 years in prison — effectively a life sentence — in the child sexual abuse scandal that brought shame to Penn State and led to coach Joe Paterno‘s downfall.

A defiant Sandusky gave a rambling statement in which he denied the allegations and talked about his life in prison and the pain of being away from his family.

Three victims spoke, often fighting back tears. One looked Sandusky in the eyes at times.

The 68-year-old former Penn State assistant coach was found guilty in June of 45 counts of child sexual abuse, convicted of molesting 10 boys over a 15-year period. Witnesses said Sandusky used the charitable organization he founded for troubled children as his personal hunting ground to find and groom boys to become his victims.

His arrest 11 months ago, and the details that came out during his trial over the summer, transformed Sandusky’s public image from a college coach who had been widely admired for his work with The Second Mile charity into that of a reviled pervert who preyed on the very youngsters who sought his help.

Read more: http://readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=419736

Historical Lecture At Pottsgrove Manor

Pottstown, Pennsylvania — On Saturday, October 20th at 1:00 p.m., Pottsgrove Manor will host a talk by Potts’ family historian Daniel A. Graham.

In the lecture “That Healthy and Handsome Country Seat: A Look at Potts Family Real Estate,” Graham will speak about some of the other properties that were built and owned by members of the Potts family in addition to Pottsgrove Manor, including the house that would become Washington’s Headquarters at Valley Forge.  A donation of $2 per person is suggested for this program.

After the presentation, a guided tour of the manor house and Pottsgrove Manor’s current exhibit, “Matters Personal, Details Private: Cleanliness, Hygiene, and Personal Pursuits in the Colonial Home,” will be offered.

Pottsgrove Manor, home of John Potts, colonial ironmaster and founder of Pottstown, is located at 100 West King Street near the intersection of King Street and Route 100, just off Route 422, in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. Pottsgrove Manor is operated by Montgomery County under the direction of the Parks and Heritage Services Division of the Assets & Infrastructure Department.

Regular museum hours: Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. & Sunday, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m.  Tours are given on the hour; last tour of the day begins as 3:00 p.m.  Groups of 10 or more should pre-register by calling (610) 326.4014.  For more information and a full calendar of events, visit us on the web at http://historicsites.montcopa.org/pottsgrovemanor or http://www.facebook.com/PottsgroveManor.