Monday, May 25
Downtown Pottstown – High Street. To register a float or entry contact Terry Foulke: 610-323-0128 or cbviking@comcast.net. Parade starts at 10:00 am.
Tag Archives: Memorial Day
Long Beach Islanders Eager To Show Off Rebuilt Businesses
Map of New Jersey highlighting Ocean County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The members of the iconic Beach Haven Marlin & Tuna Club were determined to open their new building before the start of summer, the second since Hurricane Sandy washed out their former home.
They got their certificate of occupancy Friday afternoon, just in time for a planned grand opening the next day, coinciding with an annual striper fishing tournament known as the LBI Cup.
On Sunday morning, the day after 500 people flooded the club’s new three-story headquarters, Vice Commodore Tim Irons walked around the bare rooms, proudly showing off the bathroom tiling and the views from the top floor.
“It’s completely paid off,” he said. “We just don’t have any furniture yet.”
‘Save The Lights’ Dance Marathon Set For Memorial Day Weekend In Pottstown
Memorial Day weekend dance-a-THON. Check out Pottstown School District’s Save the Lights website. 50 couples needed to dance. $500 cash prize to the couple who spends the most time on the dance floor. Registration before May 14. Ages 9th grade to 100 years or older may register.
Polly Weand
For more information, click here: http://www.pottstownschools.com/pottstown/In%20the%20Spotlight/Save%20the%20Lights%20dance%20marathon%20set%20for%20Memorial%20Day%20weekend,%20Mercury%205-6-14.html/_top
Like this on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SaveGriggMemorialFieldFridayNightLights
Atlantic City’s Aging Casinos, Storm Aftermath And A Glut Of Gambling Capacity Spell Trouble
English: Picture of the Tropicana from the Boardwalk. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
ATLANTIC CITY — Can this casino resort be saved?
Over Memorial Day weekend, it was easy to see all is not well here. Eight of the 12 casinos predate the mid-1980s — carpets are grungy, paint is chipping off the walls, and far fewer employees are working the gaming floors.
As the sun broke through after a blustery Friday and Saturday, the Sunday crowds picked up on the Boardwalk. By midafternoon, it teemed with strollers and patrons at the outdoor restaurants.
But parking was available at several casino garages, a telltale sign it was not the hoped-for blockbuster weekend. Business volume varied among properties.
At the newer Borgata, for example, there was a waiting list in the poker room and a steady stream of traffic throughout the casino. At the barely year-old Revel, which just emerged from bankruptcy and opened new smoking lounges Friday, the sixth-floor casino parking level was filled with cars for the first time. At dowdy Trump Plaza, meanwhile, an older generation half-filled the intimate gaming floor, and people in their 20s and 30s packed its outdoor beach bar.
Pottstown Residents Want Fireworks For Fourth Of July Celebration
POTTSTOWN — Historic re-enactments, a mini balloon festival, cook-offs, a beer tent, local musicians and, of course, fireworks.
Lots and lots of fireworks.
Memorial Day has arrived and thus, the unofficial arrival of the summer season.
Thoughts turn to barbecues, swimming pools and, of course, the Fourth of July.
Last month, we asked people for their thoughts on ways to improve, enhance and better fund Pottstown’s signature summer event and we thought the first unofficial day of summer would be a good day to let everyone know what suggestions we received.
Chief among them was a desire for the return of the fireworks.
‘Fast & Furious 6’ Fuels Record Weekend At Box-Office
The exhaust smoke hasn’t even cleared, and already Hollywood can brag about its biggest money-making Memorial Day Weekend ever.
Hollywood Reporter hit the accelerator with its gushing, declaring the expected four-day take of $316 million to be “absolutely monumental,” leaving previous late May holiday weekends choking in its dust.
“One of the biggest weekends of all-time!” writes Paul Dergarabedian.
Indeed, BoxOfficeMojo.com gives the previous champ as Dec 25-27, 2009 (led by Avatar), with a distant $259.9 million in total domestic ticket sales. Then again, add in the the $58.3 million from Monday, Dec. 28, 2009, and the comparable four-day total becomes an unsurpassed $318.2 million.
C’mon Down, The Jersey Shore’s Just Fine
Atlantic Ocean shore at Atlantic City, New Jersey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Before we do anything, let’s address the giant elephant in the room – and we’re not talking about Lucy of Margate.
Nearly seven months ago, Sandy wrought devastation on the Jersey Shore like never before: The largest Atlantic storm on record created more than $30 billion in damage up and down the state’s 127-mile coastline. More than 346,000 structures were damaged or destroyed when Sandy whipped across the state on Oct. 29.
Some of the places that held memories so dear for many of us – beaches, homes, boardwalks, piers, shops, amusements, and restaurants – got washed away. We wondered whether we’d have the chance to enjoy our beloved Shore again.
Well, just as surely as the air and sand and sea will be delightfully warm again, there will be plenty to celebrate this summer. There are still dozens of great destinations and plenty of fun at the Shore this year.
Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/travel/shoreguide/20130517_C_mon_down__the_Shore_s_just_fine.html#DPMkWhhvuP2Zxs3V.99
Gas Prices Likely To Continue To Increase Then Calm Down After Memorial Day
Locator map of the Harrisburg metro area in the south central part of the of . Red denotes the Harrisburg-Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area, and yellow denotes the Lebanon Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Harrisburg-Carlisle-Lebanon CSA. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The lowest price for gas in the area continues to be $3.29 a gallon, according to GasBuddy.com.
That price is available at Kwik Fill, Sheetz and Giant in the Mechanicsburg area; Hess stations in the Carlisle area; Costco in Lower Paxton Township; B.J.’s in Camp Hill and Sunoco and Kwik Way in the Carlisle area.
The Harrisburg area average price today is $3.40 a gallon, 1 cent higher than yesterday, 7 cents lower than a month ago and 23 cents lower than a year ago.
The state average price is $3.46 and the national average is $3.59.
Memorial Day 2011 – God Bless America!
Sands Casino Plans Hotel And Mall In Bethlehem
Image via Wikipedia
The very successful Sands Casino in Bethlehem is adding more attractions to lure gamblers. A new 300-room hotel is opening by Memorial Day which will allow gamblers to make the Sands an overnight destination. In addition, the casino is opening a 35-store mall on the property which will give gamblers (and non-gamblers) a shopping and dining diversion. The mall has a proposed soft opening date of November 1st. Grand opening is scheduled for President’s Day weekend, in February of 2012.
Another project in the works is a conference facility that could accommodate 2,500 people. This would allow the casino to compete in the lucrative convention and trade show market. The conference facility could become a reality by the end of the year. There are eight other buildings on the site which the casino hopes to develop and a residential area is also being considered.
Adjacent to the casino is the Steel Stacks complex and ArtsQuest Center. The ten-acre entertainment area includes a concert pavilion, farmers market, antique market for starters.
The economic impact of these projects will benefit Bethlehem for generations to come.
Pottstown Borough Council Meeting: April 11, 2011
Many thanks to Chris Huff for being Roy’s Rants eyes and ears at tonight’s Council meeting and writing up such a thorough report!
Roll Call – All Councilors present
Approval of minutes from last meeting passed.
Newstell Marable was the only public speaker. He urged Council to keep focus on the Ricketts Center. He also reiterated his wish to see Armand Hammer Blvd. change names.
Mayor’s Report – None
Manager’s Report – The Regional Traffic Committee is looking into the timing of the lights at S. Hanover & Industrial Hwy and will be conducting traffic counts along Hanover to judge the traffic impact of the area construction projects. A traffic light will be installed in May for 724 at the 422 ramps. With College Dr. being used at the PennDOT detour for the High St. bridge project, there may be a problem with shutting down College Dr. during the Schuylkill River Festival in October. This is being investigated.
The official FEMA flood plain maps for Pottstown have been changed as part of a major update to the maps. Many parcels are affected, some being removed from the flood zone, others being added. All affected property owners are in the process of being notified. An upcoming public meeting will be held to review and discuss the maps changes with the public.
The First Suburbs meeting is Thursday, April 14th in Audubon. Buses will depart from Borough Hall at 6:30. Anyone wishing to sign-up for a bus seat, contact Borough Hall. Currently, there are 30 people signed up. They would like to have at least 75. They are hoping for a total attendance of 500 at the meeting. Jason said the major push will be for HUD to look at the voucher numbers per specific area and making HUD adopt the same inspection procedure as municipalities follow. (Currently, HUD’s inspection process is sub par to what municipalities have to follow.)
PAID will hold its first public meeting on April 28th at 6:00 p.m. at the Hill School. Everyone is encouraged to attend.
Jason stated one of his goals is to bring the Codes department up to the 21st century in regards to technology. They had explored equipping all Codes vehicles will laptops that interface with the Permit-N-Force software to help them write and track violations right from their vehicles. The quote was roughly $40,000, a large part of that cost being the laptops. Apparently, Goodwill Fire Co. has received a grant to replace all of the mobile laptops in their emergency vehicles. The current laptops are in great shape and are 2 to 3 years old. They are offering to sell what the Borough needs for a nominal fee of $6500. Jason would like this moved to the Finance Committee for discussion.
The County Storm Water Coalition is still moving forward. There is a meeting with DEP this month and they hope to have a final set of rules in place. These new storm water rules will be a tremendous burden for municipalities. The coalition has been successful in holding off the implementation of these rules, but DEP is ready to push back again. There will probably be a public meeting in May to discuss the final changes and timeline regarding this.
Recycling grants have finally been received for 2007, 2008 and 2009. These monies were awarded based on the amount of recycling the Borough does each year. The money will go to the trash fund and will partly be used to restock some recycling bins. The grant amounts were $39,770 for 2007, $49,082 for 2008 and $105,794 for 2009.
They are looking into a joint bid for street sweeping services with West Pottsgrove. They are interested in pricing for a 1x, 2x, 3x and 4x a year service.
Finally, a meeting with PECO was recently held regarding the electrical service issues with the downtown. PECO has identified some problems with 2 of the 3 major feeds into the downtown. They have an action plan in place and will be addressing infrastructure upgrades.
Committee Reports – All were accepted for ones they had, none were read. Two noted items were that an opening exists on PDIDA due to the resignation of Matt Crouse. Blighted Property made mention that there will be a public bus tour of the next set of blighted properties on April 28th at 3:30 from Borough Hall.
Agenda Items – Voted 7-0 to adopt resolution honoring retiree Andrew Madonna
Voted 7-0 to endorse the concept of the Rutgers Urban Planning Design Course for the riverfront area
Voted 7-0 to approve and accept the bid of Lointerhomes, LLC for 426 King and 467 Farmington
Voted 6-0 to adopt a resolution authorizing Goodwill Ambulance as the primary ALS and BLS provider in Pottstown. Councilor Gibson abstained due to being a life member of Goodwill.
Voted 7-0 to increase the review fees for commercial building projects
Voted 7-0 to waive the fees and costs associated with the Memorial Day parade. A very long and ridiculous conversation surrounded this. Same stuff as last year’s conversation. I’m sure it will be the same conversation we’ll endure when the 4th of July committee makes this request in 2 months.
Voted 7-0 to have the Solicitor draft an amendment to the litter ordinance. Councilor Allen spoke up that she thought this could unfairly harm property owners. She requested that the amendment also state that the businesses will held to this same rules and she would like a warning system so property owners aren’t fined right away. Jason said they could write it so that an owner would have 3 to 5 days to correct the issue before the fine applied.
Voted 7-0 to reappoint Rita Paez to the Human Relations Commission for a three year term.
Voted 7-0 to appoint Andrew Monastra to HARB for a five year term
Voted 7-0 to accept the resignation of Dan Schmoyer from Planning Commission
A motion to appoint a new member to the Planning Commission was tabled.
Council took no action (meaning they will not officially endorse or oppose) the zoning appeal for the proposed car wash at 616 King St.
Council voted 7-0 to approve the HARB certificates for the month
Voted 7-0 to pay the monthly bills totaling $2,606,016.34
Announcements – reminder that Community Clean-Up Day is Saturday, April 30th from 8 til noon. Start at Borough Hall or Empire Fire Co.
Meeting adjourned.
Happy Memorial Day
Wishing all my readers a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day weekend.
Along with our festivities, we should pause for a moment of silence in remembrance of the men and women in our armed forces who gave their lives so we could be free.
Stay cool!
Image(s) courtesy VintageHolidayCrafts.com
Upcoming Pottstown Borough Events
BMX National Race – Trilogy Park. May 28-30 Memorial Park, Pottstown
PASSIONFEST – Trilogy Park. May 29, Memorial Park, Pottstown
Memorial Day Parade, Monday May 31, 2010, 10:00 a.m. starting at Good Will Fire Company, High street to Manatawny Street to Memorial Park – by Pottstown Joint Veterans Council.
RAGTIME – June 3 – 20, 2010 Tri-County Performing Arts Center, Pottstown
Thursday – 7:30 pm
Friday – 8:00 pm
Saturday – 8:00 pm
Sunday – 3:00 pm
ADULT: Thurs $19; Fri, Sat & Sun $23
STUDENT/SENIOR(65+): Thurs $17; Fri, Sat, Sun $21
CHILD (12 & under): Thurs $13; Fri, Sat & Sun $15
$2 off per ticket for groups of 10 or more!
http://www.villageproductions.org/Ragtime.html
Pottstown Rumble Volleyball Tournament
Saturday and Sunday June 26 , 27
The tournament begins at 8 am in Pottstown Memorial Park. Last year over 1200 players took part in the tournament. This event is open to the public and you can walk though the park and watch the matches. It’s a fun way to spend some time.
Pottstown’s 4th of July Homecoming Celebration now has it’s own website. The site is updated daily so bookmark it and check frequently. They supply an RSS feed so you can have updates sent directly to your email : http://www.pottstownjuly4th.org/
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