A biologist is offering a specially guided walk around Graeme Park in Horsham on Oct. 10 at 1:30 p.m.

Participants will learn about the historic, manmade landscape and how the early colonists made use of the native plants.

Visitors will be able to take home a fall decoration at the end of the free program, but donations are appreciated.

Sponsored by the Friends of Graeme Park, the event is held in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

Graeme Park is located at 859 County Line Road, just off Route 611, in Horsham. For more information, check out www.ushistory.org/graeme

The YWCA of Pottstown is offering self-defense classes for women, with the next session beginning Nov. 9.

The eight-week sessions will be taught by a certified instructor with a black belt in Tang Soo Do. The classes are meant to help participants learn and practice basic self-defense techniques.

No experience or skill is necessary for this class, which will cover physical holds as well as increased awareness of one's surroundings.

The classes are free, and child care is provided.

For more information, call 610-323-1888.

You may have noticed a structure of wire mesh strung between two posts outside Trinity United Church of Christ on North Hanover Street in Pottstown recently.

Called the Community Prayer Wall, the church is hoping area residents, or those just passing through the area, will take a slip of colored paper attached to the wall and write a personal prayer on it.

According to a notice attached to the wall, it is meant to commemorate the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, itself a remainder of Solomon's Temple. According to the notice "the faithful" place pieces of colored paper with prayers written on them into cracks in the Wailing Wall.

Trinity's congregation will pray at the wall for the prayers placed there during a Prayer and Faith Sharing e-vent that kicks off Sept. 28 and runs through Nov. 8.

They ask that no one remove the prayers that are placed in the wall.

Want something to do this weekend? Well, there is plenty locally.

Trappe is holding its Community Day this Saturday. The event had to be rescheduled because of rain, but it looks like the weather will be favorable the second time around.

Fun for all ages is available with clowns, slides, balloons, face painting and more.

Pottstown Municipal Airport is holding its Community Day this Saturday too. Kids and their parents can partake of free airplane rides and watch as parachutists descend on the airfield in a demonstration of skydiving.

Saturday is also National Public Lands Day, which will be commemorated at Hopewell Furnace with the unveiling of the Appalachian Mountain Club's Pennsylvania Highlands recreation map.

Volunteers are invited to assist with clearing and improving the trails and in return will get a pass good at any national park that you have to pay to get into.

Participants will also get a free copy of the recreation map.

The event runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and children who show up can participate in apple picking, which happens September and October at the park. There will also be paddling and self-guided tours.

Sunnybrook Ballroom will be holding a fall festival on its grounds this weekend. There will be more than 40 crafters selling their wares, fun for kids, food for sale and more. The festival will happen this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

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A special lecture will be held by the Pennsylvania Horticulture Society on Nov. 12 at 6:30 p.m. focusing on how to make your garden worth visiting after August.
Dan Benarcik will be hosting the lecture. He is a horticulturist at Chanticleer in Wayne and also teaches at Longwood Gardens.

There is a fee. $10 for members of the PHS and $20 for nonmembers.

There will be light refreshments following the lecture.

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The Chester County Historical Society is offering two events this weekend.

From 9:30-11:30 a.m. there will be a teacher workshop, "New Ways to Study Old Stuff."

Showcasing exhibits and K-12 school programs available from CCHS, special attention will be given to the revised Victorian Life program, new programs for the Quilt and Lincoln exhibits as well as a new fund for admission and busing. Free, for teachers only. Pre-registration required. Act 48 credit provided.

At 7:30 p.m., the band Mason Porter will hold a local concert as part of the Listen Local series.

The series will be highlighting some great performers in the area with Chester County roots!
Free Admission. BYOB for our 21 and over guests.

Mason Porter is a four-piece alternative folk and bluegrass band from West Chester, born in late 2006 with Tim Celfo on upright bass, Joe D'Amico on mandolin, Paul Wilkinson on guitar and Jesse Weber on dobro.

They released their debut album in June 2008 and are rapidly gaining momentum all across the area.

The Pottstown and Phoenixville field hockey teams are joining together to fight for a cure for breast cancer. The teams will participate in "Play 4 the Cure" Oct. 7 at 7 p.m. at the Pottstown High School stadium.

All proceeds from the event will go to the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the American Cancer Society in honor of Alexa Artis, an honors student at Pottstown High School who succumbed to brain cancer at the age of 17. Artis was a former field hockey player at the high school.

As part of the fundraising the team is selling sponsors for team members. When that team member makes a goal, the sponsor pays $1 to the fund.

The team will also hold a bake sale during the event and will accept flat donations.

If anyone is interested in helping in our efforts, contact Coach McPherson at Brandy_McPherson@msn.com.

Birdsboro borough has a new look to its online presence. The borough recently unveiled its new Web site. Check it out at http://www.birdsboropa.org

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The Villa at Morlatton Community, 1180 Ben Franklin Highway East, in Douglassville, will be hosting a yard sale on Saturday, Oct. 10 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The cost is $10 per table rain or shine. R.S.V.P. required by Oct. 5. Call 610-385-5021.

Fox 29 is announcing the winners of its Philly Hot List all this week. Today it announced that the Black Lab Bistro, on Bridge Street in Phoenixville, took first place in the Best New American category for restaurants.

The seven-year-old restaurant also took first place in 2008 in the same category.

Pottstown's Funky Lil Kitchen took second place in the same category. It also has placed in the top 5 previously, in both 2008 and 2007.

The Columbia Bar & Grill in Phoenixville in the category of Best Romantic Restaurant. It won first place in 2008 and 2007 as well.

Royersford's French Quarter Bistro, on Main Street, took first place in the Best Soul Food category this year, its first time placing in the competition.

Winners of the contest were chosen by votes on www.myfoxphilly.com, which hosts the contest.

Also winning this year are:

Seven Stars Inn in Spring City came in fourth place for Best Steakhouse
The Fenix in Phoenixville came in fifth place in the Best Tapas category
The Colonial Theater, Phoenixville, came in No. 4 in the Best Independent Theater category

To check out other winners as they are announced this week, visit http://myfoxphilly.cityvoter.com/winners/best-of-the-philly-hot-list/4745

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Trappe's Community Day was reschedule from last Saturday to this Saturday due to the threat of inclement weather.

Come out this Saturday, Sept. 26, to enjoy all the same games and fun at Water Works Park, on West First Avenue, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be plenty of things for kids to enjoy including a petting zoo, pony rides, clowns, a rock climbing wall, giant slides and more.

The event is free. For a full list of activities, visit http://www.trappeborough.com/documents/trappe_days_2009_schedule.pdf

Trappe is also looking for residents to participate in its PACE program. Standing for Property, Streets, Traffic & Safety Committee, the program requires those interested to enroll and get a free sticker that they then place in their rear window.

Participants sign a pledge to drive within the speed limit, stop for pedestrians and drive courteously in the borough.

"PACE Car drivers act as 'moving speed bumps', helping to slow speeding vehicles on residential roadways," says Borough Councilwoman Cathy Johnson. "And the PACE Car Stickers remind all to respect traffic laws in our community."

The borough's speed limit is 25 mph on most roads.

The Friends of the Forgotten will be holding a remembrance ceremony in Memorial Park at noon on Sunday to remember those servicemen who went missing during the Vietnam War.
The ceremony will take place in Memorial Park at the Vietnam Memorial off Manatawny Street.
The names of the missing will be read and a bell will be rung for each name.
More information on the Friends of the Forgotten can be found at http://www.friendsoftheforgotten.org/calendar.htm

Dozens of local businesses and schools are banding together to make sure that local children will be able to celebrate Halloween in style. Through The Halloween Helpers, these generous organizations are hosting Halloween costume collection boxes with the hope of amassing hundreds of gently-used costumes.

All Halloween costumes accumulated through the regional drives will be distributed to kids served by the Greater Norristown PAL on Oct. 19 and 20.

The Halloween Helpers was started by 11-year-old Emma Rose Shapiro of Wynnewood and helps those not lucky enough to be able to afford a costume for trick-or-treating or other Halloween events.

"Emma has set an ambitious goal for 2009: to collect 1,000 'previously-enjoyed' costumes. We are asking anyone who has clean and complete costumes that their kids have outgrown or are not interested in wearing again to one of the following regional drop-off points. This effort will not only help Emma reach her goal, but more importantly allow the kids served by the Greater Norristown PAL to celebrate this Halloween properly attired," said Ilyse Shapiro, Emma Rose's mom and coordinator of The Halloween Helpers.

Current costume collection sites are located in Montgomery and Chester counties.

Check TheHalloweenHelpers.com for a complete and up-to-date list.

The closest collection site to the Pottstown-Limerick area is The Montgomery County Continental Bank in King of Prussia. Costumes will be collected at 197 E. DeKalb Pike Sept. 21 to Oct. 3.

Costumes should be gently used and clean and individually bagged. Infant through adult sizes are sought. Costumes should also be labeled with gender, size and type. Complete costumes are prefered. (Don't forget those prop extras!)

The group is also looking for additional collection sites. Sign up on their Web site.

One of the few remaining drive-in movie theaters in Pennsylvania is holding a special event to raise money for the Pennsylvania SPCA.

Automotion and Becky’s Drive-In are presenting “A Night at the Movies” this Saturday, Sept. 12, with a rain date of Sept. 26, at its 4548 Lehigh Drive location in Berlinsville.

Registration for the car show begins at 1:30 p.m. the day of the event and judging will take place at 2:30 p.m. Trophies will be presented at 5:30 and the movies start at dusk.


If you pre-register for the show, the cost is $7; there is a $10 entry fee the day of the show.

The price for the movies is $8 per adult which includes two movies; $4 for children ages 3 to 12 and children ages 2 and under enter for free.

All makes and models of cars are welcome. Trophies will be awarded for first and second place in imports, domestics, low rider trucks, best in show and best in car club. Grab bags will be given to the first 75 cars.

For preregistration information, e-mail atthemoviesprereg@clubautomotion.com and include the following information: Name, car make, model, year and color. You will receive an e-mail with a coupon for $3 off the admission price, along with any show changes or updates.

For more information on this and other shows, visit www.automotionce.com or www.beckysdi.com.

The Chili Pepper Festival, held every year in Berks County in Bowers, is making a name for itself.

The festival, now in its 14th year, has earned a pictorial postmark from the U.S. Postal Service, according to this story in the Reading Eagle. The stamp can only be gotten at the festival in Bill Delong Memorial Park. The festival runs today and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The festival features a new salsa contest this year, and not the dancing kind.

There will also be a chili pepper eating contest and a chili pepper song contest. Both will be held on Saturday.

There is a donation cost for admission.

Otherwise Poetry at Churchill is hosting two special readers this Saturday, Jack Wheatcroft, a World War II veteran and the author of 20 books who has served on the Pulitizer Prize judging committee for poetry, and Bob Braile, a journalist who covered international and national environmental issues for the Boston Globe.

The event is free and starts at 7 p.m. in the coffee shop on High Street in Pottstown.

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If you like a little controversy in your pasttimes, you can listen to Dr. Jack Kevorkian speak at Kutztown University on Sept. 20.

Kevorkian is speaking as part of the university's Distinguished Speaker Series on Law and Justice at 7 p.m. in the Schaeffer Auditorium. Unfortunately the speech is sold out. But you can watch it on channel 41 on the Hometown Utilicom channel in Berks County. Kutztown is also promising to have an audio file of Kevorkian's speech on its Web site at a later date.

Kevorkian's theme? Civil Rights, Civil Disobedience and Criminal Justice.

For the uninformed, Kevorkian is most notable for assisting terminally ill patients to end their lives and speaking out on the "Right to Die" issue.

On opening Sunday, the Eagles will be in Charlotte, N.C.

Swoop, their high flying mascot, will start his day in Royersford.

To celebrate the opening of the Eagles' 2009 season, Christ’s Church of the Valley in Royersford will be hosting what at first might appear to be an oxymoron: a church tailgate party. But on Sept. 13, starting at 8:45 a.m., the free brats and hotdogs will be hot, the beverages will be cold, and the Eagles’ mascot Swoop will be in the middle of it all, getting the crowd ready as the birds begin their march to the Super Bowl.

Known locally as the “MovieChurch,” Christ’s Church of the Valley bills itself as a “church for people who aren’t real crazy about going to church.” They recently opened their brand-new second facility on Yeager Road in Royersford and in July hosted their 10th annual Kids’ Camp, welcoming thousands of children from the area to “Kids’ Camp Galaxy.”

Swoop will be available for photos and autographs from 8:45 a.m. until 9:30 a.m.

For additional information on Christ’s Church of the Valley, visit their Web site at www.moviechurch.com.

Really want to get away but can't afford it?

Then maybe you should shell out the $20 it costs for a raffle ticket for a vacation package valued at $10,000. The raffle is being held by the Boyertown Area Multi-Service which will draw a winner this Friday at its art auction.

Only 1,500 tickets will be sold, so if you're interested, you'd better contact the Multi-Service quick. Tickets are being sold at their center at 200 West Spring St. in Boyertown. You can also call 610-367-6957.

The vacation packages are being offered by AAA Reading.

The art auction is being held at the center from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Friday. There will be light refreshments and the event is open to the public.

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Also coming up this weekend, Sunnybrook is offering a DJ dance party on Friday. WOGL's Bob Pantano will be playing sounds of the 60s, 70s and 80s from 8 p.m. to midnight at the Lower Pottsgrove ballroom. Entry fee is $20 at the door.

The ballroom will also be holding a Sinatra Tribute this weekend, Sept. 12, from 7 to 11 p.m. Tickets cost $25 in advance and $30 at the door.

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Plans for the new prison at Graterford can be viewed by area residents at the Skippack township building.

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A bank proposal in Limerick could be replaced by a drive-thru restaurant.

View Limerick shopping center in a larger map

According to a legal notice in the Tuesday, Sept. 8 edition of The Mercury, Limerick HC Realty Partners, which plans to build a shopping center at Ridge Pike and Township Line Road, is seeking to replace a planned bank building with a drive-thru restaurant that would cover 3,900 square feet. A hearing on Sept. 23 before the zoning board will be held for variances needed for that new use, according to the notice, including parking and buffer variances.

In particular, the developer is seeking a variance to allow parking to be a minimum of 5 feet from the western property line, a variance for a minimum buffer of 5 feet from that same property line, a variance to have a trash collection site a minimum of 5 feet from the western property line, and to have the 25 foot buffer requirement waived because the drive-thru will cover less than 5,000 feet of building area.

The developer also wants a variance for its sign, specifically to permit a freestanding sign to identify the names of more than four tenants "without providing a pull-off lane."

The zoning board hearing will be Sept. 23 at 6:30 p.m. in the Limerick Township building at 646 W. Ridge Pike.

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East Coventry's zoning hearing board is holding a public hearing on a proposal to build an assisted-living facility at Old Schuylkill Road and Schoolhouse Road.

Bittersweet on Schuylkill LLC, of Newtown Square, Pa., is proposing two 23,922-square-foot buildings in the R-3 zone, which is a permitted use.

Public comment will be taken on the plan at the Sept. 15 meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the municipal building, 855 Ellis Woods Road, East Coventry.

Copies of the plan are available by contacting the township's administrative assistant, Bonnie Frisco, during regular business hours at the township building.

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The Natural Lands Trust is seeking proposals for an economic development plan for communities along the Schuylkill River from Reading to Valley Forge.

A preproposal meeting will be held on Sept. at 10 a.m. at the trust's offices to review what the trust is seeking. Natural Lands Trust is headquartered at 1031 Palmers Mill Road, Media.

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Upper Pottsgrove will be hearing public comment on changes to its zoning for the R-2 residential district. The hearing, planned for Sept. 23 at 7:30 p.m. in the township building will address changing the zoning to allow twin-home development.

At the conclusion of the board of commissioners hearing, the changes could be voted on and adopted. A copy of the changes proposed can be viewed at the township building between normal business hours, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

With a mild sunny weekend expected, area residents are likely to be outdoors and there is plenty of fun awaiting.

This Saturday is First Saturday in the borough of Pottstown, featuring a Nigerian storyteller, music, food and more in Smith Family Plaza. Nostalgia Nights will also be holding their last event of the summer from 5-9 p.m. on High Street with classic cars and other vehicles lined up to be gawked at.

Boyertown is hosting its Duryea Day Saturday as well, with food, rides and more in Boyertown Community Park near the Museum of Historic Vehicles on South Walnut Street in the Borough. The event runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and includes a competition on the balancing board.

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Alice Focht Memorial United Methodist Church, located at 409 E. First St., in Birdsboro is hosting a special service Sept. 13 to remember 9/11 and all those emergency officials who risk their lives to help others.

The 45-minute service, which will start at 4 p.m., will feature a community choir performing “Land of the Free.”

Local emergency services responders were specially invited to the service.

The community is also invited to hang the U.S. flag to commemorate the day.

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It's almost time for the Mouns Jones Country Fair in Douglassville. Planned for Sept. 26 this year, the fair will be held at Morlatton Village on Old Philadelphia Pike from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The buildings in the village will be open to the public during the fair. Festivities will include historical re-enactments from the time of the Mouns Jones family, which first occupied the area in the 1600s.

Local ghost writer Charles J. Adams III will tell tales of the macabre and there will be an antiques appraiser on site to tell visitors what their valuables are really worth. There is a $5 fee for antiques appraisal.

Admission for the fair this year is $2 for adults age 16 and older. Those age 15 and younger enter free. Parking is also free.

More information on the fair can be found at www.historicpreservationtrust.org.

The beginning of school means new things for students, and this year for parents as well.

Spring-Ford has moved its district offices to 857 S. Lewis Road in Royersford, next to the Upper Providence Elementary School, according to its Web site, www.spring-ford.net

This year it also introduced a greener alternative to the usual pile of forms parents must fill out to get their students set for school.

Using its Skyward Family Access system, which has so far been used to allow parents to check their students' grades, the school district is having parents fill out emergency notification forms and the such without the added paperwork. Among the things the school district is hoping parents will do with the new system is update their contact information, including e-mail addresses.

For more on the change, including a way to log in to the system, click here.

Elsewhere on the technological advancement front, Spring-Ford has purchased a new way to check the background of visitors, and ensure the safety of students from child predators.
The school district has purchased the V-soft system from a company called Raptorware.

According to Raptorware's Web site, the V-soft visitor check-in system works with law enforcement and other government databases to find out whether a visitor has violations that might make them a danger to the student body. It does this when staff slide the visiting person's driver's license or other ID through the system.

Of course it will only work if the person's ID is valid and no names have changed.

It also relies on the availability of criminal information in an online database format.

If anyone red flags come up in the scan, the school's staff is alerted by text message, telephone, e-mail or page. If the visitor is OK'd, the system prints out a badge and there is no need to scan their ID again ... as long as they don't forget their badge the next time.

Raptorware says on its Web site that the system can also be used to keep track of faculty and volunteer hours as well as child departure times, but the Spring-Ford announcement did not say if the school district would be following up on those possibilities.

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Sunnybrook Ballroom is looking for a little funding aid from the community. In a letter sent out by Tom Sephakis, chairman and president of the Sunnybrook Foundation, which is working to restore the ballroom and make it the center of community activities, the foundation is hoping to meet its goal of $250,000 by Dec. 31.

According to Sephakis' letter, the foundation is facing a shortfall in its operating and restoration funds because of the recent loss of grant money due to inaction on the part of Lower Pottsgrove and the state budget impasse.

"The Performing Arts and Historic Preservation Grants issued through the state are virtually at a halt and many organizations such as our (sic) must rely solely upon public donations now in order to continue our efforts. In many cases, the government continues it (sic) projects to bailout banks and other firms, while many worthwhile projects receive no further funding. Even in cases where we have been awarded monies, our local leaders have been unwilling to provide those funds to us. The excuses are plenty, but the fact is that the arts, schools, economic development projects, and many historic properties have been left without any further state or local support this year," Sephakis' letter reads.

According to Sephakis, Sunnybrook's restoration is "the largest revitalization project in Montgomery County" and so far only 25 percent of the restoration work on the site has been completed.

Sunnybrook has hosted more than 200 events since its grand reopening, according to Sephakis.

If you would like to donate to Sunnybrook, you can do so by downloading and filling out a pledge form at http://www.sunnybrookfoundation.net/Pledgeform.pdf

According to the Foundation, money collected is currently being put toward improvement of the ballroom, a new sign on High Street, a new pavilion and children's park and a new covered bridge onto the property from Sunnybrook Road.

The foundation is also hoping to build a new two-story performance center on the site, as well as an outdoor stage, promenade and fountain where the old pool once stood.

Phoenixville held its first-ever bike day, drawing classics, sport bikes and some unique three-wheeled vehicles to Bridge Street.

Did you attend Bike Day? Have photos to share? Why not upload them to our Town Focus photo sharing page. Click here.

Alabaster's Arts & Tea at 935 High Street in Pottstown is holding an anniversary celebration Sept. 12 and is offering free scones all day to visitors. Harpist Betsy Scott Chapman will be performing and a new exhibit in the gallery will be unveiled.

A rabies clinic for dogs, ferrets and cats will be held Sept. 19 at Pottstown Roller Mills, 625 Industrial Highway, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Cost for shots is $10 each pet.

All pets must be in a carrier or on a leash.

The clinic is sponsored by the Montgomery County Health Department.

The Pottsgrove School District has OK'd the drilling of two wells to test whether there is sufficient ground water beneath the school for the use of a geothermal heating system.

Gilbert Architects, the architect in charge of proposals to upgrade Ringing Rocks Elementary School, is conducting the drilling at a cost of $8,800, according to a post in the Sanatoga Post.

No official plan for expansion of the current school building has been approved, though three plans were presented at an April school board meeting.

A land development survey and topographical/ boundary survey are both being carried out as well.

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Montgomery County Community College recently expanded into the second floor of North Hall in Pottstown.

The building on High Street formerly served as a brewery, shoe polish factory, mattress factory, wholesale grocery store and a knitting mill, but not all at one time.

The college took ownership of the building and conducted extensive renovations, opening it up to classes in 2006.

According to MCCC, "The new space houses seven state-of-the-art smart classrooms, faculty offices, an expanded Learning Assistance Laboratory for tutoring and supplemental instruction, an expanded art gallery, art studio space for painting and drawing, and a digital laboratory for communications, music and computer graphics instruction."

The West Campus currently offers a health careers suite; an art gallery and studios; degree programs in environmental science, culinary arts, fine arts, radiography and surgical technology as well as GED and Accelerated Learning programs.

"Our goal is to create a campus presence for the College that links the West Campus to the river to the main street of Pottstown," said Dr. Karen Stout, president of Montgomery County Community College.

The college is planning career fairs at its West Campus this month and in November.
The fairs are held in the main lobby of South Hall, 101 College Drive, Sept. 16 and Nov. 16 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Up to 20 area businesses will be participating and offering both full and part time job opportunities, seasonal positions and internships.

Businesses or individuals interested in the career fair should contact Cindy Murphy at the West Campus at 610-718-1802 or cmurphy@mc3.edu.

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The next pickup of yard waste for composting in Pottstown will be Sept. 3 and 4, according to the borough's Web site, www.pottstown.org

For a full calendar of yard waste, trash, recycling and bulk pickup dates for Pottstown in September, click here.