Photo Files

Youth at Play: Fledgling Rivalry

2009-11-19T12:07:00.002-05:00

The Boyertown Mites White Varsity team recently faced off against the Spring-Ford Rams. Part of the Reading Berks Youth Football League, the Boyertown team plays through the Boyertown Optimist Football Organization built as a feeder team for future levels of area football.

Click here for a slideshow from the game.

Week in Review, Nov. 6-13, 2009

2009-11-19T12:04:00.001-05:00

As the weather cooled down, football heated up and many got into the giving spirit. Click here for a slideshow of photos from the past week.

Youth at Play: Horsin' around

2009-11-10T16:43:00.003-05:00

Students at Hampton Stables in Birdsboro show off their riding skills in the jumping ring. The stables, located in Birdsboro, is owned by the Hampton family and houses more than 20 horses. Click here for a slideshow of photos.

Week in Review, Nov. 1-7, 2009

2009-11-10T16:40:00.003-05:00

The week was filled with upsets and wins as new politicians were elected to office and a few local teams advanced to the playoffs in their sports. Click here for a slideshow of pictures from the past week.

Youth at Play: Coventry football

2009-11-04T16:01:00.003-05:00

The Coventry Football league held its first game for 11 and 12-year-olds, the first time the group has fielded a team that age. The team competed against Exeter.
Click here for a slideshow of photos from the game.

Week in Review, Oct. 24-31, 2009

2009-11-04T15:56:00.003-05:00

Creepy costumes and hard fought games dressed up the week of Halloween. Click here to watch a slideshow of the best photos published in The Mercury.

Youth Sports: Deknique

2009-10-19T13:21:00.001-04:00

The Leprechauns and Vipers hit the rink in dek hockey for Pottstown's PAL. Click here for a slideshow of photos.

Week in Review, Oct. 10-16, 2009

2009-10-19T13:10:00.002-04:00

Memories and history were made as one area school bid farewell to its last fall season this past week. St. Pius X and other schools battled it out at the close to fall sports, but football is still going hot. Check out pictures from the past week in our weekly slideshow. Click here.

Youth at Play: Flagged for Fun

2009-10-12T15:23:00.001-04:00

The NorChester Red Knights and the Coatesville Kid Raiders battled in flag football at Connie Batdorf Park recently. Click here for a slideshow of photos from the event.

Week in Review, Oct. 3-9, 2009

2009-10-12T15:20:00.002-04:00

Fire Prevention Week meant a full schedule of events for area firefighters. Fall sports wound down with champions chosen in several sports, and fall fun heated up as pumpkins were picked and festivals made the crisp air enjoyable. Click here for a slideshow of photos from the past week.

Youth at Play: Boyertown soccer

2009-10-10T02:41:00.002-04:00

Up-and-coming soccer stars in the Boyertown area took advantage of summer camps. Click here for a slideshow of photos.

Week in Review, Sept. 25-Oct. 3, 2009

2009-10-10T02:36:00.002-04:00

From colorful exhibits and events to chilly days at the game, fall came in cool but didn't cool things down for local folks on the go. Click here for a slideshow of photos from the past week.

Youth at Play: Definitely basketball

2009-09-24T09:48:00.004-04:00

The Definitely Sports All-Star Basketball Camp was held over the summer at The Hill School's gym. Students learned the basics and listened to special speakers who discussed the sport and more.

Click here to watch a slideshow of photos from the camp.

Photos by Kevin Hoffman/The Mercury

Week in Review: Sept. 12-18, 2009

2009-09-24T09:45:00.003-04:00

Local students tackled fall sports, festivals took on an autumnal flair and the crisp smells of a fading summer were in the air this past week. Click here to watch a slideshow of photos from our print edition.

Youth at Play: Battering Rams

2009-09-14T15:25:00.002-04:00

The Spring-Ford 12-under Cal Ripken team competed in the State Tournament against East Brandywine over the summer. For a slideshow of photos from the game, click here.

Week in Review, Sept. 4-11, 2009

2009-09-14T15:16:00.001-04:00

Fall festivals filled weekend calendars and football filled local school stadiums as a new school year got under way this past week. Click here for a slideshow of our best photos.

Youth at Play: PAL'in around

2009-09-08T16:38:00.003-04:00

The Pottstown Spartans battled against the Birdsboro PAL team in the Cal Ripken baseball league. Click here for a slideshow of photos from their most recent game.

Week in Review, Aug. 28 - Sept. 5, 2009

2009-09-08T16:35:00.000-04:00

School started, sports teams kicked off their seasons and new pages were turned in area business ventures. To watch a slideshow of photos from the past week, click here.

Video: The Phillies celebration

2008-11-03T12:09:00.004-05:00

Slideshow of the parade by John Strickler/The Mercury

Video by Chris Stanley/Lansdale Reporter

Video by Michael Streuning/Journal Register News Service

A city celebrates

2008-10-31T12:14:00.002-04:00

Fans poured into the streets around Citizens Bank Park to celebrate the first World Series win by the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night, Oct. 29. Some of the celebration got out of control, but many fans were just showing their pride. To watch a slideshow of images from Philadelphia that night, click on the headline above.

Shots from Game 5

2008-10-31T12:08:00.003-04:00

The Phillies won the World Series in a continuation of Game 5 against the Tampa Bay Rays which had been held for rain Tuesday night.
To see a slideshow of images from the game, click on the headline above.

Remembering 'Phillies Day'

2008-10-28T12:37:00.014-04:00

As fans of the Philadelphia Phillies baseball team await word on whether Game 5 will continue and lead to a World Series win, The Mercury has dug through its archives all the way back to 1980, when the Phillies last were World Champions.

On that Wednesday night, the Phillies defeated the Kansas City Royals 4 games to 2.

"Those last two innings, I was so shook ... I can't remember much," said an ecstatic Tug McGraw, who pitched the last two winning innings.
It was the first world championship win for the team.
"This is the proudest I'll ever be as a baseball player," McGraw said.

Area fans celebrated in joy, with police on edge keeping the peace.
According to the story run that day, Wednesday, Oct. 22, "At the Pottstown Holiday Inn, a crowd at the bar went nuts," wrote reporter Frank Warner. "It was like sitting in the stadium," said John Pfeiffer, the Holiday Inn's auditor. "They were just standing on chairs, sitting on the bar, staying glued to that set. They didn't even know the band was playing."

At Cutillo's, the general manager was "worried about the glass in the windows."
"We thought it was going to break. Between the two bars it was crazy!" said general manager Mary Ann Cutillo.

When consulted Boyertown Bears coach Dick Ludy said he was surprised the Royals didn't score in the final minutes.

According to Warner's report, "Ludy said the key to the game was a bunt single by Pete Rose in the third inning, but he questioned manager Dallas Green's replacing starting pitcher Steve Carlton with McGraw in the eighth inning.'No way would I have taken Carlton out then,' Ludy said."

It wasn't just the adults who were excited by the win. "Parents throughout the area are sure to find their children reluctant to go to wake up for school this morning," according to the report in The Mercury. And "except for a few cruising hot rods, area roads were nearly deserted during the game."

But excitement would soon pour over as fans were held back from the field in Philadelphia by mounted police who rode horses around the edge of the stadium.

"A noisy parade featuring the triumphant Phillies on two flatbed trucks snaked through the city to John F. Kennedy Stadium for a victory celebration," according to the report the next day.

But it wasn't the only parade celebrating the victory.

Students and teachers at Pottstown's Lincoln School paraded around the block at the end of the day, cheering for their winning team, waving pennants and singing "Ain't no stopping us now," according to a report by Nancy Pinkerton, who is currently the editor of The Mercury.

Ringing Rocks fifth-graders got a great surprise that Thursday when a trip to the Art Museum in the city gave them a chance to see their heroes up close in the parade that began in front of the museum.

Banners were displayed at Pottsgrove Manor, crepe paper festooned cars driving around town and newstands in the area were sold out of copies of that day's papers.

"So what does it all mean?" asked reporter Nancy Pinkerton.
"After all the frustration, after all the waiting, after 1950 and 1964, and three years in the playoffs without a pennant, after all that, there is this fantastic feeling of seeing it become a reality," said Guy Sperat, Pottstown tax collector at the time.

"There is an exuberance, a mood of gaiety that has done something for the city and the whole region. People got taken up with this team, like a swelling wave of emotion," said Sperat.

Do you have photos and memories of the Phillies' 1980 win? Share them with us. Email them to fausteileen0.mercphotos@blogger.com. And don't forget to check out our Phillies fans photo gallery.

Fan Shot

1980 World Series Parade
This photo was submitted by Grace on our photo sharing Web site. It's a shot of the 1980 World Series parade for the Phillies.

Our Photographers

2008-01-10T10:16:00.003-05:00

John Strickler began working for The Mercury in 1974 as a copyboy in the newsroom and learned to use a camera on the job. He was promoted to full-time staff photographer in January 1976, and was named photo supervisor in October 1989. During the 1990s, Strickler was instrumental with former editor Walt Herring in converting from black-and-white photography to color and in upgrading technology. The process began in 1993 with a Fuji color film processor and Nikon film scanner, and continued to January 1996, when the days of hand-developing film in tanks and tray-printing came to an end. Strickler was also involved in upgrading to full pagination of The Mercury in August 1996, and supervised the conversion to digital photography, ending the use of color film, in 2001. But first and foremost, Strickler is a newsman who thrives on recording events of his hometown and the people who live here. In 1987, he traveled to San Francisco with the Pottstown High School band for the 50th anniversary of the Golden Gate bridge. He went to Washington, D.C., with Vietnam veterans and Gold Star mothers, covered a Live Aid concert and Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, reported on the making of Marines at Parris Island, and captured the Pottstown PAL Patriots as they played in a Pop Warner National Championship tournament in Orlando, Fla. Strickler has won numerous state and national awards for his work. His favorite subject to photograph: people with American flags.

Since September 1986, staff photographer Kevin Hoffman has been “the eyes” of The Mercury at countless news scenes. His work has ranged from the devastation wrought by tornadoes in Limerick to the return of Norristown native Joseph Cicippio after he was released from a long captivity in Beirut. Hoffman traveled to Okla-homa City in the aftermath of the bombings there for a special report on victims’ rights. But he is best known for his work closer to home, covering the drama of news and the emotional impact on people of the Pottstown area. “I have witnessed many walks of life, both good and bad, and I have seen firsthand joy and happiness,” he said, of his years at The Mercury. “I also have witnessed the sorrow and grief of life’s horrific tragedies. The experiences I have documented have made me appreciate what life has to offer.” During his two decades at the paper, the craft has changed from black-and-white to color, from film to digital. Hoffman said starting “as a black-and-white shooter taught me to be a better photographer.” He has won numerous state and national awards, most notably the 1999 Photo of the Year award from Editor and Publisher for a picture of a woman fleeing from a burning building. His work has been featured in numerous national publications, including the cover of the National Firefighters Association calendar. When not shooting the news, he enjoys photographing saltwater fishing and boating scenes.

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2008-01-08T15:48:00.000-05:00

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