Letters: May 13

Posted 5/13/15

Where was the coverage for Venetian Club?

The Venetian Social Club in 2014 celebrated its 90th anniversary as a proud viable entity of Chestnut Hill. Over these years, the Venetian Social Club …

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Letters: May 13

Posted

Where was the coverage for Venetian Club?

The Venetian Social Club in 2014 celebrated its 90th anniversary as a proud viable entity of Chestnut Hill. Over these years, the Venetian Social Club has attempted to show a presence in the community by being active in various social events, such as community blood drives, dinners at the Ronald McDonald House, and members of the Murray Comic Club Mummers Brigade, etc.

Several years ago we were approached by the Chestnut Hill Community Association asking if we could sponsor some type of activity to open up SOHA (Lower Chestnut Hill). We responded by offering bands, classic motorcycle exhibitions, etc.

This past Sunday, the Venetian Social Club and the 24 piece Monday Blue Jazz Orchestra coordinated for the Chestnut Hill Home and Garden festival – a presentation that we felt was awesome. The orchestra performed in front of our club, gratis, for two and a half hours. The crowds of people were mesmerized by their music, which included a Grammy Award winner singer.

Why was there no mention of our efforts in participating in this community event? We felt this was the greatest contribution we have ever made to the community, and we were astounded that a juggler superseded us on the front page of the Chestnut Hill Local publication of May 7th.

George C. Filippi

Wyndmoor

Editor's note: We cover a lot of things that happen in Chestnut Hill every week. But we can't be everywhere. The Garden Festival is a 7-hour event that covers nearly 10 blocks of Germantown Ave. Still, had we been given notice of the orchestra's appearance, we could have made sure we were at the Venetian Club during the performance. Request for coverage can always be sent to the editor at pete@chestnuthilllocal.com

Salute CH Hospital during National Hospital Week

Most people only visit hospitals occasionally, when a loved one is sick. Associates at Chestnut Hill Hospital are different in this regard. Each day, hundreds of associates come to the hospital to provide compassionate, personalized care for friends, neighbors and those they do not know.

Our providers work together around the clock, seven days a week to make healthcare available any time it is needed, whether for one person or more in times of community crisis or natural disaster.

National Hospital Week, established in 1953 and celebrated this year from May 10 through May 16, honors the dedication of all the men and women who deliver and support the care provided in hospitals. The dates overlap those for Nurses Week (May 6 to 12 this year) and were chosen to coincide with Florence Nightingale’s birthday in recognition of her efforts to revolutionize the way hospitals were run in the United States.

Although much has changed in healthcare since the mid- to late-1800s when Nightingale cared for patients, one thing has remained constant: Hospitals are foundations of their communities, nurturing and caring for individuals from all walks of life.

Chestnut Hill Hospital is proud to serve northwest Philadelphia and eastern Montgomery County with the most-needed, quality clinical services delivered in part by our affiliations with Penn, Jefferson and Temple health systems. Our hospital touched more than 90,000 lives last year through inpatient and outpatient care.

We performed 5,161 surgeries and cared for 35,000 patients in our emergency room. The teamwork and commitment of our associates and medical staff has been acknowledged by the Joint Commission and we received recognition as an Accredited Chest Pain Center and Primary Stroke Center.

Hospitals are significant contributors to the communities they serve. In addition to providing vital health care services, Chestnut Hill Hospital employs more than 700 area residents. Our physicians and staff provide free, weekly wellness education programs, and we sponsor neighborhood organizations including Chestnut Hill Community Association, Chestnut Hill Community Fund, Mt Airy USA, East and West Mt Airy Neighbors, Chestnut Hill Rotary, Chestnut Hill Historical Society, Chestnut Hill Bocce Club July 4th Celebration and more.

This Hospital Week, Chestnut Hill Hospital is especially pleased to recognize our Top Docs for 2015: Patricia Bailey, general and breast surgeon; Simeon Bardin, internal medicine; Robert Bailey Jr, ophthalmology; Jerome Santoro, infectious disease; L. Matthew Schwartz, physical medicine and rehabilitation; Enrique Hernandez, MD, Temple gynecologic oncology; Penn Vascular physicians Keith Calligaro and Matthew Dougherty; and Temple Orthopedics and Sports Medicine at Chestnut Hill Hospital surgeon Joseph Thoder.

Thanks to all of our associates and other healthcare providers for their ongoing commitment to the community and tireless dedication to the well-being of our neighbors.

John Cacciamani, MD, CEO,

Chestnut Hill Hospital

Kenney for Mayor

In 2007, I testified before City Council about recycling. I questioned why our neighbors should get RecycleBank rewards for putting more plastics and papers into recycling, which entails industrial, polluting practices, while our family gets no city breaks for our more environmentally beneficial practice of reducing our total trash and recycling stream.

While some other Council members were non-present or indifferent Councilman Jim Kenney engaged me in thoughtful dialogue. I expect Mayor Kenney's administration to make engagement with the electorate a high priority.

Brian Rudnick

Chestnut Hill

Clintons collecting foreign dollars for political favors

Actual proof that the Clinton Foundation and Global Initiative took money from foreign entities with the intention of providing political favors at a later date may be hard to prove. The question that has to be answered is why would anyone pay $200,000 per speech to hear Hillary or $500,000 per speech to hear Bill if Hillary wasn't running for President.

What could they possibly say that was worth that kind of money? Why would foreign entities give the Clinton Global Initiative millions of dollars if Hillary wasn't running for President? That foundation wouldn't need to exist, those entities could give money to charities directly and not filter it through the Clintons.

Personal fortunes based on political power are always troubling. Team Clinton should not get a third term as President of the United States.

Glen Watkins

Chestnut Hill

Thanks to Florum Flowers

Some two months ago, Melissa Palmer of Florum Flowers at The Fareway told me that she wanted to hold a fund raiser for Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment. Her plan was to buy pots of flowers and give them to us to sell. We discussed it at the board level and decided that we could not say no. So, then came our PR, Please join our spring fund raiser, Buy a pot of geraniums and help the CHCE. We set the order date of April 20, and on April 23, 125 pots of geraniums were delivered. They were picked up by customers on April 25 and 26, and at the end of the day, we netted $1,200. Not bad for a fund raiser that took almost no effort.

Did I mention that the pots were decorated and included a poem about geraniums -- all done by Melissa?

How does one say thank you for such an act of kindness? I think that saying it “out loud” is one way. Thank you, Melissa, for being such a big-hearted and thoughtful part of the community! We treasure your friendship!

Marilyn M. Paucker

CHCE

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