A delightful day in the gardens!

The Mt. Airy Learning Tree wants to thank Eric Sternfels, an architect/designer/artist and professional Garden Coach, for curating yet another wonderfully successful Hidden Gardens Tour! With eight private homes plus the Historic Wyck House, over 200 participants were treated to a wide variety of gardens: sun, shade, floral, green, ponds, patios and much more.

MALT is also deeply appreciative of our hosts for sharing not just their gardens but the intimate knowledge of their property's history. MALT has existed for 35 years in part because of the generosity of our community and people willing to share their passions. Our annual Hidden Gardens Tour is truly the embodiment of that wealth.

The Hidden Gardens Tour is made possible due to the support of our sponsors: Chestnut Hill Hospital, Valley Green Bank, David Brothers landscape Services, Chestnut Hill Cat Clinic, and Cox Consult and Management Firm. We already look forward to next year!

Judy Weinstein

Executive Director

Mt. Airy Learning Tree

A thanks to Coupe Flowers for assist

Chestnut Hill Center for Enrichment held its second Annual Geranium Day last month.  This year, Coupe Flowers of Erdenheim was our sponsor. We took orders online and by telephone, and sold 180 pots of flowers, in spectacular colors of, salmon, white, and different shades of pink. Coupe Flowers delivered the plants to us on April 21, and that afternoon a small group of volunteers wrapped each pot in shining paper, also supplied by Coupe Flowers. During the next days, the pots were picked up by their new owners.

At the end of the day, this fund raiser netted $1,400. Thank you to all who joined in the fundraiser and purchased the geraniums. A big thank you also to Coupe Flowers who so generously joined us this year!

When I phoned Mr. Coupe to thank him and to tell of our success, he said, “That is awesome.” My response to that is, “Mr. Coupe, you are awesome,  and we are more than grateful.”

Marilyn M. Paucker

CHCE

Consolation prize is not too shabby

I really got a kick out of your "Wheel of Fortune" article this week ("Local dean is the BIG winner on 'Wheel of Fortune,'" June 2).

We watch the show all the time and have often commented to each other, as you did in your article in a humorous way, that every spouse is "wonderful" and every child is "beautiful."

If those descriptions were really true, the world would be a much better and prettier place. Of course, when we look out into the audience and see all of those "beautiful" people, we see there is not much objectivity going on.

We did watch the show that your article was about and felt really bad for Emily Johnson, who lives in this area, when she missed out on $33,000 by one second, although her consolation prize, more than $26,000 and a trip to Aruba, was not too bad. She can cry in her cocktails while looking out at the Caribbean in Aruba. I would not mind doing the same thing.

Cecelia Bowen

Chestnut Hill

Father's Day: magical dad recalled

“Private Goodman front and center,” my father said one cold night a long time ago. He was talking to me. He sometimes talked to my sister and me like we were his army buddies instead of two little girls.

“Yes, sir,” I answered. "Why, sir?""Are you questioning a superior officer, private?

"No, sir."

Come with me, private. I have something to show you,” he said, “and I think you'll like it.”

We went onto our front lawn, and dad pointed to the sky.

“Jan, can you find the Big

Dipper?”

“What’s a Big Dipper?” I asked.

“It’s up in the sky. There,” dad said. “It’s called a constellation. If you look hard at the stars, you can see the shape of a dipper with a handle. ”

I looked as hard as I could. Looked at the millions of beautiful stars in the sky in front of our little house. I squinted.

“No, dad, I can’t.” I forgot I was supposed to in the army.

"Keep looking," he said.

Then suddenly, my point of view shifted, narrowed. The entire sky changed before my eyes.

“Wait a minute. I CAN! I SEE IT! It’s there, right?”

I pointed to exactly the same place he had pointed to, and I SAW a very big dipper with a handle!

“That’s it, Jan. Isn’t that great? In the old days, people looked up at the sky and saw pictures in the stars.”

“Are there more pictures?” I asked.

“Many more,” he said. “Now close your eyes for a minute, then open them and see if you can find the Big Dipper again.”

It took me a few seconds, but I found it.

“It’s there; right, dad?”

“You’re good, Jan.”

I was awestruck. Not by the pictures in the sky because, honestly, the sky looked like a giant connect-the-dots; I could connect the dots forever and come up with nothing. I was awestruck by my father, who could look up and see a picture in all those stars. What kind of magical father did I have who could read the stars?

Who could make the stars move so that I could see the pictures he saw. And who could show me, too. What else did he know?

Janet Gilmore

Chestnut Hill