An appreciation from former CHCA exec director

As you may be aware, I am no longer working as the Executive Director for the Chestnut Hill Community Association.

Working for the community association was one of the great joys of my life. What I have learned is that your neighborhood is truly one of the treasures of the city. I mean that sincerely. I was not only an employee of the community but I personally supported the restaurants (ate at every one), shopped at the many boutique stores, joined in on the festivals and brought my family along with me.

I wanted to thank a few people who supported me in my time here. I was lucky to have an amazing staff at the CHCA office. The community is incredibly lucky to have true professionals like Janet, Emily, Jordan and Celeste. Each of them are great at their jobs and my departure will not change that fact. They are the backbone of the association and the singular reason why the events and programs operate so efficiently. Most of the events at the CHCA have great volunteer leaders like Julie Byrne Pastorius Concerts), Brien Tilley (Hoops Madness/ Holiday Parade), Chris Padova (Movies under the Stars) and Helen Phillips (Holiday House Tour).

I’d also like to thank the key movers and shakers in Chestnut Hill who not only do an amazing job running their own organizations but were always a beacon of support for me. These individuals include but are not limited to: Martha Sharkey, Lori Salganicoff, Dr. Bill Valerio, Paul Meyer, Dr. Cacciamani, Dr. Scanlon, Dr. Druggan, Sister Mary Helen Beirne, and Chuck Marion. I’d also like to thank the tireless workers at The Chestnut Hill Local. Make no mistake, this is one great American newspapers still in business. They are a wonderful group of people who are dedicated to serving up terrific weekly journalism. On a personal note, I am deeply indebted to Pete Mazzaccaro and Larry Hochberger who took me under their wings. Thank you is not enough.

From myself, my wife and my daughter, I wanted to thank you, the kind people of Chestnut Hill. I feel sad that I will no longer be serving you but the CHCA is bigger than me (or any one individual). I tried to put my own spin on things here. I have zero regrets and many successes.  I encourage each of you to stay engaged, participate in the process of communalism, and enjoy the wonderful programs offered by the CHCA. I still believe that working for you was the greatest professional gratification I‘ve ever experienced.

Ryan Rosenbaum

Man IS causing climate change

This is a reply to Stan Moat's letter of Sept. 7,  ‘No such thing as   man-made climate change.’

In the documentary The Corporation, based on Bakan's book by the same name, an out of the ordinary business executive states, "There is not a single scientific, peer-reviewed paper published  in the last 25  years that would contradict this scenario. Every living system on Earth is in decline, every life support system of Earth is in decline, and these constitute a biosphere, the biosphere that supports and nurtures all of life and not just our life, but perhaps 30,000,000 other species that share the planet with us. The typical company of the 20th century – extractive, wasteful, abusive, linear in all of its processes – is taking from the earth,  sending its products back to the biosphere and it’s waste to a landfill. I myself was amazed to learn just how much stuff the Earth has to produce through our extraction process to produce a dollar of revenue for our company. When I learned, I was flabbergasted. We are leaving a terrible legacy of poison and diminishing of the earth’s environment to our grandchildren's  grandchildren, generation not yet  born. Some people have called that intergenerational tyranny, a form of taxation without  representation, levied by us on generations yet to be. It's the wrong thing to do."

In 1970, the Club of Rome warned us about the “Limits to Growth,” and on April 22 of that year we began celebrating "Earth Day,” reflecting awareness that humans  and hearth faced  environment  problems.  Ironically, in the decades since 1970 degradation of Earth has increased, not decreased.

Half of what used to be forests have disappeared.

Extinctions of species have been occurring  at a rate unparalleled  during the past  65 million years.

The global number of motor vehicles increased from around 250 million in 1970 to 1.2 billion today.

In the summer of 2000, there was the melting of the North Pole, a phenomena that had not occurred in 50 million years.

In 1999 Blue Cross first reported that  human displacement  as the result of  environmental  disasters, had replaced displacement  caused by wars. Tsunamis, "Sandy", "Harvey,” "Irma" and "Jose" are turning ordinary citizens lucky to survive into refugees.

And, of course,  the imbalance between ecological footprint and biocapacity has been exacerbated.

Stan Moat is wrong. Man-made climate change is real. And it is indeed "intergenerational tyranny.”

Diamantino P Machado

Chestnut Hill

Philly really is a beautiful city

Stacia Friedman’s ending to her article about her friend’s enthusiasm, which made her rethink about our city (“Showing a friend around Philly’s historical treasures,” Aug. 31), made me realize that where my sister and I grew up in Miami there really wasn’t much “city” to be rediscovered ( although now there might be a few more things of interest).

It certainly wouldn’t be to rediscover the history. Miami’s oldest building was the l920 Al Capone house! And street after street of infernal blocks of one-story concrete houses were boring enough then to even want to rediscover them.

In Philly four times a year all you have to do is go around your neighborhood, and the trees alone would be worth the drive. However, our city is filled with interesting homes and buildings representing various stages and ages of fantastic architecture also from many different periods of history.

One of our cousins, after seeing Valley Forge and East River Drive (as it was then called) never realized and couldn’t get over what a beautiful city we have. In fact, she mentioned that had she known of all our beauty and places of interest and had she been younger, she would gladly have moved here.

Now, we haven’t gone back often to see the Liberty Bell or Independence Hall, but when we’ve seen them with visitors they are interesting enough, like my sister’s friend, Terry, to see with new eyes and, yes, maybe even enthusiasm.

Carole Lindner

Mt. Airy