March 16, 2006 Issue                                               

©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

News

Editor of Local approved at special CHCA session
by Meredith Sonderskov

New Local Editor Lea Sitton Stanley.

A special board meeting of the Chestnut Hill Community Association was called on Thursday, March 9, to discuss the Editor’s Search Committee’s recommendation for editor of the Chestnut Hill Local. In order to make the meeting legal, a motion was introduced to suspend the bylaw’s provision for giving seven-day notice of the time, place and agenda, for this meeting only. The motion was passed.

Reaching out to hurricane victims
MLK Day sets off Habitat House in a Box
by Jennifer Katz

Volunteers from the Philadelphia area work on the interior of a Habitat for Humanity House building project in Lafayette, La., that was presented to a New Orleans family left homeless from Hurricane Katrina. The first phase of the project was started on the Jan. 16, 2006, MLK Day of service at King High School in Mt. Airy. The framing materials were then trucked to Lafayette where about 18 volunteers from the Philadelphia area, including employees from Prudential Fox and Roach Realtors, helped complete the 11th annual King Day of Service project, which saw 50,000 volunteers serving in some 600 projects throughout the greater Philadelphia area.

Started in a school parking lot in Mt. Airy, and finished on a street in Lafayette, La., inspired by tragedy and infused with a collective spirit of compassion. It is a house and it is a home.

For Denise and Leo Collins and their 12-year-old son, Leo Jr., it is a new start after losing their home and all of their belongings to Hurricane Katrina last fall.

The first phase of construction for this house was actually started in the parking lot of Martin Luther King High School on Stenton Ave. as part of the 11th annual MLK Day of Service. Founder and Executive Director of the Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service, Todd Bernstein, arranged for the Habitat for Humanity “House in a Box” to be this year’s signature project in commemoration of King’s legacy.

Willow Grove Avenue Bridge closed for repairs
by Kristin Pazulski &
JENNIFER KATZ

The Willow Grove Avenue bridge, at Saint Martins train station, was closed suddenly on Thursday, March 9. Streets Commissioner Clarena I.W. Tolson announced the closure “in response to a determination that emergency repair work is needed on the bridge,” read the statement released Thursday.

No contract yet for New Covenant
by Kristin Pazulski

The New Covenant Church, 7500 Germantown Ave., is looking to propose plans for a 169- to 175-bed facility that will house about 50 homeless families. The proposal is in response to a general request from the city’s Office of Emergency Shelters and Services, however, as of yet no contract has been signed with the city, and the proposal for the housing has not been sent in, according to Michael Quintero-Moore, public relations representative for Miller’s office.

AbZOOlutely Chestnut Hill; a first of its kind
Other cities have focused on just one animal, this is going to be a real zoo

The Chestnut Hill Business Improvement District and the Chestnut Hill Community Association are teaming up this year to bring zoo animals to Chestnut Hill, and this promises to be an AbZOOlutely spectacular series of events for children and adults of all ages.

Community Fund Drive falls short of goal
by Kristin Pazulski

The budget and finance committee of the Chestnut Hill Community Association is prepared to make recommendations at the CHCA board meeting March 23 for the three budgets: the Chestnut Hill Local, the Association and the Community Fund.