April 6, 2006 Issue                                               

©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Local Life

Chestnut Hill’s ‘Music Man’
Golden wins gold; best violin maker in competition
by LEN LEAR

Harold Golden, surrounded by his remarkable award-winning instruments in his Chestnut Hill studio

Even many non-musicians have heard of names like Stradivarius and Guarneri. They were Italian makers of violins about 300 years ago whose power and tone are still so extraordinary that if their wood has not deteriorated over time, they now cost more than $1 million each — if they can be found, that is.

“I have played a $1 million Guaneri violin and a $1 million Stradivarius,” explained Harold Golden, Chestnut Hill resident who knows something about violins himself. “The music from each of those violins sends a chill up your spine.”

Hill scientist finds 375-million-year-old fossils
by CAROLYN BELARDO

Chestnut Hill resident Dr. Ted Daeschler, of The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, co-leader of the historic expedition to Ellesmere Island above the Arctic Circle, shows one of the 375-million-year-old fossils he and his colleagues discovered.

The recent discovery above the Arctic Circle of remarkably well preserved fossils from a new species of ancient fish provides a key marker in the evolutionary transition of fish to limbed animals.

In two related articles highlighted on the April 6 cover of the journal Nature, Chestnut Hill resident Dr. Ted Daeschler of The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia, co-leader of the expedition to Ellesmere Island, and his colleagues announced the discovery of 375-million-year-old fossils with numerous features that place them squarely at the evolutionary transition from fish to limbed animals. The new species has a skull, neck, ribs and part of a fin like the earliest limbed animals, but also has fins and scales like a fish.

In Chestnut Hill area, your junk is his treasure
by LOU PERSEGHIN

Brian Fawcett and his conspicuous company car are often seen on the streets of Chestnut Hill. (Photo by Lou Perseghin)

Brian Fawcett, 27, wants your junk. Ratty couches, old appliances, mattresses and bags of odds and ends, he wants it all. Fawcett isn’t a packrat or antique dealer, but rather the owner of a 1-800-GOT JUNK? franchise. With business partner Alan Remer, Fawcett is eager to help out with the impending spring cleaning that many homes around the Chestnut Hill and Montgomery County area will go through as the weather turns.

In July of 2005, Fawcett and Remer opened for business, which has increased steadily for almost a year. “I feel like we bought a McDonalds in the 1950s or ‘60s,” said Fawcett over a coffee in the Chestnut Hill Starbucks.

We did not hunt for Hunter
How did we discover community theater reviewer?
by LEN LEAR

Former Chestnut Hill resident Hugh Hunter had one of the most unusual hobbies imaginable. He wrote theater reviews for his own amusement, not for newspapers.

Over the years the Local has had many freelancers doing reviews of The Stagecrafters’ productions (Chestnut Hill’s 75-year-old community theater) as well as those of other community theaters in our circulation area. Some readers might have wondered who these reviewers are and where the newspaper finds them. You might be surprised at the answer. Let’s just say our quest for reviewers is not as exhaustive as the search for a new U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

For example, about two years ago I received an unsolicited call from a Fox Chase resident named Hugh Hunter who had a government job in City Hall. “I used to live in Chestnut Hill, so I know you run theater reviews,” he said. “I go to the theater a lot in center city and write reviews, and I’d like to know if you would be interested in running my reviews.”

Blind artists’ show at Allens Lane

“My Vision: Sculpture & Paintings by Physically Challenged Artists” features work by artists in Allens Lane Art Center’s Vision Thru Art program for the blind and visually impaired and work by members of NuVisions for Disabled Artists. The exhibit includes sculpture in a variety of media including clay, plaster, wood, papier-mache and cardboard. Paintings and mixed media will round out the show.