April 27, 2006 Issue                                                     

Due to a United States Postal Service situation the April 27th issue will be delivered but a few days late. We are sorry for any inconvenience.

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Local News

Chestnut Hill Community Association Board Candidates

Elaine M. Aiello

Elaine M. Aiello

Residence: Roxborough (previously, Chestnut Hill)
Family: Mother of five children, wife of Lou Aiello.
Education: High school graduate
Occupation: Homemaker, retired
Statement: I wouldn’t say I am the very best candidate for office, but I do love Chestnut Hill with all my heart. I raised five children here and all five were schooled here until college commenced. I have been a member of Our Mother of Consolation for 45 years. I have volunteered at my children’s schools and at the Main Street Fair. I also worked at Chestnut Hill Hospital for 18 years as a secretary/patient testing coordinator in the cardiac telemetry unit. My entire married life has revolved around Chestnut Hill, and now that I have some free time I would like to give back to Chestnut Hill, for it has certainly served my family well. I wish to do all I can to improve and at the same time preserve the uniqueness of this “village on the hill.”

Scott Alloway

Scott Alloway

Statement: I am a Chestnut Hill Local staff member seeking a seat on the board of directors of the Chestnut Hill Community Association. My decision to run was made last fall during the newspaper crisis created by many on the current board and their utter disregard for civility, rule of law and common courtesy. It was reaffirmed by their failures in fund drives, community activities and operational planning. It was finalized by their inability to understand what they have done when they cast themselves as the “reformers.”

 

 

Local volunteers honored by CHCA
by Kristin Pazulski

The recipients of the annual Chestnut Hill Community Association awards will be honored today, April 27, at the CHCA annual meeting. The honorees were selected by the CHCA Awards Committee, and drawn from nominations submitted by community members. The winners this year are Patricia Marian Cove, Carl Shaifer, the Chestnut Hill Senior Center, and Paul and Ellie Kurtz. A brief discussion of their work follows.

 

Commerce Bank provides CHCA with building’s design
by Kristin Pazulski

Commerce Bank officials have provided the Chestnut Hill Community Association with a packet including design plans for the property at 8600 Germantown Ave.

 

Groundbreaking project at Saylor turns marsh into wetland
by JENNIFER KATZ

Artist Peter Rockwell, youngest son of American iconoclast painter Norman Rockwell and graduate of Haverford College and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, created “Children at Play” for Saylor Grove in the 1970s.

A favorite frolicking destination for neighborhood children that became an unused eyesore, Saylor Grove, is now the site of a cutting-edge environmental experiment.

The three-acre parcel of Fairmount Park, just off Lincoln Drive at Wissahickon Avenue, is the first storm water-treatment wetland in the city. The Philadelphia Water Department has spent more than $550,000 and five years turning the abandoned marsh into a refurbished park and water-treatment system.

 

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Local Life

It’s not rocket science at Springside … but it’s close
by GRETCHEN HARRISON

Three Springside students won awards at the regional Delaware Valley Science Fair. Pictured are Mel Bavaria (left), who won 2nd place in Engineering, 1st place for the Women in Engineering award, and also the Herbert Hoover Award; McKenzie Hill-Strathy (center), who won an Honorable Mention in Engineering for her project Building and Testing the Accuracy of a Model Lie Detector; and Tally Bartlett, who won 3rd place in Physics and the Da Vinci award for her project The Effects of Speed, Force, Position and Entrance on Figure Skating Jumps and Spins.

She couldn’t believe her ears. After countless hours of research into rocket propellants, Springside student Melanie Bavaria heard her physics teacher, Dr. Kim Eberle-Wang, reject her proposal for a science project. “You can’t use any explosives at school,” Eberle-Wang had said. Distraught, Bavaria moaned to her mother that night, who quickly responded, “I agree with your teacher.” So began Bavaria’s project, How Do Rockets Get Off the Ground?, which would later win a first place Engineering Award at the George Washington Carver Science Fair and earn her a spot at the regional competition. Subsequently, she would also win three separate awards at the Regional Science Fair at Delaware Valley College.

How did this all begin? Bavaria traces the origins of her love affair with rockets to the movie October Sky. “It’s a huge family favorite,” she said. “Every one of the members of my family loves the movie. My 12-year-old brother will become a NASA scientist some day; I know it. He’s into rockets even more than me.”

 

Herb Brill offers a helping hand at Hill Hospital
by PAULA M. RILEY

Herb Brill, 81, helps calm the fears of relatives who come to visit their loved ones at Chestnut Hill Hospital. (Photo by Paula M. Riley)

This is the first in a series of articles on Chestnut Hill volunteers.

“You get more out of it than you put into it.” In this simple statement Herb Brill summarizes the volunteer experience. For more than 17 years, Brill has been volunteering at Chestnut Hill Hospital.

A life-long Philadelphian for his 81 years, Herb speaks gracefully as he recounts a colorful life and many years of service to the hospital. Choosing his words carefully as he talks, Brill’s eyes seem lost, reflecting years gone by.

 

 

 

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