©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Local Life

Smokers are people ... who should be segregated
by LEN LEAR

Local Life editor, Len Lear, clearly gets no respect as co-workers expel their chemical poisons into his face. What ever happened to the good old days when attempts were rarely made to snuff out the lives of editors? (Photo by Jimmy J. Pack Jr. — a non-smoker)

Chestnut Hill resident D.G. Hart can obviously write well (“Smokers are people, too” in the May 4 Local), so I assume he was being deliberately disingenuous — rather than just ignorant — when he argued that it is just as unfair to discriminate against smokers like him as it would be to discriminate against people who eat hamburgers, pizza, bacon, etc., in restaurants. (The Tobacco Institute, a trade association that represents the lethal tobacco industry, has often made the same silly argument in its literature.)

World premiere about hermit for Hill filmmaker next week
by LEN LEAR

Ray Phillips, whose life story is captured in a documentary by former Chestnut Hill resident Elisabeth Harris, is seen in his lonely but picturesque island.

Unlike so many high school and college students whose career plans change as often as their clothing, Chestnut Hill native Elisabeth Harris never wavered in her dream of becoming a filmmaker. From her days at Germantown Academy (Class of 1996) and the University of the Arts to her undergraduate studies at Vassar College and Master’s Degree courses at City College of New York, Harris never planned to be anything but a filmmaker. “I just thought the whole process was magical,” she said.

Mt. Airy therapist has a special way with children
by PAULA M. RILEY

Mary Ann Baron, a licensed professional counselor and child psychotherapist with new offices in Mt. Airy, works with kids and their families to create a productive environment at home and open the communication process. (Photo by Paula M. Riley)

The idea of psychotherapy can be intimidating for some, but Mary Ann Baron, a licensed professional counselor and child psychotherapist with new offices in Mt. Airy, explains it quite simply, “Psychotherapy for children enables kids and adolescents to bring forth, understand and let go of feelings that have not been expressed but are inside troubling them.”

As a child psychotherapist, Baron views herself as the facilitator who provides a supportive, fun, non-threatening environment where kids can talk and freely express themselves. Her task is to work with these kids and their families to learn how to create this environment at home and open the communication process.

Dining out is overrated; I’d much rather dine alone
by CHRISTOPHER BACHLER

Press reports all over the world told us that this is terrorist mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, seen shortly after his capture last year during a raid in Pakistan, but Chris Bachler, who has an aversion to eating out, insists it is really a photo of a typical short order cook at a greasy spoon diner.

I am very unusual. I don’t like to eat out. In fact, I prefer to dine alone. This makes me a curiosity to most people, who relish the formal dining experience.

To me, eating is a purely biological function; I eat because I am hungry, and for no other reason. I see nothing socially appealing about dining with others. The last thing I want while eating is to listen to someone’s mindless chatter, or to be pelted with flying morsels of partially-chewed food. No less nauseating is the sight and sound of people talking while they chew. If eating and talking were meant to be done simultaneously, we would have been given two mouths!

Vinest dinner from Hill’s former ‘celebrity chef’
by LEN LEAR

At one time, food writers seemed unable to write about chef Alison Barshak, of Alison at Blue Bell, without mentioning her red hair as well as her food. For more information or reservations, call 215-641-2660 or visit www.alisonatbluebell.com (Photo courtesy of Courtney Grant Winston.)

Chef Alison Barshak and Jonathan Newman, chairman of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB), will pair fine food and fine wines at a special dinner on Monday, June 12, to promote the PLCB’s Chairman’s Selection program at Alison at Blue Bell restaurant. The dinner’s wines will be hand-picked by Chairman Newman to match a special four-course menu created by Chef Barshak.

“Since we’re a BYOB, Chairman Newman will be our sommelier for the evening,” said Barshak. “We’re all looking forward to having a chance to discuss wine with the person who is leading the dramatic and positive change at the PLCB and bringing PA wine enthusiasts an international selection of premium highly-rated wine at an amazing price.”

In advance of the dinner, guests will be given a list of recommended wines, hand-selected by Chairman Newman, to bring that evening. Throughout the dinner, Chairman Newman and Chef Barshak will engage guests in a discussion about the evening’s pairings.

Mt. Airyite’s ‘Silence Ride’ honors tragic victims
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI

John Siemiarowski of Mt. Airy stands on the steps of the Art Museum with daughter, Leah, as the vigil candle commemorating those killed in bicycle accidents is lit at Philadelphia’s first Ride of Silence on Wednesday, May 17. (Photos by Krikstin Pazulski)

All that was audible was the clicking of gears and the distant roar of the city as about 300 cyclists followed East Mount Airy’s John Siemiarowski away from the steps of the Art Museum for Philadelphia’s first-ever “Ride of Silence.”

“We accomplished what we set out to do,” said Siemiarowski after the event. That accomplishment was a message echoed throughout the nation and in eight other countries where Rides of Silence took place: to raise awareness that cyclists have the same rights and responsibilities as motorists on the road and to commemorate those who have died or been injured in bicycle/motorcycle accidents.

Strawbridge’s the latest victim of corporate vulture
by JIMMY J. PACK JR.

The elevator area of Strawbridger and Clothier is decorated with a bronze statue that is supposed to bring good luck. Not to this store. With one selling floor strewn with liquidated merchandise, the building had the feel of a post-doomsday movie set. (Photos by Jimmy J. Pack Jr.)

As of June 1, the Strawbridge’s department store will no longer exist. Less than a year ago the parent company of Strawbridge’s, the May Company (which has devoured many major department stores that gave some major American cities the heart of their retail culture, such as Filene’s of Boston, Marshall Field’s of Chicago and Hecht’s of Balitmore), announced that every store it owns will become either a Macy’s or a Bloomingdales. That’s it.

Another May-owned company, New York’s Lord & Taylor, will be sold off, but only after May takes what it needs from them. In Philadelphia that means the Lord & Taylor, nee Wannamaker’s at 13th and Market, will become a Macy’s.

And what is to become of the old Strawbridge’s building in center city? Rumors are circulating that it may become a Boscov’s or a Target, but regardless of what happens the loss of Strawbridge’s says a lot about what is happening to our culture.