September 21, 2006 Issue

Quick Links

September 1, 2006
Karl-Erik Strandberg, the former advertising manager for the Local, passed away. We have linked to the Philadelphia Inquirer report on his death.

August 28, 2006
The Philadelphia Daily News provides its take on the Chestnut Hill problem known as the Commerce Bank building site

August 18, 2006
Susie Madrak of Mt. Airy has a posting about a Mt. Airy renovation site on her web site. It's a neighbor's perspective on "historical preservation and updating to a condo building."

August 18, 2006
The Philadelphia Daily News has an interesting piece on the plants decorating the street poles of Chestnut Hill. Check it out here.

Ongoing
Local staff member Jimmy J. Pack Jr. has updated his on-line magazine with material from his Chicago trip.

©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

AbZOOlutely on the Hill
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI

Samuel Butler, 5, of Mt. Airy, interacts with “Rainforest,” one of the many AbZOOlutely sculptures in Chestnut Hill. (Photo by Jimmy J. Pack Jr.)

Small clusters of pedestrians collected along Germantown Avenue and Bethlehem Pike to admire the 48 colorfully adorned fiberglass animals that were unveiled at Saturday’s kick-off of Chestnut Hill’s AbZOOlutely public arts event.

At exactly noon, the sound of air horns, kazoos and the sirens of two fire engines from the Fire Department stations in Chestnut Hill and Mt. Airy alerted volunteers to pull the beige tarps off of the multicolored animals, among them a gem-stone flamingo, swirly rainbow elephant, neon duck and photograph-covered bear.

Nine-year-old Morgan Brzozowski and her seven-year-old brother, Luke, tore off the tarp on one of AbZOOlutely’s largest animals, the huge rainbow elephant at Border’s Book Store at Bethlehem Pike and Germantown Avenue.

“It was hard to pull off the tarps,” said Morgan in her “cool” AbZOOlutely straw safari hat. “They were very heavy because there was water on them, but it was fun.”

Ex-Springside lass dances her way into Boston Ballet
by JEROME O’NEILL

Miller left Springside School to pursue her dream, and now she’s dancing with the Boston Ballet.

In describing ballet, George Balanchine, the foremost 20th century choreographer in the world of ballet, once said, “You have to see the music and hear the dance.” Caitlin Miller of Chestnut Hill has been aspiring to do just that for most of her life, and recently, she has taken the next step in reaching her goals.

Miller, 19, accepted a position with the Boston Ballet this summer and is busy preparing for her first season with the company. Her days are filled with performance rehearsals and classes for repertoire, technique and point where she works to build and improve upon her basic foundation. The standards for a professional dancer are high, but Miller’s drive and desire are even higher.

“I’ve been doing ballet as long as I can remember,” said Miller. “At six years old, I started it as a hobby, as something many little girls do.”

Miller attended Springside and while in kindergarten she and five other girls began carpooling together to ballet classes. However, as the years passed, one by one the other girls quit ballet to pursue other interests. Miller, however, continued with classes at the Wissahickon Dance Academy. After school, she would race home for a quick meal, then attend classes until 8 every night.

“After a while none of my friends did ballet, and I felt left out of things,” said Miller. “My friends would make plans to go out, but I could never go. When I reached middle school at Springside, classes became more rigorous, and the ballet became more intense demanding more hours for dance.”

Miller reached a crossroads in eighth grade when her mother, Joleen, recognized ballet was becoming more than just an after-school activity for her daughter.

Mount sticksters prevail in first Villa Maria match
by TOM UTESCHER

Mount freshman Nicole Schuster, who scored the winning goal.

Although Mount St. Joseph graduated six talented players from its 2005 field hockey team, the two-time defending champions in the Athletic Association of Catholic Academies don’t seem to have missed a step in the early days of the 2006 campaign.

The Magic’s opponent in the 2005 league finals, the always-dangerous Villa Maria Hurricanes, blew into town last Tuesday afternoon, but were becalmed by the host Magic, 3-1. Both clubs came into the contest with 2-0 records, so with the victory the Mount climbed to 3-0 in the AACA, having outscored its three opponents, 13-1.

One key to the team’s ability to take graduation losses in stride has been the emergence of young talent; two of Tuesday’s goals were scored by sophomore Jenny Sabia and freshman Nicole Schuster. The third marker, actually the first of the game, came from Carolyn Cabrey, whose junior classmate, Kieran Sweeney, made four saves in goal for the winners.

“The kids played well; they knew we had to step up our play today,” remarked MSJ’s Lois Weber, who coaches the squad along with Tina Reinprecht. “Villa is strong and skilled, and we made sure the girls knew that everybody had to stay focused and had to be in the flow of the game at all times.”

Although the play ranged up and down the field evenly during the first half, the Hurricanes earned six penalty corners to the Magic’s one during the period. The Mount defended well, as Carla Bryant, Julie Reinprecht, and Meghan Longacre each blocked a Villa shot on a corner play. Longtime Hurricanes coach Maurene Polley was frustrated by her team’s inability to capitalize on the set plays.