October 5, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Local News

Arts Fest beats rain
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI

Many children were part of last Sunday’s Fall for the Arts Festival. For more Photos visit www.chlocalphotos.com.

A day that started with a wet and soggy Germantown Avenue was transformed into a glorious Fall for the Arts Festival on Sunday.

“It turned out to be a really nice day,” said Lynn Comoh, who has sold her gem and iron décor during Fall for the Arts for the past couple of years. “The rainy morning certainly didn’t stop people from coming out!”

The Chestnut Hill Business Association estimated that about 50,000 people visited the avenue during the 22nd annual fall arts festival.

No smoking is no joke
Some bar-goers, tenders and owners are happy for the clean, smoke-free smell of their clothes when they head home from a night in the bar, thanks to the ban put into effect last Monday, but others are upset, shouting, “Viva la smoka,” with a cigarette in hand.
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI

This letter is in response to the letter appearing in the March 30 issue titled “From our readers” section, from Mrs. Amy Polk.

Last of rare bookshops closes its doors
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI

Hugh Gilmore will close his Chestnut Hill Avenue shop this week, but his book business will live online. (Photo by Kristin Pazulski)

The smell of old books, their pages yellowed with age and covers cracked from the hands of many readers, greets the visitor who enters Gilmore’s Book Shop — or at least, what was Gilmore’s Book Shop.

This unique, old-fashioned rare and used-book store on Chestnut Hill Avenue, just off Bethlehem Pike, closed it doors officially on Saturday, two weeks after owner Hugh Gilmore was informed that the adjacent business, Blum Chestnut Hill Antique, which leased him the space, was going to use the space for its expansion.

Locals travel to capitol to advocate for gun control
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI

Tomorrow, Sophia Fleming should be celebrating the 20th birthday of her son, Adam. Instead, she’ll spend the day reflecting on the 17 years he was in her life and hoping that she made a strong impression on state legislators Sept. 26, when she attended the gun-control rally outside the state Capitol while inside the State House of Representatives discussed about 100 pieces of crime legislation.

Northwest facility connects kids and horses in Chestnut Hill
by Ed Mahon

Erica Heinz and her horse Usher are regular users of Chestnut Hill’s Northwestern Equestrian Facility (Photo by Ed Mahon)

Erica Heniz, 11, and her horse Usher seem to get along fine, even though she says he’s naughty with experienced riders and once threw her off. To picture how much of a fall that is, know that after her horseback riding lesson, when Erica cleans him, she has to stand on her tiptoes to brush Usher’s back.

For Lauren Flemming, 16, the black horse she rides won’t keep his head straight. Mack, a former racehorse, doesn’t always act so uppity, but Lauren says that today the flies are probably bothering him.

Throughout the hour-long lesson, during which four young girls ride, canter, and jump on horses at the Northwestern Equestrian Facility, the occasionally sleep-deprived instructor Kathy Kerneckel yells a variety of short instructions, such as “let go,” “big release,” and most often, “whoa.”

Budnick approved interim community manager
by PETE MAZZACCARO

Ed Budnick has settled into his new job as Interim Community Manager. (Photo by Kristin Pazulski)

Ed Budnick, a 16-year resident of Chestnut Hill who often criticized the Chestnut Hill Community Association in the Local’s letter pages, was approved by board vote to direct the association as its community manager on an interim basis pending a thorough search. He has replaced former Community Manager Betty Brady, who resigned last month. The community manager is the title the CHCA uses for its executive director.

Budnick started work for the CHCA a week before his appointment to follow up on several crises for CHCA President Ron Recko. Budnik performed considerable work in securing funds from the Chestnut Hill Community Fund to cover more than $23,000 in unpaid printing bills for the Local.