December 21, 2006 Issue                                       

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©2006 The Chestnut Hill Local

Local Life

Local pair adopts three sets of twins from Russia
by MARY PRICE LEE
and RICHARD S. LEE

Pictured with “Ariel” at Disney World are (top row, from left) Hythem Salem, Selene, Lisa Salem and Julianne, and (front row) Sam, Joe, Sophia and Jake.

Their story begins several years ago when Lisa and Hythem Salem of nearby Telford took a galactic step to collect the first set of twins, Joe and Sophia, then aged one — and much in need of love and care. Their prognosis: grim.

Dateline, the NBC-TV news program, followed Lisa and Hythem Salem as they took another giant step, a return trip to Russia to pick up two more sets of twins — and they were leaving a set of twins behind!

Unique Christmas present: turning 100 years old
by LEN LEAR

Elisabeth Coady, on her 99th birthday on December 27, 2005.

Elisabeth Coady, who will be celebrating her 100th birthday on December 27, for many years was virtually synonymous with the Chestnut Hill Senior Center. She has proven that even though you can’t turn back the clock, you can certainly wind it up again. Up until just a few years ago, she was reading an average of four books a week and was more active than some people half her age.

“My mom is a real Renaissance woman,” said her daughter, Mary, 66. “She made her own drapes and clothing, read books about everything you can think of, loved the history of the city and was always going to the theater. She really was interested in everything.”

Christmas cards: charming custom or crazy obsession
by LEN LEAR

What would Jesus think of the multi-billion dollar Christmas card industry?

I remember the exact date well — Sunday, October 7 of this year — because it was the 19th anniversary of my mother’s death. The weather was unusually mild, so when I saw our neighbor, Phil, out in his backyard, I asked if he’d like to shoot up some baskets. (Phil put up a hoop a couple years ago for his son.)

“I’d love to shoot ’em up,” he replied, “but I have to go inside and do our Christmas cards.”

“Are you joking?” I replied. “It’s two-and-a-half months away.”

“I know,” he said, “but I have zillions of business clients and relatives to send them to, and if I put it off till later, then it won’t get done. Every year we start on the Christmas cards early, sometimes at the end of summer.”

Phil said that about 10 years ago, one of his children found a stack of stamped, addressed envelopes and took it upon himself to mail them at the Mt. Airy post office. More than 100 friends and relatives, as a result, wound up getting Christmas greetings from Phil and his wife before Labor Day!! The amazing thing is that most did not even seem surprised, except for a cousin in Minnesota, who thought it was the previous year’s card and who proceeded to berate his mail carrier.

How does a center city lover wind up living on Hill?
by AUDREY LEVINE

Newcomers to Chestnut Hill: Mike and Pam Thistle with children Zoe, 4, and Sally, 3.

From city to suburbia, Pam Thistle and her husband, Mike, and two daughters, four-year-old Zoe and three-year-old Sally, entered a world only Mrs. Thistle had experience with when they moved from Center City to Wyndmoor in September of this year.

“We’re city people,” said Mrs. Thistle, who grew up in Wyndmoor but lived in Center City for the last 15 years. “But Chestnut Hill is a charming village that has an urban feel.”

Mrs. Thistle said her family moved to be closer to Springside School, open for kids in grades kindergarten through 12th, in Chestnut Hill. Zoe started there in September.

Where’s the beef? At Fogo de Chão, it’s everywhere
by LEN LEAR

Servers dressed as gauchos (South American cowboys) carve a non-stop parade of beef and other meats tableside at Fogo de Chão.

Chestnuts are not the only thing roasting over an open fire on Chestnut Street during this Christmas season. At Fogo de Chão, which just opened last Saturday at 1337 Chestnut St. in what used to be the J.E. Caldwell’s Jewelry Store, you might say there’s always a thriller on the griller.

Fogo de Chão, which means “fire on the ground” in Portuguese, is a churrascaria, or authentic Brazilian steakhouse. Believe me, no matter how many steakhouses you may have been to, they are nothing like Fogo de Chão, an upscale chain that now has four restaurants in Brazil and seven in major American cities.

Inspirational Christmas concerts at Hill churches
by MICHAEL CARUSO

STORIES AND ROCK ‘N’ ROLL: Chestnut Hill resident Ted Fink, a professional storyteller, will tell some of his amazing stories at the Mermaid Inn, 7673 Germantown Ave., on Wednesday, Dec. 27, 9 p.m. sharp. Also performing will be local musicians Andy Maher and the B-Siders, a popular rock ‘n’ roll band. For more information, call 247-9797

Chestnut Hill was at the very center of the holiday season of choral concerts this past weekend. Two local churches, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill, hosted two of the region’s leading choruses, the Mendelssohn Club of Philadelphia and the Choral Arts Society of Philadelphia. With the latter ensemble joined by Piffaro, the Renaissance Wind Wand, it made for a festive weekend on the Hill.

Alan Harler and the Mendelssohn Club have been making their annual Christmastime pilgrimage to St. Paul’s Church for many years and have built a large enough audience to require two performances on Saturday. In a program entitled “Laud to the Nativity” after the lovely work by Ottorino Respighi of the same name that was the concert’s principal score, Harler and the Mendelssohn Club assured their many local fans that he and they remain at the top of their respective and collective forms.