May 31, 2007 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Local News

Hospital to keep obstetrics operational
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI

The obstetrics program at Chestnut Hill Hospital will remain open, Chestnut Hill Health System announced May 24.

Orchestra to play Pastorius
by PETE MAZZACCARO

Yes, it is happening. The Philadelphia Orchestra, one of the best-known and accomplished groups of concert musicians in the world, is coming to Chestnut Hill this summer.

Yarn shop takes on a cashmere battle
by KRISTIN PAZULSKI

Dawn Casale, owner and operator of The Knit With, voluntarily removed what she suspected was mislabeled yarn from her store’s shelves to have it tested. She later found out that her assumptions were correct and the yarn was indeed counterfeit. (Photo by Erin Vertreace)

The Knit With, a little yarn shop perched in a historic house overlooking Germantown Avenue, has joined battle with Knitting Fever Inc., a large yarn distributor based in Amityville, N.Y.

In 2001, Knit With, at 8226 Germantown Ave. across the street from the Chestnut Hill Hotel, began selling a line of yarns called Debbie Bliss, named after the well-known knitter and designer.

“The yarn was flying off the shelves,” said Dawn Casale, owner of Knit With and daughter of its founder, Marge Casale.

“[Bliss] has very charming designs and knitters love to knit her designs,” so of course the yarn was just as popular.

New president Vardakis outlines ambitious agenda for association; new officers named
by Pete Mazzaccaro

The Chestnut Hill Community Association kicked off a new fiscal year at its annual organizational meeting, May 24, with a new administration and a lot of sanguine talk about where to take the association in the future.

Run to end after 20 years of good deeds
by JENNIFER KATZ

This year’s Run beneficiary, Tracey Snyder.

After raising upwards of $1 million for more than a dozen families with a special needs child, Run for the Hill of It organizers decided that this would be the run’s last year.

When runners line up on Saturday, July 28 for the 5-mile run and 1-mile walk to raise money for this year’s beneficiary Tracey Snyder, a 14-year-old girl suffering from cardiovascular disease, it will be the end of the line for the area’s well-known benefit, said one of the event’s founders, Anne McNally.

“Twenty years ago, we thought we were doing it for one year for multiple sclerosis,” McNally said of the annual run and dinner dance fundraiser. “So many people should be proud of what they’ve done.”

That first run included 75 runners and raised about $3,000 for the disease. It was not until the following year, that the same group would reconvene the event in hopes of raising $10,000 for a 13-year-old one of the organizers met when his nephew was at Children’s Hospital.