August 7, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Local Life

Tribute to special friend and inspirational ‘teacher’
by DIANE COLLINS

Attah, a spectacularly beautiful and noble friend, left this world way too soon.

Animals may aide us in our everyday lives, in our dreams and meditations. Since they were created before humans, they are closer to the source and can act as allies, guides and familiars in our search for wholeness.” — An Inuit Woman

Who are your teachers?

Who has brought the powerful, inspiring experiences that resonate with crystal clarity as “wisdom” for you?

From pot-washer to vice-president
Wyndmoor native helps run new $400 million Water Club
by LEN LEAR

Drew Schlesinger, right, vice-president of The Water Club, answers questions from a reporter about the much-ballyhooed property next to the Borgata Casino-Hotel.

When Drew Schlesinger, 54, was growing up in Wyndmoor and graduating from Springfield Township High School, he really did not know exactly what kind of a career he wanted to pursue. “All I knew was that it would be something in business,” Drew said. “Beyond that, I had no idea.”

Schlesinger went on to major in business at Boston University, but he still was not sure about a career choice until a ground-level job as a pot washer, of all things, in the kitchen of the Valley Forge Hilton Hotel provided a soapy introduction to the many other aspects of the hotel industry.

Former OMC parishoner named new admissions director at CHA
by PAULA M. RILEY

Vince Valenzuela is flanked by the other members of the CHA admissions office, Lisa Hoag (left), admissions assistant, and Emily Surovick, director of lower school admissions.

Courage, Honesty, Integrity, Loyalty and Sportsmanship. When Vincent Valenzuela, director of admissions and enrollment management at Chestnut Hill Academy, speaks about CHA values, his face lights up. 

Valenzuela’s enthusiasm for the school is infectious and his energy level towards his new job enviable. As a former parishoner of Our Mother of Consolation Church, he has always wanted to work for CHA. His impression when he interviewed earlier this year reinforced what he already knew. “I was very impressed with the staff and students.  There is a buzz around the campus from the new LEED-certified Science and Technology Center (opening January ‘09) to the success of the athletic programs to the passion and dedication I felt from both the faculty and students. This really is a special place.”

A big fan of fake Beatles; all he needs is real love
by JIM HARRIS

There are so many fake Beatles bands that are developing their own fan base, you may soon have bands that are impersonating the impersonators.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love the Beatles. And not in any rational way, but to a degree that approaches religious fervor. Our house is plastered with Beatle posters on every possible surface. Visitors will open a closet door and jump back as a giant Ringo head appears. “Again with the Beatles? What’s up with that?”

What’s up is that I am a guitar-playing flower child, weaned on Beatlemania. Who am I gonna like, Britney Spears? I followed and mirrored the musical and cultural evolution of the Fab Four throughout the turbulent decade of the 1960s. Amidst all the frightening, polarizing changes happening in society, the Beatles told us unequivocally that all we needed was love, and I believed them. Now, you may say that I was a dreamer, but I was not the only one.