September 11, 2008 Issue                                       

©2007 The Chestnut Hill Local

Local News

AND THEY’RE OFF Chestnut Hill Academy’s cross country team breezed to a victory over Shipley last week. See LOCAL SPORTS.. (Photo by Jimmy J. Pack Jr.)

Hospital CEO defends closing of obstetrics
by JOEL HOFFMANN

Chestnut Hill Hospital CEO M. Brooks Turkel believes he made the best decision for the community in closing the hospital’s obstetrics unit, but he understands the pain behind the numbers.

New teachers’ fund provides money for classroom materials
by JENNIFER KATZ

State Sen. LeAnna Washington and Mt. Airy’s Ken Weinstein took a small bite out of the funding constraints for five local public schools by announcing the formation of the Mt. Airy Teachers’ Fund, a grant program that provides enrichment opportunities for teachers.

AbZOOlutely2 brings bears to the Avenue
by JOEL HOFFMANN

Jane Piotrowski designed her bear, Ursala, for ZOO2, which begins Sept. 14.

Bears will soon inhabit the Avenue. Good thing they’re stationary — and inanimate.

Volunteers from 12 Philadelphia-area architecture firms have turned 12 fiberglass bear statues into works of art that will stand along the J.S. Jenks Elementary School wall.

The bears will be unveiled to the public at 1 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 14, at the opening of AbZOOlutely2, the second edition of the 2006 fundraising event.

“I’m definitely looking forward to seeing all of those bears lined up together,” said Jean McCoubrey of Hill-based Stanley Runyan & Associates. “I think there will be some where you can instantly tell what it is all about from a distance. For others, you’ll have to get up close.”

Flourtown remodelers’ home featured in trade magazine
by JENNIFER KATZ

Diane Maneke is pictured outside the Flourtown home she and partner, Dana Priesing have been remodeling. Their work on the house has been featured in the June 2008 issue of Professional Remodeler Magazine. (Photo by Erin Vertreace)

At first glance, the house doesn’t look all that different from the other 1950s structures up and down the street. With the large panes of rectangular windows making up a single front window, sloped roofs and front facing attached garages, the Flourtown neighborhood sandwiched between Paper Mill Road and Bethlehem Pike is a throwback to another era when Tupperware ruled the kitchen and people still drove Buicks.

Yet this suburban community is where Diane Menke and Dana Priesing came to escape a confining Center City house and to expand both personally and professionally. For the past 10 years Menke has worked with business partner Tamara Myers to build Myers Constructs Inc. a design/build contracting firm. Priesing is the company’s controller and Menke’s partner.