July 7, 1966

July 4th celebration explodes with winners

Last Monday, the annual Chestnut Hill-Mt. Airy Businessmen’s Association’s July 4 community celebration skyrocketed to new heights with a 50th anniversary bill ranging from dazzling fireworks at the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf to free lunches for the kids. Helping to organize the festivities were two invaluable groups, the Fathers’ Club and the Mothers’ Club.

July 8, 1976

Water Tower has Bicentennial blast

The 60th annual July 4th celebration at the Water Tower Recreation Center was a bang-up, Bicentennial blast from beginning to end. Sponsored by the Chestnut Hill-Mt. Airy Businessmen’s Association, with a $300 assist from the Chestnut Hill Community Fund, the daylong gala found almost 2,000 revelers of all ages enjoying the bicycle parade, races, a free lunch, the Father’s Club All Star game, and an exhibition game between the 13-16 year old baseball teams.

July 10, 1986

The cookbook has arrived

The delivery of the first shipment of the Chestnut Hill Cookbook last Thursday, July 3, caused almost as much excitement as the arrival of a new family member. “I could not sleep at all Wednesday night, I was so excited and so nervous,” said Helen Kiesel, the Senior Center member who has piloted the cookbook project from an incredibly ambitious idea through to its completion. The cookbook was so tastefully designed that even the printer commented on its attractiveness, Kiesel said. And no wonder such excitement and praise. The cookbook has been delivered a full three weeks ahead of schedule, thanks to the skill and determination with which Kiesel guided it through the various phases of production.

July 11, 1996

Stars, stripes, Olympians highlight July 4th

It was a cool Fourth of July. The ground was mushy in places. And families came out in droves for the 80th annual Independence Day celebration, sponsored by the Bocce Club, at the Water Tower Recreation Center. Tom Woodruff, the coordinator of the introduction, set the tone of the celebration through his introduction, a heartwarming tribute to Old Glory. Using a faded, ragged old flag as a prop, Woodruff described to the audience how, despite two centuries of war and bloodshed, the American flag is still going strong. “We’re mighty, mighty proud” of that flag, he said.

July 13, 2006

Residents and civic leader fight back after drive-by hits street

Residents of East Mount Airy came out in force at a community meeting to discuss the drive-by shooting on July 3 that left two people shot and littered the 200 block of East Durham Street with bullets. Much of the neighbors’ anger and focus was concentrated on the owner of 228 E. Durham St., the residence of the two people believed to be at the center of the shooting. According to Vernon Price, administrator for Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller and a longtime resident of the immediate vicinity, the occupants of 228 E. Durham St. and 248 E. Sydney St. were involved in an altercation at the Sedgwick train station that escalated into the shooting hours later.

July 7, 2016

Neighbors: Water Tower is a ‘runaway train’

Multiple residents who live in the vicinity of the Water Tower Recreation Center say the center is failing to live up to the standards of the Chestnut Hill community. The major problems nearby neighbors have with the Water Tower include garbage not being properly put for collection or cleaned up, stormwater runoff, light and noise disturbances, rats, the makeshift skate park, and an overall lack of accountability and supervision. “There’s safety issues, there’s attractive nuisances, a rodent problem, and now there’s a health and safety problem for the community,” said Barbara Ashcroft, an Ardleigh Street resident. “There’s been no response, no respect, and no results.”