Must be M month Rep Greg Vitali and Patch.com are letting people know of the upcoming 2013 Manoa and Marple Road closures (which will be ROYAL P's-in-the-A's) in Haverford Township. Manoa's blockage starts Aug 26. Marple's: Starts MONDAY Aug 19th. See the copy of Mr. Vitali's email below for even more road disruptions from Aqua PA. Sorry, Ashurst Townies Let me just apologize in advance to the people who live on the very pretty street of Ashurst and it's surrounding avenues. We're very sorry, and we'll try to drive slowly if we must go down your way. Edgmont, So Close Yet So Far Away Marple Road closing will be awful. Firstly, we can't sneak in the back way to the dog park and the CREC. Secondly, we'll have to do that weird jiggy thing with Bryn Mawr avenue to get to West Chester Pike in Broomall. Poop. (Traffic redirection brings out the Havertownies potty mouth). More Swearing Opportunities Hint: If anyone drives on West Chester Pike out of the city, take Cobbs Creek parkway or Haverford Rd outbound until the mess in Upper Darby is done. From Greg Vitali: Aqua Pennsylvania to Restrict Traffic on Three State Roads in Delaware County for Water Main Replacements Aqua Pennsylvania will restrict traffic on Route 3 (West Chester Pike) and State Road in Upper Darby Township, and Marple Road in Haverford Township, for water main replacements, PennDOT announced. On Thursday, Aug. 15, westbound Route 3 (West Chester Pike) will be narrowed to a single lane between Park Avenue and Madison Avenue in Upper Darby Township from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. Friday, Aug. 16. Traffic will be controlled by flagging. On Wednesday, Aug. 14 and Thursday, Aug. 15, there will be a shoulder closure on southbound State Road at the intersection of Park Avenue in Upper Darby Township from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Traffic will be controlled by flagging. Beginning Monday, Aug. 19, Marple Road will be closed between Darby Road and Darby Creek Road in Haverford Township weekdays from 9 a.m. to … [Read more...]
Oakmont Pub’s Library Night!
What to do for dinner on a random Tuesday night in August? Come to Oakmont Pub, chat with familiar faces, have some good eats AND support your community! 10% of your bill will go towards buying some new kids' computers at the Haverford Township Free Library. The old computers (owned by the Delaware County Library System) were called back to that great data warehouse in the sky, after seeing many years of high combat in the Children's Room. Long live the new computers! (if we can scrounge up the money for them.) Come on. You know you want an excuse not to cook. Tuesday, August 6, 2013, dinnertime. See you there! … [Read more...]
Lending E-Books from HTFL
A question came up in Facebook about how to lend e-books from the Haverford Township Free Library (HTFL). We're here to help. Here's what you need to know to get yourselves all up & e-booky today. Things You Need: An Internet connection (doesn't have to be great. HTFL has free wireless) Library card (take a proof of residence to the HTFL to get a card; they're free too!) E-reading device/software like a laptop, iPad, Kindle or Sony E-reader 5 minutes Things You Do: Step 1: Whip 'em out. (Your library card and your computer, that is. What did you think we meant?) Get online. Step 2: Go to the digital books download page. Side note: you are technically lending books from the Delaware County Library System, not HTFL. Step 3: Click on Account in the upper right corner. Put your library card # in the box on the left. Spaces or no spaces; it doesn't matter. But it's Ms. Jackson if you're nasty. Step 4: Browse for books. (click on the MENU button by account if you don't see a list of all the sections). Smartie friend and fellow Havertownie Karen Campbell Vitale suggested this tip for browsing: "Advance Search by Format and Books Available, then filter results by 5 star reviews... You still have to wade through a ridiculous amount of bodice-rippers, but your results are narrowed down to about 200-300, which makes it easier to browse." Step 5: Find a book you like. The upper right corner of the bookcover appears dog-eared. It reveals an open book symbol that is either light or dark gray, indicating the book has a slight wait or is available for download immediately, respectively. Click on the book and download your preferred format or place the book on hold. Step 6: Go back to your machine, open up the doc and read away! Follow the directions to transfer the file to your reader that are found at your reader's website. Our fun and fabulous steps aren't doing the trick? Well, HTFL has their own helpful page dedicated to the reluctant … [Read more...]
Haverteen Beat: Young Instagram Star Dies
You may have seen a few upset teen and preteen girls in the township. Here at Havertownies, we want to keep you updated in all the township's happenings, even within the secret society known as "Haverteendom." Here's what might be causing some sadness in your house, if you have any girls aged about 7-16 (especially if your kids have Internet access): Beloved online star, 13-year-old Talia Joy Castellano, has finally succumbed to the neuroblastoma and other cancers that she'd been fighting since she was a tiny tot of 4. (Neuroblastoma is the same cancer that killed the now-famous Alexandra "Alex" Scott of Wynnewood, PA, who started a humble lemonade stand that grew into an international movement.) Talia Joy, a sweet kid who turned her baldness over to a love of cosmetics instead of wigs, was known around the Web as TaliaJoy18. She enjoyed more of a cult following than most Hollywood celebrities. TaliaJoy18 had: 2.7 million followers on Instagram 1 million+ on YouTube (with one clip of her hundreds of entries garnering 8 million views alone) 562,000 Likes on Facebook (along with over 862,000 pieces of activity there, which is no small feat, especially since tweens and teens have largely abandoned the service) 222k+ followers on Twitter Talia also had her own website that had a US Alexa ranking (a website that rates global and national web traffic for sites) of 38, 323. That may not sound very good, but let us assure you, it is quite excellent to be anywhere in the 6-digit mark, let alone 5 digits. It's outstanding. The site's global rank was even in the 6-digits at 306,466. Major ad agencies with unlimited budgets can't achieve that and Talia did her work herself, all while battling an aggressive cancer. Talia obviously touched the hearts of many people, including celebrities like Ellen Degeneres. The makeup brand Covergirl presented Talia with a cover photo of herself, honorary Covergirl status, and a check for $20,000. Talia seemed incredibly … [Read more...]
School Eyed by Carelink Community Support Services
SEE UPDATES AT BOTTOM OF POST Planning Commission Notice About the Former Strafford Friends School A small number of people in the LLanerch section of town got the following Public Notice Haverford Township Board of Commissioners: NOTICE is hereby given that the Planning Commission will hold a public meeting to consider the application for Conditional Use approval of Carelink Community Support Services, Inc., for the property at 5 Llandillo Road, Havertown, PA on July 25, 2013 at 7:30 p.m. in the Commissioner's Meeting Room, 2325 Darby Road, Havertown, PA. The applicant seeks approval pursuant to the provisions of §182-602.B.2 of the General Laws of the Township of Haverford to allow administrative offices, meeting space and related services for a mental health care agency. The subject property is identified as Delaware County Folio No. 22-02-00650-00 and is zoned INS Institutional District. Board of Commissioners will hold a public hearing on Monday, August 5, 2013 at 8:00 PM. A copy of the petition and the site plan are available for public inspection in the Community Development Office, 2325 Darby Road, Havertown, PA between 8:30 AM and 4:00PM, Monday through Friday, except holidays. All interested parties are invited to attend and be heard in accordance with the rules and procedures established by the Board. Lawrence J. Gentile Township Manager/Secretary What Carelink Is Carelink's page describes their Mission and Philosophy as follows: CareLinks [sic] philosophy is that people with disabilities can live, work, and participate in the community with considerable independence if they have caring support and help learning essential skills. Our services embody the principles of psychosocial rehabilitation which promote positive expectations, full community integration, and program participants as active decision-makers in their recovery. Part of that "psychosocial rehabilitation" is meant for drug addicts and sexual predators. Carelink is known to … [Read more...]
Google Glass in Havertown?
Seen any cyborgs lately? I'm looking everywhere, eagerly/anxiously awaiting the advent of Google Glass in HT. If you've been under a rock lately and don't know (or more likely don't give a f***) about Google Glass, here's a rundown: Google Glass is a $1500 pair of frames with no lenses (that users had to apply to buy) with an operating system that connects to the Internet, can record video and pictures, and overlays a screen on the world only the wearer can see. I have yet to see a pair in real life. This is odd for me, because I generally hang around early adopter types. The summer has kept me close to home, though, so I'm not out and about as much lately. Privacy problems arise, obviously, because the dude (and let's be real, it'll be a white dude) sitting next to you in Kettle, Edgewood Cafe – or that new place on Eagle –may be recording your every bite without your knowledge. Think on this. If someone whipped out their iPhone and kept it pointed it at you, that'd be über rude, right? Fisticuffs might ensue. Well, with Google Glass, you just don't know if Mr. About To Be Punched is recording. Think how CREEEEPY-ass this would be at, say, Freedom Playground. *shudder* Perhaps we need some sort of pre-conceived, endorsed Havertownies script to say to these cyborgs, especially if they are at a park or watching us chew. Or maybe we get the board of commissioners to ban Google Glass altogether (LOL!). Any ideas? Maybe naked girl Moira has something to say 'bout it. Anyone know her? … [Read more...]
How to Hide Your Havertownie Search Trail
Sometimes we just want to search the ol' WWW without leaving a trace. Browsers like Safari, Chrome and Internet Explorer all keep a history of every term you type into a search bar and every page you visit. Some users don't find this data tracking to be a big deal, as no entity seems all that interested in spying on an individual's browsing habits. Other users cringe at the privacy-crushing possibilities of a lengthy history being accessed by others... or the government, if you're a conspiracy nut up on current events. Thankfully, there are some sites that allow anonymous searching. One such site, DuckDuckGo, is even a Philly area start-up! Located in Paoli, DuckDuckGo is a web page that will let you search on terms without leaving a trace. Other options are StartPage or an "incognito" window in your browser. More and more anonymous searching options are coming online each day (not so much for mobile yet. Don't browse for medical information or other incriminating things on your phone). Go over to DuckDuckGo & give 'er a try. Because even in our everyday lives in Havertown, we still have stuff to hide. … [Read more...]
Women and Wine
Mommies Playgroup One nice summer morning back in 2007, I went over to a lady's house in the Oakmont section of town for a playgroup set up by a mothers support network. I had met the playgroup ladies, all with 1 year old sons like me, a few times previous at other events. I was looking forward to some adult interaction with people in my same boat. I'd say Lucas was looking forward to it too, judging by his insane amount of drooling and valiant attempts at escape. I walked up the steps to the beautiful stone house just when the other moms and babies arrived. Inside, we put the babies down. I could swear I heard "Release the hounds!" as those adorable little monsters attacked every toy, cabinet, piece of furniture and architectural molding in sight. Once those piranhas were safely penned in, the adults settled into the kitchen. I was the last one to peel off my progeny and get over the baby gate. When I arrive on the other side, a full glass of red wine was waiting for me. It was 10 a.m. It's Drink O'Clock All I could think of was the Mr. Mom scene. Isn't there some rule about not drinking before noon or something? I soon came to realize that Havertown has replaced "None before noon" with "It's 5 o'clock somewhere!" When we moved out here to Havertown in 2000, I was woefully unaware of the Drinking Habits of The Typical Suburban Adult Female. I grew up in the Poconos with a teetotaling mother and a father who'd go right to sleep after just one glass of wine. We didn't see much alcohol use or abuse in our neighbors or friends' parents. Some teens would drink, obviously, but not us. My brothers are both teetotalers still. Me... well not so much. As many a Havertown mom friend of mine knows, I'm no stranger to a glass or two of wine. But the levels of drinking in the 'burbs really threw me. I figured that if anywhere, people in the isolated areas of the Poconos would be heavier drinkers than these suburbanites. And after living in Philly for 7 years, I thought … [Read more...]
E-Alerts from HT Rec
Haverford Township Recreation Department and many other smaller, private sports leagues around town use RainedOut.net to send e-alerts about last minute scheduling changes due to rain or other circumstances. Just go to the site, put your cell number or email in, agree to the terms of service. Click continue. You'll get a message with a 4 digit code. Put the code in Step 2 on the Rainedout site. Type in "Haverford" in the search bar in Step 3. Choose Haverford Recreation for the playground programs or other things run through the rec dept. You can choose your particular playground program or multiple programs. Now you'll know if camp has been rained out and the kids are moving to the high school or if you should plan on a regular park day. So now you know. :) … [Read more...]
Who’s the “Party Catalyst” on your block?
Every night before I start to cook dinner, I loudly warn the children to stay out of our dinky-and-poorly-designed-because-people-owned-2-dishes-in-1946 kitchen and I pop on a pair of earbuds. I then connect said earbuds to an iPod that plays a steady round of the following podcasts: Freakonomics The Moth This American Life (I can only really listen to about 1 of those per dinner. I'm not whipping up French cuisine in this Havertownie House.) There are some other podcasts dotted in there sometimes, including audio books from the library. But those are my 3 mainstays. (I once was jammin' to the 90's house party music to which I am accustomed, but I came to realize that cooking and popping/locking didn't go very well together. Hence, the more staid podcasts.) Recently, a 2002 This American Life episode called "Plan B" came up. The story was about a guy that worked as a Jose Cuervo "Party Catalyst." What's a party catalyst, you may ask, and how do you sign up? I congratulate your astute asking skills, Fellow Townie, because it is indeed a great question. The perfectly-produced podcast goes on to explain (kinda) what Mr. CuervoMan does. Suffice it is to say, he hands out free alcohol and branded swag via his ... different body parts. Before this blog disintegrates into a treatise on nakedness, let me assure you I bring all of this up for a reason: we need to give proper shout-outs to the neighbors and friends in H-Town who rock the party that rocks the body. Some of the Townies know just when we all need a good beer and grillin' out. West Wilmot used to have a lot of block parties. We here on EW haven't had one here yet, but we definitely have our share o' fun. A few saturdays ago I had too much fun at the hands of our darn incorrigible ne'er-do-well neighbors that took about 2 days to get over (Not mentioning any names, but the last name ends with the long E sound). It just isn't hard to tell who the partiers are on our street, especially … [Read more...]
Lunch Accounts in Haverford School District Part II
In Part I of this post, we discussed the viral FB post about school lunches and introduced the subject of the Haverford School District lunch system. Please see Part I before continuing on. Sending in lunch money with kids can be problematic. The Director emphasized using myschoolaccount.com would help the confusion that comes with sending in cash with your kids. The implementation of the online account system at myschoolaccount.com is meant to reduce the need for the child to handle cash and for the families to be able to contribute to the account remotely. This supposedly cuts down on confusion, bullying, kids' and parents' stress of keeping track of money, etc. I'm all for making things automated and convenient, but I have to say so far myschoolaccount.com isn't as good as I'd like. Here are a few of the many complaints (and following explanations) I've had or I've heard about myschoolaccount: It is nearly impossible to track and/or fix inaccurate billing The processing fees are high and a waste of money There's no convenient way to retrieve money placed in the account Password problems. The site doesn't seem to ever want to set a cookie in my browser, so I'm forced to reset my password often Children spending too much per meal No receipts given to the children Not enough detail on the record (what meals eaten, what snacks, etc.) No private or automated way to ban snacks or certain meals. 1. Here's the basic reason why any HSD cafeteria billing inaccuracies are darn near impossible to fix: Everyone assumes children lie (or aren't capable of remembering things correctly). Here's the common scenario: Child is billed for two meals in one day. No receipt is handed to the child immediately. Parent notices the lunch money has dwindled too quickly. She tries to suss through ambiguous billing terms on myschoolaccount.com like "platter" or "snack." Child insists he did nothing wrong, says it was a mistake on the part of the cashier. Parent … [Read more...]
Lunch Accounts in Haverford School District Part I
A few years ago when I was on the board of the Chatham Park PTO, I had a lengthy conversation with the food director of Haverford School District (HSD). I'll get to why I had the need to chat with the Director in a second. First let's think about what happened in a Texas town and on Facebook over school lunches: Bus driver Johnny Cook went onto Facebook, voiced his frustration over one of his students being denied lunch for lack of funds, and was promptly fired for doing so. Here's Mr. Cook's post: A middle schooler got on my bus this evening and said mr johnny im hungry. I said why are you hungry buddy? Didn't you eat lunch ? He said no sir I didn't have any money on my account. I said they would let you charge it? No sir. Huh! What! This child is already on reduced lunch and we can't let him eat. Are you kidding me? I'm certain there was leftover food thrown away today. But kids were turned away because they didn't have .40 on there account . As a tax payer, I would much rather feed a child than throw it away. I would rather feed a child than to give food stamps to a crack head. My number is (…) the next time we can't feed a kid for forty cent, please call me . We will scrape up the money. This is what the world has come to. Mr. Cook is looking for another job while the country looks to him as a seemingly lone voice over what is being called "school hunger:" when students are denied lunch at school because their parents/guardians owe lunch money. Social media and employment issues aside, the bus driver's firing off about his district's lunch system and his subsequent firing from his job hit a nerve across the US. School hunger happens all over the country, and frustrating cafeteria woes seem par for the course in any public school system. Each school has its own way of dealing with school hunger and lunch money processing. In an overwhelming majority of districts, children are given a supplementary meal even if they cannot pay. There are also federal … [Read more...]