Walking along Pennsy trail last night, we caught a sure sign of spring: chalk drawings! We hadn't seen the typical native markings on Pennsy trail before. There seem to have been some ancient rituals performed involving grids of Xs and Os, as well as some cave drawings, "name tagging" and what we assume is a reference to the natives' local leadership, "Fancey Man." We faithful suburban explorers present our photographic evidence of the phenomenon here. Click on each to examine closely. … [Read more...]
Veterans Park, Broomall
09/20/2016 by
The scene tonight at Veterans, when we were on another Pokémon Walk … [Read more...]
Someone painted a swastika on an H-Town mom’s garbage can. Here’s how our community is responding.
08/21/2016 by
H-Town resident Esther Cohen-Eskin woke up early in the morning of August 19, 2016, to see a swastika spray-painted on her garbage can. Esther and her family are Jewish. She took to Facebook to share her dismay: "I walked outside this morning to take out the trash, and on my can someone spray painted a swastika. We have lived here for almost 20 years. I have happily raised my kids and celebrated the openness and safety of this town. I am so saddened by this occurrence..." Esther was distraught. But then a neighbor brought up her spirits with a little spark of wisdom that lit up the creative fire in Esther. As she explains on Facebook: "...I was mad, scared and angry, and then our fellow neighbor and one of my dearest friends said, 'nothing conquers hate more than love.' So I am asking you, in this neighborhood, (and beyond if you want to share), paint something positive on your trashcan! We can, in our little way, turn this symbol of hate into something beautiful. A flower, a peace sign, an animal, a doodle... anything your imagination can come up with." An artist by trade, Esther quickly put her talents to good use. She broke out her paints and set out to obliterate the hate. Here's the before/after Esther shared, a few hours later: Esther's post is being shared amongst Townies and beyond. Today, some photos of "improved trash" cans have come in, to Esther's page and the Havertownies Facebook page. Click on the pic for a slide show of 20+ cans so far: So, Townies, what do you say? Break out your own spray paint and tape, stickers, streamers, whatever you like. Let's show 'em what we do with trash. :) Send your pics to admin -at- havertownies -dot-- com or see us on Facebook. We'll add them to the slide show! … [Read more...]
Hidden Place, H-Town
08/14/2016 by
We don't really have an Adventure Tourism guide for Haverford Township. We have found some remote, quirky places tucked away in off-the-beaten track trails and roads, though. Do you recognize this? No? It's part of the CREC trails. The plaque commemorates an old railroad that went through that spot. It's a bit grown over at the moment, but that adds to the adventure part of it! P.S. If you want some help finding this spot, there's a hike this Saturday! HIKE: Saturday, August 20 – Reserve North / Under the Blue Route Hike 9 – 11 am Meet in the first parking lot on the right after you enter the Reserve from Darby Road (~1000 Parkview Drive for GPS/Maps). Hike all north and west trails from the PECO trail to the Blue Route trail. Moderate difficulty 3 mile hike with a few short but steep climbs. Stream views, mostly shaded. Passing under one of the busiest Interstates (I476) into a quiet wetland preserve, traverse an old rail right of way with great views, and then return using the Backwoods and Athertyn trails. Good walking shoes, long pants/sleeves or repellent suggested. … [Read more...]
Irish brothers would fit in well here
08/13/2016 by
The Donovan brothers won a silver medal in rowing at Rio's 2016 Summer Olympics. Lots of things to say about that, in a *very* thick accent. It may take you non-Irishy Townies twice through to understand these lads, but it's worth it. Hilarious interview! Nothing like the Irish humor, is there? Go over to the Irish channel RTE on Facebook to suss out what these two told all the folks back home who apparently are "mad" for rowing now. … [Read more...]
Watch for cars on the trails
08/12/2016 by
We've been noticing township cars cruising the the Pennsy and Merry Place trails. The Merry Place trail is way too narrow for both a township truck (like Animal Control) and say, a stroller. Definitely not a double stroller! Hopefully when they come by you'll be walking near a space to get out of the way. Pennsy trail has plenty of "shoulder;" Merry Place's trail does not. … [Read more...]
Collingswood Facebook Community Group (Like H-Town’s) Blows Up
03/07/2016 by
Phillyvoice has an article about yet another Facebook community group splintering due to drama trauma. Why did journalist Kevin C. Shelly report this non-event as "news" when it isn't really new? Because in our modern era, online groups are something worth talking about. We want our own community groups to help to our community instead of hinder it. Collingswood's group seems to have split up over typical stuff. Usually, bad member behavior and a lessening of moderation by the group's administrators cause the rift. If rule-reminders aren't handed out regularly, behavior doesn't re-align with the goals of the group. Behavior grows more errant until a split occurs. A new group is formed with a curated membership, similar rules, and good moderation. We have one or two Facebook Community Groups here in H-Town. The most active is the Havertown Community Group (HCG), run by Administrators Kim Lacovara-Barr and Carrie Kauffman. The HCG has 3,770 members. Haverford Township has (by 2010 census) 35,878 residents. That means HCG's membership is roughly 10.5% of the population. (These numbers are estimates, as HCG members can come from surrounding towns). As far as Facebook groups go, these are some impressive numbers. It's very possible a group of this size can enact real change in H-Town. For example, one of the topics of conversation in the HCG right now may end up making a difference for all of us: The Red Plum Mailers. Townies are throwing around the idea of throwing the Red Plum Mailer people out of H-Town. Talk of a petition is brewing. (One can request Red Plum to remove her address from the list, but we've tried this and have seen no results. The mailers still end up on HavertowniesHQ's driveway). If enough interest is generated, perhaps the issue will be brought in front of the Commissioners or the Delco Board. That's powerful stuff. HCG's admins seem to be quite on top of things and will occasionally remind members to refer back to the rules. This is … [Read more...]
Townie has no regrets from Anthem of the Seas cruise
03/01/2016 by
Perhaps the Royal Caribbean ship “Anthem of the Seas” should be called “Anathema the Seas”**. The ship is turning around for the 2nd time in almost as many weeks. Do you remember the Super Bowl Sunday storm that tossed the 6,000 capacity cruise ship up, down, and all around off the coast of North Carolina? Yeah. That's the one. A skittish crew and new company policies since that first cursed tour has them turning tail at the thought of a repeat trip. LOCAL CONNECTION 2nd Ward Townie Bruce Woodruff and his wife Deborah were aboard the Anthem of the Seas on the first ill-fated trip, where passengers reported lists up to 45-degree angles in the choppy waves. “It wasn’t that bad,” Bruce said. Here's an ABC report with passenger footage: Bruce and Deborah were cruising with friends who are experienced boaters and cruisers. Together, they used phone apps to measure the worst toss at about a 21-degree angle, with most of the leans averaging between 6 and 8 degrees. “I’m not gonna lie,” Bruce said. “It was bad. But it wasn’t nearly as bad as was reported.” The Captain asked everyone to remain in their cabins while they navigated the rough. To pass the time, Bruce and Deborah watched a bit of the Super Bowl in their friends’ suite. The ship’s constant leaning eventually pushed every loose item onto the floor (except, Bruce noted, a magically anchored bottle of wine). When the couple eventually headed back to their own cabin, they employed a walking strategy that proved successful. “You can feel when the ship is about to list,” Bruce told Havertownies. “You just walk to the opposite wall.” Watching the rest of the Super Bowl in their room also required some creative countermeasures. Bruce and Deborah fortified themselves in their bed alcove, forming a t-shape with their bodies and bracing their arms and legs against the floor and walls. “Not the most romantic position,” he admitted. But, they were able to watch the game (we … [Read more...]
Find the black dog – photos from today’s walk
02/10/2016 by
We went for a little walk today along Pennsy Trail to see the snow before it melts. Shout out to the other dogs we met along the way, including new resident puppy Frank and his sweet mom and dad who know the former Miss Sandowich-now-Coffey (coffee n a sammich, anyone? Can't make this stuff up) who teaches Español at the High School. Welcome to H-Town, A&K and Frank! You are now Townies! Just like the rest of us. Good luck. (#kiddingnotkidding) Pennsy Trail and Veterans park may have "no dogs" sign but once we're on the paved path, you can't see us anyway. :) … [Read more...]
Millennials would love H-Town, if they could afford it
02/08/2016 by
A bit of information is coming out about Millennials and where they'd like to settle down. Turns out, it's the 'burbs. Great! H-Town's a 'burb. And we have all the things here these younguns are lookin' fer: "It appears that what many Millennials want when picking out a place to raise a family isn’t a city per se, but rather the perks that are traditionally associated with living in a city: restaurants, shops, and grocery stores within walking distance, easy access to public transportation. In other words, they might want suburbs that are more city-like than the ones they grew up in." Here at HavertowniesHQ, we get it. We searched for a town with good schools, a single family dwelling we could afford and good "walking-around" streets. We've been lucky to be here, within walking distance to the schools, a Wawa, the library and a few pizza places (and more) for 15 years. We're the lucky ones, apparently, because this article reports many Millennials are stuck in cities they can't afford to leave (median house price here is $301,500). We personally haven't met too many Millennials in Philly who want to flock to the 'burbs (and we meet quite a few, being techies and all), but surely there are those who have the same reasons we did for wanting to move out of Center City and into the suburbs. Of course, not many of us Havertownies can do much about these stuck-Millennials plight. But: We can encourage businesses and residents to keep up our eclectic mix of hometown charm and upscale living. Despite all the nail salons (jeez, people, don't any of you do your own nails?!), our dining scene just keeps getting better, and our Walkability score is crazy great (so stop complaining about parking. There is NEVER GOING TO BE ENOUGH PARKING. Walk.) We can also encourage a bit more diversity. Haverford Township's 92% whiteness is just... over. Wanna know where we got our stats? From the guvvermint: http://www.census.gov/quickfacts/table/RHI125214/4204533144,00 … [Read more...]
Fog on Karakung Drive
02/04/2016 by
Here is a slideshow of a creepy bit of fog rolling over Karakung drive yesterday. … [Read more...]