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The verdict is clear:
Jury duty is fine
Regarding Roger F. Gordon’s May 3 guest opinion, I am writing in to praise him and all of the people working down at the First Judicial District, where we go to serve for jury duty. They are doing an exceptional job down there.
While I have always been willing and eager to perform my civic duty, the last time I went down there a few months ago, I was greeted by friendly people, and I was entertained while I waited with all of the other prospective jurors. That’s right — entertained. There was a man on the microphone sharing stories, anecdotes and jokes. And later, a judge came down and shared some stories and thanked everyone for coming. Aside from all of that, I also came ready with a book. It was nice to catch up on some reading.
Lastly, my parking was paid for (or mostly paid for, I cannot remember for sure). So, once I was done with jury duty (alas, I was passed over yet again), I took a walk over to the Reading Terminal for a quick bite.
For those of you who moan and groan when you get a notice for jury duty, or who bend the truth, make excuses, or flat-out lie your way out of jury duty — it’s really not so bad.
I found plenty of ways to make the most out of my time down there, and the employees at the courthouse are going out of their way to make the experience better for everyone. And besides — you shouldn’t need incentives to get down there.
I’ll never understand people who loathe jury duty. But if you are one of them, I can tell you that you should have at least a few less things to whine about when you go.
Matthew McGrath
Brookhaven
Please help me get
my son into MaST
My son currently attends Mayfair School. He has attended Mayfair School since kindergarten.
He has always excelled in both math and science. He was always good in school and received A’s and B’s and has second honors. He also has perfect attendance. He does struggle in reading. His reading teacher has been very helpful with spending extra time with him, trying to help him.
My son has continued to comment how he wants to do "something" with his math and science ability when he grows up. My son has applied to MaST Community Charter School. He received a letter stating he was not chosen in the lottery and put on a waiting list at MaST. My wife and I have two other children (girls). One attends Franklin Town Charter and our other daughter attends St. Hubert Catholic School. They each are doing excellent on their own. My son now must attend Lincoln High School.
In my opinion, without getting into too many details, Lincoln High School is not the school for my son. I have very little faith left in the Philadelphia School District. The discipline is so bad at Lincoln, they cannot even enforce their school dress code.
Those of you who live around Lincoln School are aware of what happens when the school lets out every day. Some of the teenagers terrorize the neighborhood. I’m not stating everyone at Lincoln is the same. I’m sure it is just a "group" of teenagers who terrorize the neighborhood, but it has a great effect on the image of Lincoln.
Anyway, if my son goes to Lincoln, I believe we will lose him. Not lose him to violence or struggles, I just think he’ll be bored and give up. I think one of his issues today is he is bored in school. My son’s current math teacher takes my son’s test papers as soon as he is done with them so no one sees his papers.
I’m trying to contact anyone and everyone to beg and plead for some help, to see what we can do to get our son into MaST, so he can further his math and science education. I’m hoping if you publish this letter someone would be able to help my son get into MaST Community Charter School. I would appreciate any help you can offer.
Jim Duffy
Holmesburg
The public schools
are a disgrace
I read the recent letter from the grandmom who was pleased with the charter school system. How blessed they are!
My grandchildren lost their mom 12 years ago, and my son can’t afford private school, so they are forced to go to a public high school, and the public schools are a disgrace.
You almost fear for their lives when they go out the door, and forget trying to learn anything in a high school, where the teachers have absolutely no control.
I applied to two charter schools for them, but they didn’t make it. I have no problem with the lottery system, if they use the lottery fairly, so that the people who apply at the same time are chosen by a lottery, but I don’t think it’s fair if you’ve had your name in for several years and someone who comes along gets their name in the first time they try. What’s fair about that? It seems to me that families with special circumstances such as my son’s should get special consideration.
Claire Orr
Pennypack
Did anyone
see the bandit?
On Monday, May 7, a small pink dogwood in full bloom was stolen out of Pennypack Park along Krewstown Road between Rising Sun and the railroad overpass (by the entrance to the former police stables). Not front page news, but a crime no less. The tree was planted to be admired and appreciated by those who drive, walk or bike through the park. It was planted by me, a volunteer with the Friends of Pennypack Park (FOPP); but it wasn’t my tree or FOPP’s tree, it belonged to all of us and not the individual who stole it. This is not the first time such an occurrence happened.
If anyone saw someone removing this tree please contact FOPP at foppmembers@yahoo.com or call 215-934-PARK. Removing plants of any kind from the park is illegal.
Alan Kaminsky
Bustleton
Thanks for the garden
of earthly delights
The first and most important stage of the Holmesburg Library Garden Project has been realized. The guys representing District Council 21 (our tremendous Glaziers Local 252) really came up huge.
A dozen incredible men showed up bright and early on a recent Saturday morning with Matt Trzaska leading the charge to create the Children’s Reading Garden. The father/son team of Dave and David Stzenderowiz directed the crew and within only a few hours, Stage 1 (the Children’s Reading Garden/Story Book Tree) was completed. It is simply beautiful! We can’t wait until the plantings begin to grow and flourish. David’s design is something special.
Several members of our Friends of Holmesburg "volunteers" came out to thank the guys for their incredible help.
This level of kindness and generosity is so wonderful. We are so grateful for the union muscle — men with enormous hearts and commitment to their community, as well as to David and Dave for making the dream come true.
Thanks goes out to the two gents from CLIP who also gave of their Saturday morning, and to Tom Conway, deputy managing director for the city of Philadelphia, for contributing tools and equipment. It was a huge help to the effort.
Another shout-out of appreciation to Davey Tree Co. for donating the mulch and wood chips. And, we can’t forget to express our gratitude once again to Joe Ashdale of District Council 21 and state Rep. John Perzel for contributing $2,000 to purchase garden plantings and materials.
The final touch to Phase 1 will be the addition of a special reading bench that is to be donated by state Rep. Michael McGeehan. We are hopeful to have it in place this month for Miss Carole’s story hours. The true spirit of community really shined today. Phase 2 of the garden will be completed in early fall and District Council 21 has already pledged to help us complete the project.
We so look forward to Carole Barta, children’s librarian, reading to groups of children in the new garden. We also hope to invite children to assist the Friends in some finishing touches to the garden, including the planting of spring annuals.
Finally, a special dedication plaque thanking all of our contributors will be displayed in the garden and formally dedicated on the library’s 100th anniversary on June 20. Heartfelt thanks to all. What a proud day creating something special for our community to enjoy for years to come.
Karen D. Lash
Friends of Holmesburg Library
Great support
in a time of need
We are always hearing about all the negative things in our world. I would like you to know some positive things.
My brother was very ill and needed around-the-clock care. I couldn’t be there 24 hours a day, so I contacted Common Bond and they in turn connected me with Keystone Hospice. These people are so caring. They took care of my brother like he was one of their family. I want people to know if ever they have the need, these are the best. I can’t say enough good things about them. I know if ever I have the need, they will be the first people I call. They are angels from heaven.
Joan Reading
Mayfair
The zoo is fun,
even without the elephants
In response to the letter in last week’s edition titled Getting rid of Dumbo was a bad decision, I would like to ask: How on earth is it WORSE for the elephants to be packing from the zoo for bigger and brighter pastures?
The Philadelphia Zoo has joined many other zoos, such as the San Francisco Zoo, Detroit Zoo, Chicago Zoo and the Bronx Zoo, in their decision to allow the elephants to have more space rather then be confined to housed pens that today seem woefully inadequate for animals. Dulary, the Asian elephant of the zoo, was given the opportunity to live out her retirement from all of her years of service at the zoo at The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. She now joins a herd of elephants and is free to roam the 2,200 acres of her new home.
The Philadelphia Zoo is redoing a great portion of the zoo to provide the animals with a more "up to date" environment. The recent edition of Big Cat Falls is an example. Being America’s first zoo, some buildings such as the Elephant House are clearly outdated to house up to four animals that roam miles a day.
For the sake of the elephants, I applaud the zoo’s decision to relocate them and give them the space they need to be happy and healthy. The zoo could have done what the Alaskan Zoo did with their elephant, which was build her a giant treadmill for exercise since she is in a small yard and have her confined to her stall for long cold winters, alone. All of this to have an elephant at the zoo for visitors to see, while the elephant clearly doesn’t belong in Alaska, let alone belong on a treadmill!
If your children are upset about not seeing elephants at the zoo, I encourage you to visit http://www.elephants.com where you can view elephants roaming free on the Elecam, learn about what they eat, and perhaps offer a donation to conserve this wonderful sanctuary. You can even take a peek at what Dulary is up to since her move from Philadelphia. Your kids might appreciate elephants more when they see them in a natural setting. The cost is free.
The Philadelphia Zoo is still a great place to visit with family and friends, even without the elephants. A co-worker of mine took her 6-year-old son to the zoo just recently. When asked what animal he wanted to see the most, he said, "the Rhino!"
Gina Novak
Ambler
Spring cleaning day
was a great success
On behalf of the Rhawnhurst NORC, we want to thank all the volunteers from Orleans Technical Institute, Citizens Bank, and the Rotary Club and Northeast Sunrisers for making our Rhawnhurst Spring Cleaning Day on April 29 a resounding success.
We salute our enthusiastic volunteers who helped 46 aging neighbors in just four hours! We are especially grateful to PECO for donating the energy efficient light bulbs that we replaced for seniors.
Once again, the support that we have received from the community for the Rhawnhurst NORC’s volunteer events has been impressive. Thank you for helping us ensure that seniors (age 60 and older) remain independent living at home.
For more information on our ecumenical program, please call 215-728-1330 or send an e-mail to: egriffin@philafederation.org
Elaine Griffin
Rhawnhurst NORC project coordinator
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