Letters to the editor MUST be accompanied by your daytime and evening phone numbers for verification purposes. Letters without phone numbers cannot be considered for publication. Letters must include first and last names. Short letters have a better chance of being selected for publication. We do not publish anonymous letters.
Mayfair family gets a
mean and ugly lesson
My letter is addressed to the thief who stole my son’s bike from my back yard.
This is the fourth bike in the last two years that my son has had stolen off of my own property. You came into my yard as we slept and stole the bike, a brand new green mongoose with front and back pegs.
I am a single mom who works hard to give my kids the best, and I cannot afford to keep replacing bikes that have been stolen. My son loved his bike and rode it every day, which is the only reason I had him leave it in the yard — so it would be easy for him to get out. The bike was kept back in the yard behind a big pool so it was not visible, which concerns me, because were these low-lifes checking out my house and just came across the bike, or were they eyeing my son while he rode his bike, watching where he kept it?
It is sad to say that Mayfair has become like every other neighborhood in Philadelphia. We all say Mayfair is still a good place to live, but I can honestly say as a lifelong resident of Mayfair, it is becoming not such a nice place to live anymore.
Regardless, I would just like to address the thief or his parent: If you are in the possession of my son’s bike, please return it. If you choose not to, I hope karma comes around and you or a member of your family suffers.
The sad part of this story is that my young children are learning that people are mean and ugly, and that is truly sad.
Karen Elliott
Mayfair
What’s happened to
Rhawnhurst Town Watch?
I was happy to read Bill Kenny’s article last week about National Night Out, which noted that local Town Watch groups and the police are working together.
I wonder what has happened to the Town Watch activity in Rhawnhurst and Bell’s Corner? The groups appear to have disbanded, despite the fact that we need them more than ever.
Recent crimes have been quite brutal, such as the recent attack on an elderly woman on Hartel Street, and the sexual assault of a girl in the Pennypack Park. Just look at the mounting graffiti and trash, the increase in guard dogs and the reluctance of people to come out after dark. People are afraid.
A couple of years ago I attended a few meetings of the Rhawnhurst Town Watch that were sparsely attended.
Neighbors were just not supporting the group. We need a strong Town Watch and we need it now.
Wake up folks. Your community stays strong only if you participate in it. Don’t let the hoodlums take over.
Richard Iaconelli
Rhawnhurst
Just like a
good neighbor
Recently, my neighbor Kathy G was being an alert, aware and caring neighbor. She noticed two strangers coming out from someone’s backyard. Kathy could just have ignored the incident but she yelled for her husband, a police officer, who gave chase after seeing the two strangers act suspiciously.
He drove around the neighborhood and spotted them. Then, he called for the police. The police came and caught them for a few different broken laws.
Thanks to Kathy and her husband for being good neighbors and keeping us all safe. I hope we can all act like that.
Connie Rosenfeld
Academy Gardens
What a not so fine
mess at Solis-Cohen!
I live across the street from S. Solis-Cohen Elementary School, located on Bustleton Avenue between Princeton and Tyson avenues.
The big grass field on Bustleton has become a big soccer hot spot featuring games on a daily basis. It’s great that the field is seeing some action after having been essentially ignored for a very long time.
The problem that we’re seeing this year is the left-behind water bottles and other food trash. There are days that the field looks like a sea of bottles. Some of the spectators have ventured across the street to sit on the lawn of a doctor’s office on Brighton Street. They have started to leave behind Dunkin’ Donuts and McDonald’s trash in the storm drains and on the lawn of the office. The trash then blows down the block and is, of course, very unsightly.
There are at least two trash cans located by the basketball nets and baseball backstop.
Please make use of them, or better yet, bring large trash bags to collect everything once the games wrap up. Try to remember that people live in that immediate area and would be truly appreciative if the field was cleaned up after being used.
On a more positive note, I would like to thank whoever cleaned up the bus shelter at Tyson and Bustleton. The glass previously had spray and scratched graffiti on it and was replaced recently. Not long after the replacement someone decided to put more spray paint on it. The spray paint was promptly removed from the new glass.
Thank you for taking care of it — when people who vandalize property realize that their "work" doesn’t last long they move elsewhere. Thanks for taking pride in the neighborhood.
Justin Hoffmann
Castor Gardens
Two thumbs down for
two wrong decisions by the city
The city of Philadelphia is canceling the leases of two good organizations. On Aug. 1, the city notified the Holmesburg Fish & Game Protective Association that it was terminating the lease and must vacate the premises and remove all personal property by Dec. 31. The notice was hand-delivered to the club by several uniformed armed representatives of a city agency. HF&G is the only safe haven for responsible sportsmen and shooters in Philadelphia. HF&G has served many civic and charitable organizations over the years.
For nearly 80 years, HF&G has been located on Pennypack Street off of State Road next to the Philadelphia Police Academy. It is a fixture in the community and one we can ill afford to lose.
Most importantly, HF&G has demonstrated throughout its many years that it can help guide our city’s youth away from drugs, crime and violence by mentoring them in an environment where the watchwords are safety, respect, responsibility and sportsmanship.
It would be horribly ironic should the HF&G mission be abolished to accommodate the very criminals it strives to prevent. Wouldn’t it be far better for HF&G to thrive and serve the community while it continues accommodating the Philadelphia prison guards in their training efforts?
Then there’s the money the club brings into Northeast Philadelphia and not just from other areas in Philadelphia, but also from the surrounding counties and states.
HF&G has never caused this city any embarrassment. To the contrary, HF&G has been of benefit not just to its members but to the city of Philadelphia. HF&G would continue its history of service far into the future if permitted. It would also continue to cooperate with and accommodate the Philadelphia Prison Guards in their training efforts. HF&G did no wrong and I will fight to keep them here.
In mid-September, the city also canceled the lease of another positive group: the Boy Scouts.
American Scouting was founded in part by a wheelchair-bound man named James West who pioneered programs for the physically and mentally disabled. "Scoutreach" is an effort to give a boost to young men growing up in poverty.
The Philadelphia Council is the third largest local council in the country, serving 87,000 boys and men. Since 1911, the BSA has reached out to disabled youth, racial and ethnic minorities, Native Americans, the Hispanic community and rural and inner-city children.
The Boy Scouts have the God-given right to establish standards for membership, and those standards have been highly respected for more than 90 years. Citizens across America have the God-given obligation to see to it that the Boy Scout oath and law are upheld for another 90 years.
Why should the Boy Scouts lower their standards and bow down to these extremists? Besides keeping boys off the streets, the Boy Scout law is to be: trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, clean, brave and reverent — things we need desperately in this city.
The city should concentrate on the real issues: Education, crime, tax reform, corruption, safer schools, clean and safe recreation centers, and job opportunities.
Gary Grisafi
Republican candidate,
7th Councilmanic District
We’re not the
‘other’ Artur
My sales company, Christopher Artur Inc., doing business as Artur Realty, has no affiliation with the new rental company Artur Property Management.
Both are independently owned and operated and not connected in any manner.
The property management company has moved out of 6201 Frankford Ave. and their new telephone number is 215-332-1700. If you have a question or problem with Artur Property Management, any of their rental properties or tenants, please contact them at that number.
The sales company, Artur Realty, will continue to serve the people of Northeast Philadelphia at the same location we have had for the last 56 years — 6201 Frankford Ave., at the corner of Harbison Avenue. Our telephone number remains the same: 215-332-3535.
Christopher Artur
Thanks for going to
bat for us, Rhawnhurst
My wife Denise and I are pre-adoptive foster parents of two great children. We are very active with the Rhawnhurst Athletic Association and have made many great friends.
On July 30, our two wonderful foster children Jenny and Jake were unjustly removed from our home by a rogue social worker from Bucks County Children & Youth who has an ax to grind with us (this is a completely other story which I will be more than glad to write about one day) on the premise we were abusing our children due to usual bumps and bruises for typical active children.
This worker went behind the backs of her superiors to a permanency hearing and got a court order on a one-sided argument and arrived at our home with a court order to remove two children we have given structure and stability to for close to four years — children that arrived at our home with no social skills and now thrive at Rhawnhurst as not only participants but all-stars in certain sports and have made many great friends.
On Aug. 2, we went to court in Bucks County with our lawyer and won our case. During the three days our family was torn apart, this community came together and overwhelmed us with support and offers to go to court and take the stand. I still have over 30 voicemails I have not had the opportunity to return on my cell phone. We received an overwhelming stream of letters of character reference from friends and parents of children I have coached at Rhawnhurst.
The support touched us deeply and I didn’t know any other way that I could thank a whole community than to write the Northeast Times, where everyone could see how grateful we are.
We can never repay the empathy and the support we received from this community. I would especially like to thank state Rep. John Sabatina Jr. and his chief of staff Ryan Mulvey for their tenacity and diligence in trying to help us. I don’t know how we could have made it through this week without you all.
I know everyone knows how much we love these children and how our hearts were breaking. It also showed us how much this community loves these two kids.
Thank you once again, Rhawnhurst.
Bill Kernan
Top five stupid
driver tricks
In response to Arthur Gurmankin’s recent letter, Stupid things really get him ticked off, I could not agree with him more; however, ignorant drivers really tick me off!
Here are some examples of ignorant, selfish, inconsiderate and outright disgraceful practices that people pull in the City of Brotherly Love every day:
1. Running stop signs. That is one of my biggest pet peeves. People don’t even slow down (even when they see you and you were there first) and just fly through stop signs without a care in the world. Hey cops, sit at Hartel and Erdrick streets and Cottage and Knorr streets and see how many tickets you write in a day.
2. Throwing trash out your window like a common slob. I see it every day, especially on I-95. You people who do that belong in a pig pen. I have seen businessmen driving expensive cars throw fast food bags and wrappers out their car windows. How shameful!
3. People who don’t use turn signals. How hard is it to use your turn signal? How am I supposed to know where you plan to turn? Have a little consideration for the driver behind you and use your turn signal. And I don’t mean turn it on as you are already turning, either.
4. People that tailgate and appear to be in your back seat. Is that really necessary to be glued to my rear end like a hemorrhoid, especially when I am not a slow poke on the road? Whatever happened to allowing enough room between you and the car in front of you for reaction time? Some people just prefer to be bullies on the road.
5. Whatever happened to pedestrians having the right of way? Certainly not in Philly!
People need to be more considerate and careful. If you’re in such a hurry, leave earlier and stop being such a careless moron.
Jennifer Johnson
Holmesburg
Happiness is a 25-cent
cup of lemonade
Guest Opinion
By Alison Barretta
Twelve summers ago, I was 10 years old and had my own business.
The concrete steps that led to my front door served as the site for my modest lemonade stand. All I needed was a blue quart filled to the rim with Country Time and a val-u-pak of plastic cups.
Signs were posted on my railing, on standard 8-by-11 paper, written boldly in black marker: LEMONADE: 25 CENTS. I also made an effort to decorate the neighborhood with my grass-roots advertising campaign by posting signs on every street lamp.
I braved the hottest of summer days in order to quench the thirsts of many, from the overactive kids riding their bikes, to the exhausted mailman delivering packages. My front steps served as a welcome oasis for the heat fatigued.
To a 10-year-old, 25 cents is a lot of money. When I made my first dollar, I felt like the CEO of a Fortune 500 company. My ultimate financial goal was to make enough money to purchase a brand new Sega Saturn video gaming console, which cost 400 bucks. (See? Super-expensive gaming consoles do predate the Playstation 3.)
It would take a lot of those overflowing val-u-pak cups for me to attain that goal, but I believed I could do it. For the next three months, I was outside almost every day, serving up the best powdered mix-water combination drink this side of Morrell Avenue.
Toward the end of the summer, I had made a $30 profit. To me, it was still a great success, as it was the most money I had ever earned on an occasion that wasn’t Christmas or my birthday.
I never did buy that gaming system. Instead, I put my hard-earned cash toward another thing I had coveted for so long: a cat. Although my parents assisted me with most of the costs — which, believe it or not, amounted to less than the gaming console — it was a great feeling, paying for something on my own. I felt like an adult.
(However, as an actual adult now, paying for things isn’t so much fun anymore.)
Driving down my street on a sweltering August afternoon, I noticed a group of kids standing around a table on the corner. And lo and behold, they were selling lemonade.
Intrigued, I pulled up to the corner and rolled down my window.
"Selling lemonade? Great idea on a hot day like this. How much?"
"It’s 25 cents for a small cup, and 50 cents for a large cup," explained one of the miniature entrepreneurs. Wow. Back in my day, I had a "one-size-and-like-it" policy. I opted for a small cup.
A young girl poured me a Styrofoam cup of lemonade and handed off to a young boy, who was afraid of dropping the very full cup on the asphalt. Another boy was in shock that they were receiving business from someone driving a car.
"It’s 25 cents," they reminded me. I handed them two, slightly-wrinkled Washingtons in exchange for the lemonade. "Keep the change."
With the screams of joy that followed, you’d think they had won an all-expense paid trip to Disney World. But then it made me think back to when I was 10, with my doorstep lemonade stand and the excitement I felt when I earned so much as a quarter.
As an adult bogged down with many responsibilities, I often lose sight of those small yet gratuitous rewards. But as I sip my refreshing cup of neighborhood lemonade, I am reminded that even 12 years later, those rewards should never go unnoticed.
I want to thank those corner kids, not only for quenching my thirst, but for showing me that something as simple as lemonade can bring me back to what’s truly important. oo
Alison Barretta lives in Morrell Park.
Share your opinion by e-mail
Click here to return to this week's editorial . . .