National Night Out, Theater, Music, Etc.

The worst of the nor'easter is supposed to end Saturday evening, so enjoy the indoor events until then. And bring your bug repellent to the Sunday concert.

Friday, July 28, 6-10 pm at Casa Villasenor (1339 Sandy Hill Road). Caribbean Night. $30 (includes show, music, food and one free drink).

Friday, 8 pm at Centre Theatre (208 Dekalb). Dorian Gray (the Musical) Homecoming Concert. Friday and Sunday (July 30), doors open at 7. Come see select songs and scenes from their sold-out run at the 2017 New York Musical Festival. Tickets at this link.

Saturday, 7-11 pm, Five Saints Distilling (Main and Green).  Either Len Martelli or Wes Johnson will perform. Come and find out which.

Sunday 9:30 am, Christ UCC Church (Noble and W Marshall) will hold a breakfast honoring veterans. Veterans, active duty, families and friends are welcome.

Sunday, 7 pm at the Elmwood Park Bandshell, Summer Concert Series presents Flower Power (classic rock). Bring a chair or blanket to sit on. Concession stand will be open.

Monday, deadline for the CADCOM Community Day Basketball Tournament. The tournament takes place the following Saturday, Aug 5 from noon to 4 pm at Oak Street Park. Open to kids grades 4-12 and adults. For information, email Adrienne Aiken, Aaiken@cadcom.org.

Tuesday, 5:30-8:30, National Night Out. Town block party on 1300 block of Willow Street. FREE food, fun, games. Everyone invited.

Wednesday, 10-11 am at Norristown Library (Powell and Swede). Cyber Bullying and Internet Safety. Learn how to stay safe on the internet. Join speaker Joseph Peterson (School Resource Officer at Eisenhower Middle School) as he shares his advice on how adults can stay safe on the internet, avoid scams, and deal with online bullying and harassment. Contact 610-278-5100, x2 for info.

Wednesday, 7:30 pm at Municipal Hall. Council meeting. (Wednesday this week because of National Night Out on Tuesday.)

Thursday, 11 am-2:30 pm on East Main in front of the Courthouse. Norristown Farmers Market. Every Thursday through Oct 26. Variety of fruits and vegetables, farm fresh. Watermelons, cantaloupes and more this week.

Thursday, 2-3 pm at Norristown Library in the Children's Dept. Dinosaur Dig. Join the dig with field paleontologists Mike and Roberta Straka. Interactive fossil talk followed by an actual dig for fossils. Kids will build a Triceratops with the fossil bones they discover. Afterwards, view the fossil museum. Ages 5 and up. Class size limited. First come, first served. http://www.mc-npl.org/children-services/  Contact 610-278-5100 x 205.

Next Friday, August 4, Hero School opens at Theatre Horizon, an interactive play for children and their parents. Performances at 5, 6:15, and 7:30 pm. Only 30 seats per performance. Hero School will run Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through August 27. This weekend's performances Saturday at 10 am, 11:15, 1:30 pm, 2:45. Sunday at 2 pm, 3:15, 5:30 and 6:45. Tickets at this link.

Also next Friday, 5-9 pm at Holy Saviour Club, 436 E Main. The 3-day San Salvatore Festival begins. Italian foods, beer on tap, music, games, rides. Continues Saturday and Sunday. More info next week.

Next Saturday, August 5, noon-4 pm at 340 E Oak St. CADCOM's Community Day (raindate Aug 12). Food, drinks, snacks, music, activities, vendors and the Famous CADCOM Basketball Tourney. FREE for everyone. For info, contact Heather Lewis at 610-277-6363 x166 or email hlewis@cadcom.org.

Next Saturday, 6:30-9:30 pm at Diva's Kitchen, 9 W Main. Gospel Night. All You Can Eat Buffet. Music, Singing, Praying. $15.

Council (and Residents) "Listening"

I attended the first session of Council’s “Listening Tour” last night in the West End. The tours have been widely but poorly communicated online. No attendee, including myself, knew what to expect. Some people were disappointed that last night’s session wasn’t only for West Enders to voice their concerns about West End problems.

They began by letting people mingle and meet their reps and borough officials. One plus: they provided sandwiches and water. Maybe that will bring more people out next time.

Next, the 5 council reps present (Sonya Sanders, Olivia Brady, Valerie Scott Cooper, Hakim Jones and Heather Lewis) said they’d take a limited number of questions from the audience (which I think they should have done at the end instead). The first person, though, asked 3 long-winded questions, in a contentious way, arguing with every answer council reps attempted to give, so only one question was answered completely. The rest of us weren’t allowed to ask anything because we were told there wasn’t time.

The one question concerned 5 council members attending a workshop by the National League of Cities in Birmingham, AL. The questioner wanted to know if tax dollars were used to send the reps to Birmingham. The answer was yes. Personally, I have no problem with my taxes being used if I get better council reps back as a result. I’ve attended conferences myself for writing, music, teaching, etc., and I’ve always come back with more knowledge and insights, not only from the content of the seminars but from being able to network with people from around the country or world. Now, if Council began going to conferences every week or month, that would be a problem worth addressing. Once or twice a year isn’t going to break the budget. If we expect them to pay their own way, we need to give them a bigger stipend for the job. It’s thankless enough as it is. The questioner asked why only black council members went, implying that the white ones weren’t invited somehow (they simply couldn’t get off from work or chose not to go for other reasons). That question was particularly disturbing to me. We don’t need that kind of divisiveness in Norristown. People who try to create an us-against-them atmosphere, especially between races or cultures, are part of the problem, not the solution.

But on to the next part of the program.  People were asked to take a survey on Public Safety using their smartphones. Quite a few of us, including me, didn’t have smartphones, so we were given paper copies. They had this gimmicky app that let people see the smartphone responses cutely animated up on a screen (though I have to admit, I missed most of it because I was trying to give some thought to filling out a paper survey while taking notes for this blog at the same time). Also, paper surveys asked for our names while smartphone users could remain anonymous.

The problem with multiple choice surveys is that you only get a choice of the answers the questioners want to hear. And so often, their answers aren’t the only correct ones or the question needs a more nuanced response. (Example: Do you trust the police? Yes or No. My answer: I listed the things I trusted them to do and the things I don’t.)

For the questions that weren’t multiple choice, I could tell by looking at the screen that maybe 10-15% were giving thought-out replies while the rest were watching the screen and copying what someone else said. But I guess that’s still better than multiple choice questions.

Afterward, they collected the paper surveys (I hope they’re input into their database, but I doubt my non-conformist responses will be). Chief Talbot spoke a bit, then we had a chance to once more speak one-on-one with borough officials and reps, and that may have been the most productive part of the evening.

I give the Municipality a D for this first session. “Listening” didn’t figure into it, though they got a little input from the community. But it was controlled input and the gadgetry got in the way of honest opinions. The data might help a little, but it won’t solve the general feeling around town that Council ISN’T listening. Democracy is messy. As Chief Talbot said last night, he doesn’t mind hard questions. The rest of our government has to feel the same way.

Still, it’s not all Council’s fault. The contentious feeling in that room last night solved nothing (and it was contagious—by the end of the night, I was shouting at people and I went home feeling angry and frustrated). Shouting gets us absolutely nowhere. Leave your contention at home next time, or don’t come.

I hope to be at the next Town Hall. I’d suggest to Council that they do the smartphone thing before questions. Then allow people to discuss the topic without the gadgetry to elicit more honest responses. Maybe allow questions on other topics after that. And let people know on social media that this isn’t a normal Town Hall.

Maybe, Council, what you need instead is “Coffee with a Councilperson” every month in different parts of town. It’s helping the NPD. It might help you.

Riverfront Park Erosion Update

Last week I told you about the destruction of the vegetation on Riverfront Park's riverbank and explained why that vegetation is so important in preventing erosion, slowing flood waters, filtering pollution, providing a habitat for wildlife, and practically, just giving us a nice natural, cool place to picnic or fish on a hot summer's day.

I was curious as to what effect the weekend storms had on the muddy riverbank, so I went back yesterday morning. Here are some photos:

The Municipality must have also agreed that the erosion risk was now high, because they placed this blue construction bolster along the riverbank. Not a great look for our park. But more importantly in this photo, some of the scant vegetation that was left after the borough's "improvements" was gone after the weekend storms.

Here's a closer look at that bare spot from the above photo. You can see how much more vulnerable this part of the riverbank is to erosion now.

This is the end of the lot, just beyond the circle. There had been a deep eroded ditch there which Public Works filled with mud, but you can see on the right side of the photo that the runoff has already begun to form a new ditch under the bolster. This is where the parking lot is closest to the river and now there's no vegetation at all to protect either the riverbank or the parking lot.

This is the same spot on the other side of the bolster. It looks like at least a foot of riverbank washed away over the weekend here. I stood on the curb to take this photo ~ that's how close the river is to the parking lot.

This is better because the remaining trees and vegetation helped to provide protection from erosion, but you can see that some of the debris that had been on the bank is now in the water, so some flooding or erosion did take place.

This was only the result of one fierce but short storm Saturday, and some longer, more gentle bouts of rain on Sunday. I haven't had a chance to see if last night's storm did more damage. But it's absolutely imperative that native plants with good roots be replaced along the riverbank as quickly as possible.

Hot Happenings

If you can stand the heat, you'll find a few events around town this weekend.

Saturday, July 22, 9-11 am at Dunkin Donuts, Logan Square (Markley and Johnson Hwy). Coffee With A Cop. Free coffee and a chance to chat with N-town's Finest.

Saturday, 7-10 pm at Elmwood Park. Redemption 1010, a new church in Norristown, invites the community for a night of games, food and a movie. Free event. For more info, email jetpac1010@gmail.com.

Saturday, 7-11 pm, Five Saints Distilling (Main and Green). River Bones Band performs.

Sunday, 1-4 pm at Montgomery Cemetery (Hartranft and Jackson). Ice Cream Sundae Social presented by the Historical Society of Montgomery County. Live Music, Sing-a-Long, Vintage Lawn Games for the Whole Family. Bring your own blankets or chairs and beverages. Enjoy a bowl of ice cream and your choice of toppings for only $5. All are invited.

Sunday, 7 pm at the Elmwood Park Bandshell, Summer Concert Series presents British Invasion. Bring a chair or blanket to sit on. Concession stand will be open.

Monday, 1 pm at the Norristown Library (Powell and Swede) Community Room. Monday Movie Mania. This week is "The Secret Life of Pets." FREE and family-friendly (and air-conditioned).

Tuesday, 6-8 pm at Maennor-Chor Club (920 Haws Ave). Council Listening Tour begins. First of a series of town halls happening in 4 locations over the next 2 months. Council says they're actually going to listen to us (you don't need a smartphone like they claim on the poster--they just want to show off their love of gadgetry). I'm hoping for series of honest discussions and real answers without rhetoric, but I have my doubts.

Tuesday, 7 pm at Municipal Hall. Zoning Board Hearing.

Wednesday, 1:30-2:30 pm, Carver Community Center (249 Jacoby Street). Information/ Enrollment Orientation for FREE computer/copper cabling classes through our Work-Tech Career Readiness Program, presented by the Salvation Army. Contact Kristen Davis, Retention Coach/Job Developer, 215-825-4611, kristen.davis@use.salvationarmy.org.

Thursday, 11 am-2:30 pm on East Main in front of the Courthouse. Norristown Farmers Market. Every Thursday through Oct 26. Variety of fruits and vegetables, farm fresh. They even had watermelons last week!

Monday, July 31 is the deadline for signing up for the CADCOM Community Day Basketball Tournament. The tournament takes place Aug 5 from noon to 4 pm at Oak Street Park. Open to kids grades 4-12 and adults. For information, email Adrienne Aiken, Aaiken@cadcom.org.

National Night Out is Tuesday, August 1. Block party on Willow Street as usual. More info next week.

CADCOM is looking for vendors for their Community Day on August 5 (raindate Aug 12) at 340 E Oak St. $15 for business, FREE for non-profits. If you're interested, contact Heather Lewis at 610-277-6363 x166 or email hlewis@cadcom.org.

How N-Town is Wasting Our Tax $ Now

At the end of last week, Norristown Municipality posted photos of Riverfront Park on their Facebook page with the caption, “Despite the gloomy weather, Norristown Public Works and Pennsylvania American Water are hard at work trimming trees and clearing out debris to give everyone a more beautiful view of Norristown's riverfront!” 48 people hit the Like or even the Love icon. What’s not to love, right?

Me? I thought “uh-oh” and went down to Riverfront this week to check it out.

What their photos didn’t show you was the mud they left behind. They essentially ripped out 90% or more of the vegetation along the riverbank—trees, undergrowth, you name it—and left mud and debris in their wake. Sure, everyone can see the river from any point in the parking lot now, but if you want shade for your picnic on these hot days, forget it. If you want to enjoy nature without looking at ugly mud and debris, you’ll have to head for Valley Forge.

Still, the inconvenience of picnickers is only a tiny part of the problem. The real disaster here is that most of the riparian buffer zone was destroyed. What’s a riparian buffer zone? It’s native vegetation that grows along a riverbank and has 4 important environmental functions:

1. Keeping the bank from eroding
2. Slowing flood waters
3. Absorbing pollution in stormwater runoff, to keep the river cleaner
4. Providing habitat (food and shelter) for fish and wildlife

If we get one or two heavy thunderstorms this week, some of that mud will disappear, right into the river. The next time we get a week of rain, a lot of what’s left of the riverbank could disappear. The dirt around the roots of the few trees they left will erode away and those trees will fall into the river. The riverbank will go bye-bye, then the parking lot will start to crack and wash away. I heard the PA American Water Company intends to plant grass seed. That won’t work. Residential grass doesn’t have roots deep enough or strong enough for a riverbank. 

A good strong flood could speed up the erosion process. Remember a few years ago, when a flood lifted the Dragon Boat’s trailer and washed it down to the Dekalb bridge? A flood like that now would do a lot more damage to Riverfront Park—destroy the parking lot, gouge out the hill behind it, even undermine the Schuylkill River Trail—because now we have very few trees and undergrowth to slow down flood waters. If Riverfront Park is inundated, the river could actually move inland permanently, then threaten Crawford Park and everything downstream.

Pollution? We already have elevated levels of nitrates in our river. We get our drinking water from there, folks. We ought to be trying to widen and strengthen the riparian buffer instead of destroying it.

A week and a half ago I went on the Audubon Center’s bird walk at Riverfront. We saw little birds in the trees all along the riverbank and heard frogs in the water. All those birds were gone yesterday, and I didn’t hear any frogs. If you’re one of the people who like to fish at Riverfront, the fish populations will probably decrease in the coming year because of lack of habitat.

I don’t know who at Municipal Hall had this brilliant idea to destroy an entire eco-system and put at risk one of our most unique parks, and the area all around it, and possibly even our water supply. The person ought to be fired.

A"before" picture of the riverbank

What will it take to fix the problem properly? Honestly, I’m not sure it CAN be fixed. An eco-system is a complex thing that takes decades, at least, to evolve. Planting native plants all along the bank would help. Widening the riparian zone would help, even if it’s only by 10 or 15 feet. Things that won’t help: grass or more concrete or asphalt. Whatever the solution, it’ll cost more tax money. Something they wouldn’t need to spend if they’d left well enough alone.

But frankly, I can’t see anyone at Municipal Hall publicly acknowledging their mistake. Or understanding that they made one in the first place.

Ironically, the Municipality just changed their Facebook cover to a pre-disaster area photo of Riverfront Park.

You can read more about riparian buffer zones on a PDF at the USDA's website at this link.

FREE Flea Market, Movies, Music, etc.

Things to do in town all day long on Saturday. Get out and enjoy the nice weather.

Friday, July 14, 8-9 pm at Simmons Park (328 E Oak). Prayer Vigil held by Norristown Town Watch to remember the lives lost in recent events in the community. All welcome.

Saturday, 9-3 pm at Selma Mansion (1301 W Airy). Flea Market. FREE admission for shoppers. Attic treasures, crafts, professional vendors, games. toys, food, drink. Rain or shine. There are still outside vendor spaces left for $10. Bring your own table or dropcloth. Pay when you arrive. First come, first choice of spaces.

Saturday, 10:30 am-12:30 pm at Centre Theater. Kids Movie Club. This month: "A Night At The Museum." FREE event for children of all ages. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Reservations are recommended as seating is limited. To reserve, email centretheater@gmail.com

Saturday, 6:30-10:30 pm at Coffee Talk (507 W Marshall), Open Mic with Teri Camilari.

Saturday, 7-9 pm at the Elmwood Park Band Shell. Free Gospel Concert.

Saturday, 7-11 pm, Five Saints Distilling (Main and Green). Dueling guitars of "Pat's Run" performs. They're going to have a food truck from Havertown serving Mexican food in the afternoon. Really, Five Saints? You think you need to bring Mexican food in from out of town? You couldn't just partner with one of Norristown's dozens of Mexican eateries and support a local business?

Sunday, 11 am-3 pm at Crawford Park (342 W Main). Community Art Project during the 5 on 5.

Sunday, 7 pm at the Elmwood Park Bandshell, Summer Concert Series presents Monkeephiles (music of the Monkees). Bring a chair or blanket to sit on. Concession stand will be open.

Monday, 1 pm at the Norristown Library (Powell and Swede) Community Room. Monday Movie Mania. This week is "Finding Dory." FREE and family-friendly.

Tuesday, 6:30 pm at Municipal Hall. Council Workshop meeting.

Thursday, 11 am-2:30 pm on East Main in front of the Courthouse. Norristown Farmers Market. Every Thursday through Oct 26. Variety of fruits and vegetables, farm fresh, and annual flowers.

Thursday, 7 pm at the Elmwood Park Bandshell, Summer Concert Series presents International Night with Norristown's own Verdi Band. Bring a chair or blanket to sit on. Concession stand will be open.

Next Saturday, July 22, 7-10 pm at Elmwood Park. Redemption 1010, a new church in Norristown, invites the community for a night of games, food and a movie. Free event. For more info jetpac1010@gmail.com

CADCOM is looking for vendors for their Community Day on August 5 (raindate Aug 12) at 340 E Oak St. $15 for business, FREE for non-profits. If you're interested, contact Heather Lewis at 610-277-6363 x166 or email hlewis@cadcom.org.

The deadline for the CADCOM Community Day Basketball Tournament is July 31. The tournament takes place Aug 5 from noon to 4 pm at Oak Street Park. Open to kids grades 4-12 and adults. For information, email Adrienne Aiken, Aaiken@cadcom.org.

Nature, Music, Graphic Arts, History and More this Week

We must be all partied out from the 4th because this weekend seems quiet. But head down to the river Saturday for a FREE program by the Audubon Center. I heard a rumor there might be other activities at Riverfront Park, too.

Saturday, July 8, noon-2 pm at Riverfront Park. Birding With Binoculars, a FREE program presented by the John James Audubon Center. Observe wildlife right on the Schuylkill River. Explore local waterfowl and learn how birds survive in their habitats by finding food, water, shelter, and space. Participants get a pair of binoculars to use during the program. Great for kids and families.

Saturday, 8-11 pm, Five Saints Distilling (Main and Green). Ken Pierson performs.


Sunday, 7 pm at the Elmwood Park Bandshell, Summer Concert Series presents Skitty Show (a little bit of everything). Bring a chair or blanket to sit on (though you're going to want to get up and dance). Concession stand will be open.

Tuesday, 1-2 pm at Norristown Library. Meet local graphic novelist Matt Phelan, who'll explain how to write and publish a graphic novel. All are welcome to attend, but especially teens.  Free.

Tuesday, 5:30-7 pm at the Historical Society (1654 Dekalb St.). Cruising Montgomery and Berks Counties. Cruising was a favorite activity on Friday and Saturday nights during the 1950's to show off your ride and your girl, impress your friends, or maybe get the attention of that special girl. Then stop at the drive-in for a soft drink or snack and check out everyone else. Come find out what you missed in this FREE program. For more information contact the Historical Society of Montgomery County at 610-272-0297;
contact@hsmcpa.org

Tuesday, 7 pm at Municipal Hall. Planning Commission meeting.

Thursday, 11 am-2:30 pm on East Main in front of the Courthouse. Norristown Farmers Market. Every Thursday through Oct 26. Variety of fruits and vegetables, farm fresh.

Next Saturday, July 15, 10:30 am-12:30 pm at Centre Theater. Kids Movie Club. This month: "A Night At The Museum." Free event for children of all ages. Children must be accompanied by an adult. Reservations are recommended as seating is limited. To reserve, email centretheater@gmail.com

Next Saturday, 9-3 pm at Selma Mansion (1301 W Airy). Flea Market. FREE admission for shoppers. Attic treasures, crafts, professional vendors, games. toys, food, drink. Rain or shine.

Next Saturday, 6:30-10:30 pm at Coffee Talk (507 W Marshall), Open Mic with Teri Camilari.

Also next Saturday, 7-9 pm at the Elmwood Park Band Shell. Free Gospel Concert.

CADCOM is looking for vendors for their Community Day on August 5 (raindate Aug 12) at 340 E Oak St. $15 for business, FREE for non-profits. If you're interested, contact Heather Lewis at 610-277-6363 x166 or email hlewis@cadcom.org.

The deadline for the CADCOM Community Day Basketball Tournament is July 31. The tournament takes place Aug 5 from noon to 4 pm at Oak Street Park. Open to kids grades 4-12 and adults. For information, email Adrienne Aiken, Aaiken@cadcom.org