Events (But Stay Home Instead)

Once again, hardly anything going on this week in town, which is a good thing, because of the snowstorm.  Hopefully most of us will be out and about by Monday (though alleys don't get plowed, so those of us who must park behind our houses will see you in the spring). As for the events below, I'd call ahead to make sure they haven't been cancelled or postponed.


Need a snow day activity? Go to this link and vote for the Montco Happenings you liked best this past year.  Selma Ghost Tours, Riverfest, and Winter Wonderland were all nominated again (weirdly, Winter Wonderland says Worcester. It should be Norristown.) Check out the other categories, too. You can add favorite places or events. Let's put Norristown on the Happenings map.

If you were planning to go to Salsa on Cherry Street Saturday, it's been cancelled due to weather.

Monday from 7-9 pm at Montgomery County Human Services (1430 Dekalb), Free Home Buying Basics class sponsored by Genesis Housing. Learn about realtors, agreements of sale, mortgages, inspections and more. Learn about grant and loan programs for homebuyers.

Tuesday, noon at Casa Bonita, the Norristown Schuylkill Rivertown Action Committee is meeting to discuss art on the trail. If you'd like to be involved, RSVP to Lizzie Hessek at lhessek@pecpa.org. The Rivertown Committee is under the auspices of the Pennsylvania Environmental Council.

Tuesday, 6:30-8:30 pm, The nurses of Mercy Suburban are once again offering a free laundry event at the laundromat in the 800 Block of Dekalb. Free use of washers and dryers for those who need it. Join them for some laundry and conversation.

Tuesday at 7 pm, Zoning Board Hearing at Municipal Hall. Agenda this link. Interestingly, 1529 Dekalb is NOT listed, though I thought they were supposed to take a vote on that (that's the historic Tennis Club building and lot).


ACPPA's Summer Camp Registration is open. This summer's theme is Animal Planet and will encourage campers (ages 3-12) to consider the many ways in which we share this world with other living things and how they inspire us. In addition to intensive creative explorations of visual arts, dance, music, and drama, students will enjoy weekly swimming trips, zoo and aquarium field trips, and visits from special guests. For more information or to register for Animal Planet, visit this link or call the office at 610-277-2270.

Stay home. Enjoy the blizzard from indoors.

Vote for the Best of Montco

The voting has opened for "Best of Montco" and a few Norristown establishments made the list of nominees. You can register your vote at http://montco.happeningmag.com/happeninglist/ and you can still add nominees (just be sure they aren't already listed).

I did notice some definite discouragements in the way Montco Happenings listed categories and did nominations. For one thing, to make a nomination, you have to enter the email address of the nominee. A lot of businesses don't list email addresses on their websites, but all list phone numbers. Would have been nice if there had been an either/or option for email or phone.

Also, the street address of the nominee is a required field. A lot of businesses/organizations don't have brick and mortar stores these days. They might actually be the Best of Montco, but they'll never be nominated.

The sub-categories seem kind of hit-and-miss. Under the Food & Drink category is the sub-category "Chinese" but not "Asian." So there was no place to nominate my favorite Korean and Vietnamese restaurants. "Cheesesteaks" was a sub-category, but not hoagies or pork sandwiches. They all get lumped under "Sandwich." No BBQ category either.

But, here are the Norristown nominations that I found. I added links for the sub-categories to make it easy to find them. (I have to admit, I didn't slog through all the sub-categories, so if you know of any other nominees, or if make a nomination yourself, leave a comment and I'll add them to the list below.) Congratulations to

Jus' Java, nominated under the Food & Drink category for both Best Coffee and Best Kept Secret.

Zachary's BBQ, nominated under the Food & Drink category for Best Kept Secret.

Sessano Cafe & Deli, under the Food & Drink category for Best Sandwich.

Taqueria La Michoacana, under the Food & Drink category for Best Mexican.

Ghost Tours at Selma Mansion, under the Everything Montco category for Best Family Event

Riverfest, also under the Everything Montco category for Best Family Event

William Frank Hair Designs, under Beauty & Wellness for Best Hair Cut

Norristown Diary (hey, that's me), under the People category for Best Blogger.

So, go vote for your favorites. Let's let Montgomery County know that Norristown has some of the Best of Montco right here in their county seat.