Things that drive me crazy includes when incorrect dates are attributed to old houses. The City of Philadelphia in particular is the WORST. THE WORST.
Take for example, the house that counts as my birthplace in Philadelphia. The City of Philadelphia has it listed as being built in 1860. It is a historic property that their own redevelopment authority dated to 1811! I have the sign when it was built in 1811 and for whom that hung on the house before my parents purchased it ! And a former Mayor of Philadelphia and Congressman J. Hampton Moore lived there. Documentable history.
Or my grandparents old house in North Philadelphia where my father was born. They give the rowhouse a date of being built in 1940. My father was born in 1935. There. Was daddy living in the wild, Philadelphia?
What started me on this today? One of my friends and I realized that one of her grandmother was born a few blocks from the house my great aunts and great uncle lived in at 1128 Ritner Street in South Philadelphia. The City of Philadelphia lists the house as being built in 1940. Again, one issue: photos of my father as an infant out front with my grandfather, grandmother, great aunts, and great grandmother…..in 1935.
So then I went digging around. Found instances of when this house was for rent, for sale, needed domestic help in the early 20th century. 1897, 1908, 1912, 1919. So there goes that idea of 1940 Philadelphia.
This of course led me to all sorts of other notices. For my family. When my Great Aunt Rose and Uncle Carl got their marriage license. Death notices, executor and executrix notices. And one freaking amazing find I had never seen before: when my father’s maternal grandfather, Francesco Antonio Luca, my great grandfather became a naturalized U.S. Citizen. That gave me chills.
Of course this led me to sad records, including when my Aunt Josie’s house, now sold a few times since it was sold when she had to go into a nursing home with Alzheimer’s, went into a foreclosure in 2021. I feel sorry for whomever that was and I am guessing they may have been in part responsible for the bastardization of the inside of the house.
It also led me to photos of a more recent Realtor type vintage. I have so few photos of the inside of that house, and none are scanned. And I couldn’t find them when I was starting to write this post. Inside when I was little was an old fireplace with Mercer tiles around it and a white mantle. There was a vestibule, which meant you came inside the front door and there was a little area with tiles that you could drop wet shoes, an umbrella, etc. There was also a door that then led you inside the house. My great aunts had an ancient player piano. That was left when the house was sold while Aunt Josie was alive. I actually found a photo of it but it had been moved to near the front window when it was always in between the living room and dining room when I was growing up. At some point the living room and dining room were bastardized in the 2000s and no more fireplace or vestibule or curved arch kind of entry to dining room. Oh and there is a “roof terrace” (not finished) which trust me never excisted.
I have a lot of very specific memories of the house on Ritner Street because we spent a lot of time there. I have written about that before. When you walked inside the front doors, there was a vestibule with an additional door and transom window. The vestibule had tile as flooring. Not sure it was marble, but might have been. The fireplace was closed off and completely decorative by the time I was a child and I think hid pipes or something. But when it was for sale a few years ago, the beautiful mantle and Mercer tile surround and hearth was just gone and those floors were not the original hardwoods. And I am not sure where the front window came from because it was different from when I was little and even different from when my father was growing up.
And I am not sure when the house got so unattractive with the façade because originally it was brick and other stone. I remember the steps were blue-grey marble or granite originally and then at some point before I was born a home “improvement” contractor working the neighborhood convinced the residents of 1128 Ritner that the steps HAD to change. I imagine he probably re-sold the original slabs of stone and the way the steps were situated also changed.
Being so annoyed that the City of Philadelphia didn’t even have the right year the house was built also sent me to the census records for the Lucas. Why that was cool is I saw all the places they lived after emigrating. They came in through Alabama and PJ, my Uncle Pat (Pasquale) and Aunt Millie were born in Tuscumbia, Alabama. The others were born in Philadelphia. I found the houses prior to moving to Ritner Street – 966 Kimball and 1614 Iseminger.
I will remember Ritner street the way it was when I was growing up. I am sorry the interior details that were so pretty have been lost over time. Especially those Mercer tiles in the hearth and fireplace surround.
Except for their earliest residences, these immigrants I descend from owned their homes. And if you read the census data, there was only a limited education until my father’s generation. These people worked hard. These people are my people. When so many run from what they are from, I celebrate it.
I miss my old people of my growing up years. I miss that house. No one besides me probably cares that the year it was built is wrong, or the house I was born into is listed with the wrong building year. But details matter. Or they should. But it’s the City of Philadelphia which has seemingly stopped caring about pretty much everything.
Family is often more of an abstract concept as opposed to the reality we thought it should be. Only these are people that I’ve never really known and who have never wanted to know me.
Every once in a while I think about this family I should know, but really don’t. It’s not that I miss them per se, it’s just something I wonder about occasionally.
My memories of my father’s immediate family as in his siblings is like looking at photos through a reel of an old GAF Viewfinder. Remember those? Click click on a round little cardboard thing with a finite amount of images. National parks, nature, monuments, and more.
Click, click. I remember when I was maybe 6 or so, spending a weekend at a white farmhouse with a barn off a long driveway or maybe a narrow road in Paoli. It was off of Lancaster Avenue. My father’s sister, my aunt, and her family lived there for a couple of years before my uncle got a job transfer to Ohio I think it was.
Click, click. Another memory of the same house. Thanksgiving. Being seated at the children’s table out in the hall next to the staircase. With my cousins, who really didn’t want to be at a table with me. I remember black-eyed peas as a side, and I remember my uncle’s tiny Cuban mother, who spoke very little English, seated at the grown up table dressed all in black.
Click, click. Walking with my father to his brother’s house, which was close to ours for a while in Philadelphia when we lived in Society Hill. Again I was fairly little, and I seem to remember where he lived was almost like inside a little courtyard street. I don’t remember why we were there, but I remember my father speaking to his brother outside. Eventually, my uncle and his wife at the time and family moved to Buffalo New York. We were never invited to visit, not that I cared – we just never were invited. My grandmother used to go visit them in the summer.
Click, click. My father sitting in a darkened living room shortly after his father died. Chain smoking, boxes from I guess his childhood bedroom or something scattered all around. I just remember him being really upset. I never knew what happened. But a memory, I can still recall clearly. A lamp on in the darkened living room, silence, a single stream of cigarette smoke, a crystal ashtray, my father contemplative and silent.
Click, click. Another early random memory. Being at my great aunts’ house on Ritner Street in Philadelphia Christmas Eve. Loud, crowded, fun.
Click, click. Memories here and there of my aunt and uncle’s home in Chestnut Hill. My father‘s mother, my paternal grandmother moved there after my grandfather died. I remember when we went to visit her there we were never allowed to visit her it seemed by ourselves. And I never felt like we were actually welcomed there.
I remember the house. It was a beautiful house and a lot of the furnishings were similar in style and taste to my parents. I loved the living room in that house. It had so much light. I didn’t like the dining room. It seemed dark and unfriendly. Cold. I remember a Thanksgiving when we had visitors from out of town who came with us to Thanksgiving dinner at my father’s sister’s house. It was cold and uncomfortable.
Click, click. The old Lakeside Inn located in Collegeville, PA. It was a surprise party for one of my great aunts. Or maybe it was an anniversary party for my great aunt and uncle. I don’t remember what the event was, I remember is it was a gathering of the clan and at one point my father’s brother made this big deal of taking all the kids downstairs at the Lakeside Inn where they had a gift shop. My uncle, my father’s brother bought all the kids, a toy or something out of the gift shop. Except for my sister and I. I don’t know why that was, but I remember how it felt. We didn’t cry or anything. We just kind of went back to where the grown-ups were at the party. Someone told my great uncle about this and he took my sister and I down later and got us each a special present. I remember what mine was and I had it for decades until it literally fell apart, it was a little calico owl stuffed animal.
Click, click. Memories of going to Maryland to see my father’s favorite cousin, and his wife and family here and there. My earliest memory was a little house and we were on the swingset in the back. I even have a photo of that. Then there were later memories of a cool Victorian house in Ellicott City. Those were always happy memories because I really like those cousins and we felt welcome as opposed to how we felt every time we were around my father’s sister and brother and their respective families. Also other memories of other cousins of my father. There we were always welcome, I did not feel like an outsider who was barely tolerated.
Click, click when my father’s mother was dying. My uncle, my father’s brother, telling my father that he was a terrible son over their mother’s deathbed with me in the room as well. I told my uncle off then and there. My grandmother said nothing but smiled.
Click, click. The luncheon at Philadelphia Cricket Club after my grandmother’s funeral. First of all, realizing that no one really wanted our part of the family there, and how breathtakingly rude one of my aunt’s daughters (my first cousin) was to me in the ladies room. I’ve never forgotten it. She loved my grandmother very much and I know that. She was very close to her. I didn’t begrudge that. That was her relationship. But I still remember being at the sink, putting on lipstick or something and my cousin coming out of the stall in the ladies room. I said hello to her and she literally cut me dead and I’ve never forgotten the look, and I never understood the look either because we didn’t have a relationship, so why would she be like that? It was literally hateful. It’s not like I got some huge inheritance over her, there was only one thing I asked my aunt for of my grandmother’s. I asked for some photos of my father growing up that my grandmother had. And when those arrived, which was months after the funeral, they arrived in a small box, and you could see they had been ripped out of old-fashioned photo albums.
I have lots of these random memories that are like they were from a GAF viewfinder. Finite, brief. But there.
Funny but not funny, whenever I see super happy, close TV families it doesn’t quite smack of reality. There is none of the messiness of real life. My father’s relationship with his siblings was definitely messy. I just will probably never know exactly why, because each sibling has their own story, of course and wherein lies the truth? His sister is the only sibling still alive at this point. But I’ve never really had a relationship with her and I’m not going to call an old woman and say, why didn’t you get along with your brother, my father?
I never have known exactly what the breakdown was between my father and his siblings. Or with his mother after his father died. I wasn’t there when they were growing up. I just remember even when I was little there was a vibe I got. They had whatever issue with my father, also didn’t like my mother, and I was one of their children.
Every once in a while, I wonder what life would have been like growing up if these relationships were different? I wonder what it would be like today if those relationships have been different? But when you’re related to people that really don’t care to know you, it kind of sets the stage. You wonder and then you release that feeling.
I have a really nice life. I have my family, but I still wonder occasionally what life would have been like if my father’s family had been different? Please don’t misunderstand me, I don’t miss what I’ve never known. It’s just more of a curiosity. When I get occasional news of any of this part of my father’s family, it’s like hearing about strangers, because to me, they really are strangers. I’ve never really known them, and they’ve never wanted to know me.
It has been a week of cooking. Right now I have a chicken roasting in the oven, Julia Child style. Along with the roast chicken, I am making a salad with poppyseed dressing. I’m making at the way friend. I had many years ago named Liza used to make it. It was one of her favorite salads to serve. I am also serving a mash of potatoes, celeriac root, and parsnips with sautéed baby Bella mushrooms.
Earlier this week I made pierogis for the first time. I have mad respect for old Polish grandmothers everywhere. Those suckers are work! I used a New York Times recipe, and adjusted the potato filling to my taste – I added sautéed mushrooms.
A couple of days ago I found some fabulous old Coalport plates. You don’t see them all the time in the US they are a British china. Coalport china ceased operations and production in 1926. Coalport was eventually absorbed into Wedgewood in the 1960s. I love old plates, so I will use them. I pretty much use old plates every day no matter what, I’m not really a modern china person. And my mother always said if you have the plates use them, you can’t take them with you.
Today for dessert I am making something I made up. I am calling it pineapple upside down trifle. it’s a semi homemade kind of thing, and never underestimate the power of a simple dessert.
Here’s the recipe:
1 box Jell-O instant pudding mix. Today I’m using banana, but you can also use vanilla. Make according to directions with whole milk and put to the side.
1 package of ladyfingers or one store-bought poundcake. I just got a Sara Lee that’s always still in the freezer section and let it thaw on the refrigerator.package of ladyfingers or one store-bought poundcake. I just got a Saralee that’s always still in the freezer section and let it thaw on the refrigerator.
1 cleaned, cored, sliced into small pieces fresh pineapple. I found a smaller one at the store, not huge one.
A couple tablespoons of brown sugar and butter.
I am making my trifle in a vintage Copco Enamelware Bowl. I’m not putting this into the oven. I’m just putting it into the refrigerator. I really like this bowl. I found that a few months ago. It’s stamped Michael Lax for Copco of Switzerland. It was a total deal and I purchased it well below what you would see these bowls going for on EBay or Etsy.
I sautéed the pineapple in a couple of tablespoons of unsalted butter with brown sugar until they were caramelized. When they were cool enough to handle, I started to put my trifle together.
Trifle is really simple. It’s layered pudding and cake with fruit. Never underestimate the appeal of this desert. If you want to you can top it with a little whipped cream but you don’t have to.
I started a gifting group after complete and utter nastiness exploded within a local Buy Nothing group. Buy Nothing Malvern if you are curious.
The nutshell version is a couple of years ago there were women who were like power-hungry or social media glory hungry, I’m not exactly sure what the case was, but they offered to “help” an admin who has started this particular chapter of a Buy Nothing group I had belonged to and then they did a hostile takeover for lack of a better description. I kind of sat there and went “HUH” when it happened, and thought well isn’t that nasty?
I decided after what happened with our local Buy Nothing group that we could build our own group and carry on what the woman who originally founded the Malvern Buy Nothing Group intended.
Our group is called Gift and Gratitude. We are predominantly hyper-local, but depending how close to our home area a person is, we will consider people outside of our immediate ZIP Code. And that is not a flexibility that the named Buy Nothing Groups offer. We also got rid of silliness like leaving posts up forever. And we are more cognizant of people who try to work the system of gifting to get things they can sell for their own profit and there are things that we don’t allow that we don’t feel other gifting groups are clear enough on. It’s responsible gifting.
And right or wrong, we also keep an eye on people who always seem to have a hand out versus ever offering a hand up. We will work with local nonprofits and food banks, and things like that if asked if they are in short supply of something, we will put it out there in our group to help. We take the spirit of community seriously. We know we can’t help everyone, but we do what we can.
Over the past couple of years, I have heard tales from friends of mine in other areas about their local Buy Nothing named groups imploding. Then I heard about the original Buy Nothing founders launching an app with pay walls, etc. so I kind of think that for whatever reason, and I’m not judging them, these original founders, who inspired us sold out for lack of a better description.
OK that’s kind of a bummer, but people have to make a living, right? And the thing about Buy Nothing is it inspired us to try to be better, to help. I don’t know if any of you read this article from 2022, but it was a good thing to read when you’re talking about these groups:
Well, most people I’ve spoken to don’t like the app as in the Buy Nothing app. Mostly they don’t like it because they can’t connect to their local group via the app and the pay walls.
So what else has happened? Well, it’s getting like the Hatfields versus the McCoys and the Sharks versus the Jets. Now people are starting and / or rebranding their Buy Nothing group into Gifting With Gratitude. Now this has all started since I created our group with my friends, called Gift AND Gratitude. We are not them and they are not us.
Someone said to me recently that I should trademark my group’s name, etc. but I think that defeats the purpose of a gifting group in the first place. Just like I think the people who literally shop gifting groups, so they can resell items or take advantage of people deserve a special place in hell.
So I’m going to chalk up Gifting With Gratitude groups as simply not us. We are a one off, not playing follow the leader whomever that is.
Gifting groups are supposed to be a good thing, not a reason to be competitive with women you don’t like on social media on a hyper local level. Not that I’m not unfamiliar with that, because people have tried to do that with gardening groups who didn’t like my gardening group, also on Facebook.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, I suppose. Mostly, it just amuses me. I didn’t start a gifting group to sit at the popular girls lunch table, after all. I started a gifting group because I thought it was the right thing to do. And that’s why you should start a gifting group, to pay it forward in your community as opposed to making it pay.
They don’t publicize this the way they should and this is a great show this year!
This show benefits their outreach at Malvern Retreat House.
10 AM – 7 PM Saturday, February 4, 2023 10 AM – 4 PM Sunday, February 5, 2023
315 S. Warren Ave Malvern, PA and there is ample free parking onsite. #art #freeevent
Seriously, this show is so terrific! And the price points are better than Yellow Springs Art Show which I love as well. And some of the same and comparable artists. Some of my favorites include New Hope Stained Glass and the fused stained glass artist whose name escapes me.
The Malvern Retreat House Annual Art Show has more than 2,000 fine art pieces including paintings, sculptures, photography, jewelry, and so much more.
Three days before, he had bought the Old Guard House Inn in Gladwyne – even then it was “Old” – a warren of dimly lit dining rooms with log-cabin walls backing up to a bar regarded as the Main Line’s answer to Cheers. The previous fall, he started working in the kitchen for previous owner Jack Callahan, who opened the restaurant in 1949.
“One of those blue-hairs – we had them in those days – she called me over and said, ‘Hey, boy. If you keep your nose clean, you will do very well here,’ ” Breuers recalled this week….New Year’s Eve, though, will mark Breuers’ farewell from the Old Guard House. It also will spell the end of the Guard House as we know it.
Breuers struck a deal several months ago with the Union League in Center City, which in January – after some light redecoration and a kitchen makeover – will take it over. The Union League Guard House will be open to its members and their guests.
The news out of Gladwyne this morning is the Union League is doing a presentation in front of the Gladwyne Civic Association this evening at their regular monthly meeting for…wait for it….outside dining. Umm hello, a streeterie in the parking lot much? Eww. Maybe they should go for a streeterie on Broad Street instead? Yes, I know both are ridiculous ideas. I will also note, the Union League is building rooftop dining in Philthadelphia.
All – at our civic meeting on Tuesday, there will be a presentation from the GH Union League on an expansion to have an outdoor eating area. The civic never heard about this expansion (which is quite surprising and disappointing).
A few commissioners have questions as this expansion will take away some current parking spaces.
If you are interested, or have comments, please come to the meeting Tuesday, Jan 24 at 7pm at the Gladwyne Firehouse.
We are all surprised that the civic and even our Commissioners did not know about this until the other day, so we apologize for the delay in letting people know.
~ gladwyne civic 1/24/23
I will also note myself that this presentation to the Gladwyne Civic is VERY last minute. Why? Because apparently no one told the civic association these plans were in the works based upon what I read. Interestingly enough, I found reference to this on a Lower Merion HARB meeting agenda dated 7/26/22:
INFORMAL – 953 Youngs Ford Road – Old Guard House – Gladwyne Historic District Applicant seeks comment on a plan to create new window openings on the exterior wall of a non-original dining room extension adjacent to a proposed new outdoor dining area surrounded by a pergola structure.
So….why didn’t anyone tell the folks in Gladwyne this was actually in the air? I received a comment this morning from a Union League member. Allow me to share, although I will do the sender a favor and not share their name as that is not necessary, it’s just their opinion vs. mine:
This plan was in Place since they bought it. I think it is rather unjust to call the members discourteous. Parking is tight. You are correct. The UL is putting outside dining on the Roof at the UL and at great expense. It will be exquisite. They don’t do anything half assed. And BTW the DeSantis event is tonight. And what is wrong about that? The people of Gladwyne will be fine and will enjoy collecting the taxes from The guard house. Ain’t progress a bitch. BTW I do enjoy your writing very much. I just don’t see that you a a dog in this game. But free speech is free speech! Hope you are well.
~ Union league memeber to me 1/24/23
Dear member/friend, my “dog in the game” is not traditional. I used to live in Lower Merion (as you know) and I am aware of how hard Gladwynites work to preserve the history and character of this very important historic district. I also know how tight and bad the parking is and how people patronizing the Guard House these days don’t necessarily take care with their on street parking on Righters Mill Road, creating massive headaches for people who do live there. A plan as in their plans, is not the same as a filed plan, so is there a filed plan as in an actual plan, or is this still just a concept? This is also about being a good neighbor. This concept is not the potential act of a good neighbor, and it is that simple.
So now my question is, has this been formally discussed since? At a board of commissioners meeting or meetings? Any plans submitted even in draft form? Does the head of building and planning Chris Leswing know about this or the township manager Ernie McNeely?
I never object to outdoor dining where it FITS. It doesn’t FIT here. This is like when they wanted in Garrett Hill in Radnor not too long ago and diners would have been literally eating practically on top of Conestoga Road.
This is a very specific historic district. The Union League owns golf clubs with loads of outdoor dining space. Plus there is the rooftop dining project on top of the club’s home in Philadelphia. Here that idea just won’t fit. This is a village still, and parking for the Guard House is an issue, and having been there since the Union League took over to dine, the parking issue has never been sufficiently addressed. Righters Mill Road has been doubling as their overflow parking lot, and well the residents aren’t always so well respected when it comes to said parking. And when you add outside dining, there is also that good old expectation of quiet enjoyment so how would restaurant noises taken outside affect neighbors that way?
Now to be fair someone said to me they thought some sheds out back would go away and they would lose a “few spots” and everything would be hidden by a fence. Hidden by a fence made me laugh because it is now an extension of a private club, but it still comes back to village feel and parking. And this is a private club, not a public restaurant any longer, so there is that whole topic. I don’t personally care that it is now an extension of the Union League, except wonder what would happen if this club had a reversal of fortune? It is a valid question because they have been on quite the acquisition spree in the recent past
Union League, people can also go to Merion Cricket, Merion Golf, etc. for outdoor dining and they have the room locally. This location does not truly have the outside room. Leave Gladwyne Village alone, find another way to drive your revenue, and be a good neighbor. This is yet another reason I am glad I am no longer on the Main Line and no longer live in Lower Merion. In my humble opinion, this would be a very special bad plan if they go through with it.
Also worth pondering? What work should the Union League be doing on the Guard House building itself before even contemplating outdoor dining?
The Union League has a responsibility being in a historic area in Gladwyne. This is also a nationally registered historic district. They also just need to be a good neighbor here and not try this. Maybe my opinion doesn’t matter, but I do have the right to express it.
“Be content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.”
—Lao Tzu
In 2014 I started keeping a gratitude jar. I had read about it and it’s a simple concept: It’s a mason jar full of things you’re grateful for. There’s no hard or fast rule as to how often you put a little piece of paper in your jar, it’s just when you think about it.
It’s mindfulness I suppose.
What are you grateful for?
Thankful for?
Maybe changing your life for the better can indeed be as simple as starting with a deliberate change in outlook? Glass half empty? Are you sure? It might be half full on the way to overflowing. The gratitude jar is a private reminder to you.
Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul. ~Henry Ward Beecher
The gratitude jar isn’t or shouldn’t be a prop so people can visit your home and say “Oh what a good person they are!”, it’s something for you. If you let it , what you write will teach you about yourself, others, your world. And it will help you to open up to the goodness that is possible. Learn how to cherish what is right there.
Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.
~Benjamin Franklin
Sometimes when a bunch of negative things happen all in a row, it’s hard to stay positive. I find it hard to stay positive because I do not think by my very nature I am naturally positive. I have to work at it. It may sound silly, but I think my gratitude jar has helped.
I really feel positive for me has been learned behavior, and it’s something I have to relearn and reaffirm again and again. Hopefully, someday it will be second nature to me.
I am sure that some are reading this post and wondering if I am the same person who ripped a politician a new one in another post today. Yes I am. Speaking my truth takes many forms.
Having a gratitude jar is a simple reminder that life is not all bad or all difficult. Having a gratitude jar helps you focus on the things that are wonderful in your life. Even every day little things are wonderful.
Having a gratitude jar helps us reaffirm the many positives in our life. Life can be hard. I am not trying to be Pollyanna and say everything is always wonderful with fuzzy caterpillars that turn into magical butterflies. I am more of a realist than that.
“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”
~ Thornton Wilder
Sometimes I look through what I put in my gratitude jar. My gratitude is pretty consistent.
Feeling grateful as a powerful emotion. Ours is a time where as hard as it is we also have to be grateful. Grateful that we are alive. Coronavirus and COVID-19 separated so many people from their friends and families the past few years. So have social issues and politics.
Life has been hard for so many the past few years. Often unnecessarily so. Sometimes human beings by their very nature make things more difficult than they have to be.
So now starts year 9 for my gratitude jar. I have all of my slips of paper. I am not re-reading everything and I am not emptying my jar like some people do.
Will 2023 be the year people try on a little more gratitude and mindfulness? Time will tell.
‘Tis the gift to be simple, ’tis the gift to be free ‘Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be, And when we find ourselves in the place just right, ‘Twill be in the valley of love and delight. When true simplicity is gained, To bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed, To turn, turn will be our delight, Till by turning, turning we come ’round right. ~ Joseph Brackett 1848
The world according to West Whiteland Stupidvisor Theresa HoganSantalucia , but is her truth anyone else’s?
Saint Theresa of West Whiteland. What can we say about her that is not true? She’s unpleasant, a bad bullying politician, petty, a wannabe tyrant and more, correct? She is incredibly angry and insecure, takes no ownership of her behavior, does she? She is a professional victim after she melts down every single time, isn’t she?
And oh yes, politician darling, I can indeed express my opinions on you.And ask questions.
We all remember her behavior at the reorg meeting in West Whiteland last January, yes? And that the truth with her is always stranger than fiction, correct? So before we get to the present and her relatively new Facebook page of revisionist history essentially insinuating she is the sole supervisor in West Whiteland, Bossette Tweed needs a dose of reality, truth, and recent history as it actually happened, not as she wishes it to be.
So every meeting or not even in meetings there are Theresaisms. Her clumsy, almost uncomfortable way of speaking. Her flipping out at residents and targeting whomever she feels is in her way, right?
Oh and the company she keeps. State Rep. Kristine Howard’s boys in particular are her BFFs and cheerleaders, correct? And Kristine Howard is a State Rep who only got reelected because her opposition was truly a nut bag, and now she wants to be a judge and does she even have courtroom experience? (But I digress.) Here lookee Lou at a recent T Bird post (which is PUBLIC note the globe):
In 2023 I am glad T Bird is suggesting reach across the “isle”, but I hope the islanders can swim, right? No you can’t make this stuff up, or her new page announcing her as West Whiteland Supervisor, like she’s the only freaking one, and how funny is that? Those sitting in Harrisburg and with aspirations in Harrisburg and who like to play at the power behind the throne, might wish to distance themselves, yes?
Now Madam doesn’t list her name or her bio. When she adds her bio I am sure Moses won’t have anything on her, right? And before I get to the next bit let’s seriously talk for a minute about what she has done while in office? Besides wreak havoc?
I’ll wait.
Does anything come to mind?
Yep, I can’t think of anything either and I know for a fact that residents prefer to go to Raj Kumbhardare or Brian Dunn. You see they are nice, they care, they listen. They are secure in who they are and are beloved by their friends and families. Guess she’s jealous, right? Sad, so sad. Pathetic, even.
So a brief segue to the recent 2023 reorganization meeting. I knew it seemed too civilized when compared to 2022. Nasty is as nasty does and please don’t jump ahead, I will get there.
To the public it looked like all were getting along up on the dais to begin 2023, right? Well let’s pull it apart. Theresa would not be elected chairwoman of the supervisors now, the jig is so very up, right? She undoubtedly in my opinion pushed for Brian Dunn to first of all punish Raj for essentially not being her boy toy. Sorry not sorry Theresa, grown men don’t gravitate towards your brand of leadership as it were. Besides supervisors generally rotate this position around within their board, and face it Raj was chairman through quite the difficult time, I am sure he doesn’t mind a break, does he? But why else Brian as chairman (and she was the one who nominated him)? Easy, she wants to set Brian up to fail in my humble opinion. She wants to say as she runs for reelection that only she can do the job. Blah blah blah.
So now I know you want to see what she is posting on her shiny new page that appears to only have one follower. She started the page November 18, 2022.
OK, OK you have been such good readers, so here are her first two and thus far only posts. And if they appear fuzzy on your screen, click on each screen shot individually or simply read the verbatim copied text:
Let’s talk December 2021. The week between Christmas 2021 and New Years 2022 I was summoned to a diner in Exton by the supervisor elect.
I found out that night that the supervisor elect and the chair of the supervisors had been colluding to fire the solicitor and replace him with a solicitor that had made campaign donations to both their campaigns. The solicitor they were planning to install had been turned down by the sitting supervisors in a 2-1 vote in January 2021 due to his heavy involvement in politics and heavy load of other townships. The solicitor that was in place had vowed to stay out of local politics to include donations to campaigns.
The discussion was started with, “ you are already outvoted,”. But out voted by who? The sitting Board of Supervisors didn’t have a vote or even a discussion.
Seems the chairperson and supervisor elect ( not sworn in) decided to fire the sitting Township Manager for reasons never explained.
The morning after the diner meeting the chairperson walked into the Township Building and fired the sitting Township Manager. She had a stellar reputation in Chester County, she was never written up or reprimanded in fact previous boards had given steady raises and bonuses to the Township Manager.
This all happened WITHOUT a vote by the sitting Board of Supervisors. This firing was illegal as was the replacement of the solicitor. The sitting BOS had installed a reputable honest solicitor and a supervisor elect and one member of the sitting board colluded to fire the Township Manager and solicitor for reasons still unclear.
AGAIN THERE WAS NO VOTE OF THE SITTING BOARD TO FIRE THE MANAGER OR THE SOLICITOR!
What I asked for. Given that the supervisor elect ( not sworn in) and the Chairman fired the Township Manager without the required 90 days notice. I asked the than finance director to pay the Township Manager the 90 days pay.
Yes I both phoned and texted the than Finance Director to give the money to the now former Township Manager. Since this needed a vote and the time was fading away I had to wait for the 2023 Board to be seated. The figure I asked for was 3 months pay, $41,250.
Because the time ticked away and now the board consisted of me and the chairperson there was no vote,
The former manager got a lawyer. And what we ended up giving her was.
Three months pay $41,250
Three weeks vacation time $10,312.50
Plus her medical benefits for three months including her HSA contribution
So instead of giving her the 3 months pay and being finished. West Whiteland had a no show employee for the first quarter of 2022. All due to two men throwing their weight around in an illegal firing of an employee.
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~Theresa Hogan SantaLUcia from her west whiteland supervisor page december 6, 2022
Let’s talk Trash:
In 2017 the then Board of Supervisors ran a survey to get an idea of where West Whiteland Residents stood on the Pay As You Throw (PAYT) program. The residents voted in a majority to continue with the PAYT program.
In the most recent local election in 2021, a new Supervisor was elected and he does not like the PAYT program. He wrote up a PowerPoint where he proposed getting rid of the PAYT program in favor of a more traditional program. One of the conditions of his program was a rebate program based on age. I would have qualified for that program. For the record I am against any rebates based on age, all rebate systems should be needs-based.
As a compromise, we distributed another survey to see where the residents of West Whiteland stood on staying with PAYT or going to a billing system and using any trash bag they want to use and putting out as much as they want for no extra charge.
The alternative for PAYT would start at $130 a year, the cost of one bag per week. Giving a break to those that put out 2 or more bags a week and costing more for those that put out 1-2 bags per month. Most smaller households either senior citizens or younger residents without children put out 1 or 2 bags per month costing between $30-$60 a year. The proposed non-PAYT system would have been an increase of $70-$100 a year.
In the 2022 Survey, we had 2032 residents on the PAYT system finish the survey. Of the 2032 responses, we had 1926 (94%) put out 1-3 bags. In the comments, some of the residents checked they use less than 1 bag a week but there wasn’t an option to say they use ½ to ¼ bag per week. The respondents voted 55% to 44% to stay with PAYT. That is an 11 point lead.
To be clear the newest supervisor wanted the survey and then claimed in the October 26, 2022 meeting that his son didn’t know about the survey. He also claimed the survey wasn’t the way to decide how to choose our trash collection system. Again, he was the one that wanted a new survey called the 2017 survey a joke.
~ Theresa Hogan SantaLUcia from her west whiteland supervisor page november 25, 2022
Umm yeah. OK Theresa. (dying laughing over here. Let’s talk trash or talk about your incessant trash talking, right? )Don’t you just love, love, love revisionist history in politics on a Sunday morning? Blessed be.
There actually isn’t too much to say about her posts other than, Theresa, professional therapy is cheaper. I mean it’s already been established that Ms. Gleason, the former township manager of West Whiteland had her contract simply NOT renewed. Perfectly legal, happens all of the time. Sometimes, municipalities will give managers the opportunity to resign in lieu of a non renewal but it is not a written in stone thing, is it? And if they are given the opportunity to resign in lieu of non-renewal and don’t? And no I do not know what happened behind closed doors, but there are only so many ways this can go, right? And not renewing a completed contract is perfectly normal and it happens. Everywhere. Not just in West Whiteland.
And then there is the whole issue of what Theresa did which was hardly Kosher before the 2022 reorg meeting at the end of 2021, right? The whole ordering township employees to just write checks to the departing manager because she said so? It didn’t seem to matter then that she was even told by the former finance director who had also been a supervisor that this was not legal and not done, right?
But here she goes again with her revisionist history and version of truth, right? I mean is it safe to have someone obviously unhinged and delusional in public office? I mean yikes!
And let’s review: no votes, as in NO votes took place BEFORE the reorg meeting in 2022. That is the truth, and the beginning and end of it. At that same 2022 reorg meeting she not only threw then brand new supervisor Brian Dunn under the bus for essentially not going along with her, she also tried to besmirch the reputation of the new solicitor. She so doesn’t get how municipalities work and what is legal and not legal that West Whiteland should get back all the money they have shelled out so she could attend PSATs conferences, right? And Mimi Gleason is now a manager or interim manager in Lower Gwynedd in Montgomery County, maybe no matter what you think of her, the woman wants to get on with her life?
On the agenda for the July 26th meeting of Lower Gwynedd Township’s Board of Supervisors are three items that involve a change in leadership of the township’s staff.
The first item is the consideration of a motion to accept the resignation of Township Manager Craig McAnally (pictured left) and to authorize the township’s solicitor to prepare a severance agreement. According to Linkedin, McAnally has severed as the township manager since April 2016 and was the assistant township manager for the 15 years prior.
Second is the consideration of a resolution to appoint Mimi Gleason (pictured right) to serve as the interim township manager and board secretary, treasurer, pension fund administrator, and assistant zoning officer. Gleason was most recently the township manager of West Whiteland Township, however, her contract was not renewed in a vote by the board of supervisors in January of 2022.
~Around Ambler
Of course I am amused to remember when Ms. Gleason retired from her job as township manager in Tredyffrin in 2012, declaring she had a life to live yadda yadda yadda and a “job is not a life” I have to wonder HOW she feels about Theresa right now…you know as she is trying to live her life now not after Tredyffrin, but West Whiteland? I mean you can almost feel for the woman because and old adage comes to mind — with friends like these, who needs enemies? Oy, Joey Adams, truer words were never spoken. Bossette Tweed, Saint Theresa of West Whiteland is such a liability politically and otherwise, right? If the Democrats were smart they would just formally censure her for behavior unbecoming of a public official and a Democrat.
So next let’s discuss Theresa’s Pyrrhic victory of 2022. Pyrrhic victory defined is:
Pyrrhic victory (plural Pyrrhic victories) A very costly victory, wherein the considerable losses outweigh the gain, so as to render the struggle not worth the cost.
Bossette Tweed carried on most of 2022. Her Pyrrhic victory of 2022 was the whole trash issue. Yawn. Supervisor Brian Dunn tried to offer alternatives to West Whiteland residents because at it’s simplest, SO MANY WEST WHITELAND RESIDENTS ASKED FOR AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE INEFFICIENT, RIDICULOUS TRASH BAG PLAN THAT SHE LOVES. That friends and readers, is called doing his job. She should try it sometime.
So next we go to how Bossette Tweed has her page set up for the public:
Oh yeah….that….Theresa Hogan Santalucia is an elected official. A politician. I guess she also doesn’t get that the plurality has rights. My blog has a Facebook page, and how many of us have our own personal Facebook pages? We can control our own pages because we are not politicians and elected officials. We can be as private or as public as we choose and can remove comments and block people if we so choose. Also we are all guests of social media platforms, so there is that aspect as well. Madam decided to be a politician and the rules for her are different. I will let the ACLU speak on the topic:
For generations, physical spaces – like public squares and town halls – have been critical forums for people to speak out on issues of public importance. But with the rise of social media, the avenues for members of the public to speak with their elected officials have expanded. Facebook comments and Twitter retweets are replacing the public meeting. In fact, the Supreme Court recently called these sites, “the modern public square,” where constituents can “petition their elected representatives and otherwise engage with them in a direct manner.”
If a public official uses their account to carry out their role as an elected official, then their page or account is subject to the First Amendment. That means they cannot engage in most forms of censorship such as blocking someone or deleting someone’s comments just because of their subject or opinion. It is also generally unacceptable for the official to ask the platform to delete comments for them.
How to determine if an official’s social media account is being used as an extension of their office:
The official identifies as a government official (e.g., includes their official title like @POTUS ) on the account.
The official posts announcements about their policies, responsibilities, or actions to communicate and interact with constituents and voters.
The official uses the account to seek or encourage comments about what legislation they should bring or support.
The official uses the account to call official meetings or declare orders within their authority.
The official encourages public discussion on their account or page.
The official allows users to ask for government services on their account.
The page lists or otherwise indicates the official’s title.
So don’t waste your breath telling her she is wrong to do this on her page other than to bring it up at a public meeting where in Public Comment you CAN challenge her on what she says and writes. That is your right as a resident of West Whiteland. I do not live in West Whiteland, so it is my right as a woman with a brain to say she is ridiculous and an embarrassment to the office she holds and to female politicians in general. She is no better than politicians like Marjorie Taylor Greene. She is a risk to the Democrats in Chester County and they should start distancing themselves now. West Whiteland Democrats and the Democrat Party of Chester County should truly consider censuring her. They ALL know her behavior is unhinged and a censure (sometimes referred to as condemnation or denouncement) does not remove her from office. However, it is a formal statement of disapproval. And necessary.
The removal of this politicians should come this election cycle. Republicans and Democrats alike in West Whiteland should unite in removing her. If they get their collective acts together they can oust her in the upcoming primary and put a stop to this by lame ducking her. For the sake of this township, this actually has to happen. Primary her ass.
As a politician, this woman also makes a mockery of local government. She wants to rule like old school back in the day Delco, only this is Chester County, and she forgets? Doesn’t care? Is that stupid?
Look West Whiteland, I am being completely transparent when I say I find this elected official’s behavior horrible. In my opinion they also lack humanity and sense of decency and that right and wrong is entirely subjective by her actions. But other than express my opinions, it is up to all of you as residents. And whether she is running or not, people should go every public meeting and at public comment speak up and speak out about this craziness and ongoing reign of terror and ask for her resignation. Maybe she won’t do it, but it is your collective right to ask.
Government is NOT supposed to be about politicians who don’t know how to do their job and what doing their job well and fairly actually entails. This is an elected official who doesn’t seem to like anyone or anything so why is she in office? Is her version of change and good government constantly projecting ugliness? Why does everyone on God’s green earth have to be continually punished because she is unhappy?
I am not an elected official, and I have no desire to be. But there are plenty of local officials who do a really good job, and there are others out there who wish to. Life is too short for ugliness, West Whiteland. Voters need to primary her this spring. And if you all do and she next plays West Vincent politics by running as a fake Republican or Independent, vote her down in the fall. Get her gone. I can’t speak for her abilities as a nurse, but I can offer my opinions on her as a politician and elected official.
Thank you for allowing an intrusion on a Sunday. I am sure this politician’s brain will explode when she reads this post, and undoubtedly she will say I am secretly running West Whiteland or something else ridiculous like she is living rent free in my head. And if you see her at a Starbucks, make sure to snap her photo.
At Christmas I had a Christmas calamity. I had this beautiful number 3 crock that I use as a planter. I had bought it from the Smithfield Barn a few years ago. It always lived inside the garage against the wall in the winter.
Right before Christmas, when my stepson was pulling one of the cars into the garage, he accidentally smashed it with his tire. I was pretty upset. I love my old crocks.
So I contacted my friends who are in the business of old things that I buy things from and said to let me know if you see an old number 3 crock I’ve had a calamity.
Today I got a text message from one of the folks at Sales by Helen. They were telling me my package was going to be dropped off soon. So I texted back because I hadn’t bought anything. And they said no you’re being gifted something. So then I wondered who was still spreading Christmas cheer right up to the end of Christmas season – well it is not Epiphany quite yet.
Well, it’s John Romani, who owns Sales by Helen.
A perfect old number 3 crock with a note:
I am totally in awe of the gesture of kindness. This is a small business owner in a very uncertain economy and this is why I support local small businesses. No, not for free stuff because they will tell you I am not a free stuff blogger.
This is quintessential of local small businesses. They know their customers, and they remember what their customers are looking for. They are our neighbors and friends as well.
Sales By Helen is a business I have supported since I first went to a Helen sale and met John’s mom Helen, years ago. I have all the things that I bought over the years still today. Not only do they do house sales and estate sales, but they also have online shopping available. And there is complementary delivery within a certain area and shipping.
A random act of kindness on a cloudy day. Thanks John and Company ❤️
One of my favorite magazines is Country Living. When I have time, I read it as soon as it hits my mailbox, cover to cover.
But it has been a busy few months, and the magazines ended up in a neat pile next to my reading chair in my bedroom on the footstool. Until today when I decided to dig into my overdue periodical reading pile.
Well guess what business and who are right there inside the September, 2022 issue of Country Living magazine? One of my favorite Chester County businesses and owner. Yup, Malvern’s own Life’s Patina and the creative dynamo behind everything , Meg Veno.
You know how much I love Life’s Patina because pretty much every time she has an event, you can find me there shopping and taking photos! And my husband gets me Life’s Patina gift certificates for Christmas.
Part of the reason I love Life’s Patina is it’s simply put, beautiful. Every time I visit. But it is also because of Meg and her team. They are seriously the nicest. And Meg is just positive and kind. In the chaos of today’s world, this makes a huge difference. Also? They make everything look so effortless and magical. You can’t help but get a good feeling every time she opens her barn!
Also worth mentioning is how lucky is Historic Yellow Springs Village and West Pikeland Township that Meg Veno and Life’s Patina are sprinkling their magic on the Jenny Lind house? They have stripped her back to the beginning and done an incredibly painstaking renovation that is almost there. I feel that her renovation,when finally completed, will bring new life and renewed energy to Historic Yellow Springs Village which it needs.
I mean seriously, how lucky is West Pikeland Township to have both Jeff Devlin and Meg Veno taking an interest and putting businesses that celebrate Chester County and her history right there in this small Chester County municipality? So lucky! Adaptive reuse of the best kind totally loaded with heart and talent and effort!
And the funny thing is I was one of the first people who suggested Jenny Lind to Meg when she was saying she wanted a new challenge.
I have however almost regretted suggesting Jenny Lind and Yellow Springs to her at times because of the duration of the renovation, the obstacles and challenges of truly restoring the Jenny Lind. However, the renovation has survived COVID and all that this time in the world and supply chain issues that every renovation everywhere has suffered. When the Merchantile & Cafe opens it will be truly amazing!
So to say I was thrilled when I saw one of my favorite magazines featuring one of my favorite businesses and business owners was an understatement…even if I am a few months late.
So Meg & Company, I am so terribly sorry I didn’t open my magazine sooner! So well done and deserved. Lots of places are inspired by what Meg creates at Life’s Patina. Make sure you check out one of their sales when you can!
