Cold Winds Blowing!

Cold winds are definitely blowing today!

I don't know about you but what comes with living in an older house is that the more windy it gets the more drafty the inside of one's house gets! - especially when that house is around 100 years old - LOL!

A lot of the homes in this area are older homes and that is part of the charm!

We're right in the midst of winter and the wind that is blowing now is surely blowing cold!

Another Resident Comments!

Hey, I live in LaMott too. Are you aware of LaMott Town Center proposal?
I hear taxes are going up again for the next year. And economic development around and possibly in the LaMott residential area itself is in the works.
I am all for making the area more beautiful but more retail stores and/ or apartment buildings are a NO for me. I think they have their eyes on John Russell Park.

The above is a comment that was left on my blog. I felt that it was important to include it as a blog entry because there are so many things going on in this area and a lot of residents aren't aware of it!

I realize that its very hard to keep abreast of things in one's own local area - especially when you are out working every day!

There are so many rumors (and unfortunately some of them are true!) going on that it's important to be able to know which news is rumors and which ones are facts!

If you have a concern, want to voice your opinion or just want to know more about what's going on in this area then please be sure to continue to visit (and comment) on this blog. I'm still working on a way to provide links and other related information about this area and what is (and is not) going on in this area!

Event! - Used Electronics Drive!

Event: Used Electronics Drive - Ethical Recycling

("If you saw the 60 Minutes report 4 weeks ago, you better read this")


What: Fundraiser


Host: Cheltenham Township, Pennsylvania


Start Time: Saturday, December 6 at 11:00am


End Time: Saturday, December 6 at 2:00pm


Where: Cedarbrook Middle School

To see more details and RSVP, just click here

LaMott In The Fall

Here is a picture that I took with my camera phone while walking to a local store!

It is during the fall season, probably just before Thanksgiving.

It is around the 1800 block of Willow Avenue!

Event! - High School And Ogontz Parks

Review the new Ecological Restoration Master Plan for High School & Ogontz Parks Wednesday, December 3, 2008, 7:00- 8:30pm Curtis Hall, Church Road & Greenwood Avenue, Wyncote, PA Please attend this important public meeting. Learn about native plant restoration plans, park signage, landscaping & other improvements. Offer your feedback. We've been working diligently to prepare a 10 year plan to continue restoring our beloved park. Your participation in this meeting would greatly add to our enthusiasm and confidence going forward. Please come out and show your support. Refreshments will be served. The first 25 people will receive a gift from the Friends of High School Park. For more information please call FHSP 215-782-8082 or email info@fhsp.org

Election Day In LaMott!

Yes the big day had arrived and it was time to cast my vote! And YES I did cast my vote today!

Because of where I live, my voting place was the LaMott Community Center!



It was an interesting (and very busy) day all day long!

I started the day quite early and started listening to the local community radio station, WURD, just to hear what was going on!

First of all it seems that the polling places had long lines even before they opened! But I figured since LaMott was such a small area that the same thing wouldn't apply! Boy was I wrong! I heard stories from those who were at the community center that there was a long line even before the voting was supposed to start!

I didn't arrive until the afternoon around 1pm because I heard that the late morning and early afternoon was the best time to avoid waiting in long lines! So by the time that I got there there was no waiting. I walked in, cast my vote and was finished!

But I decided to stay a little while. Did you know that LaMott has a constable? I was talking to him for quite a while!

A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions. Constable - Historically, a constable could also be someone in charge of the defence of a castle. Even today, there is a Constable of the Tower of London. source Wikipedia

During the course of the early afternoon there were a trickle of people coming to vote! A lot of them were voting for the first time and there were volunteers there waiting and ready to help them!

What was also nice was the fact that the community center is just that - a place where the community gathers! People spent some time (after they voted) chatting with the other residents - including me!

We all were having a great time and even the weather didn't darken our moods!

I decided to leave a few hours later before it got too crowded! But it was a very pleasant day indeed!

LaMott Radio - Decision

Live365 which is where the LaMott Radio station was housed has raised their monthly fee so I'm still deciding whether
or not to continue to have the radio station. Having it and managing it are still a lot of fun and I may decide to continue with it

I have decided that I am going to resume the LaMott Radio

Definitely One Of The Sure Fire Sounds Of Autumn!

You can tell its definitely autumn when you hear that Temple University school bus driving by!

Actually I kind of like it!

But there is a rumor going around that this will be the last year that the students will be using The Tyler School of Art

which is something that I DON'T like!



Goodness knows what is going to happen to the building and what it will be used for!

Feeling The Need To Fish!

In the past I have made a post about a fishing derby that is held every June in this area for the kids!

This got me to thinking about how much I missed fishing myself! So I did a little calling around and found out that as long as I have been living in the area there is a lot about it that I don't know!

The annual Fishing Derby is held at the Tookany Creek Park but what I didn't know is that one could fish there other times as well! - DUH!

Now I'm going to have to find out more about that! I'll let you know what I have found out!

The Community Garden(s) - Part 2

Since we are technically still in the middle of summer, here's another picture that I took of the community garden.

Technically-speaking the land actually belongs to Temple University (at least I think it does) and for as long as I have been living up here (about 25 years) the community garden has always been there!

The people that have gardens there are mostly residents of the community and since Temple has campuses in Philadelphia, I think some of the students use the gardens as well! Everyone I have met there has been very nice and I really think that they are a great bunch of people. My guide to the gardens used to be a man named Brooks Cropper who has since passed away.

The community garden is really a something to see as everyone is growing all different types of vegetables. I guess the most prominent of the vegetables are the tomatoe plants that most of the gardeners seem to be growing. I say this because for the most part tomatoe plants should be staked and it's interesting to see the different ways (and different materials ) that the gardeners use to stake the tomatoes.

Now I have been hearing all sorts of different stories about whether or not Temple will be moving their art students back into the city of Philadelphia, about how the students dcn't like that and about how their parents don't like that either! I have heard stories about how Temple is going to sell off the property(s)...etc....et al! The latest story I have been told is that the year 2008 - 2009 will be the last semester for the art students here at the Tyler School of Art. After that the students will have to go to the campus located in Philadelphia.

I really don't know how all of this is going to affect the community garden so I guess that we should just really enjoy the pleasure of having it now.

Earned Income Tax Reminder!

Just received a notification from The LaMott Group on Yahoo reminding me that the quarterly earned
income tax is due on July 31st! (I mailed mine in last week!)

Just in case you didn't know it is a quarterly tax that is due every 4 months and it is a tax levied on one's earned income.

When you submit your quarterly tax you have to pay a 1% tax on the money you have earned for the past three months! If it is already taken out of your paycheck then you should be fine - BUT it is best to call the township to make sure!

Property Taxes - Boy Are They High!

I saw a property tax bill for a property in Philadelphia and I can't believe the HUGE difference between the dollar amount of property taxes in Philadelphia as opposed to the dollar amount of property taxes in Cheltenham!

If my math is correct then Cheltenham's property taxes are TEN TIMES the amount of property taxes in Philadelphia!

Of course this doesn't take in account for the differences between the two properties being taxed. But I still don't see why the property tax should be so huge in Cheltenham township!

Actually residents of Cheltenham pay 2 taxes. I guess one could "officially be called the property tax and I believe that that one is the one that has the things like the sewer and other property-related things that go towards the property tax bill that the residents get.

The other is the school tax bill which is sometimes twice the amount of the property tax!

I do know that there is an organization that opposes such a high school tax and when I find out more about them I will post about them here.

What happens if you don't pay your property tax(es)? You lose your property!

Even Philadelphia has a more lenient stand towards this than Cheltenham Township does!

I'm sad to say that I know of neighbors who have lost their property just for this reason! And it is a very sad thing to report about - especially for the residents that have been living here for a very long time - only to lose their homes because of the high property taxes here!

Philadelphia, PA: (Mar-13-08) A class action lawsuit was brought against the law firm of Portnoff Law Associates, by a group of Pennsylvania real property owners, alleging that they received delinquent tax communications from the law firm and were charged unauthorized fees, interest, penalties or attorney fees. Court records show that the case went to trial for ten days in September, 2007 and was handled before the Honorable Mark I. Bernstein.

I Just Renewed My Library Books Online!

With things going on I haven't been able to get to our local LaMott library. Actually I found out that its been some years since I have been there! But you have to face the fact that when things are going on in your life you can only do what you can do! Besides this gave me the most pleasant experience of re-visiting our local community library!

Of course our library is located inside the community center.

The LaMott Library

7420 Sycamore Ave.

La Mott, PA 19027

(215) 635-4419

Hours of Operation

Monday, Wednesday: 3-8:30pm

Tuesday: 2-6pm

Thursday: 10am-6pm

Friday: 3-6pm

Saturday: 12-4pm

I have to admit that even though the LaMott library is smaller than the other libraries I would never go anywhere else unless I really HAD to! The library is packed and filled to the brims with books, tapes, newspapers and other kinds of publications! I just LOVE it there!

There are also computers that the residents can use during the library hours. You must sign in before you can use the computers but even that you can do via the computer!

On my last visit there I checked out some books and I didn't realize that the due date was coming so soon! They sent me an email to remind me that the due date was coming up and in the email it mentioned that I could renew my books online so I decided to try it out! It was quite fun and quite convenient to be able to renew my library books from home which at the time just happened to be on a Sunday (when the library is closed) and a very hot Sunday at that!

If you have not been to our local library then you do not know what you are missing!

The LaMott Free Library Website

LaMott Firehouse #1 - The Sound Of Their Siren?

Someone new to this area who is was a new resident once remarked to me that they really didn't like the sounds of the sirens from the LaMott firehouse #1. I explained to them that the reason why the sirens sounded was to notify those firefighters (who are volunteers by the way) who were not yet already at the firehouse.

There have been many times when I have heard the sirens and then maybe a minute or 2 later I would hear the cars (of the firefighters - I assume) who were driving to the firehouse.

When I first moved up here the sirens bothered me too. I also believe that there was a time when the sirens would sound at noon everyday but I'm pretty sure that they don't do that anymore.

since then I have come not to mind the sirens because I know that the firehouse is sounding them for a very specific reason.

photo courtesy of
Historic Lamott, Pa.com

The Temple University School Bus?

Now don't get me wrong but I kind of like hearing and seeing the Temple University bus that passes through our area. But it makes me kind of curious as to why I can hearing it going past at almost 1 o'clock in the morning? I mean are there students that actually travel during that time of night? Is it part of the bus's reqular schedule?

Strange!

Telephone Service Not Working Since Tuesday!

Just in case you're wondering about this and decided to look online for more information our telephone service was out since Tuesday (2 days ago). As of arond 6:45 pm today it is back on - at least I have telephone service now.

This started Tuesday afternoon although I can't be sure of exactly when but I do know that I tried to get online about 8pm Tuesday night and couldn't do it. Later I came to find out from Verizon that there was a problem with one of the telephone cables.

Now I don't know if its a case of EVERYBODY's telephone service being off but I do know that my next door neighbor's telephone service was affected too. Plus he joked about the fact that he was using all of his cellphone minutes to find out what was going on.

From what I have been able to find out there was a telephone / network cable that required some work but according to a represenative from Verizon, she said that "they" (whoever "they" are?) don't tell them specifically what the proble is they just tell them that there is a problem.

So I get a call from Verizon saying that it may be until 9pm FRIDAY that the telephone service will be restored and the next thing I know - another half hour later the phone rings!

So if my telephone service is restored hopefully that means that the rest of the area that was affected has also had their phone service restored.

Taxes, Taxes And MORE Taxes!

Well I finally finished my 3 tax returns that are due by April 15th! All three of my the tax returns are in the mail! Just in case you want to know what the "3" are? Here they are!

• Federal Income Tax
  
• State Income Tax
  
• Local Earned Income Tax

Now after being happy about finally completing and mailing in all of my income tax forms, I find that I am now angry because now I have another tax form that I have to fill out, INCLUDE A CHECK WITH A TAX PAYMENT! and mail it in because it is due by April 30th!

This additional tax is courtesy of our own little local Cheltenham area! It is called the "Earned Income Tax" and it has to be paid quarterly! I guess that I should be happy that it does have to be paid quarterly because I don't think that I would be able to pay it in a lump sum at the end of the year!

If your employer already takes out this tax then you shouldn't have anything to worry about. I believe that you still have to fill out the quarterly form though every 4 months! One of the things that makes me angry about this local tax (besides the fact that it is a tax that we have to pay and the form and payment have to be sent in on a quarterly basis) is that even if you make under $3,000 - which makes you exempt - you still have to submit your total income quarterly along with the tax payment itself and if you fall under the $3,000 income exemption then YOU have to wait for them to send YOU back YOUR money!

And don't even THINK about trying to get "by" them. If you don't pay the quarterly tax then you are assessed a fee every month that you are late with your tax payment.

Like I said I still have to fill this out and send it in by the 30th. I see where they mail you the forms and even provide you with stickers with their address on it so that you can put it on the envelope - the problem is they don't provide you with an envelope!

Basically I'm just ranting because I really REALLY hate doing this!

About the only way (I think) that I could solve this little thing that bothers me is to not have an income!

Our Local Post Office

Here is another picture of our local post office that I took with my cameraphone. Depending upon where you are located this post office is located at the top of a hill which makes it quite an effort to get there if you are going by foot! (And I have had the pleasure of doing that too!) However it is a good walk if you are into the "exercise" thing! If I were driving I might feel a little bit different about it.

Everytime I go there it seems to be quite busy! Lots of cars in the parking lot and there is always somebody who is parked right at the front because - I figure - that they don't expect to be there that long.

But all in all the post office is quite good with lots of postal supplies on hand and the people that work there are very helpful.

About the only complaint that I have heard about the post office is that there are times when the line is long and there is only one or two postal clerks - but I have found that to be true of almost any post office that I have been to - except for the one in Center City.

So plan to make good use of our local post office 'cause that's where our tax dollars are!

More And More People Are Asking Me About The Cheltenham Bus!

The last time it happened was when I saw one of my more newer neighbors at the Shoprite at the Cheltenham Mall. That particular day I was waiting for the Cheltenham bus to take me home from the supermarket but I saw my neighbor instead and they graciously offered to take me home. On the way home I told them about the local Cheltenham bus that goes all around the Cheltenham Area. It even has a stop at the local train station (the one in Glenside I think) and it has a stop at the Rowland Community Center.

I was telling my new neighbors about the Cheltenham bus and they seemed very interested in becoming riders. Since one of them is aged 55 or older they can ride the Cheltenham bus for FREE! So since they didn't know the scheduled times of the bus I volunteered to bring them a copy of the bus schedule. That also reminded me that I promised another neighbor that I would bring them a copy of our local bus schedule. The second neighbor I promised the bus schedule to has lived in this area for a very long time but didn't quite know the scheduled times of the Cheltenham bus routes.

Well that's 2 new recruits / riders for our local Cheltenham bus! The more people that ride our local bus the more it will likely stay for the area. There was a time when our local Cheltenham bus ran 5 days a week but due to the area's "budget" cuts we were at a risk of losing it altogether! But the township came up with the idea of splitting the routes with Abington so now our Cheltenham Bus rides 3 times a week now instead of 5!

I am very glad that we are able to have this local bus for our area and I know that a lot of the older residents appreciate it too!

LaMott Podcast

I should also mention that I'm working on a podcast for LaMott. You can listen to what I have on it now by going to the LaMott Page.

So far the podcast has some public service announcements on it - one which I produced myself is for our local Firehouse #1.

I'm working on including music in the podcast but the music that is chosen has to be of a specific type because of copyright issues.

I will post more about the podcast as I add more content to it.

We Had A Little Power Outage Today!

Last night I noticed that the lights upstairs were "flickering" but I really didn't do anything about it. I figured that it was just because it was so windy that something was messing with the electricity and I went to bed a little earlier than usual Then something woke me up at around 4am early this morning. The first thing that I noticed was that my little table clock wasn't lit up so I didn't know what time it was - so I checked my cellphone (that's how I knew what time it was).

Well it seems we had a power outage in the area. I call it a "little" power outage because I found out that not all of the electricity was out in the house. Some lights worked and some didn't. It seems we had a "partial" outage.

I don't know if anyone else was aware of it since it was so early in the morning. And then as a day went on it started to rain - a little heavy at one time. Around 6:30am I heard the PECO truck outside. It went away and then it came back.

Some time later the power was restored and I came to find out later that several other people had reported the outage as well. But I'm assuming that they reported it much later than 4am - because I wondered who would be up at that time since it was early on a Saturday morning.

Did you notice it or were you not affected by it?

Fishing In The Area?

I really do miss fishing! I haven't done it in quite a few years! The last time I went fishing was I would say about maybe 10 years ago when my mother and I went to the Schuylkill River to do some fishing.


Cheltenham has an annual fishing derby for the kids but so far I can't find anything about fishing for the adults. The picture that you see to the left was taken from another site that also talked about the fishing derby for the kids.

As it stands right now I'm just going to have to find out if I can find out more information about fishing in the area for adults. It's something that I really want to get back into.

Just In Case You Didn't Know There's Another Convenient Business In Our Area

Since we are right in the midst of tax season I thought that it would be a good idea to let you know that there is a copying and printing store located on the corner right near 17th and Cheltenham - right on the Philadelphia side.

They do copying and printing, business cards plus a whole lot more!

I have been in there quite a few times and the people that work there are very nice and friendly!






The Printing Word

1726 Cheltenham Ave

Phila., PA 19027
(their card says 19126 which was our old zip code)

(215) 224-4550

Wind Advisory For The Philadelphia Area!

So that means that the wind advisory is in effect for us too since we are so close to Philadelphia.

The wind advisory stays in effect today from 10am to 10pm and I noticed that the wind didn't really start kicking up until earlier in the afternoon.

I don't know about the others that live in this area but I can definitely feel the wind coming through the windows. I know that a lot of the houses in this area are older houses - more than one hundred years old!

I hear the trees brushing up against the house, I hear my windchimes out back and I will occassionally hear something rolling down the street.

Hold on to your hats - because we have a few more hours to go before the wind advisory is lifted.

Here are some links to our current weather conditions:

Wind Advisory

Weather - Philadelphia

In the meantime I'm inside drinking a nice hot cup of tea!

It's Still Winter!

The weather is oh-so-cold, the wind is blowing and yesterday we had a lot of heavy rain! But perhaps this picture will remind us of what we have to look forward to as far as warmer weather is concerned.

This is the area just past the LaMott Community Center. I took it some time ago and it was probably during one of my excursions to the LaMott library. The community center kind of takes up a whole block - sort of. In LaMott, Cheltenham its located on Willow Avenue, but also on Sycamore and I guess you could say that the back of it is on Graham Lane. I believe Graham Lane stretches from the LaMott Firehouse #1 all the way down to Sycamore and this picture was taken near Sycamore and Graham Lane - which is probably about 3 or 4 blocks long. All the houses on Graham Lane don't look like these houses. The houses in this picture are located on only one side of the street. As you go further down Graham Lane there are houses on both sides of the street.

But it does look quite peaceful doesn't it?

Sister City?

I do know that our Cheltenham has a "sister" city called Cheltenham which is located in Gloucestershire, UK.

I don't know too much about that area but was watching a program on BBC and just wondered if their area and our area had any similarities.

I do know that our township has a "twinning" committee that has to do with bringing our two townships together.

Here are a couple of pictures that I got off of the internet





Cheltenham, UK does have some very gorgeous areas. Some of the areas do kind of look like here in that we do have houses that are made out of those big stone pieces that look like some of the homes and buildings in the UK. It does seem that our houses are more packed together than they are in the UK but I'm sure I just need to find some more pictures of that area.

I did find out that their Cheltenham has a bed and breakfast! That would kind of be a neat idea for our own little Cheltenham area.

Hopefully This Will Provide Some Inspiration During The Next Few Cold Months Ahead!

Gorgeous Cherry Blossom Tree - isn't it?

I took this picture some time ago - probably during one of my walks to the store.

It is a very gorgeous cherry blossom tree and I kinda don't remember when I actually took this picture but it could have been during the early or late spring.

Hopefully seeing this picture will help us get through the cold winter months that we have ahead! For instance last night was the coldest night of the season and now later on during the early part of next week - Monday - we may hit 60 degrees in January!

But for right now it's cold out there!