The Cheltenham Bus Is In Trouble!

Just in case you haven't heard, our beloved Cheltenham Bus is in danger of being cancelled!

On Wednesday, December 16, 2009 the board of commissioners had a public hearing that was listed on the Cheltenham calendar. The next day a notice was printed stating it was the decision of the board to not continue the Cheltenham Transit Bus. As an alternative the board has recommended that residents and seniors - especially seniors - take either Septa or another form of transportation called TransNet.

When it was learned of the board's decision to cut the Cheltenham Transit bus residents of the area started a petition to get the signatures of both the residents of Cheltenham and LaMott, Lynnewood Gardens and stores and businesses that are along the route that the Cheltenham bus travels including the Shoprite of Cheltenham, the Cedarbrook and Cheltenham Malls and the area apartment complexes.

So far over 100 signatures have been gotten!

It is planned to present this petition to the board during a meeting that is scheduled for January 6, 2010. The petition was going to be presented to the commissioner board yesterday but for some reason none of the commissioners were present that day!

In a related piece of news it was found out that the contract for the Abington transit service would be renewed!

This news about the Cheltenham Bus service is still relatively new and all the details aren't known yet but what IS known is that the more people that show support for the Cheltenham Bus the better the chance that the residents will be able to continue to have it!

To show your support for the Cheltenham Bus service please call the Township Building at:

215-887-1000

I will post more news about this as I get it.

On Wednesday, January 6, 2010 a public meeting will be held at Curtis Hall 1250 W. church Road 215-887-1000 215-887-1561 is the Fax number If you are not able to attend the meeting then we ask that you please show your support by sending a fax explaining your support of keeping the Cheltenham Township Bus running. You can also show your support by contacting the commissioners for the area and telling them of your support for the Cheltenham Transit Bus. Board Of Commissioners Michael J. Swavola - Ward 5 1115 Coventry Avenue Cheltenham, PA 19012 email: mswavola@cheltenham-township.org Charles D. McKeown, Sr. - Ward 7 424 Township Line Road Cheltenham, PA 19012 email: cmckeown@cheltenham-township.org Harvey Portner - Ward 3 Melrose Court Apartments 1308 Willow Ave Elkins Park, PA 19027 email: hportner@cheltenham-township.org Public Information Officer - Nancy Gibson 215-887-1000

Update!

January 8, 2010!

The results of the meeting above resulted in the fact that the Cheltenham Board of Commissioners have scheduled another meeting to discuss further the fate of the Cheltenham Transit Bus. The exact date and time of the meeting is not yet known.

Please continue to email, phone and fax your commissioners to let them know that you are in support of keeping the Cheltenham Transit Bus!

Update - February 11, 2010! A 3rd meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, February 17th at 7:30 at Curtis Hall. It has come to my attention that at the 2nd meeting more residents showed up to protest the canceling of the Cheltenham Transit Bus. At the end of this meeting a vote / poll was taken from the commissioners and 3 out of 7 voted for bringing back the Cheltenham Bus. One of those commissioners that voted in favor of the Cheltenham Transit Bus was Harvey Portner. So yet another meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, February 17, 2010 and the more residents and potential riders that show up - the better! We still face a very good chance of being able to save our beloved Cheltenham Transit Bus!

Update March 2010!

Although the details are a little sketchy to me, it seems that the commissioners' board has decided to give Transnet a try. It is supposed to be a trial period kind of thing and it will start in April 2010.

However this solution requires that residents call and make a reservation first. And this is one of many negatives about this chosen decision.

It is very unfortunate that the public hearings for the Cheltenham Township bus were held during the evening at a location - to my knowledge - that is not accessible by public transportation. Another fact is that the seniors who have taken the Cheltenham bus had no way to get to these meetings because they do not have cars and some of the meetings were held during the coldest days of the winter here in Philadelphiawith some snow involved. It is very ironic that the very bus that could have taken the seniors to the public hearings was the very same bus that was cancelled by the commissioners.

However please do not consider this issue a closed one! I strongly urge all the residents of LaMott and Cheltenham to keep this issue opened! Just because the commissioner's board has made this trial period decision it doesn't mean that the issue is over. I encourage everyone to call their ward commissioners, send them a fax, send them an email, write them a letter stating your support of the Cheltenham Transit Bus.

We can still get our beloved Cheltenham Transit Bus BACK!



April 2010! - Unfortunately these new transit rules do not include the residents Cheltenham that are under the age of 55/65 who are not disabled!

Like I have said before We can still get our beloved Cheltenham Transit Bus BACK!

A Message From The Cheltenham Library System

It costs money to run free public libraries.


While we are busier than ever in this economic downturn, our state funding would be cut under both Governor Rendell's proposed budget and Senate Bill (SB) 850 proposed by the Senate Republicans. SB 850 would result in a 50% cut in state aid to public libraries and would eliminate programs such as the POWER Library. Its adoption would mean a loss of almost $200,000 for CTLS and severe cuts in programs that are provided by our library partners at the county and state levels. Cuts in state funding would also result in the loss of millions of dollars in federal library grants. There is a domino effect when budgets get cut.


We are a safety net for people who have lost their jobs and for families who are struggling to make ends meet. The bad news for Cheltenham Township residents is that cuts in funding translate to cuts in services.


Some rollbacks in services that we pass on will not be of our own making but will be a result of cuts to District Center and State library budgets. For example, delivery services that provide easy access to over 2 million items in library collections to all Montgomery County residents, are funded through our District Center in Norristown. The Philadelphia Inquirer, Tumblebooks, Reference USA, Learning Express and downloadable audiobooks are online resources that are provided at the county level.


The public library is a truly democratic institution. There is no fee to walk through the door or visit us online. Information and entertainment are readily available regardless of one's economic status.


If you believe libraries are more important than ever, we need your help. Please contact elected officials and request level funding for public libraries.


More information is available from the Pennsylvania Library Association. A comparison of the budget proposals is also available on their website along with an explanation of the issues. It is so important that people who use and love libraries speak up!

Thank you.


Link to Budget Comparisons:
Link to Budget Comparison .pdf file

* Please be advised that this is a link to a .pdf file.

---

Link to find your Legislator:
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs/legis/home/session.cfm

Link to Pennsylvania Library Association: http://www.palibraries.org

The Cheltenham Township Library System's Facebook Page

Halloween Party!

There is going to be a Halloween Party on Saturday, October 31st (which just happens to be Halloween Day!) at the LaMott Community Center located on Willow and Sycamore Aves. The party will begin at 6pm and end at 8pm.



For more information about this event you can contact the community center by calling (215) 635-3255.



The LaMott Community Center is located at Willow and Sycamore Avenues in LaMott, PA 19027.

The Cheltenham Crafting Club!

I didn't find out until just now but did you know that there is a Cheltenham Crafting Club? Here is more information about it:

Calling all crafty people. If you crochet, knit, or do other crafts, stop by the East Cheltenham Library on June 10th for the first meeting of the Cheltenham Crafting Club. Basic crochet lessons and some supplies will be provided. Meeting starts at 3:30. To register, stop by the library or call 215-379-2077

Since the date for the first meeting has already passed, I'm sure that they would welcome new members who can do crafts such as the ones mentioned above. So if you're interested, be sure to give them a call for more information.



I got this information from the website of Cheltenham Township Library system. They have a Facebook site that you can get to by clicking here.

If you decide to join then you will see the latest events and happenings that will be going on in our area.

A Rash Of Burglaries Has Hit This Area

It seems that there have been a number of burglaries here in our local area! You can read one person's personal account of an attempted burglary that took place in their own home by clicking here.

You can also read the latest news story about this by clicking here.

Cheltenham, Pa. police are asking for help from the public as they try to solve a series of home burglaries -- five of them in a span of about eight hours over this past weekend.

Here is a recent video account of the story:



The police consider the thieves "well organized and they are looking for any information or tip that can help them catch the thieves.

LaMott Civic Association Meeting

The LaMott Civic Association

will be holding a meeting

on

Thursday, September 24, 2009

at

7:30pm

at

The LaMott Community Center

Important message from Montgomery County Public Safety

This is a test of Cheltenham Township's Montco Ready alerting system. Please encourage your friends and neighbors to sign up today. Happy Holiday

Sent to Cheltenham Township (e-mail accounts, pagers, Cell phones) through Montgomery County ReadyNotifyPA
... powered by RSAN dba Cooper Notification.

Tell a friend/co-worker about ReadyNotifyPA! Forward this message to them and have them register for this free service at https://montco.alertpa.org/register.php

Forwarded from another Cheltenham neighbor
Jim Butt

The 15th Annual LaMott Fair!

The 15Th Annual LaMott Fair

will be held on

Saturday, September 19, 2009

from Noon to 6pm

at

The LaMott Community Center

Sycamore & Willow Avenues

LaMott, PA 19027

with

Great Food

Fantastic Music

Library Book Sale

and

Childrens' Games!

Neighbors, Families and Friends Are Invited!

The LaMott Library Will Be Closed This Labor Day Weekend

Thought that I would just give you a friendly reminder that our LaMott library will be closed this Labor Day weekend. It will be open tomorrow - Friday - but it won't be open on Saturday.

If you have one of the community calendars then you will see this noted for the Labor Day weekend. (And since I'm blogging about this I should also mention that since it will be a holiday weekend - including Monday - that the trash pickups will be a day later.)

If you don't have one of the community calendars for our area you should be able to pick one up at the community center. They are free and they list all the events and happenings in the LaMott / Cheltenham area.

If you think that everyone would already know that our library would be closed this holiday weekend then you would be wrong! I, myself remember going to the library on one beautiful Saturday afternoon to return some library books and found out that the library was closed for the weekend. And as I walked down the steps to start walking back home, up came a van with 2 women who were also returning some library books and they didn't know that the library was closed either.

I guess that's just a sign of how much we love our local library - we always think that it will be open - LOL!

But the staff that works there deserve to have some time off to enjoy the holiday weekend because they do work hard and I think they love the library about just as much as we the residents do!

I Found A Mailbox (sort of) Close By!

Well I miss the mailbox that was at the corner of Willow Ave. and Cedar Lane. That was one of my "exercise" routes - to help me feel better by taking a walk and calling it one of my exercise routines.

However I found another mailbox that is relatively close and it is at the corner of 19th and Cheltenham Ave. right outside the Dollar Store that is on the corner.

While the mailbox that used to be at Cedar Lane was more closer to me, at least the one at 19th and Cheltenham is within walking distance for me (and it can still be considered a good exercise walk!)

I have also noticed that there are a couple of mailboxes in the Lynnewood Gardens complex for those that live in that area.

So at least not ALL of the mailboxes in our area are gone - thank goodness!

Event - Saying Goodbye To The Glenside Elementary School!

You are invited to say Goodbye to Glenside on Tuesday, June 23rd in Glenside Elementary's lobby.

6:00 pm to all staff - present and past
6:30 pm to all students, families and community -
present and past.

Share memories, see old friends and walk through the school one last time. Refreshments will be served. Keepsakes will be available.

Glenside will be torn down and replaced by a new building. It’s our last chance to see the place where memories were made.

Mrs.Cindy Goldberg is pulling this event together to give the staff, community and all associated with Glenside a chance to remember our building and the good times we have all had there.

Please come if you can and spread the word to all in our community. Please try to get the word out to all alumni - young and old, former staff, neighbors, etc.

Event! - Arts In The Park"

The 14th Annual Arts in the Park! This fundraising event is being held for the "Friends of High School Park" on Sunday June 7, at 10am! at High School Park

I Found Out What Happened To The Mailboxes!

Imagine my surprise when I found out that the mailbox at Willow and Sycamore was gone! Not only that but it seems that the mailbox at the corner of 19th and Cheltenham is gone too as well as the one above the LaMott Firehouse #1 on Penrose Avanue! So what's up with that!


I have since come to find out that the post has gotten rid of these mailboxes because it seems that these mailboxes were not being used enough.

So now what are our options supposed to be? Well I was told that you could leave your mail at your home's mailbox so that the mailperson can pick it up when they deliver your mail, you can go online and request a pickup (I asked them if you could call the post office by phone and request a pickup but I was told that you would have to do it online so that it could be in the computer records) or you could mail your mail at the post office itself.

This whole thing seems quite ludicrous to me! Why would they get rid of the mailboxes?

And its not just happening here in our own little area! I have come to find out that the post office is getting rid of many, many mailboxes all over the United States! Now I can understand some of the reasons cited such as people putting other objects in the mailboxes and the "waste" of manpower going to mailboxes that only have a few (if any) pieces of mail. I can understand that kind of reasoning but I do not agree with it.

I am a big fan of computers myself but I don't think that the increased use of emailing and paying bills online is going to determine that there is no need for the actual mailboxes. I still mail things by hand and quite frankly I kind of enjoyed the walk to the mailbox!

Just in case you are curious there are some people who have fought for their mailboxes and managed to have them put back. You can read an article about it by clicking here.

Want to see what others' opinions are about this issue? Just click here.

Oh, and for the record I don't agree with this decision at all!

Cheltenham Township Police Alert!

It seems that there has been a rash of burglaries from automobiles in our local area. The Cheltenham Township police have issued an online flyer that talks about this more!

Actually the thefts are happening in and around this area as well.

It seems that cars parked at the Melrose Train station are being targeted and the police are advising people to take out or either hide all valuables located within one's car. The bulletin also offers some helpful tips to help you to not become a victim of one of these kinds of thefts.

Cheltenham Township Police Flyer - Theft Alert!

Trying To File My Local Taxes Online?

I thought I could save the cost of a stamp by filing my local tax return online but it doesn't seem to be as easy as they say it is!

First of all since I'm self-employed I have to fill out a different set of tax forms which makes it even more difficult.

I went to the company's on-line site that handles the local income tax for our area and found out a few interesting things! First of all if you are sending in a payment it of course has to be via a credit card and there is a FEE for that. Here is an excerpt:

"For credit card payments there is a 3% processing fee charged by Official Payments Corporation for each transaction. There is a minimum fee of $1.00.

Ok, that's one reason I'm not liking right there!

Since I didn't owe anything for my final return (because I paid it quarterly) I thought that I could save some time and money by filing my taxes online but it looks as though I won't be able to do it. The forms do some automatic calculations for you and some of the blocks are shaded in and those are the boxes that are for the calculations. The clear boxes are for you to enter in your numbers and some of those I couldn't even fill out!

So it looks as though I will be filing the local income tax the regular way - by snail mail - which may not be a bad thing after all! I wonder if you have to pay the fee when you pay quarterly?...............................

Why Is Tyler Leaving!

I just saw on our local news tonight that Temple University was showing off their new Tyler Arts Center that is to be located in the city of Philadelphia.

If you are a resident here in LaMott / Cheltenham, then you may know that there is already a Tyler School of Art right here in Cheltenham and it is a part of Temple University. But apparently Temple wanted their students to attend their classes at the heart of their main campus which is in Philadelphia.

For a time there were some protests from both the students and their parents because both of them liked the atmosphere of the area here as opposed to being in the city. Personally, after a while and after I got used to it, I didn't mind the students so much either.

There have been so many rumors going back and forth about the Tyler campus here and what was going to become of it.

Now that I have seen the news story on TV about Temple finally finishing their new Tyler School of Art in the city I can't help but wonder what is going to happen to the buildings and the dorms that are here now?

Area Ordinance - Fencing In Your Property!

I didn't know it until recently that our local area has an ordinance about the type of fencing that one can put around one's home. Apparently the fence has to be see-through - at least partially - meaning that while some aspects of the fence have to be see-through, it doesn't have to be that way on all four (or two) sides. I'm guessing that this is because of the fact that the police in the area would like to be able to see what is going on in the neighborhood and they will have a better view of things going on in the area if their views are not obstructed.


In a way this makes sense to me because I have heard stories from neighbors in the area about attempted thefts in and around their properties, so I can see why this area would this kind of ordinance.

What happens if you don't follow this ordinance and you build a solid fence or fencing around your property? You could get fined and have to pay a fee!

Citizen's Police Academy Class Event Planned

Friends,

I was passed this message from John Slavin of the Cheltenham Township Police Department. I thought some might be interested. Take it away, John!

...

I am planning another Citizen's Police Academy Class in March and I am looking for a group of 10-15 residents who would be interested in learning about the Cheltenham Police Department and some of our special units. This is a FREE program. The program is held at the Cheltenham Police Administration Building.

This is a great opportunity to get a first-hand look at the Police Department policies, procedures, training and equipment during the two-hour evening classes. Coordinated by the Community Policing Unit, the academy offers instruction from more than a dozen Officers in topics like crime scene investigation, car stops, narcotics investigations, K-9 unit, ethics, SWAT, and more. Our local District Justices will provide instruction in both criminal law and civil law procedures, and will explain their role in the Criminal Justice System.

This is both a fun and informative program. Please pass this on to your neighbors.

2009 Township County, Sewer & Refuse Bill in mail this month

This information comes straight from the LaMott, PA Group at Yahoo.com.

If you haven't received this bill yet you should wait until at least the end of the month before you call the township to request a copy.

Do we like the same books?

Just a friendly reminder that I invited you to Shelfari. Come see the books I love and see if we have any in common. Then pick my next book so I can keep on reading.

Join me on Shelfari!

http://www.shelfari.com/

Rose

Shelfari is a free site that lets you share book ratings and reviews with friends and meet people who have similar tastes in books. It also lets you build an online bookshelf, join book clubs, and get good book recommendations from friends.

You have received this email because Rose (Roseb44170@aol.com) directly invited you to join his or her community on Shelfari.

It is against Shelfari's policies to invite people who you don't know directly. Follow this link to prevent future invitations to this address. If you believe you do not know this person, you may view his or her Shelfari page or report him or her in our feedback section.

Amazon.com, 701 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104

Do we like the same books?

I just joined Shelfari to connect with other book lovers. Come see the books I love and see if we have any in common. Then pick my next book so I can keep on reading.

Join me on Shelfari!

http://www.shelfari.com/

Rose

Shelfari is a free site that lets you share book ratings and reviews with friends and meet people who have similar tastes in books. It also lets you build an online bookshelf, join book clubs, and get good book recommendations from friends.

You have received this email because Rose (Roseb44170@aol.com) directly invited you to join his or her community on Shelfari.

It is against Shelfari's policies to invite people who you don't know directly. Follow this link to prevent future invitations to this address. If you believe you do not know this person, you may view his or her Shelfari page or report him or her in our feedback section.

Amazon.com, 701 Fifth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98104

The LaMott Directory!

As I posted about this before in my blog, I'm currently moving my LaMott-related pages to another webhost. My most current transfer is:

The LaMott Directory

This is a listing of the businesses, organizations and other entities that are in the Cheltenham / LaMott area.

If you would like to add your listing you can find out more about how to do that by visiting the link above.

Just Because I Haven't Posted In A While Doesn't Mean That There Isn't A Lot Going On In LaMott......

The weather is definitely COLD outside and we're just melting from some of the thick ice that has stayed on the ground! For the last 2 days we have had temperatures in the 50's - which is kind of hard to believe in itself!

When the weather is colder, the activities outside are much less but we residents are still getting along - though we may walk a little faster in order to get home and out of the cold.

I have been getting some comments and emails about the community meeting(s) that was held at the LaMott Community Center dealing with the LaMott Civic Association. I was at the very first meeting and have the literature that was provided at the meeting and I intend on posting some of it here.

I have also had to deal with moving my website from AOL to another hosting site and it will take a little time to transfer the information to the new hosting site. But believe me I still have my original page information that includes information about LaMott and Cheltenham including events both past and present and other area-related information as well. Once everything is transferred I will be providing links to them from here.

Changes In The Cheltenham Bus Schedule? - Let's Put The Rumors To Rest!

The Cheltenham Bus schedule has changed in only one way!

The last scheduled run that ran one-way has been discontinued as of January 2009. Everything else about the schedule remains the same!

I had been hearing rumors about the schedule being changed but I have talked to the township and found out that the ONLY thing that has changed was that last scheduled run (around 4-5pm) has been discontinued.

So for those of you that ride the Cheltenham Bus (and for those of you who are hopefully considering taking it), there are still the 3 remaining scheduled round trip runs on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.