A really cool idea, or two

"Do you know what would be really cool?"
These words from Mercury reporter Brandie Kessler were usually followed by:
"I know you probably don't want to do this, and you can say this is a dumb idea -- you're the boss, you do what you want, but I was just thinking wouldn't it be cool if ..."
A soliloquy along those lines preceded a number of really cool ideas that we have embraced at The Mercury and turned to successes for this newspaper and the community of the Pottstown area.
We collected more than 16,000 food items for area food pantries and nearly 1,000 containers of laundry detergent by joining efforts with TownSquare bloggers to spread the word about dwindling food supplies last winter.
Cool idea.
We created a Pinterest board of Most Wanted criminals in area police departments, getting pictures out to the public on a platform they use. Tips have led to arrests, which make police happy and make us proud.
Cool idea.
We are posting cards with donors' names to Operation Holiday on the window of The Mercury Community Media Lab as a colorful display and a thank you to the readers who send us thousands of dollars for our holiday giving program.
Another cool idea.
Brandie's coolest idea, at least in her mind, was raising money for the Pottstown Relay for Life by taking donations to pie a Mercury employee in the face at the Bark for Life event. The 2008 collection raised $2,700 and gave Brandie the opportunity to throw a banana cream pie in my face.

 I have had some cool ideas for Brandie, as well. One of them was sending her on the river with the Schuylkill River Sojourn last summer to live-blog four days of the river journey, traveling in her kayak, tweeting and taking video along the way.

Dedicated police reporter that she is, she fought me on leaving the office for a week to enjoy the outdoors.
I prevailed, and the blog was a gem.
Another idea I recently had was that she apply for a reporting job at our larger sister paper, the York Daily Record/Sunday News. I had learned about the job from colleagues at York, and I told her it was an opportunity she should not pass up. At least go for the interview, I insisted.
Again, the retorts that there are too many stories in Pottstown still to write, too much work still to be done.
But she went, and the rest, as they say, is history. Sunday was her last official day at The Mercury. She stopped in Monday though and I expect to see her again this week.
Brandie is one of a kind.
Her passion for reporting, her dedication to this craft, her persistence for excellence and her fearsome loyalty to her colleagues and others around her is unmatched.
That's why we already miss her.

There's a warning here, too, for our friends at YDR: Get ready for cool ideas.
And watch out.
You could end up with banana cream on your face. 

Blessings of near-misses, minor crashes

I had a bad start to my day today, as this photo clearly shows.
Untreated roads were covered with an icy mix of rain and snow, and I headed out with an extra measure of care. My mistake, however, was wanting a second cup of morning coffee, taking Old Reading Pike to Dunkin' Donuts  instead of staying on the more heavily traveled business Route 422.
Snow was falling pretty steadily; the KYW traffic report was noting minor crashes in those ever-popular northern and western suburbs.
I was coasting along about 30 miles per hour on a straight level stretch of road when the car started skidding -- sideways, then the other way, then sideways again.
The car was on its own, me helpless as I experienced in slow motion my red convertible making its way off the road. 
Into a tree.
The front right corner hit the tree before the car slid sideways into a large bush. The air bags didn't go off; I wasn't jolted or hurt in any way.
We are firm believers in our household in the coincidence of threes, and indeed, this was our third car mishap in five days.
The first of those three bears retelling:
Four of the five members of our family were driving home together Thursday evening after a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner at our son and his girlfriend's apartment in New York.
Our younger son was driving, his twin sister the front passenger,  my husband and I in the back seat.
Traffic was light, and we were two-thirds of the way home on I-78 approaching Allentown.
As we passed the Hellertown exit, the unthinkable happened. My son saw it first - a car coming the wrong way up the ramp onto the interstate, crossing lanes, and speeding toward us in the passing lane. 
The car was barreling full-on at us, both vehicles going at high speeds in the passing lane.
Scott swerved the car slightly to the right but couldn't get completely out of the way because of cars alongside us.
The approaching car also swerved and went partly onto the grass median, narrowly avoiding the head-on collision that would have killed us all.
We were shaken, to say the least, thankful for the blessings of quick reflexes and angels watching over us.
We later learned the driver was arrested for DUI after going five miles in the wrong direction on I-78. The news report said nothing of crashes or near-misses, so we can assume he avoided hitting anything.
Those who know me well know incidents with cars are my plague and probably my greatest annoyance.
But today I am thankful for the near-misses and skids that end slowly. They remind me of how close we come to tragedy and how remarkable the forces of fate are in sparing us.
Be careful out there. Always.

Learning value of education from those who missed out

I was raised with the importance of reading and writing drilled into my life by two people who learned the hard way.
My parents, both born in the middle of large families, had to quit school after the 8th grade. My dad had to work full-time on the family farm; my mom was needed at home to help care for younger siblings and to start earning a wage doing housework for others.
Both families were poor in dollars, rich in lessons that my parents passed on to me and my brothers.
Education was a privilege denied them, and that made its value so much greater. As parents, they never let us forget it.
I've seen the emphasis passed on among my cousins, a message strengthened through my parents' generation by the hardship it took to acquire it.
I didn't realize until much later in my life that my parents were fortunate in what they took from those eight years of schooling, in both cases taught in rural one-room schools of the early 1920s.
My dad had flawless spelling and could write a good letter when he needed to; he was quick and adept at math, and served as president and treasurer of nearly every group he joined, including being an elected school board president and the treasurer of the Boyertown Area School Board during the era of expansion that included building the junior high west center.
He was surrounded by people much more learned than he, and yet he was often at the head of the table in clubs, the church consistory and sports teams.
Although he worked at Doehler-Jarvis as his day job, he ran his own taxidermy business in our basement, having learned the trade through distance learning by mail.
My mom's lack of education showed in her spelling, but it didn't stop her from communicating well. She spelled things phonetically, a trait that brings a smile upon reading her handwritten recipes for "punkin" pie or "dumplins."
She had insights and an understanding of people and situations coupled with a desire to keep learning. When my brothers were in college, she borrowed some of their textbooks as leisure reading. She particularly liked psychology courses.
She emphasized always that we have books in our home and in our lives as children. But even more important to her were "educational" toys, as she called them. Of course I had my share of dolls and my brothers had plenty of sports gear, but she made a point of insisting that blocks, puzzles, word games, and books were more important.
We were raised knowing we would go to college. It was a rule that my mother enforced. Although I didn't know it until my parents were in their twilight years and I was settled into my adult life, my dad had at one time thought a college degree wasn't necessary for me because I would "just get married and have a family."
My mother prevailed with her philosophy: "You can lose the people around you; your job can end. But no one can take away your education."
Her strong stand molded my future.
My parents knew from experience that education does not come easily to everyone.That's what the Pottstown adult literacy program is about. It benefits people whose lives did not start easily, and it has the potential to further those opportunities we know come from education.
Pottstown's literacy effort needs your help.
With just a few minutes of your time, you can sign on to support the Adult Literacy Program. A donor will give $1 for every signature as submitted on the following form. 
Those dollars will go a long way to buy materials and help people learning to read. My mother would call this effort "educational;" I call it a second chance.
Sign on to support our program: Pottstown reads.

From Agnes to Sandy: How we cover a hurricane

Our staff at a news site in Pottstown where the Philly suburbs complete their turn to rural Pennsylvania rarely covers a hurricane. We have our share of flooding on the Schuylkill River and large creeks -- Perkiomen, Manatawny, French Creek  -- and sometimes the effects of hurricanes have been involved.
Last year, Irene caused some evacuations and flooding of the Perkiomen at Collegeville and Graterford. We had some Floyd-aftermath flooding in 1999, and I remember writing headlines about the approach of Gloria some years back.
But for full-fledged hurricane reporting, we have to go back 40 years to Hurricane Agnes.
Until this week and Sandy.
Like Agnes in June, 1972, Sandy set her sights on New York and New Jersey, and slammed Pennsylvania in-between with gale-force winds and drenching rain.
The AP reported winds reached 81 miles per hour in Allentown; Hanover, Pa. got 8.15 inches of rain.
Twelve deaths were reported in Pennsylvania, several of them from carbon monoxide poisoning from generators.
In our area, a 62-year-old man was killed when a tree crashed through his porch roof while he was taking the dogs out.
The biggest difference between reporting a hurricane and reporting some after-effects like flooding is the breadth of the storm and the dangers to ourselves.
When I send reporters over to South Pottstown to report on damage to the homes along the Schuylkill River, I tell them to wear boots, protect cameras and stay out of deep water.
But on Monday with Sandy "looming large," the warnings were more stern. We put a plan in place to keep paginators and online producers at home, as long as their power lasted. We bought car chargers for laptops; put fresh batteries in flashlights; kept cell phones fully charged.

Reporters and photographers and two editors were in the office, coordinating coverage. We planned a front page by phone, brainstormed headlines like we always do, but in phone and email instead of in person. We kept website, Facebook, Twitter and mobile sites up to date.
By 8 p.m. Monday night, we closed up at the offices and drove home just as the wind speeds were picking up. Two people were on alert to go out overnight if they got word of a water rescue, fire or building collapse. The message was: Don't go out for flooding or wind damage. That can wait until daybreak. Don't risk going out in this wind unless it's a disaster that demands immediate reporting.
By Tuesday, many of us had lost power in our homes, but The Mercury did not. Neither did the offices of our sister sites in the Philly cluster, except Montgomery Media and a portion of the Delco Daily Times building.
To be sure, not all systems were working perfectly due to the devastation Sandy caused around us, in New York City and the Jersey shore. But for the most part, we could work.
The greatest damage here were giant trees uprooted, wires down and limbs everywhere. Fortunately, none of our staffers suffered damage to their homes except for some damaged gutters and broken tree limbs. The inconvenience of losing cable or Internet or lights and TV is minor compared to what we witnessed at the beach and in New York City.
Ironically, Sandy stormed our way the year of the 40th anniversary of Agnes and a recap of that coverage. There was no comparison to the devastation caused by Agnes, but the approach was the same.
When we pulled out the old Agnes papers for research last summer, we noticed there were no bylines in those editions, just a box that said everyone on staff contributed to everything they produced.
That's how The Mercury covered a hurricane 40 years ago.
With a bit of sarcasm and some silliness, our staffers like to say "there's no I in team." (I won't repeat the second half of their slogan about three "u"s.) 
That's how we covered Sandy, and why it was different than a normal storm. 
The bylines don't matter in a hurricane; the team effort does.  

Join us for literacy project

Our Community Media Lab went to the dogs last week.
The Pottstown Bark for Life planning committee became the first community group to take us up on the offer to use our space in The Mercury for a meeting. The meeting involved about 20 people, but the talk was all about the dogs -- and the plans for next spring's Bark for Life event that raises money for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life.
The group took advantage of our central location in town, our welcoming space, and free Wi-Fi for an organized committee meeting.
Their meeting was the first example of uses we hope to see in our newly created space at 24 N. Hanover St. in Pottstown.
Other news from our lab is that we're changing our hours to promote after-school use by students as a quiet study spot.  Currently, the lab has been attracting area residents who use the computers to look for jobs or learn about blogging from community engagement editor Diane Hoffman.

A recent field trip visit from Pottstown High School students reminded us that the mid-day hours are not as practical now that school has started. The local students told us our room looks like a good study spot if open after school.
As a result, we'll be changing in the next two weeks to open the room from 3 to 6 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays and keep our mid-day hours on Mondays and Tuesdays.
There's more ...

This Tuesday, Oct. 9, The Mercury is hosting a Community Media Lab meeting for our Town Square bloggers and anyone else who wants to come out and learn about blogging, the media or just view our exhibit of Mercury news photos.
The goal of the meeting is to embark on a literacy project.
What form will that project take?
Well, that's up to you and those attending the meeting.
Our goal is to help people embrace reading and help those struggling with illiteracy learn how to read.
We might sponsor tutoring sessions in our lab, or conduct a book drive for children's books, or build a lending shelf of books for adult new readers.
We've invited the literacy volunteers from the Pottstown YWCA Adult Literacy Center as guests Tuesday night and are hoping to brainstorm ideas and come up with a project and plan to get Pottstown reading.
Promoting literacy promotes education, helps people find jobs, helps employers fulfill workforce needs, and thus, combats homelessness, poverty and hunger.
Promoting literacy helps people and helps our towns.
Come out Tuesday night to visit our Community Media Lab, learn what our community engagement outreach is all about, learn about blogging and join the conversation to build literacy.
We're meeting at 6:30 p.m. at the Community Media Lab entrance of The Mercury on Hanover Street.  See you there.

Sound-Off sandwich? Tell us what you think!

Fridays are special days at Grumpy's Hand-Carved Sandwiches.
 And, today is The Mercury's turn at inspiring their special, a Sound-Off wrap with an invitation to say what you think, just like our callers to Sound-Off.
We in the newsroom are regulars at Grumpy's, 137 High St., in downtown Pottstown.
We like the good coffee within walking distance of our office. We like the fresh baked goods from Company Cakes. We like Gene and Sheila Dugan, the owners.
 We love the homemade salads, soups and sandwiches. 
Gene will customize sandwiches or salads to suit our tastes and our commitments to healthy, vegetarian or pure chocolate-loving lifestyles.
Sheila, as Proudly Pottstown and the Main Street manager,  partners with our Community Media Lab on downtown initiatives. We fit a bit of community engagement business talk in with our orders. 

Every Friday, Gene likes to create a sandwich that reflects a downtown business. This week is our chance.
The Sound-Off wrap, Gene says, has a Greek influence because of The Mercury "messenger-god" symbolism.
The wrap includes roasted chicken slices, roasted peppers, spinach, feta, olive oil and black olives.
My Sound-Off comment: DELICIOUS!
Stop in and try one. Right now while the Friday specials last, open until 6 p.m.
We hope to be featured again soon.
Maybe a panini 'Stop the Press' sandwich? 
Shop local. Eat at Grumpy's. 

 

For better or worse, July 4th celebration defines Pottstown

I wrote this editorial about the Pottstown Fourth of July Homecoming celebration over the weekend but there was not enough space on the Opinion page for all I want to say about the event being in jeopardy because of lack of funds.
It's one of those things that I think defines Pottstown, both in its successes and shortcomings, and also one of those things that runs parallel to the path of this newspaper where I started working before there was a Homecoming celebration here.
Pottstown's Fourth of July celebration was started by my first boss, Bob Urban.
Bob and his family lived in town, and he was the kind of editor everybody in the neighborhood knew and liked. He helped his son deliver papers in the morning; he ghost-wrote an outdoors column under the pen name Rod N. Reel, and he led a newsroom that understood "hyperlocal" long before websites were vying for share of audience.
Bob started the Fourth of July celebration along with Gary Babin, who was head of the Pottstown Parks and Recreation Department at the time, because there was a gas crisis and they thought there should be something for local residents to enjoy on a holiday weekend without driving to the Poconos or the Jersey shore.
I was a reporter in 1978 when Bob came up with this brainstorm, and we had little choice but to rally round. We were assigned to write countless stories about the plans and typed in names and dollar amounts for the daily "honor roll" of contributors and the penny-a-vote queens contest.
I can remember Bob's enthusiasm at the fundraising success and reporters' sighs at the number of names we had to type as contributors sent in their checks. As I recall, the donations came into The Mercury to be counted, tabulated and deposited by employees here. We still do that with Operation Holiday, and the time of those tasks on top of regular work is no small feat in a news operation.
Bob's idea took off, and 34 years later, continues, albeit without the initial pouring in of funds or the townwide enthusiasm throughout the planning process.
In recent years, donations have dwindled to the point of endangering the celebration's future, and some on the planning committee have blamed The Mercury.
"It would be a shame that the organization which started the Fourth celebration in Pottstown will also be the one that ends it ..." is one of the comments we've heard repeated.
Those criticisms are fair in that we don't have the resources we had in 1978 to plan and execute a major fundraising campaign.
They are unfair in assuming that's why the balance sheet is turning red.
Even in the beginning, although begun by our leadership, the Fourth of July Homecoming committee was set up with people from all walks of life in town. We had just one seat at the table.
The stories we wrote reflected the energy and enthusiasm that was involved in planning a parade, a hot-air balloon launch, two to three days of activities at the park, a 10K race, food, Little League all-star games, music, rides and competitions.
In recent years, we have been criticized for not writing enough about the July 4th fundraising. But the stories are the same -- a plea that the committee needs money or the Fourth of July will end.

The 34 years since this newspaper was involved in starting the Fourth have coincided with 34 years of change in this industry, too. We can't afford to lament the loss of print readership and advertising; we have needed to forge ahead with a digital-first philosophy and change our ways to include social media, mobile apps, text messaging and blogs.
We try to extend the lessons of change to the community.
For several years, we hosted a Fourth of July committee blog which we helped set up with former committee member Chris Stafy. The blog is no longer updated but continues to attract traffic through Google searches.
Other bloggers -- the Sanatoga Post and Positively Pottstown -- have supported the Fourth. Even some downtown business owners this year conducted their own fundraisers to help out.
We don't want to see the local Fourth of July celebration in Pottstown end. It represents Pottstown's ability to come together as a community. Most of all, the events are just plain fun for families and friends to enjoy while celebrating the nation's birthday.
I have no magic bullet for the committee, just a lesson from the past.
As a newspaperman, Bob Urban knew the story had to be a good one to get attention. He led the effort to give us young reporters something to write about.
Now we're looking for news to tweet and post on Facebook and link to the web -- and still to write about.
The revival of a dying celebration in Pottstown by embracing new ideas? Now, that would be a headline we would love to share.