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The Wildwoods Convention Center

WILDWOODS NJ – Families visiting the Jersey shore can enjoy an ultimate Harlem Globetrotters basketball experience, exclusively in Wildwoods, as the team plays four games and hosts four clinics Aug. 7-10 (2013, Wednesday through Saturday) beginning each night at 7 in the Wildwood Convention Center, 4501 Boardwalk.

Tickets become available Saturday (May 4,) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the convention center box office. Fans then will save up to 40-percent off on tickets, with prices starting at $11.25 (regularly $19).

The Globetrotters are also offering 2-hour skills clinics on the convention center court during each game day from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.  Designed for fans ages 6-12, each clinic will be led by Globetrotter stars. Participants do not need prior basketball experience.  A spot in the clinic costs $75 and includes a voucher for one complementary ticket to any of the four games (valued up to $44). Space is limited.

The Globetrotters are returning to the Jersey shore for the third consecutive year after successful games in Wildwood in 2011 and 2012. Similar to previous years, the team will have a presence in the local community in advance of the games, including anti-bullying assemblies at several Cape May County schools in June.

Photo from Google Images

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The Bike Pottstown fleet is awaiting first-time and returning riders

POTTSTOWN PA – In an effort to encourage more people to use locally available and free bicycles for recreation and transportation, the borough’s Bike Pottstown program is giving away water bottles to its first-time riders beginning Wednesday (May 1, 2013), and will hand-out a free backpack to 10-time program registrants between Wednesday and Sept. 30, Schuylkill River Heritage Area spokeswoman Laura Catalano announced.

… and they can grab this free swag!

Bike Pottstown has been lending its signature yellow cruisers under the popular free bike share program, operated by he heritage area, for five years.

“As a national and state heritage area, one of our goals is to use recreation to connect people to the Schuylkill River and the communities along it. The Bike Pottstown program has successfully enabled us to achieve that goal,” said Executive Director Kurt Zwikl. “This has been a popular and successful program, and we want to advance its popularity by encouraging more people to use the bikes, either to ride on the Schuylkill River Trail or explore the community.”

Bikes are available from Tri County Bicycles, 256 High St., which now has a total of 40 in its fleet. A limited number also are available at the heritage area office, 140 College Dr., near the riverside bike and hiking trail. This winter, an additional 12 bikes were added to the Bike Pottstown program.

Bike Pottstown is a completely free bike share program that has been nationally recognized in the media and among bike share advocates. It does not require a deposit, credit card or any exchange of money. Anyone age 16 and older can borrow a bike by providing a driver’s license or valid state ID to a program administrator. The bikes can be used for a short period of time or an entire day, but must be returned by the time the loaning office or shop closes.

The program was launched during 2008 by the non-profit Preservation Pottstown, with 30 yellow bikes purchased with funds from the Pottstown Health and Wellness Foundation. Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources also supports the program. Initial start-up costs were also funded by Exelon and the Pottstown Police Officers Association.

The heritage area took ownership of the program in 2010, and later expanded it as Bike Schuylkill to the communities of Hamburg and Phoenixville.

Photo from Google Images

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“On Merit Alone: The Story of Acme”

Acme, founded in 1892 by James Reber, first manufactured bicycles then later became the Acme Motor Car Company,  after building its first automobile in 1900.  Finally, the company was renamed the S.G.V. Company in 1911, and a more European-style influence could be seen in their cars to accompany this new moniker.  Throughout these years and changes, production remained at the factory at North Eighth and Elm Streets in Reading PA, 16 miles west of Boyertown.

To illustrate the company’s progress, the museum has put two late-19th-century bicycles on display, as well as a 1910 Acme race car and a 1912 S.G.V automobile.  Sales literature and brochures from the companies will also be displayed and incorporated into exhibit signage.

More than just a company history, “On Merit Alone: The Story of Acme” also looks at Acme’s role in early automotive racing.  The Acme Motor Car Company entered stock cars in many races, sometimes employing amateur drivers in order to prove their ease of operation.

The exhibit will addresses a topic never before broached at the Boyertown museum: women’s rights.  One bicycle on display, a 1898 Acme women’s model, is a new addition to the Boyertown collection. “On Merit Alone” takes advantage of this new artifact to teach visitors about the role of the bicycle in the women’s movement. The introduction of the safety bicycle in the 1880s did much to liberate women from strict Victorian ideals.

The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; it is closed Mondays. It preserves the transportation history of Pennsylvania and displays more than 80 locally manufactured cars, trucks, carriages, motorcycles, sleighs, and other types of vehicles. Admission costs $6 for adults, $5 for seniors and AAA members, and $4 for students; children age 5 and younger are free.

For more information call 610-367-2090.

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Traditional dancers bring a party-like atmosphere to Pottsgrove Manor

Bella captivates visitors with acrobatic feats

POTTSTOWN PA – Western Montgomery County residents can celebrate the arrival of spring May 4 (2013; Saturday) from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the annual Colonial May Fair held at historic Pottsgrove Manor, 100 W. King St.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

The event “is a fun-filled day with activities for all ages: games, music, dancing, and crafts,” promoters say. On its agenda:

• Colonial conjurer Levram the Great will perform historic magic shows and pocket magic tricks throughout the day
• Tuckers’ Tales Puppet Theatre will present puppet shows St. George and the Dragon, and Cinderella, and also provide festive historic music around the grounds during the event
• Signora Bella returns with a variety of acrobatic feats
• Members of the Tapestry Historic Dance Ensemble will demonstrate authentic English country dances and will lead visitors in dances around the Maypole to open and close the fair.
• MMG Concessions will offer burgers, cheese steaks, hot dogs, sausage sandwiches, fries, hand-rolled pretzels, and fresh-squeezed lemonade.

In addition to the entertainment and food, a variety of Early American crafters and demonstrators will display historic skills and trades, and sell their wares.

Children can compete in hoop races, play with colonial toys and games, and help churn butter.

The first floor of colonial ironmaster John Potts’ 1752 manor house will be open for self-guided tours during the fair. Historic foodways expert Deborah Peterson will demonstrate open-hearth cooking in the Pottsgrove Manor kitchen.

A donation of $2 per person is requested.

Parking is free at the Carousel at Pottstown building, 30 W. King St. Pottstown’s restored trolley will offer free rides during the fair between the Carousel parking lot and Pottsgrove Manor. Handicapped parking is available in the museum’s parking lot.

Photos from Pottsgrove Manor

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Looking down New York’s 39th Street from near 9th Avenue, into the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market

On even a chilly, late winter day the place is bustling with vendors and potential buyers

NEW YORK NY – Toward the tail end of March, a point on the calendar when New York City visitors might hope Mother Nature would start to warm things up, the winds can still briskly whistle through the west-side streets of Hell’s Kitchen. Unless the sun filters just so between the neighborhood’s mid-height skyscrapers, it remains a time to wear heavier sweaters or light coats and gloves to go junk shopping.

That may be one of Hell’s Kitchen’s best-known attributes: junk (or, if you prefer, “junque”) of value to collectors, seekers of the odd and the vintage, decorators, fashion mavens, and just plain folks who delight in a bargain. You’ll find a wide assortment at the Hell’s Kitchen Flea Market, which operates throughout the year (weather permitting) on Saturdays and Sundays only from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at W. 39th St. between 9th and 10th avenues.

The flea market regularly is a hopping place during the spring and summer, when those seasons lend themselves to more tourists, hours-long leisurely strolls, and lighter, casual clothing. National Geographic magazine claims the market at its busiest is one of the world’s 10-best shopping streets. Although fewer vendors appear in colder weather, about 40 were out hawking their wares during a March 23 (2013) jaunt … enough to make the trip interesting.

Lower temperatures can be a benefit. They inhibit those who come out to shop, and as a result tend to force prices down and encourage sellers to engage in a bit of haggling. That’s helpful because this is still New York, and prices for almost any item tend toward the higher range, its condition or usefulness not withstanding.

The street is blocked off, and there’s no traffic to contend with. Vendors set up in an impromptu way, fostering an almost bazaar-like atmosphere. The haphazard manner in which stuff-filled boxes and crates are strewn about also prompts a lot of lingering-and-fingering by people curious to know the contents of any given pile.

One retro find: a box full of pieces of newspaper type and advertising elements

This article was first published at TripAdvisor.com

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Noah Lewis portrays Ned Hector, a free black man who was a teamster and artillery man

Demonstrating blacksmith skills

POTTSTOWN PA – The importance of iron in the Revolutionary War is the focus of a program planned for April 20 (2013; Saturday) from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. outside Pottsgrove Manor, the home of colonial ironmaster and Pottstown founder John Potts, 100 W. King St.

• This event has been added to The Post calendar.

Re-enactors portraying artillery men and blacksmiths of the Continental Army will show how essential the local iron-working industry was to the war effort. Noah Lewis will portray Ned Hector, a free black man who was a teamster and artillery man in Colonel Proctor’s Artillery. Captain Seth Oaks’ Independent Company of Artificers will give demonstrations of 18th Century blacksmithing.

The program coincides with Pottsgrove Manor’s new exhibit, “Forging a Lifestyle: Iron-working with the Potts Family.” Guided tours will be offered on the hour during the day.

Many members of the Potts family were involved in the American Revolution. Samuel Potts, who grew up at Pottsgrove Manor, and his brother-in-law, Thomas Rutter III, cast cannon for the American cause at Warwick Furnace.

The exhibit also is available for viewing during the museum‘s regular hours: Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sunday from 1-4 p.m. Tours are given on the hour; the last tour of the day begins at 3 p.m. The site is closed Mondays and major holidays. Groups of 10 or more people should register in advance by calling 610-326-4014.

Photos from Pottsgrove Manor

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“Members Treasures,” which features Reading Railroad artifacts from several Berks County PA collections, runs through Nov. 17 (2013) at the museum, 500 S. 3rd St., about 80 miles northwest of Philadelphia. It is open Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. Admission costs $5 for adults, $4 for seniors age 65 and older, $3 for children between ages 5 and 12, and free for children younger than 3.

Dale W. Woodland, a Reading Railroad historian and exhibit curator, tapped the collections of members of the Reading Co. Technical & Historical Society, several of whom worked for the Reading.

• Read a story by reporter Ron Devlin, titled “Exhibit features artifacts from Reading Railroad” and presented by The Associated Press via the San Francisco (CA) Chronicle on March 18, here.

Photo from Google Images

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