Snow Removal. We talked about it.

Wednesday, February 3

Ken and I can be polar opposites at times.  Like, he has a full head of hair and I don’t.

So Ken has to worry about his hair looking good, and I don’t.  Ken has to worry about it getting too long and falling in his eyes.  And I don’t. Ken has to worry about getting mistaken for a forty year old.  And I don’t.

So Ken and I get our hair cut at opposite ends of Lansdale. Now I know if you’ve been a faithful reader, you know I get my hair cut at Molettiere’s Barber Shop.  On West Main Street.  Ken travels all the way to the other end of town and gets his cut on East Main Street.  At the VIP Barber Shop in the Hillcrest Plaza.

I asked him to take a picture of the barber shop for me.  Because blogs are more interesting with pictures.  Now I know it was raining, but here is what he sent me:

Go ahead and click on it.  It took me a few minutes to even figure out what the thing at the bottom of the picture was (for the record, it’s the roof of his car).  Ken has many talents.  Photography is not one.

So here’s a better view cribbed from their web site:

The VIP Barber Shop is a clean, well run establishment.  With sufficiently talkative barbers who give great haircuts.  One even does it with an Italian accent (the talking, not the hair cut).

So they send Ken back with a great haircut.  You can’t ask for more.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  1

Now tonight is Lansdale Borough work session night, so we decided to grab a bite at a local restaurant.  Right across the street from borough hall.  Montella's Sports Bar & Pub at 25 South Broad.

Every town needs a great beer and burger joint.  This is it.  Friendly waitresses and bartenders, good grill food and camaraderie.

George Howard Earle III

Here was our camaraderie of the evening.  A really nice gentlemen who I did not know came over to our table on his trip to the bathroom.  He inquired about the pin on my lapel (for the record, it was a Realtor pin), and then proceeded to tell us an amusing story that included South Broad Street in Philadelphia, the Union League, a lapel pin (which he may or may not have pilfered), and three girls.  Named Biffy, Buffy and something else he couldn’t remember.  And how the lapel pin caused him to, ahem, get lucky with said three girls.

When he came back from the men’s room, he stopped by again, because he remembered that the girls (reminding us he had gotten lucky with them) were not named Biffy, Buffy and something else.  They were named . . .  Well, at this point, his story took a quick turn to George Earl, the governor of Pennsylvania in the 1930s.  I got a bit lost.  I don’t think he got lucky with George Earl, but you never know.

Camaraderie.

But here’s my takeaway from Montella’s.  Besides the good food and beer, you have a great business owner.  A fantastic one.  Because he took an old, historic Lansdale building and didn’t tear it down.  He transformed it.

The recent history for the building:  It housed Harrigan’s Pub.  Before that, 25 South.  Before that, Carolyn’s.  And many places before that, because the building dates back to the turn of the century.  Not this one, the last one.

Now here’s what former owners did with the place.  Not a lot.  The building deteriorated and crumbled.  I honestly thought I would end up in the basement when people started dancing in the 25 South era.  It was that rickety.

So instead of tearing down one of the best looking buildings in town, like so many people have done, this owner completely rehabbed the exterior.  Taking it from this:

To this:

Inside, the transformation was even more intense.  While I have no pictures of what it looked like, I can tell you it was nondescript inside.  Now it’s this:

Wow. 

Revitalization isn’t cheap.  This property owner and businessman poured a heck of a lot of money into this property.  And is reaping the benefits.

We’ve seen it here.  We saw it when the Molly Maguires people took over their building.  We know our old commercial building stock can be transformed into amazing spaces that suit today’s business needs. 

We just need more people to do it.

Lansdale Shopping Score:  2

So after that, a quick trip across the street to borough hall.  For the monthly work session meetings that happen the first Wednesday of every month.  And are open to everyone.

You should come and experience local government in action.  Because it is at these meetings that you have a chance to make your voice heard.  Your ideas discussed.

These are not intimidating meetings.  They are gatherings of your friends and neighbors.  Talking about things that affect our town and our lives.

I hope to see you at one.

But just in case you missed this one, let me tell you about it.

On a day filled with rain that was melting the vast majority of our snow accumulation, we heard a lot about the borough’s snow removal over the last week and a half.  And other things.

Here is a brief re-cap of the meetings:

Snow removal, 3^rd Street apartments, snow removal, snow removal,  grant, sub-division, snow removal, in-laws, snow removal, road maintenance, snow removal, snow removal, CDBG projects, Perkiomen  Avenue, 9^th Street, snow removal, snow removal, snow removal, waste water, ball fields, Charlie Brown, summer camp, Founders Day, snow removal, snow removal, Liberty Bell Trail, Eagle Scout, snow removal, snow removal, snow removal, Tracy Flynn is amazing, snow removal, snow removal, snow removal, fiber truck, electric rebate, snow removal, municipal complex, snow removal, snow removal, handicapped parking, hero walk, snow removal, parking, snow removal, stop signs, Septa, snow removal, snow removal,  switch gear, historical society, snow removal, snow removal, snow removal, snow removal, snow removal and girl scout cookies.

Carrie Hawkins Charlton, chair of the Communications Commission, announced that borough work session and business meetings, which are recorded, will be available on the Lansdale Borough website so anyone can listen to the meetings at their leisure.

So, today’s score:

TWO opportunities to shop/eat in Lansdale met.

Let’s see what today brings!