Downhill riders from across the region took over Mount Penn on Saturday for the 13th installment of the Duryea Downhill.
Similar to last year, wet weather made the course a bit slippery, but that didnt stop 50+ racers from flying down the mountain.
Started in 2003 by Reading Racing, the Duryea Downhill Mountain Bike Race originates from the long running Duryea Hill Climb car race. The uphill course used Duryea Drive in the early 1900’s.
As the largest attended downhill race in the Country, the Duryea Downhill attracts racers from all over country and as far away as New Zealand according to Duryea Downhill website.
Women’s Pro winners 3rd place Riley Weidman, 2nd place Amy Leishear and 1st place Kristen Lenart.
The most impressive time of the day was Neko Mullaly with 2:10. If that doesn’t sound quick just remember that’s riding through the woods from just above the Pagoda down to City Park, no easy feat.
Men’s Pro winners Logan 3rd place Mulally, 2nd place Mauricio Estrada and 1st place Neko Mullaly.
Kutztown Area High School opened its doors to the public on Saturday afternoon for a special community open house and dedication ceremony.
Hundreds of current students, alumni and faculty gathering in the gym for the opening ceremony, which began by dedicating the new gymnasium to former coach John Silan.
In Silan’s 25 years coaching high school basketball his team’s complied an impressive 527 wins and 117 losses, and 82% winning record which included 16 Division Titles, 13 Berks Titles, 8 District III Titles and 3 Pennsylvania Class B State Titles (1950, 1951 and 1959).
“This renovation is an investment in our student’s futures and in our community” Dr. Fiore, Superintendent of KASD said during his opening remarks.
Also in attendance was Coach Silan’s daughter Lynn Silan. Addressing the audience Lynn spoke about her fathers impact on his former students. “Some players would receive guidance, others learn lessons, and in some cases it was a small gesture, a pair of sneakers or a gym bag to make a man feel like he was apart of the team.”
Lynn Silan recalls her father, former KAHS Basketball Coach John Silan and his legacy.
The open house didn’t end with the ceremony. After the dedication ceremony students hosted guided tours of the high school. To feature the new improvements of the high school several class rooms were open throughout the afternoon with teachers giving demonstrations of their class work.
It was a night of music, laughter and culture all to recognize students and faculty for their dedication to public education on Friday at Bear Creek Mountain Resort for the inaugural Eastern Region chapter of the Pennsylvania State Education Association Awards Banquet and Ceremony.
Over 90 students applied for the scholarship by submitting an essay about their experience through the public education system. Overall, only five students from each county, Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton and Schuylkill were chosen to receive a $1,000 scholarship.
Tonight is about celebrating students “who have excelled in academics, character and leadership” said Tim Kearney, Third Representative of Eastern PSEA during his opening remarks.
Scholarship recipient for Berks County, Connor Oswald, senior at Hamburg High School spoke about his time in participating in a student program with the schools Technology Department during his acceptance speech.
“I am especially grateful for gaining practical knowledge in something that all people take advantage of but most do not understand, for some reason if I were to choose a different path, the skills I leaned at school would still be with me the rest of my life” Oswald said.
In addition to the student scholarship awards, the association also gave out three awards to its members, the Champion for Children Award was given to Robert Creveling and the Eastern PSEA Presidential Legacy Award was given to George Treisner.
Guests of the night not only enjoyed dinner but also a special performance by the Reading High School Castleaires Jazz Band.
Student Scholarship winners include Abigail Brickler of Schuylkill County, Peyton Sailer of Northampton County, Landon Annoni of Lehigh County, Elise Johnston of Carbon County and Connor Oswald of Berks County.
Residents of Boyertown gathered in Boyertown Community Park Saturday for Earthfest 2017, the annual event to celebrate plants, trees and mother nature.
This years Earthfest included a flea market, 24ft rock wall and live animal demonstrations from the Leigh Valley Zoo.
During all of the festivities, a representative from Pennsylvania’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) recognized Building A Better Boyertown for their ongoing environmental efforts.
For their commitment to urban forestry Boyertown was recognized as a Tree City USA community by the Arbor Day Foundation with a 10th anniversary commemorative flag and street sign.
To qualify to be a Tree City USA recipient, communities must have a Tree Board or Department, Tree Care Ordinance and a Community Forestry Program With an Annual Budget of at Least $2 Per Capita.
Earthfest also had a special guest waiting to be revealed. Boyertown’s Parks and Recreations Department unveiled a new “Boyertown Bear” statue aptly named “Parker”.
Located at the entrance of Boyertown Community Park, “Parker” greets visitors with a hat and small picnic basket.
In addition to the the unveiling of “Parker” the bear Boyertown Main Street Manager Adrianne Blank also announced the winners of the annual Tree Photo Contest. First place was awarded to Hannah Ziegler, student at Boyertown High School for her photo of a Flowering Pear Tree.
“The purpose of the photo contest is to educate students about local trees and their value”, said Blank.
After hearing about the photo contest in here biology class Hannah searched Boyetown for the perfect tree, eventually finding the Flowering Pear Tree on Schaefer Street. For winning first place Hannah won a $100 provided by Tompkins VIST Bank.
Antique aficionados from all around brought in their hidden treasures on Saturday morning to Schwarzwald United Church of Christ for the 2nd annual “Faire” Appraisal event hosted by Berks County Community Television.
Building on a successful first year, industry professionals were ready to discuss antiques, yard sale finds, and collectibles owned by local Berks residents.
Not all antiques are old clocks and dinnerware. After learning about the event in Loose Ends Magazine, Kevin McDevitt couldn’t wait to stop in to see if his signed football had any value. After 20 minutes with the appraisers McDevitt learned his football, signed by the ’72 Steelers was in fact Authentic, mostly..
McDevitt was excited to hear the Terry Bradshaw signature was real. However, he mentioned the appraisers weren’t so enthusiastic about a few of the other signatures, pointing out they could have been easily signed by the “ball boy” but it was hard to tell.
“I picked up the football from a friend a long time ago and was always interested to see if it was real, it was worth the money” McDevitt said.
The all-star team of guest appraisers included the host of BCTV’s “All That Stuff” Mr. Bill Howze, Ms. Valerie Malmberg, Mr. Brett Oslon, Mr. Chris Papadakis, and Mr. Phil Wesel. All more than qualified to assess a wide assortment of items.
Participants were able to have up to three items evaluated for the $20 entry fee. The BCTV film crew was also onsite capturing the day’s most interesting conversations. Stay tuned to BCTV, footage from Saturdays event will be compiled into a feature program.
All proceeds of the antique appraisal event benefited Berks County Community Television.
