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A Peek At Upper Gwynedd's Parks And Rec Future
North Penn Now's weekly newsletter
James Kratch
November 05, 2024
Photo courtesy of Nor-Gwyn Pool
Welcome back to North Penn Now’s weekly newsletter! It’s Election Day. Here is a look at all the candidates on ballots in the area, from state legislative races to the presidency.
Have a comment or suggestion as we work to evolve and improve the newsletter? Just reply to this email. Let’s get going!
In This Week's Email:
📆 Upcoming Nearby Events
Thursday, Nov. 7
🎤 Rich Vos | Well Crafted Beer Co. in Lansdale | Doors open at 7 p.m., more details here
Saturday, Nov. 9
👖 Second Saturday Barn Sale | St. Thomas Whitemarsh in Fort Washington | 8 a.m to 12 p.m., more details here
🎄 Holiday Craft & Vendor Show | Conshohocken United Methodist Church | 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., more details here
📱 Electronics Recycling Day | North Penn High | 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., more details here
🍁 Harvest Festival | Peter Wentz Farmstead in Lansdale | 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., more details here
🎹 Dan Kennedy | Gwynedd Friends Meeting | 8 p.m., more details here
🛝 Playground, Pool Revamps In The Works
Upper Gwynedd is in the final stages of finalizing a long-term parks and recreation plan. Township officials were given a preview last month, which can be found here. The highlights:
The Nor-Gwyn Pool Complex’s facilities are aging and will need to be replaced within the next 10 or so years. Upper Gwynedd runs it via a joint board with North Wales; work is being done on a feasibility study for a future overhaul before crafting a plan.
An examination of the future of the Park-Sci playground, a castle-shaped wooden park built in the 1990s.
Programs run by Upper Gwynedd Parks and Rec, as well as a need for indoor recreational space. A feasibility study for a new rec building is on tap.
A potential veterans memorial in a township park, as well as fixes to the Parkside Place complex and other smaller parks such as new bathrooms, added trails, revamping ballfields and planting trees.
The community pool and Park-Sci playground would likely be the main priorities once the plan is finalized. Public comments on the draft plan can be made here; there will be an internal committee meeting on Thursday (Nov. 7) to review the feedback before a formal plan presentation meeting on Dec. 4.
🪖 Lansdale Man Dies Fighting For Ukraine
A local man and veteran was killed in Russia while serving as a volunteer fighter for Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
Corey John Nawrocki, 41, reportedly died during an attempted incursion into Russian territory in the Bryansk region near the border with Ukraine. The Lansdale resident and North Penn High graduate spent 20 years in the U.S. Marine Corps, retiring in 2021 as a First Sergeant. He was a Bronze Star recipient for valor and was twice awarded the Purple Heart.
“He was a mentor, a friend, a leader, a well of knowledge, a gunslinging motivator, but above all a hero,” a fellow Marine wrote on Facebook.
First Sgt. Corey John Nawrocki (Ret.)
🗞️ News Links
The revamped full-service bar and social hall above North Penn's Volunteer Firehouse is open again with a new name -- The Halligan Bar at North Penn Social Club -- and a new cocktails and food menu powered by Little's Ice Cream and Water Ice.
You must be a member (or the guest of one) to attend non-public events. New memberships are just $1 through the end of the year; renewals will be $10 for members and $15 for new members starting in 2025. The venue is aiming to have daily hours by January and all profits go toward the fire company's operations; banquet space for up to 145 guests is also available for rental.
🏬 An Idea To Spur Local Business
The last few years have seen the wrong type of Main Street parade in Lansdale. A slew of tenants have left the downtown area, from National Auto and Wilson's Hardware to Wells Fargo to Rite Aid. Officials have now decided to seek third-party proposals on crafting a code to address the vacancies. The outside firm would help the council write an ordinance and then be compensated for enforcing it.
What the code would likely look like: A fee or tax schedule that spurs owners to either submit plans for their vacant properties or sell. Differentiation between commercial and residential properties is also anticipated. The council's code committee is scheduled to meet tomorrow (Nov. 6) at 7:30 p.m. at the municipal building.
🚔 Man Bites Dog … It Didn’t Work
A Bensalem man was charged with his fifth DUI — elevated the latest incident to a felony — after crashing into a guardrail on West Creamery Road in Bucks County last month. When Hilltown police arrived at the scene, the suspect claimed his dog jumped into his lap while he was driving, causing the wreck. But cops did not buy the story and they observed signs of intoxication, leading to the arrest.
To keep up with news outside the North Penn Now area, make sure to subscribe to the newsletters for our siblings sites — Central Bucks Now and Wiss Now.
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🏘️ In Other Nearby News
🏈 Play Ball
For more on local sports, subscribe to our Philly sports newsletter, On Pattison (sent 5x per week):
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🔥 Local Fires Continue To Rage (Plus A Poll)
There are numerous countywide and local burn bans in place across the area due to dry conditions caused by an ongoing drought of historic length, but blazes keep popping up.
Case in point: The Colmar and Hatfield fire departments were conducting a live training exercise with a controlled building burn on Sunday when a live mulch fire broke out in an adjacent yard.
This week’s poll question: How have the burn bans impacted your usual fall routines from recreation to yard work to anything else?
What impact have local burn bans had on you?Let us know! |
Photo by James Short
Thanks for reading! See you next week!
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