WZAR News

Building a Better Boyertown (BBB) will host the 2nd annual “Oktoberfest in Boyertown” as a 3rd Saturday promotion and BBB community fundraiser.

The event will be held in the Borough’s Inner Core parking area (off of South Reading Avenue) on Saturday September 19, 2009 (rain date September 26).

“Oktoberfest in Boyertown” will be a celebration of the proud German heritage that the town still holds, serving beer brewed by Sly Fox Brewery, wine bottled by Blair and Manatawny Creek Wineries, and soda (at a minimal fee) in a “beer tent.” The Boyertown Farmers’ Market and an art and craft fair, by local artist and crafters will occupy the entire parking area from mid morning until the early evening. In the late afternoon and into the evening, a DJ will play music for everyone’s enjoyment. Foods prepared by various local eateries will be offered.

This event will be a fund-raising effort for Building a Better Boyertown. If your business is interested in sponsoring this event please contact the event Committee Chair, Jeff Karver at 610.367.2148.

Any vendor interested in setting up a crafter stand, please contact Cindy Karver for more information 610-301-1612

Volunteers are still in need for this event for various tasks. If you are interested in volunteering time at this event, please contact BBB’s Main Street Manager, Heather Oxenford 610.369.3054 or manager@boyertownpa.org

All alcohol sales and consumption will be monitored closely by the sale of wristbands with proof of age.

Consumption of alcohol by a minor or excessive drinking will not be tolerated.

For more information contact Boyertown’s Main Street Manager, Heather L. Oxenford 610.369.3054 manager@boyertownpa.org or visit BBB’s website www.boyertownpa.org

Parking will be available in the lots of Good Shepherd and St. John’s Churches, National Penn Bank, and the lot of The Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles.

Important Community Notice:
Building A Better Boyertown (BBB) has gotten permission from the Borough to close the Inner Core Lot on Saturday, September 19th in order for BBB to use the lot in conjunction with the Oktoberfest in Boyertown promotion it will hold that day. A small section of the Lot will need to be closed on Friday, September 18th in order to erect a tent that will serve as the center of the event. The entire lot will be closed from Saturday morning at 8:00 am through midnight on Saturday night. All vehicles will need to be removed from the Lot by 8 o’clock that morning, and none will be permitted to return to the Lot during those hours.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may create for any businesses, customers, and residents. We hope that by providing everyone with this extended notice, that any impact can be anticipated and managed. We anticipate bringing over 1000 people into Town for the day, and hope to raise several thousand dollars that can be spent through BBB to benefit all of us in Boyertown. Alternate parking will be available in the lots of: The Boyertown Museum of Historic Vehicles, National Penn Bank, Good Shepherd and St. John’s Churches.

If you have any questions or any specific problems with this arrangement, please feel free to contact the event chairperson, Jeff Karver (610-367-2148), or the Main Street Manager of BBB, Heather Oxenford (610-369-3054). Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Very truly yours,
Heather Oxenford
Building A Better Boyertown,
Main Street Manager

By Phil Haddad

After last year’s 5-7 record under first year coach Mark Scisly, the Boyertown High School Bears have some very high and loft goals for the 2009 campaign. Their biggest goal is to win the PAC-10 title, but the road to the title goes through the defending champion Pottsgrove Falcons. The Falcons beat the Bears by four points, and the Bears cam up 3 yards short of a touchdown to win the game.

Coach Scisly thinks that’s a reasonable goal for the team this year. They lost all four league games by a total of 24 points, and lost to Pottsgrove by four points, Pottstown by eight points, Phoenixville by three points, and Owen J. Roberts by five points. Scisly knows that the Bears were one play away from winning all those games. “We have high expectations this year,” said Scisly.

Scisly feels that the team needs to stay healthy and he has a lot of injuries like most teams right now. There are some players competing for certain positions. The biggest thing is to have one of his players step up and fill the role vacated by David Crognale’s 1161 passing yards and his 1243 rushing yards. That’s some huge shoes to fill for whoever will take over the reigns as quarterback.

“The team is getting better each day along with them working hard during each practice,” said Scisly. He will tell you like any football training camp, the team still has a long way to go. He feels that the team is improving every day.

Coach Scisly thinks that things are going as expected so far this season. “We have some experienced guys and we have some inexperienced guys,” said Scisly. “It’s going to take some time for them to gel. Some of them haven’t started on varsity before but they are coming along. It’s what I expected - the kids are working hard.”

The coach feels that the Bears have a mixed team, but has some holes to fill on the team with 24 seniors that graduated last year. On offense, Scisly has five players returning from last year’s team. Defensively, Scisly has four players returning, but he doesn’t see it as a concern. The Junior Varsity team had a successful season last year and he knows that the kids worked hard during the off-season.

“I think defensively that will be our strength and we have a solid group of linebackers,” said Scisly. “We also have some big defensive lineman and our secondary is very athletic.”

All three running backs are returning which produced almost 1200 yards last year, being a huge strength for this year. The Bears also has some big lineman returning as well. One of the returning line men is Wilmer Barndt who is a returning three year starter. He was also an all-conference player last year.

Scisly and his staff are looking to be able to run the ball behind that big group of linemen. “The linemen are very dedicated and have been lifting since January,” said Scisly. “They work hard, and it’s their job to take control along with opening the holes for the running backs.

“The kids have gotten a lot faster this summer with the speed training,” said Scisly. “We have some very athletic kids, and we’re much faster than we were last year. We have a solid group of linebackers lead by Jared Giles who had 108 tackles last year and was named second team all-league last year.”

Ryan Schwager had 288 receiving yards and Logan Herb had 283 yards. Kyle Fultz was the back up quarterback last year for Crognale and is moving to the wide receiver position. Junior Chase Stewart has been with the team since he was a freshman and brings some varsity experience to the table this year. Jared Giles shared time with Ty Showers who had 122 yards receiving along with six touchdowns last year.

On defense, Dalton Schaeffer is returning and Scisly feels that Schaeffer is a very aggressive kid along with being a very tough kid. Stewart and junior Brooke David are returning in the secondary.

Being able to win a league title will not be an easy task for one huge reason. Two of the major teams’ returning key players are Terrell Chestnut (1226 rushing 21 touchdowns), Maika Polamalu (1322 rushing 18 touchdowns) and Preston Hamlette (437 yards 7 td’s). Chestnut and Polamalu ranked in the top five in the Pac-10 last year in rushing.

“Until someone beats them, they are the team to beat in the PAC-10,” said Scisly. “We play them in week three so we get them early in the season. Our guys are looking forward to that game. We were talking about that game in February. We feel that we really should have won that game.

“This year we want to make amends and we want to beat them. To reach our goal we have to beat Pottsgrove. We’ll see where we stand real early in the season. We’re ready.”

Phil Haddad is a free lance writer and all comments can be sent to sports@wzartv.com.

Around 1:30p.m. on Monday August 24th, emergency crews responded to a garage fire in Douglass Township, just South of Boyertown, right off of Rt. 562.    When fire departments arrived on the scene, they reported the garage to be fully engulfed.  The fire was on Douglass Drive, right off of Trout Run Road.  Douglass Drive, Trout Run Road, and Red Shale Drive were  shut down.

Initial reports said that smoke could be seen from a quarter mile away.  The garage was the main source of the fire.

August Boyertown Live 2009

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WZAR chatted with author Lisa Montgomery about her raw foods lifestyle and new book.  The condensed version can be seen on Boyertown Live.  This is the full-length version.

WZAR News - Interview with author Lisa Montgomery

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The Day After The Storms - WZAR takes a look at some of the damage in the daylight and it’s clear that what ripped through Boyertown on Tuesday night was not an average storm.