Archives for April 2013

Hot Dogs At The Ballpark – Then And Now

April 26, 2013 by admin

Citizens Bank Park

I recently attended a Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park, and as always was amazed at the prices at the concession stand. Needing to get a bite to eat before the game I shelled out $4.00 for a hot dog, just a regular sized one, and passed on the fountain soda which was $4.50. When you get a hot dog make sure to load up on the sauerkraut, so at least you get something for your money.

Check out the concession menu for Shibe Park in 1954. Hot dogs were 25 cents, and a Coke was 15 cents. I especially like the combination popcorn and megaphone for 25 cents! I am sure these price were considered outrageous at the time as well.

Shibe Park Concession Menu – 1954

Wallingford PA Real Estate – Wallingford, PA 19086

Leiper House Tours Resume April 27 – Featuring New Acquisitions

April 23, 2013 by admin

Thomas Leiper Kane – Abolitionist, Attorney, Civil War Hero

The Leiper House will open for the season on Saturday, April 27th and will be open for tours each Saturday and Sunday from 1:00 until 4:00.

The gentlemen dressed in military garb above is Thomas Leiper Kane, son of Jane Duval Kane, who in turn is the daughter of Thomas Leiper. Kane gained notoriety via a brevet promotion to major general for gallantry at the Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863. He was also an influential abolitionist and attorney. Kane was also known as a “friend of the Mormons” for his involvement in the migration of the Latter Day Saints to the West in the 1850’s. Thomas Leiper Kane was born in 1822 in Philadelphia, and passed away in 1883.

Be sure to visit and see two recent acquisitions to the collection:

Mr. William Archard donated a large painting of the Leiper barn that once stood in the location of the parking lot. The picture was painted by Valerie Morrison in 1972, about two months before the barn was razed for construction of the Blue Route. It hangs in the middle bedroom, where the barn would have been visible from the windows.

In the fall, Mr. Thomas Africa of Warren, Pennsylvania, donated a china punch bowl that likely belonged to Thomas and Elizabeth Leiper. The bowl is decorated with the monogram of the Leiper’s son, William. William inherited it and other items from his parents and, having never married, left them to his nephews and nieces. A large painting of Avondale Village was left to Thomas Leiper Kane. Mr. Africa’s mother, a Kane descendant, left the painting to the Leiper House several years ago, as a bequest of her will. When the punch bowl was discovered, Mr. Africa kindly donated it as well. It now sits on the dining room table.

Another new display, courtesy of the efforts of Eagle Scout Dan Lordan, features the Leiper House’s antique tool collection.

Stop in for a tour!

Courtesy of the Nether Providence Historical Society.

Wallingford PA Real Estate – Wallingford, PA 19086

WSSD Board Calling For 2% Tax Hike

April 21, 2013 by admin

The Wallingford Swarthmore School Board is coming closer to the final approval of the district budget for the fiscal year 2013-2014. In February the board approved a preliminary spending proposal, and the third and last vote on the plan, is currently scheduled for May 28.

The district’s $68.2 million budget plan at present calls for a 2 percent tax increase. For a house assessed at the district median price of $177,000, that hike would translate into an additional $138 in school taxes.

The state Legislature is still working on possible changes that include districts’ contributions toward employee pension costs and state funding, which could alter the final budget plans.

Tax increases are capped at 1.7 percent in 2013-2014 by the state’s Act 1 school tax law, and any increase over that amount must be put to the the voters for approval. The district intends to use a portion of an allowable exemption – involving employee pension expenses – for another 0.3 percent of an increase.

Contributions to the Public School Employee’s Retirement System are slated to increase by 36.9% amounting to $5,424,566 in the coming fiscal year, 26% in 2014-2015, to about $6.9 million; 21.1% in 2015-16, to more than $8.5 million; and then by 9.7% in 2016-2017, to almost $9.5 million.

Wallingford PA Real Estate – Wallingford, PA 19086

Waiting For A Train In Wallingford PA

April 14, 2013 by admin

How Long Have You Waited At The Brookhaven Road Train Crossing?

Busted flat in Baton Rouge, waiting for a train

Janis Joplin – “Me & Bobby McGee”

The words from that song came into my head the other day as the crossing gates came down in front of me at the Brookhaven Road SEPTA train crossing.

I seldom am the first car in wait, and glanced at my watch just as the gates started downward. This was the perfect time to clock the duration of this event which occurs 53 times daily – there are 27 trains inbound to Philadelphia, and 26 outbound trains during a weekday.

The 3 car train #9352 – the 11:52 AM out of Wallingford bound for Philadelphia -prompted the gates to be down for a total of 2 minutes 11 seconds. So using a 2 minute average for the interruption of traffic at the crossing, there is a total possible wait time of 1 hour and 46 minutes during the day. I seem to catch a train at least 3 times per day.

For trivia buffs, Joplin’s Me & Bobby McGee released after her death in 1971 is the second most popular posthumous number one single release, topped only by (Sittin’) On The Dock Of The Bay by Otis Redding.

I would have preferred The Who’s 5:15 to have come to mind as a prompt for train thoughts.

Wallingford PA Real Estate – Wallingford, PA 19086

Rising Student Debt Is A Challenge To Housing Recovery

April 9, 2013 by admin

Total student loan balances nearly tripled between 2004 and 2012, according to a new survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Now $1 trillion in collective student loan debt is directly affecting the housing recovery.

First-time home buyers usually make up over 40 percent of the home buying population, but their share has hovered at or below 30 percent during this recovery, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR). The student debt burden has forced many potential buyers to rent or to move back in with their parents.

This raises the question of the ability of the important 25 to 35 age group, which comprises the core of first time home buyers, to purchase a home in the near future. The answer is that many will not be able to buy. Adding to the burden is the fact that one-third of student loan borrowers are delinquent on their debts, according to the Federal Reserve report. That directly affects their credit rating and, in today’s strict credit environment, will keep them out of the mortgage market for years to come.

How do you qualify for a mortgage when your student debt already amounts to the equivalent of one?

Wallingford Real Estate – Wallingford, PA 19086

Archives for April 2013

S. Clark Kendus