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By Karen E. Wheeler
Everyone talks about preserving the environment, but some older Philadelphians are actually doing something about it.
Volunteers with the Center in the Park Senior Environment Corps (CIP/SEC) work to improve the water quality of local streams by collecting samples, reporting adverse findings to regulatory agencies and educating the public on the need to fight watershed pollution.
Samples collected by the volunteers from at-risk streams are forwarded to the Dept. of Environmental Protection laboratory in Harrisburg, where bacteria in the water are identified.
The program has been so successful that CIP/SEC has received a one-year grant from the William Penn Foundation to work with Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Education Center, across town. It’s in Cobbs Creek Park, off 63rd and Catharine Sts.; CIP is at 5818 Germantown Ave.
The purpose of the program, which was kicked off in October, is establishment of a Senior Environment Corps in West Philadelphia to monitor the quality of the water. The Cobbs Creek facility has a laboratory capable of helping in monitoring water.
Besides its water monitoring function, CIP/SEC provides a forum for teachers, volunteers and students to work together for the environment.
It makes presentations at schools, a program that includes field trips to water treatment plants, water monitoring, tree planting and other ventures.
The Center has some big needs, says Dr. Edward Chun. Dr. Chun, a Harvard-trained scientist with CIP/SEC and recipient of the 2007 MetLife Foundation Older Volunteers Enrich America Award, says they are operating without a lab, and have to use lab facilities at Chestnut Hill College.
“We need our own dedicated workspace,” he says.
CIP/SEC has about 30 older volunteers, and is recruiting new ones. Volunteers participate in water quality monitoring, habitat assessments, tree plantings, watershed tours, advocacy projects and outreach programs.
If interested, you may contact CIP/SEC volunteer coordinator Fred Lewis, at 215-848-7722, or education coordinator (Ms.) Johnnie Henderson at that number or at jhenderson@ centerinthepark.org.
By Dick Saunders
What could be nicer than to serenade your sweetie on Valentine’s Day?
You can’t sing? Well, Sounds of Liberty, the chorus of the Philadelphia chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, has 43 guys who can. Every February, they form quartets (OK, 43 doesn’t divide by four, but this is art, not science) and deliver singing valentines to about 100 sweethearts.
“We’ll go anywhere: to your home or workplace, to bars and restaurants...” says the Rev. Al Smith, baritone in one of the quartets, Born to Sing.
“Of all our activities,” he adds, “valentines are the most enjoyable. You get a window into people’s lives.”
A $60 donation gets your sweetheart two songs, a rose, a box of chocolates and a custom-made card.
Mostly the givers are guys, and the recipients are gals. But sometimes it’s the other way around, with women ordering serenades for men, by men.
‘Not really from us…’
“It’s not really from us,” says John Odhner, who sings lead. “It’s a message from your sweetheart to you — like a telegram.
We’re just delivering it.
“Guys are surprised by it. Sometimes they get embarrassed. But then, they hear the nice sounds and they get into it.”
In addition to pleasing that special someone, the giver gets the warm glow of supporting a worthy cause.
“Our quartet doesn’t pocket any money earned for the singing valentines,,” says “Father Al,” a priest who recently retired from the campus ministry at Holy Family College. “Every nickel goes into the chapter’s treasury.”
It’s expensive to run a chorus: buying and maintaining uniforms, renting rehearsal and performance spaces, paying music-licensing fees.
The chorus and its quartets has been performing since 1947 at hospitals, nursing homes and charitable functions, free or at agreed-upon rates.
Spend five minutes with Born to Sing and you’ll know that these guys want to keep the music going for at least 60 years more. They’re great recruiters. Did you ever sing? Hum in the shower? Tap a toe to “That Old Gang of Mine”? You’ve got possibilities.
“Give us a call… or better yet, stop into one of our rehearsals,” beckons a chorus promotional piece.
Sound is eternally youthful
You could hardly find a better ad for barbershopping than Born to Sing. They’re enthusiastic and intergenerational. Father Al is 71, bass Walt Evans is 72, John Odhner is 52 and tenor Dean Crissey is 48.
When they sing, it’s impossible to tell older from younger. The sound of barbershop is eternally youthful.
It’s perfect for valentine deliveries because it’s a cappella, meaning no instrumental accompaniment is needed; just a pitch pipe. The quartets are goal-oriented but flexible, even fighting their way through February snowstorms bearing smiles and songs.
“We can do four deliveries in an hour, depending on distances,” says Crissey.
The two songs are apt to be “Let Me Call You Sweetheart” and “Heart of My Heart,” although requests will be honored, if possible.
“Thousands of songs have been arranged for barbershop,” says Evans. “Officially, we do two. But if somebody’s emotional, we’ll leave them with an up tune.”
Reservations are taken at 215-636-9012 right up to Valentine’s Day. But the sooner you call, the more likely you are to get your preferred time.