Kathleen Seltzer

good work ann...i remember you well...enjoy all the praise...

Carol Katzenberg (Bindeman)

Congratulations, Ann. You deserve every moment of recognition as you have dedicated your life to advocating for others. Carol Bindeman

Daniel Bronson

Well done, and welldeserved, Annie!

Susan Wolf (Trichon)

Congratulations Ann. A well deserved honor. You make the Class of 1963 very proud!

Ann Rosewater

Thank you all for your incredible support. Our class was exceptional and you are keeping up its Cheltenham spirit, warmth and connection!

George Trapp

Once again Christmas  and Hanukkah are just days away.  Unhappily, Anti Semitism remains a fact of our lives as year 2025 draws to a close. I am reminded once again that the Christ of Christmas...The Christ I worship was born Jewish, lived His entire earthly life Jewish, was crucified as a Jew and was resurrected Jewish. 
During His years on earth He and His followers would have celebrated Hanukkah in similar manner to how it is celebrated by Jews of faith today.
By previous posts most of you will remember that I am an Evangelical, Bible believing Christian. Also that I am staunchly conservative politically. I am stating again that Anti Semitism has no place in either my theology or in my politics. It is flat out wrong. There is no place in our, or any , society for it.

When dad opened his pharmacy he got a huge amount of help from many Jewish pharmacists/pharmacies. Of particular note was the late Irvin Saul whose shop was at 25TH and Cambria in Philly. He borrowed quite often from Mr Saul, who had graduated from PCP about the time dad was in grade school. Dad simply could not afford much stock in the early days. This business was all transacted on the honor system. When I would drive to pick up products no $ ever changed hands. Additionally Mr Saul was very kind to me.. Dad's business survived in part because of Mr Saul and many Jewish customers who patronized Trapp Pharmacy over the years.

He also gave dad some equipment he no longer needed. On a cabinet in our living room sits what we refer to as the Saul scale. It is a wood and glass enclosure containing a simple balance , with a small drawer holding small weights. Today's pharmacists would have no need of it...might never have seen one. It being from the days when most medicines were compounded by a pharmacist in the shop.

My daughters know that the Saul scale is to stay in the family after the Lord has reclaimed my life and Jan's.

That thought transitions me to Gary Hoffman. Somehow I missed any posting that Gary passed. Though I did not know him well we had some classes together. I remember him as a kind and gentle guy... maybe with a mild speech impediment ? Can anyone fill me in on when and under what circumstances  Gary died ?

Finally , if you have a sibling 5 years or more younger who went to Cheltenham Elementary, they might have known or had Dora Bressi Crawford as a teacher. Dora's husband Ed passed in July or August. I got to know her on the playground when she was 19 and still in college. I was 8. I've known her longer than any other living person. she is now 91 and blind. Am sure she would appreciate hearing from anyone who knew her back in the day. I can provide contact info upon request.

George Trapp

Here it is again --- Brown U. And now Australia. 
You guys know me as conservative, Evangelically Christian and a tennis nut. Most probably don't know I love firearms. Dad began to teach me to shoot about 1st grade with a BB rifle. Soon I will leave for church. I will be armed. Unfortunately many religious services and buildings are "soft targets".

Today I'm suggesting that you arm yourself and take shooting lessons. At the very least pepper spray and or a tazer. This is not the relatively safe world of the 50's and 60's when we were in school together. Protect yourself and protect the people you are gathered with. Do not be a soft target.

Call out anti semitism at every opportunity !!

David Blumenthal

Amen George. I have been carrying since I was 22 and in the last 5 years I never leave home without my Glock 27. All I want is a fair chance god forbid  some jerk decides to shoot.

Henry Bean

Can any of you help me with some recollection?  I'm trying to remember what stores and businesses were on either side of York Road, south of Church Road as far as the train trestle or Chelten Hills Drive.  (My memory is that there were no stores south of the trestle, but that may be wrong.) And to add a degree of difficulty, I want this for 1957; which, I think is before the Chuckwagon came in.  

On the north side, I remember Sousan's Pharmacy and a barbershop -- next to it or near it.  On the south side I remember only a shoe repair place.  Any help, much appreciated.  Chag sameach, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Henry Bean

Can any of you help me with some recollection?  I'm trying to remember what stores or business there were on York Road between Church Road and Chelten Hills Dr.  (In my memory, there was nothing commercial south of the train trestle.)   And to add a degree of difficulty, I want this for 1957, which I believe is before the Chuckwagon came in.

On the west side, I remember Sousan's Pharmacy and a barbershop next door to it, or almost next door.  On the east side, I remember only a shoe repair place.  And I think there was a lumber yard back in there somewhere.  And who or what blew the noon whistle that we heard every day.

Any specific memories much appreciated.  Documentation would be great.  Greetings to all.

Mike Starrels

Hi Henry -  The lumberyard had a driveway entrance next to Sousan's.  It was located behind above the stores fronting York Road.  I remember when it burned down.  The Chuckwagon was on the former site of Diamond's Supermarket.  Across the street was the Mayfair Pharmacy and a hardware store, among others.  On the corner at ?Marvin Rd was a tv and radio repair shop.  When I became a 'ham' radio operator I did some work there.  Best to All, Mike

Daniel Bronson

The barber shop next to Sousan's was run by a very proper German man named Hoffman ( no relation to Roy), while Mayfair was owned by the father of Steve Blumberg, a year ahead of us at CHS.

Henry Bean

Thank you, Mike.  Thank you, Dan.  I'm very happy to have a more precise location for the lumberyard.  And I remember the barber: when my little brother Skip, age 4, ran off to "look for the ocean," Hoffman spotted him darting across York Road through the traffic, recognized him as a customer, ran out and rescued him.

Ann Rosewater

Henry, around the corner, on Stahr Road, was the little studio, on the second floor, where some of us took ballet lessons. I think the building was right next to the driveway to the lumberyard.

Roy Hoffman

George Trapp

Wasn't Wall Park , part of the summer playground system , right off Church Rd and pretty much across from the Chuckwagon in that same area ? Must have driven thru that area a thousand times but guess I was never paying attention to most of those businesses. However, Tough to miss the Chuckwagon.

Tom Israel

A Mr. Grabfelter (sp?)  was the  succeeding barber whose sons all wrestled at Cheltenham I think.  I believe the Chuckwagon may have shared the parking lot with the Diamond market (could be wrong about that). And let's not forget Johnny Seminick's seafood take out business a couple of doors north of Sousan's. I believe he was Andy Seminick's brother and may have been fired from Philmony Country Club after he attacked a green with a knife following a dispute with management.  (I might have made that up, not sure)

Henry Bean

Thank you, Ann, Roy, George and Tom for these wonderful details I'd forgotten or never knew, the ballet studio, the butcher, Wall Park...the attack on the golf course.  

Michael Shore

Don't forget the ice skaking rink next to Wall Park

Carol Katzenberg (Bindeman)

Hello to Henry. I remember a plant store or florist at the corner of Stahr Road and Old York Road. I'd love to know what you are doing with all of our memories.

I,also, recall taking dance lessons with you, Ann. The only reason I was ' accepted' in the class; my cousin taught it!

Happy,healthy New Year to all of us who ,with few exceptions, turned 80 in 2025.

Best wishes to everyone. Carol Katzenberg Bindeman

Stan Denenberg

....... but I read 80 is the new 60!

Elyse Kastner (Klein)

Stan, 80 is definitely the new 80 - even if you dye your hair and apply moisturizer, which i do. Ann Rosewater wrote about the ballet studio on Stahr rd- me too! Heddy West?? there was a music store long before the one on High School Road, A Food Fair and Susann's Drug store was on the east side many years before it moved across the street. ( I know this quite well because i stole a slinky and put it under my coat when my mother stopped to get a birthday present for Aaron Rappaport's first grade birthday party). Aaron's house was next to where the Elkins Park House was to be built later on. I was made to return the slinky - no on yelled, not even my dad. And wasn't there a shoe repair shop as well? Went home for lunch  first throught 3rd grade at Shoemaker School , everyday along with the 12 o'clock whistle. Lexy Parnes punched someone in the face on the kindergarten porch and I got it in the nose by accident- blood all over my blue spring coat.

Elyse Kastner (Klein)

One more thing.. Roy Hoffman told me he lived nextdoor to Aaaron Rappaport- when i saw him at orreunion in 2023, Thanks  Roy ! yours was a tudor front house and the Rappaorts house was made of brick. Wasn't the lumber yard behind the the gas station on Stahr Road?

Henry Bean

Thank you, Carol Katzenberg (as I knew you).  The florist is a good addition.

Elaine Carmosin (Radbill)

There was a record store across from Susann's Pharmacy.  My father's firm, Sklar, Carmosin and Company, did the accounting for the owner, Max Alkus.  He was so goodlooking that my dad would refer to him as Tyrone Power.  You could listen to records in a booth, I believe, in his store.