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By D. Mike Smith
You just can’t make this stuff up – a friend of mine used to say!
Recently I quit early on a Friday (3:30pm) and was cruising through Phoenixville, PA. I’ve lived in the area long enough to remember when it was a dying town reminiscent of the steel cities of the 70’s. A few short years ago they cleaned it up a lot and the streets are alive with restaurants, bars and little shops. You can even buy a kilt if you are “akin” to.

What caught my attention was a small sandwich board beckoning me to enjoy a MARTINI – $5 – ALL DAY. Seemed pretty self explanatory. Since I was at the light and an open parking space was right there it seemed my destiny to stop. I won’t divulge the name but it was a Bistro, located on Bridge Street.

The outdoor café tables and starched white linen cloths really provided a clean look – and get this, a huge stainless bowl with fresh, clean water for pets on a welcome mat that read “Wipe Your Paws”. What else could a man want on a Friday afternoon. A Cigar – yea, that’s the ticket.

I sauntered in an asked if I could enjoy a cigar and a Martini outdoors – there were no other patrons. I was assured I could. I also started what turned out to be investigate person about the martinis and any limitations. The adorable and professional server said they had a list of “foofoo” (my word, not hers) martinis with enough ingredients to start a confectioner store. I said what I really was in the mood for is an Absolut Citrus martini with two olives. She assured me that would be fine, qualifies at $5 and offered me a snack menu as well. I was impressed they could do wings with what appeared to be 1,000 sauces (ok, maybe at least 6). I declined the snack and waited for my martini.

I lit a wonderful cigar, turned to page 67 of a great book (see separate article), “Geeks, Geezers, and Googilization”, by Dr. Ira Wolfe, Lancaster (suggested reading if you are between 20 and 85 years old).

Ahhh, there’s that first sip of a great (not good – great) martini – chilled, filled to the brim and two large olives sunbathing on top. My server checked on me twice, offered more water, and never questioned about my financial status, my ability to read a signboard or anything else. She visited a third time to see if I would like another – and indeed, I agreed. No mention that I picked a drink that was not qualified on the “Martini – $5 – All Day” special. Funny how four words can be twisted – but I’m getting to that.

In the middle of the second martini my server once again dropped in and exclaimed – my manager wants to make sure you are aware that my drink did not qualify. Imagine, I just completed the second leg of a race and had disqualified before I got to the finish line. I said send the manager out. SHE has left the building – convenient, after twice confirming they were honoring the sign initially.

No matter, only I can make myself feel bad, not a manager, not a Bistro manager, not a server. I walked inside to clear my check (which was $9.50 each or $19 for two – is that special pricing?). Once again, without encouragement, two servers expressed how wrong it is to serve two drinks then change the price. My analogy, the server would collect $10 for two $5 martinis, and a $10 tip for superb service. Instead she collected $19, and received $6 tip. Did I just lose a bunch of money for trying to play by the rules.

I left my business card and asked the manager call me to discuss their practices. NO CALL. Well, a week later I phoned back, asked for the manger, one was in a meeting, and the other not there. Figures. The associate offered to help, I repeated my story and suggested I expect a call. Less than a minute later the male owner phoned me and here is the summation of a lengthy discussion.

INCREDULOUS – it is INCREDULOUS for you to think we offer top shelf alcohol, and anyone who goes to a restaurant should know better. And yes, our marketing materials have crossouts and incorrect info. But that’s not our fault.

I repeated PLETHORA – I have a plethora of expletives to respond to your lack of customer service. In addition this owner went on to tell me how he penalizes his employees for making stupid mistakes and that everyone else in the business does so also.

My conclusion – Always back your associates and train after – don’t throw them under the bus. This server could (and should) work at much better locations. Secondly, satisfied customers tend to tell one or two people. Dissatisfied customers tend to tell 7-10 people before letting go. I have just shared my thought with over 2,000 people. Would James Bond have handled this differently?

Mike pondering his martini bar bill.

Renoir Paintings have Ties to Huge Mt. Airy Estate
By Barbara L. Sherf
First in a series published in the ChestnutHillLocal.com

While you can get an eyeful of Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s (1841-1919) work later in life at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) through early September, area residents might not know that several of Renoir’s paintings were originally housed at the Park Gate estate, owned by the McIlhenny family in Mount Airy.
In exploring the Renoir/Park Gate connection, it was discovered that efforts are underway to have the once stately – but now dilapidated – mansion preserved. The house, located next to the Anna Lane Lingelbach Elementary School, at 6340 Wayne Avenue, originally stood on a five-acre impeccably landscaped site above the intersection of Lincoln Drive and Johnson streets, with a grand entrance from Lincoln Drive. The stone gates, which remain standing, marked the entrance to the Wissahickon Valley section of Fairmount Park, leading to the name of the estate. (In early references, Park Gate was written as one word, Parkgate, and in later years it is written as both one and two words; but more often the latter was used.)
According to PMA Curator Joseph J. Rishel and Germantown Historical Society preservationist J. Patrick Moran, members of the McIlhenny family were catalysts for shaping the PMA in many ways – including putting on a Renoir exhibit from a private collection at PMA in 1938 that Henry McIlhenny was responsible for bringing over from Europe for safekeeping during World War II.
According to an application that Moran submitted to have Park Gate placed on the Philadelphia Register of Historic Places: “A visit to Park Gate in the 30s and 40s was an opportunity to experience world-renowned art in a domestic setting. David, Renoir, Lautrec, Degas – just four artists among the dozens of important artists whose works were incorporated into one of the great American collections of decorative arts including antique furniture, silver, porcelain and rugs. After the house was sold, these collections followed Henry McIlhenny to the McIlhenny Mansion on Rittenhouse Square in the 1950’s where he began a second phase of collecting. But the collecting instincts and the collections themselves that have contributed core objects to almost all the departments of the Philadelphia Museum of Art were originally assembled at Park Gate.”
PMA collections include 1634 objects given to the Museum or purchased with funds donated by John D., Frances P., and Henry P. McIlhenny. Henry’s sister, Bernice “Bonnie” Wintersteen and the Wintersteen family donated another 114 objects.
The two Renoirs from Henry McIlhenny’s collection that now belong to PMA (Portrait of Mme Legrand and Grandes Boulevards) are not part of the current exhibition because they were painted in 1875 and the PMA exhibition is devoted to Renoir’s work from 1890 to 1919.
Also appearing in Late Renoir is a red chalk drawing by Aristide Maillol, which was purchased in 1941 with funds contributed by Henry’s father, John D. McIlhenny.

Family History
Despite rumors that the McIlhenny’s fortune was amassed in Louisiana with the invention of Tabasco sauce, company historians say that claim was never true. In reality, Henry’s grandfather invented a leather contraption called the McIlhenny Gas Meter and became a wealthy man. In 1877, he moved from Georgia to Philadelphia where his son, John D., continued the business and started collecting art. John D. McIlhenny married Frances Plumer and settled at Park Gate, in what was then considered Germantown. The couple had three children, Jack, born in 1900, daughter Bernice “Bonnie” born in 1903, and Henry, born in 1910, who became a world-renowned art collector.
In a letter describing his father, Henry wrote about his early start at collecting art:
“My father bought the public utilities company in Norristown, Pennsylvania, Three Counties Gas and Electric; and one of the leading families there was Lees, of the carpet firm that Joe Eastwick now runs. A rich Miss Lees had married a clergyman, Charles F. Williams, but who gave up calling, it was said, because of epilepsy, and so he became an ardent art collector, chiefly of Oriental carpets, so suitable for the family carpet business. The Williamses (sic) had become figures in the art world, so when my father went to pay his respects he saw a pile of Oriental carpets in the hall, waiting to be returned to a dealer in New York. In 1908 my parents were building a new house in Germantown (Parkgate, at Lincoln Drive and Johnson Street) and needed more rugs, so my father bought the pile rejected by Williams. With that act, he was hooked. He became a passionate collector of Oriental carpets. He really loved them, despite the fact that he was color blind!”
Henry goes on to write: “My parents naturally became known as collectors, and my father soon became a member of the board of this Museum, then housed in dear old Memorial Hall. In 1918 he was elected president, a post he held until his death in 1925, at the age of fifty-nine.” John D. McIlhenny died of a heart attack before the PMA’s relocation and opening at the Parkway location in 1928. Mrs. McIlhenny continued to serve on the PMA Board of Directors until her death in 1943.
Jack died at the age of 35. Bonnie married and became Bonnie Wintersteen, moving from Park Gate to Chestnut Hill, and then to Villanova. Bonnie was also on the Board of PMA, serving as it’s first female President from 1964 until1968. She also served on the Board of the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Bonnie and Henry lived full lives and were active in shaping the Philadelphia art collecting community until their deaths. She passed away, of heart failure, two and a half weeks prior to Henry’s death. He passed away at Hahnemann University Hospital due to complications from heart surgery on Mother’s Day, 1986. Four sons survived Bonnie. Henry never married.
Katharine Norris, who served as Henry’s secretary during his final half dozen years on Rittenhouse Square, remembered going back and forth between two Philadelphia hospitals to visit the McIlhenny siblings. One of the last things Henry said to her was “it’s all in the details.” She explained how he was extremely diligent in placing the right paintings near each other and the right dinner guests at a table.

Henry’s Impact
Henry P. McIlhenny, studied Fine Arts at Harvard University and toured Europe in the summers, starting his own art collection during his college years. He was appointed Curator of Decorative Arts at PMA in 1933 and served in a number of roles until 1964, when he made his way onto the Board. He later served as Chairman of the Board from 1976 until his death. According to Rishel, by the summer of 1937, while working for PMA McIlhenny was back in Europe seeking collections and he cabled Director Fiske Kimball from London conveying his concerns about the political events there:
“WILL YOU STORE GANGNAT COLLECTION SIXTY LATE RENOIRS FOR SEVERAL YEARS MAXIMUM COST FIVE THOUSAND FRANCS SUGGEST EXHIBITION REPLY BERKELY.”
Kimball agreed and the large group of pictures formed the core of the exhibition of Renoir’s late period that McIlhenny organized at PMA in April 1938.
In 1939 Henry purchased Renoir’s “The Judgment of Paris” and displayed it, along with a host of European paintings, statues, and rugs at Park Gate. He sold “The Judgment of Paris” in 1974 to the Hiroshima Museum of Art in Japan. It is now back on display at PMA through September 6.

First in a series: In the next installment, a detailed firsthand account of the exquisite dinner parties and the ‘end of an era’ with Henry P. McIlhenny’s death.

Henry P. McIlhenny, seen here in his Germantown/Mt.Airy mansion around 1950.

Barb Sherf visiting the Justice Bell, that was used in promoting women's right to vote.

By Barbara Sherf of CommunicationsPro.com

Hello fellow NAWBO members. I wanted to share with you some highlights of my summer vacation. In July and August, I had the privilege of conducting speech coaching with two NAWBO members who are in leadership positions. These sessions and the results so far have been most rewarding. Kudos, ladies.
Fellow NAWBO member Jennie Zehmer of Here To Home, (www.Here2Home.come) a moving company specializing in moves for the 55+ set, and I have been networking our little butts off. She and I met at the June satellite meeting in Montgomery County and I told her about the addition of Memoir Writing and DVDs to my offerings. She has given me so many leads that I wrote an article about her company and had it placed in the King of Prussia Courier , The Chestnut Hill Local and front page (above the fold) in the Springfield Sun. I also got Jennie hooked up with the King of Prussia Rotary to do a talk. Chapter President Karen Higgins, Membership Chair Jane Munro and I were in the audience to support her. If you would like to speak before this group, contact Curin Romich at Curin.Romich@nationalpenn.com. I am scheduled to speak before this group, which meets at Michael’s Deli in King of Prussia, on October 18th at noon on “Mining Your Stories for Business and Pleasure.” You do not need to RSVP and the guest fee is $15 per person (although they didn’t charge any of us when we went to hear Jennie speak!). I’ll also be doing another talk before the group: “Eat, Move, Live: What our Furry Friends Teach Us about Diet, Exercise and Life” on November 8. These are both news talks for me and I welcome the opportunity for feedback from the audience.
Back to the written word, The Chestnut Hill Local www.chestnuthilllocal.com has just published the first in a five part historical series I wrote on the McIlhenny family, their ties to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and efforts to preserve their Park Gate estate in Mt. Airy. The research was fascinating, but exhausting. If you get a chance to read any of the articles and like what you have read, please write a letter to the editor (pete@chestnuthilllocal.com) as I would like to do more of this kind of writing.
After being in business for 14 years this October, I have gotten used to business slacking off over the summer, particularly in August. So I used the time to
put together four proposals for various communications and public relations work in the fall, cleaned out old files, updated my database and generally put things in order for September. NAWBO events guru Jane Barr Pino and Associates and CommunicationsPro.com teamed up on another proposal for an event meeting event planner for an environmental conference in January. Stay tuned.
In late August, I attended the Women’s Equality Day event and rang the Justice Bell at Valley Forge Park with members of the League of Women Voters. This remarkable bell, housed in the Washington Memorial Chapel in Valley Forge Park, was used in the campaign for woman’s suffrage (or right to vote). For more information go to www.palwv.org/lwv/justicebell.html.
At the bell, I caught up with new NAWBO member Jessica Burger to find out more about what she does at Mass Mutual Financial Group. Jessie shared with me her heart-wrenching story of leaving South Africa under duress five years ago, with her husband and two small boys, and her plans for becoming a US citizen in a year. I asked her to keep us in mind when she has the date for her ceremony as I know some of us would like to come out and support her and her family. She also expressed interest in joining the League of Women Voters, a group that could use some younger members for sure. http://www.palwv.org
As for travel, using Trip Adviser, I did get down to Sarasota for a five-day visit with my sister and her family and accomplished my mission: to teach my 50-year-old sister how to use a computer! She is now e-mailing me daily and has sent me a funny certificate asking the Vatican to pursue canonization for Sainthood for me: “Duly noted for her unwavering patience and painfully repetitive work with the feeble-minded and her ability to restore hope to the weary and wretched among us.”
My husband and I have been busy creating our own economic stimulus package by purchasing a dining room set, two recliners and we are conducting some final research on a hot tub – in time for a party with neighbors and friends on Labor Day and my husband’s big birthday celebration in mid-October. We are also planning a late September getaway for 10 days to New River Gorge in Virginia and Stonewall Jackson Resort in West Virginia..
But before we depart, CommunicationsPro.com will be highlighted at the September 17th NAWBO satellite meeting at the Springfield Library in Wyndmoor, Montgomery County. Come on out at 9 a.m. There will be giveaways!
Speaking of the library, the best book on my summer reading list, “This is Not the Story You Think It Is: A Season of Unlikely Happiness.” It’s about a woman who refuses to give up on her husband and their marriage. She goes into therapy and practices the techniques the therapist uses on her on her husband. It’s easy to read, but also very helpful for anyone in a relationship. Another good read is “Women, Food and God” which delves into our relationship with food.
So that’s my essay on how I sent my summer vacation. E-mail me with your adventures at Barb@CommunicationsPro.com. I hope to catch up with you at the satellite meetings and the September 21st general meeting. If you’d like to keep in touch with me, please visit my blog at www.CommunicationsPro.com/blog.

I did not write this, but it touched me.  I hope it touches you too.  This is the first post I did not write, but felt strongly about sharing.

Barbara Sherf

Our sweet Simba and Brad

Dear Dr. Fox — I’m writing in response to your recent column about how a “dog’s devotion to master can lead to the grave.” It is similar to what occurred with our golden retriever more than 20 years ago when my husband died at 46 after a four-year battle with cancer. During my husband’s illness, Friday laid beside his bed, provided support when my husband walked, and never left his side. He obviously knew something was wrong and was devoted to his master.

Before my husband was ill, he was a senior sports-and-news cameraman for a major TV station. Owing to the nature of his assignments, my husband’s work hours were unpredictable. Regardless of the hour, Friday always knew when my husband was headed home and ran to the front door, wagging his tail and sitting patiently until my husband’s car pulled into the driveway.

After my husband’s death (in the hospital), Friday sat at the front door all day, every day, whining and waiting for my husband’s return. He stopped eating and wouldn’t leave the front hallway. He refused to play with our children whom he loved because “guard duty” was his only purpose. He left his post only when he needed to be waked. My heart was breaking for this dog.

After one week of watching Friday’s vigil, I decided to help him understand what happened. Hesitantly, Friday left his post and got into the car with me. His car behavior was unusual: He paced from window to window, looking everywhere for my husband. I drove to the cemetery, and we walked together toward my husband’s gravesite. As we got closer, Friday pulled away from me and ran directly to my husband’s grave. He lay down on the grave, closed his eyes, and just stayed there, quietly. I didn’t try to talk to Friday or to disturb him — he needed to grieve, too. After an hour, Friday got up and walked over to me, using his mouth to hand me his leash. He was ready to go home.

On the way back home, Friday laid down quietly in the backseat. After we arrived home, he kept kissing my hands as if to say “thank you” and never again sat by the front door waiting for my husband to return home. He now understood. Although obviously sad, his behavior returned to normal around the children and he began eating again. In time, he healed as we did. — L.B.J., Lake Worth, Fla.

Dear L.B.J. — Many readers will join me in thanking you for this remarkable example of giving a dog closure with regard to your husband whom Friday thought was perhaps still alive. Your devoted dog clearly advances our understanding of how much some dogs really do know and feel. We should never underestimate their ability to comprehend and make every effort, as you did, during such difficult times of bereavement to help them when they are grieving.

www.twobitdog.com/DrFox Dr. Fox, c/o “Animal Doctor,” United Features Syndicate, 200 Madison Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10016

I received an e-mail tonight from a colleague I have known for about four years. We’ve done some work together and I babysat for his two young boys a few times; most recently about a month ago.

The e-mail informed me that his young wife was recently diagnosed with breast cancer asked whether I would consider pitching in to help during this difficult time. He included a link to the web site http://www.LotsaHelpingHands.com. I’ve spent some time on the site and can only say “Wow, what a wonderful use of technology!” The service is designed to make coordinating volunteers easy and efficient. There is a calendar that shows tasks that need doing and whether or not they have been filled.

So with a few mouse clicks I was able to sign on offering to drive, cook, babysit, fold laundry and pray, pray, pray. While the family has health insurance, they will have to pay 20 percent out of pocket, and a fund has been set up to take donations.

Jazz Bridge Project
Daphne Fund
3008 Limekiln Pike
Glenside, PA 19038

Do you know someone who could benefit from a site like this? If so, please spread the word and pray, pray, pray.

By Barbara L. Sherf
I was honored to have been part of a press tour of the Late Renoir exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum or Art (PMA) this past Friday.  I must agree with the late Albert C. Barnes, who assembled an exquisite collection of Pierre-Auguste Renoir paintings on display at the Barnes Foundation Museum in Merion.   Barnes felt that as Renoir aged, he mastered the use of light, color and form. Born in 1841, Renoir died on December 3, 1919, having worked on a still life of flowers earlier in the day.  According to Curator Jennifer Thompson, he handed his paintbrush and palette to his nurse, declaring “I think I am beginning to understand something about painting.”  The room full of media representatives turned unusually silent and I got goosebumps listening to that quote.  I have been thinking about that statement and the exhibit much of the weekend.

The show features 79 original works by Renoir and 14 by his admirers. Unlike his earlier works, consisting  primarily of landscapes, in the later years you will find primarily portraits and sculptures of nudes. The full-figured women bathing and dressing were refreshing in this era of ‘thin is in.’  While the exhibit was superbly curated by Thompson, the real treat awaits you at the end, where you can view old black and white silent film clips of Renoir painting, smoking, and generally looking like he was enjoying life – despite his severe arthritis.  On my way out of the gallery

Renoir "Bathers Playing with a Crab" at Philadelphia Museum of Art

I decided to treat myself to a lovely lunch at the restaurant and listened to an amazing jazz duo.  Their seafood cocktail was quite refreshing and my server, Deran, turned out to be a true Southern gentleman.  What a  lovely way to start the weekend.   If you live in or around Philadelphia, you must treat yourself to the Late Renoir exhibit at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.   For more information, go to www.philamuseum.org.
Note: A fuller article, with some interesting Mount Airy and Chestnut Hill connections, is being researched and written for The Chestnut Hill Local.  It will be posted here following publication.

As some of you know my 21-year-old niece has epilepsy. Last year I participated in the Epilepsy Foundation of Eastern Pennsylvania’s Summer Stroll in Fairmount Park http://www.efepa.org. It rained, and rained, and rained some more. Fortunately my sister had rain ponchos in her car for the five of us who made up Becky’s Buddies. We walked from Northwestern Avenue and Forbidden Drive to the Valley Green Inn and back again.

We were delirious toward the end of the walk and resorted to singing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” and “It’s Raining Men.” The fact that it rained so hard really made a lasting memory – and a good one at that. Another highlight of the walk was finding a Port-a-Potty about halfway to the Inn, but realizing that it was locked! I couldn’t make this stuff up.

I’ll never forget the look on the face of the waitress at Bruno’s Café when the five us marched in to get some lunch after the walk. We looked like drowned rats.

I will again be participating in the event on Saturday, June 19th. Some of you live close to Forbidden Drive and I thought you might want to join me on Saturday, June 19th – rain or shine.

We gather at Northwestern Avenue and Forbidden Drive around 8:30 or so and by 9, our team, Becky’s Buddies, will stroll down to the Valley Green Inn and back. If you want to start your own group, you can do that too.

Despite the downpour, we really had a swell time last year. This year we should have even more fun as my niece is bringing her little Cockapoo, Cody. Since Becky got Cody around this time last year, I’m happy to report she has not had a single seizure. Oh the power of pets.

So please follow the link for additional information and possibly take a stroll with us for a good cause.

http://www.strollforepilepsypa.kintera.org/barbarasherf

Thanks for whatever you can do to get the word out.

Barbara Sherf

By Barbara Lee Sherf

First of all, let me set the record straight, I am not dude. So many blog comments come over saying “hey dude, great blog ya got there…blah, blah, blah.” Even though the content of the comment may be complimentary, I refuse to post these comments. I am not a dude.

Second point. About half of the comments I receive I refuse to post because of poor grammar, spelling, punctuation, etc.

Below are three samples I recently received and refused to post.. I did not, nor could I ever make these up:

1) You got a indeed useful blog I compel ought to been here reading in behalf of about an hour. I am a newbie and your success is very much an insight in behalf of me.

2) I was looking instead of pivotal information on this subject. The advice was important as I am nigh to launch my own portal. Thanks conducive to providing a missing associate in my business.

3) great experience, dude! thanks for this great post wow… it’s very wonderful report.

I guess you can call me a blog comment snob, but I believe that approving these kinds of comments reflects poorly on me. A few have slipped through early on, and I am now going back to take a second look and delete with a more critical eye.

So if you would like to comment on my blog and see it posted, please use spell and grammar check, proper capitalization and punctuation.

Thank you.

We are just back from the Main Line Chamber of Commerce’s Society of Professional Women, held last night at the Radisson in King of Prussia. The topic of the talk was “What Not to Wear to Work.” Three brave women within the SPW ranks were ‘nominated’ for makeovers. The panel did a fantastic job in terms of co-presenting. Often co-presenters step on one another’s toes, but in this case they all worked together as a team.
Megan Kristel of Kristel Closets served as the moderator and fielded questions to Beke Beau, a Make-up Artist, and Van Ou, owner of Bubbles Salon in Bryn Mawr. Audience members went to a central microphone to pose their question, which was so much better than having audience members shout out their questions.
Co-presenting or being a part of a panel discussion takes a lot of pressure off of you as a public speaker. The event was very well organized and just a fun evening of networking and receiving valuable image information. Kudos to the Main Line Chamber and the Makeover Team.

Wissahickon Horse Lovers Organization Forms
By Barbara L. Sherf

They call themselves the Wissahickon Horse-Lovers Organization for Adults or WHOA. Four women, in their late 30s and into their mid-40s, who have been taking riding lessons at Northwestern Equestrian Facility (NWEF) together on and off for over a year, decided to formalize their love of horses and share that passion with other adults.

The women – Sue Landers and Bee Morgan of Mount Airy, Andrea Shumsky of Chestnut Hill and Kristen Bowman-Kavanaugh of Center City – formed the group that had its first meeting at NWEF on Sunday, October 18th. The second meeting, featuring a farrier (person who shoes horses) demonstration and Q&A session, will be held on Sunday, November 15th at 10:30 a.m. Refreshments will be served and the program is free and open to the public.

According to Landers, WHOA’s goal is to provide a forum where adults can learn about horses, connect with other equine-lovers, and have fun. WHOA’s focus is not on any particular equestrian discipline, but on any and all aspects of horse-related interest. The group plans to have monthly meetings, clinics and field trips. They have already visited an equine rescue and several events at the Devon Horse show, and plan to visit an area therapeutic riding program.

Adults are the group’s focus since they often return to horses after not having ridden since being children; this can be challenging since so many horse activities are geared to a younger audience. Adults who have never ridden are also welcome to the group, which sees itself as a vehicle for learning and potentially an entry into lesson programs or riding clubs at local barns.

“Did you watch the steeple chasing event on TV yesterday?” one of the eight women present asked another, prior to the meeting in mid-October. They chatted while gathering to hear the speaker, Tarah Hannes, Assistant Barn Manger of NWEF, talk about horse care, barn management and her experience with miniature horses. NWEF is a city-owned stable run by the Fairmount Park Commission, whose lease has been renewed for 10 years.

Hannes – who remembers drawing horses at the age of 5, and who got to live her dream of owning a horse at age twelve – is very supportive of the group’s efforts. “I think it’s great for the adults in the area that didn’t ride as much as kids and they can learn and support each other. “

Shumsky, who lives on Evergreen Avenue, works as a librarian in Ogontz. “I have been taking lessons on and off for about 8 years and I’ve found this to be very therapeutic and rewarding. I would come riding and be jazzed and go home and nobody there shared that same love of horses. This is a way for us to get together and share information and support each other in our riding.”

Kavanaugh, a civil engineer, always wanted to ride when she was younger, but never got the opportunity. She learned to ride while at college and has returned to riding over the past few years. “We thought it would be nice to do something outside of lessons. We jokingly talk about franchising WHOA and going worldwide, but really it’s just a place where other people like me who wanted to get involved in horses can. I feel lucky that I have a place to go to ride and can afford to ride. “ Kavanaugh said she hoped to get other barns in the Wissahickon involved.

Morgan is a financial services professional whose childhood home was near a small horse farm in Surrey, England. She moved back to Mount Airy in started looking for “something to keep my mind off of work.” She started taking lessons at NWEF in the fall of 2005 and hasn’t looked back.

Danielle Mucciolo, at 23, is one of the younger members of the group. “I guess I’m the first official member and in charge of programming and barbecues,” she joked prior to the meeting, while riding Coosa, an American Quarter Horse, whom she owns and boards at NWEF.

During the meeting Hannes talked about managing the 30 or so horses at NWEF and fielded questions from the group. When the topic turned to first aid and the issue of bloating in horses, several wondered aloud about what the causes were. “Let’s look it up, we have an equine library,” said Kavanugh, pointing to WHOA’s nearly 4 dozen horse-related books housed in the meeting room.

Landers said she hoped that WHOA would give individuals the confidence to move from reading to actual riding. “We see this group as a way for people to expand their knowledge of horses which could lead them to start riding, renting or even owning a horse. It could also prepare them to join local riding groups,” said Landers, who by day works as a medical billing supervisor at an area hospital.

Dr. Thomas Fitzpatrick, President of the Philadelphia Saddle Club, run out of Monastery Stables in Mount Airy, said he did not see WHOA as competition. “Any group that forms to get people more interested in riding in the Wissahickon can only help all of us,” he said, adding that he hoped the WHOA members would bring ‘new blood’ to help organize the annual Wissahickon Day Parade.

“We would love to support the parade and the local equestrian community in general. But mainly, we want to help people move toward their interest in horses,” said Landers.

The group’s tagline sums it up neatly: “WHOA – where your passion for horses doesn’t have to stop”.

For more information about the group, e-mail gowhoa@gmail.com or contact Landers at 215-248-6450. To find out about programs and events at NWEF, visit www.northwesternstables.com.

Barbara Sherf is a communications consultant who has written “The Cowboy Mission: The Best Sermons are Lived…Not Preached” about horseback riding with her father. She can be reached through her web site at http://www.CommunicationsPro.com.