VOLUME TWENTY SIX, NUMBER 9
DECEMBER 2012
Budget wizards work magic again By Mary Graff
A monthly fee increase of only 2.5 percent for 2013 has been set for residents in apartments, villas, Personal Care and the Health Center. According to a chart included with the agenda distributed before the annual budget presentation Nov. 20, the 2013 increase is only slightly higher than the previous two lows, 2 percent each in the 1999 and 2010 budgets, and as much as 5.5 percentage points lower than the three highest increases—8 percent in 1990 and 7 percent in 2002 and 2005—in our 24-year history. The average over the years from 1990 to 2011 was just under 4 percent per year. The 2012 increase was 4 percent, although this shrank to 1.7 percent after adjustments for savings to residents from the new
telephone and Internet systems. The fees include Beaumont’s comprehensive medical program, real estate and school taxes, housekeeping, an average of one meal a day, flat linen service, scheduled transportation, and all utilities including Internet, telephone and television (80 channels). An analysis of 2012 fees by President Joe Fortenbaugh showed Beaumont comparing favorably over-all with two of its major competitors, Quadrangle and Waverly. At the community budget meeting in the Beaumont Room, Mr. Fortenbaugh singled out for comparison the square footage and cost to a single occupant of a twobedroom apartment with den at Waverly—$5,914 a continued on page 7
What happened— and didn’t happen— the night of the fire By Mary Graff
Shortly after 8:30 p.m. Oct. 29, the Monday night Sandy blew high winds into Lower Merion Township, a large branch crashed onto Ithan Avenue. It came from a tree on the Harriton High School property across from Beaumont. The branch tore down a live power line, which started an electrical fire. To understand what happened next: ■ Beaumont gets its electrical power from PECO, with two generators of our own as backup, both fueled by natural gas. The Beaumont kitchen does most of its cooking on gas. ■ As Information Technology Director Mark Surkin explains it, most phones communicate over our Internet connections. We have two such connections: a primary line, fed via fiber optic cable, which can be seen running between telephone poles out Photo by E.C.P. Mastroianni on Ithan Avenue, across the street on the Harriton Spotting flames flaring intermittently across Ithan Avenue from her side, and a backup line fed via Comcast from Gulph villa, Dr. Elaine Pierson Mastroianni grabbed her camera. (Tan mass at left is a wall; the one on top is part of a roof.)
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New chairs in the Grill Room are the result of much experience and up-to-date research on the part of Marian Lockett-Egan, head of the House Committee, and Dr. Dean Snyder, known to all Beaumont as a loving friend to animals, plants and the aged furniture he cares for in Beaumont’s woodworking shop. A manufacturer in New Holland, Pennsylvania, produced the chairs according to specifications provided by Marian and Dean that included sturdy mortise-and-tenon joints and legs specially designed to accommodate heavy-duty castors. Photo by Louise Hughes
Serving in the rain and looking happy again By Sally Herd
Then, on that Mother’s Day Sunday, a newly restored umbrella stand, complete with shiny base, appeared in the aforesaid lobby. It wasn’t my doing. A few months earlier, I had been told that Tuppie and Arthur Solmssen had a son, Kurt, an artist residing on the West Coast, who came East every spring to restore bronze sculptures for the City of Philadelphia and for private clients. Kurt has been performing sculpture restoration ever since he first entered the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia many years ago. I wondered aloud to Tuppie if her son would look at these umbrella stands and give me some advice. Lo and behold! Kurt’s Mother’s Day gift to Tuppie turned out to be the restoration of these stands. One stand completed, he looked for the other one. That one had been taken to Stone Harbor for the weekend. You can imagine my surprise upon my return from the shore to see the “sister” stand magically restored and proudly displayed in Beaumont’s lobby. Subsequently, the one I had worked on was whisked away and then returned looking as beautiful as its twin. These two stands now reside on either side of Beaumont’s entrance door ready to safe-keep umbrellas for residents and guests. I think the Austins would be pleased. Thank you, Kurt.
Once upon a time in the early 1900s, there were two matching bronze umbrella stands. They were very ornate and each sat on a shiny wooden base. Now and then they held very elegant umbrellas belonging to Mr. and Mrs. William Austin of Beaumont, and sometimes those of their visiting friends. That was then. This is now, in the early 2000s. There they sat, neglected, their deep bronze color faded to a dishwater gray, their rich bases dulled and waterstained. One lived in the A-1 Garage Lobby; the other, hidden behind the leaves of a plant in the present Beaumont’s lobby entrance. They caught my eye. They must be old. They could be restored. Estimates from a local restoration shop said it would cost $500 each Photo by Louise Hughes to bring them back to Umbrella stands, “magically” restored. life. Google said wash them with liquid Ivory soap and then spray with Armor All. Doable! I took one of them to Stone Harbor, New Jersey, over Mother’s Day weekend to try my hand at Google’s suggestions. I had some success, but fell short when it came to the base. What to do with that? I would contact Dean Snyder.
BEAUMONT NEWS The Beaumont News is published by the residents and staff of the Beaumont Retirement Community, 601 N. Ithan Avenue, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010
Turtles on the move
Managing Editor Production Editor Editor Emeritus and Historian Photo Editor Events Manager Proofreader Circulation Manager
Through a miscommunication, the display of some of Anne Gruenberg’s ever-burgeoning collection of turtles was removed from the Beaumont Room before the November News, with Margie Manlove’s story about the exhibit, could be distributed. Anyone who would like to see some of Anne’s turtles can still do so, however, outside her apartment, No. 138 in Baldwin, where she has been keeping some of the overflow.
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Mary Graff Christine Johnson-Hall Louise Guthrie Louise Hughes Kim Norrett Jennie Frankel Barbara O’Brien
iClasses catch on
Assistant IT Director Jeremy Varnis gives iPad pointers to Wistie Miller.
By Audrey Walsh
Now that the new wireless system is in place at Beaumont it has become time to put it to use! I believe the comment made on the Beaumont-at-Bryn Mawr Facebook page says it all: ■ Staying on the cutting edge... ■ Beaumont residents stay on the cutting edge with in-house classes on iPhone & iPad use, something most colleges don’t offer! Mark Surkin, Director of the IT Department, and his ever-faithful assistant, Jeremy Varnis, have begun hosting iPad/iPhone classes for 20 residents at a time, one day a week for four weeks. The classes last one and a half hours each and are divided between lectures and time to ask questions. The fee is $50. I asked the two gentlemen if they had ever taught a class of this sort before. NO was the answer. With that being said, I wanted to know how in the world did they prepare for something of this nature? Jeremy said he watched a lot of YouTube videos. The Wikipedia definition of YouTube, for those of you who are not familiar with it: . . . a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005. The name and logo of the company are an allusion to the cathode ray tube, a display device used since the early days of electronic television. Mark said he imagined himself in the resident’s position. He had to make sure that he spoke in a language that did not involve technology terms. If he did need to use a technology term he needed to remember to define it. Differing devices and versions of the software presented a challenge. Approximately 70 percent of
At class, from left, Mary Disston, Joan Thayer, Jane Garrison and Sis Ziesing. Photos by Louise Hughes
the residents arrived at the first class with iPads and 30 percent with iPhones. Of course they were all different versions. One iPad or iPhone may be newer than another, which would mean the version of software would be slightly different, creating a slightly different experience. The challenge then was turned into a learning experience for the residents. They realized that when and if they did need to purchase a new iPhone or iPad they would have the basics behind them and understand that they need not be afraid to push the buttons. I am thinking about getting my checkbook out now as I write!
Remember when getting there was half the fun? By Sis Ziesing In the past, my husband and I traveled all over the world—even Tonga if you can believe it! I can’t remember any dreadful glitches and mostly everything went smoothly. (Flights within Tonga required you get weighed, which was most embarrassing!) Age crept up on us and we hadn’t traveled for some years. I was asked recently to visit a friend in New Hampshire. This involved an hour-and-a-half flight to Manchester. A kind daughter arranged for the tickets online for me and my traveling companion. She then gave us two large pieces of paper—that’s a ticket? The large pieces of paper told us to use the computer again to reserve our seats 24 hours before the flight was to take off—two more large pieces of paper. Off we go to the airport only to find there is no curb baggage check-in. To the counter we go, dragging suitcases, and ask the guy behind the counter how to
check in. He looks surly and tells us to go to the kiosk with our boarding passes—the second large pieces of paper. Kiosk? I explain we’re dinosaurs and don’t know what to do and he finally shows us how. He then extracts $25 apiece in order to check our luggage. Off to security! At least if you’re 75, you don’t have to take off your shoes. To the body check-in, a cagelike apparatus. Feet planted firmly on the ground and arms above the head with the cage-like thing revolving. My traveling companion made the horrible mistake of carrying a bottle of water. Forget that! They poured it out, but in all fairness did replenish it after she got out of security. She’s a lady with a cane. That was taken away from her and another cane was substituted. Apparently, hers was possibly a gun! Anyway, we got to NH and home again. Going to Tonga was easier, but at least I didn’t get weighed on this trip. 3
From Iowa to Austin with piano, violin and trombone By Margie Manlove
another department. After their marriage they moved to New York, where Eleanor worked for a large law firm. Herbert earned a doctorate from Harvard and wrote books on economics and labor relations. During the years they were raising their four boys and a daughter, he worked at General Electric and then taught at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Eleanor was active in women’s groups. Widowed about five years ago, Eleanor still has a very large family. At one weekend gathering they numbered 40! Her sons are MBAs and attorneys and her daughter is a vice president at a national bank. Her grandchildren are doing well at university, the Army and in business. She has no great-grandchildren yet. The new Austin resident loves music. Where most of us would have a dining table, Eleanor has a piano. In addition to the piano she plays the violin and the trombone. She is a member of the Bryn Mawr Music Study Club and the Musical Coterie.
Eleanor Northrup, who recently moved into Austin, was born and raised in Iowa. The daughter of a physician, she says her family came to Iowa with the first farming settlers. After graduating from the University of Iowa with a math major during World War II, she went to work for the war effort. While with the National War Labor Board in Detroit, she Photo by Louise Hughes met her husband, Herbert, who was in Eleanor Northrup
Moving was old-hat to them By Debbie Zug
Jim and Debbie are dedicated athletes. They both have played paddle tennis, squash and golf on club teams. Jim has played in many national squash tournaments since he was a teen-ager, and now is on the younger side for the 70-and-over nationals! He learned to play the organ at Episcopal Academy and plays every Sunday for the hymn sing in the summer at their vacation residence, Pocono Lake Preserve. Debbie, an avid walker and hiker, has organized walking Photo by Milissa Cwenar trips for her friends and relatives in Europe and Bhutan. She and her companions arranged for a young Bhutanese girl they met to attend Eastern University and four years later the girl graduated cum laude!
Debbie and Jim Zug moved here in September after having lived at the Hermitage for 19 years. They have moved 12 times in their years together, having had homes in Cambridge, Massachusetts; Frankfurt, Germany; Pittsburgh; and Baltimore. Debbie grew up in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and majored in European history at Wheaton College. Jim grew up on the Main Line and graduated from Episcopal Academy and Princeton. He began his career as a CPA at PricewaterhouseCoopers in Jim and Debbie Zug Philadelphia. Jim has served on the boards of Episcopal Academy and the Philadelphia Orchestra and is currently serving on four corporate boards; Debbie has been a docent at four different museums for the past 25 years. Her great passion is her work at Planned Parenthood, having served on its board since 1975. They have two daughters and a son, all married, with a total of seven grandchildren. Their elder daughter is a family physician and the second daughter, ordained as a United Church of Christ minister, is a hospital chaplain. Their youngest, the son, is a nonfiction writer.
IN MEMORIAM Jane Toomey - October 28 Evelyn Fortney - October 28 Carol Rush - November 3 Juanita Boardman - November 9 Members of the Beaumont Community extend deepest sympathy to their families and friends. 4
Beaumont now home to former Lower Merion Treasurer By Peter Binzen
“I collected an average of probably $110 million a year,” he said. The two residents with the stiffest tax bills were John T. (Jackie) Dorrance, the Campbell Soup heir, and publisher Walter H. Annenberg. C l o t h i e r described the taxexempt Lower Photo by Milissa Cwenar Merion School Marlynne and Birchard Clothier District as “the big gorilla.” The township’s two high schools were rebuilt at a cost of $150 million, he said. While collecting the township’s taxes, Clothier kept his position with AAA. Four employees worked for him in the treasurer’s office. He won election as Lower Merion’s treasurer three times, serving from 1990 to 2000. Birch and Marlynne have been married for 24 years. He had four children by a previous marriage and she had three. They have 10 grandchildren. By the way, Birchard T. Clothier and Isaac (Quartie) Clothier are second cousins. Birchard’s sister, Helen Ballard, also lives at Beaumont. And another sister, Ann Clothier, will soon move in. It’s all in the family.
OK, how many of you Beaumonters have ever stepped foot inside the Harriton House? Just as I thought; a mere handful. And yet the 308-year-old stone house, with its surrounding 16.5-acre park at 500 Harriton Road in Bryn Mawr, is one of this area’s historic jewels. I’ll make a confession. I’d never even heard of the place until a Beaumont friend, Marjorie Baird, took me there the other day. One day later, I found myself interviewing Birchard T. Clothier, a Beaumont newcomer (but already the chairman of the Wine and Spirits Committee) who was president of the nonprofit Harriton Association for 10 years, until 2010. Birch, 76, and his wife, Marlynne, 74, had been living in his great-grandfather’s carriage house in Wynnewood before moving to Beaumont at the end of May. Starting as a reading specialist and human resources aide, Marlynne, a graduate of Beaver (now Arcadia) College with a master’s degree from Temple, had worked for businesses both in this area and New York City. One job required her to catch the 6:08 a.m. train from Ardmore to Manhattan. Another firm that employed her was recently sold for over $1 billion. Whereas Marlynne changed jobs often, Birch, a graduate of Princeton and Penn Law School, stayed with one outfit, AAA-Mid-Atlantic, for more than 35 years. “I went through four chairmen and thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the early years,” he said. Birch was best known, however, as Lower Merion’s tax collector. When residents paid their taxes, they made out their checks to Birchard T. Clothier.
Photos by Louise Hughes Around the table at Beaumont’s annual Veteran’s Day Lunch, arranged by Dick Maass (at the head of the table but with his back to the camera), starting at Dick’s left: Alfred Rhodes, John Woolford, Robert Gretz, Alvan Markle, John Carson, Jay MacMoran, Jim Winsor, Eugenio Calabi, Ed Rosen, Shirley Robinson, and David Allen. Sous-chef Barry Hill created the cake.
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Jean and Michael Churchman cut the ribbon on their new home. Photos on this page by Louise Hughes
A daughter brought Churchmans to Baldwin By Barbara O’Brien New neighbors in Baldwin are Jean and Michael Churchman, two Midwesterners who decided to throw in their lot with us because one of their daughters lives close by. They are just settling in after their September move, but by my standards (are the paintings hung?) they look comfortably at home already. Their daughter Diana Mason and her husband, Sam, live just around the corner on Old Gulph Road. The Churchmans’ other daughters are Julie McCue, a journalist in Portland, Maine, and Nina Churchman, an Episcopal priest in Denver. Jean and Michael are both educators: Jean as an art history teacher and Michael as a history teacher, school head and later museum administrator. The Churchmans met in a movie format—she just graduated from Smith and he from Wesleyan—on the Queen Mary, both bound for a tour of Europe (shades of Deborah Kerr and Cary Grant)! At the end of the tour Jean returned to her home in Kansas City and Michael
stayed in Europe to work for the Marshall Plan, first in Paris, then in The Hague. The following spring Jean and her family went to The Hague, where she and Michael were married. Starting their peripatetic life in Kansas City, where Michael taught at the Barstow School, they then moved to Denver where he was head of The Kent School for Girls for 10 years. Jean was busy having three daughters and getting a master’s in art history at the University of Colorado. Later the couple migrated to Richmond, where Michael was head of St. Catherine’s School and Jean taught art history there. Then they circled back to Kansas City, Michael as head of Barstow, while Jean taught art history and was director of adult education at The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. After his many years in schools, Michael also joined the museum world, spending the last 15 years as director of development for the Nelson-Atkins Museum.
Rutgers, Douglass grads now living in Austin By Barbara O’Brien
library, establishing computer connections, sharing resources and in general becoming an award-winning expert on interlibrary relationships. Art and Dawn had a rather unusual beginning. They met in a liquor store and the next day, “This handsome young man called me up and we began to date!” They went to college together, were married a year later and had two Art and Dawn Ganss children, Daryl Beth and Arthur Douglass. Beth is a financial consultant; Doug is in Information Technology (IT), working for Unisys.
Art and Dawn Ganss, recent settlers in an Austin apartment, grew up in this area, Art in Metuchen and Dawn near Philadelphia. They have had various homes in New Jersey, along with a summer home built by Art and his father, and on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Art served on a light cruiser toward the end of World War II, graduated from Rutgers, and spent his professional life as a pensions consultant at Prudential, retiring in 1987. Dawn graduated from Douglass College, the women’s branch of Rutgers. She worked as a teacher, earned a master’s in Library Science, and became a school library media specialist and coordinator for Westfield (New Jersey) High School. For 25 years she worked professionally at local, regional, and state levels helping to establish the New Jersey State MultiType Library Network. This included expansion of the 6
The Emerald Ash Borer: tough choices for Beaumont By Mark Hritz and Ann Louise Strong
We hope that by now, through radio commercials and information posted in newspapers and magazines, most residents have heard of the Emerald Ash Borer (EAB). The EAB, native to Asia, where it has natural predators, is an invasive insect that can kill 99 percent of its host trees. First discovered in Michigan in the 1990s, the half-inch-long beetle has already wiped out millions of ash trees in the Midwest and Upper Great Lakes states. As of the fall of 2011, the EAB had reached 22 Pennsylvania counties. It may reach Beaumont in 2013; in fact, it is possible that it is already in our trees though not yet identified. Because of the beetle’s aggressive movement across Pennsylvania on its own, the state restrictions on transporting firewood within the state have been lifted. There is still a federal quarantine on transporting fire- Emerald Ash Borer, gorgeous enough for Emerald City, but wood across state lines. deadly outside Oz. The symptoms of the EAB’s presence usually take two to three years to become apparent. The larvae make tunnels in the ash tree trunk, girdle it, and destroy it. Trees may display canopy dieback, sucker growth, woodpecker damage, bark splitting, and the beetle’s trademark “D” shaped holes in the bark. After infestation the trees will die within four to six years. There are several effective pesticides, with the least expensive and easiest to use being Imidacloprid, a soil
drench sold under various trade names. A tree with an average diameter at breast height of 12 to 24 inches will require approximately 1.6 ounces of the active ingredient for one year’s protection. However, since a new generation of the beetles is born each year, treatment must be annual to be effective. So what should Beaumont do? We have at least 100 mature ash trees, most of them apparently healthy. Along with the oaks and maples, they are our predominant native hardwood trees. If our staff treats the trees by applying Imidacloprid on the ground in spring and/or fall, this will cost around $50 a tree depending on tree girth. Hiring a landscape firm to take down the mature dying trees can cost up to $3,000 a tree. We could let the invaders attack, let the dead trees fall or, where near streets and paths, pay to have them cut down. We could select a percent of the trees, choosing the most important for their beauty and location, and allow the rest to face destruction. We could spend $5,000 annually, plus the many hours of labor cost for our staff, to try to protect all of the ash trees. We might also assume—contrary to experience elsewhere—that some of our healthy trees will be able to resist the Emerald Ash Borers’ attacks. So what do we intend to do? We have applied insecticide to the ground around the ash trees in the park area between Middle Road and Pond Lane. We are choosing a program for 2013. We will treat 30 healthy trees, including those around the interior of the campus, for $1,500 in insecticide. We will watch for the arrival of the Emerald Ash Borer and monitor its impact on treated and untreated ash trees. We will then consider plans for 2014.
Budget . . . .
■ A new elevator for Personal Care, $140,000; ■ Main floor of the Commons, including a “Bistro” and game room and terrace dining, $585,000; ■ A new emergency call system for the villas, $125,000; ■ Excavation for a new Grounds building, $75,000; ■ An IT energy management system, expected to pay for itself in five years through electrical cost savings, $250,000; ■ Underwriting costs: $50,000. Mr. Paier said a number of adjustments to the committee’s plans had been made as a result of resident suggestions submitted after the committee’s presentation to the community in September. He emphasized that Beaumont’s 10 percent resale fees when units are sold, amounting to about $900,000 a year, would take care of repayment of the bond issue, including interest costs, and would not increase the residents’ monthly fees. Mr. Fortenbaugh said the loan used to renovate the Health Center would be paid off in full by the end of next year, leaving Beaumont debt-free until the new bond issue kicks in.
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month for 1,310 square feet—with the same unit at Beaumont, $4,707 for 1,533 square feet. Adolf (Dolf) Paier, chairman of the Finance Committee and of the ad hoc Capital Projects Committee, said the details of a somewhat complicated $4,500,000 bond issue to pay for various planned improvements had yet to be completely worked out. “We believe,” he said, however, “that a financing in the $4.5 million range is achievable at acceptable interest rates. “We also anticipate that the actual borrowing will be deferred until late summer or preferably early fall of next year.” He defined “acceptable“ as “over-all, in the range of 4 percent.” Mr. Paier identified the projects, with the estimated share of the bond issue assigned to each, as: ■ Ground floor of the Commons, including Arts and Crafts Room, Library, Fitness Center construction and equipment, $2,825,000; ■ Renovations on the Personal Care floors, $450,000; 7
Beaumont staff: Through thick and thin! By Rose-Marie Pringle
When I heard about Sandy on the News, I decided to pack an overnight bag just in case I would not be able to go home Monday night. I learned that public transportation would not be running . . .SEPTA would not be running . . . . . . SEPTA would not be running! Whoops—99.9 percent of the wait staff who work during the evening take SEPTA transportation! Chef John Bauer and I put our heads together. We agreed to close the Grill and offer residents a buffet. What to do for staff? When the time came, President Joe was at the hostess stand, doing his best to scan residents in. Marketing Director Audrey Walsh, whose first job at Beaumont was at the salad bar, returned to her roots (as it were) as a waitress without skipping a beat—and also tended bar. Outpatient Services Director Jeanne Drumheller became the hostess with the mostess. Accommodations had been made for the staff to
spend the night, and I planned to bunk in with Jeanne and Vice President of Health Services Linda Lemisch, but decided to drive home to my own bed instead. Well, what could go wrong? It was night and everyone was settled, fed and comfortable. What could go wrong? Did I say that? I came in at 6 a.m. Tuesday and met Maintenance Director Warren Gillings, who looked rather tired. I asked him if he was OK. He said he’d been up all night, and explained why. (See story Page 1) Oh. The stoves in the kitchen are fueled by gas, and without gas, the cooks cannot cook. Fortunately our supplies sufficed to make Tuesday what Chef and I now refer to as Deli Day. More fortunately, gas was restored that evening. Sandy, you did not get the best of Beaumont; you demonstrated the best of us as a community and I am proud to be a part of it!
The fire . . . .
have to be repaired before anything else could be done. He would return often during the next few hours. Fanned by storm winds, the fire grew. “The wind was really, really blowing it,” Tony said, “picking it up and blowing it to the tops of the trees and back and Photo by Rich Bitler, forth toward our woods. WeiTel project manager That’s when I was really What looks like an icicle in this worried.” picture is actually melted fiber What caused the gas optic cable and cable insulation. leak? Some think it might have been the force of the blow when the branch hit the ground. The more likely explanation seems to be that the heat from the fire—which melted the fiberoptic cable running overhead—was so intense it reached down to the pipe, which is made of plastic, and melted that too. Early on, as PECO power and our generators kicked on and off, life in the villas and apartments kept going pretty much as usual. But as PECO cut off both power and gas, and repairs were begun, after about midnight, Beaumont was plunged into total darkness. Lanterns and flashlights could be seen bobbing about. Power was restored shortly after 3 a.m. Tuesday; gas about 12 hours later. Phones, TV and the Internet flickered back into service irregularly over the next few days. But thanks to our staff, PECO and the Conshohocken Fire Company, the fire never reached our woods.
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Road. Comcast relies on an active power grid and a backup generator fed by natural gas. ■ The branch was heavy. ■ Electrical fires burn very hot. Beaumont staff had planned ahead (see RoseMarie Pringle’s story above.) On Monday evening Maintenance Director Warren Gillings and Patrick Nardizzi from Grounds were patrolling the campus, on the lookout for storm debris blocking the roads or other kinds of trouble. Resident Services’ Tony Richardson had stayed around after driving residents to and from a special storm buffet set up in the Mansion. Cell phones were at the ready. When the branch fell, PECO electricity failed and our generators kicked in. Pat, seeking the cause of the failure, found the branch on the side of the road, starting to catch fire from a broken power line partly wrapped around it. “It was just a very small fire at that point,” he recalled later. Phone calls flew. Tony went out to look and saw the branch burning. Leaves in the street, wet as they were from the continuing rain, were burning as well. Even the asphalt seemed to be on fire. Two PECO trucks arrived. The two drivers sprayed the branch, the leaves and the road with fire extinguishers, walking repeatedly back and forth as new flames sprang up behind them. That’s when it became apparent that the fire was being fed by natural gas escaping from a pipeline more than three feet below ground. Lower Merion Township Fire Marshal Matt McGuire arrived and warned that the gas line would 8