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George Anastasia’s

MOB SCENE

GET FIT

Instagram Inspiration

All Aboard!

The world’s largest model train is in NJ

Illustration by Dan Dinsmore

Volume 10 • Number 2 – $3.95

New Phillies manager Joe Girardi

The New Old School Veteran skipper Joe Girardi brings a traditional feel for the game to Philadelphia www.jerseymanmagazine com

PUBLISHER

FROM JerseyMan Magazine THE VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 2 ____________________________________________________________________________________ BY KEN DUNEK Ken Dunek Publisher

he world as we know it has changed. Maybe forever. The Covid-19 virus is an unknown. And it has shaken us to our core in whirlwind fashion.

Never in my life would I have thought that NCAA March Madness, the Masters, Major League Baseball, the NHL, NBA, and Kentucky Derby would be postponed—or cancelled altogether. Or would I see grocery store shelves ravaged under normal weather conditions. Or businesses issuing mandatory work from home orders. The good news is that there are signs of abatement in China, where the disease originated. It also brings me some solace that for most people, the disease will result in flulike symptoms for a while and will not be fatal. Of course older people with a history of respiratory illness must be ultra-cautious.

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Ashley Dunek EDITOR George Brinkerhoff ART DIRECTOR Steve Iannarelli CONTRIBUTING WRITERS George Anastasia, Jan L. Apple, Michael Bradley, George Brinkerhoff, Sam Carchidi, Alexandra Dunek, Mark Eckel, Robert Kennedy, Sam Kraft, Dei Lynam, Anthony Mongeluzo, Mike Sielski, Kurt Smith, Rich Westcott Administrative Assistant Alexandra Dunek Event Coordinator Jamie Dunek

I’ve always been a believer that all things happen for a reason, and as the human race grapples with this dilemma, I hope that there is some good that comes from it.

Editorial 856-813-1153

There is more to life than a 401k balance and a luxury cruise. Now that those have been taken away, perhaps we can concentrate on God, health, family, and freedom.

Printing Alcom Printing, Harleysville, Pa.

That’s the way it should have been all along. We just got a little off track. Wishing you good health and peace of mind.

Advertising 856-912-4007 Controller Rose M. Balcavage Sales Associates Ashley Dunek, Jamie Dunek, Terri Dunek, Allison Farcus, JP Lutz JerseyMan/PhillyMan Advisory Board Peter Cordua (Chairman). . . HBK CPAs & Consultants Joseph Devine (Emeritus). . . . . . . . . Jefferson Health Jerry Flanagan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . J Dog Franchising Ted Flocco (Emeritus). . . . . . . . . . . . . Ernst & Young Bob Hoey. . . . . . . . . . . . . Janney Montgomery Scott Ed Hutchinson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hutchinson Robert Kennedy. . . . . . . . . . The Kennedy Companies Julie LaVan. . . . . . . . . Advanced Mediation Solutions Michael MacFarland. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TD Bank Doug MacGray . . . . . . . . . Stonecrop Wealth Advisors Anthony Mongeluzo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PCS Charlie Muracco. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CLM Advisors Mike Regina. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Big Sky Enterprises Greg Star . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Carvertise Joe Tredinnick. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Republic Bank Jim Wujcik. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Santander Bank

“I love it when people doubt me. It makes me work harder to prove them wrong.”

Photos Steve I.

– Derek Jeter JerseyMan Magazine/PhillyMan Magazine, products of a partnership between Ken Dunek, Anthony Mongeluzo, and Alcom Printing Group, are published by New Opportunity Publishing, LLC, with offices at 7025 Central Highway, Pennsauken, NJ, 08109. Copyright 2020.

www.jerseymanmagazine.com

INSIDE

Photo Patrick Tewey

“It isn’t hard to be good from time to time in sports. What is tough, is being good every day.” – Willie Mays JerseyMan Magazine VOLUME 10 • NUMBER 2

BELLA ALARIE

by DEI LYNAM

INSIDE GOLF

Harry Donahue hosts the longest running show in the history of NBC Sports Philadelphia

30 PHILLY TECH WEEK

The technology and innovation showcase turns ten

34 SCHWEIM TIME

Diehard Philly sports fan Billy Schweim has found his niche in sports radio

MANAGER

46 THUNDER ON THE RIVER

GIRARDI

The Trenton Thunder begins their 27th season on the banks of the Delaware River

50 EDIFY FINDS A WAY

JOE

Elevating Education for Children in Developing Countries

40 The New Old School Veteran skipper Joe Girardi brings a traditional feel for the game to Philadelphia

54 ALL ABOARD!

New Jersey’s Northlandz Railroad Museum holds the world’s largest model train

62 BRIDGING THE GAP

PHILLIES

Opening Doors for Veterans

COLUMNS

Photo Kurt Smith

Editor’s Note: Production on this magazine began before the current COVID-19 crisis severely impacted our daily lives. Despite the postponements and cancellations of events referenced in these articles and columns, we have decided to print this issue as is. We hope you continue to enjoy the fine efforts of our outstanding writers.

1 2 J O T T I N G S • 1 8 G E O R G E A N A S T A S I A ’ S M O B S C E N E • 24 GET FIT 68 THE CIGAR GUY • 74 TECH TIME • 78 THE WINE MAN

Cover illustration by Dan Dinsmore

jerseymanmagazine.com

JOTTINGS

______________________________________________________________________________ BY GEORGE BRINKERHOFF Butler

Flu Fighter and Crime Fighter

AVING EARNED SUCH NICKNAMES AS “Old Gimlet Eye,” “Fighting Quaker” and “Hell Devil of the Marines,” Brigadier General Smedley D. Butler was justifiably considered one of the most colorful figures of his generation. He helped combat a worldwide pandemic and would go on to be one of the most decorated Marines in history. But his time fighting crime in Philadelphia just may have been his toughest fight of all. Born in West Chester, PA in 1881, the son of a congressman, Butler received the Medal of Honor twice for two separate acts of outstanding heroism, one of only two marines to have this distinction.

Butler’s Work Against the Influenza Epidemic of 1918 A brief note in the newspaper in December of 1918 provides some insight into Butler’s leadership skills as well as his character: “Cheated by the sudden ending of the war of its chance to get a shot at the Hun, the famous Thirteenth Regiment of Marines…so distinguished itself in the influenza epidemic in France that the whole regiment has been cited. This is most unusual for a regiment that has not been in action. Brigadier General George H. Harries, commanding base section No. 5 in France, has written a letter giving the highest praise to the regiment and to its commander Col. (now Brigadier General) Smedley D. Butler. Arriving in France when influenza was raging among the…troops, the Thirteenth turned in with a will, doing the work of men who were laid low by the plague, assisting in the care of victims and affording them

amusement. Such work, no less than valor on the firing line, General Harries says is deserving of citation and he recommends that War and Navy Departments officially praise the regiment.” (The Tennessean, December 23, 1918) For his part in this notable flu fighting effort, he was awarded both the Army Distinguished Service Medal and the Navy Distinguished Service Medal, as well as the French Order of the Black Star.

A Law and Order General While Butler successfully fought against the flu epidemic in 1918, he may just have met his match in 1924. By way of request of the newly elected mayor of Philadelphia to President Calvin Coolidge to loan a military general to help rid the city of crime and corruption, the President authorized Butler to take a one year leave of absence from the military to take over as Director of Public

Safety, running Philadelphia’s police and fire departments. Butler ordered an immediate crackdown on both the criminals and corrupt police. Within 48 hours of his appointment, over 937 of the 1200 saloons in the city were shut. “So intense has been the drive against the bootlegger that Philadelphia, for the first time since prohibition, is almost dry.” (The Evening Journal, January 12, 1924.) There were also several credible threats against his life within his first two days on the job. He was even offered a $100,000 bribe indirectly by a prominent citizen of the underworld, which he exposed. Butler then turned his attention to battling gunmen, banditry, confidence men and dope sellers. “Military tactics will be used to combat banditry. Armed police sentries will be detailed to guard every exit from the city.” Indeed things got so bad for the average thug that articles appeared in the newspapers about ‘known criminals’ fleeing to New York City to escape Butler’s crime fighting. His zealous efforts inevitably led to push back from the community and negative press, but at the end of his first year some 4000 supporters assembled at the Academy of Music to help convince the mayor to get an extension from Coolidge for a second year. Though he ultimately succeeded in reducing crime in Philadelphia, he summed up his experience as Director of Public Safety by acknowledging that “cleaning up Philadelphia was worse than any battle I was ever in.” At the time of his death in 1940, Butler was the most decorated Marine ever. Thanks to Paul Hellberg for this suggestion.

What We Read Positive Splits By Jack Heath

ooking to read something positive and inspirational for a change? Try Positive Splits by Jack Heath, South Jerseyâ€™s longtime Gloucester County Catholic track and cross country coach. In Part I, through a series of articles, Coach Heath explores solid tips, advice and inspiration for improving not only the physical mechanics of running but also the mental toughness and the psychological benefits gained from running that can apply throughout all aspects of life. Part II features biographies and interviews capturing the stories and the history of some of South Jerseyâ€™s great runners. The success stories that Coach Heath

has aligned demonstrate the universality of the principle that the benefits of competitive athletics lead can to greater success in life. Additional chapters include a selection of inspirational quotes applicable to runners and non-runners alike and references to videos and other electronic media about running. Coach Heath is also the author of Browning Ross: Father of American Distance Running, an acclaimed biography of the two-time Olympian who vastly influenced modern long distance running as we know it today. Paperback as well as Kindle editions of both Positive Splits and the biography of Browning Ross are available on Amazon.com. 13

Neil Peart 1952-2020

“It’s Neil Time.”

DON’T KNOW whether the middle-aged fellow next to me was as devoted a Rush fan as I was, but he’d clearly been to a show or two. It was 2007. The musical heroes from the Great White North were on the stage in Camden, NJ, blasting through “Malignant Narcissism”, an instrumental from their latest album Snakes & Arrows. As rock music’s most virtuoso rhythm section took turns filling spaces on the bass guitar and drum kit, my neighbor turned to me, his face lighting up, and knowingly informed me: “It’s Neil Time.” I knew he was right. When Rush played a funky instrumental in the last third of a show, the next item on the menu would be an utterly mind-blowing exhibit of percussion. Geddy Lee may be the best bass guitar player of his generation. Alex Lifeson could shred on a guitar with the best of them. Yet even sharing a stage with two rock music heavyweights, the Rush concert was about Neil Peart. He was the one driving the music, measuring the pulse of it, bringing it with the most solid backbone his bandmates could ask for, regardless of the complexity of the time signature, despite constantly tearing into manically furious fills. Throughout the show, “The Professor” would execute ridiculously complicated drum parts to absolute microscopic perfection, so accurately that hundreds of air drummers in the audience could mimic his every move. Until the instrumental concluded and the stage became his. To witness a Neil Peart drum solo was to experience a moment of disbelief in human existence. He was blindingly fast, playing crossovers so quickly that you worried he might chop a limb off. He was

technically brilliant, with unparalleled limb independence, thumping a steady waltz with his feet as his wrists rattled the kit in a completely different time zone. The solo even became musical…he would tap on a marimba, incorporate horn samples punctuated with blasting fills, and then conclude the percussive masterpiece providing the backup to a Buddy Rich classic. After it was over, in the wildly appreciative audience, you would hear both individual voices mouthing four-letter words, incapable of rational expression, and see heads shaking in total bewilderment. John Bonham and Keith Moon were legendary drummers, worthy of any discussion of rock music’s greats. They were both true originals. But their legacies received an assist from the biggest legend booster in music, the untimely death. Both of them perished at just 32. Neil Peart lived 67 years, not long enough to clear the average for a human, but long enough to produce plenty of evidence, in recorded music and live shows, that he was the G.O.A.T. Argue the point if you want, but before you attempt such a foolish endeavor, try watching “La Villa Strangiato – Drum Camera” on YouTube first. And know there’s plenty more where that came from. If I’m carrying a phone with me, I don’t even need to speak to win the argument. I will forever be grateful for the 23 Rush shows I saw, and the lifeaffirming highlight that was Neil Time. A Neil Peart drum solo alone was worth twice the price of a Rush ticket. R.I.P. Professor. – Kurt Smith

Wenonah Native Selected to Serve Aboard Oldest Commissioned Warship Afloat: USS Constitution

George Darby helps young adults start small businesses – Bridgewater, NJ

Wenonah, N.J. native, Navy Lt. Christina Carson, checked aboard USS Constitution to serve as the operations officer, Jan. 13. Carson is the second woman to serve aboard as a commissioned officer in the ship’s history.

George Darby (R) and two of his students Makai Hooker and Shane Crummey (L-R) pose with tee shirts they created at a recent workshop. For the last six years, Darby, who holds the title of Sales Deductions Supervisor for Brother, has been teaching young adults how to use cutting-edge technology to start their own original art tee shirt small businesses – which in turn develops their artistic and business skills – to create a path to a better future.

Philadelphia Sailor replaces helm aboard U.S. Navy warship

Carson has served in the Navy for six years, and her previous assignments include the Navy Personnel Command in Millington, Tenn. and the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer USS Gonzalez. Carson is a 2008 graduate of Gateway Regional High School. USS Constitution (above), is the world’s oldest commissioned warship afloat, actively defending sea lanes from 1797 to 1855. Today, the Sailors stationed aboard provide free tours and visitation as the ship serves to promote the Navy’s history, maritime heritage, and supports educational outreach focused on raising awareness on the importance of a sustained naval presence to more than 600,000 visitors each year.

Veteran ‘Shark Tank’ Winner Arthur Toole – Philadelphia, PA

Electronics Technician 1st Class Anthony Deluca, from Philadelphia, reaches into the back of the ship’s control console to disconnect the helm on the bridge of the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Milius (DDG 69). Milius is underway conducting operations in the Indo-Pacific region while assigned to Destroyer Squadron (DESRON) 15, the Navy’s largest forward-deployed DESRON and the U.S. 7th Fleet’s principal surface force. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Taylor DiMartino) 16

Veteran Shark Tank Winner Arthur Toole founded Meg Relief with his wife. Veteran Shark Tank is a local event for ex-military entrepreneurs. Winner gets $50,000 to go towards implementing their business idea. Meg Relief is a “100% natural nutmeg pain relief” as a “topical oil alternative for helping to decrease pain and inflammation for all kinds of aliments.” Jaci Downs Photography

National Association of Women Business Owners 2019 Beyond the Glass Ceiling Awards – Cinnaminson, NJ

Congratulations to Abbie Kasoff (R) of Say It With Clay for being named Non-Profit of the Year at NAWBO’s 2019 Beyond the Glass Ceiling Awards Ceremony.

Congratulations to Betty Maul (L) of FrontEnd Graphics for being named Woman Business Owner of the Year at NAWBO 2019 Beyond the Glass Ceiling Awards Ceremony. Dana Romano Photography

Sicklerville native re-enlists in the Navy – Sicklerville, N.J.

U.S. Air Force Col. Shanon Anderson, vice commander, 436th Airlift Wing, Dover Air Force Base, Del., reenlists his sister-in-law, Navy Counselor 1st Class Melanie Mancuso, from Sicklerville, N.J., assigned to Navy Talent Acquisition Group Philadelphia, during a ceremony held at her family’s home. Mancuso reenlisted for six more years in the Navy. 17

MOB SCENE

_______________________________________________________________________________ BY GEORGE ANASTASIA

Scorsese’s real life mobsters HE WAS A THUG. And a drunk. He liked to hang around wiseguys. He may have “done some work,” although the consensus is that he paid someone else to pull the trigger. What he didn’t do, according to most reliable sources, is put two bullets in the back of Jimmy Hoffa’s head. The Irishman, Martin Scorsese’s latest Mafia epic, may alter the public perception but not the reality of who Frank Sheeran was and the role he played in the underworld. “He was a tough guy and a big drinker,” said former Philadelphia mobster Nicholas “Nicky Crow” Caramandi. “He used to come down to this restaurant on Front Street every Monday night. We’d eat spaghetti and clams.” Caramandi, one of the first Philadelphia mobsters to turn government witness back in the 1980s, said he has no first-hand knowledge of the Hoffa hit, but said everyone in the underworld knew “it came from those guys in North Jersey…Provenzano and his people.” He doubts very much that Sheeran was the shooter. A North Jersey mob figure says using Sheeran to lure Hoffa into the car that day back in 1975 would make sense. Sheeran was Hoffa’s friend. They had a long relationship built around trust. You always want your victim to feel comfortable. But the mob wouldn’t have gone to “an outsider” to carry out the murder, he said. And when it came to a hit of the magnitude of the Jimmy Hoffa murder Sheeran was still, in mob parlance, an outsider. “Look, it was done in Detroit,” he said. “Those guys were tough. They would take care of their own problem.” And no way was the body driven back to New Jersey and buried in a landfill, as some have speculated. “You kill somebody, you want to get as far away from the body as quickly as you can,” he said. “Nobody’s driving a body six-hundred miles to bury it.” 18

The Irishman is based on the book “I Heard You Paint Houses” written by Sheeran’s lawyer Charles Brandt. Both the movie and the book have raised eyebrows in law enforcement and underworld circles. In addition to claiming he was the man who shot Hoffa, Sheeran, who died in 2003, told Brandt that he provided the

While adopting Sheeran’s questionable account, The Irishman also offers some snapshots of the Philadelphia underworld in the 1970s. Angelo Bruno, portrayed by Harvey Keitel, has a few brief scenes. Skinny Razor DiTullio’s Friendly Lounge at Eighth and Washington and the still very popular Villa di Roma restaurant on Ninth Street also figure in the story.

T Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman tells the story of mobster Frank Sheeran’s reported role in the killing of labor leader Jimmy Hoffa in 1975 rifles used in the assassination of John F. Kennedy and that he was the hitman who gunned down mobster Joey Gallo at Umberto’s Clam House back in 1972. Like the Kennedy assassination, the Hoffa murder remains one of the great American mysteries. That the mob is suspected of playing a role in each only adds to the drama. As to Joey Gallo? Forgetaboutit. “Everybody on Mulberry Street knew who shot Gallo,” said the North Jersey mobster. “And it wasn’t Frank Sheeran.” Scorsese’s movie touches on those issues but focuses primarily on the Hoffa hit. As a result, it has added to the legend surrounding the disappearance and murder of the infamous Teamster boss who showed up for a meeting at a restaurant outside Detroit and was never seen again.

HIS WAS THE WORLD in which Sheeran operated. It was where he got his start. There is no doubt he was a player. But the movie only scratches the surface when it comes to Philadelphia, the mob and the Teamsters. The late, great Pennsylvania Crime Commission provided much more in its massive and highly readable 1980 annual report titled, A Decade of Organized Crime. The 279-page book was considered “the bible” for reporters tracking the mob back in those days. My worn copy is tattered and ripped with many pages taped together, but it is still one of my go-to sources. So here is Sheeran, head of Teamsters Local 326 in Wilmington, ordering Charlie Allen, a mob enforcer, to deliver a message to the president of a company who was giving Sheeran a hard time. “How bad do you want him hurt?” Allen asks. “Break both his legs, I want him laid up,” Sheeran replies “I want him to go to the hospital.” Allen, a degenerate drug dealer as well as mob associate, was cooperating with the FBI at the time and was wearing a body wire. “I’ll hit him with a baseball bat,” Allen replies. “I got one of them steel baseball bats. I’ll fill it with sand…that’ll really do it.” Allen later testified about a series of murders, attempted murders, arsons and bombings he said he carried out for Sheeran, including the murder of Teamsters Local 500 leader Francis “Big Bobby” Marino who was gunned down in his union office.

“I shot him with a .22 …but that didn’t seem to have any effect because he was a big man,” Allen later testified. “So I started using a .38. He was running for a baseball bat…He tried to jump over the desk and I shot him. Then he fell halfway under the desk. He got halfway up, and then he fell again. I went behind the desk and put the.38 to his back and shot him. Then I went out the door and went home.” Sheeran and another union leader, Louis “Louie Buttons” Bottone, were charged with murder and racketeering for that hit and several other Teamster-related acts of violence. But both beat their cases. Allen was not the greatest witness. His credibility was suspect, as was his character. (This would be reinforced later when, living with a new identity after being relocated by federal authorities, he was charged with sexually abusing a step-daughter.) During those days it was often difficult to separate the mobsters from the Teamster bosses. Philadelphia Teamsters Local 107 was considered one of the most corrupt and violent locals in the country. One Local 107 official and his secretary/ girlfriend were shot to death in the union’s offices on Spring Garden Street. In another incident, Robert DeGeorge, a union reformer, was gunned down outside the office. Sheeran was charged in the DeGeorge hit but beat that rap on a technicality. The point is, he was involved with the mob in a significant way. He was tapped to head Local 326 in Wilmington as part of an internal Teamsters International “reform” effort that split Local 107 into several locals. The fact that a guy like Sheeran was chosen to head one of the new locals put the lie to the “reform” effort. Sheeran’s involvement with mob boss Russell Bufalino, a key issue in the movie, is also well documented in the Crime Commission report. Joe Pesci played Bufalino in The Irishman and may have given the best performance of any of the actors in the star-studded cast., capturing the quiet power and confidence of the Scranton-Wilkes Barre mob leader. The Commission report points to meetings at Vesuvio’s Restaurant in New York where Bufalino, accompanied by Sheeran, met to discuss mob business. The report also cites Bufalino’s role in the formation of the Pittston chapter (Chapter 34) of the Italian American Civil Rights League (IACRL) in 1971. The organization was found by New York mob boss Joe Colombo “Sheeran… has attended several of the… Chapter 34 annual dinners at which Bufalino has been honored,” the report noted.

“An ad appeared in the 1978 IACRL Booklet which read ‘Your Irish Friend…Frank Sheeran.’ There was also a full-page ad for Local 326. Two ads were dedicated to Bufalino and Sheeran together.” A civil rights league organized by mobsters to defend the rights of Italian-Americans victimized by stereotyping is, in itself, a stereotype. More to the point, it is an example of how the mob usurps the power and prestige of legitimate organizations to advance its own agenda. Taking over labor unions is another, more egregious and, some might argue, ongoing example. Sheeran was a labor racketeer. So was Jimmy Hoffa. Both made deals with the mob to line their own pockets. In The Irishman, Scorsese uses the betrayal and murder of Hoffa as the basis for a story about aging gangsters looking back on their lives. Is there regret and remorse? That’s the ultimate question in a movie that marks the culmination of Scorsese’s lengthy and celebrated cinematic portrayal of organized crime. And it’s one worth asking. Even if Frank Sheeran didn’t pump those two bullets into the back of Jimmy Hoffa’s head. n

DEI LYNAM

_______________________________________________________________________________ ___

Photo Patrick Tewey

Owning It: Princeton Star Bella Alarie

HEN WE THINK IVY LEAGUE, we think of world-class academic institutions. Bella Alarie and her Princeton University basketball teammates are trying to expand that line of thinking. “Going into the summer, we had the tag line Make History, and I think we are doing that,” Alarie said recently after her team improved to 24-1 with a win over Yale. “It’s been fun to put Princeton on the map, not just as a nerdy academic school, but also as a basketball powerhouse. The basketball has exceeded my expectations.” The 6’4” Alarie is in her fourth and final season playing for the Tigers. She is the reigning two-time Ivy League Player of the Year and well on her way to stretching that streak to three. Currently, she is averaging 18 points and 8.5 rebounds. She has a school-record with 242 career blocks. She shoots 49 percent from the field, 38 percent from three-point range, and 77 percent from the foul line. Her game is

Alarie is predicted to be a mid-first-round [WNBA] selection. She would be a second-generation Alarie selected in the first round, with her father taken No. 18 by the Washington Bullets in the 1986 NBA draft. well-rounded because she has worked hard to make it so. She studies WNBA players’ games that mirror her skill set in hopes of following in their footsteps. “My role model is Elena Delle Donne for sure,” Alarie said of the Washington Mystics star. Of comparisons with Delle Donne, she says, “I hear that a lot. I think Brianna Stewart is a great player to look up to. She has the range, and she plays long, so I hear that as well. And then someone I have been watching is Emma Meeseman. She is a player with a great European skillset, plays smart, and does it all. I admire those players and model my game after them.” In current 2020 WNBA mock drafts, Alarie is predicted to be a mid-first-round selection, somewhere between 10 and 14. She would be a second-generation Alarie selected in the

first round, with her father taken No. 18 by the Washington Bullets in the 1986 NBA draft after a successful college career playing at Duke. Mark Alarie participated in 325 career NBA games. “He’s my biggest role model,” Alarie said. “To be both first-round picks would be awesome, but I never compare myself to him too much. People sometimes ask me why I didn’t go to Duke, and I tell them I want to write my own story separate from my father’s. He was an incredible player, but my journey has been different than his.” Alarie’s parents are fixtures at Jadwyn Gymnasium for Princeton home games. For many of us, hindsight is 20/20, but the elder Alarie knew four years ago his daughter was in for a life-altering experience choosing Princeton

University for her undergraduate studies. “This is such a great institution,” Mark Alarie said. “Put basketball aside. For a parent, to have your child go to a great Ivy League school; there are other great schools that are terrific academically that are not Ivy League. Duke is one. But when we knew this is where she wanted to come, we felt very fortunate they wanted her.” Alarie continued, sharing a story about his alma mater with relation to his daughter. “She was not as heavily recruited as she should have been,” he said. “She is a late bloomer. Duke was not interested. We tried to get her recruited there, among other schools. She was No. 93 on the ESPN list of the 100 best high school players. She was way down the list, but that’s ok. It’s a marathon, and there is still a long way for her to develop and grow. “She chose her own high school. It was not a basketball powerhouse, but it was where she wanted to go. She got recruited other places but said no. She will do well because she will own it.” ELLA ALARIE’S JOURNEY has included multiple experiences participating with USA basketball. In 2017 she was a member of the silver-medal winning team at the FIBA U19 World Cup. This past summer, she participated in the Pan American Games, where the women’s team won silver again. “When I play for USA basketball, my role changes every summer,” Alarie explained. “It is important to build on those skills and do the best you can at what you are good at, especially with USA basketball because everyone is so talented on those teams, and you really do need to be a role player. Being able to play for such amazing coaches and getting their insights and being able to spend the summer playing basketball is so valuable.” Bella Alarie’s professional basketball future is bright, but she has a final chapter at Princeton she would like to write. The Tigers have been to the NCAA tournament eight times in the school’s history; they have only won one NCAA tournament game. Alarie and her teammates want to add to that first-round win total. For many reasons, including having the nation’s No.1 scoring defense, Alarie believes the Tigers’ time is now to advance to the second round or further. “I have felt the heartbreak of getting blown out in the first round, and then losing a really close game,” Alarie recalled. “Now I have one more chance. We are fully prepared to make it to the tournament, give it everything we have, and I think we have all the tools and preparation to win a game or more. Make History, #whynot.” n

GET FIT

For more guidance, follow Alexandra, NASM Certified Personal Trainer on Instagram at @TipsfromAFitChick

______________________________________________________________________________________________ BY ALEXANDRA DUNEK

Instagram Inspiration

N OUR PREVIOUS ISSUE, I gave some simple health tips in light of the new year. I hope they were solid reminders for those of you seeking lifestyle improvements. Now that we are a few months into 2020, I figured I would keep the motivation going. Figuring out how to progress in your health journey can be really overwhelming for most people. We all know the pillars: eat nutritious food, prioritize exercise and drink plenty of water, but some of us get lost when putting pen to paper. Here are some common questions: “What types of food should I be eating?” “What kind of exercises are the most beneficial, and how do I perform them?” “How much cardio should I do?” “Is it ok to eat bread?” “Should I cut sugar out of my diet?” Trust me, I’ve thought these very same questions and went through years of trial and error. I’ve worked with countless coaches, watched hours of exercise videos on YouTube, studied to become a personal trainer and attempted just about every diet approach under the sun. Many people feel like the only option in order to achieve results is to hire a coach. While a coach can be a great fit, social media can also be

Sohee Lee, @soheefit Sohee is a published author and coach who runs, “Eat Lift Thrive”, an online coaching company (which also happens to be the title of her book.) She shares a little bit of everything, from proper lifting techniques to nutrition tips. I highly recommend reading her book if you are a beginner!

an extremely powerful resource. There are many experts with degrees and qualifications that provide free, science-based content, accessible to everyone. I thought it would be motivating to share some of the popular Instagram pages that have helped me along the way. I know for a fact they will help you too. Each of them also offers their own coaching services if you rather have more detailed help. Do you have any favorite influencers to share with me? Let me know on my Instagram page, @TipsFromAFitChick!

Dr. Spencer Nadolsky, @drnadolsky

Marci Nevin, @marcinevin

Dr. Spencer Nadolsky is known as “The Doc Who Lifts”. He’s an Obesity/Lipid Specialist and Chief Physician for Renaissance Periodization (an online diet and training company - @rpstrength). His posts have a way of making you laugh while putting things in perspective.

Marci is a health coach and to quote her bio, “I help women overcome the all or nothing mindset and achieve lasting fat loss.” Men can also benefit from her quality posts.

Amber Orton/Fokken, @mishkadawn + @holisticado Carter Good, @cartergood

Jordan Syatt, @syattfitness

Carter calls himself a “Fat Loss Coach.” It’s his area of expertise for a good reason: He lost over 100lbs and has maintained his results ever since. He shares a lot of info on nutrition directed towards fat loss and how to maintain a healthy mindset and relationship with food.

A few people, like me, originally knew Jordan from being Gary Vaynerchuk’s (aka Gary Vee) personal trainer. He has since then grown his following by sharing helpful videos, tips and just being authentically himself.

I always look forward to Amber’s posts because she shares many aspects of her life. You’ll find at-home workouts, plant-based/ vegan/dairy-free meals and brands, nontoxic product recommendations and tips on holistic health. I always learn something new from her. Hippie Eats is her first plantbased cookbook.

PROFILE

Harry Donahue hosts the longest running show in the history of NBC Sports Philadelphia

BY MIKE SIELSKI

HARRY DONAHUE WAS SITTING AT THE BAR at a State College hotel in September 2016, nursing a beer, when a surprising thing happened to him. A couple of guys recognized him, but that wasn’t the surprising part. Donahue has been the radio play-by-play voice for Temple football since 1984 and had delivered the day’s sports news for 35 years as an anchor on KYW, and he was in town that weekend to call the Owls’ early-season game against the Nittany Lions. He might have expected to hear a Hey, Harry! from a Temple fan or two who had made the trip to central Pennsylvania. But these two guys at the bar weren’t Temple fans. They were locals, and it was the reason they recognized Donahue that caught his attention and stayed in his memory. “Hey,” one of them said to him, “You’re the guy who does the golf show.” Yes, he is, and if you mention “the golf show” to someone from the Philadelphia area, the likelihood is that the two of you have the same program in mind, Inside Golf, which ranks as one of the great success stories in re26

gional television over the last quarter-century. Having aired for the first time on Jan. 1, 1998, Inside Golf is the longest-running show in the history of NBC Sports Philadelphia (or what used to be Comcast SportsNet), the Delaware Valley’s 24-hour sports network. At a time when companies have been grappling with the question of how to survive and thrive in such a fragmented media world, the program has maintained a firm hold on its demographic: golf aficionados in and around Philadelphia— and a few as far as 200 miles away. “The reach—who’d have thought in Happy Valley you’d get recognized for a golf show on a Penn State football weekend?” said Donahue, who was a frequent panelist on Inside Golf before becoming its host more than a decade ago. “You never know who’s listening or watching or why they’re watching. They’re out there. It’s

the silent … minority? I don’t know.” They’re out there, all right, and they’re loyal. Inside Golf airs four-to-five times a week on NBCSP, though its primary audience is drawn from its slot on Sundays at 10 a.m., and Ken Selinger, the show’s executive producer, estimated that the show reaches 75,000 to 100,000 households each week. It hasn’t changed much since its debut, despite the changes around it, and that consistency has allowed it to stay relevant. “We usually have people who are passionate about the game, and that really helps,” Selinger said. “You’re not going to watch it and hear ridiculous things that make no sense at all. It looks good on the air. It’s not just slopped together, and people don’t think they’re wasting their time. We keep it fresh.” That mission is more challenging these days

“

I go back to the philosophy of my early days of broadcasting. Your audience is that guy with the six-pack, sitting there in his shorts… If you can keep that in mind, you’re going to be fine.”

than it was when Selinger began developing the show in 1997. Golf was hot then, an ascending sport. Tiger Woods won his first Masters. Phil Mickelson was on the come, having won the Phoenix Open and the Byron Nelson Classic the year before. Courses were soon popping up all over Philadelphia and its suburbs: Blue Bell Country Club, Turtle Creek in Limerick, Honeybrook Golf Club, others.

THROUGH HIS COMPANY CCI Communications, which he founded in 1982, Selinger had long established himself as a reliable and innovative creator of local sports programming, dating to his years at Philadelphia’s first regional cable channel,

PRISM. In the early 1980s, Selinger and Donahue had collaborated on Temple Sports Now, and later in the decade, Selinger delivered a full-fledged hit—and launched the broadcasting career of longtime WIP morning-show host Angelo Cataldi—with The Great Sports Debate, a roundtable-discussion show featuring sportswriters from The Inquirer and The Daily News. With Comcast SportsNet about to hit the airwaves and golf’s popularity surging, the Philadelphia PGA Section approached Selinger, seeking to capitalize on what it perceived to be the perfect time for a regional golf program. “They wanted to do a show that promoted the local golf professional, not the touring pro,” Selinger said. “So we developed a budget with the section. They owned the show. They controlled the marketing.” That arrangement didn’t last—at least, not

in that form. Hosted originally by Ed Abrams, one of Donahue’s cohorts at KYW, Inside Golf aired first on Saturday nights, then was re-telecast throughout the week. After nine months, the section came back to Selinger. The show hadn’t really taken off yet. On Saturday nights, the program had a problem: Nationally televised tournaments were running into its time slot and siphoning away its audience, and the section was struggling to manage and market the show and to keep costs down. “They said to us, ‘Do you want to take it over?’” Selinger said. He knew the show had a format that could work, particularly a regular segment called “Teed Off,” during which local pros and golf writers discussed and debated golf-related issues and news items. To this day, “Teed Off” serves as Inside Golf’s fulcrum, allowing it to 27

hold on to its core audience while making it accessible to casual golf fans. “You don’t want to gear everything toward just the members of four different private clubs,” said Donahue, the show’s fourth host, succeeding Abrams, Don Cannon, and Ken Adelberger. “I go back to the philosophy of my early days of broadcasting. Your audience is that guy with the six-pack, sitting there in his shorts—maybe even a Sunday morning with a six-pack—and he just wants to hear what’s going on in golf. If you can keep that in mind, you’re going to be fine.”

STRIKING THAT BALANCE was the key, Selinger realized. That would keep the show on the air—that, and getting some steady financial backing. At the time, he had 15 people on staff. With the section agreeing to continue contributing to the show, CCI had the infrastructure to take on handling Inside Golf. It found title sponsors: PECO, Firestone, Susquehanna Bank, Golf Tech. Courses paid to have the program profile them, to have seven minutes of a 22-minute episode devoted to their traditions or amenities or latest renovations. It was

Donahue has hosted Inside Golf for 22 years, bringing golf news and features to the Philadelphia region .

an opportunity to sell themselves and the game. For instance, when Martin Emeno, the director of operations for the Golf Association of Philadelphia, was looking three years ago to expand the association’s reach and visibility within the region, a partnership with In-

side Golf seemed a natural fit. The program has featured the association in each episode ever since, often with Emeno himself making an appearance, and local pros were eager to participate, too. “We knew the show was highly respected within the golfing community,” Emeno said. “It offers a nice variety of pieces. They’re not tournament-focused. They do a fair amount of human-interest pieces, and they have dedicated talent who have been around a while. They get talent that is recognizable. The show’s flow is really good. You don’t get bored with it. Some shows have come and gone, but Ken’s show has remained.” Its staying power has been impressive, considering that the sport hasn’t enjoyed the same cultural penetration that it did when Inside Golf was getting off the ground. Revenue streams dwindled as golf receded in popularity. The staff who work full-time on the show now number three: Selinger, Donahue, and editorproducer Stacey Martin. They handle everything out of CCI’s modest headquarters in a small Malvern office park.

YET THE SHOW KEEPS GOING and going with no signs of stopping, one episode a week, steady as a steam train. When Merion hosted the U.S. Open in 2013, Inside Golf did a series of episodes previewing the tournament, and on the program’s YouTube channel, those episodes drew thousands of views, becoming some of the show’s mostwatched programming. “All of a sudden,” 28

Martin said, “that buzz starts happening on a global sphere. ‘The U.S. Open is at someplace in Philadelphia this year. Let’s Google ‘U.S. Open.’’ And then you find this little show in Philadelphia that’s showing you Merion on a microscopic level. Somehow that show becomes one of our most viewed because we are representing them from a hometown sense.” There will be plenty of opportunities in the years to come for the show to provide the same kind of immersive coverage to big events and expand its already-loyal audience. Merion will host the 2022 Curtis Cup Match and the 2026 U.S. Amateur. Trump National Golf Club, in Bedminster, N.J., will host the 2022 PGA Championship, and after hosting the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship this June, Aronimink Golf Club in Newtown Square will be the site for the 2026 men’s tournament. Chances are, as those events get closer on the calendar, people will be watching Inside Golf. For 22 years, they always have. “I don’t think we had an idea of how good the following was until we had a regular spot on it,” Emeno said. “It seemed like wherever I went, I’d hear, ‘Hey, I saw you on Inside Golf. You don’t know how many people are watching the show until people start talking to you about it.” Its host can relate. n

BY MICHAEL BRADLEY

PHILLY TECH WEEK

Vincent Better

10 TURNS

TEN When Philly Tech Week launched 10 years ago, its mission was to bring people together. “We wanted to convene and connect,” Vincent Better says. A decade later, there is plenty of that going on, so much so that the series of events has ballooned into a city-wide phenomenon that has brought together so many different constituencies that it seems to be “convening and connecting” the whole darn region. “It has grown a lot,” Better says. That’s an understatement. Thanks to the desires of many different organizations to be 30

part of Philly Tech Week, there are now more than 100 separate components to the nineday “week,” and the menu goes well beyond technology to include the arts, gaming and professional development across a variety of professions. For the past five years, Better has been the VP of Technical.ly Media in Philadelphia, which covers the local tech community and stages the event. Technical.ly has offices in Philly, Baltimore, D.C. and Delaware and covers the tech community “from a lot of different angles,” according to Better. “We look at who is emerging, who is getting funding, who is merging and who is clos-

ing,” Better says. “We run the full gamut in the start-up space, but it’s not all tech-related.” That’s true. There is some basic job-search information, as well as tips for small companies looking to hire and retain talent. Local entrepreneurs are highlighted, as are broader business stories, such as the appointing of larger company CEOs, like DuPont’s Ed Breen. Technical.ly was founded in 2009 by a pair of Temple University grads with backgrounds in journalism. Although Better wasn’t present for the genesis of the week, he has seen it grow considerably, to the point where people from all over the country want to benefit from what has become a signature part of the Philadelphia calendar. Although Technical.ly only sponsors four keystones of the week, others

have been eager to join in. “They have been asking how they can be involved,” Better says. “They are forwardthinking and trying to figure out how to align themselves with the mission of what we have going on for this week.” This is not the usual assembling of geeks. Although there is plenty to keep the STEM crowd happy and occupied, Better reports there is plenty for people whose savvy in that area doesn’t extend much beyond proper use of an iPhone. For instance, the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival has decided to get in on the critical mass by moving to May 6-9, after being

held in April or June for several years. Since the Technical.ly-sponsored events will be held in Old City this year—a nod to creating more attention for the 10th anniversary—the Film Festival felt it was a good idea to shift its timing. “They said there was a lot of value around the attention for Philly Tech Week and decided to move the event,” Better says. THE WHOLE THING BEGINS May 1 with the Kickoff Festival. The free event serves as a way to set a lighter tone for the proceedings and includes some interactive activities, food and drink. It’s a bit low-key, but it is a fun way to get the whole thing underway. The event

coincides with the 27th annual First Friday celebration and should serve the dual purpose of allowing Philly Tech Week to gain some broader notice while also adding another layer of interest to First Friday. As Better says, the goal is not just to serve the techies but also to demonstrate the value of creative solutions and advancement across a variety of fields and platforms. While the kickoff is a come-one, come-all affair, the other Technical.ly-sponsored portions of the program require tickets, but they are worth the extra trouble. The first is the Developers Conference on Monday, May 4, from 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. The day of professional growth opportunities is divided into two segments— three, if you count the happy hour. The first is a collection of morning workshops on a 31

variety of different topics that are designed to allow for skill improvement in various applications and languages at all levels. “In the afternoon, there is a series of talks by thought leaders, heads of companies and investors sharing their information,” Better says. “It’s a tremendous classroom environment in the morning and a more open framework in the afternoon.” That relatively loose format

continues Thursday, May 7, at “Introduced by Technical.ly,” which aims to bring people, ideas and opportunities together to build stronger companies. More than 500 entrepreneurs, C-level executives, HR professionals, operations leaders and corporate innovators will gather for a day of presentations, conversations and themed meetings. The day focuses on three key parts of business success: clients, employees and hometowns.

like donning their party clothes with perhaps a cape or a lightsaber. Heck, you can dress up as a stormtrooper, if you want. Technical.ly describes the event as a “cocktail reception meeting an interactive local technology expo.” That sounds pretty interesting. Afterward, revelers can keep things going at the after-party at The Post, which is near Cira Center. “It’s a networking event that has open food and open bar that wraps up the week,” Better says. “There is no program or speaker or panels. It’s just a good, old time. It’s sort of to celebrate the fact that we survived the week.” Although Technical.ly doesn’t directly sponsor the Journey Summit on May 5, Philly Tech Week attendees would be wise to grab a spot at the event to see guest speaker Adam Grant. Grant, who has been the top-rated professor at Penn’s Wharton School for seven consecutive years, is an organizational psychologist and an author whose books have appeared on the

The diversity of events demonstrates just how much Philly Tech Week has grown and become part of the Philadelphia fabric. There is a strong list of speakers, including Josh Kopleman, a founding partner at First Round Capital, a seed-stage technology venture fund, who has been an investor in Internet companies since the early ‘90s; Nick Mosby, a member of Maryland’s House of Delegates; Cerron Cade, Delaware’s Secretary of Labor and someone with plenty of experience aiding businesses; Jamie Sears, Executive Director, Head of Community Affairs and Corporate Responsibility for Americas UBS AG; and Gene Marks, a writer who has authored five books on business management—with an emphasis on small and medium-sized firms—and has contributed to The New York Times, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Forbes and Inc. He has also appeared on MSNBC and Fox News. “We want to allow people to meet others and gain ideas that will help them build better companies for employees, clients and the community at large,” Better says. “It’s a user conference for people who are interdependent in the community who want to learn more and connect with each other so that they can scale their businesses.” Technical.ly closes things out Friday, May 8 with Philly’s Nerd Met Gala at Cira Green in University City. It’s a celebration for those who have participated—and anybody else who feels 32

New York Times bestseller’s list and have sold more than two million copies. He will discuss management strategies that can lead to greater productivity and more professional and personal fulfillment. There are plenty of other interesting events throughout the week, including the Data Competition on May 1-2, sponsored by PhillyTalent, that will bring together contestants who will vie for 18 hours to win prizes in modeling and AI-powered apps. On Tuesday, May 5, Deafinitely Philly will aim to promote diversity in the workforce by bringing together employees and those with hearing deficiencies. And on Saturday, May 9, dozens of brave competitors will take part in the 15th Kensington Derby and Arts Festival, which features a three-mile course that features a variety of obstacles and other challenges. There are also food trucks, art demonstrations and inventors that combine to make this a true urban pageant. The diversity of events demonstrates just how much Philly Tech Week has grown and become part of the Philadelphia fabric. “People have a much better understanding of the impact tech has,” Better says. “Some people think it’s just about bytes and bits and zeroes and ones. There is wider-ranging content, and the events [in Philly Tech Week] represent that.” n

SPORTS GUYS

Schweim Time Diehard Philly sports fan Billy Schweim has found his niche in sports radio

B Billy Schweim has had

a lot of jobs in his career, but only one of them hasn’t seemed like work.

BY SAM CARCHIDI 34

That would be his current gig as a sports-talk show host on ESPN 97.3 FM. His Saturday and Sunday radio show—The Locker Room with Billy Schweim—has become popular with South Jersey listeners. “I love to be able to talk sports since I can’t play anymore because I’m fat and old,” he kidded before laughing heartily in a recent interview. “This is, far and away, the favorite job I’ve ever had.” Schweim, 58, is a diehard Philadelphia sports fan who happens to have his own radio show that dissects the ups and downs of the local teams. He is more than a talk-show host, however. He lines up the guests, sells advertising for his shows, and schedules places to host remotes during the Eagles’ season.

Former Philadelphia Eagle and current JerseyMan Magazine publisher Ken Dunek, far right, is a frequent guest on The Locker Room with Billy Schweim

Photos courtesy Billy Schweim

SCHWEIM DOES IT ALL WITH THE BOUNDLESS ENERGY of someone half his age. “I love the challenge of going out and getting exciting guests,” he said. “I love making people laugh and entertaining people with sports. I don’t take myself too seriously and think I know everything like a lot of talking heads do.” His goal, he said, is to bring fans “the lighter side of sports. I’m a big Eagles, Flyers, Sixers, and Phillies fan, and I try to bring that passion to the radio.” Sometimes he does his shows with his twin brother, Bobby, as his radio co-host. Lately, with Bobby busy with HIS twin sons and his job as a pilot for Amazon, Scotty McKay has been an almost-regular co-host, and former Eagle Ken Dunek, the publisher of JerseyMan and PhilllyMan Magazines frequently joins him on remotes before Eagles games. “My brother and I used to argue a lot [on the air] and people thought it was funny,” Schweim said. “But his job has kind of taken him away from participating, and his twin boys have a lot of activities on the weekends and he likes to hang out with them.” The brothers’ back-and-forth dialogue became a big hit with listeners. “It’s like listening to two brothers going back to their childhood and arguing,” said Pete Thompson, who also does a sports show on ESPN 97.3 FM. “Billy will get passionate about something—say it’s the Astros scandal or one of the Philly sports teams—and Bobby will call him an idiot and they go at it. It becomes very entertaining.”

Schweim’s Saturday show airs after a two-hour program hosted by Thompson that is heavily into high school sports. Thompson, a long-time TV and radio personality, is enamored by Schweim’s high energy level. “There are no short answers in Billy Land,” Thompson said. “And his enthusiasm is not fake; that’s what makes him so much fun.”

“

Billy will get passionate about something and Bobby will call him an idiot and they go at it. It becomes very entertaining.”

Bobby (left) and Billy on the air

Schweim and McKay talk mostly about the Philly pro teams and sprinkle in some conversation about the collegiate ranks. “I try to pride myself on getting athletes from the South Jersey area who have made it,” he said, adding some of his guests have included former local stars who have reached the NFL, including Phil Costa, Isaac Redman, Mike Rozier, Kevin Ross and Dwight Hicks, The ESPN 97.3 FM studio is located in Northfield and the 50,000-watt station has a 50-mile radius, making it available from Atlantic City to Deptford and reaching Delaware and Toms River. Schweim, a Collingswood, NJ resident who lives in Ocean City in the summers, didn’t get into the radio business until he was almost 50. He says he wishes he did it sooner, but life took him on a different path.

AFTER GRADUATING FROM COLLINGSWOOD HIGH in 1980, Schweim and his twin brother attended Lees-McRae College in North Carolina, where they both played football under assistant Paul Johnson, who later coached at Navy and Georgia Tech. Billy was the quarterback, Bobby was a defensive back. At 23, Billy took a job with USAir, loading and unloading planes at Philadelphia International Airport. “It was like I died and went to heaven,” he said. “The money was good, and you worked four flights a day.” It was a carefree time in Schweim’s life. He was sporting a mullet, playing in an airline hockey league, hanging out with ex-Flyers, and making good money. “And I traveled for free,” he said, noting a perk for working for USAir. “It was a great time.” It was the start of a long career with the airline. Looking back, he has a tinge of regret. 36

“I wish I was a little more motivated and got involved in radio at a younger age,” he said. From 1985 to 2008 he worked at US Airways. The physical job took a toll on him: five herniated disks, spinal stenosis, and damage to his right elbow that required surgery. The injuries forced him to leave US Air in 2008. “I had to reinvent myself,” he said. Schweim became a teacher’s aide at Bankbridge School in Sewell, NJ. He also went back to college to get his history degree and pursue teaching. While attending Rutgers-Camden, he took a journalism class and enjoyed it. When he was required to take an internship, he called Chuck Betson, a veteran sports-talk host at WOND in Linwood, NJ. Schweim interned at the station and sometimes filled in for Betson. Schweim, who can chat sports with the best of them, felt like he had found his niche. “I got the fever for radio,” he said. When his internship ended, there were no openings, but his wife, Toni, pushed him to stay the course. “If it wasn’t for her, I probably wouldn’t have ever taken the chance,” he said. “She encouraged me to get my own show. I said, ‘Who’s going to take me?’ ” He kept taking classes at Rutgers and in 2013, at age 49, he graduated. At around the same time, he pitched a show to WIBG in Ocean City. The Locker Room with Billy Schweim was born. “I worked hard to get guests through people I knew and through networking,” Schweim said. “I had Dick Vermeil, Aaron McKie, Craig Berube, Phil Martelli, Jeff Francoeur.” Nearly two years later, in May of 2015, he went to ESPN (97.3 FM). “They heard my show and liked it and thought I’d be a good fit,” said Schweim, who has two daughters, Alyza Grace and Andrea, and three

grandsons. That became his passion, but it didn’t pay all the bills, so he took a job as a social studies teacher at Pennsauken Tech, a position he held for three years. Now he’s back to one job: The Locker Room with Billy Schweim can be heard on Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to noon. On his Feb. 29 show, his guests included Mike Eruzione, the 1980 U.S. hockey Olympic hero, and Schweim can often be found cheering on the Eagles in the stands at the Linc. Randy Lerch, the former Phillies pitcher who wrote a book, God in the Bullpen, about how God helped his struggle with drug and alcohol addiction. Do not be misled by Schweim’s “four-hour” work week—that is, the amount of time he’s on the air. Schweim’s week is full. He sells advertising for his shows, books guests, does extensive research and writes scripts for his air time. And more. “I have to do it all, from soup to nuts,” he said. It’s not an extravagant business, he said, but he is doing something he loves. Schweim also has a website (www.thelockerroombillyschweim. com), a YouTube channel, and a podcast on Spotify. “I don’t get rich off of it,” he said, but he wasn’t complaining. “I obviously started late in life. On May 9, I’ll be starting my sixth year, so I must be doing something right.” n

Phillies Manager

Joe Girardi

The

New Old School 40

BY RICH WESTCOTT

It didn’t take long for Joe Girardi to earn a special place in Phillies history. As soon as he was hired last fall, his name became etched among the team’s most notable managers. Just one of the Phillies’ 55 managers ever came to the team with more experience as a major league skipper than the 55-year-old Girardi. His 11 years as a pilot are topped only by Bucky Harris, who led teams for 19 years before joining the Phillies in 1943. Ironically, Harris was fired by the Phillies in mid-season that year after constant battles with team president William Cox, who soon thereafter was banned for life from baseball for betting on his team. Harris, who had piloted the Washington Senators to their first World Series victory in 1924, eventually served as a big-league manager for 29 years with another World Series champion coming in 1947 with the New York Yankees. When he came to the Phillies in 1952, Steve O’Neill also had 11 years of managerial experience, including a World Series winner in 1945 with the Detroit Tigers. Nobody else

JOE

MANAGE

GIRARDI who has guided the Phillies during their 137 years in the National League comes close to that figure. Moreover, Girardi is the first Phils strategist in nearly three decades to come hereafter previously managing in the majors for more than two seasons. Jim Fregosi was the last one to hit that level when he came to Philadelphia in 1991 with four full and parts of two other years’ experience in a big-league dugout. Girardi, whose career record of 988-794 was earned with the Yankees (2008-2017) and Miami Marlins (2006), has one World Series victory as a manager. Of course, that has a place in Phillies history, too, because it came in 2009 when the Yankees beat the Phils, thus preventing them from winning two straight World Series titles. A big-league catcher for 15 years, Girardi comes to town as the eighth backstop who has managed the Phillies. He joins Jack Clements (1890), Chief Zimmer (1903), Red Dooin (1910-14), Pat Moran (1915-18), Jim-

PHILLIES

mie Wilson (1934-38), O’Neill (1952-54), and Pat Corrales (1982-83). In addition to that, only five people who managed the Phillies for more than two full seasons appeared in more games as a player than Girardi. The list includes Fregosi and Wilson (both 18), O’Neil and Hugh Duffy (both 17), and Larry Bowa (16).

GIRARDI WAS DRAFTED in the fifth round in 1986 by the Chicago Cubs, and spent time in the majors with the Cubs (twice), Colorado Rockies, Yankees, and St. Louis Cardinals. He played for three World Series winners while compiling a career batting average of .267 with 36 home runs and 422 RBI. He also caught a no-hitter by Dwight Gooden and a perfect game by David Cone. In another piece of irony, Girardi made his 41

Photo Joe Townsend

“I’m well aware of the passion of baseball fans here. This is a special place.”

Girardi speaking at the Philadelphia Sports Writers Association banquet.

big-league debut in 1989 against the Phillies on opening day at Wrigley Field. In his first at-bat, he got his first major league hit when he singled off of Floyd Youmans early in the Cubs 5-4 victory. Later, his first road game was played at Veterans Stadium where he singled off of Bruce Ruffin in his first at-bat. Put these accomplishments together, and

the Peoria, Illinois native not only has his name already lodged on the pages of Phillies history, but he inherits a club that is badly in need of a well-accomplished manager who knows how to build a winner. Girardi, who beat several other high-level managers for the job, certainly has that on his resume, too. It won’t be easy, but Girardi is ready for the challenge. “I’m a manager who really cares,” he said. “I care about everyone involved here. I want to win. That’s why I came here.” As the 2020 season approaches, he has to put together what would hopefully be an effective starting rotation that initially included only Aaron Nola and newcomer Zack Wheeler, and a bullpen that is loaded with uncertainty. He also has to decide who plays where in the infield. And he has to put together a suitable outfield, much of which depends on the full recovery of Andrew McCutchen from last year’s knee injury. Of course, the Phillies’ bench is also an enigma that has to be solved. Girardi is the kind of manager who spends long hours trying to develop solutions for such problems. It helps that he has a positive attitude. Along with that, he is intelligent, intense, enthusiastic, aggressive, focused, and

tenacious. And he’s the kind of guy who will not relax one bit if the team turns into a loser or there’s any kind of problem among the uniformed participants. “I can’t wait to see the work the men in the Phillies uniform will do this season,” Girardi said before spring training began. “I’m excited about this whole team. To be successful, my job is to keep everybody healthy, to stay out of the way, and to put them in the right positions. “Part of that is finding where players are the most comfortable, and also where it’s most advantageous for us. That’s a combination that you have to weigh so you get the most out of the player and your team.”

THAT WASN’T WHAT HAPPENED with Girardi’s three immediate predecessors (Ryne Sandberg, Pete Mackanin, and Gabe Kapler). All had losing records as Phillies managers with none lasting as much as three full seasons. The Phillies’ last winning season came

in 2011 under Charlie Manuel, the winningest manager in club history and the skipper of the second of only two Phillies clubs that won a World Series. Girardi takes the helm while being many miles away from Manuelâ€™s 780 Phillies wins. But he has another chance to put his name among noteworthy Phillies managers if he can rebuild the club and lead it to some successful seasons. In Phillies history, only nine skippers have posted winning records while leading the team for three or more years. Hereâ€™s one other Girardi footnote: Never before have the Phillies had a manager with the common name of Joe. And the team has had only one other pilot (Dallas Green) whose last name started with G. As a graduate of Northwestern University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree while majoring in industrial engineering, Girardi will hopefully not be one of those analytic freaks who guides his team based on creepy numbers. These people ignore the fact that the basic elements of baseball are hit, run, field, and throw, and what really counts among players is their ability, guts, knowledge of the game, hustle, enthusiasm, tenacity and various other physical and mental characteristics. And yes, won-lost records for pitchers and batting averages for hitters do matter, despite the current trend to ignore

such statistics. Based on his winter appearances, it seems likely that Girardi is not caught up in the numbers rubbish. “I’m a manager who really cares about everyone involved here,” he said. “I want to be around people who are passionate and who want to play hard and win.” As he already knew, ‘passionate’ is a key word in the description of Philadelphia sports fans, and, in what matters most to him, among Phillies fans. He looks forward to the Citizens Bank Park attendees playing a major role in helping his team out of the doldrums of recent seasons. “I’m well aware of the passion of baseball fans here,” he said. “This is a special place, and I know the importance of winning here. The fans are the ones who push us every day to be great. They’re the ones who demand excellence from us.”

PHILLIES PLAYERS ARE ALSO PASSIONATE about having the chance to play under Girardi. One of those who expressed this feeling was J.T. Realmuto, who has often been described as the best catcher in baseball. “I’m really excited about playing for him,” said Realmuto, who came to the Phillies in the winter of 2018 in a trade with the Marlins. “He’s got a lot of feel. He knows exactly what he wants to do as manager. He has a lot of confidence, and he’ll be able to instill that confidence in us.” And if that’s the case, the 2020 season has the potential to be the time when the Phillies start to rejoin the elite teams of the National League after an absence of nearly one decade. It could also add substance to Girardi’s place among the Phillies most notable managers. n

THUNDER ON THE RIVER BY MARK ECKEL

The Double-A Trenton Thunder baseball club begins their 27th season on the banks of the Delaware River

Joe Caruso, just as everyone else associated with the beginnings of the Trenton Thunder, remembers April 27, 1994.

And not so fondly. That was the night the Thunder was supposed to play its first-ever home game at beautiful brand-new Waterfront Park, a $17 million facility in New Jersey’s capital city with a great view of the Delaware River. In the visitor’s dugout that night was the Albany Yankees and a 21-year-old shortstop named Derek Jeter. The game wasn’t played. Trenton’s field wasn’t ready, wasn’t safe, and Yankees manager Bill Evers refused to allow his team to play on it. The back page headline on one of the two daily newspapers that covered the team blared “Field of Seams’’. Fond memories indeed.

This year the Thunder begins its 27th season in Trenton as the AA affiliate of those same Yankees. Caruso, and his long-time partners as Thunder owners Joe Finley and Joe Plumeri, can laugh now about what happened in 1994. When you’ve entertained your 10 millionth fan, as the Thunder did in 2019, it’s easy to smile—which is what Caruso wants all those fans to do as well. “To think we hit 10 million fans last year that was never on our radar screen in 1994,’’ Caruso said. “That first year was a challenge. We weren’t even thinking about where we would be in 20 years, we were thinking we better make sure we make it through the first year.’’ They more than made it. The Thunder has become as much as part of Trenton as a pork roll sandwich, which of course you can get at the game, the Battle Monument or the Old Barracks. Where other minor league sports franchises have tried, the Thunder has succeeded beyond anyone’s expectations. “When we first started everyone said, ‘Baseball will never work in Trenton,’ etc., etc.,’’ Caruso said. But, as Caruso is quick to point out, the Thunder is more than a Double-A baseball

game, much more. “We’re an entertainment experience with a baseball game going on, but not everyone comes for a baseball game,’’ Caruso said. “It’s a social gathering. It’s team-building for office managers. It’s also a diverse food, beverage and dessert experience. People come out, have a good time and walk away smiling at something. We create smiles.’’

THE ENTERTAINMENT VALUE Pessimists who didn’t think minor league baseball would survive in Trenton pointed out the fact it was an easy drive to Philadelphia to see the Phillies and the Yankees weren’t that far away, either. Why go see AA ball when the big leaguers were so close? “We had a different view,’’ Caruso said. “We did our due diligence and ran around to different stadiums and saw what they were doing.’’ What they saw and what they did was give the fans more than a baseball game. They got the fans involved with on-field activities, giveaways, and different themes almost every night. The competition wasn’t the Phillies nor

the Yankees, but a night out for dinner and a movie. “People who come for the first time are pretty wowed,’’ Caruso said. “The field is beautiful. The stadium is beautiful. We have a pretty high wow factor. And we always try to make it better.’’ That task falls on the team’s front office led by general manager Jeff Hurley, who begins his 17th year with the Thunder and fifth as the GM. In 2018 he was named Minor League Baseball’s General Manager of the Year. “Big part of our offseason, people ask, ‘What do we do during the offseason?’ A big part of it is spent putting together our promotional calendar and in-game entertainment,’’ Hurley said “We do have to keep our show fresh. There are fans who come once or twice a year, but there are also fans who come to 3040 games a year. We don’t want them seeing the same things over and over.’’ Some of what is on tap for the 2020 season are weekly promotions, or some weeks, even more: fireworks night, Dollar Dogs ($1 hot dogs), Thirsty Thursday ($2 beers) and the FanCam, which debuted during the 2019 season. Also in 2020 will be more bobblehead nights—and to show the entertainment/base-

Waterfront Park, home of the Trenton Thunder

ball balance there will be an Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres bobblehead to honor the two Yankee stars and three bobblehead nights with Marvel Superhero characters. In April actor Leslie David Baker (Stanley from The Office) will be on hand for a game. And in June the team will have a Top Gun Series in reference to the opening of the movie Top Gun 2. “When you purchase a Thunder ticket you know you’re getting good value.’’

FOOD AND BEVERAGE If you’re competing with “dinner and movie’’ you better make sure you have good food and a diverse menu. The Thunder saw to that. “We’re followed by these food bloggers who love what we do,’’ Caruso said. “And we have healthy alternatives food choices too. We have Horizon (healthcare services) involved to provide a healthy menu.’’ But there is also your classic ballpark food and some with a twist you have never seen. One of the team’s sponsors is the aforementioned Case Pork Roll, another Trenton institution. Friday nights the team switches uniforms to become the Trenton Pork Roll. And available at the Case stand on the first-

The Thunder’s “bat dog,” Rookie, returns a bat to the dugout.

base side is a sandwich called the “Sticky Pig’’ which consists of a thick slice of Case Pork Roll, egg and cheese, with bacon and red pepper jam on a glazed doughnut. It’s only a rumor the team is looking for a local cardiologist to sponsor the sandwich. “Those sell like crazy,’’ Hurley said. “People love them.’’ People, especially people out at a ballgame,

like beer. And the Thunder has 62 taps throughout the ballpark. Everything from your traditional lagers to an assortment of local and national craft beers as diverse as any stadium anywhere. New in 2020, thanks to Hurley and his staff, is White Claw Thunder Dugout seats. For $45, a customer gets a front-row seat atop the Thunder dugout, a two-hour “all you can eat’’ session at the food stands, waiter/wait-

ress service during the game, and if he/she is over 21, one White Claw. “We just introduced that [in February] and the response has been great,’’ Hurley said.

ON THE FIELD SUCCESS Last summer the Thunder won their fourth Eastern League title following the championship teams of 2007, 2008 and 2013. What started as the Detroit Tigers affiliate and then became the Boston Red Sox before the Yankees took over in 2003, the Thunder has made the postseason 20 times over those 26 years. “The Yankees have a great farm system and we’ve been fortunate to be a part of that with some really good teams,’’ Hurley said. On the current Yankees team, which is the favorite to win the American League, are nine players who played for the Thunder— Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, Aaron Hicks, Miguel Andujar, Gary Sanchez, Clint Frazier, Luis Severino, Jordan Montgomery, and Jonathan Loaisiga. “We don’t want to downplay the baseball, because we are a baseball team,’’ Hurley said. “We want to entertain our fans. We want them to leave remembering not just the game, but

the great time they had.’’ And they remember the players when they turn on their TVs and see them playing in the Major Leagues. From those three Thunder organizations, 376 players and coaches have gone onto the Majors. And so have two announcers Tom McCarthy, the Phillies play-by-play man and Andy Freed, the Tampa Bay Rays play-by-play man. “It’s a perfect place to launch a career,’’ Caruso said.

COMMUNITY The Thunder doesn’t just draw from the city of Trenton or the county of Mercer, but as far as Cherry Hill in South Jersey; Somerset in Northern Central Jersey and across the Delaware in Bucks County and Northeast Philadelphia. “Our market area in New Jersey and Philadelphia has choices. They can go to the beach, they can go to the Poconos. They can go to AC. We needed to be an entertainment destination,’’ Caruso said. They have also become ingrained in the area. The latest endeavor is having the players go out to area schools and speak out against bullying. “The thing we like doing is giving back,’’

“

It’s about America, it’s about fun, and it’s about good feeling and family.”

Caruso said. “We’ve had our foundation, the Grand Slam Foundation for 25 years. Our ownership group has given $7.5 million back into the community. “This year we’ve partnered with NJEA and others for an anti-bullying campaign. We have players visiting schools to say this bullying isn’t cool.’’ What is cool is how the Thunder, from a crazy night in 1994 where a game wasn’t played, has captured so many fans. “They come for different reasons, but they all come for the same fundamental reason of just something simple, not complicated, simple,’’ Caruso said. “It’s about America, it’s about fun, and it’s about good feeling and family.’’ n

Photos courtesy Edify

Children at a school in Sierra Leone, Africa.

Edify Finds a Way Elevating Education for Children in Developing Countries

bout five years ago, when Doug MacGray

of Wilmington, Del. returned from a family vacation in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, he began to wonder if there might be something meaningful he could do to give back to the country.

BY JAN L. APPLE 50

A certified financial planner, non-practicing attorney and president of Stonecrop Wealth Advisors, LLC in Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, MacGray sends a weekly e-mail to clients, professional contacts, friends and family. “I always like to include something personal in these e-mails,” explained MacGray, who,

upon his return, mentioned the vacation and thoughts about the Dominican Republic. The following day, a longtime friend and attorney, David Wilks, contacted him about Edify. Wilks, who had read the e-mail, explained to MacGray that Edify partners with schools in developing countries to provide training,

low-cost loans, education technology and a variety of supportive measures. The Dominican Republic was one of these countries. Soon after, he, Wilks and five other men formed a Delaware Valley group to provide support to this global non-profit. (Today, that group of financial partners—still growing—consists of about a dozen men and women). About a year after that initial meeting, the men traveled to the Dominican Republic to see firsthand the impact of Edify’s efforts. Edify’s model is unique in multiple ways, including the fact that financial partners do much more than donate funds. They are integral to the success story, working one-on-one with school leaders and teachers, interacting with parents and students. The group visited several schools and met with owners. “It was a life-changing event,” said MacGray. “Going to some of these incredibly poor areas and seeing these awesome schools doing so much in these tiny little spaces.” Many of the schools have little or no electricity; most don’t have Internet access. In one instance, they met the parents of a teacher who wanted to start a school. The parents donated their house so it could be used as a school. “That’s how dedicated some of these people are,” said MacGray. “It blows you away how much they do with so little.”

(L- R) Tiger Dawson (Edify CEO and Co-Founder) and Chris Crane (Edify Board Chair and Co-Founder).

“In response to that, there are some amazing local people—moms and dads, pastors, educators, community workers—that start low-fee, Christ-centered schools.” Class sizes average about 35 students compared to 75 to 100 in public schools. Edify is a Christian organization, explained King, yet children of all faiths attend the schools. “In a lot of these countries, poverty exists in part due to corruption, dishonesty and hate,” he said. Edify elevates the quality of education and helps schools to

“ G lobally, in the developing world, there is an extreme lack of quality education being provided by the local government.” – Ryan King, Edify Director of Edification and Philanthropy

Edify’s Global Reach According to Ryan King, Edify’s director of edification and philanthropy, since the organization was founded in 2009, they have partnered with 5,187 schools in 11 countries and reached 1.4 million children, kindergarten through 8th-grade. Edify employs a staff of about 75 worldwide; 25 are in the United States at a variety of locations. Each country has an office and staff. The U.S. office is in San Diego where King works. “Globally, in the developing world, there is an extreme lack of quality education being provided by the local government,” said King.

become self-sustaining. Through microfinance (low-cost loans), he explained, small business loans of under $1,000 have helped families start schools. “Edify is part of a global education revolution causing incredible transformation and shattering cycles of poverty in incredibly impoverished communities,” said King. The low-fee, independent schools are strengthened by Edify’s business and curriculum training, low-cost loans and education technology integration. King described what is meant by “Christcentered” partner schools: “Our hope is to impart character, honesty, integrity and love.”

Co-Founders Were Inspired Edify’s beginnings were hatched over a decade ago when Chris Crane, board chair and co-founder, attended a John Templeton Foundation conference where author James Tooley talked about his book, “The Beautiful Tree: A Personal Journey into How the World’s Poorest People Are Educating Themselves.” Tooley described his seven-year journey discovering low-fee schools in developing countries and underscored the impact of microfinance. Crane was so inspired, that he and Tiger Dawson, CEO and co-founder, decided to utilize their microfinance backgrounds to make a global impact. Their efforts began in the Dominican Republic and Ghana, where they met with microfinance companies, training organizations, ministers of education and low-fee Christcentered schools. Country by country, the organization grew. The model, explained King, has proven uplifting for children, proprietors, parents and teachers. Amy Hulst, an Edify content writer, noted that in the developing world, the majority of teachers don’t have more than an 8th-grade education. There are no requirements or educational standards like those in the United States. And the dropout rate is high for children; most don’t make it to middle school. “Edify helps train the teachers,” said Hulst. “We improve their knowledge of learning how to teach.” Pam Hackett, a pediatric physical therapist and co-founder/managing partner of Pediatric Therapeutic Services Inc. (PTS) of Con51

Photo courtesy Edify

shohocken, has partnered with Edify for five years. She has traveled to the Dominican Republic and Guatemala and trained hundreds of teachers on strategies to support children with special needs. Training encompasses alternative instructional strategies and practical skills utilizing pediatric therapies: physical, occupational, speech and behavioral. In some cases, training may be as simple as teaching a teacher how to instruct a child to hold a pencil. But it has made a world of difference and enabled teachers to teach across a range of abilities. PTS serves children with special needs in school systems throughout the Greater Delaware Valley. “Part of the mission of PTS is to empower teachers to better be able to care for children with special needs so they can stay in the regular classrooms,” said Hackett of Media, Pennsylvania. In fact, the company has donated hundreds of in-service training to area schools, PTS clients. So when the opportunity arose to support Edify in countries where pediatric therapists and in most cases, special education services, don’t exist, Hackett felt driven to help. She took the same effective training methods used throughout the Delaware Valley and adapted them to Edify partner schools. She had previously donated training services to schools in

“ I t blows you away how much they do with so little.”

Doug MacGray with students in the Dominican Republic

India for a decade, an extremely rewarding experience. Hackett learned of Edify’s mission through her husband, Nick Hackett, a financial partner in the organization. “They run Edify in a very sustainable way that really honors the local people,” she said, adding that a beautiful part-

nership has evolved as a result of the training. Her passion has caught on. Educators from the region, such as Leigh Ann Ranieri, Ed.D., of the West Chester Area School District, have collaborated with Hackett to design content and strategies for effective special education. Most recently, in January 2020, Hackett trained 100 teachers in Guatemala. Because of the lack of teacher education, she explained that students with special needs are often viewed as problem children. Teachers describe these students as disruptive with behavioral issues and poor performance on tests. “There’s a lot of frustration on the part of the teachers because they have no training in how to recognize a disability,” said Hackett. For example, when they see a child with autism who runs out of the classroom, they perceive him/her as having a behavioral problem. Once they are taught the reasons behind such behavior, perceptions shift. Hackett calls the shift transformational. “They (the teachers) don’t see them as a problem; they see them as a child who has a problem that needs their help,” she said. “Understanding and compassion is the foundation for making real changes in these schools.” Hackett said that many teachers cry at the trainings. Many can’t wait to go back to their classrooms. “Edify has certainly changed my life,” said Hackett. “Some of these schools don’t have plumbing; many have limited electricity. “There’s a whole world out there that needs help. It’s amazing how much you can do even when there are very limited resources.” n Visit www.edify.org for more information.

All Aboard! New Jersey’s Northlandz Railroad Museum holds the world’s largest model train

BY KURT SMITH

aware of Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Art Museum, and the Reading Terminal Market. It wasn’t Parker’s fault, though. The genius behind Northlandz is an excessively modest man, who cared more about creating his art than promoting it. She fondly remembers meeting him. “I was doing the Flemington Information Center. Somebody told me, you’ve got to go see Bruce Williams, he just opened this place called Northlandz. I said, okay, maybe I can promote him. I had a group of businesses that would pay me and I would promote them all

over Flemington. “He actually had me go through it, and I came out and I looked at him and I said, ‘Oh my God, you built this whole place yourself?’” If that story is remarkable, it gets better. This phenomenal exhibit of a hobby taken to an unimaginable extreme was almost decimated. Thankfully, the building fell into the right hands…businessmen with more enthusiasm for putting smiles on faces than for profit. Tariq Sohail, one of the new owners, was equally shocked and amazed in his first visit to Northlandz. He was minding his own busi-

Photos by Kurt Smith

he Northlandz Railroad Museum in Flemington, NJ is in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest model railroad. Bruce Williams Zaccagnino’s creation is now the beneficiary of new ownership, an expensive makeover, and finally, the marketing respect it richly deserves. Julie Parker’s occupation was to tell people about businesses worth visiting in Flemington. And she had never heard of Northlandz. That’s roughly the equivalent of being in charge of Philadelphia tourism, and not being

You could literally spend hours in one spot, watching a toy locomotive charmingly meander through a perfectly scaled-down neighborhood.

ness looking for a storage warehouse, and came upon a large gray building off Route 202 that might work. “We drove past it so many times. I never knew what it was. Our real estate guy said, if you don’t like what’s inside, you can always demolish it.” As Sohail describes his reaction to seeing what was inside, Parker chuckles, as if fully appreciating the astonishment factor. “We started going through the whole tour,” Sohail continues. “We were like, in our life-

time, nobody has ever built something like this. We’ve traveled throughout the world, we’ve never seen anything like this. “So we decided to take a risk and invest into it and promote it.” That they’ve done. Northlandz needed work, to be sure…read reviews from a few years ago and you’ll see a lot about the state of disrepair it was in. Sohail and his partners have thus far poured several hundred thousand dollars into cleaning it up, and the results are nothing short of remarkable.

“There are people that came three or four years ago and they say, we can’t believe the difference,” Parker says proudly. The new ownership has a larger vision for Northlandz too…it includes shuttle buses from New York City, a hotel, a banquet hall, and much more. All revolving around a toy train set. That said, it is one truly amazeballs train set. Northlandz is, simply put for brevity, the world’s largest model railroad, according to the Guinness folks who are experts on such

things. It spans over 45,000 square feet and 16 acres. The walkway just to go through it is over a mile. To give you an idea of just how staggering its size, this observer had taken over a hundred pictures before reaching a sign that reads: “You are now 25% through Northlandz”. Every moment is sheer model railroad wonderment. Huge displays filled with mountains and bridges, offering backdrops to bucolic still life of homes, factories, rivers, and neighborhoods. There’s “Iron Valley”, with its multiple iron bridges gracefully leading through mountain tunnels. There’s “Joycetown,” with churches, homes, and model trucks decorated with staples of American commerce like Kodak, Dollar Tree and Valvoline. There’s a fully detailed city mockup featuring an aircraft carrier. And a display of mountain life with busy railroads throughout that literally occupies three floors of the building. Tunnels? Northlandz features over four hundred of them. On and on and on.

NY ONE OF THESE DISPLAYS could be the highlight of nearly any museum in the country. You could literally spend hours in one spot, watching a toy locomotive charmingly meander through a perfectly scaled-down neighborhood. And this marvel was nearly all built by just one person. Sohail estimates that Zaccagnino spent 1719 hours daily, seven days a week, for close to four years building a miniature world. As one can imagine, he received little to no support from family members…as if spending eight hours a day and five days a week in a cubicle somehow makes more sense. According to Sohail, only Bruce’s wife Jean always supported the venture. You could probably be forgiven for thinking your neighbor was crazy for devoting even sleeping hours to building a model railroad. Then you see the finished work, and you realize crazy people are awesome. “You won’t believe your eyes” is Northlandz’s slogan, and despite seeing it every day… Parker is currently the Northlandz Marketing and PR Director…she repeats those words herself often, with genuine passion that every employee shares. “I just feel it’s magical,” she gushes. “How can somebody have conceived this? It’s incredible. You go through it and you start seeing all these little trains going in the little villages and the different themes and the different venues.” “Everything is built by hand,” Sohail adds. “He told us one of the bridges that he built is 56

Zaccagnino

The Man Who Built It Bruce Williams Zaccagnino got started in the same place most all model railroad enthusiasts do: in his basement. More correctly, in a basement of a house that was being constructed, according to the Northlandz website. The construction workers would leave for the day, and he would build mountains and tracks in his new basement. Like today, nearly everyone who saw his work was quite impressed, to the point where he would open it for the public on weekends. He purchased the land on Route 202 as the popularity grew, and the rest is history. Zaccagnino was no stranger to artistry, incidentally. He made a decent amount of money in the video game industry, including winning several awards as a developer/designer. He was, according to Sohail, quite the accomplished musician as well. “I watched him play the organs that we have over here. I never saw anybody play that well.” But Northlandz was his passion, obviously. To the point where he spent his time building his dream, rather than marketing it. Sohail compliments his modesty but expresses regret that his people didn’t meet him sooner. “We would have promoted this throughout the world,” he says. “He’s been interviewed with CNN and Fox, all the major, you know, and he never made a big deal out of that. He’s in the Guinness world records, this place, and he never even promoted that fact. We saw the certificate, it’s sitting on the exhibit and anybody could take it.” “Bruce didn’t really advertise; he let itself advertise,” says Ken Vogel. “The point was, it was a guy who had a dream about building a great layout and actually pulled it off. The dream is accomplished.” Zaccagnino is retired now…traveling, according to Julie Parker, so one guesses he’s actually riding trains instead of building them. But he’s appreciative that his art is going to live on. “I think he was starting to see that a lot of stuff was falling apart,” Sohail reflects. “He had a feeling like if somebody doesn’t save it, it’s going to go away. When we bought it and we started repairing it and cleaning up and everything, he was very happy, you know, my art is being preserved. “He said, this is my gift to the world.”

40 foot long, 23,000 small wood pieces, that he put together one by one by one by hand.” Ask anyone working at Northlandz what the appeal of a huge model train set is, and you’ll get a different answer. Parker thinks it’s the glimpse of history. “I think it goes back to the industrial revolution. Trains made our country great. They transported everything. Food, industry, it’s

like the backbone of our economy. Buses, trains and cars, they’re what makes the economy tick.” Sohail believes the appeal reaches us on multiple levels. He refers to young people who come to work at Northlandz and help with the layouts out of pure passion. “Within the train layout, you have to have more than one skill. It’s architecture, it’s engi-

neering, it’s electrical, it’s design, it’s scenery. Basically doing one hobby, you’re learning all different skills.” Ken Vogel, a train technician, generously took time to point out multiple intricacies of Northlandz during this interview. He remembers his own days of building model trains, and bringing one of his fellow hobbyists to Northlandz for the first time. “Bruce signed a box car that we brought here from my nephew. What I said to him at that time was, I know a lot of people that are remodelers who always wanted to build an empire and never did it. I said, you’re the only one that did.” Sohail thinks the moving train gives life to a piece of art. “You’re looking at something beautiful going up and down, and all of a sudden the train comes.” Worth putting over $300,000 into preserving? No question for Sohail. “Every time I come, it excites me as well, even when I own it. I see the people coming out of the place and I see how big the smiles on their faces and how happy they are to see it. “That’s made me happy.” Walking through the magical railroad empire that is Northlandz, one gets a sense of needing to be of advanced age to fully appreciate the endeavor. The longer you’ve spent on Planet Earth, the longer you’ve gone without witnessing anything like it. But even this observer’s little ones can’t wait to go back. n 58

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BRIDGING THE GAP OPENING DOORS FOR VETERANS

BY JAN L. APPLE

EARCHING FOR A JOB

or identifying a career path can prove daunting, especially in a world where face-to-face contact often takes a back seat to automation. Resumes and professional inquiries sent via e-mail and online are frequently lost in the shuffle. For veterans, the challenges may be even more complex. When transitioning back to civilian life after serving our country in the armed forces, veterans face an array of obstacles and adjustments. Enter Bridging The Gap for Veterans Inc., (BTG), a 501(c) 3 organization established in February 2016 with Chief Door Opener, President and Co-founder Mike Ferraro at the helm. Ferraro, a retired United States Air Force Command Chief Master Sergeant, who served our country for 32 years in both active duty and the Air Force Reserve, is committed to assisting veterans and their families with this multi-faceted transition. “We are military career coaches,” explained Ferraro, adding that they help prepare veterans and then open corporate doors to secure interviews. BTG has clearly become his life mission. Besides extensive military expertise, Ferraro’s impressive resume includes being an accomplished corporate executive, management consultant, leader, business entrepreneur and government civilian. He understands the delicate nature of cultivating relationships, generating revenue and fulfilling client demands. In many cases, Ferraro explained, veterans are simply not employment-ready, resumes are not up to par and there’s uncertainty about 62

BTG co-founder Mike Ferraro

how to market themselves and build networking relationships. The bottom line—their career transition efforts are going nowhere. “I established Bridging The Gap for veterans so that we can open career doors and enable military candidates a competitive advantage when in a career transition,” explained Ferraro, who enlisted in the military after graduating from Howell High School in 1982. His father had worked for the Federal Aviation Administration and Ferraro developed a passion for aeronautics at a young age. “I was always around airplanes and control towers,” recalled Ferraro who enrolled in college prep classes to become an aircraft mechanic. After enlisting, he worked for five years on the F15 Eagle, then cross-trained as a C-141 flight engineer. As an aircrew member, he flew onboard C-141 Star lifters, became a first sergeant and ultimately took on leadership positions.

One of BTG’s monthly training programs consists of speed interviewing.

“I was blessed to lead almost 28,000 airmen and 18 installations around the world,” said Ferraro who holds a bachelor’s degree in Professional Aeronautics and a master’s in Aeronautical Science. “It was a humbling and rewarding experience.” His service encompassed flying cargo planes in war zones to deliver troops and ammunition throughout Southwest Asia, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Europe. His missions included Desert Shield, Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom, to name a few. When Ferraro retired from the military in 2013, he established VIP Careers, a for-profit business that provided job shadowing and career assistance for veterans. His former firm became the foundation for BTG. “I wanted to do this by teaching the skills of how to go about finding a job, but also to give veterans the opportunity to meet employers onsite, face-to-face—the old-fashioned way,” said the 56-year-old Manasquan,

NJ resident who brought companies into the classroom to partake in speed interviewing. He likens the concept to speed dating but in a business setting. It began as a pilot program with 30 veterans and 15 companies at the Joint Base McGuireDix-Lakehurst in Burlington County. The sole purpose was to educate veterans and match their skills with the needs of potential employers. “The idea took off like crazy,” said Ferraro of the unique business model. Today, the Manasquan-based Bridging The Gap is run as a business by veterans. There are five employees, including Ferraro. Together, they refine and orchestrate training programs that assist veterans—free of charge. Most come from throughout the state of New Jersey, but programs are open to veterans across the country. One of their monthly training programs, “Top Gun—Ignite Your Future,” consists of four hours of career tactics and two hours of speed interviewing. It begins with identifying the natural skills and abilities of the veterans. To date, more than 2,000 veterans have benefited from their training classes; some 511 have been placed in jobs. The programs have been sustained through donations. Greg Petersen of Howell is one of the many who has been assisted by BTG. The 37-yearold disabled veteran served our country as a U.S. Army Brigade Reconnaissance Trooper in the First Infantry Division. “It was definitely life-changing,” said Petersen, describing his experience with the organization. It meant a world of difference to have professional assistance enhancing his resume and being sent on face-to-face interviews. A Six Sigma Certified Process Engineer, Petersen is grateful that BTG literally opened doors for him. Once he met with potential employers, he was able to secure positions. But getting in the door, he explained, is critical. “Mike [Ferraro] is really for the veterans,” he said. “You can tell he definitely cares about each and every veteran.”

THE EARLE COMPANIES Michael Earle, co-president of The Earle Companies with brothers Rob and T.J., has been working with Bridging The Gap since early 2018. His family-owned, veteran-friendly business is headquartered in Wall, New Jersey, yet its various entities and divisions stretch throughout the state as well as Bucks County and Eastern Pennsylvania. They specialize in private and municipal road construction and paving; highway construction and the manufacturing, recycling and transportation of construction-related materials. “There was always a desire to bring veterans on board,” 64

BTG recently introduced the “Adopt a Coffee Platoon,” a monthly coffee service which donates coffee to VFW posts and police and fire departments throughout the region.

said Earle, of the company established in 1968 by his father, a Navy veteran. “Our corporate character, systems and processes are very aligned with how the military operates. “We are very diverse,” continued Earle. “One of the things we pride ourselves on is our in-house training and development program that we’re able to put veterans in to further refine the training they received in the military.” This has enabled the business to place veterans in a multitude of positions: construction, office, logistics, equipment maintenance.

STILL MORE TO DO Ferraro is perpetually trying to enhance and improve their business model and secure adequate funding. It’s the only way they can continue to sustain their initiatives. “Two hundred and twenty thousand get out of the military annually across all the armed forces,” he said. “Testimonials have been off the charts. We have helped so many people— even with simple things like resumes or opening the door to get an interview.” Yet, there’s always more to do. BTG recently introduced the “Adopt a Coffee

Platoon,” which Ferraro described as a costeffective innovative program. Corporations and business entities enlist in the Platoon and adopt a monthly coffee service for the cost of $1,000 a year. BTG then donates the coffee to VFW posts and police and fire departments throughout the region. The organization then assists these companies with finding employees while simultaneously branding them as veteran-friendly businesses. The funding is tax-deductible as well as an opportunity to serve coffee to veterans at various locations. “Our platoon members can say ‘Thank you for your service,’ one coffee at a time,” said Ferraro adding that fresh coffee is delivered monthly and is available in an array of flavors and packages—beans to K-cups.

BRIDGING THE GAP’S MEDIA OUTLET Ferraro has taken his mission even further as host of a 30-minute weekly television show “Bridging The Gap for Veterans.” It can be seen on Fridays at 11 a.m. and accessed at RVNTV.TV as well as through Amazon, ROKU (a streaming service) and Apple. “We bring in veteran service organizations, corporations, military leaders and patriotic Americans,” said Ferraro. “We talk about local and national positive news stories going on in the military community.” Ferraro is also active throughout the veteran community and is often invited to events as a keynote speaker. He recently was a guest speaker on a South Jersey Chamber of Commerce panel that explored solutions for career transitions of veterans. Yet Ferraro’s vision for Bridging The Gap extends above and beyond our region. “We want to expand what we’re doing now in a grassroots effort to other military installations across the country,” he said. n www.bridgingthegap.vet

LegacyClub A social club

where business happens

We are proud to introduce you to our private business network n Do you want to expand your network

in Philadelphia and South Jersey?

n Do you want to create powerful connections with other business professionals in the area?

n Do you want to attend exclusive networking

events once a month at local venues? LEGACY CLUB SPOTLIGHT “As a technical consultant, you learn quickly that just hanging out the proverbial shingle doesn‘t get you business….you need to be proactive in getting clients. And… being proactive means networking, networking, networking. I came into the Legacy Club in 2019 after attending an initial event in 2019. I was impressed by the friendliness, openness, and quality of the Legacy Club membership, as well as the wonderful meeting venues. I joined the Club and have become an enthusiastic participant! I hope to see you all at our Club’s future events.” – Dr. Joel Shertok is President of Process Industries Consultants, Inc., a chemical and materials consulting firm

“The key to networking isn’t how many business cards you can collect, it’s the # of high quality relationships you can create. The Legacy Club gets that concept and creates an environment where you can create meaningful relationships that extend way beyond their events. When you join the club, you join a family of elite professionals with a similar mindset. That’s why I love being a member of the Legacy Club!” – John Lorenzo, CEO, TwoTwo Creative

To learn more about the Legacy Club contact Ken at: 66 ken@jerseymanmagazine.com or call 856.912.4007

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THE CIGAR GUY ______________________________________________________________________________________________ BY SAM KRAFT