“Growing Greener Communities” Award Announced

Natural Lands Trust and the Chester County Association of Township Officials have announced that nominations for the Growing Greener Communities Award, which recognizes conservation achievements by townships in Chester County, are now open.

The award, which will be presented at the spring CCATO conference on March 10, was developed by the Natural Land Trust in 2013 in order to recognize municipalities that have actively participated in initiatives which save land, steward natural resources, and help connect people to nature.

“Chester Counties’ communities have been true leaders in open space preservation, smart growth, and sustainable environmental policy,” stated Molly Morrison, President of Natural Lands Trust. “We believe it’s important to recognize the excellent work happening at the township level and celebrate the dedicated officials, staff, and volunteers who make it possible.”

Nominations have to be received by January 15, either through NLT’s website or by calling 610-353-5587 ext. 267.

Malvern Prep’s Awards Dinner Honors Six Alumni

During the Alumni Awards dinner held on the eve of Malvern Prep’s Homecoming on October 23, six distinguished alumni were honored for their accomplishments and service to both the Malvern community and the world.

During the dinner, which has become a cherished local tradition, Dr. Dan Kelly ’99 was presented with the St. Augustine award, Dave Frank ’91 was announced as the Alumni Loyalty Award winner, while Dave Hisler ’95, Frank Oschell ’92, Kevin Pellegrini ’90, and Jim Rullo ’89 were inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame.

Each of the honorees gave speeches that highlighted brotherhood, with Hisler noting that “the bonds of friendship were the most important part of his Malvern experience and are what makes Malvern special.”

“The Malvern brotherhood lasts a lifetime,” said Oschell, who was recognized for his commitment and service to the School. “Malvern is a family.”

Costello Promotes Safety in Student Athletics

On Monday, Congressman Ryan Costello found time despite his busy schedule, to kick around soccer balls and dunk basketballs with students at Spring-Ford Senior High School to promote safety in student athletics.

As a high school star and college athlete who played soccer, basketball and ran track, he was at Spring-Ford High School to congratulate the students and teachers for receiving the National Athletic Trainers’ Association Safe Sports School award.

The award recognizes secondary schools that provide a safe condition and environment for their athletes, champion safety and reinforces the importance of providing the best level of care, injury prevention, and treatment.

“Competing,” said Costello, addressing the growing number of concussions suffered by student athletes, “is why we all play sports. At the same time, we want to make sure we’re not competing and putting student athletes at risk when they shouldn’t be on the playing field.”

The Philadelphia Business Journal to Host Women of Distinction Event

On November 17th, the Philadelphia Business Journal will be honoring dynamic women in recognition of their corporate efforts. The event will take place at Center City’s Vie, with the three-hour cocktail and hors d’oeuvres evening starting at 5 p.m.

The goal of Women of Distinction is to recognize the most influential business women from the region who have made a significant difference in their community. This year the list includes several winners from Chester County based companies, with Gina Clark, the Chief Marketing Officer for AmerisourceBergen among them.

Awards planned for the evening include 25 Bizwomen, a rising star, and the Advancing Woman Company award which will be given out for both a local and global winner.

Tickets for the event are still available, and can be purchased here.

Vision System Helps Speed up Log Volume Analysis

In an effort to help out lumber mill operators that still have to manually measure logs to determine the amount of wood that is produced by their timber suppliers, Pike Lumber asked eSolutions to develop a vision-based system that would automatically perform log diameter measurement and reduce the time spent on this tedious task.

Rising to the challenge, eSolutions has developed a system which, when mounted to the front of a Tigercat 240B loader, allows the operator to automatically determine the width of timber logs and thus the board feet measurement without another person having to measure.

“This,” says Greg Hilbert, President of eSolutions, “allows a single operator to do the complete process of picking, placing and cutting logs to length and calculate the board feet measure without leaving the cabin of the loader. Without this system, another person is required to manually perform log diameter measurement.”