In a couple of days E. Martin Shane, affectionately known as “Marty” to just about anyone who knows him, will begin serving his sixth, six-year term as supervisor in East Goshen Township.  Marty spoke with VISTA Today last week about growing up in Delaware County, his prowess on the football field and baseball diamond, what brought him to Chester County, and how he came to play a strategic role in the construction of the Exton Bypass in 1994.

Where did you grow up Marty?

I was born in May of 1941 and grew up in Springfield, Delaware County. My grandfather owned Shane’s Candy Company at 110 Market Street in Philadelphia which he willed to my father when he died. My father did the best he could with the company, but we never had a lot of money. Eventually, my mother got involved in the business, and the company started to grow.

I got married in 1965 and lived in Drexel Hill and then Havertown before moving to East Goshen in 1975 into my current home where my wife Pat and I raised our four children.

What memories do you have of growing up in Springfield?

We lived in the center of town and were able to walk everywhere, including walking to school. I started at first grade at St. Francis Elementary School, but there were so many kids in the class, about 70 kids I think, that my mother took me out of St. Francis and put me in the public school system. I remember when the first family on the block got a television and all us kids would pile into the small living room to watch the first TV shows.

What high school did you go to?

I went to Springfield High School and was very involved in everything. I played sports, served on student council, played in the band and participated in the service club. I was involved in everything and named the most versatile and most athletic male in my class. My high school years were some of the best years of my life.

What do you remember about playing sports in high school?

I played football, basketball and baseball but to be honest with you I only played basketball to stay in shape between football and baseball. I wasn’t a very good basketball player. When it came to football and baseball, however, I was quite good. I played center and linebacker on the football team and catcher on our baseball team and made all the all-star teams.

In the history of Springfield High School, I am one of only three catchers to have had started all three years. One was Bucky Buchanan who played in the Kansas City farm system and the other is Mike Scioscia, who played catcher for the Dodgers and now manages the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. I was inducted into the Springfield Athletic Hall of Fame this past October.

At Lafayette College, I played football and baseball. In the fall of my senior year, Sports Illustrated ranked me as one of the top three centers in the northeast United States. I was Captain of the football team and was selected first team All-MAC center. I also was catcher on one of the best baseball teams in the East.

Did you play ball after college?

I played baseball for eight to ten years. As for football, there was a semi-pro team in Delaware County that was interested in recruiting me. Once my boss at PECO found out about their interest in me, he strongly suggested that I not play, and that was that.

What did you do after college?

I graduated from Lafayette with a degree in Metallurgical Engineering and went all over the country on job interviews with steel, aluminum and copper companies. But I had worked for Philadelphia Electric during the summer, and their Metallurgist was retiring so decided I would take the job at Philadelphia Electric. That was 1963, and I stayed there until I retired in 1994.

I also received an MBA from Drexel University after graduating from Lafayette.

After retiring from PECO, I learned Arcus Data Storage Company needed someone to run their Philadelphia operation. I didn’t know anything about the record storage business but I figured I could learn it. It was an easy business to run but tough to get people to work the hours since it was a seven-day a week, 24-hour business. One day after I was there for four or five years, Nick DiBenedictus, who I knew from PECO, called asking me if I wanted to establish a consulting business with Philadelphia Water Company to sell deregulated electric power to large customers. I did that until 2007 when I retired for good.

How did you get involved in the community?

In the early eighties, PECO asked me to become manager of their economic development department, which turned out to be the best job I ever had. The job gave me the opportunity to meet the shakers and bakers, not just in Philadelphia, but the Delaware Valley and the state as well.

In 1988, the Chester County Commissioners asked me to chair a task to obtain funding for the Exton Bypass. The Exton Bypass had been in the planning stage for 20 plus years but had never been built because of a lack of funding.

One day I found myself in a meeting in Harrisburg between a group of Chester County Legislators and the State Secretary of Transportation. Prior to this meeting, there had been several verbal battles between the legislators and the Secretary about the bypass funding with little result.

This particular meeting started the same way with the same back and forth sparring between the Secretary and the legislators. Finally, like a little school boy, I raised my hand and asked if I could say something. After gaining the floor, I pointed out the Secretary was trying to tell us what we had to do to hopefully get the bypass funded, and we should be quiet and listen to what the Secretary had to tell us.

Well, you could have heard a pin drop in the room. The entire tenor of the meeting changed and for the next hour, everyone sat there and listened as the Secretary laid out the process for obtaining the $120 million we needed to get the bypass constructed. He told me several years later that if it weren’t for me speaking up in that meeting, the Exton Bypass might never have been built.

As for getting involved in East Goshen township business, one day in 1985 I answered a newspaper ad placed by the Republican Committee in East Goshen inviting residents to apply for various township positions. I interviewed and the next day the chairman of the committee invited me to run for township supervisor. Even though the supervisor’s race was competitive, the committee promised to help me run a campaign and assured me I would win. Sure enough, I won and took office in January of 1986 and have been there ever since.

You just won your sixth six-year term Marty. Looking forward, what are your top challenges?

Today East Goshen is one of the most desirable communities in Chester County to live, work and play. Our biggest challenge over the next ten to fifteen years is to maintain our reputation as a premier residential community despite the fact that we are now built out. The Millennials will be a large percentage of the next home buyers. We need to understand what they desire and plan to provide for it.

Financially, the township is in excellent shape. Twenty years ago we started a program to fully fund our capital requirements. We are able to replace every piece of equipment at any time without having to raise taxes or borrow money to cover the expense. That program and our budgeting process have allowed us to go twelve years without a property tax increase. In fact, East Goshen has had only one property tax increase since 1968.

Finally, Marty, what is the best piece of advice you ever received?

Always tell the truth even though sometimes it is not what people want to hear. You’ll always maintain your credibility. I’ve always done that and it’s worked out very successfully for me.

I have my own mantra as well that says, ‘have fun, make people smile, and get the job done.’ If you do that, you’ll be successful in whatever you do.