Sunday afternoon when we gather to celebrate the 140th anniversary of Parkesburg’s designation as a Borough by the State Legislature, our thoughts will naturally turn to the individuals, families and business that put our town on the map.
We’ll hear about the railroad coming through town midway through the 1800’s and the Parkesburg Iron company being established in the late 1800’s.
We’ll talk about lamps, bottles and tubes, about movies and plays, about buildings, houses and churches, about charity balls and parades, about cars, buses and trolleys.
Names like Beale, Smith, and Parkes will be tossed about as if they were old friends and then mixed together with more modern family names like Hery, Varnes, Glenn, Mullin and Hagan.
We’ll have a great time, no doubt, remembering those who shaped Parkesburg and laid the foundation for the town that we have today.
But as we leave the celebration at the end of the day we’ll drive past present day Parkesburg and realize today’s Parkesburg is a shadow of the town it once was. Our sidewalks are broken, our streets pocked and patched, our train station run down and our store fronts empty.
In some way or another each one of us is responsible for Parkesburg’s decline. If we didn’t cause it directly by our individual actions, we sat around and watched it happened.
To be sure, we all complained about the trash, the streets, the taxes, the uncut grass, the graffiti, etc. The list of things we complained about goes on and on and on.
We could argue all day about who is responsible for Parkesburg’s decline. But the question is not so much who caused the decline but rather who will rescue, rebuild, restore and revitalize Parkesburg to its rightful place as the hub of life in western Chester County.
The federal government can’t; in case you haven’t heard, Washington is broke.
The people in Harrisburg won’t; they’re too distracted restricting voting rights and passing antique car legislation.
The County won’t; Chester County has 73 municipalities in as bad or worse shape as Parkesburg.
Parkesburg’s business community can’t; they’re already doing all they can, besides have you ever tried to run a business and have a life? Damn near a mission impossible to ask them to rescue Parkesburg too.
Parkesburg’s Borough Council won’t; they’ll participate perhaps but they’ve got their hands full taking care of the West Bridge Street project and working to balance the town’s budget.
The only group left to turn Parkesburg around is us; the people who grew up here, who live here, who work here, who shop here, who pay taxes here.
So how do we turn around several decade of decline and ensure another 140 years of prosperity?
On Sunday morning on these pages I’ll lay out a modest five point plan which, when taken together, will put our Borough (and region) on a the path towards a revitalized and flourishing Parkesburg.
See you Sunday morning.
An honest assessment of Parkesburg yesterday and today! And in the words of a famous preacher ” But Sunday is Coming”. Looking forward to it!
Pictures to come of the volunteer day we are having today. 40+ people helping clean up a blight in the community. Should fit in with your post tomorrow.
See you then!
Looking forward to your five point plan!
LOL @ restricting voting rights LOL
@ James…so it’s LOL at a mention of the Republican Voter Suppression Law headed for the PA Supreme Court? Republican House Leader Mike Turzai admitted publicly that the voter ID law was all about suppressing the Democratic vote and stealing Pennsylvania for Willard Romney. You knew that, didn’t you? Republican or Democrat, you must admit that there is something OBSCENE about the Republicans’ concerted multi-state effort to prevent people from exercising their franchise to vote when we’ve spent the last decade turning our young people into cannon fodder in God-forsaken part of the Earth, supposedly to spread “Democracy”.
Leading up to the close of your post, Ken, I thought you were headed towards an open invitation for all readers to offer whatever ideas they might have to make the community better. But of course that is always an option, either through speaking up at Council meetings, or proposing an idea via Parkesburg Today. But sly devil that you are, leave it to you to get the ball rolling by proposing ideas of your own. I look forward to reading what your ideas are. And here’s hoping they spark a community-wide conversation. In any event, no one will ever accuse you of not caring. Thank you.
If you come to the polls in November without a photo ID because you couldn’t afford to get one (e.g., you couldn’t pay $10 for an official birth certificate), you will be allowed to vote by provisional (paper) ballot. In order for your provisional ballot to count, you have six calendar days after the election to provide your county Board of Elections with an affirmation that states that you are the same person who cast the provisional ballot, and that you cannot afford to obtain proof of your identity. You can do this electronically, by mail, by fax – or you can show up in person at the Board of Elections.
Geez, is that all I have to do? What about the password and the secret handshake? You seem not to want to discuss why any of this is necessary. If individual voter fraud is such an issue, why did the Commonwealth enter a stipulation agreement going into the litigation of this tax stating that 1) Pennsylvania cannot point to any current or prior prosecutions for voter fraud; 2) the State can produce no evidence that it exists; and 3) it can produce no evidence that, absent this law, fraud would occur in the future?