Skippack Blogger and Debby AKA Mrs. Skippack Blogger (at right) with friends at La Villa Mexican Grille in Skippack: Brad DeForest, Web Design and SEO, and Kate DeForest.

La Villa Mexican Grille
4101 Skippack Pike
PO Box 120
Skippack, PA 19474
(484) 991-8085
Sunday – Thursday: 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Friday & Saturday: 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.

The Skippack Blogger is working hard, both at this blog you are reading and his day job. The Skippack Blogger’s wife is working hard too, at her job and at keeping me organized and out of trouble. So Sunday evening it was time for a break. My Web hosting, Design and SEO Go-To-Guy Brad DeForest and his wife Kate invited us out to dinner at La Villa Mexican Grille, which recently opened in Skippack and is becoming increasingly popular.

Our host was the restaurant’s owner and executive chef Rene Zepeda. My role as the Skippack Blogger gives me an excuse to observe life around me; I get a view behind the scenes. I sense how hard Rene works to make the dining experience at La Villa special and how much pride he takes in owning his own restaurant.

La Villa Mexican Grille Owner and Executive Chef Rene Zepeda: A warm welcome and a sophisticated meal, that perfect Skippack combo.

Rene put much effort into, and succeeded at, creating an environment that lends itself to relaxing, conversing and celebrating the moment at hand. The interior walls are bright orange, decorated with Mexican artwork, the tablecloths provide a contrasting white, and the overall effect is cheerful and pleasing.

Rene is a gourmet chief who won top honors in a cooking competition sponsored by Philadelphia Magazine. The menu is creative, and highlights the sophisticated side of Mexican fare, offering a fusion of the contemporary Mediterranean cuisine and savory Mexican flavors.

Brad and I work together on a lot of projects. It is time at last to clink wine glasses in a toast and talk of other things. Kate tells us a bit about their children’s experience at Perkiomen Valley High School, and then we move on to discuss church, synagogue, fishing, investing, eBay shopping, winter driving, Debby’s experiences learning to drive in New York, my travels in Japan and on and on. It is as if the conversation travels around the globe and then finds itself happy to be back in Skippack again, realizing how special the happiness is here that we have in our own backyard.

The Good Life: The Skippack Blogger and his Wife at La Villa Mexican Grille in Skippack.

I can’t let the evening go by without mentioning my beloved Skippack blog; let every man have his passion. Earlier in the afternoon, I was in a nearby supermarket and a woman I never met before walked up to me and said, “You’re the Skippack Blogger.” Wow. That is an experience that must be told to friends so that the memory, a few passing words in a supermarket aisle, will take on a more substantial significance and reality. I relish having an audience. If Debby, who witnessed the event, was not sitting beside me, I might have told Brad that the woman asked me for my autograph to see if I could get away with it.

Good company: Friends Brad and Kate DeForest at La Villa Mexican Grille in Skippack.

Too quickly the evening hour grows late; we are the only customers left, lingering over dessert and coffee. Time to go. Rene bids us a warm farewell and we promise to come back. I take a few more pictures for the blog, which provides an excuse to make the moment last a bit longer.

How many gifts are compressed into a single evening out in Skippack Village? Wine, great food, hospitality, a young restaurant owner making his dreams come true, the weekend respite from work, friendship, generosity, graciousness, laughter — all topped off by chocolate soufflé.

The Skippack Blogger can only say thanks to our host Rene and to my friends Kate and Brad, and to Debby for always being by my side. “Thanks”— a simple, common, ordinary word that must carry the weight of so much meaning. Then I awaken at 3 a.m., tiptoe down to the computer, and try to capture the moment in words and pictures, so it can be shared with you dear reader and so it is not lost forever.

Delicacies and Delights from La Villa Mexican Grille in Skippack

The Appetizer: La Villa Salad, comprised of avocados, tomatoes, queso fresco, and bell peppers, in a vinaigrette dressing.

The Skippack Blogger's salmon dinner at La Villa Mexican Grille in Skippack, right before I devoured it.

My friend Brad who, when he is not indulging in gourmet Mexican food, helps market businesses online, from Skippack shops to Fortune 500 companies, had poblano, a boneless chicken in a house mole sauce with a side of rice and beans.

My friend Kate DeForest ordered chiles rellenos, comprised of poblano peppers stuffed with cheese and boneless short ribs served in a tomato coulis.

For dessert, a tres leches cake, a sponge cake in three kinds of milk: evaporated milk, condensed milk, and heavy cream.

The irresistible finishing touch; a chocolate soufflé from La Villa Mexican Grille in Skippack.

The Skippack Blogger with Rene Zepeda, owner and executive chef at La Villa Mexican Grille in Skippack. Thanks Rene for your hospitality and the great food and especially for coming here to Skippack.

I wouldn't try this right after eating: A painting depicting a bullfighter which hangs at La Villa Mexican Grille in Skippack.

Web Links

La Villa Mexican Grille Website

La Villa Mexican Grille Facebook Page

Brad DeForest Web Design and Social Media Facebook Page

A Blog Post about Brad’s Work in Skippack

Skippack Blogger with his constant companion "Jalopy" in his beloved town: We're in this together.

If you seek happiness, let go of the past. Live for today and look toward tomorrow. If there is a philosophy I hold by, that sums it up.

And yet, like most humans, I am not always consistent. I am reminded of my hypocrisy each time I get into my a car, a 2002 Mercury Sable that has logged over 152,000 miles. This vehicle is a worn and dented souvenir from the past decade of my life. It is time to trade it in and get new. The side mirrors are held by screws. When I open the glove box, the entire mechanism falls toward the floor. Heck, Ford has sad goodbye to the entire Mercury brand.

Still somehow, I can’t say goodbye. I rack up another repair bill and postpone the trip to the dealership. But although I haven’t gotten a new car, I have given my old car a new name: I now call it “Jalopy,” a term more descriptive of its current condition.

Dear reader, allow me to share the story of the Skippack Blogger and his Jalopy.

How I Met Jalopy

Closing the Deal: Buying a Mercury Sable Premium LS from my Dad in 2002.

Ten years ago, my dad, Bernie Shaw, was the sales and leasing manager for a Lincoln Mercury Dealership. When it came time to buy a new car, I went to see him. Even though I was grown up and long gone from home, it still gave me a thrill to see my dad at the showroom, beaming out his public persona, dressed to perfection in his suit and tie.

With characteristic self-confidence, he took me out to the lot and pointed to a charcoal grey Mercury Sable Premium LS, all shiny and new.

“There’s your car, Michael”

The thought occurred to me that I had been making my own living for almost two decades and I should have some say in the car I would buy and for which I would be making payments. I was going to ask my dad to show me some other models but the words never quite made it to my tongue. Let it stand, I decided, as a moment of filial piety, as I went for a purely ceremonial test drive with one of the salesmen. I thought to myself, “I’ll find something else to argue with dad about.”

I drove off  that day in a shiny new car, with upgraded wheels and a stainless steel dash, back to my own life. A happy customer with a memory of a beautiful transaction that will outlast the vehicle. My dad has since retired; a pleasure to do business with you, Bernie.

Jalopy Goes on a Date

Debby and I on our wedding day: Jalopy drove us to the wedding canopy.

Two years later: I am now over forty years old, still single, a lonely, awkward dude. Jalopy and I go on our first date with Debby. The movie wasn’t so great, why did we have such a good time?

Then came more dates, driving Jalopy to dinners, concerts, and coffee shops. Long conversations in the front seat. Debby’s sweet smile and words flowing easily between us, as easily as wheels spinning on a smooth highway. A power greater than ourselves seemed to be steering Jalopy, taking two lonely souls on separate paths and decreeing that they now merge lanes and travel together as one.

Memories of our youth and troubles of the past fall behind us in the rear view mirror, but where would the road ahead lead us?

Stop thinking about life Michael and take a chance: Time to drive to a wedding, my wedding, and stand under the wedding canopy. We don’t hire a limo, we climb into Jalopy; Debby in her wedding gown, I in my tuxedo. Life is a game. And the game isn’t over yet.

Jalopy Arrives in Skippack

Now married, Debby and I set about looking for a house, one we would buy together and live out our lives, with a garage for Jalopy. We start looking in familiar Pennsylvania territory, eastern Montgomery County, occasionally crossing County Line road into Bucks.

Debby and I on the plot of land where home would later be built, the Biltmore Estates development in Skippack Village.

Each time we look at a house, Debby’s intuitive woman’s eye perceives a fatal flaw: the bedrooms are too small, no sidewalks, a train runs too close by, a factory can be seen from the front yard, purple carpeting, too much traffic, or just an indefinable, discordant vibe. Each time we leave, Debby waits until the real estate agent or salesperson is out of ear shot and says simply but firmly “no.”

Throughout history “Westward Ho!” has been the cry of adventurous souls seeking a new beginning. So we headed west; about 12 miles west, steering Jalopy down route 73. As we approached Old Forty Foot road, Skippack Village seemed a new world with new possibilities. It was Jalopy who took us here for the first time together. We went to the sales office at Biltmore Estates, looked at a plot of land and newly constructed homes not yet occupied, parked Jalopy and walked into the village.

Our first walk in Skippack together. We felt the enchantment of the Village, the quaint shops and restaurants, the signs that advertise them, and the buildings that house them, each with its own unique design and structure, so special and different from other neighborhoods we had seen.

We were not long on our walk when Debby turned to me and said, “What are you waiting for? Give the salesman a deposit.”

About six months later, construction was complete, and we drove Jalopy to his new home, a roomy, two-car garage. On most weekends, Jalopy gets a Sabbath rest, as we walk to our activities in town.

We love our new home. But if I ever raise the issue of buying a new car, Debby looks at me with big, sad, brown eyes and turns away. And then one day it dawns on me — when we were dating, Debby didn’t just fall in love with me, she also fell in love with Jalopy!

Before We Say Goodbye

Skip from Skip's Garage, an auto repair shop in Skippack: He believes Jalopy will be able to carry on, barring any unforeseen circumstances.

“Jalopy, we’ve been through a lot together, bud, haven’t we? Some crazy trips, some funny, some sad. No one will ever know. Hey, I’m not one to turn my back on a friend. Let’s go one more round together. I’m taking you to Skip’s Garage.”

Skip Dickey and his son run Skip’s Garage, a local auto repair shop in Skippack. Skip is also a fellow member of the Skippack Historical Society, and a soft-spoken gentleman, a pleasure to be around. State inspection, emissions testing, lube and oil change, some repairs. Skip says the mechanics didn’t see much rust. Barring any unforeseen events, Jalopy should be able to carry on for a while.

“Ya hear that Jalopy? Skip says you ain’t so bad off. Tell you what I am going to do next: Take you to D&D’s Unique Detail and let Dan Tuturice Jr clean you up and work his magic. He’ll make you feel like new. You’ll sparkle yet again Jalopy. Never say die.”

I still believe that the secret of happiness is letting go of the past, with its mistakes, bitterness and regrets. But if the past had bitterness, there was also love, compassion, and kindness; moments more precious than a king’s ransom. Hopefully, Jalopy and I can make it together through the winter. We’ll enjoy one more spring together for old sake’s sake, happy to have Debby with us in the front seat. Come summer, I’ll buy a new car. Maybe.

Before and After:
Jalopy Gets a Makeover from D&D’s Unique Detail

Jalopy from the inside, before getting the makeover from D&D's Unique Detail.

Jalopy gets a wash down from Dan Tuturice Jr, owner of D&D's Unique Detail in Skippack.

Let a pro handle it: Kevin DeFrancesco of D&D's Unique Detail working on Jalopy.

These wheels gonna shine: Dan Tuturice Jr, owner of D&D's Unique Detail, shining the wheels on Jalopy.

These two photos show the Jalopy's driver's side door before (left) and after (right) getting some help from D&D's Unique Detail. Click the photos for closer inspection.

Self-discovery: Jalopy inside the D&D's Unique Detail garage, looking all shiny and like-new after the detail. Thanks to Dan Jr and Kevin, Jalopy has rediscovered his true inner self. He is again the self-confident, beautiful Mercury Sable Premium LS I purchased a decade ago.

Back home: Dan Tuturice Jr and Kevin DeFrancesco of D&D's Unique Detail return a revitalized, sparkling Jalopy/Mercury Sable Premium LS to my front door. Thanks, guys!

Links

Skip’s Garage (Yahoo Local listing)

D&D’s Unique Detail Facebook Page

D&D’s Unique Detail Website

D&D’s Unique Detail Blog Post

Debby and I in Skippack, February 2010, shortly after I lost my job. We faced an uncertain future, but held onto each other.

The first snow of 2012 has fallen in Skippack, Pennsylvania, taking me back to a time, not too long ago, in fact almost exactly two years ago: February, 2010. Another snowstorm in Skippack. I just lost a job I had held for 10 years. A quick Google search indicates that I was one of about 8 million people in the United States who lost jobs between 2008 and 2010.

My former company sent me to an outplacement service for help with job seeking skills such as resume writing and networking. I remember sitting across from a white-haired, middle aged man at the very corporate-looking conference table they provided for us to meet and discuss our progress and challenges in finding a new job. This gentleman was coming to the end of his severance pay and the end of the time period for which he was eligible for outplacement services. He had no immediate prospects for work, no innovative idea about what to do next, no way to pay his bills, health issues, brewing tension at home with his wife, and, likely enough, more problems of which I was not aware.

We all live close to a thin line that divides us from that dark, engulfing sustenance; despair. Sitting in the outplacement center, listening to this gentleman, I thought, “Will I cross that line in the upcoming months?”

Do What You Love and Listen

Developing ideas for the I Love Skippack blog.

A simple phrase that my father, Bernie Shaw, said to me still sticks out in mind. He said, “Michael, you have to work.” With the instinctive communication that takes place between people who love each other, even if they don’t always agree, I knew exactly what he meant. Not only did I have the challenge of paying the bills, I could not, recession or no recession, stop being what I am — a writer and editor. It was my identity, not just a paycheck, which I had to go out and rebuild.

I loved creative writing as a kid; when Debby and I started looking for a house, I sensed that Skippack, with its unusual shops, social gathering places, and restored nineteenth century buildings, was a place that might inspire me to write. The idea of the I Love Skippack blog was starting to take shape in my mind. But how would this solve my immediate problem, finding employment?

Skippack Village, Winter 2012: The first snowstorm of the year. A lot has changed for me in two years time.

A professional employment recruiter told me that my blog would be of value to potential employers as long as, rather than advocating a personal agenda, my writing helped support business. If my writing helped promote Skippack’s economy, culture and community events, I could use it to strengthen my resume and provide potential employers with up-to-date samples of my work.

My conversation with this recruiter crystallized the idea for I Love Skippack in my mind. I had already built friendships with local shop owners in Skippack. I dedicated my blog to supporting locally-owned businesses, community life, events, and non-profit associations in Skippack, such as the Skippack Historical Society and Playcrafters of Skippack, our community theater. Even if no one had asked me to do it and no one would pay me for it, I would make Skippack, its people, places and events, my job as well as my place of residence.

Not long afterward, I found real, paid employment from a well established, national company. I had a great new job as well as a blog to maintain. I had my identity back. I was Michael Shaw again and now, the Skippack Blogger as well.

Only in fairy tales do we get a “happily-ever-after” ending. In real life, the best ending we hope for is the prizefighter’s reward, the chance to do battle another day.

The Days Become Months, the Months Become Years

Skippack Village, Winter of 2012: So much to see, so much to learn. Never has this beautiful village failed to inspire me to write.

From February 2010, now going into February 2012: Up from a time of darkness. No coincidence, perhaps, that the Skippack Blogger’s birthday is in February. This time though I took the first step out of darkness with my wife by my side. This time, for the first time since I left my parent’s home, I did not face it alone.

Along the way, I met wonderful people. Some Examples:

• Art and Jane Berger, Lowell Steinberg, Jack and Eileen Berk, Kristin and Bob Sullivan, Jean Curtis, Judith Barrett Johnson, Hassan El Assri, Craig Wolfe, Dan Tuturice Sr. and Dan Jr., Rene Zepeda, Catherine Green, and all the amazing Skippack shop and restaurant owners. Man, you make this town special.
• My favorites, the local musicians: Dean Garofolo, Gabe Schick, Ken Battista and Anna Silvestera, and all the others who entertain in Skippack and about whom I hope to write. I will always have a soft spot for musicians. Music is life.


All good: Good to be alive, good to be working, good to be in Skippack.

• Bob Biddle, the first person I interviewed for the blog, and the folks at TH Properties and my neighbors at Biltmore Estates; celebrate recovery (Paul Rein, are you reading this?)
• Ben Webb and the rest of the folks at the Skippack Historical Society, Lauren Rozensky Flanagan and the talented people of Playcrafters of Skippack, Ted Locker of Skippack Township.
• My loyal readers who provide comments and Facebook likes: Kathleen Shepard, Donna Deering, Trisha Tuturice Helbert, Deborah Fulmer Tuturice, Jon Stolpe, Marc Lombardi. Karen Atwood; indeed, anyone who has left a comment or given me a Facebook Like. I hope this group grows.
• Brad DeForest, who started out helping me with hosting and search engine optimization and has become my guide to the brave new digital age, patiently teaching strategy for online publishing and building my fan base on Facebook. Brad and I are planning some I Love Skippack surprises for 2012. I know you like to keep it professional bro, but it means everything to have you on my team.

The great thing about life on this spinning planet is not that the night is temporary, but that the night contains blessings that we don’t see until the light of day.

What is the point? In the words of Bernie Shaw: You can’t give up the battle.

Your Support Is Needed

Please support community blogging in Skippack by clicking Like on the I Love Skippack Facebook page, if you have not done so already.

Also please click Like on the Facebook page of our talented and clear-sighted social media and digital-age publishing go-to guy Brad DeForest.

The Skippack Blogger's Dad (AKA Bernie Shaw) still looking good and going strong at 89. Happy Birthday, man.

When it comes to gifts, we may say that it is the thought that counts, but the truth is we want the object given to be meaningful. Yesterday was the a special day for someone very special in the life of the Skippack Blogger, my Dad turned 89. Happy Birthday, Bernie Shaw. But what gift could I give to commemorate the occasion?

What gift is worthy for a man who grew up in the Great Depression, served during World War II, married my wonderful mom, became dad to me and my brother and sister, taught me about the world, taught me to love jazz music, paid my college tuition bill, was so proud of the accomplishments of his children, lectured me, taught me right from wrong, discussed intimate aspects of being a man, helped me during the troubled times of my life, and still makes me laugh? (I am probably leaving a lot of things out.) A tall order for an object in a wrapped box — to express my feelings for Dad.

As happens in life, the first path I choose is not the correct one. I go to a nearby mall and purchase a Ralph Lauren Polo sports shirt. But something inside me is dissatisfied. It seemed so impersonal. A voice inside me is telling me to find something. What is it I need to find? The receipt. This first attempt-at-a-gift is getting returned.

Then I remembered a wonderful gift Debby gave me a couple months ago for our fifth wedding anniversary — a collectible pen purchased at Sharp Unique Gifts for Men, a Skippack shop specializing in fine and unusual gifts for men. A collectible pen is the perfect gift for me and perfect for Dad as well.

My Dad is a practical guy and so the next part of the story is practical; turning an idea into action. Debby and I head into Skippack Village and visit Jack Berk, shop owner at Sharp Unique Gifts for Men, and begin browsing his collection of beautiful and unusual collectible gift pens. Buying from Jack is like visiting a friend. Now it is starting to feel right.

Jack Berk, owner of Sharp Unique Gifts for Men in Skippack, helps me select a pen for my dad's 89th Birthday.

One reason a pen is the right thing: Dad always encouraged my writing. I remember the first time I got paid for my writing; a free lance article for Baltimore Magazine. He wanted to have the check framed. But which pen best expresses my thoughts and feelings for Dad? He is a down-to-earth, working guy. For many years, he put on a business suit everyday. He managed a car dealership for most of his career. However, Dad has an exceptional, even astounding, appreciation for the creative and the contemporary. Even when we were little kids, he and my mom would take us on trips to the art museum to see works by modern artists.

I am looking for a pen that expresses my father’s love for creativity and modern art; something unusual and youthful, because my Dad makes 89 seem still young. I select a roller ball pen with a bright, multi-colored, almost cubistic design by Thom Reaves, an artist and designer from Trenton, NJ, manufactured by Acme Studio, an international product design company and creator of fine writing tools. This pen is called “Happy” which fits because my Dad is an upbeat guy with a terrific outlook on life.

Which one is right for Dad? A selection of gift pens from Sharp Unique Gifts for Men.

The story ends with my father surrounded by the family he loves, singing happy birthday, the gift bag handed to him, with a card and a happy birthday kiss. Eighty-nine years so far and still going strong. Fifty seven of those years married to my amazing and lovely mom.

Many years ago, I left my parent’s home. I did not find another home until I married Debby and we bought our home in Skippack. In between, was a time of wandering in the desert, a time of struggle and searching. But I always had a great friend to look up to and who, by his example, stopped me from getting too lost: Dad.

The Final Choice

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"Happy," a roller ball pen designed by Thom Reaves for Acme Studio.

Enjoying time with Dad in a Starbucks in the town where my parents live.

About Sharp Unique Gifts for Men

Located in Skippack Village, this boutique men’s gift shop offers fine items such as shaving accessories; cufflinks; desk accessories; gifts for the beer and wine connoisseur; hi-tech flashlights; hand-made knives from world-renowned knife makers and much more. Gifts for all types of men: The corporate executive, the rugged outdoorsman, the retired hobbyist, the eager young man beginning his journey through life, the writer who loves beautiful pens, and the man celebrating 89 good years on this earth.

Sharp Unique Gifts for Men
4002 Skippack Pike
Skippack PA 19474
Phone: 610.584.1818
www.sharpuniquegifts.com

Like Sharp Unique Gifts for Men on Facebook

Setting sun along Skippack Trail

Finishing the weekend in peace so tomorrow I can begin the new work week in peace. Late Sunday afternoon, I take my beloved for a walk along a short section of the Skippack Trail. Cold winter air. The healing power of open sky and fields. The setting sun. A surprising sound: The cackle of current running through the power lines overhead.

We start out in Palmer Park and walk along the paved trail until the Thompson Road trailhead, before you reach Evansburg State Park. Night is coming. The air is getting colder. Time to get back home.

Over tea I ask my beloved, what should I write in my blog? What is there to say?

Let the sky speak for itself, let the setting sun speak for itself: They will explain everything.

Skippack, I love you.

Capturing a Moment Along the Skippack Trail

The Skippack Blogger (that's me) discovering a section of the Skippack Trail.

We'll walk this road together: My wife Debby accompanying me along the Skippack Trail.

The sign at the Thompson Road trailhead along the Skippack Trail.

On the way home, the sign pointing us back to Skippack Village. In the background is a horse farm.

Night falls along the Skippack Trail.

Viva Skippack: Dean Garofolo performing a tribute to Elvis from behind the bar at the Roadhouse Grille in Skippack. The bartender, Bubba, looks on.

Update: Skippack’s own Dean Garofolo, vocalist and Elvis Presley tribute artist, is featured on Kirstie Alley’s 100 Days of Dance, a national grassroots campaign to get America fit and healthy by encouraging everyone to dance for 100 consecutive days. Check out the Video for Day 8; Dean’s appearance is in honor of Elvis’ birthday and the video was shot at the Sheraton Hotel in Frazer, Pa.

Dean’s next Skippack appearance: Saturday, February 18, from 8 pm to 11 pm at the Roadhouse Grille 4022 Skippack Pike, (610) 584-4231.

Patrons, raise your glasses. Let us be honest: When we watch an entertainer in an intimate, local bar and restaurant, like the Roadhouse Grille in Skippack, the first thrill is akin to watching a boxer enter the ring. Does tonight’s entertainer have the combination of talent, guts and personality needed to take on the evening’s performance and secure a victory of applause, cheers and laughter? There are no security guards to shield him, no separation exists between the stage and seats. We the audience, sitting in barstools or at tables, get to be judges at ringside, holding beers and mixed drinks as we tally the score.

Such were my thoughts this past New Year’s Eve at the Roadhouse Grille. Dean Garofolo, vocalist and Elvis Presley tribute artist had asked me to press a button on his sound system to start the music that announces his entrance as Elvis. How will the rowdier-than-usual New Years crowd react, I wonder, as Dean walks out to the bar area to the sound of recorded trumpet fanfare in his sequined, red jumpsuit?

Dean Garofolo in Skippack Village: Our quaint small town is this man's Las Vegas.

As I wait for Dean to appear, I am starting to get nervous about hitting the wrong button. Or am I worried about Dean going over with the crowd, now that I am getting to know him as a friend? For the past two hours, he has been singing as himself in street clothes, warming up the audience. Now they want Elvis. I hit the play button. The pre-recorded Vegas-style drum roll starts.

Walking out in Elvis regalia and capturing the Elvis spirit with gesture and voice, Dean quickly proves his barroom cred as a performer with a knockout voice and style. His approach to the capture of the crowd is fearless: Belting out the songs That’s All Right Mama (Elvis Presley’s first hit) and Suspicious Minds, he climbs atop the bar and poses as Elvis, makes us laugh (“there goes my back”), he jumps down, performs from behind the bar, dances with groups of revelers, and then sings an Elvis-style happy birthday to a young woman. The crowd soaks up joy, lets go and becomes fully engaged in his performance. Score a New Years victory for Dean Garofolo and Elvis in Skippack.

A Tip from the Skippack Blogger

Getting his Elvis on: Dean Garofolo about to go on for the second part of his show at the Roadhouse Grille in Skippack.

When you, dear reader, go see Dean/Elvis, don’t get completely lost in the revelry. The man has a beautiful voice and can interpret a ballad with soul and sensitivity. When I see him perform I always ask him to slow it down for a personal favorite, also sung and recorded by Elvis Presley: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s You’ll Never Walk Alone. The simple message of the lyric, “when you walk through a storm hold your head up high and don’t be afraid of the dark,” cannot be heard too often in this lifetime.

From Contractor to Crooner

Dean is a full time musician and entertainer who started out as contractor and construction laborer but in his late twenties began making a living performing songs he loved and sang since the age of nine, when he started imitating records. In addition to Elvis, he counts among his musical influences classic country singers such as Johnny Cash and Conway Twitty and a range of artists, including Dean Martin, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and John Denver. He makes his home in nearby Harleysville and performs at private parties, restaurants, corporate events, senior living facilities, and on behalf of charities such as the Make–A-Wish Foundation.

Dean has been performing in Skippack for about four years. “Skippack is my Las Vegas,” he says. He adds laughing, “What happens in Skippack, stays in Skippack.”

Viva Las Vegas. Viva Skippack. Viva the musicians and entertainers who make evenings in our town fun and special.

Dean Garofolo as Himself in Skippack Village

One of the joys of living in Skippack is getting to know musicians who perform here. Dean Garofolo performs as himself in Skippack in addition to his Elvis tribute: I love an Elvis tribute as much as anyone, but I also am learning to appreciate the real Dean Garofolo.

Nothin but a Hound Dog: Dean with his trusted companion Snoop.

Links

Dean Garofolo Website

Dean Garofolo Facebook Page

Roadhouse Grille Website

Roadhouse Grille Facebook Page

Morning, January 1, 2012, Skippack, Pa: The beautiful weather is an omen for a beautiful year.

It seems odd to me that the New Year is celebrated with hundreds of thousands of people crammed into Times Square, entertained by the next generation of pop stars, in the late hours of darkness. Pick a date on the calendar and celebrate it as a new beginning, but celebrate it in the morning, when the sun is fresh in the sky, and creation is handed back to us, a gift too precious even for a king.

I welcomed the 2012 with a walk with my beloved wife through Skippack this morning. A warm winter day, the air was clear, and tree limbs bare of their leaves afforded me a wider view of my surroundings. Let us start the year from a place like here, closer to our roots in agricultural and village life, not lost in the scornful concrete of the city.

2012 will be a great year for Skippack and for me, I feel it in my bones. And it will be a great year for you, my dear reader.

Please join us on our walk by scrolling down the page.

The Skippack Blogger begins day's journey, January 1, 2012: What surprises will the new day bring? What surprises will the new year bring?

Skippack scene on a clear winter morning, first day of the new year.

The Skippack Blogger's wife on our New Year's Morning walk.

A view of Skippack as you walk up from the parking lot at Hotel Fiesole under the covered bridge and turn right on a walking path that leads to Mensch Road, near Route 113.

My wife Debby strikes a victorious pose while walking along Route 113; one would think she had just climbed Mount Everest.

Walking along Creamery Road, we came to the historic Allebach-Cholet Farm, maintained through an agreement between Skippack Township and the Skippack Historical Society.

The Skippack Blogger at the Allebach-Cholet farm. My friend Benjamin Webb, president of the Skippack Historical Society, and his lovely wife Jess live here. Happy New Year, Ben and Jess! Better be careful not to disturb them.

A sign providing directions to three local destinations: Skippack Village, Palmer Park, and the Perkiomen Trail, a 19 mile multi-use trail.

A winter scene from Palmer Park, a 55-acre park between Heckler and Creamery Roads.

We met this critter along a portion of the Skippack Trail which leads from Palmer Park to the Perkiomen Trail. This horse is a ham. He walked right up to me, clearly seeking to have his picture taken.

Gobble, gobble: Heading back toward Skippack Village, on Collegeville Road, we encountered a wild turkey.

Local hero: A sign along Collegeville Road welcomes a soldier back home from Iraq.

Along Collegeville Road, above a sign welcoming a soldier home from Iraq, fly two flags: One for freedom, one for enjoying the holidays.

Returning home on the road leading to my development, bare tree limbs, a gift from old man winter, afford a beautiful view of the Enchanted Florist, one of Skippack's many wonderful small businesses.

I Love Skippack wishes you all the best in 2012.

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How could a couple so sweet create something so sinful? Kristin and Bob Sullivan outside the location of Kristin's soon-to-open, new bakery The Sinful Cupcake.

Announcement: Kristin Sullivan, Skippack’s talented but slightly crazy cupcake baker, is opening a new shop right here in town, to be called The Sinful Cupcake.
Current shop: It’s a Peace of Cake (for now, get your cupcakes here)
Current location: 4101 Skippack Pike
Phone: 610-584-5080
New Shop: The Sinful Cupcake: For your Devilish and Sinful Delights
New Location: 4034 Skippack Pike
Next step: Check back in February for info on the opening date.

A Hipster Hangout of My Own

While Skippack offers many options for dining, there has been no place for a blogger to rest his laptop and linger over a cup of coffee and a goodie, since the closing of the Skippack Coffeehaus. I must write my observations in my spiral notebook and then scramble back home to key in my thoughts.

All this is going to change with the opening of The Sinful Cupcake, a new bakery being cooked up by Kristin Sullivan, the owner of It’s a Peace of Cake, Skippack’s booming cupcake mecca, with help from her husband Bob. The Sinful Cupcake will offer its temptations at 4034 Skippack Pike (next to Brasserie 73) and feature:

Building a house of devilish delights: Kristin and Bob Sullivan planning the future at the Sinful Cupcake, 4034 Skippack Pike

• Full scale bakery
• Cakes, tarts, torts, and more
• Baking on premises
• Open kitchen: The entire kitchen will be open to view
• Free WiFi and indoor and outdoor seating (perfect for the Skippack blogger)
• Coffee from One Village Coffee, a specialty coffee roaster based in nearby Souderton, PA (the Skippack Blogger cannot wait to sit down for his first cuppa coffee at The Sinful Cupcake)
• An added coffee bonus: Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee imported directly from Jamaica by Kristin herself
• Planned activities such as noontime workouts
• On-site events such as birthday parties and corporate meetings
• Hip, cutting edge atmosphere courtesy of the mind of Kristin Sullivan and the skill and hard work of Bob Sullivan, who doubles as owner of Premier Building Contractors LLC

A Cupcake by Any Other Name Would Taste as Sweet

Why the new name along with the new location?

“It’s a Peace of Cake is a good name and has done well for me, but I want to build a shop that more accurately reflects who I am,” explains Kristin. “I am bringing the full power of my eccentric city roots into the Skippack Village mix. I want to create an environment that mirrors who I am — cutting edge, off the charts, provocative, urban underground — and adds spice, a tempting spice, to the beautiful rhythm of life here.”

Adds Kristin, “It will be the same taste, the same ingredients, but a different look.”

Kudos to Kristin for taking risks and turning work into a means of self-expression.

Filling Cupcakes and Fulfilling Dreams

Because I have bitten into the soft, yummy insides of many a cupcake at their current location, I know that Kristin and Bob have what it takes: They will create a wonderful environment, both cutting edge and beautiful, deliver delicious baked goods, and build a successful business. I look forward to taking my laptop into the village and documenting my Skippack thoughts and dreams sitting at a table in The Sinful Cupcake, right in the nerve center of town.

Scroll down for more photos and links

Raising the next generation of women entrepreneurs: Kristin Sullivan, owner of a soon-to-open, new Skippack bakery called The Sinful Cupcake, with her daughter Maddy Mauze and a friend Alea Ott.

A house of temptation: 4034 Skippack Pike, location of the new, soon-to-open, full-scale bakery The Sinful Cupcake.

Resistance is futile: Red velvet cupcake from It's a Peace of Cake challenges bakery visitors to "bite me." The same folks who made this amazing creation are bringing a new full-scale bakery to Skippack, The Sinful Cupcake.

Links

It’s a Peace of Cake Website

It’s a Peace of Cake Facebook Page

Premier Building Contractors LLC Facebook Page

One Village Coffee Website

One Village Coffee Facebook Page

Heart's Desire in Skippack sells beautiful reproduction, nostalgic toys, books, and games, among other gift items.

A BMW. A Ferrari. An oversized flat screen television. A yacht. A McMansion. Yawn. I am bored. Luxury has become so branded and commonplace in the 21st Century that it fails to stir the blood. For the sake of politeness, dear friend or neighbor, I pretend to admire your shiny perfect new luxury sports car, but my mind has already wandered far away, faster than your V-8 engine can spin those shiny Assanti Wheels.

However, there is one type of material object that still has the power to move my soul, even to make my heart cry out. It is, of all things, the nostalgic, reproduction toys, books and novelties, sold at Heart’s Desire in Skippack Village: Mechanical tin robots, rubber horseshoes, Mad Libs, wind-up chattering teeth, cartoon character lunch boxes, kazoos, locomotive whistles, paddle ball, vintage yo-yos, etch-a-sketch, magic drawing slates, and other such treasures. The paraphenalia of my childhood.

Why do these silly toys and games move me so?

My neighbor and a mom to two little girls, Jen Mahoney (at right) with Catherine Green, the co-owner of Heart's Desire in Skippack. Jen loves the simple toys from Heart's Desire because they provide props for imaginative play.

But I fear my mind is wandering and so is my writing. No doubt, whoever has read this far wants me to get on with it and tell about the toys and other gifts available for them and their children in Skippack Village this Christmas or Hanukkah.

So I will let the toys, games and books from Heart’s Desire speak for themselves. Scroll down and enjoy the photos below.

The past and the future unite in a simple plaything: Toy robots from Heart's Desire in Skippack.

We are never really safe in this world, but a steel safe like this can give us an illusion of security. From Heart's Desire in Skippack.

Everyone's talking but is anyone actually saying anything? Wind-up chattering teeth from Heart's Desire in Skippack.

Close counts in this game: Rubber Horse Shoes available at Heart's Desire in Skippack.

Waiting for love: Stuffed animals at Heart's Desire waiting for a child to adopt them.

Get ready for a power lunch: Detail from a Superman lunch box available at Heart's Desire in Skippack.

Remembrance of things past. I remember waiting for the school bus. I had so much time back then. Wooden toy school bus available at Heat's Desire in Skippack.

Let's make some noise: Wildly Noisy Wooden Things from Heart's Desire in Skippack.

Finger puppets: Wooden giraffes available from Heart's Desire in Skippack.

A time of innocence: Curious George block puzzle and a rag doll.

Ready for take off: A tin toy airplane, ready to let some little boy's or little girl's or maybe even a grown-up's imagination soar.

Inanimate object seeks love: a jack-in-the-box monkey with a big heart.

When I was a kid, how I love Mad Libs! They made me feel _________ (adjective).

Past the age of innocence: There is now an adult version of Mad Libs, available at Heart's Desire in Skippack.

Green Tiger Press publishes beautiful reproductions of antique children's books. I purchased three Green Tiger Press books so far from Heart's Desire in Skippack. This illustration is reproduced from an old edition of the Night Before Christmas. "Goodnight and sweet dreams," like my dad used to say to me, every night.

Links

Heart’s Desire Website

Heart’s Desire Facebook Page

The road has been long but they are making it better: Paving Ashland Drive in the Biltmore Estates housing development, Skippack, Pennsylvania.

Rarely, if ever, do I think about the people who work hard to create the pleasant and comfortable moments that make my day bearable. For example, many fine mornings, I walk from my home to the WaWa in Skippack and get a cup of hot coffee. I do not stop to think about whoever grew the coffee beans or the manufacturer of the paper cup that holds my beverage. I pay, consume and move on.

This morning, in pursuit of hot coffee, I met up with Skippack Township Manager Ted Locker at WaWa. Ted remarked to me on the fine work being done by Haines & Kibblehouse in my housing development, Biltmore Estates. Haines & Kibblehouse is one of the mid Atlantic region’s largest construction materials and full-service site contracting companies with headquarters in Skippack.

Russ Landis (upper left) and Steven Yoder paving Ashland Drive in Biltmore Estates. The Skippack Blogger lives in the cluster of houses in the background.

Fallout from our harsh economic times brought Haines & Kibblehouse to my doorstep. Hit hard by the rapid decline in the housing market, the developer for Biltmore Estates, TH Properties, filed for bankruptcy on April 30th, 2009. Since then my housing development has been on a long, complicated but hopeful road to recovery and rebuilding. Haines & Kibblehouse was brought in to complete public improvements at Biltmore, such as laying sewer lines and paving roads and sidewalks, that were left unfinished when THP suspended operations. Initially, their work was funded through the release of an escrow account by Skippack Township, with the funds secured through a bond held by the township.

According to Ted Locker, “Both the completion of public improvements and additional housing would have taken much longer without the extra effort and help from Haines & Kibblehouse.” In addition to site construction work, Haines & Kibblehouse invested substantially from their own pocket in Biltmore Estates, showing faith in our community in the face of the harsh economy.

When I arrived home from the WaWa, a crew from Haines & Kibblehouse was paving the main street in my development, Ashland Drive. I ran to my house to grab my camera and came back out again. There I was, a community blogger following these working men and snapping photos like a paparazzo, getting the hot asphalt on the bottom of my sneaker. They put up with my awkward intrusion with patience, stopping for pictures, laughing, then going back to their tasks with the modesty characteristic of men who do real work.

Because of their hard work, I will enjoy a better quality of life and my home has a better chance of retaining its value. My debt and gratitude to these men would have been unknown even to myself had I not run into Ted Locker at the WaWa this morning. And it would not have been expressed were it not for the blog you are looking at now, dear reader.

Thanks, fellas!

Scroll down for more photos

A Haines & Kibblehouse laborer pauses to smile for the camera while working at Biltmore Estates in Skippack.

A distinguished gentleman in a white hard hat: Chick Morgan, superintendent at Haines & Kibblehouse, oversees the paving of Ashland Drive in Biltmore Estates.

Portrait of a working man: Steve Laubach from Haines & Kibblehouse at work in Biltmore Estates.

The working life: Laborers paving Ashland Drive.

Paving Ashland Drive: Ammon Moyer behind the wheel.

Steve Yoder at work. The haze is caused by steam from the hot asphalt.

Russ Landis behind the wheel.

Paving Ashland Drive: Eric Stull focusing on the task at hand.

Paving Ashland Drive: Haines & Kibblehouse crew and trucks.

Links

Blog post on Biltmore Estates from August 2010

Blog post on Biltmore Estates from May 2011

Haines & Kibblehouse

Skippack Township

Biltmore Estates Singles

Biltmore Estates Condos

Biltmore Estates Village Towns

The WaWa in Skippack Facebook Page