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This is my entry for LJ Idol, mini season 2024 (woot-woot!), week 11 or some such. The topic this week is "Haver." And by rights, I should have had it written sometime yesterday, the original deadline, but I couldn't miss my chance at pulling another "Broadcast News" and getting it in at the last possible minute.
I live in Havertown, Pennsylvania, where the "a" sound is like the word "have," like HAVE-er-town. Try telling that to Google Maps, though, which insists on mispronouncing it to rhyme with "Flavortown."
I bet if I lived in Flavortown, I'd always wear all the latest '80s fashions and know cool hip-hop dances. Or else I'd be a Guy Fieri wannabe and would spike my blonde hair and wear flame-colored bowling shirts. (Eww.)
Living here has its advantages. We have a great school district, which in the interest of confusing Google further, is named after the township we're in: Haverford School District (also pronounced like the "a" in "have," but for some reason, Google pronounces this word correctly).
Besides boasting one of the coolest high school freshmen ever (my son, KFP), the school district can brag about its unique mascot, being one of the only in the nation to have a car. Yes, you read that right. We are the Haverford Fords, which incidentally is the exact same mascot as nearby Haverford College. Quelle coincidence, eh?
The high school teams literally have a Ford Model T as a mascot, and before you ask, they don't have anybody in costume portraying said vehicle. But they do have an actual burgundy-colored Model T that leads all the parades before the football game. It smells like exhaust. Pretty sure it doesn't meet current emission standards. As my dad would say, "Mox nix."
Anyway, this is a great day to be talking about Havertown/Haverford, or in this case, for me to be talking and you to be hanging on my every word. You see, tomorrow is Haverford Township Day (huzzah!), which consists of a smallish parade which includes the high school marching band and most likely other participants, as well. I'm only 100 percent sure about the marching band, because we have to get KFP to the line-up spot in time to march tomorrow morning.
The festivities after the parade include craft and vendor booths; performances by such performers as the Beatles tribute band Newspaper Taxis (lest you think we're not obsessed enough about cars here); and apparently stilt walkers, jugglers, magicians and "Rock n Roll racing," whatever that is.
Despite living in Havertown since KFP was in first grade, we've only been to Haverford Township Day once, and it was raining, so we most likely didn't get the full experience. I do remember a very enthusiastic high school student at the HHS Robotics Club table, spinning tales of coding for our scientific-minded boy when he was just an elementary school kiddo. He's expressed his interest in joining the Robotics Club, now that he's old enough. His first meeting will be next week. Maybe in a future year, he'll help staff their table at Haverford Township Day.
For people outside of the Philadelphia area, I typically just tell them I live in "the Philadelphia suburbs," like nearly everyone else who lives in one of the surrounding counties. Around here, the Philadelphia area is known as the "Five Counties," which includes Philadelphia County (natch), as well as Bucks County to the Northeast, Montgomery County to the Northwest, Chester County to the far West, and Delaware County (a.k.a. Delco, where we live) to the immediate West of Philadelphia.
Before we moved to Havertown, we lived in Upper Darby, in a neighborhood known as Stonehurst, which literally looks like someone tried to max out their Monopoly space by jamming as many rowhouses as possible onto it. I used to tell people, for perspective, that there was Stonehurst, then the Fernwood Cemetery, and then West Philadelphia, which is absolutely true but more of a walk than you'd think.
Having grown up in a literal village in rural Central Pennsylvania, along the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, I was a little overwhelmed at first by suburban Philly. As someone who was used to actual SPACE between municipalities, I found it a bit disconcerting to drive from one town into the next and only know it by spotting a street sign.
I mean, in my first apartment, you could see the Philadelphia skyline from the street that ran by my house. Which seemed awfully close, until I got used to it.
High school classmates still register surprise when they learn where I've moved. Me, the girl who sported a perpetual tan from riding everywhere on my bicycle past cow pastures and cornfields, now living in Main Line Philadelphia. And honestly, there was a time when I would have been equally surprised.
Really, I never would have come here except that some of my dearest college buddies -- compatriots from the Penn State Monty Python Society -- came from Delco and moved back here after graduation. Thanks to them, I also met my husband, and the rest just seems like fate.
So, here's the part where I get deep and tell you what it all means. Because if I don't, it's just a lot of palaver, right?
Here's the secret: this suburban community, this goulash of people from a hundred different ethnicities, languages, backgrounds and religions, they're just as real as any small town. I mean, they may not be "Gilmore Girls" or "Northern Exposure," but they're genuine. Caring. Welcoming.
And I'm running out of time to tell you how readily we fit in here: how the moms at the elementary school befriended me, even though we were "outsiders," and how my son found his tight group of geeky, like-minded buddies that we parents of the Five Dudes agree are essentially one kid, split into five different bodies.
I'm not going to have time to tell you how my neighbors look out for us: bring in our packages and knock on our door to tell us when the back parking lot is flooding from an overflowing creek. How even the woman whose car I dented in the parking lot smiles cheerfully at me whenever she sees me.
No place is perfect, mind you. I get aggravated when I'm trying to nap and kids are playing excitedly outside. I sometimes wish I could put on an invisibility cloak and slip unseen into my apartment, when my introverted nature takes hold and I want to be unobserved.
But as random as it might seem that I ended up here, I truly feel like I belong. Far from being a bunch of nonsense, I believe that matters.
I live in Havertown, Pennsylvania, where the "a" sound is like the word "have," like HAVE-er-town. Try telling that to Google Maps, though, which insists on mispronouncing it to rhyme with "Flavortown."
I bet if I lived in Flavortown, I'd always wear all the latest '80s fashions and know cool hip-hop dances. Or else I'd be a Guy Fieri wannabe and would spike my blonde hair and wear flame-colored bowling shirts. (Eww.)
Living here has its advantages. We have a great school district, which in the interest of confusing Google further, is named after the township we're in: Haverford School District (also pronounced like the "a" in "have," but for some reason, Google pronounces this word correctly).
Besides boasting one of the coolest high school freshmen ever (my son, KFP), the school district can brag about its unique mascot, being one of the only in the nation to have a car. Yes, you read that right. We are the Haverford Fords, which incidentally is the exact same mascot as nearby Haverford College. Quelle coincidence, eh?
The high school teams literally have a Ford Model T as a mascot, and before you ask, they don't have anybody in costume portraying said vehicle. But they do have an actual burgundy-colored Model T that leads all the parades before the football game. It smells like exhaust. Pretty sure it doesn't meet current emission standards. As my dad would say, "Mox nix."
Anyway, this is a great day to be talking about Havertown/Haverford, or in this case, for me to be talking and you to be hanging on my every word. You see, tomorrow is Haverford Township Day (huzzah!), which consists of a smallish parade which includes the high school marching band and most likely other participants, as well. I'm only 100 percent sure about the marching band, because we have to get KFP to the line-up spot in time to march tomorrow morning.
The festivities after the parade include craft and vendor booths; performances by such performers as the Beatles tribute band Newspaper Taxis (lest you think we're not obsessed enough about cars here); and apparently stilt walkers, jugglers, magicians and "Rock n Roll racing," whatever that is.
Despite living in Havertown since KFP was in first grade, we've only been to Haverford Township Day once, and it was raining, so we most likely didn't get the full experience. I do remember a very enthusiastic high school student at the HHS Robotics Club table, spinning tales of coding for our scientific-minded boy when he was just an elementary school kiddo. He's expressed his interest in joining the Robotics Club, now that he's old enough. His first meeting will be next week. Maybe in a future year, he'll help staff their table at Haverford Township Day.
For people outside of the Philadelphia area, I typically just tell them I live in "the Philadelphia suburbs," like nearly everyone else who lives in one of the surrounding counties. Around here, the Philadelphia area is known as the "Five Counties," which includes Philadelphia County (natch), as well as Bucks County to the Northeast, Montgomery County to the Northwest, Chester County to the far West, and Delaware County (a.k.a. Delco, where we live) to the immediate West of Philadelphia.
Before we moved to Havertown, we lived in Upper Darby, in a neighborhood known as Stonehurst, which literally looks like someone tried to max out their Monopoly space by jamming as many rowhouses as possible onto it. I used to tell people, for perspective, that there was Stonehurst, then the Fernwood Cemetery, and then West Philadelphia, which is absolutely true but more of a walk than you'd think.
Having grown up in a literal village in rural Central Pennsylvania, along the West Branch of the Susquehanna River, I was a little overwhelmed at first by suburban Philly. As someone who was used to actual SPACE between municipalities, I found it a bit disconcerting to drive from one town into the next and only know it by spotting a street sign.
I mean, in my first apartment, you could see the Philadelphia skyline from the street that ran by my house. Which seemed awfully close, until I got used to it.
High school classmates still register surprise when they learn where I've moved. Me, the girl who sported a perpetual tan from riding everywhere on my bicycle past cow pastures and cornfields, now living in Main Line Philadelphia. And honestly, there was a time when I would have been equally surprised.
Really, I never would have come here except that some of my dearest college buddies -- compatriots from the Penn State Monty Python Society -- came from Delco and moved back here after graduation. Thanks to them, I also met my husband, and the rest just seems like fate.
So, here's the part where I get deep and tell you what it all means. Because if I don't, it's just a lot of palaver, right?
Here's the secret: this suburban community, this goulash of people from a hundred different ethnicities, languages, backgrounds and religions, they're just as real as any small town. I mean, they may not be "Gilmore Girls" or "Northern Exposure," but they're genuine. Caring. Welcoming.
And I'm running out of time to tell you how readily we fit in here: how the moms at the elementary school befriended me, even though we were "outsiders," and how my son found his tight group of geeky, like-minded buddies that we parents of the Five Dudes agree are essentially one kid, split into five different bodies.
I'm not going to have time to tell you how my neighbors look out for us: bring in our packages and knock on our door to tell us when the back parking lot is flooding from an overflowing creek. How even the woman whose car I dented in the parking lot smiles cheerfully at me whenever she sees me.
No place is perfect, mind you. I get aggravated when I'm trying to nap and kids are playing excitedly outside. I sometimes wish I could put on an invisibility cloak and slip unseen into my apartment, when my introverted nature takes hold and I want to be unobserved.
But as random as it might seem that I ended up here, I truly feel like I belong. Far from being a bunch of nonsense, I believe that matters.
no subject
Date: 2024-10-05 01:55 am (UTC)From:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GCNUeTFSbA
no subject
Date: 2024-10-05 02:44 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2024-10-05 07:44 am (UTC)From:I never thought of cars being mascots, that's intriguing. I wonder what other random things are mascots.
A fun entry.
no subject
Date: 2024-10-05 01:19 pm (UTC)From:My favorite part, "which consists of a smallish parade which includes the high school marching band and most likely other participants, as well."
Yeah, see, there are lots of activities, like KFP marching, and ... KFP marching. Lizbeth was the same way when we went to any event featuring our kids.
The community aspect sounds very nice, but I understand why it could seem wearing as well. Sometimes you just need some "alone time!" (grin)
Great entry!
Dan
no subject
Date: 2024-10-05 01:19 pm (UTC)From:- Erulisse (one L)
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Date: 2024-10-05 03:02 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2024-10-05 05:21 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2024-10-05 05:35 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2024-10-05 05:36 pm (UTC)From:https://youtu.be/CgmsGzb-zH0
no subject
Date: 2024-10-05 06:45 pm (UTC)From:This made me laugh, because I don't understand why Guy Fieri is Guy Fieri. Why is he everywhere, and why should I care?
This sounds like a very nice place to live, with a nice community. And I do love the idea of the school mascot being a car, just because it's so weird. I dream of the day when the school eventually decides that someone SHOULD dress up as a car for school events. I would like to see that costume! :D
no subject
Date: 2024-10-05 10:30 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2024-10-06 03:33 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2024-10-06 04:04 pm (UTC)From:I love the Fords for a High School mascot...let's face it lots of the best High School memories are made in cars.
Sometimes even when they are moving. And really don't we have enough Bears, Eagles, Lions, Tigers and even a couple like Georgia Tech who shares my own high school mascot (Go Galena Park Yellow Jackets).
While Alyce Wilson could pull off a spiked hair, bowling shirt combo and still look good it's difficultly level expert.
Great Entry.
no subject
Date: 2024-10-06 10:55 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2024-10-07 11:43 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2024-10-08 12:06 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2024-10-13 03:27 pm (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2024-10-13 04:39 pm (UTC)From: