Churchville

Don't compare Liz Churchville's PIAA Class AAA state cross-country championship with the state 3,200-meter crown she won on May 23 at Shippensburg University. The Upper Merion junior proved in both races that she's the PIAA's best long-distance runner. But the similarities end there. "Cross-country was so much different," she said. "It wasn't a snap, but I went undefeated. " In the state track meet, Churchville stayed with the pack before moving to the front on the fourth circuit of the eight-lap race.

A Churchville woman left her car in the driveway to warm up one morning last week and failed to notice something crucial: The emergency brake was not set. The woman lives on hilly Autumn Road. The law of gravity prevailed. Within seconds, her 1964 Ford Falcon had smashed into the wall of her neighbor's garage across the street and severed the line to that family's gas meter, which was inside the garage. "Near-disaster was avoided by strict luck. The damned thing didn't blow up," said Northampton Township Police Sgt. Bill Tomlinson.

Gliding across the frozen floors of metropolitan arenas, Elizabeth Hehl is entering adulthood with a rare perspective. Hehl, a Churchville native who graduated from Council Rock High School last spring, is touring the country with Walt Disney's World on Ice. At 18, she is the youngest performer in the Disney production of Hercules, now finishing a 10-day run in Philadelphia, the show's producers say. The experience has been more than she...

After overcoming high bids and late approval, construction plans for a new Churchville fire station face a chilling final obstacle: Winter. More than a month later than they had hoped, township officials received approval from the Navy last week to begin building the station on 2.4 acres near Hatboro and New Roads. The land, part of the former Naval Air Warfare Center, was among 169 acres designated for the township after the military facility closed last year. Work on the fire station began last Monday - hours after the Navy gave official approval - but township officials said they were unsure if they would be able to meet their original construction deadlines.

Joey Smith takes a look at a handcrafted wooden snowman held by his aunt, Lisa Call, of Churchville. They were among visitors yesterday at the Colonial Christmas Craft Fair, held in the 18th-century farmhouse in Tamanend Park, Southampton.

Gordon Austin, 70, retired owner of a furniture business, died Sunday at his home in Southampton. Mr. Austin lived in Churchville for 26 years before moving to Southampton five months ago. Born in Detroit, Mr. Austin was raised and educated in New York City. During World War II, he served in the Army Air Corps as a communications specialist in Brazil. Mr. Austin had worked in office furniture for many years and was a vice president of Metalstand Co. in Northeast Philadelphia when, in 1989, he and a partner founded A/S Custom Furniture Co. The Huntingdon Valley firm manufactures custom office furniture and related equipment.

Police are searching for the vandals who broke windows on about 50 vehicles and three homes overnight Tuesday and yesterday in the Richboro and Churchville areas. Lt. Neil Clark said Northampton Township police began to get calls about 9:15 p.m. each night, and reports continued into the early-morning hours. "It was like they were just riding around the area, picking cars at random," Clark said. He said the first report came from a home off Bustleton Pike in Churchville, "and then the reports just continued to roll in. " Clark said he believed some sort of projectile was used to smash the windows, but no evidence was immediately found.

Elsie Steiner Haverstraw, 77, a retired assembler for a maker of industrial gauges and a lover of polka music, died Friday at her Churchville residence after a three-year illness. Mrs. Haverstraw retired five years ago after 46 years with Moore Products Co. in Lower Gwynedd Township. "She loved German polka music, and we even went to Europe to follow one band," said her husband of 58 years, Arnold S. Haverstraw. She also liked going to Atlantic City casinos. A native of Philadelphia, she graduated from Jules Mastbaum Vocational High School and resided in Concordville, Delaware County, before moving to Churchville.

Theresa R. Bisceglia Antczak, 63, of Churchville, a former bank employee who had been Philadelphia mayor for a day and had spoken out against religious and racial injustice while still in high school, died Monday at Holy Redeemer Hospital in Meadowbrook. Born in Philadelphia, Mrs. Antczak graduated from South Philadelphia High School. "While she was in high school, she was selected to be mayor for a day while Bernard Samuel was mayor of Philadelphia," said Richard S. Antczak, her husband of 42 years.

Like many other top 800-meter runners, Owen J. Roberts sophomore Jen Gramata has exceptional range. "She ran a 1:00 [400-meter] split at the Penn Relays," Owen J. Roberts coach David Michael said. "She also runs well in the 1,600. We never used her in the 4x200, but I'd be curious. " Presently, however, it's safe to call Gramata an 800-meter ace. She finished fifth in PIAA Class AAA state competition with a personal best of 2 minutes, 17.39 seconds. "We didn't talk a lot about the state meet," Michael said.

The morning of March 27, 2011, smoke and flames drove brothers Andrew and David Wallace and Andrew's girlfriend from their apartments above the family-owned Churchville Inn , a landmark in Southampton, Bucks County. "There were three walls left standing," said their father, Jeff, last week, as the landmark reopened (1500 Bustleton Pike, Southampton, 215-357-3967). The main dining room is spruced up with a mural, crafted from barn wood by Murrie Gayman, that depicts historic events and people from Bucks County history.

When Jay Schwartz picked up a reel of film in a Lambertville flea market 20 years ago, he had no idea he was holding the only known visual record of an exhumation spurred by a 20-year court dispute. And fittingly enough, Schwartz will have a public showing of the bizarre movie on Friday, July 13, at Laurel Hill Cemetery, where it was made. Schwartz screened the footage alongside other found home movies a few times over the years, but he never realized what it was depicting.

The Churchville Inn in Southampton, a local landmark in Bucks County, was left in ruins by a fire that forced the two managers to flee their apartments above the restaurant early Sunday. "I woke up gagging on smoke . . . coming through the ceiling," said Andrew Wallace, 27, whose two-bedroom apartment is one floor above the historic restaurant. Gasping, Wallace said he had run to his bedroom window to gulp fresh air. He woke his girlfriend, Nicole Sidorchuck, 25. She scooped up Wallace's beagle, Sammy, and together they fled to safety down an interior staircase.

The Churchville Inn in Southampton, a local landmark in Bucks County, was left in ruins by a fire that forced the two managers to flee their apartments above the restaurant early Sunday. "I woke up gagging on smoke . . . coming through the ceiling," said Andrew Wallace, 27, whose two-bedroom apartment is one floor above the historic restaurant. Gasping, Andrew said he ran to his bedroom window to gulp fresh air. He woke his girlfriend, Nicole Sidorcheck, 25. She scooped up Andrew's beagle Sammy and together they fled to safety down an interior staircase.

In Bloomsburg it is known as "the Crag," a 70-foot cliff notorious for a succession of deadly and near-fatal falls. This week, it claimed a young Bucks County man who plummeted to his death early Tuesday. Kevin White, 21, of Churchville, might have lost his way and fallen while walking back to his dormitory at nearby Bloomsburg University, police said. "He just fell off a cliff. There is nothing at this point that makes this suspicious," Bloomsburg Police Lt. Joseph Wondoloski said.

Sixth grader Valerie Malizzia won a creative-writing competition with images of electronic pencils that read minds and talking computers that answer questions in class. The contest, initiated in November by Smart Technologies in Canada, was open to third through ninth graders in North America. Malizzia, a student at Churchville Elementary School, won a Smart board, estimated at $3,000, for her school. A sixth-grade classmate, Jessica Sussin, won a certificate of commendation for second place for her vision of time machines and robotic teachers.

Elsie Steiner Haverstraw, 77, a retired assembler for a maker of industrial gauges and a lover of polka music, died Friday at her Churchville residence after a three-year illness. Mrs. Haverstraw retired five years ago after 46 years with Moore Products Co. in Lower Gwynedd Township. "She loved German polka music, and we even went to Europe to follow one band," said her husband of 58 years, Arnold S. Haverstraw. She also liked going to Atlantic City casinos. A native of Philadelphia, she graduated from Jules Mastbaum Vocational High School and resided in Concordville, Delaware County, before moving to Churchville.

George P. Della Pia Jr., 38, of Churchville, a certified public accountant and co-owner of two restaurants, died Thursday at Warminster Hospital of heart disease. For the last decade, he owned and operated Della Pia & Associates, an accounting and management-consulting firm in Southampton. Mr. Della Pia also was co-owner of La Fontana del Mare, which is scheduled to open for a third Shore season in Strathmere, N.J., and, since November, was an investor in Massimo's Sandwiches & Pizzeria in Northeast Philadelphia.

This is what comes of watching Oprah: Kathleen Reick's living room now holds a rack of used wedding gowns. Yes, the connection was just about that simple. One afternoon in May when the kids were getting to her, she switched on the TV and was struck by the story of a West Coast woman who had started an organization granting last wishes for breast-cancer patients. The group, Making Memories, collects donated wedding gowns, resells them, and puts the profits into a dream-fulfillment fund for people with metastatic breast cancer.

Dr. Roderick A. Robertson, 63, formerly of Churchville, a retired computer consultant and college professor, died last Thursday at Manatee Memorial Hospital in Bradenton, Fla., from complications of multiple heart-bypass surgery performed in 1996. He had moved to Bradenton two years ago after having lived in Churchville for 31 years. Dr. Robertson spent many years in the computer field, primarily while working with educational institutions. He retired in 1998 after 20 years as a computer-management consultant for the State of New Jersey.