Elkins Park

A dream had carried the boys so far from home, some 5,000 miles across the ocean to a cramped and dingy apartment in Philadelphia: a hope that ice hockey could change their lives. Ivan Pravilov could fulfill that dream, they were told. He could take them from the daily grind of post-communist Ukraine to the gleaming ice of the NHL. He'd done it before. He'd done if for Andrei Zyuzin, who went on to play for six NHL teams. He'd done it for Konstantin Kalmikov, a third-round draft pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 1996.

John Wanamaker had one. So did investment banker Jay Cooke. And William L. Elkins, for whom Elkins Park is named, had one, too. The possession coveted by these 19th-century magnates was a private railroad station. Wanamaker, Cooke and Elkins built stations for their own use. Now Elkins Park real estate agents Ralph Buchsbaum and Robert Lam have joined that elite group. In a current-day adaptation, Buchsbaum and Lam have renovated the 87-year- old Elkins Park train station at Park and Spring Avenues for use as a real estate office.

A Philadelphia man was charged with attempted rape and related charges after a patrol officer responding to a woman's screams interrupted an assault in a garage of the Lynnewood Gardens complex in Elkins Park early Friday morning. The woman, a 19-year-old Philadelphia resident, suffered a bruised face in the attack and was taken to Rolling Hill Hospital in Elkins Park for treatment, police said. Paul Randel, 34, of the 3700 block of Germantown Avenue, was arrested as he attempted to run from the scene after he saw the patrol car's headlights approaching the garage, police said.

Marco Cacopardo, the pro at the Cheltenham Racquet Club in Elkins Park, qualified yesterday for the Comcast U.S. Indoor tennis tournament, which begins this morning at the Spectrum and continues through Sunday. Cacopardo, 25, defeated David Nainkin of South Africa, 6-2, 6-4, to become one of five players to fill out the championship draw. Cacopardo's first-round opponent will be seventh-seeded Mark Woodforde of Australia. The three other players reaching the semifinals of the qualifying tournament, and thus earning places in the main draw, were Sebastian Lareau, Canada's second-ranked player; Steve Bryan of Katy, Texas; and Jan Apell of Sweden.

Mortgage & Realty Trust, the Elkins Park real estate investment trust operating under bankruptcy-court protection, yesterday reported a large loss in the quarter and year ended Sept. 30. The trust attributed the fourth-quarter loss to the payment of $4.8 million in legal fees and other bankruptcy costs and to the setting aside of $10 million for losses on real estate loans and other investments. For the 12 months, Mortgage & Realty set aside $23.8 million to cover losses on investments.

He would apologize to his parishioners for his appearance, for the tube in his nose, and then he would proceed with Communion. Doctors told him he would never talk again after the laryngectomy, but he paced the corridors of St. James Roman Catholic Church in Elkins Park trying to get his words back. And he succeeded. Msgr. Peter J. Cruise gave sermons again on Sunday mornings. "He never let the cancer get him down," said his assistant, the Rev. William S. Harrison. "He was always with the people of the parish.

A memorial service will be held in May for Rabbi Yaakov G. Rosenberg, 75, former spiritual leader of Congregation Adath Jeshurun in Elkins Park. He died in Jerusalem last Thursday, and a funeral and burial were held the next day in Israel. Rabbi Rosenberg was the spiritual leader at Adath Jeshurun from 1960 to 1978, then he was vice chancellor of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in New York until 1987, when he retired and moved to Israel. From 1949 to 1956, he had been spiritual leader at Temple Beth Zion in Philadelphia, then served Temple Beth David in Miami, Fla., until 1960.

The pro-Christian magazine that recently sparked a debate over religious rights and free speech in Elkins Park has disappeared from the township's street corners. The Plain Truth, which three weeks ago appeared in Elkins Park, much to the consternation of a few residents, has moved on. Bright blue boxes that once were chained in front of the Elkins Park library and the Adath Jeshurun Congregation synagogue are gone. But boxes bearing The Plain Truth have now been spotted farther north, in Willow Grove.

Richard J. Levinson, CPA, a shareholder in the Elkins Park accounting firm of Glickman, Berkovitz, Levinson & Weiner, will be honored by the Epilepsy Foundation of Philadelphia during its Second Annual Sports Day at the Philadelphia Country Club on Monday, May 22. Levinson is being honored for his work as a volunteer and fund-raiser for the Epilepsy Foundation. The day's festivities will include a luncheon, golf, tennis, a cocktail reception and an awards dinner. Proceeds will benefit the foundation's employment training and placement service.

While artist Sam Maitin does not consider himself religious, he has occasionally found himself dwelling on biblical themes. At the time of his son Izak's bar mitzvah in 1976, he became focused on the stories of Jacob and Esau, and Joseph and his brothers. He completed a series of etchings to illustrate them. From there, he moved on to the psalms of David, which he rendered in a suite of prints. The great tales and struggles of biblical figures fascinated him. "They're very human, with their foibles," he said.

Stella Elkins was a lucky bride. For her spring wedding to George F. Tyler in 1905, her parents built her a cottage in their apple orchard in Elkins Park. A 50-room cottage. Named Georgian Terrace, it was designed by Horace Trumbauer, architect to Philadelphia's Gilded Age potentates. Mom and Dad - Stella and George Elkins - lived next door at Chelten House, a stone-and-timber estate also by Trumbauer. Grandfather William L. Elkins, a onetime grocer who smartly plowed his profits into oil, gasoline, streetcars, and railways, built an even more sublime Trumbauer creation, Elstowe Manor, just a robust croquet stroke away.

Seriously, when was the last time you heard of this scenario: An abandoned school building burns down, leaving 11?undeveloped acres in the middle of a tiny suburban neighborhood, and what ultimately comes out of it is not a new housing development with "mews" or "towne" in the name, or another shopping center, or even T-ball or soccer fields, but a park for walking, exercising the dog, bird-watching, and other relaxing pursuits. And it happens without community civil war. Quite the opposite: High School Park in Elkins Park came about because regular citizens and their local government worked together in many ways, over a lot of years.

Elkins Park's tiny downtown has not been the same since Ashbourne Market closed in 2002. Tucked into a commercial strip just a few blocks long, the market was more than a grocery with a big kosher section. For four decades, it was the convivial hub of the community, where neighbors gathered over bagels and lox on Sunday mornings. Having lost their anchor, however, nearby stores began to falter. Others moved in - including a tasty shawarma joint - only to fail, too. The strip was so barren, said Max Minkoff, that "you couldn't buy an apple" there.

An Montgomery County man admitted in federal court this morning that he flimflammed elderly church members with promises of booking them on trips to the Holy Land. Federal prosecutors said John B. Baird, 73, defrauded 138 church members out of $423,577. Sentencing for Baird, who pleaded guilty to four counts of mail fraud, is set for May 7. Baird, of Elkins Park, formerly owned and operated Christian Pilgrim Tours, Inc., which organized trips to various Holy Land sites in Israel, Italy, France, Poland and other places, the government said.

Police in Philadelphia have arrested a 24-year-old man for the Christmas Day slaying of another man inside a home in Cheltenham Township, Montgomery County. Rayshon Carwheel was taken into custody and charged with murdering Robens Borno, 25, as the latter wrapped Christmas presents with his new girlfriend early on Christmas morning, officials said. Police said Carwheel, of Philadelphia, was the woman's former boyfriend and father of their child. The woman broke up with him and began a relationship with Borno in early December, officials said.

Former Elkins Park businessman Salvatore Pelullo pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he helped mastermind the multimillion-dollar looting of a Texas-based mortgage lending company. Pelullo, 44, who entered the plea during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Camden, has been ordered held without bail. Pelullo and mobster Nicodemo S. Scarfo, 46, son of jailed mob boss Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, have been accused of stealing more than $12 million from the FirstPlus Financial Group through scams, fraudulent business deals, and bogus consulting contracts.

The sky was still dark Wednesday when the faithful started to arrive at Roling's Bakery in Elkins Park. Some carried crumpled lists, moist from the morning mist; others had memorized their marching orders. "Five raisin and five plain," Deb Goldberg said in a breathy rush. "Every year I come from Center City. It's an annual ritual. " She refers to the ritual buying of the holiday challah. This shop is so small (three's a crowd) that the Roling family sets up a tent in its minuscule parking lot off Montgomery Avenue to sell round loaves of challah for the Jewish High Holy Days.

The sky was still dark Wednesday when the faithful started to arrive at Roling's Bakery in Elkins Park. Some carried crumpled lists, moist from the morning mist, others had memorized their marching orders. "Five raisin and five plain," Deb Goldberg said in a breathy rush. "Every year I come from Center City. It's an annual ritual. " She refers to the ritual buying of the holiday challah. This shop is so small (three's a crowd) that the Roling family sets up a tent in its minuscule parking lot off Montgomery Avenue to sell round loaves of challah for the Jewish High Holy Days.

The eight-year sentences reported Saturday for two Americans - including Elkins Park native Josh Fattal - were a crushing blow to supporters of the hikers, who have been held virtually incommunicado in Iran since 2009 on charges of illegally entering the country and espionage. Fattal and two friends, Shane Bauer and Sarah Shourd, were captured by Iranian border guards after setting out to hike in northern Iraqi Kurdistan; Iran says they entered the Islamic republic. Shourd, who fell ill in prison, was released on bail in September.