4 WEEKLYPRESS.COM · UCREVIEW.COM · JULY 11· 2012


Oktoberfest in July


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plain will be left up to “Rich Allen, the District Manager of Distribution in this region.” Make no mistake. Bridge-


water’s hasn’t decided to host a German-Styled Beer Garden for the sake of nov- elty. Over the last few years, it has gained recognition for its German and Belgian Styled beers. And let’s not forget its menu. With Chef Fredrick Price preparing meals such as Wild Game Meatballs, Proscuitto Salad, Po’Boys and Beef Brisket, the pub’s pa- trons have a wide-variety of delectable entrees to choose from. Of course, one cannot fail to call attention to it’s old- world interior. Its Brunswick styled bar—circa 1922-- has been restored from a hotel in Lancaster County. Its ninety- year-old oak and glass panels salvaged from a church in Maryland. As for its clientele, it’s comprised of a mix of in- ternational and national trav- elers. Though according to Spellman, Bridgewater’s also has a regular crowd of people who either live or work in the area. While Spellman enjoys meeting people from all over the world at the pub, she also enjoys the feeling she has when she looks down the bar and sees familiar faces. “It’s great to know the people who come here […] those ones who have kids, those who don’t […] where they go on vacation. It makes you feel like your part of a family.” Bridgewater Pub opened in 1998 where a former veg- etable stand once stood. In the beginning, the pub served more standard fare. Its beer list for example consisted of the typical Miller’s, Co- ors, Budweiser, Harp and Guinness selections. “We’ve changed a lot over the years,”


One Call and It’s Done.


Spellman admits. Then again—as any life long Philly resident knows-- so has 30th Street Station. The former run-down but architectural gem has transformed to a world-class transit destina- tion filled with eateries and cafes.


What’s more, the Univer- sity City District has initiated its Porch Programming this summer season through mid- October which includes farm- ers markets and other events. As for Bridgewater’s hosting a Beer Garden, “It all began with a phone call,” Spell- man said of her conversation with the UCD’s Lori Klein Brennan. Originally, Brennan asked Spellman if she could host the event during Philly Beer Week, but when the scheduling didn’t work out, they pushed it to July. Bridgewater’s “has a long tradition of selling high qual- ity food and beers,” Brennan explained. “The UCD knew it could pull it off a Beer Garden and make it work.” As for other components of the UCD’s Porch program- ming at 30th


Street Station,


“We wanted to think out of the box.” According to Bren- nan, “free activities like free mini golf, outdoor concerts, yoga and fitness aren’t things people expect to find in the plaza outside a train station. The beer of course, will cost money.”


But it will be priced reason-


ably, Spellman said, explain- ing that nearly all of the beer will range in price between five and six dollars. This week’s beer garden


will run on Thursday, July 12th 13th


Saturday, July 14th


from 4-8 p.m., Friday, July from noon-8 p.m. and


from noon-


5 p.m. For more information about Oktoberfest and other Porch events, please visit www.thepubin30thstreetsta- tion.com and www.universi- tycity.org.


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City District will host an outdoor educational play- time, “Celebrate Wind & Water.” Visitors can spend time in the park’s Children’s Discovery Garden and play in the boat pond or in the fountain that pays tribute to Philadelphia’s 10 Sister


Cities. And, there will be exciting interactive work- shops, hands-on activities and demonstrations that reveal the many important ways wind and water af- fect our everyday lives. The Milk & Honey Café will be open as will the Visitor Cen- ter. Everything you need for


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a good time will be in Sister Cities Park! Here’s just a sampling of the programs lined up for this free Satur- day event.


The Center City District will provide materials for assembling and decorating kites and will also hand out pinwheels.


Participants can help stu- dents from the Philadelphia Wooden Boat Factory craft a full-length boat oar for a 14-foot rowboat, which will be in the park that day. Plus, there will be mini-boat races! The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel Univer- sity will use a model of the Schuylkill River and Dela- ware River watersheds to explore what happens to the water we use every day and


how we can help keep the water clean. Staff from the City’s Department of Parks & Recreation will lead games played with parachutes and host bol kite races. And the Fairmount Water Works In- terpretive Center will show how water wheels work and how the chemical makeup of water can be tested. You will want to bring a camera!


Other partners for the event include the Indepen- dence Seaport Museum and the Philadelphia Water Department. Event is rain or shine. For more information, please go to www.sister- cities.org .


Taxpayers paying more for


lawmakers’ benefits Health benefits and annual cost-of-living adjustment could total $6,000 per-member increase


By Jared Sichel PA Independent


H


ARRISBURG — Pennsylvania taxpayers, who


are struggling with tough economic decisions, will be paying House and Senate lawmakers more for their prescription and dental ben- efits this year.


And those same lawmak- ers also are expecting a sala- ry increase in December just in time for the holidays. The recently approved $27.656 billion budget in- cludes $1.7 million, mostly for prescription and dental benefits with $1.4 million going to the House’s 203 members and $300,000 to the state Senate’s 50 mem- bers.


If lawmakers receive the full increase, members’ an- nual compensation could increase by at least $6,000 per member. Last year, total compensa- tion for all lawmakers’ sala- ries and medical benefits was about $32.3 million. Eric Epstein, founder


of Rock the Capital, a Harrisburg-based political watchdog group, said legis- lators are out of touch with voters.


“The average Pennsyl- vania family does not get subsidized ‘Cadillac’ health care,” Epstein said. “Until these guys that govern us understand how hard it is to get by day to day, to pay health care, they’re not going to be able to pass leg- islation that improves the quality of life for Pennsylva- nians.”


Lawmakers pay 1 percent of their salaries toward health benefits as opposed to their constituents who contribute 2 percent, ac- cording to data collected by the National Conference of State Legislators, a biparti- san organization that serves the legislators and staffs of the nation’s 50 states, and the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.


Base pay for legisla- tors this year is more than $80,000, and lawmakers in leadership positions make


more than $100,000. Meanwhile, the median income for a Pennsylvania household is about $50,000, according to the U.S. Cen- sus Bureau. Erik Arneson, spokesman


for Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Ches- ter, said Senate Republicans do “understand fully the difficult economic situation that Pennsylvania is in.” “Much of our work this session has been targeted to improving the economic condition of our state,” Arneson said. “Increased health-care costs are an is- sue for every employer, whether in the private sec- tor or the public sector.” While some costs of the state’s full-time Legislature are going up, the money allocated to fund the state House and Senate was cut by about $800,000 in the recently approved budget. Last year, nearly $273 mil- lion helped pay for the Leg- islature’s operations. The reduction is due to ongoing streamlining of


other costs, primarily print- ing costs.


“I think (printing and leg- islative expense accounts) have decreased consider- ably over the last three or four years,” said state Rep. Bill Adolph, R-Delaware. Even though salaries com- prise the bulk of lawmaker compensation, benefits — ranging from health and dental plans to per diems of $163 — increase how much House and Senate members make. Preferred provider orga- nization health insurance plans for each of the 203 House members and their families cost taxpayers be- tween $4,543 and $20,420 in fiscal 2011-12, according to the Bucks County Courier Times.


Most full-time House em- ployees are enrolled in plans worth at least $6,855. Plans for each of the 50 state sena- tors and their families range from $6,969 to $19,311. While most lawmak-


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