Eagles running back Saquon Barkley works out his surgically repaired knee with the NEUBIE, which he bought for personal use and has been using since his time with the Giants. “He knows he can use it to get his power source turned back on,” says Paoli physical therapist Chris Hayes.
Main Line athletes, weekend warriors and post-op patients are all getting a charge out of the NEUBIE, the newish electric stimulator that Tredyffrin’s own Saquon Barkley swears by.
Only 14 providers in PA have it and only two are local: Hayes Physical Therapy & Integrative Healing Center in Paoli and at Bryn Mawr Sports Rehab.
Eager to show off the NEUBIE’s healing power, Hayes offered a test drive for my nagging shoulder injury.
First, she applied NEUBIE electrodes to different areas in order to map my injury “with 100 percent accuracy,” pinpointing what she called “threats” or “hot spots.”
The NEUBIE showed that my left shoulder was indeed out of whack. A danger message had been signaling my brain “to put out more histamines, more stress response, more pain,” Hayes explained.
With the injury mapped, she tested my strength, pushing down on both arms. My left arm flopped like limp noodle, showing “significant weakness” in my left deltoid, rotator cuff and bicep, she said.
To “clear it,” she progressively amped up the electric current to “productively uncomfortable” levels as she led me through a series of simple shoulder exercises.
Performing an alternating shoulder lift exercise while hooked up to the NEUBIE.
When an exercise became less painful with a certain level of juice, she would dial up more. Did it hurt? Only briefly. But hey, no pain, no retraining of my brain.
“We’re quieting the nervous system response that has been blocking healing,” she said. “Your brain is perceiving safety and allowing you to move with greater ease.”
Then Hayes retested my strength. This time, my left arm was no pushover. It was a rock. Immovable. As strong as my right.
“Is that not freaking unbelievable?” Hayes enthused. “It’s a happy little magic trick.”
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The next morning at the gym, I didn’t reach for baby weights for exercises that worked my left shoulder. Yay!
While the NEUBIE helped me right away, Hayes says patients “often see meaningful progress in the first four visits.”
Besides restoring mobility and easing pain, NEUBIE can reduce pricey physician visits, Hayes says.
“Let’s say a physician suspects a torn rotator cuff. Once we clear the neurology with the NEUBIE, you don’t need an injection. You don’t need surgery and you don’t even need an MRI. We just have to train it out. It’s fascinating.”
Patients in Hayes’ practice also use the NEUBIE for strength recovery post-surgery and for “master resets” – gentle, full-body vagus-nerve stimulations that balance the nervous system between fight-or-flight and rest-and-recover modes and improve sleep.
My relaxing “master reset” on the NEUBIE during which electric currents charged through my feet and neck. Frankenstein’s monster should have it so good.
With three NEUBIES in her practice, Hayes and her therapists are also conditioning elite athletes, local golfers, pickleball players – anyone looking to stay in the game.
Head coach of the U.S. U-21 Women’s National Field Hockey Team Ange Bradley fortifies her core for pickleball with the NEUBIE at Chris Hayes Physical Therapy in Paoli. After a spinal injury and fusion surgery, she turned to Hayes to recover the mobility and foot agility she needs for effective pickleball play.
Not surprisingly, the NEUBIE by Neufit was invented by a jock: a semipro hockey player with an engineering background looking to avoid surgery for his crushed wrist.
“He looked at all the electric stimulation devices on the market and they really weren’t doing anything because they weren’t firing the way the nervous system does,” Hayes explained.
After his NEUBIE (Neuro-Bio-Electric Stimulator) received FDA approval as a Class II medical device in late 2017, inventor Garrett Saltpeter made the rounds of pro sports teams. At the time, Giants star running back Saquon Barkley was focused on preventing further injury to his twice-torn meniscus and ACL. Saltpeter started training him and Barkley became a convert, shelling out $18,000 for his own device and a filming a video testimonial for the gizmo he affectionately calls “my little Chico.” He continues to use the NEUBIE before games to get his body primed for peak performance.
Barkley’s not alone. The NEUBIE is also a staple in the training rooms of the Phillies and the LA Dodgers, among other pro teams.
In her suburban practice, Chris Hayes has made sizable investments in the two “advanced healing modalities” that she believes work together to deliver “the best bang for the buck” for her patients: a Class IV Diowave laser to correct structural issues and ease inflammation and the NEUBIE to reprogram the nervous system.
All patients receive two complimentary NEUBIE sessions and two heart rate variability studies. (HRV studies are snapshots of the nervous system that determine game readiness and are increasingly considered a key marker for longevity.)
Hayes has treated patients for 36 years and her bustling practice has been a Main Line mainstay for 26, but she still speaks of the NEUBIE like an excited, er, newbie.
Bubbling with brio, she talks about healing the woman who couldn’t climb stairs or dress herself a year after hip-replacement surgery; about the anxious Applebrook golfer who scored his first hole-in-one after a master reset of his nervous system; about injured T/E dad Jim Dannaker (below) who literally crawled into Hayes’ office and has since found lasting relief.
Jim Dannaker, who suffered debilitating injuries in a construction accident, trains without strain using the NEUBIE at Hayes PT in Paoli.
“We’re changing lives every day,” she beams.
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Christine Hayes Physical Therapy & Integrative Healing Center, 195 W. Lancaster Ave., Paoli, 610-624-2863, [email protected].
New Bryn Mawr Wokworks marries an AI-brained robot with the ancient craft of wok cooking
Brennan, Samantha and Noa Foxman outside their latest Wokworks prior to its October opening in Bryn Mawr.
A new Wokworks is firing out farm-to-flame goodness in Rosemont Plaza. It’s the fifth bricks-and-mortar spot for the chain known for its fresh, veggie-forward, scratch-made stir-fries sourced from local producers.
It also marks the debut of Wendy the Wok Bot, a custom-built gizmo with an AI-powered brain that pumps out perfectly seared bowls more efficiently than mere mortals.
A rendering of Wendy the Wok Bot .
“Wendy’s a game changer,” says owner Brennan Foxman. “She brings precision, speed, and consistency to every wok-fired bowl – something nearly impossible to achieve at scale without tech like this. It’s an order of magnitude improvement over human-alone cooking and a key part of our mission: to develop cutting-edge technology and source the highest quality ingredients to preserve and perfect the ancient magic of wok cooking.”
The Bryn Mawr is especially meaningful to Foxman, who met his wife and business partner, Samantha, when she was a student at nearby Villanova.
On the menu: rice, noodle bowls or build-your-own bowls $15 – $17, shareable apps and sides $3 to $13.
Wokworks, 5 Franklin Street, Rosemont Plaza, is open daily from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.
About Face! Plans floated for a public rec center, affordable housing and a new school to fill campus at Valley Forge Military Academy
An aerial view of some of the Valley Forge Military Academy campus in Wayne.
With its closure next year, Valley Forge Military Academy’s buildings appear up for grabs. But a group of movers and shakers sure has interesting ideas. In fact, the group has been drafting them for months, well before leadership announced the military school would close.
One intriguing possibility: Turn the giant Regimental Mess Hall (below) into a Radnor Community Recreation Center. Think pickleball and basketball courts, an indoor soccer field, multi-purpose activity room and co-working space. Architectural drawings are finished, and renovation details are being fine-tuned, according to the group’s website.
Also on its vision board: Convert the Barracks into a “Community Village” of 30 affordable apartments for local teachers, first responders and other essential workers, keeping them closer to the community they serve. Rents would run around $1,500/month.
VFMA’s Martin Hall was renovated four years ago with apartments for residential staff so they could keep a closer eye on boarding students.
But neither plan marches forward unless the scheme’s pivotal piece – a new charter school to open next fall – gets an aye-aye from the Radnor Township School Board. That approval is far from assured. The board rejected proposals for charter schools at VFMA in 2021 and 2023.
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This proposal feels different, more fully baked. Under the new plan, the campus of Valley Forge Military Academy Foundation on Eagle Rd. would be converted into Valley Forge Public Service Academy Charter School (VFPSACS) for young people seeking careers as first responders or in law enforcement or the military. (There are no plans to close the two-year Military College.) If approved by the Radnor school board, 150 students in grades 6, 7 and 8 would start the tuition-free, taxpayer-funded program next September, with one grade added each year until it has grades 6 to 12.
The VFPSACS board has submitted an application to the school board and public hearings are set for December 2 and January 13. To show the kind of public support the school board found lacking in 2023, organizers are inviting Radnor residents to sign a supportive petition on the VFPSACS website. And oh yeah, you can also pre-enroll your child online.
This time around, the charter school’s leadership looks impressive. A co-founder with deep roots in Radnor might just be the lynchpin. Radnor High School and Villanova alum Chris Massaro started the internship and entrepreneurship program at RHS, has presided over the Radnor Alumni Council and served as a trustee on the Radnor Educational Foundation.
It’s been a long and rocky road for Valley Forge Military Academy, a proud path to a career in the armed forces strewn with scandal and alleged financial mismanagement. To raise cash, it’s been forced to sell off its largest asset: primo real estate in the heart of the Main Line. Foxlane Homes is nearing the completion of construction of 20 luxury homes on about 18 acres. Wayne developer Greg Lingo of Rockwell Custom has begun turning 30 acres into Oak Hill at St David’s. A few years back, Bentley Homes built Boxwood Hill on five acres.
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VFMC has also made headlines for other, albeit related, reasons. Fox News reports that the VFMC leaders have offered to sign the Trump Administration’s Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education, the controversial document that offers preferential federal funding to colleges in exchange for agreeing to follow rules relating to hiring, admissions, curriculum and sports participation. VFMC’s President and board president signed the letter and sent it to the feds. No doubt, VFMAC would welcome any resulting infusion of cash.
SAVVY Picks***
If you ever wanted to know your VO2 Max – that top predictor of longevity that everyone’s buzzing about – now’s the time. Aether Medicine in Tredyffrin has a special offer for SAVVY readers on its PNOE test. It’s a simple, 10-minute test on a bike that pinpoints cardiorespiratory fitness and metabolic health, aka VO2 Max. It also determines your biological age vs. your chronological age.
SAVVY’s Caroline O’Halloran taking the PNOE test to assess her VO2 Max in July at Aether Medicine in Wayne.
The test is $350 but mention SAVVY Main Line and board-certified Longevity physician Asare Christian, founder of Aether Medicine, will throw in PNOE’s 30-minute, follow-up telehealth consult that normally costs an extra $150. So for $350 total, you’ll get a 27-page personal longevity report and a video consult that details your body’s specific exercise, eating, supplement and recovery needs to extend your healthspan – a $500 value. And an absolute steal. ***Call Aether Medicine at 484-806-1011 to book your test and tell them SAVVY sent you to claim this awesome discount. Offer ends Dec. 31. ***
A spicy new shoe salon has arrived in the heart of the Main Line. Bucks County’s popular ShoeSpice Boutique has partnered with Louella to create a store-within-the-store in Wayne.
Some of the styles now available at Louella Boutique in downtown Wayne.
Count on high-quality, leather shoes, sneakers and boots from boutique designers. Styles range from classic and comfy to bold and trendy – the perfect complement to your smashing Louella outfit. “Our collaboration is about more than fashion,” says Louella owner Maria Delany, who lives in Wayne and opened her Wayne boutique in 2012. “It’s about community, women supporting women, local businesses lifting each other up and creating a space where you can find everything you love under one roof.”
Still a few spots available on the trip of a lifetime. The Main Line’s leading window-and-door installer Austin Hepburn will again lead a group of intrepid anglers on a uniquely fantastic Alaskan fly-fishing adventure April 25 to May 1, 2026. Why so special? You’ll get a chance to catch graceful and acrobatic steelhead trout in the fresh waters of the Tongas National Forest. You’ll stay in a private stateroom on a comfortably appointed yacht and venture to a new river or stream each day on a jet-powered inflatable. You’ll relish spectacular views of snow-capped peaks and the Northern Lights and will likely spot orcas, otters, bald eagles and ravens. You’ll pull crab traps and shrimp pots and eat fresh seafood for dinner. You’ll leave civilization but can still email, text or phone home. And drumroll: you’ll still pay $7,500 per person and convenient commercial air will fly you from Philly to Alaska’s Wrangle airport. For more info, call Austin Hepburn at 610-585-7583 or email [email protected].
***SAVVY Picks are shoutouts & promos on behalf of our sponsors. To learn more about becoming a SAVVY Pick, email [email protected].
This and That
After 46 years, Nudy’s Café in Wayne is moving five minutes away. The popular diner will close its original spot on E. Conestoga Road – which was in dire need of a bathroom facelift, for starters – and relocate to the former Tompkins Bank at 600 W. Lancaster Ave., where renovations are underway. Nudy’s now has 13 stores in the western ‘burbs.
The Orvis store in Haverford is closing after seven years and a going-out-of-business sale has been in progress for weeks. In the face of tariffs and other challenges, Orvis is shutting 36 stores to focus on its fly-fishing and wingshooting brands.
Full speed ahead for the mammoth The Piazza at Ardmore while construction at Ardmore West Shopping Center wraps up across the road. The former Rite Aid is being replaced by Just Salads, Core Power Yoga, Jefferson Imaging and a Veterinary Urgent Care.
Kudos to Berwyn filmmaker Brad Ingelsby whose hit HBO series, Task, has been picked up for a second season. Task is Ingelsby’s second limited HBO series after the award-winning Mare of Easttown filmed in and around Delco. Ingelsby has graciously agreed to talk all things Task at a special event for Main Line School Night at World Wide Stereo in late February. Yours truly is a Main Line School Night board member and will help lead the Q and A with Ingelsby. Only members will be invited to this intimate special event. Want your name on that guest list? MLSN memberships start at $60. Details here.
A fancy-schmancy luxury boutique resort & spa is headed to the heart of Chester County. New York-based Mirbeau Hospitality just inked a $6.5 million deal for 44-acre Greystone Hall in West Chester. Originally part of the gigantic Greystone estate, the mansion was designed by noted architect Charles Barton Keen. It was bought by the Jerrehian Partnership, which operated a wedding venue there from 1991 to 2023.
Huge props to the big hearts on Team Rudd, a group of friends and family who bested a bunch of companies to raise the second highest total at the Nov. 8 Walk to End Alzheimer’s. The team again walked in honor of Berwyn’s Kevin Rudd who was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s in 2022. The 2025 team had 54 walkers and 111 donations raising $44,250. “We are beyond humbled by the support of our family and friends,” Nadine Rudd tells SAVVY.
Nadine and Kevin Rudd at the 2025 Walk to End Alzheimer’s in Philadelphia..
Main Line homeowners are suing a local home builder who allegedly took their money and ran, leaving botched and unfinished jobs in his wake. As first reported by 6ABC, Paoli contractor Mike Monaghan allegedly bilked Gladwyne resident Kyle Allen, among others. Kyle said he lost $500,000 while Monaghan was driving around in a $150,000 Hummer and hounding him for money. According to the story, Monaghan changed his name to Monahan to avoid derogatory web searches. When 6ABC investigative reporter Chad Pradelli knocked on his door, Monaghan closed it in his face. The homeowners have also filed a complaint with the PA Attorney General.
Tis the season to get lit … if you’re a holiday tree or a menorah. Your friendly neighborhood SAVVY editor will be emceeing the ever-festive Berwyn-Devon Tree Lighting at Berwyn Train Station Sunday, Dec. 7 at 5:30 p.m. Free food, hot chocolate and song-and-dance performances, Santa and Mrs. Claus sightings, Ugly Sweater Contest, awards for Holiday Home Decorating, giveaways and more. Donations to Berwyn Fire Co. and EMS suggested and gratefully accepted.
Over in Wayne, a first-ever Hanukkah Festival will be spreading light and joy near the Wayne train station Sunday, Dec. 14, 12:30 to 2. On tap: a traditional menorah lighting, Hanukkah stories, live music, popup Hanukkah shop, Kibitz Room food and hot chocolate and coffee from Mad Anthony Wayne Café. The festival was suggested by a rabbi who recently moved to Radnor. Radnor Parks & Rec is the organizer.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the Main Line, the public is invited to donate a light in appreciation of a favorite doctor, nurse, staffer or loved one at the annual Tree of Life celebration at Lankenau, staged by the Ladies Aid Society Auxiliary. A giant evergreen on the medical center’s grounds will light up as an enduring symbol of Lankenau’s commitment to the community and excellent patient care. The holiday hoopla happens Wednesday, Dec. 3 with light bites and music at 4 p.m. and the program at 5 p.m. Free parking in the garage. Click here for more and to donate.
Uh oh. Delaware, Chester and Montgomery county leaders are all warning about impending tax increases due to uncertain federal funding and unclear state funds.
Radnor and Easttown Township have both hired consultants to help plan traffic and parking improvements in their downtowns. Easttown held a public listening session last week at Hilltop House about improving traffic flow for cars, pedestrians and cyclists on the Route 30 Corridor. One possibility: turning a stretch of Lancaster Ave. into three lanes, with a dedicated turning and bike lane.
Meanwhile, forward-thinking retail and parking consultants have been studying ways to boost downtown Wayne. We’ll share details in the coming weeks.
Folks are still demonstrating outside the Tesla Dealership in Devon on Saturday mornings. Last weekend, about 35 people showed up for ‘No Trillionaires Day” to protest a deal that would make Elon Musk a trillionaire. Others carried signs to protest SNAP cuts, the ICE crackdown, the handling of the Epstein files and free speech threats, according to the Inky. Numbers have thinned since the Tesla Takedown protests earlier this year.
Yet another Pilates studio is en route to the Main Line. JETSET Pilates plans to open in early 2026 next to Haverford College in the old Essa bank space at 354 Lancaster Ave.
Lower Merion Township continues to take the lead on leaning green. After input from both sides and much discussion Wednesday night, township commissioners voted to ban gas-powered leaf blowers, reportedly the first township to do so in the Commonwealth. The ban will be seasonal for a few years and year round in 2029. Lower Merion has also begun a pilot curbside composting program in Bala Cynwyd.
King of Prussia Mall is fast becoming a playground – for kids and grownups. The latest announced addition: the Philly area’s first Level99. A gaming venue, shareable plate restaurant and bar with 50 life-size games spanning 46,000 sq. ft., Level99 is taking the first floor of the old JC Penney’s. Pricing begins at $30 for two hours of play, more on weekends and holidays. The mall welcomed Netflix House and Eataly earlier this fall.
By the way, all those morning mall walkers are on to something. A new study found they would log 4.23 miles if they lapped the entire King of Prussia Mall – the 3rd longest mall walking distance in the U.S.
In a “hot take” Facebook post, the Lower Merion School District Parent Action Group noted that former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers’ name is on Harriton’s list of “Notable Alumni.” The group wondered if Summers’ reported chumminess with Jeffrey Epstein is disqualifying. The post’s “alternative take”: “We keep him there to remind ourselves that rottenness is everywhere.” It’s been a rough week for one of the top economic brains in America. After new emails showed Summers stayed buddies with Epstein even after he went to jail, Harvard is investigating its former President’s ties to Epstein. Summers has also stepped away from public-facing commitments but is still teaching at Harvard’s Kennedy School. You’re no Jack Kennedy, Mr. Summers.
Lower Merion School District does have cause to crow this week. Harriton alum and current Yalie Arun Balasubramanian of Bala Cynwyd who was just named a Rhodes Scholar. She told the Inquirer she plans to study art from the perspective of an anthropologist. Of Indian, Irish, Welsh and German descent, she also plans to visit all the Pa. Welsh towns in the U.K. Fun fact: there’s a Bala and a Cynwyd in Wales but no Bala Cywyd. Meantime, MIT senior Alice Hall, daughter of Welsh Valley Middle School principal Chis Hall, was also named a Rhodes Scholar. The two are among the 32 chosen from 900 applicants.
A changing of the guard at Blue Heron in Malvern. Looking to prioritize time with her four kids, owner and T/E mom Krista Jones has sold her boutique King Street event venue. The new owner is Rachel Familetti, who has roots in the hospitality business and is the niece of Blue Heron florist partner Anne Schmidtt.
An early Thanksgiving feast for our four-legged friends at Harriton House, thanks to the third annual Pumpkins for Pigs drive. Once again, neighbors are invited to drop off their spent pumpkins outside the barn anytime between dawn and dusk. Look for fun videos of the goats chowing down on Harriton House’s Facebook and Instagam, ahem, feeds.
The developer who wants to build a mixed use complex – retail plus hundreds of apartments, townhomes and 55+ housing at the Exton Mall – isn’t going down without a fight. After West Whiteland Township rejected the plan over traffic, sewer and density concerns, Abrams Reality & Development has filed suit, claiming the development meets township code and would generate revenue and revitalize the nearly dead mall.
“Steady” is how at least one Crew Member describes business so far at the new Trader Joe’s in Berwyn. Crowds were surprisingly light during our inaugural visit late Monday morning. (Maybe it was a late Eagles game hangover.) If you haven’t ventured there yet, this one’s brighter and has wider aisles than the Trader Joe’s in Tredyffrin’s Gateway Shopping Center. The Berwyn store opened November 5 and the Exton store rolled out November 7.
A multi-county crackdown on smoke shops that market and sell banned hemp and related products, sometimes to kids, may be en route. A grand jury from Chesco, Montco and Delco found the shops used fraudulent packaging and fake scientific studies to promote sales.
Congrats to Main Line Health’s Women’s Heart Initiative for another successful Sip & Shop fundraiser last week. As always, I was happy to speak in support of WHI’s vital work to raise awareness about women’s #1, sneaky and confusing killer, heart disease.
Main Line Health COO and Interim Lankenau President Barbara Wadsworth, Women’s Heart Initiative Manager and event co-chair Abigail Riley; Emcee Caroline O’Halloran; Katie Hawthorne, M.D., medical director of Cardio-Obstetrics at Main Line Health, Maribel Hernandez, M.D. medical director of the Women’s Heart Initiative, and event co-chair Amanda McClendon.
Chester County will pay $35,000 to a West Chester law firm to investigate the Great Election Day Mystery of 2025 wherein 75,000 registered independents/3rd party voters were somehow omitted from poll books. Polling hours were extended after corrected books were eventually delivered but the damage was done: thousands were forced to cast provisional ballots. Scores of voters and poll workers told Chesco Commissioners about the Election Day chaos in last Monday’s marathon meeting. Commissioners voted to accept 12,000 provisional ballots, overriding Chesco Republicans’ objections to 1,000 of them.
A proposal to merge the Harriton and Lower Merion football teams may be DOA. Citing a survey that showed most LMHS and Harriton players preferred to keep both teams, Superintendent Frank Ranalli officially recommended against the plan at Monday night’s school board meeting. Ranalli believes it’s more of a Harriton than Lower Merion problem and he didn’t think it was Lower Merion’s responsibility “to give up their team identity and playoff chances.” He also said the cheerleading squads wouldn’t merge, and that would cause headaches. Lower Merion “would be giving up a great deal for a problem they don’t need to solve.” Parents of players on both teams have petitioned the school board to allow a merger. Due to lagging interest, neither high school fields freshman or JV team which means 14-year-olds may be risking injury to play with 18-year-olds. Harriton went 1-9 this fall; Lower Merion was 4-7. The ball is now in the school board’s hands. Despite Ranalli’s recommendation, the board could still bring the proposed measure to a vote.
Over and out for Vanner House, the equestrian-themed lifestyle emporium that lasted less than a year at the tricky corner of Conestoga Rd. and Radnor Chester Rd. in Radnor. Vanner House invested heavily in the restoration of the historic Ithan Market building and worked hard to become part of the community. We’re sorry to see Kristan and Sophia ride off into the sunset.
A tricked-out SUV and trailer from Land Rover Main Line spent the last few weeks roving the U.S., donating more than 37,000 children’s books to underserved communities. First stop on the 3,350-mile,18-day “Defender Book Trek” was Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School. “Since inception, the Defender legacy of vehicles has been used around the world in service to their communities,” explains Michael Smyth, President and COO of the Land Rover Main Line dealership in Wayne, about the rugged, off-road Defender fleet.
Cristo Rey Philadelphia High School students and mascots celebrate the donation of 2.500 books with Land Rover Main Line’s Michael Smyth and Cristo REy President/CEO Tom Shoemaker at the October 27 launch of the Defender Book Trek.
“The Philadelphia area has always felt like home to me,” says NBA great Charles Barkley about his plan to open a still unnamed steakhouse/cigar bar at Valley Forge Casino Resort in KOP. He mostly lives in Arizona, but Barkley’s daughter attended Villanova and he’s maintained a home in the Narberth area for years. He told the Phila. Business Journal that he would consider investing in other local ventures, including a golf course.
Welcome news for allergy sufferers. Laine’s Gluten-Free Bakery opened in October in the old Tennis Essentials space at 1018 Lancaster Ave. in Berwyn. Named for owner Megan Holmes’ grandmother, Elaine, the bakery whips up gf, dairy free treats, some of which are nut-free and vegan.
Kudos to the Women’s Resource Center in Wayne on its recent “Dare to Lead” breakfast, a tell-it-like-it-really-is panel discussion with dynamic women about leadership, purpose and personal fulfillment. This super inspiring event featured Jane Win Jewelry President Kate Kenny, Rosette Speciality Trades owner and former NBC10 anchor Rosemary Connors, Vault Communications CEO Kate Shields, and Comcast Chief Talent Officer Loren Hudson in conversation with Chester County Chamber VP Nicole Stephenson. Proceeds supported Women’s Resource Center’s vital work for women and girls facing difficult life transitions. WRC is celebrating 50 years in Wayne this year.
The devastating effects of substance abuse on families took center stage at Bryn Mawr Film Institute Oct. 21. The Philadelphia-based nonprofit Eluna hosted a fundraising screening and panel discussion of What We Hide, a new film that follows two sisters after their mother’s fatal overdose. Eluna is using the film to draw awareness and action around two topics left out of the public conversation: addiction’s impact on children and grief after loved one’s overdose.
Actor, director and philanthropist Jesse Williams, Eluna CEO Mary FitzGerald, producer Dan Sima, screenwriter/director Dan Kay, and Eluna Board Member Jeff Jubelirer at the screening of What We Hide at Bryn Mawr Film Institute.
A Gouldesburger’s franchise has taken the space below Ardmore Station Café. The plan was to open before year’s end but the site has been quiet of late. Gouldesburger’s sells breakfast sammies, burgers, cheesesteaks and salads.
Speaking of Ardmore Station Café, the longtime luncheonette has been awarded the first Ardmore Financial Hardship Grant. Created by Ardmore Initiative, it’s meant to bolster small, bricks-and-mortar businesses facing unforeseen challenges in downtown Ardmore.
Sinkhole concerns sank the swim program at Life Time King of Prussia/Wayne for a week in late October, when management closed the indoor pool. In his explanatory email to members, Life Time’s GM talked about the area’s “unique geologic conditions” that require regular “scans by the club’s geotechnical engineering contractor” … “as part of our ongoing safety protocol.” SAVVY has reported Life Time KOP pool closures due to sinkholes on at least two other occasions. Life Time sits in a section of Tredyffrin/King of Prussia that’s notoriously prone to sinkholes. They generally can be prevented by adequate compaction drilling during construction.
Remember our story about Leslie Holt, the Malvern mom who found “purpose in her pain,” founding the nonprofit, A Child’s Light, in memory of her late daughter? A new beaded bracelet, named for Lana Holt who passed tragically at age 32, is raising funds for A Child’s Light’s ever-expanding work providing expedited mental health support for children who’ve suffered severe trauma.
Take your kids to Africa, teach them empathy and fund research at CHOP – all for the price of the picture book (below). Wayne mom and entrepreneur Dorothy Potash tells us her latest children’s book, Adventure on the Serengeti, was inspired by the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, the ongoing U.S. immigration crackdown, and “this normalization of hate and dehumanizing of those who look different than we do or pray differently than we do.”
Sounds heavy but her book is actually a warm-hearted, rhyming romp about the African giraffe, wildebeest and zebra banding together to survive the annual Great Migration. Potash tells us profits from book sales through March 31 will go to CHOP’s research into Common Variable Immunodeficiency (CVID) in honor of a loved one being treated for CVID at CHOP. Potash created the colorful, collage-style illustrations herself. Order online or pick up a signed copy from Potash herself at the Wayne farmer’s market December 13 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
Love home design? You’ll want to check out Wayne Art Center’s “Living with Craft,” an all-new immersive exhibit of furniture, lighting, flooring, textiles, ceramics, metals and mixed-media works that shows how contemporary craft can elevate the spaces we inhabit. More than 100 works by 56 artists will be shown in room-like settings. Living with Craft will run concurrently with “Craft Forms “from December 6 to January 24. Celebrating its 30th anniversary at Wayne Art Center, Craft Forms ’25 features artists from 31 states and four countries. “This year’s exhibition stands out for its innovation, diversity and remarkable craftsmanship,” WAC Executive Director Nancy Campbell tells SAVVY. A ticketed Preview Party will be held Saturday, Dec. 6.
Venerable Walter J. Cook Jeweler is now officially Michael Cook Jeweler. Same enduring quality and excellent service, new Paoli location at 1500 Lancaster Ave. Open by appointment only; call 610-644-5347.
Main Point Books is fielding another fun author lineup for Small Business Saturday including a 2 p.m. appearance by Zach Berman, who’s covered the Birds for more than a decade. Berman will sign copies of his latest, Leap Year, the story of our Iggles splendid 2024-2025 season. We just wrote about another local author, Jim Zervanos and his compelling new novel, American Gyro. Here’s the link if you missed our Instagram and Facebook posts.
You can skip the schlep up the Blue Route. A smaller-format IKEA will open in the Promenade at Granite Run in Media in spring of 2026. You won’t be able to take purchases home but can arrange pickup or delivery.
And finally, a shoutout to Devon-based Surrey Services for Seniors for always thinking ahead.
This fall, Surrey cut the ribbon on a much-needed van (below) to transport older folks to newest center at Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church. The van was generously funded by grants from the Community Clothes Charity’s blockbuster 2024 sale and Essential Utilities (formerly AQUA).
Bryn Mawr Presbyterian Church member Kim White, Surrey board member Rick Davis, CCC chair and philanthropist Anne Hamilton, Surrey President and CEO Jill Whitcomb, Essential Utilities’ Krista Seng, Lower Merion Commissioner Scott Zelov and Lower Merio Township Manager Ernie McNeely.
And in mid-October, Surrey launched its first Beilenson Center for Innovation in Aging event: a soldout luncheon at the Desmond focused on longevity. I was thrilled to help plan the program and lead the Q-and-A with iconic Eagles coach and winemaker Dick Vermeil and local longevity pros including Dr. Asare Christian of Aether Medicine, Chris Hayes of Christine Hayes Physical Therapy and Integrated Healing Center. The audience hung on their every word.
Sharing an onstage laugh with NFL Hall of Fame Coach Dick Vermeil and Surrey President and CEO Jill Whitcomb during “Aging Like a Fine Wine,” an inaugural event from Surrey’s new Beilenson Center for Innovation in Aging. (Photo by Jim Devine.)
IMPORTANT EDITOR’S NOTE: SAVVY has changed things up. Instead of saving stories for a lengthy monthly newsletter, we publish most stories as soon as we write them and use social media to give you a heads up. So please be sure you’re following SAVVY Main Line on Instagram and/or Facebook so you don’t miss a story! Not a social media person? You can easily open an icognito account and never post a word. We won’t tell.
As we count our Thanksgiving blessings, YOU, dear reader, are near the top of the list. Thank you for reading and supporting this little experiment in relevant and readable local news. We welcome your comments – here on the website or via [email protected].
Until next tine, Happy Thanksgiving! See you on social…
I have to question your statement that the new Trader Joes “feels cleaner” than our beloved Gateway store. That’s obviously a personal opinion, and hardly a fact without documentation. Why would you write such a disparaging comment? Very disappointing that your usually excellent and unbiased newsletter has taken this turn.
Thanks for your comment. First, I have been a regular at the Gateway Trader Joe’s since it opened and have no plans to stop going there. It’s a GREAT store! I love the cheerful Crew Members, the selection, and the pricing, of course… But I do stand by my off-the-cuff impressions regarding the new Berwyn location. They were not meant to be disparaging to Gateway. Any new supermarket will, by virtue of its newness, feel cleaner and fresher than a store that’s been around for decades. I didn’t say Berweyn IS cleaner, I said it FELT cleaner. When things are new they simply feel bright and clean. Again, I appreciate your thoughts.
I have to agree with Linda; “feels cleaner” does sound disparaging and I winced when I read it even if you didn’t mean it that way.
I used that word to mean streamlined, less cluttered – to reinforce that the aisles are wider and the store feels more open and spacious. But because it’s being seen as derogatory I’m going to remove it. Thanks for calling this to my attention!
Love Savvy!
Caroline, I still don’t know how you get your arms around all of this content!
Happy Thanksgiving.
Best,
-Tom Colman
Well, let’s just say I keep my ears and eyes open at all times and I keep files … multiple files. Occasionally, I employ spies (haha!). Happy Thanksgiving to you, too!
Always enjoy reading ! Can you report on what is being built opposite the Horse Show on Lancaster Ave. !
I think you may be referring to the brick building that was owned by Malvern developer Eli Kahn. It is being renovated to become a Sprinter Vn service facility. With apologies to Mercedes-Benz, it’s probably not the MOST exciting use for this building…
Dear Caroline,
Can you use your eyes and ears to find out for many of us, just how long it is going to be before Newtown Road construction (or lack thereof) is going to be completed? Rte. 252 is a nightmare so Newtown Road is a logical parallel route. I always enjoy all your stories and tidbits. Thank you. Nancy Sanborn
I’ve suffered through that Newtown Rd. construction myself. It sure is dragging on. I’ll see what I can find out…
Caroline, I can’t tell you how much I look forward to getting your monthly newsletter. I so enjoy sitting down to read all the content you provide about so many different subjects…all in one place. I have a Facebook account that I access occasionally, and I’ve seen your posts there when I bother to scroll down past a LOT of stuff I’m not interested in, but I know that everything you’ve written about here was not available there (or at least I couldn’t find it). I’m not interested in opening an Instagram account. Am I the only reader who wishes you would re-think your plans to only post on social media? I’d love to hear from some other commenters about this. If putting this email newsletter is too much work, I guess I can understand, but I will definitely miss you and all the amazing stories and practical information you’ve provided in your newsletters.
All the best,
Alyson Michaels
Thanks for those exceptionally kind words – I am thrilled that your enjoy SAVVY, Alyson, and appreciate your taking the time to post a comment. To clarify, we aren’t eliminating the monthly newsletter; we’re publishing it a little less frequently. I was suggesting that readers follow us on social media to stay current because we now post most stories on Instagram and Facebook first. Every story first released on social media is eventually posted as a link in our emailed newsletter. It might just take a litle while to get there! One idea I’m toying with: publishing This and That a little more frequently. What do you think of that idea?
HI Caroline Love the way it is this is my catch up time with a cup of Tea etc LOve everything on one site…agree catch soe news FB ok but your one spot for all is the best ..
Just to alert you to the fact that Leslie Elken’s ( she works at EASTERN U ) son passed.It was a long journey !Erik was a Rugby star at ‘Stoga and then USC . May we all offer a prayer.
Way too go Rudd family!!