SAVVY MAINLINE

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DOUBLE ISSUE: Alarming fire news; ‘Life Time effect’; Go float in KOP; Space for all abilities; Easttown trees; new Oath Pizza & Whole Foods. Plus, all-local gift ideas (w/ SAVVY savings!)

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

You smell smoke, call 9-1-1, first responders rush on over.

But what if – gulp – there aren’t enough first responders?

That’s the scary scenario laid out in a new report about the state of volunteer firefighting in PA.

Numbers have fallen off a cliff: from 300,000 volunteers in the 1970s to 38,000 today. The report calls the drop-off nothing short of a “public safety crisis.”

While the situation’s not as dire here, our Main Line fire companies – staffed largely by unpaid volunteers – are hurting for help.

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Livin’ large at Eddie V’s KOP; ‘Social crafting’ at Rustic Brush; tasting new Nick Filet & Hakata Ramen; Christmas on King; Stoneleigh saved; L. Merion miracle & much more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

The swankest dining destination this side of Center City – Eddie V’s Prime Seafood – just dropped anchor in front of the King of Prussia Mall.

Everything at Eddie’s oozes opulence: the white-coated waiters, the show-stopping chandelier, the caviar tastings, the oyster-and-champagne pairings, the walk-through glass wine cellar.

Not for nothin’ is “Living it up” the chain’s motto.

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Standing up to hate; Great Valley shocker; Paoli contractor busted; New café & empty nester homes to Tredyffrin & LOTS of retail comings & goings

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Hearts were heavy but heads were held high across the Main Line this week.

Hate would have no home here.

From Beth Chaim in Malvern to Beth David in Gladwyne, from the Chabad Center in Devon to Chabad Main Line in Merion, from Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy to the Perelman Jewish Day School, thousands gathered – somber and shattered, yes, but resolute in their response to the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in U.S. history.

There would be no cowering in corners.

With growing unease, Jewish friends had watched the rising tide of hate on their home turf: the toppled tombstones, the scribbled swastikas, the bomb threats. But a massacre? In their own state? In a neighborhood not so different from Narberth? If hate could kill in Squirrel Hill, it could kill anywhere, right?

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Remembering Radnor’s Heidi Diskin: a life of caring, cut short by depression. Plus, Paoli’s billboard battle, Target fever, Kindred Collective Bryn Mawr, Ardmore murder news, Retail roundup, Etcetera & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

On Sept. 7, three days after her sons started the new school year at Radnor Elementary, Heidi Diskin ended her life.

She was 44.

We share this with you because Heidi would want us to.

“One hundred percent, she would want her story told,” said her husband, J.D., in a phone interview. “My hope is that what happened to Heidi can be a teachable moment. As terrible as this situation is, it’s an even worse tragedy if it doesn’t help others.”

To family and close friends, Heidi’s suicide was a sucker punch – a heart-wrenching coda to 20 years of pain.

To those less close, it seemed, well, inexplicable.

Because Heidi had made mental health advocacy and suicide prevention her life’s work. She’d started a brain health foundation, she’d spoken to countless groups, she’d even hosted a cable TV show about mental health. How could Heidi Diskin – of all people – have succumbed herself?

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Dishing on new Devon Yard, Big break in brutal Main Line murder; Great Flood of ’18; Dining & retail roundup; Saturday Club 2.0 & much more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

The Main Line seems smitten with its new baby, the upscale lifestyle center Devon Yard.

And why not?

She’s six acres of delightful: verdant and lush, our new bundle of joy.

And a surprisingly small bundle she turns out to be.

After that that four-year township tug-of-war, Devon’s new “town center” consists of two stores (albeit grand ones), two restaurants and an event space. Period.

Still, every detail disarms: the breathtaking courtyard, the vintage flourishes, the unexpected touches of whimsy.

Here’s what you need to know before you go:

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Transgender in Tredyffrin – C. McMillan’s story; Semi-Super Wawa to Wayne?; LM school search update; J. Alexander’s KOP & Alomore in Gateway & much more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Don’t bother searching for Cal Stone McMillan in Conestoga’s 2103 yearbook. The only McMillan listed is brainy trumpeter Caroline, and well, she’s long gone.

Because Caroline, in trans parlance, is Cal’s “dead name.”

In print and in person, Caroline has been largely erased – birth certificate, passport and driver’s license all say “Calvin” now. Calling Cal “Caroline” would be “deadnaming,” disrespectful because it signals non-acceptance.

Along with the masculine name, there’s a manly physique, a strong handshake, a deeper voice, a beard.

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Julia Rae Schlucter: glamour & grit in the gifted girl next door; Radnor’s fab new library; Sweet spots, summer beauty fixes & sunny workouts; Ivory Tree & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

It would be easy to write about Julia Rae, née Julia Rae Schlucter, as yet another precocious Main Line talent.

We’d tell you she was performing in regional theater at age 6.

That she was recording original songs professionally by age 15.

That she’s been a featured singer in the 6ABC Thanksgiving Day Parade for eight years.

That she skipped senior year at the Academy of Notre Dame to pursue a music career in LA. That, still a teenager, she walked the Hollywood red carpet with Brooke Shields after one of her original songs was featured in a Shields movie.

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Multi-family housing boomlet in Tredyffrin? Big plans for Swedesford & Chesterbrook; New Village Play Space & a destination playground; Wins for Willows & Stoneleigh; Brain Fog; All-new Sporting Club & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Holy Lazarus! A long-stagnant stretch of Tredyffrin has a pulse.

The owner of Swedesford Plaza wants to bulldoze the old HH Gregg and build luxury apartments in its place – 250 of them.
After approaching umpteen stores, fitness chains, health systems and grocers for its two empty anchors, Echo Realty is throwing in the retail towel on one of them. In partnership with Bozzuto, Echo plans to build a four-story, 250-unit apartment building at the old HH Gregg site, a permitted use under zoning code.

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Big ‘downtown’ Devon news; Splashy new swim school; More ethnic eats in Ardmore; Crime news; Solutions 4 Health, Devon hats, Woodlynde wonders and more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Devon Horse Show 2018 is history – but whoa, Nelly.

There’s a move afoot that could change the look of “downtown” Devon almost as much as URBN’s fast-rising Devon Yard.

The horse show’s chairman and CEO wants to put a three-level parking garage between Devon Yard (the new Terrain/Anthropologie complex) and the show grounds.

Because, let’s face it, parking can be a pain at Devon.

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Top Ten Reasons We’re Going to Devon … And You Should, Too!

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

#10   IT’S WORLD CLASS.  And getting classier every year.

Some of the BEST riders in the world are here, including three out of four on the 2016 U.S. Olympic Show Jumping Team: McClain Ward (9-time Devon Grand Prix champ), Beezie Madden and Kent Farrington, now ranked #1 in the world.  Or catch a rising star like Devin Ryan. (A happy naming coincidence? We think not.)

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