Suburban Square Archives - SAVVY MAINLINE

Sober Curious? So were these Main Line moms; Plus, BIG changes ahead for Berwyn? A peek at Malvern’s hip new gathering Grove; Huge signing at KOP Town Center; Crime news & lots more

August 8, 2019 / By Caroline O'Halloran / /

As many new mothers do, Emily Lucking jumped into post-pregnancy imbibing with gusto. Being able to drink again while out socializing with friends felt fun and celebratory. And, well, normal.

“I was used to being the life of the party,” says Lucking. “I missed being the ‘fun friend.’”

Then one night, the Villanova mom over-indulged just enough to feel out of control.

And the next day, after a not-so-great-feeling morning, she asked herself a painful question: Was being the popular party girl more important than being her best self for her three-month-old daughter?

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Double Issue: Why a top teacher’s not returning to T/E (with video); Shoplifting at Devon (oh, no); Double Jeopardy, O shots (!), ALDI, HipCityVeg, Shore things, HomeCooked, SAVVY Steals & more

June 12, 2019 / By Caroline O'Halloran / /

School’s out for summer.

As of this week, it’s out forever … for star Stoga teacher Deb Ciamacca.

For years, the former Marine and beloved U.S. Government teacher has urged her students to get off the sidelines. “Democracy’s not a spectator sport,” she’d tell them.

After speaking out about gun safety here – and on national and international TV – she put her career where her mouth was.

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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!)

December 13, 2018 / 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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Peek inside posh new Life Time in Sub. Square; Tasting Ripplewood in Ardmore; The Switch; An opioid confession; Jane Winchester; Nifty Mom’s Day gifts & more

April 26, 2018 / By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Polished to perfection, Life Time opens its “diamond” level club in Suburban Square this week.

All that’s missing?

Beds.

Not kidding. The “healthy way of life company” – now ensconced in the old Macy’s – wants to be your fitness center, your hair-and-nail salon, your restaurant, your spa, your babysitter – and now, your office.

Not just a “laptops-welcome-free-wifi” of office.

But a real one, totally tricked out.

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Two Devon mysteries solved: What’s up with old Shiraz site & empty KMart; Plus, new hotel to Radnor, new map for PA, new charges for Ahr; ‘active shooter’ training & more

February 22, 2018 / By Caroline O'Halloran / /

It’s a Main Line mystery: Twin buildings – perhaps the most opulent ever built in these parts – sitting idle for years in the heart of Devon.

Unleased.

Unsold.

Ripe for the taking but no one’s biting.

What happened to this modern-day Taj Mahal, its hushed, lifeless halls worlds away from the bustling Whole Foods across the street?

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KOP Mall shooting; Shopping & school news; A celebrity house call; ‘What to Eat Now!’ takeaways and more

October 31, 2017 / By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Just in time for Halloween: scary times at the King of Prussia Mall.

Last Saturday afternoon, a woman returning to her car in the garage between Nordstrom and Lord & Taylor was held up at gunpoint. Police say an armed man hopped in her backseat as she opened her car and pointed a gun at her head, demanding her purse.

He then sped off in the SUV he had allegedly just hijacked from an 87-year-old man in Delaware.

So, yeah, an armed robbery at 3:30 p.m. on a weekend afternoon at one of the busiest malls in the country.

But wait; it gets worse.

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Social Edition: Radnor Hunt Concours, Hava NaGrilla, Kendall’s Crusade, Help Us Adopt & LBBC previews, Help Hope Live, Baker Industries & other summer shindigs

September 14, 2017 / By Joyce E. Santora / /

More than 3,000 collectors and car buffs oohed and aahed at a stunning parade of vintage vehicles assembled at the Malvern show grounds Sept. 10. Zipping along in its 21st year, the Radnor Hunt Concours is now internationally recognized as one of the world’s premier automotive shows.

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Bryn Mawr’s new BYOB & wine school; Dogs to horse around at Devon; Ardmore (& Target?) rising; Moms’ gifts & more

May 9, 2017 / By Caroline O'Halloran / /

The Conestoga High School hazing scandal was a big fat, tragic mess. But look at what Penn State and one of its fraternity presidents – a young man from Malvern – are dealing with.

Brendan Young, 21, an avid golfer whom you may have seen play at Chester Valley Golf Club or working at Golf Galaxy in Berwyn, is one of 18 Beta Theta Pi brothers facing criminal charges after a pledge died in their frat house in February.

In all 200 charges were lodged against the Penn State junior.

Another local defendant, Nick Kubera, who graduated from Downingtown H.S. last year, is facing 43.

While all 18 are in hot water, the charges are scalding for Young and some of his frat brothers: involuntary manslaughter and stuff like felony aggravated assault, tampering with evidence, and hazing.

Horrific.

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Luxurious Life Time Athletic, DryBar coming to Ardmore; White Manor Country Club sold; local ‘FADD’ to fight ODs; a Broadway good-bye & more

January 17, 2017 / By Caroline O'Halloran / /

The elite health & fitness company likes the Main Line so much, it’s putting not ONE, but TWO of its mega clubs here.

Our first Life Time – a scratch-built, 140,000 sq. ft. whopper with a “resort-like” outdoor pool and waterslides – will debut in June on Swedesford Rd. in Tredyffrin. (Life Time’s calling it King of Prussia, but the map says it’s Wayne, if only by a hair.)

And just announced: our second Life Time will be in Ardmore – an exclusive “diamond” level club (a notch above KOP’s “onyx premier”) in the former Macy’s building, one of two Grand Dames of Suburban Square. (The tall Times building is the other.)

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T/E teacher/coach LeRoi Leviston (Stoga ’06) finds his voice as Roi Lush. Plus, hot news around town

October 20, 2016 / By Caroline O'Halloran / /

If anyone’s story can blot out all the bad press that came out of T/E schools last year, surely LeRoi Leviston’s can.

His journey from starting Stoga quarterback to Mr. Lev, Valley Forge Middle School teacher, to Roi Lush, full-time rapper, is as improbable as it is inspiring.

The odds against LeRoi, 28, were stacked from the start.

He was born on Long Island to parents who “were very into hardcore drugs,” LeRoi tells SAVVY.

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