SAVVY MAINLINE

it's what you want to know

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

/ 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

/ 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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Neighbors win downsized plan for Devon Yards, scoops on Berwyn’s new downtown, Savona’s makeover & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Just when you thought Urban Outfitters’ deal for the old Waterloo site might be kaput comes wondrous news: Devon Yards is alive and kicking.

Urban and developer Eli Kahn have agreed on a new plan – their fourth, by our count – that nixes both bugaboos: the four-story apartment building and the parking garage.

The revised proposal is strictly retail and restaurants – nothing residential.

Just what the neighbors ordered.

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Radnor’s new resort spa, a BYOB for Wayne, Savor-ing KOP, T/E ups & downs & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

We’ve got a new name for The Radnor Hotel: Beauty Central.

Essent Spa, an ambitious, luxury day spa, has moved in next to Jay Michael Salon in the old Bernie Robbins space.

Although separately owned, Essent and Jay Michael are a match made in beauty heaven. With a shared reception desk and booking website, you can get your hair styled and your face Botoxed in a single trip.

One stop, multiple ways to get gorgeous.

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The kids AREN’T alright: A Prep ’12 grad’s searing story; Bluefin in Bala (!); DELSETTE’s Ardmore debut; Willows update & LOUSY lax luck

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

If life-sucking depression has a Main Line face, surely it couldn’t belong to tall, athletic, bright and charming Drew Bergman.

But more and more, the 2012 St. Joe’s Prep grad who had everything to live for – but tried twice to end it anyway – has become that face.

His demons at bay, Drew now makes the rounds of area schools, one of 11 speakers for the Rosemont-based Minding Your Mind (MYM) Foundation.

In two years, he’s told his story 250 times – to your son or daughter, perhaps.

And he’ll tell the abridged version again this Thursday at the inaugural MYM fundraiser he’s organized, “A Celebration of Life: Philadelphia.”

When Drew speaks at schools, 15 to 20 students typically line up afterward, seeking a private word with the 22-year old who just gave a public face to the anguish they’ve long felt.

Who just told them it’s OK to speak of the unmentionable.

Who gave them warning signs and coping strategies.

Who bared his soul, shared everything, so they might, too – to someone who can help.

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SAVVY shorts: my big-screen debut at BMFI (?), a Suburban Square inspiration, Brave-ing Mojo Fitness & more

/ By Caroline O'Halloran / /

Over the years I’ve bid on and “won” a fair share of charity auction prizes. Among the more memorable: a week on St. Martin, a finish-line box at the Preakness, and a cocktail party on a terrace overlooking Rittenhouse Square.

But nothing quite compares to the prize I won at WXPN’s spring fundraiser and claimed last weekend: a speaking part in a movie in New York City, all expenses paid.

(Little known fact about me: All things being equal, I’d rather be acting. I took acting lessons as a kid and have belted out show tunes for years – lustily, if not always tunefully. Another fun fact: Indiana Caroline is almost always game for adventure.)

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