The Philadelphia Inquirer from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania • Page 14

2-BJ Friday. Aug. 30, 1985 The Philadelphia Inquirer Northeast to stay open, leaders say The Scene In Philadelphia and its suburbs By Sara Kennedy The new leadership of the troubled YWCA of Philadelphia announced yesterday that the Northeast Branch, which the former management had scheduled to close Sunday, would re- 'Jmain open. The staff at the Northeast was instructed to "go full speed ahead to prepare September programs," according to a news release issued yesterday by the executive committee of the Y's board of trustees, which met private session Wednesday night. "It won't close at all," said Marian Pulaski, one of the executive com- mittee members who led a coup Tuesday night against the organization's lop management.

The shakeup re- suited in the resignations of chief executive officer Judith E. Harris and seven board members, and the ouster of president Marilyn Rivers and 11 more board members. Pulaski said the executive board also recommended that the Mid-City not be sold, as previously planned. She said the matter would be discussed in early September when the full 50-member board meets again. "At this point, basically there's no offer for sale, and the full board will discuss that also, and the recommendation will be that it be taken off the market, too.

We're not pursuing sale of the building." Harris, the former chief executive officer, had persuaded the board to sell the downtown Mid-City branch, merge the Northeast and Frankford branches, and close and lease the Northeast building. She said it was the only feasible way to counter what she said was an $800,000 deficit that threatened to sink the organization altogether. The board's approval of Harris' plan set off a rebellion among the membership that led to this week's change in leadership. The new leadership disputed the existence of an $800,000 deficit, saying it was more like $300,000. Yesterday, several measures designed to financially stabilize the organization were announced.

Annual membership fees will remain at $35, increased from $25 by the previous administration. But children and senior citizens will get lower rates, the board said. The board's executive committee also announced an agreement with Nazareth Hospital to accommodate a therapeutic swimming and exercise program in the Northeast that would generate new income of at least $45,000 a year. A new membership drive began yesterday and will continue through September, the committee said. Pulaski said a numerical goal has not been set.

"We are not putting a goal on the membership drive, we're talking about increasing our membership, increasing our people. It's such a wonderful time in this organization, the members are working together to make it strong again; we're inviting other people to join us and to find out what a wonderful organization lit isl." The YWCA of Philadelphia is a nonprofit organization with five branches in the city. LLi 2- UJ 3- This test in no way replaces the need for formal visual screening. Park's Mure triggers fight in Altoona The hands have it (see Eyes, below) Hospitalst Next time, mind uour own business, Doc Hospitals can be tough on people tough on the patients, tough on the staff, tough on everyone. That's one of the reasons the Hospital of the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine began a sensitivity training program for hospital employees.

This week staffers were making a short movie of dos and don'ts on how employees could handle certain situations. For instance, how should a guard handle a visitor who becomes angry when told By CLARK DeLEON that visiting hours are over? To illustrate the scene, Maggie Ferguson, director of corporate communications for the hospital, acted as the enraged visitor. The scene was shot outside the president's office in College Hall, and Ferguson took to her part. She slammed her umbrella down on the guard's desk and demanded to be allowed to visit the patient. In Oscar and Freda Heinz in an open train at Lakemont Park; they The Philadelphia inquirer RON TaHvER oppose major changes at the site the midst of her fury, a meeting in a nearby conference room ended, and the chairman of the hospital's psychiatric department, Dr.

George Guest, emerged to find Ferguson in mid-swing with her umbrella. Not realizing it was an act, Guest took her arm and said, "Maggie, don't get so mad." It may have ruined the scene, but it certainly would have illustrated the right way to handle a staffer who flips out. Eyest Wouldn't carrot juice cartons be better? From now until the beginning of October, Abbotts Dairies will replace its missing-child photographs on half-gallon milk cartons with an appeal for another worthy cause children's eyesight. Now when kids sit at the breakfast table reading the backs of cereal boxes, their parents can give them a simple eye test using the eye chart on the printed back of the milk carton. The kids are asked to cover one eye and point their fingers in the direction the hands on the chart or the letter are pointing (above) from 10 feet away.

If a child has trouble reading the bottom line of the chart, it is recommended that the child get a full eye examination. The Abbotts milk carton eye chart is being done in cooperation with the National Children's Eye Care Foundation in Washington. Radiot Sexy, religious and ridiculous WMGK-FM (103) is celebrating its 10th anniversary beginning today at 3 p.m. with a countdown of the 1,003 top songs in the past 30 years. The songs will be played in order of popularity determined by the weeks they were No.

1 on the charts. This countdown results in some eclectic song combinations. For instance, what are listeners going to think when the song "The Stripper" by David Rose is followed by "Make It With You" by Bread, which is followed by "The Happy Organ" by Dave "Baby" Cortez? And what is the religious significance of "He's So Fine" by the Chiffons being followed by "My Sweet Lord" by George Harrison? But listeners will probably give up trying to make sense of it when "My Sharona" by the Knack is followed by "Love Is a Many Splendored Thing" by the Four Aces. Carst Isn't that supposed to be "Hi Barney Weiss saw a bumper sticker that could be on the back of most cars: "I Owe I Owe So It Off To Work I Go." Tasty Fridayt It comes but once a near We're all familiar with Good Friday before Easter and Black Friday after Thanksgiving with TGIF Fridays in between. But did you know that the Friday before Labor Day is called Tasty Friday? Neither did but that's what it is.

At least it is to the good people at the Tasty Baking who look forward to today as the biggest sales day of the year. According to the Tasty types, more Tastykakes are sold on the Friday before Labor Day than any other day of the year leap years included. This year the Philadelphia bakery expects weekend sales to top $1 million. This has to do with family picnics, back-to-school lunch desserts and away-to-college homesickness-prevention kits, not to mention the hint of cooler weather that traditionally brings on an increase in snack food consumption. Tasty Baking is ready for today.

The entire available work force from the chairman of the board on down will be traveling to stores around the area to set up Tastykake displays. To meet the expected demand, workers logged 2,500 overtime hours in the baking plant at 2801 Hunting Park where 125 tons of sugar, 7 tons of cocoa powder, 70 tons of flour, 5 tons of peanut butter, 2.5 tons of butter, 1.5 tons of blueberries, 28,000 dozen eggs, 3 tons of peaches, 2.5 tons of cherries and 28,046 quarts of skim milk were used. Do you have any idea how many tons of Krimpets all that can make? confectioner to the upcoming movie Santa Claus starring Dudley Moore. Their factories are spinning out chocolate Dudley Moores and puce-colored candy canes to coincide with the movie, which they hope will do for Boyer's Mallo Cups what the movie E.T. did for Reese's Pieces.

Their other pet project is Boyertown USA. Over three years, they propose renovating Lakemont Park's buildings and rides. They also plan to add dozens of new attractions, including souvenir stores, a railroad museum, a 200-room hotel and a convention center, an antique-car ride, a candy factory and an Indian village. Their studies show that Boyertown USA could attract 250,000 tourists annually. Forgione said he expects to hire 120 to 180 workers and create 300 additional jobs in ripple industries.

"When I first heard about it, I literally got goose bumps," said Altoona Mayor David Jannetta. "People are romanticizing what the park used to be. What the park is now is deteriorating. A government body should not be in the business of operating and maintaining an amusement park." But Fisher and group of 19 other residents saw their heritage being threatened. They call themselves People Advocating Recreation and Knowledge Society (PARKS), and sued to prevent the county from breaking the terms of the original deed.

"Maybe someday they'll put in a 40-foot Mallo Cup, but we don't want it under these trees," said Orr of the Audubon Society, who is a member of PARKS. "What happens is people destroy the old and end up with something that's plastic. Mr. Forgione has likened this place to a faded rose. I say OK, but we don't want a plastic flower as a replacement.

Or even a silk rose," Orr said. Fisher thinks that Boyertown USA, no matter how well-conceived, is destined to destroy the Lakemont Park he knows and loves. "What makes this park is its uniqueness," he said. "If you begin to ALTOONA, from I n1ty. which is more accustomed to $eeing employers lay off workers rather than expand.

When Fisher unsuccessfully sued Jhe county in an effort to thwart the project, and then said he would ap-f peal, a county commissioner vilified I him by comparing him to Benedict VVrnold, Adolf Hitler and Son of Sam. And when Forgione announced he would drop the project rather than fight Fisher's appeal, 45,000 residents signed petitions in three days and 5,000 people marched through Altoona begging him to change his mind. "I really think Harry Fisher be alive today if I hadn't Organized the march, because people -vere so angry at him," said Bonnie llclntyre. the Altoona insurance ex- ecutive who said she had nightmares when she heard that Forgione might back out. "I gave people an outlet." Forgione, who faced the crowd of -marchers with a go-ahead speech in Sine pocket and an alternate speech of apology in the other, said he decided off the cuff to pull out the speech announcing that he would proceed with his multimillion-dollar project.

I But the court has ordered that Fisher be part of the negotiations for the lease between Blair County and Boyer Candy. Which doesn't sit well ith some people around here. "If you invite IFisher, you should invite everybody in Blair County," said John Ebersole, the county com- missioner who called Fisher a trai- tor. "He's an idiot," a man who identi- fied himself only as a retired clergy-Z man told a reporter he saw talking to Fisher in a parking lot near the park. "He's been compared to Benedict Ar-Z nold and Hitler, and the only differ- ence I can see is that the other two had intelligence.

Is this democracy?" Fisher is a well-known presence around Altoona. An unemployed pri-Z vate businessman, he has run unsuc- cessfully at least twice for public office and is a frequent face at local "government meetings. Altoona is a town that some feel has been dying. It has seen employ- ment at the railroad at one time Pennsylvania Railroad and now Con-' rail drop from 17,000 to 1,600 to-I day. Now, one out of 10 residents is unemployed.

Many Altoona residents see them-Z selves as having been too resistant to change for their own good. They mention, as if it were yesterday, a small band of citizens who success-. fully opposed the construction of two hew freeways 15 years ago because of the noise and proximity to schools. Now, too often residents see their children leaving town in search of obs. So to many residents of Altoona, the support for Boyertown USA sym-Z bolizes a change in direction and identity.

Built 92 years ago by a trolly com- pany as a means of drumming up business, Lakemont Park was deeded New Jersey and Derailment of boxcar stalls -Chestnut Hill West service A boxcar on a Conrail freight train tJtierailed yesterday morning in the Germantown section, blocking a ZZ track on the Chestnut Hill West com-muter rail line and interrupting strain service during the morning "JL rush hour. 2 The boxcar, part of a 17ar train, derailed on a siding near Wissahickon Avenue about 5:30 a.m., Conrail I spokesman Don Halloschutz said. The car was put back on the tracks by 6 35 a.m., and the freight train was pushed into the Midvale yard by 7:07 a.m. New Jprspv official indictedi accused of stealing jukebox A state Alcoholic Beverage Control I' agent has been indicted for allegedly stealing a jukebox worth $750, New Jersey Attorney General Irwin I. Kimmelman announced yesterday.

Kimmelman said Anthony DeLucca, 51, of Hammonton, Atlantic County, also was charged with trying to thwart "the investigation. DeLucca will be sus-; upended without pay pending the out-vome of the case, said Col. Clinton IPagano, head of the state police. The six-count grand jury indict-I ment charged DeLucca with one I count each of conspiracy, burglary, theft by unlawful taking, receiving stolen property, tampering with physical evidence and hindering ap to Blair County in 1937 with the proviso that it never fall into private, profit-making hands. Except for one year of profits, Lakemont Park has always run in the red.

Annual revenue usually falls about $50,000 short of expenses. Parking at Lakemont Park costs $1, but there is no admission charge. Twenty cents buys a ride, and $3.50 brings a plastic bracelet good for a whole day of rides on the Tilt-A-Whirl, the 12-booth ferris wheel, the wooden roller coaster called Leap the Dips and the plastic merry-go-round that replaced the antique hand-carved version sold by the county several years ago. The park shows its age. Only one car at a time is allowed to run the Leap the Dips; even at a top speed of 15 miles an hour downhill, the vibration is too great to hold two cars.

The casino needs a new roof, but a recent fund-raising drive was inadequate. Yet its charms are undeniable. Ducks paddle unperturbed on a stream running into a small lake while children play in a public lakeside swimming pool. Elderly couples and young families picnic on the grounds. Even when the park is filled with people, regular visitors say, they sense peace.

"Kids come here to do leaf projects," said John Orr of the local Audubon Society as he pointed out shag-bark hickories and pin oaks. "There are at least 40 species of trees here. As far as trees go. it's an arboretum." Anthony Forgione and his wife Deborah were both enchanted by the park and excited by its potential when they first visited it last year, shortly after they had added Boyer's to their $100 million conglomerate of snack-food companies. Coincidental-ly, Lakemont Park was where the two Boyer brothers who founded the company 49 years ago sold their first piece of fudge.

The Forgiones have moved with their three children from New York City to Altoona. They also plan to relocate their Poughkeepsie candy cane factory and their Montreal chocolate factory to Altoona. One of their pet projects this summer is gearing up as the official Metro News in prehension and prosecution, officials said. DeLucca is accused of stealing the jukebox from a private home on May 28, 1983, and placing the machine in his basement. Cumberland County's choice of landfill site is affirmed A New Jersey appeals court yesterday affirmed the selection of a site in Deerfield Township as the location of a Cumberland County landfill.

In a 3-0 decision, the Appellate Division of Superior Court refused to overturn the decision of state Environmental Protection Commissioner Robert E. Hughey. The Cumberland County Board of Freeholders In March 1984 picked the landfill site and decided to amend its solid-waste management plan to reflect the change. By law, Hughey reviewed the decision and in July 1984 approved the amendment. Deerfield Township challenged the decision before the appeals court, the state's second-highest court.

Cape May County man pleads guilty in slaying of woman Jose Viera, 22, who had been charged with capital murder, pleaded guilty in New Jersey Superior Court in Bridgeton to a lesser charge of aggravated manslaughter in the suffocation slaying of Alice Riendeau, 65, at her home in Millvilie, Cumberland County, prosecutors said. take that away, then it's another park. If Mr. Forgione put his park in someplace else, we'd support him. But Lakemont Park should be left alone." But to many residents of Altoona, leaving Lakemont Park alone is the same thing as closing the gates.

"The future of the park is no park at all," said Ebersole, referring to the park's deterioration. "When you consider the alternatives of no park or Boyertown USA, there's no choice as far as I'm concerned." In the suit Fisher filed against the county, Blair County Common Pleas Court Judge Richard A. Behrens ruled the county could lease to Forgione, but not sell the park. He also ordered the county to use the proceeds from the lease to purchase another public park of at least 25 acres. Despite the apparent victory, Forgione initially canceled his plans for Boyertown USA after Fisher announced he would appeal.

While Forgione was off at a confectioners' convention in Washington over the next three days, the residents of Altoona who supported Forgione began rounding up delivery vans and cheerleading squads and high school bands and fire trucks to parade from City Hall to Boyer's factory on Aug. 5. The parade was announced every half-hour over the local mart public address system, over the airwaves to volunteer fire companies and on signs outside gas stations all over Altoona. When thousands of people marched over the bridge to For-gione's candy factory, Forgione said he decided instantaneously to go ahead with Boyertown USA. "That's one of the nice things about being a chief executive officer," he said.

"I don't have to get 17 i's dotted." Mayor Jannetta thinks Altoona will never be the same again. "People had been saying, 'Here we go again. We're going to shoot ourselves in the foot he said. "The parade was a turning point. Never again will a small vocal minority be able to stop what a majority think is a positive thing." Moorestown Mayor Roderick Mac-Dougall, and Feather O'Connor, executive director of the New Jersey Housing Mortgage Finance Agency.

SEPTA plans to add trains on three commuter lines SEPTA plans to put additional trains on three of its commuter lines in October, transit officials said yesterday. SEPTA was forced to cut out 43 daily trains in July 1984, as engineers and conductors quit to take jobs with better working conditions and higher base pay at other railroads. The service to be added in October will provide two more rush-hour trains on the West Trenton line, one in the morning and one iu me evening; an early-morning train from Fox Chase to arrive in Philadelphia by 6:45 a.m., and half-hour service all day on the Lansdale-Philadelphia runs. Voorhees school board hears parents' fears for children The Voorhees Board of Education was criticized Wednesday night by 35 parents from the Willowbrook Way section of Avion whose children must now walk rather than be bused to school. School board secretary Raymond Brosel told the parents that the 84 students were bused to school in the past because the high-tension wires along Willowbrook Way were too low Brief Viera, of Woodbine Borough, Cape May County, also pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of second-degree robbery and burglary in the July 1984 break-in, prosecutors said.

Under a plea agreement, Viera is to be sentenced Oct. 4 to 27 years in prison with a minimum of 13 years before parole, according to prosecutors. Viera also has agreed to testify against Gene Phillips. 49, of Carmel, Cumberland County, and Randolph Mason, 22, of Belleplatn, Cape May County, who were indicted by a grand jury in October on charges of felony murder, robbery, burglary and conspiracy in the slaying. Kean nominates 9 to serve on panel Gov.

Kean has nominated nine people to serve on the Affordable Housing Council, the commission responsible for reviewing whether municipalities are complying with the state Supreme Court's Mount Laurel II housing decision. The decision requires municipalities to provide opportunities for housing for people of low and moderate incomes. Council members will develop criteria and guidelines for determining a municipality's bousing plans and zoning ordinances to ensure that they comply with law. Among the nine nominated by Kean are Newark Mayor Kenneth Gibson; Charles Griffith, a member of the Vineland City Council; former of Isabell Street, Pottstown, died yesterday at Pottstown Memorial Medical Center of injuries he suffered Wednesday afternoon in a Berks County car accident, the Montgomery County coroner's office said. State police at the Reading barracks said Mitchell was driving west on Pine Forge Road in Douglass Township about 3:15 p.m.

when he lost control of the car and it struck a tree. A passenger in his car was not injured in the accident, police said. Judge orders manufacturer to meet Del. air standards A Chancery Court judge in Wilmington yesterday gave a plastics manufacturer one day to pass state incinerator. Chancellor William T.

Allen issued an order requiring Formosa Plastics Corp. of Delaware City to meet state air standards by p.m. today. Formosa manufactures plastic products such as shower curtains and creates vinyl chloride gas, a carcinogen, as a waste byproduct. For three weeks, Formosa has burned that gas in a new incinerator to replace one that state inspectors declared was not functioning properly.

But the new incinerator did not have the required operating permit from the state Department of Natural Resources. State officials said the plant could operate only 10 minutes without the incinerator. and were considered a hazard. Public Service Electric Gas Co. has raised the wires and the road is now open to pedestrian traffic, Brosel said.

Parents, who complained that the road was unsafe, said they were attempting to organize a demonstration when school starts Sept. 4. One concerned parent, Stephanie Fisher, asked, "How can that road be safe for small children when the township wont allow vehicular traffic on it?" Legislators propose office to locate missing children Pennsylvania would join 20 other states that have created special offices to locate missing children and prevent their abduction, under a proposal made yesterday by two Montgomery County legislators. Reps. Jon D.

Fox and Charles F. Nahill. both Republicans, said they also wanted to require training for teachers, and instruction for students, in how to prevent abduction of children. The legislators were joined at a news conference by business officials who said that Pennsylvania firms, including billboard and cable-television companies, were joining the effort to increase public awareness about the problem of missing children. Pottstown man, 22, dies from injuries in accident Curtis Mitchell.

22, of the 700 block.