Last night was so fabulous! We raised a fair amount of money for Joe Natale and American Troop Support Team, and hopefully for our beloved VFW Post in Ardmore as well.

I would personally like to thank all of the public officials from BOTH sides of the aisle who came out to celebrate the Save Ardmore Coalition, American Troop Support Team, the Ardmore VFW and an event that I am proud to volunteer for: First Friday Main Line!

Yes, I would like to thank Commissioner Cheryl Gelber, Commissioner Jenny Brown, Commissioner Lance Rogers, State Senator Connie Williams, State Representative Daylin Leach, and Congressman Jim Gerlach. They all showed up to celebrate the people they represent, and they did not politicize the event. They were WONDERFUL.

I also want to thank all the residents of Ardmore who attended, the veterans, Joe Natale and his crew, my fellow SACCers---- Like Ken Haskin in particular who thought up this fabulously fun event.....and all of our friends and loved ones who turned out to support us and to support Ardmore - I know that most of them stayed to enjoy the rest of First Friday Main Line after our event wound down.

I want to thank all the media who came to cover the event and First Friday Main Line, as well as Lower Merion's own Irene McNeil from Channel 99 who recorded the event for posterity, and also took the time to give people the flavor of First Friday Main Line.

I want to thank Sherry Tillman, owner of Past*Present*Future and Executive Director of First Friday Main Line and Christine Villardo, Executive Director of The Ardmore Initiative for all of their help - these are but two of the Amazing women of Ardmore, and it is an honor to volunteer with them.

In that vein, I also want to thank the many artists and musicians that set the stage and paint the palette of fabulousness every month in Ardmore, Bryn Mawr, and Haverford for First Friday Main Line - they make the committee's dreams come alive and give us beauty and make us think.

I also want to thank novelist Erec Smith for taking the time to do a reading of his novel "Creamy Nougat". If all of you out there have NOT read his book, you should. You can buy it locally through Borders Books...and if they are out of it again, they can special order it, and it only takes a couple of days.

I love my community and believe in it, but as you all well know, if I see something I think is wrong, I am going to tell you about it. I have a little something to mention.

Last night to us was not about politics, it was about community. Accordingly, all of the elected officials who were there came to celebrate and support. They didn't hand out pamphlets, stickers, and brochures - they brought their friends and family, bought hot dogs from the Lions Club, and enjoyed good music, great friends....and hung out like the rest of us with that lovable and CRAZY off the hook wonderful Phillie Phanatic (who stole the show by the way! Thanks Philadelphia Phillies organization!)

Last night a candidate showed up whom no one in Lower Merion has met or seen, only heard about. His name is Bob Roggio. We heard about him because he was the nice man who sent out a barrage of press releases and such a few months ago criticizing Jim Gerlach for missing a couple of days of work (May, 2008 off the top of my head) .....and it was when Jim Gerlach was burying his beloved mother and should have been excused by everyone to grieve a few days in private, with his family. Bob eventually sent condolences, but it took over a week at least, and he NEVER apologized for behavior unbecoming of a human being.

So anyway, if Mr. Roggio wanted to show up, although he was rather obvious in intent, that would have been fine. But Mr. Roggio didn't just show up to press the flesh, he brought with him an obnoxious assortment of Sticker Elves.

Theses Roggio Sticker Elves moved in a clump like a big amoeba throughout the event. They had stickers everywhere on their persons, and were pushy with people at an event celebrating community. They should not have been there like that. No other politician was there politicking in such an aggressive manner- they all knew except for these folks that it was inappropriate.

Our event wasn't the venue for full out in your face stuff like this. It wasn't a political rally. Our event was about community and veterans. The last time anything so annoyed me is when Lois Murphy's campaign pulled this stunt during a parade in Gladwyne.

Mr. Roggio, again, if you had just shown up, it would have been fine. But the Sticker Elves, well the sticker elves pointed out that you have a lot to learn about event-appropriate behavior.

Ok, well we have tons of photos we will share with you. Thanks for coming out!