Home Care In North Wales, PA

NORTH WALES, Pa. (CBS) – Cell phone video captured a beloved clubhouse going up in flames just after 5:30 a.m. Wednesday in the heart of the Village of Neshaminy Falls, a senior community.

Sue Revack's dog Ralphie alerted her to the chaos.

"My dog started to wake me up. I looked out and I could see all the fire trucks flying in here," she said.

Revack soon learned what was happening just outside her home.

"Ralphie and I went out and a neighbor stopped in his car and said, 'The clubhouse is on fire,'" Revack said.

Revack said she thought about all her neighbors living behind the burning clubhouse.

Emergency crews were on the scene around 5:30 a.m. responding to the fire, which burned for about three hours. Fire companies from several surrounding towns responded.

In many spots, the building's roof is gone. The remaining walls appeared scorched.

No homes were damaged, and there were no injuries, Montgomery Township Fire Chief Bill Wiegman said.

Firefighters tried to put out the two-alarm fire from the inside, Wiegman said.

"But crews made it inside and started getting set and put water on the fire and then the roof started to collapse," he said.

Wiegman pulled his firefighters out. Thankfully, no one was injured. However, he said the loss of this structure is hitting these neighbors especially hard.

"We are in this community a lot doing smoke-detector installations, and we come to the clubhouse and do fire safety seminars, and we know this is the heart and soul of their community," Wiegman said.

Sam Mitchell lives in the village and said this clubhouse brought his neighbors together.

"The clubhouse had pool tables, shuffleboard, a library, and it was really nice inside," Mitchell said.

Despite the fire, Mitchell said he is encouraged by how everyone is offering to open up their home to keep the activities on schedule that were once held inside the clubhouse.

"I'm sure a lot of people welcome people coming into their homes for the activities," he said. "I would."

Phyllis Neal also said she is devastated at the loss of the clubhouse in her community.

"This is my clubhouse, it just burned down and I'm very upset because that means a lot to us," Neal said. "It is a big thing over here, we're here 24/7 every day. There's something always going on, if it ain't playing cards, it's the gym, exercise room. Just meetings, cards every day, bingo on Thursday and trips all the time. It's just so sad that it's gone."

As workers fenced off what was left of this clubhouse, Wiegman said firefighters will continue to comb through the rubble so they can find the exact cause of this fire.

The Village of Neshaminy Falls is on Stump Road in North Wales, Pennsylvania, not to be confused with Neshaminy Falls in Bucks County, 30 minutes away.

Ross DiMattei

Ross DiMattei comes to Philadelphia from KTNV-TV in Las Vegas, where he anchored and reported for more than two years. He is most proud of his interview with then-presidential candidate Joe Biden, extensive reporting on Las Vegas' economic recovery from COVID-19, and breaking news coverage of George Floyd protests in Las Vegas, for which he won a regional Emmy Award.

After almost 20 years of making artisan and bespoke sausage, it is time to bring home the bacon.

Brothers Bob Zimmerman, 56, of North Wales, and Karl Zimmerman, 54, of Souderton, along with friend Doug Perry, of Lansdale, established their sausage-making business in 2003. As time went by, they gathered more and more fans of their specialty meats.

Soul Brothers Meats — named after "Soul Brothers of Kung Fu,” a favorite 1970s kung-fu flick that Bob and Doug loved during their high school years at Lansdale Catholic — produces high-quality sausage, sourced from local farms, and mixed with local ingredients.

By Summer 2024, it will have a new brick-and-mortar retail and production facility behind Ten7 Brewing Company on East Walnut Street in North Wales Borough.

"The products we are producing there are intended to be USDA certified. We don’t have that yet, but we are still in the build-out process,” said Bob Zimmerman, who is also an Air Force veteran. "We want to ship it, not just to Pennsylvania, but New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and so forth. There are not a lot out there that are artisan style that are USDA certified.”

Soul Brothers Meats offers a variety of sausages, either fresh, dry or as charcuterie. All meats are made with locally sourced chicken, beef, or pork.

"Think of broccoli rabe with sharp provolone and roasted red pepper, or an Italian with Calabrian pepper paste with Italian parsley and parmesan cheese — these are very artisan-style items. On the smoked sausage side, we have kielbasas and summer sausages. Our third product is dried sausages, like capicola and prosciutto, like a charcuterie board,” Zimmerman said.

Zimmerman said the quality of sausage is the most important. Their sausage, for instance, is made from pork shoulder, but fat is added because the meat gets too dry, Zimmerman said.

"What makes us different from a sausage-making standpoint is we focus on quality of protein we get. We source hogs from local providers,” he said. "Chicken, beef, and just about every protein you can think of, we have several recipes for what we can make.”

Even vegan sausage is on the agenda.

"From an owner standpoint, our mission is to break away from the whole standard sausage as Italian. There are Korean sausages, sausages that are Greek-based and ones from Africa and South Africa,” Zimmerman said. "Every time we talk to someone, they say, ‘Listen, where I came from, we had this sausage. I’d love to get my hands on it.’ Part of it is being able to introduce the local community to sausages that are country-based that a lot never tasted.”

When Soul Brothers Meats opens its doors, customers will see a retail section, a wholesale section, and a production area. With wholesale, Soul Brothers Meats can sell bulk sausage to local restaurants, wine makers and the like.

The retail portion will not be a butcher shop. It will be a simple grab-and-go situation.

"We don’t cook any food,” Zimmerman said. "You come in and buy and say thank you come again.”

Customers will be able to choose various types of smoked, fresh, and dry sausages, along with cheeses. About three-quarters of the building will be for production. The intention is to have a window into production so customers can see the whole clean sausage-making process.

"This was completely hobby-based. We never charged for anything,” Zimmerman said. "Why the brick-and-mortar is coming about is, we never sold it and didn’t want to sell it in a way that would somehow come back and bite me or do something detrimental to all of us doing it.”

For 22 years, the Zimmermans and Perry, as well as three other friends, would make 800 pounds of sausage at a time, and stuff it in the freezer. They would often use the meat to barter.

"After doing it for so long, and so many saying they love it, it became an opportunity to say I enjoy doing it, it’s fun, and it brings creative space to me to let that out,” Zimmerman said. "It’s a sharp move away from what I do every day for my primary business, which is credit card processing. This is being funded by BKZ Consulting Partners.”

There was no better location for their new business than North Wales Borough.

"Keeping it local was a part of it. I was born in Souderton, I grew up in Montgomery County, went to Lansdale Catholic, and I’ve been here the whole time,” he said. "I stayed in North Wales because being in my hometown is important to me. Community is important to me. And it’s also nice because I knew so many people, and to hear them say ‘Thank God you’ve started selling’ is neat and exciting.”

Visit their website to learn more about the business.

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Emily Shelley has been appointed as the new chief executive officer at the PA Media Group, the first woman to lead the business in its 155-year history.

Ms Shelley, formerly managing director of PA’s stock imagery agency Alamy, began her career with PA as a graduate trainee 25 years ago.

She replaces Clive Marshall, who is retiring after 14 years at the helm, and will step into her new role in the coming weeks.

Ms Shelley said: “When I joined PA as a grad trainee in 1999, I knew this was an organisation where I could build my career.

“It’s a huge honour to be given the opportunity to take charge of an organisation I love and a brilliant team I respect and care deeply about.

“In the rapidly-changing media world, PA’s combination of maintaining traditional journalistic excellence and embracing cutting-edge technological innovation is, in my view, key to our continued success.

“I’d like to thank Clive personally for his leadership and support, and his role in overseeing our transformation from national news agency to international multi-media business.”

Ms Shelley began her career at PA as a news production trainee and worked in several editorial roles before launching a digital showbiz news service in 2006 as showbiz editor.

She became features editor in 2007 before moving into various commercial and management positions within PA.

In 2013, Ms Shelley was instrumental in launching a new bespoke content service for corporate clients and played an integral role in the acquisition of content agency Sticky, then becoming its managing director.

After six years at Sticky, Ms Shelley was appointed MD at Alamy to lead the expanding global platform, post-acquisition. In 2022, Ms Shelley was appointed to the PA Media Group board.

PA Media Group chairman Murdoch MacLennan said: “Emily’s appointment is a tribute both to her remarkable skills and to the strengths and depth of PA Media Group.

“That she started her career with the business 25 years ago as a graduate trainee is something of which she and we are enormously proud.

“Emily’s appointment will ensure we build on the success of Clive’s tenure. We wish her every success and thank Clive for his outstanding service.”

Outgoing CEO Mr Marshall said: “I’ve worked closely with Emily for many years and I couldn’t be happier with the board’s choice of her as my successor.

“I’ll be leaving the ship in safe and talented hands. I wish her and the entire PA team the very best for the future.”

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Motivated by the love and encouragement from her Grandma Gray, 11-year-old Taelyn Gray chose to take her love for tennis and fashion and merge them into a business that lets her stand out and make the sport she loves a more enjoyable experience.

With her brand LOVE U BUNCHES (LUB), Taelyn brings affordable and comfortable tennis wear to her tennis peers.

Taelyn started playing tennis at 5 — inspired by legend Serena Williams — and fell in love after her first racket swing. She attended her first US Open in 2023, and got a chance to see the pros she looks to one day emulate.

“I think the sky is the limit for Tae. I’m really proud of her,” said Frank Green, Taelyn’s tennis coach, who sees nothing but endless potential in the young tennis player. “It’s really special to see someone at such a young age find a way to channel their creative energy in a positive way, into two things that she loves, which is tennis and fashion.”

LOVE U BUNCHES, defined as a premier junior girls’ tennis apparel brand dedicated to providing affordable, high-quality tennis practice clothing. The brand says it’s committed to inclusivity and aims to inspire girls to achieve greatness through passion, confidence, growth, and power.

“At first I didn’t think she was being for real,” said Melanie Gray, Taelyn’s mother, recognizing that Tae was truly passionate about this project dedicated to her grandmother and her favorite saying, ‘Love You Bunches’. “Once she showed me the drawings, I thought, ‘Wow, she’s serious.’ So then I decided to go ahead and help her make her dream come true.”

“Every color means something different,” said Taelyn as she describes the meaning behind some of the colors that the attire comes in. “The red rush means ‘passion’, the yellow yolk is ‘confidence’, the green glide is ‘growth’, and the black blaze is ‘inner power.’ “All those things you can use in your normal, everyday life and I wanted to share that with the rest of the world.”

In addition to being a business owner and athlete, the young scholar is also an author. Taelyn’s first book, “Grandma’s Nuggets,” tells the story of a young tennis player named Tia, who struggles with self-esteem, but has her passion reignited after encouragement from her grandmother.

On a random hot day in North Wales Borough this summer, you’re likely to see a stand for ice-cold Italian sodas on South Eighth Street. For just $2, you can buy a "tiger’s blood” or a "tropical paradise,” among several other flavors available. It’s a sweet deal for those who want to cool down during summer heat waves, but it’s an even sweeter deal for the 10-year-old entrepreneur behind the small business.

Every $2 goes directly toward Biruk Sawtelle’s plane ticket to Ethiopia this September — a trip his parents have planned since they adopted him from the country when he was seven months old.

It’s part of their efforts to connect him and his younger sister — both who are adopted from countries outside the U.S. — to their cultures. Biruk’s parents promised that when he and his sister turned 10 years old, they’d get to visit the countries they were born in — Ethiopia for Biruk and India for his sister.

The small business originally was just something fun to do in the summer, with no goals for how much money he wanted to make. He made $80 on his first day, which was enough to take him on a trip to Hershey Park. Eventually, he decided he wanted to work toward something bigger, so his mom Andrea suggested that he try to raise $1,200 for his plane ticket.

"We feel like both of our kids are a total gift to us,” Andrea said. "This trip to Ethiopia is more than just a trip. We're hoping that he can see where he came from.”

His parents are also hoping to visit places that have ministries to help people in need, whether it’s by providing food, clothing, or other basic necessities.

"We're going to nail down a couple of those and be able to take our kids there, so they see all the different aspects of it,” Andrea said.

Since he started his business in June, Biruk has been out more than 15 times selling Italian sodas. He doesn’t follow a strict schedule and comes out when he wants to. Like any other 10-year-old, he often has to decide whether he wants to sell sodas or go to the pool, but he always makes sure that whenever he’s out selling sodas, he’s having fun.

Customers can find out when he’s out selling through the North Wales Borough Community Facebook group, where his dad occasionally posts about it.

Even if he doesn’t reach his goal, it’s still a great learning experience, said Andrea. The experience teaches him how to earn and save money, while also teaching him how to treat people who have supported him kindly and have conversation with them, she added.

"That's the kind of stuff that you're not going to learn just anywhere,” Andrea said. "You learn that stuff from experience.”

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