B Inspired

During the Boyertown Ambulance Service's annual subscription drive, Board President Melanie Roth and Captain Jim Boyer provide an update and information about the community's valued service organization--its mission, activities, and need for support.

Amanda Ehst is a lifeline at Berks Arts Council as Community Programs Manager for those of us submitting PA Partners on the Arts grants, but she's just begun to help us all add art to life. From a potential biology major, pre-school teacher, band director, music festival coordinator, and now student in a master's program with students around the globe espousing art programs for mental and physical...

While visiting her sister,  Anita Heft  visited a Himalayan Salt Cave in Connecticut, recognized the benefits of the therapy, and was inspired to bring one closer to her hometown. Anita wants her clients to come away from a session at her Himalayan Salt Cave feeling better, breathing better, freer of joint pain or migraines. I want to try all the stress and pain-relieving techniques offered in th...

Jamie and Jeff Cascino explain the "Extra 'C'"  in the Cascino name stands for "caring, community, commitment: and comes from a deep gratitude for the blessings life has given them. Their home--the former home of the beloved Mary Lou and Charles Haddad--to them is a home to be enjoyed by the community. Often the place for parties and gatherings, it is also the spot for the Cascino's annual "Wishin...

In Part 4 of the limited series exploring the nature of the existential “Hero’s Journey,” JD Stahl offers a wide-ranging discussion that offers his own experience in detaching from the forces—expectations, assumptions, searches for meaning and happiness that fettered him from the person he was meant to become. Suggesting that we are all in search of the chemical oxytocin through our addictive beha...

Looking for ideas for family fun in Boyertown? Just ask volunteer Tracey Mackey and Mayor Lori Carnes. Their latest project “Halloween Happenings” proved more popular than they imagined among homeowners and the community and motivates them to take more risks in furthering other projects. Saving the Boyertown pool and the Colebrookdale Craft Depot are just a few of Lori’s projects. And she has plan...

Dr. Olapeju Simoyan  (a.k.a. Peju, The Doctor Writer and The Doctor Singer) is a physician who strongly believes in bridging the gap between science and art. Peju combines her various interests in innovative ways: writing, singing, photography. She has released a CD of Christmas music, a book exploring the histories of some of our favorite carols as well as a devotional booklet to aid in personal...

Brought up on the family farm, BASH alum Adam Heimer trained as an electrician at Berks Career & Technology Center, but as added plumbing and hosts of other skills to his resumé as owner of Adam's Royal Car Wash in Gilbertsville and the upcoming Main Street Car Wash in Pennsburg along with creating programs for others' car washes. Community-minded, Adam stepped up with several friends to volun...

In episode #3, JD shares the process of amalgamating the variety of sources that informed his perspective: religion, philosophy, science, literature, music, and his own poetry. Each "road" led to a common core--"unconditional love"--the acceptance of the dualities of life--the light and the dark --that are presented along each individual's path to serenity through enlightenment.

Carmelo's Pizza holds decades of memories for many who grew up in Boyertown. New owner Mark Potash needed a fresh start after 20+ years in the construction business when his son was murdered but kept the name out of respect for its history. Carmelo's has been completely renovated and added the popular Italian Water Ice to its offerings. Mark finds himself in the kitchen offering pizza, finding "pr...

In this episode JD recalls moments throughout his life that led to his need to detach from everything and everyone in order to return to a space where he could be free. Naming the many familiar attachments/addictions he's recognized in himself and others, acknowledging the fear of releasing those familiar dependencies, and choosing to let go of the stigma and shame that interfere in any recovery p...

Approaching Hallow's Eve (a.k.a. Halloween) and All Saints Day where ghosts and goblins are welcome entertainment, psychic medium Cristina Leeson tells of her experiences-- recounted in her recently-published book Live in the Light; Respect the Dark --dealing with the reality of ghosts who are stuck between dimensions, who attach themselves to people and places and create hosts of problems. In wri...

“B Inspired" begins a limited series with Jeff Stahl, former Boyertown High School Business, Computer Science, and teacher of the Gifted, who shares his journey since leaving teaching. JD’s journey includes recovery from multiple addictions--physical, social, and emotional—that has led to publication of a series of books entitled  The Tree of Knowledge , five volumes of over 2,000 pages that addre...

When Adriane Zapien, Boyertown Area Historical Society Board member learned that Boyertown's annual Halloween Parade--a tradition since 1912--was to be discontinued for lack of an organizer, she volunteered to keep it alive. I am inspired by her initiative in saving the parade and her commitment to preserve the community's history in hosting "Old Souls Strolls" featuring stories and histories of t...

Farryn Kauffman shares her journey toward healing clients of aches and pains, a journey she traveled herself in healing a sports injury. After earning a doctorate in physical therapy and exploring different ways to practice her craft, she now heads up a clinic and offers her determination, competitive spirit, and compassion to assisting others in pain to becoming pain-free, stronger, and more flex...

As a young girl, BASH grad 2020, Lynn Scherer held the flashlight while watching her father work on cars and developed a curiosity about how things worked under the hood. She saw it like completing a puzzle. And so, while her father passed and with her mother out of her life, she was left to decide the direction of her future. And it was becoming an auto mechanic, working on cars, not heading off...

"It took one phone to spread the word" that inspired dozens of members of Boyertown High School's Class of '65 to gather over several days at their popular haunt in celebrating the visit of their classmate--Robert "Boogie" Bower--proving that friendships created decades ago often last a lifetime.

Rachael and Gene Kehler have put their hearts into their work--The Peppermint Stick Candy Store and their most recent project: The Peppermint Stick Ice Cream Parlor. What a testimony of their creativity, research, networking, skills, and remarkable energy the vintage ice cream parlor showcases! Boyertown is so fortunate to have their hearts and projects smack dab in the middle of town.

In this extra-long episode, Cristina Leeson shares her personal journey in developing her psychic abilities and her decades-long practice of creating safe spaces to help others tap into their abilities through readings, classes in intuitive development, yoga, meditation, reiki, hypnotherapy, and more. We discussed numerology, ghosts and spirits, healing, synchronicities, and the openness needed fo...

Fascinated with the complexity of the working of the brain, primary care physician Alvin Moyer felt something was missing until a residency in palliative care, tending to his sister in her final days, and serving as the physician to a young boy whose cancer was incurable provided a clue. Coming from a large family, he had a lifetime of experience and lived understanding that life ends for all that...

Talk about passion and enthusiasm! Let me introduce you to reading tutor Sarah Drewicz whose Storybook Tutoring business is all about making sure all children can read. Sarah always wanted to be a teacher, but she found her passion learning about the science of reading and then offering to work with the children in her neighborhood--one-on-one--who were struggling. Knowing that about 20% of childr...

Theresa Werba's stories of life as an adopted daughter who left her only home at 15 to escape abuse include finding her birth parents, sharing traumas in relationships, and accepting a diagnosis as autistic despite her gifts of language. In sharing her poetry, she offers us gifts of understanding from her experience.

Newly-elected Mayor Lori Carnes loves Boyertown and has been part of its revitalization for almost 20 years through her involvement in Building a Better Boyertown and her service on Boyertown's Borough Council. Named Citizen of the Year in 2014 and currently Branch Manager of Tompkins VIST Bank (VIST is one of Studio B's generous donors), Lori is focused on issues regarding safety and comm...

Margaret Harner can't say "no!" For over 50 years, Margaret has been the "go to" researcher, historian and popular teacher for projects that celebrate and preserve the history of her beloved hometown. Writing for a Walking Tour of Boyertown, the community's celebration of its sesquicentennial, the local Lutheran church's anniversary, a pictorial history book of Boye...

On a drive through Boyertown, Colonel Keith Seiwell, USMC looked for a museum dedicated to one of World War II's heroes, General Carl Spaatz, that he was certain existed in the General's hometown. When he realized one did not exist, he was determined to create one to honor General Spaatz and all those from is hometown that served. In an extraordinary effort over 2 years while a pandemic sh...