This Was Doylestown, 1962

Doylestown Township Justice of the Peace dies at age 63 -

B. William Wrigley Sr., Doylestown Township Justice of the Peace for 23 years, died in Doylestown Hospital on Sunday. He was 63 years old.

Squire Wrigley was stricken ill Tuesday and died in the hospital following a stroke. He lived in Edison for 45 years and was Justice of the Peace since 1939. He also was a Bucks County Deputy Sheriff.

He founded and organized the Doylestown Township Emergency Police and also served as the director of civil defense in the township.

Born in Philadelphia, he was the son of Frederick and and Jennie Cherry Wrigley. He was a real estate broker before locating in Bucks County.

Squire Wrigley was a member of the Doylestown Moose Lodge, Bucks County Magistrates Association, Pennsylvania Magistrates Association and Salem United Church of Christ. He was a World War I veteran and founded Boy Scout Troop 71 of Doylestown Township.

He is survived by his widow, Irene; two sons, B. William Wrigley Jr., of Doylestown, and Frederick L. Wrigley, of Chalfont; and three daughters, Mrs. John A. Rimmer, of Doylestown, Mrs. C. Elmer Kriebel, of Edison, and Mrs. Robert W. Schweitzer, of Doylestown. There are 11 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held at the Charles H. Reed Funeral Home, 182 West Court St., Doylestown, on Wednesday at 11 a.m. The viewing will be Tuesday evening. Burial will be in Doylestown Cemetery.

Council approves commercial zoning change -

Doylestown Borough Council has approved a request to enlarge a commercial zone in the Old Orchard Farms development. But final approval is contingent upon a public hearing, council stipulated at its meeting Monday. A hearing date has not been set.

The commercially zoned corner of Swamp Road and Route 202 [East State Street] will be squared off and enlarged by half an acre to make it usable. Heretofore, the area was too small to permit adequate room for commercial use, council explained.

Doylestown attorney Robert Valimont, who made the request for the developer, asked council for two other zoning changes in the development.

A study by the borough planning commission was presented. It recommended that three lots be changed from RA to R3, permitting professional use of homes; and seven lots from RA to R2, permitting construction of multiple dwellings.

The three lots would be used by professionals, Valimont said. The section fronts on Route 202.

"We don't feel it's a drastic change," he said. "Authorize us to have a public hearing."

Seven lots between the commercial zone and the Detweiler tract would be used for multiple family dwellings, explained the attorney. He was challenged by William Cole, a resident of the development, who was representing the homeowners

"We have a friendly feeling toward the developer--no feeling of animosity--and we're also sympathetic to reasonable changes," he said. "We wouldn't mind if some single dwellings were used for professional offices."

"But not the downgrading of the area to include apartments. If you live on adjoining tracts, you can't sell your house," Cole said.

Council denied both proposed changes.

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Central Bucks senior wins poster contest -

Kent G. Smith, Central Bucks High School senior, was presented a $25 U.S. Savings Bond by the Doylestown Lions Club because he submitted the winning poster in a contest to benefit the handicapped.

Robert I. Tomlinson, president of the Lions Club, made the presentation to Smith, who a guest at the dinner meeting at Conti's Cross Keys Inn

The Old York Road Committee for Employment of the Handicapped, the Hatboro office of the Pennsylvania State Employment Service, and other agencies cooperated in staging the poster and essay contest.

Smith, who lives on Pebble Brook Farm in Doylestown Township, said he created the poster, a watercolor, in eight hours. The poster's caption is "Give Us Work Not Pity." The poster shows a man in a wheelchair, leaning over a drafting table and engaged in drafting. The man has dark hair and wears a yellowish coat. The poster is dramatic because the man's back is facing the spectator.

The young student-artist, who will graduate in June, expects to continue studying engineering. He is an amateur flyer, having about 100 hours in the air, but needs 200 hours to obtain a pilot's license.

Miss Adele F. Miller, Abington High School senior, won the essay contest with her entry, "The Role of the Community in the Employment of the Handicapped."

Miss Miller's essay and Smith's poster will be entered in a statewide competition, and if they win approval will compete in a possible national competition.

Doylestown Fire Co. responds to two house fires -

Doylestown firemen about 3 a.m. Friday answered an alarm at the home of Donald Kocher on Washington Street, where the oil burner had flooded the house with smoke, arousing the residents.

A fire in the furnace was extinguished before the firemen got in the house, which is owned by Michael Radosky. Firemen used smoke ejectors to ventilate the house and rid it of smoke.

Thursday afternoon, Doylestown firemen responded to a fire in the kitchen of the home of William Vanartsdalen Jr. on New Galena Road, near Fountainville.

Doylestown Fire Chief Arthur Schmell said a coat, thrown over a toaster, caused the fire, damaging the kitchen to the extent of about $100.

He said it is not known whether the garment turned the electric toaster on or whether a short circuit in the toaster's wiring ignited the coat on the kitchen table. The wallpaper in the kitchen was burned off and other furnishings damaged.

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Mother prepares daughter for school -

When Mrs. Fred L. Davis, of North Main Street, has a day off from work, she likes to keep daughter Karen home.

It isn't so much that she wants to keep an eye on her; rather, to prepare her for school.

Mrs. Davis said her daughter is just turning school age. Up till now she's been attending a Doylestown pre-school group.

"A lot of children nowadays just aren't ready for school," said Mrs. Davis. "Children need preparation--they should attend a good nursery or day school to develop study habits."

And that's just what Karen has been doing. Youngsters play together, sleep together, develop their arts and crafts ability and obtain a general discipline that readies them for the school years.

"It used to be just reading, writing and arithmetic," noted the mother of three girls, "but not anymore."

Mrs. Davis knows what she's talking about. She gleaned some knowledge from the work she does. Her job, district manager for the Field Enterprise Educational Operation, has supplied her with a solid background in child education.

"I deal in world encyclopedias for children and childcraft in my work, and I know Karen is fortunate in being prepared for school," she said.

Doylestown Township budget increased by $4,000 -

Doylestown Township Supervisors, adopting their budget for next year, increased it by $4,000 but managed to hold the line on taxes. There will be no increase in the five-mill tax rate.

The $65,555 budget was formally adopted at a meeting this week by Supervisors Merton H. Houk, Wells H. Denney and Arthur L. Amelung.

The biggest project facing the supervisors is the rebuilding of Turk Road between Route 611 and Pebble Hill Road. Houk said the supervisors have filed applications with the Bucks County Commissioners and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania for aid and approval. The state will contribute toward the cost since the funds will be used on new construction.

Work on Turk Road will begin as soon as the utility companies have completed digging up and laying various pipes and mains. New Britain Road also is on the supervisors' list for repairs.

The supervisors are now drafting a curbing ordinance. Possible revisions to the zoning ordinance are also being discussed by the supervisors.

From The Daily Intelligencer, Week of March 18-24, 1962