The following was submitted to Glenside Local by Ian Costello, founder of the Keswick Village Community Resilience Coalition (KCRC):
Happy 4th of July, Happy 250th! There is a lot of focus on large ceremonies in Philly and DC, the Declaration of Independence, and the birth of our country. But for us right here in Glenside, I think the real legacy of the American Revolution isn’t just on a single day of celebration that’s planned by others. It’s the time-honored tradition of Glenside neighbors looking out for each other when the going gets tough when the big formal institutions just can’t step up.
History time: long before modern emergency services even existed, regular folks knew they couldn’t just cross their fingers and hope everything would be okay. We had to take some responsibility for our own risk. Back in 1747, Pennsylvania’s government wouldn’t pay for a defense, Benjamin Franklin dropped a pamphlet called Plain Truth and basically said, ‘Fine, we’ll do it ourselves.’ That led to the “Associators of Pennsylvania,” which were a group of volunteers formed to foster community readiness. By 1775, that neighborly spirit turned into the Committees of Safety. These were emergency teams of citizens who stepped in to manage the local economies and ensure their towns were resilient. That local preparedness tradition was even tested right here during the Battle of Edge Hill. In December 1777, American forces set up defenses right around the Abington Presbyterian Church. After two days of battle, the British withdrew down Old York Road back to Philadelphia, allowing the Continental troops to retire to Valley Forge for the winter.
Fast-forward to today. That’s exactly what the Keswick Village Community Resilience Coalition (KCRC) is trying to tap into. We’re the modern-day Associators. We’re not sitting around waiting for big regional bureaucracies or federal agencies to save us after the next 100-year flood, our aging infrastructure, or when the power grid inevitably goes down. Instead, we’re working neighbor-to-neighbor to make our community fundamentally stronger. Building families up so they can handle more little emergencies at home and in the neighborhood, before we have to ask for outside help.
When we look at the data we’ve collected this past year, it’s super clear we have to take ownership of what’s happening in our own neighborhood. We’re pushing for modern resilience measures, just like the Associators developed community infrastructure to handle crisis way back when. For instance, at the Keswick Village Facade & Streetscape Study on April 15th at the Weldon Fire Co., we shared recommendations with the design firm (Simone Collins) to look beyond just making things pretty. We’re pushing for stuff like permeable pavers and bioswales, to actively fight the flood risks that threaten our local businesses. We’re also mapping out the threat, just like the Committees of Safety knew every inch of their local terrain. We use tools like the Aqua PA Lead Service Line Viewer, maps to pinpoint the hidden infrastructure vulnerabilities block-by-block so we can get the targeted upgrades we need.
Honoring the 250th anniversary means more than just looking in the rearview mirror. It means adopting a Glenside Ancestor Mindset, making the tough, proactive choices today so that the Glenside of the America 500th is safe and thriving. By planting a canopy of native trees to soak up stormwater, pushing companies like SPS to build back smarter and stronger, by hardening our commercial buildings, advocating for smart hazard mitigation strategies on the Abington Township Environmental Advisory Council, building relationships with our public safety partners, and by knowing exactly who on our block needs help when a crisis hits, we are keeping the spirit of those Pennsylvania Associators alive.
We aren’t hoping for the best outcome. We are actively building it.
Because as we always say at the KCRC: When we are connected, we are prepared.
Join us, reach out to keswickcrc@gmail.com, or join us on Facebook or LinkedIn at Keswick Village Community Resilience Coalition!
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