Fact Check: Community Day

In the September Issue of the Parksider, the borough newsletter produced by the team of volunteers on the Communications Committee, my column Parkside History Corner highlighted an article from the Delco Daily Times dated September 25, 2007 attributing the start of the modern day iteration of Parkside’s annual Community Celebration to Parkside resident Matt Saunders who happens to be a registered Democrat. I will note that I was not at this event and did not move to Parkside until 2018. 

Councilwoman Purcival quickly requested a retraction, indicating her belief that former councilwoman Jackie File-Barlow initiated Community Day the year prior in 2006 but could not produce any hard evidence to support her claims. In an email to Council President Anna Guy, she even abhorrently suggested bothering the late councilwoman’s family.

I have no problem issuing a retraction if there is evidence to suggest my history article is incorrect. I rely on the accuracy of newspaper articles from the Chester Times and Delco Daily Times to inform what I write. When I wrote this particular article, I referenced four articles written that year and the Parkside Borough monthly meeting minutes.  

From the Delco Times issue dated July 5, 2007, I learned that Matt Saunders first proposed the idea of a borough wide block party at the June 2007 council meeting. This can also be verified in the June 2007 meeting minutes:

From the Delco Times issue dated July 30, 2007, it is reported that Mr. Saunders again visited the idea in the July council meeting with more planning details and the possible location of the school grounds. This is also confirmed in the July 2007 meeting minutes:

Again in the Delco Time issue dated August 26, 2007 and the August meeting minutes:

And again in the Delco Times issue dated September 25, 2007, and the September meeting minutes:

You can read the 2007 meeting minutes here. 

I could not find any reference to anything resembling a Community Day in the Delco Daily Times in 2006 or in the borough’s 2006 meeting minutes. 

In the Delco Daily Times issue dated August 31, 2008, a date is announced for Community Day, dubbing it the “second annual.” The 2008 meeting minutes also confirm the organization for Community Day is still being led by the Saunders’.

August 2008

September 2008

October 2008

There are no meeting minutes available for 2009 on the borough website, but an article dated September 30, 2009 from the Delco Daily Times again attributes the organizing to the Saunders’ who received applause for their efforts at the September council meeting and a July 26, 2009 article also dubs it the 3rd annual event.  

The Delco Daily Times attributed the 2010 event as the 4th annual event in both the August 30, 2010 and September 29, 2010 issues. 

The 2010 minutes show the organizing of Community Day is now done by the Recreation Committee, chaired by Jackie File-Barlow, with this being the only mention of the Saunders’:

If you’re wondering what happened, Matthew Saunders ran for Parkside Borough Council in 2009 as a Democrat. In typical Parkside fashion, I’m told his audacity resulted in a new requirement that planning be overseen by a councilmember and every planning meeting for Community Day produced an agenda and meeting minutes that were to be submitted to then Council President Shirley Purcival for approval. I don’t disagree that there should be some borough oversight given the monetary contribution the borough was making to the event, but as far as I can tell, no other borough committees are required to submit agendas and meeting minutes to council president for approval, and the move looks punitive. As a result, the Saunders’ sit out in 2010, but provide Rec Chair Jackie File-Barlow with the binder they’ve kept full of contacts and planning notes. The same binder that former councilman Eric Long decided was his own intellectual property and refused to pass on to newly elected Democratic councilmembers chairing the committee in 2020, as every Recreation Committee Chair before him had done. 

So what’s my point?  

All I did was write a harmless history article shining a light on Recreation Committee’s biggest and most well attended event of the year and some people would rather rewrite history than give props to someone who just happens to be a registered Democrat. The Saunders’ are not just registered Democrats though. They are dedicated Parkside residents who have spent years volunteering on Rec Committee. They don’t like to toot their own horns, but I will. In the few years that I’ve known them, I’ve watched them continue to donate their time and their own money to this community while being continuously disrespected and childishly called names by grown adults who call for unity then turn around and hurl insults like high school bullies. From anonymously sending pizza to the firehouse meetings to planting flowers at the Woodlot, they’ve never asked for credit or a thank you, and they’ve never demanded you agree with their politics to be on the receiving end of their kindness. Parkside residents are lucky to have the Saunders’ as neighbors, and I’m even luckier to call them my friends. What does Councilwoman Purcival gain by rewriting history? Is this her plan to build unity in Parkside?

August 2014

September 2014

May 2015

September 2015

June 2016

July 2016

September 2016

September 2017

March 2018