7 minute read

FROM THE PUBLISHERS

Take Cover!

re·sil·ience

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| rəˈzilyəns | (also resiliency) noun - the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness

In the future, words like pandemic, social distancing, corona and lantern flies may be farfetched in our civilized world but in the year 2020, they served a purpose. Especially when shooting the cover for this issue – our 2020 Salute to Service edition.

As we have been doing for more than a dozen years, it came time for RowHome to gather the prestigious winners of our annual Blue Sapphire Award. It was their time to shine on the cover of our final issue of the year.

But the only thing shining that September day was the sun. Accompanied by gusts of wind that kept blowing our backdrop down every time our photographer Andrew and Art Director Omar attempted to set things up before our guests arrived. The blasts of air provided little respite from the blazing sun that beat down on them through multiple attempts to get things right. Then there were the flies. Omar, who drove four hours from Connecticut to be with us, thought they were stink bugs. But Andrew knew better. “Kill them!” he hollered out to Omar, who was dripping in sweat. But Omar refused to add a stench to the confusion. Apparently, the pesty lantern flies had not yet landed in Connecticut and Omar didn’t understand Andrew’s strange reaction to the swarms surrounding them. With only minutes to spare, we quickly switched gears and brought the whole thing inside Popi’s Italian Restaurant, thanks to our gracious and accommodating host, owner Gina Rucci.

As you can see, this was no ordinary cover shoot. This was a cover shoot during a global pandemic where serious guidelines were dictated in order to accomplish our task. Our winners, who usually nibble on soft pretzels while waiting to gather for a friendly group hug in the final shot had to be photographed individually by our masked team – all adhering to social distancing guidelines. Instead of handshakes and well wishes, they had to wave at each other from across an empty room. Masks in place upon arrival, each was called into the empty restaurant (outside dining only during the pandemic) for their five minutes of fame. It felt more like school picture day than a magazine cover shoot but we pulled it off! The perfect pandemic cover photo!

We raise a glass to the resilience of the human spirit. We thank all of our award winners for their endurance and congratulate them on winning the Blue Sapphire Award in a year that will forever be logged in the history books. These social distancing guidelines may restrict us, but they will never hold us back.

Until we meet again! Stay safe. Stay strong. And be kind to one another. Our babies are watching.

Dorette & Dawn

River to River. One Neighborhood.

photos by

Andrew Andreozzi

art direction by

Omar Rubio

hair /

The Cutting Point makeup / Bella Angel guest Scheduling / Brenda Hillegas & Carol Vassallo location /

from the PUBLISHERS

To our Philadelphia RowHome Magazine Family

You may have noticed recently that you can’t pick up a copy of RowHome at your favorite local shops. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, delivery of all PRH promotional copies to our local advertisers has been cancelled to meet safety guidelines. Many businesses were closed and those that remained open were not permitted to distribute magazines due to risks of multiple contact contamination.

Since the guidelines went into effect in March, PRH launched a Subscription Campaign to get all of our readers on our mailing list. We are happy to say that we have tripled our readership and increased our exposure and reach over these last few months (city to suburbs to readers across the country and around the world!). Issues are safely mailed to our subscribers’ homes every quarter. From press to post office.

This is the last quarterly issue of 2020. If you’d like additional copies, please contact us at RowHomeBrenda@gmail.com so we can check our inventory and ship them to you. And please be sure to head to gohomephilly.com/subscribe to sign up your friends and loved ones. A one-year, four-issue subscription makes a great gift for anyone who loves Philadelphia as much as we do.

Advertisers: YOUR AD IS GETTING MORE ATTENTION THAN EVER!

If you have seen our magazine in stores or your friends’ hands over the years, and thought about advertising your business on our pages, now is a great time to get on board. From our family-owned local business to your local business - let’s continue to support one another. You aren’t just placing an ad, you are joining the

Philadelphia RowHome Magazine Business Net-

work and representing your business among hundreds of local businesses throughout our neighborhoods and beyond. Business Spotlight feature articles in print and news/updates on our social media pages or blog (www.gohomephillyblog.com) are an ADDED BONUS of ad placement in RowHome. At no additional cost to you! Just let us know when you have something to share and we’ll get your messages in front of our readers and your customers!

But what if you want more than one copy?

If you can safely share RowHome Magazine with your customers, we will gladly provide your business with a case (or more) of the latest issue. There is no charge for the magazines - PRH will cover the cost of your promotional copies (35 mags per case) as a courtesy to you, our valued clients. *There is a minimal processing fee for case deliveries from our mailing house, so if you’d like a case delivered directly, let us know so we can add you to the delivery list. Your case will be shipped directly from press to post office. The processing fee will be added to your invoice. It’s that easy! RowHome Readers. We are also happy to provide you with multiple issues of RowHome to share with your friends and family. Contact us for details.

Check in with us anytime regarding our ad rates, promotional packages, printing dates, deadlines and issue themes. We’re available by phone, email or message us on social media. There is

an ad for every budget starting at $100 for our Local Business Directory each quarter.

Thank you for your patience and understanding during this very difficult year we are all experiencing. We wish you health, happiness and the love of family and friends as we rise to the tasks we face and triumph over every challenge. As always, we are stronger as one.

Dorette & Dawn

gohomephilly.com

Publishers | www.gohomephillyblog.com

River to River. One Neighborhood.

Philly Philly

THEMAILBOX

OCT | NOV | DEC 2020

EMAIL YOUR LETTERS TO:

INFO@GOHOMEPHILLY.COM

DEAR PRH: I got my RowHome Mag in the mail and I was so happy. This magazine just makes my day. It’s always a great thing to bring back wonderful memories when you’re so down. Patty Cally Phelan

DEAR PRH: 2020 hasn’t been the best year for most of us. We do the best we can daily. One bright spot is receiving my RowHome Magazine. I read every article, check every ad. I’m never disappointed. The writers are so diverse and fluent in life. Wishes to Dorette, Dawn and staff for many more years of publication. Joan Young

DEAR PRH: I came across Jane Roser’s article about the one and only Horn & Hardart (Summer 2020). What memories it brings back! My mom and I used to go into Town once a week. We would shop and go to Horn & Hardart for lunch. I was a little thing and got a kick out of the way you put money in! You picked your food, then opened the door and there it was... your lunch! What a great article, Jane. Good memories of me and my mom. Miss her so much. Linda Ricciardi

DEAR PRH: This is the best apple cake ever! Thanks for the recipe! (Angelina’s Apple Cake / Summer 2020) Iveta Buonacuore

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