What Chester Makes

Chester was back on the front page of the newspaper in the last couple of days.

Last Friday we took note of an especially violent 24-hour stretch in the city. Police were investigating three separate shooting incidents, one of which police described as a shootout between two men. Both lost their lives.

A victim from one of the other two shooting incidents died the following day. It brought the city's homicide total to 27 for the year. That equals the 27 recorded in the city all of all of last year.

But it's the Sunday story - which dominated the front page - that I want to bring to your attention.

In that story we detailed one of the city's most famous sayings: What Chester Makes Makes Chester.

That saying hung on the old Philadelphia Electric Co. building at Sixth and Crosby streets for nearly half a century. It came down in the 1970s. Not everyone has forgotten, however.

On Saturday city residents gathered for a special presentation celebrating the city's heritage, and its roots as an industrial icon. You can read the story here.

It's easy to take shots at Chester these days.

We get accused of doing it all the time.

Yes, we pay attention to the problem of crime and random gun violence that continues to afflict the city. But we don't ignore the other - positive - stories either.

A lot of people are working hard to return Chester to its grand past. There is a vibrant arts community that is revitalizing center city. We take note of all these stories.

Not because we feel compelled to counterbalance the negative news that comes out of the city.

But because it's the right thing to do.

There was a time when "What Chester Makes Makes Chester" was a way of life.

A lot of people have not forgotten.

Neither have we.

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