I had a lovely telephone conversation yesterday afternoon with John Polec, who was grateful for and touched by the words of support posted by readers in response to my blog post about the 15th anniversary of his son Eddie's funeral. John said his family is happy and doing well - there are now grandchildren in the Polec clan, and they bring joy every day to the family. Beyond that, he declined to speak about Eddie's case and its aftermath.  

On a separate note, reader Pattye Stringer shared with me this memory from 1994, related to Eddie's friends, whom she happened upon the day after his death. She has allowed me to reprint it here:
  
"Dear Ronnie," it begins, "Your column on the 15th anniversary of the murder of Eddie Polec brought back many memories.

"First, some background; I live in Burholme, a little neighborhood just below Fox Chase. I am not a member of St. Cecilia’s church, but I certainly know it as a landmark.

"My mother died in March of 1994, but her birthday was in November.  On the Sunday closest to her birthday in November 1994, my husband and I paid a birthday visit to her grave. On the way back, we passed St. Cecilia’s.

"We knew at once that something unusual was going on.  There were several casually dressed teenagers on the church steps and in the parking lot, all sitting on the ground, very still.

"In a moment, we realized what we were seeing.  This was a crime scene.  Eddie Polec’s friends were holding an impromptu vigil for him.

"My husband stopped the car.  We got out and surveyed the scene.  There were perhaps ten young people, all dazed, some weeping.  Each of them had some item of remembrance— a candle, a photograph, a baseball cap.

"I didn’t know Eddie Polec, but I was so overcome with emotion that I knelt down beside a young woman and began reciting the Episcopal prayer I’d offered on the day my mother was buried: “Oh God of grace and glory, we remember before you this day our brother (sister) Eddie, we thank you for giving him to us, his family and friends, to know and love as a companion on our earthly pilgrimage…”

"I was too emotional to complete it (and probably didn’t get that far at the time).

"I improvised an ending and got up.  I never spoke directly to any of Eddie’s friends. I just wanted them to know that I was just as outraged as anyone who actually knew him.

"I still pass St. Cecilia’s often, and wonder what became of those kids holding vigil. I wonder if they remember the middle aged Protestant woman who offered some of her tradition for a young man she never knew."

Today marks the 15th anniversary of the funeral of Eddie Polec. He was the  Cardinal Dougherty High School senior who was beaten mercilessly by a gang of baseball-bat-wielding thugs on Nov. 11th, 1994,  on the steps of St. Cecilia - the Fox Chase Catholic church where he'd served as an altar boy. He died the next day of his brutal injuries. His funeral, four days later, was so crowded with mourners that the neighborhood around St. Cecilia's was jammed for hours.

I could recount the whole sad and terrible story here, but I'll link, instead, to this piece, published in the Northeast Times on the 10th anniversary of Eddie's passing. 

For many of us, though, no recap is needed. We recall vividly how terribly Eddie's vicious murder rocked the city. Not just for the fact that it was a gang of marauding suburban teens who inflicted the blows that killed him. But because Philadelphia's 9-1-1 system failed Eddie so completely that night.

And yet in the awful aftermath of Eddie's death we also witnessed moments of incredible grace as his wonderful family - parents John and Kathy and siblings Billy and Christy -  handled their shock and sorrow with extraordinary dignity and resolve. They repeatedly called for calm, urging Eddie's grieving friends and the community at large to honor Eddie's memory by not partaking in the brand of violence that had torn him from them. And they refused to turn the teen's death into a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the city. Instead, the Polecs pushed for wholesale changes in the 9-1-1 system.

I've reached out over the last few weeks to John and Kathy Polec, to ask how their family has fared in the last 15 years. They've not responded to requests for an interview.

So I'd like to take this opportunity to tell them what I would've told them, face to face, if I'd had the chance:

That I'm still so sorry for their loss. That I know I'm not alone in saying I remain inspired by the courage and character they exhibited during a time of unimaginable heartbreak.

And that we'll never forget their son.

 

Space constraints kept my story in today's Daily News from including the entire e-mail that Valley Club president John Duesler sent to members this week, announcing the pending bankruptcy of the small, Huntingdon Valley swimming pool.  So I'll paste in Duesler's letter, in full, right here:

"Friends and Families of The Valley Club,  

"I am writing with a heavy heart to inform you that The Valley Club will be filing for Chapter 7 bankruptcy this week. 

"And while many will point towards our legal situation and negative media exposure this summer as the reason for this decision, the truth is that the club has struggled to stay out of the red for at least the last decade.  Despite our most ambitious efforts and countless hours of dedication towards the club, we have been unable to grow our membership enough to sustain The Valley Club any longer.  Indeed, we have not been profitable, for as long as I’ve been with the club.  And our current debt from this year’s operation and legal fees now exceeds $100,000.  

 "Combining this business fact with our legal proceedings, the Board of Directors has solicited feedback from our bond-holders to see how we should proceed into the future.  With nearly 400 letters mailed to our current bond-holders, and less than 50 returned, apathy was clearly the tone that won the day.  

"Of those who were willing to respond to our request for guidance, the result was as follows…

Over at Philadelphia Academies, Inc., the staff has a happy chore on their hands. They have to send out 80 thank-you notes to donors who've just sent about $5,000 in contributions  in support of the West Philadelphia Hybrid EVX Team, whom I wrote about in my column yesterday. 

The group of dogged students, teachers and mentors at West Philadelphia High School is in a heated contest with global competitors in the $10 million Progressive Automotive X PRIZE contest to design, build, market and produce an environmentally friendly car that gets 100 mpg.

West Philly made the final cut of 43 competitors, down from an original 111 entrants, besting better-known and funded contenders Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

Yeah, that MIT.

The only high-school team in the contest, West Philly has been ranked by the editors of Popular Mechanics in the top ten teams likely to win the whole shebang.  But the kids need between $80,000 and $100,000 to stay viable in the race (the team has already raised $300,000).

After my column ran yesterday, the money started pouring in to the Philadelphia Academies, Inc., which is handling donations to West Philly. Not just locals are getting behind The Little Team That Could. The Academies' Ilene Merlino tells me that donors hail from as far away as England, the Virgin Islands, Texas, California and Ontario. 

The largest check, for $1,000, came from Indiana; the smallest, for a single dollar, from Sweden.

The response thrills the team's founder and guru, Simon Hauger.

"The energy that's been created is really neat. It's great to get $5,000, and to know that it came from so many smaller donors is just really exciting."

To learn how to support the team, go to go to www.evxteam.org. And if you missed Daily News videopgrapher Michelle Tranquilli's piece on these amazing kids, check it out here.

Thanks to loyal reader A.R. Jenkins, who fowarded me this hilarious, photo-shopped pic. A.R. had no idea from where it originated, so I can't give proper credit to whomever created such a moving and inspirational work of genius.

But I have two words for him or her:

THANK YOU!

'Tis the season for baseball superstition, so let me say that I believe my blog post on Monday about a  singing-songwriting World Series umpire  brought good luck to the Phillies, who won Game Five that night, 8-6.

Ergo, there is a now a cause-and-effect connection between my blogging about World Series music-related things and the Phillies' success at the ballpark.

So allow me to make another musical connection.

Click here to listen to a polka called "The Fightin' Phils,"  written by the now-defunct Delaware County String Band. The strummers composed the ditty in 1950 when the Phillies last battled the Yankees for world domination.

Sadly, it did not bring the Phils any luck back then, as the Yankees clobbered our guys in four games.

But that was then, this is now, and my blog has proven that, in 2009, this blog has the power to determine game outcomes. This blog, and maybe my friend Kate's lucky socks.

Anyway, give the song your ear, but be patient. The band plays the entire thing, all the way through, before the singers jump in. When they're finished, the band plays the song all the way through - again. Then the whole thing repeats ...  and repeats ....and repeats...

So steel yourself.

And if you want to listen to "The Fightin Phils" in a public venue, head on down to the Polish American Center at 308 Walnut St., where "The Fightin' Phils" is playing on almost-continuous loop. The center's Michael Blichasz tells me that visitors go batty with joy when they hear it.  Love of string-band music is apparently very big among my Eastern European brethren. 

Wanna sing along?  Here are lyrics.

The Fight, Fight, Fight-in Phils! It’s a tough, tough, team to beat.
They’re out to win, win ev-’ry day. Every victory is sweet.
Watch ‘em hit that ball a mile; play a game that’s packed with thrills.
Get Pa to bring your Mother, Sister and your Brother
Come out to see the Fight-in’ Phils. The fight, fight, fight-’in Phils.

Feeling bad about the Phillies’ right-to-the-wire beat-down last night by the Yankees?