text: Sue Kapfer, left, who has multiple sclerosis, does some exercises with free weights with her personal trainer, Becky Bridson. Kapfer has been working with Bridson for more than a year and has increased her strength and coordination.
  Sue Kapfer, who has multiple sclerosis, does some exercises Thursday. She has been working with a personal trainer for more than a year to increase her strength and coordination.
  She was in good humor, teasing her personal trainer, Becky Bridson, that she was “punishing” her with 12-pound weights. She compared herself to the “Karate Kid” while doing leg lifts.
  But the Lawrence resident isn’t typical. She is fighting multiple sclerosis, a disease that affects her central nervous system.
  And she and other area residents who are living with MS are the reason for Saturday’s Multiple Sclerosis Walk in downtown Lawrence.
  “MS is a complicated disease,” said Leni Salkind, co-chairwoman of the event. “The symptoms can be complex and it’s hard to diagnose. It often takes years before someone gets an accurate diagnosis.”
  Before Kapfer, who managed the now-closed Natural Way store downtown, discovered she had MS in 2002, she knew for several years that something was wrong. She tried to hide the symptoms: fatigue, impaired vision and loss of coordination.
  “I worked eight to 10 hours a day. I came home and mowed the lawn and cleaned the house. Those things became harder and harder,” Kapfer said.
  After the diagnosis, she was hesitant to take disease-modifying medication or attend support groups despite encouragement from family, friends and doctors. She credits Salkind, who has a family member with MS, for convincing her to take disease-modifying drugs.
  Salkind told her, “You need to try these injections so that when they find a cure you have something left to save.”
  For the past three years, Kapfer’s given herself a shot every other day. This has helped slow the disease’s progression.
  She also now attends support groups with George, her husband of 36 years. There, the Kapfers learned they weren’t alone.
  In 2006, 156 Douglas County residents had MS, according to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. About 1,500 people with MS live in the area and 400,000 in the United States.
  “I love to garden, but working outside in the summer just isn’t an option,” Kapfer said. “An hour outside and my MS symptoms are at their worst.”
  Kapfer used to walk five miles every morning, but now struggles to walk down the block. She has given up countryside walks with her husband.
  One day, Kapfer’s young grandson asked about her parking tag for people with disabilities. After explaining that she used it to park close when she couldn’t walk well, he replied, “Oh, that’s like rock star parking.”
  “What happened was I was out in the yard one day, and I tripped over this stick,” she said. “I picked it up to angrily throw. Then when I picked it up, it looked like a person and from there it just evolved.”
  She now constructs “stick people” using fallen tree limbs, fabric, wire, beads and other objects. Each stick person comes with a message.
  One in her home states: “At first I was afraid when he told me my vision was failing but decided that maybe it was time to start seeing things in an entirely different light.”
  The Multiple Sclerosis Walk is Saturday in downtown Lawrence. Registration begins at 8 a.m. in Liberty Hall, 644 Mass., and the event begins at 9 a.m.There are two routes: a three-mile walk accessible for people with disabilities and a six-mile route through the Kansas University campus. Both include snacks and stops. There will be a raffle for prizes donated by area businesses from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. Donations are accepted. Registration also can be made online at www.msmidamerica.org or by calling (800) 344-4867.Sixty percent of the funds will stay in eastern Kansas to provide programs and services for those with MS and 40 percent will go to national research to find a cause and a cure.Leni Salkind, co-chairwoman of the walk, hopes to surpass last year’s event, which was attended by about 200 walkers and raised $21,400.
  Refrigerator conveyor belt, topped by a rail, at Chubby Cattle, opening soon at 146 N. 10th St. The iPads are for ordering.
  A Chinese-Mongolian hot pot restaurant in Chinatown, where the soup ingredients are delivered to the table via a refrigerated conveyor belt (or, a for hot foods, by way of a small mag-lev train). A plush seafood-steak house chain in King of Prussia. An all-day cafe in Center City owned by one of the region's largest bakeries. And a mammoth South Philadelphia-style Italian restaurant in Rittenhouse co-owned (coincidentally) by one of the region's best-known bakery families.
  By my count, the region's restaurant scene will tack on at least 15 significant newcomers in the next 90 or so days, continuing a surge that has helped define the roaring economy. Recent closings have been few, as only the most dire circumstances create a failure in the traditionally busy fourth quarter.
  The Korean mainstay from Olney adds a downtown branch at Center City One (1326 Spruce St.), which starts a soft-opening period, with an abbreviated menu, on Oct. 25. Chris Cho, 33, son of the founder, is offering a roomy sushi bar and table service. There's no tabletop BBQ grilling here — Cho does it all in the back.
  There's a liquor license, though Cho says the idea of a bar is not part of his plan. "When we talked about coming into the city, people were like, 'You should have cocktails,'" he said. "But there are so many [cocktail] options nearby. If they want a really great cocktail, they can go to Valanni or somewhere." Beer and soju will be the alcohol of choice at Seorabol.
  Seorabol — also rendered as Seo Ra Bol and pronounced "sue rah boll" — opened in a strip mall at Second and Grange Streets in 2001 under Chris' father, Kye Cheol Cho, who from 1994 to 2000 owned Sam Won Garden at Castor Avenue and Magee Street in Northeast Philadelphia.
  Oct. 31 is the public roll-out of Classic Cake Co., an all-day cafe and bake shop from the Cherry Hill bakery giant in a sprawling space at 1617 JFK Blvd., upstairs from Suburban Station. Owner Barry Kratchman and pastry chef Robert Bennett (who spent 14 years with Georges Perrier at Le Bec-Fin) will run a 40-seat restaurant open from breakfast time through dinner with a cafe menu and will offer takeout and a stand-up coffee bar, plus gelato, chocolate, and candymaking.
  Nov. 1 should see the debut of this BYOB to open at 141 Kings Highway East, the former home of Little Tuna before its migration to Lindenwold. Vera Çorja Bodi and Afrim Bodi, who emigrated from Albania in 2012 with sons Erjon and Endrit (who will run the day to day), are working with chef Artur Haxhiu, who trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Athens. It will be open daily for lunch and dinner.
  Nov. 2 is the expected debut of Keep, a gracious, upscale (but not white-tablecloth) American BYOB with a seasonal menu from chef Mike Jenkins (a Di Bruno's cheesemonger-turned-Garces executive chef) and Melody Lauletta (who, after managing with the Garces organization, helped Nick Elmi open ITV on East Passyunk). They've taken the longtime Mirna's Cafe at 417 Old York Rd. in Jenkintown.
  Nov. 2 is the firm launch of Eddie V's Prime Seafood, a Darden-owned seafood/steak spot on Dekalb Pike aross from Bloomingdale's, on the outskirts of King of Prussia Mall. Its bar has a 300-bottle wine list and a lounge offers live jazz. Does KoP need another high-end destination? The region's growth has been explosive; a year ago, I counted 4,000 more restaurant seats added in the previous 18 months. That number has climbed.
  More than a year in the works, this locally created, nationally syndicated Chinese-Mongolian hot pot specialist, owned by friends all under age 25, is coming to 146 N. 10th St. in Chinatown. It could open to the public as soon as Nov. 3, said one of the partners, David Zhao.
  The restaurant is high-tech all the way. Ordering is done at the table via iPad. A refrigerated conveyor belt runs down the middle. Customers can pluck chilled ingredients for their soups, which they make on the tabletop. The conveyor belt is also topped by a rail upon which a mag-lev train runs to shuttle hot food from the kitchen to the table. There will be waiters.
  This is where to get a fix of Wagyu beef imported from Japan. Not only will various cuts of the beef be available for the hot pot, it can be ordered as tataki, as the tartare-like yukke, and even as nigiri. A counter at the front of the restaurant will sell "gift boxes" of Wagyu to take home.
  Chef Chatayee "Venus" Kapugthong is looking at early November for the soft opening of a plush Thai bar-restaurant at 1227 Walnut St. Most notably, the space had been Portofino. (She managed its last incarnation, Cibo, before deciding to take the stove.) Expect traditional art imported from Thailand and a menu of both familiar and hard-to-find dishes.
  Longtime Fergie's bartender Niall Murphy is going industrial with his new bar-restaurant, Sutton's, due to open Nov. 9 at 1706 N. Fifth St. in Kensington, just a few steps from St. Benjamin Brewing Co.
  Vinny Termini (left), Vince Termini Sr., and Joe Termini during menu testing at Harp Crown restaurant for their new Giuseppe & Sons.
  At Giuseppe & Sons, the Termini family of South Philly pastry fame, in a partnership with Michael Schulson and Nina Tinari (Harp & Crown, Sampan, Double Knot, etc.), are looking at mid-November for their South Philly-style trattoria whose homespun food is reminiscent of patriarch Vince Termini's side project, Mr. Joe's Cafe.
  Ground floor will be a daytime luncheonette where patrons can order chicken parm, veal parm, meatball sandwiches, roast pork, salads, and Termini desserts at the counter; there will be a full bar with drinks and coffee. Downstairs, accessed via a dramatic staircase, will be the dinner house — an old-school Italian restaurant with plaster walls, white carrera marble, black and white tiles, and touches of brass.
  At Hops, the company that runs the Bernie's Pubs is remodeling the shuttered Brewerytown Taproom, at 31st and Master Streets in Brewerytown. Mid-November is the target.
  I'm hearing sometime in November for Hikori, a specialist in Japanese omakase from chef Hikori Fujiyama, behind Wm. Mulherin's Sons in Fishtown.
  Dec. 15 is the new projected opening of aether, a seafooder with a serious wine list from the creative team behind Mistral (Princeton and King of Prussia) and Elements (Princeton), at 1832 Frankford Ave. in Fishtown.
  Chad Rosenthal's Ambler BBQ restaurant is looking at a late-December opening at 990 Spring Garden St., next to Roy-Pitz.
  Michael Schulson's steakhouse at 118 S. 13th St., next to his Double Knot, should open for booked events in December; a la carte service should begin in January.
  Early 2019 is the target for Pelicana, a branch of a chain of Korean fried chicken shops. It's going into the basement at 4002-4004 Spruce St. in West Philadelphia.
  Early 2019 could be realistic for Bryn & Dane's, the healthful fast-casual smoothie/bowl/chicken specialist, going into the Franklin on the 800 block of Chestnut Street.
  Jennifer and John Choi of Crunchik’n, coming to 212 S. 11th St. They stopped for tea on Oct. 24 at the Saxbys coffee shop just up the block.
  Father-daughter combo John and Jennifer Choi, riding high with a seasonal Korean fast-casual shop called Crunchik'n in Ocean City specializing in Korean fried chicken, are headed to Washington Square West for their second location. Crunchik'n is taking 212 S. 11th St., most recently Ugly Duckling, will much of the same menu — but with one addition: oven-baked (not fried) Korean-style chicken to add a more healthful side to the menu.
  They're hoping for a January opening, after a semipublic test sessions in December. Interesting backgrounds, which I'll tell you about in coming weeks: He's an inveterate cook and theology professor in Korea who shuttled between the university and the family home in central Jersey, while she is a grad (bachelor's and master's) of Johns Hopkins in public health.
  January is looking realistic for Winkel, a bruncherie by Joncarl Lachman at 1119 Locust St., the former More Than Just Ice Cream.
  At Crybaby Wine & Pasta Bar, restaurateurs Bridget Foy and husband Paul Rodriguez, awaiting the reconstruction of their fire-ravaged Bridget Foy's restaurant at Second and South Streets, are partnered with David Gilberg and Carla Gonçalves — the husband-and-wife team that ran Koo Zee Doo, the critically acclaimed but now shuttered Northern Liberties Portuguese BYOB — on this neighborhood-friendly restaurant at Third and Bainbridge Streets in Queen Village. The location is now Ela, which closes for good Nov. 3. They're saying January.
  Slightly farther out: February is the possible debut of Cicala at the Divine Lorraine (669 N. Broad St.), the Italian restaurant from chef Joe Cicala and Angela Ranalli-Cicala at the landmark hotel.
  A plastic pig looking into your home from a neighbor's roof might seem comical — unless it's part of a campaign of terror, as Linda Schwartz says it is.
  The pig isn't violating city code, but a lot of the rest of what Michael Koff has done is, Licenses and Inspections spokeswoman Karen Guss tells me.
  Koff and Schwartz live side by side in the 9600 block of Hayden Street in the Bustleton section of the Northeast. They've lived there for decades, Schwartz having bought a stone rancher for $139,000 in January 1995, and the Koff family buying the house next door for $96,000 one month later, according to real estate records.
  The long-running feud began almost immediately after Koff moved in and he built "an illegal shack in his backyard that was off his property," says Schwartz, 68, who lives on a modest pension and disability.
  A retired SEPTA bus driver, she has made 32 complaints against Koff over the years, "generally centering on trash and junk" on his property, along with a fence allegedly taller than permitted by code, says L&I's Guss. The department and the city's blight-busting Community Life Improvement Program "have conducted at least 50 inspections and initiated seven court cases" against Koff, says Guss.
  When cited, Koff typically directs "further provocations against Ms. Schwartz" while doing nothing to clean up the mess until his court case is imminent, says Guss. He then comes into compliance and the case gets dismissed.
  "I've been minding my business for years now," he responded in an email, saying he didn't want to "stir up her crazy again." He sent along pictures of signs Schwartz has erected on her property attacking Koff, but also the city administration for "corruption," which he says is a favorite word of hers. She told me several times that she plans to launch her own political party, the Equity Party.
  It would be fair to call Schwartz eccentric at least, but she did not invent the eyesore that is Koff's yard. That has been cataloged by L&I, but the department's policy is to achieve compliance "as opposed to punitive measures," says Guss.
  Schwartz says her neighbors have threatened her and she is reluctant to go outside for fear of encountering the Koffs. She feels like a prisoner in her own home.
  In his brief email to me, Koff mentioned doing "some work outside my house and my home improvements will be completed after the winter." L&I's Guss says Koff currently faces "an open violation for messy property."
  Schwartz says, "Everyone knows I am being abused, even the mayor. I know I can make him resign if I want to," she adds, again talking about corruption and the independent party she threatens to launch.
  She tells me she's contacted 94 people to help her, everyone from the Mayor's Office to the inspector general to attorney Peter Vaira to City Councilman Brian O'Neill.
  by Hawke Robinson — published Jul 17, 2018 — last modified Jul 20, 2018 04:05 PM — filed under: blog posting, Career / Job / Internship / Volunteering Opportunities
  by Hawke Robinson — published Jun 11, 2018 — last modified Aug 19, 2018 01:52 PM — filed under: Tour, RPG Trailer, RPG Bus, blog posting