People of Conshohocken – Frank Zoltowski

People of Conshohocken – Frank Zoltowski

3/6/2018

by Brian Coll

This is part of our People of Conshohocken series…
We have close to 10,000 people in our borough, add in the residents of West Conshohocken, Plymouth, Whitemarsh and Lafayette Hill and we have a large community. Some of the people that will be featured will be well known in the area, some will have just moved into the area, some will have been here their entire lives. Some of them may be business owners, or people who walk around the area, or maybe work in the area. Maybe you know them, maybe you don’t. Everyone has a story. While we are only going to take their picture and maybe ask a question or two, we want to share these stories with you.

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A few years ago I could have simply posted this mans photo and everyone would have their own story or why they love Frank. Now that he has been retired for a couple of years he might need an introduction and there is a new generation in Conshohocken that may not know Frank from his 50 years at the Fellowship House. So, while me and my daughter were chatting with him I decided to do a People of Conshohocken on him.

First of all, Frank is a Conshohocken living legend and I don’t use those terms lightly. As we were chatting I realized neither of us are getting any younger! So our conversation took on a different tone, Frank told me he wants his tombstone to read “He helped some kids along the way” and that is very fitting. If you know Frank you know exactly why it should read that and more, if you don’t know Frank here are some interesting things about him. He probably coached over 150 young men at the Babe Ruth level of baseball. In his 39 years of coaching basketball he coached around 1,000 young people. That number probably sounds low, in his early years I don’t think he cut anyone. One season he had 3 girls named Amanda, who were all starters!

I, of course asked some of the regular questions I ask people when I’m doing a People of Conshohocken on them, with Frank I asked his favorite Conshohocken memory and he thought back to the Wagon Train and Bicentennial parade. His mom made a huge flag that he still hangs to this day. If you pass by East 6th Avenue you’ll see it proudly on display the week of July 1st through 5th. When it came time to talk about favorite memories from the Fellowship House (now the Conshohocken Community Center) he said he was and still is proud of working with people from 2 years old to 102 years old and he knew so many names. He walked students to school for about 25 years in addition to his other duties at the Fellowship House. Frank himself went to the local schools, starting at Hervey Walker for kindergarten and then moving onto Saint Matts.

The Donofrio Tournament is coming up soon and over the years Frank has been dedicated to the event. He has seen over 100 future professional basketball players on the court there. Some of the most recent success stories to play in Conshohocken are Kyrie Irving and Ryan Arcidiacono. Frank has also touched the lives of other sports stars to come out of the area.

Frank, thanks for taking the time to chat with me, and more importantly thank you for everything you have ever done for me and all the other kids who grew up in Conshohocken. We are a much better community because of you. I think I speak for every kid who played kickball, or played a little pick up basketball in the Fellowship House when I say THANK YOU. Our childhood was better because of you.