George C. Draper

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Donald M. Black, Sr.
Barbara Bloom
Stuart Bogom
Doris L. Clinkscale
Julie Cox
Kate and Thomas Deahl
Fred Dedrick
George C. Draper
Bob Elfant
Fran Emery
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Robert Fluhr
Dorothy Guy
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Yvonne Haskins
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Dr. William Winston
Dan Winterstein

George C. Draper

George C. Draper has been one of the leaders of the Upper Wissahickon Civic Association (UWCA) since it was founded in the early 1990s. UWCA is an association devoted to improving life in the Wissahickon Avenue / Allens Lane area. A primary goal of the group is, according to George, “to preserve the beauty of the area.” It also honors young people in the area who graduate from or do particularly well in school. It works to reduce crime in the area. And it keeps an eye on local and state government for the members of the association. As George jokingly puts it, “We are busybodies.”
George has served as recording secretary of UWCA for two years and chairperson of UWCA’s fund raising project for the last four years. He is a liaison person for UWCA with other community organizations. And, given his experience as a retired sergeant of the Philadelphia Police Department, he helps his neighbors who have concerns about safety and security in the neighborhood.
In addition to his work with UWCA, George served on the steering committee of Wissahickon Avenue Neighbors, a group formed to oppose the widening of Wissahickon Avenue. George says “The state wanted to cut down trees and widen the road. We convinced them to see things our way.” The road was basically unchanged but the state “improved some areas where there had been frequent accidents.”
George has lived in Mt. Airy for 25 years. He says it “is the best move I ever made.” As a member of the Police Department he was not regularly assigned to Mt. Airy. But when he was in charge of the anti-crime unit he would “put two or three teams up in Mt Airy” even though Mt. Airy is “not the best place to look for criminals.” But the teams he put in Mt. Airy did “come up here and make some good arrests” as did George himself on one occasion. He also recalls that when he was the sergeant in the 35th district, the sergeant in the 14th district was sometimes out. So, for two or three weeks, “I had the 14th district as well.”