Two graduates of Cheltenham High School with nearly identical names have found themselves working out of the same building in Glenside.
Dr. Elon Kaplan, Class of 1979 and owner of Kaplan Family Chiropractic, and Elan Kaplan, Class of 2011 and owner of Sabia Landscaping, both occupy professional spaces within the building at 115 E Glenside Avenue. Elan is in Unit 9 and Dr. Kaplan is in Unit 5.
The alumni realized the coincidence in February after a delivery package with a familiar looking name arrived at Dr. Kaplan’s doorstep.
“I was sitting in my office, and the mailman drops off a box. It was a high-end purchase. About 20 minutes later, a guy walks in and asks if I got a package,” Dr. Kaplan, a Wyncote native who has been living in Elkins Park since 1984, said. “He said it has his name on it. I said, ‘No, that’s my name.'”
From there, the Kaplans reconnected.
“This story goes back a ways. I had heard his name over the years, and knew he had started a local landscaping business. I was on the board of directors of a cemetery my family owns and runs, and so I met him briefly then,” Dr. Kaplan said.
“It’s not a common name. Of all the things that happen in this town, that’s just crazy,” he said. “It’s like Jewish geography we call it down here.”
As it happens, Elan is the brother of Chelsea Katz, co-owner of the K to Z Collective Restaurant Group which operates The Pizza Wheel, West Avenue Grille, and The Highland Restaurant and Bar in Glenside.
“I’ve known about him my entire life. People have always asked if we’re related,” Elan, an Elkins Park native, said. “It’s crazy how 15 years later my package ended up at his place.”