Mr. Truitt

I found out tonight that Hale Truitt of Doe Run died recently. An old-school gentleman, a WWII veteran and a cheerful presence at township meetings, he was known fondly as "The Mayor." My condolences to his family, and may he rest in peace.

Where?

Over the weekend I had to call 911 for an injured person, and I was impressed with how quickly the ambulance (Avondale) showed up. But I had to wonder about one question that the 911 operator asked me: What township was I in? I happened to know the answer, just because I'm pretty good about Chester County geography, and it was also close to my home. But I wonder what the percentage yield is on that question. I doubt that most people are aware of township boundaries, particularly in an emergency situation.

Maybe this time

Tilda's column would be incomplete without the mention of any local restaurant, so here goes. There's a new banner up at the long-vacant Kennett Cafe, 120 E. State St., announcing that a restaurant will be opening there next spring. The brains behind the venture is well-known local restaurateur Jack McFadden, who developed The Gables at Chadds Ford and the (late and lamented) Bar & Restaurant in West Chester. However, I've heard rumors of an "imminent" opening here for at least three years, so I suppose we'll have to wait and see.

Work in progress

Here's a view of the progress at the new Bancroft Elementary School at Bancroft and Pemberton Roads. Workers were even there on a recent chilly Saturday morning. According to the Kennett Consolidated School District's website, work is ahead of schedule:
"The building is shaping up - most of the exterior walls are complete or underway, and flooring is started in the lower levels. Geothermal piping has been run to the mechanical room area, and the spray insulation is being added. The goal is to have the building "under roof" before the end of December to allow interior work to continue through the more severe winter weather."

Strings

Unionville native Gillian Grassie will be performing at the Tin Angel, 20 S. Second St., Philadelphia at 7 p.m. on Boxing Day, Dec. 26. Gillian, a 24-year-old singer, songwriter and harpist, promises a "special, non-cheesy" concert and will be playing her own songs as well as some 1940s "covers." For concert details or to listen to her music, visit her website at http://www.gilliangrassie.com/.

Bucks

It seemed to be a fairly quiet deer-hunting season. The first morning there was gunfire echoing over the hills at the break of dawn, and all week I've seen hunters' trucks parked off the road. For safety's sake I don my fluorescent orange pinney whenever I'm outside, no matter how silly it looks, but I've seen a lot of riders, joggers, bicyclists and dog-walkers in just their usual warm clothes.

Sales pitches

Does anybody else get WAY too much mail from Verizon each week?
Don't get me wrong: I absolutely love their super-fast Fios Internet service. I had it installed as soon as it was available, and no exaggeration, it changed my life compared to my old dial-up server.
And I have Verizon's wireless service, which is miles better than my previous cellular carrier.
But I don't want Verizon's TV service (or any other TV service, for that matter), and no amount of mailings, no discount bundle package, no special pricing (for the first few months, that is) will make me change my mind. I'm sure it's a fine service, but I simply don't watch TV. So please, just stop!

V

At the intersection of Newark and Upland Roads, I saw a neighbor and waved to her. She flashed me a peace sign. Whether this is a new trend or a holiday practice I haven't heard of, I think I'll do my part to spread it around town. (Kind of like the way that eating a Snickers bar with a knife and fork "went viral" on "Seinfeld.")

Graveyard shift

A group calling itself "Concerned Lot Owners of Unionville Cemetery" is trying to get in touch with all the cemetery plot owners. In a flier left for cemetery visitors to pick up, the group says it is worried that the cemetery's board will vote to merge with Union Hill Cemetery in Kennett, which means the Unionville graveyard would "lose its identity" and lot owners would no longer have a say in management.
A board vote could come early in 2011, so the group is asking lot owners, family members and heirs to send their contact information to Unionville Cemetery Grounds Committee, 122 Cedarcroft Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348, or call Gail Diem at 610-444-1376.
According to the East Marlborough Historic Commission's website, the non-denominational Unionville Cemetery was established in 1855, and the iron fence that surrounds it was donated by Annie Seal in 1860 (her father, Thomas Seal, was Unionville’s first doctor).

USPS

For those of you buying Christmas stamps and mailing Christmas cards and packages, just a reminder that the Unionville Post Office window hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, with a lunch break from 1 to 1:30 p.m. Saturday the post office is open 10 a.m. to noon.

Tact

A friend reports that her local dentist's office is equipped with video screens for the patients. Unfortunately, the only DVDs that the dentist plays are those that reflect his political views, which he then proceeds to discuss with great animation. My friend, who is on the other side of the political spectrum from him, said she tried repeatedly to turn the conversation from his theories on global warming back to her teeth, but to no avail. She is going to be finding herself a new dentist.
This guy's dental practice must be doing very well for him to risk alienating a significant portion of his patients.

Trust

Brett Lunger of Wilmington and Nathan Hayward, the head of the board of trustees at Longwood Gardens, were mentioned in a Nov. 27/28 "Wall Street Journal" story about the recent sale of Wilmington Trust, "How Loyalty to Customers Led to Storied Bank's Fall." Mr. Lunger said he was "disappointed and disheartened" by the sale; Mr. Hayward expressed his reaction as "shock and anger and dismay all wrapped together." M&T Bank Corp. purchased Wilmington Trust in what the Journal described as a "fire-sale deal" for "about $350 million - just about half of the ailing bank's stock-market value."
The story includes a photo of Mr. Lunger working on a laptop with his wife, Caroline, in the background.
In other bank news, the National Penn branch at Route 796 and Old Baltimore Pike in Jennersville was robbed on Nov. 29. Between that and the well-publicized efforts to preserve the vacant Red Rose Inn, that intersection has certainly been in the news a lot recently.