Frankly, I had no idea what to expect. A Tuesday-evening party and open house, at a waste-oil recycling facility and a potting soil manufacturer, in downtown Modena, a suburb of Coatesville.
WELL! I'm so glad I went! It could well be the hippest party I've attended all year.
It seems that a crumbling industrial area in Modena along the west branch of the Brandywine is undergoing a renaissance. Waste Oil Recyclers, Organic Mechanics (they make organic potting soil out of coconut fibers, rice hulls, worm droppings and mushroom compost) and mechanic Fred Sinton's garage all call the flourishing Phoenix Court "home" now. There's a lovely garden between the businesses with Swiss chard, parsley and a fall crop of spinach.
A huge manhole cover that resembles a face now decorates a repurposed cinder-block building that used to house, yes, a manhole-cover manufacturer.
I met a lot of nice, smart, down-to-earth folks and was struck by the pride that everyone took in their work. Everyone loved explaining what they did; one guy told me that he felt a sense of community energy every day and deeply appreciated how the entrepreneurs he worked with shared their expertise.
In addition to Rob Mastrippolito and Dave Dickens of Waste Oil Recyclers and Fred Sinton and three generations of Sintons, I had fun talking to Claire Murray of Inverbrook Farm in West Marlborough; Jill Benjamin and John Hodges of Unionville; and Michael and Sally Green of Ercildoun.
It was such a great mix of people that I found myself talking about everything from the reconfigured Hunt Cup course, to the proper planting time for broccoli, to the transmission of DNA through generations.
Not to mention: the food was delicious, the artwork on display (paintings, ceramics, photographs, furniture) was wonderfully creative, and the live music by the Modenites (Paul Wilkinson, Rob Mastrippolito and Pat Hughes) was just right for the warm autumn evening.
And then there was the woman who, as dusk was falling, put on an astonishing performance with twirling flaming hoops. It was a great party!
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