Local government

Nothing dramatic happened at the West Marlborough Township supervisors' meeting on Tuesday, March 6, just the day-in-day-out stuff that townships do.
1. The supervisors heard about a July 4 bike race (with time trials the day before) that's going to start at Brooklawn, Mrs. Hannum's former home, on Newark Road. The cyclists will ride out to Chatham and back over a 13-mile loop.
2. Wayne Grafton, currently an alternate member of the township's Zoning Hearing Board, will be asked to join the board as a full member to replace Charlie Brosius, who has retired.
3. In an effort to resolve the ongoing dispute between The Whip tavern and some of its disgruntled neighbors in Springdell, Supervisor Bill Wylie announced that two private meetings have been held between all the parties and one of the supervisors. (Under the state's "Sunshine Law" all municipal business must be done in public, which means supervisors aren't allowed to discuss township matters in private, except for a few exceptions like legal and personnel matters. By limiting participation in these meetings to only one supervisor, the board is avoiding even the appearance of improper private discussion.)
4. The township hasn't heard anything more about Dick Hayne's greenhouse complex at his Doe Run Farm in Springdell. Last year he filed an application seeking permission to process vegetables that he grows there, but then withdrew the application and hasn't refiled it.
5. The supervisors want to increase by two the size of the township's Planning Commission.
See? I told you it wasn't much. Even so, it attracted the usual crowd of about 25 citizens who like to keep up with what's going on.

Frailty, thy name is ...

Over the weekend a friend of mine took advantage of the glorious sunshine to take a hike with her boyfriend and four dogs in the beautiful ChesLen Preserve. Alas, about a quarter-mile in, she slipped while crossing a creek and broke her ankle. Thank goodness for cell phones! Her boyfriend phoned her parents, who arrived promptly from Cochranville. Her mother splinted the ankle, and her boyfriend and her father managed to carry her out to the road, setting her down several times. Her mother took charge of the dogs.
They headed to the ER at Chester County Hospital, where the doctor applied a temporary cast, and the next stop was the orthopaedist.
My friend is an English teacher, and I'm told she was due to start teaching "Hamlet" today. That's appropriate: didn't Ophelia have an unfortunate encounter with a body of water as well?

Passion

Some young people, like the irresponsible Richard Carston in "Bleak House," just can't seem to "settle" into an occupation. Others have always known exactly what they want to do. A friend was telling me that her son, who will graduate this year with a mechanical engineering degree, just landed a job designing equipment for a major farm-machinery manufacturer. As a boy, she said, he loved tractors, to the point that he would haunt the local lawn-equipment store and deplete their stocks of promotional literature. As a teenager, he even became certified in the products made by what will soon be his employer. That might just have clinched the job interview, don't you think?

Good eats

If you should find yourself (a) hungry and (b) up in the Exton area, I recommend Bistro 24, a revamped diner at the corner of Route 100 and Marchwood Road, between the Exton crossroads and Lionville. I've been there twice in the past week, and the food and service are excellent. It's got all the usual comfort food -- breakfast, club sandwiches, meatloaf -- and something you don't often see in Chester County: a falafel platter! Yum! At lunch the other day I had tuna salad on a croissant, and for dessert a big piece of strawberry shortcake. The latter was so good that a woman at a neighboring table saw ours and ordered a piece herself.
I'm assuming the name comes from the fact that the place is open 24/7.

On the market

A Newlin friend of mine sent me the listing for her neighbor's house, which just went on the market. The ad says that the house is "in the heart of horse country" (that's for sure) and then gives a bizarre little paragraph describing Unionville: "Unionville, Pennsylvania, in Chester county, is 14 miles NW of Wilmington, Delaware (center to center) and 30 miles W of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Unionville residents donated more money to George W. Bush than to the other candidates in the 2004 Presidential race. Across all electoral races, the Republican party attracted the most donations from the town."
The locator map, however, showed the "other" Unionville, the one north of State College, so I'm not sure whether the information about our largesse to W applies to here or there. 

Open House

Brenda Hillard, who owns Tender Touch in Ercildoun, is celebrating the tack and gift shop's 17th anniversary "in this beautiful community" with an open house on Saturday, March 24, and Sunday, March 25. There will be refreshments and door prizes, and Brenda says that "many of our local artists, crafters and authors will be at the shop throughout the weekend. A special thank you to those who have supported my business throughout the years."
Tender Touch is, of course, right next to the Triple Fresh market at Route 82 and Buck Run Road.

Thanks!

A giant thanks to the kind readers who take the time to send me fan mail. Last week Susan Ross Clark, a local woman who now lives in New York, shared an excellent scary story about her encounter with a possible Yeti in Unionville. And this week Jean Baiordi suggested that I check out Spring Run Natural Foods on Route 1 -- where Phillips Mushroom Museum used to be -- while waiting, and waiting, and WAITING for the Whole Foods supermarket to open on Concord Pike. "I'm sure you will find the man helpful who works there," she said.
And thanks, also, to the many readers who send me story ideas, and my wonderful friends who do and say such amusing things that I simply have to write about them. You know who you are. And a shout-out to Eileen's friends, the Moms at the Kennett Co-op!

Results

Last week I wrote about a rider (and faithful Tilda reader) whose filly took a tumble after being spooked by a speeding vehicle at Route 926 and Lamborntown Road. Our West Marlborough Township police officer, Bob Clarke, promptly headed out there and wrote some speeding tickets.
The response from the rider: "Happy doesn't describe the feeling I had when I saw people riding their brakes past the intersection... I knew he was down the road before I even saw him! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!"
Alas, a prominent local jockey (and very nice guy) reported on his Facebook page over the weekend that he had an unpleasant encounter with a group of bicyclists. 
"While riding today I asked the cyclists to wait till I got in the driveway so the horse didn't kick anyone, but as they couldn't wait I said, guys, I want to get off the road before you pass." The response to his reasonable request was short and unprintable. 
"Worst is, only a month ago my horse spooked at the bikes. I fell off as he tripped himself up spooking and got loose -- and not one person stopped to see if all was ok."
I know that most bicyclists are polite and responsible -- but others are rude, leave litter behind and ride side by side and refuse to pull over. Show some respect!

No snow

We're into March, and I fear that the window of opportunity for having a proper winter storm with heaps of snow is rapidly closing. The crocus are in bloom, daylight savings time is approaching, and my heating bill has plummeted. But looking on the bright side, at least our local municipalities are saving lots of money, not having to pay for snowplowing and salting. And the school district hasn't had to extend the school year to make up for snow days.

Pests

How's the stinkbug situation in your home? It's not bad at all here. I'm getting maybe a half-dozen a day, mostly on walls, windows, pillows, and power cords, and perhaps one will spray me with its foul stench. And on Sunday evening when I went to check my schedule for this coming week, two of them were nestled in my schedule-book. But it's a far cry from last year, when the walls and ceilings were simply covered with the pests and you'd find them inside your shirt sleeves and pant legs. I'll leave it to the entomologists to explain why.

Calling all Pennocks

Those of you who are descendents of Joseph Pennock might be interested in attending a family reunion -- an "informal picnic-style event, with a mix of history, genealogy and camaraderie" -- at the family homestead in West Marlborough, Primitive Hall, on July 14. For more information, e-mail PennockReunion@comcast.net or visit the Hall's website, www.PrimitiveHall.org.

Raptor

The other day I was driving through Jennersville and could hardly believe my eyes: I saw a bald eagle in flight! The huge, magnificent bird -- "unmistakeable," as my Audubon guidebook says -- was soaring gracefully over the Red Rose Inn and then headed north, circling over the Route 1 bypass intersection. I had seen bald eagles nesting just down river of the Conowingo Dam in Maryland, but I had never seen one this far north.

Speaking of the Conowingo Dam, it's well worth a family trip. It's a short drive down Route 1 into Maryland. My friend John's father helped construct the hydroelectric power plant back in the late 1920s, and the postcard is a souvenir from a visit that his parents made on Sunday, Feb. 12, 1950.

Check that box

If you're a post office boxholder like me, you probably received a renewal notice in your box this past week. For the first time, I paid the yearly fee online at the USPS website instead of dropping off a check. They make it very easy and quick to do, one of the more user-friendly sites I've dealt with recently.

Truckin'

Yesterday I borrowed my brother's gigantic King Ranch model (how appropriate!) Ford pickup to help a friend pick up some artwork and believe you me, I was very sad to return it to its rightful owner this afternoon. It was so much fun to drive! Clambering up into the cab was a bit of a stretch for this petite blogger, but once I was perched in the super-comfy heated leather seat, I could look down on even the Denalis and such. And pulling out from East Locust Lane onto Route 82, or from Lamborntown Road onto Route 842,  was a breeze because I could spot any oncoming traffic so easily. My friend's artwork stacked easily into the truck bed and didn't move a bit during the trip. In fact, we could have moved a whole lot more.
I was surprised how smooth the ride was and even more surprised when I managed to back it up perfectly between the white lines of a parking spot, on the first try.
One local gentleman who is still sad that I traded in my sports car for an SUV spotted me in it.
"Now THAT's what you should've bought, girl!" he said approvingly.

In compliance

West Marlborough's Zoning Hearing Board has decided that Linda Brown's personal-training business at her North Chatham Road home in Springdell can continue operating and now complies with the township's zoning.
The fact that Mrs. Brown was running a business out of her home was brought to the township's attention by K.C. Kulp, one of the owners of The Whip tavern in Springdell. (A bit of context: Linda and her husband Gus Brown are among those who have complained repeatedly that the Whip has been in violation of township zoning laws and is diminishing the quality of life in Springdell.) After receiving that information, the township zoning officer informed the Browns that they would need to apply for a special exception to continue running the business.
At a March 1 hearing, Gus Brown told the board that there was ample parking for his wife's clients, whom she sees one at a time; that she does not intend to hold group classes; and that there would not be a sign out front advertising the business.
Mr. Kulp showed the board photos of the lack of required screening between the Browns' home and their neighbors. He also pointed out that Cathy Huston, wife of zoning board member Joe Huston, is a client of Mrs. Brown's (the Hustons are also part of the group that has taken legal action against the Whip). Mr. Huston subsequently recused himself from the vote.
After voting 3-0 to approve the special exception, the zoning board instructed Mr. Brown to obtain within 30 days letters from his neighbors saying they didn't object to the lack of driveway screening between the Browns' home and theirs.

Ciao

This week two unexpected deaths made the headlines: Davy Jones, a pop star from my childhood, and Andrew Breitbart, a young man who lived atop the political blogosphere. But just as noteworthy around here was the death of my friend Bob Hennes. Bob was charming, amusing and well-informed, a wonderful storyteller and conversationalist, and a true gentleman. The tributes at his memorial service by Jon Olson and former Kennett Square Mayor Ed Fahey were both droll and sophisticated, just like the man himself. Rest in peace, Bob. We'll miss you.

Slow down!

A Facebook friend reports that she had a riding mishap on Lamborntown Road near Route 926. Her filly took a tumble, but it "was probably a blessing in disguise because it prevented her from bolting out in the road in front of the car that was tailing the massive truck that was driving down the road like it was I-95....We're both ok, but it's never good when a horse falls over on you... for the rider OR the horse."
Her advice? "Just wish people would slow down... Especially if they see horses along the roads."
Amen to that.

Good times

You think you're having a bad day? I just got an e-mail from a Unionville friend saying that a feral cat was wrapped around her ceiling fan. Oh, and her new car stopped running.