What a beautiful autumn day it was for the reopening of the covered bridges in the Laurels, the Brandywine Conservancy's nature preserve off Route 82 near Doe Run. The bridges, used by many hikers and equestrians, had been shut for months so that critical structural repairs could be made.
Speaking at Saturday afternoon's ceremony at the Mary Ann Pyle Bridge over the Buck Run were Virginia Logan and "Frolic" Weymouth from the Conservancy, Amy McKenna of the Buck & Doe Trust, and D. D. Matz, representing the Robert J. Kleberg Jr. & Helen C. Kleberg Foundation (the Klebergs owned the King Ranch).They all thanked the donors who contributed to the project.
Among the "country casual" Unionville crowd I was happy to see the McClungs (human and canine), Janet and Tom Kenny, Georgie and Walter Stapleton, Richard Buchanan, Beth Harpham, Pat Branum, Nancy and John Mohr and their daughter Margot, Ed and Susan Brown, Liz and Jack Bailey, and Charlotte and Frank Reilly.
The event organizers had us enter the Laurels via the Fairview Road gate rather than the usual Apple Grove Road entrance. I'd never driven into the preserve that way before, and the views were stunning.
Mary Ann Pyle was an ancestor of one of my neighbors (he has a picture of her in his living room), and he told me the workers named the bridge in her honor because she kept them well supplied with beverages. Her hospitality continued at Saturday's event with the amazing vegetables, olives, cheeses, dips and other appetizers provided by the caterer, Jamie Minnick, who is based at the New Bolton Center (cateringbyjamie.com). More than one guest told me the food was the best they'd ever seen at such an event and urged me to head straight for the food table -- and these were buffet-hardened cocktail-party veterans! Needless to say, I did -- and in penance refused the golf-cart ride back to the parking area.
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