Sunday, August 7, 2016
SENIOR CENTER: Community Cuisine
My friend Bill Turner, who is on the board of directors of the Kennett Area Senior Center, asked me to get the word out about the center's 11th annual fundraising dinner and silent auction, which is called "Community Cuisine." It will be held Saturday, Aug. 27, at the Mendenhall Inn. Cocktails and hors d'oeuvres start at 5 p.m., with dinner and the silent auction from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $60. For information about the event and all the good work that the Senior Center does, you can visit their website.
WASPS: The kind that burrow in the yard
This is the time of year when you might see Eastern cicada-killing wasps (Sphecius speciosus) digging their unsightly burrows in the yard or next to steps or the driveway. I've seen about a dozen of these burrows in the front yard this past week, and I caught a glimpse of a wasp entering her burrow.
They have an interesting life cycle. The female wasps first dig the burrows using their strong jaws and hind legs. They then hunt for cicadas, paralyze them with a sting, and haul them back to the burrow. Finally, they lay their eggs. Male eggs require only one cicada carcass, but the bigger females require two or three.
The grubs hatch in one or two days, use the cicadas as food, and spend the winter in the burrow as larvae before developing into pupae in the spring.
The adult wasps die off in September or October.
Although the male wasps don't sting and the females are not likely to, one friend said in her experience she had been stung and it was painful.
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| Burrow of an Eastern cicada-killing wasp. |
They have an interesting life cycle. The female wasps first dig the burrows using their strong jaws and hind legs. They then hunt for cicadas, paralyze them with a sting, and haul them back to the burrow. Finally, they lay their eggs. Male eggs require only one cicada carcass, but the bigger females require two or three.
The grubs hatch in one or two days, use the cicadas as food, and spend the winter in the burrow as larvae before developing into pupae in the spring.
The adult wasps die off in September or October.
Although the male wasps don't sting and the females are not likely to, one friend said in her experience she had been stung and it was painful.
.
HOPEWELL: An historical iron forge
If you're looking for a late-summer family day trip, I highly recommend Hopewell Furnace in Elverson, just over the Chester County line into Berks County and near French Creek State Park. A village based around an iron forge thrived there in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, producing iron for cannons, ammunition and stoves. It's now a national historic site and they do a great job of interpreting the restored village and the iron-making process.
We especially liked the furnace demonstration, even though it was a hot, humid day already. The guides showed us how the stove plates were cast and asked for volunteers to help pack the sand around the molds using heavy wooden pounding devices. As my companion said with amusement, "You were out of your seat before they stopped talking." (It was a great bicep workout!)
The first floor of the ironmaster's house is open and furnished in Victorian style, and the ironmaster's garden is planted with culinary and medicinal plants (I noted that their nasturtiums were doing no better than mine this summer).
In the visitor's center there are interesting displays about the village and a short, professionally produced movie (as a tour guide at a historic house myself, I was beyond envious).
We rolled our eyes at the mandated safety signs warning us that the old stone steps around the site are irregular and not up to modern standards and that the crucible in the furnace is hot. Yes. Thank you.
We especially liked the furnace demonstration, even though it was a hot, humid day already. The guides showed us how the stove plates were cast and asked for volunteers to help pack the sand around the molds using heavy wooden pounding devices. As my companion said with amusement, "You were out of your seat before they stopped talking." (It was a great bicep workout!)
The first floor of the ironmaster's house is open and furnished in Victorian style, and the ironmaster's garden is planted with culinary and medicinal plants (I noted that their nasturtiums were doing no better than mine this summer).
In the visitor's center there are interesting displays about the village and a short, professionally produced movie (as a tour guide at a historic house myself, I was beyond envious).
We rolled our eyes at the mandated safety signs warning us that the old stone steps around the site are irregular and not up to modern standards and that the crucible in the furnace is hot. Yes. Thank you.
HOSPITAL: Extraordinary people
One of the senior Tally-hos spent some time recuperating in Chester County Hospital this week, and without regard to pay grade, everyone we encountered there was kind, helpful, patient, professional, genuine, competent and compassionate.
The custodian discussed why she liked her particular dust mop. The physician's assistant scheduled appointments to accommodate my parents' travel plans. The nurses were so kind and -- how can I say this without sounding hokey? -- present and concerned with the patient as an individual, not just a diagnosis. The first person we encountered in the ER said, with immense compassion, "Let's get you a wheelchair." The people who wheeled our patient around to various parts of the hospital for tests (did I mention how thorough the workup was?) were soothing and incredibly strong but gentle as they helped the patient stand and sit. The physician answered my many questions patiently and clearly. And absolutely everyone knocked on the room door before entering and introduced themselves and their purpose for being there.
It seemed to be a team that functioned extraordinarily well. As I overheard one ER nurse say to another, "Can I help you with that, or are you OK?"
By the way: that large structure they're building in the hospital parking lot is a parking garage. During construction, the hospital is running a shuttle bus for employees back and forth to the nearby Lasko Products parking lot.
The custodian discussed why she liked her particular dust mop. The physician's assistant scheduled appointments to accommodate my parents' travel plans. The nurses were so kind and -- how can I say this without sounding hokey? -- present and concerned with the patient as an individual, not just a diagnosis. The first person we encountered in the ER said, with immense compassion, "Let's get you a wheelchair." The people who wheeled our patient around to various parts of the hospital for tests (did I mention how thorough the workup was?) were soothing and incredibly strong but gentle as they helped the patient stand and sit. The physician answered my many questions patiently and clearly. And absolutely everyone knocked on the room door before entering and introduced themselves and their purpose for being there.
It seemed to be a team that functioned extraordinarily well. As I overheard one ER nurse say to another, "Can I help you with that, or are you OK?"
By the way: that large structure they're building in the hospital parking lot is a parking garage. During construction, the hospital is running a shuttle bus for employees back and forth to the nearby Lasko Products parking lot.
VIETNAM: A visit from the Memorial Wall
On Sunday, July 31, we went to the East Brandywine Township Park, near Guthriesville, to see the Traveling Wall, a portable, smaller-scale replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.
Walking past the thousands of names is a sobering, moving, thought-provoking experience and should provide a check on our unfortunate tendency toward Realpolitik, seeing war as an abstract, bloodless intellectual game -- remember that our country first got involved in Vietnam to prevent Southeast Asian countries from falling to communists "like dominoes."
At each stop the Wall makes around the country, the organizers highlight the local people who died in the war. It's utterly heart-rending to see the little tributes that their family members leave behind: letters giving news about the family, a baseball cap, a little Penn State toy car.
Screens show the faces of deceased members of the armed forces who had birthdays on the day that you're visiting, and another one shows photographs of local people who died later in life of the wounds or illnesses they suffered in Vietnam.
Almost all of the casualties are men, but there's also a list of the women who were killed during the war, mostly nurses who died in plane or helicopter accidents.
I overheard one man grumble that he hadn't heard that the Wall would be in our area until the last minute. I checked the schedule for the rest of the year and saw that the closest it will be is in Georgetown, Del., Sept. 1 through 4. I'm sure they will have the 2017 schedule posted soon online.
The Wall is well worth a visit, especially for people too young to remember the nightly news reports giving casualty counts.
Walking past the thousands of names is a sobering, moving, thought-provoking experience and should provide a check on our unfortunate tendency toward Realpolitik, seeing war as an abstract, bloodless intellectual game -- remember that our country first got involved in Vietnam to prevent Southeast Asian countries from falling to communists "like dominoes."
At each stop the Wall makes around the country, the organizers highlight the local people who died in the war. It's utterly heart-rending to see the little tributes that their family members leave behind: letters giving news about the family, a baseball cap, a little Penn State toy car.
Screens show the faces of deceased members of the armed forces who had birthdays on the day that you're visiting, and another one shows photographs of local people who died later in life of the wounds or illnesses they suffered in Vietnam.
Almost all of the casualties are men, but there's also a list of the women who were killed during the war, mostly nurses who died in plane or helicopter accidents.
I overheard one man grumble that he hadn't heard that the Wall would be in our area until the last minute. I checked the schedule for the rest of the year and saw that the closest it will be is in Georgetown, Del., Sept. 1 through 4. I'm sure they will have the 2017 schedule posted soon online.
The Wall is well worth a visit, especially for people too young to remember the nightly news reports giving casualty counts.
KENNETT: Joe Hillman Band
A friend reports that she had a great time listening to local favorites the Joe Hillman Band at the Kennett Brewing Co. on July 29. She added, with justified pride, that she attended the show only after doing a tough evening exercise class at the Kennett Y. She also had praise for the KBC's crab mac-and-cheese.
We had planned to see the band outdoors at the Brandywine Red Clay Alliance (formerly the BVA) the previous night, but the show was rained out. We'll catch them sometime this autumn, I'm sure.
We had planned to see the band outdoors at the Brandywine Red Clay Alliance (formerly the BVA) the previous night, but the show was rained out. We'll catch them sometime this autumn, I'm sure.
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
AVONDALE: Mushroom Country
Check out the new brown-and-white billboard on Route 41 near Ellicott Road in Avondale. "Welcome to Mushroom Country!" it reads. "The Mighty Mushroom. Nutritional Powerhouse." At the bottom it gives the link for the Mushroom Council's website.
STARGAZER: Another roundabout is going in
There's been all kinds of excitement on Stargazer Road in Newlin Township.
The brief but intense storm that rolled through on July 28 seemed to focus on the road. The amount of damage was astonishing, with many large trees and limbs down, and the road was closed for several days while the crews cleaned up. Debris still littered yards, and we heard a resident's chainsaw in action when we drove through more than a week later on Aug. 6.
The road was scheduled to be closed for two months starting Aug. 15 for construction of a roundabout at the intersection with Strasburg Road. However, PennDOT realized at the eleventh hour that the detours it had lined up weren't going to work because of the roads' weight limitations. The signs warning of the pending closures have been covered up for now, and the project has been delayed, until a better detour can be worked out.
The roundabout, part of the forthcoming Stargazer Village housing development in West Bradford Township, will have five spokes: Stargazer (which will be slightly rerouted), Strasburg (two ways), Romansville, and Shadyside Roads.
Strasburg Road will also be closed during construction; it's going to be quite a challenge getting around.
Stargazer Village will comprise 95 single-family houses and 39 townhouses.
The brief but intense storm that rolled through on July 28 seemed to focus on the road. The amount of damage was astonishing, with many large trees and limbs down, and the road was closed for several days while the crews cleaned up. Debris still littered yards, and we heard a resident's chainsaw in action when we drove through more than a week later on Aug. 6.
The road was scheduled to be closed for two months starting Aug. 15 for construction of a roundabout at the intersection with Strasburg Road. However, PennDOT realized at the eleventh hour that the detours it had lined up weren't going to work because of the roads' weight limitations. The signs warning of the pending closures have been covered up for now, and the project has been delayed, until a better detour can be worked out.
The roundabout, part of the forthcoming Stargazer Village housing development in West Bradford Township, will have five spokes: Stargazer (which will be slightly rerouted), Strasburg (two ways), Romansville, and Shadyside Roads.
Strasburg Road will also be closed during construction; it's going to be quite a challenge getting around.
Stargazer Village will comprise 95 single-family houses and 39 townhouses.
TEXAS: The Young Relative goes national
I didn't think I could be prouder of the Young Relative, who ran in the Junior Olympics in Houston this past week, until I heard that after the race he went up to the winner, shook his hand, and said, "Good race!"
"Good" being an understatement: the Missouri boy who won set a new national record and beat his nearest competitor by 12 seconds. He has not lost a race since age 10. His time would have beaten that of even the older boys.
Let's just hope he and the YR end up running on the same college team.
The YR's father reports that he was glad the race was scheduled for early in the morning, as the day was already almost unbearably hot and humid.
"Good" being an understatement: the Missouri boy who won set a new national record and beat his nearest competitor by 12 seconds. He has not lost a race since age 10. His time would have beaten that of even the older boys.
Let's just hope he and the YR end up running on the same college team.
The YR's father reports that he was glad the race was scheduled for early in the morning, as the day was already almost unbearably hot and humid.
GYMS: Shutdown weeks at the Y
Every August our local YMCAs close for a week for cleaning, painting and refurbishing. Thoughtfully, they stagger the shutdown week so we can still take our exercise classes, just at a different facility. Check the group exercise schedules online or at the Y.
The Jennersville Y is shutting down from Aug. 22 through 28 and will re-open Monday, Aug. 29.
The Kennett Y is shutting down from Aug. 29 through Sept. 4. They'll be open from 7 a.m. to noon on Sept. 5 (Labor Day) and the normal schedule begins Sept. 6.
The Jennersville Y is shutting down from Aug. 22 through 28 and will re-open Monday, Aug. 29.
The Kennett Y is shutting down from Aug. 29 through Sept. 4. They'll be open from 7 a.m. to noon on Sept. 5 (Labor Day) and the normal schedule begins Sept. 6.
WEST MARLBOROUGH: Still drying out
I have a great idea for a future entrepreneur -- or at least someone assigned to develop an app as part of a school project.
Come up with an app that tells Jeep owners when it's safe to remove the windows, doors and roof of their vehicles without fear of a rain storm and -- conversely -- alerts them when they really need to zip all of those parts back into place posthaste.
It would certainly have been helpful in this household during a recent sudden deluge.
Come up with an app that tells Jeep owners when it's safe to remove the windows, doors and roof of their vehicles without fear of a rain storm and -- conversely -- alerts them when they really need to zip all of those parts back into place posthaste.
It would certainly have been helpful in this household during a recent sudden deluge.
WEST MARLBOROUGH: Not much on the agenda
Not much happened at the August meeting of the West Marlborough Township supervisors.
Jake Chalfin was the only supervisor physically present. Bill Wylie was on speakerphone and the third supervisor, Hugh Lofting, was on vacation, far out of cell-phone reach.
Mr. Chalfin and Mr. Wylie conducted routine business like approving last month's minutes and reviewing the financial reports. Township engineer Al Giannantonio discussed a workshop he attended about the updated federal flood plain map, which will affect only two houses in the township.
Mr. Chalfin said that at September's meeting the board may discuss possible plans for the village of Doe Run, owned by the Truitt family, after the board has a chance to receive input from the township solicitor and land planner. At the June meeting Nancy Truitt told the supervisors that the family is doing some preliminary estate planning. She said they want to preserve the village, which they purchased in the late 1980s when the King Ranch was broken up. Doe Run, which is one 15-acre tax parcel, encompasses several rental houses along Route 82, a garage that the Truitts rent to the township, and a small office building used by the township and the Brandywine Conservancy. The Truitts also live in the village.
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