I foolishly lost an ID card and after turning my purse and wallet inside-out searching for it I phoned the company to beg for a replacement. They didn't make me grovel too much, and the customer service person told me to look for the new card within 7 to 10 days.
"And I really mean `look for it'," she emphasized. She explained that the company's logo is so subtle that people glance at the envelope, assume it's just junk mail and toss it, then call back in irritation asking where their new card is.
(Now don't go staking out my mailbox, readers. The card will do you no good.)
Monday, February 6, 2017
Sunday, February 5, 2017
CPR: Free classes coming up
Last February I took an excellent Hands-Only CPR training course, sponsored by the Chester County Hospital/Penn Medicine, and I was pleased to see that it's being offered again. Here are the upcoming dates and times in our area:
-- Thursday, Feb. 16, 10 to 11 a.m. OR 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., Penn Township Municipal Building
-- Thursday, Feb. 16, noon to 1 p.m., Chester County Hospital
-- Monday, Feb. 20, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. OR 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Longwood Fire Company
-- Thursday, Feb. 23, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. OR 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Chester County Hospital
The class is free but registration is required. You can register online through Chester County Hospital's website or call 610-738-2300.
-- Thursday, Feb. 16, 10 to 11 a.m. OR 6:30 to 7:30 p.m., Penn Township Municipal Building
-- Thursday, Feb. 16, noon to 1 p.m., Chester County Hospital
-- Monday, Feb. 20, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. OR 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Longwood Fire Company
-- Thursday, Feb. 23, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. OR 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Chester County Hospital
The class is free but registration is required. You can register online through Chester County Hospital's website or call 610-738-2300.
KENNETT: A walking tour through history
On Saturday afternoon I was one of the volunteer guides for a Black History Month walking tour through downtown Kennett that highlighted 19th-century abolitionists and members of the African-American community.
Despite the freezing temperatures, we had a huge turnout of visitors; they even started showing up 15 minutes before the tours were set to officially kick off.
The tour started at the Underground Railroad mural at State and Willow Streets, which depicts conductor Harriet Tubman holding a lantern. From there we walked north on Willow Street, west on Linden Street to Union Street, and then over to the Genesis Walkway, stopping at houses and churches of historical interest.
At the New Garden Memorial AME Church on Linden Street, the Rev. Maxine Mayo welcomed us warmly and told us about the church's 191-year history, highlighting the important role churches have played in the black community (and still do).
She said that on New Year's Eve, her church and many others still hold "Watch Night" to remember how African Americans gathered in the hours before the Emancipation Proclamation officially took effect on Jan. 1, 1863, unsure of what would happen.
The New Garden AME church and burial ground were originally located in the Bucktoe or "Timbucktoo" part of Kennett Township but the building was burned down in the mid-19th century and the parishioners decided it was safer to rebuild in town. The former church site (now part of the Bucktoe Creek Preserve) is being excavated, with a view to providing headstones for those who are buried there, and one of the project archaeologists showed us some relics that have been found at the site, such as some fragments of marble and a 19th-century penny from the Netherlands.
Also at the church, Michelle Sullivan from the Kennett Underground Railroad Center explained the vital role that freed slaves and other African Americans, not just white Quakers, played in helping slaves escape via the Underground Railroad.
By the end of leading two tours, I was so cold that I could barely enunciate "ardent abolitionist" one more time. Thank goodness for local historian Lynn Sinclair, who wrote the tour script: she opened her Sunrise Café on State Street to tourgoers and provided us with cookies, tea, and coffee.
Despite the freezing temperatures, we had a huge turnout of visitors; they even started showing up 15 minutes before the tours were set to officially kick off.
The tour started at the Underground Railroad mural at State and Willow Streets, which depicts conductor Harriet Tubman holding a lantern. From there we walked north on Willow Street, west on Linden Street to Union Street, and then over to the Genesis Walkway, stopping at houses and churches of historical interest.
At the New Garden Memorial AME Church on Linden Street, the Rev. Maxine Mayo welcomed us warmly and told us about the church's 191-year history, highlighting the important role churches have played in the black community (and still do).
She said that on New Year's Eve, her church and many others still hold "Watch Night" to remember how African Americans gathered in the hours before the Emancipation Proclamation officially took effect on Jan. 1, 1863, unsure of what would happen.
The New Garden AME church and burial ground were originally located in the Bucktoe or "Timbucktoo" part of Kennett Township but the building was burned down in the mid-19th century and the parishioners decided it was safer to rebuild in town. The former church site (now part of the Bucktoe Creek Preserve) is being excavated, with a view to providing headstones for those who are buried there, and one of the project archaeologists showed us some relics that have been found at the site, such as some fragments of marble and a 19th-century penny from the Netherlands.
Also at the church, Michelle Sullivan from the Kennett Underground Railroad Center explained the vital role that freed slaves and other African Americans, not just white Quakers, played in helping slaves escape via the Underground Railroad.
By the end of leading two tours, I was so cold that I could barely enunciate "ardent abolitionist" one more time. Thank goodness for local historian Lynn Sinclair, who wrote the tour script: she opened her Sunrise Café on State Street to tourgoers and provided us with cookies, tea, and coffee.
UNIONVILLE: Time for the book sale
A heads up that the annual Unionville High School Used Book Sale will be held from 5 to 9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 24, and from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 25 (with the "bag sale" from 3 to 5 p.m.), at the high school. The major fundraiser for the high school PTO, this is always a wonderful sale, and I always find some treasures (and those that aren't as interesting as they looked at first glance, I just donate back the next year).
Saturday, February 4, 2017
MUSIC: Old-time music in Newark
I've come to expect bad jokes from the performers at old-time music concerts, but the ones at Friday night's show in Newark, Del., were truly awful.
Examples:
-- What happens if you don't pay your exorcist? You get repossessed.
-- What happens if your clock is hungry? It goes back 4 seconds.
-- Musician A: Did you bring your potato clock?
Musician B: What's a potato clock?
Musician A: Oh, you don't know what a potato clock is? I get a potato clock every morning!
I didn't "get" that last one for several seconds; when I did [say the last few words slowly] I let out a loud groan. The guy behind me asked me to explain it to him, and then he, in turn, groaned.
Oh, and the music? It was terrific and very cheerful, again as we've come to expect from the Brandywine Friends of Old-Time Music concerts.
Uncle Henry's Favorites, a quartet from Charlottesville, Virginia, performed for the first hour. After intermission the Orpheus Supertones took the stage, comprising Pete Peterson and Kellie Allen from Oxford; fiddlers Clare Milliner and Walt Koken from Pocopson; and Hilary Dirlam on bass.
For the grand finale the two bands joined up and played a couple of songs together, closing with a rousing sing-along of "Down by the Riverside." At one point on stage there were two upright bass players, three fiddlers, two mandolin players, a banjo player, two guitar players and a guy on the harmonica.
Examples:
-- What happens if you don't pay your exorcist? You get repossessed.
-- What happens if your clock is hungry? It goes back 4 seconds.
-- Musician A: Did you bring your potato clock?
Musician B: What's a potato clock?
Musician A: Oh, you don't know what a potato clock is? I get a potato clock every morning!
I didn't "get" that last one for several seconds; when I did [say the last few words slowly] I let out a loud groan. The guy behind me asked me to explain it to him, and then he, in turn, groaned.
Oh, and the music? It was terrific and very cheerful, again as we've come to expect from the Brandywine Friends of Old-Time Music concerts.
Uncle Henry's Favorites, a quartet from Charlottesville, Virginia, performed for the first hour. After intermission the Orpheus Supertones took the stage, comprising Pete Peterson and Kellie Allen from Oxford; fiddlers Clare Milliner and Walt Koken from Pocopson; and Hilary Dirlam on bass.
For the grand finale the two bands joined up and played a couple of songs together, closing with a rousing sing-along of "Down by the Riverside." At one point on stage there were two upright bass players, three fiddlers, two mandolin players, a banjo player, two guitar players and a guy on the harmonica.
JENNERSVILLE: Dinner at Two Stones Pub
Our first dinner at the new (it opened last fall) Two Stones Pub in the Jennersville shopping center was a pleasant one. I expected to see burgers and sandwiches on the dinner menu, but there were also full dinners. I ordered the crab cakes with asparagus, potatoes and beet vinaigrette, and my dinner buddy had the pork schnitzel with green beans, potatoes and mushroom gravy. Both of them were delicious and attractive. I indulged in dessert as well, a multi-layer slice of vanilla cake with peanut butter mousse, chocolate ganache and whipped cream.
(Friends have also told me that the teriyaki salmon is always perfect and have also recommended the turkey burgers and butternut squash soup.)
We are not beer drinkers, but of course there's an extensive menu dedicated just to beer, and I heard our waitress offering samples to other customers who weren't sure whether they'd like a certain brew.
The bar part of the pub is nearest the door, and when we arrived at 6 p.m. every bar stool was occupied, as was nearly every table. The hostess said that 15 minutes earlier the place had been quiet. It wasn't a problem at all, though, as we were seated right away, and in a quieter section. As we were walking to our table I recognized two tables full of friends from the Jennersville Y, which is just a stone's throw away.
(Friends have also told me that the teriyaki salmon is always perfect and have also recommended the turkey burgers and butternut squash soup.)
We are not beer drinkers, but of course there's an extensive menu dedicated just to beer, and I heard our waitress offering samples to other customers who weren't sure whether they'd like a certain brew.
The bar part of the pub is nearest the door, and when we arrived at 6 p.m. every bar stool was occupied, as was nearly every table. The hostess said that 15 minutes earlier the place had been quiet. It wasn't a problem at all, though, as we were seated right away, and in a quieter section. As we were walking to our table I recognized two tables full of friends from the Jennersville Y, which is just a stone's throw away.
Friday, February 3, 2017
KENNETT: A new bus for the Friends home
On Feb. 3 I had the pleasure of attending an unconventional ribbon-cutting ceremony as the Friends Home in downtown Kennett Square officially put its mini-bus into service.
The brand-new Wolfington vehicle can hold 14 passengers (plus the driver) and has a lift and fold-up seats to accommodate wheelchair users. The Home's board purchased the bus for $65,000 using money from the special Burns endowment fund for travel.
Friends Home Board member Tom Brosius, who was on hand for the ceremony, said the bus will be able to take residents to places like Longwood Gardens and Lancaster County shows, and the Peebles department store will be a regular destination.
At the ceremony on Friday, residents gathered next to the bus and posed for photographs as staff members bustled around, fretting about whether it was wise for them to be outside in the cold.
A full contingent of men and women then boarded the bus. The destination for the very special inaugural run? The Foxy Loxy ice-cream shop in Unionville.
The brand-new Wolfington vehicle can hold 14 passengers (plus the driver) and has a lift and fold-up seats to accommodate wheelchair users. The Home's board purchased the bus for $65,000 using money from the special Burns endowment fund for travel.
Friends Home Board member Tom Brosius, who was on hand for the ceremony, said the bus will be able to take residents to places like Longwood Gardens and Lancaster County shows, and the Peebles department store will be a regular destination.
At the ceremony on Friday, residents gathered next to the bus and posed for photographs as staff members bustled around, fretting about whether it was wise for them to be outside in the cold.
A full contingent of men and women then boarded the bus. The destination for the very special inaugural run? The Foxy Loxy ice-cream shop in Unionville.
 |
| Friends Home resident Mae Powers, age 100, in the black down coat, played the starring role in the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Friends Home Executive Director Christine McDonald, in the gray coat with black lapels, is behind her. |
 |
| The Friends Home bus embarks on its inaugural journey -- to Foxy Loxy in Unionville for ice cream! |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)