ROADS: More tips for young drivers

A few weeks ago I wrote about the fact that the Young Relative is learning to drive. I asked readers to share their advice suitable for a novice driver, and I keep getting great ideas. Here are the latest:

1. Always keep two hands on the wheel.
2. Use your turn signals. (This should be a no-brainer but it's not.)
3. Keep your car clean and shiny to improve visibility.
4. One friend shared her sister's timeless words of wisdom: "She was trying to emphasize the importance of paying attention and being careful. She said, 'The tree always wins. It was here before you and it will be here long after you are gone.'"
5. Allow enough time to get where you're going, and don't speed or drive recklessly if you're running late -- even if it's to school or practice. It's not worth it!
6. Don't gun it just as the light turns green; look both ways first! Too many people run red lights. In fact, reader Carol McL says, "At my most frequently used intersection (route 1 and McFarlan) it appears that stopping for a red light has become optional." 
7. Here's one I hadn't thought of, from reader Frederick S.: "Watch out for the gravel that builds up near stop signs after snow storms. Young drivers try to stop at the last minute and slid past the sign and into cross traffic."
8. Speaking of bad weather, Jenna S. reminded me how important it is for learners to practice driving in the rain and snow.
9. My father taught me to drive, and I am frequently reminded of his tip for what to do when an oncoming driver fails to dim his high beams: keep your eyes on the white line on the edge of the road rather than being blinded by the headlights.   

PROTECTED: Conservancy buys more land

The Brandywine Conservancy's Board of Trustees has agreed to buy Roberta "Bobbi" Odell's Skirmish Hill Farm in Birmingham Township, adding 13 acres to the more than 500 acres of preserved land where the Battle of the Brandywine took place on Sept. 11, 1777.
A Feb. 13 press release from the Brandywine Conservancy and Museum of Art said that Mrs. Odell's farm was "the final piece of the Brandywine's 25-year endeavor" to preserve the battlefield area and protect it from development.  

HOLLYWOOD: Catania in the credits

There's a local connection in "The Greatest Showman," the new movie about P.T. Barnum that stars Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams and Zac Efron: Kennett Square's own Andrew Catania is credited as an "assistant production coordinator: additional photography."
Andrew started out making short films while still in school (he graduated from Kennett High School in 2008), went on to study filmmaking at Drexel, and is now based in Los Angeles.
In 2012 he started the production company "Wooder Works" with producer T.J. Bryson. (The name comes from the Philadelphian pronunciation of water.) 

Andrew Catania

THEATER: "Getting to Know You"

This year's UHS spring musical is Rodgers and Hammerstein's "The King and I." Performances will be Thursday, March 15; Friday, March 16; and Saturday, March 17, all at 7 p.m. at the high school auditorium. Tickets go on sale Feb. 26. Email uhstickets@gmail.com for more information.I have written many times about the near-professional quality of the UHS musicals, and we are very much looking forward to seeing this one.
 

NORTH STAR: Underground Railroad meeting

The Kennett Underground Railroad Center is holding an open house at Kennett Friends Meeting from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday March 4. "Hear about the projects we’re working on; listen to intriguing stories about the local Underground Railroad network; learn about current volunteer opportunities."
There will also be refreshment and kids' activities. RSVP by March 1 to info@kennettundergroundrr.org.
Kennett Friends Meeting is at 125 West Sickle Street in Kennett Square.
The Underground Railroad Center directors are a dedicated and hard-working group whose mission is "to preserve the heritage and engage the public about the abolitionists and freedom-seekers of this area and beyond."

KENNETT: New VFW sign

Have you seen the handsome new sign for the VFW POST 5467 on West Cypress Street? I spotted it on the way to our Valentine's Day dinner at La Pena Mexicana and immediately asked my friend Lars Farmer (a proud US Navy veteran) for the story. Here's what he told me:

"Thank you, Kennett residents, from the Officers of the VFW, for our new sign.

Members of VFW POST 5467 have wanted a new sign for a years, but when the Township installed a new sidewalk along W. Cypress Street, the old sign would need to be removed and the opportunity for a new sign arose.

Kennett Township quickly stepped in to help when Michael Obrien sent out a Township-wide email to residents asking for donations for a new VFW sign. Residents quickly responded with funds and a new sign was designed and ordered.

The new sign, in its patriotic colors and LED illumination, now shines as a beacon for the Kennett VFW site. The sign was installed on Valentine’s Day at cost of approximately $6,500, and with its 500 letters, Kennett Square will be on notice for BINGO (every other Wednesday), Karaoke and other “open to the public” events at the POST.

Very Respectfully,

Lars Farmer, POST VFW ADJUTANT

(In case you were wondering, Lars notes that the tradition of the Kennett VFW has been to always capitalize the word “POST.”)

The VFW's new sign. Photo by Lars Farmer.

FACEBOOK: A great local history site

Anyone interested in local history will want to join Donald McKay's Facebook group, "Rediscovering Rural Unionville-Chadds Ford." It's full of old photos and stories about our area.  Sometimes someone will post a "mystery photo" and ask readers to identify it -- a recent one showed the railroad buildings along the Brandywine at the Route 842 bridge, where only a few crumbling walls remain. I enjoyed seeing photos and reading stories about Dunleigh Castle, the recently restored mansion on Street Road across from New Bolton Center, and any post about the rides at Lenape Park elicits fond memories of my childhood.
The site's mission statement: "This group is about asking questions, discovery, education, and sharing of the rich history of the Birmingham, Chadds Ford, East Marlborough, Newlin, Pennsbury, Pocopson, and West Marlborough Townships comprising the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District."

NEWLIN: ChesLen Preserve gets bigger

A 20-acre tract became part of the ChesLen Preserve on Feb. 6 when the preserve's owner, Natural Lands, bought the property from an undisclosed neighbor.
The preserve, which is open to the public (and is a favorite running spot for the Young Relative and his father), now comprises 1,282 acres. There are parking areas for visitors on the east side of Route 162, north of Unionville, and on Cannery Road at the park headquarters.
According to the press release, the new acquisition "is part of a rare ecosystem known as the Unionville Serpentine Barrens, which supports a number of threatened plant and animal species."

PENN'S WOODS: A long wait

I'm editing a wonderful new biography of William Penn, and while reading one passage I pondered, as I often do, how the Internet has changed Everything.
It seems that Penn and the proprietor of Maryland had a long-running and vitriolic dispute over their colonies' boundary lines, and Penn returned to London to try to persuade the king that the matter should be resolved in Pennsylvania's favor. Upon reaching England two months later, though, he found that his secretary had failed to pack the relevant documents!
These days, of course, we'd just send an e-mail and the papers would show up in PDF form within no more than hours. But back then, as a waggish friend said, "they had to use e-sail." Sending for the papers meant a delay of months (if you were lucky and the ship didn't sink or wasn't hijacked by pirates).
And because Penn, while waiting for the legal papers, had to spend more time away from Philadelphia than he wanted, he couldn't keep an eye on things and had to rely on secondhand, self-serving accounts of what was really going on.
It's a fascinating and well-written book that was a pleasure to work on. Chester County is even mentioned a few times.

ANDRE HARVEY: An American realist sculptor

Local bronze sculptor Andre Harvey, a marvelous artist, passed away on Tuesday, Feb. 6. A few years ago I had the pleasure of touring his gallery, housed in the top floor of Breck's Mill in Hockessin on the banks of the Brandywine. I loved his lifelike, beautifully detailed sculptures of turtles, penguins, birds, frogs, goats and leaves.
Probably his most famous sculpture is the life-sized bronze pig, Helen, who sits outside the Brandywine River Museum. According to his obituary, he said that when he was creating the original clay sculpture, "this sow became the friendliest of the six pigs in the pen. I would jump the fence, set up my portable sculpting table, and give her a call. Of all the pigs, she was the only one that would come to me without being bribed by a fistful of corn. She would amble up to within a few feet of me, and then assume a sitting position—almost as if she had planned to sit for a portrait.” 

SENIOR YEAR: Adulthood looms

Overheard at the Kennett Y on Thursday:
High-school girl: "Sometimes I sorta wish we had more time before college..."
Her friend (in disbelief): "WHAT?! Why would anyone EVER say that?!"
Food for thought, indeed. I remember enjoying my senior year in high school very much, but I was definitely in girl #2's camp.

AVONDALE: Bridge awareness

My item last week about the wide-ranging traffic headaches produced by the State Street bridge closure in Avondale evoked a funny response from reader Rosemary Schirm. She writes that despite the inconvenience, good-natured residents "have been having tons of fun with this," posting amusing memes and photos on Facebook like a picture of Gov. Chris Christie sitting in his iconic beach chair on the bridge, and "the 'Blue Cooler' that sits on the site constantly (a video trailer was made of the spooky non-bridge, with BlueCooler Productions as the film company). Several hope to have a champagne christening when the bridge opens!" 
In what he calls an effort to promote Bridge Awareness, Brent Schirm has even designed and made T-shirts commemorating the bridge closure (with the date listed as "2017 - ????"). If there's enough interest, he'll order more. Contact me and I'll put you in touch.

Brent Schirm's Bridge Awareness T-shirt.