Covert

Our stink bug invasion seems to have abated over the past few weeks; now it's just a matter of finding their hiding places. I've found dozens of them huddled on the backs of mirrors and pictures, and I've taken to shaking out my clothes and shoes before donning them. A particular low point was when I opened the medicine cabinet to get a Band-Aid -- and there were two stink bugs inside the metal Band-Aid box. Yuck.

Stuckey's

As part of the preparations for the Plantation Field Starter Horse Trials on Oct. 30, a series of directional signs were posted along Apple Grove Road between Route 82 and the site. It's a beautiful drive of only a little over a mile, but apparently the organizers felt the participants needed some words of encouragement en route. The next-to-last sign read: "You're almost there!"

The dozens of spectators, riders, trucks and trailers could've been a useful clue, too.

Spectacular spectroscopist

If you're not running late, detours can be fascinating. How else would I have found out about the astronomer Charlotte Emma Moore Sitterly, who was born near Ercildoun in 1898?
I spotted the historical marker at 640 Buck Run Road in East Fallowfield and stopped to note down her name. When I got home, I did an Internet search and found the following on "Astronomy Abstracts" (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010AAS...21520007R.
"Following her graduation from Swarthmore College in 1920, she accepted a position at Princeton University as an assistant to Henry Norris Russell. In 1925 she started a study of the solar spectrum. She could then not know that she would devote much of her scientific career to gathering basic atomic data that are invaluable to the scientific community, even today.
"In 1931 she obtained a PhD degree at U. California, Berkeley, and returned to Princeton as a staff member of the Princeton University Observatory. In 1945 she moved to the National Bureau of Science (NBS), to supervise preparation of the widely used tables of atomic energy levels. Following the successful launching (1946) of a V2 rocket to obtain the ultraviolet spectrum of the sun, Moore started working with Richard Tousey and his group at the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL). Ultimately, they extended the solar spectrum down to 2200 angstroms. She continued her affiliations with NBS and NRL until her death in 1990.
"Charlotte Moore was a rare scientist who devoted her career to obtaining accurate numbers, thus enabling the scientific community to open her tables and know that the data are accurate."
High praise indeed. AND a historical marker to boot!

Gold star

As a stickler for correct spelling, I was delighted to see that the Newlin Township supervisors fixed the street sign that formerly read "Indian Hanna Road." Her name was Indian Hannah.

Justice delayed

Former Unionville resident Tony Young's eagerly awaited sentencing has been postponed. The probation office requested and received an extra 30 days to prepare the presentence report. A new date hasn’t been set yet. Mr. Young, who pleaded guilty in July to mail fraud and money laundering, is now included in Wikipedia's entry for "List of Ponzi schemes."

Manners, part I

Polite social behavior is just as valuable for kids to master today as it was when "coming out" meant a teenage girl's formal introduction to society.
The 2011 Kennett Square Junior Cotillion will be held on Sundays (Feb. 6, 13, 20, 27 and March 6) at the Kennett Square Golf and Country Club, from 5:30 to 6:45 PM for third through fifth graders and from 7 to 8:15 PM for sixth and seventh graders. The Cotillion ends with a a formal dinner/dance and tea dance on March 12 and 13.
Every kid I've known who has been involved in this, boy or girl, has absolutely loved it.
Here's the description I received via e-mail: "Our program is a great opportunity to meet new friends, learn valuable life lessons and dance with professionally trained dance instructors. Each session begins with an opening reception on the terrace. Children begin by learning social etiquette and appropriate party manners. Each week is a lesson on social etiquette such as table manners, proper techniques using a knife and fork, common etiquette mistakes and napkin folding. The children will then be paired with a partner for the dance instruction. This year we hope to offer a fun hip/hop week of dance instruction as well."
The cost is $125. To receive an invitation (engraved in a tasteful font, we hope), e-mail Jill Hunt at jcjkhunt@comcast.net.

Pay to play

In my experience, focus groups are often held simply to supply evidence supporting whatever the organizers wanted to do in the first place.
So congratulations to the Unionville-Chadds Ford administration for holding a series of such groups that were genuine -- and fascinating -- conversations. The school district, like all others, is facing budget problems and is considering whether instituting user/activity fees is the way to go so that parents and participants shoulder more of the burden.
How important are athletics and other extracurricular activities to the community? Who should pay for them? Is it the role of the school district to provide them? What would a fair fee be? What about families with financial problems?
These are a lot of profound questions, and the administrators did an excellent job explaining some of the practical and legal implications.
The district has provided a wealth of information (http://www.ucfsd.org/userfees.html), including a spreadsheet that shows how much each high-school and middle-school activity costs per participant, as well as how much funding is already provided by parents and booster groups. Some of the numbers astonished me; take a look for yourself.
I predict this topic is going to become a political football, and the district leaders are smart to do their homework.

Manners, part II

Congratulations to young Chase and his doting owners, Susan and Phil Hoffman of Newlin Township: Chase recently earned his "Basic Manners Level 1" certificate from the Chester County Dog Training Club. Proud mama Susan reports that Chase was the only Corgi in the class "and certainly the cutest doggie adolescent of the bunch." Chase is undoubtedly bragging about his scholastic achievements to his canine companions Kevin and Corky -- and everyone else on the farm.