Saturday, February 19, 2011
Broken limbs
Friday, February 18, 2011
Newlin officials
In Newlin Township for 2011, Janie Baird will remain chair of the Board of Supervisors, Bob Pearson vice-chair and Gail Abel secretary/treasurer. The third supervisor is William Kelsall. "Bob Pearson was reappointed as Road Master and he requested that he not be paid for the service," noted the "Newlin News." The township Planning Commission for 2011 comprises Jack Bailey, Bob Shippee, Lee Trainer, Barbara Forney, Bill Steuteville (replacing Gerry McCormick) and Gail Abel.
Thaw
Thursday, February 17, 2011
In the navel
When it comes to stink bugs, I thought I had heard it all.
I was wrong.
This afternoon a friend who lives in Newlin Township told me she had found one of the foul creatures nestled IN HER BELLY BUTTON.
She deserves the Stink Bug Queen crown: that totally trumps having a stink bug perched on my toothbrush the other day.
Actually, my Zip-Loc bag method is working extremely well. I keep a bag in each room and trap the bugs. They can't escape, and the bag controls the smell. When the bag's full, I just open it up and dump them down the toilet. And as long as they are contained, it's fascinating to study their anatomy and watch them crawling around.
I was wrong.
This afternoon a friend who lives in Newlin Township told me she had found one of the foul creatures nestled IN HER BELLY BUTTON.
She deserves the Stink Bug Queen crown: that totally trumps having a stink bug perched on my toothbrush the other day.
Actually, my Zip-Loc bag method is working extremely well. I keep a bag in each room and trap the bugs. They can't escape, and the bag controls the smell. When the bag's full, I just open it up and dump them down the toilet. And as long as they are contained, it's fascinating to study their anatomy and watch them crawling around.
Grave issues
Owners of plots at the Unionville Cemetery are meeting at the Po-Mar-Lin fire hall in Unionville (right across from the cemetery) at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 26. The future of the cemetery will be discussed; some gravesite owners are unhappy over rumors that the cemetery board plans to turn it over to the care of Union Hill Cemetery north of Kennett.
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Giving back
Hillendale Elementary School principal Steve Dissinger reported that he received a $1,000 check from the Kennett Square Wal-Mart on Feb. 8. "Lois Rockey, Assistant Manager, said that an informal poll of store
associates and customers determined Hillendale to be a recipient of this year's grant," he wrote in an e-mail to parents.
Thanks to the Wal-Mart staff for being so community-minded!
associates and customers determined Hillendale to be a recipient of this year's grant," he wrote in an e-mail to parents.
Thanks to the Wal-Mart staff for being so community-minded!
Welcome home
A friend of mine spent the weekend in Chester County Hospital getting intravenous antibiotics for a nasty infection. She returned home on Valentine's Day -- only to be chided by her Wii Fit.
"It told me it had been 4 days since I had last been there and I should try and do a body test everyday," she reports. "I told the Balance Board that if he was so fired up to see me he could have dragged his scrawny little white butt down to the hospital himself and visited!"
"It told me it had been 4 days since I had last been there and I should try and do a body test everyday," she reports. "I told the Balance Board that if he was so fired up to see me he could have dragged his scrawny little white butt down to the hospital himself and visited!"
Labor and management
I don't like teachers' strikes. Who does?
When I was in high school, the teachers' union went on strike, and the enmity between the teachers and the administration poisoned the rest of the year (though it was a useful real-life civics lesson for us).
And as a young reporter I had to cover a two-week-long teachers' strike in central Pennsylvania. I got some great stories out of it (yelling parents, teachers on the picket line), but it was a lot of work, and day after day my managing editor would write editorials that alienated half of my sources. I was so glad to get that 2 a.m. phone call saying that an agreement had finally been reached.
I'm not qualified to weigh in on the ongoing negotiations between the Unionville teachers' union and the school board, but I do talk to a fair cross-section of the community, and I can state that it's certainly the topic du jour around here.
The other day I had breakfast with a friend who is about as politically liberal as you can get. And to my surprise, she said that the union is being unrealistic in asking for raises when most folks are being asked to tighten their belts. And, she continued, it was a giant political mistake for the union to ask for a fact-finder's report and then to reject it.
If the union has lost her support, I think they may be in deep trouble. I'm hoping they recognize how strongly feelings are running against them in this community. Otherwise, I fear that hard-working reporters are once again going to be awaiting that strike-ending 2 a.m. phone call. Or probably text message, these days.
When I was in high school, the teachers' union went on strike, and the enmity between the teachers and the administration poisoned the rest of the year (though it was a useful real-life civics lesson for us).
And as a young reporter I had to cover a two-week-long teachers' strike in central Pennsylvania. I got some great stories out of it (yelling parents, teachers on the picket line), but it was a lot of work, and day after day my managing editor would write editorials that alienated half of my sources. I was so glad to get that 2 a.m. phone call saying that an agreement had finally been reached.
I'm not qualified to weigh in on the ongoing negotiations between the Unionville teachers' union and the school board, but I do talk to a fair cross-section of the community, and I can state that it's certainly the topic du jour around here.
The other day I had breakfast with a friend who is about as politically liberal as you can get. And to my surprise, she said that the union is being unrealistic in asking for raises when most folks are being asked to tighten their belts. And, she continued, it was a giant political mistake for the union to ask for a fact-finder's report and then to reject it.
If the union has lost her support, I think they may be in deep trouble. I'm hoping they recognize how strongly feelings are running against them in this community. Otherwise, I fear that hard-working reporters are once again going to be awaiting that strike-ending 2 a.m. phone call. Or probably text message, these days.
Customer service
I had a great time catching up with my friend Linda Kaat over brunch one recent Sunday, but she shared some unfortunate news: Charlie at the Unionville Post Office has retired! I will miss his unflappable efficiency and his pleasant smile, and I'll bet a lot of other customers will, too.
Linda, who is always one of the busiest people I know, reported that she is organizing the hospitality tent for the Cheshire Point-to-Point on March 27, only a month away, and asked me to put in a plug for this wonderful annual event: http://www.cheshirehuntconservancy.org/.
Linda, who is always one of the busiest people I know, reported that she is organizing the hospitality tent for the Cheshire Point-to-Point on March 27, only a month away, and asked me to put in a plug for this wonderful annual event: http://www.cheshirehuntconservancy.org/.
RIP
Voting here in West Marlborough can be something of a social occasion, a chance to greet neighbors and friends, and one of the folks I always looked forward to seeing on Election Day was Donna Sharpless, who worked as an election inspector at our polling place for 32 years. Donna died of bone cancer on Feb. 13 at age 65. Condolences to her family and friends.
Watch for this Scam
My mother could barely contain her excitement over the phone.
"Your father and I were caught in an international scam this morning!" she said breathlessly.
They'd received an e-mail from Dick, an old and close family friend, saying that he was in Scotland on vacation and had been robbed and needed cash, $1,250 to be exact, wired to a Western Union office in Glasgow. Fortunately, before sending any money, my father became suspicious and asked "Dick" to call him. He didn't get a call, but he did get a mortified e-mail from the real Dick, explaining that his e-mail account had been hacked into and all of his friends had gotten the same fraudulent message.
"Isn't that awful!" exclaimed my mother, appalled at the thought of some greedy, cynical criminal out there trying to cash in on our natural desire to help a friend in trouble.
"Your father and I were caught in an international scam this morning!" she said breathlessly.
They'd received an e-mail from Dick, an old and close family friend, saying that he was in Scotland on vacation and had been robbed and needed cash, $1,250 to be exact, wired to a Western Union office in Glasgow. Fortunately, before sending any money, my father became suspicious and asked "Dick" to call him. He didn't get a call, but he did get a mortified e-mail from the real Dick, explaining that his e-mail account had been hacked into and all of his friends had gotten the same fraudulent message.
"Isn't that awful!" exclaimed my mother, appalled at the thought of some greedy, cynical criminal out there trying to cash in on our natural desire to help a friend in trouble.
Sunday, February 13, 2011
Once an editor...
The February edition of "Mid-Atlantic Horse" features some terrific photos taken at the Pennsylvania Farm Show by David Yeats-Thomas. I especially liked his photos of the draft horse sale (http://lancasterfarming.com/midatlantichorse/). David, who lives in West Marlborough, is the editor of the monthly newspaper, and those of you with long memories may recall that in the late 1980s he was the first editor of "The Kennett Paper."
Fast car
This morning I saw a white Ferrari speeding south on Route 841 in Springdell. I tried to catch up with it so I could tell you its model and year and perhaps even identify the driver, but it was already in Chatham by then. Or perhaps Washington D.C.
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