Up in the air

Heads up -- literally. The Chester County Balloon Festival will be held Friday, June 14, and Saturday, June 15, at Plantation Field on Route 82 west of Green Valley Road.
Gates open at 5 p.m. Friday and 3 p.m. Saturday. Admission is $10 a car, but those of us who live nearby will probably be able to see some of the hot-air balloons for free as they drift over in the evening (horse owners, take note).
The full schedule of events is on the festival's website, ccballoonfest.com.
In preparation for the event, on May 12 Po-Mar-Lin Fire Co. in Unionville hosted a class on hot-air balloon emergencies. Attending in addition to Station 36 volunteers were firefighters from Modena, Kennett, Avondale, and West Grove Fire Companies.

 

Just plain wrong

There was lots of wholesome activity going on at Anson Nixon Park on Saturday. At the amphitheater there was a family-oriented event, with music, Mexican food, and representatives from social service and public health organizations. In one of the pavilions there was a Boy Scout get-together, and in another there was a big family BBQ.
And in the midst of all this was a guy wearing a black T-shirt with an obscene word emblazoned on the front in big white letters. Why, WHY, would you wear this to a place where there are always lots of kids? (Why would you even buy such a thing, as far as I'm concerned, but to each his own.)
And yes, I did give him a piece of my mind. You're not really surprised, are you?

Ordination

A "Unionville in the News" reader sent me this note about an upcoming milestone:
"Nancy Houser, Deacon at Church of the Advent, Kennett Square, is scheduled to be ordained as an Episcopal Priest. She held the church together for more than two years after the sudden death of the pastor a week before Christmas several years ago. Buses will be taking friends and parishioners to Nancy's ordination on June 15, 2013 at the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral.  Nancy is loved by the parish and an amazing woman."
More information is available on the Church's website: www.adventks.org.

Invasives

At the end of the monthly West Marlborough Township supervisors' meeting on June 4, longtime township resident Baz Powell said she was concerned about the spread of invasive bamboo in the township. Township zoning officer Al Giannantonio said he is familiar with the actions that other municipalities have taken to control this tenacious, fast-growing grass and would look into what West Marlborough could do.
A "Unionville in the News" fan said she read with great interest my item a few weeks back about controlling multiflora rose and mile-a-minute vine; I had mentioned that this was a hot topic of conversation at a breakfast party I attended. I want to alert her, and my other readers dealing with invasives, to the website www.madgardeners.com. The group has taken aim specifically at mile-a-minute and offers all kinds of useful information. (Thank you, Dan Maffei, for the tip!)

Cemetery fence

This is some creative thinking on the part of the Unionville Cemetery Association's board! To spruce up the old iron fence around the cemetery (which is just across Route 82 from the Unionville post office), the group is starting an "Adopt a Section" program.

"With a tax deductible donation of $100.00, donors would be "responsible" for a 6' section of the fence," said Board member Rusty Young, who is co-chairing the project with lot holder John Montague. The fence, an 1860 gift from Anna W. Seal, was last repainted in 1960. "When all donations are secured, and welding repairs are completed, the fence will be professionally cleaned and repainted, to restore it to its original condition."

For more information you can contact me (uvilleblogger@gmail.com) and I'll put you in touch with Mr. Young, or you can visit the cemetery's Facebook page (yes, even graveyards do social media now).

 

Shoes

Even my tennis opponent was expressing concern over the ratty condition of my faithful Sauconys, so I headed over to Famous Footwear in the Longwood Shopping Center this afternoon to buy a new pair. I was in for quite a surprise. As you may have gathered over the years, I am not a flashy person in thought, word or deed; alas, sneakers these days are not made for conservative folks like me. Instead, they're manufactured in an array of eye-popping psychedelic colors, with multiple colors and patterns all on the same shoe.
I commented on this trend to the very nice salesguy, and he agreed. He said many customers come in asking for running shoes but don't want them in colors "that you can spot from a plane."
I purchased one of the calmer combinations of colors (silver with melon and mint accents), and I'm already very fond of them.
Also, I was pleased to see that the most outlandish sneakers were also the most expensive! This, I like.

Vegetables

After exactly zero of my pumpkin seeds sprouted, I decided to replant. While re-digging, I unearthed a few of the original seeds and they were all dried up. Perhaps I planted too early? Apparently the second time's the charm: within days (those 80-degree days) every one of the new seeds germinated. Very shortly I'll be struggling to contain the vines within the garden.
My carrots didn't do well either: I have maybe a dozen little fronds coming up out of an entire (expensive) seed tape. Others have told me they've had poor germination this spring, too. I'm very glad I bought spinach plants rather than starting them from seed.
On the plus side: my flowers are doing great. I had my first harvest of snapdragons, zinnias, celosia, cosmos and salvia!

Traffic

A friend's daughter started out her summer vacation by getting rear-ended by a truck. She's OK, thank goodness; her car, not so much.
She was heading east on Route 926 and as she crested the hill just before you come to the Pocopson train station and hardware store, she saw a long line of cars stopped at the traffic light. She stopped in time, but a truck rear-ended her and she hit the car in front of her.
The girl's mother points out that even if you're going the speed limit, "there is very little time to stop if there is a line of traffic."
I agree. Traffic really does back up at that light in the morning and evening.
And a Unionville reader who drives a Rover Community Transit Bus wrote to me to point out a hazardous intersection that he sometimes encounters on his route:
"Some mornings I have to cross over State Street from Linden street and I'm heading on S. Willow going towards Cypress. As soon as you get to the stop sign to turn left, there is a red maple tree on the corner lawn that hangs down about 2-3 feet from the lawn. Talk about a blind spot! It's an accident waiting to happen. You can barely see the traffic coming down Cypress unless you creep out close to Cypress."

Cyclist alert

Bill Clement e-mailed and asked me if I'd give readers a heads up about the Chester County Challenge for Cancer bike ride, "which will send a large volume of cyclists through Unionville on Father’s Day (June 16). Courtesy of Doug Mooberry, we will have a rest area for the riders set up on the Kinloch property in Unionville." 

The ride benefits the Chester County Hospital Cancer Center and Neighborhood Visiting Nurse Association (Hospice). Bill said that in its 15-year history, the ride has raised over $350,000 for these organizations.

Bill said he wanted to alert local residents to the fact that there will be a lot of cyclists and volunteer road marshals in Unionville that Sunday morning. The event's website is www.ccride.com.   

 

 

Ordnance ordinance

The West Marlborough supervisors are considering enacting a fireworks ordinance, following a request earlier this year from a man who wants to host a fireworks display at his daughter's September wedding at the Stone Barn on Upland Road.
Supervisors' Chairman Bill Wylie said at the township June 4 meeting that having an ordinance in place "would give us a little bit more control" when such requests are made. The board agreed to have township solicitor Dwight Yoder draft an ordinance, which could be enacted as early as July.
In other business at the monthly meeting, Lt. Richard H. D'Ambrosio, station commander of the Avondale state police barracks, reported that his troopers had been called to only 38 incidents in West Marlborough in the past 3 months, including 8 car accidents, 3 thefts from vehicles, 5 reports of debris on the road, 2 false alarms and 1 suspicious person; no burglaries or incidents of criminal mischief.
He said West Marlborough has "probably the lowest" number of calls of any township covered by his troopers. He urged residents to keep an eye out for their neighbors and to keep their cars locked: apparently so many people leave cars unlocked that thieves will just move on to the next driveway if they encounter a troublesome locked car.
Roadmaster Hugh Lofting said the township road crew has been busy mowing roadbanks and oil-and-chipping roads.
Township zoning officer Al Giannantonio reported that two zoning permits were approved in May: an addition to a hay shed at Dixon Stroud's farm on East Doe Run Road, and an addition to the Irelands' historic house on Springdell Road. The Irelands also were issued a building permit for their renovation project.
Also, Josh Taylor, who was promoted to the Board of Supervisors in May, agreed to do double duty and remain as head of the township planning commission as well until the supervisors appoint a new member to the commission.

50% more!

Trail runners, take your mark: you don't want to miss this one. The Chasin' for Chalfin trail race, which this year has been expanded from a 10K to a 15K, will be held on Saturday morning, July 20. The course winds through the "fair hunting country" of the astonishingly beautiful Runnymede estate outside of Springdell and includes "hills, vistas, and creek crossings." There's also a 5K trail run for fun and a 3K on-road fun run/walk.
The race benefits our friend Jake Chalfin, who was seriously injured in a steeplechase accident in September 2010 and gets around now using a wheelchair and van.
This is the final leg of the series sponsored by Trail Creek Outfitters in the Glen Eagle Shopping Center.
You can register online until July 17. Onsite registration is from 7:30 to 8:15 a.m. on the day of the race. Race time is 8:30 a.m. 
(In other Jake sporting news, the Third Annual Chasin' for Chalfin polo match and BBQ will be on July 14 at the Brandywine Polo Club, 232 Polo Rd. in Toughkenamon. Gates open at 1 p.m. Match starts at 3.) 

The Smiths

M. Night Shyamalan has a new movie out, "After Earth," and for a change he didn't shoot it in Chester County (the closest he got was Sun Center Studios in Aston, Delaware County).
The sci-fi flick, which stars Will Smith and his son Jaden Smith, took in $27.5 million on its opening weekend, even though the critics are trashing it. The Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern says it's a contender for the worst movie ever: "I've never seen a movie that moves so slowly, or takes itself so seriously." (Ouch.) Time's Richard Corliss says it "may lack the neck-swiveling awfulness of Shyamalan’s The Last Airbender, but it quickly sinks in its logorrheic solemnity."
You can still see the "road" that the director had built for his 2008 movie "The Happening" near the intersection of Powell and Scott Roads in Newlin Township (he wanted a four-way intersection). The road goes up a hill and ends abruptly at the end of camera range.
Then again, perhaps we shouldn't be surprised that "After Earth" wasn't shot here: after all, it's a stretch to imagine Unionville as an uninhabitable, quarantined planet.

A New Deacon

My dear friend Doug, a long-time member of St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, told me that on Saturday, June 1, his fellow parishioner Jim Elliott, of Kennett Square, was ordained as a Deacon after six years of intensive study. As a Deacon (from the Greek word for "servant"), he can now proclaim the Gospel, baptize, and conduct funeral services.

Doug writes: "As I sat as a participant in the liturgy I realized that the Mass was created in a way to exalt every human sense. I was in awe seeing the beauty of the cathedral’s architectural details and the patina of the stained glass, hearing the booming basilica choir with organ and orchestra, the woodsy smell of the burning frankincense, a touch from the person next to me offering a sign of peace, and finally the taste of the Eucharist."

The ceremony was conducted by Archbishop Charles Chaput at the Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia. Doug adds: "As with most every solemn event today, the congregation was interrupted with a very loud cell phone playing, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game”.  I only hope it was from a Phillies fan."

 

ChesLen

Here is an embarrassing fact: I have actually never been into the ChesLen Preserve off Route 162 just north of Unionville. There, I said it. I pass it a few times a week; I have friends who live in walking distance; but I have never explored it.
But that will change next weekend. The nature preserve is holding a Community Day from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 16, to celebrate the opening of the Lenfest Center, the park's new headquarters, built thanks to the generosity of philanthropists Gerry and Marguerite Lenfest. There will be scavenger hunts, preserve walks, arts and crafts, tours of the new building and refreshments.

Postponed

Last week I wrote about the open house at the London Grove Lake Club (the old Avon Swim Club) that was scheduled for Sunday, June 9, but it has been postponed.
"Keep checking our page for updates on the Lake Club and when we will be having our open house," said a June 2 post on the club's Facebook page. "Thank you for all the support you have given us and continue to give us!"
The "old swimming hole" is a water-filled quarry off Route 41 near the Baltimore Pike intersection.