Patton Middle School: Another school year gets under way

At a family dinner the other night, the week before school started, the Young Relative was critically reviewing his middle-school class schedule on his phone. Things looked good, he said: in particular, his classes were clustered together so he wouldn't have too far to walk between rooms. This, apparently, is a priority.
As usual, the Unionville-Chadds Ford district (to my mind, the equivalent of a private school anywhere else) is offering up an admirable curriculum: he's taking an advanced math class that his father and I didn't take until high school. And I can't imagine what they'll be able to teach him in his "Digital Communication" class that he doesn't already know. I proposed that for a hands-on project he could teach his elders how to use their cell phones. To that suggestion I got the classic Young Relative eye-roll that he perfected at the age of 5.
And back in our day, did we have these long lists of brand-specific school supplies that parents have to spend hours tracking down? I don't think so, but it's possible my mother just went out and bought them with no fuss. What we did get was a new pair of school shoes, a new pair of gym shoes, a lunchbox (always a tough decision: "Mod Squad" or "The Monkees"? What would the cool kids be carrying?), some spiral notebooks, and rolls of Contact paper we'd use to make covers for our school books (you didn't strip off the backing). It would last the whole year and it came in cool designs -- this was the Seventies, after all!
Parenthetically: for our pre-back-to-school dinner we had crab cakes from Pappas Seafood in Baltimore. They are without question the best I've ever had. You can pick them up at the restaurant or order them online (PappasCrabcakes.com) and have them shipped.

Kennett YMCA: "And we gonna let it burn, burn, burn"

This has been a humbling week, fitness-wise. You think you're in good shape until you switch up your routine a little!
Normally I split my workouts between the Kennett and the Jennersville YMCAs. This past week the latter was closed, so I tried out some different classes at the former. What a challenge! There are some extraordinarily limber teachers at Kennett, that's all I can say.
So I did three tough classes, and when Friday rolled, I was ready to take the day off from the gym. But then a friend emailed and said she'd be at a Friday-evening class, and I really should attend too. I didn't want to let her down, so even though I was feeling pretty beat up, I said yes.
So I walked in to class -- and she wasn't there. Class started -- and she wasn't there. The warm-up finished -- and she wasn't there. In my head I was composing an arch email for the ages to send her when finally she came in, breathless: she'd been delayed by a crash on Kennett Pike at the Tower Hill School.

Hood's BBQ: Get your Ribwich now

Well, all of us Hood's regulars knew this day would come, but that doesn't mean we happy about it: Hood's BBQ in Unionville is closing down for the winter for renovations. Their last day will be Friday August 29 (closing at 3 p.m.), and they hope to reopen their revamped and expanded restaurant in the spring.
Take heart, though: their mobile trailer will still be in operation at various equestrian and community events. They'll be posting the trailer's schedule on social media.

A Field Near You: The geese are learning to fly

My ring tone is dissonant enough to grab my attention, but I didn't realize how similar it is to the squawking call of Canada geese until some of them flew over the other day and I stared stupidly at the phone, which didn't seem to be responding. A goose-hunting friend from Cochranville who is very familiar with their habits told me that at this point in the summer the goose parents are training the young ones to fly, looking for the first-cut corn.

Longwood Gardens: Lights! Camera! Fountains!

On Aug. 18 I got an email from a reader who wondered what was going on at Longwood Gardens: "As I was walking at Longwood this morning, I was redirected around the Italian Gardens. I saw what looked a lot like a film production - light poles, trailers, lots and lots of cable. One of the security guards told me, 'If you want to be in pictures, here's your chance.' There's also a big white tent set up in the Open Air Theatre." What, she wondered, was going on?
I asked around and found that several locals were wondering exactly the same thing. A Kennett restaurant owner noticed what she called a "cloud" on the set of the shoot: "Big, white inflated thing, tethered to hover and diffuse light for the photo shoots below. New to me! Would make an awesome patio cover!"
Another reader said a security guy told her they were shooting a documentary. Pretty cool!
By the way, the Longwood fireworks on Aug. 16 were spectacular. Our guests from the Midwest said they'd never seen some of the types of fireworks that were set off, especially the ones that looked like a crested celosia.

West Marlborough Township: Mill at Stone Barn quickly reduced to rubble

As expected, The Mill at the Stone Barn is being torn down. Heavy snow back in February caused the banquet hall's roof to collapse, and it had been sitting unused since then, surrounded by an orange safety fence. The owners obtained a demolition permit in July, and when I drove past on Aug. 19 I spotted an excavator surrounded by the rubble of part of the building, with the tall stone chimney in the background. Let's hope they can rebuild it: I for one missed seeing the wedding parties gather by the pond this summer.

 

The afternoon of Aug. 21, however, the excavator experienced a spot of bother while continuing its task: it slipped over to its right side at a sharp angle while its bucket was ripping down the roof, and couldn't regain its footing in the unstable rubble. Fortunately the operator wasn't hurt.

 

A huge crane was brought in, and the rescuers attached metal cables to the excavator and started to coax it upright. The operator got back into the cab, started it up again, and, with the help of the crane, gradually managed to back out and regain equilibrium. (It was like watching somebody slowly being extricated from a muddy parking spot, with lots of starts and stops.) The bucket made loud cracking and ripping noises as it detached itself from the rafters and the roof.

 

 

 

 

As soon as he was upright again, the operator swiveled the cab around and got out to check his machine for damage. The rescuers unhooked their cables and started to retract them. All in a day's work! Within an hour the crane was gone.

 

 

 

West Marlborough Township: A peek inside Doe Run Farm

The interiors of several buildings at Dick & Meg Hayne's sprawling Doe Run Farm in Springdell -- formerly Sir John Thouron's country estate and convicted embezzler Tony Young's property -- were revealed to the public, online at least. The stunning photos of the extensively renovated compound show restored stone walls, lots of glass, old wood beams, and beautifully detailed metal and stone work.
The photos (no credits are given, alas) appear on several websites; do a search for the architect, Nuno R. P. Cruz, and they'll pop up.
Here is the description of the project that the architect gives:
"Positioned on 640 acres of agricultural land in rural Pennsylvania, this personal estate contains buildings dating back to the early 1800s. Encompassing 14 buildings, the estate consists of a primary residence with an orangerie, an adjacent yoga studio, 3 guesthouses, a dining hall with a industrial kitchen, barns (such as a milking parlor, cheese processing facility, and cheese caves) and numerous agricultural buildings, greenhouses, gardens, and orchards. As a sustainable and aesthetic measure, the designers reused salvaged materials all through, which includes potting shed timbers and brick and greenhouse casework and doors.”
Cost was not mentioned, but one surmises that it took lots of Terrain, Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie merchandise sales to bankroll the world-class renovations (Mr. Hayne is the founder of the retail empire).

New Garden Township: Repaving improves motorists' lives

What a major improvement in the Toughkenamon intersection (Newark Road and Baltimore Pike)! As part of a night-time paving job, the formerly viscera-jolting humps on Newark Road have been smoothed out, making the busy crossroads much more pleasant to navigate.

Entomology: Where are the stink bugs?

A friend emailed me tonight and -- tempting fate -- asked where the stink bugs are. I told her not to jinx us. I haven't seen a live one for months. Let's hope we don't have a repeat of September 2012, when I came home one afternoon to find dozens of the nasty critters on a single wall.

Longwood Gardens: Keeping the neighbors informed

Some people who live near Longwood Gardens have received in the mail two free admission passes and a letter from the Gardens' executive director, Paul B. Redman, about the upcoming reconstruction of the Main Fountain Gardens. The project will begin this October and is expected to be completed in the spring of 2017.
"Our goal is to minimize impact on you," Redman's letter reads, "and we believe we have taken the right steps for the duration of the project. Thanks to our partners in the townships that Longwood's property encompasses, and, in particular, with East Marlborough Township, we've been working on routes and appropriate signage to ensure all work vehicles are directed through our project site entrance on Conservatory Road near Longwood Road. In addition, we are mindfully coordinating the work hours for the project to ensure we are not disturbing you and the surrounding community."