SADSBURY: More than a candlelight service

We thought it might be interesting to attend the Christmas Eve contemplative service at Sadsbury Friends Meeting, a Lancaster County meetinghouse built in 1747. We certainly got more than we bargained for: as we arrived, firefighters from Station 52 (Christiana) in full bunker gear were already there. It seems someone had started lighting a fire in a fireplace but had a spot of bother with the damper and (wisely) decided to call the fire company before things got out of hand.
The firefighters removed the offending log and aired the place out. Fortunately it was warm enough that the windows could be left open throughout the service so that the smoke could further dissipate. The service, with candle lighting, readings and silence, was quite nice, and  I especially liked the music, provided by violinist Christopher Ritchie and flautist Hannah Bentz.

Christiana firefighters finish up their work at Sadsbury Meetinghouse.

Two guests bearing plates of cookies for the service chat with the firefighters.

WISDOM: It's not always small talk

So I learned four important things at Christmas parties this year.
1. You can prevent your eyeglasses from fogging up if you walk into a room backwards. At least, this is what I was told; given the unseasonably warm weather this Christmas, the temperature differential wasn't large enough to try this out.
2. In the Christmas song "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," Santa Claus is actually Daddy! I completely missed this joke and had always suspected some unsavory family pathology. When I mentioned this at dinner, I was roundly derided by everyone at the table.
3. The TV screen at one host's house was bigger than any I've ever seen, outside of a sports bar. A guest told me he wanted an equally huge one but his wife had forbidden him from buying one larger than she is. She confirmed this: "There's just no need for him to have a TV bigger than his wife!" He conceded and bought a 60-inch one.
4. A preternaturally disciplined friend makes a point of losing five pounds in preparation for the holiday season because he knows he's going to gain it back at dinner parties (he gets invited to a lot of them, because he is a pleasant and entertaining raconteur). Just tonight I saw him sample a German chocolate cake, a delectable spinach-and-Brie concoction and a red velvet rose cake from Neiman Marcus.

DEATHS: Some of this year's obituaries

This year we said goodbye to Seema Sonnad; Beau Biden; Ralph Roberts, Rob Lukens; Patrick Chase; Brian Shultz; Steven Tingley; Mark Froehlich; Father Denny; the Wickershams; Robert Delaney; Barbara "Babs" Lucas Cocks; Aunt Janie; FM Mooberry; the Longwood Gardens feline Belin; and the ancient collie Kevin. May they rest in peace.

LOOKING BACK: Tilda's top 10 for 2015

I just looked back through my 2015 blog summary and want to share the ten stories that got the most hits.
1. The top story by far was about how Stephanie Boyer found an envelope containing $2,500 in cash on the floor at the Unionville post office and immediately turned it in. Postmaster Bill traced the owner, an elderly veteran, and returned it to him. This heartwarming story, from Sept. 2, was shared far and wide on social media, and a lot of people told me it restored their faith in humanity.

Stephanie Boyer (in the blue coat) leads in the "Cheshire Beauties."

2.  In second place was the unexpected death in November of the beloved "Father Denny" (Dennis Van Thuyne), a gentle, genial former priest who ran a resale shop on State Street to raise money for head injury victims like himself.
3. Belin, the cat who served as Longwood Gardens' ambassador, died in September after a short illness. Readers are still sending me comments about how much they miss Belin, who lived in the Peirce-du Pont house.

Belin, the beloved Longwood Gardens cat, died in September.

4. In November, Doug Harris, owner of the State & Union shop, noticed that a customer had gotten a parking ticket and insisted on paying it. The customer wrote to me about his good deed. The story elicited much praise for Doug, who is a popular fixture in downtown Kennett.
5. My story announcing the grand marshals of Kennett Square's annual Memorial Day parade-- World War II veterans Michael B. Pratola, Jr., Fred Patrola, Sr., and Robert Hopkins, Sr.--drew lots of readers.
6. A story I'd forgotten about was courtesy of East Marlborough Township police chief Robert Clarke, who told me that on Sept. 30 he got a call that marijuana was growing in a cornfield on the west side of Newark Road, across from Archie's restaurant. "Clarkie" uprooted the pot plants, bundled them into garbage bags, took them back to the East Marlborough Township building and had township roadmaster Dennis Mellinger destroy them with a Kubota lawn mower.
7. This spring's musical at Unionville High School was "West Side Story," and the kids did an amazing job in every respect. Our reaction at the end of the evening was, "THAT was a high-school production?!"
8. Remember snow? The West Marlborough road crew does. In March, one of the tires on the township's loader blew out with the worst snowstorm of the season bearing down. That meant there was no way to load salt into the township's trucks. Road crew boss Hugh Lofting Jr. called all the farmers he could think of, but no one had the right tire. Finally he found out that the borough of Kennett Square had a spare they were willing to lend. Hugh asked me to publicly thank the borough: "They have no concept how much they saved my life."

Tilda will continue to use her BTML card.

9 and 10. The final two on my top ten list were, appropriately enough, the self-inflicted woes of the library board, which started in February with their surprise announcement (they hung a banner across State Street) that the library was no longer the Bayard Taylor Memorial Library but was now the Kennett Public Library. A firestorm ensued, which anyone with any knowledge of Kennett Square residents or history could have predicted. As a reporter it was a great controversy to cover, but as a library lover, donor, and longtime volunteer it was extremely distressing. Some readers have complained that I've been too tough on the board, that after all they're "just volunteers." Others say I've been too diplomatic. I'm just hoping a much-needed change in leadership and new members will give the board a fresh start.

HIBACHI: Dinner and a show

We had a blast last night at Sakura Hibachi & Sushi in the Jennersville shopping center. I was surprised to find that the restaurant is much bigger than it looks from the outside. You get your choice of where to sit: at a regular table or around a hibachi grill. We picked the latter, and after we ordered, the hibachi chef, Stanley, wheeled out a cart with chicken, shrimp, salmon, rice, vegetables and other the ingredients for our dinner and cooked them on the spot, doing all kinds of entertaining antics in the process. He juggled and clanged his utensils, balanced an egg on his spatula and then flipped it up into his chef's hat, stacked onion slices and lit them on fire, and tossed squares of squash toward diners' mouths. (We did not catch any, but the couple next to us did, hugely impressing their three children.)
It was quite a show to behold, and I think the two of us had as much fun as any of the kids. And after all the showmanship, the food was very good. The place is a BYOB, and I saw several diners bringing in beer and wine. This might be a place to consider visiting if you have out-of-town guests over the holiday, or if the kids are bored during winter break.

WATERGLEN: The Age of Darkness

A friend reports that her parents' Christmas lights stopped working, so she went over to their home in the Waterglen neighborhood off Route 52 this past weekend to put up a fresh set.
"Found a mysterious thing in the process: a light that looked like it had been cut off with wire cutters, which would explain the old lights suddenly not working. Just hours later Mom received an e-mail that multiple neighbors had a similar thing happen and that one even had outdoor security video they had seen the culprit on. Apparently someone had gone through the neighborhood cutting light strands randomly."
So first we have false reports of candy tampering at Halloween that put Kennett Square in the news internationally; now some idiots are going around vandalizing Christmas lights. Honestly, what is wrong with people!

CHRISTMAS: Delighted by the lights

We've been traveling all over the area in the past few weeks, and looking at Christmas lights has become the source of much entertainment. Near Fair Hill, Maryland, the decorations at one house were absolutely over the top; in protest, I'm sure, the next-door neighbors put up only a single strand of lights spelling out "MEH." One family near Ambler, Montgomery County, crammed its entire large front yard full of lights, displays, candy canes, gingerbread houses, inflatables, absolutely dozens of them. Apparently the display is so well known that it attracts tourists, because two portable toilets had also been installed in the yard.
Closer to home, along the Route 1 bypass south of the Toughkenamon exit, a family whose house backs up to the bypass erected a giant blow-up Santa with its arms raised, apparently offering a benediction to the motorists. At a house along Route 926 green lights snaked up the branches of a tree, making it look like a huge Gumby. And a family in the Willowdale Crossing development turned its shrubbery into the semblance of candy canes, with swirls of parallel red and white lights. Such creativity! Such electric bills!

MARSHALLTON: Sing we joyous all together

This year's Carol Sing at Bradford Friends Meeting was a lovely event. The cozy stone meetinghouse, tucked away in Marshallton, was built in 1765 and doesn't have electricity. Heat was provided by two wood stoves, and the bright morning sun streaming through the windows offered ample light. After the crowd settled in and spent a few minutes in silence, the singing started with the Quaker favorite "Simple Gifts." A splendid group of musicians accompanied us: a violinist, a flautist, a guitarist, and two dulcimer players, led by keyboard player and vocalist Noreen Davish.
After maybe 45 minutes, we closed with "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" (including the "figgy pudding" verse!), people literally wished "Merry Christmas" to the people sitting near them, and we got to sample the apple cider that had been simmering in big vats atop the wood stoves. Singing is hungry work, so fortunately there were excellent cookies, pound cake, brownies and other goodies on the refreshment table. I got to say hello to my dear friend Cathy Quillman and Unionville's Lou Mandich.
The Carol Sing is one of two Sundays in the year when Bradford's usual meeting for worship isn't held (the other is the Marshallton Triathlon). All ages attended, from infants to senior citizens. I heard the toddler behind me ask his parents in wonder, "Is this a church?" Apparently he wasn't used to meetinghouses!
While driving home on Strasburg Road I noticed that earth was being moved for a subdivision just west of Marshallton. Called "Marshallton Walk," it comprises one single-family house and 12 twin homes and is being built by Ryland Homes (now CalAtlantic).