ODESSA: Heading north to freedom

I've been interested in the Underground Railroad ever since I wrote a report about Harriet Tubman in the fourth grade, so on March 11 I gave myself the day off from editing and drove down to Odessa, Del., to attend an open house at the Appoquinimink Friends Meeting House. In a hidden attic room of this tiny brick Quaker meeting house, slaves escaping from Maryland could hide until darkness fell and they could head farther north on their journey.
I climbed up the ladder to the attic and with a flashlight peered into the dark hiding space under the eaves, concealed by a panel. The freedom seekers had no heat and certainly no room to stand up. For the open house the Meeting put out some provisions, candles, a blanket and a chamber pot to give an idea of the conditions the slaves endured.
I thought about other chambers where people have hid from persecution over the years: "priest holes" in Great Britain in medieval days, and the Frank family's Secret Annexe in Amsterdam during WWII.
According to the Facebook page of Delaware Historic Preservation (where I got these photographs), "It is reputed that Harriet Tubman frequented this route as she led runaways from Dorchester County on Maryland's Eastern Shore, into Kent County, Delaware near Camden, north through Duck Creek, Blackbird, and to the vicinity of John Hunn's farm, the current site of Middletown High School."
The hostess, a member of Appoquinimink meeting, told us a little about the history of the meeting (which is still open for First Day worship) and about abolitionists in Delaware.
She asked where I was from and when I said I lived near London Grove Friends Meeting, she told me she had visited there two summers ago under somewhat dramatic circumstances. While she and her husband were driving through Chester County, a sudden cloudburst with ferocious wind hit. She was terrified and insisted that her husband pull off the road. They stopped at London Grove Meeting and sat on the bench on the porch until the storm abated. She said she left a note on the door thanking the Meeting for serving as a refuge.

The Appoquinimink Friends Meeting House, built in 1785.

This is the opening to the attic space where the Freedom Seekers hid.

CHESHIRE: Side-saddle race at this year's event

The 71st running of the "Cheshire Races" will be held on Easter Sunday, March 27, at Plantation Field in Unionville. This year's races will have something new on the card: the Mrs. Miles B. Valentine Memorial Ladies Side Saddle Race. Among the participants, in addition to our local side-saddle enthusiasts, will be international competitor Susan Oakes. According to the press release, "A display of tradition, elegance and bravery, this year’s race is run in honor of Mrs. Miles B. Valentine, who graced many hunt fields with her style, grace and unmatched horsemanship."
Gates open at 10 a.m. After the pony races and the Junior Field Master Chase, the side-saddle race is schedule to start at 12:30 p.m., followed by the Heavyweight Race at 1 p.m., the novice race at 1:30, the open timber race (the Cheshire Bowl) at 2 p.m., the ladies' race at 2:30, the foxhunter's timber race at 3 and the flat race at 3:30.
Proceeds benefit the Cheshire Hunt Conservancy.

HISTORY: Cathy Q talks about Kennett agriculture

I was delighted to see that my friend Catherine Quillman, a writer, artist and historian who lives in West Chester, will be giving a talk entitled "Agricultural Roots: How We Grew What We Grew," at the Kennett Township Historical Commission's annual public program on Thursday, May 19. She'll be discussing 19th-century agriculture in Kennett Township. The program starts at 7 p.m. with light refreshments and fellowship at the township building on Burrows Run Road.
Thank you to Fredda Pennock, treasurer of the commission, for alerting me to this event. I've been to several of these talks and they are quite interesting.

LONGWOOD: Vote for "best botanical garden"

A friend at Longwood Gardens tells me that it has been nominated as "best botanical garden" in a USA Today/10 Best poll. You can cast your vote every day, up until noon on Monday, March 28. The link is http://www.10best.com/awards/travel/best-botanical-garden/.
Longwood was #1 on the leaderboard when I checked.
Here are the other nominees: the Atlanta Botanical Garden; Bloedel Reserve in Bainbridge Island, Washington; Brooklyn Botanic Garden; Chanticleer in Wayne, PA; Cheekwood in Nashville; the Chicago Botanic Garden; Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay; Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden; Denver Botanic Gardens; Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix; Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables; the Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids; the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden in Richmond; Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis; Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Mass; National Tropical Botanical Garden in Kauai, Hawaii; New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx; UC Botanical Garden at Berkeley, Calif.; and the United States Botanic Garden in Washington, DC.

GPS: Turn left, then turn left

My poor GPS doesn't have an easy task sometimes. I often like to take the long way to wherever I'm going, which is anathema to the device's programming.
The other day I was headed from the Loew's store in Avondale to the Kennett Y. I wanted to take Baltimore Pike so that I could see what was going on in Kennett. The GPS, however, really wanted me to take the much more efficient Route 1 bypass. With each street I passed in Avondale, it kept telling me to turn around. Finally it gave up where Baltimore Pike and Route 41 split.
"Continue on the road," it said, turning generic in defeat.

POCOPSON: Opening for the season

While having dinner at Floga Bistro on March 9, we were glad to saw Barbie Vannote and Hall Snyder. Barbie told us that her shop, Garden Thyme, will be opening for the season on Tuesday, March 15. "Please stop by!" she encouraged us. The garden shop is on Route 52 on the way to Lenape.

WEDDING: Sometimes you just can't email

A friend is getting married this spring and has the dresses, flowers, venue, menu, cake, entertainment and honeymoon all sorted out. The hard part, she said, has been tracking down people's mailing addresses so she can send out the invitations. "We don't write letters anymore," she said.
She's right. And I don't talk on the phone much anymore, either. I was making an appointment the other day and was asked to give my phone number. I started giving my 610 number, the old landline number I haven't had for probably ten years.

METABOLISM: To be a teenager again!

Overheard at the Fitness Center of the Kennett Y:
Youth 1: "We don't need to do abs here. We can do abs at your house."
Youth 2: "Dude. The only thing I can get you to do at my house is eat."
Youth 1: "Hey, are we getting cheesesteaks or what?"

WEST MARLBOROUGH: The Route 1 corridor

The West Marlborough supervisors invited representatives of the  Chester County Economic Development Council to their March meeting and told them they're concerned that the council's plan to encourage development along the Route 1 corridor will increase traffic and jeopardize valuable farmland.
Bill Wylie, who heads the West Marlborough board, said the township is already seeing the effects of local development in the form of increased commuter traffic. He said many West Marlborough residents have eased their property expressly to protect the area's rural character.
Supervisor Jake Chalfin said bluntly that the Development Council's plans would "drive sprawl." He spoke about how the formerly rural northern part of Chester County, where he used to live, is no longer recognizable because of development.
Gary Smith, president and CEO of the Development Council, said he understood the value of agriculture and referred repeatedly to the fact that he grew up on a dairy farm in West Bradford. Bob Grabus, Development Advisor Consultant for the Development Council, spoke passionately about the importance of creating good jobs. He said he is sensitive to concerns about sprawl and said the Council is proposing development only on sites that are zoned for it immediately along Route 1, between the bypass and the East Penn Railroad tracks.
Supervisors from Upper Oxford and East Marlborough Townships were also at the meeting to hear Smith and Grabus's presentation. Charlie Fleischmann, an Upper Oxford supervisor, urged the West Marlborough supervisors to share their concerns with county-level officials.

KENNETT: Friends of the NRA banquet

We had a great time at Saturday night's sold-out Chester County Friends of the NRA banquet at the Red Clay Room in Kennett.
I know nothing about guns. The only shooting I've ever done is with my brother's BB gun, plinking tin cans lined up on a fence. But I have some friends who are avid hunters, target shooters and collectors, and they were certainly in their element, discussing everything gun-related, from Henrys and reticles to the challenges of being a left-handed shooter.
Through these nationwide banquets, the Friends of the NRA raises money for gun safety and shooting programs, and they are extremely skilled at separating people from their money. There are silent auctions, live auctions, and lots of gun raffles (most were $20 a chance), with winners drawn throughout the evening.  (Of course, all the necessary background checks are done before the winner gets to take possession.)
One friend, a big Clint Eastwood fan, was the successful bidder on some "Dirty Harry" memorabilia. Another member of our party had a winning ticket and got his pick of a weapon from the "Wall of Guns" display. When they called out his ticket number, we all shrieked in excitement.
"Wow. I think they're happy," commented the master of ceremonies.
We were outshouted only by the men from Table 16 when they won the "table lottery," which mean they each won a gun.
Oh, there was a hearty dinner, too: salad, roasted potatoes, green beans and carrots, pasta, chicken marsala, meatballs and roast beef. They brought plates of goodies around for dessert. Our table host, from West Grove, was celebrating his birthday, so another guest brought gluten-free chocolate cupcakes that she made with beet and butternut squash puree.
One thing you learn from attending this banquet: don't stereotype gun enthusiasts.