ELECTION: Counting down to the primary

I try to be a reasonably well-informed citizen, so this weekend I attended a meet-and-greet and spent an hour or so listening to a political candidate discuss his views. Some of his positions matched mine but others I disagreed with strongly, which will present me with a definite quandary at the polling place on April 26.
The candidate was obviously leading a pretty punishing campaign schedule: once or twice he had a slight lapse of concentration but smoothly recovered, falling back on his core talking points.
During the Q&A session, some of the attendees repeated their opinions several times, getting more worked up with each iteration. Immigration laws, government regulations and Social Security inequities seemed to be hot-button issues. I admired the way the candidate handled the more voluble talkers, apologizing for the shortness of time and gently redirecting the personal complaints back toward the arguments he wanted to stress.
I may not like the position this guy takes on some social issues, but his cookies were excellent.

PANCAKES: Not even close

As soon as we heard that a pal of ours -- a former U.S. Navy chef -- would be manning the griddle at a West Chester pancake breakfast, we put it on the schedule.
My fellow pancake-fan glanced at the tickets, saw the words "Green," "Lutheran Church" and "West Chester" and took it from there. We set off for West Chester, reached the church where he thought it was being held, saw some yellow signs saying "Event" and pulled in, tummies rumbling.
Alas, there were no signs whatsoever of pancakes being cooked. I looked at the tickets. Turns out this church was a Baptist one, and it was on Airport Road, which is somewhat near Greenhill Road. The correct church was a Lutheran church on Green Lane.
I pointed this out. The best defense he could muster was that, after all, "Green" and "Greenhill" share some letters.
After much laughter and a quick GPS check, we headed to the real church, where we enjoyed great pancakes and fellowship.

WILLOWDALE: The Steeplechase is May 15

West Marlborough resident Tom Herman told me he's looking forward to playing the National Anthem on his trumpet to kick off the Willowdale Steeplechase at noon on Sunday, May 15.
"I've never played the Star Spangled Banner as a solo so it will be a lot of fun," he said.
Tom has figured out a clever way to combine his interests in music and history: he's a Civil War re-enactor who portrays a Union Army bugler; you may have seen him marching in Kennett Square's epic Memorial Day parade. He'll also be working as the official timer at the races.
Gates open for the Steeplechase at 10 a.m. Pony races start at 12:15 p.m. and the final race is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. General admission tickets at $30 per person in advance, $35 at the gate. Willowdale always offers great races and terrific socializing and people-watching. I'm very much looking forward to it.
Proceeds from the Steeplechase benefit the Stroud Water Research Center, New Bolton Center and Quest Therapeutic Services.

PLANT SALE: In memory of Mrs. Coyne

My friend Helen Wagner of the West Chester Garden Club asked me to write about the club's annual plant sale, and I'm happy to do so. It will be from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, April 28, at the Landhope Farms store in Willowdale. Helen writes: "The sale is named in honor of former Club President Paula Coyne, who passed away from ovarian cancer in 2012.  She was a fabulous horsewoman, avid conservationist, and as feisty as they come. Riding provided Paula a close look at the destruction invasive plants are causing. "
Proceeds from the plant sale benefit the garden club’s civic projects, including its public pollinator garden at East Goshen Park. 

TAXES: Don't take it out on the postal employees

Tax time is rough on all of us, goodness knows, but a friend who works at one of our local post offices got a double-whammy. Not only did she have to pay her own taxes, but she had to deal with cranky customers all day. She said the last-minute filers were whining about having to pay taxes AND having to pay extra for mailing their returns.
"Do I REALLY have to mail it certified?" was a frequent complaint. (She did a funny imitation of a petulant customer.)
I was at the Unionville post office mailing off my checks on April 15 and saw an organized man preparing his state and federal returns for the post. He seemed to have it down to a science, with the stacks of tax forms, special-delivery envelopes and hand-written address labels all neatly lined up on the counter.

MASS: Farewell to Mr. Hartsky

Early Friday morning we attended a funeral -- which, sadly, has become an all-too-frequent event on the calendar in the past few months.
The funeral Mass for "Bill" Hartsky was held at St. Ann's Catholic Church in Wilmington. He had ten children and many grandchildren, so there were lots of family members there, along with his fellow Knights of Columbus garbed in their suits, plumed hats and ceremonial swords.
The priest, the Rev. Joseph R. McMahon, was a plain-spoken, charming man who knew Mr. Hartsky very well and, with the help of jotted-down memories from the family, gave him an eloquent and moving sendoff. The priest said that sometimes when speaking at funerals he has trouble discerning how God had acted in someone's life, but not in this case: Mr. Hartsky had been instrumental in building the church's chapel and in raising funds for a multitude of church projects benefitting the poor, all the while supporting and nourishing his large family.
My favorite line was when Father McMahon spoke about the ultimate mystery of faith and the afterlife.
"Do I know? No. But I believe," he said. Then, gesturing toward his ornate, full-length robe, he said, "Would I wear these clothes in public if I didn't?"

PATTON: Going the distance

On the beautiful afternoon of April 12 I watched the Young Relative compete in his track meet at Patton Middle School. Though I enjoy cheering him on, it's also a pleasure to see all these healthy young people outside exercising and competing and -- for the most part -- enjoying themselves.
We hear a lot about obesity in teens and even younger kids and the pressure it's going to put on our already beleaguered healthcare system in the not-too-distant future in terms of diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Let's hope these youths stay active and involved in sports.
Oh, and did I mention that the Young Relative set two personal bests that afternoon?

LIBRARY: Is this a solution?

"Kennett Library at Bayard Taylor Commons" is the name the library's strategic consultant, Carl Francis, has proposed as a way to get past the recent controversy over the library's name.
On Tuesday, April 12, the library board held three invitation-only sessions so that Carl could present his findings.
He said the "Kennett Library" part of the name would be "public friendly," was easy to understand, could be readily translated into Spanish, and would work online and on building signage, printed materials and newsletters. He said it also had historic roots, as the library's earliest names were "The Kennett Square Library Company," "The Kennett Square Library" and "the Kennett Square Union Library Company."
Plus, he said, it's what many people call the library already.

He rejected both "Kennett Public Library" (he said "Public" is obsolete) and "Bayard Taylor Memorial Library" ("no location, confusing, frustrating, long, sounds old, Bayard has baggage"). By "baggage" he meant that Bayard is not politically correct these days, he said; to illustrate; he showed an old engraving of him drawing a dagger.
However, Carl said he realized how important history was to local residents, and he suggested the "Bayard Taylor Commons" as reflecting the way the new library could honor Bayard Taylor better than the current library does and make him and his accomplishments relevant to the modern world. (Think of how the Brandywine River Museum honors Andrew Wyeth, Carl said, or how Longwood Gardens honors Pierre DuPont.)

Carl said that the primary job of a name is "to get people's attention and bring them in."
Some background on the whole situation: For 120 years the library's name was the Bayard Taylor Memorial Library, until, in early 2015, the library board announced that they were changing the name to the Kennett Public Library. A firestorm ensued, with accusations from the public that the board was trying to erase Kennett's history and was not listening to the public. The repercussions derailed the library board's attempt to build a new building.
A new library board was elected early this year, and one of their first actions was to hire Carl Francis to map out a way forward.

Carl Francis will give his presentation to the public at 3 and 6 p.m. Tuesday, May 3, in the Kennett Township building meeting room.

HIDDEN: The "Not In This Lifetime" tour

We know a young fellow, 28 to be exact, professional, father of two, a Unionville homeowner, for all intents and purposes a clean-cut, responsible, upstanding citizen. So it was more than a surprise when he told us over dinner the other night, with a sheepish grin,  that he had scored tickets to the Guns N' Roses reunion show in Hyattsville, Md., this June. He is going not with his wife and kids but with a co-worker who lives in the D.C. area. Tickets cost north of $150 -- and those were the cheaper seats. The VIP packages go for considerably more: for $2,500 you get a seat in the first 10 rows and a backstage tour (but not, alas, a meet-and-greet with Axl and Slash).
The marketers know what they're doing. Putting on one of these tours is hugely expensive, and they know their potential targets are just like our friend: men who want to relive their glory days and generally have much higher incomes than they did in their youth.

OUTDOOR FUN: Get them away from their devices

My gym friend Kelly just told me about the "Healthy Kids Running Series," a five-week program for kids from pre-K to eighth grade that's being held at 3 p.m. on Sunday afternoons at Kennett Middle School, 195 Sunny Dell Road, Landenberg. The first week was April 10 and the series "runs" through May 8 (April 17 and 24 and May 1 and 8).
Age-appropriate events include the 50-yard dash, the quarter-mile, the half-mile and the one-mile run. "Kids compete each week of the Series for a chance to earn points and at the end of the Series the top boy and girl with the most points in their respective age division receive a trophy!"
Registration is $35 and covers the entire five weeks. The website is healthykidsrunningseries.org. You can sign up via Facebook or at runsignup.com.
And parents can also run! Parents will run the one-mile course each week and don't have to pay anything extra if they have a child registered.
The series is organized by David Berger of Landenberg , who is also organizing the Oct. 15 "Mushroom Cap" half-marathon.

JEN CHAPIN: A jazzy evening in Oxford

Jen Chapin and her trio, who performed at Oxford Friends Meeting on April 9, put on a show that was very far removed from the usual earnest and soulful singer-songwriter concert. She and her band put a distinctive jazzy edge on her songs about motherhood, world hunger, marriage, Paris, New York, and Zimbabwe.
Jen performed with bassist Stephan Crump (her husband) and guitarist Jamie Fox. The contrast between Stephan and Jamie was amusing: Jamie's face remained as deadpan as a buttoned-up actuary, while Stephan grinned and winced and tossed his head back and forth. Jen used graceful, studied hand gestures to accompany her words.
My favorite song of the evening was "Tangled-up Puppets," with music by Jen's father Harry Chapin and lyrics by her mother, Sandra Chapin. (Perhaps you remember the 1970s hits "Cat's in the Cradle" and "Taxi"? Yes, THAT Harry Chapin.) Stephan and Jen gave a shout-out to Sandra for babysitting their two sons back in Brooklyn, N.Y., so they could drive down to Oxford and do the show.
One odd side note: Jen said while she and the band were having dinner before the show at an Oxford restaurant, a woman came up to her and accused her of being very rude on a prior visit, wrapping up her insults by calling her an angry and miserable person. Jen said she was baffled as she had never even been to Oxford before.
Opening the show were Scott Birney and Steve Hobson of the local Sin City Band -- what a happy surprise! They performed a nice little set that included their tribute to the Chesapeake Bay and the old Sunset Park in Jennersville, as well as the late Merle Haggard's "Momma Tried.". We chatted with Scott at intermission and he talked about the "Harry Chapin" button he was wearing on his lapel -- it seems there's a move afoot to get him inducted into the songwriters' hall of fame.

GRIT GAMES: Some friendly competition

Folks who walk or jog around the Kennett Y's indoor track on Saturday morning enjoyed some bonus entertainment on April 9: we got a great view of the Grit Games going on in the gymnasium below. Teams of four athletes competed in grueling feats of strength, agility and stamina, such as doing tuck jumps and walking while carrying a giant weight straight overhead. Some groups had been practicing for weeks and wore matching T-shirts; others were more ad hoc.
In the playoff round the final three teams did a relay race across the gym, then box jumps, then crunches. These people are not the type to be satisfied with taking home a participation trophy, so they competed fiercely to the last second.
Just after the Games concluded, I talked with a friend who participated, and she said it had been hard but fun. And I spotted another participant in the fitness center running on the treadmill. Talk about hard core!