SPRING: Talk on baby birds in Hockessin

The wren babies have hatched in my backyard birdhouse; I can hear their muffled, high-pitched peeping, and their hard-working parents are constantly bringing them food. Lisa Smith, the director of Tri-State Bird Rescue in Newark, will be giving a talk about baby birds at 9 a.m. Saturday, May 14, at the Wild Birds Unlimited store, 7411 Lancaster Pike in Hockessin. How timely!
And if you sign up to become a member of the bird rescue on May 14, Charles Shattuck, the owner of Wild Birds, will give you a $20 coupon to use in his store that day.
You might also want to get on the Wild Birds mailing list, because they put out an excellent newsletter.

ELECTION: Here is how Unionville voted

I'm sure you'll be reading more about the primary election results elsewhere in this week's Kennett Paper (including the spirited write-in battle between Eric Roe and Perry Bentley for Chris Ross' General Assembly seat in Harrisburg), but here are the breakdowns by precinct for the Unionville area.
In East Marlborough Township's East precinct (the polling place is Patton Middle School), voter turnout was 52%. In the Democratic presidential race, Hillary Clinton beat Bernie Sanders, 65% to 34%. On the Republican side, John R. Kasich beat Donald Trump by one vote (233 to 232) and Ted Cruz got 16%. In the U.S. Senate race, Joe Sestak beat Katie McGinty, 53% to 41%, on the Democratic side and Pat Toomey was unopposed on the Republican side. In the race for the retiring Joe Pitts' seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, Chet Beiler beat Lloyd Smucker 56% to 40%.
In East Marlborough Township's West precinct (the polling place is the Willowdale Chapel),  voter turnout was 45%. Clinton beat Sanders, 60% to 38%. Trump beat Kasich, 49% to 33%, and  Cruz got 14%. Sestak beat McGinty by four votes (129 to 125). Beiler beat Smucker, 53% to 42%.
In East Marlborough Township's South precinct (the polling place is the Kennett Square Missionary Baptist Church),voter turnout was 43%. Clinton beat Sanders, 59% to 41%. Trump squeaked by Kasich by one vote (234 to 233) and Cruz got 16%. McGinty beat Sestak, 51% to 44%. Beiler beat Smucker, 60% to 36%.
In Newlin Township, voter turnout was 51%. Clinton beat Sanders, 55% to 45%. Trump got 51% of the vote, Kasich got 29% and Cruz got 17%. Sestak beat McGinty, 46% to 43%.
In Pocopson Township, voter turnout was 44%. Clinton beat Sanders, 62% to 38%. Trump got 45% of the vote, Kasich got 34% and Cruz got 17%. McGinty beat Sestak, 48% to 45%.
In West Marlborough Township, the voter turnout was 47%.  Clinton beat Sanders, 52% to 48%. Trump got 50% of the vote, Kasich got 29% and Cruz got 16%. McGinty beat Sestak, 50% to 42%. Beiler beat Smucker, 57% to 33%.
County-wide, turnout was 42%. Clinton beat Sanders, 55% to 44%. Trump got 46% of the vote, Kasich 31% and Cruz 20%. McGinty beat Sestak, 51% to 42%. Beiler beat Smucker, 58% to 41%, in Chester County but because the Congressional district also includes part of Lancaster County, Smucker was the ultimate winner, 55% to 45%. (Thank you to Lancaster Online reporter Sam Janesch for noting the interesting fact that Beiler and Smucker are second cousins and graduated in the same class at Lancaster Mennonite High School.)

ELECTION: Big turnout at Kendal/Crosslands

I always like to check the voter turnout at Kendal/Crosslands, the Quaker-run retirement community, where the residents are both politically active and left-leaning.
In the primary election on April 26, voter turnout in Kennett Township's third precinct (the polling place is at Kendal) was 62%; 74% of the 443 registered Democrats voted and 62% of the 316 Republicans. Hillary Clinton got 69% of the vote, Bernie Sanders 31%. Trump got 44%, Kasich got 34% and Cruz got 19%.
In Pennsbury Township's North-1 precinct (the polling place is at Crosslands), turnout was 64%; 75% of the 378 registered Democrats voted and 60% of the 223 Republicans. Clinton got 72% of the vote, Sanders 28%. Kasich got 60%, Trump 26% and Cruz 10%.

BERLIN: This market sounds like downtown Kennett

A classmate of mine, Steve Rogerson, lives in Nottingham, England, but constantly seems to be hopping on planes and traveling all over the world writing about beer (yes, apparently there is such a job).
Anyway, the reason I'm mentioning this is that Steve was in Berlin last week and wrote about "Street Food Thursday" at a downtown market (Markthalle Neun, 42 Eisenbahnstrasse) where they serve things like "Crunchy Fried Meatballs with olive oil Potato Mash and Apple ´n Cucumber Slaw" and "grilled cheese sandwiches: Blue Cheese, Cranberry Jam, walnuts, and Habanero-Tomato Sauce." 
Steve shared a photo of a brewstall called Heidenpeters; "they brew the beer in the basement of the market hall."
It sounded a lot like downtown Kennett!

COATESVILLE: Concert by an Irish master fiddler

Frank Dalton of Embreeville asked me to mention that Irish master fiddler Kevin Burke will be performing a solo show at 8 p.m. Wednesday, May 25, as part of the Coatesville Traditional Irish Music Series.
Frank, who organizes the music series with his wife, Emily Fine, says he expects this show will sell out and urges fans to buy tickets online (www.CTIMS2.org). Tickets are $20 in advance, $25 at the door.
The concert will be at the Coatesville Cultural Society, 143 E. Lincoln Highway in Coatesville. I've been to many shows at this facility and it's a charming and intimate setting. Parking is usually readily available on the street just outside the building.

KACS: A muddy-shoe tour of a new facility

On Thursday afternoon Barbara Larsen, president of the Kennett Area Community Services board, showed me around the former house that the agency is in the process of renovating on West Cedar Street, next to their current office space and the Food Cupboard warehouse. The building is going to be called the KACS Resource Center and will house offices for the case managers; space for "partner agencies" to provide services to clients (like the Family Benefits Program for Maternal and Child Health); a training and meeting space; and bathing and laundry facilities for clients who are homeless.
The new facility will free up space in the next-door Food Cupboard, doubling its storage capacity.
In the backyard, before the property drops off to the railroad tracks, a garden with raised vegetable beds is planned (and nutrition classes are planned to help clients learn how to use the produce).
KACS executive director Melanie Weiler, whom I'd met at the Empty Bowls fundraiser back in February, said it was pure luck that KACS acquired the building. She knew the property had been vacant for a while, and when saw an inspector there one day she asked about its status. Bingo! KACS snapped it up before it went on the market.
Melanie also told me about a training class that the agency will be holding the evening of Thursday, May 26, at Unionville Presbyterian Church. Called "Bridges Out of Poverty," the program is targeted at "employers, community organizations, churches, social service agencies and individuals" who are interested in helping people learn to move from poverty to long-term self-sufficiency, helping not only the individuals but the whole community.
I looked through some of the materials that will be used in the program, and they seem very sensible, focusing on learning basic, practical life and employment skills that most of us take for granted. It seems to me that this is the kind of approach that people from the Left and the Right could get behind: it's not a matter of giving handouts, but rather helping people to become independent, employed, responsible, contributing members of the community.
Melanie said that as with all of the KACS programs, the goal is to respect clients' dignity and guide them as needed rather than to tell them what to do.

KENNETT SQUARE: A man of the people

I'm surprised Kennett Square Borough Council member Doug Doerfler manages to get anywhere on time!
I was in my car on State Street at Union Street on Friday morning and saw him crossing the street while checking his phone. I called out the window to him, and he smiled and said hi. Seconds later, after he reached the opposite sidewalk, I saw him stop to greet somebody else.
"Keep your ear to the ground," as a former newspaper editor of mine used to say: it's a necessary skill for both reporters and local politicians!

DELIVERY: Hey, pizza man

If you ordered a pizza from a well-known local delivery joint on Wednesday evening, April 27, and it was cold upon arrival, I may have an explanation.
At about 7 p.m., while I was on my way to pick up a West Grove friend for dinner, I noticed a pizza delivery vehicle pulled over by police at the intersection of  Rosehill and State Roads, near the Avon Grove High School. I was amused and was going to snap a photograph after I picked up my pal, but when we returned a few minutes later it was gone. We headed eagerly toward La Pena Mexicana in Kennett. But then the very same vehicle (it had some distinctive body damage, in addition to the pizza sign on the roof) passed us at a high rate of speed on Baltimore Pike between Toughkenamon and Kennett, possibly rushing back to his home base.
Apparently someone didn't learn his lesson.

FLOWERS: A floral design workshop

I know from a family member who is an avid bicyclist that "pavé" is a word for a rough, cobblestone kind of road much prized by some hardy riders. But I just learned it has another (and slightly contradictory) meaning: it's a type of floral design in which the flowers are tightly clustered and form a smooth surface.
Linda Southerling of the Four Seasons Garden Club of Kennett Square asked me to announce that they will be holding a pavé floral design workshop on Saturday, June 11, at the Episcopal Church of the Advent on North Union Street. There are two sessions, from 10 to 11:30 a.m. or from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Materials and a beverage and snack will be supplied; you are asked to bring your own garden clippers or small garden scissors. Cost is $35 and reservations are due June 1. For more information or to register, e-mail Carol Taylor at Carolbtaylor59@gmail.com.

 

WEST MARLBOROUGH: Appearances are deceiving

I heard a funny, and probably wise, story at the West Marlborough polling place today. A woman was telling me she was once helping to run a fundraising event and was given some sage advice by a more experienced colleague:
"If somebody pulls up in a BMW, hit 'em up for $1,000. But if you see a beat-up, muddy truck with hay flying off, ask them for $5,000!"

ELECTION: So much for a paperless society

I can't believe the volume of election mailings I received this primary season. Granted, the write-in candidates for Chris Ross' seat in Harrisburg needed to get their names out there before the voting public, but it seems like every day there were a half-dozen flyers in the mailbox (they went straight into my recycling bin or the huge wheelie-bin at the post office).
Some of the ads appeared amateurish and hastily produced, with embarrassing typos. I especially dislike the negative "attack" ads with inflammatory language and unflattering photographs, but, sad to say, I suppose they must have some impact or politicians wouldn't use them.
And even after the votes have been counted on April 26, I suppose we'll have six more months of this before the general election in November. The printers and sign-makers must be happy.

KENNETT BOROUGH: Third Thursday extends its season

At a party on April 17, Claire Murray told me some news that will make a lot of people happy: by popular demand, the Third Thursday event in downtown Kennett Square will run from May through September this year! The dates are May 19, June 16, July 21, Aug. 18 and Sept. 15.
On Third Thursday evenings from 6 to 10 p.m., State Street is closed to traffic from Broad to Center Streets, and the restaurants serve dinner at tables set up in the middle of the street. The event is hugely popular, and after two of the evenings were rained out last year, many folks asked for the season to be extended.
There's also live music: the lineup is Josh Komorowski and the Sons of Thunder on May 19, Hake and Jarema Band on June 16, the Sin City Band on July 21, the Rolling Thunder Blues Review on Aug. 18 and Wheelhouse on Sept. 15.

 

ROBOTS: Danger, Will Robinson!

The "Sixty Plussers" group at St. Michael Lutheran Church in Unionville is hosting what sounds like an excellent program on Thursday, May 12, at noon at the church (the late Bernie Langer of Springdell was an enthusiastic member of this senior citizens' fellowship and put me on their mailing list).
Dan Folmar, physics teacher at Kennett High School, and several members of the "Demon Robotics" team will talk about the robotics program and demonstrate their latest robot's talents. "Plan to be on hand as we see just how far robots have progressed since the 'Lost in Space' days," reads the church bulletin. 

STAIR WIT: People can be amusing

I admire quick-witted people, mostly because I am not one of them. If I think of a clever remark at all, it's while I'm leaving (that's why it's called "stair wit"), or even the next day. I was a witness to two examples this past week.
On Wednesday evening we were walking into Sake Hana, the Asian restaurant in Avondale, and the host asked, "Three?" (Another fellow came in just behind us.)
"Just two," I said to the host. Then I turned to the man behind us: "Unless you want to join us?"
"Absolutely," he said, not missing a beat. "If you're buying, I'm there."
Turns out he was just picking up his family's takeout order, so he didn't sit down wit us.
And then late Saturday evening we were returning home from an Earth Day party in Guthriesville. We made a quick stop at the Wawa on Lincoln Highway across from the Thorndale train station. We got our drinks and headed back to the car, passing a group of youths sitting in their car in the parking lot. We heard an announcement on the loudspeaker from the train platform.
"Thorndale," commented my companion as we were walking out of the store.
"Yeah, it is," said one of the youths -- simply, cheerfully, with pride. It was wholly unexpected.