Today I received an alarming-looking official letter from Harrisburg saying that I might be on the hook for something called a "use tax." I read the letter carefully, checked the Department of Revenue's website and concluded that I do not, in fact, owe the state any tax.
In the FAQs was an example I suspect was NOT written at random:
"Let's say for example you are an executor/fiduciary for an estate, and as the fiduciary, you are responsible for maintaining the properties of the estate. One of the properties maintained by the estate is an apartment building in Chester County that needs new refrigerators in several units. You purchase and pick up the refrigerators from an appliance store in Delaware, then install them in the Chester County apartments. As the fiduciary of the estate, you are responsible for reporting and paying, on behalf of the estate, use tax on the purchase price of the refrigerators."
Imagine, someone making a major purchase in, say, oh, Delaware and using it in neighboring Chester County. I'm shocked, shocked!
Saturday, May 21, 2016
POCOPSON: Visit to an old schoolhouse
On Saturday I enjoyed visiting the Locust Grove Schoolhouse in Pocopson Township, which was open for a fundraising rummage sale. The inside of the schoolhouse (located at Locust Grove and Corrine Roads) had gotten a fresh coat of white paint only a few days earlier, and the next project is to replace the wooden floor.
Pieces from the original chalkboard hang as they did in the front of the room, and the original windows let in a lot of light. Above the blackboard you can see the hole for the pot-bellied stove's vent pipe.
The schoolhouse operated from 1869 to 1932; an extension to house a boy's cloakroom and a girl's cloakroom was added in the 1890s. After the schools were consolidated, the building served as a funeral home and a residence.
The Pocopson Township Historical Committee has a fascinating website about the history of the school and the restoration project (www.locustgroveschoolhouse.org). They've even developed lesson plans so that today's schoolchildren can learn what it was like going to school 150 years ago.
Pieces from the original chalkboard hang as they did in the front of the room, and the original windows let in a lot of light. Above the blackboard you can see the hole for the pot-bellied stove's vent pipe.
The schoolhouse operated from 1869 to 1932; an extension to house a boy's cloakroom and a girl's cloakroom was added in the 1890s. After the schools were consolidated, the building served as a funeral home and a residence.
The Pocopson Township Historical Committee has a fascinating website about the history of the school and the restoration project (www.locustgroveschoolhouse.org). They've even developed lesson plans so that today's schoolchildren can learn what it was like going to school 150 years ago.
MUDDER: An extreme obstacle course
Plantation Field was quite a scene this weekend as it played host to "Tough Mudder," a grueling and aptly named obstacle course that drew hundreds of hardy athletes.
I drove by twice on Saturday and saw packs of filthy-dirty competitors tackling several of the obstacles, included clambering over mounds of piled-up round hay bales, scaling a sheer vertical climbing wall, plunging into icy water, and climbing up what looked like a steep water slide. Between obstacles they jogged with their team-mates along the mowed paths. In one part of the course right along Route 82 they were instructed to "carry a fellow mudder," which many did, switching places halfway through. A lot of the men were bare-chested despite the 58-degree temperature.
"When was the last time you earned your beer?" asked one sign posted along the course.
Strangely, the athletes seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely; even more strangely, I have to admit that some of the obstacles looked like a lot of fun, were it warmer, sunny and not drizzling.
School buses were shuttling the athletes back and forth from the main parking area at the Willowdale crossroads, and police officers were stationed at Green Valley Road and Apple Grove Road for traffic control. Tapeworm Road was closed because to get to the western part of the course, the competitors had to cross it.
I drove by twice on Saturday and saw packs of filthy-dirty competitors tackling several of the obstacles, included clambering over mounds of piled-up round hay bales, scaling a sheer vertical climbing wall, plunging into icy water, and climbing up what looked like a steep water slide. Between obstacles they jogged with their team-mates along the mowed paths. In one part of the course right along Route 82 they were instructed to "carry a fellow mudder," which many did, switching places halfway through. A lot of the men were bare-chested despite the 58-degree temperature.
"When was the last time you earned your beer?" asked one sign posted along the course.
Strangely, the athletes seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely; even more strangely, I have to admit that some of the obstacles looked like a lot of fun, were it warmer, sunny and not drizzling.
School buses were shuttling the athletes back and forth from the main parking area at the Willowdale crossroads, and police officers were stationed at Green Valley Road and Apple Grove Road for traffic control. Tapeworm Road was closed because to get to the western part of the course, the competitors had to cross it.
DOWNTOWN: Not as fast as you'd think
East Marlborough Police Chief Robert Clarke told me, much to my surprise, that motorists aren't actually going as fast as you'd think along Route 82 through Unionville. I saw him Saturday at the Tough Mudder competition at Plantation Field (I hasten to add that he was there in an official capacity, not as a participant) and he said that based on his data, the average speed through town is 43 m.p.h. (the limit is 30 m.p.h.). He does concede, though, that there are some much faster outliers.
DONATIONS: For the birds
My friend Charles Shattuck, owner of the Wild Birds Unlimited store in Hockessin, wrote to me about the generosity of his customers:
"Just when you think
the world is gone to that hot place below ground, people demonstrate that
kindness still exists. Our donation drive for local wildlife
rehabilitator Hillary Taylor and Tri-State Bird Rescue yield phenomena
results. I filled my van with materials they need to help baby birds and
baby critters.
"A customer came in on
Saturday with a large donation basket from the children at Mary D. Lang
Kindergarten Center in Kennett Square. The teacher, Mrs. Ramagnano, asked
the kids to collect basic items like paper towels and rubber gloves. She
believes one boy might have borrowed the toilet paper from his home bathroom as
it was unwrapped. If true, I can only imagine the parents questioning the
future president of our country about where the toilet paper went. Hopefully his response would be 'Mother, I cannot tell a lie. I gave it
to help the baby birds.' " LIBRARY: It's officially "the Kennett Library"
So there you have it. The library board met on May 17 and officially renamed the library the Kennett Library, removing Bayard Taylor's name while recognizing his importance to the public and promising to bring his legacy back to its rightful place.
As I've said many times before, I don't like the name change and I don't think it was necessary. I wasn't convinced by the arguments from the library's $225-an-hour consultant, Carl Francis, about the importance of "branding," and I'm not sure this is an effective way to move beyond the prior library board's glaring, controversial missteps (they, too, wanted to change the name, without any due diligence).
But, and this is a big "but," what's different now is that this current board comprises driven, dedicated, good people with deep ties to the community who are absolutely convinced that they can get a new library built for the Kennett area where so many have failed. I give them a huge amount of credit for that, and I suppose I reluctantly have to accede to their belief that changing the name is the right thing to do.
The board claims that an overwhelming majority of the people who attended the consultant's presentation think they're on the right track. They certainly made some enthusiastic converts among the public, including Lynn Sinclair, who last year started a petition against dropping "Bayard Taylor" from the name but is now sold on the idea. Mostly what I'm hearing, though, is that the people who didn't like the proposed new name still don't like it, and the ones who don't care still don't care.
And realistically, I think people will keep calling the library what they've always called it, either the Bayard Taylor library or the Kennett library.
As I've said many times before, I don't like the name change and I don't think it was necessary. I wasn't convinced by the arguments from the library's $225-an-hour consultant, Carl Francis, about the importance of "branding," and I'm not sure this is an effective way to move beyond the prior library board's glaring, controversial missteps (they, too, wanted to change the name, without any due diligence).
But, and this is a big "but," what's different now is that this current board comprises driven, dedicated, good people with deep ties to the community who are absolutely convinced that they can get a new library built for the Kennett area where so many have failed. I give them a huge amount of credit for that, and I suppose I reluctantly have to accede to their belief that changing the name is the right thing to do.
The board claims that an overwhelming majority of the people who attended the consultant's presentation think they're on the right track. They certainly made some enthusiastic converts among the public, including Lynn Sinclair, who last year started a petition against dropping "Bayard Taylor" from the name but is now sold on the idea. Mostly what I'm hearing, though, is that the people who didn't like the proposed new name still don't like it, and the ones who don't care still don't care.
And realistically, I think people will keep calling the library what they've always called it, either the Bayard Taylor library or the Kennett library.
Sunday, May 15, 2016
WILLOWDALE: And it's off to the races again
There weren't many sundresses in evidence at the Willowdale Steeplechase on Sunday. This year "Steeplechase Style" seemed to consist of a whimsical spring hat paired with a heavy plaid blanket. I donned jeans and boots and a Scottish hat better suited to the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup, and when the brisk wind died down and the sun came out it was actually very pleasant.
We saw lots of friends, caught up on township news and medical news (huge congrats to a certain Unionville fellow who is new ex-smoker!), inspected the new BMW sports car on display, said hi to a lot of dogs, and cooed over a couple of well-wrapped-up newborns. Thank you to all the people who fed me from their tailgate parties: the filet of beef, the chicken, the orzo salad, the home-grown asparagus, and the mini-crabcakes were delicious!
At one point in the afternoon I was walking over to visit some friends on "Member's Hill" and a woman asked me if I was betting on the races.
"No," I said, a little baffled. "Why?"
She said she'd noticed I was studying the program intently. I explained to her that the program lists where everybody's parking space is, so you can stop by and say hello. She was astonished, as if a whole new world of socializing had opened up to her.
Also amazed were some kids standing in line for the Port-a-Potties with their father. They asked the quite reasonable question of how they should flush.
"You don't," said the father matter-of-factly, offering a technical explanation of how portable toilets operate.
The "stick pony" races for kids were a big hit. We spotted one adorable boy giving his stick horse a drink from the little creek that crosses the grounds. Other kids were tossing footballs and bean bags around, practicing lacrosse or just running around with seemingly boundless energy.
Although eating, drinking and socializing are the key components of the day for many spectators, the horse races are always exciting to watch. There were a couple of notable mishaps this year, though. Near the end of the first race a loose horse jumped the fence separating the course from the spectators and ran wildly into the crowd. Fortunately, and almost unbelievably, no one was hurt and no vehicles were damaged.
And the fifth race ended with a nasty crash involving two horses. One jockey was pinned for a moment under his horse until a few people managed to roll the horse over. Kudos to photographer Jim Graham, who was shooting at the final jump, for running over and assisting. The horse ambulance people immediately put up a privacy screen, which made us think the worst, but after a few minutes the racecourse announcer shared the welcome news that both horses were up.
We saw lots of friends, caught up on township news and medical news (huge congrats to a certain Unionville fellow who is new ex-smoker!), inspected the new BMW sports car on display, said hi to a lot of dogs, and cooed over a couple of well-wrapped-up newborns. Thank you to all the people who fed me from their tailgate parties: the filet of beef, the chicken, the orzo salad, the home-grown asparagus, and the mini-crabcakes were delicious!
At one point in the afternoon I was walking over to visit some friends on "Member's Hill" and a woman asked me if I was betting on the races.
"No," I said, a little baffled. "Why?"
She said she'd noticed I was studying the program intently. I explained to her that the program lists where everybody's parking space is, so you can stop by and say hello. She was astonished, as if a whole new world of socializing had opened up to her.
Also amazed were some kids standing in line for the Port-a-Potties with their father. They asked the quite reasonable question of how they should flush.
"You don't," said the father matter-of-factly, offering a technical explanation of how portable toilets operate.
The "stick pony" races for kids were a big hit. We spotted one adorable boy giving his stick horse a drink from the little creek that crosses the grounds. Other kids were tossing footballs and bean bags around, practicing lacrosse or just running around with seemingly boundless energy.
Although eating, drinking and socializing are the key components of the day for many spectators, the horse races are always exciting to watch. There were a couple of notable mishaps this year, though. Near the end of the first race a loose horse jumped the fence separating the course from the spectators and ran wildly into the crowd. Fortunately, and almost unbelievably, no one was hurt and no vehicles were damaged.
And the fifth race ended with a nasty crash involving two horses. One jockey was pinned for a moment under his horse until a few people managed to roll the horse over. Kudos to photographer Jim Graham, who was shooting at the final jump, for running over and assisting. The horse ambulance people immediately put up a privacy screen, which made us think the worst, but after a few minutes the racecourse announcer shared the welcome news that both horses were up.
SUET: Are raccoons the culprits?
In recent weeks I've lost three suet holders. Not just the suet cakes, mind you, but the entire feeder. I bought yet another feeder but this time securely affixed to the tree with some serious hardware. I'm resolving to purchase and install a critter-cam so I can see exactly what the hungry nocturnal creatures are doing in my backyard. I suspect raccoons. Even though the suet is supposed to be for the birds, I can't help admiring the persistence and ingenuity of the feeder-thieves.
FOOD: Creature comforts, carbs and calories
On Saturday afternoon we attended an ice-cream social (has any better form of get-together ever been devised?). We left on the early side, but not before taking full advantage of the jimmies, chocolate sauce, marshmallows and M&Ms. I explained to our friends that if we stayed, we'd just keep devouring more ice-cream sundaes, and it had already not been the most nutritionally sound day, as we'd attended a church pancake breakfast.
"A pancake breakfast and then ice cream?!" exclaimed one guy. "Oh! What a perfect day!"
I really couldn't argue.
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