PUMPKINS: Not just for Halloween

In the suburban neighborhood where I grew up, there was no question about what happened to your jack-o'-lantern after it had served its holiday function: it went in the trash and the trash truck took it away.
Not so here in Unionville.
I grew a good crop of pumpkins this year, thanks to Burpee's Halloween Blend, and friends were vying for them for a variety of reasons. My brother wanted them for the seeds, which he roasts and eats. (I used to give him just the seeds; now I just dump off the entire pumpkin in his yard and let him do the work.)
Friends who raise chickens also clamored for them, as apparently rotting pumpkins are a favorite for hens and roosters. A friend and I worked out a swap: she bought lunch and in return I loaded up a few dozen pumpkins in her pickup.
While driving around West Marlborough the other day, I passed a North Chatham Road farm where an adorable pig, three or four goats, and a rooster were chowing down on a huge pumpkin. There was a large pile of gourds and pumpkins stored behind the pen still to be eaten. I'm told that pumpkins were a mainstay of agriculture in Colonial days because they were great food for hogs. Nothing is wasted on a well-run farm!



This West Marlborough pig is enjoying a pumpkin.

DEVICES: A stereotype revealed

We tend to think of younger people as the natural experts on electronic devices, whereas those of us who grew up in those dark days before cell phones and the Internet sometimes struggle.
But that, of course, is not always the case.
Yesterday afternoon I was at Foxy Loxy in Unionville drinking hot chocolate and catching up with a friend (and laughing, I am sure, far too loudly) when an older woman came in with a middle-aged man and woman (I'm assuming son and daughter, or son-in-law, or daughter-in-law).
They were talking about current movies, and the older woman pulled out her phone and spoke to it, asking for information about what was playing in the cinemas near Bryn Mawr. I looked over at her daughter or daughter-in-law in amazement.
"I know," she said. "I still have a flip phone."

ADVERTISING: A Good idea

One of my network of correspondents called to my attention a newspaper ad for Good's Store, a chain of Lancaster County department stores, which was advertising a Dec. 23 "Midnight Gladness" sale from 6 p.m. to midnight.
"Sounds much nicer than Midnight Madness," he wrote. "Props to them."

BIRTHDAY: Excellent customer service

By accident, a birthday card to a friend of mine from his sister was delivered to the Republic Services trash-collection company in West Grove, which has a street address similar to his.
Michele, who works in customer service at Republic, forwarded it on to him, apologizing for the delay and explaining that she had opened the card in error because the company receives so many Christmas cards this time of year.
She also wrote on her sticky note, "You are double blessed to celebrate the Savior's birth month with yours." She said she was determined to get the card to him because "No Birthday would be complete without a card from your best sister!"
She wished him a Happy Birthday, a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year and noted that like the Hallmark slogan, "Your sister cared to send the best for her Best Brother Ever!") (Which is true, given that he is also her ONLY brother.)
As if that wasn't enough, Michele even went out and got a fresh envelope for the card: "Hallmark provided the tan envelope -- they apologize for not having lavender."

FOOD BANK: Hunt Cup helps out

On Dec. 20, the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup Committee contributed a check for $50,000 to the Chester County Food Bank, Kathleen Rengert, the Hunt Cup's executive director, told me. The money was raised at the annual equestrian event held in West Marlborough Township. The Food Bank, headquartered in Exton, provides food through a network of food cupboards, hot meal sites, shelters, and other social service organizations.

RIP: Some local people who left us

At the end of each year I like to look back and remember those who have left us. Here is the list I came up with for 2016:
-- Milton Lowe, a resident of Brandywine Senior Living and the father of a friend of mine. A U.S. Navy veteran and an active member of the Jewish War Veterans, he participated in the 2015 Kennett Square Memorial Day parade, and when the car he was riding in broke down, he hitched a ride on the Native American float and had the time of his life singing and dancing with them.
-- Bob Brooks, who lived in Chatham and sold the best Christmas trees ever
-- Thomas Cummings, a local history buff, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran and a two-time Purple Heart recipient who fought at Iwo Jima. He lived in Mortonville and showed me the spot where in 1928 the famous aviator Charles Lindbergh made an emergency landing, off what is now Lone Eagle Road ("Lone Eagle" was the name of Lindbergh's plane).
-- Frito, a faithful donkey, and Brandy, a much-loved rescue dog
-- Connie Nichols, one of the founders of the Tick-Tock Day Care Center in Toughkenamon and a longtime member of Kennett Friends Meeting. She restored the Bayard Taylor house in Cedarcroft, the Gregg house on Chandler Mill Road, a couple of South Broad Street houses, and two West Grove historic properties. The obituary for this Kendal resident read: "In lieu of flowers or donations, please save an old house."
-- George Zacharkiw, a beloved husband, father, and grandfather who fought multiple myeloma and had so many people rooting for him to win
-- Marjorie Kaskey, a local historian and fellow Dorothy Sayers fan
-- George A. "Frolic" Weymouth, the larger-than-life Chadds Ford conservationist, artist, fundraiser, carriage driver and bon vivant
-- Philip Fanning, a Unionville fixture; a father and grandfather, a horse breeder and foxhunter. I didn't know until I read his obituary that this gentleman won the Maryland Hunt Cup in 1958 aboard Ned's Flying.
-- Elsie Johnson, a matriarch of the Longwood Fire Co. At her funeral in Wilmington, her hearse was escorted by three fire trucks, along with many Kennett-area firefighters.
-- Leon Rowe of Kennett Square, who taught social studies at Avon Grove High School for 30 years and, with his wife Dolores, collected old postcards and political campaign memorabilia.
-- Tom Musser, a 1952 UHS graduate (and a Wall of Fame honoree), who was chairman and founder of The Tri-M Group. He put his business savvy, community connections, and personal energy and charm to work for the benefit of a whole host of local organizations, including the capital campaign to build the YMCA on Race Street.
-- Denise F. Miller of Lincoln University, who worked for 33 years for the Unionville Chadds Ford School District, most recently as administrative secretary to the superintendent. As her former colleague Don Silknitter said, "Denise had been the rock that held the district together since she was hired by Dr. Charles Garris decades ago."
-- John W. Singer Jr., a 1969 UHS graduate. A line from his obituary explains part of the reason his death is such a loss to so many: "John was a small engine mechanic his entire life. There was virtually no engine he couldn’t diagnose or fix. He also enjoyed cutting grass, snow plowing and wood splitting. He was always working on something." A friend whose steep and winding driveway John plowed said he would never send her and her husband a bill; at the end of the winter, they'd try to figure out how many times he had plowed and then write him a check what they thought would be a fair amount.
-- Thomas G. Gaspar of Kennett Square, a native of Budapest. Again, I quote from his obituary: "As a young man, he was a proud Scout Master and was one of the Freedom Fighters who sought to resist the Soviet occupation of Hungary. Like many others, he was captured and jailed. He spent four years in a political prison. Upon his release he was able to escape to the West." I had met this gentleman socially -- he was the president of Morning Star Coffee, which donated coffee to some event I was involved with -- but had no idea of his heroic background. Amazing!And back in 2015, I can't believe I forgot to mention Don Pusey (a fact of which his widow, Barbara, reminded me with some spirit!). Our bucolic West Marlborough Township would not be the same without the foresight he displayed as a township supervisor and the emphasis he placed on open space preservation.

YMCA: Hooray for this Mom!

Overheard in the locker room at the Jennersville Y, Monday, Dec. 19:
Swim-team girl hands her bathing suit to her mother to rinse: "That's YOUR job."
Mom: "My job? My JOB?? My job is to keep you fed and clothed; the rest are luxuries."

WXPN: An A-to-Z marathon

On our jaunts around town in the Jeep we usually tune in to 88.5 FM WXPN, the University of Pennsylvania-based radio station, which plays a great mix of music old and new. For the past few weeks the station has replaced its normal programming with an A-to-Z lineup of some 6,000 songs, starting with the Jackson 5's "ABC" and ending with "ZZ Top Goes To Egypt" by Camper Van Beethoven.
It was fun hearing the first few notes of the song and trying to "name that tune" based on where in the alphabet they'd gotten to.
There were some genuine surprises, like when we were listening to the "D's" and the Rolling Stones' classic "Heartbreaker" (from the 1973 "Goats Head Soup" album) came on.
What?? Could an ABC-challenged person at the station have made a mistake? No, some quick Googling showed that the song's real name is actually "Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo"!
Now that the A-to-Z is over, it's back to our favorites "Sleepy Hollow," "The Many Moods of Ben Vaughn," "The Blues Show," and "Mountain Stage."

CHRISTMAS: Carol sing at Marlborough Friends

On Sunday evening we went to Marlborough Friends Meeting's annual Christmas carol sing and greatly enjoyed both the singing and the fellowship.
After a brief period of silent worship, a guitarist and harp player led us in singing  more than a dozen songs, both traditional and secular ones, including a complete version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas." We ended with "Silent Night."
Our hosts at Marlborough had set out a table full of home-made cookies, breads and other delicious snacks, along with cider from Barnard's Orchards. I saw several women I know from the Unionville Community Fair, and we laughed about how difficult it is to recognize someone "out of context."
I also had an interesting discussion with one of the Marlborough members about how different the local Quaker meetings are from each other. Marlborough is one of the smaller meetings but has a core of dedicated members and a charming, nicely preserved meetinghouse.

MEANING OF LIFE: Gratitude from a mother

Lisa Moore, the manager of Kennett Township, wrote the following post on Facebook on Dec. 17 after her son and his friends survived a late-night 30-car pileup in which two people died. I found her thoughts to be both true and relevant. She kindly gave me permission to share it:
"I must say how thankful I am this morning that my son and his friends are home safe. . . . How tragic for those families that are grieving this morning. I pray and pray for them.
"I am writing this because I read through many Facebook posts and see people attacking and degrading each other over things that truly don't matter.
What matters in this world are our loved ones, being nice and helpful to each other and thankful to be on this earth. I hope going through this holiday season everyone realizes how fortunate they are and tell the ones you love how much you appreciate them each and every day."

LIBRARY: A new director is hired

Congratulations to Megan Walters, the new director of the Kennett Library (aka the Bayard Taylor Memorial Library). She will begin her job on Jan. 9. 
According to a Dec. 18 press release from the library board, "Walters comes to Kennett from the Denver Public Library system where she managed the Smiley Branch Library. Before her tenure in Denver, Megan was the Interim Director of the Cooper Memorial Library in Opelika, Alabama."
She has a master's degree in library and information sciences from the University of Alabama and a B.A. from Auburn University with a major in anthropology.  
The library plans to hold a series of “Mondays with Megan” in February so she can meet the community.

Megan Walters is the new Library Director.

CHALFANT: An update on the renovation project

Jayne Bair, who owns the Chalfant Mansion in downtown Kennett, texted me the other day: Would I like to see the progress being made on renovating the historic house, which was heavily damaged by fire in November 2014?
Of course I said yes, and what a difference from the last time I was inside the fire-damaged treasure back in March! New windows have been installed, allowing much more light inside. Workers from MOBAC are busy rebuilding the back part of the house from the ground up. The elaborate fireplaces, which were heavily damaged by smoke, are being cleaned. Some of the woodwork was burned beyond repair; the banister on one part of the staircase is being replicated, for example.
The 1884 mansion, designed by noted Philadelphia architect Frank Furness, will serve as the headquarters for Jayne's real-estate business (Century 21 Pierce & Bair), and she hopes she and her agents will be able to move in next March.

This stylized carving of a dog's head decorates one of the fireplaces.

 


This part of the staircase is being replaced.

CHRISTMAS: A Boy Scout tree

Thanks to Boy Scout Troop 53 of Kennett Square, we have possibly the largest, fullest Christmas tree that has ever graced this home. We were late in our tree-shopping, waiting until Dec. 18, and by that time all of the smaller trees at the Scouts' sale in the Giant parking lot were long gone and only the $55 and $65 ones remained. 
The boys were helpful salesmen, pointing out several trees they thought we might like. When one youth lifted a tree off the rack for our inspection, we could see it was a winner and the sale was made. The boys made a fresh cut in the trunk, trimmed off some bottom branches and then wrangled the tree to our car.
The fathers who were supervising said ordering a sufficient number of trees of various sizes (they buy theirs from a tree farm in Gettysburg) is always a balancing act. It seems that if they order smaller trees, people want larger ones, and vice versa.
Anyway, it's a lovely tree, and I'm happy that our money went to the Scouts, always a very good cause. Time to start stringing popcorn and cranberries, a Tally-ho tradition!