POCOPSON: Kids and animals

The Barn at Spring Brook Farm, which provides animal-assisted activities for kids with disabilities, is looking for one-on-one volunteers to serve an hour a week for twelve weeks beginning in September. No experience is needed. Training is from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Aug. 26, at the Barn (located on 17 acres off Locust Grove Road in Pocopson).
"With miniature farm animals, the children explore their potential, gain skills and have fun," reads the flyer.
Contact info: email laura.feininger@springbrook-farm.org; phone 610-793-1037; website www.springbrook-farm.org.

UNIONVILLE: A photo exhibit

I got to catch up with a lot of friends on July 26 at Ellie Glaccum's exhibition of photographs of the horses, hounds and humans of Mr. Stewart's Cheshire Foxhounds. The event also served as an open house of sorts for the commercial space that formerly housed the Unionville Saddle Shop. The real estate agent's brochure describes the now-empty, newly renovated store (1712 West Doe Run Road) as "a perfect location for any equestrian-related business."
I especially enjoyed chatting with my always-enthusiastic friend Andie Chalfant, who is busy helping to organize the Plantation Field International Horse Trials, coming up September 14 through 17 (only seven weeks away, she pointed out with some trepidation). Andie was telling me her latest task is trying to find a local brewery to sell its ales there. She also said that PF has a new beneficiary this year, the "Retired Racehorse Project," in addition to the Land Preservation Fund and the Chester County Food Bank.

CHADDS FORD: Agave restaurant

Agave Mexican Cuisine (catty-cornered from Hank's) got a rave review from "Unionville in the News" readers Fred and Mary DeVries. They sent me this email: "This most pleasant spot opened not too long ago down the strip from the Chadds Ford Post Office. We've sampled both their take-out and their in-house dining and been highly impressed. If you don't mind crossing into Delaware Co., we recommend you try! (We brought our own bottle!)."

DELCO: Bacon Fest

A friend who knows my guilty fondness for a certain smoked breakfast meat said he thought of me when he saw a flyer for the upcoming Bacon Fest 2017 benefiting the Recreation Department of the borough of Trainer, Pennsylvania (near Marcus Hook in Delaware County).
"We need one of these in West Marlborough!" he suggested.

NEW GARDEN: Foot in mouth

The funniest autocorrect typo I've seen recently appeared in a Facebook post about some roadwork: the detour involved "Big Toe Road" instead of "Bucktoe Road." A friend quipped, "Is that anywhere near Plump Sock Road"?

UNIONVILLE: Fair photography exhibit

The Unionville Community Fair is looking for a director (or two, to share the job) for the adult photography competition and exhibit. I am assured that you don't need to have any photographic skills yourself; your duties will include accepting the entries, overseeing the judging process and then displaying the photos. Hours would be 2 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 4, to accept the entries; judging starts at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 5. You will have helpers.
The photo competition is always a popular part of the Fair, so please think about volunteering!

UNIONVILLE: Home delivery

"Unionville in the News" reader Ann Baines writes:

"I wanted to sing the praises of Kevin Quinlan of Logical Living (http://logical-living.com/)! He delivers fabulous Baily's milk, eggs, and wild caught Alaskan salmon right to my door - the quality and service can't be beat.  Except, today he went above and beyond!  I forgot to leave a cooler for him but didn't worry because I was just at the Y for a quick workout; but Kevin didn't know that...  He left my delivery in one of his coolers, complete with an ice pack to keep the salmon frozen.  Really outstanding!"

 

FLORIDA: The off-season

I apologize that there was no column last week, but a family emergency took me to Punta Gorda, Florida. You've heard the saying, "We caught the next flight"? Well, my brother and I caught the next flight.
My travel adventures -- not to mention the amazing Florida fauna and flora -- would be enough to fill this column for a month straight, but alas few are Unionville related.

Sunset over the Peace River.

I need to do a lot of Googling to identify all the new plants I saw. This one was in Port Charlotte.

The airport in Fort Myers. I approached the kind Delta gate agent because I wasn't quite sure what to do (last-minute ticket purchase). "You got to the airport," she said. "That's a great start!"

On the way back, we were on the tarmac in Detroit when the pilot announced that, due to thunderstorms, the Philadelphia airport was shut down. Eventually the freeze was lifted -- just in time for shift change. We finally touched down at midnight. You know it's been a trying trip when the captain tells you upon landing that "It could have been worse" and invites you to fly with his airline again "the next time the entire East Coast is shut down with thunderstorms and you feel like taking a little airplane ride."
Silver lining: Had we landed on time, Route 1 would still have been closed at Chadds Ford due to Brandywine flooding and I would have been diverted up to West Chester.