Saturday, June 30, 2018
GIRLS: Intro to Girl Scouts
Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania is holding an "Introduction to Girl Scouting" program for all girls entering kindergarten or first grade in the Kennett Square and Unionville-Chadds Ford School Districts on July 11 and 12 from 6 to 7:15 p.m. at the First Baptist Church, 415 W. State St, Kennett Square. Preregistration is required; RSVP to Colleen at csienkiewicz@gsep.org by July 6. You can call 215-564-2020 for more information.
BRIDGE: Reopening is welcome
"Night and day!" That's how a friend who lives in downtown West Grove describes the volume of traffic before and after the June 21 reopening of the State Street bridge in Avondale. Although the State Street bridge was tiny, closing it for repairs cut off a key route to schools and many neighborhoods, forcing motorists to find detours through West Grove and beyond. My friend said her street is noticeably quieter and the backup at Oakland and Evergreen due to left-turning cars is much diminished.
Thursday, June 28, 2018
SPAWN: A new hobby?
Residents of the Mushroom Capital of the World will be interested in a June 12 story in the "Wall Street Journal" about backyard mushroom growers.
Reporter Anne Marie Chaker writes that "More than 400 food products featuring mushrooms were introduced in 2017, up 22% from a year earlier … The rise of the mushroom comes as more consumers seek so-called functional foods that promise to do more for the body than just provide nutrition."
She interviewed "hobby" gardeners in Maryland, Pittsburgh and Florida who grow chanterelles, oyster mushrooms, shiitakes, morels, wine caps, and lion's mane, as well as people who offer mushroom-cultivation classes.
Reporter Anne Marie Chaker writes that "More than 400 food products featuring mushrooms were introduced in 2017, up 22% from a year earlier … The rise of the mushroom comes as more consumers seek so-called functional foods that promise to do more for the body than just provide nutrition."
She interviewed "hobby" gardeners in Maryland, Pittsburgh and Florida who grow chanterelles, oyster mushrooms, shiitakes, morels, wine caps, and lion's mane, as well as people who offer mushroom-cultivation classes.
SAFETY: Blinded me with headlights
In my driver's license renewal packet was a list of safety tips for, ahem, "mature" drivers (thank you for that euphemism, PennDOT). Some of them hit home, like "Aging eyes become more sensitive to bright light or glare." So darn true! I was driving home through a light rain the other evening and it was a challenge indeed when the oncoming cars were equipped with those dazzling LED headlights.
I smiled at another one of the safety tips, which my dear old Dad stressed to me while teaching me to drive: "Avoid looking directly into headlights of approaching vehicles." Look down at the white line on the edge of the road, he'd counsel me.
I smiled at another one of the safety tips, which my dear old Dad stressed to me while teaching me to drive: "Avoid looking directly into headlights of approaching vehicles." Look down at the white line on the edge of the road, he'd counsel me.
NEWLIN: Sewage in the Brandywine?
Janie Baird, who chairs the Newlin Township Board of Supervisors, gave me a heads-up about an important hearing that the state Department of Environmental Protection will be holding about the fate of the old Embreeville sewage treatment plant on Strasburg Road.
At the hearing, which will run from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 17, at the Marshallton United Methodist Church, 1282 W. Strasburg Rd., the DEP will "take testimony concerning the Department's intent to renew NPDES Permit No. PA0029912 to Embreeville Redevelopment GP, LLC for the discharge of treated sewage from Embreeville Complex STP to West Branch Brandywine Creek located in Newlin Township, Chester County."
According to Janie, "The old plant is a stream discharge system discharging treated sewage into the west branch of Brandywine Creek just past the canoe launch at ChesLen Preserve."
She said that "Newlin residents and environmental organizations petitioned DEP for a hearing regarding the renewal of the STP’s permit for another 5 years. Obviously, no one wants it to discharge into the Brandywine."
As I'm sure readers know, Embreeville Redevelopment is the group that bought the former Embreeville Hospital property and proposed a housing development and strip mall for the 200-acre site. After years of hearings, controversy, and protests from residents, West Bradford Township rejected the plan earlier this year.
Janie provided some key background: "The plant is in Newlin Township but was never owned or used by Newlin. It was part of the old Embreeville Hospital grounds. After the hospital was closed, it was used by the State Police barracks and the PennDOT garage until about 4 or so years ago when these folks joined in with W. Bradford’s modern lagoon/spray irrigation sewage plant just down the road from this old (1930-1940 era) sewage treatment plant located in Newlin. . . . Part of the developer’s plan was to open up the old sewage plant and use that for the development. There is no way the developer could bring the plant up to modern standards like what is available about 1/2 mile down Rt 162 in West Bradford."
At the hearing, which will run from 6 to 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 17, at the Marshallton United Methodist Church, 1282 W. Strasburg Rd., the DEP will "take testimony concerning the Department's intent to renew NPDES Permit No. PA0029912 to Embreeville Redevelopment GP, LLC for the discharge of treated sewage from Embreeville Complex STP to West Branch Brandywine Creek located in Newlin Township, Chester County."
According to Janie, "The old plant is a stream discharge system discharging treated sewage into the west branch of Brandywine Creek just past the canoe launch at ChesLen Preserve."
She said that "Newlin residents and environmental organizations petitioned DEP for a hearing regarding the renewal of the STP’s permit for another 5 years. Obviously, no one wants it to discharge into the Brandywine."
As I'm sure readers know, Embreeville Redevelopment is the group that bought the former Embreeville Hospital property and proposed a housing development and strip mall for the 200-acre site. After years of hearings, controversy, and protests from residents, West Bradford Township rejected the plan earlier this year.
Janie provided some key background: "The plant is in Newlin Township but was never owned or used by Newlin. It was part of the old Embreeville Hospital grounds. After the hospital was closed, it was used by the State Police barracks and the PennDOT garage until about 4 or so years ago when these folks joined in with W. Bradford’s modern lagoon/spray irrigation sewage plant just down the road from this old (1930-1940 era) sewage treatment plant located in Newlin. . . . Part of the developer’s plan was to open up the old sewage plant and use that for the development. There is no way the developer could bring the plant up to modern standards like what is available about 1/2 mile down Rt 162 in West Bradford."
WORK: Separated by a common language
My most recent project is right up my alley: I'm translating a "British English" book about undergraduate research skills into "American English." It's not just a matter of changing "analyse" to "analyze" and "behaviour" to "behavior." I also have to be on the lookout for "flatmates," "tutor," "straightaway," and "tick" (in the sense of a check mark). British English also uses single quote marks where we would use two, and they put commas and periods ("full stops") outside of the quote marks rather than the reverse. So far the authors have been pretty good about avoiding "one" and "oneself," as the text is supposed to be written in a colloquial style.
KENNETT: Anson B. Nixon concerts
The iffy weather kept a lot of people away from the second concert in the Anson B. Nixon Park summer series, which is too bad: the predicted rain did not manifest itself and the high-energy Carlos Santana tribute band, The Inca Band, was very enjoyable. They ended their show with two of Santana's biggest hits, "Evil Ways" and "Oye Como Va."
At these shows we always enjoy watching the energetic kids who run around on the steps leading up to the stage and dance in the gravel area in front of the bandstand. At one point a band member gave one boy a pair of drumsticks, and the little guy drummed along with them on the steps the rest of the show. If he becomes a superstar rock percussionist, he's got a great anecdote about how he got his start.
At the season opener (with Minnesota singer/songwriter Jake Armerding and his band) we ate sandwiches from Kennett Brewing Company, and at the Inca Band show we brought chicken pot pies from Nomadic Pies in downtown Kennett.
At this year's shows so far I've noticed that some of the smokers in the crowd have started using e-cigarettes, which produce only water vapor instead of smoke. Those of us who dislike cigarette (and especially cigar) smoke are most grateful!
The free concerts continue every Wednesday evening from 7 to 9 p.m.
At these shows we always enjoy watching the energetic kids who run around on the steps leading up to the stage and dance in the gravel area in front of the bandstand. At one point a band member gave one boy a pair of drumsticks, and the little guy drummed along with them on the steps the rest of the show. If he becomes a superstar rock percussionist, he's got a great anecdote about how he got his start.
At the season opener (with Minnesota singer/songwriter Jake Armerding and his band) we ate sandwiches from Kennett Brewing Company, and at the Inca Band show we brought chicken pot pies from Nomadic Pies in downtown Kennett.
At this year's shows so far I've noticed that some of the smokers in the crowd have started using e-cigarettes, which produce only water vapor instead of smoke. Those of us who dislike cigarette (and especially cigar) smoke are most grateful!
The free concerts continue every Wednesday evening from 7 to 9 p.m.
REUNION TIME: Good stories and good food
Last weekend we traveled to Lafayette Hill, near Conshohocken, for a family reunion, one of two we attend each summer. After four years of these get-togethers, I'm finally starting to remember a few names and hobbies, although tracing family relationships with any degree of accuracy remains far beyond me.
As part of this reunion every family member shares what's been going on in his or her world since the prior summer. I was amused to hear that one youth who had some disciplinary problems in high school has found his niche as a whiz kid with a cybersecurity firm. It reminded me of a high-school friend who became a hugely successful boarding school teacher because he knew all the tricks the boys could get up to; he'd done them all, plus some.
Two men reported that they had undergone the same type of knee surgery: one was out of work for a leisurely six weeks, the other was expected to be back at work in three days. The man with the shorter recovery time remarked wryly that he guessed it all depends who you work for. His boss, sitting next to him, made a point of ostentatiously pretending not to notice the comment.
I always enjoy talking to one regular attendee about her garden pests. Last year she was battling groundhogs; this year it's chipmunks. She is both serious and ruthless about protecting her vegetables: Let's just say that the population of those cute little critters in the Wagontown vicinity has been seriously diminished.
As part of this reunion every family member shares what's been going on in his or her world since the prior summer. I was amused to hear that one youth who had some disciplinary problems in high school has found his niche as a whiz kid with a cybersecurity firm. It reminded me of a high-school friend who became a hugely successful boarding school teacher because he knew all the tricks the boys could get up to; he'd done them all, plus some.
Two men reported that they had undergone the same type of knee surgery: one was out of work for a leisurely six weeks, the other was expected to be back at work in three days. The man with the shorter recovery time remarked wryly that he guessed it all depends who you work for. His boss, sitting next to him, made a point of ostentatiously pretending not to notice the comment.
I always enjoy talking to one regular attendee about her garden pests. Last year she was battling groundhogs; this year it's chipmunks. She is both serious and ruthless about protecting her vegetables: Let's just say that the population of those cute little critters in the Wagontown vicinity has been seriously diminished.
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