Last week I wrote about how Giant supermarket has increased from $50 to $75 the amount you have spend to get double the gas points. This past week they tweaked their circular again: you had to spend $95 to get triple the gas points!
I'm a lifelong coupon user and I like to save money as much as anyone, but there's a tipping point here somewhere: I'm not going to put my back out wrestling an extra 35-pound bucket of cat litter into the grocery cart just to get 30 cents off a gallon of gas (not to mention the $40 chiropractic adjustment).
A "Unionville in the News" reader shares her story:
"When my husband checked out at Giant
yesterday with his $95 coupon and only $92.50 worth of groceries he asked the
cashier if could he buy something else. She said, yes, but take it to customer
service with your receipt. When he got to customer service with a $3 box of
blackberries and his tale of woe, they said the $92.50 was close enough and
they would give him the gas credits and he didn’t have to buy the blackberries
if he didn’t really want them. That was nice of them, but STILL!"
Friday, October 5, 2018
AAA: Jumping through hoops
Just a heads up to AAA members from a friend who was in a crash this past week. She's fine, but her car isn't. She called AAA to summon a tow truck, but they wouldn't dispatch one because the membership is in her husband's name. They needed to talk to him AND see a photo ID!
Needless to say, my friend was not happy. She said she has been a Triple-A member for years, has used their towing service on many occasions, and has NEVER run into this complication before.
Needless to say, my friend was not happy. She said she has been a Triple-A member for years, has used their towing service on many occasions, and has NEVER run into this complication before.
WILLOWDALE: Freedom of speech
A friend said she was driving her elementary-school kids to soccer practice at UHS on Wednesday afternoon when she came upon a protest at the Willowdale crossroads. There were anti-Brett Kavanaugh protestors on the Sovanna Bistro corner and, across the street, a pro-Trump contingent on the Landhope corner. (The Eckman Dentistry corner was taped off; no protestors allowed.)
Her kids, predictably, wanted to know what was going on.
She explained that the picketers were expressing their opinion, as we have the right to do here in America. The ones on this corner disagreed strongly with the ones on that corner, and that's why there was a police officer standing by.
"They disagree about a politician," she said.
"What's a politician?" they asked (again, predictably; these are bright kids).
By that time they'd reached UHS, for which the mother was grateful, because she told me she had no earthly idea how to even start explaining that one.
Her kids, predictably, wanted to know what was going on.
She explained that the picketers were expressing their opinion, as we have the right to do here in America. The ones on this corner disagreed strongly with the ones on that corner, and that's why there was a police officer standing by.
"They disagree about a politician," she said.
"What's a politician?" they asked (again, predictably; these are bright kids).
By that time they'd reached UHS, for which the mother was grateful, because she told me she had no earthly idea how to even start explaining that one.
THE FAIR: A community tradition
The Unionville Community Fair, in its 94th year, is such a wonderful tradition. I love donning my Holstein-print apron and catching up with my "Fair friends" each October, among them longtime volunteers Bonnie Musser, Debra Swayne, Dave Salomaki, Karen Statz, Danielle Chamberlain, Berta Rains, Terry Hawkins, Bonnie and Ed Lewis, Ray McKay, and so many more.
I knew that the Exhibit Barn had been fixed up since last autumn -- but wow, what a difference. New skylights let in far more light, the roof no longer leaks, and the stall partitions have been removed, greatly opening up the space. It looks terrific, and I was glad I ran into Landhope owner Dixon Stroud on Thursday and got a chance to thank him.
The number of entries to the Fair varies greatly from year to year. I had only 11 entries in the youth baking category that I ran, but the adult baked goods and the canned and preserved foods tables were almost overflowing.
One mother entered her daughter's cookies on Thursday morning -- they were beautifully decorated, almost like old-fashioned marbled paper. She told me her daughter was determined to create them all by herself.
"Don't help me, Mom!" she kept saying (the mom said she insisted on putting them in the oven and taking them out, though).
There were lots of house plants, artwork, crafts, Lego creations and photography entries, and given the very wet summer we had, the specimen flowers and the garden vegetables had a respectable showing.
Martin Reber, the head of the youth vegetables category, was especially delighted with one entry: a family that was brand-new to the Fair entered a lovely collection of vegetables that included peppers, beans and three different types of okra. One vegetable neither he nor I had ever seen before was a spiky yellow-green gourd called a bitter gourd (Momordica charantia). It's edible (and in fact is used in traditional medicine) but tastes "grossly bitter," Martin said.
Students from the professional gardener program at Longwood serve as judges for the flowers, plants and vegetables classes and take their work very seriously, critiquing and discussing each specimen at length and leaving detailed comments on yellow sticky notes.
I overheard one saying that given the number of entries, there really ought to be a class for "other tomatoes."
I knew that the Exhibit Barn had been fixed up since last autumn -- but wow, what a difference. New skylights let in far more light, the roof no longer leaks, and the stall partitions have been removed, greatly opening up the space. It looks terrific, and I was glad I ran into Landhope owner Dixon Stroud on Thursday and got a chance to thank him.
The number of entries to the Fair varies greatly from year to year. I had only 11 entries in the youth baking category that I ran, but the adult baked goods and the canned and preserved foods tables were almost overflowing.
One mother entered her daughter's cookies on Thursday morning -- they were beautifully decorated, almost like old-fashioned marbled paper. She told me her daughter was determined to create them all by herself.
"Don't help me, Mom!" she kept saying (the mom said she insisted on putting them in the oven and taking them out, though).
There were lots of house plants, artwork, crafts, Lego creations and photography entries, and given the very wet summer we had, the specimen flowers and the garden vegetables had a respectable showing.
Martin Reber, the head of the youth vegetables category, was especially delighted with one entry: a family that was brand-new to the Fair entered a lovely collection of vegetables that included peppers, beans and three different types of okra. One vegetable neither he nor I had ever seen before was a spiky yellow-green gourd called a bitter gourd (Momordica charantia). It's edible (and in fact is used in traditional medicine) but tastes "grossly bitter," Martin said.
Students from the professional gardener program at Longwood serve as judges for the flowers, plants and vegetables classes and take their work very seriously, critiquing and discussing each specimen at length and leaving detailed comments on yellow sticky notes.
I overheard one saying that given the number of entries, there really ought to be a class for "other tomatoes."
KITCHEN: Doing it her way
A wonderfully talented friend reports that she is in the midst of redoing the kitchen of her Dilworthtown home. Note my wording: she is not paying someone to do it, she's doing it herself. (Stands to reason, as she designed and built the place 30 years ago.)
I asked her what she was doing for meals while the kitchen was gutted -- was she eating a lot of takeout?
Surprisingly, not so much, she said. While clearing out her cabinets, she unearthed a lot of long-forgotten appliances like a rice cooker, an electric wok and a George Foreman grill. Along with a microwave, she said she is able to manage pretty well and has turned the living room into a serviceable temporary kitchen.
But washing dishes in the laundry room is getting really old, she said.
I asked her what she was doing for meals while the kitchen was gutted -- was she eating a lot of takeout?
Surprisingly, not so much, she said. While clearing out her cabinets, she unearthed a lot of long-forgotten appliances like a rice cooker, an electric wok and a George Foreman grill. Along with a microwave, she said she is able to manage pretty well and has turned the living room into a serviceable temporary kitchen.
But washing dishes in the laundry room is getting really old, she said.
TECHNOLOGY: Native tongue
Autocorrect is unfathomable at times.
A friend reported receiving an email asking if she could help out on Wednesday afternoon at the Unionville Community Fair. Was she, by any chance, "aboriginal"?
Of course, what the sender meant was "available."
My friend was greatly amused.
A friend reported receiving an email asking if she could help out on Wednesday afternoon at the Unionville Community Fair. Was she, by any chance, "aboriginal"?
Of course, what the sender meant was "available."
My friend was greatly amused.
Thursday, October 4, 2018
LONGWOOD: Fire on high
The last Longwood Gardens fireworks of the season may have had the best grand finale ever. As regular readers know, we, like many others, watch the fireworks from "the cheap seats": the parking lot of the former Superfresh. True, you don't get to see the fountain displays, but you can hear the music and see the majority of the fireworks, and you can't beat the cost.
The musical theme of the Sept. 29 show was "disco" (what's not to like!), with highlights like "Boogie Shoes," "Stayin' Alive," "Lady Marmalade," "I Will Survive," and "Shining Star," with Donna Summer's "Last Dance" to wrap up the evening. I have in my notes that some of the fireworks reminded me of the lighted dance floor in "Saturday Night Fever," ET's glowing fingertip, and graceful downward-facing Datura flowers.
On our way home from the fireworks we saw dozens of cars with New Jersey and New York tags headed south on Newark Road after leaving Plantation Field, where that evening there was another of the popular Lantern Launches.
The musical theme of the Sept. 29 show was "disco" (what's not to like!), with highlights like "Boogie Shoes," "Stayin' Alive," "Lady Marmalade," "I Will Survive," and "Shining Star," with Donna Summer's "Last Dance" to wrap up the evening. I have in my notes that some of the fireworks reminded me of the lighted dance floor in "Saturday Night Fever," ET's glowing fingertip, and graceful downward-facing Datura flowers.
On our way home from the fireworks we saw dozens of cars with New Jersey and New York tags headed south on Newark Road after leaving Plantation Field, where that evening there was another of the popular Lantern Launches.
KENNETT: Beyond the call of duty
"Unionville in the News" reader Pete Kennedy was good enough to share this heartwarming story about Richard's Automotive, 961 W. Baltimore Pike:
"My wife had just come home from the hospital and could not be left at home alone. Our car's steering was regressing to those days when cars had no power steering, so with my daughter's help I dropped it off at Richard's Automotive and let him know it might be a couple of days before I could return and pick it up since my wife was ill.
The next day I went out to the driveway and noticed a van stopped on the road in front of my driveway and a man in the driveway getting out of my wife's car. It took me a second to realize her car shouldn't be there and then I saw the man getting out of the car was Richard.
It was a moment of kindness very unexpected and appreciated after a week at Chester County Hospital."
"My wife had just come home from the hospital and could not be left at home alone. Our car's steering was regressing to those days when cars had no power steering, so with my daughter's help I dropped it off at Richard's Automotive and let him know it might be a couple of days before I could return and pick it up since my wife was ill.
The next day I went out to the driveway and noticed a van stopped on the road in front of my driveway and a man in the driveway getting out of my wife's car. It took me a second to realize her car shouldn't be there and then I saw the man getting out of the car was Richard.
It was a moment of kindness very unexpected and appreciated after a week at Chester County Hospital."
BYRD ROAD: Fatal crash
Those roadside memorials are always sad, but the one on Byrd Road is especially poignant: 17-year-old Jacob Burnham of West Grove was killed when he crashed his beloved pickup truck, Maggie Mae, on September 28. At the accident site, which sits on a peaceful stretch of the gravel one-lane road, there's a large wooden cross, with loving messages from his friends, balloons, candles and a string of rosary beads.
His friends, wearing commemorative T-shirts, gathered there for a memorial candlelight ceremony on Sept. 30.
Jacob, son of Jim and Becky Burnham, was a student at Avon Grove High School and was in the automotive technology program at the Technical College High School at Pennocks Bridge. His friends and family set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for an auto tech scholarship in his name.
His friends, wearing commemorative T-shirts, gathered there for a memorial candlelight ceremony on Sept. 30.
Jacob, son of Jim and Becky Burnham, was a student at Avon Grove High School and was in the automotive technology program at the Technical College High School at Pennocks Bridge. His friends and family set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for an auto tech scholarship in his name.
Wednesday, October 3, 2018
WEST MARLBOROUGH: A brief agenda
The October monthly meeting of the West Marlborough Board of Supervisors was a quiet and brief one.
Road crew manager Hugh Lofting II reported that his team has been busy mowing and filling in ruts with stone: "We're getting pretty good at it after our third flooding event," he said.
The supervisors approved an inground pool and pavilion that Phillip and Evie Dutton plan to build behind their house on Hood Road.
Supervisor Hugh Lofting said engineers recently visited the township's recently completed Rokeby Road stream stabilization project as part of a tour sponsored by the Chester County Conservation District. He also said the township's emergency services committee was meeting once a month and is collecting information about how emergency services are provided in West Marlborough and at what cost.
The next township meeting will be Monday, Nov. 5, instead of the usual Tuesday, Nov. 6, because the township meeting room/garage will be full of voters on Nov 6.
Road crew manager Hugh Lofting II reported that his team has been busy mowing and filling in ruts with stone: "We're getting pretty good at it after our third flooding event," he said.
The supervisors approved an inground pool and pavilion that Phillip and Evie Dutton plan to build behind their house on Hood Road.
Supervisor Hugh Lofting said engineers recently visited the township's recently completed Rokeby Road stream stabilization project as part of a tour sponsored by the Chester County Conservation District. He also said the township's emergency services committee was meeting once a month and is collecting information about how emergency services are provided in West Marlborough and at what cost.
The next township meeting will be Monday, Nov. 5, instead of the usual Tuesday, Nov. 6, because the township meeting room/garage will be full of voters on Nov 6.
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