Friday, March 29, 2019

USPS: Janet retires

Friday, March 29, was a milestone: it was Kennett Square Letter Carrier Janet's last day on the job after more than 40 years of service. Ann, one of the customers on her route, wrote to me:
"Janet is a familiar face on her delivery route in Kennett Square. She always has a dog treat ready and is loved by family dogs. Her careful and thoughtful delivery is appreciated across her route: she tucks packages inside storm doors to protect them from weather and checks up on neighbors that have “been a little too quiet.” She’s great fun to chat with and is a fountain of information about news in the community.  She will be missed but we look forward to seeing her around Kennett!"
I am sure everyone on your route joins me in wishing you a happy retirement, Janet!


Now-retired postal employee Janet.



Pocopson: Brandywine Hills

The Brandywine Hills Point-to-Point, the second race in the spring season, will be held Sunday, April 7, on the grounds of the Brandywine Red Clay Alliance (formerly known as the BVA) at 1760 Unionville-Wawaset Road. This will be the 77th running. Proceeds benefit the Alliance's environmental education and watershed conservation programs.
Gates open at 11 a.m., with the first race, the "field master's chase," at noon, followed by pony races, lead-line pony races, stick pony races, and then five races for the grown-ups. Radnor Hunt, the presenting sponsor, will lead a parade of their foxhounds just before the 1:45 p.m. Ladies' Race.

Thursday, March 28, 2019

KENNETT SQUARE: New Thai restaurant

The opening of Chef Jar Primo's CafĂ© de Thai (420 W. Cypress St., Kennett Square) has created much excitement among (1) people who like Thai food, (2) people who like to try new restaurants and (3) curious people who want to see what all the buzz is about.
Tilda, who belongs to all three categories, and her Dearest Partner stopped in for dinner on Wednesday, March 27. We got there at 6:15 and a half-hour later, every table was filled. I'm told the owners had no idea so many people would show up during the first few weeks. 
As is perfectly normal at a brand-new establishment, things were a little hectic. It took a while for our food to arrive -- again, totally expected -- but when it did it was memorable. The won ton soup was delicious and full of garlic and the yellow curry with seafood, onions, and peppers had an astonishing mixture of complex flavors.
The restaurant is BYOB (we saw several people with wine and beer), and our fellow diners included everyone from little kids to young couples to grandparents.
On our way out we thanked the staff, wished them well and assured them we would be back soon!
By the way, don't park at the Wawa next door. The poor Wawa delivery guy had to come over to the restaurant and ask the driver of a black GMC pickup to move because he couldn't maneuver his tractor-trailer into the lot. And along Garfield Street, every on-street parking space was taken almost south to Mulberry Street. The neighbors must wonder what's going on.

ERCILDOUN: Tim to the rescue

A Unionville neighbor shared this nice story about a Good Samaritan who came to her rescue on Sunday afternoon, March 24: "I went to Triple Fresh but cut the turn too close and went over the curb (Erf! You know the one). My tire went flat. As I was taking out the jack and some other equipment, a nice young man, Tim Gregor Jr. of Coatesville, offered help. I said that I had someone coming. He offered again a couple of times and I finally accepted. Lo and behold, Mr. Gregor had an impact wrench and switched out the flat tire with the spare in just a few minutes. My other half arrived after the flat was on the back of the car (where the spare usually sits) and the jack and other things were put away.
"Thanks Tim Gregor Jr. What a nice young man you are. You made my day easier. Your thoughtfulness and help are much appreciated!"
She also noted that Tim works for Fresh Cut Landscaping (freshcutmowing@comcast.net).

RUSTIN: Icing on the cake

On Saturday evening we were westbound on Route 926, returning from a jaunt to the Main Line (Micro Center in St. Davids and Saffron Kitchen Indian restaurant in Wayne), when we saw oncoming lights and heard sirens. The traffic light turned red, and we watched as a chartered bus, escorted by police cars, turned into West Chester Rustin High School. We later learned that it was the Rustin boys' hockey team, returning home after winning their sixth straight state title.
The motorist behind us was not impressed. He honked his horn at us -- like we were supposed to go through a red light with police nearby?-- and then shot us a nasty glare when he pulled alongside us at the next traffic light, at Route 202.

LETHOS: Flu season

Let's hope that, with the approach of warmer weather, the flu season is over. Two normally hardy friends (one who received the flu shot, one who didn't) got very sick and could barely get out of bed for a week, much less out of the house to their jobs. One case started with a cold; another developed into bronchitis. The latter first went to an urgent care center and then, later in the illness, tried an online telemedicine service called Maven. She was very pleased with the physician's assistant who "saw" her and said she would definitely try the service again.

NEWLIN: Self-experimentation

I visited a Unionville friend the other day to meet her new baby guinea pigs, Bubble and Squeak. She has protected their pen with electrified pads called Scat Mats to keep the house cat, Whisper, from harassing the dear little cavies.
I had never seen Scat Mats, which are battery operated. They are clear plastic, and you can see the wires snaking through them.   
"What does it feel like?" I asked. 
"Try it," she said, turning the power back on.
I expected to feel a mild thrumming. It was not. I received a sharp crackling electric shock and immediately let out an oath. Two oaths, actually. Maybe three.
My friend was in hysterics, and really, who could blame her?
You'd think I would learn, but I had the same experience with stinging nettles years ago. A hiking buddy, a veteran of many summers of wilderness camp in Maine, warned me to stay away from them.
Did I listen to him? I did not.

AVON GROVE: Tight security

A gym friend was telling me that he recently took an arduous five-hour exam for an advanced educational certification. He said he was amazed at the level of security: he was patted down, his cell phone was confiscated, and he was only allowed to wear his wedding ring. The proctors even inspected his eyeglasses to make sure there wasn't a miniature recording device inside. He said the test-takers got a 10-minute break in the middle -- but then they had to undergo the whole security check again.
No word yet on whether he passed.

PENN: Roadwork in Jennersville

The much-needed widening work at the Jennersville intersection is proceeding and, so far at least, I haven't encountered any but the usual (afternoon rush hour) traffic jams. The workers are carving every possible inch of right-of-way out of the corner properties so that they can add turning lanes. While I was sitting at the traffic light I watched the backhoe operator smoothing some earth he had just dug up. Even using his massive clawed metal bucket, he was tapping the earth so precisely and gently that it looked like he was giving it a massage.

JENNERSVILLE: Excellent adverb

I get a little thrill when people use unexpected words. At lunchtime on Wednesday I was shopping at the Jennersville Giant (had to cash in on my $10-off-your-$60-purchase offer) and chatted with the woman monitoring the self-scan registers.
"It is really busy in here!" I commented.
"Stunningly," she replied.

Friday, March 22, 2019

KENNETT Y: New director

The new Executive Director of the Kennett YMCA will be Francisco Zambrano. As a child he participated in Y programs in his native Peru and went on to serve as the Executive Director of the Pueblo Libre Branch and then Chief Operations Officer for the YMCA Peru. Francisco and his wife, Marisol, have a daughter, Isabella. 
Meet-and-greets for the new director will be held in the Y lobby from 9 to 10 a.m. Monday, March 25; 11 a.m. to noon Tuesday, March 26; 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 27; 5 to 6 p.m. Thursday, March 28; and 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday, March 29.
Francisco Zambrano


 

Thursday, March 21, 2019

MISSIONS: Opiates in small towns

Annalie Korengel, pastor of the Unionville Presbyterian Church, was featured in a March 7 article about the epidemic of opiate addiction in small towns. The story is on the Presbyterian Missions website. It starts:
"Annalie Korengel wasn’t just having a bad week. She was having a horrific one. Five funerals in seven days can push any pastor to the brink of physical and spiritual exhaustion. But for the pastor of Unionville Presbyterian Church in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, standing almost daily at the gravesides of young people who had overdosed on opioids pushed her into an indescribable hell.
"When the last funeral had concluded, Korengel and the local funeral director, a good friend of hers, sat down to process what they had witnessed. They couldn’t. Nothing made sense. All they could agree on was that “we didn’t get into this business to bury kids,” Korengel said."
The article, written by Donna Frischknecht Jackson, the editor of "Presbyterians Today," goes on to talk about how churches are responding to the opioid epidemic, like the parent bereavement group that Annalie started at Unionville Presbyterian.
 
 

UHS: Male chorus in concert

The male a cappella ensemble Chanticleer is performing at the UHS auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 3. The 12-member group is celebrating its 40th anniversary this season. Tickets: $25 for preferred seating, $35 for premiere seating. Purchase online at www.showtix4u.com.

VACUUM GUY: Makes cleaning fun

I had an excellent shopping experience at John's House of Vacuums in downtown Kennett Square (305 West State Street). I explained to John that I like my cordless vacuum but need one that's more consistent about picking up cat hair and pine needles. He knew exactly what I wanted (he has cats AND dogs on his farm), demonstrated two possible models for me and discussed their pros and cons.
I liked his attitude: he said his goal is to make people happy customers rather than just making a sale. He succeeded on both counts for me. The vacuum is nimble and light and, in "turbo" mode, sucks up not only cat hair and pine needles but stray press releases, paper clips and kale chip crumbs. I am no domestic goddess, but my carpets and floors look great.
The House of Vacuums is in the shopping center where El Ranchero Mexican Restaurant is and where the stationery store Papier and Molly's Ice Cream used to be.

UHS: Don't Feed the Plant!

"Little Shop of Horrors" was an unusual choice for a high-school musical, to say the least. It's chockful of domestic violence and unhealthy relationships, drug abuse and sadism. And -- oh, yeah -- all the main characters die a horrible death in the maw of the carnivorous plant, Audrey II.
But the Unionville High School theater department never shies away from a challenge. The dark play traditionally has a cast of only eight, but director Nicole Norton "opened out" the show so that far more students could participate as singers, dancers, and "dream" characters.
I'm always impressed with the poise of the UHS actors (they do not miss a line) and the energy they bring to their roles. Senior Will Lehmann,who was also the show's student director, was over-the-top amazing as the crazed nitrous oxide-inhaling dentist. And at one point senior Richard Childs (who plans to pursue a career in theater) was maniacally writhing around on the stage searching for blood spots.
I was wondering how the tech folks would handle the mechanics of Audrey II, and they didn't disappoint. Thanks to some special fertilizer (that would be blood), the evil entity ballooned from a normal-sized plant in a normal-sized flower pot to a monster with upper and lower jaws the size of kiddie pools. Audrey II was voiced ("Feed me!") by senior Zack Cannon, and the puppeteer was senior Sid Panchanadam. The two emerged from the plant only at the curtain call wearing T-shirts saying "Puppet" and "Voice."
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COUNTRY LIFE: Diggin' that Supreme Blend

Last night around bedtime I heard a banging noise out on the deck, loud enough to startle the cat that was slumbering on my lap. I turned on the back light and saw a plump raccoon perched on the corner of the deck post, banging the bird feeder against the railing so that the seed would fall onto the ground below for easy retrieval. The creature turned around, posed while I snapped its photo and then continued its work.
No wonder the feeder is empty every morning and looking distinctly worse for wear!
I suspect the masked marauder is also responsible for emptying my suet cake holders.

WEST MARLBOROUGH: Sale of liquor?

The Thomforde family (owners of the Stone Barn) collected more than the required 105 signatures on their petition by the March 12 deadline, so in the May 21 primary election, West Marlborough voters will be asked: "Do you favor the granting of liquor licenses for the sale of liquor in West Marlborough Township?" The Foxfire Restaurant at the Stone Barn on Upland Road is a BYOB, and alcohol is served at the Stone Barn's banquets and receptions.
If the ballot question is successful, the referendum would reverse West Marlborough's decades-long "dry" status. The Thomfordes believe that having a liquor license would give them more control over the liquor that people bring to the facility and would also allow them to serve locally produced cider, beer, wine and spirits, in keeping with their farm-to-table philosophy.
 
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UNIONVILLE: Life in the Hood

Dearest Partner and I had dinner at Hood's BBQ in Unionville the other night and beaming new grandfather Larry Hood Sr. was delighted to show us a photo of his 2-week-old grandson, Larry Hood IV. The handsome little guy has a full head of black hair. Congratulations to the whole Hood family!

KETO: Plenty of broccoli and bacon, though

The other night at dinner Tilda was describing her self-imposed low-carbohydrate diet to her brother and the Young Relative.
Tilda: "No pancakes --"
Brother: "Meh."
T: "No desserts, no pasta, no pizza, no rice --"

B: "Pasta? WHAAAT?! No way!"
T: "No Wawa soft pretzels --"
B: "I would be dead."
YR: "Yeah, he would. He's not kidding."

Friday, March 15, 2019

STROKE: A good call

You probably read Fran Maye's dramatic piece in last week's paper about Linda Irwin's sudden neck pain and bad headache and how her husband, Danilo Maffei, initially didn't think it was necessary to call 911.
Thank goodness they summoned the ambulance! It turns out Linda was having a subarachnoid hemorrhage (serious bleeding in the brain). The Kennett Fire Co. EMTs rushed her to Chester County Hospital, where the stroke was diagnosed. She ended up being choppered to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, where she stayed for 16 days.
Tilda sends her very best wishes to Linda and Dan.

HOCKESSIN: A keto wizard

Regular readers know that I make a point of praising people who give me excellent customer service, and this week's shout-out goes to David at Harvest Market Natural Foods in Hockessin. I had seen a tasty-looking recipe online for low-carb brownies, headed to the Harvest Market to buy the required ingredients -- and then forgot to bring the recipe with me. I tried finding it on my phone but couldn't get a good connection. I explained my plight to David and he quickly tracked it down for me online. We'll see how it turns out. I've never baked with almond flour or monkfruit sweetener before.

Thursday, March 14, 2019

NRA: Marksmanship

As we do every year, a bunch of us went to the "Friends of the NRA" fundraising banquet at the Red Clay Room. Proceeds benefit youth gun safety, hunting and target shooting programs. The organizers are very good at separating guests from their money, offering all kinds of raffles like the "Wall of Guns." Over the years, we've learned to bring a limited amount of cash and to leave the credit cards at home.
This event, which is always an almost immediate sell-out, attracts the full spectrum of people, everyone from guys in full camo with sidearms to hipsters sporting truly amazing beards. Almost everybody dressed casually, although I did see one woman in a miniskirt and high-heeled red satin sandals. At our table were three military veterans, a yoga instructor, an NRA-certified weapons instructor (a female!), and an investment advisor. At the beginning of the evening, when everyone in the room stood for the Pledge of Allegiance, the men removed their baseball caps or cowboy hats.
When I've written about the NRA dinner before, some readers have expressed concerns that I would write about and financially support a group they find immoral. My response is this: if I only attended events sponsored by groups whose philosophy and actions I agreed 100% with, I'd be spending a lot more quiet nights at home.

WILLOWDALE: New owners

Patients of the Eckman Family Dentistry office in Willowdale learned in an email this past weekend that the practice had been sold to Dental Health Care Associates, based in Aston. The office staff and hygienists will stay the same but the new dentist/owners will be Dr. Lance Panarello and Dr. Jordan Grant.
Dr. Eckman wrote: "I have confidence that the new ownership group will continue to serve the community with the same level of skill and compassion that my father, Joe Eckman Sr. (1943-2013), strove for in his many years as owner.... We are so happy that our family legacy will be passed on to another father-to-son dental family, and we are positive they will honor our legacy with our team and patients."
In a separate email the new owners told patients they plan to add additional days, hours and services to the practice.

POLITICS: Go ahead. Make my day.

Dearest Partner was irritated to receive a fundraising letter from his chosen political party warning him that his membership was "lapsed" and he needed to send a donation to stay in their good graces and on their mailing list. He was savvy enough to realize that you don't need to pay to be a party member but felt the scare-tactic wording could well have misled some citizens.
Me? I don't even open political mailings.

LITTER: A pickup game

The Brandywine Red Clay Alliance is sponsoring a spring road cleanup on Saturday, March 30, from 8 a.m. to noon, in conjunction with the Delaware Nature Society, the Kennett Area Park Authority, Mt. Cuba Center, Inc., and the Red Clay Scenic Byway Alliance. Volunteers are asked to show up at the Kennett YMCA outdoor pool, Anson B. Nixon Park, or the Ashland Nature Center in Hockessin. All necessary supplies (trash bags, gloves, reflective vests, etc.) will be provided. Groups of five or more should call the Alliance at (610) 793-1090 or email jjordan@brandywineredclay.org for route assignments.
Kennett Township is also hosting a road cleanup the same morning. The contact person is Roger Lysle at (484) 221-0897 or email roger.lysle@kennett.pa.us.

RACES: Cheshire Point-to-Point

A reminder that the 73rd running of the Cheshire Point-to-Point Races will be held Sunday, March 31, at the Averell Penn Smith Walker Memorial Course at Plantation Field. I'm eager to see the new course layout, which was designed by Dixon Stroud. Gates open at 10 a.m. and the first pony race is at 11:30 a.m. Race 4, the amateur apprentice flat race, is named in memory of our friend Kathee Rengert, a West Marlborough resident who died this fall and is sadly missed. And I would guess that it's the first time in all of the race meeting's storied history that the words "no drones" have appeared on the parking pass.
Tickets are available on the Cheshire Hunt Conservancy's website. The races will go on despite rain or snow, and no matter what the weather spectators will show up, guaranteed.

SPRING: Changing of the seasons

Although the clock change was jarring, it's delightful to have sunlight in the evenings and warmer days. The snowdrops next to my deck have been in bloom for a few weeks, the daffodil and tulip leaves are showing themselves, and I just saw the first purple crocus and some very early monkshood leaves in the garden. The hellebores, alas, don't look so good.
In a nearby stream the green skunk cabbages, with purple stripes, are starting to appear, and the watercress is already thriving. I haven't yet heard pond peepers, but I'm sure they will start singing any day now.
On the downside, stinkbugs are emerging from their winter hiding places. My Bugzooka vacuum has been busy sucking them up.

NURSE: Fixing what ails you

A friend of mine is the nurse at a local middle school and keeps me apprised on the "bugs" that are going around.
"Today it was a stomach thing. I went through a lot of Lysol," she'll say, or "I had kids in my office as soon as they got off the bus! I was like, `Why did you even come to school?!'"
Like all good nurses, she is at once kind, down to earth and observant. She has some "frequent fliers" who show up like clockwork, "and always during math class."
And some of the kids, she says, "just need a hug."

Saturday, March 9, 2019

PENN: Road work

The much-needed improvement project at the Jennersville intersection has finally gotten underway. So far the lanes of Route 796 to the north of the crossroads have been temporarily shifted slightly to the east. Behind the Red Rose Inn the workers have set up a large staging area, full of large vehicles, drainage pipes of various sizes, a heap of stones, and a Port-a-Potty.

Thursday, March 7, 2019

KENNETT SQUARE: Woodside ice cream

We were enjoying dinner at Carlos Vargas's Kaboburritos in the Market at Liberty Place on March 6 and were excited to see a "coming soon" sign for "Travelers." This newest addition to the Market will offer Woodside Farm Creamery ice cream, "old-fashion" British pies, coffee, bubble tea and other "International Eats and Sweets." Sounds fabulous to me!

PASTTIMES: Games people play

During a lunchtime gym class the other day the teacher had us running around four orange cones, alternately shuffling and sprinting sideways and backwards. My partner for the class was a woman of similar vintage, and between spurts of activity we started reminiscing about the playground games of our childhood. I have not thought about "Chinese jump rope" in years. Two girls (boys never played it) would loop a long elastic band around their ankles and stand facing each while, while a third girl would stand between them and with her feet would create intricate patterns in the band.
The metal slides (which reached leg-scorching temperatures in the sun), the creaky wooden teeter-totters and the shaky jungle gyms of my youth, all anchored in the macadam playground, would never pass muster in these lawsuit-prone days.
One activity my gym friend had never heard of involved two long, thick bamboo poles. Two people (boys or girls) would kneel down facing each other and holding the ends of the sticks. They'd bang them on the ground twice, then click them together. Meanwhile the third person would dance in and out of the poles, trying to avoid getting his or her ankles smashed. Easier said that done when the pole-holders increased the tempo all of a sudden!
(Reader Jack G. informed me that this game is called tinikling: "I and the girls P.E. teacher did this activity with the middle school students during the 70s and 80s at Kennett Middle School.")

WEST MARLBOROUGH: Truckers beware

Once again, an unfortunate tractor-trailer driver simply following his GPS directions found himself in serious trouble when he tried to make a turn at Newark Road and Street Road (Route 926) the morning of Feb. 28. There wasn't enough room for him to do so, and the 53-foot rig ended up stuck and straddling the road.
Fortunately, Billy Hicks showed up with a tractor from his nearby Meadowview Farm, and he and West Marlborough road crew member Hugh Lofting managed to hook up the truck and tow it off the roadway. The truck driver was last seen being taken away by the state police.
It seems to me that this is happening more and more often on our rural roads: GPS doesn't indicate that some roads are just not suitable for big rigs, and truckers from outside the area are caught unawares.

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

WEST MARLBOROUGH: "Wet" Marlborough?

"Do you favor the granting of liquor licenses for the sale of liquor in West Marlborough Township?"
If supporters collect enough signatures on a petition, that question will appear on the ballot at the May 21 primary election in West Marlborough.
Spearheading the effort are the folks at the Thomforde family's Stone Barn on Upland Road, which has been operating for 51 years. The Foxfire Restaurant there is now a BYOB, and alcohol is served at the Stone Barn's banquets and receptions.
If it's successful, the referendum would reverse West Marlborough's decades-long "dry" status. Because of the wording of the statute, the sale of wine and spirits is forbidden in the township, although beer and cider can be sold (as they are at the Whip Tavern in Springdell).
On March 7 I stopped by the Stone Barn to find out more about the petition drive and interrupted general manager Alex Arnold vacuuming the dining room. We sat down together and Alex (her parents are Charlene Thomforde and Kevin Arnold) explained that having a liquor license would allow them to have more control over the liquor that people bring to the facility.
"It's difficult to tell people what to do when, after all, it's their liquor," she said. They also want to be able to serve locally produced cider, beer, wine and spirits, in keeping with their farm-to-table philosophy (say, a mojito made with locally made rum).
Alex told me that the family has held off on trying to overturn the prohibition on liquor sales because her Quaker ancestors are the ones who originally helped to enact it in West Marlborough in 1937 after Prohibition was repealed nationally. Quakerism is historically opposed to drinking, gambling, and smoking.
"It's a little ironic," she admitted. "But I think they'd understand. The township has shifted from the Prohibition-era mindset to come with the times."
At the township meeting on March 5, Chef Franco Alvisi (who is also Alex Arnold's husband) circulated a petition and asked audience members to sign. They need to collect 105 signatures by a March 12 deadline (that number is the result of a complicated formula involving the number of voters who voted for the most important office on the ballot in the previous even-year election in the township). 

SADSBURYVILLE: More than weiners

Harry's Hot Dogs in Sadsburyville serves up way more than just hot dogs these days. It's now a real sit-down restaurant, in a restored 19th-century stagecoach inn, and offers a wide menu of appetizers, sandwiches, burgers and entrees.
We were there on a recent Saturday and it turned out to be "prime rib night." Dearest Partner ordered the smallest one on the menu and it was still gigantic -- and delicious. I had the crab cakes, which were very good, and an excellent assortment of steamed vegetables. 
And if you're in the mood for gourmet hot dogs with all the trimmings, they're still on the menu -- and we noticed that's what the two gentlemen two tables away were eating.
Harry's is at 2949 Lancaster Ave., between Coatesville and Parkesburg.

Saturday, March 2, 2019

COOKIES: Thin Mints go worldwide

As part of "Operation Cookie Drop," the local Girl Scouts are sending cookies to military personnel who are deployed overseas. My friend Karen asked me to share the following: "If you know of anyone who is stationed in Iraq, Afghanistan, Korea, Bahrain, Africa or any areas that do not have access to Girl Scout Cookies, please send their address to suzyknightly@aol.com or kdagusto@aol.com."
Operation Cookie Drop has been going on for over 10 years.


KENNETT: Lifting in the dark

Not even a power failure could stop a Kennett Y exercise class. The lights, microphone and music died right in the middle of a Body Pump class in the gymnasium the morning of Monday, Feb. 25, but the quick-thinking instructor just switched to the music on her phone and all the athletes continued sweating away in the semi-dark. The power returned within a minute or two, although the gym lights were slower to reach full brightness.

OPIOIDS: The epidemic

Yes, it's happening here. There will be a presentation about the "opioid epidemic" that is killing so many young people even here in Chester County at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 13, at the Kennett Township Municipal Building, 801 Burrows Run Road, Chadds Ford. The program is sponsored by the Kennett Township Police Department and the Chester County Overdose Prevention Task Force. Topics will include how the situation developed, the use of the opioid reversal agent naloxone, and available treatment services.

UNIONVILLE: A magic show

The Unionville-Chadds Ford Education Foundation is hosting a magic and comedy show by the "Amazing Spaghetti Magician" at the Patton Middle School auditorium at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, March 23. Doors open at 2:10 and the show will last about 45 to 50 minutes. According to an email I received, "The show will be fun for the whole family with a mix of silly comedy, super-cool magic, ventriloquism, gags and more!" Proceeds benefit the Education Foundation's programs across the district.
 

CHADDS FORD: Two history talks

My friend and former newspaper colleague Cathy Quillman of West Chester is giving a talk about "Indian Hannah" at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 7, as part of a lecture series sponsored by the Chadds Ford Historical Society. Hannah Freeman was a 19th-century Leni-Lenape who lived in our area. In Cathy's lecture, entitled "Chester County’s Early 'Celebrity' Resident, the Myth and the Reality," she will also discuss William Penn's treatment of the tribe. The talk will be held at the CFHS headquarters at 1736 Creek Road, Chadds Ford. Admission is $10 per person at the door; CFHS members are free.
The Thursday, April 11, lecture also sounds interesting. Don McKay will discuss "Lost Lenape Park: Remembering the Once Bustling Recreation Destination." A lot of us have vivid memories of going to the park as kids, riding on the wooden roller coaster and the swings, stretching to get a brass ring on the carousel, and seeing warped reflections of ourselves in the mirror in the fun house.