WEST MARLBOROUGH: Cemetery update

Here's an update on the story I wrote in April about the old Mount Olive AME Church cemetery on Upland Road, where at least six African-American Civil War soldiers are buried. A neighbor who has been quietly maintaining the small site has discovered that there are two massive dead oak trees on the property that need to be taken down. If left to fall on their own, one will hit a house and the other will go across the road, and some of the graves could be disturbed. He said the project is "beyond volunteers" and has gotten a quote from local tree surgeon Dean Madsen of $3,000 to take down both trees. He said that was more than fair, considering that a crane will need to be brought in. He asked me to write about the situation in hopes that readers might offer contributions.
A few days after my story ran, I received an email from another local man who is part of a Civil War Roundtable and, coincidentally, had been doing research on that very cemetery. I put the men in touch with each other, and both attended the May West Marlborough Township meeting to ask the supervisors if they'd be interested in financing the project.
Supervisors chairman Bill Wylie said the township could not spend taxpayers' money on a private site, but he would ask the township solicitor whether the township could take over the abandoned property (the last burial there was in 1944). Another possibility mentioned was that perhaps local African-American churches might want to get involved in the preservation effort.

Civil War veteran John Dorsey and his wife are buried at the Mount Olive cemetery.

TORNADOS: Death and destruction

With all the tornado alerts that have kept our phones buzzing this past week, I wanted to find out more about the major tornados that have hit our area. Here's what I came up with, after 45 minutes of research online (the National Weather Service's website and Tornado Project Online) and in the basement archives of the Kennett Library:
1. On Sunday, March 21, 1976, a twister lifted the roof off a 150-year-old barn at Paul and Debbie Mahoney's farm on Route 842, west of Unionville. Part of the roof blew across the road, but another part fell on the couple, who had been cleaning stalls. Paul was killed and his wife suffered a broken neck. The couple had four daughters and had moved to the farm only about six months before.
2. At about 10 p.m. Sept. 5, 1979, James W. Boyer, 62, was killed when an F3 tornado, part of Hurricane David, hit his trailer on Penn Green Road in New Garden Township and hurled him out of it. He had worked for the Pizzini mushroom farm for 37 years and was set to retire shortly; in fact, he and Leone "Sonny" Pizzini had an appointment at the Social Security office the very next day. According to a newspaper account, the storm "cut a line through the township from the Delaware line near Newark Road where the Charles Wilkinson home was destroyed through Laurel Heights Road and north to the Penn Green Road location."
3. On July 17, 1992, an F2 tornado blew out the side of the Stone Barn Restaurant on Route 842 in West Marlborough. It then crossed Route 842, raced across Newark Road, destroying many trees in the process, lifted the roof off Bruce Davidson's indoor arena on Route 82 and then hit Scott Road, Route 162 and Kelsall Road before lifting at Cannery Road. The storm interrupted a wedding rehearsal dinner at the Hazzard farm on Route 82, but the wedding of Beth Gosnell and Douglas Abraham went on as planned the next day, thanks to a generator and the debris-clearing efforts of friends and neighbors.
4. On July 27, 1994, an F3 tornado ripped through the White Clay Creek Preserve, destroyed six houses in the Hunter's Run development in London Britain Township and damaged 23 others, injuring 11 residents. It then hit mushroom houses at Starr and Ellicott Roads; buildings along Newark Road, near the New Garden Airport; and more mushroom houses and a workers' trailer at the Joseph D'Amico farm along Penn Green Road in New Garden Township. The tornado then traveled north through East Marlborough Township, damaging a home and buildings at Line and Byrd Road at New Bolton Center, ripping down power lines and trees at Route 926 and Wollaston Road, damaging the roof and breaking windows at Unionville Elementary School and destroying a cement block garage at the Freemans' house across the street. It ended in Newlin Township, damaging more houses and trees. It was part of the same storm that killed a couple and their baby in Limerick 50 minutes later.
I owe a big thank you to Kennett Library reference librarian Paul Sapko for showing me where the bound volumes of the "Kennett News & Advertiser" and the "Kennett Paper" are stored. What an amazing resource!

WEST MARLBOROUGH: Snapper time

I was taking a break from planting my flower garden (finally!) and glanced over at the marsh across the way. Next to the little creek was an unusual-looking black item, and I walked over to take a closer look. It was a snapping turtle, about 16 inches long. I couldn't get too close to him -- I was already sinking into the soggy ground -- but he glared at me and opened his jaws as a warning. I retreated to the garden, and no more than 30 seconds later, when I glanced back, he was completely gone. He must have burrowed into the mud, leaving not a trace.

CHATHAM: Revised plans

On Tuesday at 4 p.m. I was stuck at the Chatham village intersection for a full six minutes, according to my ever-vigilant Google Timeline app. As soon as northbound traffic ceased, southbound traffic started up again.
That busy crossroads is the subject of a meeting from 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 11, at Stillwaters Presbyterian Church, 643 Coatesville Rd. (Route 841), sponsored by PennDOT. On display for review and public comment will be the latest versions of the state's plans for improving traffic flow at the intersection. They're saying that the project is being planned for 2022.

 

UHS: Indian Post

Even if you don't have a child or other relative at Unionville High School, reading the student newspaper, the "Indian Post," is a great way to find out what's going on at UHS from the students' point of view. If you remove the mentions of the latest apps, bands and catchphrases, the overarching issues seem to be pretty much the same as they were back in my high school days: the administration and the student body rarely see eye to eye (Example A: the controversial parking pass policy), and students are still stressed out and overworked.
You can subscribe to the Indian Post by sending $20 (cash or check) to UHS Activities, Indian Post, at the high school. They'll mail you eight copies. I've already renewed my subscription. I'm happy to support student journalism and extend my best wishes to the plucky editors-in-chief, Catherine Odum and Jenna Ahart.

LONGWOOD: Fireworks display

How do the pyrotechnicians at Longwood Gardens keep coming up with new fireworks? The display on Sunday evening was spectacular. I confess that the sky-filling, booming ones remain my favorite, but the fizzy gold ones, the squiggly blue-and-gold ones and the red ones that hang in the sky for seemingly seconds are great fun, too.
Although we are longtime Longwood members, we avoid the crowds, the scramble for seats and the fees by watching the displays from the parking lot of the Longwood shopping center. The only downside is that you miss the music and some of the fireworks lower to the ground.

KENNETT SQUARE: Memorial Day parade

Kennett Square's Memorial Day parade was just amazing. We were struck this year by the sheer variety of the participants. For instance, after a solemn military color guard marched by carrying the Stars and Stripes, a marching band struck up Gary Glitter's party anthem "Rock and Roll Part 2" -- followed by a bagpiper playing "Scotland the Brave." The diversity was almost dizzying: Mummers from the Ferko String Band; military reenactors from all eras; martial artists; Uncle Sam on stilts; vintage cars; Aztec dancers; a Viking ship; penny-farthing bicycles; Shriners on minibikes; church groups; Scouts; marching bands; bluegrass bands; a barbershop quartet; ladies in hoop skirts; Step dancers from Wilmington; two guys in light-up Transformers costumers; old military vehicles; the Kennett High School robotics team; huge wreckers; a guy on a unicycle; a fife-and-drum corps; shiny tractors; gleaming ambulances and fire trucks. I'm sure I'm forgetting something; the parade went on for two full hours.
Military veterans received special attention, and the grand marshals of this year's parade were Korean War Veteran Harry Collins, a veteran of the Korean War, and World War II veterans Al, Guy, and Tony DiNorscia.
We enjoy the parade immensely every year. Bill Taylor and his committee do a fabulous job.

 

WEST MARLBOROUGH: Rent, don't buy

West Marlborough resident Dick Hayne, co-founder and chief executive of Urban Outfitters, was mentioned in the May 22 "Wall Street Journal." This summer the firm will roll out a clothing rental business called Nuuly, run by Mr. Hayne's son, David. For $88 per month, customers can rent six items a month, and after keeping them for a month can either buy them or return them and receive another six.
Clothing rental, according to reporter Khadeeja Safdar, is "one of the fastest-growing areas of fashion." Other companies include Rent the Runway ($89 a month for four items), Le Tote ($60 a month for five items), and Haverdash ($59 a month for three items).