A lecture about the King Ranch

Before the pandemic struck, a bus tour through the former King Ranch west of Unionville was planned for August 20. Instead, Kathleen Hood is going to give a talk about the history of the ranch, entitled "Riding with Cowboys, Cattle, and Kings." It will be broadcast on the Oxford Area Historical Association's Facebook page from 7 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, September 15.

Interest in the King Ranch is so high that a bus tour in the summer of 2019 was not only sold out but also had a waiting list of 600 people. The tour, which featured stories by two former cowboys, Kenny Young and Rocky Dillow, included stops at Springdell, Chapel Road, the feed lots, the former ranch office, and the West Marlborough township building in the village of Doe Run. 

Kathleen Hood has written "Echoes in the Glen," a book about St. Malachi Catholic Church in Londonderry Township, and has spent the past several years interviewing former cowboys at the King Ranch for another book.

Kennett Occupation Day is Thursday, Sept. 10

Kennett Square is marking "Occupation Day" on Thursday, September 10, the date in 1777 when British forces took over the town the day before the Battle of the Brandywine. Folks dining along State Street will have the chance to meet Revolutionary War reenactors from 4 to 6 p.m. and listen to a fife-and-drum corps. 

According to the "Kennett Occupation Day" website: "The day and night before this great battle the entire British and Hessian Armies marched into the small town of Kennett Square and occupied the homes and taverns where they rested and planned their attack strategy. The occupation was devastating to the local community as livestock, horses, food, etc. were taken by the British Army."

The event is co-sponsored by the Chadds Ford Historical Society and the Kennett Heritage Center.

Speaking of Kennett history, Lynn Sinclair and Lars Farmer were kind enough to show me around the new Kennett Heritage Center at 120 N. Union St., the former home of Dr. Isaac D. Johnson (and, more recently, the law office of Kennett Township supervisor Scudder Stevens). Perhaps you've seen workers in the front yard doing millwork.

Still under renovation, the museum will include rooms devoted to the 1700s (including the Lenni-Lenape), the early 1800s, the late 1800s, and the Underground Railroad. Lynn said she hopes to have the center open later this year: "It would be really fun to have a holiday celebration here!" 

 

This rendering shows what the first room in the Heritage Center will look like.

An outdoor concert at Primitive Hall

I love my "quarantine" companions: Tina the cat, Dearest Partner, and my next-door neighbors. I see my gym friends via Zoom twice a week and my international group of crossword solvers once a week. But I didn't realize how much I missed the actual physical presence of other humans until I went to an outdoor concert at Primitive Hall on Aug. 30. (Primitive Hall, the big brick house on North Chatham Road between Routes 926 and 842, is the historical home of the Pennock family.)

This was the fifth year for the concert by local balladeer Charlie Zahm and fiddler Tad Marks, and there was much discussion among those of us on the Primitive Hall Foundation board about whether we should hold it: Could it be done safely? We decided that it could, if we enforced mask wear and social distancing and cleaned the bathroom after every use. We recruited a diligent bathroom attendant and used a measuring stick to space out the groups of friends. 

And what was the response? The cars just kept pouring in! We had set up a folding table with spare masks and Hall information -- and we had to keep moving it to accommodate more cars. Over 140 people attended! 

Folks were ecstatic just to get out of the house. Guests thanked us over and over for holding the concert: "You have no idea how excited I am," one woman told me. She said the last concert she saw before the shutdown was, in fact, Charlie Zahm, and she was thrilled to see him again (Charlie has an especially loyal fan base, known as the "Zahm-bies").

The weather was beautiful -- cool and sunny -- and sitting in the walnut grove with friends, listening to music again, was a truly heartening experience. 

West Marlborough township meeting

(I'm out of practice reporting on township meetings, but I'll give it a shot!)

Last night I went to the September meeting of the West Marlborough Board of Supervisors, held as usual in the township garage in Doe Run. The garage door was open for optimal air flow, and everyone wore masks. The folding chairs for the audience were spaced six feet apart, but it was a moot point as I was the only resident who attended. 

Supervisor Jake Chalfin announced that the intermunicipal planning commission comprising West and East Marlborough and Newlin Townships will be reviewing its plan for coordinating the zoning uses in the three townships. The group will apply for state funding to pay for professional assistance with the process, although Mr. Chalfin said he didn't think much would need to be revised in the plan. He and township planning commission member Emory Jones will represent West Marlborough.

Township secretary/treasurer Shirley Walton reported that close to 100% of residents have paid their township real estate taxes within the "face period" (before a penalty is assessed).

The board agreed to send a letter to the state supporting the Kennett Library's request for a $4 million grant to construct its new building. 

Supervisor Hugh Lofting Sr. said during the recent heavy rainstorms, the township road crew had to deal with trees and wires down and gullies in roads, but other areas were harder hit by the flooding and power outages. Supervisor Bill Wylie complimented the road crew on their routine work responding to residents' concerns and keeping the road banks mowed.

The township planning commission meeting that usually precedes the supervisors' meeting was cancelled for lack of business. The group has not met since March.