A new supervisor for West Marlborough

"It's been a good ride," said West Marlborough Supervisor Hugh Lofting Sr., summing up his decades of service to the township. At the April 6 meeting, he submitted his letter of retirement, which was regretfully accepted by the other two supervisors, Jake Chalfin and Bill Wylie.

Mr. Wylie asked long-time township secretary Shirley Walton how long Hugh Sr. had been a supervisor, and she said he started serving as a planning commission member back in the 1980s.

"That was before I was born!" exclaimed his son, Hugh Lofting Jr., who is the head of the township's road crew. The younger Lofting agreed to take on some of his father's tasks in terms of getting grants for township roadwork.

Supervisors Chalfin, Lofting and Wylie, with secretary-treasurer Shirley Walton and engineer Al Giannantonio, at a 2016 township meeting.

The supervisors appointed Emery Jones Taylor to fill Mr. Lofting's term. A lifelong township resident, she was the secretary for the planning commission and is married to former supervisor Josh Taylor. She recently joined the staff of the National Steeplechase Association. Jake Chalfin predicted she will be "a dynamite fit" on the board.

The supervisors also received a resignation letter from zoning hearing board member Tom Best.

Supervisor Chalfin also noted that Kenny Young, "a fixture of the township," died April 4. Mr. Young served in the Army, rode the King Ranch as a cowboy and for 50 years served as the farm manager for  the Runnymede estate. He said the last time he saw Mr. Young was when Mr. Young brought him some Angus steaks from his own cattle. Jake said Mr. Young was immensely proud of his grandchildren and loved talking about them. Supervisor Wylie recalled that Mr. Young and his brothers were all gifted athletes, and the King Ranch baseball team was always a formidable opponent.  Here is Mr. Young's obituary.

Kenny Young

Also at the meeting, Mr. Wylie said he had heard from a former member of the Kennett Library board who told him that West Marlborough's financial support of the library's building project was instrumental in influencing other municipalities to contribute as well. Mr. Wylie noted that he thought this was worth mentioning, given the "concerns" that some West Marlborough residents expressed back in 2019 about whether the township should help to finance a new library building in the center of Kennett Square.  

Artist's rendering of the proposed Kennett Library.