Hay fire donations

The special fire company account established by the West Marlborough Township supervisors has grown to $2,150 thanks to contributions from the public, township secretary/treasurer Shirley Walton reported at the board's Nov. 4 meeting.
All the money raised will go to the 14 volunteer fire companies that helped to battle the huge hay fire Sept. 14 at the Hicks Brothers' Meadow Springs Farm on Newark Road: Avondale, Christiana, Cochranville, Goodwill, Hockessin, Kennett, Keystone Valley, Longwood, Modena, Po-Mar-Lin, Union, West Bradford, West Grove, and Westwood.
All donations will be tax deductible; checks should be sent by Dec. 15, 2013, to West Marlborough Township, P.O. Box 94, Unionville,. PA 19375; email westmarlboroughtownship@verizon.net with any questions.

Speeders

At the November West Marlborough Township meeting, the township's police officer, Bob Clarke, reported that he wrote seven speeding tickets in October (and one stop-sign violation). He said he nabs most speeders on Newark Road, as well as some on Route 926. He also warned motorists that the speed limit along Route 82 through Unionville has been lowered from 35 to 30 mph, and it is being enforced (Officer Clarke also works for the police force in East Marlborough, where the town of Unionville proper is technically located).

Internet safety

I just signed up for a lecture about Internet safety for kids ("Social Media Awareness: Your Child in the Digital World") that's going to be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 20, at the Unionville High School auditorium. It's free and open to the public; register at www.socialmediafocus.eventbrite.com.
I'm constantly amazed at how fluent the Young Relative is online, but I really shouldn't be: computer games and the Internet have been around his entire life. He informed me recently that Facebook is officially passé because all of us old folks (i.e., people my age) are using it now. He wouldn't tell me what has replaced it.
When registering for the talk online I got an error message with a red X symbol warning me that the site's web certificate had dubious origins. Ah, well played, I thought; the organizers are giving us an example of effective Internet security. How clever!
Then I realized I mistyped the URL.

Braces and boots

I have often commented on the propensity of equestrians to injure themselves; it seems to be to be a fairly high-risk activity, to put it mildly. It's not just coincidence that orthopedic surgeons take out full-page ads in the programs for local equestrian events.
Anyhow, this worked to my advantage on Saturday night, when I completely overlooked a small concrete step at the Kennett parking garage and ended up turning my ankle. (No, OF COURSE I was not distracted by the handsomeness of my date. That had nothing to do with it. Silly reader!)
I iced it overnight and on Sunday morning I called my foxhunting pal, who has amassed braces, bandages, and cooling, heating, and massaging devices for every part of the anatomy (most of which she has injured; a mutual friend refers to her as "Calamity Jane"). She was delighted to lend me a lace-up brace from an ankle fracture last season; a wrap-around stretchy ankle brace (I'm wearing it now); and her stiff leather paddock boots, which give great support (and are enormously comfortable). She offered me some veterinary aspirin cream, too, but I drew the line there.

On display

This weekend is the 38th annual Art Gala at Unionville High School. Hours are 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 9. I went last year for the first time and was impressed by the works of the local professional artists as well as the UHS students. I even bought the lovely little footstool (with a painting of a goldfish) that my feet are resting on at the moment. Who knows what will captivate me this year?

 

Hunt Cup 2013

All week I was watching the weather forecast with dread and steeling myself to smile through a bitingly cold afternoon in gale-force winds at the Pennsylvania Hunt Cup Races here in West Marlborough. Instead, it turned out to be a glorious day: sunny and 50 degrees, with only a light breeze. I didn't even need to don my gloves, much less the assortment of wooly shawls and knitted hats I brought with me.
My two friends and I packed the Jeep full of food, drink, chairs, and two dogs and had an absolute ball watching the races and cheering for the horses that were owned, trained or ridden by friends of ours. (I was torn in the Arthur O. Choate Memorial Race: my friend and neighbor Paddy Young was riding "Worried Man" -- but how could I not root for a horse named "The Editor"? "Worried Man" won; yay, Paddy!)
No horses got hurt this year, though quite a few of the jockeys took tumbles that looked extremely painful.
At one point -- I forget which race it was -- the horses were galloping around the north side of the course, and off in the distance, in a picturesque echo of the race, we saw a group of deer chasing each other and vaulting over their own fences.
Between races we wandered around and chatted (it's a VERY social occasion). The day before the Hunt Cup had been the beginning of the formal fox-hunting season, so the fox-hunting enthusiasts we saw shared stories about the exciting opening days they'd had. Equestrian events are always a great venue for both people-watching and dog-watching; probably the most unusual breed we saw this year was a Great Pyrenees.
On the menu at our tailgate picnic were macaroni-and-cheese and pulled pork sandwiches from Hood's in Unionville (delicious as always) and Robin Mastrippolito's fabulous cupcakes, the ones I purchased at the Unionville Community Fair auction back in October. I stored a dozen of the cupcakes in my freezer but of course ended up eating some in the meantime; fortunately I had the sense to stash the other dozen in a friend's freezer for safekeeping.
Several times during the afternoon, my friends and I just looked at each other with a sense of gratitude and said, "We are so lucky." There we were, with dear pals, the sun shining on our faces and looking over the picture-perfect Chester County landscape: awesome.
Thank you to all the organizers of this tremendous event, which benefits the Chester County Food Bank. My friends and I look forward to it every year, and it is always a memorable day!

Mason Porter

If you get a chance to see the local rock band Mason Porter, do. I saw them on Saturday night at the Kennett Flash, and it was a great show. The friend I went with, who is a knowledgeable fan about local music, has seen them several times and said they just keep getting better and better. One of the songs they did was "Waiting for My Man," a tribute to the recently deceased Lou Reed.
The Flash is such a great local venue: the room is comfortable, the sound isn't too loud (spoken like a true old fogey, I know), you can order sandwiches, and we got to chat with the band and some friends afterward. It was a terrific evening and gave me a much-needed night out.