HARRISBURG: A mini-Lady Liberty

Next time you are heading to State College, don't miss the 25-foot-tall replica of the Statue of Liberty sitting in the middle of the Susquehanna River. It's near the Route 443 exit of Route 322, just north of Harrisburg. It's wholly unexpected and a wonderful sight! I saw it for the first time on Saturday, when we took a day trip to Sunbury.
According to the Weird US website, "A local lawyer and activist-artist named Gene Stilp put together the first statue with some friends for a bit of a lark to celebrate the original Statue of Liberty’s centennial in the 1980s. When the ersatz replica was finished, they displayed it the closest thing they could find to the plinth on Liberty Island—an old railway bridge piling in the middle of the river.
"There it stood for years, raising a smile from motorists, until wind and weather finally carried it off in the 1990s. People missed it so much that Stilp and his team built a more durable replacement of wood, metal, and fiberglass, moved it onto the piling by helicopter, and lashed it securely to the plinth with cables."

UNIONVILLE: The Community Fair

It's been many years since I've seen so many vegetable entries at the Unionville Community Fair (aka the Farm Show). The display table was jammed, and the peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, pumpkins, herbs and other garden produce looked spectacular. The judges for the competition were students in the Longwood Gardens professional gardener program, and they said they had fun and were delighted at the high quality of the entries.
Another category with standout entries was preserved foods: there were almost 60 entries, everything from pepper jelly to raspberries to grape juice. After tasting some of the spicy salsa entries, the judges were calling urgently for bottles of water!
Anne Nuse and I were the directors of the baked goods competition. Our judges, Randy, Al, and Elaine, had superhuman constitutions, as the judging took almost three sugar-packed hours. Best of show in the adult contest went to a round loaf of white bread with a chewy, beautifully browned crust. Judge Elaine declared that it could have come from a hallowed South Philadelphia bakery. In the youth contest, the top prize went to a spice muffin that the judges deemed superior to most of the adult entries.
I enjoyed seeing my Fair friends -- Terry, Anne, Dave, Debra, Karen, Berta, Bonnie, Ray, Martin, Danielle, and all the rest -- and thank goodness the weather was perfect and dry for a change.
I've been participating in the Fair for almost 30 years, and I'm so glad the community continues to support this 93-year-old event that hearkens back to the time when Unionville was a largely rural area.

AT THE VET: A top-notch practice

I want to express my gratitude to everyone at Brandywine Valley Veterinary Hospital on Strasburg Road for their kind and professional treatment of my dear cat, Tina. She had some dental work done on Monday, and I felt dreadful about depriving her of her breakfast, stuffing her into the cat carrier, and hauling her to the vet. There is no way to convince a feline that it's for her own good, when she just wants to eat her kibble and nap on the windowsill per her usual Monday morning routine.
Everyone at the practice is so nice and compassionate. They go out of their way to create a calm, soothing atmosphere for both scared animals and worried, guilt-ridden humans. Dr. Carol Schafer called me as soon as the surgery was over (all went well) and prepared a folder of x-rays and photographs detailing the work she'd done. She even checked in with me the next morning to see how Tina was doing (healing perfectly).
I was interested to learn that although both European and American vets use the same postop pain pills for cats, the package sold in America contains only three pills, whereas European cats get six. Are American cats tougher?
Thank you from me and lots of affectionate head-butts and purring from the cat.

SKY: Stargazing with Kevin Witman

At 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 13, my gym friend Kevin Witman of Cochranville will be bringing some of his high-powered telescopes to the parking lot of the Londonderry Township building, 103 Daleville Rd., for an astronomy presentation. The rain date is the following evening. Kevin's enthusiasm for stars and planets is contagious and he is great with kids.

QUAKERS: A talk at Marlborough Meeting

Chip Thomas of Marlborough Friends Meeting reports that Henry Jason will be speaking about the principles and beliefs of early Quakers at 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 21 at the Marlborough meetinghouse, which was built in 1801. It is located at the northwest corner of Marlborough and Marlborough Spring Roads in East Marlborough Township. For more information about this small Quaker congregation and its peaceful, historic meetinghouse, you can visit their website or their Facebook page.

WEST MARLBOROUGH: A new road grader?

West Marlborough residents may soon be saying goodbye to the township's venerable road grader, fondly nicknamed "Sisyphus."
Township roads supervisor Hugh Lofting Jr. believes he has found a suitable replacement for the early-1970s Caterpillar grader online, but because state funds will be used in the purchase, the township supervisors must go through a specified bidding process. At their Oct. 3 meeting, they approved publishing a request for bids, which will be opened later this month. 
If all goes as expected, Sisyphus (so named by Rob Mastrippolito of the Newlin Township road crew) will be sold.

Sisyphus, West Marlborough's workhouse road grader.

Also at the Oct. 3 meeting:
-- Township secretary/treasurer Shirley Walton reported that at the end of the third quarter of 2017, the township had received 79% of its budgeted income but had spent only 68% of its budgeted expenditures. (Mrs. Walton was quick to point out, however, that many one-time expenses arise in the final quarter of each year.)
-- The township's zoning and building officer reported in September that he issued two permits for building renovations, one at 1013 Old Hilton Road and the other at 135 Springdell Road.
-- Township roadmaster Hugh Lofting Sr. reported that work to shore up a steep slope alongside Rokeby Road is awaiting only a final approval from the state Department of Environmental Protection.
-- The Southern Chester County Sportsmen's and Farmers' Association, better known to locals as simply "the gun club," wants to tear down several dilapidated sheds on its Sportsmen's Lane property and replace them with a pole barn for storing tools, equipment and machinery. The club already received approval for the barn from the township zoning hearing board, but the plan now needs to be reviewed by the township planning commission and the supervisors. A discussion of the plan is expected at the township's next meeting, on Monday, Nov. 6.

TIME TRAVEL: The Renaissance Faire

I have a low tolerance for role-playing and similar tomfoolery, but I have to admit I had an absolutely wonderful time on Sunday at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire in Manheim. The costumes were amazing: people were dressed as wenches, monks, steampunks, pirates, wizards, elves, wood sprites, fairies, butterflies, knights, lords and ladies (Tudor AND Renaissance), and minstrels -- and those were just our fellow visitors. Shops sold costumes, jewelry, leatherware, candles, and all sorts of fantasy knickknacks. We watched a jousting tournament and a falconry display, ate pork sandwiches and ice cream (we skipped the turkey "legges" and boot-shaped glasses of beer), listened to singers and musicians, and just enjoyed the people-watching on a beautiful autumn afternoon. Where else can you hear a father tell his young son, "Get that sword out of your mouth!"
The Faire is open through the end of October and is an easy drive up Route 283. If you buy your tickets online and print them out at home, they are much less expensive.