Sunday, October 29, 2017
WEST CHESTER: New technology
Bill Haaf of Chester County Citizens for Climate Protection (www.chescocooler.org) asked me to mention his group's upcoming lecture, "The Current State of Carbon Capture Techniques," at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8, at West Chester Borough Hall, 401 E. Gay St. Princeton professor Michael Celia will be discussing ways to capture carbon dioxide in order to reduce greenhouse gases while still burning fossil fuels. The captured carbon dioxide can then be used to make chemicals or can be stored deep underground.
DINNER: Locavores
Our Sunday supper was a memorable one: we had roasted chicken with potatoes and carrots, both just harvested from the garden, marinated with cider from Barnard's Orchards. Easy and delicious.
LONDON GROVE: Draining the swamp
I spotted some excellent product placement the other day. The pest-control company called Mosquito Joe has placed a sign at the corner of Route 926 and, you guessed it, Mosquito Lane.
A waggish friend wondered what an appropriate sign would be on Tapeworm Road.
 |
| Excellent product placement! |
A waggish friend wondered what an appropriate sign would be on Tapeworm Road.
UHS: The Prince of Denmark
For the Fall Play, the ever-ambitious UHS students have decided to put on "Hamlet," and we have every confidence they will do their usual close-to-professional job. The curtain goes up at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 9, Friday, Nov. 10, and Saturday, Nov. 11. Tickets are available at the door.
UNIONVILLE: The Mum Tour
About 40 antique automobile enthusiasts gathered at Primitive Hall on a warm, sunny autumn morning for a tour of the 1738 Pennock homestead, followed by a drive through the Unionville countryside. The "mum tour" was sponsored by the local Model T club and was organized by Lou Mandich and Charlie Brosius.
Standing on the mounting block at Primitive Hall, Charlie gave a brief history of the beautiful area that the motorists would be driving through. He explained how Lammot du Pont bought up 4,000 acres of land to form the Buck & Doe Run Valley Farms, where he raised cattle, hogs and horses. (Coincidentally, Mr. du Pont's nephew, Irénée du Pont, and wife Barbara were part of the mum tour.)
After World War II W. Plunket Stewart, founder of the Cheshire Hunt, persuaded Robert Kleberg of Texas to purchase the land, plus another thousand acres, to serve as grazing land for his King Ranch cattle. In the 1980s the Brandywine Conservancy was established to save the land from being sold for development; instead, the acreage was subdivided into parcels no smaller than 30 acres.
"The efforts of the Brandywine Conservancy and other private, county, and state conservation programs today have resulted in over 25,000 contiguous acres of preserved land, the area we will travel through today," Charlie said.
The itinerary took the motorists, driving everything from Model T's to Corvettes, along Route 841 to Greenlawn Road, St. Malachi Road, Springdell Road, Route 82, Covered Bridge Road, Doe Run Church Road, Fairview Road, Brandywine Creek Road, Green Valley Road, Powell Road, Scott Road, Route 162 and back onto Route 82. The tour ended with lunch at Hood's BBQ.
Standing on the mounting block at Primitive Hall, Charlie gave a brief history of the beautiful area that the motorists would be driving through. He explained how Lammot du Pont bought up 4,000 acres of land to form the Buck & Doe Run Valley Farms, where he raised cattle, hogs and horses. (Coincidentally, Mr. du Pont's nephew, Irénée du Pont, and wife Barbara were part of the mum tour.)
After World War II W. Plunket Stewart, founder of the Cheshire Hunt, persuaded Robert Kleberg of Texas to purchase the land, plus another thousand acres, to serve as grazing land for his King Ranch cattle. In the 1980s the Brandywine Conservancy was established to save the land from being sold for development; instead, the acreage was subdivided into parcels no smaller than 30 acres.
"The efforts of the Brandywine Conservancy and other private, county, and state conservation programs today have resulted in over 25,000 contiguous acres of preserved land, the area we will travel through today," Charlie said.
 |
| Just a few of the antique cars that rallied at Primitive Hall on Oct. 21. Photo courtesy of Lou Mandich. |
The itinerary took the motorists, driving everything from Model T's to Corvettes, along Route 841 to Greenlawn Road, St. Malachi Road, Springdell Road, Route 82, Covered Bridge Road, Doe Run Church Road, Fairview Road, Brandywine Creek Road, Green Valley Road, Powell Road, Scott Road, Route 162 and back onto Route 82. The tour ended with lunch at Hood's BBQ.
RIP: A gentleman and a soldier
The word "gentleman" comes to mind immediately when I think of F. Michael Donohue, who died on Oct. 24. He was smart, courteous, funny, worldly, well-informed and well-dressed, with a military bearing (after all, he had been an officer in the U.S. Marine Corps).
Whenever I was invited to an event at the beautiful Kennett Township home he shared with his wife, Audrey, and an assortment of dogs, I would accept immediately, because I knew the company, the conversation and the food and drink would be top-notch. I think my favorite image of Mike was him standing at the doorway greeting his guests, with his hand out and a broad smile of welcome. It would be hard to imagine a more gracious host.
Quite simply, "F. Michael" was one of the best. We are holding our dear friend Audrey in the light.
Whenever I was invited to an event at the beautiful Kennett Township home he shared with his wife, Audrey, and an assortment of dogs, I would accept immediately, because I knew the company, the conversation and the food and drink would be top-notch. I think my favorite image of Mike was him standing at the doorway greeting his guests, with his hand out and a broad smile of welcome. It would be hard to imagine a more gracious host.
Quite simply, "F. Michael" was one of the best. We are holding our dear friend Audrey in the light.
KENNETT: Scout spaghetti dinner
Boy Scout Troop 24 had a full house for their spaghetti dinner at Kennett Friends Meeting on Saturday. The food, as always, was delicious: I look forward to chowing down on the meatballs, the homemade sauce, and the mushrooms over linguini. The dessert table had a Halloween theme: I chose a cupcake with a skeletal arm emerging from the chocolate icing.
The polite boys, in their Scout uniforms, did a good job fetching drinks and bussing tables. As a bonus we got to watch a video of the youths in action over the summer, setting up tents, cooking over a campfire and plunging into a river.
One veteran helper told us that this year's fundraising dinner was an unusually popular one, with many takeout orders: usually there's a lull in the action in the middle of the afternoon, she said, but not this year. And we had a nice chat with a fellow diner about the value of Scouting and the importance of supporting local community events like this, even if our families aren't directly involved.
The polite boys, in their Scout uniforms, did a good job fetching drinks and bussing tables. As a bonus we got to watch a video of the youths in action over the summer, setting up tents, cooking over a campfire and plunging into a river.
One veteran helper told us that this year's fundraising dinner was an unusually popular one, with many takeout orders: usually there's a lull in the action in the middle of the afternoon, she said, but not this year. And we had a nice chat with a fellow diner about the value of Scouting and the importance of supporting local community events like this, even if our families aren't directly involved.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)