WEST CHESTER: Bronze Artists

Works by West Marlborough Township sculptor Clayton Bright will be on display at the Chester County Art Association, 100 North Bradford Ave., West Chester, as part of a "Bronze Artists" exhibition. The show opened Thursday, Jan. 11, and will run through Thursday, Feb. 1. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

UNIONVILLE: Pie goes to Harrisburg

Leona Provinski of Unionville, whose fabulous apple and pear crumb pie took the blue ribbon at the Unionville Community Fair back in October, was kind enough to share a full account of her trip to the extremely competitive baking championship at the Pennsylvania State Fair.
She said there were five long tables full of pies, a total of 73. In the first round of judging, her pie ended up as one of the top 5 on her table of 15 pies. In the second round (25 pies), only the top five got ribbons, and unfortunately hers did not: "I like to say I placed either 6th or somewhere in between up to 25th place. They do not tell us where we placed in the top 25 pies."
Leona said the pies varied greatly in appearance. "One delicious pie contained blueberries and a red fruit, maybe cranberries or cherries. One very tall 2-inch pie looked like it was made in a spring form pan. One had icing or white glaze on the crust. Several had dough dyed yellow, red and/or green, but all that unusual color did not do well."
Leona also got a chance to check out the decorated chocolate cake contest. "Oh, those cakes are VERY exotic in their decorations! One had chocolate trees around the side plus sugar dipped Bing cherries on the top! Lots of drizzle over the edge, plus one cake top had 3-inch-tall standing upright chocolate 'lines,' as we see on the British Baking TV show. . . . The exotic gingerbread houses were 2 feet tall by 3 feet long!" 

CHADDS FORD: Train display

The annual model train layout at the Brandywine River Museum will stay open for an extra few weeks, but it's leaving the station on Sunday, January 28. Some friends of ours went to see the huge display and couldn't wait to show us their photos and videos, one of which involved a UFO landing beside the track.

The Museum is open every day from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $18 for adults, $15 for senior citizens ages 65 and over, $6 for students and children ages 6 and up, and free for children 5 and younger and members.

 

COLD: Why people move South

How the senior Tally-hos would have enjoyed hearing about this cold snap -- from the comfort of their Gulf Coast condo, of course.
"It got HOW COLD?! Oh my goodness! Have to run, dear; the cocktail party by the pool is just starting. Stay warm!"

MISSING: Where are they?

Did anyone else have problems with the missing packages this Christmas? I didn't receive two parcels, one from England and one from Minnesota. Unfortunately, the one from England was a calendar. I'm hoping they both show up eventually.
A friend reports that he ordered some CDs, and even though he paid extra for two-day delivery, they never showed up. He called the company and they sent replacements, which arrived in the nick of time -- on Christmas Eve.

COLD: Single digits

It has been so cold this week that 15 degrees F. actually felt pretty darn comfortable today (Jan. 5) if you were well wrapped up and out in the sunshine.
According to Intellicast, the averages for January in Kennett Square are a low of 21 and a high of 39. The record low for January is minus 16, set on Jan. 22, 1984. And the record high for January (should you be interested) is 73, which was recorded on Jan. 25, 1967; Jan. 14, 1972; and Jan. 30, 2002.

KENNETT Y: The January effect

The parking lot at the Kennett Y was packed as I pulled in for my Friday-evening class. What's going on? I wondered
Then it struck me: Of course! It's the January effect.
It happens every year. People make well-meaning New Year's resolutions to lose weight and get in shape and join the Y. Unfortunately, a lot of them show up for only a few weeks and are never seen again, and the parking lot returns to its normal level of craziness.  
Come on: prove me wrong, newcomers!