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.

KENNETT: Body and soul

There's an extremely friendly and animated older woman who's a regular at the Kennett Y. She talks to everyone, young and old, male and female, whether they speak English or not (I've even heard her try Italian). She obviously likes people and enjoys making connections.
I find her amusing and refreshing. The other day she came up to me and shared her secret for a happy life: she swims every day and prays the Rosary.
Speaking of the Kennett Y, they'll be hosting a huge swim meet, the "Dragon Fest Invitational," on Saturday, Nov. 4, and Sunday, Nov. 5. I've learned to steer clear of the Y on swim meet weekends because many of the exercise classes are cancelled; the building is packed with swimmers, siblings and parents; and every parking space/patch of grass/square of macadam is filled for blocks around.

TRAVEL: Security experts

I lead a largely quiet, simple life here in West Marlborough: naps, knitting, and Wawa soft pretzels are high up on my list of pleasures. So I was startled to receive a pamphlet from a company that, for $334 a year, wants to provide me with "crisis consultation and coordinated in-country response services" should I be the victim of kidnapping, blackmail and extortion, or wrongful detention in foreign countries.
I had to chuckle about the kidnapping part. Right: Good luck with getting my friends and family to pony up any ransom money!

ON HOLD: Hula dancers in paradise

I was on hold the other day with the death certificate office in the state's Department of Vital Statistics. The on-hold music was, of all things, luau music.
After a half-hour, I'd finally worked my way down from ten callers ahead of me to only one -- when a recorded message abruptly told me that the call volume was too busy and I should call back later.
Sigh.
I did so that afternoon, and this time the on-hold music was a easy-listening version of "Here Comes the Sun."
Someone in state government has a sense of humor.
 

GUN CONTROL: Let's avoid stereotypes

An invitation to a Gun Sense Chester County meeting in Oxford came across my desk the other day. It gave the time and place and stated the group's purpose: "This is an educational event on the current status of gun legislation. We invite gun owners and non-gun owners to come, listen and engage in thoughtful dialogue, because we as a group feel that common ground is the solution to reducing gun violence."
Then came what I found to be a jarring and ambiguous sentence: "There is a likelihood that in this particular venue that there may be some NRA members, and we hope the dialogue remains respectful."
I was reminded of a never-more-timely quotation from "Faith and Practice," the Quaker book of wisdom: "Much of the misunderstanding, fear, and hatred in the world stems from the common tendency to see ... groups as blocs, forgetting the varied and precious individuals who compose them." 

WEST GROVE: Chicken dinner

The West Grove-Avondale Rotarians were a model of efficiency on Wednesday evening as they assembled takeout bags of BBQ chicken for their fundraiser at Fred S. Engle Middle School in West Grove. And a tasty meal it was: a half-chicken, a roll, baked beans, pickled mushrooms, coleslaw and chocolate-chip cookies. I took home two dinners and only needed to add some steamed spinach.

KENNETT: A cheerful breakfast

At a fundraising breakfast I attended this past weekend, one of the prominent questions on the obligatory evaluation form warmed my heart: Please rate the quality of the coffee. Clearly, this is a not-for-profit group that has its priorities straight. (The coffee was very good. As were the eggs, potatoes and bacon!)
The event venue was the Red Clay Room, and as usual, I was impressed with how efficiently the staff got all of us fed -- this was a packed room full of people who wanted to socialize.