Book about the Hunt

Please forgive my month-long sabbatical! I'm afraid that without the pressure of my weekly deadline, I have slacked off sadly.

But here's a nice item to start up again with. 

Photographer Jim Graham's book on Mr. Stewart's Cheshire Foxhounds, entitled Bound to the Country, has just been released. It's wonderful. Jim has been photographing the horses, hounds and humans of the Hunt for 30 years, and this is a compilation of his work. I recognized many of the scenes of the Unionville countryside and had fun seeing photos of friends and neighbors, some of them, like Nancy Hannum, Gerry Hoover and Dr. Ramsay Buchanan, who are no longer with us. 

I showed the book to a friend who used to foxhunt with Cheshire and she immediately recognized many of the riders, even if they were in a far-off group shot and barely distinguishable from the rest. 

"How on earth can you tell that's her?!" I asked, astonished at her practiced eye.

"That's just they way she sits on a horse," my friend explained. She even could identify many of the horses, by name, owner and behavioral peculiarity ("He would never pick his head up!"). 

The photos of the energetic hounds are marvelous. I smiled at the shots of the hounds flying over fences, tucking into their food trough, or just sharing some love with the huntsman.

It's a gorgeous and timeless book. It's available for purchase at the Brandywine River Museum and the Trail Creek Outfitters store in Kennett Square, or you can order online from Cheshire Editions (cheshireeditions.com).

A fire company open house with social distancing

The Po-Mar-Lin Fire Co. volunteers held an ingenious drive-through open house on the evening of Monday, Oct. 12. They set up stations around the firehouse parking lot and recorded brief explanations about their trucks and equipment so you could drive through and learn about them without getting out of your car. 

In addition to accidents, fires and other emergencies, we learned that Po-Mar-Lin is responsible for conducting large animal rescues throughout Chester County. Recent examples of animals in distress: a horse unable to extricate itself from deep mud and a cow stuck in a manure pit. And because much of the company's territory is rural, they have an all-terrain vehicle that's useful for reaching accidents and fires in remote areas. 

Also on hand at the open house were representatives from Longwood EMS (its mobile intensive care unit ambulance was on display) and the Pennsylvania State Police at the Avondale barracks.

The volunteers were friendly and knowledgeable and were clearly proud to serve as firefighters. It's clear that they put in a lot of time not only responding to emergency calls at all hours but also training and preparing behind the scenes. It was heartwarming to talk with such enthusiastic and community-minded folks.

He was a bad egg: a drive-through murder-mystery

Coping with the pandemic has brought out a lot of creativity in organizations, what business people call being "nimble."

Take the Kennett Amateur Theatrical Society (KATS), the folks who bring you the "Pantomime in the British style." Instead of the murder-mystery they usually stage each summer in downtown Kennett Square, this past Saturday they held a drive-through "social distancing" version at St. Anthony's in the Hills, a now-abandoned summer camp for kids in New Garden Township. 

We investigators were tasked with determining who had pushed Humpty Dumpty off a balcony -- a heinous (and messy) crime! We drove through "Wonderland," stopping to interview the 11 suspects along the way and attempting to discover if they had a motive and an alibi. We learned that all was not well in Wonderland: the late Mr. Dumpty, in fact, was something of a rotten egg, having cornered the market on Wonderland's vital supply of tea and tarts. 

The suspects -- the Cheshire Cat, the Queen of Hearts, the Executioner, the King of Hearts, Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, the Dame of Pikes ("I'm evil, sure, but I'm not a murderer!"), the Knave of Hearts, the Mad Hatter and the March Hare (both desperate for real tea), and Old Alice -- were all portrayed by long-time KATS regulars, and it was great fun to see them again. We were especially amused by the pugnacious brothers Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee, who claimed they were "shopping for new bats" at the time of the crime. The suspects were more than happy to offer their alibis and cast suspicion on others. 

(We felt sorry for the actors, as they had to repeat their information so many times for each carload of detectives. They probably weren't doing a lot of talking the next day.)

At the end we reviewed our notes and submitted our guess for who did the murder. Dearest Partner hit the nail on the head: it was "Old Alice," who had no alibi. Who knew that such a mild-mannered woman could hold a grudge for so long! 

I had never visited St. Anthony's before and found it fascinating. Developed by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, the site is now owned by New Garden Township. While driving through we saw evidence of a former petting zoo, a miniature golf course, and lots of now-overgrown camp buildings with whimsical details and elaborate metalwork. There's a giant amphitheater with concrete tiers and staircases overlooking a small lake. The camp must have been a magical place in its heyday.

Two actual live events this Saturday!

After so many pandemic-related cancellations, I'm jubilant that I have some actually live and in-person events to tell you about! Both will be held this Saturday, Oct. 10.

1. The Kennett Amateur Theatrical Association, the folks who bring you the pantomime each year, are holding a drive-through murder-mystery, "The Mystery of Humpty Dumpty," at St. Anthony's in the Hills (on Route 41 at Route 7) on Saturday, Oct. 10, from 4 to 6 p.m. (last car admitted at 5:30 p.m.). Here's how it will work: 

Tour through a scenic route of St. Anthony’s in the Hills – and along the way question the suspects to determine who murdered Humpty Dumpty. After presenting your ticket at the welcome center, you will remain safely in your vehicle and proceed along the designated route as you question each suspect. There will be suspects all around — so keep your eyes and ears open for clues. Once you have finished questioning the suspects, submit your findings before leaving the park. Later that evening, the proclamation will be presented online and all those who correctly identified the murderer will be entered in the drawing for authentic KATS Murder Mystery T-Shirts.

Tickets are $10 per car and can be purchased online at http://callkats.org/event-dtmm/.  

2. Also on Saturday, Oct. 10, is the third and final "Taste of the Unionville Community Fair" at Foxy Loxy on Route 82 in downtown Unionville from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The featured events this time will be an apple pie competition, a pumpkin contest, and the Fair Queen crowning, which are always highlights of the Fair.

Any kid dressed in a Halloween costume will receive a free kid's cone or cup of ice cream.

-- For the apple pie contest (sponsored by Barnards Orchard): Pies will be accepted from 11 a.m. to noon and, after judging, the winners will be announced at 1:30 p.m. Prizes are $25, $20, $15, and $5. Please include (in a zip-lock bag) an 8.5-by-11-inch sheet of paper with your recipe written on one side and your name, phone number, and address on the other side.

-- For the pumpkin-carving contest and the decorated pumpkin contest: Enter your pumpkin between 11 a.m. and noon and include an index card with your name and phone number. Winners (cash prizes!) will be announced at 1:30.

-- The crowning of the Fair Queen and Princess will begin at 1 p.m.

-- Vendors include DIY Wood Signs; Streitwieser Designs; RJC Woodworking; WoodworksKS; Nodaj's Soaps and Scents; and Rough 'n' Rowdy Honey.

A new Mexican restaurant on our rotation

Jordan Bohall, the new owner and chef at Fuego Eats Cocina Mexicana in the Jennersville shopping center, is a brave man, opening a restaurant in the face of the COVID-10 restrictions. But the new venture is booming, judging from what we saw during our Wednesday night visit. People were not only eating inside and outside, but there was a steady stream of folks ordering and picking up their takeout meals. While we were paying for our meal, the waitress put two callers on hold! 

The menu offers some creative twists on the standard Mexican restaurant fare of tacos, burritos, chimichangas, quesadillas and fajitas. I loved my taco salad with grilled chicken and lime cilantro sauce, served in a crunchy fried tortilla bowl. Dearest Partner had the shrimp and steak fajitas, served with sauteed onions and peppers, rice and grilled vegetables -- which I finished off for lunch the next day.

We were given a choice of eating inside or outside. We chose a table out on the sidewalk, and the busy waitress was cheerful and relaxed, bringing us chips and salsa as soon as we sat down. 

Bohall purchased the restaurant on Aug. 15, added the "Fuego Eats" name, and after closing down for redecorating, reopened on Aug. 25. According to his mission statement, his goal is "to serve exquisite Mexican-inspired cuisine, using the freshest ingredients possible, with a creative touch."

The hours are Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. They're closed Sundays to give the staff some rest, according to a sign on the door. The phone number for takeout is 484-667-8520.

Sold! To West Marlborough Township!

The online bidding for the John Deere 6320 mower was fierce, rising steadily in $100 increments, but West Marlborough Township finally came out victorious with a winning bid of $28,200. 

Road crew boss Hugh Lofting Jr. said the new mower, a 2003 model with 3,800 hours, will be used to mow road banks and will replace one made in 1975 (the township also still uses one made in 1973). It has an enclosed cabin with air conditioning. 

"It's really nice," he said. He said the township got a good deal, as the mower is probably worth close to $40,000 and a new one would sell for over $100,000. Before the auction he drove to West Earl Township in Lancaster County to inspect the mower in person, and he and township supervisor Bill Wylie together handled the bidding on the intermunicipal website.

Hugh Lofting Jr. and road crew member "Brother" Wilson show off the township's new mower at the township garage on Thursday morning.

Hugh 2 picked up the new mower from Brownstown, Lancaster County, on Wednesday. Because it was too wide to fit on a trailer, he drove it home, a trip that took him an hour and 45 minutes ("I actually thought it would take longer"). He said that West Earl was selling the mower because they are rethinking their mowing strategy.  

"Looking "under the hood." The mower is the yellow attachment on the left. 

A lecture about the King Ranch

Before the pandemic struck, a bus tour through the former King Ranch west of Unionville was planned for August 20. Instead, Kathleen Hood is going to give a talk about the history of the ranch, entitled "Riding with Cowboys, Cattle, and Kings." It will be broadcast on the Oxford Area Historical Association's Facebook page from 7 to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, September 15.

Interest in the King Ranch is so high that a bus tour in the summer of 2019 was not only sold out but also had a waiting list of 600 people. The tour, which featured stories by two former cowboys, Kenny Young and Rocky Dillow, included stops at Springdell, Chapel Road, the feed lots, the former ranch office, and the West Marlborough township building in the village of Doe Run. 

Kathleen Hood has written "Echoes in the Glen," a book about St. Malachi Catholic Church in Londonderry Township, and has spent the past several years interviewing former cowboys at the King Ranch for another book.