Chadds Ford Life Chadds Ford Life
Chadds Ford Life Spring/Summer 2025
Letter from the Editor:
In this issue of Chadds Ford Life, we’ll introduce you to just a few of the interesting and talented people who work in or who call Chadds Ford home.
There’s artist Suzanne Gaadt, who keeps very busy working on the things that she loves. Whether she’s working in graphic design or creating in her art studio Give a Fig or writing a book about Icelandic Vikings, she is always busy—and always following her core passions.
We also profile Caitlin Michener. Her business, The Naked Lady Gallery & Shop, is far more than a must-stop for vintage clothing. It’s an extension of her style and her creativity, and it’s where her dreams are shared.
We also take an in-depth look at the athletes and coaches who have helped to make Unionville High School’s rowing program so successful. Some of the athletes have been gone on to compete at the collegiate level, and one local competitor even earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic rowing team.
Mindy Rhodes creates her music and her floral arrangements from two sacred places: at AllaFine Farm (At Last), home of WhisperWind Studios, which she shares with her husband, John Braxton near Chadds Ford, and from within her personal space that calls out for quiet self-expression. Recently, Mindy met with Chadds Ford Life to talk about her career in floral design and music and her work that helped save Crebilly Farm.
As anyone who lives in the area knows, there have been more frequent and more extreme flood-
ing events that have been impacting communities along the Brandywine Creek in both Pennsylvania and Delaware. We take a look at the results of a two-year Brandywine Flood Study that includes recommendations to reduce dangerous floodwaters.
Charlie Wags has already had a busy year—and there are new adventures on the horizon. Charlie Wags is the star of a charming new picture book series by sister duo authors Ali Barclay and Sofie Wells, and so far this year they have published three books about Charlie Wags’ adventures with one more on the way.
The work of Chadds Ford artist Zifeng Zang is featured in the photo essay by Jie Deng. It’s remarkable that one community has inspired so many interesting and talented individuals—but hardly surprising considering how beautiful the area is.
We hope you enjoy the stories in this issue of Chadds Ford Life, and we look forward to bringing you the next issue of the magazine in the fall of 2025.
Sincerely,
Avery Lieberman Eaton averyl@chestercounty.com
Stone Lieberman stone@chestercounty.com
Steve Hoffman, Editor editor@chestercounty.com
Photo: Jie Deng
Design: Tricia Hoadley
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Unionville Crew: The ultimate team sport
By JP Phillips Contributing Writer
It may be a surprise that Unionville High School (UHS) has a crew team here in “horse and cow country,” as Head Coach and West Chester resident Chris Tolsdorf phrased it during a February information session in the high school cafeteria. The other 70 or so teams in their league are located much further east.
“It’s pretty unique that we even have the program here,” Tolsdorf said. “But rowing itself is just an incredible, unique sport.”
The team is led by a dedicated group of coaches: Head Coach Tolsdorf, who also leads the girls varsity teams; UHS graduate Maegan Hailey, who coaches novice girls and runs the summer camp; varsity boys coach Michael O’Dwyer; and Erin McGill, a UHS graduate who manages novice boys.
According to O’Dwyer, Unionville’s rowing program started in 2014 when some UHS rowers connected through the Newport Rowing Club located just south of Wilmington, Del. The athletes and their parents wanted their own team, and the Unionville Crew Team was born. One of those original members was Justin Best, who subsequently competed in the Olympics twice, winning a bronze medal in 2020 as part of a team of eight rowers and then a gold as part of a team of four rowers in the 2024 Paris competition.
“That was the first gold medal for the U.S. men in that event since 1960,” O’Dwyer noted.
Seeing one of those sleek, long boats slicing through the water on a beautiful spring day is truly a wonderful sight, but as every member of the crew team knows, it takes a lot of training, practice and hard work to make it seem so easy and graceful.
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A Unionville boys four team slices through the water.
|Chadds Ford Life| Unionville Crew
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Rowing at Unionville runs for three seasons, meeting six days each week. Winter training takes place in the high school gym, where athletes build endurance and strength. The spring season begins in early March, when the team members bus 30 minutes to the Newport Rowing Club where the boats are stored to practice on the Christina River. Spring is also when the competitive races start against other clubs. Fall competitions continue on the water with practices and longer races.
Boats are manned by either four or eight rowers and one coxswain, who keeps everyone coordinated, calm, on course and delivering their maximum effort. Coxswains are the only athletes that look forward; rowers face backwards. The ideal coxswain is small in stature with a motivating personality. In a four-rower boat, the coxswain is tucked under the bow, and in an eight boat they are seated at the rear facing the rowers.
Being on the team requires a major commitment from both the athletes and their parents. The Crew Team Board is made up of parents who manage logistics, transporta-
tion, dues and fundraisers. They also coordinate volunteers which are needed for everything from donating food to manning the “Chuck Wagon” which provides meals to the team during events. Since the team is not financially supported by the school district, parent funding and participation is imperative.
Photo by JP Phillips
The crew team’s dedicated coaches: Michael O’Dwyer, Chris Tolsdorf, Maegan Hailey, and Erin McGill.
With training occurring six days per week, athletes quickly learn how to manage their time well. While they can participate in other sports, Tolsdorf made the priorities clear.
“Academics takes priority over everything else,” he said. “Then comes rowing. Plan the work, then work the plan. It wouldn’t be a meeting if I didn’t say that.”
Tolsdorf explained how rowing bonds people and they have a ready-made group of friends.
“A nice side benefit for a lot of athletes is then they take that new gift [rowing] that they have, and they take it to college,” he said. “In terms of college scholarships, women’s rowing, in particular, they’re the largest percentage of high school students who go on to do their sport in college, and it’s not even close. So that’s also a great thing.”
West Chester resident and UHS senior Jack Develin, one of the team’s captains, talked about how the individual aspect that exists with many other sports —where one catch or play can change the trajectory of a game doesn’t apply here.
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The Scholastic Rowing Association National Championship silver medal winners, Girls Junior Eight, are from left to right (standing), Maya Ritz, Bella Mathias, Coach Tolsdorf, Chris Koncir, Atlas Akki, Avelyn Lockard and (kneeling) Jenny Ding, Maci Becker, Giada Laurelli, and Isabella Wahl.
Unionville Crew
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“You have eight guys in a boat (if it’s an eight), all trying to work together toward the same goal. Everybody has to be in perfect unison with each other to make that boat go as fast as possible,” he said. “So, if one person’s not necessarily doing the same thing or one person’s trying to do a lot, it’s not necessarily going to make a difference. Winning and losing comes down to how well you are in sync and working with your crew mates. It’s like the ultimate team sport, as coach Chris [Tolsdorf] likes to say.”
UHS senior and coxswain Chris Koncir from Chadds Ford has been rowing throughout her UHS career.
“I did track and field and I loved it,” Koncir said. “I was good at it. I thought that that’s what I was. I thought that that’s what I was going to do in college. And then I just kind of didn’t like the fact that it was me versus my teammates, and I didn’t like competing against [them]. But with rowing, we’re all in the same boat and I’m not a coxswain without all eight rowers and we’re not a boat if one rower is missing. It’s just a very tight-knit community, and we all need to depend on each other.”
An unforgettable memory was made when the fastest teams competed at the Head of the Charles Regatta in Boston last fall.
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Sunset on the Christina River by the Newport Rowing Club.
Unionville Crew
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According to the competition’s website, 12,000 athletes and tens of thousands of spectators travel to the Charles River for this event each year.
“That was the largest regatta, I think, I’ve been to personally,” Koncir said. “Seeing so many famous rowers at the Charles was just such an amazing experience. People come from all over the world to see that race and we got 18 [place] out of 90 boats, and it was the highest we ever placed in the top 20. It was just such like a starstruck moment for us because we’re such a small program and it was really, really exciting.”
Unionville Crew holds several summer camp sessions which are led by Coach Hailey and focus on middle schoolers.
“It’s a nice little pipeline, just to give them a fun, short, introduction to rowing without it being as high commitment as the rowing season is once they get to high school,” Hailey said. “We have 18 campers each week, so they’ll go in the water every day, all four days. There will be at least two varsity members in each boat to help them and support them on the water as well as a coach.”
Tolsdorf explained that many sports are team sports, but rowing is unique.
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The 2024 Bronze medal winners in the girls four event at the City Championships. All graduated last year and are rowing in college except as noted. From left to right are Lily Holt, Hadley Levinson, Chloe Kluender, Leah Murphy (a UHS senior and committed to competing at Division I Fairfield University), and Sophie Swartz.
“You get away from school, you can get down on the river, you’re out in nature, you’re out in a completely different place,” he said. “You’re going into Philly, you’re going into the Mecca of rowing in the United States—the Boathouse Row. That aspect of rowing is something that athletes just really love. It’s getting you out of your normal school environment in something completely, completely different.”
The coach added, “Rowing is very different in that everyone has to get things done and at the exact same time in unison, at the threshold of their abilities. And they all have to do the same thing over and over and over again with no timeouts, no ability to regroup, and you’ve got to keep yourself in time with everyone else. And that is incredibly unique.”
Toldsdorf also talked about another different aspect of rowing.
“The whole goal in rowing is to not stand out,” he said. “That is an aspect of a sport that a lot of people really love and it generates just tremendous bonds. And you can start the sport brand new, without knowing anything else, and discover lifelong friends, and a side of you as an athlete that you didn’t even know existed.”
For more information, including summer camp schedules, team awards and team history, visit www.unionvillecrew.org.
Courtesy photo
Besides rowing, there are fun and games at summer camp.
Senior coxswain Chris Concir will be coxing at the University of Massachusetts next year.
Photos by JP Phillips Jack Develin, a UHS senior and one of the team captains.
|Chadds Ford Life|
Life Q & A|
Q & A with Mindy Rhodes of WhisperWind Studios
Mindy Rhodes creates her music and her floral arrangements from two sacred places: at AllaFine Farm (At Last), home of WhisperWind Studios, which she shares with her husband, John Braxton near Chadds Ford, and from within her personal space that calls out for quiet self-expression. Recently, Mindy met with Chadds Ford Life to talk about her career in floral design and music, her work that helped save Crebilly Farm and a very large and musical dinner party she would love to host.
Chadds Ford Life: I can’t help but inquire as we begin, how do you possibly shift the bounty of your creativity from writing and performing songs to creating floral arrangements? Most creatives are one-trick ponies. You have several ponies in the stable. How did these twin talents begin to form?
Mindy Rhodes: Growing up, I was a classical pianist and focused on music, and while I enjoyed flowers, I never thought I would have a career in flowers. I knew that teaching piano lessons was not my first choice of a career, so I began to play gigs when I was young, just playing piano with no vocals, but over time, I realized that I should start to sing and play.
When I was 18, I met with the restaurateur Jack McFadden to try to get a job playing piano at The Restaurant and Bar in West Chester. He told me, “I already have a piano player. Can you sing?” I lied and told him that I could sing, so I started doing it and nobody threw me out and so I kept on doing it.
Later, I began teaching piano lessons at the Music Centre in Exton, owned by Glenn Ferracone. I lived in Malvern and there was a floral shop on the first floor of the apartment building I was living in at the time, and the woman who ran it was looking for extra help on the weekends. I began screwing up phone numbers and she said, “Forget about answering the phone. Come with me. I’m going to teach you.” I absolutely loved the art of floral arrangement, and my entry into a life in flowers began there.
Whether you’re an artist or a chef or a painter or a musician, sooner or later, your creativity has to come out.
You write in your story that as a child, you escaped into your creativity, and often with a treasured pet by your side.
I learned at a young age that animals are always honest and that I can always count on them to be there. I can remember practicing classical piano for hours on hours. I had a little Sheltie named Bonnie, and she would lay her
Photos by Richard L. Gaw
Trained as a classical pianist, Rhodes has gone on to record three albums, including her latest, It’s Alright Tonight.
head on my pedal foot, and would stay there for hours. Animals were my escape, and they were always there for me.
If art is about the slow revelation of one’s truest self, what was beginning to be revealed to you at that impressionable age in terms of welcoming and accepting what has become a creative life?
Most of my focus was on classical piano, but I would occasionally get bored and begin to explore songwriting, which then took on a life of its own and became more important. I was a closet singer for years but the more I practiced singing, the better I got at it.
As you got older, how did the partnership between music, flowers and art begin to dovetail? Was it a conscious decision?
It was not my plan to go into the floral industry but soon as I got a taste of it, I couldn’t get enough of it, so I was motivated to learn, and it ended up becoming a companion to my music. Everything once revolved around music and performing, but I also was able to then work in the day doing flowers, and at some point, I knew I wanted to have my own floral business.
Let’s talk about your music. How did you arrive at your versatility – the ability to go from jazz vocalist with a backing band to a classical pianist to the intimacy of a solo cabaret singer? Those are some significant musical leaps.
I was always a solo musician, but when I moved back east from the West Coast, I finally became my authentic self and made the decision to go after what I had always
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Photo courtesy of Mindy Rhodes Mindy Rhodes of WhisperWind Studios
Mindy Rhodes is an accomplished floral designer, pianist, singer and songwriter.
Mindy Rhodes
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wanted to but had been too scared to pursue: to record a demo CD and pursue my songwriting. I began to meet other musicians who believed in my music and supported me and began to play with me. I worked hard, because I had to cultivate the skills necessary to go from being a solo musician to playing with other people. When you’re trained as a classical musician, you may have your own interpretation, but you’re taught to play the same notes. I was rigid, but my fellow musicians were not, and they compensated me for my rigidity. Twenty years ago, I remember sitting and listening to those fine musicians perform and now it is an honor to be able to play with them.
Songwriting – at least the kind that offers intelligence and integrity – is often a bloodletting of personal emotions. You’ve released three CDs – Whisperwind, Blush and It’s Alright Tonight, and your original songs are all through
them. Describe your songwriting process. Is it difficult for you to open that vein?
When I wrote the bulk of my songs, I just had to get it out; it was my life’s experiences and I needed to express it. In my younger years, it was more instrumental, but as I got older, the lyrics came, and I distinctly did what I felt was natural for me. A painter has to paint. A gardener needs to garden and a songwriter has to express their emotions through writing. Writing was comforting for me. If I had a good or bad experience, being able to share it was cathartic for me. I could wrap it up in a little package.
Your creativity also extends to your work as a floral designer and arranger. When you meet with a client, what questions do you ask them, and how do their responses reflect what you ultimately produce for them?
First, I need to be a good listener. Before I start asking questions, I want to know what they are looking for. I love the intricacies of wedding floral work, especially the personal bouquets, boutonnieres and corsages. For a bride, her wedding day is one of the greatest days of her life, so it’s about understanding what she is trying to convey.
I have told people in the past that if they do not love flowers, I am probably not the person for them. I try to be honest and truthful about what is available, and I never want to be
in the position of misleading a client by promising the moon and the stars when, unfortunately, I have no control over Mother Nature. I appreciate someone who has a vision, and it’s my job to paint that picture with flowers. For those who are about to get married, it’s their day and they deserve to feel special.
Let’s talk about AllaFine Farm, home of WhisperWind Studios. How has living in the country with a lot of animals around and a bit off the beaten path influenced your creative life? In other words, how does the importance of place play into your work?
Having a small farm has always been a dream of mine, and sharing it with a really great partner – my husband, John Braxton - means everything to me. To be here with its peace is everything to me. I’m a homebody and after years and years of traveling back and forth with music and flowers, I feel like I have everything I love right here, and how lucky am I?
You played a role in a people’s movement that ultimately saved Crebilly Farm from being developed. The story is not just about the preservation of the farm, but the manner in which it was saved, and by whom. Talk about the dedication you saw in the people you stood with.
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Mindy Rhodes
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It is a miracle that Crebilly Farm has been saved. I did not save it, but I did write about it for eight years, and my husband and I were very involved at all the township meetings. Early on, I think people thought I was nuts to take on Toll Brothers. The journalist Kathleen Brady Shea began writing about it early on, and she told me that the only way to create an impact was through massive public outcry. When I began to hand out flyers on horseback, no one knew that there was an agreement of sale for the farm, but over time, we put the issue on the map and began making that message louder and louder.
I had no crystal ball, but I knew what would happen if we sat and did nothing. I just kept writing about it and
people began to get involved - the citizens of Westtown Township and the ‘Vote Yes’ group led by Ray Dandrea, among so many other people.
What did this experience teach you about yourself?
I already knew that I was determined when I got my mind around it, and I knew that I was going to keep that commitment. I had no idea that it was going to go on for that long. John and I got married during that time, and we even brought our computers with us on our honeymoon in order to keep informed. He taught me about the importance of providing data and background.
Whatever happened there at that farm during the Revolutionary War period, it will forever remain undisturbed. The long, slow process of saving Crebilly Farm was a miracle.
What is your favorite spot in Chadds Ford?
My favorite place to ride horseback was at Frolic Weymouth’s chapel on his property in Chadds Ford. It was in the middle of the woods, and it was fantastic.
You organize a dinner party and can invite anyone – famous or not, living or not. Who would you want to see around that dining room table?
My favorite person at a dinner party is dinner for two with John. If I could have a dinner party for anyone, I would love to invite all my music idols of the past: Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, John Denver, Ray Charles, Harry Belafonte, Ray Orbison and the Rat Pack. I would serve them al fresco with a nearby fire pit and not say a word but just listen to the banter of their conversations. After dinner, I would hand out cigars, and I see Nina Simone smoking a cigar and enjoying a bourbon.
What food or beverage can always be found in your refrigerator? Wine and cheese.
|Chadds Ford Arts|
For Chadds Ford artist Suzanne forever pursuit of passion, Suzanne Gaadt
By Gabbie Burton
Contributing Writer
According to Newton’s first law, bodies at rest stay at rest while bodies in motion stay in motion. Chadds Ford artist Suzanne Gaadt stays in motion.
Balancing a varied career and family life, Gaadt’s passions and talents have kept her busy. From working in graphic design, to her art studio Give a Fig, to writing a book about Icelandic Vikings and to being the creative director for the Philadelphia Zoo, Gaadt is always doing what she loves and following her core passions.
“I say, ‘Always make sure you have options, and never let yourself get pigeonholed or put in a box or put in a corner,’” Gaadt said. “You just don’t want to get stuck.” Luckily, Gaadt has plenty of options that keep her from getting stuck. Originally from Bucks County, Gaadt grew up in an artistic family and attended the Tyler School of Art at Temple University for graphic design and art history before moving to Chadds Ford and starting her consulting company in 1993. After a career consulting with museums, colleges and cultural institutions, including the Brandywine Conservancy, Gaadt created Give a Fig in 2013 because she wanted to get back into, “working with [her] hands again.”
“Instead of doing purely graphic design, I really wanted to get back into my art again,” she said.
Gaadt’s interest in art began in her childhood, coming
from a family of creatives including her grandmother, who was a commercial artist and her mother, who made terracotta tiles.
“I grew up always doing creative stuff,” Gaadt said. “It was just kind of like, ‘Someone give Suzanne a pencil!”
Gaadt’s main focus in her art has always been illustrations of nature and wildlife, which is similarly a passion that stemmed from her family, who raised her to appreciate the outdoors. Give a Fig studio is a combination of her love for both art and nature and the deeper significance that they can hold.
“I don’t think it’s necessarily about just drawing a plant or a bird. It’s about what I can imbue that with, symbolically, and how it connects to maybe something else, either historic or cultural,” Gaadt said. “There’s a deeper kind of symbolism in my art, too, that isn’t always obvious to people.”
Gaadt explained that she has special interests in travel and history, which in turn influences the symbolic meanings in her art. Additionally, paying homage to local nature by pairing pollinators with native plants is another way of adding meaning into her work, showcasing the relationships in nature that she aims to protect.
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Courtesy photo
Chadds Ford artist Suzanne Gaadt works in her Give a Fig art studio.
Suzanne Gaadt, her work has become a and one guided by nature
Suzanne Gaadt
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Translated, “give a fig” means to care and it’s that term that serves as the guiding ethos of Gaadt’s studio. She makes a point to create her art consciously, always making sure to give back monetarily and be wary of her environmental impact. Gaadt’s illustrations are seen on cards, tea towels, notebooks and other sustainably sourced materials, and with every purchase of Give a Fig art Gaadt donates a portion of the proceeds to a non-profit to benefitting artists, wildlife or nature. She also produces her art sustainably by using soybased ink, 100 percent cotton tea towels, sustainable paper and operates her studio with wind and solar powered energy, among several other environmentally conscious initiatives.
“I just think those things are really important so everybody just has to do the little bit that they can,” she said. “Make decisions about how you can be a little gentler with your footprint on the earth.”
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Suzanne Gaadt
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While Gaadt’s childhood inspired her passion for protecting the environment, it has continued to grow into her family life with her husband - an environmental planner - and two adult children - a daughter who is an environmental scientist and a son who is a filmmaker.
Gaadt said that the support from her family has been a motivating factor in her pursuit of career and passions and that balancing both with family life has required special care and of course, creativity.
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Courtesy images Give A Fig products can be found at the National Wildlife Federation’s online shop, and at many fine retailers in the U.S.
Suzanne Gaadt
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“[Motherhood] was something that I treated very creatively,” she said. “I was able to work it out to be very flexible so that I could be a big part of our children’s lives and also maintain a professionalism and really keep my career strong and balanced over the years. I feel really fortunate in that way – but it took a lot of creativity, I will tell you that, and a lot of energy.”
Along the way, Gaadt found support among other similarly professional and creative women. She created a group called the “Inspiration Circle,” made up of professional women in the Chadds Ford and Kennett Square area to have a designated time to exercise their creative muscles.
“I feel like women are always just creating the world that they want to make for other people and for themselves,” Gaadt said. “This inspiration circle is about celebrating that kind of innate creativity that I think women inhabit. We get together and do all of kinds of things that celebrate
and share our creativity.”
When Gaadt isn’t with her Inspiration Circle, family, or the studio, she is the creative director at the Philadelphia Zoo. In her role, Gaadt works on messaging, education, guest experience and collaborating with architects and animal care teams for habitats and enrichment for the animals. Splitting full time work between Philadelphia and her Chadds Ford home on top of her other activities is a challenge, but one Gaadt said that she gladly takes on.
“I’m still trying to find that balance because the zoo job is a leadership job,” she said, “so it’s very demanding. I also have a high expectations for my own art business, so it’s always been about trying to find that balance.”
While balancing so many activities can be difficult, Gaadt has her methods of maintaining peace., specifically through her connection with nature, which not only provides inspiration for her art, but offers a comfort that both calms her and keeps her moving forever in motion.
This illustration is part of Gaadt’s Traveling Bear collection.
“I was always kind of a worrier,” Gaadt said. “I find just taking a walk and being outside is a great reliever for any kind of anxiety or any stress we’re feeling. It’s just great to get outside, take a walk and hear the birds and see the wildflowers. To me, it’s very healthy to do that.”
To learn more about Suzanne Gaadt Art & Design, visit www.gaadt.com.
To contact Contributing Writer Gabbie Burton, email gburton@chestercounty.com.
Courtesy image
The Tales of Charlie Wags The Tales of Charlie Wags
Charlie Wags has already had a busy year—and there are new adventures on the horizon.
Charlie Wags is the star of a charming new picture book series by sister duo authors Ali Barclay and Sofie Wells.
The Tales of Charlie Wags debuted on January 6. The rhyming picture book series features a curious worldtraveling dog. Charlie is seemingly an ordinary pup with an extraordinary secret: his wagging tail can whisk him away to cities around the world. In the debut book, Charlie travels to New York City where he explores the bustling streets of the big city.
On the pages of the book, young readers are introduced to iconic landmarks like the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building, and Broadway. Charlie’s day wouldn’t be
complete without a visit to a classic New York pizzeria, and when the adventure winds down, Charlie wags himself back home to dream about his next big adventure—leaving readers excited for more.
Barclay and Wells moved to Chester County during their high school years and still call the area home today. They are both raising their families in the area. It was Wells, an entrepreneur at heart, who had an idea for a children’s book about a globetrotting dog. When she and her sister later became mothers, they fell in love with the magic of story time with their children. They realized the importance of reading books to their kids that were as educational as they were engaging.
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The Tales of Charlie Wags: New York City is the first book in the series.
From the grandeur of Buckingham Palace to an evening ride on the London Eye, Charlie explores the Big Smoke before returning home for bedtime in The Tales of Charlie Wags: London.
The Tales of Charlie Wags: Paris is the most recent book in the series.
Sister duo authors Sofie Wells and Ali Barclay form the writing team behind The Tales of Charlie Wags picture book series.
Charlie Wags
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Knowing that not all children had the chance to explore the world firsthand, Wells and Barclay finally decided to put pen to paper and create the story that they had in their minds so many years ago. They saw an opportunity to write the exact type of book they were looking for with their own children—a book that is educational, fun, and appealing to both kids and parents.
Wells and Barclay want Charlie Wags to provide a conversational understanding of the world’s most famous cities through charming stories that make far-off places accessible to every child and family.
The Tales of Charlie Wags: New York City was followed by two other adventures—The Tales of Charlie Wags: London and The Tales of Charlie Wags: Paris.
The books, which are perfect of readers between the ages of three and seven, received critical acclaim when they were published.
“A perfect preview of New York City for early childhood readers” Is how Kirkus Reviews described the first book.
Written in lively rhyming verse, the book is easy for early
readers to enjoy aloud with parents. The story is paired with stunning digital watercolor illustrations by acclaimed artist Sanna Sjöström, whose vibrant artwork captures the energy and charm of Charlie’s travels.
The book includes a whimsical map and a paw print trail marking Charlie’s stops, making it perfect for real-world exploration or imaginative play. To deepen the learning experience, the story concludes with “Paws and Learn: Landmarks Unleashed,” a two-page spread filled with historical tidbits and thought-provoking questions to spark meaningful conversations.
Barclay and Wells grew up as the daughters of immigrants with family roots in Argentina, Greece, and the U.S. They value cultural diversity and the educational power of travel. Through Charlie’s adventures, they aim to bring the magic of travel and the wonder of new places into every home.
“We understand that not every child has the opportunity to explore the world firsthand. Picture books are tiny windows into different worlds,” the sisters said in a press
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Charlie Wags
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release promoting their first book. “They offer children the chance to explore new places, experience diverse cultures, and expand their imaginations—all from the comfort of home. Growing up as daughters of immigrants, we understood the value of cultural diversity early on. This inspired us to create a series that fosters a love of travel and learning for all families.”
Charlie Wags will enjoy more adventures in 2025. There are plans to release a festive European Christmas Adventure this fall.
The Tales of Charlie Wags books are available now in hardcover and e-book formats on Amazon and at www.charliewags.com, where additional merchandise is available, including children’s books and greeting cards.
Follow Charlie’s Adventures Instagram: @TheTalesOfCharlieWags Facebook: The Tales of Charlie Wags
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Charlie Wags is the star of a charming new picture book series by sister authors Ali Barclay and Sofie Wells.
Brandywine Flood includes recommendations reduce floodwaters
Flood Study recommendations to floodwaters
In August of 2023, work on a comprehensive flood study was launched as a direct response to the more frequent and extreme flooding events that have been impacting communities along the Brandywine Creek in both Pennsylvania and Delaware. This coordinated effort sought to better understand where and why flooding occurs in the local watershed so that the best approaches could be identified to protect communities during future severe flooding events. The results of the Brandywine Flood Study were recently released as part of a final report.
“Anywhere there is water, there is the potential for flooding,” said Grant DeCosta, the director of community services for the Brandywine Conservancy. “Even with unlimited financial and technological resources, it would be impossible to eliminate all flood risks. Despite those limitations, the flood study partners are confident that implementation of the structural and non-structural recommendations laid out in this report can meaningfully reduce future flood risks to communities throughout the Brandywine watershed, and—most importantly—help prevent future loss of life.”
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The Brandywine Flood Study will help local communities prepare for flooding risks in the future.
A photo of some of the damage caused by flooding in the aftermath of Hurricane Ida in 2021.
Flood Study
Chester County Water Resources Authority (CCWRA) and the University of Delaware Water Resources Center (UDWRC), formed a partnership with the Brandywine Conservancy to conduct the study. There were public outreach meetings and community engagement efforts. The flood study team conducted a broad analysis of flood risk in the Brandywine watershed, assessing impacts during intense storm and flooding events—including historic flooding, projections for future floods, and potential impacts of future precipitation, storm events, and land use based on the watershed’s projected population in the year 2100.
The study area encompassed the mainstem of the Brandywine Creek, including key tributaries in Chester and Delaware counties in Pennsylvania and downstream to impacted areas over the Delaware state line.
The final report includes a summary of the community outreach, data collection, and analyses conducted over the study period, along with an actionable set of proposed flood mitigation recommendations throughout the watershed. These recommendations are presented in two distinct categories: structural and non-structural improvements.
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The Brandywine Flood Study coverage area.
Structural mitigation measures are often the most visible, like the five major flood control dams and reservoirs that were built after extreme flood events during the earlyand mid-20th century, which collectively provide over six billion gallons of flood storage capacity. Study partners analyzed numerous structural project opportunities, including upgrades to existing flood control infrastructure, bridge and culvert replacements, low-head dam removal, floodplain restoration, and stormwater basin retrofits.
Ultimately, of the more than 300 individual sites evaluated, 16 were prioritized for their potential to reduce regional and localized flood risks, including 10 bridge replacements, four low-head dam removals, one floodplain restoration project on the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art’s campus, and upgrades to the existing Barneston Dam flood control structure in Chester County.
“The Brandywine Flood Study serves as a starting point for addressing the needs of the communities in the Brandywine watershed to prepare for, react to, and reduce the long-term impacts of the next and all future floods,”
said Seung Ah Byun, executive director of the Chester County Water Resources Authority. “Potential improvements vary in terms of scale, complexity, capacity, and expense, but each can play a role in mitigating the impacts of flooding in local communities in both Pennsylvania and Delaware.”
More than a dozen non-structural recommendations were included in the report, and they relate to emergency planning, early-warning systems, public education campaigns, and more robust road closure measures. For developed areas in the 100-year floodplain, the report outlines strategies for enhanced floodplain management, flood insurance, and structural elevations, floodproofing, and voluntary buyouts. The study also calls for increased land preservation to ensure the long-term functionality of natural floodplains and open space, which act as sponges during storm events.
All of the implementation recommendations include both collaborative action and individual stakeholder projects.
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Flood Study
“The Brandywine Flood Study is an important component of broader, multi-faceted efforts currently being undertaken by a variety of non-profit, government, academic, and private organizations to address flooding and its impacts on the communities in the Brandywine Creek watershed,” said Gerald Kauffman Jr., director of the University of Delaware Water Resources Center. “Achieving full implementation of this study’s potential will require engagement and collaboration from stakeholders throughout the watershed.” The Brandywine Flood Study partners are committed to supporting the implementation of these strategies and to continue evaluating new opportunities to reduce localized and regional flooding in the future.
The Brandywine Flood Study was funded, in part, through grants from FEMA, PEMA, Chester County Government and Delaware County Council.
Multiple project partners contributed to the study, including the Stroud Water Research Center, West Chester University, and Meliora Design. In addition, a Technical
Advisory Committee was convened to include additional government officials, non-profit organizations, and private entities. Robust public and stakeholder engagement was a priority of the study. This was achieved through sustained efforts to engage the public and ensure that its input informed the technical flooding analyses. There were diverse engagement options, including over 35 public meetings, listening sessions, and forums; over 1,500 public interactions; an online public survey; an interactive flood mapper; a media/communications toolkit; and a comprehensive project website.
Additional analysis of mitigation projects is currently underway throughout the watershed through ongoing studies in the cities of Coatesville and Wilmington and in Downingtown Borough. These complementary efforts will likely produce additional approaches and project sites to supplement those identified in the Brandywine Flood Study.
To view the Brandywine Flood Study report, visit www. brandywine.org/flood-study.
|Chadds Ford Life Photo Essay|
As an abstract painter, my artistic curiosity is fueled by the vibrant colors and forms of Henri Matisse, along with my deep love for nature’s vitality and blooming flowers.
— Zifeng Zang
How is it possible to understand the journey of an artist - from mind to hand, from idea to application, from the mysterious marrow of creative fertility to the finished canvas?
Endeavor to break down the journey of Chadds Ford artist Zifeng Zang and you will no doubt begin to see answers unravel in textures, colors, tools and the beauty of unpredictable outcomes.
“I started learning about art at a very young age, and my first teacher was my father,” Zeng said from her studio in Chadds Ford, where she teaches art classes. “He was very passionate about art, and he passed that passion along to me, and gave me inspiration that helped me develop my fundamental skills and truly led me on that journey.”
Zeng’s artistic life started in her native China, when she began a career in graphic design and advertising after graduating from Jilin University. After arriving in the U.S. in 2016, Zeng pursued and received a degree in Fine Arts from West Chester University, but it was during the lockdown years of COVID-19 when Zeng’s true artistic calling exploded –one that has led her to have her work appear in nearly one dozen group exhibitions in Philadelphia and Wilmington and earn her several honors and awards.
L. Gaw
“My art began to really happen when I gave myself the permission to try,” she said. “I don’t think any of us is a naturally born artist, but that we spend thousands of hours working to come one. I tell my students all the time that if they work hard, they can be artists, as well.”
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Photos by Jie Deng | Text by Richard
Inspired by her father’s artistic passion, Chadds Ford artist Zifeng Zang has developed an abstract form of expression whose message accepts the uncontrollable but believes in the power to control it
By her hands
|Chadds Ford Life Photo Essay|
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The art of Zifeng Zang does not dawdle in the message that it conveys. Inspired by the soak-stain method made famous by the artist Helen Frankenthaler, Zang’s abstract expressionist paintings are a collage of acrylics, colored pencils and charcoal, all intended to evoke immediate emotion and energy.
“The soak stain method uses high fluid pigments and pulling directly on the surface to create an effect of interactive blending,” Zeng said. “I create this feeling so that people appreciate both the random resolve of the color and that which can be controlled. My paintings are very emotional, but they come from a very controllable place. I want to evoke the feeling that sometimes in life, we have to confront a lot of uncontrollable moments, but that we also have the power to control at least some of our life.
“I was born to communicate that message through my technique, and by my hands.”
Inspired by nature, guided by purpose Inspired by nature, guided by purpose
For Caitlin Michener, The Naked Lady Gallery & Shop is far more than a must-stop for vintage clothing. It’s an extension of her style and her creativity and it’s where her dreams are shared
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
On her Instagram account, Caitlin Michener defines herself by the following words: “Natural Dyer,” “Mama of two,” “Terpsichorean Explorer” and perhaps most descriptive of all, “Dreamweaver,” but to truly absorb the aesthetic and the holistic vibe that moves her through her life, one would simply need to take a quick turn around her The Naked Lady Gallery & Shop in Chadds Ford and soak up all of the colors that are found there.
The tints and the tinges and the tones on the women’s clothing on the store’s racks – sweater dresses and silk bouses and flowing scarves, all of which have been dyed and improved
by her hands - seem as if they have been brushed against the heather and florals and whispery landscape of Chester County. Behold the pageantry: deep teal and logwood bark and petals and roots and the gold seen in the flowing fields of Longwood Gardens, enough to tell a visitor that The Naked Lady Gallery & Shop is not just a store but an invitation.
“I made a very conscious decision that when I opened this store, that I was going to greet every single person who walked in with a fully open heart, to engage them with love and honesty and the gift of being able to share this space with them,” Michener said. “That invitation opens the door for people to slow down, take their time and really look and smell and touch and check in with their moment.”
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Photos by Richard L. Gaw Caitlin Michener has owned
The Naked Lady Gallery & Shop since 2023.
The Naked Lady Gallery & Shop
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A merging of influences
As a child growing up in West Chester, becoming a store owner was not originally on the To-Do shelf of aspirations for Michener. From a young age, she was drawn to the art of performance, and took jazz, tap and ballet classes at the Longwood Performing Arts. After her graduation from Unionville High School, she attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied dance and experimental theater, the groundwork of education and training that led to roles as a performer, director and choreographer in dozens of productions throughout New York City.
In 2016, Michener took what she defined as the largest transformation of her life. After spending a decade in New York City, she took up residence in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, where she began to raise her two children with her former partner. It was there, in the rural South, where she replaced her first love of dance and theater with newfound passions, influences and life changes.
“My whole life shifted from being a city girl to a country life, living in a little house on the top of a hill overlooking the river, and it was there in Arkansas where my avenues for expression radically shifted,” said Michener, who gave birth to her two children while living in Eureka Springs.
The father of her children was in the business of buying and selling vintage clothing, and through him, Michener began to pack her kit bag of knowledge about the art of dyeing, knitting, sewing and clothing design. It was in between raising her two small children where she discovered another love: digging her hands in the dirt of what would become her gardens.
“My passion for natural dyeing came from the garden, and I began to find pleasure and connection between vintage clothing and growing plants,” she said. “I enjoyed the transformation from seed and water into gorgeous blooms and once I saw the colors of the blooms, I began to learn how to transfer those colors onto clothing and other things.” Skills – those developed, cultivated and marketed – are often transferable. Three years ago, Michener made the decision that would serve as her life’s next chapter: She moved with her children back to Chester County, and in 2023, she first opened the doors of The Naked Lady Gallery & Shop at the Chadds Ford Village & Barn Shops.
“I have come to believe very strongly that space shifts in very obvious ways and also in a lot of a subtle and unconscious ways,” Michener said. “Growing up here, I felt like I was a bit of an outsider, so finding myself back here, I felt strongly compelled to find a safe space for myself, and being to hold this safe and creative space feels really food and very necessary.
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The ever-changing inventory of women’s clothing at The Naked Lady Gallery & Shop finds is hand-produced and made with natural dyes made from petals, leaves, bark, roots and flowers.
Caitlin proudly displays one of her natural, one-of-a-kind women’s vintage clothing that is on display at the store.
The Naked Lady Gallery & Shop
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“It has been an affirming experience to see people walk into the store and breathe a sigh in relief, as if in acknowledgement of being in a space that feels sacred, a bit different and rooted in real things.”
In addition to the many all natural, one-of-a-kind women’s vintage clothing – which Michener finds at thrift stores in the area and dyes with petals, leaves, bark, roots and flowers – the store is an eco-friendly and holistic treasure trove of creativity, tradition and organic materials, all with the intention of helping the visitor express their own individuality and self-expression.
“Being different is awesome,” Michener said. “Being different keeps us all going. I believe that fashion – at least the commonly accepted definition – is one of the most disastrous things to happen to our society and to our species, and it is strangling the environment and strangling us as consumers. Fashion has become about amassing as much as possible, even if it’s cheap and it’s heading to the landfill in less time that it took to make the clothing.
‘The root of my root’
“There is already enough clothing in the world to clothe next six generations of humans. Once I started going down the intellectual rabbit hole of how clothing is produced – and what synthetic fibers do to our skin, as opposed to linen, wool or cotton – it was a radical shift in my consciousness. I learned to accept myself as not separate from our natural environment, but as part of it, and that is part of my purpose – to allow my customers to reflect the natural world by wearing products that contribute to their own sense of fashion.”
To take a chisel softly to the structural construct of Caitlin Michener’s creative journey is to cobble together pieces of varying sizes, contours and meanings. It’s a chapterby-chapter book still in the process of being written, a theatrical production of several acts and a few more that wait in the wings, and it is now here, in the form of a unique shop – derived from her past journeys – that is just miles from where she first began to dream her big dreams.
“Life forces us to embrace ourselves and it compels us to keep searching, and the more we search, the more curious we become and the more we learn and grow,” she said. “I have always wanted to be a creator, and growing up dancing and performing was the first language I knew –the language of movement. Creating in that language had always come very easily and theater was an extension of that. The work I am doing now feels like an extension of that, in that I am learning new languages.
“My modes of expression have changed, but it all comes back to my roots of using what I was around to create a statement of individuality that says, “This is who I am.” I am still dancing and I am still moving, and that is the root of my root.”
The Naked Lady Gallery & Shop is located in the Chadds Ford Village & Barn Shops, 1609 Baltimore Pike in Chadds Ford. To learn more, visit www.thenakedladygalleryandshop.com or call (484) 883-2368.
To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email rgaw@chestercounty.com.
The store is a treasure trove of unique finds.
The Naked Lady Gallery & Shop is reflective of Caitlin’s varying passions that extend from theater and dance to gardening and repurposed vintage clothing.
