Kennett Square Life Summer 2021

Summer 2021

Kennett Square Life

Magazine

2021 Mushroom Festival, September 11-12 A Kennett Square Tradition Returns Page 60

Inside: Inside: • Tribute to Dennis Melton • Photo essay: Floral Designer Kristen Burdumy • Children’s Book Author Cynthia Petillo

Complimentary Copy

Celebrating Celebrating 51 51 years! years!

Hey Kennett!

We made it.

This is our 51st year in business in Kennett Square.

As I always say, “It isn’t just about cars, trucks, engines and their challenges, it’s all about my customers in need and my ability to help them and their families”. Being able to serve you, meet you and be part of your life as you are mine, is why I do what I do. I don't claim to be the best or the smartest but I do promise to be honest, caring, fair and provide a solution even if I need help. I believe we should all do what we can to help those in our community so I started the Holiday Food Blitz in 2008, which benefits the Kennett Area Community Service. Then the Lucky Dog Food Blitz in 2010 in the honor of my beloved “Lucky Dog” to benefit local pets and Faithful Friends. I also work with the Kennett Senior Center and volunteer with the Mushroom Festival and it's car show.

I want to take this opportunity to thank ALL of my friends for their generous help through the years. Without them and their support Blitz would not be what it is today, nor would it have been as meaningful a journey.

I invite everyone to stop in, if only for a meet and greet!

Many have driven by for years and wondered what we are about. It really is all about you, as our motto says....

“We are Just Here to Help!”

STOP IN! My best to all in Kennett.

Love ya, Bob Blittersdorf

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Kennett Square Summer 2021

Kennett Square Life Table of Contents 10 worKS Kennett Square: The Garage of Uniqueness and Collaboration

18 How peace-loving Quakers helped

26

win the Civil War

26 Square Roots Collective:

18

The Ethics of Stewardship

38 The Forever Imprint of Dennis Melton 44 Photo essay: Kristen Burdumy 50 Profile of author Cynthia Petillo 60 The Mushroom Festival returns this September

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50 60

Kennett Square Life Summer 2021 Letter from the Editor:

38

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We’re looking forward to the Mushroom Festival more than ever this year as Kennett Square’s largest annual event returns after the pandemic forced the festivities to be canceled in 2020. In this issue of Kennett Square Life, we highlight the 36th annual Mushroom Festival that will take place over two days, Sept. 11 and 12.

This issue also features a story about how kids, animals and Kennett Square all helped inspire Cynthia Petillo to write a children’s book. The playfully illustrated book tells the tale of a lighthearted beagle who welcomes a shy Chihuahua to the neighborhood filled with doggy pals. The action, which takes place in the borough’s Anson B. Nixon Park, cements the friendship, and leads the characters – and the readers – on numerous spirited adventures.

Writer Natalie Smith talks to Tara Dugan about Kennett Square worKS, a retail store that sells handcrafted, unique goods made by many talented artisans.

Gene Pisasale, a local historian and author, writes about the Underground Railroad in Kennett Square and how some peace-loving Quakers helped win the Civil War. Writer Richard Gaw offers an eloquent piece about the life of Dennis C. Melton, an architect, musician and community leader who passed away in May. Melton made a significant impact on the Kennett Square community. During his career as an architect, Melton was responsible for the design or reservation behind many iconic landmarks in Kennett Square, including the Anson Nixon Park Performance Pavilion, the Country Butcher, Philter Coffee, and the restoration of the historic Chalfonte House. At the time of his death Dennis was the local architect of record for the new Kennett Library & Resource Center.

Our photo essay by Jie Deng focuses on Kristen Burdumy, the lead floral designer at Terrain in nearby Glen Mills.

We hope you enjoy these stories as much as we enjoyed working on them, and we’re already hard at work planning the next issue of Kennett Square Life that will arrive in the fall of 2021. If you have any suggestions for stories for that issue, please contact us.

Sincerely, Randy Lieberman, Publisher randyl@chestercounty.com, 610-869-5553 Steve Hoffman, Editor editor@chestercounty.com, 610-869-5553, Ext. 13

Cover Design: Tricia Hoadley Cover photo: Courtesy of the Mushroom Festival www.chestercounty.com | Summer 2021 | Kennett Square Life

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|Kennett Square Business|

worKS Kennett Square: The Garage of Uniqueness and Collaboration

Many talented

worKS Kennett Square is housed in a former garage on South Walnut Street.

By Natalie Smith Contributing Writer

T

here’s got to be a vein of creativity flowing under Kennett Square. From boutiques to art galleries to brewers and distillers, the 1.1-square mile borough and its environs are so chock full of inventiveness that celebrations, gifts and treats aren’t a matter of “where do I buy?” but “where in Kennett Square?”

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Kennett Square Life | Summer 2021 | www.chestercounty.com

Tara Dugan knows this lode of ingenuity well. She’s marking her fifth year of owning worKS Kennett Square on South Walnut Street, a “curated group of high-end purveyors of artisan, designer, handcrafted, vintage and one-of-a-kind goods for the home, the person and the connoisseur.” And to honor the borough she loves, the final two letters of worKS are upper case, for Kennett Square.

The transformation of the former garage by the railroad tracks into an airy trove offering items from about 30

alented artisans make wide variety of products available

different vendors seemed an inspired next step for Dugan. As owner of Scout & Annie, a vintage home goods store for seven years on State Street that now lives on online, she came across many people in the creative community.

“That was how I got to know makers, by doing things like Clover Market [in Philadelphia] and [New York’s] Brooklyn Flea. That was sort of the spark that gave rise to the co-working and co-selling idea behind worKS. Continued on Page 12

Photo courtesy Tara Dugan

Tara Dugan is the owner of worKS Kennett Square on South Walnut Street, Kennett Square. The business, coming up on its fifth year in September, is a “curated group of highend purveyors of artisan, designer, handcrafted, vintage and one-of-a-kind goods for the home, the person and the connoisseur.” The name is a nod to the borough, with the last two letters capitalized for “Kennett Square.” www.chestercounty.com | Summer 2021 | Kennett Square Life

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worKS Kennett Square Continued from Page 11

“The concept came to me when I had over the years, through my other business ventures, just come to know so many of these amazing makers,” Dugan said. “The idea was we should all just get together and collaborate and do things.

Collaboration was the key I was looking for as a business model.”

Each vendor at worKS has his or her own The carved log plaque was made designated spot. It could be a corner of the build- by Lingerlong Woodworking. ing, like a front window space occupied by the Farm at Oxford specialty-cut flower growers or even a shelf, as is the case for Whiskey Hollow Maple, which makes Pennsylvania syrup and a host of other maple products.

But the artisans and creators of the goods aren’t there selling their wares.

Paige Haplea, a sales associate and Dugan’s daughter, explained how worKS, works.

“Through our computer system I can ring up any item from any vendor in the system,” she said, “Our job here is to promote their items and put them out to the public so that they don’t have to be here manning the store themselves.

“They can bring their merchandise in and spend more time on creating, without actually having to be here for the selling process.” When they do come

All photos by Natalie Smith inless otherwise noted

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by Malena’s Vintage Boutique, a women’s vintage clothing and accessories vendor based in West Chester.

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Kennett Square Life | Summer 2021 | www.chestercounty.com

Fashion and accessories from M Concept, based on South Street in Philadelphia. M Concept is one of the newer vendors to join worKS.

in to restock, it’s often during business hours, Haplea said, “because then customers who were curious and walking by could ask them questions, as the creator was right there, with all the answers.”

When Dugan was planning the business, she approached potential vendors she previously dealt with and some she didn’t know, to fill the worKS interior.

“It started out me reaching out to some folks that I knew … Teresa [Decker], from [furniture shop] Eastcote Lane on the Main Line,” she said. “She’s one of their superstars, and everybody knows her.”

There was a Chadds Ford handmade artisan goods maker that Dugan was also hoping to attract.

“I was after Bri Brandt from arden + james,” Dugan said.

“I said if she says ‘Yes’ to this and she’s in, then it’s a go, then I know it’s going to work. I had never met Bri, but I had one of her bags. I was blown away by the craftsmanship of it. I mean, this bench-made piece is not an easy thing to do and quite honestly, I still have the first bag I ever got from her over ten years ago.

“I said this is a local woman and she’s clearly got incredible skill. And if this is something that appeals to her, then this is going to run. And in a hot minute she was in. The other person I had never met before but who instantly said yes was Ilka Evans, who is the maker behind [candle and apothecary shop] Zoet Bathlatier.

“Once a core group got together, people said, ‘YES this is working. I want in.’

“A recent new friend is Ethan Nguyen who has M Concept on South Street in Philadelphia. He was hoping to get in here for quite a long time, until finally we got a space for him. Direct from South Street to Kennett Square and he’s been incredibly well-received.”

Dugan had originally thought that there would be many more artisans moving in and out, but was surprised and pleased when they came. “They loved it,” she said. “They Continued on Page 14 www.chestercounty.com | Summer 2021 | Kennett Square Life

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worKS Kennett Square Continued from Page 13

stayed. That was fine by us. We sort of tweaked it a little bit. And now, it becomes kind of the retail home for some of these makers.

“It’s great to own a retail store but it’s a lot of work. I think the artisans have led the way in terms of showing me that they really prefer to be focusing on making.”

Although there are vendors that sell similar types of items, Dugan and Haplea said it’s led more to collaboration than competition. They gave as an example two of the vintage clothing vendors, Charlie Dog Vintage and Malena’s Vintage.

“They said they met here as vendors for the first time – their spaces are adjacent – and now they do shows together,” Haplea said, noting it was ultimately to the vendors’ advantage. “You can reference someone who also knows what they’re doing in that same department and bounce ideas off of each other. Because that way you’re both strengthened.”

Dugan added, “If one can’t find it, maybe the other can.

It’s kind of worked out really well like that.”

One of the very popular artisans, Pam Lau Domestic Ceramics, is also one of the original vendors. Her space at

The WorKS Kitchen Shop, featuring locally made gourmet food and kitchen tools from makers like Brandywine Bee Company, Nutty Novelties, Blushing Wren Tea, Pear Tree Roasters, Cocky Confections, Bridge Street Chocolates, Blakes Mother’s Cookies, Deer Creek Malthouse, Wood & Willow and many more.

the front window seems a prime location.

“We anticipate bringing in a new ceramicist, a new potter, in the fall,” Dugan said. “With Pam’s blessing of course, we anticipate that she’s going to go right up front next to Pam. I find that the great thing about these makers is they speak to one another. They don’t compete with one another; they

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“Three Floors Have Fun!” enhance one another with their work.”

Dugan praised her staff, which includes property manager Anthony Johnson, as well as another person who’s work particularly enhances worKS. “Most important of all is our store director, Liz Law,” Dugan said. “She is a woman of every imaginable skill.

She’s incredibly creative. She’s got drive; everybody adores her as well. I can’t say enough good things about her. She’s amazing.”

Store director Law has also curated a popular display in worKS – its Artist of the Month program. On full display and for sale, artwork or photos by local artists are hanging in the register area. “We like to support and maybe shine a little bit of a spotlight on some artists who haven’t been seen before,” Dugan said. “Every month, free of charge, we display and sell [their works]. It gives us something great to look at, too. I’m a little bit proud that its truly just a Kennettcentric thing, it’s not so much a business thing.”

As the business has grown, Haplea said worKS has found places to put wares that don’t take up much space by adding shelving units, such as for the new Kitchen Shop.

“Before we would have one vendor in there … now we can fit a bunch of different vendors and all of their items within those shelves,” she said.

But Dugan does have bigger plans.

“Just before the pandemic, we had arrangements to acquire a second location. ... but shortly after, the pandemic struck and we were ordered closed by Governor Wolf, quite understandably,” she said. “So we just pulled back on that and kind of sat on those plans for a while … but our Continued on Page 16

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Paige Haplea is a sales associate at worKS and owner Tara Dugan’s daughter. She’s standing at the Charlie Dog Men’s Vintage space at worKS. Haplea said it’s one of her favorite places to shop at worKS.

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worKS Kennett Square Continued from Page 15

customers are wonderful. Our loyal customers have come back and continue to support and continue the amazing growth that we saw. And so we are turning our attention once again toward expansion.

“I know that we are unfortunately maxed out on our lot here in terms of what we can do. But creativity is in our DNA. And so what we’re doing now, while we are formulating plans for growth in the future, is creating something we call our Pop-up Corner, where we bring in new vendors, just for a one week. And we’re doing that outside.

“During the warmer weather we were bringing in one; in fact, for Mother’s Day we did three vendors outside. For now, our growth is for summer 2021, when we are inviting pop-ups to bring to Kennett Square some of the great new vendors that are trying to get in here.

And then, stay tuned; we do have growth in our future again.”

Although clearly a woman of many gifts, Dugan concedes to one: recognizing ability.

“I am not an artist,” she said. “I have no talent whatsoever to speak of, but I have always sort of been an appreciator of the skills of other people. I jokingly say that my talent is spotting everybody else’s talent.”

Natalie Smith may be contacted at natalie@DoubleSMedia.com.

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|Kennett Square History|

The Underground Railro How some peace-loving Quakers helped win the Civil War The former Harriet Tubman mural in Kennett Square.

By Gene Pisasale Contributing Writer

S

lavery existed for thousands of years around the world. This horrific practice was a stain on the human soul. Today some people think slavery started in the southern United States, but the Egyptians, Greeks, Romans and many other civilizations practiced slavery. Some blacks held other blacks as slaves in Africa, selling them to the highest bidder. After rebels fired upon Fort Sumter in April 1861, President Lincoln was faced with a dilemma: fight against the secessionists who supported slavery—or allow them to fracture the nation.

As Washington, D.C. was surrounded by slaveholding states (Virginia, Maryland and Delaware), it was a difficult decision to make. Lincoln had to decide whether to fight against and kill American citizens, or allow them to kill the Union.

Quakers were the first organized group in America to openly criticize slavery. In 1688, Quakers from

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Kennett Square Life | Summer 2021 | www.chestercounty.com

Germantown condemned the practice, sparking an active debate over the following decades. Their condemnation was a starting point for what became the abolitionist movement. Surprisingly, some Quakers owned slaves. In 1776, the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting of Quakers instructed all chapters to disown anyone who refused to free their slaves.

Several conduits existed for slaves to escape from the southern states into the north as far as Canada.

The Eastern Corridor ran from South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia into Maryland, leading to southeastern Pennsylvania and Delaware.

The origin of the term Underground Railroad has never been definitively ascertained. In his book Just Over the Line: Chester County and the Underground Railroad, author William Kashatus describes one legend. Two slave owners lost track of their fugitive as they pursued him through Kentucky to the edge of the Ohio River. Bewildered, one of them supposedly said: “There must be an underground railroad here somewhere!” The Underground Railroad never Continued on Page 20

lroad in Kennett Square:

The Longwood Progressive Friends Meeting House.

www.chestercounty.com | Summer 2021 | Kennett Square Life

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The Underground Railroad Continued from Page 18

The Underground Railroad in the United States, courtesy of National Geographic.

published a train schedule; routes were well kept secrets.

There were clandestine pathways around the nation.

The accompanying map shows one estimated route from southern Delaware up through Dover, Middletown and Wilmington on what is now called the Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway.

The proximity of Kennett Square to Wilmington made the corridor between the two cities a perfect conduit for escaping slaves. Due to its preponderance of Quakers and position as the first town in Chester County just over the Mason-Dixon Line, the Kennett Square area was a hotbed of abolitionist activity. Several local buildings were “station stops,” including the homes of John and Hannah Cox, Isaac and Dinah Mendenhall, Eusebius Barnard and others.

Thomas Garrett was born on Aug. 21, 1789 in Upper Darby into a Quaker family, and later moved to Wilmington, Del. Kashatus’ book describes Garrett’s transformation to the abolitionist cause. Garrett helped release a free black woman from bondage — and had a spiritual revelation about the “utter sinfulness of slavery.” He became actively involved in the abolitionist movement; it is estimated Garrett helped more than 2,300 slaves escape to freedom.

The Longwood Progressive Friends were an offshoot of the Kennett Monthly Meeting which split away in 1853.

Chris Densmore, who worked at the Friends Library at Swarthmore College for many years and wrote extensively on Quakers, stated: “Many of those who affiliated with the Progressive Friends were among the most active abolitionists and Underground Railroad agents in Chester County.”

Their meeting house hosted many well-known players 20

Kennett Square Life | Summer 2021 | www.chestercounty.com

Thomas Garrett

Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Byway in Delaware.

in this drama, including Frederick Douglass and William Lloyd Garrison.

Kashatus stated: “Quakers formed a significant part of the abolitionist minority that elected Lincoln to the presidency in 1860, expecting that he would further the anti-slavery cause.”

Text from the Progressive Friends in 1862 shows a passage: “By refusing to employ the army and navy against the rebellious South… the government would assuredly hinder the progress of peace, and strengthen the hands of lawless violence.”

This was a dramatic shift from what most Quakers believed: the Progressives thought war would help achieve their goal.

On June 20, 1862, President Lincoln met at the White House with six members of the Longwood Progressive Friends, including Thomas Garrett. Oliver Johnson led the delegation, telling Lincoln “…We are convinced that the abolition of slavery is indispensable to your success.”

This was an important recommendation: Johnson was linking emancipation with victory against the Confederates.

The Progressive Friends appeared to have had a significant impact on Lincoln. Kashatus described their meeting: “Lincoln was deeply moved. He confided that he had sometimes thought that he might be an instrument in God’s hands of accomplishing a great work.”

With the war in its second year, Lincoln was searching desperately for a way to end the conflict. A carriage ride provided the opportunity. On July 13, 1862, Lincoln shared a coach with Secretary of State William Seward and Secretary of the Navy Gideon Welles. The conversation they had changed everything. Lincoln’s grief for having lost his own son was compounded when he heard that the son of Secretary of War Edwin Stanton died just a few days before. Sorrow often allows people to find Continued on Page 22

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The Underground Railroad Continued from Page 21

answers to problems through soul searching. In this conversation, something clearly had changed.

“He dwelt earnestly on the gravity, importance, and delicacy of… emancipating the slaves by proclamation,” Welles noted in his diary.

This was, according to Welles, “A new departure for the President, for until this time…he had been prompt and emphatic in denouncing any interference by the General Government with the subject.’”

After deep introspection, the President had a revelation.

Lincoln said he had given it much thought and had come to the conclusion that it was a military necessity absolutely essential to the salvation of the Union, that we must free the slaves or be ourselves subdued. The country lawyer came up with an ingenious solution. Slaves were being used as tools by the rebels in their war effort. By freeing the slaves in areas of open rebellion, Lincoln disabled the tools of the Confederacy.

Lincoln’s ground-breaking conversation with Welles occurred just a few weeks after his meeting with the Longwood Progressives. It is likely his talk with the Quakers influenced his thinking, a catalyst which nudged him to action at a

Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation.

Continued on Page 24

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The Underground Railroad Continued from Page 22

critical time. Lincoln said: “If I could save the Union without freeing any slave I would do it; and if I could save it by freeing all the slaves I would do it.” His war strategy was made more effective by freeing tens of thousands of additional men to fight for the Union.

The Emancipation Proclamation was issued on Sept. 22, 1862 and took effect on Jan. 1, 1863. The next month, Massachusetts Governor John A. Andrew issued the first official call for black soldiers in the Civil War and more than 1,000 men responded. They formed the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, depicted in the film “Glory.” By the end of the Civil War, approximately 179,000 black men (roughly 10 percent of all northern troops) served in the Union Army; another 19,000 were in the Navy. Nearly 40,000 black soldiers died over the course of the war.

Both former slaves and free blacks helped save the Union; this can never be forgotten. There were many heroes who were part of these events. This is their story, not often told—of men and women who stood up for what was right, how a beleaguered President overcame the greatest crisis in our nation’s history—and how some peace-loving Quakers helped win the Civil War. Gene Pisasale is an historian and author based in Kennett Square. His ten books and lecture series focus on American history. His latest book is Forgotten Founding Fathers: Pennsylvania and Delaware in the American Revolution. His books are available on his website at www.GenePisasale.com and through www.

Amazon.com. He can be reached via e-mail at Gene@GenePisasale.com.

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Photograph of President Abraham Lincoln

by Alexander Gardner.

www.chestercounty.com | Summer 2021 | Kennett Square Life

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|In the Community| While its official name is less than two years old, the foundation that became Square Roots Collective was first planted in the Kennett Square community 30 years ago.

What began as seeds have now prospered to a forest of goodwill and initiatives

Square Roots Collective: The ethics of stewardship

Photo courtesy of Square Roots Collective

The Square Roots Collective team.

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By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

T

o trace the beginnings of what has led Square Roots Collective into becoming one of the most successful project-driven agencies in southern Chester County, one needs to travel no more than one hour west to Lancaster County, to where co-founder Mike Bontrager grew up as the son of a Mennonite minister.

Like his wife Dot, who grew up the daughter of a Mennonite farmer, the influence of the church’s philosophy took hold of Bontrager as a child growing up in the 1960s and 1970s and informed the direction of his life.

“The principles of the Mennonites were built on community, social action and loving your neighbor long before it was fashionable to do so,” he said. “I

remember one time when there were floods in northern Pennsylvania. Our church packed about 15 to 20 of us in a van, and we drove up and helped others. They were shaping times for me, in order to understand how we fit in terms of the greater community. “When people have needs, you help them.”

While the official “Square Roots Collective” (SRC) name is less than two years old, its foundation was first planted in the Kennett Square community 30 years ago, when the Bontragers moved to the area to begin a family and launch Chatham Financial, a financial derivatives advisory and technology company. From its humble beginnings, the company slowly grew from Mike working over his garage, to a few dozen staff working out of a barn, and eventually into a worldwide leader in risk Continued on Page 28

Photo by Richard L. Gaw

Mike and Dot Bontrager, together with members of their family, along the Parrish Trail.

Photo by Richard L. Gaw

Partnering with other agencies, Square Roots Collective launched The Kennett Trail Alliance in an effort to link some of the community’s most important natural and community assets together to form the Kennett Greenway.

www.chestercounty.com | Summer 2021 | Kennett Square Life

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Square Roots Collective Continued from Page 27

management advisory and technology solutions, with over 600 employees in seven offices on four continents around the globe.

Nineteen years ago, Luke Zubrod – now SRC’s operations lead - began what would become a 17-year career at Chatham Financial, eventually leading culture and policy initiatives. He saw the “big picture” of the company’s vision, one that saw success as something not based entirely on financial returns, but rather as the opportunity to make the markets in which they serve more equitable, to invest in the communities in which they operate, and to elevate trust as the north star of client interactions.

“What made Chatham so special was that it became a vehicle for making the world a better place in the domain of finance,” he said. “It grew on the idea of creating multiple bottom lines - to create impact not only financially but to advance the mutual interests of Chatham and our clients. On Wall Street, there is a big breach of trust between finance and society, and Chatham Financial sought to close that breach.

“What I have observed as the common DNA between Chatham and SRC is an ethic of stewardship. We were always asking, ‘How do we take our resources and put them in the service of the greater good?’”

Continued on Page 30

Courtesy photo

Alex Parham of The Voices Underground Project.

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Roger C. Summers Lawn Care “31 Years of Doing it the Right Way”

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Square Roots Collective Continued from Page 28

Social impact, environment, community development As Chatham Financial grew in size, so did its commitment to the community it served. Together with a local youth pastor, Bontrager helped found The Garage Community & Youth Center, whose locations in Kennett Square and West Grove have provided thousands of area youth with a safe and nurturing haven of activities and learning. Dot was part of a team that formed the local chapter of Community Bible Study, an interdenominational group that now has 250 members in two chapters in the county.

In addition, Chatham Financial launched Together for Education, a non-profit organization that provides local volunteers to over 35 percent of the elementary classrooms in the Kennett Consolidated School District.

Following the lead of this shared and simple philosophy, SRC is making a significant and lasting imprint on Kennett Square by engaging three key pillars: social impact, environment and community development: • In an effort to improve a derelict property and create a new type of community gathering space for all, SRC restored the industrial shell of the former Eastern Condensed Milk Company on Birch Street and in 2016, opened The Creamery.

• S RC, together with KACS and United Way of Southern Chester County, created The Southern Chester County Opportunity Network (SCCON), in collaboration with committed local stakeholders to address the issue of poverty in the region. The principles that SCCON are founded on are based on the Bridges Out of Poverty model that taps into the strengths of various socioeconomic levels to seek solutions, together. Coordinated by a planning team made up of diverse community leaders, its many interactive workshops are intended to educate community members and engage them in pursuing solutions that enable transitioning from poverty to economic sustainability.

• I n partnership with Lincoln University, SRC launched The Voices Underground Project in the Fall of 2019. The goal of this project is to promote the nationally significant history of the Underground Railroad in the region through scholarly research, creative partnerships, public experiences and historical recognition.

Continued on Page 32

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Square Roots Collective Continued from Page 30

• S RC launched The Kennett Trails Alliance - in partnership with the Kennett Borough, Kennett Township and The Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County - in an effort to link some of the community’s most important natural and community assets to form a 14-mile trail loop known as the Kennett Greenway.

• I n May, SRC partnered with Historic Kennett Square on the Historic Kennett Square Small Business Response Fund, a major matching-fund campaign that provided immediate relief to small, consumer-facing retail businesses in Kennett Square Borough and Kennett Township in the form of grants up to $10,000. For every dollar that was donated to the fund up to $250,000, SRC matched each gift. The fund has dispensed more than $275,000 - 75 percent of which has been directed to minority- or woman-owned businesses.

•T eaming up with the Kennett Consolidated School District and other community partners, SRC collaborated to form the Kindergarten Readiness Initiative in 2017, to improve the “Kindergarten readiness” of youngsters preparing to enter school who have not had

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preschool experience, or have limited English language skills.

• I n lockstep with the Kennett Borough’s comprehensive plan for development, SRC’s Birch Street Project intends to work with the street’s residents and other local leaders to develop the street into an avenue of art, culture and community. Using the success of the Kennett Creamery and other new businesses that have joined Birch Street, such as Braeloch Brewery as an example, SRC is looking to encourage further development with an evolving approach and community involvement, into a destination that will not only be attractive but economically sustainable.

While the work of SRC is being done in the smallish incubator of the Kennett Square community, its stakes-in-the-ground projects have been influenced by organizations around the country like Thriving Cities Group, Marsh Collective, Strong Towns and FSG. They have helped Bontrager, Zubrod and brand and creative lead Sandra Mulry to measure each of SRC’s initiatives as small parts of a collective whole.

Photos courtesy of Square Roots Collective

Square Roots Collective restored the industrial shell of the former Eastern Condensed Milk Company on Birch Street in Kennett Square, to what is now The Creamery.

Since its opening in 2016, The Creamery has become a popular venue for events and activities.

“We intuitively knew that we had a vision as to what a thriving town should look like, but we couldn’t articulate it, until we saw what other similar groups like ours were doing,” Bontrager said. “As we began to be exposed to other groups, we began to pull back and ask ourselves, ‘How do these different projects contribute to the overall ecosystem of Kennett Square?’”

At the launch pad for many of SRC’s projects is a conversation that begins with the familiar question, ‘What if?’ When Bontrager and Mulry first looked at the Eastern Condensed Milk Company on Birch Street, they saw a forlorn and neglected piece of Kennett Square’s past, but instead of passing it by, they saw a possibility and a need.

“We did not have an idea for it when we bought it, Continued on Page 34 www.chestercounty.com | Summer 2021 | Kennett Square Life

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Square Roots Collective Continued from Page 33

but I knew that there was a beautiful structure underneath, and that somebody who loves this town should buy this,” Bontrager said. “Once we bought it, there were a lot of ideas as to what it could become, that eventually intersected with the idea of trying it out as a pop-up venture. We approached the Kennett Borough and said, ‘Let’s partner on this experiment.’”

Bontrager said that no matter the project – whether it is broadening the reach of a vital greenway or creating ways to level off what the agency refers to as ‘the uneven nature of opportunity’ - SRC is constantly searching for the right kind of alliances.

“When we run into the partners we believe are the right partners, and we believe we can actually accomplish something with them, and then we go full steam,” he said.

“As an entrepreneur, I am motivated by experimentation and out-of-the-box ideas. The Kennett area is small enough to see whether ideas are working, to see whether we can move the needle on the addressing systemic issues, unlike a large city like Chicago or New York - where there are so many factors impacting results that it is difficult to know if

you are making a systemic difference.”

It does no harm to SRC that they operate in a diverse community of overlapping altruism, seen in the business, private and public sectors in Kennett Square who often share the credit for the network of initiatives and strong social infrastructure that has become the bedrock of the town.

“Mike, Sandra and I – as well as many other members of the SRC team – are deeply embedded in the community and we are neighbors with people, so between Mike’s catalytic instincts to create possibility and these partners, we’ve been able to share, shift and shape these ideas,” Zubrod said. “It’s a function of planting them like seeds.

Some will fall on the rocks and not take root, but the others will reach the soil.”

Out-of-the-box vision The graphic identity for Square Roots Collective - that of a box, with the company’s name appearing outside of it – is purely intentional.

Continued on Page 36

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Square Roots Collective Continued from Page 34

Bontrager, Mulry and Zubrod would be the first to admit that the business principle that continues to steer SRC is based on an “out-of-the-box” philosophy that asks its many partners to “think big.” Often, it’s a wide-eyed strategy that runs against the grain of quiet, plodding progress.

“A lot of procedures and red tape are there because they have to be, and I get that,” Bontrager said. “However, sometimes when the red tape becomes the driver, it obscures the intent of what matters. We always need to be aware of public safety and a project’s impact on its neighbors, but we also need a community that says ‘Let’s try that.’

“In any community ecosystem, there are trade-offs that have to be made in order to make the ecosystem to thrive. We feel that there needs to be a good discussion and debate about what those trade-offs are, and what the impact of those trade-offs are.”

Despite the necessary roadblocks that often limit the expediency of progress, Bontrager said that he, Mulry, Zubrod and the entire agency remain committed to

moving the needle of SRC’s vision forward.

“As someone who seeks to follow the path of Jesus, of course I am called to love my neighbors, regardless of their faith, background, social standing or how they identify,” he said. “But a major spiritual experience in my thirties also changed my understanding that I am a steward rather than an owner of my talents, financial resources, social capital and influence. I have been entrusted with these benefits to serve others rather than accumulate for myself.”

“I have always believed that Chatham Financial is Mike’s mind, but Square Roots Collective is his heart,” Mulry said. “He is deeply rooted in this love for community for all people to thrive. We’ve been privileged to be a part of that heart, to curate these spaces that honor the past and our local heritage, and pave the way for opportunities for the future.”

To learn more about Square Roots Collective, visit www. ksqroots.com.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email rgaw@ chestercounty.com.-

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|Kennett Square in Memoriam|

The forever imprint

Dennis Melton’s life was blessed with vision, music and community. The people of Kennett Square served as the beneficiary of those shared gifts

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nt of Dennis Melton

By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

O

n Feb. 9, 1964, much in the very same way 73 million other Americans did that Sunday evening, 16-year-old twin brothers Dennis and Dale Melton gathered before the family television to watch the Ed Sullivan Show.

There was nothing extraordinary about the particular episode, other than the fact that it marked the live television debut of a group of four mop-topped young men from the ragged streets of Liverpool, who found themselves suddenly thrust into the consciousness of a country that had just been shaken to the core by the death of their beloved President three months before.

The groundswell of attention given to these young men by a country still in mourning was all they needed, and with two guitars, a bass and a set of drums, they flew a Pan Am flight across the Atlantic Ocean, landed just outside of New York City, and set about that task of making our country smile again.

Continued on Page 40

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Dennis Melton Continued from Page 39

None of these young men the Melton brothers were about to see came from sterling musical pedigree.

None were born into wealth or at the time had attained any of it, but there they were, ripping into “All My Loving” with a confidence that defied their youth and seemed to reach through the screen and tell every American kid with huge dreams watching at home that there is nothing they are not capable of.

As the Beatles left their instruments to shake Sullivan’s hand and playfully acknowledge the wails of the young girls who were lucky enough to be there at the theater on 50th Street in Manhattan, Dennis and Dale Melton looked at each other and said, “That’s what we’re going to do.”

For Dennis Melton, who died on May 5 at the age of 73, dreaming was as essential as breathing, and he spent his life in the company of those for whom lofty imagination is essential to life: musicians, community

leaders, town planners, architects and those dedicated to the belief that we are better together than we are apart.

How is the measure of a human life defined more clearly than by the forever imprints they leave behind when they leave us? Dennis Melton’s work as an architect – most of it coming out of his cozy row home office on Broad Street in Kennett Square - gave us the Anson B. Nixon Park Performance Pavilion, the Country Butcher, Philter Coffee, the restoration of the Chalfonte House, and, perhaps most grand of all, the new Kennett Library & Resource Center that is scheduled to begin construction this summer and be completed at the end of 2022.

The forever imprint of Dennis Melton also made a beautiful sound, seen in recordings and live performances, in collaboration with his brother Dale and far Continued on Page 42

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Dennis Melton Continued from Page 40

too many other singers and songwriters and strummers and drummers to possibly fit on a single stage. The forever imprint of his music went far beyond his singing and his guitar; it was seen in his ingenuity to introduce live music to Kennett Square by becoming one of the founders of The Kennett Flash, as well as the Summer Park Concert Series at Anson B. Nixon Park.

Perhaps nowhere was the forever imprint of Dennis Melton felt more than at the annual MLK CommUNITY Day celebration of the life and mission of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., where he was a founding member of the MLK CommUNITY. It was at this event that the community saw the side of Dennis Melton that lay behind the quick and ready smile and the extended hand of friendship – the side of him that spoke of his humble servitude for his brothers and sisters who did not share the color of his skin.

On Feb. 9, 1964, Dennis Melton sat transfixed before a television screen and saw his future. It was a forever

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imprint of a moment in history and one that inspired Melton to live out his life in a dream sequence of accomplishment, collaboration and decency. He stared deep at the blank pages of his profession and filled them with the most breathtaking use of space. He made music when before there was empty noise and sweetened the air, and he imagined, through the simple act of kindness, how we as a community can be become the best versions of ourselves.

Dreamers are, by their very nature, the first ones in. They are the first stakeholders to what is at first nothingness, and through the sheer constancy of their imagination, turn nothingness into possibility and convince others to join them.

We are a better community because of Dennis Melton, and now it is our turn to follow what he did, and leave the forever imprints of our most gracious selves.

This article published as an editorial in the May 12 edition of the Chester County Press.

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|Kennett Square Life Photo Essay|

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Photographs by Jie Deng Text by Richard L. Gaw To scroll through the Instagram account of Kristen Burdumy of Kennett Square is to embrace the sweet science of what happens when the colors of perfect nature meet the understated whisper of great design.

With each photograph, the viewer becomes the admirer, because frame by frame, the vision of the artist – seen in the flowing spiral of driedand fresh-cut flowers – yields to the power of natural beauty.

“The idea is to celebrate the individual flowers themselves - to allow a flower to be the star all on its own,” said Burdumy, who in addition to her independent art is the lead floral designer at Terrain in nearby Glen Mills. “When I am working on personal arrangements, I try to let the flowers speak – to dictate where they land - in an effort to achieve a more airy look and feel. I have a collection of vintage vessels and flower frogs that are an inspiring starting point.”

Continued on Page 46 www.chestercounty.com | Summer 2021 | Kennett Square Life

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Kristen Burdumy Continued from Page 45

Looking back at what first sparked Kristen’s interest is to revisit the backyard of her childhood home in West Chester that backed up to the 126-acre Gordon Natural Area along the southeastern corner of West Chester University’s campus. A refuge for local wildlife and native plants, the preserve became Burdumy’s playground.

“My parents were also avid gardeners, and every time I visited my grandparent’s house, I got to see this beautiful field of Black-Eyed Susans near their home, and since then they’ve become one of my favorite flowers,” she said.

While the stress of creating floral arrangements for multiple wedding weekends has become commonplace for Burdumy, she feels blessed to able to live a life where her profession is also her passion - all in the gentle company of flowers.

Continued on Page 48

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Kristen Burdumy Continued from Page 46

“It is exciting, and there is always something new and I am always facing new challenges,” she said. “For the most part, I am creating something that will only last a few days – and while that is kind of sad – I feel like that is part of the beauty of it all.”

To see more examples of Kristen’s floral designs, visit www.instagram.com/Kristenburdumy.

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|Kennett Square Spotlight|

The friendship of two dogs in Kennett Square is at the center of The Adventures of Chips & Salsa.

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Kids, animals and Kennett Square provide children’s book inspiration Author Cynthia Petillo celebrates people, community with The Adventures of Chips & Salsa

By Natalie Smith Contributing Writer

I

All photos courtesy Cynthia Petillo

Author Cynthia Petillo holds a copy of The Adventures of Chips & Salsa while at Longwood Gardens. Her search for an appropriate read-aloud book as a A.I. duPont/ Nemours Hospital volunteer led to her penning the multicultural children’s work based in Kennett Square.

t would be fair to say it was love that fueled the creativity behind author Cynthia Petillo’s children’s book, The Adventures of Chips & Salsa - love for children, for animals and for her Kennett Square community.

The playfully illustrated book, intended “for children of all ages” tells the tale of a lighthearted beagle who welcomes a shy Chihuahua to the neighborhood filled with doggy pals. The action, which takes place in the borough’s Anson B. Nixon Park, cements the friendship, and leads the characters – and the readers – on numerous spirited adventures.

Petillo has long been a person who’s volunteered her time, whether it was at her grandparents’ farm, as an English as a Second Language tutor, or most recently, for a seven-year stint at Nemours A.I. duPont Children’s Hospital, where she was a patient liaison in the emergency department.

She explained her liaison responsibilities, and how they led to her penning The Adventures of Chips & Salsa.

Continued on Page 52

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Cynthia Petillo Continued from Page 51

“The children who are at the hospital are truly inspiring,” she said.

“One of my duties as the patient liaison is to go into the individual emergency rooms and make sure that the experience is a pleasant one - as much as possible - for the children and for the parents. I also go and get the parents coffee or tea.

“And if I’m asked to sit with the patient while the parents step out for whatever reason, speaking to a doctor or just they need a break, I ask the children: ‘Well, what do you want to do? Do you want to color? You want me to read a book?’

“Amazingly, even if they have technology in front of them, they say, ’Read me a book.’ When I would go out and look for a book, it was kind of hard to find a really good book. Some of the books ... maybe they were chapter books or too advanced for the children. I had the idea, ‘Where are the really good, uplifting, fun books for children?’ So that kind of got me thinking. I always enjoyed reading as a child and reading to our son when he was a child, so children became my initial inspiration.”

Petillo, who also interacted with many children during her career as a hospital radiographer, said, “I strongly believe that reading to children fosters creativity, instills a love for reading and learning and strengthens Continued on Page 54

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A look of the happy-go-lucky Chips looking outside the window to his Kennett Square neighborhood in The Adventures of Chips & Salsa.

www.chestercounty.com | Summer 2021 | Kennett Square Life

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Cynthia Petillo Continued from Page 52

the bond between a parent/caregiver and child.”

The book idea was simmering in Petillo’s imagination. But it took a supermarket shopping trip about two years ago to move it from thought toward reality.

“It was the Fourth of July,” Petillo recalled. “My husband [Michael] was playing golf and I thought I would just go to the Acme and get whatever I was inspired by and have that for dinner.

“I was walking down an aisle and saw a large number of chips stocked on large pallets. I never realized how many [varieties of] chips there were! Purple, red, lime; you have round, you have Scoops … I was thinking, wow, there are just so many kinds of chips and salsa!

“I purchased my brand and on the way home in the car, I’m thinking, those are kind of cute dog names, Chips and Salsa. At that time, we had just lost our dog. He wasn’t a Chihuahua, but he was little – a Japanese chin, Kenjo. They kind of look almost like a Chihuahua.”

After she got home, Petillo and her husband discussed the cute dog names, and how Chips would be a good name for an All-American beagle and Salsa would be an adorable name for a dog that originated in Mexico.

“The next day, I went on the computer and I started just banging out ideas for what became the book.”

Petillo’s childhood love of animals also played strongly into her writing.

“When I was a little girl, I spent many weekends at my grandfather’s farm,” she said. “He was a gentleman farmer and he had a farm between Newark, Del. and Elkton, Md. He had several hundred acres of land and with cows and chickens. I spent a lot of time bottle-feeding the calves and working on the farm, helping him pick his various vegetables. He had a lot of time and patience explaining the land to us.

“So, I really fell in love with animals at an early age. We always had pets in our house, always had cats or dogs, and I would bring home strays. God bless my mother, because she was so good at taking them in.”

The multicultural aspect of the story is important to Petillo, particularly because of the large Hispanic population living in southern Chester County. “We have a very proud and rich Hispanic culture in Kennett Square,” she said. “This is our hometown.”

She said her own full family background that includes a Sicilian immigrant paternal grandfather and a WW ii German war bride mother has also made her appreciate the mingling of cultures.

Continued on Page 56

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Cynthia Petillo Continued from Page 54

The basic storyline was easy, she said. “I knew in my mind, I wanted these two little dogs and I thought, what better place than Kennett Square?”

A former colleague of her husband’s who had written a series of children’s books, helped connect her with his publisher. Petillo then began to look for an illustrator who could create the two little dogs and their adventures.

“I think probably the hardest part was the illustrations and finding the illustrator who could put these little dogs the way I was thinking of them: not too cartoonish, not too scary looking. I wanted them to be cute, but also not too cartoonish and not too scary looking,” Petillo said. “I wanted them to be cute but not too life-like. I wanted them to look as if they lived in a story book.”

After looking at as many as 15 artists’ portfolios, Petillo chose Ana Sebastian, who lives in Spain.

“She just really understood the story and was able to keep the rhythm of the story with the illustration,” she said. “I owe a lot to her.

“The actual story … I just knew that I wanted to tell this story. And it was story that was uplifting. It made children feel good about new experiences. There are a couple

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themes in there, but the main theme for me was to make sure that children understood that we all have new experiences and it doesn’t stop even as an adult. Maybe you have a new job or you’re starting college. You can have challenges, but it’s very exciting. And it’s fun to have new experiences because that’s what life is all about: how you adapt to them.”

The book has been picked up by Amazon and several independent booksellers, including The Growing Tree in Kennett Square; Hockessin BookShelf and Main Point Books in Wayne. Petillo donated a copy to the Kennett Library, and a portion of the sales from her website goes to Nemours Hospital.

Because of pandemic restrictions, Petillo is currently doing her hospital volunteer work in the gift shop. “That’s a delightful place because I get to talk to patients and their parents coming in buying stuffed animals and cute little toys,” she said. “It’s lots of fun.”

The three copies of Chips & Salsa on the shop shelves sold, and Petillo is hopeful to restock.

What’s next for our canine pals? Is there a second adventure in the works? Petillo’s creative juices have been churning.

“I’m thinking that I’m going to have Chips and Salsa as therapy dogs, like we have them at the hospital,” she said.

Continued on Page 58

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Cynthia Petillo Continued from Page 56

A line-up of the characters appearing in The Adventures of Chips & Salsa.

“The organization [that trains them] is called PAWS for People.

“The two of them will have to have to go through the training program and after that, then they can go to the hospital and do good. And what I’ll do is take the dogs through the different departments of the hospital. I’d like the children to not have so much anxiety; it can be overwhelming for parents as well. But I do find that the children are very brave. Most of the children that come through are just amazing.”

Petillo said she hopes that readers can appreciate the many influences that resulted in her book.

“I really wanted to celebrate, not only the beauty of Kennett Square, but the people of Kennett Square, who make it unique and make it such a wonderful community. And I’m hoping that people see that The Adventures of Chips & Salsa is a reflection of the residents and how two cultures can come together and make it a beautiful area by sharing our cultures and welcoming people, in addition to its being a children’s book making children happy with an uplifting story.

“It’s to celebrate our area and hopefully that, people all over can be that way, can come together and just make their community better.

“Maybe we can do that, one book at a time.” Petillo said with a laugh.

More information about The Adventures of Chips & Salsa and Cynthia Petillo is available at https://cynthiapetillo.com/ Natalie Smith may be contacted at natalie@DoubleSMedia.com.

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|Kennett Square Events|

The spectacular and timely return of a Kennett Square tradition

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While COVID-19 may have stopped the 2020 Mushroom Festival, it did not stop the determination of a committee whose dedication and perseverance is bringing the annual event back this September 11 & 12.

By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

F All photos courtesy

After being forced to cancel in 2020 because of COVID-19, the 36th Mushroom Festival will take place in Kennett Square on Sept. 11 & 12.

or the regular visitor to the annual Mushroom Festival in Kennett Square, he or she does not tip-toe quietly through the several-block celebration of and tribute to what remains the town’s financial, historical and essential lifeblood.

Rather, it has become more of a once-a-year ravenous leap into the fray in search of tastes and sensations, sights and sounds and everything from the usual to the unusual. It is being witness to the gluttony of an eating contest and to the introduction of rare fungi. It has become the shoulder-to-shoulder block party for more than 100,000 once-a-year neighbors from as near as the Kennett Square Borough to as far away as other continents, gathered all en masse throughout the expanse of a few precious blocks.

At its most brilliant, the Mushroom Festival has served as a continuum of ritual, seen in the arrival of visitors who were tugged along by their parents to the first festival in 1986 and now find themselves the parents and grandparents of new generations who will someday pass along the time-honored tradition to their children.

Continued on Page 62

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The 2021 Mushroom Festival Continued from Page 61

The 36th Annual Mushroom Festival will take place on Sept. 11 and 12 this year, and while this year’s event will form the latest chapter in a long history, that history -- thought to be unbroken and impenetrable -- was cracked in two last year.

When COVID-19 ravaged its way through southern Chester County in 2020, its impact was immediate and devastating. It crowded hospital rooms, shuttered schools and burned its way through small businesses, many of which survived through federal and state grants or closed altogether. It also took enormous financial chunks out of the local mushroom economy, sending a billion-dollar industry into a year-long hardship of lost wages, a drop in its workforce and decreased sales.

It also led to the cancellation of the 2020 Mushroom Festival, and the loss of more than $100,000 that the Mushroom Festival Committee funnels in annual grants to dozens of local non-profit agencies in southern Chester County – a community-wide impact that has now topped the $1.1 million mark in contributions.

“The decision to cancel the festival was very difficult for every member of the Mushroom Festival Committee, but unfortunately we had to make that decision,” said Committee President Gina Puoci, who is her first year in the role after serving as Secretary Continued on Page 64

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Since its formation in 1986, the Mushroom Festival has contributed $1.1 million in grants to support several local non-profit agencies in southern Chester County.

The 2021 Mushroom Festival Continued from Page 62

the Genesis HealthCare building on for several years. “Consequently, we the 600 block of South Broad Street, were not able to give grants to the and instead of the usual 250 venmany organizations and neighbors dors on hand, this year’s event will that we normally do.” invite about 120.

Throughout the dark year of 2020, “When we met as a committee however, the Mushroom Festival in January, we decided with the Committee never lost sight of the pandemic that we would not be eyes-on-the-prize mission of the able to organize a festival to the festival. Slowly, as COVID-19 size and scope of what we normally restrictions began to loosen and the have been able to do,” Puoci said. rate of vaccinations greatly lessened “With permission from Genesis the severity of the pandemic on the general population, the Committee The Mushroom Festival has been a circle-the-calendar HealthCare, we came up with this option to move the festival from shared the good news in April that annual tradition for generations of families.

State Street down to the Genesis the event – albeit a more scaled parking lot on South Broad Street, so that it would allow down one -- would return in 2021.

To accommodate the continuing safety factors of COVID- us to control crowds if we needed to and keep those who 19, the 2021 Mushroom Festival will have a new home attend as safe as possible.”

Although the usual Friday kick-off community parade will this September, a smaller imprint and a few added touches.

Rather than holding the event along State Street and its be postponed, a ceremony honoring the 20th anniversary of feeder streets, the festival will be held at the parking lot of Continued on Page 66

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The 2021 Mushroom Festival Continued from Page 64

the September 11 attacked on the United States will be held on Saturday morning on South Broad Street.

The schedule for this year’s festival is currently being finalized, and not only will information constantly be updated in the festival’s revamped website (www.mushroomfestival.org), it will also become available on an easy-to-install phone application for visitors to access right from the palms of their hands.

“The app will become the place to go for parking locations, event information, dates and times, and a list of vendors,” said Gale Ferranto of Buona Foods, who replaced long-time Executive Director Kathi Lafferty this year. “We’re all mobile now, and as we continue to develop this app, we’re hoping it will give people the opportunity to purchase their tickets as well as merchandise, virtually.”

The festival will also include a diverse lineup of children’s entertainment – fun for every member of the family.

For Ferranto, the tendrils that link her to the Mushroom Festival extend to her own family. Her mother Rosemarie “RoRo” L. Ranalli Ferranto not only began the family business in 1972, she was also one of the founding voices of the Mushroom Festival. While Ferranto said that taking on her new role was in many ways a tribute to her mother, it is also to honor the work of her predecessor.

“Kathi has given her heart and soul to this festival, in that order,” Ferranto said of Lafferty. “She was able to bridge the mushroom industry with the community and the Kennett Square merchants, and create that collective voice between all entities. I truly believe that Kennett Square became the Mushroom Capitol of the World because of the Mushroom Festival, and it’s because of the work of Continued on Page 68

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The 2021 Mushroom Festival Continued from Page 66

so much – conversations about health Kathi and so many others.” and sustainability and research.”

The theme of this year’s Mushroom Puoci said that the return of the Festival will be “Rooted in the Mushroom Festival this September will Community,” which Ferranto said is represent the triumph of an industry reflective of the mushroom industry’s and its people to overcome the unforimportance as a connective link to the tunate circumstances of a terrible year businesses and residents of southern and emerge on the other side, renewed Chester County. and determined.

“We felt strongly about coming up “I have lived here all of my life, and with a theme, and during each discussion, we kept coming back to the This year’s festival will again host its popular being able to see the people of the cooking with mushrooms demonstrations. mushroom growing industry – and I’m word ‘Community,’” she said. “We proud to know many of them - particisettled on the theme of “Rooted in the Community” because it truly speaks to how rooted pate with their generations of families will be a celebration this industry is in this community. We began to picture for them, and for our community.”

To learn more about the 2021 Mushroom Festival, visit the community and the roots of the industry flowing all www.mushroomfestival.org. Throughout the summer, the through it.

“We are beginning to see our way through this pandemic website will continue to provide up-to-date listings of all now, but we as an industry and as a community are using events as well as complete information about the festival these roots to climb back up from where we were. This phone app and how to download it to your mobile phone.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email rgaw@chesfestival may be smaller this year, but it will still allow us to continue the conversation about an industry that has given tercounty.com.

We encourage local organizations, schools, civic and fraternal groups and churches to submit news releases.

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