Landenberg Life Fall/Winter 2020

Fall/Winter / 2020

Landenberg Life

Magazin Magazine g

Sunset Farm: A forever farm in Landenberg Page 8

Inside: • Metalsmith Caryn Hetherston finds inspiration in Landenberg • Photo essay: The Bucktoe Creek Preserve • Profile of Landenberg weaver Elaine Brooks

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Landenberg Life Fall/Winter 2020

Landenberg Life Table of Contents 8 Sunset Farm is now the forever farm

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rofile of metalsmith P Caryn Hetherston

24 The well of kindness 30 Profile of weaver Elaine Brooks 38 Landenberg Life photo essay:

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Bucktoe Creek Preserve

44 The Blittersdorf family:

Coming to the rescue

52 Landenberg Life Q&A:

Ramsey Reiner, New Garden Township Manager

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Landenberg Life Fall 2020 Letter from the Editor:

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This issue of Landenberg Life explores how talented local artists find inspiration in their surroundings, how people who live in the area care deeply about this special place, and about how there are efforts underway to preserve the beauty of Landenberg for generations to come.

Writer Ken Mammarella talks to metalsmith Caryn Hetherston about how the creative jewelry that she makes is inspired by Landenberg life.

We also profile Elaine Brooks, who has been engaged in the art of weaving for the past ten years or so, and has since then built up a strong reputation as an artisan in Chester County. She regularly appears at craft and artisan events throughout Chester County.

In our photo essay, “Along Bucktoe: Preservation and partnership,” photographer Jim Coarse captures the pristine beauty of the Bucktoe Creek Preserve, a 250-acre privately owned natural area managed in partnership by The Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County and Delaware Nature Society and private land owners.

We also have a story about Sunset Farm, a “forever farm” in the area that has been protected for future generations through a conservation easement that ensures that a large portion of the property will remain as open space.

We also have a story about how Heidi Scheing has transformed a simple spot in Landenberg into her own personal and creative canvas—and also created one of the most unique conversation pieces in Landenberg.

Another story in this issue traces the history of Blittersdorf’s, Inc., which is known today as one of the leading towing companies in the area. The company actually began as a gas station and repair shop started by the late Bill Blittersdorf in 1962. It continues to be owned and operated by the family.

The subject of the Q & A in this issue is Ramsey Reiner, the New Garden Township manager.

We’re very pleased to be sharing the stories in this issue of Landenberg Life with you. As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions for future stories. We wish you all good health and good cheer until we deliver the next issue of the magazine in the spring of 2021.

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

Cover photo: Richard L. Gaw Cover Design: Tricia Hoadley www.chestercounty.com | Fall/Winter 2020 | Landenberg Life

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|Landenberg Preservation| Twenty-eight acres of preserved land in Avondale known as Sunset Farm has a strong artistic connection to its history and a role in helping wildlife in its future

The F forever farm

By Ken Mammarella Contributing Writer

or Lynn Sinclair and John Morris, preserving Sunset Farm in Avondale from development is part of their longtime commitment to improving where they live and work.

“We’re passionate about the community,” Morris said.

It all began with their “bad habit of looking at real estate,” and in 2015 they were so tempted by the “jaw-dropping, 100-year-old house and the beautiful” farmland, orchard and forest in the northwestern corner of New Garden Township that they made an immediate offer.

“This is our house,” Sinclair said.

They had to wait a bit, because owners Len Orlando and Wendy Cotton wanted to enjoy one last summer on the property, so Sinclair and Morris took possession that fall.

Orlando and Cotton had bought four adjoining parcels and had started the preservation process for the consolidated property. In 2017, Sinclair and Morris signed off on

Photo by Richard L. Gaw

Lynn Sinclair and John Morris of Sunset Farm in Avondale.

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the conversation easement, a legally binding agreement that ensures that all but five of their 28 acres will remain open forever.

Only passive recreation, meadow management and sustainable agriculture are permitted on the remaining acres, which includes a creek and a trail. They can build on the rest, and they have.

Conservation was coordinated by Natural Lands, the region’s oldest and largest land conservation organization.

Funding support was provided by the National Park Service and New Garden Township.

“Being involved in the preservation of this small piece of Chester County history and natural, scenic beauty for future generations has been rewarding,” Sinclair said when the arrangement was announced.

Farm’s former families, plus an artist The first Europeans to occupy the site, on the Pennsylvania Inventory of Historic Places, were probably Joseph and Mary Sharp, Cynthia G. Falk, then a graduate student at the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture, concluded in 1996. Their son Samuel built a log home in 1782 for their grandson Isaac, and his wife, Margaret. Various family members owned the land until 1862, when they sold it to the Moore family, who sold it in 1878 to William J. and Frances Eakins Crowell.

The Crowells raised 10 kids there; they and four children are buried in a family plot on the site. They also raised dairy cows and mushrooms and took advantage of the cider mill across the street.

“By the time of the Crowells’ ownership, the meager Isaac and Margaret Sharp house had been transformed to a fashionable country residence for a gentleman farmer,” Falk wrote.

Frances Eakins Crowell was the sister of Thomas Eakins, a painter and sculptor known for his showing everyday life in his hometown of Philadelphia and the surrounding countryside. PBS filmed at Sunset Farm for “Scenes from Modern Life,” a 2001 documentary about Eakins.

Eakins was a regular visitor for almost 20 years, and his sister added a studio for him.

Artist Marty Crowell Bobroskie, the Crowells’ greatgranddaughter, in 2017 blogged about the link and quoted William Crowell Jr. on his illustrious uncle. “Uncle Tom was a frequent visitor, usually alone. He would come on an evening train and sleep on a blanket on the floor in the sitting room by the open door. I think of him as with the horizons always his own and not of the farm. Painting, modeling, riding, shooting, swimming, the study of anatomy, skinning and dissecting animals, treating the skins, throwing the lariat, throwing half-hitches, splicing rope, tying knows, Continued on Page 10

Photo courtesy of Marty Crowell Bobroskie

Famed artist Thomas Eakins took this photo of his sister’s family on their farmhouse, probably around 1890.

Photo courtesy of Marty Crowell Bobroskie

John and Chris Crowell Trostle explore the farmhouse just before it was torn down in 2003.

Photo by Richard L. Gaw

A man-made stone pedestrian bridge links to the property’s easement trail and crosses over the East Branch of the White Clay Creek. www.chestercounty.com | Fall/Winter 2020 | Landenberg Life

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The forever farm Continued from Page 9

tricks with rope and string, making plaster casts of different hands were some of the things he did on the farm with the children.”

The Sharp-Crowell house was allowed to decay (ending as an Avon Grove Jaycees haunted house) and demolished in 2003, leaving only the ruins of a 1916 stone sunroom. Sinclair has a pipe dream to reconstruct it, perhaps for visitors or farmhands.

In 1915 – with the date displayed on the front door – the Crowells’ son Thomas built an Arts and Crafts-style house, which by the time Morris and Sinclair saw it 100 years later featured two bedrooms, and a three-car garage with a kiln in one bay and a pottery studio above it.

The property later housed the Springs Valley Inn, owned by Ralph and Patricia LaFrance, and Morris recalled fighting the 1987 fire when it burned down.

Life today Sunset Farm’s rolling hills, mature woods and verdant vistas embody the idyllic landscape of southern Chester County. The property also features a man-made stone bridge, with a 1936 keystone, that crosses the East Branch of the White Clay Creek. The White Clay is a federally designated Wild and Scenic River.

A public trail easement, held by New Garden Township, runs along the western edge, with 600 feet of trail, now not linked with anything else, that could be a key part of future township greenways.

Morris and Sinclair said they have talked up the idea of preservation with

Photo by John Morris

John Morris, a longtime member of the Avondale and Kennett fire companies, collects fire trucks, which are stored in a newlyconstructed barn on the property.

friends and neighbors, such as the Rosazza family, which owns Glen Willow Orchards, on the other side of the creek.

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The forever farm Continued from Page 10

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“Having a lot of open areas not covered in concrete – 20 acres, 40 acres, even a few acres – is really important for birds for feeding and migrating,” said Kathy Dale, a neighbor and a birder. “I’ve noticed a lot of warblers traveling in migration from one forested area to another, through this corridor.”

Morris was born in New York and moved to the area to earn his associate degree in agriculture from the University of Delaware. He moved to Chester County in 1979 and is streets department foreman and emergency management coordinator for the Kennett Square Borough.

He is a past president and an active 41-year veteran of the Avondale Fire Company and an active 15-year veteran of the Kennett Fire Company, and he served on the board of the Kennett Square Mushroom Festival. He collects antique fire trucks and built a 40-by-60-foot barn for tractors, farm machinery, parts, a workshop and his four fire trucks.

Sinclair was born in Chester County and earned an associate degree in art from the University of Delaware and is retired after 44 years in the restaurant business, including Sinclair’s Cafe in Newark and Sinclair’s Sunrise Cafe in Kennett Square.

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Photo by John Morris

Old farming equipment on the property illuminates Sunset Farm’s history.

Photo by John Morris

Sunset Farm is aptly named for its majestic evening views.

on the New Garden Township Historical Commission.

In January, she founded the Kennett Heritage Center, a nonprofit history and information center to be housed in a building she owns at 120 N. Union St., in the heart of Kennett.

Gardening, beekeeping, fishing and herding Natural Lands’ easement divides the 23 acres into two areas, with some activities like farming allowed in one area but not the other. New Garden Township, its partner on this easement, has an Open Space Review Board to promote conservation options.

“Each one of our easements goes through extensive assessment for environmental value, historical significance and other factors before Natural Lands takes on the responsibility of holding the easement (a perpetual obligation) and monitoring the landscape,” said Max Axelrod, media relations manager for Natural Lands, which annually checks on the property.

A 166-page baseline report assessed Sunset Farm’s topography, hydrology, soil and plants. “We documented the presence of trees such as black walnut, silver maple, catalpa and locust, and native plants such as aster and goldenrod,” Axelrod said.

Sinclair and Morris hold true to the name of Sunset Farm by farming it. The orchard – mostly apples and Continued on Page 14 www.chestercounty.com | Fall/Winter 2020 | Landenberg Life

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The forever farm Continued from Page 13

Asian pears – is at the end of its life, Morris said.

They have a vegetable and fruit garden. Friends fish in the creek (usually catchand-release trout). They have bees (“I tried counting them, but they fly so fast,” Morris joked), nine alpacas and a guard llama.

In the house are the cats Mac and Pippa.

“If I was 20 years younger, I’d do more,” Morris Photos by D. Lynn Sinclair said. “What nature gives, All of the members of the alpaca herd at Sunset Farm are female. we take.”

Sinclair started with alpacas shortly after they moved to Sunset Farm. Citing her training in fiber arts, she was drawn by the chance to work with their multicolored wool. So far, she’s just hoarding it.

Alpacas are herd animals, and for owners, “they’re like potato chips. You can’t have just one.”

The herd consists of Ebony, Flash, JoJo, Lily, Moonie, Norma Jean, Stormy, Sweetie and Zipper, with all these females protected from predators by a larger llama named Pilot.

Morris built a two-story 12-by-24-foot barn for the alpacas. They raise hay, but it’s only good for mushroom farming, so the alpacas dine on hay imported from Cochranville. “They have a pampered life,” he said.

“Cute house. Million-dollar view.”

He was talking about the alpacas, but he could have been channeling his and Sinclair’s living arrangement on their forever farm.

A misty day for Misty the alpaca.

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|Landenberg Arts|

Metalsmith Caryn Hetherston infuses some elements of Landenberg in her jewelry.

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Jewelry influenced

by Landenberg life Metalsmith Caryn Hetherston creates wearable and eclectic pieces

By Ken Mammarella Contributing Writer

T

here’s some city in the jewelry crafted

by Caryn Hetherston.

There’s also some suburbs.

Plus some Southwest. And a lot of Landenberg.

“I was coming to where I was meant to live,” Hetherston recalls of her 1991 arrival in Landenberg.

“I grew up in the suburbs, and I went to school in the city. There’s such a community in Landenberg. Balance is something I learned here. My husband and I keep bees and chickens and are surrounded by nature.”

The Southwest influence dates back to as a child seeing work in Arizona Highways magazine by Hopi artist Charles Loloma, whom she calls “a mentor I never met.”

She’s twice explored Arizona.

“I don’t follow trends. I want to be true to my own spirit.

I want to make artistic and functional art jewelry.” And she has, for 40 years, now working from the second floor of a century-old barn on their 2½-acre property. “I’m so lucky to have that space,

Her “Land and ocean” piece is a pin or a pendant and features sterling and fine silver, 14 karat gold, carved jade leaf, ocean jasper and a Cape May beach pebble.

Her “Floating Stone” necklace features sterling and fine silver, red jasper with pyrite, a black onyx floating setting and red jasper tongue and beads.This piece can be worn four ways: as seen, the beads worn separately and center piece as a brooch or on a chain.

Her ‘Cephalopod’ earrings feature sterling and fine silver, 22 karat gold, ammonites and Montana agates. The earrings can be worn with or without dangles.

with great light.”

She’s taking advantage of a 1999 renovation, when she and her husband Gordon got rid of an old spongy floor (“I thought I’d fall and end up in the living room”) and created the studio, a rec room and a guest room in a space once big enough for neighborhood kids to use for basketball.

Her early works were influenced by nature, with tree and water shapes; her city aesthetic is angular and geometric. And her current work reflects that balance.

“I think life on her farmette in Landenberg definitely influences her work,” said Newark artist Dragonfly Leathrum, a friend since 1994 and also an apprentice and mentee.

“Evidence of that can be seen after she became a beekeeper. Little bees and honeycomb shapes began to appear in her work. Actually, I’m not sure which arrived first, the real bees or the gold ones.”

Her path to art

Her “Any Portal in the Storm,” a sculpture now at the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, features a removable necklace

All the photos by Caryn Hetherston unless otherwise noted

Hetherston was born in Staten Island and grew up in New Jersey. She studied at Moore College of Art & Continued on Page 18

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Caryn Hetherston Continued from Page 17

Design and the Philadelphia College of Art, and at the Peters Valley School of Craft in the Poconos, she fell in love with metalsmithing.

“My family didn’t know what to make of me, she said. They suggested I go into medical illustration or cartography. One day I was talking about college with my grandfather, who showed me two hammers from my great-grandfather. I have metalsmithing in my genes.” The hammers are in her studio, along with a lot of specialized tools and equipment (“jewelers tend to be tool hounds”).

She never earned a degree (“college is a lot of bureaucracy”) but a lifetime of lessons in the school of hard knocks has given her enough cred to be a recurring teacher at multiple institutions. She also has a second production bench in her studio for apprentices and classes.

She and Gordon, a retired DuPont Company systems engineer, passed along artistic genes to their daughter Tyler, who creates Japanese street clothes and accessories. Tyler, who lives in Newark, has had no formal training and hasn’t even been to Japan, but her Lily of the Valley line is successful enough that she’s exploring outsourcing production so that Continued on Page 20

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Hetherston calls this table her “creative chaos zone.” It’s where she lays out elements to do designing.

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Caryn Hetherston Continued from Page 18

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Her “Jetty” cuff bracelet features fused sterling silver, forged sterling silver waves and 14 karat details.

which she cuts, shapes and solders. Although experience has made her faster, “it’s hard to make a real living. It’s a passion.”

Hetherston, like all artists worth owning and appreciating, makes works that push boundaries.

One push is in her source material. “I love found objects.

You don’t know their backstory.”

Her studio holds jars of beach rock and beach glass and lots of stone. “I’m a stoneaholic. I love the color and juxtaposition of colors in one stone. I just can’t help myself from forming larger pieces, even if they’re harder to wear.”

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she can focus on design.

Caryn Hetherston’s jewelry includes earrings, necklaces, bracelets, pins and pendants. She makes earrings for both pierced and non-pierced ears, and she also makes earrings with detachable dangles so that the base is subdued enough for the office, with the dangles adding splash for going out.

She is starting to make rings (including for her son Britton’s wedding) and on commission. And she’s fabricated her first tiara, “a really cool but creepy third eye.”

With commissions, she loves to work with objects important to clients. “An example would be a client who had a box of mother of pearl buttons that she remembers playing with at her grandmother’s house,” she said. “She wanted something to remember her grandmother by. I made her a necklace using some of the buttons. It was very special for both of us.”

Sculptures that display her work Some pieces are multifunctional, such as pendants that can be worn as brooches.

Her creations start at $60 for a pair of earrings and run up to several thousands dollars for small-scale sculptures that incorporate art. She uses only solid -- not plate -- metal,

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Another push is in elevating the mundane.

“I use a lot of rusted washers that I found on the property. This used to be a truck-repair business. I want to challenge people’s idea of what is precious.”

While sidelined from doing shows during coronavirus restrictions, she’s been smashing Nespresso pods, exploring the look of the multicolored metallic crumples.

One more push is in displaying jewelry.

About 20 years ago, she considered how to get customers to display her work all the time, rather than stashing it in jewelry boxes between wearings. Her solution: smallscale sculptures that incorporate removable jewelry.

One piece, called “Any Portal in the Storm,” features multiple pushes. It’s part of the “State of the Art” exhibition at the State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg through January.

A petersite base evokes the raging ocean. A craquelure piece of found ceramic provides a

T L

A forging stump and tools for texturing are on the left, and a rolling mill, on the pedestal on the right, is used to change the thickness of sheet and wire metal.

backdrop to antique cameos that suggest the immigrants’ journey. Other material includes sterling and fine silver, 22 karat gold, copper, rusted washer, hand-carved mastadon ivory, glass lenses and soapstone. A necklace that tops it all can be easily removed for wearing.

Continued on Page 22

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Caryn Hetherston Continued from Page 21

plant waterer when she and her husband Pushed up to another level traveled” – and met Hetherston in the “She’s taken the art of jewelry making Kaleidoscope Gallery, the predecessor to and pushed it to a whole other creative the Newark Arts Alliance, and are part of level of truly unique jewelry, sculpture and Trashy Women, upcycling “the discards and wearable objects,” Leathrum said. “She detritus of everyday life to make work of can work with almost any material creatbeauty and meaning.” ing jewelry from precious stones and gold “Everything about her is creative,” said to found glass, rusted metal and plant Courtesy of Dragonfly Leathrum/ Trashy Women’s Trebs Thompson, a glass material.”

Hetherston made these wedding She loves a necklace Hetherston made rings for Newark artist Dragonfly artist from Glasgow. “She has a wonderful eye.” for a high school reunion and her wedding Leathrum.

Hetherston’s push into source material rings (waves of rose and yellow gold, for her oceanographer husband). “She created the necklace around led her for years to join her daughter in creating jewelry a German 50 pfennig coin that has an image of a woman that feature elements extracted from Mother Nature. They planting a tree. Hanging from the handmade bezel shaped often exhibited at the Philadelphia Flower Show, where like the sun that holds the coin is a ‘personal planet.’ … Hetherston is now ending her term as chairman of the From the planet hangs a moonstone and from that a parrot botanical jewelry exhibit.

The flower show, the nation’s largest and longest-running opal. The chain is made of handcrafted links and has a few glass beads in it. The whole thing can be worn together, or horticultural event, is being pushed into a new direction next year. Instead of a week-plus at the Pennsylvania you can unclip different parts to make it more casual.”

Leathrum – whose ties also include being Hetherston’s Convention Center, it’s looking for an outdoor location that “house, duck, turkey, rabbit, chicken, cat, kid sitter and will provide more socially distant viewing.

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|Landenberg Arts|

All photos courtesy unless otherwise noted

The artist took her inspiration to begin decorating the well in memory of her brother Harald Herglotz, who used to make a stop there during the long drives he took with his family throughout Chester County, which included Heidi.

In a space that once served as a beautiful childhood memory for her, Heidi Scheing has transfor med a simple spot into her own personal and creative canvas, and it’s become one of the most unique conversation pieces in Landenberg

By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

Y

ears ago, Harald Herglotz of Newark loved to spend his weekends far from the pressure of his job as a successful packaging designer for Westvaco in Newark.

He would load his two young sons and his dog in his Volkswagen Bug, drive north to his parents’ home in Wilmington, where his younger sisters Helen and Heidi would pack themselves into his tiny car for long drives in the Chester County countryside. The crowded VW Bug would grip the winding roads for hours, whistling by farms and vistas, and on several occasions, the traveling troupe would stop at the Laurel Spring well on Penn Green Road in Landenberg.

Once upon a time, during a period that is now confined to history, the well served as a natural water fountain, quenching the collective thirsts of generations of New Garden residents, many of whom would fill up entire jugs for the sweet taste of the clear water. For Heidi, cupping her hands and welcoming the cool water was not only a weekend ritual, but one that would become one of her favorite childhood memories.

In 2012, long after she and her husband had moved to Franklin Township to raise their children in Lincoln University, Heidi Scheing was walking her dog along the Laurel Woods Trail when she realized that she was in a very familiar place: deep beneath her feet stood the Laurel Spring well, a formation of rocks that bordered a sharp turn along Penn Green Road.

Continued on Page 26

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The w kind

e well of ndness

Photo by Richard L. Gaw www.chestercounty.com | Fall/Winter 2020 | Landenberg Life

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Well of kindness Continued from Page 24

Immediately, she called Harald on her cell phone, who at the time was living in Tuscaloosa, Ala. and was in the throes of a courageous battle with cancer. She thought that by mentioning the well, it would brighten Harald’s spirits.

As she stood admiring the forested green of the trail, Harald delivered the news. There was very little hope that he would ever defeat his illness.

Leaving behind a wife and six children, Harald Herglotz died at his home in Tuscaloosa, Ala. in July 2012. He was 67.

“Over the next several years, I would drive by the well and it would bring back all kinds of memories, which were now bittersweet because of my brother’s passing,” Scheing said.

“I would see that the well was always empty, so I began to get the idea of filling up the well somehow, in Harald’s honor.”

A few years after her brother’s death, Scheing drove to the well, and placed a red stocking with some greens tucked in it in its stone notch. In time, the well became the home of seasonal displays – ceramic pumpkins to celebrate Halloween, living ferns and lights to celebrate Christmas, colorful eggs in a basket to celebrate Easter, and colorappropriate flowers and plants that announced the arrival of spring and fall.

Without her knowing it at the time, Scheing had created a new Landenberg tradition, one that soon became a driveby ritual for passing drivers, who would be given a very brief look-see at an ever-changing gallery that celebrated the seasons.

“I would have all of my materials loaded up in my car and ready to go, and I would park on the side of the road and run in and place toys, trinkets, pots and lights in the well, and then run back to my car,” Scheing said. “It started as a memory to my brother and it became a kind of joyful cemetery beside a spring that once brought a beautiful and natural gift to so many people.”

When she first began to design the well, Scheing would include personal and family items.

“One of the reasons that I went to less expensive items for the designs is that I’ve had things stolen that were very dear to me,” she said. “I realized that I had to replace the more valuable trinkets with less expensive items because if anything did get stolen, I would feel less heartbroken.”

While the designs became conversation pieces, however, the identity of the person who made it happen remained unknown to everyone except a select few. Early in December, her identity was finally revealed.

On Dec. 8, Scheing posted on “Landenberg: You Can’t

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Get There From Here,” a Facebook page dedicated to sharing the news of the town.

She wrote: “This afternoon I stopped at the Landenberg spring head with a Christmas tree and lights to change out the display.

We had just returned from a trip out west.

That’s when I found the note you see here.”

A photograph of the note followed, that read: Please do not decorate the well with junk and leave it here long after the holiday. It becomes an eyesore. If you want to leave something keep it natural – no more plastic or faux – it just becomes litter.

“After the above note this Christmas tree will be the last item I insert,” Scheing wrote.

“My husband and I had just come back from Oregon, and I visited the well to lay out my Christmas design, and to find this note really hurt my feelings very badly,”

Photo by Richard L. Gaw

It is fairly common to see trinkets and messages that compliment Scheing’s designs.

she said. “I wanted to post it on the Landenberg Facebook page because I just thought it was mean, but I also knew that if I posted it, I would lose the anonymity of what I had been doing.”

Continued on Page 28

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Well of kindness Continued from Page 27

Scheing anticipated that there would likely be a small dribbling of responses, but instead, they poured in with the velocity of the old well.

“Please don’t let one person ruin the joy in seeing your decorations for everyone else. Your displays are so loved,” wrote one submission.

“Please do not stop doing this wonderful gesture!!” read another. Hour by hour, they arrived on the page and kept coming.

“It’s such a special way to pay tribute to your brother. I always look forward to rounding the curve and seeing this little piece of magic tucked away in the rocks. My Daddy used to walk to that spring to fill water jugs as a boy.

He’s been gone two years now, and when I’m missing him most, I get in my car and take a drive to that part of Landenberg. Your memorial always brings back memories of his stories of those walks from his childhood. And I thank you for that.”

“I have lived in Landenberg my entire life, and

Throughout the year, Scheing will decorate the well in celebration of a holiday or a special occasion.

used to stop at the spring with my grandparents. I love that you decorate it. Knowing the meaning behind this now warms my heart even more. Please continue to honor your brother and bring more joy and cuteness to Landenberg.”

“I just couldn’t believe people’s reactions, and I immediately began

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to feel that if I really do decide not to do it anymore, that I would let so many people down who wrote that they look forward to what I design at the well,” Scheing said.

“The great news has been that if did decided to back out, there have been people who wrote that they would pick up where I left off.

“I especially liked one note a woman sent to me that said that her children believe that fairies are responsible for what they see at the well,” she said. “I keep going back and forth about this, but the people who have responded have been very positive.”

As Easter approached, those in Landenberg who knew of Scheing’s work saw the decision she had made: There was a basket of colored eggs left behind, garnished by colorful flowers.

One month later, in a perfect testament for the times, the well featured the plastic profile of a woman’s face adorned with a protective mask, and beside it, colored stones that read, “Make a Wish,” “Worry Less” and “Dream Big.” To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email rgaw@ chestercounty.com.

Heidi Scheing’s work can be seen by drivers who drive by the Laurel Spring well along Penn Green Road.

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|Landenberg Arts|

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For more than a decade, local artisan Elaine Brooks has created hand-made magic that showcases her love for an age-old craft

The family threads

By Natalie Smith Contributing Writer

W All photos courtesy of Elaine Brooks

Long fascinated by the history of weaving, Brooks worked on a 200-year-old loom during a recent visit to Ireland.

hen Elaine Brooks was a girl growing up in Elizabeth, N.J., her mother Ruthann was a talented and enthusiastic amateur seamstress whose bedroom work area was filled with beautiful textiles and all the accoutrements that went with them.

“She’d been sewing all my life, and as a child, I would play among her bobbins, spools of thread and binding tapes, and they’d be surrounded by fabric,” the Landenberg resident recalled. However, as she grew, Brooks found herself rebelling against sewing and the ever-present materials.

“I swore to myself I would never live like that,” said Brooks, who partially retired in 2017 after a 29-year career in the banking industry and now works for the Delaware Institute for the Arts in Education.

Continued on Page 32

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Elaine Brooks Continued from Page 31

In complete defiance of the promise she made to herself years ago, an entire room in Brooks’ home is filled with a loom, fabric and all of the essential tools and gadgetry that have, for the past 15 years accompanied her life as a weaver. From this room, her Brooks Family Threads has become locally known by the distinctive look designs seen in her hand-crafted wine totes, table runners, pillows and bags – all of which have been showcased at area artisan craft shows, markets and boutiques.

The method she employs is rag weaving, which uses existing fabric rather than yarn-on-yarn. What makes her creations so unique is that Brooks repurposes upholstery fabrics and remnants – and old blue jeans -- which gives her work a particularly rich appearance.

She was first introduced to weaving by admiring the work of artisans she saw at local craft shows, which inspired her to

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An example of a double wine tote, perfect for taking to a holiday party or a BYOB restaurant.

Landenberg resident Elaine Brooks is the founder of Brooks Family Threads, which celebrates her love of weaving, seen in her unique creations that are showcased regularly at local craft and artisan shows.

take a weaving class at the Yorklyn (Del.) Center for Creative Arts. Brooks was immediately hooked.

“It was like an out-of-body experience,” she said. “I enjoyed mechanics of it, which can be quite complex. Then there’s the whole dressing [threading]

Landenberg Life | Fall/Winter 2020 | www.chestercounty.com

Continued on Page 34

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Elaine Brooks Continued from Page 32

of the loom, but once you start weaving, that’s the easy part, because it’s so rhythmic. Back and forth, back and forth. You get into a zone, and that’s a really peaceful place to be.”

Brooks’ interest in American history honed her passion. The early common practice of rag weaving, in which the weaver used old pieces of cloth to make rugs and other items, held appeal for her, although she was usually the only student in the class working that way. She took more and more classes, mastering the finer points and mechanics of working with a loom before deciding she wanted one of her own.

She began weaving with a small loom, and then, assisted by her weaving teacher Deb McClintock, she purchased a larger loom and became proficient not only with the mechanics of the machine, but also in the aesthetics of weaving, such as deciding which fabrics to use and designs to create.

Using upholstery fabric for the first time, however, wasn’t easy.

“I thought, ‘I’m cutting up this beautiful piece of fabric!’” she said. “The process then turns the work into something different.

I marry it to the color of the warp [vertical thread]. I throw in some rows of something called ‘rug yarn’ because it’s strong in between the fabric and gives it a little bit of structure and strength.

An example of a cross-body purse

by Brooks Family Threads.

“I can then alternate that color, so I can have the colors that are in the fabric and then the colors that are in the warp and the weft [left to Brooks demonstrates an right threads] add accents to example of hem stitching on her loom. the piece I am making.”

Once Brooks had enough stock, she started bringing her designs to craft and artisan shows, and event by event, began to establish her business as a sole proprietorship. She said another benefit of attending shows is being able to socialize with other artisans, as well as those who attend the shows.

“People come over because they like textiles, but it

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This table runner is made with upholstery fabric and accented with cream and gold material.

Brooks’ designs illuminate the diversity of the fabrics she melds together.

often leads into a conversation,” she said. “I might hear about how they knit or crochet or hear them tell me, ‘Oh, I’ve always wanted to learn how to spin or to weave.’ It’s really very inspiring, and if they buy a few of my items, then that’s nice, too.”

Her love of history also comes into play when considering future projects, and she is particularly fond of the many old

stone houses in the area, which lend themselves to a simpler time when weavers were seen not just as artisans, but makers of essential household goods.

“Living in Landenberg has allowed me to feel the history that is all around us,” she said. “I always try to imagine everything else is gone and just the house is there. Putting Continued on Page 36

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Elaine Brooks Continued from Page 35

myself back at that time of the century, I see that weaving was a vital part of that period, too.”

A special piece of history Brooks has should make it easier to experience the past. She’s acquired a photocopy of a book of weaving patterns from the 1800s.

“They did a lot of coverlets back then,” she said. “I love a coverlet pattern, but these are very complex. I’d love to make a table runner out of a coverlet pattern.”

To further satisfy her curiosity for and appreciation of history, she plans to apply for a fellowship at Winterthur Museum to study textiles and weaving arts, which would give her access to the museum’s archives. Brooks is especially interested in finding out about the history of weaving’s functionality and its place in society.

“I’d also like to find out more about the many weaving guilds, because they’re a very important part of an old craft like this,” she said.

Brooks’ own past is not far from her present. Her mother is now 92 and shares Brooks’ home, and although she doesn’t sew anymore, she does knit and crochet.

And what is Ruthann’s response to Brooks’ art and her fabric collections after her girlish revolt all those years ago?

“She just giggles,” Brooks said. “And it’s quite funny for me to look around and say, ‘Oh my God. I’ve become my mother’s daughter.’”

To learn more about Brooks Family Threads and to see additional examples of Elaine Brooks’ work, visit Brooks Family Threads on Facebook.

To contact Natalie Smith, email Natalie@DoubleSMedia.com.

A table runner from Brooks Family Threads now graces a home in New Hampshire, one of several states where Brooks’ work can be found.

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|Landenberg Life Photo Esssay| Text by Richard L. Gaw Chances are that you have driven along Sharp Road in Avondale a thousand times and not realized that what you’ve been driving by is a place of pristine beauty, where some amazing lessons about nature are being taught.

Located just minutes from Landenberg, Bucktoe Creek Preserve is a 250-acre privatelyowned natural area managed in partnership by The Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County and Delaware Nature Society and private land owners.

Continued on Page 40

Photos by Jim Coarse

Along Bu Preservation an 38

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Bucktoe Creek Preserve Continued from Page 38

Through this partnership, the preserve has become one of southern Chester County’s most important natural working classrooms for naturalists at every level of experience – from the child to the adult, from the novice to the expert and for everyone else in between.

Presented and guided by experienced naturalists, the programs at Bucktoe Creek Preserve are far more than just a simple hike in the woods. Rather, they form an interactive education in a natural habitat meant to appreciate our planet’s delicate ecosystem; promote the importance of biodiversity and sound ecological stewardship; the protection of threatened flora and fauna; and the restoration of forest, meadow and wetlands.

Continued on Page 42

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Bucktoe Creek Preserve Continued from Page 40

Bucktoe Creek Preserve also serves as Delaware Nature Society’s official camping area that offers hikers Adirondack-style lean-to shelters and miles of hiking trails through forests, meadows, and ponds along the Red Clay and Bucktoe creeks. The preserve is an excellent birding location with an annual Hawk Watch, bird walks and other birding opportunities.

To learn more about The Land Conservancy for Southern Chester County, visit www.tldforscc.org, call 610-347-0347 ext. 104 or email education@ tlcforscc.org.

To learn more about the Delaware Nature Society’s collaborative programming at Bucktoe Creek Preserve, visit www.delawarenaturesociety.org, call 302-239-2334, or send an email accessible on their website.

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|Landenberg Life Business|

Blittersdorf’s has dec experience in coming to

By Chris Barber Contributing Writer

F

or drivers who are involved in an automobile accident or experience a break down along the road, it’s not a good day. But for those who live in and around southern Chester County, there is consolation in knowing that Blittersdorf’s, Inc. is nearby to help.

This towing company, located in Toughkenamon has the twin benefits of having an extensive fleet of tow trucks and decades of experience rescuing drivers in trouble.

Blittersdorf’s began as a gas station and repair shop started

by the late Bill Blittersdorf in 1962 in Kennett Square. In 1976, they bought their first tow truck. Then, in 1992, they moved to their current location in Toughkenamon.

Leaving the repair shop behind, they also began an auto salvage and recycling facility.

They serve the tri-state area in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland and provide many private accounts, local police departments and the Pennsylvania State Police.

Blittersdorf’s towing is a family affair.

Tom, 67, the current owner, followed in his father Bill’s footsteps, and Tom’s son, Mike, followed Tom and is managing the company to this day.

All photos by Chris Barber unless otherwise noted

The staff of the company poses beside the large tow truck. From left are Mike Blittersdorf, Melissa Blittersdorf, Wesley Owen, Kenzie Blittersdorf, Erica Blittersdorf, Tom Blittersdorf, Pete Martelli, Terry Lewis, Rick Price and Bob Eller.

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decades of to the rescue A picture that Mike drew early in his elementary school years shows that even at an early age he knew what his professional destiny was. It shows a primitive sketch of a person standing next to a vehicle for the school assignment,“What do you want to be when you grow up?” His answer, apparently scrawled in by an adult, said, “Tow Truck Driver.”

Ever-present managing the eight-person staff company onsite also are Tom’s wife, Erica, and Mike’s wife, Melissa, as well as Mike and Melissa’s children, Wesley and Kinzie.

For the Blittersdorfs, towing vehicles and responding to emergencies does not end at the conclusion of a 40-hour week.

“It’s a 24 hour, seven-day-a-week job,” Mike said.

“We’ve gotten up from eating dinner plenty of times,” Tom added.

Tom went on to say that they’ve frequently roused themselves in the middle of the night to respond. “When an emergency happens, you go. One time we went to a crashed plane late at night out near Longwood,” he added.

Even at a very young age, Mike Blittersdorf drew a picture of his aspirations for a profession.

Continued on Page 46

Courtesy photo

The original Blittersdorf gas and repair station was on Cypress Street in Kennett Square.

Mike Blittersdorf stands with the original tow truck in the field behind the garage.

www.chestercounty.com | Fall/Winter 2020 | Landenberg Life

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Blittersdorf’s Continued from Page 45

Their services don’t end with crashed vehicles, either.

Tom said they often serve the mushroom industry by loading heavy air conditioners into the growing houses.

“One time we rescued a horse that was stuck in a ditch, too,” he added.

The company’s physical plant sprawls on property along Newark Road near the Hillendale intersection. It houses a fleet of 13 vehicles that range from medium- and heavyduty tow trucks to flatbeds and an incident response unit.

The number has grown substantially from the original 1971 BMC 3500 with a 440-wrecking body to the trucks that operate there now. The BMC now sits covered with vines in a field in the rear of the garage with other retired and wrecked vehicles, with a probable future of restoration for display.

The evolution of the present fleet came as a result of a growing response to the needs of the clientele the company serves.

One of their latest tow trucks is massive in size, cost approximately $500,000 and is well known to local audiences as it lumbers up the streets of Kennett Square Continued on Page 48

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The Blittersdorf family is on the scene. From left are Mike and Melissa Blittersdorf; Wesley Owen holding Kenzie Blittersdorf; Erica and Tom Blittersdorf.

www.chestercounty.com | Fall/Winter 2020 | Landenberg Life

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Blittersdorf’s Continued from Page 46

at the conclusion of borough parades.

Tom said the expenditures on vehicles and their upgrades are necessary and prudent inasmuch as they are responding to changes in and sizes of jobs they are called upon to perform.

Elsewhere on the property, the salvage yard inventory came as a result of accumulation of wrecked and abandoned vehicles that started piling up at the company.

Terry Lewis is the salvage yard manager, who runs the operation like an efficient librarian.

Melissa said it involves dismantling the vehicles (which Blittersdorf buys or is given when they are totaled), cataloging the parts, completing paperwork on ownership of the vehicles, and maintaining a presence online for people and repair firms seeking parts.

On the job, the drivers and workers at Blittersdorf’s have covered plenty of mileage and seen plenty of accidents – including tragic loss of life and property.

Mike said that although they are not themselves medical or police responders to accidents, they often work side-byside with law enforcement, ambulances and fire companies when the calls come; for example, lifting an overturned vehicle from a person pinned underneath.

Continued on Page 50

Courtesy photo

Local audiences are familiar with the Blittersdorf’s large truck that concludes parades.

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Blittersdorf’s Continued from Page 48

Melissa recalled a significant response that she and the staff still remember vividly: “In early hours in June 2019, there was a major accident involving two fully loaded tractor trailers on Route 1 near the West Grove exit,” she wrote.

“Both trucks had major damage. One was overturned and the other was split in two spilling its five 10,000-pound loads of steel coils. Our crew worked for several hours cleaning up the damaged trucks, spilled cargo and accident debris. Our accident response unit was also on the scene to clean up the hazardous spilled fluids and remediate the accident scene,” she continued.

A Blittersdorf tow truck scoops a flipped car from a ditch.

From left, Mike, Melissa and Tom Blittersdorf review assignments for the day.

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Housed in a large garage, the tow trucks are ready to be dispatched.

Tom said running a towing service in an education in itself. Viewing the scene of an accident almost gives clues as to what caused it.

Tom said he can almost identify the cause of an accident as soon as he gets there.

Melissa echoed his observation.

When she was asked what advice she had for drivers –

especially younger ones starting out on the road – she said too many drivers are distracted, especially by their cell phones.

“We’ve all seen that,” she said.

Mike agreed and added that speed is also a contributing factor.

“In this life, we’re all rushing too fast,” he said.

www.chestercounty.com | Fall/Winter 2020 | Landenberg Life

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|Landenberg Life Q&A|

Photo by Richard L. Gaw

Ramsey Reiner became the township manager for New Garden Township in April.

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Ramsey Reiner New Garden Township Manager

When she became the new township manager for New Garden Township this spring, Ramsey Reiner joined a municipality engaged in several large initiatives.

Recently, Landenberg Life talked with Ramsey about her role in the changing face of a growing township, the impact that COVID-19 has had on the business of the township and a few other questions that have to do with hot peppers and the cast of Schitt’s Creek.

When you became the new township manager in April, how did you go about familiarizing yourself with the township and its stakeholders, its volunteer corps, its policies and its people?

Talk about the learning you’ve done over the past five months.

I learn best by doing. When I started, I said ‘Yes’ to as many meetings as I could. I am also in contact with my predecessor, Continued on Page 54

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Ramsey Reiner Continued from Page 53

Tony Scheivert, so he has been helpful in pointing me to certain stakeholders who have been helpful. And last but not least, I am so fortunate to work with the best coworkers and supervisors on this planet. If you need to know anything about this township, just ask one of them.

You inherited this position just as COVID-19 was forcing Chester County and Pennsylvania into a shutdown. Although the commonwealth has moved from the red to the yellow to the green stage of reopening, a general feeling of caution is still prevalent. How have you and your staff managed to continue the business of the township in spite of the restrictions?

When I first began, we were in the red phase, so we were all taking turns spending time in the office and working from home. Now that we are in green, we spread out and follow CDC precautions while at work. We are fortunate to have a fairly open office area and a small staff. We are here every day but still asking Continued on Page 56

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Ramsey Reiner Continued from Page 54

that residents schedule appointments or call before visiting to protect their health and ours.

Before you arrived at New Garden Township, you had already spent a 14-year career in municipal government at neighboring townships. What continues to attract you to being a part of local government?

I LOVE people. I am genuinely interested in making this world a better place.

The ability to work with residents and the township’s supervisors on projects that benefit a community is something I really appreciate. This is my dream job.

Let’s reel off some of the many big-ticket items on the township’s agenda.

There is the 200-acre proposed mixed-use development by JPMorgan Chase.

There are the continuing discussions the township will have in determining the future of the former St. Anthony in the Hills property it now owns. There is the Continued on Page 58

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Ramsey Reiner Continued from Page 56

proper allocation of the proceeds from the $29.5 million sale of the township’s wastewater system to consider, and of course, there is the constant battle of wills between smart growth and no growth at all.

As the township manager, how do you define your role in these projects?

My role is to be the voice of reason. I am a very cautious optimist. My first reaction to any project is to consider the opportunity. Then I consider what the pushback or problems will be. I toggle between the two to find a happy medium, and voice my opinion to the Board of Supervisors. Ultimately, the decision is up to them. I just try to help everyone consider all approaches.

Every week, you author “Friday Update from the Township Manager,” that is available on the township’s website. Not only is it informative, it’s breezy, cheery and upbeat. Is it safe to say that the style mimics its author?

I have so much fun writing the updates and I love the responses that I get from residents. Township information isn’t always the most interesting, so I thought I’d Continued on Page 60

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Ramsey Reiner Continued from Page 58

have a little fun with it. I’m pretty cheery and upbeat. Life is too short to be grouchy.

What is your favorite spot in Landenberg?

That’s a hard question to answer since I haven’t really been out and about due to the pandemic. But I do love the Landenberg Store. Any place that has that many treats in such a perfect little setting gets an “A” in my book.

Ramsey Reiner throws a dinner party. Who do you want to sit around that table?

I think it would have to be a very large table. Obviously, my boyfriend Keith. Then I’d invite my five best girlfriends from Florida (whom I never get to see enough), my graduating class from Brewster Academy High School in Wolfeboro, N.H., the cast of Schitt’s Creek (in character) and the writer and humorist David Sedaris.

What food or beverage can always be found in your refrigerator?

We always have a million different hot sauces, good cheese and hot peppers.

- Richard L. Gaw

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