Middletown Life Fall/Winter 2021 Edition

Fall/Winter 2021

Middletown Life

Magazine

Stumpy’s Hatchet House: Throwdown, Middletown – Page 44

Inside • The many benefits of Appoquinimink’s Fairville campus • Historic Odessa Brewfest returns Complimentary Copy

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Middletown Life Fall/Winter 2021

Middletown Life Table of Contents 8

A big deal on Industrial Drive

16

Appoqunimink’s Fairview campus

24

Q & A with Melissa Marchione

36

JAKL Beer Works opens in Middletown

44

Photo essay: Stumpy’s Hatchet House

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50 Delaware’s fastest-growing town attracts attention

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Comeback of an Odessa tradition A. Felix du Pont.

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Middletown Life Fall/Winter 2021 Letter from the Editor:

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In this issue of Middletown Life, Ken Mammarella writes about “a big deal on Industrial Drive”— the arrival of WuXi STA, which is creating a massive pharmaceutical manufacturing campus in Middletown. The business will create approximately 479 jobs. Mammarella explores the state, county, and local efforts that helped bring another large employer to the Middletown area.

This issue also features a story about the many benefits that the school district has seen as a result of the Appoqunimink’s Fairview campus, which will eventually have 3,800 students in four buildings and 13 grades.

We also bring you the story about how Andrew Kulp and Justin Lovuolo came to start JAKL Beer Works, a taproom that offers a variety of brews for everyone. JAKL Beer Works is a microbrewery for people who know what beers they like, but are also willing to expand their horizons. JAKL Beer Works opened in May, and is one of Middletown’s newest businesses.

Writer Richard L. Gaw documents the Historic Odessa Foundation’s struggle to fight through the 2020 cancellation of one of its largest fundraiser events, in anticipation of the return of the Historic Odessa Brewfest on Sept. 11, 2021.

In our Middletown Q & A, we profile Melissa Marchione, who has transformed Sweet Melissa into one of the most successful businesses of its kind in Delaware.

Before Middletown was on its way to becoming the state’s fastest-growing town, it was home to a long-standing public festival, two revered private schools and the site where one of the most popular movies of the 1980s was filmed. Gene Pisasale writes about the aforementioned aspects of the town’s history and more.

The subject of the photo essay is Stumpy’s Hatchet House. Whether it is a corporate event, a bachelor party or just a group of friends and family looking for a fun night out, Stumpy’s Hatchet House has become the place where the joy of good company meets the thrill of nailing a bullseye.

We hope you enjoy these stories as much as we enjoyed working on them. We’re already planning the next issue of Middletown Life, which will arrive in the spring of 2022. If you have any suggestions for that issue, please reach out to 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: Jim Coarse www.middletownlifemagazine.com | Fall/Winter 2021 | Middletown Life

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|Middletown Business|

A big deal on Indus A Chinese firm awarded $19 million in state grants is creating a massive pharmaceutical manufacturing campus in Middletown, starting with 479 jobs with an average pay of $65,000

By Ken Mammarella Contributing Writer

T

he arrival of WuXi STA in Middletown is a big deal in two big ways.

It’ll be a big operation. The $510 million pharmaceutical manufacturing campus will include multiple buildings with 600,000 square feet of space on 189 acres.

Plans are to start with 479 jobs – with the average pay of $65,000 – and the possibility of doubling employment and space in buildings.

It involved a big package to get them there: $19,050,365 in state tax dollars going out in capital, training and hiring grants.

“This is an investment in good jobs that will drive economic growth in southern New Castle County and across Delaware,” Gov. John Carney said about the grants from the Delaware Strategic Fund, authorized in June by the Council on Development Finance.

The fund is the “primary funding source to support business retention and expansion through grants and lowinterest loans to projects that grow the state’s economy in a significant way,” according to the state’s Division of Small Business.

WuXi STA is anything but small business. It’s big business.

What WuXi STA does WuXi STA is pronounced Woo-She S-T-A, said Davy Wu, senior director of its parent, WuXi AppTec, which was

founded in Shanghai in 2000. STA shortens the rest of its formal name: Shanghai SynTheAll Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. WuXi AppTec has a market capitalization of about $70 billon and in 2020 earned about $2.5 billion, with a profit of almost $1 billion.

WuXi STA is a contract development and manufacturing organization, making pills, sterile products (like medicines that would be injected) and active pharmaceutical ingredients for other companies in the pharmaceuticals and life sciences sectors.

Health care represents almost 18 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product ($3.8 trillion or $11,582 per person). The research and production of pharmaceuticals is expensive but potentially lucrative.

“WuXi STA’s standout specialties amongst its peers include oligonucleotides process [research and development] and manufacturing; peptide API process R&D and manufacturing; and high-potency API (antibody drug conjugates) manufacturing,” it wrote in its application for the state grants.

WuXi STA works with 470 partners worldwide, and another speciality is small-molecule inhibitors.

“Delaware has a growing field of companies focusing on small-molecule inhibitors, a developing therapy that is more targeted in approach with fewer side effects than traditional cancer therapies like chemotherapy or radiation,” Delaware Business Times wrote.

Continued on Page 10

Photo courtesy WuXi AppTec

WuXi STA is building its second American pharmaceutical manufacturing campus in Middletown. This photo shows one of WuXi STA’s manufacturing sites, representing “our capacity and capabilities to some extent,” a spokesman said.

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ustrial Drive Photo courtesy WuXi AppTec

“Delaware’s highly trained pharmaceutical manufacturing workforce and proximity to many of our customers provide tremendous opportunities,” said Minzhang Chen, CEO of WuXi STA.

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WuXi STA

Continued from Page 8

Location, location, location Richard Connell, chief operating officer for WuXi AppTec in the U.S., told the paper that they wanted a massive site on the East Coast with a skilled staff nearby.

The Middletown Business Center will be WuXi STA’s second American site, following a plant in San Diego, and its eighth worldwide. At buildout, the site here would be 1.74 million square feet – dwarfing its 46,000-squarefoot San Diego facility.

Many companies like to be next to suppliers and clients, which essentially means that they also locate next to competitors. Proximity reduces transportation costs and builds that trained workforce that Connell referred to.

In 2019, greater Philadelphia was ranked as No. 8 of the nation’s life sciences hubs, according to CBRE, a real estate services company. “That distinction is vitally important for the city and its future,” Philadelphia Magazine wrote. “This relatively newfound status as a leading life sciences hub means the innovations that are born here – and the economic impact they spur – stay here.”

Greater Philadelphia, which sprawls across several states, accounts for as many as 45,000 area jobs in life sciences, the magazine continued.

Delaware BioScience Association membership includes 130 companies and organizations, “representing 8,000 innovation-based jobs vital to

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Photo courtesy New Castle County

“We win the future by attracting global leading healthcare firms like WuXi STA to New Castle County,” New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer said.

Delaware’s economic future.”

All those well-paid workers buy local houses, dine locally and shop locally (and, of course, online).

Continued on Page 12

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WuXi STA

Continued from Page 10

More details on the plans “WuXi STA is excited to join Delaware’s growing healthcare community and establish Middletown as the home of our new state-of-the-art pharmaceutical clinical and commercial manufacturing complex,” Minzhang Chen, CEO of WuXi STA, said in a statement. “Delaware’s highly trained pharmaceutical manufacturing workforce and proximity to many of our customers provide tremendous opportunities to support the region’s economic growth and efforts to advance pharmaceutical development and manufacturing.”

The site is expected to open in 2024 and reach 479 jobs by 2026. One grant sets up a three-year hiring schedule. Subsequent phases could involve more than 1,100 employees. That’s roughly the same workforce as Siemens Healthineers and Agilent Technologies, Delaware’s two largest biotech firms.

Negotiation among the stakeholders were secret and labeled “Project Dragonfly” until they hit the council that approves the state grants.

“Dragonfly will likely relocate a small number of existing employees to the state and may need to have several new hires relocate to the state for specific positions that are normally recruited on a national basis and/or positions for which Dragonfly has not found an acceptable local candidate,” the grant application said.

The application “anticipates that the facilities will be designed and constructed with a focus on sustainability.”

Photo courtesy State of Delaware

“This is an investment in good jobs that will drive economic growth in southern New Castle County and across Delaware,” said Gov. John Carney.

Continued on Page 14

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WuXi STA

Continued from Page 12

The application gives a total cost of $510 million, including $258.5 million for construction, $173 million for equipment and $4 million for furniture and fixtures.

Two costs are redacted – land and expenses to meet federal and utility qualifications – and total $126 million.

Haunted by two grants Jurisdictions across the United States offer companies many incentives to relocate and expand. Some of Delaware’s past allocations to boost development have not gone well, and Delaware Business Times editor Jacob Owens editorialized that comparing WuXi to the past is not fair.

Delaware signed on to two deals that have been the subject of a lot of later debate: Fisker Automotive and Bloom Energy.

Fisker got a $9 million grant and a $12 million loan in 2010 to make electric cars at the old Boxwood Road GM plant, but it went bankrupt in 2013. The Council on Development Finance, the agency that signs off on the grants, in 2020 authorized $4.5 million for Amazon to

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The 2011-12 deal with Bloom to make fuel cells in Newark involved at least $12 million from the fund and at least $200 million collected from Delawareans as surcharges in their power bills, The News Journal reported.

“Bloom didn’t create 900 jobs [as promised]. The real number is 277 positions, meaning each one, to date, has cost ratepayers almost $470,000.” That calculation was made in 2016, and the surcharges run until 2033.

WuXi STA joins numerous other companies choosing Middletown for massive operations. Its facility will be near a million-square-foot Amazon fulfillment center, Sealing Solutions’ 200,000-square-foot manufacturing plant and Breakthru Beverage’s 285,000-square-foot headquarters.

“We win the future by attracting global leading healthcare firms like WuXi STA to New Castle County,” New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer said in a statement.

“This project will bring hundreds of good-paying jobs to the area and will advance New Castle County’s goal of growing our biotech industry.”

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|Middletown Spotlight|

One for all, all for one Multiple benefits have accrued with Appoqunimink’s Fairview campus. More, hopefully, will follow

By Ken Mammarella Contributing Writer

S

ome benefits of the Fairview campus near Odessa are dramatic, such as the shared 774-seat auditorium, part of a state-of-the-art performing arts center.

Some benefits are invisible, such as the thousand parking spaces that aren’t there.

Some benefits are in the future, from the synergy that could occur among what eventually will be 3,800 students in four buildings and 13 grades.

“We’re doing more with less dollars,” said school board President Richard Forsten.

The Appoquinimink School District is also doing something unique. District leaders said they’re the only ones they know of nationwide to have created such a campus, going from kindergarten to 12th grade (with a private company offering pre-K sessions as well). They like the idea so much that they’re doing it again on a 142-acre property near Summit.

“Middle school students who demonstrate readiness can participate in advanced-level study at the high school, and older students will act as role models and mentors to the younger children,” a district webpage says.

“The masterplan ultimately strives to make the 16

Middletown Life | Fall/Winter 2021 | www.middletownlifemagazine.com

Photo by EDiS Co. via Appoquinimink School District

The Fairview campus of the Appoquinimink School District was designed with multiple schools to save money and enhance students’ education.

campus a place rather than a collection of buildings,” ABHA Architects wrote of its masterplan for Fairview, suggesting the central green could host athletics and marching band practice and community fairs.

Repeating the best in Summit Appoquinimink is Delaware’s fastest-growing district, with lots of developable land relatively close to jobs.

Student enrollment doubled from 1998 to 2008, when its second high school opened. Odessa High, part of Fairview, Continued on Page 18

All photos of students from Luigi Ciuffetelli Photography via Appoquiniminnk School District

Odessa High students Suryene Wooten, Kaelin Desrosiers, Marissa Osborn and Salah Dean learn about pottery from teacher Brianna Shetzler.

At the Odessa High cafe, teacher Lindsay Baker works with Jacob Towe and Nathan Slattery. www.middletownlifemagazine.com | Fall/Winter 2021 | Middletown Life

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Appoqunimink’s Fairview campus Continued from Page 16

opened to ninth graders in 2020. Summit High is expected to open in five years.

At Summit, the district is copying the concept but is ready for adjustments since the second site is far smaller. So maybe no barn for ag students, maybe no black-box theater for theater students.

Fairview has four buildings on a 274-acre site: • The Spring Meadow Early Childhood Center opened for kindergarten in 2012.

• Old State Elementary, for first through fifth grade, opened in 2012.

• Cantwell’s Bridge opened in 2020, for a year housing Silver Lake Elementary students while their school was expanded. It opens this fall as a middle school for sixth through eighth grades.

• Odessa High opened in 2020 for ninth graders, and it will add one more grade each year, until its first class graduates in 2024. “This way, students who were already attending another school were not forced to change allegiances,” a district representative said. Extra space at Odessa will be used through next year by students at Meredith Middle while their school is rebuilt.

Odessa High math teacher Katy Hoffecker.

Lots of infrastructure savings Fairview’s unified construction plan saved a lot of money.

“There’s a nasty word called value engineering,” said Superintendent Matt Burrows. “We get a certain amount of money from the state. We get a certain amount of square footage. And we cannot design outside that.” But they can certainly think outside that.

“It’s a great model that made a huge difference,” Ted Williams, president of Landmark Science & Engineering, said of Fairview.

As individual schools, 2,856 parking spaces would be required, but by sharing parking and striping bus parking areas for personal parking areas during peak nighttime events, Landmark cut a thousand spaces, or 10 acres

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Isiah Santiago and Destiny Heim in the Odessa High library.

Odessa High students Roman Christophel, Kai Sharp, Lily Flynn and Emmanuel Oppong practice American Sign Language.

of parking, he wrote in the Delaware State Chamber of Commerce magazine.

“The reduction in paving, while reducing the overall site construction cost, also had a positive impact on the environment by reducing the amount of stormwater flowing through treatment facilities and allowing the rainfall to naturally recharge the groundwater via larger lawn areas.”

In a follow-up email, he listed a few more savings: The project needed only one meter pit, rather than four for four buildings, saving $90,000. Three fewer connections to the water system saved $50,000. Three fewer vehicular entrances onto a public road saved $150,000.

Similar financial benefits occurred with every other element of the infrastructure. “There are economies of scale

we wouldn’t have if we built four schools on four locations.

It’s an old concept writ large,” Forsten said, referring to how the district began with one school housing all students.

Sharing staff, students helping each other The proximity allows for sharing staff. John Gordon, for example, is the orchestra teacher for all three schools.

Starting this fall, Odessa High band director Brian Endlein and choral director Rocky Tejada will be working with eighth graders, too.

Eighth graders will also be invited to join the high school marching band, said Odessa High Principal Voni Perrine.

This fall, she expects older students to start mentoring Continued on Page 20

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Appoqunimink’s Fairview campus Continued from Page 19

younger students in other schools in theater and agriculture. “I promised my ninth graders – and their parents – opportunities they wouldn’t get at a traditional school because they’re leaders,” Perrine said, referring to Odessa High’s first students.

The buildings’ designs embrace sharing.

The high and middle schools share a performing arts space with a big theater, a smaller space (called a black box) for smaller productions, a design shop, music practice rooms and classrooms. They also share a cafeteria kitchen, with an adjacent culinary arts kitchen. A two-story, 2,522-fixed-seat gymnasium in the high school allows for a smaller (and less costly) gym in the middle school.

The library/media center is sandwiched between the eighth and ninth-grade wings, and that adjacency allows advanced eighth graders to easily take ninthgrade classes.

Kaelin Desrosiers and Zanna Souza water plants in the Odessa High greenhouse.

Specialties at Odessa High The high school also sports several businesses run by students, under the watch of their teachers. They already include a cafe (with breakfast, snacks, catering and take-home), a greenhouse, a florist and a design shop that has made nameplates for teachers and the Christmas ornaments that Perrine gave out last year. This fall, a bank and a school store will be added. Also new this fall: a pre-K operated by a company called Brilliant Little Minds, which Perrine Continued on Page 22

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A band rehearsal at Odessa High with Daniel Kissi (foreground) and Nicholas Oneshuck, Aidan Osborn and Isiah Santiago.

www.middletownlifemagazine.com | Fall/Winter 2021 | Middletown Life

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Appoqunimink’s Fairview campus Continued from Page 20

said will employ high schoolers.

“It feels like a great sense of community,” said Meghan Mahoney, whose daughters Brenna and Taylor will be students there this fall. “They’re a community and have close ties to the MOT community.”

Many elements have to come together for the campus, including the creation of a school song for Odessa High. Perrine and Endlein reached out to Ben Nylander, a 2015 Middletown High grad who earlier this year earned his master’s in music composition at Bowling Green State University.

Nylander said his work in hymn-like, with four-part harmony, and he’s also working on an arrangement for the band. He turned down the district’s offer to pay. “It’s my gift to the school district.

They’ve been such a massive influence on my life,” he said, noting that he hopes the same for his sister Abbie, a dancer studying at Odessa High. The song won’t officially debut for several months, but a preview is part of an Odessa High School grand opening video posted on YouTube.

As Odessa High students hear every morning, they are Determined, United, Creative, Kind Scholars.

As Perrine said in the video, these amenities will “enable our DUCKS to dream, discover and do.”

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Odessa High students Logan Ament and Solomon “Will” Adote in Amanda Binkley’s shop class.

At lunch, Odessa High students Natalie Holdren, Taylor Mahoney, Amelia Orndorff and Alana Alvarez enjoy some air hockey.

|Middletown Life Q&A|

Melissa Marchione, owner of Sweet Melissa Melissa Marchione talks to Middletown Life about the evolution of Sweet Melissa, the peculiar cake requests she has made for customers, navigating her business through a pandemic, and the “organized chaos” of owning one of Delaware’s most popular bakeries.

Middletown Life: Let’s start by asking if it was at all preordained from the time you were a young girl that you would grow up to own and manage one of the most successful and highly-regarded bakeries in Delaware. Were there early inklings that may have pointed you in this direction?

Melissa Marchione: I have always been naturally drawn to be in a kitchen. I went to culinary school, but really learned most about cooking from practicing at home, from the time I was very little. I remember being six or seven years old, and quickly making a Toll House cookie recipe in my parent’s kitchen.

All photos by Richard L. Gaw

Sweet Melissa owner Melissa Marchione, right, with counter staffers Nada Sadek and Haylee Colon.

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In addition to custom cake orders, the shelves and refrigerator at Sweet Melissa is always stocked with a wide assortment of wedding cakes, cupcakes, pastries, cake pops, macaroons and muffins, in order to meet the needs of its high volume of walk-in clientele.

Where were you in your life’s journey when the concept of Sweet Melissa first arrived in your imagination? What set you on that course of adventure?

In my early twenties, I was working full time as a restaurant manager at the dining room at the Chesapeake Inn. Although I loved my job, I still felt like I wanted to be in the kitchen. I would dabble in making desserts at the restaurant, but one year during the Christmas season, I went to Cannon’s supply store and purchased some items because I wanted to make decorated sugar cookies for the holidays.

Before long, I had friends and other customers who began asking me for custom orders for the cookies, and it just snowballed from there. I made tri-fold flyers, business cards and created a makeshift website, and then began to post photos of my cookies on the site. When I would book weddings at the Chesapeake Inn, I would also give the bride a flyer, telling her that I make cookies as wedding favors. I would get home between midnight and 2 a.m., and bake cookies until 6 a.m., take a nap, go to work and do the same thing the next day.

I also set up booths at local farmers’ markets and bridal shows as time went on.

Continued on Page 26

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Melissa Marchione Continued from Page 25

It was insane, but I began to make extra money, and was improving my skills at the same time.

So now we’re seeing the true formation of Sweet Melissa.

Sweet Melissa was started in about 2008, got licensed in 2013, but I didn’t open my first storefront until the next year. I had my first child in 2011, and by the time he was six weeks old, I would strap him into a baby carrier and fulfill orders. I would make single cookies, bag them individually along with my business card, and put them on car windshields and throughout my neighborhood.

In 2014, my son was almost three and I thought if I Continued on Page 28

The interior design of Sweet Melissa is part chabby chic, part European café vibe.

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Melissa Marchione Continued from Page 26

am going to do this – if I am going to make the leap and open my own business -- I am going to do it right. I was friends with Elana at Elana’s Broad Street Florist and Gifts and she told me that she had a building in her backyard, and asked me if I wanted to rent it.

I opened Sweet Melissa in October of 2014.

You moved to your current location in 2019. Upon entering, one is overwhelmed by the abundance of sweets and treats, but there is also a café vibe here that gives off the feeling that one has disappeared to European village patisserie. What were the factors that went into the creation of this design?

My husband was born and raised in Italy, and I have been to Italy at least a dozen times. There are beautiful bakeries there and when you walk in, it’s floor-to-ceiling eye candy. I am into chabby chic and I wanted to create a feeling of coziness with a European vibe. Because I didn’t have the costs needed

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Sweet Melissa has been at its current location since 2019.

to hire a designer, I created the design of Sweet Melissa on my own.

I started by scanning through Pinterest and began tagging my favorite things.

Middletown Life | Fall/Winter 2021 | www.middletownlifemagazine.com

Continued on Page 30

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Melissa Marchione Continued from Page 28

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It is very safe to say that in your industry, no two days are exactly alike, but to the degree you can, walk the readers of Middletown Life – and your customers – into what normally happens in a typical day in the bakery’s prep room.

Some of our customers have actually asked us if we bake here. In fact we do, and those ovens are running all day.

It is organized chaos. Someone is constantly making batter or baking cupcakes all day. We only use real butter, and someone is always whipping it up or making butter cream. We always have someone keeping up our production for the week and keeping cheesecakes and desserts stocked in the grab-and-go case for the week.

We are making cookies non-stop. I have someone sitting in the corner making fondant accents for cakes. The phone is off the hook, and we’re always assembling the cakes that are due for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

It’s a circus, but we tend to do better when we’re under pressure.

Sweet Melissa makes customs cakes for all different types of occasions. Would you care to share some of the more unusual requests you have had?

There are so many weird requests we have had. I will turn down some of them if I feel that they are inappropriate. One of the most unusual requests was for a cake that featured Spider Man with a disco ball. I once made a cake that looked like the Vatican for a woman who was becoming a nun. I consider myself an artist, and many of my staff are the same way, so we’re passionate about the designs we put into our custom cakes.

We are very slowly moving back to varying degrees of normalcy after a year of canceled weddings and postponed special events – most of which called for the making of an original and incredible cake to help celebrate the occasion. What creative measures did you and your colleagues fold into your business plan over the past 15 months?

It was adapt or die. When the pandemic first hit last March, we were panicking. ‘What are we going to do?

How are we going to pay our rent?’ We were not allowed to have a soul in the store, and people shop with their eyes, so we decided to start an online store. We had to photograph our items every single day and post them on our website, and then deliver them. I hopped in my own car and made deliveries. My husband made deliveries. I sent staff to make deliveries.

Whatever we had to do, we did. We didn’t have to lay off anybody during the entire time.

Continued on Page 32

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Melissa Marchione Continued from Page 30

So here’s your chance to thank your talented colleagues in the pages of Middletown’s leading community magazine. Who do you wish to give a shout out to?

I definitely do not do this alone. We have had some fantastic staff through the years. Many have moved away, gotten jobs elsewhere or changed careers, but they are still a part of what we have become today.

Our current staff is made up of new members as well as several who have been here for years. Cherie Folker began here a few years ago, willing to learn anything and is now our lead cake artist. Rachael Berg is our head pastry chef and a macaron master. Both Cherie and Rachael have helped Sweet Melissa get through a challenging 2020 and succeed, and of course, there are many others who have been a large part of where we are today.

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What is your favorite place in the Middletown area?

I like Mr. Sushi. Their sushi is the BEST, and they are a mom and pop restaurant, and we love to support them!

Melissa Marchione throws a dinner party. Who would you invite to sit around that table?

I have a big family, so I would invite my immediate family, and then my aunts, my cousins and my grandmother and friends of course. I’m a big foodie, so I would invite Julia Child or Anthony Bourdain if I was able to.

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

There is always wine, coffee, dark chocolate and sushi if I have any left over.

Sweet Melissa is located at 5407 Peterson Road, Middletown, Del. 19709.

Tel.: 302-376-5049. To learn more, visit www.sweetmelissade.com.

-- Richard L. Gaw

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Escape to Summer Fun in Cecil Beautiful scenery, outdoor recreation, vibrant small towns, waterfronts, shopping, history, and local authentic Chesapeake Bay inspired cuisine attract more than a million visitors a year to Cecil County’s shores. It’s the perfect escape for summer fun.

With ve rivers, the C&D Canal and Chesapeake Bay, Cecil County has 200 miles of shoreline. To experience the water, owning a boat is not required! Waterfront fans can book a tour boat ride, rent kayaks, stand up paddleboards, and pontoon boats, or charter a yacht. They can cast a line from shore to catch a sh, and at the end of the day, get a front row seat to sunsets bursting across the horizon at one of the waterside eateries.

Outdoor seekers can enjoy 100 miles of mixed-use trails for hiking, biking, bird watching and horseback riding at State and local Parks. Additional outdoor fun includes paint ball attractions, foot golf, and making furry friends at Plumpton Park Zoo. Agri-Tourism destinations offer home-made ice cream on the farm, local brew and wine, U-pick adventures, farm markets and stands, hayrides, home-made cider doughnuts, trail rides, and wedding venues.

Spending time in the canal-side town of historic Chesapeake City provides an opportunity to see commercial ships from around the globe pass through the C&D Canal and underneath the iconic bridge on their way to and from distant ports. The town features 1800s architecture, shops, inns, and restaurants. The Town of North East offers a waterfront park, specialty shops, antiques, award winning restaurants, and for those with a sweet tooth – a candy shop and bakery. Cecil County has additional charming small towns such as Port Deposit along the banks of the Susquehanna; Elkton, the County seat, designated both a Maryland Main Street and Arts District; and more!

History abounds at Mt Harmon Plantation & Nature Preserve, a stop along the National Scenic Byway Chesapeake Country All American Road. The plantation is located at “World’s End” in Earleville. Tour the manor house, hike the grounds, attend their events, and enjoy beautiful scenic waterfront vistas.

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Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill – An Equestrian Triathlon:

The storied tradition of Eventing at iconic Fair Hill continues with the inaugural international event - the “Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill”. Never heard of Eventing?

That’s ok! You don’t have to be an expert to enjoy the exciting competition, beautiful countryside, and family fun. Circle your calendar for this event, October 14 – 17, 2021! The location is the newly constructed Fair Hill Special Event zone at Fair Hill NRMA in Elkton, Maryland.

One of only two 5 Star events in the United States, and seven world-wide, the prestigious 5 Star designation is the pinnacle of the sport of Eventing, best described as an equestrian triathlon. This event marks a new chapter for the State of Maryland’s rich equestrian tradition. The event showcases four days of competition. Spectators can experience the precision of Dressage, excitement of Cross County, and exhilaration of Show Jumping. For more information visit www.Maryland5Star.us

www.middletownlifemagazine.com | Fall/Winter 2021 | Middletown Life

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|Middletown Business|

The booming beer JAKL Beer Works stakes its claim with a family-friendly taproom and brews for everyone

Courtesy photo

JAKL opened its doors after enduring uncertainty and challenges during the COVID-19 crisis.

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er scene JAKL offers crowlers of about a dozen different beers.

By John Chambless Contributing Writer

A

t the end of Patriot Drive in Middletown, with a sweeping view of working farmland, JAKL Beer Works staked its claim in May as a microbrewery for people who know what beers they like, but are willing to expand their horizons.

Andrew Kulp and Justin Lovuolo are more than just the co-owners of JAKL. They’re the management, brew master, promotional staff, cleanup crew and waitstaff. In short, it’s just the two of them, with an occasional assist from family members when things get busy.

And the crowds have found JAKL in recent months, driving the two minutes from the huge flagship First State Brewing to the little guys at the end of the road. Word is getting out that JAKL is a laid-back place where customers can chat with the entire staff – both of them – while kids enjoy the large play area on the lawn or sip a juice box or two of their own.

Continued on Page 38

Photo by John Chambless

Andrew Kulp (left) and Justin Lovuolo are the co-owners of JAKL Beer Works, Middletown’s latest microbrewery. www.middletownlifemagazine.com | Fall/Winter 2021 | Middletown Life

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JAKL Beer Works Continued from Page 37

Kulp and Lovuolo are longtime friends who grew up in Nazareth, Pa. After college, Kulp pursued a career as a nuclear engineer for about four years, but found that the job was more deskwork and less hands-on than he expected.

“At one point, I was 28 and figured I hadn’t really done anything,” Kulp said. “My wife and I were living in Roanoke and had done some home brewing, which I enjoyed because there’s a technical nature to it, there’s a science part to it, and there’s a hands-on element to it.”

Kulp toyed with the idea of becoming a professional brewer, but realized the financial risks. Fate took a hand when he was laid off, so he landed a job at Big Lick Brewing Company in Roanoke, learning the business from the inside out.

But the couple had a six-month-old child, so their time was limited. Kulp’s wife’s family is from Havre de Grace, so there was an early plan to open a microbrewery in quaint Chestertown, Md., “but I needed a partner,” Kulp said.

Kulp happened to meet Lovuolo at a small brewery near their home town. After high school, Lovuolo had become an astronautical engineer for the Air Force, but had recently separated and ended up back home.

“So when he asked me to be his partner, I laughed at him at first,” Lovuolo said. “I told him I know how to drink beer, not make it. I thought he was crazy, but now, here we are.”

What Lovuolo offered was managerial skills and a shared love of beer. The Chestertown deal eventually fell through, but the idea had been hatched. Then, in March 2020, COVID-19 shut down the world.

With dogged optimism, the two kept going, finding the Middletown space – a former dog kennel and one-time auto body shop – in May 2020. They took ownership in June, and then the real work began. Lovuolo had experience in construction and contracting, and he and Kulp “did about 90 percent of the work” in turning the bare concrete and metal space into a brewery.

The name JAKL is a blend of the two men’s initials, and that led to their mascot, the jackal seen on their T-shirts and merchandise.

While the beer scene in Middletown has exploded in the past year, there’s no sign that there can be too many Families with young children are Continued on Page 40

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welcome at JAKL, which offers a large play area next to the building.

Word of mouth and a social media presence is drawing a crowd to the brewery on Patriot Drive.

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JAKL Beer Works Continued from Page 38

breweries. And it’s not the kind of industry where people are out to sabotage each other.

“The beer community is small but very close and accepting,” Lovuolo said. “We ask customers how they heard about us, and I would say half of them tell us the bartender at some local brewery told them to come this way. Not just from Middletown, either.

I’ve had people say that places in Wilmington told them about us.”

JAKL is “number 28 or 30” on the list of breweries in Delaware, Lovuolo guessed, and he agreed that more beer means more visitors for everyone.

“We know most, if not all, of the local brewers,” he said. “They’ve all been super supportive.”

But the regulations that have to be met when opening a brewery are convoluted, and meeting all the requirements – and doing a lot of the heavy work themselves – meant delays. Banks also became reluctant to help startup businesses in the depths of the pandemic.

“By late December or early January, I didn’t know if we were going to make it to opening the doors,”

The brewery space can be opened up to catch the summer breeze.

Lovuolo said. “I was really scared we wouldn’t have enough funds.”

But they had come too far to back out, and kept pursuing the goal.

There are some big startup costs in opening a microbrewery. The

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JAKL Beer Works Continued from Page 40

huge tanks and necessary machinery have to be purchased with a lot of faith that things will work out. With the gradual easing of restrictions related to the pandemic, Kulp and Lovuolo pegged March as their opening date. It turned out to be May 22. With family and friends around them, the pair got going with social media, and word of mouth is spreading.

“We have capacity to do 120 barrels per year here,” Lovuolo said. “That’s with just the two big fermenters. Those are five-barrel tanks. That’s 155 gallons each. But I designed the space so we can eventually have six of those fermenters, along with equipment to support that. At that point, maybe three years from now, we could be doing around 400 barrels a year.” For now, JAKL sells beers by the glass, sells crowlers to go, and will fill growlers for customers.

Kulp is the brew master, so he comes up with which beers will be created and served on JAKL’s 12 taps. The two discuss what to add and who to target next.

“We try to have something for everyone,” Kulp said. “Our Cack-a-lacky Cream Ale is a light-drinking, crisp beer that you can drink on a sunny summer day.” That is, the kind of light and refreshing beer that will attract people who commonly drink Bud Light. “But it’s our gateway beer,” Kulp said, laughing. “That’s our goal. They’re pleased with that, and then we reel them in. We always want to have a couple of IPAs on tap.”

For those interested in expanding their palates, there’s a changing lineup of

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California Tacos USA serves tacos, tortilla chips, salsa, queso and guacamole every Friday at JAKL.

interesting brews. And interesting names, which are the creations of Kulp as well. “I tend to be a bit of a wordsmith,” he said.

There’s Sabrosito (“pretty tasty” in Spanish), a Neipa with notes of citrus; Atavistic Aversion (a resistance to revert to

Patrons can enjoy a flight of several JAKL beers while overlooking open farmland.

a more primitive form), an IPA with a hint of malt, grapefruit and piney hops; and Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat, (“fortune favors the bold” in Latin), of which the tap menu notes, “We weren’t 100 percent sure what this beer would end

up like. To our delight we got a little bit of funk and sourness and a lot of fruity character reminiscent of pineapple.”

The sly wit and the willingness to push the boundaries make JAKL a lot of fun.

Lovuolo mentioned that they see dozens of frogs at dusk around the brewery, so there might be a beer name playing off that idea at some point. Why not?

“We like to experiment. Andrew has never had an English mild beer, and neither have I. So he made one,” Lovuolo said. “And we have it on tap now. It’s a very good beer. But that’s the cool thing. We get to try new things because we’re small and agile. And we want to be affordable,” he added. “I want somebody like my dad to come in and enjoy the place.”

“Right now, one of us is here seven days a week,” Lovuolo said. “I’m more focused on the taproom. I’m the sales guy. I call myself co-founder/taproom manager. Andrew is more of the traditional head brewer. Andrew has a 4-yearold. I’m single, I don’t have a family, so he does his stuff during the day and I arrive to be the bartender. He’s the heart and soul of the brewery, and I’m the bookends that keep it together – hence our name, JAKL.” While the business is finding its feet as a draw for local families, both partners have a big plan for expansion, with the addition of an outdoor stage, covered patio, fire pit and expanded play area someday. With nothing but open fields nearby, the spot is perfect for some nightly concerts. There’s a chance for customers to join the expansion effort, with details posted at the bar, on Facebook and at www.jaklbeerworks.com.

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|Middletown Life Photo Essay|

Stumpy’s Hatchet House: T Whether it is a corporate event, a bachelor party or just a group of friends and family, Stumpy’s Hatchet House has become the place where the joy of good company meets the thrill of nailing a bullseye Text by Richard L. Gaw Derived from the French word Hachette, the hatchet traces its origins to 6000 BC, and for the next several millenniums, it was – and still is – used as a single blade striking tool to cut tree wood. By the 1940s, hatchet throwing competitions known as Loggersports began to be introduced at lumber camps to see who the most accurate lumberjack was, and by 2020 the activity had spawned a surge in popularity that led to the opening of hundreds of hatchet throwing venues in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Europe.

Continued on Page 46

Photos by Moonloop Photography

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e: Throwdown, Middletown

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Stumpy’s Hatchet House Continued from Page 44

Who knew that the simple act of throwing a tool – when complimented to the fullest extent with the requirements of safety – could be that much fun? The lumberjacks knew it right from the start, and for those who have been heading to Stumpy’s Hatchet House in Middletown, they know it, too.

Throughout its rustic interior, Stumpy’s Hatchet House in Middletown -- one of a few dozen Stumpy’s franchises in the U.S. – has offered amateur lumberjacks the opportunity to aim, point and throw hatchets at its 12 indoor and outdoor throwing pits and 24 targets since 2018.

Every toss finds its target under the watchful eyes of certified instructors who provide extensive training and monitor every session to ensure that competitors know how to stay safe and throw their hatchet like a true lumberjack.

Continued on Page 48

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Stumpy’s Hatchet House Continued from Page 46

At Stumpy’s, there’s a wide variety of beverages to choose from – from domestic beers to delicious cocktails -- and several preferences for seating and relaxation, such as cushy leather couches, high top tables, a kitchen island and dining room tables.

“When you come to Stumpy’s, it’s like a social throwdown time and a place that is local,” said Milton Delgado, who owns the Middletown franchise with his husband Hector Correa, Hector’s brother Exan and Exan’s wife Anne. “When you come to the Hatchet House, you’re coming to our house, and we will treat you just like family.

“I always tell our staff that every guest who walks through our door should be treated as if they are our family, our friends, our peeps…Our ‘Stump-Peeps.’”

Stumpy’s Hatchet House is located at 819 Middletown Warwick Road, Middletown, Del. 19709. Tel.: 302-3784737. To learn more and for hours of operation, visit www.stumpysmiddletown.com.

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|Middletown History|

Delaware’s fastest-growing town has attracted some attention Gene Pisasale Contributing Writer

B

efore it was on its way to becoming the state’s fastestgrowing town, Middletown, Delaware was home to a long-standing public festival, two revered private schools and the site where one of the most popular movies of the 1980s was filmed.

Located in New Castle County in northern Delaware, Middletown’s population has been expanding at an incredible rate, growing by over 206 percent between 2000 and 2010. People have found the town an attractive place to buy a home and raise a family, with easy access to both Wilmington and Philadelphia.

At just over eleven square miles, Middletown still has a small-town atmosphere. It has also attracted the attention of one of the fastest-growing companies in the United States —Amazon—which opened a fulfillment (distribution) center there to serve customers in the region.

As people in Delaware and around the country “sheltered in place” during the recent COVID-19 pandemic, many increased their online shopping, boosting revenues for the retail giant.

Rapid growth of the area spurred the town to form its own police department in 2007. The Olde Tyme Peach Festival has been held here for many years, but was not scheduled this year due to the COVID situation.

Education has been an important part of Middletown’s heritage. Population growth caused Middletown High

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A. Felix du Pont.

School to become so overcrowded that the town constructed a second public school, Appoquinimink High School, in 2008 and later a third one, Odessa High School in 2020.

St. Andrew’s School, a private Episcopal boarding school opened in 1929 due to the efforts of A. Felix du Pont, a director and vice president of the DuPont Company. The institution was founded to provide a high-quality education for boys of all backgrounds, regardless of their families’ ability to pay. St. Andrew’s became co-ed in 1973. It is notable for its scenic location on 2,200 acres of land, the majority of which is a nature preserve. Nearby the lovely Noxontown Pond is open to fishermen and used for students’ crew exercises. St. Anne’s Episcopal School also serves students in the region.

A. Felix du Pont must have enjoyed the talents of N.C. Wyeth—a large mural by the artist graces the wall in the

The St. Andrew’s School opened in 1929.

The Middletown Town Square.

St. Andrew’s School Dining Hall. In it, the school’s founder is depicted gazing into the distance at his dream of a new educational institution; students both in formal and athletic dress are standing nearby. Felix’s sister Irene is honored there as well. The Irene du Pont Library was constructed in 1956, later completely renovated in 1997. It holds 32,000 volumes, over 120 periodicals and computer labs, other technology resources and a reference room for supporting student research.

The world got its first look at St. Andrew’s in 1989 when the film Dead Poets Society was released. Directed by

Noxontown Pond.

Peter Weir, written by Tom Schulman and starring Robin Williams, the movie is the story of a fictional elite prep school for boys—Welton Academy—located in Vermont and set in the late 1950s. Dead Poets Society was shot on location at St. Andrew’s. The film was an immediate hit, garnering good reviews and Academy Award nominations for Best Director, Best Picture and Best Actor. The movie won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

One of Welton Academy’s former graduates, John Keating (portrayed brilliantly by Robin Williams) is an English Continued on Page 52

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Middletown history Continued from Page 51

teacher there at the school, but his approach to teaching is, shall we say, a bit unconventional. He urges his students to act out their emotions and express their inner feelings in ways they’d never done before.

Telling them the Latin phrase “carpe diem” (“seize the day”), Williams nudges them to throw off the shackles of everyday life and appreciate the beauty of every moment.

Mr. Keating’s activities attract the attention of the school’s senior staff and eventually get him in trouble.

Some of his students participate in pranks on campus.

One of them, Perry, is so impressed with his teacher’s methods, he decides to audition for the lead part in a school play and become an actor, but this lands him in hot water with his father, who is emphatic that his son will attend medical school. Neil is determined to follow his heart, but that gets his father even more determined—to set him straight and enroll him in military school.

There is a heartbreaking scene where Neil is so distraught at the changes forced upon him, he takes his own life. At the film’s end, Mr. Keating is fired from his position and forced to leave the school. His students are stunned to see him go and, in a moment reminiscent of the film Goodbye, Mr. Chips, give a memorable performance of their own to show how much they love him. Dead Poets Society remains a very popular movie, and it brought attention to what had been the sleepy bedroom community of Middletown.

Some well-known personalities have called Middletown home, including Reggie Leach, the Philadelphia Flyers player on their 1975 Stanley Cup-winning team. Dennis Blair, former U.S. Director of National Intelligence and folk singer Loudon Wainwright III are also alumni of St. Andrew’s School. Middletown’s convenient location, attractive educational opportunities and small-town appeal make it a popular destination for those who are considering living and working in the northern Delaware area. Who knows? If it continues its rapid growth rate, perhaps another film will be shot there, bringing more recognition to this place which sits quietly on the fringe of Wilmington.

Gene Pisasale is an historian and author who lives in Kennett Square. He has written ten books, mostly on American history. His latest book is “Forgotten Founding Fathers: Pennsylvania and Delaware in the American Revolution.” His books are available on www.Amazon. com and his website at www.GenePisasale.com. He can be reached via e-mail at Gene@GenePisasale.com.

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

www.RogerSummersLawnCare.com www.middletownlifemagazine.com | Fall/Winter 2021 | Middletown Life

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|Middletown Entertainment| COVID-19 may have forced the cancellation of the 7th annual Historic Odessa Brewfest in 2020, but through the persistence and determination of a leading foundation, the festival returns this year on Sept. 11

The thrilling comeback of an Odessa tradition This year’s festival will draw beer aficionados to the grounds of the Historic Odessa Foundation’s Wilson-Warner House.

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By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

T

he ebb and flow of the Historic Odessa Brewfest could very well be compared to the writing of a novel that is only two chapters of the way complete.

The first chapter contains the story of its beginning in 2014 and the five consecutive years that followed, when beer lovers and beer makers gathered together on the bucolic grounds of the Historic Odessa Foundation’s 251-year-old Wilson-Warner House to convene in the annual conversation of all things hoppy and malty.

The novel has just completed its second chapter that documents how the wave and threat of a worldwide pandemic wiped away the annual rite of passage for the more than 2,000 who regularly attend, leading to the cancellation of the Brewfest that had been scheduled for Sept. 12, 2020.

The third chapter of the novel will be completed on Sept. 11, 2021, when after a year away, the Historic Odessa Brewfest will make a triumphant return to the social calendar, but for the moment, let’s pick up where the second chapter begins, with a press release dated July 13, 2020: The Historic Odessa Foundation in partnership with Cantwell’s Tavern announced today that due to the coronavirus pandemic and latest surge in COVID-19 cases, regionally and across the country, the foundation’s signature fundraising event – the seventh annual Historic Odessa Brewfest that was scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020, has been cancelled. ‘…But for how long, no one knew’

“Cancelling the Brewfest was devastating for us,” said Deborah N. Buckson, who has served as the executive director of the Historic Odessa Foundation since 2005. “Everybody looks forward to Brewfest. It’s our largest outdoor event – lots of people, lots of festivities and lots of fun.

“We were one of eight Delaware museums who were receiving weekly updates from the Governor’s Office about Continued on Page 56

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Historic Odessa Brewfest Continued from Page 55

COVD-19 restrictions, and we realized pretty quickly that the pandemic would have a major effect on our operations but for how long, no one knew.”

What happened over the course of the next several months was defined by Buckson as a “domino effect” of distressing incidents.

The Foundation became one of the first museums in Delaware to shut its doors.

The steady flow of those intent on knowing more about the historical town and its imprint on Delaware and U.S. history shut down. So too did the usual revolving door of student tours from schools all over the area.

The steady social calendar of weddings, receptions and other special events held on the property and sites were abruptly cancelled or postponed.

The worst blow of all came when Buckson and her assistant Jennifer E. Cabell added up the numbers and saw that cancellation of the 2020 Brewfest would leave a $30,000 loss of revenue to the Foundation – crucial funding that is targeted toward the annual conservation and preservation efforts for its six major buildings and one dozen other structures spread across its 72 acres.

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Phone (302) 378-4301 FAX # (302) 378-7323

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106 Patriot Drive Middletown, DE 19709

Middletown Life | Fall/Winter 2021 | www.middletownlifemagazine.com

All photos courtesy of Historic Odessa Foundation

Forced to cancel its 2020 event, the Historic Odessa Brewfest will be returning this year on Sept. 11.

The timing of this bad news arrived soon after it was realized that the boiler in the 22-room Corbit-Sharp House was in need of repair at a cost estimate of $45,000.

Perhaps the only silver lining in a year of shutdown for the Foundation came when its educational curator Johnnye Baker developed online materials that teachers could use in their history classrooms.

“We were wondering how long we would be able to ride this out,” Buckson said. “We are a non-profit organization and rely entirely on grants, contributions, a modest endowment and these normal revenue streams, and one point we were thinking, ‘This is really bad. How do we survive?’

“COVID-19 had dealt the Foundation a devastating blow, but we just kept on plugging. We had to keep going and remain focused.”

The first lights of hope For Buckson, the first light at the end of the dark tunnel toward hope happened when many of the sponsors of the Historic Odessa Brewfest paid for the lighting that illuminated the Historic Homes of Odessa’s annual Christmas event that drew hundreds of cars that drove into town for the spectacular view.

Continued on Page 58

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On July 13, a second light shone for the Foundation, when Gov. John Carney lifted COVID-19 restrictions in the First State, setting the stage for the return of the 8th Historic Odessa Brewfest on Sept. 11.

Soon after the Foundation announced that the festival would return, several more lights shone when the festival’s sponsors from previous years jumped back on board, quickly followed by participating breweries.

Four days after festival tickets went on sale, all VIP tickets had been sold.

“We have been stunned by their support, because we literally could not have

Continued on Page 60

Demonstrations of 18th and 19th Century beer making has always been a popular feature of the festival.

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Historic Odessa Brewfest Continued from Page 58

this festival if it were not from them,” said Buckson, who especially thanked presenting sponsor Chesapeake Home Services and National HVAC, who sponsors the festival’s two music stages and its participating musicians – and Wilmington Trust Wealth Management.

In its return to its usual home at the Wilson-Warner House, this year’s festival will again feature the best of local, regional and national craft brews from over two dozen breweries from around the country – as well as Wilmington Brew Works, First State Brewing Company and Midnight Oil Brewing Company in Delaware. In addition, festival goers will again be able to enjoy live music on two stages, locally-sourced food provided

by Cantwell’s Tavern, as well as enjoy the work of artisan vendors on site and participate in a variety of lawn games and amusements.

Over the past several festivals, Buckson said that there is another attraction that draws attendees to the Brewfest, which originated in 2014 when Kostik, Buckson and Jeremy Hughes and Mark Ashwell from Cantwell’s Tavern began to imagine a large outdoor Continued on Page 64

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Historic Odessa Brewfest Continued from Page 60

event to promote the mission of the Foundation – which is to educate the public about life in the 18th Century Delaware. The concept of a beer festival made total sense; brewmasters populated settlements along the Delaware River during Colonial period including Odessa, which at the time served as major shipping port for grain used to brew beer.

“People really appreciate the science of making beer and its history, so this festival is not just about enjoyment but education, and we love to see what happens when beer lovers engage with the brewers,” she said. “We’re one of the best documented historical sites in the Mid-Atlantic region, and we have a good idea about what household goods were being brought and sold in local mercantile stores. We have inventories for household goods and we can tell you what they bought to make their beer.”

Since its beginning in 2005, the Historic Odessa Foundation has been the keeper of the keys to a kingdom that unlocks the doors to the 18th- and 19th-century history – a timeless treasure trove that allows visitors to step back in time. For many who have attended the Historic Odessa Brewfest for the first time, it is their inaugural visit to Odessa, which helps define the role of the festival as not only an annual tradition but as that of the town’s ambassador.

The Historic Odessa Brewfest now gets to write – and complete – its third chapter.

Continued on Page 66

This year’s Historic Odessa Brewfest will showcase brews from more than two dozen breweries from Delaware and around the country.

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Historic Odessa Brewfest Continued from Page 64

“I am most looking forward to the return of the excitement and energy that a festival brings -- the music playing, the conversations between connoisseurs and brewmasters, and seeing the people admiring the property and telling us that they had not known that this existed,” Buckson said. “For a long time, Odessa has been considered Delaware’s most well-kept secret.

“On Sept. 11, we will be so happy to share this wellkept secret to those who come for the first time, as well as with friends we look forward to seeing again.”

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

Get your tickets to the 2021 Historic Odessa Brewfest.

The Historic Odessa Brewfest is a fund-raising event for the Historic Odessa Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to ensure the legacy of the Historic Houses of Odessa for future generations, through commitment to the preservation of Odessa’s unique historic, architectural and cultural heritage. For more information about the 8th Historic Odessa Brewfest and to obtain tickets, visit www.odessabrewfest.com or call 302-378-4119.

Become a member of the Historic Odessa Foundation

Annual membership in the Historic Odessa Foundation begins at $50 and entitles a member to a full year of many free and discounted opportunities, including Historic Odessa house tours, member discounts to activities and Cantwell’s Tavern, two guest passes and invitations to members-only events, including the December Holiday party.

Join online by visiting www.historicodessa.org. or call 302-378-4119.

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