Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 155, No. 5
INSIDE
Wednesday, February 3, 2021
$1.00
A year after a devastating fire, Nicholas Anthony Salon & Day Spa reopens
The Phoenix rises: A treasured business returns, stronger than ever By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
As generally told through Greek folklore, the story of the Phoenix describes a bird that through the power of the sun is able to cyclically regenerate itself, obtaining a new life by rising through Sharing the walk that they the ashes of its predecessor. walk...1B Some legends associated with the myth have believed that the great and colorful bird is destroyed in its blazing nest, and from the flames, a new egg forms and subsequently, the new bird is reborn, gifted to spread its wings and fly once more. At about 1 a.m. on the early morning of Jan. 3, 2020, Anthony DiFrancesco, the owner of Nicholas Anthony Salon & Day Spa in Unionville, was Pandemic relief funds for awakened by the sound of his alarm system. local schools...1B At first, DiFrancesco
thought the alarm had signaled a break-in. He booted up his home laptop and watched what was happening on the salon’s security cameras. There they were, he thought, figure images in the salon’s lobby coming to rob the place, but almost immediately, there was something different about what he was seeing. Each person the camera was catching had a light on their heads. Behind them, he saw flashing lights and then, billows of smoke that partially obscured what he was seeing from his home. Within minutes, DiFrancesco contacted his son Dario – the salon’s general manager – and then Nick Farrell, the owner of Sovana Bistro, the successful restaurant next door to the salon. Driving through darkened roads at speeds he had never driven before, DiFrancesco arrived at
the Willowdale Shopping Center and saw his entire livelihood engulfed in flames and thick plumes of smoke. The parking lot was filled with fire trucks and firefighters from several local stations, each of them emitting jet sprays of water in an attempt to reduce the damage that had begun at Sovana Bistro earlier in the evening and was now sweeping through the salon. Hours after the fire was extinguished, Dario posted an update, informing the salon’s clients about the fire and that Nicholas Anthony would be closed indefinitely. By noon, the fire trucks had all left and been replaced by remediation experts, a few of the salon’s long-time staff and Anthony and Dario, who looked up from the many cell phone calls they had to make to peer inside the smoldering
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
Anthony DiFrancesco of the reconstructed Nicholas Anthony Salon and Day Spa in Unionville, with his son Dario, the salon’s general manager.
rubble of their business. A week later, Dario posted photos of the ashen ruins on the salon’s social media page, which was quickly followed by sentiments of sorrow and expressions of faith by hundreds of clientele who had become the
equivalent of a second family to the DiFrancescos. “There were times soon after the fire when I questioned whether or not I wanted to continue to do this,” Anthony said. “After talking with Dario, my wife Continued on page 2A
Kennett Township Police hires former Chester County corporal By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
Name change for local organization...5B
INDEX Opinion.......................5A Obituaries..............2B-3B Classifieds..................4B
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Brian Bolt, a former corporal with the Chester County Sheriff’s Office, has been hired by the Kennett Township Police Department as its newest officer. Bolt is pictured with Yukon, with whom he served for nine years on the Sheriff’s Office K-9 unit.
The Kennett Township Police Department has announced that it has hired Brian Bolt as its newest officer. A resident of southern Chester County, Bolt comes to the department after 12 years of service as a corporal in the Chester County Sheriff’s Office. He will begin his tenure in the township by enrolling in a field training officer program. Bolt began his long tenure at the Sheriff’s Office in July 2008, and in 2010, he joined the K-9 Unit and was paired with Yukon, a one-year-old German Shepherd from West Germany. After graduating from the Vonder Haus Gill K-9 Academy in Ohio with certifications in explosives detection, tracking, patrol and article searches, the pair served side by side for the
next nine years, earning top awards at U.S. Police Canine Association competitions. With Bolt as his handler, Yukon specialized in patrol and explosive detection. After Yukon’s 2019 retirement and the discovery of his degenerative illness, the German Shepherd worked with veterinary science students at the Veterinary Science and Animal Science program at the Technical College High School (TCHS) Pennock’s Bridge Campus. Attending school in a wheelchair and special boots for traction designed by one of the TCHS students, he helped students learn to care for his paws, feed him and bolster his mental health. Yukon passed away last September. Additional township business Bolt’s hiring was just one
of several news items that were discussed at the township’s Jan. 20 online meeting. In other township business, township manager Eden Ratliff told the board that the township is at the beginning stages of preparing environmental rehabilitation of the Spar Run Farm property that is likely to begin in February and March. The project will involve stabilizing the existing property and demolishing certain structures on the farm. The township purchased the 103-acre property on Nov. 7, 2018 for the sum of $3.2 million, of which $1 million was paid for through a grant from the Mt. Cuba Center. The township’s intentions for the property -- which borders between Burnt Mill, Center Mill and Old Kennett Roads and abuts the Lord Howe Property, also owned by Continued on page 3A
Local flower farmer earns plaudits from near and far By Chris Barber Contributing Writer In an era in which agriculture is dominated by large industrialized and consolidated growing operations, and flowers are imported from afar, the Washington Post recently took notice of a small, local gem, The Farm at Oxford, where the owners share a passion for the flowers they grow and customers have come to appreciate their personalized service. It all began with a family move from California to Pennsylvania in 2013. Seeking a simpler life for themselves and their young son, Mara Tyler and her husband moved from the high-pressure life of digital marketing in California’s Silicon Valley to a farm in New London Township that had its roots with the early years of Lincoln University.
Photo by Chris Barber
Owner Tara Dugan, left, and Liz Law, store director at Works in Kennett Square, stand beside Mara Tyler’s display area at the store. The Works features items from local artisans.
Tyler said for years she had been attracted to the suburban Philadelphia area because her husband, Greg, had roots in Bethlehem, and they had made visits there. In their search for some farmland, they found a smallish property along Route 896. It had been a working farm in years past, but more recently had
become a vacation home. Tyler, 46, said she at first thought the area was a little too rural, but she came to realize that the community was quite sophisticated and welcoming to artisans. “I had no idea it was so art loving,” she said. “I had always gardened and was volunteering on a farm in Philadelphia. But I wanted
Photo by Mara Tyler
The Farm at Oxford offers its clientele flowers and arrangements in-store and by delivery through online orders.
to grow [flowers] on a larger scale.” When she set to nurturing a wide variety of flowers, she said she realized that “no one gets rich farming,”
but she was engaged is an activity that nourished her soul. “Since I was little, when I was responsible for the Continued on page 3A