Avon Grove School Board seems sharply divided on facilities planning
By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer
At a public meeting on March 8, the Avon Grove School Board took another step toward making a decision about how it will address the district’s longterm facilities needs.
not.
The latest in a series of facilities planning meetings of the Avon Grove School District’s Committee-ofthe-Whole did not produce the results that many were hoping for. Instead of narrowing the number of building options under con-
sideration, or reaching a consensus on educational priorities that would shape the board’s decision, or coming together on an agreed-upon amount of money that the district could afford to allocate for the much-needed secondary school building improvements, the board seemed to be more divided than ever on a vision for the district’s future. The path forward in order for the nine-member school board to make a decision on facilities planning was not clear.
The administration’s stated goal has been for the
school board to approve a facilities option in April so that the next phase of work can begin. While a decision could still be made at some point next month, the fourhour meeting at the Penn London Elementary School showed little evidence that there is significant momentum toward reaching the goal.
The meeting began with superintendent Dr. Christopher Marchese leading a presentation about how the school buildings must be transformed into 21st Century learning
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Second ceremony honoring OAHS military vets planned for April 7
By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer
In November of 2014, a large plaque with the names of approximately 540 U.S. military veterans was unveiled at Oxford Area High School (OAHS), a lasting tribute to the school’s alumni who have served their country. Now, a second ceremony is being planned that will
pay tribute to dozens of military veterans from Oxford. The upcoming ceremony that will take place at 10 a.m. on Saturday, April 7.
Kassidy England, a graduate of Oxford Area High School, said that she has already compiled the information of about 90 more veterans since the plaque was first unveiled. England was the driving force behind the effort to establish a way
to honor OAHS graduates who have served in the military. She transformed what started out as a project to earn the Girl Scout Gold Award into a much larger initiative, collecting the names of veterans, as well as their year of graduation and branch of military service. She also organized and planned the 2014 ceremony to honor veterans.
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Brad Paisley, Alabama, and Toby Keith to headline music festival in August
Country music superstars Alabama, Toby Keith and Brad Paisley will headline the Citadel Country Spirit USA music festival that’s coming to Chester County from Aug. 24 to 26.
Alabama headlines on Aug. 24. Toby Keith headlines on Aug. 25. Megastar country music singer, songwriter, guitarist and entertainer Brad Paisley headlines on Aug. 26.
The festival being held at Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show Grounds, will feature more than 20 country music artists on two stages. The remainder of the lineup will be announced at a later date.
Concert-goers will have an array of activities, food and beverages – from Sierra Nevada for beer drinkers, to wine and spirits at the Barefoot Wine Garden and Jose Cuervo Saloon.
The event comes to Chester County from the producer of Country Summer, Northern California’s biggest country music festival, which is celebrating its fifth annual event in June. “It’s exciting to expand our portfolio to the East Coast,” Alan Jacoby, Impact Entertainment’s executive producer, said. “Our goal is to create the Mid-Atlantic region’s foremost annual country music festival.”
The venue has a capacity of 15,000 daily.
Three-Day Super Early Bird Passes, starting from $189, go on sale at 10 a.m. March 16 at www.countryspiritusa.com. Three-Day Pass prices increase on March 30. Single-day tickets also go on sale March 30. A portion of ticket sales will be donated to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
UMass students spending spring break assisting local organizations
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
Were the world beholden to truth in stereotypes, seven students from the University of Massachusetts Boston who are visiting Chester County this week would be spending their spring break in a warm climate, in the company of thousands of other collegians on a oneweek respite from academia. Because stereotypes are often broken, however,
the students spent their Monday morning in West Grove, helping to package medical supplies at Project C.U.R.E., the Mid-Atlantic distribution center for the Commission on Urgent Relief and Equipment, that will eventually find their way into the hands of medical professionals throughout the world. At the same time, five other UMass students were being given ride-along tutorials by the Southern Continued on Page 4A
U-CF School Board settles on revision to student discipline policy
By John Chambless Staff Writer
The Unionville-Chadds Ford School Board has arrived at a proposed revision to the student discipline policy after six months of discussions.
At their March 12 work session, the board devoted about 40 minutes to wheth-
er or not to allow a student to ask for a school suspension to be rescinded under certain conditions.
The issue arose after a football game at Unionville High School last fall, at which several students were charged with drinking or smoking and received outof-school suspensions of up to 10 days, in accordance
with the existing code of student conduct.
Some parents complained to the board that their children were caught up in poor decision making, but didn’t deserve the severity of the punishments, which would be reported by the school as part of a student transcript for college applications.
The board discussed a
Md. students create wooden flag to honor Regional Police Department
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
Several weeks ago, Southern Chester County Regional Police Department Chief Gerald Simpson donated a considerable amount of lumber to the Elkton High School’s Construction and Technology Program, which
his friend, 16-year-old sophomore Kris Sweringen, belongs to. Simpson had little idea what those pieces of wood would soon come to represent.
Sweringen then asked his friend Matthew Boyle, an 18-year-old senior at Elkton High School, to help him pick up the lumber and take
it back to the high school. Over the next few weeks, working at the high school, they turned the lumber from just another school project into a visual representation of thanks.
“After we received the lumber, we thought about what the best use of it could be, and came up
policy revision that would not compel the district to report out-of-school suspensions to prospective colleges, putting the decision about whether or not to report such discipline with the students and their families.
Board member Elise Anderson said, “I’m not comfortable with non-
reporting. If we’re true to our mission, we have a responsibility to hold to our values. I don’t want to put families in an ethical dilemma. I’m not sure how this serves anyone.”
Board member Carolyn Daniels said, “I do support the non-reporting option. I see it as empowering each
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Photo by Richard L. Gaw Matthew Boyle, left, and Kris Sweringen, two students at Elkton High School, display the wooden American flag they built for the Southern Chester County Regional Police Department, and presented to the department on March 8.
An exhibit honoring OAHS veterans that was on display for the first ceremony.
Veteran ceremony...
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According to England, the next group of veterans who are being honored served during a variety of eras― there’s a good mix of men and women who served in the military years ago, as well as those who served more recently.
Sometimes, it’s the veterans themselves who are contacting England to have their information included on the plaque at OAHS. Other times, it’s proud family members who want to
Avon Grove School board...
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environments, with flexible spaces that allow for communication and collaboration—because that’s what students need in order to be prepared for college and the workforce that they will soon be entering.
Avon Grove officials outlined some of the benefits of the 21st Century educational approach that they want to offer to students. This approach is studentcentered, with a teacher serving as the facilitator of learning. This in opposition to the 20th Century approach, which is focused on the teacher as a content provider, and the student as the receiver of the content.
In 21st Century education, students learn collaboratively, and the learning expands locally and globally through technology and community augmentation. The focus is on what students can do with knowledge once the details are forgotten, which is an active learning model. Communication, collaboration, and creative problem-solving are essential components of 21st Century education.
“Some of these things, we do well. Some of these things, we could do better,”
see their loved ones get recognized for their service.
Two veterans who are going to be honored at the second ceremony and are really looking forward to the event are William Steele, a U.S. Navy veteran and a member of Oxford Area High School’s Class of 1944, and David Williams, a U.S. Air Force veteran, who was a part of Oxford’s class of 1949.
England said that it’s very rewarding being able to meet and talk to veterans like Steele and Williams. From the very begin-
Marchese said. “We have a responsibility to educate our students in a way that prepares them to succeed as adults.”
A group of guest speakers—two students and three teachers—shared their experiences in the Avon Grove schools, and talked about how the secondary schools have limitations.
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ning, England’s project has received widespread praise for her efforts to honor veterans.
At the first ceremony, Richard Morton, a U.S. Army veteran who traveled from New Jersey just for the event, called it a great idea.
State Rep. John Lawrence lauded England that day for doing “a truly remarkable job” of bringing “long overdue recognition to veterans who graduated from Oxford High School.”
At the 2014 ceremony that brought a few hundred people together to honor
military veterans, England received a proclamation commending her for her work from Geoff Henry, who was Oxford’s mayor at the time.
England used social media, emails, and sources at the Oxford Library to collect the names of local veterans. There is no searchable database that would allow someone to identify all local veterans, so England relied on local residents to share with her names of family members and friends who served their country.
Even though she has since graduated from OAHS, England has continued to collect information about veterans so that they, too, can be honored. She enjoys communicating with the veterans or their family members.
“There are people who are so excited to be recognized,” England said.
Since she graduated, she has been helped by the Oxford Parent-Teacher Organization and high school principal James Canaday. Randy Teel, owner of R N J Plaques & Engraving in Oxford and himself a veteran, initially prepared the plaque and the name plates, volunteering much of his time and talents to the project. Teel will be doing the same for the additions to the plaques.
The plaque is prominently
might not get the individualized attention that they need and deserve. She said that having collaborative spaces that would allow for small-group instruction could help highly successful students to work at their own pace, freeing the teacher up to focus on the
because there is no room for any kind of collaboration that reaches across the disciplines.
~ Avon Grove superintendent Dr. Christopher Marchese “
Shannon Oakes and Tom Mayer, who serve as student representatives to the school board, talked about how the current high school, which was originally built in 1957, doesn’t offer the spaces that are necessary for 21st Century learning, especially in the areas of science, technology, and engineering—areas that many Avon Grove graduates want to focus on when they go to college.
Oakes explained that she is one of 55 students who will sometimes have a biology class together. The class, because it is so large, sometimes meets in the school’s auditorium. There can only be lectures in the auditorium—no hands-on activities or group assign-
ments. It’s also hard to hear in the auditorium. Oakes said that when she toured college campuses, students were learning as they worked in small groups, with the teacher facilitating the discussions—precisely the kind of 21st Century learning that the administration wants to offer to Avon Grove students at the high school level so that they are prepared for college.
We have a responsibility to educate our students in a way that prepares them to succeed as adults.”
other students.
“There are a lot of interactive things that we would like to do, but we don’t have the space,” Young said.
Next, Marchese and Dr. Michael Snopkowski, the district’s director of teaching and learning for secondary schools, talked about one of the administration’s main educational objectives—to transition to a middle school configuration of grades 6 to 8, instead of the current configuration of grades 7 and 8.
my own experiences,” Snokowski said.
Mayer noted that buildings with flexible spaces would allow students to have more freedom and to take on more responsibility—which they will have to do as they transition to college.
Gretchen Young, a social studies teacher at the high school, supported some of the points made by Oakes and Mayer, observing that students need to take college-level courses that will help prepare them for their post-secondary careers.
Young said that, as an educator, she worries about the 80 percent of the students who aren’t at the very top or the very bottom, who
Chris Herrman, an industrial arts teacher, said that the students that he works with need additional space so that they can work together on projects. Right now, there’s no space for students to work on activities for classes like engineering and computeraided drawing. These fields require individuals who know how to collaborate.
Clint Jones is the digital media teacher for the Avon Grove High School. A point of pride for the school district is the stateof-the-art television studio at the high school, one that students built themselves out of necessity because it was the only way that the school was going to get a new television studio.
Jones said that the television studio has opened up many more opportunities for students because they get to learn real-world skills that are useful in college. It provides Avon Grove students with experiences that students from other schools might not have.
The lack of flexible spaces and collaborative spaces in the current high school is a major limitation for students, Jones explained. He said that, right now, Avon Grove teachers are teaching in isolation
Marchese said that it’s much better to have sixthgraders in a building with seventh- and eighth-graders, rather than having sixth grade remain in the elementary school for an extra year.
“I believe it’s a need in the school district,” Marchese said, adding that the only reason Avon Grove moved to having just grades 7 and 8 in the middle school was because of a lack of space in the secondary schools.
Marchese noted that he spent eight years as a middle school principal, and he believes very strongly from his own experience that the grades 6 to 8 configuration works best for students because they have the three years in the same building.
“A 12-year-old is very different from a 14-year-old,” Marchese said, explaining that students undergo many changes between sixth grade and eighth grade.
Snopkowski, who also has experience as a middle school principal, said that there is much more flexibility when it comes to curriculum to have the sixth grade in the same building as the seventh and eighth grades. Having the sixth grade as part of the secondary schools allows students to have access to more advanced instruction for things like science, technology, and world languages. The students are much better prepared to move on to high school.
“The research supports this, but I also see it from
Marchese concluded his remarks about the grades 6 to 8 configuration for the middle school by stating, “I believe it’s the right thing for the Avon Grove school community.”
Avon Grove officials also talked about overcrowding in schools, which is one of the leading reasons why a Facilities Input Group that spent about 18 months studying the district’s building needs concluded that the construction of a new middle school was the best option to address the existing overcrowding in the schools.
The high school is occupied at 141 percent of the rated student capacity. There are currently about 1,797 students in the high school, and the building’s rated capacity is just 1,274. There is no space for large group instruction, and there is limited ability to implement professional learning communities.
The high school’s common areas—the cafeteria, gym, hallways, auditorium, library, and bathrooms—are all woefully overcrowded.
The high school has 12 portable classrooms, and one of the goals is to get rid of all the portables in the district. The middle school has eight portable classrooms. Add in the portables on the elementary school campus, and there’s enough classrooms to make up an entire school building.
“The modular classrooms were intended to be temporary,” Marchese told the school board.
When the presentations were finished, it was the school board’s turn to have a discussion about the information that had been presented in recent weeks. It quickly became apparent that the school board members are sharply divided about how to address the facilities needs.
Dr. Christopher Marchese
Kassidy England
displayed outside the doors to the high school’s gym.
With fewer veterans being honored this time around, the April 7 event is expected to be slightly smaller―but certainly no less important.
Speakers are currently being lined up. Light refreshments will also be served during the ceremony.
England said that Megan Walton, the assistant fiscal officer at the Coatesville Veterans Affairs Medical Center, will be available to enroll all veterans for their VA benefits, and to answer any questions that
planning meeting, board president Tracy Lisi had asked the board members to come prepared to discuss the level of borrowing that they would support in order to fund the renovation or new construction projects that the board ultimately approves. But at the March 8 meeting, the school board did not easily coalesce around one borrowing option—and the circuitous and sometimes contentious discussion that followed didn’t offer much of an indication that the school board was on the path to an agreement on a facilities plan.
One goal of having the school board members discuss the various borrowing levels was to reduce the number of options under consideration. If a majority of the board, for example, wasn’t willing to exceed $52 million in borrowing, then there would be no need to talk about new construction projects because they wouldn’t be possible at that borrowing level.
However, a significant number of school board members would not offer specifics about the level of borrowing that they were comfortable with, effectively killing any meaningful discussion about the merits of one borrowing option over another.
The school board members talked—and talked—but didn’t manage to make any real progress.
John Auerbach, Rick Dumont, and Lynn Weber, a group of three school board members who linked their campaigns when they sought seats on the board, all indicted at various times during the discussion that they were not willing to commit to a specific level of borrowing. Nor did they offer an alternate vision for how the district might best address the issues of overcrowding and aging school buildings.
Auerbach said that he is extremely cautious about putting out a number that he would be in favor of the school district borrowing because once that number is out there, there is no way the project will cost any less than that.
Dumont expressed concerns that the borrowing scenario that would see the district borrow $127 mil-
they might have. There will also be a mobile health clinic onsite to provide basic health screenings to all veterans, not just OAHS veterans.
The April 7 ceremony is open to anyone in the community who wants to come out to honor the veterans.
For England, all the work has been worth it because her efforts help to bring recognition to people who really deserve it.
“It’s good to be able to acknowledge the veterans,” England said. “I am so appreciative of the sac-
rifices that these men and women have made for our country.”
England has set up a Facebook page―OAHS Veterans―to share information about the project.
Anyone who has a friend or loved one who is a military veteran that they would like to have honored can provide the name, branch of military, and year of graduation for inclusion on the plaque by March 17. The email address is oahs.veterans@yahoo.com. England can be contacted at england. kassidy@yahoo.com.
lion would likely require the maximum tax increase allowable under the Act 1 Index for a number of years.
Weber noted that the school district might not receive reimbursement from the state through the PlanCon process—previously, school districts could receive 15 or 20 percent of a total project’s costs back through the reimbursements. Weber said that the lack of reimbursements should be factored into what the Avon Grove community could afford to spend on the building project.
School board member Charles Beatty talked about Avon Grove’s comparative lack of a commercial tax base that would leave the burden of higher taxes on residents in the district.
School board member Bill Wood said that it was very important to consider the financial impact that a school building project would have on the community and its taxpayers, and it is also important to consider the educational needs of students.
“We also have to ask, ‘what can our students not afford?’” Wood said.
Wood reiterated a point that he had made at a previous meeting when he encouraged the school board to discuss how the individual building options would increase or limit the academic opportunities for students—because he really wants to focus on how children are being educated, and he wants the facilities to meet the students’ academic needs.
“I want us to educate students. I don’t want us to just house them,” Wood said.
School board member Jeffrey Billig expressed his concern that some school board members might only support the lowest level of borrowing, and he isn’t sure that the facilities improvements that that would allow would be sufficient to meet the needs of students.
Board member Herman Engel questioned the wisdom of spending what will inevitably be tens of millions of dollars on aging school buildings when the renovation work wouldn’t add sufficient capacity to meet the future needs of the district. This option might be less costly in the shortterm, but more expensive
To contact Staff Writer Steven Hoffman, email editor@chestercounty.com.
Courtesy photo
A large plaque with the names of approximately 540 U.S. military veterans is on display at Oxford Area High School as a lasting tribute to the school’s alumni who have served their country. More engraved name plates will be added to the plaque during a ceremony on Saturday, April 7.
to taxpayers over time because more renovations or a new school could still be necessary.
Doing only renovations and additions to the high school and middle school would also put more pressure on the State Road site, and would probably mean the loss of an athletic field and some parking spaces on the campus.
Lisi said that she was willing to approve a transition to a middle school for grades 6 to 8, and to support a building project that would allow that. She emphasized that she, too, only wants to spend what is necessary to give students the learning environment that they need, and that means a high school that can accommodate 21st Century learning.
“We are not building Taj Mahals,” Lisi said. “We are not building grand palaces. We are looking to build functional buildings that can embody our 21st Century learning environment. If we’re going to do this, we have to do this right.”
Engel and Wolff both said that they are also in favor of the grades 6 to 8 configuration for the middle school.
As the conversation continued, the divide between the school board members was apparent. While some favored the grades 6 to 8 configuration for the middle school, others, like
Dumont and Beatty, said that they aren not necessarily committed to making that change—especially considering the limitations of the existing buildings.
There were charges that some members of the school board were purposely stalling the progress of discussions, and while no names were mentioned, the comments were directed at Beatty, Dumont, Weber, and Auerbach.
As the discussion continued with seemingly little or no progress, Marchese urged the school board to be more forthcoming with their viewpoints.
The superintendent said, “We have to put the cards out on the table and reach a decision point.”
While the school board didn’t reach a decision point on this night, there was something of a bright spot when there was once again general agreement among the school board members that the two dozen or more portable classrooms in the district must all be phased out. Incorporating that goal in the building plans, whatever they turn out to be, is a starting point.
A number of people spoke during public comment. A few people talked about the need to minimize tax increases. More people, including two high school
students who had written letters, expressed their concerns about the conditions of the existing buildings, and the need to improve them.
Leslie Erb-Wallace, a resident of New London Township, who is very active in the schools, said that “disappointed” is one word she would use to describe the meeting because of the lack of progress that the discussions seemed to produce.
“Shameful is another word that comes to mind,” she said, explaining that school board members should have a clear understanding of how inadequate the secondary school facilities are by now. She also took the school board to task for ignoring the educational opinions of top administrators like Marchese and Snopkowski, who both advocated for a middle school to be used for grades 6 to 8.
Upcoming facilities planning meetings take place on Tuesday, March 27 at the Penn London Elementary School, Tuesday, April 3 at the Fred S. Engle Middle School, and Thursday, April 12 at the Avon Grove High School.
To contact Staff Writer Steven Hoffman, email editor@chestercounty.com.
Fred S. Engle Middle School
Avon Grove High School
Continued from Page 1A
Chester County Medic94 Emergency Medical Services at Jennersville Hospital.
Under the direction of team leader Sara Servano, a junior communications major, the students are in Chester County this week as part of the university’s Beacon Voyages for Service (BVS), an “alternative break” oncampus program that is part of a national movement to engage students in service.
BVS involves students in a social justice movement by participating in week-long trips both domestically and internationally and through on-campus commitments throughout the year, addressing such issues as HIV/AIDS health; border, refugee and immigration; the environment; rural and urban poverty; domestic violence, and many others.
The educational opportunities with Project C.U.R.E. and Medic 94 are just a small part of what will be a busy week for the students. They are also scheduled to participate in hands-on CPR, heart attack and overdose response seminars with Sgt. Tammy Whiteman; tour the facilities at Kaolin Mushroom Farms and volunteer at La Communidad Hispana, where they will receive an overview of LCH’s health center and how it educates the local Hispanic population about health issues. The students will also help purchase healthy groceries for LCH families, and create congratulatory goodie bags for new mothers in the LCH
community.
“The focus of this trip concerns public health from various aspects,” said Servano, who is in her third year with Beacon Voyages for Services. “We approached this trip from a social justice point of view. We wanted to know how public health is being addressed in Pennsylvania, specifically, what’s going on in the learning aspect in terms of how healthcare education is reaching the community.”
Chester County is Servano’s third service trip with BVS. Previously, she visited Washington, D.C. With BVS to explore how the city was addressing hunger and homelessness. She also visited Chicago with BVS to focus on how the city was tackling education and poverty.
“After my second service trip, I knew I wanted to go on my own trip as a trip leader,” she said. “I began to research on Google in order to find organizations related to health, and Project C.U.R.E. came up. I was interested in the fact that Project C.U.R.E. is a local distributor, but with worldwide impact.
“The hands-on work that’s being done here is impacting countries all over the world, so consequently, we’re able to do the same. Just the fact that we get to be to be a small portion of the amazing things they’re doing was intriguing to me.”
“We’re fortunate that they came to us because we are able to give them that global impact picture – how one can work locally and impact globally – as well as
connect them to our community and saying, ‘These are the issues that suburban America works with. How do we meet the medical needs of all of our community members?’ said Project C.U.R.E.’s director of operations. “They are getting the best of the small town and the big, wide world, and the opportunity understand what role they could play in that bigger vision.”
The student’s visit to Project C.U.R.E. occurred at the same time volunteers were beginning to load a transportation vehicle that will serve as the first leg of a journey that will transport hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of medical supplies to Grenada, to support medical and surgical mission work in the country. The distribution will be the ninth that Project C.U.R.E. has made since last June, joining deliveries that have been made to Nigeria, Ghana, Cuba, Mozambique, Suriname, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and two distributions to Armenia –totaling an estimated value of $2.17 million worth of distributed medical supplies.
Project C.U.R.E. also works with student volunteers at the University of Delaware, West Chester University, Lincoln University, Cheyney University and Widener University – among hundreds of yearly volunteers from local businesses, organizations, hospitals, schools and retirement facilities.
“The enthusiasm of the groups that come in continues to grow,” said George Hatzfeld, Project C.U.R.E.’s facility assessor. “It’s one
of the features of doing this kind of work. People see the value in it. They get their hands into it. They feel that there’s a background commitment there that they want to buy into, so we get a lot of repeat customers.”
For Niti Patel, a pre-med major from Tennessee; Teodora Padure, a nursing major from the Republic of Moldova; and Nia Pinto, an exercise and health sciences major from Massachusetts, using Chester County as a working classroom this week serves as a springboard to their future careers as health professionals. For Patel, her BVS trip provides her with a hands-on glimpse into how public health is administered, locally and globally.
“I think public health is a wide field and there’s so much scope to it,” she said.
“I’m interested in learning more about health disparities – understanding why not everyone gets the same access to health resources,
both in different countries and in parts of the United States. Too often, one’s background, gender and place of residence plays into whether or not one is able to get access to health care and resources at the right time. I really want to use my service in education to help people,” Patel added.
“I don’t understand why people to have to pay the extraordinary price they do for health care. I want to discover ways to provide that service and education for free. That’s why I think volunteering is incredibly important.
For Padure, it’s a chance for her to tack on valuable lessons to her education, which she hopes to some day bring to her native country.
“I became very interested in public health once I did research about nursing, and I realized how important education is in terms of health care,” she said. “Coming from my country, I began to see how much health care education America has, as opposed to Moldova.”
“These students have chosen a very noble and worthy pursuit in their lives, and we want to introduce them to our medical assistants, our den-
tists and our therapists,” said Laura Mackiewicz, LCH’s community engagement and programs manager. “What they learn now will help create positive changes on so many levels, locally and globally. The career choices they make are truly going to change lives in communities just like ours.
“This may serve as a glimpse into what could be next for them, to give them an idea that the communities they will work with in the future may closely resemble what they will experience here.”
For Pinto, spending her spring break in Chester County allows her to continue to plant seeds for a career that will be devoted in part to educating the public about health care.
“You don’t have to work for the Centers for Disease Control in order to make an impact,” she said. “You can get started with your local community, in order to gain knowledge. It’s vital that every citizen in every country gets the right information about their health.”
To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email rgaw@chestercounty.com.
Photos (2) by Richard L. Gaw
Students from the University of Massachusetts Boston’s Beacon Voyages for Service program are spending their Spring Break visiting several public health agencies in Chester County. On March 12, they visited Project C.U.R.E., a medical supply distribution center in West Grove.
A Beacon Voyages for Service student helps fill boxes with medical supplies at Project C.U.R.E. in West Grove, for future distribution to medical units around the world.
U-CF School District addresses today’s ‘iGen’ teens
The community is invited to find out more about today’s young people as the UnionvilleChadds Ford School District hosts a public discussion of the book “iGen: Why Today’s Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy – and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood” on March
20. The new book by Jean
M. Twenge, professor of psychology at San Diego State University, looks at young people born after 1995, the first generation to spend their entire adolescence in the age of the smartphone. With social media and texting replacing other activities, iGen spends less time with their friends in person – perhaps why they are experiencing unprecedented levels of anxiety, depression, and loneliness.
In the book, Twenge says that technology is not the only thing that makes iGen distinct from every generation before them. They are also different in how they spend their time, how they behave, and in their attitudes toward religion, sexuality and politics. They socialize in completely new ways, reject social taboos, and want different things from their lives and careers. More than
Lions Club names student of month for March
Nicholas Chastain has been named the Avon Grove Lions Club Student of the Month for March.
He is the son of Curt and Kristen Chastain of Lincoln University.
Nicholas is active in the school by participating in lacrosse, serving as Student Council treasurer, NHS, the American Cancer Society and the AG-THON Committee. He belongs to the Boy Scouts of America. His list of honors includes National Merit finalist, class rank 8th and achieving Distinguished
Honors throughout high school.
Nicholas hopes to attend either Lehigh or Colorado State University, and plans to major in chemical engineering. He has been most influenced by Mr. Habbart, Dr. Lertola, Mr. Murray and Mrs. Worrell.
previous generations, they are obsessed with safety, focused on tolerance, and have no patience for inequality. iGen is also growing up more slowly than previous generations, Twenge feels, saying that 18-year-olds look and act like 15-year-olds used to.
As this new group of young people grows into adulthood, Twenge writes, friends and family need to look out for them; businesses must figure out how to recruit them and sell to them; colleges and universities must know how to educate and guide them.
Drawing from
nationally representative surveys of 11 million young people as well as in-depth interviews, “iGen” is the first book to document the cultural changes shaping today’s teens and young adults, documenting how their changed world has impacted their attitudes, worldviews, and mental health.
The March 20 program is presented by the UCFSD Wellness Committee. It is free and open to the whole community. It will be held at 7 p.m. in the Unionville High School library.
On April 12 at 7 p.m., Twenge will appear at the school for a lecture and program on the book, as well as her other five books.
Registration and more information about the two programs is available at www.ucfsd.org. More information about the author is available at www.jeantwenge.com.
Dinner and auction honors Oxford teacher who is battling cancer
By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer
The Oxford school community and the Oxford Wrestling Association are planning a dinner and auction to honor Ben Young, a popular science teacher at Oxford Area High School. Young is battling brain cancer.
The Friday, March 23 event includes dinner, entertainment, a silent auction and a raffle. Tickets for the event are now available. The money raised will go toward the Young family’s medical bills and daily expenses.
The Oxford Area
High School family also recently staged a “Gray Out” event before a wrestling match to honor Young, who is also an assistant coach for the school’s wrestling team.
High school principal James Canaday said that there has been an outpouring of support for the Young family since the cancer diagnosis late in 2017. Colleagues, students, and parents of students all said that Young is the kind of educator who instills important character traits into the students and athletes that he works with.
“Coach Young is a
mentor and a father figure to a lot of the guys,” said Sam Blevins, a member of the wrestling team, at the Gray Out event. “He’s an inspiration to all of us. We’re all here for him. He is in our prayers and our thoughts continually.” Anyone who is unable to attend the benefit but would like to make a donation can do so sending the donation to the Ben Young Family Benefit, Oxford Area High School Wrestling, 705 Waterway Road, Oxford, PA 19363. For more information about the event, contact Danielle Sheffield at danielles@cciu.org
From left: Kristen Chastain, Curt Chastain, Nicholas Chastain, Lion Club president Eric Hansen, assistant principal Gary Benasutti, and Lion Jane Frank (seated).
Continued from Page 1A
student to decide what is best for them. Fifty percent of the school districts in the nation have decided not to report.”
Board president Victor Dupuis commented, “I’m philosophically in favor of non-reporting, and it has nothing to do with the events of last fall. It has to do with my point of view that it’s inappropriate to have the question on the common app to begin with. I’m not concerned with any moral dilemmas that might be created. Frankly, there should be no dilemma. Students should report if they were suspended. There’s nothing to be debated in that regard. Do I think they should have to? That’s another discussion. In the meantime, I’m comfortable with the nonreporting policy as written here.”
recisions, saying, “It’s a common practice in criminal justice to expunge infractions if a person keeps their nose clean for a period of time. The flaw we had was that there was only one available remedy for the administration to impose. This new policy language is the first step for the administration to motivate good behavior, or imposing discipline on a case-by-case basis. I’m in favor of the recision policy.”
rescinded. There will be a vote on the policy revisions in April.
At the beginning of the meeting, district superintendent John Sanville welcomed Steven Silva, who was approved as the new assistant principal at Unionville High School after a unanimous vote by the board.
Wooden flag...
Continued from Page 1A
with the idea to create an American flag that honors those who put their lives on the line every day,” Sweringen said.
solitary blue stripe, which represents the national police.
Regarding whether students could appeal for their suspensions to be rescinded in some cases, board member Robert Sage said, “I’m in favor of a recision policy. When students are disciplined and there is a sense of injustice or something that’s not done properly, this would give a path to correct a perceived wrong, or to limit the consequences to high school. Our current suspension policy has been too strict. Penalties that have been handed out in the past, including last fall, did not exactly fit the offenses that were committed. I see recision as a way to remedy those mistakes.” Board member John Murphy favored allowing
Anderson added, “I’m also in favor of recision as it’s being proposed. None of this is taken lightly. In life, everyone makes mistakes, and everyone should be afforded the opportunity to learn. And recision would have to be earned. It’s a win-win from that standpoint.”
Dupuis also agreed with allowing recisions, saying, “Is this something we would have wanted to do, regardeless of the events of last fall? Some of these students might not have received a 10-day suspension, but I find it hard to believe they wouldn’t have been suspended for at least one day. Drinking on campus involves at least a suspension. Whether there was injustice in the minds of some, it still would have resulted in suspensions. I want the policy to include something that goes beyond normal behavior. If we added community service, or mandatory sessions in study halls to talk about risky behavior, I’d be willing to consider recision.”
Ultimately, the board agreed to a policy revision allowing students a chance to have their suspensions
“We had the strongest candidate pool I’ve ever seen in terms of administrators applying for one position,” Sanville said. “More than 100 applied.”
“We came up with the concept because we both have a high appreciation for the police, and thought we could pay the police back with something like this,” Boyle added.
Describing Boyle and Sweringen as “hard-working, value-oriented and good-natured,” Simpson introduced Sweringen and Boyle at the department’s annual awards and recognition ceremony on March 8, where the wooden flag was on display.
“we get to see first hand that there are so many young people out in the world who care about us, respect us and support our mission.”
The wooden flag is expected to be hung prominently in the regional police department’s planned new police facility, which is currently in its final design stages.
To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email rgaw@chestercounty.com. U-CF discipline policy...
Silva thanked the board and Sanville, saying, “Throughout this process, it was clear from the school board how seriously you took this decision, how much you care about the community and the students, and it is truly an honor to be part of this community.”
The board also heard about upgrades to the fiber optic cable system at the high school. The computer servers are currently housed on a baker’s rack that’s braced with boards. The upgrade to 10-gigabyte maximum speed and new cables will cost $50,750 and will last for 15 years. The board will vote on the expenditure next month.
A much larger project to upgrade the computer network switches throughout the district’s eight buildings is projected to cost $431,000. The board needs to approve the expenditure by March 24 to get that price, which will be part of the 2018-19 budget. The district currently has network equipment from four different vendors, and 85 percent of it is five years
The flag features one
old or older. The system is vulnerable to power spikes, and the wifi signal has weak spots. The new upgrades will allow expansion, have battery backups and be more unified.
If approved, the upgrades would be installed gradually, without shutting the current system down, from June through next March.
Board member Robert Sage said, “This is a bigticket item for us, but we have to remember that this is now an essential part of educating students. If the network is down, people can’t learn. Of course, I’m sure that teachers can figure out something to do, but we’re dependent on having connectivity to do a lot of things. There’s more demand on our bandwidth, and we need to have redunancy so that if some part of it fails, it doesn’t shut down learning.”
During public comment at the end of the three-hour meeting, Gavin Brezski, the student representative to the School Board, commented, “I’m very pleased
“Tonight,” Simpson told the audience who gathered at the ceremony at the New Garden Township building,
to hear the board feels they have a direction in terms of the suspension policy. However, I have done a lot of thinking over the past few weeks. I believe that a recision policy is not the answer. In-school suspensions would be more beneficial for our district, particularly with Chromebooks we are using in our schools. Having students in the building, being productive, is a much more constructive way to get the discipline that the student needs, and will not infringe on their ability to continue learning.
“The second chance that should be offered is to gain
back lost trust,” Brezski continued. “Accepting the consequences is a crucial part of learning. Having a suspension on record is part of the consequences. A balance needs to be struck, and I don’t think the disciplinary code strikes it as currently written. Taking a student out of class is a detriment to the student and the teacher. I ask the board to re-evaluate what constitutes a suspension and to utilize an in-school suspension instead.”
To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, email jchambless@chestercounty. com.
Landscapes3: A referendum on your future
“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined.”
Henry David Thoreau
Imagine the future of the community where you now live, work, play and raise your children.
Imagine it to be a region that has continued to hold the line on over-saturation by smartly balancing the need for increased infrastructure with the need to preserve open space, farmland and the natural beauty that helps define it.
Imagine it to be a region that honors its past by preserving its cherished history, so that the old stone house on the side of that country road you have driven past for decades and cherish will not be torn down but restored.
Imagine it to be a region that forges diversity and well-rounded communities by investing in facilities, services and amenities – the components that foster hope, opportunity and equality.
Imagine it to be a region that rides on the crest of the economic strength it created and now sustains, one that creates a skilled workforce, environmentally-sound workplaces, and a commitment to innovation that draws the world’s attention.
Imagine it to be a region that offers a strong and reliable transportation, utility and communications infrastructure that invigorate the communities that wrap around these services.
Imagine it to be a region that chooses to do the hard work of looking every public school-educated child in the eye and promising him or her that his or her dreams in life will begin their journey there, in the schools that they will attend.
Now, imagine that this region is the one you currently live in – where you work, play, worship and raise a family. Imagine that future to be the one you dream of for yourself and your children.
If it is, the Chester County Planning Commission is inviting you to help them in turning the future you imagine into a reality.
Influenced by the Landscapes2 livable landscapes concept, Landscapes3 is the county’s comprehensive plan that has taken its path not from its elected officials but from its most prized stakeholders: the general public, and its goals and objectives are to preserve, to protect, to appreciate, to live, to prosper and to connect.
On April 10, beginning at 5:30 p.m., the Commission will will be holding its second of four public meetings on the Landscapes3 plan, at the New Garden Township Building, on 299 Starr Road in Landenberg. It will provide opportunities for residents in the southern region of Chester County to offer input, direction and ideas.
Remember the future that you were asked to imagine at the beginning of this editorial? On April 10 at the New Garden Township Building, you will have the opportunity to help shape it.
Additional Landscapes3 public meetings will include:
Eastern Region
May 1
Penn State Great Valley
30 E. Swedesford Road, Malvern, Pa.
Western Region
May 16
Public Safety Training Campus
137 Modena Road, Coatesville, Pa.
To learn more about Landscapes3, visit the Chester County Planning Commission’s website: www. ChescoPlanning.org.
Chester County Press
Can Avon Grove residents afford new school facilities?
The district’s own numbers
Letter to the Editor:
The Avon Grove School Board met on Feb. 27 to discuss the building of new school facilities. The school board is currently discussing four options. The three options that include the building of new facilities range in cost from $128 million to $138 million. A fourth option that focuses on renovating the high schools and removing modular classrooms at all sites costs $93 million.
Daniel Carsley, the Director of Business Administration and the Chief Financial Officer of the district, presented a fiveyear plan that described an overall budget that includes tax increases to support the borrowing of $127 million and tax increases needed to pay for the operational costs of the current facilities. The five-year budget demonstrated deficit spending in each of the five years, which resulted in the fund
balance (e.g. savings in the school budget) decreasing from $23 million to a deficit of $272,000.
Carsley agreed that it is unacceptable for the fund balance to be reduced to such a low level. He stated that the fund balance should contain $20 million so the AGSD can maintain its double A bond rating. One way to maintain these levels in the fund balance was to increase the tax rate on residents even higher. Carsley recommended that Avon Grove residents be taxed at the maximum rate allowed by law for the next five years. It is anticipated that this rate will increase from 3.1 percent to 4.1 percent over the next five years, due to higher interest rates and an improved economy. For a house with an assessed value of $169,600, taxing to the Act 1 Index will increase school taxes from $5,048.99 in 201718 to $5,996.51 in 2022-23 (approximately $1,000
increase in taxes). Houses with a higher assessed value will pay even more taxes.
As high as these increases are, please note that this amount of money does not cover the full cost for three of the four facilities options being considered by the school board. Please also note that the five-year budget scenario for borrowing $127 million includes “optimistic” assumptions for the next five years which may not occur: Charter school costs will decrease, technical school costs (CCIU) will decrease, and the leases for the modulars will go away. In addition, the tax impact of the hospital sale is not included in the five-year plan which could result in an annual loss $540,000 in tax revenue. Increased operational costs for the new facilities which are estimated to have an annual cost of $632,000 ($3.86 per sq. ft. of new facility) and cost for new
say ‘No’
staff are also not included in the budget.
It is clear from the district’s own analysis that Avon Grove School District cannot realistically afford to spend $127 million or more on new facilities. The school board needs to identify what changes and improvements in facilities are essential to student success so that money can be directed there. It is obvious from this financial analysis that the school district cannot afford to do everything included in three of the four options being evaluated. The March meetings will narrow the discussion to two options. A final decision is planned for April. Please contact the school board and let them know how you feel about the plan to borrow $127 million. Their e-mail addresses can be found on the Avon Grove School District website.
Concerns about code of conduct violations among public officials
Letter to the Editor:
I have concerns about people who hold public offices and are awarded with pen-
sions and benefits, but are guilty of misconduct while serving in public office. Strictly enforced policies should have long been
in place. People who hold public office and are guilty of misconduct should face immediate termination and they should forfeit all pen-
sions and benefits. Again, this should be strictly enforced.
U.S. Rep. Costello must oppose the Trump administration’s future environmental attacks
Letter to the Editor:
Beautiful Clean Coal.
President Donald Trump thinks he has ended “the war on beautiful clean coal.” But instead: “Trump bid to boost coal, nuclear power rejected.” (Reading Eagle, Jan. 9 issue). This was a decision by the Republican-controlled Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that stated there is no evidence that
retirements of coal-fired power plants pose a threat to reliability of the nation’s electric grid.
As a member of the Climate Solutions Caucus, Rep. Ryan Costello has an opportunity to make a difference to prevent a climate crisis and reduce this Administration’s assault on our environmental safeguards. On Tuesday, February 13, a group of his constituents, along
with PennEnvironment rallied at his office to #BeOurClimateSweetheart this Valentine’s Day and make a serious commitment to push for real climate solutions.
We are asking Rep. Costello to oppose future environmental attacks while actively working to find ways to address climate change.
Let’s not wait until the tipping point to act. “The
latest models show that with very rapid cuts in emissions, Antarctic ice might remain largely intact for centuries. Without them, we might see 11 feet of sea-level rise by century’s end…” (Bill McKibben, “Winning Slowly Is the Same as Losing”).
Let’s hold Rep. Costello accountable.
Mary Ann Mack Phoenixville, Pa.
Sen. Brewster calls for statewide school safety panel
State Sen. Jim Brewster said he will introduce legislation that would establish a statewide school safety panel to review school and bus safety policies and procedures and help lawmakers implement standardized statewide safety procedures.
“Recent school tragedies and disturbing reports on security and background check lapses have exposed a disturbing vulnerability on the safety of our schools,” Brewster said. “Funding shortfalls and antiquated safety procedures are putting our children at risk. We must take steps to upgrade school safety and security.”
To address the issue in a thorough and comprehensive way, Brewster said he would establish a 10-member statewide panel to offer diverse expertise, wideranging viewpoints and
innovative ideas. Panel members would be comprised of law enforcement officials, educators, parents and legislators.
“Using the latest data and information, this panel would be called on to continually review proposed changes to the state’s strategic plan, analyze existing safety procedures, and study new ideas, technology and strategies to help lawmakers and education officials update statewide policies and procedures.”
In support of the panel’s efforts, Brewster said he will also call for a legislative committee to gather comprehensive data from statewide school districts, private schools and colleges to provide detailed data on school and bus safety procedures.
“This information would help form a basis by which the school safety panel,
lawmakers and education officials can implement sound and substantive statewide safety procedures,” Brewster said.
The McKeesport lawmaker said there are many school safety bills in the pipeline and that it is important to gather all the information and ideas in a onetime effort to implement a strategic plan.
“Policymakers need factual and detailed information on existing procedures, problems and strategies before we can act on a comprehensive solution,” Brewster added. “We need all the facts so we can take what’s working and improve upon it.”
Brewster, who co-chairs the Legislative and Budget Finance Committee, said he will ask the committee chairman, Sen. Bob Mensch (R-Berks/Bucks/ Montgomery), to have
their committee conduct the comprehensive data collection – mandating that a report be completed and submitted to lawmakers no later than Dec 31. He said the data can help assess the use, efficiency and success of various school safety measures such as armed guards, tip-lines, arming school personnel, surveillance cameras and other structural and technology enhancements. He said the data collection effort can assist and work conjunctively with efforts underway by education officials, lawmakers and other state officials.
“All options need to be on the table as we go about finding the best way to improve safety in schools and on buses,” Brewster said. “We also need to explore prospective financial resources that can support our efforts.”
Donna Dea Franklin Township
Howard Gensel Kirkwood, Pa.
O’Neill receives award for outstanding police service
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
Jeremy O’Neill, an officer with the Southern Chester County Regional Police Department, received the 2017 Commissioners Award as officer of the year, at the regional department’s annual awards and recognition ceremony on March 8. The award, previously known as the Chief Gerald W. Davis Award, honors an officer for his or her conspicuous and exceptional work during the past year.
It was the first awards ceremony for the department, which formed on Jan. 1, 2017.
Reading from two letters he received that nominated O’Neill for the award, Police Chief Gerald Simpson praised O’Neill for his work on DUI enforcement in 2017, when he made 27 arrests and three saves from the use of Narcan, a safe and affect antidote for opioid overdoses.
“Officer O’Neill is never hesitant to act when lives are in danger,” Simpson read. “He has taken actions to provide patients who have experienced overdose. He has striven to better himself as an officer while taking steps to become a more able instructor. He showed dedication safety and proficiency with the
officers with whom he works.”
The event, which preceded the police department’s Public Safety Commissioners’ meeting, also included the swearing in of two new officers, P.O. David Madonna, P.O. Stephen Syska and P.O. Gregory Blue, by the Hon. Matthew Seavey. 2017 DUI enforcement awards were presented to P.O. Benjamin Brown, P.O. 1st Class P.O. Joseph
Cooper, P.O. Matthew Cordone, P.O. Stephen Madonna, O’Neill, P.O. Raymond Sullivan, Syska and Cpl. Jason Ward. In total, these officers issued 107 DUI arrests in 2017.
“No doubt, through their actions, they saved many lives,” said Simpson. “In fact, I’m here to tell you that they saved a minimum of 107 lives in 2017. Imagine if I were here tonight to tell you that under the regional police
department’s jurisdiction, 107 people were killed in 2017. I would probably be looking for a new job, is what I would imagine.
“One common theme emerges that sets these officers apart. Their actions were pro-active and by design. At the conclusion of this ceremony, this audience will agree with me that these men may have saved at least 107 lives, but honestly, who knows how many lives
could have been adversely affected without the actions of these guardians?”
The ceremony also included an invocation by police chaplain Annalie Korengel, and opening remarks by Steve Allaband, the chairperson for the Public Safety Commission.
“Our men and women in uniform go above and beyond the call of duty every day, They are always held to the highest
standards,” Allaband said.
“They put their lives at risk for our safety and welfare, and for this they deserve to be acknowledged, appreciated and respected.” Allaband reviewed the core values of the department, which include integrity, justice, duty and the preservation of human life.
To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email rgaw@chestercounty.com.
Local schools take part in STEM challenge
Chester County high school students skilled in science, technology, engineering and math competed in this year’s regional Governor’s STEM competition on Feb. 6 at the Chester County Intermediate Unit.
Participating teams included Bishop Shanahan High School, Coatesville Area Senior High School, Oxford Area High School, and Technical College
High School Pickering Campus. This year, Bishop Shanahan High School finished on top, with Oxford Area High School coming in a close second, and Coatesville Area Senior High School securing third. The title of the winning proposal was “DOORA.” The project was created to automatically open doors in response to a fire, allowing firefighters the ability to
Caesar’s home on Street Road in Lower Oxford Township, police found 23,000 child pornography images and videos. Other devices are being searched. Additional charges were filed against Caesar, who is in Chester County Prison, awaiting a hearing on child abuse and rape charges.
INDECENT ASSAULT On Feb. 28, Kennett Square Police arrested
enter the building more quickly. The team was inspired to invent DOORA after the Nov. 2017 fivealarm blaze at the Barclay Friends Nursing Home in West Chester.
“We saw just how quickly that fire spread throughout the building. In the event of a fire, even the smallest amount of time can make a life-saving difference,” teammate Brendan Manning explained.
Juan Carlos Navarro, Sr., 61, of Kennett Square, for five counts of indecent assault, endangering the welfare of children and corruption of minors. He was arraigned and released after paying bail of 5 percent of $150,000.
TRUCK STOLEN
Sometime between 6:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Feb. 8, a 1999 GMC truck, gold/ tan, with Pennsylvania registration JPZ0660 was
Participating teams of students from the Chester County area, including Bishop Shanahan High School, were asked to select an issue, conduct research, design, construct and finally present a prototype that would be able to ensure a better quality of life for residents of Pennsylvania. Students were provided with a $500 stipend to aid in their mission. This year’s theme was “Improving
stolen from the 300 block of East Maple Alley in Kennett Square, according to police. The investigation is continuing.
WALLET STOLEN Kennett Square Police reported that sometime between 11:15 and 11:30 a.m. on Feb. 12, a wallet containing an ID, credit card, debit card, Medicaid card and $100 in cash was stolen from a business in the 200 block of South
Pennsylvania Through STEM.”
During the weeks of preparation for the competition, students collaborated with mentors from local companies to educate themselves about STEM careers and to aid them in their research and application. The students then presented their prototype and findings to a panel of judges who graded the presentations based on
Washington Street in Kennett Square. DUI, IDENTITY THEFT Kennett Square Police arrested Denis Garcia, 31, of Oxford, for DUI after a traffic stop on Feb. 19 at 1:13 a.m. in the 100 block of East Cedar Street. He was arraigned and released. A passenger in his vehicle, Eric Turcios-Rodriguez, 22, of Accomac, Va., was found
a statewide rubric. Bishop Shanahan High School student Alana Pappas said, “We worked incredibly well as a team, we collaborated and bounced ideas off of each other.”
As the Chester County winners, the Bishop Shanahan High School students will advance to the state competition with an additional $750 stipend to improve their prototype.
to have an outstanding warrant out of the Chester County District Attorney’s office and was taken to Chester County Prison. Another passenger, Pedro Aguilar-Alantar, 22, of Kennett Square, gave a false name to police and was charged with identity theft and falsification to law enforcement. Bail was set at $500 cash. Unable to post bail, he was taken to Chester County Prison.
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
Jeremy O’Neill, an officer with the Southern Chester County Regional Police Department, was awarded the 2017 Commissioners Award as officer of the year, at the regional department’s annual awards and recognition ceremony on March 8. Pictured with O’Neill is his father, Harry O’Neill, Jr., and his grandparents, Joan and Harry O’Neill, Sr.
The winning team from Bishop Shanahan High School poses with their coach after the award ceremony.
‘Evening of Promise’ to benefit families
Family Promise of Southern Chester County, a volunteer nonprofit that helps families experiencing homelessness, will host its first fundraiser, “An Evening of Promise,” on April 21 at 7 p.m. at the Kennett Country Club. Proceeds will help temporarily house and feed families with children in Avon Grove, Kennett Square, Oxford and UnionvilleChadds Ford school districts who are facing homelessness. Southern Chester County is one of 200 Family Promise programs nationwide. At the event, Family Promise founder and president emeritus,
Karen Olson, will share how a chance encounter with a homeless woman moved her to start the first nonprofit to address the growing nationwide crisis of family homelessness.
“An Evening of Promise” will feature wine tasting and hors d’oeuvres pairings, silent auction items for all ages, including a day of sailing on the Chesapeake Bay, spa and restaurant packages, sporting event tickets, summer camp experiences, works by local artists and more. Tickets are $65 per person, or two for $125, and sponsorship packages are available.
“Family Promise is
funded primarily by donations from local individuals, businesses and foundations,” said Family Promise executive director Susan Minarchi. “This is our main fundraiser of the year and we hope to raise $30,000 to help us provide families with crucial basic necessities for a fresh start. Many families arrive with nothing and need necessities from toothbrushes to towels, coats, and clothing for school, work and interviews,” she added. To purchase tickets to “An Evening of Promise,” or for more information, visit www. familypromisescc.org.
Kennett Square borough adds new Municipal Relations Committee
By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer
Kennett Square Borough is forming a Municipal Relations Committee to handle a variety of duties, including improving communications with residents and coordinating the activities of the various boards.
Kennett Square Borough Council formally approved the new committee earlier this month. The purpose of the committee will be to improve constituent relations, board and commission relations, government relations, and external agency relations.
Council member Doug Doerfler said that the Municipal Relations Committee will work to help borough officials maintain excellent relations and communications.
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The committee will also facilitate communications with external agencies that resident representatives are appointed to, including the Kennett Library, the Kennett Area Parks and Recreation Board, the Kennett Area Parks Authority, and other agencies. The Municipal Relations Committee will keep council members informed about the activities of these agencies.
Members of the Municipal Relations Committee will also help ensure that the borough has open communications with neighboring municipalities and to make sure that the borough residents’ interests are strongly represented in regional matters.
Finally, the Municipal Relations Committee will keep the lines of communication open between the borough and county and state officials.
The president of borough council will appoint one or more members of council to the Municipal Relations Committee, and these appointees will serve at the discretion of the council president.
The Municipal Relations Committee will develop processes for addressing constituent requests and to make sure that their concerns are dealt with effectively and efficiently. The committee will also facilitate twoway communication between borough council members and the people who serve on the various boards and commissions. The Municipal Relations Committee will also establish processes for bringing recommendations to council. The committee will also work to make sure that vacancies on the various boards and commissions are filled as quickly as possible.
In other borough council business:
Kennett Square Borough is looking for a new and permanent solicitor. Marc Jonas of Eastburn & Gray, P.C., the longtime solicitor, resigned in February.
Borough council appointed William Gallagher, a partner with MacElree Harvey, as the solicitor on an interim basis.
Borough manager Joseph Scalise pointed out that Gallagher is wellinformed about Kennett Square, and at one time served as the borough’s solicitor, so that experience will be valuable as the search for a new solicitor takes place.
Borough council approved a settlement agreement with business owner Holly Peters, who has been involved in a disagreement over a ruling by the borough’s Kennett Square Shade Tree Commission.
Borough council approved the special event application for the annual Kennett Run, which is scheduled for May 19.
To contact Staff Writer Steven Hoffman, email editor@chestercounty. com.
The borough council can appoint one or more members of the public to the committee, and these people will serve two-year terms, without term limits, at the pleasure of council.
Karen Olson
Hemingway, Cuba and the Great Blue River
By Gene Pisasale Correspondent
This is the second in a three-part series inspired by a Smithsonian Tour of Cuba my wife and I took in April 2017, where we visited Ernest Hemingway’s home, his favorite bars, the quaint fishing village of Cojimar and other sites.
The Finca Vigia Meaning “Lookout Farm” in Spanish, the Finca Vigia, on the outskirts of Havana, is where Ernest Hemingway lived longer and was more productive than any other setting in the world. The house is in the village of San Francisco de Paula, roughly 12 miles southeast of downtown. His home is now a tourist attraction, the Museo Ernest Hemingway, which receives thousands of visitors every year.
Walking toward the cream-colored, one-story dwelling (flanked by a tower), you get a sense of peacefulness, the soft hues of the structure providing a calm over the setting. The house contains well over a dozen mounted specimens of exotic animals caught on safari, more than 8,000 books, artwork, bullfighting posters and hundreds of items from the 1940s and 1950s. As you look around, you get the feeling you’re just waiting for Hemingway to arrive back home after a day of fishing.
The first things you see are a multi-tiered white magazine rack holding copies of Esquire, Look, The New Yorker and other magazines from the 1950s, flanked by a bullfighting painting and two preserved heads of animals taken on safari. The animals seem to follow you with their eyes, perhaps acting as Hemingway’s silent attendants, protecting his home while he is away.
Despite having numerous trophies proving his infatuation with hunting, the house lacks much evidence of a pursuit which engaged him for almost half his life – deep-sea fishing. It is a bit strange that after having spent nearly 30 years chasing marlin, there is not a single one of them anywhere at the Finca. One possible explanation is that deepsea fish are preserved with mostly synthetic materials, and Hemingway valued realism in all his works. Another curious absence comes to light when you stroll around the house –there are absolutely no cats.
Not a single one roaming the property, where he once owned at least 20 of them. Hemingway loved cats and named them all, including his favorite, Boise. Where are all the felines? It is likely the Cuban government, which owns the property, has never had enough money to feed the cats, so they all probably wandered away over the years to more hospitable surroundings.
This contrasts with Hemingway’s home in Key West, where there are now well over 50 cats in residence, many of them the curious six-toed variety.
Anyone who has used a typewriter knows how much effort it takes to hammer out a long text. An early vintage Corona typewriter sitting on his desk helped Hemingway create his many stories. Encounters with danger are chronicled in a newspaper lying on his bed, its bold headline proclaiming, “Hemingway, Wife Killed in Air Crash.” He and Mary experienced two near-fatal plane crashes near the end of their 1953-1954 African safari. When news of the accidents reached the press, announcements of his “death” flooded the airwaves and print media. Hemingway was seriously injured in the second crash, using his head as a battering ram to break through the door of the mangled airplane -- a possible factor in his physical deterioration that was so notable beginning in the late 1950s.
No visit to Hemingway’s Cuban home would be complete without a stop to see his beloved boat Pilar, which sits in dry dock on the property. Abandoned for many years, Pilar is now restored to its 1950s splendor. The vessel was Hemingway’s “home on the sea” for almost three decades, helping him to create some of his finest works.
Hemingway left Cuba in July 1960 and never returned. By the 1980s, the house was badly deteriorating. The Finca Vigia Foundation was founded to restore and preserve Hemingway’s home and its contents.
Beginning in 2005, a team of preservation experts visited Cuba to work at the house. Mary DeNadai, a principal in the firm of John Milner Architects in Chadds Ford, was chosen as part of
the restoration team. Over the last several years, the group restored the Finca to its former glory.
El Floridita
Hemingway’s favorite bar, El Floridita, hails itself as La Cuna del Daiquiri (“The Cradle of the Daiquiri”). The author sometimes ordered a dozen or more of them at a sitting, so they named one for him: the Papa Doble (“Papa Double”).
Hemingway is a permanent fixture here. You cannot miss the life-sized bronze sculpture of him standing at the corner of the bar. On almost any given night, El Floridita is packed with people from all over the world who want to savor a brief connection with the man they came to know through his many novels.
Hemingway loved the Floridita, entertaining numerous celebrities there over the years, including Gary Cooper and Spencer Tracy, who would later star as Santiago in the film version of “The Old Man and the Sea.”
Cojimar and La Terraza
Cojimar is a quaint fishing village that’s only a 20-minute drive from downtown Havana, and it helped spawn the greatest tale of man against marlin ever written. It gained its place in history as the setting for “The Old Man and the Sea.”
The most popular restaurant in Cojimar is La Terraza, a bar and seafood establishment which Hemingway visited numerous times. Inside its doors, you are enveloped in a Hemingway cocoon, the atmosphere of a previous era captured in dozens of images of him, his first mate
Gregorio Fuentes, Pilar and the bay where they docked for fishing.
The Hemingway memorial gazebo, just up the road from La Terraza, has six Greek columns surrounding a bust of the author created by Cuban sculptor Fernando Boada Marten. The setting is serene. Hemingway is smiling, looking out to his home, the ocean.
In Cojimar and La Terraza, Hemingway “comes alive” more than at any other Cuban site he frequented. You can feel his presence here, in the setting he made immortal. All these locations bring visitors in touch with the author who
thrilled readers for decades with his many novels and short stories, works created with the inspiration he gained from places he loved in Cuba and around the globe.
Gene Pisasale is a historian, author and lecturer based in Kennett Square. His new book, “Hemingway, Cuba and the Great Blue River,” takes readers on a trip to the many places Hemingway loved. His books are available at www.Amazon.com. For more information, visit www.GenePisasale.com. He can be reached at Gene@ GenePisasale.com.
Courtesy photo
Hemingway sculpture and bust at El Floridita.
Ernest Hemingway’s home, the Finca Vigia.
Hemingway and Boise at the Finca Vigia
Courtesy photo A vintage Corona typewriter in Hemingway’s home outside Havana.
Courtesy photo
The entranceway to Hemingway’s home, the Finca Vigia.
Courtesy photo
A bust of Ernest Hemingway created by the fishermen of Cojimar, Cuba.
Courtesy photo
Hemingway’s boat, Pilar, in dry dock at his home in Cuba.
Courtesy photo Waterfront in the fishing village of Cojimar, Cuba, the setting for ‘The Old Man and the Sea.’
JOSEPH M. DICKENS, JR.
Joseph M. Dickens, Jr., 46, of West Grove, passed away on March 2 at the Christiana Hospital.
Born in West Chester, he was the son of Joseph M. Dickens, Sr., and Ruth Seese Dickens of West Grove. Joe was a general contractor who worked with his dad for 30 years, and last worked at New Bolton Center in Kennett Square. He was a member of New London Baptist Church. Joe enjoyed spending time with his family, especially his daughters. Joe had a gift for helping others and sharing God’s word. He enjoyed coaching Avon Grove Girls Softball, golfing, music, cars and frequent visits to Avondale Wawa. He enjoyed listening to Rev. Adrian Rogers and Mike Rowe. In addition to his parents, he is survived by two daughters, Kylie Laine Dickens and Abigale Mackenzie Dickens, both of West Grove; his lifetime companion, Tabitha McKinney of West Grove; two sisters, Deedree Erlichman and her husband Paul of Cochranville, and Dana Duncan and her husband Perry of Oxford; and two nieces, Haleigh Duncan and Heidi Duncan.
A funeral was held March 10. Burial was in the New London Presbyterian Church Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, a contribution may be made in his memory to the Kylie & Abigale Dickens Fund. Details to follow on www.griecocares.com. To view his online tribute and to share a memory with his family, visit www. griecocares.com.
LOIS B. PORTER
Lois B. Porter, 73, of New Providence, formerly of Oxford, passed away on March 8 at Mt. Joy Hospice in Lancaster. She was the wife of William H. Porter, with whom she shared 51 years of marriage. Born in West Grove, she was the daughter of the late Leonard G. and Jennie Phillips Brown. Lois was a member of the First Presbyterian Church of Rising Sun, Md. She graduated from Oxford Area High School and West Chester School of Nursing. Lois retired from Jennersville Regional Hospital in West Grove and also was employed as a nurse for the late Dr. Guy Holcombe in Oxford. Lois was the life of the party and enjoyed visiting with friends, going out to eat, reading and Gospel music. Surviving are her husband; two daughters, Kelli M. Teel (H.
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Nelson) and Karen E. Kinsman (Kristopher); three grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; one brother, Leonard G. Brown, Jr. (Mary Jane) of Quarryville; and one sister, Doris Poole (Ted) of Quarryville. She was preceded in death by an infant daughter, Jennifer Lynn Porter.
A funeral was held March 12. Interment was in Oxford Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to the First Presbyterian Church of Rising Sun, PO Box 251, Rising Sun, MD 21911.
BARRY G. SIPES
Barry Gene Sipes, 80, died in Paoli Hospital on March 2.
Barry is survived by his three sons, Paul Sipes (Simsbury, Conn.), Tim Sipes (Downingtown), and Brad Sipes (Stockholm, Sweden) and their families. He was preceded in death by his wife, Sue Ann Sipes (Kennett Square).
Barry was born in 1937 in Altoona, Pa., to Eugene and Mary Sipes. He graduated from Richland High School in Johnstown, P., and then Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pa., where he met his wife. Within a few years, Barry and Sue relocated to Chester County, and Barry spent the next several decades working in the local public school systems as an administrator and guidance counselor. He retired from the Downingtown High School guidance counseling department in 1998. Barry was an avid sports fan and a proud supporter of his boys’ and grandchildren’s many interests and activities. He will always be remembered for his passion for local high school and college sports, his love for Syracuse, Temple, the NY Yankees, and the Washington Redskins. He was often seen jogging through all parts of Chester County. Upon his retirement, Barry enjoyed reading, and his worldwide travels with Sue and friends.
A funeral was held March 10. To view his online tribute and to share a memory with his family, visit www.griecocares.com.
JOSE ORTIZ FLORES
Jose Ortiz Flores, 74, of Oxford, passed away on March 5 at Neighborhood Hospice in West Chester. He was the husband of Teresa Ayllon Jacome. Born in Pachuquilla, Almoloya de Alquisiras, Mexico, he was the son of the late Manuel Ortiz and the late Angelina Flores. He was a mushroom picker at Phillips Mushroom in Oxford. Jose enjoyed working and being with his family and friends.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by three sons, Horacio Ortiz Ayllon of Oxford, Mario Ortiz Ayllon of Oxford, and Juan Alberto Ortiz Ayllon of Oxford; four daughters, Adela Ortiz Ayllon of Mexico, Araceli Ortiz Ayllon of Mexico, Leticia Ortiz Ayllon of Oxford, and Rosa Ortiz Ayllon of Oxford; one brother, Salomon Ortiz Flores of Nottingham; four sisters, Elvia Ortiz Florez, Adelina Ortiz Flores, Juana Luisa Flores and Maria Graciela Ortiz Flores; and ten grandchildren.
A funeral was held March 13. Burial will be in Mexico. To visit his online tribute and to share a memory with his family, visit www.griecocares.com.
GEORGE F. CHIDESTER
George F. Chidester, 95, of Wilmington, Del., previously of Chadds Ford, died on March 3 at his home. He was the husband of Dorothea (née Snyder) Chidester, with whom he shared 70 years of marriage. Born in Frostburg, Md., he was the son of late Stanley and Maude (Michaels) Chidester. George served in the 100th infantry division during World War II in France. He graduated from the University of Denver with a BS in industrial engineering in 1949 and an MBA in 1950. George joined Hercules in 1951, working for 35 years in quality control in Hercules aerospace company, where he worked until his retirement. A member of The Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, George was active in leadership and worked on many projects for the church and the community at large.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by a son, Jeffrey Chidester; a daughter, Jennifer Beard and her husband John; several grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and many faithful friends. He was pre-deceased by his son, G. Christian Chidester.
A memorial service was held March 8. In lieu of flowers, please contribute to Lutheran World Relief (700 Light Street, Baltimore, MD 21230). To view his online tribute and to share a memory with his family, visit www. griecocares.com.
RONALD E. POST
Ronald Ellsworth Post, 81, of Landenberg, died on March 2 at Heartland Hospice House in Wilmington, Del. He was the husband of Marjorie Drake Post, with whom he shared 54 years of marriage. Born in North East, Pa., he was the son of the late Fred Ray and the late Mildred (Smith) Post. Ronald earned his undergraduate degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and a master’sdegree in social studies from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1965. He was facilities manager for Children, Youth and Family Services of Delaware, retiring in 2001. He was an avid fisherman, enjoyed woodworking and gardening, loved traveling to points near and far, and was a collector of all types of knives.
Survivors include, in addition to his wife, one son, David R. Christifer of Cumberland Md.; one daughter, Bonnie Keating of Newark, Del.; two sisters, Luanna Harris of Ocala, Fla., and Cathy McCorkle of New Milport, Pal; and three grandchildren.
A funeral was held March 9. Contributions in his memory may be made to the American Cancer Society, 1626 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA 19103; or the Delaware Humane Association, 701 A Street, Wilmington, DE 19801. To view Ronald’s online tribute and to share a memory with his family, visit www.griecocares.com.
March 16 and 17
Children’s Consignment Sale West Grove United Methodist Church will be holding a Children’s Clothing, Toy and Equipment Consignment Sale on March 16 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and March 17 from 9 a.m. to noon. There will be a large selection of spring and summer children’s clothes, shoes, coats, toys, books, baby items and equipment. On Saturday,
many items will be half price. This sale benefits the early childhood and scholarship programs at the Children’s Morning Out and Preschool Program of the church. For more information, e-mail tracy. mclaughlin@westgroveumc. org, or call 610-869-9334. March 22
Taize service
ENCOURAGES
The New London Methodist Church (1010 State Rd., New London) will host a community Taizé service on March 22 at 7 p.m. Taizé is an ecumenical, sung and silent, participatory prayer service designed to achieve a contemplative state through music, song and silence. The music consists of selections that are short, repetitive and prayerful. For more information, call 610-869-8129.
March 24
Buffet breakfast
Oxford United Methodist Church (18 Addison St., Oxford) hosts its monthly buffet breakfast for the whole community on March 24 from 7 to 10 a.m. The menu includes buttermilk pancakes, French toast, scrambled eggs, sausage and bacon, roasted potatoes, fresh fruit and more. Tickets are $7 for adults and $3 for ages 3 to 10. Call 610-9329698 for more information.
March 24
Egg hunt
Kemblesville United Methodist Church will hold an Easter VBS and Easter egg
A legacy of art continues at Chadds Ford Elementary
By John Chambless Staff Writer
No other art show in the region has the history and pedigree of the annual Chadds Ford Elementary School Art Sale and Show.
Betsy Wyeth, wife of the late Andrew Wyeth, started the show in 1949 and continued her involvement in the show while her son, Jamie Wyeth, was a student at Chadds Ford Elementary. Every year, top artists from the Brandywine Valley region are eager to exhibit at the school. Proceeds from the show benefit school activities and provide supplemental educational benefits for students.
For browsers and buyers, the show is a one-stop showcase and a chance to meet the artists themselves. This year,
works by more than 65 regional artists will be featured. The Featured Artist is Jacalyn Beam, who will get a large exhibition space at the show. Her painting, “Pairs,” will be for sale. This year’s donating artist, Landenberg painter Kathy Ruck, will have her painting, “Sunset on Sycamore,” featured in the show’s raffle. Karl J. Keurner III will have his original artworks featured in the Art Salon, along with works by his student, Shay Allen.
Ruck said, “It’s a wonderful show, and very well attended. The history of the show goes back 69 years. I’m just proud to be a part of this show.”
Ruck said that her fellow artists look forward to the show each year as a chance to catch up with each other’s
lives and socialize, as well as meet buyers and admirers. This is her third year at the show.
For Beam, who is also exhibiting for the third year, the chance to have a large gallery of her works on view is a great opportunity. She has shown at the Chadds Ford Gallery, and will have an exhibit at Barbara Moore Fine Art in April.
She said she found the location of her painting, “Pairs,” while driving around Unionville. The farm, which sits close to a large barn, is home to an 89-year-old woman, her son and grandson, Beam said. She was fascinated by the cows in the pasture, which were lined up, two by two.
This year’s show features well-known names and newcomers, including Annette Alessi,
Richard Bollinger, Erica Brown, Doris Davis-Glackin, Frank DePietro, Shawn Faust, Len Garon, Teresa Haag, John Hannafin, Lorann Jacobs, Madeleine Kelly, Martin May, Lou Messa, Bob Richey, Tim Simboli, Helena van Emmerik-Finn, Hattie Weselyk and others.
The show opens on March 16 at Chadds
Ford Elementary (3 Baltimore Pike, Chadds Ford) with am adultsonly reception from 7 to 10 p.m., featuring live music and hors d’oeuvres from area restaurants. Many of the artists will be on hand to talk about their work.
The show is open to everyone on March 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., free of charge. Saturday
features live music and a raffle drawing at 3 p.m. The Chadds Ford Elementary PTO receives a 30 percent commission on each sale. For more information, visit http://cfes.ucfsd. org/artshow.
To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, email jchambless@ chestercounty.com.
Photo by John Chambless
From left: Art Show chair Nichole Scull, artist Jacalyn Beam and artist Kathy Ruck.
Courtesy photo
This year’s show will draw more than 65 regional artists and hundreds of buyers to Chadds Ford Elementary School.
Family Promise hires new case manager
Family Promise of Southern Chester County, a volunteer-driven nonprofit committed to helping families experiencing homelessness, has welcomed Omar Henriquez as its new case manager.
Henriquez will guide families through their housing crisis by providing the tools and encouragement to regain their housing, employment and become fully and permanently self-sufficient.
Susan Minarchi, Family Promise executive director, said, “Omar
brings to Family Promise a diverse set of skills and expertise needed to help families struggling with homelessness find their path back to stability. Family Promise is not just a job; it’s a calling. Omar will be instrumental in restoring a family’s hopes and dreams for a brighter future.”
Henriquez has a background in the nonprofit sector, specializing in group and individual counseling. His primary responsibilities are to help families experiencing
homelessness reclaim their independence by providing support for families through comprehensive assessment of a family’s needs, creating personalized stabilization plans and implementation. Cultivating and maintaining relationships with local agencies and community organizations is another key role he will play on a daily basis. Henriquez earned a Master’s Degree in human services with a concentration in counseling from Lincoln University, and serves on the board of directors for Mental
Health of America and Ambassador for Hope.
“Knowing there are children right here in our community that don’t have a place to call home keeps me up at night,” he said. “Every child deserves a home. I am honored to carry out Family Promise’s mission by providing families with the support and guidance needed to successfully regain permanent housing, employment, and maintain healthy independence.”
For more information, visit www. familypromisescc.org.
Uptown! welcomes first of three classical collaborations
In collaboration with the Curtis Institute of Music, Uptown! Knauer
Performing Arts Center will welcome violinist Wanchi and guitarist Jordan Dodson on April 2 at 7 p.m.
This is the first in a series of three spring concerts featuring classical music artists by special arrangement with Curtis on Tour, the Nina von Maltzahn Global Touring Initiative of the Curtis Institute of Music. The April 2 program features solo and duet performances, including music by Antônio Carlos Jobim, Vivian Fung, Elliot Cole, Niccolo Paganini, Roland Dyens and Astor Piazzolla.
Wanchi has received
critical acclaim for her recordings and performances of chamber music, solo recitals, and as a soloist with orchestras throughout North America and Asia.
Recent performance venues include the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and numerous international music festivals.
Born in Taiwan, Wanchi began playing violin at 6 and moved to the United States at 13 to study at the Peabody Conservatory and the Baltimore School for the Arts. One year later, she soloed with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra under conductor Catherine Comet. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Music degree
from the Curtis Institute of Music, a Master of Music from The Julliard School, and a Doctor of Music from Indiana University. Wanchi is currently a professor of violin and teaches a full violin studio at the James
Madison University School of Music in Harrisonburg, Va., where she resides with her family. Dodson is described as “one of the top young guitarists of his generation.” (Performance Today). A
winner of Astral’s 2013 National Auditions, he is an active soloist and chamber musician based in New York and Philadelphia. He has also received awards from the 2011 Lillian Fuchs Chamber Music Competition, the 2010 Indiana International Guitar Competition, and the 2008 American String Teachers Association Competition. In 2013, he was a Young Artist in Residence on American Public Media’s Performance Today. In the fall of 2011, he was one of two students selected to inaugurate the Curtis Institute of Music’s classical guitar studio. An advocate for contemporary music, Dodson has commissioned
and premiered dozens of pieces internationally, including works by Lewis Nielson, Elliot Cole, Robert Sirota, and Gabriella Smith. The Curtis on Tour series at Uptown! includes soon-to-be-announced classical music artists on April 24, and “Musicians from the the Curtis Opera Theatre” on May 22. The Curtis on Tour program offers students real-world, professional touring experience alongside celebrated alumni and faculty.
Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center is at 226 N. High St., West Chester. Purchase tickets at UptownWestChester.org, at the box office, or call 610-356-2787.
Violinist Wanchi and guitarist Jordan Dodson will perform on April 2 in West Chester.
March 15 to 17
‘The King and I’ Unionville High School will stage the classic musical “The King and I” on March 15, 16 and 17 at 7 p.m. Online tickets at www. showtix4u.com are $12. Tickets at the door are $14 for adults, $12 for students and seniors. Performances will be at Unionville High School (750 Unionville Rd., Kennett Square).
March 18
‘Azul’ in West Chester
The Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center (226 N. High St., West Chester), hosts “Azul,” a theater/dance piece exploring Picasso’s blue period, on March 18 at 3 p.m. It interweaves flamenco music and dance with stunning imagery to create a dramatic canvas of Picasso’s thoughts, doubts, actions and torments. The Latin Program at Uptown! promotes Latin culture in West Chester and neighboring communities through live theater, dance and music performances. Purchase tickets at www. UptownWestChester.org, at the box office, or call 610-356-2787.
March 23-25
‘Arsenic and Old Lace’
ACT Players will stage the classic comedy “Arsenic and Old Lace” on March 23 and 24 at 7 p.m., and March 25 at 2 p.m., at Street Lamp Productions in Rising Sun, Md. Long considered to be one of the best dark comedies, Joseph Kesselring’s rollicking script will have theatergoers laughing while on the edge of their seats. For more information and tickets, visit www.actheater.org.
March 25
Family concert
The Kennett Symphony of Chester County will present “Potions That Create Emotions,” its annual family concert, on March 25 at 2 p.m. at Rustin High School Auditorium in West Chester. The concert is 45 minutes long. Following the performance, the symphony will offer its popular “Instrument Zoo,” during which children can meet and greet the musicians and try out the instruments. All tickets are $5, and seating is reserved. Visit www. kennettsymphony.org, or call 610-444-6363.
April 8
Cat adoption fundraiser
The “Catstravaganza” fundraising event will be held April 8 from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Kennett Area Senior Center. The event benefits the Treetops Kitty Cafe cat adoption program in Kennett Square. Refreshments will be served. Tickets are $20. Details are available online, or email treetopskittycafe@ gmail.com or call 610-925-2908.
April 14
The Rogues
The Friends Folk Club will present the Celtic band, The Rogues, on April 14 at 8 p.m. The concert will be at St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church (116 Lancaster Pike, Oxford). The band, formed in 1994, has produced 10 albums and two DVDs. Attendees are asked to bring nonperishable food items, which will be donated to the local area food cupboards. Tickets are $15 and will be available at the door (children 12 and younger
are free). Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Refreshments will be sold. For more information, call 610-8698076 or visi therogues.com.
April 26
Lighthouse Youth Center’s spring banquet
On April 26, the Lightouhouse Youth Center will have the annual spring celebration banquet at Bethany Christian School. The banquet starts at 6:30 p.m., and includes a steak dinner and a program with youth testimonies, updates on the year’s activities, and plans for the future. To make the free reservations, contact the Lighthouse at 610-467-6000 or email tonya@oxfordlighthouse.
org.
Kennett Flash schedule
The Kennett Flash (102 Sycamore Alley, Kennett Square) hosts regional and national artists. Tickets are available in advance at www.kennettflash.org, or at the door. Snacks and beverages are sold, or guests can BYOB. The schedule includes: Matt Campy trumpet-led jazz quartet (March 16, 8 p.m., $15 and $18); Beyond the Pale with Irish step dancers (March 17, 8 p.m., $20 and $24); Open Mic hosted by Angelee (March 18, 7 p.m., $4); Cactus featuring Carmine Appice (March 23 – postponed); Genesis tribute band Trespass (March 24, 8 p.m., $24 and $28); Monkees tribute band Monkeephiles (March 31, 8 p.m., $17 and $20); Dangermuffin (April 5, 8 p.m., $15 and $18); the Melton Brothers with Angelee (April 6, 8 p.m., $20 and $24); Better Than Bacon improv comedy
(April 12, 8 p.m., $16 and $20); Kim Richey (April 13, 8 p.m., $27 and $32); Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling (April 14, 7 and 9:30 p.m., $30 and $35); Mountain Heart (April 15, 7 p.m., $22 and $26); Rick Vito of Fleetwood Mac (April 20, 7 p.m., $30); Christine Lenee (April 21, 8 p.m., $18 and $22); Concert for Billy Penn Burger (April 24, 8 p.m., sold out, April 25, 8 p.m., $30); Dr. Harmonica and Rockett 88 (April 27, 8 p.m., 416 and $20); Rust – Neil Young tribute (April 28, 8 p.m., $20 and $23). Reactors Comedy Club schedule Reactors Comedy Club, in the Quality Inn and Suites (943 S. High St., West Chester). Hosts live comedy presented by Reactors on weekends. Doors open at 7:30 p.m., and showtime is 8:30 p.m. Admission is $20 at the door. Visit www. reactorscomedyclub..com. The schedule includes: Steve Shaffer with Matt Jenkins and Brian Gray (March 16 and 17); Billy Garan with Terri Granahan and Brian Gray (March 23 and 24); Chris Rich, Jared Bilski and John Ager (April 6 and 7); Mick Thomas, Paul Spratt and John Ager (April 13 and 14); Tony Deyo, Langdon James, and Troy Moore (April 20 and 21).
To submit items to the Calendar of Events, e-mail jchambless@chestercounty. com. There is no charge. Not every submission can be included. Items should be submitted at least two weeks before the event.
Through March 31
‘Wonders of Water’
Mala Galleria (200 E. State St., Kennett Square) presents “Wonders of Water,” with works by Peter Quarracino, Madeleine Kelly, Sarah Yeoman, Jill Beech, Annette Alessi, Rhoda Kahler, Paula Mortensen and Meghan Bergman, through March 31. Call 484-883-5429, email Malagalleriaksq@ gmail.com, or visit www. malagalleria.com.
Through March 29
Group show at Station Gallery
The Station Gallery (3922 Kennett Pike, Greenville, Del.) hosts a group show of paintings by Ed Bronstein, Sherrill Cooper and Barbara Straussberg, through March 29. Call 302-654-8638, email info@StationGallery.net, or visit www.stationgallery.net
March 16 and 17
Chadds Ford Art Show
Chadds Ford Elementary School (3 Baltimore Pike, Chadds Ford) hosts the 69th annual Art Sale and Show, featuring more than 65 professional regional artists, on March 16 and 17. A free reception and sale will be held March 16 from 7 to 10 p.m. (adults only), with regular hours on March 17 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will be free guided tours of the art collection at the school, and an Art Paint Along for adults and children will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. Admission is free, and 30 percent of purchases benefit educational enrichment programs at the school. Call 610-388-1112.
March 23 to April 21
Francis Di Fronzo solo show
Somerville Manning Gallery (101 Stone Block Row, Greenville, Del.) will host a solo exhibition of paintings by Francis Di Fronzo from March 23 to April 21. A reception with the artist will be held April 6 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m, including an Artist Talk at 6:30 p.m. Di Fronzo has received national attention as a featured artist in the popular television series “Better Call Saul” and his distinctive paintings that provide an uncomfortable mix of nostalgia and lamentation of the post-industrial American landscape. Call 302-652-0271 or visit www. somervillemanning.com. April 13 to 15 Artists Circle Annual Show St. Luke Lutheran Church (203 N. Valley Forge Rd., Devon) will host The Artists Circle Annual Art Show on April 13 from 5 to 9 p.m., April 14 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and April 15 from noon to 4 p.m. Hundreds of framed artworks by regional artists will be for sale, along with unframed originals and signed prints. The Artists Circle is a group of women artists from the suburban Philadelphia region who meet regularly to paint together, critique each other’s work, support each other’s endeavors and mount two annual shows. They include Judy Antonelli, Cheryl Decker-Sauder, Pam McKee, Lin Webber, Wendy Scheirer, Connie Worth and others. Visit www.theartistscircle.net for more information.
Ordinary objects are clues to a mystery
By John Chambless Staff Writer
In Joshua Schaefer’s solo show at Bookplace in Oxford, the small paintings, hung at eye level, capture everyday objects – a new pink eraser, two Lego bricks, a brown lunch bag, three pennies and a ball of pocket lint. Then there’s the set of cardboard 3-D glasses, rendered three times – alone, being worn by the artist in a self-portrait, and tucked between the jaws of a skull. They represent the past, the present and the future.
The tiny things take on significance only as you grapple with what they have in common. They are, in fact, little touchstones of Schaefer’s life -- or anybody’s life, really – rendered with the calm formality of a portrait. The show’s title, “Pyrrhic Victories,” will send you scrambling to your dictionary, but basically, a pyrrhic victory is something you accomplish that comes at a cost that’s higher than the value of the victory. To illustrate that point, Schaefer paints a wall socket with a metal fork jammed into it. We put together the back story: Someone wondered what would happen if the fork was stuck in there, and they found out, painfully.
There’s a wry wit behind the show, which continues through April 8. It’s subtle, and served up without explanation, but
Schaefer manages to make these mundane objects beautiful. The brown leaf suspended on a white thread echoes summers past. The worn-out footwear in “My Father’s Chinese Dress Shoe,” the roll of bright blue painter’s tape, and the scattered wisdom teeth become clues in a mystery. And you find yourself thinking about all the brown paper bags you carried your lunch in after seeing a crumpled bag posed so nobly. They were your constant companions and they were so easily tossed away.
All these objects are rendered more or less life-size, so they are sometimes only four inches wide and invite the viewer to get up close to see what’s going on. It’s a quiet, contemplative show, but its fine-tuned observations make it resonate long after you’ve left the gallery. It finds the emotional resonance in very ordinary things.
Bookplace (2373 Baltimore Pike, Oxford) is open Fridays from 1 to 4 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. Visit www. bookplaceoxford.com. To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, email jchambless@ chestercounty.com.
Key property in Brandywine Battlefield is approved for purchase by Conservancy
Located in the heart of the historic Brandywine Battlefield, a 13-acre tract of land on Birmingham Hill has been approved for purchase by the Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art’s Board of Trustees.
This parcel of land is the final piece of the Brandywine’s 25-year endeavor to preserve more than 500 contiguous acres around Meetinghouse Road in Birmingham Township, where the fiercest fighting occurred during the Revolutionary War Battle of Brandywine.
Owned by the estate of Mrs. Roberta Odell, the 13-acre tract on Birmingham Hill was near the epicenter of the Battle of Brandywine. Once purchased, this tract will be merged with an adjacent 100-acre property previously acquired by Brandywine in 2007, bringing the total battlefield acreage permanently protected in Meetinghouse Road corridor to
more than 500. This purchase will also bring fulfillment to the decades of work and major fundraising efforts to preserve the area as a contiguous whole, preventing development in the heart of one of the nation’s most important historic battlefields.
Beginning in the mid-1990s, the Brandywine identified five large, undeveloped and unprotected neighboring properties along and near Meetinghouse Road in Birmingham Township, which included the sites where the most intense clashes of the Battle of Brandywine occurred. In order to protect this land from development, conservation easements were necessary to preserve the historic significance and scenic vistas of these lands. By 2007, the Brandywine and its partners had raised more than $16 million in public and private funds to acquire the properties and/or place conservation easements
with the landowners, resulting in the permanent protection of 485 acres of the battlefield. The remaining 13-acre parcel on Birmingham Hill is the final piece of this fundraising effort.
David Shields, associate director of the Brandywine Conservancy, has been at the forefront of the effort to save the battlefield and this land from development. “Piece by piece, and with the strong support of our major funders, our goal to protect the historic properties in the battlefield’s Meetinghouse Road corridor is nearing completion,” Shields said. “This is a personally gratifying moment for me, as I’ve been working on this project since its inception.”
“This is a key piece of land that the Brandywine has long sought to preserve in order to protect this historic site in honor of the battle and those who fought, and I’m pleased to see it finally coming to fruition,” said
Ellen Ferretti, director of the Brandywine Conservancy. “I want to thank David Shields and the many supporters who have previously contributed over $16 million to make the first phase of this effort possible. We look forward to the next chapter in preserving this piece of cultural heritage for future generations.”
Following the purchase and additional fundraising efforts, the Brandywine will develop a master plan for the combined properties. While the Brandywine is in the beginning stages of planning for the use and management of the entire Birmingham Hill property, the initial goals will be to preserve the property’s historic integrity; conserve existing natural resources; provide opportunities for public visitation; develop interpretative and educational programs; and seek out qualified partners to work with the Brandywine to help realize these goals.
Rodale Institute and Stroud Center teaming up to curb farm runoff
Rodale Institute, the global leader of regenerative organic agriculture, announced it has received a grant for $5,995,000 from the William Penn Foundation to partner with Stroud Water Research Center, the global leader in the advancement of knowledge and stewardship of freshwater systems, on a project to improve soil health and water quality.
The project will focus on improving farm productivity and profits while reducing water pollution associated with agricultural runoff.
The Delaware River Watershed covers 8.7 million acres across Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware, and provides drinking water to 15 million people. According to the USDA National Resources Conservation Service, cultivated cropland and other agriculture lands make up 26 percent of this area. The 2007 Census of Agriculture reported about 15,000 farms in the Delaware River Basin. Today, agricultural runoff from these farms – such
as rain running off corn fields -- carries fertilizers, pesticides, manure, and soil into rivers, polluting the environment and contaminating drinking water.
“Agricultural runoff poses a significant threat to clean water in the Delaware River watershed,” said Andrew Johnson, program director for watershed protection at the William Penn Foundation.
“Rodale Institute and Stroud Center are nationally recognized for their expertise in agricultural practice, and through this collaboration they expect to unearth new reasons and new ways to scale practices that farmers can embrace to minimize their impact on the environment here and around the country.”
The partnership between Rodale Institute and the Stroud Center will evaluate different types of agricultural management practices and how they improve soil health which, in turn, improves farm production and profitability while helping to mitigate
agricultural runoff pollution.
Building on Rodale Institute’s Farming Systems Trial -- the longest running sideby-side comparison of organic versus conventional farming practices in North America – new farming systems will be established at the Stroud Preserve in Chester County. The partners will collect new data on water infiltration, runoff, soil health, stream water quality, and contaminants with the goal of ultimately changing management practices of 50,000 acres in the watershed.
Research from Rodale Institute’s Farming Systems Trial, started in 1981, has already shown that organic farms increase groundwater recharge, reduce runoff, and reduce nitrate and herbicide leachates in groundwater.
Stroud Preserve is one of 44 nature preserves owned and managed by nonprofit Natural Lands, whose mission is to save open space, care for nature, and connect people to the outdoors.
“Rodale Institute is extremely
Continued from Page 2B
MARGARET B. HOOPES
Margaret B. Hoopes, 91, of West Grove, died on March 6, surrounded by her loving children and the ER staff at Jennersville Regional Hospital, where she volunteered for 12 years, retiring in November, 2017.
Peg was the daughter of the late J. Joseph and Kathryn Brophy. She was the wife to the late Francis A. Hoopes, who died March 2, 1979. Peg will be remembered for her strong faith, compassion for others, and for being the best mom, mommom, and G mom-mom in the world.
Surviving are her children, Joe Hoopes (Susan) of Oxford, Mary Kreider of Lancaster, Ed Hoopes (Polly) of Newark, Del., and Kay Morris (Scot) of Highland, Md.; 11 grandchildren; and ten great-grandchildren. She was predeceased by her sister, Anne McMahon.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m. March 17 at Assumption BVM Church (300 State Rd., West Grove), where friends and family may visit from 9 to 9:45 a.m. Interment will be in St. Patrick’s Cemetery in Kennett Square. In lieu of flowers, donations in her memory may be made to Southern Chester County Emergency Medical Services, PO Box 8012, West Grove, PA 19390. Online condolences may be made at www. elcollinsfuneralhome.com.
JOHN P. COOK
John P. Cook, 98, passed away on March 1 in West Grove, while in the care of his daughters.
He was a faithful husband and father, and a loyal servant to his country. He loved his family and his country. John was born in 1919 in Rochester, N.Y. He was raised by his beloved grandmother Sharpe. He had said, “Grandmother brought me up and the military finished the job.” He was a man of honor and sacrifice. John joined the Navy in October 1936. He served in both the Navy and through World War II in the Air Force. He married Margaret Oveda Simpkins in 1947 in Wilmington, Ohio. They together raised a loving family. John was a humble man that served others without looking or wanting to get any credit for his quiet unwavering love and dedication. He loved trees, bowling, bridge and chess, the simplicity of hard work and the satisfaction of making his family giggle at every turn.
John is survived by his beloved wife, Oveda; and his daughters Carolyn and husband Jim Ryan, Rebecca Dripps, as well as Sandra and her husband Martin Brophy; six grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.
His memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. April 3 at the West Grove Presbyterian Church (139 W. Evergreen St., West Grove). To view his online tribute or to share a memory with his family, visit www.griecocares.com.
BETTY JANE DREISBACH CROSSON
Betty Jane Dreisbach Crosson, 87, of Chadds Ford, died on March 9 at the Pocopson Home in West Chester. She was the wife of the late Robert Crosson, who died in 1992, and with whom she shared 42 years of marriage. Born in Lancaster, she was a daughter of the late William H. and the late Erma A. (Gaul) Dreisbach, Sr. Betty worked for Hilendale Elementary school for many years in the cafeteria. She loved the outdoors, working in her garden, cutting her own lawn until the age of 75, and was a longtime member of the Garden Club of Kennett Square. She enjoyed sewing, and for many years made her own clothing and curtains. Betty was a hard worker, careful with her money, and never smoked or drank alcohol. She was proud to be driving until the age of 81 when she realized on her own it was time to give up the keys.
excited about the opportunity to partner with another worldclass organization to bring our two focus areas, soil health and freshwater, together for monumental impact,” said Jeff Moyer, Rodale Institute executive director. “We have the ability to conduct cuttingedge research and outreach that will ultimately lead to improved farming practices that not only help farmers be successful, but will have true impact on the lives of families who interact with the watershed every day.”
The partners will also conduct farmer training and education, a consumer awareness campaign, citizen science initiatives, and a plan for financial incentives for farmers to transition management practices.
The funding comes from William Penn Foundation’s Watershed Protection Program, which grants more than $30 million annually to ensure an adequate supply of clean drinking water to the 15 million people who rely on the Delaware River Watershed.
Survivors include her grandson, Kevin Buckingham (Sarah Young) of Chadds Ford. A visitation will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. March 16 at Kuzo & Grieco Funeral Home (250 W. State St., Kennett Square). Her funeral service will follow at 11 a.m. Interment will be in Longwood Cemetery. Contributions in her memory may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 399 Market St., Suite 102, Philadelphia, PA 19106. To view her online tribute and to share a memory with her family, visit www.griecocares.com.
JAMES R. SLAUCH
James Ray Slauch, 81, of Oxford passed away on March 9 at Jennersville Regional Hospital in West Grove. Born in Lincoln University, he was the son of the late Samuel Spencer and Margaret Sims Slauch. A lifetime resident of Oxford, he retired from Asplundh and the Nottingham Park. He was a member of the Ocklokonee Tribe No. 212 Improved Order of Redmen for over 60 years, and a former member of the Union Fire Co. No. 1, both of Oxford.
He is survived by a brother, Robert Slauch of Oxford; two sisters, Doris E. Slauch of Rising Sun, Md., and Anna S. Ross of Oxford; and nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by two brothers, Paul Slauch and Edward Slauch. Friends and family may visit from 6 to 8 p.m. March 16 at the Edward L. Collins, Jr. Funeral Home, Inc. (86 Pine St., Oxford). A graveside service will be held at 2 p.m. March 17 at the Oxford Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, contributions in his memory may be made to the National Kidney Foundation, 1500 Walnut St., Suite 301, Philadelphia, PA 19102. Online condolences may be made at www.elcollinsfuneralhome.com.
Fire Chiefs Association launches volunteer recruitment campaign
The Chester County Fire Chiefs Association (CCFCA) has launched a new volunteer recruitment and awareness campaign.
The focus will be to promote the importance of volunteerism and encourage residents to become a firefighter, fire police, EMT, junior firefighter or administrative volunteer by visiting www.HelpFightFire. com.
The CCFCA is the advisory body to 55 volunteer fire departments and companies located in Chester County, all of which have volunteer opportunities within their respective locations. As part of the kickoff to the campaign, the group unveiled its newest slogan, “Volunteer Today. Chester County Lives Depend on It,” which will be included in all print and electronic materials sent to the community. In addition, the CCFCA has rebooted its website, to help prospective volunteers understand the role they can play in
protecting their community.
The website also includes a volunteer inquiry form.
There are a variety of opportunities available for prospective volunteers:
Firefighters: Help save lives and protect property in your community. In the exciting world of firefighting, volunteers learn to do things like perform searchand-rescue operations, and position ladders strategically. Training and equipment needed to stay safe is provided free of charge.
EMTs: Help save lives by transporting the sick and injured to the hospital.
Volunteers are there to respond to specialized calls like auto accidents, carbon monoxide alarms and other rescue calls. Again, training and equipment is provided.
Fire police: Help keep an emergency situation safe by directing traffic and crowds and providing general assistance to other first responders.
Junior firefighters: Gain experience around a fire
house as a teen, lend a hand and begin fire training that will prepare you to become a full member at 18 years old. Volunteering as a junior firefighter is also a great way to secure community service hours.
Administrative volunteers: Non-emergency volunteers play a huge role. They help teach fire safety, assist in fundraising events, help with bookkeeping, human resources, website maintenance and other duties.
The new campaign will also develop content to post on the official Help Fight Fire social media accounts, to develop a loyal following through “likes,” comments and shares of specific posts. Additionally, there will be an effort to raising public awareness of CCFCA’s activities through billboard and movie theater advertisements, press releases and other print and electronic materials.
To help assist with the campaign, the CCFCA
has partnered with The Communication Solutions Group Inc., a Jenkintownbased public relations and marketing firm that specializes in providing recruitment support to fire companies and EMS stations.
By making recruitment a priority, the CCFCA’s goal will be to reverse the trend other fire departments and companies face of trying to protect their communities with a shrinking number of people to do it.
“This new campaign is
about bringing new energy and excitement to our ranks,” said CCFCA president Neil D. Vaughn. “Our volunteers do important work to keep our communities safe, and we are enormously proud of them. We want to others to see how they can play just as crucial a part in protecting their own community by becoming a volunteer with us. There is no greater, longer-running expression of volunteerism in United States history than the volunteer fire service, which still saves taxpayers billions
Longwood promotes Matt Eick to EMS Captain
Matt Eick, a 16-year veteran of EMS, is the new Captain of EMS at Longwood Fire Company. He began his duties in February.
“In my new role, I have total oversight of the ambulances and Emergency Medical Services,” Eick said. “I manage a staff of nine full-time, 14 part-time and 10 volunteer EMS staff. Aside from responding to emergencies, we offer CPR Training, EMS outreach programs, and car seat installation and inspections.”
Chief A. J. McCarthy said, “Matt is a valued and
experienced member of Longwood. He is certainly the right person to lead our EMS component.”
Eick began his EMS career in 2002 and became an emergency medical technician in 2003 and a paramedic in 2008. “I started at Longwood as a staff paramedic part-time in June of 2010 and took a full-time position in January of 2011,” Eick said. In 2014, Longwood restructured the management approach for the EMS side of the fire company and Eick
was promoted to one of three EMS lieutenant positions. Eick said, “The primary focus at that time was to manage the staff throughout the day and each lieutenant had some extra tasks. I was in charge of the community outreach/training and the quality assurance/ quality improvement.”
Longwood Fire Company has served the communities of Kennett, East Marlborough, Pennsbury and Pocopson townships since 1921. For more information, visit www. longwoodfireco.com.
of dollars each year.”
This campaign comes at no cost to tax payers. It is funded through the Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response (SAFER) grant by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
According to the National Fire Protection Association, almost three-fourths of the nation’s 1.1 million firefighters are volunteers, and two-thirds of all fire departments are volunteer. The official population of Chester County according to the 2010 census was 498,886 people. Less than 1 percent of those residents currently serve as volunteer first responders today. The most recent population estimate of the county is now more than 515,000, representing a 185 percent increase since the early 1970s. In the same timeframe, Pennsylvania as a whole has seen an 86 percent decrease in the number of firefighters throughout the state, according to the State Fire Commissioner. For more information on volunteer opportunities available near you, visit www.HelpFightFire.com.
Hopewell Elementary School names top students
Hopewell Elementary School teachers nominate Students of the Month based on their academic achievements and participation in class and school activities.
photo
Pictured with Principal Dr. Nicole Addis and assistant principal Jason Soule, fifth grade January Students of the Month are, front row from left, Jaymie Schmitz, Andonhy Moreno, Luke Kupsey, Moises Rodriguez and Robert Ortiz Mora; second row from left, Kiara Campbell, Jesus Ibarra, Isabella Curtis, Ashley Prudoth Rodriguez and Kimberly Welch. Fifth grader Kyrstyn Johnson is not pictured. Sixth grade January Students of the Month are, third
row from left, Victoria Kilpatrick, Griselda Gamboa, Makayla
from left, Sophia Schaefer, Brandon Armour, Tanaya
graders Makenzie Hart and Tyler Weaver are not
ESTATE OF JOHN W. DOWDELL, JR.,
DECEASED.Late of the Borough of Oxford, Chester County, PA. LETTERS TESTAMENTARY on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to BARBARA PHILLIPS, EXECUTRIX, c/o
Anita M. D’Amico, Esq., 204 N. Union St., Kennett Square, PA 19348, Or to her Attorney: ANITA M. D’AMICO, D’AMICO LAW PC, 204 N. Union St. , Kennett Square, PA 19348
3p-14-3t
ESTATE NOTICE
ESTATE NOTICE
ESTATE OF James W. Hampton, late of East Nottingham Township, Chester County, Deceased. Letters of Administration on the estate of the above named James W. Hampton having been granted to the undersigned, all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the said decedent are requested to make known the same and all persons indebted to the said decedent to make payment without delay to: Linda S. Hampton, Administrator, c/o Attorney: Winifred Moran Sebastian, Esquire, 208 E. Locust Street, P.O. Box 381, Oxford, PA 19363, Phone: 610-932-3838 3p-7-3t
of Franklin, Chester County, PA, LETTERS TESTAMENTARY on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to SHERYL MacINTYRE, EXECUTRIX, c/o Frank M. Fiore, Esq., 1112 MacDade Blvd., P.O. Box 158, Woodlyn, PA 19094, or to her Attorney: FRANK M. FIORE, 1112 MacDade Blvd., P.O. Box 158, Woodlyn, PA 19094 2p-28-3t
ESTATE NOTICE
ESTATE OF SHARON IRENE ROTH a/k/a SHARON I. ROTH, DECEASED. Late of the Township of New London, Chester County, PA, LETTERS TESTAMENTARY on the above Estate have been granted to the undersigned, who request all persons having claims or demands against the estate of the decedent to make known the same and all persons indebted to the decedent to make payment without delay to WIL-
LIAM P. LINCKE, EXECUTOR, 334 W. Front St., Media, PA 19063, Or to his Attorney: WILLIAM P. LINCKE, BEATTY LINCKE, 334 W. Front St., Media, PA 19063 3p-14-3t
PUBLIC NOTICE
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Board of Supervisors of London Grove Township will hold a public hearing in accordance with the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code on Wednesday, April 4, 2018 at 7:00 p.m. in the Township Building, 372 Rose Hill Road, Suite 100, West Grove, Pennsylvania 19390, to consider adoption of
Ordinance 211 of an amendment to the Codified Ordinances of London Grove Township. The title of the proposed ordinance is as follows: AN ORDINANCE AMENDING SECTION 15-304 OF THE CODIFIED ORDINANCES OF LONDON GROVE TOWNSHIP TO PROHIBIT TRUCKS ON INNISCRONE DRIVE BETWEEN STATE ROAD AND CLAY CREEK ROAD, EXCEPT LOCAL DELIVERIES; AND PROVIDING FOR POSTING OF APPROPRIATE SIGNS. The purposed ordinance will prohibit truck traffic on Inniscrone Drive between State Road and Clay Creek Road, except for local deliveries; official signs notifying the public that no trucks, except local deliveries, are permitted shall be erected at the beginning and the end of each section of road affected, which signs shall comply with the rules and regulations of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation. A full opportunity to be heard will be given to any citizen and all parties in interest who attend the meeting. Complete copies of the proposed ordinance are available for public inspection at the offices of the Chester County Press, 144 S. Jennersville Road, West Grove, Pennsylvania, and the Chester County Law Library, 201 West Market Street, Suite 2400, West Chester, Pennsylvania. Complete copies of the proposed ordinance are also available for public inspection and may be examined without charge or obtained for a charge not greater than the cost thereof at the London Grove Township Building, 372 Rose Hill Road, Suite 100, West Grove, Pennsylvania 19390, during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.,Kenneth Battin, Township Manager 3p-14-2t
PUBLIC NOTICE
NOTICE – The London Grove Township Board of Supervisors will conduct a conditional use hearing on Wednesday, April 4, 2018 in the London Grove Township Building, 372 Rose Hill Road, West Grove, PA at 7 p.m. to consider the conditional use application of Avondale Investors, LLC to construct a Taco Bell and any other business before them. Section 27-1002 (2)(C) of the Codified Zoning Ordinance requires conditional
Courtesy
Hart, Molly Friel and Dylan Graham; top row
Valentin, Elizabeth Dewees and Cara McFadden. Sixth
pictured.
Oxford Interact and Earlyact clubs welcome new members
The Oxford Area High School chapter of Interact and the EarlyAct chapters at Penn’s Grove and Hopewell Elementary schools recently came together to hold ceremonies to induct new
members and install officers. Interact and EarlyAct are sponsored by local Rotary Clubs through Rotary International and welcome students at all grade levels who are interested
Courtesy photo
Oxford Area High School 2017-18 Interact inductees include, front from left, sophomore Madi Chambers, junior Ben Del Porto, sophomore Lizzie Estes, juniors Jacob Hewes and Noah Hewes, senior Elizabeth Lentz, and junior Colin Lilly; middle from left, sophomores Bailee Mallon and Michael Martinelli, seniors Harshel Mehta and Reilly Nowland, sophomore Amanda Omara, freshman Greg Rubbo and junior Michael Walling. Top from left are junior chapter officers Jacob Tomasulo, public relations and Finn Warren, treasurer; Oxford Area School District Superintendent David Woods; Robert Listerman, Rotary District 7450/Area 9 Assistant Governor; David Haradon, past Area 9 Governor; Christine Grove, Oxford Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director; Dr. Raymond Fischer, Oxford Rotary Club Interact liaison; Dawn deFuria, Rotary District 7450/Area 9 Governor; senior Sarah Wilkinson, Interact president; and sophomore Sean Walsh, secretary. Freshman inductee Lauren Neski and senior inductee Marycate London are not pictured.
in serving their school and community. Each school year members of Interact and EarlyAct plan and organize three projects to benefit their school, local and global communities.
EarlyAct and Interact members are selected on the basis of essays describing their interest in joining the club and commitment to community service. Officers are elected
photo
Front from left are 2017-18 Penn’s Grove School EarlyAct
eighth grade inductees Megan Berg and Miranda Berg and seventh grade inductees Aiden Merges, Michael Stefanosky, vice-president; Brianna Santos, Jimmy Sapp and Nikki Shelderfer; and chapter advisor Jennifer Bartnik. Middle from left are eighth grader Rachel Sedlak, seventh grade inductee Ava Corcoran, eighth grade inductees Gina Martinelli, president; and Luke Russell, seventh grade inductee Elizabeth Evans-Ralston, secretary; eighth grade inductee Marissa Berg, treasurer; and seventh grade inductee Makenzie Lane, public relations. Top from left are Oxford Area School District Superintendent David Woods; Robert Listerman, Rotary District 7450/Area 9 Assistant Governor; David Haradon, past Area 9 Governor; Christine Grove, Oxford Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director; Dr. Raymond Fischer, Oxford Rotary Club Interact liaison; Dawn deFuria, Rotary District 7450/ Area 9 Governor and Principal Tami Motes. Seventh grade inductee Haley McCoy, public relations; and eighth grade inductee Charlotte Weir are not pictured.
after delivering speeches on their leadership skills and ideas for the club to the full membership. Oxford’s Interact and EarlyAct chapters are sponsored locally by the Oxford Rotary
Club. With the college-level Rotaract club at Lincoln University, Oxford Rotary sponsors chapters of all three youth community service clubs of Rotary International.
photo
Front from left are Hopewell Elementary School EarlyAct chapter advisor Dr. Pamela Brown, sixth grade inductees Abigail Bulfaro and McKayla Clarke; second-year sixth grade member Erik Tellez, fifth grade inductee Damian Zavala-Hernandez and Principal Dr. Nicole Addis. Middle from left are Oxford Area School District Superintendent David Woods, second-year sixth grade member Julia Carey, EarlyAct president; fifth grade inductees Gianna Santos, vice-president; and Kayden Baumgardner, secretary; sixth grade inductee Sophia Andrikanich, treasurer; and Dawn deFuria, Rotary District 7450/Area 9 Governor. Top from left are Robert Listerman, Rotary District 7450/ Area 9 Assistant Governor; Christine Grove, Oxford Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director; Dr. Raymond Fischer, Oxford Rotary Club EarlyAct liaison; and David Haradon, past Area 9 Governor.
Oxford Area High School honors Students of the Month
Oxford Area High School recently held a breakfast to recognize the school’s Students of the Month for February. Each month teachers in selected departments nominate underclassmen for this honor, with the final selections made by the school administration.
Students of the Month are chosen based on criteria including demonstrating an effort and desire to learn; involvement in school and classroom activities; respect for all school policies and personnel; concern for the school community and friendliness and
support for other students. The following Students of the Month for February were named after being nominated by members of the technology education, health & physical education and guidance departments.
Carolena Ortiz-Nava, freshman: Nominating teacher John Green said, “Carolena is a role-model physical education student. She is always prepared for class and fully participates in all activities.
“Carolena is a team player. She doesn’t let other students in class influence how she participates.”
Dulce Villagomez Perez, freshman: Nominating teacher
Brenda Moran said, “Dulce has been a student in my mechanical drawing class and she is also in our English as a Second Language support program. I have been extremely impressed with the level of courtesy and maturity that she employs when engaging with me and others in the classroom.
“In spite of the language barrier, Dulce initiates questions on her own when she does not understand. Her attention to detail is exemplary and her willingness to communicate her understanding
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of the course material to others in the class is appreciated.”
Christopher Smoker, freshman: Nominating teacher
Kimberly Kilby McCardell said, “Christopher is one of the most kind-hearted, conscientious students I have ever had. He never takes the easy way out, always does everything with excellence, participates in class fully and would do anything I asked of him. Christopher is respectful, cooperative and humble.”
Rachel Brode, sophomore: Nominating teacher April Herr said, “Rachel is very pleasant to have in class. She is often smiling at me whether I am reading or teaching new yoga poses.
“Rachel’s attendance is superb. I love her dedication to school and to her friends.
“I know that for the rest of her high school career I will enjoy catching up with Rachel, and when I get to run into her 20 or 30 years from now I will be proud of the path she has chosen.”
Dalen Griffith, sophomore: Nominating teacher Joshua Socash said, “Dalen put in a lot of hard work in Athletic Conditioning during the first semester. In my 17 years of teaching I have never had a student improve upon their baseline scores in one semester as much as Dalen has.
“He improved his bench press by 70 pounds, dead lift by 120 pounds, push press by 50 pounds and squats by 90 pounds. Dalen’s combine total pounds for bench press, dead lift and squats started at 745 pounds and is now 1,045 pounds.”
Bryan Lopez, sophomore: Nominating teacher Karly Herb said, “Bryan is an outstanding
student to have in class. Each day when he comes to class he greets me with a ‘good morning’ and a smile, and I also see Bryan greeting other teachers as he walks past them.
“Bryan is very hardworking, kind and respectful. Throughout the year he consistently gave his best effort in class and never complained about anything! I am truly proud to have Bryan as a student and I am excited to see how successful he is in the future.”
Brandon Higgins, junior: Nominating teacher William Kromer said, “Brandon has been one of the most consistent workers in our advanced woodworking class. He has been on the cutting edge by being the first student to complete the required task of building a hope chest.
“When needed Brandon has come in after school to work on his
project. He shows a strong interest in the field of cabinet-making.”
Syniah Jones, junior: Nominating guidance counselor Jennifer Williams said, “Syniah entered OAHS at the end of the first quarter. She came into a new school with so much positivity and was not afraid to jump right into her school work and activities.
“Syniah auditioned for the musical after only being here a few weeks, and talks about starting up new clubs. She is not afraid to stand up for herself and participate in activities that she enjoys.”
Matthew Towey, junior: Nominating teacher Trevor Haney said, “Matthew has demonstrated a high level of content knowledge in the classroom. He has been a leader in the STEM Club and an overall great student. Matthew is a joy to have in class.”
KHS Model UN Club scores at two conferences
On Jan. 20, Kennett High School Model UN club members attended a conference at Father Judge High School in Philadelphia. Kennett students participated in a variety of activities as they debated world issues and crises. Best delegate gavels were won by Karma Yang (Security Council I), Ellie Conlin-Day (Security Council II), and Sebastian Kley (DISEC, North Korea). Outstanding and Honorable Mention recognition went to Nate Judd, Mantra Yang, Ian Dargitz, Anna Brunke, Lauren Jackson, and Kara Murphy for their achievements. More recently, on Feb. 15 and 16, six Kennett Model UN students competed at the 46th Penn State Harrisburg MUN conference. Kennett students represented delegations from Chile and the Czech Republic in the General Assembly. Sebastian Kley wrote a resolution that was adopted, a significant achievement. Mantra Yang and Lauren Jackson were recognized for the high quality of their debate. Other participants included Ian Dargitz, Kara Murphy, and Karma Yang. This was the first overnight conference for the club in over a decade.
Kennett’s Model UN advisor is social studies teacher Michael Waite. “I believe strongly in Model UN’s mission to help students gain an understanding of the global community through academics and roll play as delegates from other countries,” he said. “I think the appeal for Kennett students consistently involves interest in learning about other cultures and global issues through research, dialogue, and debate. Club members also enjoy meeting students from other schools, both public and private, where they can forge bonds of friendship.
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Oxford Area High School recently named its Students of the Month for February. Seated from left are freshman Dulce Villagomez Perez, sophomore Rachel Brode, freshman Carolena Ortiz-Nava and junior Syniah Jones. Standing from left are junior Brandon Higgins, sophomore Dalen Griffith and freshman Christopher Smoker. Sophomore Bryan Lopez and junior Matthew Towey are not pictured.
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“Victoria Gonzalez, a Kennett High School senior and our club’s secretary general, deserves tremendous credit for initiating mid-year recruitment efforts to bolster our numbers and offering training to improve the quality of our delegations at these conferences,” Waite added. The club is looking forward to three more conferences: the
