Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 154, No. 32
INSIDE
Wednesday, August 12, 2020
$1.00
Oxford street named for former Mayor Harold Gray
By Betsy Brewer Brantner was three mayors ago, he Contributing Writer is still called “Mayor Gray” by many people in the Harold Gray, very affec- community. tionately known as Wimpy, Perhaps what he is best now has a street named known for now is his volafter him in the Borough of unteering for the Salvation Oxford. Army, which he has done Oxford Borough Council since 1965. Every holiday Oxford Cornhole League approved the naming of the season, Gray can be seen forms in Oxford...1B alley coming off of Locust in front of the local groStreet behind the new cery store, Walmart, or parking garage at its Aug. wherever he is permitted, as 3 meeting. It will now be he rings the bell to collect called Gray’s Alley. donations for the Salvation Gray is an iconic figure in Army. The Salvation Army Oxford, and he served both is an international charitable his country and his commu- organization that helps the nity for many years. poor, destitute, and hungry Gray served his country in more than 100 countries during the Korean War and around the world, providing then returned to his home- everything from food and town of Oxford to serve as shelter to the poor to disaster a police officer for 27 years. relief and humanitarian aid Photo by Steve Hoffman He then served as a mayor to developing countries. Harold Gray, a former mayor of Oxford, can still be found each holiday season colfor 12 years. Although that Continued on Page 2A lecting for The Salvation Army. Gray’s Alley is now named after him. Kennett Square’s firstever parklet...4A
Camp Dreamcatcher goes virtual for this year’s camp By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer
Regional Police accreditation...3B
The children who attend Camp Dreamcatcher’s week-long therapeutic camp are resilient. So nothing—not even a global pandemic—was going to stand in the way of Camp Dreamcatcher in its efforts to continue to provide the earn services, support and love Courtesy photo that so many children have A few of the volunteers who are helping with preparations for this year’s Camp Dreamcatcher, which will come to count on during the past 25 years. take place virtually.
INDEX Opinion.......................7A Obituaries...................2B
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When it became apparent earlier this summer that the ongoing efforts to slow the spread of COVID-19 were going to make it impossible for Camp Dreamcatcher to safely bring together more than 120 campers and an additional 250 volunteers for the regular in-person camp, a decision was made to turn the 2020 camp session into a virtual camp that would deliver as many of the regular programs as possible.
The first week of the virtual Camp Dreamcatcher is taking place this week with children between the ages of 6 and 10 participating in a variety of activities during two-hour programs each day. From Aug. 17 to 21, youngsters between the ages of 11 and 17 will participate in the online camp. These older campers will receive three or four hours of programming each day. Continued on Page 3A
Penn Township Supervisors discuss grants, finances, and the impact of Hurricane Isaias By Marcella Peyre-Ferry Contributing Writer The impact of Hurricane Isaias was one of the topics discussed at the Aug. 5 meeting of the Penn Township Board of Supervisors. The storm, which moved through this area on Aug. 4, caused the temporary closing of several roads in the township. It was reported that at the new Avon Grove High School construction site, a temporary stormwater basin broke, flooding Sunnyside Road. There was also damage to adjoining properties from silt and mud carried by the flood waters. During the meeting, supervisors announced that they
have been awarded a $10,000 grant from the E. Kneale Dockstader Foundation. That money is targeted toward the development of an outdoor educational classroom at the township’s new sports park. The grant must be used by March 2021. Some of the work on the outdoor classroom will be done by local Boy Scouts as Eagle Projects, but first the area near the woods must be cleared of invasive species. To do that, the board approved a contract with Green Grazer Goats, LLC to clear away the unwanted vegetation at a cost of $6,225. The township has also been awarded a $250,000 grant through the Chester County
Open Space program. They are awaiting word on an application for a $1.5 million grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and National Resources/ National Park Service. Going forward with the sports park, the board approved spending $7,500 for the design of the permanent entrance to the site. Currently, there is a construction entrance that can be used by park visitors to access the walking trails, but the planned reconstruction of the Route 796 bridge over Route 1 could eliminate that entrance. In other news, the township has been named a co-winner of the Road and
Bridge Safety Award for the reconstruction of the Route 796 and/ Baltimore Pike intersection in Jennersville. The award is made by Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors (PSATS), Pennsylvania Highway Information Association (PHIA), and PennDOT. The presentation will be made Aug. 12 at the Red Rose Inn. The Aug. 1 sale of restaurant furniture from the Red Rose Inn and history books netted $826 for the township’s Historical Committee. The township is now working on the interior restoration of the building. The board approved spending estimated at $1,000 to
$1,200 to add studs and dry wall over the brick walls on either side of the Red Rose Inn’s walk-in fireplace. The recently revealed salmon brick is very old and in danger or further deterioration if left exposed. Township director of operations Karen Versuk reported that COVID-19 had not hurt the township’s income so far. Tax collection is on track for this year, with only a small drop in real estate transfer taxes compared to last year. The earned income tax is up at this time at $460,000 compared to $445,000 at this time last year. Permits are also up by about 30 percent compared to last year.
League-only season to start on Sept. 7, with games beginning on Sept. 25
Ches-Mont League schools to move forward with fall sports, cautiously By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer In a decision reached last week by its athletic directors, the 13-member Ches-Mont League voted to proceed with a fall 2020 sports schedule, one that will offer student athletes the opportunity to participate in cross country, field hockey, football, golf, soccer, girls tennis and girls volleyball – all under the watchful eye of strict COVID-19 safety protocols. During an online meeting on Aug. 5, league officials reached an agreement to
begin the fall sports season on Sept. 7, and to kick off competition beginning on Sept. 25. A league schedule for fall sports is expected to be created and distributed near the time of the Ches-Mont’s next meeting on Aug. 24, pending each school’s availability of resources, preparation and school board approval. The schools in the ChesMont League include Avon Grove, Bishop Shanahan, Coatesville Area, Downingtown East, Downingtown West, Great Valley, Henderson, Kennett, Oxford Area, Bayard-Rustin,
Sun Valley, Unionville and West Chester East. As part of their decision, the athletic directors agreed that each school will play a ChesMont League-only schedule, and that the league would not be divided into its normal National and American divisions. It’s part of a design to localize the Ches-Mont, said Patrick Crater, supervisor of athletics for the UnionvilleChadds Ford School District. “Our rationale behind the decision to create our schedule based solely on Ches-Mont schools was that if all 13 schools played only
13 schools, that it would help close the circle, and keep things local,” he said, “not only as a risk mitigation strategy, but to also ease the burden on officials, limit excessive transportation and better solve the other logistics we normally deal with in terms of school and league sports.” The league’s decision came just before major recommendations from two of the state’s governing bodies, and the principal overseer of Pennsylvania high school sports. On Aug. 6, Pennsylvania
Governor Tom Wolf supported the joint recommendation made by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and the Department of Education that Pre-K–12 school and recreational youth sports be postponed in the state until at least Jan. 1, 2021, to protect children and teens from COVID-19. The state’s recommendation to pause youth sports until Jan. 1, 2021 applies to team and individual, school and non-school recreational youth sports; includes competitions, intramural play and Continued on Page 2A