Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 154, No. 36
INSIDE
Vince Lombardi, the great football coach, once said that obstacles are what you Service dog’s remarkable see when you take your story...1B eyes off the goal. The Avon Grove School Board’s three-hour meeting on Sept. 3 provided plenty of evidence that district officials have their eyes focused on the goal of getting student-athletes back on the playing field as soon as possible. The school district is hoping that other schools in the Ches-Mont League will agree to seek some guidance from the Chester County Health Department on whether it would be safe Bridge repairs on Clay to start the fall sports seaCreek Road...3B son at the same time that in-person classes resume. Right now, the recommendation from the Chester County Health Department has been to not reopen public schools until at least Oct. 9. The recommendation from state and county health officials has been to not hold any sporting
By Betsy Brewer Brantner Contributing Writer
INDEX
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events for the remainder of 2020. But Avon Grove officials are holding out hope that a fall sports season can be salvaged—even if it is an abbreviated one. The school board received numerous public comments from parents, local residents, and student-athletes themselves asking district officials to find a way to allow students to play fall sports. But district officials were quick to point out that there is no way for Avon Grove to move forward with a fall sports season without some cooperation from public health officials and some collaboration from the other schools in the Ches-Mont League. “Let Them Play” was a theme of some of the public comments. It’s a sentiment that many parents of public school students in Pennsylvania can relate to right now. “Let Then Play” could be featured on a t-shirt or a yard sign, but it's not a direction to a path forward for Avon Grove and other school districts that are grappling with the
impact of the coronavirus pandemic. “We all wish it was as simple as voting to let them play,” said school board president Bill Wood. “It isn’t.” He added that every school board member and administrator in Avon Grove is aware that sports and co-curricular activities are vital to the emotional, social, and physical wellbeing of students. Av o n Grove Superintendent Dr. Christopher Marchese said that district officials are looking forward to the day when they can welcome students back to the classrooms and athletes back to the playing fields. But that’s not something that Avon Grove, or any school district, can achieve on its own. Wood offered a proposal for the school board to draft a letter that would petition the Chester County Health Department to align the start of fall sports with the start of in-person classes Continued on Page 2A
Photo courtesy of Donna Hosler Charlton
Ross with Donna Hosler Charlton, one of her three grandchildren.
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
fashion as she has in that town since she first became a resident there On the morning of Oct. in the 1940s -- with one 15, Barbara Ross will exception. wake up in her Oxford On that day, the sun Continued on Page 3A home in much the same
Beef shortage throws light on unsafe working conditions for undocumented workers
During this pandemic, we have all learned the expression, “essential workers.” That could include doctors, nurses, nurses’ aides, cusOpinion.......................5A todians and retail persons Obituaries..................2B to name a few. All have put themselves in harm's way to Classifieds.................4B care or serve the population during this very frightening time. But there is another group
© 2007 The Chester County Press
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Avon Grove officials hold Barbara Ross will turn 100 on Oct. 15 Oxford resident out hope that a fall sports to celebrate season can take place her centennial birthday By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer
Task force charts plans for business recovery...5B
Wednesday, September 9, 2020
that has been repeatedly forgotten year after year — undocumented people working for low wages in the agricultural industry. When customers started to see food shortages during the pandemic, and the rising cost of meats, working conditions for the workers in meat processing plants suddenly took center stage. It took the rising costs of steaks to shine a light on the essential worker in meat processing plants. Many are
brought to the U.S. from other countries under an H2A VISA to work temporary, seasonal jobs. They are brought here by a registered broker through a permit program which allows businesses to hire workers on a temporary basis, but it often turns into full-time work. An ag-business owner solicits workers through a broker. We’re not talking mom and pop farms, we are talking big farming industrial complexes, like the huge
Research, funding efforts underway to control Spotted Lanternfly infestation By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer To those who know about the science of making wine – from the oenophiles to the people who write about the subject for slick touristy magazines – Anthony Vietri of Va La Vineyards in Avondale has achieved the title of Master Winemaker. From his 6.7-acre vineyard of stony southern Pennsylvania soil, Vietri has for the past several years grown, harvested and created small batch wines that have consistently ranked Va La among the 100 best wineries in America. Last September, as he was beginning to cultivate yet another year of his awardwinning whites and reds, Vietri noticed that an unfamiliar insect had landed near him. That very small and attractive bug was a Spotted Lanternfly, and one year later, this evasive species has proliferated to dangerous populations and threatens to annihilate not only Vietri’s vineyard but all of the 14,000 acres
Courtesy photo
Native to Asia, the Spotted Lanternfly was first detected in Berks County in 2014, and continues to saturate the Mid-Atlantic region by feeding on grapevines, hops, hardwoods and fruit trees.
owned and operated by the 300 wineries throughout Pennsylvania – considered the sixth-largest producer of wine in the United States. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Vietri said while giving visitors a tour of the Va La tasting room. “They’re everywhere.” First detected in Berks County in 2014, the Spotted Lanternfly (SLF), a planthopping insect that is native to Asia, has continued to saturate the Mid-Atlantic region by feeding on grapevines, hops, hardwoods and fruit trees. As of August 2019, SLF began to be found in other
parts of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware, as well as detected in the Northeast states of New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. During a Sept. 4 press conference Vietri hosted at the vineyard that introduced some key stakeholders in Pennsylvania’s attempt to control – and if possible, eradicate the SLF – he said that he joins with other wineries across the state in what he called a “battle” to save the state’s growing wine industry as well as the entire agriculture landscape. Continued on Page 2A
poultry company owned by Ron Cameron that is located in Sussex County in Delaware. Brokers solicit undocumented immigrants to come here to perform jobs that people in this country don’t want to do. Sister Jane Houtman, a Catholic nun from the order of the Daughters of the Holy Spirit, and a registered nurse has worked with the undocumented worker for decades and is beyond saddened and outraged to see
little has changed for them. A Chester County resident, Houtman has assisted over 3,000 undocumented workers with securing their pathway to citizenship, and she has a long record of helping agricultural workers. Her path has been fraught with dangers and challenges. She was kidnapped in Chile, labeled an agitator on more than one occasion, and even spoke on behalf Continued on Page 4A
Storm's aftermath By Marcella Peyre-Ferry “The Conservation Contributing Writer District has advised me that the school district Damage from storms in is required to correct it,” early August is still being township engineer Dan felt on properties sur- Daley said. ”The buildup rounding the construction of silt and sediment on site of Avon Grove School the lot has directed water District’s new high school. where it’s never gone Bill Steele attended the before. I’m hoping for Sept. 2 Penn Township everyone’s sake the levels Board of Supervisors (of water) will go down meeting on behalf of once it’s completed.” Ralph Holcomb, whose Supervisor Victor Sunnyside Road Property Mantegna asked Steele saw extensive silt and to keep the township stormwater damage. Steele informed about how the reported that the septic sys- restoration is progresstem on the property was ing and the response he overwhelmed and had to receives from the school be pumped out twice with- district. in eight days. According to “I’ve talked to the conSteele, the school district struction manager (of paid for those pumpings, the high school project). but he worries that the sys- The school district undertem may not recover. stands and is taking it In the plan approval seriously,” Daley said. He for the high school site, also noted that they are a note specifically refers working on stormwater to adjoining septic sys- controls. “They’re making tems, guaranteeing that sure they’re prepared for if they should fail within storms so they don’t have eight years, the school another issue.” district is responsible for Mantegna noted that earfixing or replacing them. lier in the day he noticed Beyond that, the site work mud being tracked out of must comply with County the construction site onto Conservation District Baltimore Pike. Daley Continued on Page 3A regulations.