West Chester and Chadds Ford Life Spring/Summer 2019

Spring/Summer 2019

West Chester & Chadds Ford

LIFE

Magazine

Barbara Moore carries on a 50-year art tradition in Chadds Ford - Page 52

Inside • Chadds Ford Days returns • The Chester County Community Foundation celebrates its 25th anniversary • Remembering the fun of summers gone by Complimentary Copy

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Spring/Summer 2019

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life Table of Contents 8

Chester County Community Foundation

16

West Chester residents share experiences for new play

22

Roll Film, West Chester

28

New life for old furniture

36

Remembering the fun of summers gone by

44

To write. To share. To connect.

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History in the fields, returned

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Story/Photo essay: Barbara Moore, presiding over an artworld landmark

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28

8 58 Cover design by Tricia Hoadley Cover photograph by Jie Deng

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West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Spring/Summer 2019 | www.chestercounty.com

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life Spring 2019

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Letter From the Editor: In this issue of West Chester & Chadds Ford Life, we feature everything from art and history to business and community events, illustrating just a few aspects of the area that make it so vibrant.

We feature a story about Barbara Moore, who started at the Chadds Ford Gallery in 1976 and has worked with generations of Chester County artists ever since. She is still going strong in the business, featuring top works in the Barbara Moore Fine Art Gallery.

We talk to Beth Stiles, the owner of Thrifty Vintage, who sees the potential in pieces from the past.

We highlight “Mud Row,” which tells a story inspired by the people of a West Chester neighborhood, as well as an exhibit at the Chadds Ford Historical Society that recalls Lenape Park and Chadds Peak.

This issue also looks at the 25 years of contributions that the Chester County Community Foundation has made by connecting people who care with the causes that matter, so their philanthropy makes a difference.

We are also delighted to write about Chadds Ford Days, a community favorite that is returning on Sept. 14 and 15 after a year off.

We hope you enjoy the stories and photos that we’ve included in this issue of West Chester & Chadds Ford Life, and we look forward to receiving your comments and suggestions for stories that we might work on in the future. The next issue of West Chester & Chadds Ford Life will arrive in the fall.

Sincerely, Randy Lieberman, Publisher randyl@chestercounty.com, 610-869-5553 Steve Hoffman, Editor editor@chestercounty.com, 610-869-5553, ext. 13

52 Cover design: Diane Blanche Stirrat Cover photo: Jie Deng www.chestercounty.com | Spring/Summer 2019 | West Chester & Chadds Ford Life

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|In the Spotlight|

The Chester County Community Foundation reaches a major milestone This year marks 25 years of philanthropy and making a positive impact on the community

All photos courtesy

The Chester County Community Foundation founders, pictured in 1994 in Coatesville.

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West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Spring/Summer 2019 | www.chestercounty.com

The 25 faces of philanthropy.

By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer

T

he Chester County Community Foundation is celebrating an important milestone in 2019.

“This is our 25th anniversary year,” explained Beth Krallis, the marketing and communications officer for the Chester County Community Foundation.

The foundation’s mission, since it was established in 1994, is to connect people who care with the causes that matter, so their philanthropy makes a difference now and forever. The Chester County Community Foundation actively partners with donors who want to bring about positive change through charitable giving.

One illustration of philanthropy at work is the Frees Family Fund, an intergenerational fund that focuses its grants on “neighbors helping neighbors.” The Frees Family is well-known throughout Chester County for its deep roots, successful community-based businesses, and a commitment to community engagement. The Frees Family Legacy Fund has provided grants to organizations like the Colonial Theatre, the Freedom Valley YMCA, and the Phoenixville Public Library, just to name a few.

The Chester County Community Foundation has served as a vital connection point between the Frees Family Fund and the nonprofit organizations in the community that need financial support to do their important work.

Continued on Page 10 www.chestercounty.com | Spring/Summer 2019 | West Chester & Chadds Ford Life

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Foundation Continued from Page 9

The Frees Family Fund is just one such fund that the Chester County Community Foundation works with.

According to Krallis, the Community Foundation is currently entrusted with over 400 charitable funds that represent more than $60 million in total assets. Through the years, it has already awarded about $40 million through more than 9,200 grants and scholarships because ordinary people decided to make extraordinary commitments to the community.

“Most of those funds are awarded in Chester County,” Krallis explained.

Chester County Community Foundation’s founders John A. Featherman III, Louis Beccaria PhD, Carol Ware Gates, Ph.D., Charles L. Huston III, Elizabeth Moran, and Dr. Henry A. Jordan are pictured in 2004 at the 10th anniversary gala.

The Chester County Community Foundation staff includes (back row, left to right) Bryce Cleveland, Jamison Ludgate, Bob Ferguson, Kevin Baffa, Beth Harper Briglia, and Stephenie Stephens; and (front row, left to right) Cierra Eckenrode, Madison Algayer, Beth Krallis, and Karen Simmons.

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West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Spring/Summer 2019 | www.chestercounty.com

She added that the Chester County Community Foundation is fortunate to work with many different and dynamic philanthropists who are committed to making a positive impact at any level.

Some are donors with modest means and others have great wealth. The Community Foundation does everything they can to support the philanthropists in their efforts.

The Chester County Community Foundation is one of approximately 650 community foundations in the U.S., and Krallis explained that the organization’s staff provides donors and their families with information about the issues affecting the community—as well as information about the nonprofit organizations that are working on those issues. One way that the organization accomplishes this is through a Smart Giving series that is designed to inform philanthropists about issues impacting the local community. The Chester County Community Foundation also works with a wide range of legal, financial, accounting, and wealth advisers to help their clients reach their financial and charitable goals. This maximizes the charitable giving that a particular fund can accomplish.

The Chester County Community Foundation serves as a partner to the philanthropists, developing a grant-making process for each fund that is flexible and easy for them.

Another facet of the foundation’s work is providing assistance, in a variety of ways, to nonprofit organizations that are working to strengthen the Chester County community. The foundation works hand in hand with the philanthropists and the nonprofit organizations. As part of the 25th anniversary celebration, the Chester County Community Foundation is celebrating 12 area nonprofits as community gems for their vital roles. The foundation is also shining a spotlight on 25 individuals and families who have established philanthropic funds. These 25 “Portraits of Philanthropy” illustrate the wide range of giving that exists.

While the numbers are impressive—25 years, more than 400 charitable funds, 9,200 grants and scholarships, $40 million in funds already awarded, more than $60 million in total assets—they only tell a part of the story.

The real story is detailed in the lives of the men and women and children who have benefitted from the services that the various funds have helped support through the years.

There are over 800 registered nonprofits in Chester County. All need resources, including money and expertise, and the Chester County Community Foundation has stepped in to provide assistance whenever and wherever it can.

“We have a suite of services to help nonprofits in Chester County,” Krallis explained.

Continued on Page 12

Peter Kjellerup and Mandy Cabot co-founded the Dansko Foundation and the Cabot Kjellerup Foundation.

www.chestercounty.com | Spring/Summer 2019 | West Chester & Chadds Ford Life

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Foundation Continued from Page 11

The Chester County Community Foundation provides low-cost, customized workshops focused on topics related to attracting endowed and planned gifts.

A Trustee Institute provides board members from nonprofits with the opportunity to strengthen their skills and expand their knowledge on how to become a stronger board member. Topics range from understanding taxes, marketing, planned giving, and more. The next one will take place on Saturday, September 28.

A nonprofit resource expo showcases vendors that provide a range of nonprofit services, including accounting, marketing and communications, to nonprofit staff and board members.

Nonprofits with an endowment fund held in trust by the Chester County Community Foundation can also take advantage of the suite of planned giving services to help grow endowments steadily and surely over time as donors make their estate plans and include charities in the mix.

After 25 years, the Chester County Community Foundation is entrenched in the never-ending effort to help the nonprofits that serve the community.

“As a community member ourselves, we want to meet the needs of the Chester County community,” Krallis explained. “We’re here to solve problems and improve quality of life anyway that we can.”

While the Chester County Community Foundation has enjoyed Continued on Page 14

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West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Spring/Summer 2019 | www.chestercounty.com

One of the banners celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Chester County Community Foundation at Market Street and Church Street near the organization’s office.

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Foundation Continued from Page 12

tremendous successes during its first 25 years, the efforts to improve are always taking place. Needs in the community change, so organizations working to meet those needs must change as well.

The Chester County Community Foundation recently received accreditation by the Community Foundations National Standards Board for philanthropic excellence. This accreditation represents the Chester County Community Foundation’s continuing commitment to upholding federal and state law requirements of accountability to communities, policymakers, and the public. The National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations program requires community foundations to document their policies for donor services, investments, grant-making and administration. It establishes legal, ethical, effective practices for community foundations across the U.S. With over 500 community foundations already accredited nationwide, the program is designed to provide quality assurance to donors, as well as to their legal and financial advisors.

“Meeting the National Standards benchmarks is a rigorous, comprehensive process,” said Tony Morris, chair of

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the Chester County Community Foundation’s Board of Directors, in a statement. “This accreditation is a significant accomplishment which clearly demonstrates the Chester County Community Foundation’s commitment to transparency, quality, integrity and accountability as it carries out its mission.”

Karen Simmons, Chester County Community Foundation president, added, “This accreditation is very important to retaining and strengthening donor relationships. When people come to the Chester County Community Foundation to make a charitable bequest or establish a fund, they are entrusting us with their investment and charitable wishes.

The National Standards accreditation reaffirms our commitment to providing a lifetime of support to our donors.”

For more information about the Chester County Community Foundation’s 25th anniversary and upcoming events to celebrate the milestone, visit the organization’s website at www.chescocf.org, or follow them on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

To contact Staff Writer Steven Hoffman, email editor@ chestercounty.com.

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Spring/Summer 2019 | www.chestercounty.com

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|West Chester & Chadds Ford Arts|

West Chester residents share experiences for new play ‘Mud Row’ tells story inspired by community members

By Natalie Smith Staff Writer ominique Morisseau is a woman with many stories to tell.

“I guess I’ll keep writing until I’m depleted,” she said with a laugh.

But that likely won’t be soon. A celebrated playwright whose awards and accolades include being a 2018 recipient of a MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant,” Morisseau was involved in a People’s Light & Theatre Company community initiative called New Play Frontiers that has resulted in a work inspired by the people and places of a West Chester neighborhood.

D

Continued on Page 18

Photo © John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation used with permission.

Playwright Dominique Morisseau.

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Dominique Morisseau Continued from Page 16

The ambitious NPF program has playwrights living, or “embedded,” in the counties surrounding People’s Light in Malvern, with the resulting works reflecting “American identity through stories of deep meaning to specific populations,” according to an online essay by producing director Zak Berman.

Morisseau said her experience, which took her to a section of West Chester Borough that has historically been the home to many African Americans, was an inspirational one. The resulting work, “Mud Row,” is a drama that examines the lives of women who live in different eras. Morisseau’s heartfelt plays often depict family relationships and life struggles that clearly resonate with her audiences.

“It’s essentially the story of two sisters who have different relationships to their grandmother’s home -- two sisters are in the present and two sisters are in the past,” Morisseau explained. “The two sisters in the past are the

grandmother and her sister, and they are navigating how they’re going to have ownership of their home and of their family legacy. The sisters in the present are figuring out how they’re going to navigate each other’s relationship to their family home.

“I think it’s more about how legacy does or does not get passed down from generations.”

The playwright said her work also looks at the two pairs of sisters’ relationships regarding status. “Both sets of sisters are about two generations of black Americans and black American women dealing with being of a different class or having different class aspirations,” Morisseau said.

An award-winning playwright whose honors include an OBIE Award, two NAACP Image Awards and a Primus Prize issued by the American Theatre Critics Association, the Detroit native’s works also include a three-cycle series, “The Detroit Project,” which has people of that city at its center.

Courtesy photo

A staged reading of Act 1 of ‘Mud Row’ in May 2018 as part of People’s Light & Theatre Company’s Community Matters series. Attending in the audience are neighborhood residents.

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West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Spring/Summer 2019 | www.chestercounty.com

Morisseau’s introduction to the area was through the Charles A. Melton Arts & Education Center on East Miner Street. She said the enthusiasm of its executive director, Ken Winston, was initially a large part of the reason she was eager to write about West Chester.

“It just felt like Ken’s belief in that center and in his own his mission inspired all of us,” Morisseau said. Besides spending time at Melton Center, research at the Chester County Historical Society gave her a sense of the area’s Civil Rights activism, from a stop on the Underground Railroad to its being the home of famed Civil Rights hero Bayard Rustin, known to many as the “architect of the March on Washington.”

For Morisseau, her time with the folks around the Melton Center had a ring of the familiar. “I was a teacher in New York for a number of years, and when I would hang out there it just seemed like, ‘This is right,’” she said with a laugh.

She shared conversations with some of the senior members of the community, and found their contributions extremely worthwhile.

“I got to spend time with them and talk with them about collecting some of their memories about the neighborhood. I think it really did give me a lot of feeling about that world that made me sort of excited and want to write about the community,” she said.

Many people involved with the center also opened their homes to her, which she said proved invaluable in crafting the drama. But some of the older residents were a bit skeptical of her at first, Morisseau said. As she spent time with them, she was able to reassure them.

“I thought, ‘Let me make sure that they know who I am, and I’m not here to colonize their story or to somehow exploit who they are. I’m here to really roll in inspiration and then create my own original story that was inspired by them,’” Morisseau said. “I always have to say, ‘I’m not telling their [individual stories], I’m telling a fictional story inspired by the community.’”

The playwright said the title, “Mud Row,” was drawn from an area in the extreme eastern part of the borough originally populated by African Americans. There were Continued on Page 20

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Dominique Morisseau Continued from Page 19

different theories on where exactly it was and how it earned its name – perhaps a muddy place around the railroad tracks or an area where sewage would back up – but regardless, it was a place some said no one had been interested in cleaning up. It certainly intrigued Morisseau, who said she thought the debate “would be an interesting place to start a family story.”

As Morisseau was crafting the play, People’s Light presented a reading of “Mud Row” for the Melton Community Center members. “The first draft the community center heard was the first half of my play. That was exciting and they were ready to hear the rest. They approved, and I think they can hear what their influences are,” Morisseau said.

Directing Morisseau’s production on the People’s Light stage is Steve H. Broadnax III, who previously directed Morisseau’s work, “Skeleton Crew” at the Malvern theater. Himself an actor and playwright, Broadnax started his professional collaboration with her in a 2014 work commissioned by the Penn State School of Theatre called “Blood at the Root.” He has continued to direct and tour with many of her plays, including a production of one of her Detroit cycle, “Detroit ’67,” in the Motor City itself.

“I admire her and am honored to call her my friend,” Broadnax said. “I’m not from Detroit, but now I’ve come to love it. I know what she writes about.”

The director said, “I love her activism. That’s what I love about her work – her activism and storytelling and her poetry.”

Both director and playwright have high praise for the New Play Frontiers initiative at People’s Light. “I think it’s awesome that a program like this really focuses on and localizes regional history,” Broadnax said.

“There’s no better way, really,” Morisseau said. “No better example of literally making the theater reflect the people of a community than to have playwrights go out and meet their community and write their stories or write stories

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West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Spring/Summer 2019 | www.chestercounty.com

Director Steve Broadnax III is pictured during rehearsal of ‘Skeleton Crew,’ which was a summer 2018 People’s Light production. He is also directing the upcoming Dominique Morisseau play inspired by a West Chester neighborhood, ‘Mud Row.’

inspired by them. [It’s] one of the most proactive ways of community engagement I’ve ever seen.”

The playwright warmly recalls her time getting to know the people of West Chester. “They felt like extensions of family members to me, honestly.,” Morisseau said of the residents with whom she spent time and got to know. “I mean, they all felt like people I’d known for a very long time.”

“Mud Row” will be staged from June 26 to July 28 at People’s Light & Theatre Company (39 Conestoga Rd., Malvern).

Natalie Smith may be contacted at DoubleSMedia@rocketmail.com.

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|West Chester & Chadds Ford Arts|

Roll film, West Chester Now in its 15th year, the West Chester Film Festival has showcased everything from Oscar-nominated films to the works of young filmmakers. It’s a diversity of talents that have created a visual and continually-running story that captures the entire spirit of the festival’s mission, one writer recently discovered

By Meredith Haas Contributing Writer

T

here was something so special about the 15th annual West Chester Film Festival, that it seemed the series of short films I saw began to take flight from the screen and burrow beautiful memories into my mind.

I was seated among other film enthusiasts, and we were joined together in an immersion of artistic expression, made so by the work of local and international filmmakers. I should have understood, before taking my seat, that these films were not going to be anything like the CGI, two-hour movies I was used to. These were pieces from short filmmakers from everywhere and every genre, the majority of whom work far from the Hollywood movie-making industry, who toil in obscurity in an effort to create magic in 30 minutes or less.

Held this year during the last weekend of April at the Uptown! Knauer Performing Arts Center Bravo Mainstage Theater, the West Chester Film Festival has become a place where filmmakers can gather, share their ideas, and collectively, hold audiences

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West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Spring/Summer 2019 | www.chestercounty.com

West Chester Film Festival President Carroll Quigley, with festival Vice President Kevin Fitzpatrick.

Writer and director Greg Koorhan moderated one of several workshops at this year’s festival.

transfixed to what becomes, for everyone, an immersive experience. This year, 60 films were shown.

“We get to really interact with the filmmakers,” said Victoria Flickinger, the festival’s sponsorship coordinator. “We’re known as a filmmaker-friendly festival.”

Films in this year’s festival ranged from the Oscar- nominated films Marguerite, Skin and Animal Behaviour to Good Mourning, which starred filmmaker Jack McCafferty, who also wrote, directed and edited the film. Good Mourning is about a young man who must fulfill his best friend’s dying wish to throw him the best funeral ever. Full of booze, stories and heartfelt goodbyes, it’s a hilarious send-off to a life lived to the fullest.

“The entire time in college we were watching a lot of short films and they were all sad,” McCafferty said. “We wanted to go back to a Shakespearean way of creating a funny moment that leads into a sad one. I wanted to do something that might blow up in our faces. One thing that stands out to us is the casket. First we had to actually get one, so we found a guy who had a casket for a coffee table.”

McCafferty also discussed the cinematic origins that influenced his film.

“The type of humor involved is not laughing at them but with them,” he said.

“The humor in the funeral also comes from how my family celebrates funerals.

Our family’s funerals are celebrations and roasts of that person who passed.”

Maryland-based filmmakers Karen and Brian Pennington screened their short horror film, The Legend of Upper Melinda Witch. It was a creative leap from their first submission to the festival four years ago, when they screened a comedy that ended up earning an award in that genre.

“It’s good to see the recognition of the value of having people travel to the festival,” Brian said. “West Chester goes above and beyond to make you feel welcome, and everyone makes an effort to interact with us.”

“We’re hoping to recruit some filmmakers so they can contribute to the anthology and [work with us] to produce a feature length film back home in Frederick, Maryland,” Karen said.

Continued on Page 24

All photos by Meredith Haas

Filmmaker Pat Taggart, president of align5 films, presented at a workshop entitled, “Documentary Hacks.” www.chestercounty.com | Spring/Summer 2019 | West Chester & Chadds Ford Life

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West Chester Film Festival Continued from Page 23

As the weekend proceeded into the many blocks of films, I learned that planning for the following year’s festival begins one year in advance, when volunteers and a 10-member panel of judges choose the final roster of films from more than 200 submissions.

“We watch the films on our laptops, judging their quality, acting, lighting, sound, theme and other categories, until February,” said Anne Skillman, volunteer coordinator. “We end up only showing about 60 films, and some of them are eventually nominated for Oscars!”

“Our mandate is that every block of films we screen has variety,” said festival president Carroll Quigley. “I enjoy having an eclectic and wellrounded amount of blocks. To remain successful, we began to screen what we call ‘pop-up’ films last year.”

In workshops, at meet-and-greets and during informal networking in the theater’s reception area, filmmakers mingled with other filmmakers, and for many, it was their first introduction to film festivals.

Award winners at the West Chester Film Festival vie for a coveted “Chester” award.

The West Chester Film Festival provides many social opportunities for filmmakers to speak with fellow filmmakers, as well as with film lovers.

Continued on Page 26

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West Chester Film Festival Continued from Page 24

“I study in New York, and this is my first festival showcasing my fine art in film,” said Sam Lewis, whose seven-and-a-half-minute documentary The Slab was screened at the festival. “I created a story, but it was a very vulnerable moment for me, the meaning was to do something different.”

I met everyone on opening night: filmmakers, new and experienced; their family members and friends; festival volunteers. As opening night of the West Chester Film Festival continued, I gained a newfound appreciation for the short film. They are diverse. There is little time wasted in bringing their narrative and their emotions to the surface. Very often, they are pulled from the hardest, funniest and most real of stories, and when they all come together under one roof – such as they do every year at the West Chester Film Festival – they tell a very large and beautiful story, one short film at a time.

To learn more about the West Chester Film Festival, visit www.westchesterfilmfestival.com.

2019 West Chester Film Festival Award Winners Category

Best Drama .................................. Skin Best Comedy .................................. Chuchotage Best Documentary .......................... My Dead Dad’s Porno Tapes Best Animated Film ........................ One Small Step Best Student Film............................ Everything’s Fine Best Experimental/Art Film ............. Short Wave Best Female Filmmaker .................. Late Afternoon Best Pennsylvania Filmmaker ......... Justin Geller, for Thought it Would Be a Good Story H. Paul Fitzpatrick People’s Choice Award .................. Marguerite

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|West Chester & Chadds Ford Business|

New life for old furniture Thrifty Vintage owner Beth Stiles sees the potential in pieces from the past

By John Chambless Staff Writer

A

s a young child, Beth Stiles would sit on her bedroom floor and push her furniture around with her feet. “Every single month, I would push things around my room,” she said, laughing. “It drove my parents crazy. But I liked change. I was trying new things.”

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That may have been the start of her new business, Thrifty Vintage in West Chester, where she turns old furniture into new showpieces, using just the right paint and her designer’s eye.

During a recent interview at the pleasantly packed store on North Church Street, Stiles said, “I grew up in West Chester, graduated in 1998 from Unionville, and then I went to West Chester University. I graduated with a degree

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Spring/Summer 2019 | www.chestercounty.com

Beth Stiles

in sociology and was a social worker until I had my kids.

Then I was a stay-at-home mom. My whole family still lives around here.”

Stiles and her husband have two children, Ashley, 10, and Evan, 12. In 2009, without a large budget for home furnishings, Stiles took a good look at a painted piece she had bought in 2008 for her kitchen and thought, “I could do that.”

“When you’re young you don’t have a lot of money,” Stiles said. “I had done a lot of scrapbooking, and I drew and painted in high school. I’ve always been artistic and creative.”

That first project turned into several, and from 2012 to 2016, Stiles sold her repurposed furniture online as The Thrifty Vintage Mama. “I like decorating, but I do it on the Continued on Page 30

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Beth Stiles Continued from Page 29

least amount of money possible,” she said. “The online site was where I got a lot of my followers and custom jobs.”

But her work took up a lot of space, and the garage of her family home in West Chester was getting overstocked, “so I started looking for a storefront in the area,” she said. She found the cozy shop on Church Street and set about filling it. Thrifty Vintage opened a year ago, offering repurposed furniture by Stiles, along with handmade goods by consignors who are all regional. There are now 21 other crafters and artists represented, and their work is carefully arranged and blended by Stiles so that customers can easily envision using the pieces in their own homes.

“They’re all from Chester County, and they all have different styles,” Stiles said. “They mostly work out of their homes. I wanted to help them and represent them, but also have my own shop. My goal is to get the store to be 90 to 95 percent repurposed and refinished items,” but until that time there are a few new, imported pieces that fit the design aesthetic, just to fill the shop space.

“The artists can bring in what they want, and they have no specific space,” Stiles said. “I decorate the way I want.

It’s a blend.”

When it comes to selecting which pieces of furniture

Stiles will take on, she has a few rules. “No pressboard,” she said, because it’s flimsy. “And nothing with veneer,” because it peels. “I’m looking for good used pieces that are solid wood.”

She also pays a little so she can do her work and sell the pieces at a reasonable price. “I get a lot from Facebook Marketplace, Habitat Re-Store, Craigslist,” she said. “And people give me things.”

A vintage buffet in the shop has been painted a sunny yellow, with just enough scuffs and texture to make it look interesting. “I keep my prices really, really low, because I need to get things in and out of the shop really fast,” Stiles said. “I take old pieces nobody wants. Stuff in here is priced from $3 to $400.”

She is inspired by nature’s colors, so a lot of her furniture has floral tones. “I’ll look around at flowers, or signs, or kids clothing. One time I did a piece called Blue Jean Baby because I saw a pile of blue jeans on Pinterest and I loved the color mixture. We made a dresser look like blue jeans.

I’m trying to get people to bring colors into their houses.

“I like to keep the wood if I can. If it shows a good grain, I will sand it down and save it, especially edging, or fronts,” she said. “I love keeping the original hardware if I can.”

This antique sewing machine base was given a new walnut top to turn it into a side table.

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Any major problems with the structure or joints of a piece are repaired by Stiles’ husband, and she handles the beautification part. “If there are pieces that have decorative areas on them, I’ll accentuate that with the paint,” she said.

Continued on Page 32

Creating tablescapes for homeowners is a new focus for Beth Stiles (top), who owns Thrifty Vintage. The shop offers repurposed antiques, including a railing from West Chester University (bottom).

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Beth Stiles Continued from Page 31

And all of her items have a pleasantly textured, scuffed and worn look, as if they have been well-used and loved. “It’s good with kids. I suggest that to people,” Stiles said. “I had hand-me-down furniture and my two dogs, and they chewed it to pieces. Everybody going through that phase, with young kids, can’t afford a lot of really expensive furniture. These pieces can take a beating and they’re very well made. I give people some chalk paint with the finished piece and say, ‘Here, if it gets scratched, just rub some paint on and it’s fixed.’ Most of the time, they like the pieces a little distressed, and I like that, too.”

Stiles said her own home is more modern, with a few vintage pieces as accents. She works closely with local artisan Nancy Franks, who helps with completing jobs and supplying ideas.

Stiles is launching what she’s calling Thrifty Home. “It’s basically ideas for interior decorating. I’m really into staging things like dining room tables, or gallery walls, or tablescapes,” she said. “I’m going to offer that service after I finish a piece for a client. I just did a table for a friend of mine, and she’s keeping it all. I can dress up a room for under $50.

“Everybody loves my dining room table,” Stiles said, laughing. “It’s an Ikea table, but we put farmhouse wood on top of it, so it looks huge and dramatic, and stained and weathered. It’s awesome.”

Right now, Stiles said, “I’m too busy,” with the demands of running the Continued on Page 34

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Beth Stiles Continued from Page 32

store and refurbishing furniture – as well as her family – taking up pretty much every hour of the day. She gets the word out on social media, particularly Facebook and Instagram, offering ideas and tips, and asking for feedback as projects go along.

She and Franks just finished redoing a kitchen at a cost that was a fraction of what a contractor was going to charge the homeowner, using their skills with paint and color to finish the successful job.

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In the back room of the store are objects waiting for Stiles, including castoff crib rails that will be painted and hung from the ceiling, strung with lights. There’s an antique railing from the West Chester University campus in the shop now, adding architectural interest 10 feet off the floor. There’s an old steamer trunk that’s in need of her special touch, and a 1970s sideboard that is uninspired at the moment, but will soon be a showpiece of someone’s home.

All of this work takes energy, and as Stiles animatedly talks about her passion for finding the right décor, it’s clear she has the ideas and the fortitude to take Thrifty Vintage into the future.

“My daughter Ashley helps me all the time,” Stiles said. “She’s exactly like me.”

Thrifty Vintage is at 14 N. High St., West Chester. Call 484-999-0983, email thriftyvintage@ comcast.net, or visit www.thriftyvintagewestchester.com.

To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, email jchambless@chestercounty.com.

www.chestercounty.com | Spring/Summer 2019 | West Chester & Chadds Ford Life

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|West Chester & Chadds Ford History|

Remembering the fun of summers gone by This metal sign pointed the way toward the park.

Lenape Park and Chadds Peak are recalled at the Chadds Ford Historical Society

By John Chambless Staff Writer

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nyone who visited Lenape Park or the Chadds Peak Ski Area from the 1950s to the 1980s will experience a flood of nostalgia when they enter the Chadds Ford Historical Society this weekend.

The society has painstakingly assembled the few remnants of Lenape Park, which – from the early 1920s until its recent years as the Brandywine Picnic Park – formed vivid summer memories for generations of families. There has been major research into the tangled succession of owners of the park, as well as conflicting accounts of what attractions used to be inside the place.

Text panels lay out the story, with photos of some of the treasured rides and attractions that will certainly spark some memories. The story is traced from the 1890s to Continued on Page 38

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The roller coaster delivered bone-jarring thrills.

The bumper car building has been a picnic pavilion at Brandywine Picnic Park.

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Lenape Park Continued from Page 36

An ad for the 1940 Old Fiddlers Picnic.

today through postcards from the 1900s, a wonderful display case holding a Lenape knock-down figure, brass rings from the carousel, park tickets and more.

Newspaper articles reproduced on the text panels convey some of the excitement – and the exaggeration – about the park, as tiny as it was. There’s a carnival mirror that used to hang on the bumper cars building, so visitors can play with their distorted reflections inside the exhibit. The Fun House at Lenape is captured in photographs, including the “Laughing Lady” face that

A photo of the dance hall located across the Brandywine from Lenape Park.

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A newspaper advertisement for Lenape Park.

The bandstand at Lenape Park hosted generations of concerts, as well as the Old Fiddlers Picnic.

Children square dance at the Old Fiddlers Picnic, once held at the park.

The Dentzel carousel figures from Lenape Park were sold in 1979.

hung on the building, and the trick couch and conveyor belt that scooted visitors out of the building at the end of their tour.

There are photos of the carousel, which once had 48 Dentzel figures before they were sold in 1979 by the then-owner of the property, outraging the local community. Visitors will see a battered carousel horse from the first incarnation of the carousel, however, which predates the Dentzel figures.

Anyone who has been whipped around the track of Lenape’s wooden roller coaster will love the photos and stories about the 1,400-foot “Scenic Railway,” as it was called. The image of the first hill climb – when young riders could think about the deadly drop just over the peak – brings back all kinds of memories.

The swimming pool at the park is also documented, from its origins as a man-made swimming hole to a 1929 cement pool.

The pool is gone now, filled in and covered over. And the legendary Old Fiddlers Picnic, which was held at Lenape for several years, is spotlighted as well in stories and photographs.

One section of the exhibit is devoted to the rambling dance hall building that remains as a ruin across the Brandywine Creek from Lenape Park. The convoluted history of the place is unraveled in the text panels, beginning in the 1890s as a dance hall to lure riders to take the trolley to the site. There’s a dazzling archival photo of the place in its original condition, with an extensive riverside boardwalk.

The exhibit traces owners John Gibney -- who hosted dances there until 1937 – and then T. Frank Walsh, who lived in the huge dance hall from the late 1930s until his death in 1968.

Walsh sometimes repaired canoes for Lenape Park, and filled the building with broken paddles and hand-painted signs.

A few of his whimsically named paddles are hanging in the exhibit, as well as the Ticket Office sign that once hung above the door of the dance hall.

After Walsh died, the building became the home and studio of artist Tom Bostelle, who created epic paintings and bronze shadow sculptures there, until his death in 2005. There are two shadow sculptures on display, as well as a Bostelle drawing of a tiger figure from the Lenape carousel.

The dance hall is now only a crumbling ruin, with an eccentric history that is finally set down in print in this exhibit for the first time.

The other half of the exhibition is devoted to the Chadds Peak Ski Area, which began in 1964 and entertained decades of visitors with its low-thrills slope. While the attraction finally closed in 1989 after warming weather whittled its operating season to less than two months, the photographs and text show a lively spot that once even hosted the West Chester Ski Team.

There’s a mannequin dressed in a ski team jacket, with a Continued on Page 40

The bumper cars jostled riders large and small at Lenape. www.chestercounty.com | Spring/Summer 2019 | West Chester & Chadds Ford Life

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Lenape Park Continued from Page 39

painted mural by local artist Jacalyn Beam suggesting the scale of Chadds Peak in its heyday.

With all the reminiscing that visitors are bound to be doing, there’s a notebook to record your own memories of Lenape Park and Chadds Peak, as well as very fun mugs and coasters with images from the parks that are Lenape Park had a swimming pool for decades.

The Ticket Office sign, painted paddles, vintage postcards and one of Tom Bostelle’s shadow sculptures from the dance hall.

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for sale in the gift shop. Taking home a souvenir is, sadly, as close as you’ll come to getting a piece of these two vanished attractions. Last month, it was announced that the present owners of Brandywine Picnic Park are looking to sell the property one last time.

The ‘Laughing Lady’ sculpture that once hung in the Lenape Park Fun House.

A carnival knock-down figure from Lenape Park.

Continued on Page 42

The swings were a longtime feature of Lenape Park.

The Fun House at Lenape Park in the 1960s.

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Lenape Park Continued from Page 41

“Thrills, Hills and Spills: Lenape Park and Chadds Peak” has an opening reception on April 5 from 6 to 8 p.m. The exhibit continues through the end of 2019. Admission is free. The Chadds Ford Historical Society is at 1736 N. Creek Rd., Chadds Ford. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Visit www.chaddsfordhistory.org.

To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, email jchambless@chestercounty.com.

Chadds Peak wasn’t fancy, but drew generations of skiers.

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|West Chester & Chadds Ford Education| As it celebrates its 40th anniversary, the Pennsylvania Writing & Literature Project at West Chester University is not about to slow down now. There are more teachers – and young writers – to empower, mentor, educate and inspire

To write. To share West Chester University Professor Dr. Pauline Schmidt has been the Director of the Pennsylvania Writing & Literature Project since 2018.

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All photos courtesy of West Chester University

In addition to providing teachers with opportunities to develop their skills in the classroom, the Pennsylvania Writing & Literature Project coordinates the annual Young Writers/Young Readers Summer Enrichment Camp, held in July.

e. To connect.

By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

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or many teachers who are tasked with the responsibility of wrapping their curriculum around a STEM-based paradigm, trying to teach science and mathematics by way of literature and art and theater is like attempting to juggle both ends of the educational spectrum.

Since 1980, however, there has been an initiative in place

at West Chester University that has introduced teachers to an innovative way of teaching across the curriculum through poetry, fiction and the power of the written word – often, their own.

Developed by its first director Robert Weiss, WCU’s Pennsylvania Writing and Literature Project (PAWLP) has provided professional development, resources, research and encouragement to thousands of teachers throughout Continued on Page 46

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PAWLP Continued from Page 45

several Pennsylvania counties that helps them to become better teachers by bringing out the writer in themselves, and subsequently, their students.

Taking its guiding principles from the National Writing Project (NWP), PAWLP works in partnership with educational institutions, organizations and communities, and offers summer and school-year courses and workshops in teaching writing, teaching literature, writing-reading connections, authentic assessment, and special topics of interest to educators.

Currently, it’s one of nearly 200 NWP sites in the U.S. “I was an English teacher before I was a college professor, and at the time, I was also involved in the theatrical arts, so for me, bringing the arts into my classroom as a learning vehicle was a natural fit for me,” said Dr. Pauline Schmidt, a professor at WCU who became PAWLP’s director in 2018.“Early in my career, I took on the notion that creativity is in all of our content areas, and on this campus, it’s seen and felt and taught in all of our buildings.

“We’re finding that teachers in all content areas are starting to see that their job

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The Young Writers/Young Readers camps encourage young writers to develop their own original voices.

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Spring/Summer 2019 | www.chestercounty.com

is to stress the importance that argumentative writing plays in their classroom, whether it’s in an English class, a science class or a history class.”

Throughout the year, PAWLP offers teachers professional development workshops in teaching writing and literature, writing-reading connections and many other topics of interest to teachers. Its Summer Writing Institute gives local teachers the opportunity to engage in discussions, develop presentations and participate in a writing marathon.

Saturdays throughout the school year, PAWLP hosts aspiring children’s authors, who share their work, as well as a Continuity Hour that allows educators to problem solve with other teachers; as well as a book club, that allows two educators per session to give a presentation before their colleagues.

For their participation, graduates of the certificate program receive six graduate credits from WCU, and also earn certification as an NWP Fellow, which qualifies them to work directly with other teachers.

To date, there are over 1,000 NWP Continued on Page 48

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Fellows who have come through PAWLP, and many have gone on to become aspiring authors, and develop writing programs at their own schools and school districts.

“Sometimes there is this notion that a teacher is set in his or her ways, but I feel that this myth is totally busted at the Project,” Schmidt said. “Here, everyone is constantly sharing new books, new ideas and talking about attending conferences on professional development.

Sometimes faculty rooms are places where great ideas go to die, and that can be toxic to a brand-new teacher, but here at the Project, if a teacher comes with a problem, it’s not to vent but to solve the problem. We trust one another enough to say, ‘This happened in my class and I don’t know if I handled it correctly. Help me solve this.’”

While PAWLP celebrates its fourth decade of teaching teachers, it’s about to celebrate another milestone – its 35th annual Young Writers/Young Readers Camp for Children and Teens, which will be held at four locations in July -- at West Chester University, and in sponsoring school districts in Bucks, Chester, and Montgomery Counties. Taught by NWP Fellows, the camps give the

K

young writer an opportunity to compose and share his or her work with other young writers, in classes that average 13-15 students.

The goals of the camp are to further inspire young writers who already have a love of writing and reading; introduce them to the tools they need to help them become better writers; help them learn to read like writers; and encourage them to develop their own unique voice. For students who want to focus on a specific genre of writing, they can attend specialty classes in fantasy, science fiction and horror, and even attend a class to prepare for their SATs. “ The majority of the students who come to camp arrive with their notebooks already filled with stories or the first chapter of a novel,”said Cyndy Pilla, PAWLP coordinator. “These are students who already read voraciously and write all the time. These camps go a long way to nurture the passion and the desire that is already there.”

“Because our Fellows already know how difficult writing is, what we find is a lot of sharing and community Continued on Page 50

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PAWLP Continued from Page 48

building between teachers and students,” Schmidt said.

“The students don’t necessarily look at their teachers from the standpoint of having all of the answers, but from the standpoint of their vulnerability. Together, they can share a reading experience and see how an author chose to write a particular sentence, and the kids can take that reading experience and try it in their own writing.”

As she begins her second year as PAWLP’s director, Schmidt is looking to expand the Project in partnership with local school districts, writing festivals, and forums that invite authors to speak to teachers and young writers.

“The Project is based on the model that we are all writers, we are all teachers of writers, and we are teachers teaching teachers,” Schmidt said. “We are a community of learners without the hierarchy. We all come from a point of inquiry, and everyone comes with their own writing and their own teaching, so let’s continue to learn from each other.”

To learn more about The National Writing Project, visit nwp.org.

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Pennsylvania Writing & Literature Project Directors Robert Weiss, 1980-1997 Andrea Fishman, 1997-Fall 2011 Mary Buckelew, Fall 2011-Fall 2018 Pauline Schmidt, Fall 2018-Present

To learn more about the Pennsylvania Writing & Literature Project or to register your son or daughter for a Young Writers/Young Readers Summer Enrichment Camp, call 610-436-2598, or visit www.pawlp.org.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email rgaw@ chestercounty.com.

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Spring/Summer 2019 | www.chestercounty.com

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|West Chester & Chadds Ford Life Photo Essay|

Presiding o landmark Barbara Moore carries on a 50-year tradition in Chadds Ford

Photos by Jie Deng

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over an art world

By John Chambless Staff Writer

C

ontrary to what artists and art buyers in Chester County believe, Barbara Moore has not always been presiding over a gallery in Chadds Ford. She actually took her place in the Chadds Ford Gallery space in 1976.

“I had been a housewife. My former husband and I had a body and fender repair business in Wilmington. I worked at the shop,” Moore said. “We lived in Chadds Ford. But divorce will make one learn a whole lot in a hurry. It just so happened that my daughter introduced me to the artist Paul Scarborough. I had three jobs to survive at the time.

Paul’s studio was in Chadds Ford and the owner of the barn where his studio was worked at the Chadds Ford Gallery. He didn’t want to have to work weekends, so they offered me a position here.”

Moore, although she did not grow up as an art aficionado, had one big factor in her favor. “My in-laws’ house was right here in Chadds Ford, on Route 100 south. Andy and Betsy Wyeth, and their kids, were living in what would become Andy’s studio,” Moore said. “My sisterin-law grew up with Nicky and Jamie Wyeth. So when one of the Wyeths needed car repairs, my husband repaired them.”

Continued on Page 54

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Barbara Moore Continued from Page 53

The first time Moore saw Andrew Wyeth’s art was at his first show at the Delaware Art Museum. “I was pregnant with my first child, and I saw the artwork and said, ‘Oh! This is what Andrew Wyeth does!’” Moore recalled, smiling.

With the Wyeths living across the road and frequently stopping by the Chadds Ford Gallery, which opened in 1969, Moore developed a professional relationship with the artist through his wife, Betsy, who would broker signed Wyeth prints for sale at the gallery.

“Andy did two major paintings on part of our property on Ring Road,” Moore said. He also painted a portrait of Moore’s daughter when she was 13, and of Moore herself the following year.

Pulling out color copies of the portraits, Moore said both are now sold, but she has fond memories of posing for Wyeth, a process that took about a week, she said.

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Through her decades at the gallery, Moore made more artist friends than she can count. She had a 38-year relationship with Paul Scarborough, and they were married for seven of those years before Scarborough’s death in 2014.

The gallery played an important role in selling and promoting the art of Rick Bollinger, Peter Sculthorpe, Rea Redifer, Bill Ewing, Jimmy Lynch, Tim Wadsworth, Ray Hendershot and many others over the years. Moore still

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Spring/Summer 2019 | www.chestercounty.com

takes time to interview new artists who want to submit work to the gallery. “I still get excited about that,” she said. “It’s a nurturing thing. When I get to meet the artists initially, well, I call them my babies. They’re precious, they’re special, they want the attention but they don’t want to have to ask for the attention.

“Paul taught me an awful lot about how artists are,” she Continued on Page 56

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Barbara Moore Continued from Page 55

said. “I didn’t realize the necessity of being open-minded to all of what’s going on in their heads. Whether it’s art or anything else. Their minds are active and they need to be free of things that cloud their thoughts. There’s a need for artists to express themselves, and a need for them to get time alone and figure things out. You have to give new artists, particularly, a structure.”

Moore also helps fledgling artists learn to price their artwork, and makes sure they are asking enough, and not too much, for the market.

While countless artworks have passed through the gallery, Moore has been able to resist most, aside from some signed Wyeth prints, works by painter Michael McNelly and, of course, “about a zillion works” by Scarborough that remain in her collection.

In the old days, the Chadds Ford Gallery filled the bottom floor of the historic former home that faces the road, and there was a second-floor space that held Wyeth works – some of them original drawings. The most major change in the gallery’s history came in 2017, when the daughter of the original gallery owner retired to Florida and kept the Chadds Ford Gallery name.

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“That left me without a job,” Moore said. “But the new owners of the Chadds Ford Barn Shops found out about me and offered me a position.”

The gallery, now called Barbara Moore Fine Art, occupies two downstairs rooms – a more manageable space that reflects how the art market in general has changed. “If this was the 1980s, I’d be rich,” Moore said, smiling. “But it’s not that anymore. It’s developing.”

But there are still plenty of buyers who regard Moore’s gallery as a second home, often stopping in just to chat about art, or life, or their families. “Oh, I’m absolutely still having fun,” Moore said. “I couldn’t imagine being at home. I’m still busy here. I’ve always been out and about.

I’m 83, and I still get caught up in the excitement of it all.”

To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, email jchambless@chestercounty.com.

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Spring/Summer 2019 | www.chestercounty.com

www.chestercounty.com | Spring/Summer 2019 | West Chester & Chadds Ford Life

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|West Chester & Chadds Ford History| Even one of the most popular annual traditions in Chester County deserves a year off.

After retooling and redefining, the 2019 Chadds Ford Days on September 14 & 15 will refocus its commitment to the rich history it helps honor and preserve

History in the fiel Chadds Ford Days: A Rich History The following photographs, all courtesy of the Chadds Ford Historical Society, represent a visual journey of an annual Chester County tradition, which returns this year on Sept. 14-15 to celebrate its 50th year.

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By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

S

ince the 1960s, those residents of southern Chester County and beyond who enjoyed their history along with the gentle accompaniment of artisans referred to Chadds Ford Days the way everyone regards his or her birthday.

It arrives every year.

For more than five decades, the Chadds Ford Historical Society has been preserving history and educating the community about life the way it used to be in Chester County, and the centerpiece of that mission had been Chadds Ford Days, a two-day celebration that invited thousands of visitors every year to enjoy the sights and sounds of American history.

While the decision by the Historical Society to shelve Chadds Ford Days in 2018 disappointed many of those whose first weekend in September was always marked by the festival, the one-year respite allowed the Society to rethink, retool and redefine what they imagined Chadds Ford Days ought to be – and when it should be.

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Spring/Summer 2019 | www.chestercounty.com

Continued on Page 60

elds, returned

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Chadds Ford Days Continued from Page 58

For years, the festival had been scheduled near the anniversary of the historic Battle of the Brandywine, which took place on Sept. 11, 1777, but the strict code of honor slowly began to have its drawbacks. Attendance at Chadds Ford Days began to drop, largely due to its attempt to compete with two other major festivals – the Kennett Square Mushroom Festival and the Brandywine Festival of the Arts, held in Wilmington, which were both scheduled during the same weekend.

The 2019 Chadds Ford Days will be held on Sept. 14 and 15, and will not interfere with either of its competing festivals, which will both be held Sept.

7 and 8. “We made the decision to jump the dates of the festival up a week, which still honors the Battle of the Brandywine, but Continued on Page 62

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Chadds Ford Days Continued from Page 60

does not compete with other festivals in the area,” said Jason Greenplate, who has been the executive director of the Chadds Ford Historical Society since January. “The Mushroom Festival is our friend and our neighbor, and we wish them as much success as they can have. The decision benefits everyone, from those who put on the many events at that time, to the people who don’t have to choose which festival to attend in a particular weekend.

“We didn’t feel like we were losing any historical significance by moving it up a week, and perhaps it will be a little cooler outside, as well.”

In addition to having the weekend of Sept. 14-15 largely to itself this year, Continued on Page 64

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Chadds Ford Days will be demonstrating a larger commitment to the “history” component of the event. While this year’s festival will continue to showcase the work of area artisans, there will be a renewed emphasis on Revolutionary War re-enactments, encampments, colonial crafting and of course, visits to the John Chads House and Spring House.

The festival will also invite several other area museums and historical organizations, that will allow them a showcase to promote their historical projects.

“My background is in historical interpretation and education, so that’s been my focus here since Day 1,” Greenplate said. “My goal is to work with the Society to share the history of John Chads and Chadds Ford with the public, whether they’re visiting on a random Tuesday, or whether they’re attending one of our major fundraising events.

“The main reason we brought back Chadds Ford Days is that we feel like we’re an institution in the Brandywine Valley, and people will again be able to set their watch to this new tradition, every year.”

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Chadds Ford Days will take place on Sept. 14 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and on Sept. 15 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. To learn more about the Chadds Ford Historical Society, visit www.chaddsfordhistory.org, or visit the Society at the Barns Visitors Center, 1736 Creek Road, Chadds Ford, Pa. 19317.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email rgaw@chestercounty.com.

2019 Events at the Chadds Ford Historical Society • CFHS Yard Sale, June 8 • Tavern Night: Very Superstitious, Oct. 4 • Great Pumpkin Carve, Oct. 17, 18 and 19 • Tavern Night: The Art of the Book, Nov. 1 • Candlelight Christmas, Dec. 7

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