& Chadds
• The formula of the unstoppable
• Investigating Chester County’s hauntings
• A taste of Old Italy
• Q&A with Allison Schell
Cover design by Tricia Hoadley
Cover photograph by Jie Deng
Exploring many different facets of West Chester and Chadds Ford
Letter from the Editor:
Stacey Cutler is the kind of person that West Chester & Chadds Ford Life likes to profile because she’s one of those people who is making a difference in the lives of others. When Cutler opened Fit Body Boot Camp, her goal was to not just transform bodies, but to transform lives by getting people to believe in themselves.
In this issue of West Chester & Chadds Ford Life, we shine a spotlight on just a few of the people and things that make the area so special.
Writer John Chambless profiles musician Jennifer Nicole Campbell, who performs, teaches, and keeps the classical tradition alive. During an interview at her studio in Glen Mills, Campbell, 26, sat at her piano bench and reviewed a life path that started with Kindermusik class when she was a young girl in Chadds Ford.
We also write about H.G. Haskell, who planted his first crops on a six-acre pasture in 1986. The produce at SIW Vegetables is grown now on 60 acres, but shopping at the market has remained one of the simple pleasures of living in Chadds Ford.
We also explore how Gelato, made the right way, draws a crowd to West Chester by reporting about the Gemelli - Artisanal Gelato & Dessert Cafe in the borough.
Earlier this year, the Chadds Ford Historical Society launched the Escape Brandywine escape room, just one of the innovative ways that the organization tries to engage and educate visitors. West Chester & Chadds Ford Life caught up with Allison Schell, the program and development manager of the Chadds Ford Historical Society, to discuss the new escape room, the efforts to protect and preserve the Barns-Brinton House and the John Chads House, and other activities that the organization is planning.
We also write about how the Devereux CIDDS Learning Center’s small zoo is one part nature center and one part nurture center—it provides students with the opportunity to care for a wide variety of animals and learn functional social skills, including those that will help them gain employment one day.
Writer Natalie Smith explores how one area group of paranormal investigators tries to validate claims of spirits and apparitions.
As always, we hope you enjoy the stories included in this issue of West Chester & Chadds Ford Life, and we look forward to receiving your comments and suggestions for future stories. We’re already hard at work planning the next issue of West Chester & Chadds Ford Life, which will arrive in the spring of 2018.
Sincerely,
Randy Lieberman, Publisher randyl@chestercounty.com, 610-869-5553
Steve Hoffman, Editor editor@chestercounty.com, 610-869-5553, ext. 13
Cover design by: Tricia Hoadley
Zoo program makes a difference in students’ lives
By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer
It’s a busy Monday morning for Erin Kyle, the Animal Care Educator with Devereux Advanced Behavioral Health. There are animals to feed and care for today—fish and cats and guinea pigs and rabbits and other small animals, including a friendly macaw parrot named Rainbow. There are usually dogs, too, but they are not here this morning. A few students at the Devereux Pennsylvania CIDDS campus on Boot Road are helping Kyle with the chores this September morning, while another student meticulously sweeps the floor. Throughout the day, students will be stopping by to visit with the animals.
Courtesy photo
One of the favorite things for students to do at the Devereux Pennsylvania CIDDS campus on Boot Road is visit the small zoo that is one part nature center and one part nurture center.
Zoo Program
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As any person who has ever owned a pet will attest, caring for another living thing provides plenty of benefits. In addition to the aforementioned cats, dogs, birds, and fish, the small zoo has featured larger animals like a goat, two sheep, two mules, and even a miniature horse. The Devereux CIDDS Learning Center’s small zoo is one part nature center and one part nurture center—it provides students with the opportunity to care for a wide variety of animals and learn functional social skills, including those that will help them gain employment one day.
According to Melanie Beidler, the Executive Director of Devereux Pennsylvania CIDDS, every classroom of students gets to visit the zoo at least once a week. There are approximately 180 students who live on the campus, and another 45 or so students attend classes there during the day.
“The kids help with everything,” Beidler explained. “They help clean out the cages, scoop the litter boxes, and give the animals water. They care for the animals. It’s very calming for the children and adolescents we serve.”
One of the many furry living creatures at the zoo.
The “CIDDS” in the program’s title stands for Children’s Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Services. The program serves children, adolescents and young adults up to the age of 21 who have intellectual or developmental disabilities, including autism and other behavioral and emotional disorders. CIDDS services include two approved
private day schools, community-based mental health services, community based employment training and social skills training, therapeutic foster care and a full-time residential program.
“We serve a wide variety of children on our campus,” Beidler said.
AT THE STONE BARN
The opportunity to work in the zoo can impact the dayto-day experience that the kids have on the campus, Beidler added.
“For as long as I can remember, we have had a zoo,” explained Beidler. “All of our kids visit the animals on a weekly basis, and they really like going to the zoo. It’s one of their favorite times of the week.
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All photos by Steven Hoffman Erin Kyle, the Animal Care Educator with Devereux, oversees the care for the animals in the zoo. Each student on the campus gets to visit the zoo once a week.
Zoo Program
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They know that they are having an impact on another living thing.”
Many of the students like the zoo so much, in fact, that when family members visit the campus, they will often take them to see the animals.
The building the zoo is housed in was part of the center’s greenhouse program, where students learned to plant vegetables and flowers. Part of the greenhouse, which needed a new purpose, was renovated and later emerged into a zoo. The program’s organizers started filling the building with a few small animals. Then sheep were added, then miniature horses, and a tortoise. There are even rabbits, including a Flemish giant rabbit that calls the nature center home.
“The rabbit is huge, and the kids love feeding and playing with it,” Beidler said with a laugh.
Every child who comes to the zoo will have a job to do with the animals. Kyle serves as the supervisor for the kids to do the work, which offers therapeutic, vocational and educational benefits.
Kyle supervises the students’ work at the zoo.
Kathy Keehn is Devereux’s Leo Kanner Learning Center Principal, and has been with Devereux for 39 years. She sees how the zoo program benefits the students on the campus in a variety of ways.
“Erin stays in the zoo and all the kids come to her,” Keehn explained. “If you give somebody the opportunity to care for an animal, it’s incredible what it does for the person.”
According to Beidler, the staff at Devereux are always looking for those teaching moments where they can share an important life lesson to students. Working with animals provides an endless number of teachable moments. For many of the youngsters, they haven’t had the opportunity to care for their own pets.
“For some of our kids, this is really a skill acquisition,” Keehn said. “You don’t just say, ‘change the water.’ You need to show them how to change the water.”
As the Animal Care Educator, Kyle takes on an important role in showing the children how to properly care for the animals. She also takes on the duties of running the small zoo. She will often come in on weekends to make sure the animals have everything that they need. Also, whenever there’s bad weather, one of the first things
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Education includes teaching children how the zoo’s animals are cared for.
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that a number of staff members need to tend to is to ensure that the animals receive the care they need.
“It’s not easy to run a zoo,” Keehn
said. “It’s a lot of work.”
The zoo program is constantly growing and evolving. Every three weeks, they receive kittens from the Bowling Green Humane Society in Kentucky, and they will take care of the kittens until they are ready to be adopted out. The cat adoption program has been so successful—they’ve adopted out more than 300 cats so far—that they started a similar program for dogs. To date, more than a dozen dogs have also been adopted.
While it’s hard sometimes to care for the smallest cats and dogs and then see them get adopted out because of the inevitable attachments that have been formed, it is also a very worthwhile endeavor to find the lovable animals permanent homes.
Sometimes, a puppy is too beloved to let go of. Oliver, a lovable Otterhound, was set to be adopted out, but he found a home among all the children, and he has now been designated as the zoo dog.
“The dogs we get are so amazing,” Beidler said, explaining the children
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Zoo Program
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benefit from interacting with the animals. The children and young adults develop a sense of empathy. Some of the children come to Devereux having experienced trauma in their lives, sometimes significant amounts of it. Working with animals helps them connect on an emotional level.
With dogs, the children can give the dog a direction and the animal will follow it—which is a new experience for many students.
Explained Beidler, “The majority of the youth we serve may not have had a traditional relationship with a parent. For these kids, empathy may not come naturally to them because they have not been shown empathy by their parents. For them to go to the zoo and have a dog obey a command or to have a cat jump up on their lap, it’s just unbelievable to watch.”
Of course, the benefits work both ways. The animals really respond to all the love they receive from the children.
Beidler said it’s undeniable that there is a strong connection between the animals and the children. Some of the children on the campus may
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Zoo Program
Continued from Page 20
have experienced foster care themselves, so they relate to the animals that are in need of adoption, and there can be a therapeutic component to finding the cats or dogs a new home.
“The kids understand that they are helping the cats find a forever home,” Beidler said.
Keehn said they are working with development, the fundraising arm of Devereux Pennsylvania, so that the zoo can be expanded in the future.
To contact Staff Writer Steven Hoffman, email editor@chestercounty.com.
Right: So far, about 300 cats have been adopted out from the zoo.
Left: Rainbow, a macaw parrot, is enormously popular with the students.
with Allison Schell Q A &
Earlier this year, the Chadds Ford Historical Society launched the Escape Brandywine escape room, just one of the innovative ways that the organization tries to engage and educate visitors. West Chester & Chadds Ford Life caught up with Allison Schell, the program and development manager of the Chadds Ford Historical Society, to discuss the new escape room, the efforts to protect and preserve the Barns-Brinton House and the John Chads House, and other activities that the organization is planning.
Q: The Chadds Ford Historical Society (CFHS) is a private, non-profit organization that preserves pre-Revolutionary buildings that are open to the public as museums—the Barns-Brinton House and the John Chads House. What can you tell us about the preservation of these community treasures?
A: Community is the key word there! From the start, the community has been involved in making sure the Barns-Brinton House and the Chads House, both great examples of their own architectural styles, were preserved for future generations. Like any house, over time repair work and upkeep needs to be done, so by becoming a member or donating you can help keep these buildings standing longer.
The Chadds Ford Historical Society debuted the Escape Brandywine escape room earlier this year. Can you tell us about this new offering?
At the CFHS, we love to explore interesting and new ways for our visitors and supporters to experience our sites. Escape Rooms have been very popular throughout the country. We thought this would be a fun, engaging and educational way to teach visitors about the Battle of Brandywine and Revolutionary War spycraft techniques. All of the puzzles in the house are based on real spy techniques used in the 18th century and takes place in our historic Chads House, which makes our Escape Room more unique than others in the area.
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Photo courtesy Andrew Keyes Photography Allison Schell, the program & development manager of the Chadds Ford Historical Society.
The Chadds Ford Historical Society works to protect and preserve the Barns-Brinton House and the John Chads House.
Allison Schell
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What are some of the other initiatives that the Chadds Ford Historical Society currently is working on?
Developing more innovative, immersive experiences and programming at our sites to keep people engaged and intrigued. We’ll create a little suspense here, but you’ll just have to follow us to see what we come up with next!
Can you tell us about the Tavern Talks series? When is the next Tavern Talks taking place?
Tavern Talks was an idea I had to create a more handson education program for adults. Just about every month we feature fun, interesting topics in 18th century history and culture, such as “Chocolate & Courtship,” “Beer for Breakfast,” and “Colonial Selfies.” We explore these topics at our historic Barns-Brinton House tavern by using demonstrations, games, hands-on activities, food and drink tastings and more. I wanted to provide something for adults that was more than just a lecture – I’m a very tactile learner, and I hoped that other people would be as well!
The next Tavern Talks event takes place on Nov. 9 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on the topic of Feast Mode! We will be covering an array of delicious, intriguing and surprising foods that the Colonists would have enjoyed, and that guests will have the opportunity to sample. Monty “Moe Train” Wiradilega, a local competitive eater and podcast personality, will be made to try some of the more bizarre dishes.
Can you tell us about your educational background that led you to become the program and development manager of the Chadds Ford Historical Society?
I have a Masters in museum studies from the George Washington University and an undergraduate degree in American history from Dickinson College. I’ve been involved in some capacity in the museum world for 14 years, and have interned and worked in places such as the National Women’s History Museum and the Smithsonian.
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What is the best part of your job as program & development manager for the Chadds Ford Historical Society?
The opportunity to be creative and design interesting programs and activities to get people more engaged with history. I love seeing that spark when someone learns something new or unexpected!
What is your favorite spot in West Chester or Chadds Ford?
I clearly spend most of my time in Chadds Ford and I know I’m going to be cliché answering this, but I just love our Barns-Brinton House tavern. One of the first museums I started volunteering at as a teenager was a historic tavern and I’ve volunteered and worked at a few other ones during my museum career, so they hold a special place in my heart. The Barns-Brinton House is a beautiful structure that I still love going into and finding new little details throughout the building. Doesn’t hurt that Chaddsford Winery is next door either!
If you could invite any three guests, living or dead, to a dinner party, who would it be?
As a historian, I’m going to have to go with dead guests: Peggy Shippen (I think there’s more to the John Andre and Benedict Arnold story that I would love to know), Agent 355 (A Revolutionary War female spy whose identity is still unknown to this day) and Sally Hemmings (I would love to hear her side of the story). If you don’t know who any of these women are, it’s a great opportunity to look them up and learn!
What food is always in your refrigerator?
People that know me know I would be lying if I said something other than cheese. It’s just too Gouda to pass up!
How can people connect with the Chadds Ford Historical Society for more information about upcoming events?
We constantly update our website, www.chaddsfordhistory.org and we’re also very active on social media (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter).
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Gelato, made the right way, draws a crowd to West Chester
By John Chambless Staff Writer
Take a bite of summer. On the tip of a sample spoon, the pear gelato at GemelliArtisanal Gelato & Dessert Cafe in West Chester is the essence of a perfectly ripe pear, magically transformed into a texture somewhere between custard and ice cream. Next, the Tiramasu sample is the sweet, coffeeflavored essence of cake, only rendered creamy smooth.
Behind the gleaming display case, Vincenzo Tettamanti smiled. He’s accustomed to converting people, one little scoop of cool gelato at a time.
For Vincenzo, the chance to bring real Italian gelato to a country that regards candy-colored fluff as the real thing is both a pleasure and a challenge. Since 2014, the gleaming Gemelli store has been making magic with flavors that use only the best ingredients, prepared in the traditional way.
But the story of the business begins with love.
Vincenzo grew up in Ferrara, Italy, and met his
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All photos courtesy
Vincenzo and Julianne Tettamanti opened their gelato business in 2014.
Gemelli
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future wife, Julianne, when she was a student at Philadelphia University, studying abroad in Milan. He followed her back to the United States in 2009 and the couple lived in Philadelphia and then Media. They discovered West Chester’s nightlife and restaurant scene through friends, and decided to relocate to the borough.
“West Chester has the same downtown feel. It reminds me of an Italian piazza,” Vincenzo said, adding that the Gemelli store was modeled after a European cafe. “I’ve always cooked, since I was 13 or so. Being from an Italian family, we did make a lot of things at home,” he said. “Both my mom and my grandmother made lasagna, tortellini, those kinds of things, from scratch. I grew up with gelato. It’s part of the culture.”
Once moving to America, “I realized that, if I wanted to eat what I was used to, I had to make a lot of it myself,” he said, smiling. “So I went back to cooking, and creating a lot of things from scratch. That’s
A refurbished 1948 step van is now a mobile gelato store.
Blueberry Ricotta Cheesecake
what pushed me. I wanted to do something with the skills that I was gaining on my own. I decided to focus on desserts. And you can make gelato with anything, really, as long as you know how the ingredients work together.”
Vincenzo’s meticulous training as a “gelato maestro” led him to a win at the prestigious Gelato World Tour competition in New York City’s James Beard Foundation last April. He came away with the People’s Choice winner, Goat Cheese and Fig Balsamic Reduction, which is a creamy goat cheese gelato folded with a handcrafted Italian balsamic from Modena and fig reduction. It’s certainly not the type of flavor Americans expect in a dessert.
Also out of the ordinary is the mushroom-flavored gelato that Vincenzo makes for the Kennett Square Mushroom Festival – a flavor that is sometimes a leap for people, but one that has become a favorite at the festival.
Goat Cheese and Fig Balsamic Drizzle
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In Italy, Vincenzo said, “there was always gelato. But to do it correctly, you need to learn. It’s like going to pastry school or restaurant school. I still go back to Italy for training to keep up with whatever new products or techniques they’re using. There’s always research to be done.”
In the gleaming kitchen, patrons can watch through a large window as Vincenzo and his team whip up dazzling creations with an exacting eye for detail. “It’s like a restaurant, what we do here,” he said.
Gemelli will be offering gelato infused with Chaddsford Winery spiced wine. For the Milk & Cookies flavor, the kitchen first bakes chocolate chip cookies using locally sourced and organic ingredients, then crumbles them into the gelato. There’s an avocado flavor that has every bit of the airy appeal of the essential ingredient. There’s pistachio and hazlenut, and a vegan variety that uses almond milk as a base. Even the ubiquitous pumpkin spice flavor for their lattes comes from local pumpkins, pureed in the Gemelli kitchen and cooked down to a syrup – no powdered flavoring allowed.
The stuff that’s sometimes seen in the cooler at pizza restaurants that’s whipped up and neon-colored? It’s not real gelato, Vincenzo said. Gemelli makes their gelato in small batches, and nothing lasts longer
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Caramel Chocolate Gelato Cake
Gemelli
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than a couple of days. There are no preservatives or additives to maintain shelf life or to artificially pump up a flavor.
Vincenzo leads classes at the shop for people who want to explore the boundless world of gelato, and he tells students, “A brownie can be made from a box mix, or you can make it from scratch. It’s the same with gelato. A lot of people open a gelato shop here in America because it sounds cool, you can charge more for it, but they don’t know what they’re doing. They use powders or artificial flavors.
“That’s the easy way to do it, but I want to do it the hard way,” he said. “I’d be ashamed to give you something that’s not as authentic as possible. We make everything from scratch. The base is made here. All our dairy, jams and most seasonal fruit we use are organic, and from Lancaster. We are as GMO-free as possible, we don’t use corn syrup, and everything is definitely seasonal. We make the caramel, we grind our own nut butter. It’s not just the ingredients, it’s the process of how you put them together.”
That kind of small-batch, artisanal attention to the product makes all the difference. And it makes gelato ideal for those with allergies, since customers know exactly what ingredients are in every variety.
Vincenzo is aware that Rita’s Water Ice dispenses something called gelato. But anyone who tries the Gemelli variety will immediately recognize the difference. “Even water ice here has nothing to do with real Italian water ice,” he said.
So, given all he knows, can Vincenzo enjoy American ice cream? “Well, I can eat good ice cream,” he said, laughing. “The problem is that it’s so hard to find.”
The business is marking its third year in West Chester in October. To help spread the word about their product, the Tettamantis have purchased and refurbished a 1948 International Harvester step van. “It’s a perfect marketing piece,” Julianne said. “When
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The West Chester store is modeled after a European-style cafe, with outdoor seating.
Gemelli
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we found it in Idaho, someone was living in it. There was a hole in the ceiling and there was a stove inside. We had it renovated in Arizona, put it on a car carrier, and shipped it here.”
After extensive renovations and a coat of paint that matches the cool green of the store’s marquee and décor, the truck is an adorable billboard for the company’s product. It looks like it has come straight from some stylish 1960s Italian film, and you cannot avoid looking at it. From inside the truck, the Gemelli magic can travel to fairs and food festivals, further spreading the word about good gelato, not whipped fluff. The truck is available for parties, events or corporate functions.
“In this area, nobody works like I do,” Vincenzo said, offering another sample of creamy gelato goodness. “It’s a natural, light taste, using only the ingredients that are necessary. We have a lot of Italian customers who always stop here. They’re not going to find this anywhere else. I want to make sure as many people as possible can share this.”
For more information visit www.gemelligelato.com.
To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, email jchambless@ chestercounty.comjchambless@chestercounty.com.
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The magic of music
Jennifer Nicole Campbell performs, teaches, and keeps the classical tradition alive
By John Chambless Staff Writer
“The best performances are when I can feel the audience is right there with me,” said Jennifer Nicole Campbell. “I’m just a mediator, and I try to stay out of the music’s way.”
Campbell’s deeply felt performances and technical artistry have carried her far. During an interview at her cozy studio in Glen Mills, Campbell, 26, sat at her piano bench and reviewed a life path that started with Kindermusik class when she was a young girl in Chadds Ford.
“We had these little glockenspiels. That was my first exposure to music. But they had a little upright piano in that room, and I have very vivid memories of thinking, ‘Whatever that is, that’s a cool instrument. I want to check that out,’” she recalled, laughing. With the encouragement of her parents – neither of whom are musicians – Campbell started piano lessons at 8 and continued through high school. She dabbled in violin at the age of 10, but stayed committed to piano.
“I saw Manheim Steamroller and was fascinated by Chip Davis, the guy who runs everything in that group,” she said. “He arranged the music, he composed a lot of the music, he could play all these instruments. I thought, ‘Wouldn’t that be awesome?’ So even though I didn’t end up going into the Renaissance/rock crossover, I was fascinated by how many things he could do.”
In addition to putting her skills together to play music, Campbell was good at taking music apart. “I used to take apart all of the sounds from a given piece and try to figure them out on a keyboard,” she said. “I’d try to recreate them on these little floppy discs. It was a clavinova, and you could record on discs.
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Magic of Music
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It seems ancient now, but I still have those discs somewhere. But I was figuring out orchestration at an early age. I’d spend hours at it. I’ve always composed, ever since I learned how to write music on a page.”
She studied with David Brown at the Darlington Fine Arts Center, then after high school, she attended the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, eventually earning BA and MA degrees.
“At Peabody, I had a trial lesson with Brian Ganz, who’s sort of the Chopin guy,” she said. “He introduced me to a whole new way of thinking about music. He was extremely conscious of everything in life being put into the music. I knew right away, even before I applied to the school, that he was my teacher. He was very demanding but he taught you how to push yourself.”
While she was still a teenager in 2007, Campbell’s “Piano Trio No. 1” was chosen for a performance by members of the Philadelphia Orchestra after she attended a young composer’s workshop at West Chester University. “It was a scholarship program for a week of working with musicians, and being pretty young at the time, it was nothing short of awesome,” she said, laughing. “It was a little bit
scary. These were members of the Philadelphia Orchestra asking me, ‘How do you want this section played?’ I was learning to be more of a mature artist, dealing with these people who had these major careers. It was exciting, and kind of a defining moment.”
Campbell found other ways for her compositions to be performed, with the Delaware County Youth Orchestra and others. “Now, groups ask me to write for them,” she said. “I have a commission right now that will debut in the spring.”
She has about 40 works completed, she said, with many more in the stacks of unfinished pieces. Pointing to stacks of paper on the bottom of a nearby bookshelf, she said, “There are plenty more that are in progress, I guess you could say.
Musings” videos posted on YouTube. In each, she takes a well-known piece – “Clair de Lune” for instance – and gives background on the composer, his intentions, his methods and some tips for those trying to learn the piece. “I’m starting to do that more in concert,” she said. “I do that mainly for nonmusicians in the audience. If you want to reach more people, you have to find a way to make the music understandable. You have to find connections, everyday experiences, that people can use.”
“There are very few instances when they came out perfectly,” she said. “There are a couple of things I did that seemed to compose themselves, but it’s really rare. When you do have moments of inspiration you have to write them down.”
Her extensive background and down-to-earth attitude about classical music are reflected in her series of “Music
Giving background on the lives of the composers brings them down to earth. “They were human beings,” Campbell said. “I like to find out more by reading their letters and things like that. They were extraordinary people to do what they did, but the more you learn about them, the more you can relate to them.”
Continued
Magic of Music
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Campbell’s piano students range from age 5 to 83, she said. She endeavors to balance the technical aspects of playing with the indefinable heart that elevates someone who plays correctly to someone who is a true artist.
“You can be the most proficient pianist in the world, but if you don’t play with any soul or heart, you’re not going to touch as many people,” she said. “It’s very hard to teach that. As a student, I remember watching my teachers play and thinking, ‘Well, whatever that is, I want that, too.’ It’s a magical thing. Demonstrating it to students is the best way for them to really understand it. I tell them, ‘Think of a memory that you have to create a connection.’ Even if they’re 8 years old, you can say, ‘What does this make you think of?’ They’re building up a picture in their minds.”
Campbell said that she enjoys delving into not only the music, but also the lives of the composers, to truly understand what she is performing. She admitted that she struggled when asked to perform a few of the more atonal works in the classical repertoire. “It was hard to connect
in a meaningful way, to make the piece really speak, if I don’t really like it,” she said. “I ended up thinking about musical gestures and dance, so that helped.”
Looking back over the history of the great composers, Campbell is aware that few women are allowed into the club. That stems from their exclusion from the music schools of Europe in the 1800s and 1900s, so, “If they had talent, they would be playing at home for the family,” she said. “Clara Schumann is a great example of someone who was a concert pianist and wrote some beautiful music while she raised all these kids, and was dealing with her crazy husband. Even today, having a family and being an artist is not the easiest.”
Last year, Campbell was connected with the nearby Academy of International Ballet and its owners, former professional dancers Anastasia Babayeva and Denis Gronostayskiy. Her original composition, “Butterfly Whispers,” was written to accompany two dancers from
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Magic of Music
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the company with the Delaware County Symphony. “The way that they make the music move is a totally different way of composing,” Campbell said. “I was constantly thinking, ‘How are they going to make this part of the music come to life?’ I wanted to make it easy for the dancers. I had to figure out the meter, how fast it goes. You don’t want it to be fast for five minutes. Denis choreographed the piece. I just gave him the music. The first time I saw what he came up with, I just had no words for it. I was amazed.
“It took about a month and a half. We rehearsed it live twice,” she said. “I was amazed at how well they dealt with live musicians, because that’s not something they’re used to. I was watching them as I played, trying to not get too distracted. But it went over so well.”
The success of the collaboration has led to another production to be staged in the spring, called “Daring to Dream,” that will be performed with the dance company. Campbell is a winner of several prestigious competitions,
a process which she called “odd. I have mixed feelings about competitions. I always loved when it was live, with people in the concert hall, instead of just playing for the judges. Competitions are just very different. People that win them are not necessarily the most artistic. I’ve had
good experiences with them, but they’re not necessarily the most musical experiences.”
Performing on some great stages can be thrilling for a performer, but also challenging. Campbell said she tells her students, “being nervous just means you’re excited about the music. It’s good for them to learn about going through a process and seeing an outcome, after many months, in some cases. I prepare them so that when they go on stage, they know what they want people to feel. It’s not just about the notes.”
Campbell’s artistry is showcased in the 2015 CD, “Perceptions of Shadows,” which combines two of her originals with some of her favorite works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy and others. The cover painting is by Karl Kuerner III. “I studied art with him in high school,” she said. “We stayed friends throughout my college years. He painted that very quickly for the cover. I gave him the title and the music and he came up with something perfect.”
Campbell is low-key about her achievements, and only a shelf of photos in the same room as her piano gives some clues to how successful she has already been. Along with photos of her teachers and artists she admires, there’s a quote by Beethoven in cross-stitch: If music doesn’t come from above, it cannot touch the soul.
“That’s my favorite Beethoven quote,” she said, smiling. “I always tell my students that, too.”
Jennifer Nicole Campbell will perform “Exploring Debussy’s Musical Landscapes” Nov. 18 at 11 a.m. as part of the Classical Cafe Series at the Music School of Delaware Wilmington Branch (1401 Washington St., Wilmington, Del.); as well as performing Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 2 with the Delaware County Symphony on Feb. 11 at 3 p.m. at Neumann University (1 Neumann Drive, Aston). For more information, visit www.jennifernicolecampbell. com.
To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, email jchambless@chestercounty.com.
Erin Harten and Taylor Kulp have been battling the same incurable condition for years, but instead of giving up,
they’ve organized others in a fight that has only just begun
The POTsies
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
Our fate, that general blueprint of destiny, is often fickle and not always tied to the proper order of things.
It was fate, mixed with an incurable disease that had afflicted them both, that brought 19-year-old Erin Harten from Kennett Square and 21-year-old Taylor Kulp from West Chester together in 2015.
Harten and Kulp are two of nearly 3 million Americans who live with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome -- commonly referred to as POTS -- a condition in which a change from lying to standing causes an abnormally large increase in heart rate, and includes symptoms such as lightheadedness, blurry vision, chest pains, shortness of breath, GI upset, shaking, exercise intolerance, temperature sensitivity and fatigue. The cause of POTS, while still largely unknown, is thought to be triggered by the patient having experienced a recent virus, and one study found that one in eight POTS patients reported a history of orthostatic intolerance in their family.
There is currently no cure.
*
Within a three-year period, Harten went from an active life that included playing softball and
horseback riding to sleeping as much as 20 hours a day. The symptoms began when she was at Patton Middle School and continued throughout her four years at Unionville High School. At her first practice as a freshman member of the marching band, she collapsed, and was unable to hear or speak. The years at Unionville were pockmarked with sick days and visits to doctors, and it seemed that with every doctor, there was a different diagnosis.
“You go to doctors and you expect them to understand you, answer your questions, and provide a treatment, but we didn’t receive anything but inaccurate diagnoses,” said Harten’s mother, Sheri. “It became a constant process of searching and going online and asking questions.”
Finally, after being treated for a virus in her sophomore year, Harten received the diagnosis that she had been waiting for.
“You have Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, or POTS,” the doctor told her.
Eight years ago, Kulp went from being a year-round volleyball athlete to a bed-bound teenager with no answers for what was causing her debilitating
All photos courtesy Erin Harten of Kennett Square, left, and Taylor Kulp of West Chester have organized The Race to Beat POTS, an annual fundraising event for Dysautonomia International.
The POTsies
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pain and fatigue. A student at West Chester East High School, Kulp spent her sophomore and junior years at home. Just prior to the start of her senior year, she was diagnosed with POTS in 2014 at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., and spent three weeks at the Mayo Clinic’s Pain Management Program.
“I thought that it was my fault, that I was doing something wrong,” Kulp said. “I was trying everything -- increasing my salt intake and my fluids and working on perfecting my medications -- and nothing would work. I didn’t know more that I could be doing. My parents were just as frustrated.”
Kulp said that the worst of it was that she could not pronounce the disease she had. *
Dysautonomia International is a worldwide, non-profit organization that helps identify the causes and cures for all forms of dysautonomia, in order to enhance the quality of life for those suffering from the illnesses associated with the disease, which include POTS.
Erin Harten did not know Taylor Kulp when they both attended the 2015 Dysautonomia International Conference in Washington, D.C., but they both came with the same intention: To affirm their belief that they were not the only people living with POTS. They weren’t. They met patients, caregivers, researchers, physicians, industry representatives, non-profit leaders and government policy makers. On the last night of the
conference, both sat in on a workshop about organizing fundraising events.
“Every member of the audience was asked to divide up into a group,” Kulp said. “Erin was part of the group I was in, and when we both realized that we’re both from the same area, we began to think, ‘Let’s start a race of our own back in Chester County.’”
Team Hearts with Harten and Team T. Kulp were born.
On June 12, 2016, the first Race to Beat POTS drew 200 people to Anson B. Nixon Park in Kennett Square. Organized by Harten, Kulp and dozens of volunteers, the 5K run and walk raised $16,000 for Dysautonomia International.
“The whole event just blew up on social media,” Harten said. “Seeing the reaction of so many people confirmed to me that there is a community of local people who are going through the same experience, and it was incredible to meet so many others who are going through the same thing.”
After the race, Harten and Kulp turned to their mothers and told them that they were holding the second Race to Beat POTS in 2017.
In the weeks leading up to this year’s race, Harten and Kulp raised the bar just a bit with a fundraising goal at $25,000. On June 18, the second Race to Beat POTS raised $35,000 for Dysautonomia International.
For their work, Harten and Kulp both received the Volunteer of the Year award at this year’s Dysautonomia International conference in Washington, D.C. There, they met representatives from the offices of Sen. Bob Casey and Sen. Ryan Costello, and talked to them about how the government can help spearhead efforts to raise both money and awareness to those living with POTS.
*
There are a lot of worst days in Kulp’s life. Twice a week, she attends physical therapy sessions, and twice a year, she and her mother fly to the Mayo Clinic in Phoenix for week-long treatments. She spends most of her days in bed, and when she does
The races have drawn several hundred competitors to Anson B. Nixon Park in Kennett Square.
leave the house, her mother pushes her in a wheelchair. She relies on a feeding tube for most of her nutrition.
“And yet, I continue to draw inspiration from seeing my fellow POTsies, and hearing how they are able to maneuver their way through life and overcome those limitations,” she said. “I felt very alone at first, not understanding what POTS meant, and now I don’t feel alone at all.”
Kulp wants to achieve her dream of attending nursing school, in order to dedicate her life to extending empathy to patients who are experiencing pain.
Harten is now a sophomore at Gettysburg College, where she is studying biology in preparation for becoming a doctor. She will specialize in treating patients who live with the disease she has come to accept.
“We have to turn this into a positive,” Harten said. “There are a lot of people who are in the same position who are now working and living their lives. Volunteering on behalf of others has given me a hope and a passion in life.”
To learn more about POTS, Dysautonomia, other forms of Dysautonomia, or Dysautonomia International visit www.dysautonomiainternational.org.
To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email rgaw@chestercounty.com.
The Race to Beat POTS has featured several individual teams, who compete to become top fundraisers.
Chadds Ford’s favorite drive-by
In 1986, H.G. Haskell planted his first crops on a six-acre pasture. The produce at SIW Vegetables is grown now on produce 60 acres, but shopping at the market has remained one of of the simple pleasures of living in Chadds Ford
Text
and
photos by Richard L. Gaw
Some time in the early part of the last century -- about 1910, as legend has it -- H.G. Haskell, Sr. bought a farm owned by the Pyle family and several other small farms around it, and called his new property the Hill Girt Farm.
The farm operated as a working dairy farm until 1972, and in 1986, H. G. Haskell III borrowed equipment and planted his first crops on a six-acre patch of Chester County earth -- sweet corn, tomatoes, peppers, raspberries and asparagus. Haskell opened SIW Vegetables on July 6, 1986, placing his crops for sale on a picnic table in the shade of a large Sycamore tree. He made $11 on that first day.
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Now, more than 30 years after that humble beginning, SIW Vegetables now offers nearly three dozen different varieties of fruit and vegetables, beautifully displayed on sturdy rows of tables and bins in full view of the sprawling countryside and just beside the tracks of the Pennsylvania Railroad on South Creek Road. Each autumn, SIW Vegetables becomes a visual love letter to the colors and textures of the season, and rare is the time when a youngster is not picking out what pumpkins will soon be going home, or a homeowner is not making Fall decorating decisions based on the plentiful supply of gourds.
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SIW Vegetables has become one of Chadds Ford’s most enduring treasures, and a muststop for thousands of families who come for the freshness of the food and leave with a jar of SIW tomato sauce, a locally-made jar of honey, a delicious pie and the warm feeling that they have been transported -- if only for a moment -- back to a simpler time.
GREEN GRAZER GOATS
ABOUT GREEN GRAZER GOATS:
In an age when people everywhere are becoming more environmentally conscience, goats have found a new role. They are being used as green, eco-friendly, all natural, land clearing machines.
Considering that goats can go places heavy equipment can’t, are more economical than human labor, are safer for the environment, leave no traces of cancerous chemicals behind, and leave a smaller carbon footprint on the land, goats are an ideal choice for noxious weed and vegetation control. Using goats as an ecofriendly, green, and sustainable approach to noxious vegetation management is an ideal solution for hillsides, rough terrain, open areas, pastures, ditches, and embankments. They eat Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, Poison Hemlock, Sumac, Kudzu, English Ivy, Wild Rose, and much more, like it was their job! This form of noxious weed removal is being used by homeowners, ranchers/farmers, municipalities, public land management companies, golf courses, and school systems all across the United States. Goats are a winwin proposition!
Green Grazer Goats is centrally located to service Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Our herds of healthy mixed sized goats are good for taking on any weed and brush clearing challenge.
HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO RENT GOATS:
Every property is different and every client’s needs are different. Our rates are based on several factors that we would be glad to discuss with you in person after visiting the area needing to be cleared. We have daily rates and weekly rates as well as a small setup fee. We are happy to work with you on payment terms and bartering is always an option.
THE FIRST STEP:
Contact us to set up a free meeting to tour the area to be cleared, discuss your needs and a time line for the Green Grazers to complete the job to your satisfaction.
WHAT’S NEXT:
After the initial meeting our staff will draft a proposal and present it to you. Once the proposal is accepted, a contract will be sent. After all the legalities are done and the agreed upon deposit is paid, it’s GO TIME! The Green Grazers are delivered to the job site at the agreed upon time and put to work annihilating weeds.
WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO:
Our contract agreements can be made to allow you, the customer, to participate in the care of the goats as much or as little as you feel comfortable with. Our staff will come to the site and do the preliminary set up. That involves putting up temporary electric fencing to keep the Grazers corralled and focused on one area at a time. We also provide them with shelter, water and minerals to keep them healthy and happy, so they can do what goats do best, EAT!
Our staff will visit often to monitor the Grazers and report to the client on their progress. At the end of the Green Grazers contracted time, we will meet with the client to discuss options and provide feedback on the area that was recently cleared. It is IMPORTANT to us that we leave our customers satisfied with a JOB WELL DONE!
If you would like to schedule an appointment to discuss how Green Grazer Goats managed goat grazing could be right for you, or for more information, call 484-643-6939 or visit us and Like us on Facebook at Green Grazer Goats
The formula of the unstoppable
IBy Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
t is a rainy Friday morning at Fit Body Boot Camp in Chadds Ford, and owner Stacey Cutler’s dream is whipping itself into a laughing frenzy of energy and movement, to the point where the workout mat is like a dance floor.
Fitness instructor Jack Sweeney is a drill sergeant with a smile, leading the way in a class so diverse in age and body type that its members resemble a sweaty and happy United Nations of fitness.
Cutler’s other dream is seen in the form of men and women from every station in life who have been tossed together in a mutual admiration community, and between Sweeney’s encouragement and hands reaching out for other hands, the 30-minute workout has generated enough positive energy
When Stacey Cutler opened
Fit Body Boot Camp, her goal was to transform bodies and lives by getting people to believe in themselves
to launch the entire facility into the stratosphere. And that’s just the way that Cutler planned it, and soon, without warning and just for fun, Cutler joins the class, jumping and jiving with the bend of joyous arms, outstretched.
To understand how these two dreams dovetailed into a successful fitness facility -- how Cutler and her 11-member staff have come to help thousands of people -- it is essential to leap back 11 years ago, to when Cutler began working at a mall.
After graduating from West Chester University in 2000 with a degree in exercise science and a minor in nutrition, Cutler began her professional career at “big-box” fitness centers, but by 2006, she had left the world of fitness and even stopped her normally regimented workout routine. She took a job at a mall, and during the many slow times
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All photos by Jie Deng Stacey Cutler, the owner of Fit Body Boot Camp in Chadds Ford.
Fit Body Boot Camp
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she experienced at her job, she began to imagine what she wanted to do in her life: To create and operate an intimate space for people whose steps toward changing their lives were tiny.
“I wanted to open a facility where people would not be intimidated, where there was a sense of lifting each other up, rather than knocking people down,” she said. “I wanted to open a small, safe place where personal journeys could begin.
“Working at those large, impersonal fitness centers taught me that while I wanted to help change people’s lives, I wanted to help them change not only physically, but give them the freedom to discover who they are deep inside. I knew it wasn’t going to be achieved standing in a mall. I knew I had to take a risk.”
In 2007, Cutler opened Fit For Life in an intimate, 500-square-foot space in Chadds Ford, and after two years, she expanded her business by moving to a studio on Ridge Road. During that time, she
Fit Body Boot Camp fitness instructor Jack Sweeney puts a recent class through its paces.
Fit Body Boot Camp specializes in 30-minute workouts that burn fat and increase muscle, in a fun, community-like environment.
began to study the mission of the Fit Body Boot Camp, and in 2016, she opened her own franchise in Chadds Ford.
“I loved everything about their vision, their core values, and their belief in the community of fitness,” Cutler said. “In the end, it’s not about what you look like or how much weight you lose, it’s about feeling unstoppable. If you take action in changing your mind and make small changes in your life, you will see results.”
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Fit Body Boot Camp in Chadds Ford draws a wide variety of members in a circle of positivity and encouragement.
THE OUTBACK COMPANY STORE
- 5:00PM · 610-932-5008
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At its programming core, Fit Body Boot Camp is known for its 30-minute workout, in conjunction with its Unstoppable Fitness Formula, which provide fitness and fat loss workouts in a fun, high-intensity group training workout program. The Formula was designed to not only burn fat and calories while working out, but to create an “after-burn” effect. This after-burn increases metabolism for up to an additional 30 hours after a workout, and helps to create a tighter waist, toned arms, and leaner legs.
“It digs into the intensity of a workout rather than the duration of one, and it allows people to get results more quickly,” Cutler said. “It’s great for people who are pressed for time. Your heart rate is getting higher and you burn more calories after the workout is over.”
The Chadds Ford location is one of hundreds of Fit Body Boot Camp locations worldwide, whose mission is focused on a “2020 vision,” which is to expose and engage 20 percent of the world’s population to a healthy and fit lifestyle by the year 2020.
At Chadds Ford Fit Boot Camp, the word “Unstoppable” has come to take on an array of meanings far beyond its relation to a fitness formula. The word is seen on T-shirts, is printed on the facility’s walls, and has become for many clients, an active verb they apply to their own journeys.
It rarely starts out that way, said operations manager Nimpa Bosch.
“Initially, people come in with an idea to lose inches and a few pounds, but what happens is that their mindset changes, and then being at Fit Body Boot Camp slowly becomes a change in their lifestyle,” she said. “Over time, they’re seeing results, but it becomes less important than having this experience that allows them to change their life.
“Stacey has created this community that people want to be a part of,” Bosch added. “They get great results,
they achieve their goals, but it’s the community that becomes most important to them. We are all encouraging each other to achieve goals.”
“Hundreds and hundreds of people come in, and I always ask them, ‘What brought you here?’ I would say that 99 percent of them say that they want to lose weight, whether they’re 90 pounds or 200 pounds,” Cutler said. “But what I enforce is that it’s really not about pounds. It’s about achieving your challenges. It becomes a sense of empowerment over their own lives, a sense of belief.
“We change people’s lives … not just what they look like.”
West Goshen Fit Body Boot Camp is located at 1003 West Chester Pike, West Chester, Pa.19382. Chadds Ford Fit Body Boot Camp is located at 100 Ridge Road, Suite 34, Chadds Ford, Pa. 19317.
For three FREE sessions, visit www.chaddsfordfitbody.com or www.westgoshenfitbody.com, call 610-358-2395 or email admin@chaddsfordfitbody.com.
To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email rgaw@chestercounty.com.
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CCIPR captured this image of a spirit at Pennhurst State School and Hospital in August 2015. Investigator Carol Starr said, ‘The figure seeming to be taking a big stride across the room. The feet look so unbalanced or twisted in stride. Moving up from the feet, notice that you can see right through the legs to the crumbling walls. As you look further up, I see something that looks as if it’s carrying something. Then, the upper shoulders and neck and head seems to narrow and disappear.’
Ghost trusters?
Area group of paranormal investigators tries to validate claims of spirits, apparitions
Members of CCIPR were conducting an EVP session in the basement of The Orphanage located in Gettysburg. When asked if there was a little girl present, a direct response was captured on the audio device but not heard at the time of this recording.
The tools used during a haunting investigation are just environmental instruments, said Bob M. of the Chester County Institute of Paranormal Research. Back, from left: EM Vortex — electromagnetic pump -- creates electromagnetic field into the environment; SB7 - Spirit Box 7 -- AM/FM digital sweep radio; Panasonic QR 240 -- digital audio recorder; Sony ICD 520 -- digital audio recorder; front: Parascope -- static electricity meter; K2 – electromagnetic field meter — detects electromagnetic fields; Olympus VN 4100 -- digital audio recorder; and Analog EMF Meter — detects electromagnetic fields
By Natalie Smith Staff Writer
For Bob M., hearing is believing.
He acts as an investigator and technical manager with the Chester County Institute of Paranormal Research (CCIPR), a West Chester-based group that for about a dozen years has attempted to authenticate manifestations of ghosts or spirits.
Bob M., who asked that his last name not to be used, is the group member who records the spiritual voices, growls and whistles called EVPs or Electronic Voice Phenomena.
“There are different classes of EVPs, Class A, B and C,” said the 49-year-old with a clinical, serious tone.” Class A is an EVP where it’s definitive, where you and I hear the same voice, and we know exactly what it’s saying. It’s usually a direct response to our questions.
“Class B response is you think it said ‘Larry’ and I think it said ‘Harry,’ but we both agree it said something. Maybe there’s a little bit of discrepancy in what we hear. And a Class C EVP is where it says something, and neither one of us is sure what it says. But we both heard something. There’s something there, but it’s too garbled or faded and we can’t determine what it said.
It’s a sound made on purpose. “Definitely there is intent there. From what? I can’t determine that -- still even today, after doing this as a group for well over 10 years,” Bob said.
The CCIPR is currently made up of five members, but membership fluctuates depending on life situations. The group does not charge for its services, and it exists to help people who are having paranormal experiences in their homes by confirming their encounters.
“The purpose of our group ... the mission statement of our group, is to help people who are having these experiences, to validate their claims. It’s never to prove the paranormal,” Bob said.
“Let’s say you contact my group, and you’re having paranormal experiences happening in your home. We come out. We never say it’s a ghost; we never say, ‘This is what we believe, this is what we don’t,’ because everybody has a different belief system. What we try to do is validate people’s claims. So let’s say you’re hearing voices in your bedroom. Most people think,
Bob M. had fun adorning his Reverb box (right), which is an audio/ voice amplifer; next to his Mel Meter – Electromagnetic meter/temp gauge and static electricity detector.
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‘Geez, I’m going nuts.’ We’ve had people on the brink of divorce because the wife was having the experience, the kids were having the experience, and then the husband says, ‘My wife needs a psychiatrist. She’s hearing voices, she’s seeing things, she’s going crazy. I’m tired of this stuff. I’m working hard, trying to make an honest living and I’ve got to come home and deal with this?’
“So, they invite us into their home. If we can, we try to capture stuff like EVPs or videos or multiple lines of evidence,” Bob said. “And when you present it to people, you see the relief. Finally, somebody believes them. They’re not going crazy.
“When we can bring validation to that, that’s when many times you become their best friend, because the entire world doesn’t believe them. And that’s why we do this.”
Bob has had an interest in the paranormal for many years. He started pursuing his interest with friends who shared his curiosity while living in Florida in the 1990s and going to graduate school at Florida State. It was there he had his first EVP experience.
“We bought basic analog recorders with little cassette
tapes,” he said. “We had some of the old high-8 cameras and stuff, and we used to bounce around in cemeteries and just kind of look for various places, run-down hospitals and asylums in that area.
“We were in a cemetery. I caught an EVP on my cassette recorder We were asking questions: ‘Are there any spirits here?’ And I got an answer. Me and another guy, Jeff, were there. We knew there were only two of us, and it was neither one of our voices.
He later returned home to Chester County, where he was born and raised, but the experience haunted him.
“When I came back here, it was always just sitting with me – ‘Geez, I should really research this a little more.’ Because it was always on my mind. You have relatives that die, and you wonder, ‘Can they hear you? Can they see you? Are they still with you? What happens when we die? What’s the answer?’”
He became part of the CCIPR in 2005.
Bob was raised a Christian, and became born-again while living in the Sunshine State. Although some in his denomination might take issue with his paranormal pursuits, he doesn’t see a conflict.
“Dealing with this thing, [some] see is occultist activities, like you’re dancing with the devil,” he said. “I’ve been accused of all sorts of things, but I’ve never looked at it that way. I’ve always looked at it from the scientific viewpoint. I really believe that we’re in the age of scientific enlightenment. Meaning, we finally have the equipment, the technology, probably within the last 15, 20 years, to really be able to communicate with spirits on the other side.
“For thousands of years there’s always been ghost stories. But not until the last 15 or 20 years have people started capturing and validating their claims – ‘I saw a ghost. Check out this video.’
“Like cell phone technology. Everyone has access to a camera immediately in their hands.
Photos by Natalie Smith
Bob M. is an investigator and technical manager with the Chester County Institute of Paranormal Research, a West Chester-based group that attempts to authenticate manifestations of ghosts or spirits.
So now, if you see something in your house, you can immediately film it or take a picture of it. Whereas 15, 20 years ago, you had to run and get the camera.”
According to Bob, whose full-time job is teaching high-school special education, the basis for the CCIPR is science, despite some of its having developed psychic or “sensitive” abilities.
“Some people have [psychic] abilities, but that’s just another tool in our toolbox,” he said. “But we rely on our equipment and we rely on the best technology we have. There’s no such thing as ghost-hunting equipment. [What we use] are just environmental instruments that have different sensors that gauge different changes in the environment, whether it’s electromagnetic fields, temperature or humidity. They’re just basically weather instruments, in a way.
“But the theory behind it in the field is that spirit energy has the ability to manipulate the environment, so a lot of times when people have paranormal experience, there
will be fluctuations in the electromagnetic fields in the environment.”
In addition to confirming the existence of a spirit to homeowners, the group has spent time in areas believed to be heavily haunted, such as Gettysburg. The deaths of about 51,000 people in this three-day Civil War battle left the area awash with spirits, Bob said.
On its website, the CCIPR has a recording it says is a little girl spirit in the basement of an orphanage in Gettysburg, responding to a direct question. This 2009 recording was the first time since the 1990s that Bob heard a voice he believed to be a spirit.
A one-time member of the group sensed there was a child ghost in the basement and asked its gender. When asked again, a clearly spoken “Yes” is heard, leading the “sensitive” to confirm it was a girl.
“When you’re looking for audio evidence, you’re looking for direct communication, in which you ask a
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question and they say something right back to you,” Bob said. “This is the holy grail, you might say. Getting direct feedback to a question you asked. So it has to be an intelligent source.
“When I caught this on my recorder, our jaws dropped. For me, audio communication is the best proof of the paranormal. It takes so much energy for spirits to manifest themselves physically. I don’t know if it’s because of the frequency that they’re on or what, but EVPs take a lot less energy to kind of communicate with you through an audio device than it does to appear in the corner of your house.”
There are three kinds of hauntings, he said.
“A residual haunting, which most of Gettysburg is, is also not a ghost. You may see an apparition. It’s like a movie looped over and over again. So, same time every year at Pickett’s Charge in July, you’ll see a group of seven Confederate soldiers marching across the field. You can’t interact with them, they don’t know you’re there. There’s no intelligence there, it’s just energy that’s harbored into the environment and it just loops back. That’s a classic case of a residual haunting. If you’re going to have one, that’s probably the best ghost to have, like Grandma comes down the steps at 3 o’clock every Sunday,” he said, laughing. “They’re not going to hurt you.”
The second kind, Bob said, are “intelligent hauntings,” like the little girl spirit in the basement.
“It interacts with you on a personal level. You can communicate and it gives a direct answer back to you. It seems to know what you’re doing,” he said. “It may or may not understand that it has passed on. It thinks it’s alive and that it’s in its own house and it wants you out. They’re trying to get your attention in some way. They can manifest physically, but sometimes they don’t.
“Then there are the demonic cases. That’s not a ghost – never inhabited a body living on earth. Whether you believe in demons or not ... personally, I do. But they’re very rare. And what’s a demon? It’s your interpretation of your belief system.”
Bob advised against using a Ouija board or any type of divination cards. “You’re opening yourself up to [demonic energy],” he warned. “That stuff seems to draw more negative energy. To me, it’s like playing with matches.”
One of the most haunted houses the group worked on was a home in Avondale, Bob said. It was built in the 1800s. “The people were renters,” he said. “We caught balls of light shooting out of the walls, EVPs ... We’re sitting in a living room, and the spirits were chiming in on
our conversation. We couldn’t hear it until we played back the recording.”
Bob said there’s something he’d like the public to remember about his group.
“We’re not the Ghostbusters,” he said. “We’re investigators and we’re there to validate your claim solely. Now, we can recommend people in the field that we know who can give your home some kind of spiritual cleansing. But don’t look to our group to do it. We’re a scientificbased group. We’re here just to validate your claims, so you don’t think you’re going crazy.”
Author’s note: Fifteen minutes into the interview for this story, the electricity suddenly went out in the building where it was being conducted. It was early evening, so the lack of light plunged Bob and I into darkness. The weather was calm, there was no one working with electrical tools and nearby buildings hadn’t lost
power. Three minutes later, the electricity returned. Coincidence? Perhaps.
More information about the Chester County Institute of Paranormal Research is available at www.ccipr.org.
Natalie Smith may be contacted at DoubleSMedia@rocketmail. com or www.DoubleSMedia.com.
This audio was captured by an analog recording device that was left alone in the Jennie Wade basement in Gettysburg. A young girl and an old man can be heard mumbling to each other for a long time.
