OK boys and girls. Today we are going to learn two
foreign phrases which relate to all of us who live in the 19317 zip code and
everyone else within shouting distance.

Now everyone repeat after me,  “Noblesse
oblige”.  It’s French.

In short. If you have been blessed with good
fortune,  you are obligated to help
the less fortunate .

Or putting it another way, in Luke 12:48, Jesus teaches
"From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required"

Do
you know what it means to live in the 19317 zip code? Ask your
friendly real estate agent.

Put
your address into www.zillow.com. Look, a
nice photo of your house with its current market value! Next click on “see home
info” and there is the year your home was built, the square footage, lot size,
the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, your neighborhood schools and what you
pay in property tax. If you think Big Brother does not exist, think again.

Now
take that home value from Zillow and check out your buying power in neighboring
communities. Surprised?

If
you don’t think you bought that Chadds Ford zip code, think again.

Your second phrase is, “Ora na azu nwa."

It’s a Nigerian proverb whch means “it takes the
village to raise a child.” It has been in existence in Africa for centuries.

The saying was the source for the title of a
delightfully written and beautifully illustrated  children's book “It
Takes a Village to Raise a Child” by Jane Cowen-Fletcher, published in 1994.

(Two years later, then First Lady, Hillary R
Clinton, published her own book, “It Takes a Village”, largely ghost-written by
Barbara Feinman. It was not a children’s book) 

In
Cowen-Fletcher’s book, young Yemi turns her back to buy some peanuts and finds
that her little brother Kokou has wandered off. She soon finds that the entire
village was watching out for him. 

I’m
coming to my point, so hear me out.

A
few months ago, Beth Rorke of the Brandywine Battlefield staff had asked me to
testify at state Sen. Pileggi’s May 18 hearing about the Battlefield Park’s
future.

It
was gratifying to see the almost 200 people in the lecture room of the
Brandywine River Museum.

Thirty-seven
people had signed on the roster to testify.

They
spoke about their children learning to love history; how this was the site of
the largest land battle of the American Revolution; how the Brandywine
Battlefield was one of the 12 most significant Revolutionary War sites in
America and on and on. Granted many of the speakers were already supporters of
the park but what about all the people who are crying now that the State has
demonstrated they actually can shut-down the Battlefield?

We
are, by and large, a rather affluent community. Many of you bought this zip
code for the prestige of living here.

‘Fess
up, you know you did.

So
what are you doing to support and care for the institutions that make Chadds
Ford such a great place to live: The Brandywine Battlefield, the Brandywine
River Museum, the Chadds Ford Historical Society, the Sanderson Museum?

Come
on Chadds Ford. Let’s put it all together now.

Noblesse Oblige and Ora na azu nwa.

You
have homework!

Class
dismissed.