State police are investigating the theft of a laptop
computer from a vehicle parked and McKenkie Brew Pub on Route 202. According to
a police report, the Dell laptop was taken from a Ford Escape after someone
smashed the driver’s side window to gain access to the vehicle. The computer
was in a black and gray backpack, the report said. Police said the incident
happened between 6:30 and 9 p.m. on Sept. 14.
• Police report a Philadelphia man lost control of his car
while making a left turn onto Route 202 south from Route 1 south. The report
said the accident was due to excessive speed. No injuries were reported, but
the vehicle, a Chevy S-10 was damaged when it struck a sign at the Sunoco
station.
The rain may have drenched the grounds but it didn’t dampen
the spirits of the Brandywine Battlefield Park Associates as members geared up
for a Remembrance Reception at the park Friday night.
“It was a heartbreaking decision whether to cancel or to
continue,” said associates’ President Linda Kaat, “but we said we had to honor
Brandywine tonight, rain or shine. … We’re going to deal with this torrential
rain. I know Cornwallis would never have crossed the Brandywine today.”
Hundreds of guests, including state Rep. Chris Ross, R-158,
of East Marlborough Township, gathered under a tent to pay their respects to
the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks and to those who fell during
the Sept. 11, 1777 Battle of Brandywine.
Included in the ceremony was a Remembrance Bell that was
driven in from New York City earlier in the day, a bell that had been used in
ceremonies there.
During Friday night’s ceremony, Eagle Scouts from Troop 31
rang that bell in honor of those who died on Flight 93, the flight that crashed
into the field at Shanksville killing all those on board.
“When you look at that ground zero bell,” Kaat said, “you
can not regret [being here.]”
Ross also noted the dual symbolism of the day, but paid
tribute to the associates for its efforts in getting the park reopened after
the state withdrew funding for the operation.
“This is a special place, a special area. This community has
stood by the history of this place for many, many years and it’s been a strong
tradition for the community,” Ross said.
He called the park a “unique teaching opportunity” for
youngsters to learn about the Battle of Brandywine and colonial life in
general.
“That is absolutely critical for us to be a successful
community, successful state and a successful nation, to be properly in touch
with our history.” Ross said.
The Remembrance Bells Project was the idea of Brother David
from the Franciscan Center of Wilmington. He said he got the idea while
attending the wake for Fr. Michael Judge, the New York Fire Department chaplain
who was killed on Sept. 11, 2001.
He said the idea was first to remember the firefighters who
were killed, but that blossomed into remembering everyone, Brother David said.
There are four September 11 Bells while the bells of
Remembrance Project has a total of 17 bells.
Also during the ceremony, Cub Scouts read the poem “We
Remember Them,” in honor of those who died in 2001, and members of the
Brandywine Baptist Church Choir sang “God Save the King” and the “Star Spangled
Banner” in honor of those who fell during the Battle of Brandywine.
ChaddsFordLive.com was a corporate sponsor of the event.
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
Chadds Ford Days is one of the two major fund-raising events
for the Chadds Ford Historical Society. CFHS President George Franz said he
would take a wait and see attitude before he could tell how much the rain hurt
this year. However, he was pleased to see Sunday’s sunshine.
“Usually we do better on Saturday than Sunday,” Franz said.
“We’ll do better today, probably [better] than on a normal Sunday.”
He said the decision to open Sunday was made Saturday
afternoon between 3 and 4:30 p.m.
That decision was based, not just on the promise of better
weather, but also through the coordinated efforts of many people in the greater
Chadds ford community.
Franz said a CFHS member who has a contact with someone from
Krapf buses organized a shuttle service, School Superintendent Sharon Parker
gave the OK for visitors to use the Chadds Ford Elementary School parking lot
and Chadds Ford Township Supervisor George Thorpe was able to arrange for the
use of the parking lot at the Chadds Ford Business Campus.
Visitors could use those other parking areas and be bused to
the historical society meadow. At least five visitors who parked in the field
next to the society’s grounds probably wished they had used those other lots
since they wound up getting stuck in the mud and had to be towed out with a
tractor. Even one of the antique cars on display on the fair grounds got stuck
and, for a while, so was the tractor trying to free the car.
Franz also said there was no shortage of volunteers Saturday
afternoon who showed up Saturday afternoon and early Sunday morning to help set
up in the soggy meadow.
“It was amazing,” Franz said, “but that’s what happened last
year, too. The difference was, we knew the storm was coming last year. This
year, we didn’t know we were going to get four inches of rain Friday night.”
Franz admits that the Kennett Mushroom Festival cuts into
some of the attendance at Chadds Ford Days, and he’s looking at other
attractions for the historical society. He said that’s one of the reasons they
bring in the antique cars for the fair, and that the society is looking at
bringing back the antique car show as a separate fund-raising event in the
spring.
But he added that the historical society tries to make
Chadds Ford Days more of a family event than is the Mushroom Festival and to
focus on more quality crafters and better quality artists.
“I think over two years the art show has improved
dramatically,” he said.
Visitors on Sunday had sunny skies and the usual Chadds Ford
Days activities. There was a hayride, moon bounce and a giant slide for the
kids as well as an area where the kids could don colonial garb.
There were colonial and contemporary crafting areas and an
area for artists to display their works.
A multitude of local restaurants were on hand with a variety
of foods and there was seating under the trees where people could sit, eat and
listen to live music, including a performance by perennial favorite Charlie
Zahm.
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
There was something for pretty much everyone in Chadds Ford
Township Friday night. There was the Remembrance Ceremony at the battlefield
park, an opening for a new Jamie Wyeth exhibit at the Brandywine River Museum
and the Chadds Ford Elementary School PTO held a family fun night at the
school.
There was conga line dancing, balloon games and even some
water ice that made people’s tongues blue. But, it was all in fun.
Luci McClure is a PTO co-president this year. She said the event
is for adults and children alike.
“It’s a way for families to get together at the beginning of
the school year, to reconnect from over the summer and for new people who are
coming in to make new friends,” McClure said.
She added that the event sets a nice tone for the scholastic
year, letting people make new friends.
As with many events scheduled for last Friday, the rain put
a damper on some plans. The same held true for Family Fun Night.
McClure said they hoped to be able to use the outdoor classroom
as was done two years ago, but that was impossible this year. But moving the
event inside wasn’t a problem.
And instead of a jazz band as they had the night the outdoor
classroom was unveiled, this year there was a rock band, The School House
Rockers, a group of four teachers from the Unionville-Chadds ford School
District.
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
The Pennsbury Township Park Committee is about to launch the
first Picnic in the park Saturday, Sept. 26 from noon to 4 p.m.
According to
Janice Pietrowicz, the event is designed to raise awareness of, and maybe some
money for the park.
“The event is only $5 per carload,” she said. “We want to
get people in and enjoying the park and get them to come back next year.”
In July, township supervisors voted to give $1,000 in seed
money to the committee to get the picnic going. Pietrowicz said the money has
been used to secure bands, vendors and cover the various costs of developing,
then bringing the picnic idea to life.
She said the idea for the picnic is a follow up to the movie
night held at the park several years ago, as well as a follow up to the balloon
festival.
The picnic–with a rain date of Oct. 3– will feature two
bands, free hay rides, kindermusik, kids games, tailgating, a raffle, some
face painting and scarecrow building contest with medals awarded for winners.
Pietrowicz suggests people bring some old clothes for the
scarecrow building.
One of the bands is The Flying Mangos.
“We want people to be part of the entertainment process,”
Pietrowicz said.
Rich Schwartzman has been reporting on events in the greater Chadds Ford area since September 2001 when he became the founding editor of The Chadds Ford Post. In April 2009 he became managing editor of ChaddsFordLive. He is also an award-winning photographer.
While there is a reluctance to sing praises about groups or
individuals, it is proper to do at times. Those being praised here are those
volunteers without whom little would happen. The point was driven home this
past weekend.
We’re not talking about those who volunteer their time on
government boards or commissions. That’s something altogether different. The
people we’re talking about are those who took a washout and turned it into a
gem of a weekend. At times, though, the distinction is blurred.
George Franz, president of the Chadds Ford Historical
Society, said it was volunteers who gave extra time and energy to get the
society’s meadow ready for Chadds Ford Days activities on Sunday following
torrential rains Friday and into Saturday. That rain forced the cancellation of
events for Saturday.
Mr. Franz specifically named two people, Superintendent of
Schools Sharon Parker and Chadds ford Township Supervisor George Thorpe, as
being instrumental in getting alternate parking available for visitors.
But in thanking volunteers, Mr. Franz and the many other
volunteers at the historical society should be included for their dedication
and many hours of volunteer service to make Chadds Ford Days a reality every
year.
Mr. Thorpe also had praises heaped upon him from sources
within the Brandywine Battlefield Park Associates this past Friday night.
Richard Bowers, treasurer of the associates said Mr. Thorpe took the brunt of
the responsibility in dealing with the state to help keep the park open, this
time being operated by the associates, not the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Without those efforts, Mr. Bowers said, the park would not
have reopened after the state stopped funding the operation on Aug. 14.
Here, too, as with the historical society, members of the
park associates must also be thanked for their efforts in running the park on a
volunteer basis. Not only do they keep alive the educational process of
interpretive history but, they managed to conduct a wonderful Remembrance
Ceremony in honor of Sept. 11 dual anniversaries of the 2001 terror attacks and
the 1777 Battle of Brandywine.
Those involved in both events and organizations should be
proud of their efforts. Well done.
Driving
to work last Friday, I felt like someone playing a giant game of “Where’s Waldo.”
Although
I wasn’t looking for the little boy in a red and while striped shirt and
matching beanie, I was looking for a flag with a red field and a red and white American flag
image in the canton- the so-called Brandywine regimental flag.
As
we know, Friday, Sept. 11, was the anniversary of the largest land battle of
the American Revolution – the Battle of the Brandywine. And the Pennsylvania
Historic and Museum Commission closed the 55-acre Battlefield Historic Site in
August.
So
the Brandywine Battlefield Park Associates under the leadership of Linda Kaat,
asked the Village of Chadds Ford to come together in show of unity by flying
the Brandywine Flag from September 9 -13 to commemorate the battle.
Flags
were flying from the ReMax office on Route 202 as well as Jimmy John’s. On
Route 1, the Chadds Ford Township Building and Post Office, The Bistro on the
Brandywine, the Brandywine Prime and the Pennsbury Inn. And on Creek Road, The
Sanderson Museum, the Chadds Ford Historical Society and on up to the
Dilworthtown Inn and the Blue Pear. There were even Brandywine flags flying in
New York, Massachusetts, California and England!
According to historian
and veteran re-enactor Paul Loane, who commands the
re-created Second Pennsylvania Regiment and 43rd Regiment of Foot…these regimental flags not only helped to instill unit pride, but:
“….served
an important function in battle, as officers used them to align their companies
in the correct position since they could usually be seen through the smoke and
chaos that were a part of 18th century warfare.”
If
you watched “The Patriot“ you saw Mel Gibson charging the British while waving
a “Betsy Ross” flag.
Now,
I don’t really have time to burst your bubble about the near fictional legend
of the thrice-married Elizabeth Griscom Ross Ashburn Claypool who sewed ships
pennants and claimed to have done some tailoring for General Washington. But
according to Loane:
“There
are no known Revolutionary War examples of the iconic “Betsy Ross” pattern flag
in existence and, if ever produced, probably did not appear until the last
moments of the conflict in the first half of the 1780s.”
But
in doing some basic research last week, I didn’t think I would accidentally
discover a fact about the Brandywine flag’s origins that even leading
authorities on the battle had…well how do I put this….wrong !
For
years, the Brandywine flag had always been represented as being the regimental
flag of Captain Robert Wilson’s 7th Pennsylvania and was believed to
have seen action at Cooch’s Bridge in Delaware, Brandywine and Germantown. A
footnote mentioned that the original was housed at the Independence National
Historic Park in Philadelphia.
So
I contacted Karie Diethorn, Chief Curator at the Independence National
Historical Park, who dropped the proverbial bombshell.
”The
Brandywine Battle Flag was not the flag carried by the 7th Pennsylvania
Regiment at the 11 September battle. Rather, it was carried by Richard Wilson’s
Chester County militia, ” she stated.
“The
confusion about the flag’s identity arose because the commanders of these two
units had the same name– Wilson. The Chester County Wilson was correctly
identified because it was his descendents who donated the flag to Independence
Hall in 1923.”
Isn’t
t amazing how a little piece of red cloth can unite a community?
Sally Denk Hoey, is a Gemini - one part music and one part history. She holds a masters degree cum laude from the School of Music at West Chester University. She taught 14 years in both public and private school. Her CD "Bard of the Brandywine" was critically received during her almost 30 years as a folk singer. She currently cantors masses at St Agnes Church in West Chester where she also performs with the select Motet Choir. A recognized historian, Sally serves as a judge-captain for the south-east Pennsylvania regionals of the National History Day Competition. She has served as president of the Brandywine Battlefield Park Associates as well as the Sanderson Museum in Chadds Ford where she now curates the violin collection. Sally re-enacted with the 43rd Regiment of Foot and the 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment for 19 years where she interpreted the role of a campfollower at encampments in Valley Forge, Williamsburg, Va., Monmouth, N.J. and Lexington and Concord, Mass. Sally is married to her college classmate, Thomas Hoey, otherwise known as "Mr. Sousa.”
