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Toward the end
of 1785, the great Scottish bard Robert Burns was sitting in church.
Glancing at an impeccably dressed lady sitting in front of him, he
was shocked to see a common head louse crawling up the ribbons
of her beautiful hat.

And so it was,
from this unsettling experience he wrote the poem, "To a Louse."
While the poem goes on for eight verses bemoaning the
situation, the two lines that everyone remembers are in the last
verse:

"O wad
some power the gifte gie us,
 tae see oursels as ithers see
us."

(No I’m not
typing in the dark again. It’s written in Scottish dialect.)

Recently I
started thinking: What if the village of Chadds Ford could “see ourselves as
others see us?”

We have so
much culture and history concentrated into just a few miles: The Brandywine
Battlefield, the Chadds Ford Gallery, the Sanderson Museum, the
houses of the Chadds Ford Historical Society, the Brandywine River
Museum and the Chaddsford Winery. And we’re either so self-absorbed
driving down Route 1 every morning or so involved in the volunteerism that we
cannot step back and be objective.

This past
weekend I found some “others” in Bill and Frances Lovelace, making a
return visit to Chadds Ford from their native state of Oregon. Both
college graduates, they took early retirement while still in
their 50s to see the world. Having toured most of Europe, they have now gone on
to Australia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Fiji, Croatia and Slovenia. 

Active and
knowledgeable travelers, they’re the kind of people we like to
attract to our museums and restaurants. Their hometown of Baker City, where
they own two Victorian houses on the National Historic Register, is located on
the old Oregon Trail and is home to the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.

Bill, who's great-grandfather
came west on the Oregon Trail, felt that one of our strengths was our history
and spoke of Oregon as having a "short history." "The oldest
towns and houses in the west are only 100-150 years old. In Oregon we can read
about early American history, but in Chadds Ford you can see it and visit
it."

"The Oregon Trail was
an amazing migration, but it's just too new," Frances added. Of their
visit to the Brandywine Battlefield she said, "I'm just in awe of what
took place here"

But she readily admitted,
"When I hear Chadds Ford, I think of Andrew Wyeth. His art is
quintessential Pennsylvania art. I think of those scenes that make me feel
like I’m in Pennsylvania. He represents a significant chapter in American
Art."

And they like
our food too. When Bill first visited the area he was introduced to
scrapple and loved it so much that he took home the recipe and learned to make it from
scratch. An avid cook, he grinds his own pork and blends in the spices and
cornmeal. Not surprisingly, when they visit Chadds Ford, they like to eat at
Hanks and the Chadds Ford Tavern.

On future trips, Frances
would like to watch the glass blowing at Simon Pearce, as well as see more
shops in the area.

In a couple of months I’ll
be getting married and moving away from this very special village. Please don’t
take it for granted. The others who see it don’t.

About Sally Denk Hoey

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.”

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