Friendly determination

Granted, it didn’t come off as
originally planned, but the 325th anniversary celebration for
Birmingham Township did finally happen.

It’s easy to become jaded and
cynical about events centering around history when pretty much everything around
you relates to history and so many people claim to be the true caretakers of
history. But, it’s good when people honor their past, especially when they have
to demonstrate determination to do so.

Birmingham Township is the
oldest township in Chester County, founded in 1786. The township was finally
able to celebrate that fact last Saturday. It only took three tries.

Supervisors’ Chairman John
Conklin said a number of people became excited earlier in the year when they
realized Birmingham was 325 years old. They wanted to celebrate that fact.
There has always been a big deal made of how the Brinton family came to America
and settled in the Birmingham and Chadds Ford area after living in a cave when
they first arrived.

Today’s residents have a much
easier life, but they do appreciate what their predecessors had to endure, from
bartering with Indians to the Battle of Brandywine and everything in between
and since.

And while it’s nowhere near the
same determination that early settlers had to deal with, there was
determination in getting the anniversary celebration to actually happen.

The first scheduled date was
Aug. 27, but Hurricane Irene flushed that date. A secondary date in September
was also scuttled because of a scheduling conflict. That left last weekend.
Attendance wasn’t the best, but that was due to the fact that people are
involved in school-year activities, such as soccer games, football, hockey and
band practice.

It was also windy, so windy
that the celebration had to be scaled back. Larger displays had to be
scratched. Instead of a large screen to display an interactive map of the
Battle of Brandywine, only a simple laptop computer was used. Still, people
came and enjoyed the day.

Was it worth the $12,000 —
$7,000 in donations and $5,000 from the township coffers — it cost to put on?
That’s subjective. But, those who attended had a great day in the sun, played
games and ate for free.

The township was determined to
have a celebration and those who attended were determined to have a good time.
Good for both of them.

About CFLive Staff

See Contributors Page https://chaddsfordlive.com/writers/

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