February 29, 2012 - ChaddsFordLive.com

Michael F. D’Amico of Toughkenamon

uncle mike photo — Michael F. D'Amico of Toughkenamon

Michael F. D’Amico, 79, of Toughkenamon, died peacefully on Feb. 28. He was the son of the late Eugene M. D’Amico, Sr. and Mary (Testa) D’Amico.

He served in the United States Army during the Korean War as a Teletype operator.

He was a partner at D’Amico Brother’s Mushrooms for more than 45 years until retiring in 1997.

He was a member of the Tuffie’s Sports Club and was known as one of the best poker players in the area.

He cherished spending time with his family and especially enjoyed his Friday luncheons with his friends. His favorite past time was fishing, hunting and jigsaw puzzles.

He is survived by his brother, Anthony V. D’Amico, Sr. and his wife Thelma and a sister-in-law, Gloria D’Amico, of Bear.

He was preceded in death by his brother Eugene M. D’Amico Jr.

He is also survived by six nieces and nephews: Dr. Eugene M. D’Amico III, Rebecca McMahan, Marcella D’Amico, Anthony D’Amico Jr., Donna D’Amico Lilley, and Mary Belfiore.

In addition, Michael is survived by 12 great nieces and nephews.

Friends and family are welcomed to call on Friday, March 2, from 10 a.m. to noon at St. Gabriel’s of the Sorrowful Mother, 8910 Gap Newport Pike in Avondale. A mass will follow at noon. Burial will be in St. Patrick’s Cemetery, Kennett Square.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to the Neighborhood Hospice, 400 East Marshall Street, West Chester, PA 19380.

A sincere thank you to the entire staff at the Neighborhood Hospice for their exceptional care, which was greatly appreciated.

Online condolences may be made by visiting www.griecocares.com

Arrangements by the Kuzo & Grieco Funeral Home, Kennett Square, PA (Phone: 610-444-4116 )

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Brandywine Ballet presents ”Beauty & the Beast”

Arts & Entertainment

Brandywine
Ballet will present a new, full-length ballet “Beauty & the Beast” April 27 at 10 a.m., April 28 at 4 p.m.,
and April 29 at 2 p.m. at the Emilie K. Asplundh Concert Hall located at 700 S.
High Street in West Chester. Tickets are $25, $30 and $40. Group, Senior, and
University discounts apply.

Traditionally
comprised of mixed repertoire, Brandywine Ballet’s spring production has in
recent years included performance debuts, world premieres, and Balanchine
ballets. This spring however, Brandywine Ballet will undertake an exciting new,
full-length ballet: Nancy Page’s “Beauty
and the Beast.” Page has adapted the timeless fairy tale for the ballet
stage. The production will feature captivating castle, village, and forest
scenes that come to life with music and lighting. The fanciful cast of dancers
includes townsfolk and forest animals, as well as a dancing teapot, clock,
feather dusters, and more. Brandywine Ballet encourages audiences to join Belle
as her story unfolds in a wonderfully spirited tale of adventure, friendship,
loyalty, romance, and the importance of finding inner beauty.

Brandywine
Ballet will also host “Be Our Guest,”
a meet the cast event, Sunday, April 29 at 4 p.m. in the Philips Memorial
Library (upstairs from Emilie K. Asplundh Concert Hall). Admission to “Be Our Guest” is $18. Tickets are
available at www.brandywineballet.com or 610-696-2711. This special event is an
opportunity for children of all ages to experience another dimension of “Beauty & the Beast” by joining
Belle, Beast, and other characters for a special meet-and-greet full of party
delights, including sweet snacks and fare! Please note: tickets sold separately
for the Beauty & the Beast
performances at www.brandywineballet.com or 610-696-2711.

About
Brandywine Ballet: Artistic Director Donna Muzio founded the Brandywine Ballet
in 1979. Bringing together pre-professional, professional, and special guest
dancers with diverse artistic backgrounds and experience, Brandywine Ballet has
established itself as a formidable platform for dance training and performance
in the Greater Philadelphia region. In recent years, the company has strived to
expand its repertoire, premiering new works by guest choreographer’s Matthew Neenan
(Ballet X), Ronen Koresh (Koresh Dance Company), Meredith Rainey (formerly
Pennsylvania Ballet), Christopher Fleming (formerly NYC Ballet), and Resident
Choreographer Nancy Page. Most recently, the company performed Mozart’s Requiem with the Brandywine Singers and
live orchestral ensemble. By arrangement with The George Balanchine Trust,
Brandywine Ballet has also performed several works in accordance with
Balanchine Style® and Balanchine Technique® Service standards. Brandywine
Ballet is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, and receives support from the
Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, Chester County Conference and Visitors
Bureau, the local business community, and many generous individuals.

About Press Release

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Interconnections of business

Opinion

There was no public gnashing of
teeth, rending of clothes or wails of regret when Endo Pharmaceutical announced
last year that it was pulling out of Chadds Ford. Then, as now, the public
reaction is a muttered, “That stinks,” as one person said.

The commenter was correct. It
stinks for the township, but possibly more for other businesses in the area.

Part of the reason Endo is
leaving is that projections indicate its future work force will be coming from
other areas that make East Whiteland a more central location. However, township
ordinances and the bureaucratic process also come into play. The corporate
decision was to get all employees under one roof, not the three buildings it
now leases in Painters Crossing.

According to Mark Eisenhardt of
The Henderson Group, Endo’s current landlord, it didn’t help that there’s an
ordnance against buildings more than 40 feet tall. He added that the history of
getting the current three buildings approved — how slow the process was — also influenced
Endo’s decision to leave.

This is not like the loss of
the three shops — the deli, the coffee shop and the book and toy store — that
all closed last year. They were retail establishments that had a clientele.
While people liked the shops, business was down and the patrons lost. That’s
not the case with Endo. Endo is still alive and serving its pharmaceutical
customers.

What stings for the township is
the loss of an estimated $22,000 per year in tax revenue. That figure came from
Joe Barakat, Chadds Ford Township manager.

Whether one considers that to
be a large sum for a small municipality is debatable, but there’s really no
good way for the township to make up the loss. As Supervisors’ Vice Chair
Deborah Love said, it really can’t. The township can only hope that the
landlord can fill those soon-to-be-vacant buildings.

Does the township need the
money? Don’t we all?

Joking aside, the township does
not supply a lot of services, but it has to pay for those it does supply. It
pays for the salting and plowing of township roads when needed and repairs its
roads through the annual Road Program.

It has also kept taxes low.
This was the first year in many in which taxes rose, but the millage rate is
still less than a mill, 0.787 mills to be exact.

But there is a symbiotic
relationship among businesses. Neighboring retailers will suffer with the loss
of Endo and its employees. It’s the gas stations, restaurants and other small
businesses in Painters Crossing that will suffer the loss of business from the
Endo employees who will no longer be around.

The only thing that will help
is to get new tenants for those three buildings. The township should do what it
can to facilitate that happening.

About CFLive Staff

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Mind Matters: Unkempt Hair, the Oscars, Makeup, and the Self

Health

Okay,
let’s start out with “unkempt hair.” American Experience’s (a PBS documentary
series) recent theme was the presidency of William Clinton. The narrator
remarked, in passing, about Hillary Clinton’s “unkempt hair” in President
Clinton’s early career. The implication was that her hairstyle over the years
had morphed from unruly and wild to more dignified and tamed. In other words,
she was being judged as a woman by how her hair “behaved” or didn’t. The fact
that the brain beneath the hair was rather brilliant was offset by the focus on
her “wildness.” We really can get caught up in trivia under the guise of what
we deem important.

Importance,
too, is granted to the rich and famous: the Hollywood celebrities with Oscars
are in the headlines this week. While the culture again dictates what the
unreachable “norm” is in form and fashion, there is a counterpoint. The Renfrew
Center declared the day after the Oscars as “no makeup day.” A nationally known
treatment center for eating disorders with its main facility in Philadelphia,
the Renfrew Center, proclaimed Feb. 27 this year as a day to be “barefaced,” to
bring home to women of all ages, the sense of being satisfied with our natural
looks. Self-image is so often defined (and maligned) by the prevailing culture.

What a
joy to be able to affirm oneself sans makeup and with natural hair—unkempt
even! Why just one day? Why not every day? The bottom line, of course, is about
recognizing that true self-worth has nothing to do with appearance or how
someone else judges our looks (that goes for both men and women). Once we are
confident within, then how we dress or “do” makeup becomes our personal choice,
a personal statement of self, not a “should” or a “shame.”

(Of
note: The event of Feb. 27 was the kickoff to Renfrew’s “Barefaced and Beautiful,
Without and Within” campaign as part of National Eating Disorders Awareness
Week—Feb. 26 to March 3.)

* Kayta Curzie Gajdos holds a
doctorate in counseling psychology and is in private practice in Chadds Ford,
Pennsylvania. She welcomes comments atMindMatters@DrGajdos.com or 610-388-2888. Past columns
are posted tohttp://www.drgajdos.com

About Kayta Gajdos

Dr. Kathleen Curzie Gajdos ("Kayta") is a licensed psychologist (Pennsylvania and Delaware) who has worked with individuals, couples, and families with a spectrum of problems. She has experience and training in the fields of alcohol and drug addictions, hypnosis, family therapy, Jungian theory, Gestalt therapy, EMDR, and bereavement. Dr. Gajdos developed a private practice in the Pittsburgh area, and was affiliated with the Family Therapy Institute of Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, having written numerous articles for the Family Therapy Newsletter there. She has published in the American Psychological Association Bulletin, the Family Psychologist, and in the Swedenborgian publications, Chrysalis and The Messenger. Dr. Gajdos has taught at the college level, most recently for West Chester University and Wilmington College, and has served as field faculty for Vermont College of Norwich University the Union Institute's Center for Distance Learning, Cincinnati, Ohio. She has also served as consulting psychologist to the Irene Stacy Community MH/MR Center in Western Pennsylvania where she supervised psychologists in training. Currently active in disaster relief, Dr. Gajdos serves with the American Red Cross and participated in Hurricane Katrina relief efforts as a member of teams from the Department of Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.Now living in Chadds Ford, in the Brandywine Valley of eastern Pennsylvania, Dr. Gajdos combines her private practice working with individuals, couples and families, with leading workshops on such topics as grief and healing, the impact of multigenerational grief and trauma shame, the shadow and self, Women Who Run with the Wolves, motherless daughters, and mediation and relaxation. Each year at Temenos Retreat Center in West Chester, PA she leads a griefs of birthing ritual for those who have suffered losses of procreation (abortions, miscarriages, infertility, etc.); she also holds yearly A Day of Re-Collection at Temenos.Dr. Gajdos holds Master's degrees in both philosophy and clinical psychology and received her Ph.D. in counseling at the University of Pittsburgh. Among her professional affiliations, she includes having been a founding member and board member of the C.G. Jung Educational Center of Pittsburgh, as well as being listed in Who's Who of American Women. Currently, she is a member of the American Psychological Association, The Pennsylvania Psychological Association, the Delaware Psychological Association, the American Family Therapy Academy, The Association for Death Education and Counseling, and the Delaware County Mental Health and Mental Retardation Board. Woven into her professional career are Dr. Gajdos' pursuits of dancing, singing, and writing poetry.

Mind Matters: Unkempt Hair, the Oscars, Makeup, and the Self Read More »

Get Real: Is It Time for an Appraisal?

Home and Leisure

One
of the most important jobs for your realtor is determining the value of your home.
Your realtor will develop a Comparable Market Analysis. By comparing your home
to similar homes on the market, as well as similar homes that have recently
sold, the CMA will suggest a reliable range in which to price your home.

If
your property isn’t attracting serious shoppers, your agent may recommend that
you hire an appraiser to get a second pricing opinion. The appraiser will come
in with an independent, unbiased opinion to help ensure your price is correct
for the market.

“An
appraisal is important in today’s market especially, because it’s an objective
and unbiased source of information,” said Michael H. Evans, president of Chico,
Calif.-based Evans Appraisal Service Inc. “The appraiser is an independent
professional who performs a service for a fee rather than for a commission and
is therefore not as invested as others are who are making pricing decisions.”

Appraisals allow
for homeowners and buyers to establish “fair market value.” In addition, an
appraisal allows a lender to know how much can safely be lent.

“Credible
opinions of value can help to stabilize the real estate market,” said Joseph C.
Magdziarz, president of Chicago-based Appraisal Institute, a global membership
association of professional real estate appraisers. “Appraisers today are doing
the same thorough, fact-based research and analysis they have always done.”

A
home appraiser will compare the condition of your house in relation to the
comparable properties in the neighborhood and will give you a reasonably good
idea where your house fits in relation to recent sales.

According
to Evans, a home appraisal can range in length from two pages to more than 100.
It will include details about the house, a description of the neighborhood and
side-by-side comparisons of similar properties. It will also contain an
evaluation of the area’s real estate market, notations of major problems with
the property that will affect its value and an estimate of the expected time it
will take to sell the property.

The
Appraisal Institute recently released several tips for consumers and guidance
for homeowners and buyers seeking to ensure their sales are completed in a
timely manner:
• Make sure the lender hires a qualified appraiser (such as a designated SRA,
SRPA or MAI member of the Appraisal Institute). The lowest-priced appraiser
does not necessarily equate with the most qualified. This is a time to get the
numbers right.
• Accompany the appraiser during the inspection of the property, if possible.
The more active you are in the process, the more you will understand it and
will be able to catch any errors.
• Request a copy of the appraisal report from the lender. Federal law requires
that you receive a copy of the appraisal within 30 days.

Remember,
you needn’t agree with the outcome of an appraisal. You and your agent can work
with the figures and determine if you should change the sale price or not. A
home appraisal, no matter how scientific, still ends up being the opinion of
the appraiser and to some degree is a judgment call.

*
Jim DeFrank and Beth Alois can be reached at 610-388-3700. Prudential Fox &
Roach isan independently owned and operated broker member
of BRER Affiliates Inc. Equal Housing Opportunity.

About Beth Alois

Get Real: Is It Time for an Appraisal? Read More »

DMNH informs kids on impact of plastic bags

Local News

The Brandywine Sprouts chapter of Roots & Shoots, a
program of the Jane Goodall Institute, will be featured alongside the Delaware
Museum of Natural History’s upcoming special exhibit, Conservation Quest, on display March 10 – May 28. As a complement
to Conservation Quest, Brandywine
Sprouts members will share their exciting project to Ban the Bag. By focusing
on the concept of Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, the Brandywine Sprouts will
entertain and educate children and adults about how single-use plastic bags
impact our environment and how we can minimize their effects.

Roots & Shoots is the Jane Goodall Institute’s
international environmental and humanitarian program for youth of all ages. It
is a fun and exciting way for young people to learn about problems and issues
in their local communities and then discover ways to make the world a better
place. The Brandywine Sprouts include boys and girls ages 9-13 who implement
positive change through active learning about, caring for and interacting with
the environment. Their “Ban the Bag” project focuses on minimizing
the impact of single-use plastic bags on the land and in the sea.

The Brandywine Sprouts will be on hand from noon-4 p.m. on
March 10 and April 14, allowing visitors the opportunity to meet The Bag
Monster in person, learn how to reduce their use of plastic shopping bags,
reuse the bags that they have, and recycle all the bags that they can, plus,
throughout the duration of Conservation
Quest, visitors can enjoy the movie “Bag
It!” in the Museum’s DuPont Auditorium. Visitors will also have the
opportunity to purchase Brandywine Sprouts’ reusable shopping bags, available
in limited quantities. Members of the Brandywine Sprouts will be sharing their
experiences and teaching other children about “banning the bag.”

The Museum’s Conservation
Quest exhibit will teach visitors about energy — what it is, where it comes
from, how we use it and why it’s important to use it wisely. Conservation Quest was created by
Stepping Stones Museum for Children and is sponsored locally by DuPont with
additional support from Corporation Services Company (CSC). The exhibit runs
March 10 – May 28, 2012.

For more information, visit the Brandywine Sprouts Web site
atwww.BringYourOwnBag.us or contact Daniel McCunney,
Communications Manager for the Delaware Museum of Natural History, at
302-658-9111, ext. 313 or dmccunney@delmnh.org.

About Press Release

DMNH informs kids on impact of plastic bags Read More »

Police log March 1

Police

• In a general announcement,
Pennsylvania State Police reports recent thefts from motor vehicles in the
Chadds Ford and Concord Township area. Some vehicles were left unlocked,
all with items in view, and one with keys left in the vehicle. The police
advise: If it has a lock, lock it; if it’s valuable, then treat it as such —
protect it.

• In a separate press release,
police said unknown person(s) entered two unsecured vehicles at a residence in
the 100 block of Tally Ho Drive in Chadds Ford Township. Nothing was reported
missing from the cars. The incident was reported to have happened at 5 a.m. on
Feb. 29.

• State police arrested Kyle
Baker, 20, no municipality reported, for DUI on Route 1 near Pole Cat Road in
Concord Township. He was found to be under the influence after being stopped
for traffic violations, a police report said. He was arrested, processed and
released, according to the report.

About CFLive Staff

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

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Bits & Pieces March 1

Along the Ford

• Chadds Ford’s Quin Savant,
currently a senior at Unionville High School, will be going to Tennessee
Wesleyan College next year on a lacrosse scholarship. He will major in biology.
“Quin will force other teams to change their offense due to him being on the
field” said TWC lacrosse Coach Kevin Parker. “His size, foot work,
and stick work will make life tough, not only on the man his is covering, but
on the entire offense. I cannot wait to get Quin into Bulldog royal and
gold for next season.”

• Delaware County Council is
taking its show on the road. County Council Chairman Tom McGarrigle announced
that Council will meet in Chadds Ford as part of ongoing efforts to enhance
communication with residents by taking their meetings out into the community.
The meeting is Wednesday, March 14, at 6 p.m., in the Chadds Ford Township
municipal building.

• The Chadds Ford Business
Association’s March meeting will be a breakfast at Turner’s Mill, the Chadds
Ford Township municipal building, at 8 a.m. on Thursday, March 8. The topic
will be township business. The cost of $15 per person covers breakfast and
gratuity. The breakfast is being catered by Hank’s Place.

• Local professional artists
display and sell their work at Radley Run Country Club on March 9, from
6-10 p.m., and again on March 10 from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Proceeds benefit
Safe Harbor of Chester County, the area’s homeless shelter for single men and
single women. Talented regional artists display an array of art at prices
suiting all budgets. The community is invited to dine at Radley on both days.
Please call for reservations 610-793-1660.

• Karen Eichman, formerly
general counsel at Kaolin Mushroom Farms, Inc., of Kennett Square, has opened a
law firm catering to the needs of Pennsylvania’s agricultural employers.
Eichman has 25 plus years’ experience in the mushroom industry. The new firm,
Karen E. Eichman, Esquire, PLLC, will feature Eichman’s niche of agricultural
employment law. Among other things, Eichman deals with costly OSHA and
Department of Labor citations and mandates aimed at agricultural businesses.
For more information, visit PaLawFarm.com

• The Delaware Museum of
Natural History will implement the following new admission prices effective
Thursday, March 1, 2012:
• Adults (age 18 through 59): $9
• Seniors (age 60 and older): $8
• Children (age 3 through 17): $7
• Children (age 2 and younger): Free
• Members: Free.

• Boy Scouts of America Troop
260, of Concordville, will hold its 46th annual pancake breakfast on Saturday,
March 3, from 7 a.m. till noon at the Elam United Methodist Church, 1073
Smithbridge Road. Adults – $7, seniors (over 65) and children (3 to 12) – $5.00.
It’s all you can eat.

• Members of the APPRISE
program, Pennsylvania’s volunteer statewide program of insurance consultation,
will present an overview of Medicare including the definitions of Medicare A,
B, C; explanation of the drug benefit (Part D), types of health care insurance
available in Chester County, benefits available for low income beneficiaries
and things to consider when selecting your medical coverage. A question and answer session will
follow the presentations:
• West Chester Sr. Center on Tuesday, Mar 20 at 6 p.m.
• Kennett Senior Center on Wednesday, May 23 at 7 p.m.
The APPRISE Program is conducted under the auspices of the Chester County
Department of Aging.

About CFLive Staff

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

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School budget hearing set for March 12

Local News

Unionville-Chadds
Ford School Board Director Keith Knauss urged school district residents to
offer their public comments regarding the proposed 2012 – 2013 school budget at
a hearing on Monday March 12.

“Board
Directors look forward to school district resident comments as part of the
annual budget milestone dates,” Knauss said.

Knauss, who
serves as the finance committee director, wants to listen to public remarks
regarding the pending increase in school taxes Chester County residents are
willing to bear.

Superintendent
John Sanville‘s February 13 board work session remarks confirmed the tax
increase sought by the administration.

Sanville said,
“Cutting the tax increase below the proposed budget, approved by the school
board in January, will result in layoffs. The requested proposed budget is a
maintenance budget which will not offer new programs.”

In addition to
the March 12 public hearing, set for 6 p.m. at the district’s public meeting
room, Knauss said “the April 9, 2012 finance committee meeting will be the
milestone for presentation of the administration’s updated analysis of further
2012 – 13 expense cuts [or revenue enhancement projections].”

Interested
residents can review the details of the proposed 2012 – 13 budget at the UCFSD Web
site http://www.ucfsd.org/pdf/010912pb_preso.pdf.
The budget is based on a 3.71 percent increase in school taxes for Chester
County residents and a .73 percent decrease for Delaware County residents. The difference is triggered by
the different real estate valuation methodologies used by the two counties.

Board member Frank Murphy said, “A responsible budget analysis will look at
revenue initiation and controlling district expenditures.”

The board has
formed a Revenue Initiation Committee chaired by newly elected Board member
Victor DuPuis who said, “Community support and community ideas will be the key
to revenue initiation. The board will be looking at potentially offering naming
rights to school facilities including athletic fields and the auditorium. Other
school districts are pursuing selling advertising space on buses and inside
school buildings.”

DuPuis invited
the public to attend and participate in the next Revenue Initiation Committee
meeting which will be held Monday March 12 at 5:00 p.m.

Other News

Unionville High
School Music Department’s presentation “Phantom
of the Opera” will be held in the new auditorium on
March 15 – 17. Tickets are selling
fast and only limited seating is still available for the Friday night
performance. See the Unionville High
Schools Web page for further details, which include the option purchasing
tickets in advance for $13.
http://uhsannouncements.blogspot.com/2012/02/phantom-of-opera-mar-15-17-tickets-on.html#!/2012/02/phantom-of-opera-mar-15-17-tickets-on.html

About Jim Phreaner

After 41 years of auditing large NYSE global corporations, former IRS Agent Jim Phreaner was looking for a project in retirement with fewer regulations and more people. He joined the staff at Chadds Ford Live more than a year ago. James Edward “Jim” Phreaner, 64, died suddenly in his Birmingham Township home on Dec.17, 2012. Jim was a devoted husband, son, father, friend, and neighbor.

School budget hearing set for March 12 Read More »

Adopt-a-Pet March 1

Local News

Bonita is spayed female adult domestic short-haired cat that
came to the Chester County SPCA way back in September as a stray cat in need of
a new, indoor home. As “bonita” is
Spanish for “beautiful,” her name certainly describes her fancy dilute calico markings
and lovely personality. Bonita is
a friendly, laidback kitty that would make a wonderful addition to any adult
home – Five months of waiting for her forever home is far too long for such a
beautiful and sweet cat! If you
are able to provide Bonita or any of our other animals here at the shelter a
home, visit the Chester County SPCA at 1212 Phoenixville Pike in West Goshen or
call 610-692-6113. Bonita’s
registration number is 96805671.
To meet some of our other adoptable animals, visit the shelter or log
onto www.ccspca.org.

About CFLive Staff

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

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