February 16, 2015 - ChaddsFordLive.com

Reiner is new Chadds Ford Supervisor

_1JF1223 — Samantha Reiner, center, is sworn in as supervisor by District Justice Wendy Roberts. Reiner's husband, Bill Reiner, holds the Bible during the ceremony.

Samantha Reiner is the new Chadds Ford Township supervisor. She was appointed during a special meeting of the Chadds Ford Vacancy Board to replace Keith Klaver who resigned in January for health reasons.

“It’s going to be tough taking over for Keith, but I’m happy to be on this side of the table,” Reiner said after being sworn into office by District Justice Wendy Roberts.

The Vacancy Board, comprised of Gail Force, the vacancy officer, and Supervisors Frank Murphy and George Thorpe, came into play when Murphy and Thorpe were unable to agree on a replacement by Feb. 6. Their votes for Reiner were 2-0 with Thorpe remaining silent.

Reiner is a long-time Chadds Ford resident and is the township manager in Edgmont Township. She has previously served Chadds Ford as chairman of the Open Space Committee, editor of the Civic Association newsletter and she currently serves as chairman of the Strategic Advisory Committee.

Her appointment runs for the remainder of 2015. She will have to run in her own name in November to fill the remaining two years of Klaver’s term, which runs through 2017.

In a prepared statement, Reiner said it’s an honor to become part of Chadds Ford’s leadership. She acknowledged Thorpe’s years of experience saying he can teach her a lot about “the roads and waterways of Chadds Ford.

Reiner also acknowledged Murphy’s energy and understanding of running a meeting.

She said she’ll work hard to build relationships based on trust, keep an open mind, prove a willingness to compromise and have the confidence to “stick my neck out and speak up for what is right.”

About Rich Schwartzman

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.

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UHS hosts ‘Jazz Along the Brandywine’

Arts & Entertainment

Jazz Pic 1 — UHS hosts ‘Jazz Along the Brandywine’

Get ready for an evening of hot music and cool improvisation as Unionville High School hosts the 17^th annual “Jazz Along the Brandywine” festival on Friday, Feb. 20, beginning at 6:30 p.m. Eight high school bands are scheduled to show off their chops in a variety of styles from soul to swing to samba.

“Every year the level of music gets higher,” G. Scott Litzenberg, director of Unionville High School’s Jazz Band said in a press release. “It’s a really fun evening for the audience, with the chance to enjoy all different kinds of music from top local bands. Some amazingly talented kids will be performing. It’s always exciting to hear the improv solos they come up with.”

This year’s participants are Avon Grove Charter, Truman, North Penn Navy, Central Bucks South, North Penn Columbia, Creative Arts and Hempfield. The Patton Middle School Jazz Band will give a special guest performance. The evening concludes with and exhibition by the Unionville High School Jazz Band followed by an award ceremony.

Tickets are $8 adults, $6 students and seniors, free for ages 5 and under. Food and drinks will be available for purchase.

Unionville High School is located at 750 Unionville Rd. (PA Route 82), Kennett Square, PA. Additional information is available at the Cavalcade of Bands website, www.cavalcadeofbands.com.

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Letter to the Editor: Does Pileggi value open space?

Opinion

I recently came across the following article on Chadds Ford Live: https://chaddsfordlive.com/2015/02/06/cfba-gets-lowdown-on-concord/

After reading the article in its entirety, I am compelled to write this e-mail addressing the concerns of, not only myself, but many others in the communities of Chadds Ford and Concord Township.

As I am sure you are aware, there has been a great deal of (heated) debate over development proposals in Concord Township, particularly the Vineyard Commons and Hall property proposals as mentioned in the article. Despite overwhelming protests from residents, Concord Township has shown absolutely no concern for the desires of its constituents and continued on its mission to continue the development of its remaining open space.

What I find to be alarming is the fact that Mr. Pileggi’s impromptu history lesson does not paint an accurate picture of Concord Township at all. He is correct about the major developments that began in the 1990s and, having lived within 5 minutes of all the new shopping centers and the like my entire life, I will say I enjoy the convenience of having these businesses close to home.

However, Pileggi did not even acknowledge the history of the disputed open space — a history that is extensive and important to preserve for future generations of Chadds Ford and Concord residents. He also, of course, did not mention that the open space shares a property line with the only National Monument in the State of Delaware. Nor did he mention the agreement Woodlawn Trustees made when purchasing the property from its original owner. Woodlawn paints themselves as a conservancy trust, but this is false advertising.

Sure, Woodlawn conserves open space, but only until they need money. That’s when they change their tune and sell land they swore to protect. Then, worst of all, they justify it by saying they needed the money to conserve other open space properties under their ownership.

Pileggi also downplayed the extreme rate at which Concord Township has been built up. am only 25 years old, but as a lifelong resident of the area, the landscape of the Route 1 and 202 area looks nothing like it did when I was a kid. It’s terrifying and it isn’t stopping, only getting worse. The Wegmans (1/4 of a mile away from an ACME and Whole Foods), the Royal Farms (less than 1 mile from 2 Wawas and multiple gas stations)….the list goes on and on but when does it stop?

Why, as our local leaders, do people like Mr. Pileggi give no value to open space? Why do they give no value to the opinions of the very people who voted them into office?

Those questions are rhetorical, however, I would like to have the following questions answered:

Why did the CFBA agree to meet with Mr. Pileggi and Mr. Cappelli to begin with?

Is Chadds Ford looking to build itself up the same way Concord Township did? (Tearing down 400 year old buildings filled with history in order to build a housing development near the intersection of Foulk & Bethel Roads, for example.)

What interest does Chadds Ford have in what’s going on in Concord Township?

Would the CFBA be willing to sit down with concerned residents and hear the real history of Concord Township from people who actually know it and have the documentation to prove it?

Would the CFBA be as willing to sit down with concerned residents to discuss these matters as it was with Mr.’s Pileggi and Cappelli?

Emily T. Holt
Concord Township

About CFLive Staff

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

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Sanderson Museum has a full dance card

Local News

Sanderson_Exterior_Front_7_16_14_DSC3786 — Sanderson Museum has a full dance card

The year is planned out for the Christian C. Sanderson Museum in Chadds Ford Township, and the key word, according to museum President Sue Minarchi, is excitement.

“We’re opening on March 1, and we have a really exciting season of events this year,” Minarchi said.

On tap for 2015 are two exhibits, two wine and sign days, an afternoon of outdoor music in tribute to Chris Sanderson’s Pocopson Valley Boys and three Sanderson Summer Stories for children.

An exhibit on President Abraham Lincoln opens on April 16, two days after the 150^th anniversary of the assassination.

A bag belonging to U.S. Army Sgt. H.W. Guest during WWI.

“It will focus on his assassination, but there’s going to be a lot of other artifacts as well that we’re going to have here in the museum,” Minarchi said. “Chris memorialized everything so, knowing it was 150 years, we picked that.”

Some of the Lincoln-related artifacts Chris Sanderson obtained during the course of his life include a piece of bandage from Lincoln’s fatal head wound, a piece of his coffin and a front page of 150-year-old Philadelphia Inquirer with an article on Lincoln’s funeral.

While there was some attention paid to Lincoln during a previous Civil War exhibit at the Sanderson, this one exhibit will focal totally on the former president.

The exhibit will be on display until July 31.

The second exhibit is one Minarchi said they’ve never had before, that being an exhibit of WWI artifacts that Sanderson had collected.

“I’m hoping there are a lot of veterans who would be interested,” said Minarchi.

This is a first time for a WWI exhibit at the Sanderson, Minarchi said. It opens Sept. 17.

The wine and sign dates are March 27 and Nov. 6. Minarchi said there would be hors d’oeuvres and wines from local wineries along with art and book signings by local artists and authors.

Last spring the museum hosted an outdoor concert featuring music that Sanderson’s former band, The Pocopson Valley Boys, played during Sanderson’s time as a fiddler. Minarchi said the museum would do that again this May 17 from 1-3 p.m.

On June 17, from 10 a.m. to noon, the museum will hold the first of three Sanderson Summer Stories. The first is “Li’l Dan, The Drummer Boy, a Civil War Story” by Romare Bearden with a recorded reading by Maya Angelou. Children will have the chance to make a replica of the drum to take home.

There will be two more story days, one in July and one in August, Minarchi said.

About Rich Schwartzman

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William B. “Washboard Bill” Allman of West Grove

Obituaries

William B. “Washboard Bill” Allman, 87, of West Grove, died peacefully surrounded by his family on Feb. 11, at the Neighborhood Health Hospice in West Chester. Born in Philadelphia, he was the son of Drue Nunez Allman, a well-known horticulturist, who developed a greenhouse business with over 45,000 square feet under glass and Blanche (Oppenheimer) Allman, a journalist.

Bill was predeceased by his parents and older brother Herbert Allman. He is survived by artist Margo Hutz Allman with whom he celebrated nearly 61 years of marriage. He is also survived by his daughter Avis Louise Allman, son David Drue Allman, daughter in-law Lisa (Oakman) Allman, grandson Kevin William Allman, and granddaughter Valarie Carolyn Allman.

Allman served his country in WWII, in the U.S. Navy, as an electronic mate 2^nd class. He attended Drexel University earning an engineering degree in 1949 and an master’s degree from University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business in 1951. Allman began a career of 31 years with the Atlantic Refining Company and then the DuPont Co. in Newark, serving as contract engineer, field and construction engineer, and systems engineer. At DuPont, he developed and deployed complex programming to maximize efficient use of materials involved in engineering decisions. He retired in 1982.

Allman was a member and chairman of the Newark Bi-Racial Committee from 1963 to 1971. He was involved in initiatives changing the civil rights attitude and directly contributed in the open housing efforts during this controversial time. A complete record of his contributions are documented in the Allman Archives at the Delaware Historical Society located in Wilmington.

Allman was a recognized musician listed in Who’s Who in American Music. Known as “Washboard Bill”, he sat in with renowned jazz and blues artists including Lionel Hampton, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee. For more than four decades he was part of the Melton Brothers Band with Dale and Dennis Melton.

A Celebration of his Life will be held later in the year.

In memory of Bill, contributions may be made to Neighborhood Health Hospice Services, 400 E. Marshall St., West Chester, PA 19380 or Neighborhood Services, 35 N. 3^rd St., Oxford, PA 19363.

For full obituary and family photos, please visit www.griecocares.com

Arrangements by the Foulk & Grieco Funeral Home, West Grove, Pa.

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BizTech: Selecting the “Right” Internet Service Provider

Business

Selecting the right Internet Service Provider (ISP) can be a daunting task for any small business. Where do you start? The dominant players are Comcast and Verizon – but how do you choose between the two? Are there other options? What about download vs. upload speeds?

Factors to Consider

The first step is to define how much you and your employees rely on the Internet for getting business done. How many computers and servers will be managed onsite? What about accessing third party hosted cloud solutions? Or sending files to an offsite server? How will your email be setup? In-house or hosted? What about the phone systems? Voice over IP (VoIP) will require a more stable ISP to ensure good quality phone calls.

Comcast vs. Verizon

In the Greater Philadelphia small business market, Comcast Business Cable and Verizon FIOS are the leaders in providing reliable Internet to business at a reasonable price. Verizon can also provide DSL connections at a lower rate and speed, but it is slowly selling that business to Frontier Communications, meaning Verizon is leaving the copper line business and dedicating itself to fiber.

Both Comcast and Verizon FIOS offer a tiered plan where you can select your “up” and your “down” speeds, usually starting at 5 Mbps and going up to 300 Mbps. Your “up” speed is when you send data to the internet, as when you are uploading your documents on the cloud. Your “down” speed is when you are downloading data from the internet, such as when you are browsing a website. You can check the speed you are currently getting from your ISP by going to http://speedtest.net.

Prices for FIOS and Comcast are comparable, and are usually bundled with TV, even if you may not need it. Plan on spending about $75 to $100 per month on Business Internet and, in both cases, you can bundle your phone service for a little bit more.

However there are other options beyond Comcast Cable and Verizon FIOS. T1 and DS3 connections are more dependable and more expensive. These lines are much more reliable and providers (for e.g., Windstream) offer 99.999% uptime with credit back guarantees if it goes down. IOften T1 and DS3 lines are used to connect two or more offices. They is available almost anywhere, and pricing starts at around $220/month plus installation fees, if applicable.

The main advantage to a T1 line is that unlike DSL or cable internet, T1 channels is not shared or piggybacked by another customer, so speed can never be degraded by another customer’s usage. But Cable and many DSL connections are now faster than a T1 line due to improvements in the standards used for DSL and Cable transmission.

Finally, not every ISP is available in all locations so that factor can automatically weed out one of these “top” providers.

Backup Connectivity Plan

Another factor to consider is your Redundancy Plan. For example, if your office welcomes customers or patients for whom your team will need to access files from a computer or cloud solution in order to proceed with the appointment, then you can’t afford to depend on just one ISP. A business can be configured with fail-over solutions that use wireless 4G connections when Comcast or FIOS go down. During the Ice Storm of 2014 we had entire offices running on 4G while Comcast was repairing their lines.

If you’re running a business, you need to consider your entire setup and needs before you make a decision on what business grade ISP to use. Determine your bandwidth needs and how long your office can run while your ISP is down – and it absolutely will be down at some point during the regular business day – without annoying customers or losing patients…. Or losing money!

Each Business Has Different Needs

Different businesses have different needs when it comes to Internet usage. Some companies need faster speeds, like banks or financial advisors. Others require more bandwidth, like health clinics and architectural firms. And some firms who rely on hosted cloud solutions to do their day-to-day work demand reliable failover – like many law firms and accounting firms.

As you can see, there is more to selecting the best ISP than just getting the best promotional offer.

About Bernie Orglmeister

Bernie Orglmeister is President & Senior Project Engineer at SkyViewTek An Information Technology (I.T.) consulting firm, SkyViewTek is dedicated to providing professional services or strategic solutions for businesses and organizations, from one to 100 employees, since 2007. You can trust us to deliver the level of managed services your business needs, ensuring a stable and secure I.T. environment. Our proactive services model will eliminate business disruptions and give you peace of mind knowing that your networks are secure and operational. As a result, you get to focus on your core business while we handle the technology challenges and opportunities. Contact us at 610.590.5006 or info@skyviewtek.com.

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Ronald H. Pfeiffer of New London Township

Obituaries

Ronald H. Pfeiffer, 68, of New London Township, died peacefully Friday, Feb. 13, at the Neighborhood Hospice in West Chester, with his devoted wife Pam and loving son Ronald Jr. by his side.

Ron was born and raised in Newington, Conn., the only son of the late Mildred and Harold Pfeiffer. Ron pursued an education in chemistry at Wagner College on Staten Island, N.Y., where he graduated in 1968 with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Ron spent 22 years in the chemical industry. At the young age of 40 his career path turned to law enforcement graduating valedictorian in the class of 1990 from the Municipal Police Training Academy. Ron also received the award for outstanding performance as class president.

Ron worked with both Kennett Square and the Oxford Police Departments along with the Drug Task Force. After serving the community for 18 years, Sgt. Pfeiffer retired from the West Grove Police Department in 2008.

Ron was a member of the New London Lodge No. 545 Free and Accepted Masons.

Ron and Pam were married 34 years and members of the New London United Methodist Church where the family will hold a private funeral service. Their son, Ron Jr. and his wife Amanda live in Thorndale.

Ron will be sadly missed by many, including his favorite Aunt and Uncle from South Glastonbury, Conn. Janet and Lee Watson and family. Those who knew Ron will remember his subtle witticism.

Missing him already are Ron’s five fur babies, Ruger, Remington, Colt, Sig and Heidi.

Ron fought a valiant two-year battle due to complications from multiple myeloma. His pain has ended and he is now at peace.

At this time Pam and Ron Jr. would like to thank the many doctors, nurses and therapists who dedicated their time to Ron’s care.

In lieu of flowers consider sending a contribution in Ron’s memory to your favorite Pet Rescue or you can send a contribution to the New London United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 8050 West Grove, Pa. 19390.

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

Arrangements by the Kuzo & Grieco Funeral Home in Kennett Square.

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Civil rights lawyer to give free talk

School & Education

Civil rights lawyer Lani Guinier, known for challenging conventional thinking on the issues of race and class, will speak at Penn State Great Valley, on Wednesday, Feb. 18, from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Following the presentation, Guinier will do a signing of her latest book, Tyranny of the Meritocracy: Democratizing Higher Education in America, which will be available for sale. Guinier, the Bennett Boskey Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, will discuss how those who have been excluded (based on race or class) are like the canary in the mines: Their very vulnerability signals problems with the larger atmosphere affecting us all.

The event, sponsored by the campus’s Diversity Action Council, is free and open to public; registration is required at http://guinier.eventbrite.com.

In 1998, Guinier became the first African-American woman to be appointed to a tenured professorship at Harvard Law. The author of numerous articles on democratic theory, political representation, educational equity, and issues of race and gender, Guinier was first introduced to the public in 1993, when President Clinton nominated her to be the first black woman to head the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.

She is the author of Lift Every Voice; The Tyranny of the Majority; Who’s Qualified?; and The Miner’s Canary. Guinier is also a visiting professor at Columbia Law School, a respected diversity speaker, and a leading advocate for political reform. Possessing a unique and arresting insight, Guinier offers audiences plausible and effective solutions to our often-ailing democratic system while embracing constitutional principles.

The event is sponsored by Penn State Great Valley, the graduate school of Penn State, as part of its community arts and culture series. The campus is located at 30 E. Swedesford Rd, Malvern, Pa.

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