Runners set their sights on helping to find a cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy during the 2016 Unionville Run for Our Sons.
Children, parents pushing strollers, and even a few eager canines dashed across the finish line to resounding applause on Saturday, April 16, at Charles F. Patton Middle School.
Under sunny skies, more than 500 racers assemble at Charles F. Patton Middle School for the 2016 Unionville Race for Our Sons.
The event was the Seventh Annual Unionville Run for Our Sons 5-K, a race that raised more than $48,000 to fund research for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a debilitating disease that affects approximately one in every 3,500 boys born each year.
Parents, children, students and school staff from all over the Unionville area gathered at 8 a.m. for the race, and the crowded lot was buzzing with enthusiastic runners and volunteers.
The race originated in 2005 through Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy (PPMD), an organization focused on raising awareness and funding research of muscular dystrophy, and has since spread to cities and towns across the country.
Volunteers Delaney Crosley and Dina Spyropoulos pose with Joanna Johnson (right).
A local couple, Joanna and Paul Johnson, became involved with PPMD after their sons, Henry and Elliot, were diagnosed with the disease in 2007. Joanna Johnson teaches Spanish at Unionville High School. The Johnsons, who have organized the Unionville version of the race for the past seven years, were impressed with this year’s turnout.
More than 500 registered runners and 75 volunteers –many of whom were students – participated. Those who could not run the full 5-K took part in a 1.5-K Fun Run. Plenty of activities and attractions were available before and during the race, including a clown, games, music, raffle baskets, and prizes and giveaways, some of which were donated and set up by the Philadelphia Union soccer team.
The National Art Honor Society ran a face-painting booth, and both the National Honor Society and the UHS track team supplied many of the volunteers.
Though putting together a 5k is certainly not a simple endeavor, Joanna Johnson said that she was up for the task. “At this point, after seven years of doing this, we’re a well-oiled machine,” she said. “No one really knows how much work goes into planning a 5k, but for us it’s just so important that it’s worth the extra effort.”
For race results, click here. For those who were unable to attend but would like to support the cause, an online auction is open until 9 p.m. on Monday, April 18. Items include gift certificates for treats ranging from spa services to golf outings and tickets to local attractions, including Longwood Gardesn, the Phillies, Twin Lakes Brewery, AMC movies theaters and more. For a full list, visit http://stores.ebay.com/unionvillerfos.
Morgan Carter is a creative writing student interning with Chadds Ford Live. She loves tea, long walks on beaches, and baking – provided there is a recipe on the back of the box. She lives in Chadds Ford with her parents, three siblings, and two spunky parakeets. Morgan is very excited to be a part of the Chadds Ford Live team, and hopes to pursue a career in writing after graduating from college.
This year the primary election is on April 26. For those of us who live in Pennsylvania’s 9th State Senate District, there is also a special election to fill a vacant seat that day. All registered voters, regardless of party affiliation, will be able to vote in the special election. The winner will go immediately to Harrisburg to represent you for the remainder of 2016.
I am supporting Marty Molloy to be our state senator.
When Marty gets to Harrisburg, he will work to increase the amount of state funding for the general education fund. That is the fund that actually goes toward educating students. Marty’s opponent proudly voted for the Corbett administration’s cut of $1Billion to education. Marty has the endorsement of PSEA, the teachers’ union.
By working to increase state funding of local schools, Marty Molloy will be working to keep your local property taxes from rising.
Marty Molloy will fight in Harrisburg to protect women’s right to make their own health care choices. Marty’s opponent has repeatedly sponsored and voted for legislation that unconstitutionally limits a woman’s access to health care. Marty has the endorsement of Planned Parenthood.
Marty Molloy will work for sensible gun laws in Pennsylvania. Unlike his opponent, Marty Molloy has joined recent public gun safety rallies organized by the Chester County Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence and Delaware County United for Sensible Gun Policy. Marty Molloy has been endorsed by the Chester County Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence.
Marty has the endorsements of state’s Sierra Club, Conservation Voters of PA, and Clean Water Action because of his stands on the environment, clean air, clean water and the protection of open spaces.
On many other issues, Marty Molloy is the candidate who best represents the views of the citizens of the 9th State Senate District in Chester and Delaware Counties. For more information on Marty Molloy, see his website www.marty4pa.com. Marty’s website also has a map of the 9th District, in case you want to check if you live in his district.
On April 26 vote in the special election for Marty Molloy to be your State Senator!
Beth Alois, Thornbury Township Beth Alois is the first vice-chair of the Delaware County Democratic Committee
Aspiring chefs scurry to assemble winning ingredients for a Bento box during the Chester County Culinary Challenge, held last week at the Desmond Hotel and Conference Center.
The diverse ingredients included seared salmon, soba noodles, chocolate truffles, high-energy competitors, fledgling judges, and a drill sergeant.
Chris Calhoun, the Desmond Hotel’s executive chef, briefs contestants in the Chester County Culinary Challenge.
“Two minutes left,” shouted Christopher Calhoun, the Desmond Hotel and Conference Center’s executive chef, immediately eliciting a chorus of groans.
The contestants couldn’t say they hadn’t been warned. Michael Chain, the Desmond’s general manager, had cautioned the audience of about 100 on Tuesday, April 12, not to confuse Calhoun with celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay, known for terrorizing aspiring chefs on TV.
“He can make him look like Mother Teresa,” Chain noted, adding that Calhoun gets lots of practice. Events modeled after “Chopped,” a show on the Food Network, have become frequent occurrences at the hotel.
Dawn Dowling from the Brandywine River Museum examines a potential ingredient for her team’s Bento box.
At last week’s Chester County Culinary Challenge, as the timer neared the one-hour deadline, the participants were too intent on completing their creations to do anything but rev into high gear. The gathering represented a creative networking opportunity hosted by the Chester County Conference and Visitors Bureau, co-sponsored by Mid-Atlantic Events Magazine.
“We did an event last year with a cooking component,” explained Nina Kelly, marketing and communications director for the Chester County Conference and Visitors Bureau. “It was so popular that we decided to make it the focus. It’s a lot more fun than just handing out business cards.”
Chester County Commissioners Michelle Kichline (from left), Kathi Cozzone, and Terence Farrell savor the taste of judging.
Representatives from many of the county’s premier attractions participated, including Longwood Gardens, the American Helicopter Museum, the Brandywine River Museum, and QVC. In addition, employees from area hotels from Exton to Valley Forge to Philadelphia had a presence, as did caterers and event planners from private firms as well as local companies like Vanguard.
Before turning the crowd over to Calhoun, Susan Hamley, executive director of the Chester County Conference and Visitors Bureau, welcomed them. “We’re all happy you’re here in beautiful Chester County,” she said. “ We think it’s a pretty special place.”
Judge Daniel Love of Catering By Design evaluates the finished entries.
And for those who want to learn more about just how exceptional it is, the tourism bureau’s website now enables users to search for specific attractions ranging from wineries to historic sites, said Courtney Babcock, sales manager for the bureau.
Then it was time for Calhoun to take the spotlight, and he explained the procedure to the attentive chef wannabes. Each team was instructed to choose a captain – or chief delegator – and a name for the group. Each team’s table, which included a cooking station, contained a Bento box and a plate of ingredients, which could be supplemented at a couple of condiment stations in the room.
An array of Bento box ingredients await the culinary magic of the contestants.
Despite the goal of preparing a Bento box lunch, a single-portion takeout meal popularized in Japan, Calhoun encouraged the groups to think outside the box, creating “a fun, cute little lunch.” For example, the rice could be transformed into a Panda bear. The results would be judged on a host of criteria, such as presentation, execution, aroma, flavor, appearance, and difficulty, he said.
Once Calhoun issued the go-ahead, the clock starting ticking and controlled chaos ensued as the teams got organized and began madly slicing, dicing, and chopping.
‘Ray’s A’s,’ the first-place team, celebrates its victory at the Chester County Culinary Challenge.
Contestant Dawn Dowling from the Brandywine River Museum helped her group rule out one accessory ingredient. “I have no idea what this is,” she said, holding up a clear, vacuum-sealed, unmarked package with black contents.
Nearby, Robyn Morgan explained the origin of her team’s name: Wingin’ It. “I work for the Helicopter Museum,” she said with a smile.
As the knives clanged and whisks whirred, Desmond employees walked around to offer assistance. “You’re being judged on the cleanliness of your table,” one worker whispered as she surveyed a particularly messy workstation. Uh-oh, said Kelly Savage of QVC before bursting into laughter.
Hands fly as the deadline looms for completing the Chester County Culinary Challenge.
Despite an occasional moment of panic – Is the salmon overcooked? Is someone cutting the peppers? – frivolity reigned.
“We’re having a really good time,” said Brendan Shuff, an event manager for Event Strategy Group in Plymouth Meeting. “We’re all working together.”
Pam Wynne, a project manager for Meetings Professional International, said the event offered a positive way to connect planners and venues. “It’s a great, low-key way to network,” she said.
Completed Bento boxes are put on display.
“This food smells amazing,” said Chester County Commissioner Michelle Kichline as she began to survey the completed entries. Kichline, who served as one of the judges, had a specific job: assess doneness. “I just have to determine whether everything was cooked properly; that seems easy enough,” she said.
Commissioner Kathi Cozzone agreed, concluding that her own task was a bit more esoteric. “I’m supposed to evaluate balance,” she said, explaining a quest for the proper proportion of salty, sweet, bitter and sour flavors. “I guess I’ll figure it out.”
Commissioner Terence Farrell received a less demanding job. “I’m just here to taste,” he said.
An oversized gift box from QVC attracts admirers at the Chester County Culinary Challenge.
Calhoun, an inveterate taskmaster, said he was impressed with the results. “I wasn’t sure what to expect,” he said. “The teams that won were separated from the others by just one point.”
As he perused the judge’s tally sheet, he said the first-place winner, despite getting a five-point deduction for blowing the deadline, managed to pull ahead with its scores for convenience – defined as ease of eating – and balance.
Cornering the winner’s market was Ray’s A’s, a group of five that contained three Vanguard event planners. The inspiration for the moniker came from the group’s gender imbalance: Ray Smith was the only male.
No one left the event empty-handed. In addition to the first-, second-, and third-place prizes, which ranged from an oversized container of Herr’s snacks to stays at the Desmond, all participants received mementos, such as aprons and cutting boards. And a handful of the luckiest won raffle prizes, such as a gift certificate for the Whip Tavern in West Marlborough Township.
But it was Kathleen Fowler of Embassy Suites who may have walked away with the evening’s most coveted raffle item: a giant gift box prepared by staffers at QVC. The contents were so jam-packed that they dwarfed one of the larger offerings among them: a Keurig coffeemaker.
The theme of this year’s Annual Gala fundraiser at the American Helicopter Museum and Education Center (AHMEC) on Saturday, April 30, honors the men and women who served in the U.S. Army’s Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH) units that lasted from 1945 until 2006.
The gala will also pay tribute to the long-standing television program, “M*A*S*H” (1972-1983), that depicted life in the 4077th MASH unit during the Korean War and starred Alan Alda, Mike Farrell and Loretta Swit, among others.
“For the past three years AHMEC has selected themes for the annual gala tied to our collection and our mission,” Marc Sheffler, chairman of AHMEC’s Board of Directors, said in an AHMEC press release. “Nothing in the public’s mind epitomizes the use of helicopters to save lives like MASH. The theme also recognizes one of the greatest television series in history and allows us to have fun with the decorations, menu and guest impersonators.”
The formal evening begins at 6 p.m. with an open bar featuring cocktails and the martini from Hawkeye Pierce’s still. It continues at 7:30 with fine dining followed by music and dancing, Hawkeye Pierce and ‘Hot Lips’ Houlihan impersonators, silent and live auctions, and presentation of the AHMEC Achievement Award to Sikorsky’s Autonomous Blackhawk.
“The gala promises an evening of fun and excitement from the signature drink greeting guests as they check in to the elaborate buffet courtesy of the Desmond Hotel,” Sheffler continued in the release. “There will be a special exhibit on medical memorabilia from a local collector, and the live and silent auctions feature some incredible items, including behind-the-scenes tours of the Air and Space Museum and the Barnes Museum, and a meet-and-greet with Frankie Avalon.”
Tickets cost $125 per person and $1,000 per table of 10, and can be purchased by calling the museum at 610-436-9600 or via PayPal on the website at www.americanhelicopter.museum.
The American Helicopter Museum and Education Center, located at 1220 American Boulevard, West Chester, is the nation’s premier aviation museum devoted exclusively to helicopters. Established in 1996, the nonprofit organization collects, restores and displays rotary-wing aircraft, including over 35 civilian and military helicopters, autogiros and convertiplanes.
From left CFHS President Kendal Reynolds, Office Manager Derek Larson, and Lisa Vonderstrick cut the ribbon.
A beautiful Saturday morning turned into one beaut of a traffic jam this weekend as thousands of people crowded onto Creek Road to attend the Second Annual Massive Barn Market held on the grounds of the Chadds Ford Historical Society.
The crowds came to buy antiques and collectibles from more than 80 vendors. The convergence of old stuff and new social media apparently generated an unexpectedly large turnout. In addition to the expected Pennsylvania plates, many car licenses were seen from Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey.
The event announcement on Facebook showed a reach of 25,000, suggesting that friends invited friends and so on. The event organizer, Lisa Vonderstruck, said she expected between 3,000 and 5,000 attendees.
Modeled after a market in Brimfield, Mass., it began with a rush at 9 a.m. when a ribbon-cutting let the bargain hunters descend. The uneven distribution of attendees worsened the traffic jam. During Chadds Ford Days, a smaller annual field event on the CFHS grounds, participants arrive throughout the day over a two-day period.
Jeremy Ibrahim, a resident of the Reserve at Chadds Ford development – across the street from the event’s parking area – expressed concern about a “safety nightmare.” He reported seeing people pushing baby carriages along Route 1. He also worried about access for emergency vehicles while Creek Road was blocked by slow-moving traffic. His wife is a pediatrician and was on call Saturday, he said.
Birmingham Township Police were on hand to help with parking as they have for past events. But because additional police hadn’t been needed for past events, the planners failed to notify the state police, who stepped in to assist when more than 5,000 showed up.
State police, who were not available for comment on Sunday, April 17, closed the northbound lane of Creek Road during the worst of the backup.
Michael Majewski, the owner of Brandywine Prime Seafood and Chops, reported a better than usual lunch crowd, but his staff was late getting to work. If they had scheduled a luncheon event, it would have been a “disaster,” he said.
Majewski asked that he be informed if such an event is planned again so he can avoid scheduling parties. “I am all for bringing people to Chadds Ford and don’t mind sacrificing a day to do it,” he said.
Vonderstruck posted an apology on Facebook Saturday night to those who couldn’t get in. Even before the event was over, Chadds Ford Historical Society President Kendal Reynolds was making plans for the next Massive Barn Market event, scheduled for Oct. 8.
Those plans will include police traffic control at Route 1 and Creek Road, more portable toilets, and shuttle busses from the elementary schools. More Chadds Ford Historical Society volunteers will be recruited for the next event as well.
From the viewpoints of the vendors and the CFHS, the event was a success. Most of the food vendors sold out of food by the 4 p.m. closing time, and a steady stream of people weaved through food and drink lines, dragging the treasures they had purchased.
The CFHS got to collect and keep the $5 entry fee. Vonderstruck got paid by the vendors who participated and by selling items from her shop, Brandywine View Antiques. She said she sold most of item she brought to the grounds in ten trips from her store on Baltimore Pike.
Vonderstruck said she is eager to replenish her inventory by traveling to the Brimfield market in Massachusetts next month, which she described as “17 football fields” full of items.
“I love my job,” she said often, having “found a home in Chadds Ford.”
The Kennett Public Library’s popular House and Garden Tour on Saturday, June 4, will feature eight properties in the Chadds Ford area this year. Tickets are limited and typically sell out.
What could be more beautiful than seeing exquisite private homes and gardens in full bloom on the Kennett Public Library’s House and Garden Tour? It’s the knowledge that the price of your admission ticket will help fund key library programs.
Showstoppers on this year’s Kennett Public Library Home and Garden Tour will include a historic springhouse.
“This year’s tour, scheduled for Saturday, June 4, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., offers an amazing variety of homes and gardens with something of interest for everyone,” explained Louise Colburn, the library’s special events committee chair.
Entitled “Chadds Ford and Beyond,” the tour includes eight properties that are seldom open to the public and represent a variety of styles and gardens.
“One home features a fabulous ‘man cave.’ An 1843 farmhouse displays an assortment of antique carriages and cars. One charming house on the tour was originally a schoolhouse,” said Colburn. “There is also an historic inn and a spectacular garden oasis once featured in Martha Stewart Living.”
Adding to the allure of the house and gardens are food tastings provided by local restaurants and floral arrangements that complement the unique décor and color scheme of each home. Talented local artists, painting “en plein air” in the gardens, will transport viewers to the time of French impressionists.
“These extra touches, in addition to the tour’s controlled geographical scale and the friendly and knowledgeable guides, ensure a leisurely, pleasurable day of relaxing strolls through breath-taking properties,” said Nancy Olsen, an original and still active committee member. “In addition, 11 to-die-for gift baskets will be raffled off the day of the tour. The baskets will be displayed at the library prior to the tour, and then in the homes on the day of the tour.”
Donna Murray, director of the Kennett Public Library said the staff and library board are extremely grateful to the committee volunteers who work so hard all year long.
“This event is not only a great fundraiser, but also a lovely and popular event,” said Murray. “Revenue from the tour is so important to our operations and enables us to offer innovative and valuable programs to our community. We would not be able to do half of what we do if it weren’t for this committee.”
For example, the 2015 tour, which raised $27,395, made possible an upcoming visit from children’s author and illustrator Margie Palatini. The creator of beloved children’s books such as “Piggie Pie” and “Mooseltoe,” Palatini will appear at the library in May.
Murray explained that more than 10,700 children and nearly 3,100 teens attended library programs in 2015. These programs ranged from STEM-oriented tech and science classes to a variety of book discussion groups and social clubs, as well as programs that encourage both creativity and analytical thinking.
The year-round programs at the library include a diversity-driven world art and geography class for elementary students, a monthly tabletop gaming night for teens, and graphic novel reading groups on three age levels that encourage a love of reading and art. The video game club, which has received widespread acclaim, gives participants access to gaming equipment and valuable social time with their peers while enjoying unique, age appropriate games, Murray said.
Murray is pleased that participation in these programs brings a sense of ownership to the community space to the point that students have gone on to volunteer, and even find part-time jobs, at the library.
The Adult Literacy Program provides classes and tutoring opportunities for the non-English-speaking population. Attendance at classes in 2015 was 3,526, and about 100 students were partnered with a tutor. The Kennett Public Library is the only library in the area to offer both classes and tutoring opportunities, Murray said.
Planning for next year’s tour begins as soon as this year’s tour ends. “The special events committee is always looking for enthusiastic people with helpful connections,” said Colburn.
The committee will soon begin choosing eight houses for 2017. “It doesn’t matter if they are large or small, new or old, as long as they are interesting,” she said, explaining that the committee tries to showcase houses from a different area every year.
Only 550 tour tickets at $40 each are available for this year’s tour, which typically sells out. An “early bird special” of $35 is available from April 18 to May 8. This year, for the first time, tickets may be purchased online at www.kennettpubliclibrary.org. Tickets may also be purchased at the library. For more information, visit the website or call 610-444-2702.
Lora has a passion for art, gardening, yoga, music and dancing. She continues to research the life of locally born abolitionist and 1998 National Women's Hall of Fame inductee Mary Ann Shadd Cary. She is a dedicated community volunteer, working with the American Association of University Women, Wilmington, DE branch (programs chair), Chadds Ford Historical Society (former board member) and Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art.
Lora lives in Birmingham Township with her husband Bill and son Brad. Daughter Erika lives in Pittsburgh with husband Bob and baby Wilhelmina. She is a former French, Spanish and ESL teacher, bilingual life insurance underwriter and public relations coordinator for Delaware Art Museum and Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art.
Canine Partners for Life fund raising event Art of the Bark
Come paint a perfect evening at Canine Partners for Life’s ‘Art of the Bark!’ Join Canine Partners for Life (CPL) for our next “canine chic” celebration, The Art of the Bark, on Saturday, May 14 from 7 to 10 p.m. It will be an evening of fantastic fare, friends -both the two-legged and four-legged variety – and FUNdraising.
Service dogs in training will greet guests upon arrival. While overlooking the beautiful Brandywine Creek, guests will sample drinks and fabulous farm-to-table cuisine from MacGregor Mann’s catering company, Blanch and Shock. Throughout the evening, attendees will have opportunities to discover how service dogs change lives while celebrating the power of four paws.
“We are very thankful to have the support of people who believe in our mission and who believe that it is possible for someone with a disability to experience a greater sense of independence through the assistance of a service dog. CPL service dogs provide our graduates the confidence to go shopping on their own, attend college, have a career, and even travel! We will be celebrating these amazing partnerships at The Art of the Bark,” says Darlene Sullivan, Executive Director and Founder.
There will be a full palette of performing arts at CPL’s biggest fundraising event of the year. Our incredible lineup includes piano soloist, Albert Oehrle; classic rockers, J.D. Malone Duo; and a Sinatra-style vocalist, “Sean Sinatra.” Guests can even take home their very own masterpiece with a live caricature drawn by Caricatures by Emily.
The Art of the Bark’s committee has put together some fabulous silent auction items including unique experiences and summer getaways. Thanks to BidPal’s easy-to-use Mobile Bidding, participants can bid using their smartphones and computers from anywhere in the world. In between bites and bids, dancing and drinks, guests will be guided by docents through the museum’s six galleries of distinguished nineteenth and twentieth-century American art, as well as the Museum’s renowned Wyeth family collections.
Individual tickets are $125 each and may be purchased at bidpal.net/cplartofthebark. Proceeds benefit CPL’s mission to provide highly trained service and companion dogs for individuals with physical, cognitive, and neurological disabilities.
Each dog is taken through a two-year comprehensive and customized training program to meet the specific needs of their human partner. Since 1989, CPL has placed more than 650 highly-trained full service and companion dogs in 45 states. Canine Partners for Life is a nationally recognized leader in the service dog industry and an accredited member of Assistance Dogs International.
Everyone votes at a Passover seder, the traditional formal meal on the first night of the holiday. Who will engage in lucid conversation about policy questions meant to advance the seder project and potentially advance the Jewish people? Who will play outsider and reject the rules and format, but nevertheless conform to the project simply by asking how nothing has changed? Who will sit and listen and ask merely why all this and when will it be over? Who will be either so new or so confused by what is being shown as to not even know where to begin?
The seder is a night of questions. Ostensibly, the questions are meant to trigger a telling of the Exodus story, from slavery in Egypt to freedom on the way to Mt. Sinai and the Land of Israel. The goal of the seder is for the leader to retell the story so that each of us can see ourselves as if we were slaves in Egypt. Getting from our own personal stances and multiplicity of personal identities to identification with the Jews of the Exodus is more challenging than simple bearing witness to the retelling.
To make sure we experience identification with the Jews of the Exodus ourselves, the rabbis designed the seder to be the most educational encounter possible. Everything is steeped in meaning: the foods all have symbolic meaning, the format is designed for driving conversation, wine flows to loosen tongues, songs break up the narrative, gimmicks and prizes exist to keep children around, and more. Many traditions make the telling of the story so interactive that everyone even gets whipped with scallions by the person next to them.
One of the ways of getting everyone to engage in the seder is to give the leader advice on dealing with four kinds of children: the wise child, the wicked child, the simple child, and the child who doesn’t know how to ask. None of these constructed identities is without problems. The point rather is to say that they all belong at the table. We need wonks and wise-crackers. We need someone to challenge us to think anew about what we tell and how we tell it. We need to see what questions we have buried and what questions are burning within us. The seder demands our presence, even if we are complaining, precisely because who we are is at stake.
It is not enough to be proud of being Jewish or to have a strong Jewish identity. Passover demands that we identify with the Jewish project of human redemption. There are still slaves today all over the world. Many others are enslaved in addiction. Many more are not yet free to live as equals. Still others have given up hope in their own lives. All of us, all, need some form of redemption.
Regardless of how we vote at the seder, if we sit at the table, we will be asked how each of us can redeem a portion of our own lives and a portion of the lives of others. These questions are not just pertinent this presidential election year, they are asked by Jewish ritual and wisdom every year, in every generation.
How will you identify with the journey from slavery to freedom embedded in the Exodus story? How can you encourage others to identify as well? And, what will we each learn from this communal project that we can then use to benefit humanity?
Rabbi Jeremy Winaker is the executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Hillel Network, responsible for West Chester University, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and other area colleges. He is the former head of school at the Albert Einstein Academy in Wilmington and was the senior Jewish educator at the Kristol Hillel Center at the University of Delaware for four years. Rabbi Winaker lives in Delaware with his wife and three children.
On Saturday, April 30, Kennett Square is poised to spread dazzling color – ranging from plants to artwork.
Committee chair Joann Donlick (left) and Carol Taylor show off one of the borough’s planters.
The 51st Annual Kennett Square Beautification Plant Sale will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Genesis Walkway. This annual event offers a perfect opportunity to peruse an assortment of hanging baskets, herbs, annuals, perennials, grasses, native plants, and starter vegetables for purchase.
The sale also features a special collection of plants dug from the gardens of area garden club members who donate their plants every year. Proceeds from the sale support the colorful sidewalk planters and hanging baskets throughout downtown Kennett Square, as well as other beautification projects throughout the area.
The Kennett Square Beautification Committee began in the mid-1960s in response to then-First Lady “Lady Bird” Johnson’s call for residents to help beautify and clean up America’s neighborhoods.
Once visitors have stocked up on plants, they can stroll over to the American Legion building at Broad and State streets for the Fourth Annual Student Art Show, an exhibit that showcases the creativity and talent of area youth.
This year’s participating students come from the Sanford School as well as the Kennett Consolidated, Unionville-Chadds Ford, Avon Grove, and Oxford school districts. They will be exhibiting fine art, photography and three-dimensional street chalk art.
The Unionville Rowing Club, which has nurtured both champions and teamwork in its short history, is seeking the community’s help to “Go for the Boat.”
The club’s newly painted oars in Unionville colors will help spectators identify them during races.
The group’s Heart of Rowing fundraiser enabled the club to purchase its first boat last year, which will be christened and put in the water later this month. Proceeds from the event also funded a set of oars, which have been painted with the Unionville colors.
“Our kids deserve to have great boats of their own, and we can do that, one boat at a time,” said a press release for the event.
This year’s event will be held at Hawk’s Hollow, 1296 Brandywine Creek Rd., Coatesville, on Thursday, April 28, from 6 to 9 p.m. It will include great food and drink, music, a silent auction and a raffle.
The price is $50 per person in advance, $60 at the door. To purchase tickets, click here.
For more information and ticket sales, or if you wish to donate an item or service to the silent auction or raffle, contact Mary Worth at 610-368-3903, or at UHS Rowing Club, P.O. Box 118, Pocopson, Pa., 19366. Any donation, however large or small, would be greatly appreciated.
