November 29, 2016 - ChaddsFordLive.com

Pocopson Township to hold line on taxes

Pocopson Township residents will not see their taxes increase in 2017.

Pocopson Township Supervisors Alice Balsama (from left), Elaine DiMonte, and Ricki Stumpo assemble for Monday night's meeting. — Pocopson Township Supervisors Alice Balsama (from left), Elaine DiMonte, and Ricki Stumpo assemble for Monday night’s meeting.

The supervisors adopted a 2017 budget at their Nov. 28 meeting that keeps tax rates at 2.2 mills and projects an overall fund balance of $1.97 million by the end of 2017. (A mill is $1 for every $100 of assessed valuation.)

The budget also keeps the earned-income and net-profit tax at half a percent, which supports general township operations, supplements the state funding allocated to road maintenance, and contributes to the capital reserve fund for vehicle and equipment purchases. Supervisors’ Vice Chairman Elaine DiMonte suggested the supervisors post a paragraph on the township website explaining why they kept the EIT.

The EIT is levied on earnings of $12,000 or more, according to township Treasurer Peggy Lennon.

Previous discussions about the EIT included researching alternative taxes to cover what amounts to half of Pocopson’s annual general fund revenues. Eliminating the EIT would have left the township without enough funding to cover the $1.9 million of projected expenses in 2017, according to minutes from the Aug. 16 budget work session.

Besides the EIT and a real-estate transfer tax, Pocopson’s 2017 budget includes one mill for open space, 0.5 mills for general operation, 0.5 mills for fire protection, and 0.2 mills for ambulance and other emergency services.

Overall income for 2017 is estimated to be $3.5 million, and overall expenses are estimated at $3.7 million. The township will start the new year with fund balances totaling $2.2 million, according to township officials. The open space tax is estimated to generate $329,095 in 2017.

The Highway Aid Fund should receive some income from the sale of a 2000 International dump truck, which supervisors authorized through a resolution adopted Monday. Planned projects include chip-sealing Davidson and Hickory Hill, and also paving Folly Hill and finishing Brandywine Hills, according to the budget documents.

The budget will also earmark funds in 2017 for a feasibility study of the Barnard House and the current township office space. The request for proposal has already been prepared and sent out.

The status of the Barnard House, a historic building that has generated substantial controversy since its purchase from the county for $1 in 2008, remains uncertain. Originally envisioned as the home of the Kennett Underground Railroad Center as well as the township’s offices, the supervisors backed off the latter use due to escalating renovation costs and a building layout that some consultants found unworkable for municipal use.

The adopted township budget will be available online at www.pocopson.org.

In other business, Brad Peiper, one of Pocopson’s representatives on the Kennett Library board, updated the supervisors on the plans for a new library facility as well as the search for a new library director, who is expected to be named by the end of the year.

A final concept plan of the new facility is due by the end of January, Peiper said. Possible plans include building a three-story facility in “downtown Kennett,” with the first floor being occupied by municipal and police offices. Peiper said the architects are sensitive to concerns about the police offices in close proximity to the library, so the concept plan includes entrances with as much separation as possible.

Finally, the supervisors agreed to arrange a meeting between themselves, an official from the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District, a representative from the Riverside Homeowners’ Association, and representatives of Ducklings Early Learning Center, which is building a new location in the Riverside subdivision. Scott Kirkland, the Riverside HOA president, explained at Monday’s meeting that he has fielded concerns from parents about one current bus stop location at the construction entrance that is deemed “very unsafe for students.”

About Monica Fragale

Monica Thompson Fragale is a freelance reporter who spent her life dreaming of being in the newspaper business. That dream came true after college when she started working at The Kennett Paper and, years later The Reporter newspaper in Lansdale and other dailies. She turned to non-profit work after her first daughter was born and spent the next 13 years in that field. But while you can take the girl out of journalism, you can’t take journalism out of the girl. Offers to freelance sparked the writing bug again started her fingers happily tapping away on the keyboard. Monica lives with her husband and two children in Kennett Square.

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Laughs are alive at Routes 1 and 202

Arts & Entertainment

Not many people would consider the intersection of Routes 1 and 202 to be a laughing matter, unless they were talking theater of the absurd. But there is something to laugh about — professional comedy acts at Reactors Comedy Club at the Wyndham Garden Hotel.

“It’s a great location,” said John Ager, a performer in his own right, and the manager and master of ceremonies at the club that opened on the ground floor of the hotel — a former Ramada Inn — in October.

“This area is ripe because not everyone wants to go to Philadelphia to see comedy. There’s nothing else around,” he said. “People are hungry for real good comedy. And working with Wyndham Garden Hotel, everything fell into place.”

The hotel provides the club with two rooms, a smaller room that seats about 70 people and a larger auditorium for larger capacity crowds. There’s also a bistro at the hotel for food and drink, and the club sets up a bar area outside the performance rooms.

Ager said all the comedians who perform at Reactors are professional and have played all around the country. Some have performed internationally.

“These are good, clean comedians, not necessarily squeaky clean, but clean enough that you don’t hear the ‘F’ bomb,” he added. “There might be an occasional slip, but it’s mostly clean.”

Comedian Larry XL is the scheduled headliner for shows on Dec. 9 and 10, as well as the New Year’s Eve show.

Ager said it’s easy to get people to laugh when the gag is body humor or about body parts, but the key is to make comedy intelligent without spelling out everything.

“That’s one of the things a lot of the comics I know have done. Making it intelligent allows the audience to fill things in, allows them their own mental pictures. You look at them a little crazily and they get it, they catch on,” he said.

Ager said some of the comedians at the club have been on television, but many have not. Going to Reactors, people have a chance to see some great performers who aren’t yet famous.

“You’ll find that a lot of comedians that are absolutely fantastic have not been on TV yet,” he said. “These people are excellent comedians who have worked all over the country, all over the world and they are very, very good. We also have some local comedians that come out of Philadelphia, and they’re excellent. We try to get a good group of guys and girls who can work together.”

And that group of comedians can work in front of an audience of 20-year-olds or of 90-year-olds.

The club has not gone unnoticed by locals during the brief time it’s been operating. Birmingham Township resident Dianne Baker said she and her husband learned about the club, ironically, while being stuck in traffic at the intersection of 1 and 202. They saw a small sign on the ground with the phone number.

“So I called while we still in traffic. We went that night, enjoyed it and we’ve been there three weekends in a row. We really enjoy it,” she said.

Shows begin at 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and run about an hour and 45 minutes with three performers and an intermission. Ager himself performs as the emcee for about 10 to 15 minutes, then there’s the feature act that does about 30 minutes, followed by the headliner who does 40 to 45 minutes.

Admission is $20 per person, but there are two for one specials and hotel guests get a discount that goes through the hotel. Ager said the club also hosts fundraisers with half the admission price going to the organization. This coming weekend, on Dec. 2, Reactors is having a show to benefit the Upper Chichester Library, according to the website.

Comedian Larry XL will be the headliner on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 9 and 10 and again on New Year’s Eve. Admission for the New Year’s Eve show is $25, but Ager said that includes champagne, noisemakers and entrance to the bistro for a party after the show.

While walk-ins are welcome, tickets can be purchased in advanced by visiting the club’s website http://reactorscomedyclub.com. For more information, send an email to reactorscomedyclub@yahoo.com or phone John Ager at 215-651-2350.

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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Art Watch: Artwork to enjoy and to gift

Arts & Entertainment

Peace_and_War hi res — Peace and War by Richard Chandler Hoff, Station Street Gallery

This week includes the “First Friday” for December, and that means it is a great chance to have some art fun at gallery openings and festivities from the Main Line to Delaware.

The big art event of the weekend is the dual opening for “Craft Forms” and “Making Marks” at the Wayne Art Center this week. This is a ticketed event, and you can still get tickets online at www.craftforms.org or by calling up the Wayne Art Center at 610-688-3553.

Yellow Forest by Mi Kyoung Lee in the "Making Marks" exhibit at Wayne Art Center — Yellow Forest by Mi Kyoung Lee in the “Making Marks” exhibit at Wayne Art Center

“Craft Forms 2016” opens with a fun-filled preview party from 6 to 10 p.m. on Friday, December 2nd at The Wayne Art Center, 413 Maplewood Avenue Wayne and continues through January 29, 2017.

Concurrent with “Craft Forms” is “Making Marks” a fiber arts show curated by phenomenal artist

Mi-Kyoung Lee, who is also showing her work. “Craft Forms 2016” is a much anticipated, well-respected art show of contemporary crafts. Thirty juried artists hale from all over the world and represent almost every craft media, including: ceramics, wood, fiber, metal, glass, mixed medium and 3-D painting. Proceeds from “Craft Forms” and “Making Marks” go to support Wayne Art Center’s educational and outreach programs for children and adults.

3D Blocks by John Beaver at the "Craft Forms exhibit at Wayne Art Center) — 3D Blocks by John Beaver at the “Craft Forms exhibit at Wayne Art Center)

Most of the exhibited works are for sale, and there is a wonderful gift shop at Wayne Art Center where visitors can purchase artworks by local artists as well as by the selected artists from the shows.

Following the dual opening preview party, on Saturday at the Wayne Art Center you can visit the shows for free and enjoy back to back art talks about these great new shows. From 1 to 2:30 p.m. on Saturday December 3, you can enjoy “Craft Forms” juror Stefano Catalani, Executive Director of the Gage Academy of Art, discuss the selection process. Also hear from the Craft Forms artists about their work as all visitors tour through the gallery. Then from 2:30 to 4 p.m., the public can hear a Curator Talk by “Making Marks” curator Mi-Kuong Lee, artist and Program Director of Craft and Materials Studies at the University of the Arts. Also listen to the selected fiber and textile artists talk about their work. Both shows are truly amazing, and I can’t wait to hear the artists talk about their interesting choices of mediums and get a chance to buy something unique from the show.

Maple, by John Pompeo, Mala Galleria Kennett Square

Kennett Square kicks off December with First Friday Art Stroll, on December 2^nd from 6 to 9 p.m. At Mala Galleria, local painter John Pompeo’s work is exhibited in “Idyllic Chester County: Appreciations in Oil.” With every purchase of a framed artwork at Mala Galleria during December, the customer will receive a free Kennett Square 2016 tree ornament. Galer Estate Winery, located in Kennett Square behind Longwood Gardens, has an art event every December Sunday from 2 to 6 p.m. December 4th will be an artisan “Sip & Shop” with ceramic artists Pam Lau and Abigail Patterson, Ali Bucher and Denise Kandravi jewelry, and more.

In downtown Oxford, The Oxford Arts Alliance has their wonderful annual Artisan Gift Shop taking over their whole main gallery. The Gift Shop is filled with paintings, jewelry, items for the home, ornaments, children’s gifts…everything you can think of, and it changes constantly throughout the month has items sell and are replaced by something new. This Gift Shop is an important fundraiser for The Oxford Arts Alliance, that does so much for the greater Oxford community. So shop, get inspired, and help to promote the arts in Oxford!

Not far from Oxford in New London, artist Mitch Lyons will be holding is 33rd Annual Open Studio from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. December 3rd and 4th. Mitch Lyons is an accomplished ceramic artist, painter, as well as clay mono-print artist. During the Open Studio, Mitch will be doing demonstrations of his mono-print technique which is sure to cast a spell on you. His color choices and selections of imprinted shapes and textures are a delight to the senses and very reasonably priced too. His website does not do the images justice.

In Lancaster County is Barking Tree Pottery, 2991 Lincoln Highway in Sadsburyville, with the beautiful and utilitarian pottery works by artist Susan Bankert. While her studio is always open for a visit if you call ahead, she has a Holiday Open House December 2^nd to 4^th and 10th-11th. The studio is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and from 12 noon to 10 p.m. on Friday December 2nd when she will be serving up hot chili.

Near Trolley Square in Wilmington, during the December month, the fabulous Blue Streak Gallery has a show of Bennett Siegel’s oil paintings “Still-Life Reduction” as well as a Holiday Jewelry Show featuring jewelry by Susan Schultz, Pam Levin, Joan Nelson and Maggi DeBaecke. The opening artists reception is on First Friday, December 2nd from 5 to 8 p.m. at 1721-1723 Delaware Avenue in Wilmington.

In Centreville, Delaware, the Hardcastle Galleries at 5714 Kennett Pike in Centreville has the opening reception party for its “Annual Holiday Small Works Art Show” on December 2nd from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. open to the public with music food and refreshments. The show continues through January 7th, and includes small, affordable artworks from over 70 local artists, in a wide variety of artistic mediums. Artists include popular painters such as Monique Sarkessian, Madeleine Kelly, Diane Cannon, and Su Knoll Horty, as well as glass artist Lore Evans, pastel artist Denise Vitollo and many more. This really is a visual treat with something for anyone’s style, and it is a delight to see so many accomplished local artists showing together in one spot, at great prices. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Friday 10 from a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

In Greenville, Delaware, The Station Gallery shows “Art for the Holidays from December 2^nd through 24^th at their gallery at 3922 Kennett Pike in Greenville. Many well known local artists are represented here, including paintings by Nanci Hersh, ceramics by Terry Anderson, jewelry Anna Biggs and graphite drawings by Richard Chandler Hoff.

About Lele Galer

Lele Galer is an artist who has chaired numerous art shows, taught art history and studio art, public art and has chaired, written and taught the Art in Action Art Appreciation series for the UCFD schools for the past 12 years. She worked at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and wrote for the Associated Press in Rome. She has been dedicated to Art History and art education for most of her adult life. Lele and her husband Brad own Galer Estate Winery in Kennett Square.

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