October 11, 2017 - ChaddsFordLive.com

For anti-cancer fundraiser, grape expectations

On the heels of Chester County Day, Chester County Hospital has a second fall ritual on tap this weekend: the 26^th Annual Wine Festival.

The Wine Festival, a fundraiser to benefit cancer research and care, will be held on the grounds of the Dilworthtown Inn.

The hospital is hoping that area oenophiles will gather at the Dilworthtown Inn in Birmingham Township on Sunday, Oct. 15, to help put a cork in cancer.

Attendees will be able to stroll the grounds of the historic restaurant and sample approximately 100 wines, craft beers, hard cider and cuisine prepared by Dilworthtown Inn chefs and local food trucks. In addition, a silent auction, shopping opportunities in the Gallery of Artisan Vendors, live music, a performance car show, and more will contribute to the popular event, according to a hospital press release.

Proceeds from the wine festival will benefit patients of the Cancer Program of Chester County Hospital and Neighborhood Health, which brings world-class care close to home. Through a partnership with the Penn Cancer Network, the program offers the latest treatment protocols and cutting-edge technology, including care outside the hospital through the services of Neighborhood Health (home health, hospice, private duty, and Senior HealthLink services).

The festival will run rain or shine from noon to 4 p.m. on the grounds of the Dilworthtown Inn, 1390 Old Wilmington Pike, West Chester, Pa., 19382. General-admission tickets are $45 per person in advance or $50 at the door and include wine- and beer-tastings and access to shopping and entertainment. Food will be available for purchase at the Gourmet Food Tent.

Those who opt to purchase VIP tickets at $100 apiece will receive complimentary offerings from the Gourmet Food Tent as well access to the VIP tent, which will feature reserved seating, fruit and cheese, special wines, and more.

To encourage responsible drinking, a designated driver package for $200 includes five general- admission tickets and one free designated-driver ticket. The latter also includes lunch and a non-alcoholic beverage.

The Brandywine and Greystone Women’s auxiliaries to the hospital organize the annual wine festival. To attend, volunteer, sponsor, or donate, visit www.2crushcancer.com or call 610-431-5328.

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High marks for ‘highwatermarks’ at BRM

Arts & Entertainment

Gauthier-highwatermarks-2 — Dylan Gauthier, film still from highwatermarks, 2017, 4k video installation, dimensions: 60' x 10', r/t: 70m

When you think of the Brandywine River, you might imagine canoeists making their way downstream, or children frolicking in the water on a hot day or the beautiful vistas that surround it.

You don’t immediately think of mushroom houses, or other industry, or of drinking water for the city of Wilmington.

Yet the creator of Brandywine River Museum’s first video installation looks at its namesake river as a connector, drawing viewers along the Brandywine Watershed over four seasons and showcasing images of a river that has touched the lives of so many.

“The video is at once a portrait of place, the Brandywine River region, and an ethnographic portrait of the community of people who live there, use the river and find themselves drawn to it,” said the museum’s first artist-in-residence, Dylan Gauthier.

His exhibit, highwatermarks, runs now through Jan. 7. Gauthier will discuss his exhibit and his findings during his residency in a Nov. 1 lecture.

“Brandywine means many things to many different people; this film intends to share a little bit from each of them to each of them,” Gauthier said in a press release.

The 70-minute video plays in a loop on the third floor of the museum on 60-foot-long floor-to-ceiling screens that covers two walls. The room is bare except for six wooden benches designed and built by the artist spaced at intervals. The only sounds are the ones that Gauthier recorded over the course of a year – the gurgling of the river, the hum of equipment at a composting site, the shuffling of a goat, the music of insects.

The scenes encompass the four seasons along the Brandywine and include video so realistic it’s hard to imagine you are not right there.

One scene shows a close-up of a black frog and a tiny fly crawling across its body. Another scene shows an exterior of a composting operation, with liquid bubbling on the ground. Yet another scene shows the water rushing over rocks.

“It felt like the images were unique to the area,” said Gauthier, a Brooklyn-based artist.

He shot the scenes with a small tripod unit and also used a small boat – on display at the museum – to take some shots but also to ferry him to locations.

When Gauthier was finished, he had more than 1,000 hours of video and spent weeks editing it down to the finished 70-minute piece, said Thomas Padon, the James H. Duff Director of the museum. The highwatermarks exhibit was unique for the museum in that it brought the state of the river to life, showcasing protection efforts on the big screen.

“He definitely didn’t sugarcoat the river,” Padon said, watching video footage first of a mushroom house and then of people cooling off in the river. “This is what the Brandywine is to some people (recreation). To others it’s industry, and to others, it’s a good view.”

For more information about the exhibit or about the Brandywine River Museum, go online at www.brandywinemuseum.org.

If You Go:

Dylan Gauthier: highwatermarks
Now through Jan. 7, 2018
Brandywine River Museum, Route 1, Chadds Ford
Admission: $18 adults; $15 seniors (65 and over); $6 students and children 6-18; free for children 5 and younger and conservancy and museum members. Free first Sunday of the month.
Information: 610-388-2700
On the Web: brandywinemuseum.org

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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Chester County walks one billion steps

Health

Chester County residents of all ages contributed to the WalkWorks ChesCo! challenge, hitting target number of a billion steps in six months.

In April of this year, during National Public Health Week, Chester County launched WalkWorks ChesCo!, the challenge to walk one billion steps. County residents embraced the challenge and recorded more than a billion steps in just six months – three months earlier than the challenge deadline.

WalkWorks ChesCo! is a program that promotes, educates and empowers county residents to adopt a healthier lifestyle one step at a time by creating more places for walking, supporting and promoting walking groups, coordinating walking challenges – and importantly – creating a website that allows everyone to track and tally their steps towards the one billion-goal.

The one billion-step-goal was officially surpassed last week, and the County celebrated at the Commissioners’ public sunshine meeting. Joining the commissioners and Health Department officials were community organizations and partners who contributed enthusiastically to the challenge, including staff and students from North Coventry Elementary School and a representative from Activate Phoenixville Area.

Chester County Commissioners Terence Farrell, Michelle Kichline and Kathi Cozzone (center front) are joined by county health department staff and community partners to celebrate walking one billion steps in just six months.

“The one billion steps were accumulated in a number of ways to ensure we were meeting the objectives we set prior to the launch,” said Jeanne Casner, director of the Chester County Health Department. “From nearly 80 walking challenges initiated between communities like Coatesville and Phoenixville and between businesses and work environments, to tremendous school support, senior center support and health center support, the steps kept rolling in.

“And within the first six months, we registered more than 2,800 people who tracked their steps on our WalkWorks ChesCo! website from every area of the County, and ranging in age from kindergarten to over 60,” added Casner.

The tracking system on the WalkWorks ChesCo! website – www.chsco.org/walkworks – syncs with most devices and mobile apps that already track steps and it also allows users to convert other physical exercises into steps to be manually added.

Chris Mitchell, Health and Physical Education teacher at North Coventry Elementary School was one of the many educators who took up the WalkWorks ChesCo! challenge by developing a program for students, teachers and staff to walk many steps in the week leading up to Chester County Walks Day (Sept. 23). With the support of school principal Susan Lloyd, Chris led a team and set a school – and community – goal of walking 10 million steps in just one week. “I started doing some quick math and worked out that with the numbers we had if we all walked just 20 minutes a day for five days, we could potentially achieve 10 million steps in one week,” said Mitchell.

By the end of the week, North Coventry Elementary School students, staff, parents, friends and many community first responders had surpassed the original goal, walking more than 14 million steps. In total, Chester County schools walked 25 million steps in the week leading up to Chester County Walks Day.

The WalkWorks ChesCo! program is Chester County’s response to the national Healthiest Cities and Counties Challenge, a two-year competition that empowers U.S. cities and counties to create a positive health impact. Chester County Commissioner Terence Farrell first became aware of the Healthiest Cities and Counties Challenge in 2016 and tasked county staff to apply. The county was selected out of 400 applications as one of 50 members of the national HealthyCommunity50, and received $10,000 in community seed funds to establish WalkWorks ChesCo!

“The beauty of WalkWorks ChesCo! is that it encourages partnerships between recognized health organizations, chambers of commerce, physicians, schools, senior centers, non-profits, scout troops and other community and civic organizations, all of which are supportive of the effort to increase physical activity,” noted Commissioner Farrell.

“Walking is the most simple and inexpensive form of exercise and can happen in towns, on trails, in green space areas, and even in the home,” said Commissioners’ Chair Michelle Kichline.

Commissioner Kathi Cozzone added, “The one billion step level is impressive, and I encourage those who are already signed up for WalkWorks ChesCo! to make a point of signing up at least five or six members of their family and friends, so that we can begin our 2018 challenge with an even bigger base for tracking steps.”

Staff in the Chester County Health Department will be assessing the success of WalkWorks ChesCo!’s first one billion steps and between now and December will be reviewing the methods for promoting more steps. “Having achieved one billion steps in just six months is fantastic, but our Healthy Cities & Counties Challenge is a two-year program,” added Jeanne Casner. “We’re not stopping here and will be setting out sights very high for our step goal for the whole of 2018. Watch this space!”

If judged the most successful Healthiest Cities and Counties Challenge program, Chester County will receive $500,000 which will be used to further enhance health programs for all county residents. The Healthiest Cities and Counties Challenge is a partnership established between the Aetna Foundation, the American Public Health Association and the National Association of Counties.

More information about the WalkWorks ChesCo! program and how to register can be found at www.chesco.org/walkworks.

About Press Release

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Police Log Oct. 11: Crashes, thefts, DUIs

Police

Pennsylvania State Police

• Police said Summer T. Bush, 33, of Upland, was cited following a one-vehicle accident on Concord Road near Valentine Road on Oct. 8. The report said she was driving north on Concord Road but failed to safely negotiate a right-hand curve on a downslope. The car slid across the road and hit a guardrail. The car then spun 180 degrees and hit the guardrail a second time. Bush was uninjured, the report said.

• State police said Michael Ralph Marino, 54, of Glen Mills, was arrested for DUI on Sept. 21 at Concord and Station roads in Concord Township. The report said troopers were called to the intersection because of a report of a disabled motorist. Police said the accused’s vehicle was blocking northbound Concord Road and that Marino showed signs of impairment.

• Someone stole $1,620 worth of construction equipment from a trailer on Franklin Drive n Concord Township sometime between 1 p.m. Sept. 28 and 7 a.m. on Oct. 2. Items stolen include a Porter Cable Air Compressor, an 18-volt Milwaukee Saw-all/Charger, an 18-volt Milwaukee flashlight, a drill, three rolls of 750-feet long MC cable and a Bluetooth speaker.

• An estimated $22,000 worth of equipment was stolen from a construction site in Concord Township sometime between 7 p.m. on Oct. 4 and 7 a.m. on Oct. 5, accord to a police report. Among the items stolen from the site on Elton Farm Circle was a 2008 S250 white Bobcat with a fork attachment.

• A 29-year-old man from Lancaster — Jordan P. Fabian — was cited for driving without a valid driver’s license and other offenses. The crash happened at 8:08 a.m. at Routes 1 and 202 on Sept. 28. According to the accident report, Fabian was driving west on Route 1 when he went through a red light and struck another vehicle. Police cited him for running the light, driving a vehicle without a certificate of inspection and with driving while operating privileges were suspended or revoked. No injuries were reported.

• A four-vehicle rear-ender accident on Route 1 resulted in one minor injury and one driver being cited. The accident took place in Concord Township north of Powell Road at about 1:19 p.m. on Sept. 28. Nicole L. Phelps, 23, of Wallingford was cited for following too closely, state police said.

• Police arrested a Wilmington man for DUI and drug possession after he failed to signal multiple lane changes in Chadds Ford Township. State police from the Media barracks said Patrick McGinley was stopped at Route 1 and Ring Road shortly after 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 17. According to the report, McGinley had recently smoked marijuana and was in possession of pot at the time of the stop. Charges were pending results of a blood analysis.

• Police said they charged Marissa L. DePrince, 18, of Lester, with following too closely after a rear-ender accident on Route 1 in Concord Township on Sept. 22. The 22-year-old driver of the other vehicle, Annie M. Lowenthal, of Haverford, appeared uninjured, police said, but that a parent, not on the scene, wanted her checked out. She was taken to Riddle Hospital.

• A one-vehicle accident on Oct. 8 in Pocopson Township led to the hospitalization of the driver, identified by state police as Jennifer A. Michalski, 33, of Cochranville. According to the police report, Michalski was driving north on Route 52 at 8:27 a.m. when she failed to negotiate a left curve. The car, a 2008 Pontiac G6, spun counterclockwise, left the roadway sideways and struck a utility pole. EMS took her to Paoli Hospital.

• Anthony Michael Britt Jr., 35, of Oxford, was arrested for DUI on Sept. 18, a state police report said. The arrest was made on Route 1 at Route 82 at 9:20 p.m.

• State police are investigating the attempted theft of three flat-screen TVs from the East Marlborough Township Walmart on Oct. 8. The unknown suspects, described only as one male and one female, also tried to steal two sweaters. The pair fled when confronted by store employees.

Southern Chester County Regional Police

• Raymond Marrero, 43, of Kennett Square, was charged with retail theft and receiving stolen property. Southern Chester County Regional Police said Marrero stole $391 worth of items from his former employer, the Giant Food Store, on Scarlett Road in New Garden Township. According to the press release, he was confronted in the parking lot by store personnel and relinquished the items. The incident happened Sept. 27.

• David L. Holmes III, 33, of Downingtown, was arrested and charged with drug possession after a traffic in New Garden Township, a police report said. Police stopped Holmes in the 1200 block of Newark Road for an equipment violation on Sept. 21. The report said police detected the odor of raw marijuana emanating from inside of the vehicle and a subsequent search produced approximately 2.3 grams of marijuana.

• Police said Richard Sydenstricker, 65, of Toughkenamon was arrested on Sept. 19 and charged with simple assault and harassment. According to a report, police were called to the 1500 block of Baltimore Pike in New Garden Township for a report of a physical domestic. Upon arrival, a male and female at the residence reported that Sydenstricker punched them both during an argument. Because police observed recent physical injury supporting the victims’ account of events, they arrested Sydenstricker without incident.

About CFLive Staff

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