Township honors volunteers

Posted by Rich Schwartzman on February 23, 2019

Chadds Ford resident Rob King, center, talks with Dean and Diane Camp during Volunteer Appreciation Night in Chadds Ford Township.

Supervisors’ Chairman Frank Murphy, with Vice Chairman Samantha Reiner, welcomes volunteers to the evening and announced the township is close to getting Painters’ Folly placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Chadds Ford Township honored its volunteers Friday night with the annual Volunteer Appreciation Night at Turner’s Mill. Township Supervisors’ Chairman Frank Murphy said the township “couldn’t function as well as it does without the volunteers.”

Former Supervisor George Thorpe chats with current Supervisors’ Chairman Frank Murphy.

He also announced that Chadds Ford is “one step away” from having Painters Folly placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The township bought the property from George and Helen Sipala last year.

The home was built in the 1850s and Howard Pyle later used it as a summer house while he was teaching students such as N.C. Wyeth. Andrew Wyeth later became a frequent visitor to the home while the Sipalas lived there and several of his paintings — Widow’s Walk and The Marriage Bed— were painted there.

Murphy’s comments were the only pieces of formality during the evening. The bulk of the time was spent eating, drinking and socializing.

Supervisors’ Vice Chairman Samantha Reiner and others check out the buffet provided by Pescatore’s.

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.