January 13, 2022

Kennett Public Works Director Roger Lysle is retiring this week.

Lysle, who in June marked his 40^th anniversary on the job, will work his last day for Kennett on Jan. 14, according to a press release.

Kennett Township, whose staff called Lysle “truly irreplaceable,” will begin searching for a new public works director. The public works staff “will be running day-to-day business” until a new director is found.

“Not only is it rare to have an employee stay with one organization for over 40 years, but it’s even more rare that that employee would perform their job so selflessly and be such a positive asset to the organization,” Supervisors’ Chairman Richard Leff said in a press release. “That is Roger Lysle.”

Lysle began working for the township road crew on June 17, 1981 and became the township roadmaster in 2008. His duties then included serving as the liaison between the road crew and the supervisors, in charge of maintaining and inspecting roads and bridges and working with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation on state roads and bridges. In 2012 his title was changed to public works director.

“The staff will surely miss Roger, but I think the residents of Kennett Township will miss him more,” Supervisors’ Vice-Chairman Scudder Stevens said.

In June, the township supervisors and staff surprised Lysle for his anniversary, throwing him a luncheon.

Lysle will spend his second-to-last day showing new Supervisor Geoff Gamble around the township, a tradition he has had with incoming supervisors over the years.

“To be this close to retirement and still care enough to teach me all he can about our township is remarkable,” Gamble said in the press release.

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.

Around Town Jan. 13

Along the Ford

• Opening on Feb. 6, and running through April 10, the Brandywine River Museum of Art will present Wayne Thiebaud 100: Paintings, Prints, and Drawings. Highlighting the full range of this iconic American artist’s work made over 70 years, the exhibition features a spectacular selection of his paintings, watercolors, and prints. Created on the occasion of Thiebaud’s 100th birthday, the exhibition now also serves as a fitting tribute to his remarkable career following the artist’s recent death on December 25, 2021.

• The Residence at Chadds Ford will hold an open house on Tuesday, Jan. 25. Visitors are invited to see what this independent living and memory care facility has to offer. To schedule a tour, email Mindy Macauley at mmacauley@residencechaddsford.com or phone 610-222-3333 by Friday, Jan. 21.

Get the buzz about bees during MNt. Cuba Center’s Winter Lecture series on Saturday, Feb. 12.

• Get the buzz about bees during Mt Cuba Center’s online Winter Lecture Series Saturday, Feb. 12, 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The Ecological Benefits of Native Bees & Predatory Wasps. Instructor Heather Holm will highlight the many natural history and biology facts about native wasps illustrating their nesting habitat, prey specificity, and the ecosystems services they provide—pest insect population control and pollination. For more information and to register, go here.

• Human consumption of alcohol goes back millennia, at least 9.000 years. That’s just one of the facts brought to light in Ancient Alcohol: Virtual Tour & Lecture w/ the Penn Museum, courtesy of the Rachel Kohl Library and Delaware County Libraries. It’s a virtual session via the BlueJeans meeting platform on Wednesday, Jan. 19, at 7 p.m. Uncover 9,000 years of wine culture around the globe in this virtual tour of ancient winemaking. Explore the role of wine in the human story, from agriculture and trade to social life and religion. Learn how wine is fermented from palm tree sap—a method still enjoyed by many cultures today—and see what happens when you add resin, fruit, or even cheese to your glass. Register here and you will receive an email with the link to join two hours before it begins. If you have not received the link by 5:15 p.m. and it is not in your spam folder, email kohllibrary@delcolibraries.org.