Pennsylvania State Police from the Media barracks are searching for a missing 87-year-old Concord Township man. The report didn’t identify the missing person by name, only by age, but said the man is white, diabetic, very hard of hearing, and without his medication. It was reported that he was operating a black Ford Edge, bearing Pennsylvania registration WR6829A. The man reportedly left his Fox Den Court home at about 3 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 11 without his cell phone. There is no tracking device or On-Star in the car.
Chadds Ford Business Association President Joe Lafferty, center, tells CFBA members during the Dec. 12 business luncheon that the group is disbanding at the end of the year.
The Chadds Ford Business Association is calling it quits at the end of the year. CFBA President Joe Lafferty made the announcement at the group’s final meeting held at Antica on Dec. 12.
“We are shutting down the association at the end of the year,” Lafferty said. “It’s unfortunate, bittersweet, and Mary [Marines, the CFBA secretary, and the only other board member] and I got to a point where we felt it was time to shut it down.
Lafferty thanked several people for trying to help out and keep things going, but interest had waned.
“I think we ran into several challenges that plagued us over the last several years. Attendance [at meetings] was always an issue. Also, there were a lot of important people on the board who stepped down as well,” he said. Lafferty added that money had become an issue with the association being short of funds.
Those challenges included finding new board members and finding new business owners who were interested in joining the CFBA. While he never used words such as “disappointing” or disappointed, he did express mixed feelings that reflected such emotion.
“My gut was that I wanted to do this forever, but my gut was that we couldn’t do it any longer.”
Marines said pretty much the same as Lafferty. She said they wanted to expand “but the reality is, we need to shut down.” There wasn’t enough interest.
The CFBA officially launched in 1995 but interest in having such a group began in 1993. According to Jim Leader, of Leader Sunoco and a past CFBA president, the association got started because of PennDOT and the township.
He said a handful of business owners — himself, Emily Myers, Rob King, and Paul Geary — got together in an attempt to stop PennDOT from putting in a concrete barrier in the middle of Route 1 the length of Chadds Ford Township. He said they thought having a group talking to PennDOT would have been a stronger presentation than simply having businesses arguing independently against the idea.
Leader also said the township government at the time was strongly antibusiness and a business organization could better represent businesses in general when it came to local government action.
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.
PennDOT has announced the following weather-dependent road projects that could affect drivers in the greater Chadds Ford area from Dec. 16 to Dec. 20Motorists are urged to allow extra time traveling through one of the construction zones. Work schedules are subject to change.
• Manhole repairs will cause daytime lane closures on E. Market Street between Darlington Street and Woodbine Aly through Jan. 31.
• Construction is scheduled through the winter on Conchester Highway, Route 452 (Market Street), and Bethel Avenue as part of the $99.4 million project to reconstruct, widen, and improve travel and safety on a 1.4-mile section of the Conchester. Motorists are advised of periodic overnight lane closures on weekdays through Tuesday, April 1, from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.
• The Doe Run Road bridge on Route 82 over Doe Run remains closed indefinitely.
• Road patching will cause periodic daytime lane closures on Route 82 between S Broad Street and Hornblende Avenue in Kennett Square from Dec. 16 and 17.
• Utility and road construction will cause daytime lane closures on S. High. Street between E. Miner Street and Rosedale Avenue through Dec. 31.
• Utility relocation and road widening will cause daytime lane closures on Route 1 from the Kennett/Oxford Bypass to Greenwood Road through Dec. 20.
• Construction continues to replace Twin Bridges, the South Creek Road bridge over the Brandywine between Chadds Ford and Pennsbury townships. Work is expected to continue through fall 2025. South Creek Road will be closed 1,200 feet south of Bullock Road and 1.1 miles north of Cossart Road. During the closure, motorists are directed to use U.S. 1, Route 52, Center Meeting Road, and Delaware State Route 100 (Montchanin Road). Bicyclists traveling Bike Route L will be directed to use Bullock Road, Ring Road, Ridge Road, and Delaware State roadway Smithbridge Road.
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