Chadds Ford’s Sanderson Museum was humming with excitement when WPVI- 6 producer-cameraman Dan Sheridan came to do a segment of “One Tank Trips”, a series on area attractions that can be visited on, well - one tank of gas.

The day of the shooting was gloomy and rainy while the remnants of tropical storm Ophelia brushed by the Delaware Valley, and museum visitor Anita Little, in from the west coast, certainly didn’t expect to be caught on camera as she viewed the Bayard Taylor exhibit.

So how did the eight-room history museum on Creek Road come to be chosen for a series that has recently featured sites such as Fonthill Castle in Bucks County, Berk’s County’s Hawk Mountain, or the Steel Stacks cultural campus in Bethlehem?

Producer Sheridan was happy to answer. “I looked up museums in my area that I had never heard of.”

Hmm…Well, I did ask.

But the Sanderson story intrigued him so much that he got in touch with museum curator Chuck Ulmann and told him, “I’ve driven by here 1,000 times”. And that’s how it happened.

“Dan had never been here before,” said board member Jim Christ, “so Chuck and I did our best to acquaint him with not only Chris but his collection.”

Ulmann said some of the items he spoke about were, “The Civil War items, Chris working with Andy [Wyeth], and teaching thousands about our area in the Revolutionary War.”

Of his experience in front of the camera, Christ said, “I pointed out some small artifacts along with some important ones to show that Chris would have these jaw-dropping artifacts in history, alongside something mundane.”

Sheridan has been a producer and cameraman with WPVI- 6, an ABC affiliate for 26 years, and added with a grin that he was “one of the young ones”.

His impressive camera equipment included a Panasonic P-2 powered by a Frezzi FB 240 Lithium-Ion battery, as well as a Go Pro iPhone for detailed stills of small artifacts.

“Dan was wonderful,” added Christ.  “Easy going - a smile on his face the whole time.  He put us at ease and gave us some good questions to answer.”

Curator Ulmann added with a grin, “He certainly did, even when my eye teeth got in the way of my tongue and I couldn't see what I was saying!"

The Sanderson Museum was founded in January 1967 by artist Andrew Wyeth less than six weeks after his longtime friend and neighbor Chris Sanderson died on Nov. 19, 1966. Sanderson’s home which included his museum, was owned by next-door neighbor Lottie Eachus and was eventually purchased by the Sanderson Board from her estate in the 1970s. With historic photos and valuable advice from the Chadds Ford HARB, the once-tired tenant house was then restored to its original pristine 1855 appearance in 2008.

When asked about a recent memorable story, Sheridan answered, “The Chapel of the Four Chaplains at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.”  Maybe after he edits this shoot, he’ll have a new answer. An air date has not yet been set.

About Sally Denk Hoey

Sally Denk Hoey, is a Gemini - one part music and one part history. She holds a masters degree cum laude from the School of Music at West Chester University. She taught 14 years in both public and private school. Her CD "Bard of the Brandywine" was critically received during her almost 30 years as a folk singer. She currently cantors masses at St Agnes Church in West Chester where she also performs with the select Motet Choir. A recognized historian, Sally serves as a judge-captain for the south-east Pennsylvania regionals of the National History Day Competition. She has served as president of the Brandywine Battlefield Park Associates as well as the Sanderson Museum in Chadds Ford where she now curates the violin collection. Sally re-enacted with the 43rd Regiment of Foot and the 2nd Pennsylvania Regiment for 19 years where she interpreted the role of a campfollower at encampments in Valley Forge, Williamsburg, Va., Monmouth, N.J. and Lexington and Concord, Mass. Sally is married to her college classmate, Thomas Hoey, otherwise known as "Mr. Sousa.”

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