I’m careful with things I am given as presents, especially gadgets, and things that count as appliances.
For Christmas last year I was given a really cool appliance/gadget/machine. A Reencle composter. I’m a big gardener, I like to use compost, so this was like literally the perfect present.
The composter worked for a couple of months. We followed all the directions meticulously, and then something in the motor or motor itself died.
So then my husband went through all of the stuff that their customer service asked us to do under warranty, and finally after sending them videos and more they said they were going to send us a new motor (or whatever the part was.)
So it’s now September and I can’t even tell you how many months I have not been composting, waiting for a motor or a part that never arrived.
What they should have done by now is just replace the unit because people pay enough for them.
But they didn’t. We played by the company’s rules. I am done.
They claim that a motor was delivered but no motor was ever delivered – Again, I use the word motor I’m assuming that’s what the part needed actually was.
At this point we’re coming up against probably the end of the warranty (I assume it’s a year) and I think this is all a scam so we are forced to buy another unit if we want to use their machine.
I can’t even explain to you all how many times my husband has contacted this company.
As I was the recipient of the gift, I am now writing out my frustrations. And if they are not going to make him whole on my Christmas present from 2023 then I want them to refund him, every penny.
So at this point that is the company’s choice: I either want a new machine or my husband gets a complete refund. However, realistically, I don’t think this is going to happen and we’re going to end up having to throw this out in a bulk pick up.
Again…played by their rules and have waited months for the supposed motor or part that was shipped on a slow boat from somewhere that was never received and never delivered to my home.
I’m pissed off as a consumer, and I’m tired of dealing with this. I got rid of my other composter outside because Reencle was supposed to be so much better. I’m a big gardener, so I would actually use the compost.
For months – because we had to put it on the porch because it’s compost inside and if it’s not running, it will stink up your kitchen or garage – I have had a giant paperweight that’s fairly heavy. Just sitting there. People stare at it. I stare at it. It’s not functional and I’m tired of being the nice patient consumer about this. So I’m warning people about the drawbacks to buying this thing if it breaks while under warranty.
Chester County and its 550,000 residents enjoy a high quality of life with outstanding employment and educational opportunities, coupled with an array of performing arts and cultural venues, museums, historical sites, world-renowned gardens, recreational offerings, and an eclectic mixture of dining, microbreweries, and wine tasting options. Referred to locally as “Chesco,” the County includes the City of Coatesville, 15 Boroughs, 57 Townships, and numerous other communities within its 762 square miles and is part of Philadelphia’s 6.2 million metropolitan area population. Chester County is the fastest-growing county in southeastern Pennsylvania, with 100,000 projected new residents by 2050.
The Executive Director of Planning is responsible for leading, implementing and managing all programs, staff, and budgets for the County Planning Commission, Environmental and Energy Advisory Board, and Agricultural Development Council. The position is also responsible for providing the highest technical level of assistance to County Commissioners.
Chester County seeks a visionary and creative Executive Director of Planning who is passionate about progressive planning principles and has the keen ability to develop long-range plans and future projects with area planning and transportation partners. The successful candidate will have a functional understanding in a variety of practices including long-range planning, balancing growth with preservation, open space acquisition and management, affordable housing, sustainability programs, multimodal transportation, and Transit Oriented Development.
A master’s degree from an accredited college or university in planning, geography, political science, economics, landscape architecture, or other related field is required, coupled with ten (10) or more years of applied experience in planning fields (i.e., community, environmental, plan review, transportation, etc.) is required. Candidates with an equivalent combination of education, training, and experience will also be considered. Membership in the American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) strongly preferred. The final selected candidate must also possess or be able to obtain a valid driver’s license. Residency is not required for the position; however, it is desired that the Executive Director of Planning live within a reasonable commuting distance to the County offices in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Chester County offers a competitive salary based upon qualifications and experience with a desired starting salary range of $120,186 – $150,234.
Soooo isn’t that special as well? Welcome back Church Lady:
So Brian O’Leary is the current Executive Director of Chester County Planning Commission so is he retiring?
O’Leary was appointed in Chester County in 2015. I was never a fan. I remember him from the Planning Commission in Lower Merion Township and Montgomery County.
On November 8, I’ll be retiring after many great years at the Chester County and Montgomery County planning commissions. It has been interesting, fun, and, hopefully, impactful work that has been much more fulfilling because of my interactions with all of you.
Chester County is now looking for a new executive director of planning, and you can find more about the position here:
If you know of someone who would be a good fit for the position, please share the link with them. Chester County is an excellent place to work as a planner. Both the county government and the general community are very supportive of planning; Landscapes3, the county’s comprehensive plan, is well respected by our partners; and the county directly implements smart growth and preservation through its open space, community revitalization, and planning grant programs.
When I retire, I’ll be doing the usual retiree activities of more travelling, more learning, more creative hobbies, more time outdoors, and more time with family.
Sincerely,
Brian
One pension or two? He was at Montgomery County for like 28 years, and Chester County for 9.
My largest problem other than I remember how pro-development I felt he was from my time living in Lower Merion Township, was that he did NOT live in Chester County. Sorry not sorry but to understand Chester County best for a crucial job like this, it should be a resident if possible.
So anyway, arrivederci O’Leary. I hope your successor actually lives in Chester County.
File again under news I found that I wasn’t looking for.
A reader in Malvern Borough had sent me this photo because it IS 9/11 and flags are supposed to be at half-staff.
So I went looking on the Malvern Borough website to see if maybe they said WHY they didn’t do this, and instead found something I was not looking for – the fact that Tiffany Loomis was no longer the Borough Manager…and the interim manager is a familiar name to Tredyffrin and East Whiteland and by association to West Whiteland, Terri Woodman
Remember when she became East Whiteland Manager after Mimi Gleason went to West Whiteland? She was Gleason’s assistant township manager in Tredyffrin before Gleason went to West Whiteland (and we all remember the drama of Mimi gate over there so we don’t need to re-live it do we?)
Terry Woodman, 48, of Easttown, currently assistant township manager in Tredyffrin Township, will begin her new position on Feb. 5.
“I’m very excited,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed this type of work, working at the community level. I’m looking forward to meeting and greeting the residents of East Whiteland and to help the township reach into the future.”
Woodman, who has served as Tredyffrin’s assistant township manager for 13 years, was chosen from six who interviewed for the position.
“She was our first choice,” said East Whiteland Supervisors’ Chairman Michele Vaughn. “Terry came out on top as the best candidate. We felt that she would hit the ground running as soon as she came on board.”
Umm well, yeah. Terri Woodman. Will she respond to emails while in Malvern Borough? She didn’t seem email literate while in East Whiteland.
I don’t know but it does blow my mind the circles of it all.
It’s a very small pool of managers apparently. Just look at West Vincent where the former manager is the interim manager and a few years ago the interim manager there became manager and had been an interim manager in Radnor too. Managerial hop scotch.
Anyway, hope Malvern fixed their flags – Burke Park needed half masting too.
I just can’t with the Madoff-Lite of it all. The Philadelphia Business Journal popped out a new story on new drama regarding Scott Mason of Gladwyne, PA:
Now for the filings in NJ – interesting to PA because in the exhibits you can see where they added filings of PA people as exhibits….and Joseph DiStefano’s Inquirer article too.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
I am glad we are free, but I wish people would stop killing Americans, including other Americans. And on our own soil, I wish the petty tyranny of small minded government officials in local municipalities, Harrisburg, and Washington DC would cease.
I am proud to be an American but petty tyranny and unnecessary death and destruction makes me sad. Hate spewing and vitriol assails us at every turn. I actually have gone from being a news junkie to a news avoider. In that vein, politics is pretty much just ugly today. And I will indeed lay that at Donald Trump’s fat little feet and big gut. I will also lay that at the feet of the fake hillbilly and generally speaking, twisted opportunist, J.D. Vance.
I was once proud to be a Republican, so proud I was a media relations volunteer at the RNC 2000. Then came 2016 and the news that Trump was the nominee. The day he became a nominee, I stopped being a Republican. First I tried on Independent for size, which truly fits me better, but I ultimately became a Democrat for two reasons: the rights of women to do as we choose with our bodies and lives and the fact I wanted to vote in primaries. If Pennsylvania was not so backwards on this this and other issues, we could easily exist as an open primary or semi-open primary state.
Today I wrote this post as one thing only: an American woman. In 2001, I remember when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. It was at this moment I was pulling into my garage back then where I worked for then Wachovia Securities in Conshohocken. I was listening to the radio in my car. I remember the tears just starting to roll down my face because I knew, I knew they (terrorists) came back because I had walked out of the World Trade Center shopping concourse in 1993 when they blew up the garage.
And when I say I remember exactly when it was as the bomb detonated in that garage in 1993. I was standing on the sidewalk outside looking at Century 21 with my friend Deirdre. If life has been different I might still have been working in New York City on September 11, 2001.
I also remember as I walked into my office that fateful day in 2001, and all the brokers were riveted to television screens in their offices and their computers, at that point in time most people didn’t believe those were terrorist attacks. They just thought like a small plane had gone into the World Trade Center. It was a crazy surreal morning as the news started to unfold. It’s crazy how clearly I can still remember it. I think this is like it was for our parents the day that John F. Kennedy was assassinated. You remember where you were and what you were doing.
I also still remember calling my late father, who was on his cell phone on an Amtrak train to New York for some kind of an appointment, and when he answered the phone I remember saying “Where are you? Where are you?” And he told me they had just stopped at Metro Park, New Jersey, and I told him get off the train. Take another train back. And he told me oh no the AMTRAK conductors said it’s fine, it’s nothing and he would be back that evening. With the aftermath of 9/11 in NYC, he couldn’t get out of that city for days.
Another of the other things I remember on this day now twenty years ago, two sisters I grew up with who were close childhood family friends and still are. One, at the time, worked for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The other I think worked for Marsh and McLennan at the time (can’t remember for sure), but she did work somewhere in the World Trade Center. I remember being in a panic for days until I found out they were OK. One or both were out of state visiting their parents. And one sister had actually just left her job to go back to school or she definitely would have been there.
One of the sisters, if not both, were posted on missing persons lists that kept coming out back then at a rapid-fire pace. You have no idea how surreal it was to see familiar names on these lists. Especially because at this point the missing persons lists were also presumed dead lists.
I remember the days and weeks that followed when people were checking lists for the dead, found, and alive every damn day. Once upon a time I remember a conversation with an ATF agent a couple of years after 9/11 who had been in the Pentagon on 9/11, fortunately for them, the other side of the Pentagon.
Of course I also remember when my sister who had been studying in Strasbourg in 1988 changed her flight at the last minute to get a couple of more days in Europe before coming home. Originally, she was supposed to have been on Pan Am 103, which was blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland. The 36th anniversary of that is September 21, 2024. These were the pre-cell phone days and I remember making transatlantic phone calls and then waiting until she called.
I am also going to once again pause for a moment to remember the OTHER terrorist attempt on the World Trade Center. February 26, 1993.
In 1993, I worked in New York at that time at an office located downtown in the financial district. 44 Wall Street. Gabriele, Hueglin & Cashman.
On that day, I had accompanied my office friend Deirdre to the World Trade Center to grab an early lunch and to check out some stores in the shopping concourse above the garage. We were back outside of the World Trade Center buildings, getting ready to cross the street, when suddenly the ground shook and moved. I remember that we were looking directly across the street at Century 21, a department store in Lower Manhattan.
Then something happened that rarely happens in New York: Everything went eerily still and quiet. We looked up at what we first thought were snowflakes beginning to float and fall from the sky. After all, it was February.
Then car alarms began to go off one by one like the cacophony of many distorted bells. The snowflakes, we soon discovered, were in reality ashes.
People began yelling and screaming. It became very confusing and chaotic all at once, like someone flipped a switch to “on.” At first, we both felt rooted to the sidewalk, unable to move. I remember feeling a sense of panic at the unknown.
We had absolutely no idea what had happened, and hurried back to our office. Reaching it, we were greeted by worried coworkers who told us that someone had set off a bomb underground in the World Trade Center garage. That much had come over the Bloomberg machine.
I will never forget the crazy kaleidoscope of images, throughout that afternoon, of all the people who were related to or knew people in my office who sought refuge in our office after walking down the innumerable flights of steps in the dark to exit the World Trade Center Towers. They arrived with soot all over their faces, hands and clothes. They all wore zombie looks of shock, disbelief and panic.
Everything was back to normal in Lower Manhattan in about a month, maybe two after that fateful 1993 day. After a while, unless you had worked in New York, or lived in New York, you simply forgot about this 1993 “incident.”
Like it never happened. Only it did and on February 26, 2025 it will 32 years.
If you were there in NYC , like I was, you always remember that day as well. And I am sure I am not the only one who was in New York City downtown in February 1993 who felt as I did on September 11, 2001: that immediate “they came back” feeling.
Tomorrow morning is 23 years. And here we are. But where are we? We are a constantly devolving country full of politically driven mis-information and ugliness. A mad man, a truly dangerously sociopathic malignant narcissist who quite literally should be in jail somewhere wants to pollute the White House again. Right now he just pollutes all the airwaves with his bullshit. And people think he’s the messiah. The irony is the majority of people who think he’s wonderful have not and will never benefit from any of his drivel. They don’t get that this old man doesn’t see anyone except himself. He uses everyone and everything in his path to suit his own desires. He’s not about making America anything except broken, like so many of his companies and business ventures. If he is re-elected we will lose social security, more healthcare stuff, and women will be back to chattel with no control over their bodies. If you want to be a Stepford wife, I suppose that’s ok, but is that your America? It’s not mine.
The ugliness in this country takes your breath away some days. And when it comes to the Middle East? That is not our war and the atrocities exist on both sides. So pardon me if I do not get why overprivileged spoiled kids think they understand what’s going on. If they had a basic knowledge of the the centuries of this crisis in various forms, I might actually respect their efforts. But I do not. On either side. We need a more humanist approach. I mean does anyone remember the Crusades of medieval times? Hell probably not because there is probably something wrong with teaching that history too.
Humanists stand for the building of a more humane, just, compassionate, and democratic society using a pragmatic ethics based on human reason, experience, and reliable knowledge-an ethics that judges the consequences of human actions by the well-being of all Oh and humanists can and do believe in God. Some say humanism and Christianity are opposites. I do not necessarily find that accurate, and they do share common ground.
Back to 9/11. People, we need our country back. We need to be free of MAGATs. They are not Republicans. If you need to further cement that look at how polluted what was the party of Lincoln has further become with plopping Trump’s plastic ridiculousness of a daughter in law who makes screaming goats sound good in as co-chair of the RNC. That is actually offensive and wow can’t the GOP see the goose steppers they have become? And yes I did say that and I can say that, it is accurate. And First Amendment rights are not subjective so I reject any criticism of that comment which will occur. And I remind them that the term “goose step” can also be used figuratively to describe someone who acts in accordance with the commands of another person, or to practice unthinking conformity.
But back to our world full of a lack of reality, “influencers”, and just plain ugliness. If you think ANY of that is OK you don’t even get the symbolism of 9/11 or 1993 or 1988. Or at any time over the course of our world history.
We can’t sugarcoat the past and we don’t sugarcoat the history of 9/11 so stop dumbing it down from coast to coast. If we ignore our history, we are doomed to repeat the mistakes that precede us, only worse. Look no further that World War I and World War II.
So on the 23rd anniversary of 9/11 make a difference in your world. Do something GOOD. And this coming November? Vote like your life and country depends upon it.
Wake up America and remember the dangers of false idols.
This is a field at Immaculata near Camilla Hall that a farmer PAYS FOR. This is his LIVELIHOOD. Once again, some punk asses decided that this was a fun idea: run thru this poor farmer’s fields and ruin part of his soybean crop.
This is SO WRONG.
These kids undoubtedly live close by. If you know who they are and if you see a car loaded with soybean plant pieces and dirt, feel free to CALL EAST WHITELAND POLICE on non-emergency number 610-647-1440Â . Or take a photo of the plates and SUV or whatever and message my blog’s Facebook page.
Life is hard enough for farmers without vandalism and destruction.
Did you see something? Do you know something? Say Something. Please.
Yuletide has left the Main Line and will leapfrog the river to Lafayette Hill.
After considering Valley Forge Military Academy, Cabrini and Eastern College, Yuletide’s father-son founders, Rob and Jes Bickhart, inked a deal with the last venue they toured: Union League Liberty Hill golf club…. “If we had to do it over, would we have gone to the Devon Horse Show? Probably not,” Jes Bickhart tells SAVVY….A warm-weather venue, Devon required pricey winterizing and was simply too big, he says. Devon is 15 acres; Liberty Hill is five.
The smaller footprint “allows us to maximize our holiday decorations,” Bickhart says.
Having only 500 people at Yuletide Devon on a weeknight felt desolate. “But 500 people on a Wednesday night at the Union League will feel cozy,” he enthuses.
There have been rumblings that Devon’s brass was unhappy with Yuletide.
Sources shared concerns about the festival’s white “snow” cover and the possibility of broken glass from a wine vendor (glass is a no-no near horse show rings) affecting horses’ footing. Guaranteeing horse safety is critical to a show of Devon’s caliber.
But the horse show’s leadership has mostly refused comment.
“They had a one-year lease and we wish them well,” is about all Devon Horse Show President/CEO Wayne Grafton would tell us on the record….As for those other rumblings, i.e. that Yuletide didn’t draw the expected crowds and, as a result, couldn’t pay some contractors, Bickhart admits they’re true.
Yuletide attracted 80,000 people last year – a far cry from the Bickharts’ anticipated 120,000+. “But we owe our contractors “hundreds of thousands of dollars, not millions.” And no one has sued, he says.
SAVVY interviewed multiple, behind-the-scenes event production contractors who told us they weren’t paid in full – one even created the fictitious email account “Christmas Justice” to talk to us. But no one would go the record and one source retracted her words altogether.
According to Bickhart, Yuletide did $3 million in revenue last year and anyone who wasn’t paid in full is now being paid in installments….The festivals’ investors have not yet been paid, he says. Most are deep-pocketed Main Line associates of Rob Bickhart, who belongs to the Union League. “We’re on good terms with our investors,” says his son.
Several things stick out at first and foremost is what was said in the Philadelphia last year when this event was debuting at Devon horse show :
So how does having a three-year agreement go to a one year lease?
I always wondered when it came to this if they set themselves up to fail at Devon or Devon set them up to fail?
I know when it was announced last year that the equestrian community was kind of up in arms about it because of the importance of the ring to the actual Devon Horse Show.
At first, I was excited at the idea of this because I love Christmas markets. I love Christmas things. I love Christmas. I love Christmas decorations. I love vintage and antique Christmas. Etc etc.
But then we learned how much it would cost to go and then we found out that parking was you know like $50 a car. Tickets to enter were also not inexpensive- they were $34.99 for adults last year and tickets for children ages 3 through 8 were advertised at like $22.99, while children under the age of 3 got in free. Season passes were available for $89.99 for an adult and $59.99 for juniors. And then there was parking gouging wasn’t there?
As a friend of mine noted:
Plus they initially charged 50 bucks for parking (later lowered to $30) . That’s what the horse show now charges, which is ridiculous for the horse show as well. But the horse show is the oldest in the country and benefits Bryn Mawr Hospital as its largest donor. Yuletide at Devon is a strictly for-profit endeavor.
And that always bothered me is that they were doing this and charging these prices and there was no nonprofit component. something at Christmas, you expect to have some sort of a nonprofit component don’t you ? It’s the season of giving except for these people it was the season of giving to themselves, apparently wasn’t it ?
Other people remarked that it was the kind of event the people who like to see themselves on Instagram took selfies for. Christmas and the holidays isn’t about social media influencers. I mean, it’s nice to see everybody’s holiday photos but that’s not what we’re talking about here, we’re talking about “influencers.”
To sum it all up: I kept trying to look for reasons to like this event. I love Christmas, I wanted to love this event. I tried to keep an open mind but the event couldn’t get out of their own way.
I knew vendors, I could have gone for free, but every time I heard a review from personal friends who ponied up their Christmas gold to go, reviews were lukewarm to disastrous to flat out negative.
There were plenty of fluffy social media reviews from wannabe and self proclaimed influencers who like always we’re there for the free, and the selfies. And then there were the influencer adjacent like certain classes of professionals and service providers who thought they had to write puffy fluffy posts when the real time chatter was they didn’t actually have a good time were the way to go…maybe they should have just been honest? I mean do they think people don’t talk when they say they had a crap time but post it was a good as the Rockettes or something?
And that was what was so amusing to me about Yuletide – there was so much whispering behind hands. Much as is the case with Devon Horse Show today. Why not just be honest? Life is expensive at times, as well as short. Why not just say how you feel even if not 100% positive? And that is such a social media thing: unicorns farting rainbows only. Ever.
So other things. After Yuletide at Devon was done people started about the condition of the inside of the ring at Devon Horse Show. They call that the footing right? Is it true that this had to be pulled out and replaced? That is very expensive if true isn’t it?
And did they have to really use magnets to make sure there were no metal bits where expensive horses were eventually to tread?
Also when people have money you expect them to pay their bills right? So that means paying the service people and vendors right? This was like a cashless event, so you swiped and paid for everything except each vendor did not have their own point of sale did they? Money went to Yuletide and Yuletide paid out after? Or didn’t so much as per Savvy? Can you imagine being a small business and still not being paid what is owed even now? After shelling out to be a part of it?
People also constantly commented how empty the event was, even during times it was free.
Now Yuletide’s moving to a Union League owned golf club for 2024- it’s now Yuletide at Union League Liberty Hill, 800 Ridge Pike, Lafayette Hill. AKA “the other side of the river” and I think that is what I once knew as the ACE Golf Club. It’s not particularly easy nor convenient to get to unless you live over in that section of Montgomery County. Ticket prices are dropped sort of but I am still left with the “meh” of it all.
I am amused by the categorization of the investors by Yuletide’s owners. How long do they expect the investors to be understanding?
Also I noted something else interesting that they said to Savvy:
And if all goes well, the Philly burbs will be just the beginning. The two hope to bring Yuletide to Pittsburgh and Washington, DC next year.
So like Sesame Place but Christmas? Okayyyy (tacky much?)
Also at the bottom of the website for Yuletide it says “Spectacle Reality Inc”? What’s that?
I hope people enjoy themselves if they give Yuletide another go in Lafayette Hill this year but I still don’t think it’s worth it for me. Too many unanswered questions. Too much about the money and not the season.
I will continue to highlight true holiday traditions and events.
Thank you Savvy for the write up and of course this news once again brings up all of the questions swirling around Devon Horse Show and leadership doesn’t it?
