If you missed the Saint Davids Fair today, you have a second chance tomorrow!
50% off tomorrow! Open to the public.
10 AM -2 PM. 763 S. Valley Forge Road Wayne, PA 19087 🐿️
This fair is a little slice of heaven. It is a throwback to simpler and nicer times, and a reminder of what can be. There are books, fabulous second hand Rose clothes for men and women, housewares, flea market, you name it.
There is also a big furniture tent and tomorrow everything is 50% off and it’s cash or card. I suggest bringing cash because the Internet is spotty over there and some parts of the property there’s no reception.
This fair benefits the church and their various mission and other charitable projects.
Ok ok I think at the 50% off sale today at St. David’s Fair in Wayne I got the deal of the decade! I finally found new everyday flatware.
I have been looking for flatware for such a long time that was just the right look for me.
I have had my old every day flatware for over 20 years. I like it but I was tired of it and I wanted something new that was preferably vintage that also had weight to it. And that’s one of the things I find important in everyday flatware because the handles have weight. That sounds rather picayune perhaps, but it’s just something you like the feel of a certain way, or you don’t. I think that’s probably why I also am a fan of old hotel silver which really isn’t silver. It’s got weight to it.
Yesterday at the top of a shelf in the back of the flea market sheds at St. David’s was a flatware chest that was dusty and I couldn’t reach it. It was also SO crowded that I couldn’t get to it even to really see.
When I came back today, it was still there. And I came back at the very end of the 50% off sale, and there it was. Service for 16 with the hostess set and was originally $74.00. At 50% off it was $37!
I just did a little bit of research and what I found is it is indeed very heavy, vintage flatware from Oneida. The pattern is called “Royal Flute”. And rather amusingly, it’s collectible! I was looking on eBay and the prices are kind of all over the map for it and people seem to like it.
My flatware is stamped Oneida Community. According to what I looked up, Oneida Community started production of silver-plated flatware and hollow-ware in 1899 using the “Community Plate” mark. The Oneida Community purchased the Wm A. Rogers company in 1881. In 1929 the merged company began producing a somewhat lower-quality line of products using those companies’ marks. In 1935, Oneida Community changed its name to Oneida Ltd.
So I don’t know? Maybe I think it’s stainless steel and it’s silver plate? Whatever it is, I don’t think it’s actually ever been used. I bought service for 16 with the hostess set for $37!
I washed up my new old flatware and dried each piece by hand. I swapped out my former everyday stuff and put it in the old flatware chest that the Oneida came in. I will hang onto that for buffetware or something. Or some day when someone’s kid has their first apartment, I will just gift them all this flatware.
I also bought some wonderful old books that I have to go through at my leisure. When I came home, it was time to move the tropical plants from the patio back inside for the fall and winter, so I didn’t get to everything today.
Anyway, this was a fun and lucky purchase, and that’s why I love flea markets in general.
Trying this again. THIS is a share of a public post from a public Facebook group or page. I can SEE this is a nonprofit event. What I do NOT understand is why events are still happening here? I thought this site was not wanted by residents and went to court etc?
West Vincent has such inept and incompetent supervisors it is worth asking, isn’t it?
People who left comments, Facebook removed the post although I was sharing from a PUBLIC post etc. I did not remove the post. I can’t figure out why since it was certainly not controversial.
And while we are at it can we ask why Facebook is on crack this morning? A public post was shared, and comments were not deleted OR heated. People were telling me how non-profit events were allowed. I was trying to understand how this happened because last time I heard about this place, neighbors were up in arms and packing meetings.
The question was in the area of follow-up on a place and issue I forgot about. So according to people who have been to non-profit events there in recent past, it seems that those kind of events are somehow allowed?
I was curious hence the question. Can’t see the place from my house but when you remember how upset neighbors were and then after a long time you see the place pop up it’s natural to ask how did that happen.
But because we couldn’t have a normal and civil conversation on Facebook, I decided to post it here. Their algorithms are fakakta.
This won’t be a particularly long post and over the next couple of days I will be going through photos from the sign ceremony to post but today my heart was happy and full of joy.
I love this site, and I love the history it represents, and today I felt hopeful. Today I felt the old souls were pleased… and I could also feel more recent souls who loved Ebenezer whom I knew, Ann Christie and Al Terrell were smiling.
Also something unexpected happened. Today I got a thank you for my contributions to Ebenezer. That is a place that is so special to me, and the thank you was heartfelt. It came from Pastor April Martin and Bertha Jackmon. Coming from them that really meant something special to me. No one really has ever publicly recognized my efforts, and it’s one of those things where no brass band was ever needed, but a simple thank you today meant the world.
My relationship with the East Whiteland Historic Commission doesn’t really exist. I genuinely like a couple of the members and a few members past and present have always been truly really nice to me, and I enjoy speaking with them and knowing them a little bit, BUT I know most of those people do not like me, and a few do not go out of their way to make me feel welcome. And part of the things that have upset me about Ebenezer was trying to talk to them over the years. None of them are bad people, but they are quite cliquish, and not necessarily welcoming to someone like me, or anyone who isn’t their normal person.
Part of what I realized today is I don’t need their approval or permission to love local history. They honestly did a really nice job with the ceremony. Ebenezer’s graveyard is nicely cleaned up. A bunch of stones have fallen over but it’s partially the site itself, and there are new homes being dug around it. The plan is to restore the stones and cap the church ruin which is perfect.
There is a brand new website and fundraising will need to be done for the future and if there are folks who can set up a non profit to help Ebenezer live long into the future visit https://www.historicebenezerbactonhill.org/
It was really nice to visit Hiram and Joshua today too.
Many thanks to Chair of the East Whiteland Supervisors Scott Lambert and Manager Steve Brown for their support of preserving this historic site and for arranging all sorts of things today and East Whiteland PD for making a sometimes busy road behave today.
Again, I will post photos over the next few days. In the future I would like to plant daffodils and snowdrops by the grave stones after they are reset.
Yes, they literally had me at Holiday House Tour. I love Christmas tours. my friends from Surrey Services told me about this about a month ago and I just forgot until now to post it
And I’m a big fan of Surrey Services for Seniors.
I know if Eddie Ross is involved it will be a fabulous event so save the date!
What are you doing this weekend? How about Life’s Patina spring open weekend? You will be so glad you did – good for your soul 🥰 Click here for information!
Church Farm School is a wonderful institution. And it gives deserving boys a chance at education and opportunity that might not necessarily find them. So it’s not your average silver spoon private school.
Because they are not your average silver spoon private school, they don’t always get the opportunity to do things a lot of high schoolers get to do, like go to prom. Prom is a right of passage and this year for the first time, they have been invited by a sister school to come to prom.
Prom wear is not int he average budget of a lot of these kids so when I saw a message posted on social media I knew I needed to pay it forward, because while there are tons of organizations to help girls get dressed for prom, they don’t exist for boys. Here’s the message:
Hi Malvern! Please delete if this is not permitted.
I work for Church Farm School, which is an all boys’ Boarding School grades 9-12 in Exton, PA. Our boys have pretty much never had a Prom before. This year we are excited to have been invited to our sister school’s Prom. So we have a group of juniors and seniors who are eager for the chance to attend. However, access to formalwear can be difficult for our student body. If anyone has suits or other formalwear that they would consider donating to our Clothes Closet or has coupons to formalwear stores/rentals, we would be so grateful for any assistance.
They don’t publicize this the way they should and this is a great show this year!
This show benefits their outreach at Malvern Retreat House.
10 AM – 7 PM Saturday, February 4, 2023 10 AM – 4 PM Sunday, February 5, 2023
315 S. Warren Ave Malvern, PA and there is ample free parking onsite. #art #freeevent
Seriously, this show is so terrific! And the price points are better than Yellow Springs Art Show which I love as well. And some of the same and comparable artists. Some of my favorites include New Hope Stained Glass and the fused stained glass artist whose name escapes me.
The Malvern Retreat House Annual Art Show has more than 2,000 fine art pieces including paintings, sculptures, photography, jewelry, and so much more.
Bless me Miss Troy and Aunt Mary Pat for I have sinned. I borrowed a snippet from you because it was just too apropos.
Oh my goodness, school board meetings are off for the summer, whatever with they do in all their Karening glory? Oh simple: try to close down libraries, ban drag queens, and destroy a local business.
Why?
Over the idea of a Drag Queen Bingo family event to raise funds for a local library at a local Chester County business….in September.
Yesssss. Seriously.
They have moved on from playing doctors at school board meetings regarding COVID vaccines and banned book lists (Angry Jesus made them do it), to flat out trying to control every aspect of the world outside. They are at this point EVERYTHING PHOBIC so we will leave it at that (or add it to the list of homophobic, transpohobic, queerphobic, lifephobic.)
Oh my gosh, am I being sarcastic? Why yes, yes I am.
How did this start? Well someone posted in a group called No Left Turn In Education Downingtown School District PA. Phew. Try to say THAT six times fast! And seriously such a cumbersome name they can’t even have a catchy acronym…
That is where it started. Here are all the screenshots gathered just from that group. Yes, there will be more, much more to follow:
Oh good lord, be still their tiny little minds. Of course, not to be over-shadowed, the Stepford Wives for Totalitarianism had to get in on this news. Bless their tiny little minds and man slave members:
Yes, I committed sacrilege and the Stepford Wives for Totalitarianism screen shots are out of order, but actually in order/out of order they all read the same: WE ARE EVERYTHING PHOBIC AND YOU MUST BE LIKE US. But hey, before this half of them were selling Lu La Roe, Slipada Jewelry, Isagenix so what did I expect? And did you know according to them you can take kids to strip joints?
They also contacted Congressional candidate and politician Guy Ciarrocchi who gave a non-answer reply. They tried to tag him so he must not be in that group any longer, but he was once, wasn’t he? Guy would be wise to stay out of it. They also contacted Doug Monsteriano who will undoubtedly jump up and down and foam at the mouth with glee.
Oh and then they drag God into it and send a pleading note to the library association orr something. Oh and my favorite? They compared Drag Queens to Strippers. And do you think they are going to be super provocative at an event where kids were present IF the event occurred?
I have to ask do they even know what drag queens are about? Why is a gender bending art form such a threat? Drag performance rag and related entertainment, it is also used as self-expression and a celebration of LGBTQ isn’t it? So is that what it’s really all about? Once expressing queerphobia?
One of my favorite comments about this? Here:
How many of them probably grew up listening to David Bowie, Elton John, Queen, hair metal bands like Poison, etc. did any of that *POOF!* turn them gay? Why are they so confused by this???
Oh but there is another country…err group to be heard from. The Chester County Coalition of Republican Women. (Seriously, these nut bags specialize in tongue twister group names huzzah!)
Again, if the screen shots are out of order, oh well. It all makes about the same amount of nonsense no matter what the order. But it begs a question: is the photo they posted yesterday of the new chair of the Chester County GOP collecting male underwear family friendly? Is he making Making the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of underwear a reality for all?
So now that all the folks are lathered up, wouldn’t it be a delightful sociological and psychological exercise to find out WHY they are REALLY upset? Are they afraid little Johnny will want to wear his sister’s clothes and play dress up in mommy’s heels after such an event? Or are some of the Stepford Wives afraid of their menfolk getting titillated and wanting to wear their frilly undies or something?
Who does this hurt? Why is it a bad idea to try something to make people laugh, be happy, and raise money. It’s like when they all flipped out about drag queen story time at Tredyffrin Library a few years ago.
And then other than targeting libraries and it’s not enough they want to ban books like yesteryear (but hey, Roe vs. Wade got overturned so everything old and bad is new again and look out for lynch mobs, right?)
Before I move onto the small business these people wish to destroy, allow me to post another favorite comment on this debacle of close mindedness:
They have way too much time on their hands to be worried about drag queen bingo. I’d be more worried about what their kids are exposed to in their homes…hate.
~ Another chester county resident
So how is the above a “review”? It is not. It is a petty assed way to do a small business harm. This dear readers is the other target of these small minded fearful of the world people: Stolen Sun Brewery in Exton. Why? Because if this library fundraising event occurs, this would be the location. Incidentally, they hold bingo events here, anyway. It’s one of their things. So now these freaks want to leave bad “reviews”, harass them and picket them? For trying to do a nice thing and help a beloved community non-profit raise some funds and have fun with their patrons?
Here is the “review”:
The comment that says “If you aren’t interested in an event, don’t go. It’s really that simple.”
And it is JUST that simple. What’s so terrible about Drag Queen Bingo? These events are fun. Now the Stepford Wives for Totalitarianism and related groups are getting in on this and it begs lots of questions. So these fine capitalists here want to close libraries and put local businesses out of business? Are Puritan shoes and chaste dresses going to be in demand for fall?
The Stepford Wives for Totalitarianism have ramped up their efforts in yet another thread about this….ironically they see nothing wrong with their drag queen phobic and everything phobic behavior. I even see some names poking up in this who really need to keep their heads down. Next on their hit list will be the county commissioners who had to listen to their diatribe about masks. Drag Queens are the new mask issue, apparently. And one of my favorites of the inane is “Why Marie” who says she wants to throw up. Why Marie why do you want to throw up? Because you are vomitorious, perhaps?
Enough already. Aren’t you tired of the everything phobic? Now they want to put Stolen Sun out of business? And the Henrietta Hankin Branch Library? They want to shut them down too? And ummm yeah so how many of these upstanding ‘Mericans have adult beverages in front of their kids? Doesn’t that mean they aren’t “family friendly” either?
Stolen Sun is a great business and yes a brewery. A brewery is not a bar. They are also a coffee roaster. Are these freaks anti-coffee too? They do serve food, and have a kids menu too.
Part of the campaign is now leaving fake Google reviews which people can report with a mere click of a button. I will show you the fake review I found below, and other reviews this person left. Seriously, is there something in the water in Downingtown?
Do they think they will be serving kiddos beer in sippy cups at this event or something? Do they realize that West Chester University (for example) has hosted Drag Queen Bingo and Drag Queen events no problem/no fuss? They all love places like Dave & Busters which host Drag Queen Bingo Brunches or something? Historic Christ Church Neighborhood House in Philadelphia hosted Drag Queen Bingo no problem in June. Friday July 15th there is Drag Queen Bingo at McShea’s in Narberth. Are they going to go protest there too? Or call McShea’s and be nasty? (Actually if they tried to rock McShea’s, it would be worth grabbing the popcorn and seeing McShea’s put them in their place.)
These people needs to get over themselves. Leave small businesses alone. Leave libraries alone. Keep their paranoia and prejudices at home and stay in their small minded comfort zones.
Most of all, they do not have the right to project their ugliness on everything and everyone.
Anyway, #SupportSmallBusiness and patronize Stolen Sun they are good people and defend your local libraries. And leave drag queens alone. It’s not their fault you’re terrified of them.
Rant over. For now. God don’t like ugly, and these people epitomize ugly.
As I said in the post prior to this, Odessa, Delaware is one of my favorite places. It is literally a jewel of a historic town, almost frozen in time.
I have written about Odessa, Delaware before. I really hadn’t been down there much since Covid, and I realized today how much I missed visiting this gem of a small town.
Located in New Castle County, Delaware, Odessa was founded in the 18th century as Cantwell’s Bridge, her name was changed in the 19th century after the Ukrainian port city of the same name.
Odessa is a National Registry District, home to a National Historic Landmark as well as two National Parks Service Network to Freedom sites.
Odessa like Lewes was settled initially by the Dutch in the 1600s. (Lewes is another favorite place of mine, and it’s a bit larger and busier than Odessa.)
When Odessa was a first settled by the Dutch in the 1660’s (to be more precise), they adopted the Indian name for the area, “Apequinemy”. The Dutch settled here in Odessa because it’s proximity to the Appoquinimink River which flows to Delaware Bay, making it ideal to them for trading. I have been told this was once the shortest route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Chesapeake Bay before the construction of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.
This was an area inhabited by Lenni Lenape Native Americans before European settlement. The Dutch weren’t actually in this area for very long before the English assumed control of the area. Then land was granted to a Captain Edmund Cantwell, the first Sheriff of New Castle County, under the government of a person we are familiar with, William Penn. By the 1730s there was a town and Edmund’s son, Sir Richard Cantwell, built a toll bridge and toll house and the town of “Cantwell’s Bridge” was born.
For the next century plus, this was a thriving little port town shipping grain and other things (like peaches.) It was a bustling small town…until 1855 and the arrival of the railroad around Middletown, and bypassed Odessa. Like many other towns that thrived on rivers and canals (think Frick’s Lock in East Coventry Township, Chester County), the railroad did a number on the economy of “Cantwell’s Bridge.”
Cantwell’s Bridge was name changed to Odessa around 1855. It had something to do with hoping that the name change would remind people of the flourishing port of Odessa in the Ukraine and the same thing would happen in Odessa, Delaware.
Now the Odessa area was also known historically for the nearby peach orchards. Odessa remained historically a very active port until the late 19th century when a peach blight ruined crops, one of their larger exports. My research indicates that between the peach virus blight and the railroads Odessa almost died as a town.
However, where a lot of similar little towns have died, Odessa has lived on. It is a great collection of houses and architecture spending 200 years, truthfully. Colonial, mid-Georgian, Federal and Victorian architecture. Another fun fact about Odessa, is there used to be a steamboat that operated out of it from the latter part of the 19th century, up until the early parts of the 20th century, ending I think somewhere around World War I.
A lot of people wouldn’t like Odessa because it’s literally a sleepy historic town. That’s why I personally think it’s so wonderful.
There are different things that go on in Odessa throughout the year. A historic Odessa Brewfest in September (this year September 10th) , lovely Christmas holiday events, tours for all seasons. July 15 – 17th features an event I am interested in called Christmas in July. It’s a special holiday sale in the Christmas Resale Shop in the Collins-Sharp House.
We belong to the Historic Odessa Foundation , and anyone can belong. It’s a remarkable little town and makes a fun little day trip. There are also little bed-and-breakfasts in the area so it also makes a nice we can get away. But if you’re looking for lots of bells and whistles, this isn’t it. Unless of course historic preservation is one of your favorite bells and whistles. This isn’t Disney or Six Flags (thank goodness.)
Enjoy the photos from my ramble and thanks for stopping by.
