A comment on social media led me to take a little dive into the September meeting of East Pikeland Township. Please note I have renamed it East Pettyland Township. and before the old dog, Ron Graham gets his knickers in a twist, covered under my first amendment rights. (just wanted to save him on his solicitor bills since he said at this meeting that he’s basically has lawyers and stuff around because he’s being “targeted” or he’s a “target”.
So this was the comment that made me go look at their most recent meeting, which thankfully are now being recorded by residents.
Also, at last months meeting Ron said he has to have the lawyers around for everything, because he is being “targeted”. Then implied I am the one targeting him 🤣 So around here, when you ask elected officials questions, it means you are targeting them. If you need a lawyer present at all times to cover your ass, that is on you, and highly suspicious.
It appears in the above snippet of the meeting in public comment. And I have to ask is it no longer good to be king? The option is dude can retire, right? But then he’s no longer king so heavy as the head that wears the crown I guess?
Humor courtesy of First Amendment and YouTube
Other things of note? The police reports apparently they have a lot of domestic and mental health calls? Is there something in the water? I mean, I guess we can ask that question since this township is home to its own super fund fun, right?
Also, they seem to be missing a zoning officer now and why did she resign? Or leave?
Here is the full meeting video from September. Always fun times in this municipality right? And what is with the voice of the new supervisor? I mean he’s like dopey doperson isn’t he?
East Pikeland a.k.a. East Pettyland doesn’t seem to like that the public has taken an interest in where they call home do they? And why is it every time someone asks a question there’s always this like pat response (paraphrasing) it’s not personal, it’s business?
I had a rather disturbing conversation with someone I know the other day. It was about a man walking in a neighborhood that people don’t believe was his own shouting at someone who did live in the neighborhood and it was vile.
The man was shouting at someone whose skin color was different from his. Literally, shouting, expletives and “Go back to your own country!”
Is this what we have become?
Isn’t it time for politicians on both sides of the aisle to start addressing these things?
We are a nation of immigrants quite literally. And some of those brown skin people that people like to be offensive towards and about are our Native Americans, and they were here first. And of course the Inuit people of Canada, Geeenland and Alaska. if you research crime against native peoples, there is a lot of crime against both.
Native Americans faced crimes against them twice the amount of every day US citizens. Inuit people do not fare much better although the crimes against Inuit people are tracked more in Canada.
This country is a giant melting pot. We are many ethnicities and races and religions. Why is one better than the other? Why can we no longer respect the differences in one and other?
You know, as a kid fall was always almost anticipatory. The weather started to change you got new clothes for school and so on.
As we grew older, grew up, got out of school started our lives fall was still a season of change. The way you can feel the weather changing at night, literally the air changes.
But now in later middle age, fall is changing again. I have friends just a few years older than I who are retiring.
Today I said goodbye to one such friend. We first met as young girls quite literally. She went to school with my cousins and was first their friend, then a close friend of another childhood friend of mine. We became actual real time friends after we realized she lived a few miles from me in Chester County.
Once upon a time, she and I even worked at the same company. For me, I took a temp position because I wasn’t sure if I would like it, and she began in a full career trajectory that took her from Philadelphia to other places in the country and back again.
This is now my first friend who is officially becoming an American ex-Pat and moving to Europe. I’m very excited for them. I think my friend and her husband will have grand adventures.
I also think they’re really brave. After all, it’s not easy to literally sell your home and pack up your life and move to another country.
But given what this country has devolved into, I can’t say that I blame them. They will always be Americans, but they have a rare opportunity at a really fun next chapter.
Today we met for lunch to say goodbye. We met locally at Anthony’s in Malvern and we both can recommend their new fall menu. (Specifically the artichoke appetizer and the fall grilled cheese. Yes, we both had the same thing.)
We had a good yak, and a couple of almost tears, and a bunch of hugs. I will miss her, but look forward to visiting once they are settled, and look forward to seeing them when they occasionally come stateside.
Yet still, I felt like in a weird little way I was losing a piece of my childhood. Which is probably not particularly rational.
It’s more emotional.
After all, we weren’t the closest to friends growing up. We just kind of knew and were aware of each other through other people, but there’s still that feeling.
And then there is the general sadness with understanding that people I know in this country are actually for real leaving this country because America is so fractured. I can’t blame them. And most importantly, I can’t blame them for wanting an adventure for the next chapter. To me, it sure beats moving to Florida or some other retirement centric state.
I wish my friend the very best. But it’s not goodbye forever, just relocating.
You know when Chrissy Houlahan was first running for Congress, I was honestly excited back then. I thought she was so nice.
That was 2018.
That was then, and this is now. And lots of people are pretty disillusioned with her. Part of the problem is is that she has been so handled and shielded since she was elected by the Democratic Party. You literally can’t talk to her unless you’re like some big deal. If you go and participate in one of her Town Hall meetings, your questions need to be approved ahead of time, and that doesn’t matter if you’re in person or like on some big Zoom call or phone thing.
If you contact her, her staff is really nice and you might get a form letter in return, but don’t hold your breath waiting for your actual letter topic to be addressed. i’m literally not making this up. I have experienced it and people talk about this all of the time. There is actually one person I know who was very hurt by a lack of response by his Congresswoman. A man who literally helped make the Democrat Party in Chester County.
I am just disappointed.
And so is another local resident and constituent who contacted Houlahan’s office about a freedom of information act request AKA FOIA request being stalled out by the EPA.
This local resident has literally I think been trying to get an answer since I think April? So that’s like five months right? And no less than 10 phone calls on the topic to Houlahan’s office?
Why was she contacting Houlahan in the first place? EPA FOIA lack of response. And this is the response from EPA staff (finally) on September 8, 2026:
Obviously, this has to do with the East Whiteland data center, which is on a federally noticed super fund site known as Foote Mineral.
So are we to presume it took five months to circle the wagons here? Is something being hidden from the public? Do you guys think that this is acceptable? Why is a congressional office so hand’s off in assisting with a federal level issue?
I mean, who can we count on as residents in Chester County?
If you’ve ever submitted a right to know request, you’re familiar with the dance that often occurs. It’s whatever state municipality or agency you’re contacting asking for an extension. But five months for an excuse laden non-response?
I don’t know and I’m still asking as I close this post, is this EPA woman’s response ineptitude or by design?
Do better, Congresswoman Houlahan. You keep asking for us to continue to vote for you, but you’re not giving us a reason why anymore. This is a basic kind of thing that staff should be able to research and get a response to other than this. From April until September 8? Totally unacceptable, bureaucratic bullsheit, don’t you think?
It makes me really sad.
This person never actually got a response from Houlahan’s Office. 
This November people in East Whiteland finally have a chance to get real change. There is a ballot question that is simply yes or no to add two more supervisors.
VOTE YES.
Please note East Whiteland or Great Valley whatever they call themselves Republicans are telling people to vote no. the Democrats? They’re not really taking a position, but they have the ballot question on their sample ballot.
What this comes down to is control. And neither party wants to lose control. If East Whiteland gets five total supervisors, people stand a good chance for the first time in years for balance and representation in all matters.
And maybe if East Whiteland get two more supervisors, we can clean house on staff that really shouldn’t be there.
Vote for the government you want, not what the political parties are telling you that you should do. Also, you need to ponder the point that perhaps both parties are for data centers.
Shame on the Republicans here, but can’t say I’m particularly surprised. They are quite limited in their thinking in this area.
This morning is a memorial service for a woman I knew. It actually started a bit ago.
Her name was Sara. Her obituary actually didn’t really sound like she wrote it, or I should be more specific, it didn’t sound like the obituary she originally wanted. It also didn’t contain any information about making contributions in her memory to things that were important to her.
For decades, we have all known this adorable little house as Sara Pilling’s house. Sara died in early July. The always too absent while being the more local son is cleaning it out.
Yes there’s been stuff all over the lawn this week. And yes, we know this is what happens. It’s not like it’s cruel. It just feels cruel and there’s a great finality to those of us who knew her. I kind of wish that dumpster could have waited until after the memorial service to appear.
I said goodbye to Sara when she called me in January to tell me she had cancer and it was terminal. Back then she thought she only had a few short weeks and she actually got a few extra months.
We had been mostly disconnected almost the past year prior to this, because to be honest, I couldn’t deal with the other things that were ailing her. I chose that route because I didn’t wish to fight with someone that I actually loved who was turning 89 years old. I wanted to remember her as I knew her for more than a couple of decades.
She was a bright, yet complicated and fiercely independent woman who did not have a very nice life at times. She did her best in a time that was often not really nice to women, and honestly, sometimes I felt she was born in the wrong time. That leaves its mark. She had the most basic human desires to be liked, loved and more importantly? Belong.
I also chose to remove myself because when she was in that last stage of life, literally the death watch beetles appeared out of nowhere. People who were in a lot of cases incredibly hypocritical because they really weren’t friends with her. Some I know neither cared for her nor respected her. I also chose not to bear witness to that, and I don’t know why people do that.
I also felt something was wrong healthwise prior to her 88th birthday and she didn’t want to go to the doctor. Let’s face it, if you knew her you knew she didn’t like hospitals and didn’t trust a lot of medical professionals.
We also had differences of opinion about her constantly going to “No King’s” protests when she was becoming far less mobile and no one knew what was wrong with her but healthwise you knew something was off because she was getting quite frail. One of the protests I was most concerned about ironically is where they arrested the man with all the weapons in West Chester Borough, and where she had been that day was probably only a block or so away.
As a result of those different opinions between us, she really sniped at me after that. And that did hurt at first because we had been truly close. If you didn’t agree with something Sara decreed, she was unpleasant. I always thought that was a defense mechanism on her part.
Sara died in early July, after the Fourth of July.
That has made a lot of us who cared for and knew Sara at one point in time or another very sad. She’s literally one of those women that you just thought would go on. I’m really grateful that a mutual friend helped find her beloved dog a new home.
After she died, people kept waiting for an obituary to appear. One didn’t appear until a couple of weeks ago, and it seemed more perfunctory than personal and not really capturing the essence and life of the deceased. Sara gave and gave her time to many people and many things over the course of her life.
Then came the planning of the memorial service. If you were really close to Sara, you knew for probably the last seven years what she wanted to happen when she passed on. You knew the music, you knew whom she wanted to speak. You knew what about her life she wished to be remembered. And above all else, you knew that it didn’t have to be the last supper after the service, but she wanted it to be gracious. Well, along comes the literally brown bag, potluck email. Cheap and mean and petty IMHO.
As a result, there are those of us whom you will not see at her memorial service now in progress. It’s not a sign of disrespect to her. It is actually a sign of respect because we knew her wishes. We know where the grave will be, and we will take her sunflowers at another time. Hopefully someone at least has remembered that Sara wanted a church full of sunflowers.
I’m also not going because of the people in Radnor Township (politicians and others) who literally were not nice to her most of the time who are all now saying “Oh such a great loss blah blah blah” when you know in their heads they’re thinking things like “Oh good she won’t be at meetings anymore or emailing us.”
Sara should be remembered for being a driving force behind the Skunk Hollow Garden in Radnor.
She should be remembered for her big part in working with volunteers to help save the Willows Cottage, which now is a train wreck because Radnor and the Radnor Conservancy allowed it to rot after the crazy amount of money that was raised to restore it.
She should also be remembered for the one who tried to get Radnor to pay attention to what was being sprayed in the fields close to Ardrossan near the cows. This was after the land was subdivided for lots of mansions in part.
She should be remembered for her work in Haiti, which was considerable.
She should be remembered for being a master gardener who shared her knowledge. She didn’t lord over people with it. I will remember with fondness our many trips to Lancaster County for plants over the years.
She should be remembered for more ordinary things like her wonderful quilting and the knitting and other things that she did. She taught me how to make jams and preserves. She taught me many things about gardening.
She was also incredibly knowledgeable about the history of the region because she descends from a family that just went back far enough.
She should also be remembered for having been the last surviving grandchild of Charles Barton Keen the esteemed architect of places like the….Willows. (Willows Park Preserve as a related aside should do better remembering her that just a tree like I heard.)
Again, Sara was a remarkable, albeit complicated human being. I will honestly miss the many conversations we had over the many years I was connected to her. I will miss the random acts of email or text messages that were often quite amusing.
Until she didn’t like the fact that I didn’t agree with her on everything, she often referred to me as another daughter and being an other mother to me, which were incredibly meaningful compliments as I always knew how much she missed her real daughter, who had died shortly before we really became real friends. She also never got over that loss. I have two baby trees off of the redbud tree in her garden that she planted in honor of her daughter.
Soon her house will be on the market. I bet you it becomes a teardown because so many people can’t be bothered with old houses. It’s really sad and that will truly leave its mark. Sara made that house her home and she had a lovely garden.
I don’t feel badly about not being at the memorial service. I do not do death circuses even if they are small.
Please refrain from telling me you’re sorry for my loss. I have already grieved this loss. This is like the period on the end of the sentence.
Sara had a quote that she had on every email at the bottom where her signature was. I always liked it and I will close with that:
“Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate. Don’t take yourself too seriously. Walk humbly with your God .”[Micah 6:8]
How we will remember the house.
POST SCRIPT:
They didn’t even get sunflowers and the eulogy? Well when someone gives a eulogy that no one will remember particularly?
I really hate these text messages. Especially since I didn’t sign up for them and it’s an invasion.
They didn’t actually get a user-friendly version of me via text back. They got a blast just like Red Whiners and Blue. These groups can piss off.
When I was a Republican (until 2016) I was on do not solicit lists. I didn’t get emails, text messages, phone calls. When I tried to be a Democrat, I had to repeat the whole process. When I realized that both major parties were not for me and went to an Independent status, I’ve had to do it all over again and while the Republican Party has respected my do not call/do not text/do not contact them at all, I can’t say the same for Democrat groups. My husband who is also a registered Independent gets bombarded by both parties.
I can only say Democrat groups are being obnoxious with unwanted contact, I don’t know that it’s the entire party in PA with the lack of respect. This is the second one within about a week or so.
So to this group Contest Every Race which I never heard of before, can stick it where the sun don’t shine.
Here’s what I think: I don’t think any voter in Pennsylvania should be supporting candidates. I think the candidates should be supporting all of us against data centers.
I only know one politician for sure who is all about defending Pennsylvania against data centers and State Senator Katie Muth.
The others, regardless of party affiliation, I don’t necessarily know for sure. Well except for that guy who is running against State Representative Kristine Howard. His name is Joe Lewis. He is among other things, co-owner of a really good café in Wayne , Pennsylvania. And allow me to be clear, I am not endorsing Mr. Lewis, but he is literally the only person running for office besides Katie Muth who has stood up at a township meeting and basically say “What are you people doing?”
I have not heard another single candidate from either party do that. God knows the incumbents like Paul Friel, Danielle Friel Otten, Lisa Borowski, and Kristine Howard just to name a few are completely out of touch and have forgotten completely why and for whom they were elected. I have to wonder if they ever really knew if it is so easy to have selective political amnesia over data centers?
And I am very disappointed in the Democrats because they’re all lining up behind Josh Shapiro, who is data center happy.
Therefore, I think it is incumbent upon every politician running for office this November to actually really side with residents or get out of the way.
I just don’t know how else to say it other than plainly. We are fighting for our land, our property values, our water, our energy, our environment, and possibly our lives.
We need a full moratorium on data centers within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
I don’t want to hear any crap that we couldn’t look at Facebook, etc. etc. if they stopped building data centers. Newsflash to the idiots in the room is that those aren’t the kind of data centers they want to build. That is the bottom line.
So elected officials and politicians? What side of this issue do you want to be on? The right side or the wrong side?
Side with the people save us from what we haven’t asked for and don’t really need.
To all of the residents of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: you don’t have to support candidates with campaign donations when you need to fight for your righttoexist. You tell anyone who wants your vote they need to earn your vote without your hard earned money. They need to roll up their sleeves and prove themselves.
Actions speak louder than words and I’m not seeing much out of Pennsylvania politicians with few exceptions.
If you are a politician at all running for OFFICE in Pennsylvania this November, even as an incumbent, if you can’t say no to data centers, people shouldn’t say yes to voting for any of you.
To the data center neighbors groups across Pennsylvania I have a simple message: if any of these politicians aren’t taking your side of the issue, they aren’t worth your time. Saying that they side with whatever Shapiro is shoveling is not anyone you want in office. Same with Marge Simpson, otherwise known as Stacey Garrity.
Our choices for governor are definitely lacking because of data centers, but we do have a say so the rest of the state and local races we are voting in.
Look carefully at the candidates and don’t just vote because they are your party or someone tells you to vote for them. Being an independent thinker is important here.
Yesterday we traveled up into Berks County through places like Coopersburg into Emmaus, which was originally founded as a Moravian community in the mid-18th century. (All of these places are on the edges of Allentown.)
It was a pretty ride through lots of farmland. But even out there, we saw some predatory development starting to creep in, which is a shame. (But I digress.)
We went to Emmaus to say goodbye to a family friend of mine. He was older than I, but our families were friends for decades.
His name was Andy. He was one of four kids. He was a bigger kid who was always nice to me a slightly younger kid. (He was about 3 years older.)
Our families shared many memories and they are the reason we started going to Avalon in the summers, we originally were down in the gardens section of Ocean City. This family was also the reason we got our first English Springer Spaniel.
As a result, my memories of Andy really were childhood years. When I was a much younger adult and working in Philadelphia, I would see him occasionally and quite literally on the street in Philadelphia. He was always headed in one direction, and I in another. Always a big hello and a bear hug.
Andy loved music. He played multiple instruments. He composed and arranged and was in bands and sometimes the mad genius behind others. Baby Flamehead, Big Mess Orchestra, Wild Bohemians, and Emmaus Public Singing Society, and I am sure more.
It was a very big memorial gathering and no one wore funeral clothes. There was music and memories. Lots of laughter and Andy stories. Anyone could share, and it was great to hear everyone speak. As they spoke, these people from different stages of his life, reminded me of a lot of childhood memories with his family in general. That was very nice.
As they spoke, I also had my own memories floating around in my head. Nothing profound, just childhood memories that were often quite funny. His family was bigger and more boisterous than mine. It was ok to be occasionally messy. The memories were of everyone. Snapshots in time. Family barbecues and beach days. His mom’s friend Weezie giving all the kids a dollar to go to the penny candy store on 7th Street in Avalon and telling us to “blow our minds.” Or how excited he was when my father gave him this giant blown up black and white photo of Louis Armstrong on poster board from an ad campaign he had worked on.
It was great to see his siblings and everyone’s children.
But I think for me the kaleidoscope of memories belonging to so many people showed me another part of childhood memories that in a sense will now fade away a little more. It’s the whole thing about when the storytellers die.
These people we lose at various stages of our life are equally mourned and celebrated. But with the people from our early days, it’s another bit of childhood slipping away. It’s sad but beautiful at the same time.
I am glad I was part of yesterday by bearing witness, essentially. And the music was fabulous. After all, everything is better with music and art.
Fly with the angels, Andy Bresnan. You were a complicated, talented, and special human. Heaven has a lot more music about now. Thanks for the memories, you will be missed and are gone too soon.
Today is the 25th anniversary of 9/11. If today, of all days, you cannot be respectful, mind your language because somebody doesn’t share your political beliefs, and refrain from asking dumb arsed questions that are deliberately inflammatory, I find that pathetic.
I have zero tolerance regarding drivel.
Zero tolerance.
Zero respect.
Also point of fact: I can like whatever I choose or dislike whatever I choose because my blog and my blog’s Facebook page are mine. My thoughts don’t belong to other people as far as what they think I should write or not write about.
I also am increasingly intolerant of people who want to be deliberately ignorant.
A lot of the ignorant don’t remember what it was like right after 9/11.
People came together.
People were united.
It didn’t matter what political party was your choice. It didn’t matter what the color of your skin was or your religion, people put everything aside and united. Whether we were born here or immigrated here we were all Americans after 9/11.
Today of all days, people should try to put their political pettiness aside, but that is all I have seen on social media and elsewhere. I even saw it reflected in the 9/11 ceremonies. Today, everything I have seen has been about that fateful day except what I saw down in Washington DC, which was basically a contrived current administration circus.
Of course that circus and its petty ugliness can be reflected every day in our nation’s capital. Washington DC has never been perfect, because it is not only the center of American politics, but built on a literal swamp as well as the figurative one. But Washington used to have its own grace and charm from the monuments we know so well, and the famous buildings to the quirky streets of Georgetown, or the cool neighborhoods of Southeast.
The Washington we see today? It just reflects the ugliness of the administration. Every time we turn around there’s something more garish or grotesque planned. Or trees cut down and rose gardens designed by Bunny Mellon decimated.
And I am sure there will be people that will ballyhoo about this post. Guess what? I don’t care.
I am tired of the ugliness in our area and country. I am tired of people attacking each other because they have different identities and aren’t all twinsies. I am tired of people attacking each other because they have different political belief systems.
This 9/11 falls in the 250th anniversary year of this country and as Americans, we should be embarrassed that this is what this country has devolved to.
I continue writing today about this important date in our history because I’m also disappointed in the yackety yack don’t talk back of our politicians and elected officials. They talk the talk, but they never walk the walk. We see that by looking no further than some of our local communities.
In East Whiteland Township, for example, elected officials have the ability to deal with a data center developer only it’s like they’re too afraid to do that? They are also being lead around by the nose by some of the people they employ. And then, of course, there are certain Great Valley Democrats, who want to rule the world, but really can’t and they love data centers.
In Westtown Township, residents suffer with the tyranny of the elected officials. Except it’s really one elected official who controls the rest. And when the historic commission disagreed with decrees from on high what happened? Oh they were banished weren’t they? Off with their heads!
In West Pikeland Township there is one elected official who seems to think it’s her life’s mission to destroy a dedicated memorial and part of a local park? She makes pathetic speeches at meetings and wants everyone to think she’s some kind of a victim when she’s the villain in this play and why is that? Is this just because she needs attention? Well is this the attention she wants?
In West Vincent, elected officials and the township manager seems to want to hide from everything? But even when it’s quiet, people know it’s not what it should be don’t they? What’s bubbling below the surface?
In East Pikeland the howdy doody haired “king” is more and more like the joker isn’t he? The king needs to be dethroned and he’s been the chair since 2009 and what does that Township have to show for it? They have a really big EPA site called the Kimberton Super Fund site that they don’t like to talk about much do they? They have a manager that devoted like a good couple decades of her career and was disappeared? How does that work? Isn’t isn’t it past time to clean house in East Pikeland from the elected officials to the interesting departments? I guess the biggest thing I do not get about this municipality is how the majority of the residents are so content being sheeple?
And then we go to Honey Brook. Two out of the three elected officials are rather vile. They have a new manger who seems competent but how long will she be able to stand it and how does that bobble headed solicitor still have a job? This week we saw the majority of the supervisors completely unwilling to champion their residents in favor of a developer and no one is surprised so who will they point fingers at as more accidents occur around a development area that needs traffic calming measures?
And also people in Honey Brook and the surrounding area are now questioning who in the Twin Valley School Board of it all seems in favor of whatever oddness is happening in New Morgan? Who stands to gain what specifically and isn’t that an interesting question?
Tredyffrin of course is in full “nothing to see here” mode but that is not true is it? Any other naming rights that anybody wants to get out of their system? Or how about the fact that can we call it racism being a motivator as to why they won’t ever seem to deal with the off-campus student housing issues of it all in Mount Pleasant? In this municipality, they would benefit from a manager change because being Bashore-lite (late of Radnor) isn’t a place anybody wants to be is it? Also, are they really home rule charter anymore?
In Willistown you have people in an uproar again over Rock Hill Farm. Will the township settle with the developer or not? The lawn sign and T-shirt crowd really wants them to save the land, but do they have any reality that they live with as to what the land is worth versus what a township even like Willistown can afford? The whole situation sucks but in the end, I think that’s going down to development. Maybe if the residents had lawyered up early on, but now isn’t it all just too late? honestly I really wish it could all be preserved, but maybe they will be able to preserve some of it? Oh, and then there’s the West Nile virus sampling taken at a park.
Anyway I have now vented my spleen completely on 9/11.
As a country, we need to be better and do better; same for our region.
And I’m tired of the asshat parade on social media. If you don’t like what I write, don’t read it.
