After writing about Radnor earlier this week with regard to Ardrossan area and Radnor farmer, I didn’t expect to write another post so soon. I am in the extended area at this point, so except for a couple of things here and there, it’s not my jam. Before I get into the meat of the post, vis-à-vis the post I wrote the other day about the Radnor farmer and the chemicals he uses on the fields, you have to think about the wildlife at the Willows. Here are photos I have taken over the years of some of the wildlife, and the sign about doing things in an environmentally friendly way that used to be posted at the Willows but I don’t know if it still is.
I have always loved the Willows, the architect Charles Barton Keen was a very dear friend’s grandfather and I have run across the occasional Zantzinger family member as an adult. They are one of the families which called the Willows home. Originally the house was called Rose Garland. Something that has always bothered me, is the house is referred to as a “mansion“ and it was never designed as a mansion. It was a moderately sized country house. Also Radnor Township likes to speak about how they “acquired“ the “mansion” in 1975. They neglect to tell everyone that they exercised eminent domain to “acquire“ the house.
Sometimes I wonder if the bad mojo that started at Radnor Township‘s ownership of the Willows has followed it into the present from the past. But I also think a lot of what has been wrong with the Willows is the fault of Radnor Township. It always used to be a venue for events and weddings. But in my humble opinion, the township kind of ran the Willows into the ground via benign neglect, and then eventually the Willows closed. Then there were all the years of who’s going to take over the Willows, who’s going to submit an RFP to run the Willows, what are they going to do with the Willows?
And I think there was a lot of benign neglect until this new nonprofit came in and kind of turned it around. At different points there was stuff done to the property that was wonderful. Like when there was the group the Friends of the Willows Cottage who did an amazing restoration on the cottage that now sits empty and rotting again. The fabulous era of the Willows Cottage was circa 2010. During that year I actually went to a few different parties there including an amazing summer solstice party which are the next photos I am sharing. I took and own the photos.
So when the Willows started being restored again this time around, I was so hopeful. I didn’t think it could be done honestly. The expense is enormous. But people love the house. And what has been happening so far is amazing. But I have to ask if Radnor Township and/or the Willows Park Preserve non-profit need to update or add a security system? Why am I asking ? See next screenshot.
This is rather sad as well as disturbing. After reading the article in Patch about this, a couple of things about the Willows occurred to me. I seem to remember the back in the day as in years and years ago they had a locked room in the basement for liquor and that’s where stuff would get locked away after parties or before parties, so why wasn’t liquor locked up in a municipal owned historic building?
The other thing is obviously they must not have a security system or security cameras because if they had either would they have discovered all of this on a Monday morning at 10 AM when they opened up for the week? And if there was security perhaps the vandalism would not have occurred let alone the theft. This is undoubtedly kids I think – of course it remains to be seen if they are high school kids or college kids, but this definitely smacks of kids by the very nature of it. I hope too much money wasn’t lost.
Sorry not sorry, it sounds like pennywise and pound foolish Radnor. I hope if Radnor can’t get their act together and install proper security on this site that one of the many well healed in Radnor Township who love the “mansion” as they call it, pony up to repair what needs to be repaired due to vandalism and for a proper security system that includes cameras. They could even get a wireless system like so many people are using today couldn’t they?
And I also just don’t understand what motivates anyone to break into a historic house and vandalize it. Is this the kind of world we are living in now? Do other historic houses in the area have to worry? Should this be a wake up call to other historic houses?
It’s a sad state of affairs that anyone did this to such a lovely place. And I hope if anyone knows anything, that they do the right thing and contact Radnor police.
Not a sign you expect to see on the Main Line is it?
Radnor Township hates when you ask questions about Ardrossan and so does a certain Delaware County Commissioner and former Radnor Commissioner, right?
We will start with Radnor Township is just an odd place. Betwixt and between. They want to be super Main Line and forget they are part of Delaware County. (Of course people in other parts of Delaware County have always said they wished they could forget about Radnor, so it is a push me pull you, I suppose?) They were super slim shady politically until it came to a head years ago and the former manager was removed and elections (and scandals) bit by bit got rid of shall we say…interesting commissioners? Then they got another manager who didn’t use a Radnor credit card to buy stuff (like $400K was misspent or something? See this old report also embedded below) and there was a brief renaissance where things in Radnor veered away from slim shady into the sunshine.
But as with all things political, it was cyclical, and now the pendulum seems to be swinging slightly back slim shady or teetering on it, right? The current township manager is the last manager’s finance guy, not really suited to be a township manager either by education or temperament. Nice guy, very intelligent, but doesn’t seem to like to interact with the public much, does he? His assistant is the proverbial gatekeeper, and oh don’t necessarily count on a reply if you email. Control is the name of the game, I think, only who is actually in control these days? A lot of the commissioners are new and they don’t seem to get the basics like of course they might not get a quorum to have a commissioners meeting April 11th (today) which is undoubtedly why they cancelled it…Easter week.
But back to Ardrossan….
Adrossan was the estate legends were literally made of. The inspiration for A Philadelphia Story and High Society. A literally gorgeous and amazing estate. But once Bobby Scott, Hope’s son died, you knew it was only a matter of time until the march of McMansions really arrived. And McMansions were born.
So one has to ask since the McMansions seem to enjoy farming and agricultural perks although none of those people probably even cut their own lawns. The Ardrossan Farm development was approved in 2014. But what I can’t find is if the roads within the development suddenly became private roads? Why do I ask? That photo above. Taken at an entrance point into the nouveau development so are those roads publicly dedicated streets or not? If they are public with Radnor doing plowing, etc, why the “Private Community” sign?
Now in 2013, Radnor inked a deal to buy 71 acres of Ardrossan for $11+ million. Wheeler Field, Quarry Field, Rye Field. “Everyone loves the cows” was a catchy phrase back then attributed to a commissioner then who is on Delaware County Council now, and some say has higher aspirations still. The farmer is also on two other fields nearby supposedly, correct? Not owned by Radnor Township but old Ardrossan Land?
So there is a farmer farming on the Radnor Township land. That started I guess around 2015 as per an old Patch article? In same family that worked for Hope Scott when it was Ardrossan proper, correct? Main Line Media News reported back then that residents were concerned about chemicals being used on the land. At that time, Main Line Media News quoted Commissioner Elaine Paul Schaefer (now of Delaware County Council):
“I believe a license agreement with the current farmer will be on the agenda for one of our next meetings, so we will have the opportunity to hear resident comment and discuss all the issues involved,” said Schaefer. “The current farmer has been farming the Ardrossan land for over 25 years, and his father farmed it for the generation before him. I believe that most residents would like to see this farmer continue to farm the land, as his very unique operation provides the beloved cows that beautify the landscape. As I understand it, the proposed license will require that the farmer utilize best management practices and adhere to the NCRS (Natural Resource Conservation Service) approved soil conservation plan.”
So, I think it’s wonderful part of Ardrossan is still farmed, don’t misunderstand me, but well, what chemicals are being used on the fields? Especially since the farmer who farms there (his farm is called Fern Valley Farm, correct?) also has the cows/steer he tends to, the last of the famous Ayrshire steer, right? So if he is raising feed corn etc. for said cattle, what are they ingesting? Way back when Radnor inked this deal with the farmer, people urged the farmer to be as organic as possible so what today, in 2022 is happening? Is there a correct list of chemicals? You know like Round Up and Round Up laced engineered seed?
Look, there are natural water sources everywhere, so isn’t it important? There is a sign outside the farmer’s farm that says “BEEF” so if he’s selling, wouldn’t you like to know what chemicals the butchered beasts were exposed to? This is why so many people like to buy organic meat today, correct? And people pay big bucks gladly for organic meat, poultry, fish, produce, yes?
So Radnor, where’s the beef? And is there an official farm store, USDA and Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture listing for Fern Valley Farm? I looked and can’t find it. Truthfully, I think it’s great if the farmer can sell his products, as long as it is done right and isn’t meat it’s whole special category? How it’s butchered, stored, etc?
Back to field chemicals. Trout season is now open, right? So wouldn’t fishermen like to know what chemicals the Ardrossan farmer is using right now in 2022 and what they have been using in years past? Again, I looked to see if I could find it listed anywhere and came up empty.
So in addition to trout and the famous Ardrossan “cows” isn’t there a bald eagle now at the Willows nearby and there used to be big blue herons too, right? So what is the beautiful wildlife ingesting courtesy of whatever Radnor’s farmer uses? And kids are all over that area and isn’t that Quarry field slated for being part of the trails there or something at some point?
Sadly, public land requires public answers does it not? So what chemicals are being used on the land where the farmer farms that is owned by Radnor? I am of the opinion that Radnor Township can’t just be environmentally friendly for show, and it’s great they want to ban plastic bags too, but what about this? Why is it such a big deal for their tenant to produce a list of chemicals used?
So this isn’t the only curious part of Ardrossan tales of today is it? The other part is whatever benefits from farming the McMansion dwellers who have bought on Ardrossan land get? This has all swirled in the media for years. In November there was a movement which was defeated to cancel the farmer’s $1 a year lease:
Yes, there were a LOT of Ardrossan related or touching articles in 2021. It kind of made me sad, in a way. Almost like the whole allure of that amazing estate were being tarnished in some way.
That is the problem with a lot of these large parcels of land. We see it here in Chester County. Not all are under any sort of conservation easements which is causing eruptions in many places in Chester County right now. You can’t make people conserve land, and then there is how do you make it attractive to conserve/preserve land? And developers just salivate at the prospect of these properties everywhere, and what developers can afford to buy versus what farmers can afford to buy versus what land and nature conservancies can afford to buy are all very different and difficult conversations, correct?
But the most bombshell of the Ardrossan related bombshell articles to me was the in depth Inquirer report:
In an effort to bring this post full circle, many people always wondered how things with Ardrossan and what is left of this estate got here to this point today. And I think that is in part because it has always felt dually shielded in secrecy and controversy, right or wrong.
BUT why else would it behoove Radnor Township to lift the veil? It makes it easier for other people, other municipalities, other farmers trying to farm in the tri-county area. Farming is so under siege, and ironically, most often the farmers under siege are the one who play by the rules, correct? No one is saying farmer don’t farm, they just want to know about the chemicals in the fields and the beef of it all, right? However, people are asking questions about McMansion owners doing a modern spin on the whole feudal thing of it all including ag benefits, correct?
Come one Radnor, set the record straight, and is it really that hard to do these days?
Here are some more articles of a more recent past vintage on Ardrossan:
I love the smell of “placed” media, don’t you ? It’s marvelous spin describing a working farm as “an event venue”.
What am I talking about? I’m talking about a little piece that has appeared in places over the last day or so. It’s about Wildflower Farm. But this time, it’s from the neighbors perspective. And I am of the opinion, and allowed to have the opinion that it smells of professional placement. It’s not even honest, is it?
Yes it’s a clear case of spinny, spin, spin isn’t it?
I mean let’s get real these neighbors will do anything to get this farm and these people out of their neighborhood, won’t they? And you have someone who is portrayed as Mother Freaking Theresa in a sweet little media-esque blip when she has shown her true colors even at public township meetings?
And the Emmy goes to…the NOFIMBY (no farm in my back yard) neighbors of Castlebar Lane.
Oh bless their cold, dark hearts and clap, clap, clap. Cue the tiny violins of pity with a side of barf bag. Sorry not sorry that is how this makes me feel.
Let’s unpack this: It’s not an event venue, it’s a farm. And is it REALLY true that some affiliated with these people tried to inquire or perhaps set up the farm early on when they made a folksy, friendly inquiry to see if they could host a small gathering there? And was the answer not essentially that the Heenans did not know then it would be possible? They were not told yes, no deposits were taken, and no “event” was planned or held, was it? It was a fishing expedition, wasn’t it? Yes, yes person who asked, I know this happened and I know who you are and I found that very sad that you stooped so low to shall we say, curry favor with whom you perceive to be the popular kids of the McMansion set?
The berm I have dubbed Mt. Rushmore after seeing it live in the fall
Let’s also discuss Our Heroine of Castlebar Lane. When we last left she was (metaphorically speaking) wringing her hands in a seemingly “placed” puff piece? Their side or just her side? Are we to interpret that the NOFIMBY neighbors aren’t really so bad, they just fear for their PUBLIC road in Willistown Township? That they really aren’t UNneighborly when they call the police on their neighbors? And is this the neighbor with that Brooklyn Bridge project of a Mt. Rushmore berm that always seems to be being worked on whenever I have popped over to visit my friends the Heenans? And that’s a funny thing, Our Heroine always seems to have lots of vehicles in and out? I mean, maybe I am imagining things, but does she have a home based business that generates traffic? Or is that just berm building?
And was it not Our Heroine who said
“It’s beyond comprehension why they would invite the public to come and spend time in the country.”
“Bringing the public into the neighborhood is completely unacceptable.”
`our heroine
And while we are at our revisionist history best, if these are neighbors NOT trying to ruin the lives of other neighbors do we remember them at a township meeting in Willistown December 2021? By all means, explain how they are lovely people not trying to ruin their neighbors’ lives?
My understanding is that a possible settlement has been reached between the township and the Heenans. Again, the neighbors who will be most affected by the traffic, noise, invasion of privacy, liability, and a reduction in the quality of life not to mention our property values have no idea of what has or will transpire through this agreement.
I understand the zoning and the Farmstand ordinance, let’s keep it to a farmstand and not a full fledged business which is what I believe the Heenans intend. You determine the quality of life in Willistown and I urge you to be guided by the long standing nature of what exists here, open space, conservation, protection of the land, privacy, and a quality of life that is the model for other townships.
Letter discovered via RTK written 12/2021
The flower truck at another farm, Life’s Patina
So the Vista piece came out of a larger more expansive “article” from “Main Line Tonight”. They have an interesting “board”. However, I will point out, we are Chester County, and not the Main Line. And Wildflower farm is in Willistown in the heart of Radnor Hunt. Historically speaking, farms were here before any of the rest of us today, yes?
I just feel that this piece I excerpted is placed. And oh, not all of the hyperlinks in this piece work. Here are some things released under a Right to Know. Now that the public face of the neighbors of the poor, poor neighbors who feel demonized has been polished and scrubbed like shiny new pennies, how about reading what has flown around Willistown over this issue:
The above is just a sampling. Do you want me to REALLY believe they don’t want to destroy the Heenans and Wildflower Farm? And they talk about “back room deals” ? Where? Are they confusing public township meetings as “back room” deals? Yet they can send somewhat unctuous emails to Willistown Supervisors essentially saying “hop to”?
Willistown Meeting December 2021
I just do not GET IT, do you? I mean, and correct me if I am wrong, but do these neighbors NOT benefit from living in McMansions in an agricultural district? And Willistown is one of those places where farms still exist, so if they had their way would farms cease to exist? What’s their next target? Farms like Sugartown Straberries? Heartwood Farm? Ohana Farm? Windy Hill farm? Canter Hill Farm? Willisbrook Farm? That farm with the “oreo” cows AKA Belted Galloways?
Now a lot of what is going on here is of interest to those who follow the ACRE law, correct?
There is an entire section on the PA Attorney General’s website about ACRE. For the entire kitandkaboodle CLICK HERE. And truthfully if Willistown is dancing with this, didn’t they dance before? A little Googling found this:
We’ve been talking about Wildflower Farm and the NOFIMBY neighbors for a long time now. How can people be so determined to all but literally kill their neighbors? Why is a flower farm so bad? I still think this is one of the ugliest examples of misplaced sense of entitlement I have ever seen.
At the end of the day, this just makes me sad. These NOFIMBY neighbors can say they are lovely, caring people but the thing is this: actions speak louder than words. If they want to be seen as good, they can’t just write lovely checks to non-profits can they? They actually have to be good. I can’t help but wonder what they are in fact costing the taxpayers of Willistown with all of this swirling nastiness?
Sadly the NOFIMBY drama seems to go on and on and on. As I said the first time I waded into this topic, I think these people are wrong. Their lives aren’t adversely affected by flowers and a flower farm. They are responsible for this swirling ugliness, not the Heenans.
I am a lover of farms. Small farms matter. All farms matter.
I am also a gardener. Plant more flowers. Stop and smell the flowers NOFIMBY neighbors. Stop this madness, except you won’t will you? So sad.
I love a good frittata. True story is one of my frittatas is actually published in an Epicurious cookbook. It’s called The Kitchen Sink Frittata, and it was published in Epicurious Cookbook in 2012. Amusingly enough Nancy Fuller (Food Network personality) has an identically named recipe on Food Network’s website. My recipe I think is better.
But this? This is a new recipe and I thought of it this morning based upon what I was looking at in my refrigerator this morning.
So here it is and I hope you enjoy it!
Preheat oven to 400°
Take 4 tablespoons of butter and put in a baking dish. I use my vintage 12” French copper gratin pan.
Take eight eggs out of the refrigerator, one bunch of thin fresh scallions, about 6 to 7 ounces of deli ham, 1 4oz log of fresh goat cheese. The goat cheese I’m using today had bits of fig in it – it was what I had on hand.
Thinly slice the scallions and include some of the green tops. Maybe about 3 inches if they are in good shape. Chop up the ham. Also if you have it thinly slice one Roma tomato, also known as a plum tomato. But only use a fresh one.
If you’re using a pan like my gratin pan you can heat it up on the stove as well. I wouldn’t recommend using a glass baking dish, so please don’t . But you can also make a frittata in a cast-iron pan, for example. I also use a cast iron pan to make frittatas, and I have an oven safe fry pan from Great Jones cookware I also use.
When the butter is melted quickly sauté the scallions and the ham. Add to that the thinly sliced tomato. Don’t swish it around in the pan too much you don’t want things to break up. Next add a little freshly cracked pepper, and some dill weed. You can either chop up some fresh dill or use dried dill. Turn off the stove, and let that sit while you move onto whisking the eggs.
Briskly whisk eight eggs with a couple dashes of hot sauce, a little bit of salt not a lot, and about three or 4 tablespoons of buttermilk. Please remember not to use more than a little pinch of salt because you are cooking with ham which is already salty.
When the eggs are whisked up and frothy pour them slowly over the ham and vegetables in the pan evenly. Next crumble up your log of goat cheese and spread evenly over the top and add a couple of more dashes of fresh cracked pepper.
Place in your 400° oven and bake for about 35 minutes. Depending on your oven —-you need to keep an eye on it, so nothing burns. Take it out let it sit for a few minutes slice up and serve. It makes a wonderful weekend breakfast or brunch.
My husband loves Al Stewart’s music. I have always liked it as well. So every once on Spotify, I turn on some Al Stewart. One of his songs is running in a loop through my brain. Has been since I received some news that kind of upended me yesterday and today. The song is Time Passages. So that is why the video is in this post. Another song too has been in that loop. Supertramp’s Lord Is It Mine. Both my husband and I also love Supertramp. Also added a favorite Genesis song and a Steve Winwood too. Might as well do the full music I liked then and today. Music helps.
But…..Damn my age is showing. The music is all from “back in the [proverbial] day”. And this really has nothing to do with what I have been trying to write since this morning. It’s like if I write it out, it becomes more real. Music cushions the thoughts.
I have been sitting in front of my computer screen. I know what I want to say, but have been somewhat stuck in my own head since last evening when I received completely unexpected news.
One of my favorite people, a friend who feels like he’s been around literally since almost forever has died. Forever meaning I think we met circa 1976 or so. I know this is something I have to write about because it just needs to leave my brain. The memories need to settle and go back to happy, not swirl in my brain like an unhappy tornado.
Yes, a lot of tears have been quietly shed today.
He was hit by a car while walking. Just a freak accident a fluke. He wasn’t sick, he loved his life, was in the prime of his life, nice career, nice man. The kind of person you want in your life until we are really old and gray, only that won’t happen now.
Somewhere in a trunk I have photos from when we were teenagers and older. So many memories. Damn it David, I am not grown up enough for this.
I will start with one a friend reminded me of last night. Sitting in the middle of my parents’ driveway and David shouting “To the airport and hop on it!” when a VW rabbit went by. And that day multiple VW rabbits drove down our then quiet road. It was a hot car then. We laughed and laughed.
Another memory sitting in my parents’ library with him and three or four other friends. Don’t know why. It may have been after JDA (Junior Dancing Assemblies.)
Ahh what were the Junior Dancing Assemblies (“JDA”)? They were formal by invitation dances. The Senior Dancing Assemblies (‘SDA”) followed. They were held at the Merion Tribute House in Merion Station. Every time it was my father’s turn to drive us kids, he got lost. I still get lost going there.
Girls in long dresses or long formal tartan skirts and an appropriate top. Note that appropriate those days was NOT short skirts or skimpy tops or even spaghetti straps or strapless. Somewhere I have the original invitation that had the dress code. It was a tradition starting to wane by the time we went. Sometimes it was a bad cover band, other times a D.J.
A few years ago, David and I had some serious giggles over JDA and SDA and that Gold Lamé dragon Mrs. Farber. She was the one who ran the dances. Seriously, she seemed to have an endless supply of Gold Lamé dresses that had these almost bullet bra tops and didn’t move anymore than her Aqua Net cemented hair do. She was terrifying. She dragged me into the service kitchen at Merion Tribute one night and called my mother on the kitchen phone to report that I wouldn’t dance with someone she picked out for me to dance with. Fortunately, David and another friend rescued me. I remember coming home that night and my mother wondering why THAT woman called her. And of course a resounding chorus of “Don’t do that again, you were lucky to be invited.”
We would camp out during JDA and SDA intermissions or breaks and hangout on the window seats at Merion Tribute House and the other seating areas and shove stale pretzels down the heater grates as we drank our slightly warm and slightly flat Coca Colas out of Dixie Cups. During those intermissions we would think up grand schemes never executed to torture Mrs. Farber. Mostly we wondered how her bras were so pointy, how big was that closet of Gold Lamé dresses, and what was actually in her hair.
And then there were our mischief night escapades. One year we took apart a split rail fence and created an obstacle course on the road. We almost got caught that year as we also toilet papered several trees. Another year someone (David) magically re-painted the tops of someone’s wrought iron fence from gaudy gold to black I think it was.
Another thing we did once in a while? Roaming around the back of the estate known as Dolobran in Haverford. Why? So we could peek in the windows of the ballroom. It was so cool. At that point I believe there was just one tiny old lady living there. That was back when said little old lady gave me a $20 bill for Halloween one year back then. I had dressed my dog up as a cat to go trick or treating.
During the high school years we all went to different schools. So there were parties at Kip’s house or Adam’s house. Then there were the Philadelphia Charity Ball Years. David rescued me a couple of times when I did not have a date and my mother said I could not go with “just friends.” So he really wasn’t my escort, but covered for me and another friend so we could go.
Eventually we all went our separate ways and wouldn’t see each other as often. While I stayed pretty much in the Philadelphia area, David and other friends were spread out all over the east coast, out west, down south. So then there was Christmas.
Christmas Eve for decades meant one Christmas party in particular for many of us in Gladwyne. So I always saw David and his family there. When we were younger, we would be with the kids downstairs in a big rec room for the most part. As we got older we migrated upstairs and would take over the hosts’ study.
Then at some point, we all stopped going. In recent years, David and I would connect by phone, email, and like so many others Facebook. We would occasionally see each other when he was up from Florida to see family still in the area.
David did things liked sent me little gifts sometimes for no reason. A couple of years ago it was a set of whimsical kitchen towels he thought I would like.
The last time we connected was his birthday….barely a month ago.
Hopping around: I remember when his mother died. April, 1978. Not too long from now is the anniversary. I remember when he called me. She was the first parent of someone I knew who passed away. His dad remarried a few years later, and his father and stepmother and siblings and family and friends all survive him. His stepmother is truly lovely. And I remember that was not easy coming into the world of three boys of various ages who had lost their mother.
My head is calmer now as I have written down some of these memories and allowed the memories of laughter wash over me. Today has been full of phone calls from some of our old friends, which is comforting for all of us. It gives us a chance to quietly remember someone who was just a wonderful person, one of our life long friends.
Telling my mother was no fun. She always adored David. My past is her past here. And his stepmother and father are still alive and such nice people. She said to me no parent wants to outlive their children.
Now David wasn’t someone who would want us to be endlessly sad. So I am celebrating him right now with a post traveling down a meandering multi-decade memory lane. The meandering includes music. What I have shared plus a favorite playlist from Spotify.
David gave his friends a precious gift one last time. And that gift is allowing some of us to reconnect. We will honor that gift and remember him. (Umm he also gave me his grandmother’s pound cake recipe and THAT is priceless.)
David, we will all miss you, and when I have my next glass of Rosé, I will lift a glass in your honor. Thanks for the memories, but it just wasn’t time enough.
The older I get, the more I realize loss is not for sissies.
Tonight I went to my friend’s studio for a prop house sale. And another friend facilitated the sale. I realized tonight how long it had been since we all just had fun. Like pre-COVID fun.
We were invited to the sale preview, and it was amazing. The space is fabulous and there were nibbles and laughter….and a giant space full of new, vintage, antiques, and everything in between. China, crystal, glassware, pottery, fabric, mirrors, linens, furniture, art, rugs, Dansk Kobenstyle Dutch ovens, and more!
Even better? It was this amazing well lit space that was filled with light and had high ceilings. Maybe it’s just me because I always love to see how loft spaces are interpreted.
The regular open days of the Maximalist Studios Prop House Sale are tomorrow and Saturday, March 25 and 26 10 AM to 2 PM each day. 501 W. Washington Street in Norristown. You can find out more information on the Sales By Helen website.
When the coroner comes calling it’s never a good day. A couple of days ago I noticed a post which popped up on NextDoor about police activity in a West Whiteland park. Then this morning West Whiteland Township Police posted a notice making a park off limits because of police/coroner activity.
Now there are helicopters circling everywhere. So what’s up? I do not know. But if the coroner is on site they must have found human remains. A lot of people are hoping that finally Anna Maciejewska has been found, although I will comment that that is complete conjecture at this point. I also personally think that if Anna is found, it will be somewhere near where her car was dumped. Not Miller Park in West Whiteland.
I don’t know who was found, although I wish they would put this effort into finding Anna Maciejewska who has been missing since April, 2017.
And people are also commenting that the police haven’t said anything much . Well if it’s an ongoing investigation and the coroner involved, just let them do their jobs and they will tell us in due course what this is about. I have been told there are divers involved and drones and you can hear the helicopters, but they might be news helicopters or just from the helicopter museum.
I hope whatever is going on today, that it brings a family closure. Because if a family member goes missing that has to be a special kind of hell.
Yesterday for Pi (π) Day, I made a dinner pie. I made a chicken sausage pot pie with a mashed potato top crust.
Now that we have the pleasantries out-of-the-way, let’s dive into the Stepford wives for totalitarianism. They don’t love me this week because I kind of object to their gender phobias when it comes to kids in school along with everything else they are phobic or rabid about.
📌If you are the parent of a child questioning their gender identity in the Great Valley School District, their teacher is not allowed to tell you.
In fact, under district policy, the teacher is required to keep that information secret from parents. And the teacher must also call your child by the name they choose and refer to them by the pronouns they wish.
“It seems to be a very disturbing thing to me, keeping this information from parents,” a long-time Great Valley school teacher told Delaware Valley Journal. DVJournal is withholding the teacher’s name at their request, to allow them to speak freely without the fear of backlash.📌
I don’t have a child who has dealt with gender or questioning their sexual identity. But I am not closing my mind to it, just because we didn’t experience it. Our child did have a classmate in high school who did work through gender identity. The school and the class were very supportive. I know it was hard for this kid even with support.
I have friends whose kids are figuring it out. Two identify as non-binary. They are both lovely kids, one of whom I first met when they were a toddler. These are kids who are lucky because their families are supportive, and their schools seem supportive.
I also don’t pretend to be a person who can get all the pronouns and how they relate straight. I screw them up all of the time because it’s not something I’m familiar with. It’s beyond my realm of personal experience, and I don’t see the world that way. However, I’m not going to criticize anyone who sees things via different gender identities and or sexual preferences. And learning about it doesn’t make me a bad person, because to some if you are tolerant with regard to these issues or try to be understanding that makes you the enemy. But a lot of these people are the same ones who don’t want special needs kids mainstreamed, either.
However for any of these children school can be a very hard place. Home can also be a difficult place. I remember years ago back to when I was in high school. I had friends who are gay who were afraid to come out as such back then. It was very hard for them to feel accepted in this world and to learn to speak their truth. None of us ever loved them any less. As their friends we supported them and we figured when they were ready to tell the world, they would. And eventually they did.
The problem I have with this whistleblower teacher is they don’t even understand these kids nor do they seem capable of trying.
This whole informing the parents issue has missed a rather large point. Legally speaking, certain occupations are mandatory reporters (ie medical personnel in an ER must report a dog bite, teachers must report abuse.) They want teachers to be required to report gender issues? Perhaps consider that FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act ) exists to protect students privacy? The relationship is between the student and the teacher is it not?
Also if they (a teacher) did report gender issues to the parents and it led to any type of abuse at home then the school district could be held liable in a civil case. And if a teacher doesn’t actually know how mandatory reporting works, that’s a little frightening.
So now that they have their Pyrrhic victory over masking in schools they have moved on to basically thinking it’s OK to belittle people who are still wearing masks because they are still uncomfortable after the two years of living with La Vida COVID. They are also working on their book banning list, which also has a lot to do with their fear over gender identity and the sexuality of teenagers essentially.
To these parents who live in this fear is it because you think you will be less of a person somehow if you have a kid who has a different gender identity or sexual preference? Are you saying it’s bad to be gay or to identify as other than the traditional male/female? Or are you just saying it’s bad to be different from what you are or understand?
I have to be honest and say I don’t understand these people. We all try not to judge them but they feel free to judge us and tell all of us that their rights supersede ours always. And we are supposed to just sit there while they spread misinformation and prejudice?
At this point because my views are uncomfortable for these people, I take a daily flogging or stoning. I am a bad woman, I am evil, I’m nasty, I am unhappy, I have problems. Essentially they bully and harass me every single day. But I am the one who is doing the bullying and harassing if I stand up for myself or something I believe in. (Pretzel logic.)
OK we all have problems. No one‘s life is perfect, but honestly? I’m not an unhappy person and it is quite all right if I do not think the way everyone else does. It makes me an individual. I am not mean, unhappy, or troubled because my thought process does not mimic the Sheeple.
I am also not going to apologize for posting about a dysfunctional national group trying to infiltrate every school district and community in our area in hopes of controlling them. Most of these people in these groups are not from our area. And for all the locals that belong to their local “chapters” they don’t even realize that they are the ones being indoctrinated and literally brainwashed. If you look at those groups the national group keeps a hand in every local chapter. These people worry about control and undue influence and they are perfect studies of the topic.
We are put on this earth as individuals, capable of independent thought. We live in a messy world and given all that we are facing globally now, I kind of can’t get over these people who are literally concerned about what the neighbors might think if their children don’t identify exactly as little mini me versions of who they are.
I remember a time when everyone used to be able to coexist a little better. We didn’t always agree, but it wasn’t a death star battle if we did disagree. And again I remind these purported adults, that when they complain to their school districts about bullying in their schools, this is where it comes from: THEM.
So remember a couple of weeks or so ago when I wrote about this tree on the wire near the Home Depot on Phoenixville Pike in Frazer, Pennsylvania? In East Whiteland.
It had been reported twice to PECO and after this post appeared someone from PECO reached out to me to let me know that it is actually Verizon wires that fallen tree is sitting on. They told me at that point in time that they had told Verizon about it, and essentially Verizon did nothing. PECO had gone out to the site to inspect it, and then notified Verizon.
Now I do not believe I am incorrect in saying that if it had been PECO‘s problem they would’ve had that tree removed weeks ago.
I know East Whiteland Township has been in contact with Verizon as well. They have had no luck thus far with Verizon.
This morning I heard back from Senator Carolyn Comitta‘s office. They finally pushed and had Verizon go out and look at this. And guess what? Verizon doesn’t see a big tree dangling on their wires not attached to the ground in anyway as a problem.
Can you imagine if we said to Verizon we didn’t feel like paying our bills right now? they would have absolutely none of that. Yet when it comes to actually doing something for people who use their services and people that just drive by something potentially unsafe every day, they don’t give a crap.
Verizon is kind of like Energy Transfer aren’t they? They just want to make money, they don’t really care about anything else.
The thing is eventually that tree is going to hit the road so will it take down wires? Will it hurt people? And if the wires snap how many people who are Verizon customers inconvenienced?
This reminds me of years ago when Verizon was first rolling out FiOS. They were putting up those beige boxes that had FiOS stuff in it on poles everywhere. They put one at the then end of my driveway where I lived before moving to Chester County. My driveway was on a slight curve, which made it difficult with the box where it was placed to get out of the driveway safely. It literally blocked sightlines. It literally took weeks to just get them to come out and move their stupid box a few feet up their pole. And at that time it finally took the intervention of the State Senator where I lived to get it done.
Calling Verizon as a consumer is a time consuming and frustrating process. Much like their competition Comcast. You can barely if ever get a real person on the phone. They should be accountable. They should take this tree down.
Verizon do what’s right. For once. Stop being a potentially negligent POS of a company.
I get the most interesting tips at times. This afternoon I found out as folks involved with The Haverford School currently (parents, staff, or other) or attended (alumni) that Haverford School has seemingly accomplished what Agnes Irwin couldn’t do a few years ago in Easttown.
Yes I digress, and what makes what I am about to disclose that Haverford School is doing is different because Haverford School was SMART, they sought a property to expand with a land use that was pre-existing and conducive to a school. So it’s apples to apples, not apples to oranges.
Haverford School apparently has had their bid accepted in Radnor Township for what locals remember as the Presbyterian Children’s Village on South Roberts Road. It was once the estate of Samuel Robinson (ACME Markets – same family as Crebilly, correct?) and called “Glencoe”.
Presbyterian Children’s Village (now known as “The Village” if it still exists, not sure) was founded in Philadelphia in the 1870s as an orphanage. (See this article in a Wayne Presbyterian Church Bulletin) In 1926, Samuel Robinson, then President of ACME Markets bought the Glencoe Estate in Rosemont, which had originally been owned by Thomas McKean, Jr who had a similarly named relative who was a a signer of the Declaration of Independence. The estate was the creation of George Bispham Page. Mr. Robinson bequeathed Glencoe to the Presybyterian Church in 1959, and that is how the Presbyterian Children’s Village came to be there.
In recent years, until it closed, I vaguely recall negative press when it came to the Presbyterian Children’s Village. I found this: click HERE, click HERE, click HERE, click HERE. I actually knew someone once who was a children and youth social worker. Worked at Presbyterian Children’s Village for a few years. Did not like it and left
It is remarkable Glencoe has survived. And no matter what my mixed feelings about The Haverford School are at times, one can definitely say they respect the historic structures on their campus in Haverford, and I think they will undoubtedly continue to do so. Expanding their campus here I feel is a good thing. They are landlocked in their current location and that has always been a burden to their neighbors among other things.
I found a cache of the listing when it was on the Financial Times website. See screenshot:
I also found the listing lingering HERE , HERE, and HERE. Mostly the listing appears taken down. So here are screenshots of what I got a copy of (or you can refer to embedded PDF above):
Hopefully Radnor Township residents around this location on South Roberts Road are pleased. They should be. They have been saved the unpleasant fate of a housing development, apartments, condos, townhouses, etc.
I wonder how they will weave in the existing campus in Haverford, which sits in both Lower Merion and Haverford Townships. Hopefully it all works out.
