Kennett Square Life Fall/Winter 2021

Hey Kennett!

We made it.

This is our 52nd year in business in Kennett Square.

As I always say, “It isn’t just about cars, trucks, engines and their challenges, it’s all about my customers in need and my ability to help them and their families”. Being able to serve you, meet you and be part of your life as you are mine, is why I do what I do. I don't claim to be the best or the smartest but I do promise to be honest, caring, fair and provide a solution even if I need help. I believe we should all do what we can to help those in our community so I started the Holiday Food Blitz in 2008, which benefits the Kennett Area Community Service. Then the Lucky Dog Food Blitz in 2010 in the honor of my beloved “Lucky Dog” to benefit local pets and Faithful Friends. I also work with the Kennett Senior Center and volunteer with the Mushroom Festival and it's car show.

I invite everyone to stop in, if only for a meet and greet! Many have driven by for years and wondered what we are about. It really is all about you, as our motto says....

“We are Just Here to Help!” STOP IN!

My best to all in Kennett. Love ya, Bob Blittersdorf Blitz Automotive

I want to take this opportunity to thank ALL of my friends for their generous help through the years. Without them and their support Blitz would not be what it is today, nor would it have been as meaningful a journey. “We Are Just Here to Help!”

Accepting donations for the Kennett Community Service during business hours.

Kennett Square Life

Kennett Square Life Fall/Winter 2021

Letter from the Editor:

In this issue of Kennett Square Life, we are proud to present a story by writer Chris Barber about Taylor Oil, which is celebrating its 70th anniversary year during 2021. Barber talks to Bill Taylor about the very beginnings of the family business that was started by his father, and about how Bill Taylor’s involvement with the Kennett Square Memorial Day Parade helped transform it into one of the largest and most popular events in the county each year.

This issue features a story about a new business, Farmer & Co. For the owners, Jessie Mooberry and Soren Rubin, Farmer & Co is more than just a café and market. It’s a garden of ideas and partnerships that’s bringing people together. Writer Richard Gaw explores how the seeds that began Farmer & Co in Unionville earlier this year were first planted at a Philadelphia train station.

The subject of the Q & A is The Garage Community & Youth Center. On the occasion of the Garage’s 20th anniversary, Kennett Square Life met with its executive director Kristin Proto and director of operations William Rose to reflect on the power of the organization, its many partners and a few of the many wonderful moments they have experienced in the company of those who are preparing for their future.

Visitors to southern Chester County generally know of its rich heritage with the mushroom industry, along with local dairies and horse farms. Yet some newcomers may not be aware of the many things to enjoy here throughout the year. In this issue, local writer and historian Gene Pisasale offers a story titled “Kennett Square: Things to do, places to see” to help out with that.

For the past 22 years, Lou Mandich of the Last Chance Garage in Unionville has been bringing vintage automobiles back to life. It’s a mission that goes far beyond just the mechanics of fixing and replacing. This issue’s photo essay showcases some of the vintage automobiles at the Last Chance Garage.

We hope you enjoy these stories as much as we enjoyed working on them, and we’re already hard at work planning the next issue of Kennett Square Life that will arrive in the spring of 2022. Until then, happy holidays!

Sincerely,

Randy Lieberman, Publisher randyl@chestercounty.com, 610-869-5553

Steve Hoffman, Editor editor@chestercounty.com., 610-869-5553, Ext. 13

Cover design: Tricia Hoadley

Cover photo: Jie Deng

|Kennett Square Spotlight|

Taylor Oil: 70 years of serving the community

By Chris Barber Contributing Writer

“In September 1951, with $800 in his pocket, Francis W. Taylor went to Philadelphia and purchased a 1946 International truck. He and his son Bill painted that first truck with the Taylor name, and thus was born Taylor Oil and Propane.”

That is how a 50th-anniversary flier issued by the current Taylor Oil described the humble beginnings of this well-known Kennett Square-based company.

Now, 70 years after that truck purchase, the generations that the late Francis W. Taylor begat are still providing warmth and heating services for the Kennett area and serving thousands in the local community.

Continued on Page 12

Continued from Page 11

Bill Taylor, 83, the founder’s firstborn son, was only 13 years old during that first year, but even then, he was helping his father during weekends and summers, engaged in a journey that would take him into his eighties and prominence in his home town. At that early time, he said he wasn’t sure what lay ahead for him, but he had in mind that there was a future with his father’s business.

Bill, his brother Rich and two sisters grew up in Kennett Square. Their home was on Willow Street next to a blacksmith shop, where they could hear the owner pounding his anvil making devices out of metal. Bill said he was a happy kid, always roaming around town with his friends and getting rooted firmly in the borough.

Looking back, he fondly recalled his dad’s industriousness and dedication to hard work, which Francis understood and communicated to his children. He told them acumen and business ownership would lead to success. As it turned out, that trait blossomed in his offspring.

The founder’s first venture into upward mobility out of lower paying wages was with the company that became Hamorton Coal and Ice, where he learned his trade. Later, when his boss

declined a buyout, Francis leased a gas station on Miller’s Hill on the east end of town and sold gas, tires and snacks to passengers on buses coming into town from Philadelphia. With help from friends and neighbors, Francis carried on a healthy business for about a year and generated the $800 needed for the truck and the beginnings of his new business. Using that money, he purchased the oil truck with the intention of selling kerosene, a fuel that was overtaking coal as a major heating source for homes.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, the stage was set for a time of growth nationally and locally.

Taylor said he and his father saw the houses being built at the south end of town in Stenning Hills and viewed those future residents as fertile fields of customer service.

“Pop knew how to get customers, and people liked him,” Taylor said. “He knew how to hustle. We’d get hundreds of customers on a weekend. You’d see a new house: Knock-knock on the door. They were buying kerosene to heat their houses and hot water. Saturday was the biggest day of the week. I could start on Linden Street, and by the end of the day, the truck was empty.”

The founder’s strategy was fairly straight-forward: He worked out of his house. He would buy kerosene for 10 cents a gallon and sell it for 13 cents. He

Continued on Page 14

Taylor Oil

Continued from Page 13

arranged credit so he could buy the kerosene one day and pay for it the next. Later, in his success, he bought the Diamond Ice and Coal Company on Birch Street with its three big oil tanks.

Meanwhile, as business grew, Taylor was still helping with driving the truck and honing his skills. He learned how to handle equipment and get the product into homes.

In 1991, with the purchase of the nearby ice plant that had oil tanks, they converted that facility to propane, realizing that many people were changing their barbecues from charcoal and their stoves from electric to

Continued on Page 16

Fresh and clean, the trucks are lined up for deliveries.

Taylor Oil

Continued from Page 14

propane. Today, they have almost twice as much propane on hand as oil—hundreds of thousands of gallons—and provide additional heating, air conditioning and mechanical services.

As the years went by, more and more of the family members became involved in the business. Richard, who was born 11 years after Bill, joined with his brother to mortgage the company from their father on the occasion of his retirement in 1976. It worked out well for the father and sons, because for 10 years dad had an income, and at the completion of the purchase, the two sons owned the business outright.

Along the way, the locations changed three times from their family home, to South Broad Street to the present Birch Street location.

Meanwhile, as the family expanded, Francis’s grandchildren came of age as well. Jeff, Bill’s son, is now the director of operations, and Patrick, Rich’s son, keeps the books. In all, there are now eight

Continued on Page 18

ABOUT OUR STAFF

Our funeral professionals offer a combination of ingenuity and have over 100 years of combined experience. As we guide you through the decision making process, we will explain options while ensuring your family's needs are being met. We feel our service to the families of Southern Chester County is more than a business. It’s a tradition of comfort and trust.

Taylor Oil

Continued from Page 16

Taylors involved in the operation of Taylor Oil and Propane as well as 13 other employees.

The Taylors express strong family loyalty, and Bill Taylor said they are ready to pitch in for the hot days, the cold days, the good days and the bad days. One very bad day comes to mind: the 2003 flood. On that day in early September, the Red Clay Creek, along which the company’s headquarters sits, experienced a 500-year flood from Tropical Storm Henri. To make matters worse, Hurricane Isabel arrived one week later and added to the already devastating conditions.

Taylor said the situation was exacerbated by a stuck boat at Kennett Square Birch Street Bridge, preventing the water from moving along. He said propane tanks were all over the place. Some had floated up to the Kennett School District administration building area, and a woman called from several streets away to tell them one of their tanks was in her tree.

Taylor said the storm was indeed a loss for their company, but they recovered.

Meanwhile, Taylor has not abandoned his attachment to his hometown and is known far and wide for his leadership of the

Continued on Page 20

Taylor Oil

Continued from Page 18

Brandywine ViewAntiques

borough’s spectacular Memorial Day Parade.

In 2005, the borough’s sesquicentennial, he was asked to bring back the parade, which in the preceding years had deteriorated to a short march of the Little Leaguers and fire engines.

“I was pleased. The first one had a budget of $3,000 and was about a half hour,” he said. The Unionville High School Band that had at first agreed to participate, did not come, and that was a disappointment, Taylor said. Still, word spread that his parade had been quite good – even to those in Unionville who had let him down.

The next year, there was no borough budget allocated for the parade, so he and his company footed the bill of about $7,000.

Local community leader Matt Grieco later found out about Taylor’s contributions and convinced him to seek support.

“Matt said, ‘Hey, I hear you paid for that. You don’t have to pay for that. We’ll get sponsors.’ I got more sponsors. I called vendors. I was getting $17,000 or $18,000 a year,” Taylor said.

Continued on Page 22

Continued from Page 20

That was a boost, and it ended up that the parade lasted about a hour-and-a-half with floats equipped with generators for amplification. The parade continued to grow over the next several years.

Sadly, Taylor announced that 2020 would be his last parade, but he was willing to offer support for whoever succeeded him in the leadership. He had even arranged two Mummers bands committed to come for his swan song. But then, when 2020 rolled around, the parade was cancelled anyway because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and so was the 2021 parade. Taylor is still hoping new leadership will emerge for next year’s event.

Taylor is known around town for another avocation as well: growing lima beans.

About 25 years ago, Taylor and his wife moved from the borough to Southridge in New Garden Township. He started a very small garden and fell in love with it -- so much so that he wanted to do more. So he bought a nearby plot of land that he calls his farm.

Coincidentally, about that time he was in Hockessin and stopped at a produce stand and saw lima bean seeds for sale. He was surprised that they were somewhat expensive, but he

Continued on Page 24

Taylor Oil

Continued from Page 22

decided to buy a bunch to see why. He planted them and was amazed to find that they grew amazingly high and plenteous.

“It was like in “Jack and the Beanstalk”— 13 feet,” he said. He was enchanted.

He’s really into his lima beans now. He calls them his “Billy Beans.” He even has shirts he wears with lima bean logos.

And when the crops arrive, he saves the biggest beans so he can plant them the following year for an even more elegant crop. He gives many of them to friends.

Those beans join chickens, rabbits, goats and fish that are already on his beloved farm.

Bill is also the president of the Union Hill Cemetery Board as well as Taylor Oil and Propane. He sees himself as patriotic.

“When I get into something I really go,” he said.

Kyle Coleman named new Kennett Square Borough Manager

The Borough of Kennett Square hired Kyle Coleman as the new borough manager. He began the duties as Kennett Square Borough’s top administrator on Sept. 16.

“We are so pleased to have Kyle Coleman with us in Kennett Square,” said Kennett Square Borough Council President Dr. Brenda Mercomes. “As borough manager, he brings the educational and professional background that can make a positive difference in our town.”

Coleman’s hiring came after an extensive search that began shortly after longtime Kennett Square Borough employee Joseph Scalise announced that he was stepping down as borough manager in October of 2020. Scalise departed at the end of November last year.

The borough enlisted Strategic Government Resources (SGR) to facilitate the search for a new borough manager. SGR is an executive recruitment firm specializing in recruiting, assessing, and developing, innovative, collaborative, and authentic leaders. The search resulted in a candidate pool of 30 applicants from 12 states.

The interview with Coleman took place on June 25 and 26, and included a tour of the community, a session with the borough’s senior staff, and personal interviews with borough council members.

Coleman previously served as the deputy village manager for the the Village of Estero in Florida, where he previously worked as the assistant to the city manager from 2016 until he was promoted to

his current position in 2020. He has more than seven years of local government and non-profit experience, and he previously served as executive director for the Greater Syracuse Project in New York, and was the founder and CEO of The SAT Academy of Southwest Florida.

Coleman is a graduate of Syracuse University and holds masters degrees in public administration and business administration, a bachelor of science degree in accounting, finance, information management and technology, and a bachelor of arts degree in economics. He also holds a Certificate of Advanced Study in Health Services Management and Policy. He is a member of the International City and County Manager Association (ICMA), Florida City and County Manager Association (FCCMA), and the Estero Chamber of Commerce.

Like Mercomes, borough council vice president Rosa Moore expressed enthusiasm that Coleman would be joining Kennett Square’s administrative team.

“We are excited to welcome Kyle to the Borough,” Moore said. “He brings a strong work ethic and a concrete foundation in municipal governance. I am glad he is joining our community.”

Kennett Square Mayor Matthew Fetick added, “The borough has several opportunities and challenges coming up in the near future. It will take skilled leadership to navigate these opportunities. I’m looking forward to having Kyle on board and his leadership as the borough continues to grow and evolve.”

For Jessie Mooberry and Soren Rubin, Farmer & Co is more than just a café and market. It’s a garden of ideas and partnerships that’s bringing people together

Farmer & Co: Building a community fabric

By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

It would be perfectly acceptable to proclaim that the seeds that began Farmer & Co in Unionville earlier this year were first planted at a Philadelphia train station.

It was there that Unionville native Jessie Mooberry accidentally ran into her high school classmate and Bucks County-born and raised Soren Rubin again after a seven-year absence. Soon after, a romance began, and six months later, Rubin moved to San Francisco to be with Mooberry.

While the social, coffee-culture vibe of West Coast city life

Continued on Page 28

Continued from Page 26

agreed with the young couple, the insular world of their respective corporate jobs became a continuous, soul-sapping commitment. Mooberry’s position as the head of deployment at Airbus, that involved rolling out autonomous flying vehicles including air

Continued on Page 30

Farmer & Co

Continued from Page 28

taxis and delivery drones – demanded frequent travel. For Rubin, his role in a start-up business in the healthcare industry was a seemingly endless stare into a computer screen.

“In the technology industries we were both involved in, there is very little person to person interaction and very little community,” Mooberry said. “Soren and I began to imagine doing something that would be both meaningful and community-driven.”

“In San Francisco, we were creating virtually, but we had a dream that would allow us to create something tangible – a physical manifestation of a community space,” Rubin said.

In 2020, directly in the face of a storm known as COVID-19, the couple moved back to Pennsylvania to pursue their imagination.

Originally, Mooberry and Rubin looked at developing an art and community space in Philadelphia, but the space became uninhabitable after a storm blew the building’s roof off and

led to severe water damage. They then turned to Unionville, where Jessie was born and raised, where generations of her family have lived since William Penn first settled here, and where her father Doug has owned and operated Kinloch Woodworking, Ltd. for nearly 40 years. Right next door to her father’s business stood the 1820 brick building

Continued on Page 32

Kohler Crushed Stone Showers By Home Smart

that had been the former home of Foxy Loxy, the cozy coffee and nosh nook that had just closed after a six-year run. Before that, the two-story family home had been a market, a dry cleaning business, a boutique, a yarn shop and a gas station.

The history of the Unionville community was all contained in the building’s walls. For Mooberry and Rubin – who were married last September – the old structure would become an incubator space where after a hearty few months of renovations, they could retro-fit their dreams.

They moved into the building on April 1, called it Farmer & Co, and began business in late August.

Forming partnerships

Advertised as an artisanal market, coffee bar and garden with a focus on local and sustainable organic provisions, Farmer & Co is the absolute antithesis of the big city life that Mooberry and Rubin left behind in San Francisco, and one stocked with the essential ingredients that make up a community gathering space. Its menu serves freshly-brewed coffee, baked goods and

pastries and a rotating list of handmade ice cream that includes flavors like fresh ginger with candied lemon, pumpkin pie and triple chocolate menace. Busy customers can pick up grab-and-go sandwiches and snacks made from produce grown in the 14-raised bed “village garden” that stands directly behind the building.

When they were drafting plans for Farmer & Co, Mooberry and Rubin saw it as more than just a cool cafe but a local marketplace for area vendors. It’s all there on the shelves for customers to purchase or in the menu items they prepare: beef from Green Valley Springs Farm in Unionville, pork products from Fox Penn Farms in Landenberg, chocolates from Eclat in West Chester, coffee beans from Elixr Coffee Roasters in Philadelphia, hot sauce from Turk’s Head in Kennett Square, Swarmbustin’ honey from a family apiary in West Grove, cheese and pastured eggs from Doe Run Farm in Unionville, vegan and gluten free goodies from Brugie’s, pastries from Oso Sweet in Chadds Ford, apothecary products from local herbalists and of course, organic produce grown on premise that ranges from sun gold cherry tomatoes to watermelon radishes to chioggia beets.

“There is an anonymity to most of what we eat and drink,” Rubin said. “Mostly it’s just a package on a shelf at a grocery store, but in reality, it started somewhere in the hands of a farmer or a maker, and we wanted to highlight that.

“Jessie and I are providing a venue for makers who spend so much of their time growing and cultivating. It’s giving them a marketplace to not only sell their products but to promote their name. Our hope is to continue to strengthen our relationships with the partners we are working with now, and ultimately, leverage that into making our products.”

Beneath the elm tree

Adjacent to Farmer & Co is a small patch of ground along Doe Run Road that is layered with wood chips and dotted with handmade picnic benches. The space has already become the cafe’s unofficial “outdoor venue” for customers who wish to enjoy their coffee and goodies beneath a 160-year-old American elm tree. It’s already been

Continued on Page 34

In addition to the main floor, Farm & Co is about to open its second-floor space that will provide high-speed internet-ready workspaces and also be used for events like poetry readings.

Continued from Page 33

used as a stage for impromptu musical performances and group events and already this fall, it has a become a quiet place for parents to enjoy a latte while their kids play in the leaves.

The area will also host a holiday market this coming Dec. 3 and 4.

In addition, Rubin and Mooberry are in the process of converting the second floor of their establishment into a space that will be used to host poetry readings, and provide high-speed internet access for those who wish to use it as a workspace.

“We have this fantastic coffee and kitchen aspect to Farmer & Co, and we feel that these additional spaces are tied into that sense of hospitality,” Mooberry said. “It opens up our ability to host birthday parties, live music events, bachelorette parties, meet-and-greets for our partnering businesses, and fundraising events.”

Several months into their new business, Mooberry and Rubin said that Farmer & Co is an investment in a dream.

“Starting a brick-and-mortar in the hospitality industry is the single hardest thing we have ever done,” Mooberry

said. “It is an incredible intersection of people and regulations and timeliness and staffing and equipment that we are still waiting to arrive, but our dream is to create this as a fabric of the community – to become a part of people’s lives where they come to meet their friends, where they come to pick up products that are grown right around the corner.

“More and more, whether it has been influenced by politics or by a pandemic, we are finding ourselves living in a world of widening global desensitization, and to fix that is to do it on the local, grass roots level,” Rubin added. “Through this period, we have also come to realize the importance of local relationships, and our view of what it means to be a good participatory citizen has changed during that time.

“Somewhere in that fabric, Jessie and I are just trying to be great neighbors and a part of this community.”

Farmer & Co is located at 5 Cemetery Lane in Unionville. To learn more, visit www.farmerand.co, e-mail hello@ farmerand.co, or call 610-347-0209.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email rgaw@chestercounty.com.

Continued on Page 36

RENEWAL Dynamics, INC.

phone: 610.444.8680 email: john@renewaldynamics.us

Farmer & Co

Continued from Page 34

Farmer & Co showcases the products of the many vendors and businesses it partners with.

Farmer & Co partners with the following local businesses:

• Arete Herbs

• Bernard’s Orchards

• Birchrun Hills

• Brugie’s Organics

• Eclat Chocolate

• Epic Pickles

• Farm at Doe Run

• Fox Penn Farms

• Green Valley Spring Farm

• Heart of the Moon Herbs

• Hilltop Flower Design

• Mother Butter

• Nourish

• Oso Seet Bakery

• Sugartown Smoked Specialties

• Swarmbustin’ Honey

• Turk’s Head Sauce

If you’ve ever shopped at the KSQ Farmers Market, enjoyed a Third Thursday event on State Street, attended a Kennett Brewfest or Winterfest event, delighted in the magic of the Holiday Village Market, taken a treasured family photo in front of Kennett Square’s Christmas tree, or participated in any other Historic Kennett Square event over the past eight years, you’ve benefitted from Claire Murray’s hard work and passion for community collaboration.

After eight years at Historic Kennett Square (HKS), most recently in the position of community engagement manager, Claire recently left her position to pursue other interests, but leaves HKS -- now known as Kennett Collaborative -- having made a real and lasting difference both in the organization and in the Kennett community—a community she loves for its quirkiness and its wonderfully diverse mix of people, personalities, and organizations.

“Kennett is at its best when different organizations are working together,” she said. “I see strength in very collaborative, multi-organization events.” Nurturing those community partnerships was a key part of her role from the very beginning at HKS, when Mary Hutchins hired her part-time to help with the Kennett Brewfest and other initiatives. As programs and partnerships grew in both size and number, Claire’s position quickly became a full-time one.

These new initiatives included Third Thursdays on State Street, Evening of the Arts, the Holiday Village Market, and the Pop-Up Arts Tour/Expanded Art Stroll.

“Third Thursdays were born out of conversations between Mary Hutchins and the borough manager as they looked for ways to enliven business during the slower summer months,” Claire said. “And we very quickly saw how much the community embraced these events.” In addition to being successful dining events, Third Thursdays introduced Kennett Square to the power of placemaking. Through Claire’s networking and integration of other nonprofits, community building flourished through Third Thursdays. One iconic picture of the fun and engagement that result from these kinds of collaborations is from a Third Thursday in 2018 when organizations including the Kennett Library, Casa Guanajuato, LCH, The Garage Community & Youth Center, and the Kennett Area YMCA all built different mini-golf holes or contributed to the event to create a unique and family-friendly course for all at the intersection of State and Union Streets.

“We built some really rewarding partnerships with community nonprofits,” she said.

Claire has also deeply appreciated HKS’s partnership with the borough over the years, and in particular the above-and-beyond hard work of the Public Works Department.

Much of what goes into those kinds of collaborations isn’t as visible or tangible as a mini-golf course. Relationships of trust and mutuality are fertile soil for the seeds of creativity that blossom into these kinds of programs and

Continued on Page 40

Claire Murray

Continued from Page 39

events. At Joan Holliday’s Bridging the Community meetings, which Claire began attending just after her graduation from Penn State, she was inspired by the kinds of connections that can bring disparate groups of people to work together around a common purpose.

“Kennett has always been an early adapter of that sort of collaborative spirit. The community has a legacy of being welcoming and open to creative support,” she said. “Casa Guanajuato’s Day of the Dead celebration is a beautiful example of an event that celebrates the diversity of our community and shares a rich cultural heritage—including history, visual art, music, dance, food, costumes, and storytelling—with everyone who participates.”

Claire has seen lots of changes and the evolution of that spirit of collaboration over her time with HKS, from gathering artists and community members for arts and culture collaborations to regular Zoom meetings convened by the Southern Chester County Opportunity Network (SCCON) since the beginning of the pandemic to connect key community and nonprofit leaders with the resources needed to meet unprecedented needs in the community. In addition to bringing people together around a vision and tending to all of the behind-thescenes details that make large-scale events run so smoothly, Claire has often been spotted around town doing a million-and-one practical tasks from putting up signs and tables (and taking them down again) to taking photos of events, people, and the small businesses that many HKS events are designed to support. In all of this Claire has embodied the new vision that HKS recently adopted, to make Kennett thrive and create programs and events that help Kennett become a more beautiful and welcoming community where all can belong and prosper.

This summer’s series of pollination celebrations at the KSQ Farmers Market perfectly encapsulated this spirit of community collaboration and reflected nature’s own patterns of cooperation and growth. “These events were really fun and meaningful,” Claire said. She and KSQ Farmers Market Manager Ros Fenton worked with the Kennett Library as well as Kennett Area Park Authority, Kennett Greenway, The Land Conservancy of Southern Chester County, Casa Guanajuato, and many others to offer these fun, free, and informative celebrations as part of the market at The Creamery. The market community is also an important part of Claire’s

own deep roots in Southern Chester County soil. Claire grew up with a natural affinity for the land, roaming the fields and woods of her family’s Inverbrook Farm in West Grove. While at Penn State studying Environmental Resource Management, she attended a PASA ( a Pennsylvania-based sustainable agriculture association) conference. She loved it and knew she had found her tribe. After graduating, she began farming and selling vegetables at her family’s property with a view to starting Inverbrook Farm, a sustainable family farm with a commitment to environmental stewardship and strengthening community. In the meantime, Claire also worked with Stroud Water Research Center and Brandywine Valley Association and was active in the Turtle Dove Folk Club, where her love for music and community came together and she gained some of the event organization experience she would eventually bring to Historic Kennett Square.

In 2000, the late Nancy Mohr brought Claire in to help with the “humble beginnings” of the KSQ Farmers

Market. The Kennett market was modeled on the only other market in the area at the time, the successful West Chester Growers Market. “I thought if nothing else it would be a good way to market Inverbrook Farm and the CSA (community supported agriculture) option that would be coming,” Claire said. “That was my introduction to Kennett Square.” Many community members will remember fondly the extraordinary flavors of the produce Claire grew for 14 years for the Inverbrook Farm CSA.

When the Buy Fresh Buy Local initiative was in its infancy, Claire was part of the early conversations and eventually became the Chester County coordinator.

“Buy Fresh Buy Local was a marketing tool for farmers started by the Food Routes Network funded by the Kellogg Foundation,” she explained. “They knew the value of the kind of big branding that farmers couldn’t afford. It was a national program with local partners, and an exciting food network grew out of the movement with roots this in region. Aimee Olexy of Talula’s Table wrote

the introduction to the first Philadelphia Buy Fresh Buy Local guide.” Through collaborative events, Claire’s passion for bringing people together—to build appreciation for local art, music, and food, as well as mutual understanding and community—continued to grow.

The Inverbrook CSA season came to an end for Claire at a time when farmers markets and CSAs were experiencing a bit of a downturn—in part as a result of their success.

“By that time, people could get good local produce in so many places,” she said. She began working at Historic Kennett Square in September 2013, to help with the Kennett Brewfest, and she sees a kind of bittersweet irony in leaving the organization at the time of this year’s Brewfest as she looks forward to a new season of personal and professional growth. In the short-term, she’ll be heading up some projects at Inverbrook and spending more time with her family. The great news for the community is that, as she says, she’s not going anywhere.

“Claire has made immeasurable contributions not only to Historic Kennett Square but to the entire Kennett community,” said Historic Kennett Square executive director Bo Wright. “The organization would not be what it is today without her. I’ve learned so much from Claire in my time here about the community, its people, and the context of our events and institutions here in Southern Chester County. We’ll miss her wisdom and insight, tireless hard work, and kind and thoughtful instinct for drawing people and organizations together to work for the greater good of the community.”

Mary Hutchins agreed. “Claire was such an asset to Historic Kennett Square,” she said. “Her love for and commitment to the Kennett community and her tireless work ethic was a perfect fit at HKS. Her job was not always easy, having to be a jack-of-all-trades, but she did it with grace and enthusiasm. I am sure I speak for many of us in the community when I say, ‘Thank you, Claire, and don’t be a stranger—we want to continue to see you in town, with or without your camera.’”

Jennersville Family Dentistry

For the past 22 years, Lou Mandich of the Last Chance Garage in Unionville has been bringing vintage automobiles back to life. It’s a mission that goes far beyond just the mechanics of fixing and replacing

Restoring the rides of our history

Richard L. Gaw

It is a Friday afternoon in the middle of October, and there are two 1918 Buicks, a 1924 Willys Knight, a 1926 Model T, a 1931 Ford, a 1938 Packard and a 1954 Ford in various stages of restoration at the nine-bay stations at the Last Chance Garage in Unionville. Through a thicket of hollowed-out carcasses of broken-down remnants of the past and those whose repairs are nearly complete, owner Lou Mandich leads the visitor past the faded but still beautiful glory of what has been the history of the automobile over the past century.

Last Chance Garage

Continued from Page 45

Unlike the name of the road on which the business has stood since it opened in 1999 – Cemetery Lane – or the slightly ominous presence of a nearby graveyard, the Last Chance Garage is not a place where vintage cars go to their final resting place. On the contrary, the work here is all about rebirth, revival and the quiet and painstaking restoration that comes with knowledge and a commitment to bring new life in an old thing.

From bulb replacements to complete restorations, Mandich and his team of experienced technicians restore as many as 100 classic vehicles a year that arrive at the shop from private owners in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. At any given time, the Last Chance Garage is filled with domestic, British and European models, as well as sedans from the 1930s, woodie station wagons from the 1940s and muscle cars from the 1960s –as well as a wide array of tools, diagnostic devices

Continued on Page 48

Last Chance Garage

Continued from Page 46

and a well-thumbed catalog of repair manuals and service part catalogs.

“Some folks who seek our services want to spend an insane amount of money to fix Dad’s old Pontiac, and some times they are in such bad shape that I tell them that so many parts have to be replaced that this will not be the gear shift that their father used or the seat he sat in, and the cost of restoration will be prohibitive.

“In those cases, I advise them to get another car just like Dad’s, and allow us to take a few parts from the original car and place them in the new car.

“It’s a cost-effective way for a vintage car owner to continue to honor the memory of a loved one’s favorite vehicle. On the other hand, when we are truly able to revive a vintage car from years of disuse, those are the times when we’re proud to restore a piece of automotive history.”

To learn more about the Last Chance Garage, visit www.lastchancegarage.net.

Kristin Proto and William Rose

The Garage Community & Youth Center

From the time The Garage Community & Youth Center opened in 2001, it has served as a secondary classroom of learning, life lessons, inspiration and hope for thousands of young people in both Kennett Square and West Grove. On the occasion of its 20th anniversary, Kennett Square Life met with Garage Executive Director Kristin Proto and Director of Operations William Rose to reflect on the power of the organization, its many partners and a few of the many wonderful moments they have experienced in the company of those who are preparing for their future.

Kennett Square Life: You both began at The Garage in 2011, at about the same time. What experiences had you had prior that helped prepare you?

Kristin: After I graduated from the University of Pittsburgh, I did two years of AmeriCorps in the City of Pittsburgh working with refugees and immigrants who were learning about the educational system and the culture and become a part of their community. It was really pivotal and spoke to my heart, and taught me how similar we are as people, and how we are more alike than we are different.

When my husband and I moved to Chester County, I got to know The Garage from its reputation, and began to speak with former Kennett Square Director Rosa Moore and Executive Director Patti Olenik. We happened to be moving to West Grove when The Garage was about to open its second center in West Grove, when I ran into Patti and Rosa at a Starbucks and told them about my background. Being selected to open the new center was a real honor for me.

corporate world, I felt like I was part of the problem. At the same time I was working for a law firm in Philadelphia, I began at The Garage as a mentor. I knew from the beginning that being in the service of others was what I wanted to dedicate my life to.

I quit my job, went to graduate school, studied international development and connected with the Chester County Intermediate Unit who was partnering with The Garage’s new West Grove location. Kristin and I have been working together ever since.

William: It was a journey of unfolding that led me to The Garage. When I was younger, I got connected with sports and mentors through my coaches, so I always knew how important it was to have someone outside of your family to help guide you. After college, I worked in the corporate world, and it allowed me to travel frequently, mostly to developing countries.

These travels opened my eyes to people who were struggling for reasons not of their own fault, and I began to ask myself how I can be a part of the solution, because at the time, at the age of 23 and in the

The original concept for The Garage was conceived in 2001 by Mike and Dot Bontrager and Mike Miller, a youth pastor at the Willowdale Chapel, as a vehicle to use the power of individuals and neighboring agencies to assist the youth of the community. Twenty years later, that idea is burning brighter than ever, and the two of you get to see that idea manifested every week.

William: I always feel that I need The Garage just as much as The Garage and its students need me to provide them with support. I see that with whoever walks through our doors in Kennett Square and West Grove, whether they are a community member or a mentor who works side by side with our students. I feel that what The Garage does is bring everyone together, because everyone who comes here has an opportunity to both give and receive. It is an exchange of social and emotional capital. The Garage is a portal for the community that welcomes everyone, no matter if they come from a rich

Continued on Page 52

Kristin Proto and William Rose

Continued from Page 51

background or from an immigrant family that just arrived in the country. Everybody finds home and comfort when they enter here.

Kristin: You may be coming from a place where you don’t have family connections or the sense of community in your own household and that’s what brings many of our students to The Garage – to consciously or subconsciously look for a community, for peers and friends and mentors and a place to belong.

We call it The Garage Family, and a lot of people feel really connected to that sense of family.

For those of you who provide tutoring, mentorship and direction as part of The Garage’s mission, each student who walks through the doors of the Kennett Square and West Grove locations is in many ways a gift but also a huge responsibility.

William: I know that when I walk to a Garage center, I am authentically being myself with an open mind and an open heart, and that’s what builds my relationship with the kids – that’s what takes the burden of responsibility off of me. When I take the responsibility off of posturing or putting on my tie and think about what it means to be authentic, it allows the students to become their own authentic selves.

Continued on Page 54

Kristin Proto and William Rose

Continued from Page 52

Kristin: Generally as a community, we believe that we are one another’s responsibility, and that’s what being in this community entails – to love your neighbor and your community. I wouldn’t want it any other way. Perhaps it’s part of the DNA of our organization, but I think it also extends to the DNA of the Kennett and West Grove communities – the idea that we all take care of one another.

Yes, it’s a responsibility, but I don’t look at it from that lens. Ultimately, it’s a blessing to have these kids in our lives. For me, it’s a joyful responsibility. Our success is on the shoulders of the young people who take what resources we provide and run with it and make amazing lives for themselves.

Let’s talk about some of those resources that The Garage provides, as a whole. Currently, you offer the STEAM (Science, Technology, Art and Mathematics) program; Nutrition Kitchen and the Incentive Café; the MAPS (Motivating and Advancing Powerful Students) and TRAILS

Continued on Page 56

to nurture the lives of young people.

Kristin Proto and William Rose

Continued from Page 54

program; and the Career Compass program, just to name a few.

William : I feel like all of these programs are linked, because Kristin’s vision has always been to make sure that everything we do has a purpose and that it’s all connected. When we’re doing STEAM activities, it is connected to our MAPS program, which ultimately prepares them to be a part of the Career Compass program.

Kristin: What gaps do we recognize? What do we know that they need? Every program we’ve developed came from feedback from our students, telling us that they have to work, that they are responsible for contributing financially to their household, but with a low skill, entry level job. We can easily tell them to go to college and be a professional — that this is a way to create a sustainable life — but they often don’t have that opportunity.

When we created Career Compass, we told our students, ‘We’re going to pay you, you’re going to work, but you’re going to receive professional experience because we know that this will be you first stop in the trajectory of higher education, of a professional degree and to a livable wage.

William: One of our newer programs – Self Care – has allowed our students to become mentally prepared for college, for work and to learn how to handle stress -- to have that toolbox there for them to use to balance potential stressors so that they don’t get in the way of how they perform academically or at their job.

The Garage Community & Youth Center is about to relocate its West Grove location to the former Avondale Fire House, which is undergoing renovations and is scheduled to open this winter. How will this new home be able to broaden the services that you provide now in West Grove?

Continued on Page 58

Kristin Proto and William Rose

Continued from Page 56

Kristin: First and foremost, it will provide us with a lot more space that will nearly triple the square footage we now have in West Grove. Right now in West Grove, we don’t have the space to run multiple programs at once, so it’s hard to invest individually in students. The new location will allow us to have more intentional smaller groups and more diversity.

We will have a better kitchen facility that will open up opportunities and resources to learn about cooking. Having a full-size gym will provide additional activity space and allow them to get better in touch with their bodies and minds. We will also have a maker’s space that will become a room dedicated to creativity and allow them to express their feelings, in order to make something that translates those feelings to the outside world. Talk about particular experiences that you have had at The Garage, in terms of their defining what its mission is all about.

William: We had this student four years ago who was

in middle school at the time. His father had just passed away, and he and his mother were looking to figure out life at the time. During the two weeks he was here, I connected with him through music, and I gave him an acoustic guitar we had at The Garage. He then moved to Delaware, and I lost track of him.

Just last week, he came back to The Garage at Kennett Square, and in speaking with him, I was blown away with how much music has transformed his life. He’s now in the tenth grade, and he plays the guitar and the piano, and music is all he talks about. It was the most incredible seed that I could have ever been a part of planting. It’s the greatest full-circle story I have ever been a part of at The Garage.

Kristin: I attended a meeting of the Southern Chester County Opportunity Network last week that gathered representatives from a lot of non-profit agencies. In looking around the room, I saw all of these graduates of The Garage who are adults now and are now social workers

and case managers. If you go to any non-profit in Kennett Square, you are going to find a former Garage student in a position of responsibility. Seeing them out there serving the community at other non-profits just brought me so much joy and excitement. I love seeing them use whatever their God-given gifts they have to help others. In an ideal world, we are creating the next generation of leaders who will be sitting on non-profit boards, becoming leaders in business, and helping the next generation of kids behind them.

What is your favorite place in Kennett Square?

William: The Kennett Brewing Company.

Kristin: I love Lily’s Asian Cuisine. They have catered every Garage auction event.

You each host your own dinner party and can invite anyone around that table. Who will we see?

William: It would have to be Dave Matthews. His heart came through his music to me that helped to define my world view on how it is important to give back. I would

love to talk to him about that impacted hit me and that indirectly, how much he impacted our students in a positive way, just by being himself. It’s the principle of doing something, giving it to others and allowing them to turn that gift into something that works for them.

I would also like to invite Yoko Ono, who completely transformed John Lennon’s world view.

Kristin: I would love to have all of my great grandparents together, to reflect on their stories on why they came to this country and what they hoped to achieve by coming here. I would want to know who they were, and what their dreams were, and to let them know that whatever that desire for a better life was has lived onto subsequent generations, and that their sacrifices have paid off.

What can we always see in your refrigerator?

William: Coconut milk. It’s the staple of everything, from my cereal to my smoothies to curry sauces I make.

Kristin: Heinz ketchup.

-

Richard L. Gaw

By Gene Pisasale Contributing Writer

Visitors to southern Chester County generally know of its rich heritage with the mushroom industry, along with local dairies and horse farms. Yet some newcomers may not be aware of the many things to enjoy here throughout the year.

The Borough of Kennett Square was formally incorporated in 1855 and has grown rapidly in the last 20 to 30 years, with an influx of people wanting to get a taste of “country life” not too far from cities like Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore. If you haven’t spent time here, you will

be pleased with the variety of available activities and sites to explore.

Want a place to take a stroll away from noise and traffic? An oasis in town, Anson B. Nixon Park consists of 106 acres spanning parts of Kennett Square Borough and adjacent Kennett Township. Opened on June 12, 1993, the park was named for Anson B. Nixon, who was the mastermind of turning a previous landfill site into a recreational area for public use. The east branch of Red Clay Creek runs through the acreage. Between the Township and Borough’s tracts originally stood

Continued on Page 62

Things to do, places to see

Continued from Page 61

the Bloomfield property, which included a mill operated by the Chambers family dating back to 1794. Several trails wind through the park, and you can see trees that are centuries old as you enjoy a peaceful walk through the woods. The park has ponds stocked for fishing, volleyball, tennis courts and a children’s playground as well as Frisbee golf and a pavilion on which summer concerts are presented.

Many people prefer to look forward, but sometimes it is enlightening to look back. Longwood Cemetery is steeped in local and regional history, and helps tell the story of some of the Brandywine Valley’s most interesting citizens—including war heroes and abolitionists. The cemetery sits on an original land grant from William Penn and is in front of the historic Longwood Meetinghouse

Continued on Page 64

Things to do, places to see

Continued from Page 62

Continued on Page 66 (1854) which served as the home of the Pennsylvania Yearly Meeting of Progressive Friends. The cemetery and meetinghouse were built on land owned by John and Hannah Cox, who were actively involved with the Underground Railroad in the Kennett Square area. Black Civil War soldiers, doctors and nurses who cared for the wounded were laid to rest alongside Quaker abolitionists and “station masters” of the Underground Railroad, including some of Chester County’s most famous leaders like the Coxes, Eusebius Barnard and Isaac and Dinah Mendenhall. Its most famous gravesite is that of Bayard Taylor, a Kennett Square native and well-known 19th century travel author and diplomat. He lies next to his brother, Charles F. Taylor, the youngest Colonel in the Army of the Potomac, who died defending Little Round Top on July 2, 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg. The Meetinghouse (now the Chester County Visitor’s Center) as well as Bayard Taylor’s nearby home Cedarcroft are on the National Register of Historic Places.

World renowned Longwood Gardens is just up the road on Baltimore Pike, offering guests tranquility and beauty amidst wooded paths and garden walks. Its beginnings date to 1906, when industrialist Pierre du Pont (1870-1954) purchased property

Things to do, places to see

Continued from Page 64

near Kennett Square to save a grove of historic trees from being processed for lumber. Longwood Gardens is a wonderful place for the entire family, one of the nation’s greatest horticultural enclaves, with 1,077 acres of gardens, meadows, forests and fountains, a 10,010-pipe organ and a huge Conservatory. It offers numerous courses on trees, plants and shrubs as well as garden design. Longwood Gardens presents a concert series in the Spring and Summer. Serious students of horticulture may be pleased to learn that it conducts research on a variety of topics, including environmental stewardship.

If you like mushrooms, you’re in the right place: Kennett Square is “The Mushroom Capital of the World.” Downtown even has its own mushroomthemed store, The Mushroom Cap. Just outside of town is The Woodlands, where Phillips Mushroom Farms sells a variety of its offerings along with related decorations and home supplies. There’s even a “Mushroom Drop” event with live music out on the street on New Year’s Eve. Beer drinkers will love this town with places like Victory Brewing, the Creamery, the Kennett Brewhouse and Braeloch Brewing. Hungry visitors will be pleased to find that downtown has at least two to three restaurants on every block, with a wide range of cuisines, including Asian/sushi, Italian, Mediterranean and down-home American fare. One of them even has its own resident ghost- Letitia- whose “presence” can sometimes be felt upstairs inside Letty’s Tavern (formerly the Kennett Square Inn). You can also find

Continued on Page 68

Continued from Page 66

great entertainment at The Kennett Flash, whose concerts run year-round.

So, if you’re hankering for a drive into the countryside around southern Chester County, but don’t want to stray too far from civilization, stop in Kennett Square. Its rich history, wide range of activities and culinary delights will satisfy even the most difficult to please traveler. You’ll come away with a greater appreciation for our local heritage and enjoy numerous activities for the entire family.

Gene Pisasale is an historian, author and lecturer based in Kennett Square. He has written ten books focusing mostly on American history and the mid-Atlantic region. His latest book is “Forgotten Founding Fathers: Pennsylvania and Delaware in the American Revolution.” His books are available on his website at www. GenePisasale.com and on www.Amazon.com. Gene can be reached via e-mail at Gene@ GenePisasale.com.