Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 158, No. 9
Wednesday, February 28, 2024
$1.50
Police Chief: ‘This was not my idea’
Kennett Township to contract with State Police for 12 a.m. – 6 a.m. coverage By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer Beginning on March 1, the State Police in Avondale will provide Kennett Township with coverage from midnight to 6 a.m. – a policy recommendation that
aims to alleviate the stress placed on the 11-member township police department in managing its current 24/7 coverage. The recommendation – authored by interim Manager Amy Heinrich and former Manager
Eden Ratliff – was passed unanimously by all three township supervisors at their Feb. 21 meeting. In her presentation before the vote, Heinrich said that a major reason that led to the consideration to Continued on Page 2A
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
Kennett Township Police Chief Matthew Gordon commented on the township’s decision to contract with the State Police to provide 12 a.m. to 6 a.m. coverage in the township, at the Board of Supervisors’ meeting on Feb. 21.
INSIDE New Garden unveils historic – and restored –
grandfather clock
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer The New Garden Township Building now has a new method of keeping time, in the form of a fully restored and functioning 250-year-old grandfather clock that was
unveiled at the township’s Board of Supervisors’ meeting on Feb. 26. The grandfather clock was originally built in the 18th century by clockmaker Isaac Jackson, who was born in 1734 in West Grove and lived in New Garden Township on
Large crowd enjoys Kennett Winterfest...2A
The CANFather...1B
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
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New Garden Township Historical Commission Chairman Brian Roberts and township historian Dr. Margaret “Peg” Jones stand beside a fully restored historic grandfather clock built in the 18th Century by New Garden clockmaker Isaac Jackson. It was formally unveiled at the township’s Board of Supervisors’ meeting on Feb. 26 and will be on display at the Township Building.
a 200-acre farm near what is today the New Garden Elementary School. The son of William and Katherine Miller Jackson, Isaac Jackson spent two years honing his clockmaking skills under the tutelage of Benjamin Chandlee, Jr. in Nottingham. For the next several years, Jackson became Chester County’s premier clockmaker, and was well known for his signature design that reflected the conviction of his simplicity and the local Quaker heritage, which was prevalent in the community at that time. Jackson died in 1807 and is buried at the New Garden Friends Cemetery. The clock, which had been in a home in Kennett Township, was secured by the township’s Historical Commission in February 2023 and restored by Leon Trager of Trager Clock in Quarryville and Robert McKeown of Elk Creek Cabinetry in Elkton, Md. Its total cost – purchased for $3,500 and repaired for $3,300 – was paid for by members of the Commission and the Board of Supervisors. “I had heard about it being at a tag sale, and that’s when I said that we needed to get the Commission involved in
Avon Grove School Board’s devotion to students shines at strategic initiatives meeting By Colleen Cochran Contributing Writer The dedication Avon Grove School Board members hold for district students is evident at every school board meeting, but at the strategic initiative meetings their commitment to students resounds. It is at these meetings that board
members, along with an equally dedicated group of administrators and teachers, brainstorm ways to benefit students and then give those ideas legs. On Feb. 20, the board held its first strategic initiatives meeting of the 23-24 school year. Assistant superintendent of Avon Grove School District Scott
DeShong, Ed.D., kicked off the meeting by describing the Avon Grove School District’s Comprehensive Plan, which has been in place since 2022. A comprehensive plan provides the guiding framework for beneficial programs for students, and creation of such a plan is a requirement of the
it,” said Brian Roberts, the chairman of the Historical Commission. “It hadn’t run in years, so its movement was completely disassembled and cleaned, and new string was installed for the weights. The front panel was damaged and held together with a piece of plywood and dry wall
screws in the back, so Robert [McKeown] studied a similar clock of Jackson’s that is at Winterthur and made a new base, blending the new wood in to give the clock a stable base and keeping it consistent with the style of Jackson’s design.” Continued on Page 3A
FROM OUR LENS Filling our still empty bowls
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
Kennett Area Community Service held its 13th annual Empty Bowls fundraising event on Feb. 23 at St. Michael Lutheran Church in Unionville. The event drew hundreds of participants and financial contributors who attended sold-out lunch and dinner servings as well as take-out opportunities throughout the day, the proceeds of which will go toward the agency’s continuing effort to provide food and opportunities to the underserved in southern Chester County. Soups were provided by Mother Nature’s Sun, Emis, Talula’s Table and The Naked Olive. To learn more about Kennett Area Community Service, visit www. KACSImpact.org.
Continued on Page 2A
Cope Construction & Renovation owners receive Community Impact Award Adopted daughter of Drew and Tracey Cope delivers powerful address before more than 100 local business leaders at chamber event By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
© 2007 The Chester County Press
Drew and Tracy Cope of Cope Construction & Renovation in Cochranville were the recipients of the 2024 Community Impact Award, presented at the Southern Chester County
Chamber of Commerce’s (SCCCC) annual breakfast meeting on Feb. 22. Accepting the award on the Cope’s behalf was Priscilla Peters, a client success specialist with the company and one of the Copes’ four adopted children, who delivered a powerful address to the more
than 100 business leaders who attended the event at the Hartefeld Country Club. “Their commitment to community impact is unparalleled,” said SCCC President and CEO Cheryl Kuhn of the Copes. “In 2011, they founded Cope Home Repairs – a for-prof-
it venture supporting their ministry work with at-risk teenagers. Fast forward to 2018, the company re-branded as Cope Construction & Renovation, reflecting their expansive vision. Having fostered four teenagers into successful adulthood, Drew and Tracey set their sites
on launching their own nonprofit endeavor – the Salvus Foundation.” Launched by the Copes several years ago, the foundation is currently raising funding to construct a group home for teenagers who are trapped in the foster care Continued on Page 4A