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Chester CountyPRESS

www.chestercounty.com

Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas

Volume 158, No. 25

Wednesday, June 26, 2024

$1.50

Will include four turn lanes; plans for roundabout scrapped

Kennett Township to widen Five Points Intersection By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer Over the past several years, as the conversation for the Five Points intersection in Kennett Township included converting it to a roundabout, there was one essential component missing in that plan that other successful roundabouts in southern Chester County already enjoy. Plenty of room to create one. At the Kennett Township Board of Supervisors meeting on June 19, Public

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Works Director Ted Otteni spelled out an alternative design – one recommended by an engineering firm – that will create the same advantages of a roundabout – to cut down on congestion and provide for easier driving through the corridor where the intersection meets. While several options were given consideration, the board voted in favor of maintaining the signaled intersection and outfitting it with left-turn lanes on both sides of Hillendale Road, and on Kaolin Road and South Union Street.

As a follow-up to a 2017 study of the intersection, Carroll Engineering Construction (CEC) recently performed an updated Continued on Page 2A Photo by Richard L. Gaw

As per the recommendations of Carroll Engineering Construction, the Kennett Township Board of Supervisors voted last week to maintain the Five Points intersection as a signaled intersection and outfitting it with left-turn lanes on both sides of Hillendale Road, and on Kaolin Road and South Union Street.

Part one in a three-part series

Coming to America By Betsy Brewer Brantner Contributing Writer

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One thing we can all agree on regarding the subject of Chandler Mill Trail gets immigration is that we, as a ceremonial grand a country, cannot agree on opening...4A immigration. We have come light years away from the hope-filled promise of Ellis Island and the poem written by Emma Lazarus: “Give me your tired your poor, your huddled masses yearning to be free…” Oh, no! No huddled masses here, please. So when did the shift occur, and what are the possible ramifications of accepting “no more huddled masses.” Maroon Hornet recuperatImmigration is so differing from 2023 fire...1B ent for each person coming to America. No two stories are alike. The story of Geomarys Marque began in 1961. She was nine, and she came to the United States by herself on a Freedom Flight from Cuba. “I think back on that day and I can’t imagine how I came alone,” Mari explained. “My granddaughter is 10 now, and I can’t imagine her making that trip.” She added, “I was fortunate to come here on a

student visa. I came by myself to meet my father, who was a citizen in this country at the time. Coming here was not just about having a better life, it was about keeping the children of Cuba away from socialism and communism. We were fleeing for our freedom. We didn’t know what to expect when the new government had taken over. Our parents didn’t know. The government was changed to a system where you didn’t want to raise your children. Children had to wear uniforms. Children as young as 15 were sent to boot camps to work in the sugar cane fields. The government would come in a truck and take kids to the fields. Parents wouldn’t see them for months.” According to Mari, she was one of the fortunate ones that come to this country on a student visa. A few months after she came here, she was sent to a boarding school in Florida. The flights that brought them here were referred to as “Peter Pan Flights,” which were sponsored by the Archdiocese. “That is what all the parents did at that time,” she said. “They wanted to get their child out of that situation. Thousands of children

FROM OUR LENS 180 years of strengthening communities

Courtesy image

The YMCA of Greater Brandywine (YGBW) recently celebrated its 180th anniversary by giving away prizes to its members and prospective members that included free memberships and training sessions. An association of nine YMCAs and program centers serving Chester County, the YGBW raises funds to provide financial assistance to those unable to pay standard membership rates. In 2023, $2.2 million was provided to more than 11,000 individuals to ensure they had access to childcare, summer camp programs and memberships at YGBW. To learn more, visit www.ymcagbw.org.

came here. Children from 5 to 18 were stripped from their families and flown to Florida. From there, they were shipped to states with a much different climate than Cuba. Some

were foster children. Some were in good homes, some were not. Some were used as child labor. It was very scary.” But what bothered her the most, she said, is that

the children did not have a voice in what was happening to them. “Our parents were not here, so other people were making decisions for us,” Continued on Page 2A

Private contributions pouring into Treetops Kitty Café Community rallying to save cherished non-profit By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer Since it first opened in 2017, Treetops Kitty Café, tucked into a cozy mall on West State Street in Kennett Square, has become a sanctuary, both for cats seeking a forever home and for the many humans who visit there to enjoy the company of affectionate felines over a cup of coffee. In an increasingly stressful world, to spend a few moments petting a cat at the café is the equivalent of a shavasana exhale, the minute-long admiration of an

old tree, or a private sojourn to a place of faith. During its seven years of operation, Treetops has also become one of Chester County’s leading rescue shelters and adoption centers for sheltered, neglected and physically harmed cats, and to date, it has paired 855 cats with their owners. Continued on Page 3A Photo by Richard L. Gaw

Treetops Kitty Café coowner Hannah April’s June 10 online appeal for community financial assistance for the business has drawn hundreds of contributions over the last two weeks.