Conestoga Valley townlively.com
SEPTEMBER 28, 2022
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL LVIII • NO 40
A Work Of Heart BY ANN MEAD ASH
hen Joy Rowland’s husband, Lee, died in 2016, Joy thought about leaving Leola and returning to live in her hometown of Coatesville. But, rather than pack up and relocate, Joy decided to immerse herself in her connection to the steel industry - both her father and her husband had been employees of Lukens Steel. So, during the winter of 2019, she visited the National Iron and Steel Heritage Museum, 50 S. First Ave., Coatesville, with her niece, as part of the organization’s open house. The experience brought back memories of visiting her father in the mill, where battleship steel was made, when she was a girl. Joy contacted Melinda Williams, development manager for the museum, to see what she could do to get involved. Joy told Melinda, “I am a child of that mill,” explaining that her father was a defense worker there during World War II. Joy and Melinda discussed Joy’s volunteering at the museum, and Melinda asked Joy if she did any crafts. Joy told her, “I braid rugs.” “(Rug braiding) is an American craft that would have been done a lot in
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mill,” she said, pointing to a cranberry color in the center of the piece. The bluegreen surrounding the red represents Chester County. “It stands for trees,” explained Joy, who shared that she takes note of the woods in Chester County each time she travels from Lancaster County farmland to Coatesville. Another color heavily featured in the rug is gold. Joy pointed out how the gold surrounds the other colors. “This represents for me little steps, which are the footsteps of all the children in Coatesville as they walked to school,” said Joy, noting that the children’s education benefited from the gold (funds) produced by the success of the mill. “It’s all the heritage I have because of it,” she said. The museum will be a stop on the Chester County Day tour to be held on Saturday, Oct. 1. More information about the 81st annual tour may be found at www.chestercountyday.com.
Joy Rowland of Leola holds the braided rug she made by hand for the National Iron and Steel Heritage Museum holiday open house auction.
Church Craft Show To Return
BY ANN MEAD ASH
“We all forget things like where we put our car keys,” said Tina Bellanca, organizer of A Race to Remember 5K, which is dedicated to the memory of her husband, Gary J. Bellanca who developed dementia at the age of 54 and died in 2021. “But you know what to do with (your keys) when you find them,” she continued. “A dementia patient will not know how to start the car, or if they start it, they don’t know where they’re going.” See 5K pg 2
The Leola United Methodist Church craft show will return this year with as many as 20 vendors offering a variety of items for purchase.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE Sports Hall Of Fame Event Set . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
BY ANN MEAD ASH
5K Will Benefit Alzheimer’s Association
In 2019, the Leola United Methodist Church (UMC) craft show filled the church fellowship hall with vendors and visitors. Then COVID-19 arrived, and restrictions closed the show for two years. Now, organizers Grace Kieley and Kathy Geltz are working to organize the 2022 show, which will be the eighth event. The show will be held at the church, 7 W. Main St., Leola, on Saturday, Oct. 1, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Kieley and Geltz hope to have about 20 vendors selling a variety of items, and hungry visitors will find lunch items and baked goods for sale. See Leola UMC pg 5
Women’s Bible Studies Posted . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 House Of Worship . . . . . .11 Classifieds . . . . . . . . . . .14
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the 1800s,” said Joy. The early 1800s time period was important to Joy because it was in 1825 that Rebecca Lukens, matriarch of the steel mill, lost her husband while still in her early 30s and expecting her sixth child. Rebecca promised her husband as he was dying that she would run the Brandywine Iron Works and Nail Factory. In March, Joy began work on a braided rug that will be donated to the museum to be sold as part of a fundraising auction that will coincide with the museum’s holiday open house on Friday, Dec. 9, from 5 to 8 p.m. “The mansions will be decorated. We have luminarias lining First Avenue, and the Lukens Band fills the air with soft Christmas melodies,” said Melinda of the event. “Santa is present, of course, and we have refreshments for our guests.” The auction, which will open online at www.steelmuseum.org on Friday, Nov. 25, will run through 8 p.m. on Dec. 9. During the open house, the board room of the Lukens Executive Office Building will have a display of the items, and a computer will be present for those who wish to bid. Joy chose the colors of the 30-by-44inch wool rug to represent Coatesville and Chester County. “This is the heat of the