Octorara townlively.com
JANUARY 8, 2025
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL XXXIV • NO 45
New Parks and Recreation Committee forms in Christiana Group to host meet-and-greet event BY FRANCINE FULTON
Offering fun and family friendly activities and promoting the community is the goal of the newly formed Christiana Parks Chester County Commissioners and the AgConnect advisory executive committee congratulated award winners Lisa McNamara (front, center), Ryan Rohrer (back, fourth from left) and Bob Rohrer (back, fifth from left).
and Recreation Committee. To help local residents learn more about the organization, the committee will hold a meet-andgreet event on Saturday, Jan. 11, at 10 a.m. at the Christiana Borough See Parks and Recreation pg 3
AgConnect announces Chester County farming awards BY FRANCINE FULTON
“Farming has been my life - faith, family and farming.” award by Penn State Extension educator Jodi Gauker. “I was pleasantly surprised, honored and humbled.” Mc Na m a ra s t a r te d a s a n instructional support teacher for the school district and also served as principal of the Octorara Primary Learning Center. She then transferred to serve as the Octorara Area School District’s
kindergarten through 12th grade program administrator and CTE program director. In addition to agriculture, CTE programs prepare students for careers in business, woodworking, engineering, childhood education, graphic design and illustration, culinary, law enforcement, firefighting, emergency medical ser vices, computer technology, animal and plant science, engine repair and more. “I decided to change my career and went to the high school and built all the technical education programs there for the last nine or 10 years. It was quite fun, and that’s where I ended my career,” McNamara stated. “We started off with eight programs and ended with 12. We had over 250 kids in the program by the time I left. It was under 100 before. It was a great experience, and agriculture was a big part of it.” McNamara said that through the programs, students learn about the many career opportunities that
Committee members are (back, from left) Dawn Tomlinson, Marlene Adams, Monica Hottenstein and (front) Andy and Terry Buchanan.
Parkesburg Lions Club reveals decorating contest winners BY FRANCINE FULTON
“Many of the residents in Parkesburg do a wonderful job in festively decorating their homes, and it was fun to ride around and just appreciate the effort that goes into making Parkesburg aglow with the holiday spirit,” said club president Robin McKenna, when announcing the winners of the 2024 Parkesburg Lions Club holiday decorating contest.
“ Those registered all (had) impressive displays.” The winners, all residences located in Parkesburg, were 806 W. Bridge St., first place; 527 W. Second Ave., second place; and 104 E. Second Ave., third place. In addition, the home at 3525 S. Blackhorse Road received the Lions’ and Leos’ Choice Award. The contest was free to enter, and each of the winning homeowners was provided with a sign to place in See Decorating contest pg 5
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See AgConnect pg 4
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isa McNamara, who retired in 2024 as Octorara Area School District’s director of Career and Technical Education (CTE), recently received the Duncan Allison Distinguished Service to Agriculture Award for her service to agriculture education. She was presented the award by AgConnect, a public-private partnership that supports farmers and agricultural businesses and promotes the value of farming in Chester County. AgConnect also presented the Farmer of the Year Award to Bob and Ryan Rohrer of Rob-Roy Farm in Nottingham. The awards were given out in December during a special ceremony held at Octorara Junior- Senior High School. Among those in attendance were Chester County Commissioners Josh Maxwell, Marian Moskowitz and Eric Roe; AgConnect executive advisory committee members; Octorara
staff members; and guests. For McNamara, who now lives in Ocean City, Md., it was her first visit back to Octorara after retiring. “Culinary arts students made an impressive lunch for us. All the commissioners were there. It was an absolutely wonderful event,” said McNamara, noting that she was nominated for the