Kennett Square Today Fall/Winter 2014

Winter 2014

Kennett Square Today

Magazine

A day as a winemaker at Galer Estates

Inside:

• Author Jodi Byrne’s book trilogy • Enjoy the Hometown Christmas www.kennettsquaretoday.com Show at the Kennett Flash • Local students take part in Tournament of Roses Parade A Chester County Press Publication

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Table of Contents...

10

Author Jodi Byrne works on a trilogy of books

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The fine art of being very silly

26

Helping you rock the woman you are

34

Everything is coming up roses for these local students

40

Enjoying the tastes of Kennett Square

57

The Hometown Christmas Show

58

Defeating opponents and defying stereotypes

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18

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...Winter 2014 62

Business is booming at resale shops

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Mary Cairns of Kennett Square brings hope to rural India

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Photo essay: Chocolate Lover’s Festival

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Stronger than yesterday at CrossFit Kennett Square

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A day at the Galer Estate Vineyard & Winery

On the cover: The Galer Estate Vineyard Winery Photo by: Alessandra Nicole Cover design: db Stirrat

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KENNETT SQUARE TODAY Exploring what makes Kennett Sauare great Kennett Square Today • Fall/Winter 2014 Letter from the Editor: As the holidays approach, it’s a good time to consider all the wonderful people who are doing things to make Kennett Square such a great place to live and work. Our writers and photographers had the opportunity to meet some of the people who are making a difference in the world around them as we worked on preparing this issue of Kennett Square Today.

We talked to Kennett Square resident Mary Cairns, who helps impoverished young people in rural India. She traveled to the country years ago and was appalled by the crushing poverty that the residents in rural India lived in. She is now the U.S. development director for The Pardada Pardadi Educational Society, and works to get much-needed supplies to children who need them.

We profile writer Jodi Clark Byrne, a Unionville High School teacher, who this past year authored “Dead Land,” the first of a trilogy of novels that explore post-apocalyptic life from the eyes of a teenage girl.

We also look into the world of wardrobe consultant Suzie

Gaffney, whose clients range from ages 10 to 80.

This issue features a photo essay on the Chocolate Lovers Festival, an annual event that raises money for the United Way of Southern Chester County (UWSCC). Programs that are coordinated by the United Way of Southern Chester County benefit thousands of residents each year.

We go on a culinary tour of Kennett Square through Taste Kennett Food Tours, which is becoming a popular destination in town.

One of our writers spent a day among the grapes and the vines at Galer Estate Vineyard & Winery, learning the art of what makes its wines so unique.

We profile Mary Nichols, who through hard work and determination has become a skilled wrestler—and one of the top female grapplers in the state.

This issue looks ahead to the Hometown Christmas Show that will feature four local singers in a performance of heartwarming holiday favorites.

We also write about the band students from Kennett and Unionville who will have the honor of marching in the

Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California.

This January, Kennett Amateur Theatrical Society (KATS) will put on a comedy pantomime, “Comedy of Errors and Pirates,” with a cast of dozens. The pantomime is a popular annual event in Kennett Square.

We also talk to some of the members of CrossFit Kennett Square, who say that the exercise program provides functional fitness for any lifestyle.

We hope you enjoy the people, places, and events that we have profiled in this issue of Kennett Square Today. As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions for future stories. Enjoy the holidays and we look forward to publishing the next issue of Kennett Square Today in the spring of 2015.

Sincerely, Randy Lieberman, Publisher randyl@chestercounty.com, 610-869-5553 Steven Hoffman, Editor editor@chestercounty.com, 610-869-5553, ext. 13

www.kennettsquaretoday.com | Winter 2014 | Kennett Square Today

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Jodi Clark Byrne never imagined that she’d become an author, but with one book completed and two more on the way, this Unionville High School teacher has embraced the other side of her life

Penning our fall, our redemption and our restoration

By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

When Jodi Clark Byrne was a junior at West Chester East High School in the early 1980s, she had a nightmare that never left her.

In the dream, she was on the school’s stage with her friends, and everyone was about to receive an award, when a massive explosion shook the auditorium and sent everything and everyone in a thousand different directions. The dream was a reflection of what the actual world could very well become in an age of nuclear armament – a stark, post-apocalyptic landscape reminiscent of a Cormac McCarthy novel.

Thirty years later, Byrne’s nightmare still lingers in the ferociousness of its meaning and its power. The teenager who imagined it, now an English teacher and the married mother of two sons, began to write it all down.

In December 2013, “Dead Land,” by J.E. Byrne (TakeTwo Publishing), was released and became the first in a trilogy of novels whose second installment, “Hollow Land,” will be published this December. It picks up where “Dead Land” left off. The last novel, “Promise Land,” is currently being written, and is scheduled for a December 2015 release.

The trilogy, based loosely on the poetry of T.S. Eliot, represents the different stages of humanity – its initial fall, its redemption and, ultimately, its restoration. It is the story of 18-year-old Sarah Cain, who witnesses an explosion at 3:10 in the morning while attending a high school party. Forced to live in a world where there is no sun, no moon or stars, Sarah and other survivors set off to the find The Mountain, a mystical place that offers hope and redemption.

Courtesy photo

“Hollow Land,” the sequel to “Dead Land,” is scheduled to publish in December.

Courtesy photo

Author Jodi Clark Byrne is an English teacher at Unionville High School.

Jodi Clark Byrne...

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“Sarah is a combination of many people,” said Byrne, who teaches 11th and 12th grade English at Unionville High School. “A part of her reflects some of the challenges I had in my coming-of-age years.

She’s a collaboration of many people I’ve met. Her voice is definitely more mature. As the world changes, the depths of her thoughts really prevail and exceed some of those norms. I see that in teens. They have a depth of thought that is much more advanced than they reveal.”

Understanding the entire context of Byrne’s writing journey is best done by looking at it chronologically. As a child, she loved being Continued on Page 14 Courtesy photo

Byrne’s first novel, “Dead Land,” was released in 2013.

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Jodi Clark Byrne...

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alone in her private world of imagined characters and invented adventures, and when she got to high school, her English teacher encouraged her students to begin a journal. For Byrne, the book became a landing spot for her creativity. When she was a journalism student at Shippensburg University, her professor was so impressed with the quality and depth of her writing that he encouraged her to change her major to English.

She began her professional career as a corporate trainer, writing manuals and training programs for computer companies. After starting a family, she began teaching English at Unionville High School 11 years ago.

As part of her course development, she read numerous young adult novels, soaking in their styles, their character development and their plots. Four years ago, she was hit with an epiphany: She would write a novel of her own. It would be based on the nightmare, and it would incorporate classical and biblical allusions.

Over the course of the next three years -- in between teaching, grading papers and seeing her two sons off to college -- Byrne tucked herself away in her home office

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Kennett Square Today | Winter 2014 | www.kennettsquaretoday.com

and wrote the first three chapters of a book that would later become “Dead Land.” While her oldest son was home from college on a holiday break, she gave him the manuscript to read.

“He told me that he wanted to read more,” Byrne said.

“That was all the encouragement I needed to finish the book.”

As she wrote the story of Sarah Cain, Byrne began to see the trajectory of her own life intersect with that of her main character. Like Sarah, Byrne didn’t belong to any one particular clique in high school, yet longed to do so. Like Sarah, she unexpectedly lost her father. Like Sarah, she grieved over her loss and yet still managed to appear strong.

After “Dead Land” was published, one of her students came up to Byrne and told her, “Boy, you really nailed that whole teenager thing, Mrs. Byrne.”

Readers of “Dead Land” have weighed in. “’Dead Land’ is a nail-biting page turner,” one wrote. “What seems to start like a story about teenage woes, grows into a very compelling tale with sometimes very real, raw and shocking details,” wrote another.

Writing the book, and subsequently the follow-up novels, has been made easier because of Byrne’s

experiences as a high school teacher.

“I really enjoy young adults,” she said. “They’re refreshing and interesting, and their vibe is dynamic and life-giving. The interaction I have with my students is amazing. The way they interpret literature is always new.

They speak very candidly in class, so not only do I enjoy hearing their dialogue, but also being able to know the things they think about.”

It is often said that a writer has his or her entire life to write a first novel, and a year to write a second.

For Byrne, her first novel -which she said was written for pure enjoyment -- has been replaced by the bigger stakes of writing and publishing the second and third installments of her trilogy. Byrne has an audience now, readers who await the next chapter of Sarah Cain’s journey, and her joy of writing now shares time with the need to produce. She took advantage of the many snow days the high school had last winter to write. This past sum-

mer, she wrote as much as eight hours a day.

Although writing in the young adult genre has served Byrne well, she has begun to formulate the idea for the next phase of her writing life -- a novel that she believes has literally been waiting for her to write. Tentatively titled “West of India,” the story is based on the life of her grandfather, who was born as one of four children to a family of means in Bombay, India. After his father was mortally wounded and died in a hospital in Canada, his mother left two of her sons in a Canadian orphanage -- one of whom was Byrne’s grandfather -and returned to India with her two oldest children.

“My grandfather went on to lead a full and complete life,” Byrne said. “He was my hero, an incredible man of faith, strength and morals.”

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, e-mail rgaw@ chestercounty.com.

Upcoming Event

On Dec. 5, from 5 to 8 p.m., author Jodi Clark Byrne will be holding a release party for her novel “Hollow Land” at the Galer Estate Winery in Kennett Square.

www.kennettsquaretoday.com | Winter 2014 | Kennett Square Today

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—————|Kennett Square Arts|—————

The fine art of being very silly The Kennett Amateur Theatrical Society gets ready for its annual pantomime

Courtesy photo Mike Ferry, Kirk Fetters and Joe Mulry.

By John Chambless Staff Writer

T

here are few evenings in the theater that are more enjoyable than a British pantomime.

In Britain, the freewheeling mash-ups of fairy tales and classic stories are a holiday tradition. The style is definitely silly -- along the lines of a “Monty Python” sketch, but aimed at family audiences. There’s cross-dressing, talking animals, audience sing-alongs and pretty much any joke that the cast and director can toss in.

In short, a good time will be had by all.

The Kennett Amateur Theatrical Society (KATS) has its own tradition of presenting pantos for local audiences going back to 2002. This year, board member Chris Ramsey has stepped up to write and direct a huge cast in his “Comedy of Errors and Pirates,” which should manage to intertwine Shakespeare and dastardly pirates. But, as is typical with the panto style, just about anything can happen.

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Kennett Square Today | Winter 2014 | www.kennettsquaretoday.com

Courtesy photos

Ireland Robb, Leah Rehrman, Amelia Miller, Candy Craig and Angel Hicks.

Last month, Ramsey answered some questions about the upcoming production and how he got involved in the mass silliness that is KATS. What’s your background in theater? Have you worked professionally in theater or as a playwright?

My only training has been with KATS. I have been involved in 11 of the 14 KATS shows. I was in the pit band for four shows, on stage for three shows, assistant director for two shows, director last year, and writer/ director this year.

Have you performed in pantos before? What do you enjoy about them?

After watching the first three shows from the audience, I was asked to be a part of the pit band for the fourth KATS panto. I think that pantomime in the British style is well suited to community theater. There is so much humor, audience participation, cross-dressing and other silliness that it allows for a greater degree of flexibility in casting and performance. Mistakes and miscues during performances simply become part of the show.

How much of a panto is actually written, and how much evolves out of the rehearsal process?

80 percent-20 percent. It starts with a script that must be modified. We have had a policy of “If you try out, you get a part.” Because of that, our cast has grown to 57 actors, including the children’s chorus. The script has to be modified to fit the group that has auditioned each year. Stage directions change the most from the original script, based upon what actually works with the logistics of the time and space for the performance.

Continued on Page 20

Rachel Stoltz.

Clarke Green and Betsy Benner. www.kennettsquaretoday.com | Winter 2014 | Kennett Square Today

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KATS...

Continued from Page 19

Is there a fair amount of improvisation in each show?

There is usually some improv that grows out of mistakes or miscues.

Are you constantly having to explain to American audiences what a panto is? What’s the best way to describe the style?

A lot of the explaining comes when the cast and friends of the company and seasoned audience members make invitations to new people to come to the performances, so people have an idea that they are in for a new experience. We also have hundreds of seasoned audience members who know what to do. The new people quickly learn to follow along.

What traditional elements of a panto are you preserving? The sing-along? Treats for the audience? And of course, guys in drag?

Of course we have the Dame (played by a man in drag), and in fact this year we have two Dames.

We also have the principal boy (played by a girl).

Courtesy photo

Kirk Fetters and Betsy Benner in the 2014 show ‘A Midsummer Night’s Tail.’

We have the Silly Song Sing-along with the audience. We also try to include lots of opportunity for audience participation – Boo the bad guys, cheer the good guys, some “Behind you, behind you!” help for a befuddled character, jokes and puns.

Continued on Page 22

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Common Core and Critical Thinking The Common Core State Standards are intended to help students prepare for college and the working world, wherein they must think critically and apply the skills they learn in the classroom to a variety of real-world scenarios. The “buzz” about the standards is that they go much deeper into all math and English-language arts areas and emphasize comprehension and building understanding more so than rote memorization. The standards are meant to strengthen students’ ability to think, analyze, comprehend, defend and support one’s ideas, and much more. Here are a few examples: Reading Reading comprehension is top of mind at all levels. As students read a variety of texts – both fiction and nonfiction – they will be expected to make logical inferences, express their insights, explore ideas, and think about topics from many different viewpoints, among other objectives.

Speaking and Listening Through speaking and listening (and through media), students must assess and offer complex information and ideas. The classroom will focus on smaller group discussions as well as one-on-one discussions as a way to encourage students to think crucially, work together to develop ideas and answer questions, and more.

Writing Students are expected to write thoughtful, logical arguments, express their opinions, reason, and conduct focused and in-depth research.

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Throughout our 36-year history, Huntington Learning Center has stayed in tune with the needs of our students. As American education has evolved, Huntington has adjusted its curriculum as appropriate in order to ensure our students receive the tutoring support they need to be successful students.

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Huntington is prepared and excited to embrace those challenges together.

www.kennettsquaretoday.com | Winter 2014 | Kennett Square Today

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KATS...

Continued from Page 20

How does Christmas get tacked onto these pantos?

The holiday part of the panto is the timing of the performances. Most larger theater companies run their pantos from Thanksgiving into early January.

We have our performances somewhere in the second half of January to give ourselves time to gear back up after the holiday rehearsal break.

What story is this year’s production based on?

This year’s panto is drawn from Shakespeare’s “Comedy of Errors,” which has confusion created by the mix-ups from misidentifying to sets of twins and their actions over the course of a day.

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Would you say the show is appropriate for everyone?

Will kids get the jokes?

The show is appropriate for children, too. They should get a lot of the jokes and really enjoy the physical comedy, from the fast pace and mix-ups of people.

Where does KATS rehearse? How long do you rehearse?

We are currently using rehearsal space at the Garage Youth Center and the lower level of Liberty Place in Kennett Square. The performance take place at Kennett High School. “Comedy of Errors and Pirates� will be staged Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m., and Jan. 24 at 2 and 7:30 p.m. at Kennett High School. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for children. Tickets can be purchased in advance on www. callkats.org. Ticket sales will begin in December, and will also be available at the door.

To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, e-mail jchambless@chestercounty.com.

Rob Crowl.

Courtesy photo www.kennettsquaretoday.com | Winter 2014 | Kennett Square Today

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PA STATE & EMISSIONS • INSPECTIONS • BRAKES • TIRES • TUNE UPS As this Holiday Season is upon us I wish you all a healthy, safe, prosperous and blessed year to come. I remind you too, to think of those in need and donate to the Kennett Area Community Service and their Food Cupboard. This is truly a land of plenty and if we all do our share to help we can make a huge difference in the lives of our friends and neighbors. I thank you our clients and friends for a great year. Thanks to those who have been here for many years and those who are new to our family at Blitz Automotive. As I have said to you all, always feel free to step in or call no matter what the question or situation. You never need to be a client to expect us to help you. As our motto says “Just Here to Help”. Please enjoy the season with those close to you and give thanks for what you have.

Be glad we have such a great little town, our town with really special people. Kennett Square, Mushroom Capital of the World.

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Gaffney works with clients ranging from 10 years old to 80.

All Photos by Jie Lan, In The Eye Photography

Wardrobe consultant Suzie Gaffney’s clients range from 10 to 80. She is bold, compassionate, and she is...

Helping you rock the woman you are

By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

nless you are Gisele Bundchen or Elle McPherson or Kate Upton, there is one local wardrobe consultant who says that if you are a woman, there is at least one aspect of your self-image that you do not like.

It could be a part of your physical self. It could be what you wear. It could be your hairstyle. It could be the wardrobe you have hanging in your closet, but whatever the insecurity, there are millions of women in the United States who compare their image to those of photoshopped magazine perfection at supermarket checkout lines and think that spending the remainder of their lives dressed in a burlap sack partnered with a

U

nice pair of shoes would not be such a horrible idea.

Suzie Gaffney of Kennett Square knows these women.

She has read the articles, too -- the ones that tell women more about what they don’t have than what they do. She has seen the look on women’s faces when they enter a boutique and appear as if they’re entering a giant maze of colors and clothing designers whose names they cannot pronounce. She has met with women whose self images have been wrecked by years of trying to live up to the expectations placed upon them.

For the last two years, as the owner of Suzie Gaffney Wardrobe Consulting, Gaffney has held the hands of hundreds of women who are faced with such dilemmas. She is a confidante, a friend, a psychologist and a shopping buddy, all in an effort to help hundreds

Wardrobe consultant...

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of local women get rid of the old and welcome the new.

“Style, to me, is how you express yourself outwardly, for others to see how you put things together, as a reflection of what’s inside you and who you are,” she said. “Therein lies the problem. Society has labeled style as what is marketed, and it's constantly changing. It has to be current, it has to be on edge. It has to be expensive. It has to be thin, and it’s all being dictated by industry standards for that particular season.

And I think that is boring.”

Gaffney’s clients range from a 10-year-old girl who is not taking her mother’s advice on what to wear, to an 80-year-old client who asked Gaffney to provide clothing ideas suitable for a woman in her senior years. In between, Gaffney assists everyone from empty nesters looking to develop a new fashion style to mothers transitioning back to work after having raised thier children to college age.

“The common ingredient among each of my clients is they want to change,” Gaffney said. “For so many women, they want to change, but it’s this tremendous black hole that they are afraid to explore. Very often,

clothes force them to look at their new phases in life, whether it’s a divorce, a death, or a change in their bodies. It’s a shedding of what has sometimes held a woman back.”

Working with Gaffney begins with a questionnaire, which she sends her clients in advance of their first meeting. It asks the woman to describe her lifestyle -- what her weeknds are like, whether she is sociable or athletic, or if she considers herself to be a skirt or a jeans person. The next stage of consultation takes Gaffney and her client to the woman’s closet.

“I bring clothing bags with me and I take out clothes from the closet, item by item, and designate them as to whether we’ll toss it out, place it in a resale pile, or keep it,” she said. “From there, I help my client fill in the blanks of what is left and explore her needs.”

It is not uncommon at this stage for some women to begin to cry in front of Gaffney. Clothes, she said, are a women’s reflection -- physical remnants of her life’s experiences -- and although she realizes that it’s difficult for a woman to get rid of a piece of her past, she advises her clients to treat their clothes as if they were employees.

“I tell them, ‘Are they doing the job for you? If not, get rid of it,’” she said. I tell them to ‘Move on, and Continued on Page 30

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Wardrobe consultant...

Continued from Page 28

do not remorse over why it didn’t work well for you.’”

From there, Gaffney helps her clients shop for new wardrobes and accessories, according to the woman’s budget and what she’s looking for. And it’s not just heading to the high-end boutiques to track down a new wardrobe; very often, Gaffney finds the same designers’ lines at mainstream stores.

“I don’t believe women should dump all of their money on clothes and accesssories,” she said. “There’s far more important things to spend their money on.

Spend the money on what you like, not for what sense of style you feel you need to dress like.”

Much of Gaffney’s training for her career came during her 12 years at Elizabeth Maar Boutiques in Newtown Square, three of which were spent as a store manager, and the last nine spent there part-time, as she cared for her two children. During her years there, Gaffney saw it all: the lack of knowledge about designers, the fear of choosing a pair of pants or a blouse that would make the woman stand out instead of blend in; and the misconceptions made about modern fashion.

Gaffney said that perhaps the largest fashion road-

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Kennett Square Today | Winter 2014 | www.kennettsquaretoday.com

block for most women, she has learned, is not found in themselves, but in the area where they live and work. From the Main Line to southern Chester County, women find themselves caught in the conundrum of style pockets, dictated by the divergence of Corporate America, suburban living and the rolling hills of country life that the area offers. Finding the wardrobe answers can best be solved, she said, by allowing her clients to define themselves not by what they do and where they live, but by encouraging them to find a style that speaks to who they are as a person.

“I want to take away the pockets,” Gaffney said. “Just because you live some place doesn’t mean that you’re that person. For whatever reason, you’re living on the Main Line or in Chester County, but if your style says Soho in New York, then I’m going to help you get there.”

For every one of her clients, whether they be a 10-year-old girl, an 80-year-old woman, a Chester County housewife or a corporate executive, Gaffney’s message is simple.

“Hone in on what you like. Be you,” she said.

“Because in the end, it’s really all about you.”

To learn more about Suzie Gaffney Wardrobe Consulting, visit www.suziegaffney.com.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, e-mail rgaw@ chestercounty.com.

G SUZIE GAFFNEY’S HOLIDAY STYLE TIPS G Make sure you are prepared to handle the hectic holidays in style. Here are some ideas to make sure you look smashing at your holiday events.

Factor in the temperature. And I don’t just mean outside. Going to a house party or dinner? Consider your hosts’ home and try to dress accordingly. Layers are a great solution because you can adjust as you go along. Will you be one of the cooks in the kitchen? An oven running all day and lots of women talking will heat the kitchen up hotter than Hades. Skip the wool sweaters and make sure you can push up your sleeves if needed. Blazers and cardigans work well over tanks and t’s so you can adjust as you go. When you get stuck on kitchen cleanup, you can shed the layers and roll up your sleeves.

Don’t be afraid to dress up. If your crowd, location, or personal preference is to be a little more dressed up try a skirt, dress or leggings. Although many people may shy away from this look, it is my favorite. Throw on dark tights and a boot (short or tall work) and you are fully dressed without fussing over putting together layers of an outfit. The lovely staff at Ashley Austin will put you in the perfect shoe to compliment all your holiday events.

Speaking of tights...Nude tights are very, very, hard to pull off without aging yourself 20+ years. Stick with a black opaque tight or a sheer black. Patterns, textures and colors are a great way to add interest as

well. Always freezing? Many brands offer fleece lined options.

If you want to wear pants...If you are comfy in jeans, go for it. Stick with a dark evenly washed straight or skinny jean to look polished.

Pop into Chantilly Blue and ask Lisa to help you find your perfect fit. Add a sparkly heel and jewel toned blouse and you can go from happy hour to house party. Want to mix it up?

Try velvet jeans or coated denim for a break away from the tried and true blue.

Find your favorite holiday staples. A statement necklace or statement earrings are my holiday go-tos. Choose one to be the star of your outfit and build basics around your dazzling jewels.

Check out DeChic Boutique, Greene Eyed Lady or Stella and Dot for pieces that project your personality.

Sequins. Look for a tank, sweater or shoes with this sparkly accent and be confident knowing you will have always have one piece that is party ready.

Plaid. This year designers are mad for plaid. Tis' the season to go classically preppy. Try a tartan plaid skirt or scarf to bring in that holiday feel.

Shop now and be prepared. It’s November. Don’t be caught screaming and crying in your closet this holiday season. No one needs the added stress.

Don’t miss a tip! Make sure to go to www.suziegaffney.com and sign up to have my blog posts delivered right to your inbox.

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—————|Around Kennett Square|—————

Photo by John Chambless

Band members practice marching at Unionville High School.

Everything’s coming up roses Students from Kennett and Unionville get ready for New Year’s Day in the Tournament of Roses Parade

By John Chambless Staff Writer

B

acked by an inspiring story and outfitted with groundbreaking costumes, the honor band that includes students from Unionville and Kennett high schools is getting ready for a closeup on New Year’s Day. The newly formed band, made up of musicians from 38 regional high schools, will be marching in the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, Calif., for an audience of millions around the world.

But before that day in the spotlight, there are hundreds of hours of drilling and practicing and marching in school parking lots. That’s where band director Scott Litzenberg was last month as he put dozens of students through their paces at Unionville High School.

For Litzenberg, who has 40 years of marching band experience -- 17 of those years teaching at Unionville -- being a part of the 34

Kennett Square Today | Winter 2014 | www.kennettsquaretoday.com

Photo by John Chambless

Band director Scott Litzenberg gives advice to the musicians.

Tournament of Roses is a first.

Just getting selected has taken years.

“We started about two years before this,” Litzenberg said. “It was put together by a team of us in the Cavalcade of Bands, the circuit that we all compete in.

What the parade organizers really want is a video and a history of the band. So we had a little problem with that, because we didn’t even have a band.

“At the Tournament of Roses, they don’t take bands with less than 175 people,” Litzenberg explained. “What we decided to do was sell them on the idea that, with all of our members, we’d get enough kids to put a band together. These are kids from schools whose bands aren’t big enough to ever get a chance to be in the Tournament of Roses.”

The first year they applied, they were in the final 14 out of 405 applicants, and the parade organizers picked only 12 bands. Last year, Litzenberg and the Cavalcade of Bands Association tried again, and they got the official nod in April. “The theme this year is ‘Interesting Stories,’” Litzenberg said. “They said they got the idea from our application, because they thought it was interesting that we didn’t even have a group and were applying for the parade. The president of the parade came out last fall and

Courtesy Photo

There are 44 teens from Kennett High School and Unionville High School going to the Tournament of Roses Parade on New Year’s Day.

officially invited us. He told us that we were one of the reasons they were picking the theme this year.”

There are 156 members of the combined band and Continued on Page 36

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Parade...

Continued from Page 35

color guard, including 44 students from Unionville and Kennett high schools.

They’ve been practing since April, and have had combined practices several times. “The good news is that we’re getting the best kids from everybody’s schools,” Litzenberg said.

“They each sent a video audition to the Cavalcade of Bands to get in.”

They will be performing a field show a couple Photo by John Chambless of days before the parade Monica Morrison, who oversees while they’re in Pasadena. the drill design and instruction, It’s a simplified -- but with Scott Litzenberg. still impressive -- choreographed routine that tells a musical story of immigrants arriving in America. For the parade, the band will be playing arrangements of “God Bless America” and “Stars and Stripes Forever,” which are parts of the field show.

The parade route is five and half miles long, “but it’s almost seven miles from the time you get off the buses and get back on the buses,” Litzenberg said. “The kids have to be in good shape. What these kids do in their own marching bands in the fall is giving them a workout.

What we do in a three-hour rehearsal is much tougher than what a parade’s going to be.”

While precision is a requirement of any marching band, punctuality also weighs heavily at the Tournament of Roses Parade.

“That parade is all organized by engineers and lawyers,” Litzenberg said. “They give you a timeline of when you have to be there. That parade starts at 8 a.m., West Coast time, and it’s done at 10 a.m. We were there to watch it last year, and at 10 a.m., the last group walked by. They have it down to the minute. It’s amazing how well they run the whole thing.”

The band’s backstory is going to get them some attention, but their uniforms -- created just for this event -- are the ace in the hole that just might get them a spotlight feature on the broadcast.

“I had this idea that we should have uniforms that incorporate live flowers, because that’s the big thing Continued on Page 38

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Parade...

Continued from Page 36

at the parade,” Litzenberg said. “We got ahold of Stanbery Uniforms, and their main uniform designer is Brent Becker. I told him what our colors were and what we wanted to do, and he came up with a few designs. Every uniform will have a dozen and a half live roses incorporated into it.

“Once we sent a couple of pictures of what it will look like, the people at the Tournament of Roses almost had a heart attack,” Litzenberg said, smiling.

“From a marketing standpoint, they’re going to have no problem selling people on what we’re doing.

“I think the networks, once they see us, are going to go crazy,” he said. “The uniform company got such good PR from it that they are doing it incredibly inexpensively for us. The reaction to the uniform has been overwhelming. It’s going to really set us apart in the parade. We just look at each other and giggle each time we talk about it.”

While the honor of being in the parade is a big boost for any aspiring musician, there are some obstacles.

The cost is $2,700 for each band member, so a new

Photo by John Chambless

Litzenberg works on the keyboard for the pit band.

group, the Kennett-Unionville Band Boosters, has been hard at work for months, arranging community fundraisers and brainstorming ideas to help the students get to California. The parade organizers offer some logistical help,

CANDLELIGHT HOLIDAY HOME TOUR Sunday, December 14th • 4 to 7pm Sponsored by the

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For more information or to order tickets online:

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Kennett Square Today | Winter 2014 | www.kennettsquaretoday.com

but booking flights and accommodations is up to the band.

The band will be flying to California on Dec. 27 and coming home on Jan. 2. “We’ll do New Year’s Eve at 9 p.m., which is midnight in New York,” Litzenberg said. “We’ll have a dinner and party for the kids, and then they go to bed. We get them up to leave the hotel at 4:45 a.m. They’ve got to all be in line by 6:30, and the parade steps off at 8. Then, after they get some sleep, we’re having a big banquet that evening with all the kids and parents who are out there.”

While the band is in California, they’ll be touring the Rose Bowl float assembly building. They’re also getting a day at Disneyland, where they will take part in the parade down Main Street.

“That’s really cool,” Litzenberg said. “A lot of people have been to Disney World, but a lot of kids from around here have never been to Disneyland. It’s definitely is worth the trip.”

For more information, visit the KennettUnionville Band Boosters at www.kubbTOR.org.

To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, e-mail jchambless@chestercounty.com.

Photo by John Chambless

Color guard members practice their routine.

The pit band wams up.

Photo by John Chambless

www.kennettsquaretoday.com | Winter 2014 | Kennett Square Today

39

————|Kennett Square Business|———— About a year ago, Ann Vaughan and her husband took in an eating tour in Delaware. A year later, Taste Kennett Food Tours is among the most popular tickets in town.

Enjoying the tastes of Kennett Square

By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

L

ast November, Ann Vaughan and husband, Jeff, of Kennett Township, spent a weekend in Rehoboth Beach, Del. Those couple of days would soon create what may be a major impact on the cultural and culinary life of Kennett Square.

Looking on Trip Advisor for activities in the Rehoboth area, Vaughan came across an event called “Eating Rehoboth.” She and her husband signed up, and soon the Vaughans were guided around Rehoboth with other guests, enjoying wine and samples at some of the town’s best restaurants. Along the way, they mingled with chefs, restaurant owners and other food lovers.

This past February, they went on a similar food tour in the Little Italy section of New York City.

There, they were told about the area’s history while ducking in and out of bistros, markets and cafes. Being self-described foodies, they found themselves in the middle of culinary bliss.

As a resident of southern Chester County for the past 16 years, Vaughan has seen the transformation of Kennett Square with new restaurants, new proprietors, and new opportunities -- all of which have galvanized the entire town.

40

Courtesy photo

Elizabeth Davis-Cerami of Yo’r So Sweet shares a sample of her crepes with guests on the Taste Kennett Food Tour.

Kennett Square Today | Winter 2014 | www.kennettsquaretoday.com

Courtesy photo

Sushi from Lily Asian Restaurant Cuisine Sushi and Grill.

Courtesy photo

The samples on the Taste Kennett Food Tour are varied and many.

Soon after she and Jeff returned from New York City, Vaughan began to plan a walking and tasting tour in Kennett Square. Now in its third month, the Taste Kennett Food Tours have drawn visitors to Kennett Square for a three-hour trip to foodie paradise, including visits to five restaurants, two ice cream stores, a wine cellar and Kennett Square’s best-known meeting place.

“We’ve got Mexican, Asian, Italian, new American, and some of the best ice cream around, a few wineries and a new French creperie, and then there’s Talula’s Table, an institution in itself,” Vaughan said. “When I think of Kennett Square, I think of its diversity of food choices at all different price points. That’s what we imagined; to somehow connect them all as part of one destination.”

Held on Sunday afternoons, the culinary tour begins with a glass of wine at the Flickerwood Wine Cellars, then moves up State Street to La Verona for fish and pasta, and then onto Michoacana Grill for a taste of either a fish or chicken taco. From there, guests will venture to Lily’s Asian Restaurant for a bite of sushi, and then onto the Mushroom Cap, where they watch a video about the mushroom industry in Kennett Square. Along the way, Vaughan provides a running commentary on Kennett Square’s history and fun facts.

After the Mushroom Cap, guests take a few steps down the street to Yo’r So Sweet at The Market at Liberty Place, where they enjoy a creperie presentation that is paired with wines from the Paradocx Winery tasting room in The Market.

Continued on Page 42 www.kennettsquaretoday.com | Winter 2014 | Kennett Square Today

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Tastes...

Continued from Page 41

After sampling ice cream at Punk’d Pineapple, the tour continues up to Portobello’s for a tasting, then onto La Michoacana for some ice cream.

Finally, after a culinary trip around the world, the tour finishes at Talula’s Table.

Although most stops along the tour serve the same offerings, La Verona executive chef Jack Mavraj devises a new menu for every tour. Mavraj serves flavors that complement the La Verona menu, such as mozzarella caprese, handmade ravioli, artichokes, veal, tuna and salmon.

For every recognizable face that La Verona manager Sam Mavraj sees on the tour, there are twice as many new ones.

“There have been some guests on the tour who have already been to La Verona, but more importantly, there are people who come on this tour who have never been to our restaurant before,” he said. “It’s a great idea, because it recognizes Kennett Square not only as a great town, but a great town known for its food.”

“I love the fact that the ice cream store is the last stop on the tour,” said Noelia Scharon of La Michoacana Homemade Ice Cream on State Street.

“It brings people who’ve never been here before to sample the foods of Kennett Square.”

Having a superb idea is one thing, but putting it into action is another. With a template in place, it came down to speaking with the

Courtesy photo

Delicious tacos from the Michaocana Grill.

Courtesy photo

Guests also try samplings from Portabellos.

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right people. Earlier this year, Vaughan e-mailed Paul Cullen, the owner of “Eating Rehoboth.”

Cullen, who rose to fame as the bass player for Bad Company in the 1970s, has since become a chef and wine aficionado in southern Delaware. He didn’t just share a few tips over the phone, though. Cullen drove to the Vaughan’s

Continued on Page 44

The Taste Kennett Food Tour introduces guests to the many culinary delights of the town.

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Tastes...

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house in Pennsylvania and stayed for three hours, imparting his experience and advice. There, the concept of Taste Kennett Food Tours officially took root.

Vaughan then began meeting with potential restaurants and locations, and although some backed off, those who agreed to become a part of the tour were incredibly enthusiastic. Looking to flavor her tour with information about Kennett Square, Vaughan got fun facts about the town from Lynn Sinclair, chairperson of the Kennett Square Historical Commission.

Vaughan said that she may broaden the scope of Taste Kennett to arrange private tours, as well as special events for businesses, but for now, she’s content to strengthen her current format in what she believes is a perfect town for it.

“There was a couple on the tour last week who said that they’ve done a lot of food tours. They told me that they’ve done tours in big cities, but that their favorites were in small markets – like Kennett Square,” Vaughan said. “They said that there’s more of a personal connection with chefs and owners. So, far, guests on the Taste Kennett Food Tours have been overwhelmingly enthusiastic,” she

Dessert, paired with wines from Paradocx.

Courtesy photo

added. “They can’t wait to come back to our partnering restaurants. Every time I leave the tour, I’m on this personal high.”

For more information, visit www.tastekennett.com.

Advance registration is required.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, e-mail rgaw@ chestercounty.com.

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Celebrate the season at Hometown Christmas Show

By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer

Kennett Square has a new holiday tradition.

The Hometown Christmas Show that debuted with crowdpleasing results last December returns to The Flash on Dec. 6 with an evening of heartwarming holiday favorites performed by local singer-songwriters Lori Citro, Todd Chappelle, Billy Burger, and Jessica Graae.

“This is our second Christmas show,” explained Citro, who is helping to organize the event. “Last year was beautiful. We sang a lot of Christmas carols. We had backdrops that had fireplace scenes and snow scenes. It was a very warm event.”

Citro is a resident of Newark who has played at The Flash numerous times. She has been featured on two “WSTW Hometown Heroes” CDs and is a member of the Yuletide Singers of Brandywine Valley.

Burger is a former member of the Get Right Band, which played extensively in the Delaware Valley. Chappelle is well known in the area for his comedy songwriting, a mix of original songs and parodies. His songs have been heard on ‘The

Dr. Demento Show,” CNN Radio, the Fox News Channel and “Good Day Philadelphia.”

Graae is an operatically trained vocalist turned singer-songwriter who has been nominated for six WSTW’s Hometown Heroes Homey Awards and was a winner of the 2013 Philadelphia Folk Factory People’s Choice award, a 2012 and 2014 Delmarva Folk Hero contest finalist, and a solo artist in Wilmington’s 2012 and 2013 Ladybug Festivals.

Lee Zagorski, the manager of The Flash, said that the Hometown Christmas Show can be enjoyed by the whole family. “It’s a great night, very festive,” Zagorski said. “It’s very Christmas-like in here between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It’s a great show for the whole community, and it’s a great way to get the season started.”

The show also serves as a food drive for the Kennett Food Cupboard, with guests asked to drop off food items. The doors open at 7 p.m. and the show begins at 8 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance and $24 on the day of the show and can be purchased at www.kennettflash.org.

To contact Staff Writer Steven Hoffman, email editor@ chestercounty.com.

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—————|Kennett Square Sports|—————

Defeating opponents and defying stereotypes

By S Steven Hoffman ff Staff Writer

W

hen Mary Nichols was 6 years old, she saw a middle school wrestling match and knew that she wanted to give the sport a try herself.

“It seemed like a cool sport to me,” Mary explained.

When she asked her parents if she could give wrestling a try, they wanted to be supportive of their daughter, even if wrestling wouldn’t have been their first choice of a sport for her.

“I used to wrestle and I thought it would be good for her,” her father, Jason, explained. “It’s what she wanted to do, so why not let her do it?”

Mary’s mother, Alicia, added, “If I say ‘no’ to her, I would be depriving her of something. I told her, ‘If this is something you’re going to do, you can try it, but you’re going to do it for the whole season.’”

It didn’t take long for any worries about Mary quitting wrestling to vanish. From the first time that she competed on the mat, Mary loved it.

“No one thought I was that serious about it,” Mary explained. “But I had to push through.”

Mary, who turned 16 in August, has been competing in the male-dominated sport for a decade now, usually battling against male opponents because there are so few girls on wrestling teams in this area. She has always been much more focused on defeating her opponents than defying specific stereotypes, but if anyone wants to hold her up as an example of how girls can compete with boys, even in wrestling, then so be it.

“I definitely have a passion for wrestling,” Mary explained. “I am proud just to say that I’m a girl wrestler doing what the boys do. And I’m proud that I push myself to work hard.”

Mary compiled a 20-15 record for the Kennett High School wrestling team during her sophomore season, making her one of the top female grapplers in the entire state.

Her parents aren’t surprised by the success.

“I always knew that she could do it,” Alicia explained.

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Photo by Steven Hoffman

Kennett High School wrestler Mary Nichols competed in a freestyle tournament in Fargo, North Dakota earlier this year.

“She’s a go-getter. People tried to tell her that she couldn’t, but she was going to go get it. She’s strong and has a good heart.”

“She was always determined,” her father said. “When she puts her heart into something, she works hard at it to get to that point.”

At this point, there’s really no off-season for Mary as she’s focused on improving as a wrestler year-round.

She returned home on July 23 after competing in the Cadet and Junior National Championships in Fargo, North Dakota. She qualified for the tournament by placing second in a state competition in Harrisburg in April and finishing first at a tournament in Shippensburg in June. Mary earned the invitation to the prestigious tournament even though she is much more experienced in folkstyle wrestling than the freestyle grappling that was featured at Fargo.

“It was a cool experience,” Mary said. “I definitely know what I have to do now.”

During the wrestling season at Kennett, Mary almost always faces off against boys, but in Fargo, she had the opportunity to compete against girls who are, like her, very serious about the sport. She wrestled at 115 pounds in the Cadet competitions and 117 pounds for the junior competitions. After winning the first match, Mary dropped a hard-fought decision to an opponent who went on to the finals of the tournament. In all, Mary wrestled five times during the trip.

“These girls all work just as hard as I do,” Mary explained. “They were on top of every mistake that I made. I am just learning to wrestle freestyle. It’s a lot more fast-paced. I had to work a lot harder because it was a different style.”

What was also a little different about the Fargo trip is the fact that her family and friends weren’t in attendance cheering her on. Jason and Alicia are her biggest fans, and almost never miss a match with the high

“ “

I am proud just to say that I’m a girl wrestler doing what the boys do. And I’m proud that I push myself to work hard. ~ Mary Nichols

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school team. Alicia said that it was hard having her daughter compete so far from home.

“It was the longest ten days ever,” she said with a laugh.

With her athleticism and willingness to work hard, Mary would likely succeed at other sports, but she has always had a natural enthusiasm and ability for the sport.

“I would be happy to get up at six o’clock in the morning to be in a match,” Mary explained.

She said that one of her strong points as a wrestler is that, from a very early age, she understood what her coaches were trying to teach her about different wrestling moves and positions. Combine that understanding with an uncommon work ethic and you have a very skilled wrestler.

“I always wanted to get myself up to the level of the harder competition,” she said. “I ran harder than anyone else. I worked harder. Even if I’m losing, every second of the match counts so I don’t give up until the final buzzer.”

The single biggest challenge that Nichols has faced

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came in eighth grade when she was competing in the finals of the Chichester tournament. The season had been a fairly successful one up to that point for Mary, and she felt confident against the opponent she was facing. But just 40 seconds into the match her opponent landed hard on her foot, breaking a bone. She was out for the rest of the season and to this day she still feels the effects of the injury. It is a constant reminder that wrestling can be a dangerous sport.

Mary said that in the weeks after the injury she continued to attend all the practices and wrestling meets with the team, doing whatever she could to help out and learn.

“When my foot was healing, I was still always there.

I practiced and practiced,” she explained.

She said that the message that she took away from the experience of rehabbing the injury was to never doubt herself.

When she entered high school, the competition level became much stronger. As a ninth-grader, she wrestled at 106 pounds and had to work hard in order to compete against her opponents. Initially, most of her wrestling practice took place during wrestling season, but she has continually expanded those efforts—to the

point where she’s training year-round.

“I had to work harder because of the strength that my opponents had, and the mental focus that they had,” she explained.

In ninth grade, she picked up nine victories against ten losses. Mary wasn’t content with that. She was determined, as she entered her sophomore season, to improve her performance with each match and achieve a winning record during the course of the season.

“I wanted to have a great season,” she explained. “I knew what it was like to have a losing season.”

All she did that sophomore year was earn 20 victories, the most by any female grappler in Pennsylvania who competes primarily against male opponents on a varsity wrestling squad.

While female wrestling is a growing sport, including at the collegiate level, there are still few female competitors in this area. Mary is hoping that more female wrestlers will compete in the future as she and other top athletes prove that girls can compete in the sport.

As a high school wrestler, Mary has had the occasional opportunity to work with and teach younger wrestlers in the youth program. She said that she loves working with youngsters. Mary has worked with one

girl who is starting to learn the basics of wrestling, and she told the girl’s parents that she is willing to help the youngster in any way possible. She would like to see another female grappler emerge in Kennett Square.

“I’ve been the only girl since I started,” she said, “and I want somebody to take over what I have done in Kennett.”

With 29 wins as a high school wrestler, Mary is preparing for the upcoming wrestling season.

“I want to wrestle at 113 and I want to have 20 or more wins this season,” she said. “I’m looking forward to a good season. I want to keep pushing myself to work hard.”

She also wants to find more freestyle events which will help prepare her for collegiate wrestling.

With so much success, Mary has earned a level of popularity in the area as the girl grappler. This distinction makes her family very proud.

“That’s Mary. That’s our girl wrestler,” Alicia said.

“I’ve always known that she would do something with herself. As a parent, I’m very proud—I’m proud of her as a wrestler and I’m proud of the young lady that she’s becoming.”

To contact Staff Writer Steven Hoffman, email editor@chestercounty.com.

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———|Resale & Consignment shops|———

Courtesy photo

Business is booming at resale shops Smart shoppers looking for bargains can be delighted by what they find at resale or consignment shops.

More and more consumers are shopping at resale, consignment, and thrift shops for everything from clothing to furniture to appliances to home goods as a way to stretch each dollar further. Consequently, the number of resale, consignment, and thrift shops is growing—there are more than 30,000 of them across the U.S. A resale shop is a term used to describe stores that buy their merchandise outright from individual owners. A consignment shop accepts merchandise on a consignment basis, paying the owners of the merchandise a percentage when and if the items are sold. A thrift shop is typically run by a non-profit organization to raise money to fund charitable

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causes. Thrift shops range from large chain stores like Salvation Army and Goodwill to individual church or hospital shops.

Shoppers in all three types of stores represent a real cross-section of consumers—members of all age groups and socio-economic classes are turning to consignment resale or thrift shops to find what they are looking for at drastically reduced prices. From Main Street to Madison Avenue, it’s become chic to shop resale.

Consignment shops provide consumers with benefits in two ways. People who sell their clothing or other goods at consignment shops earn back some of the original investment, while budget-conscious shoppers can purchase clothing or goods at affordable prices.

You know those pajamas that your son wore a few times and then outgrew? Or those shoes sitting in the bottom of the closet that were never quite as appealing at home as they were in the store? Consignment stores will buy them from you to sell to their customers at a deep discount.

The children’s market is particularly well-suited to thrive in consignment and resale shops because chil-

dren’s clothing and shoes are worn for such a short time in smaller sizes. Some thrift shops specialize in children’s clothing, toys, and other basic items, while at other stores resourceful shoppers can find designer labels at a fraction of their original price. Some of the best buys that can be found at consignment shops are for formal wear that is often worn only a few times at the time it is passed on to a resale or consignment shop.

In most cases, the owner of a consignment store doesn’t own the merchandise that he or she is selling. Rather, the merchandise has been collected from many different contributors. Most consignment shops have strict guidelines about the merchandise that they accept and only offer quality used clothing that is in good condition. Sometimes the clothing has never even been worn. They sell the clothing at a third or less of the original price and typically pay those who offer the clothes to the consignment shop 40 to 60 percent of the selling price.

What can you find in these shops? Practically anything and everything.

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As might be expected, the consignment market is dominated by clothing and goods for women and children, but men’s shops have also been flourishing in recent years, too. As the views about consignment shops or resale stores change, a wider variety of items will find their way into stores.

It’s not surprising that consumers would enjoy the search for affordable finds at resale shops. It doesn’t take long to become an experienced secondhand store shopper, and the search for just the right item can be a lot of fun. It’s important to keep some things in mind when shopping at a resale or consignment shop.

Shoppers should always check the condition of the item. These stores sell items as a final sale so items usually can’t be returned. If you’re buying antiques or glassware, inspect the items in bright or natural light so that you can see chips or cracks. Test small appliances to make sure that they are working properly. Turn pieces of furniture over, if possible, to look for signs of damage or repairs. While scratches or

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small imperfections can be overlooked, major issues shouldn’t be. Make sure you check for unpleasing smells—smoke, cat urine, and the like that can reduce the value of the furniture significantly.

It’s important to carefully scrutinize the condition of clothing, too, even though most store owners carefully inspect these items. It’s a good idea to buy the brands that you already know that you like and trust.

It reduces the risk of wasting money on an unsatisfactory purchase.

Smart shoppers know when to shop as well. While it’s possible to find good items on any day of the week at any time of the year, these resale stores often receive more new merchandise on Monday because people clean out their closets over the weekend.

Good finds might be more plentiful when seasons are about to change, especially in March and August, because people often do the most closet-cleaning at those times of the year.

Shopping around is also important. Why limit yourself to just one thrift store or one consignment shop?

These stores are frequently cycling through merchandise so repeat visits will usually pay off.

—————|Kennett Square People|—————

Making a difference in the lives of girls

Mary Cairns of Kennett Square brings hope to rural India

Photo by John Chambless

Mary Cairns has visted India several times to help impoverished girls and women.

By John Chambless Staff Writer

A

s she sits on the sofa in her large, comfortable home in Kennett Square, Mary Cairns feels the anguish of people she loves, calling to her from half a world away.

As the U.S. development director for The Pardada Pardadi Educational Society in India, she has lived among families who are among the poorest on earth. And the lowest members of those desperate families are girls.

In her blog, Cairns writes of the tangle of sensations that engulf her during her visits to rural villages where she is the only white woman who has ever visited: “There is a vast scale of conditions for living in dire poverty. The narrow roads, too small for a vehicle, the intense Continued on Page 66 www.kennettsquaretoday.com | Winter 2014 | Kennett Square Today

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heat of the sun, the animals living in the homes (some just one room, with a buffalo or two), while the children and adults roam barefoot, the dust and smoke in the air, the stench of garbage piles, and the condition of the children – malnourished, in rags or nothing at all, so very dirty – are all witnessed on these visits.”

Every time she returns from India, Cairns feels more distant from her longtime career as an interior decorator. “To see so many people who have nothing, and then come home to hang window treatments in someone’s house, and then they call to complain ...” she said, her voice trailing off.

As her children grew up and moved into lives of their own, Cairns felt a calling to help others. There was a 2003 mission trip to Jamaica, then some research into child trafficking. Eventually, she decided that education had to be the key to turning around the lives of endangered children.

She and her then-boyfriend, Mike Mays, Googled “volunteer opportunities for girls schools in India” and got 1.4 million hits.

“I’ve always been an adventurer,” Cairns said. “Most people would look at me and think I’m crazy. But I’ve always taken the road less traveled, and have learned a lot about life as a result. Mike said, ‘Let’s go to India,’ and my answer was, ‘Sure, I’d love to.’”

She had found out about Pardada Pardadi, which was founded by Sam Singh, a Dupont executive who retired from the company and spent much of his life savings to start a school for girls in one of the poorest places in the world, where he had grown up. Today, the school is an oasis for 1,300 girls from the ages of 4 to 19, regardless of religion or caste. In India, caste determines the course of lives, but since the Hindu and Muslim girls at Pardada Pardadi are all the poorest of the poor, caste has come to mean very little.

For her first five-month trip, Cairns took 150 pounds of school supplies in her luggage, and Mike went over to teach computer skills to the students. They didn’t know much of the local languages.

“My father, who was a children’s dentist, had just Continued on Page 84

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Courtesy photo

Cairns and helpers hand out surplus toothbrushes to students.

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———|Kennett Square Photo Essay|———

Chocolate treats galore!

The Kennett Square

Chocolate Lover’s Festival

in display.

A chocolate founta

Photo Essay by Lane McLaughlin www.lanemclaughlinphotography.com 68

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Calling all chocoholics: Hundreds of chocolate treats will be awaiting you on Feb. 8 during the third annual Kennett Square Chocolate Lover’s Festival.

Proceeds benefit the United Way of Southern Chester County (UWSCC). Professional, amateur and student bakers donate their chocolate treats each year to compete for prizes and share with the public. First-, second- and third-place awards are given to professional, amateur and student bakers in five categories: Cake, cupcake, candy, cookie and brownie.

Last year, there were more than 200 entries. More than $16,000 was earned, all of which was allocated to the UWSCC Community Impact Fund, which aids local programs and health and human service agencies such as the food cupboards at Kennett Area Community Services and Oxford Neighborhood Services, after-school care programs, senior cen-

ters, domestic abuse centers, and more. About 13,000 Pennsylvania residents from Chadds Ford to Nottingham are helped.

Anne B. Coleman, director of campaign development of UWSCC, said the United Way is like the Community Chest in Monopoly.

“United Way is the only safety net in our community,” she said. “It helps newborns get off to a good start, teens develop into good citizens, seniors avoid isolation, and families stay strong. Baking for the festival, or coming out with your friends, are easy ways to support such a worthy cause.”

She also mentioned how grateful she is to friends and neighbors who offered the use of their kitchens to bakers who lost power during the heavy snowstorms before last year’s event. “It’s a good community-building event and a good fit for us,” she said.

The following photos are from the 2014 festival.

packed with chocolate The Kennett High School gym was rs. love olate and choc

es cost two tickets

Professional entri

each.

Cacao Nib To rte cake made

by The Gable s.

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s and friends eagerly Chocolate-loving familie . ats tre chose their

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ats than you could More chocolate tre itors. vis ed ait aw imagine

Alexander's Bread and Baking Com pany won Professional first place for Who are we Kidd ing granola bars, and third place for Peanut Butter Bost on Creme Bars. The Chess cake is a three-layer cake topped with molded chocolate pieces. Chef Jennifer Nov ielli is at left.

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The 2015 Kennett Square Chocolate Lover’s Festival will be held on Sunday, February 8, at Kennett High School (100 E. South St., Kennett Square).

TICKETS: Connoisseur tickets (new this year): $25 ($45 for two people), includes early timed entry at either 1 p.m. or 1:30 p.m., based on availability. Connoisseur tickets include professional and amateur tastings, beverages, cooking demonstrations and free parking.

GENERAL ADMISSION: 2 to 4 p.m., $10 ($25 for family of four), includes six regular tastings per person. Professional tastings are two tasting tickets. Additional tastings are available for 50 cents each.

Enter via the Express Line if you purchase your tickets in advance.

Parking for general admission is $5 per car.

ENTRIES: Professional chefs and great bakers from the region will compete for bragging rights, ribbons and prizes by donating their best chocolate desserts to this event. Entries will be judged before the tasting begins. Individuals may submit as many entries as they wish. There is no cost to enter. All entries must have a chocolate component and be shelf-stable, but need not be original recipes. The deadline for submitting your entry forms is Jan. 30, 2015.

SPONSORS: For more information about becoming a sponsor, call 610-444-4357.

To learn more, donate, advocate or volunteer, visit www.unitedwayscc.org.

For more information, visit www.kennettchocolate.org.

Local resident Jackie Maas volunteered her help.

Volunteer Wes Bowers helped keep the samples coming.

Carrie Freeman, CEO of United Way of Southern Chester County, presented Jordyn Darga with the first place student award for her Chocolate Peanut Butter Bucket Cake.

Madison Bowe won the first place student award for her Chocolate Bomb Brownies.

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Shop Schoolhouse Crossing

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————|Kennett Square Business|————

Stronger than yesterday

Members of CrossFit Kennett Square say that the exercise program provides functional fitness for any lifestyle

By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer It’s 4:30 on a bright afternoon in August. Everett Gordon’s day started 12 hours earlier, when he arrived at CrossFit Kennett Square long before sunrise to write out that day’s program of exercises on a board. Today, the classes are focusing on proper technique and Gordon takes his time demonstrating each of the exercises that the participants will be doing for the next hour.

The class is as diverse as the movements and exercises that they are about to undertake: teachers are stretching next to police officers. Former competitive cheerleaders are sweating off the pounds next to moms. Children as young as 12 are working out alongside, and learning from, men who are old enough to join the AARP. Those who make CrossFit a regular part of their life say that with its functional and varied movements, the program results in what everyone who exercises wants—stamina, balance, strength, speed, agility, and coordination. And trainers like Gordon can adjust the workouts for anyone from beginners to accomplished athletes so that each person is progressing with his or her fitness goals.

“Anybody is able to do this at their own fitness level,” Gordon explained. “I have twelve-year-olds in here and I have a 75-year-old in here. The exercises are always done in a safe manner. We get rid of the egos at the door. The expectations are to have fun and feel comfortable in this environment.”

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CrossFit Kennett Square recently celebrated its two-year anniversary.

It is owned by John Wilkins, Nathalie Matte, Mike Haggarty, and Jenifer Haggarty.

Courtesy photo

Above: Laurie Palic at a recent CrossFit class.

Left: Everett Gordon oversees most of the 42 different group classes himself.

‘It’s about supporting each other’ Each class begins with an introduction of the workout and a warm-up for about 10 minutes. Gordon illustrates the way to do a proper chin-up (keep the palms in toward you and absolutely no kicking is allowed). Next, it’s on to the kettlebells for single-arm presses. This exercise helps with range of motion. Then the class does knee tucks while positioned on stability balls, one of many different pieces of equipment that might be utilized on any given day. Later, there will be sprints around the building. This particular class is typical for CrossFit in that no two classes are ever the same.

“I have been doing CrossFit for about two years and I like everything about it,” said Lauren Byrd, a resident of Oxford who is a former competitive cheerleader. “Prior to CrossFit, I would go to the gym, but it was very monotonous. CrossFit is never monotonous. You do something different every day. I also like how it never gets any easier.

You can always push yourself to the next level. The best part is seeing how far you can push yourself as part of this community.”

Community. CrossFit Kennett Square participants use that word again and again. Even though each person is scaling an exercise to his or her current level, they are still

Photo by Steven Hoffman

Erik and Leigh Castle both say that CrossFit allows them to stay engaged in their workout routines.

working together—and pulling for each other.

“That’s what CrossFit is all about,” Gordon said. “It’s about supporting each other.”

Every week, one or two or five people will step through the doors of CrossFit Kennett Square for the first time and join Byrd and dozens of others lifting, pulling, bending, twisting and running their way to good health.

Gordon and the team of coaches—Brian Neely, Kelly Neely, Rachel Blumenfeld, J.R. Bosely, and Laurie Continued on Page 78

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Palic—ensure that there is always a positive, supportive atmosphere.

Palic is a seventh-grade teacher in the UnionvilleChadds Ford School District. She was one of the first students to join CrossFit Kennett Square after it opened in May of 2012. At that time, she’d grown tired of her typical workout routine and was in need of a change to keep her motivated.

Palic said that she had played sports before, including softball, but was never really a standout in any of them.

During her first class at CrossFit, she managed to do 100 push-ups, 100 sit-ups, 100 pull-ups, and 100 squats, and just like that she embraced the sport.

“I had never done 100 of anything before that,” Palic admitted. “I hated every minute of it, but I did it. I was hooked. It turns out that this is my thing.”

Part of the reason that she was hooked is the family atmosphere that has been fostered here.

“A lot of families come here. {CrossFit is even} great for kids,” Palic said.

CrossFit incorporates a wide range of activities, including

everything from powerlifting to sprinting to plyometrics to calisthenics to doing squats or push-ups, so there is no need to be a world-class bodybuilder to enjoy it and reap the benefits.

“CrossFit is good for a wide variety of people because it can be whatever you want it to be,” Palic explained.

“CrossFit is so malleable to what you want to accomplish. You can make it challenging for yourself or Courtesy photo make it easy for yourself.”

Brian Neely was able to modify Fitness that will fit his CrossFit exercises while rehabbing following rotator into your life Gordon typically starts his cuff surgery. day at 4:15 a.m. because there’s a large contingent of CrossFitters who regularly take part in the 5 a.m. class.

For some, that’s the only time of the day that they can fit exercise into their busy schedules. Leigh and Erik Castle

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Continued on Page 80

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fit into this category. Erik started CrossFit in December 2012 and Leigh followed about six months later.

“I needed a change from the normal gym routine,” Erik explained. “You go to the gym, it’s the same thing over and over again. With CrossFit, it’s a lot more practical exercises. You get a full-body workout and there are no repetitive exercises.”

Erik’s enthusiasm for CrossFit convinced his wife to try it as well.

“I saw how good he felt and how excited he was about his progress,” Leigh explained. “I had been working out, but I have trouble staying motivated without someone there to push me.”

The Castles immediately liked the camaraderie and support of CrossFit Kennett Square, and they made time for several classes each week.

“It’s such an encouraging atmosphere,” Leigh explained.

“We have a good 5 a.m. crew. It’s a good routine to get into. We’re modeling a healthy lifestyle for our kids. I do this to be stronger and to have more energy.”

When CrossFit Kennett Square first opened, there were

12 classes a week. Now, there are 42 group classes a week and Gordon is always overseeing fundamentals classes and private sessions. There’s an American flag that hangs from the ceiling about one-third of the way across the gym. That marks the approximate size of the facility— about 1,200 square feet—when it initially opened. Walls have been knocked down twice since then to accommodate more space for people to work out.

Gordon, who holds an M.S. In Sports Management a sports trainer since 1998, is not surprised that CrossFit is proving itself to be much more than a fad. A fitness enthusiast, he started doing CrossFit in 2008, a few years after it was founded but still before it exploded in popularity. He immediately liked what the exercise program had to offer, and he thought it would be an effective way for others to improve their overall level of fitness, so he became a CrossFit Level I certified instructor.

He was hired to manage CrossFit Kennett Square by owners John Wilkins, Nathalie Matte, Mike Haggarty, and Jenifer Haggarty.

When asked about success stories at CrossFit Kennett Square, Gordon doesn’t like to single out one person over another because so many people have made progress. Like a proud parent who doesn’t feel favoritism toward one

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child over another, Gordon wants to mention the accomplishments of every person who regularly attends CrossFit. “I am very proud of all these members,” he said.

Indeed, there are many stories about men and women managing to improve their health and fitness.

Rebecca Avello, a resident of Kennett Square, said that before taking up CrossFit she felt like she was no longer making progress with her workouts.

“I hit a point where my body wasn’t changing,” Avello explained. “I would say that probably three months after I started here, I noticed a huge change in my fitness level.”

Before CrossFit, Avello said, she didn’t have the endurance to run half a mile. Now, she can run a 5K with energy to spare.

Richard Keitch and his wife, Maureen, have been working out at CrossFit Kennett Square for the last two years.

Keitch said that the exercise program has helped him to find and maintain consistency in his workout routine.

“I would run half-marathons but I was never consistent,” he said. “I would run for six months then not do anything for six months” before CrossFit changed that.

Patrick Rita also admits that he doesn’t always love working out, so he favors short, more intense workouts

How to begin exercising at CrossFit Kennett Square Anyone interested in giving CrossFit training a try can schedule a free introductory session. During this session, certified instructor Everett Gordon will evaluate your current level of fitness and discuss some of your fitness goals. A brief questionnaire about health issues helps to ensure that the exercise regimen will be appropriate for the participant. Gordon will then oversee a fundamental training program that, on average, lasts eight sessions that will explain some of the basics of CrossFit. This helps to ensure that each new participant feels comfortable and confident about the CrossFit movements and exercises. Individuals schedule the fundamental training sessions with Gordon or one of the coaches, and these sessions serve as preparation for group classes. A participant in a group class will still have the exercises scaled to meet their individual needs. There are currently forty-two group classes taking place throughout the week. CrossFit Kennett Square is located at 529 Rosedale Road, Suite 101 in Kennett Square. More information is available by calling 484732-8113 or visiting www.crossfitksq.com.

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that are possible with CrossFit. “Because I’m not a natural workout guy, I would rather give it my all for 18 or 20 minutes instead of working out for an hour,” Rita explained. “CrossFit really found that perfect balance of intensity and time for me. My goal is to keep up with the others, that really keeps me going. If I join the easy crowd, I won’t grow. I’ve never been a big workout guy, but if I am going to keep disease at a respectable distance, I have to do it.”

Rita said that CrossFit helped him rehab after he had surgery on a rotator cuff that was worn out after a lifetime of activities. Gordon was able to come up with alternate exercises that Rita could do while he was on the mend.

“We’re always strict on form, especially if you’re coming back from an injury,” Rita said. “It’s not about how fast you can run or how much weight you can lift. It’s always about doing it right.”

The spirit of community is strengthened by people like Rita, who was called by one of his peers as the biggest cheerleader for everyone else.

“It’s a family and we’ll take good care of you,” Rita said.

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Functional fitness that works The functionality of CrossFit is illustrated by Brian Neely’s story.

Neely had re-injured his rotator cuff while on duty as a state police officer. After surgery to repair the injury, Neely’s arm was going to be in a sling for several months.

He didn’t think that he could continue to work out at CrossFit Kennett Square until he was fully recovered. After all, Neely is right-handed and the injury was to his right arm.

But he talked to Gordon who assured him that they could come up with a regimen that Neely could safely handle while he rehabbed the injury.

“We worked together and came up with single arm movements,” Neely said. “It was definitely helpful. I had a lot of good support here.”

That support includes coaches who are constantly encouraging people to pay attention to even minor aches or pains.

“We want you to always listen to your body,” Gordon explained.

That’s especially true for beginners, who have to be cautious not to be too aggressive with exercises that are new to them. These exercises can be scaled for the beginner

with fewer reps, reducing the weigh lifted, or limiting the distance of a particular exercise.

“Everything has a modification,” explained Palic. “Take a standard push-up. If you can’t do a standard push-up, maybe you can do a push-up from your knees. Or you can do a push-up angled against the wall. Everything can be changed up.”

When Kelly Neely started at CrossFit, she had given birth to three children and wasn’t taking care of herself as well as she could have been. Her blood pressure and cholesterol levels were too high.

“I was in bad shape health-wise,” she stated.

Then she tried CrossFit and—like Byrd, Rita, Palic and so many others—quickly grew to like it.

“It tapped into the athlete inside me,” she explained.

She started making some changes in her diet and felt even better.

“I am way healthier now than I was two years ago,” Kelly Neely said. “And I still have a lot of goals that I want to meet.”

Gordon said that it’s typical for people to see positive changes in their health after regular CrossFit training.

“You’re going to see improvement in athletic ability,” Gordon said.

T L

That improvement is for any kind of person, whether it’s a former athlete, a current athlete who is between sports seasons, a teen, a stay-at-home mom, or someone who is very serious about his or training. CrossFit is a good way to incrementally improve your fitness.

“I’m not a competitive athlete,” Byrd said. “For me, I work with the coaches here to reach personal goals for myself. The coaches help a lot. The coaches are incredible. I couldn’t think of a better group of people to keep you motivated. I can’t say enough about how good the coaches are here. They will encourage you to do your own workout and to do the your best. They love seeing you do your best.”

“The hardest part,” said Kelly Neely, “is putting your sneakers on and walking through that door for the first time.”

Taking that first step may be hard, but the CrossFit participants all say that the results are well worth it.

“You surprise yourself in this sport,” Byrd said. “You’ll surprise yourself every day doing this. I’ve gotten healthier and it has changed my outlook on health in general. It will change your life.”

To contact Staff Writer Steven Hoffman, email editor@ chestercounty.com.

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died. I took over all of the leftover toothbrushes from his practice,” Cairns said. For the girls, it was the first toothbrush they had ever seen. Later, combs were given to the youngest students, and for the first time, they were taught to comb their hair. Cairns introduced the idea of daily hygiene, and washing with soap became a mandatory daily activity at the school.

Cairns can cite statistics that make her task seem insurmountable. In the Annupshar region, in Uttar Pradesh, which is three hours from Delhi, there is no medical care. Girls never attended school before 2010. Average family income, for those who are doing well, is about $14 per month. Most homes are one room, most without even a door. Discrimination and violence against girls and women is rampant, with most girls married between the ages of 12 and 16. Girls are not even given a last name at birth, Cairns said, because their families know they will eventually just take their husband’s name. Children have no birth dates, so they are assigned one for the

Courtesy photo

Mothers and children line up at a medical clinic held recently in the village.

sake of record keeping at the school.

Girls are commonly killed because they are seen as a drain on a family’s meager finances. If they survive, they eat only after boys are fed. Chronic malnourishment leads Continued on Page 86

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to stunted growth and vision problems. Girls are often “married” to brokers, who sell them into prostitution after paying $15 or $20 to the parents.

But in the midst of conditions that seem almost otherworldly in their deprivation, Cairns has clung to the moments of hope.

“Sam is a visionary,” she said of Singh, who spent his life savings and donated 100 acres so the school could be built and funded. He guaranteed every girl a job after graduation. The program has grown to include a rural development program and four separate schools.

“In 2010, Sam was talking to Mike and I about a dairy project. We thought he was crazy,” Cairns said.

“We went back in 2012 and there were 1,300 women who are part of village self-help groups where they are receiving health and hygiene education, and doing microbanking, so they’re contributing a few rupees a week into a bank. That money can then be borrowed by the women. Today, the organization has $50,000 in U.S. dollars The women are able to borrow, interestfree, instead of going to a money lender who’s going to

ask for about 100 percent interest that they’d never be able to repay.”

Girls are taught job skills as a means of supporting themselves after they leave the school. But academics – not just a trade – are the key at Pardada Pardadi. The girls can go on to jobs or higher education, but they also learn about self-respect and human rights.

“They all love to show me their clean hands and white teeth,” Cairns said. “I will say, ‘Your smile is beautiful’ in English, which is what they want to learn. They know that I love them and care about them, and that may be the first compliment they have ever received.”

She has seen the giddy delight when students got a pair of new panties for the first time in their lives. In a photo, one of the few boys at the school beamed as he held up a pair of pink girls’ panties that were his very own. In India, pink does not carry the “girls only” stigma.

Followed through the village when she visits the homes of the students, Cairns sees the difference Continued on Page 88

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between girls who do not attend school and those who do. In her blog, she laments over Manisha, a girl whose sole purpose in life is caring for her blind, 95-year-old grandmother. They live in one room that is infested with rats at night. “I am left to wonder what will happen to Manisha when her grandmother dies?” Cairns writes. “Will she be ‘married’ off, sold into the brothel life?”

She describes the place where 8-year-old Pooja was bitten by a venomous snake while sweeping the home, and died. The snake remains at large, because Hindu beliefs prevent killing anything. And Cairns is haunted by the sight of a naked toddler who stumbled into the open sewer that runs through village streets, wailing and covered in sewage. Her instinct was to pick him up, but although she had been inoculated against a wide range of diseases, she could not risk exposing herself to whatever germs coated the child.

His mother did eventually come and scoop him out of the muck, Cairns said.

She sees people who have been crippled by polio, although the government believes the disease has been eradicated in India. Typhoid still kills, as do cholera, malaria, and other diseases that are long gone in the developed world.

The other people in the village see the difference that Pardada Pardadi makes in the lives of the girls and their mothers. One of the factors that makes the school welcome is that no one tries to preach. Cairns is a Christian, but the school does not espouse any religious point of view. “They tell me about their gods – there are about 330,000 of them,” Cairns said. “When they ask me, I say, ‘My God is Jesus.’

And that’s usually as far as I go. They don’t know what Christianity is, because there are no Christians in the region.”

At the school, the girls get three meals a day. They wear uniforms that are kept clean, and their toothbrushes and hygiene supplies are kept at the school.

If a toothbrush was taken home, Cairns said, it could be sold, or used by someone else in the family, or turned into a tool to scrub an engine.

In a region where spitting is commonplace and there are not even rudimentary toilets, keeping clean is impossible. Cairns is working with the students

to keep the schoolyard swept free of litter. Although there are very few toilets in the village, other than the ones the school has built, there are toilets and sinks at the school for the students to use.

In 2012, Cairns and Mays raised funds in the United States to build a health center at the school and hired a school nurse. Padada Pardadi is now the only school in the region to provide for the heath needs of their children. Cairns has accompanied several trips to India with doctors, who set up operations in the village, but they have to close the gates when the crowd becomes too large. In June 2013, doctors and nurses saw more than 2,500 patients in six days. Doctors returned in June 2014.

In October, Cairns is going back with a team of eight. She dreams of establishing a medical clinic for women and girls in the village, and she is constantly searching for funds, donations or cooperative ventures with other organizations. She needs $4,000 to inoculate all the students against typhoid, for instance. “We’ve had girls die from typhoid. It’s a $3 vaccine over there,” she said.

The fact that saving a girl’s life is so cheap – eight girls can be fed three meals a day for the equivalent of $1 – makes the struggle for funding especially heartbreaking.

Despite rampant corruption, Singh and his small staff refuse to pay the bribes that are a cost of doing business in India. “Last year we went to the health department and asked for vaccinations for our girls,” Cairns said. “They denied us because they wanted a bribe that Sam wasn’t willing to pay. So we don’t get the vaccinations that the Gates Foundation is actually providing the funding for. It’s extremely frustrating.”

Singh also demands that girls not wear veils or head coverings while at school. “He tells them, ‘You have nothing to hide,’” Cairns said.

“This is an extremely remote, rural pocket of India,” Cairns said. “There’s no reason for anybody to go there. From our perspective, people would say it’s just a God-forsaken place. But we have been able to implement huge changes at the school. People there have been extremely warm and hospitable to us, and I feel like I’ve got 1,300 Indian daughters.”

The success of the school is reflected in recent Continued on Page 90

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statistics that 100 percent of the 10th and 12th graders passed the State Board Exam in India.

Academic success is wrapped up in pride, nutrition, health care, and a sense that someone cares. Cairns said that students delighted in using her laptop computer during her last visit, but were unable to comprehend how live video could be streaming through the device.

Back at home, Cairns sad, “It’s getting harder to be here. In comparison to my Indian friends in the village, I live like a billionaire. It’s changed everything I do. I never go to malls anymore. My whole way of living has dramatically shifted. All the stuff we have here – it’s pretty appalling.”

Flipping through photos she has taken of beaming girls in their crisp uniforms, Cairns said, “What you see in their eyes is a light.

There’s a joy that the non-schooled girls don’t have. These are the girls who have hope.

They’re beautiful.”

Courtesy photo

There are 1,300 students at Pardada Pardadi, which teaches life skills as well as job skills.

For more information, visit www.education4change.org, or e-mail marycairns1956@gmail.com.

To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, e-mail jchambless@ chestercounty.com.

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Galer Estate Vineyard & Winery has become one of the leading boutique wineries in the region, marrying old world methods with modern technology. Recently, one local oenophile spent a day among the grapes and the vines at Galer, learning the art of what makes its wines so unique

Photo by Dennis Degnan

The author at the Galer Estate Vineyard & Winery.

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I

Galer winemaker Virginia Smith Mitchell walks the wineyard.

By Alessandra Nicole Contributing Writer

I

spent one day this past September in a beautiful, golden daze, up to my elbows in freshly harvested Chardonnay grapes.

As the late afternoon sunshine glowed on the vines, I dove into the two-ton tub of bright green grape clusters.

Big, brazen bees buzzed unabashedly all around me, attracted to the delicious sticky juice on my hands. I was feeling a fulfilling fatigue from having worked a very honest day in the fresh air.

On assignment from this magazine, I was a winemaker

Photo by Alessandra Nicole

for a day at Galer Estate Vineyard & Winery.

Few things paint a more romantic picture in my mind than winemaking, and my own romance began the year before I was of legal drinking age. I studied to be a wine sommelier while attending art school in Savannah, Georgia, which gave me a realistic insight into the culture, science, art, and profession of winemaking.

Though a career in photography eventually won out, my personal love affair with the end results of each bottle of wine I uncork is very much ongoing. With each inky elixir I tip to my lips, I acknowledge the hard work that goes into what eventually ends up in my glass, on my Continued on Page 94

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A native of Erie, Pennsylvania, Mitchell, along with her new husband, Chase, both graduated from Penn State with food science degrees. Mitchell worked a

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Photo by Alessandra Nicole

Mitchell plucks sample grapes for testing.

couple of internships with large commercial wineries in eastern Pennsylvania and abroad in South Australia at Two Hands during college. She returned to Erie after graduation and worked her way up to assistant winemaker at Mazza Vineyards, one of the first wineries in Pennsylvania and the largest in the state. Mitchell utilized her time there to work on new products and hone in on what she really wanted from her career, and trained under a really great winemaker and oenologist. She was able to make her first vintage in 2011.

At Mazza, as many as 50,000 cases – about 1,000 tons -- of wine are produced annually, compared to 25 tons of grapes processed each year at Galer. Part of the reason why Mitchell left the large winery was to become more involved with the grapes and be more hands-on in all aspects of the process.

“I felt I was missing out on some things at the larger winery,” Mitchell said. “Mazza gave me a lot of opportunities to make products, but then those products became owned by the winery. Working at a boutique winery like

Galer gives me an opportunity to work directly with the grapes and the winemaking, put my name on the product and share some ownership of it.”

For vineyard owners Brad and Lele Galer, bringing Mitchell on board was a very easy decision. Galer opened in 2011 and with it began a new standard of winemaking in Chester County, that marries “Old World” style winemaking with advances in “New World” technology.

“Old World” winemaking is an intelligent combination of respect of the history and wine producing abilities of a particular region, melded with reliance on terrain, soil and climate. It is an elegant art form of embracing “what is,” in terms of seeing what the process yields as the grapes are harvested and fermented. The Galers worked closely with a team of experts to build the highest level of wine-making facility, allowing them to control all aspects of winemaking, from production to bottling.

I arrived for my day as a cellar hand mid morning, wearing the recommended long pants, waterproof shoes, and Continued on Page 96

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t-shirt, and walked through the signature towering rustcolored iron gates. Mitchell took me on a brief tour that included the Barrel Room, which she had recently pressure-washed the floor of herself, and with the assistance of her husband, arranged the pretty oak wine barrels into neat rows.

I was able see her well-lit white laboratory where we would later test grapes for acidity to determine when they would be ready for harvesting.

Continued on Page 99 Photo by Alessandra Nicole

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Galer...

Continued from Page 96

Mitchell then took me past the bottling machine. “Next to fermentation, bottling is the most important aspect of winemaking,” she said. “The bottling line is the end point, and if something gets messed up in the bottling line, that’s your end product, the end result. Brad wanted to buy a new car, but they decided to buy a bottling machine instead.”

The machine can both cap and cork the bottles, and labels them. It takes up to three people to run -- one person to feed the bottles into the machine, another to take the bottles off at the end to put them into cases, and someone in the middle to make sure everything is going properly.

We ended the facility’s tour up in the fermentation room, where we began the day sanitizing large long plastic hoses so that we could “rack the Chardonnay,” a process that moves the juice from one temperaturecontrolled vat through an air tight hose via a pump into another tank where fermentation is added and monitored daily until it is ready to be aged in oak barrels in the Barrel Room below.

Mitchell clamped the end of a hose to the spout at the bottom of the tank of grape juice harvested a few days prior, and asked me to press the big button on the pump.

The juice began flowing through the hose.

While the Chardonnay was racking, Mitchell showed me how to document the ferment of a nearby tank of Pinot Gris. Documentation will allow Mitchell to look back year to year and track information and progress.

From the documentation, she is able to create graphs for her processes. This information will become her Winemaker’s Diary. She wrote down all of the ferments daily which consists of temperature and a Brix reading – or sugar concentration.

“20 brix will give an alcohol level of 11.5 percent,” she said.

While the Chardonnay we just racked had a brix of 21 -- which will make an alcohol equivalent of about 12 percent -- we used a thermometer and a hydrometer to check the sugar reading of the Pinot Gris. Mitchell observed the color and aroma of the Pinot Gris. She took Continued on Page 100

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a taste of it through the hydrometer, and offered me a sip.

The juice had a thickish salmon color and a slight yeasty taste that reminded me of beer.

With the Chardonnay racked and all the daily ferments checked and documented, we set out in the early afternoon sunshine to walk Galer’s lower vineyard to take grape samples from different areas for a diverse test sample to represent the entire vineyard. When the grapes are tested at around 20 brix, she decides along with the vineyard manager when to harvest.

We hiked down through the upper vineyard where the fourth-year vines twist and curl their lovely little grip around the stakes and wire in natural elegant filigree until we reached the lower vineyard. We plucked a few grapes from various areas and different places of the cluster and I popped a grape into my mouth, enjoying the sweet meat of it and worked the seed out, politely discarding this as I kept up with Mitchell’s stride. The rows hadn’t been mowed in a few weeks, and tall husks of grass met the edges of the brown soil at the base of the vines.

I turned to admire the Galer’s property from the bottom of it’s lower vineyard. Set just behind Longwood Gardens, Galer is a quiet, peaceful place away from most traffic where the songs of bird and insect are able to dominate a charming and rustic landscape. I had seen this beauty before, only much bigger. Last September, I was gifted a trip to the Napa and Sonoma wine regions of Northern California. Each breath of air I took seemed to take on the enormity of a personal revival. We drove through miles of grapevines and uncorked some of California’s best 2010 vintages. We fell in love with many remarkable bottles, scribbling down names and notes. We spoke with other travelers, with many sommeliers, chefs, winemakers, and especially with each other. It had been a long time since I had sipped wine so very consciously. All of my antennae were up. All of my senses were engaged and my palette rejoiced.

With lower vineyard samples in sealed zip-lock bags, we headed back up to Galer and into Mitchell’s laboratory, where we popped the grapes in the bags, mashing

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them until they were nice and juicy.

Mitchell poured the juice into a little bowl and calibrated a pH reader for three tests to be done on the juices from our sample. Testing is not Mitchell’s favorite part of the winemaking process.

“I would rather just be making the wine instead of doing all the tests myself,” admitted Mitchell, though she’s really good at the data and lab part of this process and it’s really important to her. She continued to show me how she tests the acidity of the juice to determine if the grapes are ready for harvest.

When we emerged from the lab, it was time to climb into Mitchell and her husband’s pickup and drive ribbons of roads through the southern Chester County countryside, past Embreeville, to an enormous, gorgeous vineyard in Coatesville, one of two in the area. I had no idea it existed. The vines seemed to stretch endlessly.

We took a drive around it’s perimeter so that I was able to take it all in before circling back to meet the vineyard manager for our Chardonnay pickup.

“It varies year to year but this year the only grapes we have at the winery is the Chardonnay, which is about 7 or 8 tons,” Mitchell said. “We don’t really ever have to supplement the Chardonnay. Sixty-five percent of the wine that we make is grown by the Galer’s property. At Galer Winery and Estate, we keep Chardonnay and then there’s the home winery [where Brad and Lele Galer reside], which has five varietals.”

The vineyard manager used a tractor to push the tubs of grapes onto a large scale pad that weighed the grapes.

He sent us back to Galer with two-and-a-half tons of absolutely delicious-looking Chardonnay on a trailer on the back of the truck. We returned to the ribbons of road, winding through the country side with the windows down and air blowing our hair around. I watched the grapes through the back window of the truck’s cab, strapped in and following us in four very large plastic lugs on a trailer. I couldn’t imagine a more rustic and romantic sight than being on horseback on one of the Continued on Page 102

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green hilly farms and watching three people in the cab of a pickup hauling Chardonnay grapes.

Soon we were back at Galer. Chase used a tractor to lift one of the huge bins of grapes onto the deck where we would manually scoop them into buckets. For me, this was probably the most pleasing part of the day from a tactile standpoint. It was later in the afternoon at this point and the shadows in the upper vineyard were drawing out slowly. The glorious shining sun was losing altitude. Working so closely with the grapes all day and getting that amount of fresh still-summery air had been especially gratifying.

Wine is sunlight, held together by water.

I held these green weighty clumps of grapes in my hands, with Galileo’s quote on my mind and admired the wholesomeness of them. These exact grapes will be juiced in the machine, the marrow of them flowing through the long hoses into the fermentation room, into a holding tank, and carefully attended to by Mitchell.

Afterward, they will be casked in the oak barrels stored

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downstairs where they will rest for many moons, and bottled, saving their very unique poem until someone is incited to open one, pour it into some stemware, and finally tilt the glass to their lips. That moment will be a couple of years or more from this very moment.

By then, Mitchell will have spent a couple of years flourishing with Galer and will have blossomed into an award-winning household name amongst foodies and oenophiles alike. Yet at this moment, as I admired the grapes, Mitchell was standing next to me. She was nursing a fresh bee sting, her second sting of her first harvest season at Galer. She shrugged off the sting, as if to say that such mishaps are part of the bargain for choosing to follow one’s passions – the necessary evil of one’s artistic imprint.

The bees bounced off of my arms and my smiling, sun-kissed cheeks as I continued to help fill the buckets.

To learn more about Alessandra Nicole, visit www. alessandranicole.com.

Photo by Alessandra Nicole

A large supply of Chardonay grapes from a nearby vineyard are prepared for delivery, complimenting the acres of grape grown at Galer.

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