Landenberg Life Spring/Summer 2023 Edition

Landenberg Life

Landenberg Life

Landenberg Life Spring/Summer 2023

Letter from the Editor:

In this new issue of Landenberg Life, you’ll read about how drones are driving one local enterprise and how one local woman is achieving success and having fun as a “puzzlete.” You’ll also learn about the history of railroads in the area and discover the “origin story” of two local performers and much more.

Landenberg residents are certainly a talented and interesting bunch.

As a kid, Chris Abt loved to watch airplanes. Now he has his own fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles. Writer Ken Mammarella talked to the Landenberg resident who has worked in information technology for more than 25 years, and in the summer of 2022 created ZigZag Aerial LLC.

Gene Pisasale, an historian, author and lecturer, shares a story about how Landenberg—situated between Philadelphia and Baltimore, as well as between other large towns like Lancaster and Wilmington, Delaware—was a crossroads point where several major railroads had operations. Over the decades, the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Wilmington and Western and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad all had lines which ran through Landenberg, making it a popular spot for those going across the region.

This issue also features a story by writer JP Phillips about Maddy Pedrow, Landenberg’s own “puzzlete” who will be competing this September in the three-day World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship in Valladolid, Spain.

We also profile musicians Max and Denise, who after marrying in 1990 have combined their personal and professional lives to create what Denise calls “seamless harmonies that only come from years of working together.”

Writer Richard L. Gaw profiles Bob Meyer, a 70-year-old Landenberg resident who is enjoying success as a Master Boxer. Meyer has already accumulated a 3-1 record in his previous middleweight Masters Boxing Championship bouts.

The subject of our Q & A in this issue is Aileen Parrish, the chairperson of the London Britain Township Board of Supervisors.

Our photo essay by photographer Jim Coarse showcases New Garden’s newest garden—a former golf course that is being transformed into a forever landscape of nature.

We hope you enjoy these stories, and we always welcome comments and suggestions for stories to highlight in a future issue of Landenberg Life. We’re already hard at work on the next edition, which will arrive later in 2023.

Cover Design: Tricia Hoadley

Cover Photo: Richard L. Gaw

Landenberg’s o

Maddy Pedrow will be competing this September in the three-day World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship in Valladolid, Spain

By JP Phillips Contributing Writer

Local resident Maddy Pedrow possesses many characteristics of an athlete, but her chosen sport doesn’t come with shoulder pads, a hockey stick or a catcher’s mitt.

She is a speed jigsaw puzzler – a “puzzlete” she calls herself -- and this September, she will be taking her athletic skills from Landenberg to Valladolid, Spain – two hours north of Madrid -- for the three-day World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship at the Millenium Dome.

While this destination may serve as a highwater mark in her competitive career, Pedrow has had a passion for puzzles since childhood.

“Back then I didn’t have the space to do big puzzles because of the room that I had, but I had plenty of time, and then as I got to be a grown up, I didn’t have that much time even though I had the space,” she said. “And now, I kind of have both. My children are grown so I have the time and the space.”

Pedrow always knew that she was good with puzzles, but didn’t know if she was fast enough to successfully participate in speed puzzling. Her first competition was via Zoom, where each participant was mailed the same 1,000-piece puzzle and, with cameras focused on their tables, opened

their package and completed the puzzle as fast as they could.

“My first competition was my way to figure out whether it was worth it for me to keep doing it,” she said.

Pedrow was pleased that she finished in the middle of a group of mostly practiced speed puzzlers, in four hours. It seemed clear that if she practiced, she could become quite good, so she began to participate in monthly Zoom competitions to hone her skills. She also wanted to meet other people with the same puzzle passion that she had, so she attended the USA Jigsaw Puzzle Association National Competition held in San Diego last fall. There, Pedrow participated in all three offered events—solo, pairs, and teams of four, and although she finished in the middle of the solo competition, she placed above average in pairs due to a very talented partner, who will also be her teammate in the World pairs event.

Because she participated in all three events, the days were full, fun, and exhausting.

“There’s a lot of adrenaline pumping during the competition because you’re really trying to stay focused for the entire time,” she said. “You have to keep that speed going. I compare myself to an athlete, because after each competition, I’m wiped out.”

Photos by Richard L. Gaw

Competitive jigsaw puzzler Maddy Pedrow in her Landenberg home.

Puzzlete

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The solo competition is just over an hour long, which isn’t so wearing. The team competition is the most taxing. For example, for the Nationals team competition, Pedrow and her companions were given two 1,000-piece puzzles and one 1,500-piece puzzle to complete in less than five-and-one-half hours -- that’s five-and-a-half hours of intense focus without any breaks after also competing in the solo and pairs competitions for a few days.

“I came back from that weekend and I wanted to take a week off from work,” Pedrow said. Just like with any other convention or competition, there was time for socializing, which Pedrow found exhilarating.

“It’s an awesome community, and I think that one of the most fun parts of the competitions is to actually be in the presence of people who breathe puzzles the way I do,” she said. “There’s no one else in my family who shares the same fascination, so being in an environment with people who are passionate about puzzles like I am is amazing. We talk puzzles and we talk strategy, and it’s so much fun.”

A $700 million industry

According to the book, The Puzzler by A.J. Jacobs, the first jigsaw puzzle was designed by John Spilsbury in 1760. The pieces were of different countries, and the objective was to teach children geography. Puzzles really took off during the Great Depression, when costs came down due to machine-punched cardboard (versus plywood) and, with the staggering unemployment rate, there was an abundance of free time. Today, the business of jigsaw puzzles is a $700 million industry, a market that tripled during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A manager in the language translation department of a market research firm, Pedrow has lived in the U.S. all of her adult life – including the last four in Landenberg – but was born in France and spent summers in Spain visiting her extended family. She is fully fluent in English, Spanish and French, and comfortable with Portuguese and Italian languages, as well. While at the competition, she said she plans to wrap it around a vacation where she will see her family.

Pedrow also does puzzles to relax, but with a twist. When speed is not the objective, she looks for other challenges to prolong the activity and keep it interesting.

“When I do it by myself, I find it calming and relaxing, and because I want the fun to last longer, I will do different challenges,” she explained. “Looking at the pictures is

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Puzzlete

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something I don’t do. For one puzzle, I would decide to do from top to the bottom, so I will start at the top edge, and I can only work from the top all the way going down, or from the right side to the

left side, or I will bring the box to my husband and say, ‘Just pick one piece’ and I’m only allowed to work with what attaches to that one piece.

“Sometimes, I tell my husband to go in my collection of puzzles and choose two or three random puzzles, dump all the pieces in a bag, shake it up and hand me the bag without the pictures.

“I get caught up and I don’t even know what time it is,” she added. “I have

to go to bed soon, but one more piece. One more piece. One more piece. Next thing I know it is three o’clock in the morning. It’s an addiction, it really is, and I love it!”

Pedrow will be competing this fall at the 2023 World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship at the Millenium Dome in Valladolid, Spain.

Pedrow keeps a wide collection of puzzles she has completed in her home.

Landenberg, Many railroad

By Gene Pisasale Contributing Writer

Pennsylvania was one of the leading states in developing railroads and southeastern Pennsylvania was a well-travelled corridor for both passenger and freight trains from the 1830s onward. Situated between Philadelphia and Baltimore, as well as other large towns like Lancaster and Wilmington, Delaware, Landenberg was a crossroads point where several major railroads had operations. Over the decades, the Pennsylvania Railroad, the Wilmington & Western and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad all had lines which ran through Landenberg, making it a popular spot for those going across the region.

The Wilmington & Western Railroad was chartered in 1867 to carry goods from the mills along Red Clay Creek to Wilmington, Del. The line had its first run on Oct. 19, 1872. Chris Black’s research provided to the New Garden Historical Commission mentions that a large crowd of Landenberg townspeople “…gathered, dressed in their best

outfits, to cheer on the dignitaries, public officials, and the press as they stepped down from the train.” The line was begun with the hope that it would run to Lancaster, York, Pittsburgh and cities further west.

According to the Wilmington & Western Railroad website, three passenger trains and a mixed freight train operated six days a week between Wilmington and Landenberg. A large portion of the route went through the valleys of local creeks, which in the late 19th century had numerous mills, farms and small villages.

The dreams for the Wilmington & Western were much bigger than reality. At its peak, it only encompassed 19 miles, from Wilmington to Landenberg, with seven stops along the way. Excessive debt and poor management caused the line to go into foreclosure in 1877, just five years after it began operations. The enterprise was later purchased and reorganized as the Delaware Western Railroad and operated largely as a freight line, moving kaolin clay (for ceramics and other uses), iron, coal and vulcanized fiber between the many mills which ran along the route. The Wilmington &

All photos courtesy of the Wilmington & Western Railroad The Wilmington & Western Railroad as it looks today.

The Wilmington & Western Railroad running through picturesque countryside.

Pennsylvania: s ran through it

Western site mentions that the line was later purchased in the 1880s by the Baltimore and Philadelphia Railroad (B&P), a subsidiary of the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O). This was a strategic move by the B&O, as the purchase provided them an access route to compete with the Pennsylvania Railroad for traffic between Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York. The line was known as the “Landenberg Branch” and was quite profitable.

A resort opened at Brandywine Springs in the late 1880s and passenger rail service thrived as people came to the

park to relax in the countryside away from the hustle and bustle of the big cities. However, the park closed in 1923 and passenger service to the area ended on Sept. 28, 1930, a victim of the decline of economic activity during the Great Depression. The Pennsylvania Railroad discontinued its connecting service to Landenberg and the line was reduced in length to reach only Southwood, Delaware in the early 1940s and shortened again to Hockessin in the late 1950s.

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The Pennsylvania Railroad moniker.

Landenberg railroads

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A savior for the region came in the form of the Historic Red Clay Valley (HRCV) that formed in the mid-1960s, which leased tracks from the B&O, running steam-powered tourist trains between Greenbank Station and Mount Cuba. This region was popular for people wanting an escape into the picturesque countryside, especially in the fall to see the kaleidoscope of colors along the way. According to the Wilmington & Western website, a new owner—the Chessie System—later purchased the line, but by the mid-1970s management determined that the business was no longer profitable and filed for abandonment. In August of 1982, the HRCV bought the remaining 10.2 miles of the Landenberg Branch. HRCV management was optimistic, but mother nature often intervened. In September 1999, Hurricane Floyd roared through the area, destroying local bridges along Red Clay Creek and causing several washouts along the line. Roughly four years later, in September 2003, the remnants of tropical storm Henri stalled over

southeastern Pennsylvania, ruining roughly eight miles of track. Due to the dedicated efforts of numerous volunteers, the tracks were repaired and in 2007, the Wilmington & Western Railroad was reborn, restarting public operations. Not as well known, the Pomeroy and Delaware City Railroad also ran through Landenberg. This was a freight line, moving coal mostly from central Pennsylvania to the area. According to Chris Black, the line actually began its

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A Wilmington & Western Railroad historical marker.

Pomeroy and Newark Railroad running through the White Clay Creek area, courtesy of Delaware State Parks.

Landenberg railroads

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life as the Doe Run and White Clay Creek Railroad, but shortly after its inception was renamed to the Pomeroy and Newark Railroad. When the line reached Delaware City, it was again renamed as the Pennsylvania and Delaware Railroad (P&D), under the control of the Pennsylvania Railroad. In 1936 the P&D operation was abandoned from the Delaware state line to Landenberg, ending the connection to Delaware City. In 1943, tracks were pulled up from Landenberg to Avondale and Chatham to be used for scrap during World War II.

As you drive around Landenberg, you can see remnants of the heyday of railroads that once bustled through the region. The former Pratt Pony Truss Bridge built in 1898 (rebuilt in 2009) crosses White Clay Creek and as you gaze in the distance, you can view the bridge overpass on Landenberg Road which was used by the Pomeroy and Newark Railroad. Although no longer a major railway stop, if you walk along the bridge, you can almost hear the whistles blowing, signaling to all nearby that the locomotive was a major force in the development of the region.

Gene Pisasale is an historian, author and lecturer based in Kennett Square. His ten books focus mostly on the Chester County/mid-Atlantic region. His latest book is Forgotten Founding Fathers: Pennsylvania and Delaware in the American Revolution. Gene’s books are available on his website at www.GenePisasale.com and on www.Amazon. com. He can be reached via e-mail at Gene@GenePisasale. com.

The Pomeroy and Newark Rail Trail north of Main Street in Newark, Delaware.

Aileen Parrish

Chairperson, Board of Supervisors London Britain Township

From the time she was first appointed as a member of the London Britain Township Board of Supervisors in 1992, Aileen Parrish has referred to herself not as a politician, but a political servant, and throughout the past 26 years, she has been a mainstay in the business of life of the municipality. Recently, she spoke with Landenberg Life about her lengthy career in local government, key issues on the township’s to-do list and its long-term vision for preservation and prosperity.

Landenberg Life: You’ve been an elected official since 1992. What first drew you to local politics?

Parrish: I started going to board meetings soon after my husband and I and our son --- who was three at the time –moved to Landenberg in 1989. In 1991, I saw a flyer in our mailbox that urged residents to attend a board meeting that was focused on the potential of commercial development on Route 896.

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Photo by Richard L. Gaw Landenberg resident and London Britain Township Board Chairperson Aileen Parrish has been involved in township government since 1992.

Landenberg Life Q & A

I suddenly found myself attending every board meeting, and at one of them, the supervisors passed around a clip board and asked if I was interested in any of the township’s committees. My two loves have always been open space and historic preservation, and I ended up being the chairperson of the Parks and Open Space Committee. Later, through the guidance of former Chester County Preservation Officer Jane Davidson, we formed the township’s first Historical Commission. Eventually, one of the three supervisors resigned, and the two remaining supervisors approached me and asked if I was interested in becoming a supervisor. And that is how it all started.

Let’s talk about some of the key issues on the London Britain Township work table in 2023. What are the top initiatives and concerns in the township, and how is the board addressing them?

I do not think any municipality could begin to list its top issues without talking about roads. Every year, we have road projects, and we own all the township’s roads, except for Route 896. We have a big responsibility here, and we know that it is important to our residents.

One of the largest projects we are focusing on is the responsible spending of the American Rescue Plan funding we received, and one of the things we think is key is to upgrade our meeting hall. We have established a committee that is being headed by Bruce Yost, supervisor Brian Sachs and several community members – all of whom are doing exhaustive interviews with everyone who uses the building and asking them, “What would you like to see in this building? What is important to you?”

By April, we will have the input and then proceed to our next steps. We are looking for input and continue to provide opportunities for our residents and the members of our committees to weigh in. With some upgrades, we could make the building so much more user-friendly.

A major initiative of the township has been its commitment to preserve the Welsh Baptist Historic District. Talk about the continuing impact of the township’s Historical Commission, and what Landenberg can expect to see next there.

The impact of our Historical Commission on this project has been immeasurable. Without their work, the Declaration of Eligibility for what we call the Welsh Baptist Historic District would not have happened with the Commonwealth’s Historic and Museum Commission. It was

the first step in placing the District on the National Register of Historic Places.

The township has also established a good partnership with the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), as part of the District’s proposed plan to be a part of the connector between the Fair Hill Natural Resources Area and the White Clay Creek Preserve.

How does the Township influence what is perhaps the most pressing, long-term issue facing rural municipalities today: Balancing smart growth with the need to preserve open space? How is this issue being addressed?

One of the gifts in London Britain Township is the White Clay Creek Preserve which, for the most part, sits wholly in the township, and makes up about one-third of London Britain. As a result, it has helped us in terms of balancing growth. The township is also protected by its building and zoning ordinances, which are impacted by our topography – our steep slopes and stream valleys and to a degree our farmland.

I was stunned when we received the results of the 2020 census. From 2010 to 2020, London Britain Township’s population rose from 3,139 to 3,179. There are also no subdivisions or pending construction projects on our plate, and there are few properties left that would be prime for development.

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In addition to her role on the Board of Supervisors, Parrish is a mainstay at London Britain Township special events, which included her period costume appearance at the 2021 Town Tour at White Clay Creek Preserve.

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Landenberg Life Q & A

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Perhaps the most alarming reality facing modern democracy today is seen in the public meeting halls in small towns all over America: a lack of public engagement. The township holds its board meetings on the second and fourth Monday of every month, so why is it important for London Britain residents to attend them on a consistent basis?

We would love to see our residents there because when people come, they ask questions and give us things to think about. Too often, folks do not realize how much input they can have with their local government. Our meetings are a free-and-open exchange, usually with residents we have known for some time and when someone new arrives, it is very special.

One resident attended for the first time recently, and said she read our meeting agenda on the township website and took a particular interest in one item – establishing lawn to meadow projects, which we will be installing at Nichol Park. We promptly asked her to provide her contact information to our township secretary, as we are always looking for new volunteers!

What do you enjoy most about serving on the London Britain Township Board of Supervisors?

I enjoy living in this small corner of Pennsylvania and being able to make a difference in people’s lives – in all our lives. When I first moved to Landenberg, I realized quickly that the Commonwealth is structured in such a way through its townships and municipalities that it allows people to make a significant, positive difference in the lives of their fellow residents.

As an elected official, if you can feel that you will be able to leave your position knowing that your municipality will be in better shape than it was when you first arrived, how satisfying is that?

Over the years, we have established great working relationships with neighboring municipalities, with Natural Lands, DCNR, Chester County government, the Brandywine Conservancy and PECO – agencies that we have worked shoulder-to-shoulder with. To be able to contact them and know that the person on the other end is someone you

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DDA#1391

Kellyslawncare3@verizon.net

302-584-1045

have known for years and can help answer questions about issues crucial to our residents -- is very gratifying.

What is your favorite spot in Landenberg?

There are so many beautiful places here. Visitors to Landenberg have told me, “This is like being on vacation. People go to places like this to get away, and you live here.”

We have lived in two amazing places here – for 15 years on a farm on Mercer Mill and then to Crestwood Road, which backs down to the White Clay Creek.

The two places I have loved most in Landenberg have been the two places where I have actually lived. I can sit on my back porch and feel like I am living in a tree house.

You host a dinner party and can invite anyone. Who would be sitting at that table?

I have decided that I would like two tables – one on the personal side and one on the township side.

On the personal side, I would love to see all the people in my family who are no longer here – my parents and my grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins and

some special friends.

On the township side, I would like to see some of the historic figures who were prominent in forming London Britain Township, starting with William Penn. Without him, we would not have had the land grants that created our townships. I would also like to invite some other figures who were the founders of our township, such as the Welsh Baptists like John Evans and his family, and the Richard Whitting family, who first settled the property we lived in on Mercer Mill Road in 1723, two years before the township was established.

What food or beverage can always be found in your refrigerator?

My pitcher of fresh-brewed iced tea. Decaf.

To learn more about the history of London Britain Township and find out more about township meetings, events and important notices, visit www.londonbritaintownship-pa.gov.

-- Richard L. Gaw

Quality

The life, the living and the journey of Bob Meyer

The life, the living and the journey of Bob Meyer

By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

“Boxing has always been a sport that best reflects life, with its one-on-one struggles that we can all relate to. In our daily lives, we have to constantly rise up and meet challenges, and boxing sums that up best for me.” Budd

New York Times

Schulberg,

The

Early in the afternoon of October 22, 2022, 70-year-old Landenberg resident Bob Meyer, weighing in at 165 pounds, entered a boxing ring at the Showboat in Atlantic City, as a middleweight entry in the Masters Boxing Championship. The white square canvas was not unfamiliar to Meyer. He had come to competitive Masters boxing years before – inspired in part by his friendship with Clif Johnson, the owner of Lef Jab Boxing Club in West Grove, where he

has trained since 1996 – and had already accumulated a decent 3-1 record in his previous middleweight Masters Boxing Championship bouts. His only loss – a split decision -- came just 12 weeks after he had surgery to repair his shoulder that he damaged from playing rugby, which forced Meyer to enter the ring as a one-armed fighter.

This fight was different, however; it was closer to home -- the first time the tournament was being held in New Jersey after years of him schlepping out to Kansas City, Mo. to compete.

In the opposite corner of the ropes stood the boxer Gary Klein, a veteran of the Masters Boxing world. Meyer had trained ten weeks to prepare for the bout, but he came to Atlantic City carrying a simple philosophy that had been with him since he first began competitive Masters boxing in 2010 when he was 58.

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Determined and unflappable, this 70-year-old Landenberg resident is enjoying success as a Masters Boxer

Photos by Richard L. Gaw

Seventy-year-old Landenberg resident Bob Meyer has been a competitive Masters Boxer since 2010, and has accumulated a 4-1 record.

Bob Meyer

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Let my opponent worry about defense, because I’m going to throw non-stop bombs at him.

The fighters banged gloves in the center of the ring. Two rounds later, Klein fell, the victim of a whistling combination of left jabs and punishing rights from Meyer. Klein was defeated, and Meyer took the championship belt with him back to Chester County.

Shadowboxing in Yeadon

For the past 30 years, Meyer has lived with his wife and their four children in the vicinity of South Guernsey and Pennock Bridge roads. A long-time business owner and a former supervisor for Franklin Township, there is little about Meyer in conversation that suggests that he could be anything but a reserved, upstanding citizen.

There is another side of what has made the man, however, that reveal a life spent nurtured and driven by the energy of defiance, toughness and resilience. Raised in the blue-collar neighborhoods of Yeadon, Pa., Meyer and the

roughnecks of his childhood were of the generation who were told by their mothers not to come home until the streetlights came on. It was a childhood of constant activity and movement – pick-up football, baseball and basketball. Often the youngest and smallest in the group, Meyer was bullied by his older brother and his friends, and became the victim of severe taunting.

“They used to hold me down and do cherry bellies on me, but I spat in their faces,” Meyer said. “Once I got to be about 14, I started training in my basement with a heavy punching bag and began shadow boxing. I felt I needed to take care of myself, and eventually, I would come to beat up every one of those guys who used to pick on me. They all told me that they would never mess with me again, and begged me to not tell the other guys that I had just taken them down.”

After graduating from Yeadon High School, Meyer did a stint in the U.S. Marines, then came home to attend Saint Joseph’s University, where he was introduced to a new

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Meyer stands with Clif Johnson, the owner of Lef Jab Boxing Club in West Grove.

|Landenberg Life|

Bob Meyer

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sport, rugby, that soon became his passion.

“I broke my nose during the first game, and I thought, ‘This is the sport for me,’” he said. “Rugby satisfied my need for competition.”

A year after graduation, his first wife – his high school sweetheart – was killed in a car accident when he was just 25 years old.

“A terrible thing had just happened to me, but bad things happen to everyone, and as bad as I had it, I knew that some had it worse than me,” Meyer said. “Was I going to feel sorry for myself for the rest of my life, or was I going to push forward?”

As a way of healing himself, Meyer buried himself in his new sport.

“After my wife was killed, rugby bailed me out,” he said. “I fell into a great group of guys, who realized what I was going through and began to stop by my house and pick me up to go play all over the tri-state area.”

In 1996, now remarried with children and living in Landenberg, Meyer opened a coffee shop at the current

location of the West Grove Diner. At the same time, Johnson was beginning Lef Jab Boxing Club next door. While Meyer’s business venture didn’t succeed, his newfound friendship with Johnson did.

“I asked Clif what he was doing, and when he told me he was about to open a boxing club, I thought it was perfect for me,” said Meyer, who quickly joined the club. “It would allow me to walk next door and release all of my stress, and return to a sport that I loved when I was younger.”

In 2008, a neurosurgeon advised Meyer to give up athletic competition after a freak accident left him with a broken neck due to convulsions experienced from food poisoning. Meyer refused to follow the doctor’s orders; instead, he buried himself in rehabilitating his body at Lef Jab. In 2010, after he had worked under the tutelage of Johnson in the ring, Meyer entered into his first Masters Boxing Championship at the age of 58, and earned the first of his three Masters Division Boxing Titles.

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Meyer displays two of the three championship belts he has received for winning the Masters Boxing Championship. The third belt is mounted, framed and hanging in his Landenberg home.

Bob Meyer

“We have always shared the same desire,” said Johnson of Meyer. “My philosophy has always been that failing to prepare is preparing to fail, and that you need to prepare for anything you wish to do in life. It doesn’t mean that you’re going to be the best, but it means that you have chosen to live life without excuses, and that is something that Bob and I have in common.”

‘The journey is what’s exciting’

Five championship fights and thousands of hours spent on a rugby pitch later, Meyer’s tally of his body is a lifetime disabled list of physical setbacks. He has broken every finger except for one, as well as both thumbs several times, absorbed over 200 stitches and staples, suffered several broken ribs and collarbones, and has gone through four reconstructive shoulder, back and cheek surgeries.

None of it phases Meyer; he continues to train more than 20 hours a week at Lef Jab, sometimes in the company of athletes 50 years younger than him, and sometimes alone,

with only the clink of weights and the speed bag breaking the silence.

“I use that time to think about my next competitor, and what he might be doing to train for our upcoming fight,” he said. “If he is doing three miles of road work, then I’m going to be doing five miles. If he’s in the ring for an hour, then I’m going to be in the ring for two hours. I keep pushing myself, because I have always pushed myself.”

“What happens with people is that everyone has aspirations to find that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but they forget the journey,” said Johnson. “The journey is what’s exciting. All of Bob’s ups and downs, his ailments and the injuries that went on prior to Bob’s latest championship? That’s the life, the living and the journey, and it’s been the journey that Bob and I have shared for the last 25 years.”

Meyer said he will continue to box and play rugby as long as he can wake up in the morning and continue to make a fist. In a world where the majority of 70 year-olds

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Bob Meyer

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are slowly shutting down the gears of their lives, Meyer remains both proud and defiant about the choices he continues to make for himself.

“I tell my wife that I will quit boxing and rugby when I am on the other side of the ground, but not until then,” he said. “I used to tell my daughters, ‘Why do you care what anyone thinks of you?’ ‘How does that affect your life?’ I don’t care what anyone thinks of me. I’m doing my own thing, and I only care about what continues to drive me forward.”

The 2023 New Jersey Masters Boxing Championships will be held on Sept. 16 and 17, again at the Showboat in Atlantic City. Bob Meyer will be 71 years old then, and he plans to be there, the forever fighter in the ring of competition.

Lef Jab Boxing Club is located at 112 Rosehill Ave., West Grove, Pa. To learn more, call 484-860-4464 or visit the club on social media.

To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email rgaw@ chestercounty.com.

Meyer’s championship banners hang in the rafters at Lef Jab.

New Garden’s newest garden

A vision for preservation, combined with a master plan, is converting a former golf course into a forever landscape of nature and future memories

On June 7, 2021, the New Garden Township Board of Supervisors unanimously authorized the township’s purchase of a 105-acre parcel owned by the Smedley family that formed the 18-hole golf course at the Loch Nairn Golf Club in Avondale.

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Photos by Jim Coarse | Text by Richard L. Gaw

Loch Nairn

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at Loch Nairn concluded after the 2022 season, and while The Greathouse, The Farmhouse and The Tavern continue to provide the most gracious hospitality, host the most stunning events and serve the best crab cakes anywhere, the remainder of this wide open treasure trove is now ours to protect, preserve and enjoy.

What once was the vision of the Smedley family to protect this property in perpetuity is now in the form of ideas. While the property is currently open to the public, New Garden Township is partnering with Stroud Water Research Center and Natural Lands in developing a master plan that will offer the public acres of protected open space and several miles of trails – many of which will utilize existing golf cart paths.

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www.landenberglifemagazine.com

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absorb and slow water during storms, and the installation of native trees in place of turf grass that will increase soil permeability.

So go ahead. Place your feet on the new pathways of this precious space and see where they take you. Listen to the winds make music in the tall trees. Pause by a gurgling tributary and enjoy the quiet chorus of water in a stream. Most importantly, let your children run ahead of you; they are at the very foundation of a decision made by a local municipality and one family to honor this property, carved from the bedrock of the Native American proverb that says, “We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, but borrow it from our children.”

Drones drive new enterprise

By Ken Mammarella Contributing Writer

Chris Abt’s hoped-for second career is up in the air. Literally, with drones.

The Landenberg resident, who has worked in information technology for 25 years, created ZigZag Aerial LLC in 2022. His startup offers 2D and 3D mapping, flyovers, interior first-person views and other aerial imaging, via drones. “There’s a drone for that,” he writes on www.zigzagaerial. us, “and we have you covered.”

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As a kid, Chris Abt loved to watch airplanes. Now he has his own fleet of unmanned aerial vehicles.

All images courtesy of ZigZag Aerial LLC. Chris Abt and the drone he calls Big Geek. The Landenberg resident has created a drone business called ZigZag Aerial LLC.

Crossan Park, as seen by ZigZag.

Milburn Orchards, as seen by ZigZag.

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“Flying is the easy part,” he said in an interview, speculating that he spends 80 percent of his ZigZag work in post-production to craft tightly edited and visually arresting videos with evocative soundtracks. And since he’s a composer, he contemplates writing his own music for future videos. Although the business is still parttime for him and only occasionally uses the help of a few others, he is also thinking very big. The merch page of his website sells more than 30 items, from a $9.99 mug to a $139.99 comforter, with drone imagery and the company logo. He’s also identified a potential business in creating a line of equipment for drone companies, plus clothing sporting industry slogans.

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Abt said that he spends 80 percent of his drone work in post-production, and only 20 percent actually flying drones.

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It all goes back to a lifelong interest in plane spotting.

A lifelong interest in flight

Abt grew up in Landenberg, and the family later moved to Delaware County. He returned to Landenberg at about the time he started ZigZag, to be closer to family (his sisters are now in Oxford and West Grove and his mother lives in Newark).

“Flight has been an interest of mine for years. Ever since I was little, I liked going to airports. I always wanted to know where people were going,” he said, recalling trips to Philadelphia International Airport with his grandfather. That hobby, unfortunately, became less appealing following all the restrictions started after the 9/11 terrorism attacks in 2001.

Continued on Page 52 Abt sends a drone out over Crossan Park.

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His interest also led him to getting a job fueling jets. That gig ended after three weeks, the day some tanks fell over.

“I was scared to death, and I never went back,” he said. “I considered learning how to fly but I could not afford the lessons at the time.”

In 2006, the Federal Aviation Administration issued the first permit for commercial drones, and he noticed drone businesses start up and friends using drones to enhance their photography.

So in 2021, Abt took an online course – the FAA requires training for anyone flying drones commercially – and aced the FAA’s in-person course at Brandywine Regional Airport in West Goshen. He was now certified.

Flying, it turns out, is not that easy. Drones can’t go into closed airspaces – like near airports or President Joe Biden’s Delaware home – and other rules cover flights over crowds and at night. Drones can’t go above 400 feet – unless they’re mapping the exterior of very tall buildings. Drones can’t get too close to clouds.

“So many rules,” he acknowledged. “There’s really a lot to know.”

ZigZag’s fleet

Over the last year, Abt has established a fleet of drones, with varied specialties, like different golf clubs in a set. They have FAA registration numbers (“like license plates”), but Abt has given most nicknames: Big Geek, Little Geek, Cousin Geek and Tiny Geek form one quartet. He also pilots Moongoat FPV, Avata FPV and Avata Goggles (FPV is first-person view; goggles refer to the goggles that he wears when piloting it; Avata and Moongoat are brands).

Abt is building the business with training and networking from the Oxford Area Chamber of Commerce, and he also has a mentor from SCORE, the nation’s largest network of volunteer business experts, united in a program partly funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

He is a big fan of the online classes for creatives on skillshare.com.

“I’m on there a lot, constantly taking in information and learning new tricks in editing,” he said. “You want to be a little bit different than anyone else and try to do

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Abt with some of the fleet (from left to right): Cousin Geek, Moongoat FPV, Big Geek, Avata Goggles and Avata FPV.

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different things. Different cuts, different angles, different something. Anything that’s different. People don’t want to watch the same thing over and over again.”

Abt said that he has received logo design and graphics advice from his son, Jadeon, as well as the persistence to both fly drones and spend hours editing the images they create.

His other help has been from Laura D’Ascenzo, a friend who sometimes assists in filming as his visual observer. The FAA requires the drone to be in the constant line of sight of the remote pilot in command, or the sight is handed off to the visual observer. That observer is also required when flying first-person videos, since the pilot is wearing goggles and “has no situational awareness.”

Out in the wild blue yonder

Abt’s first client was a horse farm that also ran an airbnb. Another early video was for Milburn Orchards in Cecil County.

“People loved seeing our farm from a unique perspective,” said Olivia Palmeri, marketing manager for the operation, which has its own drone. “The Milburn family and our employees are already wondering when he is returning again so we can see more of these great views during our different growing seasons and seasonal events.”

Abt has also created multiple videos for Franklin Township, showcasing its parks and preserves.

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Sunset over Landenberg, as seen by ZigZag.

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“You can walk, play or just peacefully chillax,” he wrote last November on ZigZag’s Facebook page, with a drone video of Crossan Park.

“People love it,” Jeff Eastburn, the township’s operations manager said of Abt’s drone artistry, done pro bono to build ZigZag’s business and help the community. “We’ve had a great reaction, and it’s brought more attention to our parks. It’s a new, neat perspective, and we’re extremely happy.

“We see this as an attention-getter but also as something for grant cycles to show the county and the state what we have done,” he added.

both growth and loss.

Last fall, he filmed a tree planting in Crossan Park, and he wants to return years from now to capture the trees’ growth – and the success of the volunteers’ effort.

The loss can be sad, and it can also be hopeful.

Abt has also created a line of clothing and other items with drone slogans.

“Progress videos are a great way to monitor overall growth, or loss in any given situation,” Abt writes on his website. In the interview, he talked about

“When you get a drone in it at 200 feet, with 4K video, you can see the names of the books owned by children that were killed in a devastating hurricane,” he said. Such footage might encourage more donations to help devastated families, he said, and in a similar way he would like his drones to help search-and-rescue missions succeed.

To learn more about ZigZag Aerial LLC, visit zigzagaerial. us or email chris@zigzagaerial.us.

Their musical menu

Get ready to text.

Max & Denise are known for their all-request performances

By Ken Mammarella Contributing Writer

The musical origin story for Max & Denise started in 1982, when Max’s bass player asked Denise to audition for their band, Canyon. They did their first show together at the Ugly Mug in Cape May.

Their personal origin story goes back to Margaret B. Harris Elementary in Collingdale.

Max Collins grew up in Collingdale, Denise Romano in Chester. But when Denise and her mother moved to Collingdale, they were schoolmates, but in different grades. They don’t recall any encounters from back then, though.

After marrying in 1990, Max and Denise have combined their personal and professional lives, generating what Denise called “seamless harmonies that only come from years of working together.”

“We do finish each other’s sentences on stage,” Max said, “and the audience gets a kick out of that.”

“We try not to make faces at each other when one of us screws up,” Denise said. “But we do.”

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All photos courtesy of Max & Denise. Photo by Terry Manucci Max & Denise (musicians who have been performing together for four decades) are also Max and Denise Collins (husband and wife for three decades). Here they’re at Wayvine Vineyards in Nottingham.

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All-request gigs

Now that Max has retired from teaching and Denise has cut back on her dog-related businesses, they are performing full time. Max & Denise “acoustic with an edge” did more than 150 shows in 2022 and has more than 120 already booked for 2023. Almost all gigs –mostly wineries, brewpubs and restaurants but also private functions and festivals – are within an hour’s drive at their home in nearby Lincoln University. Details are at www.maxanddenise. com.

They are known for all-request performances. “We used to use set lists, like most bands,” Max said. “But then people would approach us during our breaks and ask, ‘Do you know anything by this artist?’ I found it very frustrating when I had to say

‘No.’ ”

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Photo by Stiehl Photography

Max & Denise performed every Saturday night in 2018 at the Chadds Ford Tavern, which had just been taken over by Phil Ferro. “I believe the opportunity gave us a strong kickstart to our comeback in music,” Denise Collins said.

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“So one morning, I started listing the songs we do know and created what we call the Max & Denise menu. We give out laminated lists that have Denise’s number on them, and we encourage the audience to text their requests.” Requests are fulfilled first come, first sung in what are usually three sets of 45-minutes of danceable music.

Their repertoire features more than 200 songs, from the ’50s to current hits, “from mellow, classic folk right through to fill-tilt rock,” Denise said. The laminated lists and the one on their website are deliberately random, because they want fans to immerse themselves in the choices, maybe discovering an unexpected gem, rather than scanning alphabetically for the first favorite tune or musician they see.

The menu begins online with Fleetwood Mac’s “Monday Morning” and ends with Neil Young’s “Harvest Moon.” Recent additions to the laminated menu include Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey” and Mary Chapin Carpenter’s “Right Now.”

“We keep bringing them back because they are a treat to our customers,” Wayvine Vineyards owners Nancy and Dave Wilson wrote in an email. “They play awesome music with a great variety, even letting our customers be interactive and pick their own songs. On top of that, their following is great, which is always nice to have some new guests in the winery.”

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Photo by Naomi Copenhaver Max & Denise is sometimes a quartet. From left, Mark Arnold, Denise Collins, Billy Graham and Max Collins at the Granite Run Taproom in Port Deposit, Maryland.

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|Landenberg Life|

Early notes

Both Max and Denise warmed to music as children.

“My mother was a professional musician,” Denise said, “and that’s how I began my journey in music.”

She joined the church choir and was a soloist by age 12, and later membership in an a cappella group taught her a lot about harmonizing. She was 20 when she started studying classically with Philadelphia teacher Bob Nay. “He checked out my range and said ‘What kind of music would you like to sing? Because, with your range, you can sing anything you want,’” she said. “I thought of my icons, Linda Ronstadt and Bonnie Raitt.”

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Photo by Joe Golden Max & Denise, in their early days performing together, in Joe Golden’s studio.

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Max, on the other guitar-picking hand, has had no formal training.

“Absolutely none,” he said. “People say I have the ear, the gift.” He was 13 when he got his first guitar and first gig, performing at a birthday. “Everybody back then wanted to be the Beatles,” he said, so he got a Beatles songbook and taught himself. Various rock bands followed until that fateful meeting in 1982 with Denise.

When their first group disbanded, the rock band No Frills came together with Max on electric guitar and vocals and Denise as lead singer, Jill Brady on

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Photo by Stiehl Photography

Most Max & Denise performances are within an hour of their home.

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drums, Kim Butler on fretless bass and Jeannette Shimkus on keyboards. After No Frills disbanded, Max & Denise began performing as a duo.

Max plays the guitar, while Denise said she “provides rhythm guitar, mandolin, and the toe-tapping sounds of hand-held percussion.” Both sing.

In 2017, slide guitarist Mark Arnold joined them, and Billy Graham later joined as an acoustic drummer. So Max & Denise is now sometimes a duo, a trio or a quartet.

Wedding songs and a closing ballad

At their wedding, they sung their vows, Max choosing Kathy Mattea’s “You’re the Power,” written by his brother, F.C., and Craig Bickhardt. Denise chose Mattea’s “As Long as I Have a Heart.”

Max thinks that his career – 33 years teaching biology at Chichester High School – helps their music because “teaching is like performing,” he said. “I’m very comfortable in

front of a group.”

Denise thinks that her career – showing, grooming and breeding West Highland white terriers – helps their music by showcasing her promotional skills. Although she’s cut back on dogdom, she still does some grooming, and she runs a lucrative business called Denise’s Leashes (expect a 10-week wait for her braided and beaded show leashes and collars).

They share their home with two Westies, Gidget (named after the movie) and Candy Girl (named after the song by Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons).

They end every gig with Orleans’ 1976 hit “Still the One.” “It’s the perfect closing number,” Max said, starting to go through the lyrics, which begin “We’ve been together since way back when.”

“The first line just sums it all up, our 40 years together,” he said.

“People really do connect with that,” Denise said.

As Johanna and John Hall wrote at the song’s end: “We’re still having fun, and you’re still the one.”