Middletown Life Spring/Summer 2021 Edition by Ad Pro Inc.

Spring/Summer 2021

Middletown Life

Magazine

Our Seasons of Renewal

The Cedar Swamp Wildlife Area – Page 44

Inside A big library for MOT Agriculture teacher inspires students In the spotlight: Veterans Watchmaker Initiative Complimentary Copy

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Middletown Life Summer 2021

Middletown Life Table of Contents 8

Gene Fontana, Delaware’s Mr. Blues

16 Illuminating their chosen pathways: Projects showcase interests of high school seniors

A big library for MOT

A megawatt savings

Photo essay: Cedar Swamp Wildlife area

Veterans Watchmaker Initiative

58 Life Lessons:

Stephen Cook inspires others

Middletown Life | Spring/Summer 2021 | www.middletownlifemagazine.com

Middletown Life Spring/Summer 2021 Letter from the Editor:

In this issue of Middletown Life, we’re very pleased to spotlight the work of the Veterans Watchmaker Initiative, a local organization that teaches highly specialized watchmaking skills to veterans. Sam Cannan, a Swiss-trained watchmaker, is the founder of Veterans Watchmaker Initiative, a world-class watchmaking school in Odessa. All the programs are free to the veterans. We’ll also introduce you to “Delaware’s Mr. Blues,” Gene Fontana, a key force in the Diamond State Blues Society, the St. Georges Blues Festival and music at the St. Georges Country Store. For more than 20 years, Fontana has created blues festivals in locations across New Castle County. We also report about the new—and big—library finally coming to the MOT area after years of efforts. When the new, 27,500-square-foot library at 244 E. Main St. in Middletown opens next March, it will offer much more than books. It will be a community resource center for the 21st century—that will house a multimedia production studio, a memory lab, a makerspace, meeting rooms and study rooms. These features represent the changing nature of libraries nationwide. We profile Appoquinimink High School teacher Stephen Cook, who has spent the last quarter century educating young people about the agricultural industry, with a passion and dedication that continues to inspire students. We also take a look at some of the capstone projects that showcase the wide and sophisticated interests of Appoquinimink School District seniors in their chosen pathways. We selected six of this year’s most interesting capstone projects. They include work on increasing the efficiency of solar panels, uniting STEM students across America, planning a fine-dining restaurant, making a no-spill measuring device, providing loans for individuals doing home improvement projects and using artificial intelligence to watch animals. The Cedar Swamp Wildlife Area is the subject of the photo essay. Like many other preserves of its kind, the Cedar Swamp Wildlife Area has become a symbol of tranquility and hope for those who traverse it. We hope you enjoy these stories. We’re already hard at work planning the next issue of Middletown Life that will arrive later in 2021. If you have any story suggestions for that issue, please reach out to us. Sincerely, Randy Lieberman, Publisher randyl@chestercounty.com, 610-869-5553 Steve Hoffman, Editor editor@chestercounty.com, 610-869-5553, Ext. 13

58 Cover Design: Tricia Hoadley Cover photo: Moonloop Photography www.middletownlifemagazine.com | Spring/Summer 2021 | Middletown Life

|Middletown Arts and Entertainment|

Delawar

Gene Fontana at the St. Georges Blues Festival.

Meet Gene Fontana, a key force in the Diamond State Blues Society, the St. Georges Blues Festival and music at the St. Georges Country Store

Gene Fontana with an image of bluesman Lil’ Ed. 8

Middletown Life | Spring/Summer 2021 | www.middletownlifemagazine.com

Photos courtesy of Connie Taylor.

ware’s Mr. Blues By Ken Mammarella Contributing writer

elaware’s most important blues fan is undoubtedly Middletown resident Gene Fontana. He’s “a central part of the blues scene in Delaware. You can’t mention the scene without him,” said Garry Cogdell, a blues performer for 56 years. “He’s taken us to the next level.” For more than 20 years, Fontana has created blues festivals in locations across New Castle County. A riff on “Mr. Blues” helps form his email address. And then there’s his blues collection. “Boxes and boxes of albums. Lots of CDs – I couldn’t tell you how many. And cassettes that I recorded live off the radio,” he said. “I’m just a promoter. I don’t play,” he said. “but I have always loved the blues. It’s the roots of all music. I like it all: West Coast blues, Chicago blues, Piedmont blues, Mississippi blues, Memphis blues.” And, of course, blues performed in Delaware. Blues here, there and everywhere Fontana, who’s 62, is a Delaware native. He had a career in auto body collision, repair and paint, working for Diver Chevrolet for 27 years, Auto Collision for 12 years and

Executive Auto Body for a 1½ years before moving into the restaurant business. He bought the St. Georges Country Store in 2015. His blues memories go back to attending performances in the 1970s. By 1997, his interest had strengthened enough to create the Diamond State Blues Society, formed with his wife, Elenore, and based on advice from the Bucks County Blues Society in Pennsylvania. The Diamond State Blues Society is “one of the premier blues organizations on the East Coast,” Tom Cullen, cofounder of the Bucks County Blues Society, said in the 2020 obituary for Elenore. “We were kindred spirits in that we both understood that the blues is a big tent.” Fontana offered several examples of that big tent by noting that a lot of famous rock bands started out with the blues, including Fleetwood Mac, the Steve Miller Band, the Allman Brothers Band and the Rolling Stones. Some returned to it as well. He booked his first big blues event, with The Nighthawks, in 1998. The events and interactions with the artists flowed. The House Rocking Parties, with the blues tinged with rock. The Harvest Festivals in the fall. The Riverfront Blues Festivals in Wilmington, plus the after-parties. The St. Georges Blues Continued on Page 10

Saxophonist Vanessa Collier is just inches away from fans at the St. Georges Country Store.

Courtesy photo

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Gene Fontana Continued from Page 9

Festivals. And performances in the St. Georges Country Store. It takes three websites to cover it all: www.bluehorizonpromotions.com for the bookings, www.diamondstateblues. com for the society and www.saintgeorgescountrystore. com for the store. ‘The love of the music’ Blue Horizon was conceived by Fontana, Ben Rizzo of Diamond State Masonry and Joe Michini (former owner of the St. Georges Country Store) “to help restore and keep alive the rich musical heritage” of St. Georges. “We started doing it just for the love of music,” said blues fan Sonny Dill, who helped Gene and Elenore Fontana early on. “Great festivals, great people (I know their wives!). We just wanted to educate people. It wasn’t about making money. It was about having enough for the next round.” The venues for these shows moved around (the St. Georges Blues Festival is now in Delaware City, for example) and so did Fontana’s involvement. “Things change,” he said. Then came the pandemic, which stopped national acts from touring, generated capacity restrictions on indoor

Middletown Life | Spring/Summer 2021 | www.middletownlifemagazine.com

Courtesy photo

Garry Cogdell (from left), Ron Smith and Joe Morocco at the St. Georges Country Store. Cogdell started the blues tradition at the store, Fontana said.

events and spurred cautious governments to deny permits for outdoor events. The latest bad news: The 2021 St. Georges Blues Festival has been canceled. Continued on Page 12

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Gene Fontana Continued from Page 10

Gene Fontana on stage at a Diamond State Blues Society event at the Reef.

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Plans for St. Georges Country Store The latest good news: The St. Georges Country Store has been remodeled and is being readied for reopening this spring. The store traces its history back 300 years, judging by it’s foundation, Fontana said. For decades, it was a country store, selling all sorts of items. Michini around 2005 converted it into a place that also books music, Cogdell recalled. On one hand, that’s an odd choice, since ticket revenue is very limited, because the audience capacity is so low. On the other, it’s a great choice. “It’s priceless to see a show in this room,” Fontana said. “I sell only 45 tickets, and those tickets are like a backstage pass, and you can have a drink and talk with the performers.” The acoustics are good enough to have served as a site to make recordings. “It’s an incredibly cool room,” Cogdell said. “Old-school sound. Really good sound,” He should know: he has a recurring gig in the room, and his musicianship dates back to 1964 and includes Mississippi Earl Brown, a trio with Mike “Pup” Williams and bluesman George Thorogood. Continued on Page 14

Gene Fontana Continued from Page 12

The store sits on land owned by Fontana and Rizzo; Fontana owns the store itself. Ice cream and Trudy Lynn For the reopening, Fontana is planning on shortening the menu, which showcases Cajun recipes and comfort food from his wife. While that menu is shrinking, he’s adding an ice cream shop, called the Creamery at St. Georges. It’ll also have casual fare like hot dogs. He’s aiming to appeal to people enjoying the Mike Castle Trail, and a trailhead is just steps away. “Wow,” he said, after briefly counting potential customers on a winter day. “There goes eight ice cream cones.” In several years he also hopes to create a beer garden, with music, of course. For now, he’s weighing how to accommodate capacity restrictions. Two shows in one day? Three? The first national act will be Trudy Lynn in June. He plans to otherwise emphasize local performers. The store and the festivals are able to draw boldface names for two reasons. One is that they’re close enough to other festivals and venues that performers

Headliner Albert Castiglia shares the stage at the 2012 Diamond State Blues Society show with Michael Burks. Fontana fondly recalls the show as his “best ever. Unbelievable.”

can easily swing by on tours. Another is that the performers – and their spouses, their agents their managers – know Fontana. Often, that’s from his attendance on blues cruises. “You’re on the ship with all these great characters, said Dill, also a cruise regular. “Give me a name, and I’ll give you a story.”

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|Middletown Education|

Illuminating their chosen pathways Capstone projects showcase the wide and sophisticated interests of Appoquinimink School District seniors in their chosen pathways By Ken Mammarella Contributing Writer Appoquinmink School District’s capstone portfolio is a graduation requirement and a commitment. It includes work in all four years of high school and demonstrates growth in students’ chosen pathways. The district’s two high schools offer 25 pathways, in eight conceptual schools that focus on academics, trades and the civic good. The portfolio is capped by an immersive project. “Students will identify a problem that is related to their pathway and then spend 50 hours researching the problem and possible solutions, working with industry partners to direct their research and their solution,” according to a district guide. Here are six of this year’s most interesting capstone projects. They include work on increasing the efficiency of solar panels, uniting STEM students across America, planning a fine-dining restaurant, making a no-spill measuring device, providing loans for individuals doing home improvement projects and using artificial intelligence to watch animals.

Animals and artificial intelligence Like many a scientific theory, one capstone project this year – focused on artificial intelligence and animals – evolved. A lot. At various times, there was talk about Disney’s Animal Kingdom, equestrian farms, dog kennels, a Maryland zoo, the Brandywine Zoo and the Urban Wildlife Information Network. Bobcats, rabbits, squirrels and foxes were involved; so were flour, sand and enrichment items. “An enrichment item is an item that will get some kind of response from the animal, for example a ball or a snack that will change the way an animal is behaving in its enclosure,” Middletown High School senior Gwen Radecki said. The final version involved designing a data capture system for small animals on trail cameras across Delaware, said group mentor Matt Saponaro, founder of A.I. Whoo, a local artificial intelligence startup with expertise in ethically capturing data in outdoor spaces. They’re also looking at paw prints. Motion-detection cameras can 16

Middletown Life | Spring/Summer 2021 | www.middletownlifemagazine.com

Justin Wham

Serene Abiy

easily catch big animals, but there are problems with small ones. The paw prints are recorded because the lures, baited with food, are dusted with sand. The sand will also pick up rubbings, markings and scat, said Appoquinimink senior Justin Wham. The tech will kick in helping to advance the

medical history of animals spotted. “We’ll give them a little snack, and we’ll get data,” said Wham, who plans to major in marine biology through the Student Excellence Equals Degree program at Delaware Tech, then at the University of Delaware. “Their work is on par with peer-reviewed” work done in Ethni Abiy universities, said Saponaro, who received a doctorate in 2020 from the University of Delaware. “Overall, the group we’re working with have demonstrated they will be leaders to take science to the next level.” Radecki reacted strongly to one interim concept, on using

artificial intelligence to replace zookeepers and veterinarians in monitoring animals. She felt A.I. was “incapable” of the task. “Every single animal will show injuries and illnesses in a different way,” Radecki, a future nursing major, said. Instead, she wrote a research paper justifying her dissent. Appoquinimink High School seniors Ethni and Serene Abiy got involved because they both loved animals – so much that they became vegetarians at age 6 after watching documentaries on the food industry. “Whatever happens, we record,” said Ethni, who plans to major in biology or animal science. Serene, who plans to major in biology and eventually in veterinary medicine, is looking forward to “getting a better understanding of animals’ behavior” in the project. Appoquinimink High School senior Nick Satterfield was also a project member.

The STEM Society of America fills a void The Science Olympiad was canceled. Ditto the Math League. Same for the science group known as HOSA. Middletown High School students Victor Shi, Collin Bowers and Raaj Pednekar were bummed. “Why not create our own opportunity and fill the void?” Shi asked his friends. They started filling the void Victor Shi with The STEM Organization of Delaware and expanded into The STEM Organization of America. They went live last spring as https://tsoaonline. org. “Our organization is completely digital and free,” Shi said. “We use our platform to help students across the country to develop and showcase their STEM skills.” They

did so through The National At-Home STEM Competition. Students at Harvard, Stanford and Yale judged the 45 projects. With their own mentoring by Eric Loftus, the district’s finance director, they also provided webinars, mentorships, sponsorships and peer tutoring, he said. “It took a lot of time, but it was worth it,” Shi said, figuring that it’s taken 120 hours so far – far above the 50 expected of a capstone. Shi chose it as his capstone, but the others did not. If these friends scatter for college (Shi plans to major in molecular biology), what will happen to their organization and site? They’re debating that now. “The best thing that came out of this is that building a community can be very hard work,” Shi said, “but in the end, the building is important, and the skills we needed are very important to have.”

Helping the community and improving their skills The importance of helping the community, and the mundane elements of bureaucracy and mentoring that’s continued after the capstone was completed last fall, were all parts of a group project to make Middletown a better place to live. “We were able to see in Middletown there are families struggling,” said She’Anna Hammock. She and three other Middletown High School students met with Tim Deschepper, Middletown’s town planner, on issues facing the town as its population explodes from its

19th century core. It’s about “addressing the needs of our community,” said Lindsey Hallett. The quartet developed prototype protocols for low-interest loans and grants for needy people doing home improvement products and promotion of environmentally

Nylah Whitaker

Continued on Page 18 www.middletownlifemagazine.com | Spring/Summer 2021 | Middletown Life

Senior projects Continued from Page 17

friendly products for the home, like solar panels. “I have a passion for the environment,” said Karina Hallett, Lindsey’s twin sister. It was all branded as the United Financial Housing Project. Their mentors were Lynn Watson, of the Brown Brothers Harriman Trust Co. and University of Delaware business professor Jennifer McCloskey. Nylah Whitaker, who plans to major in information systems, said her takeaways included “working well in a group setting. And even during the pandemic, I got to do a big project that has a big impact on the community.” Another impact: “Zoom calls about our future with our mentors.” “It was a very long journey, and our mentors were amazing,” said Hammock, who plans to major in economics at Morgan State. “Our mentors gave us ideas and structure. They made our work look professional and taught us about professionalism.” “I learned a lot about time management,” Karina Hallett, who plans to major in business at Delaware Tech, said of balancing schoolwork, sports and her teammates’ schedules.

WE PRICE MATCH DAILY

A clever solution to the mess of measuring Photo courtesy of Kylie Taylor

Appoquinimink High The Cuppl is a measuring School seniors Kylie Taylor device for cooks. and Megan Tarr wanted their senior project to be “a solution to something we overlook as just an inconvenience,” Tarr said. The inconvenience: the inaccuracy, mess and time lost in cleaning while using measuring cups. The solution: The three-part Cuppl, which you dip into a container of, say, flour. One part has holes to measure 1, 1/2, 1/4, and 1/8 teaspoon. A base slides on the bottom, and when you slide on the top, it levels the quantity you need. What’s in the closed Cuppl can be cleanly transferred to the mixing bowl. When done, the pieces can be separated and washed.

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The Cuppl’s name is a vestige of their earlier idea, focused on cup-size measuring. Taylor and Tarr have been friends since preschool. Taylor is a home baker, and Tarr has gotten much more into cooking and baking during the pandemic. But they didn’t use just their perspective. They researched previous solutions. Tarr surveyed dozens of high school and college students on what they wanted in a measuring device (such as appearance, size, self-leveling capability, variety of measurements, anti-spilling quality and the ability to see what’s inside). Taylor talked to Janine Crawford, her boss at Pop in Artisan Pops in Middletown. They were helped by their mentor, Adam Binkley, of TA Instruments. They used software to make 50 sketches and selected the best to prototype on the 3D printer that Taylor owns – and uses. She previously made a slide to mark the dishwasher as clean or dirty. “I designed a model of the insert that holds the tape rolls in a desktop tape dispenser because teachers and students at Appo kept losing the inserts that held the tape rolls, and would then have to throw away the entire tape dispenser,” Taylor said. “My engineering teacher helped print out the

Kylie Taylor with the Cuppl prototype.

Megan Tarr with the Cuppl prototype.

model for some of the other teachers to replace the inserts that had been lost.” In college, Taylor plans to major in mechanical engineering, and Tarr plans to major in biology. “Was the solution successful?” they ask in their project PowerPoint. “Yes,” they answer. And since the project was completed months ago, they know it was successful in another way: Perfect grades. Continued on Page 20

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Senior projects Continued from Page 19

Visualizing a fine dining experience For Appoquinimink High School senior Aaron Wallace, fine dining is a passion, how his family celebrates their birthdays and his planned career. “I’m just drawn to that lavish, fancy style,” he said, recalling how he has long been fascinated with cooking and has enjoyed helping his father in the kitchen and at the grill. For his capstone project, he created the concept for a restaurant called Azwall’s: A Fine Dining Experience. His work included the menu (heavy on Cajun food), the décor (elegant), the music (mellow) and the business analysis of the concept’s strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats. Because of coronavirus guidelines, none of his senior-year culinary classes were in a kitchen, but he had mentoring from Alex Schiff, executive chef at Eclipse Bistro, and Carl Georigi, founder of the Platinum Dining Group. “It’s been an amazing journey,” Wallace said of all things that he has learned so far. When asked for an example, he offered how he’s incorporated blanching in his repertoire. He’ll be learning more at Johnson & Wales University, where he’ll major in culinary arts. Wallace said he admires the “distinctive and classy” work of Gordon Ramsay, and his menu for Azwall’s includes pan-seared chicken from

Middletown Life | Spring/Summer 2021 | www.middletownlifemagazine.com

Photo courtesy of Aaron Wallace

Aaron Wallace

Wallace made and plated this spaghetti bolognese.

Emeril Lagasse, called poulet Tchoupitoulas, served with Southern cooked greens and an optional andouille sweet corn bread pudding. He kicked up his style more than a notch to celebrate Mother’s Day and Father’s Day in 2020. His mother Gail was served baked salmon with lobster mac ’n’ cheese. His father Edward was served grilled steak, with a garlic butter sauce and blue cheese crumble, plus roasted potatoes and asparagus. Wallace hopes eventually to become a head chef and open his own restaurant. Continued on Page 22

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Senior projects Continued from Page 20

Coated solar panels are cleaner, more efficient Middletown High School senior Mark Wise has always been interested in “the concept of generating energy from the sun.” That inspired his capstone project on solar panels. He also liked that solar panels benefit nature by reducing the dependence on fossil fuels, and they help humans by providing electricity. He worked with Don Hafer, a retired civil engineer, to mentor his research and development. Wise focused on how to increase the efficiency of a solar panel by avoiding the buildup of water, dirt and other substances, and his solution was to use a nanotextured hydrophilic coating. “Nano” is very small – a human hair is 40,000 to 80,000 nanometers wide. The “textured” part is about creating pockets in the coating that trap air. “Hydrophilic” is all about being attracted to water. The bottom line is that the coating makes the water just roll off and never reach the solar panel. Apple last year debuted a nanotextured coating on its iMacs, he offered as an example. Wise applied two coats of the liquid coating to half of a panel, and it cured into a solid. He left the other half untouched for comparison testing, now continuing in Milton, his family’s new home. Early results have been promising. The coated panel has been easier to clean, and more importantly, the power output has been at least 10-15 percent higher, he said. The coating makes the panel look dimmer and tinges it yellow, but those are only cosmetic issues. He hopes this summer to continue tests on a larger panel, even though the capstone will be over and he’s a graduate. But first, he needs to finish his Eagle Scout commitment

Photo courtesy of Mark Wise

Mark Wise and the solar panel he tested.

to build bluebird houses at the Blackbird Creek Wildlife Reserve. Wise plans to major in mechanical engineering at Purdue University and hopes for a career in renewable energy. “Something that would change the environment,” he said.

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|Around Middletown|

A big library – at

All renderings, courtesy Tetra Tech and Perkins & Will

Left: Along Main Street, the new library looks like a row of small buildings rather than one overwhelming one. Right: A second entrance from the parking lot is intended for people who drive or bike in.

Middletown Life | Spring/Summer 2021 | www.middletownlifemagazine.com

at last! – for MOT

The new Southern New Castle County Library will feature tens of thousands of more items to check out – and more spaces to meet and create By Ken Mammarella Contributing Writer

hen the 27,500-square-foot library at 244 E. Main St. in Middletown opens next March, it will have a multimedia production studio, a memory lab, a makerspace, meeting rooms and study rooms. Yes, the $27 million Southern New Castle County Library will have more books and other types of media to check out, but these other features represent the changing nature of libraries nationwide. “You can’t judge a library by its books,” New Castle County Councilman David Carter said. “Our libraries do so much more. It becomes our creative commons.” The facility has been a long time coming. “People have been advocating and planning for this for at least 25 years,” said Kevin Swed, the library’s manager. “It’s almost in the heart of downtown.” It’s hoped that the library will also be the heart of the community. New Castle County is “planting seeds of hope, inspiration and dreams and building community,” said Susan Kemer, president of the Friends of the Southern New Castle Library. “Libraries have gradually taken on new functions and new roles,” State Sen. Stephanie Hansen said. “Now they’re more than a place where you go and get books. There’s someone there that’s going to help you with all sorts of [things], perhaps social services issues, housing issues, employment issues. They’ve become information hubs.” Continued on Page 26

Credit Kyle Grantham/New Castle County government

Ground was broken in August for the Southern New Castle County Library on East Main Street in Middletown, between South Catherine Street and the post office. www.middletownlifemagazine.com | Spring/Summer 2021 | Middletown Life

Library

The makerspace is modeled after one at the Route 9 Library and Innovation Center.

Continued from Page 25

That was then The first library in Middletown opened in 1901, as a grassroots effort led by the Middletown New Century Club. Its Main Street building burned down in 1922, and the next incarnation was a station library serviced by bookmobiles. In 1963, the library became a school district library and

PLUMBING

moved into an old school on North Broad Street, now the home of the Middletown Historical Society. In 1994, the Appoquinimink Public Library became part of the county system. In 1997, it moved into the new Middletown High School on Silver Lake Road, serving the school and the community. Continued on Page 28

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Library

The library will have areas set aside for children, teens and adults.

Continued from Page 26

The library outgrew that arrangement and in 2009 moved into rented space at 651 N. Broad Street as leaders of the county and the state’s library system continued to contemplate how – and where – to best serve the exploding growth in the Middletown-Odessa-Townsend area. When the new location was announced in 2018, Marcus Henry, general manager of the county Department of

Community Services, said they looked at a dozen potential sites across MOT. Their choice was downtown Middletown, next to Silver Lake Elementary and just north of Silver Lake Park, on an eight-acre site that can accommodate expansion. It’s within walking distance of all the previous locations, and the Continued on Page 30

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Library

Continued from Page 28

choice fits nicely into the modern mantra of nurturing communities where people can live, work and play without getting into a motor vehicle. This is now The new library is about three times larger than the current facility and about 10 percent larger than the Bear Library. The Southern and Bear libraries are considered regional libraries in the county system. About half of the building will house familiar library services, Swed said, and there’s room to expand to 40,000 square feet. Features have evolved during the planning. Here’s a look at the latest: •T he multimedia production studio will be a first for Delaware’s three dozen public libraries. It will feature one studio for video production, with a green screen and other equipment. Another studio will be outfitted for audio production, with a piano and other equipment. •T he memory lab will include equipment to digitize photos and, possibly, VHS tapes and film. •T he makerspace, modeled on the Route 9 Library and Innovation Center, will include 3D printers, routers, engravers and related equipment. •A conference room will have 14 seats and videoconferencing capabilities. At this point, all these tech services are free, Swed said. •T here will be five individual and group study rooms. Two meeting spaces can be combined into one 2,000-square-foot community room. Wait, there’s more The library now has about 55,000 items and plans to go to about 90,000 to open. “This will include doubling the number of children’s items from 23,000, increasing the DVDs from about 6,000 to 9,000, increasing the teen items from 3,000 to 4,500,” Swed said. The library circulates more children’s books than materials for adults, he said, so the space for children’s books will more than double. The space for teen and adult books will grow 25 percent. Children and teens get their own dedicated spaces. Adults get one for quiet reading. Continued on Page 32

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Library

Continued from Page 30

The number of computers will double from 12 to 24, and to accommodate the increasing numbers of patrons bringing their own laptops, there will be more tables with electrical outlets. Citing the Appoquinimink School District’s immersion programs, Swed said they are looking at growing the several dozen books in Spanish to several hundred and creating a collection in Chinese. The library will probably be open for 55 hours a week (probably closed Thursdays), up from the 48 hours curbside pickup has been offered and the 45 hours it was open before the pandemic. Building for the future The facade looks like a row of intimate buildings, rather than one monumental structure that would overpower the block. Solar panels, lots of windows, skylights, a rain garden, electric vehicle charging stations and other features will probably add up to a silver Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design designation. There will be 112 parking spaces, plus an overflow lot off

Middletown Life | Spring/Summer 2021 | www.middletownlifemagazine.com

of Cochran Street that could also be used by people at the school and the park. The library will continue a relationship with the school, Swed said. The $27 million project budget is half covered by the state, with big support by the county. Several regional foundations – the Crystal Trust and the Longwood, Welfare and Creastlea foundations – have also made contributions. The Friends have a $750,000 fundraising goal for their part. Volunteer Brewing, Middletown’s first brewery, hosted a fundraiser that helped the Friends raise about $14,000, Swed said. County Executive Matt Meyer has called this mix of funding “the best of the Delaware Way.” Meyer said that he learned in his first campaign that MOT residents felt that they weren’t getting their value for tax dollars because some services were inadequate. The creation of this regional library, the creation of the large Southern Park on Shallcross Lake Road and the renovation of the paramedic station on North Broad Street fulfill his promises to deliver what below the canal residents deserve. “Our new library in Middletown will better meet the needs of the MOT area with additional gathering and programming spaces that employ technology to promote literacy, learning and collaboration,” he said.

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|Middletown Community|

Efficient Smart: A megawatt savings in energy and costs Provided in partnership with the Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation, Middletown’s Efficiency Smart initiative is becoming a wise choice for homeowners and businesses By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

ight now – and very likely while you read this magazine article -- the Town of Middletown is undergoing two methods of managing its energy and electric supply. The first, and certainly the most visible, is seen in the work of the town’s electric department, whose engineers and foremen maintain the town’s municipal electric system. They are everywhere, climbing poles and digging beneath the ground to maintain and upgrade the town’s wastewater and water treatment facilities, keeping its streetlights glowing, and installing new electric infrastructure to homes and businesses. The other method is one not nearly as visible but whose impact on conserving the energy grid in the town has been significant. It is happening in the homes and businesses that collectively make Middletown the growing community it is. It is upgrading outdated household appliances like air conditioning units, washing machines and refrigerators. It

Middletown Life | Spring/Summer 2021 | www.middletownlifemagazine.com

is removing incandescent lighting from office spaces and replacing them with LED bulbs. Most importantly, it is an initiative whose momentum – and subsequent effectiveness -- is being driven by the people. The Town of Middletown, in partnership with the Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation (DEMEC) and American Municipal Power (AMP), is offering the Efficiency Smart program in an effort to help its residents and businesses reduce their energy use and save money. With a quick phone call, any homeowner or business in Middletown can arrange to have a representative from DEMEC and AMP pay a free visit to a home or office and provide recommendations on energy improvements that can be made from the boardroom to the basement. Conserving kilowatt hours For businesses, DEMEC provides technical assistance and financial incentives to encourage the installation of energyefficient technologies, and identify, assess and validate energy efficiency projects. In addition, DEMEC staff works Continued on Page 38

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Efficiency Smart Continued from Page 36

across the supply chain and within communities to build relationships with contractors and retailers, to link energy users to discounts on energy-efficient lighting and rebates for energy-saving appliances. “It’s all about our partners at DEMEC looking at current processes and seeing opportunities to save money and increase efficiency,” said Morris Deputy, Middletown’s town manager. “It’s about telling someone, ‘You can do this to your electric panel and save a thousand kilowatt hours a month.’ It’s recommendations like this that end up saving kilowatt hours for the duration of the homeowner’s stay in his or her home, or for the remaining life of the business.” Middletown is one of eight cities and towns DEMEC supports across Delaware, serving a population of over 137,000. Other towns enrolled in the three-year Efficiency Smart program include the town of Clayton, the Lewes Board of Public Works, the Milford Electric Department, the Newark Electric Department, the Municipal Services Commission in New Castle, the Seaford Municipal Utilities and the Smyrna Electric Department. Reaching energy-saving goals The initiative educates homeowners and businesses in Middletown on how they can lower their energy use, as well as their energy costs.

Middletown’s agreement with the Efficiency Smart program through DEMEC and AMP extends to May 2022, which means local homeowners and businesses still have a year to enroll in the program. So

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far, the program has proven to be popular; to date, there have been 2,205 household items in Middletown that have been upgraded since the program started in 2019. “Our goal in the three year period was to save 1,845 megawatt hours, and the last report, we have achieved about 56 percent of that goal -- 1,034 megawatt hours to date -- so we’re on target to achieving that goal,” Deputy said. Translated, that’s enough to provide electricity to 124 homes for one year, or the equivalent of eliminating carbon emissions from 805,549 pounds of coal being burned. Scott Lynch, DEMEC’s vice president of asset development, said that while the positive numbers reflect that the Efficiency Smart program is working, they are made more legitimate by effective record keeping. “When the state was setting its goals for energy efficiency, it was DEMEC at the table, and we were the first agency to initiate energy efficiency programs, and the first to bring those programs to verification,” Lynch said. “While the numbers we are seeing for the Efficiency Smart program are incredible, they don’t mean as much unless they are verified. “We’re not just doing a lot of hand-waving with this initiative. We Continued on Page 40

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Efficiency Smart Continued from Page 39

put our numbers under scrutiny, and deliver the data, based on that scrutiny.” The efforts being made by Middletown to lessen the demand on the town’s power grid coincide with the continuing surge in its population, which now stands at close to 24,000, and has increased 27 percent since 2010. With each passing year, the area’s landscape is becoming more reflective of a development growth that shows no sign of slowing down. With a population density that now stands at more than 2,000 per square mile, full engagement in the Efficiency Smart program is not only advantageous to energy conservation in Middletown, it is crucial. “There really isn’t a reason not to enroll in the Efficiency Smart program,” Deputy said. “It all comes down to people who are concerned about the amount of power that’s being generated from their home or businesses, and whether they take action on those concerns. “When it comes to energy use, we must be both smart, and efficient, and this program saves the customer money, saves the Town of Middletown money, it helps

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the environment, and lowers the demand on our electrical system.” Lynch is confident that future growth and the energy that will be needed to support that growth will continue to be answered by a more educated public. “There is a growing social consciousness in this state and in this country about being efficient, green, environmentally aware, and having those tools available to meet the needs and wants of members of the community has allowed DEMEC to remain ahead of the game in this regard,” he said. “With the growth of the community, there is infrastructure that needs to be out in place that carries a cost with it. When you expand the infrastructure, that’s additional costs for a community to incur in order to allow that growth to occur. “By having programs in place that can reduce energy consumption and increase energy efficiency, you can take existing infrastructure and prolong its life, and enable it to be more capable of helping the community, rather than building an entirely new infrastructure.” Continued on Page 42

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Efficiency Smart

Energy saving ideas for homeowners

Continued from Page 40

To arrange for an Efficiency Smart visit to your home or business, call Efficiency Smart at (877) 889-3777. To learn more about the Efficiency Smart program, visit the Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation website at www.demecinc.net, or visit www.efficiencysmart.org. To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email rgaw@chestercounty.com.

The following is a list of tips from the Delaware Municipal Electric Corporation • Switch to LED lighting •T urn off lights/electronics in empty rooms and when they are not being used • Adjust your thermostat by 2-3 degrees, especially while you are away • Open blinds/curtains to allow natural light and heat into your home during the day (when cool outside) • Try making meals without using the oven or stove •D o not stand with the refrigerator/freezer door open for long • Lower the temperature of your hot water heater • Replace HVAC filters monthly • Unplug chargers and turn off power strips when devices are not in use • Use a fan to help move cool air throughout a room Source: www.demecinc.net

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|Middletown Life Photo Essay|

The Cedar Swamp Wildlife Area may be an estuar of wilderness and nature, but like many other preserves of its kind, lately it has become a symbol of tranquility and hope for those who traverse it

Our Season of Renewal Photos by Moonloop Photography

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n estuary her symbol rse it

ons al

Text by Richard L. Gaw Just south of Middletown, to the east of Route 9, the Cedar Swamp Wildlife Area is made up of four large land tracts of wilderness and brackish marsh at the mouth of the Delaware Bay. For every one of the thousands of hikers and nature lovers who walk along its pathways, they are members of an audience that has gathered for a symphony of the quietest sounds. The meandering water heading south, the far-off cackle of seagulls and the nearby sonnet of a tiny bird, and the way the wind harmonizes with the cat tails to form a breathtakingly delicate whisper. Continued on Page 46

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Cedar Swamp Wildlife Area Continued from Page 45

In the last year, we have had many reasons to seek comfort in destinations like the Cedar Swamp Wildlife Area. Worldwide, the popularity of trails, parks and nature preserves has surged, and for good reason: These are the places where we are finding our hope and witnessing the slow formation of our renewal. We have arrived at Spring with the reassurance that the cold Winter of our despair and the dark rooms of our loneliness may be ending with the help of medical breakthroughs. As we wait in patient hope for the day when we can once again reach out to our families, our friends and our neighbors, we will go back again and again to the preserves and the trails and the swampland marshes. The language of their intention does not need words. We only need to go there to understand. Continued on Page 48

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Cedar Swamp Wildlife Area Continued from Page 46

Spring is Like a Perhaps Hand Spring is like a perhaps hand (which comes carefully out of Nowhere) arranging a window, into which people look (while people stare arranging and changing placing carefully there a strange thing and a known thing here) and changing everything carefully spring is like a perhaps Hand in a window (carefully to and fro moving New and Old things, while people stare carefully moving a perhaps fraction of flower here placing an inch of air there) and without breaking anything. e.e. cummings

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|In the spotlight|

Veterans Watchmaker Initiative trains injured American military vets for free Odessa school teaches highly specialized skills that change lives

The special guests at the ribbon-cutting ceremony. 50

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All photos courtesy

Sam Cannan, R.T. Custer and Mike Wipf at the recently completed Vortic building.

By Drewe Phinny Contributing Writer

am Cannan, a retired Baltimore cop, has faced some tough situations as a police officer—and he has the scars to prove it. These days, his challenges are of a different nature, but no less daunting. Cannan, a Swiss-trained watchmaker, is the founder of Veterans Watchmaker Initiative (VWI), a world-class watchmaking school at 307 6th Street in Odessa. The unadorned exterior (formerly an EMT station) belies the amazingly sophisticated accomplishments that happen inside this smallish compound which houses expensive and complex equipment used to work on watches with a micro precision that seems almost invisible to the naked eye. Many of the watch parts are so tiny, they look like crumbs when placed in a hand. Dave Skocik, who works closely with Cannan, explained that the idea of training disabled vets is based on the postWorld War II outreach of the Bulova Watch Company in New York. As Skocik explained in a memo, “It was borne of gratitude for the sacrifices of injured American veterans. These skills allowed them to support themselves and their families despite their injuries. Some worked into their 90s.” Skocik, a VWI board member, is also president of PR Delaware, as well as the Delaware Veterans Coalition. He teaches communication courses at Delaware State University and has a masters degree in communications

Bulova Co. Rep. Roy Miller with Sam Cannan and R.T. Custer.

and public relations from Temple University. Then there’s Mike Wipf, whose presence at VWI is constant. Wipf, whose day job is as a mechanic at the Delaware Department of Transportation, is also a pipe welder and automotive repairman. He has gone above and beyond in his service to VWI, Wipf has donated endless weekends and other free time to projects such as disassembling and bringing two modular buildings from Pennsylvania to Delaware. He built the handicap railing and ramp at the school and has helped refurbish the interior of the VWI building into state-of-the-art classrooms. When it comes to supporting veterans, Cannan makes it clear his commitment is total and personal. Tuition, room and board are all waived in recognition of the students’ faithful service to the nation. “No one makes a salary here. Everybody works for free,” Cannan explained. “No one is paid a nickel, including me. Everybody is a volunteer.” The miniature nature of many of the parts is actually a positive factor in dealing with Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that affects some of the vets. “When you’re suffering PTSD, the world closes in on you,” said Cannan. “The cure is focusing in on that small part of a watch and suddenly, the outside world goes away and you can sit there all day…work with pain and anything… These are guys who got lost in the system. This is a second chance for them.” Cannan related one of the connections that adds the Continued on Page 52

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Veterans

Continued from Page 51

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human element to the technical accomplishments. “A student lived in two rooms in Delaware. He was in a coma for 7½ weeks. I had to talk him in to coming to school. He was courted by the vice president of one of the largest jewelry chains in the world. He’s living the dream.” Another example of how things can turn around for VWI students involved a Marine. “He came here and didn’t talk. He sat in the corner for his whole course. He did get better in the end. The HR people wrote me from NASA looking for someone with a high technical skill level…a watchmaker with machinist skills. I gave him the marine’s information, they tested him, and he was offered the job, got the salary he wanted, but decided to stay here.” Although every effort is made to ensure program acceptance, students are pre-tested. “They have to do some written things. You have to have a high school diploma. It’s not rocket science, but it’s not easy either. It’s all about hand dexterity. Once you get that, you can do this.” The students actually have to build a mechanical watch as one of the requirements. As Cannan led the way through the different rooms, he mentioned that much of the equipment has been donated. “These lights come from a German company, by way of Illinois. We have two of these lathes. I know the man who makes them in Switzerland,” he explained. A laser-welder was donated by a company in New York. ‘This little infra-red oven came from a company in Germany,” Cannan said. “It’s highly specialized. This is the classroom we started in. It was a two-bay ambulance garage. One of our biggest donors is George Washington University. Every lab cabinet you see in there, the carpet you’re walking on, the showcases, all donated by GW. They’ve been very very good to us.” Because of its accomplishments and veteran support, VWI has a worldwide profile that just might surprise you. “People in backwater Odessa, from as far away as Katmandu. Nepal, Bangkok, Thailand, all over New York, California…I usually have between 300 and 400 people waiting,” he explained. “I have the next class ready to go.” Following the initial testing, the six-week-quartz course is next. That’s the one with a lot of pressure. “I can see whether they can handle that type of stress, and if they can, they’re invited back for the 16-month course,” he explained.

Continued on Page 54

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Veterans

Continued from Page 52

In such a finely-tuned atmosphere of specific dimensions and peak permutations, Cannan is most impressed with one thing when it comes to student attributes – passion. There is a rich history that runs through VWI, and it all started with the Bulova Watch Company. Cannan’s office is full of interesting artifacts and documents that chronicle the development. “This is an original bench from the original Bulova school,” he said. “Joseph and Arde (his son) built the company.” Cannan proudly brought out one of his most prized possessions. “This is an original program from the dedication of the school in 1944 in Woodside, New York. I haven’t even opened it yet because I haven’t figured out how I’m going to present it. These just don’t exist.” Also in the mix were various press releases. “This happens to be General Omar Bradley, who was actually chairman of the board of Bulova for a few years. And these are some of the original military

The watchmaking classroom benches.

Bulova watches. And this is a commemorative for the ones you see in the showcase. And here’s what makes this special: Bulova produced these with our logo on them. They sell for $400 and we get 15 percent on each.” On this day, there was lots of buzz around the premises, partially due to the fact that VWI was hosting some media folks for the ribbon-cutting of the recently completed Vortic building. Special guests included RT Custer, president of the Vortic Watch

Middletown Life | Spring/Summer 2021 | www.middletownlifemagazine.com

Continued on Page 56

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Veterans

Continued from Page 54

Company, a high-end wristwatch, engineering and manufacturing group based in Fort Collins, Colorado. Quoting from Skocik’s memo, “The inspiration lies in pairing classic watchmaking techniques and traditions with innovative, modern technology.” Like so many on the long list of supporters, Vortic has been instrumental in facilitating the success of VWI, making multiple and substantial contributions to the school because of a strong belief in its mission. At the ceremony, Cannan provided some more details about the property development. “New Castle County leased the school building to us for one dollar a year. Then we worked with M&T Bank to purchase another building on the adjacent land. The structure you’ll see on the other side was the original blacksmith’s home in the 1800s. He was the blacksmith for the town of Odessa. With the money from M&T, VWI purchased the lot and the house on it.” Custer gave Cannan for VWI an initial donation of $25,000 to build the service center on that property,

Middletown Life | Spring/Summer 2021 | www.middletownlifemagazine.com

starting the project. Custer wanted to launch a new watch and he put up another $50,000 to finish it. A quote from the Veterans Watchmaker Initiative website is indicative of how the whole concept can transform a veteran’s trajectory and provide a feeling of confidence and competence that can and does drastically improve quality of life. From a former student: “This is an above-all comparable program to the top watchmaker schools that prepare students for high-level craftsmanship, professional conduct and skills that are no longer taught at modern watchmaking schools, making the graduates top-tier choices for luxury-brand companies. “Being a graduate student, I was able to enter employment with confidence, knowledge and ability to complete services as any other watchmaker. The greatest notable part of the school is that it is a large family of people from many different backgrounds. The school now represents ground zero for my new life, many future watchmakers, and will always be a place

to call home.” From guidestar.org, which provides up-to-date, non-profit data: “The Veterans Watchmaker Initiative …is the only school of its kind in the United States. The skill set that the students develop will provide them with ‘Dignity of Purpose’ and a professional living for the rest of their lives.”

Veterans Watchmaker Initiative 307 Sixth Street Odessa, Delaware 19730 PO Box 329 Little Creek, Delaware 19961 email: scannan@vwmi.org Odessa Center for Horological Excellence M-F 8:30 – 4:30 302-378-7088

One of the state-of-the-art jewelry classrooms.

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|Middletown People| Appoquinimink High School teacher Stephen Cook has spent the last quarter century educating young people about the agricultural industry, with a passion and dedication that continues to inspire Photo by Richard L. Gaw

Appoquinimink High School agrisciences teacher Stephen Cook at the Cook Family Farm

Middletown Life | Spring/Summer 2021 | www.middletownlifemagazine.com

Life Lessons

‘I want to make the same impact on agriculture the way Mr. Cook did for me’ By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

brother-in-law and a rolling roster of visiting students, entomologists, veterinarians and livestock specialn pure, unabashed defiance of ists, as well as the general public contemporary residential planning, who pick up their orders of lamb and Cook Family Farms stands on the pork chops, ham and bacon, steaks, outskirts of Newark, surrounded by ground beef, cheese, cheese spreads a vast suburban forest of copycat and eggs. houses in look-a-like developments. Although its imprint is smaller than The farm’s 250 acres along Fraser the 1,500-acre tract of land that Courtesy photo Road are a last vestige reminder of began as a farm in 1855, this is where Stephen Cook with former student Caitlin a world that has, with exceptions, Walton, now an agrisciences teacher at his grandfather learned farming and been permanently wiped from the Milford High School, who counts Cook as where he passed it on to Cook’s son American landscape, the way a one of her most influential mentors. and subsequently onto Cook, where teacher erases schoolwork off of a he now lives with his wife Rhonda, chalkboard. the stepmother of his daughters Mindy and Madison. And somewhere within its stalls and barns, this farm Although it stopped its dairy production in 2014, Cook Family Farms is now a supplier of beef, pork and lamb. is also where Stephen Cook acquired the skill and the The farm welcomes visitors at the end of a long dirt inclination that would lead to a 25-year teaching career road with the comforting crow of roosters, the contented spent inspiring thousands of young people to learn about sounds of well-fed heifers and the unmistakable presence an industry that few truly understand, and most take for of cats too numerous to count. It is a farm of continu- granted. Continued on Page 60 ing activity, one primarily operated by Stephen Cook’s

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Stephen Cook Continued from Page 59

‘You learn by doing’ Perhaps the first lesson of farming that Stephen Cook learned was that there are no off-days in farming. As a youngster, Cook became immersed in the family business, largely out of necessity. The crack of dawn would see him feeding the more than 120 heads of livestock, then he would head to school and return at the end of the day to help his father wherever and whenever a need arose. By the time he reached Middletown High School in the mid-1980s, Cook balanced school and lacrosse with his requirements on the dairy farm, acquiring knowledge and skills through frequency, routine and absorption. In between, he attended agricultural and leadership conferences through the national FFA, previously known as Future Farmers of America. “Whatever my grandfather taught my father, he passed on to my siblings and me,” Cook said. “You learn by doing, and everything I was learning was through a hands-on approach. Seeing my father work from dusk to dawn every day gave me a sense of work ethic.” When he graduated from high school in 1988, Cook

Courtesy photos

Throughout his 25-year teaching career, Cook has helped mentor hundreds of students who have participated in livestock show competitions.

Continued on Page 63

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Stephen Cook Continued from Page 60

enlisted in the U.S. Army National Guard, in order to serve his country, acquire military benefits and still be able to work on the farm. When he first entered boot camp, he was clocking seven-minute mile runs, but after six weeks, he was finding that the constant barrage of running, sit-ups and push-ups was punishing his body and making it nearly impossible to recover. His legs were heavier. His muscles would not replenish their energy. During a diagnosis with the family’s physician, Cook was told that he had Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy, a disorder that affects the voluntary muscles around the hips and shoulders, and progressively leads to the loss of muscle strength. After leaving the National Guard and on his mother Martha’s encouragement to further pursue his education, Cook enrolled as an agrisciences education major at the University of Delaware. Despite of his worsening health, Cook still managed to work on the farm in the morning, attend classes at UD, return to the farm in the afternoon to do more work, and often return to campus for evening classes. He also managed to find the time to co-found Alpha Gamma Rho, an agricultural fraternity, on campus.

Photo by Richard L. Gaw

A glimpse of daily life at the Cook Family Farm.

Inherited passion is best shared with others Soon after Cook graduated from the university in 1996 at the age of 26, he took on his first teaching position – teaching agrisciences at Caesar Rodney High School. He knew he had a wealth of knowledge, but he did not know how to present it to an audience of students. He wanted buy-in from them, but how? The answer, he began to realize, was an easy one: Get them to follow his passion. “I put my students in a position to learn,” said Cook, who Continued on Page 64

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Stephen Cook Continued from Page 63

is now in his fourth year at Appoquinimink High School. “My teaching really has nothing to do with me, but what my students have been able to do, whether it’s showing a farm animal at a show or helping on our farm. “For nearly all of the students I have today, they are several generations removed from agriculture and have no real connection to an industry that was fairly common here 40 years ago,” Cook said. “While agriculture is not in their immediate family history, I tell them that if they dig deep enough, they will find the hunters, farmers and gatherers in their family history. “One of the challenges that agriculture faces is that our young people don’t understand what farmers have to put up with in order to keep their farms going. I tell them that they are the most important part of this industry, because you are the consumers. What you buy in the grocery store is going to determine what the farmers will farm. What you buy will determine what people are going to grow and the methods they will use to grow those products.” If his classroom at Appoquinimink High School serves to provide a historical background and understanding of the role that agriculture plays, then certainly Cook’s second classroom is the farm itself. It is an incubator of application, research, and a practical and hands-on workshop of farming, and during any week, it is common to see the farm welcome agricultural science students and teachers from the University of Delaware, as well as other future farmers, veterinarians and leaders of the agricultural industry. Every year, a group of Cook’s students take a selected number of cattle and farm animals for showing at regional and national FFA conventions, and at Cook’s last count, more than 40 teams have earned championship standing. On Saturdays, as many as one dozen students attend Open Farm, an opportunity that lets

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them visit the Cook Family Farm to participate in projects and perform manual maintenance. Cook affectionately calls this group of students his “Hogs,” and categorizes them as those most inspired to pursue a further interest in agricultural sciences often from the initial spark they received in Cook’s classes. Over the past 25 years, hundreds of his past students have gone on to various careers in agriculture as farmers, veterinarians, teachers and research scientists. Sydney Spence, a student in one of Cook’s classes, said that she wants to pursue the study of pre-veterinary science at the University of Delaware, in preparation for a career as either a livestock veterinarian or a farmer. “When I was in the ninth grade, I enrolled in Animal Science and had the amazing opportunity to have Mr. Cook as my teacher,” Spence said. “He began talking about inviting students over to his Open House on Saturdays, and up until that time I had absolutely no interest in anything to do with farming. “He began to tell us stories of his youth at the farm, and how began to be inspired to share his experiences with others. That’s all I needed to hear. I want that same experience. I want to make the same impact on agriculture the way Mr. Cook did for me.” The first time Caitlin Walton stepped foot into Cook’s agricultural class as a freshman at Caesar Rodney High School, she could not distinguish one farm animal from the next, but on that day, she absorbed the first of many lessons her teacher would give her. “He held up a blank sheet of paper in front of the class and told us, ‘This is what you begin high school with, a blank slate to what you’re going to accomplish in high school,’” Walton Continued on Page 66

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Stephen Cook Continued from Page 65

said. “He told us, ‘Everything you do here is going to add to this paper, and it’s going to turn into your résumé. You can take a lot of opportunities to fill up this résumé. It’s your choice.’” Today, Walton is in her sixth year as the agricultural sciences teacher at Milford High School, and many of the lessons she learned from Cook have been passed on to her students. “Mr. Cook has gone above and beyond in helping his students,” Walton said. “As he tells me, ‘It’s not about me. It’s about inspiring the next generation to be passionate about such an important industry.’ “He teaches so far beyond agriculture. Mr. Cook teaches life lessons.” ‘The truth is that I need them’ In 2002, Cook visited the medical center at The Ohio State University, where he was finally told that his body would no longer be capable of rebuilding muscles. Over time, the disease progressed, and in 2009, he began life in a wheelchair. It has been his constant companion ever since.

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It is with bitter irony – and perhaps with the sweetness of recognition -- that as Cook struggles to perform every day tasks from his wheelchair and places more and more reliance on Rhonda, his teaching efforts have earned him an increasingly high standing among the best if Delaware. In 2020, Delaware Today ranked in the top 10 honor roll of the state’s best teachers, and the College of Agricultural and Natural Resources honored him with a Distinguished Alumni award. “Everything on me is broken except for my mouth and my brain, but I’m motivated more than ever now,” he said. “Good students who want to work outside of the classroom at the farm has been what keeps me going, and I love seeing them take control of their own destiny. “The truth is that I need them. I give them a solid agricultural education. I am confident that when my students who pursue agriculture in college they have received just as much hands-on knowledge of farming to represent themselves well in this industry. In exchange for that, I continue to receive so much in return.” To contact Staff Writer Richard L. Gaw, email rgaw@ chestercounty.com.

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