Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 151, No. 26
INSIDE
60 Cents
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Conservancy group dedicates three-acre Lee Woods adjacent to 82-acre Stateline Woods Preserve
Patriotism takes flight
Chester County family honors son with gift of land Freedom Fest special section
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
In 1973, when Raymond John Lee was a youngster, his parents Kung Hsing [Peter] and Susan purchased a three-acre parcel of woodlands on Nine Gates Road in Chadds Ford. For the Lees, the little piece of wilderness was just large enough for the A look back at Andrew family to disappear into. The Lees embarked on Wyeth’s career...1B overnight camps there, explored its pathways, and on one occasion, Raymond’s younger brother Rob carved “R.L. + Family” into a beech tree at the edge of the property. Raymond later received his undergraduate degree at Johns Hopkins University, and then his medical
Kemblesville United Methodist Church welcomes new pastor...5A
Jennersville Regional Hospital is being sold by the for-profit Community Health System to the notfor-profit Reading Health System. While local officials are optimistic that the long-term health of the hosParking rates to increase pital will benefit as a result of the transaction, the sale in Oxford...5A could potentially impact the Avon Grove School District
Police Blotter..............5A Opinion........................7A Obituaries..................9A Calendar of Events......2B
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Classifieds..................4B
© 2007 The Chester County Press
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Photo by Court Dunn
A balloon commemorating the U.S. Constitution was one of nearly two dozen that took to the sky last weekend at the Chester County Balloon Festival. For a story and additional photos, see Page 10A.
Avon Grove School District could be impacted by pending hospital sale By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer
INDEX
degree at Case Western Reserve in Ohio, where he was accepted into the neurosurgery program. At the same time, he was also diagnosed with cancer. During his recuperation, Dr. Lee returned home to Delaware, but despite his illness, he was not ready to stop practicing medicine. In 1986, he was appointed as a resident at Christiana Hospital, and then later became the hospital’s chief resident, where he remained until he died on March 14, 1988, after struggling to overcome leukemia. The hospital has named its bone marrow transport unit after him. Rob’s youngest son is named after his older brother. “Ten years ago, as he
financially. Reading Health System could seek tax-exempt status for Jennersville Regional Hospital, and the four other hospitals it is planning to purchase from Community Health System—the Brandywine Hospital, Chestnut Hill Hospital, the Phoenixville Hospital, and the Pottstown Memorial Medical Center—and that could translate to lost revenues for school districts.
According to Daniel Carsley, the director of business administration and chief financial officer for the Avon Grove School District, there could be $500,000 or more in lost revenues for schools if Jennersville Regional Hospital, one of the largest taxpayers in the district, earned tax-exempt status. Before Jennersville Regional Hospital was owned by Community
Health System, it had been operated as a tax-exempt facility. The purchase by a for-profit owner created significant new revenues for the school district. Most of the details about the pending hospital transaction, which was announced on May 30, remain undisclosed at this point. Carsley pointed out that in the case of Jennersville Regional Hospital, it’s not even known whether Reading
Health System is purchasing just the hospital or the hospital and the land that the facility is situated on in Penn Township. Curtis Mason, the chairman of the township’s board of supervisors, said that he thinks the potential sale includes the hospital and all its holdings—including 25 acres of land in Penn Township—but he is not certain at this point. Continued on Page 2A
Franklin Board of Supervisors will lead the way for changes at dangerous intersection By John Chambless Staff Writer At their monthly meeting on June 21, the Franklin Township Board of Supervisors heard concerns about an Amish farm on Appleton Road that is threatened by high-speed traffic passing between the
farm’s home and barn. The property has been farmed for years, but the Amish family that is currently operating a dairy farm on the property is the focus of concern, particularly from neighbor and former supervisor Nan Latimer, who fears that the young family members, buggies
and animals crossing the roadway will be struck by the heavy traffic on the road, which has become a commuter shortcut. PennDOT owns both Appleton and the crossing Strickerville Road. Traffic on Strickerville Road has a stop sign in both directions, and warning signs that indi-
cate traffic does not stop on Appleton. Neighbors, however, have reported several close calls because drivers on Strickerville assume the intersection is a four-way stop. The township has unsuccessfully tried to get the intersection turned into a four-way stop several times.
Recently, PennDOT representatives responded that there aren’t enough reportable accidents to warrant a four-way stop, and State Police officers have reported that the sight distance is adequate on the road. During the supervisors meeting, seven township Continued on Page 3A
‘Culture and expectations’
AG lacrosse coach looks back on championship season By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer Eric Jackson, the head coach of the Avon Grove High School lacrosse team, stood on the sidelines of the PIAA Class 3A championship game at West Chester East’s Zimmerman Stadium on June 10, watching his players battle Conestoga into double overtime. Goals by Scooter Whiteside, Doug Jones and two goals by Brendan Harman had ignited the Red Devil scoring, while goalie Kevin Malone was turning in a spectacular performance, holding the Pioneers to one goal in the first half. With Avon Grove ahead 4-3 with just seconds remaining, Jackson began to taste what would become the school’s first lacrosse champion-
Need money for school taxes? By Uncle Irvin
this, it was because Avon Grove reached the 2014 state finals before falling to Penncrest, and the bitterness
If you need some extra cash to pay the school taxes coming soon to your door, you are in luck -- but not good luck. Enough stiffs in Harrisburg a few sessions ago passed a law allowing Pennsylvania school districts to employ regular citizens for odd jobs. The legislators, in their never-ending mission to screw their constituents while taking care
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Courtesy photo
The team celebrated on the field moments after Zach Augustine scored a gamewinning shot in the championship.
ship, which had eluded them from the time he introduced the lacrosse program to the school in 2001. Yet, with 1.3 seconds left
in regulation, the Pioneers’ attack Henry Berg pushed one past Malone to send the game into overtime. If there was something deja-vu about