Chester CountyPRESS
www.chestercounty.com
Covering Avon Grove, Chadds Ford, Kennett Square, Oxford, & Unionville Areas
Volume 151, No. 40
INSIDE East Marlborough
supervisors hear proposal for superstar country concert
Local mushroom grower featured on TV show...1B
60 Cents
Wednesday, October 4, 2017
By John Chambless Staff Writer
On Oct. 2, the East Marlborough Township Board of Supervisors heard from representatives of a concert company who would like to bring country music superstars to the Willowdale Steeplechase grounds in August. The supervisors, however, have some reservations about the proposed three-day event. The Country Spirit USA Music Festival, as envisioned by Alan Jacoby Avon Grove grad ranked and Impact Entertainment, top cadet...9A would book stars on the caliber of Tim McGraw
and Faith Hill, Toby Keith and Brad Paisley, with two stages of entertainment set up in the natural ampitheater of the Willowdale Steeplechase grounds from Aug. 24 to 26, 1018. The company, which has run a similar country music festival in California for years, has the endorsement of the Chester County Visitors Bureau. Susan Hamley, executive director of the bureau, told the supervisors that the event would showcase the county’s open space and attractions to a new audience of thousands of people “and would put us on the map even more” Continued on Page 3A
Jennersville Hospital gets new owners
Photo by John Chambless
From left: Alex Fernandez, chairman of the department of emergency medicine and chief of staff; Tracy Carmellini, chairman of radiology; Michael Barkasy, chairman of family practice; and Mark McNash of Tower Health.
By John Chambless Staff Writer Big changes took place at Jennersville Regional Hospital this week as the former Reading Health System completed its takeover of the 63-bed facility. Operations will continue as always at the newly rebranded hospital,
Kennett Brewfest draws 3,500, 105 breweries
now known as Jennersville Hospital. The purchase was announced last summer, part of a five-hospital deal including Brandywine Hospital in Coatesville, Phoenixville Hospital in Phoenixville, Pottstown Memorial Medical Center in Pottstown, Chestnut Hill Hospital in Philadelphia, and Jennersville Hospital. The five hospitals had previously been owned
On Jan. 3, Rep. Eric Roe took the oath of office for his first term in the Pennsylvania House during a ceremony at the Capitol in Harrisburg, beside his wife Alice, his parents and other supporters and local officials.
INDEX Opinion........................7A
Photo by Richard L. Gaw
Calendar of Events.....2B
The 20th annual Kennett Brewfest took place at the Genesis parking lot in Kennett Square on Sept. 30.
Continued on Page 2A
Roe holds town hall meeting in New Garden By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer
Apple Festival marks the season in Oxford...8A
and operated by a Tennessee-based company, Community Health Systems. The system, the nation’s second-largest investor-owned hospital company with 146 hospitals, had posted a net loss of $1.7 billion in 2016. As part of the new expansion, Reading Health has changed its name to Tower Health. At noon on Oct. 2, there
For the freshman representative, the last nine months have served as a whirlwind of legislation, wrangling, negotiation and compromise, and a seemingly constant juggle between the goings-on in Harrisburg and the needs of his constituents back home. On Sept. 28, Roe Continued on Page 2A
Obituaries....................3B
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Classifieds..................6B
By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer Beneath intermittent clouds and sun, a massive gathering estimated at 3,500 tilted both elbows and souvenir beer glasses this past Saturday, ushering in the 20th annual Kennett Brewfest, held at the Genesis parking
lot between South Union and South Broad streets in Kennett Square. From one end of the parking lot to the other, the festival was a four-hour, three-generation sea of humanity who served at the altars of the 105 participating breweries, who doled out samples of IPAs, lagers and autumn-inspired beers.
Limos, transportation vans and drivers waiting for passengers stretched around the entirety of the festival, and the autumn air was filled with the bluesy sounds of local bands. While the familiar faces Photo by Richard L. Gaw that have made this festi- Fourteen-year-old Gavin Maxwell and his mother Kari val one of the largest and attended a town hall meeting with Rep. Eric Roe at most popular of its kind New Garden Township Building on Sept. 28. Also picContinued on Page 5B
tured is Roe’s wife, Alice.
‘This is a real gift to the children of Oxford’ A new inclusive playground is unveiled in Oxford Memorial Park By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer A girl climbed to the top of the sliding board and slid down, grinning all the way. At the swing set, several parents gently pushed their sons or daughters toward the soft blue sky. A group of children exuberantly played on the monkey bars. Other
boys and girls raced around the playground on their way to their next adventure. The joyous noise of dozens of happy children at play filled the air. Paul Matthews stood smiling, taking it all in. “This is beautiful,” Matthews said. “This is amazing.” This is exactly what
Matthews envisioned when he first proposed the construction of an inclusive playground for Oxford Memorial Park. Matthews, a member of Oxford Borough Council, first raised the idea of adding playground equipment that would accommodate all children, including those with special needs, four years ago.
Matthews said that he talked to many parents of children with special needs, and they would tell him that they wouldn’t take their children to the park because there was no equipment there that they could use. The idea that a child with special needs would have to sit on the sidelines and watch while a Continued on Page 6A
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A ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially unveil the playPhotos by Kristin Hoffman ground equipment took place on Sept. 30. The honor of cutting the ribbon on the new playground went to Children of all different abilities can now enjoy the Barbara Ross, a resident of Lower Oxford Township new inclusive playground equipment at the Oxford Memorial Park. who contributed greatly to the playground effort.
Is the Kennett Library in the real estate business? By Uncle Irvin With the signing of the agreement of sale for the Weinstein tract, the Kennett Library now owns three parcels of real estate: The present library on State Street, the Weinstein tract, and Kennett Township acreage. The last we heard, the library board was revising its facility plans and drawings to the specs of the Weinstein tract, and formulating a public capital campaign to raise the funds to begin building the new facility. Obviously, the Continued on Page 3A