West Chester & Chadds Ford Life Fall/Winter 2016

Fall/Winter 2016 2016 Fall/Winter

West Chester & Chadds Ford

LIFE

Magazine Magazine

Artist Adrian Martinez reveals the remarkable life of Humphry Marshall - Page 34

Inside The amazing history of Painter's Folly Brandywine Roller Derby: Passion and friendships

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West Chester & Chadds Ford Life Fall/Winter 2016

Table of Contents 10

The amazing history of Painter’s Folly

24

Friends around the oval

10

34 Adrian Martinez looks at the world of Humphry Marshall

24

34

64

46

Juan Cardona, owner of Archadeck

58

Photo essay: Painter’s Folly

64

The Antique Ice Tool Museum

72

Robert Lott came to photography late, but now he’s pushing the boundaries

78

The Battlebot builder

72 Cover design by Tricia Hoadley Cover photograph by Jie Deng 8

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2016 | www.westchesterlifemagazine.com

An area rich in charm and history Letter from the Editor: Welcome to the fall issue of West Chester & Chadds Ford Life.

This issue features stories on a wide variety of topics, ranging from a profile of an artist to the history of a beautiful Chadds Ford home to an inside look of a unique museum to the work of a respected photographer.

Chadds Ford and West Chester are rich in charm and history, and the beauty of the area offers inspiration to many talented and interesting people. On the pages of this issue, you’ll be introduced to a few of them.

Writer John Chambless talked to Adrian Martinez about his upcoming exhibit, “The Visionary World of Humphry Marshall 1750-1800,” which debuts at the Chester County Historical Society in November. Martinez spent the past four years immersed in the 18th-century world of botanist Humphry Marshall.

We also explore the amazing history of Painter’s Folly, one of Chadds Ford’s most prominent and interesting homes. The home was built by Samuel Painter in the 1850s, famed illustrator Howard Pyle had an art studio here for a time, and Andrew Wyeth would frequently visit the current owners, George and Helen Sipala. The Sipalas shared some of their stories about entertaining Wyeth through the years.

Writer Lisa Fieldman takes readers on a tour of the the Antique Ice Tool Museum, a unique archive dedicated to a forgotten industry.

Writer Richard Gaw recently visited the Brandywine Roller Derby, a group of women dedicated not only to the rough-and-tumble of the sport, but to each other as teammates and friends.

We profile noted local photographer Robert Lott, discuss the building of battlebots with a West Chester man who was a part of a team on the ABC television show “BattleBots,” and also talk to Juan Cardona, the owner of Archadeck.

We hope that you enjoy reading these stories as much as we enjoyed preparing them.

As a reminder to our readers, we always welcome comments and suggestions for future stories. By the time this issue arrives in readers’ mailboxes, the staff of West Chester & Chadds Ford Life will be hard at work planning for the next edition, which will arrive in the Spring of 2017.

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

www.westchesterlifemagazine.com | Fall/Winter 2016 | West Chester & Chadds Ford Life

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—————|Chadds Ford Spotlight|—————

Courtesy photo

Wyeth would set up and work at various places on the property.

The amazing history of Painter’s Folly 10

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2016 | www.westchesterlifemagazine.com

By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer

G

eorge and Helen Sipala will never forget the day in early March of 1989 when they looked out an upstairs window of their Chadds Ford home and saw Andrew Wyeth painting in the backyard, out by their pool.

The world-renowned artist would paint on his canvas, look up at whatever subject it was that had caught his eye, and then return to the painting.

Continued on Page 12 Photo by Steven Hoffman

George and Helen Sipala have owned the home for the last 42 years.

Courtesy photo

Samuel Painter envisioned an ornate house in the Italianate style of American Bracketed Villa. www.westchesterlifemagazine.com | Fall/Winter 2016 | West Chester & Chadds Ford Life

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Painter’s Folly Continued from Page 11

Helen thought they should go out and introduce themselves right away, but George said that it would be better just to leave him to his work and make the introductions at another time. The couple would only find out later on that Wyeth made it a practice to stroll through the bucolic Chadds Ford countryside that he knew with such intimacy to find interesting and inspiring places to paint.

The Sipalas didn’t realize it at the time, but on the day that they met Wyeth, an exciting new chapter in the history of their house, Painter’s Folly, was about to begin. ******* Samuel Painter was a member of one of Chadds Ford’s most prominent families in the mid-19th century. At that time, the Painter family lived in a home at the intersection of Route 1 and Route 202, and the sprawling property stretched out over more

The 7,000-square-foot home features 16 magnificent rooms that have high ceilings and a very open layout

than 500 acres of land from Route 202 south to the Brandywine Creek.

There were eight sons in the Painter family, and they all traveled extensively. During a trip to France, Samuel Painter brought back some very

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Painter’s Folly Continued from Page 12

specific ideas for a home that he wanted to build.

Samuel Painter envisioned an ornate house in the Italianate style of American Bracketed Villa. The Italianate style was popular during this period due to the writings of popular authors who romanticized not only the exterior style home with elevated gardens, but also the highly fashionable interiors. Work on the home began in 1856.

As per the Italianate style, the house is three stories high, with a low-hipped roof supported by brackets. It was constructed with a stone exterior that covered all three floors.

The stone was then covered with stucco, similar to the homes that Painter had liked in France.

When the neighbors saw the immense home going up in the midst of the modest farmhouses that were in the area at the time, they began to tease Painter, calling the home “Painter’s Folly.”

Painter forged ahead with the project. Beautiful, ornate, wrought iron railings were imported from France to outline the sweeping wrap-around veranda. The original oak crates that the wrought iron was shipped in were used as

14

bookcases that line the library walls. The house was built to be a summer home so long windows were installed in descending order with the tallest ones on the first floor.

Exterior shutters were mounted on the first two floors, while interior shutters were added to rooms on the third floor for privacy. By the time the gorgeous home was completed in 1857, Painter had decided to adopt the name Painter’s Folly for the home. ******* George and Helen both worked in real estate during their careers. They were living in north Wilmington and looked at a lot of different houses before deciding that they would purchase Painter’s Folly—though the house wasn’t being called that at the time they purchased it in 1974.

“We looked at a lot of houses on the market,” Helen explained.

They were understandably impressed by the 7,000-squarefoot home with its 16 magnificent rooms that feature high ceilings and a very open layout.

“The layout was perfect for entertaining, and we wanted

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2016 | www.westchesterlifemagazine.com

to do a lot of entertaining,” she explained.

The couple also liked the home because they had five children, and the Unionville-Chadds Ford School District would be ideal for them. They decided it was the home for them.

“One of my friends said, ‘you’re moving to Wyeth country,’” Helen explained.

George said that the family loved the house right away, and as they got settled into the new home they started learning more about its history—and the history of the area, which included the Battle of the Brandywine. Painter’s Folly had different uses through the years, Continued on Page 17

Courtesy photo

Helen Sipala, Jamie Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, George Sipala, and Helen Volotti in 1989.

www.westchesterlifemagazine.com | Fall/Winter 2016 | West Chester & Chadds Ford Life

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Painter’s Folly Continued from Page 15

and it had been renamed at various times. It was known as Lafayette Homestead, Lafayette Farm, and Whispering Pines for awhile. The Sipalas renamed it Lafayette Manor. ******* Painter’s Folly has a long history of being a place of inspiration for artists. Howard Pyle, the illustrator and author who lived from 1853 to 1911, rented the home and used it as an art studio where he would teach many talented artists—including NC. Wyeth and other members of the famous artist family.

Richard and Abby Atwater purchased the home in 1906.

He was the mayor of Sea Isle City, New Jersey, and the family had spent time in Paris, France. The Atwaters made some changes to the house, including sealing up a door in the living room and adding a door that goes into the den. They also cut open a doorway from the second floor hallway into the main staircase and built two windows in the bathrooms.

Big changes came in 1916, when electricity was added to the house. Route 1, which had been a dirt road up to

that point, was modernized when a concrete surface was added. For a time, the home was utilized as a productive dairy farm that shipped milk to Philadelphia.

The Atwater and Cleveland families, which were united through marriage, owned the home for decades. A member of the Cleveland family who was a physician utilized the home as a doctor’s office. Andrew Wyeth had visited the home to see Dr. Cleveland throughout his childhood.

“It had a lot of memories and connections to his life,” Helen explained.

That helps explain why, on a day in 1989, Andrew Wyeth showed up on the property with a paintbrush in his hands. ******* George and Helen remember that Wyeth, who was known to be guarded about his privacy, felt comfortable with them almost immediately. He entertained them with stories about growing up in Chadds Ford, including his remembrances of his visits to Painter’s Folly.

Continued on Page 18

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Painter’s Folly Continued from Page 17

The Sipalas opened up the home to Wyeth, inviting him to paint there whenever he wanted. It’s easy to understand why an artist would find the home to be conducive to good work. With its large windows, the home is bathed in natural light and offers great views of the countryside.

The third-story drawing rooms overlook expansive vistas.

Perched atop the home is the glass-enclosed cupola, or Widow’s Walk, that was immortalized by Wyeth in numerous works. He completed some of his most touching portraits in the home. A room on the third floor came to be a favorite place to work.

Helen explained that the artist liked to have the same light to work with each day, so Wyeth would frequently be working on multiple paintings simultaneously and would go back to each one at the same time every day so that the light would be similar.

“He’d be working on two or three paintings in a day, not necessarily all here, and he would come back at the same time of the day to work on them because of the lighting,” she said. “He was almost here on a daily basis.”

Courtesy photo

One of the many photographs that the Sipalas have of the home.

Wyeth was there so often, in fact, that they ended up giving him a key.

And they were doing much more than opening their Continued on Page 20

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Painter’s Folly Continued from Page 18

home to a famous artist so that he could work there. They were forming a friendship with Wyeth. The home was a place where he could relax and be himself.

“I’m a jokester, and he’s a jokester,” George explained.

“We always got along really well.”

One of the traditions that the Sipalas established with Wyeth was throwing a party for him each year around Christmas. They kept it very private, and would invite people that they knew Wyeth would enjoy seeing. Sometimes, he would make requests that certain people be invited.

Helen explained that when she sent out the invitations, she would start off the invite by noting that it was Andrew Wyeth who was requesting their company.

“We could get almost anyone with those words,” Helen recalled, explaining that many special guests from all walks of life would come to the parties, including many members of Wyeth’s own family.

“For 20 years, they came to Christmas with different people,” Helen said. “It was a whole new life for us.”

During the course of the year, George and Helen would

listen carefully to Wyeth to see if he would mention someone that he hadn’t seen in a while, and they would select one person as a mystery guest for the Christmas party.

George and Helen always liked to surprise Wyeth with the mystery guest.

The Sipalas were always respectful of Wyeth’s privacy, and made sure that he always felt comfortable. Wyeth’s friendship meant a lot to the Sipalas, and it seemed to mean a lot to the artist as well. A few weeks before Wyeth’s death on Jan. 16, 2009, he showed up at the Sipalas’ house for the final time. George and Helen were touched that, despite his failing health, the artist wanted to come visit them.

“What greater compliment could you ever possibly get than that?” Helen asked rhetorically. ******* George and Helen Sipala are in the 42nd year of owning Painter’s Folly. They are both in their eighties now, and are as lively and charming as could be. They love the home as much as they ever did, too, but it’s a lot of house to care

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for, and they have Painter’s Folly with its three-plus acres listed for sale.

They hope that the next owners will appreciate the unique history of the home.

“In my heart, I would want a young couple who likes to entertain to own this home,” Helen explained. “We came in as a young couple.”

Their best memories are of all those evenings that they spent entertaining, especially those times when one particular artist friend stopped by. Andrew Wyeth certainly added an interesting chapter to the history of the home.

“We didn’t build this place,” explained George, “but we certainly enjoyed a lot of history here. We love it.

We truly love it.”

“It’s just a wonderful house, and when you think of all the history and of the people involved, it makes it very interesting,” Helen added. “This house has so much history and Chadds Ford has so much history.”

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

George and Helen Sipala have always enjoyed entertaining guests at Painter’s Folly.

www.westchesterlifemagazine.com | Fall/Winter 2016 | West Chester & Chadds Ford Life

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————|West Chester & Chadds Ford|————

Courtesy photo

Chester County Commissioners Terence Farrell, Kathi Cozzone and Michelle Kichline, with Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan.

Chester County Color 5k to raise funds to fight opioid and heroin addiction Event takes place Nov. 5 in West Chester The Chester County Commissioners and District Attorney continue to take measures in fighting opioid and heroin addiction within the county by scheduling a color 5k run and walk that will raise funds to help combat the growing epidemic.

Chester County’s first color 5k family run and walk takes place at Everhart Park, West Chester, on Saturday, November 5. Registration begins at 8:00 a.m. and the 22

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2016 | www.westchesterlifemagazine.com

race starts at 9:00 a.m. For details on the event, and to register to run or walk, go to http://chesco.org/ color5k.

“Chester County is one of the wealthiest, best educated and healthiest counties in the nation.

However, we face the same overdose epidemic that is creating significant issues – and causing deaths – across Pennsylvania and America,” said Chester County Commissioners’ Chair Terence Farrell.

County officials and departments are already working together through the Overdose Prevention Task Force, led by the Commissioners and District Attorney, the Health Department and Department of Drug and Alcohol Services.

“Americans are the number one consumers of opioids and they are being abused by young and old, rich and poor, urban and rural,” added Commissioner Kathi Cozzone. “Prescription drug abuse has opened the door to heroin use, especially among young people, because heroin is cheaper and easier to obtain.”

Commissioner Michelle Kichline noted, “This color 5k run and walk serves two purposes – to raise awareness that this addiction crisis is found throughout Chester County, and also to raise funds for Chester County hospitals to study and coordinate a “warm hand-off” program that transitions those who have been saved from an overdose into long-term treatment and counseling.”

Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan said, “Members of this task force are leading the fight against opioid and heroin addiction, serving as a model for all of Pennsylvania. Our approach includes the arrest and prosecution of drug dealers, diverting addicts into treatment and counseling through Drug Court, educating kids and their parents through our Narcotics Overdose Prevention and Education (NOPE) program, taking drugs off the streets through our drop box initiative, and working with doctors and health care providers on opioid prescribing practices. We work every day to come up with new ways to protect our kids.”

Sponsorship opportunities at many levels are available for companies and individuals to offset the cost of the color 5k run and walk and raise additional funds. For more information on levels of sponsorship, contact Rebecca Brain, Chester County Communications Coordinator, at 610-344-6279 or email rbrain@chesco.org. www.westchesterlifemagazine.com | Fall/Winter 2016 | West Chester & Chadds Ford Life

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|West Chester & Chadds Ford Action & Adventure| The Brandywine Roller Derby may be a varied collection of sizes, skills and experience, but for every woman on the team, there is a bond of commitment and unity

Friends around the oval

All photos by Andrew Keyes 24

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2016 | www.westchesterlifemagazine.com

Left: This past August, the club earned a first-place finish in a national Division II tournament in Wichita, KS. Below: Life in the rink can occasionally become aggressive.

By Richard L. Gaw Staff Writer

I

t is an early fall Sunday morning at the Chester County Sports Arena, and Squirrelly Quinn, the jammer for the Brandywine Roller Derby Brawlers, is fully adorned with protective gear, a dark helmet with a star on it, and a whoosh of black lipstick and eye make-up. She is the Rebel Girl on roller skates, the Dark Angel of the home team and, in the whipped-up scrum of female bodies whirling around the hard plastic playing surface, she is scoring at will.

The Parlor City Tricks, the visiting team from Binghamton, N.Y., cannot seem to hold back the diminutive Quinn, who slips between teammates Don’t Bea Baby, B.B. Sting, Fear N. Loathin’ and Poison Abbey. Occasionally, Quinn becomes the recipient of a body block, and on one trip around the course, Ms. Anne Thrope blindsides Quinn against the protective plastic glass that rims the oval playing surface. The hit sends the crowd of more than 150 into a home-team rage. To thunderous cheers, Quinn balances herself, gets back up, and pedals furiously back into the action.

There is no need for Sunday morning coffee here; the aggressive spin of the players around the rink is enough jet fuel to start anyone’s day, and it’s ramped up even more by the rink announcers Thurston Howl III and Mr. Rat. With less than eight minutes remaining in the second half of the bout, the Brawlers are beating the Tricks 194107, and after a final and furious conclusion, the Brawlers take a victory lap, giving high fives to the crowd. They

smile through multicolored mouthpieces.

They have won, 234-129.

Begun in 2010, Brandywine Roller Derby, a non-profit organization sanctioned by the womens’ Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), is Chester County’s first and only, all-women’s, flat track roller derby team. The team’s mission is simple: to develop women of strength, athleticism and passion to play the hard-hitting sport of roller derby on the flat track.

Quinn, whose real name is Lauren Ruggiero, is a student Continued on Page 26

www.westchesterlifemagazine.com | Fall/Winter 2016 | West Chester & Chadds Ford Life

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Rollar Derby Continued from Page 25

at Immaculata University. She belongs to a team of women who take on aliases as members of the Brandywine Roller Derby, but whose real identities are away from the rink.

“We’ve had doctors, lawyers, counselors, teachers, women from all kinds of professions, and everyone brings their special talents to the league, and we utilize their talents,” said club leadership committee member Mia Fabrizio, who is also a sixth-grade art teacher.

For every member of both the Brawlers – the ‘B’ squad – and the Belligerents, the ‘A’ team – there is a different journey they took that got them to the sport, and eventually, the team.

In high school, Ruggiero saw a film called ‘Whip It,’ which introduced film-goers to the world of womens’ roller derby.

When she was 21, her mother approached her and said that she should try joining the Brandywine Roller Derby. She’s been on the team for a year.

“When I first saw it, I thought it was just hitting and hoping for the best,” she said. “After playing for a year, I’ve learned that it’s more about strategy. The thing I enjoy most about playing roller derby are the people. When I am at the rink, I know I am with my best friends. On and off the track, my

26

The team consists of women from a wide variety of backgrounds and several occupations.

teammates are incredible.”

Originally, Fabrizio wanted nothing to do with roller derby. She thought it was too violent. One night after a softball game, she saw a pair of roller skates in her teammate’s car. She tried them on, and began to swirl around the parking lot.

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2016 | www.westchesterlifemagazine.com

Continued on Page 28

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Roller Derby Continued from Page 26

“She told me that I need to come and skate,” Fabrizio said. “I came one day to see a bout, and then I saw a skater named ‘Skinny Guinea,’ one of the best jammers I’ve ever seen, and I was pretty much sold after that.”

Fabrizio was immediately attracted to the speed, intensity and teamwork of the roller derby, but quickly learned something else.

“It’s a really cerebral game, and when you add in the strategy and the 43 pages of rules, in order to find loopholes and technicalities, and find the ability to play within the rules with a degree of savvy, that’s what makes it so rewarding,” she said.

This past August, the Belligerent team brought the gold to Chester County, after they came in first place in the Division 2 tournament in Wichita, KS. They entered the tournament as the fourth seed, and ranked 47th out of 450 full-member and apprentice leagues around the world. Brandywine dominated the first day of the tournament, beating fifth-seeded Kansas City Roller Warriors, 223-112. The next day, they defeated the number oneseeded Jet City Roller Girls, from Everett, WA, 198-170.

The Belligerents Brandywine then beat the Blue Ridge Rollergirls from Asheville, N.C., 146-123.

The three wins in Wichita qualified the team to compete in the WFTDA international championships, which will take place on November 4-6 in Portland, OR, and be broadcast on ESPN 3.

While racking up championships and wins is a major component of the Brandywine Roller Derby, it’s not the most important.

“We believe that all women can become role models and leaders in their communities regardless of age, race, size, sexual orientation, religious beliefs, and athletic ability,” its mission statement reads. “Our goal is to provide a safe and encouraging environment of sisterhood and loyalty where women are ultimately empowered to embrace their differences, give back to their communities and families, and improve their lives.

“What is most important to us – the only thing that makes us The Brandywine Roller Girls – is our people.

The women and men; the skaters, referees, officers, coaches, production staff, all of the bout day staff – the 100+ people who give their heart and soul to make this league and all of its dreams and aspirations come true.

We have come together to build something unique, something we are very proud of. Women and men, gay, straight, bisexual, transgender, cisgender, U.S. citizens, citizens of other countries, members of all religious 28

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2016 | www.westchesterlifemagazine.com

affiliations, full-body abled, disabled, young and old, educated by professors, educated by life, and everything in-between. Our members come from all walks of life and encompass many demographics and we love and support them all.”

Marissa Berlin grew up in a sports-minded family in Bryn Mawr. After high school, she attended college in Wisconsin, and then went to graduate school in Colorado ten years ago, where she was introduced to the sport at a time when roller derby was experiencing a renaissance.

“I had some friends in Milwaukee who were enjoying it,” Berlin said. “ When I moved to Boulder after graduate school, Denver had become the hotbed of womens’ roller derby, so I decided I was gong to put up or shut up. I bought a pair of skates, found a team, and started skating. Five years later, here I am.”

Berlin said that when she returned to the Philadelphia area a few years ago, she was not sure that she would continue playing.

“I came to Brandywine Roller Derby and immediately knew that I was home,” she said. “They are what keeps me coming to the rink on time. I am not one of the more physical players on the team, but knowing that I need to Continued on Page 30

A Brandywine jammer earns some points.

www.westchesterlifemagazine.com | Fall/Winter 2016 | West Chester & Chadds Ford Life

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Roller Derby Continued from Page 29

keep up with the rest of them physically has challenged me to be in better shape. Consequently, I am in better shape now than I ever have been in my entire life. Being a part of roller derby makes me want to take better care of myself, not only for me, but for my teammates, who I know who are relying on me.”

It does not take long for Fabrizio to list the reasons that keep her on skates.

“We put in some so many hours and work so hard,” she said, “but when you see a certain strategy come to fruition, or you you see your teammates improve and succeed – that’s the most gratifying part of about this sport and being a part of these women.

“It’s also about being able to hit the snot out of someone. That’s pretty gratifying, too.”

To learn more about the Brandywine Roller Derby, visit www.brandywinerollerderby.com.

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

Good sportsmanship is the hallmark of roller derby competition.

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The Brandywine Roller Derby’s Brawlers will face the visiting Reading Derby Girls on Sun., Nov. 20, beginning at 10:15 a.m. at the Chester County Sports Arena, 4533 W. Lincoln Highway, Downingtown, Pa 19335. Tickets are $15 for VIP seating, $12 for adults, and $6 for children 7-11. Children under 6 are admitted for free. Doors open at 9:30 a.m.

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Roller Derby Rules Team Structure Each roller derby team consists of 14 skaters per game.

At any time there are up to five skaters from each team in play, one jammer and four blockers. The blocker with the stripe on her helmet cover is the pivot. The pivot often servers as the leader of the blockers, and may, if necessary, switch positions with the jammer – this is somewhat rare, and is called “passing the star.” The blockers play both offense and defense. They want to help their jammer through the pack while keeping the other team’s jammer from passing. The pack is defined as the “largest cluster of blockers from both teams.” The jammer is the skater from each team wearing the star helmet cover. Jammers have two goals, to get lead jammer status and to score points.

How Roller Derby is Played A roller derby bout consists of two, thirty minute halves.

Game play is broken into jams lasting a maximum of two minutes each. There are 30 seconds between each jam where players rotate and reset for the next jam. Each jam

offers each team the opportunity to become the lead jammer. If the score is a tied at the end of the bout, it goes into a sudden death jam. The teams will skate a full twominute jam, with no lead jammer. Jammer accrue points on the first pass, and each subsequent pack pass. If the score remains tied, additional jams are played until the tie is broken.

Scoring Points Lead jammer is awarded to the first jammer to clear the pack by passing her opponents legally and in bounds.

After breaking through the pack, jammers race around the track attempting to lap the pack of blockers. Every time they do, they score a point for every blocker that they pass legally and in bounds. They can also receive points for opponents who are in the penalty box (by passing one blocker on the track) and can also get a fifth point (on each pack pass) for lapping the opposing jammer (nicknamed a “gland slam”). It is important to remember that the goal is not just to score points but to score more points than the opposing jammer. This is why it is important to gain Lead Jammer status. The lead jammer can call off, or end the jam with a hand to hip motion. Understanding this will Continued on Page 32

www.westchesterlifemagazine.com | Fall/Winter 2016 | West Chester & Chadds Ford Life

31

Roller Derby Continued from Page 31

help you understand some of the strategy you might see on the track. It might be confusing to see the lead jammer call off the jam after only passing two opponents when she could easily have passed all four. This is often because the opposing jammer has moved into scoring position.

Penalties Referees will assign penalties. A penalty earns a skater a 30-second trip to the penalty box. A skater who racks up seven penalties in a game will be ejected. Each team can have a maximum of two blockers and one jammer in the box at a time. If the penalty box is full when a new player is sent to the box, she must wait until another player is released before serving her penalty. If the jam ends while a player is still serving time in the box, the time carries over to the next jam. If both jammers are sent to the penalty box, then the first jammer is released early when the opposing jammer arrives at the box and the second jammer is only required to serve the amount of time that the first jammer served. If both jammers arrive at the same time, then they each serve 10 seconds before being released.

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———|West Chester & Chadds Ford Arts|———

Art meets history as Adrian Martinez looks at the world of Humphry Marshall

By John Chambless Staff Writer

H

aving spent most of the past four years immersed in the 18th-century world of botanist Humphry Marshall, Adrian Martinez feels like he knows the man, inside and out.

“He’s a fully dimensional person to me now,” Martinez said. “He’s a great man, a man of genius, but a very complicated man.”

That depth of knowledge will be on display when

34

Photos by Jie Deng

Adrian Martinez works on the final painting for ‘The Visionary World of Humphry Marshall’ in his Downingtown studio.

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2016 | www.westchesterlifemagazine.com

Martinez looks at prints of some of the paintings in the upcoming exhibition.

the Chester County Historical Society opens “The Visionary World of Humphry Marshall 1750-1800” on Nov. 5, for an extended run that lasts through December 2017. The 12 paintings that Martinez completed for the exhibition distill all of his research and all of his deeply held feelings about Marshall, a forward-thinking Quaker businessman whose boundless curiosity about the world is reflected in documents and objects held at the Historical Society. Martinez has also teased out the motivations and personalities behind the letters and business ledgers to get a true picture of Marshall’s inquisitive mind.

“Art communicates a world,” Martinez said during an interview at his rambling 1894 home in Downingtown. “It’s the same vitality I felt when I was a kid of 7 or 8, walking through the Smithsonian Institute or the National Gallery, looking at the furniture and the paintings and the sculpture.

I was convinced, although I didn’t know how, that life was meaningful. Profoundly meaningful.

“In the show, the microscope that Humphry Marshall is looking at in my painting belongs to the museum. It’s going to be right in front of the painting,” Martinez said. “The chair that Marshall owned will be right next to the painting.

A lot of people will see a chair in a museum and it’s just a piece of wood from a certain time and place. With me, it’s a beautiful shape, and I can’t help thinking of the people who sat in it, and cried in it, or laughed in it, or were deep in philosophical, scientific conversation.

“This show is the sort of thing I’ve wanted to do since I was a child,” he said. “It will be like a battery. You connect paintings with the objects. The whole environment will become supercharged. You’ll be walking into a visionary world.”

Martinez has always focused his artwork on wellresearched aspects of history, and in 2005, he put together “Where Two Worlds Meet,” a show of paintings of early Quakers and Native Americans. But the Humphry Marshall project has required an unprecedented effort from the artist.

“Being someone who’s not just an artist, but who is getting the project done – that’s what I didn’t have experience with,” he said. “Being a politician, executive, fundraiser – it was all new to me, but I had lots of help. I had to do the best I could. The research I loved, the paintings I loved, but not being everything to everybody.

Continued on Page 36

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Adrian Martinez Continued from Page 35

“I’ve spent my life alone in a little room,” he said of his painting regimen. “This was a cascade of stress. I love people, but as an introvert, I don’t get energized, no matter how brilliant the conversation, like an extrovert would. I transcended myself during this project,” he added, laughing.

“But this show is so important that I will do whatever it takes, no matter what happens, and keep going.”

At the base of the challenges Martinez faced is the fact that no image exists of what Humphry Marshall looked like. As a Quaker, he likely felt that portraits were needless vanity, so Martinez had to find a model to stand in for Marshall.

He found that model in renowned horticulturist David Culp, and he enlisted other friends and associates to portray the other people in Marshall’s life.

Marshall was born in West Bradford Township in 1722, the first cousin of American botanist John Bartram. Marshall was a farmer and stone mason, but was a self-described “curious gentleman” who cultivated, collected and sold plants from his extensive garden and greenhouse at his Marshallton home. His botanical garden there was the second in the United States, following the one John Bartram established in Philadelphia.

“Humphry Marshall spent most of his life as a subject of the British crown,” Martinez said. “Then, when he’s in his late 50s, he’s an American. What does that mean?”

Marshall was a member of early scientific societies, and a member of the American Philosophical Society. He was a correspondent of Benjamin Franklin, who sent Marshall a telescope to help him further his studies. Marshall also helped care for “Indian” Hannah Freeman, a Native American woman who was a link between the native Lenape and early settlers. She may have worked for Marshall, and occasionally lived in a cabin on Marshall’s property.

“Marshall was a perfect avatar of his time,” Martinez said. “He was connected with everybody. He had an international business of selling plants. He was a very successful farmer and miller. He was trained to be a stone mason, but never had a day of education after that. But he was what he called ‘a curious gentleman.’”

Marshall’s study of plants – both the newly

A sketch of the final painting in the exhibition (right), with the work in progress on the easel.

Continued on Page 38

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West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2016 | www.westchesterlifemagazine.com

Adrian Martinez Continued from Page 36

discovered American varieties and specialty plants sent from Europe – led to him writing the 1785 book, “Arbustum Americanum: The American Grove, An Alphabetical Catalogue of Forest Trees and Shrubs, Natives of the American United States.” The book used the Linnaean system of Latin names for plants, making it difficult for many readers at the time to grasp. There were also no illustrations in the book, limiting its appeal to a broad audience beyond scientists and botanists. But the book was a landmark, and Marshall got many things right. The names he came up with for many plants and trees, including the sugar maple, were not changed by successive generations of research, Martinez said.

Marshall married twice but had no children, and subsequent authors and botanists gave Marshall’s work only sparing credit. “He is also too casual at the wrong times,” Martinez said.

“He says a plant is ‘tallish,’ or ‘greenish,’ for instance. I do think he was a much better writer

The Martinez home is decorated with items related to art and history.

than John Bartram. Humphry was not an artist – he was a hardcore scientist. He didn’t have the artistic sensibility that the Bartrams had that made them more accessible.”

While Marshall’s extensive garden in Marshallton is gone, there are yellow aconite flowers that still bloom on the grounds – descendants

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of the ones Marshall planted himself. His stone house still stands, and the property has a historical marker.

“We do have lists of what he sold,” Martinez said, describing the long ledgers of plant names and sale prices that are in the Historical Society collection. The list shows what a rich and diverse collection of plants Marshall cultivated.

While many of Marshall’s papers were burned as trash by later descendants, the Historical Society does have some of his business ledgers, and there are copies of letters from Ben Franklin to Marshall that discuss the ongoing scientific research being done by both men.

Martinez was struck by how complicated a man Marshall was. As a Quaker, he was not supposed to pay taxes during the war, and was told to stay neutral. “Then you get it from all sides,” Martinez said, smiling.

“He took his faith seriously. He built roads, he built bridges, he took care of Indian Hannah later in her life.” Part of Marshall’s interest in “Indian” Hannah may have been her extensive knowledge of the healing properties of native plants, Martinez said.

Humphry’s first biographer, William Darlington, said of Marshall, “He saw 50 years ahead of his time.” In one of his letters to Joseph Banks, the president of the Royal Society in England, Marshall suggested an exploration of the then-unknown western part of North America, 20 years before Lewis and Clark started their journey.

As a Quaker, he was not allowed to support slavery, but had one slave and indentured servants, Martinez said, as well as apprentices. “That’s Continued on Page 40

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39

Adrian Martinez Continued from Page 39

interesting to me. The more complicated, the more I can appreciate it artistically.”

Martinez’s paintings “are teasing out meaning from the past,” he said. “It’s all about nuance. It brings that world alive. I can talk to these people when I paint them. Like a loony, I start talking to them. And they talk back,” he said, laughing.

The world of Marshall “is so much like ours,” he said. “With the stresses and the political extremes that people had to negotiate. There was no half-measure. You were all in or all out.”

But Marshall and his fellow “curious gentlemen” had faith that scientific inquiry knew no limits. “They believed that science was without borders,” Martinez said. “You can see it as an optimistic faith in human nature that, at some point, we will be in a place where we’ll transcend our differences. We’re meant to be together. That’s the way I’ve chosen to look at it. And I have no doubt that’s how Marshall looked at it.”

‘Meeting at Martin’s Tavern’

-“Adrian Martinez Presents the Visionary World of Humphry Marshall” opens at the Chester County Historical Society (225 N. High St., West Chester) on Nov. 5. For more information, call 610-692-4800 or visit www.chestercohistorical.org.

To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, email jchambless@chestercounty.com.

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45

———|West Chester & Chadds Ford Q&A|———

Q&A

Juan Cardona Owner, Archadeck Sometimes, the passions that ultimately lead us are the ones we have put aside for decades. For 25 years, Juan Cardona worked in sales and marketing for the telecommunications and computer industries. When he left his corporate life 11 years ago to begin Archadeck Outdoor Living near West Chester, he was looking for a position where success could easily be measured by beauty and quality. For Cardona, it was like returning home -- back to his childhood in Spain -- when he watched his father and grandfather practice the fine art of carpentry.

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life: Talk about what got you to Archadeck Outdoor Living.

Cardona: I had been looking for business that was going to provide for my family but also provide me with some degree of satisfaction and feeling of accomplishment.

Building beautiful spaces just seemed like the right fit for me. The combination of the technical aspects of construction with the aesthetic aspects was the thing that attracted me to the business. Being able to design as well as build presented a terrific opportunity for me.

WC & CF Life: Where did you grow up?

Cardona: I grew up in a small fishing village on the northwest corner of Spain, near the Atlantic Ocean. I was actually born into a family of carpenters. My father was a carpenter, and his father was a carpenter. When I came to the United States with my family, at the age of eleven, the idea was not that I would be a carpenter, but to go to college. But after 25 years in corporate America, I just got tired of that world. That’s when I decided that I wanted to start my own business, and through a whole series of events, I ended up here at Archadeck.

WC & CF Life: Talk about the marriage between your role as the owner of a nationally-known builder of outdoor living spaces, and your overall knowledge of building that you absorbed through your father and grandfather. That’s an added comfort level, sort of an additional tool you’ve got.

Cardona: The fact that I’m familiar and comfortable with the technical aspects of carpentry and building is one less 46

Photo by Richard L. Gaw

Juan Cardona, owner of Archadeck Outdoor Living in West Chester.

thing for me to worry about learning. Someone coming in to this business without that knowledge has a much steeper learning curve. Having Archadeck’s technical and marketing resources and training behind me makes it that much easier and makes me that much more effective at providing design services and the rest of the services we deliver to our customers every day.

WC & CF Life: You were recently awarded a design excellence award from Outdoor Living. That has to be a badge of honor for you and your team.

Cardona: It is. I’m quite proud of what we do and how we do it, so it is nice to get recognized by both your customers and your peers. The design process that goes into our projects is what differentiates us and provides impetus to our business. Outdoor Living Brands puts a lot of emphasis and effort into incentivizing all 50+ local offices to do the kind of work that everyone can be proud of. That’s the reason I entered this business. I came from a place where I was pushing paper around and, in the end, there was very little to show for all my efforts. Now, I ride around Chester County and see the things that my team and I have built and there is a great deal of satisfaction in it. The award is really secondary.

WC & CF Life: There is a growing trend -- really a phenomenon -- in outdoor living. People are changing the entire dynamic of home living by bringing their homes outside. Talk about when those trends first began, and why they began.

Cardona: I came into this business right around the time when that was starting. Originally, the business was more just fixing decks or adding a deck when there was none there. Ever since the economic downturn of 2007-08,

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2016 | www.westchesterlifemagazine.com

people have begun to look at their homes as places they want to fix up and stay and live in. Home owners are now more likely to upgrade by adding amenities rather than moving to a bigger/better home. There’s a trend toward staying where you are, rather than moving.

By 2009, homeowners began to focus more on the back yard and outdoor living spaces. That trend continues today and represents a major shift in the business in the past ten or 15 years.

WC & CF Life: Outdoor kitchens, gazebos, sunrooms, decks and porches. Each of them begins with the ideas and needs of the customer. Take me into that first meeting, where those ideas and needs are shared.

Cardona: Outdoor living is much more than just chairs on the lawn or the deck or the patio. Customers are telling us that they not only want to be outside more than they used to be, but that they want to have those spaces be more like regular living spaces. So, they begin to look into what options and concepts may be available to them. One of these concepts, for example, is an exterior fireplace, which allows you to have a living room, outdoors. It’s a way to extend that feeling of comfort to the outdoors. And we are building more of those types of spaces now.

WC & CF Life: Take me into the nuts and the bolts of the design process. Is the finished project a melding together of the customer’s ideas and yours?

Cardona: Almost always, the process includes both our ideas and the customers’s input. In the end, what they want and what they end up buying is a combination of a) what they wanted and b) the ideas that we bring to the design process. Sometimes, people call and say they only want a deck. We begin talking, and then they rattle off a wish-list of other things they would love to have done. They may not know that a small pergola, for example, would give the design a different look. They may not know that we can put an outdoor kitchen in, because they’re wired to think that they will simply buy a grill. We show them photos and give them ideas they may not have thought of. In the end, everything is driven by the customer’s budget. The imagination can go in many different directions, and we help them with that, as long as it fits their budget requirements.

WC & CF Life: With the advent of home improvement shows and magazines and media, there is a lot more knowledge in the hands of the consumer these days.

Cardona: There is no doubt that all of those things create demand. It becomes the art of the possible. Customers today are much more in tune with and much more knowledgeable about the available materials and other options that may be available to them. Today, unlike years ago, most of our deck projects include composite materials.

Photos courtesy of Juan Cardona

The popularity of outdoor living has grown considerably in recent years.

Customers now visit the web sites companies like ours or of the various manufacturers like Timbertech, for example, to get ideas and facts about the materials and options that are available to them.

WC & CF Life: How much does the landscape of the Brandywine Valley play into the design of your outdoor living spaces?

Cardona: You have to take everything into consideration -- the landscape, the construction/style of the home and the location of the home, and come up with a solution that fits within that space or surrounding area. The architecture of the houses we work with is taken into consideration – whether it is a contemporary style house versus a Chester County farmhouse look, for example. If we’re working at a 300-year-old stone farmhouse, we have to design within that space and the look that fits the area. We have a lot of new construction homes in both Chester and Delaware Continued on Page 48

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Q&A Continued from Page 47

counties. They all seem to have a very similar look, so we use different materials, styles, amenities and sizes and shapes to try to differentiate one from the other.

WC & CF Life: Every builder has a bad weather story.

What’s yours?

Cardona: I recall in the last couple of winters, having to start major projects where the first step was to bring in a snow blower and clear out two feet of snow that had been sitting there the day before. So the first eight hours of work have nothing to do with the building process. Because we work strictly on outdoor projects, weather can be an issue in every season and at any time.

WC & CF Life: Our planet is getting hotter, to the point where our summers are beginning to get unbearable.

How does this influence your customers’ needs?

Cardona: If you look back at July of this year, when it was really hot, the typical deck or patio, particularly those facing in a southerly direction, became almost unusable during the day. This type of weather reminds our customers that they have made (in some cases) some large

investments in spaces that they are not using as much as they’d like. So they call us with the request to work with them on changing that. So, lately, it’s driven a greater demand for shade structures, and creating shade areas where there were none. Things like, gazebos, pergolas, awnings, screened porches, etc.

WC & CF Life: A couple is considering the idea of creating an outdoor living space. What should they be asking themselves?

Cardona: They have to first ask themselves, ‘How do we want to use this space? How much time are they going to spend out there? What kind of activities do they plan to have out there? Do they do a lot of entertaining in the form of large parties a few times per year, or will it just be you and your spouse sitting outside, enjoying a quiet dinner and a glass of wine?’ Obviously, budget comes into play also. How much is what you want worth to you? My experience is that very few people have a solid idea of what they want to spend, until we help walk them through it.

WC & CF Life: What is your favorite spot in the West Chester and Chadds Ford area?

Cardona: I really enjoy places like the Chaddsford Winery or the Four Dogs Tavern. I enjoy listening to live

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West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2016 | www.westchesterlifemagazine.com

music and tasting their wines at some of the festivals they have throughout the year. I also enjoy the outdoor dining possibilities in West Chester.

It adds a little European flair to the town, and it reminds me of my native Spain. Sitting at an outdoor café or restaurant relaxing and watching the world go by.

WC & CF Life: Who would you invite to your dinner party?

Cardona: I would love to get the entire family together once again, if I could. We have four granddaughters, and I would love to have my father and father-in-law meet their great-grandchildren. They never met any of them. It would really be fun to get my current family and some of my past family together again. If we’re just making a wish, that’s what I would want to do.

Photos courtesy of Juan Cardona

A before-and-after look at an award-winning outdoor living project designed and constructed

by Archadeck Outdoor Living.

WC & CF Life: What kind of food is always in your refrigerator?

Cardona: It would have to be something related to fish or seafood. It’s always in the refrigerator, or about to be.

— Richard L. Gaw

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Education Guide • • • • • • • • • • • • • A guide to area schools DELAWARE PRIVATE SCHOOLS Archmere Academy 3600 Philadelphia Pike, Claymont, 798-6632, archmereacademy.com Caravel Academy 2801 Del Laws Road, Bear, 834-8938, caravel.org Hockessin Montessori 1000 Old Lancaster Pike, Hockessin, 302-234-1240, thehms.org Independence School 1300 Paper Mill Rd., Newark, 302-239-0332, theindependenceschool.org Layton Preparatory School 6201 Kennett Pike, Centreville, 655-3280, laytonprep.org

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The New School 812 Elkton Road, Newark, 456-9838, thenewschool.com Red Lion Christian Academy 1390 Red Lion Road, Bear, 834-2526, redlionca.org Salesianum School 1801 N. Broom St., Wilmington, 654-2495, salesianum.org Sanford School 6900 Lancaster Pike, Hockessin, 239-5263, sanfordschool.org St. Andrew’s School 350 Noxontown Road, Middletown, 378-9511, standrews-de.org

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2016 | www.westchesterlifemagazine.com

The Tatnall School 1501 Barley Mill Road, Wilmington, 998-2292, tatnall.org Tower Hill School 2813 W. 17th St., Wilmington, 575-0550, towerhill.org Ursuline Academy 1106 Pennsylvania Ave., Wilmington, 658-7158, ursuline.org Wilmington Christian School 825 Loveville Road, Hockessin, 239-2121, wilmingtonchristian.org Wilmington Friends School 101 School Road, Wilmington, 576-2900, wilmingtonfriends.org

••••••••••••••••••••••••• DIOCESE OF WILMINGTON Padua Academy 905 N. Broom St., Wilmington, 421-3739, paduaacademy.org St. Elizabeth High School 1500 Cedar St., Wilmington, 656-3369, sehs.org St. Mark’s High School 2501 Pike Creek Road, Wilmington, 738-3300, stmarkshs.net

DELAWARE COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES Delaware College of Art and Design 600 N. Market St., Wilmington, 622-8000, dcad.edu Delaware State University 3931 Kirkwood Hwy., Wilmington, 254-5340, desu.edu

University of Delaware Main Campus in Newark; Wilmington Campus, 831-2792, udel.edu

Fred S. Engle Middle School (610-869-3022) 107 Schoolhouse Road, West Grove, PA 19390

Widener University School of Law 4601 Concord Pike, Wilmington, 477-2100, law.widener.edu

Avon Grove Intermediate School (610-869-2010) 395 South Jennersville Road, West Grove, PA 19390

Wilmington University 320 Dupont Hwy., New Castle, 356-4636; 31 Reads Way, New Castle, 655-5400; 3411 Silverside Road, Wilmington, 877-967-5464; 651 N. Broad St., Middletown, 877-967-5464

PENNSYLVANIA HIGH SCHOOLS Avon Grove School District 375 South Jennersville Road West Grove, PA 19390 610-869-2441 Avon Grove High School (610-869-2446) 257 East State Road, West Grove, PA 19390

Penn London Elementary School (610-869-9803) 383 South Jennersville Road, West Grove, PA 19390 Kennett Consolidated School District 300 East South Street Kennett Square, PA 19348 610-444-6600 Kennett High School (610-444-6620) 100 East South Street, Kennett Square, PA 19348 Kennett Middle School (610-268-5800) 195 Sunny Dell Road, Landenberg, PA 19350 Bancroft Elementary School (610-925-5711) 181 Bancroft Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348 Continued on Page 52

Delaware Technical Community College 400 Stanton-Christiana Road, Newark, 454-3900; 333 Shipley St., Wilmington, 571-5300, dtcc.edu Goldey-Beacom College 4701 Limestone Road, Wilmington, 998-8814, gbc. edu Springfield College 1007 Orange St., Wilmington, 658-5720, springfieldcollege.edu

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Education Guide • • Continued from Page 51

Greenwood Elementary School (610-388-5990) 420 Greenwood Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348 Mary D. Lang Kindergarten Center (610-444-6260) 409 Center Street, Kennett Square, PA 19348 New Garden Elementary School (610-268-6900) 265 New Garden Road, Toughkenamon, PA 19374 Oxford Area School District 125 Bell Tower Lane Oxford, PA 19363 610-932-6600 Oxford Area High School (610-932-6640) 705 Waterway Road, Oxford, PA 19363 Penn’s Grove Middle School (610-932-6615) 301 South Fifth Street, Oxford, PA 19363 Hopewell Elementary School (484-365-6151) 602 Garfield Street, Oxford, PA 19363 Elk Ridge School (610-932-6670) 200 Wickersham Road, Oxford, PA 19363 Jordan Bank School (610-932-6625) 536 Hodgson Street, Oxford, PA 19363 Nottingham School (610-932-6632) 736 Garfield Street, Oxford, PA 19363 Unionville-Chadds Ford School District 740 Unionville Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348 610-347-0970 Unionville High School (610-347-1600) 750 Unionville Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348 Charles F. Patton Middle School (610-347-2000) 760 Unionville Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348 52

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2016 | www.westchesterlifemagazine.com

•••••••••••••••••••••••••• Chadds Ford Elementary School (610-388-1112) 3 Baltimore Pike, Chadds Ford, PA 19317

Chester County Technical College High School Brandywine Campus 484-593-5100 • 443 Boot Road, Downingtown, PA 19335 www.tchsbrandywine.org

Hillendale Elementary School (610-388-1439) 1850 Hillendale Road, Chadds Ford, PA 19317

Chester County Technical College High School Pennock’s Bridge Campus 610-345-1800 • 280 Pennock’s Bridge Road, West Grove, PA 19390 www.tchspennocks.org

Continued on Page 54

Pocopson Elementary School (610-793-9241) 1105 Pocopson Road, West Chester, PA 19382 Unionville Elementary School (610-347-1700) 1775 West Doe Run Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348 Chester County Intermediate Unit Educational Service Center 455 Boot Road, Downingtown, PA 19335 Telephone: (484) 237-5000

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Education Guide • • • • • • • • • • • • • Continued from Page 53

Chester County Technical College High School Pickering Campus 610-933-8877 1580 Charlestown Road, Phoenixville, PA 19460-2371 www.tchspickering.org

NON-PUBLIC SCHOOLS Assumption B.V.M. School (610-869-9576) 290 State Road, West Grove, PA 19390 Bethany Christian School (610-998-0877) 1137 Shadyside Road, Oxford, PA 19363

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CFS, The School at Church Farm (610-363-7500) 1001 East Lincoln Highway, Exton, PA 19341-2818 Episcopal Day School (610-644-6181) Church of the Good Samaritan 212 West Lancaster Avenue, Paoli, PA 19301 www.goodsamdayschool.org Kimberton Waldorf School (610-933-3635) 410 W. Seven Stars Rd., P. O. Box 350, Kimberton, PA 19442 Landenberg Christian Academy (610-255-5512) P.O. Box 397, Kemblesville, PA 19347 www.lca-pa.com

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2016 | www.westchesterlifemagazine.com

London Grove Friends Kindergarten (610-268-8466) 500 West Street Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348 Malvern Preparatory School (484-595-1131) 418 South Warren Avenue, Malvern, PA 19355 Sacred Heart School (610-932-3633) 205 Church Road, Oxford, PA 19363 Upland Country Day School (610-444-3035) 420 West Street Road, Kennett Square, PA 19348

•••••••••••••• Villa Maria Academy Lower School (610-644-4864) 1140 King Road, Immaculata, PA 19345-0600 West Chester Christian School (610-692-3700) 1237 Paoli Pike, West Chester, PA 19380 West Chester Friends School (610-696-2962) 415 North High Street, West Chester, PA 19380 Westtown School (610-399-0123) 975 Westtown Road, West Chester, PA 19382 White Clay Learning Center (610-880-0114) 250 New Garden Road, Toughkenamon, PA 19374 whiteclaylearning.org

CHESTER COUNTY CHARTER SCHOOLS Avon Grove Charter School (Early Learning Center) (610-255-5325) 1769 New London Road, Landenberg, PA 19350 www. agcharter.org Avon Grove Charter School (West Grove Campus) (484-667-5000) 110 East State Road, West Grove, PA 19390 www.agcharter.org

PENNSYLVANIA AREA COLLEGES & UNIVERSITIES Cheyney University of PA (610-399-2220) 1837 University Circle, P. O. Box 200, Cheyney, PA 19319-0200 Delaware County Community College (Marple Campus) (610-359-5000) 901 South Media Line Road, Media, PA 19063-1094 Continued on Page 56 www.westchesterlifemagazine.com | Fall/Winter 2016 | West Chester & Chadds Ford Life

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Education Guide • • • • • • • • • • • • Continued from Page 55

Delaware County Community College (Brandywine Campus) (610-723-1100) 455 Boot Road, Downingtown, PA 19335

Delaware County Community College (Pennock’s Bridge Campus) (610-869-5100) 280 Pennock’s Bridge Road, West Grove, PA 19390

Penn State Great Valley (610-648-3200) (School of Graduate Professional Studies) 30 East Swedesford Road, Malvern, PA 19355

Delaware County Community College (Brandywine Campus) (610-723-1100) 455 Boot Road, Downingtown, PA 19335

Immaculata University (610-6474400) 1145 King Road, Immaculata, PA 19345

Valley Forge Christian College (610-935-0450) 1401 Charlestown Road, Phoenixville, PA 19460

The Lincoln University (484-365-8000) 1570 Baltimore Pike, Lincoln University, PA 19352

West Chester University of Pennsylvania (610-436-1000) University and High Streets, West Chester, PA 19383

Delaware County Community College (Exton Campus) (610-450-6500) 912 Springdale Drive, Exton, PA 19341

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Neumann University (610-459-0905) 1 Neumann Dr., Aston, Pa., www. neumann.edu

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2016 | www.westchesterlifemagazine.com

——|West Chester & Chadds Ford History|——

Elegance and history in Chadds Ford

All photos by Jie Deng From the day that Samuel Painter started to build it in 1856, Painter’s Folly has always attracted attention for its remarkable beauty.

Painter, a member of one of the area’s most prominent families, traveled extensively and collected architectural ideas for his home. Many of those ideas are still visible today, more than 150 years later. The home is built in the Italianate style of American Bracketed Villa.

Painter was influenced by the architectural concepts that he saw while in France, and many of those ideas are incorporated throughout the house.

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Painter’s Folly’s 7,000 square feet of space are beautifully and tastefully decorated.

George and Helen Sipala, the owners of the home since 1974, have nurtured the character and charm of the home. With its wide open spaces and large rooms, the home is perfect for entertaining.

Continued on Page 60 www.westchesterlifemagazine.com | Fall/Winter 2016 | West Chester & Chadds Ford Life

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Photo Essay Continued from Page 59

Each room in the home offers a visitor a unique experience. Artist Andrew Wyeth enjoyed many visits to the home through the years.

Before that, Howard Pyle, the illustrator and author who lived from 1853 to 1911, rented the home and used it as an art studio where he would teach many talented artists—including NC. Wyeth and other members of the famous artist family.

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The ornate details and distinctive character of the home are unattainable in modern architecture.

Continued on Page 62 www.westchesterlifemagazine.com | Fall/Winter 2016 | West Chester & Chadds Ford Life

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Photo Essay Continued from Page 61

It’s easy to understand why artists would find inspiration in Painter’s Folly.

The upstairs rooms have large windows that offer lots of natural light.

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Painter’s Folly is situated on approximately 3.4 acres of land. A glass-enclosed cupola, or widow’s walk, is perched at the top of the home, offering a wonderful view of the property and the Chadds Ford countryside.

www.westchesterlifemagazine.com | Fall/Winter 2016 | West Chester & Chadds Ford Life

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————|West Chester History|————

Remembering the ice man

Take a step back in time at this museum dedicated to a forgotten industry

A photo of Pete Stack’s father, posing with his wagon and horse team.

By Lisa Fieldman Correspondent

T

Part of the large collection of ice shavers – each one is different.

64

ucked away off Sconnelltown Road in West Chester sits The Antique Ice Tool Museum, a unique archive dedicated to the history of ice.

The small cube of frozen water we take for granted has a complex and interesting history. The ice we use today is manufactured, but more than two centuries ago, all ice was harvested from lakes, rivers and ponds.

Pete Stack, the former owner of Brandywine Ice Company, has spent more than 30 years collecting artifacts of the natural ice industry. His museum resides in a meticulously restored barn that has its own history. The barn was built by stone mason William Ingram in 1843, and later sold to his friend, Smedley Darlington, as a new home for his school, Darlington Seminary for Young Ladies. The school closed in

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2016 | www.westchesterlifemagazine.com

Photo courtesy of P. Stack

Pete and Joanne Stack, after the purchase of the property.

Right: The 1843 barn was revived during a three-year renovation.

Far Right: The last surviving trolley stop in Chester County is located in front of the museum, and has been repurposed to display their sign.

1933 and the building was used for different business ventures. Some time in the mid-1940s, fortunes changed, and the barn sat empty and neglected until Stack and his wife bought it in 2009. He began a three-year restoration project that resulted in a magnificent space for his museum.

“I had eight stone masons working for a year,” Stack said as he showed off the walls of locally quarried stone. New window frames were crafted out of old barn wood, and wherever modern products were used, they were fashioned to reflect the age of the barn.

Entering the museum, a visitor steps back in time. You can choose to wander through the museum or elect to take the audio tour, which will provide a more in-depth experience.

Ice plows are displayed in the foyer. Mounted on the opposite wall are ice saws, with blades measuring between 36 inches and six feet. A monitor in the back of the room loops a video of men harvesting ice, and it shows the back-breaking labor it required.

The Hudson River in New York and the Kennebec River in Maine were the major sources for most of the commercial ice harvested. In the 1800s, men and horses provided the labor for this dangerous work. Out on the frozen river, augers were driven in to test the depth of the ice. Next, horses were hitched to scrapers to clear the snow. Ice plows with sharp blades were run over the ice to make the initial cut, creating a grid of ice blocks. Finally, men using long handsaws would finish cutting out the ice blocks, which often weighed 300 pounds.

It was a cold, brutal job. Besides the toll the labor took on their bodies, horses and men ran the risk of falling into

the frigid water. Once the ice blocks were cut, they were floated down a canal toward the ice station, which was a warehouse for storing the ice. The open channel of water would be manned night and day.

“The canals had to be kept open, so men using long poles would work all night long to break up any ice that formed. That was a cold job,” Stack said.

The ice blocks would later be loaded on barges and taken down river to the big cities.

A picture of Frederick Tudor is displayed in the museum’s foyer. He is credited with the creation of the ice industry. Born into a wealthy and respected Boston family, Tudor chose to bypass a Harvard education in favor of life as an entrepreneur. One day, as he was picnicking with his family, his brother made an off-the-cuff comment that intrigued him. His brother joked how the colonists in the sweltering West Indies would envy the brothers’ enjoyment of a chilled drink. At that time, ice was a luxury item only available to the wealthy, or those who had the ability to harvest it from their ponds.

According to Stack, “Tudor thought, ‘Why can’t I take Continued on Page 66

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Ice Museum Continued from Page 65

some of this frozen water and ship it to the warmer climates?’”

He started working on a plan to ship ice from New England to the Caribbean. When he couldn’t find a ship owner to transport his ice on what many considered a foolish venture, he purchased his own ship. In 1806, his first cargo of ice sailed to Martinique. The ice arrived safely, but he was unable to persuade the islanders to use it.

“The people didn’t know what to do with it. They picked it up and it burned their hands. It took Tudor 20 years to convince them to use the product,” Stack said. Eventually, he began shipping ice all over the world and earned the nickname “The Ice King.”

You could say that Stack’s fascination with the ice industry is genetic. Prominently displayed in the museum is a large picture of Pete Stack’s father, at 27, posing with his ice wagon and team of horses in Middletown, N.Y. “My dad came from a big Irish family of nine, and as the family grew, he had to sleep in the attic,” Stack said.

“He told me that, many mornings, he would wake up and have to shake snow off his blanket.” The elder Stack was removed from school in the third grade because he had to help support the family.

“He was always thinking ahead,” Stack said. “At age 16, he started his own ice business. He saved money and bought a team of horses and a wagon. Then, as he got bigger, his brothers joined him.” Stark Brothers Ice became the largest ice business in the area.

“He did all right,” Stack deadpanned with a small smile.

Pete Stack grew up working in the family business. He rode on the back of his father’s truck when he was young, delivering ice. Stack started out carrying a 25-pound block of ice, and as he grew stronger, he was given a 50-pound block. By the time he was 17, he was hauling blocks weighing 100 pounds.

“You would put 100 pounds of ice on your shoulder and go up two or three flights of stairs. Then you get up to the top and found the door locked, or the customer didn’t want any ice,” he recalled, shaking his head.

As an adult, he worked as an engineer for DuPont in the construction division. After many years and multiple transfers that uprooted his growing family, he decided to start his own business. Following in his father’s footsteps, he started Brandywine Ice Company.

“It was tough -- very tough,” he said. “I didn’t know the streets, I didn’t know anything, and I didn’t have any money.” But he persevered and built a successful company with a customer base that reached from the Poconos

An ornate parlor icebox from the 1800s.

Named after ‘The Boss,’ Joanne Stack, this dump truck is a prized possession.

Continued on Page 68

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Ice Museum Continued from Page 66

to the Delaware beaches. His company was employing 120 people by the time he retired and sold the business.

Stack’s collection is vast, and although varied, it all is directly related to the ice industry. The first floor houses tools and early horse-drawn ice wagons. Stack has lovingly restored all of the wagons with original materials, and two of his wagons have won prizes at the Devon Horse Show. One 19th-century wagon has a unique adjustable wheelbase.

“You could lift the wagon off and change the length of the base to suit whatever size wagon you needed,” Stack explained.

Another gem is a 1927 pony-pulled ice wagon in immaculate condition. One wall offers a display of multiple ice shavers of different lengths and designs, and they date from the 1800s to the mid-1900s. This hand-held tool was used to cut ice into the size needed by the customer. The ice shavers in the collection are in impeccable shape for their age. Antique toy ice wagons are also displayed on the first floor.

68

One of the many antique toy ice wagons on display.

An early ice wagon, most likely pulled by a pony.

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2016 | www.westchesterlifemagazine.com

On the second floor, the gallery hugs the perimeter of the barn, creating an open central space with a view down to the main floor. Above, an extensive collection of ice tongs hangs from the beams. The tongs vary widely in shape and size, proportioned to the amount of ice you need to move. Their shape is also an indicator of their origin.

“Notice how the New York tongs are more rounded than Philadelphia ice tongs,” Stack pointed out. The highlight on this floor is the collection of iceboxes, ranging from utilitarian for the home kitchen to decorative parlor boxes. The household iceboxes were top- or front-loading and, depending on the use and the budget, were plain or very ornate. Many offered a water spigot on the front.

On early models, melting ice provided drinking water.

“As more lakes and rivers became polluted, they were designed with a spot where you could pour in potable water and it would be chilled for drinking,” Stack explained. Iceboxes manufactured by several different companies, such as Opal, Baldwin, Gibson and McCray, are on display. Documentation for an Alaska brand box shows a price, in 1886, of $48. “That was a lot of money back then,” Stack said.

Another piece of literature from McCray states that the company finished 500 ice boxes a day. “That’s over 100,000 boxes produced each year, and that’s just one company,” Stack said.

Also in the collection are very large commercial iceboxes that were used in grocery stores, butcher shops and restaurants. These held 500-pound blocks of ice.

The most unusual artifact on display is an ice casket from the 1840s. Embalming was not in practice at the time, and this casket allowed families to delay the burial so loved ones could view the deceased. The body was placed inside the coffin, and the iceman would come and put ice in a container that was suspended over the body.

Once the casket was closed, a viewing window above the head could be opened for the mourners to pay their last respects.

“It’s my most unique piece,” said Stack, “and it took me 10 years to find it.”

The third floor houses Stack’s collection of 20th-century delivery trucks. The horsepower for these vehicles is provided by gas and diesel engines. Featured are a 1919 crank start Mack truck, and a 1932 5.5-ton Bulldog Mack dump truck, which is named Miss Joanne to honor Stack’s wife.

“It’s named after the boss!” he said with a laugh.

Stack’s father’s truck is also on display. “My father was 88 years old and loading 300 pounds of ice into the truck

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Ice Museum Continued from Page 69

on Labor Day weekend. He had a heart attack and died in this truck bed,” Stack said as he placed his hand on the bed. “He worked up until the very end of his life.”

It’s easy to see that Stack is proud of his museum, and he should be. His understated manner belies a dry humor, and he is not shy in voicing his opinion about the state of the world today. “Back then, it was a hard life, but a good life. A lot has been lost along the way,” he said.

His family shares his enthusiasm for the museum, and on a recent weekend, his three daughters and five grandchildren were all there to greet visitors during the Chester County House Tour.

“This was a big industry that went by the wayside,” Stack said. “All the ice stations are gone. All this stuff is gone.”

While there are other smaller museums that showcase the ice industry, the Antique Ice Tool Museum is the largest museum dedicated to the history of natural ice production. Acquiring and curating his collection has truly been a labor of love.

-The Antique Ice Museum is at 825 Sconnelltown Rd. in West Chester.

Operating hours vary by season so check their website www.antiqueicetoolmuseum.org for details. The museum also has a Facebook page.

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———|West Chester & Chadds Ford Arts|———

Creating images that go beyond reality Photographer Robert Lott came to photography late, but now he’s pushing the boundaries

Photo by John Chambless

Bob Lott 72

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2016 | www.westchesterlifemagazine.com

By John Chambless Staff Writer

R

obert Lott has spent most of his life not even considering a career in photography. But he’s making up for that now.

After an engineering career with Dupont that began in the 1960s and moved him from his home state of Louisiana to Delaware, Lott picked up a camera about a decade ago so he could take photos of his daughter’s volleyball games. Up to that point, his interest in photography had been zero. “I had no art in my family whatsoever,” he said.

“She eventually moved on from volleyball, and I moved my photography career to what I’m shooting today – nature, landscapes and urban decay. It’s been eight, maybe nine years since I picked up a camera,” Lott said during an interview on an October afternoon at the Brandywine River Museum of Art, which is about a mile from his Chadds Ford home.

“I worked at it hard, of course. And I’ve developed a style that’s pretty much all my own. People see it and say, ‘That’s Bob’s work,’” he said.

Once he started taking photographs and learning the ins and outs of digital imagery, Lott was quickly hooked. “My wife was glad I had something to do in retirement,” he said with a smile.

While Lott says he admires the work of photographer Ansel Adams, he was directly influenced by Baltimore nature photographer Tony Sweet. The two have shot images together several times, and Sweet has been consistently encouraging, Lott said.

Lott’s home studio looks like a computer engineer’s work station, and he’s happy to not be working with trays of developer and a photo enlarger. “I’ve never shot film,” he said. “That’s probably a matter of when I got started. We have arguments, kind of like the arguments between using a Mac and a PC. It’s about what’s allowed in terms of postprocessing. But back then in a darkroom, they did a lot of manipulating as well.

“Photography is very much an art. Some

‘Christ Church’

‘Graffiti Underground’

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Robert Lott Continued from Page 73

painters won’t acknowledge that, but it is art,” Lott said. “Anybody can take pictures, but creating art with it is a different story.”

Lott has been helped by selecting some spectacular places to shoot – or perhaps he just has a way of making them look spectacular. When he exhibits his large images at art shows and fairs, “people say, ‘It’s like I could walk right into them,’” he said.

His images of graffiti on concrete pillars have been consistently popular. “Those are taken at an old coal terminal, in Philadelphia, where they offloaded coal from rail to barge,” he said. “The rail spur is still there, and all the concrete underneath it has graffiti on it. It’s always changing. I’ve been in there over 25 times since 2008.

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“I go in there by myself. I don’t worry about it. I’ve never seen one of the artists in all the times I’ve been in. One year, the Chester County Camera club had graffiti or street art as the theme for the competition. I remembered a friend of ours had a son living in Philly. He showed me around South Street and then he remembered this spot. The moment I saw it, I thought, ‘Wow.’” But Lott is also dedicated to spotlighting the beauty of Chester County, and his image of the sun rising over the Granogue estate is particularly strong. “I’ve been participating in the Brandywine Valley Plein Air competition since it started about five years ago,” he said. “It gives you access to places that you don’t usually have Continued on Page 76

‘Poston Wellhouse’

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Robert Lott Continued from Page 75

access to, like Granogue. I find that it’s forced me to shoot some things that I might not normally shoot. It’s improved my photography considerably.”

Lott’s photos are hyper-real, an effect he achieves by shooting multiple images of the same scene and then overlapping them.

“I usually shoot on a tripod, varying the shutter speed and changing the exposures from dark to light,” he explained. “I’ll take three, five, seven images and process them with special software that pulls out details – shadows and the highlights. It’s called HDR, or High Dynamic Range.

I was an early adopter of that when it was beginning.”

He can print images up to 24 inches wide on equipment he owns.

“I’m not a purist at all. I do different things with different images, but I let the image dictate how I treat it,” he said. “Some of the things are more painterly, and sometimes that wouldn’t work at all. With the HDR, I get more depth, and a richness of color that you can’t get with a single image. They are bright, because I always try to draw out the color and texture and depth.

I frequently have people tell me, ‘Gee, I just feel like I’m standing there.’ Which makes me feel quite good.”

Lott said his early images of flowers at Longwood Gardens proved to not be big sellers, and he’s burned out on them. “I just shot so much there for a period of time,” he said. “I hardly go there anymore.” His scenes of local places viewed through his distinctive lens have been gaining him a name in the local art world.

“People love my work, but my prices aren’t cheap. But they are competitive. What I’ve found is that if people really relate to a piece, the price is not a factor.”

Lott is experimenting with printing his images on aluminum panels, which has added a bit of labor to his process. He invested in equipment that cuts the panels, rounds the corners and puts his images in place with startling clarity. “I’m doing all the work myself, and that helps me keep costs down,” he said, rather than sending the work out to outside companies. “It’s also a

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technical challenge for me.”

In November, Lott will expand his horizons with a trip to Utah, where he’ll shoot the canyons and vistas with a group of fellow photographers. “We even have a tour into a private canyon. It should be a good trip,” he said.

To market his work, Lott has been refining his own website (www.justbobimages.com), where he also handles sales directly. He has aligned himself with a few online promotion companies and art sites, but mainly, he’s enjoying expanding his artistic vision.

“Since I started doing photography, I have a whole new appreciation for what’s around me,” he said. “Now I’m using the other part of my brain.”

To contact Staff Writer John Chambless, email jchambless@chestercounty.com.

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————|West Chester People|————

The BattleBot builder

Courtesy photo

Team Hammertime built a flipper-style combat robot named SubZero for the ABC television show called “BattleBots.”

Courtesy photos

Alex Horne helped build SubZero.

By Steven Hoffman Staff Writer

F

or Alex Horne, the opportunity to help design and build a BattleBot was a dream come true and an experience that he will never forget.

“I am really happy that I had this opportunity,” he said during an interview in July. “It was an amazing experience.”

Horne was enlisted to be a member of Team Hammertime

by Jerry Clarkin, a Malvern resident who has been something of a mentor to him. Technically, what Horne and Team Hammertime built was a 250-pound flipper-style combat robot named SubZero. The ABC television show that the combat robots compete on is “BattleBots.” The series aired over the summer, and even thought Team Hammertime didn’t advance beyond the preliminary rounds, it was a tremendous learning experience.

Horne, 21, is a senior at the Pennsylvania College of Technology. When he was growing up, he was the kid who was always taking things apart—and then putting them back together again. He has a natural affinity for building things.

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Horne was a ninth-grader at Upland Country Day School when he attempted to build his first combat robot. Initially, his parents didn’t like the idea. Combat robots are built to be destroyed, and it’s certainly a challenging and ambitious undertaking for a ninth-grader to build a functioning combat robot. But Horne found a way to circumvent their disapproval—he decided to build a combat robot as his independent project at school. As part of the project, he conducted research on building robots and went to exhibits and competitions so that he could meet with others involved with designing and building robots.

His first attempt at building a combat robot was “ShishKabot,” a 30-pound robot with a lifting spike. Working on this independent project was in addition to the regular curriculum that all Upland ninth-graders are expected to complete.

“Then, I was hooked,” he explained.

Horne took Shish-Kabot to Motorama, the largest robot conflict tournament in the area, and he finished in second place. He also won numerous science fair awards, including the Chester County Science Fair High School Engineering Award and a second place finish in Overall Engineering at the Tri-State Delaware Valley Science Fair.

West Chester & Chadds Ford Life | Fall/Winter 2016 | www.westchesterlifemagazine.com

He was also invited to display his robot and speak at the University of Pennsylvania’s NANO/BIO Day. During the combat robot competitions, he met Clarkin, who was one of the more experienced and accomplished builders in the area.

“I went to my first event, I was 13 or 14 at the time, and Jerry was there,” Horne explained. “He had a heavy robot on display. Eventually, I annoyed him enough so that he learned my name.”

After Upland, Horne went to high school at the Westtown School, where he helped launch the First State Robotics Program at the school. He continued to spend a portion of his free time working on robots. He advanced to the point where he can build a three-pound robot in an afternoon— and do it for less than $100.

For a time, Horne worked with Clarkin on building robots as a part-time business. But when Horne enrolled at the Pennsylvania College of Technology to study engineering, he became very busy with his coursework. For awhile, he and Clarkin didn’t work together on any projects. Then, last year, an email from Clarkin showed up out of the blue inviting Horne to help out with constructing SubZero.

Horne said that he really appreciates that Clarkin invited him to join in the effort.

While Horne enjoyed the BattleBots competition immensely, he is now focused on finishing up his coursework to earn a degree in engineering.

“It’s a broad, interesting field,” Horne explained.

He has constructed at least 15 combat robots through the years. He’s a regular at combat robot events, and often works with other builders. In fact, he knew many of the people who took part in the BattleBots competition because he had met them at various events.

Combat robots have garnered a lot of attention, thanks in part to television shows like “BattleBots.” He said that the popularity of combat robots could see even more engineers, high-tech builders, and college students getting involved in the smaller, regional events.

The members of Team Hammertime spent months working on SubZero, only to see it destroyed in a matter of moments. Horne said that’s just a part of combat sports, and the builders must accept that.

“When I’m building the robot, I’m not making it for an event. I’m making it because I like to build things,” he explained. “I resign myself to the fact that the robot will never look this nice again.”

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

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