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A weekly look around the valley
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Issue 3 — Snacklaces and the village that made The Blob
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Hey. Week 41 around the valley.
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What’s in this one
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Hot picks · Saturday stack: Art in the Woods behind CCAA, Kennett Brewfest, then Sunday’s Chili Cook-Off on Gay Street.
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Field guide · How to catch fall bird migration, starting at Black Rock Sanctuary on World Migratory Bird Day weekend.
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The scrap · Phillies gear bagged for Goodwill, a Sesame Street exit interview, a yellow-slicker rain dance, and a Turnpike walking trail.
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What’s building · Toll’s 237-home 55+ plan by Hibernia (hearing still open), and Honey Brook’s data-center rules hearing Oct 14.
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Makers · Camilla Hall Oktoberfest & Craft Fair, Artisan Exchange Saturday market.
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Deep cut · Yellow Springs: spa, Revolutionary hospital, orphan school, PAFA, The Blob.
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Season · Mariner Farms U-pick pumpkins, WC Railroad Fall Foliage Express Sunday.
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Hot picks
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This weekend’s best bets around here.
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Saturday starts in the woods and ends at a beer tent. Sunday is a spoon and a ballot on Gay Street. Pace yourself. Wear the snacklace.
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West Chester · Sat Oct 10 · 11–4 · free
CCAA Fall Art in the Woods
Eighty artists set up in the trees behind the Chester County Art Association at 100 N. Bradford Ave. There is a string quartet in the woods. There is a free sound bath. Silent Book Club runs a quiet reading hour, so bring a book and a chair. El Taco Loco handles lunch. Toss a can of soup in the car for the West Chester Food Cupboard. Free art walk, tacos, and you did a good deed. Big win. Art in the Woods |
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Kennett Square · Sat Oct 10 · 1:30–5 · 21+
Kennett Brewfest
80+ breweries and 150+ pours on 600 S. Broad St. New this year: ready-to-drink cocktails, so your friend who “doesn’t really do beer” has no excuse. GA is $65, NA ticket is $25. Snacklace judging hits at 3:30 and yes, the pretzel necklace is a competitive category. No kids, no pets. Uber there. Do not be a hero. Brewfest guide |
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West Chester · Sun Oct 11 · noon–4
West Chester Chili Cook-Off
West Gay Street turns into one long chili line. Restaurants, businesses, and hometown cooks fight for People’s Choice, and you are the judge. Tasting tickets are $10 in advance through Oct 10. Money goes to Fiorenza’s Food For Friends. No alcohol and no pets on this one, borough rules, so leave the dog home with a Kong. Rain date is Sunday Oct 18. Chili Cook-Off |
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Field guide
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One useful guide to living around here.
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Phoenixville · Black Rock Sanctuary, 953 Black Rock Rd
How to catch fall migration (start at Black Rock)
Leaf-peeping is fine. This weekend, look up. Black Rock Sanctuary on Route 113 is 119 acres of ponds, wetland, and meadow built on an old Schuylkill desilting basin, and the sky over it is a bird highway for the whole East Coast. Right now that highway is busy. My move is simple. Coffee, 8am gates, the flat 0.8-mile paved loop, Merlin open on my phone. Go the morning after a cool front when the wind swings north or northeast. Saturday Oct 10 is World Migratory Bird Day, so do Black Rock early and roll into Flocktoberfest in Phoenixville at noon. The longer guide has the when, the where, the apps, and the manners.
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The scrap
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The best stuff you missed in the area’s social media world.
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The best stuff you missed around here on social this week. Short takes.
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Lansdowne · Delco living room
Fresh Phillies drop at the Lansdowne Goodwill
One Wild Card night later, the red fits are bagged for Goodwill. Reelvia @dj_gabereal
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Delco · living room floor
Red October, Oct 1 to Oct 1
A Sesame Street board book somehow became the Phillies exit interview. Reelvia @dj_gabereal
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Chester County · soaked driveway
Can You Stand the Rain
The nor’easter asked. They answered in a full yellow slicker. Reelvia @timtoksherry
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PA Turnpike · service plaza
Turnpike walking trail
Pennsylvania’s underrated trail system comes with Auntie Anne’s at the trailhead. Reelvia @pennsylvaniajunkie
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What’s building
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What’s going up, getting paused, or getting fought over.
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Two township fights worth a seat this month. A 237-home Toll plan next to Hibernia that neighbors are packing the room over, and Honey Brook writing data-center rules before anyone even asks.
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West Brandywine · 500 Hibernia Rd · hearing still open
Toll Brothers Hibernia 55+ plan
Toll wants conditional use for a 237-unit age-restricted community on about 116 acres. That is 163 single homes plus 74 twins. The hearing opened Aug 5, picked back up Sep 29, and it is still open. No vote yet. Friends of Brandywine Farms and a lot of neighbors are pushing back on density, traffic, sewer and water, wetlands, and sitting right next to Hibernia County Park. A township official called it the most engagement any proposal there has ever drawn. Watch the calendar for the next session. MyChesCo · Township calendar |
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Honey Brook · Wed Oct 14 · 7pm
Data center + battery storage hearing
Supervisors hold a public hearing on a zoning amendment for data centers and battery energy storage, and they may vote it in the same night. The draft says conditional use only, only in the Business Industrial district. Hyperscale is banned. Dry cooling, so no net cooling water. 25-acre minimum lots. No application is on the table. This is the rulebook before the game. If you have opinions, Wednesday is the night. MyChesCo · Hearing notice |
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Makers
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Local makers nights and market tables worth hitting.
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Saturday is a two-stop maker morning. A convent craft fair in Malvern, then a quick indoor market in West Goshen. Bring cash and a tote.
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Malvern · Sat Oct 10 · 10–3
Camilla Hall Oktoberfest & Craft Fair
The IHM Sisters throw an Oktoberfest and craft fair, and every dollar goes to Camilla Hall. Craft vendors, baked goods, food, kids’ games, and theme and sports baskets you will absolutely bid on. Park at Immaculata and ride the shuttle up. Nuns with a bake sale table are undefeated. Oktoberfest & Craft Fair |
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West Goshen · Sat Oct 10 · 10–1
Artisan Exchange Saturday market
The weekly maker market at 208 Carter Dr, Suite 13B. Small-batch bakers, candles, pasta, coffee, and the kind of snacks you “buy for later” and eat in the car. Every Saturday, so no FOMO, but this is a good one to stack with Camilla Hall. Weekly market |
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Deep cut
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One local history leftover worth knowing.
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Chester Springs · Historic Yellow Springs, 1685 Art School Rd
Yellow Springs
Spa. Revolutionary hospital. Orphan school. Art colony. The Blob. Same hillside in West Pikeland. Yellow Springs started with an iron-rich spring the Lenape used long before anyone sold tickets to it, and every few decades the village picked a new life. I care because none of it got bulldozed for the next thing. The 1777–78 hospital Washington commissioned is a ruin with a medicinal herb garden above it. The barn where PAFA students painted still has its skylight. The studio that put out more than 400 films, The Blob included, worked out of the same buildings orphans once slept in. Since 1974 a nonprofit has kept 11 buildings and 142 acres walkable. Go for the springhouses. Stay for the ruins. Full five-era walk in the longer cut.
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Season
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What’s in the air right now. Farm stands, orchards, peak harvest.
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The quiet pumpkin patch and the lazy way to see leaves. One farm with no carnival, one train that does the driving.
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West Bradford · Sat–Sun · 8–5
Mariner Farms U-pick pumpkins
Third-generation family farm at 1594 Broad Run Rd. No maze tax, no bounce house, just a wagon to the field and you picking your own pumpkin. Weekends through Oct 31. Check their socials before you go to see what is pickable. Opens at 8, so you can be done before the big patches find parking. Mariner Farms |
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West Chester · Sun Oct 11 · 10am / noon / 2pm
WC Railroad Fall Foliage Express
Let the train do the leaf-peeping. 90 minutes from 230 E Market St out to Glen Mills and back through the Chester Creek valley. $30 adults, $25 kids, $82.50 for a family of four. Take the 10am and you are on Gay Street for chili at noon. Fall Foliage Express |
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Brandywine Buzz · written from around here · Tuesday mornings
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West Chester, PA 19380
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