2011 is almost a memory, 2012 is around the corner.
I resolve to be even more snarky in 2012!
I have given up purchasing cheese from Birchrun Hills Farm after the whole Ludwig's Corner debacle, and one other resolution is to read chickeman west vincent infos more often.
I also have noticed that Lower Merion is truly Philadelphia West and not just because Chaka Fattah is their, ugh, new Congressman. Crime seems to be on the rise and all these new armed robberies are really troublesome. Macy's , Wells Fargo, state store in Bryn Mawr, and so on.
Of course in Radnor, all eyes will be on the Township Building January 3rd starting at 7:30 p.m. Why? Because it may or may not become a fait accompli that old fart Squirrelly Sneaky Spingler may finally achieve his heart's desire and be crowned king. This of course, would be the worst thing for Radnor Township, but Radnor residents have no one but themselves to blame....but then again the motto in Radnor should be the more things change the more things stay the same, shouldn't it?
Completely unrelated, but I wish they wouldn't wheel out poor Dick Clark this year. It was painful to watch last year - like seeing him in his underwear in Time's Square....
Cheers to you all in 2012 and thanks for reading another year!
Well my little blog monsters, another year is drawing to a close. And no, just because I made a Gaga like reference, it doesn't mean I am going to the dark side. Seriously I just don't get the hype and bally-whooooo-hooo over her, and the pointed black fingernails creep me out. But I do dig the cover shot for Vanity Fair 2012, even if she is a freak whose music I don't listen to. And who the hell would pose nude for that old goat Tony Bennett? Ick.
It has indeed been another year of interesting and amusing things, and thanks to the year end Christmas themed dysfunctional loveliness of the government of West Vincent Township, I learned there was more to mock than the Main Line. I mean I knew Chester County was amusing because of all the Main Line ex-pats, yet still....
As the year winds down we have strange silence on Ardrossan. And in 2012 will Radnor be stupid enough to elect Bill Spingler President of the Board of Commissioners? Hope not. West Vincent has Chickenman and it's a shame he doesn't have a poultry pal down 'round here to look again at things past in Radnor. The largest problem about people in Radnor is there is plenty to talk about, but no one seems to do it in public so issues perpetuate from year to year.
A former Boy Scout volunteer and staff member at Camp Horseshoe in West Nottingham has been released on bail after warrants for his arrest were issued stating he molested two boys.
Matthew Lewis, 27, of Malvern, was employed at the Great Valley School District in the role of tech support as well, and had served as a scout leader and camp store worker during the summer sessions at Horseshoe.
On Thursday, police issued warrants for his arrest, and on Monday, he and his attorney surrendered to District Court 15-3-05 in Oxford. There Judge Harry Farmer conducted an arraignment and levied a bail of 10 percent of $10,000 for each of nine warrants. Lewis posted bail and was released pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for Dec. 28 at the Oxford court.
Tom Dintaman, associate scout executive of the Boy Scouts of Chester County, said camp officials were alerted to Lewis’ activities last summer. On Saturday, July 23, supervisory personnel of the Boy Scout Council reported to the Chester County Children, Youth and Family Services there had been inappropriate contact between Lewis and several of the scouts.
Boy Scouts are a fine tradition, but they sure better get their house in order.
Now onto other snarklicious deets, I am giving Devereux Foundation the award for the dumbest fund raiser theme ever. I won't bother to mention that both Devereux and Melmark have seemingly high staff turnovers and why is that? What I will mention is check out Devereux's “007 from Devereux with Love,” Gala write up in the formerly known as Suburban. It's online KLASSY with a K to me....but then again look at who they were honoring this year? How many blondes in gold dresses has he been through? (or wives for that matter?)
Yes, when it comes to High Society, the Main Line is sooooo klassy these days.....at least the photos are better now in the society pages of the local paper.
So snarky is winding down for 2011. There are still sugar plums to hunt down and things to prepare. Here's looking for an amusingly snarcastic 2012.
Thanks for reading another year, and to my new critics who are so in love with those hicks running West Vincent? I am entitled to my opinion. And my opinion might shape up to be that West Vincent could be in worse shape than Radnor a few years ago.
Keep those cards and letters coming and remember to wish people a Merry Christmas. None of this happy holidays happy horse shit.
Thanks to a follower of this blog, I have been turned onto a neat blog I did not know was out there. It's called : Women's Writing Circle /A place to share our stories . .
Today I traveled back in time. Wayne, Pennsylvania.
I walked to the church where John and I married so many years ago. A girl with platinum blond hair in a sleek white gown with pearls at her throat takes the arm of a tall, dark-haired man with Italian good looks. He smiles as they pose in front of a red oak door . . . she never realizing she would live whole lifetimes without him.
This is simply marvellous...if you have ever lost and loved and hold a memory or two dear, you will love this post. I look forward to more fully exploring this blog.
Very amusing. Some trolls from the bowels of Chester County somewhere have decided to threaten me for having an opinion on the West Vincent attempt at eminent domain against the Ludwig's Corner Horse Show Grounds. Too bad they are anonymous or I could have their photos super-imposed on clay pigeons when skeet shooting.
You have terrible writing skills. It should be embarrassing that you are unable to correctly spell someone's name whom you often write about and are even citing articles (where hir name is spelled correctly) about!
Maybe take a writing (and political science) class before creating a blog. You seem like an uneducated idiot and I don't know how you sleep at night.
You must have very little self esteem if you are able to attack others so easily and for apparently no educated reason. I'm sorry for that, but there are other, more productive and healthy ways to deal with low confidence.
Happy holidays!
(Maybe you should consider how you like to spend your holiday as you ruin other people's!)
Nanny nanny boo boo. That's the best you losers can do? I don't have to justify my opinion to anyone. All that is up here are media accounts of the tale and stuff out there publicly - note the video I discovered about the most recent West Vincent meeting.
I guess in Chester County slander = having an opinion? So I guess whomever you trolls are you are somehow related to the West Vincent Supervisors?
As for my writing skills, darlings I could write on toilet paper and make more sense than you. I don't have to justify my writing skills or style to anyone, but as a point of argument and not to put too fine a point on it, I have been noted prior to your excellently adult review as a best blog on the Main Line. You just don't like my opinion, and unfortunately for you, opinion is not illegal.
Here's wishing the people on the side of right in Chester County, the best today when they meet with West Vincent. My only comment to the horse show folks is don't settle, you did not do this. They did.
Yes, yes, yes, I do love Urban Outfitters, but I think owner Richard Hayne is bordering on kookiness and hope he doesn't get as bad as M. Night Shyamalan and his deer-privacy fence (I mean seriously, you move out to the country because it already is private.)
So my fellow blogger Tilda Tally-Ho was kind enough to dash off a brief note in a comment and directed me to her update on Richard Hayne - her post is titled : A certain lack of Ziel Wednesday, December 14, 2011 . In it she says (and I quote liberally because this is delicious):
There was a sense of unreality and frustration in the West Marlborough Township hall the evening of Dec. 13.
Richard Hayne, billionaire founder of Urban Outfitters, has applied for permission from the township for two activities at his sprawling Doe Run Farm in Springdell: (1) processing and wholesaling cheese and yogurt at his creamery and (2) processing and wholesaling vegetables at his greenhouse complex.
The hearings were held back to back and, to dot the legal i's and cross the legal t's, Mr. Hayne's representatives covered a great deal of the same ground, producing deja vu in the audience.
Unfortunately, there was also a strong sense of mistrust. Mr. Hayne has already been making cheese for many months now without permission from the township, selling it at his Terrain stores and local farmers' markets. Also, Mr. Hayne has never appeared at any township hearing, leaving his representatives to -- presumably -- speak for him. But they are also the ones who famously once said that Mr. Hayne intended to make cheese for his own personal use only.
Also, David Ziel, the rep who was supposed to address most of the issues of interest to the township -- like truck traffic, wastewater management and such -- wasn't even at the hearing. Supervisors and audience members again and again asked exactly what would be going on in the creamery and the "processing shed," only to be told by Mr. Hayne's attorney that Mr. Ziel was the person who could address that. (He is supposed to appear at the continuation of the hearing on Jan. 5.)
Springdell resident Joseph Huston told me after the meeting that he was reminded of the old Cheech and Chong comedy routine "Dave's not here!" It was the best line of the night.
Much of 2010’s eatable bounty turned up in a greenhouse setting at Styer’s Garden Café at Terrain in Glen Mills. Customers also delighted in Doe Run’s artisanal cheeses, and the farm’s vegetables and fruits are also crafted into menu selections.
Ahhh I see. Well shall we remind all of the good people of this Chester County municipality about what can happen when you let the super rich live above normal societal rules?
Over the years, the chemical heir used his fortune in other ways that insured that he was the center of attention. He provided local law enforcement agencies with equipment like bulletproof vests, and trained officers at his private shooting range.
In return, he was allowed to play the part of a police officer, driving around with a badge, gun and siren.
And not to mix it all up too much into one crazy cocktail, but have you driven past DuPont's old Foxcatcher estate lately? I can't believe how derelict it looks now that the leaves are down - the houses on the estate visible from the roads look like they are falling apart.
Anyway, Chester County has got some cheese issues. Ya know Rich Cheese, Poor Cheese. But this Hayne cat needs to play by the rules, except I am learning in Chester County rules seem open to interpretation? And this guy exhibits an arrogance by not ever going to a meeting where his issues are discussed.
Yep, the super rich are super different.
Viva la fromage!
Tilda Tally Ho, a hat tip to you for giving me something fun! I will never look at cheese the same way again....I like to support local farmers, but apparently we need a guide as to who we should be buying from? I won't be buying any Fromage de Hayne until he straightens out his issues either.
(Ludwig's Corner Horse Show Photo from The Internet)
As I continue to follow the Christmastime debacle in West Vincent I am appalled by yet another local government. I thought the Main Line townships cornered the market on arrogant assholes until I started learning about West Vincent.
Mind you, the jaded blogger in me believes that the sole reason the board of that non-profit showed that woman the door is they are afraid for their donations at year end, which can be crucial. Here's hoping they get their paws smacked anyway, but I digress.
Then I got to talking to some of my organic food happy friends and I learned that this place that makes cheese I have purchased is the family business of another West Vincent Supervisor, Ken Miller. It's called Birchrun Hills Farm. You can find their listing on Local Harvest (their website has mysteriously been taken down or is "broken".)
Anyway, I will never, ever buy this cheese made there again! Goodness, be it ever so cozy, apparently there is no place like West Vincent? Are they all second cousins twice removed a la "This is Darryl, and meet my other brother Darryl"?
Wow. How do these people stay in office? Well the meeting this week was apparently craziness. And I did not know but the Ludwig's Corner Horse Show has a 501c3 non-profit and if anyone in this bitch ass tight economy has a nickel to spare....sent it to THEM to fight West Vincent.
So this thing is like a giant soap opera, and much like watching a car accident as part of a gaper delay.
WEST VINCENT — Clare Quinn was gracious Monday as she spoke about the French and Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust's decision to fire her as executive director.
"I have no comment except I enjoyed working there," said Quinn, a township supervisor. "It took a lot of energy and a lot of my heart."
Cary Leptuck, president of the trust's board, said the board has a "fundamental conflict" with Quinn's decision as a West Vincent supervisor to use eminent domain and condemnation to obtain the Ludwig's Corner Horse Show grounds.....In an earlier interview, Quinn said her roles as supervisor for the township and executive director for the trust were separate.
"I don't condemn land as part of the trust," she said. "It's not in my job description. But (as a supervisor), it doesn't mean I can't take action that I believe is in the best interest of the township." ....During an open comments session prior to the board of supervisors meeting on Dec. 12, Miller and Quinn informed almost 300 horse show community members that they would not be rescinding the condemnation prior to meeting with the Horse Show Association at 10:30 a.m. today.
"I'm optimistic that we'll be able to come to some kind of understanding there," said Miller during the session. "I think we're going in the right direction to benefit the residents of this township. We want to have a serious discussion with the Horse Show Grounds and get this resolved without condemnation."
Ludwig's Corner Horse Show is floating something:
Dear Friend of the Horse Show
Representatives of the LCHS Association met with representatives of West Vincent Township this morning. We were informed that there will be a special meeting of the Township Board of Supervisors on Friday, December 16, 2011 at 10 a.m. in the Township Building. The purpose of the meeting is for the Board of Supervisors to consider and vote on a motion to rescind the resolution condemning the Horse Show Grounds and to revoke the condemnation. The Township representatives further indicated that each of the Supervisors intended to vote in favor of rescinding the resolution and revolking the condemnation.
We truly appreciate all of the support we have received from our friends. Your efforts have proven to be invaluable.
Sincerely,
Ludwig's Corner Horse Show Association
My snarky two cents is no one should settle anything other than revoking the condemnation. And if I controlled the land at Ludwig's Corner, I would happily have to say that West Vincent could try to pry it out of my cold dead hands, but I would tie that land up seven ways from Wednesday so that they could never, ever touch it or attempt anything like this again.
And for all that's holy, kick these Grinches out of where you live!
A West Vincent Township supervisor employed as executive director of a Chester County conservation group was terminated from the latter position today.
The board of the French and Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust voted unanimously to end its more than five-year relationship with Clare Quinn, said Cary Leptuck, the trust's board president.
"The board believes that Ms. Quinn's actions as a West Vincent Township supervisor in condemning the Ludwig's Corner Horse Show grounds represent a fundamental conflict with the Trust's long-standing mission of voluntary land conservation," said an e-mail announcement.
West Vincent was described by a friend who lives in Chester Springs a few years ago as "Mayberry". I say Mayberry is a little warped...it's more like the strange town on that ABC Show Once Upon a Time. I think Clare Quinn would make an excellent evil queen/mayor like the show, right?
WEST VINCENT — The French and Pickering Conservation Trust opposes the condemnation of the Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show grounds, which goes against the decision its executive director has made.
Clare Quinn, who serves as both a West Vincent supervisor and the executive director of the trust, voted to condemn the show grounds in late November, but was not present when the trust’s board voted to express its opposition. Quinn told the trust board about the decision to condemn the grounds and why the supervisors chose to do so, but recused herself from the board’s final discussion and vote on the matter.
“I am not on the (trust) board,” Quinn said in a recent interview. “I can recommend policy, but I don’t set it. The board chose to take the action they did.
“I don’t condemn land as part of the trust. It’s not in my job description. But (as a supervisor), it doesn’t mean I can’t take action that I believe is in the best interest of the township. They are separate roles.”
There's no denying the natural beauty of Chester County, particularly the countryside surrounding the borough of Phoenixville and nearby townships. A leisurely stroll along the Pickering Creek in Charlestown or French Creek could make even the most adamant city-dweller dream of owning country property. Development on area land, however, has an impact on the surrounding environment, particularly the 69,770 acres of land encompassed by the French and Pickering Creek watersheds.
That's where Clare Quinn, Executive Director of the French and Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust, comes in. Quinn has been an active member of the community for decades. After living in West Pikeland Township, Quinn moved to West Vincent in 1994, where she worked for six years as a West Vincent Township Supervisor. During her tenure as Supervisor, she was also a member of the township's planning commission, of which she is the current Chair.
Quinn, who graduated college with a degree in English, came into her current role as a land conservationist after seeing fellow members of the community back down from a land-use disagreement in West Vincent. The land at stake, a parcel in Ludwig's Corner that was slated for development by Hankin, was a source of unease for Quinn, primarily because of the lack of public opposition it was facing from local residents.....
Wow, shucks, she sounds as sweet as honey on cornbread don't she? Then flash forward (jumping around a bit) to an article in the Pottstown Mercury January 2011:
A series of announcements in the past 11 days has served to highlight the central role the venerable French and Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust has assumed in the preservation of open space in northern Chester County.
In just that many days, news of nearly 300 acres of preserved property in East Pikeland and West Vincent now being under the protective oversight of French & Pickering has been made public
Fully 222 of those acres are the result of the decision by the West Vincent Land Trust to transfer all of its easements to French and Pickering....But the land will not be held by the township.
Instead, the French and Pickering trust, which was a party to the final easement agreement, will serve as the "steward" for the property, conducting annual site visits to ensure the property remains in compliance with the conservation values identified in the agreement.
These values include its scenic quality, wildlife habitats and protection of natural features, such as wetlands and riparian buffers.
"It's a great kind of growth boundary around Spring City and the family, which has held the farm for about 100 years, was very thoughtful about how they wanted it preserved," said Clare Quinn, the executive director of French & Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust.....That accomplished, she said the board at the West Vincent Land Trust, which is appointed by the township supervisors, began to consider whether the land it oversaw might be better entrusted to an entity less subject to political influence, Quinn said.
She would know.
Quinn is also a West Vincent Township Supervisor, as is Zoe Perkins, who chairs the West Vincent Land Trust. Continued..."The West Vincent Land Trust is not immune to politics, with the supervisors appointing its members, and we began to feel it might be better to have these properties and easements held by a third party that is not vulnerable to the political winds," Quinn said.
Call me crazy, but suddenly Et tu, Brute comes to mind.
Ok check out this video from May 2011:
Mrs. Green Acres ain't so universally loved is what this observer is learning. I am also learning West Vincent seems a little off - check out the Truth for West Vincent blog . Not that Clare Quinn doesn't cluck back on her own website. And there was also a lot to say it seems in West Vincent this recent election cycle? I learned that interestingly enough, Madam Claire lover of eminent domain is a Democrat so how the hell does she survive in Chester County? Clare's CV is listed on her own website . She looks good on paper..but...then there are her current actions.
She is Executive Director of a place which supposedly has a land preservation mission, yet she can't live that mission where she is an elected official and is supposed to look to the best interests of where she lives??
West Vincent Township decided to exercise its right of eminent domain after extensive deliberation and after being unable, following several years of discussion, to achieve a conventional real estate purchase from the Ludwig’s Corner Horseshow Association. The acquisition will enable the Township to permanently protect this open land from commercial and residential development and provide an easily accessible public center for sports, leisure, and community activities that will benefit all Township residents and the surrounding community.
How are they protecting anything if they are planning to turn the land into exactly what they claim they are protecting it from??? And there sits Clare Quinn.
I don't know the woman, I don't want to know the woman. But I think that every donor should stop giving to French & Pickering Creeks Conservation Trust. You can't trust a non-profit with money if their executive director can't live it's mission.
And I think Clare Quinn should be removed from her public office too for this. Is there a way to do that?
In case you want to contact Clare about this her work e-mail is cquinn@frenchandpickering.org and the phone there is 610-933-7577. I reiterate my comment the other day that the West Vincent Supervisors need some fine smelling horse presents on their lawns....
People aren't buying West Vincent's brand of Happy Horseshit as per the Daily Local and I am glad. And West Vincent residents, trust us Main Liners, you don't want your communities to be theme park versions of ours - we got issues. And given all the people driving into store fronts and road rage issues, why allow yourselves to have our issues? You live in a pretty place, and truthfully the nouveau Main Line has taken the area around Radnor Hunt and Valley of the Dolled it up, so save Ludwig's Corner.
It's an awesome place....except for the fact that you seem to have a very sleazy local government.
Just say no West Vincent residents and give these people the boot. And oh yeah, who is your congressman? Maybe roll up and ask him what he thinks?
One last thing? Country Clare sure is a You Tube star for being such a country gal:
This family has now lost me. They were not wrong when they went after Lower Merion for spying on Robbins kid #1 a/k/a Blake.
Blake got a settlement and then got pinged in the media recently for driving an unregistered car . (and what the hell kind of parent lets a kid drive an unregistered car? This is the Main Line, not Appalachia, after all.)
So now that we got that out of the way comes a new headline for the Robbins family: Happy Holidays they are launching another webcam suit? What those shinetastic facial treatments and peek a boo keyhole blouses getting expensive?
Does the Robbins family only know how to make money one way? The old fashioned way as in file a law suit?
Yesss.....and this time it's the daughter. Poor wittle Paige didn't get enough attention the last time around apparently... This family will completely kill their street creds in the community, because all this time later, can we say if it smells like a money grab, it probably is?
The sister of the Harriton High School student who brought forth the first webcam suit against the Lower Merion School District nearly two years ago has now filed her own suit. School officials call the new suit a money-grab.
Attorney Mary Elizabeth Bogan filed the suit this week in federal court in Philadelphia on behalf of Paige Robbins, the sister of Blake Robbins.
The suit filed this week is similar to the one her brother filed in February of 2010 in which he claimed that school officials remotely monitored him through the webcam on his laptop computer.
Go out and get jobs, Robbins family. The Main Line is done wit youse. No it wasn't right for the school district to spy but oh yeah all this time later filing another suit? Give us all a break.
And NOW???? Now we have a teacher who it has been alleged basically was touchy feely with her students? Major ick factor. Another odd thing happening at Valley Forge Military Academy, eh?
Gives a whole new spin on "salute" the teacher, eh?
Maybe this academic institution has some serious issues again? And there they are in the middle of nice neighborhoods?
A guidance counselor from the Valley Forge Military Academy and College was fired Tuesday and police are investigating alleged inappropriate contact with two cadets.
According to a statement from VFMA spokeswoman Jennifer Myers, school officials were first notified Sunday “of possible inappropriate actions involving Academy Guidance Counselor, Mrs. Symantha Hicks and two cadets that occurred the night before.”
Hicks was immediately suspended pending an investigation. The parents of the cadets were also notified.
Radnor police confirmed late Wednesday that they were investigating the report.
Wow....who does employment screenings for this place?
The Christmas decorations are going up. Some are incredibly tacky, some subtle and beautiful. But what fascinates me the most is how many people PAY to have their Christmas decorations put up.
Now I get if you are a senior citizen we don't want you on the roof stringing lights, but it seems to be a growing Main Line tradition to have someone else do your holiday decorating.
I don't get it.
Why?
Part of the joy of the season is decorating...with your friends, family, neighbors....but not on the Main Line. On the Main Line it's all about Keeping up with the Kardashians apparently...
The lights this year crack me up.
Some houses look like they vomited lights and I wish they would develop ordinances against those blow up Santas, snow men, and those extra super annoying giant fake snow globes. Parts of Wayne need the taste police to visit them this year.
If you see streets with lights not to be missed - post the location in a comment. Sugartown Road for example - once you get past the apartment complexes from hell there's a lot to look at. Some good, some bad.
So....we have lots of Pizza Pie places....a newer one with the tackiest sign I have ever seen is Dimeo's. It's in that Strafford Shopping Center next to the Wayne Farmers Market...you know where the parking lot is worth your life?
Apparently, today was just another banner day for driving as Main Line Media News is reporting someone wanted pizza soooo badly that they crashed into Dimeo's Pizza. Seriously, there are safer ways to bump to the head of the line...
A vehicle crashed through the plate glass window of Dimeo’s pizzeria and restaurant at 375 W. Lancaster Ave. in Wayne during a busy Tuesday afternoon lunchtime.
The driver, a woman in her mid-30s, sustained a minor injury and was taken to Paoli Hospital for observation. There were no other injuries reported.
The accident is under investigation by Radnor police. The eatery remains close until Radnor health officials inspect the scene.
If you know any horsey people, and I do, you know that for years West Vincent Township and various and sundry drooling fools have wanted to figure a way to plot to get their paws, hooves, whatever on the valuable land on which the famous and beloved Ludwig's Corner Horse Show sits. See what the news is right off of Ludwig's Corner Horse Show site:
Please Help!
Please contact your Township Supervisors and voice your concerns:
Ken Miller
Clare Quinn
Zoe Perkins
Township Phone Number:610-458-1601
PRESS RELEASE
Beginning in2003, the Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show Association and West Vincent Township had discussed a transfer of the development rights (TDR) for the property.The talks essentially ended because the township, which had previously only negotiated residential development rights, could not determine a fair value for the 26-acre commercially zoned portion of the tract. In the spring of 2011, the Association contacted West Vincent Township indicating its willingness to use the agreed upon residential rate for all of the TDRs on the property. Throughout the year the Association contacted West Vincent to complete the negotiations, and as recently the end of October, the township indicated it was a priority for them to complete the negotiations with LCHSA in 2011.
On November 28, the West Vincent Board of Supervisor passed a resolution condemning the Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show Grounds. This capricious taking is detrimental to the welfare of the general community. In particular, the township’s action puts 33-acres of open ground at risk. The Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show Association is bound by its by-laws and charter to use the property for the show and other recreational purposes. While the township’s press release suggests they might continue this type of use, the West Vincent Master Plan indicates a significant portion of the property to be used as a commercial site.
The Board of Supervisor are taking away one of the very special cultural features of the region.Their press release expresses that they will work to continue the Labor Day Show, but they do not offer support to the dog shows and other horse shows held on the grounds. LCHSA greatly subsidizes the smaller horse show events and relies on them to generate in-kind support for its show. When the township’s action disenfranchises the equine community, the Association will lose the support of its volunteers making it difficult to staff and run the LCHS. Furthermore, once the commercial area of the property or ball fields are developed the physical constraints and lateral abrasion of uses would make it impossible to host a horse show on the site.
LCHSA’s goal is to preserve the grounds and keep the show running. We look forward to a time when the township will enter a dialog with us to ensure there always will be a high quality horse show at Ludwig’s Corner.
Aretheyf*ckingkiddingme? Ludwig's Corner is history around there. And they want to literally pave paradise and put up a parking lot ...and bullshit development? Under the guise of "protecting" the land? Apparently the only thing people really need protecting from is their local government and whomever is "encouraging" them behind the scenes.
WEST VINCENT — Township supervisors at Monday night’s monthly board meeting took no action but said they may rescind their condemnation of the Ludwig’s Corner Horse Show grounds.
“The reason we are tabling is we have heard what you have to say as a community,” Supervisor Clare Quinn told almost 100 members of the equestrian community who were at the meeting Monday night.
Quinn acknowledged that the township had received much input on the issue.
“We have heard from our friends who are very much supportive of what we have done,” she said. “We have heard from our friends who are not. We have from people we don’t know who are supportive of what we have done, and we’ve heard from people we don’t know who are not supportive of what we’ve done.”
Quinn and Supervisor Zoe Perkins decided not to vote to rescind the condemnation Monday night, due to Supervisor Ken Miller’s absence. According to Township Manager Jim Wendelgass, Miller is at an “out-of-state weeklong
“This is a completely traditional and legal use of eminent domain,” she said. “Providing parkland to our residents is an essential public purpose. There is no doubt in my mind that if we don’t build these fields other people will be angry. We have to serve all of our residents.” Continued.......Commissioner Ryan Costello was also present and said that a vote to rescind the condemnation could have been made at the meeting.
“They have a quorum in there,” he said. “So if they wanted to rescind it, they could have.”
Yeah, bitch, nothing is more traditional than stealing. West Vincent doesn't need this land, they want it, they have been drooing over it for years. First it's for development and then turf fields? What story is West Vincent sticking to? Turf fields are cause for concern - check this out in Malvern Patch
And you know what? Just because the Main Line has been turfed to death (all the plastic people need plastic fields), doesn't mean Chester County should be.
Call up West Vincent. Write your local papers and elected officials. Encourage horse people from all over the East Coast to contact similarly. Save this land. Ludwig's Corner can preserve it through conservation easements, etc. However, I would be damned if I controlled that land if I let West Vincent have any control over it.
And that township manager of West Vincent and all his minions should be fired and replaced. And every single one of those supervisors should be replaced too. And farmers of Chester County? I would find out where ever single West Vincent Supervisor lived and leave them horse "presents". They are full of shit, so they need manure piles as far as I am concerned. You can send the Township and e-mail by e-mailing:office@westvincenttwp.org You can call them at (610) 458-1601 and fax a letter to Office Fax: (610) 458-1603.
Chester County needs to be preserved. Too much of it is getting ruined as it is.
Finally, this is what I saw on NBC10 yesterday which almost made me choke on my nice cup of green tea: .
Now look, I think the driving in Wayne is INSANE, but normal people don't go psycho on people. And that is exactly what happened in Wayne late last week.
Robert Maxwell, who lives in a very expensive Radnor Township neighborhood decided to take a booze cruise in his car with his 10 year old son in the back. According to television news reports (still waiting for the papers to be outraged and well there was blood involved so they should be interested), this guy almost rams into some poor woman who naturally blew her horn (wouldn't you if someone was about to HIT you?). He then goes into full road rage (all on the same night the beautiful Christmas Tree was lit last week in Wayne.)
......Police say drunk driving suspect Robert Maxwell put the lives of his son and other people at risk in Radnor as he careened around streets filled with holiday shoppers, and people in town for the annual tree lighting ceremony.
The terrifying high-speed ride ended when Maxwell sliced across a front yard and slammed into a boulder, police say the drunken man had no regard for his young son in the car.
“What really turns my stomach, is that during this entire incident his ten year-old son was in the back seat of his car,” said Radnor Police Superintendent William Colarulo.
Colarulo says that it began as Maxwell pulled out of parking lot in Wayne, before exploding into road rage, attacking a woman whose car he nearly hit.
“He starts to beat her. He drags her, throws her into the hedges, and begins to kick her. If it wasn’t for other passersby, to come to help this woman, god knows how serious the injuries would have been,” says Colarulo.
After nearly running down the woman he just attacked, Maxwell, police say, then began swerving down busy lanes of Lancaster Avenue, nearly colliding with two more cars before turning on to Chamounix Road and crashing.
“When the officers asked him how much he had to drink, he responds, ‘too much’.”
This guy makes me want to vomit. Can you imagine the terror that poor woman he attacked felt? And what of his child? 10 years old and he must have been terrified too - and how as a 10 year old would you ever be able to look at a parent after that? How will that child ever erase this from his memory.
I do think Judge Tuten is soft on crime here. $30,000 bail means the guy probably had to post $3,000 to get out. Wonder if he will get a lawyer who will pop him into rehab or a mental program somewhere to try to have further sway with the system? And will he be charged with a DUI? This Maxwell guy could have killed people!
The Main Line around the holidays is always drama, but this is drama people could do without. This is a guy who should be locked up.
The Merion Cricket Club's Christmas Ball used to be a truly magical affair. But with the advent of the nouveau Main Line, it is a little hit or miss some years (kind of like some of this year's "debutantes" for The Charity Ball.)
Today membership was sent a darling reminder about the Christmas Ball and the phrasing makes some wonder is the old ball ain't as popular as she used to be? Apparently they say:
"Be part of this fabulous evening of Merion tradition with a taste of New York City Chic.... Share stories of the evening with friends while enjoying the fabulous Breakfast Buffet"
Share stories? Translated is that saying:
"Gossip about who got really wasted, who wore the same dress, he/she is truly with her/him, and wow some cat fight"?
Yes....remember? In 2007 there was a delicious cat fight. It was, in retrospect so very Real Housewives. They were slightly ahead of the trend curve that year....
And speaking of Real Housewives, what is with the new Main Line obsession with New York? As in New York chic? The thing is this, when you are speaking about New York chic, well, truthfully, you need to be in New York for that - there is no substitute. But then again how many Main Line divas got around trying to pass off fake designer bags as the real deal so I guess we shouldn't be surprised, should we?
Just like as much as some might want to pretend to the contrary and if they close their eyes in Stone Harbor and pretend it's the Hamptons, when they open their eyes, it will still be South Jersey.....
What made me laugh is this year they include a little video. Yes....a video.
If they are making videos the week before.....hmmmm maybe it is a recession after all....
I am sure his parents will call a press conference and his not so hot mama will be front and center with her latest collection of tight peek-a-boo keyhole tops. Come on - you don't remember her in all her kewpie doll shiny glycolic peel face and peeky boo top glory?
I mean who the hell lets their kid drive a car that is unregistered??? What kind of example does that set? Isn't Penn Valley the land of Good and Plenty? Can't afford a registration after the settlement? All they got for their efforts was a case of Mike and Ikes? Didn't they say last year when this case settled that some of the money was so Blake could get a car? (Again, some sh*t you can't make up, so see bottom of post for that reference.)
A Lower Merion student who alleged that Harriton High School officials used a webcam to spy on him, then made the charges stick in court, has been cited for vehicle-code violations in Lower Merion.
Blake J. Robbins, 17, of the 400 block of Hidden River Road, Penn Valley, was cited Nov. 26 by Lower Merion police officer Stephen M. Salera for driving an unregistered vehicle and displaying a license plate on the wrong vehicle.
Robbins and his parents, Michael and Holly, could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Court records show traffic citations were filed Nov. 30 at Magisterial District Judge Kathleen M. Valentine's court in Ardmore.
The records indicate that court officials were waiting for Robbins, a juvenile, to enter a plea. Both are summary offenses, which means that Robbins could plead guilty and pay a fine, or request a hearing at the District Court level, said Michael J. McGrath, Lower Merion's Superintendent of Police.
McGrath said he couldn't comment on the specifics of the case because Robbins is a juvenile.
October 13, 2010|By John P. Martin, Inquirer Staff Writer
Tuesday didn't feel all that different, Blake Robbins said......But Tuesday wasn't typical.
About 3 p.m., Robbins and his parents signed papers to settle their headline-getting claim that the Lower Merion School District used a laptop webcam to spy on him in their Penn Valley home......The deal will pay Robbins $175,000, most placed in trust until he turns 18. He'll get a slice - $25,000 - that he said he would spend on "some nice used car."
In 2009 I put up a post about a woman named Roisin O'Neill whe drove the wrong way on the Blue Route and killed someone's granny. It was a big nasty story that lived in the media for a good long time . Off and on since I posted this story occasionally somneone will post a comment so vile I can't in good conscience approve or post it. Some have been vaguely threatening too. Like it was my fault this chick got wasted and drove the wrong way on the highway or something.
This stuff, this family and all their shamrock-old- sod- bad- luck -of -the -Irish- drama has been out there in the public eye for years. I for one am sick of it.
There is the father, Sean O'Neill Sr, who has had all sorts of issues. This past August he was in the news again:
PHILADELPHIA — Eileen O’Neill said her family was “very disappointed” with a federal judge’s order Thursday dismissing her husband’s motion to vacate his sentence, which could soon land him in Ireland.
Sean O’Neill Sr., an Irish national, had pleaded to charges of tax fraud, falsely claiming U.S. citizenship and illegally possessing a firearm muzzle suppressor without a serial number. He was sentenced to 18 months in a federal penitentiary in October 2009.
O’Neill is serving his sentence at a Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Massachusetts awaiting deportation, which was also part of the agreement.....The O’Neill family was in turmoil during the time the plea was worked out. Their son, Sean O’Neill Jr., had fatally shot and killed his friend, Scott Sheridan, during an underage drinking party at the O’Neill home on Pony Trail Lane and was sent to a state forestry detention camp. Their daughter, Roisin, was facing sentencing for a September 2008 drunken-driving crash that resulted in the death of 63-year-old Patricia Waggoner of Massachusetts, and Eileen O’Neill had just been diagnosed with melanoma...Eileen O’Neill later said that living in prison can kill hope, but that she had still hoped for a better outcome.....she did take issue with the judge’s determination.
“I don’t appreciate my testimony and the testimony of my husband, Sean, to be deemed not credible,” she said. “Our testimony was truthful and it is backed up by the transcripts.”
....She said average citizens who become entangled in the law have little or no understanding of legal terms and rely entirely on the advice of attorneys.
She maintains she and her husband received inaccurate advice and “there were so many things left unsaid to help us make a knowing and intelligent decision.”
I don't know what it would be like to live in this Mrs. O'Neill's head with a husband in jail, a 24 year old daughter in jail, and a son who as a minor killed a friend playing with guns at a party.
And now we are seeing the family in the news again. Why? The son, Sean O'Neill, Jr , seems to have started Thanksgiving with a bang. He apparently drove off the road into someone's garage in West Goshen. Wee bit wasted were we? Here read:
Published: Friday, November 25, 2011
By SARA MOSQUEDA-FERNANDEZ
WEST GOSHEN — Police arrested Sean O'Neill Jr., 22, early Thursday morning on suspicion of drunken driving after he drove a car into a house.
At 12:55 a.m., township police found O'Neill Jr. driving a black Cadillac that had run off the road and into a side of a house in the 800 block of Westtown Road. When police arrived, O'Neill Jr. was attempting to drive the car away, a police report says.....The crash is the latest episode in what has been a long string of misadventures for O'Neill Jr. and his immediate family in recent years.
O'Neill Jr., of Glen Mills, shot and killed his friend, 17-year-old Scott Sheridan on Sept. 1, 2006, with a .45 caliber handgun taken from his parents' bedroom. During drunken horseplay, he had pointed the gun's scope at Sheridan, pulled the trigger and killed him. He was later found guilty of manslaughter as a juvenile.
In May 2009, a judge ruled O'Neill Jr. did not violate the terms of his probation a month earlier when he was stopped at a police checkpoint in Middletown, Delaware County, behind the wheel of his family's Cadillac Escalade.
According to reports, O'Neill Jr. was driving his sister, Roisin, and several teenagers when they were stopped at 1:30 a.m. April 25. Neither Sean O'Neill Jr. nor Roisin O'Neill — who was awaiting her trial on a drunken-driving fatality charge at the time — was found to be under the influence, but the teenagers in the car, including the siblings' younger sister, Fiona O'Neill, were cited for underage drinking..... At the time, O'Neill Jr. was serving house arrest for the shooting death of his friend
Nice. Nothing says Thanksgiving or being thankful like being a wasted menace on the road. One would think someone in this family might learn the consequences of poor judgement?
Many area residents gave thanks last week that they had no connection to the embattled O'Neill clan, which made headlines once again.
Although blood-tests results are not expected for weeks, police said today that they filed charges last week against Sean O. O'Neill Jr. because of substantial evidence that he had abused alcohol again; in 2006, he fatally shot a friend and fellow Cardinal O'Hara classmate at an underage drinking party.
West Goshen Township police said O'Neill, 22, of Glen Mills, was driving at 12:55 a.m. in the 800 block of Westtown Road when he lost control of his black Cadillac Escalade, which traveled down an embankment, smashed into two cars, and then crashed into the home's attached garage.....The complaint said O'Neill, who exuded a strong alcohol odor, told police that he had one beer and that a deer ran in front of his vehicle. He said he could not put weight on his leg for an extended period of time because he had broken it and had been carrying a medical boot in the car to assist him with walking, the complaint said. O'Neill put the boot on but still failed a series of field sobriety tests, the complaint said....First Assistant District Attorney Patrick Carmody said Sean O'Neill should not waste time seeking admittance into the county's Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program, a regimen for first-time, non-violent offenders. "He wouldn't be accepted," Carmody said.
ARD? Really?
I can believe the whole deer in the road thing, because truthfully, Chester County is worse than Valley Forge National Historical Park. But what is up with this family? Do they just have the worst luck of the Irish known to man? Did they piss off a leipreachán ? Or is Karma that much of a payback bitch?
All I know is this family is one hot mess. They were blessed with so much, yet every time you hear about them it is something awful and/or negative.
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