Issue 1
30-foot steel roots and where Pennsylvania began
Poe at Hedgerow and a costume 5K for Halloween, 30-foot steel roots at Tyler, the $120 million ballot question, and where Penn first set foot in Chester.
Hot picks
This weekend's best bets around here.
Halloween lands on a Saturday, so this week I've got a Poe show in Rose Valley and a costume 5K in Swarthmore. Then the following Friday, a strings-and-beats duo plays the old movie palace on Lansdowne Ave.
Rose Valley (Media area) · Sat Oct 31 at 2pm and Sun Nov 1 at 6pm · $25 adults, $15 youth (+$5 fee)
Tales from Poe at Hedgerow Theatre
Hedgerow brings back its Halloween tradition at 64 Rose Valley Rd: Poe's stories and poems acted out on stage by a small ensemble, from "The Tell Tale Heart" to "Annabel Lee." It runs about 65 minutes and Hedgerow recommends it for ages 10 and up. There are only two shows and the page says availability is limited, so book first and pick a costume second. I've read "The Tell Tale Heart" maybe ten times, and I still want to hear somebody else do the floorboards. Tales from Poe
Swarthmore · Sat Oct 31 · race 8am (bib pickup 7am), parade 10:30am
Halloween morning in Swarthmore: a costume 5K, then the Lions Club parade
The Swarthmore-Rutledge School Home & School crew is running its first Halloween 5K and 1-mile fun run/walk, and costumes are encouraged. Bib pickup starts at 7 at the Swarthmore Campus & Community Store, 4 S. Chester Rd, and the race goes off at 8. Stick around after, because the Lions Club Halloween Parade and costume contest steps off at 10:30. Registration is on the SRS page. A 5K in a full costume is a big ask, so I'm signing up for the mile and calling it cardio. Halloween 5K
Lansdowne · Fri Nov 6 · doors 7pm, show 8pm
Black Violin at the Lansdowne Theater
Black Violin is two classically trained string players, Kev Marcus on violin and Wil B. on viola, who mix it with hip-hop beats. They bring the Be Free Tour to the Lansdowne Theater, 31 N. Lansdowne Ave, with Jon Muq opening. The venue page lists a VIP package too, with seats in the first eight rows and a peek at soundcheck. Tickets are through the venue site or by phone at 610-920-0200. I've never seen a viola get a crowd on its feet, so this is a first for me.
Black Violin
Field guide
One useful guide to living around here.
Tyler Arboretum · 515 Painter Rd, Media (Middletown Twp)
How to walk Steve Tobin's "In the Light" at Tyler Arboretum
I always tell people new to Delco that Tyler Arboretum is the best walk in the county, and this fall Tyler gave me a new excuse to say it. Since Oct 16, more than 50 sculptures by Steve Tobin have been set out at 24 spots across Tyler's 650 acres. Some of the steel ones reach 30 feet. Tobin grew up on the Main Line, and Tyler says this is the first time he's shown his work in the Philadelphia region.
The show comes with regular admission, which is $18 for adults. It stays up through October 2027. Hours drop to 9am to 4pm on Nov 1, so the sculptures are a daylight thing now. If you want a guide, the Sunday, Nov 1 "Monumentals" tour at 1pm covers sculptures 15 to 24, and Saturday, Nov 7 brings a 3:30 Golden Hour tour. Both need pre-registration.
Here's the part I love. Some of these steel roots stand a short walk from trees the Painter brothers planted in the 1800s, and about 20 of those trees are still alive. The full guide has the map strategy, every November tour, what it costs and how to get in free with a library pass.
The scrap
The best stuff you missed in the area's social media world.
Everything's local this week. A Havertown neighbor has thoughts about 6am, and somebody in Folcroft found a sign that says nothing. Then a Wawa bowl gets a one-line review.
Havertown · Eagle Rd and Earlington Rd · r/Delco
"Delco's Loudest Running Club: Congratulations, We're All Awake."
Every Delco block has a 6am crew, and Havertown's just got accused of prepping to storm Normandy. r/Delco via u/el_chacal
Folcroft · a utility pole by the post office lot · r/Delco
"Filming in Folcroft?"
Somebody might be filming in Folcroft, and the crew parking sign gives away exactly nothing: RANDOM. r/Delco via u/honey-12
Delco · a Wawa bowl next to a Snapple · r/Delco
"Wawa gobbler bowl what happened?"
I'm still getting a Gobbler this week, but r/Delco's review was short: "9.50 for this?"
r/Delco via u/steve2166
What's building
What's going up, getting paused, or getting fought over.
Election Day is next Tuesday, and every Delco ballot has a county question on it about borrowing money to protect land. The night before, Chester Heights council takes up a new earned income tax.
Countywide · Tue Nov 3 · Election Day
The $120 million open-space question on your ballot
On Nov 3, Delaware County voters get a yes-or-no question titled "County Water Quality, Natural Areas, and Wildlife Habitat Protection." It asks whether the county can take on up to $120 million in debt for land conservation. The ballot lists protecting drinking water sources, water quality in rivers and creeks, wildlife habitat, trees, wetlands that prevent flooding, greenways and parks, and natural areas from development, with public disclosure and annual independent audits. County Council voted unanimously in July to put it on the ballot. If more than half vote yes, the county's July Digest says council gets 10 years to issue the bonds, and it doesn't have to issue them at all. A no vote means the county doesn't get this voter-approved borrowing authority. Read the full wording in the county's official notice before you go.
Official notice · County Digest
Chester Heights (Media area) · Mon Nov 2 · 7pm
Chester Heights considers a 1% earned income tax
Chester Heights Borough Council will consider an ordinance Monday at 7pm at the borough building, 53 W. Baltimore Pike, 2nd floor, that would put a 1% earned income tax on residents and on nonresidents who work in the borough. The legal notice says the goal is to offset the need for more general fund revenue and potentially avoid raising real estate taxes. The full ordinance is at the borough building and the Delaware County Law Library if you want to read it first. Council could adopt it that night. If you live or work there, this is the meeting to show up to.
Legal notice
Makers
Local makers nights and market tables worth hitting.
Only one market this week, but it's a big one. More than 90 artists line up in front of the Inn at Swarthmore and down Park Avenue on the Sunday after next.
Swarthmore · Sun Nov 8 · 10am-3pm
Swarthmore Fall Makers Market
Swarthmore Town Center's flyer promises 90+ local artists selling handmade stuff in front of The Inn at Swarthmore and all the way down Park Avenue, plus live music and food. The flyer art alone has a copper flower pendant and a wren print on it. It's two weeks out, which is exactly how long it takes me to forget I said I'd start holiday shopping early.
Fall Makers Market
Deep cut
One local history leftover worth knowing.
Chester · William Penn Landing Site, Penn and Front Sts (100 Penn St)
Where Pennsylvania began - Penn's landing at Chester
Most people in Delco can tell you where Penn's Landing is, and most of them will point at Philadelphia. The real first step is down in Chester, at a small granite stone near Penn and Front Streets, about 100 feet from the Delaware and behind the railroad tracks.
In late October 1682, two months after sailing from England, William Penn came up the river to Upland, the only town in his brand-new province. The state marker on Second Street says that on Oct 29 he "first set foot on his colony of Pennsylvania." Count that forward to today's calendar and it lands around Nov 8, which is why Chester set the monument in place on Nov 8, 1882.
You've probably heard Penn renamed Upland "Chester" the minute he arrived. That story goes back to an 1862 county history, and even that book quotes a 1681 document already using the name, so treat it as tradition. The longer cut has the night at Robert Wade's house and why the river moved.
Season
What's in the air right now. Farm stands, orchards, peak harvest.
Halloween at Linvilla means a pumpkin carrying contest you pay for by the armful. And Lansdowne's farmers market wraps its regular season the same morning with a costume party.
Media · Sat Oct 31 · $29.99 · Pumpkinland open through Sun Nov 8
All You Can Carry Pumpkins at Linvilla
Linvilla Orchards, 137 W. Knowlton Rd. On Halloween, you get loaded up with as many pumpkins as you can hold, with no bags, carts or wagons, and anyone can help stack you. Walk a short distance to the finish line, and whatever you didn't drop is yours for $29.99. Pumpkinland is free to walk into and runs through Nov 8, and the farm lists 9am to 6pm hours on Oct 31. Apple cider doughnuts are made all day in the fall. I've been training for this my whole life by carrying every grocery bag from the car in one trip. Pumpkinland
Lansdowne · Sat Oct 31 · market 9am-1pm, party 11am-1pm · free
Lansdowne's last regular market is a Halloween party
The Lansdowne Farmers Market's regular season ends on Halloween, and the borough is throwing a Halloween party at Veterans' Landing, 30 N. Lansdowne Ave, from 11 to 1. Costumes are encouraged. There's trick-or-treating while supplies last, pumpkin painting, the market vendors and visits from Lansdowne police and the fire company. Kids need a grown-up with them. After this, the market goes to a Thanksgiving bonus Saturday and then once a month in winter. My kid's costume and my produce run in one jawn of a morning works for me. Halloween Party · Market schedule
That's the week
See you around Delco.
Drop your email. I'll show up Tuesday morning.