All in Local Business
Whether or not you’ve ever experienced the many charms of the Purcell Darrell House, you may feel a pang of regret now that innkeepers Cathy and Chris Darrell have closed the doors of this Swarthmore bed and breakfast to the public.
The sun was shining brightly on Swarthmore this past Sunday, November 7, as 75 local and regional artisans and other makers took over the town for the Swarthmore Makers Market. This open-air market, which features a selection of their handmade creations, has typically been held twice a year in front of the Inn at Swarthmore and the SEPTA station. Sunday’s market was the first since November 2019.
As The Swarthmorean reported online on October 22 in a special recap of the October 20 Swarthmore Planning Commission meeting at Borough Hall, 26 community members stepped up to the microphone to voice their opinions about the proposed condominium project that would span 102-104 and 110-112 Park Avenue in Swarthmore. The comments coalesced around several themes. Free to read and share
Another milestone has been passed in Swarthmore’s new post-dry era. On September 28, the borough’s Zoning Hearing Board unanimously approved a special-exception application from Ship Bottom Brewing to open its Blendery & Barrel House, which will be located at 5 Park Avenue. The venue will include an indoor tasting room as well as a beer garden. Free to read and share
The decision states that Ship Bottom Brewing, Inc. can operate a “blendery” that will ferment and package beer and cider for on/off site consumption, and operate an indoor retail tasting room and outside beer garden.
This Saturday, June 26, resident-consumer advocacy group Priority: DelCo Thrive will focus its efforts on Swarthmore. The group is a collection of hundreds of Delaware County residents who visit a specific neighborhood/town in the county in a show of support for local businesses. If you are visiting Town Center this Saturday, you will surely see more visiting neighbors. Free to read and share
Kaycee Conallen is celebrating a decade as the proprietor of Kaycee Conallen Design. This profile explores the roots of her business and of her personal approach to working with clients. Free to read and share
This profile of Sean Bruton and his new Swarthmore shop, Lunch Break Vintage, tells the story of how the idiosyncratic store came to be, and what you can find there. Free to read and share
A profile of Aissata Kone, a tenth grader at Strath Haven High School and a serial entrepreneur who credits her family for her drive and work ethic. Free to read and share
Jason Kilpatrick has purchased three major downtown Swarthmore properties from the Pastuszek Company for $4.41 million. The Wallingford resident and entrepreneur talks about how he got into real estate, why he loves Swarthmore, and his vision of the future. Free to read and share
Rereading articles from this past January and February is like peering through the wrong end of a telescope into a lost world. Here’s a review of what we were doing and thinking about in 2020, as it showed up in the pages (and website) of this newspaper — both BC (Before COVID) and AD (After Distancing). Free to read and share
In a sometimes fiery meeting that lasted over three hours, Swarthmore Borough Council voted on Monday not to raise taxes in 2021. The vote was 6 to 1. The most contentious part of the meeting was a report on the increasing nuisance of bicycles in the business district. Business owners have complained that cyclists are riding down the Park Avenue sidewalk with little regard for pedestrians and leaving their bikes obstructing the sidewalk. Free to read and share
Pens and other art supplies, along with notebooks, tote bags, mugs, and enamel pins, are the main merchandise in Caroline Stockman’s new store, Of Aspen, which opened in Swarthmore last month. Stockman is an artist herself, and Of Aspen specializes in products she uses and loves. “Through the years, I’ve found a lot of products that I live by,” she says.
In light of the pandemic, Swarthmore’s annual Home for the Holidays event has been significantly pared down from what the community has come to expect. In place of the traditional horse-drawn carriage rides, visit from Santa Claus, and dreidel games, there will be a handful of holiday activities that people can do on their own. Since the day of seasonal festivities is usually a big shopping day in the borough, the cancellation is worrisome for some retailers. Free to read and share
Mushroom strudel. Citrus-cured salmon. “Duck duet” risotto. Those were some of the dishes on the menu when Village Vine, Swarthmore’s first-ever wine bar and bistro, celebrated its grand opening last week. On the wine list: selections from Italy, Turkey, Chile, and upstate New York, among many other places. For owners Lori Knauer and Jill Gaieski, opening day was a long time coming. Free to read and share
The Swarthmore Farmers Market is opening on Saturday, June 6. There will be strawberries and scallions, cheese and chickens, peanut butter cookies and portobello mushrooms, just as there are every June. Other things will be different.
Jill Gaieski has worked for the state attorney’s office in Broward County, Florida, and collected DNA from Bermudians. She has started an organization to fight gun violence, served (almost) two terms on the board of the Swarthmore Co-op, and earned her advanced sommelier certificate at the Wine School of Philadelphia. Since a swearing-in ceremony on Monday, January 6, she is now a Swarthmore Borough Council member as well.
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It’s Thursday evening at the Swarthmore Community Center, and Michelle Frumento is getting ready to teach “drop it” to a room full of humans holding the leashes of excited dogs. This is beginner manners, one of several dog-training classes Frumento has been offering out of the community center for the past five years. Manners, not obedience.
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How to inventory a whole year? What to remind you of, and what to skip? What would you rather forget, but maybe shouldn’t? What have you already forgotten that might interest you to recall? Collecting (recollecting) these happenings and lives and milestones is a way to consider what we have accomplished and aspired to and worried about as a community, as we take the first steps into 2020. To think about where we have succeeded, where we have more work to do, and where we might want to start all over again.
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