Fox Valley UpdateFrom thePRESIDENT Winter )010

I will spare all of you my verbosity and sjmply thank everyone who has helped out in oLrr community this pasi year your klnd-ness and neighborliness is unmatched. From me and my iamily and on behalf of the entire Board of ihe Fox Vallev Commu-nity Associalion let me wish all ofyou a very Merry Chnstmas. Happy Han!kkah. and a safe a joyous New year

Election and Bvlaws ResullsAt the last gene€l membership meeting, held on October 20th, lhe current FVCA Board of Difecto|s were re-elected by ac-climatlon to continue their service to the Fox Valiey communrly for another h/vo yea€. Yours kuly, Fred Karcher (president),Kate Noli (vice president), Lisa Waldron (treasurer), and N,4ike Tumulo (recofding secretary) have all agreed to serve in theira'a':'::enaoned roles once again. Your trusi in the members of this Boafd is greaUy appfeciated and we wili contlnue to dowi,ai we aan:c mainlain your conidence and improve our wondedul community.

AJso, ihe general membeaship meeting saw the re-creation of permanenl bylaws for the Association. The draft was aporovedunan'mously, with one minor edit which will be re-written and submitted fof amendrnent at lhe annual general membershipmeeting in 2011. These bylaws willgo a long way and serve as a guideforihe Board of Directofs and the Association aswemake decisions for oufcomftunity

The Thank You SectionIt seems thai each issue necessitates that we acknowledge one of more individuals from our neighborhood for an outstand-ing conkibuiion they have made to our community. This issue is no exception. Consequently, we will inauguraie this now per-manent passage known as !h9 !!p!g !b! Section.

Our fil'si lhank you goes o!i to Dan and Janei Ferris for once agajn opening theif home to the entire Association membershipfo. ou: annual FVCA Block Party. Yo! could notask for more gracious hosts As a result ofiheir efiorts this wondedlleventsaw aficther successful outcome and a greai time was had by aJl who attended The weather was peafecl, the foods werescrumptjous, the games entertaining. and the company enjoyable. leven think ilended at a reasonable hoLtr (\/Vhattimewasthat Dan? 2:00 a.m.)

{lf possible, I wotlld like to give the Feris' family a brcak ffom hosting this annual event. So f anyone would be k nd enough10 consrder opening their home nexi year for ouf members block party, please let me know I

Our second thank you goes out to Joe Lipiarski who regularly organizes our community's annual yard Saie. I thought it mayhave been difijcultto impfove upon his past attempts at ofganizing this event, but lwaswrong His creativity witn th; signag;was' in my humble opinion, the best so iar I don't think anyone could have eniered oLir community and noirealized th;t o;ebrg ga€ge sate was taking place. Gfeat iob. Joel

We also need to thank Kitty Welch and her mom, Dottie Powers, for a truly spooktacutar cornnuniiy Halloween pa.tv Theseladles are very well known in the neighborhood for decoraling thek own home for Halloween with the most eerie and enter-taining trappings one coLlld expect

But this yeaf they doubled their effods Both woman, with the assistance and youthful guidance of my nine year old son,Ryan, elaborately decorated the inside ofour beloved Pole Cat House tufning it into one fdghtening haunt. The kids who at-tended the pai{yjust loved it and made freqlentkips into its confines daring to enterone dooaand hoping io exit the reardoorWhat a wonderf! l day Thankyou ladies and gentJeman. (pS. you a.e al lhired nexiyear)

Finally, I would like to thank Clarence Smith, clini Cafson, and the entife board of the Fox Valley Community Services {oursewef boad) who pLrt togetheran iniormative meeting forthe neighbors ofFoxValley. The p{rrpose ofthe meeting was to out-l lneandexplaintheneedfortheincreaseinoursewerrateswhichtakeeffectinJanuary20ll . These volunteers who arealso or]rneighbors, dedicate theirtime and put out many an effod to ensure thatafe sewersystem isfunded and function prcp-erly. Thaaks a lot for all vou dol

UPCO/IAING EVENTS

The FVCA onnuol Christtnos in th€ Volley wall toke ploce onSundoy, Decenber 191h, ot 2:00 p.ln. ot the Pole Cot House.our new sonto will tnoke his inouguroloppearohce beoringgifls for oll lhe good little boys ond girls in Fox Volley. Therewill be crofts ond go6es os wellcs some cookies, cocoo, andother ireois. In order lo ensore we hove €hough gifis ond forthe right child, please conloct Jonet or Kin (see below) os tohow mony children you will be bringing os well qs their dge ondsex by Decehber 13th.

Also, if qnyone would like to donoie ony boked goods or othe.refreshh€nts or would lik€ +o help out al lhas everi pleosecontocl Jonet Ferris ot 484-840-1658 or (ferrisdlc@v€ri-zoh.net) or Ki|n N€lson ot 610-358-0675 or(chevylond99@yohoo.com).

Concord Township's AMuol Trce LightinE/Photos with sonto $/ill be held on Fridoy,Decernber 3rd, ot 6r00 p.|n. ol lhe CohcordTownship Cohnuniiy Center, 45 ThorionRood.

t hentioned in the foll issue of our newsletter thot we wer€seeking severdl odull |ne|nbers lo orgonize on Adulls Even+Cotnlnitlee for our cohhunity ossociotion. This cohhitleewould o++elnp+ to cone !p with id€os ond creote plons to holdone or two oduli only events yeorly for the hernbership of theFox Volley Comhunity Associolion. Severol people have re-9u6ied such even+s in +he post, but of couase it is eosier toask thoh lo do.

Unforlomiely only one person hos stepped forword to offerher services on the cohhilte€, I could never ask her lo un-dertske this projeci olone. 5o if yoo hove the lane ond som€good id€os for sqch f€stivities ond u/ould €hjoy working with ofew of your like-minded neighbors, pl".se le+ tne know.

Through our membership duesond os opproved ot two previous generol hehbeashipmeetings ihe Bmrd hos pgrchosed o dozen new blocksteel folding choirs ond two interior pole lonps forthe Pole Coi House. These puachoseg will reploc€sohe very old ond rickety folding choirs ond two verydoted ond rusted lamps we hove been utilizing for too|ndny y€ors.

The Pole Cot House is the c€ntrol locoiioh for honyof our evenis nol to |nention o cherished historicolhohe we ore fortumte to hove locdted righi here ihFox Volley. Through the concord Township HirtoricolSociety we will coniinue to helD hoinloin 6nd wherepossable improv€ +his +r€osure through donotions ondDurchdses of sDecific itens.

Whil€ f otn on the topics of Sonlo ond the Pole cdtHouse, if onyone hos o lorge choir thot is in goodshope they hoy be discording ond think il could beutilized os o son+o choir, pleos€ le+ |ne know. (FredKorchef 484-840-1212 or fkorche.@verizoh.ne+ .) foh picfuring d lorge choir, high bock, cushions, walhorhs whe.e o fot jolly old lnon coh sit effortlesslyfor oh hour or so hondihgoul Pockoges to some de-serving kids. Our curr€ntpink colored choir hos seenbetier doys.

Unforlunotely there hos been o slight deldy in theprin+ing ohd drslnbuiion of the Fox VolleyA ernbership Directory for 2010-2011. They shouldbe conple+ed ond distrabqled in the neor fu+ure ondonyone who is o member or hos poid for o direclorywill receive one soon. Thonk you for your po+ience.

w.g

&

Pole Cot House U

From Crystal Sets to Web Sites!The History of American Broadcasting

Lloyd Roach presented an overview of radio in the U.S. at the Conc.rd Historical Society's fallmeeting. Aveteran of44years in the ladio brcadcasting paofession as manager and owner of radio stations in Chicago, Boston, Hardsburg, andPhiladelphia, M. Roach brings a lifetime of hands-on understanding to the topic.

It began with his dad. In the spring of '1923, lke Roach, Lloyd's iathe( was a wireless pioneer. At age 15, heand neighbor,Bob Christman, participated in the first short-wave transatlantic tests fiom his home in Brookline, Delaware County. Lloydhimself has held an Amateur Radio License, K3QNI since 1961. His first job was cooking scrambled eggs on the airforUncle Phil Sheridan at WFIL-560-AM radio.

The story of early radio in the US has strong roots in Delaware County. Did you know that Bill Haley recorded his first hitrecord "Rocket 88" (one year prior to "Rock Around the Clocf) in the Brookhaven, Delaware County studios of VWWA- 1590?The firct rcck & rollrecord label, Essex Records, was in Chestet Donfisdale, the chief engineer and builderof Vv|P610,Philadelphia's first radio station in 1921, was from Chester. He later went on to found and build VWCH-74o-AM, chester,which exists to this day. Jack Steck, the "lnventod of'American Bandstand,' was bom, raised, and remained in Havertown,Delaware County

IVtr Roach was the founding ceneral llranager of KISS-100 and former owner of WPWA-1590-AM, Chester and \ /COJ- 1420-A[,r, Coatesville. In 2008, Lloyd founded Brandywine Radio.com, the nation's firstALL-LOCAL Intemet Radio station, whichhe owns and operates. ("News so local we even rcport lost dogs.") He is a Fellow of the Radio Club ofAmerica and a mem-ber ofthe Society of Wreless Pioneers.

Mr. Roach is a Delaware county native (Newtown square), and a veteran of the u.s. Navy Amphibious Forces, havingseNed in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia. He received a BS in Mass Communications from Emerson College anBoston.

Lloyd has been on the boad of directors of the Transportation Management Association of Chester County since 1998, seN-ing as Chairman for five yea|s. He is a former Biamingham Township Superuisor, Zoning Hea ng Board Chairman and boardmember of the Chadds Foad Histofical Societv. He currently setues on the Historical Commission for Birmingham Township.

Backyard History in Fox Valleyxtl

The 1704 Newlin Grist Mill

lModem people sometmes think that 18th century settlers wete uneducated, rurallolk,,vho lived ofr the fat of he land andneeded little expert_se to succeed in the New World. The opposite is true. For the rnost part, the first settlels who came toConcord werc accomplished farmers and craftsmen who, with theirwives and families, knew very wellwhat they were under-taking, and did so with a wealth of experience, education and determination. Their motives br coming included the desire foreconomic pmsperity as well as religious toleration. The evidence shows that they succeeded.

Some of that evidence rcmains in the neaghborhood. The Newlin Grist Mill stands just around the corner from Fox Valley.Nicholas Newlin purchased 500 acrcs extending east and nofth of the mill building into what today is part of Fox Valley (Cot-tonwood Dr, irulberry Rd., the north end of Bittersweet Dr), and to the Township boundary with Chester Heights. Today, theNewlin l,rill Park is bounded by Baltimore Pike, and Polecat, Cheyney, Concod & Scott Roads

A grand, old mi whose origins date back to 1704, the Newlin Mill is the oldest operating, original, water-powered mill an theU.S. Structural ma*ings indicate that the layout of the original mill was much di$erent from what we see today: the buildingwas smallef, and the water course and millwheel were likely odented somewhat differently

The engineering skilland insights that went into its design and building are remarkable, given the complexity ofthe task in thewilderness of early 18th century Concord. the millwright, who, alas, remains anonymo!s, had to locate the most favorablesite for the building, determine the size ofthe wheelfor the size ofthe building, determine the amount and pace of the waterflow, build the dam, calculate the length and depth ofthe millrace, design & manutucture the millgears, and much more. Notleast, he designed and built a building whose structure remains intact afrer more than 300 years. The mill operated until 1941,at the end producing flour and feed grains for animals, and was rcstored to working condition in the late 1960s.

3I\rarianne Squyres

Contractors Directory

Our new Contractors Di.ectory, located on ourFVCAweb page (wvr,w.foxvalleyca.org ), has metwith great acclaim. Many people have told methey have already utilized some of the contractorslisted and are happy with the results. This direc-tory however should not remain stagnant. We arealways looking to add additional contractors to thislist.

We are looking for conlractors who have come toyour home (painters, plumbers, roofers, etc.) ioprovide their services or that you hired to performal your home or at another venue, such as a discJockey or caterer. There is a list on our web pageof types of contractors for which we have found nonames. So be the first to increase the size of ourdirectory by adding your recommended contractor.Check out our Contractors Directory by going toour web page or add a contractor by go;ng tocontractors@foxvalleyca.org .

Heard Around Town

Librarv and School District News

Rachel Kohl Community Library is expanding their hours, effeciive November '1,2010. They will now remain open until 8:00 p.m. and Sunday hours will beex-panded from 1 :00 p.m uniil 5:00 p.m. Their 20'1 0 fund drive is also underway.

\Mth ihe recent spat ofescapes from thenearby George W HillCorrectional facility on Cheyney Road it maybehoove us all lo sign up for the CommunityAlert System so that we can be informed whensomeone decides to premalurely exii lhatprison. To do so, simply to go the townshipweb page at wwwconcord.township.pa.us andscrolldown ihe page untilyou see lhe link forthe Community Alert Sysiem. lt takes abouttwo minutes to register your name and number,and should a break out occur, you will be noti-fied.

While l 'm on the topic of registering, why notalso register with the Township and receivetheir Notice of Public Hearings so that you canremain informed as to what the Township isproposing and how they are spending some ofyour tax dollars. Simply go to the Townshipweb page noted above and complete the on-line reoistration form.

XThe long vacant Francis Harvey Green School was scheduled for demolitionon November 1 sth. Completion of the project is set for the end of the calen-dar year. The area will remain as a "green space" for the foreseeable future.Most of the trees will remain and the area will be seeded over when com-plete. The playing fields in the rear ofthe school are expected to be availablefor use in the spring of 201'1.

FOX VALLEY COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION BOARD MEMBERSFred Karcher (President & Editor) 484-84G1212 fkarcher@vedzon.net

Kate Nolt (Vice Presjdent) 610 459 8755 cknolt@verizon.nel

Mike Tumolo (Itecording Secfeiary) 61&358 3701 miketunolo@verizon.nel

Lisa Waldron (Treasurer) 484-840-0189 landbwaldron@verizon.net

Web Pate wwrr,foxvalleyca.org