Live in West Chester? Want to? Follow along.
Last month West Chester Business Improvement District Executive Director John O’Brien shared feedback from its members on the Gay Street closure to the Borough Council Public Safety Committee. The topic at stake – what should the future of Gay Street look like?
West Chester resident Ashley Quin’s German Australian Shepherd was allergic to everything. “I had to stop giving him dog food and treats all together and start making him grilled chicken and rice from scratch.” All that time in the kitchen led to a revelation: what if there was a dog treat made from ingredients owners could easily identify? This is how Ashley turned a hassle into a business opportunity.
Since word spread the Christmas parade would be cancelled again this year, there have been a lot of questions about what would replace it. How would the kids of the borough see Santa? What would happen to downtown businesses without their signature event? Well, don’t worry, there will be plenty of opportunities to see Santa. As well as just about anything else you can think of that says, the “holidays are here!”
Don’t forget – next Tuesday is a big election. Yes, if you live in West Chester, big. We have a packed local ticket: mayor, four borough council seats and our representative on the West Chester Area School Board. These positions carry a lot of influence on local discussions and that influence hits awfully close to home. Let’s take a look at who wants to run this town.
What happens when you dream of launching your own events business – finally take that step – and then a pandemic hits that shuts down the country for a good 15 months? You improvise, that’s what.
As fans file into J. Oscar Stadium on Friday night ready to cheer on their Henderson Warriors Football team, there was little evidence participation in America’s most watched high school sport has been on a decades long decline. One only emboldened by report after concussion report. So perhaps it’s not surprising that last year the Henderson Booster Club set a goal for itself: upgrade all the team’s helmets with a safer model by the 2023 football season.
According to Amazon’s website they are committed to being “net-zero carbon by 2040” and powered by “100% renewable energy by 2025.” Impressive goals but can its efforts match its now massive scale? While we can’t inspect the entire company we can take a micro look at what is happening at the construction of one warehouse on the east end of town.
Every summer, on and off, since 1970 West Chester has been hosting its very own music festival. The all day concert has the feel of the another area. Maybe it’s all the tie-dye and crochet-embellished clothing for sale or maybe it’s the concert’s organic beginnings – just a group of musicians and the friends that came to see them play – but there is something nostalgic about the whole production. After being forced to cancel last year due to COVID-19, Turks Head is back and ready to rock 50 (and 1) years after that first concert in the park.
Nearly 18 months after the start of the pandemic, confusion and hesitancy continues to loom especially when it comes to large gatherings. While some events, like West Chester’s Halloween Parade and Kennett Square’s Mushroom Festival, are back; others, like the Chester County Restaurant Festival, are not. This has left holes in the Borough’s otherwise active events calendar or, as local realtor Renee Ryan likes to think of them, opportunities.
With nothing last summer and COVID variants still haunting this summer, there is something extremely appealing about a low-key outdoor music concert – and West Chester has plenty planned this summer. Bring a blanket; bring a cooler or hit up a food truck; kick off the shoes and lean back and listen.
Hello, West Chester 