The Penn Township Historic Committee is planning an open house and re-creation of “Red Rose Rent” Day for Sept. 25 and 26, pending Covid-19 restrictions.

The open house will give the public a first opportunity to see the work that has been done at the historic Red Rose Inn since the property was acquired by the township and restored to its original form. The building itself is an interesting piece of history, plus there are a number of displays of historic memorabilia related to Penn Township 

The history of Red Rose Rent Day goes back to 1731 and is memorialized on an historic marker on the property. The tradition of Red Rose Rent Day was revived from 1938 to 1985 by the Conard Pyle Company. The last official commemoration was held in the late 1990s. 

The new revival of the tradition will have a representative from Conard Pyle present a rose to a descendant of William Penn.

More information on the history of the Red Rose Rent Day can be found in the latest edition of the Penn Township newsletter, which was mailed to residents the first week of March. Copies are also available at the township office.

Also available at the office and on the township website www.penntownship.us is a virtual job fair with postings for a wide variety of available jobs. “These are major jobs with a living wage,” Director of Operations Karen Versuk said. 

The township will also hold an Easter Egg Hunt on Sun., March 28 from 10 a.m. to noon at the Penn Township Sports Park.

Improvements to the Sports Park are continuing, with planning of the layout for a playground, bocce  ball court and other features. Work is also coming soon to the trails through the woods by the outdoor classroom areas. These trails constructed from 4” deep millings will be 8’ wide to be sure they can accommodate emergence vehicles. “Public safety has to come first,” Versuk said.

In other business, the board voted to send an official response to PennDOT acknowledging their acceptance of traffic light controlled interchanges at Route 796 and Route 1 when the bridge over the bypass is replaced as part of a major reconstruction of Route 1. 

Over a year ago, the township was approached by PennDOT with a presentation on possible traffic configurations for the new interchange area. At that time, teardrop-shaped roundabouts were suggested by PennDOT and supported by the supervisors. Since then, the addition of traffic from the new Avon Grove High School and the township sports park have caused PennDOT to retract that option and instead require that traffic at the on- and off-ramps be controlled by signal lights.