A love letter to southern Chester County

Spring is a time for rebirth and optimism and we’re heartened by a lot of things that we’re seeing in southern Chester County right now.

Spring is a great time to visit some of the farm markets in the area, including those in Kennett Square, Oxford, and New Garden. Farming has always been important to the area, and a great way to find local produce is to visit one of the great farm markets.

We’re looking forward to community events like the Kennett Run and the Mushroom Festival and the First Friday events that take place in downtown Oxford. Oxford Mainstreet, Inc. and Kennett Collaborative do an excellent job of planning events that celebrate the community and bring people together. Square Roots has also been a leader in a variety of initiatives to make the community a better place.

The importance of volunteerism was on display during the recent Red Clay Valley Cleanup as hundreds of volunteers went to work cleaning up trash along the Red Clay Creek and areas from the Anson B. Nixon Park in Kennett Square all the way to the Ashland Nature Center in Hockessin, Delaware.

This annual cleanup effort is organized by the Brandywine-Red Clay Alliance and has been taking place for more than 30 years. The individuals and groups that took part in the cleanup this year picked up enough trash to fill two Dumpsters, equating to approximately 70 cubic yards of trash. There are a lot of volunteers at work throughout southern Chester County, and the community is better for it.

On April 30, the United Way of Southern Chester County will be holding its 2nd Annual Music Festival at the Kennett Creamery. The event will feature great food, live music, and a silent auction to benefit the United Way of Southern Chester County’s mission. This area is blessed to have so many organizations that work to help others—groups like the Oxford Area Neighborhood Services Center, the Oxford Area Senior Center, Camp Dreamcatcher, SILO, Tick Tock Early Learning Center, Kennett Area Community Service—and the United Way of Southern Chester County’s annual campaign helps to support these organizations and others. 

Southern Chester County residents are fortunate to have access to some truly great libraries. National Library Week is coming up later this month with a theme of “Find Your Joy.” Patrons of  the Kennett Library, Avon Grove Library, and the Oxford Library can certainly find their joy because of the wide variety of books, programs, and activities that they offer every week.

We’re excited about the vision for the Hub for Arts & Culture that is being planned in Kennett Square, and we’re equally excited about the effort to bring a theater to downtown Oxford. There are a lot of people who care about others, who care about the community, and all their collective work serves as a love letter to southern Chester County.