Daily Local One of Chester County's

Q. What drew you to Chester County and how did it come to be your home?

A. Actually we moved here when we started working at West Chester University, and we ended up staying longer than we had planned because we loved it so much. It’s beautiful here, the historic town… especially moving from the Midwest.

Q. Describe your occupation. Do you work for a large company or a small one? Are you self employed? Do you work for a nonprofit?
A. I am the director of the Service Learning and Volunteer Programs Office. I help to coordinate volunteer efforts between the campus and area community through classes, as well as student organizations and individuals.

Q. Someone in Chester Count had decided to build a statue in your honor…
A. I guess it would probably be on campus, and built by alumni, because I hear from so many alumni that they miss volunteering when they leave.

Q. If you could spend one worry free afternoon in Chester County where would it be and who would it be with?
A. One of my ancestors is Benjamin Morton, who came here in 1728. I truly would love to step back into time now that I know my ancestors were here before we were a country… I am amazed that I live 12 miles from where my ancestors settled—even just to see what it was like.

Q. Describe your quirkiest, oddest, most unique behavior or personality trait.
I am a known chocoholic.

Q. Fill in the blank: More then anything, Chester County needs _______________.

A. More than anything, Chester County needs to save open space. It is so beautiful and really sad to see how many houses are being crammed into what was once farmland.

Q. What drew you to Chester County and how did it come to be your home?

A. When I arrived in this country, I was staying with a friend in Upper Darby, she was not able to host us anymore so a family in West Chester offered to host us and that is how we came to live here.

Q. Describe your occupation. Do you work for a large company or a small one? Are you self employed? Do you work for a nonprofit?

A. I graduated in March from Karen College of Nutrition. I am working as a nurse. My work is to take care of the residents, attend to their needs, give medications as well as prioritize medications for patients.

Q. Someone in Chester Count had decided to build a statue in your honor…

A. I would build it in a community where people need a lot of hope to let people know that you can start life all over again. I have pursued. The sky is the limit, you just need to meet with the right people and talk to the right people and you can get anywhere in this country.

Q. If you could spend one worry free afternoon in Chester County where would it be and who would it be with?

A. I would go to Longwood Gardens with my family. It is like paradise there. When I walk along Longwood Gardens, it gives me a picture of how heaven might be—it’s a worry free place.

Q. Describe your quirkiest, oddest, most unique behavior or personality trait.

A. I like attending to everyone and listening to people. I tend to go overboard sometimes. I am a kind person.

Q. Fill in the blank: More then anything, Chester County needs _______________.

A. people who will push the less fortunate people and those who don’t believe in themselves harder in life.

Q. What drew you to Chester County and how did it come to be your home?

A. From 1976 to 2005, I worked in Chester County at Entenmann's in Exton. Born and raised in Philadelphia, PA, I met and married my wife, Cheryl, who was a resident of Parkesburg, PA. We resided there for about 5 years before moving to Christiana.

Q. Describe your occupation. Do you work for a large company or a small one? Are you self employed? Do you work for a non-profit?

A. I worked at Entenmann's in Exton as a Driver/Salesman from 1976 to 2005. I retired from Entenmann's and I am currently self-employed. I own a vending business serving offices thru out Chester County from Malvern to Wagontown.

A. First, let me say, no one is building a statue in my honor. Just as well, because I don't need pigeons fighting over who is going to sit on top of my head. I have been an employee of a company for 30 years, not their best salesman, but a steady one. I am a life member of the Chester County Detachment of the Marine Corps League, not their best member, but a steady one. I have also been honored to work with the Chester County "Hall of Heroes," helping them with their memorial website, again, not their best researcher, just a steady one.

Q. If you could spend one worry-free Saturday afternoon in Chester County, where would it be, and who would it be with?

A. By myself at the Green Library at WCU going thru newspaper microfilm, researching to recover information on men killed in action in Vietnam.

Q. Describe your quirkiest/ oddest/ most unique behavior or personality trait.

A. I think my research work is the oddest behavior that I have. Some people like to search out there family tree, I like to search out those that paid to ensure our freedom and our way of life. Those that gave their tomorrows for my todays.

Q. Fill in the blank: More then anything, Chester County needs _______________.

A. ...to never forget its past, while looking to the future.

Q. Describe your occupation. Do you work for a large company or a small one? Are you self employed? Do you work for a non-profit?

A. Well I’m the owner and director of the Russell school of baton, dance and color guard. I love the sport and of baton twirling and I call it a sport! So ten years, ago, I was approached to teach and decided this is how I was going to continue to promote it. We have grown from five to 100 students since then and have added dance, which definitely helps promote baton twirling. We also have added completive color guard. I just love working with kids, teaching them the sport of baton twirling and seeing baton twirling grow in Chester County.

A. I would like to say it would be built by all of the students I’ve taught over the years and those whose lives I’ve touched. I would like to place it somewhere in Coatesville because that’s where I started to teach.

Q. If you could spend one worry-free Saturday afternoon in Chester County, where would it be, and who would it be with?

A. Well I would like to say right now I would be at a West Chester University football game, watching my twirlers there with my husband.

Q. Describe your quirkiest/ oddest/ most unique behavior or personality trait.

A. Being a kid with my students. Sometimes I’ll hang with my kids after a completion at an amusement park and feel like a big kid hanging out with them. When I come down from being a coach and a pusher, I can have a good time with them.

Q.Fill in the blank: More then anything, Chester County needs _______________.

A. Chester County needs a building that twirlers can train in.

Q. What drew you to Chester County and how did it become your home?
A. I was fresh out of the army from the Second World War and got a job in Kennett Square.

Q. Describe your occupation.
A. I spent 50 years with a company in Kennett Square called Gawthrop Oil Company.

A. I became pretty well known at Gawthrop. Also I was in the infantry. I was severely injured, and earned bronze star as well as purple heart. [The statue] would probably be put it in the back yard of theFirst Baptist Church in Kennett Square, where I’ve been affiliated with for 60 years.

Q. Describe your quirkiest/oddest/most unique behavior or personality trait.
A. I am friendly, that’s a good trait because I have a long amount of friends.

Q. Fill in the blank: More than anything, Chester County needs _______
A. Lower taxes!

Q. What drew you to Chester County and how did it become your home?

A. Well I went to high school here�I went to grade school here, and that�s how I got to Chester County.

Q. Describe your occupation.
A. Well I started in 1957. I got out of the military after four years in 1954. I played three years inside pro-football and then I started a youth football program in 1957 which this past weekend celebrated 50 years of continued service to the youth of our county. That’s the start of it. My sixth grade teacher was my main influence. She had us play tackle football with the helmets and pads and everything on the player grounds. That brought me back home to help the kids get started with planning the youth football program and that’s where we are today.

I also built a couple of softball fields. Green Field in 1958 where they play adult softball and that’s where our football field started. We extended the fields and put a football field inside of the softball diamond area. About 40 by 88 yards is what we could come up with and we’re still playing on that size field. We have 550 kids, at least, playing football out of the Chester County area this year on our field.

Another community effort that we built was a big ballpark out of a government service building and we have little league baseball, two adult softball fields, soccer for youth and adults and a football field which is occupied by youth lacrosse and youth football.

I helped the West Chester Community Center about 10 years back. I put a basketball court in there, backboards and benefited the summer programs for the community center.
Every year we got something going on. We help with the college in refurbishing the history of the college athletics. That took up quite a few years.

My employment was right out of the military I worked for Burought Corporation in Paoli for eighteen years in electronics and that’s what people don’t know about me is that I was in that type of business and I worked at Cape Canaveral. We had our first space shuttle launch from there and I went from a guy who was involved in stuff like into being with my store for 37 years now. I started it in 1973 and we’re still going strong with that.

With the business now, it gave me a chance to get out and do what I want to do now.

A. I would think for my wife because when you�re married to a woman like that that can help you and give you everything you�re interested in. She likes me doing the sports, she liked me taking my trips out west where I go hunting and fishing and she supported me. We were married 52 years before she passed away and we had a good life.

Q. If you could spend one worry-free Saturday afternoon in Chester County, where would it be and who would it be with?
A. Well, I got so many friends. Awhile back I was having lunch with eight classmates from back in the early 50’s and we meet every month at the Courtyard Inn and we have lunch and we talk and preview all the football programs and the yearbooks and see how many people we can remember out of the books and that’s pretty neat.

But where would I like to be in Chester County? I would say West Chester. I was born and raised here and I’ve seen everything here. I’ve seen all the historical buildings that were in West Chester torn down like the President Bus Station, the train station the firehouse and stuff like that.

There are a lot of memories here and no matter where I go in Chester County, I can go from one end to the other and people in the restaurants are better to know who I am and say ‘hello’ and shake hands. It’s a great feeling when you have people like that who remember you.

Q. Describe your quirkiest/oddest/most unique behavior or personality trait.
A. I don�t talk about myself normally because I like having friends, I like helping them do things and if they need something I like to try and make sure I can find it and give it to them and help them out. I delivered an American flag to West Chester University for their football homecoming. I seen a little tear in the one last week so I replaced that flag for them. It made me feel really good to get over there this morning and give it to them.

Q. Fill in the blank: More than anything, Chester County needs _______
A. I would say transportation and healthcare and some places that I would like where somebody could go and get some free help with maybe healthcare. I mean a lot of people go around with ills and when they finally have to go to the hospital it�s too late.

Jennifer and Daniel Galfano

Q. What drew you to Chester County and how did it become your home?
A. I originally attended Immaculata University, and fell in love with the area. My husband was from California, though, and I moved out there with him after graduation. We lived in Seattle for a short time, too, but when it turned out that I needed heart surgery, we had to come back to Pennsylvania because my cardiologists were here. I had enjoyed Chester County when I was in school, and we decided to try West Chester. It felt so comfortable and immediately like home, so we decided to stay.

Q. Describe your occupation.
A. We are self-employed and together run a pet sitting company called PetCare Group. My husband also has a web design company called Galfano Design. They both keep us plenty busy!

Q. Someone in Chester County has decided to build a statue in your honor. Perhaps it’s for all the dedication you’ve shown to a particular organization. Or perhaps it’s to commemorate a significant milestone in your life. Tell us who built it and why.
A. It would probably be a big statue of a dog walker in the new dog park off of Route 100, dedicated to us by all of our doggie clients. There would have to be a kitty statue nearby for the cat clients, too, but it would be a little out of place in the dog park!

Q. If you could spend one worry-free Saturday afternoon in Chester County, where would it be and who would it be with?
A. I would stay at home with my husband and kitties. We are rarely home because we work so much, and not having to run around would be a special treat!

Q. Describe your quirkiest/oddest/most unique behavior or personality trait.
A. Dan has an uncanny ability to memorize movie lines even after seeing a movie once. He then uses these lines in regular conversations, complete with the appropriate accents. Jen has the ability to cook a fantastic vegetarian meal to convert even the staunchest carnivore.

Q. Fill in the blank: More than anything, Chester County needs _______
A. Less traffic, and a great vegetarian restaurant.

Barry Pollard

Q. What drew you to Chester County and how did it become your home?
A. I grew up in Delaware County, went to Chester County School. Chester County is all I know. I never really wanted to live anywhere else.

Q. Describe your occupation.
A. I work for Human Services Inc. in Downingtown. It’s non-profit, supervising and working with students who are mainly middle-high school age.

Q. Someone in Chester County has decided to build a statue in your honor. Perhaps it’s for all the dedication you’ve shown to a particular organization. Or perhaps it’s to commemorate a significant milestone in your life. Tell us who built it and why.
A. The statue would be in front of my doctor’s office, so that everyone could see my before and after. I am most proud of [my weight loss]. Friends who have seen me struggle over the years and my doctors would be who put it there.

Q. If you could spend one worry-free Saturday afternoon in Chester County, where would it be and who would it be with?
A. I would probably do like a wine tasting. I would want to go to a local vineyard with my friend Bonnie.

Q. Describe your quirkiest/oddest/most unique behavior or personality trait.
A. I’d say the oddest personality trait is I don’t care how hot or cold it is outside, I have to have a fan running at night.

Q. Fill in the blank: More than anything, Chester County needs _______
A. Chester County needs to keep its history and heritage. I’m not real happy about all the growth and it should keep its identity.