All by Beth Gross

Remembering Gus Kaffes (1929-2020) and the Village Restaurant (1962-2007)

Most people of a certain age knew Gus Kaffes of Swarthmore as the gregarious proprietor of the family-owned Village Restaurant, where he was also the cook. The restaurant was located in the space where Aria now stands and the old Co-op building stood. What they probably didn’t know about Gus, who died August 8 of natural causes at 90: he was voted best dancer by his Eddystone high school class, served as a staff sergeant in the U.S. Air Force (where he earned two medals), and his real first name was Constantine.

Marooned in Vermont

Sometimes I remember our Queen Anne, built on a corner in Swarthmore in the 1890s. But now that I’ve been in Hartland, Vermont, for nearly five months, marooned by COVID-19, I often forget all about the house.