Spiderweb

Spiderweb

Rachel Pastan
Editorial

There’s a spider living in the holly bushes outside my house. Every night, it spins a web across my front path. When I go out to walk the dog before sunrise, I run straight into the sticky, invisible threads. This time of year, though, the sun rises early, and I can see the web. That’s how I’ve been thinking about the short racist video that’s been circulating through our community this week and about the many videos over the last months and years showing black people dying at the hands of white people, often police.

Coming Back...Carefully

Coming Back...Carefully

Rachel Pastan
Local Business, Borough Council

What will the Swarthmore business district look like this summer? That was the question local merchants discussed at a May 27 Zoom meeting with members of the non-profit organization Swarthmore Town Center (STC) and Mayor Marty Spiegel. With Delaware County slated to move from the red phase to the yellow phase of reopening on June 5, business owners are trying to figure out how to proceed.

New Due Dates, New Procedures for Library

New Due Dates, New Procedures for Library

Swarthmorean Staff

Once the Delaware County moves into the yellow phase of reopening on June 5, staff will begin to work on-site again. No more than three staff will work in the building at one time. The Swarthmore Public Library will begin accepting returns on Monday, June 8, says director Amber Osborne. Materials will be quarantined for 72 hours, then checked in. Patrons will be able to check out materials beginning on or around June 16.

One Preschool’s Response to COVID-19

One Preschool’s Response to COVID-19

Reisa Mukamal

COVID-19 or not, school must go on. The following Monday, teacher Sheri Carney wrote to the parents of her students in the SPNDS kindergarten enrichment program, “Are you familiar with Zoom?” In the days to come, we all would become familiar with Zoom. But for a hands-on school, a shift in perspective has been necessary.

Class of 2020: Facing the Future

Class of 2020: Facing the Future

Rachel Pastan
Swarthmore College, WSSD School Board, Editorial

On Sunday, over 400 Swarthmore students from all over the country and the world came together virtually, watching on their laptop screens, or maybe on their phones, the landscape that should have surrounded them. High school commencements are up next. Strath Haven High School students will graduate on Friday, June 5. A choreographed plan of staggered appointments will permit each graduate to receive their diploma, accompanied by two guests, and have their photograph taken to document the moment.

Crum Woods Memories

Crum Woods Memories

Sarah Chenkin

I moved to Swarthmore in 1987 before the birth of my first child. I had a dream before moving that I was sailing a boat on a beautiful river. That boat became the Crum Woods of Swarthmore College.

Farmers Market Adapts

Farmers Market Adapts

Rachel Pastan
Local Business

The Swarthmore Farmers Market is opening on Saturday, June 6. There will be strawberries and scallions, cheese and chickens, peanut butter cookies and portobello mushrooms, just as there are every June. Other things will be different.

Anchor of Historically Black Neighborhood Approaches 100

Anchor of Historically Black Neighborhood Approaches 100

Rachel Pastan

If you walk down Bowdoin Avenue in Swarthmore, it might escape your notice that number 232 is not a residential house. This is Wesley African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. The building opened its doors in 1927, to serve the small black neighborhood that had grown up at the end of the nineteenth century around Bowdoin, Brighton, Kenyon, and Union avenues. We wanted to share a bit of the church’s story as it approaches its 100th anniversary.

Moving In

Moving In

Ken Wright
People of Swarthmore

Frankly, I never thought I would be living at Plush Mills. Now, 12 years later, I can tell you we made the right decision for the wrong reasons. Oh sure, the healthcare helped, and not having to go out for meals was great. But the best thing about living at Plush Mills is how easy it is to meet your new best friend. 

Staying on the Same Page, Virtually

Staying on the Same Page, Virtually

Mira Patel

“There is no substitute for actually being together,” says Andrew Hauze, conductor and music director of the Delaware County Youth Orchestra (DCYO) and a senior lecturer at Swarthmore College. The COVID-19 pandemic has cancelled rehearsals, so he is finding creative ways to help his musicians continue to make music.

Crum Ruins Inspire Short Film

Crum Ruins Inspire Short Film

Guest User

Mark Pappas has been running through the Crum Woods all his life. In the eighties, when he was growing up, he used to ride bikes there with his friends, and explore, and just hang out. But he never saw the ruins until this year. He decided to make a short film about them.

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