What To Do: Busy weekend of events to celebrate with your favorite Dad

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times The West Chester Railroad Father’s Day is a holiday of honoring fatherhood and paternal bonds, as well as the influence of fathers in society. In Catholic countries of Europe, it has been celebrated on March 19 as Saint Joseph’s Day since the Middle Ages. In the United States, Father’s Day was founded by Sonora Smart Dodd and celebrated...

What To Do: Remembering our indigenous roots

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times Chester County American Indian Cultural Festival Temperatures that have climbed into the upper 70s and low 80s but don’t let that fool you. We’re in the fourth week of autumn and winter is just around the corner. If you look at an event calendar, you’ll see that it is loaded with autumn and Halloween events. This week’s schedule features a variety...

What To Do: Winterthur Point-To-Point returns with changes

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times Winterthur Point To Point Every year for more than four decades, Winterthur (Route 52, Wilmington, Delaware, 302-888-4600,www.winterthur.org) hosted the annual Winterthur Point-to-Point Races on the first weekend in May. The event was one of the Brandywine Valley’s most cherished traditions. Last year, COVID-19 caused a shutdown that knocked out traditions...

What To Do: Fountains at Longwood, Willowdale Steeplechase and so much more for Mothers’ Day

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times  Longwood Gardens There are many annual events that are eagerly anticipated by visitors to Longwood Gardens (Route 1, Kennett Square, www.longwoodgardens.org) such as the Christmas display, the “Orchid Extravaganza” and the just-concluded “Spring Blooms.” But the one that attracts visitors more than any other is the annual “Festival of Fountains.” The...

What To Do: Spring brings many holidays and celebrations

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times  Linvilla Orchards There is a quartet of religious holidays that occur close to each other every spring – Holi for Hindus, Passover for Jews, Easter for Christians and Ramadan for Muslims. This year, Holi began on March 28 and ended on March 29. Holi marks the advent of spring and is widely celebrated throughout Hindu-majority India. The festival...

What To Do: The Easter Bunny is ridin’ the rails

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times The Easter Bunny on the West Chester Railroad The Easter Bunny is known for hopping around — but it is not always his preferred mode of transportation. Sometimes, instead of bouncing along the ground, the big happy rabbit rides a train. The holiday bunny has just embarked on his two-weekend stint of riding trains all around the area. The West Chester...

What To Do: A holiday season like no other gets under way

By Denny Dyroff, Staff Writer, The Times  Longwood Gardens The number of days left in the countdown to Thanksgiving 2020 is in single digits. We all know that Thanksgiving is the traditional “unofficial” start of the Christmas holiday season – even though the season commercially “started” when Christmas items were being stocked on stores’ shelves on Labor Day Weekend and “Black Friday”...

What To Do: Christmas events begin to ramp up

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times  Holiday Magic at Brandywine It is the middle of November and that means many of the area’s traditional Christmas activities have begun – including a highly anticipated event in Chadds Ford. “Holiday Magic at Brandywine”, which was formerly known as “A Brandywine Christmas,” is running now through January 10 at the Brandywine River Museum...

What To Do: Even a scary time, it’s still Halloween

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times  Longwood Gardens This weekend, there is a wide variety of activities that can keep people of all interests occupied. Not surprisingly, the schedule is top-heavy with Halloween-related attractions and events. Fortunately, for those who don’t care about Halloween – or have already reached a saturation point with the marketing for the holiday —...

What To Do: Chadds Ford Pumpkin Carve goes virtual

By Denny Dyroff, Entertainment Editor, The Times Chadds Ford Pumpkin Carve One of the most popular Halloween events in the area is “The Great Pumpkin Carve” (Chadds Ford Historical Society, Route 100, Chadds Ford, 610-388-7376, www.chaddsfordhistory.org). Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the organizers initially decided to change it from a “walk around” event to a “drive through” event....