Home Care In Coatesville, PA

A true Coatesville icon is gone.

Legendary Coatesville High School teacher, boys basketball and boys track coach Ross Kershey passed away early Thursday morning at an assisted living center. He was 90.

“My dad was in a good place when he passed,” his son, Scott, said. “One of the things he always told me was that he was a teacher first and he always said, ‘I coach 12 basketball players a year, but I teach 150 students a year. You tell me what job is more important.’”

Kershey was born in West Virginia but his family moved to the Pennsylvania town of Connellsvile when he was two. He came to Coatesville in 1956 after graduating from Temple University, where he played basketball under Hall of Fame coach Harry Litwack. Kershey was married to his wife Sally for 62 years. She passed away in 2016.

Kershey taught American History at Coatesville for 42 years before he retired in 1998. He became basketball coach in 1961, won one District 1 championship and was runner-up four times. He coached many great players, including La Salle University All-American Hubie Marshall, as well as NBA star and Hall of Famer Richard “Rip” Hamilton. After retiring from teaching at Coatesville, Kershey taught at both Widener and Immaculata.

The Red Raiders’ gym is named for him. Kershey was inducted into nine halls of fame, including the Chester County Hall of Fame, and in 1981 he was named Educator of the Year.

Kershey’s record as basketball coach was 455-125 and he compiled an amazing 104-1 mark in track. He won 12 Ches-Mont League titles in basketball and 13 in track as well as 14 league relay crowns, two District 1 titles and a state championship in track.

“Growing up in Coatesville, all the young boys wanted was to play for Mr. Kershey and wear the white Converse sneakers with the red shoelaces,” former Coatesville player and longtime West Chester East coach Eric Anderson said. “When I was in ninth grade, he let me ride the team bus to play West Philadelphia High School. He told me that if I put the fouls on the scoreboard and did not speak on the bus that I could go with the team.

“He was a great teacher of history and basketball also. He was a world traveler and he always told me that high school players will always remember their coach. He said you may forget players and some games, but you will never forget (your) coach. And now that I am a coach for 39 years, I realize what he meant. He touched so many lives as a coach.

“Whenever I saw him, and I saw him last week, he always greeted me by saying, ’There goes a self-made man.’ He loved Coatesville and he always wanted to talk about Coatesville. He gave so much to Coatesville.”

One of Kershey’s former assistant coaches was Jim ‘Scoogie’ Smith. When Smith became head coach, he led the Red Raiders to their only PIAAA championship in 2001. Smith worked under Kershey from 1993-95 when he came back for two seasons.

“He loved to teach and coach,” Smith said. “I learned so much from him as far as basketball and life. He was an awesome man and I am very thankful to learn from him. As a teacher he was tremendous. He absolutely loved talking and teaching history and helping young people.”

One of Kershey’s main rivals in the Ches-Mont was West Chester Henderson in the late 1960s. The star of those teams was long time West Chester Henderson head coach Leon Bell, who talked about the rivalry.

“Ross was certainly a coach of coaches,” Bell said. “We had so many big games with his teams. That is when the Ches-Mont League was split into a first half and second half of the season champion. In 1970, we played Coatesville and there was so much interest and so many people wanted to see the game we had to play at the Spectrum in Philadelphia.

“Ross and our coach, Jack McClellen, were friends but they were fierce rivals on the court. Ross was a great teacher and coach and he did so much for the young people of Coatesville. He had a lot of great players and great teams and he was a very good man.”

Donations can be made in Kershey’s name to the West Chester University Foundation, Kershey Scholarship, 202 Carter Drive, West Chester, Pa. 19382.

Coatesville, Pa. — Neuman Commercial Group has arranged the sale of Airport Village, a 70,500-square-foot shopping center located in Coatesville, roughly 45 miles west of Philadelphia. Tenants at the property, which was 87 percent occupied at the time of sale, include Aldi, Dollar Tree, Rite Aid, Burger King, Verizon and US Renal Care. Gil Neuman of Neuman Commercial Group represented the seller, Nassimi Realty of New York, in the transaction.

North Providence, R.I. — A joint venture partnership between ShopOne Centers REIT, Pantheon and an undisclosed global institutional investor has acquired North Providence Marketplace, a 112,497-square-foot retail center located in North Providence. Shaw’s Supermarket anchors the property, which was 88 percent occupied at the time of sale. Other tenants include Dollar Tree, Rainbow, H&R Block and Sally Beauty Supply. Shaw’s features an in-store Starbucks Coffee.

Chandler, Ariz. — ORION Investment Real Estate has arranged the $4.6 million sale of a retail strip center located in Chandler. Max Taylor & Co. LLC sold the asset to The Yerahmiel Rocky Rotshein Property Trust. The property was fully leased at the time of sale. Nick Miner of ORION represented the seller in the transaction. Simon Asef of DMC Real Estate represented the buyer.

Littleton, Colo. — Hawkeye INVSCO has sold a three-property retail portfolio in Littleton to an undisclosed investor for $15.1 million. Totaling 101,103 square feet, the portfolio includes Marketplace at Ken Caryl, Columbine Plaza and Marina Pointe Shopping Center. Marketplace at Ken Caryl comprises 47,606 square feet and was originally built in 1981. Columbine Plaza offers 33,947 square feet of multi-tenant space, and Marina Pointe Shopping Center features 19,550 square feet situated on 1.8 acres. Jon Hendrickson, Aaron Johnson and Mitch Veremeychik of Cushman & Wakefield represented the seller in the transaction.

Henrico, Va. —Divaris Real Estate has brokered the $18.4 million sale of Merchant’s Walk Shopping Center, a 219,972-square-foot retail center located in Henrico, roughly 10 miles northwest of Richmond. Merchant’s Walk was 97 percent leased at the time of sale to 38 retailers. Food Lion, AutoZone and JoAnn Fabric and Craft anchor the property. Qi Lin purchased the 20-acre property from the undisclosed seller. John Madures of Divaris represented the buyer in the transaction. Qi Lin has retained Divaris to lease Merchant’s Walk, which has two retail availabilities. Divaris Property Management Corp. will operate the center.

Jacksonville, Fla. — SRS Real Estate Partners has brokered the $4.6 million sale of a 3,937-square-foot restaurant building located in Jacksonville. Panera Bread occupies the property, which was constructed earlier this year as an outparcel to Oakleaf Town Center. The 15-year, triple-net lease features scheduled rental increases every five years. Patrick Nutt and William Wamble of SRS represented the seller in the transaction.

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Piasecki Aircraft Corporation (PiAC) has acquired the former Sikorsky Heliplex facility in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, with plans to turn it into an advanced R&D center for next-generation vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft.

Most notably, the facility — the former production and delivery center for the Sikorsky S-76 and S-92 — will be used to build and test Piasecki’s upcoming PA-890, a zero-emission rotorcraft powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

The Coatesville site is just 30 miles west of PiAC’s headquarters in Essington, Pennsylvania, and offers 219,000 square feet of workspace. Once redevelopment work is complete, the facility will be home to engineering development, aircraft assembly, paint and finishing facilities, and a well-equipped production flight test and delivery center.

John Piasecki, CEO of PiAC, told Vertical that the decision to expand into the Coatesville facility was driven by the success of the company’s R&D programs (with several transitioning to ground and flight test efforts), and the availability of an existing helicopter plant on PiAC’s doorstep.

“Helicopter plants don’t grow on trees, and Lockheed/Sikorsky’s decision last year to close the plant down really was an opportunity for us,” he said. “There is a huge cadre of very skilled workforce local to southeast Pennsylvania — and the Coatesville area specifically — and it’s a great opportunity for the company.”

The acquisition was celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony May 31 at the Heliplex facility, with work to convert the facility to PiAC’s requirements set to begin immediately. This includes changes to some of the roofs, a reconfiguration of the engineering area, digging out loading docks and some modifications to the IT system. The company hopes the facility will be ready for operation by the fall.

It has already begun hiring staff for the expansion, and said up to 400 workers could be based in Coatesville by 2028 as the PA-890 enters production.

Set to be the world’s first zero-emission hydrogen-powered compound helicopter, the slowed-rotor winged PA-890 also promises up to a 50 percent reduction in direct operating costs and reduced noise, compared with traditionally-powered helicopters.

ZeroAvia, a leading developer of hydrogen-powered systems for fixed-wing aircraft, is developing a high temperature proton exchange membrane hydrogen fuel cell for the aircraft, as well as for other VTOL applications.

Piasecki said the PA-890 program is “being vigorously executed” and the company hopes to fly ZeroAvia’s propulsion system in a conventional helicopter by the end of this year.

“It’s the kind of thing Piasecki does really well, transitioning from lab to flight and we’re very excited about it,” said Piasecki. “It will be a major milestone on the PA-890 program, because it’ll demonstrate the technology and actual operation.”

The airframe for the demonstration will be an edm aerotec CoAX 2D — an ultralight coaxial helicopter. The aircraft’s piston-powered engine will be removed and replaced with the hydrogen fuel cell.

“It’s a proof-of-concept demonstration — this is not a product,” he said. “It’s an excellent learning tool for us as we figure out how best to implement hydrogen fuel cell systems on a real manned aircraft.”

Other R&D efforts underway at PiAC include the aerial reconfigurable embedded system (ARES), which is a modular tilt-duct VTOL that can be manned or unmanned; and adaptive digital automated pilotage technology (ADAPT) — a cutting-edge flight control package.

The R&D programs that PiAC already has ongoing and that it expects to undertake over the next four years “will easily fill about a third of the [Coatesville] facility,” said Piasecki.

“We are in discussions with some major aerospace partners, both on the OEM side and the supplier side, about cohabitating there, and as our programs succeed and expand, we will expand our footprint there and ultimately hope to be producing products like the PA-890 out of that facility.”

A Move-In Facility

While Sikorsky has cleared out much of the equipment it had in Coatesville, integrated infrastructure — such as cranes, fireproof hangars, scales and tools — meant it was a “move-in type of facility,” said Piasecki.

“The open space and the co-location of engineering space and open space are very useful for developmental programs, where engineers need to have direct access to the factory floor where they’re assembling the aircraft and implementing changes,” he added.

The ribbon-cutting was attended by Representative Chrissy Houlahan (Congresswoman for Pennsylvania, 6th District), Rick Siger (Pennsylvania Secretary of Community and Economic Development), Martine Rothblatt (founder of United Therapeutics and SiriusXM satellite radio), Val Miftakhov (CEO of ZeroAvia), Dan Crowley (CEO of TRIUMPH), Mike Stanberry (CEO of Metro Aviation), and Mike Hirschberg (executive director of the Vertical Flight Society).

“It’s incredibly exciting to see a company like Piasecki, a long-time aviation industry innovator, continue their commitment to developing new technologies like the PA-890 hydrogen fuel cell-powered helicopter right here in PA’s sixth district,” said Representative Houlahan in a press release announcing the move. “Piasecki’s Coatesville expansion will revitalize the manufacturing facilities which were formerly home to Lockheed Martin/Sikorsky Heliplex. I’m proud to support their vision.”

Piasecki said Representative Houlahan, along with Pennsylvania Governors Tom Wolf and Josh Shapiro, the Chester County Commissioners, the Chester County Economic Development Council, and Senator Robert Caseyhad, had played a crucial role in helping support PiAC’s expansion to Coatesville.

“The financial wherewithal to put it together was a combination of the company’s stockholders supporting it and the state and local [governments], and then I have to give a lot of credit to the Meridian Bank — they are a regional bank that is very committed to economic development,” he said.

Piasecki said the move into Coatesville showed his company’s commitment to expanding its business beyond traditional R&D activities — and would demonstrate how serious it was about bringing the PA-890 to market.

”Innovation, if it’s not applied, is just interesting,” he said. “This is a commitment by the company to expand its expertise and technology into practical applications.”

Piasecki Aircraft-Carnegie Mellon Demonstrate Autonomous Helicopter Collision Avoidance & Landing Zone Selection System

Piasecki Aircraft Corp. and Carnegie Mellon University have developed and flight demonstrated a navigation/sensor system that enables full-size, autonomous helicopters to fly at low altitude while avoiding obstacles; evaluate and select suitable landing s

HyPoint strikes $6.5M deal to power Piasecki’s hydrogen helicopters

Under a new agreement, HyPoint will deliver five 650-kilowatt hydrogen fuel cell systems for use in Piasecki's PA-890 compound helicopter.

COATESVILLE—Three long-time friends, food lovers and Coatesville residents, have joined forces to open a new restaurant.

Travis Meeks, Michael Blanton and Marcus Winkey, own and are running the recently opened Taste Budz on 82, at 255 Mt. Airy Road, while teaming with Animated Brewery Co.

Meeks said last week that the Animated craft beer brewed onsite perfectly complements the Taste Budz menu.

Marcus Winkey, a co-owner, said that owning a business is time consuming, but it’s enjoyable.

“We all grew up together and always thought we’d own a little corner store,” “I’m working with my friends.

“Everybody brought something to it. Everybody has their own little piece of the menu. We are trying to make something for everyone.”

Meeks is having fun.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do — to be my own boss and I love cooking,” Meeks said. “We are trying to keep it a family friendly place because we all have children.

“We wanted to show our kids that you can become a business owner and be successful and not through just music or sports. I’m building it so I can leave it behind for my children.”

Co-owner Michael Blanton said the restaurant will break down cultural barriers since food is diversity and food makes people happy.

“If you can make their taste buds dance, you’ve won the battle,” Blanton said.

That menu features a lot of specialties that can be found few other places.

Buffalo chicken cheese steaks, salmon cheese steaks and burgers, lamb seasoned fries, fried salmon sandwich, fried pickle burgers and macaroni and cheese burgers, are all fresh and prepared onsite.

The three partners started working out of the Route 82 Coastal gas station kitchen on May 19 and are pleased to move to a full service restaurant.

Sue Springsteen is managing partner and co-founder of local business H2O Connected.

“The community can eat here often and not go broke,” Springsteen said. “It’s something different and it all tastes terrific.

“It’s a community place where everybody knows your name.”

There’s plenty of games for both the big and little kids, both inside and outside, at the beer garden that sits just above the Brandywine Creek.

Pinball, foosball, corn hole, a small set of horseshoes and badminton will keep game lovers happy. Quizzo is held on Wednesday nights at 7 p.m. and you can yell “BINGO” on Thursday’s at 7 p.m.

Dad Charles Winkey said he is proud of Marcus Winkey and his friends and is thrilled with Coatesville’s revitalization.

“Coatesville is cooking,” Charles Winkey said. “I am pleased to see it coming up.”

Ten year old daughter Naomi Meeks said she enjoys working and helping cook, wash dishes and run the register, while earning snacks and soda.

“I get to spend time with my dad and his co-workers,” she said. “And I’m learning about responsibility.”

Taste Budz on 82, with 60 seats, is open from noon to 8 p.m., Wednesdays through Saturdays, and until 6 p.m. Sundays.

The restaurant is located just off Route 82, 3 minutes south from the Route 82 exit on the Route 30 bypass. When coming from the bypass, take the first right after the Marriott Hotel onto Manor Road and at the T-intersection take a right. The entrance road is located after the bridge on the right, at 255 Mt. Airy Road.

For more information, call 610-380-0820 or go to TasteBudzon82.com

COATESVILLE—Looking for some sweets made with a nod to Southern cooking?

Your wish has been answered with the opening of The Butter Pecan Café at 228 Lincoln Highway by Coatesville resident and shop owner Jamoca Harkins. A grand opening celebration was held Aug. 5.

Harkins learned how to make Southern classic deserts after watching several of her relatives who are from the South. She is also a regular visitor to areas south of the Mason Dixon Line.

Some of Butter Pecan Cafe’s specialties are banana pudding, 7-Up Cake, Sock it to Me Cake, sweet potato pie, peach cobbler, triple chocolate mousse cake and carrot cake. Harkins said that the shop specialty is butter pecan ice cream.

“In our family when we have dessert we always have butter pecan ice cream — it’s our tradition,” Harkins said. “And I want to share that with my customers.”

Why bring a touch and taste of the South to Coatesville?

“I love shrimp and grits and all soul food,” Harkins said. “It elicits happiness and good memories.

“I have happy family memories of enjoying good desserts.”

Harkins said she is a foodie and loves the way food looks.

“You can have an experience with food and you don’t have to travel,” she said. “Everyone can experience, and be creative, with food.

“It’s a great experience when you have a good dish or dessert. It brings people together.”

The Downingtown Senior High School grad adores her hometown is excited to market desserts in her hometown.

“This is a dream come true to open in the town my family resides in and where I was raised,” said the eligibility specialist for an early learning resource center.

Everything is prepared at Trinity Episcopal Church and then sold from a 10-by-10-foot space at the Made in Coatesville Small Business Incubator, at 228 E. Lincoln Highway.

The shop will be open on Fridays from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Pre-orders are encouraged. Call 610-466-5590 to place an order or for more information.

You can visit the Facebook site by searching for “The Butter Pecan Café.”