Thirty-two DVJC Members and Guests officially put the Holiday Season into full swing on Friday evening, December 6, 2025. We gathered at the Social Southern Scratch Kitchen and Bar in downtown West Chester among a cornucopia of holiday lights and decorations on every street corner and store front to sample the diverse menu of this landmark restaurant. Our group was joined by five special guests including several executives of the Brandywine Valley Symphony who perhaps wanted to better understand how our little group of British car enthusiasts became so interested in the Symphony, their many musical productions during the year and of course, their fund-raising activities such as the Classics at Brantwyn. The Brantwyn event Master of Ceremonies, David Ventura who is also on the Board of the Symphony and Ed Petrow our Concours Chairman, arranged to present the 2025 Best of Show award to our fellow member Alex Cole for his amazing and very rare 1938 Jaguar SS. Bill Beible took a moment to convey his personal best wishes for a joyous and safe Holiday Season. Our dinner was a fun start to the evening and despite the ample quantities of delicious food with a unique flavor of Southern Cuisine, it was soon time to leave for our next evening’s event.
A short walk around the corner of the restaurant took us to the History Center, a recently remodeled historic building that previously housed the Historical Society of Chester County and is now part of the Smithsonian collections of museums. Here the Brandywine Valley Symphony presented a Brass Quintet who performed an hour of entertaining and educational renderings of Holiday music from around the world reflecting the well-known musical themes familiar by all irrespective of religious association. It was truly a remarkable evening of holiday cheer, comradery and seasonable music performed by professionals clearly passionate about their individual and collective talents. The Symphony had reserved seating for all of us in the front rows so we all had excellent views of the show. The concert closed with volunteers with the Symphony and Museum serving warm, homemade cookies with fresh apple cider. What a great evening enjoyed by everyone with bountiful sharing of holiday cheer!
Thanks to Bill Beible, Ed Petrow, Jim Sjoreen and Tony Tinari for the photos.
DVJC Dinner and Concert
