Brillman to tell tales about Old New Hope

Event set April 12 at Parry Mansion on 45 S. Main St., New Hope, at 5 p.m.

   The New Hope Historical Society April Speaker Series continues on April 12 with a talk about Old New Hope by lifelong resident, John Brillman.
   Mr. Brillman was born in an early 19th-century home along Old Mill Road in New Hope. He remembers attending school in the old one-room schoolhouse in Solebury Village. When a teenager, he started cutting lawns and changing storm windows for many of the longtime residents of New Hope.
   His passion for native plants led him to start growing his own azaleas and dogwoods more than 45 years ago. He is now one of the pre-eminent landscapers and nurserymen in Bucks County. His landscaping project at “Seven Pines,” just outside New Hope, was featured in Architectural Digest magazine and Colonial Homes magazine and included a garden he had completed in Morrisville.
   Although plants are Ms. Brillman’s first love, he has a passion for learning about his heritage. He takes great pride in relating many of the stories about local families that were passed on to him by his father and grandfather. Over the past six decades, he has gotten to know many folks from New Hope and has a lot of fascinating stories about them.
   One of his prize possessions is a drum made for the old New Hope Cornet Band in which his father and grandfather were members. The band marched through New Hope after the wars of their generations.
   The talk also will feature a showing of a number of photographs of Old New Hope — ones most folks have never seen before.
   The April Speaker Series will be held at the Parry Mansion on 45 S. Main St., New Hope, at 5 p.m. A wine and cheese reception will follow. Admission is free for members of the New Hope Historical Society. Tickets are available for $15 for nonmembers at 215-862-5652.