Delco ingenuity, Philly grit: The combo that fixed I-95 has been wreaking chaotic good in the region for years

Years ago, I co-authored a blog for this website called “The Daily Delco: Digging up the dirt in Delaware County.”

I’ll never forget when one reader wrote in to say: “That’s easy, in Delco the dirt practically walks up to you and introduces itself.”

Ouch!

So when I heard last week that specialized fill from Delco was going to be used to make emergency repairs to the collapsed section of I-95 in Northeast Philly, I thought of that reader, then thought to myself: “Who’s laughing now? Here comes Delco dirt to save the day!”

OK, so it’s not actually dirt — but still! As The Inquirer reported last week, the fill, which is being provided by Eddystone-based Aero Aggregates of North America, is foamed glass aggregate, a gravel-like material made from trashed glass.

At a news conference Tuesday, when Gov. Josh Shapiro announced I-95 would reopen ahead of schedule this weekend, he said, “This is what it looks like when the ingenuity of Delco meets the grit of Philly.”

Delconians — who have the uncanny ability to hear the word Delco when it is uttered anywhere in the known universe — immediately rejoiced. They called for “the ingenuity of Delco” to be emblazoned on shirts and ships, and for Delco diehards to have it inked on their skin, next to their 610 tattoos.

Others were more skeptical.

When Billy Penn tweeted Shapiro’s quote, the responses were hilariously brutal. People said Delco ingenuity usually consists of things like “turning pajamas into outdoor attire,” coming up with “creative ways to sneak booze into a stadium,” and using “a trash can as a plate.”

Sure, those things are true, but Delco’s ingenuity runs deeper than that and has been paired with Philly grit well before the emergency I-95 repairs.

Take for instance Tom Garvey, a Vietnam veteran from Delco who once lived inside an abandoned concession stand at Veterans Stadium, as he detailed in his book, The Secret Apartment: Vet Stadium, a surreal memoir.

“I was like a kid with a Willy Wonka golden ticket,” he told me in 2021.

Garvey was working at the Vet’s parking lots in 1979. He slept over at the stadium one night to work an early morning event and was struck with the idea of turning an empty concession stand there into his own furnished apartment. For two years, Garvey hosted parties and athletes in his secret apartment, rent-free, and never got caught.

When it comes to sports, Delco ingenuity and Philly grit often go hand-in-hand. I once saw an Eagles logo etched on a tombstone at a Delco cemetery, so nobody would ever make the grave mistake of forgetting the departed was an Eagles fan (Go Birds). And last year, an engaged Delco couple created save-the-dates for their wedding that looked like Eagles tickets, complete with pictures of themselves in Eagles jerseys.

Of course there’s Wawa, the Delco-based convenience store chain where people eat their hoagies outside atop trash cans.

While some parts of Philly may have proven too gritty for Wawa (the chain has announced the closure of six of its Philly stores in the last three years), the company still sponsors Philly’s big Independence Day celebration, Wawa Welcome America, and gives away 25,000 Shorti hoagies in Center City on Hoagie Day (coming up June 28). If you’ve ever been to a Hoagie Day, it is both an ingenious marketing ploy and a true test of grit, as people wait in long lines, often under a blazing summer sun, for a free hoagie.

Other things I’ve noticed that combine Delco ingenuity with Philly grit include a Delco polling site at Marvil Funeral Home in Darby; a bar called Tipsy McStagger’s next to a store called Rock N’ Roll Knife Fight in Lansdowne; an Easter flower sale outside Lou Turks gentleman’s club in Essington; Girl Scouts selling cookies outside a Glenolden liquor store; and risqué DVDs inside of a claw machine at an Eddystone bar.

Twitter users had their fair share of examples of Philly grit meeting Delco ingenuity too when I asked them Wednesday. Among the responses were: dumpster pools; Tina Fey; the Philadelphia Union; Kurt Vile; strombolis; the 69th Street Transportation Center; the Slinky; Gritty; sweatpants as formal wear; “Bonner students fighting Mets fans at a Phillies game;” and “when you can use the paper from a loosey to roll a joint.”

Natural Lands, the open-space nonprofit, even jumped into the game with its own example, the creation of the John Heinz Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum, which spans both Philly and Delco.

One thing is for sure — Philly and Delco are magical, mystical places brimming with grit and ingenuity, and when we work together, there’s no telling what can be accomplished.

But whatever it is, we’ll most likely be doing it in sweatpants.