The Benton News Archives
for February, 2007

February 28, 2007. Happy birthday today to Rick Posey, Evy Lysk, Harry Ackerman and Gary Ritter. Happy birthday today to the Republican Party, formed on this day in 1854 when some opponents of slavery--Northern Democrats, Whigs, and the Free Soil Party--gathered in Ripon, Wisconsin. Six years later, the party won the presidency with Abraham Lincoln. There are 20 days remaining until the official start of spring.

A reader, concerned about recent articles in the Benton News about logging on an unprotected wireless network, asked how to make sure that no one else could access his computer. Here 'tis...

Remote Desktop is a feature of Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003. This feature permits remote computer users to connect to your computer as if they were physically seated at your desk. If you don't intend to use Remote Desktop, you should for the sake of security consider disabling this option. If you only use this feature from time to time, you still might want to disable it and only enable it when you need to use it. Disable Remote Desktop by right clicking My Computer on your desktop. Right click the mouse button and click Properties. Select the Remote tab and remove the check beside the "allow users to connect remotely to this computer" option. After you click OK, users can no longer connect to your computer.

The "Lost Ramblers" will appear with Dave Hampton in an upcoming concert at the Raven Creek Church. For those not familiar with the group, here is some information about them...

They entered the music scene in 1978 at a festival in Shade Gap and ever since have been making music in the Eastern Mountains of Pennsylvania and western New Jersey, often venturing all over the northeastern U.S. The band specializes in bluegrass and old timey music but also offers an eclectic mix of Celtic, Jazz, polka and even klezmer tunes.

John Updike plays the 5-String banjo. Neil Morris played in a variety of bluegrass bands during the height of bluegrass popularity in the early '70s. Pete Pappalardo plays finger-picking guitar and bass fiddle with the Ramblers.

The Lost Ramblers are a good-time musical force and are comfortable playing as a strolling band or completely acoustically, as they are in a formal concert arrangement with a full-sound system. Wherever the Ramblers are playing, a good time is being had--and they're always looking for new ways to have fun! If you want to sample their purely acoustic music, with strong Appalachian and bluegrass influences, buy their latest release, Ramble On.

Susan L. (Floyd) Ruckle, 49, (July 10, 1957-26, 2007), Ruckle Lane, Sugarloaf Township, died from ovarian cancer Monday at home. She was a daughter of David L. Floyd, Jr. and Janet Ellen (Follmer) Floyd, both deceased. Sue was a patient care manager for Geisinger Medical Center, Danville. She and her husband, John F. "Jack" Ruckle, Jr. celebrated their 31st wedding anniversary December 27. Surviving, in addition to her husband Jack, is a sister, Debra F. Rilk (Walker), Benton; a brother, David C. Floyd, III (Sandie), Benton, and a number of nieces and nephews. Funeral services will be Thursday at 1 PM at the McMichael Funeral Home, Inc. with visitation beginning at 11 AM. Burial will be in the Benton Cemetery.
--Obituary courtesy of the McMichael Funeral Home

I am pressed for time today, and will explain that in the next paragraph, so I am going to give you some "Old Wives Tales" and some old sayings that reader Ruth Cavanaugh sent us.

• Tell the truth and shame the devil.

• If a cricket gets in your house, it's bad luck to kill it. You have to pick it up and put it outside. A cricket on the hearth, however, is considered good luck, so on the outside chance that you have both a hearth and a cricket on that hearth, you should have one fantastic day!

• It's good luck for a dragonfly to land on your head. (Ruth never had a dragonfly land on her head, but she recalls that several times a praying mantis jumped into her hair, "probably thinking it was grass!"

• You have to get up out of bed on the same side you went into the bed.

• Don't open an umbrella inside the house...bad luck will follow.

• No hats on a bed, no shoes on a table. The first doesn't make sense, the second is just common sense.

• Spill salt and you have to throw it over your left shoulder (it would supposedly blind the devil behind you.)

Son and daughter-in-law, David and Heidi Kline, closed escrow on a horse farm in upstate New York Tuesday and Marcia Kay and I are helping with the transition from their life in the endless summers of California to the severity of a New York state winter. They lived on the Hobby Horse Ranch in Santa Ynez, California, but are now moving their 17 Icelandic horses to New York state where the horses will find an environment closer to their native country. David and Heidi drove across the United States between storms last week, pulling a huge horse trailer and what they carried with them is the total extent of what is in the New York state house at the moment. There are no chairs, nothing to sit on, Kay and I are sleeping on a blow-up air bed ("guaranteed to blow up in 90 seconds," which is probably true if you have "D" batteries!). There is no internet service, no phone service, no television--but lots and lots of snow. A moving van arrives first thing Thursday morning. I am pecking this out from the front seat of my Jeep.

The Benton News will get back to "normal" (?) soon, but in the meantime, please bear with us.

February 27, 2008. Lynne Watson turns 39 and Ora Karns turns 94. Happy birthday to all. We will be traveling for the next week and will be without internet or email service. We'll be in touch from time to time, but not with any dependability. We apologize for this inconvenience.

Today would be a good day to address a card to a shut-in. Here are three to get you started:

• Eleanor Laubach, Bonham Nursing and Rehabilitation, 477 Bonnieville Road, Stillwater, PA, 17878

• Paul Stout, 536 Garfield Avenue, Stouderton, PA 18964

• Elanore Kocher, Orangeville Nursing and Rehabilitation, 200 Berwick Road, Orangeville, PA 17859

Upcoming...
• Franklin Richard McHenry will retire March 1 after 43 years in the aircraft simulator field and before that seven years in radar electronics. Our best wishes to both Dick and Janet.

• The German Heritage Society of the Susquehanna Valley will hold its regular monthly meeting on Thursday evening, March 1, from 7 to 9. The GHSSV meeting will be held in the Degenstein Library, 40 South Fifth Street, Sunbury. Socializing will precede and follow the meeting. For more information, contact GHSSV President Jeff Sheaffer, 374-7730. The public is invited to join members and guests as they learn about the history of the Alphorn and listen to Marty Keller, Danville, play a selection of music on the wind instrument that is featured in Ricola cough-drop commercials. The alphorn was used by mountain dwellers in Switzerland before 1800. Read more about a typical herdsman's song for the alphorn, "ranz des vaches," which Rossini used for a melody in his opera, William Tell. Brahms used the melody in the last movement of his First Symphony.

• Deborah Berrigan of the Lester L. Greevy Law Firm, Williamsport, will present "Elder Law Care" on Thursday evening, March 29, at the Orangeville Nursing and Rehab Center, 200 Berwick Road, Orangeville. This event is free and open to the general public. For more information, call 683-5036. Orangeville Nursing and Rehab Center is a 120-bed skilled nursing and rehab facility. ONRC provides skilled nursing, respite and licensed physical, occupational and speech therapy services. Located in Orangeville, Orangeville Nursing and Rehab Center serves all of Columbia, Montour, Luzerne, Northumberland, Snyder, Union and Lycoming counties.

• Camps Echo and Little People, partner groups of Camp Victory, Millville, will host a Fish Supper at the Benton Fire Hall, Saturday, March 17, from 3 to 7 PM. The menu consists of fish, baked or fried, chicken fingers, baked potato or French Fries, and a choice of two sides: baked beans, macaroni and cheese, stewed tomatoes, corn, or cold slaw. Desserts and tips will benefit the Waller 4-H group. The admission is $7 for adults and $3 for children 4 to 12 years old. Under three eat free. Takeouts are available.

• Country Superstar Mary Chapin Carpenter will be live in concert at Wilkes-Barre's Kirby Center Saturday, April 14, at 8 PM. Tickets are $45, $35 and $30 and go on sale to Kirby Center Members Wednesday, February 28, at 10 AM through the Kirby Center Box Office, 826-1100.

• A Gospel Bluegrass Concert featuring the group Sunny Side will be in concert Saturday, April 28, at 6 PM at the Living Word Baptist Church in Red Rock. Admission is free but a love offering will be taken. For more information, call 864-2570.

• Dave Hampton heads for New York City May 12 when he appears in a Carnegie Hall Family Concert at 2 PM with the group "Straight Drive." If you would like to go along, Dave's family is chartering a bus to go to the Carnegie Hall show. The bus will depart from the Berwick Giant parking lot at 8 in the morning May 12. The cost for the bus will be $25 and the ticket for the show is $8. Interested? Contact Dave's sister, Linda Andreacci, 271-1552.

Quote of the Day:
"Because of the Valentine's Day storm problems, we're in a heightened state of alertness."
--Greg Penny, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation District 8, preparing for the inch of snow that fell Sunday night

Dr. Dale Neiderhiser is pleased to announce that his daughter Dr. Kylie Neiderhiser Kennedy will he joining his chiropractic practice this February. Kylie received notice that she passed her National Chiropractic Boards on January 8 and now has her Pennsylvania Chiropractic License.

		Kylie is a second generation Chiropractor as her father and two uncles are also Chiropractors. As a matter of fact, she comes from a family of chiropractors, with nine other chiropractors in three generations.
Dr. Kylie Neiderhiser Kennedy

She attended Luzerne County Community College and Bloomsburg University for her pre-chiropractic training and graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic in Davenport, Iowa. She vi11 be utilizing traditional chiropractic techniques and low-force techniques to correct spinal misalignments along with physiotherapies and rehabilitation exercises.

Morning, afternoon and early evening appointments can he scheduled for Dr. Kylie at the Benton office at 224 Main St on Mondays and Wednesdays. Friday morning appointments are also available. Appointments at the Bloomsburg office can he made for Tuesdays arid Thursdays. Please contact Dr. Kylie at 925-6606 for the Benton office and 389-1901 for the Bloomsburg office. Most insurance plans will be accepted.

You've heard the term price/earnings ratio (P/E ratio) as used in valuing stocks. The price/earnings ratio is simple to calculate, but difficult to interpret. Many have read financial statements of companies and performed some sort of quantitative analysis, including looking at revenue, expenses, assets, liabilities and all the other financial aspects of a company. Fundamental analysis is the cornerstone of investing in stocks. If you want to experience the ups without the downs, you need insight into a company's future performance. You'll need to learn about the balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement and how they all fit together. An excellent place to learn more on this subject is at www.investopedia.com/university/ .

Didja hear the one about the drunk who worked at an upholstery shop? He was a recovering alcoholic.

A lot of old-timers believed that the future of their children could be determined by placing these objects on the floor in front of a child: a spoon, a Bible, a baseball, a coin and a diaper. They would then carefully watch what the child did next. If the child went for the spoon, he would end up poor; the dollar, rich; the cards, a gambler; the book, a teacher; the Bible, a preacher; the baseball, an athlete; the coin, a businessman. The diaper meant that he would have children of his own.

These same old-timers predicted how many children a young couple would end up having. They didn't just guess, they roughly followed these guidelines: Some counted the number of lines in the parent's forehead; some, the number of X's in the palm of the hand. I even heard of a case where in all seriousness the number of children was predicted based on the number of seeds in the seed head of a dandelion after the mother blew on it three times. All that was off, however, if one of the parents tripped on a flight of stairs which would cause them to have triplets. Hey, I don't make these things up!

When the baby arrived, if it was bald-headed with big feet, it was thought to be bright and would get all A's. A big mouth meant that it would be a good singer and big ears meant it would be generous. The child would be lucky if it had curly hair--or if it was born on a Sunday, on New Years Day or during a full moon. I have seen references to parents hanging a bag of chopped onions around a child's neck to ward off evil.

We all know about Punxsutawney Phil and the stories of the groundhog seeing his shadow on a sunny day. Old-timers felt that the groundhog dove back into his hole in fright and would sleep for six more weeks, which meant six more weeks of winter. There were other signs that were "old wives tales."

• A ring around the moon meant bad weather and the number of stars inside the ring indicated how long the bad weather would last.

• A new moon tipped on its end meant rain, since the rain collected between the points would pour out. But it would also rain if your cat were to sneeze, yawn or lick its tail--or if you dog ate grass and scratched more than usual--or if you stepped on an ant--or if your nose didn't stop itching.

• Winters would be cold if wasps and hornets built their nests higher, or if the hogs were fatter, or if other animals had more fur, or if the caterpillar had a wider stripe, or if the oaks were thick with acorns. How cold the winter would be depended on how warm it was during the summer. There would be as many freezing days as there were sunny days. The amount of snow depended on which day the first snow fell. If the first snow fell on the 29th of the month, there would be 29 days of snow. If the first snow fell on the third, there would be three days of snow. Mother often said that if we clear everything off the table, we would have a clear day the next day. I wonder if she wanted help cleaning up the kitchen or if that was an old wives tale that had been passed down to her by her parents.

Geraldine Laubach continues her touring of Germany. One of her favorite touristy things was to watch the Fasching Parade at Wittlich last Sunday. She said that it was somewhat “like Mardi Gras, the booze was flowing!” Carnival season in Germany is a time of wild fancy-dress parties and costume-balls.

What is going on with gas prices? Retail gas prices are on the rise again. In the Borough, gas prices Sunday afternoon ranged from $2.309 to $2.429 for regular unleaded gasoline. The argument is made that the oil refineries that traditionally produce gas for cars also must churn out heating oil and there is always continuing talk of Iran's deteriorating diplomatic relations with the west causing higher prices for a barrel of crude oil. It isn’t just a problem here. Richard Sutliff wrote that “prices in Chicago's far western suburbs jumped from $2.099 to $2.459 in two days.”

We have time for one or two “old wives tales” today, including two from Mary Evans told by her mother, Maxine McHenry. “The very first time you hear a whip'o'will call, you were to take a change purse, go barefoot through the grass wet with dew. When your foot was all wet, lift up the purse and shake it. Then you were never without money. Maxine's grandfather Ritchie (last name) believed this.” We suspect that following this old advice didn’t result in much success, and that may be why today it is very unusual to find a bird that says "whip poor Will."

Sing me that song that the whip'o'will sang
When azaleas hung heavy after evening rain.
Bittersweet note in the happiness of spring,
Please sing for me the whip'o'will's song.
--John Davis

Mary Evans also remembered "when I was a little girl living in Stillwater (Iklertown) we had a neighbor we called Aunt Bessie," a relative of Helen (Morehart) Fritz, remembered as "quite a nice lady who once in a while smoked a small clay pipe" and "once in a while she had just a smidgen of whiskey for medicinal purposes." Mary would occasionally get warts on her hands. Aunt Bessie said it was because Mary played with toads. Aunt Bessie would try to get rid of the warts for Mary. She would cut an onion in half, take her hand, tell her to close her eyes. Then she would rub the onion over the wart, while saying something in a ceremony she called "Powwowing.” Mary remembers that she was not to look at the wart for a period of time. The cure was to bury the onion. Mary, of course, always looked when she was out of sight and was therefore told that is why the wart was still on her hand.

Mary's brother, Dick, remembers that Aunt Bessie had "me close my eyes at the same time. Then she took the onion and buried it in the yard somewhere. Three days later my warts were gone. Now all I can say is just maybe she knew what she was doing."Today we know that touching toads will not give you warts. Viruses cause warts, unless someone who's shedding viruses touches the toad just before you do. You can't get a wart from holding a frog or toad.

Powwowing, which the Pennsylvania Dutch call "braucha," uses folk cures and faith healing for curing a variety of purely physical diseases. For more information on this subject, consult John George Hohman's Lang Verborgne Freund (Long Lost Friend) originally published in Reading, Pennsylvania, in 1820. This frequently reprinted book contains ancient household remedies, incantations and charms, including how to cure warts and snake bites in humans and how to treat ailments of horses, cattle and sheep.

• Holding a knife or ax during an eclipse will result in a person cutting themselves. (This makes sense when done in darkness).

• Crossing your legs causes varicose veins. Heredity, hormones, overweight, lack of exercising, smoking and other factors are the culprits

.• “Step on a crack, you'll break your mother's back.” I made every effort to avoid cracks in a sidewalk, but not out of fear of breaking Mother's back, but because the following was always one of my favorite poems.

Whenever I walk in a London street,
I'm ever so careful to watch my feet;
And I keep in the squares,
And the masses of bears,
Who wait at the corners all ready to eat
The sillies who tread on the lines of the street
Go back to their lairs, And I say to them,
"Bears, Just look how I'm walking in all the squares!"And the little bears growl to each other,
"He's mine, As soon as he's silly and steps on a line."
And some of the bigger bears try to pretend
That they came round the corner to look for a friend;
And they try to pretend that nobody cares
Whether you walk on the lines or squares.
But only the sillies believe their talk;
It's ever so portant how you walk.
And it's ever so jolly to call out, "Bears,
Just watch me walking in all the squares!"
--"Lines and Squares, A.A. Milne

Marjorie B. Fry, 73, (September 30, 1933-Feb. 24, 2007), Muncy, mother of Audrey Schupp, Benton, passed away Saturday at the Williamsport Hospital. Audrey is married to Jack Schupp, a mail carrier in the Benton Post Office, and they have two children, Travis and Brandon Schupp. Born in Muncy, she was a daughter of Warren B. and Helen M. Houseknecht Bieber. Her husband of 52 years, Earl T. Fry, preceded her in death on June 18, 2004. Surviving are sons Rod (Ann) Fry, Cogan Station; Tom (Debbie) Fry, Muncy; Woody (Ruth) Fry, Hughesville and Ted (Angie) Fry, Muncy. There are five daughters including Audrey: Lorrie (Jim) Schools, Wyalusing; Virginia Bitler, Hughesville; Doris (Wayne) Wagner, Muncy; and Melissa (Jeff) Thomas; Montoursville. There are three brothers, Robert (Beaty) Bieber, Muncy, Carl (Dottie) Bieber, Virginia and Gene (Ann) Bieber, Florida; a sister, Meriam Bieber, Bloomsburg; and 21 grandchildren. Funeral services will be 2 PM Wednesday at the McCarty-Thomas Funeral Home, 557 E. Water St, Hughesville. Burial will follow in Twin Hills Memorial Park. Friends may call from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 PM Tuesday at the funeral home.

		Larry Raymond Houseweart, Fifth Street, a man remembered as a former dedicated Mayor of the Borough of Benton from 1990 to 1998, died Saturday morning, February 24, at the Select Specialty Hospital in Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, where he had been a patient for the past week. Larry was a Democrat, but had an excellent relationship with County Commissioners of both parties and lobbied strongly and successfully for money for streets and the Borough sewer treatment plant.
Larry Houseweart

Born in Huntington Mills July 1, 1939, he was a son of Glenda (Comstock) Houseweart Furtak, Benton, and the late Raymond Houseweart, who died in 1958. Larry was employed by PENN-DOT, retiring in 1982 for health reasons. Larry attended both the Sugarloaf School and Benton High School. Surviving are his mother Glenda Houseweart Furtak and wife of 45 years, Geneva (Hess) Houseweart. In addition, the following brothers and sisters survive: Joyce C. Smith, Waterville; Gerald Houseweart (Pat), Benton; Bonnie Young, Benton; Linda Steele, Berwick; Barry Houseweart (Jill), Benton; and a step sister Mary Ann Furtak Young (Michael), Orangeville. There are also several nieces and nephews. Larry was preceded in death by his step-father, Anthony J. (Tony) Furtak and his father, Raymond. Private funeral services will be held at the McMichael Funeral Home, Inc. with the Rev. Vernon W. McDormand officiating. Burial will be in the Benton Cemetery.
--Obituary courtesy of McMichael Funeral Home

Quickies...
• Sylvania Masonic Lodge, #354, Shickshinny, will hold their March Friday Fish Frys on the 9th, 16th and the 30th. The suppers are open to the public.

• The Florence (Brady) Deeter Massage Therapy is now located at 649 Riverhill Drive, Catawissa. The business phone number is 356-2549. Florence says she'll "miss all my clients and friends I have made over the past seven years of serving the Benton area." Many of her clients will continue to see Florence at her new address. She will also make home visits to clients in the Benton area on Thursdays.

• Beatrice Roberts, Third Street, could use a get-well card at P.O. Box 510, Benton. Bea taught school for many years, and is recovering very slowly from surgery weeks ago. Bea is not able to use email at the moment, so if you want to get in touch, please use the U.S. Mail.

• The Irish Tenors and their renditions of Fairytale Of New York, Danny Boy, My Wild Irish Rose and Fields Of Athenry are coming to the F.M. Kirby Center, Wilkes-Barre, on Saturday, March 3, at 8 PM. Anthony Kearns, Finbar Wright and Karl Scully are synonymous with Irish music. The Irish Tenors will leave no music lover in any doubt that they are at the top of their game with over two million albums sold worldwide, The Irish Tenors have become one of the best known vocal groups in the world. Ticket prices range from $57.50 to $37.50. Tickets are available through F.M. Kirby Center Box Office, 826-1100, Ticketmaster Outlets, Gallery of Sound and Boscov's.

• Have you ever thought of a trip to the American Southwest? If so, head here first: www.americansouthwest.net/index.shtml .

"In my day, we didn't have self-esteem, we had self-respect, and no more of it than we had earned."
--Jane Haddam It's strange sometimes, the things that some people know and what other people don't have a clue about. I mentioned a card game to a Bloomsburg University student. One of the players in the card game was a high-school classmate. The classmate kept score, which could also account for the fact that I lost. He used a term I hadn't heard in years. My classmate said, while tallying things up, "I'll carry the one."Back in the old days, when I went to school, the basic-skills crowd taught us to master the rules to "carry a one" in addition and "borrow a one" in subtraction, the emphasis obviously on mechanical routine over real human knowledge. When I mentioned this story to the college student, he got this faraway stare in his eyes, as if to say, "What is this old man talking about?" This is the same student who had just proudly told me that in an exam earlier in the week the professor asked the class to calculate the formula for temperature conversions from Celsius to Fahrenheit. The student didn't have a clue what the formula was, but he calculated it during the exam and got it right. This kid walks erect, has a great brain, has the right number and arrangement of teeth and has an active opposable thumb, but he didn't know how to "carry a one." I felt like the inventor Joseph Newman must have felt when he came up with a new machine "so simple it befuddles the mind."Imagine the confusion if you tried to convince this student that these "Old Wives Tales" had some validity... • If you go out one door of your house, you have to go back in the same door on the same day or you'll get company you don't want. Now lets just imagine for a second that you did go in the other door, you would have to turn around and go back out right away, and then go in the first door you went out. • If you drop silverware, you will be getting company: If a knife, a man will visit you, if a fork, a woman, and if a spoon, a child. If something is spilled, a drunken man will soon visit. If you drop a broom, you'll soon have company. If a groom drops the wedding band during the wedding ceremony, the marriage is doomed before it even gets started. If you break a mirror, you'll have seven years of bad luck. • "Starve a cold and feed a fever," when we know today that with a cold or an infection it is important to eat and drink enough to maintain adequate nutrition and prevent dehydration.We'll use this introduction to the way people for thousands of years have come up with all sorts of ways to bring themselves good luck and to keep themselves away from bad luck. We'll tell you, for example, how the folks in a previous generation predicted what the future held for their children, what numbers are lucky and what ones are unlucky, we'll tell you about whip'o'wills, and how eating chocolate is bad for you. I'll only tell you about stories that I have personally heard or will share stories told to me by readers. We'll begin in a day or two.

"Besides, there are a hundred things one has to know, which we all understand about and you don't, as yet. I mean passwords, and signs, and sayings which have power and effect, and plants you carry in your pickets, and verses you repeat...all simple enough when you know them but they've got to be known...or you'll find yourself in trouble.
--Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932), from his children's classic The Wind in the Willows (1908)

I've always thought that if you want to make peace, you should not talk with your friends. You should talk with your enemies.

Quickies...
• The price of gasoline from Harrisburg north to Benton ranged from $2.219 to $2.359 for regular, unleaded. Prices in Benton ranged from $2.309 to $2.389.

• If you like classic rock music, Kameeo’s has a band tonight called Rumor Hazit. • The Press Enterprise includes an article about Rob Hutchinson under the headline A lifetime of training for job. Rob is the new director of the Northern Columbia Community and Cultural Center.

• Thanks to all who contributed to the forthcoming article on Old Wives Tales. Our recent traveling included areas where we could receive email, but not send email. If you did not receive a thank-you note, please accept our thanks in this manner.

“ Keep the Columbia Montour AVTS Spring Craft Show in mind. It comes up on Saturday. March 3,from 9 AM until 3 in the afternoon at the Columbia Montour AVTS in Bloomsburg. Over 100 crafters have been invited to this event to display home decor, holiday gift items, wood crafts, and jewelry. Food services will be available. Vendor spaces are no longer available for the 2007 show. To get to the Columbia-Montour AVTS from Bloomsburg, follow Route 11 North from Bloomsburg for 4 miles. Turn left at Bloomsburg Carpet Industries onto Wolf Hollow Rd. Take the first right onto Sweppenheiser Drive. From I-80, take exit 241 (Lime Ridge). Follow Route 11 South to the second traffic light. Turn right on Keifers Lane. Take the second left onto Sweppenheiser Drive.

• Bethel Hill United Methodist Church is having a Pancake Breakfast on March 10, from 7 AM till 11 AM. You can have all you can eat buckwheat and regular pancakes, sausage, home fries, coffee and juice. Adults $6, and children $4.A reader convinced us that bread is the root of all evil, reminding us that more than 98% of convicted felons eat bread and that about half of all children who grow up in bread-consuming households score below average on standardized tests. When bread was baked in the home, the average life expectancy was less than 50 years; infant mortality rates were unacceptably high; many women died in childbirth; and diseases such as typhoid, yellow fever and influenza ravaged whole nations. Bread is addictive. Deprived of bread and given only water to eat, men have begged for bread after as little as two days. Bread often leads to "harder" items such as butter, jelly, peanut butter and even cold cuts. Bread is baked at temperatures as high as 400° Fahrenheit! That kind of heat can kill an adult in less than one minute. Most American bread-eaters are not able to distinguish between significant scientific fact and meaningless statistical babbling.
--Based on some meaningless statistical babbling seen on the InternetTerm of the Day: Willy-nilly
The term originally was used when something needed to be done whether the person was willing or not, probably a version of an older phrase "will I, nill I" or "will ye, nill ye." The "will" means "wanting" to do something and is used in the same sense as making a "will" leaving your assets to someone you want to inherit them. "Nill," now obsolete, was the opposite of "will," as in not wanting to do something. The phrase has evolved to where it indicates an unsure, indecisive person, not knowing whether to do something, often used in the sense of embarking on some project in a haphazardly disorganized way. The term is frequently applied to the layering of papers on my desk.There just were not enough hours in a day yesterday to eat, drive, park, unload, eat, sort the mail, write a newsletter and get something to eat, so I'll recycle a column our staff reporter, Buster, wrote about a year ago when we arrived home from Florida. He wrote..."Leader asked me to take over today, which comes easy for me since I do it every day without him knowing it. Leader, Mother, She and I arrived Back Home in Benton, PA, last night after being away for a month and the first thing they did was run off and play a game they call pinochle and they didn't come home until midnight."Leader does not understand how good he has it with me. I woke him this morning when the garbage truck arrived, I chewed up the bills last night after Mother brought them from the post office, I protected Leader from a nasty cat, I keep him fit by taking him for a walk three times a day, and I keep other people away from him by jumping on people who get too close. I can make Leader smile when I get my Bichon Buzz or when I chase the little red light or when I lie on my side and pretend that I am running full speed. I often take blame for things I didn't do, like the spot on the blue couch in the living room, the bottle of dog shampoo that somehow drained out when it fell on the floor, the two chairs in the television room that fell over and broke the flower bowl."Earlier yesterday, Leader read some words to She and I that Rose Hack had sent to him and told us what they mean. The word "sniff" is an example. It is the way that we greet other dogs, somewhat like the custom Leader follows when he exchanges business cards with someone he just met."Garbage Can" is a container used to test my ability to stand on my back legs and push the lid off to get at margarine wrappers, beef bones and moldy bread. A "leash" is a strap that is attached to my collar so I can take Leader or Mother where I want to go. A "dog bed" is a flat, elevated surface like a white bedspread in the guest room or the blue couch in the living room. Once, when no one was home, I made the mistake of lying down on the dining room table and somehow I didn't hear Leader come home. I won't make that mistake again."Deafness" happens to She and I when Mother calls us to come in and we want to stay out. Running the other direction or finding something that we need to sniff is very much like deafness. "Thunder" and the "fire alarm" are signals that the world is coming to an end. Because of my superior intelligence, I know these things and warn Leader and Mother by trembling, panting and walking one step behind them everywhere except for the little room at the end of the hall. There are some places that even dogs won't go!"A "wastebasket" is a dog toy filled with things to investigate like paper, newspapers and candy wrappers. Wastebaskets are easy to get things out of, but really hard to get things back into."Leader gets jealous when I roll in something good and he uses the "bath" to get even. I get even with him by shaking the water off my body when he turns his head or when I get close to furniture. I have found that the blue couch in the living room is a good way of drying off."Children" are short humans who make good petting. When running, they are good to chase. If they fall down, they are comfortable to sit on. "Love" is a feeling of intense affection, like waging my tail or wiggling my butt or carrying my toy in my mouth. Humans all seem to love me in return."
--Buster, a superior Bichon Frise

Following severe fighting on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, the flag was raised by a member of the 28th Marine Regiment on Mount Suribachi on this date in 1945. This day has special significance to Dennis Threlkeld, whose father served on Iwo Jima.Fighting isn't what it used to be. What worked on Mount Suribachi won't work in the future, so let me take a few paragraphs and describe some new weaponry called a railgun which delivers the punch of a missile at bullet prices. The Navy demonstrated the weapon earlier this week at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren. The weapon fires nonexplosive projectiles using electricity rather than gun powder. Navy ships could increase their striking range more than tenfold by the year 2020. The railgun works by sending electric current along parallel rails, creating an electromagnetic force so powerful it can fire a projectile at tremendous speed. The pulse generator is far safer in terms of a possible explosion on board ships than is gunpowder.The Dahlgren demonstration employed an 8-megajoule electromagnetic device compared to current Navy guns which generate about 9 megajoules of muzzle energy. A production version is expected to generate 64 megajoules with a 200 to 250 nautical-mile range.Development has been rapid. A year ago, this supersonic bullet was simply a good idea, somewhat akin to charging a flash battery on a digital camera then clicking the button. On the railgun, this dumps a charge producing a magnetic field which forces the ordnance to discharge. The projectile fired this week weighed only 3.2 kilograms and had no warhead. Future railgun ordnance will have the impact of a Tomahawk cruise missile because of the immense speed of the projectile at impact, described as being comparable to hitting a target with a Ford Taurus at 380 mph." The estimated cost is remarkable. A Tomahawk spins the cash register to the tune of about a million dollars a shot, while the estimate for the railgun projectiles are in the neighborhood of $1,000 each. The concept dates back to the 1970s when President Reagan proposed the anti-missile "Star Wars" Strategic Defense Initiative. Seeds don't sprout, birds don't mate and bear don't sally forth from their caves until the danger of cold weather has passed. You won't see many robins until the first earthworms can tunnel to the surface of the ground, or swallows until they can find insects on the wing, or hummingbirds before the nectar of spring flowers are available. These are all signs of spring, none of which we have yet seen in 2007. Even in light of these facts, Marcia Kay and I return to the Borough of Benton today, our first since January 10. We're acting a little like the artic tern.For those who don't know about this strange bird, listen up. The artic tern winters on the Cape of Good Hope and when spring approaches it flies northwest across the Atlantic Ocean to breeding grounds inside the Artic Circle. But those who graduated from the Dayne Hartman School of Basic Geography know that the Cape of Good Hope is far south of the equator. When the tern gets the urge to make his spring migration, it is fall in South Africa and the days are getting shorter and cooler, not warmer. The return of the artic tern makes about as much sense as does ours. Still, we'll be glad to be Back Home in Benton, PA. The Philadelphia Flower Show is at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, 12th and Arch Streets, Philadelphia, March 4-11. This year's theme is "Legends of Ireland." Show hours are: Sundays 8 AM to 6 PM, Monday through Friday 10 AM to 9:30 PM, Saturday 8 AM to 9:30 PM. We have prepared an article on old wives' tales for a future publication. We would love to hear of any that you can remember. It's strange, isn't it...
• At the state level, the emphasis is on fixing blame on the state for last week’s storm response; i.e., not to plow in the Valentine's Day Snow Storm until the rain ended, thus avoiding pure ice on the road surface. The state General Assembly is investigating, the Guv announced some of his own findings, and now the state Senate and today the House of Representatives get into the act. • At the circus that the court of law became in the Anna Nicole Smith trial, freaks and whackos like Bobby Trendy and Prince Frederic von Anhalt stayed on the sidelines, but the stage was still filled with bizarre characters who spent time talking about themselves while fixating on a now-dead freak-show woman who will end up being buried in the Bahamas. Why is America fixated on this? • The circus has come to television, and many can't look away. As we enter rehab number three for Britney Spears, a girl-mother who first (?) acted a bit kooky when she collapsed and had to be carried out of a club on New Years Eve. Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton--now there are three pieces of work. Why is America fixated on this?Quote of the Day...
"I cannot talk about zee affair because you see, I am a married man."
-- Prince Frederic von Anhalt who has been married to Zsa Zsa Gabor for 20 years

Quote of the Day...
"My movements to the chair of government will be accompanied by feelings not unlike those of a culprit, who is going to the place of his execution."
--George WashingtonQuickies...
• Please keep Lisa Edson Daly in your prayers following surgery yesterday.

• Frank Conrad was discharged Wednesday night from the Lebanon, Pennsylvania, hospital and is now home for several days pending the outcome of tests.

• Snowmobilers who enjoy the winter weather of Wyoming County hope that they can soon legally ride established trails into parts of Sullivan, Lycoming and Bradford counties. A Hughsville Snowmobile and Recreation Club is trying to extend a snowmobile trail at Ricketts Glen State Park into Noxen. DCNR plans to provide $90,000 toward the study, which will take at least a year to complete.

• Confused about the Middle East? If you have a high-speed internet connection, go here for a quick history of that area of the world.
I grew up as a "I don't know" person. Father, on the other hand, was a "I'll read up on it" person. There wasn't any "BS" on my part. If I didn't know an answer, I flat out said I didn't know. A question for which Father didn't know the answer was just a challenge, an excuse to open a book, a magazine or a newspaper and "read up on it."The spirit of "reading up on it" is prevalent throughout much of the upper Fishingcreek valley, thanks to a resource that dates back to 1941. We're talking about the Columbia County Traveling Library (CCTL) consisting of resources provided by the Columbia County Commissioners, a dedicated staff and a Bookmobile new in 1996. The bookmobile serves about 40 locations in Columbia County that are visited regularly and at the library for the organization on Perry Avenue, Bloomsburg. The library building is open to the public in order to use the book collection and public-access computers.For readers who like computers, the CCTL provides a free service to find your ancestors. You can search over 25,000 family and local history books, or the complete U.S. Federal Census from 1790-1930. You can download Pennsylvania legal forms or get answers to basic legal questions, or take practice tests.The library and its bookmobile are up to date with adult and juvenile books, including best sellers, large print, fiction and nonfiction, audio-books on tape and CD, videos and DVDs.The Columbia County Traveling Library bookmobile provides free library service to Columbia County residents. Take the time to head over to www.cctlibrary.org/ and learn more, including the history of the first bookmobile that debuted at the Benton Farmer's Picnic on July 21, 1941, under the direction of the first librarian, Ruth Beers. Many will remember that the assets of the former Frank C. Laubach Library, Park Street, were transferred to the CCTL about 1996.The current 33-foot Columbia County Traveling Library bookmobile was purchased in 1996 with funds from Columbia County, a grant from the Office of Commonwealth Libraries and from private contributions. The bookmobile can carry 3,000 books with a full selection of current children’s and adult books, best sellers, audio books, large print and DVDs. The bookmobile has a wheelchair lift and is air conditioned.Visits are made to over 40 locations in Columbia County, including communities, day-care centers and preschools, senior citizens’ facilities and schools. This week on Tuesday, for example, the bookmobile visited locations near the Little Tiger Teachery, Central Hotel and the Benton Riverside Market. Yesterday, the Bookmobile stopped on 2½ Street, the Benton Senior Center and Stillwater Park. A planned visit to Rainbow Schools was preempted by icy roads, but at the other locations the number of visitors to the bookmobile remained high.A separately incorporated volunteer organization known as The Friends of the Columbia County Traveling Library was founded in 1991 to support and promote the services of the library. This group meets socially and professionally each month and sponsors used book sales, food sales, quilt raffles and much more. The group had two successful book sales in the Columbia Mall Community Days in June and October. In addition to their many other acts of kindness to the CCTL, this group donated $1,000 last year for the purchase of large-print books. Peg Root is the Treasurer of this organization and Jessie Hoffman is President.The Friends are always in need of volunteers. They are always happy to have the help of active participants, but even if there isn't time to be involved, they encourage everyone to join. A newsletter is sent every spring, and a membership campaign is conducted in April during National Library Week, April 15-21, 2007. A membership form is included on the CCTL Web Site to join Friends of the Columbia County Traveling LibraryIn the spring of 2006, the CCTL did 11 programs of reading based on the book Inside Mouse, Outside Mouse by Lyndsay Barrett George at ten child-care facilities in the county, reaching 122 children. Book circulation last year, as in the year before, was over 31,000.During the summer, the bookmobile did a reading program with an animal theme, Paws, Claws, Scales and Tales. On June 13 at the Stillwater Park, Eileen Drummond and her therapy dogs, entertained. During June and July, 122 children signed up, reading 1,288 books. On August 8, the bookmobile had a wrap-up party, again at Stillwater, with local children's book author Robert Bender. On June 28 and 29, the bookmobile was in the Benton area when the No-Name Storm hit, and the search for high ground was on, since the raging waters of Fishingcreek lapped at the edge of the Perry Avenue building. Dorothy Coady is the full-time director librarian. There is a part-time library clerk, Audrey McKinstry, and two part-time bookmobile assistants/drivers, Jef Eichner and Joanne Lingo. The CCTL added 734 items to their collection in 2006, mostly books, exclusive of the rental McNaughton books. The library has 75 videos and 21,470 books in their collection. Derl I. Derr, Millville, is the President of the Board of Directors of the CCTL, a position members of the board of directors hope he'll have for life.The CCTL can provide a huge service for you and for members of your family. The schedule for the bookmobile showing up to service your needs is here. It is obvious that you like to read, since you have just "read up on the CCTL." Utilize the services of this fine organization and consider becoming active with the Friends of the Library. Consider lending your financial support, too, through a funeral bequest to the organization or a donation while you are still able to utilize their services.

Frank Conrad celebrated his 60th birthday on the 19th in the emergency room of the Lebanon, Pennsylvania, hospital. As of this writing, he is still in a room at the hospital.It's the birthday of humorist Erma Bombeck, born in Dayton, Ohio, in 1927. Here are a few of her quotes... • "Next to children on a trip, there is nothing more trying than their father." • "Never lend your car to anyone to whom you have given birth." • " When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.'" • "When your mother asks, 'Do you want a piece of advice?' it is a mere formality. It doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. You're going to get it anyway."
-- Erma Louise Bombeck (February 21, 1927–April 22, 1996)The Washington Monument was dedicated on this date in 1885. It took 36 years to build—from 1848 to 1884. The monument stands 555 feet high on the mall Washington, D.C.Upcoming...
Bluegrassboy Productions presents a bluegrass show with The Lost Ramblers and Like Father Like Son on Saturday evening, March 10 at 6 o'clock. The location is the Raven Creek Community Hall on Upper Raven Creek Road. Admission is $8 at the door. Food will be available. For more information, call 925-5790. • The Benton Area Rodeo Association will meet at the Benton Township Building at 7 PM, Thursday, February 22.This past week was one of grand celebration for Chris and Amy Vincent, Odenton, Maryland. Not only did their son Jacob celebrate his eleventh birthday on February 15 but he bridged over into Boy Scouts. On Saturday, Jacob’s Cub Scout Pack 769 held its annual Blue & Gold Banquet at which Jacob received the Cub Scouts highest award--the Arrow of Light. He also achieved the Heavy Shoulder Award for completing all 20 Activity Badges as a WEBELO Scout. At the conclusion of the banquet, the Pack said farewell to the WEBELO scouts as they crossed over the bridge to Boy Scouting. Jacob was received by members of Troop 755, Gambrills, Maryland, which included his brother Joshua, a Star Scout (soon to be Life) and an Assistant Patrol Leader as well as his dad, an Assistant Scoutmaster for the troop. The festivities were attended by Jacob’s grand parents, Lee and Carolyn Remley, Benton; his aunt and uncle from West Chester, Silvia and Frank Vincent; his aunt and uncle from Stillwater, Kerry and Paul Vincent; his uncle from Colorado Springs, CO, Andrew Vincent and his cousin, Matthew Vincent, Gaithersburg.

Happy birthday today to the U.S. Post Office, created on this date in 1792. Happy birthday to Carl Stoltz. Not a name you recognize? Stoltz was the "Father of Little League Baseball" and a lumberyard clerk. He was born on this date in 1910 in Williamsport. The first Little League game was played on June 6, 1939, with Lundy Lumber pounding Lycoming Dairy 23–8. Stotz served as commissioner of the league until 1956. The first Little League World Series was held in 1947, and the series continues to be played each summer in Williamsport, the home of Little League baseball.On this date in 1962, astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth, flying aboard "Friendship 7." On this date in 1839, Congress prohibited dueling in the District of Columbia. On this date in 1981, the space shuttle "Columbia" cleared the final major hurdle to its maiden launch as the spacecraft fired its three engines in a 20-second test.In 1800, not Los Angeles, not New York, but Philadelphia was our largest city, a distinction it held until 1830. The five largest were Philadelphia, New York, Baltimore, Boston, and Charleston, SC. It was on this day in 1942 that Edward H. O'Hare, the man for whom Chicago's O'Hare airport is named, shot down five Japanese bombers in a South Pacific air battle. O'Hare, flying an F4 Wildcat, helped save the carrier the USS Lexington and became an American ace of WWII. If you think that is all there is to Edward O'Hare, think again! Take the time to head over to www.acepilots.com/usn_ohare.html and read the rest of the story.According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 33 employees of the state House of Representatives have salaries of more than $100,000, and 133 employees receive salaries in excess of $73,614, the base pay for rank-and-file lawmakers. The Guv makes $164,396.Do you like maple syrup?
• On February 24 and March 4 a maple sugaring event takes place at PPL's Montour Environmental Preserve, 700 Preserve Road, Danville, from noon to 4 PM both days. Programs start on the hour. Start in the Environmental Education Center for a film on sugar making, then visit the maple grove to see trees being tapped. Staff members will cook collected sap in an evaporator over an open fire in the sugar shack. Everyone gets to taste maple sap and maple syrup. There will be maple products for sale.

• At the Endless Mountains Maple Festival, Troy, April 28-29, from 7 AM to 5 PM, there are all-day pancake breakfasts, pancake-eating contest, maple syrup, maple sugar, maple cream and maple candy demonstrations, plus all kinds of maple foods, from maple cotton candy, milkshakes and sundaes to maple-covered nuts and maple-glazed doughnuts. Call 570 297-3648 for more information.

Today marks the anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945. The Japanese had an elaborate network of caves and tunnels on Iwo Jima, and it took a month of some of the worst fighting in the war for the Marines to secure the island. Didja know, for example, that more US Marines earned the Medal of Honor on Iwo Jima than in any other battle in US history? In 36 days of fighting there were 25,851 US casualties (1 in 3 were killed or wounded). Of these, 6,825 American boys were killed. Virtually all 22,000 Japanese perished. For more Iwo Jima information about...
• Japan's strategy for the island, go to www.iwojima.com/battle/battlea.htm .
• The United States invasion of Iwo Jima, go to www.iwojima.com/battle/battleb.htm .
• The land battle, go to www.iwojima.com/battle/battlec.htm .
• The movie version, "Letters from Iwo Jima, " go here. Frank Conrad and Jamie Rabb celebrate their birthdays today. Frank turned 60 years old, but celebrated his birthday in the Lebanon Hospital. Ray and Jean (Getz) Foust celebrate 50 years of marriage.Nothing is more perplexing than to get the phone bill and find that someone in our family (and there are only two in our family, if you get my drift!) has incurred a charge of over a dollar to find out a phone number by dialing the number "411." If you need a number to make a call on either your cell phone or your home phone, call 1 800 FREE 411 (1 800 373-3411) without incurring any charges (except for normal phone usage charges.) You will have to listen to a short advertisement.It is better to be concerned with your character than your reputation. Your character is what you really are. Your reputation is merely what others think you are.Upcoming...
• The Village Sampler and Fun Auction is scheduled for Sunday, April 29, 2007, at the Fire Hall. Donations for the auction can be dropped off at the temporary offices of the Northern Columbia Community & Cultural Center temporary office at 255 Main Street or at the farm of Chuck and Kay Chapman on Sunny Hillside Road. You can also call 925-6972 to arrange for someone to pick up the donation.

• The Red Hat Ladies will meet at the Hoboken Sub Shop on Wednesday, February 21, at 2 o'clock. The meeting is open to all eligible women, in proper Red Hat attire, of course.

• The Columbia County Traveling Library will be in the upper Fishingcreek Valley Tuesday at the Little Tiger Teachery, 1:50-2:10 PM; Central Hotel, 2:30-3:30 PM; Benton Riverside Market, 4-6:30 PM. On Wednesday, the Bookmobile will be on 2½ Street from 10-11 AM; Benton Senior Center, 11:05-11:15 AM; and Stillwater Park, 11:30-12:30 PM.

° The Penn State Opera Theatre's full-stage production of Benjamin Britten's Albert Herring will take place Friday, April 13, and Saturday, April 14, at 7:30 PM each night. Alana Bath, Bendertown, will take the lead for one performance of the character of Lady Billows, an elderly autocrat. Performances will be held in Esber Hall, Music Building I - Allen St.

• Benton AYSO Spring soccer signups will be held Thursday evening, February 22, from 6:30-8 in the L.R. Appleman Elementary School. Players must have been born on or before August 1, 2000. Bring a birth certificate. If your child played fall soccer, they are already registered. The cost is $35 per player. A second and final spring signup will be held Wednesday, February 28, 6:30-8 PM in the elementary school.About 50 wild ring-necked pheasants from South Dakota and Montana were released recently north of Millville with the hope that the pheasants can reestablish themselves in Columbia County and in similar stockings in the Washingtonville area.Here are some words and terms for which I recently discovered new meanings. They include...
• "Fine:" The word used by women to end an argument when they are right.
• "Quick trip:" A term used by women to explain unexplained trips to the ladies room.
• " Five Minutes:" The time allotted men to watch a football game. The time women take to wash the dishes, run the sweeper, watch Regis and Ophra and prepare dinner.
• "That's Okay:" A woman's way of saying she wants to think long and hard before deciding how and when you will pay for your mistake.
• Forget about it. I'll do it:" A woman says this after telling a man to do something, but he hasn't done it. The woman is now taking care of it. Also see "That's Okay."The Benton News will be published at irregular intervals for the next three days.The annual Horse Shows in the Sun, known as HITS, is ongoing in Ocala. It is unbelievable to me that horses can clear 12 jumps at the 5'6" level so effortlessly as in complete defiance of gravity. The seven weeks of HITS draws both world-class and amateur riders to match their skills and horsemanship with others at their own level in jumping competitions. The pot at the end of the rainbow is $1 million in prize money.

February 18, 2007. Happy birthday today to Kim Lameroux. There are 30 days until the official beginning of spring. Don't forget that Bob Webster will speak Monday morning at the North Mountain Historical Society meeting at the Brass Pelican. It is free and open to the public.

Morrisville ( New York) State College, a residential college of 2,758 students in agriculture and technology, brought six Clydesdale Horses to the "Horse Shows in the Sun," known in Ocala at "HITS." Morrisville is unique in that it is the first college to become a wired campus, supplying students with laptop computers and high speed internet access. The school's barrel-chested Clydesdales were decked out in a Budweiser beer type of costume, and I had never seen the reaction of other horses to Clydesdales. The Clydesdales completely spooked the other horses.

On the web...

• Planning a trip? Want to know the weather you'll experience on the interstates? Go here.

• Search by brand name or company and see who owns what. You can also get the business addresses. Go here.

The 238-page 2007 Pennsylvania Travel Guide is free, just for the asking, but you have to order it. All-new stories and detailed road trips include day-by-day itineraries, lodging and dining recommendations, maps, and photo galleries. There is information about famous (and not so famous) attractions, along with festival listings, fun-filled events, regional tourism info, and more. Enjoy exploring the State of Independence by visiting www.visitpa.com/visitpa/orderTravelGuideForm.pa

The Challenge put forth by Elsie Buyers on behalf of the Northern Columbia Community & Cultural Center has generated around $40,000 from 62 donors. Donors have until March 1 to have their donation or pledge matched by Elsie. Pledges do not have to be paid by March 1.

Looking for antiques in Florida is much different from looking for antiques in Pennsylvania. First, the antiques are generally more Art Deco in Florida, from a later period of collectibility. Much of what is available in Florida comes from the Depression period of our history. We see lots of cute vintage signs, such as "I'd Rudder be Fishing," "Take a Message, we're on a sails call," "trust everyone--just brand your cattle," and "Sun, fishing, Cokes on ice; just another day in Paradise."

Vintage advertising for sale reminds me of the period of my life when I would collect a few pennies and go running to Rabb's Drug Store or Vincent's Market or Harold's Market or the Kozy Korner to pick up a few pieces of penny candy, tasty morsels like bull's-eyes, Mary Janes, banana squares, candy corn or candy cigarettes, or eggs filled with marshmallow or some kind of fancy crème.

Candy counters delivered on these goodies, as well as taffy, Walnettos, malted milk balls, licorice pipes, orange slices and spearmint leaves. Vincent's Market on McHenry Alley near the high school did a booming noon-day trade in these candies dispensed in a plain brown bag by Mrs. Vincent. Making decisions on what to spend my 10¢ on was difficult. I remember Mrs. Vincent nodding off while I deliberated about which candy should be purchased. I hurried out the only accessible door of the store, my head held high, my possessions complete with the goodies in the bag. I was the wealthiest boy on the block in my mind, thanks to the coin that Uncle Ben gave us or that our mothers slipped us as we headed off for school. Candies remembered are almost as good as candies consumed, and the calorie content is much less.

Ruth Cavanaugh remembers that her favorite candies were "Squirrel Nuts," "Grade A" (much like a Hershey's milk chocolate bar, but smaller) and peanut butter cups. Ruth's grandmother, Emma Schlauch Farver, made a similar confection called Divinity Fudge, which Ruth remembers as "just plain wonderful." Ruth also remembers a Fudge Mix called Tootsie Fudge that was "easy to make and very good. All you had to add was water and butter, and it made great fudge."

Much of this delight over candy goes back to the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition in 1893 when a man by the name of Milton S. Hershey marketed a chocolate bar. Within a year, he had chocolate bars in production, although the taste was not an immediate hit. Hershey Co., the largest U.S. candy maker, has been a major employer in the state and their products are popular around the world, although they recently announced they will close more than a third of its assembly lines in undisclosed locations, eliminate 12% of its work force and open a factory in Monterrey, Mexico.

The 1893 Exposition celebrated the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the new world in 1492, but the event did not open on schedule because of bad weather. When the Exposition opened a year behind schedule, the electric lights developed by Thomas Edison bathed an exposition in lights for the first time and something called a Ferris wheel twenty-six stories high scared scores of people. Frederick William Rueckheim sold a popcorn-peanuts-molasses confection which a few years later he began marketing as Cracker Jacks. The men had something new to occupy their minds at the Exhibition, thanks to Fahreda Mahzar Spyropolos, known as "Little Egypt," who introduced the hootchy-kootchy, or belly dance.

We remember Mother's marshmallow fudge, which her recipe book says she made by heating two cups of granulated sugar and a cup of crème until the sugar melted. She put in two ounces of Baker's Premium No. 1 Chocolate and boiled it all until it hardened in cold water. About the time I couldn't contain myself any more, Mother would add two tablespoons of butter, took it off the heat and began to pour in a half pound of marshmallows, crushing and beating them with a spoon as she added a few at a time. She poured all this into a buttered pan to a depth of 3/4 of an inch or so and cut the mixture into cubes. I can still taste that fudge.

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February 17, 2007. Up in Central, Howard Leh celebrates his birthday and in San Diego, California, John and Zane Unbewust celebrate their 64th wedding anniversary.

The students all did an absolutely wonderful job Friday night in the high school rendition of Cole Porter's Anything Goes. Sean Christian plays Billy Crocker, a young Wall Street broker, who stows away on the S.S. American in hopes of winning the heart of his beloved Hope Harcourt. Sean got all his accents and disguises to perfection. Kevin Richardson as Elijah J. Whitney, a pompous Wall Street broker, almost stole the act with his performance. Chris Diltz took time off from his cooking detail at the Brass Pelican to play Moonface Martin, Public Enemy Number 13 and a fugitive from the Feds. Chris and Sean did a great job playing off of each other for laughs. Morgan Thomas, as Reno, and Lauren Marinos, as Hope, were both in fine voice. Harry Schlichter was the bravest of the lot when he appeared in one scene in his boxer shorts. The pit orchestra played beautifully. As Laura Christian expressed the evening, "it was a perfect performance by some of my favorite people."

Cathy Beck will hold a ladies-only session at the Alameda County Fairgrounds, Pleasanton, California, February 23-25. Check it out at www.flyfishingshow.com or (800) 420-7582.

Scores of antique-loving Pennsylvanians know the name Renningers, and here in Florida the organization runs a flea markets that is one of the best in the United States. Marcia Kay and I, along with Bill and Loretta Hiscox, trudged up and down the rolling hills of Mt. Dora Friday in search of the perfect rare antique or collectible. We found a delicious Polish sausage sandwich and grew some blisters on our feet.

Renningers is the largest of its kind in the Southeast, operating as two separate markets on 117 acres--one for antiques and collectibles, the other a farmer's and flea market with 40,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor facilities.

Renningers also operates similar operations in Kutztown and Adamstown, as well as two markets in California, two in New York, and one in Illinois, Ohio, Massachusetts and Texas.

Renninger's Twin Markets are south of picturesque Mount Dora, about 20 miles northwest of Orlando, on Route 441.

Quote of the Day...
History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.
--Abba Eban

Need a map of somewhere--anywhere--in the world? Go here.

February 16, 2007. Happy birthday to Lori Andrysick and to Richard Jost.

The high-tensile canvas amphitheater roof of the 6,000 seat Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain in Moosic collapsed during the snow storm this week. The front of the amphitheater tent collapsed from the weight of the snow. No injuries were reported. In the Wyoming Valley, the Hoyt Library, the Wyoming Valley Sports Dome, a greenhouse at Lehman Nursery, the Nay Aug Park amphitheater and a Scranton grocery were also snow-related casualties. The roof of Scott's Floral Gift & Greenhouses, Danville, collapsed. I-81 closed for 66 miles in both directions between the I-80 interchange and the Fort Indiantown Gap interchange. I-80 closed from Route 11 to the I-81 interchange. People were stranded on I-78 for up to 20 hours. The Guv declared a statewide disaster emergency as the area braced for the weekend crunch.

Didja know...
• Cole Porter's Anything Goes, under the direction of Toni Ann Yates, will light up the local school's stage Friday and Saturday at 7 PM and Sunday afternoon at 2. Tickets are available at the door. Tickets cost $4 for students and $6 for adults. Go here to read a synopsis of the story of the "S.S. American" sailing from New York to England. Many readers will remember the movie version staring Ethel Merman and Bing Crosby.

• A step by step tutorial for Firefox can be found at http://opensourcearticles.com/introduction_to_firefox .

• Daylight Savings Time (DST) begins three weeks earlier and ends one week later than it did last year. Possibly every electronic device and computer program that deals with the time of day will be affected by this change. You'll probably be affected too if you use Windows, Windows Mobile, Outlook, Microsoft Exchange or Tivo. It won't be a big deal, but it will be an inconvenience.

• George Washington is the first President on a series of coins honoring former U.S. presidents. The coin is aimed at collectors and intended for use in vending machines and parking meters. Coins depicting each president will be released in the order in which they served, with John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison scheduled to appear on coins later this year. The coins are intended to spur interest in U.S. history. The faces show original images of former presidents and the years of their terms of office while the reverse will depict an image of the Statue of Liberty and the inscriptions "United States of America" and "$1." No living former or current president can be honored on a coin.

• In an unusual development, non-stop news coverage about Anna Nicole Smith was omitted from CNN and Fox News for about five minutes Thursday when the networks accidentally switched to coverage of the Iraq situation.

Comments from former Benton Air Force Station readers...
• Bob McKelvey, who now lives in Cape May, New Jersey, rented a Hill Street apartment from John Mather when he was assigned to Benton AFS in 1958 in what Bob and his wife called the Honeymoon Cottage. Our mention of the Wednesday snowstorm reminded him of a special code broadcast over Wilkes-Barre radio stations. The airmen that lived off base were told to listen to the road condition report early in the morning before reporting for duty. "When during a snowstorm if the broadcast said HAZARDOUS driving conditions we were to delay coming to work for two hours so the roads could be made passable. When the code word was EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS driving conditions we were to report for duty the following day. The personnel who were on Benton Air Force Station would be held over for double duty."

• Joe Marino was stationed on Red Rock during the '50s and occasionally reads the Benton News because it "brings back a rather happy time in my life." Joe now lives in Florida in a retirement community called The Villages, an area we left yesterday.

• Over the years, we have heard from many former members of the Air Force and the FAA who worked on "top of the mountain." We never kept track of everyone who wrote in, and we would now like to start a data base simply to refer former workers to each other. If you fit into this category, please email us even if you have identified yourself as a former employee sometime in the past.

Have you noticed at check-out counters that many people haven't signed their credit cards or have scrawled "see ID" where their signature should be? Have you considered what would happen if the card were stolen and the thief made up a fake ID with that person's photo, name and signature? The person might end up being responsible for all purchases since they did not sign the card with their own hands with their signature. The credit card is clearly marked "not valid unless signed" even if your picture and signature are pre-printed on the front. Check those credit cards for signatures now.

We've had lots of suggestions about things to see in Florida. LuAnn Dent Everitt, for example, suggested we head to Edgewater, just below New Smyrna Beach, on the corner of US 1 and Park Ave where there is an "interesting little museum/store relating to honey." LuAnn remembers back to the 50s when her Grandfather would "come home with a large tin can of Orange Blossom Honey and I can still remember the wonderful breakfasts at his home with Aunt Hattie's bread, orange blossom honey and a great cup of coffee." The beekeeper’s museum is at the Tropical Blossom Honey Company at 106 N. Ridgewood Avenue, Edgewater, Florida, a company that goes back to 1940.

February 15, 2007. Happy birthday today to Ted Fritz, Klinger Hill, his 74th, and Jacob Vincent, his 15th. It was very pleasant to break bread with Richard and Sandy Lehet in Ocala last evening, the first time in ten years I have seen these two at leisure.

On this date in 1758, mustard was advertised for the first time in America, thanks to Benjamin Franklin who reportedly ate mustard with fresh eggs. He loved to empty six fresh eggs into his goblet with butter, mustard, salt and pepper. He called the concoction "Philadelphia stew." Mustard probably originated in ancient Egypt and arrived in Europe thanks to the Romans who used it for food and medicine such as mustard seeds seasoned with unfermented grape juice called "must." The origin of the word mustard is believed to originate in this way.

Millers in England crushed mustard seeds into a fine mustard flour, much like buckwheat was locally milled. The hull and bran was sifted out based on the type of mustard being made, then usually further ground and crushed. Seasonings and flavorings, plus water, wine, vinegar or beer, were added. The mustard was then simmered, cooled and aged. Laws enacted in 1658 protected mustard producers, making it an offence for anyone other than mustard producers to make the concoction. In the 17th century, Louis XIV gave the city of Dijon, France, exclusive rights to produce Dijon mustard and created strict rules concerning its production. Verjuice (unripe grape juice) was substituted for vinegar in prepared mustard for the first time.

Mustard had other uses, too. In addition to Lydia Pinkham's Vegetable Compound, the mustard plaster was considered a cure for a congested chest. The mustard plaster seemed to open the lungs to make breathing easier and at the same time people like Mother applied it for cures involving the stiffness associated with arthritis and rheumatism. Mother would apply an oil like olive or castor oil to a poultice of egg white, flour and dry mustard powder sandwiched between cloth dressings, then applied to the skin. We had to leave it on until we felt our skin start to burn or until we screamed in pain, then it was removed and Mother would say to us, "Now, see there, don't you feel better!" Her comments were never asked as a question. Readers should not attempt to make mustard plasters, since our memory of the subject was more of pain than of relief.

Over the coming weeks, readers will begin to see more emphasis on the Rochester, New York, area, for reasons we'll explain about a week from now. Susan B. Anthony was born on this date 1820 in Adams, Massachusetts and brought up as a Quaker. The Susan B. Anthony House in Rochester was the home of this women's rights leader during the most politically active period of her life. It was here that she was arrested for voting in 1872, before women had the right to vote. Today the house is a National Historic Landmark and museum. Anthony is best known as an advocate for woman suffrage, but she began her career as an outspoken proponent of temperance. She was not allowed to speak publicly because she was a woman. Her response was to team with Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1852 and she dedicated her life to winning voting rights for women. She died in 1906--never marrying, if you wondered--without realizing her dream. Women got the right to vote nationally in 1920 thanks to the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution.

Some may remember when...
• in 1970 Horace Harrison bought a house from Ella Hess Laubach, Berwick, that was across Main street from his store. He razed the house to make a parking lot for his Main Street IGA store. The house at one time was the residence of Dr. J. W. Winley, a former physician in the Borough. The vacant lot is now used as a parking lot for the Benton United Methodist Church.

• Esther Smith, Kent (sometimes called Kent Lakes), New York, on the Hudson Highlands 60 miles north of New York City and 233 miles north northwest from Back Home in Benton, PA, applied for the position of teacher of home economics and school theater programs in the Benton school system. William C. Hosler, then President of the School Board, liked her picture and invited her for an interview. The school board subsequently hired her. Miss Smith later married another teacher in the local schools, Ward McHenry, a grandson of a former state legislator, Elias Jackson McHenry. Scores of students knew this teacher simply as Mrs. McHenry. She liked the Benton area so much that she stayed for the rest of her life. Mrs. McHenry was a high school classmate of Carl Lamson Carmer, an American writer and historian, who focused on American myths, folklore and tales. His most famous book, Stars Fell on Alabama, about the people, places and events he witnessed as he traveled around Alabama, including a Ku Klux Klan rally. He was considered one of America's most popular writers during the 1940s and 1950s and remained a correspondent of Mrs. McHenry.

It was simply a miserable day Wednesday in Northeast Pennsylvania--cold, sleet, freezing rain, and lots of snow. We didn't personally experience the mess, but we read a lot of email from people who did. When we put together an email about broken water pipes in Benton and heard the lament of a Florida woman worried about the possibility of the local outside temperature dropping below freezing this morning, we remembered a story we have told a couple of times about our two Bichon dogs, Buster and Chloe. They get fan mail, asking them to write about what is happening to them here in Florida, but they are a little ashamed from an episode that happened in 2002 on this date. The incident happened at Tropical Palms RV Park, Kissimmee.

It all happened when Kay and the two dogs returned from a walk, Kay accidentally walked near a squirrel, which the dogs call "mousies." The dogs immediately broke the hold Kay had on the retractable leashes. Off they ran in full pursuit, leash handles flailing about, plants flying, sand spraying behind them like a flume. Closer and closer they came to their prey, over electric lines and water lines, until the handle on Buster's leash wrapped itself around a one-inch water line that stuck vertically out of the ground, just below the cut-off valve.

I was inside the motor home while all this happened. I remember electrical service in the area arcing, the outside area going completely white, a loud whistling sound, Kay screaming my name. I leaped outside into what seemed like a strange, unusual rain storm in this dry state. By the time I got to the back of the motor home, past the satellite antenna now laying prone on the ground, I saw a column of water at least twenty feet high, drenching the motor home in back of us and ponding water at an alarming rate. Buster, in the meantime, was wrapped around the exhaust pipe of another motor home, his leash still pulling a one-foot section of PVC with a cut-off valve.

I immediately reported it to maintenance, but apparently lots of others did too, since so many were without water. The last I remember, just before we decided to "take a ride," two maintenance men with very puzzled expressions were digging a huge hole in the sand, while the flume of water continued to soak them and everything within twenty feet.

 

 

February 14, 2007. It is Valentine's Day and the wedding anniversary of David and Carolyn Diehl and Bill and Elaine Rogers. Be very careful of the bad weather and the terrible roads, but have a happy and romantic Valentine's Day! One wife asked for a card for Valentine's Day, and she mentioned something about American Express. However you celebrate the day, we recommend that you men make it the first day of the rest of your wife.

Progressive Farmer recently had an article about the best places to live, from the standpoint of the farmer, we suspect. Our own Columbia County ranged #45 in the Northeast. You can read more here.

A reader asked about our favorite place to visit in Florida. Key West in short doses has to be near the top of our list. Key West is both a city and an island at the southernmost tip of the Florida Keys. It is the place where you darn well better turn around when you reach the end of U.S. Route 1, State Road A1A and the East Coast Greenway. Key West is 129 miles from Miami, Florida and 1,451 miles from Back Home in Benton, PA.

The Naval Air Station Key West--the former Key West Naval Base--is there with its ideal weather conditions. The 33rd President of the United States, Harry S Truman (1884-1972), loved Key West and located the Winter White House at 111 Front Street on the Naval Air Station. This residence, a former officer's quarters, is the place we most like to visit in Florida.

At this point, you might think that we were "wild about Harry." Actually, we don't personally remember a single thing about Harry Truman. When I was growing up, I often stopped at my Aunt Sara Kline's house at the end of Market Street for a piece of her chocolate cake, which I thought was the best in the world, but after the cake was gone I wanted to be gone, too! Aunt Sara liked to sit and chat, to find out what her farm cousins were doing, to hear me tell her how great her cake was, but I had adventures to create, places to go, things to do. When the cake was finished and the milk had been drunk, I always changed the conversation to include a statement that "Harry Truman was our greatest president," a fact I didn't believe and would not have said to anyone else. My words worked, and Aunt Sara dismissed me immediately and I always left thinking that never again would I be invited back for chocolate cake. Thankfully, however, Aunt Sara would soon forget that she was mad at me and when the next cake came out of her oven I would be invited back and the cycle would be repeated.

Although I admit that I don't really remember President Truman, he leaves me with the perception of being a man of honesty and integrity who spoke his mind. I always remember an article in Life Magazine that showed the President at his leisure in Key West sporting a day's growth of beard, wearing a white linen sports shirt with huge pockets. The President decided he didn't like the shirt which he said "fits me a little quick" when Alben Barkley, wearing a woolen suit, asked him where the general store was. Barkley wanted to buy a similar shirt. We note that when Mrs. Truman appeared on the scene, the beard disappeared.

Truman took the presidential oath when Franklin D. Roosevelt died in April, 1945. His challenges included ending WWII. It was his decision to drop the atomic. He was responsible for the creation of NATO, the National Security Council and the CIA.

The Winter White House displays Truman's coat and hat, his poker room has his cards at the ready and a bottle ready to provide nourishment, and the room off the President's bedroom where he took an afternoon nap on a daybed each day so he would not muss the sheets on the bed he and Bess shared at night.

The Winter White House in Key West should not be confused with Truman's presidential library, just minutes from his home in Missouri. The Harry S Truman Library, formally dedicated in 1957, was built with private funds and is operated by the National Archives and Records Administration.

A good tutorial on the installation of Windows Vista can be found here.

Grandma's on the net again, the kitchen's not her home.
She used to make us cherry pies, and call us on the phone
She would talk to us for hours; now she leaves us all alone.
We miss her homemade biscuits, and I'll make this little bet,
If you want to contact Grandma, you'll have to surf the net.

 

February 13, 2007, the birthday of Nancy Kline. We wrote part of today's Benton News while resting under the shade of a Live Oak tree at Webster, Florida, and part from the devastated town of Lady Lake on Route 27. Four counties in Florida remain under a federal disaster declaration following the recent deadly tornadoes which killed at least 20 people and damaged or destroyed more than 2,000 homes. At least three tornadoes with winds of up to 165-miles-per-hour ripped through town less than half a mile from where we are camping. We are operating on a similar theory to "lightning doesn't strike twice in the same place."

On this date in 1741, The American Magazine, the first magazine in this country, was published in Philadelphia. The magazine was published for three years.

Didja know...
• The state's 4-1-1 and 9-1-1 telephone service could be expanded to include a 2-1-1 service. State Rep. Joseph Preston (D-Allegheny) plans to introduce legislation to create a 2-1-1 system that would connect with human and social services.

• Tens of thousands of honey bee colonies in 22 states have died over the last two years. The problem, for which there is currently no known underlying cause, has been tentatively termed “Colony Collapse Disorder” (CCD). The problem threatens the pollination industry and production of commercial honey in the United States. Crops that need bees for pollination could be in for serious problems. Three-quarters of all flowering plants—including most food crops and some that provide fiber, drugs and fuel—rely on pollinators for fertilization.

• There are something like 46,000 wireless public access points across the country. According to an article in the Washington Post Sunday, an increasing number of criminals are taking advantage of the wireless signals to commit serious crimes ranging from identity theft to the sexual solicitation of children. Police have great difficulty solving cases when the IP address originates from a wireless signal because it frequently leads back to the owner of the network instead of the criminal.

Frequently the only thing consistent about something is its inconsistency. But here in Lake County, Florida, homes were surrounded by fences--homes in the towns, homes in the country. It made me wonder if the owners were trying to keep someone out or something in.

The history of Florida reveals that early settlers held almost no slaves and very little land, but owned a considerable number of livestock. They grazed their livestock on unclaimed public land, known as the "open range," at no charge, a policy that continued until after the Civil War.

A fence law was enacted by Florida state legislators in 1950, but before that cattle roamed free over much of Florida. Cattle has always been an important commodity for Floridians, dating all the way back to 1521, when Ponce De Leon searched for the legendary fountain of youth and other riches and landed on Florida's west coast. He brought some cattle with him, and probably some of these animals became the foundation stock of Florida "piney-woods" cattle. Later the Indians and the English brought in cattle descended from English shorthorns and English longhorn cattle. The longhorns endured Florida's climate and the breed's sharp horns protected the cow and her calves from predators.

Herds consisted of "scrubs," hardy range animals which survived on course forage and tolerated the heat and developed immunity to diseases. Heavier stock were said to walk themselves to death trying to find something to eat. Cattle formed herds consisting of an old bull, a couple of young bulls and a few dozen cows, calves and steers. It was usually impossible to predict where the herd would be found, although in the winters they were usually in the woods (known as hammocks) where they survived in part by eating the Spanish moss off the trees.

The cattle roamed free over the state, grazing as they pleased, branded and earmarked to show ownership. Earmarks and brands were registered at the local courthouses and each cattle-herder had his own brand.

The herd was rounded up at market time using long whips that were "cracked" to get the cows moving. This is the derivation of the term Florida cracker. The word is used by and for Southerners, many of whom self-identify proudly as crackers. The word "cracker" is mostly considered a negative word and in Florida the word cracker when used as a racial epithet is a violation under the Florida Hate Crimes Act.

Cattle trading with Cuba began in the mid-1800s after Cuba lost cattle in revolutions, but had gold and Cuban ponies to exchange for Florida cattle. In 1840, a reported 30,000 cattle were exported to Cuba from Florida. During the Civil War, Florida supplied an estimated 50,000 head of cattle to the Confederate army, driving the cattle to markets in Jacksonville, Savannah and Charleston.

Everywhere we drive in Lake County there are huge herds of cattle captured behind the fences surrounding property outside the incorporated towns. We give them a nervous, knowing smile as we pass the cows looking at us through the barbed wire.

 

 

February 12, 2007. We are writing today from the Florida town that once tried to be called "Orange Home," but that name was rejected by the Postal Service since there was a town in Florida by that name. When the notice of rejection from the Postal service arrived, the postmaster picked up a Webster's dictionary and decided to call the town Webster. The lifeline of Webster was originally based on the Citrus industry until the area froze solidly in 1894-95. The Webster area slowly became one of the largest vegetable producers in the state during the early 1900s and became known as the "Cucumber Capital." Farm products were sold through a co-op which became known as Sumter County Farmers Market in 1938. Today, livestock is sold each week, as well as vegetables and items associated with "flea markets." Webster is one of the largest of the flea markets in Florida with antiques, junque, rednecks, and a strange closing time of 1 PM. If you want exotic birds, unusual books, vintage clothing, the Webster Flea Market north of Tampa off Interstate 75 is for you. Many of the people at Webster come to buy what they will re-sell elsewhere so the prices are lower than usual.

Didja hear about the lady who, when she saw her first strand of gray hair, thought she'd dye.

Honest Abe! It is the birthday today of the sixteenth president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, born near Hodgenville, Kentucky, in 1809. He had little formal education and set out to work on a Mississippi River cargo. He settled in New Salem, Illinois, a town of about 300, helping to manage a general store, worked as a surveyor and postmaster, tried debating, read books on grammar and rhetoric and studied to become a lawyer.

Lincoln joined the Illinois House of Representatives in 1834 and served for eight years. He was elected to the United States Senate in 1846. In 1858, Lincoln ran for Congress against Stephen A. Douglas, an Illinois Democratic senator, who had introduced the Kansas-Nebraska bill to repeal the restrictions on slavery for some northern states. Lincoln challenged Douglas to a series of debates in seven different Illinois cities. Douglas argued that slavery should be allowed if that was what a majority of a state's citizens wanted. Lincoln argued for the abolition of slavery on moral grounds. Lincoln lost the election, but boosted his confidence to run for president two years later.

Lincoln was not a popular president at first and only received 40% of the popular vote in 1860. We recommend that you turn to the FEATURES section to read Civil War Dissent in Columbia County, PA, by George A. Turner, to learn more on the subject of Lincoln's popularity.

President-elect Lincoln left his home in Springfield on February 11, 1861, to begin his inaugural journey to Washington, DC, and arrived in the city surreptitiously because of a death threat. People poked fun of his appearance; i.e., "he was six feet, four inches tall, skinny, slightly stooped, wore an old top hat and a coat that was too small for him." Plain-spoken and to the point, Lincoln was a fine public speaker, as evidenced in his second inaugural address, "With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

Quote of the Day:
"He attacked everything in life with a mix of extraordinary genius and naive incompetence, and it was often difficult to tell which was which."
--Douglas Adams

Some say that those who get too big for their britches will be exposed in the end.

We remember like it was yesterday the performance two years ago of Guys and Dolls at the local high school. The "three Jens"--Jennifer Bates, Production Director; Jennifer Welliver, Orchestra Director, and Jennifer DiLossi, Vocal Director--combined to produce a wonderful production. The kids who starred in it and the audience will never forget this production.

 

 

February 11, 2007. Happy birthday, Lisa Curtain!

Some readers can remember back to radio evenings at 6:30 when Gabriel Heatter's version of the world news came on beginning with the words, "Ah, there's good news tonight!" no matter how dreadful the world situation was that day. We don't have all good news today, so we'll start with the bad and get that out of the way.

Obituaries...
• Gail Gochenaur Westover, 67, (Jan. 11, 1940- Feb. 8, 2007), 148 Pealertown Road, Orangeville, died Thursday at the Geisinger Medical Center. Born in Benton in a house on Market Street, she was a daughter of the late Elwood and Margaret A. (Dodson) Keller. Her stepfather was the late Donald H. Keller. Gail was employed at the Benton Sewing Factory and worked at Barchick's Market, the former Horace Harrison IGA Store, Main Street, and earlier at the former Ross Harrison IGA Store, Market Street. Surviving are her husband of 42 years, Jack E. Westover, and daughters Laurie A. Fritz, Pensacola, Florida, and Christine L. Westover, and two sisters: Elizabeth (Paul) Deibert, Harrisburg, and Lynn B. Gochenaur. Memorial services will be Sunday afternoon at 3:30 in the Dean W. Kriner Inc. Funeral Home, Benton. Friends may call prior to the service.

• Budd Dwane Hess, 88, (Oct. 8, 1918- Feb. 9, 2007), Grassmere Park, died Friday at home. Born in Wilkes-Barre, he was a son of the late Henry Stanley Hess and Beatrice Ione (Golder) Hess. He attended the Sugarloaf School and Benton High School. He served in World War II. Budd built churches across the United States for many years. He lived in Colorado with his wife and children from 1950 to 1963. He later founded Budd Hess and Sons Construction Co. with his two sons. He retired in 1986 and spent his remaining years helping his son, Fred, operate and maintain Grassmere Park, the name used for many years for the original Hess Grove, started by Budd's father, Stanley. Budd is survived by his wife of 65 years, Virginia P. (Rank) Hess, and children Dwane S. Hess (Cindy), Fort Mill, SC; Barbara J. Politano, Wheat Ridge, Colorado; Fred D. Hess, Grassmere Park; and seven grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. There are four sisters: June Sones, Orangeville; Bette Gray, Lightstreet; Kay Mausteller (John), Rupert; and Shirley Fulmer, Waller. Viewing is Sunday from 4 to 6 PM at McMichael's Funeral Home. Services will be Monday afternoon at 2 at the McMichael Funeral Home Inc. Burial will be in the Waller Cemetery.

The fire on Cemetery Hill earlier this week at the home of Vince and Tina Timpanelli brought back memories associated with what our family also referred to as Colley Hill, but pronounced as the breed of dog would be pronounced. The Colley family was long gone by the time I knew much about the land to the east of the Borough. When I was growing up, there were only two houses east of the cemetery on the way up the hill. The first was on the right of the road going east and was occupied by Richard and Alice Wilson. Richard passed away in 1985 at the young age of 49. Alice remarried a few years later to William (Bill) Hess. Granddaughter Cassandra Wilson Catapano remembers that Alice and Bill's house was the "hub of all family activity and a good cup of coffee, not to mention her baked goodies." Bill is currently having his share of health issues and it would be a good idea to keep him in your prayers. The Colley family once lived in this house.

The first house up the hill on the left east of the cemetery was once the home of Paul Friedley, and I still remember the day when brother Dayne and I found Paul wedged in a drainage ditch after he suffered a heart attack. Events like that leave a lasting impression on a young kid. Jim and Phyllis Babb were the next owners of the house. Phyllis passed away the same day that her former house burned.

Jim Babb told us once about herding cattle from Lopez in Sullivan County to Benton via the then-abandoned Susquehanna & Tioga Turnpike. The animals stopped wherever they found water and during the rainy season progress was not as rapid as during the dry season. The cows liked to graze at noontime and insisted on calling it quits before the sun went down, a schedule somewhat like we like to keep when we travel. Jim always had a story to tell and many will remember Jim from the excellent job he did in keeping the Benton Cemetery looking good.

Here is another Jim Babb story. Jim was introduced to two twin cousins of ours once who promptly told Jim that their cat, looking the worse for wear, had just been "fixed" by a Maryland vet. Jim asked how much that cost in Maryland. The twins divulged the price for the little snip. Jim drew back, and in a voice that displayed his surprise at the cost, said, "Hell, for that price, I'd have bit them off."

Dayne and Ruth Kline bought land years ago from the Knouse Family adjacent to the two houses we just described, and always referred to the land as "the other farm" to distinguish it from the farm "on the flats" below the Borough. The land offered magnificent views of the Borough spread out on the floor of the valley, and the best view was toward the north extending to the foothills of North Mountain.

The kids in the Wilson family loved holding rolling contests down Dayne's hill. They played hide and seek in the Christmas tree forest next to their grandmother's home. The kids "would moo at the Professor's cows" and riding a toboggan down the steep side hill was a hoot. They would pick wild strawberries from the side of the road. As Cass put it, "the kids "were high on love...and especially my grandmother's peanut butter fudge!" The hill was a wonderful place to grow up for members of the Wilson family.

The kids in the Babb family--Judy, Sarah Ann, Dick, Barbara and Susan--would also agree. What a shame that a fire snuffed out a fine old plank house filled with memories and stories.

 

February 10, 2007. Today we celebrate the birthdays of Amanda Becker and James Francis Durante. The distribution of the Benton News is back on an intermittent schedule while we are dry camping on Florida's Nature Coast, along with the occupants of about 2,000 other motor homes and former high-school classmate Dayne Sharek and his wife, Linda.

The event is a convention of members of the Family Motor Coach Association, a group that extends back to the spring of 1962 when a man in Minnesota wrote to 40 or 50 other "house car" owners suggesting they form an organization. There were 18 original member families. Today there are more than 365,000 members and 475 active chapters.

Didja know that Hersheypark will soon celebrate its 100th anniversary? Hersheypark's newest attraction is The Boardwalk, a water park with five attractions, and lots of food, games and several retail stores.

Quote of the Day...
"A fence lasts three years, a dog lasts three fences, a horse three dogs, and a man three horses."
--An old German proverb, reminding us of time's steady, silent march. (Submitted by Larry Paul)

Prof. Bob Wolenksy, of the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and King's College, will speak on The Avondale Mine Disaster of 1869: Accident or Arson? One hundred ten men and boys perished on September 6, 1869, at the Avondale Colliery, Plymouth Township, making it the most deadly disaster in Anthracite history. Prof. Wolensky is the co-author with Joe Keating of a forthcoming book on the disaster that argues that, contrary to the historical record which judged it an accident, the fire may have been an act of arson based on labor, ethnic and sectional conflicts within the anthracite industry and region. The presentation will take place at Kings College, McGowan Center, Room 106, Tuesday, March 20, at 7 PM.

Carol Lehet, daughter of Richard H Lehet and Colleen Bender become engaged to Jon Crawford, Jacksonville, Florida, on Saturday, February 3. Carol has a sister, Tara Grigas, grandmother Nancy Fox, great grandmother Mary Janney and uncle Jim Fox all of Benton--all very excited about the upcoming events.

We have often written about the shanties that were thrown up in the local area to house the loggers that populated our area around 1900. The thought of siding that didn't quite close during the long, cold months of our winters has never been appealing to me, but here in the Nature Coast of Florida there were similar houses which acquired their names in an unusual way.

Florida's Nature Coast is an excellent place to find Florida "Cracker" houses. There are both old, restored Cracker houses in this area, as well as modern "Cracker" houses with metal roofs, cedar siding and deep-shade porches.

The "Cracker" houses housed the poor and the unfortunate, finding a place in the Deep South to cope with the intense heat, biting insects and semi-tropical rains. A Cracker house was a wooden shelter built by the early Florida and Georgia settlers. They were erected quickly and cheaply from the plentiful cedar and cypress. Pilings made of rocks or bricks with oyster shell and lime kept the shelters off the ground. A wide shade porch provided relief from the relentless sun in pre-air-conditioned Florida.

The site orientation allowed for shade. The porches were wide and covered. Each house had a crawl space under the structure and had windows that took advantage of cross breezes. Floor cracks--in lieu of siding cracks--made house cleaning a breeze; i.e., cracker crumbs were simply swept through to the crawl space below. The raised first floor was good for people and for keeping hounds and chickens.

The simplest form of the Cracker House was called a single-pen house, simply a cabin with a single room, one door and a few windows, originally without window glass. Mosquito netting or shutters kept out insects, as well as the light. A chimney of stone or block was at one of the gable ends of the house. A broad porch provided a relatively cool spot to sit, a favorite form of relaxing.

When a single-pen cracker house is added to, the house was then referred to as a "saddlebag" or a "dog-trot" house.

• If the addition was on the wall opposite the chimney wall, then the house was called a double-pen house. If the addition was on the same wall as the chimney, then it was called a saddle-bag house. These houses were one-room deep, usually one-story high, incorporated porches, and had steeply pitched roofs allowing rainwater to run off before it ran in.

• A Dog-Trot House has two pens separated by a central outdoor hall or breezeway, all joined by a common room. A shade porch extended for the front of the house, and additional porches and rooms such as a kitchen were sometimes added at the rear of the house. Chimneys were placed at each gable end of the house. The house was normally raised above grade and had large windows in each of the two front rooms, but lacked a front door.

We got a detailed look at cracker houses when we went to old Bay Port, Florida, in Hernando County to eat in an inn originally established for fishermen. The original commercial fishing operation in the area had fish shipped by wagon from Bay Port after they were iced down to a town known as Centralia and shipped out of Centralia by rail. The current town, now spelled "Bayport," remains a sleepy fishing village on the west coast of Florida that is primitive in nature. Huckleberries grow everywhere as if transplanted from North Mountain and it is as though we were transported back to a forgotten time and a forgotten place. Bayport is 1,089 miles south, southwest from Back Home in Benton, PA, and 5.7 miles west of Weeki Wachee, Florida. Finding the town is about as difficult as telling Cousin Claudia from Chicago how to find Waller.

The Bayport Hotel was built in 1842, the same year Central Florida was opened to settlement. The old hotel in Bayport, now gone, had a hole in one wall made by a cannon ball during the Civil War. The beds were mahogany four-post beds with hard-wood pegs in the frame from which strong cords were woven to take the place of springs.

A tombstone in the local cemetery for John Johnson, who drowned with others at Bayport in 1859, reads, "A widowed mother and her son mourn their loss."

The river that meanders through Bayport was used by many blockade runners. During the prohibition era, the river was used by smugglers. Contraband liquor was said to be stored in a cave in town. Traffic on the river was heavy during the Civil War when cotton produced in Central Florida was exported. Many of the other Southern states were not producing cotton during the Civil War because their fields had been destroyed. Bayport was protected by three cannons, but that didn't prevent the escape of Union soldiers who jumped on their ship at Bayport after burning barns and killing livestock during the Brooksville Raid in July, 1864. Later, Bayport was a major destination for liquor imported from Cuba and then shipped north using forged manifests identifying the cargo as Irish potatoes.

Bayport is a dot on a big map of Florida, unseen by most tourists, unknown by most residents of the Sunshine State. I am glad that I had the opportunity to stop and sit for a spell.

 

February 9, 2007. It is the birthday today of Kay Emily Kline and Ashley Lamoreaux.

The third Monday of the month is rapidly approaching, a day many in the local area pencil in on their calendars in anticipation of hearing an excellent talk. This month, popular speaker Robert Webster returns. That is usually enough to fill the Brass Pelican. I don't know the subject of Bob's presentation. If we were in town we wouldn't care, we would just head up the valley, roll up our sleeves for the buckwheat cakes and listen up. We suggest you do the same. Breakfast is served at 8 AM and the discussion begins about an hour later. The speech is free and open to the public.

The third Monday in March will hold a special treat at the North Mountain Historical Society. Bruce Kile will speak on the subject of The Fritz/Cole & Kile/Peterman Family Connections. Bruce is the son of Wayne W. Kile and Betty M. Fritz Kile. Wayne, the son of Walter and Deborah Peterman Kile, was born in Jamison City and raised in Central. Betty, the daughter of Bruce W. Fritz and Irma Floy Cole Fritz was born and raised on Klinger Hill, Maple Lawn Farm. Bruce was born and raised in York, but spent many weekends, holidays and summer vacations at the Fritz Farm, the cabin and the Kile home in Central. At last count, Bruce has 23 aunts and uncles and 35 first cousins, making for a lot of relatives to visit in this area. Bruce is a member of the Historic Gettysburg Adams County Inc., the Adams County Historical Society, the Land Conservancy of Adams County, and the Pennsylvania Forestry Association.

Tony Soprano leaves his A&E and HBO audience wondering each week how one man can get in so much trouble and still stay on top of the heap. It seems to us Back Home in Benton, PA, to be a world we could never understand. Away from the television and farther from home, it becomes more real. Around the turn of the last century, the Mafia in Tampa, Florida, was known as "The Tampa Mob" and operated out of an area of Tampa known as Ybor City. Ybor was the home to thousands of immigrant Cubans, Spanish, and Italians, and the home of Tampa's cigar industry.

Thanks to the wonderful Cuban food available in Ybor City, the area has always held great fascination for us. Wednesday, we were in the Ybor City area, although we didn't stop. Somehow, we didn't think that the motor home and the city streets would get along and after you read the next couple of paragraphs you'll better understand why.

In the late 40's, James Lumia was in charge of the Tampa Mafia, but was killed by a shotgun blast on June 5, 1950. He was succeeded by Santo Trafficante, Sr. who ruled until his death in August of 1954 from stomach cancer. His son, Santo, Jr., succeeded him.

Santo Trafficante Jr. lead the Tampa mob with casinos in Havana, ran all gambling operations on the Gulf Coast and narcotics networks in Latin America and Southeast Asia, was arrested barely over the New York state line from Pennsylvania at an Apalachin Mafia meeting just 100 miles north of Benton. Many claim he was involved in the assassination of John Kennedy. He ruled for 33 years until his death in March, 1987.

In 1954, a St. Petersburg cop approached Santo, claiming to be on the take, looking for hush money to keep other law enforcement personnel from sniffing around the Trafficante's operation. He asked them for money and a car. The Trafficantes arranged for a car for the officer. In exchange for the car and a $200-a-month stipend, the cop promised to protect them from other police looking to shake them down. The Trafficantes had a good deal.

In May of 1954, the cop announced that he was throwing a party on the weekend. The Mafia sent a case of whiskey, and learned the hard way that the cop they had paid off was Harry Dietrich, an undercover detective in St. Petersburg. The party resulted in the arrest of 41 people, including the Trafficante brothers.

A book on the subject by Scott M. Deitche, Cigar City Mafia, A complete history of the Tampa Underworld, reviews how when the case went to trial. Dietrich told how he received money, a new car, television set, and tailored suits as payoffs from the mob. Tape recordings of meetings were played, and jurors even saw a filmed recording of Dietrich receiving the new car. Santo was acquitted, others in the organization were found guilty.

The St. Petersburg cop was the older brother of Ruth Kline, Green Acres. Dayne Kline remembers that Ruth and Harry's mother, Mrs. Catherine Dietrich, was very concerned that Harry "was on the take" when he and his wife, Lil, and their daughter Janice came to Benton to visit. Harry was driving a Mercury "with a glass top," something very unusual for Benton. He seemed to live a "high life," with imported suits and cigars and a new car. A revolver Harry always carried was stolen in Wilkes-Barre and so Benton police chief Arley Meeker had to be let in on what was going on. Arley would come to Dayne and Ruth Kline's farm below Benton each night to make sure that Harry was OK and to provide police protection-- Benton style-- for a St. Petersburg cop who was used to dealing with the toughest of the tough.

A few years ago, we ate at the Columbia Restaurant on Seventh Avenue in Ybor City, where the Trafficante's held court for so many years. Joining Kay and I for lunch were Dayne and Jeannette Hartman, Ted and Shirley McHenry and Whittier and Joyce Letteer. We wonder how many tourists hurriedly looked over their shoulders that day wondering if any of us were from the Trafficante family...

February 8, 2007. Please remember Donna Hayman Fritz in prayer today as she undergoes exploratory surgery at the Bloomsburg Hospital. Congratulations to Gary Beech who turned in his retirement papers last Wednesday. Congratulations to Bloomsburg University sophomore wrestler Ricky Donald, Millville, the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Wrestler of the Week for the period ending February 5, 2007.

The Benton Area High School Class of 1957 will celebrate its 50th class reunion this summer with a cruise to Nova Scotia and other ports. Readers of the Benton News were invited to tag along. The seven-day cruise is on the Carnival Victory begins September 8 from Back Home in Benton, PA, by bus to New York City from a central parking location in Benton. The Victory sails from New York City at 4 o'clock on the 8th, and returns to New York City at 8 AM September 15. At this writing, 32 have signed up and another ten people are tentatively "considering" going, but have not officially signed up.

Students in the Benton Area School District are having a short week following several delayed openings this week and an early dismissal today at 12:30 PM. It might be a bit premature to celebrate, since teacher conferences are scheduled from 5:30-8:30 PM this afternoon. Kindergarten registration begins today at 8 AM and runs until 8 PM in the L.R. Appleman Elementary office. Parents should bring their children's birth certificates and Social Security cards. A financial aid briefing is scheduled from 6:30-7:30 PM in the high school library.

Upcoming...
• The popular group Raven Creek headed by Joe and Loraine Feola and Like Father Like Son headed by Dave Hampton will perform beginning at 6 PM Saturday at the Raven Creek Community Hall, 999 Upper Raven Creek Road. Admission is $8.

• The North Mountain Fire Co. coyote hunt is Friday through Sunday with registration beginning today at noon and continuing to 9 PM at the fire hall. It will cost $15 to participate. For more information, call 925-6900.

• An all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet happens this weekend at the North Mountain fire hall Sunday from 8 AM to noon. Admission is $6 for adults and $3 for children 6-12. Children 5 and under eat free.

• The gun and outdoor show happens Saturday and Sunday at the Benton fire hall from 9 AM to 4 PM. Also, homemade breakfast and lunch will be sold. Admission is $4. Children under 12 get in for free. All proceeds will benefit Benton Fire Co.

• Christine’s Karaoke will be at Kameeo’s on Route 487 Friday evening from 9:30 to 1:30. Saturday night, she will be at the Jamison City Hotel from 9:30 to 1:30.

Michael Fanelli, 44, lives in Willow Grove, but his father once owned a cabin in Benton called Deer View Lodge which he built back in the early 60s. Michael shared some of his memories with us recently. He told us about Katie and Harry Rinker, on the old RD 2, now known as Saddle Rock Road. Jeannie Walters remembers that Jimmy Magee had a summer home just behind where the Rinkers lived. After Harry Rinker died, Katie rented a house from Hervey Long.

Michael remembered that Katie's road was "on a grade which went up then wrapped around to the right. Katie's home was on the right-hand side and there was a pond to the left of her driveway which had a street light above it. She had an old fashioned coal stove in her kitchen and a coal furnace in her dining room. She also had a player piano in her dining room as well as a 38 revolver under her mattress for protection. This was around 1974 to 1976."

Bill Mather warned Michael of "Molly" who liked to sift through trash cans. "Molly" was the nickname of a black bear that used to look for an easy meal from trash cans. Michael also remembers a "garden hose that ran down the side of a mountain (on Stevens Hill Road) for spring water. " A wooden spout resembled a deer and water would run out of the deer's mouth.

Michael would love to see a picture of Deer View lodge again. If you can provide a picture, please let us know

After nearly 30 years, King Tut has returned to the United States in a once in a lifetime exhibition experience. More than 2.5 million people throughout the U.S. have witnessed this collection of Ancient Egyptian artifacts. Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs, an exhibition from National Geographic, is now open for a limited time at The Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. Philadelphia is the only east-coast destination for the current U.S. tour. To purchase tickets, visit Ticketmaster.

Phyllis P. (McHenry) Babb, 89, (December 15, 1917-February 7, 2007), Benton, died Wednesday at Trinity Mission of Shenandoah where she had been a resident for the past 7 years. Phyllis was born on the Pioneer Farms, part of the original McHenry Distillery where hogs were fattened with the residue from the whiskey operation and then shipped to slaughter houses in many areas of the east. She was a daughter of the late W. Ted McHenry and Sarah Elizabeth (Welsh) McHenry. Most farmers will remember Ted McHenry from his many trips carrying wheat from the Benton Roller Mills to the Bachman Pretzel Company. Actually, most remember Ted best when he returned to John Mather's Roller Mills with cans of freshly baked pretzels.

Phyllis graduated from Benton High School in 1935, then worked at Milco Industries in Benton for 15 years. Five children survive: Judith Wright (Robert), Long Island, NY; Sarah Ann Goukon, Oklahoma City; Richard J. Babb (Jacqueline), Gordon; Barbara M. Dean (John), Oklahoma City; and Susan L. Dobbs, Montoursville. Also surviving are 12 grandchildren, 15 great-grandchildren and a brother, William "Bill" McHenry, Mendenhall Lane. She was preceded in death by her husband, James C. “Jim” Babb on November 17, 1986, and by her brother, Robert S. McHenry, who lived in the Wellsboro area.

Funeral Services will be private and held at the convenience of the family at the McMichael Funeral Home, Inc. Burial will be in the Benton Cemetery.
--Obituary courtesy of the McMichael Funeral Home. A complete obituary will be published in the February 8 Press Enterprise.

In a very unusual development, the house on Cemetery Hill where Phyllis and Jim Babb lived for many years burned Wednesday night, probably the result of an electrical fire.

February 7, 2007. It is the birthday today of Tammy Prosey, former state Representative George Hasay and James Vance attains the big Six-Oh today.

We should disclose that the temperature reached 77° yesterday in Ft. Myers, our last day in south Florida. Today we start north on I-75 toward Brooksville and the gigantic Family Motor Coach Convention where we will be dry camping at least through the weekend. We believe that we'll be able to receive occasional email, but will have difficulty is uploading the web site.

Here are some observations about living in a motor home in Florida...

A lot of the people we know back home put off doing the things that will bring them joy simply because it isn't something they have thought about, it isn't on their schedule or they are too rigid about the routine of their life to include a little joy. I think of the times that I have suggested to friends that we take a leisurely ride into the mountains, but they have passed on the idea in order to take their wife to Wal-Mart or cut wood for the stove or watch Desperate Housewives.

Some pass on a chance for lunch together because of excuses involving dirty hair, or not knowing what the restaurant is having for lunch or because it is Thursday and they never eat out on that day. We wait for the winter trip to Florida until it gets a little warmer, wait to visit friends with grandchildren until they are all toilet-trained, or wait to invite friends over until that worn-out carpet is replaced. We live in a world of "I plan to," or "I will soon," or "Someday..." Our "seize-the-moment" friends are getting fewer in number each year.

Go out this summer and watch the frogs jump or listen to the thunderstorm. Listen to your friends when they tell you how they are. Clear your head of the hundreds of ideas floating around in there. Call a friend and say "hello." Make a new friend.

People are so different in Florida. We watch as Bonnie, Elizabeth, Marcia Kay and Rena go out for lunch. They call each other Bonnie, Beth, Kay and Rena. Ray, David, Lee and Bill go out for lunch and refer to each other as Fat Boy, Pee-Aye, Heavy and Wild Willie. When the bill comes, Fat Boy, Pee-Aye, Heavy and Wild Willie each throw in a $20 for the $32.50 bill. None of them have anything smaller and none admit they want change back. The women are busy at the adjacent table with their pocket calculators.

When shopping, a man pays $1.98 for a $1 item that he needs. A woman pays $1 for a $1.99 item simply because it is on sale.

A man keeps five items in his bathroom: a toothbrush, shaving cream, razor, a bar of soap, and a towel from the Hilton, possibly as a reminder of that video of Paris he once saw. The average number of items in a woman's bathroom is 337. I am not able to identify any of these items.

A bill helping volunteer firefighters is on the legislative agenda for the state this week. The bill reauthorizes a state grant program that provides financial support for volunteer firefighters and ambulance services. The Senate Appropriations Committee is considering extending the state’s $25 million Volunteer Fire Company and Volunteer Ambulance Service Grant Program through 2007.

The weather across the country is lousy. Many readers have shared stories of their sub-zero temperatures. In Germany, Geraldine Laubach is experiencing rainy weather. Sunday was a sunny day, and she took off to the romantic Germany of castles, vineyards, and half-timbered villages in a trip along the Mosel Valley. Every Saturday, Geraldine and her son Jeff and his family "pack up and go to a wrestling tournament." She has been to Mannheim, the second largest city in the state of Baden-Württemberg, and Baumholder, home to the largest concentration of U.S. combat soldiers outside the United States, and this week it's Heidelberg for Sectionals. Jeff is the Bitberg coach, and his youngest son, Jamie, is 10-2 and his oldest son, Jordan, won European as a senior. As most in the upper Fishingcreek area do, Geraldine follows Benton wrestling.

After three straight weeks of falling gasoline prices, the cost of filling up is rising once again. In the Harrisburg area, the average price of regular, unleaded gasoline is $2.154, the same price as in the Ft. Myers area. Locally, gasoline is about 20 cents lower than it was a year ago. The national average runs about 3 cents a gallon higher generally than the Benton prices.

The Guv made it official Tuesday when he unveiled a $27.3 billion general fund budget proposal that would increase spending by 3.6% while raising taxes and fees. Additionally, the Guv proposes raising the state s 6% sales tax to 7%, the first increase in the sales tax in 39 years. There would also be higher taxes on cigarettes and new taxes on other tobacco products. Education would get much of the new spending. The Guv proposes leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike for an expected $10 billion. Universal health care is in there somewhere, too.

February 6, 2007. Winter is exactly half over today. Happy midwinter! Birthdays today include the "Sultan of Swat," George Herman Ruth, in 1895; Ronald Wilson Reagan, our 40th U.S. President, in 1911; Joan Lucille Olander, in 1931 (known professionally as Mamie Van Doren; television personality Tom Brokaw, in 1940; and attorney Aaron Burr, in 1756. Burr, our third U.S. Vice President killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel and was known as a traitor, although he was never convicted. Joseph Priestley, our Northumberland neighbor, died on this date in 1804.

What do you think of this actual advertisement for Volvo cars, which appeared in the Times-Colonist of Victoria BC, Canada, on January 29: "Hurry, the savings won't last and neither will our cars."

"Be careful with your immigration laws! We were careless with ours."
--Attributed to a Native American Indian Chief to Vice-President Lyndon Johnson, but also attributed to Richard Nixon when he was Vice-President. The quote has never accurately been identified as to its source, but the message comes through loud and clear.

Margaret Joy (Phillips) Jarosiewicz, 58, (July 17, 1948-February 5th, 2007), Huntington Mills, died Monday. Born in Washington, D. C., she was a daughter of the late George Edward Phillips and Margaret Adelle (Olive) Phillips. She was a 1966 graduate of Northwest Area High School and earned her Bachelor’s degree from Bloomsburg University in 1969, her Master’s degree in 1971 and her Supervisory Certification in 1974. She also attended Luzerne County Community. Joy was a secondary special education teacher for the Berwick Area School District, retiring in 1998. She had also spent 6 years in the Naval Reserves at Avoca. She was also a member of the Daughters of American Revolution. Surviving, in addition to her husband, James Richard Jarosiewicz, are a sister, Patricia Ann (Phillips) Neafie and a brother, John Christopher Phillips, both of Huntington Mills. Nieces and nephews also survive. In addition to her parents, she was preceded in death by a brother, George Edward Phillips, II. Funeral Services will be held Thursday at 1 P. M. with viewing preceding at the McMichael Funeral Home, Inc. Eastern Star Services and White Shrine Services will be held Thursday at 11. Burial will be at the convenience of the family in the Pine Grove Cemetery, Harveyville.
--Obituary courtesy of the McMichael Funeral Home

 

February 5, 2007. Happy birthday today to Walker Rilk and Allison Cross. Ken and Allison Cross also celebrate their wedding anniversary today. Astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell landed on the Moon on this date in 1971. The temperature at press time is 5° Back Home in Benton, PA, with the local school on a two-hour delay.

The Local Trivia Question of the Day:
What man of local significance appeared on the $100 gold certificate from the 1880s until the 1920s? (Answer at end)

It was sloppy, yet exciting! We're talking about last night's rainsoaked NFL title game in which the Colts defeated the Bears 29-17 to become the new Super Bowl champions. It was the first time the Super Bowl was played in rain, the first with opposing black coaches and the first with the opening kickoff returned for a touchdown.

A reader suggested that my recent illness may have been a dreaded case of "furniture disease." He explained that furniture disease is when one's chest is falling into their drawers!

The top "100 Country Hits & Stars Of The 20th Century" have been named by the network calling themselves "Great American Country." The list is at http://www.hundredbling.net/showthread.php?t=16511 .

A gun and outdoor show will be held Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 10 and 11, at the Benton Fire Hall. The Benton Gun and Outdoor Show will benefit the Benton Volunteer Fire Co. and will include guns, knives and related items to buy, sell or trade on more than 80 tables. Outdoor exhibitors will also be present. The kitchen will be open for breakfast and lunch. Admission to the show is $4. Children under 12 years of age may attend free of charge.

It was interesting to hear someone giving someone else a piece of their mind when we concluded they didn't actually have much to give away.

Quote of the Day:
"The past actually happened but history is only what someone wrote down."
--A. Whitney Brown

Didja know...
• Thomas Hart Benton (1782-1858) was born near Hillsborough, Orange County, NC, on March 14, 1782. He was a brother of Elizabeth Benton Mendenhall, wife of Eli Mendenhall, Benton. He was a Democrat, a member of the Tennessee state senate in 1809; U.S. Senator from Missouri, 1821-51; and a U.S. Representative from Missouri 1st District, 1853-55. On September 1, 1813, a gun and knife fight pitted General Andrew Jackson and Colonel John Coffee against Colonel Thomas Hart Benton and his brother Jesse, at the City Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. The fight ensued after Thomas Benton reprimanded Jackson in a letter for standing in as a second to his friend, William Carroll, in a duel against Jesse Benton. In the fracas, Jesse Benton shot and wounded General Jackson in his left arm and shoulder. Jesse was wounded in the buttocks in that incident, a source of both pain and embarrassment. Ironically, when Jackson was elected to the Senate in 1823, he occupied a seat next to Thomas Hart Benton and later became a political ally. Benton's portrait appeared on the U.S. $100 gold certificate from the 1880s until the 1920s. He died in Washington, D.C., April 10, 1858. He is buried in the Bellefontaine Cemetery, St. Louis, Mo. There are Benton counties in Ark., Ind., Iowa, Minn., Ore. and Wash. named for him and the town of Benton, PA, is named for him.

• James Buchanan was the only US president who did not marry. His niece, Harriet Lane, acted as first lady.

• Scrapple is basically cornmeal mush made with the meat and broth of pork, and seasoned with onions, spices and herbs, then pressed into loaves for slicing and frying. The word scrapple originates from "scrap" or "scrappy" meaning made up of odds and ends. It's usually a card-sized slab, crispy on the outside, soft inside and mashed with a plateful of fried eggs. And if you were from Back Home in Benton, PA, you would know that!

 

February 4, 2007. There are 44 days until the official start of Spring. Birthdays today include Charles Augustus Lindbergh in 1902. He served as an apprentice to a barnstormer, performing as a wing walker and parachute jumper. He bought a war surplus Jenny trainer, made a solo flight and barnstormed for about a year. He later became the first air mail pilot between Chicago and St. Louis. On May 20, 1927, Lindbergh left New York at 7:54 AM for Paris, carrying sandwiches and water. He carried no parachute or radio, deciding instead to take extra gasoline. Fighting fog, icing and drowsiness, he landed in Paris 33-1/2 hours and 3,600 miles later. Lindbergh was one of the best-known figures in American aeronautical history, remembered for the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic 25 years after he was born.

On this date in...
• 1824, J.W. Goodrich first introduced rubber galoshes. Later, the B F. Goodrich Company decided to market galoshes with hookless gizzies that could be fastened with a single zip of the hand and soon hookless fasteners became known as "zippers." Boots and tobacco pouches with a zippered closure were the primary uses of the zipper for about 20 years until the fashion industry discovered the closure for garments. When we were growing up, we wore "rubbers," a term still widely used in England, fastened with finger-nipping hook-and-eye clamps. When Keith Harvey was growing up, he could not stand galoshes and would pitch them out. His father, Carl, using a red tire patch, fixed the black galoshes and sent Keith off to school to the complete mortification of young Keith. "Galosh" probably comes from the French word galoche, which probably came from the medieval Latin galopedium, meaning "wooden shoe," but on the other hand it could have come from the Latin gallica, meaning "Gallic sandal."

• 1951, the longest operation in medical history began in Chicago and lasted four days. The operation removed a huge ovarian cyst. Gertrude Levandowski weighed 616 pounds when the operation began. Her weight dropped to 308 pounds after the operation.

• 1983, singer Karen Carpenter, 32, died in Los Angeles at her parent's home of heart failure caused by chronic anorexia nervosa. Her death, at the age of 32, was characterized by a loss of appetite brought on by mental illness.

• 1987, Liberace, 67, died of AIDS at his Palm Springs estate. He was a favorite in Las Vegas and thousands still flock to his museum there to see Liberace's outlandish suits, trademark candelabra, and learn of the myths behind the television star.

• 1997, a civil jury in Santa Monica found O.J. Simpson liable for the deaths of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and Ronald Goldman. The jury awarded $8.5 million in compensatory damages to Goldman's parents. A few days later, the jury added $25 million in punitive damages to go to Nicole Brown Simpson's estate and Goldman's father. To satisfy the judgment, Simpson was later ordered to give up his Heisman Trophy and about a half million in valuables like his golf clubs.

We regret that some Benton News email readers were deleted from the mailing list BentonNews." The operator of the list is trying to figure out what happened, but the deletion was not caused by us and is not correctable by us. We sincerely regret the problem, and we can only recommend that you read the web version of the Benton News until the problem can be corrected.

Ain't America great! Thanksgiving, Christmas and Super Bowl Sunday are days to chow down, to "pig out, legally and without fear of being yelled at. Overeating is permitted three times a year, and one of those days is today.

Super Bowl eating is somehow special. We don't have to worry if the cook took the gizzard out of the turkey before it went into the oven, we don't have to listen to children scream about eating cranberries and oyster stuffing, we can forget about the slight cardboard taste that comes from the regular stuffing; no one questions if there is anything "hard" in the eggnog. We can eat like it is the Last Snack, In fact, often the women of the family don't plan the events and the food for Super Bowl Sunday, but let it completely in the capable hands of the men of the family. And we "pick up the ball and run with it," to coin a phrase appropriate to the day. There is no month-long planning about table settings, whether Danny and Donna can enjoy their food with Sigmund in the same room, whether the red turtle neck will go with the lace crème tablecloth.

And the men get the food preparation right! Pretzels are a necessity, and a case of Yuengling from Pottsville or a case of Straubs from St. Marys gives a nice ring to the evening. Tortilla chips and black bean salsa should be served first as a tension breaker. It is too early to serve the stuff that is messy or has to be pulled apart, shredded, altered or added to like wings and blue cheese, pizza, fried chicken and other goodies involving a stove and heat. Halftime is time enough to bring out the stuff that makes a permanent stain on carpet, or changes the color of the couch or gives the dog an upset stomach. This is time to bring out the Philadelphia cheese steaks. Extra food is welcome in the living room during half time when there is no chance of a field goal ricocheting off a goal post or a drumstick getting whacked across the forehead of Cousin Bertrum's second cousin's neighbor. Who invited him anyway? We can expect that the game will turn ugly at some point, since only 8 out of the 38 Super Bowls were decided by less than 7 points. I don't know about you, but I don't give a hoot about who wins this year! Anyway, Bon Appetit!

The Guv may lay out a 2007-08 budget on Tuesday that may include tax increases on gas and tobacco, talk of leasing the Pennsylvania Turnpike and--oh, dear--another increase in state spending. In order to do something about the possibility of a $1.7 billion gap between expenses and revenues, the Guv is hinting that he'll raise Pennsylvania's 6% sales tax rate to 7%. Some of the increased revenue would help cut school property taxes. Changes will come with a price: the GOP maintains a 29-21 Senate majority, while the Democrats hold a 102-101 House majority with 50 Freshmen House members.

Didja hear about the second grader who came home from school and told her grandmother that in school she had learned how to make babies. The surprised grandmother arched her eyebrows and asked the innocent little girl how babies are made. "It's really easy," replied the girl. "You just change 'y' to 'i' and add 'es'."

February 3, 2007. Today is the birthday of Amanda V. Hartman, Betty Rabb Helwig, and Brian and Brad Albertson. Brian and Brad celebrate their 32nd birthdays today. The twins graduated from Benton Area Schools in 1993 and lived on Savage Hill. These three fine people share their birthdays with novelist James A. Michener; writer Gertrude Stein, born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, in 1874; and with Norman Rockwell, born in New York City in 1894.

The 16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified on this date, giving the federal government the power to impose and collect taxes on income. Rock and Roll starts Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson died on this date in 1959, following a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa.

Why is it that when a person assists a criminal in breaking the law before the criminal gets arrested, we call him an accomplice? When a person assists a criminal in breaking the law after the criminal gets arrested, we call him a defense attorney.

This week on A Prairie Home Companion, there are jokes, jokes and more jokes. "Jokes," Garrison Keillor promises, "read by professional radio actors, willing to sacrifice their dignity for the greater good of giggling, guffawing, and groaning." If you have a wideband connection, you can listen to the show on your computer by finding a location here.

Former Benton Elementary teacher Beatrice Roberts is Back Home in Benton, PA, following a successful hip replacement.

Commonwealth artists are invited to participate in the 40th Annual Art of the State competition and exhibit which runs at The State Museum from June 9 to Sept. 9. The event is co-sponsored by The State Museum of Pennsylvania and The Greater Harrisburg Arts Council. The categories are painting, works on paper, photography, sculpture and craft. The deadline for applications is March 19. Over $7,000 in prize money is available. For information call 717 783-9904.

Romantics of all ages can mark Valentine's Day at The Pennsylvania State Museum on February 11. Valentines Day-related crafts, a special planetarium show, refreshments and live animals will all be featured from 11 AM to 3 PM. Admission is $8 for adults and children age one and older and $6 for Pennsylvania Heritage Society members. Advance tickets are required. Call 717 772-6997. More information is available online .

A Fly Fishing Show will be held in Alameda County Fairgrounds, Pleasanton, California, from Feb. 23-25. There will be drawings for trips to some terrific destinations. One of the prizes is a six-night, five-day vacation at the world-renowned Belize River Lodge, where you can fish a jungle river for tarpon and a bonefish flat the same day. The trip is for two anglers. Barry and Cathy Beck and more than 30 of the best fly tiers in the country will demonstrate their specialties.

Lewisburg lost a fine citizen Thursday night when the founder of the family-owned Country Cupboard Inn and Market, Route 15, Lewisburg, passed away at the Williamsport Hospital. H. Dan Baylor, 82, retired from active management of the Country Cupboard in 1986, passing that function to his son and daughter and grandchildren. The Country Cupboard Restaurant began in 1973 as a successor to the former Farmer's Best restaurant, in which Mr. Baylor was also involved with partners.

 

February 2, 2007. Today is Candlemas, originally a Celtic festival celebrating the fact that the days were getting longer and spring was not far off. This lore has grown into a full-blown festival, with Punxsutawney Phil at the center of it all. So this morning, in the small Pennsylvania community of Punxsutawney, Phil, the smallest and furriest weather forecaster known, will look for his shadow with something like 1,000 TV lights and flashbulbs going off.

Tonight is the full February moon known as the Full Snow Moon, named by the Native Americans who lived in the area that is now the northern and eastern United States. The name came about because the heaviest snows fall in February when hunting becomes the most difficult. Some Native American tribes knew this as the full Hunger Moon.

On the Mend...
• Leroy Knouse Leroy, came home from a Tampa hospital Tuesday just four days after surgery for kidney removal and "is tired but doing well." Staple removal and word from pathologist takes place February 6.

• Beatrice Marie Roberts, recovering from a hip replacement, currently a Geisinger Hospital patient.

• Donna Hayman Fritz, pending an operation.

• Hobe Whitenight, radiation treatments.

A reader asked for the Megan's Website address for Columbia County. It can be found here.

Sgt. Brian D. Follmer, a Benton native, was recently awarded the Bronze Star Medal in a ceremony conducted at the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' Engineer Research and Development Center's (ERDC) Topographic Engineering Center (TEC) in Alexandria, VA. This is Follmer's second Bronze Star Medal award.

Follmer, a geospatial analyst, serves as an operator, maintainer and trainer for the Buckeye Imagery Sensor and Ground Processing Station. His citation read, "For exceptionally meritorious service as the noncommissioned officer in charge and airborne sensors operator of the Buckeye aerial detection sensor team during combat operations in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom from Feb. 26 to July 18, 2006. Sergeant Follmer assisted many of the deployed geospatial engineering teams at the Brigade Combat Team and division levels by ensuring their systems were set-up properly, delivering geospatial information, and providing refresher training and advanced software applications. Sergeant Follmer also assisted the Gulf Region North District with the relocation and installation of several satellite dishes to support the district headquarters move forward Operating Base Courage to contingency Operating Base Speicher."

Follmer served in the Gulf Region Division from July 2004 to January 2005; provided support to the 1/25 th Stryker Brigade Combat Team from April to September 2005; and deployed in support of the 101 St Airborne Division (Air Assault) from Feb. 26 to July 18, 2006. His other assignments include Fort Knox, Ky.; Fort Hood, Texas; and Camp Hovey, Korea.

Previously, Follmer was awarded the Combat Action Badge for an action which occurred July 2005 when an aircraft he was aboard came under small arms fire during a mission in Mosul, Iraq. He is also the recipient of the Army Commendation Medal with three oak leaf clusters; the Army Achievement Medal with two oak leaf clusters; the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal; and the Iraq Campaign Medal. In 2005, Follmer received the ERDC Award for Excellence in Operational Support, the TEC Director's Award for Operational Support and he was TEC's Soldier of the Year in 2004 and 2005.

Didja know that when one engine fails on a twin-engine airplane, there is always enough power left to get you to the scene of the crash.

Coyote Hunting...
• North Mountain Fire Co. hosts a coyote hunt February 9-11. Hunters can register Feb. 8 from noon to 9 p.m. at the fire hall. The fee is $15. For more information, call 925-6900.

• The Northeast Regional Coyote Hunt, sponsored by District 9 of the Pennsylvania Trappers Association, includes coyotes harvested in Bradford, Susquehanna, Wayne, Wyoming, Lackawanna, Pike, Luzerne and Sullivan counties. Weigh-ins will be held today through February 4 at the Triton Hose Co., Tunkhannock. Last year, the hunt drew 745 area hunters who harvested 23 coyotes during the three-day event. There will be a $2,000 grand prize for the heaviest coyote in the contest, a $200 daily prize for the heaviest coyote each day, and $100 for all other coyotes turned in during the hunt. Weigh-ins will be held at the Triton Hose Co., Tunkhannock, Pa., from noon to 8 PM today and Saturday and from 9 AM to 2 PM on Sunday. Weigh-in ends at 2 PM on Sunday. A weigh-in buffet, included in the entry fee, will be held for all entrants on Sunday afternoon from 1-3 at Triton Hose Co. For more information on the hunt, call 942-6895 or 679-2318.

Upcoming...
• The North Mountain Fire Company will serve an all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet at the fire hall Feb. 11 from 8 AM to noon. The price is $6 for adults and $3 for children ages 6-12. Children 5 and under eat free.

• A gun and outdoor show is slated for Feb. 10-11 at Benton Fire Hall. Guns, knives and related items will be available each day from 9 AM to 4 PM. Firefighters also will sell breakfast and lunch. Admission is $4. Children under 12 are admitted free. All proceeds will benefit the local fire company.

• The drama club at Benton High School will perform Anything Goes in the school's auditorium Feb. 16-17, each night at 7, and Feb. 18 at 2 in the afternoon. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for students and senior citizens 65 and older. To reserve tickets or for more information, call the school at 925-2651. For those who don't know, the title of the musical came about at a late night production meeting when a member of the production team cried out "how in the hell are we going to end the first act?!" "At this point," a producer snarled back, "anything goes!" The name stuck.

• Benton Area Little League will host its monthly meeting at 6:30 Monday evening, February 5, at the library in the L.R. Appleman Elementary Center. Children can register in the library for the upcoming baseball and softball season on the same night from 6:30 to 8. New players must bring their birth certificates. Final registration will be 6-8 PM on February 8 in the school lobby. Cost is $25 per player and $15 for each additional child from the same family. Uniform shirts cost $15. After Feb. 17, registration will cost $30 per child. Additional information is available at 864-2673.

Legislation banning smoking in the workplace is out of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. The Committee voted Wednesday to report the legislation to the Senate floor. It may take some time before the full Senate gets off their butt to consider the bill.

 

February 1, 2007. Happy birthday today to Brooke Benjamin and Clint Kline.

On this date in 1887, Harvey Henderson Wilcox, a real-estate salesman from Kansas who had lost his legs due to typhoid fever, subdivided 120 acres of rolling California hillside that he owned and began selling it off as a real estate development. He carved out Prospect Avenue, later known as Hollywood Boulevard, for the main street, lined all the dirt avenues with pepper trees, raised money to build two churches, a school and a library and imported some English holly--which didn't live. He called his town Hollywood.

We have had some complaints about unreliable delivery of the Benton News since we arrived in Florida. A problem with not feeling well and our inability to find wireless networks have hampered our mail delivery. Since we gave up on using our cell phone to communicate, we must rely on wireless. We aren't finding Panera Bread locations where the wireless is free, so we have to rely on unsecured connections. If you don't understand what this means, head here and learn about unsecured home wireless locations.

The Upper Fishing Creek Valley is ecstatic about the Benton High School wrestling team. If you haven't followed the team, make sure that you read the Press Enterprise article in Thursday's newspaper about Benton's 34-32 win over Bloomsburg in the District 4 Duals preliminary match Wednesday night. Get on board to support this fine team.

CAR IN DITCH
DRIVER IN TREE
THE MOON WAS FULL
AND SO WAS HE.
-- Burma Shave

I heard the following story here in Florida, and thought that that you might enjoy my retelling of the story.

During my formative years, Father met a stranger who was new to Benton. We first met him at the farm of Grant Brink on Sunny Hillside Road; in fact, Grant was the proprietor at the time of the Sunny Hillside Dairy. Father liked the colorless newcomer to the area and when our finances permitted Father invited him to live with our family. I seem to remember that it happened around Mother's Day. The stranger, rapidly advancing from his formative years to the adolescence of his life, was quickly accepted and was around from then on.

I never questioned his place in my family. Mother taught me to distinguish good from the alternative, and Father taught me to obey. The stranger--well, he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies. He knew about politics, history and science. He always knew the answers about the past, understood the present, and even seemed able to predict the future! He took the men in our family to the Phillies ball games. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Father didn't seem to mind and I have seen him doze off while the stranger talked on more than once.

Sometimes, Mother would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen where she was clearly in charge.

Father ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our house--at least not when Mother was in residence. Our visitor, on the other hand, got away with four-letter words that the "boys up town used," words which made Father squirm and Mother blush.

Father didn't permit the use of wine, except during Saturday night pinochle games. But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars worldly, and pipes distinguished. It wasn't long until Father bought his first corn-cob pipe and Mother showed up with a pack of Kools. The visitor talked about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing to Mother. Father and I took these sessions much better than Mother.

My early concepts were strongly influenced by the stranger. He was often in opposition to the values of my parents, but he was never asked to leave.

It has been more than fifty years since the stranger moved in with our family. His presence is of almost no consequence now, and he is much less fascinating than he was when he was younger. You still find him sitting in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch the images he brings to mind. His name you ask? Our family simply calls him "TV." He also has a younger brother, a much more interesting fellow. His name is "Computer."