Benton News Archives for August, 2006.

 

 

August 25, 2006. Herbert and Jane Fritz celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary today and Brandy McHenry celebrates her birthday.

From the "It's a Small World" Department...
A few days ago, Gail McHenry called an area code 800 number to activate her new credit card for an Arizona department store called Stage. Gail actually talked to a real, live, breathing person in the United States. When the store representative found out Gail's last name was McHenry, she commented that she used to live next door to a Sadie McHenry. Well, Sadie McHenry was Gail's husband Joe McHenry's mother! The woman turned out to be in Bloomsburg as she was speaking to Gail, but lives in Benton. Her maiden name was Corrine Horn, and lives on Mill Street. Corrine and her parents lived next door to Joe and his parents in Maple Grove, and her parents would give Sadie rides to church.

Danielle Deitrick is running the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., on October 29 and is seeking donations in support made out to the American Institute for Cancer Research. As many of you know, Danielle's father, Doug Deitrick, was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer at only 49 years of age last year. Thankfully, he had successful surgery at Johns Hopkins and is doing well after chemo and radiation. Danielle writes, "There is much more research needed for all cancers, and especially pancreatic. I am hoping that I can help a little with my efforts... Any donation would be appreciated." A donation can be made here. Any donation would be appreciated.

A car and motorcycle show to benefit Albert Wood, who has lymph-node cancer, is coming up Saturday, October 7, from 2 until 6 PM at the former Swiss Chalet, which will soon reopen as the Sullivan County Roadhouse on Route 220, Nordmont. Soon after Albert's cancer was diagnosed, the dealership he had worked at for over 20 years laid him off when they changed ownership. The cost is $10 to pre-register and $15 the day of the show. Christine Karns hopes to conduct a "muffler rapping contest" to see which cars and motorcycles have the loudest exhaust. Call 441-9809 if you need additional information.

As We See It...
After traveling for the past two weeks by planes, trains and automobiles, we are fed up with cell phones. Wherever we went, we were audibly attacked by talkers, all of whom were on cell phones. We remember when phone talkers had to resort to entering a wooden booth where they closed the door before they proceeded to describe their hernia operation. Actually, since they had to insert coins to use the phones and were time metered, the conversations went quickly. Now people seem to insist on making and receiving calls whenever the space is limited or the room is full and doing so as if they were addressing the late starters in a Harley Davidson bikers convention. Forget the concept of a quiet interlude.

We have to wonder what happened to simple courtesy. Why is it necessary to endanger lives by talking on a cell phone when driving? Or by sipping a Starbucks and yakking? Or standing in queue like sheep to the slaughter next to a person with his baseball cap turned backwards describing the latest installment in a personal relationship. Go read a book and call when you get to the privacy of your own home.

How is your parking ability? Try going here.

 

August 24, 2006. Elaine Taylor Hartman and Pat Thomas, Bloomsburg, and Mary Ann Hartman Hoffman, Columbia, SC, celebrate their birthdays today. Dale and Anna May Brandon, Bethel Hill, observe their 49th wedding anniversary today.

An article in the Friday edition of the Press Enterprise outlines the essence of the regional police meeting held at the high school. Borough councils in Benton and Stillwater and supervisors in four adjacent townships would have to agree on a way to raise up to $250,000 to fund the program.

Upcoming...
St. Martha's Roman Catholic Church Parish Festival (260 Bonnieville Road, Huntington Township), September 2-3.

Fifth annual Shickshinny Fall Festival September 9, 9 AM to 3 PM at the Carnival Grounds on Canal St., Shickshinny. Over 35 crafters and vendors are expected as well as "Rosie the Riveter" as done by Meg Geffkin. Shickshinny Fire Co BBQ and other great food will be available, as well as an historical encampment and events for the kids.

A reunion September 2 at 6 PM for those who attended the Sugarloaf School Association when the Alumni Association gather to meet, eat and reminisce. Shirley Follmer is taking reservations at 925-2936, which need to be made not later than August 26.

Students are heading back to school in a matter of a few days. We hope they understand how important education is to their future success, how important it is to commit to self-improvement. The future will require that they do the best they can in school. They have to learn that technology is something they need to concentrate on, and the more skills they develop the better off in life they will be. They need to learn to learn, to concentrate on what is being taught, to challenge a twisted or biased point of view when necessary. They should try saying "hello" first and treat both students and teachers just as they would like to be treated. Although some without the credentials or ability to teach would argue, a teacher's job is one of the most difficult and demanding and underpaid in the nation.

I'll just direct myself to the student. Make a point of trying something each day that you don't think you like, be it broccoli, or music appreciation or dancing or physical exercise and do it in conjunction with exercising your own mind. Don't take the easy way out, because life is anything but easy. Be good at the basics, easy things like pecking out words on a computer or a typewriter. Then excel at all aspects of computers, math, history and the sciences. Perfect English, then study the culture of another nation, and work at learning its language. Work at getting along with people, participate to the extent of your available time regardless of race, religion, gender or color, make friends who will be important to you throughout your life, and stay away from temptations of sex, alcohol, drugs and tobacco. Stay current with the events that made our area and our state important and at the same time keep informed about what is unfolding in the world--the world situation has never been more critical than it is today. Learn to share what you are thinking with your parents so that you can profit from the wisdom they possess. You grew up with your toes dipped in the waters of Fishingcreek; never let go of those memories.

Didja know that in college football Bloomsburg is ranked fifth in the country in preseason rankings. The Huskies are the highest ranked Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference team in the poll. The Huskies open the 2006 season with a game at James Madison on Saturday, September 2, at 6 PM. The Huskies open their home season on September 9 against California of PA at 1 PM at Redman Stadium.

We fly from Oakland to Philadelphia today, then drive Back Home to Benton, PA, where we will play pinochle until late into the night. This will all be over Friday, and we should be back to normal. We intend to throw in an afternoon nap, too. You'll have to forgive me for that--I have never grown old before, this is my first time. I know that I'll do it right, though.

Our advice to the pilot as we board? Keep the number of landings you make equal to the number of take offs you make.

"Give me a ticket for an airplane,
Ain't got time to take a fast train."
--The Boxtops, 1967

Cleanup efforts are going well at the Goss Cemetery, Harveyville. Due to the lack of volunteers, the process has been slow but steady. Sheila Brandon, Zane Dennis, Ruth Frey and her son Kory, have been providing physical labor over the past few months. Several people have made monetary donations to help cover expenses. You can see the results here.

The dedicated volunteers could still use donations of time and money if anyone is interested in the preservation of this cemetery. Donations can be sent to Sheila Brandon, 1335 State Route 118, Sweet Valley, PA 18656, 570 477-1538.

Ruth Frey, a reporter with the Suburban News, is writing an article on the cemetery, and anyone with family members interred in this cemetery is asked to contact Ruth, or if you would like to share your opinion about the preservation of this cemetery, please contact her here.

There is a great sense of accomplishment to see the results of the volunteers labor and great satisfaction to finally see the graves cleared of the Revolutionary Soldiers along with the earliest settlers of Huntington Township. They are not forgotten, and many still care, although they are not ancestors of the volunteers, they do belong to someone.

While many in the United States currently follow every perverted detail of the John Mark Karr reported relationship with JonBenet, most locally follow the shenanigans of James Lee Merrion, 42, formerly of 340 Park St., in his seven-month spree where he now been charged with burglarizing 22 businesses in Columbia, Luzerne and Lycoming counties. Take the time to read the story in Wednesday's Press Enterprise including the 114 charges lodged against him. Merrion is being held in the Columbia County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 31.

 

August 23, 2006. there are 30 days until the official start of autumn. Travis Kline and waitress first class Becky Westover Stahler celebrate their birthdays today.

Players from the Columbia County Farmers National Bank won the Crilly family golf tournament at Mill Race. Players were Jeff Whitenight, Bob Brewington, Don Whitenight and Weldon Whitenight. The amount of $4,814 was deposited into a Crilly family account at the CCFNB. Thanks to everyone for their participation and for all donations.

Ron Hontz reminds us that "The statistics on sanity are that one out of every four persons is suffering from some sort of mental illness. Think of your three best friends. If they're okay, then it's you!

This and that...
U.S. News & World Report has named Susquehanna University among the top 110 liberal arts colleges in the country.

An article in Tuesday's edition of the Press Enterprise reported that the "Josiah Hess covered bridge continues to crumble and it won't last through winter without $30,000 or $40,000 in repairs." Donations may be sent to the Columbia County Covered Bridge Association in care of Ron Kocher, 232 Winding Road, Orangeville, PA 17859, or Chris Young, 529 Zaner-Rohrsburg Road, Orangeville, PA 17859. Contributions are tax deductible.

Not all of Pennsylvania laws make sense. Take the ones shown at www.dumblaws.com/laws/united-states/pennsylvania/ for example.

Some may rethink Google after this...
1- Go to Google
2- Type in the word "Failure"
3- Look at the first listing

Shortly after noon on September 12, 1925, two unmasked men entered the Millville National Bank. They had been driven to the bank in a black Buick touring car by a third man who stayed in the car, the engine continuing to run. One of the men pointed a pistol at a young teller's face, barely two feet away. In a clear voice, Jay Derr was told, "You're a dead man!"

Derr dropped to the floor, slid under the counter and activated the burglar alarm. At the sound of the alarm, the men whooshed out the door, tumbled into their car and escaped. The bank offered a reward of $3,000 for their capture.

Bernice Eves, an assistant cashier, was the only other person in the bank at the time. She was in the lobby when the attempted robbery took place. She was just leaving for lunch, and it was obvious that a bank robbery was not something anyone in Millville expected that day.

State police got right to work on the robbery. An alert witness had written down the license number of the car, which was traced to a family by the name of Puglianzo, Carbondale. The police determined that the car was not in Carbondale during the day of the robbery. Two Beaver Valley men and a Kingston man were soon arrested for the attempted robbery, but were soon released from jail when the mother and father of one of the men made "a property transfer" to raise the $7,000 bail. They didn't stay out of jail long, however, until they were charged with highway robbery of a Mountaintop man who had been held up and his car stolen. The third man could not raise the $7,000 for bail and remained in jail.

Jay Derr was 21 at the time of the robbery, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Grier Derr, Greenwood Township. He continued his career with the bank, later known as the First National Bank of Millville. Many in the local area knew his sons, Dale and Derl Derr, men you have read about before on the Benton News when they tumbled into Fishing Creek when the suspension bridge at Camp Lavigne collapsed (FEATURES, "Collapse of the Camp Lavigne Suspension Bridge" of July 11, 1938).

Dale, 72, a retired Bloomsburg attorney, died January 23, 2000, in Orlando, where he and his wife spent the winter months. Derl, 77, lives in Millville in the Derr "homestead" across from Millville's town park. Some readers may remember that Derl was the captain of the Cornell University soccer team which finished second in the Ivy League in the 1950s and who was named several times to the All-American soccer team. In 1950, for example, Derl kicked 12 of the 19 goals scored by Cornell as the team narrowly missed tying Army

Dale Ruckle, Plano, Texas, recalls that his father, Jack M. Ruckle, State Street, Millville, was two weeks shy of his 21st birthday when the robbery took place. Jack jumped in a friend's touring car when he heard the sound of the bank alarm. The two chased the robbers in a real-life cops and robbers pursuit. Dale remembers "they headed towards Eyersgrove. The robbers ducked into the woods and eluded the car Dad was in. On the return to Millville, they spotted the car but did not pursue it. Dad was thankful in later years that they did not catch the robbers. He said he did not realize at the time, but they could have been shot."

Jay Derr became the president of the Millville National Bank and at the time of his death at the age of 52 he was district representative of the Northumberland Mutual Life Insurance Company. He met a tragic death in 1956 when his northbound car crashed into the abutment of the Route 11 Northumberland bridge. The dazed man got out of the car, but tumbled into the river and drowned. His body was found about four miles downstream from the accident site.

A bank robbery is normally characterized by a criminal who brandishes a firearm and demands money. This robbery was more dangerous in that armed gang members threatened the life of the young teller.

A robbery is always an unforgettable event, especially if it is as personal as this robbery was to young Derr and to the community of Millville.

Interestingly enough, America's first bank robbery happened in our own state on a Sunday in 1798 at the Bank of Pennsylvania at Carpenters' Hall when $162,821, a very large sum of money at the time, was taken. There was no forced entry so authorities assumed it was an "inside" job. Several suspects were immediately imprisoned and prosecuted. In a bit of sweet revenge, the men who turned out to be the real culprits fell victim a few days after the robbery to yellow fever that ravaged Philadelphia that summer.
--Our thanks to Derl Derr, Harry Watts and Dale Ruckle for their help in preparing this story.

Quote of the Day:
"Justice has nothing to do with what goes on in a courtroom. Justice is what comes out of a courtroom."
--Clarence Darrow

 

August 22, 2006. Happy birthday today to Clark Sellers and Lindsey Keller.

The Huntington Mills Fire Company will hold a craft and flea market at the fire hall grounds from 8 AM until 3 PM on September 2. There will be fresh produce, live rabbits, a "little of this and some of that." Additional vendors are welcome. The chicken BBQ will be ready at 11 AM. Contact Nina or Ralph Ford at 864-2336 for more information.

We should mention that we spent a day at the Huntington Library, San Marino, near Pasadena. This is not an ordinary library. For example, Henry David Thoreau wrote and rewrote Walden: Or, Life in the Woods many times before it was published in 1854. The Huntington has the manuscripts of the seven versions as well as the corrected proofs of the first edition. The Gutenberg Bible was published by Johann Gutenberg, in Mainz, Germany, starting in 1455. The Huntington has a leather-bound copy in two volumes, 1282 pages, one of about 180 copies of the Bible that were produced, 45 on vellum and 135 on paper. Henry Edwards Huntington (1850-1927) paid $50,000 for the bible when he bought it at auction in 1911, the highest price ever paid at that time for any book. Ben Franklin's handwritten autobiography is there, one of over five million rare books, manuscripts, photographs, maps and 80,000 letters. Gainsborough's Blue Boy and Thomas Lawrence's Pinkie are there.

This and that...
We love to get email from Back Home in Benton, PA.
Yesterday's email ranged from how nice the weather is, to the luncheon for immigrants at the fire hall on Sunday, to the first political ad viewed in the Swann campaign for governor.

Doug Deitrick is looking for an Ed's Esso little league group photo from the era when he played. The late Richard Hess was on his team, as well as Danny Conner, Kurt Gilbert, Richard Briton, Gary Green, to name a few. If anyone could please make a copy of one Doug would greatly appreciate it.

Thursday night the Benton Area Middle-High School will host an open house from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. Classes begin on Monday, Aug. 28.

Guy D. "Donnie" Kocher, (March 23, 1939-August 19, 2006), 201 Jamison City Road, Jamison City, a life-long resident of Sugarloaf Township, Forest Fire Warden for 30 years, a former fire chief for the North Mountain Volunteer Fire Company, and instrumental in founding the Sugarloaf Ambulance Association, died Saturday evening at the Geisinger Medical Center. He was 67.

Donald was a son of Eleanor (Peterman) Kocher, Central, and the late Guy W. Kocher. He attended the Sugarloaf School and later Benton High School where he met his future wife, Delilah J. (Evans) Kocher, a member of his high school class. The couple were two of eight members (out of a total of 37 who graduated) of the Class of 1957 who ended up marrying within the class. The couple celebrated their 44th wedding anniversary on July 14. Donald was a Sugarloaf Township Supervisor and road master for seven years, retiring in 1999. He also worked as a carpenter and for the Boyer Oil Service, Bloomsburg.

Surviving, in addition to his wife and mother are his two sons: Todd C. Kocher, Elk Grove, and Michael G. Kocher (Carol), Ft. Worth, Texas. Also surviving are a step granddaughter, Lisa Mowery, Ft. Worth, and three brothers: W. Rex Kocher (Dorothy), Bangor; Wilbur Kocher (Rose), Distillery Hill; and Gilbert Kocher, Dover, Delaware. Also surviving is his sister, Mary Walker (David), Salem, Oregon. His father and brothers Dean and Clifford preceded him in death. Funeral services will be held Thursday at 11 AM at the McMichael Funeral Home, Inc. with viewing preceding. Burial will be in St. Gabriel's Cemetery.
--Obituary courtesy of the McMichael Funeral Home. A complete obituary will be published in the Tuesday edition of the Press Enterprise.

We have ended our stay in the Santa Ynez Valley of California, revisiting those places that are so special, dining with old friends, sampling the local wines in an effort to lower our cholesterol, saying good bye to family and friends. Around these parts, people say that travelers come over the mountains and a peacefulness settles over them like an old quilt. Over the years, many have come and many have stayed.

The most famous of the local residents, Ronald Regan, owned what historically was called the Rancho del Cielo ("the Ranch in the Sky") and the locals called the Tip Top Ranch. While not in the Santa Ynez valley, it overlooked the valley from just off Refugio Road. The ranch has a colorful history that traces back to Spanish settlers and the original adobe house dates to 1871. A son of one of the original owners of the ranch wrote that the area was once overrun with bandits and outlaws. One bandit was reputed to pass through the area, rob the settlers and cut their throats. The son said that he once dug up six silver dollars and a skeleton buried under an old oak tree.

What became the Reagan ranch was sold in 1941 for $6,000. The Reagans bought the 677-acre ranch in 1974 for a reported $527,000 near the end of Reagan's second term as governor of California. Reagan and a ranch hand remodeled the adobe house, knocked out walls, redesigned the kitchen, tore out the screen porch and replaced it with a family room, then climbed on the corrugated roof and installed a tiled one. The ranch was declared the Western White House in 1981 and was the site of a historic visit by Mikhail Gorbachev in 1992. Countless other dignitaries have visited over the years.

Tuesday morning, we board Amtrak's Coast Starlight, a long-distance train that runs daily from Los Angeles through Oakland to Seattle. Due to heavy freight congestion and track work being performed, we are told that we may experience significant delays in our trip to Oakland.

John Hopkins was the featured speaker at Monday's North Mountain Historical Society meeting. Dayne Kline tells us that "The Pelican was loaded with regular folks and along with a steady flow of visitors, hungry as usual and looking for "cakes." Harry Ritter was my navigator."

At the September meeting of the North Mountain Historical Society on Monday, September 18, Bill Baillie will share the fascinating stories of the five Whitmore children who were taken captives by Indian raiders during the Revolutionary War. The children saw their parents, brother and baby sister killed and scalped, then lived as adopted Iroquois for up to seven years. Later, they lived in widely scattered spots in two different countries, and they or their children were sometimes shooting at each other in warfare.

Their adventures and later lives shed light on several borders: Indians vs. whites, Patriots vs. Loyalists, Americans vs. Canadians. Bill Baillie is president of the Columbia County Historical & Genealogical Society and author of A History of Madison Township.

It happened on Friday, September 12, 1925, too long ago for most of us to remember. Calvin Coolidge was president. The nation was caught up in the continuing saga in Tennessee of biology teacher John Scopes indicted for teaching Darwin's theory of evolution. Many were busy reading The Great Gatsby which F. Scott Fitzgerald had just published. The Chrysler Corporation was founded by Walter Percy Chrysler and would play "catch-up ball" in a year when Henry Ford turned out nearly 2 million Model T cars. Out in California, a 6.3 earthquake destroyed downtown Santa Barbara. On the world level, Benito Mussolini announced he intended taking dictatorial powers over Italy and Adolf Hitler published his personal manifesto Mein Kampf. New York City became the largest city of the world, taking over that spot from London. Thompson submachine guns sold for $175 in the Sears mail-order catalog.

In the local area, the Empire Roller Mills, C. W. Shannon, Proprietor, was pumping out the chicken feed, along with other products one would expect to come from a grist mill. The Boy Scouts of America organized a local council camp and outdoor education site that came to be known as Camp Lavigne. Over in Cambra, Ray McHenry was teaching his students the fine art of violin playing. In the other direction, over in Millville, a young teller by the name of Jay C. Derr saved the Millville National Bank from being robbed.

When we gather over morning coffee Wednesday, we'll tell you the story of that armed robbery in which the young teller who later became president of the bank had a pistol pointed two feet from his head.

 

August 21, 2006. Ken and Lynn Dressler celebrate their wedding anniversary today.

Old friend Harry Warner hasn't written much lately following the death of his computer a while back. When he finally got his computer back up and running, he lamented that I had let the Benton News "go to pot," an old, local expression that some of us still use. I finally figured out that Harry had logged on a new web site that has popped up as a takeoff on the Benton News, using the top-level domain name (the last part of an Internet Domain Name; i.e., the letters which follow the final dot of any domain name.) ".com" in lieu of ".net." That site refers to me by name and to Benton and to the prom at the high school and other items of local interest, but has no connection with the real Benton News dot net! It is--simply put--a fraud!

The Pennsylvania Bowhunters Festival will celebrate its 50th anniversary September 15-17 at the Sullivan County Fairgrounds, Forksville. Expect to see running deer, 3D bowhunter competitions, sales, manufacturers exhibits, door prizes, demonstrations and archery instruction, and bow-fitting. Bluegrass entertainment and food are available all three days with chicken barbecue on Saturday afternoon. All proceeds from the event go to civic organizations in Sullivan County. For information contact Bill Freese, 570 525-3635.

We are going to take a little time to poke around the history of California and legends that make the Santa Ynez Valley what it is. The valley lies between the coastal Santa Ynez Mountains and the San Rafael Mountains. The two ranges make travel difficult in and out of the valley. We'll skip the details but would be thrilled if sometime you could take the time to drive over the San Marcos Pass out of Santa Barbara heading up the 146 (or as we say in Pennsylvania, "Route 146") toward Santa Maria. You'll pass close to the towns of Solvang, Santa Ynez and Los Olivos on the way to Santa Maria and north toward San Francisco.

The Indians...
For centuries, the Chumash Indians had villages in the Santa Ynez Valley. The story goes that the Chumash Indians gave the Lompoc area its name. If we can believe the story, there once was a lake that spread across the valley which the Indians called "Lum Poc" meaning little lake or laguna. The Spanish were more lyrical, calling it "Lumpocco." By the time the settlers arrived, the name had been Anglicized. The founding fathers of Lompoc modeled their city after the temperance community of Vineland, NJ. After Lompoc was settled in 1874, some citizens got together and proposed that the name be changed to New Vineland. The Lompoc Record thundered "The name don't (sic) sound so bad when one gets used to it." Others disagreed and the idea of a name change faded away.

The People...
Back Home in Benton, PA, we would know about the people with names like Fritz, McHenry, Hess or Smith. Here the names take on a Spanish flair: Arrellanes, Olivera, Ortega, De La Guerro, Castro, DeSoto, Vidal, Ontiveros, De la Cuesta, Carrillo. These and many other names lend themselves to the romance of the area. As with all twice or thrice told tales, personalities become legendary and incidents develop into fantasies. With each recounting, the veracity and color of the story becomes more deeply imbedded into the roots of the community.

When gold was found north of this area in January, 1848, it brought tremendous changes to the Santa Ynez Valley. Cattle that were worth four dollars a head in 1845 suddenly sold for twenty dollars a head. There was a tremendous demand for beef. The rancheros had been wealthy; now they became suddenly fabulously rich. Money lost its value for them and they spent it recklessly, unaware that bad times would follow the good. When the bad times came, many Spanish landowners mortgaged their ranchos and lost them to the banks; others, not able to either read or write, became victims of the unscrupulous.

The Missions...
Spaniards and Mexicans established outposts on the California coast starting in 1769 at San Diego with a fortress and a Franciscan mission. A series of small self-reliant religious missions were established, each a day's travel apart and linked by El Camino Real ("The King's Highway"). El Camino Real joined 21 missions, pueblos and four presidios from San Diego to Sonoma. Mission San Luis de Tolosa at San Luis Obispo, for example, was established in 1772. Others included La Purisima Conception at the present site of the town of Lompoc. In 1804, Father Estevan Tapis founded Mission Santa Ines. These missions afforded travelers some protection from the tribes of wild Indians whose homeland the Spanish colonists had invaded. A list of the 21 missions is available at www.cahighways.org/elcamino.html .

The Post...
Prior to 1847, mail was carried on horseback by soldiers leaving San Francisco and San Diego and meeting at Nipomo where mail was exchanged. Envelopes didn't come along for another 20 years. The sheet of letter paper was folded, sealed with wax, and the address written on the back side of the sheet. Mail was carried on horseback for the first time from San Luis Obispo to Santa Barbara in 1855. Within five years, a tri-weekly stage and mail was inaugurated from San Francisco to Los Angeles. A little crossroads on the stage trail, then called El Alamo Pintada and now called Ballard, is less than half a mile from the Hobby Horse Ranch.

Stages were large and high, with room for up to 16 passengers. The stages stopped at roughly 15 mile intervals. Teams consisted of 4 to 6 horses and there never was a "half throttle." Teams always went at full gallop, driving through rain and wind and heat. Often the teams had to drive through spots of adobe soil so sticky that coach wheels would sometimes warp and break by the sheer weight. At these times a horseback rider, carrying a shovel, accompanied the stage, cleaning the wheels occasionally so that better time could be made in safety. Any story of the stage coaches also relates the many thrills of the precarious ride as horses raced around the sharp curves at breakneck pace with the heavy stages swaying on their straps.

The Economy...
In 1886, Felix Mattei of Guadalupe decided to open a hotel at the terminus of the new rail line. He called the hotel the Central and later it became the Mattei's Tavern and stage passengers and drivers were given accommodations there. The inn is still a favorite stopping place on the 146. Lots in the town were sold by a grand auction with free excursions by rail to the new town site in November, 1887.

Like most towns, Santa Maria had its fanatical wet and dry factions. Politics were cussed and discussed in the saloons, the social clubs for men. Most of the saloons were located on the north side of Main Street, a strip that became known as "Whiskey Row." There was a time when houses of ill-repute lined the south side of Mill Street, two blocks from Main St. Church people, members of the Women's Temperance Union, the "Good Government League" and the Improvement Club tried in vain to rid the town of these evils.

Some of Santa Maria streets are 120 foot wide. No one knows how this came about, but we heard lots of theories. Because of frequent fires, wide streets could prevent this destructive force from spreading. Others insist that the farmers wanted streets wide enough so they could turn their eight-horse teams around in the middle. Both theories make good stories.

Los Olivos was the third town to be established in the Santa Ynez valley in 1887. The history of the town is intertwined with the history of the Pacific Coast Railroad. The town of Los Olivos is on rancho land originally granted in 1843. In 1886, 2,500 olive trees were planed by Bernardo Gambetto in his olive grove on his ranch, close to the present town From this, the name of the town, which means "the olives," is derived. The trees grew quickly and an olive press and pickling vats were placed on Alamo Pintado Creek where he processed the olives. The oil was of excellent quality but shipping costs and trade barriers kept profits to a minimum. All olive trees were eventually torn out and wheat and barley planted, while pigs and cows were raised. Town streets were laid out by Chinese laborers who were also laying track for the Pacific Coast Railroad.

Water has always been a precious commodity. A windmill that became known as Thornburgh windmill was built in 1874. Some called it a "water-raiser" because it had cans that went around on an endless chains dipping up water and dumping it into a storage tank. It worked just fine, as long as the wind blew from the west. Wild ducks were a problem, flying in at night to eat the grain, all the time honking and making noise. The solution was ingenious. The owner trained a gentle cow and used her as a blind. He'd mosey through the field where the ducks and geese were feeding and crouch on the cow's off side until he reached just the right spot, then he'd nudge her on and blast the birds with his double-barreled shotgun.

A Spanish rancher by the name of Viejo Luis Arrellanes hated Americans and refused to use anything made by them. Still he was forced to deal with them when he wanted to sell his cattle. The man was illiterate, could neither read, write nor do math. He remained cautious in business dealing with the gringo buyers. When his cattle were shipped to market, he posted himself at the corral gate with one hand full of pebbles. Each time a steer passed through the gate he transferred a pebble from one hand to the other. Then he demanded a $20 gold piece for each pebble.

Justice in the Old West...
Justice in old California wasn't swift--until the judges arrived on the scene. Field courts were held at larger ranchos. The judges traveled from rancho to rancho to meet in the open with the owners and vaqueros to listen to the testimony and sit in judgment then and there. No appeal was permitted. The judge's on-the-spot decision was carried out immediately. If the miscreant was sentenced to be hanged, the hanging was done with dispatch. If the guilty party was an Indian, he was usually flogged and sent home to his tribe in disgrace. Then the judge and his entourage had lunch and something to wash it down and galloped on to the next rancho to dispense justice in that location.

If you would like more information about the area, head on over to one of these sites: The Santa Ynez Valley Visitor's Bureau, The Wine Country of Santa Barbara County, Solvang, CA, Lompoc, CA, Santa Maria, CA,

 

August 20, 2006. Gary and Carolyn Beach celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary today. They were high school sweethearts and married in Turbotville in 1966. They have a son Bradley, daughter-in-law Donna and two grandchildren Alyssa, 17, and Ryan, 9, who live in Virginia.

It was just about this time in August, 1864, that Bloomsburg suddenly came alive when eight cavalrymen, forty infantry and two pieces of artillery arrived in town. Federal forces followed, gathering strength before they pounced on the upper Fishing Creek Valley. Soon, Stillwater watched as troops burned and destroyed as they advanced toward Benton. The troop strength as they arrived at Appleman's Bottom along Fishing Creek just below Benton numbered nearly 1,000.

Read the article by George Turner entitled Civil War Dissent in Columbia County to refresh your memory of this story. You'll find it under FEATURES .

Two years later, on this date in 1866, President Andrew Johnson formally declared the Civil War over.

Didja know that...

All 50 states acknowledged God in their state constitutions. Take our state, for example: The Preamble to the Constitution of Pennsylvania written in 1776, reads, "We, the people of Pennsylvania, grateful to Almighty God for the blessings of civil and religious liberty, and humbly invoking His guidance."

Clearfield County will be home to Pennsylvania's first ethanol fuel plant, a $250 million project, with ground to be broken in 2007. BioEnergy International will build and run the plant. Lukoil Americas, a wholly owned subsidiary of LUKOIL Oil Company, a Russian oil company, will distribute the finished ethanol. Lukoil Americas, through its subsidiary Getty Petroleum Marketing Inc., markets LUKOIL and Getty. The company recently acquired ConocoPhillips in New Jersey and Pennsylvania (Mobil brand),

The new plant will make corn-based ethanol and will do research on cellulosic ethanol made from grasses, crop waste and other roughage. Our state makes sense for this sort of operation because of all the logging related waste that can be used to make ethanol.

A reader asked about Solvang, California, reminiscing about a visit to the lovely city a few years ago. For those who don't know the city, Solvang is what I would call the Danish Capital of America. In September of 1910, a group of Danish-Americans organized what they called a colony and established a Danish-style school. A parcel of about 10,000 acres of land came up for sale in the "Buell Flat" section of the Santa Ynez Valley. The area had good water, rich soil, room to expand and a sunny climate. The land was bought and the new colony was named Solvang, or Sunny Vale/Valley.

The residents of Solvang would be happy to say "Velkommen" to guests from Pennsylvania.

 

August 19, 2006. It is the birthday of Joann Heimbach, Betty McCahan and local barber Ed Cole. Again this year, Ed Cole is not offering half price haircuts on his birthday, but it wouldn't hurt to ask him for one. Also celebrating birthdays today are former President Clinton, now a sexagenarian as he hits the big 6-0, and Tipper Gore, wife of former Vice President Al Gore.

"To keep your marriage brimming,
With love in the loving cup,
Whenever you're wrong, admit it;
Whenever you're right, shut up."
--Ogden Nash, born on this date in 1902

If you are interested in the news headlines from around the world, try going here.

The guy known to some as "Grand Paw Paw" and to others as Terry Griffith is a great grandfather for the fifth time, as Morgan Taylor Griffith entered the world early Friday morning. First-time grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Terry Griffith, Jr., are thrilled. It will be a treat for everyone as the tykes father is coming home from the mid-east.

Thought for today:
Aspire to inspire before you expire.

It is a joy to be in Solvang, California, the town where many motels have windmills, stores display huge wooden shoes outside their main entrances, and delicate fat pills line display cases in the form of Danish pastries and baked goods. We plan to head north up the Central Coast from Solvang toward San Louis Obispo and the castle of William Randolph Hearst, then northeast toward the San Joaquin Valley and Tulare County heading toward the county seat of Visalia in the shadows of the Sierra Nevadas.

Why Visalia? For one thing, on this date in 1848, the New York Herald reported the discovery of gold in California. Visalia's history has a history of transient miners passing through the town on their way to gold fields that never seemed to materialize. Many of the miners returned to Visalia to live and to find employment with the Overland Stage at the stopping point at Visalia on the St. Louis to San Francisco route.

Nearby, James Byron Dean met an untimely death on September 30, 1955, while driving his Porsche to an auto rally in Salinas, California. James and the "Little Bastard" were killed near Paso Robles when a driver made a left turn at the intersection of Highways 41 onto 466 unaware of the Spyder approaching at a high rate of speed. "Little Bastard" plowed into the broad side of the Ford Tutor and James Dean, 24, America's rebel without a cause, was nearly decapitated.

I was always taught to respect my elders, but it keeps getting harder to find one.

Marguerite A. (Rinehamer) Davenport, Orange Township, died Thursday, August 17, 2006, at the Geisinger Medical Center. She was born in Wapwallopen October 3, 1933, a daughter of the late Cornelius and Merle (Hook) Rinehamer. She was 72.

Mrs. Davenport was the wife of Samuel L. Davenport. They were married 53 years ago on April 4, 1953. Along with her husband, she is survived by a daughter, Cindy Russell (Hal), Elmer, NJ; a son, Randy Davenport (Toniann), Benton; and granddaughters, Shawna Russell, Sophie and Celia Davenport. She was also survived by her sister, Marion Weaver (Theodore), Wilmington, DE. She was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, Cornelius Rinehamer. Friends will be received Tuesday, August 22, from 11 AM until the time of the service at 1 PM at the McMichael Funeral Home, Inc. Interment will be in the Benton Cemetery.
--Obituary courtesy of the McMichael Funeral Home. A complete obituary is included in the Saturday Press Enterprise

 

Friday, August 18, 2006. Karen Edwards celebrates her 48th birthday today, the same day that former First Lady Rosalynn Carter turns 79. There are 35 days until the official start of Autumn.

Ongoing...

North Mountain Fire Company Carnival. Food stands open at 5:30 with nightly drawings at 10:30. The Hickory Rose Band plays tonight. Through Saturday night.
Montour-Delong Community Fair, at the fairgrounds in Washingtonville. Through Saturday.
Monroeton Old Home Days, over the next three evenings at Mountaineer Park, Monroeton. There is a karaoke contest tonight at 7 PM and the fireworks display will take place about 9:30 PM. The parade will take place at 6:30 PM Saturday.

U.S. Route 6 is again open after being closed for the past four months between Wysox and Wyalusing following the completion of a $2.3 million road construction project.

Marcia Kay and I have finally arrived at our destination, but plan to get "on the road again" by noon today. We are in the beautiful Santa Ynez valley at the home of our son, David and his wife, Heidi, at the Hobby Horse Ranch. We will turn around and leave on an "overnighter" at noon today, heading into the beautiful mountains of inland California.

You can find out much more about this part of California by listening Saturday night to a summertime repeat of the Prairie Home Companion, featuring a California show Garrison Keillor did in 2003 from nearby San Luis Obispo, with Gil Orr and Paul Johnson (The Duo-Tones), jazz singer Inga Swearingen, and cowgirl poet and singer-songwriter Stephanie Davis. Dusty and Lefty manage to get thrown into the San Luis Obispo county jail, and in Lake Wobegon, Pastor Inqvist and his wife Judy rekindle their romance with a trip up North to the cabin, where memories of Bruno the fishing dog pay them a visit. Check PBS about 6 PM Saturday night.

Here is a product whose time has come! It's called the Wi-Fi Internet Radio manufactured by Acoustic Energy. It retails for about $179. It is the first stand-alone Internet radio available in America. If you have Wi-Fi in your house, all you do is take the radio out of the box and plug it in. Acoustic Energy Wi-Fi radio can access internet radio stations broadcast anywhere in the world. It is compatible with all three major streaming formats. There are no subscriptions to pay, no signal coverage problems and no international content boundaries. The radio is a simple plug and play device that links to your Wi-Fi network and broadband connection. Channels are listed alphabetically and the multi-function control knob makes choosing a station simpler than an FM radio!

The Northern end of Columbia County is not the only area to be thinking of a regional police force. Over in Luzerne County, the same concept is being explored in the Wyoming Area School District and the South Valley. A feasibility study to assess combining five police departments into one comes next, and about the same approach is being considered for Hanover Township, Nanticoke and Newport Township . Two new departments could result, with potentially better police protection at a reduced cost. Columbia County District Attorney Gary Norton will discuss crime and police protection in the northeastern part of Columbia County at a meeting in the auditorium of the Benton Area Schools high school at 6:30 PM. Wednesday, August 23.

 

August 17, the night that by ancient Irish legend "cat nights" begin. This is also the origin of the saying about cats having nine lives. Seems, according to the legend, that witches can turn themselves into cats eight times, but the ninth time, August 17, it can't come back in human form.

Davy Crockett, a soldier, statesman and King of the Wild Frontier, was born on this date in 1786 in a small cabin near Limestone, Tennessee. Actress Mae West was born on this date in Brooklyn in 1892 or 1893. She started as a vaudeville dancer but moved to the stage in 1926 in a ditty called Sex, which got her arrested and thrown in jail for a week for "corrupting the morals of youth." The arresting officer testified that she not only "revealed her navel but moved it up and down and side to side." She was suddenly a star, writing and acting in Diamond Lil (1928) and The Constant Sinner (1931), then moved to the movies for I'm No Angel (1933) and She Done Him Wrong (1933).

Columbia County District Attorney Gary Norton has asked Mayor Swan to set up a meeting to discuss crime and police protection in the northeastern part of Columbia County. The meeting will take place in the auditorium of the Benton Area Schools high school at 6:30 PM. Wednesday, August 23.

District Attorney Gary Norton will host the meeting in response to authorities seeing increases in drug and related crimes in Benton and vicinity.

Discussion of a regional police force will be among the items on the agenda, Norton said. Residents of Benton and the surrounding townships are invited.

Didja know that...
A new $82 million Pennsylvania Turnpike bridge is being built over the Susquehanna River at Harrisburg. Construction on the bridge began in fall 2004 and is expected to be completed next fall (2007).

Millville School District students go back to school, Tuesday, September 5. L.R. Appleman Elementary School will begin classes on Monday, Aug. 28. Students should arrive between 7:45 and 8 AM.

Home sales nationwide have fallen 7% in the past year, but prices are up 3.7%, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

We were happy to hear from Anthony Kondracki, Jr., Boothwyn, PA, whose Mother, Betty Kondracki, Upland, PA. has owned property in Central on Kingsbury Road since 1967 or 1968. Tony told us about his father, Anthony Kondracki Sr., working at the old Civilian Conservation Camp at Emmons, just north of Elk Grove. Anthony Kondracki Sr. and his family were originally from Plains Township. Tony and his father would walk from Central through Elk Grove to the site of the old camp. Stories would be told about experiences of working there. Tony remembers when his dad took him to the site and they found some of the old foundation footers that some of the buildings were built on. It would be wonderful if somehow we could go back in time and ride the old B&S to Bloomsburg, or walk with the members of the CCC as they improved the natural features of our area.

Donna Ikeler Laubach, Bloomsburg, would like a picture of the Ikeler Covered Bridge that once stood south of Rohrsburg on the Rohrsburg Road leading toward Orangeville Road. I have a copy, but not here in California. There is a little hurry, since Donna is heading to the hospital for hip surgery and she would like a copy before she goes in. Can any readers help? The bridge was torn down in 1958 and replaced by a cement bridge. If you have a picture, please let me know and I'll arrange for Donna to get a copy, even if I have to take it to the hospital to deliver it.

What a relief! James Lee Merrion, 42, a sometimes resident of 340 Park Street, a trailer park behind the former Vincent's store that runs from McHenry Alley to Park Street, a man suspected in other burglaries in the northern end of the county and in Luzerne, remains behind bars. Merrion was arrested last month in Luzerne County, but his case may be tried in Columbia County. The Press Enterprise has an article in Thursday's paper. This will be a case of local interest for a long time!

We don't want to keep you up in the air about things, so we recommend that you go here to see how to juggle things in your life.

 

August 16, 2006. August 16 is the day that Elvis died. Willard David (Bill) Hiscox of Palm City, Florida, and Hughesville celebrates his birthday.

Quote of the Day:
"If you haven't found something strange during the day, it hasn't been much of a day."
--John A. Wheeler

Tuesday was an ideal day to come down with deep-vein thrombosis, a malady that can be aggravated by long periods in confined spaces. There have been reports of airline passengers dying from blood clots after long-haul flights. A drive to Philadelphia, and a flight from there to Los Angeles made for a long "sitting" day. Regretfully, I forgot my cable to link the cell phone with the laptop, so Wednesday's edition was not distributed until Thursday.

Term of the Day: "Like Father Like Son."
--Barclay, "Ship of Fools." 1509.
"An olde prouerbe hath longe agone be sayde that oft the sone in maners lyke wyll be unto the father."

Picking out fruit? Two things usually are true...
. The first is to follow your nose. If it smells good--meaning if it is fragrant--it is probably good, and is most likely to happen at room temperature.
. The second is weight. Of two melons of equal size, the heavier one is almost assuredly going to be better.

When selecting watermelon, cantaloupes and honeydews...
. Turn the melon over and if the underside is yellow and the rind overall has a healthy sheen, the watermelon is probably ripe. If the melon is hard, white or very pale green on the underside, it's probably immature.
. For cantaloupes, a large bald or smooth spot is a bad sign, though it's all right for one side of the raised surface to be bleached. And cantaloupes should be detached from the stem in a smooth stem end. An unacceptable condition will have some stem fibers at the end. Let the cantaloupes that are less than five inches in diameter for someone else.
. Honeydews change from white with a greenish tinge to creamy white or creamy yellow as they mature. They will also have a textural change in the skin from very hard and smooth to somewhat giving with a velvety feel and perhaps a light stickiness when ripe. Best quality honeydews weigh about 5 pounds.

On Monday, August 21, John Hopkins will be the featured speaker at the North Mountain Historical Society. John will talk about the history of local agriculture and how that has influenced our decision to farm organically with grass as the main crop. Buckwheat cakes will be ready about 8 AM and the speaker will climb behind the podium about 9 AM. The discussion is free and open to the general public.

How is your sense of geography? Try this simple third-grade level test.

 

August 15, 2006, the 227th day of the year. Allen Kocher and Ronald Beckman celebrate their birthdays today.

On this date in 1769, Napoleon Bonaparte was born on the island of Corsica and in 1935 humorist Will Rogers and aviator Wiley Post were killed when their airplane crashed near Point Barrow, Alaska. It's also the birthday of Sir Walter Scott, born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1771. He authored The Lady of the Lake and phrases like "blood is thicker than water" and "O, what a tangled web we weave, / When first we practice to deceive!" He wrote historical novels including Rob Roy and Ivanhoe.

The Mayflower sailed from Southampton, England, on this date in 1620. This ship carried the Pilgrims from Plymouth, England, to Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts. It left Plymouth on September 6 and dropped anchor near Cape Cod on November 11 (both dates according to the Old Style, the Julian Calendar). This voyage was inspired by the successful establishment of the first permanent English settlement, Jamestown, by the London Company of Virginia in 1607.

Quote of the Day:
"I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate."
--Julia Child

Quickies...
• Jackson Township Supervisors plan to pave Distillery Hill Road this year to the Benton Township line. The Columbia County Commissioners provided $25,000 for this purpose.

• The Huntington Mills Fire Company will hold a large craft and flea market at the fire hall grounds from 8 AM until 3 PM on September 2, 2006. There will be fresh produce, live rabbits, a "little of this and some of that." Additional vendors are welcome. The chicken BBQ will be ready at 11 AM. Contact Nina or Ralph Ford at 864-2336 for more information.

• Andy Borowitz writes that now that the Federal Aviation Administration has banned passengers from bringing liquids on board flights in their carry-on luggage, actor Mel Gibson, Liza Minnelli and Billy Joel have come forward to vehemently protest the FAA's new restrictions. Andy writes that there is no way that Billy, Liza and Mel are getting on board a plane without their liquids.

• The Rough & Tumble Engineers 58th Annual Threshermen's Reunion takes place August 16-19. This year, Minneapolis-Moline tractors are featured. The reunion happens 15 miles east of Lancaster on Route 30. This is billed as the most complete steam and gas show in the east.

• Rural Heritage Days take place August 16-19 at the Union County Historical Society's Dale/Engle/Walker House off Route 192, just west of route 15, Lewistown.

• The Red Hatters will be having a covered dish this week on August 16 at noon at Peg Struehrk's Farm, Waller. Guests are asked to bring a covered dish. The hostess will furnish beverage and table settings. Proper attire of a Red Hat and purple outfit are required. Guests are welcome and the chapter is open to new members. If you need a ride call 925-6718. From Benton, take the Waller Road across from the McMichael Funeral Home to the village of Waller. At the cemetery take a left on Green Creek road. The Streuhrks live in the second house on the right. Park across the street from the house or in the driveway or on the grass in front of the house.

Williamsport and Little League have gone together since the game was founded in Williamsport in 1939. Play this year begins Friday, August 18 with the final game of the tournament traditionally played on the weekend before the Labor Day weekend. Labor Day this year is September 4.

The 16 teams competing in the World Series will have at least one game on national television as ABC, ESPN, and ESPN2 team up to bring Little League baseball into millions of homes.

The world championship game of the Little League Baseball World Series (for 11-12-year-olds) can be seen live on ABC at 3:30 PM Sunday, August 27. ABC also will televise the U.S. championship game in the afternoon, of Saturday, August 26 at 3:30 PM, followed by the International championship on ESPN at 7:30 PM.

Most of the games of the 2006 Little League World Series will be broadcast on radio station 1200 and 1400 WRAK-AM, Williamsport.

It is wonderful to be around anyone who is in "fine fettle," a term we heard Sunday for the first time in a long time. The person who used it was not in "fairly decent" fettle, or "lousy" fettle. She was in "fine fettle."

I remember once Father attempted to tell me a story about an "old man" in town, and he simply could not make me understand who he was telling me about. I finally figured out that the "old man" he was talking about was 15 years or so younger than Father. On another occasion, I said something about a man who was approaching the century mark, and I told father that the man was very special. Father sort of grunted, and disagreed. "Heck," he said, "do you know how long it took him?"

Armed with deep respect for those "getting up in years," brother Dayne, 87, and I, much younger, headed for Laurelton of Bloomsburg Sunday afternoon to say hello to Ora Karns, 93. Dayne and Ora "go way back" to when Ora was in her first year of high school in the first year of high school in the new school and Dayne was in third grade. Dayne only rode the school bus on those days when snow or rain forced him to do it, but on those days the two rode the bus together and became, as they say in these parts, "fast friends."

It was not just the easiest of school-bus trips. Dayne lived just south of the Borough line and Ora lived "over back of the Bill Hess farm." The school bus took a serpentine route to get home, actually going by what is now Whispering Pines campground before it let Ora and then Dayne off the bus.

We chatted when we got together, the two old friends and the "young" guy who came along to bring Back Home to Benton, PA, a sign that had fallen out of favor at the assisted living home. Ora told Dayne that there were not as "many parties as there used to be," and Dayne agreed. Both looked like they could use a good party. And both looked like they would enjoy going to one!

After our talking, it was time to snap a picture of Ora and her sign, which had been stuck in the ground at the main entrance of the assisted-living home.

Ora wanted Max Hartman, Janet and Donald Hess, and Marqueen Bankes to see her sign before it was taken away. The sign apparently did not fit in with the decore of the front entrance, or perhaps it was too "winterish." In any event, the sign had to go and I was chosen to bring it "back to Benton."

Ora Karns, 93, and her welcome sign

Ora reminisced about working at the Horace Harrison Main Street IGA market for 22 years and she remembered Madelyn Sutliff who "was there before I was." She talked about Lottie Knouse, and from there we went to about all the subjects that half an hour could hold. How refreshing the conversation was--never once did we hear an unkind thing said about anyone, never once did we hear anything about health or aging or inability to do what once was done. The conversation was all upbeat.

Our visit was ever so much more pleasant than one earlier in the day when a lady told me about someone who was an "ingrate," "cold-blooded," and "not a nice person." I asked how she could talk about the woman that way. Her answer was right to the point. "Why not," she said, "she's my best friend."

How nice it was to be with two people who were in "fine fettle" on Sunday. I wish that I could find two more just like them.

Do you think that you are a fast dresser? Well, wait until you see this.

 

August 14, 2006. There are 139 days remaining in 2006. Happy birthday to Grace Stowe, who celebrates with Steve Martin, born on this date in 1945. Today is the anniversary of President Franklin Roosevelt signing the Social Security Act in 1935, creating the nation's first public retirement system. In 1945 on this date, President Truman announced that Japan unconditionally surrendered, ending World War II.

A French naval captain with the unpronounceable name of Aristide de Petit Thouar was directed in the name of Marie Antoinette and Louis XIV to explore parts of the Azilum land tracts. He came from the French Azilum along the Susquehanna River, spending several winters in what became known as "Frenchman's Spring." He first settled in what is now known as Dushore in a 300-acre parcel along the Little Loyalsock Creek. Life must have been lonely until 1819 when the Susquehanna & Tioga Turnpike was slowly completed through the area, and it was another 45 years before the town of Dushore was actually incorporated. Some felt it should be named "DuThouar" for the Frenchman, but the Germans who lived in the area objected because they could not pronounce his name. There were 36 voting residents of the town who decided that "Mosier Hollow" had a nice ring to it and that became its name. Later, Jackson Hollow" was used as a name for the town. Eventually, the name "Dushore" was agreed to and that name stuck.

The exact number of gallons pumped was not available, but a UniMart employee told us at 8:40 PM last night that they had pumped over 9,000 total gallons of gasoline Sunday.

And didja hear the one about the man taking a test in the hospital? A nurse asked him to bring a specimen to her in a bottle. He was shy and he conned his wife into returning the bottle to the nurse. "Is this urine?" the nurse asked. "No, it's his'n."

Bernie Shultz, Main Street, took a picture of a migratory Sharp-Shinned Hawk that flew over his head, then ducked under Sharon Remphrey's carport. The hawk then landed on top of this van.

We noticed with interest that the Gatwick (England) Airport web site warns that "Liquids will be removed from the passenger." I won't be flying through Gatwick in the near future, but if I were I would much prefer using the men's room on my own!

It happened during the French & Indian War (1754-1763). Indians shot and killed a Pennsylvania soldier at Sunbury's Bloody Spring. A free program about the attack and the role of Fort Augusta during the French & Indian War will be held at Fort Discovery Park at 2 PM, August 27.

John L. Moore, a Northumberland writer knowledgeable about local history, will tell the story of the Ambush at Bloody Spring, an incident that occurred in present-day Sunbury on Aug. 29, 1756, as Pennsylvania militia troops erected Fort Augusta. The Bloody Spring is a historic site near the Sunbury Youth & Community Center, Memorial Drive, Sunbury.

R.B. Swift, a newspaper correspondent based in Harrisburg and Pennsylvania historian, will talk about Attack and Counterattack in Central Pennsylvania in 1756, an account of Pennsylvania's role in the French and Indian war. Swift and Moore will describe how Indian attacks on European settlers living along Penns Creek brought the French & Indian War to the Susquehanna Valley in late 1755. Soon after that, Indians abandoned the American Indian town at present-day Sunbury and moved deeper into the forest. When Pennsylvania sent an army up the Susquehanna River to build Fort Augusta at the confluence of the North and West branches, Iroquois Indians living along the North Branch told colonial officials that they welcomed the initiative.

The militia arrived at the confluence in early July 1756, but didn't complete the fort until mid-September. The outpost quickly became important for Native Americans living along the west and north branches of the Susquehanna River as well as for the Pennsylvania colonists who lived downriver.

Swift is a veteran journalist who covers state government in Harrisburg for Ottaway News Service. He is also the author of The Mid-Appalachian Frontier: A Guide to Historic Sites of the French and Indian War. Earlier this year, he appeared on a Pennsylvania Cable Network program about Benjamin Franklin. Moore is a storyteller who specializes in telling true stories about the Pennsylvania frontier. He was the former managing editor of the Daily Item.

Last month he did programs for the history camps at the Priestley House, Northumberland, and the Northumberland County Historical Society, Sunbury. His self-published books include Cannons, Cattle and Campfires, which contains the story of Bloody Spring.

The joint presentation will take place at Fort Discovery Park on North Fourth Street, Sunbury. The park is a short distance from Bloody Spring. Members of the audience are encouraged to visit the spring and see the historical marker following the program. Fort Discovery Park is located across from the North Fourth Street Shopping Center and next to the YMCA.

August 13, 2006. Clyde "Jug" Albertson, Elk Grove, and Scott Faust, Derrs, celebrate their birthdays today. They share their birthdays with Cuban President Fidel Castro, 80 and "Master of Suspense" filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock, born in London in 1899. The Lodger (1926), a movie about Jack the Ripper, was his first success. In the movie, a few scenes needed extra people in a crowd, so Hitchcock played one of the extras and appeared in every film he ever made after that.

On this date in 1966, three local couples tied the knot resulting in the unions of Tom and Judy (Houseweart) Wenner in the Presbyterian Church, Dan and Betty Lou (Dressler) Stoneham in the Methodist Church and Bob and Sandra (Kelsey) Hess in the Christian Church.

Christopher Buck, a 1996 Benton school system graduate, recently completed training at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Illinois. Christopher is the son of John and Linda Brooke, Benton, and the grandson of Merton and Geraldine Laubach, Vanderwagon, NM. Christopher is currently stationed at Lackland AFB TX where he is studying Police Security. Congratulations to Christopher for serving his country.

Tracy Meade, a member of the Benton High School Class of '95, pointed out that the high school sports schedules we list on the side panel were out of date. We have now corrected the sports schedules. Look for the sports schedules under the section relating to the Benton Area Schools. Sports schedules are also included on the local school's web site, www.bentonsd.k12.pa.us/ .

Large numbers of folks are putting the finishing touches on things at Penn State's Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center for the 2007 Ag Progress Days which begin Tuesday. Ag Progress Days will be open 9 AM to 5 PM on August 15, 9 AM to 8 PM on August 16, and 9 AM to 4 PM on August 17.

We love our less than frequent trips to the Left Bank, but the thought of climbing into the object of a terrorist's dreams is not appealing. Arrival at the airport three hours before the plane takes off isn't appealing, either. OK, OK, so the evil doers were thwarted in their last effort to package a sports drink, a camera and a laptop into a horrid weapon, but we hope that others of the same evil intent are not lurking about when we take to the air Tuesday. Once in California, we'll use rail travel to head north up the coast.

The last few weeks have been uneventful Back Home in Benton, PA, but we expect that when we leave town it will be a little like when we "take a break" at a ball game. The home run always comes when we turn our head, the goal is always kicked when we break for a bratwurst, the grandson utters his first word when we are taking a catnap.

A reader asked if I could recommend a calculator. Certainly! I recommend Google. Just enter the calculation you'd like done into the Google search box and hit the Enter key or click on the Google Search button. The calculator can solve math problems involving basic arithmetic and more complicated math, units of measure and conversions, and physical constants. Go here for instructions.

Old age begins when we start defining "all nighter" as not getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom...

A puzzle that has become very popular is SU DO KU. The object of the game is to fill in the blank spaces in a grid so that every vertical column, every horizontal row and every 3x3 box contains the numbers 1 through 9, without repeating any numbers. There is only one solution to each puzzle, and the puzzle is based on reasoning and logic. It does not require any arithmetic. Go here to play. The game has been added to the puzzle page, which you can find by going to the "How To" section.

Saturday in Fairfax, Virginia, regular unleaded gasoline was selling for $3.069 on average. In the Camp Hill area, the average price was probably about $2.999. Last evening, Back Home in Benton, PA, the lowest available price was $2.699.

 

August 12, 2006. Kathi and Ron Taylor celebrate their 13th wedding anniversary today. It is the birthday of poet Katherine Lee Bates, born on this date in 1859, who wrote the poem that began...

"O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!"

The winners of the Thursday night Karaoke Contest at the North Mountain Carnival were Jerry Laubach in first place, Jo Laubach in second and Rebekah Hubbell in third place.

A number of people had nice things to say about the Bloomsburg Hospital sponsored Rod & Custom Cruise-In that is running through Sunday at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds. The Arts & Crafts Festival is always enjoyable and that begins today and runs through Sunday, daily until 5 PM at the Eagles Mere village green. Want to visit a Best Buy store? The Best Buy store at the Lycoming Mall is now open.

The Northumberland County EXPO, a county fair, will be held at the Sunbury National Guard Armory on August 24, 25 and 26. The Round-up for Northumberland County 4-H will be Wednesday, August 23. There is no charge for the fair and no parking fees. The fair runs from 3 PM to 9 PM on Thursday and Friday and from 9 AM until 9 PM on Saturday. There is food, entertainment, exhibits, games, contests and concessions.

If you are curious about what all the hype is about with HDTV, we'll give you a short primer. Prices are cheaper than you might think. Prices for HDTV-capable sets are $500 or less for small-screen tube and LCD models, and plasmas are becoming more affordable. The major broadcast networks--ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC--offer many of their prime-time shows in high definition on their HD channels, and HBO, ESPN, and Discovery offer high-definition channels. You need both an HDTV-capable TV and a high-def source to watch HDTV.

You need a cable or satellite provider to get maximum benefit in our area. Network TV dramas and comedies are usually broadcast in HDTV, although many networks (CNN, A&E, and Comedy Central, for example) do not carry any HDTV programming.

HDTV owners turn into HDTV snobs, tending to look for HDTV programming before hitting the standard resolution channels. Go to to find out what HDTV programming is available.

The FCC mandates that by March 1, 2007, every TV tuner sold must be able to receive digital broadcasts. And if you are happy with your analog TV broadcasts, remember that broadcasters must turn off their analog over-the-air transmissions for good on February 17, 2009. The federal government will then reallocate that portion of the broadcast spectrum to help out the need for wireless data and telephone services. After the February date in 2009, the only over-the-air TV will be digital.

A review of the comedy All This Intimacy at Second Stage Theatre, New York city, starring former Bentonian Krysten Ritter, can be found here.

Richard L. Steinruck, 50, a heavy-equipment operator in the bridge division of HRI, passed away Wednesday at home. He lived at 777 Mendenhall Hill Road, Benton. Mr. Steinruck (Dec. 20, 1955-Aug. 9, 2006) was born in Bloomsburg, the son of Hazel Lewis Steinruck and the late William Steinruck. His wife, the former Betsy Corson, survives, as does a son, Darcy Steinruck (Jennifer), Benton. Three daughters also survive: Shawna Steinruck, Danville; Tanya Morgan (Matt), Muncy; Carrie Whipple, Millville; two grandchildren; a brother, Joseph Steinruck (Jane), Millville; two sisters: Betty Whitmoyer (Tom), Millville; and Teresa Gordner, Northumberland. He was preceded in death by his brother, William D. Steinruck. Memorial services will be Monday at 10 AM at Salem Cemetery with the Rev. Dennis Moore officiating. Burial will follow the service.
--Obituary from the Press Enterprise, where a complete obituary can be found in the August 11, 2006 edition.

 

 

August 11, 2006. Today is the birthday of Linda Cragle. Jay and Susan McHenry, Stillwater, are celebrating their anniversary, their 27th.

On this date in...
1909, the "SOS" radio distress call was first employed by an American ship, the "Arapahoe," when it got in trouble off the coast of North Carolina.

1970, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jim Bunning became the first player since Cy Young to win 100 games in both of the two major leagues. He later became a United States Senator.

1984, as President Ronald Reagan was preparing for his weekly radio broadcast, an open microphone that the President thought was off captured the President's words about his Cold War nemesis, the Soviet Union. He said, "My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you that I just signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."

1994, a federal jury awarded about 10,000 commercial fishermen $286.8 million for losses suffered as a result of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

1997, Lady Diana Spencer, former wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, and her companion Dodi Fayed were killed in a Paris car accident in which the intoxicated driver, who was also killed, was apparently attempting to escape the paparazzi following them.

Marcia Kay is bursting with pride now that two of her sons, Doctors Thomas E. Becker and Brian D. Becker, were named with Becker Chiropractic, Lemoyne, as "Simply the Best" in the August, 2006, issue of Harrisburg Magazine.

"With great joy," Marisa and Ted Whitenight are hosting two beautiful nineteen-year-old girls: Gaia, the great niece of Marisa, and her girlfriend, Flavia, from Rome, Italy. They recently graduated from the five-year Classical High School (Liceo Classico) in Rome in preparation for university-level studies. They graduated "first in their class, receiving 100% in all their subjects." They came to America as a present for their excellent achievement in school. The girls have visited our high and elementary schools--"no comparison to the city schools in Rome" which are ancient and poorly equipped. In the three weeks that they have been here, they have been to Lake Jean, ridden a paddle boat and enjoyed an American picnic. They have been to Harrisburg and Hershey and American shopping centers. They have toured Philadelphia, Niagara Falls and Washington, DC. Marisa tells us that the girls love America and especially the Bentonians with "their warm ways and kindness."

Now that the dog days of summer are over, I wonder why it is that the creeks still look the same as they did in the middle of July. To me, "dog days" have nothing to do with the dog star Sirius or that dogs were supposed to be more likely to get rabid during this period. Dog days simply meant to me that the creeks filled with green, slimy moss-like material as stagnant water slowed to a trickle. Walking on the round creek stones became impossible; everything was slippery and dangerous in the creek. That was my definition of "dog days."

Fishingcreek has changed courses many times over my lifetime--within the general confines of its banks, of course. I remember when there was an island in the middle of the creek downstream from where I grew up. The water on one side of the island was slow moving and deep. The other side of the island was shallow, fast moving and filled with round rocks, which we called "goonies," almost impossible to cross when dog days arrived.

Eddie Baker lived on the opposite side of the creek and we were best of friends. If Ed was on "my" side of the creek, he would have lunch with us. On "his" side of the creek, I would eat with the Raymond Baker family. We never knocked when we entered our friend's house. If Eddie was learning how to make a slingshot, we would make two. If I figured that a tree should be laid across the rocks to make navigating the creek a little easier, both of us would do it. We took mud, old logs and stones and made dams. Flat rocks became stepping stones. Our faded, cut-off jeans were our working clothes, our swimming suits and the clothes we wore to supper or do the chores.

We spent many hours making grapevine swings, and we played "Tarzan" a lot. We spent long hours trying to figure how a grape vine grew to the top of a tree and how it could be used as a swing. Our favorite grapevines let us drop in the deep swimming holes of the creek. We knew all the great places to swim south of the railroad bridge, down to where West Creek emptied into Fishingcreek.

We found a long piece of twisted metal rope that had long and faithfully served as a way of keeping cars from going off the road, and we fashioned it into a sort of rope line across the creek. We secured it to two trees, one on each side of the creek. After fastening it tightly, we cinched up the other end with brother Dayne's John Deere A. When we attempted to secure the other side, so that we could make a walkway across the deep part of the creek, we found that we were about ten feet short. Back to square one. We then, with a lot of help from an older generation, made a bucket in which one person could sit, suspended from a pulley attached to the cable. We would then pull ourselves back and forth across the creek by tugging on a rope line. We really didn't go anywhere, but it was fun. I still have days like that!

High water often deposited things that needed investigating. Once, a building washed up on the island and we set out to get all the old inner tubes that we could get from the Doyle Sutliff garage and from J.C. Knouse's garage. We made a platform out of the timbers from the building and boxed in the inner tubes and began to tow each other back and forth across the creek on the raft by pulling on the cable we had strung across the creek. It was a one-person raft. If two people were successful in getting on one side the raft would suddenly dip and submerge and then shoot out like a cannon leaving everyone struggling in the water.

The dog days that I knew and loved are long gone for me. I don't float down the creek staring at the suckers and the trout swimming lazily below me these days. I only generally know where the swimming holes were, and now the creek has completely changed following the No-Name storm of late July. The island in the creek is gone, Eddie has moved away and actually has grandchildren, the raft and the cable are history, I would be afraid to climb on a grapevine or dive into the water from a buttonwood or from the height of the old railroad bridge. Dog-gone! Dog days are really over.

August 10, 2006. There are 43 days until the official start of Autumn. It is the birthday today of Erika Lenbergs, Jermey Griffith, Ken Sutton and Marcia Becker. Today is the birthday of Herbert Hoover, born in Iowa in 1874, son of a Quaker blacksmith. He ran for president in 1928 and within the year the 1929 stock market crash sent the country into the economic collapse.

Didja know that during the American Revolution, the Continental Congress issued a three-dollar bill with the motto Exitus in Dubio Est, which translates to "The Outcome Is in Doubt."

Don't forget to visit the North Mountain Fire Company carnival that runs this week through Saturday and then resumes August 17-19. Christine's Karaoke entertains tonight. Down in Orangeville, the Masonic Fun Fair and Flea Market is back, through Sunday. You can't miss it on Route 487 North of the Borough.

Tonight at the home of Helen Raski, 65 Raski Road, is the monthly Country Cultivator meeting. This is a highly recommended group for anyone who loves to plant and "to garden."

The "dog days of August" takes on new meaning at the annual Keystone Cluster Dog Shows Friday through Sunday from 8 AM to 5 PM in the Expo Hall of the state Farm Show.

For all those who have been keeping Bob Thomas in their prayers, the doctors tell him that his tumor is benign. The surgeons will now decide if the "tissue mass" must be removed surgically. Bob says, "We will get some sleep tonight" referring to his medical condition. Regretfully, he faces other problems. The same night his cabin was broken in and almost everything was either stolen or trashed.

That Detroit bunch! Just as the price of gasoline "goes through the roof" with all indications that prices will not go down again in our lifetime, that Detroit bunch decides to bring out a Firebelch 500 like the 325-horsepower version of the Ford Shelby GT, the luxury Lincoln MKS, and update the muscle car Chevrolet Camaro. Ford or Chrysler sell no subcompact cars in the United States,

Thursday's Press Enterprise publishes the 2006 entertainment schedule for the Bloomsburg Fair. Acts scheduled to appear include a Figure 8 race, Dierks Bentley with Miranda Lambert, Nickelodeon show, Patriotic Pop and Praise by Bloomsburg's Bicentennial Choir, George Jones, Trace Adkins and Chris Cagle, Carrie Underwood with Andy Griggs, Lonestar, Horse, tractor and trailer pulling, Bill Engvall and a Demolition Derby.

Steve Herzig, from Friends of Israel, will be the guest speaker at Bible Baptist Church, Benton, on Sunday, August 13. The time of the services are Sunday School 9:15 AM, morning service, 10:30 AM and evening service 7 PM. Mr. Herzig will be speaking on Israel and prophecy and what is happening in Israel today and how it relates to the Bible. Bible Baptist Church is located on Rt. 239S next to the Benton Township Building. For more information contact Pastor Paul Moseley, Sr., 925-2592.

August 9, the 221st day of they year. Happy birthday to Doug Deitrick. There is a full moon tonight, known as the Full Sturgeon moon, dating back to native American tribes who felt they could best catch sturgeon from the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain during this full moon. Other Indian tribes referred to it as the Full Green Corn moon or the Full Grain moon.

On this date in...
1173, construction began on the (Leaning) Tower of Pisa, and it took two centuries to complete.

1945, an atomic bomb, code named "Fat Man," is dropped on the city of Nagasaki, Japan, killing an estimated 70,000-90,000 people.

1974, Richard Nixon becomes the first President of the United States to resign from office. His Vice President, Gerald Ford, become president.

I can remember how upset I got when campgrounds and other locations began removing pay phones. Now an ordinance proposed by a Wilkes-Barre city councilwoman would shut down outdoor pay phones in some areas of that city. The phones are apparently being used for drug transactions and by prostitutes. The way we're going, five years from now none of us will have land-based telephones.

Tuesday was one of those days where too much had to be done and too little time was available to do it. With 15 minutes to go until an appointment in Bloomsburg, then a meeting and another quick trip, the front doorbell rang. A smiling couple stood on the front porch. They held out a newspaper as a way of greeting. They wanted me to see an article in the Angelica (New York) Booster News entitled, "Hunt for VanCampen's grave leaves Pennsylvania visitor all wet."

The couple was from Angelica, New York, Richard and Marilyn Warner, previous owners of the former home of Moses Van Campen. They came with a copy of the newspaper article and an invitation to return to Angelica when it wasn't raining and people could show me around town.

The article from their local paper pretty much quoted my recent trip to Angelica in search of Moses Van Campen's grave (ARCHIVES, June 2, 2006). Van Campen's tombstone is a plain marble slab in the cemetery known as "Until the Day Dawn" Cemetery, Angelica, New York. The stone bears this inscription, much of which is almost illegible: "Moses Van Campen, died Oct. 15, 1849, Aged 92 Years & 9 Mos." The Hubbard & Minard's Van Campen biography says the following is also on the tombstone: "The notes of war are hushed/The rage of battle o'er/The warrior is at rest/He hears our praise no more. The soldier nobly fought/For all we dearly love/He fought to gain a heavenly crown/And now he reigns above."

Van Campen's tombstone (Picture courtesy of Vinnie Hippensteel)

The editor even added this postscript to the article in his paper: We are sending a copy of this issue to Benton, PA, and inviting the editor of 'the News from Back Home' to visit Angelica for Heritage Days. This year's tour of the Historic District will wind up with a visit to 'Until the Day Dawn' Cemetery and, we're sure, a stop at Van Campen's final resting place.

The Warners headed back for New York state after our cordial, but short, meeting, but not before they proposed that it might be interesting to have a bus load of people from Columbia County come to Angelica to see how Moses lived the second part of his life. They in turn would send a bus of people here to see how the famous Indian fighter lived the first part of his life. I advanced the idea to the Columbia County Historical Society Tuesday evening, who will in turn mull it over as a spring possibility.

Quickies...
. State Route 239 between Nescopeck and Wapwallopen will close beginning tomorrow for about a month while a retaining wall is replaced. Shoulder repair work continues to take place on Mossville Road, Volanski Road and Old Country Road in Fairmount Township.

. British Petroleum announced Monday that they just shut down the biggest oil field in the United States in Alaska's Prudhoe Bay. That single oil field represents a whopping 8% of U.S. production. As a result, oil prices, which were causing inflation to soar, are now surging even further. BP will replace 16 miles of pipeline and production could be closed for months. Oil prices promptly rose by more than $2 a barrel, boosting gasoline prices. Locally, gas prices are within one tenth of one cent of hitting $3 a gallon at D.R.'s QuickMart. Gas in some parts of Bradford County are at the $3.09 level and we are seeing the same prices between here and Harrisburg.

. Brothers Steve and Jeremy Kerr were killed over the weekend in two separate motorcycle accidents only a hundred yards apart on the same highway in Butler County in Western Pennsylvania. Neither were wearing helmets.

. There will be an ice cream festival at St. James Church on Saturday, August 19, beginning at 4 PM.

• A drama night is coming up at the Stillwater Christian Church produced by the youth drama team headed up by Kerry Christie and Annie Groff. There are about ten to twelve teens in the group and they have put a lot of time into creating and performing these dramas. The title of the performance August 13 is Your Christian Walk through Life. It all happens at 6 PM.

• Here is Gracie Allen's classic recipe for roast beef. The ingredients are one large roast of beef and one small roast of beef. Take the two roasts and put them in the oven. When the little one burns, the big one is done.

The North Mountain Fire Company will hold their carnival on August 10-12 and August 17-19. The entertainment will be by Christine's Karaoke on Thursday, August 10; the Saturday Nite Blue on Friday, August 11; and Ramble's on Saturday, August, 12. The following week, the entertainment will be by McNell Country on Thursday, August 17, Hickory Rose, Friday, August 18; and Appalachian Nites on Saturday, August 19. The Firemen's Parade takes place Saturday, August 19, beginning at 5:30 PM. The Fire Hall opens for food at 4:30 each afternoon, and the food stands open at 5:30. The folks in the Raccoon Club will be serving the french fries. There are nightly drawings at 10:30.

Old Thomas Jefferson was right on when he said I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more luck I have.

The Northern Columbia County Town Watch was formed in April, 2006. The organization meets the second and fourth Monday of every month at the Benton United Methodist Church. Their mission is to assist law enforcement agencies through diligent observation of community activities. The group is currently working together in Benton Borough but are not limited to that area. There are members from Sugarloaf Township and Stillwater Borough as well. The group welcomes everyone from the Northern Columbia County area to participate. Quoting Kelly O'Brien Gavin, Northern Columbia County Town Watch President, "Together communities can make a difference."

The Benton Borough Council presented the Northern Columbia County Town Watch with a check for $750 to purchase supplies and get the organization up and running. This is the second check given to the organization. The first check, for $250, assisted the organization in applying for for 501(c) tax status and to help with other needed expenses.

John Jankowski, Benton Borough Town Council President, Jan Swan, Mayor of Benton Borough Benton Patrolman, Michael Kreischer, Kelly O'Brien Gavin, Northern Columbia County Town Watch President, Dan Jankowski, Northern Columbia County Town Watch Vice President

 

August 8, 2006. Happy birthday to Shawn Becker.

On this date in...
• 1863, General Robert E. Lee sent a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, which was refused.

• 1945, the United Nations Charter was ratified by the United States, which becomes the third nation to join.

• 2008, the summer games of the XXIX Olympiad will begin with the opening ceremony in Beijing, China.

Didja hear about the lady over on the old R.D. 3 that came into town to see a banker about getting a loan to build a bathroom? She didn't know much about banks or bankers, and she was a little nervous. She got right to the point. "I want to borrow a thousand dollars to put a bathroom in my house."

Cautiously, the bank official responded, and said, "I don't believe that I know you. Where have you done your business before?"

"Oh, in the summer out in the knot weeds and in the winter over behind the maple tree."

The Benton Argus ran a series in 1951 of people "You Should Know." Each week, a photograph and a short article would appear about a person of significance in the community.

The Benton News is going to do the same thing over the coming year. Readers are welcome to submit their suggestions for persons of significance that our community should know more about. The person can be either living or dead. Simply submit your nomination of a recommended person with a photograph (which will be returned) or a photo sent by email of that person. A short statement about the person should accompany the photo along with a point of contact and phone number so I can "fill in the holes" if there are any.

Participation is strictly voluntary, but it would be greatly appreciated. I can be reached by email or by phone at 925-6974 if you have questions. The collection of people will eventually be included in the FEATURES section of the Benton News.

We begin our series today with A.J. Hartman.

A.J. was included in the "You Should Know" column of the Benton Argus May 10, 1951. The description read, "Mr. Hartman is an outstanding resident of the community. He is associated with the Harrington & Co. Milk Plant here, a position he has held for many years. He is active in community affairs and was a former president of the Benton Fire Company. He is a director of the Bloomsburg Elks and is a member of many organizations. Mr. Hartman can always be counted on to do his part in any community project."

A Living History Weekend-Civil War encampment will take place at Eckley Miners' Village on August 19 and 20 with hands-on activities, period demonstrations and re-enactments that will take you back to the days of the Civil War. Stories will be told about soldier's lives, women's roles as civilians, nurses, and what it was like to be a child during that time period. Activities will run from 10 AM to 5 PM each day. For more information, call 570 636-2070.

On Saturday, July 5, the "kids" of the Walters, Griffith, Williams and Nungessor families gathered at the "Perry swimming hole," Elk Grove, for a reunion. Just like in the old days, the menu included hot dogs and fried potatoes. In those endless days of summer in the 50's and 60's, Jeannie Walters would build a fire in a circle of stones, put an old metal rack from a refrigerator over the fire and fry potatoes in a cast iron pan.

There would be hot dogs to roast and Kool Aid to drink. Now that the Elk Grove kids are all in their 50's and 60's, heart conditions and arthritis have made them environmentally responsible--no open fires, so the potatoes were fried in a cast iron pan in Jeannie's kitchen and the hot dogs were cooked on a gas grill. These older kids shivered as the teens jumped into frigid Fishing Creek remembering how it was "back then."

The reunion started with everyone gathered around Jeannie's kitchen table with their old photos and memories. The picnic supper was over at the "crick" where they lingered until the last bit of daylight. Terry Griffith told of how he became a member of the Griffith family, claiming that his father, Joe Griffith, owner of the Elk Grove Inn accepted him as payment for a bar bill. Terry was exchanged for two six packs, according to the story.

Attending the reunion were Jeannie Walters, Elk Grove, and her children, Roxie, Bethlehem; Kathy, Catawissa; Jim, Grassmere; and son-in-law, Butch Janney; Carole Zeistloft and Terry Griffith, Newark, Delaware; Larry and Kelly Williams, Nottingham, Pennsylvania, along with their children, Katie and Amber; Gloria Williams' son, Kevin; Bonnie Nungessor, Bloomsburg; and Libby Lewis, Benton.

 

August 7, the 219th day of the year. The Northern Hemisphere is considered to be halfway through the summer on this day. We celebrate the birthdays today of James Fox, Rod Pennington, Terry Griffith, and William Mather. Bill is the former postmaster of Benton from January 31, 1958, until Gary Strauch took over August 20, 1983. Today is the 64th birthday of Prairie Home Companion storyteller and host Garrison Keillor.

On this date in...
• 1789, the United States War Department was established and Henry Knox was named Secretary of War. He was placed in charge of the army, a collection of about 840 men.

• 1794, the Whiskey Rebellion began. The uprising had begun in June of 1794 when farmers in western Pennsylvania and throughout the Appalachians refused to pay the federal excise tax on whiskey. The farmer's primary crop was grain, and the cheapest way of marketing it was in the form of whiskey. The tax was about 25% of the going price of a quart of whiskey. The farmers argued that whiskey was a viable medium of exchange. The Government argued that the tax was a legitimate source of revenue. Commander-in-Chief Washington gathered 12,500 militiamen; the farmers dispersed, and by May of 1795 the uprising had essentially gone away.

I have a friend who claims that although whiskey won't cure a cold, it is the best way of failing... Bob Thomas' Granddaddy used to say the best treatment for a cold was "Take the juice of a bottle of Whiskey" as needed. This will not cure a cold but you'll forget about it.

Didja know that it is a no-no to use double negatives and when dangling from a sentence, one should always avoid leaving a participle. And never begin a sentence with a conjunction and never say "never" and always avoid "always." One should never verbify nouns and a preposition should never be used to end a sentence with. Joan Rivers summed it up in 1989 during a commencement address she delivered at her daughter Melissa's graduation from the University of Pennsylvania. She said, "You're college graduates now, so use your education. Remember--it isn't who you know, it's whom."

The Borough Council meets tonight at 7 PM at the Benton Volunteer Fire Company. The public is invited to attend these meetings.

Speaking of the Borough Council, we watch the efforts with interest to make the Borough and other parts of the upper Fishingcreek valley a beautiful place to live. The planting of flowers, the hanging of banners, the cleaning up of public property seem to be a one-person effort to make Benton beautiful. The trouble is that a few landlords are irresponsible money grabbers who care little for their property and less for the neighborhood. Two years ago we tried to get the Borough Council to do something about houses with no gutters or downspouts that pour water into adjacent basements, houses with accumulated debris, mobile homes parks that become breeding grounds for drug trafficking. To paraphrase Justice Stewart, who presided over the case of Jacobellis VS Ohio, "I can't define pornography, but I know it when I see it." I can't define the improvements that need to be made to the mobile home parks in the Borough or to the tenant-occupied properties, but I know what I see doesn't measure up to what our community standards should be. The fact is that in the last three years, not a single related ordinance has been passed by the Borough to bring our community on a par with surrounding communities.

We believe...
• A more conscientious attempt to improve the housing conditions in the Borough of Benton should be undertaken by all residents including town council, tenants and owners and led by Town Council.
• Existing ordinances should be enforced, or, if not an effective and needed ordinance, disposed of.
• Owners of rental property should be required to apply for an occupancy license, which town council can refuse if properties are not kept to an acceptable community level. It is time to clamp down on the minority who don't play by the rules. The attitude of some owners means some tenants are putting up with poor conditions in unsafe, overcrowded properties, and neighboring properties suffer from the blight caused by these landlords.
• Landlords should face prosecution and fines if they fail to meet standards of safety and quality established as a norm for the community. Good landlords would have nothing to fear from this law, but bad ones should have everything to fear if they do not conform to density standards, maintain fire, safety, toilet and cooking facilities.
• Neighbors should have a right to peaceful enjoyment of their homes, and problems with noise and rubbish should attain the same level of attention as other infractions of the law.
• Landlords not complying with the same standards for payment of taxes and water assessments as the general population should have their occupancy permits revoked.
• Density standards should be developed and enforced.

We recommend...
• Tenants with landlord problems make every effort to resolve them with the landlord. Landlords with tenant problems should make every effort to resolve them with the tenant.
• A review of county and town zoning requirements, looking at compliance issues.
• Consider an occupancy permit requirement for new tenancy.

 

August 6, 2006. Happy birthday today to Dr. Tom Becker, Camp Hill, and Joyce Keller, the unofficial Mayor of Iklertown. (The village of Iklertown [or Eichleretown, as it was once called] is within the borough of Stillwater.) These fine people share their birthday with the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and with the man who discovered penicillin, Sir Alexander Fleming, born in Scotland in 1881. Back in 1928, Fleming noticed that a culture of bacteria had been accidentally contaminated by a green mold called Penicillium notatum, and around the mold there was a circle where the bacteria couldn't grow.

On this date in...
• 1890, Denton "Cy" Young pitched in his first major league baseball game for the Cleveland Spiders. Young won a total of 511 games, averaging more than 23 victories over 22 seasons playing for Cleveland, St. Louis, and Boston. He pitched three no-hitters, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937. The Cy Young Award was established in 1956 and from 1967 on, Cy Young awards have been presented to the best pitcher from each major league.

• 1918, the second battle of the Marne ended during World War I about 75 miles northeast of Paris. In the Second Battle of Marne some 30,000 Americans were killed or wounded.

The Wheeler and Wilson Company was an early pioneer of the American sewing machine industry. The company was formed in 1851, and manufactured machines in Watertown, New York. The company moved to Bridgeport, CT, in 1856 and was renamed the Wheeler and Wilson Manufacturing Company. They continued in production until they were taken over by the Singer company in 1905.

How does this apply to us, you ask? Well back in 1865, an unusual story is told about the "Wheeler and Wilson Oil Speculation." A man named Hadley put "oil balls" in a spring on top of Red Rock Mountain. The oil floated on the surface and someone from Wheeler and Wilson became interested in this phenomenon. They financed an estimated $40,000 project to drill for oil and in 1865 and 1866 drilled 2,100 ft. at what became Lake Rose and 1,900 feet "on the Farm." According to the version of the story that we heard, Hadley departed for Canada and was never caught.

Johnny Cash (1932-2003), American country music singer and husband of June Carter, a member of the traditional country vocal ensemble known as the Carter Family that sang on his tours, toured the United States in a MCI tour bus from 1979 to 2003.

The bus known as "JC Unit 1" is now owned by vintage coach collector Dave Wright, Pinehurst, North Carolina. The coach has now been cleaned, repaired and partially replaced. Windows, carpeting and upholstery were replaced. The alligator-skin wall material in the bathroom is back. The stereo system, VCR and inverter are new.

Johnny Cash paid $553,000 and used it for all of his tours. Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and many more have traveled with him..

As you might expect, the bus owned by the Man in Black is mostly black inside and out. The rear stateroom is made of wood that came from Johnny Cash’s farm in Tennessee and is outfitted in a pair of sleeper sofas. There are four separate rooms in the motor home, all with their own TVs, VCRs and radios. The center galley includes a sink, stove, refrigerator, freezer and dinette. The engine in the bus, its second, has 370,000 miles on it.

The bus is currently being used by The Tennessee Three, Johnny Cash’s band for nearly four decades, as they tour in the show "The Sound Must Go On."

The 2006 Benton Volunteer Firemen's Carnival parade took place Saturday night in front of a delighted (and wet) crowd. The best quote that we heard was, "500 were not enough," referring to the number of ballons filled with water that the drenched man had. Everyone loves to come Back Home to Benton, PA, for the annual Firemen's Parade, which always takes place on the last night of the Firemen's Carnival. Last night, fire units from Millville, Orangeville, Summer Hill, Bloomsburg, North Mountain, Catawissa, Unityville, Chew's Landing, Forksville, Columbia County Rescue Task Force, Huntington Valley, a Seagrave private engine from the Sutcliff Family, Espy, Mifflin, Nescopeck, Southside, Fairmount Springs, Shickshinny, Luzerne County Fire Task Force and Benton participated in the fun event. Fire trucks representing companies from North Mountain south to Catawissa and west from Millville to the state of New Jersey strutted through the parade. The parade also included the Mayor of Benton, enough students so that technically the high school band marched, the Catawissa marching band, pets and toys and lots more. The officers of the Benton Volunteer Fire Company thanked everyone who attended the 2006 carnival, all of the organizations and individuals who donated their time, material and energy and all the visiting firemen. And while we are handing out thanks to all of the organizations and people that made the week a success, we might as well pass out the kudos for the various fire companies that participated last night... . Newest apparatus in service: Shickshinny, 175 . Oldest apparatus in service: Bloomsburg Light, 38 . Longest traveled: Chews Landing, New Jersey, 161 miles from Benton via I-80 and I-476. Chief Command Unit 82, their 32nd year of traveling to the Benton Carnival. . Best privately owned fire truck: 1963 Seagrave, Sutcliffe Family. . Best appearing tanker: Tanker 312, Summer Hill. . Best appearing ambulance: Nescopeck . The best appearing engine: Catawissa's E57. . The best appearing engine/rescue: Rescue Pumper: Huntington 325 . The best appearing rescue: Rescue 266, North Mountain. . Best special unit: Collapse 1, Columbia County Rescue T Force. . Overall best appearing unit, Ladder 185 . Best in the water battle, Orangeville Fire Company. In a category all their own, we award the "Good Neighbor" award to Christine and Terry Strausser, Orangeville. Terry is the Fire Chief of the Orangeville Fire Company and well known behind the counter at Steve Shannon Tire Company, Mill Street. There was a crush of people at the rodeo grounds Saturday night following the carnival and Terry and Christine jumped into the french fry stand and worked just as though they were donating their time to their own fire company.
Corey Bowman gets his bazooka primed for the parade.
Orangeville and Shickshinny let loose with all the water power they could muster. As more trucks passed down Main Street, the water running down the street reminded us of the No-Name Storm of late July.
Roger English and the people on his porch were drenched. Across the street, a barrage of water was thrown.
Not all the water that was thrown came from fire trucks or from water ballons. This contraption pumped water for multiple hoses and from what we hear the water was not too warm.

 

August 5, 2006. On this date in 1962, Marilyn Monroe died in Los Angeles, apparently from an overdose of sleeping pills. On this date in 1974, President Richard Nixon admitted he withheld information about the Watergate break-in. His resignation came three days later.

Jerry Seinfeld is coming back to the F.M. Kirby Center, Saturday, September 16, for two shows. Tickets will go on sale to Kirby Center members starting Monday at 10 AM through the Kirby Center Box Office. If you are not a member and would like to join, call 570-823-4599, ext. 281 Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 4 PM.

Garrison Keillor told the one about cops finding a man dead, squeezed to death by his pet boa constrictor. They listed the cause of death as "a reptile dysfunction."

The Huntington Mills Fire Department is having a craft show and flea market on the fire hall grounds Saturday, August 5, from 8-3. There will be many vendors, fresh produce, live rabbits, flea market items, an artist who paints on turkey feathers, saws, and maybe even your forehead. Come out support your local fire company who do so much for the community. This will be a monthly event, as long as the weather holds. If you would like to become a vendor and join us, please contact Ralph or Nina Ford at 864-2336.

"There are old pilots and there are bold pilots. There are no old, bold pilots."
--E. Hamilton Lee, 1949

We include upcoming events on the side panel of the Benton News, including these especially interesting items coming up at Ricketts Glen State Park...

• Friday August 11, 7 PM, "The ghost town of Ricketts." Venture back into time to another era when the old town of Ricketts was booming! Find out what happened on Red Rock Mountain over 100 years ago. and how it became a ghost town. Meet at the parking lot of the Visitor's Center with your vehicle and a flashlight, for a drive into the past!

• Saturday, August 12, 7:30 PM, "The Woodland Indians of Northeast Pennsylvania." Dori Panzer, Docent Coordinator at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, is the special guest speaker, Come early to the amphitheater to get a good seat!

• Saturday, August 26, 7:30 PM, "Living the life of a Lenapi." Darius Puff of
the Lenapi tribe will present some interesting Native American stories, demonstrations, and artifacts on the Leni Lenapi tribes that hunted these areas long before the Europeans arrived; held at the amphitheater.

As we move into late summer, I remember back to my childhood. A couple of weeks would be entirely devoted to putting up the garden's yield in quart-sized Mason jars, then storing them in the "laundry room" where the bounty of summers past were stored. Mother didn't lay in supplies of canned fruits and vegetables to make ends meet, although she had no income of her own. Resources were sparse and Mother was getting up in years, but still the canning process and the drying of corn occupied her time during this part of August. When it came time to eat the preserves or the jelly or the canned string beans, jars with the oldest date would be located on the shelves and consumed first, but often what was eaten was up to five years old. Not being a fan of string beans or of hard work, I pleaded with her to take the summer off, but the notion was unthinkable. The argument that the IGA would sell the same thing if we ran out didn't hold water.

Tomato juice from the canning cellar of Lee and Carolyn Remley

People didn't come to our house without eating. Mother would take visitors to the kitchen, put on her apron and remove her sun bonnet, head for the laundry room and bring out vegetables. She often took a chicken that a few hours before had been strutting around the property and would prepare it "real particular."

Canning was in Mother's blood, the August ritual she so loved, a carryover from her days in her grandmother's kitchen in Nescopeck. There never seemed to be a recipe, the preparation just flowed. The hot, humid August days when others would pack up and head for the mountains or the seashore were days when Mother insisted on standing over the hot cook stove laying away those special gifts for her Sunday dinners, or for the visiting clergymen, or for kinfolk who stopped in, or for dropping off in the church basement for "those in need." Starting as the sun came up, we would weed in the darkness of the morning in order to avoid the midday heat. Bedtime came shortly after the sun set, except for Father who dozed in his living room chair in the darkness listening to the Phillies baseball games.

I once neglected to inform Mother until the last minute that I had to take a present to school for a classmate. The teacher had decided that everyone in the class should exchange presents, but I had forgotten to mention that fact at home. I was mortified when Mother said that I would have to take a jar of elderberry jelly to the party. Mortified! Faced with the alternative of no present, the jar of jelly seemed like the only way out. The party exchanges produced handmade slingshots, a picture of something or someone of significance, toys, an article of clothing--and a jar of elderberry jelly. The little boy who received the jelly, a product of a family of sparse means and a mother who apparently didn't can, was thrilled and proudly took his prize home to share with his family. At my age, I knew all the answers. How could Mother have been right on this and I was so wrong? The mother of the little boy dropped by the house a month or so later and thanked Mother for the gift of the jelly. Thank Mother? Heavens, I am the one that gave my classmate the jelly!

The two women talked and talked, and I remember that Mother sent her home with a loaf of freshly baked bread and a jar of jelly--the precious jelly that Mother's forbearers had taught her how to make. It suddenly dawned on me that the jelly I loved to eat at every meal might soon be in short supply.

Some of the fruit and vegetables in the canning cellar of Lee and Carolyn Remley

 

August 4, 2006. Doggone! Dog Days are hot this summer! Roxie Walters celebrates her birthday in Elk Grove today. Ron and Faye Igou celebrate their wedding anniversary. On this date in 1693, a monk named Dom Perignon invented champagne at the Benedictine Abbey of Hautvillers in the region of Champagne, northern France. His first champagne was made by re-fermenting wine in the spring and then placing it in sealed bottles to make the wine sparkling.

AOL says they may sign on broadband users to use their service on a free basis, on the condition that the users subject themselves willingly to advertisements. Now let's see if I understand this. I have a perfectly clean broadband connection and a company wants to come along and put crap--oops, excuse me--free software on my computer that will protect me from a company that would put crap--oops, free software--on my computer. How is this different from spyware protecting us from a competitor's spyware? How come AOL doesn't know that users don't want advertising-laden software to get themselves online. Thanks, AOL, but I turn down your generous offer!

Elmer H. Young, 85, the former owner and operator of Young's Garage, Orangeville, for more than 30 years and Young's Bus Lines for more than 25 years, died Wednesday evening. Mr. Young (December 23, 1920-August 2, 2006) lived at 253 Benton Manor Drive, Benton. He was born in Mt. Pleasant Township, a son of the late Charles and Amanda (Swisher) Young. He attended Bloomsburg schools. He was preceded in death by his two wives: Lois I. (Fritz) Young in 1966 and by Lillian I. (Neufer) McHenry Young in February, 2006. His five children survive: Shirley K. Broadt (Kenneth), Lightstreet; Rose B. Taylor (Ronald D.), Mifflinville; Audrey F. Terwilliger (Fred), Mifflinville; Elmer Danny Young, Forks; Galen B. Young, Springfield, Massachusetts. Others surviving include step-children Donna K. Kreisher (William S.), Bloomsburg; Sally E. Patacconi (Anthony), New Cumberland; Patricia J. Burkland (Jeffrey), Bloomsburg. A visitation will be held Saturday at 10 AM at the McMichael Funeral Home, Inc. with his funeral service at 11 AM. Burial will be in the Waller Cemetery.
--Obituary from McMichael Funeral Home. A complete obituary can be found in today's Press Enterprise.

Kristopher Allen Newhart, infant son of Dean A. and Kelly K. (Peters) Newhart died Tuesday, August 1, 2006. In addition to his parents he is survived by his maternal grandmother, Jeanette L. (Sutton) Peters, Stillwater, and paternal grandparents, Franklin G. and Sarah M. (Foust) Newhart of Benton. He was preceded in death by his Maternal Grandfather, Harry H. Peters. Graveside services will be at the convenience of the family at St. Gabriel's Cemetery
--Obituary from McMichael Funeral Home. A complete obituary can be found in today's Press Enterprise.

Jessica Elizabeth Zettle, 21, (Oct. 26, 1984-Aug. 2, 2006) 14 Zettle Road, Shickshinny, died Wednesday as a result of an automobile accident on Route 118 in Sugarloaf Township. She was the daughter of Timothy and Susanna (Mazonkey) Zettle, Shickshinny. She graduated from Northwest High School in 2003 and from Wilkes-Barre Vo-Tech in 2006 as a licensed practical nurse. She was employed by Bloomsburg Health Care. Jessica is survived by her parents, Timothy and Susanna (Mazonkey) Zettle, Shickshinny; paternal grandmother, Evelyn Zettle, Huntington Mills; maternal grandparents, Stanley and Betty Mazonkey, Shickshinny; daughter, Lilly Lane, at home; brother, Timothy T. Zettle II, Shickshinny; fiancé, Aaron Wandell, Benton; and godparents, Tony and Karen Mazonkey. A visitation will be held Sunday, August 6, from 6 to 8 PM. at the Mayo Funeral Home Inc., 77 N. Main St., Shickshinny. Funeral services will begin at 11 AM Monday, Aug. 7, 2006, from Christ The King Catholic Church, Mendenhall Lane, Benton, with the Rev. Alfred P. Sceski officiating. A private internment will be at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to a memorial fund for the care of Lilly Lane, c/o Susanna Zettle, 14 Zettle Road, Shickshinny, PA 18655.
--Obituary from the Press Enterprise, where a complete obituary can be found

The Bloomsburg University Alumni Players opened the comedy "Murder in the Magnolias" last night at Carver Hall’s charming Gross Auditorium at the upper end of Main Street, Bloomsburg. The cast and crew put in a lot of work on this show and it shows! The show is a farce based in the South, and comes right out and bends words freely from the works of Tennessee Williams, Margaret Mitchell and others.

The play takes place at Belle Acres, a run-down plantation in Tudball County in an unnamed Southern state. Colonel Rance Chickenwing, the owner of the plantation, mysteriously drops dead, and the remaining family gathers at the plantation to hear the reading of the Colonel’s will. There’s the Colonel’s sister, Amanda Chickenwing, a daffy gardener whose plants have minds of their own, played by Audra dePrisco who in real life is a teacher at the Greenwood Friends School and recovering from a bad case of poison ivy. Other characters include Bubba Kamrowski, Thornbird Chickenwing III (played by Mark Boberick, who has designed sets for the past six years for Northwest High School) and Blanche DuBlank. There is a slovenly housekeeper named Jezebel, an actress whose career is in the skids and her personal secretary, a public works engineer who’s too smart for his own good, a beefsteak sheriff on a power trip, and a voodoo witch with a Howard Stern look-alike wig played to perfection by Jim Sachetti, editor of the Press Enterprise.

The air-conditioned show goes on again tonight at 8 PM, plus Saturday, August 5, Friday, August 11, Saturday, August 12 with a matinee on Sunday, August 13. We were pleased last night with the number of people who attended from the upper Fishingcreek valley. Tickets are sold at the door and we predict you'll love it when you see it.

Anyone in your family who likes golf will like this game. Don't like golf? You'll still like this game.

The McHenry family reunion is now scheduled for Briar Creek Lake, in the Evansville area, on Saturday, August 12, 2006. From Route 93 outside Berwick, turn at the stone church and cemetery. The meal time is noon. An original McHenry shot glass will be auctioned and there will be special door prizes. The excitement is also building for the 25th McHenry anniversary celebration next year. Details on the surprise of this reunion will be provided August 12.

The article that originally appeared in this section was about the Williamsport & North Branch (W&NB) Railroad. That article has now been moved to the FEATURES section.

 

August 3, 2006. Terry Hack turns 55 today. It is also the anniversary of Rick and Maryann Bardo. On this date in 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed from Palos de la Frontera, Spain, leading ships Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria and a crew of about 90 men. The crew headed for "Cathay" (Asia) and ended up in Guanahani, San Salvador, an island in the Bahamas about two months later.

Quickies...
• If you were in Philadelphia yesterday looking for the former location of the Lord & Taylor and the John Wanamaker store you would have found a new 141,000 square feet Macy's department store. The store opened Wednesday.

• "Cuba Sí, Castro No!" and Se Acabó!" -- "It's Over!" seemed to be the report out of Cuba yesterday as ailing Fidel Castro temporarily yielded power in Cuba to his brother Raul

• The weather was too beastly hot Wednesday to hold the Pet and Toy Parade. It was simply too hot for kids and their pets to walk around town. The Pet and Toy Parade will be part of the Benton Carnival parade on Saturday. Kids who want to walk in the parade with their pets will be able to do so and get back to Main Street in time for the water battle.

Upcoming...
• 144th annual Wayne County Fair, August 4-12. Opens daily at noon. Route 191, Honesdale. $7. 253-5486.

• Montrose Blueberry Festival, August 4-5, 9 AM to 4 PM. Entertainment, food, crafts, and games sponsored by the Susquehanna County Historical Society and Free Library Association. Proceeds benefit operation of Susquehanna County's library system, historical society, and museum. Village Green and Library Lawn, Montrose. 278-1881.

• The Pittston Tomato Festival, August 18-21. Downtown Pittston. Thurs.-Fri. 5-11 PM Sat. 11 AM-11:30 PM, Sun. 11 AM-10:30 PM, 655-1424.

• Plymouth Kielbasa Festival, August 25-26, 10 AM-10 PM. Main Street (Route 11), Plymouth. 779-3215.

• The Allentown Fair, August 29-Sept.4. Tuesday, 4 PM-midnight, Wednesday-Sun. noon-midnight, Mon. noon-11 PM. 302 N. 17 St. at Chew Street, Allentown. $5, free for ages 12 and younger. On-site parking is $6. (610) 433-7541.

• Luzerne County Fall Fair, September 6-10. Wednesday-Thursday 4-11 PM, Fri. 4-11:30 PM, Sat. 11 AM-11:30 PM, Sunday 11 AM-9:30 PM. $7, free for ages 2 and younger. Call 675-FAIR for more information.

• Bloomsburg Fair, September 23-30, daily 7 AM-9 PM. $4 or free for ages 12 and younger. Parking $5. Call 784-4949 for more information.. American Idol star Carrie Underwood, country legend George Jones, country upstarts Lonestar, and comedian Bill Engvall, will perform. On the free stage are a chimpanzee show and Chinese acrobats. The fiddle, banjo, honky-tonk piano, and barbershop quartet contests head for the free stage this year from the agricultural building.

The article that originally appeared in this section was about the Williamsport & North Branch (W&NB) Railroad. That article has now been moved to the FEATURES section.

Kellie Miller, 16, and her parents Dave and Mary Miller, need your prayers. Kellie, a member of Stillwater Christian Church, suffered a mysterious accident Wednesday, July 26. She was riding home on her bike from Church when she suffered a head injury when a foreign object struck her head from the back side. The supposition is that a truck mirror or a load being transported may have struck her as she was riding on Cemetery Road next to Ray and Judy Keeney's farm. The driver may not even know he struck her and did not stop. She managed to get home and call her parents, who were away from the house at the time.

Kellie is now home and doing quite well. Although she lost most of the hearing in her left ear, it may not be permanent. The doctors said they won't know for a while. It may be temporary and come back on its own; it may require surgery to correct it or worst case scenario is if it is caused by nerve damage it probably will be a permanent loss. She had a skull fracture and bones behind the ear were broken. Her short-term memory has improved tremendously.

The Miller family would like to thank everyone that has helped in any way. They specifically thank "Emergency personnel, those who said prayers and continue to do so, visitors, those who have given gifts, food or cards, people who are helping with the ongoing care of Kellie and for all the support we have received from anyone in anyway from the minute we made the 911 call." The family asks that people pray specifically for Kellie's hearing to return. If anybody has any information concerning the accident which happened on Cemetery Road, Stillwater, July 26 somewhere between 8 PM and 8:15 PM, please call 925-6080.

 

August 2, 2006. John Sibley celebrates his 73rd birthday today. Yesterday was so hot Back Home in Benton, PA, that I saw a dog chasing a cat and they were both walking.

We live in quite a country, a country where we accumulate junk in the garage and park our valuable cars on the street, a country where hot dogs come in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight. We take the Greek and assign words like "poli" (many) and "tics" (blood sucking creatures) and make a word we use every day. We call the slowest driving time of the day "rush hour." Doctors "practice" their profession rather than perfect their profession. The sick must walk to the back of a drug store to get a prescription and the ones who will end up sick from smoking can buy cigarettes at the front counter.

Beer drinkin' don't do half the harm of love makin'.
--Old New England proverb.

I smiled during coffee yesterday when I heard the expression "believe you me," one of Father's favorite ways of making sure that the person he was talking with knew that he was deadly serious about a point. Sentences that are not constructed in subject-verb-object order seem so out of place today, but when we have used the term since childhood it seems OK.

Readers seem to like to play games. Here is one with Noah.

We get the strangest email. A reader told us that marriage is like a three-ring circus, consisting of an engagement ring, wedding ring and suffering.

The article that originally appeared in this section was about the Williamsport & North Branch (W&NB) Railroad. That article has now been moved to the FEATURES section.

 

August 1, 2006. There are 52 days until the official start of autumn. We celebrate the birthdays today of Dr. Brian Becker, Camp Hill; Shirley Keller and Barbara King, Benton; and Seth Eyer, Millville. These folks share their birthdays with writer Herman Melville and with Washington lawyer Francis Scott Key, who wrote the lyrics for our national anthem. Music at the Benton Carnival tonight is by the Home Town Boyz.

From the Good Food and the Bad Food Department comes this...

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency reports that walnuts, already shown in some studies to reduce "bad" (LDL) cholesterol, may lower levels of a natural chemical called endothelin. The compound causes inflammation of arteries and growth of sticky deposits--called plaque--on blood vessels. These conditions contribute to heart disease. In a study using hamsters, walnuts apparently suppressed heart-artery endothelin. English walnuts, the kind sold in supermarkets, had that effect at all levels tested. Walnuts are a good source of fiber, healthful fatty acids and minerals.

• Chocolate, macadamia nuts and onions are examples of food we enjoy, but which can be fatal to pets. These foods contains chemicals which humans can handle, but can cause illness and death to a pet. Learn more by going here.

The one-room schoolhouse in Stillwater, adjacent to the Stillwater covered bridge, graduated its last student a long time ago, and is now moving on to its next role in life. Owners Bob and Sandra Kelsey are getting the steeple restored thanks in part to brother Jim and his boss, assisted by Bob when he can take time from his busy schedule. The Stillwater covered bridge is in the background on the right side.

The men are taking rough-sawed lumber and using father Ken's equipment in his wood-working shop as they reconstruct the woodwork around the steeple. A new roof will go on this year, and portions of the floor that had rotted away have been repaired. Sandra, Ken and Bob are redoing the windows across the front of the building. The old coal bin lean-to on the front of the building is being restored to its original look with another window.

The Benton High School Class of 1944 will gather at the Old Filling Station Wednesday at 11:30 AM for a reunion luncheon. Many in the class will be thinking of the youngest member, Clem Sharek. Clem's brother, Dayne, tells us that "It would appear that the initial stage of his radiation and other cancer treatment has been successful. With the exception of anticipated scar tissue, the tumor has been eliminated. The doctors and of course the family were quite ecstatic. He will continue preemptive treatment for the next year and we hope the probability of reoccurrence will be nil. The doctors have no way of giving a realistic prognosis, but we hope and pray for no reoccurrence." Clem thanks everyone for their prayers.

You may have heard about the man and his wife in the dentist's office, so skip this paragraph if you have. The man told the dentist that he was in a hurry, that he had two buddies sitting in the car waiting to go to play golf. He told the dentist to forget about the anesthetic and just pull the tooth and be done with it. He feverishly told the dentist that they had a 10 AM tee time and the time was already 9:30 so forget the anesthetic and pull it. The dentist realized that this was a very brave man to have his tooth pulled without using anything to kill the pain. The dentist asked the man to show him which tooth was bothering him. The man turned to his wife and said, "Open your mouth, Honey, and show him."

Read an interview with a former Bentonian, actress Krysten Ritter, by going here.

"The shortest distance between two points is usually under construction."
--PennDOT Law. Submitted by Larry Paul

Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up in string,
These are a few of my favorite things..

Cadillacs and cataracts and hearing aids and glasses,
Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses,
Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the pipes leak,
When the bones creak,
When the knees go bad
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad.

Hot tea and crumpets, and corn pads for bunions,
No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,
Bathrobes and heat pads and hot meals they bring,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Back pains, confused brains, and no fear of sinnin',
Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin',
And we won't mention our short shrunken frames,
When we remember our favorite things.

When the joints ache,
when the hips break,
When the eyes grow dim,
Then I remember the great life I've had,
And then I don't feel so bad.
--from a 2001 USENET newsgroup post, but frequently attributed to Julie Andrews on the occasion of her 69th birthday. Ms. Andrews sadly lost her ability to sing in 1997 in an operation to remove a non-cancerous polyp from her vocal cords and could not have sung this ditty if she wanted.

Railroads have played a small but important part in our local and state history. Pennsylvania at one time led the nation in railroad construction. Between 1809 and 1830, short tramroads were built and hauled things like coal, iron and stone as feeder roads to the canals that operated on major waterways in the state, such as the Susquehanna Canal and the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal. Horses pulled the tramroad cars on wooden tracks reinforced with iron strips. The first tramroad in the state was at Mauch Chunk.

Locally, Danville was always an iron town, with factories like the Montour Iron Works dating back to 1840--about the time that coal was substituted for charcoal in smelting iron. The first T-rail was rolled with iron ore, smelted with anthracite coal and produced at this mill in 1845.

As the switch came from "horse power" to engines there was lots of wood along the tracks to keep the trains running. Trains would both "wood up" and "water up." The fire-belching engines would often set the clothing of both the engineer and the passengers on fire, and the countryside along the tracks was usually devoid of any vegetation. Coal became more favored as a fuel after 1840 or so.

May the devil get the man that first invented the plan
To make a railroad or dig a canal;
For they ruin our plantations wherever they do cross
And they spoil our markets that you can't sell a horse.

 

August 11, 2006. Today is the birthday of Linda Cragle. Jay and Susan McHenry, Stillwater, are celebrating their anniversary, their 27th. We will be in the audience of the Irish Tenors Friday night, so there will not be a normal distribution of the Benton News for Saturday.

On this date in...
1909, the "SOS" radio distress call was first employed by an American ship, the "Arapahoe," when it got in trouble off the coast of North Carolina.

1970, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jim Bunning became the first player since Cy Young to win 100 games in both of the two major leagues. He later became a United States Senator.

1984, as President Ronald Reagan was preparing for his weekly radio broadcast, an open microphone that the President thought was off captured the President's words about his Cold War nemesis, the Soviet Union. He said, "My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you that I just signed legislation that would outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."

1994, a federal jury awarded about 10,000 commercial fishermen $286.8 million for losses suffered as a result of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.

1997, Lady Diana Spencer, former wife of Charles, Prince of Wales, and her companion Dodi Fayed were killed in a Paris car accident in which the intoxicated driver, who was also killed, was apparently attempting to escape the paparazzi following them.

Christine's Karaoke will entertain at Kameeo's Restaurant Saturday night and the following night will be at the Millville Legion.

Marcia Kay is bursting with pride now that two of her sons, Doctors Thomas E. Becker and Brian D. Becker, were named with Becker Chiropractic, Lemoyne, as "Simply the Best" in the August, 2006, issue of Harrisburg Magazine.

"With great joy," Marisa and Ted Whitenight are hosting two beautiful nineteen-year-old girls: Gaia, the great niece of Marisa, and her girlfriend, Flavia, from Rome, Italy. They recently graduated from the five-year Classical High School (Liceo Classico) in Rome in preparation for university-level studies. They graduated "first in their class, receiving 100% in all their subjects." They came to America as a present for their excellent achievement in school. The girls have visited our high and elementary schools--"no comparison to the city schools in Rome" which are ancient and poorly equipped. In the three weeks that they have been here, they have been to Lake Jean, ridden a paddle boat and enjoyed an American picnic. They have been to Harrisburg and Hershey and American shopping centers. They have toured Philadelphia, Niagara Falls and Washington, DC. Marisa tells us that the girls love America and especially the Bentonians with "their warm ways and kindness."

Now that the dog days of summer are over, I wonder why it is that the creeks still look the same as they did in the middle of July. To me, "dog days" have nothing to do with the dog star Sirius or that dogs were supposed to be more likely to get rabid during this period. Dog days simply meant to me that the creeks filled with green, slimy moss-like material as stagnant water slowed to a trickle. Walking on the round creek stones became impossible; everything was slippery and dangerous in the creek. That was my definition of "dog days."

Fishingcreek has changed courses many times over my lifetime--within the general confines of its banks, of course. I remember when there was an island in the middle of the creek downstream from where I grew up. The water on one side of the island was slow moving and deep. The other side of the island was shallow, fast moving and filled with round rocks, which we called "goonies," almost impossible to cross when dog days arrived.

Eddie Baker lived on the opposite side of the creek and we were best of friends. If Ed was on "my" side of the creek, he would have lunch with us. On "his" side of the creek, I would eat with the Raymond Baker family. We never knocked when we entered our friend's house. If Eddie was learning how to make a slingshot, we would make two. If I figured that a tree should be laid across the rocks to make navigating the creek a little easier, both of us would do it. We took mud, old logs and stones and made dams. Flat rocks became stepping stones. Our faded, cut-off jeans were our working clothes, our swimming suits and the clothes we wore to supper or do the chores.

We spent many hours making grapevine swings, and we played "Tarzan" a lot. We spent long hours trying to figure how a grape vine grew to the top of a tree and how it could be used as a swing. Our favorite grapevines let us drop in the deep swimming holes of the creek. We knew all the great places to swim south of the railroad bridge, down to where West Creek emptied into Fishingcreek.

We found a long piece of twisted metal rope that had long and faithfully served as a way of keeping cars from going off the road, and we fashioned it into a sort of rope line across the creek. We secured it to two trees, one on each side of the creek. After fastening it tightly, we cinched up the other end with brother Dayne's John Deere A. When we attempted to secure the other side, so that we could make a walkway across the deep part of the creek, we found that we were about ten feet short. Back to square one. We then, with a lot of help from an older generation, made a bucket in which one person could sit, suspended from a pulley attached to the cable. We would then pull ourselves back and forth across the creek by tugging on a rope line. We really didn't go anywhere, but it was fun. I still have days like that!

High water often deposited things that needed investigating. Once, a building washed up on the island and we set out to get all the old inner tubes that we could get from the Doyle Sutliff garage and from J.C. Knouse's garage. We made a platform out of the timbers from the building and boxed in the inner tubes and began to tow each other back and forth across the creek on the raft by pulling on the cable we had strung across the creek. It was a one-person raft. If two people were successful in getting on one side the raft would suddenly dip and submerge and then shoot out like a cannon leaving everyone struggling in the water.

The dog days that I knew and loved are long gone for me. I don't float down the creek staring at the suckers and the trout swimming lazily below me these days. I only generally know where the swimming holes were, and now the creek has completely changed following the No-Name storm of late July. The island in the creek is gone, Eddie has moved away and actually has grandchildren, the raft and the cable are history, I would be afraid to climb on a grapevine or dive into the water from a buttonwood or from the height of the old railroad bridge. Dog-gone! Dog days are really over.

August 10, 2006. There are 43 days until the official start of Autumn. It is the birthday today of Erika Lenbergs, Jermey Griffith, Ken Sutton and Marcia Becker. Today is the birthday of Herbert Hoover, born in Iowa in 1874, son of a Quaker blacksmith. He ran for president in 1928 and within the year the 1929 stock market crash sent the country into the economic collapse.

Didja know that during the American Revolution, the Continental Congress issued a three-dollar bill with the motto Exitus in Dubio Est, which translates to "The Outcome Is in Doubt."

Don't forget to visit the North Mountain Fire Company carnival that runs this week through Saturday and then resumes August 17-19. Christine's Karaoke entertains tonight. Down in Orangeville, the Masonic Fun Fair and Flea Market is back, through Sunday. You can't miss it on Route 487 North of the Borough.

Tonight at the home of Helen Raski, 65 Raski Road, is the monthly Country Cultivator meeting. This is a highly recommended group for anyone who loves to plant and "to garden."

The "dog days of August" takes on new meaning at the annual Keystone Cluster Dog Shows Friday through Sunday from 8 AM to 5 PM in the Expo Hall of the state Farm Show.

For all those who have been keeping Bob Thomas in their prayers, the doctors tell him that his tumor is benign. The surgeons will now decide if the "tissue mass" must be removed surgically. Bob says, "We will get some sleep tonight" referring to his medical condition. Regretfully, he faces other problems. The same night his cabin was broken in and almost everything was either stolen or trashed.

That Detroit bunch! Just as the price of gasoline "goes through the roof" with all indications that prices will not go down again in our lifetime, that Detroit bunch decides to bring out a Firebelch 500 like the 325-horsepower version of the Ford Shelby GT, the luxury Lincoln MKS, and update the muscle car Chevrolet Camaro. Ford or Chrysler sell no subcompact cars in the United States,

Thursday's Press Enterprise publishes the 2006 entertainment schedule for the Bloomsburg Fair. Acts scheduled to appear include a Figure 8 race, Dierks Bentley with Miranda Lambert, Nickelodeon show, Patriotic Pop and Praise by Bloomsburg's Bicentennial Choir, George Jones, Trace Adkins and Chris Cagle, Carrie Underwood with Andy Griggs, Lonestar, Horse, tractor and trailer pulling, Bill Engvall and a Demolition Derby.

Steve Herzig, from Friends of Israel, will be the guest speaker at Bible Baptist Church, Benton, on Sunday, August 13. The time of the services are Sunday School 9:15 AM, morning service, 10:30 AM and evening service 7 PM. Mr. Herzig will be speaking on Israel and prophecy and what is happening in Israel today and how it relates to the Bible. Bible Baptist Church is located on Rt. 239S next to the Benton Township Building. For more information contact Pastor Paul Moseley, Sr., 925-2592.

August 9, the 221st day of they year. Happy birthday to Doug Deitrick. There is a full moon tonight, known as the Full Sturgeon moon, dating back to native American tribes who felt they could best catch sturgeon from the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain during this full moon. Other Indian tribes referred to it as the Full Green Corn moon or the Full Grain moon.

On this date in...
1173, construction began on the (Leaning) Tower of Pisa, and it took two centuries to complete.

1945, an atomic bomb, code named "Fat Man," is dropped on the city of Nagasaki, Japan, killing an estimated 70,000-90,000 people.

1974, Richard Nixon becomes the first President of the United States to resign from office. His Vice President, Gerald Ford, become president.

I can remember how upset I got when campgrounds and other locations began removing pay phones. Now an ordinance proposed by a Wilkes-Barre city councilwoman would shut down outdoor pay phones in some areas of that city. The phones are apparently being used for drug transactions and by prostitutes. The way we're going, five years from now none of us will have land-based telephones.

Tuesday was one of those days where too much had to be done and too little time was available to do it. With 15 minutes to go until an appointment in Bloomsburg, then a meeting and another quick trip, the front doorbell rang. A smiling couple stood on the front porch. They held out a newspaper as a way of greeting. They wanted me to see an article in the Angelica (New York) Booster News entitled, "Hunt for VanCampen's grave leaves Pennsylvania visitor all wet."

The couple was from Angelica, New York, Richard and Marilyn Warner, previous owners of the former home of Moses Van Campen. They came with a copy of the newspaper article and an invitation to return to Angelica when it wasn't raining and people could show me around town.

The article from their local paper pretty much quoted my recent trip to Angelica in search of Moses Van Campen's grave (ARCHIVES, June 2, 2006). Van Campen's tombstone is a plain marble slab in the cemetery known as "Until the Day Dawn" Cemetery, Angelica, New York. The stone bears this inscription, much of which is almost illegible: "Moses Van Campen, died Oct. 15, 1849, Aged 92 Years & 9 Mos." The Hubbard & Minard's Van Campen biography says the following is also on the tombstone: "The notes of war are hushed/The rage of battle o'er/The warrior is at rest/He hears our praise no more. The soldier nobly fought/For all we dearly love/He fought to gain a heavenly crown/And now he reigns above."

Van Campen's tombstone (Picture courtesy of Vinnie Hippensteel)

The editor even added this postscript to the article in his paper: We are sending a copy of this issue to Benton, PA, and inviting the editor of 'the News from Back Home' to visit Angelica for Heritage Days. This year's tour of the Historic District will wind up with a visit to 'Until the Day Dawn' Cemetery and, we're sure, a stop at Van Campen's final resting place.

The Warners headed back for New York state after our cordial, but short, meeting, but not before they proposed that it might be interesting to have a bus load of people from Columbia County come to Angelica to see how Moses lived the second part of his life. They in turn would send a bus of people here to see how the famous Indian fighter lived the first part of his life. I advanced the idea to the Columbia County Historical Society Tuesday evening, who will in turn mull it over as a spring possibility.

Quickies...
. State Route 239 between Nescopeck and Wapwallopen will close beginning tomorrow for about a month while a retaining wall is replaced. Shoulder repair work continues to take place on Mossville Road, Volanski Road and Old Country Road in Fairmount Township.

. British Petroleum announced Monday that they just shut down the biggest oil field in the United States in Alaska's Prudhoe Bay. That single oil field represents a whopping 8% of U.S. production. As a result, oil prices, which were causing inflation to soar, are now surging even further. BP will replace 16 miles of pipeline and production could be closed for months. Oil prices promptly rose by more than $2 a barrel, boosting gasoline prices. Locally, gas prices are within one tenth of one cent of hitting $3 a gallon at D.R.'s QuickMart. Gas in some parts of Bradford County are at the $3.09 level and we are seeing the same prices between here and Harrisburg.

. Brothers Steve and Jeremy Kerr were killed over the weekend in two separate motorcycle accidents only a hundred yards apart on the same highway in Butler County in Western Pennsylvania. Neither were wearing helmets.

. There will be an ice cream festival at St. James Church on Saturday, August 19, beginning at 4 PM.

• A drama night is coming up at the Stillwater Christian Church produced by the youth drama team headed up by Kerry Christie and Annie Groff. There are about ten to twelve teens in the group and they have put a lot of time into creating and performing these dramas. The title of the performance August 13 is Your Christian Walk through Life. It all happens at 6 PM.

• Here is Gracie Allen's classic recipe for roast beef. The ingredients are one large roast of beef and one small roast of beef. Take the two roasts and put them in the oven. When the little one burns, the big one is done.

The North Mountain Fire Company will hold their carnival on August 10-12 and August 17-19. The entertainment will be by Christine's Karaoke on Thursday, August 10; the Saturday Nite Blue on Friday, August 11; and Ramble's on Saturday, August, 12. The following week, the entertainment will be by McNell Country on Thursday, August 17, Hickory Rose, Friday, August 18; and Appalachian Nites on Saturday, August 19. The Firemen's Parade takes place Saturday, August 19, beginning at 5:30 PM. The Fire Hall opens for food at 4:30 each afternoon, and the food stands open at 5:30. The folks in the Raccoon Club will be serving the french fries. There are nightly drawings at 10:30.

Old Thomas Jefferson was right on when he said I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more luck I have.

The Northern Columbia County Town Watch was formed in April, 2006. The organization meets the second and fourth Monday of every month at the Benton United Methodist Church. Their mission is to assist law enforcement agencies through diligent observation of community activities. The group is currently working together in Benton Borough but are not limited to that area. There are members from Sugarloaf Township and Stillwater Borough as well. The group welcomes everyone from the Northern Columbia County area to participate. Quoting Kelly O'Brien Gavin, Northern Columbia County Town Watch President, "Together communities can make a difference."

The Benton Borough Council presented the Northern Columbia County Town Watch with a check for $750 to purchase supplies and get the organization up and running. This is the second check given to the organization. The first check, for $250, assisted the organization in applying for for 501(c) tax status and to help with other needed expenses.

John Jankowski, Benton Borough Town Council President, Jan Swan, Mayor of Benton Borough Benton Patrolman, Michael Kreischer, Kelly O'Brien Gavin, Northern Columbia County Town Watch President, Dan Jankowski, Northern Columbia County Town Watch Vice President

 

 

August 8, 2006. Happy birthday to Shawn Becker. For the next three weeks, distribution of the Benton News in web and email versions will not follow any schedule. In fact, some days we may not even publish. We'll return to a somewhat routine distribution about the time school begins for the fall.

On this date in...
• 1863, General Robert E. Lee sent a letter of resignation to Confederate President Jefferson Davis, which was refused.

• 1945, the United Nations Charter was ratified by the United States, which becomes the third nation to join.

• 2008, the summer games of the XXIX Olympiad will begin with the opening ceremony in Beijing, China.

Didja hear about the lady over on the old R.D. 3 that came into town to see a banker about getting a loan to build a bathroom? She didn't know much about banks or bankers, and she was a little nervous. She got right to the point. "I want to borrow a thousand dollars to put a bathroom in my house."

Cautiously, the bank official responded, and said, "I don't believe that I know you. Where have you done your business before?"

"Oh, in the summer out in the knot weeds and in the winter over behind the maple tree."

The Benton Argus ran a series in 1951 of people "You Should Know." Each week, a photograph and a short article would appear about a person of significance in the community.

The Benton News is going to do the same thing over the coming year. Readers are welcome to submit their suggestions for persons of significance that our community should know more about. The person can be either living or dead. Simply submit your nomination of a recommended person with a photograph (which will be returned) or a photo sent by email of that person. A short statement about the person should accompany the photo along with a point of contact and phone number so I can "fill in the holes" if there are any.

Participation is strictly voluntary, but it would be greatly appreciated. I can be reached by email or by phone at 925-6974 if you have questions. The collection of people will eventually be included in the FEATURES section of the Benton News.

We begin our series today with A.J. Hartman.

A.J. was included in the "You Should Know" column of the Benton Argus May 10, 1951. The description read, "Mr. Hartman is an outstanding resident of the community. He is associated with the Harrington & Co. Milk Plant here, a position he has held for many years. He is active in community affairs and was a former president of the Benton Fire Company. He is a director of the Bloomsburg Elks and is a member of many organizations. Mr. Hartman can always be counted on to do his part in any community project."

A Living History Weekend-Civil War encampment will take place at Eckley Miners' Village on August 19 and 20 with hands-on activities, period demonstrations and re-enactments that will take you back to the days of the Civil War. Stories will be told about soldier's lives, women's roles as civilians, nurses, and what it was like to be a child during that time period. Activities will run from 10 AM to 5 PM each day. For more information, call 570 636-2070.

On Saturday, July 5, the "kids" of the Walters, Griffith, Williams and Nungessor families gathered at the "Perry swimming hole," Elk Grove, for a reunion. Just like in the old days, the menu included hot dogs and fried potatoes. In those endless days of summer in the 50's and 60's, Jeannie Walters would build a fire in a circle of stones, put an old metal rack from a refrigerator over the fire and fry potatoes in a cast iron pan.

There would be hot dogs to roast and Kool Aid to drink. Now that the Elk Grove kids are all in their 50's and 60's, heart conditions and arthritis have made them environmentally responsible--no open fires, so the potatoes were fried in a cast iron pan in Jeannie's kitchen and the hot dogs were cooked on a gas grill. These older kids shivered as the teens jumped into frigid Fishing Creek remembering how it was "back then."

The reunion started with everyone gathered around Jeannie's kitchen table with their old photos and memories. The picnic supper was over at the "crick" where they lingered until the last bit of daylight. Terry Griffith told of how he became a member of the Griffith family, claiming that his father, Joe Griffith, owner of the Elk Grove Inn accepted him as payment for a bar bill. Terry was exchanged for two six packs, according to the story.

Attending the reunion were Jeannie Walters, Elk Grove, and her children, Roxie, Bethlehem; Kathy, Catawissa; Jim, Grassmere; and son-in-law, Butch Janney; Carole Zeistloft and Terry Griffith, Newark, Delaware; Larry and Kelly Williams, Nottingham, Pennsylvania, along with their children, Katie and Amber; Gloria Williams' son, Kevin; Bonnie Nungessor, Bloomsburg; and Libby Lewis, Benton.

 

August 7, the 219th day of the year. The Northern Hemisphere is considered to be halfway through the summer on this day. We celebrate the birthdays today of James Fox, Rod Pennington, Terry Griffith, and William Mather. Bill is the former postmaster of Benton from January 31, 1958, until Gary Strauch took over August 20, 1983. Today is the 64th birthday of Prairie Home Companion storyteller and host Garrison Keillor.

On this date in...
• 1789, the United States War Department was established and Henry Knox was named Secretary of War. He was placed in charge of the army, a collection of about 840 men.

• 1794, the Whiskey Rebellion began. The uprising had begun in June of 1794 when farmers in western Pennsylvania and throughout the Appalachians refused to pay the federal excise tax on whiskey. The farmer's primary crop was grain, and the cheapest way of marketing it was in the form of whiskey. The tax was about 25% of the going price of a quart of whiskey. The farmers argued that whiskey was a viable medium of exchange. The Government argued that the tax was a legitimate source of revenue. Commander-in-Chief Washington gathered 12,500 militiamen; the farmers dispersed, and by May of 1795 the uprising had essentially gone away.

I have a friend who claims that although whiskey won't cure a cold, it is the best way of failing... Bob Thomas' Granddaddy used to say the best treatment for a cold was "Take the juice of a bottle of Whiskey" as needed. This will not cure a cold but you'll forget about it.

Didja know that it is a no-no to use double negatives and when dangling from a sentence, one should always avoid leaving a participle. And never begin a sentence with a conjunction and never say "never" and always avoid "always." One should never verbify nouns and a preposition should never be used to end a sentence with. Joan Rivers summed it up in 1989 during a commencement address she delivered at her daughter Melissa's graduation from the University of Pennsylvania. She said, "You're college graduates now, so use your education. Remember--it isn't who you know, it's whom."

The Borough Council meets tonight at 7 PM at the Benton Volunteer Fire Company. The public is invited to attend these meetings.

Speaking of the Borough Council, we watch the efforts with interest to make the Borough and other parts of the upper Fishingcreek valley a beautiful place to live. The planting of flowers, the hanging of banners, the cleaning up of public property seem to be a one-person effort to make Benton beautiful. The trouble is that a few landlords are irresponsible money grabbers who care little for their property and less for the neighborhood. Two years ago we tried to get the Borough Council to do something about houses with no gutters or downspouts that pour water into adjacent basements, houses with accumulated debris, mobile homes parks that become breeding grounds for drug trafficking. To paraphrase Justice Stewart, who presided over the case of Jacobellis VS Ohio, "I can't define pornography, but I know it when I see it." I can't define the improvements that need to be made to the mobile home parks in the Borough or to the tenant-occupied properties, but I know what I see doesn't measure up to what our community standards should be. The fact is that in the last three years, not a single related ordinance has been passed by the Borough to bring our community on a par with surrounding communities.

We believe...
• A more conscientious attempt to improve the housing conditions in the Borough of Benton should be undertaken by all residents including town council, tenants and owners and led by Town Council.
• Existing ordinances should be enforced, or, if not an effective and needed ordinance, disposed of.
• Owners of rental property should be required to apply for an occupancy license, which town council can refuse if properties are not kept to an acceptable community level. It is time to clamp down on the minority who don't play by the rules. The attitude of some owners means some tenants are putting up with poor conditions in unsafe, overcrowded properties, and neighboring properties suffer from the blight caused by these landlords.
• Landlords should face prosecution and fines if they fail to meet standards of safety and quality established as a norm for the community. Good landlords would have nothing to fear from this law, but bad ones should have everything to fear if they do not conform to density standards, maintain fire, safety, toilet and cooking facilities.
• Neighbors should have a right to peaceful enjoyment of their homes, and problems with noise and rubbish should attain the same level of attention as other infractions of the law.
• Landlords not complying with the same standards for payment of taxes and water assessments as the general population should have their occupancy permits revoked.
• Density standards should be developed and enforced.

We recommend...
• Tenants with landlord problems make every effort to resolve them with the landlord. Landlords with tenant problems should make every effort to resolve them with the tenant.
• A review of county and town zoning requirements, looking at compliance issues.
• Consider an occupancy permit requirement for new tenancy.

 

August 6, 2006. Happy birthday today to Dr. Tom Becker, Camp Hill, and Joyce Keller, the unofficial Mayor of Iklertown. (The village of Iklertown [or Eichleretown, as it was once called] is within the borough of Stillwater.) These fine people share their birthday with the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson, and with the man who discovered penicillin, Sir Alexander Fleming, born in Scotland in 1881. Back in 1928, Fleming noticed that a culture of bacteria had been accidentally contaminated by a green mold called Penicillium notatum, and around the mold there was a circle where the bacteria couldn't grow.

On this date in...
• 1890, Denton "Cy" Young pitched in his first major league baseball game for the Cleveland Spiders. Young won a total of 511 games, averaging more than 23 victories over 22 seasons playing for Cleveland, St. Louis, and Boston. He pitched three no-hitters, and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937. The Cy Young Award was established in 1956 and from 1967 on, Cy Young awards have been presented to the best pitcher from each major league.

• 1918, the second battle of the Marne ended during World War I about 75 miles northeast of Paris. In the Second Battle of Marne some 30,000 Americans were killed or wounded.

The Wheeler and Wilson Company was an early pioneer of the American sewing machine industry. The company was formed in 1851, and manufactured machines in Watertown, New York. The company moved to Bridgeport, CT, in 1856 and was renamed the Wheeler and Wilson Manufacturing Company. They continued in production until they were taken over by the Singer company in 1905.

How does this apply to us, you ask? Well back in 1865, an unusual story is told about the "Wheeler and Wilson Oil Speculation." A man named Hadley put "oil balls" in a spring on top of Red Rock Mountain. The oil floated on the surface and someone from Wheeler and Wilson became interested in this phenomenon. They financed an estimated $40,000 project to drill for oil and in 1865 and 1866 drilled 2,100 ft. at what became Lake Rose and 1,900 feet "on the Farm." According to the version of the story that we heard, Hadley departed for Canada and was never caught.

Johnny Cash (1932-2003), American country music singer and husband of June Carter, a member of the traditional country vocal ensemble known as the Carter Family that sang on his tours, toured the United States in a MCI tour bus from 1979 to 2003.

The bus known as "JC Unit 1" is now owned by vintage coach collector Dave Wright, Pinehurst, North Carolina. The coach has now been cleaned, repaired and partially replaced. Windows, carpeting and upholstery were replaced. The alligator-skin wall material in the bathroom is back. The stereo system, VCR and inverter are new.

Johnny Cash paid $553,000 and used it for all of his tours. Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson and many more have traveled with him..

As you might expect, the bus owned by the Man in Black is mostly black inside and out. The rear stateroom is made of wood that came from Johnny Cash’s farm in Tennessee and is outfitted in a pair of sleeper sofas. There are four separate rooms in the motor home, all with their own TVs, VCRs and radios. The center galley includes a sink, stove, refrigerator, freezer and dinette. The engine in the bus, its second, has 370,000 miles on it.

The bus is currently being used by The Tennessee Three, Johnny Cash’s band for nearly four decades, as they tour in the show "The Sound Must Go On."

The 2006 Benton Volunteer Firemen's Carnival parade took place Saturday night in front of a delighted (and wet) crowd. The best quote that we heard was, "500 were not enough," referring to the number of ballons filled with water that the drenched man had. Everyone loves to come Back Home to Benton, PA, for the annual Firemen's Parade, which always takes place on the last night of the Firemen's Carnival. Last night, fire units from Millville, Orangeville, Summer Hill, Bloomsburg, North Mountain, Catawissa, Unityville, Chew's Landing, Forksville, Columbia County Rescue Task Force, Huntington Valley, a Seagrave private engine from the Sutcliff Family, Espy, Mifflin, Nescopeck, Southside, Fairmount Springs, Shickshinny, Luzerne County Fire Task Force and Benton participated in the fun event. Fire trucks representing companies from North Mountain south to Catawissa and west from Millville to the state of New Jersey strutted through the parade. The parade also included the Mayor of Benton, enough students so that technically the high school band marched, the Catawissa marching band, pets and toys and lots more. The officers of the Benton Volunteer Fire Company thanked everyone who attended the 2006 carnival, all of the organizations and individuals who donated their time, material and energy and all the visiting firemen. And while we are handing out thanks to all of the organizations and people that made the week a success, we might as well pass out the kudos for the various fire companies that participated last night... . Newest apparatus in service: Shickshinny, 175 . Oldest apparatus in service: Bloomsburg Light, 38 . Longest traveled: Chews Landing, New Jersey, 161 miles from Benton via I-80 and I-476. Chief Command Unit 82, their 32nd year of traveling to the Benton Carnival. . Best privately owned fire truck: 1963 Seagrave, Sutcliffe Family. . Best appearing tanker: Tanker 312, Summer Hill. . Best appearing ambulance: Nescopeck . The best appearing engine: Catawissa's E57. . The best appearing engine/rescue: Rescue Pumper: Huntington 325 . The best appearing rescue: Rescue 266, North Mountain. . Best special unit: Collapse 1, Columbia County Rescue T Force. . Overall best appearing unit, Ladder 185 . Best in the water battle, Orangeville Fire Company. In a category all their own, we award the "Good Neighbor" award to Christine and Terry Strausser, Orangeville. Terry is the Fire Chief of the Orangeville Fire Company and well known behind the counter at Steve Shannon Tire Company, Mill Street. There was a crush of people at the rodeo grounds Saturday night following the carnival and Terry and Christine jumped into the french fry stand and worked just as though they were donating their time to their own fire company.
Corey Bowman gets his bazooka primed for the parade.
Orangeville and Shickshinny let loose with all the water power they could muster. As more trucks passed down Main Street, the water running down the street reminded us of the No-Name Storm of late July.
Roger English and the people on his porch were drenched. Across the street, a barrage of water was thrown.
Not all the water that was thrown came from fire trucks or from water ballons. This contraption pumped water for multiple hoses and from what we hear the water was not too warm.

 

August 5, 2006. On this date in 1962, Marilyn Monroe died in Los Angeles, apparently from an overdose of sleeping pills. On this date in 1974, President Richard Nixon admitted he withheld information about the Watergate break-in. His resignation came three days later.

Jerry Seinfeld is coming back to the F.M. Kirby Center, Saturday, September 16, for two shows. Tickets will go on sale to Kirby Center members starting Monday at 10 AM through the Kirby Center Box Office. If you are not a member and would like to join, call 570-823-4599, ext. 281 Monday to Friday from 9 AM to 4 PM.

Garrison Keillor told the one about cops finding a man dead, squeezed to death by his pet boa constrictor. They listed the cause of death as "a reptile dysfunction."

The Huntington Mills Fire Department is having a craft show and flea market on the fire hall grounds Saturday, August 5, from 8-3. There will be many vendors, fresh produce, live rabbits, flea market items, an artist who paints on turkey feathers, saws, and maybe even your forehead. Come out support your local fire company who do so much for the community. This will be a monthly event, as long as the weather holds. If you would like to become a vendor and join us, please contact Ralph or Nina Ford at 864-2336.

"There are old pilots and there are bold pilots. There are no old, bold pilots."
--E. Hamilton Lee, 1949

We include upcoming events on the side panel of the Benton News, including these especially interesting items coming up at Ricketts Glen State Park...

• Friday August 11, 7 PM, "The ghost town of Ricketts." Venture back into time to another era when the old town of Ricketts was booming! Find out what happened on Red Rock Mountain over 100 years ago. and how it became a ghost town. Meet at the parking lot of the Visitor's Center with your vehicle and a flashlight, for a drive into the past!

• Saturday, August 12, 7:30 PM, "The Woodland Indians of Northeast Pennsylvania." Dori Panzer, Docent Coordinator at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, is the special guest speaker, Come early to the amphitheater to get a good seat!

• Saturday, August 26, 7:30 PM, "Living the life of a Lenapi." Darius Puff of
the Lenapi tribe will present some interesting Native American stories, demonstrations, and artifacts on the Leni Lenapi tribes that hunted these areas long before the Europeans arrived; held at the amphitheater.

As we move into late summer, I remember back to my childhood. A couple of weeks would be entirely devoted to putting up the garden's yield in quart-sized Mason jars, then storing them in the "laundry room" where the bounty of summers past were stored. Mother didn't lay in supplies of canned fruits and vegetables to make ends meet, although she had no income of her own. Resources were sparse and Mother was getting up in years, but still the canning process and the drying of corn occupied her time during this part of August. When it came time to eat the preserves or the jelly or the canned string beans, jars with the oldest date would be located on the shelves and consumed first, but often what was eaten was up to five years old. Not being a fan of string beans or of hard work, I pleaded with her to take the summer off, but the notion was unthinkable. The argument that the IGA would sell the same thing if we ran out didn't hold water.

Tomato juice from the canning cellar of Lee and Carolyn Remley

People didn't come to our house without eating. Mother would take visitors to the kitchen, put on her apron and remove her sun bonnet, head for the laundry room and bring out vegetables. She often took a chicken that a few hours before had been strutting around the property and would prepare it "real particular."

Canning was in Mother's blood, the August ritual she so loved, a carryover from her days in her grandmother's kitchen in Nescopeck. There never seemed to be a recipe, the preparation just flowed. The hot, humid August days when others would pack up and head for the mountains or the seashore were days when Mother insisted on standing over the hot cook stove laying away those special gifts for her Sunday dinners, or for the visiting clergymen, or for kinfolk who stopped in, or for dropping off in the church basement for "those in need." Starting as the sun came up, we would weed in the darkness of the morning in order to avoid the midday heat. Bedtime came shortly after the sun set, except for Father who dozed in his living room chair in the darkness listening to the Phillies baseball games.

I once neglected to inform Mother until the last minute that I had to take a present to school for a classmate. The teacher had decided that everyone in the class should exchange presents, but I had forgotten to mention that fact at home. I was mortified when Mother said that I would have to take a jar of elderberry jelly to the party. Mortified! Faced with the alternative of no present, the jar of jelly seemed like the only way out. The party exchanges produced handmade slingshots, a picture of something or someone of significance, toys, an article of clothing--and a jar of elderberry jelly. The little boy who received the jelly, a product of a family of sparse means and a mother who apparently didn't can, was thrilled and proudly took his prize home to share with his family. At my age, I knew all the answers. How could Mother have been right on this and I was so wrong? The mother of the little boy dropped by the house a month or so later and thanked Mother for the gift of the jelly. Thank Mother? Heavens, I am the one that gave my classmate the jelly!

The two women talked and talked, and I remember that Mother sent her home with a loaf of freshly baked bread and a jar of jelly--the precious jelly that Mother's forbearers had taught her how to make. It suddenly dawned on me that the jelly I loved to eat at every meal might soon be in short supply.

Some of the fruit and vegetables in the canning cellar of Lee and Carolyn Remley

 

August 4, 2006. Doggone! Dog Days are hot this summer! Roxie Walters celebrates her birthday in Elk Grove today. Ron and Faye Igou celebrate their wedding anniversary. On this date in 1693, a monk named Dom Perignon invented champagne at the Benedictine Abbey of Hautvillers in the region of Champagne, northern France. His first champagne was made by re-fermenting wine in the spring and then placing it in sealed bottles to make the wine sparkling.

AOL says they may sign on broadband users to use their service on a free basis, on the condition that the users subject themselves willingly to advertisements. Now let's see if I understand this. I have a perfectly clean broadband connection and a company wants to come along and put crap--oops, excuse me--free software on my computer that will protect me from a company that would put crap--oops, free software--on my computer. How is this different from spyware protecting us from a competitor's spyware? How come AOL doesn't know that users don't want advertising-laden software to get themselves online. Thanks, AOL, but I turn down your generous offer!

Elmer H. Young, 85, the former owner and operator of Young's Garage, Orangeville, for more than 30 years and Young's Bus Lines for more than 25 years, died Wednesday evening. Mr. Young (December 23, 1920-August 2, 2006) lived at 253 Benton Manor Drive, Benton. He was born in Mt. Pleasant Township, a son of the late Charles and Amanda (Swisher) Young. He attended Bloomsburg schools. He was preceded in death by his two wives: Lois I. (Fritz) Young in 1966 and by Lillian I. (Neufer) McHenry Young in February, 2006. His five children survive: Shirley K. Broadt (Kenneth), Lightstreet; Rose B. Taylor (Ronald D.), Mifflinville; Audrey F. Terwilliger (Fred), Mifflinville; Elmer Danny Young, Forks; Galen B. Young, Springfield, Massachusetts. Others surviving include step-children Donna K. Kreisher (William S.), Bloomsburg; Sally E. Patacconi (Anthony), New Cumberland; Patricia J. Burkland (Jeffrey), Bloomsburg. A visitation will be held Saturday at 10 AM at the McMichael Funeral Home, Inc. with his funeral service at 11 AM. Burial will be in the Waller Cemetery.
--Obituary from McMichael Funeral Home. A complete obituary can be found in today's Press Enterprise.

Kristopher Allen Newhart, infant son of Dean A. and Kelly K. (Peters) Newhart died Tuesday, August 1, 2006. In addition to his parents he is survived by his maternal grandmother, Jeanette L. (Sutton) Peters, Stillwater, and paternal grandparents, Franklin G. and Sarah M. (Foust) Newhart of Benton. He was preceded in death by his Maternal Grandfather, Harry H. Peters. Graveside services will be at the convenience of the family at St. Gabriel's Cemetery
--Obituary from McMichael Funeral Home. A complete obituary can be found in today's Press Enterprise.

Jessica Elizabeth Zettle, 21, (Oct. 26, 1984-Aug. 2, 2006) 14 Zettle Road, Shickshinny, died Wednesday as a result of an automobile accident on Route 118 in Sugarloaf Township. She was the daughter of Timothy and Susanna (Mazonkey) Zettle, Shickshinny. She graduated from Northwest High School in 2003 and from Wilkes-Barre Vo-Tech in 2006 as a licensed practical nurse. She was employed by Bloomsburg Health Care. Jessica is survived by her parents, Timothy and Susanna (Mazonkey) Zettle, Shickshinny; paternal grandmother, Evelyn Zettle, Huntington Mills; maternal grandparents, Stanley and Betty Mazonkey, Shickshinny; daughter, Lilly Lane, at home; brother, Timothy T. Zettle II, Shickshinny; fiancé, Aaron Wandell, Benton; and godparents, Tony and Karen Mazonkey. A visitation will be held Sunday, August 6, from 6 to 8 PM. at the Mayo Funeral Home Inc., 77 N. Main St., Shickshinny. Funeral services will begin at 11 AM Monday, Aug. 7, 2006, from Christ The King Catholic Church, Mendenhall Lane, Benton, with the Rev. Alfred P. Sceski officiating. A private internment will be at the convenience of the family. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions to a memorial fund for the care of Lilly Lane, c/o Susanna Zettle, 14 Zettle Road, Shickshinny, PA 18655.
--Obituary from the Press Enterprise, where a complete obituary can be found

The Bloomsburg University Alumni Players opened the comedy "Murder in the Magnolias" last night at Carver Hall’s charming Gross Auditorium at the upper end of Main Street, Bloomsburg. The cast and crew put in a lot of work on this show and it shows! The show is a farce based in the South, and comes right out and bends words freely from the works of Tennessee Williams, Margaret Mitchell and others.

The play takes place at Belle Acres, a run-down plantation in Tudball County in an unnamed Southern state. Colonel Rance Chickenwing, the owner of the plantation, mysteriously drops dead, and the remaining family gathers at the plantation to hear the reading of the Colonel’s will. There’s the Colonel’s sister, Amanda Chickenwing, a daffy gardener whose plants have minds of their own, played by Audra dePrisco who in real life is a teacher at the Greenwood Friends School and recovering from a bad case of poison ivy. Other characters include Bubba Kamrowski, Thornbird Chickenwing III (played by Mark Boberick, who has designed sets for the past six years for Northwest High School) and Blanche DuBlank. There is a slovenly housekeeper named Jezebel, an actress whose career is in the skids and her personal secretary, a public works engineer who’s too smart for his own good, a beefsteak sheriff on a power trip, and a voodoo witch with a Howard Stern look-alike wig played to perfection by Jim Sachetti, editor of the Press Enterprise.

The air-conditioned show goes on again tonight at 8 PM, plus Saturday, August 5, Friday, August 11, Saturday, August 12 with a matinee on Sunday, August 13. We were pleased last night with the number of people who attended from the upper Fishingcreek valley. Tickets are sold at the door and we predict you'll love it when you see it.

Anyone in your family who likes golf will like this game. Don't like golf? You'll still like this game.

The McHenry family reunion is now scheduled for Briar Creek Lake, in the Evansville area, on Saturday, August 12, 2006. From Route 93 outside Berwick, turn at the stone church and cemetery. The meal time is noon. An original McHenry shot glass will be auctioned and there will be special door prizes. The excitement is also building for the 25th McHenry anniversary celebration next year. Details on the surprise of this reunion will be provided August 12.

The article that originally appeared in this section was about the Williamsport & North Branch (W&NB) Railroad. That article has now been moved to the FEATURES section.

 

August 3, 2006. Terry Hack turns 55 today. It is also the anniversary of Rick and Maryann Bardo. On this date in 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed from Palos de la Frontera, Spain, leading ships Nina, Pinta, and Santa Maria and a crew of about 90 men. The crew headed for "Cathay" (Asia) and ended up in Guanahani, San Salvador, an island in the Bahamas about two months later.

Quickies...
• If you were in Philadelphia yesterday looking for the former location of the Lord & Taylor and the John Wanamaker store you would have found a new 141,000 square feet Macy's department store. The store opened Wednesday.

• "Cuba Sí, Castro No!" and Se Acabó!" -- "It's Over!" seemed to be the report out of Cuba yesterday as ailing Fidel Castro temporarily yielded power in Cuba to his brother Raul

• The weather was too beastly hot Wednesday to hold the Pet and Toy Parade. It was simply too hot for kids and their pets to walk around town. The Pet and Toy Parade will be part of the Benton Carnival parade on Saturday. Kids who want to walk in the parade with their pets will be able to do so and get back to Main Street in time for the water battle.

Upcoming...
• 144th annual Wayne County Fair, August 4-12. Opens daily at noon. Route 191, Honesdale. $7. 253-5486.

• Montrose Blueberry Festival, August 4-5, 9 AM to 4 PM. Entertainment, food, crafts, and games sponsored by the Susquehanna County Historical Society and Free Library Association. Proceeds benefit operation of Susquehanna County's library system, historical society, and museum. Village Green and Library Lawn, Montrose. 278-1881.

• The Pittston Tomato Festival, August 18-21. Downtown Pittston. Thurs.-Fri. 5-11 PM Sat. 11 AM-11:30 PM, Sun. 11 AM-10:30 PM, 655-1424.

• Plymouth Kielbasa Festival, August 25-26, 10 AM-10 PM. Main Street (Route 11), Plymouth. 779-3215.

• The Allentown Fair, August 29-Sept.4. Tuesday, 4 PM-midnight, Wednesday-Sun. noon-midnight, Mon. noon-11 PM. 302 N. 17 St. at Chew Street, Allentown. $5, free for ages 12 and younger. On-site parking is $6. (610) 433-7541.

• Luzerne County Fall Fair, September 6-10. Wednesday-Thursday 4-11 PM, Fri. 4-11:30 PM, Sat. 11 AM-11:30 PM, Sunday 11 AM-9:30 PM. $7, free for ages 2 and younger. Call 675-FAIR for more information.

• Bloomsburg Fair, September 23-30, daily 7 AM-9 PM. $4 or free for ages 12 and younger. Parking $5. Call 784-4949 for more information.. American Idol star Carrie Underwood, country legend George Jones, country upstarts Lonestar, and comedian Bill Engvall, will perform. On the free stage are a chimpanzee show and Chinese acrobats. The fiddle, banjo, honky-tonk piano, and barbershop quartet contests head for the free stage this year from the agricultural building.

The article that originally appeared in this section was about the Williamsport & North Branch (W&NB) Railroad. That article has now been moved to the FEATURES section.

Kellie Miller, 16, and her parents Dave and Mary Miller, need your prayers. Kellie, a member of Stillwater Christian Church, suffered a mysterious accident Wednesday, July 26. She was riding home on her bike from Church when she suffered a head injury when a foreign object struck her head from the back side. The supposition is that a truck mirror or a load being transported may have struck her as she was riding on Cemetery Road next to Ray and Judy Keeney's farm. The driver may not even know he struck her and did not stop. She managed to get home and call her parents, who were away from the house at the time.

Kellie is now home and doing quite well. Although she lost most of the hearing in her left ear, it may not be permanent. The doctors said they won't know for a while. It may be temporary and come back on its own; it may require surgery to correct it or worst case scenario is if it is caused by nerve damage it probably will be a permanent loss. She had a skull fracture and bones behind the ear were broken. Her short-term memory has improved tremendously.

The Miller family would like to thank everyone that has helped in any way. They specifically thank "Emergency personnel, those who said prayers and continue to do so, visitors, those who have given gifts, food or cards, people who are helping with the ongoing care of Kellie and for all the support we have received from anyone in anyway from the minute we made the 911 call." The family asks that people pray specifically for Kellie's hearing to return. If anybody has any information concerning the accident which happened on Cemetery Road, Stillwater, July 26 somewhere between 8 PM and 8:15 PM, please call 925-6080.

 

August 2, 2006. John Sibley celebrates his 73rd birthday today. Yesterday was so hot Back Home in Benton, PA, that I saw a dog chasing a cat and they were both walking.

We live in quite a country, a country where we accumulate junk in the garage and park our valuable cars on the street, a country where hot dogs come in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight. We take the Greek and assign words like "poli" (many) and "tics" (blood sucking creatures) and make a word we use every day. We call the slowest driving time of the day "rush hour." Doctors "practice" their profession rather than perfect their profession. The sick must walk to the back of a drug store to get a prescription and the ones who will end up sick from smoking can buy cigarettes at the front counter.

Beer drinkin' don't do half the harm of love makin'.
--Old New England proverb.

I smiled during coffee yesterday when I heard the expression "believe you me," one of Father's favorite ways of making sure that the person he was talking with knew that he was deadly serious about a point. Sentences that are not constructed in subject-verb-object order seem so out of place today, but when we have used the term since childhood it seems OK.

Readers seem to like to play games. Here is one with Noah.

We get the strangest email. A reader told us that marriage is like a three-ring circus, consisting of an engagement ring, wedding ring and suffering.

The article that originally appeared in this section was about the Williamsport & North Branch (W&NB) Railroad. That article has now been moved to the FEATURES section.

 

August 1, 2006. There are 52 days until the official start of autumn. We celebrate the birthdays today of Dr. Brian Becker, Camp Hill; Shirley Keller and Barbara King, Benton; and Seth Eyer, Millville. These folks share their birthdays with writer Herman Melville and with Washington lawyer Francis Scott Key, who wrote the lyrics for our national anthem. Music at the Benton Carnival tonight is by the Home Town Boyz.

From the Good Food and the Bad Food Department comes this...

• The U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency reports that walnuts, already shown in some studies to reduce "bad" (LDL) cholesterol, may lower levels of a natural chemical called endothelin. The compound causes inflammation of arteries and growth of sticky deposits--called plaque--on blood vessels. These conditions contribute to heart disease. In a study using hamsters, walnuts apparently suppressed heart-artery endothelin. English walnuts, the kind sold in supermarkets, had that effect at all levels tested. Walnuts are a good source of fiber, healthful fatty acids and minerals.

• Chocolate, macadamia nuts and onions are examples of food we enjoy, but which can be fatal to pets. These foods contains chemicals which humans can handle, but can cause illness and death to a pet. Learn more by going here.

The one-room schoolhouse in Stillwater, adjacent to the Stillwater covered bridge, graduated its last student a long time ago, and is now moving on to its next role in life. Owners Bob and Sandra Kelsey are getting the steeple restored thanks in part to brother Jim and his boss, assisted by Bob when he can take time from his busy schedule. The Stillwater covered bridge is in the background on the right side.

The men are taking rough-sawed lumber and using father Ken's equipment in his wood-working shop as they reconstruct the woodwork around the steeple. A new roof will go on this year, and portions of the floor that had rotted away have been repaired. Sandra, Ken and Bob are redoing the windows across the front of the building. The old coal bin lean-to on the front of the building is being restored to its original look with another window.

The Benton High School Class of 1944 will gather at the Old Filling Station Wednesday at 11:30 AM for a reunion luncheon. Many in the class will be thinking of the youngest member, Clem Sharek. Clem's brother, Dayne, tells us that "It would appear that the initial stage of his radiation and other cancer treatment has been successful. With the exception of anticipated scar tissue, the tumor has been eliminated. The doctors and of course the family were quite ecstatic. He will continue preemptive treatment for the next year and we hope the probability of reoccurrence will be nil. The doctors have no way of giving a realistic prognosis, but we hope and pray for no reoccurrence." Clem thanks everyone for their prayers.

You may have heard about the man and his wife in the dentist's office, so skip this paragraph if you have. The man told the dentist that he was in a hurry, that he had two buddies sitting in the car waiting to go to play golf. He told the dentist to forget about the anesthetic and just pull the tooth and be done with it. He feverishly told the dentist that they had a 10 AM tee time and the time was already 9:30 so forget the anesthetic and pull it. The dentist realized that this was a very brave man to have his tooth pulled without using anything to kill the pain. The dentist asked the man to show him which tooth was bothering him. The man turned to his wife and said, "Open your mouth, Honey, and show him."

Read an interview with a former Bentonian, actress Krysten Ritter, by going here.

"The shortest distance between two points is usually under construction."
--PennDOT Law. Submitted by Larry Paul

Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting,
Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,
Bundles of magazines tied up in string,
These are a few of my favorite things..

Cadillacs and cataracts and hearing aids and glasses,
Polident and Fixodent and false teeth in glasses,
Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,
These are a few of my favorite things.

When the pipes leak,
When the bones creak,
When the knees go bad
I simply remember my favorite things,
And then I don't feel so bad.

Hot tea and crumpets, and corn pads for bunions,
No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,
Bathrobes and heat pads and hot meals they bring,
These are a few of my favorite things.

Back pains, confused brains, and no fear of sinnin',
Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinnin',
And we won't mention our short shrunken frames,
When we remember our favorite things.

When the joints ache,
when the hips break,
When the eyes grow dim,
Then I remember the great life I've had,
And then I don't feel so bad.
--from a 2001 USENET newsgroup post, but frequently attributed to Julie Andrews on the occasion of her 69th birthday. Ms. Andrews sadly lost her ability to sing in 1997 in an operation to remove a non-cancerous polyp from her vocal cords and could not have sung this ditty if she wanted to.

Railroads have played a small but important part in our local and state history. Pennsylvania at one time led the nation in railroad construction. Between 1809 and 1830, short tramroads were built and hauled things like coal, iron and stone as feeder roads to the canals that operated on major waterways in the state, such as the Susquehanna Canal and the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal. Horses pulled the tramroad cars on wooden tracks reinforced with iron strips. The first tramroad in the state was at Mauch Chunk.

Locally, Danville was always an iron town, with factories like the Montour Iron Works dating back to 1840--about the time that coal was substituted for charcoal in smelting iron. The first T-rail was rolled with iron ore, smelted with anthracite coal and produced at this mill in 1845.

As the switch came from "horse power" to engines there was lots of wood along the tracks to keep the trains running. Trains would both "wood up" and "water up." The fire-belching engines would often set the clothing of both the engineer and the passengers on fire, and the countryside along the tracks was usually devoid of any vegetation. Coal became more favored as a fuel after 1840 or so.

May the devil get the man that first invented the plan
To make a railroad or dig a canal;
For they ruin our plantations wherever they do cross
And they spoil our markets that you can't sell a horse.

We have previously written about the Pennsylvania Railroad running its first cars from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh using the Portage Railroad beginning in 1853. The charter that the state granted to the Pennsylvania Railroad declared that it was a "public highway."

Agriculture got an immediate boost from railroads. Costs of transportation fell. Produce transported to cities was much fresher when it arrived. The railroad seemed to be the latest and greatest in transportation, but as time moved on the motor truck and later the airplane made the mode of transportation obsolete.

Please turn to the FEATURES section for more information on the local railroads.