On this date in...
1792, construction began on the first building to be used only as a United States Government building, the United States Mint in Philadelphia. Today the Philadelphia Mint is responsible for the engraving of U.S. coins and medals; production of medal and coin dies; production of coins of all denominations for general circulation; production of regular uncirculated coin sets; production of commemorative coins authorized by Congress; production of medals; the conducting of public tours and maintenance of the facility's sales center.
1845, the French Army first used a saxophone in its military band. The instrument was invented by Adolphe Sax (1814-1894) of Belgium.
1912, the first motion picture censorship regulation went into effect to "prohibit the importation and the interstate transportation of films or other pictorial representations of prize fights." The penalty for violation was to be not more than $1,000, or one year of hard labor, or both.
1949, at a baseball game in Florida, a lightning bolt hit the infield, cutting a ditch 20 feet long, killing the shortstop, first baseman, second baseman, and injuring thirty spectators.
1964, Country Music Hall of Famer Jim Reeves died when his single-engine Beechcraft crashed near Nashville. "Gentleman" Jim's first hit song, Mexican Joe, came in 1953. Reeves was a member of the Grand Ole Opry, had his own television series on ABC in 1957 and was in the 1963 movie, Kimberley Jim. Reeves owned a radio station in Henderson, Texas.

A. Ross Pennington Jr., 72, (Sept. 5, 1931-July 30, 2004), Third Street, Benton, died Friday at Bonham Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, Stillwater. He was a son of the late A. Ross Pennington Sr. and Mary (Wagner) Pennington and is survived by his wife Anna (Bixler) Pennington. He was a 1949 graduate of Benton High School and a 1952 graduate of Williamsport Technical Institute, where he became a certified tool and die designer. He was employed by TRW in Harrisburg and Danville, Berwick Forge and Fabricating in Berwick, and Textron in Danville where he retired on December 31, 1993. Besides his wife Anna, surviving are son Rodney D. Pennington, Benton; daughter Jill E. Kimmel, Westhampton, NJ; grandson Douglas Rodney Pennington, Benton; step granddaughter, Stephanie Kimmel, Emmaus; sister, Mary Ruth Holmes, Benton. Friends will be received Monday, August 2, from 10-11 AM, the time of the funeral service at the McMichael Funeral Home Inc., Benton. Graveside services will not be held at this time. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be sent to the Columbia-Montour Home Hospice, 599 E. Seventh St., Bloomsburg, PA 17815.
--from a Press Enterprise obituary. See the newspaper for a complete obituary.

Lisa (Larsye) Neese, 17, is now in Geisinger Healthsouth Rehabilitation Hospital, 2 Rehab Lane, Danville, PA 17821 following her serious automobile accident July 15 near Centralia. Larsye is improving every day and is now sitting upright, feeding herself, transferring from the wheelchair to the bed, and walking with assistance. She is determined to do whatever she can to get better and has an excellent attitude. Her short-term memory is slowly returning and she may be able to return home to Ridge Road in three or four weeks. "Home schooling" for part of her senior year has been recommended. The warm wishes she is receiving from friends in this area are greatly appreciated.

This week's A Prairie Home Companion will be a rebroadcast of the sort-of-annual Joke Show from 2002. And we should mention that the Prairie Home Companion will be the setting and the subject for a new movie by director Robert Altman. In addition to Garrison Keillor and the Royal Academy of Radio Acting, the film's cast will include Academy Award Winner Meryl Streep.

The hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelges tsugae, has been in the United States since 1924, a guest, many think, from Asia. The tiny bug is a serious pest of eastern hemlock and Carolina hemlock. In the eastern United States, it is present from northeastern Georgia to southeastern Maine and west to eastern Tennessee. It has drilled into hemlocks in 42 counties of Pennsylvania, mostly in the eastern two-thirds of the state.

Down in West Virginia, the state Division of Forestry has imported a type of Japanese beetle and introduced it in four counties to fight off the hemlock woolly adelgid. Results are uncertain at this point. Near Boone, North Carolina, a beautiful town near the Blue Ridge Parkway, a town we visited earlier this year, six out of 10 hemlocks have acquired the adelgid. In Pennsylvania, an estimated 96 bird and 47 mammal species are associated with hemlock forests. Similar in some respects to the chestnut blight of a century ago, some suggest that the demise of the hemlock could be more ecologically significant than the loss of the chestnut. The hemlock of old would survive in groves with as little as 5% full sunlight, and some hemlocks have been identified as living 900 years.

An expensive solution to the problem is the use of pesticides that can be sprayed on hemlock branches, injected under the bark, or poured into the soil around a tree. There are several spray materials registered for application to hemlocks by ground-spraying equipment. We recommend you contact your county agent.

Recently treed lot above the cemetery on land owned by Mike and Christine Klem. In this case, the hemlock trees were too large for spraying.

In some cases, the only solution is to cut the trees to prevent further tree damage.

Want a present for a friend, unique to the Upper Fishing Creek Valley?
Try Fly-Fishing Handbook by Cathy Beck (Lyons Press, $18.95).

Edgar once authored a report entitled Harmony and Discipline in School, written for Pastor Brad Spangenberg as part of a project involving former teachers who were parishioners and friends of Rev. Spangenberg at the Millville United Methodist Church. Excerpts from the manuscript are provided with permission.

Edgar taught in the one-room school at Upper Pine, where each day the Scriptures and the Lord's Prayer were read in unison as the school day began. Songs were sometimes sung, and poems, sometimes religious in nature, were read. At Upper Pine, Edgar never had more than twenty pupils in any one year, and one year had only thirteen. Edgar's own one-room school days were very different, with about fifty students and prior to Edgar's school days about 90 students in that same school.

At Upper Pine, of the students Edgar had in school there were more than half of them that were first, second, or third cousins. Edgar and his wife, Helen, owned the Tamar country store in the same community, and all the parents were customers during the last three years that he taught. During the depression years, mandated by state law, Edgar was asked to go back to the eighty-five dollars from the one hundred dollars he had been receiving.

Edgar discussed how the selection of teachers was made when he started teaching. Edgar recalled that during his senior year of high school, in 1927, George Gordner, a school director in Pine Township, asked Edgar to teach the next year. Edgar was not interested, as he intended to go to State College. An uncle, Benton Young, also asked Edgar to come to Upper Pine to teach. Edgar's father thought it might be a good thing to teach a year or two and decide what he really wanted to take at college. Edgar finally acquiesced to teach at Upper Pine, beginning in the fall of 1927 and four or five others of his class at Millville High School began teaching in Greenwood and Madison Townships at the same time.

Edgar wrote that the appointment of teachers was nearly always made by school directors, although the County Superintendent of Schools also had a voice in these decisions.

When asked about discipline, Edgar responded by saying that restrictions on punishment were not regulated by state law in those days, except that teachers were encouraged not to use excessive punishment. Common sense was the rule. Edgar recalls that he never inflicted punishment with a whip or strap, but does recall other types of punishment: making students stay in their seats during recess or at lunch time, or making them write something a number of times.

July 30, 2004. Staff reporter Chloe has been a member of the household for three years as of today, and while this is not her birthday a bacon-wrapped soup bone is thawing with her name on it. Henry Ford was born on a farm near Dearborn, Michigan, on this date in 1863, started the Ford Motor Co., in 1903 selling the Model T initially for $850 and eventually dropping the price to about $280. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, 57, has a birthday today, too. We hope that you got to see the moon last night, as it moves closer to a "Blue Moon."

Old Zeke Perkins sold his hogs the other day,
The gosh-darned fool threw his money right away;
Rode into town, sittin' on a board,
Came home ridin' in a brand-new Ford!

On this date in...
1956, the recordings of "Jambalaya" and "Bigelow 6-500" were cut.
Brenda Mae Tarpley showed distinctive vocal talent at age 3, won her first singing contest when she was 5 and was performing regularly on an Atlanta radio station when she was 7, about the time that she changed her name to Brenda Lee. Brenda recorded 29 hit songs in the 1960s and become a successful country singer in 1971.
1956, the motto In God We Trust was adopted as the United States national motto by President Dwight Eisenhower. The Constitution of the United States contains not a single reference to a deity or to divine inspiration. The motto was adopted in response to the growing influence of the Soviet Union around the world.
1975, former Teamsters union leader Jimmy Hoffa disappeared outside a restaurant near Detroit and seven years later was declared officially dead.

The last scheduled performance of the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble is August 2. A featured performer in the production is Ellen Lenbergs who plays the White Witch. Ellen recently completed a assignment of set dresser in the movie The Sure Hand of God produced by her mother Yvonne Lenbergs, a Benton School graduate and a resident of Palo Alto, CA. Ellen is the granddaughter of John and Zane Unbewust, Benton. Ellen has greatly helped the BTE as a set designer, and has now moved onto center stage. Don't miss this C(live) S(taples) Lewis play set in the Land of Narnia. Last night's performance was sold out, so make sure you reserve now.

"Life itself cannot give us joy
Unless we really will it
Life just gives us time and space
It’s up to us to fill it."
--Jacqueline Johnson

NASCAR driver Jimmy Spencer, Berwick, through his charity Jimmy Spencer Charity Events Inc., donated more than $14,000 to Camp Victory, Millville, over the past two years to buy handicapped-accessible playground equipment and to buy bunk beds and mattresses for one of the camp's new dormitories. The donations help worth-while programs like Camp Little People, headed by Joyce Davis, Mill Street.

Charles Sherwood Stratton (January 4, 1838-July 15, 1883), was born a dwarf in Bridgeport, CT, to "normal" sized adults. In 1842, P. T. Barnum discovered four-year-old Charles, who was then 25 inches high, weighed 15 pounds, and was only six pounds more than his birth weight.

Barnum proclaimed the child to be an 11-year-old European marvel, called him General Tom Thumb and taught him to sing, dance, mime and act and together they traveled around the world meeting various leaders and royalty, including President Abraham Lincoln and Britain's Queen Victoria and Prince Albert.

Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren were married February 10, 1863, in New York City's Grace Episcopal Church. The newlyweds stood atop a grand piano to receive 2,000 guests.

The Benton M. E. Church duplicated the evening 80 years later on May 7, 1943, when members of the community put on an evening of entertainment they called "The Wedding of Tom Thumb." The program consisted of children of the community dressing up for the wedding as various adults of the Benton area. The program was announced by a youthful Mahlon Fritz, but the evening apparently did not leave a lasting impression with him since he could not recall any of the details of the program for us. The bride groom was played by Karl Keeler and the bride by Nancy Jo Shultz. Alex Ash provided the ministerial duties. Paul Dodson was best man.

Others in the 1943 production included Joy Adamson and Philip Shultz as train bearers, Sara Anne Albertson as Matron of Honor. Bruce Evans, Robert Fritz, Alfred Harrison and Tommy Vincent were ushers. Marlene Penman, Genevieve Dixon, Elaine Harrison, Coreen Horn, Nancy Smith and Ruth Ann Stoker were bridesmaids. Nancy Search, Judy Ash, Beatrice Hess, Carolyn Sue Evans were flower girls. Beatrice Hess Roberts, then 5 and precocious even at that tender age, now remembers that "I was the cutest Flower Girl that ever walked down the aisle in the Benton Methodist Church."

Nancy Smith Shea remembers that she was six years old and the production "was quite the extravaganza" requiring numerous rehearsals to complete the production. Nancy wrote that "The dresses were all hand sewn and beautiful. It was just like a real grown-up wedding and I felt very glamorous. As I recall there was a ramp of some sort built in the aisles of the Methodist church so that the kids were all elevated and easy to see. The church was packed."

Ann Shannon was the bride's mother and Clair Harvey the bride's father. Margaret Ann Ash was the groom's mother and Sterling Dixon, then 7, the groom's father. Wedding guests included Franklin Seig, Sandra Baker (a few days shy of her 7th birthday), Billy Follmer, Alfred Appleman, Sally Dodson, Larry Taylor, Robert Appleman, Tommy Keeler, Joan Polk, Jimmie Laubach, Blair Whitenight, Jimmy Harvey, Marilyn Stevens, Richard Hartman, Billy Confair, Joel Confair, Carlamae Hess, Jackie Healy, Laura Comstock, Spencer Vincent, David Dodson, Harold Herritt, Nancy Shannon, Franklin Knouse, Joyce Fritz, Joyce Hess, Mary Ruth Pennington, Calvin Follmer and Wayne Hess. Jim Laubach was ten years old in 1943, and "vaguely" remembers the event and being dressed in an old black suit. He had to fold his arms in back for one type of weather condition and in front for the opposite.

We are not sure who directed the program. Sandra Fritz thinks that "Mary Pennington had something to do with it. Maybe Mrs. Klase?" Edna Smith had a lot to do with the production. The program featured an organ recital by Gordon Keller. Homemade ice cream and cake was sold in the basement of the church after the wedding.

Guests attending the wedding included...
Mr. and Mrs. Todd Butt: Franklin Sieg, Sandra Baker; Doyle Pennington: Billy Follmer; Mr. and Mrs. Robert Brewington: Jerry Appleman and Sally Dodson; L. R. Appleman: Larry Taylor; Mr. T. C. Smith, Robert Appleman; Squire Freas: Jimmy Laubach; Horace Harrison: Blair Whitenight; Mr. and Mrs. T. H. Ash: Jimmie Harvey and Marilyn Stevens; Chief of Police Arley Meeker: Richard Hartman; The Pres. and Mrs. Roosevelt: Billy Confair, Virginia Bender; Madame Chiang-Kai Shek: Carlamae Hess; Mr. and Mrs. Ross Harrison: Jackie Healy, Laura Comstock; Dr. C. K. Albertson: Spencer Vincent; Mr. E. P. Chapin: David Dodson; Rev. and Mrs. J. H. Herritt, Harold Herritt and Nancy Shannon; Gen. McArthur: Franklin Knouse; Mr. and Mrs. Harry Hess: Ronnie and Janet Follmer; Ben McHenry and Myrtle Crossley: Billie Hess and Joyce Fritz; Mr. J. P. Laubach: Calvin Follmer; Mr. Gordon Keller: Wayne Hess.

The main church ushers were Ella Mae Knouse, Louise Hess, Esther Shannon, Norma Fritz, Janice Breece, Marjory Vincent, and Natalie Vincent.

A reception for the bridal party was held in the basement of the church immediately after the wedding.

The Methodist Church has hosted many weddings over the years, but none larger, more extravagant or more entertaining that the wedding of Tom Thumb.
--Information for this article supplied by Laura Comstock, who during the 1943 Tom Thumb wedding was attired in her mother's pink wedding dress.

On this date in...
1786, the Pittsburgh Gazette became the first newspaper published west of the Allegheny Mountains. It is still published under its new name, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
1957, Jack Paar began a five-year run as host of NBC-TV's Tonight show, re-naming it The Jack Paar Show. The show ran until March 30, 1962.
1958, the United States Congress authorized the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).
1974, Jim Hartz was chosen to join Barbara Walters as co-host of NBC's Today show. Others who have hosted the show since 1952 include Dave Garroway, John Chancellor, Hugh Downs, Frank McGee, Tom Brokaw and Bryant Gumbel.
1981, England's Prince Charles, 32, and Lady Diana Spencer, 19, had a wedding fit for a king at St. Paul's Cathedral, London.

Many of us use the Riverside Market just north of town almost daily, and a few may be able to remember back to February, 1963, when the location was used for a different purpose. On a Saturday night during that cold month, the Benton Roller Rink opened in the location of the former Benton Auction Company. We don't know the temperature in Benton that night, but the temperature hit a minus 28 in Lopez that evening.

Mr. and Mrs. George Rolph were the owners, and they had experience with other roller rinks that they had operated. The owners had gone to considerable expense to transform the auction house into a roller rink. The next time that you walk through Riverside Market, look carefully at the floors. You will quickly notice which floors were from the skating rink in 1963 and which ones are new.

An article in today's Press Enterprise reports on the bravery of Sgt. Dale Creveling, 41, Berlin, NH, a National Guard team leader in Iraq. Dale is a 1982 Vo-Tech graduate, the son of Dale and Dealia Creveling, Stillwater.

A large storage building four miles north of Forksville was destroyed early Tuesday by a fire that burned out of control for nearly an hour. There were no injuries, but almost 40 volunteer firefighters were need to keep the property owner’s home and a small outbuilding from burning.

In May, 1963, the former Alice Elaine Dobbs, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Dobbs, Benton, and Gary Karl Strauch, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Strauch, Benton R. D. 4, married at the Waller Methodist Church. The Rev. Samuel R. Kissiel, pastor, officiated. Ann Newhart played the organ and Loretta Strauch sang "Because," "Walk Hand in Hand," and "The Lord's Prayer."

We know that Gary and Alice would do it over again, but we suspect Loretta Strauch Hiscox would decline to sing the three songs again.

Alice Strauch was installed as the first lady president of the Benton Lion's club on July 1. Gary is currently the postmaster of the Benton Post Office. Photo courtesy of Phil Malhoyt.

Flying into the Benton International Airport? Consult http://www.fltplan.com/AirportInformation/PA40.htm first. Please note that the airport manager's phone number is 570 925-2861 and is incorrect on the airport web site.

The Benton Rodeo Association's monthly meeting will be Thursday July 29 at 7 PM at the rodeo grounds.

The Benton Firemen's Carnival opens Friday night, July 30, at the rodeo grounds. The group Covert Action headlines Friday night.

Quote of the Day:
"There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America. The pundits like to slice-and-dice our country into Red States and Blue States; Red States for Republicans, Blue States for Democrats. But I've got news for them, too. We worship an awesome God in the Blue States, and we don't like federal agents poking around our libraries in the Red States. We coach Little League in the Blue States and have gay friends in the Red States. There are patriots who opposed the war in Iraq and patriots who supported it. We are one people, all of us pledging allegiance to the stars and stripes, all of us defending the United States of America."
--Barack Obama, a Democratic Senatorial candidate from Illinois

The "Milk Plant" in Benton primarily shipped milk to Wilkes-Barre and to the Philadelphia area. Both George Yost and son Frank Yost hauled cans of milk to Glendale in Wilkes-Barre for many years. After Harrington's sold the Benton milk plant, Philadelphia Dairies purchased the plant (selling ice cream under the Dolly Madison label), later the plant was sold to Foremost Dairies, then to Minneapolis Moline and finally to Smith Brothers (operating under the Dolly Madison name). Clair Harvey worked for the operation for twenty years and was with the milk plant in Benton when it was closed in 1962. The Dushore plant closed approximately 1973.

Byron "Barney" Dickson was plant manager for a number of years until Formost sold out, then Willard Fritz became manager. Other employees of the plant included Charlie Knowles, Earl Brewington, A. J. Hartman and Arden Harvey. Barney Dickson was a milk inspector for Philadelphia Dairys when the plant closed.

Sterling Dickson remembers going to the plant for a cup of cold milk and remembers the grounds at the plant "were very well landscaped with a water fountain and a concrete stream through the yard." The Benton Milk Plant

We have devoted an entire section to the milk plant.

July 28, 2004. Jacqueline Lee Bouvier (1929-1994) was born on this date in East Hampden, Long Island, in 1929. She graduated from George Washington University, then worked as the Washington Times-Herald's "inquiring photographer." Jacqueline met the young congressman from Massachusetts, John F. Kennedy, in 1952.

On this date in...
1939, wide-eyed Judy Garland sang her way into the hearts of millions with Over the Rainbow, the musical highlight of the hit movie The Wizard of Oz. In all, 388 movies were issued in 1939, and the average American family spent an average of $25 annually to see them. In 1941 on this date, Judy Garland, then 19, married composer David Rose, 31.
1944, it was so hot in Washington, D.C. that newspapers ran pictures of an egg frying on the steps of the United States Capitol.
1973, exactly one year after their first date, television's "Six Million Dollar Man," Lee Majors, married Farrah Fawcett of Charlie's Angels" fame. But like a tub of hot water, eventually the marriage was not so hot and the couple split.
1994, Kenny Rogers tossed major league's 14th perfect game in history three years to the day after the previous time this same event happened. It happened in an American League game where Texas beat California, 4-0. Ten years before on September 30, 1984, the same two teams played when the 11th perfect game was pitched. Mike Witt was the pitcher and the winning team was reversed.
1996, a pipe bomb hidden in a backpack exploded during evening festivities at the Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, killing two people and injuring more than 100. The explosion occurred around 1 AM, which doubtlessly prevented more Olympic visitors from being killed or injured.
2002, nine coal miners trapped in the flooded Quecreek Mine in Somerset were rescued after 77 hours underground.

A benefit for the Columbia County Traveling Library will soon be underway at the First Columbia Bank & Trust Co. A handmade quilt will be on display at the First Columbia Bank from Monday, August 2 through August 7. Raffle tickets to benefit the Traveling Library will cost $1. for each ticket or six tickets for $5. The quilt will be chanced off August 17.

Country Cultivators, a Benton area garden club, put final touches on their community garden project in Benton Park. Initially, the garden club members chose impatiens and begonias for planting in May in the large circular garden. Club members and local children volunteers, decorated the circular enclosure and within hours the cement wall was transformed by vibrant colored paints into a whimsical fantasy garden complete with butterflies and ladybugs. We intended to include a picture of the community garden, but the soaking rains of Tuesday kept us inside. We'll include it at sometime in the near future. Questions about membership and projects should be directed to Yvonne Jett, President of the Country Cultivators, 925-2707.

We smiled at the local resident who, when asked how to get to Talmar, replied something to the effect that "if I were going to Talmar, I wouldn't start from here."

Beginning Sunday, August 1, tolls on the Pennsylvania Turnpike will increase by an average of 1.8 cents per mile more for cars and 5.3 cents per mile more for trucks.

The annual McHenry reunion will take place Saturday, August 14, at the Benton Park. The meal will be served at noon; meat will be provided. The following McHenry items will be available for purchase: coffee mugs, ink pens, shirts, pictures, books. Orders will be taken for the updated McHenry book. Barbara McHenry and Vinnie Hippensteel are taking reservations for the reunion through August 1. Call 925-6641 or 752-7467.

Caleb & Josh Fritz will lead a Praise and Worship service on August 13 at the Benton Park at 7 PM. In case of rain, the service will be held inside at the Benton U. M. Church, Main Street.

The Times Leader included an article in today's edition about the Out Among the Stars bluegrass festival in Benton over the July 4 weekend. The major thrust of the article is about the delicious pulled pork served Thursday night of the festival. If you are hungry or want to hear more bluegrass after reading the article, remember Grillbillies bluegrass events are coming up August 6-8 in Wind Gap (484-554-6064), August 20-22 in Wellsboro (723-2004) and August 26-29 in Lodi, NY. (607-582-6263).

Ours is a government of checks and balances--Congress writes the checks and we supply the balances.

Gary Beach enjoying his birthday party with family and friends at Market Square Classic Grille. Gary is wearing the fashionable hat. His wife, Carolyn, sits to his right.

It is only given to God and angels to fly.
--Bishop Milton Wright, father of Orville and Wilbur

Before the Wright Brothers, no one in aviation did anything fundamentally right. Since the Wright Brothers, no one has done anything fundamentally different.
-- Darrel Collins

Three years of heroism, frustration, and bloodshed are over.
--Dwight David Eisenhower.

On this date in...
1789, the United States Congress established the Department of Foreign Affairs. Later the agency was re-named the Department of State.
1909, the record for the longest airplane flight was set by Orville Wright who was testing the United States Army's first airplane.
Wright kept the craft aloft for 1 hour, 12 minutes and 40 seconds over Fort Myers, Virginia.
1921, Canadians Sir Frederick Banting and Charles Best isolated insulin for the first time. It proved an effective treatment for diabetes, an illness that occurs when the body fails to produce enough insulin, an enzyme. In healthy people insulin helps the body break down glucose. Without it, glucose builds up to dangerous levels, which can cause coma and even death.
1974, Annie's Song, John Denver's biggest hit song, written for his wife, reached the top of the "Billboard" singles charts. Denver had three other number 1 songs: Sunshine on My Shoulders, Thank God I'm a Country Boy and I'm Sorry.
1980, Mohammed Reza Pahlavi died of cancer while in exile in Egypt. He was the former Shah of Iran from 1941, then lost control of his country and fled in 1979. Ayatollah Khomeini succeeded him.
1996, during the Olympic Games in Atlanta, a bomb exploded in an entertainment park killing two and wounding 110.

It has been 51 years since the signing of the armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953-—the only document that technically prevents North Korea and the US, along with ally South Korea-—from resuming the war, since no peace treaty has ever been signed. Korea was divided along the 38th parallel at the end of World War II with the Soviet Union controlling the north and the United States controlling the south. North Korea tried to invade South Korea on June 25, 1950, and President Harry Truman ordered a military police action to stop the invasion. Douglas MacArthur led the United States' army, and we were holding our own in what MacArthur called his "Home By Christmas" offensive. But late in November of 1950, the Chinese entered the war and drove MacArthur back to the 38th parallel. The war dragged on endlessly. Truce negotiations began the next year and lasted over two years with 575 meetings between the opposing sides. In 1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower ran for president with a promise that he kept that he would end the war. The armistice was signed on this day in 1953 without a winner and with no celebrations. Almost 35,000 Americans were killed in the Korean conflict, 5000 captured or missing.

The Benton Firemen's Carnival will take place at the rodeo grounds July 30 and 31 and August 2 through 7. The lucky people who attended the last round and square dance at the fire station know how good the homemade ice cream is, but for the rest of you we'll just tell you the flavors of the homemade ice cream that will be served. You'll have to let your imagination take you from there. There are ten homemade flavors: banana, black raspberry, butter pecan, chocolate, chocolate chip mint, cookies and cream, peanut butter ripple, strawberry, vanilla and white house cherry. The firemen will also offer a commercial vanilla sugar-free alternative. The Benton Volunteer Fire Co. is excited about bringing homemade ice cream to our carnival Back Home in Benton, PA, after a 20-year absence and they invite everyone to try some. Everything old is new again!

We suspect by now that you know that the search engine Google is having an initial stock offering (IPO). The fine folks at Google have established themselves at a valuation of some $32 billion and a price-to-earnings multiple of 100-plus. That is the state investors find themselves in after Google's filing Monday, in which it said it would offer 24.6 million shares for between $108 and $135 each. Google is making 10% of its company available to shareholders. That means for every share owned, there are nine waiting to be sold (unloaded) down the road. We suspect that Google is better at searching for treasures on the Internet than they are at becoming gems in the eyes of investors.

The virusmeister is at it again. Here is the symptom of the latest one called W32/Mydoom.o@MM.
• FROM: Varies. Examples: "Bounced mail," "MAILER-DAEMON," "Mail Administrator." Often spoofed.
• SUBJECT: Varies. Examples: delivery failed, Message could not be delivered, Mail System Error - Returned Mail • BODY: Example: We have received reports that your account was used to send a large amount of junk email messages during the last week.
• ATTACHMENT: Examples: README, INSTRUCTION, TRANSCRIPT

Thinking of making a web page for the very first time? A good starting point is the tutorial at http://www.html-helper.net/ .

July 26, 2004. It is the birthday today of Brooke Laubach and playwright George Bernard Shaw. Shaw's most famous play is Pygmalion, about a cockney girl who learns to pass as a lady. It was the basis for the musical My Fair Lady.

On this date in...
1775, members of the Second Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, agreed "that a Postmaster General be appointed for the United States, who shall hold his office at Philadelphia, and shall be allowed a salary of 1,000 dollars per annum."
1908, Attorney General Charles Bonaparte constituted a force of Special Agents under the Department of Justice. The following year, the group became known as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Most of the FBI's initial investigations focused on national banking, naturalization, antitrust and land fraud.
1948, was Babe Ruth's last public appearance as he attended the New York City premier of the film, The Babe Ruth Story. Ruth's physicians had allowed him to attend the picture because "it might do him good." Hordes of police protected him from the crowd gathered to welcome him, but under terrific physical pain he was only able to remain in his seat for 20 minutes. Three weeks later, the Bambino died after a two-year struggle with throat cancer.

One of our favorite websites is the Lower Luzerne County website at http://www.lowerluzernecounty.com/ . The webmeister, Sheila Brandon, is moving from Broadway to near the Foothills Restaurant on route 118 and the next few months will be very busy for her. Sheila promises to "try to post a few updates from time to time" and will return to updating at normal pace later this fall. She will still accept photographs and material for use on the website during this transition period."

As the Democrats gather in Boston today for their convention, you only need to remember a few things...
• The only speech that will matter is John Kerry's speech Thursday night. The rest will be entertainment.
• John Kerry's speech will be a homerun. Everyone and everything is posed to make the speech perfect.
• With the exception of Mr. Kerry's speech, everything else is geared to make the folks Back Home like the Democratic nominee and the principles he stands for.

Chuck Chapman, Sunny Hillside Road, Benton, was released from Geisinger Hospital Saturday after a four-day stay. During a routine appointment last Tuesday, his doctor discovered that Chuck's heart was fibrillating and he personally wheeled him to the emergency room where he spent the entire day. Chuck was then admitted and went through four days of testing. They discovered that his lungs are seriously damaged and do not correctly remove Co2. The net result is that his heart has been damaged and he has some short-term memory loss. The forecast is that Chuck will be on oxygen night and day for the rest of his life.

Chuck is a retired professor from Bloomsburg University, a former President of the Benton Town Council, the President of the Fishing Creek Watershed Association, and Vice-President of the Northern Columbia Community & Cultural Center.

We recently opened a high school yearbook and found a picture of Warren Ketner, at one time the assistant principal at Benton Area Schools. While some former students of Mr. Ketner might remember him for his administrative ability, or his teaching of the course "Problems of Democracy," or for the many contributions he made to the Kiwanis Club or to the community, we remember him for his teaching of Latin. Our topic for today is Latin--and so Salvete Ad Paginam Latinam! Welcome to the Latin Page!

Younger readers will at this point be expecting a bunch of discourse on Latin America, but not so. We are talking about the language that furnishes either directly or indirectly two-thirds of the words of the English language. We remember that Mr. Ketner told his students that a knowledge of Latin enables its possessor to know and to feel almost intuitively the meanings of thousands of words. He went on for hours telling us the similarity of the Romance languages to the Latin and to each other. He told us that Latin was an essential part of the equipment of the student of law and medicine. He told us that the Romans, everything considered, were members of the greatest nation of antiquity.

We didn't do well in Mr. Ketner's class. Our minds may have been on roller skating on Sunday night at Grassmere, or whether we would get up our nerve to actually dance at the party Friday night on the second floor of the town hall, or where we were going to cough up $1 in gas money to take members of the class to Amity Hall for a cup of coffee--but we can assure you that our hearts and minds were not on wrestling thoughts out of Latin and then converting those thoughts to English. If only each word in each language represented a single idea. If only each idea were represented in each language by a singe word. If only the arrangement of words, phrases and clauses were the same in the two languages. Learning Latin just wasn't like taking two rows of cookies from one box and putting them into two neat rows in another box. Translation was nothing simple like that! The arrangement of words, phrases and clauses were widely different in English and Latin. We often got the cookies out of the box, but we struggled to get them back into another box!

We should also point out that Mr. Ketner's Latin class required his student's power of observation to be sharply focused. The hundreds of rules of syntax, the need for precise reasoning, Mr. Ketner's strange habit of being in the middle of a thought that we almost grasped--then to have him race out of the classroom for 15 minutes while he handled an administrative detail--was overwhelming to this farm boy.

As we remember the class, we had to carefully consider what the author was trying to say in Latin. Then we had to outline the general plan of the sentence, then we had to choose between the words we knew in English and the phrases and clauses that we knew how to construct in English and we had to formulate the best possible arrangement of all of these elements.

To this day we have an appreciation of how in the year 753 B.C., the youthful Romulus founded the city of Rome and surrounded it with a wall over which his brother Remus leaped in ridicule, and immediately thereafter paid for the sport with his life, building the foundations for a great city. Within a century and a half from that time Rome became the head of the Latin League, and went on to become the mistress of all of Italy before extending her dominion over the Mediterranean and surrounding countries. Regretfully, however, we haven't a clue how everyone communicated!

I am a school teacher,
And I am proud to be,
For all Life's great professions
It seemeth best to me.

I am a school teacher,
And of my charge I boast,
For parent's fond entrust to me,
Those whom they cherish most.

On this date in...
1866, Ulysses S. Grant became the first American officer to reach the rank of General of the United States Army. Born Hiram Ulysses Grant, known as "Lyss" as a boy, the Congressman who appointed Grant to West Point forgot the name Hiram, but remembered that Grant's mother's maiden name was Simpson and thinking that was Lyss Grant's middle name he filled out the West Point application in the name of "Ulysses S. Grant."

1952, the Western cinema classic, High Noon, with Gary Cooper and newcomer actress Grace Kelly, premiered in New York. Cooper received the Academy Award for Best Actor and the movie received three other Oscars.

1970, The song (They Long to Be) Close to You, by The Carpenters, rocketed to the Number 1 spot on Billboard's record charts. During that period most weddings included that song. Burt Bacharach asked the Carpenters to perform with him and asked Richard to arrange a medley of Bacharach songs. Herb Alpert suggested they include Close to You, a little-known song. The single sold 1.8 million copies domestically.

Why do birds suddenly appear
Every time you are near?
Just like me,
they long to be Close to you.

Lance Armstrong, 32, seems set to win a record-setting sixth consecutive Tour de France today, Armstrong won his fifth individual stage Saturday by averaging 30.6 mph and finishing the 34-mile ride in one hour, six minutes and 49 seconds. Armstrong increased his lead over the German runner-up to 6:38. Barring anything extraordinary in today's final stage, a 101.3-mile trip from the countryside into Paris and the traditional laps up and down the Champs-Elysees, Armstrong should became the first man to win the Tour de France six times.

A reader asked why we bother with things out of the past, with the days gone by. Well the truth is that with each passing day we forget, and while thoughts may pay us a brief visit, the interruptions of life tend to delete memories from our recall. The more we can't remember, the more depressed we become. We have long felt that man should concern himself more with the history of his nature and less with the history of his deeds. It is important to remember. Think back to the first time a significant other said "I love you." Or when your son or daughter recovered from a disease, or a parent had that terrible stroke, or when your first child first took a step on his own, or the first time an event in history with which you had no connection hit you as an event of note. Perhaps that happened when you suddenly realized that the thoughts of our early settlers were not limited, just their vocabulary was. Our gossip of today becomes old and turns into myth. Making an effort to preserve today and yesterday in one place is our goal. We like the ability of a web page to allow you to immediately refer to the past reporting. Through our archive pages, you can look back to events that were reported on days when our memory was lucid enough to provide something interesting..

We aren't seeing much progress. A year ago today, the announcement was made that over half a million dollars would be spent to renovate the old Cole's Hardware Store at the corner of East and Main Streets, Bloomsburg, into a 24-hour Greek diner with a bakery and delicatessen. Maybe things are just being kept under wraps, but we aren't seeing much forward progress in opening the restaurant.

Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.
Albert Einstein

Whatever God's dream about man may be, it seems certain it cannot come true unless man cooperates.
Stella Terrill Mann

On this date in...
1933, the radio show The Romance of Helen Trent was heard for the first time. This soap opera ran for 27 years, and clearly showed the world as either clear-cut good or bad. During its long run, the show used two Helen Trents; the first Helen, lasting for 11 years, was played by Virginia Clark and the second, for 16 years, was played by Julie Stevens. Mary Jane Higby played the villain. Helen was the height of purity, trying to find love in a world full of calamity, danger and evil. Death was a staple of the show, and the series ended with Helen's own demise. Helen's romantic adventures kept audiences radio side for 7,222 episodes before finally ending in 1960.
1938, big band leader and clarinet player Artie Shaw recorded Cole Porter's Begin the Beguine. Shaw was married to Ava Gardner when he recorded the tune.
1956, after a decade together, the comedy team of Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis called it quits after making 16 movies together and being on countless radio shows. At the Copacabana nightclub in New York City, they performed their last show ten years after they started. The two only appeared three times together after they broke up: in 1958 on the Eddie Fisher Show, in 1976 during a telethon, and in 1989 when Jerry rolled a 72nd birthday cake onto a stage in Las Vegas where Dean was performing.
1974, singer Cass Elliot, then 33, known for her performances with the singing group The Mamas and The Papas, died in London. The official autopsy stated that Momma Cass died of a heart attack brought about by her overweight condition.
1984, Terry Bradshaw, then 35, retired from the National Football League after 14 years and four Super Bowl championships with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Bradshaw divorced ice skater Jo Jo Starbuck and became a football analyst on CBS and later at FOX television.

Florence A. Kelchner, 63, (July 30, 1940-July 22, 2004), Third Street, Benton, died Thursday morning at home. She was a daughter of the late Herman and Pearl (Shadle) Funk and was a 1958 graduate of Benton High School. She married Millard R. "Ollie" Kelchner on August 2, 1959. She is survived by her husband and by children Teresa Reichenbach, Talmar; Kenneth Kelchner, Orangeville; Robert Kelchner, Berwick; Patty Dinelli, Nanticoke; eight grandchildren; sisters Catherine Kingsbury, Almedia, and Emma Lu Savage, Benton; a brother, John Funk, Mountainhome; an uncle, nieces, nephews and cousins. Funeral services will be held at 10 AM Monday from the Dean W. Kriner Inc. Funeral Home, Benton. Interment will be in Laurel Hill Cemetery, Orangeville. Friends may call on Sunday from 6 to 8 PM at Kriner Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be directed to the American Diabetes Association, 63 N. Franklin St., Wilkes-Barre, PA 18701.
--From the Press Enterprise, where a complete obituary can be found.

Airlines are telling passengers on long flights to wiggle their toes, stretch their legs and do other in-flight exercises that can prevent dangerous blood clots. Sitting for a long time without moving can slow blood flow and cause clots in the legs, a condition known as deep-vein thrombosis (DVT). Clots can break away and travel to the lung and create blockages--or pulmonary embolisms--that stop the supply of oxygen to the heart.

Pennsylvania's 14 state-owned universities approved a 4.6% tuition increase Thursday. Tuition was increased by $212 a year, to $4,810, for Pennsylvania undergraduates and by $530, to $12,026, for out-of-state undergraduates.

The Fairmount Springs United Methodist Church is the Press Enterprise Church of the Week.

For those of you just able to keep your heads above the skimmers, consider Cherrapunji, India, where 37.5 feet of rain a year makes this town the world's wettest. On top of the rain is an inadequate water system where residents often face dry taps. Now think of our recent rains as mere showers!

We took time yesterday to lean back and read some of the articles on Benton News that we hadn't looked at in a long time. We started and ended with a McHenry article when we started thinking about John McHenry, the man frequently referred to as "Hunter John." We got thinking about how much the early life in the upper Fishing Creek valley was dependent on wildlife. The early settlers had to depend on wildlife equally with crops and livestock. All farmers had to be trappers and hunters in order to feed and clothe their families. As a trapper, furs could be traded for supplies.

Hunter John McHenry was born September 13, 1785, and is frequently referred to as being the "first white child born north of Knob Mountain in Fishing Creek Valley." We were able to find prices for pelts paid when Hunter John was 19 years old, a representative year, we think, to help us determine why hunting was so important. The year was 1804. A deer hide brought $.75 to a dollar; a bear skin brought from $1. to $3.50. Beaver skins brought $1. to $2.50; otter, $1.50 to $4; red fox, $1. to $1.10; mink, 20 to 40 cents; muskrat, 25 to 30 cents.

In Elk County, a hunter by the name of George Smith is said to have killed "14 panthers, 500 bear, 30 elk, 3,000 deer, 500 catamounts, 500 wolves and 600 wildcats." The strange thing is that the term "catamount" is short for "cat of the mountain." If the claim about George Smith is correct, he shot 500 critters he couldn't or didn't identify. We therefore doubt that this story was completely true, although it is true that settlement in the state would have proceeded much more slowly if wildlife had not been so abundant.

Hunter John claimed he shot a total of approximately four thousand deer starting when he was 13 years old. He kept track by means of notches in hickory sticks. A stick with five hundred notches was given a place of distinction on a rack above his fireplace. There are tales of deer horns piled higher than the eves behind Hunter John's house.

The most prized of all wildlife was probably the deer, and it was probably the most plentiful. Venison was a staple of diet for the early settlers. The skin of the deer was used for clothing and for making harness and ropes and thongs. For the long winters, deer meat slowly dried or "jerked" over a slow fire made an excellent substance to eat.

Bear meat was abundant then as pork is today. Although we have actually never tasted it, many early families survived the winter on bear meat. The meat was rather juicy, we understand, and would be preserved for the winter by pickling. Oil was rendered from the bear fat, and was then used for cooking and for providing lighting for the settler's cabin. Bear were pursued by dogs. Bear were killed by being treed and shot, or by bear traps--gigantic metal traps. Perhaps one of the reasons that pork was not consumed in great quantities by the early settlers is that the bear got to the swine first. Pigs were allowed to roam the woods, not confined to pens. Bear would sneak up on the pigs and the squeal of the hog was the first indication that a predator was afoot. The settler would know that the bear could not eat all the hog at one setting and would set a steel trap on a long chain for when the bear returned.

Other animals were found in the state. Buffalo, for example, roamed Pennsylvania from Lake Erie to the lower Susquehanna River. A journal notes that in the fall of 1773, a herd of about "12,000 buffalo were spotted in the migration through the valley of the West Branch of the Susquehanna." The herd was driven further west and only occasional sighting were made by 1800. It is interesting to note that a number of our highways today follow the original buffalo trails of the state. Elk were mostly in the southern part of the state, and most were exterminated by 1840. Turkeys were numerous until they were over hunted. They had all but disappeared from the state by 1800.

The mountain lion were numerous enough to keep the early settler on guard. We have devoted an entire section to the mountain lion, and you can find it under FEATURES. Basically, the mountain lion was afraid of dogs, somewhat cowardly, often killed livestock, but rarely bothered humans.

The most important meat-producing bird was the passenger pigeon. Books tell of the sun being obscured in Philadelphia when flocks flew over. A man in Carlisle in 1770 claimed to have caught "fourteen dozen at a time." As many pigeons as could be carried home by one man at one time were sold for a penny. A tamed wild pigeon was always kept in a cage by the door to lure a passing wild flock into nets for capture. Charles Miner, Wilkes-Barre, wrote that he saw the "cloud on wing continuing to pass for an hour or more." The species is now extinct.

In 1812, John McHenry started the McHenry Distillery, which remained in operation for over a hundred years. John died in 1868 and is buried with his wife Helina at Stillwater. Don't you wish that we could sit around the fire today with Hunter John and listen to his stories...

Rep. David Millard (R-Columbia) announced that several volunteer emergency response organizations in Columbia County will receive grant funding from a state program. The funding comes from a $25 million grant program administered by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and Office of the State Fire Commissioner. The program was funded through the 2003-04 state budget, and it is the third time the grants have been provided since 2000. The grant money may be used for construction or renovation of a fire or ambulance company facility, to purchase or repair equipment, to provide training, or to reduce existing debt.

A partial list of local fire and EMS companies and the amount of their grant awards follow:

On this date in...
1829, the "typographer," the predecessor of the typewriter, was patented by William Austin Burt. The typographer was a heavy machine made almost entirely of wood. Printing was achieved by pushing a lever down, which brought the type against the paper. The print was neat and legible, but writing with Burt's machine was no faster than writing by pen.
1904, the ice cream cone was introduced at the World's Fair in St. Louis. A man sold waffle-like pastries in a booth next to an ice cream vendor. The ice cream vendor ran out of dishes, so scoops of ice cream were added to the cone-shaped waffle pastry. The men sold it under the name "ice cream cornucopia."
1950, "The Gene Autry Show," sponsored by Wrigley's Doublemint Chewing Gum, started out on CBS on Sunday nights, moved three years later to Tuesday nights and a year later moved to Saturday night. The Singing Cowboy's "Wonder Horse" was Champion, and his sidekick was Pat Buttram.
1952, a bloodless nationalist revolution overthrew the Egyptian monarchy and transformed Egypt into a republic. The nationalist movement was led by Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser, who four years later became president until his death in 1970. Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, created the short-lived United Arab Republic, and promoted socialist policies in Egypt.
1986, the Duke of York, Prince Andrew of England, fourth in line to the British throne, married commoner Sarah Ferguson in Westminster Abbey. An estimated television audience of 300 million tuned in.

We occasionally like to remember an event in history that is of little significance to us today, but is still interesting. The reign of Charles II of England (1660-85 AD) is one of those. To set the stage, we'll tell you that Charles' era is remembered as the time of "Merry Olde England" and during his reign England suffered The Great Plague of 1665 and the Fire of London in 1666 and in 1667 the Dutch sailed up the Medway, sunk five of Charles' battleships and towed the Royal Charles back to Holland. A quote from that era summed it up: "Charles II was always very merry and was therefore not so much a king as a Monarch. During the civil war, he had rendered valuable assistance to his father's side by hiding in all the oak-trees he could find. He was thus very romantic and popular and was able after the death of Cromwell to descend to the throne." He sired no legitimate children.

Two years after he ascended the throne, Charles II gave a charter that included the Wyoming Valley to the Connecticut colony. Charles II owed a large debt to William Penn's father and solved that problem by granting William Penn a charter to what is now Pennsylvania in repayment of the debt. He did this in 1681. The Pennsylvania and Connecticut charters therefore both covered a coveted valley in the Susquehanna River basin known as Wyoming. The pot didn't boil over until the 1750s when the Connecticut settlers began settling the Wyoming Valley.

The Susquehanna Company was formed in 1753 in Connecticut in order to purchase land from the native Indians and to organize a settlement. Settlers from the company arrived in the valley of Wyoming in 1762 and planted grain, erected basic shelters, then returned to Connecticut. They returned to the valley the following May. That October the settlement was attacked and twenty settlers were killed by Indians from the Delaware tribe. Both settlers and local Indians then sought safer ground.

The first Indian trading post was established in the valley in 1765, and the first permanent settlement of the valley took place in 1768. The Pennsylvania Proprietaries and the Susquehanna Company moved closer to conflict as the first forty settlers moved to the Wyoming Valley in February, 1769. Two hundred Connecticut settlers arrived in the Valley in May, 1769, under the leadership of Major John Durkee (1728-1782). Fort Durkee was erected near the present South River Street and Ross Streets, Wilkes-Barre.

You can continue reading about the settlement of the valley of Wyoming by visiting http://www.rootsweb.com/~paluzern/patk/wb.htm .

The "Golden Yakkers" have just returned from a 3-day sea kayaking trip near Mt. Desert Island, ME. Four couples made the trip that lasted from Sunday, July 18, to July 22. The group prefers moving water, but wanted to try sea kayaking and the longer craft associated with it.

Last Thursday, Lisa Neese, 17, was in a serious car accident while traveling on route 42 near Centralia. The accident did not involve drugs or alcohol--just four teenagers in a speeding car. Thankfully, no one was killed, but two of the four were badly hurt, Lisa critically. Lisa's Bloomsburg University professor father, Bill Neese, and his new bride, Karen (Downs) Neese, had married June 19 in the Waller Church. Lisa--known as Larsye to her friends--moved to Benton from the DC area early this year--a cultural change for her which we can relate to, since we once did the same thing.

Larsye survived the life-threatening stage of her traumatic brain injury, but is still seriously hurt. She has no short-term memory, has double vision and in her words, she is "confused and off-center." She has to relearn how to do so many things that little children take for granted, like sitting up, feeding herself, getting dressed or even just standing. She cannot walk, but it is because of the brain injury, thankfully not because of physical/spinal damage. She will need extensive medical attention. How long or how well the healing will go is unknown at this time.

This is what we need you to do. We need cards sent to Lisa as she begins her rehabilitation today. Larsye's home address is 158 Ridge Road, Benton, PA 17814. Let's show the warmth and friendship that living Back Home in Benton, PA, can provide. If you don't have the time to send a card, please say a prayer for Larsye. She has so much potential and talent, (she wanted to be an art professor) and only time will tell how much damage needs to be overcome.

Comedian-actor Robin Williams is 52 today and Ernest Hemingway was born on this date in 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois. Hemingway volunteered as an ambulance driver for the American Red Cross in Italy. A month later he was hit by shrapnel from an exploding shell and spent several weeks in hospital recovery. Insomnia became a problem and he could not sleep without a light on for fear that he might die in the night. He later wrote, "They've tried to make a hero out of me here. But you know and I know that all the real heroes are dead." He returned to his parent's house, married, then moved to Paris and began writing in Ernest (there is some humor there someplace!) His objective style used few adjectives or adverbs. His For Whom the Bell Tolls told of Hemingway's experiences as a foreign correspondent in Paris and Spain during the Spanish Civil War. The Old Man and the Sea (1953) was about a fisherman who caught a huge fish, only to have it eaten by sharks before he can get home. The book won the Pulitzer Prize, and a year later Hemingway was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Quote of the Day:
"All good books are alike in that they are truer than if they had really happened and after you are finished reading one you will feel that all that happened to you and afterwards it all belongs to you; the good and the bad, the ecstasy, the remorse, and sorrow, the people and the places and how the weather was."
--Ernest Hemingway

The Press Enterprise includes an article about A 53-lot log homes development planned for the former Thunderbird Farms site on lower Raven Creek road, formerly owned by Mr. and Mrs. Donald Hess. The developer is John B. Thomas doing business as JB Thomas Real Estate Group, who plans to offer 53 lots, all about two acres, for around $20,000 each.

We are so very happy to hear that Sarah Reichart, 21, Sportsmans Club Road, Orangeville, and Richard Lehet, Route 487, Benton, are doing well in their recovery from their automobile accident. Richard had broken ribs and Sarah is still in the Geisinger Hospital.

The first annual Lark in the Park was a resounding success with over 100 Red Hatters attending. The ladies had a roving gorilla, Irish Step Dancers, and a ventriloquist. Several vendors sold Red Hat accessories, and three special prizes were raffled off. The food was fantastic--tables and tables laden with wonderful dishes prepared by women who have experience in the kitchen. Chapters came from as far away as Hershey. One attendee from Florida got the prize for the Red Hatter traveling the farthest.

America's Protestant majority is about to disappear--perhaps as early as the end of this year, according to a new study by University of Chicago researchers. Protestants most probably will make up less than 51% of the population for the first time in history. The percentage of Protestants in the national population has shrunk from 63% in 1993 to 52% in 2002. The next largest religious group after Protestant is Roman Catholic, at about 25%.

Didja know that 17 million acres in Pennsylvania is forest land, primarily hardwood forests?

We recently thought that we would buy a slick map from Staples, but first checked some roads that we were familiar with to make sure they were accurately displayed. Route 487 from Bloomsburg to Benton didn't even show up on the map. Wasn't even there! We have noticed this on other maps, to a lesser degree. Route 487 appears to be a lesser route than surrounding routes, like route 239, for example. The road from Maple Grove to Millville--the up and down road that it is--shows up as a superior road to route 487, for example. Like most things, this is not universally true, but most times is.

We inquired about this to the PennDot's Engineering District 3-0, suggesting there must be a ranking system for the quality/size/service area of roads. We explained to PennDot that it appears that route 487 isn't getting the ranking that we in the upper Fishing Creek valley need to survive economically, saying that visitors might skip Ricketts Glen State Park, economic development will look elsewhere, that sort of thing. We asked how to give our route 487 the recognition that it deserves.

Steve Mutchler, PennDot's Asst. District Traffic Engineer for Engineering District 3-0, wrote back to us telling us that he couldn't tell us why the private map publisher did not show PA 487 in some locations and did not know why PA 239 is shown as a more important route than PA 487. Steve wrote, "We definitely rank PA 487 as more important to PA 239 in a number of categories. Also, PA 239 only has a fraction of the daily traffic volume that PA 487 carries." He went on to write that PennDot cannot control what private publishers print on their maps.

About one out of four highway maps do not give route 487 the credit it deserves. If you find a map in which this is the case, if you forward the publisher's name and the exact title of the map to us, we'll make every effort to get this corrected.

Rebecca Miller, 15, wrote a report on "the Great Depression" for an extra credit assignment in Mr. Aten's American History class. We have been given permission to publish Rebecca's essay, but for brevity sake we have omitted the end notes. Her essay follows...

"Depression" being defined in the Oxford dictionary is "a long period of financial and industrial decline." The Depression turned out to be a time of strength, self-reliance, resourcefulness, and a time of hard work for low wages.

Every American that lived through the Great Depression was affected emotionally, some greater than others. In an interview with some Great Depression veterans, they feel the time period strengthened them rather than weakened them. The event made it easier to cope with some of life's more trying times. Plus, Americans from Benton during the Great Depression didn't feel they had it that bad off. Everybody else around them looked like they did and were just as bad off as they were. Children were strengthened too because they had to create their own games and find other forms of entertainment.

One thing that helped strengthen the people was the fact that they had to secure food any way they could. Food sources in the cities was provided by soup kitchens; in Benton, Pennsylvania, means of food was much different. Many families of this time had large families. This meant that there were more people to gather food as we put it today, "the old-fashioned way." Large gardens, berries, hunting, and fishing were only a few ways to provide food. Jars upon jars of the picked garden vegetables were canned and preserved. Other families had maple syrup groves.

In addition to finding enough food to eat, workers had to be resourceful concerning how to get the work. Because of the shortage of money during these hard years, getting to and from work was a hard task. Many people walked to work if they even had a job. In Benton a bus would come around to the homes and take the people to work. This action was supported by the government.

While the government provided some help for people to get to the available jobs, money came in very small shares and was hard to come across. A young boy made about fifty cents a day from a local farmer. If the boy was to work four days, he could walk down to the store and buy a pair of jeans. Sneakers cost only half that of a pair of jeans but were only bought once a year and not worn in the summer. Girls would wear feed bags as skirts to cut down on money. Kids worked at young ages and gave their wages to their parents.

In Elk Grove a Civilian Conservative Corps (CCC) camp was established by the government. Along with attending the camp, a person could have schooling. All of your basic subjects and even truck driving were taught. Attendees also worked building roads, sanitary facilities, cutting down trees, building cabins, etc. They were paid $5 with $25 sent home to the family.

Every American man, American woman, African American, child, etc. was affected by the Great Depression. Many people think that it was just a loss economically, but I see it as a time for self-reliance, resourcefulness, and a time for hard work. Americans fought their trials, overcame them, and succeeded greatly.
--Rebecca Miller, 15.

July 21, 2004.

Few places provide the peace and tranquility provided by a mountain retreat, and no place gives us more joy than spending time on the top of North Mountain in Sullivan County. Here we are surrounded by deer and bear and turkey and frequently coyotes and porcupine and bobcats make an appearance. We hear sounds we don't understand, yet there is a lot of silence, too. We see the stars in a way that is impossible in places closer to civilization. We are surrounded by trees and more trees as we peck out a few lines and occasional look across the surface of the pond beside the cabin where we are spending much of the week. We'll make "trees" our topic for today.

From 1810 to 1910 the virgin forests of the state were decimated. Early in that period, farmers worked the land during the spring, summer and fall, then turned to the woods in winter. Trees were harvested and taken to mills, or floated down streams or the Susquehanna. We have read estimates that on the Susquehanna up to 2,500 wooden rafts a season would float trees to the mills, each "raft" consisting of a number of cut trees banded together. The farmers would often walk back to their farms in the northern part of the state after delivering their trees to the mills. For the walk back to Northern Pennsylvania, the farmers used the Susquehanna & Tioga Turnpike less than two miles from where we are.

In 1846, a boom at Williamsport became lumber's big business. The boom was made up of logs tied together with chains, then anchored to stone piers in the West Branch of the Susquehanna. Floating logs were stored until the mills could process them. Williamsport became the center of the lumber industry in the United States with the creation in 1849 of the Susquehanna Boom Company. That distinction remained until June of 1889 when the West Branch flooded at the 33-foot level. Millions of feet of sawed lumber floated away, along with an estimated 300 million feet of unprocessed logs and a number of mills. Much of the wood ended up in the Atlantic Ocean.

Commercial lumbering didn't start until the 1840s, when companies with large resources took over, as contrasted to the individual settler clearing his land. These companies had little regard to renewal of the forests, and everything merchantable was removed. Forest fires were common and by 1900 an estimated 5 million acres of burned-over, cut-over, barren forest land existed in the state. Much of this land was sold at sheriff's sale at one point or another. Robert Bruce Ricketts (1839-1918) amassed large amounts of land in this manner.

Pennsylvania ranked first in the nation from 1860 to 1870 as a lumber-producing state, and ranked first in the production of tanbark. More hemlock trees than we can imagine were cut for the bark alone. The logs were simply peeled and left to rot. We can walk through the Sullivan County woods even today and climb over the huge decaying hemlock trees that were cut over a hundred years ago. Stands of hemlock and hardwoods were generally exhausted in the state by 1890, and by 1900 Pennsylvania was importing more wood than it was exporting.

In 1886 the Pennsylvania Agricultural Society noted that Sullivan County's stand of hemlock was "scarcely broke," meaning that hemlock lumbering had a long way to go before it was depleted. One Sullivan County hemlock measured four feet ten inches across the stump and showed 542 annual rings.

Hemlock, unlike most other wood in the state, was harvested in the summer when the bark could easily be peeled. Pennsylvania Governor Hartranft requested legislation in 1873 to prevent "stripping of our mountains and hills of their trees." Across the state, there were years of waste before the enormous value of wood was fully recognized and an industry of sawmills and lumber yards developed. It is interesting to note that William Penn in all of his writings about the woodlands of Pennsylvania never mentioned hemlock, since he never took any trips into the interior of the state and never encountered hemlock. Hemlock eventually became the Pennsylvania State Tree.

About 1850 began the operation of washing logs down creeks individually rather than by tying them together in rafts. Trees were cut and logs floated to mills in Montoursville from the Loyalsock Creek, in Lopez from Lopez Creek and in Jamison City from Fishing Creek. Bill Mather, quoted by Ted Fenstermacher in Tracking Yesterday, said logs reached Jamison City by three methods. "There were log chutes or slides built at Blackberry and Trout Run in which the logs were put and they would land in the big mill dam. Farther back in the mountains the logs were skidded to creek beds. At the heads of the streams, splash dams were built. Every two weeks the gates of the dams were opened to flood the creek beds and float the log to the mill dam."

We have several articles on the Benton News website about the rough life of the lumberjacks who worked the woods. The easiest time to drag logs to the mills was in the winter when the ground was frozen or snow covered. The men slept in rough shanties, slept on hemlock boughs and lived on pork, potatoes and whiskey. Winters were difficult and unrelenting. The cold never left up and the "cold sink" of North Mountain penetrated even the warmest of winter coats. In the spring when the snow left the mountains, logs were floated down the streams and into Fishing Creek at Jamison City. There were many exciting moments when workers with cant-hooks and sticks of dynamite were faced with tons of logs that broke loose and suddenly cascaded down the swollen streams.

The road that leads through Jamison City into Sullivan County and into the state game commission's game lands 13 parallels Heberley Run, one of the inlets into the stream of water that becomes Fishing Creek. In October, 1891, Benjamin Lewis, proprietor of the (Jamison) City Hotel and others were trying to break a log jam on Heberley Run at a spot known as High Falls, when he lost his footing and slipped over the thirty-five foot falls and drowned. It was generally agreed that the accident happened because Lewis was not wearing shoes with calks. Although Lewis carried $2,000 in insurance, the insurance company would not pay off. The local newspapers started publishing continuing accounts of the accident, each account more spectacular than the previous. Twenty-two months later the beneficiary of the policy was paid, but not until High Falls became known as Lewis Falls and reports circulated that Lewis waved good-bye to his fellow workers as he plummeted over the falls and was carried away.

Early in 1889 the Fishing Creek Lumber Company was formed by Col. James Corcoran, Williamsport. He was one of three partners in the Jamison City Land Company, an owner of the Elk Tanning Company (the Jamison City tannery, built in 1888/1889, employed about 75 men and stripped about 600 hides every eight hours), and owned a considerable amount of land in Sullivan County. When the flood of 1889 devastated Williamsport and wiped out his lumber yard and other businesses, Jamison City concurrently began experiencing hard times as unemployment and debts mounted. Col. Corcoran faced bankruptcy and litigation and sold the lumber business and the tannery to Thomas E. Proctor in March, 1890, and he moved to Michigan.

Proctor continued the tannery and the Phoenix Lumber Company and purchased thousands of acres in Sullivan County. He also purchased five other tanneries in Pennsylvania and became president of the huge United States Leather Company during 1893. Although his operations appeared to have been profitable, Proctor took all of the profits out of Jamison City, and possibly out of the state. The Union Tanning Company, a subsidiary of the United States Leather Company, continued the operation of the tannery from 1894 when Proctor died. The Elk Tanning Company took over the company ten years later. The saw mill reorganized as the Keystone Lumber Company in 1902. During the Proctor years, the mill averaged over 70,000 feet per day selling the rough lumber for up to $8 per thousand board feet, and the tannery was able to process 1,200 hides daily, making it the biggest operation of its kind in the state.

Part of the tannery was destroyed by a blaze in March, 1895. In the spring of 1896, a timber fire above Jamison City burned for weeks destroying thousands of trees and threatened to destroy the entire village in a fire local residents insist could have been deliberately set. For two weeks, workers from the tannery and the sawmill fought fires without pay. In November, 1896, heavy rains caused flooding of the village, and the dam at the saw mill broke spreading "thousands of logs" throughout the village. In May, 1898, the mill burned at a loss of $30,000 in equipment and buildings. It was subsequently rebuilt. After the mill closed, the tannery remained in operation until it closed in 1925.

We suggest that you take the time to drive to Jamison City, nine miles north of Back Home in Benton, PA, walk through the village and consider the rich history of this former boom town and ghost town. Make a reservation to spend the night at the soon-to-open bed and breakfast, Featherbed and Breakfast, enjoy dinner at the Jamison City Hotel, or just enjoy the tranquility of being surrounded by the mountains. Consider the past of this town--remember back to when there were five taverns, four hotels, five grocery stores and meat markets, three general merchandise stores, a blacksmith shop, a wagon wheel hub factory, the tannery, the saw mill, and--gasp--the brothels at the Bush House and the Exchange Hotels. Remember, too, that Jamison City was a truly a ghost town from 1926 until 1932.

Our story yesterday about the Richart's Grove one-room school opened the floodgates of memory for Lon Baker. His father, Gerald Baker, received his elementary education in that school. Lon recalled a "building roughly half way between Waller and Talmar on the main paved road that was a one-room school. The land and building belonged to my Grandfather, Warren Johnson, and was used as a school at least until about 1932. My mother. Nola Johnson Baker, received her primary education there. This school was just down the hill from the Victorian farm house where she was born and raised, and she often told stories about sleigh riding down to school. The house is gone now, but a couple of the out buildings remain. After the school was closed, it reverted to my Grandfather and he used it as a machine shop and facility for repairing farm equipment." This building was known as the Pine Township school and is still standing, but has not been preserved like Richart's Grove school.

Edgar Baker was a young teacher at this school for several years, including when Nola Johnson was a student there in 1932. Edgar later operated the general store at Talmar and ultimately the Baker and Bennet (later Baker and Baker) hardware and appliance store in Benton. Many people knew him only as Reverend Baker, but he had several successful careers before returning to college and being ordained as a Methodist Minister while in his 50's. He served as the pastor of the Methodist parish in the Sonestown/Muncy Valley area for many years and then went on to serve as a counselor at the youth facility on Red Rock Mountain. In 1997, when he was 88 years old, Edgar flew to Ann Arbor to perform the wedding ceremony for Lon's daughter, Amy. At a time when most of us would have let the world close in, he sought out new experiences and enjoyed every minute. And that brings us to today's topic.

We are sitting on a porch overlooking a peaceful pond on North Mountain, listening to the sound of thunder rolling through the hills. We have no ability to communicate with the outside world until we drive to Elk Grove Monday morning to hear Bob Webster and his discussion of one-room schools at the North Mountain Historical Society. For many, it is hard to think of Elk Grove as the modern world, yet there we will have access to a phone and other essentials of the electronic world. As we left for our retreat, we had two hurried conversations. The first was a very favorable comment on the quality of the just-concluded Benton rodeo. We bought a couple of tickets for a couple who had a little rodeo experience, but both were reluctant to attend. We concluded that they thought that the local rodeo would be "second-rate." The couple loved the rodeo and could not stop talking about how much of an asset the rodeo is to the town of Benton. They plan "to do" the rodeo again next year. We encourage the rodeo association and the Borough Council to quickly work out a viable arrangement for the transfer of the rodeo grounds to the rodeo association. The rodeo has become big enough and has established enough credentials that the possibility exists that it could be wooed away unless positive action is taken.

The second conversation involved the favorable comments about the antique store in the old Neil S. Harrison building. The woman we were talking with loved the building and the improvements that had been made to it. She told us how it reminded her of her grandparent's county home.

We started thinking of that by-gone era of our grandparent's homes, and decided to peck out a few lines in memory of those wonderful days. We often rode through the country to the West of Benton as a passenger and mail sorter for our Father, who carried the U. S. Mail on rural delivery #3 out of the Benton post office. We remember the houses and the farms that we passed each day. As roads improved and telephone and television and automobiles became commonplace, we remember as farmers became citizens of the world because of these developments.

There was a period of agricultural prosperity starting about 1860 when beautiful farm houses with white outbuildings and white fences were built, replacing houses where no paint ever seemed to be applied. During that period we read that six-bedroom farmhouses with attractive "ginger breading" were built for about $1,500 using labor from the farmer's family and limited help from tradespeople.

The more prosperous farm families included in their houses a combination kitchen, dining room and living room, a parlor and half a bedroom for each member of the family. The kitchen stove burned wood, and a central heating system was unheard of before 1900 and even 40 years later only a small percentage of homes were heated centrally. The parlor reminded us of a bygone Victorian age. For over a hundred years, lamps burning animal oil were used and later kerosene provided lighting. The room was usually darkened by closed doors and drawn shades. The sofa and the overstuffed chairs were covered. The room resembled a funeral parlor, except when "company came to call," and on Sunday afternoons and evening. Toward the end of the 1800s, the parlor was often eliminated from farm homes. Flowers and fruit trees were planted on the grounds of all country farms. The farm wife donned her sunbonnet and planted trees and shrubs and flowers like zinnias, the marigold and the petunia, the rose, the lilac and the tulip. Nestled among the flowers usually was a dinner bell mounted on a post, necessary to summon the men folk from the fields.

The inside of the house was decorated with furniture made by local craftsmen and with local wood--black walnut, red maple, cherry, pine. Upholstery was frequently horsehair and red was a popular color. Furniture remained in the family from generation to generation. In the mid 1800s, black walnut was the most popular wood and if marble was added to the top, the family had reached the height of elegance. After 1865, cheap factory woodworking processes became available and oak became the wood of choice. Local craftsmen could not compete with the lower prices and faster production of the factories, and after about 1890 virtually all furniture for the farm family was factory produced, low in cost and quality, a marked change from the craftsmanship of a few years before.

Carpet usually covered the floors of houses prior to 1900, carpets with gaudy flowers and a hodge-podge of color. Once or twice yearly, the carpets were taken up and soundly beaten to get the dust out. After 1900, small area rugs became popular and efficient. All discarded garments were torn into strips and braded into rag rugs. In houses with parlors, heavy, dark draperies hung at the narrow windows. Currier and Ives lithographs adorned the walls and "God Bless Our Home" handmade from colored yarn usually hung by the front door. Wax flowers on the mantle and bric-a-brac in the curio cabinet was standard. Grandfather usually played the organ Sunday evenings, and "In the Sweet Bye and Bye" was very popular.

Running water in the houses came along about 1880, probably increasing the life expectancy of many a housewife. Windmills and elevated water storage tanks began to appear in the countryside. The advent of sinks meant that dish water wasn't thrown out the front door. Sinks replaced the Saturday night ritual of each member of the family taking a bath in front of the kitchen stove in the tub that usually was reserved for washing clothes. Porcelain-lined tubs followed. The soap was homemade from wood ashes dumped into a "lye hopper." Water poured on the mixture produced drippings in a crock. The lye water and scraps of fat were boiled in an iron kettle, cooled, cut into chunks, and became the soap for the family. The "one-holer" and cesspools slowly disappeared and plumbing systems including bathrooms appeared as the rural electrification became available. Local electric companies slowly extended into the rural areas, but lighting by carbide and acetylene gas was common. Washing machines and wringers didn't make a large appearance until the 1930s.

Meat and potatoes were served in substantial quality and quantity, and there was not a huge variety between the three meals, although buckwheat cakes drowned by maple syrup was standard to start the day. Often the batter had been in use for years. Pies, especially "milk pies" by the farmers, were always served and homemade bread making was an art. Some marriages were actually determined by the ability of the girl to make bread. Farm families always had beef and pork to get them through the year and butchering on a cold Fall day was frequent. Most farms had smokehouses. Recipes were handwritten and handed down from generation to generation. Cupboards were filled to capacity with elderberry and other jelly and the springhouse kept milk, apple cider and other perishables cold. Pennsylvania ratified the national prohibition law early in 1920, following the lead of the Grange and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union, but men didn't give up as easily on their cigars and chewing tobacco.

These were the days of our ancestors. We have left a lot out, things like hard work and low wages, the widespread small pox and cholera epidemics and the lure of the close-knit family life and hard work. How 'bout taking the time to jot down your personal memories of grandmother's house in the upper Fishing Creek Valley. Place your notes where your grandchildren can find them some day. Can't you just hear them now wondering if we really did all that "back then..."

July 18, 2004. We celebrate the birthdays of Allison Nicole Kocher and Nevin Dressler today. Don't forget there is bluegrass in Jerseytown today from 10 to 6.

Helen Arlene (Ash) Stearns, 96, (April 4, 1908-July 16, 2004) died Friday at the Bonham Nursing Home. She lived in the Benton area until 1942, then moved to Syracuse. Four brothers and three sisters preceded her in death: Harry, Roy, Minard and Millard plus Trellie, Elsie and Sarah. She was a graduate of what is now known as Bloomsburg University and taught at the former Stillwater school for eight years prior to her marriage. She was later a substitute teacher for several years after moving to Syracuse. Funeral services will be held 11 AM Tuesday at McMichael Funeral Home Inc. Burial will be in Waller Cemetery. A viewing will be held Tuesday from 10 AM at McMichaels. Contributions may be made in her memory to St. Paul's United Methodist Church, 2200 Valley Drive, Syracuse, NY 13205.
--from the Press Enterprise, where the complete funeral arrangements are listed.

Las Vegas unveiled its newest attraction this week as it launched its $650 million monorail to shuttle gamblers to casinos on the Strip. Financed by a revenue bond, the monorail becomes the first privately-funded public transportation system in the United States. Four-car trains travel the 3.9-mile, Z-shaped track. Tourism officials are betting as many as 20 million visitors a year will use the monorail, paying $3 one-way fares, $5.50 for a roundtrip and $10 for an all-day pass. An extension to downtown Las Vegas and a connection to the airport are being considered. The trains can travel from one end to the other in 14 minutes, reaching top speeds of 50 mph. We recommend that you ride on the West side of the train to avoid the view of low-rent apartments, parking lots and construction sites. We asked Julie Pennington, who will be in Vegas next week, for a first-hand report. She said something about not going outside, however.

Today is the last day of regular publication of the Benton News before Friday, July 23. We might be able to put out a limited edition sometime each day, but we will be picking huckleberries and out of the range of all communications most of the time.

Monday, July 19, we celebrate the birthdays of Margie Kline, Kermit Moss, Carl Spiece and Bruce McMichael and the discussion of the one-room schoolhouses takes place at the North Mountain Historical Society's Meeting at the Brass Pelican Restaurant, Elk Grove, about 9 AM.

Birthdays and anniversaries on Tuesday, July 20, include Dan McGarigle, El Segundo, CA; Wayne McMichael. Scott and Dori Doty celebrate their anniversary Tuesday. It is also food bank day.

Madge Hinchcliffe is a great grandmother! Mark and Jaimi Fenstermacher, Boston, are the parents of twin girls born July 12: Ella Grace was 7 pounds, 2 ounces and sister Bailey Christine was 8 pounds, 11 ounces. Carol Lore is the proud grandmother.

The information originally found here on Richart's Grove School can now be found here.

The Benton Rodeo and the cowboys and cowgirls associated with the rodeo went out of their way Saturday, July 17, to provide a free show for the children of the area with special needs.

After the abbreviated rodeo, the kids played games and food was served.

The Special Kids Roundup provided a free lunch for each guest of honor, a petting zoo, and a special short rodeo production and other activities.

Contact the rodeo if you would like a special needs child to be included next year.

Paving of Church Street in Benton Borough Saturday.

This photo was taken from Third Street, looking toward Main Street.

On this date in...
1861, Congress authorized the Treasury Department to print and circulate paper money for the first time. Pressed for money to finance the Civil War, the government issued "Demand Notes," replaced a year later by "Legal Tender Notes." These were the predecessors of the dollar bills used today, the "Federal Reserve Notes."
1862, the United States government authorized National cemeteries, including Arlington National Cemetery. Buriels there include those who died in battle, other war veterans, United States Presidents and government leaders. Arlington National Cemetery also houses the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
1938, unemployed airplane mechanic Douglas Corrigan asked the Civil Aviation Authority for permission to fly from New York City to Ireland. The request was denied because of the "poor condition" of his plane. Corrigan got in his plane and took off West, then did a 180° turn, headed over the ocean, and 28 hours later landed his 1929 Curtiss Robin monoplane in Ireland 3,150 miles from his starting point. A faulty compass was to blame, he said. The flight was made without a radio or any other navigational device, except a compass. Corrigan was welcomed home as a hero and about a million came out to greet "Wrong Way" Corrigan.
1961, NBC-TV's Today show welcomed John Chancellor as the new host of the show. Chancellor was the replacement for Dave Garroway, who lasted ten years. Chancellor hosted the Today show in 1961 and 1962 and later served as an anchor for NBC Nightly News from 1970 to 1982.

Here are some computer terms that you may find helpful...
Easy to Use: "We have played around with the program so long we have finally figured it out."
User Friendly: The old "File not found" has been replaced with "Sorry, file not found."
While Supplies Last: "We'll throw a party if we ever get rid of these."
Limited Quantity: We can't store anything else until we get pawn these off on someone."
Too many features to list: "We haven't a clue what we included in this hummer."
Toner Sold Separately: "Since the printer won't print anyway, you can buy the print cartridge separately."
Works automatically with no user intervention: "It won't work even if you tinker with it."
Toll-free technical support: "Used with a speaker phone, this service replaces the FM portion of your radio.
New and Improved: "That bad bug is behind us."

Joe and Lorraine Feola will host their July Jammin' at the Shed today off upper Raven Creek Road. The time is 3:00-9:00 PM, and the stage opens at 5:00 PM. Light refreshments are sold. Take your lawn chairs and instruments or just go to listen to some of the area's most entertaining people. Need more information? Call 925-5201.

For those interested in one-room schools, there is a reunion at Richart's Grove School today. The school is near Unityville, and is open to former students and anyone wanting to see the building.

The Columbia County Farmers National Bank announced it will open a full-service branch in the Buckhorn Super Wal-Mart now under construction. The bank has assets of approximately approximately $230 million. We can remember when the Farmers National Bank of Orangeville and the Columbia County National Bank of Benton consolidated their assets January 16, 1956. At the time, assets totaled more than $5 million and capital, surplus and undivided profits totaled more than half a million dollars. The Farmers National Bank of Orangeville was organized August 17, 1917. The Columbia County National Bank in Benton was organized in June, 1902.

Age is a funny thing
Cherished in a tree,
And cheese
And furniture
and wine--
Most anything
but me.

The people of the Upper Fishing Creek valley have a strong foundation from the schools and churches of our area. We'll take a second to refresh our memories of the history of public school buildings in Benton, starting with the red school house on Market Street that burned in the fire of July 4, 1910. This was a time when "readin', ritin', and rithmetic," the three R's, comprised the groundwork of an education sufficient "to get along on." We won't spend a lot of time dwelling on this aspect of history today, since you can read about this and subsequent schools on the side panel of under History of Benton Schools.

A six-room wood-frame structure gave Benton a full 12 grade public-school system rare for a municipality of less than 1000 residents in the 1920's. Students from five surrounding small municipal districts began sending students to the Benton public school as part of a four-year" high school course. Summer school sessions were also offered.

The Benton Area High School complex that most of us remember has changed greatly since 1929 when it first was used as a combination elementary-high school. A $50,000 bond issue necessary for construction of the high school was sold to local people and former graduates. Much of the digging of the foundation and other work was done by residents on a gratis basis in order to make the original school a reality.

The original 450-seat auditorium in the brand-new Benton Joint School was filled to capacity on December 31, 1928, as residents of Benton Borough and Benton Township flocked to Park Street for their first look at one of the state's first "consolidated" school systems. The hard-working people of the two municipalities had a huge community spirit that other towns that has not had its heart and soul torn out through devastating fires will never understand. Benton and the surrounding area seemed to pride itself on replacing buildings destroyed by the 1910 and subsequent fires with buildings that would make the area proud.

Numerous citizens had an outpouring of public spirit for the 1929 school. Financing was backed with their own personal resources and effort, not by a public school tax. The 1929 original brick school had additions in 1952 and 1973 that added a gymnasium and science wings with additional classrooms.

An old building at the north end of the school land was purchased and converted to an agriculture building and at one time a house on the South side of Everett Street was used for home economics classes that previously had been held on the second floor of the Columbia County National Bank building.

The seats in the old auditorium had been donated by the Alvina Krause Theater, Bloomsburg, when it was remodeled. The audience faced North in the old auditorium. The audience in the auditorium of the new Benton Area School building face West, and the room extends in that direction further than the auditorium did in the past.

We apologize for the poor quality of the pictures taken in the dim light

The black floor tile and comfortable seats are installed. Sound baffles are ready to be hung and the stage lighting was ready to be hoisted out of sight when we visited the school Friday, July 16. Concealed "hi-hat" lights in the ceiling reminded us of stars.

Light and sound will be controlled from behind the glass in the center of the picture. Lights will go in the balcony-like room at the top.

The contract completion date of August 20 is right around the corner, but indications are that Zartman Construction will finish as agreed.

On Thursday, August 26, at 6:00 PM, the new Richard E. Martin Memorial Auditorium and the Joseph Derr Memorial Library will be dedicated. The entire community is invited to the event. We will have much more on this in coming weeks as plans are finalized.

The choral director of the Benton Area Schools, Jennifer DiLossi, is assembling an alumni choir for the event. Former and current Benton high school choir students are asked to join in the excitement of this assembly. Mrs. DiLossi will hold one practice in the new High School auditorium on Wednesday, August 25, from 7-8:30 PM. The choir will sing Morning Has Broken and Sunshine In My Soul. Please consider being part in this choir. Contact Jennifer DiLossi if you would like to receive copies of the music prior to rehearsal. She can be reached at the high school by calling the office at 570 925-2651 or ask us and we'll provide her email address off line.

On this date in...

1790, the permanent home of the United States Government was established as the District of Columbia.

1945, the United States conducted its first test of an atomic bomb, an experimental plutonium bomb, called "Fat Boy." The bomb's mushroom-shaped cloud rose 41,000 feet above the New Mexico desert at Alamogordo Air Base. All life within a mile radius was killed or obliterated.

1970, the Pittsburgh Pirates played their first game at Three Rivers Stadium (losing to the Cincinnati Reds 3-2) following 61 baseball seasons at Forbes Field. The Pirates wore double-knit uniforms for the first time.

1981, professional golf Jack Nicklaus scored a 13-over-par 83 at the British Open. The next day he returned to beat the field with a four-under-par 66.

Quickies...
• Zane Unbewust is reported doing well at home following surgery at Bloomsburg Hospital yesterday.
• CBS fired George Eads, who plays Nick Stokes, and Jorja Fox, who plays Sara Sidle, as CSI began the first day of scheduled filming on the show's fifth season. A salary dispute was involved.
• Changes to the Uniform Construction Code contained in Senate Bill 1139 are apparently close to signature by the Guv according to newspaper reports. If signed, repairs and non-structural alterations would be dropped from the requirements for non-commercial construction.
• Ira McHenry is at Grandview Health Homes, Inc., 49 Woodbine Lane, Danville, for inpatient physical therapy. Currently they are doing an evaluation and working on using a new walker and adjustment to new meds. Ira would appreciate hearing from his many friends.
• We haven't tried it, but Wal-Mart is advertising a DVD rental program, saying "Sign up now, and you can try Wal-Mart DVD Rentals for 30 days, free! There's no risk, and you can cancel anytime." Details are at http://www.walmart.com/dvd/learnabout.gsp .
• Readers have asked for a listing of places to stay in the Benton area and we are compiling a list for inclusion on this web site. We'll list all that we know, but if you would like to be included, please make sure that we haven't forgotten about you. Send us an email and remind us.

The Press Enterprise reports that only one bid came in for the Twin Bridges repairs, and the bid of $279,703 exceeded the Lawson Design Group estimate of $160,609.

A cowboy walked into a local bar just before the rodeo yesterday and ordered a beer. The cowboy asked the bartender where everyone was. The bartender told the cowboy that everyone had gone to the hanging. "Brown Paper Pete" was being hanged. Seems he came to town wearing a brown paper hat, brown paper shirt, brown paper trousers and brown paper shoes. He was being hung for rustling.