June 30, 2006. Celebrating anniversaries today are Jerry and Donna McMichael, Frank and Rebecca Beishline and Tami and Kris Letteer. Tanner Lenhart was born on his Aunt and Uncle Tami and Kris Letteer's wedding anniversary.
The first mosquito carrying the potentially fatal West Nile virus this year in Pennsylvania has been found in Harrisburg.
Shirley J. (Fisher) Lowe, 70, (October 30, 1935-June 27, 2006), 686 Rohrsburg Road, Orangeville, died Tuesday at the Geisinger Medical Center. Born in Bloomsburg, she was a daughter of the late Harry and Ruth (Best) Fisher. She graduated from Bloomsburg High School in 1953 and was the wife of Luther L. Lowe. She attended the Derrs Christian Church. Mrs. Lowe worked for Dillon’s, Bloomsburg, and later at the Bloomsburg Hospital. She also worked for Berkheimer Associates until her retirement in 2002. Along with her husband, she is survived by daughters Laurie Wiest, Harrisburg, and Kim M. Lowe, Cody, Wyoming, and sister, Elva Best, Rockville, Maryland. Friends will be received Monday, July 3, from 11 AM until 1 PM at the McMichael Funeral Home. A funeral service will be held Monday following the visitation hours at 1 PM. Interment will be in the Elan Memorial Park in Bloomsburg.
--Obituary courtesy of the McMichael Funeral HomeFrank Gough, Raven Creek, analyzed the recent rainfall and concluded that had this been winter, we would have had nine feet of snow! He measured 1.10 inches Monday morning in his rain gauge at 7 AM, Tuesday morning at the same time he had 2.09 inches and Wednesday morning he had 5.86 inches. That is a total of 9.04 inches in three days. Is there any wonder why we had flooding?
Wednesday was a day of little rest for most in the upper Fishingcreek valley and exhaustion was evident on almost everyone we came into contact with Wednesday night. We even noticed it when we glanced in the mirror.
Content originally published in this section has now been moved to the No-Name Flood of 2006 section. Please go there for further information.
June 29, 2006. Marjorie and Dick Shoemaker celebrate their wedding anniversary today. Happy birthday to Richard Kriebel. And we missed Jan Laubach's birthday yesterday.
The state of Pennsylvania is sending emergency supplies such as water, food and personnel across the commonwealth to respond to flooding following a disaster emergency proclamation in 46 counties, authorizing state agencies to use all available resources and personnel to help people affected by the recent storms.
The emergency declaration applies to Columbia and Sullivan Counties. Columbia County has issued a disaster declaration which will enable state, county and municipal governments to effectively respond to conditions in the affected areas.Content originally published in this section has now been moved to the No-Name Flood of 2006 section. Please go there for further information.
All the talk of water Wednesday made me think of the one joke that I can remember from what I would call a vaudeville show that I once saw. This is the way I remember the joke: "There I was in the desert. Nothing to drink. Water. Water. I didn't pass water for three days." Vaudeville was great. Some of the jokes were not. But now that joke reminded me of one that I once heard Father tell about a local doctor who made a house call to a farmer. Before going into the house to see the farmer, the doctor stopped at a well for a glass of cold water to get some of the dust out of his throat. The crank handle backfired on him and pulled him down 20 feet into the well. The farmer's son eventually saved him, but the lesson to be learned is that the doctor should have tended to the sick and left the well alone.
Additional articles about the losses of three local covered bridges can be found here.
June 28, 2006. Today is Ken Kelsey's birthday, and the wedding anniversary of Carl and Ann Spiece and John and Diane Laubach.
Articles originally contained in this section have been moved to the section on the No-Name Flood of June 29, 2006. Please go here to access that information.
It is always a pleasure to hear from old friends from Back Home in Benton, PA, even if we have never met them and even if they and their ancestors haven't lived in the area for the past 85 years. We are specifically thinking of the Stiles family, once a well-known local name, a family who once lived on Cemetery Hill in the house now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Joe Goode.
Susan Sedlins, Plymouth MN, writes from time to time as she reads something in the Benton News that ties to her ancestors who once lived here. Susan traces back to families with familiar names like Kent, Stiles, Albertson and McHenry. Susan's grandfather was Melvin Boyd Stiles, son of Russell Boyd Stiles, a man born in the Benton area, grandson of Josiah Stiles and Beulah Albertson, and great grandson of John Stiles and Martha McHenry. Russell's second wife was Rhoda Ikeler whose mother was a Laubach.
"So you see I consider you all to be family, one way or another," Susan writes. Susan and I might actually be distant cousins, since Martha Elizabeth Stiles, a daughter of John and Martha, married Elijah Kline.
Josiah Stiles returned to Benton after the Civil War in 1866. His wife, Beulah, had died and he died soon after returning home, leaving his children as orphans. Susan's great grandfather, Russell Boyd, was sent to the orphanage at Orangeville. He eventually left Pennsylvania and ended up in Iowa. His son, Melvin Boyd Stiles, was Susan's grandfather. Susan recalls that Melvin "often used odd phrases, like "Ach Du lieber!"
Although we don't want to interrupt our story, we'll divert for a second so we can inject John Herbert Laubach's explanation of the expression, "Ach Du lieber." John says it is untranslatable outside the context in which it is used. John says that literally it means "O thou dear" as in "Ach Du lieber Augustin." It often indicates that the speaker begins to declare an oath, as in swearing about some circumstance. At a loss for words to complete the thought it stands alone. John recalls that he had a German roommate whose favorite oath of exasperation was, "Ach du lieber Schreck!" This literally means, "O thou dear fright!" A Hungarian friend once overheard John using the oath. She laughed and offered a translation, "Mercy, Mercy!"
Hiram Everitt, a lumber dealer, a large land owner in the area, a farmer, and a man for whom a Borough street was named, married Hannah Stiles in 1854 and together they had seven children. You may remember that Mr. Everitt was drafted in the $300 Draft during the Civil War. He was arrested at his home on the night of August 24, 1864, during what is now often referred to as the "Fishingcreek Confederacy," held for four months at Bomb Proof No. 3 in Fort Mifflin, and was discharged the same way without every learning the reason.
Susan came to Benton last summer and found the grave of the Civil War veteran, Josiah Stiles, and other family members on Cemetery Hill. Benton now feels like "home" to Susan. Her mother, Barbara Ann Stiles Kent, 86, also sends her greetings to all her "Benton cousins."
A biologist once studied the green frogs in a swamp when the frog population started declining at an alarming rate. A chemist friend suggested a solution. The frogs, due to a chemical change in the swamp water, simply couldn't stay coupled long enough to reproduce successfully. The chemist brewed up a new adhesive to assist the frogs' togetherness, which included one part sodium. It seems the little green frogs needed some monosodium glue to mate.
Ken Kadoya was a Japanese exchange student who spent the school year two years ago with Sean, Laura and Dr. Dean Christian, Maple Grove. The Christians bought a 2004-2005 Benton Yearbook for Ken. Sean had it at school for everyone to sign, and someone stole it! Do you know of anyone who has an extra copy that Laura may buy to send to Ken?
A reader is looking for information on a place called Welliver's restaurant in Millville around 1913. Can a reader help?
June 27, 2006. Cindy Hose, Greenwood Township, turns the big "50." Cindy is known for her featured clogging with the local group, the Covered Bridge Cloggers. Up in Jamison City, the Ackerman family celebrates the birthday of Jane Ackerman today, who can still paddle with the best of kayakers.
Our congratulations on the Monday birth of Joshua Jackson Fritz to proud parents Richard and Tracy Fritz, Fritz Hill. "JJ" weighed six pounds, two ounces, at birth.
We remind you that information about most of the "larger" upcoming events can be accessed from the opening screen of the Benton News web site, including the O.A.T.S. Bluegrass Festival which opens Thursday, plus all the details of the Benton and the Millville Carnivals. It was nice to have Dale Ruckle remind us of Tort Robbins broadcasting a string of stories about the popcorn and caramel corn from the Millville Carnival popcorn stand of a by-gone age. Tort started telling stories when the wood popcorn stand was built.
Joyce Ann (Rhone) Puderbaugh, 61, (December 15, 1944-June 26, 2006), 3703 State Route 239, Benton, died Monday. Born in Bloomsburg, she was a daughter of the late Samuel and Florence (Benjamin) Rhone. She married Carl E. Puderbaugh, Jr. February 21, 1968. Mrs. Puderbaugh was the former owner and operator of the Green Thumb Greenhouse, Benton. Along with her husband, she is survived by: son, Bryan E. Puderbaugh (Teresa), Benton; son, Michael A. Puderbaugh (Mary), Muncy; daughter, Bethann M. Puderbaugh, Benton; granddaughter, Amanda Puderbaugh, Benton; Granddaughters, Lacie and Tori Puderbaugh, Muncy; brother, Jesse L. Rhone, Crescent City, FL; brother, Robert E. Rhone, Hughesville; and sister, Arlene B. Ropel, Benton. She was preceded in death by her sister, Evelyn F. Palmer. Her memorial service will be held Saturday, July 1, at 1:30 PM at the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses, 2325 Route 405 Highway, Muncy. Interment will be in the Lungerville Cemetery at the convenience of her family.
--Obituary courtesy of the McMichael Funeral Home, Inc. Consult the Tuesday edition of the Press Enterprise for a complete obituary.Ernest Carl Utt, 54, (March 20, 1952-June 14, 2006), Bothell, Washington, formerly of Millville died Wednesday morning, at the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Wilkes-Barre. Born in Bloomsburg, he was a son of Harold J. and Virginia M. (Sharrow) Utt, Stony Brook Circle, Orangeville. He was a 1970 graduate of Millville High School, attended College in Eureka, California, and served in the U. S. Air Force during the Vietnam War. His parents and four brothers survive: Dennis E. Utt (Rhoda), Gatesville, NC; Leonard J. Utt (Karen), Sahuarita, Arizona; Duane H. Utt, Bothell, Washington; LaRue B. Utt (Danielle), Scio, Oregon. Memorial services will be held Monday at 10 AM at the McMichael Funeral Home, Inc. Burial will be in Ikeler Cemetery, Mt. Pleasant Township.
--Obituary courtesy of the McMichael Funeral Home, Inc. Consult the Tuesday edition of the Press Enterprise for a complete obituary.Doug Gross, Greenwood Township, is a wildlife biologist for the Pennsylvania Game Commission. He works with endangered and protected bird species. Doug is the Regional Coordinator for an interesting "citizen science" and conservation project called the Pennsylvania Breeding Bird Atlas. The group maps the presence of nesting birds in the state, while Doug coordinates efforts in the Columbia and Sullivan County area.
Chuck Musitano, Benton school teacher and skillful amateur nature photographer, has participated with Chuck on the Breeding Bird Atlas and the two men have been "birding" together on several occasions.
Chuck provided some photos of a Chipping Sparrow at the nest with young for the Benton News. He also has a gallery of bird photos at www.pbase.com/muskrat.
An interesting article written by Chuck for the Breeding Bird Atlas can be found on pages 8-9 here.
Photo used with permission of the photographer, Chuck Musitano.
The project provides Doug's group information about the distribution and populations of our state's nesting birds. This is how the group targets areas and bird species for more conservation action. Head over to www.carnegiemnh.org/atlas/home.htm for more information.
A hot summer sun has some advantages. You don't have to shovel it, for example. Actually, I don't mind the snow and the sleet, but it would be nice if they would come when the weather is a little nicer. I didn't mind the persistent rain that fell Sunday and Monday, although I suspect that Dorothy and her dog Toto would have complained. I used to moan about things like rainy days and Mondays, but not any more. Rain does its part to make things green. At my age, green is good.
That goes for weeds, too! Look at it this way. Land that has eroded gets shored up by a proliferation of weeds. Minerals soaked to the subsoil rise up to the topsoil, thanks to weeds. Fertility is improved when weeds are rotated with the farmer's crops. Weeds let the surface-feeding plants get a little life-saving water during dry spells. Weeds tell the experienced eye exactly what soil needs. And weeds are often tasty to both animals and humans. Watch a rabbit, for example, suck up the delectable from dandelions or set out a pot of dandelions and hot bacon dressing when the men come in from the fields and see if I am not right. Go here to find other weeds that are delicious.
So is a weed just a troublesome, unattractive, undesirable plant growing where it isn't wanted in cultivated ground? By that definition, wouldn't a radish plant growing in a bed of carrots be a weed? Isn't clover growing in a stand of Kentucky 31 a weed? Isn't a beautiful black-eyed Susan growing in a farmer's wheat field nothing more than a lowly weed? What about the invasive flowers that become weeds to the person working his truck farm? And what about the hearty weeds like doak and carpetweed that look like a million bucks when weeks have gone by with absolutely no rain. The garden has dried up, but the doak looks like great. Which is now the weed? Green is good.
Probably the behavior of the plant has a lot to do with whether or not it is called a weed. Take poison ivy with its damaging oils or ragweed or goldenrod with its pollen. What about the plants so harmful to humans and yet so essential to the survival of birds and animals. Speaking of behavior, what about the people who spray harmful concoctions into the air which in turn kills wildlife and fish? Wouldn't the masses of colors be lovelier than a scorched earth policy?
And where did these weeds come from? Many seeds came to this country as herbs and medicines. Some weeds came as ballast in the bowels of ships, thrown there as piles of dirt. The strains of weeds thrived and overtook some native plants.
Everything was considered to have value and so if plants were red they did something for the blood, like purify it. Yellow flowers and jaundice were thought to go together. Someone suffering from ulcers would be treated with a plant with a bad odor. A plant growing in a swampy area would ease the suffering of rheumatism. Lungwort, a weed that looked like a lung, was thought to be excellent for a cough.
Remember the immortal words of Eve, who once said, "Don't forget that I wear the plants in this family!"
We deal with weeds so as not to choke it;
We scatter fertilize and then we soak it.
Day in and day out we try to grow it,
Then gripe because we have to mow it.P.S. Immediately after writing about weeds, I took a break from sitting in front of the computer and pulled some weeds that were choking out summer flowers. I accidentally grabbed a well-secured stalk of poison ivy with both hands. If I had more time, I would throw out this column and write an updated column entitled "Green is Gross!"
Paul Dietzel, Clearfield, made a trip to Benton over the weekend, one of many he has made to the local area over the last 30 years. Paul often stays at Chimney Stack Hunting Club while keeping in touch with friends Sam and Jody Yost. Paul picked up some subs at Hoboken, watched a couple of innings of Little League beside the rodeo grounds, tanked up on some gas "a dime under the 'outside world'" and headed for the Mill Race Golf Course when he spotted a black bear "on the course between holes 4 and 5." Diane Brown told us that by 8 Saturday night some campers saw a mother bear with three cubs on the course. Paul reflected, "Always something exciting going on in Benton," and he is right! Remember two years ago at this time, a bear scattered people when it walked through the O.A.T.S. festival grounds.
Picture courtesy of Paul DietzelSpeaking of golf, didja hear about the club pro who walked over to a couple of ladies and asked "Do either of you want to learn how to play good golf?"
One of the ladies answered, "Maybe my friend would. I learned yesterday."An influence in the life of Red Skelton was a teacher who explained the words and meaning of the Pledge of Allegiance to his class. Skelton later wrote down and eventually recorded his recollection of this lecture. It is followed by an observation of his own. You can listen to the pledge here.
June 26, 2006. It is the wedding anniversary today of Rich and Sherri Plocinski and the birthday in 1819 of Abner Doubleday.
The Mill Race Golf Course will be the scene of a golf tournament July 14 for the Crilly family, Bloomsburg, who lost their parents. It gets underway at 8 AM. It is a shotgun, four-person scramble. Call Diane Brown at Mill Race, 925-2040, for complete information.
I have been in a hissey-fit mood for the past week dealing with a motor home that I plugged into 240VAC via a plug that was wired like the vehicle was a waffle iron-- somewhat akin to what happens when lightning makes a full frontal attack on things electrical in your house, like refrigerators, televisions and circuit boards. A company in Farmingdale, New Jersey, repaired my 2,000 watt inverter/converter and I can now concentrate on doctoring individual pieces of electronics.
The company that fixed me up was a technology wonderland, with the term "sine wave" used in almost every sentence. What intrigued me about the company was not its competence, but its customers. The customers were Amish, for the most part, with scatterings of non-Amish customers from New England, all connected to a power grid of some size, mostly very small in nature. But the Amish, the people with the horse-drawn buggies and straw hats? This was far afield from everything I thought I knew about them. As if on cue, the phone rang and the president of the company excused himself, saying he had to take the call from "Amos," a member of the Amish sect, calling on his cell phone. From his cell phone? Indeed.
The Amish are averse to any technology they feel weakens the family structure. If a temptation could cause vanity, create inequality, or lead the Amish away from their close-knit community it is not accepted. Since the days back in Europe of Jacob Amman (~1644 to ~1720), the Amish have made technology strides with each new generation. They began using horses, eventually used lamps from kerosene and moved into the world of propane refrigerators and disposable diapers and are now debating the use of rollerblades (the rubber wheels being the problem). Why not land-line phones, cell phones and electricity? The thinking is that if something is not specifically prohibited by the Ordnung, it is acceptable.
Amish beliefs forbid members to drive a car, go to school past eighth grade or have phones in their homes, but Amish families sometime share a telephone located in an unheated shanty, sometimes even in an outhouse, on their property line or down a country lane where several can use it. Wires from the outside world are not permitted into their world, which knocks out their use of electricity from public-utility grids but not from inverter/converter units like in my motor home.
Technology is one of the areas where you will see the greatest differences between Amish orders. The ultraconservative side of the sect do not even allow the use of battery lights. Old Order Amish are allowed to ride in motorized vehicles including planes and automobiles, though they are not allowed to own them. New Order Amish allow the use of electricity, ownership of automobiles, modern farming machines, and telephones in the home. Virgil Miller, President, Newmar Corporation, for example, is Amish and in fact he even owns race cars.
Didja know that...
A hundred years ago, Wilkes-Barre was the 75th-largest city in the United States, thanks in large part to the anthracite coal industry.
An estimated 52,000 vehicles travel the 13-mile bottleneck each day on Route 11/15 in the Shamokin Dam area, a stretch characterized by restaurants, gas stations, malls and other commercial activity. It is designated as a "high DUI crash area."
About 1,250 of Pennsylvania's 2,600 municipalities rely on the state police exclusively for protection; the state police assist another 545 municipalities part-time.
Licensed fireworks distributors in Pennsylvania are allowed to sell consumer-grade fireworks to out-of-state residents even though they may not legally possess them in their states. We wonder if anyone really believes that to be a neighborly thing to do?We'll probably see more soybeans growing in our local fields this summer as companies like Boyd Station in Danville extrudes raw oil from them that will eventually end up in soy-based biodiesel fuel. Pennsylvania opened its first biodiesel manufacturing plant this year. Keystone BioFuels Inc., Shiremanstown, began manufacturing biodiesel from raw soybean oil in March and is now up to more than a million gallons per year and plans to hit 7 million gallons of biodiesel per year by December.
We are moving into our bluegrass, stay-at-home mode in preparation for the upcoming O.A.T.S. festival that moves into town Thursday. Thanks to Rev. Al Lumpkin, the OATS Festival will honor a special price on Friday and Saturday nights for local folks. The admission will be $10 for any local person arriving at or after 7 PM. Children 15 and under accompanied by an adult are free. All folks will need to do is show information with a local address (Benton and adjacent communities).
June 25, 2006. It is the birthday of Jill Pascale and singer Carly Simon, 61.
On this day in...
• 1876, Lieutenant Colonel George A. Custer, 37, and more than 200 federal troops of the 7th Cavalry Regiment lost their lives in the Battle of the Little Bighorn, or Custer's Last Stand. The battle took place after the 7th Calvary was attacked by an estimated 2,500 Sioux and Cheyenne Indians under Chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse. Custer and his troops were attempting to remove Indian groups from Southern Montana. Last in his West Point class, Custer advanced to become the youngest general in the U.S. Army two years after graduation.• 1950, North Korea crossed the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea, marking the beginning of the Korean War. About 37,000 Americans and more than a million Koreans lost their lives in this conflict. The Korean War concluded without success; no celebrations marked its end.
Were you a kid in the 1930s, 1940s or 1950s? If so, go here for some memories.
The Stillwater Christian Church has new worship service times.
8-9 AM - Traditional service, with nursery & Jr. worship
9:15-10:30 AM - Contemporary service, with nursery & Jr. worship
10:45-noon - Contemporary service, with nursery & Jr. worship
Upcoming...
You can get the hard-boiled truth about eggs, including the "incredible edible" egg, plus other eggs from birds, butterflies and turtles, at the Visitor Center, Ricketts Glen State Park Tuesday through Thursday, 9:30 AM to noon. Registration is at 477-7780. Build your own nest as your EGGS-citement builds. Discover through games and activities how difficult it is to be a parent. For ages 6 to 8.The third annual patriotic service honoring God and country will be held at the First United Methodist Church of Shickshinny, U.S. Route 11 and Butler Street at 11 AM July 2. There will be patriotic hymns, organ music and a sermon. American Legion 12th District Cmdr. Jesse Turner and soloist Roger Noss will be featured. A hot-dog picnic will follow in the social hall. Parking is available in the Five Mountain Market lot.
A reader told us that the pow-wow at Camp Lavigne will be Labor Day weekend. We have no other information at this time.
The Millville Firemen's Carnival comes up June 30 through July 8, beginning each night at 5 PM. Nightly entertainment generally begins at 7 PM. The "gigantic parade" takes place on July 4 at 10 AM. The famous fireworks are July 8 at midnight. It all happens on the Millville Carnival Grounds. Call 570 458-0444 for more information.
"Pennsylvania's General Assembly has determined that public safety will be enhanced by making information about registered sex offenders available to the public through the Internet. Knowledge whether a person is a registered sex offender could be a significant factor in protecting yourself, your family members, or persons in your care from recidivist acts by registered sex offenders. Public access to information about registered sex offenders is intended solely as a means of public protection."
--Megan's Law Web SitePennsylvania's Megan's Law, 42 Pa.C.S. § 9799.1, requires the State Police to create and maintain a registry of persons who reside, work/carry on a vocation, or attend school in the Commonwealth and who have either been convicted of, entered a plea of guilty to, or adjudicated delinquent of certain sex offenses in Pennsylvania or another jurisdiction. The Columbia County list is found here.
June 24, 2006. Today is what is known as Midsummer Day which seems a bit strange, since it happens near the beginning of summer, but to the farmer it is midpoint in the growing season, halfway between planting and harvesting. It is time to kick back and celebrate, although for many us a special day is actually not needed to do that sort of thing. Washington Irving said it "is a time when it is well known all kinds of ghosts, goblins, and fairies become visible and walk abroad." Days begin to shorten--sob, sob--after today.
I am in Phillies country today and watched with many anxious fans last night as Boston did a number on the team. I watch almost no sports, but Father loved his Phillies and listened to them each night in our darkened living room. He supported the team during the good times and the bad, but there were few good times so he supported them during the bad and the worse years.
As I remember, Father loved to watch the six foot, 190-pound right hander Robin Evan Roberts who by the age of 26 had won 20 or more games in each of three consecutive seasons. Father got angry sometime before 1950 because Roberts didn't throw curve balls, and after Roberts began throwing an occasional curve Father would be gently telling the living room radio to have the pitcher throw one of his famous fast balls. At the time, I didn't know a bunt from a Buick, but remember that Father said Robin Roberts lived at the time on Robin Hood Lane in Philadelphia, and also knew that Curt Simmons was his next-door neighbor. Father also tracked the pitcher during the winter months when the Phillies star sold corrugated boxes and in his spare time visited people who were shut in. The Phillies could have used Robin Roberts last night, as welll as a good third baseman who could field toward the shortstop.
Happening today...
The Directory of the Northern Fishingcreek Valley as published in 1901 includes the Townships of Benton, Sugarloaf, Fishing Creek and Jackson and the Boroughs of Benton, Millville, Orangeville and Stillwater .
A yard sale begins at 9 AM and running until 2 PM at the Benton Assembly of God, Route 487, Stillwater. Proceeds go to a Mississippi church destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. A public auction begins at the same time at 300 Third Street in the Bardo family home next to the post office.
Dr. Lori holds her arts and antiques appraisal fair today from 1-4 PM at the Fort McClure House, McClure Boulevard, one-half mile west of Bloomsburg Town Park. Food will be available.
Top off your day with an ice cream social beginning at 4:30 PM at the Town Hill UM Church, 417 Town Hill Road.
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It took a long time for the theatre to get here, but Wilkes-Barre's "Movies 14" opens as an R/C Theatre June 24-28. Ticket prices until the grand opening are $1. The movie theater and retail space celebrates its grand opening June 30 at its South Main and East Northampton street address.
June 23, 2006. It is Midsummer Night's Eve, sometimes called St. John's Eve. Saturday will be Midsummer Day. David and Angel McHenry celebrate their wedding anniversary today. Mark and Peggy Seward celebrate 27 years and Matt and Kathy Seward celebrate 22 years of marriage today. Sheri (Sharon) Fowler celebrates her birthday today. Mark and Matt are brothers and both married on June 23 but with five years between. Today is the birthday of actress Frances McDormand, born in Illinois in 1957. Frances is the daughter of Rev. and Mrs. Vernon McDormand.
On this date in 1868, Christopher Latham Sholes received a patent for a prototype of the typewriter known as a "blind-writer" because its design prevented easy viewing of the typed characters. It only had capital letters and it took up as much room as a large table. Sholes was born near Mooresburg, 32 miles from Back Home in Benton, PA.
Upcoming...
Christine's Karaoke will be at the Elk Grove Inn Saturday night from 9:30-1:30. Next Saturday is the Pie and Ice Cream Contest at the North Mountain Fire Co. Christine's Karaoke will be on the stage from 12 to 3 and that night will be at the Jamison City Hotel from 9:30 to 1:30.
An all-you-can-eat breakfast happens Saturday, July 1, from 8-11 AM at the North Mountain Fire Co. grounds sponsored by The Royal Order of Raccoons. Cost is $6.
The Benton Fire Co. will serve its monthly breakfast, including all-you-can-eat pancakes and buckwheat cakes, at the fire hall Sunday beginning at 7 AM. Cost is $6 for adults and $3 for children ages 6-12.
The Benton United Methodist Church will host a coffee house with live music this Sunday from 6-8 PM.
Ag Progress Days will return for a three-day run August 15-17 at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Rock Springs, nine miles southwest of State College on Route 45. More than 375 commercial exhibitors will be on hand. Field machinery demonstrations will feature hay mowing, hay rakes and tedders, baling, bale handling and conservation tillage. There will be family living exhibits; food demonstrations; a corn maze; horse exhibitions and clinics; displays of live farm animals and wildlife; a tree-climbing adventure; exhibits of antique farm and home implements in the Pasto Agricultural Museum; and a wide variety of food booths. Ag Progress Days hours are 9 AM to 5 PM on Aug. 15; 9 AM to 8 PM on Aug. 16; and 9 AM to 4 PM on Aug. 17. Admission and parking are free. For more information, call (800) PSU-1010 toll-free from July 10 to August 17.A reader asked when the Pow-Wow would be held at Camp Lavigne and we do not know. Can a reader help? We suspect it is around Labor Day.
Incidentally, Powwowing takes on a different meaning in the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect. Often called brauche, the process is a semi-religious practice whose chief purpose is the healing of physical ailments in humans and in animals, of conferring protection from physical or spiritual harm, or bringing good luck, or revealing hidden information.
We'll combine the powwowing subject and a fictionalized story I heard in Reading about Mountain Mary. The story was attributed to Ludwig Wollenweber, a 19th century playwright, journalist and newspaper publisher.
It is interesting that each time that someone told us about Ludwig (his German name) or Louis, (the variant name written in English) Wollenweber they started with this quick story, somewhat we suppose as we might begin a story with "Once upon a time." The quick story takes place after Ludwig came to our country in 1832 from his native Germany. He took the combination of a stage coach and a steamboat from New York city to Philadelphia, arriving with one fip left. A fip was a silver coin worth 6 1/4 cents, with sixteen fips making a dollar, somewhat similar to another old coin known as a "bit" worth 12.5 cents. I just noticed a glint of recognition in your eyes; i.e., two bits made a quarter. In the days of our great grandparents, fip and bits were as common as nickels and dimes are today. We still hear the use of the term "two bits" when we mean a quarter.
Wollenweber left the city of Brotherly Love where he heard very little German spoken on the streets, he was unable to find employment, and found a few friends but little brotherly love. He headed for Reading where it was said that German was spoken everywhere. Wollenweber lived in Womelsdorf, wrote some plays and some books, including Mountain Mary in 1880.
Mary was known in Pennsylvania Dutch as "Barricke Mariche," and in German as "die Berg Maria." The story goes that she was born in Germany near Frankfurt-On-the-Main, and ended up as a hermit in the Oley Valley of Berks County about 12 miles from Reading. She was considered a "holy woman" in eastern Berks County. She usually donated her meager output of milk and eggs to the poor. Her given name was Anna Maria Jung (or maybe it was "Jungin," since I can't figure out the feminine German suffix).
Mary Young, her anglicized name, lived alone in the mountains for more than thirty years tending to a herbal garden reputed to have some magical characteristics. She kept three or four cows, some bees and made money by performing vivisection on living animals. Some considered her as a holy woman who performed Christian "good deeds." Mountain Mary died in 1819 at age 70 and became a semi-legendary figure, partly because of the 1880 novel by Ludwig Wollenweber. The Daughters of the American Revolution erected a monument to her. She is portrayed as a "powwow doctor" at the Goshenhoppen Pennsylvania German Folk Festival .
Thursday, June 22, 2006. Jim Remley celebrates his birthday today in Virginia. Happy wedding anniversary to Carl and Crystal Faust, Orangeville. We neglected to mention the birthday of Gerri Newhart on Tuesday, June 20. Happy belated, Gerri!
Everyone is born on a special time and day. A calendar illustrates how special the day was that you were born. It tells how long you have been alive on this earth and when you were probably conceived, but doesn't bother going into the details of how you were conceived. After you've finished reading the information, click again, and see what the moon looked like the night you were born.
We continue our stay in the Kutztown area today, our ailing motor home getting sicker by the hour. The incorrect wiring took out the inverter and the converter, the television and the electric hot water heater, plus numerous circuit boards. The air conditioning is somehow working.
For those who don't know the Berks County community of Kutztown, we'll provide a capsule history starting with George Coots or George Kutz, the same guy with variations of spelling of his name. Way back in 1755, George purchased 130 acres, and named the area on Easton Road "Cootstown." In 1815, it became a Borough and today the town of Kutztown has about 5,150 residents. The Borough became the home of the Keystone Normal School, which is today the stately Old Main dormitory and classroom. Kutztown State Teachers College became its name in 1928, following a similar path as a sister school, Bloomsburg State Teacher's College. In 1983, the college was elevated to university status. Benton Area Schools' graduate Dr. David Laubach is a member of the English Department of Kutztown University.
Music is provided in the area by bands like the Sauerkraut Brass Band. The former Kutztown Bottling Works, Inc. makes unusual drinks like Kutztown Sarsaparilla. and a Dutch Ox Roast will prove that "hunger makes the best chef."
The Pennsylvania Dutch strive to only eat three square meals a day, eating them generally at specified times during the day. Breakfast is served in the main dining room at 6 AM with a cheery "Goot morning, C'mon insite and haff breakfast." The meal often consists of coils of fresh and smoked sausage and I wonder what a doctor I see from time to time would say about that. Gravy is part of breakfast, liberal amounts of gravy. Eggs are sunny side up and "dippy," carefully laid beside the raw-fried potatoes and onions that had recently been in close personal contact with lard. Round-topped pan loaves of freshly made bread loaded with cold squares of butter with droplets of water on them with jelly that looks like elderberry completes the first meal of the day.
Dinner is served at noon, and supper at 6 PM. With the twelve-hour stretch overnight, breakfast becomes the biggest meal. Obviously the hardest work of the day comes in the two six-hour stretches between dinner and supper, and when the dinner bell is clanged the men in the field quit what they are doing and head toward the house. In the winter when the men aren't working the field, three square meals are still provided, vunce all morning, vunce all afternoon and vunce all evening. The three vunces make three mealtimes. These folks are not afraid of eating!
The clear, star-filled skies of the Kutztown area Tuesday night prompted these words from a fellow star gazer: Blinzel, Blinzel, Glaenel Schtarn, which I am told means "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star."
Gravel roads thread their way across the valley where we are staying, past the stately sycamore trees and the well-kept farms. Horses seem to be a staple of each farm. This is a lovely part of Pennsylvania, but it does seem strange not to be able to watch the evening news or turn on enough lights to be able to read by or...
A local lady recently returned from a vacation in Las Vegas, where she exercised the slot machines. It was her first time in a casino, and she wasn't sure how the machines operated. She asked a casino employee how the slot machines work. The worker showed her how to insert a bill, hit the spin button, and operate the release handle, but didn't explain where the money came out. Responding to her question, the casino employee smiled and motioned to a far wall, "Usually at the MAC Machine."
It is always fun to see how the other side lives. Here are some personal ads that tickled our fancy:
Fun loving grandmother of 12. Enjoys quilting, baking, and square dancing. Seeking young Hell's Angels' type outlaw. Could it be you?Slightly plump housewife looking for small, wimpish dweeb who likes to be pushed around.
Very obese and profoundly ugly guy with lots of fungus, looking for that special lady with similar qualities.
Hopeless creep with no damn job looking for woman with good job and nice house. Looks not important.
Mentally disturbed mountain man lookin' for hard workin', tobacco chewin', ten finger havin' girl.
Single girl looking for middle aged professional man with fancy car and expense account.
Shriveled-up old hag looking for quiet gentleman to occupy living room furniture. Non speakers a plus.
The Millersburg Ferry, a fixture for crossing the Susquehanna for 200 years, has been approved for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Approval from the National Park Service approval is expected within 45 days. The Ferry Boat Association was approved for the Pennsylvania Registry of Historic Sites in 1971 but not the national listing. The site includes the ferry wall, channels and landings. The two ferry boats of modern construction were not included. Want to know more about the ferry? Turn to the FEATURES portion of the Benton News.
June 21, 2006. It is the 59th wedding anniversary of Fred and Florence DePoe and Jeff and Sandra Kelsey also celebrate their anniversary. On the birthday side, Joseph Robert Pascale, Sheila Thompson and Max Hartman celebrate today. Today is the first full day of summer in the northern hemisphere, the longest day of the year and the shortest night. Summer officially begins with the solstice at 8:26 AM.
Some readers will remember when Hurricane Agnes spread devastation throughout our area. Awful Agnes began as a tropical disturbance off the coast of the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico on June 14, 1972. As the disturbance moved northward, it strengthened and became a tropical storm and by June 19 Agnes became a hurricane. Agnes made landfall along the Florida pan handle, then proceeded through Georgia, South and North Carolina before she moved back over the Atlantic off the North Carolina coast on June 21.
After regaining strength over the Atlantic, she made landfall again over southeastern New York on June 22 and moved westward in an arc over southern New York into north-central Pennsylvania. She became nearly stationary over Pennsylvania by the morning of June 23. In the three weeks preceding the arrival of Agnes, Pennsylvania as a whole had received 2 to 3 inches of rain, thus greatly increasing the runoff potential of Agnes. Rainfall from June 20-25 reached 18 inches in the Susquehanna River basin.
The 1972 floods were widespread, resulting in extremely rare floods on major rivers and streams. The flood recurrence frequency in many locations exceeded 100 years, most notably on the Susquehanna River.
I experienced a flood of a different sort on Monday, a flood of electricity. I asked a contractor to install a 30 Amp 110 volt receptacle on the side of the garage in order to provide electricity to our motor home.
This type of receptacle contains three #10 gauge wires. The plug/receptacle combination is similar to the shape of a dryer receptacle with two angled flat prongs for the power circuit and one round prong for the ground connection. The contractor wired the receptacle like the older type 220/230-volt electric dryer or electric range connection and when I plugged in the power cord from the motor home the two hot wires fried most of the RV's electric components. Motor homes of reasonable size do not use the 240-volt electrical equipment, but stick with 110-volt washer dryers, air conditioners, and electric cooking appliances.
Monday was certainly not the best of days.
One of the favorite dishes Mother used to make was a simple one, which she called Schmierkase. It was simply cottage cheese with apple butter on it. Some confusion over this recipe came in Kutztown Tuesday during a discussion of "putting up" or preserving things grown in the local gardens. The discussion started with making "catsup sauce" by combing applesauce, mustard and cinnamon with vinegar and ripe tomatoes and moved on to pickling about everything grown in the garden except weeds, calling it "chow-chow" and proclaiming it "vunnerfil goot." Eventually, I told the group about Mother's Schmierkase, but was politely told that Schmierkase is made by taking a pound of "sieved" cottage cheese, some salt and pepper, a couple tablespoons of melted butter and about the same amount of sweet or sour cream, a teaspoon of grated onion and a few chopped chives and caraway seeds. This recipe for Schmierkase called for the first six ingredients to be combined and mixed well until it reached spreading consistency. The chives and caraway seeds go on top. This recipe is a far cry from the Schmierkase recipe I knew and loved as I grew up.
I love to listen to the Pennsylvania Dutch folks of this area. We are told that their style of speaking and writing came from an intermixing of the "low" (southern) and "high" (northern) German-speaking people as they began to both converse and comprehend their neighbors who spoke English and even French, many of them who were Holland Dutch and Swiss.
But nothing in the Kutztown area pleases us more than the wonderful pretzels we find everywhere. We were told in one place that the origin of the pretzels was in a monastery in the north or Italy in the year 1610 A.D. Later we were told that the pretzel came from a monastery in the south of France in 1610 A.D. It bewilders us how both parties can be so absolutely sure that it all took place in 1610 A.D., but don't even know where it happened.
And all this was recorded in the strange language of the Pennsylvania Dutch dialect that uses signs and spoken language that seems to be devoid of rules for written grammar and punctuation. There just doesn't seem to be much in the way of grammar and cases and conjugational rules. All this is to say that we have absolutely no assurance that the pretzel-derivation story has any truth to it. Come to think about it, we betcha someone by the name of UTZ or Bachman invented the pretzel just to go with Yuengling beer that comes from Pottsville. That is my version of how the story goes and I am sticking with it!
June 20, 2006. There are lots of birthdays in Central today: John and Jessica Geffkin are celebrating their wedding anniversary. John is the son of Meg and the late John Geffkin, and Jessica is the daughter of Owen (Jr.) and Debbie Hess. Ed Vandergrift is also celebrating his birthday.
On this date in 1863, The National Bank of Philadelphia became the first bank to get a charter from the United States Congress.
The June meeting of the Benton Chapter of the Red Hat Society will be held June 21 at 2 PM at Market Square and Grill. The "girls" will make final plans for The Summer Social July 19. Guests are welcome and the Chapter is open to new members. Proper attire of Red Hat and Purple Outfit are required.
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted."
--Albert EinsteinA friend is someone with whom you can be yourself. You don't need to put on any airs, you can just be who you are and what you are. You need not be better or worse than you actually are. When you are with a friend, you get the same feeling that you would get if you were a prisoner and were declared innocent of all charges. You can say whatever comes into your head, so long as it is truly you. Character flaws that others might spot are overlooked by a friend.
With a friend, the things you hate and the things you love can be discussed openly in the context of loyalty. Your friend understands, even if you were to abuse the privilege or neglect him. You don't need to talk to be a friend; stillness is a quality often found in friendship. A friend is someone with whom you can cry, pray, laugh and participate. A friend, to end where we began, is someone with whom you can be yourself. May your life be enriched with the best of friends...
My life has been enriched with friends, and I'll tell you about a new-found friend in tomorrow's Benton News, and will explain why we overshot our deadlines for delivery of the news when we get together on Wednesday--not at the regular time, but when we get the time to send it out. And we'll explain that, too.
Quickies...
In February, 1946, Frank C. Yost sold Yost's Restaurant to Emerson Stoneham and Lee Yost. To many older residents, the Sub Shop is still Yost's Restaurant, but after 1946, the Stoneham family set the table for their guests. The current owner is Becky Stoneham Green. Our guests coming Back Home to Benton, PA, often ask for a sub from the Sub Shop, skipping our home cookin' completely.
A reader once found us by googling for "fritz, and wrote, "How about a little lesson on the origin of the term fritz as used when something doesn't work right, as in 'My toaster is on the fritz'"? We'll try...
Fritz: pronounced "frits."
. -n. On the fritz, not in working order: Our TV went on the fritz last night.
. -v. fritz out, to become inoperable.We'll say right up front that we haven't a clue where the term came from. We know that at one time the word fritz was used in an offensive manner to describe a German soldier and it is a popular given name in the Benton area (Fritz). The word is commonly used when something is malfunctioning or broken: "Laptop Larry is on the fritz again," just as the Brits and the Australian would say that Larry is "on the blink." Some claim that fritz is an imitation of the pfzt noise from a faulty electrical connection or the sound of a fuse blowing, but the word actually was around both before the invention of electricity and before the nickname for a German soldier in the first World War.
The word may actually have come from someone called Fritz, someone like "Fritz" in the comic strip The Katzenjammer Kids. In this strip, two youngsters called Hans and Fritz get involved in all sorts of capers, fouling things up to the point of putting everyone involved "on the Fritz." Rudolph Dirks created The Katzenjammer Kids in 1897 for the American Humorist, the Sunday supplement of the New York Journal. Inspired by Max Und Moritz, the German children's stories of the 1860s, The Katzenjammer Kids featured the adventures of Hans and Fritz, twins and foes of any form of authority. "The Katzies" rebelled against their mother, called Mama, der Captain (the father-image shipwrecked sailor and der Inspector (the dreaded representative of school authorities).
Alice M. Yost, 83, (Dec. 21, 1922-June 17, 2006), 726 Zaner Bridge Road, Stillwater, died Saturday. She was born in Jackson Township, a daughter of the late Hurley F. and Stella M. (Evans) Fritz. She worked for the former Boston Berry Farms, Stillwater. She was preceded in death by her husband, Walter J. Yost (Oct. 23, 1980); a son, Dennis D. Yost, and a brother, Donald Fritz. She is survived by sons Jerry D. Yost, (Rena), Monroeton; Larry E. Yost (Nancy), and Kenneth E. Yost, both of Stillwater; and by daughters: Joyce A. (Byron) Partington, Shickshinny; Gloria D. Kocher, New Columbus; Kathryn E., (Roger) Bender, Stillwater; and Theresa (Dorrance) Berger, Muncy; by numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren; and two sisters: Beulah Miller and Lois Conrad, both of Benton. Funeral services will held on Tuesday at 11 AM in the Dean W. Kriner, Inc., Funeral Home, Benton. Interment will be in St. James Cemetery. There will not be viewing services.
--From the June 19, 2006, Press Enterprise, where a complete obituary can be found
June 19, 2006. Happy birthday to Sherry Jones and Ricky D. Karns. Today is the anniversary of the day that the United States Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Yesterday we slept through the birthday of Shirley Lockard.
Events taking place today and through Friday of this week will minimize the time we'll have to prepare a Benton News. We'll do our best to keep in touch.
On this date in 1911, Pennsylvania established the first motion picture censorship board rating everything "S" for "Silent or "BW" for "Black & White." Talking and color movies were not available in 1911. On this date in 1943, the National Football League approved merging the Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers for one season due to the manpower shortage created by World War II. The team was called both Phil-Pitt and the Steagles.
Northern Columbia County Community Watch meetings are every second and fourth Monday of the month at 7 PM at the Benton United Methodist Church on Main Street. The area needs all the watchful eyes it can get. Please consider attending.
The 2006 lineup of bluegrass entertainers at the O.A.T.S. Festival has something for everyone. The James King Band will be back for their fifth O.A.T.S. appearance. James is a Virginia boy and studied in the Stanley Brothers tradition. Chris Stewart and Backcountry is a California group that performs songs written by Stewart, such as "Rider on this Train." The Grascals were the 2005 IBMA "Emerging Artists of the Year." Few fiddle players have been heard more than Jimmy Mattingly of the group, thanks to a Dr. Pepper commercial that featured him accompanying Garth Brooks. Dan Paisley and The Southern Grass is acclaimed as "one of America's premier traditional bluegrass bands." The group are no strangers to the O.A.T.S. festival. The Bluegrass Brothers provide a high-energy performance of traditional music. There is the music of The Chapmans, Special Consensus, The Stringdusters, and David Davis and the Warrior River Boys.
O.A.T.S will feature performers like Lykens Valley Bluegrass Boys, Stained Grass Window, Outskirts, Chester Johnson and the Foggy Mountain Grass, and the emerging Like Father-Like Son and its Benton Township connection.
Each year, Sunday morning has featured religious music that has always been an integral part of bluegrass. In fact, the Benton Presbyterian Church meets at the festival grounds to listen to the music in lieu of their regular Sunday services.. The Rev. Al Lumpkin, Jean Lumpkin and their many friends close out this year's OATS Festival with several hours devoted to Music of the Spirit. The Lumpkins' are backed by Mark Doncheski and Mary Hermann, Woody Wolfe, Jim and Mary Cram, and Joe and Lorraine Feola of the popular local group, Raven Creek.The charm of the four days of the O.A.T.S. festival comes not only with the stage performances but with what goes on at the sidelines. There are workshops on various bluegrass instruments, and there are sessions for children. The "Danny Stewart Jam Tent" is one of many locations where you'll find groups of people playing and singing familiar songs. Many spend hours playing music at their campsites. Music continues all night, often with the stage performers sitting in. We simply open our windows in the motor home when we get ready to "call it a day" and listen through the open windows.
The OATS Festival is a family event. Rough camping comes free with a four-day ticket. Children under 12 are admitted without charge, so the bluegrass festival is quite a bargain. The OATS Festival is held at the Benton Rodeo Ground from Thursday, June 29 through Sunday, July 2. Follow the "bluegrass festival" signs from the north end of Benton. Tickets are available at the gate for all four days or for individual days.
Judson McHenry is a descendent of the "Hunter John" McHenry line that goes back to 1785 when the noted hunter was born. He and his wife now live in Florida and their son Judson and wife Debbie travel to our area from time to time where they love to reminisce in the area of the old Distillery, absorbing the memories associated with the place. Jud and Debbie have two sons and newlywed Josh and his bride Jennifer were very thankful for the inch of rain that fell on their recent wedding day in Oklahoma City. For a short time, you can watch the video at www.newsok.com/ where you can find out more about a jeweler who bet a substantial amount of money that it would not rain an inch or more on their wedding day. The jeweler soon learned never to place a bet with a McHenry!
Too often in life we overlook those who help make our area a better place. There are so many of these people around, and yet they seem to get overrun by those who tend to pull the area down. Somehow it seems simpler for most to concentrate on those things that are negative and not mention the good things around us. Kelly Yost, North Street, is an example of someone who contributes to the best of his ability. Kelly gets on something that he likes and stays with it until the job gets done. Kelly has his agenda and doesn't deviate one iota from it. Kelly doesn't get diddly for praise, it seems, so we'll dish some out on his plate. Take anything musical in the area. Kelly will be there. An example is the coffee house coming up at the Methodist Church June 25 from 6 to 8 PM when traditional music by Jim Weiss will fill the church, and then free refreshments will be provided in exchange for a free-will offering. But Kelly continues to look out for music for the upcoming months, too. For example, in July Kelly has lined up the Gospel Strings Band, and again there will be free refreshments and music in return for a free-will offering.
I recently sat in a local concert and Kelly approached me after it ended. I asked how he liked it, and he said that it was not his favorite kind of music--and it was true that the music was geared for someone with a little more white in his hair than Kelly had. I tried to convince Kelly how good the music had been, but Kelly stood his ground, the two sides as hopelessly deadlocked as a debate on abortion, politics or religion. Finally, Kelly told me that although it was not "his kind of music," he had asked the group to appear at a future coffee house and the group had agreed. Arrangements are being finalized at the moment. But that is the kind of person that Kelly Yost is. If it is music and especially if it is good music, he wants everyone to enjoy it. Thanks, Kelly, for making the coffee houses happen.
June 18, 2006. Happy anniversary to Allen and Michelle Turner.
It is Father's Day, a day of honor for those men who taught us to fish, to give an honest day's work for the wages received, who were smart enough to marry the most perfect woman on the face of the earth, and who, despite a couple of very shaky events, produced kids who turned out darn nice. We trace it back to Sonora Smart Dodd who was inspired during a Mother's Day sermon to think of her father who had raised the family after her mother died. Her minister agreed to deliver a sermon honoring fathers on her father's birthday in June, and the concept slowly caught on. Father's Day became an official holiday in 1972 when President Nixon signed a law declaring that it be celebrated annually on the third Sunday in June.
The calendar points out that there are three days until the official start of summer. Summer follows the world clock, which uses the old Greenwich Mean Time, officially beginning June 21 at 12:57 in the morning. What inquiring minds wanna know is what time Summer arrives in the good old USA. That would be June 21 at 8:26 a.m. EDT, 7:25 a.m. CDT, 6:25 a.m. MDT and 5:25 a.m. PDT.
Many of us of an older generation remember singing songs like In the Good Ole Summertime and singing nonsense songs at Camp Lavigne about people like John Jacob Jingle Heimer Schmitt and listening to the Beach Boys go on about their Endless Summer. As we were growing up, we were free to swim at the Benton dam or at the rock hole, we could play some baseball or we could haul our butts onto the bleachers at the park and watch former high school baseball players whiz around the bases. It was a time for making hay and watching as Dave Floyd's combine swept from farm to farm and field to field daylight to dark, his flashing eyes always glancing at the sky watching for any signs of rain. It was a time to make a little money and to put some away for college. It was a time we dreamed of nine months out of the year and rejoiced when it arrived. It was a time to cut and stack wood and a time when Mother's garden always needed weeding, always falling on my shoulders. Mowing the lawn was a chore and no fun--and has remained so into my senior years.All the chores that were piled on our shoulders prepared us for the difficult road of life that lay ahead. We were busy and we didn't always like it, but we can sit back today and observe that it is an element that is missing from many children of this generation. Watch how busy the workers are at the Sub Shop or the Taste Crème and I betcha if you were to talk to the people who have to pay the bills and keep those restaurants running they would say finding enough good people to work is one of the hardest parts of the restaurant business.
When I was growing up, summer didn't begin at this time in June. Summer began when school was over for the year, which meant that our friends from Millville celebrated the start of summer on a slightly different day than our friends from the Orangeville area, and much of that depended on the number of snow days--those popular winter breaks from school that turned not so popular in the summer when the end of school could be delayed if we had too many snow days. Usually by the "old start of summer" we had taken our first swim in Fishingcreek, pretending all the while that it was not as cold as our shaking made it out to be. We also had some friends who started their summers much earlier, electing to start to coincide with their father's need for summer help on the farm.
Summer meant taking off our shoes until we had to go back to school. I can proudly say that I could run along the path beside the old Bloomsburg and Sullivan railroad tracks in my bare feet. Today, I feel a pebble under the leather of my shoes! Summer was a time for dreaming, a time to count the hours until the carnival and the beloved fireman's parade arrived in town. We would sit under a buttonwood tree along Fishingcreek talking about girls with our friends, but would be too shy to talk to girls in person. We would wait each day to see the train slowly making its way into town. We would always stop what we were doing and watch it sway its way up the tracks, doing exactly what it did every day it came to Benton. We still do the same when we see a train or a bear in the wild or a deer in a field or a flock of turkeys ready to take cover.
For those who keep track, the official start of autumn will take place during your morning coffee at 8:30 AM on September 22. And for those who love winter, that season comes in December 21 at 4:42 AM.
John Jacob Jingle Heimer Schmitt,
That's my name too...
Whenever I go out.
People always shout...
"John Jacob Jingle Heimer Schmitt"
--A summer camp song from our Camp Lavigne daysThe side panel of the Benton News lists upcoming events, including an Olen R. Knecht auction coming up in the Borough on Saturday, June 24. The proceedings get underway a couple of minutes after 9 in the morning at 300 Third Street, next to the post office. The real estate, a one and a half story frame dwelling, will be auctioned at noon. Some of the items include McHenry samplers, a toy hit and miss engine, old tin toy steam engine and much more. The sellers are Richard, Dave and Eugene Bardo.
The month of May hit an all-time low for the number of emails containing a virus, but was a record high for spam, claims email filtering firm BlackSpider Technologies. Emails with malware were 0.73% of all emails scanned by BlackSpider last month while junk emails represented 87.74%. The malware authors are suddenly beginning to favor targeted attacks sent by compromised PCs, or "spambots." The content of the emails range from no subject on the email to ones promising a perky penis to ones filled with random obfuscating words. Saturday's batch of emails that I received contained no subject and nothing in the content portion of the email. Each sender was a different "person." I have stopped opening any email from anyone where no subject is shown on the email. This is done automatically for me, so if I don't eventually respond to your email and you didn't have a subject for the email it is because I never saw it.
The Jerseytown Bluegrass Festival was a family bluegrass festival during the 1990s. The family camper was hauled out for the trip to Jerseytown at the hillside venue and campers hauled out their acoustic instruments, played before and after the show went on, and listened to the likes of Ralph Stanley and Jimmy Martin.
Like much of life, the festival hit some rocky roads, and moved to the July 4 timeframe and the farm of Dr. Mary Hermann. The people who attended were musicians or members of an informally organized bluegrass fan club known as the "Grillbillies." The bluegrass-orientated group revived the festival for 2000, gave it the official sounding name "Out Among the Stars," but shortened the spoken name to O.A.T.S. In 2002, the group moved to the upper Fishingcreek valley at the Benton Rodeo Grounds, put up a stage next to the warm and inviting waters of West Creek, and invited fans Back Home to Benton, PA, for a long weekend of great music. This year will be the seventh year for the OATS Festival, scheduled from Thursday, June 29, to Sunday, July 2. That's right: eleven days from now, the excitement and the Thursday potluck dinner begins for this year. We'll be there around the clock and we hope that you are, too.
We'll tell you a little about this year's lineup Monday morning when we gather around the coffee cup again. Have a wonderful Sunday, whether you are a father or not.
Edward W. Miller (Feb. 25, 1938-June 16, 2006), Savage Hollow Road, Orangeville, formerly of Benton, died Friday. Born in Newark, New Jersey, he was a son of the late George and Emily (Lloyd) Miller. He was preceded in death by his wife, Marjorie "Marge" (Sheridan) Miller. Mr. Miller was a truck driver. He served in the US Army from 1956 to 1958 and was a former member of the Benton Volunteer Fire Co. Six children survive: Theodore W. "Ted" Miller, Sr (Debbie), Orangeville; Bernadette Drumheller (Terry), Orangeville; Tim C. Miller (Michelle), Danville; Edward W. Miller III, Bloomsburg; Matthew J. Miller, (Paula), Berwick; Martin J. Miller (Denise), Danville. Numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren also survive, as well as two sisters, Beverly Torro, Blairstown, NJ and Marilyn Pavlick, Carteret, NJ. Graveside services will be held Tuesday at 11 AM at St. Gabriel's cemetery, with military honors accorded by a joint veterans group. A viewing will be held Tuesday at 10 AM at the McMichael Funeral Home, Inc.
--Obituary courtesy of McMichael Funeral Home. A complete obituary will be published in the June 18, 2006, Press Enterprise
June 17, 2006. Happy birthday today to Alan Harvey. There are four days until the official start of summer. Days should be beautiful and in the high 80s throughout the weekend with mostly sunny skies. There is no sign of cooling off substantially before next Thursday.
Upcoming...
. The Waller United Methodist Church will serve a ham dinner today from 4-7 PM. The cost is $7.50 for adults and $3.50 for children ages 6-12. Children 5 and under eat free.
. A craft show is slated for Sugarloaf Township's second annual Community Day today from 9 AM to 4 PM. The show will be held in the township building at 90 Schoolhouse Road.
. Christ the King Catholic Church, Mendenhall Lane, will conduct a vacation Bible school for children ages 4 through sixth grade June 19-23, from 9:30 AM to noon. Pre-registration is possible at local churches or on June 19 at 9 AM in the church.
. Bible Baptist Church, route 239 south of the Borough, will conduct a vacation Bible school for children ages 4 through sixth grade June 19-23 from 6:30 to 8:30 PM. To register or for more information, call the church at 925-2592.
. The Fishing Creek Femme Fatale chapter of the Red Hat Society is holding the annual Summer Social on July 19 in the air conditioned and handicapped accessible Benton Fire Hall Social Room. The festivities begin at noon. Bring a covered dish and your own place settings. Drinks will be provided. Red Hat vendors will sell their wares, and the Femme Fatales will have a White Elephant Sale. Entertainment will feature Beatles music and another Vintage Fashion Show which will showcase wedding gowns. Visitors welcome, but proper dress is required (Red hat and purple attire). Reservations are appreciated and can be made by calling 379 2407."You can't beat The Beatles, you join 'em."
--Peggy LeeInterested in fairs around the state? There are 115 agricultural fairs and about 6 million people attend each year. Go here for the complete list of state fairs and the dates
We don't like to report bad news in this report, but we can't help but feel sorry for Dean and Beverly Ribble, owners of D.R.'s Quick Mart on Main Street. The service station was burglarized for the fifth time in as many months. One local businesswoman commented that if that were to happen to her, she would close her business until someone did something about the problem. In another development, we permanently removed the guest book from the side panel of the Benton News after someone inserted obscene and untrue remarks about a local businessman. And in the final negative for today, we have to report that the Benton VFW post was robbed early this morning of a "substantial" amount of money.
A reader asked how he could send a fax from his computer. It can be done.
A free way is to go to http://faxzero.com/ .A couple of terms I heard around town today were not egsactly and pritty well, terms I grew up with, but haven't heard in many years. It was nice to hear English spoken as I learnt it...
Some may remember when...
. Spencer Vincent and Ted Wenner ran a peat-moss bog and had a corduroy road with a turn-around for the trucks on the bog.
. The Jamison City Old Timers get-togethers were held. Many who worked in the saw mills and many who brought their provisions at the B.F. Mather store would attend. Some were former guests of the ill-fated "Big Onion."
. the old stone house at Edson's Dam, part of the Donald Smith dairy farms, hosted one of the best gardens in the area.
. in September, 1964, the Benton Fire Company started work on a single story, concrete block building addition to the Benton Town Hall that was 36x80. The building was intended to hold fire-fighting equipment. The Ladies Auxiliary had cooking facilities in the building.
. Workman were busy remodeling the interior of the McHenry House in June, 1928. Mr. James Moore, the new proprietor, planned new lighting fixtures, and was papering and painting the entire building.
. a World War II Honor Roll stood in front of the Columbia County Farmers National Bank on Market Street until about the time of the 1975 flood.. A "Hardpan News Column" was a regular feature of the Argus in 1897. The name "Hardpan" came about because the post office selected the name after several suggested names were sent to the department when the post office was asked for, among them Dodson Chapel by which the locality had been known for some time. Hardpan was tacked on the tail end--partially as a joke. When the papers for the new office came the least desirable of all--Hardpan--was the name of the new office.
"If we don't hang together, we'll all hang separately."
--West Pittston attorney Mark W. Bufalino, the new head of the Luzerne County Democratic party, quoting Benjamin Franklin.
June 16, 2006. Scott and Karen Edwards celebrate their 27th wedding anniversary today. Harry Watts, Millville, captured the memories on film.
On this date in 1903, Ford Motor Company was incorporated in Michigan. The corporation's common stock was entirely owned by Henry Ford and a few local investors. In 1919, Henry Ford bought out all of the investors and reincorporated the company in Delaware. From 1919 to 1956, all stock in the company was owned by members of the Ford Family, the Edison Institute, and the Ford Foundation.
There will be a live reptile program Saturday at 7:30 PM at Ricketts Glen State Park’s amphitheater. Sam Burleigh of Turtle World will have some interesting guests. If it rains, the presentation and the guests will be in the visitor’s center. For information, call 477-7780. Later Saturday night, Stars ‘N’ Parks is back for another season at Ricketts Glen State Park at 9 PM. Bring a lawn chair, jacket and bug spray if needed and explore the dark skies over Lake Jean. Telescopes are provided but it is OK to bring your own. Meet at the visitor’s center. For all Rickett's Glen activities, see the side panel under UPCOMING EVENTS.
That reminds us of the city man who asked the moonshiner working on his still, "Is there a better cure for snakebite than moonshine?" The moonshiner said, "Never asked!"
Max Hartman recommends a good, free newsletter that has a "lot of security information and good free stuff in it, while worth reading." Give it a try at http://techsupportalert.com/al_subscribe.htm. Don Rabb told me of a similar site, www.filehippo.com/.
A pig roast takes place at Patterson Grove Campground from 4:30-7 PM today, The cost is $7 for adults and $3.50 for ages 6-12.
A craft show is coming up during Sugarloaf Township's Second Annual Community Day in the township building, 90 Schoolhouse Road Saturday from 9 AM to 4 PM. There will be home-made ice cream sold by the dip or quart in flavors of vanilla, chocolate, peanut butter, pineapple, and strawberry. There will be arts and crafts vendors, a pig roast, french fries and other foods and drinks. Tables are available for rental for $10. To reserve a space, call Harold Ackerman. 925-2978. Sugarloaf Township and the Sugarloaf Memorial Association are the organizers. The Sugarloaf Memorial Schoolhouse is off Route 118, near Grassmere Park.
Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made and forgot to put a soul into.
--Henry Ward BeecherGreatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century at www.greatachievements.org/ lists the 20th century's greatest engineering achievements. This site lists the top 20 engineering achievements. Learn how engineering shaped a century and changed the world.
A scoreless tie in world-class soccer doesn't happen often, but Trinidad and Tobago (don't think that is two countries; it is one country, the smallest country to ever make the World Cup tournament) found themselves in that situation Wednesday in their match with favored Sweden.
John G. McHenry was elected by larger margins to the Sixty-first and Sixty-second Congresses than he had for his first session. During his second and third terms, our county saw the Singer Building rise a record 47 stories out of the ground in New York city, General Motors began turning out a wide range of motor cars while Henry Ford built a "motorcar for the multitudes," the Model T. William Howard Taft swept into the White House in November, 1908, beating Democrat William Jennings Bryan. In 1909, the cost of living rose 7.9%. Gifford Pinchot, well known in Pennsylvania and at the time serving as the Chief of the United States Forest Service, was fired in 1910 by President Taft as a "radical and a crank." The 1910 census showed the nation's population at 91.0 million, 32 million of whom lived on farms, with less than half of the nation's population over the age of 25 having high school diplomas and only 4% with college degrees. The average American factory girl made $1.57 for a nine-hour day.
The Columbia County National Bank of Benton and the People's Department Store of Benton, businesses that John G. had started, along with other holdings of his, burned in the Benton Fire of July 4, 1010. In March, 1911, the bond house of the McHenry Distilling Company plant burned to the ground. His "Pioneer Farms" was floundering under the direction of the "Professor," M. E. Chubbuck, a "college boy" out of the Agriculture Department of State College, the overseer of the farm while John G. was in Washington, D.C..
Like nearly everyone whose toes have been dipped in the waters of Fishingcreek, John G. liked to come Back Home to Benton, PA. He came to the family farmhouse on Distillery Hill and to his beloved farm. When back on Distillery Hill, John G. kept busy in his summer cottage overlooking Benton where he maintained his office and library of law books. The cottage was high on the hill on the west side of Benton Borough, near the present home of Scott and Janice Maguire.
There seemed something about this man of Scotch-Irish descent that made people trust him, whether it was in his home community of Benton or when he was serving as a powerbroker in Washington, D.C.
The congressman attended the Democratic Convention that nominated "dark horse" candidate Woodrow Wilson. On June 25, 1912, he delivered a keynote address to the convention at the last public function he attended. A copy of the speech in John G.'s handwriting will be display in the Northern Columbia Community & Cultural Center when that facility opens.
In 1912, the year the wife of the Japanese ambassador gave 2,000 tiny cherry trees to the first lady, Mrs. Taft, the year the Titanic disappeared and Jim Thorpe excelled, exactly 100 years after the Congressman's grandfather, "Hunter John" McHenry started the McHenry Distilling Company, John G. McHenry came Back Home to Benton, PA, to die.
When John G. returned to Benton and his home on the hill, friends said he "looked terrible" and for the first time residents realized that John G. was seriously ill. He entered a sanitarium in New York State, and eventually came Back Home to Benton, PA. On the night of the foreclosure of Pioneer Farms, John G., then 46, passed away. He was laid to rest at the Benton cemetery attended by congressional colleagues and local residents, while the rich and the poor gathered in shock and silence at his passing.
The business of the House of Representatives was suspended February 16, 1913, while members paid tribute to the Hon. John Geiser McHenry. The House adjourned until February 17, 1913 at 12 o'clock noon. The Senate of the United States suspended the order of business of the United States Senate.
John Geiser McHenry was the only national Representative from Pennsylvania born in Benton Township. John G. McHenry was born April 26, 1868 and attended the public schools and Orangeville Academy. He was a banker and manufacturer, and also engaged in agricultural pursuits. He organized the Grange national banks throughout Pennsylvania, was elected as a Democrat to the Sixtieth, Sixty-first, and Sixty-second Congresses and served from March 4, 1907, until his death in Benton December 27, 1912. He is buried in Benton Cemetery.
Turn here to find other politicians who lived in Columbia County.
June 15, 2006. We celebrate the birthday today of Allen Turner, whose birthday is the same day as former New York Governor Mario Cuomo.
A reader asked why we haven't said anything about Robert Altman's new movie, A Prairie Home Companion. We haven't because the Bloomsburg Theater elected not to show it as a first-round movie, and most locally won't be able to see it at the current time. I thought that Meryl Streep and John C. Reilly were great, both playing singers in the radio show. Each is in a duet, and their partners, Lily Tomlin and Woody Harrelson are darn good, too. If you like Garrison Keillor, you'll be very happy with the movie, although it is not Altman's best movie
Jon D. Williams, founder of Denver-based Jon D. Williams Cotillions and a native of Orangeville, died Monday evening in Colorado. Williams and his wife, Vivian, taught "tens of thousands" of students to dance since the company's establishment in 1949. Williams was the director of Fred Astaire's Park Avenue Studio in New York before the couple moved to Houston and then Colorado Springs in 1949. Williams established a dance and etiquette program for the Air Force Academy. Williams recently finished writing his biography, tentatively titled Best Foot Forward. His work will continue thanks to six instructors in 50 cities nationwide. Williams is survived by son Jon, Denver, daughter Gail Wofford, Upperville, VA, two grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Vivian Williams died in 2002.
Ernest Carl Utt, 54, (March 20, 1952-June 14, 2006), Bothell, Washington and formerly of Millville, died Wednesday at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre. Born in Bloomsburg, he was a son of Harold J. and Virginia M. (Sharrow) Utt of Stony Brook Circle, Orangeville. He was a 1970 graduate of Millville High School and attended College in Eureka, California. He served in the U. S. Air Force during the Vietnam War. Surviving are his parents and his four brothers: Dennis E., Gatesville, NC; Leonard J., Sahuarita, Arizona; Duane H., Bothell, Washington; and LaRue B. Utt, Scio, Oregon. Memorial services will be held Monday at 10 at the McMichael Funeral Home, Inc. Burial will be in Ikeler Cemetery, Mt. Pleasant Township.
--Obituary courtesy of the McMichael Funeral Home. A complete obituary is contained in Thursday's Press Enterprise.The Northern Columbia Community & Cultural Center, when completed, will feature outdoor horseshoe pitching as well as tournaments. If you want to know more about horseshoe tournaments, get in the car Saturday, June 17, and drive to the Luzerne County Fairgrounds so that you arrive about 8. There will be three different starting times, so horseshoes will be flying probably until 10:00 PM. There will be about 58 competitors. The best pitchers will be starting around noon. Great food will also be served, so come hungry. The Luzerne County Fairgrounds is easy to find. Simply take Route 118 all the way to Lehman and turn right into the fairgrounds. As soon as you enter the main gate, turn left.
What was the world coming to? Values on Wall Street were plunging as trading increased to 2.2 million shares a day, approaching a general panic. The foreign-born population had increased to 14% of the nation's population and wages increased from a yearly average of $745 for Swedes to $400 for Southern Italians and Hungarians. The hand-cranked drum-type Maytag washing machine was being outsold by one powered by electricity and marketed by the Hurley Machine Company. A book, Three Weeks, referred to sex euphemistically as "It," and was promptly banned in Boston. General Electric introduced a light bulb with a tungsten filament. And nothing sucked like a vacuum cleaner marketed by the Hoover Suction-Sweeper Company. A young man of 39 from Back Home in Benton, PA, headed off for Washington, D.C. to represent the people of the Sixteenth District of Pennsylvania as their U.S. Representative. The year was 1907. The Congressman was John Geiser McHenry (1868-1912).
After studying at the Orangeville Academy, John G. McHenry began his business career as a farmer, manufacturer, banker and politician, following in similar footsteps to those taken by his father, Rohr McHenry, who was also born in Benton Township and attended local schools. Rohr was one of the forty-four men wrongfully imprisoned at Ft. Mifflin in 1864 as part of what was often called the Fishing Creek Confederacy. Rohr took over the "Still House" when his father died, as John G. later did.
John G. McHenry served in the House of Representatives from 1907 during the administration of President Theodore Roosevelt until he died Back Home in Benton, PA, in 1912. He was born in Benton Township and continued the line of some of the area's best-known people. He was educated in our local schools and drove a lumber team when he was growing up, dreaming of the day when he could hang out his shingle as an attorney. In order to achieve his ambition, he had to succeed in business before he could pursue his love of the law.
John G. was elected to the Sixtieth Congress with little difficulty, partly because of name recognition, and partly because of his ability as a whirl-wind campaign organizer. He was successful as a congressman and served "his constituency with the utmost brilliance and efficiency" as a member of the Appropriations Committee and other committees in Congress. A great deal of his time was spent in Washington away from his beloved Benton, his distillery and his many other interests.
One of the bills he sponsored called for the appointment of an "agricultural scientist to be located in every congressional district where agriculture is a leading industry." He often said that "if the soil of Germany and England, a thousand years older than our soil and in a less favorable climate, can produce 28 to 32 bushels of wheat per acre there is no excuse for our producing an average of 12 to 14 bushels." His congressional colleagues looked on his as a farmer.
John G. felt that the high cost of living could be dealt with in part through an increased utilization of land and an increased production of the soil. He sponsored a bill calling for the appointment of an agricultural scientist to be located in every congressional district where agriculture was a leading industry. At the time, the bill was considered one of great importance to the nation's economy.
June 14, 2006. Three local couples celebrate anniversaries today: Don and Barbara King, George and Sophie Watts, and Will and Sherry Jones. On the national level, Donald Trump was born on this date in 1946. And we can't forget that the American Flag, a symbol of freedom, will celebrate its birthday today. It is Flag Day. Flag Day was first celebrated in 1877, on the flag's 100th birthday. Have you displayed your flag today?
The American flag is an enduring symbol of liberty, democracy, and justice. It is fitting that the House act to protect it as we approach our nation's birthday, and as our men and women in uniform rally behind it in Iraq's battlefields.
--Joe Barton
The McHenry Reunion is coming Back Home to Benton Park on Saturday, August 12, 2006. There will be McHenry items for sale--coffee mugs, ink pens, shirts, pictures and books, including the current McHenry Family Book authored by Vinnie McHenry Hippensteel. Those who are attending should bring a covered dish to share, place settings, non-alcoholic beverage, and a small bingo prize. The price is only $3 per household or $1 individual, payable at the reunion. Please RSVP by August 1 to either Jill McHenry or Vinnie Hippensteel at (570) 784-5881 and be prepared to mention who and how many are coming, along with a phone number.
The reunion committee has an original McHenry Shot Glass for the raffle prize this year. There will be door prizes and during the business meeting there will be a discussion about the "special surprise" for the McHenry 25th reunion coming up in 2007.
In tomorrow's Benton News, we'll tell you a little about Congressman John G. McHenry's years in the House of Representatives, the only native of the Benton area who held a national Congressional office.
Just why is it that I have to press 1 for English?
Danville's Iron Heritage Festival begins this year on July 16 and runs until July 23. The events this year include carriage rides, a lecture series featuring Civil War historians Jack Lawton and John Deppen, and a speech on the Molly Maguires from Bloomsburg University Professor Emeritus George Turner. Sarah Jane "Salty" Ferguson will speak. There will be mine tours, as well as tours of Franklin Furnace and local garden tours. You can even go canalling with Rich Pawling.
The schedule of the events at this year's Iron Heritage Festival, along with history and other pertinent information, is available by visiting www.IronHeritageFestival.net.
New readers continue to ask for copies of the Benton News by email. Regretfully, we are about to our limit of email copies, so we'll review how this process takes place. We write the Benton News in email form, and then copy what we have written to Dreamweaver for uplink to the web site. We publish the web version of the Benton News about 11 PM of the day preceding the day we are writing about. The email version is normally released on the day of record, often a few minutes after midnight. By the light of the day, we read what we have sent out on the web version and correct the errors that we have made--covering our tracks, heh, heh--so to speak. The web version is the version that is a lasting record, so we suggest that you can make the Benton News your home page for ease of access. The email version is only for the convenience of readers who have difficulty accessing the internet.
Term of the Day: OFF THE CUFF.
Not formal; impromptu. "Lets just keep this information off the cuff."
--At one time credit was so limited that a fellow operating a livery stable could keep his records on his shirt cuff. Transactions were usually on a cash basis. Casual business transactions were common enough to cause anything impromptu to be termed "off the cuff."Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made and forgot to put a soul into.
--Henry Ward BeecherAccording to the web site RealTechNews, 94% of households with children ages 4-14 had a computer. That edges out TVs, found in slightly less than 90% of households with that group represented.
June 13, 2006. There are 8 days until the official start of summer. Diane Laubach turns 64 today and Shirley R. McHenry celebrates her birthday.
An article about Wal-Mart replacing department stores in Monday's Citizen's Voice caught our attention and brought back memories. How wonderful were stores like Pomeroy's in Wilkes-Barre (1927-1987), formerly housed in a building now owned by the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry. Fine old stores like Lazarus, Bergman’s, The Hub and Isaac Long Department Store are also long gone. Kresge's Pizza is history, as is Percy Brown's cafeteria. The freshly roasted peanuts "On the Square" are no longer. The days of the Woolworth's luncheonette are gone. The only department store that remains in downtown Wilkes-Barre is Boscov's in the former location of Fowler, Dick and Walker: The Boston Store, and for food about the only "old timers" are Ray Hottles and Abe's hot dogs.
Data storage could soon leap "light years" ahead with holographic storage, an optical technology that records data as digital holograms and uses laser lights to project and retrieve the data. Although the concept has been in experiment and completely unprofitable for 40 years, the picture is starting to brighten.
InPhase Technologies was founded in December 2000 as a Lucent Technologies venture, spun out of Bell Labs research. The company has developed a drive that the company says can read a disk containing up to 200 gigabytes. Holographic devices that hold terabytes of data on a single CD-sized disk are expected to become a high-capacity storage medium by 2015. To put it in perspective, one terabyte is equal to 1,024 gigabytes. A few Apple high-end video iPods in today's world can hold 60 gigabytes, enough to hold 15,000 songs. But, don't hold your breath! The general public won't get the technology until at least 2008.
Internet user Wendy Breon found our web site as she was trying to learn more about the Rohr McHenry Distilling Company, following the discovery of a McHenry jug in a relative's attic. Armed with information she learned from the web site, she decided to head for a visit to the "Antique Road Show" when it comes to Philadelphia August 5. She contacted me to see if that made sense. I recommended that she simply meet with an expert, one with a Ph.D. in art history, experience as a museum curator, a certified art and antiques appraiser who knows the local antiques; i.e., Dr. Lori who will be at the Fort McClure House on Saturday, June 24, from 1 to 4 PM, sponsored by the Daughters of the American Revolution, Fort McClure Chapter. The cost is $5 to get in and $10 for each item appraised. Food and lunch will be available. Dr. Lori appears on WNEP-16's "Home & Backyard" program Saturdays at 7 PM. The Fort McClure House is half a mile west of the Bloomsburg Town Park along the Susquehanna River. We'll let you know the recommended price Dr. Lori gives the jug. Based on Wendy's enthusiasm, however, we suspect the jug isn't for sale.
We love the peace and quiet we now enjoy since the implementation of the "Do Not Call" list. The right to enjoy a peaceful evening--free from interruptions from people selling something--is paradise. But many will remember "back when" it wasn't the Government that was listening in. The ones listening in were your neighbors.
Noisy neighbors on the telephone began back in 1891 when Bell Telephone began offering party telephones from two to 20 families on a line. Locally, party lines were provided by the Luzerne Telephone Company until Andrew J. Sordoni acquired the company in 1928. Commonwealth Telephone, which first began operations in 1897 as the Centermoreland Telephone Company, now serves the upper Fishingcreek valley. Commonwealth Telephone began as a merger of Centermoreland Telephone Company and Northern Lackawanna Telephone Company.
In a party-line system, for the benefit of our younger readers, individual cables came into each household, but all the families shared a common line out of the area. A distinctive ring--a short and two longs, for example--distinguished between parties on the same line, although the sound of the ring was heard on each telephone.
Phone calls were lively entertainment, especially when a single woman or a doctor was on the phone. A soft click gave away the fact that someone was listening in. But when an unseen party did pick up the phone, the tone of the conversation changed drastically.
In high school, we often resorted to a form of "Pig Latin" in order to talk with special friends or about special friends. My problem was always that I "Dutchified" everything, even confusing myself. As I remember, that would have come out like this: Inway ighhay oolschay, eway oftenway esortedray otay away ormfay ofway "Igpay Atinlay" inway orderway otay alktay ithway ecialspay iendsfray orway aboutway ecialspay iendsfray. Ymay oblempray asway alwaysway atthay Iway "Utchifiedday" everythingway, evenway onfusingcay yselfmay.
If the wife and I are fussin', brother that's our right
'Cause me and that sweet woman's got a license to fight
Why don't you mind your own business
(Mind your own business)
'Cause if you mind your business,
then you won't be mindin' mine.
--Mind Your Own Business, words and music by Hank Williams, Sr.A little electrical current drained from the phone connection as each person picked up the instrument, resulting in the two original speakers having to almost shout at each other before giving up and trying the call later.
Party lines were cheap and reached people quickly who lived in the country. The phone operator would simply ring the fire ring, and everyone would pick up their receivers, and the operator would tell them about a barn burning or someone needing medical attention. We suspect that a few of the operators at the switchboard also routinely listened in.
The phone system consisted of telephones hung on a wall with a crank on the side to be turned in order to call the operator or someone else on the party line. Each person on the party line had a distinctive ring (a long and a short, two shorts, etc.) Richard Sutliff remembers that on the local system parties with "odd-ending numbers would hear only the rings of all other odd-ending numbers on that line. The even-numbered would hear only the even-numbered rings on that line." Dick confirmed that there "were 20 people on our line at home in the 1940s" and remembers the Claude Sutliff phone number--37R9--and their ring of a long and two shorts.
People could listen in on other people's calls and this often happened, especially if neighbors knew someone in the family was sick. When the receiver was not returned to the phone properly, no one on the party line could use their phone until the receiver was properly hung up. Use of the party line required patience and cooperation.
In 1948 Jerry Zeveney helped change the Benton system that used operators and a switchboard, converting it to a dial system. Two telephone operators were put out of business when the dial phones came into existence: Mrs. Arley Meeker and Miss Ella Laubach.We are fond of the "true" local story about the person who called Mrs. Meeker, saying that he needed to talk to his father and he didn't answer the phone. Mrs. Meeker shot back, "I believe he is down to the lumber yard. Let me ring there."
Like tew drop my work an' go
Tew a fishin' hole I know;
Reckon I would miss my guess
Ef I cudn't ketch a mess;
"Pears tew me they ort tew bite;
Sun an' sky and air seems right;
Ef I jst' cud hev my pick,
I'd be down erlong the crick.Like tew drop my work an' go
Tew a fishin' hole I know;
Like tew go an' fish away
Jes' th' hull endurin' day;
Like tew fish away an' hear
Worter singin' in my ear;
An' I'd go, I calculate,
Wuzzent jus' for diggin' bait.
--Handwritten poem found in a journal of April, 1897. The spelling is as written.
June 12, 2006. Hobe Whitenight celebrates his birthday today along with the 41st President, George Bush. Jane Ackerman, Jamison City, is celebrating the anniversary of her retirement from Northwest School System (31 years) and from teaching (34 years). Tom and Denise Kline celebrate 30 years of marriage today.
On Sunday, June 18, the Benton United Methodist Church will hold a Father/Son Breakfast for Father's Day. Breakfast will be served at 8 AM followed by church service at 9 AM. All are welcomed. Contact Janet English, 925-2417, with any questions.
The Columbia County Traveling Library is offering a summer reading program for kids of all ages, from preschool up through high school. The theme is centered around animals, Paws, Claws, Scales, and Tales, and offers prizes and special events, all designed to encourage children to read and keep up their literacy skills during summer vacation. The kick-off event is scheduled for Tuesday, June 13, at 6:30 PM at Stillwater Park. Eileen Drummond will have her therapy dogs for a program, and kids can register for summer reading. All children are invited, but should be accompanied by a parent. The final summer reading party will be at Stillwater Park on August 8 at 6:30 PM.
We promised that from time to time we would return to the "waste not, want not" story of the minister in Central by the name of Rev. Philip Varker and his family, as told by his son in the book The Lord Will Provide, portions of which are highlighted in our sectoin under FEATURES. In one of the chapters, the story is told about the local copper craze, part of a national copper craze that took place between 1900 and 1912.
In the book, Philip tells about mining for copper on the adjacent property of Pete Fritz (who in actuality was Peter Shultz). In that story, "Pete" told Rev. Varker that a "farmer talks about how there could be a river running under his farm--just the thing for wonderful irrigation--but he doesn't dig to get at it. He knows he can't dig deep enough for that." Pete told the minister, alarmed over the spreading hysteria of finding copper, "The same thing applies with the rocks that people will be digging all over the countryside. No one makes them do it."
The book tells about a crusher built "below Central" at "considerable cost," which brought small return. All that came from the mass of rocks fed into the crusher was "a small vial of copper, possibly an ounce," which Rev. Varker saw and confirmed years later.
In spite of the dismal failure of the company, the Pennsylvania Copper and Mining Company, located in "the Atlantic Copper Belt" at Central, PA, according to the description provided by the company, sold stock and went through the motions of mining copper in the upper Fishingcreek valley until about 1912. We point out that what actually happened was a bit different from what the company literature said, so bear that in mind as you read about the company. The company said they issued $2 million in capital stock with "1,000,000 full-paid nonassessable shares."
The company was headed by Dr. Thomas H. Carey, President, Central; B.F. Fritz, Treasurer, Divide; Josiah P. Fritz, Central. A.S. Fritz, Jamison City, was the metallurgist and chemist, and the consulting attorney was A.L. Fritz, Bloomsburg. The Bloomsburg National Bank handled the banking and the references for the company.
We'll quote a bit from the literature promoting the sale of the stock...
"Nearly every formation of the earth's rocks holds locked up in her treasury copper to supply the wants of man. Eminent scientists have divided the copper regions of North America into three divisions. I. The Atlantic Beds
II. The Lake Superior Region
III. The Rocky Mountain and Sierra Nevada Regions."The Atlantic beds reach from Florida to Labrador. These vary in the amount of copper held in deposit from the rich glance downward. But as the "wet smelting" has not supplanted the hot smelting for all weaker ores, an average 3 per cent copper is a magnificent proposition. According to surveys and from the reports of other scientific men it is no uncommon thing to find in the Atlantic deposits millions of tons of similar ore.
"From more than one hundred assays, the ores of the Pennsylvania Copper and Mining Company have given a average above 4 per cent copper. Beside this there are workable quantities of magnesia, aluminum and some iron; traces of silver with now and then a start of gold.
"The company has opened 16 mines which give ores assaying from 30 per cent down to nine-tenth of one per cent. There is ore enough in sight to keep the plant running from 5 to 10 years. These deposits which are from a few inches to six feet thick have been denuded by glacial action.
"There is now erected a plant capable of handling 150 tons of ore a day. Its machinery is complete and paid for. Its product will need no refiner, being metallic copper. And its management will be in careful hands of those acquainted with the methods which made the low grade "Lake" mines famous. By the method used in this plant 1 per cent copper should pay more than expense of smelting and otherwise handling it.
About 16 million pounds of fine copper are being extracted yearly from the Atlantic Beds. Some places ore is brought from 700 feet under ground. We find it at the surface. Cost of mining, handling and extracting will be abut $2.75. This would mean a profit of 25 cents on each ton of a 1 per cent ore."How could investors not be excited when a "start of gold" had been found, as well as "traces of silver!" Profits were promised to the tune of 25¢ per ton. Initially, it all seemed to be too good to be true! By the time it was over, it was too good to be true!
The History and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, published in 1915, noted that the copper deposits of Sugarloaf townships were "of no real value, but were considered valuable by the promoters of the company who built the smelter near Central and sank a large sum of money in the vain endeavor to reduce the ore commercially."
The company was eventually sold under the direction of the sheriff and by 1915 only "dilapidated and rotting buildings and the fallen smokestack" were left to "mark the grave of high hopes and wasted dollars." Today, few even know where the abandoned mines and mine dumps were a hundred years ago.
--Thanks to Shirley Lockard for the information about Rev. Varker and to Betty Fritz Victory for the information about the Pennsylvania Copper and Mining Company.
June 11, 2006. Alanna M. Bath, Bendertown and wherever good music is heard, celebrates her birthday today and Paul and Joan Franklin celebrate their wedding anniversary. The sun rose this morning at 5:32 and sets tonight at 8:39 local time.
Upcoming...
• Breakfast buffet, all you can eat, this morning from 8 AM until noon, North Mountain Fire Company, $5/adults, $3/children.
• A craft show is coming up during Sugarloaf Township's Second Annual Community Day in the township building, 90 Schoolhouse Road, on Saturday, June 17, from 9 AM to 4 PM. There will be home-made ice cream sold by the dip or quart in flavors of vanilla, chocolate, peanut butter, pineapple, and strawberry. There will be arts and crafts vendors, a pig roast, french fries and other foods and drinks. Tables are available for rental for $10. To reserve a space, call Harold Ackerman. 925-2978. Sugarloaf Township and the Sugarloaf Memorial Association are the organizers. The Sugarloaf Memorial Schoolhouse is off Route 118, near Grassmere Park.
• Ham Dinners, June 17, from 4-7 PM at both the Waller UM Church ($7.50/adults, $3.50/ages 6-12) and at Fairmount Township Fire and Ambulance Co., 671 SR 118, Sweet Valley, $8/adults, $4/children.It is a funny place, this upper Fishingcreek valley. You can tell summer from winter around here by looking at the cars. In the winter we have Chevrolets and Fords and some stuffed shirts. In the summer, we get the Lexus, Cadillacs, Lincolns and stuffed shorts.
The eastern tent caterpillar and the forest tent caterpillar, the little bugs we know and hate, are back and their silky tents can be seen popping up in the area. The eastern tent caterpillar are usually found in wild cherry trees and ornamentals, while the forest tent caterpillar prefers maples. Otherwise, their tents look pretty much alike. Probably the best solution is to give them a little time to grow into little moths and fly away.
The bugs actually don't do a lot of damage to the trees. The use of pesticides, cutting the branches or burning them out would damage other insects, honeybees and nesting songbirds. Don't try to burn the caterpillar tents off your trees. This can be both dangerous to you and harmful to the trees. You might try removing the occupied, caterpillar tents and egg masses by hand, or you might try wrapping tree trunks with sticky paper.
Many will remember the late 1950s, when a gypsy moth invasion was so dense that spray was used, which killed many gypsy moths, but did the same for other insects, birds and fish. There are insecticides currently available today that are supposed to be caterpillar specific without a threat to other species.
Fly fishermen know that trout will frequently strike at caterpillars that fall in the creeks. Why not simply "tie" a fly to look like a tent caterpillar? That way you'll get rid of a caterpillar and enjoy a day of fishing too. There are no guarantees that it will work, but won't it be a fun day! A Yuengling would be an ideal stream companion.
Google, Yahoo! and MSN offers filtered search engines from servers within the borders of China. Censors in China routinely block out content related to democracy, free speech, Tiananmen Square, and other topics that are politically charged. Goodge as we know it, for example, is censored in China, and the Google search engine that is permitted is www.google.cn/, or as the Chinese know it, "Guge." Try it out and see what the Chinese see.
Don't forget to take the time to review the residents of Benton Borough and Benton Township, circa 1901. We hope to add Sugarloaf Township not later than Tuesday and we will proceed through the other Townships and Stillwater Borough as fast as we can. Connie Thomas Williams persuaded us to include Millville in the listing and we'll do that "down the road." Connie will also publish the Millville list for her readers of her Millville News.
On the mend...
• Benton Township Supervisor William "Woody" Ertwine, 55, remains a patient in the Geisinger Hospital, following back surgery. Woody has been in the Geisinger every day except one since May 31. This will be a long recovery, so keep Woody in your prayers.
• Dayne Kline was released from Bloomsburg Hospital Friday evening and is recovering at his Green Acres Road home.
June 10, 2006. Mitchell Worley and Shirley Wodrig celebrate birthdays today. A total of $309,000 was distributed Friday night to 54 graduating seniors of the Benton Area Schools. Details are provided in the Saturday edition of the Press Enterprise.
Thursday, June 8, 2006. Mary Lou Buckalew and former First Lady Barbara Bush celebrate birthdays today.The Benton Fire Company will hold a homemade ice cream social from 4-8 PM at the fire hall featuring soups, sandwiches, cakes, pies and drinks in addition to ice cream. Ice cream can also be bought by the quart.
For those of us who love camping, there are only two tools needed: WD-40 and Duct Tape. If it doesn't move and should, use the WD-40. If it shouldn't move and does, use the duct tape.
A gospel concert with the "Songsters Quartet" will lead worship at the Benton Christian Church Sunday at 10 AM. The public is invited. A covered dish dinner will follow the service. The public is invited.Two wrongs don't make a right; but three rights make a left.
--told by Garrison KeillorAppearing originally in this section was a list of people who lived in Benton Borough in 1901 and the businesses that operated in the Borough at the same time. We have added these names at www.bentonnews.net/Features/directorybentonboro.htm and deleted the names from this section.
Term of the Day: Terminal Moraine.
Sign posted by the late Harry Cole, Leonard Street, Bloomsburg, on a rock beside the Iron Bridge along Camp Lavigne Road. The depiction was of an Indian. Although Harry was close to being right for the actual location, the terminal moraine was a bit further south. A terminal moraine is a linear ridge marking the furthest position of advance of an ice sheet, and forms by the melting of ice and the release of debris. When the edge of the ice sheet stays in the same place for a long period, the debris builds up to form a ridge. Each time the ice sheet stops for a period during its retreating phase, it deposits a new moraine perpendicular to the ice sheet flow direction.Fishingcreek slowly drains southward to the bend of the Susquehanna river between Bloomsburg and Catawissa. The branches of Fishingcreek--Huntington, Greene, Little Fishing, Spruce, and Hemlock creeks--drain the rolling countryside of the northern nine townships of Columbia County laid out in front of the Allegheny mountain plateau, the edge of which we call "North mountain."A long straight mountain made up of Pocono sandstone rocks ends abruptly in a sharp point overlooking Orangeville in what today's topographical maps call "Huntington Mountain." Although I have never hiked to that point on what I always called "Knob Mountain," the view of the county must be magnificent from that point.
The mountain in the background abruptly ends near
Orangeville. The point above Orangeville is on the right.Four miles from that point the mountain top begins to split with the two crests gradually becoming two separate mountains. The southern one is called Lee Mountain, eventually called "Penobscot Mountain" after it crosses the Susquehanna River. The northern version is called Shickshinny Mountain, which includes a narrow valley of red shale which widens when it reaches Luzerne county until it takes in the northern anthracite coal field. Eventually it takes on the name Larksville Mountain.The "terminal moraine" of the ice age climbs Lee Mountain from the southeast, then descends Huntington Mountain westward to Fishing creek, which it follows northward through Benton and Sugarloaf Townships.
Friday, June 9, 2006. Lots of birthdays today: June Hartzell turns 80, Fran Adams in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Heidi Kline in Santa Ynez, California, Betty Fritz Victory on Fritz Hill and Christopher Diltz in Pelicanville. Happy birthday to all these fine people.
Upcoming...
• Christine's Karaoke comes to Kameeo's from 9:30-1:30 PM tonight.
• The Millville Christian Church holds an ice cream social beginning at 4 PM today.
• Bible Baptist Church on Route 239 will host a vacation Bible school June 19-23.. The school is for children ages 4 through sixth grade. To register or for more information, call the church at 925-2592.
The 22nd Annual Frontier Days celebration will take place July 11-16. Here is the schedule
• Tuesday, July 11--7:30 PM, Fun Horse Show featuring various riding events. Admission is free.
• Wednesday, July 12--7:30 PM, Team Penning. Admission is free.
• Thursday, July 13--7:30 PM, APRA Championship Rodeo. This is Family Night with reduced price tickets. "Covert Action" will perform at 5 and 10 PM.
• Friday, July 14. The day begins at 7 AM with a "Hungry Cowboy" breakfast. At 5 PM, there is a chicken Bar-B-Que, and the entertainment, "Reno," begins, followed by the APRA Championship Rodeo at 7 PM, "Reno" comes on again at 10 PM, and the area's best fireworks display is at 11 PM.
• Saturday, July 15. The day begins at 7 AM with a "Hungry Cowboy" breakfast. At 8 AM is the Benton Rodeo Run for Leukemia. At 10 AM, is a "Special Kids Roundup." The Chicken Bar-B-Que begins at 5 PM as does the "Tim Johnson Band." At 7:30 PM is the APRA Championship Rodeo and Tim Johnson takes center stage again at 10 PM.
• Sunday, July 16. T he Bullarama begins at 7:30 PM.The Rodeo Association is changing locations of the announcer's stand for this year's rodeo. The announcer will be directly over the bull chute. At some point in the future, additional bleachers will be added where the existing announcer's stand is located.
Dayne Kline remains a patient at the Bloomsburg Hospital, but is expected to be Back Home in Benton, PA, this weekend. Buster, our sickly Bichon, thanks everyone who inquired about his health. His advice, gained from personal experience, is to not attack bees if they attack you. Both plan a long convalescence--the period where one is still sick after he gets well...
The Saturday edition of the Benton News will be devoted to the people of the upper Fishingcreek valley, circa 1901. Eventually the entire area will be covered, but we limit the Saturday report to Benton Borough and Benton Township. We have told you a lot about the Borough during the course of this week. We should also remind you of some the area names from Benton Township. Two area or town names you might not exactly know are...
• Taurus
A post office active between 1886 and 1902 between Fairmount Springs and Raven Creek. The word means "constellation of stars."
• VanCamp
A settlement, possible named for Moses Van Campen, two miles east of Stillwater in Fishingcreek Township.It is jersey-wearing time again as the World Cup of soccer kicks off in Munich Friday, June 9, with Brazil, Argentina, England and Italy favored. All 64 games are being broadcast on ABC, ESPN and ESPN 2, so no matter what nation you cheer for, you can see the game somewhere on television.
On the third Monday of each month, residents of the upper Fishingcreek valley love to gather with a fork in their right hand and a knife in their left and a steaming plate of buckwheat cakes in front of them. The occasion is the North Mountain Historical Society's monthly meeting. This month will be no exception. The Riverman is a living history presentation by Gil Hirschel that recaptures a time when "Rivermen" floated timber, fashioned as rafts, down the Susquehanna River and its tributaries.
Dressed as a circa 1850’s riverman, Gil presents a portrayal of a life delivering timber. He discusses an era from about 1850 to 1900 when the Susquehanna River was a highway of commerce for the timber industry.Gil Hirschel is Environmental Outreach Coordinator for the Susquehanna River Basin Commission, a regulatory, federal/interstate compact commission with the responsibility for management and protection of the water resources of the 27,500 square mile Susquehanna River basin, which drains portions of New York, Pennsylvania and Maryland. Mr. Hirschel holds an Associate of Applied Science degree from Northampton Community College in environmental science, a Bachelor of Arts degree from Kutztown University in geography and a Master of Regional Planning degree from Penn State University. Make sure that you circle Monday, June 19, for this interesting program.
The state-owned Market Street bridge over West Creek in Benton has been posted with weight restrictions. The bridge is now posted for 24 tons, or up to 35 tons in combinations. The posting resulted from a recent inspection, which noted deterioration of the bridge. Motorists are reminded to obey the posted limits for safety’s sake. This two-span bridge was built in 1951 and spans 81 feet over West Creek at the west end of Benton.
Why We Love America. Click here.
The Benton Office of First Columbia Bank & Trust Company will hold a "Community Cookout" on June 9 from 11 AM to 2 PM. The bank invites you to stop by the Benton office to meet and greet Judith, Tina and the entire staff, plus enjoy the food and fun.
Registration at the Benton chapter of the American Youth Soccer Organization is Saturday from 9:30 AM to 12:30 PM at the Benton Rodeo grounds for children ages 4 and up. The cost is $35 per child. Birth certificates are required at time of registration.
The annual Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair will run August 25 through August 31 at Grange Park, Centre Hall. The Grange Fair had its beginnings 130 years ago when the Progress Grange and other granges held a picnic. It is now a family tradition with campers as tent sites are passed down to family members. The size of the 2006 fair will include almost a thousand tents, 1,300 campers, hundreds of concessions, over 7,000 exhibit items, amusement rides, livestock, tractor pulling and much more! notice. Entertainment this year includes
Thursday, August 24 - Chris Woodward - 8 PM
Friday, August 25 - Gene Watson -- 6 & 9 PM
Saturday, August 26 - The Fox Brothers 6 & 9 PM
Monday, August 28 - Danielle Peck --- 8 PM
Tuesday. August 29 - Keith Anderson -- 8 PM
Wednesday, August 30 - The Platters and Elsbeary Hobb's Drifters - 6 & 9 PM
Thursday, August 31 - The Bellamy Brothers -- 8 PMWe heard of a virus passing through the area called Worm-Overload-Recreational-Killer (WORK). According to a friend who has obviously never had the virus, if you receive WORK from any of your colleagues, your boss, or anyone else it can wipe out your private life completely. My friend recommends that should anyone come into contact with WORK, they should head for the nearest bar and purchase the antidote known as Work-Isolator-Neutralizer-Extractor (WINE). Take your friends, head for the neighborhood bar and down the antidote repeatedly until WORK has been completely eliminated from your system. If you don't have friends, you have already been infected and WORK is controlling your life. Best-Equivalent-Extractor-Remedy (BEER) may be substituted for WINE but may require a more generous application.
Due to storm damage, the campground yard sale at Whispering Pines was cancelled for last weekend. The campground is back up and running again and the garage sale is on for this weekend--Saturday, June 10 between 8 and 2--rain or shine. PP&L and CTCO and friends of the campground--Pat, Bill, Glen and Dave--deserve a lot of credit for getting things rolling again. Tables available $5 each.
We had to smile broadly at the story told by a physician who placed his a stethoscope on an elderly and slightly deaf female patient's anterior chest wall. "Big breaths," he instructed. "Yes, they used to be," replied the patient.
The Country Cultivators met on May 11 for a reorganization meeting. Meetings will continue to be held on the second Thursday of the month in member's homes. There will be a garden project and/or speaker at each meeting. Tonight at 7 PM, Paddy and Paul Lagenbach will host the club at their Klinger Hill Road home. The subject tonight will be "Vines," and the speaker will be Karen from Back Mountain Nursery. Visitors are welcome and you can call 925-2206 for directions or additional information. The club plans to visit the Allenwood Campus School of Horticulture, the Sullivan County Herb gardens, Longwood Gardens and other locations during the summer and fall meetings.
Do you enjoy listening to local public radio? Listen live to WVIA at www.publicbroadcasting.net/wvia/ppr/index.shtml .
June 7, 2006. On this date in 1907, the Susquehanna & Tioga Turnpike was abandoned in parts of Sullivan County after being used for over 100 years. Classmates Richard Lehet and Donald Hess celebrate their birthdays today, as does Michelle Gould. We apologize for not mentioning Calvin Follmer's birthday June 4.
We'll take a quick peek at 1901 and the social organizations that existed in the Borough of Benton...
. The Russell Karns Camp, Sons of Veterans, No. 319.
C.L. Hirleman, Captain; H.O. Harvey, 1st Lieut.; Ernest Shultz, 2nd Lieut.; S.B. Karns, 1st Sergeant.; H.A. Karns, Quarter. Master Sergeant.
Met every Wednesday evening in R. McHenry Hall. The "R. McHenry Hall" we assume was the second floor of the Rohr McHenry building, although we are not certain. We would love some reader's input on this. The Sons of Veterans is still an active organization, with their 2006 National Encampment planned for Harrisburg August 10-13, 2006
. Washington Camp. No. 123, P.O.S. of A.
Harry Karns, pres.; Elmer Shultz, rec. sec.; John L.C. Kline, fin. sec.
Met every Tuesday evening at R. McHenry's Hall. This is also an organization that still exists. The Patriotic Order Sons of America (P.O.S. of A.) once had several hundred Camps (lodges) with several thousand members in the United States of America and its territories. Camps still exist in Pennsylvania, as well as North Carolina, New Jersey and Louisiana. Its motto is "God, Our Country and Our Order."
. Benton Lodge, No. 746, I.O.O.F.
D.L. Lewis, N.G.; S.F. Appleman, V.G.; D.E. Keeler, treas.; C.B. Ikeler, sec.
Met every Saturday evening in Odd Fellows Hall over the Post Office. The Independent Order of Odd Fellows ladies' auxiliary is known as the Rebekahs and there are records of that organization meeting in the Borough, too.
. Benton Cornet Band
O.E. Sutton, Leader; John S. Baker, sec.; R.T. Smith, treasurer.
Met Monday and Friday evenings at Town Hall. Consisted of eighteen members. John Herbert Laubach remembers Oscar Sutton lived across the alley from the Methodist parsonage and "can still hear Oscar practicing on his baritone horn which was eventually donated to the school band."Ailing...
• H. Dayne Kline, a patient in Bloomsburg Hospital, shortness of breath and related issues.
• Buster, a staff reporter for the Benton News, recovering at home, suffering from a painful bee sting in the rump, along with the embarrassment of having hair shaved off his body and the humiliation from being forced to wear a cumbersome diaper arrangement.Quickies...
• A bill to mandate smoke-free work places for Pennsylvania businesses was tabled by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Health and Human Services Committee Tuesday following a Health and Human Services Committee vote of 14-14 on the bill.
• The Benton Fireman's Carnival will run from July 31 to August 5 at the Rodeo Grounds. Mark your calendars and start filling your balloons now.
• A memorial service will be held Saturday at St. Gabriel's Church at 1 PM for Helen Smith Gammon. Family and friends are invited, A social time and a time for remembering Helen will follow.
• The 2006 Lycoming County Fair books are now available at the Lycoming County Fair office in Hughesville and at Pop’s Market, Millville.Larry E. Pavalonis, 54, (May 16, 1952-June 6, 2006), Railroad Street, Benton, died Tuesday at Bloomsburg Hospital. Larry was born at the Nanticoke Hospital, a son of Albert Pavalonis Sr. and Betty Jean (Morris) Pavalonis, Benton. He was a 1970 graduate of Benton High School. He was an operating engineer employed by Local Union 542. Surviving, in addition to his parents, are brothers Albert Pavalonis Jr. (Doris), Bloomsburg; Gary E. Pavalonis (Ann) Powhatan, Virginia; and Ted E. Pavalonis (Rose), Bainbridge, PA. Also surviving are six nieces and nephews and three great nieces and nephews as well as numerous aunts, uncles, and cousins. Funeral services will be held Saturday at 11 AM at the McMichael Funeral Home. Burial will be in the Raven Creek Cemetery. A visitation will be held Saturday from 10 AM until the time of the McMichael service.
--Obituary courtesy of the McMichael Funeral Home. A complete obituary will be provided in the Wednesday edition of the Press Enterprise.Thomas J. Krygier, 58, (December 18, 1947-June 5, 2006), 479 S. R. 239, Benton died Monday evening as he was tutoring his daughter and frequent companion, Mariah, for a science final at Benton Area Schools on Tuesday. He was taken by Benton ambulance to the emergency room at the Bloomsburg Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Tom was born in Nanticoke, a son of the late Joseph and Helen (Zielinski) Krygier. He had worked at the Nanticoke State Hospital and the Danville State Hospital, retiring in 2003. He was a part-time employee of the Dollar Store on Mill Street and a co-owner of Krygier’s Catering with his wife, Mary Ruth (Cole) Krygier. Tom was a member of St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church, Nanticoke, and an associate member of the Waller United Methodist Church. Surviving in addition to Mary Ruth are a daughter, Mariah C. Krygier, and a brother, Robert Krygier, Nanticoke; an aunt, Christine Mieczkowski, Nanticoke; and an uncle, Joseph Zielinski, Nanticoke and several cousins. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by an infant brother and by aunts and uncles. A viewing will be held Thursday from 6 to 8 PM at the McMichael Funeral Home. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Friday at 10 AM at St. Stanislaus Roman Catholic Church, 38 W. Church Street, Nanticoke. There will also be a funeral service Friday afternoon at 2:30 PM at the Waller United Methodist Church. Burial will be in the Waller Cemetery.
--Obituary courtesy of the McMichael Funeral Home. A complete obituary will be published in the Wednesday Press Enterprise
Joan Mary Hanley, 71, (Nov. 26, 1934-June 3, 2006), Benton, died Saturday at the Bloomsburg Healthcare Center. Miss Hanley was born in Hoboken, NJ, a daughter of the late Helen (Lynch) Hanley and James Hanley. She retired from the Meadow View Hospital in Secaucus, NJ, as a nurse's aide. She is survived by siblings Marion Parra, East Brunswick, NJ; Anna Koch, Benton; John Hanley, Nescopeck; James Hanley, Parsippany, NJ; Joseph and William Hanley, Jersey City; Michael Hanley, Boyertown; Thomas Hanley, Middletown, NJ. She was preceded in death by her sister, Patricia Hanley, and her parents. Friends will be received Wednesday, June 7, from 11 AM until noon at St. Mary's Church, 1730 Fowler Ave., Berwick. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Wednesday at noon, following the visitation.
--Obituary courtesy of the Press Enterprise, where a complele obituary can be found
Tuesday, June 6, 2006. Will Jones celebrates his birthday today, and Ralph and Nina Ford celebrate their wedding anniversary.
If you want to increase the value of your woodland, consider a tour of a private Stewardship Forest near Benton to learn about approaches to maintaining tree diversity and wildlife habitats in the face of constant threats posed by deer and insects. Sunday at 1:30 PM. For directions, call 784-8490 or 458-0157.
We note with deep sympathy the passing Monday night of Tom Krygier, about 58, 479 State Route 239, Benton, PA 17814. With his wife, Mary Ruth, they operated Krygier’s Catering. Tom was also employed by the Dollar General, Mill Street.
If you follow the Philadelphia Inquirer, you'll find that paper refered to Tyler Brewington, playing Sunday as a U.S Open sectional qualifier at Canoe Brook Country Club in Summit, NJ, as "Richard Brewington, an amateur from Orangeville, Pa." We much preferred the excellent Press Enterprise article on Tyler in Monday's paper. The confusion in the names comes from his whole name: Richard Tyler Brewington. Tyler, a junior at Rider, did not qualify as a result of his Monday's 3-over par 147.
We'll continue telling you a little about Benton Borough in 1901, preliminary to telling you the names and occupations and residences of everyone who lived here at that time. In 1901, there were two churches in the Borough...
The Christian Church, Church at Third, was "Preaching services every Lord's Day." Bible school began promptly at 9:38 AM (sic). The Young Peoples Society for Christian Endeavor (Y.P.S.C.E.) began at 7 PM. Rev. Richard H. Sawtell was the pastor.
The Methodist Episcopal Church of Benton had "Preaching services" every Sunday evening at 7:30 and alternate Sundays at 10:30 AM. Sunday school was at 9 AM. The Rev. John C. Wilhelm was pastor. The Epworth League met at 6:30 PM. The name Epworth came from "Epworth Rectory," the boyhood home in England of John Wesley, the founder (with his brother Charles) of the Methodist movement. The purpose of the leagues was to develop young church members in their religious life and to provide training in churchmanship. It was parallel to the Sunday school and typically met on Sunday nights.
There was no Benton Presbyterian Church in 1901. It was not until April 28, 1902, that a committee of Presbytery organized a 45-member congregation and Mrs. Rohr McHenry donated ground at Market Street and Fishingcreek. In 1902, construction began on the Presbyterian Church building. This church was made of wood, with brick veneer and brick and stone buttresses. The church was first occupied in 1903.
The Benton Borough Graded School in 1901 was made up of Bruce Shannon, Principal; Arthur R. McHenry, grammar; Miss Harriet Buckalew, secondary; and Miss Anna R. Follmer, primary.
Down at Kristie's Kafé in Stillwater on June 9 and 16 will be an acoustic jam from 6-8 PM. On June 23, there will be an open microphone night from 6-8 PM where area talents in music, poetry, comedy and magic will be highlighted. Call 570 925-2222 with questions.
If an onion can make people cry, why isn't there a vegetable to make us laugh?
Robert Smith sent along transcripts of letters written by James D. Rainer, a private in the 33rd Alabama Regiment, CSA, to his wife Martha during the Civil War. Several of the passages, extracted by me from the many letters written, are included below in the order in which they were written...
March the 30, 1862
M. A. Rainer
Dear wife and children,• I send you a lock of hair for you to keep to remember me. This is badly written but you must excuse it as it is written on top of our arm and it is not a very good place so to write.
• I want you to send me something to eat by Mr. Florance when he comes here. I can say to you all that I am as well as common. Hoping this may find you well. I want you to be good children till I come home and think of your father for he is fighting for your good. Jarvis I want you to say a blessing every time you go to eat and think of me and tell the rest to and ride Charlie to meeting every Sunday. So I must close by saying farewell.
• Hoping when this comes to hand it may find you all well and doing well. I have nothing of interest to write of. The small pox are raging here. I expect we will all have it, it is right here. I have made 6 dollars last week at work. I think we will get some more in a short time. I have got 15 dollars now and I will send you some when S. J. Jones goes home. He says he will go home.
• Martha I will say something about my pants you sent me. I like the cloth mighty well but you cut them too large. They are about 5 inches too long and too long in the seat. I wish you had them and worked on them for they are mighty nice cloth. I could sell them for 12 dollars but I don’t want to sell them. They are mighty pretty Martha.
• Martha if I was to stay well I will try to make all the money I can for if I was to die or get killed you would need all of the money that you could get. If I was close to home I could make a heap of money for you. I could get 2 dollars for all the socks that you will send me and then I could send you the money. I will send you a song ballad. I got it on the battlefield and I will send it to you. I got it from a Yankee. I think it is a nice song and I will send you a ring I made out of a cow’s foot. Martha I want you to tell my little children that I think of them every hour in the day and I want to see them and Martha you may know that I want to see you the worst I ever did in my life and if I can’t I hope that I can hear from you and you from me. I will tell you how much I have fell away. I have fell away 12 lbs. since the fight.
• Martha I am sorry to say to you that we have to go into another fight. We are preparing to go into it. We will go into it in a few days. They all say that it will be the hardest fight there ever has been and this may well be the last letter you ever get from me.
• I want you to let the boys plant some ground peas but they are not good for your hogs. I have wrote all that I can think of. I will send you one pair of my pants. Martha, times are hard here. Tobacco is 1.50 a pack. I shall have to quit it for it costs me too much money. Martha I am afraid that you will have to do without meat much. You must tend your hogs mighty good. Martha, you must tell Poll that William Carter is dead. He died last month. Tell her that he didn’t live long.
• Dear wife and family, I take the pleasure of writing you a few lines to show you that I am as well as common. I want to see you all mighty bad. Send me some potatoes and a few peas. Tell John Harrison if he will come here and get in my company I will give him 200 dollars. If he will come I can get to go home for 40 days and I can make the money when I am at home. I want you to write to me if there is anything the matter at home for I want to know mighty bad. You write it in your next letter. I want you to send me some potatoes and beans and get me some turnips and other things and I want you to send me some soles to put on my shoes. Mine is almost wore out.
• Well old lady if the Yankees come to your house you must treat them well and be good to them and stay at home and do the best you can and tell them you was always a _______ for I think they will be there in a short time and you must do the best you can for I don’t think I can ever get back alive.
• I will write all about our trip if I don’t get killed. I haven’t got no more paper or no more tobacco or nothing else.
• (Written from a "line of battle near Atlanta, "July the 19, 1864") A few lines to my dear wife and family which will show to you that I ain’t very well though I am hoping when this comes to hand it will find you well and doing well. I have sent you 20 dollars in a letter. I am afraid you won’t get them. Martha we are staying here waiting for the Yankees to cross the river and then we are going to give them a fight again. They have so many men. Martha they are a fighting some all the time. They are shelling right tight this morning.
• Mrs. Raynor,
I feel it is my duty to write you a few lines to let you know your beloved husband is no more. He was killed on the 21st of last month and was buried as best as we could afford. We would have done better for him had it been in our power, for one thing I can say he died without leaving an enemy in the Co. as I know of. We all regretted the death of such a noble solder and man. Martha I sympathize with you greatly and never while I have shall you want if I was so fortunate as to go through safe. I do feel in hopes that the war is near over but God only can tell the time. I can say to you in conclusion give up your beloved friend the best you can. It was God’s will that he should go and we should not complain at anything. It is true we see and hear many things that loom hard to us but all things work together for the best with those that love the lord. I was present when Mr. Raynor was shot. He did not live but a few moments. He was in his senses to the last and saw he was going to die and his only regret was because he could not see his family before he died.
Your friend, Wayne Smith
Monday, June 5, 2006. Edd Sidinger, III, celebrates his birthday today, along with Kenny G (without a period). Who were all those people walking around town Sunday in sweaters and coats?
A public meeting will be held at six tonight before the regular town council meeting at 7 PM. The public will have an opportunity to express opinions with regards to proposed changes to the Borough Ordinance and to sign restrictions. The meeting will take place at the Benton Volunteer Fire Co.
On Saturday, we will add the first of several sections to the Benton News about the people who made up the upper Fishingcreek Valley about 1900. Lets review some things...
• The 28th Presidential term of four years commenced on the fourth day of March, 1897, and expired at noon on the fourth day of March, 1901. William McKinley of Ohio was President and received a salary of $50,000. McKinley was shot and killed September 6, 1901. Theodore Roosevelt of New York was Vice President and received $8,000 for his efforts, the same salary paid to Charles Emery Smith, a Pennsylvanian who was Postmaster-General. William A. Stone was Governor of Pennsylvania.
The post offices in Columbia County in 1901 were at Almedia, Aristes, Asbury, Beaver Valley, Bendertown, Benton, Berwick, Bloomsburg, Briar Creek, Buckglen, Tie, Trimills, Cabin Run, Canby, Catawissa, Central, Centralia, Coles Creek, Derrs, Divide, Buckhorn, Elk Grove, Fishing Creek, Espy, Forks, Evansville, Fowlerville, Eyers Grove, Glen City, Mifflin X Roads, Greenwood, Guava, Hetlerville, Iola, Jamison City, Jerseytown, Kulp, Lightstreet, Lime Ridge, Mainville, Rohrsburg, Rupert, Rupp, Sereno, Stillwater, Talmar, Taurus, Mifflinville, Millgrove, Millville, Mordansville, Newlin, Numidia, Orangeville, Pennsyl, Pine Summit, Raven Creek, Rhodes, Roaring Creek, Vancamp, Waller, Welliversville, Wilburton, Willow Springs. As always when you don't know where a Columbia County location is, we refer you to the book by Walter Brasch entitled Columbia County Place Names.
In the Borough of Benton, the Burgess in 1901 was Ira Hess. The General Borough Act was reenacted in 1927 and revised and reenacted in 1947 as the Borough Code. The latest reenactment of the Borough Code came in 1966. The title of "Burgess" was changed to "Mayor" in 1961. In 1968, the new judicial article of the Pennsylvania Constitution removed all judicial powers from the Mayor. The president of council slowly became recognized as the chief elected officer of a borough. Todd Butt held the title of Chief Burgess at one time. Karl Fritz was the last "Chief Burgess" of Benton and went on to become "Mayor" of Benton Borough.
The President of the Town Council in 1901 was Russell Karns. John Heacock was Treasurer. The Chief of Police was T. E. Brown. The Tax Collector, known simply as "Collector," was J.D. Lewis. T.E. Brown carried the title of High Constable. The office of constable is mandated in the Pennsylvania state constitution. All constables in Pennsylvania are elected Officers of the Court, as are all state court officers in the state system. We don't know what the "High" Constable did, but today the majority of the work of a Pennsylvania's Constable is to watch the polling place during elections.
The Laporte Station of the Pennsylvania State Police and the Royal Order of Raccoons are sponsoring a Charity Golf Tournament on June 22 beginning at 8:30 AM at the Mill Race Golf Course. The price is $55, which includes greens fees, cart, donuts and coffee, hot dog lunch, and beer on the course after 11 AM. Contact Ray Miller at raymiller (at sign) state.pa.us for more information or reservations. Reservations only with payment before June 9. The tournament benefits needy children of Sullivan County and Northern Columbia County.
Robert Altman began making movies soon after the end of World War II since he said that he "failed at all real jobs." His movie, A Prairie Home Companion, was filmed on the real-life stage of the Fitzgerald Theatre where the popular radio show is broadcast. The movie version of Robert Altman's A Prairie Home Companion is slated to open Friday at theaters nationwide.
For almost 140 years, Patterson Grove has been a camp-meeting ground of the Methodist Church. In an old sugar-maple grove between Fairmount and Huntington Townships, five miles southeast of Ricketts Glen, is the campground named for the mother of a wealthy businessman of New Brunswick, New Jersey, Ezekiel Montgomery Patterson. The mother, Mary Denison Patterson, supported the churches in that area for fifty years, and on August 26, 1878, the Headley Grove campground was renamed the Patterson Grove Campground.
By 1885, the grove had 160 tents or cabins and other buildings, each from two to six rooms each. Some had verandahs and other "outward adornments." The grove had from 1,000 to 1,500 residents during the two weeks at the camp meetings and on Sundays some say the numbers grew to 10,000.
By the time of the grove's 100th anniversary, Patterson Grove consisted of 134 frame cottages, an open-air auditorium, a boarding-hall, a recreation hall, a picnic pavilion and a pool
A fire broke out at Patterson Grove in 1893 and almost everything--between 200 and 300 cottages--burned to the ground except for the boarding house. For additional information about the Patterson Grove Campground, consult the Patterson Grove Centennial book published in 1968, edited by Richard S. Patterson, or visit the Lower Luzerne County website.
The 2006 United Methodist Camp meeting takes place July 30-August 13, but many other activities open to the public are planned, like the pig roast supper on June 16, the popular bluegrass group Raven Creek playing bluegrass gospel on July 1, a spaghetti dinner on July 15, Catawissa Military Band plays August 19, and a chicken and biscuit dinner on August 18.
June 4, 2006. Pam Andrezze celebrates her 43rd birthday today and Amy Remley Vincent her 36th. Calvin Follmer and Helen Harvey also celebrate birthdays.
Charley Allegar, 14, an eighth-grader from Middle Paxton Twp, near Harrisburg, comes from well-educated, local stock. His father, Jeffrey, is a civil engineer, his grandparents are Ed and Alice (Sutliff) Allegar, Jamison City, a retired teacher and a retired nurse. Charley plays the piano, harmonica, and he plays baseball just like his grandfather Ed did. Charley is also a superb speller, just coming off prime-time television in seven rounds of the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee championship on ABC where he was one of 13 finalists to reach the championship. The bee began with 274 spellers. Charley lost in the eighth round when he misspelled giocoso, a word meaning lively, shortly after he correctly spelled sfumato, a word meaning evaporate or shade off into another color, reliquiae, the remains of the dead, and lymphadenitis, the inflammation of lymph glands.
We hate to go back, always have, always will. Anyway, we previously covered the hoax about the state police in the Dushore area and the blinking of automobile lights. We continue to receive emails on the subject, so we'll briefly mention it again. The email said something about the Job Corps Center and not flashing car lights when driving after dark. It went on to say that if you see a car without its head-lights on do not flash your lights or blow your horn or make any signals to the driver of the other car. The email may be different in other parts of the country, since there are variations from London, Los Angeles, and numerous states.It seems as readers hook up to DSL and wideband cable, the internet connection speed of their computers becomes a question. They want the bottom line, but not the details of how to check it. We'll tell you, but we have to tell you the variables first. Your computer is the first unpredictable element in the equation. How much spyware and adware resides on your own computer, does your computer allow pop-ups and how many viruses are lurking in the background? Is it below the hardware standard recommended by the manufacturer? "I suppose the fault lies, dear Brutus, not in the stars..."
In testing the transmission speed of your connection to the internet, or "bandwidth," your speed will be as fast as the slowest connecting point between you and the end destination, just as our trip to Bloomsburg might only take 15 minutes if we didn't observe the 35 miles per hour through Orangeville and down hospital hill into town. To learn where these slow-down points are (and we are NOT in any way recommending speeding anywhere including Orangeville!), try clicking the Start button, then Run, then type 'cmd' (Windoze XP) and press OK. A black window with white letters pops up; type 'tracert bentonnews.net' and that will run a small utility in Windows that will trace the route between your computer and our Web site (or substitute another site).
Each item is a 'hop' as the transmission moves from one router (internet connection) to the next in the journey from your computer to the Benton News. More hops, the longer it takes--more milliseconds for the web page to display on your computer. A route trace at a different time will probably show a different number of hops. We know this has been overly simplified, but you get the idea.You can check bandwidth speed tests, again remembering that speed will probably be different each time it is checked. A bandwidth testing site we recommend is PCPitstop, www.pcpitstop.com/internet/, but ignore all ads that offer to optimize your speed by making your computer into a Firebelch 500.
I am writing from former Indian county in New York state, where legends took shape about nature--the hills, the valleys, the waterfalls, the creatures of the woods. The white man retold and recast the legends and invented a few of his own. Embellished in a word that comes to mind. Legends grew up Back Home in Benton, PA, too. When we were growing up, we always heard that Harvey's Lake was "bottomless." We heard that copper, natural gas and uranium resided in the ground below us. We listened as a kid to stories that O.B. Savage would tell and believe they were true, and the same for ones told by Jim Dildine and Jim Babb. Later we listened to stores told by Budd Fritz and forgot his message but got caught up in the way that he told the story.
We heard about the days of the poorhouse and later the county home. We heard terms like feather dusters, sticky flypaper, foot scrapers by the farmer's front and back doors, stick candy and during the holidays "hard candy.' There was Lydia E. Pinkham's Vegetable Compound, jardinières, corsets, flagpole sitters and "dance 'till you drop" contests, pigtails, black patent-leather shoes and shoes with copper toes and shoes known as "penny loafers." There were roll-top desks, hand-cranked telephones, kitchen ranges that burned wood, the Bloomsburg and Sullivan chugging up the tracks with boys placing pennies on the tracks in front of the engine, little red schoolhouses, the cuspidor at the Exchange Hotel, mustache cups, organ grinders, traveling knife sharpeners, the Pied Piper Inn, kerosene lamps and later carbide lights and milk cans.
And all this talk about things past make me remember when I bought a telephone for my parents as a present. They had never been connected with a phone in the house before.
"Never needed it," Father tersely said.
Soon after it was connected, I answered the phone one day and the person at the other end of the line said "Whosiz?"
"With whom did you wish to speak," I replied, using the best English Mary Hartman had taught me.
After a long pause, the voice on the other end of the phone said, as nearly as I can remember after all these years, "I ken tell ye right now by the way yer a-talkin' it's not who I's a-wanting'!"
June 3, 2006. It is the birthday of Caitlin Curtin and the wedding anniversary of Harry and Shirley Ritter. I am writing today from Letchworth State Park in Wyoming County, New York, where soft drinks are referred to as "pop," soft ice cream is called "soft serve," and where it is fashionable to stop at a restaurant to tank up on "hots."
It appears that brain cells come and brain cells go, but fat cells live forever.
Happening today...
Breakfast, all you can eat, 8 AM until noon, Fairmount Township Fire and Ambulance Company, Route 118, Sweet Valley. The cost is $5.50 for adults and $3 for children.
Children's Fishing Derby, 1 PM, Mill Race Golf Course, children 5-12, free.
Great American Country (GAC) will honor the music and influence of the late Ray Charles in a special telecast of Grand Ole Opry Live at 8 PM local.
It is a "Fish For Free" Day in the Commonwealth, meaning that "anyone" can legally fish in Pennsylvania. Grab your grandson--or your grandfather--and head for our fishing streams.Why do we have to swear on the Bible in court when the Ten Commandments can't be displayed outside?
Faded lettering I see from time to time in the small towns of western New York remind me of something I know little about Back Home in Benton, PA. The signs simply say "Opera House," a symbol of entertainment in the smaller towns and cities of a bygone era, a way of life no longer with us.
Little has been written that I have ever found about the road companies performing in the former Opera House Back Home in Benton, PA. The "straw hat" circuit must have been an eagerly awaited event by the townspeople. What we can't figure out is why we can't find more information on the subject.
Our area has changed a great deal in the past hundred years. I am preparing an extensive article on the people who lived in our Boroughs (Benton and Stillwater) and our Townships a hundred years ago. The article will be a continuing article, in that about a week from now I will begin with the Borough and continue through each of the surrounding Townships. First, I'll explain Benton Borough. I'll list each of the people who lived in the Borough a hundred years ago, where they lived and what their occupations were. That part is complete in raw form now for the Borough. I'll then begin to add biographical sketches of as many of the people as I can find, and that is where I'll need your help. My goal is to release the Benton Borough section to the Benton News website on Saturday, June 10, and an additional Township each Saturday until I have all the surrounding Townships listed.
In compiling this list, I am struck by the diversity of occupations held by the people who lived in the area a hundred years ago. It is true that many factory whistles have been silenced over the years. The grand old hotels are gone, almost all of the old businesses founded and operated locally are gone, while new businesses have sprung up. For example, the area of Benton known as "Hoboken" didn't even know what a "sub" was let alone have a place where people could acquire one. We do now. The "Little Red Hotel," the Exchange Hotel, the McHenry House, the Hotel Moses Van Campen are gone now, and there currently isn't a single place where tourists can commercially spend the night in the Borough. The wagon works, the Ash Nursery, R. T. Smith Planing Mill, the Fairmount Springs and Benton Stage Line, the cider factories are gone. We often say that Benton changes little, but we'll show that we have changed plenty!
Some of the occupations of a century ago include dressmaker, wagon repairer, marble carver, drover, surgeon, boot and shoe repairer, gravel separator (to separate gravel stone from grain)--well you get the picture. Occupations were very different a hundred years ago than they are today. We think you will enjoy the series and will use it as a reference for years to come.
Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.
Jim Laubach, a true railroad buff, emailed about a railroad that served the Angelica, New York, community, the town we talked about yesterday. After starting as an independent line serving the oilfields around Richburg, a number of small lines merged to form the Pittsburg, Shawmut & Northern Railroad, which eventually ran from Brockway in Jefferson County to Wayland, New York. One of two major railroad shops was in Angelica where the station still stands. The main fifteen minutes of fame came for the PS&N when it shut down in 1947 after being in receivership longer than any railroad in the United States, 42 years.
We are spending the night between Perry and Mount Morris, New York, overlooking the beautiful Genesee River, which flows through the gorge at Letchworth State Park, 35 miles south of Rochester. The Genesee River roars over three major waterfalls in the park, one of which is 107 feet high. Each year the river cuts deeper into the canyon 600 feet below where we stand. Letchworth State Park is an attraction that I try to visit each year. (This was probably my 35th visit, but don't be misled in calculating my age. I missed coming the years that I gained weight!)
Near Conesus Lake, a few miles from where we are staying, is Sullivan's Monument, a stone obelisk to commemorate the march by General Sullivan on orders from George Washington to attack the Native Americans loyal to the British during the war for independence.
Nearby in Cuylerville, in Livingston County, is the Boyd Parker Memorial. Lieutenant Thomas Boyd and Sergeant Michael Parker were two of Sullivan's men who were captured by the British and Seneca Indians during Sullivan's march and tortured and killed where the park is now located. The huge white oak, 22 feet in circumference at chest height, is reputed to be the actual "torture tree." Boyd and Parker were tied to this oak tree, disemboweled, skinned alive and tortured over a prolonged period of time. When Sullivan's Army found the bodies of Boyd and Parker they destroyed everything in sight, taking two days to do it. Sullivan's Scorched Earth Campaign resulted in forty Indian villages destroyed, at a cost of the lives of 40 colonial soldiers.
Friday, June 2, 2006.
We appreciate Nancy Heath Myers taking the time to identify everyone in the fifty year reunion class for us. We remember back to July, 1957, when Mr. and Mrs. Harry Edwin Myers walked down the aisle at the Derrs Christian Church. Nancy Arlene was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Arden Heath on R. D. 3. Harry was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Myers, Stillwater R.D. and at the time was employed by the Girton Manufacturing Company. They lived at Millville R.D. 2 following their marriage. I can remember what happened "back then," but continue to have trouble remembering names and where I put the car keys...
Always remember that silence is often the best answer.
Vinnie Hippensteel had a simple request. "When in New York," she said, "find the village of Angelica in Alleghany County and get a picture of the grave of Moses Van Campen." I handle the hard requests easily most of the time, but the easy ones usually are a problem, and this one was no exception.
I drove down the Main Street of Angelica and smiled as I looked down the wide boulevard with its historic buildings, past the round town "square" with numerous churches and a couple of buildings that probably were churches once upon a time. I whoa'd the motor home in front of the Whistle Stop, a building built about 1830, a likely place to find the directions to the remains of a Revolutionary War hero I thought. The lady behind the counter looked up from her crossword puzzle, shot me a "whence came you" look, but said she would try to help. She told me the cemetery was about a mile east of town, and Van Campen's former home was only two houses past the cemetery, just out of the village. But she wasn't quite confident about things, so to be sure I should head down to the library and ask Eileen. Eileen told me to go to the "back of the cemetery, close to a tall pine tree, to a large monument with a fence around it." There were the remains of Moses Van Campen as she remembered it from when she was a little girl.
I puddle jumped across the street to the motor home all the while trying to stay dry from the rain that fell most of Thursday, following the Wednesday night thunder storms at Cowanesque Lake, the longest thunder storm I have ever encountered. Actually, I fell asleep, so I am not an accurate researcher on that subject, but people in adjacent campers told me that the thunder storm lasted with full intensity for seven hours!
When I arrived at the cemetery, there was absolutely no place to pull the motor home in and the entrance to the cemetery was a rounded arch 8'5" in height. The motor home is an inch or two less than 13' high. I chose to drive by the former home of Moses Van Campen first.
Now so you understand things, let me first say that the home is a couple of years shy of being 200 years old. It was built by Moses Van Campen in 1809, and to set the stage I'll tell you that the brick house was a true mansion with not another one like it around this part of New York state for 100 miles, and nothing like it outside of any major city. There are hewn foundation timbers and hand-worked floors, doors and castings. The front of the house is both stately and impressive. How did this beautiful structure end up here, completely outside the of doorstep of civilization, built eleven years before the townspeople even built the town court house?
Certainly this could only ever be the Major Moses Van Campen place, but Eileen referred to it as the "Burr Farm," and the lady in the Whistle Stop--the lady who sold me the maple sugar candy from Dickinson's Sugar Shack--called it by another name, although I can't remember what now. I guess that I did tell you about my short-term memory in the first paragraph. This should only be called the Moses Van Campen place, in honor of the man wounded at the Battle of Newtown, the man when captured by the Indians in 1782 was forced to run the gauntlet at Caneadea, the man who was one of the first white men to see this beautiful valley, the man so celebrated in the Susquehanna valley and in the Wyoming Valley and in Genesee County in New York.
Moses Van Campen arrived in what is now Angelica in 1801. He was employed as a guide for Judge Philip Church, and was accompanied by surveyor Evert Van Wickle and others. It was a wilderness by all accounts, pine trees, maple trees, beech trees, little else. A saw mill began operation by the end of 1802, and a grist mill followed. Van Wickle opened a land office, land was sold, cabins sprung up, and a planned community followed. Judge Church had his house built by 1804, the first painted house in the area, thus giving the house the name carried to this day, the "white house," even though that is the color of about 80% of the other houses in the area. The round common green in the center of town is distinctive, with its surrounding churches and the old courthouse. The town is named after Philip Church's mother, Angelica Schuyler Church.
Major Van Campen came back to what is now Angelica in 1805, and nearly all the settlers of Angelica came from the Wyoming Valley. They arrived by way of the Susquehanna, Chemung and Canisteo rivers to what was then known as "Hornellsville." Van Campen was described as being "well advanced in years, but hale and hearty." Except for a few years when he lived at Dansville, New York, he remained in Angelica until he died in October, 1849, ninety-two years and nine months of a very full life. His life in Angelica was as much in demand as it was in time of war, and he became what was known as a "side judge" in the first county court. I looked at the collection of his rifles donated to the town, and I saw the Jacob's Staff and Compass from his surveying equipment. The man was a marvel.
But there was a problem. Like Dr. Frank C. Laubach in Benton, there is little to remind either the townspeople, the tourists or the visiting firemen from Back Home in Benton, PA, of the significance of the man. No sign marked his house, no historical marker stood guard at the outer gate, the locals stumble over where he is buried, there was no clue that a man of prominence once occupied this house. Lets face it, he was so well regarded 171 miles away that a hotel was named in his honor Back Home in Benton, PA.
Although I mostly dodged raindrops at his former house, the cemetery was a rainy mess. I spent an hour and a half walking the rows trying to find the marker for his grave. Soaking wet from sweat and a continuing rain, I gave up the search. Vinnie won't get her grave picture on this trip.
I took some other pictures and will include them in a longer article that I will add to the web site one of these days--well, after I write it. In the meantime, I suspect that there isn't anyone up here interested in the man, and come to think about it probably no one reading this rant is either.
--Angelica is located directly off Route 17/I-86, Exit #31, four miles east of Route 19, 85 miles south of Rochester and Buffalo, in the southern tier of New York state.
June 1, 2006. Joshua Vincent and Sandy Kogut celebrate their birthdays today. The News was delivered late today since I didn't have any cell phone service where I was camping at a US Army Corps of Engineers campground on Cowanesque Lake, part of the Tioga-Hammond Lake system. I expect more of the same problems through Sunday.
We felt the pain of others inflicted by the hard storms of the last couple days. Whittier and Joyce Letteer had a large maple tree land on their Stillwater house, and there were problems on Toy Factory Road and at the corner of Third and Market.
How times have changed. Remember when Firestone and Goodyear fought it out each year to see whose tires would be on the car that won the Indianapolis 500? The fans of both companies, like the pro-Yankee and the anti-Yankee fans of years gone by, would wager on which company would end up winning the race. This year, the 33 starting drivers completed a total of 5,035 laps (12,587.5 miles) with complete engine reliability. All 33 starting cars were Hondas and all engines performed flawlessly. It is believed this is the first time in '500' history that the race has run without a single engine problem.
Starting June 4, the Stillwater Christian Church will hold three worship services each Sunday and two Sunday school services. Services will no longer be held in the Benton High School auditorium. The first service will be the Traditional Service at 8 AM, with the old hymns sung to the accompaniment of a piano. The sermon will be the same at all three services. There will be Contemporary Services at both 9:15 and 10:45 AM with more contemporary music.
Didja know that from now through the first two weeks of June are the peak times for doe to have their fawns? The rule is "See a fawn alone, leave it alone."
The Northern Columbia Community & Cultural Center acknowledges with appreciation the library donation by Bernard Shultz of The Black and Orange yearbooks from the years 1937 and 1938 and 1940 and 1942.
As we sought shelter from a thunder storm last night, we chatted with a man who told us the story about the upstate farmer who wrote to the giant catalog retailer, L.L. Bean, asking about the price of toilet paper. The polite, corporate response was to look on page 233 of their catalog. The farmer wrote back, "If I had your catalog, I wouldn't be asking about toilet paper."
Upcoming...
The Royal Order of Raccoons is sponsoring an "Apple Pie and Ice Cream Contest" at the North Mountain Fire Company Grounds on July 1. An all-you-can-eat breakfast happens from 8-11 AM for $6. The pie judging is at 1 PM. Ice cream judging is at 2 PM. Call Al Schumaker, 925-6054, to pre-register. There is a $5 entry fee and a $25 first prize. There will be games for everyone. At 4 PM, there will be a parade from Jamison City through Central and Elk Grove. The public is invited to participate and bring their own float/group. Line up at 3 PM in Jamison City and work off what you added to your waistline during the breakfast and ice cream social.The Millville Fire Company will serve an all-you-can-eat ham dinner on Saturday June 10, from 5 to 7 PM. at the fire hall. Cost for adults is $7, children 6-12 get in for $4 and under 5 eat free.
The Waller area is having a community yard sale on Saturday, June 10, from 8 AM until 4 PM, rain or shine. Once in the Waller area, maps will be available to show the location of the sales. Organizers promise, "Something for everyone."
A public meeting will be held at six PM Monday night before the regular town council meeting at 7 PM. The public will have an opportunity to express opinions with regards to proposed changes to the Borough Ordinance and to sign restrictions. The meeting will take place at the Benton Volunteer Fire Co.
A reader took me "to task" for incorrectly using the word "robbery" yesterday when I should have said "burglary." A burglary, sometimes called a break in, happens when nobody is around. A robbery requires the presence of a victim who is forced to turn over money or merchandise, etc.
When we think of an office, we usually don't think of it being in greater downtown Scranton, but NBC has a hit Thursday nights with their version of The Office set in that very city.
There was a young lady named Florence
Who for kissing professed great abhorrence,
But when she'd been kissed,
And found out what she'd missed,
She cried till the tears came in torrents!When I was growing up, the game of Tiddlywinks was very popular. The game was patented as "Tiddledy-Winks in 1889 and trademarked in 1890. The modern game of tiddlywinks was introduced by two Cambridge students in 1955 in order to represent the university in a Varsity Match against Oxford.
The game is played on a surface with sets of small, thin discs (called winks). A player then takes a larger disc (called a squidger) to make the smaller disc hop into the air by pressing down on one side of the smaller disc. The basic goal is to cause the smaller discs to land inside a pot or cup. The formal game comes with strict rules, goals and strategies. In tournament play, the squop, where one wink covers another wink and thereby immobilizing it, is a strategy.
Today's modern game is a very serious one. Like snooker, croquet or curling, physical skill is required for wink placement and good strategy is needed to prevent your opponent from making his best move.
We betcha you never figured you would know about potting your winks or squopping your winks when you poured your morning coffee! Want to know more? Go to www.tiddlywinks.org/ .
May 31, 2006. Jamison City had a reported inch and a half of rain Tuesday afternoon, while in the Borough there was barely a trace of rain. Things sure did change as the evening wore on. The thundereboomers seemed to last forever. There are 21 days until the official start of summer, but it felt like summer for the past two days.
Helen Steinruck, Mill Street, is 88 today. In 1889 on this date, in a river valley 185 miles southwest of Back Home in Benton, PA, a neglected dam pelted by driving rain lead to a catastrophe in which 2,209 people perished and Johnstown was nearly wiped off the face of the earth. Want to read more, try David McCullough's The Johnstown Flood.
One of the most interesting topics covered on the Benton News can be found under FEATURES and is listed as The Writings of William Heacock. As recounted on the pages of the Benton News, the article is a series of recollections of Benton and vicinity published in the fall of 1929 in the Argus. Little was known locally about the author William H. Heacock, who signed the book simply, "Old Timer" and titled his work Looking Backward.
The book was published for private circulation by the Orvis Company, Inc., Hackensack, New Jersey. A sister of the publisher, Emma Orvis, provided a copy of the book and later the obituary of William Heacock to the late Harry Lockard. Shirley Lockard made the copy available for us.
We aren't sure who the Orvis Company was, but we assume that K K Orvis had something to do with it. Orvis and William H. Smith started a Democratic Benton newspaper known as The Independent Weekly in 1874. A year and a half later, they headed south to Orangeville with the Messenger and Laborer, and Smith and Orvis dissolved partnership. We aren't sure what happened to Orvis, but we suspect that he stayed in the publishing business and later published Looking Backward.
Smith continued to publish the Independent Weekly, moving it back to Benton and later to Milton as a paper called the Argus. His Milton office was destroyed by fire in 1884, but he started over again and back again he came to Benton with the Argus. Smith died in 1892, but the paper continued in publication thanks to his widow and a manager by the name of Percy Brewington. Brewington and a man by the name of Alfred Edgar later purchased the paper until Brewington became sole owner.
You can read Looking Backward for yourself. What follows is the obituary of William Heacock, and we hope that this clears up the old mystery of who the writer was. The obituary comes from the Benton Argus, but has been slightly rewritten by us for sake of brevity..."William Winner Heacock, (July 13, 1860-April 19, 1949) was born in Benton and died in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He attended Westtown Boarding School, a Quaker school near Philadelphia.
"In 1878 he went to Philadelphia and became an apprentice printer. He left Philadelphia in 1886 and went to New York were he worked in or owned various printing offices until 1900, when he joined forces of the composing room of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, a daily newspaper published for 114 consecutive years without missing a single edition. In 1932 he was retired, along with several other old-timers. He was a member of the New York Typographical Union No. 6 in 1886.
"Upon retirement, William Heacock and his wife, Anna Clara Shultz, formerly of Strawberry home in Brooklyn, moved to Danville, where they lived until December, 1936, when his wife passed away. Mr. Heacock then went to Glendale, California, to live with his daughter, Alice Heacock Seidel.
"He was taken ill on a trip east in October, 1940, and made little recovery, so in May 1941 decided to enter the hospital of the Union Printers Home in Colorado Springs. He passed away there on April 19. Mr. Heacock was a member of the Society of Friends, Arch Street Meeting, Philadelphia.
"He was survived by a son, William J. Heacock, of Minneapolis, Minnesota, a daughter, Alice Heacock Sedel (William), Glendale, California; a sister, Regina Coley, Wilkes-Barre, and a brother, Walter G. Heacock, Benton R.D. #2. Interment was in the Friends Cemetery, Millville, with services held at the Friends Meeting House, on Friday, April 29, 1949."
Every Wednesday night is work night at the rodeo grounds, beginning at 5 PM. The rodeo committee needs grass trimed around the grounds. If you can help, bring your weed eater.
Upcoming...
• Benton High cheerleaders will host a spaghetti dinner and basket raffle today from 5 to 8:30 PM in the school cafeteria. The meal costs $6 for ages 13 and older and $3 for children ages 6-12. Children 5 and under are free.
• The "Sundae Pop" concert will be held at 7 PM Friday in Benton High School cafeteria featuring the Mixed Ensemble, Jazz Band, soloists, other ensembles and an all-you-can-eat sundae bar. Cost is $5 for adults and $3 for students.
• On June 3, from 8 AM to 3 PM, will be the Whispering Pines Campground yard sale. Tables available to the public $5 each. Call 925-6810 for more information or reservations. For this weekend and this weekend only, all campsites are $20 per night, with a two-night minimum.
• The Waller United Methodist Church serves their ham dinner Saturday, June 17, from 4-7 PM. Cost is $7.50 for adults and $3.50 for children ages 6-12. Children 5 and under eat free.A lot of people are very upset over the continuing string of burglaries in the local area, including the ones during the past week at the "Inn Under" and D.R.'s Quick Mart. Finding a solution to the problem is a problem! We almost recommend the solution employed in a similar problem we once knew about in Arlington, Virginia, where a sign in the window of a small "Mom and Pop" convenience store was crudely lettered, "If you want to know if there is life after death, try robbing this store again."
West Creek looking south, taken from the Market St. bridgeAnn Marie (Shutta) Edwards, 55, (April 15, 1951-May 28, 2006), an auditor for Huntington Township who lived at 1193 Old Tioga Turnpike, Benton, died Sunday afternoon at the Bonham Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Born in Nanticoke, she was a daughter of the late Bernard W. and Anna (Zello) Shutta. Surving in addition to her husband, Donald J. Edwards, are a sister, Melanie G. Hughes (Alfred), Benton; and a brother, Bernard Michael Shutta, Berwick. Funeral services will be Thursday at 3:30 PM at the McMichael Funeral Home Inc. Burial will be in the Cambra Cemetery. A visitation will be held Thursday from 1:30 at the McMichael Funeral Home.
--Obituary courtesy of the McMichael Funeral Home. A complete obituary is published in the May 30 Press Enterprise.
Much of the north end of the Borough and the south end of the Township was without electricity Tuesday afternoon when a three-phase power line that runs on the south side of Everett Street snapped just east of Third Street, hitting Rich Maye on the arm as he walked from his neighbor's house. Rich had just arrived from a shopping trip with Art Christie, 375 Third Street. Rich left the parked car and started toward his house at the corner of Third and Everett Streets when he heard what he described as a "snap" that reminded him of a branch breaking. He realized something was falling beside his left arm. Rich remembers that he thought it was an animal and "swatted" at it, only to find that it was a 7,000 volt power line. PPL crews who quickly arrived and turned off power to the area credited the sneakers that Rich was wearing as saving his life. Actually, Art Christie worried about his wife coming home and finding the holes in the sidewalk and the burned grass on his property. Before his wife left for work Tuesday morning, she told Art not to "burn the grass," a reference to the 90° temperatures experienced in the area Tuesday and what might happen if the lawn was mowed under those circumstances. The line break also triggered a grass fire when an overloaded transformer caught fire west of Riverside Market.
Everett Street sidewalk showing the aftermath of a 7,000 volt
power line break. There is burned grass at the top,with charred
power lines and holes in the sidewalk where the line hit
