Al and Pat Hess entertained the folks during the meal.

Later in the day, they played at the MusicFest at the Benton Park.

The Columbia County Covered Bridges Association will hold their popular "Dinner on the Bridge" at the Twin Bridges Park, Forks, September 14, 2003. Go to www.coveredbridges.org for more information.

Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and his wife Sofia were assassinated in Sarajevo by a Bosnian Serb on June 28, 1914, setting off a chain of events that would culminate in a world war by August. Following the assassinations, a network of treaties among the nations of Europe led to a rapid escalation in the "Great War" between the Central Powers, including Germany, the Austro-Hungarian and the Ottoman Empires, and the Allied nations of Britain, France, Italy, and Russia. The United States entered the war April 6, 1917. On June 28, 1919, Germany and the Allies signed the Treaty of Versailles, formally ending the war and providing for the creation of the League of Nations.

Ivy Violet Young, 15, (July 7, 1987-June 24, 2003), 350 Third St., Benton, died Tuesday, at Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, where she had been a patient since Feb. 20. Ivy was born in Bloomsburg, a daughter of Barbara Jean (Ellis) Young, Benton, and Donald M. Young, Rosemont, NJ. She resided in Benton her entire life and was a member of the Class of 2005 at Benton Area High School. She was in her sophomore year when she was taken ill. At school, she played field hockey, volunteered with the Little Tigers and played AYSO soccer. She attended the Benton Christian Church. Surviving in addition to her parents is a sister, Joy D. Young, at home; two half-brothers, Jess L. Brown, Princeton, NJ, and Shannon Young, New Jersey. She is also survived by her paternal grandmother, Dorothy W. Young, Rosemont, NJ. Services will be held Monday at 2 PM in the Kriner Funeral Home, Benton, with the Rev. Vernon McDormand, retired pastor of the Benton Christian Church, officiating. Interment will be in New Rosemont Cemetery, Espy.
--From an article in the Bloomsburg Press Enterprise.

Are you over 60 years of age? Would you or someone you know like to use the Benton Senior Citizen's Center? The center is open 9-2 weekdays.

Robert T. Vincent, Jr., Airport Manager, tells us that the airport is ready for airplanes arriving for the bluegrass festival July 3-6 and for the rodeo July 15-20. The runway is freshly mowed and looks very nice. The airport is officially listed as "private," but the Airport Manager can grant access for landing by calling 570 925-2861. Prior permission is required for landing at the airport, known by pilots as PA-40. The "Best Village by a Dam Site" looks forward to all out-of-town visitors, however they arrive...

We welcome Karen Poist as the new owner of the Fishing Creek Lodge Bed and Breakfast, by the bridge in Central, PA. Karen also has a grocery and grill as part of the bed and breakfast. Old-timers will remember the store as the "Alfred Snyder" store.

PFC Matt Crusan, US Army, comes Back Home to Benton, PA, next week from Kuwait. Matt will be 20 on July 4, by the way. Proud Poppa Charles Crusan has a few surprises up his sleeve for Matt in celebration of his birthday and the 4th of July.

Imagine a full-sized gymnasium where adults play in an adult league game, volleyball tournaments take place, kids play after school. Across the hall will be a class where several residents are learning how to use the computer. Down the hall, kids are working on their homework and other people are quietly reading in the library or enjoying some of the historical items on display. Can this be possible in Benton? Yes.

In your mail box is a request for help in building the Northern Columbia Community & Cultural Center that will complete the move toward making the Benton area an even better place to live. The Center is asking for a pledge of support, not cash. Our local legislators have told us that they will be better able to help in Harrisburg with grants, etc., if we can demonstrate that the residents of the northern tier are solidly behind our effort. Therefore, we are asking that each resident seriously consider how much they will be able to contribute over the next seven years. That is, your pledge will not be called in until two years have passed. Then you will have five years to pay it off. Please make it as generous as you can because every penny will help. For example, if you were to start now putting a quarter each day in a jar on your kitchen counter, you will have $91.25 at the end of the first year, and $182.50 to send in when the pledges are first called in. Then for the next five years just send in $91.25 each year for five years and you will have made a significant pledge of $638.75.
That would be a welcome help.

On Palm Sunday, the Benton Area Council of Churches started our Capital Campaign. Since that time the Center has received pledges from totaling $20,000. In addition to this sum is a donation from Elsie Buyers of Jackson Township for $31,000. This was invested in the Berwick Health and Wellness Foundation who matched our investment which now totals $62,000. Then we received a grant from the same foundation for $75,000, a donation of the site (valued at $24,000). The United Way came to our aid with $5,000 for start up expenses. Mrs. Buyers' children followed with some donations totaling around $5,000. Hence, we now have approximately $192,000 toward our goal of approximately $300,000. Representatives George Hasay, John Gordner, and Sen. Ed Helfrick all have told us that $250,000 to $300,000 will go far in convincing the legislature and funding agencies that we are all behind the project.

We urge you to help us build and preserve the heritage of the Northern Fishing Creek Valley. Complete and return your pledge cards today.

A reader took issue with our explanation yesterday of the derivation of the town name Shickshinny. We paid particular attention since her writing is normally well reasoned and correct. She notes that somehow "in the writings of the history of Luzerne County and other publications, the town of Shickshinny is said to mean 'land of the five mountains' and 'the place where the five mountain meet.' We checked The History of Luzerne County published in 1893 by S. B. Nelson & Co. and that reference attributes the origin of the name to the Chocktaw Indian Nation, "said to mean the meeting of five mountains." The reader, however, says that she and others believe that was a "White" man's interpretation of it, reasoning that "if one thinks about it, you think a Indian would stand around and say "this is where the five mountains meet"--I don't think so." While we're at it, we'll tell you that the Luzerne County History from 1893 named the five mountains as "Newport, Lee's, Rocky, Knob and River" mountain.

The book written in the style of a bygone era explains "there were many reasons why in the days of panthers, bears and Indians" Shickshinny was a "rendezvous for all of them. A sweet little valley nestled here at the foot of the bold and picturesque hills. Then too here is a remarkable gap in the mountain giving an easy and natural outlet to the splendid agricultural country back of it." The book explains that "Shickshinny was the natural trading, shipping and business point for over 10,000 agriculturists back of the mountain, and for sixteen miles up and down the river there was no 'gap' offering to all these people such easy access to the river, the canal and the railroad. Its surroundings were most favorable to build here a great trading and business point. Two creeks cut their way through the mountain and fall into the Susquehanna within the borough limits. The main stream rises in Ross township, runs southeast through Union township, and the branch stream rises in the west side of Salem township and they join within the borough limits. These streams are the open doorway to the people of Salem, Huntington, Union, Ross and Fairmount townships. Here all these people naturally come to export, import, trade and traffic."

We welcome reader's explanations of the derivation of the name Shickshinny.

It is time to get ready for the 4th of July celebration. Go to http://www.theholidayspot.com/july4/quiz.htm and find out how much history of the holiday you know.

It is better to be concerned with your character than your reputation. Your character is what you really are. Your reputation is merely what others think you are.

Trace Adkins received a surprise two weeks ago on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry when he was invited to become a member of the Opry. His formal induction will take place August 23. Randy Hess is a member of Trace's band, and we suspect that proud parents Al and Pat Hess will join the August celebration in Nashville. We'll ask them later today as they play at the MusicFest here in the Benton Park. Come out and you can congratulate them, too. After Adkins finished performing his current single "Then They Do," Opry member Little Jimmy Dickens walked on stage carrying a small step ladder. The 4'11" country music legend sat the ladder near Adkins' feet and climbed the ladder until he was almost eye-to-eye with the 6'6"Adkins. "I hope you'll accept my humble apology for interrupting," he said. On behalf of Opry management, Dickens then asked Adkins to join the Grand Ole Opry family.

Do you like your coffee fresh? Keep air and moisture away from your coffee beans, so store your beans in an airtight container in a cool, dry place. Freezing is only necessary if you won't use your beans quickly. For freezing, store them in freezer bags. Beans are fine ground in their frozen state.

ACF Industries, Milton, is filling four orders for tank cars, in addition to orders for parts and industrial mixing bowls. The company does not anticipate receiving any new tank-car orders once the current ones are filled, and probably will have to trim its work force from 382 to 75 in August, September and October 2003, according to a letter from the company sent to Milton's Mayor. Founded in 1873, ACF is the oldest builder of rail cars in the United States. It currently has manufacturing facilities in Milton and Huntington, West Virginia. Want to know more about the ACF? Go to http://www.signaturepress.com/acf.html .

The state House of Representatives introduced a bill June 27 that would lower the state's intoxication level to 0.08% blood-alcohol from 0.10% and would impose fines of up to $10,000 for drivers convicted of drunken driving.

The over application of mulch is killing landscape trees and shrubs throughout the state, according to the Penn State Cooperative Extension. Mulch helps the earth, but can kill trees and shrubs if applied too thick and piled too high on trunks and stems.

On this date...
• in 1829, English scientist James Smithson died without ever visiting America. His will directed that if his only nephew died without any heirs, his estate should go to the United States of America, to found an institution for the "increase and diffusion of knowledge." His fortune included 11 boxes of over 100,000 gold sovereigns worth well over $500,000. The Smithsonian Institution was founded in 1846. Today, the Smithsonian is the world's largest museum complex, composed of 18 museums and galleries around the world, including the National Museums of Natural and American History, the National Zoological Park, the National Portrait Gallery, and the National Air and Space Museum.
• in 1950, President Truman ordered the Air Force and Navy into the Korean conflict to help South Korea repel an invasion from the North.
• in 1975, Sonny and Cher called it quits as husband and wife.
• seventy-three years ago, business executive Ross Perot was born.

Quote of the Day:
"I'm not going to get into that with you because it's none of your business. I'm not going to--hey, look, I don't have anything to prove to you people to start with."
--Ross Perot

Ivy Violet Young

Ivy V. Young, 15, 350 Third St., Benton, died at Tuesday, June 24, 2003, at the Children's Hospital, Cincinnati, Ohio, where she had been a patient following a bone marrow transplant. Arrangements will be announced by the Kriner Funeral Home, Benton.

We are back from the mountains of Sullivan County and we didn't miss our ability to communicate by telephone one bit! Phone conversations are so last century, we think! Not everyone will agree, but we think that email is a more valuable communications tool than the phone. Our reasoning: losing email communication for five days is personally more difficult than losing our access to Commonwealth Telephone.

It is always fun to look at names of towns and attempt to figure out how the name came about. I wrote this from memory, and I'll use that as my excuse if I don't get this exactly right, but locally we have Mocanaqua, the Indian name of Frances Slocum; Nescopeck, meaning "black, deep and still water;" Wapwallopen, "where the white hemp grows;" Shickshinny, "place of five mountains;" and Susquehanna, "long, crooked river." It always helps to know the meaning of words like these. Other names include Chicago, the "place of the wild onion." We remember reading on our last trip west about a prospector in the late 1800s who ventured into Apache territory despite friend's warnings that he would only find a tombstone rather than the gold he sought. When he found silver in Arizona, he named his strike Tombstone and the name of the town followed. In the Lancaster area, a tavern at the intersection of three major highways was known as "Cross Keys" and soon a town followed. A new name was needed and the town fathers chose "Intercourse." The Newce family once owned a Virginia plantation and when a shipping port was built adjacent it became known as New Port Newce and today is known as Newport News. The California train station, Morocco Junction, became the basis for a town with no people. The name of the town lacked class, so William Howard Taft's favorite summer hideaway at Beverly, MA, became the basis for the name of the town in California that today we know as Beverly Hills. Take a look under "Town Names" for other examples.

The only set of twin covered bridges in the United States is in Forks, a few miles south of Benton. There are several excellent web sites devoted to covered bridges, we include a section under FEATURES about local covered bridges and a local group dedicates itself to the preservation of covered bridges. We encourage you to get involved in some aspect of the history of these remarkable structures. A way of starting would be to buy the book, "Pennsylvania 's Covered Bridges," by Benjamin D. Davis and June R. Evans. When you have your next picnic at Twin Bridges Park, take the book along and leisurely enjoy a reading session along restful Huntington Creek.

The trophy case which stood in the old Benton High School didn't have a planned use in the new school. Joe Goode called to see if the Northern Columbia County Community & Cultural Center would like to have it. The 21' case now is in orderly pieces after Chuck Chapman, Jeff Lynn, Jr., Tyson Matthews and others worked for hours dismantling the case. It had been originally built by Ron Salsman with oak donated by Little Lumber. It will be reconstructed in a place of honor in the Northern Columbia Community & Cultural Center.

Heritage Day will be celebrated July 12 from 9-4 at the Hunlock Creek Athletic Association Field on Sunset Lake Road, behind the Hunlock Elementary School. There will be food, live music, craft vendors, historical items on display, etc. Space is still available for anyone interested in participating. A Car Cruisin will be held. Anyone with an antique or unique vehicle that wishes to participate, contact Vicki Seward at 256-7410. The Committee is seeking donations for rebuilding the World War 2 Honor Roll Monument. Come out and support the Hunlock Creek community and enjoy the day.

When we make a mistake we make a doozy. Pastor Paul Bowles of the Stillwater Christian Church told us that the church averages 330 per Sunday, not the figure that we quoted from a recent Press Enterprise article. Over 230 people have become members of the church since May, 1998, and over 190 of those people still attend. Last Sunday 482 were in morning worship and their building fund offering was over $27,000. Preliminary construction will begin in the spring of 2004.

Folks in Bloomsburg are seeing red! The 14th annual International Harvester "Red Power Roundup" of Farmall tractors is underway at the fairgrounds and the July fireworks show at the town park is still about $1,200 short on cash a week before the holiday. By the way, Benton's always popular fireworks display will light up the sky July 19 at 11 PM as part of the Benton Rodeo.

A Prairie Home Companion this week is live from Tanglewood in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts. Guests include Leo Kottke and the Nilsson Sisters, a string quartet. Accordionist Dan Newton joins the Shoe Band. Saturday's show is the last live broadcast until the end of September.

Flea market vendors and music lovers look forward to Saturday in the Benton Park. We'll see you there.

Edith Hess, 99, (July 9, 1903-June 23, 2003) Waller Road, Benton, died Monday at the Bonham Nursing Center, Register. Born in Waller, She was a daughter of Frank and Mayme Caroline (Cole) Hirleman. She attended the former Green Creek Elementary School, and graduated from Benton High School in 1923. Employed as a cook, she worked at the former Benton Hotel, the Char Mund Nursing Home, and the former Dent Nursing Home. From 1935 to 1969, Mrs. Hess with her late husband, Leland Hess, operated the Hess Bakery, Main Street, Benton. She was a member of Waller United Methodist Church, and was a life member of the Columbia Chapter, Order of Eastern Star and a Past Worthy Matron (1939). In addition to her husband, Leland B. Hess, who died in March 25, 1984, she was preceded in death by a brother, Budd C. Hirleman and a sister, Gladys Walker and two grandsons. Surviving are her son Elery H. Hess, Waller, and numerous grandchildren. Funeral services will be held Thursday at the McMichael Funeral Home Inc., Benton, Pastor Calvin J. Miller officiating. Burial will be in the Waller Cemetery.
--from a Press Enterprise article

Kimberly L. McCracken, 38, (June 30, 1964-June 21, 2003), 47 Homles Road, Stillwater, died Saturday at her parents' home in Catawissa. Born in Wilmington, DE, she was a daughter of Walter and Patricia (Williams) Warren, Catawissa. Surviving are a son, Mark Warren, Newark, DE; a daughter, Sarah Warren, Catawissa; one grandson; two sisters: Katie and Constance Warren, both of Bloomsburg; and her companion, Jason Davenport, Stillwater. She was also a foster mother to three teenagers. Memorial services will be 6 PM Friday at the Brady Funeral Home Inc., Danville. Burial will be at the convenience of the family.
--from a Press Enterprise article

Quote of the Day:
"If a man makes a better mousetrap than his neighbor, his neighbor will borrow it."
--Anonymous.

We are always looking for the next great company or the next great concept. We slept through XEROX, dozed when Microsoft was a baby, sold IBM much too soon. We love our DSL connection and would not consider giving it up. On the horizon is something generally overlooked until now that we predict will make it big. A competitor to DSL and cable is in our own backyard. BBL, or Broadband over Power Line, is in pilot testing in limited markets of the United States, and promises to deliver high-speed internet access right out of the electrical outlet in your wall. The technology was written off years ago, but the interference problems now seem to be gone and in-line transformers seem to be successfully scrambling signals. The only hurdle now is FCC approval and because the service should be less expensive than existing high-speed access, approval is expected. Think of the potential impact on rural customers out of range of existing DSL--and, by the way, on revenue for local power companies. Want to know more? Go to http://dc.internet.com/news/article.php/2195621 .

From the "Buster and Chloe Would Like You to Know Department."
Many people buy their puppies from pet shops. Often the puppies come from the Midwest where puppies are produced almost like livestock. Puppies are raised in elevated wire cages and receive almost no socialization or medical care. Missouri is the largest pet producing state in the nation, turning out an estimated 250,000 commercially produced puppies each year. Before you buy that adorable little puppy from a pet store, ask for a copy of the breeder's USDA inspection report. This report will give you a clear view of the conditions the puppy came from. If the store refuses or says they don't have the information, DON'T BUY THE PUPPY. Be an informed buyer. Read http://www.nopuppymills.com/in.htm .

Upcoming:
• The Benton Christian Church will present their second annual fun fair 4-8 PM June 28. The public is invited.
• The Millville Fireman's Carnival is upcoming June 27-July 5. Their annual parade moves at 10 AM, July 4, as it has every July 4 since 1890.
• The Catawissa Military Band plays appropriate music for the day July 4 from 9 PM to dusk at the Bloomsburg Town Park.
• The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts will be held in downtown State College July 9-13, 10 AM-11 PM.
• The People's Choice Festival of the Arts will be held July 10-13 at the PA Military Museum, Boalsburg. The Lycoming County Fair will be July 10-19, 2003, in Hughesville.
• The Iron Heritage Festival will be held July 17-20 in Downtown Danville.
• The Giants' Despair Hillclimb will be held on Northhampton Street, in Laurel Run Borough, from 9 to 4 PM, July 12-13. Free.
• The Innovata Brass Quintet will appear at the Bloomsburg Town Park 2003 Summer Concert Series, Wednesday, July 23, 7 to 8:30 PM. The group consists of two trumpets, a French horn, trombone and a tuba. The group is directed by a Benton Area High School graduate, by the way, and is a "not to be missed" event.
--Visit Upcoming Events for additional events.

A reader from Florida wrote to say that the heat down there was giving her a "tropical depression."

In case you didn't know, the Benton post office, 250 Third Street, handles zip codes 17814 and 17878. The Benton post office is currently handling all mail services for the former Stillwater (17878) post office. Window service is available 7:30 AM to noon and 1 to 4:30 PM weekdays and 9 to 11 AM Saturday. The lobby is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

We remember reading an article by Dick Holcombe, former Benton resident Si Holcombe's brother, about an 1871 map which showed 13 post offices in Sullivan county. Lopez, Mildred and Estella didn't even exist. Post offices dotted the now forgotten towns of Fox Center, Lincoln Falls, Millview, Davidson, Muncy Bottom and Plunketts Creek. The map showed 50 sawmills in Sullivan county.

And speaking of sawmills, we'll remind you that the present Benton Roller Mills was the site of the first sawmill in Benton, built by a man by the name of Jesse Pennington. The town of Benton is actually a latecomer on the area scene. Benton Township, you'll recall, was formed out of Sugarloaf and Fishing Creek Townships in 1850, but David Jackson who cut the trees and cleared the land in what is now the town of Benton didn't arrive in the area until 1872.

The Columbia County Housing Corporation will send out applications for rental of Benton Manor starting July 3 to those who put their name on the interested parties list, and will start accepting those applications Monday, July 21, 2003 beginning at 8:00 AM, at the Columbia County Housing Corp. office, 700 Sawmill Road, Bloomsburg, PA (Lightstreet). No applications will be accepted before that date and time. Anyone still wanting to receive an application, can call Carol Wagner at 784-9373. Occupancy should begin late September.

The Sullivan County Historical Society Museum and the Baldwin House is open to the public Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 1-5 PM until August 30. And if you visit, remember to stop at the site of Celestia, about a mile and a half west of Laporte on route 42. Sullivan County sends out tax bills for this property, even though Celestia was deeded to "Almighty God and to His heirs in Jesus Messiah for their property use and behoof forever."

It is a tough life! We're lolly-gagging along a beautiful lake in Sullivan County and for the first time in what seems like an eternity there are clear, blue skies and no rain. We don't have the Internet, cell phones or interruptions. And we're stripped right down to the essentials because the heat of the summer is finally here. The only thing missing is the pack of Black Jack chewing gum we carried as kids as we fished for catfish.

Most of us have chewed one natural thing or another. While hunting squirrels in the fall, I loved to search out the red teaberry hugging the ground of the deep woods. Many of us have sucked and chewed on wax, tobacco, and wheat kernels. Biblical frankincense and myrrh are African resins used for chewing and for mixing with spices and seeds to make incense. Remember that the magi presented the Christ Child with gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh--gifts of great value (gold) and gifts of our equivalent of chewing gum.

The ancient Mayans harvested the sap of the Central American sapodilla tree, cutting it into chewable lumps. Tsictle is the name they gave it, from which we get our word chickle, the base for modern chewing gums.

Sometime, when we have even less to do than we have to do today, we'll tell you about the relationship between General Santa Anna (who'd slaughtered occupants of the Alamo) and an inventor named Thomas Adams. Thanks to these two men, Mexican chicle ended up as a chewable product and the Adams gum dynasty began. The Adams family made the first commercial chicle-based gum in 1871, calling it Adams New York No. 1. In 1888, a Thomas Adams' chewing gum called Tutti-Frutti became the first gum to be sold in a vending machine. The Adams company went on to create Clove, Chiclets and Blackjack gum. And what about Santa Ana and Adams? Santa Ana died penniless; Adams died rich. And growing up, many of us got to chew our beloved Blackjack gum.

Tonight is Midsummer Night's Eve, sometimes called St. John's Eve after the patron saint of beekeepers. The full moon June 15 was called the Mead Moon, because honey was fermented to make mead and that is the derivation of the word "honeymoon." Women washed their faces in "midsummer dew" to make themselves beautiful and young because of special healing powers some thought it possessed. Although not a locally documented fact, women allegedly skipped naked through the dew to make themselves more fertile. A Swedish proverb says, "Midsummer Night is not long but it sets many cradles rocking." Midsummer Eve is sometimes called Herb Evening, a night according to legend that is the best night for gathering magical herbs. This is the night used by Shakespeare as the setting for his play A Midsummer Night's Dream.

It came down a lot faster than it went up. This morning, the auditorium of the Benton Area High School came down with a crash.

The Press Enterprise details the building plans for the Stillwater Christian Church in a June 26 article. Pastor Paul Bowles reported that Sunday services bring in about 230 people, more than the capacity of the church. In May the congregation was asked to dig deep for a new building. In a solid show of church support, 123 families immediately pledged more than $526,000 for a new building set for construction this fall, which will seat 450. The cost: an estimated $1.3 million, including renovations to the existing church building.

Most people in the area have heard of Twin, Lewis and Sullivan falls located in state game lands 13 in Sullivan County, just west of Ricketts Glen State Park. Lewis Falls, up Heberely Run valley from Jamison City, has long been a favorite stopping place on walks and rides up Grassy Hollow Road. Sullivan Falls is on the township road between Jamison City and Ganoga Lake. Nothing beats getting up close and personal with the falls, but a new book comes close. "Hiking the Endless Mountains: Exploring the Wilderness of Northern Pennsylvania" is now available from Stackpole Books. Written by Jeff Mitchell, a Tunkhannock attorney, the book actually offers 56 different walks in the Endless Mountains.

Worried about intruders? Visit the National Safety Council web site, www.nsc.org, and look under "home and burglary." And if you are thinking of a security system, go to the Media Center at the National Burglar and Fire Alarm Association. Their web site is www.alarm.org.

Next weekend will be a music weekend. At the Benton Park, the annual MusicFest, a completely free event, gets an early start, thanks to the flea market. The Forksville Folk Festival will be held June 28 and 29 at the Sullivan County Fairgrounds, starting at 10 AM each day. The admission cost at Forksville is $5 and the grandstand show is $15.

From the Didja Know Department:
• Didja know that the blades of a lawn mower can spin at speeds of
200 miles per hour. Objects can be thrown as far as 50 feet from coming in contact with spinning blades?
• Didja know that the residents of Selinsgrove made a banana split measuring (4.55 miles) in length along Market Street, on April 30, 1988? Want to know other trivia information about records? Go to the Guinness Book of Records at http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/ .

The 129th Annual Centre County Grange Encampment and Fair will take place August 21-28, 2003 at Grange Park, Centre Hall.

We love to read poems by local poets and we have one today, written in 1948, by Harry Ritter, North Street, Benton. At the time, he called the poem "The Airman's Prayer." It goes like this...

Down in the Texas flatlands, Lackland is the spot.
Fighting a tropical heat wave, in the land that God forgot.

Living memory only longing to see our gals.
Hoping when we return they haven't married our pals.

Down with the snakes and lizards, down where a man gets blue.
Down in the middle of nowhere, a thousand miles from you.

No one knows we're living, no one gives a damn.
Back home we are forgotten, we belong to Uncle Sam.

We close with a story from Arcadia, about a southern lady looking to buy a house. The seller of the house proudly told the lady that the houses didn't have a flaw in it. Flustered, the southern belle replied, "Lawsy! Lawsy me. What do y'all walk on?"

The host for the Benton News gave us fits again yesterday starting at 10:23 AM. We apologize for the inconvenience of the web page being down, but the resolution of the problem is at a pay grade above ours.

The town of Benton gets their first official look at the Benton Fire Department building this afternoon. The festivities include:
• A parade starting at 2 PM. The parade leaves the old Fire Department building at the Town Hall, goes up Third Street to North, out to Main Street, South to Colley Street, then to the clean and new fire hall.
• Flag raising at the new Benton Fire Department fire hall follows the parade, approximately 2:15 PM. Jessica Lynn will sing the Star Spangled Banner. The Rev. Paul Bowles will lead the invocation. Ribbon cutting of the new facility follows.
• Speaker, Pennsylvania Secretary of Agriculture, Dennis Wolfe.
• Introduction of officers of the Fire Department, members of the Fire Department, Ambulance Drivers, Fire Truck Drivers; Heads of Building Committee, Kitchen Committee, and Grand Opening Committee.
• Barry Lewis will present the History of the Fire Department.
• Mayor Jan Swan, who graciously planted the flowers beside the flagpole, will speak.
• Benton Area Fire Board, Bob Conner speaker.
• Introduction of the Columbia County Commissioners, Chris Young, Leroy Diehl and William Soberick.
• Introduction of the Honorable George Hasay.
• Arrival of a Life Flight helicopter at the rear of the fire hall, approximately 4 PM, assuming that accidents cooperate.
• Tour of the Fire Hall and rides for children on the fire trucks.
• Dinner of hot dogs, hamburgs and baked beans in the new social hall. Free, but donations accepted.
• Christine Karns will provide music and karaoke from 6 to 9 PM.

A local man freshly off his honeymoon looked through the mail and found a bill for some clothes purchased three weeks previously. His bride, in her best seductive voice, asked if her husband was upset about it. "Well," he replied slowly, "it ain't quite fair to ask a fish to pay for the bait he was caught with."

Quickies...
• We used to support the use of solar energy and pushed for more tax incentives to create passive solar environments. Two months of solid overcast has tempered our thinking, we regret to say. We are simply fed up and sick with cloud burn! We want just a little genuine sun burn!
• We'll be leaving this morning on an abbreviated vacation, packed in the mountains of Sullivan County. We won't be anywhere near where we can access the internet or get our email or make a phone call. We'll scoot Back Home to Benton, PA, once a day for a hour or less through Friday in order to scoop up and send out the news.
• Starting Monday, drivers in a work zone convicted of going 11 MPH or more over the speed limit will receive a mandatory 15-day suspension of their drivers license. Turn your lights on, too!
• PPL is converting to an automated system to measure electricity usage. The $160 million project will replace 1.3 million meters system wide with meters that will transmit information on electricity use back to the utility through its power lines.

About the only time a woman is successful in changing a man is when he is a baby.

In late June and early July 1972, major flooding caused by the exceptional rainfall associated with Tropical Storm Agnes ravaged the Middle Atlantic States. Although only a category 1 hurricane when it hit Florida and a tropical depression when it moved into the Northeast, the rainfall produced by Agnes made this storm more than twice as destructive as any previous hurricane in the history of the United States and remains the worst natural disaster ever to strike Pennsylvania. You can read more about Agnes and its impact on Benton under FEATURES.

The Press Enterprise includes an article June 21 about the local weather. Locally, "normal precipitation from January to mid-June is 18.5 inches." Through early evening yesterday, "23.28 inches, or 4.78 inches more than average," have fallen as of mid-June this year.

Middle age is when everything starts to wear out, fall out or spread out. Yesterday was our initial encounter with a colonoscopy. Don't put the non-surgical test off thinking that it is a dreaded event. It wasn't.

Nursery Rhyme of the Day:
"Lizzie Borden took an ax
and gave her mother forty whacks.
When she saw what she had done
she gave her father forty-one."

Anna C. Ruckle, 75 (March 16, 1928-June 19, 2003), 210 McHenry Alley, Benton, died Thursday at home. She had been in failing health since November. Born in Noxen Township, she was a daughter of the late William and Jennie (Patton) Barber. She became a resident of Benton in 1991, previously residing in Fairmount Springs. Mrs. Ruckle worked in the former Crystal Fashions, Benton; the former Benton plant of Milco Industries; and the Laurel Personal Care Home, Shickshinny. She was preceded in death by husband John F. Ruckle, and by a daughter, Faith Hammond. Nine children survive: L. Jean Bray, Shickshinny; Lewis Ruckle, at home; David Ruckle, Berwick; Beverly F. Galutia, Benton; Mrs. Wesley (Waneta) Robbins, Hunlock Creek; Mrs. Thomas (Winifred) Kittle, Elysburg; Charles Ruckle, Mountaintop; John W. Ruckle, Stillwater; Mrs. William (Jennie) Schnitzler, Stillwater; 30 grandchildren; 36 great-grandchildren, and a sister, Betty Weaver, Beaumont. Funeral services will be held at 2 PM Monday in the Dean W. Kriner Funeral Home, Benton, with the Rev. Gary M. Emrick, Columbia-Montour Hospice chaplain, officiating. Burial will follow in Cambra Cemetery.
--from a Press Enterprise article

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 since 1946, the Stoneham family has set the table for their guests. The current owner is Becky Stoneham Green. Guests coming to town often ask for a sub from the Sub Shop, skipping our home cookin' completely.
• A reader is trying to find a 1936 yearbook from Benton Joint School to get a picture of Elmer Hunter and Dorothy Hunter.
• Ricketts Glen Park contains the Glens Natural Area, a National Natural Landmark. The Falls Trail will let you explore the Glens Area and the wild, free-flowing waterfalls. The 94-foot Ganoga Falls is the highest of 22 named waterfalls. The 600-foot beach is open daily until Labor Day. Only electric motors are permitted on Lake Jean. Dry mooring and two boat launches are available. A boat rental concession operates during the summer season and offers rowboats, paddleboats and canoes.
• The First Union Arena, Wilkes-Barre, will soon be known as the Wachovia Arena, following that bank's acquisition of First Union Bank.
• Martha Stewart showed off her newest earth-tone suit yesterday at the federal courthouse in Manhattan, where she was indicted on charges of securities fraud and obstruction of justice. Martha wore what the Washington Post described as a "the equivalent of a man's sack suit." We aren't too experienced at describing women's clothing, but we think we're pretty accurate when we say that the unflattering outfit had a bark-colored jacket, a gray jewel-neck blouse and a strand of beads the size of melons. We hope that her choice of clothing improves for the January trial where she'll be judged not on the poor investment decisions she made, but on her ability to find and wear a flattering outfit.
• Carrie Bradshaw, the main character in HBOs Sex and the City, will soon only be available Homeon reruns. This is the last season for the show.
• The company Best Buy is warning consumers of an unauthorized and deceptive email entitled "Fraud Alert." This email asks for personal information like social security and credit card numbers. The email claims to come from the www.BestBuy.com Fraud Department. This message is NOT from Best Buy. If you have replied to the fraudulent email, contact your bank and/or credit card companies immediately.
• Direct TV (a satellite TV provider) is now offering channel 16, PBS, Warner Brothers and the local Fox stations in the Benton area. Channels 22 and 28 will follow.
• Two local 14-year old boys worked their tails off yesterday at the high school dismantling the trophy case in preparation for its future home in the Northern Columbia Community and Cultural Center. Jeff Lynn and Tyson Mathews assisted Chuck Chapman in the time-consuming job. And in the latest counting of pledges for the Center, an additional $20,000 was tallied Wednesday. If you have not done so, please consider making a pledge today. And when you visit the Fire Department Saturday for their open house, walk around the rear of the property and visualize the changes that will occur in the next few years.

A reader, up to his eyebrows in Fritz history, 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." The first found usage of fritz came in conjunction with something in a bad way or bad condition like the lack of success of something on a stage. It is possible that fritz is an imitation of the pfzt noise from a faulty electrical connection or the sound of a fuse blowing, but not probable since the word shows up before the invention of electricity, so we'll discard that theory. And the name was around before the nickname for a German soldier which appeared about World War One. But 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 shipwrecked sailor who acted as their surrogate father) and der Inspector (dreaded representative of school authorities). The series was great fun as you'll see when you go to http://www.geocities.com/~jimlowe/katzies/katzdex.html .

And just in case you ask about Katzenjammer, it means a "hangover; anxiety or jitters; a discordant clamor." It was taken from a German word which derives from Katzen, cats, plus Jammer, wailing or distress. In German it could also mean the depression that follows intoxication and so developed in American English a more general sense of what one might call a case of the willies.

In today's Bloomsburg Press Enterprise, there is an article about the cigarette-making plant in Maple Grove owned by Bob Gordon. Recently the plant started making little cigars, called Thunder Bay, and has shipped about 60 cases so far. Another order for 275 cases of the cigars is in the works. Each case contains 12,000 cigars: 20 per pack, with 10 packs per carton and 60 cartons to the case.

Christine Karns will provide music and karaoke from 6 to 9 PM at the Benton Fire Company's grand opening this weekend. Christine also provides karaoke at the Jamison City Hotel and here is the upcoming schedule for the Jamison City nightspot...
Sat., June 28, Fri., July 4, Sat., July 12, Sat., July 19, Sat., Aug. 2, 9th & 30, Sat., Sept. 13 & 27, Sat., Oct 18, Sat., Nov. 22 & 29, Sat., Dec 6.

We were going to write about maps today, but we stumbled on http://lcweb2.loc.gov/ammem/ndlpedu/features/maps/introduction.html and decided that everything you needed to know was right there. Our fingers are very grateful...

The Senate Commerce Committee unanimously approved legislation yesterday to can spam. Senators. Conrad Burns' (R-Mont.) and Ron Wyden's (D-Ore.) bill targets bulk e-mailers that disguise their identities, peddle pornography or scams, and fail to honor consumers' requests to stop receiving email advertising. Spammers would also be barred from using special software to collect email addresses from Web sites and from using programs that generate millions of e-mail addresses using random numbers and letters. Microsoft Corp., America Online, Yahoo Inc., EarthLink Inc. and eBay Inc. immediately jumped on the bandwagon. The bill bars class-action suits but allows Internet providers to sue spammers.

Thursday, June 19, 2003. Today is Dayne and Jeanette Hartman's wedding anniversary. Salman Rushdie was born in Bombay, India, on this day in 1947.

The Statue of Liberty arrived in New York Harbor on this date in 1885, a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of the United States. The statue commemorated the anniversary of the American Declaration of Independence. Sculptor Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi's Liberty Enlightening the World stands more than 300 feet high, a symbol of freedom and democracy to the nation and to the world. And here is a piece of trivia for you... The length of the statue's sandal: 25', or expressed in a US Women's Shoe Size based on standard formula, 879.

Quote of the Day:
"We will not forget that liberty here made her home; nor shall her chosen altar be neglected."
--President Cleveland

The Benton News is hosted by Domain Direct, and over the last year has had few outages and little cause to complain. Yesterday was an exception, when the Benton News and all other sites hosted by Domain Direct were down for the better part of a day. We got the usual Yada Yada from the company: "Tucows Inc. and its subsidiaries have no liability for any content or goods on the Domain Direct site or the Internet." We apologize for the loss of service yesterday.

A bachelor is a happy man. He never knows when he is wrong.

Do you remember when...
• Dr. John Morris, Brooklyn, NY, arrived in Benton in March, 1945, and rented the office and equipment of the late Dr. Confair? We do. In fact, we're sitting in Dr. Confair's and Dr. Morris' examination room as we prepare this edition.
• Mr. and Mrs. Frank Yost announced in June, 1945, the engagement of their daughter, Lillian, to Chief Petty Officer James Edson, U. S. Navy, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Edson? The bride elect graduated from Geisinger Memorial Hospital and was at the time a Senior Cadet Nurse at Kennedy Green Hospital, Memphis. Jim was attending Penna. State College at the time of his joining the Navy. He at the time of their engagement a chief motor machinist's mate and was on active duty in the Pacific area for 18 months.
• The Argus announced in August, 1945, "Superhighway in Red Rock Area?" The paper announced, many years too prematurely, that a "four-lane highway will be cut through the northern end of the county to prove a short cut from Williamsport to Wilkes-Barre." The route would "roughly follow the present 115." The paper said that the "superhighway will follow route 115 along the Red Rock mountain to a point near the Harrington Foundry, and then will branch off past Grassmere Park and will cut through the mountain pass to the Muncy section.
• "Wartime" was abolished September 30, 1945? Congress voted without dissent to end "fast" time on that date, and clocks were turned back an hour. The clocks were advanced an hour January 20, 1943.
• Betty Keller, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Hervey Keller, became the bride of Pvt Stanley Danilowicz, son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Danilowicz, New Columbus, August 4, 1945? The couple was married at the Benton Christian Church. The couple was attended by Mrs. Arthur Search, sister of the bride. Pvt. Danilowics was stationed at New Orleans at the time.
• Carolyn Cole became the bride of Willard Fritz, son of Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Fritz, in December, 1945? The ceremony was performed at the Benton M. E. Church by the Rev. John A. Herritt. The bride was a member of the faculty of the Benton school, and the groom had just been discharged after serving in the Pacific theatre for forty months.

We talked about Bruce Fritz yesterday and Betty Fritz Victory reminded us that at one time there were three local men named Bruce Fritz. Bruce Fritz on Klinger Hill comes from the following lineage:
• Phillip Fritz & Charlotte Deaberger (the Fritz Hill Fritzes)
• Phillip Fritz, Jr. and Catherine Hess
• Abijah Fritz and Sarah Golder
• Lawson Fritz and Savilla Wagner
• Bruce W. Fritz and Erma Cole

The children of Bruce W. and Erma Cole were Charles, Rosalyn Fritz Traub, Harold, Albert (married Helen Rider who still lives in the homestead on Klinger Hill), Grant, Helen (married Richard Woods), Willard, Betty (married Wayne Kile), Lois (married Elmer Young, and Jean (married Elmer Getz). As far as Betty Victory knows, Betty and Jean are the only two still living. Albert's widow, Helen, lives in the family homestead, but is confined to a wheel chair.

Term of the Day: Blamestorming...
Sitting around in a group, discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed, and who was responsible...

Didja ever wonder why...
People in old photos never smile? Were they afraid of the bright lights and the puff of smoke? Did they peter out waiting for the photo to be taken? Were they thinking about milking the cows? Were they really trying to look natural? Did they all have bad teeth and was that the reason they didn't smile? Was picture taking such a serious time that smiling was taboo? Was smiling or laughing in a photo undignified? Maybe it was because it took so long to take a picture that the subject had to sit still for a long period of time and a frown was easier to maintain than a smile. The "instant click" camera came along later. And we're glad that smiles came along, too!

Are you planning an airplane trip? Do you own a digital camera? Take a picture of your luggage and carry it with you on the airplane. When the last bag slides down the chute and the airline has lost your luggage, give them an exact photograph of your suitcase. They'll know exactly what they are looking for and you won't be embarrassed by telling them that it was "about this big, with a handle, and was either black or green--or possibly blue."

M. Ruth Kline is Back Home in Benton, PA, under Hospice care. Ruth has been a patient at the Bloomsburg Hospital on and off for the past month.

The man we remember by his first name, Napoleon Bonaparte, lost his final major battle near Waterloo Village in Belgium on this date in 1815. If you want more information about Napoleon, there are approximately forty-five thousand books written about him. Napoleon became dictator of France in 1799, in 1804 he declared himself emperor, dressed his soldiers in beautiful costumes and almost immediately started invading everyone in Europe. His invasion of Russia became the subject of Tolstoy's novel War and Peace, but he also attacked England, Germany and Spain. Napoleon marched north toward Belgium at Waterloo, where the alliance of England and Germany waited for him, and attacked June 18. His army and the English army fought for ten hours, when the Prussians joined the fray and helped the British win the battle. Napoleon lost twenty-five thousand men at Waterloo.

Roger Ebert, film critic, was born on this date in 1942. In 1975, he win a Pulitzer Prize for "distinguished criticism." Dr. Sally Ride became the first woman in space, aboard the Challenger in 1983 for a six-day mission. Rick Karns, Millsboro, DE, was born 50 years ago today!

Please come out Saturday for the dedication of the new Benton Volunteer Fire Department building. And when you do, walk to the back of the building and take a look at the elderly housing progress. Walls are springing out of the ground and the shape of the building is very evident. And make absolutely sure that you look in the area toward Fishing Creek where the Northern Columbia Community and Cultural Center will be sited. The area around the former Little Lumber Company property is becoming an important part of the community. And we should mention that volunteers worked long into the night last evening stuffing envelopes to continue telling the story of the Northern Columbia Community and Cultural Center.

Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania has bought the naming rights for the new Philadelphia Phillies stadium and they are going to call the stadium--guess what--Citizens Bank Park, opening in April 2004. The 25-year contract cost Citizens $95 million and gives the bank the right to call itself the "Official Bank of the Phillies." Citizens is a subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

It's also fun to meander into the past and see what happened to names we know. Perhaps you remember when ...
• Phyllis Strauch, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Err Strauch, Waller, and Mr. Dale T. Smith, son of Mr. and Mrs. N. T. Smith, Benton, married at the Benton M. E. Church October, 4, 1939. The Smiths resided in the Alverna Smith property on Main Street.
• The Columbia County Guernsey Breeders got a surprise at their annual picnic in June, 1940, when Betty Jane Yost--a female--won fourth place for showmanship. Frederick Hack, Berwick, came in first; Robert Stevens, New Columbus, second; Drew Yost, Forks, third; Betty Jane Yost, fourth; and Buddy Hartman, Benton, fifth.
• The fourteenth annual commencement of the Sugarloaf Junior High school was held in the township junior high school building June 7, 1940. There were 14 graduating members of the class.
• P. J. Holcombe, Dushore, bought the Chapin Funeral Home from Ivin S. Chapin, and began doing business as the Holcombe Funeral Home.
• Galen Hilley, 70, seriously ill and confined to his bed, shot an eight-point buck through an open window from his bed.
• Frank Klase retired from the Reading R. R. Company after 57 years with the B & S Railroad Company. Frank came to Stillwater in his teens as a telegrapher before being sent to Jamison City as Station Agent. At the end of his career, he worked in the B & S office in Bloomsburg until it was purchased by the Reading Co. Frank retired in October, 1948.
• Lightning struck the barn of Willis Deitrick December 13, 1936. The 40x50 barn burned to the ground.

Question of the Day:
Authorities have found the body of Michael Kerkowski, but where is the $3 to $4 million he stole?

The second floor will contain the kitchen and dining rooms. Farther up the guest house will be the bedroom and the bath, the library, another utility floor, an attic and an observation deck. It will be a lovely structure when completed. We looked around and found out there are some other unusual silo houses in the country, like the missile silo home in Saranac Lake in the Adirondack State Park. We also found Madison Silo buildings scattered around the country. We're happy that this unique structure will be so close to Back Home in Benton, PA.

In need of prayers...
• Ivy Young, recovering from a bone marrow transplant.
• A. Ross Pennington, recovering from a fall at home.
• Ruth Kline, currently holding her own in the Bloomsburg Hospital.

It is time to mosey around the town and see what is going on, and today we'll look at the beginning of September, 1969...
• John Unbewust had just finished roaring down the 18% grade of Red Rock Mountain in his milk truck, passing three cars on the way down. John crashed landed at the bottom of the mountain, but escaped serious injury to him--but not to the truck.
• Bob and Sandra Kelsey and son moved to Jonesboro, Indiana, where Bob served as acting pastor of Jones Chapel Christian Church. Bob attended the Christian Theological Seminary, Indianapolis.
• Dr. Frank C. Laubach celebrated his 85th year at a birthday bash held by Laubach Literacy Staff, Syracuse.
• Prunes were two pounds for $.25 at Harold's Market, Maple Grove. Tomatoes were $.15 a pound and potatoes were $.59 for ten pounds.
• Eating steamed clams or shrimp cocktail Friday nights at Fink's Cafe was very popular.
• Carl Kessler completed eleven years hauling coke to the Benton Foundry under contract to Eastern Forwarding Co.
• The annual VFW clam bake cost $5 for members and $6 for non-members. Attendees were reminded that "you must be 21 to attend."
--from the September 4, 1949, Benton Argus.

The state policy of exempting basic foodstuffs from the state's 6% sales tax is--gulp--getting new scrutiny as lawmakers look for alternative sources of revenue to replace the school property tax and deal with other fiscal problems. Food exemption reduces state coffers an estimated $1.2 billion annually in uncollected revenues.

Wellsboro will hold their 62nd annual Pennsylvania State Laurel Festival this weekend. This annual festival celebrates the Mountain Laurel, the state flower of Pennsylvania. The event includes an arts and crafts fair, International Street of Foods, Firemen's Carnival, 10k foot race and two-mile Fun Run, Laurel Queen Coronation, a performance by Nashville musician Tim Williams and the Laurel Festival Parade. We can even remember back to when Jill Unbewust, Benton, was the Laurel Queen of the Festival.

Saving is fine, but it is better to spend all you make than not to make all you spend.

Long batted from pillar to post, the 38-year old Federal program Head Start, which serves almost a million children with a budget of approximately $6 billion, faces large-scale changes. Federal direction is steering Head Start away from concern with a broad brush of children's many needs to a focus on teaching early reading and math skills.

The state Senate voted Monday, on a 29-20 vote, to exempt most motorcyclists from a 35-year-old state law requiring them to wear helmets, and approved a bill allowing motorcyclists over 21 with two years of riding experience or a rider education course to go without a helmet. Watch insurance premiums go through the roof...

Our lead reporter, Chloe, wonders why humans smell the flowers, but seldom, if ever, smell one another. She understands human verbal instructions, hand signals, whistles, horns, the word "hello," beepers, chewy TBONZ, scent identification, and Frisbee flight paths. She does not seem to have a clue what humans understand, and possibly thinks that we don't understand anything. Anyway, next Monday night, Chloe graduates as a trained therapy dog.

Participating in the Dedication Service of the 1929 school building were Elmer E. Shultz, joint school board president; Rev. L. V. Barber, invocation; Rev. W. R. Jones, greetings; a speech by W. W. Evans, county superintendent of schools; Walter H. Witman, architect; T. C. Smith, joint board secretary; Rev. W. H. Patterson, benediction. The Dedication Address was by Dr. Frank C. Laubach, home on furlough from missionary work in the Philippine Islands. Other speakers were from the Department of Public Instruction.

An editorial comment by Percy Brewington, editor of the Benton Argus, noted: "The wonderful community spirit developed in this (school) project, was really the means whereby the goal was gained. It would have been nearly impossible to have built so well, had it not been for the work of hundreds of men, women, boys and girls who dug the foundations, cellar and laid the foundation walls."

The men and boys of Benton Borough and Township school districts drew the commendation for their willingness to give generously of their energies and tools to do the construction work within their capability. Much of what was done by community-minded citizens has stood the test of time. Women of the area provided food and beverages for volunteers doing excavating and foundation work.

The large auditorium seated 450. Graduations, plays, assemblies and other public school activities were frequently held in churches or the local movie theatre, even though it had a small stage. One of the problems the board faced was financing the purchase of 458 sturdy "opera chairs" for the auditorium. The women of the two school districts "got wind" of the need and formed a Civic Club. The women of the community took on the task of raising the more than $2,000. They staged plays and musicals to raise the money. Cash donations were never solicited.

Their fund-raising projects turned out so well that they were also able to purchase a piano for the auditorium. The piano was used for over 30 years for entertainment in the park during the Summer months as well as other public functions plus its primary role in the school program.
--To be continued...

A local couple, heading to Alaska via airplane last Friday, found themselves unexpectedly sitting next to their daughter on a connecting flight.

It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small world after all
It's a small, small world.

Windows XP allows you to automatically download Windows updates. Click on Start|Control Panel|Performance and Maintenance| System. Then, in the System properties dialog, click the Automatic Updates tab, click on "Download the update automatically and notify me when they are ready to be installed" and Apply. This tip is interesting in that it is the first suggestion that we have offered that is Windows XP unique.

The investigation of Martha Stewart continues with her recipe for chicken casserole. First you boil the chicken in water. And then you dump the stock.

Quote of the Day:
"Most vegetables are something God invented to let women get even with their children. A fruit is a vegetable with looks and value. Plus, if you let fruit rot, it turns into wine, something Brussels sprouts won't do.
--P. J. O'Rourke

Want to see where some speed traps are in Pennsylvania? Go to http://www.speedtrap.org/speedtraps/ste.asp?state=PA .

We'll take up the Benton Joint Schools again...
After completion, the auditorium was described as "large, airy and well lighted. The stage gave ample room for school entertainment using large groups, much like the garden club meeting on the stage. It was fitted with footlights and hung with a blue, sunfast velour curtain. A black valance with a monogram "B" was at the top of the stage arch." Under the auditorium was a large basement room for "a play room for the smaller pupils on stormy days."

Benton Garden Club Meeting "on the stage," as viewed from the balcony.
The annual flower show was held in the high school June 14, 1940.
Picture courtesy of Gerealdine Yost Laubach

Some of the beams in the ceiling of the basement were reportedly from the McHenry Distillery, and during the demolition of the auditorium in 2003 these beams could be seen, the charcoal from the burned Distillery clearly visible.

The building was heated with a steam heating system supplied by a "Harrisburg Star water boiler." The ventilating system was the unit type which delivered fresh warm air to each room.

A description of the new building from a Benton Argus article concerned its dedication on December 31, 1928. The article revealed the great pride of the community in its new school. Excerpts from the description noted:

"It is a two-story building with steel frame and brick walls. The wall finish is ivory colored Textone. The wood trim is stained light and varnished. The floors are double wood throughout, except in the toilets and entrances, which are cement.

At the ends of the halls the entrances and stairs are located. A third and main entrance comes into the middle of the hall from the front of the building. There are eight standard classrooms and the stage will also be used as a classroom.

There are laboratories for science, cooking, sewing and agriculture. The cooking laboratory contains a cafeteria where lunches are served at noon. In connection with the Home Economics Food Laboratory is a small dining room and a girls' rest room. One classroom on first floor contains the library of about 2,000 volumes and a small room on second floor above the stage will be used as a teachers' room.

Folding doors between the rooms of the seventh and eighth grades make it possible to open them into one large room for assembly work. The four toilets are modern although the building has excellent natural lighting by windows. It is completely equipped with electric lights. An emergency system, as required by the state, is installed that will enable lights to burn for 3 hours, in case of power failure. Although there is practically no ornamentation the building is exceptionally comfortable and workable. It measures up well with the present day ideas in school construction. It is a building that any community could feel well satisfied with."

A great factor in the success of the Benton schools was L. Ray Appleman. The faculty for the new school in its first term was L. Ray Appleman, principal; Blanche Shultz, assistant principal; Alvin C. Sutliff, supervisor of agriculture; Aurabel Pelton, supervisor of home economics.

Elementary - Harriet Hagenbuch, first grade; Marcella Hess, second grade; Helen Mendenhall, third grade; Esther Chapin, fourth grade; Helen Long, fifth grade; Mary Savage, sixth and seventh grades; and Carola Fritz, eight grade.

High School - Wayne B. Renschler, science and agriculture; Flora Fritz Henderson, English and music; and W. R. Jones, history and Latin.
--To be continued

Today is Father's Day and here are some quotes for you.
"That is the thankless position of the father in the family--the provider for all, and the enemy of all."
--J. August Strindberg
"The fundamental defect with fathers is that they want their children to be a credit to them."
--Bertrand Russell
"Fathers should neither be seen nor heard. That is the only proper basis for family life."
--Oscar Wilde

The dirt is flying at the Head Start building near the soccer fields at the elementary school. A Boy Scout Eagle project headed by Brandon Schupp consists of planting trees and designing and building a tricycle path, a bench, a sandbox and two raised flower beds to give the children a safe place to play. The Head Start staff and families will plant flowers in the flower beds and will paint the sandbox, but do not have money to provide supplies for the project. Brandon is looking for donations to help with the project to benefit the children of the community. Donations can be mailed to his father Jack's address, 190 Elmdale Road, Benton, PA 18714. We'll have before and after pictures here later. Lets join with Brandon and make the "after" pictures special.

It is the month of June,
The month of leaves and roses,
When pleasant sights salute the eyes,
And pleasant scents the noses.
-- N. P. Willis, American writer (1806-1867)

The June 15 Philadelphia Inquirer, in an article about the state's fiscal crisis, reports that each of the 253 members of the Pennsylvania Legislature has the option of leasing cars, in the House getting a subsidized assist up to $650 a month and in the Senate up to $600. Both chambers pick up insurance. Lawmakers also have the option of choosing a vehicle from the state fleet. According to the article, two out of three members of the state House and Senate drive vehicles subsidized by taxpayers. An example: Sen. Vincent Fumo leases a black 2002 Cadillac DeVille with dark-tinted windows. The tab: $600 a month, plus another $5,392 for insurance. The annual bill is $12,592. "The autos, which make up the most generous legislative perk of its kind in America, will cost taxpayers $850,000 this year," according to the Inquirer.

An interesting article in Sunday's Times Leader compares costs of attorney fees to represent municipalities. Fairmount Township's attorney earns about $8 per month to attend meetings, while Hazle Township's attorney brings in about $5,350 per month to attend meetings and handle about 40 hours of work.

Mother used to be fond of the expression "fit to be tied," as in "When she saw the mud I tracked in, she was fit to be tied." We understand the saying more now than we did when we were growing up. Chloe and Buster have helped us develop this understanding.

We have added Erik Jost to the list of service people:
RCT. JOST ERIK P 4336
PLT 3062 3rd BN I Co.
BOX 1 3062
PARRIS ISLAND SC 29905-3062
Erik's parents are Richard and Jan Jost, Benton. Erik would love to get a letter from you!

H9K TIMER provides 16 customizable clocks, skins, and fonts with a screen saver function and alarm feature. It updates with connection to a timeserver and is a free download at http://www.h9k.com/index.html .

Laptop Lillian arrived in Benton Friday, only a few weeks old. Lillian wasn't her name when she arrived in town in a plain brown box marked "Made In Malaysia," but who would want to go through life with a name made up of 14 alpha and numeric digits? She was a little troublesome at first getting "into the network" of things, but she eventually calmed down and did everything just like she should. We look forward to a long and happy relationship, unlike her ^%$&&%$ cousin.

Thomas L. Davis, Dr. Thomas C. McHenry, M. L. Cole, J. F. Ashelman, and F. I. Shultz were on the school board at the time the wood frame school in Benton Borough was built. In 1926, when discussions were held about building a new school to replace the wood frame structure, M. P. Edwards, P. G. Shultz and N. B. Cole were on the board--all sons of former school directors. Edwards and Cole lived in the Township, were on the Benton Township Board, and were instrumental in getting the Township to join with the borough. Several one-room schools were closed at the same time.

The original frame building was no longer large enough for educational purposes. The building was moved east on the lot across the street from Benton Park and through an addition was made "L" shape. This building had outside plumbing and six rooms, three up and three down. It was heated by a central hot-air system inadequate in the coldest temperatures to heat the second floor satisfactorily. Benton experienced lots of trouble with contagious diseases among the school children during that period and in one school term it was necessary to close three times. It was generally felt that the problem could be traced to the inadequate heating system.

The high school building as most students now remember it was built with a sense of community spirit. The school was made possible through the efforts and public spirit of a few people backed with their own personal resources and effort, not by a public school tax. A lot of the credit for the school went to Byron S. Keller and Dr. I. L. Edwards. Area residents worked together in August, 1927, to cut costs and get the school site ready for construction. The account of the "frolic" appeared in the Argus. The residents of the Benton School District were in a great mood the day that the article appeared, filled with a huge sense of accomplishment. The town--men, women and children--had turned out the day before for what the Argus called a "school frolic." Headline on headline read: "GREAT WORK DONE AT SCHOOL FROLIC HERE," HUNDREDS OF WILLING WORKERS BUSY AS BEES," and "REAL COMMUNITY SPIRIT."

Benton had long had the "Summer Institute" or "Summer School," a program where students who completed the public schools could attend the institute and become certified to teach in the public schools.

In 1915, the Benton school became the center of high school education in the northern end of Columbia County. Some townships had established two-year high schools, but some still went only to eighth grade. Pupils enrolled in Benton's High School to complete the four-year course from throughout northern Columbia County and some students came from adjacent townships in Lycoming, Sullivan and Luzerne counties.

The expanding enrollment at the high school level made it necessary for the Benton school board to consider more space. First the second floor of the Columbia County National Bank on Market Street was rented for the home economics department and a small former shirt factory adjacent to the north border of the school property was taken over and remodeled to serve as the "Ag" building. In 1917, the school purchased the home now owned by Mr. and Mrs. Ernie Koons, and used it for the home economics department.

L. Ray Appleman, a teacher and principal in the Benton schools for 50 years, was primarily responsible for organizing the Benton schools into grades with an established course of study while it was operating in the 6-room frame building. This effort along with his teaching in the Summer School helped form the nucleus and build the support for the high school.

The Borough and the Township residents worked on the project. Mrs. Guy Miller, Leona Masten, Mrs. C. K. Albertson, Mrs. Charles Seely, Mrs. Dallas Hess and Mrs. Ray Keeler were among the leaders in the organization. Volunteers did their projects well enough to be able to purchase a piano for the auditorium that was used for at least 30 years for entertainment in the park and in the auditorium.
--to be continued...

A year-ago today, ketchup maker H.J. Heinz Co. announced it would spin off its slow-growing tuna, pet foods, private label soup and baby formula units and merge them into Del Monte Foods Co.

For readers who want to hear Randy Hess Saturday night at the Grand Ole Opry, but don't have access to a TV set via the CMT channel, try the Internet. Use one of these direct audio links via the Internet:

http://wtn-stream.alsw.com/Player.asp?STA=WSMAM&SPD=LO
http://wtn-stream.alsw.com/Player.asp?STA=WSMAM&SPD=HI

Use the first link for dialup connections and the second for high-speed hookups. These links connect you directly to WSM streaming audio without going through the station's home page, thereby saving you time, trouble and several key strokes. (All times are Central Daylight) Oh, yes, Trace Adkins will be playing with Randy... Also appearing will be Ricky Skaggs, Dusty Drake and Jimmy C. Newman from 7:00-8:00 Central Daylight (usually simulcast on CMT). Randy and Trace will appear again 11:00-11:30 Central Daylight time with Bill Anderson and Elizabeth Cook.

As much as I fight it, in Benton there no such thing as "lunch." For most, there's only dinner and then there is supper.

Quote of the Day:
"Generosity is always wise."
--Winston Churchill

The 6-L Corporation, a division of Paragon, has quit planting tomatoes in this area for the year. They put in about 460 acres locally, down from the planned 560 or so. The fields are just too wet to continue. And speaking of wetness, the invasive Japanese Knot Weed, a bamboo-like plant that grows about 12 feet high that can be found growing along Fishing Creek in various places isn't affected by most weed killers. Yesterday the ground was so wet that it could be simply pulled out by the roots--a very effective growth inhibitor!

Childhood is the time when you make funny faces in the mirror. Middle age is the time when the mirror gets even...

Sen. Arlen Specter and his wife weighed in with cushy retirement savings plans, blue chip stocks and a New Jersey beach house according to Senate financial disclosure records released Friday. The total net worth exceeded $2 million in assets and holdings.

Dedicated during the middle of winter, December 31, 1928, the 450-seat auditorium in the new Benton Joint School got its first use as the people of Benton Borough and Benton Township flocked to one of the state's first "consolidated" school systems, a combination elementary-high school. Seventy-five years later, the wrecking ball will descend on the auditorium and what is usually referred to as the "old part" of the school about June 23 as soon as the proper permits are issued. We'll attempt to convey some of the history of the building over the coming days.

An 1877 map of the Village of Benton shows a school located on Market Street about where Mr. and Mrs. Rod VanPelt currently live. Both John Appleman and Ben McHenry said they attended the Market Street school as children. You can read more about this school under FEATURES, The Writings of William Heacock.

T. C. Smith, former school board member and secretary of both the Benton Borough and the joint school board, in remarks made in 1928, said he was a pupil in a school that was operated on the third floor of the "Rohr McHenry Building," which sat just west of the present Market Street home of Eric and Kelly Kocher, the former manse of the Benton United Presbyterian Church. The first Pennington and Seely Store in Benton opened on the first floor of the large structure. It was one of the 60 structures destroyed by the July 4, 1910, Benton Fire. Remember that route 487 south from the square did not exist at that time.

L. Ray Appleman, a teacher and principal in the Benton schools for 50 years, organized the Benton schools into grades with an established course of study while it was operating in the 6-room frame building. This effort along with his teaching in the Summer School formed the basis for instruction in the high school. The six-room wood frame structure gave Benton a full 12-grade public school system, a rarity in the 1920s for a municipality of less than 1000 residents. Students from five surrounding small municipal districts sent students to the Benton Joint School.

E. E. Beare was principal when the school first gained state recognition as a Third Class high school. In 1913 the school became recognized as a "First Grade" high school. The Benton High School was one of only three in the county at the time getting a First Grade rating. Twenty-three classes graduated from Benton from this school building.

Tomorrow we'll get into purchase of the land for the present high school and the phase out of the wood-frame school house. In the meantime, take a look at the diagrams of the planned use of the new first and second floors of what is being called the "2002 building.

We would like to announce that the weather forecast for this weekend is ... aw forget it, you really don't want to know. Eight straight soggy weekends! It is enough to make one want to sell the suntan-lotion franchise. Actually, the forecast for today is for more of you know what. The outlook for the weekend calls for mostly dry conditions, with highs mainly in the 70s and lows in the 50s and 60s.

Eleanor G. Confer, 80, (Sept. 13, 1922-June 12, 2003), 211 Double Hole Run Road, Benton, died Thursday at home. She was a daughter of the late Harry and Leona (Phillips) Potter, born in Pine Township and graduated from Pine Center School. She is survived by her husband, Larue F. Confer, and by a son, Larry L. Confer, Bloomsburg; a daughter, Mrs. Howard (Vonda) Brown, Benton; and numerous grandchildren. Services will be held 10 AM Monday at the Bunnell Funeral Home Inc., Millville, with burial in Pine Center Cemetery.
--from an obituary in the Press Enterprise

For readers who do online genealogical research, the state of Pennsylvania has just put 400,000 names on separate cards from the Civil war on line. Go to www.phmc.state.pa.us , RESEARCH, digital archives, ARIAS.

Cancel your plans to visit Gettysburg the first week in July if you were going for the 140th anniversary re-enactment of the historic battle. The rain-soaked grounds are too dangerous, farmers can't cut the wheat fields, and as Mother would say things are in a Mell of a Hess. The popular event has been re-scheduled for August 8-10.

Dottie Ann Pollock, Donald and Dottie Rabb, and Bill and Loretta Hiscox will all be in Alaska this summer at the same time--but not together.

Special readers at the Benton Elementary School took on a letter writing project, writing to the Postmaster General asking him to issue a stamp honoring Dr. Frank C. Laubach. The students found out that letter writing can make a difference. Efforts to have a commemorative stamp issued in honor of Dr. Frank C. Laubach paid off in March, 1984. Ken McCahan, then president of the Laubach Memorial Library Association Inc., was notified by Postmaster General Wm. F. Bolger that a 30 cent stamp would be issued to mark the 100th Anniversary of the birth of Dr. Frank C. Laubach.

The Laubach Library Board consisted of Marjorie Hess, Mary Pennington, Betty Strauch, Pat Meigs, Ken McCahan, Helen Harvey, Unora Mendenhall, and Marianne Houseweart and deserve recognition for making the stamp available.
--based on an article written by Pat Meigs

For more information about the USPS and the Benton post office, visit here.

There is a new 51-mile water trail this morning connecting Sunbury to Harrisburg--the Susquehanna River Water Trail, Middle Section. There are even camp sites on 20 publicly owned islands in the Susquehanna associated with the trail. The river trail was unveiled during a lunch-time stop of a flotilla of people in kayaks and canoes traveling from Wilkes-Barre to Harrisburg. A river trail connecting Halifax to Harrisburg was established in 1998 and next the trail will be extended from Sunbury north to Wilkes-Barre.

Jessica Kozloff, president of Bloomsburg University, will be on a sabbatical for a year. Patrick Schloss, provost and vice president for academic affairs, will serve as acting president.

Profits tumbled at foodmaker H.J. Heinz Co. despite higher fourth-quarter sales. Heinz earned $102.6 million, 29 cents per share, in the three months ended April 30 compared with $223.5 million, or 63 cents per share, in the same period last year. The year-ago results included earnings of $43.6 million from its pet food, seafood, soups and other divisions that were spun off and merged with Del Monte Foods Co.

Dedicated during the middle of winter in 1928, the 450-seat auditorium in the Benton Joint School got its first use as the people of Benton Borough and Benton Township flocked to one of the state's first "consolidated" school systems, a combination elementary-high school. Seventy-five years later, the wrecking ball descends on the auditorium and what is usually referred to as the "old part" of the school. Starting tomorrow, we'll tell you about some of the history of the building.

Flag Day, the anniversary of the Flag Resolution of 1777, was officially established by the Proclamation of President Woodrow Wilson on May 30, 1916. President Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14 of each year as National Flag Day.

Have a wonderful weekend...

Quickies...
• Turn to the Press Enterprise to read about the Magee family selling its Main Street Inn, Harry's and Magee's 24 West to Matt Zoppetti, a student housing developer. Harry's Grille will remain open.
• The June Meeting of the Benton Chapter of the Red Hat Society will be at the Old Filling Station at 2 PM, Wednesday, June 18.
• Yes, sure, it is raining again today.
• Jerry Seinfeld played the governor's speechwriter on "Benson," but was fired after three episodes.
• We have repeated 100 times that p r o s t r a t e and p r o s t a t e are two different words with two different meanings. Like a bicycle, we suppose that we were "two-tired" when we wrote it.
• Community Bank System Inc. announced it would buy Grange National Banc Corp. for about $70 million in cash or stock. Community Bank is based in DeWitt, NY, and Grange in Tunkhannock.
• Sophia Bond, Third Street, Benton, is recovering in Bloomsburg Hospital from a knee replacement.

The Federal Trade Commission says that auction scams are now the most prevalent type of Internet fraud. Last year, the FTC received 51,000 online auction complaints. Actually, there are probably more cases of auction fraud than the number of cases reported, and the types of fraud committed have grown increasingly complicated. "Let the Buyer Beware" on eBay and other online auctions. Drive carefully if you buy from eBay motors...

Ricky Schiel, 20, Bloomsburg, got his second quadruple organ transplant in three years only a few weeks ago and has now received his high school diploma. Schiel received a new stomach, pancreas, liver, and intestines in 2000 because a tumor had wrapped around the organs and threatened to strangle them. After he recovered, doctors found a large aneurysm near his liver last fall. He would have graduated from Southern Columbia High School in 2001 if not for his health problems. He eventually wants to Scranton University.

The first redesigned 2004 F-150 red Ford SuperCab Lariat pickup truck rolled off the assembly line at the company's Norfolk Assembly Plant Tuesday. The company turns 100 on June 16, and the company seems to be in a turnaround situation, earning nearly $900 million in the first quarter.

We always have fun when we rummage through old editions of the Argus. Doris Harvey lent us the edition from January 27, 1966, and we picked up the following:
• Bloomsburg University graduations included Karen Eileen Ash, daughter of Victor Ash, Orangeville, a degree in elementary education. Joyce Mika, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Bruce Crawford received her degree in special education.
• Benton VFW voted to construct a sled run on the post property, pending the arrival of snow. The post had a membership of 103 at the time.
• Helen Smith, wife of Donald H. Smith, was fatally injured in a two-car collision at the intersection of route 118 and 29 in Lake Township, Luzerne Country. The Smiths operated a dairy and delivered milk to Benton and area residents. For many years Donald transported produce to Wyoming Valley. Burial was in the Raven Creek cemetery. The Smith's farms, known as Elmdale Farms, will be discussed in much more detail in an upcoming feature article on Raven Creek.
• Baker & Baker, Main Street, started mentioning "Ginger's Store."
• Dr. and Mrs. Lee Dippery were moving into Benton.
• A column entitled "From the West" by Harry Ackerman devoted itself to the subject of Vietnam.
• Dr. Frank C. Laubach's "Views of a World Famous Missionary, devoted the weekly column to an African Literacy Safari.
• The Hotel Moses Van Campen proudly announced the opening of their "Little Dining Room," home of "Penna. Dutch Cooking."
• Yost's, Inc. announced that effective February 1, 1966, they would be associated with Atlantic Refining Company as a reseller of a "complete line of Firestone tires and retreading, DELCO batteries and brand name auto accessories."
• A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Spencer Vincent, Stillwater, and to Mr. and Mrs. James Hess, Benton.
• At the IGA, ginger snaps were two pounds for 39¢, potatoes were 69¢ for the peck and franks were 59¢.

"The young medical student told his father he was planning to specialize in obstetrics. His dad replied, 'you're crazy, son, by the time you're ready to practice they'll have a cure for it.'"
--The Benton Argus, Around the Town, January 27, 1966.

We recently enjoyed a visit from Richard Hartman Sutliff, Naperville, IL, in town for his 50th high school graduation reunion. Dick served four years in the Air Force as a radar technician and later news director at WTHI Radio, news anchor at WTHI-TV and reporter-editor at the Tribune-Star newspaper in Terre Haute. He retired in 2001 from WGN Radio, Chicago, as News anchor-editor, but still "does the news" on the weekends. Several people from the Benton area routinely listen to Dick via an internet connection. Ninety-nine-years ago on June 11, Dick's mother, Marguerite Gladys Lorraine Hartman, was born in Hartman Hollow.

We figured you would need help, so by row we have...
First Row, from left: Gomar Phillips, Carl Remley, Lee Remley, Billy Confair, Richard Karns, Mahlon Fritz, Billy Follmer, Wayne Baker, Gail Arter, Franklin Seig, Jack Kille.
Second Row, from left: Mary Gilbert, Gloria Vansock, Marie Young, Marguerite Harvey, Margaret Fritz, Karlamae Hess, Shirley Ash, Laura Comstock, Beverly Dietterick, Betty Hughes.
Third Row, from left: Willard Gordon, Donald Baker, Jack Healy, Gerald McHenry, Madge Kline, Nancy Shannon, Margarete Ann Ash, Norma Swank, Janette Houseweart.
Fourth Row, from left: Joseph Williams, Bobby Baker, Gerald Stevens, Blair Whitenight, Harry Davis, Carl Phillips, Janet Follmer, Janet Knouse, Mrs. Wenner.

Quote of the Day:
"On a morning just three weeks ago yesterday, this wholesome, earnest, fearless, courageous product of America rose into the air from Long Island in a monoplane christened "The Spirit of St. Louis" in honor of his home and that of his supporters. It was no haphazard adventure. After months of most careful preparation, supported by a valiant character, driven by an unconquerable will and inspired by the imagination and the spirit of his Viking ancestors, this reserve officer set wing across the dangerous stretches of the North Atlantic. He was alone. His destination was Paris."
--Calvin Coolidge

Prayers are needed this morning for Ruth Kline.

Father's Day goes all the way back to 1910, when it was proposed by Mrs. John B. Dodd of Spokane. That city's mayor proclaimed June 19 of that year as the city's Father's Day. The first presidential proclamation came about in 1966, when President Lyndon Johnson designated the third Sunday in June as Father's Day. It has been celebrated annually on that date since 1971. We hope that the fathers in your life are treated with the respect they deserve on their day. By the way, nationally, neckties are the most popular Father's Day gift according to some study we read.

Agriculture is the state's biggest employer, providing livelihoods for 800,000 people, according to the Guv.

St. Gabriel's Episcopal Church is located in Sugarloaf Township along State Route 487, three miles north of Benton. The first records of a church in that area date to 1793. According to Historical and Biographical Annals of Columbia and Montour Counties, published by J. H. Beers & Company in 1915, the original church constructed of logs, completed in 1812, jointly owned by Episcopalians, Lutherans, and Presbyterians, was for many years the only church in the township. In 1876 a fire destroyed the building and it was replaced with the present structure in 1877. It remains a charming place of worship in Columbia Country. Sunday services are at 11 AM. The Vicar In Charge is Rev. Alan C. Mead. Lay readers are Virginia Thomas and Joanne Wallace.

The best computer question I heard this week was "Do I have to hit 'F' and '8' at the same time?"

Bill Follmer came down with a severe prostate infection the Saturday afternoon of the Hall of Fame awards. By time of the awards, he had the shakes and fever so bad he could hardly stand. Following Bill's acceptance speech, his wife took him to the emergency room at Bloomsburg Hospital where he received antibiotics before returning to their motel for the night. By Monday night, Bill's temperature was up to 103° and back to the hospital they went. By Thursday afternoon, he was recovering rapidly. The hospital discharged Bill Friday morning, but by Friday night his temperature was back up to 100°. Their son-in-law was in Buffalo on business and drove to Bloomsburg on Friday and drove the couple back to Michigan. It was a full week before Bill was feeling well, and he is still recovering slowly from his last trip Back Home to Benton, PA. Bill suspects that some surgery will eventually be required. Bill planned to return to the area in July for his wife's 50th high school reunion at Bloomsburg but now thinks that his last trip was enough for one year. We wish Bill a speedy recovery.

And speaking of Bill, tomorrow's edition of the Benton News will include some early pictures of Bill's Benton High School class, courtesy of Rick Gordon. They came from a collection owned by Willard Gorden. Willard lived on a small horse ranch near Tacoma, WA. He passed away during the night of April 16. A memorial service was held in Spanaway, WA. Willard attended school in Benton for awhile, eventually moving on to Beaver High School from which he graduated in 1953.

We get questions about the pictures on the web site. We use a Minolta DiMAGE Xt "shirt-pocket" camera, measuring 3.4(W) x 2.6(H) x 0.8(D) inches and weighing 4.2 ounces. It is equipped with 3.2 effective megapixels and houses a folded 12X (3X optical, 4X Digital) zoom lens. The lens is positioned vertically within the camera, which allows the lens to always remain inside the camera body. It is advertised as the world's fastest start-up (1.1 seconds).

Over in Kingston Township, there are more surprises in Hugo Selenski's lawn than in a case of Cracker Jacks. The first to turn up when police started digging in the hillside was Michael Kerkowski Jr., scheduled to appear on America's Most Wanted, but instead buried in a shallow grave. Kerkowski had been strangled and dumped on top of his girlfriend in the shallow grave. Remains of three more bodies were found next. Stay tuned...

We were asked a number of times about our feelings concerning the article in yesterday's Press Enterprise about the selection of the music teacher for the Benton Area Schools. Several people took us to task for not mentioning it. Up front, we'll say we know Jennifer Welliver from her Church and school contributions. We conclude that she is a very capable person and we support her selection with enthusiasm. The position has been filled by a capable lady who does not exactly fill the position vacated by the death of Rick Martin--but who would? The position has been filled. For those who are bothered by that fact, get over it and put it behind you. We have a winner with Jennifer...

Relocated...
• Ruth Kline has been moved from ICU at Bloomsburg Hospital to a private room. Phone calls should be held off for the time being.
Recovering...
• Emma Lou Savage, outpatient surgery on her hand.
• Alan Kocher, on crutches, following a fall from atop a log truck.

Didja know...
• A dime has 118 ridges around the edge!
• An event called "The 11th Anniversary Americruise" comes to the Bloomsburg fairgrounds August 15-17, featuring the "finest pre-'64 classic street rods and customs and pre-'73 customs and/or classic trucks in the United States and beyond." The event is sponsored by Rod & Custom, Street Rodder, Custom Rodder, and Classic Trucks Magazines. This is a new event in the eastern part of the United States. An estimated 2,000+ rodders will participate in organized cruises originating from rod and custom shops around the country and participants will join tour leaders to motor into Pennsylvania. After planned stops, tours and activities in towns across America, "All Roads Lead to Americruise," where over 2,000 street rods, customs and classic trucks, and over 40,000 spectators meet for a three-day celebration of rod-and-custom culture. The event should be a three-day boon to the economy of the local area.
• The future of the 1.3 million square feet Pennsylvania Convention Center in downtown Philadelphia is shaky. Union work rules and high costs are keeping conventions out. Only seven events are booked there through the end of the month. The Pennsylvania Convention Center is featured in the March 2003 issue of Town and Country Magazine.
• The Benton Grange #88 will be meeting in the Benton town park on Wednesday, June 11, at 6 PM for a covered dish right out of the Grange cookbook. A meeting will follow. The public is welcome to attend. The Grange is important to the history of the Benton area. At one time, the Benton Grange had over 100 members and today it is down to just a few. Please turn out to help this fine organization.
• Two young deer spent the afternoon near Center Street, Benton, and found that Third Street makes a great racetrack.
• The Benton Area Schools will hold a garage sale Saturday from 9 AM to noon in the high school gymnasium. Come to the gym to capture your high school memory. There are magazine racks and doors and lockers and--well, just come. In fact, you can wonder around the old part of the school and make bids on goodies from your school days. If you don't buy anything, at least you can "bye" before the wrecking ball hits Monday morning.

The high school auditorium June 9, 2003

We love to hear about happy marriages and were pleased when a loving couple was told that it is essential that husbands and wives know about the things that are important to each other. The man was asked if he could describe his wife's favorite flower, to which he responded, after gently touching his wife's arm, "Pillsbury All-Purpose, isn't it?"

Famous natives and residents of Pennsylvania:
Louisa May Alcott, novelist; Marian Anderson, contralto; Maxwell Anderson, dramatist; Samuel Barber, composer; John Barrymore, actor; Stephen Vincent Benet, poet and story writer; Daniel Boone, frontiersman; Ed Bradley, TV anchorman; James Buchanan, former president; Alexander Calder, sculptor; Rachel Carson, biologist and author; Mary Cassatt, painter; Bill Cosby, actor; Stuart Davis, painter; Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey, band leaders; W. C. Fields, comedian; Stephen Foster, composer; Robert Fulton, inventor; Grace Princess of Monaco; Martha Graham, choreographer; Alexander Haig, former secretary of state; Marilyn Horne, mezzo-soprano; Lee Iacocca, auto executive; Reggie Jackson, baseball player; Gene Kelly, dancer and actor; Gelsey Kirkland, ballerina; S. S. Kresge, merchant; Mario Lanza, actor and singer; George C. Marshall, five-star general; George McClellan, former general; Margaret Mead, anthropologist; Andrew Mellon, financier; Tom Mix, actor; Arnold Palmer, golfer; Robert E. Peary, explorer; Betsy Ross, flag maker; Gertrude Stein, author; James Stewart, actor; John Updike, novelist; Honus Wagner, baseball player; Fred Waring, band leader; Ethel Waters, singer and actress; Anthony Wayne, military officer; Wallis Warfield, Duchess of Windsor; Andrew Wyeth, painter; You and I and about everyone else who reads the News from Back Home in Benton, PA.

Here is how to make a Data Base or Spread Sheet in Microsoft Word
1) Type a list of things, each on a line by themselves. Type "dog,"
"cat," "horse" and "rooster," for example.)
2) Click Table in the menu bar
3) Click Sort in the drop down menu
4) Click the appropriate box if the list has a header row, and choose whether to sort A-Z or Z-A.
5) Click OK
6) Now repeat after me, "that was so easy." Now do this to inventory your CDs, list your phone numbers, organize your shopping list, etc.

Observe the postage stamp: its usefulness depends upon its ability to stick to one thing until it gets there.

We recently posted the incorrect URL for the Stillwater Christian Church. Please correct your records to show it is www.stillwaterchristian.org . We are sorry for the error, and suspect that it is about as bad a mistake as the Washington Post made last week that the newspaper misspelled the name of the winner of the National Spelling Bee.

Long-time readers will know that we (a) like to go to movies, and (2) have never particularly liked Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom McGroarty. The Mayor keeps his job until January, 2004, although he lost the May Democratic Primary for re-election. He has not filled vacancies on the City's redevelopment authority and says that he won't, resulting in projects like the multi-screen movie theater in the City getting stalled even though the theater deal has been two years in the making.

June 9, the 160th day of 2003. Thirty years ago today, Secretariat became horse racing's first Triple Crown winner in 25 years by winning the Belmont Stakes. Guitarist Les Paul is 88 and former boss Robert S. McNamara is 87 today.

Cole Porter was born on this date in 1893. Yale University made out well with Porter who wrote and performed over 300 songs for school shows before moving to Paris where the city rocked from his playing and singing at fancy parties in his apartment, "decorated with zebra skin furniture, platinum-colored wallpaper and ceiling-high mirrors." He wrote hundreds of songs for movies, television, and Broadway shows, including Kiss Me, Kate (1948). He loved astronomy and most of his songs had something in them about the moon or the stars.

"Brush up your Shakespeare,
Start quoting him now,
Brush up your Shakespeare,
And the women you will wow."
--Cole Porter

According to the Farmer's Almanac, bad weather or wind approaches when...
• Cats sneeze (sign of rain).
• Cats snore (foul weather will follow).
• Cats have their tails up and their fur appears electrified (approaching wind--or a dog).
• Dogs howl in an unusual fashion (approaching storm).
• Dogs eat grass (rainy weather approaching).
• Dogs roll on the ground and scratch (sign of rain).

Mountain Springs Ice Company storage building, located at Mountain Springs, burned to the ground in 1949. The building, approximately 1000 feet long and 50 to 60 wide, and high enough to hold 34 feet of ice, was owned by R. A. Davis, Wilkes-Barre, and operated by Davis and Jack White, Davis's partner. The Harvey's Lake Fire Company noticed a red glow at the skyline in the vicinity of Mountain Springs. Turning the fire equipment in the direction of the glow, firemen came upon the icehouse, which, at that time, was nearly consumed by the fire.
--Contributed by Mary Lou Kitchen Buckalew.

If you want to know more about Mountain Springs, read "The White Gold of Mountain Springs," by Peter Tomasak (sold at the Brass Pelican). The price is $19.95 and if you like local history, pick it up. There are a number of pictures of Mary Lou's childhood home.

We happened to hear the local group "Ham Bone" on WKAB radio last night, playing their song "You Bum Me Out." We look forward to hearing more of the group.

Pharmacist Michael Jason Kerkowski Jr., 37, and Tammy Fassett, 37, have been identified in Wilkes-Barre as the two bodies unearthed last week in a backyard and more suspected burial spots are possible. Kerkowski and Fassett had been missing since May 2002. Kerkowski had been charged with selling almost 334,000 OxyContin, Vicodin and Lorcet pills without prescriptions and filing $60,000 in false insurance claims.

"Challenge-response" spam protection is now available from Mailblocks and from EarthLink. Challenge-response assumes mail from strangers is probably spam, instead of assuming that most email is benign, then trying to screen the junk. Senders unknown to the recipient have to prove that they're not automated spam relays by passing a simple test on a Web page. Bogus return addresses are automatically deleted, since there's no return address to answer the "prove you're human" challenge. Human senders who authenticate themselves will get their messages through. Senders who don't answer the challenge after 14 days will have their email deleted. Mailblocks charges $9.95 a year for its mail service. Atlanta-based EarthLink began offering challenge-response filtering a couple of weeks ago. We expect to hear much more about this technology in the coming months as address-importing kinks are worked out. We are not recommending any "challenge-response" spam protection yet.

The Berwick chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution was named the Van Campen Chapter in honor of his service on the frontier. The beautiful Benton hotel shown below was named in honor of this brave American.

The hotel was initially owned and managed by John Henry Knouse, until his death in late 1943. Jacob and Irene Knouse then owned and managed the hotel. Subsequent owners included Eldon and Harold Bankes, and the Davis family. The hotel burned during flooding associated with Hurricane Eloise in September, 1975.. The hotel was only ten feet or so from the Benton Pharmacy which caught fire during the flood. Go to the panel on the left side under "Hotel Fire" for pictures of the damage to the hotel.

June 8, 2003, birthday of former First Lady Barbara Bush, 78.

On this day...
• In 1867, Mark Twain boarded a side-wheel steamer for a five-month trip to Europe and the Mediterranean funded by a San Francisco newspaper. The newspaper paid his passage money and paid him twenty dollars for each letter he sent home. In 1868 he published the letters in a book called Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims' Progress. He wrote: "The gentle reader will never, never know what a consummate ass he can become, until he goes abroad."
• In 1867, Architect Frank Lloyd Wright was born. Wright has been called America's most significant architect.

Quote of the Day:
"Give me the luxuries of life and I will willingly do without the necessities."
--Frank Lloyd Wright

It is always fun to take a little slice of Benton life at a particular point in time and see what was going on in the community. Lets take mid-August of 1943, for example.
• In the war effort, Private Harold Colley was home on furlough from his base at Liberal, Kansas. Budd Fritz was stationed with the Navy at Sampson, NY. Capt. Wayne Hartman, son of Mr. and Mrs. D. E. Hartman, Benton, was stationed at MacDill Field, FL. Pfc. Donald Sieg was stationed at Parris Island, SC. Major William Confair, a patient at Walter Reed Army Hospital, was home in Benton for a brief visit. Special notice was given that a number "of our troops were enjoying cigarettes as a result of local organizations and individuals who recently shipped 11,000 cigarettes to troops." The shipment was paid for by Fred E. Lord Fertilizer Plant, Espy; the Bloomsburg Bank-Columbia Trust Company, Bloomsburg; Bloomsburg Mills; and W. Potts Jones.
• In community service, Burr Appleman was active on the board of directors of the Odd Fellows Orphanage Home, Sunbury.
• Those getting their education that summer included Betty Sieg, attending the Empire School of Beauty Culture, Wilkes-Barre. Betty Jane Yost was a student at Pennsylvania State College and her sister, Lillian, was a student nurse at the Geisinger Hospital, Danville.
• There was still some entertainment in the area, including The Columbia Theatre, Bloomsburg, showing South of the Border, staring Gene Autry. The Capitol was showing "The Greatest Comedy Ever to Play Bloomsburg," The More the Merrier with Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea and Charles Coburn. The Andrea Theatre, Catawissa, was playing the Omaha Trail, advertised as "A man who lived on danger, a beauty who rode the thrill-trail with him, their romance packed with excitement all the way!" We were not able to find any advertisements for the Ritz.
• For those at home farming, Lee Kessler was trying to find a home for baby chicks with "immediate delivery on all breeds." The sprawling Maywood Poultry Farm, Benton, owned by Carter Bache, would sell you 1,000 New Hampshire Red Chick for $13 per hundred if you phoned "57-R-5." Neil S. Harrison in both Benton and Forks had special deals on AGRICO fertilizer. Locally, "Velvet" ice cream made by Berwick Creamery was very popular.
• The Rea and Derrick, Bloomsburg, seemed to have a hard time finding waitresses for their soda fountain. In the lost and found section of The Morning Press, Grant McCormick offered a "reward" for the $8 that he lost, consisting of "one $5 bill, three $1 bills."
• At the national level, Chester Bowles, acting price administrator, announced that the value of gasoline ration coupons in the middle west and southwest would be cut from four to three gallons. In New York city August 2, race riots resulted in the death of one and the injury to 400. Woody Guthrie, the Okie troubadour, hoboed from coast to coast with a guitar in his hand and always seemed to think of something to sing about.

I once had a secretary who would never plug in a light, she would "plug up" the light. To her, the expression made perfect sense. She grew up in West Virginia and the light for the living room was one that plugged into a receptacle in the center of the ceiling of her parent's humble home. To get light at night, one would need to "plug up" the light to the receptacle in the ceiling. A similar term is "pull (out) the plug." The expression when used today usually conjures up visions of electrical usage rather than water usage, but at one time to flush an old-style gravity feed commode you did indeed pull out, or pull up, a plug that governed flow into the sewer or septic pipe.

Quickies...
• We continue to hope that a minimum of one out of five readers send Ivy Young an electronic greeting while she recovers in the hospital. Revisit yesterday's news if you need to refresh your memory on how to do it.
• The memorial for Neil Metcaff was largely attended. The auditorium of the L. Ray Appleman gymnasium was completely filled yesterday for the memorial service. You can read about Neil and the service by turning to today's Press Enterprise and the article appropriately titled, "No Ordinary Man."
• The nation's unemployment rate rose to a nine-year high of 6.1% last month as employers cut another 17,000 jobs.

A reader asked about a computer message saying something like "This program has performed an invalid operation and will be shut down." Poorly programmed software could have caused the problem, but more likely it happened because of the lack of available memory. If you're short on RAM, install more. It is not expensive and is probably the most important thing you can do to make your computer run faster and better. If you can't install more RAM, limit the number of programs running at the same time. You should not have more than the essential programs starting with Windows. A program to help you keep programs from starting up with windows is one called "Starter" which you can get free at http://members.lycos.co.uk/codestuff/ . If you are buying a new computer, make sure that you get enough RAM.

A reporter with WXYZ-TV in Detroit studied the cost of generic drugs and reported on the disparity between the highest and lowest prices charged for certain generic drugs. For example, the Prescription Drug Price Comparison Chart available in conjunction with the report shows that a one-month supply of Fluoxetine HCL (the generic for Prozac), which wholesales for $1.48, varied in retail price from a high of $92.24 to a low of $9.69 just within the Detroit area. Membership-based Costco has the lowest prices on generic drugs. Their stores' pharmacy will generally fill prescriptions for non-members paying by cash or ATM card. Price generic drugs from Costco here. Yes, they ship, since there are no local Costco stores.

The scene Saturday at the auction of the estate of Robert G. Redline, Rohrsburg conducted by George S. Kapp, Jr.

To find out about upcoming Kapp auctions, go to http://www.kappsauction.com/ .

Today's memorial services for Neil P. Metcalf, 62, Stillwater, have been moved to the Iva Conner Gymnasium at 11 AM at the L.R. Appleman Elementary School, Benton. The Rev. Paul J. Bowles, the Rev. Richard W. Metcalf, and the Rev. David H. Diehl, will officiate. Mr. Metcalf died May 12, 2003, from work-related injuries. Arrangements are under the direction of the McMichael Funeral Home Inc., Benton. Neil leaves behind his wife Phyllis and his son Brad and Brad's wife, Susie, and their daughters Shelby and Jessie. Neil also has a daughter, Tina, mother of Brittney and Zach.

The Elk Grove to Nordmont road has been reopened and cars can again drive "over the mountain."

As early as November, cellular-phone customers may be able to switch carriers without losing their phone numbers. A U.S. appeals court upheld the Federal Communications Commission's rule forcing wireless telephone companies to let switching customers keep their phone numbers.

To the delight of teachers and students, the Benton Area School System winds down another year. In fact, on Tuesday of next week, the auditorium gets bulldozed as part of the modernization program at the school. We learned some new terms this year, and we'll pass them along to you. A person does not fail anymore, the student is just "passing impaired." If a student is bad, he does not get detention, he is just one of the "exit delayed." Lazy students are "energetically disinclined." There are no smelly gym socks, but there are "odor-retentive athletic footwear." Students sleeping in class are simply "rationing consciousness."

The 60,000 sq. ft. Ames Plaza in Briar Creek will be put to new use according to this morning's Press Enterprise. About 160 workers from Berwick Offray, a ribbon and bow maker, will move into the retrofitted plaza building from the company's administrative office in Salem Township, its Salem Township factory at Ninth Street and Bomboy Lane, and office space rented at Midtown Plaza, Third Street, Berwick. Berwick Offray is an affiliate of CSS Industries, Inc., which consists of Cleo, a provider of seasonal gift packaging products, and the Paper Magic Group, a manufacturer of seasonal merchandise ranging from greeting cards to Halloween costumes. In March 2002, Berwick Industries LLC acquired business assets of C.M. Offray & Son, Inc., a producer and supplier of narrow woven ribbon for craft, floral, and industrial distribution markets. C.M. Offray and Son, Inc. has manufactured ribbons since 1876. The family tradition was carried on until March, 2002, when Berwick Industries LLC acquired it. Offray's original mill was located in Paterson over a hundred years ago, then moved to Hagerstown in 1922. The Lion Ribbon Company was purchased in 1989. Warehouses and shipping headquarters are located in Hagerstown, Anniston, AL, and Batesburg/Leesville, SC.

On the mend...
• Ivy Young, 16, Third Street, Benton, had her bone marrow transplant last Tuesday and other than a sore mouth from the chemotherapy treatments, she appears to have come through well. The hospital will know about a week from now whether the operation was a success. Ivy remains a patient at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, a hospital dedicated to pediatric health care, research and education. With about 5,000 readers of the Benton News every day, even if we could get one out of five readers we could really show Ivy that the community cares. Send Ivy a "get-well" card by going to http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/app/postcards/select.htm and addressing an electronic card to her. Ivy's snail mail address is Room 515 (formerly room 34), P. O. Box 29046, Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Cincinnati, OH 45229-3039. For more information on Hemophagocytosis, go to http://www.cw.bc.ca/pediatricresidents/hemophag.asp .
• Ruth Kline, 79, 606 Green Acre Drive, Benton, was readmitted to ICCU at Bloomsburg Hospital June 5, where she remains a patient.
• Laptop Larry is down and out and ready to enlist in the Armed Forces. He is simply a General Failure! Larry has now made more mistakes than any other invention known to man, with the possible exceptions of handguns and tequilas. Larry did ask if he could leave a parting message. He writes, "UP grade me to XT and run me on 220v! I'l work greO?_|" Because of Larry, there was no Benton News for June 6, 2003. Larry's obituary is expected any day. The period of grieving will be short...

Poem of the Day: "I have a spelling checker It came with my PC; It plainly marks four my revue Mistakes I cannot sea. I've run this poem threw it, I'm sure your pleased too no, Its letter perfect in it's weigh, My checker tolled me sew." --Janet Minor

There will be yard sales galore today, but one of the best will be at 470 Third Street, Benton, at the home of Phil and Lori Edson. Get there early.

Volkswagen will stop making the original rear-engine Beetle later this year at their plant in Puebla, Mexico, ending the nearly 70-year history of the classic "bug." The original model has been manufactured in Puebla since 1978. The first version of what would become known as the Beetle was developed in 1934 under the guidance of Adolf Hitler, who wanted to build a "people's car," or in German, a "Volkswagen." The car entered mass production after World War II. My first car was a VW, purchased for less than $1,900. Later that VW served RD3 of the Benton Post Office and "neither rain, snow, heat nor gloom of night" stopped the delivery of the mail, the back seat of Bob Kline's prized mail-delivery car piled high with mail and packages. Picture a 60-year old man climbing over the gear shift of a VW at the several hundred mail boxes on his route!

Marcy Pitkin, commenting on how to properly pronounce Lopez, wondered why the folks in Colley township pronounce it Cully. Marcy mentioned stopping at the Colley Pub and "every time I said the word 'Colley,' I was corrected, "It is Cully." We have the same confusion factor with the local names "Fulmer" and "Follmer." Do you have any others?

This week, A Prairie Home Companion comes from The Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, CA with the Hopeful Gospel Quartet and bluesman John Koerner. Greg Leisz joins the Shoe Band. Due to the fact the show will be recorded on Friday and broadcast on Saturday, there will be no live Webcast this week. Next week the broadcast comes from Bend, Oregon.

June 5, 2003. Broadcast journalist Bill Moyers is 69 and jazz musician Kenny G (without a period) is 47 today. In 1794 on this date, Congress passed the Neutrality Act, which prohibited Americans from enlisting in the service of a foreign power. On this date in 1851, Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly began in serial form in the Washington National Era, an abolitionist weekly. Harriet Beecher Stowe's anti-slavery story was published in forty installments over the next ten months; Mrs. Stowe was paid $300. On this date in 1968, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated after claiming victory in California's Democratic presidential primary. Gunman Sirhan Bishara Sirhan was arrested. On this date in 1981, the Centers for Disease Control reported that five Los Angeles homosexuals had a rare kind of pneumonia, the first recognized cases of what later became known as AIDS.

The most popular names given to babies in the United States during 2002, based on Social Security card applications for children born last year, are Jacob and Emily. And coming in second were Michael and Madison. For the complete list, go to http://www.socialsecurity.gov/pressoffice/pr/baby-names-pr.htm .

We're driving to Chapel Hill, NC, to hear Jens and Uwe Krüger in a concert Friday night. The Krüger Brothers from Switzerland play acoustic string, traditional American folk and bluegrass music. Want to know more? Go to http://www.krugerbrothers.com/info.html . Laptop Larry is going with us, and because of the stern lecture delivered to him, we think that we should get through the weekend without much interruption to the Benton News.

Construction in the area...
• The grand opening of the Benton Volunteer Fire Department building on Colley Street will take place June 21. Take a look at the new fire station by going to ORGANIZATIONS on the left side, then look for the Fire Company. We have included several pictures and the information on the upcoming open house. Construction is on schedule.
• On Route 239 south of Benton, going up the Dug Hill, guard rails have been removed, and coupled with a decaying highway, driving could be dangerous. Repairs will begin soon.
• The Benton Assembly of God Church parking lot in Stillwater is being paved.
• Footers have been poured for the housing project, called Benton Manor, on community Drive at the former Little Lumber Property. The project calls for a Fall opening.

The following is a recollection of interest to no one, perhaps even the writer. Yesterday a memory returned of a cold night many years ago when a good friend and I stopped in Bernice for a cool one before we continued our trip down Red Rock Mountain (well, it made sense that night!). An "older guy," perhaps the age I am now, sat down the bar from us talking about--and I'll pronounce it as he did--LAHPS. Curiosity finally got to me and I asked him what the word LAHPS meant. He could not explain it so that I could understand it, but the bartender did. The man was talking about the town of Lopez. I never forgot that conversation, but never understood it, either. But yesterday the memory came back when I unearthed an old post card from Lopez, dated about the time that cars were first driven into town. There it was, a picture of the Hotel Lopez. Clearly marked on the side of the Hotel Lopez was the sign "Lopes" and people tell me that at one time the town name was locally pronounced "LOHPS."

MSN 8.0 uses tough tactics against spam through a software upgrade for the subscription service made available Wednesday. New technology will "block more unsolicited e-mail message than previously."

Some things about country life are simple to us...
• Don't sell your mule to buy a plow.
• Mortgaging a future crop is like saddling a wobbly colt.
• Trouble with a milk cow is she won't stay milked.
• Meanness don't happen overnight.
• Never lay an angry hand on a kid or an animal, it just ain't helpful.
• Life is simpler when you plow around the stumps.
• Don't corner something meaner than you.
• It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.
• Every path has some puddles.

A local farmer tried to buy a truck from a city car dealer. The farmer saw a truck in the paper at a fair price, looked at it and said he would buy it. The dealer quoted him a higher price than advertised, saying that it would be extra for power steering, power brakes, power windows, special tires, etc., and that was what took the price up. The farmer, needing the truck badly, paid the price and went home. A few months later, the salesman called the farmer and said he needed a cow for his son in 4-H. The farmer agreed to give the salesman his pick of cows for $500 apiece. The salesman agreed on a cow, and proceeded to write out a check for $500. The farmer, however, said $500 was not the final price of the cow. There were extras, including...

And what is so rare as a day in June?
Then, if ever, come perfect days;
Then Heaven tries the earth if it be in tune,
And over it softly her warm ear lays.
--James Russell Lowell

Are things dull around the house? Are things not going exactly right?
Do you need some fireworks in your life? Try http://doody36.home.attbi.com/liberty.htm .

The Fishing Creek Watershed Association will hold its annual festival on Sunday, September 7, 2003 at Millville Park, from noon to 6 PM. At this free event you can celebrate the wonders of Fishing Creek. Bring the children you know or the 'kid in you' to participate in games, fishing, stream studies, crafts, and nature activities. Plan to enjoy music, food, exhibits, and dynamic presentations.

Class of 1953 of Benton High School take a break during their 50th anniversary reunion brunch at the Ric-Mar Restaurant, near Northumberland, May 24, 2003

Seated (left to right): Harold Benjamin, Norma Young Sweeney, Carol Smith Doty, Barbara Raski Hess, Bob Lewis, Ruth Ann Search Hess, Irma Jeanne Wood Vansock, Beverly Fritz Phillips, Lillian Litwhiler Miller, Alice Sutliff Allegar, Joan Hummel Gilbert, Jackie Knouse Hack, Ursula Lewis LeFevre, Mary Ellen Strauch Harrington, Hazel Miller Karns. Standing (left to right): Louise Boston Roat, Doyle Dodson, Curtis Creveling, Richard Savage, Richard Good, Dr. Gary Hess, Sterling Dickson, Richard Sutliff, Wayne Smith,Tom Conner, Keith Gilbert, Ann Shannon Fantanarosa, James R. Hess, Emma Lu Funk Savage.

Business news...
• Greenspan is apparently contemplating another interest-rate cut, saying there is little sign of an economic rebound.
• DaimlerChrysler expects a $1.18 billion operating loss at Chrysler. General Motors, Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor posted a rise in U.S. auto sales for May. Sales fell for Ford Motor and DaimlerChrysler's U.S. brands.
• Martha Stewart could be indicted today on charges stemming from her sale of ImClone (IMCLE) shares, and the Wall Street Journal thinks it likely she will step down as CEO of her company.
• Uni-Marts Inc. will be acquired by HFL Corporation, a company controlled by Uni-Marts' top management, for $2.25 a share, a 21% premium above Uni-Marts' Monday closing stock price of $1.86 per share. Uni-Marts operates 294 convenience stores in in five states and sells gasoline at 238 of these locations, including the one in Benton.
• Retailers recorded their eighth straight week of modest sales increases, as rain continues to draw people to stores.
• Commonwealth Telephone Enterprises (CTCO) reported first-quarter net income of $28.2 million, or $1.19 per share, up from $10.7 million, or 45 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue grew 6.1% to $83.2 million. Excluding a one-time gain, CTE's net income was $15 million, or 63 cents per share in the first quarter.
• The 89,000 square foot former national headquarters of Planters Peanuts on South Main Street, Wilkes-Barre, was acquired June 4 by the city for $100, much less than its worth. The acquisition includes 71 on-site parking spots with an additional 57 fenced-in parking spots on nearby Hanover Street. The city is expected to resell the building almost immediately.

The popular music of "Seasoned Sounds" will swing the "big-band" benefit concert at Alvina Krause Theatre, 226 Center St., Bloomsburg, Friday, June 13 beginning at 7:30. Tickets $5, all seats general admission and are available at the door.

The Stillwater Christian Church has a new web site, http://stillwaterchurch.org/ . Take a look.

On this date in 1880, Alexander Graham Bell transmitted the first wireless telephone message via his "photophone," which allowed transmission of sound on a beam of light. Of Bell's eighteen patents granted in his name alone, and the twelve he shared with his collaborators, four were for the photophone. Until the development of modern fiber optics, however, technology for the secure transport of light inhibited use of Bell's invention. Bell's photophone is recognized as the progenitor of the modern fiber optics that today transport over 8% of the world's telecommunications. Bell was founder and first president of the National Geographic Society.

On this date in 1888, the poem "Casey at the Bat," by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, was first published.

"Then from five thousand throats and more there rose a lusty yell;
it rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;
it pounded through on the mountain and recoiled upon the flat;
for Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat."

Max J. Knouse, 81 (August 16, 1921-June 1, 2003), Stonewall Lane, Benton, died Sunday evening at the Millville Health Center. He received the Purple Heart and three bronze stars during World War II and served in the Air Force during the Korean War, then worked for the Glen Alden Coal Co. Mr. Knouse was a member of Benton VFW Post No. 8317 and the Shickshinny American Legion Post No. 495. Funeral services will be at 8 Tuesday evening at the Mayo Funeral Home, Shickshinny, with the pastor of Shickshinny Bible Baptist Church officiating. Burial will be in Pine Hill Cemetery, Benton, at the convenience of the family.

Revenue in the state for May came in at $94-million, 6% below Administration estimates.

We suspect that most people use Google for their Web searches and if you do we highly recommend that you consider the Google Toolbar at http://toolbar.google.com. When the Google Toolbar is installed, it automatically appears along with the Internet Explorer toolbar, allowing you to quickly and easily use Google to search from any Website location, without returning to the Google home page to begin another search. If is easy to install. Try it!

The next meeting of the Fishing Creek Femme Fatales will be on the deck June 18 at The Old Filling Station. Everyone is asked to bring a baby picture. The Grand Duchess, Diane Laubach, will be in charge of the meeting as the Queen Mother Joselle, Vice Mother Carol, Sergeant
at Arms Evelyn Christalaw, and Sergeant of Gloves Marilee Yost will be sunbathing at Sea Isle City. Meeting time is 2 oclock. Guests are welcome as always. Proper attire is required.

Readers commented on yesterday's mention of "Whirl's End" by talking about "whirl-Y-Gigs," a strange place called a "Northeastern Pennsylvania Whirl-Mart," and more to the point a reader remembered her mother's distraught feelings when the bulldozers went in to "improve" the Loyalsock. She wrote, "Prior to that the area and the original bridge was much smaller. I don't remember if it was a covered bridge or not. The water literally did come in, make a "whirl" and go back out to continue on its way. It truly was "whirl's end." That's where the kids of the area could swim although it was dangerous.

He returned to Milton with a promise of a press and type and soon he was back in the publishing business. Bill Smith died in 1900 and his widow, Mary Smith, continued to operate The Argus. She needed a publisher and an advertisement to find one resulted in a young printer from the Baltimore Sun. He came to Benton for an interview and stayed. And that began the saga of the unfolding of one of Benton's finest families. Percy Brewington of Salisbury, Maryland, became one of Benton's loyal citizens and over the coming years played a large role in the development of the town and the county.

When one thinks of Benton News, one thinks of the eighty years that the Benton Argus (1889-1969) published a newspaper in Benton. The paper was the "Only Democratic Paper Published in the County." Over the coming weeks, we'll attempt to pay tribute to this fine newspaper that ended its years of publication in 1969.

Photo Courtesy of Alice Sutliff Allegar

We did forget to mention two important events in Joshua Vincent's life yesterday--his birthday and his momma's return to Alabama from her Benton nursing duties with eLee. Joshua shares his birthday with Norma Jean Mortenson, who went through later phases of her life under the name Marilyn Monroe. In 1924 on this date, Congress granted U.S. citizenship to all American Indians. In 1941, baseball's "Iron Horse," Lou Gehrig, died in New York of a degenerative disease. In 1865 on this day, the Civil War formally ended when Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of Confederate forces west of the Mississippi, surrendered. The war that cost 620,000 American lives was over. In 1987, President Reagan announced he was nominating economist Alan Greenspan to succeed Paul Volcker as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board.

We have a short quiz this morning. What was the name of the first Benton newspaper? Answer at the end of today's news.

Danielle Deitrick, Benton high school class of '94, graduated with a degree of Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.) in commencement ceremonies June 1 at The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, Broad & Spruce Streets, Philadelphia. Governor Ed Rendell offered the commencement address. Danielle is the daughter of Doug Deitrick, Milton, and Brenda Fritz, Benton. Her grandparents are Jean Deitrick, Benton and Stanley and Virginia Temple, Benton. Dr. Deitrick will attend a one-year internship at Crozer-Chester/ Delaware County Hospital starting in mid-June. She plans to complete her three-year residency at Temple University Hospital specializing in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Her immediate plans include a hiking and mountain bike trip to Montana, Colorado, and Utah.

All of our readers "Give a Hoot" about Ricketts Glen State Park! Next Saturday, June 6, at 1:30 and 7:30 PM, are programs about owls at the park where you can learn about all the owls that reside at Ricketts. Meet at the amphitheater for the 1:30 show and at the Visitor's Center for the 7:30 show. We'll mention the most interesting programs at Ricketts Glen over the summer and you can learn about EACH program of interest by heading to UPCOMING EVENTS. All Ricketts Glen programs are listed there.

The summer programs have not yet started at Worlds End State Park, but when they do we'll include each and every one under UPCOMING EVENTS. Plan to visit the park this summer; you'll see lots of Benton people there! The Remley Construction Company will have lots of workers there, building a new visitor's center for the park. Worlds End State Park is in a narrow S-shaped valley of the Loyalsock Creek just south of Forksville, up in Sullivan County. The first road through the valley was high on the steep slope of the mountain and the precipitous journey made early travelers think they were surely at the "end of the world." The park was called "Whirls End" at one time, but the official name was changed to "Worlds End State Park" in 1943. The 780-acre park was acquired from the Randall Family and the Central Pennsylvania Lumber Company in the early 1930s. Most of the present park facilities were constructed by Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) crews from 1934 to 1941.

If deer are eating you out of house and home, if you want to know what to plant that deer won't eat, listen up! Deer-resistant shrubs are spirea, andromeda, boxwood, and blue star and Japanese varieties of juniper. Try flowering herbs. Thyme and lavender are popular. A systemic deer repellent, Repellex, can be used for other shrubs when planted providing shrubs with deer protection for two years. Consider window boxes and hanging baskets.

In local news, aging Laptop Larry announced that his younger, more agile cousin Laptop Lillian will arrive in Benton in two weeks.

On-highway diesel prices declined for the 11th week in a row, according to figures released May 26. The national at-the-pump average diesel price decreased to $1.434 a gallon. Three areas still retain the dollar-fifty mark: New England, at $1.576; the Central Atlantic, at $1.573; and California at $1.526. The lowest average price of $1.369 is in the Gulf Coast region. The average price of a gallon of unleaded gasoline has declined to $1.56 nationally, with the lowest price, $1.15, in Euless, Texas. Benton remains at $1.37 and #1.39.

Someone who studies things like this tells us that the order of Life Savers in a five-flavor roll is always orange, red, white, green, yellow, red, white, green, orange, red, yellow.

Benton's first newspaper, "The Christian Chronicle," was started by Ed Orvis in 1870 and publication continued until 1875 when it was discontinued. Tomorrow, we'll ask you about Benton's newspaper, "The Independent Weekly."