November 30, 2010, the birthday of Rev. David Mansfield, Carol Stauffer Hughes, Edward Schmidt, Wilbur Kocher and Phyllis Young Harrison. These fine folks celebrate on the same day as did author Jonathan Swift and with Samuel Langhorne Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. Twain once wrote that "Mamma has morals," quoting Twain's daughter Suzy, "and Papa has cats." Some of our favorite Twain quotes include "You have the words, Livy, but you'll never learn the tune," uttered when he heard his wife swear. Other memorable quotes include "It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt." He said, "Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life." Happy anniversary to Marv and Marilyn Seward.
Three little words you often see
Are articles--A, An and The.
A Noun's the name of anything,
As School, or Garden, Hoop or Swing.
Adjectives tell the kind of Noun,
As Great, Small, Pretty, White or Brown
Instead of Nouns, the Pronouns stand--
Her head, His face, Your arm, My hand.
Verbs tell something being done--
To Read, Count, Laugh, Sing, Jump or Run.
The preposition stands before
A Noun, as In or Through, a door.
How things are done the Adverbs tell,
As Slowly Quickly, Ill, or Well.
Conjunctions join the words together,
As men And women, wind Or weather.
The Interjection shows surprise,
As Oh! how pretty! Ah! How wise!
--Anonymous
The German Heritage Society of the Susquehanna Valley will hold its monthly meeting on Thursday, December 2, at 7 PM at the Degenstein Library, Sunbury. The presentation is on the topic of "The Banat Germans" presented by Lydia Kegler, whose own family comes from the Banat and whose great grandmother was from the same town as the Nobel Prize winning author Herta Müller. Dr. Kegler is the director of the Columbia County Traveling Library. She holds a doctorate in German Literature from The Ohio State University. The Banat Germans, also known as Swabians, emigrated in the 18th century to what was then the Austrian Banat province, which had been left sparsely populated by the wars with Turkey. This once strong and important ethnic German minority has now become quite small. Most of its members were expelled to the West by the Soviet Union and its subsidiaries after World War II. Others left for economic and emotional reasons after 1990. At the end of the World War I, in 1918, an attempt was made by the Swabian minority to establish an independent Banat Republic; however, the province was annexed by Romania and Yugoslavia. Ms. Kegler will put Herta Muller in a context that helps explain why she won the Nobel Prize and why nearly no one had heard of her. Members and guests are invited to join in this free program. Refreshments in the form of Christmas cookies provided by members will be served. Contact GHSSV President Jeff Sheaffer at 374-7730 for more information.
There will be a community Christmas hymn sing at the Benton Christian Church on Sunday, December 5, at 7 PM. The program will include singing of Christmas carols and hymns by the audience and various groups presenting Christmas music. The groups participating include the Brass Ensemble, the Chorus from Benton High School, Waller U.M. Church Choir, Christ the King Catholic Church Choir, The Feola Family, and the Benton Christian Church Choir. The community is invited and refreshments will be served in the Church Social Hall following the program.
.
.
November 29, 2010. It is the birthday of Amber Mae Holoman, Tim Grose and Robert Edward Kline. The Benton Area Schools are closed today for Thanksgiving/hunting season. There won't be any rhyme or reason to the publication times of the Benton News for the next two weeks. We'll be resting in front of a roaring fireplace listening to deer stories. And maybe telling some...
Today is the first Monday after Thanksgiving, the first day of buck season, the Commonwealth's unofficial holiday--the best hunting day of the season. The game commission estimates that 750,000 hunters will don fluorescent orange and camouflage clothing and head for the woods today--and the traffic from Harrisburg to Benton Sunday afternoon was stark evidence of the hunters moving into the area. Pennsylvania Game Commission statistics indicate 40% of the overall firearms harvest and 54% of the buck harvest takes place on opening day.
The weather yesterday got adrenalin rushing for hunters. Like yesterday, today will be a keeper of a day with the high for the day about 46°. Tuesday will see rain in the afternoon and Wednesday will turn into drenching rain. Today is the day!
There are fewer deer in many parts of the state, although all reports are that the proportion of older buck has increased. That is the same tune that we hummed in previous years.
This hunting season will be different from previous ones in that the first five days of the deer season are for antlered deer only. Local hunters will have to identify three points on one antler side to be a legal target. Junior license holders, disabled persons with permits and residents on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces may shoot an antlered deer with two or more points on one side or one antler 3 inches or more in length.
In the Northern sections of the state where Marcellus drilling is going full steam, the out-of-state hunters who spend their working hours in the natural-gas drilling business will try their hand at Pennsylvania hunting. These guys, from states where hunting is a huge sport--Texas, Oklahoma and Idaho--aren't taking their two-week vacation period to go home. These hunters are expected to take to the woods. And there are a lot of new potential hunters. There are hundreds of workers on each well. There are 84 gas-producing wells in Bradford County, 146 gas well permits in Lycoming County and 56 in Sullivan County. There are 260 wells in the five county area of Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Tioga and Wyoming. Workers at these well sites generally on duty 12-hour shifts two weeks straight, then get two weeks off. That equates to a lot of workers taking to the woods--with less woods this year following the leasing and drilling of private land.
You can take your first shot at a buck locally beginning this morning at 6:40 AM. Have your hunting finished by 5:10 PM. Hours are different throughout the state.
Everyone loves a good cartoon and no one is better at it than Jim Morin, the Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist of The Miami Herald. Take the time to look at some of Morin's Numerous editorial cartoons here.
We enjoyed reading on Facebook about the woman writing about her "broadminded" husband. "That's all the skunk thinks about," she lamented.
Didja ever hear of a "water motor washing machine?" This is not about getting dirt out of clothes by pounding them on rocks and washing them in streams using sand as an abrasive to free the dirt. This is not about the scrub board. The machine powered by a "water motor" was an honest-to-goodness washing machine. The first washing machine in Benton was a water-motor washing machine purchased by Mr. and Mrs. A. R. Pennington, Market Street. The original price of the labor-saving device was under $10.
The Wilkes-Barre Times in its edition of January 14, 1914, described a "water-motor washing machine" as a "handsome washerwoman who takes no muscle and creates no confusion in the kitchen." The article reminded women that it didn't "cost $1.50 a day and two good meals as the regular washerwoman does." When the spigot in the sink was turned on, the machine began to work.
Think back to that age and think of the delight there would be for a woman to learn that such a device existed. Advertisements noted that water operated the washer and the wringer at the same time. When the washing was finished, you could even iron with a mangle using a small length of belting. The mangle could be attached by a pulley on the washing-machine motor. Advertisements noted that when the motor started, the contraption would "do your ironing for you."
Not content that this puffery would sell machines, the advertisement continued, "when you are not using the washing machine, you can also have the motor drive an ice-cream freezer, grindstone or churn." It apparently was capable of doing everything but walking on water. Unfortunately, it did hardly anything. Remember, this was the only machine available to most women at that time. P. T. Coffield & Sons began building them about 1904 when they introduced the water motor washing machine to the American market. The company claimed to have built "in the neighborhood of one hundred thousand motor washing machines."
The washing machine proved to be so popular with women that more than 200 washing machine manufacturers sold products. As the process of washing clothes became more mechanized, wringers came along, followed by metal tubs replacing the wooden tubs, drive belts came next for the steam and gasoline engines, followed by electric-motor power in 1906. Maytag introduced a system of forcing water through clothes in 1922 using an agitator.
From the September 4, 1921, edition of the Philadelphia Inquirer |
|
 |
Our very modern and convenient laundromat on Market Street is a far cry from the first laundromat in 1851 powered by ten donkeys.
The washing machine in our house is run each day, but for about a hundred years the routine of the housewife was rather uniform. Each day had its purpose and tasks went with that day. Monday, for example, was wash day, a day following a day of rest. It was a chore hauling all those wet clothes to the clothes line. It follows then that Tuesday would be ironing day (and "gardening" day for some women), followed by sewing day on Wednesday to do the mending and fix all the problems caused by crude washing machines. Thursday was market day, Friday was devoted to cleaning to be ready for the weekend. Saturday was baking day in order to be ready for the weekend and Sunday was a day or rest.
.
.
.
November 27 and 28, 2010. Expect some sun, some wind and some cold weather over the weekend. Monday should be a good hunting day, but the rain will probably sneak in Tuesday. Congratulations to Ashley Sorber and Tony Lawson on the announcement of their engagement.
Saturday, November 27, the birthday of Samantha Belles, Hope Miller and Robert Hartman. It is the 52nd wedding anniversary of Max and Loraine Hartman. It will be Christmas in the Park in Shickshinny today from 3 to 5 PM. There will be delicious food in Benton mid-day today when Bill and Barb Schnitzler roll their Smokehouse Bar-B-Que into the parking lot adjacent to the Sports Shop on Main Street. The pulled pork sandwich from Smokehouse Bar-B-Que is absolutely wonderful. Bill and Barb learned the art of making barbecue and ribs during an extended stay in the South. They tried the vinegar-based sauces of east North Carolina, the combination of ketchup and vinegar from the center of the state, and the heavier ketchup base of western North Carolina. In North Carolina, the barbecues usually include cole slaw--shredded cabbage marinated in cole slaw dressing of mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, sugar and spices. The cole slaw is served "on the side" or piled on top.
Sunday, November 28, the birthday of Kathy Barber Heaps and the wedding anniversary of Robert and Gloria Miller. The movie The Trouble with Cali began filming in and around Scranton four years ago today. A "trailer" for the movie is available , but the movie remains listed as "in production." A release date has not been announced. There will be a Zen meditation today at the Endless Mountain Zendo, 104 Hollow Rd., Stillwater, from 10 AM to 12:30 PM. To attend, please call 925-5077.
Many in the area are preparing in one way or another to go hunting Monday. The local school closes for the event. Hunting cabins fill to the brim with food, liquid refreshment--and with men who haven't walked half a mile a day for the last year, but now plan to spend all day in the cold of North Mountain. All available sleeping quarters are filled. Rifles are being sighted in, pockets are being lined with peanuts and candy, foot heaters are filled with fuel.
The turkey leftovers are mostly gone, the Black Friday sales went better than most retailers thought they would and Christmas is only a month away. It's time to turn our attention to the holiday which begins Monday morning about the time sunlight breaks through the trees. It's time for the trip to the hunting cabin, a ritual in our part of the Commonwealth, but a concept of short-term communal living not universally understood. The concept of trekking off to hunt with a bunch of men comes from the days when eating venison was necessary to get through the winter. From cabins of early settlers chinked with stones and mud mortar, wooden pegs for hangers, floor of earth, rough-stone fireplace littered with irons, spits, pots and pans to the hunting cabin of today. A rough-hewn table serves as a place to eat. Benches are used in place of chairs. Cabin walls are decorated with past trophies. Sleeping takes place over the main living area or off to one side--and as relates to heat it is either feast or famine. The early hunting cabins were often family endeavors and a son-in-law counted on being invited to join the hunt from the cabin.
Hunting is important to wildlife management as a population-control tool and as a source of funding for the Pennsylvania Game Commission.
Hunting areas that once were rural have become filled with houses. Some hunting clubs in the state are suddenly overrun by huge trucks as drilling for natural gas begins. The desire of hunters to seek the privacy of a hunting cabin is important, whether the stay is for the day, overnight, for a week or in a few cases for the complete span of hunting season. During the hunting period, the manhood of the hunter comes into play as whiskers emerge and larger quantities of beer are consumed than usual and card-playing involving money takes place. The hunting cabin is the place city dwellers dream of and boys hope to enjoy when they are old enough to run away from home.
Picture the scene in a typical hunting cabin following the evening meal as men lounge in front of a fireplace. One of the older, more experienced hunters begins the storytelling by unrolling a yarn about the "ten-point" seen by the "big rock, next to the tree." The hunter tells anyone within sound of his voice how he stepped on a fallen branch and scared the buck away--his excuse for not getting to fire a shot. Younger kids, perhaps on their first hunt, sit in awe at the stories and learn truths like "one shot, one deer; two shots, one deer, three shots, no deer." When the experienced hunters are alone, kids often shyly approach the older hunter and ask questions. "Why shouldn't I shoot a white deer?" "How can I get up high so deer won't see me?"
The older hunters tell the kids that they should hunt deer on the slopes in the evening, but hunt deer in the valley in the morning. "The smell goes up," they tell the attentive younger hunters, in a fashion somewhat akin to Buddha addressing the faithful. One tells of rubbing antlers together to attract deer and another says to watch for rubbings and scrapes on trees. A deer that turns its tail up so that the white underside shows is signaling trouble, and the entire herd runs for safety. The stories are starting to roll now as the whole room waits their turn so they can tell their favorite hunting story.
The awe-stricken kids learn that when stalking deer the wind must be blowing from the deer toward you, that waiting downwind by a water hole is a way of finding deer, that "buck fever" is missing the first shot in deer season or not being able to pull the trigger when a deer is in the gunsights. They learn that extra-heavy fur on an animal means a cold winter and that in a storm a wild animal normally heads into the wind and that hunting is better in moist weather.
Rainbow in morning, hunters take warning;
Rainbow at night, hunters delights;
Rainbow to windward, foul fall the days;
Rainbow to leeward, damp runs away.
"When the wind is to the west, hunting is best," Father always said. He also claimed that "the more miserable the weather, the better the hunting." The truisms continue: "The sound of a gun doesn't scare the animal, but the movement of the shooter does." One hunter ties a string to the end of the gun barrel to see which way the wind is blowing. Old hunters often kissed the bullet before loading the gun for good luck. "Lead a moving target with your rifle," a grizzly old hunter tells his grandson. "If you look the deer in the eyes, the target will stand still and you'll get a better shot," one fellow instructs his son, who actually wouldn't think of looking at anything but the buck if he is fortunate enough to even find one.
Instructions to the first-time hunter continue. The deer will probably be hiding where the going gets the roughest--swamps, for example. The best time to hunt is at sunrise or sunset because that is when deer feed. Hunters can find their way by looking at the moss on a tree which is always on the north side. Walk with the sun to your back so the sun will be in the critter's eyes, not in the eyes of the hunter. There is always a deer over the next knoll; keep walking even though your legs beg you to return to the cabin. Always gut the game as soon as you shoot it. The wide-eyed boy frets about being told he has to gut the deer he shoots, and isn't interested in the advice to soak wild game in milk to take away strong taste or to soak wild game in salt water and cook with an apple and an onion.
It is finally time to get off to bed amid the army of men snoring, belching from overeating and making multiple trips to the bathroom. Like the vision of sugar plums dancing in their heads, the eager hunters await the time before dawn when they will be summoned from their beds to down some ham and eggs, load themselves with pounds of clothes and head into the woods to participate in their first hunting expedition. This is the dream of many young men as we approach the opening day at the hunting cabin where there are no thoughts of the internet, homework or instructions from mother. A safe and productive hunt is what is on everyone's mind.
Good luck to all the young hunters on Monday. Remember that the advice that you think will work won't, where the deer are expected to be will be wrong and when you think you have deer figured out, they will do something different.
We'll check in from time to time, but don't count on receiving the Benton News every day for the next couple of weeks.
.
.
Black Friday, November 26, 2010, the birthday of Kelly Hess, Jennifer Evans Naugle, Melissa Morrison Vaughn, Samantha Belles, Brandon Hartman, plus Robert Goulet, Rich Little and Tina Turner.
Choose and cut your Christmas tree today through December 24 from 9 AM until dark at the Ecology III Tree Farm, 122 Savage Hill Rd, Orangeville. You can find your tree every Thursday through Sunday. Pick and cut Fraser Fir, Douglas Fir, Colorado Blue Spruce and Concolor Fir. Fresh wreaths and pre-cut trees available. Call 683-5275 or go to www.ecology3.com for more information.
The WHLM parade of lights begins at 5 PM and will illuminate Bloomsburg Town Park, Market, 5th, East and Main Streets with classic cars, floats, boats, fire trucks and thousands of Christmas lights. Each parade participant will be eligible to win $1,000 in cash for the best float, and the best part is…there is no entry fee! The parade route starts at Bloomsburg Town Park; travels up Market to 5th, down 5th to East, up East to Main, and back down Market to end at Town Park. The parade forms at 5 PM and moves at 6. Santa will take up residence at his cottage following the parade. For more information, call 784-1200 or go to www.whlm.com
Visit Santa at the Santa Cottage next to the Bloomsburg Diner, East Second Street, Bloomsburg. Santa's hours start today after the parade and run through December 19, Friday 6 PM to 8 PM, Saturday and Sunday 1 PM to 4 PM. Call 784-2522 or go to www.bloomsburgdowntown.com for more information.
Treefest begins today and runs through November 28, Friday 5 PM to 9, Saturday 10 AM to 5 PM and Sunday from noon until 5 PM. There will be hundreds of trees decorated by local organizations. Trees will be donated to families in need. Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble hosts this event in Caldwell Consistory, Market Street, Bloomsburg Call 784-5530 or go to www.bte.org for more information.
Congratulations to Angie Brewington Alexander, Kim Brewington, Megan Brewington, April Brady, Katrina Hunter and Kyla Edwards Secreto (formerly of Orangeville), for participating in and finishing the Run for the Diamonds on Thanksgiving Day in Berwick. At one point during the run, Kyla and Megan ran into each other (not literally) and chatted while running. It was a great day cheering on the runners and enjoying the snow.
.
.
November 25, 2010. President Lyndon Johnson in 1963 proclaimed November 25 a day of national mourning following the assassination of President Kennedy. The Run for the Diamonds takes place this morning at 10:30 over a nine-mile race in Berwick. The first seven male and female finishers receive diamonds. The Community Outreach Ministry of Benton (COMB) of the Benton United Methodist Church will provide a Thanksgiving meal at the Main Street church at noon. The meal is free and everyone is welcome. Call the church at 925-6858 to make your reservations. Students and teachers of the Benton Area Schools are on Thanksgiving vacation through November 29. Expect rain through Friday, when we head into a nice weekend.
It is Thanksgiving. We're glad you're home for the holidays. Didja know that the first use in English of "thanksgiving" as a single word was in a 1539 translation of the Bible. The translated Bible read, "for all the creatures of God are good and nothing to be refused, yf it be receaved with thankesgevynge."
Congratulations to the twelve local riders known as SR Rodeo Bulls. The group is back from its "Ranch Wars" in Salem, Virginia, where filming took place for a possible upcoming reality TV show! The group competed in the event against some of the best bull and rider teams in the country and it nailed down a second-place finish overall and won the round on Saturday night! SR Rodeo Bulls is named after Shale Ridge farms near Toy Factory Road, Stillwater. Owners Lisa, Colton and Tom Benjamin formed S.R. Rodeo Bulls in 2003 when three bulls were bought so that Colton and his friends could practice bull riding. Over the years, the barn was converted to a bull-practice arena and additional bulls were added. The group either takes the bulls to an event away from Stillwater each weekend or they have bull practice in their own arena--regardless of what the weather is like.
The Roster for the Ranch Wars Team includes...
Team & Bull Owner Colton Benjamin
Team & Bull Owner Tom Benjamin
Bull Owner Matt Shock
Rider Coach Josh Hartrath
Bull Fighter Rob Lockwood
Bull Fighter Jimmy Powell
Out Gate Don Schock
Chute Latch Levi Brown
Chute Gate Mike Machuga
Back Pen Armond Stackhouse
Team Athletic Trainer Terry
Team Veterinarian Jody Kull
Website Brooke Nickles
Facebook Courtney Benderman
Score Keeper Lindsay Jones
It has long been the custom of our people to turn in the fruitful autumn of the year in praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God for His many blessings and mercies to us as a nation. The year that has elapsed since we last observed our day of thanksgiving has been rich in blessings to us as a people, but the whole face of the world has been darkened by war. In the midst of our peace and happiness, our thoughts dwell with painful disquiet upon the struggles and sufferings of the nations at war and of the peoples upon whom war has brought disaster without choice or possibility of escape on their part. We cannot think of our own happiness without thinking also of their pitiful distress.
--Woodrow Wilson, Proclamation, Thanksgiving Day, 1916
 |
A class of 16 graduated from the Benton Borough grammar school in 1916 as shown in this picture of commencement exercises held in the Presbyterian church. |
Streamers of blue and gold--the class colors--hung between the potted plants, palms and flowers, a decoration that the fact-orientated editor of the Argus shortened to "the edifice was profusely decorated." This was the year in which high-school courses in Benton borough were extended for the first time from three to four years.
This class was the first real freshman class of the four-year school. During the summer of 1916, all public gatherings were prohibited and the school forbidden to open as scheduled as a polio epidemic swept the state in late August. When the school was finally allowed to reopen, 15 new students arrived from grammar schools in Benton and Jackson townships.The valedictorian of the class was Darl Ikeler and the salutatory was given by Fred Hosler. Frank Edson was the class president.Teachers in 1916 struggled as a new gizzie called the typewriter took the nation by storm. Teachers in 1916 at the Benton Grammar School included Effie Edwards Potter .Members of the class (using their married names) included Lillian Mendenhall, Kenneth Brittain, Zoe Bender Smithers, Mildred Cole Remley, Cyrus Creveling, Emma Cole Bogart, Joseph McAuliffe, Delia Peterman Speidel, Ruth Shultz Edson, Iris Wood Walls, Vida Edwards, Sara Appleman Fritz, Maude Stedman Adams, Alice Krickbaum Williams, Rena Davis Adams, Pearl Knouse Fritz, Atta Karns Hess, Fred Hosler, Clair Hedden, Frank Edson, Autumn Siegfried Haupt, Myron Savage, Edith Kline Ammerman, Letha Buck Bauer, Mable Creasy Stauder, Lawrence Hess, Flossie Siegfried Brink, Darl Ikler Myers.Percy Brewington became post master of the Benton post office on June 29, 1916. (An interesting story about Percy was that when his daughter Ruth was born he didn't drive a car, so he had my father, Robert E. Kline, a rural mail carrier, drive the expecting parents to the hospital.) Festivities during the year included a "Roister D'Oister" supper with a orchestra concert including a long and loud period of group singing. The 1916 event included the playing of old favorites (?) including, "March of the Kaiser," "the Gushing Waters," "Three Privies," "Melody from Hong Kong," and the "Song of the Rusty Gate." The event was celebrated "without drugs, liquor or motor cars."Hunting was so poor locally that 200 deer from Newport, New Hampshire, were imported to Jamison City in March, 1916, arriving in three feet of snow accumulated on the ground. Local residents were taken aback by Congress. A new revenue law changed the wording in the language of the statute that read that income was proceeds from "any lawful business carried on for gain or profit." The word "lawful" was deleted. Those who derived their incomes from bribery, extortion, and moonshining didn't need to worry because the law also provided that one branch of the Government would not rat to another; i.e. Internal Revenue would not tell the FBI that a woman gained her income from prostitution, as an example. W. A. "Todd" Butt built the brick house on the east side of Main Street across from the Methodist Church in 1916. The house was purchased by Frank Houseweart in 1951. Bill Yanchick, owner of the Benton Coins and Collectibles and the former First Columbia Bank building in Benton Township, is the current owner.Much was happening in other local communities in 1916. The Community Hall Building opened in July in Millville. The Berwick ACF completed work on approximately 3-million Russian 3-inch high explosive shells and went on to build 1,209 equipment trucks and 384 artillery repair trucks for the Government. Mr. Peanut made his first appearance in Wilkes-Barre, complete with top hat, cane, white spats and monocle. The first Berwick Public Library opened in July 1916. In the 1916 election, Woodrow Wilson came out on top over Charles Evans Hughes. Wilson ended up with a popular-vote margin of about 7%..
.
November 24, 2010, the birthday of Steve Miller, Connie Beishline Yorks, Paxton DePoe, Luke Becker and Agnes Hess. Bill and Janet Beishline and Ron and Alice Strauch celebrate their wedding anniversaries. There is early dismissal today from the Benton Area Schools. Thanksgiving services are tonight at 7 at the Benton United Methodist Church with Rev. Alan Lumpkin as speaker and music provided by the Christ the King Catholic Church choir.
The Department of Environmental Protection is investigating a hydraulic fracturing fluid spill of "more than 13,000 gallons" at an XTO Energy natural gas well pad on Marquardt Road, Penn Township, Lycoming County. XTO Energy is a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corp. A spring and a stream in the Muncy Creek watershed were involved, plus the possibility of two additional springs. A DEP inspector discovered the spill while inspecting the well pad. The inspector found that the bottom valve on a 21,000-gallon fracking fluid tank was open and discharging fluid off the well pad. No one else was present at the pad, which has one producing Marcellus well. XTO will pay for the cleanup. For more information, visit www.depweb.state.pa.us.
Didja ever think that anyone who starts a diet this week is an optimist?
Ah, the joys of Thanksgiving! We filled up with turkey and all the trimmings Saturday night at the Jonestown Methodist Church at its annual turkey dinner, then did the same Sunday morning at the Benton Christian Church. Tomorrow we'll do the same thing all over again, this time with family and accented with an Italian flair. There is no danger of forgetting the significance of turkey, stuffing, cranberries and pumpkin pie in this house.
A number of readers have commented about Black Friday and the commercial aspects of Christmas. Some seem to feel that Thanksgiving is just another day to gather and gouge. Some may have forgotten the meaning of Thanksgiving, just as at Christmas some may forget the birth of Jesus Christ.
Thanksgiving began with the Wampanoag Indians and Pilgrims. The newly arrived Pilgrims gave thanks for their new-found religious freedom and their new life in America. We should--as the Pilgrims did--think about gratitude. We should say a special thank you to those who have helped us or been there for us or made our day just a little brighter. Forget about the Christmas lights luring us to the store shelves and don't get caught up in the music of another holiday. There will be plenty of time for that--and we certainly don't want minimize it. But don't involved in the commercialism of the season. Celebrate the historical meaning of Thanksgiving. When school children think of Thanksgiving, they often think of Massasoit
Massasoit was on hard times. Five years before that first Thanksgiving, many of his subjects had a terrible calamity. Whole villages had been depopulated--the Pilgrims occupied one of the empty sites. The Wampanoag's longtime enemies--the Narragansett--threatened to overrun the tribe. The white people with the strange blue eyes who dressed funny and were disgustingly dirty both in what they wore and the hair on their faces didn't have a clue about some basics in Indian life. They did know how to make some interesting things--colored glass, steel knives and hatchets--and they were willing to exchange them for furs--somewhat akin to exchanging a knapsack of stones for a Blu-ray player. An alliance with these strange people was made to help save the Wampanoag from the ravages of the Narragansett.
In the coming days, we'll have to make strange alliances, as the world faces pests in the form of North Korea and Iran and other rogue nations, political parties in our country form new alliances to solve the cutting back of excessive spending and a growing national mentality that tries to escape from the "W" word (work) and "drill vs. no-drill" forces try to reconcile their fears and concerns in the local area. It is a time of the year to be grateful that we have our families, even if some are serving in combat ones abroad. We need to remember the sacrifice made by those men and women who have given their life trying to secure freedom and democracy in Iraq and Afghanistan.
We hope that joy and gratitude will prevail in the coming months. In this Thanksgiving week, we wish the same to all readers.
Didja ever think that perhaps the first Thanksgiving
was a defining moment in American history,
nearly on the same level as Independence Day?
Benton Council of Churches...
• The Council of Churches has cook books for sale ($7 each). The cook books make very nice Christmas gifts.• The CROP Walk had 32 walkers this year, the most in its 15-year history in Benton.• To date, 110 military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan have received Bible Stik with donations from Benton Area Churches ($2,750)
• The Council will once again serve lunch to the volunteers of the Food Bank on December 21 at the Benton Christian Church.
• The Council is planning to take part in the annual Benton yard sale days over Memorial Day Weekend 2011. To help, save those no-longer-needed items.
• The Council voted to change the meeting night from the 4th Monday every other month to the 4th Tuesday of every other month at 7 PM.
--thanks to Margaret Follmer for providing this information
.
.
November 23, 2010. It is the 64th wedding anniversary of Bob and Kathryn Maynes, celebrated today on Bob's 89th birthday. It is also the birthday of Matthew Doty and Bruce Jankowski. On this date in 1945, most U.S. wartime rationing of foods ended, including meat and butter. Expect warm (near 60°) temperatures with morning fog, rain and windy conditions today.
Quickies...
•The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that the "White South #1H" natural-gas well in North Texas' Barnett Shale produced an average of 17.8 million cubic feet of gas per day, or more than 534.7 million cubic feet for the month. In September alone, it produced enough gas to supply 8,150 homes for an entire year, based on American Gas Association average usage data. The well could potentially produce for 30 years.•The opening day of general deer season in Pennsylvania begins the Monday after Thanksgiving. The Pennsylvania Game Commission expects nearly 750,000 people hunting that day.
• We live on the other side of the tracks, so to speak, but in Jupiter, Florida, Tiger Woods caused a "retreat" to be built during his married days and laid out a reported $50 million to make sure that things were just right. He is now finding out that the folks in Jupiter Island are a bit fussy. They don't like, just to name a couple of things, details of a personal nature to be broadcast, unless it is a notice of marriage, death or society happening. It is not a place where Facebook or Tweeter is welcome. It isn't a place where extramarital affairs are tolerated, where excesses with the environment are permitted, where riding a bicycle on the island's narrow streets is appreciated. Tiger needs to be careful not to hurl his SUV into a fire hydrant as he did in his Isleworth neighborhood in Orlando a year ago. And he shouldn't invite neighbors like former Congressmen Mark Foley and Tim Mahoney for tea, both of whom left office amid scandal.
• Wednesday evening at 7 will be this year's Community Thanksgiving Service at the Benton United Methodist Church. The message will be delivered by The Rev. O. Al Lumpkin. Members of Christ the King Catholic Church will bring the special music.
There will be bargains! On Black Friday, get a $150 Nook eReader from Barnes & Noble Inc. for $99.99. Wal-Mart will sell the “Ice Age” Blu-ray movie, currently on sale for $20 for $5. Target Corp. will have a 40-inch Westinghouse LCD HDTV on sale for $298, a discount of more than $250.
Expect retailers on Black Friday to have flat-panel TVs, e-Readers, mobile phones and tablet computers. The price of the Blu-ray disc player has dropped to under $100. Wal-Mart and Target will peddle Blu-ray movies for $5 to about $15. Just make a note that if anything comes along after the Blu-ray, you won't buy it. Ever.
Other deals include a $139.99 7-inch Android tablet computer from Kmart, a discount of $40; cashmere sweaters for $34.99, down from $100, at Kohl’s. Old Navy will give away a Dance Central Kinect game for the Xbox 360 console with a $25 purchase. We won't know what Target has to get rid of until Wednesday. Smart phone users can preview the Best Buy specials here.
Amazon.com sent out an email Monday night saying that their sales had begun. Some retailers will begin their sales Wednesday. Have gas in the car and be ready to run. Sales are spreading out this year. Keep current on the best offerings by consulting www.offers.com/ , www.savings.com/ or http://dealnews.com/ .
There are bargains to be had on Thanksgiving, too. Old Navy stores are generally open from 9 AM to 8 PM, with deals including half-priced outerwear and a coupon for $10 off a $50 purchase. Sears will be open from 7 AM to noon. Toys 'R' Us opens at 10 PM for promotions like a free $50 gift card with purchase of a regularly-priced 8GB iPod touch ($230) or an Xbox 360 4GB system ($200). Shop online at Best Buy to get the Friday specials.
On Friday, the deals start happening at midnight, when Wal-Mart and Old Navy open their doors. Best Buy stores open at 5 AM. Target will have a 1080p resolution 40” Westinghouse television for $298 (Most deeply discounted sets have lower 720p resolution). Wal-Mart will have a 15” HP laptop for $300.
Sears has some deep discounts available online for in-store pickup later in the day. Some will post the door-busters online as early as midnight. Most retailers also offer a second set of sales after the opening round ends at 10 or 11 AM. Bring newspaper ads with you on the chance that retailers will match competitors’ prices. Wal-Mart did last year. (Most won't)
Kmart and BJ’s will have the same sales Saturday and Sunday they offered on Friday (without the door-busters)--if they still have the item in stock. Big Lots’ Saturday-only deal is a Serta Queen memory foam mattress for $399, down from $999. As the men head off for their official holiday Monday, the opening day of antlered deer in Pennsylvania, Amazon.com will give you up to 50% off select Fisher-Price toys and 25% off a shoe purchase of $75 or more (30% for orders of $150 or more).
 |
Phoebe Jean (Perry) Walters (March 28, 1925-November 22, 2010) died Monday at her Elk Grove Road home, the same house in which she and her eleven siblings were born 85 years ago in Elk Grove when the village consisted of only a dozen houses. |
"Jeannie" was a daughter of Anthony H. "Tone" Perry and Roxanna (Harvey) Perry. Together they managed the Perry Hotel. Jeannie attended the Sugarloaf School at Grassmere and graduated from Benton High School in 1942. She was the head baker for the Benton Area School District cafeteria for more than 20 years. She was a former member of Benton Christian Church and later attended Christ United Methodist Church in Central. She loved genealogy and anything associated with the history of the Perry family, Elk Grove, Emmons and the surrounding area.
Surviving are her children Roxie W. Janney (Ronald), Bethlehem; Kathy W. Reifsnyder, Catawissa and Richard J. "Jim" Walters, Benton. There are 5 grandchildren: Becca and Russell Janney, Zeph Barry, Tony and Andy Walters; 4 great grandchildren: Austin Barry, Dylan, Alyssa, and Erica Walters; 2 sisters: Elizabeth "Libby" Lewis, Benton; Lola Jordan, Wagontown; 2 brothers: Anthony Perry, Parkesburg, and Richard Perry, Manheim. There were numerous nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Robert J. Walters on April 11, 1994, and by a son, Tony Walters, in 1959 as well as siblings Marguerite Bradford, William Perry, Robert Perry, Frances Johns, Donald, Ruth and Frank Perry; as well as her daughter-in-law, Aggie Walters.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, November 27, 2010 at noon with a viewing preceding at the McMichael Funeral Home. Burial will be in St. Gabriel's Cemetery, Sugarloaf Township.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in her memory to the Janet Weis Children's Hospital, Geisinger Medical Center, Danville, PA 17822. For online condolences, visit www.mcmichaelfuneralhome.com .
.
.
November 22, 2010, the birthday of Kelly Yost, Clair Harvey and Sharon Remphrey. It is the wedding anniversary of Barry and Sylvia Harrison. On this date in 1963, President John F. Kennedy was fatally shot in Dallas, Texas. The Northern Columbia Quilt Guild meets at the Stillwater Christian Church Fellowship Hall, Wesley Street, Stillwater. Doors open at 6 PM for registration. Meetings begin at 6:30 and last until 8:30 PM. For further information, contact Joanne Riley, 925-2563, or Jackie Parks, 925-6498. Keep Don Rabb in your prayers today as he encounters gallbladder surgery for an organ that has been his constant companion for 88 years. Rain is possible on Thanksgiving. Reception from the Verizon cell tower in Benton went to 5 bars at 8:50 Monday morning.
An email forwarded to me from an unknown writer said how much he liked the movie Unstoppable. The movie is based on a runaway train in the mountains of Pennsylvania. The author of the email had gone to look at elk in the village of Benezette when filming took place in that area. He wanted to see if Denzel Washington could use him as an extra in the film. "Of course he wasn't having any of that. We asked a waitress to call him up to see if he wanted to have a beer with us. He wasn't having any of that either. She did say that the train did come thru Benezette, so we were in the right place." Film production was coordinated from Pittsburgh, the headquarters of the fictional "Allegheny and West Virginia Railroad." Filming took place in Ohio, New York, and in Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh, State College, Emporium, Milesburg, Tyrone, Port Matilda and Bradford where the movie was shot from a highway as a camera crew drove beside the train. The movie exaggerates the original story by adding a derailment, car wrecks, helicopter stunts and other Hollywood trickery. A spectacular train derailment was shot in Emporium.
Didja ever wonder why so many feel it is not incumbent on each generation to pay its debts as it goes?
• Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife Conservation Officer (WCO) William Williams, a member of the Game Commission’s Ceremonial Unit, took part in the funeral of fallen WCO David Grove, 31, in Waynesboro Sunday. Grove was killed in the line of duty last Thursday night while on duty November 11 in Adams County. Read more here.
• In response to a reader's question about natural gas, the "Rhinestreet" formation is part of the Upper Devonian shale and is about 1,000 feet above the Marcellus strata. The Utica formation is below the Marcellus shale. Purcell Limestone is sometimes between layers of Marcellus. Other shale formations exist in the Commonwealth and are being identified. The Marcellus is the focus of drillers at this time, although future generations may concentrate on the Rhinestreet and the Utica. For more on the subject of the Marcellus, go here.• Corey Lear wrestled for four years at Benton Area High School. He was a PIAA individual state champion, named to Pennsylvania All-Academic Wrestling First Team and was the high school's all-time winningest wrestler with a 157-17 career-high school record, including 69 pins over his final three seasons. Corey participated in the Navy's Dapper Dan Classic Saturday as the No. 2 seed where he won the 165-pound title to help the Bucknell wrestling team open its 2010-11 campaign with a runner-up team finish. Lear's closest match was a 4-1 decision over a Franklin & Marshall wrestler in his opening bout. He then posted a 14-2 major decision in the quarterfinals, a 7-2 decision in the semifinals and a 9-2 decision in the finals over his Navy opponent. Corey is the son of Chuck and Stacey Lear, Orangeville.• We are rapidly approaching that special time of the year when families come together to share a feast and give thanks for all the blessings they have received throughout the year. I was especially touched by the action of Rev. Calvin Miller of the local United Methodist Church who showed up at the doorway of a needy local couple with an "Angel Food" box of food. The couple attends a church other than the Methodist church. The church will provide a free meal for local residents at noon on Thanksgiving as the Methodist church shares with those who are not so fortunate. Reservations are not required, but would be appreciated: 925-6858.
• Saturday was the start of the state's three-day rifle bear season, which began on the Monday before Thanksgiving in previous years. Hunters tell me that the woods were surprisingly quiet. The Trout Run station logged 37 bears, mostly around 200 pounds. WCOs at the tagging stations pull a tooth on each bear, which is sent to a laboratory for age analysis.
• Just as hunting season and the holidays arrive and we are thankful that we don't have to go through the pat-downs offered as a Thanksgiving treat by the Transportation Security Administration, along comes higher gasoline prices--the highest they have been since May. Locally, the price of gasoline has broken the hated $3 level and the trend seems to be pointed up. It isn't increased demand this time. The weak dollar--meaning that U.S. buyers need more dollars to buy a barrel of oil--is sending investors to commodities such as sugar, oil, gold and crude oil. If the dollar remains weak, crude oil prices could go higher. Gas prices usually peak during summer vacation season in July. This year, the peak was in May, then prices dropped and held steady until last month. We all seem to know that the age of cheap oil has passed.• Not that any readers of the Benton News actually give a hoot, but... Rahm Emanuel, until recently President Obama's chief of staff, is trying to get on the gravy train as mayor of Chicago. He is running into opposition much worse than Republicans dished out during the last year in Washington, D.C. A Chicago law in effect since 1871 requires that a candidate must live in the city for a year prior to the election. The law is simple and unambiguous: A person is not eligible for an elected municipal office unless that person is a qualified elector of the municipality and has resided in the municipality at least one year next preceding the election or appointment. Rahm lived in Washington--but wait, this is Chicago, where rules are made to be broken. Stay tuned.
Norval A. Blaine (December 4, 1923-November 19, 2010), Sweet Valley, Fairmount Township, passed away Friday at Hospice Care of the Vna, Heritage House, Wilkes-Barre. He was 86. Mr. Blaine was born in Ross Township. He was a son of Joseph K. and Grace Steele Blaine. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Prior to retiring, Norval was employed by Standard Roofings Inc., Morristown, NJ. His wife, the former Dorothy Casterline, died in 1992. He was also preceded in death by a son James; brother William Ord Blaine; and a sister Belva Ferrey. He is survived by sons Andrew N., Mountain Top; Richard A. (Marion), Shavertown, and Brian J., Jackson Township; daughters, Candace Snyder (Daniel), Benton, and Dorothy Bridges (John), Canton, Texas; sisters, Mildred Malinowski and Emma Blaine, both of Sweet Valley; as well as 12 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. The funeral will be held at 11 AM Tuesday from the Curtis L. Swanson Funeral Home Inc., corner of routes 29 and 118, Pikes Creek. Interment will be in the Lateer Cemetery, Sweet Valley. Friends may call from 7 to 9 PM Monday at the funeral home.
.
.
November 20 & 21, 2010. Sunny and seasonal cool for the next two days--but very much a keeper of a weekend.
• November 20, the wedding anniversary of Earl and Joann Heimbach and Wayne and Mary Baker. Today is the Angel Food pick-up at the Methodist Church.
•November 21, the birthday of Gerald Evans and the wedding anniversary of Gerry and Jerry Newhart and Terry and Terri O'Connell. There is a bluegrass jam at the Jerseytown Community Center beginning at noon today and a Pampered Chef bingo party at the Benton fire hall with doors opening at 1 PM and bingo beginning at 2 PM. Tickets are available at the door. There will be door prizes and Chinese auctions, special raffles and food. There is a full moon tonight, once known by Algonquin tribes as the Frost Moon or the Full Beaver Moon.
those who have nothing in their favor
simply spread dissension in the opposition camp?
• Krysten Ritter is in the midst of things in Hollywood and other places of excitement. Catch up on her latest by going here.
• Natural gas spot prices fell modestly last week as colder weather materialized slowly and storage levels rose again.
• The address for Harold and Esther Hess is room 117, Muncy Valley Skilled Nursing, 215 E. Water St., Muncy, PA 17756. A card to them would be appreciated.
The Paul and Amy Salansky well in Lake Township was drilled on land owned by a Lake Township supervisor who does not own the mineral rights to her property. Her only compensation was for "surface disturbances." She would not have received royalties on gas extracted. It is probably safe to assume that Ms. Salansky is happy to see Encana head back to Canada.
There is a lot of fact and speculation on this subject. You might want to go to Facebook's page devoted to the Gas Drilling Awareness Coalition (GDAC) and read the volumes written about the sites and the situation.
Williams Partners LP continues to make a name for themselves in the natural-gas drilling side of revenue for the company. Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. has sold 75 miles of gathering pipeline and two compressor stations in Pennsylvania to a Williams subsidiary for $150 million. The agreement requires Williams to connect Cabot's drilling program wells with gathering lines and deliver Cabot's production to five interstate pipeline delivery points.
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock,
And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin' turkey-cock,
And the clackin' of the guineys, and the cluckin' of the hens,
And the rooster's hallylooyer as he tiptoes on the fence;
O, it's then the time a feller is a-feelin' at his best,
With the risin' sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest,
As he leaves the house, bareheaded, and goes out to feed the stock,
When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder's in the shock.
--James Whitcomb Riley, 1853-1916
Gasoline is now 25c per gallon retail. The automobile pleasure trips will be fewer and shorter, if the price of gasoline continues to soar.
--Benton Argus, February 3, 1916
Stanley was preceded in death by his son, Danny B. Bogert, on April 23, 2002, and by brothers Leland E. Bogert on November 26, 1971, and David Guy Bogert on November 29, 2009. Surviving are his wife, the former Blanche Hess, with whom he celebrated his 56th wedding anniversary on October 15, 2010; sons Stanley Dwight Bogert, Duncansville; Douglas D. Bogert (Debbie), Dade City, Florida; Dennis R. Bogert, at home; Dean H. Bogert (Mary Ann), Almedia; a daughter, Daisy M. Franzeo, Allentown; four grandchildren; nine great-grandchildren; and siblings Erma Harris, Dallas; Ernest H. Bogert (Edna), Media; Florence Burgess, Benton; Ruth, wife of Kenneth Johnson, Newark, Delaware; Donald E. Bogert (MaryEllen), Warners, NY; Elsie, wife of William Mack, West Chester; and Rebecca, wife of Edward Wolfe, Newark, Delaware.
Friends may call at the Dean W. Kriner Funeral Home, Benton, Sunday from 6-8 PM. Funeral services will be held on Monday morning at 10 in the funeral home. Interment will take place in Elan Memorial Park, Lime Ridge.
.
.
.
November 19, 2010, the birthday of Dale Franklin, Eric Ignatavich and John McHenry Unbewust. Julia Ward Howe wrote The Battle Hymn of the Republic on this day in 1861. The poem was later set to the music of Glory Hallelujah. Two years later on this day--November 19, 1863--President Abraham Lincoln delivered his Gettysburg address as concluding remarks in front of about 15,000 people following Dr. Edward Everett's two-hour speech. The speech was brief--just 272 words, two-thirds of them of only one syllable, in ten mostly short and direct sentences. It was over two minutes later. The speech become one of the most important speeches in American history.
The impact of this action will be debated for some time. Drilling continues in our immediate area as we benefit economically from the discovery of the liquid gold we call natural gas 5,000 to 6,500 feet below us. Like the old game of "ready or not, here I come," we have to have confidence that man's past environmental excesses that resulted in the creation of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and Bureau of Oil and Gas Management will provide oversight. Organizations chartered to manage and protect the environment from harm as natural gas reserves are brought to the surface and as associated wastewater is handled must do their job. The area breathed a sigh of relief when the Martin well near St. Gabriels Church was drilled "without a hitch" and accomplished with an open exchange of information about what was happening. That test well was not fracked (but possibly could be in the future). It did not go through all the steps of a horizontal gas well. Some would argue that it has not yet had the full-up water withdrawal point , gas compressor station , gas-drilling operations, millions of gallons of water impoundment, the eventual reclaimed gas well or a treatment plant dedicated to treating gas drilling wastewater for reuse by the industry. It may or may not happen.
With all this flurry of activity that is coming like an oncoming freight train, we continue not to have sufficient places for literally thousands of workers, requiring temporary housing (1-3 years). As the area found out with the demand for workers in the timber industry in the late 1800s, the lack of decent places to live impacted crime, alcohol abuse, mental health and the overall economy. Natural-gas companies may have to provide temporary housing to provide shelter for their workers as did Chesapeake Energy Corp. with its $7 million residential complex in Athens Township, Bradford County to hold 280 or so workers. Web sites, such as Solomon's Rental Listings is a way for workers to find housing.
In addition to the drilling for natural gas, the hills around us are becoming hotbeds of gathering-line activity. The gathering lines run between wellheads and larger gas-transmission lines. There is no point of drilling if the gas can't get to the transmission lines. Didja know that Pennsylvania is the only gas-producing state that does not regulate the construction and safety of gathering lines? The Commonwealth has yet to make a formal decision on what organization will regulate the construction and safety of the pipelines from wells to transmission lines. The Public Utility Commission inspects other types of natural-gas lines and is said to be asking for jurisdiction to oversee the nonutility lines--except in the most sparsely populated areas. OOPS--that might be us!
Gathering lines are not considered public utilities in Pennsylvania. If they were considered public utilities, companies might then have the power of eminent domain to condemn pipeline rights-of-way.
But look at the future of the Benton area. We are right in the action of natural gas drilling--but we are far from the benefits of the usage of natural gas. The gathering lines now being built could reshape the future of energy in our valley. As gathering lines are built to take the gas from the wells to the transmission line running East and West a few miles North of the borough, similar lines could follow parallel routes to provide natural gas to Benton and surrounding areas. In order to do that, a gas company would have to step up and see if there were enough customers to eventually provide natural gas to fuel our homes. That may be five or more years in the future, but we suspect it will eventually happen.
So is oil or natural gas the cheaper alternative?
• Confused about Facebook's new email system? Listen to the Man himself--Mark Zuckerberg--explain his plan for Facebook email.• There is no truth that full-body scanners at airports across the nation will be integrated with Facebook next month, allowing travelers to save, tag, and share their security photos with friends, family and co-workers through the popular social networking site.
Dorothy Mae (Ewing) Longnecker (May 31, 1926-November 16, 2010), formerly of Benton, a very devoted wife and mother of 13 children, died Tuesday while visiting in Rochester, NY. She was 84. She was born in Oak Park, IL. She was the second daughter of James and Jessie (MacFarlane) Ewing. She was preceded in death by her husband of 64 years, Charles, in July of this year, and daughter, Gail (Longnecker) Belles. Dorothy served alongside her husband with Christian ministries in the United States and Kenya. She was a wonderful counselor and guide to her children, grandchildren and women in ministry.
Surviving are her sons and daughters-in-law Mark and Nancy, Daniel and Cheryll, Timothy and Deborah, Joel, Nathan, Eric and Maureen; daughters and sons-in-law: Linda and David Duke, Virginia and Kermit Minnick, Jan and Daniel Belles; Grace and Robert Henrie; Sharon and Robert Wittke; Patti and James Pollock; Jill and Mark Carson. There are 34 grandchildren and 38 great grandchildren; sister Jessie (Ewing) Nehlsen, and brother James Ewing.
The family will receive friends on Sunday evening, November 21, from 5 to 7 PM at the McMichael Funeral Home. A private graveside service will be held Monday at 10 AM in Berwick. A memorial service will be held at 2 PM on Monday, November 22, at the Bible Baptist Church, Benton. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Voice of the Martyrs, P.O. Box 443, Bartlesville, OK 74005-0443. For online condolences or to sign the online register book, please visit www.mcmichaelfuneralhome.com .
.
.
November 18, the 322nd day of 2010 with 33 days remaining until the official start of Winter. Stanley Bogert, Forks, is home on Hospice care, surrounded by his family, after a week at Geisinger Hospital for advanced medicine. Prayers are requested for all.
Quickies...
• Dave and Maryann Baker are enjoying their travels through Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand. They have been traveling through SE Asia since November 1 and expect to return to the US on December 1. Today they are in Peskae Laos and expect to spend several days on the Meconge River before heading to the mountains of Thailand.• The Sunday evening Christmas music program at the Presbyterian Church with the Lumpkin family, Jean, Jeremy, and Al, joined by friends, Warren and Ann Fisher and Judy Ellis, will take place at 7 on December 19.• Leaf pickup in the Borough has concluded. Residents who still have leaves in their yards may bag them, place them on the curb, and they will be picked up by the maintenance crew.
• DEP maintains a database of permits and other authorizations. To better understand, the permits and authorizations, go here. For the permits and authorizations for Columbia County, go here , then click on sites by county. This list includes natural gas drill sites in the townships of Jackson, Benton and Sugarloaf.
Minutes of the Benton Borough Council Meeting of October 4, 2010, and are summarized in the following paragraphs, as submitted by Kay Yankovich, Borough Secretary. The meeting, held at the Benton Volunteer Fire Hall, was called to order at 7 pm by Council President, Grant Little. Attending were Jan Swan, Mayor, and Grant Little, President of Borough Council. Members Ed Hartman, Jan Jankowski, Huber Kline and Diane Laubach attended, as did Bryan Getz, Maintenance Supervisor, Randy Karschner, Chief of Police, and Kay Yankovich, Borough Secretary. Ron Roberts also attended.
A moment of silence was observed in memory of David Albertson, President of the Benton Volunteer Fire Company, who passed away September 27, 2010.
Huber Kline referred to the Borough Office lease agreement with the Benton Volunteer Fire Department. He stated that he has spoken with Wilson Lynn regarding improvements to the borough office. Wilson has asked that the requested repairs be in writing to the fire company for presentation at their meeting on October 18. They would like all requests to be very specific. Kay was directed to follow through on this matter.
Huber Kline questioned if council had ever considered selling the land used for its annual rodeo to the Rodeo Association. Grant responded that Council had considered this action, but the solicitor advised against the sale.
Ron Roberts asked if council had made a decision regarding the purchase of a winter parka for the crossing guard. No decision has yet been reached.
Doug McCracken was appointed to a four-year term on the Benton Municipal Water & Sewer Authority Board.
Ed Hartman reported that the plans for the water slide, as prepared by Brian Dumond, have been forwarded to the insurance company for approval. The committee has chosen several pieces of playground equipment to be included with the grant application. Jan Swan reported the cost for a new basketball court is estimated at $12,900. The Lions Club has stated they will help raise funds to be donated toward the cost of the new court.
Huber Kline expressed concern regarding the low spot in the park along the dike, and the possibility of raising the dike. Grant responded that unfortunately there is no government support to assist with raising the dike.
The revised Local Services Tax Ordinance as prepared by Attorney Leipold was enacted. The budget will be presented at the November Council meeting.
Mayor Swan reported the grant application for the new police cruiser has been approved by USDA. The grant amount is $15,000. Matching borough funds required to cover the cost of the cruiser are $13,344. Michelle Musser, USDA, met with Jan and Grant to discuss the grant agreement; she explained that the grant funds would be available for two years. The Finance Committee was asked to consider the matching funds needed when they are completing the 2011 budget.
Grant expressed appreciation for the speed-limit device at the southern end of town. This device was put in place by PaDOT.
Huber Kline expressed appreciation to the maintenance crew for the clean-up work along the creek between Market Street and the bridge. Huber Kline noted the need for rain gear for the maintenance crew. Bryan was directed to purchase rain gear. Bryan requested Council approval to purchase the device needed to operate the automatic door on the hangar. Council directed Bryan to get the cost for this item.
Huber Kline suggested the possibility of opening the sluice-gate at the Dam to lower pre-flood water. This would require an engineering study. The matter was referred to the Public Works committee for consideration.
Ed Hartman presented the estimate received from Benjamin Construction for necessary repairs to the maintenance shed. The following repairs to the maintenance shed will be made: remove old roofing for $280; dispose of old roofing, $290; install 29 gauge painted metal for $2,371; and run electric 12/2 wire to receptacle and 2 switched lights for $435, with the total cost of $3376.
The borough will enact the ordinance establishing weight limits on certain borough streets, as prepared by Attorney Leipold.
Diane reported that Ed Stevens is not interested in serving on the Zoning/Hearing Board. Ed Hartman agreed to serve on the Board if other interested parties are not found. This will be determined at the November meeting.
.
.
November 17, 2010, the birthday of Julie Wang, Leann Gordon, Alissa Stackhouse, Marianne B. Dumberth and Cindy Becker. Bill and Loretta Hiscox celebrate their wedding anniversary today. Expect a windy day. The local Red Hats meet today at the Sub Shop.
• Angel Food pickup is this Saturday from 7:30 to 9 AM for those who ordered. All food now comes already boxed up. There is no need to bring your own boxes!
• The Benton United Methodist Church will hold its Thanksgiving Meal at the church on Thanksgiving, November 25, at noon. The meal is free and everyone is welcome. It will be a wonderful meal and a time of fellowship. Please call the church office at 925-6858 and leave a message if you will attend. There may even be a door prize or two!
• There is a clothing give-away on Friday, December 3, from 4 to 7 PM at the Benton United Methodist Church. Bring your bags and "shop."
• There will be a Pampered Chef bingo party at the Benton fire hall on November 21, with doors opening at 1 PM and the bingo beginning at 2 PM. For the price of $20 a ticket, which gives you 20 games, you'll be helping the Benton field-hockey team. For tickets, contact Karen Good, 925-5460, Amy Warnig, 245-1064, or any field-hockey player. Tickets are also available at the door. There will be door prizes and Chinese auctions, special raffles and food.
Some relationships seem to be over our heads, but when they come down to earth they end up being marriages made in heaven. A situation somewhat like this developed in Benton Sunday at the airport when an unsuspecting Marcia Seely, assistant to the business manager of the Benton Area Schools, and Rick Harowicz, owner of Hurst Sign Co. Inc., Scranton, made a low-level pass over the runway. Rick was piloting the plane that flew from the Forty-Fort Airport for a stop in Benton, before continuing on to the Honesdale area. When Marcia looked down, she saw signs which said, "Just say Yes!" Confused, Marcia then saw her two daughters, Hannah and Justine, and Rick's daughter, Marissa, along with her father Joe LaBonte, holding signs and jumping up and down.
| Marcia then saw the important question, blazed all across the runway: "Marcia, will you marry me?" |  |
A combination of cabin pressure, altitude, excitement, nervousness and a seat belt that restricted movement resulted in not a precise recording of the response to the question posed from the ground. Rick then asked the question over the roar of the engine. "Marcia, will you do me the honor of being my wife?"
Kay and I learn a great deal each day from our loyal friends and constant companions, Buster and Chloe. We are forever amazed at what they know and understand. We love to watch at the end of a tiring day when Chloe falls asleep at our feet and begins dreaming of the dangers and exploits of her day's activities--the hunt for the mousies, the walks in the woods, the waiting for food until Leader provides something to eat. I sometimes think of the old story in Aesop's Fables where the horse was jealous of the dog and tried to ingratiate itself with its master by imitating its rival's habits of fawning on its master and jumping on his lap. Both the horse and the owner ended up badly, and so would an elephant if he tried to imitate the dog and curl himself up at his master's feet.
.
.
.
November 16, 2010. It is the birthday of David McHenry, Mikelanne McHenry Welliver and June Phillips. In a mad dash to drive from Florida to Benton, we somehow overlooked the birthdays November 13 of Dick Karschner, Zane Unbewust and Nancy Myers. We apologize to these fine people for this omission. Expect some rain today with possible showers remaining in the area for a couple of days.
• Halliburton Co. said Monday it is now publicly disclosing the identity of chemicals used in fracking in the Marcellus shale mining on its web site . The company did not release the amount of chemicals at each well or identify the location of the wells.
• The promise of the Marcellus Shale is huge for Pennsylvania, but right below it is Utica Shale. Listen to geologist John Interval discuss the Utica potential. Click on the arrow to the right of the speaker symbol. Go here.
• The Pennsylvania State Police and the Department of Environmental Protection conducted a three-day joint safety enforcement operation in October in which three out of every four drilling wastewater hauling trucks stopped were cited for safety violations and 207 were so dangerous they were immediately placed out of service. Fifty-two drivers were driving illegally. In Lycoming County, 289 trucks out of 340 inspected were issued citations and nearly 1 in 5 were taken off the road.
• A recent CBS Crime Scene Investigation entitled “Fracked” involved drinking water contaminated by hydrofracking. Two men are murdered right before exposing a natural-gas company for poisoning residents in a farming town, and the CSIs must discover who is responsible for their deaths. If you didn't see the show, you can watch it by clicking here.
After spending six weeks in Florida, it was wonderful taking a ride Monday through the outlying hills around Fishing Creek valley. The ride set me straight. I had been confused with the use of the word "Service" when used with terms such as the Internal Revenue "Service," the U.S. Postal "Service," the telephone "Service," cable television "service," civil "service," customer "service," and on and on. I thought that I understood the term "service." But when I got into the village of Derrs and talked with a farmer who told me about his new bull which "services" his cows, it all came into focus. Now I understand what all these agencies are doing to us.
The bookmobile will be in Benton this week. Please stop and meet Lydia Kegler and get acquainted with the operation of the bookmobile. Today the bookmobile is at Rainbow Hill Preschool from 1:20 to 1:45 PM, Little Tiger Teachery from 1:50 to 2:10, Central Hotel from 2:30 to 3:30 PM and Country Fresh Market from 4 to 6:30.
Deerskin was a major part of the local economy and had been for years. In 1753 more than thirty thousand deerskins were exported from North Carolina according to Meredith Mason Brown, writing in Frontiersman from LSU Press. As early as 1700, an average of fifty-four thousand deerskins were being exported each year to England from southern Carolina. There was so much trade in deerskin that a "buck," meaning a dressed skin weighing about two and a half pounds, worth about forty cents a pound, became the synonym for a dollar in the American colonies.
Quoting from Frontiersman, "To hunt successfully and to survive in Indian country, you had to know where and when to find the game, how to prepare it, how to get it to market, how to tell whether Indians were nearby, and how to avoid them. Boone hunted many kinds of game, among them deer, bear, buffalo, beaver, otters, panther and turkey. For Boone, and for white and Indian hunters overall, deer were the most important. There was nothing paltry about peltry commerce in Boone's day. In 1767, for example, the commissary at Fort Pitt, at the site of what is now Pittsburgh, recorded receipt of 282,629 deerskins. That volume was about the same as the volume of deerskins passing through Charleston and New Orleans."
White and Indian hunters in those turbulent years must have been killing far more than a million deer a year in the watershed of the Mississippi River. Deerskins were important not only for sale in the colonies but also for export. In 1770, the British continental colonies in North America shipped out deerskins weighing 799,807 pounds and worth 57,750 pounds sterling. This was an important supplement to America's primary exports at the time--tobacco (906,638 pounds sterling), bread and flour (505,553 pounds sterling), dried fish (375,394 pounds sterling), and rice (340,693 pounds sterling), but deerskins accounted for close to 2% of all American exports.
The need for market hunting and the fur trade pushed hunters ever farther westward, ultimately destroying hunting as a significant factor in the American economy. Boone and other market hunters killed far more game animals each year than were born in the wild, and fewer and fewer of these animals would be born each year as the number of adults shrank and as encroaching settlements destroyed the animals' habitat. The yield from hunting could not be sustained.
.
.
Sunday, November 14 and Monday, November 15, 2010. Monday is the birthday of Jim Ropel. Ellis Laubach had a "very successful heart-valve replacement and double bypass earlier in the week. Health issues are following the family. His bride of many years had emergency back surgery last week and another this week. She is "comfortable, but is not out of the woods yet." Please keep them in your prayers.
Congratulations to Lauren Staffer, 16, who last week with her high school tennis doubles partner won the PIAA AAA State Championship in tennis. During Lauren's previous two high-school seasons, she and her partner won third and fourth place medals in the state championships. Lauren is also nationally ranked in the top 300 among competitive tennis players in her age group. Lauren is the daughter of Curt and Patti Stauffer. Curt is the son of Donald and Cynthia Stauffer and grandson of Bob and Eleanor Sands. Newspaper coverage of Lauren's accomplishment is here.
By now you have probably heard about Project Titan, the email program that will be unveiled Monday by the folks at the Social Network--Facebook. You can read more about it in anticipation of what the web-based Facebook email program will actually be like.
My face in the mirror
Isn't wrinkled or drawn.
My house isn't dirty,
The cobwebs are gone.
My garden looks lovely
And so does my lawn.
I think I might never
Put my glasses back on.
--author unknown
The Maitlands, Adam (Alec Baldwin) and Barbara (Geena Davis), are living an idyllic, seemingly charmed life when an unfortunate accident ends their life. Though now on the other side the Maitlands have attempted to continue living their idyllic life, when an annoying family, the Deetz family, moves from New York City having purchased their home. The Deetz family are an unwanted annoyance to the Maitlands and they try to enlist the help of Beetlejuice (Michael Keaton), who advertises his services as bio-exorcist, or one who can rid you of those pesky humans. To the Maitlands ultimate dismay Beetlejuice turns out to be more of a nuisance than a help. When they come in to contact with the Deetz's daughter and befriend her, the Maitlands must decide whether to go through with their efforts to rid themselves of the Deetzes or let them stay. Sound familiar? It is the plot of the next Friday night movie at The Center which will take place on December 3.
Didja know that when it comes to holiday decorating, LEDs (Light-Emitting Diodes) shine brighter in more ways than one--saving money and energy. These energy-efficient lights use just 10% of the energy that traditional incandescent bulbs use, and they last about 10 times longer.
Flu symptoms include a fever, body aches, chills and a dry cough. Vaccine makers are ahead of the H1N1 (swine) flu virus that caused the 2009 pandemic. But public sentiment for this season's flu vaccine may be lagging behind. Drugmakers have promised a record supply—about 160 million doses—and the vaccines are arriving at stores and doctors' offices earlier than usual. This year's vaccine protects against three viruses: the 2009 H1N1 (swine) flu virus, the H3N2 virus, which frequently causes high rates of pneumonia and death in years that it circulates, and an influenza B virus. Many doctors recommend that all Americans older than 6 months get vaccinated. The agency continues to stress the importance of getting the vaccine for people at high risk, including pregnant women, young children, adults over 65, and anyone with an underlying chronic disorder, such as asthma, heart disease, or immune suppression. Why not talk to your doctor about it...
The Facebook community who subscribe to the Benton News came alive Saturday when the Verizon tower on the Verbella property was tested for the first time. As Edward Cole said, "I had 5 bars in the middle of the barber shop." After an afternoon of testing, the power was turned off. If the Millville tower is any indication, the tower should go full time Thursday of next week.
Wilbur A. (William) Barnhill, Country Road, Stillwater, died Wednesday, November 10, 2010, at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Wilkes-Barre following a lengthy illness. He was 73. He was born April 20, 1937, in Akron, Ohio. He was a son of Donald Henry Barnhill and Gertrude Edith (Rogers) Barnhill. He was preceded in death by his wife, Kathleen Doris (Klopp) Barnhill, on September 19, 2009. Mr. Barnhill proudly served his country in the Airborne Unit of the U.S. Army as a radio operator and was a Veteran of the Korean War.
He was a writer and was published in Time Life Books, AARP, Better Homes and Gardens and many other magazines. He was the co-author of a book on medical well-being. He loved to farm and enjoyed raising his goats, pigs and geese. He enjoyed antique hunting and antique restoration.
Mr. Barnhill was a member of St. James United Church of Christ and was also a member of the Masonic Order.
Surviving are his son, William A. Barnhill, Jr. (Jennifer), Chesapeake, Virginia; a granddaughter, Caitlynn Barnhill; a sister, Kathy Campbell, Oregon, and a half brother, Arizona Barnhill, Arizona.
Memorial services will be held Saturday, November 13, at St. James United Church of Christ, Zaners Bridge Road, Stillwater. Interment will be held at a later date in St. James Cemetery. Arrangements are under the direction of the McMichael Funeral Home. For online condolences, please visit www.mcmichaelfuneralhome.com
.
.
Friday, November 12, 2010 and Saturday, November 13, 2010.
 |
M. Ruth "Babe" Dietrich Kline (April 18, 1924-November 11, 2010), Green Acres Road, Benton, died at the Bloomsburg Hospital Thursday morning. She was 86. Babe was born in Shickshinny, a daughter of Harry and Catherine Mary (Berry) Dietrich. The family home was in St. Petersburg, Florida, where she acquired the nickname "Babe" from her brother, Harry, and sister, Audrey, who started calling her that after meeting Babe Ruth during Florida baseball spring training at Al Lang field in downtown St. Petersburg. Ruth graduated from St. Petersburg High School and also attended a business school in St. Petersburg. In her younger years she played the violin in the St. Petersburg Orchestra. |
The family had a summer home in the former Maple Grove school building, Maple Grove. She sometimes walked "to town," past the Kline family farm at a time when Dayne Kline was bringing the cows in from the fields. Conversations ensued and the relationship blossomed. Ruth and H. Dayne Kline married January 20, 1946, in St. Petersburg. They jointly ran the family farm for many years until road construction on Route 487 forced them to sell their house to the state and the barn was torn down. She later worked as a substitute in the cafeteria for the Benton Area School District for several years.
Ruth loved traveling, including flying with Dayne in a plane owned by the Benton Flying Club and traveling across the country in their camper. Dayne and Ruth donated land in order that the Benton Cemetery could expand. She was a member of the former Benton Grange. She was a member of the Benton Christian Church. She loved to play cards and was a member of several local card clubs including the Nellie Club (the game of "500"), the "Couples Club" and "Club 13" (pinochle), the Monday Card Club for "Hand and Foot" and when there was free time she expertly participated in lively games of "Mexican Train."
Dayne and Ruth were married for 61 years which ended with the death of Dayne May 20, 2007. The couple had five children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandson. Surviving are her children Thomas Michael Kline ( Denise); Kay Emily Kline; Robert Edward Kline (Margie); and Susan Louise Cole (Edward L.), all of Benton. The grandchildren are Clint, Travis, Chase, Tara, Edward and Miles; and a great grandson, Landon Michael Kline; a brother-in-law, David R. Kline (Kay), Benton, and a sister-in-law, Helen Dietrich, Othello, Washington. Daughter Patricia Ann Kline passed away July 13, 1954, and grandson Dayne Leonard Cole died April 7, 1994. Ruth was the last member of her immediate family. She was preceded in death by siblings Harry, James and Jack Dietrich and Audrey Crossley.
Funeral services will be held Monday morning at 10 at the McMichael Funeral Home. Burial will be in the Benton Cemetery. A viewing will be held Sunday from 6 to 8 PM at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in her memory to Suncom Industries, 1000 Market Street, Bloomsburg, PA 17815. For online condolences, visit www.mcmichaelfuneralhome.com .Thank you for reading the Benton News.
We ask that you consider the environmental impact before printing.
.
.
November 11, 2010. It is the day we pay tribute to the dedicated service and sacrifice of the men and women who in defense of our freedom have bravely worn the uniform of the United States. It is the day we once knew as "Armistice Day" or "Remembrance Day" to commemorate the signing of the agreement that ended World War I at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. The day was changed to Veterans Day in 1954. At that time, it became a day to honor all the men and women who have served in the armed forces of the United States. Don't bother heading to the bank or the post office today. It is a good day to listen to the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.
Ted Whitenight remains a patient in the same hospital. Ruth Kline remained in ICU in Bloomsburg Hospital through Wednesday, but a few minutes after midnight today she died. Funeral arrangements will be announced later.
Pennsylvania governor-elect Tom Corbett named the members of his transition team Wednesday, a group of 10 individuals who will guide the changeover from the administration of current Gov. Rendell. Though the positions are unpaid, the individuals included on the list have something in common--they all made contributions of more than $1.5 million to Mr. Corbett's campaign since the beginning of 2009.
Elizabeth Dibert and Joyce Keller grew up together after Joyce moved to Benton many years ago and were both members of the Benton high school class of 1949. Joyce had her feet in Fishing Creek and never left. Elizabeth left Benton after marrying an Air Force Sgt. in 1969--a medic by the name of Glen Houk--from the Air Base on Red Rock Mountain. She began working for the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue in 1971 when the personal income tax became legal. She retired in 2002 and hated it. She became a volunteer with the Lower Paxton Police Department. She has been at LPPD since she started working there, and has been called back to the Department of Revenue three times.
Elizabeth's grandfather, Fred Dodson, had the first car dealership and machine shop in Benton. It was located at the "foot of the Dug Hill." Elizabeth wrote earlier this week to mention about Fred Dodson agreeing to sell a "Mr. Tubbs" a car if Fred "would teach him how to drive." Elizabeth has the bill of sale. She also told a story about Fred's son Gordon (Elizabeth's uncle) "who was a little untamed." "Every Halloween," according to the story that Elizabeth told, "they would go out in the country get the same farmers wagon, get it into Benton, take it apart, put it on the Post Office roof and put it back together again." Elizabeth has a daughter-in-law law, Connie Houk, who works in a local doctor's office, her son Fred Houk is a drug salesman.
Elizabeth has been an integral part of the Lower Paxton Township Police Department's Community Policing Unit since 2002. She assisted in tabulating the results of the Township's Citizen's Survey, which was mailed to all residents to gauge the public's satisfaction and perception of the police department.
Officer John R. Stoner from the Lower Paxton Township Police Department provided the information that Elizabeth attended the Department's Citizen's Police Academy in 2003 and starting the next year she assisted every year with the Citizen's Academy by ensuring the attendance was completed, she set up the classroom and ensured needs were met for the graduation ceremony. Since 2006, she has assisted with the Youth Police Academy and with the Community Policing Unit in conducting bicycle derbies throughout the township. She provides support to the Criminal Investigations Unit and assists the records-office personnel. Elizabeth is known to adjust her schedule to accommodate the needs of the police department. Congratulations to this wonderful volunteer who originally was from Back Home in Benton, PA.
Dane Leroy Whitenight (September 13, 1945-November 9, 2010), Market Street, Sunbury, died Tuesday at the Sunbury Community Hospital Emergency Room. He was 65. Dane was born in Bloomsburg. He was a son of Bruce and Grace K. (Ash) Whitenight. Dane was a graduate of Benton High School and lived in Benton prior to moving to Sunbury. He was of the United Methodist faith. He liked art and especially enjoyed drawing.
Surviving are his brothers Hobart D. Whitenight (Jessie), Benton; Ted Whitenight (Marisa), Benton; and Blair Whitenight (Shirley), Hummelstown, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.
Funeral services will be Saturday at 11 AM with a viewing beginning at 10:30 at the McMichael Funeral Home with Tom Morris officiating. Burial will be in the Zion Cemetery, Fishing Creek Township. For online condolences please visit www.mcmichaelfuneralhome.com .
.
.
November 10, 2010, the birthday of Frank E. Beishline, Maria Hayduk Stalter, Tim Allen and the 235th birthday of the U.S. Marines Corps. Semper Fi. It is the wedding anniversary of Allison and Michael Hack. From this afternoon on, it should be sunny and pleasant through Saturday. Keep the Whitenight family in your prayers. Ted Whitenight, 79, is a patient in the Bloomsburg Hospital and his youngest brother, Dayne, 65, passed away Tuesday morning in Sunbury.
• Google previews makes an on-line search like "flipping through a magazine." Search results highlight the most relevant sections. Try it by going to www.google.com/webhp?esrch=instantpreviews . Do a search, then either click on a magnifying glass or navigate to a search result and hit the right arrow key to get started. The previews you get with a search give you a new way to evaluate search results and find what you’re looking for on the pages you visit.
.
.
November 9, the 313th day of 2010. There are 43 days until the official start of Winter. Birthdays today include Ken Lewis, George O Long, Suzanne Sparrow, Christopher Kelsey, Ginny Mazzei and Budd Fritz. Expect very nice weather with lots of sun through Friday.
Today's peaceful pause is via Diana Lehr's video and art available for viewing on YouTube and on her home page .
Didja ever think that a taxpayer is someone who does not have to take a civil service exam to work for the government?
Bloomsburg Hospital will give free flu shots to the public for adults and children six months and older on Thursday, November 11, from 3 to 7 PM on the basement level of Bloomsburg Hospital’s Professional Building, 410 Glenn Ave. Parking is available in lots A and B. For questions or directions, please call the Infection Control Department at 387-2428.
The North Mountain Historical Society meets next Monday at the Brass Pelican. Ginger Hack will speak on her collection of antique dolls and toys. Breakfast is over about 9 AM, which is when Ginger will get behind the podium. The event is free and open to the public. If you have never attended one of these monthly events, this is the time to give it a try.
Didja ever wonder...
. If the counties of Bradford, Sullivan, Susquehanna and Wyoming make up the "Endless Mountains," why aren't the mountains "endless" when they get to the borders of those counties?
. How can we get "useto" terms like "up back of Benton," and "down cellar"?
. Why did the Delaware Indians call themselves "real men" (Leni-Lenape?"
. What was in the lunchtime favorite sandwich known as "Hoggies" at the Hog Island Shipyard in Philadelphia? (the word was later changed to "Hoagies.")
The 101st nine-mile Berwick "Run for the Diamonds" is only 16 days away. Go to www.runfordiamonds.com/ for more information.
A local farmer once named his favorite dog "Dog," his second favorite dog was named "Dog," and, in fact, his wife's lap dog was named "Dog." Life was simple. When the farmer called out for "Dog," he was sure of getting all the dogs in the household. It isn't as easy for us humans. People ended up with last names--known as bynames or surnames--to distinguish them from others with the same first name. Bynames were given to an individual--not a family--by convenience and circumstance, not by birth. Surnames were taken by families and passed on to their offspring, generation after generation, although spelling often changed. The surname in our family changed from Clyn to Cline to Kline. Many surnames originated as bynames.
As everyone who reads the Benton News knows, names of towns and the reason for the names are important in our area. The Borough and the Township of Benton can be traced back to Thomas Hart Benton, Zaners gets its name from Charles Paxton Zaner and Fowlersville goes back to the first postmaster, Gilbert Fowler. Lopez takes its name from a drowning victim, probably of Spanish background. Mocanaqua comes from the Indian name of Frances Slocum who took the name Maconaquah" meaning "little bear woman." These are names connected with a family.
In fact, many of our local post offices took their names from influential members of the community and many from its first postmaster. The little community of "Laubach," for example, was named for Andrew Laubach. The town of Jim Thorpe takes its name from the man King Gustav V of Sweden called "the greatest athlete in the world.” Waller takes its name from Dr. David J. Waller, Sr., a Presbyterian minister and civic leader in Bloomsburg.
Our county name came from the song, Hail Columbia. Many who live in the area have last names which denote occupations; i.e., Baker, Smith and Taylor come to mind, as do Chapman (English for merchant); Cooper (English for a maker of barrels); and Shumacher (German for shoemaker). Names sometimes take on an aspect of a relationship, as in Dickerson or Larson, Norse for Lar's son. We have the Greens, the Whites and the Browns--obviously names that originated with a color. Fenstermaker means window maker and Schwartz is German for black.
There are the names than came from a geographical location like Berwick or Lungerville or Hill or Coles Creek or Honesdale or Koonsville. Rohrsburg was named for German-born Frederick Rohr (Roher). There are those who obtained their names from a thing, like a rose or a frost or a foot or from snow or a factory. Stillwater falls into this category. You can be "from" or "of" a place.
Some towns were named in error like Hazel Town, but those errors are usually corrected as the post office tried to do with the name Hazeltown. A clerk in Harrisburg finally got the name spelled the way it is today. Jameson City was another town incorrectly named, but eventually made right.
Another botched town name was Emmaus, misspelled as Emaus on the original charter and known as E-mouse for many years until they got the name changed back to the correct spelling. Emmaus (pronounced "E-maus) is the hometown for Judy and Larry Paul, where both graduated from high school. They lated lived in the nearby community of Macungie--an Indian name for bear swamp. The nearby town of Egypt was often jokingly called Egg-wiped.
And then there are those people who have made such a difference that their names become the basis for a new word in the language.
• Bloomer. Schoolteacher Amelia Jenks Bloomer met her future husband, Dexter, and convinced him that although marriage was okay, the word "obey" would have to be omitted from the vows. The committed feminist went on to promote dress reform for women, and founded The Lily, a women's suffrage journal. Shortly after her marriage, Bloomer began writing editorials for upstate New York papers and eventually promoted the "bifurcated skirt" which we all know as "bloomers" in a rebellion against the "hoop skirt." Imagine the snorting when she first appeared at a meeting of the Seneca Falls ( New York) Temperance Society with her skirt shrunk all the way to her knees and the lower part of her legs enveloped in some sort of men's trousers.
• Chauvinism. Nicolas Chauvin was a soldier of the First French Empire. He fought for Napoleon and was severely wounded. Napoleon gave Chauvin a saber of honor as compensation, as well as a red ribbon and two hundred francs or about forty dollar a year. Chauvin was happy beyond words and grateful for the remainder of his life to Napoleon. His name has come to mean exaggerated and aggressive nationalism.
• Mesmerize. Dr. Franz Anton Mesmer became possessed with the powers of an invisible magnetic fluid. He wore a sack around his neck containing a magnet and slowly the magnet was credited with being the cure for ear trouble and the gout and much more. Once when bleeding a patient, a common cure for "what ails you," he noticed that her cramps went away when he approached. He soon was attempting healing by magnets. Not until he became famous did he realize that it wasn't the magnet although we suspect that he did have some sort of "animal magnetism." One can't deny that the powers of a charismatic personality creates the notion in a believer to effect untold numbers of miraculous payoffs. He once "mesmerized" a young blind pianist by dressing her in a loose smock to transfer his magnetic powers through the hands-on kneading of her breasts, thighs and buttocks. The Imperial Morality Police decided that the cure of a hypnotic, or spasmodic sleep (as he called it), was worse than the illness!
.
.
.
November 8, 2010, the birthday of Robert Ridall, Kyle Little, Kathleen Bergstrom Trump and Joe Feola. On this day in 1769, two separate tracts of five hundred and thirty acres each of "Penn Manor Lands" were surveyed in what is now generally known as Benton. The tracts were named for London's Putney Common, a large, wild-green area close to Putney and Barnes in south-west London, an area often used for organized sports activities and for walks in the wild yet close to the city, an area known for its rare wildlife, bird life and plant life. The second warrantee of the local Penn Manor Lands was Francis Hopkinson, father of 12, a District Judge of the United States for the State of Pennsylvania, a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1776 where he signed the Declaration of Independence. He died in 1791.
- .
Come to The Center (N4Cs) on Wednesday, November 10, at 7:30 PM to share Chuck and Kay Chapman’s North American "trip of a lifetime" experience and to view some breathtaking photos. The lecture is free and open to the public.
The Chapmans will present a slide show and discussion of their recent trip to Alaska and Canada. It will include photos of the mountains, lakes, wildlife and flowers, and a discussion of the native peoples, art, carving and dance and much more.
As part of their trip, the Chapmans drove 16,000 miles and crossed 19 states and three Canadian provinces. Come share their experience and be awed by the spectacular beauty of nature. Call 925-0163 for further information.
shrimp-like creature." A second meaning of the word soon surfaced: "loose bowels." The laughter stopped after the introduction of the 1967 
Camaro. .
.
Saturday, November 6, and Sunday, November 7, 2010.
His code touched on kidnapping, property rights, digging canals, stolen property, divorce, military service, regulation of food, inheritance, loans, bankruptcy and edicts between landowners and cultivators. It touched on medical malpractice claims and limits on bankrupting the family of those chronically ill. His country prospered under the code for centuries until politicians came along and dorked it up. Head here and learn more about why adding "The Great" to his name made sense.
The last day for leaf pickup in the Borough will be Tuesday, November 16.
There are some things to keep in mind. There is, on some of these programs, a "teaser" that is free, some space that you can use without paying additional. Picasso is an example. A smidgen of space is free, but if you start gobbling up large amounts, you will get charged. Gmail is an exception (use about all you want and it remains free and loaded with benefits). Look at it from the standpoint of the company that owns the "cloud" program. When you start uploading movies and storing them, it costs someone something. There is a file-size limitation to most online-storage programs.
You will eventually have to start tailoring your online program. Do you need to get to the file with your smartphone? Will your friends and family have access? Do you want the capability "on the cheap" as a Long Island friend says? You get what you pay for. There are several free online-storage providers, but you may run into a few issues with them, including file-size limitation.
You'll need to be sure you have a "sure thing" with the company. No fly-by-night companies will do. Here are a couple of companies that I have tried and like...
Dropbox is a very popular online-storage options that gives you 2 GB of storage and if you refer people to Dropbox you'll get additional free storage. I can create a file on one computer, save a copy in Dropbox and a copy is saved on any other computer I have. As I make changes to the original the copies are changed too. The desktop client adds a folder to your operating system and it acts just like any other folder on your computer. You can drag and drop, delete or create. As you modify the files in the folder, your online account is updated in real-time. You get 2 GB free and 50 GB for $9.99 a month or $99.00 a year; lower price by GB for larger storage. If you want to give "cloud" computing a try, this is a good one to try it on. Go to http://dropbox.com and try it.
Windows Live SkyDrive is a free online-storage program that also permits cloud computing of editing and creating Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and OneNote files online without having to install any kind of client. You get 25 GB of free storage, but a limitation of 50 MB per file and is only for PCs. Go to http://explore.live.com/windows-live-skydrive to learn more and sign up.
Box gives you 2 GB to 500 GB. The free 2 GB plan has a 25 MB limit. The 25 GB plan has a 1 GB limit and the 500 GB plan has a 2 GB limit. Simply select the files you want to upload. For 25 GB a month, the price is $9.99; 500 GB, $15 per user per month. Go to http://box.net to learn more.
Evernote, www.evernote.com, lets you capture anything, and save your ideas, things you like, things you hear, and things you see. Evernote works with nearly every computer, phone and mobile device. This is the program I use to write and edit the Benton News. The basic program is free, the guarantee of a https:// site is a little more each month. It works with my smartphone and from any computer in the world with an internet connection. Go to www.evernote.com for more information.
is a little like cutting a foot off the top of a blanket,
sewing it to the bottom of the blanket
and then proclaiming that a longer blanket has been created?
Kathleen Arcuri's November article, A Walk in the Autumn Woods: Two Trees, is appropriate for this month. The article follows:
"So much looks different this time of year in the Pennsylvania woods. Sunlight flirts with shadow, and the forest floor flaunts a rosy golden carpet of fallen leaves. The serene green of hemlock and spruce and pine rules, but with surprises like the yellowing needles of larch and the rustling of russett pin oak leaves.
"Larch is an unusual tree, both coniferous and deciduous. It is extremely cold hardy, growing as far north as the Arctic tree line, and with the strongest wood of all the conifers. Various species are found throughout much of the cool northern hemisphere; but our native variety is Larix laricina, also known as American larch, or tamarack in Algonquin. The unremarkable blue-green needles of spring and summer turn golden in autumn, before falling and exposing stately pyramidal architecture. The bark is flaky brown with reddish undertones. And the tiny cones stand erect on the branches, developing slowly over two years.
The larch is an important food source for a number of butterfly larvae. And the knot-free wood is highly valued for its tough waterproof durability, making it popular for boat building, fence posts, railroad ties, and telephone poles--even for siding and paneling in parts of Europe. Native Americans used it medicinally and for snowshoes; and the fibrous roots provided thread to sew their birch canoes.
Another conspicuous tree in the late autumn woods, pin oak (Quercus palustris), is native only to the eastern parts of North America but is in fact one of the most popular introduced landscape trees throughout the country. Also pyramidal, the summer foliage of this deciduous tree is glossy green, with deeply lobed three-to-six inch leaves. The acorns are small and bitter, but provide valuable wildlife food. Come autumn, after the brilliant maples have lost their leaves, pin oaks slowly turn russet red and then retain their desiccated lower leaves throughout the winter months, whispering a welcome to forest guests.
Butterfly larvae feed on this tree too. However, the harvested wood is knotty and inferior, not nearly as strong as standard red oak; but it can be used for general construction and for firewood. In fact, the origin of the common name may reference an old building practice of using the tough, resilient branchlets to “pin” together the timbers of a barn or other wooden structure. Native Americans used pin oak bark to infuse a drink for treating intestinal pain.
Mid-season distinctions in Northeast Pennsylvania are not to be missed. After the flaming foliage of early autumn has passed, find an occasion to stroll down a wooded country lane, or hike at Ricketts Glen; and keep a lookout for these two remarkable trees, perhaps in a slightly boggy area at forest’s edge. Each season offers different delights, best appreciated with the gift of some time spent outdoors.
--Kathleen Arcuri
Frederick J. Newhart (May 19, 1934-November 4, 2010), formerly of Maple Grove Road, Stillwater, died Thursday at the Orangeville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center where he had been a resident for the past seven years. He was 76. Fred was born in West Wyoming. He was a son of Frederick Tillman Newhart and Catherine Anna (Kivler) Newhart. He attended the Sugarloaf School at Grassmere and graduated from Benton High School. He owned and operated an auto-body shop and garage in Maple Grove and later worked as an auto technician/mechanic for Zeisloft Brothers Chrysler Plymouth, Bloomsburg.
Surviving are his wife, Carol P. (Orose) Newhart and his children Joseph F. Newhart (Candie), Orangeville; Patricia Newhart, St. Paul, Minnesota; Michael P. Newhart, Benton; Robert V. Newhart (Michelle), Berwick; James D. Newhart (Jennifer), Jonestown. There are 12 grandchildren; 2 great grandchildren; a brother, Franklin G. Newhart (Sarah) Benton; and a sister, Catherine A. Kline, Benton. He was preceded in death by brothers Llewellyn W. "Lou" Newhart and Raymond Leroy Newhart.
Funeral services will be held Tuesday at 11 AM at the McMichael Funeral Home. Burial will be in St. Gabriel's cemetery. A viewing will be held Monday evening from 6 to 8 at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in his memory to St. Gabriel's Church, Benton. For online condolences, please visit www.mcmichaelfuneralhome.com .
.
.
November 5, 2010, the birthday of Judi Veitz. Don't forget Friday night at the movies at The Center at 7 where "The African Queen," starring Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn, will be shown. The popcorn is free.
• The next Blood Drive will be on Tuesday, November 16, from 1 to 7 PM at the Benton High School, 400 Park Street, Benton. It will be in Honor of Eric Hess and is sponsored by the Benton High School Art Class.
Didja ever think that we shouldn't drive as though we owned the road?
We should drive as though we owned the car!
We spend a lot of time on the Benton News looking back, and so we suspect that nobody will mind if we discuss the side- and the rear-view mirror, the devices on automobiles that allow us to look behind us and see the road.
Didja know that probably you don't properly adjust your side and rear-view mirrors? You might want to watch this and learn a better way.
November 4, 2010. It is the birthday of Robert Antanitis, Nathan Eifert, Jeannette Hartman, Casey Hartman, Mary Ann Baker and Carley Jane Kocher. Susquehanna Valley WW2 veterans will meet today for their monthly luncheon at Creekside Restaurant, Orangeville. All WW2 veterans are invited. The contact person is John Paul, 784-8891. It will be wet today and dampish Friday and Saturday.
get like prunes in the shower but nothing else does?
Becky Westover has written a book which is in final review prior to publication. The book is now in copy-editing. The next step will be conceptional editing, so it will be a few months before it is ready to sell. The title of the book is “The Fireplace” and will be published by Tate Publishing. Becky is very private about releasing details of the book, other than to say it is "an adventurous one." We hope to attend a book signing or reception in the near future at The Center to honor the local writer.
It was a long night of heavy Democratic losses Tuesday, which resulted in a GOP takeover in the House of Representatives. At the national level, Republicans will now have control of the U.S. House delegation 238-183 (unofficial and perhaps not complete). The Pennsylvania State House changed hands. Unofficial numbers are 112-91.
Columbia County went big for Republican Pat Toomey over Joe Sestak for the seat formerly held by Arlen Specter and the state went 51% to 49% for Toomey. State Rep. Karen Boback easily beat Democratic challenger Richard Shermanski. Republican Attorney General Tom Corbett took on Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato to become the 46th Guv of the Commonwealth. As they have done every eight years since 1955, Pennsylvania voters decided to make a change in the governor's mansion. Corbett will occupy the Governor's mansion on Front Street, Harrisburg. Republican Lou Barletta unseated Paul Kanjorski by 9 points, ending his 26-year career in the U.S. House. Republican Tom Marino took out two-term Democrat Chris Carney. Incumbent state Rep. David Millard beat Democrat Dan Rae and Tea Party organizer Thomas Anderson running on the Libertarian ticket.
Tea party member Rand Paul in Kentucky and Marco Rubio in Florida had easy Senate victories. Republican Senate candidate from Nevada and tea party favorite Sharron Angle failed to beat the vulnerable Senate majority leader Harry Reid. The Republican wave crashing across the nation stopped at the California border with wins by Jerry Brown and Barbara Boxer, despite Meg Whitman's contribution of more than $140 million. Alaska (Republican) incumbent write-in candidate Lisa Murkowski apparently outpolled Republican nominee Joe Miller and Democratic underdog Scott McAdams. This battle is headed to recount.
.
.
November 3, 2010. It is the birthday of Zelia Eckroth Heintz, Doug Pennington and Dan McHenry and the wedding anniversary of Whittier and Joyce Letteer. The Columbia County Traveling Library will make a stop in the northern end of the county today, including the parking lot of the Central Hotel from 2:30 to 3:30 PM and Country Fresh Market from 4 to 6:30 PM. Tonight is the family-style buckwheat cake and sausage supper from 4:30 to 7 PM at the Benton Christian Church, Church & Third Streets. It is "All You Can Eat," including buckwheat cakes, sausage, home-fried potatoes, fried eggs, sausage gravy, pickled cabbage, pie, cake, coffee, ice tea or hot tea. The price of the supper is $8 for adults and $5 for children under 12.
It is too early to tell what the final outcome will be at this writing, but Republicans regained control of the House and are gaining in numbers in the Senate. Incumbents firmly ensconced in the same comfortable seats for decades got the heave-ho. Look at John Dingell Jr. (D-MI) who served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1955, when he won the seat previously held by his father since 1933--77 years in the Dingell family, then out like the dishwater (He was losing 53-43% when I last checked)! Democrats seem to be keeping their majority in the Senate, but will effectively lose control to fiscal conservatives from both parties.
Pennsylvanians decided yesterday who will be the new resident of the Governor's mansion (Tom Corbett, Republican) on Front Street, Harrisburg, and which party will control the state House. One of the more interesting races was with House Majority Leader John Perzel, R-Philadelphia, indicted on 82 corruption counts by Attorney General Tom Corbett, the Republican nominee for governor. Perzel lost the seat he held for more than 30 years.
Unofficial election results from the 42,537 registered voters in Columbia County are available here.
So this much we know... With little chance of passing more Federal stimulus legislation and with legislation waiting in the wings to roll back much of the legislation already passed and with an election for president in two years, the Federal Reserve will undoubtedly resume printing gobs of money on an overtime basis. Expect that there will be a short-term market correction that will result in wild swings in the bond and stock markets, with an accompanying rise in the value of precious metals.
Quickies...
• The Benton Area Schools' upcoming holiday meal is scheduled for Sunday, December 12, at 12:30 PM in the high-school cafeteria. Additional information will be announced when available.
• The annual Veterans Day celebration takes place in the school gymnasium at the elementary school Thursday, November 11, at 10 AM. The event is open to the public. A free meal will be served to veterans after the service. Reservations are required and can be made by calling the elementary school office at 925-6971. The free meal is provided for veterans and they are allowed to bring one guest with them. Mr. Pasukinis, elementary school principal, addresses the lunch guests but there is no entertainment provided in the cafeteria.
• Harry Ritter noticed that I was having a little trouble "talking Southern," so he sent me a video to help master the language down here. You can watch here, but be prepared to laugh a lot.
• Today's music interlude comes from the St. Luke's Bottle Band. St. Luke's Lutheran Church, Park Ridge, Illinois. The bottle band has been featured on National Public Radio, the NBC Nightly News, An American Moment with James Earl Jones and the Late Show with David Letterman.
• A water-tanker truck rolled on Route 409 in Camptown Monday, while apparently going to the races. After rolling, the truck came to rest in front of a house. Luckily, it was carrying fresh water to a gas well-drilling site and not carrying "frack water." This is the second accident in front of the house. The previous accident was with a flat-bed truck, not a truck carrying well-related material.
Nothing is more satisfying than when a local person or business is recognized for outstanding performance. Recognition of this nature was given by a Michigan-based research company when it published its list of the 200 strongest banks in the country. Based on six quarters of financial data from banks that delivered the best response to the banking environment, FinStrata extended this honor to the CCFNB Bancorp Inc (First Columbia Bank & Trust Co.). The complete report is on the FinStrata web site , but you probably won't get to read it unless you pay the $900. quarterly fee to access the site.
FinStrata provides banking industry indices and rankings for use by investors, investment bankers, banking industry professionals, and public policy analysts and consultants. An object of the company is to give an at-a-glance view of characteristics that differentiate stronger from weaker banking institutions.
The ranking rates the performance of the nation's 800 largest listed banking companies for the second quarter from strongest to weakest based on 20 measures of financial performance and condition.
CCFNB Bancorp Inc. was ranked as a very solid banking institution by ranking it 108th in the nation. A bank which receives a high ranking as did CCFNB Bankcorp Inc. has both a well performing stock price and high market returns. All banks ranked had market caps of $7 million and higher.
Congratulations to the officers and employees of First Columbia Bank & Trust on the bank's achievement.
Oscar Martin "Marty" Gard (February 6, 1925-October 30, 2010), Orangeville, a resident of the Orangeville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center since 1999, died Saturday at the Berwick Hospital Center. He was 85. He was born in Lackawanna County and proudly served his country in World War II in the Infantry for the U. S. Army. Surviving are his friends, Denise and Brian Hampton and their family in Benton and many friends at the Orangeville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. Graveside services will be held Friday morning at 11:30 at the Raven Creek Cemetery with military honors accorded by a joint veterans group. Arrangements are being handled by the McMichael Funeral Home.
.
.
November 2, 2010, the birthday of Brenda Glidewell. Elections to the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives take place today. This will be a golden opportunity to clean house as 36 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate are up for grabs. All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs. The Benton United Methodist Church, Main Street, will hold its election-day luncheon from 11 AM until 2 PM. You can also eat your lunch or dinner at the Grassmere schoolhouse. The Christ United Methodist Church will serve food, including baked items. Donald Rabb is back in the hospital for additional tests. Both Lee and Carolyn Remley "had a bad month" with their health, but both are home and apparently on the road to recovery.
Study the issues and the candidates in today's election with an open mind. Don't listen to anyone but the candidate--and then only when that candidate tells you what he or she will do. When they tell you what their opponent will or will not do, take that with a grain of salt. After you are well informed, get out and vote. Please vote!
How nice it will be Wednesday to sit in front of the television with the mute button on the table and not under our fingers waiting to be pushed. Think how many million Americans wait to pounce on the mute bottom when political commercials come on television to spin a crescendo of cross, crotchety and crabby comments that everyone understands are exaggerations and ludicrous promises that will never be kept. Just how is a candidate going to wipe out the national deficit while cutting taxes and not giving any specifics about what spending will be cut? It simply can't be done and we are pillywiggers if we think it can be.
The script is always the same: the Democrats say that the Republicans represent the country club, the business man, the right-wing extremists. The Democrats sometimes call the Republican Party the "New Left," meaning, as one man said to me, "it is so far from being right." Another man here in Florida joked to me that local Republicans can't get life insurance. I bit. "What do you mean they can't get life insurance," I asked. His answer was a terse, "Nobody knows their policy."
But the Democrats get hammered just as hard, with Republicans calling them tax-happy, job-killing, money-spending liberals. "Tax and spend," a fellow coffee drinker told me. "Someone who has both feet firmly planted in the air," another mused.
One thing that we don't know about political ads is who’s putting up the mountains of money so they can air. Who is behind these ads? We read how much the natural-gas industry has given to candidates on both sides of the aisle, but we haven't a clue whether we can believe the information or not. Don't expect to find out who these deep-pocket donors are now that the Supreme Court ruled that major corporations and unions can finance attack ads with no spending limits. There is virtually no chance that anyone will ever find out.
Here in Florida where funding is tight, fingers are crossed that a recount in the Governor's race won't be necessary. It looks like it will be a close contest for governor between Republican Rick Scott and Democrat Alex Sink. Results within one-half of a percentage point will trigger a statewide recount as happened in the 2000 presidential election that wouldn't end. Under state law, the secretary of state will order a machine recount if the margin of victory is within one-half of 1 percent, which would have meant fewer than 24,000 votes in the 2006 governor's race.
We like it when the candidate we support wins. Good luck to you in the next two years and to the candidate who comes out on top. May a curse be on you if you don't vote and then cuss out the man others voted in.
.
November 1, 2010. It is the birthday of Annmarie Hess-Pike, Gloria Milnarik and Ethel Kelsey. Ken and Ethel Kelsey celebrate their wedding anniversary. Today is All Saints Day, the day on which a Christian feast honoring all the saints is observed. Sunny weather will be with us until Thursday.
. in May 1971, William E. Strausser, R.D.2, Bloomsburg, opened a funeral home in the former P.J. Holcombe property on Route 487 in Benton Township. Strausser had purchased the property a few years before he opened the funeral home and in the year before he opened as a funeral year he completed an addition to the property. The location is now the McMichael Funeral Home.
. Charles W. Hess delivered large cakes of ice three times a week to Benton residents and even put the ice in their wooden ice boxes. Charlie Hess moved to Benton in 1909 and bought the meat market of Henry Unbewust which was then in a building on the square which at that time housed the offices of the Benton Argus, a barber shop and a butcher shop. On the second floor of this building were the offices of Congressman John G. McHenry. In the Benton fire of July 4, 1910, the building burned and soon after the fire, Mr. Hess built a meat market on what later became the site of the Baker and Baker Building, Main Street.
Argus Office, Percy Brewington, Ed.
Barber Shop, Glen A. Tubbs, Prop.
Meat Market, Chas. Hess, Prop.
. Professor George J. Keller, Bloomsburg, often called the only "college professor-lion tamer in the world," brought five of his best wild-animal performers to the 1938 Farmer's Picnic. He also moved his entire Jungle Farm exhibit to Benton, consisting of more than thirty different specimens. The big feature of the attraction was the collection of rare albino animals. Excitement was high over the appearance of Prof. Keller, since he had just returned from New York where he broadcast over a nationwide radio hookup on training wild animals. A baby bear, known nationwide as "Grumpy," came along and created quite a hit, since he was the only bear ever to have been heard over the radio at that time. Prof. Keller also brought along several circus ponies to provide rides for children. Bloomsburg University archivist Robert Dunkelberger has a display until December 17 documenting Keller's life. It is on the third floor of Bloomsburg University's Andruss Library. Read more about George Keller here.
• "Tick-tacks" were once a main part of how Halloween was celebrated in Benton. A "tick-tack" was a piece of thread about a foot long, with a thumbtack on one end and a small weight that was often notched on the other end. The tack would be pushed in at the top of the window sill, with the weight hanging down near the glass. A long thread came from the weight and was held by someone hidden away from the area. When pulled, the thread would cause the weight to tap on the window. Usually, the homeowner would go outside to see what it was, but couldn't see the "tick-tack" in the darkness. Once the resident of the house went inside, the cord was pulled again.
• "Corning" was also a popular Halloween diversion. It simply involved throwing hard kernels of corn at houses sided with aluminum.
• In the Divide area, old timers warned young children to "watch out for the 'Monkey Moonshine'(the carved scary pumpkin) on Halloween. One of the old-timers remembered the term, but was a bit hazy on its meaning. Lee Remley said it was simply a light inside a carved pumpkin, but I suspect there is more to the story.
This edition of the Benton News comes from Florida where all evening meals at restaurants begin no later than 3:30 in the afternoon in order to take advantage of the luncheon menu when prices are lower and the beverage is free. If you buy anything in Florida, you use a coupon. If you say in public that you need a dermatologist, five people will offer names and numbers. Road construction can take a year without perceived progress or bridge construction. People who seem to be headless drive cars. The ability to swear at people in their own language makes you multi-lingual. Some property owners are thrilled that land is being found on the property they bought sight-unseen twenty years ago. Gas mileage picks up here, although gas prices are more expensive than in Pennsylvania. I heard of one car that traveled a hundred miles on a gallon during a hurricane. The safest part of your commute is going down your driveway. You can walk out of your house and into the 100° in your car and be thankful that you are not directly in the noonday sun. This is the state you run to get the heat you complained about in July and August in Pennsylvania. This is the state where we dream of a tan Christmas. People can drive from Waller to Derrs without getting lost, but haven't a clue where Port St. Lucie is on a map.
Life in Florida is very different from Pennsylvania, where everyone knows your name and nobody has the name "Carlos." We end sentences with a preposition ("Where's my car keys at?"), have chill factors in excess of the wind factor and daresn't is an acceptable word. Men wear their toupees upside down to keep warm. You go "over" to go "up" the river.
We'll close for today with this gem, just as true today as when published on November 2, 1914. It read...
"You bet your life we'll all be glad,
We'll feel we're right in clover
When the cruel war and election
Will both by gosh be over."
