Happy All Hallows Eve, the day we normally call Halloween. The observance is based on a Celtic holiday called Samhain marking the start of winter and the end of the harvest. November 1 became known as All Saints Day, or All Hallows Day, and honored Christian saints and martyrs based on the Medieval belief that dead saints regularly intervened in the affairs of the living. On All Saints Day, churches put bones of the saints on display and held mass for the living. The night before All Saints Day became known as All Hallows Eve. Soul Cakes were baked and set on doorsteps for the poor, bonfires were lit and lanterns carved from turnips to ward off ghosts of the dead.

On this Halloween date in...
1926, magician Harry Houdini, 52, died from acute appendicitis a few days after receiving four hard punches in his stomach. Houdini continued his performance, but was in great pain. Later, in Detroit, he had to be carried to his dressing room and had a temperature of 104. His ruptured appendix was removed, but the poison had been in his bloodstream for three days. For 72 years since his death, the Halloween Houdini Séance has a been a tradition Held by his wife yearly for ten years after his death, the séance now moves to the internet for 24 hours on Halloween on the anniversary of his death. The Houdini Museum in Scranton is seeking people on the web to attempt to contact Houdini sometime during those twenty four hours for the "small fee to participate of only $1." After ten years of no results his wife Bess sent out a letter to participants saying "since the failure of the ten year TEST, it is my opinion that all concerned have struck a mighty world wide blow at superstition." But, who knows! Houdini may change all that this year!

1984, Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi was assassinated by three Sikh members of her bodyguard in the garden of her New Delhi home.

We suffer from spam, viruses and email overload, but spam--unsolicited email--is the single largest nuisance for internet users. With over 30 billion emails being sent daily, some experts estimate that over 40% of all email is defined as spam. As much as 8% of all email is pornographic, If all this is more than you can handle, the site Spam Filter Review at http://spamfilterreview.com/ , can probably help you manage and control the onslaught of spam.

We are going heading north on the 101 today, then heading up the PCH--technically known as the Pacific Coast Highway. Route 1 runs 672 miles in the state of California and much of it is pure 24-carot gold! It rings the bell on the top 5 of the scenic highways in the United States. In California, this coastal highway runs from Northern California to Southern California to the Mexican Border through the beautiful coastal areas blessed with natural habitats, redwood estates and national parks. Golden hills, lush green mountain ranges, cliffs, beaches, small and big towns from Eureka and Mendocino down to Bodega Bay. Monterey, Carmel, Big Sur and Cambria are some of the places on our agenda.

The road winds along some of California's most pristine coastline, featuring rugged canyons, fog-shrouded cliffs and windswept cypress trees. Monterey, home of the renowned Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the famed Hearst Castle are on our schedule for the next couple of days. As a result, we will have little time to peck out any lines for the Benton News. We'll do our best, but don't expect much.

A billion here and a billion there, and soon you're talking about real money.
--Everett Mckinley Dirksen

Nobody believes a rumor here in Washington until it's officially denied.
--Edward Cheyfitz

"I look to the hills from once cometh my strength."
--Ronald Reagan

"We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we may always be free."
--Ronald Reagan

"If this isn't heaven, it's at least in the next ZIP code."
--Ronald Reagan

On this date in...
1938, Orson Welles broadcast The War of the Worlds, an adaptation of an H.G. Wells novel in which Martians invade Earth, and presented it as if it were really happening on the Halloween broadcast of Mercury Theater on the Air. It began, "Ladies and gentlemen, I have a grave announcement to make. Incredible as it may seem, strange beings who landed in New Jersey tonight are the vanguard of an invading army from Mars." Thousands of listeners missed the first part of the show and didn't know it was Welles's The War of the Worlds. People clogged switchboards and some reported seeing the aliens.
1988, over 6,500 couples from the Unification Church were married in Seoul in a service conducted by the church's Korean leader and Washington Times founder Sun Myung Moon
1990, workmen digging from opposite sides of the English Channel connected their tunnels during construction of rail link between England and France.

Federal election have been held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November since 1845. November was chosen because it is the most convenient month for farmers and rural workers to travel to the polls. The particular day was chosen in order to avoid the election falling on November 1, a religious holiday for Roman Catholics, and because merchants usually balanced their books from the previous month on the first day of the new month.

If you want daily comment on the presidential and senatorial contests, try going to http://www.realclearpolitics.com/ to get the national and state polls for the races. You also get results of Right Way/Wrong Way polls, and Bush/Kerry Favorability ratings. Traffic to this site was up 45% last week as 543,000 people logged on to see aggregated poll averages and individual contest surveys.

After you vote Tuesday, consider going out to eat at one of the area's fine restaurants or at the Millville Fire Hall from 9 AM to 6 PM or the Benton United Methodist Church from 11 AM to 2 PM (where you can also pick up your O. B. Savage collectible barn). Wednesday night, save room for the buckwheat cake and sausage dinner at the Benton Christian Church.

Most who read the Benton News will recognize the name Gmail. Gmail is Google's free, web-based email system, and is somewhat similar to MSN Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail . An advantage of Gmail is the 1000MB or 1GB of storage. Google estimates that the average user will be able to fill this up in five years without ever deleting anything. As a result, they recommend you don't. They encourage you to "archive" your messages, and leave them on your account for future reference. Gmail is in final testing and is not available to everyone yet. We are a strong believer that everyone should be signed up for email in order to keep informed and keep in touch with family and friends. Libraries usually welcome users, who then can log on to the public-access computers and get their email. Gmail may provide that solution for Cousin Claudia. Stop on by the Google site and find out more about this upcoming free service.

If you run Windows XP and want to learn more about your computer, click Start--Run, then type DXDIAG and hit enter. This utility shows useful system information that may be needed someday to fix a computer problem or give a technician useful information to enable troubleshooting.

A reader told us about "Upromise," and we liked the concept so much that we'll pass it along. Upromise is free and helps parents save extra college money for their children and helps grandparents put their children through college. It can help nieces, nephews or cousins with a priceless gift--money for college. Your friends have always been there for you and now you can be there for them. Anyone who has a family member or friend who will be going to college should consider signing up for Upromise. When you do, a percentage of your purchases is put into an account for that future collegiate. At the Benton Riverside Market, for example, in front of certain items there is a symbol of a U with a graduation cap on top of it. That's one of the products. You can register all your grocery cards and many credit cards. If you shop online, many online merchants participate. It takes awhile to enter everything, but every little bit helps when you're looking at $17,000 or more per year for just one person in college costs! If you would like to participate, but don't have any college-age kids in your life, email us and we'll suggest a few deserving ones.

On this date in...
1682, William Penn landed in what is now Chester after finishing a two-months' voyage from England in the ship Welcome. He was soon taken by boat to Philadelphia, landing in the area known today as Penn's Landing. This area became the center of Philadelphia's maritime and commercial district. Today the area is a riverside park and the place where Philadelphians gather in the summer to hear music and to usher in the New Year.
1929, prices collapsed at the New York Stock Exchange on a day that became known as "Black Tuesday" and led to the Great Depression of the 1930s. Prices collapsed as panic selling wiped out thousands of investors and America's Great Depression began. The mood of optimism and confidence in the United States economy was over.
1945, at Gimbels Department Store in New York City, the first commercially produced ballpoint pens by Reynolds Ball Point Pen went on sale for $12.50.
1956, John Cameron Swayze and The Camel News Caravan were replaced by Chet Huntley and David Brinkley; who ended each nightly report with the words, "Good night Chet. Good night David. And good night from NBC News."

We're having a quiz today. Answers at end.
Q1. What country has the most Spanish-speaking people?
Q2: What country (and in what sport) scored the lopsized victory of 31.0?
Q3: Who wrote the holiday hit The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)? A. Scott Joplin B. Jay Livingston C. Mel Torme D. Hoagy Carmichael
Q4: What is the real first name of Santa Ynez resident and former late-night band leader, Doc Severinsen? A. Carl B. Rodney C. William D. Doug
Q5: A legend from the ninth century holds that an Arabic man named Kaidi discovered what plant after noting that his goats became rather hyperactive after eating from them? A. coffee B. marijuana C. cocoa D. Tea

The Guv announced today that he will ask the federal court to grant a ten-day extension for the receipt of some 26-thousand absentee ballots sent to military personnel and civilians overseas.

We are happy for all of New England and for the Red Sox win, but we remind those fine folks that the Steelers intend to whup the Patriots Sunday!

As everyone who turns on television knows, we face another Presidential election in less than a week. Like many previous elections, this one raised and spent unknown billions of dollars in campaign funds and accused the President of getting us into a war under false pretenses that we didn't want and can't win while cutting taxes and increasing outlays and accused his opponent of not being able to make up his mind and keep it made up and being therefore unfit to lead our nation. Various claims and counter claims are thrown about as to the military backgrounds of both men.

The polls and the panel discussions and the pressure groups banter about real and imaginary campaign issues, but we can expect that on Tuesday night of next week--or surely shortly after--we will have a new victor and the nation will somehow survive. This election promises to be as close as the last one, certainly closer than McKinley's win over Bryan and Truman's 1948 victory over Dewey. These two elections resulted in a healthy electoral vote margin which substantiated the popular vote.

Other close elections included Wilson over Hughes in 1916 with a popular vote margin of almost 7%, but an electoral-college vote close enough that a single state--California--which Wilson won by the closest of margins, made the ultimate difference.

And we can't forget Kennedy over Nixon in 1960 with the margin of less than one half of one percent of the popular vote. Nixon won over Humphrey in 1968 with less than 2% of the popular vote.

Although there were exceptions (in 1912, 1932, 1952, and 1968, for example), we can assume that in a Presidential election: (1). An incumbent will win, regardless of party. (2). If an incumbent is not running, the majority party candidate will win. These rules don't apply when a disaster of enormous proportions takes place, an unpopular war is being waged or there is a severe depression. In these cases, voters tend to decide to penalize the party the voters feel is most responsible and reward the opponent.

We fear that too many disinterested voters in this as in past electrons are not at all clear on more than about two or three major issues of the candidates and are perhaps turned off by the whole election process. They are mostly interested in voting for the incumbent President, assuming that the man has demonstrated that he generally knows how to run the country. Fewer want to try the new fellow on the block. And if both opponents are new fellows, voters tend to pick the candidate from the party that the voter most aligns with. This is not a sporting event where the underdog gets a lot of consideration.

And that brings us to our bitter conclusion. Within a week, despite the millions of words and millions of dollars, the choice of the new president may very well be decided by voters with little qualification to make informed decisions and little interest how the story eventually plays out.

The answers to today's quiz follow:
A1. Mexico has the most people speaking Spanish with 91.1 million. Spain is in 4th place, with 29.9 million.
A2: Australia won big 31-0 in the game of "world" football, which we know as soccer, in playing against American Samoa April 11, 2001.
A3: Mel Torme wrote The Christmas Song.
A4: Carl is the real first name of the former late-night band leader, Doc Severinsen.
A5: An Arabic man named Kaidi discovered coffee, according to legend, after noting that his goats became rather hyperactive after eating it.

On this date in...
1492, Christopher Columbus discovered Cuba and claimed it in the name of Spain. Columbus also discovered the coast of South America, the West Indies, Central America, the Bahamas and Haiti.
1636, 16 years after the arrival of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, the Massachusetts General Court gave 400 pounds to support a school or college. As a result, Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher learning in the United State, was founded. Seven presidents of the United States--John Adams, John Quincy Adams, Theodore and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Rutherford B. Hayes, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and George W. Bush--were graduates of Harvard. Its faculty have produced 40 Nobel laureates.
1919, the Volstead Prohibition Act passed by the United States Congress provided for enforcement of the eighteenth amendment, which prohibited the manufacture, sale, or transportation of alcoholic beverages in the United States. Congress passed the twenty-first amendment in 1933, repealing the eighteenth. The Volstead Act was amended to permit the sale of 3.2% beer and wine. Once the Twenty-first Amendment was ratified the following December, the Volstead Act became void.
1955, a kid from Lubbock, Texas, by the name of Charles Hardin opened for Marty Robbins and Elvis Presley. The kid became known as Buddy Holly. One of the members of the audience was Scott Davis who would later become known as Mac Davis.
1974, frumpy Rhoda Morgenstern (Valerie Harper) married Joe Girard on the TV show Rhoda, a spinoff of The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Another star of the show was Rhoda's pudgy, insecure younger sister, Brenda, played by Julie Kavner, who later was the gravelly voice of Marge Simpson on the weekly animated series The Simpsons.

Voters here in California are rather decided about who they will vote for. We heard about one guy who's still undecided: If Kerry wins, he can't decide whether to move to Canada or Mexico. Honk if you can't wait till it's over.

The Benton Volunteer Fire Department proudly protects approximately 3,000 people living in an area of 42 square miles. Operating from a new fire station, the volunteer organization protects a primarily residential area. The Benton Volunteer Fire Company was established in 1934. We sometimes forget that this volunteer group protects our community in fire fighting and other ways. They provide rescue services including police coordinated search and rescue. In addition they pump basements in the spring. Their fund raising events benefit the entire community. They also put on a fire safety program for the elementary students. The group provides firefighting, hazardous material response, ALS emergency medical service, vehicle rescue (Extrication), search & rescue. At this state level, more information about the Pennsylvania Firefighter can be found at www.pafirefighter.net/ .

Over many years, Benton Industries, Inc provided employment for many in the upper Fishing Creek Valley. We take a little time today to go back to March and April of 1962 and revisit the happenings of what many of us used to call "the shirt factory." Spring had just arrived and the factory was ending its run of short-sleeve shirts of around 2,500 dozen per week. The factory was gearing up to go into "long-sleeve production" which meant that "cuff setting" and "cuff closing" needed additional people.

We'll mention some names and see if you can recall these fine folks. Calvin and Carol Follmer had left the plant and were "in the South" at the Dockey Shirt Factory in Garland, NC, and "loving every minute of it". Voris Miller was the plant manager. Ronnie Sutliff was sporting a new beard and catching a lot of guff for it. Earl Laubach, a former teacher in Benton High School, was a patient in Williamsport Hospital. Dot Myers was lamenting that her car got hit--by a state policeman. The Benton Industries Ladies Bowling Team was striking out! The officers of the Sympathy Club of Benton Industries was headed by David Dodson, with Bertha Van Pelt, Edith Comstock, Amanda Cole, and Rosalie Hunter holding down other offices. Reporters for the club included Evelyn Albertson, Harold Baer, Lois Dodson, Bernadyne Hunter, Kareen Karns, Shirley Kishbaugh, Florence Kocher, Yvonne Lubinski, Pauline Mather, Bonnie Van Pelt and Rita Yost.

Mr. and Mrs. John Dockey had just returned from Tucson in the Spring of 1962 where they visited with Mrs. Dockey's brother, Lee, a partner with Mr. Dockey in a copper mining and milling operation. Mr. Dockey's health was poor at that time, although he did have time to visit the Tucson Open Golf Tournament where his friend Mike Souchak, Berwick, was playing. A highlight of that trip to Tucson was the plane accident the couple was in on their way out. Their plane skidded off the snow-bound runway in Detroit, crashed into a snow bank and the engine caught fire. Calvin Follmer remembers John Dockey in a good light, saying "Working for Dockey gave me the training in management that carried me throughout my career as a plant manager and owner of my own plant."

A common quote from the plant was "All I had to do was look like a girl, think like a man, act like a lady, and work like a dog."
--material for this article contributed by Brian Bower and Calvin Follmer

At a special meeting on October 21, the Benton Borough Council chose Dolores Huda to be the new Borough Secretary. She was selected from among three other candidates for the post. Dolores worked in a supervisory position in the Finance Department of the City of Williamsport. During her 12 years with Williamsport, she experienced the challenge of several generations of computing systems. She also work 13 years with Boy Scouts in a supervisory position. In both employments she became very familiar with fund accounting systems, characteristic of public bodies. Dolores lives in the country on the Benton side of Lairdsville. Those who will need to contact the borough office at 925-6101 will be cheerfully greeted by her as she offers her skills and experience in serving our public. Her office will be on the second floor of the Benton Fire Company Building. She will take up her duties at the next Council meeting at the Benton High School borough meeting room on Monday, November 1.

Here are the 2004 Halloween house winners

2004 Halloween Parade Float Winners

Benton Halloween registered floats 2004

If anyone was missed it was because they didn't get registered. The Benton Lions club would like to thank everyone who participated in the Halloween parade. It was a "big" success and they look forward to next year.

In our article in Tuesday's Benton News, we didn't say much about the history of Solvang, the Danish Capital of America. In September of 1910, a group of Danish-Americans met in San Francisco to organize a colony and establish a Danish style School. A real estate agent heard about a parcel of 10,000 acres of land for sale in the Santa Ynez Valley, known as the "Buell Flat" section. The area was perfect: good and plentiful water, rich soil, plenty of room to grow, plus a sunny climate. The land was bought and the new colony was named Solvang, or Sunny Vale/Valley.

The residents of Solvang would be happy to say "Velkommen" to guests from Pennsylvania. OK, so you have noticed they talk a little differently here. We'll close with a conversation that we heard the other night when newlyweds, Shawn and Sara Svendsgaard paid us a visit "Vell, Shawn is da vun vit da sense of humor in our family," said Sara. "Tell them, dear, all da silly promises you made before ve were married."

October's full moon is called the "Hunter's Moon" or the "Blood Moon." The name comes from hunters who tracked and killed their prey by autumn moonlight in order to stockpile food for the coming winter. The Blood Moon rises tonight. It's a lunar eclipse that begins at 9:14 PM EDT, when the moon will glide through Earth's shadow for more than three hours. The pale-white moon will turn pumpkin orange and then red. A Pacific Storm appears to be on tap for the Left Bank, so those of us in California may not be able to see the events tonight.

October's face, benign and mellow,
Turns nuts to brown and leaves to yellow;
But (like the Scorpion, sting in tail)
He ends with frost and scourging hail.
-Jan Struther (1901-1953)

On this date in 1954 Walt Disney's first television show Disneyland debuted on NBC. It ran for 26 seasons under various titles: Walt Disney Presents, Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, and The Wonderful World of Disney. In September of 1966, doctors told Disney, a lifetime chain-smoker, that he had lung cancer. The cancerous lung was removed, but he passed away December 15, 1966.

Ken and Ethel Kelsey will be guests at an Open House Sunday, October 31, from 2 to 4 PM at the Benton Fire Hall in celebration of Ethel's 80th Birthday and Ken and Ethel's 60th wedding anniversary. The actual date of the birthday and anniversary is November 1. Their many friends and relatives are invited to stop and say "hi."

President Bush and Senator Kerry sit atop an election knife blade, and on election day could fall either way. The election seems to be absolutely too close to reliably call. Polls aren't a great deal of help, since we know from the last election that polls were off by 4% during that election, and this time could be closer than the last. Nine states with 109 electoral votes are simply up for grabs, including the 21 votes of our own state. Five states were decided four years ago by a half-percentage point or less. Bush won Florida by 537 votes and Gore carried New Mexico by 366 votes. If you could pick the exact outcome of the last half-dozen or so states in this election you could make a career out of telling fortunes. The one thing we do know is that the candidates feel that the state is in a dead heat, regardless of what the polls say, since Pennsylvania television stations are getting financially very healthy as a result of all the political advertisements

We are going to take a little time to poke around the history contained in the California hills where we are and tell you about some of the history and legends that make the Santa Ynez Valley what it is. The valley lies between the uplifted coastal Santa Ynez Mountains and the San Rafael Mountains. The two ranges create a natural barrier for travel in and out of the valley. We aren't going to go into a lot of detail but there will be lots of time for homework if you want to dig a little deeper. We suggest that sometime you take the time to drive over the San Marcus Pass leaving Santa Barbara heading up the 146 toward Santa Maria. You'll pass close to the towns of Solvang, Santa Ynez and Los Olivos on the way to Santa Maria and north toward San Francisco.

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

The People...
While the local history Back Home in Benton, PA, would not be compete without a knowledge of the people behind the names like Fritz, McHenry, Hess, Smith--and so many more, here the names take on a Spanish flair: Arrellanes, Olivera, Ortega, De La Guerro, Castro, DeSoto, Vidal, Ontiveros, De la Cuesta, Carrillo. These and many other names lend themselves to the romantic heritage of the area. As with all twice or thrice told tales, personalities become legendary and incidents develop into fantasies. With each recounting, the veracity and color of the story becomes more deeply imbedded into the roots of the community.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Los Olivos was the third town to be established in the Santa Ynez valley in 1887. Its history is intertwined with the history of the Pacific Coast Railroad. The town of Los Olivos is situated on rancho land originally granted in 1843. In 1886, 2,500 olive trees were planed by Bernardo Gambetto in his olive grove on his ranch, close to the present town From this, the name of the town, which means "the olives," is derived. The trees grew quickly and an olive press and pickling vats were placed on Alamo Pintado Creek where he processed the olives. The oil was of excellent quality but shipping costs and trade barriers kept profits to a minimum. All olive trees were eventually torn out and wheat and barley planted, while pigs and cows were raised. Town streets were laid out by Chinese laborers who were also laying track for the Pacific Coast Railroad. Los Olivos placed a flag pole in the town center in 1918 to commemorate the men who had served their country during World War. The memorial remains in 2004.

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

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

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

If you would like more information about the area, head on over to one of these sites:
The Santa Ynez Valley Visitor's Bureau, http://www.syvva.com/
The Wine Country of Santa Barbara County, http://santabarbara.winecountry.com/regions/santa_ynez_valley/
Solvang, CA, http://www.solvangca.com/
Lompoc, CA, http://www.ci.lompoc.ca.us/
Santa Maria, CA, http://www.ci.santa-maria.ca.us/

You can coax a horse to drink, but a pencil must be lead.

We wonder what hair color bald men say they have when they apply for driver's licenses.

"My eye was caught with the glimpse of something shining in the ditch."
- James Wilson Marshall

Go then, ye slaves, to California's shore
Go delve and dig, and grasp the precious ore.

October 26, 2004. Happy birthday to Chandee Stowe. It also happens to be the wedding anniversary today of Chandee and his wife, Grace. The Halloween parade moves tonight at 7 PM.

Have you told your significant other that you love him/her lately? If you're running Windows XP networked, you can talk to other available users on the network. At Start|Run, enter "winchat" without the quotes. Click on Conversations and Dial, select the computer to call and click OK. This will ring the user and invite him or her to chat with you. Of course, you could be untekkie and walk to the next room and tell them in person that you love them...

Are you thinking about a new RV, check out www.andersonmobileestates.com/home.html .

Readers seem to like nostalgia, like to sit back and remember the things in their life that brought them pleasure. No two people enjoy the same things and few view it from the same perspective in time, but we'll throw out a couple of things and see if you can conjure up a vision of what we are talking about. We can remember back when...
* the television took five minutes for the vacuum tubes to warm up,
* it took five minutes for the attendant to check the oil and the air in the tires, wash the windows and pump the $.29 gas. And S & H Green Stamps came with the purchase.
* medicine from the drug store didn't have safety caps and didn't need them.
* glass bottles came out of Coke machines. Laundry detergent had something free in the box, like drinking glasses or dishes.
* the '57 Chevy was a great car in which to watch the submarine races. Keys were rarely removed from the ignition, until after Junior got his driver's license or Grandma backed over the mail box.
* coffee soup, milk pie, ham salad and bread and milk were essentials in a daily diet, along with high butterfat content Golden Guernsey milk.
* Telephone lines had a party line and phone numbers began with a word prefix.
* Mom had dinner waiting for us when we got home from school.
* A Heinz 57 was the most popular breed of dog.
* Sunday dinner at the Pied Piper Inn was eagerly looked forward to for days, and going with your parents was an honor and an occasion in which Mother provided a freshly ironed shirt.
* Being sent to the principal's office was mild compared with the problems when you got home--unless the dispute was with Mr. Devore.
* Every summer day included a hour or more at the Benton dam.
* we made peashooters and slingshots, and we shot our BB guns into drain spouts to see if the pellet curved and came out the hole in the gutter at the top. War was a card game and water balloons were filled for hours before the carnival parade.
* Coy Remley delivered the Raleigh products and the Fuller Brush man often was invited to dinner, and nothing beat an Electrolux for dependability.
* Fishing for catfish until 11 at night with your father was an honor. Having catfish for breakfast started the day off right!
* Catching "cooties" from a member of the opposite sex was a taunt we felt just might be real.
* It took almost a foot of snow to cancel school.

For reasons that defy explanation we got thinking about the hapless soldiers of the Civil War this morning. We were specifically thinking of Pickett's Charge during the third day of fighting at Gettysburg where something like 15,000 soldiers spread out a mile wide and a half wide deep moving from the shadows of the trees into the light of the open field in a method of fighting that dated back to the Middle Ages. These soldiers, existing mostly on pork and hardtack, had to rely on what was at best a heavy, clumsy muzzle-loader. These volunteer soldiers--little more than civilians with arms--never seemed to have much of a grudge, the way we read history.

We often read of the soldiers who enlisted, swearing they were over 18, when actually they were much younger. They often justified their act by writing "18" on a piece of paper, then inserted that piece of paper in the sole of their shoe. When the recruiting officer asked the boy's age, the truthful answer "I am over eighteen" would assure his acceptance into the military and introduce the lad into a life that he expected would be high adventure. The soldier's life initially consisted of military preparation, including running around "yelling like devils" and firing at imaginary foe. The recruits often feared that the war would be over before they could get into it.

Take the time on some rainy afternoon to read about a regiment recruited in Pennsylvania in 1861 known as the 13th Pennsylvania Reserves. You may have heard of them as the Bucktails. The name probably came from strips of deer hide they dangled from their caps. They marched in mid-spring over what is now known as the Bucktail Trail. If the name "Bucktail" seems familiar to you, but you can't exactly put your finger on it, it could be from the Bucktail Scenic Byway that runs for 100 miles through the Sproul and Elk State Forests from Lock Haven to Ridgway. This byway follows the Old Sinnemahoning Trail used by Native Americans to travel between the West Branch Susquehanna and Allegheny Rivers. The Byway is named after the Bucktail Rangers, the regiment of woodsmen that traveled this route to join the Union during the Civil War when they were told to rendezvous at Harrisburg.

When the Bucktails reached the Susquehanna River they built rafts. One raft held the Colonel and his horse. Soldiers rode separate rafts, but they all floated down the river singing and firing their muskets and having a great time. The reality of war soon hit when most of the men were lost to Confederate soldiers and the remainder of the men were badly shot up. Think of the devastation to a community! Soldiers were recruited from one town or part of one city or from one sparsely populated county and the men stayed together and fought together. The officers were often "elected" by the enlisted men and so it wasn't necessary to be very formal with them. Officers sometimes even got "thrashed" by their subordinates if things didn't go well. The term "Captain, Sir!" was not often heard.

In an article under FEATURES, we talk about Union Soldiers attire. In that article we also discuss the fact that the Civil War soldiers did not have the benefit of cooks or bakers. Soldiers were issued flour, pork, beans and potatoes and told to prepare their food as best they could. Often an informal mess of a few soldiers would prepare the food taking turns, although as the war droned on cooking details fell into more common usage as soldiers were assigned their detail to keep them from harming their comrades on the field of battle or because they were too dirty to be around the men on the field of battle.

The soldiers had their diversions, too. Here is a recipe for homemade liquor written by a Union Army soldier: bark juice, tar-water, turpentine, brown sugar, lamp oil, and alcohol.

Quote of the Day:
"The hoarse and indistinguishable orders of commanding officers, the screaming and bursting of shells, canister and shrapnel as they tore through the struggling masses of humanity, the death screams of wounded animals, the groans of their human companions, wounded and dying and trampled underfoot by hurrying batteries, riderless horses and the moving lines of battle--a perfect Hell on earth, never, perhaps to be equaled, certainly not to be surpassed, nor ever to be forgotten in a man's lifetime. It has never been effaced from my memory, day or night, for fifty years."
--A Massachusetts private, from his diary.

On this date in...
1937, Stella Dallas debuted on the NBC Red radio network starring Anne Elstner. Sterling Drugs, Inc. sponsored the show nationally beginning the following year. Stella Dallas was "A continuation on the air of the true-life story of mother love and sacrifice, in which Stella saw her own beloved daughter, Laurel, marry into wealth and society, and realizing the difference in their tastes and worlds, went out of Laurel's life."

1955, the microwave oven for home use was introduced in Mansfield, Ohio, at the corporate headquarters of the Tappan Company. The first production Tappan microwave model--a 24-inch built-in oven--operated on 220 volts and retailed for about $1,200. The oven could cook eggs in 22 seconds, bacon in 90 seconds. Tappan began in 1881 in Bellaire, Ohio, as the Ohio Valley Foundry Company. Founder W.J. (Bill) Tappan sold cast-iron stoves door-to-door from a horse-drawn wagon. The company moved to Mansfield in 1889 under the name Eclipse Stove Company. Later the name changed to Tappan Stove Company.

2002, the old Steve Shannon Tire Store building on Mill Street ended its career as a car repair shop, automobile dealership and a tire store.

Mabel V. (Babb) McHenry Houseweart, 94, (July 18, 1910-October 23, 2004) died Saturday at the Orangeville Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, where she had been a resident for more than seven years. She had spent most of her life in the Benton and Central areas. Born in Jamison City, she was a daughter of the late Charles Henry and Lydia Ann (Sones) Babb. Mrs. Houseweart had worked for the former Dockey Shirt Factory in Benton, other related mills, and had last worked for Dol-Ang Manufacturing in Benton. Surviving are a daughter, Mrs. Ruth M. Long, Unityville; a son, Donald L. McHenry, Barberton, Ohio, and a brother, Oscar Babb of Danville. There are also many from following generations surviving. She was preceded in death in 1958 by her first husband, George W. McHenry; by a son in 2001, George L. McHenry; a daughter in 1978, Patricia McHenry Maylin; and by the brothers and sisters: John Babb, Clara Babb Steinruck, Raymond Babb, Walter E. Babb, Pearl Babb Travelet, Edna Babb Kingsbury, Elmer Babb, Henry L. Babb, Jim C. Babb and Marguerite Babb Houseweart. Funeral services will be held Wednesday at 10:30 AM at the McMichael Funeral Home, Inc. A viewing will be held Tuesday from 6 to 8 PM at the funeral home. Burial will be in Salem Cemetery, Unityville.
--from an obituary in Monday's Press Enterprise, where a complete obituary can be found

Our travels Sunday brought us south yesterday from San Francisco on the highway known as "the 101." We should explain that here on the Left Bank roads usually have the prefix "the," as in "the 101" or "the Five."

For readers who have never traveled south from San Francisco along the cliffs of the Pacific Ocean, a treat awaits. The Los Padres National Forest and Big Sur is a beautiful stretch of coast as the highway hugs the edge of the mountains and provides breathtaking views as it sweeps around the Santa Lucia Mountains. From the Pfeiffer-Big Sur State Park, hiking trails climb 3,300 feet up Mount Manuel where a look west shows the Pacific Ocean and a look east shows of the Ventana Wilderness. Trails include falls, groves, gorges, and sandpiper-filled sea caves and lagoons. Bobcats, deer, wild pigs that natives call "peccaries" and occasionally mountain lions and black bears can be seen here. You may also see the American peregrine falcon. Alternately dipping and climbing, Route 1 passes near the old Point Sur Lighthouse, built in 1889 after two ships had grounded on the point during a dense fog. Six miles farther, Bixby Creek Bridge makes an impressive sight as it arches 285 feet above the canyon with a single, 714-foot concrete span.

One of the highlights of the trip is San Simeon and the Hearst Castle, which dates to the 1920's and vividly displays the lifestyle of William Randolph Hearst, his family and his friends. The excitement today is in the house and the grounds. The swimming pool was inspired by a fifth-century Roman mausoleum. In the surrounding hills, Hearst imported wildlife that included zebras, Barbary sheep and goats. We are currently in Santa Ynez, CA.

An article about Brooke Lee trading her tiara to be a hunter is in today's Press Enterprise.

Uni-Marts LLC is selling their convenience stores in Pennsylvania and neighboring states, including the one in Benton. Uni-Marts will retain ownership of the land at each of its 282 locations, but each individual business will be sold. The locations will remain Uni-Mart stores after they are sold, but will be individually owned and operated rather than being managed from the corporate office. Uni-Mart is offering buyers of the locations equipment, long-term gasoline supply agreements and long-term leases, as well as allowing them to license the Uni-Mart brands. Uni-Mart will still own the Uni-Mart brand, as well as land, improvements and underground equipment on site.

The company was founded in 1972 when Henry D. Sahakian opened his first convenience store, a division of the Unico Corp., in State College. In December 1986, Uni-Mart was spun off from Unico and became a publicly traded company. In July, the company finalized a merger with Green Valley Acquisition Co., controlled by Uni-Mart management, including Sahakian, that once again made Uni-Mart a private company.

We have seen estimates that the two campaigns for President have spent somewhere between $40 and $55 million on television advertising n Pennsylvania. We hope that they were not advertising on our behalf, because if they had checked they would have found our "mute" button on.

In Saturday's edition, we asked about former Benton physician Dr. I. L. Edwards as we pondered the background of Hap Potter. Ken Forbes, a sixth cousin of Hap's, came through for us again, providing the following from the History of Columbia and Montour Counties Pennsylvania, Battle, 1887, Benton Township, page. 376.

I. L. EDWARDS, M. D., Benton, is a native of Lime Ridge, Centre Township, Columbia County, born November 26, 1846, and is a son of William Edwards, who was born in Briarcreek Township, and now resides in Berwick. At the age of eighteen he entered the academy at Orangeville, where he spent two terms, teaching a part of the time. In the spring of 1866 he entered Wyoming Seminary in Luzerne County, where two years later he graduated in the literary course. Previous to entering the seminary he had taught one term at Wilkes-Barre, and on leaving that institution he again taught at the same place. He began to study medicine in 1868 under Dr. P. M. Senderling, of Berwick, and later entered Jefferson Medical College at Philadelphia, from which he graduated in 1871. He immediately commenced to practice at Orangeville, where he remained until 1873, when he came to Benton and remained two years. Thence he went to Berwick, remaining one year, when his attachment for Benton brought him back to the village, and here he has since resided. Dr. Edwards owns property beautifully located in the village, a nice residence, and also a farm near the village of seventy-two acres. He married, March 11, 1873, Sally, daughter of William Patterson, of Orange Township, and three children have been born to them: Myron P., Anna C. and Garrett. Dr. Edwards is a well posted gentleman, and is held in high favor in the village.

Dr. Edwards, lived in the "Conner house," the Main Street residence of Rev. West, the Methodist pastor who served Benton some years ago.

JoAnn Walk, commenting on the supper/dinner usage, wrote that some years ago she worked for the Mt Airy Lodge in the Poconos. She was taught that it was breakfast, lunch and dinner every day of the week except Sunday. On Sunday, it was breakfast, dinner was served at mid-day and Sunday night was supper, the only day of the week supper was served.

Traveling is wonderful! Each evening Marcia Kay asks what we would like to eat, and when we tell her she picks out a restaurant that serves it. Last night as we waited for our wives before dinner, son David warned me not to spill anything. I told him not to worry, "I won't breath a word to anyone." Traveling is making us turn into generous people. I got a tie as a present today and immediately dropped it off at the Salvation Army store. We bought Marcia Kay a box of Ghirardelli chocolates and when we gave them to her asked if she was surprised. She told us that she was. Turns out she was expecting a watch. We're seeing lots of sights we wouldn't see Back Home in Benton, PA. We saw one lady who had so many face lifts that she had to keep the top button of her blouse closed so her belly button didn't show. About noon yesterday we saw a man running from the police like he mistook Ben Gay for Preparation H, and we've seen cable cars, and sea lions, and hotels we never want to see again. Poverty here isn't just affecting older people, many young people are down on their luck. We saw one young girl who was pretty dirty, and we know that she would have been much prettier clean. A beggar asked if we could give him a helping hand, and didn't like it one little bit when we sized him up and told him that the helping hand was right there at the end of his own arm. We see a lot of things we don't ever see back in Pennsylvania, like the shop that advertised pornographic literature, but we didn't bother to even go in since we no longer own a pornograph.

Some readers have expressed concern that the Google Desktop Search tool could be dangerous. The tool should be perfectly safe--in our opinion--to use on your home computer. A concern could be that if a password were emailed to you, a copy of that email is accessible to someone else using the computer. More privacy controls are promised for the next version. The Google Desktop Search could be used by scammers on public computers. They can go back later and see what people typed at secure Web sites, in email and in chat sessions. Be careful what you do when using a public computer. Watch for a multicolored swirl in the system tray at the lower right corner of the desktop that shows the Google Desktop search software is running. Turn it off by right-clicking the swirl.

We need to go back and take some economics courses, because some things just don't add up. President Bush on Friday signed into law a nearly $140 billion corporate tax-cut bill. The president's tax cuts have been the primary contributor to a $236 billion budget surplus sinking into a $415 billion deficit.

Many will remember that Commonwealth Telephone Company was owned by the Sardoni family of Wilkes-Barre from 1928 to 1993 when the family sold to the company that became Level 3 Communications. Level 3 retained control until this past January. Today the company is a publicly traded company with more than 1,000 employees and 35,000 customers. Yearly revenues exceed $336 million.

Myrom Lowe "Hap" Potter, 81, (Feb. 4, 1923-Oct. 2, 2004) was born in Montgomery, PA, to Effie and Dr. Charles Potter. He graduated from high school in Jersey Shore in 1940. He joined the Army Air Corps in December 1942 while a junior at Bucknell University. He served six years in the Army Air Corps and piloted B-17s through 35 missions over Europe. He met Catherine Trenchard at the University of Nebraska and they married in 1945. He received his bachelor of science and master of science degrees from Kearney State College and his doctorate in education from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln. From 1952 through 1968, Potter farmed the Trenchard family farm. During that time, he taught English at Bartley High School, followed by fifteen years teaching math and science at Cambridge High School. He ended those years with service as superintendent of Wilsonville and Cambridge Public Schools. Following completion of his doctorate in 1973, he served on the faculties of Texas A&I University and Doane College. He then assumed the presidency of McCook Junior College. He was called back to his first love, the classroom, and became a charter member of Corpus Christi State University, now Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi, where he taught graduate courses for nine years. He served as the only non-ordained member of the Corpus Christi Pastoral Counseling Center. Hap was preceded in death by his wife Catherine, wife of 53 years. He has three daughters, Carol Duis, Mary Schwaner, and Catherine Haggard Bartoli and his former wife, Phyllis Fichtner-Potter. Inurnment was at Fairview Cemetery in Cambridge.
--Obituary courtesy of Ken Forbes

John Herbert Laubach recalls that Hap said that "Doc" Edwards was his ancestor, rather than Dr. Patterson as we said in the October 22 edition. John explains that "from Doc Edwards I believe his mother and Myrom Edwards were descended. I believe he got his name from Myrom Edwards. (Note the spelling of "Myrom."). Miriam Edwards was the daughter of Myrom as was the mother of Sandra Baker Fritz and others in the Baker family, so there were many of the Baker and Fritz families who esteemed their contacts with Hap." Hap told John that his grandfather, "Doc Edwards," lived in the "Conner House," across Main Street from Huber and Nancy Kline's house. Do any readers know what kind of doctor Dr. Edwards was?

Avis McHenry, Cambra, had a stroke a week ago Saturday and is currently in rehabilitation. Many will remember Avis from when she was the postmistress of the Cambra post office... Avis needs your support now and would enjoy having get-well cards. Her address is Room 13A, Health South, Rehab Drive, Danville 17822. Avis has a long road to recover ahead of her and could use all the prayers that readers can muster. Avis spent her life doing for others, and now we all need to rally around and do for her.

We expect that we'll soon have a couple of presidential candidates visit Benton. We are, after all, in a swing state...

We like to save up reader's questions until we can't think of anything to write about, and then answer them in a hurry so people breeze over our answers before they realize we don't have a clue as to the correct answer. Some sample questions follow...

Q. Is Benton a "town" or a "village?"
A. Neither. The places where people live aren't universally defined in terms of population; area; number of houses, barns and hotels; legal powers; or services provided. When we talk about a village or a hamlet or a town or a city we tend to know in our mind what size municipality we are talking about, but defining it is a little harder. To us, a village is usually thought about at the bottom of the size order, about the size of a group of houses along a country road. A hamlet is generally a very small village along a little wider stretch of road (and in England it means there is no church). A town is a more concentrated group of houses and buildings, larger than a village but smaller than a city. In the state of Pennsylvania, there is one incorporated town: Bloomsburg. What remains are Boroughs and Townships, and depending on where you live Benton is either a Borough or a Township, even though the town council adopted a motto that said that we are the best village by a dam site.

Q. How are prices in San Francisco?
A. It depends on whether you are buying or selling! Coffee is $1.95 a cup, regular unleaded gasoline is $2.65, while hi-test goes up to $2.85. The nightly hotel rate for storing your car is $29. The cost for a senior to ride the transportation system, except for the cable cars and the Bay Area Transportatin system known as BART, is $.35. The cost of the medicine we sometimes take to raise our good cholesterol, which some know as "red wine," is $6 per glass.

Q. "I lived in Benton for five years and remember that you called lunch "dinner." Can you explain?
A. No. We can explain that the first meal of the day is breakfast, since it does break the overnight fast. The waters get murky for the other two meals of the day, however. We tend to think that dinner is the main meal of the day, whether one has dinner in the evening or in the middle of the day. Others feel that the midday meal, especially when it is a light meal, is lunch and a large meal eaten at night is dinner. Some say that the noontime meal is always dinner. Some agree with the noon-day meal, but call the evening meal supper. We can't even get all members of our own family to agree on these terms. And since we have even confused ourselves, we'll sneak out and have a snack to tide us over until dinner.

We don't have a complete obituary but we'll share what we have about the death of Myron L. "Hap" Potter, 81, (February 4, 1923-October 2, 2004). Hap was born in Montgomery, PA, and died in Cambridge, Nebraska. Hap and his wife were August residents of Patterson Grove. We seem to recall that he was related to Dr. Patterson, a former doctor in Benton and a previous owner of the building that is now the Old Filling Station. In his later years, Hap had a stroke and his speech patterns were severely disrupted. He often had difficulty thinking of the right words to string together to make a sentence. For reasons we don't completely understand, Hap had no problem remembering the words, "Good deal!" Often when the former educator came to the Kozy Korner for his daily August coffee, conversations would be spirited, but one-sided. Hap would agree with a comment we would make with a punctuated "Good deal!" He would try to tell others of something that interested him, but after an awkward delay, he would often shrug his shoulders and in a very resigned voice simply say
"Good deal!" His daughter plans to keep their Patterson Grove home.
His many friends will miss Hap and the many conversations we all so dearly loved with this remarkable man.

This may not have actually happened. You know how sometimes when you first awake you are very groggy? Well, that's the way that we feel at the moment. We just woke up and the folks in the hotel room beside us were having a party. We think that we talked to the couple next door who complained that their neighbor yelled and pounded on his door until just a few minutes ago. We asked the man if this kept him awake and he said no it didn't. Luckily, he said, he was playing the tuba at the time. But if this wasn't actually the way it happened, it could have been the garbage truck outside our window or the car alarm that woke us up or...

The Microsoft people now say that the security enhancements to Internet Explorer offered in Windows XP SP2 will not be made available for any Windows operating system prior to XP. They obviously want everyone to upgrade to Windows XP, possibly because although its quarterly profit climbed as sales rose, the company's revenue forecast for the current
quarter fell below Wall Street estimates. If you don't want to upgrade to XP, prepare yourself to abandon using Internet Explorer as hackers start targeting IE on non-XP PCs.

Grover Dressler broke away from work for ten days in early October to travel to Newfoundland to hunt moose. The trip was long, 1300 miles by car, then a ferry in Sydney, Nova Scotia, (which by chance was also docking the Queen Mary the same day), then eight more hours of driving in beautiful Newfoundland, then a pontoon plane, then a boat for three miles, then a hike of five miles, then a canoe for three more miles and then a five-mile hike. Grover sent along an absolutely beautiful picture of a Newfoundland sunset. And the question is did he shoot a moose? He did, a nice bull moose. Grover says "there were no pagers, cell phones, regular phones, didn't even see a jet fly over."

Francis Vincent wrote after reading our story about Vincent's Meat Market and of his grandparents. Francis shared his memories of "fall afternoons butchering up meat with Pop and 'helping' hang the bacon and ring-bologna in the smoke-house out back of the store... Butchering up fresh chickens... After church on Sundays we'd stop by the house and Mom would have a breakfast of pancakes, eggs and scrapple, pudding-meat or sausage just waiting for us...afterwards Pop would go out in the backyard with his "worm-prod" and we'd get a bunch on night-crawlers to go fishing."

Young men head off to college to develop their minds, so we're told. We suspect that some young girls go to catch a young man before that happens.

Yesterday was somewhat of a blur. Our originating flight in Harrisburg was socked in by weather and therefore delayed. The doors on our connecting flight out of Chicago were closed when we arrived after running about the distance between Talmar and Derrs through the world's busiest airport! Our luggage was not as lucky and it caught up with us in San Francisco on a following flight.

We normally travel in comfort in our camper, and our hotel near Union Square doesn't measure up! The undersized sheets on our bed stayed in place about a minute. Our pillows were apparently packed with a cross of oats chaff, wheat kernels and straw, nothing like what we prefer placing our tired heads on. The temperature today should be in the mid-60s.

The "City by the Sea" has long been known for its unique setting among the California hills and along the waterfront of the San Francisco Bay, and for its small, intimate communities that remind many of an European background. If you haven't seen the city in a few years, you would be surprised at what you find.

Some of the major changes since our last trip to the city include the series of towers under construction near the Bay Bridge. New landmarks as distinctive as the old favorites are slowly taking shape. We had never seen the Ferry Building--which is now the center of attention in the city. The building is alive for the first time in 65 years. The Ferry Building was where commuters from Marin County and the East Bay began and ended the day before the Golden Gate and Bay bridges opened in the late 1930s. North of the Ferry Building at Pier 1 in a former sugar warehouse that houses the offices of the Port of San Francisco. Historic trolleys climb the hills on the north side and sleek streetcars speed along beside Canary palms on the south. Four bronze whales in the pavement near Pier 40 are a bit unusual. A 60-foot-tall bow-and-arrow called "Cupid's Span" stands in Rincon Park. SBC Park is a privately financed $357 million ballpark with what the locals call an "olde-tyme look." The park even has Wi-Fi access permitting computer-toting fans to check their email or read the Benton News between innings. A gap in the right-field wall allows spectators to peer inside for free.

Andy Borowitz writes that the country seems evenly divided over which election poll they believe, the Gallup poll or the Zogby poll. Roughly the same number of likely voters support the two polls, a new poll of likely voters reveals. About 48% said they believed the Gallup poll and 47% trusted Zogby. With a margin of error of only 2%, the two polling companies are in a statistical dead heat. Americans are just not able to make up their minds about the two polls. Both companies are turning increasing nasty with less than two weeks before the election. Television ads maintain that both polling companies are distorting the truth and lying about their record. Each company has accused the other of "flip-flopping" on whether Sen. Kerry or President Bush lead in the race.

Google/s desktop search is available in beta form and it's looking great. The desktop search indexes the content of your local files of email, Office documents and web pages. The file types indexed at the moment include TXT, HTML, DOC, XLS, PPT, Outlook 2000+, Outlook Express 5+, AOL 7+ and AOL Instant Messenger 5. The service can index of all web pages that you visit as well as pages you have visited in the past and can help find information you remember seeing on some now-forgotten web site. Also nice is the ability to search email and view the results in conversational threads. Another neat feature is the integration of desktop and web search into a single function with the presentation of all search results in familiar Google format. A slight downside is that it only works with Internet Explorer--not for FireFox users. Bottom line: We predict virtually every PC will eventually use this free service. Get the beta version at http://desktop.google.com/about.html .

October 20, 2004. It is high school senior Edward Lee Cole's birthday. Eddie shares his birthday with another Heartbreaker, Tom Petty, 53, and with columnist Art Buchwald, 79. Two years ago today, the Ames Department Store in Buckhorn closed for good. Bankruptcy forced the Connecticut-based company's move. Ames purchase of the Hills department store chain and the slumping economy apparently put too much of a burden on the chain and the company was unable to survive.

Watching the game last night, the subject of "neat's-foot oil" came up when someone said that all baseball gloves should be broken in with the substance. What is neat's-foot oil? Answer at end.

We reared back a bit when we read the Wall Street Journal article yesterday by former Secretary of the Navy James Webb that said "many political observers call the central region in Pennsylvania 'Northern Alabama.'" James Webb is descended from the Scotch-Irish settlers who came to this country from Northern Ireland in the 18th century. In 1987 he became the first Naval Academy graduate in history to serve in the military and then become Secretary of the Navy. He resigned from that position in 1988 after refusing to agree in the reduction of the Navy's force structure during congressionally-mandated budget cuts.

Abby's Handmade soaps are now selling soap dishes that drain so that your handmade soap stays dry in between uses. The wooden soap dishes are individually handcrafted from a solid block of wood and have slots to keep the water drained away from your soap. The soap dish is available on the Soap page of their web site for $4, plus shipping. Christmas orders need to be placed early as Abby’s Handmade Soap takes 6 to 8 weeks to cure.

Google now lets you search the web from your cell phone. Google delivers answers to specialized queries, and it's as simple as sending a text message. You can send your query as a text message and get phone book listings, dictionary definitions, product prices and more. This feature of Google only works on major wireless providers in the US; i.e., AT&T, Cingular, Nextel, Sprint PCS, T-Mobile, and Verizon as long as you have the ability to send and receive text messages. You can find, as an example, the phone number of Home Depot in Bloomsburg by sending a text message to 46645 (the numbers spell "GOOGL") like this: home depot bloomsburg pa (or simply 17815 in lieu of the written out town name and state). You'll get your answer in a reply text message within a few seconds. To find publicly listed phone numbers and addresses for residences in the US or for a related query, try a query like one of these...

old filling station benton pa
mchenry 17814
570 925-xxxx
define mountain lion
price general electric coffee maker
price 27 inch sony television
52134*98.6
17814

In case you have a memory dump on this, just send 'help' as a text message to 46645 and you'll receive instructions and tips on how to use the service.

Upcoming events...
• The Huntington Mills United Sportsmen will be having their 3rd annual Coyote Hunt January 14, 15, & 16, 2005.
• There will be a Halloween get together at the Shickshinny American Legion Post 495 on Sunday, October 31, from 6 PM to 10 PM. Come in a costume for prizes. Enjoy the music and great food. There will be karaoke with DJ Rayman. The Post is located on State Route 239 on the Benton-Shickshinny Highway.
• In ten days from today, it will be dark outside at 5 PM. When the time changes on Sunday, October 30, please take the time to replace all of the batteries in your smoke detectors. You might as well wipe off the boob tube screen while you're at it, 'cause you'll probably be spending more time in front of it...

From the trivia department...
• "Neat" is a now obsolete term for cattle. Neat's-foot oil is the oil extracted from the hooves and slim bones of oxen or cattle. In days long since gone, the oil was also used as a medicine and as a shoe polish.
• The New York Giants became the San Francisco Giants when the team moved to San Francisco for the start of the 1958 season. The final game of the New York Giants at New York's Polo Grounds was played against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
• If you have a car registered in Pennsylvania, you can now order your new Bloomsburg University license plate featuring the new Husky logo.

This is the day that by law in Pennsylvania County Boards of Elections must begin to deliver or mail all absentee ballots for the county. Because we are leaving the area today, we were fortunate enough to get a judge's order permitting us to vote yesterday, but for the others who plan to vote by absentee ballot be advised that ballots will not be received from the printers before late this afternoon. If you plan to vote by absentee ballot, do it without delay when you receive the ballot.

Thinking of camping in Florida this winter? A good searchable web site to find camping accommodations is www.floridaparks.com/cmpgrds/campgrounds.htm . Almost all Florida RV resorts campgrounds are reported to be open, operating and providing services to RVers, campers, and visitors. Do you ever arrive in Florida via I-75? If so, go to http://floridarver.c.topica.com/maacKJ3abaOLLb5UQfxb/ to help you find your way. You'll find useful travel information for driving through Georgia and other states on the way into Florida. Do you need to know the Florida weather? Go to http://iwin.nws.noaa.gov/iwin/fl/fl.html .

Quote of the Day:
"When thinking won't cure a fear, action will."
--W. Clement Stone

We suspect by now you have heard about the woman who came into town, trailed by her 15 kids. We just had to ask if they were all hers. The woman said that they were all hers, and proceeded to tell us that she named the boys "Leroy" to simplify her life and when a girl came along her name became "Leighroy." The mother explained that at dinner she just yelled "Leroy" and the kids all came running, and the same thing happened when they were getting ready for school and so forth. When we asked what she did when she wanted just one kid to come and not the whole bunch she had an answer for us, too. "I call them by their last names," she said.

We got some interesting mail Monday, much of it in response to the story about Vincent's Meat Market.
• LuAnn (Dent) Everitt wrote from Stroudsburg and reminisced about being a "grade school youngster at Scott School in Espy." During her lunch hour "we'd walk out to Pete Hummel's store to buy penny candy. After that store closed, we'd walk out the other street to Stubby Williams' store. LuAnn's favorite penny items were Double Bubble or Fleer's Bubble Gum, both of which we had forgotten about when we pecked out the article. LuAnn remembers that during the period 1944-50 the bubble gum was hard to come by. She remembers her great uncle in Lightstreet, Paul Dent the Barber. Paul also had "penny candy and if you were good, he'd let you buy bubble gum. I remember he used to write your name down on a tablet and how many pieces you wanted so that when he'd get in the next order, he'd save some just for you." LuAnn lived on Turkey Hill just across from Jesse Yocum's turkey farm and used to "roller skate over town to visit the barber shop and then on over town to pick up the mail at Vida Yocum's, Jesse's wife, who was the postmistress."
• Judy Babb Wright recalled her uncle Ray Welsh, the Benton school janitor and the "overseer of the furnace," back in the days when we only had one school building for all students. Judy and some of her friends would catch up with Ray in the basement of the school, where he tended to the huge furnace. He gave the kids a handful of coins and at lunch all the kids would then head to Vincent's Market. Judy grumbles that now that she is buying candy for Halloween she wishes that penny candy were available again!

"Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."
Early risers get a jump on everyone else. Some man by the name of Fitzherbert wrote about 1523: "Erly rysyng maketh a man hole in body, loler in soule, and rycher in goodes," and today we have another saying because of it.

Visiting Guatemalan teachers, the elementary principal and the middle school principal will join Carol Vance at the Wachovia Arena in Wilkes-Barre Friday to hear President Bush. The educators will really have a story to tell when they get home. At least in a major undecided state, we get to see the politicians come to call.

Need to know dates for "Trick or Treat" night or other event? It is all on this web site, on the side panel under upcoming events.

Alfred C. Wolford, Jr., 58, 275 Colley Street, Benton, died Thursday at home. A viewing will be held Tuesday from 4 to 7 PM at the McMichael Funeral Home, Inc. There will be no funeral service.
--From the Press Enterprise, where a complete obituary can be found.

Eleanor "Poppy" (Popovich) Lawson, 77, 2872 Rohrsburg Road, Benton, died Thursday morning at Geisinger Medical Center, Danville. A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 11 AM Monday at Christ the King Roman Catholic Church.
--From the Press Enterprise, where a complete obituary can be found.

Joselle, "The Queen Mum who is Mum about Nothing," Confair reminds her faithful following that the October meeting of the Red Hat Society will be held on the 20th at 2 PM at the Old Filling Station. Lunch is a wrap and a cup of soup with dessert and beverage for $8, including tax and tip. Guests are welcome and the chapter is open to new members. The proper attire is a purple outfit and a Red Hat.

"Apprentice" headliner Donald Trump was roasted October 16. One of the best lines of the evening was from Stewie Stone who said, "When I was in Italy, I met the pope and the first thing he asks me is, 'How is Donald Trump? I go, how does the pope know Donald Trump?' He says 'His name comes up a lot in confessions.'"

Some of the well-seasoned readers of the Benton News will remember spending their lunch money at Vincent's Meat Market, a favorite spot at lunchtime in the 1950s for students of the high school. For readers who don't understand the significance of eating in a meat market we should explain that the lines of kids were not there to have a baloney sandwich or a BLT, or even a corn beef and pastrami. They were there to fill a paper bag with their favorite candy: Good'n'Plenty, Jujubees, Candy Buttons, caramel cremes, black or strawberry licorice twists, spice drops, horehound drops, Mary Janes, Boston Baked Beans, spearmint leaves, orange slices, root beer barrels, lemon drops, candy corn, butterscotch buttons, fireballs, Tootsie Roll Midgees, Bit-O-Honey, those wonderful mints with the wintergreen in them, and Canada Mints. Oh, yes, Vincent's Meat Market sold meat, too!

The concrete-block meat market stood near the school beside McHenry Alley, and usually was a quiet place with an occasional customer asking for souse or sausage, possibly picking up a can of something or other, before heading back to the farm. Vincent's was like an old-fashioned country store, with those smells that we associated with freshly butchered meat, with wooden floors that make special sounds when kids stepped in the wrong place, and narrow, cluttered aisles running between shelves crammed with just about everything a little kid might ever want.

The Vincents had lots of penny candy to sell. The entrance to the store was on the left of the building off McHenry Avenue and an aisle slowly threaded the "hungry for sweets" kids directly past all the candy to where Mrs. Vincent stood with outstretched hand. Behind the proprietor of the store was the meat counter, placed perpendicular to the candy line. The meat display was about six feet long and filled with freshly butchered items. The front of the meat counter was porcelain and glass. At noon, as we remember it, lights in the store were turned off, except over the candy counter.

Mrs. Vincent would flick her wrist to fluff open a small paper bag and wait for our order. There was no tarrying here! Too many waited in line, the noon lunch hour was too short. The boys wanted to get back on the street to suck on the genuine imitation candy cigarettes in the hopes that a cigarette would be a good lure to catch girls.

A few of the boys would get a box of Horehound Drops. Others wanted malted milk balls, and black licorice shoestrings were popular. Circus peanuts and root beer barrels were a hit with the boys and the girls seemed to like Mary Janes and Tootsie Rolls. The younger kids liked wax lips and if lunch-money held out a four-pack of wax bottles with the syrup sweet liquid inside.

We might pick up a Bonomo turkish taffy or a couple of Red Hot dollars, and Mrs. Vincent would tally the change. "How much is left," we'd ask her, knowing all the time exactly what that total was and more importantly we knew how many pennies we had left, a sort of test to make sure that she could make change, always the outside chance that she would err on our side. "There is three cents to go," she would say, as if to test us as to how well we were doing in Mary Hartman's English class. The three cents would buy some candy cigarettes, and off we would go--our sugar high for the afternoon ready to kick in!

Pennies don't buy much these days and schools don't let the kids off the school grounds and the Vincent family is at least a generation removed now, but we still remember those fun lunch hours. We do suspect that we are built like a turnip these days because of the penny candy of a bygone era.

On this date in...
1902, the first Cadillac car was made in Detroit.
1917, Radio Corporation of America was formed and became a major player in electronics, especially radios and televisions. It later owned its own television network known as NBC, and other broadcast interests.
1933, the magazine "News-Week" was sold for the first time. The first issue had seven pictures on its cover, depicting an important event for each day of the week. The name of the magazine changed to "Newsweek" in 1937.
1956, the Jules Verne novel, Around the World in 80 Days, arrived on the big screen in New York. The movie starred David Niven, with cameos from many stars. Cantinflas won best Supporting Actor and the movie won a Golden Globe and Oscar for Best Picture.
1967, the rock musical Hair opened for the first of 1,758 performances in New York and introduced our theme song, "Gimme a head with hair. Long, beautiful hair."
1989, an earthquake measuring 7.1 on the Richter scale killed 67 people and injured over 3,000 in the San Francisco Bay area, The quake damaged or destroyed over 100,000 buildings and caused billions of dollars of damage. More lives might have been lost had the World Series not just started. A crowd at Candlestick stadium of over 60,000 people were safe in the earthquake-proof stadium watching the baseball game, We mention this since we'll be in San Francisco for a week beginning Wednesday, hoping for an earthquake-free stay.

We are in the town of Bolton Landing on the Western shore of Lake George at the moment celebrating the wedding of Dan McGarigle, III, and Michele Holt. We especially liked the last part of the marriage vows which so adequately summed up the weekend events. We'll quote them. "Please join us in appreciating and enjoying nature's beauty which surrounds us, and let us remember that life really is good, the world really is a beautiful place, and that when you open your heart, love will always enter."

Harold Ackerman is an excellent photographer and he shared numerous pictures of the Pumpkin Fest with us. Regretfully, we lack the time to upload all of them. We understand that the weather left a lot to be desired, but from the pictures it appears as though everyone had a great time. Except for perhaps Bill Mather, shown here.

Photo courtesy of Harold Ackerman

On this date in...
1758, Noah Webster was born, He was America's first lexicographer, the author of the first American dictionary, and an advocate of American English. His American Spelling Book, published in 1783, was the first to Americanize the spelling of English words such as colour and labour by dropping the u.

1846, the painkiller, ether, was used for the first time in Boston's General Hospital. Ether dates back to 1275 when it was discovered by Spanish chemist Raymundus Lullius and was given the name "sweet vitriol." In 1540, the synthesis of ether was described by German scientist Valerius Cordus. Swiss physician and alchemist Paracelsus discovered the hypnotic effects of ether. German scientist W.G. Frobenius changed the name of sweet vitriol to ether in 1730.

1859, United States anti-slavery activist John Brown led 21 men on a raid of the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, and seized the armory to provide for his militia. His plan to arm slaves with the weapons he and his men seized from the arsenal was thwarted, however, by local farmers, militiamen, and Marines led by Robert E. Lee. Within 36 hours of the attack, most of Brown's men had been killed or captured. Brown was captured and later hanged.

1962, John F. Kennedy was informed that the Soviet Union had based nuclear missiles in Cuba, beginning the Cuban missile crisis. Six days later, on October 22, 1962, President Kennedy informed the world that the Soviet Union was building secret missile bases in Cuba 90 miles off the Florida coastline.

1972, John C. Fogerty and Creedence Clearwater Revival broke up their band. Fogerty continued as a solo artist with his big baseball hit Centerfield.

Penn National Gaming Inc. is apparently going to sell its Pocono Downs horse racing and off-track betting location and will rake in about $175 million. The assets will be sold to the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority, We bet we can guess what will happen next.

The Columbia County Housing Authority is actively seeking applications for the waiting list for Benton Manor. The charming apartments are one bedroom units with one unit handicap accessible. A community room and laundry are on premises. Utilities are included in the rent and rents range from $320 - $405. Tenants must be 62 and older and income eligible. HUD annual household income limits do govern eligibility. The income limit for 1 person household is $21,540. and under, 2 person household - $24,600. and under. Call 784-9373 for further information.

In the mailbag...
Shannon Pratt wrote to say that after graduation earlier this year from Benton Area High School she moved to about 30 miles from Lake George. Shannon made a marvelous presentation to the Fishing Creek Investment Club in the Spring.

Ruth Cavanaugh was pleased with the story about Brooke Lee shooting the moose in Maine and sent along four pictures of a moose that went through the front window of a car and came halfway out the rear window.

Quote of the Day:
"The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it."
--Oscar Wilde, born on this date in 1854

Russell Chmieleski, 18, Wysox, yielded to temptation when he streaked through the Towanda High School graduation ceremony last June. He was recently sentenced to six months to two years in jail for his run in the sun. Fox News brought it to the national level, but displayed poor journalism by only telling one side of the story, essentially saying there was no reason for the boy getting such a stiff sentence for his first offense as an adult. Today's Towanda Record tells the story behind the story. Chmieleski received the relatively long sentence because of a juvenile criminal record, the county Probation Department requested the sentence, the nature of the offense and the large number of people who saw it.

Anxious to get a flu shot? U.S. health officials said that none of the flu vaccine in Brittan's Chiron Corp.'s factory appeared safe to use after finding evidence of bacterial contamination at the plant.

On this date in...
1582, in Italy and Spain, this day became the first day of the Gregorian Calendar after it was adopted by Pope Gregory XIII. Ten days would be eliminated thus October 5 1582 became October 15.

1860, Grace Bedell, 11, wrote to Abraham Lincoln with a request to grow a beard and in return she would try to get her four brothers to vote for him as president. In November, Lincoln won the election, then he grew his beard.

1901, the first fishing magazine in the United States was published in Philadelphia. It was called American Angler.

1905, President Stephen Grover Cleveland wrote an article for Ladies Home Journal in which he said, "We all know how much further women go than men in their social rivalries and jealousies...sensible and responsible women do not want to vote." This seems like a strange stand because of Cleveland's sex-scandal. A woman by the name of Maria Helpin accused Cleveland of fathering her son out of wedlock, a charge that 280-pound Cleveland admitted might be true, since he once had had an affair with Helpin. Cleveland was elected in 1884, and lost in 1888 when he ran for reelection. In 1892, Cleveland won against Harrison making Cleveland the only President to come back from defeat and be reelected after losing the office.

Don't forget the 16th annual apple festival at Heller's Orchards, route 239, Wapwallopen, Saturday, October 16 and Sunday, October 17. Music will be by the Classics, Leon and Cindy Derr. The festival benefits St. Peter's and St. John's Churches of Wapwallopen.

Monday is the next meeting of the North Mountain Historical Society. The subject is Witchcraft: Past and Present. This will be a brief account of three versions of what has been known as witchcraft at various times. One version is the ordinary "village" witchcraft which involves the superstition and ideas of ordinary people about the forces that exist in the universe and what can be done to influence them. The second version is the specific crime of witchcraft as defined by handbooks and legal code during the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. The third version involves those people today who identify themselves as witches or wiccans. Dr. Wilson Ferguson, Lake Makoma, will be the guest speaker at the breakfast meeting.

We all have to live with a lot of rules, especially those of us who are married. If you want the rules for practically anything, go to http://www.everyrule.com/indextop.htm .

Just two years ago on this date the steam was rising at Steve Shannon's Tire Store, as paving began on the frosted ground surrounding their new building. Chris and Dennis Dawson were preparing to paint the exterior of their soon-to-be Main Street restaurant and we heard lots of pounding of nails inside. Mayor Swan's house on North and Main Streets was freshly redone on the outside. The nasty rumor of two inches of rain turned into a fact.

On this date in...
1934, the Lux Radio Theater, sponsored by Lux Soap, first aired on the NBC Blue network, which later became Disney-owned ABC. The show featured almost every Hollywood star in the coming 30 years. Lux Radio Theater was based on popular Broadway shows and films of the day.

1947, flying in an army rocket-powered research plane, Air Force Captain Charles Yeager became the first man to break the sound barrier, flying high over the town of Victorville, California. Six years later, on another test flight, Yeager pushed his X-1A to new heights, but almost lost his life as his plane came within feet of crashing.

1954, filming began in Egypt on a movie with a cast of 25,000, the Cecil B. DeMille epic The Ten Commandments starring Charlton Heston. Advertisements read, "The Egyptian Prince, Moses, learns of his true heritage as a Hebrew and his divine mission as the deliverer of his people."

1987, rescuers came to get 8-month-old Jessica McClure out of an abandoned well in her backyard. It took two and a half days to free her.

Many people with fast internet connections listen to radio through the speakers on their computer. You can go to www.mikesradioworld.com/us_pa.html to find the radio stations in Pennsylvania that broadcast over the internet.

Quote of the Day:
"October 29."
--yelled by workers at the Buckhorn Super Wal-Mart yesterday, in anticipation of a question as to when the store opens.

Regular unleaded gasoline was selling for $1.94 and $1.96 yesterday in Benton. Despite a slight decline in crude oil prices yesterday, pump prices were $2.02 a gallon on route 118 going west and $1.99 in the Harrisburg area. We suspect an upward price spike will happen here soon.

Residents of the state will not get a chance to vote for independent candidate Ralph Nader, according to a ruling made late Wednesday afternoon. That decision opened the door to allowing the Registrar of Voting to print and mail ballots to the absentee voters of the area. According to Thursday's Press Enterprise, we should have the absentee ballots by Tuesday of next week. Absentee ballots have to be back into county election offices by 5 PM October 29.

About this time of the year we try to hand out Christmas suggestions. If you need a present for someone who likes to read and likes the local area, a book on the Centralia mine fire will open eyes to the nonresponsiveness of government and private industry to face up to the damage that was done in that community. The book by David DeKok, Unseen Danger: A Tragedy of People, Government, and the Centralia Mine Fire, tells the story of how an underground fire destroyed the town of Centralia and damaged the lives of 1,435 people when on May 27, 1962, a fire was set in Centralia's garbage dump by firemen hired by the borough council to get rid of offending odors near the cemeteries.

Abby Ritchie, Distillery Hill Road, Benton, was recently promoted to Regional Manager for the Salvation Army service units. She is now responsible for six counties with more to be added. Abby works part of the time out of her home office and is on the road for meetings the rest of the time. She currently has to fill in at the Bloomsburg office several days a week until more volunteers can be found. The Bloomsburg office is open from 9 to 12 AM weekdays to serve needs of people in dire financial crisis. Anyone interested in volunteering for work in the office one or two days per week should call 570-387-4112 during office hours.

The Benton Volunteer Fire Company will hold a Fall block party on October 23 beginning at 11 AM. There will be hamburgers, hot dogs, sausage sandwiches and chicken BBQ. There will be a hot dog eating contest, with all ages welcome. There will be a pie baking contest, either apple or pumpkin. Decorated pumpkins for kids up to 14 will be judged. Games will be available and there will be local musicians all day. Additional craft vendors are needed. Call 925-2988 for more information.

We were shocked by the high cost of corn. A farmer explained that it was because corn was scarce. When we protested, saying that it should have been a bumper crop because of all the rain over the summer, the farmer explained that this was the reason corn was scarce. "That's why they're scarce," the farmer said. "It doesn't pay to pick them."

October 13, 2004. Happy birthday today to Art Search, Jill Byrem (known to folks outside the local area as Lacy J. Dalton), Bill Danilowicz, Mary Gaye Kline and Rose Zimmerman.

We are very happy that Dayne Hartman came home from the hospital yesterday. Dayne writes, "Am home in Jeanette's recovery room. Everything came out o.k.,if you know what I mean. Go back next Monday for some check ups and consutations. Want to thank you all for your prayers and concerns. It sure is great to have such good friends and family and my constant companion--Jeanette."

On this date in...
1775, the second Continental Congress gave its country the go-ahead to "fit out" ships to form what is now the United States Navy and "to cruise against such vessels as may be found on the high seas and elsewhere." Toward the end of the year, Congress passed much of the legislation that was required to organize a navy. John Adams and a naval committee were responsible for the Rules for the Regulation of the Navy of the United Colonies. The Naval Committee purchased four merchant vessels that were then converted to men-of-war.

1792, George Washington laid the cornerstone of what was called the "President's House" or the "Presidential Palace." Irish-born architect James Hoban won a gold medal for his practical and handsome design of the three-story building with over 100 rooms. President Washington oversaw the construction of the house, but never lived in it. The first residents, President John Adams and his wife, Abigail, moved in in 1800. Adams wrote,"I pray heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this house and on all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof." Franklin Roosevelt had those words carved into the mantel in the State Dining Room. It is the only private residence of a head of state that is open to the public, free of charge. Not until 1888 was the name "White House" adopted.

1957, Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra introduced a new car as part of an hour-long special that became a ratings success. Ford announced that the design of the car would be far more radical than any of its other products and that equally radical sales and marketing techniques would be used to promote the Edsel.

1974, Ed Sullivan, television and radio personality and a former newspaper columnist, died at age 73. Sullivan was a superb judge of new talent. He featured The Beatles in 1964 on The Ed Sullivan Show, and an estimated 70 million tuned in. His Sunday night variety show was on the air for 23 years. It was the first television show we ever saw. As guests of Grant Brink at his home at Sunny Hillside Farm, we watched on his three inch DuMont television over WNBF-12 out of Binghamton.

Michael Fundock, (March 6, 1926-Oct. 12, 2004), 78, 450 Green Creek Road, Jackson Township, died Tuesday. He was born in Iselin, NJ, a son of the late Alexander and Mary (Markowitz) Fundock. With his wife, Anna Elizabeth "Betty" (Sult) Fundock, celebrated their 57th wedding anniversary June 28. Surviving are his wife and nine children: Betty Ann Meehan, Bloomsburg; Catherine Everett, Baytown, TX; John Fundock, Bolton, CT; Dot Fundock, Fort Lauderdale; Mike Fundock, Cape Coral, FL; Nancy Fundock, Stillwater; Irene Fundock, Mifflinville; Tom Fundock, Benton; and Ronnie Fundock, Benton. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 11 AM Friday at Christ the King Roman Catholic Church. Burial will be in the Pine Grove Cemetery, Berwick. Viewing will be held Friday at 10 AM at McMichael Funeral Home Inc.
--from a Press Enterprise obituary. A complete obituary is available from that newspaper

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me,
Fluttering from the autumn tree.
-Emily Bronte (1818-1848)

Here are the results of the Karaoke Contest finals Saturday Night at the Central Park Hotel. Preliminary contests were held over the summer months at all three North Mountain establishments. Representing the Jamison City Hotel: 1st - Albert Wood, 2nd - Lorie Balint, 3rd - Becca Lee. Representing the Elk Grove Inn: 1st - Brenda Frankenstein, 2nd - Alberta Cross, 3rd - Jo Laubach. Finishing 3rd in the preliminary contest, representing the Central Park Hotel was Raymond Cross. Voting took place by purchasing tickets to benefit the Royal Order of Raccoons, a non-profit organization in the North Mountain/Benton area that helps residents in the community that are in need. For the finals, the money donated was split, half going to the Royal Order of Raccoons and the other half divided among the top three contestants. Bringing home the 1st place prize of $50.00 was Becca Lee, Orangeville.; second place, worth $20.00, went to Brenda Frankenstein, Schuylkill Haven. The $10.00 3rd place prize went to Albert Wood, Benton. Money raised for the Royal Order of Raccoons from all three preliminary contests and the finals totaled over $400. Christine Karns pulled the whole contest together.

Charlie Dodson, Cornwall, wrote to remind us that a number of orphan boys from the Benton area attended the Hershey Industrial School, now called Milton Hershey School (MHS). Charlie remembers that five boys from the Rickmers family, five from the Perry family and three from the Helen Dodson family attended. During the 1940s, all students were boys and nearly all were orphans. Previous references to others graduating from MHS were incorrect, and the error is regretted.

MHS now accepts children who are "social" orphans and well as those whose parent or parents have died. The school accepts boys and girls, ages 4-15, of all colors and without regard to religion. In recent years the school has returned to serving only the most needy children. Last year the average total household income of children entering the school was approximately $13,500 with the maximum being 150% of the poverty level or approximately $21,500.

The school takes care of all the students' needs through the 12th grade at no cost to the parents. Additionally, they pay the college tuition and expenses for all students who qualify academically as long as they maintain good grades. Students who wish to pursue a vocation have their tuition and expenses paid at technical schools. Any parent or guardian can apply for a child's admission to the school. If you know of someone who needs additional information about the school log on to www.mhs-pa.org . Charlie can also assist in answering specific questions. Contact Charlie through this web site and we'll put you in touch.

Nancy Campbell had a close call recently when she entered Bloomsburg Hospital for a routine stress test and ended up heading by ambulance to the hospital in Williamsport for a heart catheterization and other procedures. Nancy appears to be fine now, but there were a number of anxious moments.

On this date in...
1920, construction of the Hudson River Vehicular Tunnel began. The tunnel ran from Twelfth Street in Jersey City to Canal Street in New York. It opened to traffic seven years and a day later. Clifford Milburn Holland was the chief engineer. Holland, 36, died suddenly in 1927, possibly from exhaustion, on the eve of the day workers from the New York and New Jersey sides were to meet in the middle of the two 8,000 feet long tubes.

1940, Thomas Hezekiah Mix (1880-1940), a silent film actor, was killed in a car crash in Arizona. Ignoring warnings that a bridge was out over a dry wash between Florence and Tucson, Mix and his 1937 Cord single seat roadster plunged off route 79 and landed in what is now named the Tom Mix Wash. His suitcase flew from its perch on the rear shelf of the roadster and smashed the actor's head. The "Tom Mix Comes Home Museum" is near Driftwood, 19 miles South of Emporium on route 120. The museum is on a rural road off route 555, west of Driftwood. The sign "Welcome To Tom Mix Territory," gives no clue to the miles of rutted road to Mix's birthplace and his celebrity outhouse. The current owners sell a square inch of the land around his birthplace for $10. Ronald Reagan bought ten square inches in 1986 and marked it as a contribution, so taxpayers actually paid part of it. Over his square inch is a sign reading, "The President Of The United States Owns This Lot."

1997, singer John Denver, 53, was killed during his maiden flight in his new plane when it crashed off Monterey Bay. He was the pilot and only passenger. Authorities were unable to identify the mangled body, and it was only through fingerprints that it was confirmed the following day that Denver was the victim.

2000, 17 young lives were taken in a terrorist attack on the USS Cole, docked in the port of Yemen to take on fuel. Seventeen sons and daughters gave their life on that day.

A suggestion for a Christmas present of local interest is a copy of the book, The Museums of Harry L. Magee Or: What Became of the Trolleys, written by Pat Parker. The book describes Magee's interest in creating museums that focused on different aspects of history and trolleys and provides an opportunity to learn about the man. Books are available at the Columbia Country Historical & Genealogical Society and the Friar Tuck Book Shop.

Users of Verizon Wireless are reminded to upgrade their software monthly. Power on your digital phone. From your home airtime rate area, dial *228 followed by the "send" key. This is a free call. Listen for the prompt to update your roaming list (2). Wait for confirmation of upgrade. Press "end" to terminate your call.

A reliable source reports that the first fish supper of the current Sugarloaf series was held on July 16, 1938, at the Central Methodist Church. Prices were $.25 each for children and $.50 for adults. Harry Ackerman provided this information to us, courtesy of Alice Allegar, Jamison City.

Leaves will collected from the Borough streets beginning Tuesday, October 19. Odd-numbered sides will be cleared Tuesdays and even-numbered sides will be swept Thursdays. Please do not park on the side of streets scheduled for leaf pickup that day.

Up in Mountaineer Park in Monroeton on Saturday, October 23, the Northeast Woodsmen's Day will kick off from 8 AM to 5 PM. Auctions, contests, chainsaw-carving demonstrations, a professional story teller, a kids' pedal pull, dozens of vendors, a softball tournament, food and more are featured.

Here is an update on Brooke Lee, 17, the Benton Area High School senior who is hunting in Maine for moose. She has the good fortune to have the help of Alva Harriman, an old family friend and registered Maine guide. An Indian guide, Gordon Newell, is helping out, too. Brooke saw a bull moose up close and personal yesterday, but her tag is for a female moose and she couldn't shoot the large male. The bull moose had his mind on other things and left Brooke alone. The hunt today has started and Brooke is ready. We'll keep you posted.

Here is an update on the Benton Halloween Parade sponsored by the Benton Lions Club, scheduled for Tuesday, October 26 (rain date October 27). The parade forms at 6:30 PM in the Benton High School parking lot on McHenry Avenue. Marchers should use McHenry Avenue in order to be lined up correctly for the parade. The parade moves at 7 PM. The top float will receive $70, two floats will receive $50 each, three will get $25 and six will got $15. The single walkers will get $10 prizes and 12 will be awarded. Couples will get $10 and 12 prizes will be awarded. To register your float and number of riders, call Frances Baker at 864-2735. All ATV riders must be over 21. All floats, bands, walkers, couples, day care groups, clubs, sport teams are welcome, but participants must be in costume to be judged. Houses in the Borough will be judged on Monday, October 25.

In the fall of 1993 Bill Bennett was looking for land on which he and his two sons could hunt and told a realtor that he would like to buy property "on the top of a mountain." The agent told Bill and his wife Lorena about 11 acres with a lovely view "after a walk to the top." The property overlooked Benton. The couple were thrilled with the view and told the realtor he wasn't going home to New Jersey until he put a bid on the land. The bid was accepted and the closing on the property took place in the midst of a snowstorm in January, 1994.

They bought a used trailer but couldn't get it up their road until mid-April. A big tom turkey called the side of the hill his home. The couple couldn't believe all the birds. There were cardinals, blue jays and robins, and birds they had never seen before--rose-breasted grosbeaks, bluebirds, tree swallows, tufted titmouses, black-cap chickadees, indigo buntings, goldfinches, catbirds, brown thrashers and towhees--called the area home.

The property took on the name "Pop's Mountain" after their children's Pop and grandfather. Bill made paths to walk to the top and he put benches along the way. He put up signs for the path and cleared a hide-away in the woods. They came from New Jersey on weekends, holidays and vacation. They learned the names of all the wild flowers and bushes. They would occasionally see a deer or turkey and once a red fox. They even had a skunk visit one evening to drink from the birdbath that was on the ground. One year it was so hot, a hawk came to sit in the bird bath.

Seven years after buying the property, the heater in the trailer stopped working and the roof started leaking. It was time to see Jack and Kay Taylor, time to pick out a log home.

They chose a Creek II, a ranch with two porches.

Rick Iddings, Innovative Building and Design, Inc. was the builder. Harold Iddings did the excavation, moving the mountain from behind the house to under it. Harold even installed one of his patented vented toilet systems and then built a matching vanity and did the wood trim on the bathroom mirror and lights to match.

Deer are used to the house now and a doe and her two fawns visited this summer. Turkeys come by, too. Chuck and Kay Chapman's black angus steers walk along the fence on their way to an upper field. Their first bear visited a few months ago, stealing their black sunflower feeder.

Bill and Lorena have been in their Lincoln Log home off Sunny Hillside Road for three and half years. Lorena said "It's so hard to believe it's ours. We love to share it with our family and friends." The house is featured in the current issue of the magazine Logical Living, Volume 4, Issue 1, and if you call Jack or Kay Taylor at 925-6165 we bet you could get a copy. The article is appropriately entitled, Living the Dream Together.

It has been a year since Hugo Marcus Selenski and another inmate (escaped from the Luzerne County Correctional Facility by scaling approximately 70 feet from the top floor. Freedom was short!

On this date in...
1890, the Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in Washington, DC. and chartered by Congress December 2, 1896. Membership is limited to direct lineal descendants of soldiers or others of the Revolutionary period who aided the cause of independence. Applicants must have reached 18 years of age and must be "personally acceptable" to the society. The DAR today has 170,000 members in 3,000 chapters.

1975, Saturday Night Live, with George Carlin as its first guest host, made its debut. The cast included Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Dan Ackroyd, Gilda Radner and Jane Curtin.

1991, comedian Redd Foxx died at age 68 from a heart attack. Foxx was best known for his role in the sitcom, Sanford and Son. He was a hit on the nightclub circuit, and he recorded 50 party records, which sold more than 20 million copies.

OOPS...
We thought that we had email configured correctly for those who send email to bentonnews.net, but we did not. We opened that email box today and found a lot of unread email from weeks back, including email that said...
• Cynthia L. (Kriner) Gilmore lived in Benton until graduation, attending K-12 and graduating in 1982. She is currently serving in the U.S. Air Force stationed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. Her parents are Dean W. Kriner, Bloomsburg and Patricia Joy, Corry, PA.
• Judy Babb Wright, daughter of James C. and Phyllis McHenry Babb, commented on the article about the Benton Distillery and the McHenry Whisky. Her grandfather was Wilson D. (Ted) and Sara E. McHenry who once lived on Far Fields farm, where the John King family once lived. Judy left the area in 1968 for Long Island. Judy writes that her girls are grown up now and she has two grandsons in Georgia where her twins live.
• Rod Deitrick reminded us that we published the date for his brother Doug's birthday incorrectly. When we checked, we realized that we also completely forgot to publish Rod Deitrick's birthday September 29 (1960).
We forgot to even mention Rod's birthday and we apologize for the omission.
• Veronika Guinther, daughter of Marie Eveland, first wife of Sam Eveland, wrote to say hello.

Shouldn't there be a shorter word for "monosyllabic?"

Not that we are trying to confuse you, there are 1024 (2 to the 10th power) bytes in a kilobyte, 1024 kilobytes in a megabyte, and 1024 megabytes in a gigabyte. The numbers look like this: Kilobyte = 1024 bytes; Megabyte = 1,048,576 bytes; a Gigabyte = 1,073,741,824 bytes.

We were browsing through our library last evening and came across the History of Bucks County and the History of Butler Country when the light bulb turned on. They were published in 1887 by J. H. Battle, the same man who edited the History of Columbia and Montour Counties in 1887. Readers of the Columbia/Montour version will remember that there are almost 550 pages of the Columbia County and 220 pages of the Montour County version. Where did the man get the time to delve into all this history?

And the mention of J. H. Battle brought our thinking to John J. Godhard, described by Battle as being a wealthy farmer, an Englishman and a patriot from Williams township in Northampton County. Godhard had a son-in-law by the name of William Hess and four grand-daughters who became the wives of Philip Fritz, Christian Laubach, Ezekiel Cole and John Kile. Philip Fritz was a Philadelphia businessman, while the others were farmers near the Delaware river. The family relocated in the upper Fishing Creek valley and became key members of the community, whose ancestors dot our countryside to this day. Head for your nearest library and pick up a copy of Battle or other history and learn more about your family history.

On this date in...
1813, composer Giuseppe Verdi was born in Italy, became a church organist by the age of seven, and later produced three masterpieces: Rigoletto (1851), Il Trovatore (1853), and La Traviata (1853).
1845, the United States Naval Academy opened in Annapolis with a class of 50 midshipmen and seven professors.
1973, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew pleaded no contest to one count of federal income tax evasion and resigned his office.
1972, Washington Post reporters Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward uncovered a massive effort on the part of the Committee for the Reelection of the President to disrupt the Democratic campaign. Woodward and Bernstein won the 1973 Pulitzer Prize for their stories. The men wrote two best-sellers about the affair: All the President's Men and The Final Days.

A reader wrote recalling her memories of her grandmother's apron, and we'll pass along parts of what she wrote. The purpose of Grandma's apron, Bettie from Manassas wrote, "was to protect the dress underneath, but along with that, it served as a holder for removing hot pans from the oven. It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears." Grandmother's apron cradled eggs from the chicken coop to the kitchen and rounded up baby chicks who wandered away from their mothers. Grandmother's apron hid shy kids when company came to call and warmed her arms when the weather turned cool at night. When she was baking, the apron wiped away many a drop of moisture from her forehead, and fueled the fire when she filled her apron with wood chips for the wood stove. Fruit and vegetables made their way from the garden in her apron, vegetables like peas freshly shelled or apples gathered from under the trees on their way to becoming an apple pie or chestnuts destined for boiling water. When the gravel in front of the house announced the arrival of guests, Grandmother would use her apron to dust the table and the chairs. She would wave her apron at the friends waking up the front walk and summoned the men folk from the field the same way. Grandmother's apron is reserved for those special family gatherings now. We often think of those days Grandmother would set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool, a stark contrast to today's world where her granddaughters set their pies on the windowsill to thaw.

Reserve Wednesday, November 3, for the annual buckwheat cake supper at the Benton Christian Church. The meal includes all the cakes you want to eat, sausage and home fries, coffee, juice, and dessert. The price is $6 and things get underway at 6 PM. The fine folks at the Christian Church are raising money to add a bathroom on the Church level.

A total of 807 dinners were served yesterday at the Sugarloaf Fish Supper. Reports are that meals were available a half hour early.

John Watson of Total Look Landscaping will apparently become the next owner of the 1.1 acre former Wenner & Burton property. We wish John great success in whatever endeavors he undertakes.

On this date in...
1858, stagecoaches began delivering the mail between San Francisco and St. Louis. The first delivery took 23 days.

1872, Aaron Montgomery Ward delivered the first mail order catalog--a single-sheet price list, 8 by 12 inches, showing articles for sale with ordering instructions. The mail-order business originated at Clark and Kinzie Streets in Chicago, with $2,400 capital. By 1904, three million Montgomery Ward catalogs a year were being mailed to mostly rural customers.

1935, Cavalcade of America was first broadcast on CBS radio. Narrator Thomas Chalmers told stories about obscure incidents and people in United States history. Donald Voorhees led the orchestra. Until the show ended in 1953, it was sponsored by the E.I. du Pont de Nemours Company.

1960, Eddie LeBaron threw a two-inch touchdown pass when Eddie LeBaron of Dallas threw to Dick Bielski of the Redskins before a paid audience of 21,142. It was the only game--sob--that Washington won that year.

1967, Doc Severinsen become musical director of "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson," replacing Skitch Henderson. Doc was known for his eccentric wardrobe, quick wit and his trumpet solos. Doc and the band moved on to solo albums, group CDs and successful concert tours, playing with various symphony orchestras and owning a custom trumpet company near San Francisco. Today, Doc is now the next door neighbor of the Hobby Horse Ranch, Santa Ynez, CA.

A reader asked about camera phones after she saw a VERIZON advertisement for a $49 camera/phone. She asked about the amount of megapixels she could expect in those snappy little combinations of cell phone and digital camera. Forget about megapixels! You'll be lucky to get 300-600,000 pixels! Most camera phones have a digital zoom that is about an inch above worthless. The camera is a "set it and forget it" type, since it doesn't have any camera settings. Don't expect to make the resultant picture into a decent 5x7 picture. Remember to take the pictures at the handset's highest quality setting. The low resolution setting will transmit faster, but will be of very poor quality. Move in close. The picture you take will be cropped as much as you'll be able to crop it. Don't bother with pictures in dim light. Keep that hand steady when you snap the picture in order to accommodate the long exposure time. Any blur in the picture will be from your hand movement when you took the picture. The bottom line? Camera phones can be a lot of creative, on-the-fly fun, but for good digital pictures stick with a stand-alone digital camera.

The early antlerless deer muzzleloader season runs from October 16-23. To participate, hunters must have an antlerless deer license, a muzzleloader stamp and general hunting license.

Here are a couple of very well done pieces of political music and humor, but could offend some people. A fast internet connection would help.

http://atomfilms.shockwave.com/content/this_land/frameset.html

http://atomfilms.shockwave.com/content/goodtobeindc/frameset.html

Surprise, surprise. The two Presidential candidates differ on Iraq, taxes, abortion and stem-cell research! And that is just for starters.

On this date in...
1871, The Great Fire of Chicago broke out at the barn of Catherine and Patrick O'Leary, when Mrs. O'Leary's cow kicked over a kerosene lamp. Or was Daniel "Peg Leg" Sullivan responsible? The fire traveled quickly on the West Side, jumped the Chicago River traveling at speeds estimated up to 30 mph at times, while sending fire and superheated air into the air. By October 10, more than three square miles in the heart of the city were completely destroyed, property damages were $200 million, about 100,000 people were homeless, and nearly 300 were dead.

1918, at the battle of Argonne Forest, sergeant Alvin Cullium York almost single-handedly killed 25 Germans, knocked out 35 machine guns, and captured 132 prisoners. His military record showed that he shot accurately at ranges of 200, 300 and 500 yards, but he struggled with the moral issue of killing human beings, and refused to shoot at human silhouette targets.
1935, wedding bells rang for singer Harriet Hilliard and bandleader Oswald G. Nelson. By 1944 on this date, The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet was first broadcast. The show continued on radio until 1952 until it moved to television.

Fall, leaves, fall; die, flowers, away;
Lengthen night and shorten day;
Every leaf speaks bliss to me,
Fluttering from the autumn tree.
--Emily Bronte (1818-1848)

Rep. David R. Millard (R-Millville) will host a free Senor Expo for Columbia County senior citizens and their families Friday, October 15, from 10 AM to 2 PM at the Espy Fire Hall, Third and Tenny Streets, Bloomsburg. Several departments and agencies will have representatives, including the Pennsylvania Lottery, PENNDOT, Veterans Affairs, YMCA, AARP, Department of Health and the Area Agency on Aging. Information will be available on Pennsylvania's PACE and PACENET program. The Pennsylvania Treasury Department will conduct free unclaimed property reviews. Free blood pressure and health screenings will be available. Prize bingo will start at noon. There will be free refreshments and door prizes. For more information, call Rep. Millard's district office in Bloomsburg at 387-0246 or in Berwick at 759-8734.

The Presidential polls in Pennsylvania flip-flop from one candidate to the other, all the time predicting a close race. House Majority Leader Sam Smith wrestled legislation through the House that establishes an automatic vote recount for statewide races. An amendment to Senate Bill 346 establishing an automatic recount for statewide races where the margin of victory is 0.5 percent or less. The Senate concurred and the Governor is expected to sign the legislation. Now lets get this election over. We're tired of hearing how bad the other guy is...

Alanna Bath, a Benton Area Schools graduate and a junior music education major at Wilkes University, makes her voice heard from singing to tutoring, and is emerging as a leader on the Wilkes campus. Since she started college, she has been accepted into Kappa Delta Pi and the Young Women's Leadership Program, maintained a 3.9 GPA for spring 2004, received two Wilkes named scholarships, is on the Wilkes University Dean's List and the National Dean's List, passed three of five praxis exams, and continued to improve vocal skills. In mid-August, Alanna came Back Home to Bendertown, PA, to see her parents, Mike and Carol Bath, and to sing The Lord's Prayer at the Benton United Methodist Church and at St. James U.C.C.

The Pennsylvania Fall Foliage Report can be found here.

Abigail Ritchie is marketing her handmade soaps just in time for holiday giving. Abby’s Handmade Soaps are elegantly molded handmade pure Olive Oil Castile Soap and coordinating lotions in Honeysuckle, Lavender, Lemon, Magnolia, Rose, Spicy Citrus fragrances. Take a look at the well-done web site http://www.abbysoap.com/ and start your Christmas shopping now. Local customers can order from the website and arrange for pickup Back Home in Benton, PA, to avoid paying for shipping. Just select 'Local Pickup' from the drop down next to the 'Add to Cart' button. After you place your order, Abby will personally send an email to arrange for you to pickup your order.

Are you wondering where your absentee ballot is? The Pennsylvania Department of State has advised county officials not to send out absentee ballots with Ralph Nader's name on them until the court system determines whether he's allowed on the presidential ballot. Regardless of when they are sent out, they have to be returned by October 29.

On this date in...
1940, Portia Faces Life debuted on the NBC Red network. The radio soap opera focused on the life of Portia Blake Manning, a widowed attorney with a young son.
1985, the Italian cruise ship, Achille Lauro, was hijacked. Demands were made that prisoners held in Israel be released. Leon Klinghoffer, a resident of New York City and confined to his wheel chair was fatally shot.

Lyle R. Benjamin, (September 16, 1918-October 5, 2004), 86, 397 Waller Road, died Tuesday. He had been a resident of Bloomsburg Health Care Center for the past few years. He was a son of the late Thomas J. and Stella V. (Hess) Benjamin. His wife, A. Gertrude (Williams) Heller Benjamin, died December 3, 1996. Mr. Benjamin was a farmer and huckstered eggs for many years. He had also worked as a custodian at the Berwick Hospital Center. He was a 1937 graduate of Benton High School. He was preceded in death by two brothers: Rendon R. Benjamin, on Aug. 14, 1971; and Earl T. Benjamin, on Aug. 18, 1901; and by a sister, Ila Marquene Benjamin, who died March 4, 1917. Funeral services will be held 11 AM Thursday at McMichael Funeral Home Inc., Benton. Visitation will be held 10 AM Thursday until the time of the service. Burial will be in Waller Cemetery.
--Obituary from the Press Enterprise, where a complete version can be found.

How do you warn a large cow moose weighing close to 1,000 pounds about the determination of a 17 year old homecoming queen from Back Home in Benton, PA? How do you explain to a senior in the Benton Area Schools that bagging a moose is far different from bringing down a whitetail deer? We'll know the answer to that when the two worlds collide Monday as the moose season opens in Maine.

Brooke Allison Lee, 17, had the good fortune of being a 2004 moose lottery raffle June 16 in Presque Isle, Maine. This weekend she drives over 700 miles to Grand Lakes Stream with her father, Bob "Pinky" Lee to bag a big one in the wilds of Maine in what may prove to be the most challenging of hunts in her short career. The chances of becoming the lucky recipient of an out-of-state moose tag, as Brooke did, is slim, and those who are lucky enough to draw one may find it a once in a lifetime hunt. Shooting one of the estimated 30,000 moose in Maine is not necessarily an easy task. People who hunt moose say that the first day of the hunt can be a walk in the park, but it goes rapidly down hill from there. The first day, the moose are essentially tranquil, but natural wariness sets in immediately after the huge animals realize what the intentions are of the camouflaged hunters.

Out of state hunters often show up in the area where they have been assigned the day before the hunt begins to "scout out the area." The hunters are suddenly in the vast forested areas of Maine but have little idea where to start. They know that moose like bogs and cuts and think that on opening day the accommodating moose will be in the same Tourist Moose areas they were in during the heat of the summer. The moose, on the other hand, usually have other ideas and may be miles away on a hardwood ridge or hiding in a cedar swamp.

Hunters show up in their assigned zone the day before the hunt and start looking the afternoon before the hunt. Some of the hunters--but not Brooke and her dad, of course-- play some poker and drink a couple of beers before they bed down for a restless night of sleep, visions of moose dancing through their head, a plan for outsmarting the dumb animals formulated and reformulated as they toss and turn on the unfamiliar mattress. They often sleep until an hour before sunrise. They bound out of bed at the first sound of the alarm, stir in some pancakes and down a couple of cups of Starbucks they brought from home and head into the hills just before legal shooting light. This is a good approach--if there are willing moose camped right outside their door! But mostly hunters will have to spend long hours moose hunting and will probably have to travel long distances each day. This is not going to be a vacation and it isn't going to be easy--especially for a high school senior. Nothing will be easy about this hunt.

Our advice to Brooke...
• You'll need enough food for at least five days. This is a once in a lifetime hunt and you need to prepare for the long haul. We suspect that your contingency plan for this is your father.
• Plan on being where you are going to hunt at least one hour before hunting time begins. You'll have time to kill, but if you are the first one there it could deter someone else for going in to the area that you want to hunt.
• If you find moose tracks, make a single pass through that area, assuming no other hunters are in the area.
• The bulls of the herd at this time of the year only have one thing on their mind. Get into the woods and look for a thinning; leave the vehicle alone; listen. Waiting along a dirt road waiting for a couple of hunters won't occur to a moose. Keep your Dad out of your hunting area until you get a moose and you need him to help with the dirty work.
• If you don't know the area, hire a good guide.
• A moose hunt can be done with a rifle, camera, bow or muzzleloader. Learn to call with a birch bark horn. Either get a stand along a waterway or hunt by canoe. There is nothing as exciting as hearing a 1000 pound animal come crashing at you through the alders, stopping just out of sight and occasionally charging to within a few feet.
• Remember that when you shoot this critter, it will probably fall into the water. To get this critter to land, you'll need to wade in the cold water, you'll need to pull something like five times your own weght to get it to where you can gut it. Then you have to get it to where you can load it onto your car to take it to be inspected, and then you have to find a butcher to do it up for you.

We wish Brooke the best in her hunt, and we'll keep you posted on her progress.

Moose hunts are available by lottery only. Applications are available from January through April with the drawing in June. Want a 2005 moose lottery application? Go here .

James Whitcomb Riley was born on this date in 1849. He once wrote...
"Wunst they wuz a little boy wouldn't say his prayers,--
An' when he went to bed at night, away up-stairs,
His Mammy heerd him holler, an' his Daddy heerd him bawl,
An' when they turn't the kivvers down, he wuzn't there at all...
All they ever found wuz thist his pants an' roundabout:--
An' the Gobble-uns 'll git you
Ef you
Don't
Watch
Out!"
.

We'll try to help you navigate the Benton Park for the Northern Columbia portion of the Covered Bridge Festival this weekend. Using the stage as the focal point of the festivities Saturday and Sunday, there will be a pavilion with food and seating at stage left. Entertainment seating will be stage center. At stage right will be rest rooms, grange food, candy apple stand, a pavilion for kid's use in case of bad weather. There will be a pumpkin patch for a kid's activity area, a french fry stand, an ice cream stand, and the various venders. Here is a list of venders...

Susan Barren, Nescopeck, Spinner
Ruth Coolen, Muncy Valley, Painted wood items
BJ Canouse, Berwick, Hand painting on various items, centerpieces
Ethel Covert, Millville, Handpaint cheese boxes, slates, candle boxes
Deborah Dyer, Milton, Ceramics, wood, crocheted, plastic, canvas
Jerry Laubach, Benton, scrumptious food
Angela Korchnak, Wapwallopen, Paintings, handcrafted musical instruments
Beverly Lukashewski, Wapwallopen, kids area, making scarecrows, face painting
Debbie Babcock, Berwick, Holiday crafts, embroidery, wood
Brian Bower, Orangeville, Grange Food
Barbie Beck, Wapwallopen, wood, needle, candle crafts, candy
Hellers Orchards, Wapwallopen, fruit
Cindy Pennypacker, Benton, Beaded Jewelry
Evelyn Phillips, Benton, hand-quilted pillows, drying racks
Chris Young, Orangeville, Covered Bridge items/fund raising
Leslie A. Straub, Mount Carmel, flower arrangements.

At the Benton Grange #88 food stand there will be lots of good food including pie. Bob Wenner's cider will be sold The Grange will be selling the state cook books.

Is your check book running low? Consider the Federal Government, expected to hit the national debt's $7.4 trillion imposed ceiling this month, a difficult time with the November election so close at hand and with so much at stake. Congress plans to adjourn Friday, and the ceiling probably won't get raised. You are going to see the fast one-two shuffle by the Treasury Department to stay under the horizon of the ceiling. Someone with more time than we have estimated that each citizen's share of this debt is $25,185.55, based on an estimated population of the United States of 294,452,542.

The Benton High School Class of 1937 and invited guests took over Painter Den Club Wednesday for food and fellowship. Forty-two showed up. Classmate Lyle Benjamin was remembered.

On this date in...
1947, Harry Truman, the first United States president to make use of television, addressed the nation asking Americans not to eat meat on Tuesdays or poultry on Thursdays in order to save on feed grains to help the starving in Europe. "With TV," he said, "A politician can be a guest in every living room in the world."
1950, Groucho Marx's quiz show, You Bet Your Life, debuted on NBC. Groucho rarely gave away more than a thousand dollars and a pair of contestants had to split that amount.
1952, after 11 years on radio, Inner Sanctum, the mystery series, was heard for the last time. The show started on the Blue Network (later to become ABC Radio) on January 7, 1941, under the sponsorship of Carter's Little Liver Pills. Colgate Tooth Powder later sponsored the series, as well as Lipton's Teas and Soups. The commercials were as much fun as the shows. The show always opened with a squeaking door and the host spinning puns .
1953, the Yankees won their fifth straight World Series beating the Dodgers, 4-3, in the sixth game of the series, the 16th world championship for the Yanks. Columbia County Sheriff Woodrow Brewington was riding on a cloud!

Here is an idea for a Christmas present. Procter & Gamble Co. and Royal Phillips Electronics have teamed to create a power toothbrush with a Crest toothpaste dispenser. Called "IntelliClean System," the toothbrush from Sonicare and Crest combines sonic technology and high-speed brushing with a specially formulated Crest liquid toothpaste. The device squirts the toothpaste through the brush's head to allow users to reapply toothpaste while brushing. It even has a timer to get in the recommended two minutes of brushing time.

What are you hungry for Saturday night, ham or fish? There is a family style ham supper at the Fairmount Springs United Methodist Church October 9 from 4 PM to 6:30 PM. Adults pay $7 for the works, children 3 to 10 pay $3. The famous Sugarloaf School Fish Supper is the same night, with an repeat performance on the 30th of this month. The price at Sugarloaf is $9 for adults for the delicious Atlantic Cod, "all you can eat," including homemade ice cream or pie. Hours are 4 PM to 7 PM. The folks around Grassmere think that some of you will get a rise out of their three new bathrooms, too. The building is now completely handicapped accessible thanks to the hard-working folks there.

Benton Town Council last night...
• voted to pursue avenues leading to the possibility of the eventual sale of land on the West side of the airport to the Benton Rodeo Association for non-profit, recreation usage.
• concluded that the lack of a survey, soil test and site design for the construction of the new Town Hall building would delay the project.

Halloween doings...
• The Royal Order Of Raccoons are having their annual Haunted House and Halloween Party Saturday, October 23, from 12 to 3 PM at the North Mountain Fire Company. Everyone is welcome. Children up to 13 years are requested to dress up. There will be prizes, snacks, coloring and painting and even a haunted house. Donations are welcomed.
• In Benton Borough, October 26 will be the Halloween Parade. The parade forms at the high school at 6:30 and moves at 7 PM. October 30 will be "Trick or Treat" night.

Ted and Helen Morehart Fritz will gather with their many friends to commemorate a half century of marriage. The couple were married in the Benton Methodist Church parsonage on October 1, 1954. Helen is the daughter of Amos P. Morehart and the late Grace Foust Morehart. Ted is the son of the late Silas R. and Sarah Snyder Fritz. They are the parents of Ted, Benton; Dennis, Berwick; and Teresa Hawk, New Tripoli; there are five grandchildren and two great grandchildren. The open house will be from 2 to 4 PM October 10 at 444 Klinger Hill Road.

Several companies are wrestling with fraudulent email that attempts to trick recipients into providing an "ATM/Debit Card" number and associated PIN number onto a phony pop-up web page designed to appear as if it was a legitimate website. The term "Phishing" is used to describe fraudulent attempts to steal an individual's identity through email and phony, or "spoofed," web pages. Frequently, the email text attempts to create a sense of urgency with a message that financial accounts will be closed or access denied if the recipient doesn't respond right away. A reputable company will not send email requesting that clients verify card or account information online. If you're ever in doubt about information that appears to have come from a legitimate website, type the entire website address directly into your browser and avoid using the links embedded in the email. More information about fraudulent e-mails, Phishing, and ways to protect yourself online is available by doing a Google search or the financial institutions with which you are associated.

The Bloomsburg Fair is now history, but the memory of some things live on. The Vance Family Apple Dumplings topped with Penn State University ice cream are such a memory. You can still get a dish because the dumplings and ice cream will also be available at Jim and Ruth Vance's stand at the Covered Bridge Festival at Knoebels Grove this weekend. The dumplings and the ice cream are legendary. The University Creamery at Penn State's main campus sells about 750,000 cones a year. Twice former President Bill Clinton visited the creamery, both before his recent heart operation, and ordered Peachy Paterno both times, a creamy peach ice cream named after Penn State's football coach Joe Paterno. In the four years that the Vances have sold Penn State ice cream they have worked into the largest single outside vendor of the ice cream. And that is phenomenal when you realize that on Sunday before Fair began this year, water stood 13 feet deep at their Fair stand site...

On this date in...
1931, Dick Tracy first appeared in the Detroit Mirror. Chester Gould originally called the comic strip "Plainclothes Tracy" and drew steely eyes and 45 degree angles to portray the face of Dick and his girlfriend, Tess Truehart.

1939, a barber named Pierino from Canonsburg (near Pittsburgh) recorded That Old Gang of Mine with the Ted Weems Orchestra, Eventually the singing barber went solo on radio, television and stage as Perry Como, and recorded for RCA Victor for over four decades.

1957, the Soviet Union became the first nation to go into space when it launched a 184-pound satellite that meant "companion" or "fellow traveler." The satellite went into orbit 500 miles above the Earth from Kazakhstan, staying in orbit for about three months. The launch caught the United States off-guard and got the attention of the world. Most viewd the launch as a sign that Russians were ahead in the race to create intercontinental ballistic missiles and soon would be setting up a military base on the moon. Don Martini remembers that our side had been working on a 23 pound satellite with a 3.5 pound payload for the International Geophysical Year under the auspices of the Navy using the Naval Research Laboratory's Vanguard launch vehicle. The Vanguard was later referred to as the Civil Service Rocket; i.e., it didn't work and you couldn't fire it! On November 3, 1957, the USSR launched their second satellite weighing 1120 pounds carrying an ill-fated dog named Laika. Don was in the USAF flying B-36s at Biggs AFB, El Paso, at the time. About a month after the Sputnik I launch, Don was given a "volunteer" assignment to establish a group for observing satellites and reporting the sightings to the Smithsonian Institute. The launch of Sputnik resulted in the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

1957, ABC-TVs Leave It to Beaver premiered with Jerry Mathers playing the Beaver, Hugh Beaumont playing Ward Cleaver, Tony Dow as big brother Wally, and Barbara Billingsley as mother June Cleaver in a version of Americana completely alien to life Back Home in Benton, PA. June did the housework in three strands of pearls, dresses right out of J. C. Penny's, wearing makeup, stockings with a black seam down the back side, and heels.

1970, rock singer Janis Joplin, 27, died in Hollywood of an overdose of heroin three weeks after Jimi Hendrix died from a sleeping pill overdose.

1986, Dan Rather of The CBS Evening News fame was mugged by two men. The idea was again considered two weeks ago by a major political party.

The eight-member group known as Country Current is a specialty unit of The United States Navy Band. The performing unit specializes in all kinds of country and bluegrass music. Country Current has worked with such artists as Charlie Daniels and Vince Gill. On October 31 at 3 PM, the newspaper Citizen's Voice will provide free general admission tickets to the Kirby Center, Wilkes-Barre, on a first-come, first-served basis. Tickets are limited to two per request, you must mail in a coupon from the Citizen's Voice paper, along with a self addressed stamped envelope in order to receive your tickets. Tickets are only available through the Citizen's Voice.

A reader asked us to provide a copy of A Rural Legend--the Search for Pennsylvania Mountain Lions. Because the story may be of general interest we refer you to www.aginfo.psu.edu/news/august01/lion.html in order to read the story. We always smile when we hear stories of the sighting of a mountain lion in the state. The Pennsylvania Game Commission says there is no proof there are mountain lions in the state, but they also say that if someone sees one they should realize that shooting the animal is unlawful--unless it is completely in self defense.

The karaoke contest finals happen this Saturday night, October 9, at the Central Park Hotel. The show starts at 10 PM. The Jamison City Hotel hosted the first night of the karaoke contest preliminaries in May. The second preliminary was held at the Elk Grove Inn in June. The Central Park Hotel wrapped up the last leg of the contest in July. Three winners were chosen by voting at each location resulting in a total of nine contestants to compete this Fall. Voting was determined by purchasing one ticket per person for a dollar or greater donation to benefit the "Royal Order of Raccoons," a non-profit organization in the North Mountain/Benton area that helps residents in the community that are in need. The Central Park Hotel is the location that raised the most money for the Royal Order of Raccoons, so the contest finals will be held there October 9.

On Tuesday night two men--lets call them "Sugar" and "Spice"--will take center stage. "Sugar" is trim, lawyerly, smiling, handsome with his Pepsodent smile and soothing with his Southern drawl, yet a relative newcomer to politics and up to now almost invisible from the Presidential campaign. The other is a "just-the-facts," pudgy, balding, battering ram of a man in a low-key way, a veteran with extensive experience in politics. We expect that the zingers will be flying back and forth as the two men say things that the main men would not dare say. Still, the production will only be the warm-up act for Friday night when the "main men" take to the stage for the second time.

Quickies...
• We recommend that you simply forget about the emails you receive that say that your message could not be forwarded because of a virus. These are random spoofs created by someone's infected computer (not yours) that contains your email address and randomly sends out false messages such as these. Delete them and get on with it. Life is too short to worry about the problem and we suspect you won't get to the bottom of it anytime soon.

• Richard Freas Smith, Uniontown, Ohio, would like to correspond with people knowledgeable of the "Benton Smiths, including Bellas, Campbell, Freas, Fritz, Kase, Koser, Lewellan, Lutz, Peterman, Wildoner and Wilson." Richard's great, great, grandfather was Henry Smith. Henry's son William was a Raven Creek farmer and operated a general store in Benton. He had a son named George Lewellen Smith, George had a son named Freas Lewellen Smith and Freas had a son named Richard Freas Smith. If you would like to communicate with Richard, let us know and we'll give you more information.

• The Press Enterprise reports that Fair attendance this year "was down 18% from the fair's average weekly attendance over the last decade. On Tuesday, September 28, as we sat in a driving rainstorm on a track seat to see Trace Adkins, the daily attendance total only reached 24,462, a record extending back 15 years.

• Welcome to Mike Delp, the new full-time Youth & Outreach Minister of the Stillwater Christian Church. Mike did missionary work in Cambodia before coming to the Stillwater Church. He is married to the former Sarah Dressler.

• The award for the first street in the Borough to get Christmas lights up goes to--drum roll, please--Market Street.

• The Benton Borough Town Council meets at 7 PM tonight at the Benton Area High School building.

On this date in...
1863, Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation designating the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day. FDR changed it twice during his Presidency and finally Congress settled the issue in 1941 by declaring it a legal holiday on the fourth Thursday of November.

1906, William Thomas Grant (1876-1972) opened a 25-cent department store that combined separate, little shops into individual departments under one roof as one large store. Customers loved it. At its peak, there were over 1,200 W. T. Grant Department Stores. After his death his department stores folded in the biggest retail bankruptcy in history. The William T. Grant Foundation survived and continues his philanthropy.
1932, Iraq became independent after 100 years of direct foreign rule and centuries of domination by various imperial powers. Britain ended its mandate over the nation that began during World War I when Britain seized Iraq from Turkey.
1954, Father Knows Best began on CBS, then moved to NBC two years later. Insurance salesman Jim Anderson (Robert Young) and his TV family continued until 1963 following the premise that kids were kids, moms were moms and father knew best. In reality, father didn't always know best, and often wife Margaret, daughter "Princess" and precocious Kathy came out on top.
1955, Bob Keeshan had his first day on CBS-TV as "Captain Kangaroo." Others joining in were Mr. Green Jeans, Bunny Rabbit, Grandfather Clock and Mr. Moose. Also on this date in 1955, the Mickey Mouse Club debuted on ABC.
1960, the Andy Griffith Show debuted on CBS, then stayed in the Top 10 for eight seasons winning Don Knotts five Emmies as Deputy Barney Fife.
1961, the first episode of The Dick Van Dyke Show aired on CBS. It starred Dick Van Dyke, Mary Tyler Moore, Rose Marie and Morey Amsterdam. Carl Reiner wrote the show and portrayed Alan Brady, for whom the show was named and the stars of the show worked.
1980, Bruce Springsteen forgot some of the words to his hit Born to Run in front of a live audience in Ann Arbor. Forgetting words--and sometimes entire thoughts--will become a fact of life in a few years for Bruce if he travels the same path many of us have.
1995, the O.J. Simpson trial ended and the football star was cleared of the murder of his wife Nicole and a male companion.

Arthur L. Hayman, (January 25, 1916-October 1, 2004), 88, 239 Academy St., Stillwater, died Friday. He was born in Fishingcreek Township, a son of the late Harold H. and Edith A. (Doty) Hayman. He attended the Fishingcreek Township schools and graduated from Benton High School in 1934. He also graduated from Tri State College in Angola, Indiana. He was self-employed as a refrigeration and electrical engineer most of his life and worked at the Philadelphia Navy Yard during World War II. He was a founding member of the new Columbus Academy Memorial Hall Association, serving as vice president and as a director for 40 years. He also served as curator of the academy museum. He was a well known local historian and Civil War buff, Mr. Hayman restored an early Edison generator that is now on permanent display at the Edison Museum in Fort Myers, Fla. He was preceded in death by his wife, the former Rae I. Richards, on Oct. 10, 1982, and by a brother, Quentin D. Hayman, on June 26, 1991. Surviving are his wife, the former Agnes P. (Cotterman) Bonham, with whom he celebrated a 21st wedding anniversary on July 20; three children: the Rev. Arthur Lee Hayman, Orangeville; Donna Fritz, Orangeville; the Rev. Franklin F. Hayman, Allegany, NY; a stepson, Kenneth L. Long, Shickshinny; numerous grandchildren and grandchildren; three siblings: Homer Hayman, Orangeville; Alice Runyan, Pottstown; and Norman Hayman, Shickshinny. Funeral services will be 11 AM Thursday in the Kriner Funeral Home, Benton. Assisting in the service will be the Rev. Arthur Lee Hayman, the Rev. Franklin F. Hayman, the Rev. Douglas Hayman, and the Rev. Nathan S. Hayman. Interment will be in New Columbus Cemetery. Friends may call Wednesday from 7 to 9 PM at the funeral home. Memorials may be sent to the New Columbus Academy Memorial Hall Association, c/o Harold L. Yaple, Old Tioga Turnpike, Stillwater, PA 17878.
--Obituary from the Press Enterprise, where a more complete version can be found

The nice part about living in a small town is when you don't know what you're doing, someone else always does.

May You Always Be Blessed
with walls for the wind, a roof for the rain,
a warm cup of tea by the fire, laughter to cheer you,
those you love near you, and all that your heart might desire.
--An old Gaelic blessing, seen hanging on a wall in Mt. Lebanon, PA.

That blessing takes on special meaning when considered with an email from Gaye Beishline Moser. Gaye, a former Benton resident, writes that their Florida house "will probably be red taged," meaning that their house will be condemned. To see just how bad it still is in South Florida, go to www.wpecnews12.com where there are 400 pictures and information on the hurricanes. Gaye is thinking of getting another travel trailer so they can get out of Florida next June and not come back until October or November. Gaye writes that "Maybe we will see Benton next summer."

Bill and Loretta Hiscox, Palm City, Florida, report that 43 inches of rain fell on their house in the month of September. They had substantial damage, but are OK. They said that Saturday morning was the first that they haven't heard generators running. Schools will reopen as late as next Thursday in Martin County, Florida.

Modern Pittsburgh is indeed beautiful, but as is so often the case on these pages we turn to the past. We remember reading Charles Dickens account in American Notes of his arrival in Pittsburgh on March 28, 1842. He had sailed from Harrisburg by the Pennsylvania Canal. Take the time to visualize his accommodations. He wrote that the sleeping shelf on the canal boat was "just the width of an ordinary sheet of Bath post letter paper, with one man above me and another below." The men he was traveling with were described by Dickens as "in foul linen, with yellow streams from half chewed tobacco trickling down their chins." He describes what it is like to see 17 men spit in unison and then to have to lie down on the luggage "every time the man at the helm calls 'Bridge!'"

Charles Dickens was not the average traveler on a river boat. He rose at 5 AM and plunged his head into a half-frozen bowl of water, then jumped from the boat to the tow path and walking alongside the boat five or six miles before breakfast.

The canal boats were taken over the mountains by inclined planes, moved by stationery engines. He described gliding at night very noiselessly, past "frowning hills sullen with dark trees." He mentioned the "red burning spots where unseen men lay crouching round the fire. You can read the entire Dickens adventure as written in American Notes by turning to www.online-literature.com/dickens/americannotes/ .

We should, at this point, give you some specifics about the canal system. Pittsburgh was out of the mainstream in the early 1800s as a gateway to the West. Trade and travel bypassed Pittsburgh by using the National Road from Baltimore to Wheeling or the Erie Canal across New York state. In 1825, the Ohio Legislature authorized building a canal from Cleveland to Portsmouth on the Ohio River. The handwriting was on the wall for Pittsburgh. Something had to be done.

The Pennsylvania State Legislature authorized construction of the Pennsylvania Canal in 1826 and amazingly enough it opened eight years later across the entire width of the state. The canal route included building 10 inclines to carry canal boats on rail cars over the mountains between Hollidaysburg and Johnstown; digging 1000-foot long canal tunnels through Bow Ridge on the Conemaugh River and under Grant's Hill in Pittsburgh; building the first railroad tunnel in the United States at Staple Bend; and constructing the first suspension bridge in the United States that was actually an aqueduct, carrying the canal channel across the Allegheny River into downtown Pittsburgh. It arrived in town near today's convention center.

The ambitious plan worked and people flooded into Pittsburgh, surpassing the population of even Baltimore and Cleveland. The canal fostered the iron industry in the city, enabling Pittsburgh to grow into a steel town.

At the Sen. John Heinz Pittsburgh Regional History Center, you can hear the audiotaped quotation from Charles Dickens' account of traveling on the canal. If you have read his account or listened to his audio journal, you'll remember that he sailed on to Cincinnati on the steamboat Messenger on April 1. He and his wife stayed in a cabin in the stern of the boat because he was told that "the steamboat generally blew up forward."

Closer to home, you can get a good flavor of a state canal system in Salem Township, 8 miles south of Wilkes-Barre on Rt. 11 on a half mile river walking path, nature park and environmental center. The park is part of the North Branch Division of the PA Canal System. This division had 43 locks and followed the north branch of the Susquehanna River 169 miles from Northumberland to the NY state line. The park is owned and managed by PA Power and Light Company.

On this date in...
1920, the only triple-header in baseball history was played. The Cincinnati Reds won two out of three against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
1950, Peanuts, debuted in nine newspapers with the characters of Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Patty and Sherman. The comic strip was created by Charles Schulz,
1959, The Twilight Zone first aired on CBS. It won three Emmies and a score of other awards.

US Airways' low-priced ticket option, GoFares, is now available from 13 cities across Pennsylvania, including Harrisburg. From Harrisburg International Airport you can now scoot off to Denver, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle on a simplified pricing structure for as little as $159. US Airways Express carriers will handle some of the flights. We point out that US Airways is operating under the protection of bankruptcy laws.

We betcha that you know all about the 1871 fire that started in a stable and burned the city of Chicago. But we suspect that you don't know much about the fire on April 10, 1845, that burned the city of Pittsburgh. The story goes that a washerwoman decided to heat her clothes water outside rather than in the kitchen. A guest of wind snatched some burning chips and blew them into a barn, and the rest, as they say, was history. The fire alarm was the bell on the Third Presbyterian Church (now the site of St. Mary's Catholic Church). At precisely noon, the bell was rung, but in a few minutes the city was in flames. The fire consumed steamboats, the stone building of the Western University of Pittsburgh, the bridge over the Monongahela River and "the whole city eastward to Smithfield Street." The fire destroyed 1,100 houses and more than 2,000 were homeless--all this in a town with a population of only 30,000. Insurance companies were ruined, and many houses and businesses were rebuilt at the owner's expense. Private donations within the state raised $109,000 to help with the rebuilding. To this day, if you happen to be in the neighborhood of the Western Pennsylvania Historical Society on Biglow Boulevard at 12 PM on the 10th day of April you will hear bells struck once, then eight times, four times and five times--1-8-4-5--to remind Pittsburgh residents of the great fire of that year and the tolling of the bells to warn people.

At the Fair...
Lightweight Horse Pulling, 10 AM, Grandstand, $3 admission; Heavyweight Horse Pulling, 1 PM, Grandstand, $3 admission; Allen and Peg Lynch's Working Border Collie Demo, Arena, 10:30-11:30 AM, 2-3 PM and 7-8 PM; 4-H and FFA Garden Tractor Demonstration, 1-2 PM, Arena; 4-H Horse and Pony Drill Team, 4-5 PM, Arena; 4-H and FFA Livestock Sale, 6:30 PM, Show Tent. There will be a "Gigantic fireworks display."

Music includes at 11 AM, Montgomery High School Band; noon, Rob Brown; 1:30 PM, Amanda Perko; 2:30 PM, Rick K. and the Allnighters; 4 PM, Ryan Pelton "Elvis Returns"; 5:15 PM, Rob Brown; 6:15 PM, Amanda Perko; 7:30 PM, Rick K. and the Allnighters; 9 PM, Ryan Pelton "Elvis Returns."

Penn State's matchup at No. 18 Minnesota on Saturday will air with kickoff slated for 7 PM CDT/8 PM ET. ESPN Plus will televise the game.

The 17th Annual Early Bird Sports Expo will be held January 27-30, 2003 at the Bloomsburg Fairgrounds. Hours are Thursday 4-10 PM; Friday, 11 AM to 10 PM; Saturday, 10 AM to 9 PM, Sunday, 10 AM to 6 PM. Admission is $5, $.50 off with coupon which will be available at various merchants . Good homemade-style food will be available at reasonable prices. The show will feature outfitters, seminars, products and services related to outdoor activities, including hunting, fishing, camping and trapping. Registration information is available through Tom and Mary Lou Austin's website www.earlybirdexpo.com which is now being constructed.

Garrison Keillor welcomes folk-rock-blues singer Geoff Muldaur and guitarist/composer/former Dire Straits frontman Mark Knopfler to the Fitz this weekend. Want to listen? Go here:
http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/stations/ .

The bluegrass web site Bluegrass Country, www.bluegrasscountry.org , has named Nothin' Fancy their artist of the month! The L'il Margarets Bluegrass Festival included the final live performances of Charlie Waller. Both artists performed at the O.A.T.S. Bluegrass Festival in Benton in July.

We've moved to the Chet Atkins Diet. We can eat anything we want, but we're only allowed to pick at it.

Many local investors took it on the chin Thursday following Merck & Co.'s surprise decision to yank its Vioxx arthritis drug off the market. The company lost almost $27 billion in market value--more than the entire value of Ford Motor Co.--after Merck disclosed that Vioxx doubles the risk of a heart attack among patients taking it for 18 months or longer. Vioxx accounts for about one-tenth of the company's sales. Merck shares dropped $12.07, or 26.8%, to $33, their lowest level since 1996.

We had just finished reading an email from a couple we'll simply identify as Jeanne and Mark when it happened. We will tell you about the email first, since it made us beam. Jeanne had written that she and her husband plan to attend "the Covered Bridge Festival at Knoebel's Park. On Wednesday we attended the Bloomsburg Fair and purchased a souvenir program. In there, on the second last page, we noticed an ad for the Festival and the "Benton Town Park"--but no explanation of where Benton Town Park is or what is held there. So we checked online and lo and behold we came across this Benton Community site. We thoroughly enjoyed reading your news on the internet. It held historical info, current items, old-time ditties, chuckles and the feeling we were living 100 years ago where people passed down information and the towns had a camaraderie that doesn't exist today. Keep up the great work." We certainly love to get mail!

The 23rd annual Covered Bridge & Arts Festival will be held October 8, 9 and 10 at the dual locations of the Knoebels Amusement Resort, Elysburg, and on October 9 and 10 at the Benton Town Park. We'll tell you a little about what will be happening in Benton. Pat and Al Hess will celebrate their 50 years in country music. There will be crafters, food, entertainment and demonstrations of spinning and woodcarving. Horse-drawn hay rides will be available. Bus tours will run between the park and Knoebels Saturday and Sunday.

The portion of the Covered Bridges Festival in our section of the county usually takes place at the Twin Bridges Park in Forks, but the park is closed this year due to storm and fire damage. Repairs will not be complete in time for the festival.

The Columbia Montour Visitors Bureau heads up the project. Call them at 784-8279 if you have specific questions.

We intended to end today's Benton News with a detailed account of the Benton portion of the Covered Bridge Festival, and then we did it. We'll spare you the details of our one-keystroke mistake, but faster than the President can say "inconsistent" we deleted the entire Benton News that we had prepared during the Presidential debate. Gone! We have to be in Pittsburgh this afternoon and didn't have the energy to rewrite it. Sorry for the short edition. See you Monday.