On this date fifty years ago, the USS Nautilus, SSN571, the world's first nuclear powered submarine, was commissioned at Groton, CT. Construction of the Nautilus was made possible by the successful development of a nuclear propulsion plant by a group of scientists and engineers at the Naval Reactors Branch of the Atomic Energy Commission, under the leadership of then-Captain Hyman G. Rickover, USN.

Pat Wary writes that her great aunt worked as a secretary for several years starting in the late 1920's at "the shipyard." In the early 1960's, her father started working at "EB," short for the Electric Boat Division of General Dynamics. He started as a pipefitter, and eventually worked his way up into management in the RadCon (Radiological Control) department. Pat writes, "Almost everyone in the area had rolls of olive/military drab green duct tape. We called it EB Green, and we all knew years before everyone else how versatile the stuff was!"

Back in the late 1970's, early 1980's, there was a movement dedicated to bringing the Nautilus back to its place of birth. Some guy even wrote a song entitled Bring the Nautilus Home to Groton. On April 11, 1986, eighty-six years to the day after the birth of the Submarine Force, the USS Nautilus and the Submarine Force Museum opened to the public. The Force Museum on the Thames River in Groton maintains a fine collection of submarine artifacts. It is the only submarine museum operated by the United States Navy. The museum traces the development of the "Silent Service" from the Revolutionary War to the modern Los Angeles, Ohio and Seawolf class submarines.
--Contributed by guest columnist Pat Wary. Move over, Buster and Chloe!

For the lefties of the world...
• "Stewardesses" is the longest word typed with only the left hand and "lollipop" with your right. Some long words that use only the left hand are: desegregates, reverberated, watercresses, aftereffects, sweaterdresses.
• The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.
• Want to consider something for someone left handed? Try http://www.anythingleft-handed.co.uk/ .
• In the 1992 U.S. Presidential election, all three major candidates were left-handed. There have been six left-handed presidents: James Garfield, Harry S Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Regan, George Bush and Bill Clinton.

At the Fair today...
Judging of 4-H dairy cattle, 9 AM, Arena; Judging Open Sheep, 9:30 AM, Sheep Barn; Gensemer's Custom Meat Cutting Demo, 10 AM, Show Tent; Judging Supreme Champion Dairy Cow from Open Show, 11:30 AM, Arena; 4-H Horse and Pony Drill Team, 6-7 PM, Arena; Livestock Fun Night, 7:30 PM, Arena. The Nativity High School Band is on the Free Stage at 10 AM; G.A.R. High School Band at 11 AM; noon, Dan and Galla; 1:30 PM, Rick K. and the Allnighters; 3 PM, International Stars of Magic; 4:30 PM, Dan and Galla; 6 PM, International Stars of Magic; 7 PM, Rick K. and the Allnighters; 8:30 PM, Ryan Pelton "Elvis Returns."

McAfee is warning of a new virus called W32/Bagle.az@MM, a mass-mailing worm that installs a remote access component that can provide hackers access to your computer. McAfee warned that the virus is "Carried inside an email attachment, the virus spreads by emailing itself to e-mail addresses found on your computer and copies itself to folders used by file-sharing. Characteristics are...
FROM: Varies (spoofed)
SUBJECT: Re:, Re: Hello, Re: Thank you!, Re: Thanks :), Re: Hi BODY: :), :))
ATTACHMENT: Price, price, Joke (with an extension of .exe, .scr, .com or .cpl)

Hurricane Ivan did a lot of damage to corn and soybean crops throughout the state and the Williamsport area had a lot of pumpkin damage, but locally damage was lighter than along the path of the Susquehanna and major creeks. There is never a good time for farmers to lose crops, but right at harvest time when everyone expected a bumper crop really hurts. The damage came from erosion, submerged crops, hail, and soggy ground.
Buster and Chloe normally take us for a walk when we stop along the Susquehanna on route 15 between Liverpool and Selinsgrove where there is a boat landing parking area ideal for a run of the dogs. This week the huge parking lot was covered with the remnants of the hurricane, and had apparently been underwater by several feet.

We had watched an Amish man prepare his adjacent field in early spring, and watched as his team of tireless horses pulled the corn planter to plant the corn. We watched as the corn slowly grew, as ears developed, as it completed his life cycle in preparation for picking. The backwaters of the river, thanks to high water, filled the field with several feet of water and surprisingly enough every stalk of corn seemed to be standing tall. We know that sewer plants from Shickshinny down river overflowed, and we wonder what the long term effects of the water will be on produce from along the river.

The subject for the next North Mountain History Breakfast 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.

Wenner-Burton Construction, Inc., 4417 Red Rock Road (Route 487), will liquidate all assets Thursday, October 7. Everything in the auction will be sold to the highest bidder regardless of price with the exception of the real estate which will be offered "Subject To Owner's Immediate Confirmation." For more information and a list of sale items, go to http://www.hunyady.com/auctions/catalogs/Wenner_10-7-04_bro.html .

The view from the new Lowe's Store at Buckhorn Mall is spectacular, especially after dark. At the moment, it is rather quiet on the hill at night, but in late October the adjacent Wal-Mart SuperCenter will open and we expect that the hill will then bustle with activity. The Columbia County Farmers National Bank will open a branch office in the Wal-Mart at that time. Incidentally, the bank just paid its 186th consecutive dividend for shareholders of record September 9. The dividend amount increased to 18 cents per share.

The feeling in December of 1800 in Philadelphia was that Thomas Jefferson would be the next president of the United States. Ballots would not be counted until February of the next year, but it looked good for Jefferson and his Republican Party even though Federalist newspapers claimed that the election of Jefferson would cause the "teaching of "murder, robbery, rape, adultery and incest." John Adams faced substantial opposition within his own party.

Pennsylvania was a critical state in the battle between Jefferson and Adams. Jefferson even said that if he could win there, "We can defy the universe." We'll roll the clock ahead to March 4, 1801. The House of Representatives chose Thomas Jefferson to be the country's next president, and named Aaron Burr Vice President. The House had been called upon to select the nation's highest elected officials when the two Republican candidates, Jefferson and Burr, received the same number of vote in the Electoral College. According to the Constitution, presidential electors did not specify their preference for their choice of candidates for either president or vice president. The candidate with the majority of electoral votes becomes president, while the man with the next highest number of votes automatically become vice president. The House of Representatives had 36 ballots before Jefferson won.

Closer to our generation, in the year 2000 with Florida's 25 electoral votes up for grabs, a Supreme Court decision ended the 36-day battle for control of the White House when a president was elected by an Electoral College majority but without a popular vote plurality.

Those who would bet on the election in 2004 prior to Thursday's debate in Miami would probably give George W. Bush another narrow win in the Electoral College . Nothing is finalized until the November election is behind us, but an Electoral College tie is not out of the question.

The Twelfth Amendment became the law in 1804 a few years after the Jefferson-Burr episode. If George W. Bush and John Kerry split the electoral vote this November, each state delegation in the House of Representatives would cast one vote for president, and each Senator would cast one vote for vice president. Ties are not allowed in either house. The president pro tempore of the Senate, who happens to be Vice President Dick Cheney, does not get a vote. The Congress would vote until both a president and vice-president had been selected.

President Bush would easily win reelection in the House in the event of an Electoral College tie because Republican states outnumber Democratic states. With the Senate electing the vice president, there is a possibility that Democrat John Edwards could be elected to serve alongside Bush. The newly-elected Senate--just as in the House--casts the votes, not the lame-duck Congress. Now wouldn't that event make the voting public clamor to dismantle the Electoral College...

The likelihood of a super close presidential election is unlikely unless John Kerry gains huge momentum following the Thursday presidential debate. The ABC-Washington Post Poll released Monday has Bush with a 51 to 45 lead among "likely" voters nationwide.

We thought that we would check in on the initial stock offering of Google. The company's shares are trading at $120, well above the $85 IPO price. Not a bad turn of events!

Through sunny days and yellow weeks,
With clouds that melt in tears,
The glory of the harvest speaks
In all the silken ears.
-J. Hazard Hartzell (1830-1890)

The Fair was always a place to get oysters. Not on the half shell or not Rockefeller, but in the stew. September is a month with a "R" in it, when oysters are at their plumpest and sweetest. Oysters spawn in the months without an R, May through August, and reach their flavorful height by late October. Most of the senses are employed when we tackle oyster stew on a cold fall night at the fair: a little of the scent of the ocean, the buttery taste, the quiet slurp as if no one will notice. Aphrodite, we remember, rose from the sea on an oyster shell and gave birth to Eros. The only problem is that Cole's Oyster Stand is oysterless this year! And the Brass Pelican, where we love the oyster stew, is closed until Thursday.

Oysters have been important since Neolithic times. The Greeks served them with wine and the Romans dispatched their slaves to the English Channel to harvest them. Some say that oysters possess aphrodisiac qualities. Oysters are low in fat and high in minerals. Oysters contain phosphorus and iodine. They contain zinc, which some say increases male sperm and testosterone levels.

The Eastern or Atlantic oyster produces about 85% of the entire United States oyster production and can be found from the Gulf Coast to Cape Cod. Hurricane Ivan pummeled the Gulf of Mexico oyster industry, which provides two-thirds of the nation's oysters. The storm destroyed reefs from Florida to Mississippi. We haven't heard of the extent of the damage to reefs, but is likely to be similar to what Hurricane Georges did in 1998 when about 85% of oysters in its path were destroyed in Mississippi and Alabama. If oysters were blown off their reefs into the mud and suffocate, it could take an estimated three years to return to pre-hurricane production levels.

At the Fair...
The Lettermen, 7:30 PM, grandstand; harness racing, grandstand; judging Holstein cattle, 9 AM, arena; livestock banquet, 7 PM, arena (exhibitors only). Today to Friday: Buffo the World's Strongest Clown. Today to Saturday: Adriatic Animal Attractions, Ryan Pelton, Bwana Jim's Wildlife Show, Rick K and the Allnighters. Dan and Galla's Music Show. International Stars of Magic.

We were thrilled that Trace Adkins mentioned his steel player's Father, Al Hess, last night from the stage at the Fair. Trace thanked all the "kinfolk" who turned out to see Randy Hess and Trace play. The track was not the place to sit Tuesday night in the rain.

The wonderful women from the Bloomsburg (Hospital) Cardiac Rehab--Madye Dellegrotti, Jean Flick, Audrey Schupp and part-timer Joyce Keller--remind fair-goers why they gained weight in past years. The calories and fat in a single serving of many things at the fair are quite high. Lighten up your calorie intake for a week after the fair. Limit yourself to three favorite items while at the fair. And keep on walking until you can't walk anymore. Here are the calories and fat to expect in a single serving of popular fair items:

Baked potato with sour cream and butter: 380, 17. Beef barbecue: 501, 24. Cheese steak hoagie: 507, 18. Cheeseburger: 517, 29. Ham or pork barbecue: 299, 13. Italian hoagie with chips: 711, 51. Oyster stew: 350, 23. Pancakes with butter and syrup: 901, 42. Plain pizza: 138, 5. Taco: 310, 20. Carmel corn: 304, 9. French fries: 160, 8. Peanuts, one cup: 720, 80. Candied apple: 900, 30. Cannoli: 265, 21. Funnel cake: 664, 64. Lemonade: 200, 0. Milkshake: 447, 30. Orange drink: 280, 0. Regular soda: 200, 0.

A restaurant between Lightstreet and Orangeville called the "All American Diner" tentatively opens Monday. Formerly operated as the Heritage House, the facility is being rented by Tracy Mathews. Jean Albertson who has experience at the Hess Market, the former location of Nana's Restaurant and "on the corner" in Benton, will handle the cooking details.

Students enrolled in the Benton Area School System who have exhibits at the Bloomsburg Fair include Industrial Arts, the Future Farmers of America, Family & Community Service, and the Art Class. Take the time to stop and see the exhibits.

On this date in...
1892, the first night football game in the United States was played in Mansfield between the Mansfield State Normal School and Wyoming Seminary at the Great Mansfield Fair. The excitement of the evening, however, was not about football, but about the electric light invented 13 years earlier by Thomas A. Edison. In fact, more people at the game had heard of the electric light than of football.
1961, Richard Chamberlain sang the "Theme from Dr. Kildare (Three Stars Will Shine Tonight)," and played the part of the handsome, young doctor on NBC. Raymond Massey co-starred. The same night, Hazel premiered starring Shirley Booth as Hazel, with Don DeFore as George Baxter and Whitney Blake as Dorothy Baxter. "Hazel" was based on the Saturday Evening Post cartoon series.
1968, the Beatles nearly seven-minute-long Hey Jude headed for the top of the charts. Apple shipped records by the dozen to radio stations because the platters wore out after just a few plays.
1989, former Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos died in exile in Hawaii more than three years after he was shooed from his homeland.

A husband is the kind of man
Who drives me to a rage:
He can't recall my birthday
But always knows my age.

Some readers may recall when Chevrolet first produced the Corvair for people who wanted an inexpensive, compact car. Some say that the success of Ford Motor Co.'s Mustang was the death of the Corvair. Others say that the problem with the Corvair was that marketing and cost-cutting won out over engineering. Ralph Nader wrote a book about the Corvair and called the car and the book Unsafe At Any Speed. We can still remember a night when we rode as a passenger in a Corvair up Red Rock Mountain and almost became the first load of kids to roll over going up the mountain.

Ford rolled out the Falcon to compete with the Corvair. Chevrolet responded with the Corvair Monza, a sporty, compact car. Ford Motor Co. made an unsuccessful attempt to compete by introducing the Falcon Futura, but the car wasn't sporty enough for young people. All that changed in mid-April 1964 when the Mustang was introduced, a car advertised as "the car to be designed by you." Following a showing in the American Grand Prix, the car went into production. Over 22,000 Mustangs were sold in its first day with one million sales in its first two years.

The idea for the car came from a vice-president at Ford, a man by the name of Lee Iacocca. Today, Lee Iacocca is involved in the production of Olivio, a healthy alternative to butter and margarine, and a campaign to raise $11 million for clinical trials in diabetes. Visit www.joinleenow.org to learn more the Iacocca Catalyst Grant for Diabetes and join the group to cure type 1 diabetes.

Yesterday Ford launched its all-new 2005 Mustang, the fifth generation of the sports car. The company needs a winner to help lift sluggish U.S. sales and is hoping for the best with this car, and with the Ford Five Hundred, the company's new flagship sedan, and with what the company is calling the Freestyle crossover vehicle. The new 4.6-liter, 300-horsepower Firebelch engine in the Mustang has more than 50% more power than the V8 in the classic 1964 model. The base price for a V6 version will be $19,410. The GT version with a V8 engine will start at $24,995. On the New York Stock Exchange Monday, Ford shares rose 9 cents to close at $13.89.

At the Fair...
• Tuesday: Trace Adkins and Josh Turner, 7:30 PM, grandstand; harness racing, grandstand; judging color breed cattle, 9 AM, arena; judging 4-H beef, 1 PM, arena; judging 4-H market goats, 2 PM, show tent; judging 4-H sheep, 4 PM, show tent; agility dogs, 7 PM, arena; 4-H horse and pony drill team, 8 to 9 PM, arena.

Have you ever been 3,000 feet in the air with nothing straight down, but not in an airplane? You can next spring at the Grand Canyon on a glass sky deck to be built by Hualapai Indians descended from the geologic wonder's original inhabitants. A 130-foot horseshoe-shaped skywalk will protrude 60 feet from the canyon's west rim. Walkers will be able to gaze 3,000 feet down to the Colorado River through the structure's clear floor. The site is close to the 1999 site where Robbie Knievel jumped the Grand Canyon in his motorcycle, but we suspect that readers have never seen this site. Fourteen miles of roads have to be paved in order to get tourists to the remote location.

Have you noticed--sob--the prices of gasoline and especially diesel at the local pumps? It ain't over yet! Oil prices jumped Monday to another record closing high just shy of $50 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and then hit $50 a barrel in after-hours electronic trading as concern heightened that Nigeria is headed toward civil war and could see its oil exports disrupted. We suspect that other events beyond our control influenced the surge in prices, things like a cloudy day in Argentina, the need for a Sheik to put another of his 104 children through terrorist training, that sort of thing.

Congratulations to Benton's field hockey team!They beat first-place Bloomsburg yesterday 2-0.

On this date in...
1514, the Spanish crown granted Juan Ponce de Leon the title Military Governor of Bimini and Florida. He was the first European to set foot in Florida. On his second visit to Florida in 1521, he landed with 200 men and two ships near Charlotte Harbor about where both Hurricanes Charley and Frances landed earlier this month on the west coast of Florida. Ponce de Leon was attacked by Seminole Indians, struck by an arrow and wounded, and died later in the year in Cuba.

1540, the Society of Jesus (also known as "Company of Jesus" or, more commonly, the Jesuit order) was approved by Pope Paul III. The Society of Jesus was founded by St. Ignatius Loyola, a Basque nobleman and soldier. Today there are over 20,000 Jesuits serving the Church in 112 nations on six continents.

1938, "Thanks for the Memory" was heard for the first time on NBC Red radio's The Bob Hope Show. Accompanying Bob Hope was bandleader Skinnay Ennis who frequently played Hope's stooge.

1938, the British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth was launched at Clydebank in Scotland. After its retirement in 1969, the Queen Elizabeth was bought by a Hong Kong tycoon in 1970 and made into a university, called the Seawise University. The ship later either caught fire or was deliberately set on fire. The Queen Elizabeth was scrapped where she lay in in Hong Kong harbor in 1975.

1954, the Tonight Show debuted on NBC, after running for a year on radio. The first host of the late-night talk show was comedian Steve Allen.

1964, the Warren Commission, named after Chief Justice Earl Warren, issued a report stating Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Congress then got into the act and in 1979 the House Select Committee on Assassinations issued a report which stated a conspiracy was most likely involved.

We hope by now that you have stopped at the Frank W. Kocher Memorial Park on route 487 on the Benton side of Lightstreet next to Fishing Creek. There are handicapped-accessible fishing areas, a nature trail, wetlands and a pavilion. Over a thousand trees have been planted, thanks in part to the Fishing Creek Watershed Association and other volunteers.

Quote of the Day:
"New country is like putting a bunch of corn meal and milk together and frying it up. It's mush. I can't tell what half of it is."
--George Jones, writing in Billboard

Penn State lost its top two quarterbacks to injuries Saturday during Wisconsin's win over the Nittany Lions in Saturday's 16-3 win at Camp Randall Stadium. Michael Robinson suffered a concussion, and starting quarterback Zack Mills suffered a sprained right shoulder.

We have always enjoyed the game of Twenty Questions, the old game where we would think of an object and our friends would have to guess that object by asking a maximum of 20 yes or no questions. Well now you can now play 20 questions against a computer. And we suspect that the computer is going to guess your object. To play 20 questions against a computer, go to http://y.20q.net/ . Ignore the information about the demographics and click on the "Play" button at the bottom of the page. Think of an object and then answer the computer's questions.

The deadline for registering to vote in the November 2 election is Monday, Oct. 4. Head for the basement of the court house now to pick up an application for the ballot if you can't vote in the regular election.

In Fair news...
• On the schedule for Monday: Broadway Star Spangled Celebration, 7 PM, grandstand; afternoon harness racing, grandstand; Future Farmers of America Skil-a-thon judging team, 9 AM, arena; judging 4-H swine, 9 AM, show tent; judging dairy goats, 11 AM, arena; judging open swine, 1 PM, swine barn; Allen and Peg Lynch's working border collie demo, 6:30 to 7:30 PM, arena; 4-H horse and pony drill team, 8 to 9 PM, arena.

• The Benton Grange will be selling the State and National Grange cook books at the fair Monday from 10 AM to 9 PM in the Agriculture building.

• On Friday of Fair week in 1975, the Bloomsburg Fair was cancelled following over ten inches of rain that had fallen since Monday of that week, and the worst was yet to come...

• At the grandstand last night we understand that a heavy-set man escorted his wife from her seat during the show, then both returned a few minutes later. The man asked a lady sitting at the end of the row if he had stepped on her toe when they went out. The lady said he did, expecting an apology. The man turned to his wife. "All right, Evelyn," he said, "this is our row."

Have you noticed how quiet the mornings are in September? The songbirds are gone from the sounds of the morning. Mating season is over and territories no longer need to be protected. It looks as though we'll get through September without a frost. If we keep on with the cool nights and the bright, sunny days we should have a beautiful fall. When the frost arrives early, our fall color is not as spectacular. Father used to say that an unusually heavy crop of acorns predicts a severe winter. The previous generation's thinking was that Mother Nature is providing to make it through the bad months until spring. Father also said that if leaves fall early, the winter will be mild. If they hang on until late fall and are denser, it will be harsh. Wooly worms were an indicator of a bad winter. If they have markings on them, it means severe weather at the beginning and end. Some say that if hornets build their nests high in the trees, it indicates a mild winter while closer to the ground, a bad one. Us? We prefer to tell you what the weather was, rather than what it will be...

On this date in...
1908, an ad for the Edison Phonograph appeared in the Saturday Evening Post. The ad offered phonograph buyers free records by both Democratic and Republican United States presidential candidates William Howard Taft and William Jennings Bryan. Edison phonographs from a few years previous were not sold but were leased. By 1908, the machines were encased in cabinet work and rather expensive. These didn't sell well, either.

1934, Job #534 was launched from the King George V Graving Dock in Clydebank, Scotland, as the British liner "Queen Mary." The ship went on to break the Atlantic crossing record four times. Today the RMS Queen Mary is listed on the National Register of Historic Places from where she is docked at 1126 Queens Highway, Long Beach.

1955, Debbie Reynolds married singing idol Eddie Fisher. Their marriage lasted four tempestuous years before becoming part of a love triangle involving Elizabeth Taylor. For those who don't know the plot, Elizabeth won, but the careers of all three performers were boosted by the scandal.

1957, West Side Story opened in New York and continued for 734 performances. The musical was a loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.

1962, CBS-TV debuted The Beverly Hillbillies. Audiences were enchanted by Jed, Ellie Mae, Granny, Jethro, and Miss Jane. The star Christian Rudolph Ebsen, Jr. (a.k.a. Buddy Ebsen), who played the rich hillbilly, died in July, 2003, at the age of 95.

1983, sport's longest winning streak--a record 132 years--was broken. We're talking about the America's Cup race where the United States team, defending their title for the 25th time, lost to challenger Australia II. The race first took place August 22, 1851, when the schooner-yacht America owned by a syndicate representing the New York Yacht Club raced 15 yachts representing the Royal Yacht Squadron around the Isle of Wight. America won by 20 minutes. The cup is a silver ewer, an open vessel with a handle and a spout for pouring.

2002, tropical storm Isidore was smashing north in the Gulf of Mexico, bringing heavy rain and high wind to parts of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia and Florida. Today, Hurricane Jeanne slammed into Florida, as a major storm with maximum sustained winds within the eyewall at 115 mph. This makes Jeanne the sixth major hurricane of the season in the Atlantic.

Former Benton resident Bill Hiscox reports that Martin County, Florida, before the first drops from Hurricane Jeanne hit had 32.66 inches of rain for the month of September. Jeanne made landfall three weeks after Frances ravaged the same stretch of the state's central Atlantic coast. Jeanne came ashore shortly before midnight last night near the southern tip of Hutchinson Island, about 5 miles southeast of Stuart, almost directly over the home of Bill and Loretta Strauch Hiscox.

Hurricane Eloise caused over $200M in damage and left 76 dead in the U.S. and the Caribbean between September 17 and 27, 1975. It remains one of the deadliest Category 3 hurricanes on record. We tell you about it under Features.

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection is offering to provide free water-testing kits to residents whose wells or springs may have been contaminated by flooding from the remnants of Hurricane Ivan. If the well head was under water, or there was flood water around the well, the well should be disinfected and then tested for contamination. A chlorinating compound is used to disinfect the well or spring. The testing kits can be obtained at the DEP regional office at 208 West Third Street, Williamsport.

Most won't remember the weekly trip to the crossroads store to do a little buying and a little trading. Usually the trip happened on Saturday and the whole family went along. The kids sat on a bed of wheat or oats in the light spring wagon. The man of the family might have chosen to take the Long Wagon Works wagon or later a Chevrolet from Doyle Sutliff's garage. The father would throw in a couple of chickens with their legs tied together and take a little butter along to trade. The boys of the family would take some hides they had trapped along Fishing Creek and "the Missus" would take her eggs. The destination was the general store at the crossroads or in town, and several stores still remind us of what those days were like. One is Swisher's Store, one is in Central and another is the 'Ol Country Barn (although generally food is not available at the 'Ol Country Store).

There will be a Pumpkin Festival October 16 and 17 at the 'Ol Country Barn, off route 487, six miles north of Benton. There will be free entertainment, free hayrides and free parking. There will be food stands in all sorts of exciting ways. The youth group from the U. M. Church in Central will be there with baked goods, the North Mountain Ambulance Association will have a stand, the Raccoon Club will have a french fry stand and a duck pond for the children. Scott Johnson, Millville, will be making home-made ice cream powered by a hit'n miss engine. How many times have you had peanut butter ice cream made by a machine powered by a machine that chuffed, clanked, whirred and whooshed and was probably built around the turn of the last century? Put the festival on your calendar now and when you are there sit back and remember how it was with your granddaddy on those Fall Saturday nights. Questions? Call 925-6295.

At the Bloomsburg Fair...
• The Benton Grange will be selling the State and National Grange cook books at the fair Monday, September 27, from 10 AM to 9 PM in the Agriculture building.
• Richard and Sandy Lehet are at the fair with Red Rock Barns and their double-wide homes. Joe and Lorainne Feola are in charge of the fiddle contest.
• Today at the Fair: Bob Barnes P.R.C.A., bull-riding, 1 PM. In the grandstand: Spirit of the Dance, 7:30 PM. EOS therapeutic riding center demonstration, 1:30 to 3 PM, arena. 4-H horse and pony drill team, 4 to 5 PM, arena; livestock animals are not required to be in barns until 8 PM.
• Two years ago Randy Hess, son of Al and Pat Hess, was a member of the Trace Adkins band, as he is today. Trace Adkins opened for Diamond Rio at the Fair two years ago. Adkins stood the audience on their feet with his country music. Today the group does not open for anyone! They are the openers.

September 25, 2005. ABC News correspondent Barbara Walters is 73 today. The 150th Bloomsburg Fair is underway.

On this date in...
1789, the first United States Congress adopted 12 amendments to the Constitution and sent them to the states for ratification.

1897, William Cuthbert Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi. His 1942 story The Bear contains a single sentence that is 1800 words long. He created the legendary Yoknapatawpha County and its decayed Southern white gentry, merchants, farmers, poor whites, and persecuted blacks. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1949, but only went to Sweden to accept the award after his wife talked him into it. His acceptance speech was delivered too fast and too far from the microphone. Nobody had a clue what he said. The newspaper transcript revealed that Faulkner had delivered a well-written acceptance speech. The acceptance began, "I decline to accept the end of man."

1950, NBC introduced a new daytime programming idea for television with Kathryn Elizabeth Smith in a Monday-Friday afternoon variety show, The Kate Smith Hour (1950-54). Her theme song was When the Moon Comes Over the Mountain, whose lyrics she helped write. She was a singing good-luck charm for the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team with her renditions of God Bless America, helping to inspire them to two successive Stanley Cups (1974 and 1975).

1953, piano player, Liberace, made his debut at Carnegie Hall. Liberace performed to sold out crowd. His candelabra, concert grand piano and glitzy attire became trademarks that lasted his whole career.

1970, the ABC family musical sitcom, The Partridge Family, debuted. The song from the show, I Think I Love You, hit Number 1 on Billboard's record charts later that year, and David Cassidy became an international teenage idol.

The night-show schedule for the coming week at the Bloomsburg Fair:
• Brad Paisley and Buddy Jewell, country. Saturday, 7:30 PM, $28, $24.
• "Spirit of the Dance," Irish music and dance spectacular, Sunday, 7:30 PM. $20, $16.
• "Broadway: The Star-Spangled Celebration," salute to the Great White Way with 30 singers and dancers, September 27, 7 PM. $20, $16.
• Trace Adkins and Josh Turner, country. September 28, 7:30 PM. $24, $20.
• The Lettermen, harmony group, September 29, 7:30 PM. Free if you hurry.
• Lynyrd Skynyrd, southern rock. September 30, 7:30 PM. $25, $21, $17.
• Larry the Cable Guy, comedy. Oct. 1, 7:30 PM. $24, $20, but sold out.

The 4-H vocational horse show saddles up at 9 AM today in the arena.

Going to the Bloomsburg Fair reminds us somewhat of the old general store. At the fair, the farmer gets current with the latest in farm equipment, just as the notices in the old general store told of the horse thieves and the church socials, the elections, the farm auctions, the fact that a horse was available for stud. At the fair, we can smell the cotton candy and the freshly squeezed oranges, and the taste of the oysters on a cold evening. We can smell the Italian Wedding Soup and the hot peanuts and the horse stables. We can hear the sounds coming from the dog kennel and the barker trying to get us to come and see the "woman with the pig's head," and the accents of fair workers from far-off places. The fair, like fall, has arrived. We'll see you there.

One of our favorite performers will appear as part of the Bloomsburg Celebrity Artist Series at Mitrani Hall, Bloomsburg University, on October 15 at 7:30 PM. The political satirist Mark Russell, called the "funniest man on television" by TV Guide, will be in town. Tickets are $27.50, $25. Call 389-4409 to order.

Wisconsin (3-0) will be Penn State's (2-1) biggest test this season when the teams meet at 5:45 PM today in the Big Ten season opener in Camp Randall Stadium.

Microsoft now says that in order to get the newest version of Internet Explorer, you will have to have Windows XP, a policy that is just downright stupid. We continue to recommend that you check out the use of Firefox.

A local web site worth checking out is www.dianalehr.com. Diana Lehr--of Orangeville and Makawao, HI--has exhibited her paintings in museums and galleries in many parts of the world, and her works are held in numerous private, public and corporate collections. It is a beautiful website.

Go to the Fair this weekend. Help keep Pennsylvania green!

Ira McHenry has moved to his new home in the Masonic Village, Elizabethtown, and can be reached at 570 898-1266. The facility is very large and accommodates all levels of retirement needs from independent living in cottages (10-year wait) to highly skilled nursing care. Ira’s room is just two doors from a lounge that opens to a screened-in balcony. Ira's address follows. He would appreciate hearing from you.

Sam Dressler, 17, has completed his Eagle Scout project with Light Street Troop 20.

Sam has painted 29 fire hydrants in the Borough, all in the colors of Benton Area High School: orange and black. His mother, Lynn Dressler, the lady responsible for getting all the water bills out and the payments in to run the local water company, provided the money for supplies for the first hydrant. Sam raised money for supplies of paint and brushes to finish the job by making and selling hoagies. Sam took a drill with wire brush and tackled the dirt and rust on the hydrants, and trimmed around the hydrants with a hedge clipper. In all, Sam has over 150 hours on the project! Sam is a senior in the Benton Area School System, and after graduation he wants to go to either Millersville or Lock Haven to get a communications degree. He intends to be a radio or television personality, and with his musical ability we suspect that he'll do just fine. We'll revisit Sam in February or March of next year when he should be awarded with his Eagle Scout. This award is one of the most significant accomplishment a boy can achieve. Sam will become one of more than 1.5 million boys and men have earned Eagle Scout.

Poetry for Autumn"
"No spring, nor summer beauty hath such grace As I have seen in one autumnal face."
--John Donne (1572–1631), "Elegy IX: The Autumnal"

We'll refresh your memories a bit today about the year 1957. Western movies filtered to the top 25 and stayed there for a number of years, shows like Gunsmoke, Tales of Wells Fargo, Have Gun Will Travel, The Restless Gun, The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp, Cheyenne, Wagon Train and Sugarfoot. Jack Benny and Red Skelton were hits, and Ed Sullivan was at the top of the Sunday-night heap. Lunch in the cafeteria was topped off with a bottle of milk that had a cardboard stopper. Mrs. McHenry was right there at the table to make sure you kept your elbow off the table. Do you remember going to the Drive-In Theater on Route 11? Can you name the drive-in theater's name? Ever sneak into the drive-in in the trunk? Ever sneak in the exit, get stuck in mud and have to have the owner tow you out with his tractor after the last show ended? Remember going into Blanche Fausey's restaurant and having a hot dog and begging your parents for some change to put in the jukebox? Neighbors were neighbors! They really knew and helped each other. You knew all the people in Benton and just about everyone in the whole county. You could pull into Harry Ackerman's service station and be greeted with a smile and friendly "hello" and the words, "Fill her up?" Your windshield was cleaned, tires checked, oil checked and gas pumped. Some of the records cut in 1957 included All Shook Up by Elvis, Pat Boone was writing Love Letters in the Sand, and Elvis was tugging at hearts with Let Me Be Your Teddy Bear. Debby Reynolds wowed them with Tammy. Elvis was doing Jailhouse Rock. Sonny James did Young Love and the Everly Brothers were singing Bye Bye Love. Jimmy Rogers had the big hit, Honeycomb, Ferlin Huskey had Gone and Guy Mitchell had Singing the Blues. People were rocking to Fats Domino as he sang Blueberry Hill. At Papa Galamas' restaurant in Bloomsburg, the Crickets were popular with That'll Be the Day and Ricky Nelson was singing Be-Bop-Baby. Danny and the Juniors were having fun At The Hop and Marty Robbins was wearing A White Sports Coat. Later, the Statler Brothers, who were only "half" brothers, remembered the year in their hit, "Class of '57.

Lots of Benton-area folks are involved in the Bloomsburg Fair. Two are Dick and Michael Campbell, the cidermeisters of the event. Benton Cider, that is! The entire Vance family is involved with their excellent apple dumplings and Penn State ice cream. Robert and Debbie Rabb have their entire family--even Donald and Dottie Rabb--involved in their food stand. The Karshners serve up the best buckwheat cakes on the grounds. Jack and Kay Taylor display their log home photographs at the Fair. Jack will especially enjoy it as last year he was being treated for leukemia. Due to good friends, family, love, kind thoughts and lots of prayer chains, he is in remission and almost back to normal. He looks forward to seeing everyone there. Bob and Holly Gray also display their Bunk Beds+ at the Fair. Please remember to stop in and say "hi" to these fine folks and any other Benton-area person involved in making the Bloomsburg Fair a success.

The direct internet audio links for the Grand Ole Opry are...
http://66.250.84.150/Player.asp?STA=WSM&SPD=LO
http://66.250.84.150/Player.asp?STA=WSM&SPD=HI
Use the first link for dialup connections and the second for high-speed hookups. These links connect you directly to WSM streaming audio without going through the station's home page, thereby saving you time, trouble and several key strokes.

Andy Borowitz writes that CBS News has banned the use of idiots in the production of its news programming "effective immediately." The network's investigation into the "60 Minutes 2" broadcast was reportedly behind its controversial decision to ban the use of idiots, who in recent years have come to dominate network news.

Landfall of Hurricane Jeanne could occur on Saturday night/Sunday morning somewhere between Ft. Pierce to West Palm Beach, Florida. Meanwhile, the recycled Ivan moved inland around 9 PM CDT Thursday in southwest Louisiana and was immediately downgraded to a tropical depression.

On this date in...
1779, the words "I have not yet begun to fight" were attributed to John Paul Jones. He spoke these words during a Revolutionary War battle when, as commander of the American warship "Bonhomme Richard," he led his troops to a victory over the British warship, H.M.S. Serapis, whose commander called across the water to ask whether Jones had surrendered. Jones answered, "I have not yet begun to fight." John Paul Jones's own ship later sank. The H.M.S. Serapis, to the great embarrassment of the British, was transferred to the French Navy in 1782.

1846, a planet was discovered by astronomers Johann Gottfried Galle and Louis d'Arrest that was so large that if it were hollow, it could contain nearly 60 Earths. The name of the planet became Neptune, the name that ancient Romans gave to the Greek god of the sea and earthquakes, Poseidon. He was the brother of Jupiter (Zeus) and of Pluto (Hades).

1848, John Curtis boiled the first commercially available chewing-gum on top of his Franklin stove. He called it "State of Maine Pure Spruce Gum." A penny would buy two pieces, but not many bought the gum because of the serious problem that it tasted entirely too much like pure spruce. Other spruce gum flavors included those all-time favorites American Flag, 200 Lump Spruce, Trunk Spruce and Yankee Spruce. Paraffin gums following in flavors including White Mountain, Biggest and Best, Four-in-Hand, Sugar Cream and Licorice Lulu. Juicy Fruit was made by a more successful company!

1962, Steveland Morris Judkins, 12 and blind, recorded his first single for Motown, Thank You for Loving Me All the Way, using the stage name Little Stevie Wonder. The singer is proficient on piano, organ, drums and harmonica.

1975, the remains of Hurricane Eloise merged with a stationary front over New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland to produce major flooding. The high water marks from this flood are clearly marked on the fair grounds. Look for them at the South end of the grandstand when you go to the fair.

Floating around the internet...
• the rumor about Google's plans to build a Web browser of their own. We suspect that Firefox and Microsoft are not worried--yet.
• a measure to crack down on deceptive "spyware" will come to the U.S. House of Representatives for a vote as early as next week. Software makers who do not notify people before loading new programs on their machines that can collect information about them could face millions in fines under the bill as now written. A companion bill would establish criminal penalties for those who use spyware to commit identity theft or other crimes. Now when do lawmakers get back to working on the spam problem?
• Heads up on emails with the subject, "Hi, I sent you an eCard from iGreetings.com." The sender can vary, but will probably be someone you communicate with by email. The email is a well-disguised virus spoofed as if it came from someone you know.
• Beware of all emails from banking institutions that begin, "Dear Valued Customer." It could be a scam, although it looks too real to be a fake. We received a scam like this yesterday where we were asked to update very private information, and we immediately accosted the bank as to how we, actually one of their customers, got the scam. Sounds to us like there is someone in the bank releasing customer information. The bank has not given us an answer as of press time. We hope that the bank is taking it as seriously as we are.

Federal aid is now available for residents of Columbia County from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Forty-six counties in the state have been declared a Federal disaster area.

Quote of the Day:
"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them."
--John Fitzgerald Kennedy

The Benton Park Bandstand as it looked during the 51st Farmer's Picnic in late July, 1969, is the subject of the fourteenth in a series of Benton historical souvenirs designed for the United Methodist Church, Benton. Two remain in the series. Forget what it looked like? Here is a picture of the bandstand:

The O. B. Savage barn on route 487 South of Benton will be the subject of the November, 2004, series.

Church-like belfrys are part of the elaborate ventilators atop the huge barn. The spire was placed on the barn when it was rebuilt before 1900. The owner of the farm at that time claimed that he was busy on the farm and didn't have time to go to church. He claimed that the steeple would make him feel like he was in church. The barn was rebuilt following what the local newspapers termed a "cyclone" that hit August 19, 1889. The tornado that hit the barn felled a huge timber on the owner's mother, who remained an invalid until she died. The owner of the barn was a miller and empty bags from his mill were found 50 miles away in Scranton following the huge storm.
Picture courtesy of Richard Savage
This is what we now know as the O. B. Savage barn looked like in 1880 following a tornado. Compare the two pictures above and note the substantial differences. Take the time to reread the article about the O. B. Savage barn.

The Long Wagon Works will be the subject of the last of the series, due to be released in February, 2005.

On the mend...
• Mark Dent, Klinger Hill, recovering following surgery for a nail that punctured his eye.
• Bob Thomas, Principal of the Central Columbia High School for 26 years, a part-time Benton-area resident, recovering in the Bloomsburg Hospital from a hematoma on the leg following a fall from his riding lawn mower. We heard that a skunk living in his lawn played a part.

We'll talk a little about "hand-me-downs" today, the kind that we acquired through the kindness of a member of a previous generation. This will take a little dusting off of the memory attic. We'll start with the tongue twisters that we would recite around the table at night when we were young. We remember that Peter Piper put pen to paper to produce those puzzling pages about a peck of pickled peppers that were published in Peter Piper's Practical Principles of Plain and Perfect Pronunciation. Here are some examples...

She sells sea shells by the sea shore.
At the sea shore she sells sea shells.
She sells sea shells on the sea shell shore.
The sea shells she sells are sea shore shells. Of that I'm sure.

Sheep shouldn't sleep in a shack.
Sheep should sleep in a shed.

A skunk sat on a stump.
The stump thunk the skunk stunk.
The skunk thunk the stump stunk.

She sawed six slick, sleek, slim, slender saplings.

The seething sea ceaseth, and thus the seething sea suffices us.

Found on the internet...
• The Pennsylvania Insurance Commissioner has issued tips on dealing with the weekend flooding in the state.

• Want information on the Susquehanna Valley?

• We drove through the Pocono Mountains Monday and saw more color there than in all of the New England states. The tops of some of the trees are starting to show their burgundy colors. Soon Pennsylvania will be home to the gold colors, crimson and the forest greens. If you are unable to see the foliage for yourself during this fall, we suggest that you come here for the scenery.

We spent a lot of time on the Benton News talking about the miller and the mills of the upper Fishing Creek valley. The millers are cut from this cloth. The millers of our past were America's first inventors. The miller had to be a builder, a banker, a businessman, a conversationalist, and he had to know how to carve up a tree to the size and shape the user needed, or produce either feed for the livestock or flour for the baker. Our first narrow roads went straight to the mills, and where the mills were the towns developed.

We developed so many Millvilles, Milfords and Milltowns that the U. S. Postal System once sponsored a campaign to change the "Millxxx" to any other name in order to end the confusion.

We still can find old millponds, long deserted, or mill streams, now used for other purposes. Only a few mills remain true to the original, and the readers of the Benton News are privileged to be able to open a web page and see the inside of a mill practically as it was 100 years ago.

The Norton Cole Mill is adjacent to route 239 and just a few miles outside of Benton.

Take the time to refresh your memory of the inside of this mill by going to the FEATURES section.

Hurricane Ivan pounded for ten days through the Caribbean before lumbering ashore in the United States last week near Gulf Shores, Alabama, just west of the Florida Panhandle. Ivan killed 69 people in the Caribbean and at least 45 in the United States. Flooding affected an estimated 38,000 acres of farmable land in the Williamsport area, which is a third of the land used for agricultural purposes. The people of Pennsylvania will not soon forget that rascal.

President George W. Bush declared disasters in 19 of our counties (later increased to 46), freeing up federal money to help with the recovery from the weekend's flooding. Lee Remley and Joe Savage both had rain gauges that held five inches of rain, and both gauges ran over this weekend. The heavy rains following Hurricane Ivan dumped up to nine inches of rain on some parts of Pennsylvania late Friday and Saturday. The bridge between Easton and Phillipsburg, NJ, was closed for a time after a summer cottage floating down the Delaware hit it. In Luzerne County, approximately 800 homes were damaged in the Hurricane Ivan aftermath. Route 11 remained closed from Hunlocks Creek through Shickshinny Monday.

The National Weather Service says the flood ranks among the five worst Susquehanna River floods since local record-keeping began in the 19th century. Near Danville, the Susquehanna River reached 26.2 feet Sunday. Flood stage at Danville is 20 feet. The river at Danville reached its highest recorded level in 1972 when it crested at 32.3 feet. Residents of about 250 homes in Danville were roused and evacuated early Sunday. On the Delaware River, flooding fell between the levels recorded during the floods of 1955 and 1996. The Susquehanna crested at 24.4 feet around 8:30 PM yesterday in Harrisburg, flooding some of the city and its suburbs. The river reached its seventh-highest level on record at Harrisburg.

If you don't get an opportunity to see Josh Turner performing at the Bloomsburg Fair on September 28, he is also scheduled to appear October 23 at the Eichelberger Performing Arts Center, Hanover. His recording of The Long Black Train is excellent!

To see your system resources in Windows XP whenever you wish, press keys Ctrl-Alt-Delete all at the same time and, presto, your Task Manager appears. Click the performance tab and you'll see a detailed report on your CPU usage, Total Vs Available Physical Memory, and other information regarding your system's performance.

Alan Hack reminds us that a community choir is being formed for the Honoring God and Country service November 7 at the Benton UMC. Any participation is appreciated. An arrangement of "Battle Hymn" will be presented. The service is at 7 PM. For more information, contact Megan Huntington at 925-5696 or Pastor Calvin Miller at the church.

We mentioned the flood buckets that the Waller United Methodist Church is assembling to help the victims of hurricanes. Now, we'll tell you what goes into the flood buckets...

The Church is also accepting cash donations to buy supplies. Please help! Address checks to "Waller United Methodist Church" earmarked for "flood buckets." All contributions must be received no later than September 29. Contact Sandy Westover at 925-2587 with any questions.

Flying someplace soon? The drinking water on more than one of every eight passenger airliners tested by the Environmental Protection Agency flunked the agency's standards for bacteria.

We still don't have the capability to access the internet, although we can now receive our email. There is no way of responding to all the email that we received over the past seven days. We encourage readers to read editions of newspapers like the Press Enterprise, the Times Leader, and the Patriot News to get caught up on local flooding information.

In case you, like us, have been out of town and out of touch, the combination of heavy rain from the remnants of Hurricane Ivan and flash flooding of numerous creeks and rivers closed many roads and washed out others, flooded homes and left people stranded in their vehicles from Friday morning through the weekend. By Friday evening, the storm had dumped over three inches of rain on the area. Some locations, like Williamsport, reported six inches, the highest rainfall figures reported in many years. Most members of the community managed to keep their heads above water and even drenched Fair grounds won't keep the Bloomsburg Fair from opening on schedule.

The sun's away
And the bird estranged;
The wind has dropped,
And the sky's deranged;
Summer has stopped.
--Robert Browning (1812-1889)

Sandy Westover is the missions chairperson at Waller United Methodist Church. Members of the Church are collecting donations to fill "flood buckets" that will be sent to hurricane victims to help them clean up from the recent damages. The volunteers are asking others to help those in need! For more information please contact Sandy at 925-2587 any day after 4 PM.

We wish that we had the capability of publishing the remarkable pictures sent to us by Nina Ford of flooding in Shickshinny, the pictures of the area along the river in Harrisburg known as Shipoke, the scenes in Danville, the problems in Selinsgrove, the stories of devastation told by Alabama and Florida readers. It appears to us, however, that most of the damage to property of readers can be corrected.

David Hilley, on the other hand, was not so lucky while we were away. David's bride of 47 years, Ruth Bowser Hilley, passed away on September 14, the anniversary of their marriage in Tonawanda, New York. Ruth suffered from lung cancer. We are not able to provide an obituary notice, but we suggest that readers turn to the pages of the Press Enterprise in order to read the obituary.

Brian Bower reminds readers that Benton Grange #88 will exhibit at the Agriculture Hall at the Bloomsburg Fair, along with five other granges. And readers should remember that the Grange Cook Book is always for sale by the grange organizations at the Fair. What a great gift that makes for Christmas.

To answer a reader's question about doing a Google search, hold down the shift key each time you click on a link in order to open the URL in a new window.

Frances Baker, the Secretary of the Benton Lions Club, tells us that Rep. David Millard was a recent guest speaker and gave the history of the Bloomsburg Fair. And speaking of the Lions, make sure that you reserve October 26 for the Halloween Parade.

We've had a little time to read some email that came in before the "dark ages" of not having any access to the internet for a week. One email from an Ohio reader posts a warning out of a cave somewhere in Pakistan from Taliban Minister of Migration, Mohammed Omar, who warns the United States that if military action against Iraq continues, Taliban authorities will cut off America's supply of convenience store managers, and if that isn't enough cab drivers will be next. It is starting to get ugly...

Quote of the Day:
"I was not lying. I said things that later on seemed to be untrue."
--President Nixon in 1978

We're not lying when we say that we loved eating lobster native to the cold waters of "downeast Maine." Lobster here is served in most all the restaurants, and is normally served whole. Every boat ride requires the captain to navigate the waters, avoiding the lines to the lobster traps. When pulled from the North Atlantic water, the lobster is blue-green in color and turns a bright red when cooked. Strangely, the blood of the lobster is colorless. If the lobster loses a claw or an eye, it somehow grows another one, although the new one is frequently smaller. Lobsters only grow in size when they discard their shell. During the first year of their life, the lobster shed their shells eight times, five during the second year of their life and three times in the third. From then on, the male sheds his shell twice a year and the female once. The average lobster will take six years to reach the one-pound level, but lobsters have been caught measuring over three and a half feet long and weighing over 40 pounds.

On September 14, we were not around to mention that David and Ruth Hilley celebrated their 47th wedding anniversary. The couple were married in Tonawanda, New York, on that date in 1957. Ruth has lung cancer, and is on hospice.

We'll quickly finish our discussion of what at one time was partially known as the Susquehanna Trail. A large segment of this route is now designated as routes 220 and 15 and will eventually be known as I-99. We'll look at this interstate starting from the southern end.

I-99 connects the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 70-76) at Bedford with U.S. 220 at Bald Eagle, I-99 is sometimes called the Appalachian Thruway or the Bud Shuster Byway. It is the first Interstate highway to have its designation written into law (National Highway Designation Act of 1995). The southern terminus of I-99 in Bedford is likely to eventfully move further south to Cumberland, Maryland. There is a slight possibility that I-83 could some day link to the highway. I-99 will ultimately connect the Pennsylvania Turnpike with I-80 via State College, then will continue north into New York generally following the old U.S.1 5 and the old Susquehanna Trail, ending at I-86 in New York state.

I-99 is east of I-79 and west of I-81, The designation of this highway as I-99 makes us wonder who fell asleep when interstate highways were numbered, and who forgot about the sequential numbering system for interstate highways. Thank Congressman Bud Shuster for getting in the act. Shuster was responsible for writing I-99's designation into the 1995 National Highway Designation Act, even though the number "99" violates the standard numbering convention associated with Interstate highways. According to numbering guidelines, I-99 should be near the Atlantic coast since the system calls for the lowest numbers on the West Coast and the highest numbers on the East Coast. North-south interstates 81, 83, 87, 89, 91, 93, 95, and 97 all lie east of I-99.

The original section of I-99 between the Pennsylvania Turnpike (Interstate 70/76), at Bedford and Bald Eagle along U.S. 220 has been opened for a number of years. A new section of I-99 opened in November, 2002, between State College and I-80, although it may still be called U.S. 220). The section between Bald Eagle and State College has not been completed. I-99 will not connect to I-80 until the Summer of 2006 or later. I-99 will be extended along U.S. 220 to Lock Haven and Williamsport, then northbound along U.S. 15 toward the new I-86 near Corning. I-99 may eventually extend north to Rochester via the present I-390.

The Bloomsburg Fair is right around the corner, and one of the highlights of the fair is the Horticulture Hall where individuals, schools and organizations like the Grange display the "fruits of their labor." Most of the early farms in our area had a small orchard, a vegetable garden, and lots of flowers and some ornamental shrubs. Fruit trees grew and flourished under conditions of almost complete neglect, while the farm wife lavished great love and attention on her flowers that beautified the outside of her home.

We can track the fascination with fruit back to the days of William Penn. Penn wrote in 1683, "The Fruits that I find in the Woods are the White and Black Mulberry, Chestnut, Walnut, Plumbs, Strawberries, Cranberries, Hurtleberries and Grapes of divers sorts." We have read other early writers and have found reference to "Blackberries, Medlers, Hickory-Nuts and Hasselnuts." We admit freely that we haven't a clue what some of these fruits were, and without any reference books or the internet, we won't be able to shed any light on that in today's article.

We do find it interesting that early writers never mentioned red or black raspberries, and we'll have to someday research the origin of these fruit. We do know that the edible versions of the apple and the cherry came from Europe. Native Indians did not have pear, apricot and quince--all of which came from Europe. The peach tree, frequently associated with frontier households, actually came from Spain. Spanish settlers planted peach seeds in the St. Augustine, Florida, area, and Indian tribes distributed subsequent generations of seeds throughout the east. The peach was partly used to feed livestock, and a writer from before 1700 described peaches by saying "I have seen them rott on the ground and the Hogs eate them." The lack of knowledge of proper sanitation procedures certainly was a problem as the fallen fruit was picked up and eaten by people or left on the ground for hogs.

The early settlers of our area often chose a site for a house and a barn on their newly acquired land, then began to plant an orchard stocked with apples, and often with pears, cherries and peaches. An enclosure would often be built to keep the critters away and to show that the land was occupied. Often the settlers would leave the area before the severity of the winter arrived and would return the next year to improve the land and build a house and a barn. It took about ten years from planting to first picking. We often ride on now-deserted parts of the Susquehanna and Tioga Turnpike in Sullivan County and know where once people lived by spotting the scrub apple trees. Another local spot where the fruit trees are still found is in the area surrounding the former town of Emmons, north of the present town of Elk Grove. The remnants of the town are long gone, except for the fruit trees that remain to the delight of the whitetail deer.

The apple was the most popular fruit in the early farms. The fruit was eaten fresh, or dried or stored for winter use, or fed to farm animals. Much of it was made into cider. Fruit from trees were eaten, but also made into drinks. Our forefathers enjoyed a drink, fermented or distilled. Plain water was sometimes avoided, since good drinking water was not always available. Sanitation was not a subject that the early settlers knew much about.

What a person drank told a lot about the man. A few could afford to drink wine, but most drank cider or "perry," a version of pear cider. Peach brandy and other versions of home-made drinks made from fermented fruit were common. The apple jack and rum and cider that had two or three years of age were always enjoyed. Fruit like elderberries, grapes, plums and cherries made excellent brandy and wine drinks. Examples of cider presses can be found at the Antique Machinery show at Penn's Cave the weekend after Labor Day each year, and by visiting the Benton Cider Mill either at the upper Raven Creek location or at the Bloomsburg Fair.

The Scotch-Irish often had a yearn for spirits a bit stronger than what could be produced from apples, and began producing a drink made from rye and corn. In fact, the name McHenry is a familiar one when it comes to the production of rye whisky, and we devote a large section on the Benton News to McHenry Whisky. "Hunter John" McHenry started the McHenry Distillery just outside of the present town of Benton in 1812. The distillery remained in operation for over a hundred years and in many respects was the mainstay of the local economy for much of that time, even surviving the national temperance movement that began to spread about 1830.

Often a common hog was used to determine that variety of apple to plant. If the hog ate the apples that fell from the tree, they were considered good apples and humans delighted in eating them too, If the hog avoided the fallen fruit until all other fallen fruit was exhausted, humans didn't seem to care for the fruit, either.

The care and nurturing of fruit trees have advanced significantly. When you walk through the doors of the Horticulture Hall at the Bloomsburg Fair, know that the beautiful apples and other fruit you see were selected by a dedicated human who carefully selected the best possible fruit for display. Take the time to tell the people you know who exhibit how much you enjoy their products. Show your support by munching into a heart-healthy piece of fruit today.

The weather here in Saco, Maine, is beautiful, but tomorrow morning's estimated 37° is advancing the cold weather faster than we would like. We hope that it will zap some of the mosquitoes.

On this date in 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote his poem The Star-Spangled Banner after witnessing the British bombardment of Fort McHenry in Maryland during the War of 1812.

For those who want to see some beautiful county rarely seen by the non-hunting public, reserve October 3 for a tour of State Game Land 57 in Luzerne and Wyoming Counties. Registration for the 30-mile self-guided driving tour will be from 7:30 AM until 12:30 PM at the headquarters building complex on State Game Land 57, Ricketts Station, near Lopez. Game Commission personnel will explain points of interest, including wildlife habitat improvement projects. Four-wheel-drive vehicles are recommended for the self-guided driving tour that could take up to three hours. All vehicles must exit the route by 3 PM. Each vehicle will receive a map and brief explanation of wildlife management programs being carried out. More than 120 species of trees are found in Pennsylvania, many of which will be wearing their fall finery that day.

To take the tour, go from Routes 487 and 118 at Red Rock Corners up Red Rock Mountain, following Route 487 north for 7.5 miles, turn onto a dirt road near State Game Land sign on right, where you would turn to go to Mountain Springs Lake. Follow the dirt road one-tenth of a mile to the "wye," and go left for three-tenths of a mile to the headquarters complex.

For the kids: Abracadabra! www.funology.com/abracadabra/index.htm
Learn all kinds of magic tricks. Fool your friends and family with card tricks, number games and optical illusions.

You can track Hurricane Ivan's movement by visiting the National Weather Service Tropical Prediction Center, at www.nhc.noaa.gov

A friend from Florida suggests that fellow Floridians need to follow a simple three-step hurricane preparedness plan, something like this:
STEP 1. Buy enough food and bottled water to last your family for at least three days.
STEP 2. Put these supplies into your car.
STEP 3. Drive Back Home to Benton, PA, and stay there until at least Thanksgiving.

Our world and the words and terms used to describe our world change constantly. We're going to discuss the Susquehanna Trail today, a term most readers won't quite understand. Some will say it is the name of a town along the river of the same name, others will say it is a walking trail. The term actually once applied to a series of highways that crossed the state from North to South connecting New York states cities with Baltimore and Washington, DC. It took its name from the Susquehanna Valley in Pennsylvania which it followed for nearly a hundred miles. Part of the Susquehanna Trail is now evolving into the Appalachian Thruway, which you may know as I-99.

We'll take two days to take a quick look at this route that passes through a section of our state. We'll cover the old today and the new tomorrow.

The Susquehanna Trail was described as one of the most picturesque highways in the country, particularly that portion between Lawrenceville at the New York State line and Williamsport, passing through the mountains around Mansfield, Blossburg, Liberty and Trout Run. As construction of I-99 slowly continues and completes in that area, the standards for beauty are being maintained in present-day construction.

The Susquehanna River, sixteenth largest river in America, is the largest river lying entirely in the United States that flows into the Atlantic Ocean. The Susquehanna and its tributaries drain 27,500 square miles, an area nearly the size of South Carolina. The river meanders 444 miles from its origin at Otsego Lake near Cooperstown, New York, until it empties into the Chesapeake Bay at Havre de Grace, Maryland. The Susquehanna is the "mother" river to the Chesapeake, providing half of its freshwater.

If your Granddaddy or a man of his generation were alive, he would understand this paragraph better than the average reader might understand it, since he might not have terms like the Eisenhower Interstate Act and I-80 and I-81 to confuse him. We'll mention some of the roads of importance that radiated out from the Susquehanna Trail between the New York and Maryland lines and we'll use the names by which our grandparents knew the roads. From...
. Mansfield, roads lead East to Towanda, Tunkhannock and Scranton.
. Putman, roads lead West thru Wellsboro, Galeton, Coudersport, Port Allegany to Bradford.
. Williamsport, highways lead to Lock Haven, Bellefonte, Tyrone, Altoona and the William Penn Highway at Water Street.
. Northumberland, a highway lead Northwest through Danville, Bloomsburg, Berwick, Shickshinny, Wilkes-Barre and Pittston, connecting with the Lackawanna Trail and Scranton.
. Sunbury, a highway lead to Shamokin, Ashland, Hazleton, Jim Thorpe, Allentown, or to Pottsville and Reading, or to Mahanoy City and Tamaqua.

We'll end there, but could go further south to Liverpool and the "William Penn" highway westbound, and to Harrisburg and continue on from there. We figure by now that you understand the old term "Susquehanna Trail."

One of the cities the Susquehanna Trail passed through was Williamsport, once known as the "Lumber City." The city has an interesting history, which we'll get into sometime. Millions of feet of lumber once passed through Williamsport annually and at one time more than 30 saw mills lined the river until the lumber in the area was exhausted. When the Williamsport area was a frontier, Indian massacres occurred, notably near the area now known as West Fourth and Cemetery Streets. Today a marker tells of the event. Within the city limits just across Lycoming Creek, French Margaret had her town and the ford that then existed across the Susquehanna was used by the Indian tribes passing thru White Deer Valley over the Bald Eagles and up the Lycoming.

Williamsport once was a thriving industrial city and at the same time popular with tourists who made side-trips into the beautiful back country looking for hunting and fishing. Williamsport was also once called "The City of Beautiful Trees," since each residential street was lined with shade trees. There were and are many attractive homes in Williamsport.

Tomorrow we'll transition from the Susquehanna Trail as it was to the Interstate that it is becoming.

On this date in...
1609, Henry Hudson, English navigator and explorer, entered the river which would later be known as the Hudson.
1953, Jacqueline Lee Bouvier, 24, married a United States Senator from Massachusetts, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 36.
1953, Nikita Khrushchev was elected first secretary of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party.
1954, Lassie made his/her first appearance on CBS-TV. In reel life, Lassie was known as a girl, but in real life Lassie perked up at the sight of a fire hydrant. Over six Lassie dogs did stunts. "Lassie" aired on CBS for 17 years.
1978, Taxi debuted on ABC, starring Judd Hirsch, Marilu Henner, Danny DeVito, Christopher Lloyd, and Tony Danza. It ran for five seasons.
1979, Boston Red Sox player, Carl Yastrzemski, became the first American League player to score 3,000 career hits, and 400 career home runs. He accomplished this as the Red Sox beat the New York Yankees 9-2 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl is honored at the Baseball of Fame, Cooperstown, New York.

We wrote an article once about our favorite Pennsylvania towns and we included our reasons why we liked what we liked. We don't have the article with us, but we remember that the towns included Bellefonte, Hershey, Wellsboro, Jim Thorpe, Lewisburg and New Hope. We received a lot of agreement from readers, although several commented on our saneness by including New Hope.

If we were to list the most charming towns we have visited in New York state it would certainly have to include Cooperstown, where we were yesterday. It was our first visit and it was a charmer. Cooperstown is a beautiful little village of probably 2,500 people. It is the county seat of Otsego County and home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The baseball museum was founded in 1939 to honor the greats of the game of baseball and to serve as the historian of the game by assembling, preserving and displaying memorabilia.

The village is located at the south end of Otsego Lake and was named for and settled by William Cooper, a judge and father of author James Fenimore Cooper. The village dates to the 1780s and said by some to be the site of Abner Doubleday's invention of game of baseball. It is a summer resort town.

OK, OK, so we struck out convincing you that this is a special place? Well, consider that for the size of the town, there are about 80 bed and breakfasts. The village lounges along the shores of Otsego Lake, the birthplace of the Susquehanna River. From the lake, the water then travels south 444 miles before emptying into the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland at a rate of what someone who has the time to count all these drops estimated as 19 million gallons of water every minute.

The arts calendar is wonderful. The population of museums is headed by the Farmers' Museum, the Carriage and Harness Museum and the Fenimore House. The Fenimore House is particularly grand, a columned mansion on the shore of Lake Otsego, three floors of galleries of folk, academic and decorative arts. Novelist James Fenimore Cooper is featured and the building is home to the museum of the New York State Historical Association. The Farmer's Museum is a collection of buildings including a general store, a druggist, church, tavern, working farm and a bunch of other buildings that are great fun to tour. Like baseball cards? There is a museum for baseball cards and one for corvettes and there are cider mills and... During the summer you can listen to the Glimmerglass Opera and concert series and the usual load of antique and gift shops. Ride bikes on trails or boats on the lake or pick up a game of baseball at the drop of a hat. Want to visit? Call the Chamber of Commerce at 607 547-9983. If you go, park outside of town and take the trolley. Like the hoity-toity? Try the Hyde Hall at the North end of the lake in Glimmerglass State Park. Get
this: 50 rooms with two grand public rooms, two libraries, two kitchens--too much to mention.

When we read local history in Columbia County about the Susquehanna, we get one definition of the meaning of the word. Where we were yesterday in New York state, at the beginning of that mighty river, we get a slightly different meaning. We aren't much help, since the only Indian word we know is "How," but we're told up here that interpreters accompanying Captain John Smith on his explorations of the river in the 1600's spoke Algonquin, and that the suffix "hanna" is an Algonquin word, meaning "stream" or "river." If this is true, Richard Sutliff points out, it is redundant to say Susquehanna River just as it is redundant to say Rio Grande River.

Native tribes along the river were identified as Sasquesahannocks and Sasquesahonougs and eventually became known as Susquehannocks. Some feel that the Susquehannock word "Queischachgekhanne," which they feel somehow got altered to Susquehanna, meant "the long reach river," a name then used to refer to the West Branch. Others think it may have come from the Delaware Indian word saskwihannang.

On this date three years ago today, a day much like today, in the worst single act of terrorism committed on U.S. soil, two hijacked airplanes crashed into New York's World Trade Center, causing the twin towers to fall and killing nearly 2,800 people; a commandeered jetliner smashed into the Pentagon, claiming 189 lives; and a fourth hijacked plane with 44 people aboard crashed in western Pennsylvania. The Twin Towers will be rebuilt. Aren't you glad that you don't work in anything that is called "Twin Towers!"

We'll share a little of Garrison Keillor's humor with you this morning. "Waiter," shouted the customer, "This coffee tastes like mud!" "Well," said the waiter, "it was ground this morning."

Dan King is the route 239 bridge replacement project construction
services' engineer and is overseeing the project beside the former
Norton Cole Mill. He tells us that Susquehanna Supply Co.,
Williamsport, has set the beams for the bridge and is preparing to
place the deck late next week. Excavation continues on the west side
of the structure. The project is still on schedule for a late October
completion. That should make the Divide folks happy!

Looking at the thousands of pumpkins, or "pumkins" as some of us lasy ones say, growing happily in Farmer Moofie's fields North of Maple Grove near L & K Mills, reminds us of the story out of Fountain Valley, Colorado, A farmer by the name of Venetucci grew pumkins and started giving them away to every kid on his street. Soon every kid in town was sporting a bright orange pumkin. The next year, a teacher asked if she could bring her students to his farm to see what a pumpkin patch looked like, and when they came he let them all have a punkin. He kept it up every year after that, letting any child who showed up get a free pumpkin to carve into a Jack-o-Lantern for Halloween. Venetucci had to dedicate 50 acres to growing them all, continuing the effort long past retirement. Those touched by Venetucci's efforts donated $100,000 to have a statue of him created for the Colorado Springs Pioneers Museum, and a school in town was named after him. He died September 7 at age 93.

Many readers have asked questions about two programs we suggest be
installed: AdAware and SpyBot. Refer to past issues if you forget
why we recommend these two programs. There seems to be general
reluctance to load these two programs, so we'll continue talking about
the subject until we get everyone's attention. Here are a couple of
terms, and most of you will recognize what we are talking about...

* a pop-up download is kind enough to ask you to click it. No matter what you click (CLOSE, YES, NO, or the "X" at the top) it downloads.

* A drive-by download automatically downloads to your computer,
usually without your consent or knowledge. A drive-by download
initiates invisibly and can be started by simply visiting a less-than
reputable web site. Frequently, a drive-by download is hidden inside
another application. For example, a file sharing program might include
installers for a spyware program that tracks and reports user
information for marketing purposes and then generates pop-up
advertisements using that information. If your computer's security
settings are set too low, it may be possible for drive-by downloads to
occur without any action at all on your part, but will be addressed by
Windows XP Service Pack 2. Drive-by downloads with SP2 installed are
less than without it.

On this date in...
1608, John Smith assumed the Presidency of the Jamestown settlement. In December 1607, Smith was brought before Algonquin Chief Powhatan. The chief's young daughter, Pocahontas, allegedly saved his life by throwing herself between him and those who wanted to shave his scalp.
1846, Elias Howe patented the first practical sewing machine, which could stitch five times faster than by hand.
1935, "Popeye" debuted on NBC radio, based on the Elzie Crisler Segar comic strip. The stars were Popeye, Olive Oyl, Brutas, Wimpy, Sweepea and a couple of cans of spinach.
1942, gasoline rationing was mandated by United States President Franklin Roosevelt as part of the United States wartime effort. Gov. Jeb Bush issued an executive order earlier this week that gives the state the power to ration gasoline as Florida recovers from Hurricane Frances.
1955, Bert Parks began his 25-year career hosting the "Miss America Pageant" on NBC and crooning "There She is ... Miss America." The Miss America pageant is coming this year on Saturday, Sept. 18, when judges will hold a "brief" contest in addition to the "swimsuit" contest, since seven aspiring lawyers are among the contestants.

We sign off for about two weeks starting now. We are participating in a "Rolling Rally" of 21 campers traveling from Florida to Maine, and we join the caravan this afternoon in upstate New York. We'll check in from time to time, but we will not be able to provide daily news coverage. Our planned lobster eating will interfere with that! We'll provide the more relevant local news and some facts from the past and an occasional computer tip and we'll throw in some details of the countryside we see passing by our windows. We don't know how often we can find a phone line, but we'll try to do it several times a week. As always when we travel, we may have trouble sending some of the email subscribers their copies, but we'll do the best we can. In the meantime, be well.

Make sure that the Christian Church carry-out spaghetti supper is on your calendar for September 11 from 4 to 7 PM. The cost is $5 for adults and $3 for children 6 and under. The church is located at Third and Church Streets.

Now We're Cooking, Inc., a specialty store focusing on cookware, bakeware, gadgets and knives for home cooks, opens today in Williamsport. There will be drawings today and Saturday for free merchandise. Cooking demonstrations will include Chef Paul Mach, Vince DiSalvo, and the operation of the Capresso Jura super-automatic espresso machine. The store, located at 457 River Avenue, features brands like All-Clad, Le Creuset, Wusthof, Nordic Ware, Capresso, Republic of Tea and others.

The Frank W. Kocher Memorial Park, Lightstreet, will have its grand opening Saturday from 10 AM to 3 PM, complete with light lunch. The park is north of Lightstreet on the west side of Route 487, facing Fishing Creek. The handicapped-accessible park features fishing areas, wetlands for educational purposes and a nature trail. The wetland was recovered using Fluvial Geomorphology techniques to establish a badly eroded Fishing Creek stream bank using very special stone structures built by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The park includes 1,000 trees, thanks to the Fishing Creek Watershed Association and volunteers. The pavilion at the park is named for Matthew Kisner, the Lightstreet boy who in 2000 died at age 15 waiting in a Philadelphia hospital for a donor heart. He was the son of Rich and Melissa Kisner. Rich is a board member of the Northern Columbia Community & Cultural Center.

Shickshinny's fall festival is Saturday from 9 AM to 5 PM at the fire company carnival grounds and at the opera house. At 9 AM, 12:30 PM and 3 PM, escorted kayak trips from the Union Township boat launch to Shickshinny are available. The cost is $5. At 10 AM, the fire company will begin serving barbecue chicken. Meg Geffken will present Amelia Earhart, The Search, at the opera house at 1 PM. Geffken, who lives in Central, formerly taught English and reading in the Benton Area and Northwest school districts. At 12:30, the Historical and Preservation Society of the Greater Shickshinny Area will hold an open meeting at the opera house.

Don't forget the Celebration of Christian Unity September 12 in Benton Park from 12:30 to 1 PM, followed by a picnic from 1 to 2:30 PM. A worship service will be held from 2:30 to 3:30 PM. Bring a lawn chair, table settings and a covered dish to share.

Direct Internet Audio Links for the Grand Ole Opry this weekend are:
http://66.250.84.150/Player.asp?STA=WSM&SPD=LO http://66.250.84.150/Player.asp?STA=WSM&SPD=HI

The Press Enterprise reports Friday that the mystery of the late-night ringing of Christian Church bells may have been solved by the arrest of four underage kids, 13-15. Which brings up the question about the old "opera house," the former town hall. What happened to the bell that at one time was housed in the bell tower? We can see the bell in old pictures, but we don't remember the bell being in the building in our life time.

Bernie Shultz suggests that if anyone is interested in learning more about barbershop singing, they can join in "BUSTING A CHORD" together at an Open House and Guest Night at the Shiloh Bible Church, 123 Church Street, Almedia, Monday, September 13 at 7:30 PM. Call Bernie Shultz at 925-6894 for more information. Bernie suggests that if any wives want to get there singing husbands out of the shower--and the house--one night a week, singing in a barbershop quartet is ideal.

Mandee Kline, Stillwater, is a few months shy of being three years old, but she has had two open heart surgeries and has a third one to go. Mandee was born with tricuspid atresia, a type of congenital heart disease in which the valve between the right atrium and right ventricle fails to develop. Blood that returns from the body to the right atrium cannot directly enter the right ventricle, and must pass through a hole in the atrial septum into the left atrium and then the left ventricle.

You can be part of the solution to her problem. Dr. Gilbert, formerly of the Geisinger Hospital, performed the first two operations in Danville, but has now moved to the Children's Medical Center, Memphis. Dr. Gilbert needs to perform the last of the three operations in Memphis. It is necessary to help the family defray loss of income and travel expenses for this operation.

On Saturday, September 18, at 1 PM, Mandee and her parents, Jim and Diane Kline, will be at the Benton Park for a pig roast and a Chinese auction to help raise money. Ticket prices are $8 per adult, $4 for kids under 10. Tickets may be purchased at the park on the day of the dinner or in advance by called Linda Heim at 925-2660.

Donations can be sent directly to the Columbia County Farmers National Bank at P. O. Box 503, Benton, PA 17814, clearly marked for Mandee Kline.

The people of the Upper Fishing Creek Valley came through again. Because of the interest and kind hearts of several people either living in Benton or who grew up here and have since moved away, Ann Morrocu was able to place two exchange students with loving families.

Dean and Laura Christian, Benton, are hosting a Japanese student, Ken Kadoya. If you haven't met Ken yet, try to get to know him this school year. He is a wonderful young man who is eager to learn all about life in the USA and to please everyone he comes in contact with. He is also a good cook, so if you like Asian food, ask him for a recipe or a sample.

Jim and Lisa Konarske, in Horse Shoe, North Carolina, received a forwarded copy of the plea for help in the Benton News from former Benton resident Bert Ritter. The Konarskes are now hosting a lovely girl for Germany who adores her family. The family fell in love with her immediately.

Ann writes, "I don't care what anyone says, small town people are the best!! And the residents/former residents of Benton has proven it. Thank you one and all for helping find loving, caring homes for each of these students. I especially want to thank all of you in advance for making Ken Kadoya's dream of a year learning about the American culture come true. I cannot think of a better place for him to learn about the true hard working, dedicated and caring Americans than Benton, PA. Ken will have a great experience this year and everyone he comes in contact with and/or makes friends with will be part of his life forever." She also reminds us that if you "would like to share Benton with a student next year, please let Ann Morrocu know at 302 762-0662."

On this date in...
1776, the name "United States of America" was adopted in Philadelphia by the Continental Congress for the united colonies.
1942, a Japanese aircraft launched from the submarine I-25 dropped incendiary bombs near Brookings, Oregon, in an attempt to set forest fires during World War II. The plane dropped more bombs 20 days later, but both raids were unsuccessful. This was the only time that the continental United States was ever bombed from the air. The attack was in reprisal for Doolittle's raid on Japan.
1956, an estimated 82% of the United States' television audience tuned to CBS as Ed Sullivan introduced "The Pelvis" Presley, 21. Ed Sullivan, for the moral safety of the viewing public, did not permit the cameras to show Elvis below the waist. Even though he showed only half his body, Elvis received $50,000 for his Toast of the Town appearance.
1982, Princess Grace of Monaco died from injuries sustained when her car plummeted off a mountain road. Daughter Stephanie, 17, was a passenger but suffered only minor bruises. Former movie star Grace Kelly, Philadelphia, wed Prince Ranier III of Monaco in 1956.

In the world of computers...
• The latest warning from Microsoft is that you should sweep your computer for spyware before you install Windows XP SP2. If spyware has already taken hold, it could cause SP2's installation routine to freeze before completion. Spybot and Ad-aware will do the job. Make sure to upgrade to the latest versions of these two products, SpyBot 1.3 and Ad-Aware SE 1.03 or Pro 6.
• Apple Computer has unveiled its new iMac desktop computer design, which integrates all disk drives and processors into a flat display less than 2 inches thick, possibly the world's thinnest desktop computer.
• For about $10 million, city officials believe they can turn all 135 square miles of Philadelphia into the world's largest wireless Internet hot spot. The plan would involve placing many small transmitters around the city, each capable of communicating with the wireless networking cards that now come standard with many computers.

And the world of health...
Do you know your cholesterol level? If you don't, this is a good time to find out: September is National Cholesterol Education Month. And if you're one of the approximately 38% of the U.S. population with excessively high blood cholesterol, you could be at increased risk for heart disease.

The September BABA (Benton Area Business Association) meeting is Thursday, September 9, at 7:00 PM in the High School Library. Mr. Knorr from Vo-Tech will inform the group about the work/study program.

Buster, our male Bichon staff reporter, suffers at this time each year from a skin infection we call "hot spots." The condition is referred to by veterinarians as pyotraumatic dermatitis.

Hot spots are surface skin infections caused when skin bacteria grow and overwhelm normal resistance. Buster loses a little hair, scratches a lot, and licks to the point of self-mutilation. Buster has a history of late-summer allergies.

We recently had coffee with a local dog breeder, who said the solution was simple: we should smear a little Bag Balm on the infected areas. For those who don't have a farm background, the salve known as Bag Balm was created to soften cow udders, and traces all the way back to 1899 in Wells River, Vermont. The salve has others uses, too. We remember that Admiral Byrd's provisions for the trip to the North Pole included Bag Balm. CBS reporter Charles Kuralt didn't hurt sales of the product when he reported the Bag Balm story as one of his feature segments for his "On the Road" series. Small-town doctors have reported for years that patients are patched up using "duct tape and Bag Balm." We decided to give the Bag Balm remedy a try.

After finding that an application of Bag Balm to his hurting skin gave him some relief, Buster became much more agreeable to future applications and we applied the salve twice a day for three days.

Guess what! Either the Bag Balm or something else worked! Buster's dermatitis problems seemed to disappear. We gratefully reported this back to the breeder, and asked if he had any other home remedies. He gave us a detailed description of another remedy, although for a problem we do not currently have. The problem is hemorrhoids, and the solution is gasoline.

He told us the true story of a hemorrhoid problem he once experienced. A friend, who talked a little like he had mush in his mouth, probably due to the absence of teeth, told him about a home remedy involving the liberal application of gasoline to the affected area. After much deliberation and a lot of resistance from his wife, the breeder agreed to the cure. The gas can was moved into position, the spine was curved in order to make things reach, the deed was done.

As the dog breeder recalled the story, it is obvious that some home cures are not for the faint of heart. Anyway, there was a whole lot of yelling involved and it was hinted that hemorrhoids might not be as bad as the cure for them.

The dog breeder's friend asked a few days after the incident how it had worked out. It was only after the friend repeated the word "Vaseline" three times did the breeder understand the cure that had really been intended.

During the height of the Civil War, Robert Edward Lee traveled with a pet hen who laid an egg under his cot every morning.

Black soldiers during the Civil War were paid $10 per month, $3 less than white soldiers.

We should mention that September is National Piano Month, National Sewing Month, Southern Gospel Music Month, National Coupon Month, National Potato Month and we almost forgot to mention that it is "Be Kind to Writers and Editors Month."

Our national Zip (postal) Codes go from "0" on the east coast to "9" on the west, and generally increase from south to north. Wouldn't it be wonderful, as the song goes, if there was a way of visually representing Zip Codes by looking at a map of the contiguous states with a dot for every city. If we typed a digit, we could see what cities correspond. Type in all five digits and narrow it down to one city or town. Well, you can do just that at the site at http://acg.media.mit.edu/people/fry/zipdecode/ . It is worth visiting if for no other reason than to just visit. The site quickly demonstrates how interactive applications can make their point.

The bandstand at the Benton Park--not the one we have now, but the one we had before the fire--is the latest Hometown Collectable. It will be available for pickup September 15 from 3 to 6 PM at the Benton UM Church. The cost is $17. For more information, call 925-6903 or 925-2513.

The article about Union soldiers that originally appeared here can now be found in FEATURES.

The artillery exchange preceding Pickett's charge was heard 140 miles away in Pittsburgh, making it one of the loudest noises on the North American continent up to that time.

In two presidential elections, Lincoln never carried Columbia County.

On this date in...
1914, the doors of the New York post office building opened to the public. The building bore the inscription, "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds," a translation from Herodotus, the Greek historian. Reader Lorena McBayne, however, points out that the recent Republican Convention did...for many businesses. In fact, many businesses closed for the convention in the area surrounding Madison Square Garden due to all the hoop-la.

1921, in Atlantic City, the first Miss America pageant was held and a 16 year-old blonde was chosen. Atlantic city businessmen concocted the beauty contest to encourage tourists to stay in town beyond the Labor Day weekend.
1966, the last new episode of the CBS The Dick Van Dyke Show aired. Van Dyke played Rob Petrie, head comedy writer for "The Alan Brady Show." Rob worked with comedy writers Sally (Rose Marie) and Buddy (Morey Amsterdam), friends of Rob and his wife Laura, played by Mary Tyler Moore.
1977, Panama and the United States signed a treaty by which the United States would maintain control of the Panama Canal until noon of December 31, 1999, after which the Canal would be officially Panamanian. This treaty superseded the 1903 treaty that granted the United States control of the Canal in perpetuity.

The article about Untion Soldiers that originally appeared here can now be found in FEATURES.

Out along the shattered fields
Where golden fields turned gray.
How very young their faces were
Where all the dead men lay.

President Lincoln once heard from an office seeker saying that the chief of customs had just died. Could he possibly take his place? "It's fine with me if the undertaker doesn't mind," said Lincoln.

"Errol Flynn died on a 70-foot boat with a 17-year old girl. Walter has always wanted to go that way, but he's going to settle for a 17-footer with a 70-year-old."
--Betsy Cronkite, wife of the anchorman Walter

"My husband will never chase another woman. He's too fine, too decent, too old!"
--Gracie Allen, discussing her husband George Burns.

"Republicans aren't the only ones who want four more years here."
--Former President Clinton, facing heart surgery today.

It is Labor Day, the first Monday in September. Labor Day is a creation of the labor movement, dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It is a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country.

Today is the important 18th anniversary of Scott and Pat Wary, and the more seasoned anniversaries of Harold and Marqueen Bankes, Orangeville, and Gerald and Barbara McHenry, Benton. On the birthday side, both John Andrysick, Winston-Salem and Roger Worley, Dover, were born on September 6, 1957. Teddy McHenry and Winton Laubach also celebrated birthdays on September 6.

On this date in...
1666, the Great Fire of London ended after destroying much of the city in a fire that began on September 2. Ninety-seven churches burned to the ground, including St Paul's Cathedral.
1837, Oberlin College, the first United States college to accept women, became the first college to grant equal status to both sexes.
1869, the first major coal mine disaster in the US occurred in our state at the Avondale mine when a fire broke out in a mine shaft, cutting off the miners' escape route and their only source of air. The death toll was 110 miners, many of them young boys.
1959, the Mattel Toy Corporation sold the first Barbie Doll. Ken and Skipper are now collectors items.
1984, country music star Ernest Tubb, 70, died. Tubb was from Crisp, Texas, and was known as the "Texas Troubadour." Tubb was a member of the Grand Ole Opry and the Country Music Hall of Fame.
1995, in an Angels-Orioles game at Camden Yards, Cal Ripken, Jr. broke the "unbreakable" record of 2,130 consecutive major league games set by Lou Gehrig. Ripken took a victory lap around the ballpark "high-fiving" fans along the way.

The article about Union soldiers that originally appeared here can now be found in FEATURES.

Abraham Lincoln once said of an argument of Stephen A. Douglas that it was a "specious and fantastic arrangement of words, by which a man can prove a horse chestnut to be a chestunt horse."

"Tact," Lincoln once observed, "is the ability to describe others as they see themselves."

What you don't see with your eyes, don't witness with your mouth.
~ Jewish Proverb

The person who sends out positive thoughts activates the world around him positively and draws back to himself positive results.
~ Norman Vincent Peale

Tired of program windows not opening in the maximized state? This tip works with almost any program. Maximize the window. Now close the window by clicking the "X" in the top-right corner while holding down the SHIFT key. Now reopen the program and it should open in the maximized state. Outlook Express did not always remember to open in the maximized state, but the installation of Service Pack 2 in a Windows XP machine seems to have taken care of that problem.

Questions about antivirus software? Go to...
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/antivirus.mspx

Charles H. Seibert, (July 4, 1932-Sept. 4, 2004), 72, rural Benton, died at his home Saturday morning. Mr. Seibert was a son of the late John and Thelma (Stutzman) Seibert and was born in Palmira. He is survived by his wife Sarah R. "Sally" (Evans) Seibert. He was a superintendent for Bechtel Corporation in New Jersey and at the Berwick plant. Along with his wife, Sally, he is survived by siblings: Michael Seibert, Palmyra, Jean Marberger, Elizabethtown, Clair Seibert, Lebanon, Harold Seibert, Hummelstown, Donald Seibert, Palmyra, Carl Seibert, Palmyra, Dennis Seibert, Annville and Leonard Seibert, Palmyra. There will be no public visitation. A memorial service will be held 1 PM Thursday, Sept. 9, at the McMichael Funeral Home. Interment will be held at the convenience of the Seibert family.
--Courtesy of the Press Enterprise, where a complete obituary can be found

The world we have created is a product of our thinking; it cannot be changed without changing our thinking.
~ Albert Einstein

No matter where you go or what you do, you live your entire life within the confines of your head.
~ Terry Josephson

Alton P. "Junior" Getz Jr., (Dec. 28, 1945-Sept. 3, 2004), 58, 310 Third Street, died Friday following conclusion of his shift at the Benton Foundry. He was a son of the late Alton P. and Pauline R. (Camp) Getz, a 1964 graduate of Benton Area High School. He was employed by Benton Foundry and Benton Meats & Seafood Market. Over the years, Alton worked at Larry's Lumber, Bloomsburg, the Short Stop Market, Lightstreet, and the former Horace Harrison IGA store, Benton. He owned the Dairylea Milk distributorship, Benton, for 10 years. Alton served on the Benton Borough Council for several terms and as president for several years. Presently, he was president of the Benton Park Commission. He retired from the Pennsylvania National Guard, Berwick, as a staff sergeant. He is survived by his wife, the former Mary Ruth Brewington and by nine siblings: Arley D. Getz, Spokane; Charles P. Getz, Cheyboygan, Mich.; B. William Getz, Arkansas; Delores J. Howard Myers, Shortsville, NY; Shelva J. Fous,t Ray Foust, Nancy J. McMann, David B. Getz, all of Benton; Guy Nelson Getz, New York; and Betty M. Reimard, Benton. Preceding him in death were four brothers: Robert A. Getz, Carl T. Getz, Jack A. Getz and Timothy A. Getz. Memorial services will be 11 AM. Wednesday at the Kriner Funeral Home, Benton. Interment will be private; there will be no viewing. The family will receive friends from 10 to 11 AM.
--Obituary courtesy of the Press Enterprise. Consult that newspaper for a complete obituary.

Those readers who saw the wonderful Innovata Brass concert for Rick Martin at the Benton Elementary School will have fond memories of that evening, fond memories of Rick Martin, of Benton High School graduate and Innovate leader Michael Milnarik, and of all of the talented musicians in the group. This is about one of those talented people, Innovata trumpet player Karen Antonio-Muenzinger and a benefit concert coming up for her. Karen has battled cancer for about 4 years. In March her cancer returned and it prevented her from performing with Innovata for most of their concerts during the 2004 summer season. Michael tells us, "This has been a very hard time for her because playing the trumpet is what she loves most. Not being able to perform has saddened her a great deal, but it has also affected her livelihood."

Karen is an excellent performer and teacher. She has performed with many orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout New England, has been heard on numerous New England television and radio broadcasts, and is a member of the faculty at the Brookline Music School. She not only performs classical music, but performs with Mariachi bands and an all-female rock band. She holds degrees from Boston University School of Music and Keene State College.

On Friday, September 10, 2004 at 7:30pm, Innovata will be joined by the Portland Brass in a concert to "benefit trumpeter, colleague and friend" Karen Antonio-Muenzinger. The concert will take place at the Parish of the Epiphany, 70 Church Street, Winchester, Massachusetts. Innovate Brass is coming to the end of a very successful summer season, but the concert planned for Karen is an important concert that Michael wanted readers to know about. Michael writes, "September 10 we will be presenting a benefit concert for Karen. She needs OUR help! The more people attending this event, the bigger the benefit to Karen.

EVERY contribution helps! All of the money collected at the door will go to help Karen. The suggested donation is $15.00, but if you really can't afford it, please come anyway and give us what you can afford. If you can afford more than $15.00, it is greatly appreciated as well. Families and senior citizens can also be given a discount." Head on over to http://www.innovatabrass.com/ for more information, where readers can find more information about helping in Karen's time of need.

Arcadia Word of the Day:
WAFFLE (contraction).
Usage: "Yew better git home, bubba, else yer waffle be real mad."

Money 101 at http://money.cnn.com/pf/101/ was created by the editors at Money magazine and its Web site. Money 101 consists of electronic lessons that help you invest, save, borrow and spend more wisely. The essentials of each lesson can be absorbed in just 10 minutes.

Insurance premiums paid by elderly and disabled patients for routine care will rise 17% next year and will affect nearly all of the 41.8 million beneficiaries of Medicare. The boost from $66.60 to $78.20 a month is the largest increase in the program's 40-year history. The premiums are for Medicare Part B, which provides Medicare patients with coverage for physician services, outpatient hospital care, certain home health services and durable medical equipment.

Once you've seen one shopping center, you've seen a mall.

Spyware is a huge problem for computer users. Spyware comes from everywhere, not just the porn sites and the music-sharing sites and the messenger sites. For reasons we don't fully understand, we can tick off the list of a dozen careful internet users who have had a youthful computer user get on their computer and within hours the computer was riddled with spyware. There are some things that can be done and some things that must be done.

On the "Can Do" side, you can leave your computer connected to the internet only when you are actually using it, although that is certainly overkill in most cases. You can disconnect the computerfrom the internet when you log off your computer. This applies mostly to a cable or DSL connection if you are not sure of how secure your firewall protection is. You can make sure that your credit cards have a low-dollar limit in the unlikely event that your card is compromised during an on-line order. On the "Must Do" side, you must have a firewall. Windows XP users should make certain that Automatic Updates are enabled. This will automatically install SP2 (which we'll talk about in a second) and make sure that any future critical updates are applied. This even applies to modem users because the automatic Windows update process only uses idle network bandwidth to download patches. Its called BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service). It could take a few days but eventually it will download. And somewhere between "should" and "must" is the need to download these two free programs or equivalent...

1. Ad-Aware scans RAM, registry, hard drives, and external storage devices for known data-mining, advertising, and tracking components and will maintain a higher degree of privacy while you surf the Web. The free program is by Lavasoft. Be aware that there is a similar product called "Noad-aware" that costs about $30 and does about the same thing. Remember NOT to click on every pop-up that comes up!

2. Spybot - Search & Destroy 1.3. The program is available at http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/ and is necessary to scan for spyware, adware, hijackers and other malicious software.

Microsoft is offering a complete free CD, including shipping and handling. The CD may be freely copied and shared, but is only for Windows XP users. The CD is the SP2 CD. If you run Windows XP, you will eventually need to install this CD. You might as well order it--and then share it with a friend.

The direct audio links to listen to the Grand Ole Opry are:
http://66.250.84.150/Player.asp?STA=WSM&SPD=LO
http://66.250.84.150/Player.asp?STA=WSM&SPD=HI

Public schools began the current year earlier this week. The Pledge of Allegiance again starts the school day. Francis Bellamy (1855-1931), a Baptist minister, was born in Mount Morris, New York, a town on the Genesee River about 35 miles from Rochester. Bellamy wrote the original Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag 102 years ago in 1892. It was first published on September 8, 1892, in the Youth's Companion, a popular family magazine.

Francis Bellamy was a chairman of a committee of state superintendents of education in the National Education Association in 1892. He prepared the program for Columbus Day in 1892 and structured it around a flag raising ceremony and a flag salute, which he called his "Pledge of Allegiance."

He wanted his original Pledge to include the word "equality," but others didn't agree with that because of women and African Americans. The original published version read, "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and (to*) the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

The National Flag Conference changed the Pledge's words"my Flag" to 'the Flag of the United States of America" about 1924. Bellamy disliked this change, but his protest was ignored. Following a campaign by the Knights of Columbus in 1954, Congress added the words, 'under God,' to the Pledge.

If you are looking for a very enjoyable fall trip, try driving to Mount Morris, New York, and visit the birthplace of the writer of the Pledge 0f Allegiance. While you are there, don't forget to spend a day at the beautiful Letchworth State Park or its smaller companion, Stony Brook State Park in Dansville. With the precipitous walls and dramatic waterfalls, the Genesee Gorge in Mount Morris rightfully is called the "Grand Canyon of the East." The Genesee River flows north from its Pennsylvania headwaters through the 25 mile gorge that is Letchworth State Park. At times, the sides of the canyon rise 800 ft above the banks of the river.

An event billed as an "American Indian Pow-Wow" begins at 10 AM today and runs through Monday, September 6, at Camp Lavigne, just off route 487 north of Benton. The cost is $5 for as many as you can load into your jitney. Keep your alcohol, drugs and firearms elsewhere. If you are into fairs, the Sullivan County Fair runs through Sunday and the Allentown Fair closes Monday. And didja notice that it feels just a tad like Bloomsburg Fair weather this morning.

On a smaller scale, Saturday at Sonestown is a Civil War/Revolutionary War Remembrance from 10 to 5 at the war museum. We have never actually done it, but on Saturday morning is the Fall Consignment Auction starting at 8:30 at the Beaver Run Parochial School, Washingtonville. Everything including the kitchen sink is offered if this auction is like previous ones. Top your day off Saturday at the New Columbus Academy Ice Cream Social starting at 4:30 and ask permission to sneak upstairs and take a look around. There is a marvelous collection of local history and it is worth seeing. There is a car show in Sweet Valley and an Italian Festival in Scranton and a Smorgasbord just outside of Sonestown and an "all-you-can-eat" breakfast at the Fairmount Fire Company Sunday and paintball in Berwick, and the always-fun Eagles Mere Antique Mart. The Antique Machinery Show at Penn's Cave just can't be beat for fun and flea markets next week, so get your campers filled with water and get ready. Get out and about this weekend, turn off your computers and enjoy your Labor Day weekend. We are going to do just that and will not be publishing a Saturday edition, unless news from the storm front requires us to do it Saturday night. Have a most enjoyable weekend.

June K. Burke, 79, (Sept. 24, 1924-Aug. 27, 2004), a 46-year resident of Warminster, died Friday at Greenleaf Nursing Home, Doylestown. She was the wife of Robert T. Burke, Esq. Born in Benton, she was the daughter of Glen and Margaret Keller. She was a graduate of Benton High School and Bloomsburg University, Class of 1949. Mrs. Burke was a U.S. Army veteran of World War II. Prior to her retirement, she was a secretary of the Bucks County Democratic Committee. She was an accomplished bridge player and competed in master points bridge tournaments. She was an avid Phillies fan and enjoyed trips to Atlantic City. Mrs. Burke was the first woman editor of the U.S. Army newspaper. She was a past chairwoman of the Warminster Democratic Committee for several years. In addition to her husband, she is survived by two sons, Jeff Jacobs and his wife, Kathy and Randy Jacobs; two daughters, Paula Burkholder and her husband, Bill and Kay Jacobs and her partner, Maureen; one stepson, Edward Burke; and one stepdaughter, Beverly Burke. Also surviving are a brother, Allen Keller; two sisters, Barbara McHenry and Miriam Stauder; 12 grandchildren, including Tina Burke, who resided with her for many years; and one great-grandson, Ryan Burkholder. She was preceded in death by her son, Robert Jacobs and her stepson, Sean Burke. The family received friends from 7 to 9 PM Wednesday. The funeral service and interment will be held privately.
--Thanks to Ruth Ann Laubach Focht for providing the obituary.

William R. Rodman, 84, (December 19, 1919-August 31, 2004), Cambra, died Tuesday at home. Born in Philadelphia, he was a son of the late Samuel and Lillian M. (Webb) Rodman, a 1937 graduate of Audubon High School in New Jersey. Surviving are his wife, the former Evelyn M. Lamoreaux; daughters Marja R. Cronk and Laurie A. Edson, Benton; a son, William R. Rodman Jr., King of Prussia; six grandchildren: Arden Diltz, James Cronk, Jessica Cronk, Collin Edson, Hunter Edson and Heather Mann; a great-granddaughter, Lauren Mann; and a sister, Velma J., wife of George W. Supplee, Wilmington, N.C. Funeral services will be 11 AM Saturday in the Kriner Funeral Home, Benton. Friends may call Friday from 7 to 9 PM.
--from the Press Enterprise, where a complete obituary can be found

The Benton Council of Churches is sponsoring a "Celebration of Christian Unity" on September 12 in the Benton Town Park. The gathering will be at 12:30, picnic at 1:00 and worship at 2:30. The Council of Churches will provide the Hamburger Barbecue and attendees are asked to bring a covered dish to share, a lawn chair and place settings.

The Benton Council of Churches is sponsoring a Veterans Administration General Information Seminar on October 3 at The Benton United Methodist Church. The seminar will begin at 2:00 and the Guest Speaker will be Mr. Ken Taylor, Director of Veterans Affairs for Columbia County. After Mr. Taylor's presentation there will be a question-and-answer period. Light refreshments will be available at the conclusion of the Seminar.

The Benton Council of Churches is sponsoring the making of Child ID Kits on October 16 at The Benton United Methodist Church. We will make ID Kits from 9:00 until 5:00. Parents/Guardians are encouraged to fill out a Parental Worksheet prior to 16 October to speed up the process. Completed Worksheets can be mailed to The Benton United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 285, Benton, PA 17814-0285. All parents are invited to bring their children, age 17 and under, for an ID Kit whether they fill out the Parental Worksheet ahead of time or not. We will return to this subject in the coming days.

Come and enjoy the Annual Hunlock Township Heritage Day Celebration on October 2. Some highlights of the festival will include a Civil War Encampment, represented by the Company K, 81st PA Volunteer Infantry Regiment. They will be portraying a Union Company recruited out of Eckley and Luzerne County in early 1861, fighting until the end of the Civil War. They will have demonstrations during the day of camp life. Also, Battery B 1st PA Light Artillery will have cannon firing demonstrations.

There will be select artisans demonstrating blacksmithing, wool spinning, wheat weaving, whittling and painting. There will be a Civil War display presented by Rick and Patty Matthews, a must see collection. There will genealogical displays for those interested in researching local and family history, including a display by Sheila Brandon, webmaster of the Lower Luzerne County Website.

The Hunlock Township Heritage Committee will have Brandywine Woodcrafts for sale, (note- the Hunlock Creek Train Station is a real gem but only one of the many that will be available.)

There will be food and beverages available such as pit beef sandwiches, sausage and pepper sandwiches, funnel cakes, soda, water and coffee. The Hunlock Creek Volunteer Fire Company and the Hunlock Creek Athletic Association will have food stands. The Oakdale UNW will have homemade food items available. Anyone interested in participating in the program for the day, or hosting a stand is asked to contact Vicki Seward at 570 256-7410.

The Heritage Day Celebration will take place on Saturday, October 2, at the Hunlock Creek Athletic Association Field, behind the Hunlock Creek Elementary School, Sunset Lake Road. The fun begins at 9:00 AM. There is free parking and free admission.

Gaye Beishline Moser writes that "here we go again. As of this email I will be off line Until Sun or Mon. It will depend on how much damage there is as to when we will be able to come back to see damage. There will be some I am almost positive. This one as of right now is coming ashore too close. I will call on cell phone if there are towers up. Say a prayer for us. There has not been a hurricane this big to hit or come this close since 1947. Charlie was powerful but a small one. This one has 40 to 50 mile an hour winds 185 miles from the eyewall where there are 140 winds and gusts up to 170. We are not going to a motel this time as of Monday night there were none. So we are off to a shelter." You'll remember that Gaye and Jack were displaced by Hurricane Charlie two weeks ago, and it sounds like it is "It's deja vu all over again," as Yogi Berra once said. Please keep Gaye and Jack in your prayers as Hurricane Frances heads toward Florida, possibly to deliver the first one-two punch to the state in at least a century

Dr. Frank C. Laubach, World Missionary, was born on this date in 1884, in Benton. Frank Laubach was born in the Main Street house now occupied by John and Zane Unbewust, studied at Bloomsburg and at other schools, then enrolled in the State Normal School, Bloomsburg, in 1901. He was a student at the Perkiomen Seminary from 1904 to 1905 and received his bachelor of arts degree at Princeton University in 1909 where he received the McLean prize from Princeton President Woodrow Wilson for a speech on peace among nations. Dr. Laubach studied at the Union Theological Seminary from 1911 to 1913 while earning a M.A. degree in sociology from Columbia University and later earned a Ph.D. in sociology from the same university in 1915. He married a local girl, Effa Seely, on May 15, 1912. He was later awarded a doctor of philanthropy degree in 1952 and a doctor of Hebrew literature from Wooster College in 1950.

He was commissioned by Union Congregational Church as a missionary in the Philippines and for 15 years he ministered and educated Philippine Christians. From 1935-54, he brought "Each One Teach One" literacy programs to Philippine communities and to Southeast Asia, India, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America. At Mahatma Gandhi's request, he started an Indian national literacy campaign. He was instrumental in the founding of World Literacy Committee, Committee on World Literacy and Christian Literature, and World Literacy, Inc. (later called World Education). He founded the Laubach Literacy and Mission Fund, later called Laubach Literacy. He continued world literacy tours during the last years of his life, and spoke throughout the U.S. on poverty and illiteracy as impediments to justice and peace. With his son Robert S. Laubach, they founded the New Readers Press to publish instructional materials for the U.S. literacy movement. In 1968, Dr. Laubach created the National Association for Literacy Advance, later called Laubach Literacy Action, to bring volunteer literacy efforts together in the United States.

Dr. Laubach, wrote more than 200 primers for 300 languages and was at least partly responsible for helping 100 million people learn to read; in case you missed it, we repeat that "100 million" people were at least partially influenced to read by Dr. Frank Laubach. He minimized his achievements, saying once "I haven't even kept up with the birth rate, and besides, about 20 million or more who've learned to read have lapsed back into illiteracy for lack of reading materials."

Dr. Laubach retired from missionary work in 1955, returning to the United States and organizing the Laubach Literacy International. The Syracuse organization was made up of 40,000 volunteers who promote the "Each one teach one" literacy program. Dr. Robert Laubach, was board chairman of the organization and the son of Dr. Frank.

Dr. Laubach died June 11, 1970, at age of 85. His wife Effa Laubach died March 28, 1973. They are buried in Benton cemetery under the inscription: "World Missionaries."

Wenner-Burton Construction, Inc. will auction real estate, and various pieces of construction equipment including trucks tractor and lowboy trailer, dump trucks, crawler tractors, hydraulic excavators and attachments, rubber-tired loader, backhoes and attachments, motor grader and compaction equipment, fuel and mechanics trucks, pickup trucks, tag-a-longs, office, and van trailers, contractor's tools, and shop equipment. The detailed listing of the items being auctioned is at the printers and will be available about September 10. The sale will be held Thursday, October 7, 2004, beginning at 9 AM. The building is located on route 487/239 one mile North of Benton. The auction is being handled by the Hunyady Auction Company.

Today's saying of the day:
"September blow soft, till the fruit's in the loft."

If you talk with someone from China, they will quickly point out that theirs is the subtlest language in the world in that each word can be spoken in four different tones that correspond to four different and distinct meanings. Our country is about the same physical size as continental China and we are just as sophisticated in our use of the language. Take, for example, the word "buster."

We'll give you a few standard meanings of the word "buster," followed by a corresponding series of interpretations of the word. Many people feel that the word "buster" is an expression of friendliness and welcome, and use it on all possible occasions to the amusement of locals who have been brought up with the word and better understand the undertone of its meaning. Here are some examples...

And now that you better understand how to make someone uncomfortable, the next time someone appears at your door, simply wave a cheery "Come on in, buster." Any sensitive, well-behaved Bentonian will know that what you really mean is "Would you please get lost!"

Yesterday we discussed the events that occurred in Benton exactly 140 years ago, and a number of readers asked questions which we'll attempt to answer today. Of the 44 men taken from Benton to Ft. Mifflin, 12 were tried in a military tribunal and seven were found to be guilty. After the war ended, however, the Supreme Court held that President Lincoln had exceeded his constitutional authority and the men who were jailed were looked on as heroes.

The residents of the Upper Fishing Creek Valley were not alone in their war problems with President Lincoln. War opponents suspected of disloyalty were arrested in other locations, too. In the summer of 1864, Ulysses S. Grant was bogged down in the Siege of Petersburg and William Tecumseh Sherman was mired in Georgia. During that period and during the midterm election in Lincoln's home state of Kentucky, Lincoln suspended habeas corpus and arrested every Democrat he could round up. (The Democrats still swept the July 1864 Kentucky election.)

During the Civil War--as during any conflict in which sons and daughters are forced to fight for their country--there were many ideas about the right course for the North to take. Some supported the war and willingly fought. Some completely opposed the war. Some supported Lincoln, and some opposed him. Democrats blamed Lincoln and the Republicans for the hard times facing the country. During the 1860s, the Republicans were the liberals, the Democrats the conservatives and the dividing line for the two groups was the issue of slavery. The anti-Lincoln movement was particularly strong in nearby Irish Catholic areas of Northeastern Pennsylvania, where they feared that newly freed slaves would take their jobs.

A group known as peace Democrats were persistent about the Union not entering the war. The nickname "Copperhead," possibly coming from the name of a snake "that strikes without warning," was sometimes used. Lincoln faced many problems as President; one of the biggest was the Copperheads who held a majority in Democratic party positions and who made many of the major decisions of the party. The longer the war continued, the more that the Copperheads became displeased. The Copperhead's motto was, "The Constitution as it is, and the Union as it was," an effort to return the nation to the way it had been before the way and to leave the South alone.

People opposed Lincoln in all parts of the nation, but Copperhead opposition was very strong in pockets of Pennsylvania. The name Copperhead (sometimes "Butternuts") applied to all groups working to overthrow the government and interfere with the conduct of the War between the States.

What is your opinion? Were these residents of the Upper Fishing Creek valley traitors to the Union, or were they fighting for freedom of action, of speech and the pursuit of their convictions? In the words of Lincoln, "were they testing whether that Nation, or any Nation, so conceived and so dedicated could long endure."

We now conclude our article on the Amish of Pennsylvania. We left off yesterday with a discussion of the marriage. We end today with what happens if the union is not a happy one.

Marriage in the Amish community is for life. Divorce is not allowed and would lead to excommunication. If a husband were to divorce his wife and he left the church community, she can remain within the church but is forbidden to remarry until he dies.

We have all heard of shunning, or "meidung," practiced when a member acts in an offensive, disobedient or carnal manner. It is used in a public manner. When banned, members can talk with the shunned person but many forms of interaction, such as shaking hands, is prohibited. The member enters a one-way relationship with his community. An example is that a shunned mother is not permitted to pass her child directly to its grandparent, but must hand the child off to a third party. The shunned person eats by himself at a separate table. A shunned wife eats at a separate table and must refrain from sexual relations. Parents must shun their excommunicated adult children.

The shunning continues until the excommunicated repents and confesses and the church community lets them back in. Those who break baptismal vows by leaving the church are excommunicated. In all cases, the church is held as a higher authority than the family. Members of a family are accountable first to the church and then to the family.

"...if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolator, or a railer or drunkard or an extortioner: with such a one do not eat." I Cor. 5:11

The Amish recognize Thanksgiving and New Year's Day, Easter, Christmas and a second day of Christmas on December 26, Good Friday, Easter Monday and Pentecost Monday, sometimes known as Whit Monday. Whit Monday is also known in English as Whitsun (Whitsunday).