The "Good People Really Do Exist" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Gas tank full and car packed, ready to head to Urbana, Maryland to visit our daughter Brynn, son-in-law Dave and granddaughters Courtney and Camille.  Our mission was a weekend visit to catch up on the lives of everyone south of the border and to take in one of Camille's basketball games.  She is in her final year of Middle School and will enter High School next year.  Her basketball team is undefeated and we wanted to see one of her final league games before the playoffs start.  Her game was scheduled for 5:30 pm so we decided to leave Lancaster, PA about 11:00 am for the two hour trip to Urbana, a small bedroom town near Frederick, MD.  There are a variety of routes we can take, but we enjoy traveling historic Route 30W for about an hour and then pick up Route 15S for the remainder of our trip.  Just before we end our Route 30 leg of the trip, there is a McDonald's restaurant where we enjoy stopping for a snack or an inexpensive meal.  Today was one of those meal days so I pulled into the Drive-thru lane and waited in place.  Naturally, the noon-time line is always longer, so we had a rather lengthy wait.  Finally the car in front us pulled to the order station and placed an order.  About a minute or so later the car pulled forward and we pulled to the speaker.  "Fish sandwich, cheeseburger, small fries and a vanilla milk shake," I called into the speaker.  Some static and then, "The milkshake machine isn't working today.  You want something else to drink?"  I replied, "Just a small coke."  By now the car in front of us was paying for their meal and preparing to pull to the service window.  I too pulled to the window and lowered the window to pay.  The young girl opened the window and said, " The woman in the car in front of you paid for your meal!"  I was dumbfounded!  "What?" I asked the clerk?"  She said, "The lady said today was 'Do a good deed day' and she wanted to treat the older couple in the car behind her to lunch."  Wow!! We pulled up behind her when she was getting her order and tooted the horn and waved to her.  She waved back and pulled forward and stopped.  After we got our meal we pulled next to her and realized she was about the same age as our daughter.  We thanked her for such a nice treat and told her her act of kindness had made our day something special.  With a big smile on her face she said we were welcome and glad she could treat us.  It truly did make our day, and perhaps her day also.  We often read in our local newspaper comments from those who have had a meal paid for them at a restaurant and often think we should do the same for a stranger.  Never thought someone would do that for us.  Once again, even thought the chances are extremely slim that the beautiful young woman may be reading this blog...thank you one more time for your wonderful gift you gave to us on February 17th.  It was most certainly appreciated and something we will never forget!  You truly were our hero for the day.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "In The Land That Made Me, Me!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Checking my emails and found one from one of my oldest friends, Bill, who lives in Arizona.  Haven't seen Bill in perhaps three years, but hope to see him sometime in the near future if all works out.  Bill and I lived a half-block apart as young boys and I was so sad when his mother, he and his twin sister as well as his younger sister had to move to the small town of Manheim which is a few miles to the north-west of Lancaster, PA.  We still keep in touch through emails and a telephone call once in a while.  But, its still not the same as being able to sit down face to face and talk about the good ole days.  So, when I opened my email today and found Bill had sent me a few oldies' poems, I just had to share them with you.  For those who grew up in the late 40s and 50s, this is for you!  For the rest of you, you can just wish you were living during that time in history.  Certainly less stressful that today's world.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

A POEM THAT WAS US

A little house with three bedrooms,

One bathroom and one car on the street

A mower that you had to push

To make the grass look neat.

In the kitchen on the wall

We only had one phone,

And no need for recording things,

Someone was always home.

We only had a living room

Where we would congregate,

Unless it was at mealtime

In the kitchen where we ate.

We had no need for family rooms

Or extra rooms to dine.

When meeting as a family

Those two rooms would work out fine.

We only had one TV set

And channels maybe two,

But always there was one of them

With something worth the view

For snacks we had potato chips

That tasted like a chip.

And if you wanted flavor

There was Lipton's onion dip.

Store-bought snacks were rare because

My mother liked to cook

And nothing can compare to snacks

In Betty Crocker's book

Weekends were for family trips

Or staying home to play

We all did things together –

Even go to church to pray.

When we did our weekend trips

Depending on the weather,

No one stayed at home because

We liked to be together

Sometimes we would separate

To do things on our own,

But we knew where the others were

Without our own cell phone

Then there were the movies

With your favorite movie star,

And nothing can compare

To watching movies in your car

Then there were the picnics

at the peak of summer season,

Pack a lunch and find some trees

And never need a reason.

Get a baseball game together

With all the friends you know,

Have real action playing ball –

And no game video.

Remember when the doctor

Used to be the family friend,

And didn't need insurance

Or a lawyer to defend

The way that he took care of you

Or what he had to do,

Because he took an oath and strived

To do the best for you

Remember going to the store

And shopping casually,

And when you went to pay for it

You used your own money?

Nothing that you had to swipe

Or punch in some amount,

And remember when the cashier person

Had to really count?

The milkman used to go

From door to door,

And it was just a few cents more

Than going to the store.

There was a time when mailed letters

Came right to your door,

Without a lot of junk mail ads

Sent out by every store .

The mailman knew each house by name

And knew where it was sent;

There were not loads of mail addressed

To "present occupant”

There was a time when just one glance

Was all that it would take,

And you would know the kind of car,

The model and the make

They didn't look like turtles

Trying to squeeze out every mile;

They were streamlined, white walls, fins

And really had some style

One time the music that you played

Whenever you would jive,

Was from a vinyl, big-holed record

Called a forty-five

The record player had a post

To keep them all in line

And then the records would drop down

And play one at a time.

Oh sure, we had our problems then,

Just like we do today

And always we were striving,

Trying for a better way.

Oh, the simple life we lived

Still seems like so much fun,

How can you explain a game,

Just kick the can and run?

And why would boys put baseball cards

Between bicycle spokes

And for a nickel, red machines

Had little bottled Cokes?

This life seemed so much easier

Slower in some ways

I love the new technology

But I sure do miss those days.

So time moves on and so do we

And nothing stays the same,

But I sure love to reminisce

And walk down memory lane.

With all today's technology

We grant that it's a plus!

But it's fun to look way back and say,

HEY LOOK, GUYS, THAT WAS US!

But wait, there is one more poem that Bill sent to me that is just as interesting.

In The Land That Made Me, Me

Long ago and far away,

In a land that time forgot, 

Before the days of Dylan,

Or the dawn of Camelot. 

There lived a race of innocents,

And they were you and me,

For Ike was in the White House

In that land where we were born, 

Where navels were for oranges,

And Peyton Place was porn.

We longed for love and romance,

And waited for our Prince, 

Eddie Fisher married Liz,

And no one's seen him since.

We danced to 'Little Darlin',

And sang to 'Stagger Lee' 

And cried for Buddy Holly

In the Land That Made Me, Me.

Only girls wore earrings then,

And 3 was one too many, 

And only boys wore flat-top cuts,

Except for Jean McKinney.

And only in our wildest dreams

Did we expect to see 

A boy named George with Lipstick,

In the Land That Made Me, Me.

We fell for Frankie Avalon,

Annette was oh, so nice, 

And when they made a movie,

They never made it twice.

We didn't have a Star Trek Five,

Or Psycho Two and Three, 

Or Rocky-Rambo Twenty

In the Land That Made Me, Me.

Miss Kitty had a heart of gold,

And Chester had a limp, 

And Reagan was a Democrat

Whose co-star was a chimp.

We had a Mr. Wizard,

But not a Mr. T, 

And Oprah couldn't talk yet,

In the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had our share of heroes,

We never thought they'd go, 

At least not Bobby Darin,

Or Marilyn Monroe.

For youth was still eternal,

And life was yet to be, 

And Elvis was forever

In the Land That Made Me, Me.

We'd never seen the rock band

That was Grateful to be Dead, 

And Airplanes weren't named Jefferson,

And Zeppelins were not Led

And Beatles lived in gardens then,

And Monkees lived in trees, 

Madonna was Mary

In the Land That Made Me, Me.

We'd never heard of microwaves,

Or telephones in cars, 

And babies might be bottle-fed,

But they were not grown in jars.

And pumping iron got wrinkles out,

And 'gay' meant fancy-free, 

And dorms were never co-Ed

In the Land That Made Me, Me.

We hadn't seen enough of jets

To talk about the lag, 

And microchips were what was left

At the bottom of the bag.

And hardware was a box of nails,

And bytes came from a flea, 

And rocket ships were fiction

In the Land That Made Me, Me.

T-Birds came with portholes,

And side shows came with freaks, 

And bathing suits came big enough

To cover both your cheeks.

And Coke came just in bottles,

And skirts below the knee, 

And Castro came to power

Near the Land That Made Me, Me.

We had no Crest with Fluoride,

We had no Hill Street Blues, 

We had no patterned pantyhose

Or Lipton herbal tea 

Or prime-time ads for those dysfunctions

In the Land That Made Me, Me.

There were no golden arches,

No Perrier to chill, 

And fish were not called Wanda,

And cats were not called Bill.

And middle-aged was 35

And old was forty-three, 

And ancient were our parents

In the Land That Made Me, Me.

But all things have a season,

Or so we've heard them say, 

And now instead of Maybelline

We swear by Retin-A.

They send us invitations

To join AARP, 

We've come a long way, baby,

From the Land That Made Me, Me.

So now we face a brave new world

In slightly larger jeans, 

And wonder why they're using

Smaller print in magazines 

And we tell our children's children

Of the way it used to be, 

Long ago and far away

In the Land That Made Me, Me.

If you didn't grow up in the Fifty's, 

You missed the greatest time in history . . . .

The "Collegiate Football Signing Day At The University Of Maryland" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting in my daughter's home in Urbana, Maryland dunking a piece of cake in my glass of milk when my eye caught an article in a newspaper that was published in the December 21, 2017 Washington Post.  It featured my son-in-law Dave sitting at a conference table in the "war room" with the Maryland University head football coach, DJ Durkin looking over his shoulder while Dave was working with a program called Teamworks.  

Dave has been a high school football coach for many years and joined Maryland's staff about a year ago.  The Teamworks  program has been a revelation in recruiting of high school football athletes.  No longer is a fax machine needed to sign prospective players to a national letter-of-intent.  The program can be used to email a document that the prospect can sign on their mobile device, share with their parents or guardians and forward back to the University of Maryland; all in a matter of minutes.  Signing day was Wednesday, December 20 this year and about two hours after signing was allowed, Maryland had used the program to sign 20 of the 22 players they would end up signing that day.  Close to 100 major college programs now use Teamworks to sign their recruits.  Dave is involved in the process since he is the Head of Player Personnel and I can't imagine how excited he must have been that day.  After he received the signed papers he had to forward them to the director of recruiting operations who had to make sure they were all filled out properly and signed.  The program has revolutionized the signing process on signing day.  During Coach Durkin's first two years at Maryland his assistants would have to send signing documents to recruits by a PDF email attachment or by way of a FedEx paper form.  They would then have to be signed and dated and returned to Maryland.  I know it may sound fairly easy, but it wasn't.  Their top recruit this year, a Maryland High School offensive lineman, received his offer at 7:01 am, had it signed and delivered back to Maryland in five minutes.  In years past that would have been impossible, but this year by 7:18 it was official.  By 8:11 am Maryland had signed 20 players and by 8:25 am all 22 had signed and it was time to depart the "war room".  A list of the players which signed with the University of Maryland was published in the Washington Post and as I looked over it I was impressed with the physical size of the players that were recruited.  A defensive tackle is 6'3" and weighs 315 pounds, a tight end is 6'5" and weighs 245, a center is 6'2" and weighs 290, another defensive tackle is 6'5" and weighs 335, and the list goes on and on.  And, these are high school players that are being signed.  Maryland was ranked among the top 20 national classes in the recruit signings with five of the top 300 rated players in the nation.  Football is big money for our nation's collegiate programs and you need a winning program in order to attract the top players.  Maryland's class this year should help gain prominence in the rankings and having their signing day go so easy because of the new Teamworks program has taken the stress out of signing day.  Now those new signees need to step up and make the Maryland Terrapins one of the top teams in the country.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

The "Twelve Year Old Boy Shot In Chest.....Shooter Walks Free!!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Emailing back and forth with my cousin Susan who's a few years my junior and lives near Strasburg, Pennsylvania amongst the Amish.  Susan is one of ten cousins that are part of my extended family and is the middle child of my Aunt Virginia and Uncle Bob.  Uncle Bob died years ago, but my Aunt Virginia, Susan's mother, happens to live across the street from her daughter Susan.  When Carol and I decided to downsize to a larger house (that's a whole other story) after our three children were all in college, Susan acted as our realtor.  She sold our home in Grandview Heights the same day we listed it and then helped us with the purchase of our new home.   Susan's husband Gary helps run a heating  and cooling company in Lancaster County.  In an email a few days ago, Susan was telling me about a recent medical problem that Gary had experienced and that his blood pressure happened to be 256/144.  She went on to tell me that, "that is normal to them, since Gary suffers from white coat syndrome as I am sure I have mentioned before due to him being shot when he was 12 years old by a neighbor boy and riding alone in the ambulance cause his mom and dad were in another county visiting relatives."  After reading her email I looked at Carol and said, "Listen to this," as I read the email to her.  "Did you ever know that Gary had been shot when he was a kid?" I asked her.  In no time I was emailing Susan back to find out more about her husband's shooting as a child.  Later in the day I had the story which Susan said I could share.  Went like this: "Gary lived down at the covered bridge in Lime Valley.  He had some neighbor boys that he played baseball with who lived on the other side of the creek.  They played baseball on a Saturday or Sunday and had ghost runners and whatnot going on.  Gary was winning and had to go help with the milking of the farmer's cows back the long lane which he did 2 times a day for 50 cents a milking, but first he went to go inside his house and the neighbor boy called out his name and Gary turned to look and that's when the boy shot him with a 22 rifle.  Gary yelled to the neighbor boys, 'I'm shot.'  The neighbor boy was mad that Gary had to go and didn't finish the game and the fact that Gary was winning didn't help matters.  Gary's parents were visiting relatives in another county so the boys' mother drove him to Dr. Witmer's office in Willow Street and Gary could feel the bullet coming out his back.  It entered from the upper right chest.  Gary said when he sat and leaned back he could feel it poking out his back.  He got to the docs and the doc just ripped Gary's shirt off and that's when Gary got really scared and the doc called the ambulance and off they went; lights, sirens, the whole shebang and poor Gary thought he was going to die and was all alone.  By the time he got there his uncle met him, thank goodness.  So, Gary survived the doc said because he was breathing OUT and not IN when he was shot so the bullet missed his lung.  Gary was in a room with a Strasburg boy, James Walk, who was in my class at Strasburg Elementary and had accidentally shot himself with a firecracker I think.  So, at least they sort of knew each other.  So, that's why, to this day and beyond, poor Gary has a serious case of White Coat Syndrome.  He always looks calm on the outside, but on his insides it's nothing but a jangled up mess of wires and nerves and brain waves when he goes to the docs or the hospital, thus the very shocking BP readings."  After reading Susan's story I  quickly emailed her asking what ever happened to the boy who shot Gary.  Her response was:  "Nothing happened to the boy that shot Gary. Not one thing.  No charges pressed. Nothing.   Today you learned about white coat syndrome.  Did you look it up?  It's a true story."  So what is white coat syndrome?  Some people find that their blood pressure is normal at home, but rises slightly when they're at the doctor.  This is known as white coat syndrome or the white coat effect.  The syndrome gets its name from the doctors and medical staff who sometimes wear white coats in a professional setting.  Gary recovered from the shooting, but the experience caused the white coat effect that Gary now suffers from.  And now, any medical problem causes Gary's system to revert back to the time, long ago, when he was shot.  Sadly, it probably will never go away.  There is no medicine or medical procedure that can relieve Gary's anxiety when he must visit a doctor or go to a hospital.  He must suffer with this for the rest of his life.  And the perpetrator has walked free!! All part of kids just being kids I guess.  Think what would have happened today if the same thing would have happened.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Tuesday, 2/20/2018, A Day Best Forgotten!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Carol was attempting to catch our new stray cat, Snickerdoodle, and place him in our cat carrier so we could take him to the vet to be neutered.  Placed a few treats in the carrier and after the cat was half way in to eat them, she shoved him the rest of the way in and began to close the door.  But, he was too quick for her and escaped.  She was so upset since it meant another call to the vet to tell her we wouldn't be bringing Snickerdoodle today.  After she placed the call to the vet she walked to the kitchen sink and grabbed her pill container to take her daily meds.  I was in the process of taking mine also and after she dumped the few pills into her hand she stared at it and after a few seconds said to me, "I don't know what these are."  I looked at her and said, "What do you mean?"  She looked at me with a puzzled look and said once again, "I don't know what to do with these.  I don't know what they are."  Now she had my attention.  Her blank look was not only filled with fear, but was scaring me.  "I can't remember anything."  I immediately grabbed the phone and called our family doctor.  Within a few minutes I was talking to her nurse practitioner Cindy.  After hearing my story she told me to go straight to the emergency room.  Within less than five minutes we were headed to the Heart of Lancaster Hospital in nearby Lititz.  Carol asked what was wrong with her and I had no answer to give to her.  Within ten minutes we were in the Emergency Room registering her to be checked.  The time was just about 8:00 am.  Within a minute or two we were ushered into a room where she was given a gown and told to take her top off and place the gown on, tying it in the back.  A doctor entered and after talking to her for perhaps two minutes, ushered us to a larger room and ordered the stroke staff to begin their duties.  Test after test was administered and within half an hour the doctor returned and said we were going to face a TV screen and talk with a doctor from Hershey Medical Center in nearby Hershey, Pennsylvania.  Now we were both scared.  The young female doctor appeared on the screen and asked me to get into the picture and began to tell both of us what had happened to Carol.  She said Carol had not suffered a stroke as the medical staff at the hospital had suspected, but due to all the circumstances and test results, Carol was being diagnosed as having Transient Global Amnesia.  Wow, I could see the look on Carol face and knew she was scared.  She was squeezing my hand as we listened to the doctor describe what to expect with that diagnosis.  First, there is very little known about the neurological condition she suddenly had and there was no sure reason she got the condition.  She told us there were three reasons that can trigger the condition: (1) A blow to the head, (2) A very stressful occurrence and (3) no known reason.  After I told the doctor about Carol's attempt to catch the cat she wasn't sure if that could have been the trigger that set off the amnesia.  She did tell us that those over 50 are more apt to get the condition as well as those that get frequent migraine headaches.  She also said that since the cause is not really known, there is no standard approach to make sure you don't get it and it is more than likely that she will never get it again.  She said that Carol's condition would last between 12 to 24 hours and her memory would gradually return.  Even though Transient Global Amnesia has no direct complications, it can cause emotional distress.  Shortly she wished Carol well and we ended our Facetime session.  After a few more tests I was told that Carol will be observed by the staff and that she will have to remain overnight.  Soon Carol was taken to a private room on the second floor of the hospital with me in tow.  After she was made comfortable we were left to ourselves.  Only then did it hit both of us what had happened to her.  She had quickly forgotten the interview with the Hershey doctor and was beginning to wonder why she was in a bed on the second floor.  The more I tried to tell her what had happened to her, the more she became scared.  Tears began to flow from her eyes which in turn caused the same result from me.  She would ask me if she had a stroke and when I told her she did not have a stroke, she would ask how she got the condition.  After telling her the doctors were not sure, she would ask once again if she had had a stroke and the cycle would repeat over and over again.  During the day a series of different medical staff stopped to check her vitals and reflexes and ask her questions.  All questions dealing with her past were answered quickly and accurately, but anything related to today drew a blank.  She then saw the board on the wall in front of her and after seeing that it was Tuesday she said, "What happened to Monday?  This is really freaking me out!"  And then the tears would flow again.  It was a rough day for her to say the least.  I left about 6:00 pm to go home and feed the cat and eat something and when I returned about 7:30 pm I noticed the biggest difference in her face.  She was coming back to life.  I had planned to stay the night, but she told me to go home and get some sleep.  The next morning she was just about back to normal.  She said, "I thought this only happened on soap operas." It took quite a few hours before we were allowed to leave, but we made it home.  Two long days for both of us, but one day I will never forget.  As for Carol, it is probably best she will never remember anything at all about that day.  Might only cause her more pain.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

The "Mac & Cheese Ala Carol " Story

It was an ordinary day.  Watching my wife make one of my favorite meals.  She has been making it since our three children have been able to eat whole food.  That goes back over 40 years.  The dish is mac and cheese with spam.  Now before you turn up your nose, you have to see exactly how it is made.  She found a similar recipe in a Campbell's Soup Recipe Book years ago.  The recipe really was called Mac & Cheese with Ham, but being that I was a teacher and Carol was a stay-at-home mom, every penny counted, thus the mac and cheese with spam.  Follow along with my photos and Carol's instructions and you too can enjoy one tasty, inexpensive meal.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Cut a 12 oz. can of Spam into small pieces and place in a frying pan.

Frying pan with two tablespoons of butter and Spam on medium-low heat.

Cut medium onion into small pieces and place in pan with Spam and butter.

Add a can of Cream of Mushroom soup.

Add one soup can of milk to the mixture in the pan. 

Heat on medium-low until mixture bubbles.

Fill a sauce pan with water and place a cup and a half of macaroni in it and cook according to box directions.

While the macaroni is cooking, add 8 oz. of Extra-sharp cheddar cheese to the spam mixture and stir in until it softens.

Spray a 2 1/2 quart dish.

When macaroni is ready, pour it into the frying pan mixture and stir.

Place the mixture into the dish and place in oven for 30 minutes at 350 degrees or until it bubbles.

Now...for the ala Carol part of the recipe.  While the dish is in the oven, prepare two 15 oz. cans of stewed tomatoes.  Here Carol is breaking the tomatoes into smaller pieces.  Heat on medium-low to a low boil.

Add 1 cup sugar to the tomatoes and stir.

Prepare a thick mixture of water and 1/4 cup Wondra flour plus a pinch of salt.  Stir that mixture into the tomatoes.

Toast 2 pieces of bread, cut into pieces and add to the mixture.

Stir mixture as it heats.

Remove Mac & Cheese with Spam from oven and prepare for serving.  

This is my evening meal.  One of my favorite comfort foods, mac & cheese with Spam with stewed tomatoes on top.  Naturally have to have a big serving of applesauce to go with it.  Dish is known as Mac & Cheese Ala Carol.  Delicious!!

The "A Great Educator" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Cleaning the shelves of my office when I came across a few Lancaster County Historical Society Journals that I had purchased a few years ago at a book sale held at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Two of the three Journals had stories about renowned educator James Pyle Wickersham who has a building named after him at Millersville University where I matriculated over 50 years ago.  Wickersham Hall was built in 1938 and was the principal classroom building for a number of years.  I can remember at least four courses that I had in the building during my years at what at the time was called Millersville State Teachers College.  

James Pyle Wickersham

Never thought much about the name of the building until I read about Mr. Wickersham in the Journals.  His story is amazing to say the least.  He was born into a Quaker farm family on March 5, 1825 in nearby Chester County.  During his childhood he loved school and at the age of 12 left home to seek a life in education.  At first he wanted to study law, but his Quaker grandfather disapproved of that so he decided to become a teacher.  He began his studies at Unionville Academy.  His entire  education consisted of classes in mathematics, natural science, history, English, Latin and French.  At the age of 17 he became an instructor at a rural common school in Chester County.  At the age of 20 he was asked to be the principal of the newly organized Marietta Academy.  For nine years he was both an administrator and teacher at the Academy.  In 1853 he helped to organize a group that became the Pennsylvania State Teachers Association.  Then, in 1854, at the age of 29, he was asked to be the first Lancaster County Superintendent of Schools.  The following year he was asked to hold a summer school for teachers to improve educators' proficiency.  Those teachers realized that they were deficient in many areas and asked if there were a school in Pennsylvania where they might enroll for professional studies.  

A very early painting of Millersville Normal School.

Thus, it was decided that Wickersham should establish a Normal Institute.  The board of trustees at the Millersville Academy proposed that Wickersham could use their school building in the summer months free of charge.  The results were so good that Wickersham and others asked for a permanent institution.  The trustees at Millersville Academy offered their school and Lancaster County Normal School opened in 1855.  The following year Wickersham resigned his position as Lancaster County Superintendent and became principal of the new Normal School.  Not only was he an administrator at the school, but taught science and the art of teaching.  

A postcard showing the oldest teacher-training school in the
state of Pennsylvania. It opened in 1854 at Millersville Academy
and eventually was made the first State Normal School in 1859.
It became a State Teachers College in 1927.  It now is a University.

The Governor of Pennsylvania eventually asked him to become Superin- tendent of Common Schools. It was under Wickersham that graded schools were developed as well as making larger school districts with each having a Superintendent.  He also set higher standards for those who taught in those schools.  For fourteen years he worked on perfecting the educational system of Pennsylvania's schools.  James Pyle Wickersham went from a young farm boy to one of the most influential educators in the United States.  He died on March 25, 1891.  I was lucky enough to be able to attend one of those Normal Schools and sit in classes in a building named after J.P. Wichersham.  Perhaps even in a classroom in which he at one time taught.  What an honor!  I only hope it made me a better person and teacher so I too could educate the children of Pennsylvania.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "What Lancastrians Say And Think About Their City: Part II" Story

It was an ordinary day.  I was recently visiting one of my favorite Facebook pages and thought you might be interested in seeing what those of us who live in Lancaster, and have for most of our lives, post to Facebook.  The page is titled "Lancaster PA in photos, Video, Etc."  Yesterday I posted over a dozen of photographs, advertisements and post cards from the page and today will give you more of an idea as to what Lancasterians post to the page.  Hope you get a better idea of what Lancaster is about and has been throughout the history of the city known as the Red Rose City. Remember to click on the images to enlarge them. The comments I have added are from the people that posted the photos except where indicated.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The person who entered this poster added no comment to it.  I thought it was so interesting that I added to my post for today.  Every year the food merchants in Lancaster featured a trip to Atlantic City which they called  "The Grocer's Picnic."  This poster tells of another excursion that is offered by the Pennsylvania Railroad to Atlantic City.  Dated August 3, 1882.  The fare from Lancaster is $3.00.  A bargain rate you may think, but for 1882 I believe it may have been rather high.  The first stop was in Marietta, PA at 5:05 am with arrival sometime after 7.00 am in Atlantic City, New Jersey. 

This rather interesting billboard touts the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania which was slightly over 5 miles from the billboard.

LDub comment: Carol and I bought our first car together at this building which today is a funeral home.  The car was a Pontiac Firebird.  A note added to the post said...My father used to tell me that a bad fire consumed the upper floors of this building in the 1930s.  I remember it as a garage or car dealership in the 1950s and there was a ramp to the rear where cars could drive up to the second floor.  This is on the corner of West Orange and North Pine Streets.  I believe it was designed by noted Lancaster architect C. Emlen Urban.  Notice the really neat street light in the upper right.

When they had their factory on the Old Philly Pike they offered the best self-guided tour for free!  My kids used to love going there and seeing the pretzels being made!

This is an FF-2 LOCOMOTIVE which was used in helper service out of Columbia eastward on the Low Grade or the Main Line via the Columbia Branch to Parksburg.  4 of this type locomotive were based at Thorndale and 5 in Columbia. They came to the PRR and purchased it in 1957 from the Great Northern Railroad.  They used the same catenary voltage the Pennsy did. However, these were motor/generator locomotives and because of this, both pantographs had to be raised when operating. These units were numbered 1 through 9, the lowest numbered locomotives on the PRR.

Watt & Shand Christmas 1945.  The Lancaster that was...history that is only left in the pictures someone took the time to take. Thank You...  LDub reply:  Watt & Shand was one of four major department stores in the city of Lancaster, PA.  This building was to me the greatest of them all.

This too had no caption with it.  Miesse Candy Company started in 1875 on Chestnut Street in downtown Lancaster.  I have written a few stories about the candy company, but never saw this advertisement until a few days ago.

That device was also known as the cow catcher, because when we rode the trolley to Rocky Springs Park in the rural areas cows would wander on the tracks and it would keep them from being run over.

The structure in the foreground is not a trolley. Looks like is says on it "Ebby's Diner".  It is facing Chestnut Street in this picture. The two trolleys in the background are on Queen Street, in front of the Hotel Buchanon. I watched them tear down the Brunswick in 1967, and subsequently the Buchanon in 1972.

This is the covered bridge on South Duke Street at the southern border of the city of Lancaster.

LDub comment:  The bridge in the background connects the towns of Columbia, which is located in Lancaster County, and Wrightsville, which is in York County.  

No ice is safe ice on the river. Let's be careful out there.  The photo is believed to be circa 1936.

This is the Harvey Williams Bicycle Shop at 620-628 W. Orange Street in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  It was known as Lancaster's favorite bike and motorcycle shop.  Marie said, "My Grandad bought my first bike there in 1953! Sweet memories!"  Joe said, "My Dad got my Schwinn Apple Krate there for my Christmas present probably 1970!  One Badass bike!"

Sign inside the Rendezvous Steak Shop.  This picture was taken about three years ago. The sign hung near the grill.  I love this sign. But, what if I wanted a grilled cheese, soup and some tea? 😥 (And what was a "plain" sandwich? Did it have Amish connections?)

This post card is Lancaster Theological Seminary. It was mailed in 1906. It's hard to imagine that the land surrounding it could be so empty.

LDub comment:  This looks to be the North Water and West Orange Street intersection in downtown Lancaster.  The date I couldn't determine, but certainly at least 150 or more years ago.  Poster's comment:  Recently while looking for an old photo for my daughter, I came across a stack of Post Cards I bought over the years. Most of these are from the earlier part of the last century leading up to the middle. I'll post a new one every couple of days for y'all to talk and reminisce about. When there is one that was actually postally used, or has an interesting caption, such as this first one, I'll post both sides.

Here's a linen post card of the airport. Judging by the airplanes, I'd say the picture was painted shortly after it's opening. There wasn't a caption and it was never used postally, so only the face on this one.  Lancaster Municipal Airport was dedicated on August 17, 1935, and was considered one of the finest in the East. 

LDub comment:  This photo shows the intersection of North Queen and East/West Chestnut Streets in downtown Lancaster, PA.  The building to the left was Lancaster's best hotel in the city which was demolished in 1967 to make way for a terrible monstrous cement jungle.