The "Reasons To Love Lancaster County" Story

Magazine section of our local newspaper.

It was an ordinary day.  Carol had just said to me, "Marg loved your story that was in the newspaper about the train station."  I looked at her puzzled and said, "What story might that be?"  She talked a few more seconds to Marg on the phone and said, "The story you wrote about the train station."  "Where did she see that?" I asked her.  More time on the phone and then, "They get part of their Sunday News on Saturday evening and they just finished looked at the magazine section of the paper."  Ah, now I know what she's talking about.  A few weeks ago the readers of the LNP Sunday News were asked to submit stories telling "The Reasons to Love Lancaster County Right Now."  A few years ago I wrote a story for this blog about my childhood visits with my friend Jere to the Lancaster Train Station which was a couple hundred yards from my house on North Queen Street in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  

Lancaster's first train station in downtown Lancaster.

It was Lancaster's second train station, the first having been located in downtown Lancaster which eventually was demolished and moved about a mile to the north of the city.  Throughout my childhood the train station was part of my life.  Daily visits during the summer months and trips to the next door Railway Express, where my friend Jere's dad worked, were part of my life.  

1929 train station a half-block from my house.

Brings back happy memories every time I think about my childhood.  Naturally had to be a reason to love Lancaster.  So, I wrote a story detailing our trips to slide down the brass railing multiple times during the day, trips along the couple of platforms they had at the time, rides on the elevators with workers at the station, daily stops at the soda fountain to read comic books and have a cherry coke or a visit to see Jere's dad and pop open a bottle of Cole in the refrigerated unit with a can opener and drink the Coke with a straw.  Neighborhood games of  baseball were a regular routine during hot summer months on the lawn outside the station while games of football on the same lawn filled the cooler fall months.  

My story titled "Lancaster Amtrak Station."

These were all part of my story I typed on my trusty MacBook Air and emailed to the magazine section editor of the newspaper.  I also wrote a few Haiku poems and attached them to the email, hoping if they didn't publish my story they would at least publish one of my poems.  Well, when I retrieved the Sunday Newspaper from my driveway, I hustled in the house to open the paper and find the magazine section.  Their it was in the center of the section, titled Lancaster Amtrak Station.  

Jere's HO recreation of Lancaster's Train Station.

I began to read what I had written and when I finished I thought, I didn't write this...did I?  When my wife read it she said she liked it, but why didn't I write about this and that.  "But, I did,"  I told her.  "They just didn't include it.  It's like they rewrote my story." Carol replied, "Didn't you see the statement that said they would condense and alter stories if needed for space and content?"  Geeze, I must have missed that.  I guess that's why they call some people editors.  Oh well, the story was OK, but what I wrote was great...and considerably longer!  At least to me it was.  Wonder what they might do to my poems I wrote.  Can hardly wait to see.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - click on images to enlarge and you may be able to read my story