The "Lancaster County's Historical Covered Bridges: Part I" Story

Neff's Mill Covered Bridge in Lancaster, County, PA

It was an ordinary day.  Walking across Neff's Mill Bridge, one of the 29 covered bridges that dot the landscape in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  The bridge is the oldest covered bridge in the county and carries traffic of all sorts across the Pequea Creek between West Lampeter and Strasburg townships.  It was constructed in 1824 and reconstructed in 1875.  Lancaster County owns and maintains the bridge which is known as the Pequea #7 Bridge.  It was referred to as a single span, wooden, double Burr arch trusses design with the addition of steel hanger rods.  The deck is made from oak planks and it is painted red with both approaches to it in the traditional white color.  It is supposedly the narrowest covered bridge in the county, being 11 feet, 7 inches wide and 11 feet high.  About three years ago I wrote a few stories on the covered bridges of Lancaster County and got several interesting comments from readers.  

This is Landis Mill Bridge near Park City Center.
It illustrates the use of Kingpost Truss construction.

Seems that quite a few people have never had the unusual chance to drive their vehicle across a wooden, covered bridge.  We that live in Lancaster County, Pennsyl- vania just take it for granted being that we have 29 of them in the county.  In the mid-1800s there were about 12,000 such bridges in the United States with close to 1,500 in Pennsylvania and 130 in Lancaster County.  That number has been greatly reduced nationwide due to various reasons.  

This is the Hunsicker Bridge in Manheim Township.
It illustrates the use of Burr Truss construction.

All of Lancaster's covered bridges are red except for Keller's Mill Bridge which is totally white in color.  All bridges are built using the Burr arch truss construction technique except for the Landis Mill bridge which is located a few hundred feet from Lancaster's Park City Shopping Center.  That particular bridge uses what is known as kingpost construction.  Mr. Elias McMellen takes credit for building many of the bridges in the county having built 12 of them, with only seven still standing.  Of the 29 that still remain, six no longer allow vehicle traffic to cross over them.  For those who have never traversed a wooden covered bridge, they are one lane wide, thus you must wait for visible traffic facing you on the bridge to exit before you attempt to enter.  If there are other cars in front of you, going the same direction over the bridge, it is best if you wait until the car in front of you is almost across the bridge before you follow them through the bridge.  The wooden bridges are sturdy, but may not be able to hold numerous cars at the same time.  

Willow's Bridge Covered Bridge in Lancaster County, 

Neff's Mill Bridge may be the oldest covered bridge in the county, but the newest covered bridge bridge is the Willow's Hill covered bridge constructed by the owner of Lancaster's Amish Farm & House tourist attraction in 1962.  It is known as The Willow's Bridge and was built from the remains of two previously closed wooden covered bridges.  Tomorrow I will take you along with me as I explore one of the bridges that was disassembled a few years ago and re-assembled at a different location.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

Burr Truss 
One of the earliest and most prominent bridge builders in our country was Theodore Burr from Torringford, Connecticut.  His truss design soon became one of the more frequently used systems. The Burr arch truss, as the design became known, used two long arches, resting on the abutments on either end, that typically sandwiched a multiple kingpost structure.

Kingpost Truss
The oldest truss design used in bridge construction, initially used under the roadway rather than above. It consists of a stringer, a Kingpost (vertical beam), and two diagonals and is used primarily for the short spans of approximately twenty to thirty feet.     

The "Free At Last! Story

It was an ordinary day.  Shopping at the Stauffers' of Kissel Hill grocery store in Lititz, Pennsylvania.  Carol and I enjoy shopping at this local grocery store since they prepackage many homemade items such as quiche, baked oatmeal, apple dumplings, desserts, freshly made salads and a large variety of other speciality items.  Today we visited the store with the intent of buying a few flank steaks since our family will visit with us this coming Labor Day weekend and they love the way Carol marinates the steaks.  Found a few large steaks and decided to head to the candy department for a package of milk chocolate non-pareils.  Turned down the wrong aisle and before long were staring at shelf after shelf of cookies.  As I checked out a few varieties I looked a bit higher on the shelf and saw the brightly colored boxes of Nabisco's Barnum's Animal Crackers.  Looked at them and suddenly realized something was different about them.  It was in a new package.  Why would they change the package after years and years of the same one?  We bought our children and grandchildren boxes of Animal Crackers for their Christmas stockings for years.  And, now they are different.  The new boxes no longer look the same.  

The old boxes of Animal Crackers with bars on the box.

When I got home I checked out a box of the crackers we had in our pantry and realized the box no longer looks like a circus wagon car with wheels on it and bars.  Naturally had to check it out online and realized that the bars on the wagon have been removed after 116 years of production because of the pressure from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.  The new box is the same bright colors, but with the wild animals no longer behind the bars that held them for years.  Wasn't long ago that the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus ceased operating with wild animals and then finally took down the tents for good after a 146-year run.  

Boxes as they appeared on the shelf oday.

This new design for the boxes reflects the same reasoning of allowing wild animals to be in the wild.  I'm sure that some may not notice the change in the boxes, but I saw it as soon as I saw them.  I'm sure the cookies taste the same and that is what my children and grandchildren enjoyed.  Seems the Humane Society of the United States is rejoicing over the new look on the Nabisco boxes.  Nabisco is hoping that when children open the boxes they will line them up, match them up with the names on the box and learn about them and then decapitate them!  Hey, my only complaint is that you can't dunk them in milk, since they don't absorb the liquid.  Maybe if I could get a group together to complain about that, they would change them for me.  I rather doubt it!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Was It The Chicken Marsala? Story

It was an ordinary day.  Looking at a few scrapbooks I have made over the past 20 years which document vacations Carol and I have taken with friends as well as by ourselves.  As we sat and reminisced about this vacation and that vacation we came upon a trip we had taken in 2014 to Hawaii with friends Jere and Just Sue.  One of the islands we visited at that time was Maui.  While in Maui we stayed along the Ka'anapali Beach coastline at the Ka'anapali Beach Resort which has an address in Lahania, Maui.  At the time it was our third trip to the resort and we talked about the many things we did during our trip that year.  One memory was a visit to a nearby restaurant known as The Paradise Grill which is about a mile from the Resort where we were staying.  

Photograph of the Paradise Grill in Maui, Hawaii.

The grill sat next to a beautiful golf course which gave the restaurant a great backdrop for the open-air second floor.  Carol asked me if I remember the experience we had the evening we visited for our evening meal.  It took some time to be seated, but when we did obtain seats, our friends and Carol and I had a great view of the golf course as the sun was setting in the western sky.  Before long the waitress had brought our drinks and was taking our orders for the evening.  Jere, Sue and I all placed orders with no problem, but when Carol told the waitress she wanted the Chicken Marsala, the waitress looked at her and asked "Do you know what that tastes like?"  Carol replied "Yes."  The waitress matter-of-factly said, "Well, it won't taste like here, because they don't know how to make it."  We all burst out laughing...except the waitress who was dead serious.  Then it struck Carol that the waitress was just trying to help her, so she changed her order to spaghetti and meatballs.  Wow, we wondered how many other remarks she must make to customers of the restaurant where she is employed.  Our meals arrived and we enjoyed our time together, not remembering one think that we ate, except for the spaghetti and meatballs that Carol had.  Carol and I haven't been back to Hawaii since that experience, but if we ever make another visit to Maui and the Ka'anapali, we will certainly never eat at the Paradise Grill.  As I was writing this story I "Googled" the website for the restaurant and discovered a few very interesting facts.  First, it seems that in late December of 2016, three local residents were charged with first-degree assault of a man who was seriously injured at the Paradise Grill.  As I read more I realized that the bar at the restaurant where the assault took place was known for problems.  I then began to read recent reviews of the place and found a rather large amount of negative responses with comments like:  (1) Went there on a Saturday night and the service was horrible; (2) Three people in our group ordered salads and they came after 10 minutes and told us they had no lettuce tonight; (3) One of the employees brought her dog into the restaurant and into the kitchen; (4) We went into the bar yesterday to catch the NHL Ducks play in the Stanley Cup.  We ordered pizza and were told the pizza oven was broken.   When we asked to have the Ducks game on the TV, the bartender said he wanted to watch the SF Giants game instead;  (5) As we were eating, all of a sudden an elderly lady at another table stood up and ran toward our table screaming she had just seen a rat.  An employee managed to put his foot on its tail and removed it in a kitchen pot;  (6) Food was mediocre, drinks just OK, bathrooms deplorable, UFC fight was on TV and all the staff did was watch it, service awful, total dive and being that this place is at the entrance to the Ka'anapali strip I'm surprised this restaurant is still here.  Now, there were plenty of positive remarks, but what hit me as I read on was:  "This restaurant - paradise grill - is permanently closed, Maui!  Wow!  Could it have been the service, patrons, staff...or maybe it really was the Chicken Marsala that was made in the pot that had been used to capture the rat!!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Celebrating The 'Great Commoner' - The Man" Story

An old etching of Steven's home on South Duke Street in Lancaster, PA

It was an ordinary day.  Sunday, August 12, the day after the memorial service and celebration observing the 150th anniversary of the death of Thaddeus Stevens.  The newspapers were full of articles telling about the service and celebration.  To go along with the usual articles were a few stories listing things the common person might not know about Stevens, a few trivia facts about him and a few other stories telling about Stevens, the master of the political put-down.  Thought I would share with you some of the more unusual things that you normally might not associate with a famous politician.  First a few short stories about being a master of put-down...

Thaddeus Stevens on the House of Representatives floor.

• One of Ste- ven's mea- sures that he had pre- sen- ted in the state legis- lature in the 1830s was spoken against by an opponent.  Stevens defended the legislation and ignored his opponent...at first.  As he was about to take his seat he stared at this opponent while saying, "Mr. Speaker, it will not be expected of me to notice the thing which has crawled into this House and adheres to one of the seats by it own slime."
• After becoming a Republican, Stevens was forever loyal to the party.  Having arrived late for a meeting one day at the U.S. House of Representatives, the Committee on Elections was trying to decide whether a Democrat or Republican should take a contested seat.  A colleague told Stevens that they are both damned scoundrels.  To that he said, "Well, which one is the Republican damned scoundrel?  I want to go for him!"
• Thaddeus did not like all Republicans and he thought poorly of fellow Lancastrian Simon Cameron.  He told President Lincoln to watch out for Cameron after Lincoln had made him Secretary of War.  Lincoln asked him, "Do you mean to say you think Cameron would steal?"  Stevens replied, "No, I don't think he would steal a red-hot stove."  Cameron heard about the remark and demanded a retraction.  Stevens went to Lincoln and offered this retraction: "I believe I told you he would not steal a red-hot stove.  I will now take that back."
• Thaddeus Stevens did not care at all for President Andrew Johnson's Southern-coddling Re-construction policy.  When a friend defended Johnson by pointing out that he was a self-made man, Stevens came back at him with, "I never thought of it that way, but it does relieve God Almighty of a heavy responsibility!"

A few facts about the "Great Commoner" are...

• Stevens was involved in the founding of two colleges.  The first being Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in Lancaster, PA and the other Gettysburg College.  In his will for the school in Lancaster he left $50,000 for a school for indigent orphans, open to students of all colors and creeds.  Both school still exist today.
• Stevens was instrumental in the creation of paper money, since there was no federal paper money before the Civil War.
• Stevens was responsible for the first federal income tax, during the Civil War.
•  

  

  Stevens Tech in Lancaster, PA

  Stevens was a champion of free public education to all citizens of Pennsylvania.  He believed that education was the one thing that was going to allow anyone to pull themselves up beyond their making.  His father left when he was 12.  His mother championed the education of he and his siblings.  He was always quick to give her credit for his success due to her role in his education.  When he was in the Pennsylvania State House, he gave a speech that was so powerful that the House actually approved a stronger public education bill which was also approved by the Senate.  One line from the speech read: "Build not your monuments of brass or marble, but make them of everliving mind."
• He was an extremely funny guy.  He was portrayed in the Steven Spielberg film "Lincoln" by Tommy Lee Jones.  At one point an admirer asked him for a lock of his hair. Being bald from alopecia, he handed her his entire wig.
• He was an extremely charitable person.  One day he passed a sheriff's sale for a widow when he got out of this carriage and bought the property and gave it to the widow so she could live there.  

And, lastly a few bits of trivia...

• Stevens was an advocate for woman's rights.  In 1858 there was a debate in Lancaster's Fulton Hall on an issue of whether women should be able to hold public-service jobs.  Stevens supported granting women the right to vote.  This was more than 60 years before that became reality.  
• Thaddeus was born with a club foot.  Due to this he was marginalized, ostracized, and bullied.  It was the primary reason he was such a champion of the oppressed.  A true hero to many!

My Steven's Bobblehead!

Now, I realize that I am from Lancaster, Pennsylvania which is where Thaddeus Stevens is buried, but I believe I would have been a fan of his no matter where he had been born or died.  I am one of those who believe him to be a hero of our country.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Celebrating The 'Great Commoner' - The Celebration" Story

Click on photos to enlarge.

It was an ordinary day.  Recently celebrated the 150 anniversary of the death of one of Lancaster, Pennsylvania's most famous politicians, Thaddeus Stevens.  The more I read and hear about this gentleman, the more I like him.  So glad my wife and I named our third child, a Bi-Centennial addition, Paul Thadeus after both my father and Lancaster's political hero.  It was back in August of 1868 that he died in Washington, D.C. and laid in state in the Capitol Rotunda for two days before being returned to Lancaster to be buried in the Shreiner-Concord Cemetery on the corner of Mulberry and Chestnut Streets in downtown Lancaster.  He was only the third person ever to have had his body lay in state at the Capitol.  He had picked this cemetery since it was integrated and integration was key to Stevens, a seven-term congressman who was the driving force behind the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments which were known as the Civil War Amendments and were designed to ensure the equality for recently emancipated slaves.  

The tombstone of Thaddeus Stevens, the "Great Commoner".

At a recent ceremony at the cemetery, several local residents spoke about Stevens to the crowd.  One man told of being raised in the segregated South and said he only learned of Stevens' role in history after moving to Lancaster and stumbling upon his tomb in the cemetery and reading the inscription explaining why he chose to be buried there.  A life-long Lancastrian told of writing his senior thesis on Stevens and concluded that "The fight is not done."  

His home on South Queen Street.

He was known to all as the "Great Commoner" for his commitment to abolishing prejudice based on race and other factors.  Stevens also was a powerful advocate of free pubic education.  Over 20,000 people, about half being African-Americans, attended his funeral in 1868 with his fame rivaling that of Abraham Lincoln.   His body was laid in state at his South Queen Street residence where "great numbers of citizens filed past."  The streets around the residence were packed for days.  The recent celebration at the Shreiner-Concord Cemetery had a color guard of Civil War re-enactors from the 53rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry Co. on hand as well as a musician who performed his song, "Ballad of Thaddeus Stevens" and a local theatre professor who portrayed Stevens in a short musical and dramatic presentation to illuminate his life and work.  

State historical plaque telling of Thaddeus Stevens.

Copies of a commem- orative book and coin celebrating the 14th Amendment were handed out to all in attendance.  I have visited the cemetery many times and have shared photos and stories before about Thaddeus Stevens, but I was so sorry to miss the recent celebration.  It is truly moving to stand silent and alone before his tomb and picture in your mind what this wonderful human being must have been like.  Tomorrow I will complete my story with a few bits of trivia and stories telling how he was a master of political put-down.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

The "On Growing Old: The 70s" Story

It was an ordinary day.  And, you may misconstrue my title to be something other than what I had intended.   My intent is to tell you what you may expect as you travel along the path of life and come upon your seventies.  I am just about half-way through and I wish I had had some help navigating the first-half, so maybe my experience will be of help to you.  My first bit of wisdom is to make sure you include your family, whether it be big or small, in your life.  At times it does get tough when they live miles away, but your cell phone can correct that.  Physical meetings are always nice, but talking to family members are just as important, even though you may not be in the same location as them.  Same goes for friends!  Calls and visits are always a good way to stay in touch.  It has been almost 20 years since I retired from teaching, but I still stay in contact with many of my friends from Manheim Township School District.  I still enjoy getting up in the morning and having something I need to do that day.  I still work a few part-time jobs that fill my weekdays, but I do try to keep my weekends for myself and wife.  My next bit of advice is to make sure you stay up to date with all your medical tests.  I make sure I see my dentist at least once a year.  Many times it is just a good cleaning I need while other times he may find a crack in an old tooth that needs repair.  Then there are the trips to the urologist, dermatologist, optometrist, gastroenterologist and even the family doctor.  We all have problems with our skin as we age and its best to have it checked on a regular basis.  Many of us also have trouble with the plumbing so that's another trip to the doctors.  I had worn glasses since I was 12 years old, but recently had a cataract repaired and now no longer need glasses.  But, I still see my eye doctor on a yearly basis to make sure my eyesight is still OK.  Many of my friends are struggling with their eyesight.  By your 70s you need to make yearly or even bi-yearly visits to your eye doctor to try and help keep your eyesight in good health.  And, please don't forget to have a colonoscopy.  I had one this last year and the doctor found colon cancer which was removed.  I kept putting it off and off and finally decided I didn't want to die from colon cancer.  You can't imagine how glad I was when I had two more tests and was told I was cancer free.  In Lancaster, Pennsylvania the largest employer in the county is Lancaster General/Penn Health.  We have a very large delegation of seniors in Lancaster, and they always seem to be making a visit to the doctor or hospital.  At one time I had a full head of dark hair, but that went down the road close to 25 years ago.  One day my son came to borrow my hair trimmers and I walked out on the back deck with him and told him to cut all my hair off.  His eyes were bigger than I can ever remember.  We both shaved our heads that day.  What a way to bond.  So, is hair important to me...nah!  I realize I may be in the minority here, but it sure is easier to comb.  As far as hair color, I know many just can't take the fact that they are aging and will pay to keep color in their hair.  That's OK with me, but I don't have too many friends that don't have gray hair by now.  For me, my biggest problem with being in my 70s is that I don't remember I'm in my 70s...until it is too late.  I still climb the ladder, use the guillotine paper cutter in my garage, mow my grass, make repairs to the house, etc.  Some days I need a few pills to get me through it, but I don't want to admit I am too old for some things.  When I coached baseball for nearly 20 years I would throw an hour of batting practice a few times a week.  A few weeks ago I picked up a baseball that had been hit to me at my grandson's ball game and realized there was no way I could throw the thing back...overhand.  So, my better judgment told me to throw it underhand.  Felt like a sissy, but my arm was fine.  My final offering for those in their 70s is try and stay busy maybe with visits to your family or friends or to a museum or movie.  Loneliness can be a killer I have seen.  My blog, which is almost 9 years old now, has been a constant help in keeping me busy and exploring.  My wife and I are lucky to still be traveling and I won't give that up until I absolutely have to.  Our travels with friends is priceless and our lonely strolls along the beaches of the world are irreplaceable.  My wife is my partner in marriage, supporter in my medical travails and my true hero in life.  She has made my 70s fun and entertaining.  Hopefully I have done likewise for her.  One more thing I have to offer:  try a pet if you don't have one.  I have lived my entire life with pets.  Anything from guinea pigs to snakes to hamsters to cats and dogs.  They are a great companion and take very little care.  Our two strays we now have keep us laughing as well as thankful that we have saved the lives of two helpless kittens a few months ago.  Life will go on, but will you?  Stay healthy, both physically and mentally, and you will enjoy life to its fullest.  I sure am!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

The "Harbinger Of Death?" Story

My photograph taken from the bell-tower of
St. James Church.  Below is a wooden cross
that was carved from a diseased Elm tree.

It was an ordinary day.  Leaning from the bell tower at St. James Episcopal Church in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania taking a photo of the churchyard below me.  I was hoping to take a photo of the cross that had recently been carved from the remains of the huge English Elm tree that had been standing beneath me until a few months ago.  Toward the end of the 1970s Dutch Elm Disease had infested many of the elm trees around the city of Lancaster and before long had arrived at St. James.  Shortly bark beetles had spread the disease to the 100 year old, 90 foot tall elms along the exterior of the property along both Orange and Duke Streets as well as the elms in the churchyard.  I assumed it was the Dutch Elm Disease that killed the trees, but after reading a recent story in the Lancaster Newspaper, I began to wonder.  The story told of a 90-year-old Dutch Elm on the rear lawn of Wheatland, President James Buchanan's Lancaster home, and how it may have met it's recent demise.  Seems a Great Horned Owl had been spotted during daylight hours sitting in the huge tree. Wasn't long after that the tree's leaves turned yellow and died and fell to the ground, the final signal that the elm was about to die.  

One of my altered Polaroid prints done on the rear lawn
of Wheatland with the diseased elm on the left side of photo.

A few local arborists talked about the belief that American Indians have that owls, especially seen during the daytime, sitting in trees are a harbinger of death.  Seems that to most Native American tribes that owls are a symbol of death.  Hearing owls hooting is considered an unlucky omen and they are the subject of numerous "bogeyman" stories told to warn children to stay inside at night or not cry too much, otherwise the owl may carry them away.  Wow!  It then struck me that when I was in the church steeple taking my photograph, during the middle of the day, I spotted a large horned owl sitting nearby me in the dark belfry.  We scared each other until it finally took flight and landed in a nearby tree.  

The scary Great Horned Owl.

Perhaps the owl had been roosting in the elm trees around the city and churchyard, thus causing their deaths.  My guess is that it was the Dutch Elm Disease that had struck them, as well as the recent tree at Wheatland, but owls can be scary and I can see why someone would believe they are associated with death.  But, as I finished reading the newspaper story written by Jack Brubaker, aka "The Scribbler", he told of the concert he had recently attended on the rear lawn of Wheatland, under the old, dying elm, and listening to the musical piece titled 'Noon Witch' by Antonin Dvorak.  He tells that the music follows the story of a woman who threatens her son with a call to the 'Noon Witch' if he doesn't behave.  The son misbehaves, the witch arrives and the mother runs away with her son in her arms.  As she runs she faints and falls on her son, smothering the child to death.  So, did the 'Noon Witch'  kill the child or the mother?  Did the horned owl kill the Elm trees or did the Dutch Elm Disease.  You be the judge!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.   

The "Do You Remember These Names From The Past?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading about a few names and photographs from the past that brought back many memories.  

"The Gerber Baby" as seen on baby food products.

One of the names was "The Gerber Baby" whose face was on most all Gerber packaging and in every Gerber advertise- ment.  I can remember buying baby food and seeing the near-perfect face on every glass jar of baby food.  It was in 1928 that Gerber held a contest to find a face for their baby food products.  

The grown-up baby, Ann Turner Cook.

Artist Dorothy Hope Smith entered her charcoal sketch of a young girl by the name of Ann Turner Cook.  She was a tousle-haired, bright-eyed cherub with endearing lips.  The sketch was picked as the winner and Gerber adopted it as its official trademark in 1931.  The name of the child was kept secret until 1978 when her name was released.  It was the artist's neighbor!  Ann Turner Cook eventually became an English teacher as well as a novelist.  Another name from the past is Jenny Joseph.  You probably will not recognize the name until I tell you that it was her image that inspired "The Columbia Picture Woman".  

The artwork by Deas on left and Jenny Jospeh posing for artwork.

The "Torch Lady" was first seen in 1928 when her image appeared at the beginning of films.  The artist of the "Torch Lady" was Michael Deas who created the oil painting which took two months to complete.  He hired Jenny to be his model for the painting which eventually was digitized and animated.  

1914 British poster on left and USA Uncle Sam poster.

One more image that is recog- nizable to just about everyone in the USA is the image known as "Uncle Sam".  The real person who posed for the artwork done by James Montgomery Flagg was Walter Botts.  It was in 1917 that a WWI recruitment poster featured "Uncle Sam".  

Walter Botts as Uncle Sam

Flagg's famous poster was actually based on the iconic, much imitated 1914 British recruitment poster of Lord Kitchener.  Mr. Flagg said he was going to use his own likeness on the poster, but then decided to use his neighbor, Mr. Botts, who was presented with a commendation for service by President Lyndon Johnson in 1969.  And, do you remember the famous KFC Logo photo that featured Colonel Harland David Sanders.  The Colonel was born on the day of my birth, September 9, but 54 years earlier in 1890.  

Colonel Harland David Sanders aka KFC Colonel Sanders

He was an American business- man who was best known for his fast food chain known as Kentucky Fried Chicken.  After being commission- ed as a Kentucky Colonel in 1950 by Governor Lawrence Wetherby, Sanders began to dress the part, growing a goatee and wearing a black frock coat, a string tie and referring to himself as "Colonel".  He later switched to the white suit that he made famous.  He never wore anything else in public for the last 20 years of his life.  He even bleached his mustache and goatee to match his white hair.  

"Leo The Lion"

And, the final name you are sure to remember is Leo the Lion who was a real lion.  Does anyone know that Leo's real name was Jackie?  He was trained by Mel Koontz and was the second lion used for the MGM movie logo.  His roar was heard via a gramophone record during MGM's first sound production of "White Shadows in the South Seas" in 1928.  

Jackie and a frightful Greta Garbo in 1926.  Who wouldn't be afraid?

Jackie appeared in over 100 films including most of the Tarzan films that starred Johnny Weiss- muller.  He was known to have survived several accidents which included two train wrecks, an earthquake and an explosion in the studio and later became known as "Leo the Lucky".  So, how many of the characters I just presented did you know.  Guess it would depend on how old you may be.  For me, I remembered everyone of them, thus my name of "old as dirt" given to me by my grandkids.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

The "One More Look At 'Old Buck'" Story

President James "Old Buck" Buchanan

It was an ordinary day.  Checking out the programs that are scheduled for the next month at Lancasterhistory.org., an historical museum standing next door to United States' President James Buchanan's home known as Wheatland in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.   I found a few interesting programs I may want to visit, but also found a link to a small article written by former board member of Lancasterhistory.org.  Michael J. Birkner who is a professor at Gettysburg College (PA) as well as an editor of two books on President Buchanan's presidency.  If you search my blog you will find quite a few stories I have written about "Old Buck", as many have called President Buchanan, but none delve into Buchanan as does Mr. Birkner.  I was fascinated by some of his cameos on "Old Buck" and decided to do a bit more research on some special aspects of his life.  The following brief stories will give you a more in-depth look at Pennsylvania's only President and maybe a reason why he really isn't our country's worst President as proclaimed by many.

• It was widely known that Buchanan disliked politicians who were anti-slavery, which included his successor, Abraham Lincoln.  But, he was a Union man through and through.  Shortly after Lincoln was voted into office, replacing Buchanan, South Carolina passed an ordinance of secession declaring they no longer wanted to be part of the United States.  Buchanan, even though he wasn't a big supporter of Lincoln, still stepped in and said he would have done the same thing.  He consistently supported Lincoln's determination to preserve the Union including waging a hard war against the slavocracy.  Buchanan never  embraced Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation or his commitment to equality for African-Americans, but he never said a harsh word about Abraham Lincoln personally and was extremely distressed when Lincoln was assassinated.  He always wanted the Union to prosper, even if it meant altering his ideas on slavery.  
• Was Buchanan really a homosexual as many said?  His housemate when he was in the Senate, Sen. William R. King of Alabama, was referred to as Buchanan's supposed "Siamese Twin." But, nothing was ever proved about either one of them.  And, does it really matter?  I can add my two cents and say that what I found about James when he was living in Lancaster and dating a very beautiful girl from the church where I am now a member, could prove most wrong about James.  The fact that she perhaps committed suicide after not being able to date him anymore due to her father's wishes was proof enough for me that he enjoy the opposite sex.
• Finally, James Buchanan actually did some good things as President.  Might not be a long list, but at least he did do some good.  He employed the U.S. Military to keep the international slave trade in check.  He put staunch Unionists in his cabinet in early 1861 to show that secession was unacceptable.  He also was careful not to make any rash moves against the newly formed Confederacy that would enable it to claim to be the injured party and give it higher moral ground for resistance to federal authority.  In his final few months as President, he made sure that the North could not be seen as the aggressor.  Lincoln followed with the same response and it was five weeks after Lincoln's inauguration that Fort Sumter was fired upon.  Luckily for Buchanan, it was not his war.  

So, should he be considered the worst president ever?  Nah!  We have had many bad and much worse since.  In Lancaster we love our famous resident who lived in a beautiful house that I visit often.  If you search hard enough I'm sure you can find good and bad about every president we have every had in our history.  Let's stop picking on "Old Buck"!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Going Home At Last: 60s Scoop" Story

It was an ordinary day.  I have just read one of the most remarkable stories I have found in quite some time.  The story was about a Canadian program known as the "Sixties Scoop" and the effect it had on a young man from Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  First I thought it best if I do some research on the "Sixties Scoop" and what I discovered was heartbreaking as well as unthinkable.  How could a government justify STEALING thousands of native children from their parents to try and make them fit into the society that the government thought was best for them.  And, as I read on and on I realized it had happened before and will more than likely happen again in the future.  I was in high school when the fostering and adopting (stealing) took place and continued into the mid-1980s.  This all happened in Canada when thousands of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit children across Canada were taken from their homes by provincial welfare workers. These children were then fostered or adopted by non-Indigenous families both in Canada and abroad.  It was all part of the residential school system which was a government-sponsored religious boarding system whose purpose was to force Indigenous children to assimilate into Euro-Candian culture.  

This was a 1975 Government of Suskatchewan
adoption poster.  The real names of the two
children circled are Barry and Lionel Hambly.
They were the subject of Red Road, a documentary
on the 60s Scoop.

Close to 150,000 children were taken from their families and forced into physical, emotional and sexual abuse.  This all grew to be known as the 60s Scoop.  It all began when the Indian Act was amended in 1951 and one of the amendments allowed provinces in Canada's jurisdiction to take over the welfare of Indigenous children.  Now, I know, I'm probably older than most reading this, but do you see this didn't happen hundreds of years ago.  I happened in my lifetime.  That's awful, absolutely awful!!  And now money is being thrown about to try and remedy what happened.  No amount of money will EVER fix this.  I just read a story in the Lancaster Newspaper titled "FINDING CLEO".  The story is about a nearby Columbia, Pennsylvania man, Johnny, who was removed from Canada with the remainder of his siblings in the 60s Scoop who finally landed in Lancaster County, Pennslvania.  He at long last has discovered one of his sister's fate through a journalist's podcast.  The journalist, a member of the Okanese First Nation in Canada, Connie Walker, has recently turned her attention to missing and murdered women and girls from the 60s Scoop.  

Johnny's sister Cleo.  The only photograph he had
of her.  Her gravesite was found in New Jersey.

Another of Johnny's sisters read of her work and contacted Connie who in turn told of finding the grave marker of Johnny's younger sister Cleo.  April, a year ago, Connie visited with Johnny in nearby Silver Spring, PA.  She told of finding Cleo's marker in Park View Cemetery in suburban Medford, New Jersey.  It's a small rectangle of granite a few feet from a wrought-iron fence along a residental street.  There's a large shade tree nearby with American flags scattered about.  And, to believe that Johnny's youngest sister was only 100 miles away was almost too much to bear for this bear of a man.  Many of these people who were sold into slavery, and worst, aren't too much younger than me.  To think, if the circumstances may have been slightly different, this story might have been about me and my sibling.  Johnny has now been able to trace at least part of his history back in time.  But, what about the other thousands and thousands of children sold in the 60s Scoop.  It sends chills up and down my spine that something like this happened so close to me and I never knew about it.  It certainly is something I will never forget.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Going Home At Last: Carlisle Indian Industrial School" Story

Foreword:  My stories today and tomorrow may sound very similar to you, yet they happened close to 100 years apart.  Both have ties to the area in the United States where I live.  Both are very distressing.  And, I'm sorry to say, may sound as if they just happened.  That's because something very similar just did happen in the United States.  Children taken away from their parents along our Southern border for no apparent reason other than to try and prove a point that our government can do it if they want.  There are still a few hundred children that will more than likely never be reunited with their families.  How sad!  Can you imagine what it must be like to be one of those children?  I can't.  And, I'm lucky I was never a pawn in the game of politics as these poor children are.  Today's story dates back to 1879 while tomorrow's story dates back to the mid-1950s.  See if one or both sound eerily like what happened in 2018.

I wonder how many of the 186 Indian children's
parents ever knew about their child.

It was an ordinary day.  That is for most except young George Ell who had laid in bed for three weeks, dying from a burst blood vessel in his lungs.  He died on April 7, 1891 at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School and his classmates followed his coffin to the nearby cemetery to see the young Blackfoot child be laid in a grave.  He was known as kind, faithful and true.  A year later his family in Montana was notified!  He was said to have been the 109th Indian child to die and be buried at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, just over an hour drive from my home in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Many more would die after him and be buried next to him at the school designed to "solve" the Indian problem.  Seems our Government, as well as the government of the country to our north, has tried more than once to destroy cultures that they felt were harmful to our country.  Harmful to whom, though?  

Stolen from their parents and brought to Carlisle!

 His ashes were recently returned to his family.  Now, more bodies are being exhumed and returned to their relatives, all due to the recent furor over our current President's policies.  Indian activists say the trauma being inflicted on current families along the southern border mirror what they had to endure years and years ago.  I have known Carlisle for years as the home of our country's Army War College as well as the home of the Annual Carlisle Corvette Show in August.  

Rows of graves, many marked "Unknown".

I have driven in caravans with my '87 Vette past the War College, but until a few days ago didn't realize the horror and pain that happened at the place to the Indian population that roamed our nation before we arrived and tried to annihilate them.  Now there are privacy fences around the cemetery.  For the past two months remains have been exhumed so they can be returned to their rightful homes.  

The Carlisle School was supposed to be one of the best Indian Schools where Native Americans were snatched from their families so they could have the "Wildness" in them removed.  Thousand of boys and girls as young as 4 years old were taken by police to various schools across our country.  Wow!  Finally, Mr. Irvin Dale Ell, a distant relative of young George Ell, who recently claimed the remains of George from Carlisle said, "We're taking this child.  All the hurt will be over once we bury him at home."  For me, it just might be starting.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Down On The Farm With P. Diddy" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Early 1950s and I'm sitting on the front porch with my mom and brother watching all the people walk past our home on N. Queen Street, which was a block from the train station.  Family after family walked past the porch toward parking spaces to the south of our home.  Many families, almost all white, were ushering new family members, mostly black, toward their cars and trucks.  Happened every year as soon as school ended.  Lancaster, Pennsylvania was, and still is, a safe haven for children from New York City to visit for a few weeks to months each summer and escape the heat and crime of the inner city.  Most stayed on farms which in Lancaster County meant predominantly Amish and Old Order Mennonites.  They traditionally opened their large family farms to help host children as part of what was known as the Fresh Air Fund.  In 1877 the fund was established to allow children living in disadvantaged communities a chance to get away from hot, noisy city streets and enjoy free summer experiences in the country.  Each year thousands of children visit volunteer families in 13 states from Virginia to Maine and Canada.  As far back as I can remember, Lancaster County has been a host community for the children.  I can still remember reading stories in the local newspaper all summer-long about the experiences these children had on the host farms they called home for a few months every summer.  

Sean Combs

A week or so ago I was watching "Jimmy Kimmel Live" when Sean Combs, known to most as "P. Diddy" told his story about living on an Amish farm during the summer when he was a child.  Sean was telling Jimmy that his daughter had recently attended summer camp and didn't enjoy it since she didn't have her own bed.  He went on to say that he told her that when he went to camp in the summer he didn't even have lights, electricity or a car.  Seems his summers were spent in Lancaster County on an Amish farm where he spent time helping the Amish family with work on the farm from milking cows to picking berries.  He told his daughter that he had to ride in a horse and buggy and remembered partaking in lavish meals after church on Sunday.  As Sean talked to Jimmy you could tell he loved every minute of it.  He said he wonders if his host family knows what has happened to him over the years.  Well, our local newspaper found who his host family was and sent a reporter to talk with them.  Being the family was Amish, they didn't want to be photographed or identified, but did tell the reporter that Comb's sister, Keisha, who had also visited with them, had contacted them and made a visit. They told the reporter that if Sean wanted to visit, he could get information from his sister.  At the end of Comb's interview on the Kimmel show, he told Jimmy that one of the things that helped make him what he is today was his visits to Lancaster County.  And, the children still arrive by train and probably still walk past my old home on N. Queen Street.  Oh, the memories!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Anyone Hungry Yet?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Having a big bowl of vanilla ice cream piled high with fresh peaches.  If you haven't figured it out yet, peaches are in season on the north end of the east coast.  Peaches are one of my favorite seasonal fruits, coming in probably second to strawberries.  The strawberries are more a spring fruit in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania while the peaches are a late summer and fall fruit.  And, since Lancaster County is known as the "Garden Spot of America", those of us living in Lancaster County should know!  

The peach!

I still enjoy a fresh peach taken right off the tree and eaten with the skin on.  Yes, they tend to be a sticky mess at times, but hey, doesn't take long to rinse off your hands.  For those who can't stand to get their hands a mess, wait until you get home, peel the peach and cut in into pieces.  The largest state producers of peaches in the United States are California, Georgia and South Carolina.  In Lancaster they are probably at their peak right now.  A few different facts about the peach is: (1) It is a member of the rose family, cousin to apricots, cherries, plums and almonds.  (2) It comes in the classic cling-free eating peach, extra sweet and lovely white peach and the doughnut peach.  

The donut peach.

(3) Many farmers will plant orchards with a variety of different peaches so they will extend longer into the growing season.  (4)  The peach sells for months, rather than weeks, like the strawberry.  A couple of things to look for when you buy a peach are:  (1) an even background color of golden yellow for the yellow peaches and a creamy yellow for the white peaches; (2) a well-defined crease along the outside of the peach; (3) a slight softness when giving the peach a slight squeeze -  

Anyone hungry yet?

a note to follow is...don't squeeze the peach with your fingertips which will bruise it, but with your entire hand; (4) peaches that don't have a green stem, since these are not fully ripe;  (5) peaches that have an aromatic smell!   When you get the peaches home put them on your countertop at room temperature until they are fully ripe, then store them in the crisper of your fridge.  So, how do I like to eat my peaches?  Anyway!!  I do like them with the skin, but can cut the skin off, put them on cereal or ice cream just as I have in front of me right how.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Favorites From Days Gone By" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Talking with a friend from my old neighborhood about the good old times we used to share when I lived in the 900 block of North Queen Street in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  My parents weren't wealthy, but they did manage to give my brother and me all the things we could have ever wanted to pass our time while growing up in the 1940s and 50s.  Certain items and events stick out in my memory that were my favorites from that time in my youth.  Thought I would pass them along to let you know what children in that era enjoyed as well as utilized.  For those who grew up at the same time, I hope I haven't missed too many of your favorites.

• 1 cent candy was one of my favorites at a few corner stores around my neighborhood.  

  

  Candy cigars

  A quarter, or even a dime or nickle, would give me a small bagful of candy that would last the day.  At times I would buy candy cigarettes and pretend I was smoking like my mom and dad did at the time.  Also tried a few of the bubble gum cigars, but they cost a nickel.  Matter of fact, most everyone smoked in the 40s and 50s.  My favorite store was on the corner of Clay and Queen and was known as Eli's.  He remembered my name every day I walked in with money in hand.

Tinkertoys and Lincoln Logs

• One of my favorite toys was my container of Lincoln Logs that I used to build replicas of ranches so I could use my toy animals and toy figurines that looked like cowboys.  Did have a few Indians mixed in with the set.  Another neat building toy was the container of red and white bricks that I had.  They were something like the Legos of today, but at the time were smaller and easier to build.  They made neat houses and buildings for the train yard my dad would set up right after Thanksgiving.  I also had a big cardboard tube of Tinkertoys, just like every other kid in the neighborhood.

• I had two Lionel train sets; one was the Sante Fe passenger train while the other was an Alaska freight train.  I did have Plasticville buildings, but my plastic brick buildings which I made myself looked as neat as the others.

Hubley cap bun and caps

• Naturally every one in the neighborhood had a metal cap gun.  Mine was a Hubley that was made in Lancaster.  My dad actually worked at Hubley as a young man, making toy guns.  The caps made a great noise and I loved the smell of the sulphur after firing the gun.  Also enjoyed a variety of comic books that you could read at the Lancaster Train Station soda-shop and return to the rack after reading them.  My favorites were Archie and Jughead as well as Superman.

• Some of the outdoor items I had were at first a neat tricycle and eventually a Schwinn two-wheeler.  Had to take a few of my baseball cards and attach them to the rear wheel to make the bike sound like a motorcycle when the cards hit the spokes of the bike.  Also enjoyed racing cat's eye marbles on the rubber mat on our front porch.  

  

  My Schwinn bike

  The porch was sloped toward the street at just the right angle to allow the marbles to pick up a little speed in the 12 to 15 feet they had to travel.  But, out of all these activities, baseball with my brother and all the neighborhood kids was still my all-time favorite activity in the parking lot behind the house or at the nearby railroad station.

• Another toy I loved was the couple of wooden gliders that I had.  We made one of them when I was in Cub Scouts.  I also enjoyed flying kites, but had to have my dad take me to nearby Longs Park to fly them.  When I tried at home they would get caught in the trees and power lines. As I became a teenager I enjoyed sledding with the guys in the neighborhood.  

• 

  My nut-cracker sled

  We would walk the couple of blocks to the train bridge over the Lititz Pike to ride down the nut-cracker while my friends on the west side of the neighborhood, such as my good friend Jere, would hit the bridge over the Manheim Pike to do much the same as we did.  Often had arguments as to who had the scariest nut-cracker.  I leave it to your imagination as to why we called it as we did.
• One item I really enjoyed was my paint-by-number set.  

  

  Who wouldn't love a Paint-by-Number

  Actually had a few of them.  Made great presents for me when needed.  I was a fanatic about staying inside the lines when I painted the artwork.  At least I thought it was artwork.  Funny, but when my mom was in a nursing facility, I would buy her the same thing and she just loved painting them.  I would frame them for her and Moravian Manor, where she resided, would hang them in the halls of the place.  At the same time I enjoyed building plastic model cars.  Revell was my favorite model kit to build.  Both my sons also enjoyed building models.    
• One final item I loved throughout my childhood, and even in to my teens, was the pup-tent that my Aunt Doris gave me as a gift one Christmas.  

  

  My pup tent

  I slept in it, played Army in it and even made it into a printing shop by using the lead slugs from the Linotype machine that was in the factory next to our house.  Pretended to print my own newspaper, but the lines never made any sense since all the lead slugs were from a variety of stories that the printing company had printed.  
• My last few items of remembrance you may remember if you are old enough.  I enjoyed pasting the S&H Green Stamps in the books for my mom, talking on the party-line telephone and mowing the grass with the push mower. 

Life in the 40s and 50s was something like being on the TV show "Leave It To Beaver".  Matter of fact that was, and still is, one of my all-time favorite TV shows.  So, what do you think.  Bring back any memories for you?  Make some of you glad you never had to grow up without electronic items?  Hey, that's what life was like in the good old days.  And, we survived!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.