The "Former Student Wins Volunteer Of The Year!" Story

The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania

It was an ordinary day.  Standing inside the front door of The Railroad Museum of Pennsyl- vania in Strasburg, Pennsyl- vania waiting to see George Swartz.  My story began December 13 of this past year when I read an article in the Lancaster newspaper titled "Railroad Museum of Pa. honors its top volunteer.  Story about George Swartz who is a Lancaster native who currently lives in Lititz and was recently selected by the Friends of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania board of directors as the volunteer of the year.  He was picked from more than 150 active volunteers.  Quite an honor!  George spent 35 years as a corporate pilot for Armstrong World Industries and is now a regular volunteer at the museum, spending much of his time installing a model train layout located in the museum's second floor gallery.  The more I read, the more I wondered if I might have had George as a student years ago.  I remembered a George Swartz who I had in my Graphic Arts class who one day asked if I would like to a ride in an airplane with him.  He was trying to get his pilot's license and needed so many hours in the air.  All I had to do was pay for the gas.  Mike, the fellow whom I work with during the summer doing the in-house printing for the Manheim Township School District, where we both taught years ago, has a daughter who works at the Museum so Mike asked her to ask George if he recognized my name.  

The museum as seen from a catwalk over the tracks.

You bet!  So, I'm standing inside the door of the train museum, getting directions to the second floor to meet with George.  The elevator door opened and there was George, slightly older than I remember, but with the same smile I remembered from 1970 when he graduated from Manheim Township High School.  We spent the next hour reminiscing and catching up on each others lives and then he showed me some of the HO miniature railroad train yard that he is working on at present.  It had been moved from the first floor to the second floor and placed in a much smaller space, so he is in the process of making changes so most everything can fit once again.  He asked me about teachers he had during his high school career and I questioned him if he had a sister named Sharon.  Seems two of my traveling friends as well as classmates in the same high school where I ended up teaching, Jere and Sue Herr, asked me a few days before my visit with George, to ask George if he had a sister by the name of Sharon who ran around with them in high school.  I, too, knew Sharon, but mainly as a classmate.  George smiled and looked at me and said he also remembered Jere and Sue from years before when they visited his sister.  He told me he graduated from the Piedmont Aerospace Institute after high school with degrees in Airframe and Powerplant Technician.  During his career as a corporate pilot he achieved more than 74,000 hours of flight safety.  The knowledge learned in his professional life is now serving him well in his life as a volunteer.  He told me his interest in model trains began at the age of 4 when he received an American Flyer miniature train.  

LDub with former student George Swartz.

George will be formally recognized as the Museum volunteer of the year in Harrisburg, PA in April.  A well deserved award!  He ushered me around the museum and answered all my questions about the display which is immense.  I ended my visit with George when he showed me the large Flipboard that used to be in the Amtrak 30th Street Train Station in Philadelphia.  It was removed and brought to Strasburg.  It looked beautiful, but will be returned to the station after they have finished renovations.  Said my thank you and goodbye with the promise of returning once again to visit with him.  I cherish all my friendships, but friendships with former students seem to be special, especially when they thank you for what you did for them as a high school teacher.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

PS - George later sent me an email telling me he pulled out an old logbook and reported we went flying August 7, 1969 right after receiving his Private Pilot Certificate in a Cesena 150 n8337J.  I was one of his first passengers.  A great honor for me!