The "Lighting Up The Night By Solar" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just finishing taking another photograph of my stained glass window I made years ago for display next to the front door of my home on Harrington Drive in Manheim Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. My wife, Carol, and I lived in a semi-detached, Tudor-style home on Janet Avenue in Manheim Township for many, many years.  We enjoyed the home where we raised our three children and a variety of household pets, but it just wasn't the style of home that we loved.  When our children were out of high school, we moved to a very modern home on Harrington Drive.  Next to the front door was a full length window that was 24" wide.  Great for seeing those who arrived at our home, but didn't allow for much privacy in case we wanted to walk around in our PJs in the evening.  Carol thought it would be a good idea to cover the window with drapes or perhaps something like a stained glass window which you can't see through.  Well, I ended up taking a class in making stained glass items and eventually made the window that fit perfectly into the opening.  It featured a heron that was standing leg deep in a pool of water with a sand bar behind it and the sky and red sun in the background.  I made a frame from cherry wood in the shop at Manheim Township High School where I was an Industrial Arts teacher for 35 years.  It fit perfect in the opening and cast an array of colors onto the tile floor next to the window.  Then, a year ago we decided to move to a retirement community so I no longer had to take care of the one acre property and all that went with it such as mowing, raking, shoveling snow, etc.  Well, we told all those looking at the home on Harrington that the stained glass window DID NOT go with the house.  As soon as we sold the home, in about a week, I removed the stained glass window so we could take it with us.  And, after moving to Woodcrest Villas we found the perfect place for the window.  We have a large, tall window in our dining room that was the perfect match for the stained glass window.  One of the workers at the retirement community helped me install the window and it looks great.  My wife thought that it would look great if we would illuminate it in the evening.  So, we purchased a solar spot light and my friend and co-teacher at MTHS, Hal Hopper,  helped me make an outdoor stand for the spotlight.  Last night, shortly after I had placed the light outdoor by the window, Carol and I were watching TV in an attached room when she walked past the dining room and said...Wow, does that look neat!  Sure enough, the window looks fantastic.  So glad we brought it with us.  Now our late-night guests and family will get to see the window, just not in daylight, but at night.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Stained glass with solar light at night

Stained glass during daytime