The "A Visit With Long-Time Friends" Story

It was another ordinary day. Our friends Hal and Jeannie had just picked my wife, Carol and myself up for a trip to State College, PA to visit friends whom we have known for a long time. Not long before we pulled into the driveway of my longtime friend whom I had known since 1st grade. Guy by the name of Jerry Herr! Jerry and I lived about a block away from each other throughout our childhood, but never got to meet until we went to 1st grade at Brecht Elementary School in the Manheim Township School District. Even during elementary school we very seldom visited other each other since my mom didn't want me to cross Queen Street and Prince Street since they were two of the busiest streets in the north end of the city of Lancaster. I walked to school by crossing the Lititz Pike bridge while Jerry crossed the Manheim Pike bridge. When we entered Manheim Township Jr. High School we both rode on the same school bus, so we got to know each other a bit more, but didn't really get to know each other until high school when we both had cars. Jerry was a whiz with engines and helped me quite a few times work on my 1953 Henry J.  But, we tended to be in different social circles with Jerry having a girl friend who lived off the Lititz Pike while my girlfriend lived on Liberty Street.  We never became real good friends until be both graduated from Millersville State Teacher's College and both landed jobs at our alma mater....Manheim Township High School.  Jerry began teaching Metal Shop about a year or two after I began teaching Wood Shop/Graphic Arts. Jerry's late arrival at MTHS was due to a few years in military service; while I wasn't picked for the service for some unknown reason to me. It was at this point in time that we became friends with Hal whom also taught Industrial Arts at the high school. Jerry married his high school sweetheart Sue while I married the daughter of the woman who worked with my dad at Meiskey's Wholesale Jewelry. After teaching together for many years, Jerry took over the reigns of the Manheim Township School District Maintenance Dept. He was responsible for all of the maintenance on the dozen or so buildings in the district. Hal and I continued teaching until we knew it was time to give it up. All three of us retired from the Manheim Township School District the same year, being that we were close to the same age bracket. As soon as we retired from working for the school district, Jerry and I began to travel together with our wives to islands in the Caribbean. What a wonderful experience. We loved the warm sun, the refreshing waters and the Caribbean atmosphere. After every two to three week vacation I would put a scrapbook together of our adventures. Well, after my wife and I made a recent move to Woodcrest Villa, I now find I have almost an entire closet full of memories from vacations with Jerry and Sue. We are still trying to decide if we should take one more trip before we call it quits. And...we don't have an extended lifetime left to make that decision. Hal and Jeannie never traveled with us, but perhaps they might give it a try. Well....I will have to talk it over with my wife first and then decide if all six of us want to take one last vacation together to a Caribbean island. Life is short, so we can't wait another dozen years before we travel once again. It will have to be in the very near future if it is going to happen. Perhaps we might be happy just traveling to the Jersey Shore for a week-long vacation...or maybe a two-week vacation...or maybe even a month since it might be our last vacation together. I better give both of the guys a call and see what they think of our plans before it's too late. It certainly would be good to vacation with all of our friends. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

 Jeannie and Hal

Sue and Jerry

                                            Carol and Larry

The Historical Lancaster Pictures

It was an ordinary day.  Trying to clean my desktop of the myriad of old photographs that I have saved "just in case" I might need one or two for a blog story.  I have decided it is time to get rid of a few to allow me some more space to save a few more antique photographs.  Hope you enjoy the photos.  I have tried to place a location for each one and only hope I have picked the correct location for each one.  So........enjoy!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

I'm pulling a friend in my wagon with my tricycle

27 W. Lemon Street in Lancaster, PA - 1930

1980s Dirty Old Tavern

Strand  Movie Theater on Manor St.

Levick Gas Station at West James & Harrisburg Ave.

Lancaster County Courthouse

St. Joseph Hospital in 1944, the year of my birth

Young Woman's Christian Association.

S. Prince in 1980

The Wild Cat Coaster at Rocky Springs

House at 533 S. Queen built in 10 hours

Downtown Lancaster 1925

Downtown Lancaster looking south

Lancaster Square looking West

Lancaster Press operator Harry Radcliffe

Santa arriving at Watt & Shand

Hot air balloon landing in Center Square

Bowman Tech where my father learned watchmaking

Hagar Dept. Store on West King St.

Woolworth Building on N. Queen St.

McCroy's Department Store on N. Queen St. 

The "And They Left Me Off At $1500" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading one of my favorite columns in my Lancaster morning newspaper which is titled "The Scribbler."  "The Scribbler's" story today was titled "From Seed to Popcorn."  I knew the main characters as soon as I began reading the story.  The Reist Popcorn Co. has operated in the Mount Joy area for nearly a century.  David A. Reist, the recently retired grandson of the founder, Alvin J. Reist, has written a history of the business titled "And They Left Me Off at $1500: A Century of Progress at Reist Popcorn Company." Alvin Reist began the business as the Reist Seed Co. in 1925 to supply seed and seed cleaning services to local farmers.  David's father, Henry E. Reist, later took charge of the business and in 2001 changed its name to Reist Popcorn Co.  David Reist took over from his father.  His son-in-law, Michael Higgins, has taken his place as company president.  Reist Popcorn operates at two locations in Mount Joy, PA.  "Family farms and businesses created around family farms are complex entities," Dave Reist explained.  "Understanding the conflicts and the accomplishments - the joys and the toils - that allow them to survive through several generations, is an important part of keeping them functional and successful."  And the book's unusual title?  Alvin Reist, the founder began the seed company with two other men.  In a taped interview, he explained the others "decided that I should be President of the company and they were willing to put in $3,000 apiece and they left me off at $1,500."  Copies of the 192-page book can be purchased on the Mount Joy Area Historical Society website (mountjoyhistory.com) or by visiting the society building on Fairview Street in Mount Joy on Sundays from 1-4 p.m.  Proceeds benefit the historical society.  Now, the main part of my story has been completed, but I am still trying too find out how two young gentlemen by the name of Art and Al Reist play into this historical story, for you see...I had twins Art and Al Reist in one of my Graphic Arts classes when I taught high school in Manheim Township School District a few years ago.  The twins were fun to have in class and were extremely respectful to all their teachers.  With a name like that they must have somehow been part of the family that produced the popcorn that you just read about.  Some day I might see one of them and my question will be answered, but until then, I will just have to eat their delicious popcorn that they produce.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "On Barney Ewell And The Race For Educational Equity! Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading a few interesting stories about Olympian Henry "Barney" Ewell.  The year is 1948 and Henry Norwood Ewell is 30 years old and in his first Olympics.  A bit too old for trying to compete against youngsters in their early 20s, but that's just how it was due to WWII.  In the archival footage from the London Games, he crosses the finish line in the 100-meter dash and throws up his arms in jubilation, leaping with joy.  But, his teammate Harrison Dillard, running in the outside lane and five years Ewell's junior, has edged him out by a whisker.  In the 200-meter race, Ewell loser to a teammate, Mel Patton, by a fraction of a fraction of a second.  Although the 4x100 meter relay team of Dillard, Patton, Ewell and Lorenzo Wright wins its race handily, the judges call foul, awarding the gold to the all-white British squad.  Ewell, one judge claims, passed the baton outside of the zone.  So...the team protests and sure enough, the judges reverse their decision, awarding the Americans gold.  The 1940 and 1944 games had both been canceled due to WWII.  Ewell would have been 22 and 26 instead of 30 years old.  As a runner, he would have been at the peak of his prowess.  The 1936 Olympics had taken place in Berlin, where the great Jesse Owens famously thwarted Adolf Hitler's hopes of showcasing white supremacy.  In '36, Ewell was still attending J.P. McCaskey High School, one of two Black students in the school's inaugural class.  That year "the Lancaster Flash," or "another Jesse Owens," as Ewell was then known, came close to qualifying for the Olympics.  In one heat he needed to place third.  He placed fourth, Owens placed first.  In 1938, he started at Penn State University and became a well-known sprinter.  He set world records before joining the U.S. Army in 1942.  And then, when the war was over, he finished his degree in Physical Education.  In the 1948 Olympics in London, since he was past the usual prime, his teammates dubbed him "grandpa."  He took it with grace, as a sign of respect.  A massive crowd greeted Ewell when he returned to Lancaster after the Olympics.  City merchants and residents banded together to buy Ewell and his family a house at 442 Rockland St.  But, shortly after Ewell returned, he was stripped of his amateur status.  The house given to Ewell, the Amateur Athletic union ruled, was too much.  Ewell was  thrown into poverty.  His family had moved north from Virginia, settling first in Harrisburg, where his father found work in a nearby steel mill. Eventually, the family moved to Lancaster, where Ewell's father took a job as a waiter at the Hamilton Club.  Norwood, as the future Olympian was first known, shined shoes outside on the street.  When he retired from running in 1952, his plan was to teach.  He had a college degree, after all.  Two years later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in Brown v. The Board of Education of Topeka, that separate is inherently unequal.  Unless "our children begin to learn together," Thurgood Marshall,  counsel for the Brown family wrote, "there is little hope that our people will ever learn to live together and understand each other."  In the wake of the the ruling, an entire generation of Black teachers lost their jobs.  The first wave of integrated schools didn't have room for them, much less for Ewell, who never secured a job in his chosen profession.  He spent much of his working life at the pharmaceutical company Warner-Lambert in Lititz, PA.  He would have been a great teacher!  He did spend some time informally coaching at McCaskey, his alma mater, and at Franklin & Marshall College.  In later years he developed diabetes, which led to circulation problems in his legs.  Some maintain the London kerfuffle over the 4x100 gold was an honest mistake.  Days after the race, Olympic officials surprised Ewell while he was eating a meal in the cafeteria.  There was no podium, no pomp - they simply handed him his gold medal.  Seems that the team was initially punished since they were black.  Next month marks the 70th anniversary of the Brown ruling that ironically deprived Ewell of a career in education.  Has anything changed from this time to now?  Have we removed the hurdles that were placed in his path?  

1984 photograph of Barney Ewell with some of his trophies.

Ewell was known for saying..."Why get worked up over something that never was?  Some things are worth your anger, and some aren't."  Ewell's old Rockland Street house in the Seventh Ward neighborhood has been demolished and was replaced by a parking lot.  Across the street stands Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School which is part of a school district that is chronically underfunded by the state.  It's a sign of how little progress we've made that we can name a school after a Civil Rights icon and then refuse to fully fund it, even after being ordered by the court to do so.  We can, likewise, name a public plaza in downtown Lancaster after a hometown hero, while simultaneously failing to house the impoverished people who congregate there.  "Time, as well as funding, is not always on the side of the fastest man in the world."  The current state of education funding in Pennsylvania isn't merely inequitable, it's downright unjust -- criminal even.  Ewell had it right when he told the young athletes he mentored at McCaskey.  Its in those very first moments that the race is lost or won.  It isn't right that so many get a head start while others struggle out of the blocks.  It isn't right that our legislators have yet to fix it.  But...should it be hopeless??  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

The "Heat Hits New Record!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Looking at the headline in my morning paper which read: "Heat hits new record."  Now, if I had been in a warm climate or possibly one of the Caribbean Islands, I'd understand the headline...but in Lancaster, Pennsylvania...well, that's pretty hard to fathom!  The subhead continued with "Mercury in Millersville reaches 90, breaking record set in 1974."  90 degrees...and it's only early May!  What's it going to be like in August this year?  Well, the newspaper went on to exclaim..."A wave of summerlike warmth sent temperatures in Lancaster County soaring into record territory, eclipsing a record high that had stood for half a century.  Not since 2010 has the first 90-degree day of the year happened in April, said Kyle Elliott, the center's director.  Seems we also have projected highs in the 90s for a few more days.  And...May has only begun!!  Temperatures should remain several degrees above normal for the balance of the week, according to the weather center's forecast.  Elliott said temperatures could dip again in a few days, but still continue in the above-average temperatures.  May doesn't look cool, and there should be no more frost or freeze concerns across southeastern PA.  The number of warm days should definitely outweigh the number of cool ones, but temperature won't approach record levels again for at least the next 1-2 weeks.  The temperature spike is a welcome change after a frost advisory last week, Penn State Farm food safety educator Jeff Stoltzfus said. Last week's low in the mid-to upper 30s posed food threats to produce including strawberries, peppers, tomatoes and peaches.  Stoltzfus said farmers are resting easier with the temperature bump.  "If we do that whiplash again, and go back again to frostbite-type temperatures, that will be an issue because the crops will have moved along.  The further along they are when that cold weather comes along, the more the challenge."  Stoltzfus said the increased warmth could lead to some early harvests.  "I think we're in good shape.  We've had some dry weather here as farmers have gotten a lot of field work done," Stoltzfus said.  "At this point, we're all just glad to be past the frost."  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.     

"HELP" Sign Leads To Castaways

It was an ordinary day.  Checking out my morning newspaper when I came across a large sized heading to  a story in the "WORLD" section of the newspaper.  Headline read, "'HELP' sign leads to castaways."  The sub-head read..."Three men stuck 9 days on remote atoll create message with palm fronds."  Now this is the stuff you see in movies!  Seems that three men were stranded on an uninhabited Pacific island for more than a week and used palm fronds to spell out HELP on the small island's beach.  

That in turn led to the rescue by Navy and Coast Guard aviators who spotted the sign from several thousand feet in the air.  They had embarked on their journey on March 31 of this year in a 20-foot boat with an outboard motor from Pulawat Atoll, a small island with about an estimated 1,000 inhabitants in the Federated States of Micronesia about 1,800 miles east of the Philippines.  Now this is stuff that was made for a full-length movie...so it is!  The men had embarked on a fishing voyage when they hit a coral ref, putting a hole in the boat's bottom and causing it to take on water.  A Coast Guard ship, the Oliver Henry, picked up the men and took them back to the atoll where they had set out days earlier and 100 miles away.  They were "obviously very excited" to be reunited with their families,  said Coast Guard LT. Cmdr. Christine Igisomar, a coordinator of the search and rescue mission.  When their boat was damaged, they knew they weren't going to be able to make their return home and would need to beach their vessel.  On April 6, a relative reported them missing to a Coast Guard facility in Guam, saying the men in their 40s had not returned from Pikelot Atoll.  A search initially covering 78,000 square miles began.  The crew of a U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon plane from Kadena Air Force Base in Japan spotted the three on Pikelot Atoll and dropped survival packages.

The next day, a Coast Guard HC-130J Hercules plane from Air Station Barbers Point in Hawaii dropped a radio the men used to report they were thirsty but OK.  "The help sign was pretty visible." Arnold said.  " We could see it from a couple thousand feet in the air."  A similar rescue of three men from Pulawat Atoll happened on Pikelot Atoll in 2020.  Those men spelled out "SOS" on the beach.  An Australian military helicopter crew landed and gave them food and water before the Micronesian patrol boat Ould picked them up.  Well, a happy ending to the story told of the men returning home without too much trouble.  Will they ever venture out on a voyage such as that in the future.  Sure...why not!  With the great rescue crews in that part of the world, why not give them a chance to practice their rescue techniques?  Seems they have had plenty of practice in the past year or two.  Hey...this stuff would make for a good movie....or a good story for a blog!   It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy,       

The "Living In Lancaster Is The Best" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading Lancaster Newspaper's "The Scribbler" column which is written each week by columnist Jack Brubaker.  For me....my Lancaster Sunday News wouldn't be complete had it not included Jack's column in it.  I don't know what I will ever do when Jack decides to retire and stops writing his column.  "Please don't do that, Jack," just in case you might be reading this story today.  But...I will admit that I cut out his column every week and have saved quite a few year's worth, just in case I have to read them over again.  Well, this past Sunday's newspaper article featured a letter to Jack from SaraJane Munshower who lives in New Holland.  She told Jack that she returned to Pennsylvania after 46 years in Connecticut and is still acclimating to Lancaster County.  She was wondering about others who are moving from distances into the various retirement communities in this area.  She was asking Jack if he might do a column on "what everyone needs to know" about living in Lancaster County?  Well, I naturally was interested, since my wife and I now live in Woodcrest Villas, but were born and raised all our lives in good ole Lancaster, PA.  First off...Jack apologized for his late answer.  Said he was waiting for a lull in his writing.  Personally...I never thought he had a lull in his writing, but....  So, Jack devoted his latest column to "What Makes Lancaster County Unique."  And...I could hardly wait!  Started with.... Some of the most fertile farmland in the world distinguished Lancaster County from other places   The county still boasts 425,000 acres of limestone-rich farmland, a quarter of which has been preserved "forever."  Lancaster has more preserved farmland than any other county in the country, thanks to programs operated by the county's Agricultural Preserve Board and the private Lancaster Farmland Trust.  But, if we didn't have farmers to farm, preserved land would not be worth much.  The Amish provide an increasing percentage of our farmers - on preserved and non-preserved land.  The Amish are essential, devoted to maintaining the landscape of this county.  They also are primary driving forces of the area's work ethic.  Another natural feature that makes Lancaster County special is the Susquehanna River.  In addition to being a popular recreational resource, the Lower Susquehanna hosts more power plants - hydroelectric, nuclear and coal-driving - than any other comparable river section on Earth.  Good for power production, bad for the environment.  Beyond the natural landscape, Lancaster County is defined by its ethnic diversity.  From the beginning, Lancaster welcomed more diverse groups - English, Swiss, Scots, Scots-Irish, French, Welsh and the Africans whom some of the wealthier members of those other groups enslaved.  In more recent years, thousands of immigrants from Puerto Rico, Vietnam, Russia and other countries have settled here.  Many of these people - more than 5,000 - have been refugees resettled by churches, especially Mennonite churches.  Lancaster has resettled 20 times more refugees, per person, than the United States as a whole.  As diverse as Lancaster is ethnically, it is relatively monolithic politically.  Since the creation of the Republican Party in the 1850s, the county has never elected a Democratic member of Congress.  Lyndon Johnson is the only Democratic candidate who won Lancaster County's vote in a presidential election.  Outside Lancaster city and its immediate suburbs, Republicans rule almost everywhere.  The county is unusually devout.  A newspaper study four decades ago estimated that the county hosted 700 churches and synagogues.  That number would be much closer to 1,000 now.  Asked what part of the Bible Belt Lancaster County is, the late historian John W. Loose replied, "the buckle."  Thousands of military veterans live here besides thousands of pacifists and conscientious objectors - an unusual and little-noted juxtaposition.  One more thing.... Lancaster's people are charitable.  The chronicle of Philanthropy ranks Lancaster among the top third of the nation's counties in charitable giving.  A former director of the local United Way explained that "generosity is rooted in pride."  Lancaster people are proud of their community.  And, I may add that my wife and I have met so many welcoming and friendly people since we moved to Woodcrest Villa over a year ago.  That's just a small sample of what makes Lancaster....well, Lancaster.  And...thanks Jack for your column on Lancaster Being the "Best Place to Live."  My wife and I most certainly agree!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

The "Historic Swan Hotel Begins A New Life" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading in my morning newspaper about the historic Swan Hotel, which sits on the corner of South Queen and East Vine Streets in downtown Lancaster, becoming a nine-room boutique hotel with a speakeasy under a Lancaster City builder's proposal. A friend from high school and his wife had owned the Swan for many years and finally decided to sell the business and property and retire.  The historic Swan Hotel in downtown would become a nine-room boutique hotel with a speakeasy under a Lancaster city builder's proposal.  Earlier this week, the Lancaster Convention Center Authority, which owns the building at 101 S. Queen St., across Vine Street from the Swan, selected Brentwood Builder to purchase and develop the 200-year-old hotel.  The developer submitted the high bid of $508,643 in a public sale that attracted three offers.  The developer told the authority it plans to spend an additional $2.7 million to renovate the three-story, 4,800-square-foot building.  Hostetter said, "We see the Swan renovation as an opportunity to provide a unique travel experience in downtown Lancaster.  The sale of the Swan is contingent on the two sides negotiating a contract with more specific details.  The Convention Center authority would have to approve the agreement before transferring the property to Brentwood.  The project would end uncertainty over the fourth corner of one of downtown's major intersections, South Queen and Vine Street, which is located immediately south of the Lancaster County Convention Center, and one block south of Penn Square.  The other three corners are already slated to host developments.  Lancaster History is scheduled to open a museum next year inside Thaddeus Stevens  home and law office.  Willow Valley plans to begin construction on Mosaic, the county's tallest building, later this year; and the Southern Market has ben revived as a food hall.  Brentwood's proposed renovation would be in line with the vision the convention center authority laid out in its request for proposals for the public sale.  The authority said it envisioned a project serving conventioneers and other downtown visitors, combining lodging and entertainment that would help revitalize the cover of South Queen and Vine Streets.  Under Brentwood's conceptual plans, two suites would be located on the first floor, three on the second floor, and four on the third.  The speakeasy would have a seven-seat bar and two small tables.  The convention center authority would get priority on room bookings.  The Swan, which was built in 1824 as a hospital and converted into a hotel and tavern, last operated as a bar in 1995 and has sat vacant since then, with at least two failed renovation plans.  Last fall the authority held another public sale for the building, along with the rights to develop the air rights of the neighboring property at 10 E. Vine St.  The only bid was rejected because it didn't include lodging, or plans for air rights, which would have allowed the developer to create a structure that left most of the surface lot available for parking.  I'm sure that all of Lancaster is awaiting the start of development on the old Swan Hotel.  It is a beautiful old building and it would be nice to keep it intact, but that might be tough to do.  Time will tell.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

The Historic Swan Hotel in downtown Lancaster, PA

The "Happiness In The U.S.A." Story

It was an ordinary day.  Checking out my April 8th TIME Magazine when I came across a column story titled "Happiness in the U.S. - A new low".  Thought you may be interested in the brief message that was meant for us to compare with past, present and future years to see if our United States can do any better or possibly worst in some categories.  In this case it deals with "Happiness" and how well each individual group of people is doing at present.  So...read on.  For the first time in the 12-year history of the World Happiness Report, the U.S. did not rank in the top 20 of the world's happiest countries.  Of the more than 140 nations surveyed, the U.S. came in 23rd, compared with 15th last year.  While the USA is still in the top 10 happiest countries for people 60 and older, its overall ranking fell because of a significant decline in the reported well-being of Americans under 30.  Finland ranked at the top of the list for the seventeenth year in a row.  Lithuania is the happiest country in the world if you look only at those under the age of 30, while Denmark is the happiest country for those 60 and older.  So how do they do it?  This was the first year the report, released March 20th, analyzed rate of happiness by age group.  Said John F. Helliwell, professor at the Vancouver School of Economics and founding editor of the report:  "There is a great variety among countries in the relative happiness of the younger, older, and in-between populations."  So what can we do to bring back the numbers of just about every age range?  Hey, you will have to give it a better try than you did this past year.  I'm glad to say that I'm in the over 60 category which is in the top 10% of the countries rated, but no other age group seems to be trying to get happy!!  I've searched and can't seem to find any suggestions for all of the other age groups as to what they should do to get happy!  Perhaps all you need to do is "Don't Worry...Be Happy" as the song goes.  Works for me...so it does.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Another story from my April 8th TIME Magazine that can be extremely helpful and perhaps life-saving for women is a story titled "The five-minute quiz that helped catch Olivia Munn's cancer."  Read it and see if it may be of any help to you or your relatives and best friends.  Story went...

Actor Olivia Munn recently shared in an Instagram post that a free risk-assenment tool her doctor used revealed that she had a higher chance of developing breast cancer.  It led to testing - and eventually treatment - that likely spared her from more serious outcomes.  The Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool isn't new.  It's been around since 1989 for women ages 35 to 74, and it doesn't even require a doctor.  The online questionnaire, available through the National Cancer Institute (NCI), asks about a woman's age, her family history of breast cancer, when she began menstruating, how old she was when she had her first child (if applicable), and if she's had any breast biopsies.  It then estimates her risk of getting breast cancer in five years and over the course of her life.  "This calculator is a great first step that women can do on their own and discuss the results with their primary-care doctor or gynecologist," says Dr. Jennifer Litton, professor of breast medical oncology at MD Anderson Cancer Center.  The tool was built using data from the Breast Cancer Demonstration Project, a 1970s study of 280,000 white women, and the NCI Surveillance, Epidermiology, and End Results Program.  Data from Black, Hispanic, and Asian women were added later to provide more accurate predictions for women of different races and ethnicities.  While it's still less accurate for women of color, research has found that the tool is about 98% accurate in predicting disease risk.  It's especially helpful for those who have a family history of breast cancer, people who don't know their genetic risk for the disease, and those who don't have major genes for breast cancer such as BRCA1 or BRCA2 - which was the case for Munn.  About half a million women use it annually, according to NCI - and after Munn's post, "the Brest Cancer Risk Assessment Tool received a dramatic increase in visits," a spokesperson said.  Some doctors use the questionnaire in conjunction with a slightly more comprehensive one called the Tyrer-Cuzick model, which is also free and available online.  Together with regular mammograms starting around age 40, these risk assessments help doctors decide which women should get mammograms more frequently and whether they need additional tests like an MRI.  Knowing a woman's risk score can lead to early detection of cancer, as it did for Munn.  Yet many women aren't aware that there's a short risk quiz they can take, then discuss with their doctors.  "Knowledge is power," says Dr. Larry Norton, medical director of the Evelyn H. Lauder Breast Center at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.  "The more you know about yourself, and the more you engage with medical professionals, the better you can get answers that are appropriate for you."   

The "Oldest Living Ex-Major Leaguer Turns 100!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading about the oldest professional ex-major league baseball player who just turned 100.  Guy by the name of Art Schallock who played for the New York Yankees.  I often wonder if I will ever come close to being 100 years old, but I'm not sure I really want to be that age and have to put up with all the newspapers wanting an interview and perhaps my local TV station wanting me to appear on a newscast to show the world what someone who is 100 looks like.  Hey, I already no longer have hair on my head and struggle with standing up straight most of the time...so why would I want to reach 100 years of age and have to show everyone what I look like?  Probably wouldn't be able to brush my teeth by then...but, perhaps that wouldn't matter anyway, since I wouldn't have teeth...at least my own.  But, the more I think about it, why couldn't I make it to 100?  I no longer hold down a full-time job, but that's not important since I never did being I was a teacher and many people think teachers don't have full-time jobs; you know...3 months off each summer!  I'd love to see them try to teach a class of high schools kids!!  They'd try and hide in the nearest closet!  My wife and I live in a retirement community now where we have a villa.  What is nice is that we don't have to mow the lawn, rake the leaves, shovel snow, etc.  All we have to do is visit with friends and family, go to the doctor, take care of our two cats, head to the grocery store when necessary, go to the doctor, talk on the phone and open my computer daily to type a story for my blog.  Yeah...there are other things that we do such as watch the Phillies win and I play a few games of pool every week, but hey...we don't have to if we don't want to.  We did go out to vote recently and my wife actually helped with handouts and telling the retirees which buttons and knobs to pull when they vote.  She naturally ushered them in the direction where they had to vote for her favorites.   Our choices will definitely win that way!  Well, the fellow whose photograph was shown in the daily newspaper recently, since he just turned 100, guy by the name of Art Schallock,  happened to be a New York Yankee.  The newspaper article began with saying that Art, while still a Yankee ballplayer, would begin each day by taking the elevator down to the lobby in the hotel where the team resided during away games, and collecting the latest comic books for his roommate Yogi Berra.  My guess is that Mickey Mantle must have been a part of that group of great people at one time or another.  Art said, "That was quite a thrill playing with those guys.  I roomed with Yogi Berra when I got up there, and he knew all the hitters.  We went over all the hitters on each team.   Art, a Bay Area native went to Tmalpais High in Mill Valley, then College of the Marines, before becoming the 10,823rd major league player when he debuted on July 16, 1951.  He pitches 2 2/3 innings for the Yankees that day at Detroit, then earned his first career win one month later at Washington.  The lefty won three World Series rings from 1951-53, although he only pitched in the '53 Series, retiring Brooklyn's Jackie Robinson during a two-inning outing in Game 4.  He went 6-7 with a 4.02 ERA over five seasons in 58 games and 14 starts with the Yankees and Orioles.  He still wears one of those World Series rings regularly on his pitching hand.  "Here's a game that I loved, I really enjoyed it and loved the game of baseball, and they pay you for it.   What more can you ask for?"  Schallock shakes his head and smiles about the money that he earned and what they get paid today.  He signed with the Dodgers for $5,000 and if he lasted past June 1 he would receive another $5,000 payment.  Art still has some years to go to set any kind of age records.  Negro League pitcher Si Simmons of the 1926 New York Lincoln Giants lived to 111, while another ex-Yankee pitcher, Red Hoff, reached 107.  Schallock has a hard time hearing these days, he relishes every chance to chat about baseball.  And he offers no real secrets to his longevity - no strict exercise regimen or special diet.  "Stop having a drink, have two," he said, laughing.  "That's all I was allowed to drink before dinner, that was it, my wife cut me off.  Vodka over the rocks with a little splash of water, vodka and water and a little ice.  Only two.  I also had a few beers.  Of course, there's been some good fortune along the way to make it to 100.  Serving for the U.S. Navy in the Pacific Ocean during WWII, Schallock narrowly escaped harm when the neighboring aircraft carrier USS Liscome Bay was sunk by a Japanese torpedo in November 1943 and 644 were killed - accounting for the majority of the casualties in the Battle of Makin.  Thanks for your service Art and thanks for all the tales about playing the game of baseball.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of unordinary guy.   The following three photographs show Art Schallock.  Recognize him?  I didn't, and I'm a big baseball fan!      

The "Oldest Living Conjoined Twins Recently Die" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading about the oldest living conjoined twins who lived in nearby Reading, Pennsylvania, but recently died.  Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in nearby Reading, Pennsylvania.  

They were 62 years old.  I was going to add both were 62, but thought better of it.  The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.  The cause of death was not listed.  When they were born, the doctors didn't think they would make 30 years of age, but they proved them wrong when they turned 50.  The twins were born September 18, 1961 in West Reading, Pennsylvania.  They had distinct brains, but were joined at the skull.  George, who had spina bifida was 4 inches shorter, and was wheeled around by Lori on an adaptive wheeled stool.  Despite each having to go where the other one went, it was "very important" to both "to live as independently as possible," their obituary said. Both graduated from a public high school and took college classes.  George went along for six years as Lori worked in a hospital laundry.  Lori - "a trophy-winning bowler," according to the obituary notice, gave up the job in 1996 so her sibling could launch a country music career.  "Since the age of 24, they have maintained their own residence and have traveled extensively," the obituary notice read.  Over the years, they appeared in many documentaries and talk shows, as well as in an episode of the FX medical drama "Nip/Tuck."  The Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper reported that Lori was engaged to be married, but her fiancé died in an automobile accident.  "When I went on dates," Lori said, "George would bring along books to read."  The twins said in a 1997 documentary that they had different bathing schedules and showered one at a time.  George spoke of giving someone your love and respect "the privacy and compromise in situations that you would want them to give you."  Lori said compromise meant "you don't get everything you want right when you want it."  Cojoined twins occur once in every 50,000 to 60,000 births when identical twins from a single embryo fail to separate.  About 70% are female, and most are stillborn.  Only a small percentage are joined at the head, with nearly three-quarters joined at the chest and others at the abdomen or pelvis.  Separation was deemed risky for the Schappell twins, but Lori Schappell told the Associated Press in a 2002 interview at the twins' apartment in a high-rise seniors complex that she didn't think such as operation was necessary in any case.   "You don't mess with what God made, even if it means you enjoy both children for a shorter time," she said.  In a 1997 documentary, George also strongly ruled out the idea of separation saying, "why fix what is not broken?"  It isn't immediately clear who will now take the title of oldest living confined twins.  The oldest ever documented were Ronnie and Donnie Galyon, who died in 2020 at age 68.  Eng and Chang Bunker, the 19th century "Siamese twins" who gained fame as a circus act, lived to be 63.  The Chappell twins' survivors include their father and six siblings.  Private services are planned, the funeral home said.  As I studied the photograph in the newspaper I just had to wonder why God felt it necessary to create a pair of children that were conjoined to the point of not being able to be separated without death.  There must have been a reason!  Perhaps I will never know that reason.....or maybe it best that I don't know the reason.  The West Reading twins seem to have a life together that can't get any closer.  I don't think I could handle it, had it been me.  But, who knows.  Perhaps God gave them the knowledge and love necessary for their survival.  So Be It!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Are Pigs The Future Of Organ Transplants?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading in my latest "TIME" magazine about transplanting pig kidneys into humans.  It was this past March 16 that a transplant-surgery team at Massachusetts General Hospital successfully transplanted a modified pig kidney into a human.   The groundbreaking, four-hour surgery was the culmination of years of work transplanting kidneys from a specially bred group of pigs - genetically modified to more closely resemble those of humans - into primates.  Encouraged by those results, the team of surgeons at Mass General Brigham was confident it was time to test the pig organ in the first human patient.  That patient, a Mr. Richard Slayman, a manager at the Massachusetts department of transportation, had received a human kidney transplant five yers ago but as its often the case with kidney disease, the organ began to fail and he continued to need dialysis.  His health progressively worsened to the point that he couldn't carry on like that, said Dr. Winfred Williams, Mr. Slayman's physician.  Dr. Tatsuro Kawai, director of the hospital's Center for Clinical Transplant Tolerance, who had performed the operation previously, also performed the pig-kidney surgery.  As more than a dozen people watched, Kawai carefully connected the pig kidney to Slayman's circulatory system.  The size of the pig kidney was exactly the same as the human kidney and upon restoration of blood flow into the kidney, the kidney pinked up immediately and started to make urine.  When they first saw the urine output, everyone in the operating room burst into applause.  It was truly the most beautiful kidney they had ever seen.  The kidney came from a special group of pigs bred to produce human-like kidneys.  Biotech company eGenesis worked closely with the hospital to produce them, using genetic innovations developed over recent decades.  The pigs' cells were treated with the gene-editing technology CRISPR, which allows scientists to make very precise genetic changes in cells.  These cells were then used to create pig clones so the pigs would have identical and consistent genetic changes.  Their kidneys were then transplanted first into primates, and finally into Slayman.  All told, the pig kidneys contained 69 genetic changes: The scientists knocked out or eliminated three pig genes that trigger immediate rejection by the human immune system, added seven human genes to make the pig tissue appear more human to the immune cells, and inactivated viral genes in pig cells that could cause infections.  They also used a unique cocktail of antibody treatments to further dampen the immune reaction to the transplanted kidney.  Unbelievable!!  The company is working on other pig organs as well.  In January, eGenesis partnered with researchers at the University of Pennsylvania to transplant a genetically modified pig liver into a brain-dead patient.  That work, along with Slayman's experience, is making a strong case for the role of pig organs for patients on waiting lists.  More than 100,000 people are placed on the kidney-transplant waiting list in the USA each year; only 20,000 kidneys are available.  More transplants may provide a better idea of how long the pig kidneys function and whether they can meaningfully extend the length and quality of a patients' life.  For now, patients might benefit from receiving a pig kidney temporarily as they wait for a human one.  Such bridging can be critical for patients like Slayman; while on dialysis, he experienced clotting issues and required dozens of surgeries to improve his circulation.  Will the pig kidney be a solution or just a stop-gap while waiting on a human kidney?  At least today there is a glimmer of hope that their may be a better and longer waiting period by use of a healthy pig kidney.  Or...maybe, just maybe, the pig kidney might be the permanent answer for others.  I guess, as the saying goes, only time will tell.           

The "Red-Eyed Periodical Cicada" Story

It was an ordinary day.  My local newspaper posted a story in my morning paper that was previously posted in Newberry, South Carolina that was titled "Police get noise complaints about cicadas."  The story read.... "Emerging cicadas are so loud in one South Carolina county that residents are calling the sheriff's office asking why they can hear sirens or a loud roar.  The Newberry County Sheriff's Office sent out a message on Facebook this past Tuesday letting people know that the whining sound is just the male cicadas singing to attract mates after more than a decade of being dormant."  Guess I'd do the same thing if I were in their situation.  "Some people have even flagged down deputies to ask what the noise is all about," Newberry County Sheriff Lee Foster said.  "The nosiest cicadas were moving around the county of about 38,000 people, about 40 miles northwest of Columbus, SC, prompting calls from different locations as Tuesday wore on," Foster said.  Trillions of red-eyed periodical cicadas are emerging from underground in the eastern U.S. this month.

The red-eyed Cicada

The broods emerging are on 13-year or 17-year cycles.  Their collective songs can be as loud as jet engines, and scientists who study them often wear earmuffs to protect their hearing.  After Tuesday, Foster understands why.  "Although to some, the noise is annoying, but they pose no danger to humans or pets," Foster wrote in his statement to county residents.  "Unfortunately, it is the sounds of nature."  In most cases the cicadas, which live about a month, will die not far from where they had emerged.  How would you like to have a lifetime expectancy of about a month?  Well, Cicadas will appear soon in the states of Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, southern Wisconsin and Iowa.  And...in no time they will be gone until 2038 or perhaps 2042.  Isn't life strange...at least for the red-eyed periodical cicadas.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.    

The "An Unbreakable Record" Story

The year was 1924 and President Coolodge had just signed the Indian Citizenship Act which granted citizenship to native Americans living in the U.S.A.  Macy's had just held their first Thanksgiving Parade, a U.S Postage Stamp would could you $ .02, and gasoline was $.18 a gallon.  And, a guy by the name of Lewis Walker Jr. had just caught the biggest musky any angler had ever caught in the state of Pennsylvania.  Lewis was trolling an 8-inch chub on a 42-pound line fitted with a wire leader on Conneaut Lake in Crawford County, PA on September 30, 1924 when a fish struck the bait and a fight ensued.  It lasted at least 30 minutes, according to an account provided by Walker to a magazine several years after the battle and catch.  Walker won the battle and hauled in a musky that measured 59 inches long and weighed 54 pounds, 3 ounces.  To this day, that fish hangs on the wall of the Fish and Boat Commission's Linesville State Fish Hatchery in Crawford County.  No one has officially ever caught one bigger anywhere in the State of Pennsylvania in the past century.  The fight between the fish and Lewis lasted at least 30 minutes.  To this day, that fish hangs on the wall of the Fish and Boat Commission's Lineville State Fish Hatchery in Crawford County, Pennsylvania.  So what gives with that record?  How has it stood for so long?  Well, for one thing...Pennsylvania isn't known or is ideal for muskies.  Except in fast-moving western Pennsylvania rivers, natural reproduction of muskies here is minimal at best.  In our lakes, it's even worse.  So, the only place musket are found in the state are in waters where they are stocked.  Musky stocking began in Pennsylvania in the 1890s and was quickly abandoned for decades; then relaunched in 1953, and has been regular ever since.  Only about 40,000 fish a year are spread across the entire state.  So, there aren't many muskies out there to begin with, and then, to grow large enough to beat the 100-year-old record, an individual musky would have to live a long time.  It is said that it would take 17 years for a musky to grow 50 inches, and Walker's fish was 59 inches.  On average, muskies in Pennsylvania weigh about 40 pounds and weigh in at 51 inches.  It is assumed that Walker's catch was likely well over 20 years old and that's beyond ancient for most wild animals.  Now, bigger muskets have been caught elsewhere in the USA with the world-record musky being one that was 69 pounds, 11 ounces and was caught in 1949 in Wisconsin.  But the International Game Fish Asso. doesn't recognize that fish because it was shot twice in the head before it was landed.  That my fellow fishermen is against the rules!  Walker's fish now hangs at the Linesville hatchery where another musky is on the wall that measures 54 5/8 inches and weighs 53 pounds and was caught in 1984 in an experimental fill net on Kinzua Reservoir, Warren County, by two U.S. Army Corps of Engineers biologists.  From 2012-22, the biggest musky caught in Pennsylvania was in2014 and that was measured at 52 inches and weighed 50 pounds.  It was caught on the Lehigh River by Mr. Frank Smolick.  One angler said that they believe that if it were possible for a musky to grow bigger than 54 pounds, 3 ounces is in Pensylvania, I think it would have - and been caught - at some point in the last century.  Many believe that the Pennsylvania Musky record is one that will continue to stand forever.  You'd have a much better chance of breaking the state's second-best fishing record - the common carp, 52 pounds, caught in the Juniata River in 1962 by George Brown.  So...to all my fishing friends...that's what I'm going after the next time I go fishing!  And...you'll be there first to see the photograph and read about it.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Lewis Walkers 54 pound, 3 oz. Musky

The "A Historical Story About The 'Dinah Memorial'"

It was an ordinary day.  Reading my Sunday News when I came across a story telling me about Philadelphia's first monument dedicated to a formerly enslaved woman on the grounds of Stenton.  The monument was located next to a 300-year-old home in the Logan section of the city near Germantown, PA.  So, just how is my hometown of Lancaster connected you might want to know.  Well, the connection is James Logan who built Stenton and the Penn family's representative in Pennsylvania.  Mr. Logan was the primary quaker mover and shaker of the colony in the early 18th century, as well as a Lancaster County landowner.  At various times, Logan served as President of Pennsylvania's Provincial Council, mayor of Philadelphia, Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and acting Governor.  Among other duties, Logan often presided at treaty sessions with American Indians on the Pennsylvania frontier.  He understood maintaining good relationships with the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy and their wards, the Conestogas in Lancaster County, was crucial to Pennsylvania's security.  In 1717, Logan set aside 500 acres for himself and 300 acres on a neighboring tract for fur trader John Cartlidge along the Conestoga River in what would become Manor Township.  Logan also owned 100 acres across the river in Conestoga Township.  These lands, close to the Little Conestoga Creek's confluence with the Conestoga River and the Conestoga's outlet to the Susquehanna river, lay within walking distance of Conestoga Indian Town.  Logan built a store that would become the focal point for trade with Indians from a large region.  Covered wagons called "Conestogas" rolled regularly between Logan's trading post and Philadelphia.  Logan made a small fortune in the fur trade, but made even more money by taking his cut from the Penn family properties he sold in Lancaster and other settled areas.  He created a property known as Stenton with this money.  He raised his family at Stenton and became an expert in botany, astronomy and mathematics.  He corresponded with English, European and American scholars and was at the epicenter of intellectual life in early Philadelphia.  But, he achieved much of this with enslaved African-Americans and indentured servants.  They built Stenton and maintained its interior and grounds  allowing him time to cultivate his intellect.  It wasn't until recent decades that people mentioned Logan's enslaved personnel.  During the Revolutionary War, well after Logan's death, an enslaved woman named Dinah, who the family had freed, prevented British soldiers from torching the mansion.  The Dinah Memorial project engaged the surrounding Black community to help design a fitting memorial to Dinah.  

The Dinah Memorial

The memorial consists of two engraved limestone tablets and benches surrounding a small reflecting basin near Stenton's main entrance along 18th Street in front of the house.  James Logan was one of the most significant potltical and intectual leaders of early Pennsylvania.  He also enslaved African Americans and helped steal Bucks County territory from the Lenape Indians in the 1737 "Walking Purchase."  He was a vital, but flawed figure in Pennsylvania history. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Are You Ready For The Next Eclipse?" Story

 It was an ordinary day.  Time to plan for my next eclipse, but was told that I'll need a passport!  After spending a few bucks on special glasses to wear and planning for the perfect spot to watch the recent eclipse...my wife and I were totally disappointed since the weather didn't cooperate and we saw only the slightest bit of the eclipse through the overcast skies.  So, we decided to check out where the next celestial event will appear and found out we will have three more chances to see the eclipse over the next four years.  Wow!  But, it means a bit of travel to do so.  The first, on August 12, 2026 will start above Greenland, then strafe the west coast of Iceland and move along the Atlantic Ocean and over Spain.  Yeah...like that's gonna happen!  We have never been to Greenland and to tell you the truth...I'm not sure where Greenland is!  So...we decided to cross that first choice off our list and wait for the next one after Greenland.  Almost a year later, on August 2, 2027, another eclipse will skirt the Mediterranean coast of North Africa than cross Egypt and part of the Arabian Peninsula.  Ah...give me a break!!  I can't imagine how long it would take to get there and how much it would cost to be able to see another eclipse....and with no promise that we will be able to see the eclipse any better than the one a week or so ago.  So...how about the third one.  The third, on July 22, 2028, will cut across Australia and the southern tip of New Zealand. So...we talked it over and decided to watch all three....on TV.  At least we would have the best view available and it will cost a bunch of money less than if we had traveled to try and see them.  What's nice about a total solar eclipse is that it happens fairly regularly - in locations scattered around the globe.  "That's the great thing about them:  You wind up in places that you don't normally go,"  The worst part of trying to see an eclipse in-person is the weather, which will be the major spoiler in the 2026 eclipse.  If I had my choice of which of the three I would want to see with a promise of perfect weather...well, I guess it would be the 2027 eclipse since it is the site of numerous ancient temples as well as the Valleys of the Kings and Queens, and sits right in the middle of the path of totality and will be bathed in darkness for a full 6 minutes and 23 seconds.  Weather-wise, it is what Sahami called "a slam dunk."  "You know you're going to see it.   You know that you're not going to get any clouds."  The 2028 eclipse will darken the skies over Sydney, Australia, for 3 minutes and 49 seconds.  It will be the first time the city has experienced a total solar eclipse since 1857.  If you want to see any (or all) of these eclipses, you should get started on planning and booking now, particularly if you want to sign up for a trip organized by a tour company.  One of the Sirius Travel's excursions to Luxor is already full.  Scrutinize refund policies and look into insuring your trip.  Several companies will fully refund your deposit if you cancel a year in advance.  So...what do you think?  Do you want to take the chance that the weather will be good or that you might not even be alive by then.  As for my wife and myself...well, we have decided to.......head to Sint Maarten and sit on the beach the day of all three eclipses.  We will be sitting in our beach chairs on Orient Beach with our eyes closed, visualizing (actually dreaming) what the eclipse looks like that day.  There will be little to no traffic and we can hop in the warm ocean waters and close our eyes and try and imagine what the eclipse looked like that day.  And a few minutes later we can snack on a sandwich and a cold one!  Hey....you know....we could do that as soon as we have our bags packed and our arrival date is set with our friend Magali.  And...as soon as we arrive in St. Martin I will type a story wondering what the eclipse might have looked like that day.  Life's to short to sit in front of a TV or wait for an eclipse or watch your life go by.   It was another extraordinary ay in the life of an ordinary guy.