The "Warning To Drivers In Maryland: My Granddaughter Turned 16!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  June 23, 2020 and my youngest granddaughter, Camille, finally will be able to drive.  I can remember when I turned 16 and thought I was going to rule the roads of Lancaster now that I would be able to drive.  A few weeks after I turned 16 I went to the Lancaster State Police Barracks and got my driver's license.  A State Police Officer sat with me in my Dad's car while I drove it around the small test track behind the Police Barracks.  While driving, he asked me a few questions about my driving skills.  As we came back to the start, I had to prove to him I could parallel park the car.  Aced it and passed within 15 minutes.  Well, it is quite different today!  Camille was able to get her permit 3 months before she turned 16, but she then had to take a class on driving in a classroom, then take another behind-the-wheel class.  During that time she was able to drive the family car with her mom or dad sitting next to her.  Now that she is 16, she must wait another 9 months before she can take her driver's test with a certified test driver so she can drive by herself.  Now, that's provided she passes the test in 9 months!  Wow, I had already demolished my first car before she will be able to drive by herself.  Now, I wasn't in the car when a drunk driver demolished it, but it still seems quite a long time before she will be able to drive by herself.  Tough to think that little Camille will be driving.  I can still remember seeing her for the first time.  She was the cutest little baby.  Seems like so long ago that I held her in my arms.  She has turned into a beautiful young girl who has given my wife and I so many happy memories.  Follow along with my Camille photo album as I give you an idea of how active Camille has been in her young life.  And...a Very Happy Birthday to a wonderful Granddaughter!  Love You, Camille!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Our daughter Brynn with our Granddaughter Camille.

Camille after winning an award at a swim meet.

Camille had just finished a story that I published on this blog site.
Camille is the only person, other than myself, who has published
a story on this blog site.  Date was in 2010.

2011 and Camille has lost her two front teeth.

Graduation from Elementary School.  Camille celebrates with her Amah and Tampa. 

2013.  One of my favorite photos of Camille

2013.  Camille never met a challenge she couldn't conquer.

2014.  Camille was my photo buddy on many
historical excursions.  This one was near Frederick, Maryland.

Ocean City New Jersey.  Still can't believe she could do this!  And, she landed on her feet!

2016.  She tried just about every sport that had been invented.

And even loved fishing near Ocean City, NJ

Her school team needed a goalie...she volunteered and didn't allow a single goal
the entire season.  First time the coach ever had a team that didn't have
a goal scored against them.  She even outdid her mom who was a star goalie in high school.

One of my favorite photographs of Camille.
Taken by her neighbor Terri Beach.

Recent photo of Camille and friend Nayla.

Camille celebrating her 16th birthday with her sister Courtney (next to her), friend Carleigh across from her and another friend, Ally across from Courtney.  Nala, the family dog is waiting for the scraps under the table.,

Her banana-split birthday cake.  She really is older than 7!

The "Everybody Has An Uncle Billy, Don't They?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Looking at the weekly column written by Jack Brubaker, aka "The Scribbler".   Today's column has two stories; one being a story about a fellow who worked at Armstrong Cork Company and the other about an ex-slave known as "Uncle Billy."  Now, Uncle Billy's story is much more exciting and takes you back to a time when the United States had the institution known as slavery.  Uncle Billy Adams was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1845.  At the age of ten his parent's were sold by their slave master to another slave owner. Shortly thereafter, Billy walked off the plantation and headed north.  The slave master took after him with his hounds, but Billy rubbed onions on his shoes to deaden his smell and got away from them.  About a half dozen years later Billy watched the Battle of Antietam at Antietam Creek near Sharpsburg, Maryland.  The battle pitted Confederate General Robert E. Lee's Army of Nothern Virginia against Union General George McClellan's Army of the Potomac and was the culmination of Lee's attempt to invade the north.  At some point during the battle, Billy was chased from the battlefield by soldiers.  He was later freed by President Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation enacted on January 1, 1863.  In Billy's younger days, after gaining his freedom, he was a circus hand and a roustabout at sea.  He vividly recalled "rounding the horn" in a windjammer and working on the railroad for a few years.  He also said he visited all of the 48 states.  At the age of 85 he was employed as a day laborer on the Lancaster-York inter-county bridge at Columbia.  That historical bridge is still standing today.  Wonder if I searched whether I could find Billy's initials on one of the concrete pillars.  During his lifetime in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, he was known widely as Uncle Billy, the quiet and gentle ex-slave whose pleasant philosophy of life, humor and age made him one of Lancaster's most widely known residents.  He lived in a small, specially constructed house on the rear of the Snavely Lumber Mill in Landisville.  On Monday, October 31, 1955, "Uncle Billy" Adams died at 2:10 PM at Lancaster General Hospital. He was 110 years old.  Uncle Billy's hobby was gardening and he worked on the properties of Jess and Ralph Snavely until he became ill and had to give up his gardening.  Uncle Billy was a long-time baseball fan and would listen to games on his radio, but when he became ill and had to go to the hospital, he didn't take his radio with him, since he was worried he would disturb the other patients.  When he first entered the hospital he entertained his room companion as well as the nurses with his knowledge of the Bible. He always said he tries to lead "a Christian life" although he knows he isn't perfect.  A few days into his stay at the hospital he was treated to a birthday party by 15 Brownies from Troop 103, Landisville, PA for his 109th birthday.  They sang Happy Birthday as well as the Brownie "Smile Song" to him and each gave him a birthday card which they had made.  As the Brownies left the hospital, he stood and shook hands with each one.  Records from the old-age pension bureau bear out the fact that he was 110 years old when he died.  I never knew Uncle Billy, but felt I knew him just a bit by writing this story about him.  I don't know if I liked him because he was a big baseball fan or because he was a hero to many, both adults and children.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - Click to enlarge photograph.

  

The "LNP Living: Paper Trail - Part I" Story

Front page of the Living Section of LNP

It was an ordinary day.  Sunday, September 15, 2019 and there on the front page of the "Living" section of the Lancaster LNP newspaper was the bold headline "PAPER TRAIL" under the smaller title of "HISTORY."  The accompanying artwork shows a person's hands holding a personal computer showing a copy of The Lancaster Examiner from June 17, 1796.  Wow, would I love to read that paper.  Well, it seems that I now can read it!  The Lancaster newspapers have digitized every newspaper they have ever printed since June 17, 1796.  And, it is available to anyone who cares to read it.  If you have a print or digital subscription you can access the files for no charge.  Lancaster Newspapers has one more file to digitize and you will be able to go back one more year to 1795.  Everything, including the advertisements, death and birth notices, sports, advertisements, headline news, etc. can be seen on any one of the papers they print.  There are 19 newspapers that can be accessed by computer through the new website.  Papers such as: The Age and Lancaster and Chester County Weekly Gazette (1842), The Daily Evening Express (1856-1876), Daily Lancaster Examiner (1830-1834), The Inquirer (1870-1921), Intelligencer Journal (1864-2008), La Cos Hispana (1994-2008), Lancaster County Real Estate Weekly (1994-2008), Lancaster Democrat (1845-1846), The Lancaster Examiner (1834-1918), Lancaster Examiner and The Semi-Weekly New Era (1920), Lancaster Intelligencer (1847-1920), The Lancaster Morning Journal (1909-1915),

Front page of the September 9, 1944 evening newspaper.

Lancaster New Era (1920-2009), Lancaster Reporter (1827-1828), LNP Always Lancaster (2104-2019), The News-Journal (1890-1927), The Saturday Express (1850-1856), The Semi-Weekly New Era (1877-1919) and Sunday News (1923-2008) are all online at present with access to each paper.  So, what did I decide to do first with my new found access to a lifetime of newspapers?  I pulled up the day I was born to see if I really was born in Lancaster.  

There was my birth announcement under WOODS.
My mother and father are both deceased as is St Joseph's Hospital

Yep, there it was in black and white on page 3; Boys births, Girls births and Twin births.  Wow, this is really neat.  Read both the morning Intel- ligencer Journal and the evening Lancaster New Era newspapers.  During my lifetime I was able to chose either the morning paper, which was allegedly a Democratic newspaper or the Lancaster New Era which was the Republican newspaper.  Both had separate staffs, photographers, reporters, etc. but both used the same printing press that was housed for most of my life at the Lancaster Newspaper office at 8 W. King Street in Downtown Lancaster.  

My birth announcement was also in the morning Intelligencer Journal.

I happened to know pressmen on both papers and from time to time would visit with them so I could see the presses run.  Being that I taught Graphic Arts in high school, I was in heaven with everything from watching the presses run to the smell of the ink.  And now I can search every single newspaper that was ever printed in Lancaster County.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - The following photographs are from the 1944 Lancaster Intelligencer Journal or the Lancaster New Era.

Every day saw stories of those serving in the armed forces of our country.
Click on any image to enlarge it.  You may be able to read it.

Story about the recent epidemic of polio.

How local schools decided to handle the proble.

I was born during WWII so many stories were geared toward the war.
This story talks about hunters only being able to get one box of shells,
since most ammunition when to the armed forces.  Had to be a good shot!

Tobacco was a big crop for Lancaster County farmers.

Advertisements geared toward the war effort.

Another ad for the war effort.

An advertisement for Armstrong Cork Company which was founded in Lancaster, PA

An editorial cartoon.

Another war cartoon.

Yes, Blondie was around in 1944.

This is the daily schedule for WGAL Radio station.  Televisions
were still too costly for most homes to have one.

This is an advertisement for Rudy Vallee on WGAL radio.

Movie advertisement from 1944.

This is an advertisement for the York County Fair.
This year's  York County Fair just ended this past week.
That's 75 years later than this advertisement.

I can remember seeing highlighted cards for different baseball
players many years later. 

Drawing of Ed McKeever who had just been named coach at Notre Dame College.

If you're a baseball fan, these are the teams that existed in 1944.

The "Celebrating 70 Years Of Broadcasting" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Good day to celebrate a birthday.  So, today our local television station, WGAL-TV, is celebrating their 70th birthday...if you please.  Their first studio was in downtown Lancaster, PA at 24 S. Queen Street.  

Logo from when they were Channel 4.

At the time they were VHF Channel 4 when they began serving the Susque- hanna Valley.  It was the first television station between Philadel- phia and Pittsburgh.  Then on March 22nd the station produced their first formal program for a group of RCA Television executives, dealers and radio station personnel in a room in The Stevens House Hotel on South Prince Street in downtown.  The show originated in one room of the hotel and was shown on 25 receivers placed in the hotel's ballroom.  

Current logo for Channel 8

If you happened to be in the hotel ballroom at the time, you got to watch the station's first production.  Then, six weeks later WGAL began a 47-year tradition by presenting the area's first local newscast.  It was a 15-minute newscast that originated live from the WGAL studios on North Queen Street.  The sports announcer that day was Dave Brandt who was one of my favorites for many years.  Early entertainment on WGAL consisted of film features and shorts and later, selected programming from CBS, ABC, NBC and DuMont Network.  

Romper Room as seen on WGAL-TV.

Today the station is exclusively NBC and handles the Harrisburg-Lancaster-York- Lebanon Pennsyl- vania areas.  Still called the Susque- hanna Valley on TV.  The station was started by the Steinman brothers, James Hale and John Frederick.  It was in 1922 that the local radio station, WGAL, received its license.  Jacob Mathiot built the equipment for the radio station at nearby Lancaster Electric Supply & Construction Co. on East Orange Street.  

WGAL Channel 8's current home in Lancaster, PA.

Broadcast was limited to 25 miles and one hour a day.  The following year the publishers of the the local newspaper, the Steinman Brothers bought WGAL radio.  They eventually sold it, but repurchased it in 1929 and increased its signal strength.  Then on March 18, 1949 James Hale and John Frederick signed on to broadcast in black and white making Lancaster the smallest city in the country with a TV station.  The station had 15 employees and Mr. Mathiot was responsible for the technical aspects of broadcasting.  In 1951 WGAL, which began broadcasting for 5 to 6 hours a day in the evening, came on the air before noon.  Then in 1952 the station moved from VHF Channel 4 to Channel 8 and increased its power with a new TV antenna on top of the nearby Harold's Furniture Store.  The station signed on at 7:00 a.m. with the premier of NBC's "Today Show."  It was during this time that my parents bought a small black and white table top TV.  Darn thing had these coat hangers on them in the back that you had to adjust from time to time to be able to see what was on the screen.  I now know they were called rabbit ears and they were an antenna to draw the signal to the TV.  I was 7 years old when I would get up at 6:45 a.m., head to the bathroom quickly and then down the stairs to sit in front of the TV at our home at 929 N. Queen Street.  

Test pattern preceded the National Anthem on Saturday.

At 7:00 a.m. the "Test Pattern" came on and shortly the National Anthem began.  Always had to stand at attention with my hand across my heart.  Then came "Covered Wagon Theatre" with some of my favorite cowboys.  In 1954 WGAL's power was boosted to 316,000 watts via a new tower, antenna and transmitter in nearby York County along the Susquehanna River.  For the first time The Tournament of Roses was broadcast in color and we went to my Aunt Doris' house on East Chestnut Street to watch the spectacle.  

Joe Calhoun, one of my favorite weathermen.

Two years later the studio moved from downtown Lancaster to a modern station at Abbeyville Road and Columbia Avenue on the west end of town.  Really neat building that still houses the station today.  Then in 1978 the Steinman's sold WGAL TV along with their TV station in Providence, Rhode Island to Pulitzer Publishing Co.  Their radio station had already been sold in 1977.  Then in 1999 Pulitzer sold WGAL TV to Hearst-Argyle Television which in turn was renamed Hearst Television Inc.  

Kim Lemon, a favorite anchor.  I taught school with her dad.

Ten years ago WGAL began carrying "This TV" on digital sub channel 8.2 and in 2014 switched to "MeTV" which carries a variety of classic TV shows.  They know what we old-timers like to watch.  In 2012 the studio renovated one of their stage sets to broadcast their daily news shows.  Five years ago part of their roof collapsed and they were forced to livestream their news for a 24-hours.  Over the years I have had some favorite announcers and some that I just didn't care for.  Perhaps my all time favorite was Kim Lemon who was the daughter of Dean Lemon who was a Industrial Arts teacher with me at Mannheim Township High School.  

Ron Martin, Kim's partner on the news.

She began shortly after college working at the station.  She was a beautiful young woman who almost won the Miss Pennsyl- vania Contest.  She still works there and is still my favorite.  Another favorite was Joe Calhoun.  He is a weatherman whose son I had in class.  I got to know Joe from his visits at Open House as well as his being the school's JV basketball coach.

Jack Hubley from "Wild Moments".

 Another favorite was Eric Horst who was a weather- man, but eventually became chairman of the Meteoro- logy Department at Millersville University.  I also had Eric as a student in my Photography class.  Ron Martin has been the male anchor for many years and always does a great job and who wouldn't like Jack Hubley who is host of "Wild Moments".  I contacted him one time to ask about putting a trap in my car that had a skunk in it.  He said it would be no problem and if it did spray my car he would feature me in a show.  Darn thing didn't spray my car!  My guess is that the station will outlive me, but I hope to have many more years of TV watching of my favorite TV station.  I have grown-up with WGAL, and wish them a HAPPY BIRTHDAY.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Another Great Birthday Gift From My Brother" Story

A 1796 Bible that was a gift from my brother Steve.

It was an ordinary day.  And then my brother handed me my birthday present.  As soon as I looked at it I knew it was going to be one of the most interesting presents I have received in quite a while.  My brother Steve is a "Picker" or scavenger if I must pin a name on him.  Loves to go to auctions and sales where he will buy boxes of old goods that are no longer wanted by their owners.  Some boxes at auction houses yield buried treasures that had long been forgotten by their owners and whose owners want a few dollars for unwanted items rather than throw the boxes in the trash.  

My latest gift, a board game titled "All About Lancaster."

A year or so ago Steve gave me a plastic bag that had an old Bible in it that proved to be a real find.  It had been printed in the city of Lancaster, Pennsyl- vania in 1796 at the Bailey and Dickson print shop in downtown Lancaster.  The plastic bag which contained the Bible was part of a box of items he had bid on and won at the Green Dragon Farmer's Market in Ephrata, PA.  

The 6-piece cardboard playing board showing Lancaster, PA

Well, my new gift is a table game that was in its original box with two rubberbands on it to hold it together.  Printed in 1980 and carried the name "All About Lancaster."  The board game consisted of six cardboard pieces that when placed together revealed a map of the city of Lancaster with streets and businesses that existed in the late 1970s to early 1980s.  As I looked more closely I found Watt & Shand Department Store, Darmstaetters Camera Store, Oblender's Furniture Store, Shenk Bros. and a few other businesses that no longer exist.  

Game pieces and playing parts can be seen here.  Now,
can't wait for a visit with friends of family to get a chance
to play my new game.

Also saw Saint Joseph Hospital that has now changed hands twice since this game was produced.  The directions to the game list the object, setting up the game, setting up play, playing the game plus a few other rules needed to have a good time.  Just had to check on eBay to see if there were any more game boards such as the one I had just received and sure enough, there was one with a bid of $22.49 with 18 hours before the item was closed to bidding.  Pretty neat gift to go with the bobblehead of Robert Fulton and the bobblehead of Thadeus Stevens and the miniature 16-wheeler tractor trailer with "Rocky Springs Carousel" painted on the side of it.  Presents that he had found during "Picker" excursions around Lancaster County.  Don't you wish that you had a brother as I do who gives presents that are truly treasures!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.