The "Happy Trails To You...Until We Meet Again! Story

It was an ordinary day.  Wondering how many of those reading my story today will recognize where I got the title for today's story.  Came from the wife of one of my favorite cowboys, Roy Rogers.  Roy was a cowboy star while I was growing up in the 40s and 50s. And, a cowboy star very seldom killed anyone but the bad guy.  The cowboy star may fight the bad guy but never take advantage of him.  You gained the victory over your rival by being a "Good Guy."  Now, that was Roy Rogers!  

LDub with my Roy Rogers chaps, gun, rope,
holster and cowboy hat.  Roy was tops!  My
chaps have "Roy Rogers" printed on them.
Mom made me wear a black hat and I hated it.

I never once saw Roy kiss a girl on TV.  Same goes for marrying a girl on his show.  Heavens...he was married to Dale Evans.  So, when he rode off into the sunset at the end of his shows, he did it alone.  That's what a good cowboy did.  I was considered at the time a member of the cap-pistol set.  Others like myself, as well as the boys who wore brightly checkered shirts hanging down outside their pants, were Roy's followers on his TV show.  As a young boy I never knew Roy to do anything wrong.  He was one of my TV heroes.  He along with Wild Bill Hickok, The Lone Ranger and Tonto, The Cisco Kid and Poncho, Davey Crockett and Hopalong Cassidy filled my afternoons, Saturdays and Sundays with thrill after thrill as they defeated the bad guys and rode off into the sunset.  But, Roy was always my all-time hero when he rode Trigger onto the scene to save the day.  And, he really was a cowboy in real life.  I recently read an article about Roy and his career struggles and real life relationships.  He was born on November 5, 1911 in Cincinnati, Ohio.  

Roy and his brother with their instruments.

His real name was Leonard Slye.  I had a hard time thinking he was anyone other than Roy Rogers in his life.  A year after he was born, his Dad and brother built a houseboat and took the family up the Ohio River to Portsmouth.  The family bought a plot of land on which to build a house, but when the river flooded, they just moved the houseboat onto the property.  Then in 1919 the family moved to Lucasville, Ohio and Roy (just can't call him Leonard) was able to have a horse.  It was at this time in his life that he became an entertainer when he got a mandolin and began singing for the family.  His family was poor so he had to drop out of school to work with his dad at a local shoe factory.  

A very young Roy Rogers.  Always
wore a white hat so you would know
he was a good guy.

Then in 1931 the family moved to California where Roy sang and yodeled with "The Rocky Mountaineres" on local radio.  Two years later he married Lucile Ascolese who was one of his admirers.  The relationship didn't last long and they divorced in 1936.  Later that year he married Grace Wilkins after she baked a pie for him!  Roy then formed a new group called The Pioneers Trio and when they appeared on  a radio broadcast, the announcer decided he liked "The Sons of the Pioneers" better since they all looked so young.  Then in 1935 he began appearing in minor film parts.  Three years later he auditioned to be the next big "singing cowboy" star.  In 1938 he debuted in "Under Western Stars." In 1941 he and Grace adopted a little girl, Cheryl Darlene, when they found they couldn't have one of their own.  Two years later they had one of their own, Linda Lou.  

An early photo of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.

And, in 1945 Roy Jr. was born, but complications from the birth killed Grace.  During one of Roy's films he met a young woman by the name of Dale Evans, whom he married in 1947.  For 16 straight years, Roy was one of the top western actors in film.  I remember Roy the best when he made a move from film to TV on "The Roy Rogers Show."  On the show he was a cattle rancher who brought justice to the town where lived.  His wife, Dale Evans was also in the show.  His show was a hit from 1951-1957, while I was in elementary  and Jr. High School.  The other star of the show was his horse Trigger.  After '57 he began to fade into the sunset but that was OK with me, since girls and cars replaced Roy as my main center of interest in life.  Roy made his final ride into the sunset on July 6, 1998.  He brought me many childhood memories as well as a pretty neat western outfit.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Dale Evans and Roy Rogers

A younger Roy with Trigger.

Color film gave people a chance to see Roy and Trigger in full color.

The "America's Quiet Zone" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading about a place in the United States where there is no Wi-Fi, no cell phone signals, no microwaves and no Bluetooth devices.  And, its been that way for over 60 years.  The town is called Green Bank which is in West Virginia.  It is a town much like most towns 100 years ago.  The story about the place begins with a young girl, Charity, who is a senior at Pocahontas County High School.  Yes, she has an iPhone, but she uses it as a clock and a calculator.  She makes all her phone calls to friends on her home landline.  She rarely texts, at least anywhere inside the town limits.  Doesn't have to worry about texting and driving.  She can use her family's desktop computer, but it is via a broadband connection that is so slow that it takes minutes to load a YouTube video.  The town has 143 residents who have gotten used to no Wi-Fi, since it is not only unavailable, but banned.  

Green Bank is also home to the Green Bank Observatory which holds the world's largest fully steerable radio telescope.  The federal government established the National Radio Quiet Zone around the Observatory in 1958 which encompasses a 13,000-square mile area near the state's border with Virginia.  Now, that's a lot of ground!  The observatory has a telescope that could detect if your phone was in airplane mode on Saturn.  And, how would anyone know that fact?  Well, there is a sign outside its science center building that says so!  The area might make you feel as if you were in the middle of Lancaster County's Amish territory.  

Phone booths sit at the corner of many driveways and paper maps are readily available at gas stations.  Green Bank has created a different type of childhood that most children who don't live there wouldn't recognize.  There is no being bullied or harassed online and fewer mental health problems without social media.  It is what the town calls a unique kind of modern childhood.  Being in the great outdoors actually means just that to the residents of the town and they report they have discovered a newfound sense of adventure.  As far as Charity is concerned, she makes plans with friends via a landline phone or in person.  After school she enjoys running before she has to tend to the family's goats, chickens and ducks.  

Then it's time to make dinner with her mom.  When is the last time any teenager you know did all that...all in the same day?  She does use the family's computer, but more as a word-processor.   She even enjoys visits from her boyfriend where they can sit in the living room with her parents and talk, undistracted by technology.  She even says that her parents would kill her if she was staring at her phone and not listening to them.  But, in half a year she will leave home to head to West Virginia Wesleyan College.  It will seem as if she's entering a different new world.  Her parents have warned her about the risks of technology and hope she will adjust slowly to the new life.  Perhaps she will be able to help her new friends move to a life much like she has experienced all her life.  Her family has become a sort of savior to many of the families who live outside the  quiet zone.  The director of the Observatory, Dr. Karen O'Neil, reports that Charity's family has visitors from outside the quiet zone whose parents bring their teenagers to visit quite often due to being too stressed out from being on wireless all the time.  Wow, what a novel idea!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Candy That You Will Only Find On eBay" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Day after Halloween and all of the wrapped pretzels have been handed out as well as a few of the candy bars that I had purchased a week ago at Costco.  We kept the candy bars as a backup, since they are much more tasty that the pretzels plus pretzels are much better for children than candy bars.  Right?  Carol and I got to talking about what candy we enjoyed as children and it seems we both liked everything.  Then we talked about what candy we used to enjoy that we haven't seen for ages.

Teaberry Gum

 I told her I used to enjoy Clark's Teaberry Gum and haven't seen any for years.  So, I grabbed by laptop and "Googled" the gum.  Yep, it is longer made as well as close to a dozen other candies that haven't been made for many years.  As I read the list I came upon a few that I had never heard of before.  Items such as Seven Up Bars, Baffle Bars, Fat Emma Bars, Vegetable Sandwich Bars and Squirrel Nut-Zippers.  

An advertisement for the SevenUp Bar.

The seven milk chocolate squares that made up a Seven Up Bar each contained a different filling.  The anticipation of biting into a pillow of coconut, butterscotch caramel, buttercream, fudge, mint, cherry cream or orange jelly must have been a thrill when eating the Seven Up Bar.  It was first made in the 1930s by Pearson's, but was finally taken off the market in 1979.  But, another bar known as the Sky Bar, which has four squares that contain caramel, vanilla, peanut, and fudge fillings and was made at one time by Necco, will begin being made later this year by a manufacturer in Massachusetts.  The Baffle Bar was made around the 1920s to the 1970's.  It was made in California and was said to have "all the tang of the great outdoors" and "zest that was born of a mountain wind."  Inside the bar was walnuts, fudge and some sort of jelly.  Not something I would have eaten so it is no loss to me.  The Fat Emma Bar was made by Pendergast Candy in Minneapolis and used too much egg white in its nougat recipe, thus was known as the Fat Emma.  The candy maker, Frank Mars, eventually used a bit less egg white when he made the Milky Way and the 3 Musketeers bars.  

Chiclets were one of my favorites, but is no longer made.

Naturally the latter bars are still found on the candy shelves.  The Vegetable Sandwich Bar really sounds gross to me.  It contained dehydrated vegetables covered with chocolate. The wrapper displayed peas, carrots, celery and cabbage along with the promise, "Will Not Constipate."  I'm sure it didn't last too long.  The Squirrel Nut-Zipper was a Necco brand that was named after a prohibition-era cocktail.  The nutty-vanilla caramels were a penny candy similar to BB Bats and Tootsie Rolls.  It stopped production when Necco Company was sold.  Now, I did come upon a few candies that are no longer made that I really enjoyed.  "Chiclets" made with chicle, a natural gum found in several tropical American trees.  

Another favorite of mine the is no longer made.

The candy-coated gum hasn't been made since 2016.  Mary Janes were peanut butter-molasses penny candy originally made in Boston in a home once occupied by Paul Revere.  The candy was also made my Necco.  I'm sure there are other candies that you may have loved at one time that are no longer made, but the variety on the shelf at the supermarket has so many others that you certainly can find something that will give you cavities.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "The Rule Of Age 10!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Googling "Rules of life" to see what may appear on my desktop.  Some rather interesting, but perhaps strange, topics appeared on the page after page of results.  Topics such as: The Age 55 Rule, The 10 Rules of Change, 10 Rules for Writing Numbers and Numerals, Ten Basic Rules of Netiquette or Internet Etiquette, The Rule of #1,  The Giver "Rules" Flashcards, The New Rules of War, 10 Rules Of The Playground, The Rule of 72 and one that I found most intriguing...The Rule of Age 10.  Naturally had to click on the last rule I have listed and came to a page that featured a story that was posted in Reader's Digest's The Genius Section.  "The Rule of Age 10" has a subtitle of Want to find the key to happiness?  Think about what excited you most when you were in fifth grade-and do it now.  My first line of attack was to call my good friend Jere whom I have known since 1st grade and ask who we had as a fifth-grade teacher.  Seems it was Mrs. Ryder, the mom of one of our classmates.  

The 1st grade class at M.J. Brecht Elementary School in 1950.
Jere is front row right and I am top row left.  Marilyn in in white
dress, front row center. Click on image to enalarge.

I tried and tried to think of what interested me in 5th grade and I couldn't think of a darn thing, except the neighbor girl named Marilyn.  So, I then tried to think of what I may have done during summer vacations on either side of 5th grade and then..Bingo, it hit me!  It was the Christmas before I entered 5th grade that my Aunt Doris bought me an Army Pup tent as a gift.  The following summer I set it up in the back yard, used my small printing outfit I had received for my birthday that September and I was in the printing business.  Lancaster Press sat next to our backyard and the workers would throw their used slugs (metal lines of type cast on a Linotype machine) in a bucket by the back door.  It was very convenient to my yard and I would "borrow" a few of them, ink them with my large ink pad and press them on the sheets of paper I had taken from my dad's desk.  Presto...I was printing!  Little did I know how much that influenced me, since I later went to Millersville State Teacher's College where I became a teacher in the Graphic Arts, or printing.  Little did I realize that my entire life was influenced by that summer when I was about 10 years old.  Called my friend Jere once again and asked him what he did that summer, besides get into trouble with me.  

Jere and I standing in front of our old elementary school
a few years ago.  Our 1st grade classroom was bottom right.

He recalled heading to the Railway Express Station near our homes every day to be with his father who worked there.  His mom worked elsewhere so Jere had to go with his dad to the train station for the day.  No big deal, since he loved the train station.  At times I would join him to watch the trains or grab a coke from the cooler at the Railway Express office.  Jere eventually went to Millersville and began his teaching career with me at the same school we graduated from a few years earlier.  But, he worked part-time at the Historic Strasburg Railroad as a fireman on one of their historic steam engines.  

Friends for 70 years, Jere and Larry

Jere also constructed one of the neatest HO railroad systems you'll ever see.  All because he was influenced by the railroad when he was about 10 years old.  Wow!  Seems that the writer of the story in The Reader's Digest, called "The Rule of Age 10", researched many others and sure enough it was the "Ah, Ha" moments at the age of 10 that influenced hundreds of people's future employment, be it a full time job such as mine or a part-time occupation such as Jere's.  The author of the story, Bruce Grierson, wrote that the trend was so striking that after he had finished his writing, he started telling everyone who was floundering in midlife, "Try to remember what you were all about when you were 10. If you kept a diary, dig it out.  If you're still in contact with friends from that era, call them up.  Ask them who you were.  It is 10 years of age when you graduate from being just anyone to visualizing what you may enjoy to do with your life.  You may not realize that, but it seems to be true.  You will experience the biggest surge of intellectual horsepower in your lifetime.  So, as a parent of a child about 10 years old, make sure you turn on the high beams in your child's life and reveal the road ahead.  It may really be what they will become in the future.  That is if you believe what you just read.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

The "Will The Children Win: Part II?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Torah Bontrager, whom I wrote about yesterday, wanted to overturn the 1972 Wisconsin v. Yoder Supreme Court decision which would allow Amish children to complete a high school education as well as address sexual abuse within the Plain sect community.  Many Amish leaders know about the sexual abuse, but can't seem to realize that the two issues are related.  

Children outside a one-room school house in Lancaster.

At no time during an Amish child's eight years of education is sex education discussed.  You just don't do that!  And, Torah thinks it should be taught since the lack of sex ed can lead to abuse within the community.  A woman who was raised Amish in Lancaster County, but has since left the the church, says there is so much sexual abuse within the Amish community and most Amish don't get the correlation between schooling and sexual abuse.  Torah was sexually assaulted by relatives when she was a child and teenager.  She said her mother gave her pamphlets which explained puberty, but never discussed anything with her except to tell her to stay away from the boys.  When she had her first period she had no idea what had happened so she buried her underwear at the bottom of the hamper and was beaten when her mother saw what had happened.  Many of the Amish leaders believe sex is something to be talked about in the home and not in the classroom.  Evidently that's not happening at present.  And Torah believes that's very critical in today's world to teach sex in school.  

An Amish classroom taught by a young girl who perhaps
knows nothing about sex education herself.

One Amish leader believes it would be worse if it were taught in school.  So, the vicious cycle continues and sex education is not taught at all.  Mr. Donald Kraybill, a Professor at Elizabethtown College, is widely considered an expert on the Amish and agrees that sexual abuse is a problem, but not more so than in the average population.  The biggest problem is patriarchy and male dominance, which happens to be a problem in the Amish community.  But, Torah believes lack of education also plays a big role.  She told of being raped at the age of 15 and no one in the Amish community helped her.  You just didn't talk about that kind of stuff.  She said she has since talked with an Amish bishop from Illinois who told her that their Amish leadership committee now has a policy to report such occurrences to the police.  A huge breakthrough, but will it affect Lancaster County?  Torah has now learned that the Lancaster County Amish community has implemented an initiative called the Conservative Crisis Intervention Committee who will report cases to the local police.  But, she still believes sex education, even in 7th or 8th grade can go a long way toward reducing sexual abuse in the Amish community.  Here's hoping that the Amish community will realize what is happening in their community and do something to correct it.  But, will it be in my lifetime?  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Jack Neiss' Olfactory Memories" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Looking at the Facebook page titled "The Lancastrian" when I came across a post written by member Jack Neiss called "Smells" - a look back with Jack Neiss.  As I read it I was taken back in time to the 1950s by a fellow who evidently grew up in the same era as I did.  He took the readership of "The Lancastrian" with him as he toured the different sections of the city and told of the smells that one might find before the Clean Air Act and EPA regulations.  I normally don't post items that others have written, but there is no way I could tell the story better than Jack had done, so I contacted him and asked if I could re-post his story on my blog.  What follows is his story of growing up in Lancaster County and experiecing all the smells that go with a town known as the "Garden Spot of America."  Thanks, Jack for the really neat story!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

“SMELLS” 

a look back with Jack Neiss

Back in the 1950s, before the Clean Air Act and EPA regulations, one could almost walk around Lancaster City blindfolded and have a general idea where they were just by the aromas that reached our noses. Those of us who were around back then will remember the big tall industrial smokestacks which dotted the city landscape. Kunzler's, Dodge Cork, Armstrong, F&M College, Lancaster General Hospital, PP&L, Engelside, Bayuk Cigar, Hubleys, RCA, etc., any place that had a coal fired steam boiler. Many of those burnt soft bituminous coal which could get quite smokey at times if the draft wasn't properly set. 

Once cleaner air regulations came about in the 1960s, many were converted to natural gas, putting an end to the smokey cloud which sometimes hung over the city.  Speaking of natural gas, does anyone remember the UGI gas works at Union and Dorwart Streets?  Before the advent of natural gas, we burnt manufactured coal gas which would be stored in two giant girder framed vertical tanks which would go up and down in height according to supply and demand.  This coal gas, which was manufactured on site, had a distinct pungent odor which always seemed to permeate that area.  Anyone who played ball at Pond Field in the early 1950s will remember this.  

On the other end of town was the railroad yard. Standing on the foot bridge in the late 1940s, one could immerse themselves in the smells of steam locomotives on one side and the chemical odors of linoleum being manufactured on the other. On the west side of the footbridge we encountered an area for scrap metal shavings from the Bearings Company which were deposited in a pile beside the sidewalk before reclamation. Oily ground water, milky white with a distinct odor all of its own, made its way freely under the bridge toward Dillerville Rd.  This would never happen today.

Down town had its share of unique smells also. Roasted peanuts on East and West King Sts., the enticing odors eminating from more than a few downtown restaurants and the smell of beer from the bar at Queen and Chestnut, which always seemed especially strong to me for some reason. On E. Orange St. right off Queen, we found PP&Ls two giant rotary convertors purring away with their faint but distinct smell of ozone eminating from the open front of the building.  

More distinct though was the smell of animal feed tickling the olfactories going by Eshelman's Feed Company in the 200 block of N. Queen. Here was one city smell where you knew where you were right away. Eshelman's gave that block an ambience all its own it seemed even though there were other places like that throughout the city where you could figure out where you were even if you were blindfolded....Keppel's Candy on N. Queen, the Gunzenhauer Bakery on N. Prince, the sometimes sickening smell escaping from Consumers Foods on N. Plum on one side of the railroad tracks and the smell of baking paint from Hubley Toy on the other.   Tobacco warehouses dotted the city; those too with their distinctive tobacco odors; Harrisburg Pike, N. Prince, S. Prince, Charlotte and Mary Streets.

And then there was the honeysuckle.  When the Pennsylvania Railroad built the Lancaster Station and the Low Grade freight line, it planted honeysuckle along the right-of-way. The east end of Lancaster Station had a big honeysuckle patch below the old Lititz Pike bridge and more behind the former Little Pig diner at New Holland Pike.  Maybe some of you        remember this.  I always enjoyed running the Low Grade line after a summer                    thunderstorm.  Almost solid honeysuckle from Creswell to Atglen.  A true sensual              experience, something you don't usually get running a train.                                              

                                                                                                                                        

 Out of all the smells, there are a few I miss most of all. One of which was the outdoor        burning barrels where I, and probably many other kids from my era, got an opportunity to play arsonist and burn a week's supply of newspapers, cardboard, bills and anything else.   inflammable trying to make as much smoke as possible.                                                       

                                                                                                                                         

Finally, there was the smell of burning leaves. The autumn pastime where we built giant curbside leaf piles and then set fire to them, sometimes several in one block.  No free range burning.  We had to keep an eye on what we were doing.  I found an incense the other week called "burning leaves".  A bit of nostalgia when I lit a stick.  So much of this has disappeared in today's world.  That's why it's nice at times to just sit back and remember.

The "They're Growing Them Bigger All The Time!" Story

Caden pitching this past season.

It was an ordinary day.  Standing in front of my grandson, Caden, congratu- lating him for the triple he hit today with the bases loaded that helped win the ballgame.  Caden turned 13 this past April.  His family doctor recently told his parents that he will probably grow to be 6'6" and perhaps well over 200 pounds.  Well, let me tell you...as I stood in front of him he has to be close to 6 feet tall already.  I was looking him directly in the eye and I am slightly over 6 feet tall.  He also looks to be maybe 160 pounds with a big chest, shoulders and arms.  He attends conditioning workouts a few times a month and it shows.  Next Spring will be his second year in baseball in what is known as 14U, which is 14 years old and under.  On the baseball field the basepaths for  14U are 75 feet with the pitching mound near 50 feet.  What seemed like an average distance this past summer will seem like a much shorter distance next summer since he will have put on a few inches in height and perhaps 25 to 30 pounds in weight.  

Nolan Rucci, high school sophomore and 6'8", 266 lbs. in size

Caden seems to be growing at an astounding rate, but after reading a story in the sports section of the local newspaper, it seems like he is small in stature.  One young man,  high school sophomore Nolan Rucci, who plays football for a high school team in nearby Lititz, Pennsylvania, and is probably 15 years old, is 6 foot 8 inches and weighs 266 pounds.  

Hayden Rucci, high school senior and 6'5", 225 lbs. in size

Yes, you read that correctly.  His brother, Hayden, who is a senior, is 6 foot 5 inches and weighs 225 pounds.  What are these kids eating these days and what is in the water they're drinking?  How would you like to have two sons that size and have to feed them.  Now, I guess I should have expected boys this height and weight since their father, Todd Rucci, played for the New England Patriots and was 6 foot 5 inches and weighed 296 pounds when he played.  

Todd Rucci, 6'5" and 296 lbs. in size

He and his family were members at St. James Episcopal Church and I can remember sitting behind him in church and struggling to see past him when we stood.  Todd's wife, Stacy, was an All-American field hockey player at Penn State University while Todd played football for Penn State.  I had Stacy as a student at Manheim Township High School in Neffsville, PA.  I also was a friend of Stacy's dad Tom Gilburg who was also a big man.  Tom was 6 foot 5 inches and weighed 245 pounds.  He played college football for Syracuse University and offensive tackle as well as punter for the Baltimore Colts during the same era when Johnny Unitas played.  He then moved to Lancaster to coach the Franklin & Marshall college team to a record of 160-112-2.  Loved visiting him to see all the sports memorabilia he has accumulated.  

Tom Gilburg, 6'5" and 245 lbs. in size 

Well, with parents and grandparents who demand respect due to their size, its no wonder both boys have great size genes.  Senior Haden, who is a tight end, has already committed to Wisconsin University to play football and Nolan has now received full athletic scholarships to his parent's alma mater, Penn State, as well as Virginia Tech, Syracuse, Michigan State, West Virginia, Pitt and Virginia.  Not bad for a 15 year old kid that is an offensive lineman.  The future looks bright for them, but they must prove they can also be successful in the classroom.  The world is waiting...but can they make the grade...or should I say grades?  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

Tom preparing to punt the ball for the Baltimore Colts

  

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 "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. 

The "Riding His Mower To Scheetz" Story

It was an ordinary day.  My friend from State College, Pennsylvania, Jere, and his wife Sue, had been visiting for the weekend.  Spent the day yesterday walking around Chesapeake City, Maryland before having a meal at the Chesapeake Inn.  Spent the evening talking about our lives and headed to bed early.  Jere and I have been lifetime friends who met in 1st grade at Milton J. Brecht Elementary School in Manheim Township.  We quickly learned we lived close to each other and, as the saying goes, the rest is history.  While waiting for our spouses to get out of bed this morning we spent some time looking at the local Sunday News and watching TV.  As I was channel surfing I came upon one of our favorite TV shows, "Mysteries at the Museum" which stars Don Wildman who is quickly becoming a star on documentary television.  The show takes you across the United States, exploring the vaults of our nation's museums.  Some of the most interesting events and most unusual items are viewed and talked about at length during the hour-long show.  

The library scrapbook depicting the trip across
two states for a visit by the Straight brothers.

Today we visited the Lauren, Iowa Public Library on Third Street were we found a big scrapbook of newspaper clippings and photos that talked about a 73 year old fellow by the name of Alvin Straight who had not seen his estranged brother for many years.  His brother, who lived in Mount Zion, Wisconsin, was in poor health and not expected to live long.  So, Alvin sets out on a journey across Iowa and Wisconsin to find his brother before he passes so he can make amends with him.  Naturally, all this is documented in the scrap book at the library.  Jere and I sat there amazed at the story of Alvin Straight as it unfolded in front of us on the TV screen.  

The trip from Laurens to Mount Zion.

Alvin was a diabetic who also suffered from emphysema from years of smoking.  He managed to live on Social Security, but no longer had a driver's license since his eyesight was bad.  

Alvin on his riding mower with trailer.

So, he decided to make the trip on his riding mower, towing a trailer behind him to carry his gear.  His tale is not only told in the library journal, but as a book and movie also titled "the Straight Story."  My story today is not to tell you about the TV show Jere and I had watched, but about what happened after the show ended.  As we sat talking, I looked at Jere and began to devise a plan to get him to his local Scheetz Gas Station every morning, as he used to do, for a cup of coffee.  Jere has had vision problems for many years and is now not supposed to drive...a car...anymore.  Nothing had ever been said about not driving a riding mover!  His dear wife, Sue, does drive him to Scheetz quite often, but she wouldn't have to be inconvenienced every day by getting up at 6:00 am to drive him to get a cup of coffee.  

The cover of the book which was also
made into a movie of the same name.

He could hop on his riding mower, head the 100 yards to the corner intersection, cross with the light and drive the remaining two blocks along the walk to the Scheetz.  Problem solved!!  We looked at each other and I could see the wheels turning in his head just like the guy who had to drive across state lines to see his dying brother.  That morning, after breakfast, Jere and Sue returned to State College as always.  But, I just know that sometime in the future I'll get a call from him telling me about this trip he took to Scheetz on his riding mover.  And, I'm sure Sue will have to start a scrapbook to document the trip. Someday on TV someone will be listening to Don Wilder's son telling the story about "the Herr story"!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.   

The "Negroes Are America's Last Pioneers" Story

The Reverend Stanley Imboden

It was an ordinary day.  Wishing Reverend Stanley Imboden a "Happy Birthday" on Facebook.  After writing my birthday greeting I decided to take a look at a few of Stan's posts on his Facebook page.  One of the first posts I observed featured the green cover of "THE NEGRO MOTORIST GREEN-BOOK".  A publication I had never heard of before, but one that I will now never forget after reading his comment as well as a few online articles about the publication which defined "Negro" travel throughout the United States during its history.  As a young child my parents took my brother and I on weekend trips as well as a week-long vacation during the summer months.  Not once did I ever notice, or even think of, Negroes being anywhere near the locations we were visiting.  We took trips to the Chesapeake Bay for fun in the sun; swimming and playing in the sand.  As I grew older I entered elementary school in an up-scale white school district.  It was at this time that I began to notice and associate with Negros.  At age 12 I wanted to to play organized baseball so bad that I talked my father into allowing me to join a team.  He found one in the newspaper that practiced in the south end of the city, which was where most of the Negroes lived.  After my first practice I was part of the team.  There were 15 boys on the team; five of us white and the rest Negroes.  

Cover of the Negro travel guide.

I loved it!  We were coached by two men, one Negro, Mr. Hawkins, and one Caucasian, Mr. Keifer.  My dad volunteered to drive through the south end of the city to pick up boys for every practice and game.  To me, we were all part of a team.  Skin color didn't mean a thing to me.  Today, as I viewed "The Green Book" I learned of an entirely new world that existed in the late 1940s and early 1950s that I never knew existed before.  As I read online I found a book written in 1965 by John A. Williams titled "This Is My Country Too" that said he didn't believe white travelers had any idea of how much nerve and courage it required for a Negro to drive coast to coast in America.  Items needed for travel where nerve, courage, a great deal of luck supplemented by a rifle and shotgun, a road atlas and Travelguide which would list places in America where Negroes could stay without being embarrassed, insulted, harassed or worse.  He noted that black drivers needed to be particularly cautious in Southern states where they were advised to wear a chauffeur's cap or have one visible on the front seat and pretend they were driving a car for a white person. Along the way you would have to endure a stream of "insults of clerks, bellboys, attendants, cops and strangers in passing cars."  "The Green Book" helped the Negro traveler by listing accommodations for black travelers, places that would allow Negroes to eat as well as use the restroom and even places to refuel.  Not once did my dad or mom ever tell me the hardships that those boys on my team faced when they tried to go on vacation as we did after the baseball season ended.  As I grew I went to junior high and high school and never once did I have a Negro in any of my classes.  As a student at Millersville State Teacher's College in Millersville, Pennsylvania I did see a few Negroes on campus, but didn't have any in my classes.  After graduating from college and having more time, I began to coach baseball and went back to the same neighborhood where I played to form a team of young boys.  We, too, were very good.  I totally enjoyed the experience while driving the same streets as my dad did years earlier, picking up the boys to take them to practice and games.  Once again we were a multi-cultural team.  While teaching in the same high school from where I graduated, I began to have Negroes in classes.   I had Negroes as well as Latinos and many other nationalities on my Yearbook Staff.  All of my adult life I have realized the animosity suffered by most minority groups and have tried my best to alleviate that animosity in my classes and extracurricular activities.  But, I am sorry to say, I did not realize the total abuse that Negroes faced just to take a simple vacation with their family in the late 1800s and most of the 1900s.  As I read the post by Rev. Imboden today he told of a good friend of his whom I had the honor to meet years ago.  Rev. Imboden wrote:  "Jim Crow" Southern States and many Northern "Sundown Law" Communities harshly discriminated against African Americans, especially as they sought places to stay during travel. The Green Book previously posted on FB by another person listed the familiar name of our late friend, true gentlemen and Lancaster civic leader, the honorable Nelson Polite who for many years welcomed weary travelers of all colors to his Lancaster home. Nelson is in heaven now and there's no Green Book needed there. For years Nelson and I served on the founding Board of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Fund in Lancaster city. He is dearly remembered.  That book cover will forever remind me of the hardships faced by the Negroes as they attempted to take their young families on summer vacations such as my mom and dad did for years when I was a young child.  I'm positive it still happens, but hopefully not to the extent that is used to happen.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "King Of The Wild Frontier!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Clicked on my desktop icon marked "Stories" which hold a myriad of Pages links to items I at one time thought interesting enough to save for a later story for my blog.  One such Pages folder was marked "davy crockett" so I clicked on it and "viola", there were several photos of Davy Crockett and a rather interesting story from the Lancaster Republic Herald and Examiner.  

Davy Crockett

Davy Crockett was one of my favorite TV heroes who was played by Fess Parker, a 6'6" hunk of a man who wore a coonskin cap and a leather jacket with fringes.  My wife actually has a jacket much like the one that Davy wore on TV.  She wore it when she was riding her horse "Blackie."  Well, Fess launched a nationwide craze of coonskin caps and toy rifles in the mid-1950s with his portrayal of the rugged frontiersman Davy Crockett.  I was one of those kids who just had to have one of those caps for when my neighborhood friends came to play.  As far as David "Davy" Crockett goes, he emerged from the wilds of Tennessee to become one of the United States' first living heroes.  

Fess Parker who played Davy Crockett.

Though he was best known for dying in 1836 at the Alamo in Texas, he was also a writer, hunter and U.S. congressman whose reputation as an adventurer made him a legend in his own time.  He was born on August 17, 1786 in what is now eastern Tennessee, but at the time was known as the state of Franklin which was a breakaway territory that had declared its independence from North Carolina.  When Davy was 13, his father arranged for him to attend school, but after four days and a confrontation with a classmate for which his father threatened to beat him, he ran away from home, eventually working as a cattle driver, farmhand and hat maker's apprentice.  He eventually returned home, but in 1813 joined the state militia as a scout to fight against the "Red Sticks", a fraction of Creek Indians who had attacked American settlers.  

An etching showing Davy as a bear hunter.

He next became a professional hunter stalking black bears for their pelts in the woods of Tennessee.  He also tried his hand at politics serving in the Tennessee legislature and then the U.S. House of Representatives.  He gained fame for his folksy persona and advocacy for the poor, but also gained some enemies for his criticism of President Andrew Jackson's Indian Removal Act which led to his final defeat in 1835 though he did help foil Jackson's assassination attempt when a crazed gunman emerged from a crowd of spectators near the East Portico and was wrestled to the ground and disarmed by Crockett.  After he was defeated in 1835 he drifted west, eventually arriving in Texas where he swore an oath to the Republic of Texas and agreed to take up arms against Mexico.  

An etching showing Davy saving Andrew Jackson during
an assassination attempt in 1835.

Now, at the age of 49, he found his way to San Antonio and arrived at the former mission known as the Alamo where General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna's Mexican forces laid siege just a few days later and breached its outer walls on March 6, 1836.  In the ensuing battle Davy Crockett and some 200 other defenders were all killed.  There is more to Davy's story, such as having two wives and six children which I'm not sure what happened to them.  

Davy had a U.S. Postage stamp designed for him.

I searched YouTube for the Ballad of Davy Crockett and was surprised that I remembered the first verse of the song.  You will find a link to it at the end of my story.  And I have also added the story featured in my local newspaper almost 200 years ago.  And, for those who still might have their coonskin hats and would like a matching leather jacket with fringes, leave me a comment with your contact information and I'll be in touch with you.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Story in Lancaster newspaper.  Click to enlarge.