The "The Mystery: Who Destroyed My Mailbox?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Tuesday morning and I had just returned home after working a few hours at Grebinger Gallery.  Pulled into the driveway and all of a sudden I saw it ... or I should say - Didn't see it!  

Who Did This?

My mailbox was missing; that was until I noticed it broken, sitting along the street.  Now this isn't just any mailbox, but a mailbox that came with the house and had the same cedar siding and paint stain that my house boasts.  And ... it was big.  Stood at least 4 feet high with a sloped top on it and numbers that glowed when your car's headlights struck it.  

LDub getting his daily mail.

During Halloween season it was home to a couple of ghosts that my wife had made and attached behind the top of it.  Then, when Thanksgiving approached, one ghost wore feathers on its head while the other wore a Pilgrim hat.  Not going to happen anymore.  Someone drove past the mailbox who was either drunk or on their phone and took out the large wooden mailbox.  They had to know they hit it, but there was no note nearby with a name or an apology on it.  Should I rebuild it or just buy a normal mailbox?  The cost to reconstruct it was too much and I had no promise that it wouldn't happen again, so I opted for a normal mailbox.  The wooden mailbox has some history to it.  On the first morning after moving into our "Beach House", my good friend and Manheim Township police detective Wayne arrived to pick me up to head to the school where I taught Industrial Arts so we could work on a coffee table for him.  

Our ghosts will finally disappear!

Dawn had just broken and it evidently didn't light up my driveway as well as it should have and Wayne backed right into my mailbox.  Knocked it into the street, but with no apparent damage.  We placed it back in its hole and headed off to school. Which makes me think that whoever hit my mailbox on Tuesday had to have really slammed into it.  Knocked it totally out of the ground and snapped off the four corner supports that held it in the ground.  Woman who works across the street at the dentist's office walked over to tell me she was so sorry and will miss the ghosts each fall.  Also told me no one in her office saw what had happened.  Oh, well.  Whomever did the dastardly deed will face up to their sin someday.  Karma, you know!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

The "A Truly Nice Pest ... Control Man" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Technician Chris has just left the premises.  But not until he solved our problem.  Now, getting back to the problem that caused us to call Chris in the first place.  A month or so ago Carol looked at me, alarmed, one evening while we were watching TV.  "Turn that down!" she said as she looked at me with a puzzled look.  "What's the matter!" I replied.  She said, "Did you hear that noise.  It sounded like something is chewing through the wall behind you."  I stood, walked to the wall and listened.  Yep, something was trying to chew through the wall.  Walked to the wall, banged my fist on the wall half a dozen times, sat down, and that was the end of it.  A few nights later she was sitting in her same recliner when she looked at me and said, "Did you hear that!"  "You didn't hear the noise again?"  She listened intently and stood, walked behind her chair and pointed to the return vent in the floor and said, "Something's trying to get in here." Yep, something was trying to get through the vent in the floor.  I banged my fist on the vent half a dozen times, pulled the metal cover from the vent and looked down into the vent.  There was a hole about six inches around that I could look through into the crawl space below our family room.  Sure enough, something was trying to chew into our family room.  But what?  "I can't believe a mouse could do that much damage.  Must be something larger."  Our house was built on a stone quarry and due to stone structures, only half our house has a basement with the other half having about three feet of crawl space.  We have had mice before, but I have taken care of most of them with traps.  This was a BIG hole.  "We're gonna need help with this," Carol said.  I agreed so I called Tomlinson Bomberger, a lawn care, landscape and pest control company in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Today Chris arrived to save the day.  And, save the day he did!  I greeted him at the front door and ushered him into the house.  We talked for quite some time about him being a student at the high school where I taught.  I had retired before Chris was in the high school, but I happened to have his sister in my photography class.  "Boy, can she take great photos," he told me.  Chris was a very personable guy who I instantly felt at ease with.  Just knew he was going to solve our problems.  Wasn't long before he was looking down the vent at the hole that had been chewed by something.  "Wasn't a mouse," he said.  "I've never seen a mouse that could chew a hole that big.  Had to be a rat ... or possibly a squirrel."  We talked some more and I showed him to the basement where I pulled a ceiling tile out and showed him where I catch the mice.  Then he pulled open the door to the crawl space.  "Kinda scary, isn't it?" I said to him.  He entered the three foot square opening about shoulder height and with the use of a light, crawled toward the space beneath our family room.  He told me to go upstairs and stick something down through the hole so he could see where the event occurred.  Stuck a broom handle down and before long he yelled for me to come back down into the basement once again.  "Easy to tell what it was," he said as he held up a handful of peanut shells. I said, "So that's where they take the peanuts we put out for them."  He replied,  "And, here's a large pile of ... looks like walnut shells."  I said, "We have half a dozen walnut trees in the yard next to the house."  He looked around and then said, "They are coming in the wall vent where your three sump pumps exit the side of the house.  I can see the path they take to the space under your floor vent.  Here's a squirrel's tail and a few other body parts laying on the ground."  We formulated a plan to place some bait in the area, but also immediately plug the exterior holes so the squirrels couldn't get in to eat the bait.  Within a half hour the holes were filled with insulation foam and the exterior of our house was sprayed to stop rodents, and hopefully squirrel-proof.  Only time will tell how well it worked, but it seemed like Chris has corrected the problem.  Chris, Carol and I spent thirty minutes or so talking about a variety of topics from health concerns to Chris' favorite sport, football.  Chris is a special person who, even though he is five years or more younger than our youngest child, didn't mind spending time with us.  We not only managed to have our alleged rodent problem solved, but got to learn more about the life of the guy who solved our problem.  Now that's real service ... and we loved the guy!  His boss struck it rich when he hired Chris.  He's a real keeper.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

The "Easter Bunny Visits Harrington Drive" Story

Foreword:  I wish all Christians a Happy Easter on this Easter Sunday.  Today's story is a prelude to a few stories on Easter.  Thanks for visiting with me!

It was an ordinary day.  Reading about how the rabbit, or hare, came to be associated with the Christian celebation of the resurrection of Jesus.  

The Easter Bunny wishes you a
joyous Easter Sunday.

On Easter Sunday the Easter bunny makes a visit to LDubs home on Harrington Drive in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  He, or she, traditionally brings chocolate eggs which are placed in the baskets of our grandchildren.  But, just how did the tradition or the legend of the Easter rabbit begin.  The name Easter was first appropriated by the Christian calendar.  First it was the pagan festival Ostara, celebrated on the vernal equinox, around March 21 in the Northern hemisphere.  Ostara was named for the pagan goddess of spring, Eostre.  And, the legend goes that she once saved a bird whose wings had frozen during the winter by turning it into a rabbit.  Because the rabbit had once been a bird, it could lay eggs.  Hence, it became the Easter Bunny.  The rabbit as a symbol for Easter is first mentioned in writings in 16th century Germany.  Pennsylvania Dutch settlers, many arriving in Lancaster County, brought the Easter bunny to America in the 1700s.  Their children used their hats and bonnets to make their nests and the "Oschter Haws", or Easter Hare, would fill their headgear with colored eggs.  

The Window of Three Hares as seen in Paderborn
Cathedral in Paderborn, Germany.

The first edible Easter bunnies, made of pastry and sugar, were also produced in Germany in the early 1800s.  Around that time, the Easter nests, which we make today in small baskets with plastic colored straw, began to be found in the spring gardens of children's homes to be filled during the night with brightly decorated eggs.  The Easter egg hunt still happens in houses in Lancaster County today much as they did years ago.  My three grandkids, even though one is a year away from getting her driver's license, still look forward to searching the grounds of our "Beach House" for the eggs left by the Easter Bunny.  And this year, to make it even more realistic, we have an actual rabbit that has found a home in the trees to the rear of our home on Harrington Drive.  Our own real "Oschter Haws" has arrived in time for Easter Sunday.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

The "Decorating With The Moravian Star" Story

The traditional Moravian Star

It was an ordinary day.  Day has just turned into night and Carol and I are taking a drive around Lancaster County, PA looking at all the Christmas decorations and lights that brighten the night time landscape.  When we lived in the Grandview Heights area of Manheim Township, we always filled the windows in our three-story Tudor house with candles as well as hanging a Moravian Star from the ceiling of our screened-in porch which was attached to the side of our home.  Really looked festive and went well with the design of the early 1900s home.  After we moved to our "Beach House" in the late 1990s, we decorated with lighted deer, colored lights on some of the trees and hanging the Moravian Star in the laundry room which has an octagonal window at the entrance to our home.  That, too, looked very festive.  

Display of Moravian Stars at a local grocery store.

Now, for those who have no idea what a Moravian Star may be, I will have to give you an explana- tion.  Lancaster County, Pennsyl- vania is home to one of the earliest Moravian Church congrega- tions in the United States.  The religious sect settled in the small town of nearby Lititz, Pennsylvania.  The Moravian Church began as a Protestant denomination in Bohemia and Moravia during the late 14th century with Jan Hus as the founder of the movement.  Hus rejected the Roman Catholic Church's teachings and wanted to return to more simpler religious practices.  He eventually was burned at the stake in 1415.  The first Moravian star is known to have originated in the 1830s at the Moravian Boys' School in Niesky, Germany.  

Trees and a Moravian Star for sale at the store.

It has been said that it was probably part of a lesson in geometry in the school's curriculum.  It was in 1880 that Pieter Verbeek, a graduate of the schjool in Niesky, opened a small bookstore where he sold the Moravian Stars.  Eventually the Verbeek family opened a factory in Herrnhut, Germany where they made the stars.  Evidently Pieter put his math lesson to good use.  The stars were adopted by the Moravian Church as a symbol of the birth of Jesus and represented the star of Bethlehem.  It is usually hung or displayed the first Sunday of Advent and remains displayed until Epiphany or the time of the coming of the Magi.  

Another variety of the Moravian Star.

The star reminds one of a regular star, but with many more points than a regular star.  The star can have anywhere from 20 to 110 points with the most common one a 26-point star composed of eighteen square and eight triangular cone-shaped points.  This shape is technically known as an augmented rhombicuboctahedron.  Each face of the geometric solid in the middle, the rhombicuboctahedron, serves as the base for the pyramid augmentations or starburst points.  The Moravian Star always has a symmetrical shape which is based on polyhedra.  Therefore, stars must have either 20, 26, 32,50, 64 or 110 points with the 26-point star the most popular.  In the 1990s one of the math teachers at Manheim Township High School, where I taught, gave her students the task of making a Moravian Star.  

A rather unique Moravian Star made from music sheets.

Tough to do since my son was in the class and I tried to help him with the project and finally gave up.  This admission comes from someone who at one time wanted to be a math teacher.  Well, the first Christmas tree at Williamsburg, Virginia was decorated with Moravian stars in 1842 that were made by a German immigrant who happened to teach at the college of William and Mary.  Perhaps he taught math!  The stars are beautiful.  I tried once again, a few years ago, to make one with a very thin and lightweight plastic material.  After an hour or so I gave up and headed to the store to purchase one.  It was only a few years ago that the Moravian Star that hung in the laundry room window bit the dust.  The plastic that it was made from became so fragile and brittle that I had to dispose of it because of safety issues.  As of now we have not replaced it, but did think of hanging one above our lighted deer which fill the hill to the side of our "Beach House".  Thought it would look neat with a big star above the deer, high in the tree.  We looked and found that a rather large star was going to cost us close to $150.  Will have to rethink that addition to our display.  The Moravian Star is an iconic symbol of the Christmas season in Lancaster County and if you have the chance to visit the area, you will be greeted with the beauty of the season.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  

The "Artists Frenchy and Mair: Favorites Of LDub" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Cleaning the glass of a few of my favorite pieces of artwork that Carol and I have hanging in our home.  Much of the artwork has been purchased since the end of the 1990s when we began to travel after I retired from teaching.  We have been lucky enough to have traveled to over a dozen islands in the Atlantic and Caribbean as well as a few trips to Hawaii.  On just about every trip we made, at least one art purchase for our collection has been made for our "Beach House."  Today I will tell you of two of the artists who have paintings hanging in our home.  

Artist Marianne "Frenchy" Loeb

One is an American artist and musician who ended up in St. Martin while the other is from the United Kingdom who also found her way to St. Martin. They met while both living in the small town of Grand Case on the French Side of St. Martin/Sint Maarten.  Marianne "Frenchy" Loeb is a talented painter, jewelry maker as well as pianist.  She tells, in stories about herself, of the many places she has had the chance to perform on the piano, but seems to excel more with the brush.  Starting in 1999 she began to reside almost year round in Grand Case.  Seems that Mair Pattersun was an immediate next door neighbor who became a close friend as well as fellow artist.  The two would go around Grand Case playing for tips from locals and tourists.  Mair had lived in Grand Case for many years, having moved there from England.  They talked about an outlet for their artwork and found it on the front porch of acrylic artist Pierre Bruyer.  Moved their artwork soon after to the front porch of American artists Gloria and Marty Lynn who had a gallery next to Bistro Caribes for close to thirty years.  Frenchy also spent her time trying to sell her paintings on world renowned Orient Beach.  Then Frenchy discovered a small wooden retail shack next to Il Nettuno Restaurant.  It had a side window and shelf that opened to the Lolo's (small beach restaurants). The woman who owned it sold ladies clothing.  The owner, Corrine, agreed to allow Frenchy to use the outside walls to sell her artwork.  She shared her find with Mair and they split the $50/weekly rent.  About two weeks later Corrine asked Frenchy if she would like to sublet the shop for $500 a month.  Frenchy jumped at it, but Mair wasn't interested.  Years passed and both artists left the island from time to time.  Carol and I bought three of Frenchy's prints in the mid-2000s off her Internet website.  A few years ago we bought a print from Mair that we found for sale at the Store/Giftshop at Club Orient.  We love the art from both artists and are trying to locate both artists  once again to be able to purchase another print from each.  I am sharing with you the prints from both artists so you can see the type and style of work they do.  Hope you enjoy them as much as we do.  If anyone visiting with me today knows how I can reach either artist, please leave me a note in the comment box.  I'd appreciate it tremendously.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

"Frenchy" Loeb's Pedros, Orient Beach, St. Martin

"Frenchy" Loeb's Baie Rouge, St. Martin, F.W.I.

"Frenchy" Loeb's Happy Bay, St. Martin

Mair Pattersun's Parasols, Club O, St. Martin

The "Strays No Longer Gather Here" Story

I bought this small sign for my wife last Christmas.  She loved it!

It was an ordinary day.  Smiling from ear to ear!  Finally, after two years I managed to catch the final stray cat that has been visiting our rear deck for years.  We named her "Larry" after the cat on the Modern Family TV show since she looked much like that cat.  Larry was the most precious little ball of fur you could ever imagine, but she was sly.  

Larry

Two years ago I caught her in a large trap and while transferring her to our cat carrier, she somehow outwitted me and escaped.  At the time we had no idea as to the sex of the cat, but after seeing a few other visitors taking advantage of her, we knew.  Over the 20 years we have lived at our Beach House we have caught close to 20 cats and kittens and have taken them to the local SPCA.  Along the way we have also caught a couple of skunks and possums, but never caught a groundhog or raccoon.  The skunks and possums I took into the country and released them into the wild.  We have caught our menagerie of animals in a trap, animal carrier and even a litter of kittens in a butterfly net.  In the spring Larry had what we believe to be a couple of kittens.  

Larry's kitten

One survived and the other one or two must have remained under our front porch, since the odor in the house was absolutely terrible for a month or so.  We had no idea where the smell came from, but we surmised, when we saw the one kitten for the first time, and realizing that Larry was much, much larger than that one kitten, that one or more kittens must have died at birth.  Smell went away, but Larry and her kitten remained.  

Carol enjoyed playing with the kitten.

Last week we managed to coax the kitten into the carrier with food and he/she went right in and I closed the door.  Larry more than likely never forgot her narrow escape two years ago and just wouldn't enter the carrier.  We then began to systematically place the food dish in front of the carrier one day, directly inside the next day, a little further in the next day, and Viola!  Carol was still in bed when I slammed the door shut and ended the era of strays on the back deck.  We took Larry to Carol's friend, Debbie, who loves animals and wants to keep her until she has her next batch of kittens, since you see, she is very large once again with kittens.  

Larry did keep a watch over her kitten.

We have finally agreed that the food and water dishes that have been out for almost 20 years will no longer be on the porch.  Creamsicle, our stray turned indoor cat, will defenitely not miss any of the visitors.  He now can rest under a nearby bush with both eyes closed.  And, I think he can tell that there have been no visitors for the past few days.  He no longer takes a few minutes to smell all the flower pots and porch posts to see who may have walked on "his" porch.  We will miss the parade of nightly guests, but will no longer miss having to catch them and pay the fee at the shelter.  We only hope that other animals in the neighborhood, if there are any that remain, will not starve without the food we provided for years.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "A Symbol Of The Enduring American Spirit" Story

Old Glory on my work bench.

It was an ordinary day.  Grabbing a few tools from a shelf above my workbench and as I was replacing a tray, with held my spare tools, back on the shelf I noticed four small United States Flags extending from the shelf.  I placed them there a few years ago as a reminder of the freedom that we all cherish in the United States of America and the pride I have in my country.  As I look up and down the street in front of my house I see American Flags flying in front of many of the houses as well as flags flying from poles in front of businesses at the other end of the street.  But, how many of you really know the true story of our flag?  Do you know that it was first flown at Fort Stanwix, New York in 1777 or that it was carried into battle for the first time at Brandywine in Pennsylvania?  Do any of you know that the original flag looked nothing like the flag we fly today.  

The very first American flag.

That flag was white with a green tree on it with the words "An Appeal to Hea- ven" written across the top.  It was in 1775 that the Continental Navy created its own flag which had the warning "Don't Tread on Me" written underneath a snake.  The background was made of red and white stripes and was the first glimpse of what we know as our flag today.  A year later the Grand Union Flag came into existence with 13 alternate red and white stripes and the British Union Jack in the upper left-hand corner.  It is said that in May of 1776 Betsy Ross sewed the first official American flag with the red and white stripes intact, but replacing the Union Jack with a navy blue square which held 13 stars forming a circle.  

Read for yourself the declaration.

But, did she really make that flag?  Betsy was an upholsterer who made flags for the Pennsylvania Navy.  It was in 1870 that her grandson was lecturing an Historic Society in Philadelphia when he told them that his grandmother told him that she met with George Washington and others and she designed the flag.  But there are reports that Francis Hopkinson, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, who was from New Jersey, submitted a bill to congress for designing the flag.  All he asked in return was two casks of ale.  But there is nothing to show that he really did this; no picture of that flag, no written description or not even a sketch to show.  

Old Glory flying in front of my Beach House.

So, to most people the legend lives on that the first flag of the Revolutionary period was made by Betsy Ross and is known as either the flag with the Betsy Ross Pattern, The Philadelphia Pattern or The Single Wreath Pattern.  The blue field on that flag was known as either "the field", "the union" or the "Canton."  Up until 1912 flag makers could actually decide themselves how the stars were arranged on the blue field.  It was in 1912 that President Taft established the pattern of stars that we know today.  The 48, 49 and 50 star flag all conform to the 1912 declaration.  On August 3, 1949, President Truman officially declared June 14 as Flag Day.  So, no matter if you call our flag Old Glory, the Stars and Stripes or the Star Spangled Banner we're still all talking about the flag that is the symbol of American identity and national pride.  So, you see why I feel as I do when I see those couple of small flags sticking out from my workbench.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Admiring all the decorations that my wife has placed around the house, both inside and outside, to make this Christmas season a most festive and memorable affair.  Everything from the special wreaths that are placed on the old sleds that stand outside our entry doors, to the display of dough-made figurines that call our 49 year old creche home, to the living room table filled with Carol's collection of deer, to the green ceramic tree with lighted branches that graces our second floor hallway table we purchased in 1968 during a trip to Florida.  

Carol's ceramic tree made years ago.

The house looks amazing, but I must tell you a bit more about the final item I have listed in my description above.  It was two weeks ago, during a spur-of-the-moment trip to Northeast, Maryland, that we encountered a few other ceramic trees much like the one on the table outside our bedroom door.  All were on display inside Main Street Antiques and were part of the vendor's special items they had for sale for the Christmas season.  The store looked amazing with stand after stand featuring antique Christmas items, may of them illuminated to give the store a festive aura.  We came upon one tree that looked exactly like our tree and I asked Carol, "When did you make the tree that we have?"  

It glows at night wishing Merry Christmas to all.

She made the tree in the late 1970s or maybe the early 1980s while part of a ceramic class at a corner store near our house in Grandview Heights, a development in Manheim Township, Lancaster County, PA.  The ceramic tree is really neat with green branches featuring a glaze that looks aglow.   Along the branches are small holes that open to the hollow tree.  Carol glazed the pre-poured tree and made it for our home years ago.  The tree sits upon a stand that has an small electric light inside that brightens the colored pegs that fit into the holes on the branches.  Year after year the tree had a special spot in our house on Janet Ave. and after moving to our Beach House has found another spot to call home.  I'm sure that most families who celebrate Christmas have decorations that have a special place in their home and a special meaning to their family.  Our illuminated little green ceramic Christmas tree is ours.  And it wishes all those who celebrate Christmas a Merry Christmas.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

The "Something Bout A Boat - JB" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Having supper on our back deck with my granddaughters and daughter Brynn.  Talking about how many years Brynn lived with us at our "Beach House" in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Carol and I moved to our new home in the mid-1990's.  Brynn graduated from high school in 1992 and entered Millersville University, my Alma mater, the following year.  She lived at home the first year, but lived on campus after that.  While a student at Millersville she met her husband Dave and when they both graduated they both stayed with us at our home for a year before moving to Maryland where they both taught school.  

Mr. Eliphalet Oram Lyte

I began asking her some questions about Millersville when she was a student and eventually I asked her if there was still a Lyte Auditorium when she was a student.  She looked at me, questioning why I asked her that, before she said she remembered Lyte Auditorium and even took classes in the building.  Funny question I suppose, but I had just read about the man, Eliphalet Oram Lyte, and some of the contributions he had made to education and the field of music.  

One of the books that Mr. Lyte wrote.
It can still be found for sale.

Seems that Mr. Lyte was born in Lancaster County in 1842, entered what was then Millersville Normal School in 1866 after serving in the Civil War and teaching for two years.  He eventually became a professor of rhetoric and bookkeeping in 1868 and then a professor of pedagogy and grammar before being named principal (similar to President).  After 44 years at Millersville he resigned due to poor health.  He was given credit for the construction of a new Science Building, the Library and the Gymnasium.  The Science Building has since been demolished,  the library has been named Biemesderfer Executive Center and the Gym is now Dutcher Hall.  Mr. Lyte was also responsible for the construction of the Model School which was an innovative school where a student could concentrate on subjects for two years and receive a teaching degree.  

The Millersville Normal School which was still known by that
name when I attended Millersville State Teachers College.

This school eventually became Myers Hall and now is the Charles and Mary Hash Building.  I too remember Lyte Auditorium and taking a few music classes in the building.  Then, in 2009 it was closed for a $26 million construction and renovation project and eventually was renamed the Charles R. and Anita B. Winter Visual and Performing Arts Center (VPAC) with the 650-seat Lyte Auditorium incorporated into the VPAC.  But, the real story about Mr. Lyte goes like this …… He was  a well respected teacher who was the author of grammar and composition textbooks as well as being a musician who was the composer of the tune we all sang at one time as a child, and maybe still sing, "Row, Row, Row Your Boat".  This song was in the publication The Franklin Square Song Collection that he authored in 1881.  He adapted the lyrics which were previously  published to a different melody. But, I'll bet you don't know all the words in the verses of the song which I can remember singing over and over again as a "round."  So, just in case you don't remember, I have them for you …

Row, row, row your boat,

Gently down the stream,

If you see an alligator,

Don't forget to scream.

Row, row, row your boat,

Gently down the stream.

Throw your teacher overboard

And listen to her scream.

Row, row, row your boat

Gently down the stream.

Ha ha, fooled ya,

I'm a submarine.

Bet'cha didn't know those three verses!  Actually the song was … Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily - Life is but a dream in his original version, but many other verses where added to the song over the years.  Good ole Mr. Eliphalet Oram Lyte, a Lancaster County native, died in 1913.  His legacy still lives on at Millersville University and I will always remember him as having a building named after him and for giving me a favorite childhood "round."  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "The Story of Grandview Heights: Present Day" Story

Wide tree-lined streets are the norm in Grandview Heights.

It was an ordinary day.  Looking at sturdy brick homes sitting close together on wide streets lined on either side with sidewalks and large trees that at times touch each other as their branches stretch across the streets.  Streets with names such as Helen, Louise, Martha, Janet ….. daughters of the original owner of part the land known today as Grandview Heights.  

One the early photos from the mid to late 1920's.  The
corner Grandview Apartment Buildings in the bottom center
shows New Holland Pike (State Rt. 23) to the right and
Grandview Boulevard to the left.  Very few homes are
seen in the background in the photo.

The main boulevard, known as Grandview Boulevard, was given the name since it sits on farmland that was once known as Grand View Farm.  I can only imagine what the land must have looked like over 100 years ago.  Corn standing six feet high, peach trees lining the edge of the lane leading to the farm where and cows grazed in the open fields behind the farm.  

The same corner as seen today.

This all changed when Samuel R. Slaymaker bought the McGrann and Rohrer farms in 1925 and turned them into a housing develop- ment for those with moderate means.  My mom and dad saved for years so they could have a little plot in Grandview Heights which was finally realized in the mid-1960's.  Mom loved her back porch and it was so hard to tell her late in her life that it was time for her to move to a retirement home for her safety and have to sell the place.  

This photo shows what the interior of one of the
apartments was like when they opened.

She did realize that her loving family was correct and reluctantly sold it along with many years of memories in her house in the 900 block of Janet Ave.  For years Carol and I lived up the street from mom and dad in a semi-detached home on the other side of the street.  Many a day she would call and ask us to cross one of her grandchildren so they could come and visit with them.  Also wasn't unusual for Carol to cross our dog, Arnold, so he could run down the street to visit with Grandma and Grandpa.  

Our house at 925 Janet Ave. as it appears today.

Carol and I lived in our house on Janet Avenue for 29 years before we moved to our "Beach House" a few miles away.  I spent some time recently roaming the old neighbor- hood known as the Heights to take some photos to match some from a CD that was given to me by my friend Mike.  Mike and his wife Anne met at nearby Schaeffer Elementary School where they taught, married then moved to Janet Ave.  

Our house was at the far end on the right in this 1930's pix.

They raised their three children in Grandview Heights where one of them is now teaching in the same school where her parents met.  Grandview Heights just seems to get in your blood.  Old and young alike inhabit the 500 or so homes in the neighborhood where everyone knows your name and lends a helping hand. While taking the photos for this story I met a few of the neighbors who were more than willing to take time to talk with me.  The following photos show some of the homes and places pictured in CD that was given to Mike by our mutual friend Matt who was in real estate and moved from the area.  My photos accompany the old photos so you can judge for yourself if the homes have changed that much in the last 100 years.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - Click on any photo to enlarge it.

Some of the earliest homes in Grandview Heights are these row homes on Pleasure Road which is the street to the far north of the development.

The same row of homes, but seen from the opposite end.

This was Kilheffer's Store at the corner of Martha and Fountain Avenues.

Corner as it looks today.

Houses in the 800 block of Janet Ave. in the 1930's.

Same two houses as seen today.

This beautiful home in the 900 block of Grandview Boulevard has young trees in the front yard. 

The same house as seen today.

This house was located at 710 McGrann Bouvelard.

Same house as seen today.

This photo shows a double house along Martha Avenue.  Notice the old car in the background.

Today's view of the same house.

The "The Story of Grandview Heights: The Big Move" Story

Foreword:  A week or two ago I was given a CD by my summer printing partner and long time friend, Mike, who said that he was recently given a box of old photos by Matt, a real estate agent and friend of both of us.  Matt was moving from the area and thought Mike would enjoy viewing all the old photos of what is known as Grandview Heights in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  Mike has lived there for over 40 years while I moved to the Heights with my parents in the mid-1960's and Carol and I bought a home in the Heights in 1968 and spent 29 years in the same home until we moved to our dream house we call "The Beach House" in 1997.  The CD Mike gave to me was made by a neighbor to whom he loaned the photos who scanned and titled all the photos which he placed on the CD he called "Early Grandview Heights".  Today's story tells the tale of how I came to live in the Heights and why it was so hard to finally leave our treasured home in the Heights.

LDub standing on the porch at 929 N. Queen

It was an ordinary day.  A day back in the late 1940's when my mom, dad and I moved from our city rental on West Orange Street in the city of Lancaster, PA to our first home on North Queen Street on the north side of Lancaster, a block past the city limits in what is known as Manheim Township.  Mom and dad had saved for a few years before they purchased the semidetached home that had three-bedrooms, one bath, living room, dining room, eat-in kitchen and full basement.  The roof was flat, covered with rubber and a layer or two of pitch.  As I grew older mom and dad often talked about saving enough to be able to move to the Heights, since that is where those who had "wealth" lived; at least in their minds.  Many of my friends as well as friends of my brother, who was five years my junior, lived in the Heights so we did get to visit the area during our junior and senior high school years.  After graduation I entered Millersville State Teachers College while still living at home.  During my sophomore year mom and dad made the announcement that they had bought a place on Janet Avenue in the Heights; a single home to be exact.  

Mom and dad saved for years to move to the Heights

Neat little place that had a living room with a wood-burning fireplace, small dining room, very small kitchen and large screened-in rear porch which was mom's pride and joy.  There were three bedrooms on the second floor and a full basement with outside entrance.  Mom and dad had one of the bedrooms while my brother and I shared the other.  The third was very small and served as a TV room as well as an office for dad.  Mom and Dad were in heaven now that they lived in the Heights.  Dad had a big front and back yard to mow and loved taking care of the property.  There were concrete walks throughout the Heights with grass between the walks and the street.  The trees through Grandview Heights were for the most part mature and provided plenty of shade for most properties.  Grandview Heights was still one of the most popular neighborhoods in Lancaster County in which to live.  

925 Janet Ave. - Our home in the Heights

Well, in 1967 I got married and moved out leaving just the three of them in the house.  Didn't take long though before I was back in the Heights with my new bride.  Just before our first year lease had expired on our rental apartment, we purchased a home in the Heights ….. Janet Avenue to be exact …. in the same block as my mom and dad, but at the other end of the block and on the other side of the street.  

Bringing our second child home from the hospital

Place was a semi- detached English Tudor that was one of the first properties built in the Heights.  Had three bedrooms, one bath, living room with fire-burning fireplace, dining room, small kitchen, full basement, full third floor and a one-car garage.  All three of our children were born and brought home to our place in the Heights.  I had a front yard and back yard to mow and a home that needed constant painting.  I can still remember moving into the house and on the first night laying in bed and wondering if we had made the right move.  Heavens, we must have because we were in the Heights!  Carol and I had every intention to make it our first home, a starter home, and eventually move to maybe a single home.  Well, we lived in the Heights for 29 years in the same house and only moved out when we became empty-nesters.  

Our Chesapeake Bay house in Lancaster

We had always wanted a place along the Chesapeake Bay, but after finding we needed at least a million for anything nice, we settled for a home that looked like we lived near water.  Only problem was it wasn't in the Heights, but we love what we call our "Beach House".  We loved our time spent in Grandview Heights and will cherish the memories of those years of raising our family in perhaps the best neighborhood in Lancaster County.  For the next few days I will give you a look at what and where Grandview Heights is located and how it all came to be and this was made possible because of the CD that Mike gave to me recently while at work.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.