The "A Few Deer For My Dear" Story

My wife's reindeer collection as seen in our living room.

It was an ordinary day.  Picking up a few reindeer for my wife's Christmas collection.  For years Carol has been collecting miniature deer from all over the world.  Her collection numbers about 20 with perhaps one added every year to the collection.  

One of the many display cases at Strawberry & Company
that display items from around the world.

Well, this year she is going to be adding two new deer to her collection.  In the center of Lancaster, PA is a neat little store known as Strawberry & Company. Wayne, the owner, has some of the most unusual finds within the walls of his shop which is located next to Lancaster's historic Central Market house.  

The two new additions I am giving to Carol for Christmas.

He has been selling my altered Polaroids for years and I have made many visits to his store with replace- ment photos.  Recently, while looking through the cases he has lining the walls, I discovered two small deer that I knew I just had to have for gifts for Carol on Christmas day.  One small deer was made from pressed wood that was made in Germany.  It is approximately three inches long and two inches high and extremely thin.  The other deer is known as brushed art and came from the Philipines.  It is about five inches long and perhaps 3 inches high.  They will both be welcome additions for her collection which graces the coffee table in our living room.  I'm anxious to give them to her on Christmas Day.  If you're wondering if she will find out about the gifts before Christmas, I'm not worried, since she has lived through just about all my extraordinary days with me and doesn't bother to read about them again.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

A few of my favorites from Carol's collection.  This one is made from thistles.

This one is ceramic with wires as antlers that have bells and a bird nest on them.

This deer is polished aluminum.

Another ceramic deer with antlers. 

This is a metal deer with extremely long legs and antlers.  Just love it!

The "Memories of Christmas' Past: Part II" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Posting the remainder of my photos I have selected from the  trip Carol and I had taken a few days ago to the National Christmas Center in Paradise, PA.  The tour we took was self-guided and lasted close to an hour and a half, but we could have taken more or less time if we so chose.   There is seating throughout the tour if you tire of walking and you do the tour at your own pace.  We arrived on a Monday and there was very few others in the building, but the parking lot is very large with spaces for tour buses if needed.  I imagine that if you arrive on a weekend orh during the summer months when people vacation in the Amish Country, the place would be very crowded and hard to maneuver through the displays.  Certainly would be harder to take video or photographs with a larger crowd.  We each paid $12.50 for the tour with children's tickets at $5.00 and 2 and under free.  Check their website to get the days they are closed during the year; there are very few days when the place isn't open.  I photographed what I thought to be interesting to me, while you may find many other Christmas memories that have more meaning than what I photographed.  The place is amazing and has fantastic reviews on the Internet.  You won't be disappointed in the fifteen galleries that give you a look at Christmas throughout the world.  Here's wishing you a Merry Christmas!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - Click on photos to see them better.

This is Father Christmas of the United Kingdom.  Father Christmas developed from various European legends of the Dutch St. Nicholas, but also has roots going all the way back to the Mumming Plays of the Middle Ages.  As a character in these plays he became associated with the not traditional customs of wassailing, mistletoe, and the burning of the Yule log.  

This features, behind Santa, the cotton wrapped tree.   In 1833 Gustave Koerner discovered that there were no evergreens growing on the banks of the Mississippi in St. Clair County, Illinois.  In order to keep the Christmas tradition of a tree going he used a sassafras tree, wrapped the stark branches in cotton strips to resemble snow, and trimmed it with apples, candy, ribbons, bright paper, as well as hazel and hickory nuts.  Eventually glass ornaments and lighted candles were added.  Now, that last addition puzzles me, since I can't imagine lit candles on a dry tree covered with cloth.

This scene pictures the Night before Christmas in the 1950's.  Greeting cards were displayed, Bing Crosby was dreaming of a white Christmas and the stockings were hung by the chimney with care.  The 5&10 was stocked with tree trimming material such as bubble lights, plastic ornaments and silver tinsel.  Here you can see Santa getting ready to head up the chimney after leaving gifts for the two young children by the tree.

This was a cast metal 1884 Nativity made in New York and displayed in a church in Canada.  It was found broken in a scrap yard and brought to the Christmas Center where it was restored back to health with missing parts fabricated to complete it.

These are figures manufactured by Byers Choice.  In the late 1960's Joyce Byers made the first figurines at the family's dining room table for friends and relatives.  Joyce was inspired to make these figures as she wanted to bring back the feeling of an old-fashioned Christmas.  These very collectible figures are still being manufactured and are fairly expensive to purchase.

The Creche is a popular custom of displaying a Nativity scene at Christmas and dates back to St. Francis of Assisi who resided in Italy in 1224.  One evening he saw shepherds asleep in the fields of nearby Greccio.  The image reminded him of the shepherds in the Christmas story.  He created a Nativity scene so that ordinary peasant folk could more fully understand the beauty and simplicity of the Holy Birth.  One of the displays at the Christmas Center features a stable structure from the 1880's.  I have added a few of the close to a hundred Nativity scenes that are on display in the Center.  Small signs tell you where they were made.

France

Russia

And this really neat Nativity which is on sale in the gift shop.  It features an Amish Nativity.

This photo and the following one are supposed to be a child's view of the Christmas Tree.  If you look above, it seems as if you are under a Christmas tree and the village and train yard in front of you would be the floor of a home.  Just so realistic and breathtaking.  Trains travel through the town and you can walk around the entire display just as you would if you were a child crawling under the tree.  What a wonderful gallery. 

There are quite a few display cases filled with toy trains of all gauges.  To go along with the trains are boxes and boxes of Plasticville buildings and miniature people.

This final photograph shows metal Cowboys and Indians.  I had a collection of close to 50 or more when I was a child.  A few of the boys in the neighborhood played in the dirt piles in our yard with them.  The samples on display are in perfect condition which mine certainly were not after years of playing Cowboys and Indians.

The "Memories of Christmas' Past: Part I" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just entered the National Christmas Center in Paradise, Pennsyl- vania.  Yep, the place is located in a small town known as Paradise and today that's just were I felt I was.  Memories of the 1950's were on display with every turn we made in the family museum.  Carol and I entered the front door of the museum and were treated to one of the best experiences we have ever had.  "Look at that bike!" I said to my wife.  "Looks just like the one my Aunt Doris gave to me in 1950.  And that hook and ladder truck.  I used to put the ladder the whole way to the top and have my pet white mice climb up the ladder!!"  We spent the better part of the next ninety minutes roaming along the self-guided tour on what seemed like a path that would never end.  The building is all things Christmas and the memories that Christmas offers to both children and adults alike.  The displays not only bring back fond memories, but educate you about Christmas traditions, customs and celebrations from around the world.  Life-sized exhibits depict the magic of Christmas through the years.  There were fifteen main galleries with names such as: 1950's Christmas Morning, Images of Santa, 1950's Woolworth's 5 & 10, Antiques Emporium, Santa's North Pole Workshop, Tudor Town, Vintage Christmas Memories, 1950's Night before Christmas, Toy and Train Mountain, The Art of the Nativity, O' Holy Night and The First Christmas (A Journey to Bethlehem).  The sights were amazing as you can imagine and I believe the best way to share all the memories is to show you.  So, here goes ……. (Click on images to enlarge)

Christmas Memories of the 1950's.  My bike I got can be seen in the foreground with the red fire engine behind it that my mice used to climb.  The old TV plays on the left while the holiday lights can be seen through the window.  We stood and looked at this one display for almost ten minutes and still didn't see everything.

This is the entrance to the F.W. Woolworth 5 & 10 Store in downtown Lancaster.   Novelty items of all types can be seen in the store.  Again, we spent about ten minutes looking over the many items from our childhood.

I have written a few times about these wax choirboys that are seen here.  When I sang in the boy's choir at St. James Episcopal Church in downtown Lancaster, our choirmaster would always give each choirboy a wax choirboy as a Christmas gift.  I still have a few, but the heat in our storage area of our house damaged a few of them.

Electric lighting for Christmas lights became available in the early 1900's.  It was in 1880 that Thomas Edison invented the light bulb and it was in 1895 that the White House in Washington, D.C. was lighted with Christmas lights.  1901 saw the first commercial lights sold for the public

The North Pole is the title of this display.  Every child has dreamed of what it might look like and this gives you an idea as to how it looked.  The toys on display, the movable reindeer, the elves and Santa with his list are all part of this display.

This is an elaborate Christmas Garden that would have been displayed in the 1890's to the early 1900's.  Simple landscaped scenes featured houses, people and animals.  Sometimes an entire room of the house would be transformed into a Christmas scene.

 Children awaited the arrival of Belschnickel, Lancaster County's Santa, on St. Nicholas Day.  Good children could expect candy and nuts, but naughty children were chastised by Belschnickel.  I do not remember this Christmas custom from Lancaster County.  Thank goodness!!

This is Grandfather Frost of Russia.  Russia's kindly gift-giver, like many of the world's Christmas figures has a direct connection to the Roman festival of "Saturnalia".   This pre-christian holiday celebrated the end of the winter solstice and the arrival of the new year.

This is the Hummel Village.  Berta Hummel entered the Franciscan abbey at Siessen, Germany, in 1934.  As a watercolorist, she produced enchanting paintings of children for over 20 years.  Her designs were translated into porcelain by the Goebel Company.  Hummels have been produced for nearly 70 years.  This village represents Coburg, Germany, home of the Hummel factory.

My final photograph today is a simple wooden Santa that was hand-carved.  The detail is remarkable and the manger scene painted on the coat of Santa is beautiful.  This Santa was less than a foot tall.

Well, you have seen part one of my trip to the National Christmas Center in Paradise, PA, a few miles to the east of Lancaster.  My photos may appear out-of-focus at times because the lighting was very low to gain the atmosphere that was needed for the displays.  Many of the items in the center have been donated over the years and tags show who may have donated an item or an entire display.  Fantastic is all I can say about the museum and the experience Carol and I had today.  I'm sure I will return in the future, since I'm sure I missed half of what is on display.  Check in tomorrow for the final part of the story.  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 "The Little Chapel On Buch Avenue" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Heading to work at Grebinger Gallery in nearby Neffsville.  This time of year the roads are more crowded and I usually try and find the easiest route, be it slightly longer, to get to work.  I travel north on the Fruitville Pike till I reach Buch Avenue where I wind my way through neighborhoods until I reach the gallery.  Along this route stands a rather nondescript brick building that has no visible door.  

The front of the Christadelphian Chapel on Delp Road.

Standing in front of the building is a white sign that reads "Christa- delphian Chapel."  Lancaster County is a melting pot of religious groups which include everything from the Mormons to the Moravians to the Catholics to the Amish to the ..... well, I guess the Christadelphians. One day I took my camera with me on my way to work and stopped for a few photos.  The windows in the Chapel were all covered with either shutters, blinds or paper, not allowing a view of the inside of the Chapel.  On the rear of the building were two windowless doors that I assume allowed entrance into the Chapel.  To the rear of the property was a cemetery, but a sign said it wasn't the property of this religion, but of another close-by church.  Wondering exactly what religious group occupied this building, I "Googled" Christadelphians.  

Entrance door? into the Chapel.  This is the rear of the building.

Seems the Christa- delphians are a millenarian (Latin for "containing a thousand") Christian group who hold a view of Biblical Unitar- ianism which is a belief that the Bible teaches God is a singular person -the Father- and that Jesus is a distinct being, his son.  The movement developed in the United Kingdom and North America in the 19th century based on the teachings of John Thomas who coined the name Christadelphians from the Greek for "Brethren in Christ".  

Sign in front of the chapel giving times for Worship,
Sunday School and Bible Class. 

Seems there is no central organiza- tion that tells followers what to do and believe, but the group is tied together everywhere by their zeal for reading God's Holy scriptures and their understanding of His plan and purpose as He had revealed to everyone therein.  They believe that salvation is attained through faith in Christ and the hope of resurrection to eternal life.  As I read about the religious denomination, I wondered what they thought of Christmas.  Seems that in the brotherhood there is a wide variety of view about Christmas.  Some avoid the holiday by not giving presents or sending cards, while others embrace it by displaying trees and singing carols, while others see Christmas merely as a chance for families to get together.  So now, after reading numerous articles and stories, I'm stumped as to how I feel about the brotherhood who meet weekly in the little brick house without a front door along Buch Avenue.  I guess I will wish them a Merry Christmas and hope I don't insult any of them.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Talk About Being Painful: Part I" Story

It was an ordinary day.  And then ….. they moved.  The pain was intense, driving me from my deep dreams onto the bedroom floor, trying to find a comfortable position to relieve the pain deep inside my left abdomen.  Scared?  You betcha!  Carol awoke to find me on the floor and alarmingly asked, "What's wrong?"  I told her, "I thought I had gas, but it's more than that.  It really hurts!"  A few minutes later she helped me into my Phillies lounging pants and a Quince Orchard sweatshirt and helped me into the backseat of the car.  I told her not to head to Lancaster General, since the ER will be packed and I need to lay down as soon as I get there.  As she speedily drove the few miles to the Heart of Lancaster Regional Medical Center, I followed the street signs and telephone poles as they whizzed by the window above me.  For years I took the same route to visit my mom at a nursing home close to the hospital, so I knew most all the landmarks and turns along the way.  As we made the final turn into the hospital, she asked if I could walk in or should she park by the door and have them help me out of the car.  I told her I could walk.  Directly inside the empty ER (I know that doesn't sound good, does it) we found chairs next to check-in.  After about a minute I climbed off the seat and rested on the floor on my hands and knees.  The lady at the desk asked my wife what I was doing on the floor and Carol told her it probably was the only way to relieve the pain.  The lady quickly called for help!  Within minutes I was in a bed, laying with my knees drawn up against me.  

Chart showing the internal organs of the
stomach and lower abdomen.  

Nothing relieved the pain, but at least I wasn't flailing around the bed.  After an immediate exami- nation a nurse placed an IV port in my arm and I was given morphine.  By now I was shaking all over and I knew it was my nerves more than anything so I tried my best to settle myself and relax.  I was given two bottles of water that had something in them that would show on a scan they had planned for me.  I tried my best to drink them, but only got about two-thirds of them down.  By now the pain had subsided and I was able to lay with my legs extended.  After a scan of my abdomen I was told that they could see two kidney stones that were at the lower end of the ureter which is the tubes that connects from the kidneys to the bladder.  They were close together and about 2mm in size.  I was told the two stones would probably pass in about a week or two.  I was given instructions to drink plenty of fluids and take pain medicine as needed as well as a Flow Max pill to keep my tubes open wide.  Well, my story has probably taken you maybe two or three minutes to read, but my excursion of the ER lasted almost four hours.  My son had a 5mm kidney stone two years ago which had to be removed by a doctor.  My sister-in-law had a kidney stone that caused so much pain that she passed out.  She told me it was much more painful than childbirth.  After those two stories I stopped asking about kidney stones.  Four days later I had another episode and I took the pain meds and drank an extra glass of water and the pain finally subsided.  I have just returned from a visit to my urologist and he reiterated what the ER doctor had told me.  He said the passing of the stones should not be as painful as my first experience. Yeah, right!  Scheduled me for a visit in three weeks.  I must get an X-ray of my abdomen before I go back to visit with him and if the stones are still in place, he may remove them instead of waiting longer for them to pass.  Not looking forward to any of this, but I will survive.  Part 2 will appear in a few weeks.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "A Sports Legend Dies" Story

Eugene "Gene" C. Kruis

It was an ordinary day.  Opened the local newspaper and turned to the obituary section to see if any of my friends from the past had died.  There, on the far right of the first of four pages of death notices, was a photo I recognized immediately.  Heading read "Eugene 'Gene' C. Kruis."  I had known Gene since the late 1950's when he came to Manheim Township to teach and coach football.  At the time I was a a high school sophomore and no longer played football, having dropped out after my freshman year after realizing I was too skinny and not tough enough.  Mr. Kruis immediately took over the football team and by my senior year the team was undefeated and won the county championship.  

Gene in his Air Force uniform.

During the many years that Mr. Kruis coached football at Manheim Township High School he won 8 championships with four of them undefeated teams. He also had 19 consecutive winning seasons.  After graduating in 1962 I went to college and returned to the school in 1967 to teach alongside Mr. Kruis.  Took quite a few years before I felt comfortable enough to call Mr. Kruis by his first name.  Being 19 years my senior and a sports icon, Mr. Kruis was the only way I ever addressed him, but he told me one day to knock off the Mr. Kruis.  "My name is Gene!" he said one day to me, so that was that.  Gene was born in Altonna, PA and graduated from Altonna High School in 1943.  

Gene as a lineman for St. Francis College.

He served in the U.S. Airforce during WWII then entered St. Francis University near Pittsburgh, PA where he played football and baseball; being named "Most Outstanding Athlete" in 1948-49.  He later got his Masters Degree from Temple University.  He taught at Lancaster Catholic High School in Lancaster, PA for seven years before going to Manheim Township where he taught and coached until 1992.  When I began teaching at Manheim Township I also coached football for a year under Gene.  Other commitments made me give up that job, but later Gene, during his years as Athletic Director for the school, asked me to be Equipment Manager which I did for a few years.  

Gene as football coach at Manheim Twp.

I also helped Gene by helping announce the home football games for many years.  I also printed the football programs for Gene and while getting the stats for every player he would tell me to knock off 10 or 15 pounds from the players weight and an inch or two from their height so the opposing team would think his team was small in stature.  His players loved him even though he was a demanding coach Gene and his wife Stella had two sons who were both fantastic football players and during their high school playing years, Gene gave up coaching so someone else could coach them and make it less stressful for his sons.  He was a great family man and often talked with me about my family and their athletic achievements.  In the last 15 years I had a chance to see and talk with Gene during the retirees monthly breakfasts.  

Gene addressing the school at a Pep Rally.

Gene earned many honors during his teaching and athletic careers.  He was inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame at Lancaster Catholic High School, Manheim Township High School and St. Francis College as well as the Pennsylvania High School Football Coaches Association and the Susquehanna Valley Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame.  He was also honored with the George Kirchner Award in 1984 by the Lancaster Sports Writers & Broadcasters.  I will always remember Gene for his love of coaching and his interaction he had with all his players.  He influenced so many young men in his life, and they are better for it.  Life goes on and Gene will be missed, but certainly never forgotten.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.