The "Lancaster's Historic Fulton Theatre To Grow!" Story

The Fulton Theatre is the white colored building on the right.
Prince Street is to the right and King Street is to the left.  Construction
has begun already on King. St.  Click on photographs to enlarge.

It was an ordinary day.  Early Thanks- 
giving morning and I'm walking the streets in the city of Lancaster, Pennsyl- 
vania looking for a few good photo- graphs of the Fulton Theatre.  The streets are void of most traffic due to it being a holiday, so I have very little trouble walking into the streets to take photos.

The Fulton Theatre in downtown Lancaster.

 The Fulton Theatre faces the first block of North Prince Street and extends west to the first bock of North Water Street.  To both the right and left of the theatre are buildings that extend to West King Street on one side and West Grant Street on the other.  The Fulton has been acquiring properties for the past 17 years and now owns all of the property in that square area and has spent a few years raising $21 million of the projected $29 million it needs to make that corner in the city a first class theatre district.  

This is the jail that stood at one time on the site of the Fulton.

I must admit I am excited to see what will appear on that plot of  ground by the projected finish date of fall of 2020.  I have been a very small part of the Fulton family since I have been making my Polaroid prints for the retiring board members for the past half-dozen years.  

On Water Street appears this sign telling of the Indian Massacre.

The Fulton Theatre was built in 1852 on the site of what had been the city jail where the last of the Conestoga Indians were massacred in 1763.  Today it is listed as a National Historic Landmark and has seen quite a few performers such as Ole Bull, a famous Norwegian violinist, Adelina Patti, a nine-year old who became a world class opera singer, Horace Greeley, Mark Twain and Edwin Durang who was Lancaster born and America's first native born thespian.  

The sign above can be seen on the rear of the Fulton.
The stone wall is on the bottom left of this photo.

It served as a military hospital after the Battle of Gettysburg and was the location where Lancaster's "Great Commoner" Thaddeus Stevens help start the Republican Party.  The Fulton Theatre is also the oldest working theatre in the United States.  And now, it is going to become an historic performing center that will rival any performing arts center in the country.  

This is an artist's rendering of the new Fulton Theatre
and all of the other new buildings on the quarter block
between Prince, King, Water and Grant.

Some of the changes to be made are: A lobby with a skylight bridge between the current lobby and the education building on Grant Street and a performance studio that will be built on Grant Street that will have room for 1,400 patrons with new bathrooms and a bar.  Buildings that are now retail businesses and restaurants will be turned into four stories with apartments on the top floors for visiting artists and performers and retail space on the lower level.  

This photo shows what the corner of North Water
and East Grant will look like.

Various other changes will be made that can be used for private gatherings and parties.  Local construction companies will do all the work while the theatre will continue to operate on its normal schedule.  The Lancaster Community is excited and will be rewarded in the near future with some of the best entertainment in the country.  Just wait and see!!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

This plaque tell the story of John Edwin Durang, America's first native born thespian. 

An early photograph of what at one time was Fulton Hall, later renamed Fulton Theatre.

  

The "The Ultimate Mystery Meat" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Heading into Lancaster's Central Market to buy a dozen of cream-filled Long Johns.  One of my favorite breakfast treats as well as a great dessert with any meal.  As I passed one of the butcher stands I looked in the display case and there it was.  Scrapple!  

Slicing pieces of scrapple from a loaf.

Just so happens that November 9th was National Scrapple Day.  To this day I have never had a piece of scrapple, so I'm not sure I'm qualified to write this story, but I thought I would tackle the assignment since I know a bit about "the ultimate mystery meat" being I was born and raised in Lancaster County and know many people who swear that the stuff tastes great.  Scrapple just happens to be a Lancaster County tradition since it came about years ago when local farmers created it as a way to use what was left over after a day of butchering pigs, steers, chickens or even deer.  

Trays of scrapple ready for sale.

I have friends who learned to love scrapple as a child and call it a comfort food wrapped in nostalgia.  It is served by many families as an addition to the family breakfast.  Actually, scrapple has its roots in colonial times when it was almost a sin to throw anything away that could be eaten.  Traditionally, butchering day on the farm would center around cool days in November or December.  Its a great time to get together and celebrate the end of growing season on the farm.  So what do you put into scrapple when you make it.  Well, it's typically made of hog offal, such as head, heart, liver, kidneys, intestines, bowels and other trimmings, which are boiled with any bones and fat that has been removed.  Once cooked, bones and fat are removed and dry cornmeal is boiled in the broth to make a mush.  

Some have it for breakfast with eggs.

The meat, finely minced, is returned to the pot along with any preferred seasonings such as sage, thyme, savory, black pepper or your special spice.  The mush is formed into loaves and allowed to cool thoroughly until set.  Due to its composition, pork scrapple is often described as being made from "everything but the oink".  If by now you still think you may want to try it...good luck!  Scrapple is actually a creation of the Pennsylvania "Dutch" which is a corruption of "Deutsch", the German word for "German".  Having experienced religious persecution in Switzerland and Germany, a large number of German Anabaptists settled in the Pennsylvania colony beginning in the early 18th Century primarily due to the religious freedom guaranteed by the chartered colonial government.  In some places it is known as the Low German dish called "panhas", "Pannhaas," "panhoss," "ponhoss," or "pannhas" in other parts of Pennsylvania.  

About the only plus I can get from scrapple is that it looks
something like Spam which I love.  I just hope I don't find
Span is made from the same stuff or.....? 

Friends of mine who enjoy scrapple tell me it tastes like sausage.  Now, I'm wondering how they make sausage!!  I did find a few write-ups that say scrapple is absolutely delicious.  It's traditionally served as a breakfast side dish, with sweet or savory condiments including cocktail sauce, Dark Karo Syrup, King Syrup, horseradish sauce, ketchup, grape jelly, applesauce, honey, molasses, mustard or maple syrup.  It can be mixed with scrambled eggs or simply served between two pieces of white bread.  My wife tells me that her mother often served scrapple to the family and used the Dark Karo Syrup.  Once married, I told her she would never have to eat the stuff again if she didn't want to.  To this day, as I said before, I have never tried the stuff, and after checking sites for this story, I will still never try it!  I can guarantee you that!!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Will The Carrousel Turn Once Again?" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading once again about the Rocky Springs Carrousel that at one time was a favorite of many children in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  

Advertisement for the Dentzel Carrousel Company

It was built by the world renowned G.A. Dentzel Company, located in Philadel- phia, PA, in 1924.  Some of the animals on the carrousel were made as early as 1895.  The carved pieces included 25 jumpers, 8 standing, 15 menagerie and 2 chariots.  It was in the Carrousel house at Rocky Springs from 1924 until it was sold to a theme park in Michigan in 1983 where it entertained riders until it moved to Dollywood in Tennessee in 1990.  

The Rocky Springs carrousel building was a special place

In the late 90's Rocky Springs Carrousel Association was formed and re-purchased the carrousel for $1.5 million and brought back home to Lancaster.  Since 2005, 15 of the original pieces have been restored and replaced on the carrousel and now wait in a warehouse for their new home.  But, where will that be?  

Photo showing a protest at the swimming pool

Recently an article was published in the Lancaster Newspaper saying that Lancaster's new Mayor, Danene Sorace, said that the carrousel will not be installed on city-owned property under her adminis- tration due to the history of discrim- ination at the Rocky Springs Park swimming pool in the late 1950s and 1960s.  She, as well as previous Mayor Rick Gray, opposed placing the carrousel in downtown Lancaster as had been suggested, due to Rocky Springs past history as well as having to maintain and operate it in the future.  

An all-white rule in effect at the Rocky Springs Pool

It has been well documented that the Rocky Spring Park's swimming pool was off-limits to black patrons.  I remember going swimming at the pool and never once did I see anyone other than a white bather.  I had many black friends whom I played summer baseball with who told me they were not allowed to go swimming at the pool.  

Ticket to ride the Carrousel

Wasn't long before my mom wouldn't take us to the pool.  But, the story in the paper today asks, should the history of one attraction, being the pool, affect the attitudes toward another attraction?  Current younger residents believe perhaps it should, but those who lived in the 50s and 60s aren't so sure.  All races enjoyed the carrousel, but not so with the swimming pool which was located in the same general area.  It may not matter one way or another, since a local couple who own Stone Gables Estate and have already moved some of Lancaster's historical structures including the National Christmas Center collection, have shown an interest in placing the carrousel on their property for all to use once again.  Maybe I may once again get to ride on one of my childhood's favorites.  That's provided they don't take too many years getting it running again and hopefully all residents of Lancaster County can agree that the carrousel can join all races together.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Early photo shows the Rocky Springs carrousel in operation

A happy rider

A worker at the William H. Dentzel Carrousel and Organs Manufacturer

 

The "The Pretty Church In Hell" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Talking with a friend who at one time lived in a small town known as Shamokin which is to the north-west of our homes in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Would often talk about the "town that had been left to die".  The town's name was Centralia and about a thousand people once lived in the town.  It was settled in the 1840's when coal was king.  The jet-black, rock hard stuff was the most powerful fuel known at the time.  When it was discovered in northeastern Pennsylvania it triggered a rush of immigrant workers to the area.  Hungarians, Czechs, Poles and Ukrainians all found their way to the little mining town of Centralia looking for work in the coal mines.  Then in 1911 a Ukrainian Catholic Church was built in town.  The simple, wood frame church had hand-laid stone walls for the foundation.  A church just like a few others that dotted the landscape in the small town that also had a few corner stores, a barbershop, a few schools and a town hall.  And then one day the town caught on fire.  Date was May 27, 1962 when Centralia changed forever.  I had just graduated from high school and was working at the local Acme Market when I remember seeing stories about it on TV.  A fire was spreading from a local dump, where workers were burning trash, to a seam of coal that evidently ran all through and under the town of Centralia.  

Sign near the town of Centralia

More than $7 million was spent trying to stop the fire, but nothing worked.  What at one time was a single seam of coal that was burning turned into another seam and then another.  Slowly the earth began to heat up and hollow out.  Smoke belched from cracks in the ground.  Basement walls in some homes developed cracks in them with smoke and noxious fumes coming into the house.  Nothing could be done to stop the underground fire.  And then 19 years later, on Valentine's Day, the earth buckled in one home and exposed a mineshaft hundreds of feet down.  

One of just a few signs telling of Centralia.  The rest
have been removed as if the town no longer exists.

Now, how scary would that be!  The 12-year-old boy who was in the home at the time survived by grabbing a tree root before being pulled into the mineshaft.  Then in 1984 the state and federal officials began buying properties and ordered the town evacuated.  Streets were emptied and homes were leveled.  The Roman Catholic church in town was knocked down with the Methodist Church right behind it.  But, that little Ukrainian Catholic Church, known as the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church,  still remained.  

The neat little Assumption of the Blessed
Virgin Mary Chuch in Centralia.

Seems that the church sat on one of the massive slabs of sandstone that forms the backbone of the region's mountains.  The sandstone protected the church above it from the burning anthracite coal that sat below the rest of the town.  In 2010 Father Hutsko took over the church and found it in rough shape with a very depleted congregation.  But, these loyal members would drive miles every Sunday to worship in what my friend referred to as "The Pretty Church in Hell".  The parishioners tore down the nearby abandoned and crumbling rectory, fixed the roof of the church and its blue dome and added new siding.  Five years later the archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Church visited America and visited the still-burning town.  He was amazed how the church had survived in the burning and depleted town and told the survival story from the Gospel of Matthew: "On this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it."  

The interior of the small church filled during one
of the Pilgrimage services a year ago.

I recently pulled up photos of the church and was amazed at the beautiful exterior as well as the interior.  The archbishop was so moved that he established the site as an annual pilgrimage for the Ukrainian Catholics.  A framed letter on the church wall confirms the honor.  The first pilgrimage took place in August of 2016 with close to 600 visitors from all over the United States visiting.  

Father Hutsko, priest at the Church.

Father Hutsko had gone to seminary with someone from the parish and during visits to Centralia fell in love with the church.  Every year now in August another pilgrimage will take place in this "Pretty Church in Hell".  Centralia, who lost it Zip code and most of its residents, will not give up the ghost as long as this neat little church remains.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - As of today the fire still continues to burn!

The "RLPS Is Ready To Build Gingerbread Houses Again" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading online that it is soon time for the annual Gingerbread house display at the RLPS Architects in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  For 23 years the architects and staff of RLPS have been creating a holiday Gingerbread display which I have photographed and shared with you for the past eight years.  

One of the gingerbread houses at RLPS in Lancaster, PA.

The theme for this year's display is Dickens London.  I am anxious to make a visit once again this year to not only see the display, but to visit with one of my students I had in high school years ago and who is now one of the architects on staff.  It is marvelous what the staff can do with gingerbread.  I have posted a few photos from years past to give you an idea as to the skill and originality that is used on the display.  

Carol and I would buy gingerbread kits such
as the one pictured and have our grandkids
make their own masterpiece.

Now, for my tale about designing and building gingerbread houses at my house.  When our grandchildren were younger, my wife and I would buy gingerbread house-building kits at the local department store and invite the grandkids over to allow them to be creative while building a gingerbread house.  I can still remember the mess that was made yearly until it got to be overwhelming and we finally had to give up the new tradition.  Sticky hands, sticky floors, sticky furniture and even sticky cats led to the cancellation of the activity.  Now, this story came about when my wife was looking through photographs that we display each year in one of the tables I made years ago that has display space under the glass top.  

Grandson Caden working on one of the trees on his ginger-
bread display.  Today he is close to 6 feet tall and in 8th grade.

One of the photos she had snapped was of me finishing off a bottle of wine that was almost full when the gingerbread building had begun.  Those who know me know that I am not a drinker.....except for stressful situations such as the gingerbread building extravaganza.  Since we stopped the tradition, primarily due to our grandkids thinking it was corny, we haven't purchased more than a dozen bottles of wine.  Well, the adult gingerbread display at RLPS starts December, so I will once again visit and post the results of the winners.  I'm sure you will be amazed just as I am!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Another neat gingerbread from the RLPS display.

Anxious to see if they can top the houses from the past several years.

The "A Visit To Lancaster By Thomas Edison To Make A Film" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Looking at one of the Facebook pages that I frequent, Remember when....in Lancaster,  when I found a rather interesting link to an old movie made by Thomas A. Edison in the early 1900s.  

Filmmaker, Thomas A. Edison

The film is in the Library of Congress' collection of old films.  The film shows boys and girls going out the door of what allegedly is Lancaster High School in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  It was thought that Edison was visiting a friend in Lancaster and made the film of the students leaving the high school.  The description of what is shown reads like this: Shows boys and girls going out the door and down the steps of a high school building in Lancaster, Pa. The boys come out first, led by a man, probably a teacher, holding a young boy's hand. The boys wear suits, and a few carry books or instrument cases. The girls, wearing long dresses and broad-brimmed hats, follow the boys. The last person to leave the building is a man, probably another teacher, in a top coat and hat. Filmed from a single camera position.  

This may be the school featured in Edison's film, but I'm
not sure.  It was allegedly at the same location, but....

Some discussion on the Facebook page suggests the school is on the southeast corner of Prince and Chestnut Streets in downtown Lancaster.  That building evidently was demolished and Lancaster's Post Office was built on the same location in 1928.  That building is no longer a post office, but still stands in the same location.  Then another writer posted a link to a free online book titled "One Hundred and Fifty Years of School History in Lancaster, Pennsylvania" which was written by Mr. William Riddle in 1905.  The online book is extremely interesting, but is 564 pages long with plenty of text and a few photographs.  You can reach the book if you care at: https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=sX8WAAAAIAAJ&rdid=book-sX8WAAAAIAAJ&rdot=1&fbclid=IwAR072BxQowIY4oh2lGfB3ws6t0GqfdBB4DyPtn215GPAyVdOVC0WbykOtE8&pli=1.  You may have to sign in to the Google site as I had to do.

This was Lancaster's Post Office on the same location.

After viewing the Edison film, a few comments were made about male chauvinism having a strong influence in education at the time.  As for me, I found the film very interesting and have watched it quite a few times to see exactly how Edison filmed it as well as how the educational system was administered at the start of the 1900s in the city of Lancaster.  You can reach the Library of Congress website and view the film at: https://www.loc.gov/item/mp73079000/
  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Sorrow In The Amish Farming Community" Story

It was an ordinary day.  October 23, 2018 and staring at me from page A3 of the morning newspaper was Alvin F. Beiler.  Alvin F. Beiler is Amish and Amish fear that having their photograph taken will condemn them to hell, since it is a graven image.  His hair is cut off mid-ear and he wears a long grey beard.  Part of his black shirt can be seen in the photograph.  This photo in the newspaper is a mug shot.  Alvin is a farmer who recently lost his 4-year-old son after he started the feed mixer on his farm and had not checked to see where his son might be.  20 minutes later he stopped the machine, but it was too late.  His son had died in the mixer.  Can you imagine how he must have felt after discovering his son in the machine.  And, to top that off, he was charged with involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of children, which he should have been.  This was the first criminal charge for a farm related death in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania since 2006 when another farmer was charged after his son climbed into a tractor-powered feed grinder and was killed.  That farmer's record was cleared after he was accepted into the county's accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition  program.  A few days after Mr. Beiler's photograph was in the newspaper, another story appeared titled "Spotlight on safety after farm deaths."  

Chart from the Lancaster newspaper.

Seems that Lancaster County has had at least one person die in a farm-related accident every year since 2000 with a total of 69 deaths recorded during that time.  Four people have died since this past May with three of those deaths happening within the past week.  Seems farm accidents need to be addressed.  Farming is dangerous with most accidents happening in the spring and fall when more machines are being used.  Lancaster has 5,500 farms that cover about 70% of Lancaster County land.  And, I should point out that all those deaths are not children, but when a child does die, police usually investigate the death.  Charges are rare, but are sometimes filed if police determine criminal recklessness or negligence.  Mr Beiler was the first to be charged since 2006.  Lancaster General Hospital works with the Amish Safety Committee by suggesting ways to make farming safer.  More rear-view mirrors and backup cameras for tractors have helped in the past.  But, its still up to each individual farm to make safety a priority.  As far as penalties are concerned, usually a course on farm safety and acceptance into the County's Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition might be his sentence, but the untimely death of his young son due to his inattentiveness is a sentence much greater than any penalty a judge could impose.  It will be with him for the rest of his life.  Sad to realize, but it will happen sometime in the future as long as children grow up in a farm environment.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "He Still Has A Lot Of Steam In The Boiler" Story

Front page of the paper featuring story on Linn.

It was an ordinary day.  On the front page of the morning paper was a familiar face that popped out at me as soon as I saw the photograph.  Guy by the name of Linn Moedinger whom I met a few years ago when I went to "play trains" with he and my longtime friend Jere as well as a few other guys.  So, what exactly is "Playing trains" you may wonder.  Well, its running the huge HO train layout that Linn has in his multi-bay garage next to his home.  The display is extremely lifelike and totally hand-made by Linn with a little help from some of his friends I assume.  

Some of the detail workmanship on Linn's layout.

Multi-level with so many trains running it's almost too difficult to see all of them running at the same time.  Each one of the guys who showed up the day I went with Jere was given an assignment by Linn who ran the show.  Linn's mechanical skills can be seen no matter which direction you look in his garage turned train yard. I stood, amazed, as each fellow ran his train from point "A" to point "B" without creating a problem for one of the other guys who was doing likewise.  

Linn runs his HO layout from his desk where
he makes assignments and changes to the
schedule as it is running.

Eventually I was given a chance to run one of the trains and I was sweating by the time I got my train to its location without any problems.  Linn isn't new to railroading since he has been associated with the Strasburg Rail Road for over half a century. The Strasburg Railroad is located in Strasburg, Pennsylvania which is classified as a borough in Lancaster County and has a population close to 3,000.  The Strasburg Railroad was started in 1832 and eventually turned into a tourist attraction in 1958 when Linn's parents, William and Marian, as well as 20 some other stockholders opened it to the public.  Linn's first job at the railroad was to clean the toilets as well as the diesel parts of the trains.  By 1976 he was the engine house foreman than the chief mechanical officer in 1988 before finally becoming President of the Strasburg Railroad in 2000.  

Early steam locomotive on the Strasburg Railroad.

And now Linn has announced his retirement as of December 21 of this year.  It was in the late 1970s that Jere began as a Fireman on the engine and got to know Linn while working for the Railroad during summer months when he wasn't teaching and on weekends the rest of the year.  

Engine #91 coming in the main line on the Strasburg Railroad.

As a big surprise, this past week the railroad unveiled a new car they have been working on for over two years, No. 118 which is a former Baltimore and Ohio coach car that needed over 2,000 man hours to restore it.  Linn paid $1 for it, but I'm sure it took quite a bit more to restore it.  He was unaware that the car was to be named after him until he saw it for the first time this past week with his name painted on the side of it.  

Photo taken by LNP photographer Suzette Wenger
showing Linn next to the car that was named for him.

The new President of the railroad will be Craig Lefever who reports that Linn "eats, sleeps and breathes railroading."  Pretty obvious after seeing his HO layout!  Strasburg Rail Road recently announced two annual scholarships will be awarded starting next fall at nearby Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology.  One will go to a student in welding with another going to a student in machining, both necessary skills to be able to work on the railroad.  I don't know Linn as well as Jere knows him, but I'll bet he'll be spending plenty of time in Strasburg checking out what's going on around the train yard.  The smells, sights and camaraderie of the train yard will never leave a guy whose entire life has been railroading.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "War To End All Wars Was A Misnomer: Part II - The Great War's Forgotten Troops" Story

This little dog carrie medical supplies.

It was an ordinary day.  Reading about the many animals that fought alongside the soldiers for both sides in WWI.  One such animal, a stray dog named "Rags" was as hardworking as the American soldiers he fought alongside.  He served in the First Division American Expeditionary Forces as a courier of messages.  He was one of an estimated millions of dogs, horses, camels and other animals that served during the Great War.  Even though they were known as "military mascots", the soldiers that they worked alongside knew they were more than that for they did real work on the battlefield such as lug munitions and other cargo, carry crucial messages between units and sniff out buried mines.  Many of these fearless animal soldiers never received any recognition for their hard work and dedication and their short lives were largely forgotten.  

This horse is being lowered from a ship to help in war duty.

That was until the National Archives completed a massive scanning project of digitizing 63,000 WWI photos for its American Unofficial Collection of World War Photographs record series.  The majority of photographs contain images of soldiers in various aspects of military life, but they did find something else: animals.  John Bull was an English bulldog who belonged to an English major general until an American air unit adopted him.  And then there were two lion cubs, Whiskey and Soda, who belonged to a military unit of the Aeronautique Militaire (French Air Service).  

This little guy being held by the soldier in the black coat,
caught rats that were in the trenches with troops.

An estimated 10 million horses and mules, 100,000 dogs and 200,000 pigeons were enrolled in the war effort.  They would help find the wounded, haul munitions and food and deliver mail or track enemy troops by miniature cameras.  Many even had fitted gas masks to aid them on their mission.  Horses have been used in battle for ever, but the horses used in WWI were not made war-ready and died by the millions from disease, exhaustion and enemy fire.  The United States shipped more than half a million horses and mules by boat to Europe by 1917.  

Jackie the baboon.

One of the most exotic animals called into duty during the war was a baboon named Jackie who served with the 1st South African Infantry Brigade in then British-occupied Egypt and later in the trenches in France and Belgium.  His acute hearing and keen eyesight helped warn soldiers of enemy movement or possible attacks when he would screech and tug on their clothing.  Jackie was eventually wounded and had to have a leg amputated.  Dogs served mostly as spotters of the wounded and were able to recognize ally from the enemy.  They also served as sentinels, messengers, transporters and chasers of rats which filled the trenches where soldiers would seek safety.  

This little fox helped the pilot find his target.

I have a friend and neighbor who died about a year ago due to Agent Orange during the Viet Nam War.  Many of the photos he would share with me from his service time had dogs in every photograph.  He said they made the best friends and you never felt alone when one was by your side.  I have never found a reliable website that could give an estimate of how many animals were killed during WWI.  It had to be an enormous amount!  And, for those who love animals, I'm sure even a few would be too many.   But, I'm sure many veterans' lives were saved by those furry friends who served their country.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "War To End All Wars Was A Misnomer: Part I - Lancaster's New Rememberance" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just got back from downtown Lancaster where I visited and photographed a new display of plaques at the Lancaster County Government Center located at the corner of West Chestnut and North Queen Street.  The new plaques were unveiled to celebrate the end of WWI also known as "The Great War" and the "war to end all wars".  The plaques also honored those who participated in the Civil War, World War II, the Korean War and the Viet Nam War.  An article appeared in the newspaper yesterday telling of the plaques and I thought I would visit and see what they might look like.  They were revealed recently due to the celebration of Armistice Day and Veterans Day on November 11.  It was on November 11, 1918 at 2:50 a.m. Eastern Time that the United States Department announced in a single sentence that the war would officially come to a close at 11:00 a.m. that same day.  On that day in history sirens blared and church bells chimed in the city of Lancaster, Pennsylvania as well as many other cities around the world announcing the war's end.  The war was sparked by the June 1914 assassination of Austria-Hungary Archduke Franz Ferdinand by a Serbian nationalist in Sarajevo, Bosnia.  National alliances led countries to mobilize with Russia, Serbia, Britain and France pulling together and being known as the Triple Entente while on the other side were Austria-Hungary, Germany and the Ottoman Empire which was known as the Triple Alliance.  By the time the war was declared over on November 11, 1918 an estimated nine million troops and seven million civilians died as a direct result of the war with about 50 to 100 million deaths worldwide contributed to the 1918 influenza pandemic that was said to have been caused by the war.  The war was one of the deadliest conflicts in history and led to major political changes in many of the nations involved.  Unresolved rivalries at the end of the conflict contributed to the start of World War II twenty years later.  Many treaties resulted from WWI as well as the formation of the League of Nations which was intended to prevent another world war which for various reasons failed to do so.  WWI was not a true religious war, but it was framed religiously.  Various religions were swept away as well as other formed.  Martin Luther was elevated to hero status during that period, nearly 400 years after the Reformation.  During the many battles soldiers saw themselves as martyrs on a Christian Crusade.  Protestants, Catholics, Muslims and Jews all fought for both sides.  By the time November 11, 1918 rolled around everyone, no matter what religion, was ready to call it quits.  Well, the plaques unveiled recently are to be a new symbol to commemorate the historic event in 1918.  Lancaster's Mayor Danene Sorace thanked the veterans who gathered to watch the unveiling for their service to "make this world a better place to remind us that Lady Justice really does stand for something.  As noted, the war to end all wars was not our last war so the plaques will help us remember those who fought in wars that came after.  I have added a photograph of each plaque to show you the fabulous job that was done to honor our veterans.  Tomorrow I will finish my story about WWI with a bit about how animals played a vital part in the war.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.  PS - click on photos to enlarge them. 

Plaque dedicated to WWII Merchant Marine Veterans

Plaque dedicated to all branches of Lancaster County Veterans

Plaque dedicated in honor and memory of Vietnam Veterans

Plaque dedicated in honor and memory of Civil War Veterans

Plaque dedicated in honor and memory of World War II Veterans

Plaque dedicated in honor and memory of Korean War Veterans