The "Pictures From My Town of Lancaster" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Opened a few of my folders and discovered a treasure of historic photos I have been collecting for quite some time.  Most have come from one of two sources; The Lancastrian Facebook Page and Remember When...In Lancaster Facebook Page.  Thought I would share them with you today.  Being that Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is my home town and is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States, some of the following go back quite a few years.  Hope you enjoy them.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Logo for the Remember When In Lancaster Facebook page.  Click to enlarge photos.

Logo for the The Lancastrian Facebook page.

Lancaster's Fire truck many years ago.

Rocky Springs Amusement Park in the south end of the city.

The gang, The Paxton Boys, murdered Indians held in the Lancaster Prison in 1763

What set of photos from Lancaster wouldn't have an Amish photo?

A story in itself!

Remember the old time gas stations and the dinger hose you drove over
that rang the bell inside the garage to alert the owner that you needed gas.

Lancaster Fair Grounds, 1912.  The fairgrounds are now the Donnelly Printing Co. 

1966 protest against the Viet Nam War.

Hubley Toy Factory was about two blocks from my house as a child.
Always enjoyed looking at the toys in their display cabinet.

And who didn't take in a drive-in movie from time to time.
If you never did, you missed out on a great experience.
RCA Corp. was also located a mile from my home.

General Edward Hand lived in the southern end of Lancaster.

An aerial view of Rocky Springs Park.

This all started in 1839 when someone installed a bathtub in their house!

The "The Biggest Myths You Thought Were True!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Going through my junk email (I know...my wife warned be about doing this after the last scam I fell for) when I came upon a link to a story titled "10 Facts You Thought Were True But Aren't).  Should I click on it or not?  What could happen if I did?  Would it destroy my computer and send smoke into the air?  I clicked on it!  Waited a few seconds and when I didn't smell smoke, or even see any, I began to read the 20 facts that I thought were true, but aren't.  So...you ready for them? 

1. The truth about unsticking pasta.  Oil stops pasta from, sticking together...NOT TRUE.  Oil actually makes the pasta greasy.  The stirring prevents it from sticking.
2. The truth about Left and Right brain.  There is not solid division between the talents of both hemisphere and if one can learn better than the other.
3. The truth about the Three Wise Men.  Nowhere in the Bible does it state that there were three wise men.  Due to the fact that there were three gifts at the cradle on the birth of Jesus, people just assumed there were three wise men.
4. The truth about how dogs sweat.  Dogs sweat by salivating—nope, they regulate their body temperature through panting.  Dogs actually sweat via their footpads.
5. The truth about water rotation in toilets.  A flushed toilet does not rotate the opposite direction in the Southern Hemisphere and Northern Hemisphere.  The Coriolis effect doesn't alter water in toilets.
6. The truth about Albert Einstein.  Albert Einstein failed mathematics—this is not true.  He failed an entrance examination for a school but he excelled in mathematics.
7. The truth about vaccines and Autism.  Vaccines do not cause Autism.  Groundless fears based on manipulated results and fraudulent research has fueled this belief.
8. The truth about alcohol and brain cells.  Alcohol does not kill brain cells.  Even in alcoholics and very heavy drinkers, brain cells aren't killed, just damaged.
9. The truth about your tongue.  There aren't different parts of the tougue for each type of taste: sour, bitter, salty, sweet and savory or meaty.
10. The truth about a missing person report.  The police do not require 24 hours before you can report a missing person.  Once you believe the person is missing you can make the report.
11. The truth about only using 10% of your brain.  The proportion of the brain that is active at any one time is completely task dependent, however, ultimately every section of your brain is active practically every day.
12. The truth about sleepwalkers.  It is actually fine to wake sleepwalkers, they will be confused for sure, but they will be OK.  In fact it is better to wake them than allow them to possibly cause injury to themselves.
13. Milk does not increase mucus in anyway.  There is no need to avoid diary if you have a cold.
14. The Truth about bananas.  Bananas do not grow on trees, they grow on large herbs that just resemble trees.
15. The truth about bats.  As blind as a bat...Bats are not blind, not only can they see but they also use echolocation.
16. The truth about shaving.  Shaving does not thicken hair nor is it darker or coarser.  It simply appears that way because the hair grows back with a blunt tip.
17. The truth about chewing gum.  The chewy base of the gum is not digestible but passes straight through your digestive system, it does not take 7 years to digest.  The remainder is simply absorbed.
18. The truth about Adam And Eve.  Adam and Eve did not eat an apple.  They ate the forbidden "fruit", there is nowhere it Genesis that states the fruit was an apple.
19. The truth about the Egyptian Pyramids.  Slaves did not build the pyramids, this ancient construction job was considered a great honor granted only to the respected laborers, who remain entombed near the site today, according to the Egyptologists.
20. The truth about Ninjas.  Ninjas didn't wear black, the outfit came from years of fiction and folklore.  Actual ninjas wore anything that would help them blend into daily life.

Well, how'd you do.  Did you know the truth about everyone of the 20.  I certainly didn't.  #17 can't be correct, since it was close to 7 years ago that I was chewing a piece of Black Jack and swallowed it.  And, it was almost exactly 7 years to the day that it came out, still black.  Geez, I sure hope that was gum! Now I'm beginning to worry!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Linking Hearing Loss With Dementia" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting in front of my iMac punching the keyboard in my office while a couple of cats are looking out the window at the birds in the trees and the squirrels gathering sunflower seeds from the ground.  The three of us enjoy our time together...that is until I get too cold and have to drop the window down and ruin it for the cats.  Now, this has absolutely nothing to do with my story....until my wife yells to me to answer the phone.  "Sorry, I didn't hear it," I yell back to her.  And, that's how it goes from time to time, for you see I have a hearing loss.  I have written about it a few times before, but I recently read an article about the risk factor of developing dementia if you have a hearing problem.  I can remember when I was a child and saw my granddad wearing these things over his ears.  Found them fascinating!  Needless to say they were his hearing aides.  Today, my hearing aides are pushed into my ear with a small clear plastic piece that can be seen, but only if you search for it with your eyes.  Many of my friends wear hearing aides and when I recently visited with a former student of mine who I hadn't seen for over 50 years, he too was wearing them.  I questioned him about them and he said that being an airline pilot will do it to you.  Hearing those jet engines on a daily basis does it to everyone in the industry.  He even mentioned that the hearing protection they wear when directing a large plane into it's proper location won't keep you from losing your hearing.  It was about a month ago that while reading the Lancaster newspaper, I came across an article in the "Together" section of the paper that was titled "Sound Effects."  The sub-head read: Science seeking answers for what has become the largest modifiable risk factor for developing dementia.  Got my attention, so it did!  Hearing loss is now known to be the largest modifiable risk factor for developing dementia; exceeding that of smoking, high blood pressure, lack of exercise and social isolation.  By preventing or treating that hearing loss in midlife has the potential to diminish the incidence of dementia by 9%.  Doesn't sound like much, but what if that 9% was meant for me; or even you?  Nearly 38 million Americans are afflicted with hearing loss which increases the risk of dementia, depression, falls and even cardiovascular diseases.  Wouldn't you want to do something about it if you had the chance?  Your brain has to work harder to process sound and if you have a hearing loss, no matter to what degree, the brain has to work harder to understand what it hears, thus depleting its ability to perform other tasks.  Are you someone who has a hearing loss and says it doesn't bother you?  At first I was like that.  I did enjoy the quiet at times; even in a noisy room.  Then I realized that it shut me out of so many things; even a friendly conversation with friends at a meal.  I knew I couldn't hear like I used to and I knew exactly why.  In the early 1970s I coached the rifle team at the high school where I taught.  We practiced all year; with no ear protection!  I didn't know any better; neither did anyone else!  Then, at the end of my 5th year of coaching my wife told me I better stop to see the school nurse, since I couldn't hear what she was telling me anymore.  Some might laugh and say I was doing it on purpose, but in my case that just wasn't true.  So I went in to see the nurse, she did a hearing test on me and looked at me and said, "Your hearing is awful!!"  I made an appointment the next day to see a hearing specialist who had me in a pair of hearing aides within a month.  

My Life Savers

I also never stepped foot in the rifle range after that.  Getting people with a substantial hearing loss to use hearing aides is an enormous challenge for family members, friends and even the family doctor.  For me, I never knew how bad it was until it was too late.  And, the damaging effect of noise exposure is cumulative.  Be aware that if you are someone who works in a noisy environment, listens to music through headphones, uses a hairdryer daily or is subjected to noisy traffic on a daily basis, you are probably in need of hearing aides.  That is unless you wear ear protection all the time.  Betcha don't, do you?  Just like me.  I'm on my third pair of hearing aides, since my first pair, and they work better and are easier to place in my ears than ever before.  No one can see them unless they are standing to my side and stare at my ears.  And, so what if they know.  Chances are they should be wearing them also.  And, if it helps one little bit that I won't develop dementia: well, I should have done it long before I did.  I was one who was stupid and didn't think the noise of a .22 rifle being fired in an enclosed area would bother me, but boy was I wrong.  It not only ruined my hearing, but just about ruined my life.  Thank goodness my wife noticed and made me go see the nurse.  Who knows what I might be fighting my now.  Don't be a victim as I was.  Do something about it!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "555 Miles Divide Lancaster From Lancaster" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Checking the website for the South Carolina County known as Lancaster.  Seeing how it may compare to its sister County, and my hometown, Lancaster, Pennsylvania County.  

Outline of the state of South Carolina

Though they are 555 miles from one an- other, they both share some of the same history as well as both being known as either the "Garden Spot of America" or the "Garden of Eden."  Lancaster, PA was founded in 1729 and is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States while Lancaster, SC was founded in 1785.  

The shape of Lancaster County, PA is similar

Today, Lancaster, PA has approximately 60,000 residents while Lancaster, SC has about 10,000 residents.  The first settlers in Lancaster, SC were Scots-Irish who migrated south on the Great Wagon trail from Lancaster, PA.  They traveled to the Waxhaws region of Lancaster, SC which today is just north of the Lancaster, SC county seat.  At the time the Scots-Irish moved south, they came upon a "Garden of Eden" of Native Americans which included the Cherokee, Catawba and Waxhaw tribes.  

Both share the same logo

The new arrivals from up north, which included many from Lancaster, PA, ushered in an era of sizeable change.  They named the new area for their homeland in England, the region of the famous House of Lancaster that opposed the House of York in the War of the Roses.  Both Lancaster, SC and Lancaster, PA claim the Red Rose emblem as their "Coat of Arms" of the House of Lancaster.  

Monument in front of the Courthouse in Lancaster, South Carolina

Recently, Lancaster, PA's resident newspaper historian, "The Scribbler" Jack Brubaker, made a visit to Lancaster, SC where he and his wife toured the courthouse and viewed the Confederate monument that stands in front of the courthouse.  Jack wrote an article in the Lancaster Newspaper about his travels.  

An 1877 photograph of the square in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

Lancaster, PA also has a Soldiers and Sailors Monument in the center of town, near where its courthouse once stood in center city.  My home city's monument stands 43 feet high and has a rectangular pillar topped with a statue of a robed woman on a pedestal known as "The Genius of Liberty."  She stands facing north so her back faces away from the Confederate States of America which were defeated during the Civil War.  

Painting of what the Courthouse in Lancaster, PA used to look like

There are also four statues of men representing the four branches of the American armed services which surround the center statue.  It was erected within a decade of the end of the Civil War.  The statue which stands in front of the courthouse in Lancaster, SC is 30 feet in height and has a single soldier standing atop it.  It wasn't dedicated until 1909.  During the Civil War, troops under Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman occupied the town of Lancaster, SC.  The soldiers looted the town and stabled their horses in the sanctuary of the Presbyterian Church that had been built in 1862.  That had to be a real slam to the residents of Lancaster, SC!  

A more current photograph of the statue in Lancaster, SC

Lancaster, PA had many famous residents with President James Buchanan being one of them, while Lancaster, SC can also lay claim to a President in Andrew Jackson.  Today, both Lancasters still have some of the best farm land in the country.  And, we still share the Red Rose emblem, but do differ in that Lancaster, SC still harbors some of the same attitudes that were supposed to have been laid to rest after the Civil War.  My guess is that will never change!  Though Confederate flags are not seen near the monument in Lancaster, SC, I'm sure you will still see them at many other locations in Lancaster County, SC.  Some things will never be laid to rest in our nation!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Memories From What Seems Like Another Lifetime" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Standing in front of the old Manheim Township High School in the town of Neffsville, Pennsylvania.  Neffsville is a bit over 8 miles from downtown Lancaster as the crow flies and was where I attended Junior High School as well as Senior High School.  

What was at one time the Manheim Township High School in Neffsville, PA

At the time, the school was one of the largest school buildings in the country with a price of about $250,000.  The architect for the new high school was Henry Y. Shaub according to an article in the July 25, 1928 Intelligencer Journal Newspaper from Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  

The original one level school that used to be on the same location.

The new school, which according to Shaub, was to be one of the few modern buildings in Lancaster County and would have 26 rooms with an auditorium-gymnasium combination.  I entered the building as a 7th grader in the Manheim Township School District at the age of 12 and was in awe of my surroundings.  The auditorium was immense and the gym, behind the blue curtain at the front of the auditorium, was really neat.  On either side of the gym were stairwells that led to the basement where the shower rooms were located.  But, by the time I had reached the building, it was becoming obsolete and there were so many students in the building that my music class in my 7th and 8th grade years was held across the street in front of the school in the Neffsville Fire Hall.  By the time I was in 9th grade, a new High School, which held grades 9 thru 12, was opened and I had the chance to be a member of the first class to go through the school for four years.  That high school still remains in the same location, but only the original gymnasium, swimming pool (yep we had a swimming pool in the high school), and auditorium remain today.  The remainder of the school was demolished over many years and enlarged.  

Another, earlier photograph of the High School along Valley Road.

Well, that high school on Valley Road, where I went to Junior High wasn't the original school on that site.  The original school was built in the early 1920s and stood for slightly over 6 years.  Then on the evening of January 2, 1928, the school burst into flames and firemen from six local fire companies fought the raging inferno in zero degree temperatures.  Neighborhood cisterns and wells were emptied as well as a nearby stream which ran dry as water was supplied to fight the fire.  

High School graduation from the school on Valley Road years ago.

By the time the fire was extinguished, the school had burned to the ground.  Students had to go to school in nearby churches and fire company buildings for the next few years until what I am standing in front of today was completed.  Mr. Henry Y. Shaub was also the architect of the first building on the site.  The second building on Valley Road did have a planetarium added to it at one time, but that was eventually removed when the new high school opened in 1957 and had it's own planetarium.  The second rendition of the old high school was designed in the Art Deco style of architecture.  The ornamentation on the exterior of the school features line carvings that were completed by spraying sand with the use of compressed air to form the carvings.  On either side of the main entrance, which faces south on Valley Road, are tall human figures which are gripping iron chains  which are attached to the top of metal lanterns on either side of the entrance.  

The lettering and figures can be seen in this photograph.

On the front corners of the building are figures which appear to be standing guard over the building.  Directly above the front door is an engraved owl, but my favorite feature is the embossed Old English lettering at the very top of the entrance that reads, Manheim Township High School, in two lines.  Recently there was an article in the Lancaster Newspaper, which was written by renowned local architect Gregory Scott, that tells more of the story of the architecture of the building.  If you are a subscriber to the newspaper, you can access it online.  Today the building is still owned by the school district, but is now part of the Intermediate Unit 13 program in Lancaster County.  But to me, it will always be the huge big building that I entered as a young boy, having to travel by school bus for the first time in order to reach my destination.  What's even more memorable is returning to the school about 25 years ago to set up a print shop in the basement for a few years where I printed school documents on the AB Dick press.  Same basement where I received my first, and only, paddling as an 8th grader for shooting a spit ball, during lunch, through my straw at the girl on the other side of the table.  How time flies!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Close-up of the lettering.  Click on images to enlarge.

Figures hold a chain that connects to the top of the light.

An owl can be seen in the center panel above the front door. 

This is another figure that also holds the lights.

On most remaining entrances to the school are embossed panels.

One of two corner figures that are "Standing Guard".

The front door entrance even shows an embossed design above the window panels.

The "The Building Of Our Nation's 1st Highway" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading about the birth of America's first highway known as the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike and later renamed the Lincoln Highway.  

Advertisement for buying
shares in the highway.

Ground was first broken in 1792 for a roadway that was touted as the first "engineered" road in the nation.  Engineered meant that it was surveyed, graded and paved with packed gravel stones for its entire length which was from the town of Columbia, Pennsylvania, which is located at the western most terminus, to Girard Avenue in the Parkside neighborhood of Philadelphia.  Its total length was 73.33 miles, but was 62 miles from Lancaster to Philadelphia.  The new road was too expensive for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to build so it was built by a private company known as The Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike Road Company.  The cost was $465,000 or about $9.5 million today.  Shares of the "Company of the Lancaster and Turnpike Road" were first issued on March 16, 1795.

A toll stop leading to the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike.

 I found a listing for shares in the Phila- delphia & Lancaster Turnpike Company dated May 24th, 1796 that were listed for $100 and could be paid in three monthly installments.  The new turnpike had "Toll Gates" that were placed approximately every 10 miles, but many driving on the road took side roads to circumvent the gates.  People who did so were at the time known as "shunpikes."  

This photograph shows the highway looking west in 1929.

There were those that were exempt from paying tolls such as anyone who live along the turnpike, anyone passing from one part of a farm to another, anyone on their way to a funeral, anyone on their way to church, anyone engaged in military service or on their way to vote in an election.  Eventually the turnpike was absorbed into the transcontinental route known as the Lincoln Highway or in Lancaster County as Route 30.  

The tourist attraction known as the Amish Farm and House.

The highway was formal- ly dedi- cated to President Abraham Lincoln with several statues of Lincoln placed along its eventual total 3,389 mile length.  Along the highway in Lancaster County sat the SkyVue Drive-in Theater which opened on Tuesday, May 23, 1950.  It was one of my favorite places to allegedly watch an outdoor movie.  It eventually was torn down to make room for  Lancaster's first Outlet Mall in 1985.  

The Highway today.

The mall became competition for the tourist dollars with the Amish Farm & House along what by this time was known as Route 30 instead of the Lancaster to Philadelphia Highway.  Today Tanger Outlet Center sits in the spot once occupied by the Outlet Mall.  If you have ever driven the once gravel stone turnpike, now paved Lincoln Highway, or Route 30, you probably have no idea what it must have looked like when it first traversed Lancaster County.  Hard to think it was the very first turnpike or highway in our nation.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. 

The "A Snake In A Fish Body" Story

My dad and I are fishing along the Elk River, Maryland.

It was an ordinary day.  August of 1958 and I'm sitting on the dock of my Aunt Doris' Elk River cottage in Maryland with my dad.  I'm fishing while my dad is enjoying the view up and down the Elk River.  Then, something grabbed the worm and took off.  About five minutes later I pulled an ugly, slimey, snakelike American eel onto the dock.  Fish are tough enough to get off the hook, but an eel is almost impossible since they are hard to grab hold of to remove the hook.  

I'm removing a catfish from my line.

Add about twenty years to that and I am once again fishing on the Elk River with my friend Gary and our children.  One of us hooks a Channel Catfish which is about two feet in length and perhaps eight to ten pounds.  This time I remove the ugly looking fish with a deeply-forked caudal fin and remove it from the hook.  Place it in the water tank we have in the boat to take back to our cottage for Gary's wife to skin and eat.  Stories like this have been happening to many while fishing along the Chesapeake and Delaware Rivers for years.  But, today there is one additional fish that is causing quite a stir in rivers on Maryland's Eastern Shore.  Seems the fish known as the Snakehead, or to many as  "Frankenfish", has infiltrated the waters of the rivers and they are killing many other species or eating the food of other fish, forcing them to move to other locations.  

The Snakehead fish or "Frankenfish"

I have never caught a Snakehead, but they look really ugly with a mouthful of crooked teeth and a snarly look on their face.  There used to be plenty of perch, crappie and catfish in the rivers, but their population has declined since the snakehead, which grows to 3 feet long, either eats them, eats their food or muscles them out of their preferred habitat.  And, to top that, they are eating the eels as well as shad.  Disturbing studies have been done that is worrying fish management groups.  The river that flows along the western border of Lancaster County, the Susquehanna, does not have a problem with the snakefish...yet!  But, it may be only a matter of time.  So, how did these fish find their way into the waters of the rivers and streams that I have enjoyed since childhood?  

Another view of the Snakehead fish.

Originally the fish was brought into the country from Africa and Asia for sale in live fish  markets.  Some evidently escaped the markets and found their way into the waters of many rivers in the country.  And, they are prolific breeders with a female fish releasing up to 15,000 eggs in two years.  It can grow to about 3 feet in length and up to 18 pounds.  They can move over land for short distances by wriggling motions and live outside of water for several days.  It is a freshwater fish that cannot tolerate salinity in excess of 10 parts per million.  On the Susquehanna River, it is hoped the four hydroelectric dams will keep snakeheads from moving too far north.  Last year in Maryland there was a snakehead "derby" to try and lower the snakefish population.  And, just in case you may want to have one for your home aquarium,  they are illegal to own!  My fishing days are more than likely over so I am not affected by the fish that has plenty of teeth.  Can't imagine how hard it must be to get one of them off a hook.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Return Of The Flipboard To It's Rightful Place!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Visiting with a former high school student of mine who volunteers at The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, PA.  Hadn’t seen George for close to  50 years and the reunion was…well fantastic.  Tough to catch up with 50 years of life, but we had a great time talking as well as viewing the displays at the museum. 

The clipboard at the 30th Street Station in Philadelphia.

The main reason I had planned a trip to Strasburg was to take a photograph of the recently moved flipboard that had been delivered from Philadelphia’s 30th Street Railroad Station a few months ago. Meeting George happened to be an unexpected surprise.  Noticed his name a few weeks ago in the newspaper for winning the “Volunteer of the Year” award at the museum and found he would be at the museum when I planned to visit for my photograph. 

Preparing to move the clipboard to Strasburg, PA.

George showed me the flipboard and explained what they had done to it over the past few weeks.  Did a total cleaning of the board, which removed about 50 years of scum and haze from the numbers and letters and brought it back to life once again.  Each individual number or letter has multiple faces that could be shown, so the work was very tedious.  He said he believes the cleaning is just about complete and it will be ready for the public soon and a metal railing will be put in front of it. 

Click on this image and you will see how each letter and
number is split in half which allows them to be changed.
The new proposed board would be electronic and not
in need of letters such as these.  As they change they
creating a clacking noise that is familiar to customers.

I just assumed it would be working again, but did not ask.  The iconic, clacking 70’s era board has been viewed by millions over it’s lifetime.  And, it was supposed to be retired and replaced by a blinding blue-light digital monstrosity when renovations are complete at the Philadelphia railroad station.  Well, that didn’t sit well with many who visit the station on a daily basis.  Seems U.S. Representative Brendan Boyle was asked to help keep the board as it always was so he telephoned railroad CEO Richard Anderson and urged him to keep the popular display board at the center of the station’s gigantic waiting room. 

This will be the new home of the clipboard for a few years.
Fencing will be placed in front to prevent people from touching it. 

Rep. Boyle was pleasantly surprised by Mr Anderson’s response that they will try to retain the sign in some form, if not make it the main flipboard once again.  The board provided travelers with details about track locations and delays since shortly after Amtrak was formed in 1971.  Some times new technology may be for the best, but in this case keeping a renovated board will be a sentimental favorite for many who travel daily through the station.  The main reason they had planned to change the flipboard is because Italy’s Solari Company, maker of the board years ago, no longer makes replacement parts.  New electromechanical displays are run by computers.  But, the clacking noise of the changing flipboard numbers and letters would be missed.  Perhaps the board I just photographed will someday be returned to its proper location in the train station and make most everyone happy again.  And, my visit with George was an added pleasure for me during my visit.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Former Student Wins Volunteer Of The Year!" Story

The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania

It was an ordinary day.  Standing inside the front door of The Railroad Museum of Pennsyl- vania in Strasburg, Pennsyl- vania waiting to see George Swartz.  My story began December 13 of this past year when I read an article in the Lancaster newspaper titled "Railroad Museum of Pa. honors its top volunteer.  Story about George Swartz who is a Lancaster native who currently lives in Lititz and was recently selected by the Friends of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania board of directors as the volunteer of the year.  He was picked from more than 150 active volunteers.  Quite an honor!  George spent 35 years as a corporate pilot for Armstrong World Industries and is now a regular volunteer at the museum, spending much of his time installing a model train layout located in the museum's second floor gallery.  The more I read, the more I wondered if I might have had George as a student years ago.  I remembered a George Swartz who I had in my Graphic Arts class who one day asked if I would like to a ride in an airplane with him.  He was trying to get his pilot's license and needed so many hours in the air.  All I had to do was pay for the gas.  Mike, the fellow whom I work with during the summer doing the in-house printing for the Manheim Township School District, where we both taught years ago, has a daughter who works at the Museum so Mike asked her to ask George if he recognized my name.  

The museum as seen from a catwalk over the tracks.

You bet!  So, I'm standing inside the door of the train museum, getting directions to the second floor to meet with George.  The elevator door opened and there was George, slightly older than I remember, but with the same smile I remembered from 1970 when he graduated from Manheim Township High School.  We spent the next hour reminiscing and catching up on each others lives and then he showed me some of the HO miniature railroad train yard that he is working on at present.  It had been moved from the first floor to the second floor and placed in a much smaller space, so he is in the process of making changes so most everything can fit once again.  He asked me about teachers he had during his high school career and I questioned him if he had a sister named Sharon.  Seems two of my traveling friends as well as classmates in the same high school where I ended up teaching, Jere and Sue Herr, asked me a few days before my visit with George, to ask George if he had a sister by the name of Sharon who ran around with them in high school.  I, too, knew Sharon, but mainly as a classmate.  George smiled and looked at me and said he also remembered Jere and Sue from years before when they visited his sister.  He told me he graduated from the Piedmont Aerospace Institute after high school with degrees in Airframe and Powerplant Technician.  During his career as a corporate pilot he achieved more than 74,000 hours of flight safety.  The knowledge learned in his professional life is now serving him well in his life as a volunteer.  He told me his interest in model trains began at the age of 4 when he received an American Flyer miniature train.  

LDub with former student George Swartz.

George will be formally recognized as the Museum volunteer of the year in Harrisburg, PA in April.  A well deserved award!  He ushered me around the museum and answered all my questions about the display which is immense.  I ended my visit with George when he showed me the large Flipboard that used to be in the Amtrak 30th Street Train Station in Philadelphia.  It was removed and brought to Strasburg.  It looked beautiful, but will be returned to the station after they have finished renovations.  Said my thank you and goodbye with the promise of returning once again to visit with him.  I cherish all my friendships, but friendships with former students seem to be special, especially when they thank you for what you did for them as a high school teacher.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

PS - George later sent me an email telling me he pulled out an old logbook and reported we went flying August 7, 1969 right after receiving his Private Pilot Certificate in a Cesena 150 n8337J.  I was one of his first passengers.  A great honor for me!