The "With A Bit Of Sugar...All Is Made Well: Part II - Y&S Twizzler Licorice Company" Story

Y&S Candies in Lancaster, Pennsylvania

It was an ordinary day.  Standing in front of the Y&S Candies, Inc. factory on the west side of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  I had my camera in hand and was taking a few photographs when a gentleman came out the front door asking why I was taking photographs of the building.  Told him I wanted to write a story about the factory for the blog I write.  I also asked if he could take me inside and show me how the candy was made.  "Wish I could, but they don't allow photographs inside," he told me.  He did answer a few questions for me before I thanked him and headed back to my car.  Y&S Candies is a subsidiary of The Hershey Company and is one of the oldest confectionery firms in the United States.  

Y&S is part of The Hershey Company

The company was established in 1845 and was first known as Young and Smylie.  Twenty five years later it adopted Y&S as its trademark.  Then in 1902 Y&S became one of three small firms that together were known as National Licorice Company.  In 1908 a plant was opened in Montreal, Canada and in 1929 the Twizzler brand was established.  In 1968 National Licorice Company was renamed Y&S Candies Inc. and was acquired by Hershey Foods in 1977.  Since 1999, Twizzlers have been manufactured in Lancaster as well as Memphis Tennessee.  The Lancaster location also makes chewing gum and other candies.  The Memphis plant originally was in Farmington, New Mexico, but moved to Memphis due to transportation costs.  The plant in Lancaster employs about 550 workers and is located at 400 Running Pump Road.  

A package of Twizzlers licorice sticks

If you have no idea what Twizzlers may be, it is a licorice in tube form about the diameter of a large drinking straw that has swirled ridges on the outside of the hollowed licorice.  It is made of corn syrup, wheat flour, sugar cornstarch and in smaller amounts: palm oil, salt, artificial flavor, glycerin, citric acid, potassium sorbate, Red 40 and soy lecithin.  Yep...has all those ingredients...and we actually eat the stuff...and it tastes good!  Originally, the product that was introduced in 1845 was licorice, but in the late 1970s the company began to expand its flavors to include strawberry, grape, chocolate, cherry and watermelon flavors.  In addition to their Twists, Bites and Nibs of various sizes, Y&S introduced Pull 'n' Peel in 1994. Twerpz and Strawz came along in 2004.  A limited edition of cherry cola and "rainbow" flavors were introduced in 2006.  The Twizzler brand is sold today in stores and movie theaters.  Y&S also manufactures a special 2-foot-long variety with the regular length of Twizzlers being 8 inches long.  In 2006, Hershey's introduced the Sweet and Sour Filled Twist.  

Rainbow Twizzlers

They come in red and yellow and both have a fruity filling inside.  In 2011, Super Long Nibs were introduced, combining the flavor and texture of the classic Nib with the length of a standard Twizzler twist.  Over the past few years, Y&S has added a few other Pull 'n' Peel flavors.  According to the Guinness book of Records, the longest licorice twist ever made measured 1,200 feet long and was 100 pounds.  It was made at the Y&S Candy Plant in Lancaster.  The record breaking twist became a world record on July 19, 1998.  I was hoping I would have been allowed inside to take a few photographs to share as well as have he chance to sample a few of the products, but that didn't happen.  I finally walked away from the gentleman at the door empty-handed, but with a wealth of knowledge about the factory.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "With A Bit Of Sugar...All Is Made Well: Part I - The Hostess Twinkie" Story

Preface: Many years ago I developed a taste for items made with sugar; donuts, long johns, wacky cake, banana split dessert, chocolate chip cookies, donuts, candy bars, Twinkies, sugar cookies, licorice, caramels, donuts, Necco wafers, Swedish fish, Tastycakes, double-bubble gum, Chuckles, Mary Janes, Twizzlers, donuts, etc., etc...and the list goes on and on.  My story today is about one of those favorites, Twinkies, since they have been around for 90 years.  Tomorrow I will treat you to a story about one of Lancaster's sweetest products, Twizzlers.  Enjoy!

It was an ordinary day.  Searching for a few packs of Hostess Twinkies to dunk in a glass of milk.  Most of the shelves in the local grocery store have been emptied by food and dessert hoarders due to the ever present threat of the Coronavirus.  And...today is no different...since there are NO Twinkies on the shelf.  What can I do about my sugarvirus?  My taste for the old-time Twinkie was recently rekindled when "Reminisce" magazine featured a story about the sweet treat.  They had a headline that read: GOLDEN OLDIE STILL FRESH AT 90 - Fit for a wedding or a murder trial, Twinkie delights!  Years and years ago you could always find a single pack or a value party pack somewhere in a kitchen cabinet, but with the advent of a variety of other new and interesting treats, Twinkies were only purchased about once a month.  

The Twinkie was developed as a budget snack cake due to its inexpensive price.  The Twinkie achieved a status high enough that it was placed in the Millennium Time Capsule.  That was until a few staff members who were packing the time capsule decided that the sugary treat might eventually draw rodents, grabbed them from the capsule and devoured all of them.  

How can you NOT like one of these?

Then, somehow in 2012, Hostess Brands fired most of its workers and went out of business.  NO MORE TWINKIES!!  Luckily, the new owner of the business relaunched the making of the Twinkie.  The success of the original product 90 years ago had to do with the fact that it was a feather-like sponge cake filled with sweet cream.  Who would have guessed that something as simple as that could have been such a success.  

The inventor of the Twinkie. James Dewar.

The Great Depression did have something to do with that, since the treat was so simple and inexpensive that it was actually affordable to the masses even during a time of fiscal hardship.  The guy who "invented" the Twinkie, James Dewar, used his bakery's shortcake pans which sat idle during most of the year, since strawberries were only in season for about one month of the year.  The original Twinkies, which I do not remember, were made with a banana filling, but when WWI came along, bananas were replaced with a vanilla cream, thank goodness.  

Buffalo Bob Smith, Howdy Doody and
Clarabell Clown pushed Twinkies on TV.

I can still remember watching Buffalo Bob Smith on the Howdy Doody Show telling me to ask my mom to get Twinkies at the store and put one in my lunch pail.  When the Twinkie was first made it was stuffed by workers who at times added too much filling and caused the treat to explode.  What a job...having to eat all that excess stuffing so it wouldn't go to waste!  And, when people began to make fallout shelters in there basements in the late 1940s, Twinkies were the perfect item to stock in them since they had a shelf-life of close to two months.  Originally the Twinkie was said to be bad for you due to all the sugar in it, but that recipe was changed and today has 39 ingredients, eight of them being corn-based.  Now it is much better for you.  That is probably the reason why I couldn't find any at the grocery store today.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Hamilton Watch Company's History In Lancaster, Pennsylvania" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Searching through my chest of drawers for my Hamilton electric watch that my parents gave to me when I graduated from high school in 1962.  Really neat gold watch that drew quite a stir when I wore it around my friends.  Thought my dad must have been rich in order to be able to buy me something as neat as an electric watch.  In reality, dad was a watchmaker and did spend time working on the new Hamilton electric watch, such as the one he gave me for graduation.  Recently I found a timeline telling of the rise and fall of Hamilton Watch in my hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Thought I would share it with you, since you more than likely have heard of the Hamilton Watch Company at some time or another.  History begins in 1892 and is as follows:

Hamilton Watch Company (click images to enlarge)

1892 - Hamilton Watch was founded in Lancaster, Pennsylvania when they began production of pocket watches.  They focused on quality and accuracy which is what made Hamilton an Internationally renowned watch brand.  My father was a watchmaker who worked on the Hamilton in the 1940s at Meiskey's Jewelry store in downtown Lancaster and my mother worked at the Hamilton Watch factory about the same time frame.

1912 - Being that there were too many railroad accidents due to timing on the tracks, Hamilton developed the first series of Hamilton pocket watches to help solve the time scheduling of trains.  Their pocketwatch became known as "The Watch of Railroad Accuracy."

Early pocket watch from Hamilton

1914 - Due to the precision quality of the Hamilton watches, it became an official supplier to the U.S. Armed forces.  Many servicemen were equipped with Hamilton watches because of that.  In order to keep up with the demand, Hamilton Watch Company began shift work which was something new to industrial time schedules.

1918 - Hamilton took to the air when they made an aeronautical watch which accompanied the very first American airmail service between Washington, D.C. and New York.

Hamilton watches been handed to airline pilots

1926 - Admiral Richard E. Byrd used a Hamilton watch during his pioneering 15 hour, 57 minute flight over the North Pole.  He was the first aviator to reach the North Pole, circling it for 13 minutes before returning to his base.  He knew exactly how long he circled due to his Hamilton watch piece.

Admiral Byrd's Hamilton watch.

1927 - The times between special events begins to close as a precision Hamilton watch was a key part of helping pilots on their first flight from California to Hawaii to find the islands in the middle of the vast Pacific Ocean.  A mistake of a few degrees would have resulted in missing the islands.  Their watches helped them in navigation.

1928 - Hamilton Piping Rock Watches were presented to the New York Yankees after winning the 1928 World Series.  The special engraved watches were given to Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig.  Can you imagine how much these watches might be worth now if you could find one at a flea market?

Watches presented to the 1928 New York Yankees team.

1930 - The Hamilton watch became the official watch of the four major American commercial airlines and was also selected as the official timekeeper for the very first coast-to-coast service from New York to San Francisco.

1932 - Hamilton watches appeared for the very first time in the movies when they were featured in the film "Shanghai Express." 

1942 - Hamilton stopped commercial production of watches in order to focus on supplying timepieces for the U.S. armed forces.  It was at this time that my mother began working at Hamilton Watch Company along Columbia Avenue in Lancaster.  I can remember her telling me about having to prepare watches for our troops overseas.  They made wristwatches as well as marine chronometers.

1951 - Hamilton Watch became famous world-wide when their watches appeared in the movie "The Frogmen." The movie starred Richard Widmark, Dana Andrews and Gary Merrill.

1957 - Hamilton produced the first world's electrical battery operated watch known as the Ventura.  It had a unique, futuristic, shield-shaped design and was created by renowned industrial designer Richard Arbib.  The watch became an instant sensation throughout the world.

World's first electric battery operated watch known as the Ventura.

1961 - Elvis Presley  wore the Hamilton Ventura watch in his musical comedy "Blue Hawaii" and made the watch a star.

Elvis. wearing his Hamilton Ventura watch.

1962 - Larry Woods wore his new Ventura watch and became an instant star at the Acme Supermarket where he worked in Lancaster, PA.

The Hamilton Electric that my parent's gave me as
a graduation gift in 1962.  I still have it, though it doesn't work. 

1968 -Stanley Kubrick approached Hamilton two years prior to create a unique timepiece for his new film "2001: A Space Odyssey."  Hamilton designers provided him with a wristwatch and desk clock that proved almost as iconic as the film itself.

Timepieces for "2001: A Space Odyssey".

1969 - Hamilton Watch Company sadly ended American manufacturing operation in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and shifted their manufacturing operation to the Buren factory in Switzerland.  A sad day in Lancaster's history.

1970 - Hamilton introduced the Pulsar which was the world's first digital electronic watch.  The display was created using LEDs activated by a button on the side of the solid gold watch.  It sold for $2,100.  Needless to say, I never had one of those.

1974 - On May 16, Hamilton was sold to SSIH which was the previous name of the Swatch Group.

1980 - Hamilton revived the watches from the past with the Ventura once again featured.  

1990 - Hamilton's relationship with Hollywood intensified with appearance on the wrists of people in "Men in Black", "Lethal Weapon 4", "Independence Day", "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and "Die Hard."  You must have seen them if you took in anyone of those movies.

1990's style Hamilton featured in movies.

2003 - Hamilton began adding the words "Swiss made" when they transferred both their headquarters and production facilities to the heart of watchmaking country in Biel, Switzerland. It was a sad day when they closed the door for the final time in the plant in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. 

2005 - Hamilton became involved in the world of air racing and aerobatics with the Red Bull Air Race and the Swiss Aerobatic Association.

Notice the Hamilton watch on the arm of the racer.

2011 - Hamilton developed its own personalized automatic calibers, H-21 and H-31.  Each offered its wearers an extended power reserve of up to 80 hours.

Hamilton with automatic calibers.

2014 - Hamilton worked on the smash-hit movie "Interstellar".  The following year their watch appeared on the wrist of the main character in Ridley Scott's epic adventure "The Martian". 

2017 - Hamilton celebrated the 60th anniversary of the iconic watch Ventura which they made in good old Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  Oh, how that seemed to be so long ago.  Hamilton doesn't seem to even be a part of Lancaster to those who weren't living at the time they manufactured watches in Lancaster.  There are a few more dates and accomplishments I could list, but it seems so sad that they moved away from their roots just so they could say they were made in Switzerland.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Another Custom Framing Job From Grebinger Gallery" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Working at Grebinger Gallery and Framing in nearby Neffsville, Pennsylvania.  I have written a few times about working part-time for a former student of mine, Keith Grebinger, after I retired from teaching in 1999.  Today, Keith gave me the job of trying to mat and frame a job much like one he did when he first opened his shop in the 1990s.  

Keith's sample he made as an example of what could be done.

As a sample of what he could do for his customers, he designed, cut and framed a series of 1970s Gatorade NFL helmet bottle caps.  Neat job which has hung in his framing gallery since I began working for him after retiring.  A recent customer saw the job Keith had done and loved it.  He found his own set of 1970s Gatorade NFL helmet bottle caps on eBay and purchased them.  

Set of Gatorade NFL bottle caps.

Talked with Keith about what the customer wanted his display to look like and Keith passed it on to me.  I first make a sketch of what the final result should look like and placed measurements on the sketch which were similar to the job Keith had done.  Placed those measurement into a computer program on our mat cutter and in no time had cut the top and bottom mats for the job.  Knowing the size by now, I cut a frame and glued it and after dry, placed metal corner clips in place on the framing machine.  From this point on, I will give you a visual story to make it easier for you to understand what is necessary in  matting and framing something as detailed as what you have seen in the above photograph.

Along with the bottle caps, the customer gave us artwork he wanted included ini his design.

List showing the placement he wanted for his design.

My sketch with measurements to be used to place the idea on the computerized mat cutter.

The computer screen showing the job laid out to match my measurements.

Cutting of the top and bottom mats.  The top was blue suede while the bottom was a red textured mat.

Two mats are fastened together with the logos supplied positioned under the mat.

To give depth to the mat to allow space for the 1/4" high bottle caps, I had to create what you see here.
This is made using foam board that is 1/4" thick. You are looking at the underside of the mat.

The bottom mat is also blue suede.  The bottle caps will be fastened to this layer.

Each bottle cap is fitted with a double layer of black matting foam.  The foam is
glued together, place inside the cap and twisted so it holds under the bottle clips
that hold the cap on the bottle.  At no time do we glue anything onto the bottle
cap which would damage the customers product they brought to us.  

The top and bottom mat boards are placed together with tape and the bottle caps are
placed in the order given to us by the customer.  They are then glued in position.

To help with the positioning, I cut a sample pattern on the mat cutter.
The pattern made sure each row is positioned the same distance apart.
Glue was place on the black units placed inside the caps and glued to the bottom mat board.

The frame is cut on a cut-off saw, glued in clamps and attached together with clips
which are pushed into the frame on this machine.

I didn't take photographs of the cutting of the Museum glass and placing it in the frame.
When placed together, fastened in place with clips, a backing paper added and corner hangers added,
the result should certainly please the customer.  Even I thought it looked great and I"m hard to please. 

The "My Summertime Swimming Hole Made The News" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading online stories in the archives of the Lancaster Newspaper.  Searching for nothing in particular when I pulled up a story from Saturday, February 20, 1960.  The headline on page one read: 17 Mail Cars Wrecked, 2 Topple In Creek at Water Works Bridge."  Another, smaller headline under the lead story read: "Train Crash Heard Two Blocks Away."  I can only imagine the turmoil that existed that morning along the Conestoga River.  

Favorite swimming hole which shows the tracks of the
main line in the distance. Click on images to enlarge.

 A Pennsylvania Railroad mail express train going 50 miles an hour jumped the tracks and sent 14 mail cars hurtling down a 50-foot embank- ment near the City Water Works at 8:27 a.m. that Saturday morning.  Two of the cars landed in the Conestoga River under the huge stone bridge along Grofftown Road.  The other cars were strewn, twisted and battered, along an embankment.  The cars that went into the river snapped a 12,000 volt Pennsylvania Power and Light line and left seven industries and about 100 homes without power for an hour and seven minutes.  

Train cars can be seen derailed next to the bridge.

Lancaster's pumping station was shut down for 22 minutes.  The longer I read the more I realized that could have happened while I was swimming in the water beneath the bridge had it been a few months earlier.  I would have been a sophomore at Manheim Township High School at the time and had my driver's license for a few months and may have loaded a few of my neighbor- hood friends into my '53 Henry J  and had driven to the bridge to swing on the large rope that hung from the bridge above the water.  We spent many a day in the summer swimming at the Water Works, under the bridge where rail traffic was just taken for granted.   

More rail cars lie burst open near Conestoga River.

Of the 25 cars in the train, 17 were derailed with one hanging perilously above the water, along the side of the bridge.  The noise from the crash was heard close to a mile away on the north side of neighboring Grand View Heights.  One woman living on Pleasure Road reported that it sounded as if it was a block away.  The accident knocked out power to the surrounding area.  Those that came to view the accident told of one man who was still shaking; he was just about to go under the bridge when the accident happened.   

 Postal cars strewn down banks next
to bridge over the Conestoga River.

A passenger train was halted due to the accident and passengers on that train, who had planned to get off in Lancaster, had to walk the couple of miles into Lancaster.  Pennsylvania Railroad set up a bypass between Parkesburg and Columbia for later trains.  A shuttle bus service began to operate to take patrons from the Lancaster Train Station to Columbia so they could get on a different train.  The train that was behind the mail train and was halted by the accident, had to be backed up over 22 miles to Parkesburg so passengers could be detoured on another train to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.  Luckily the tracks could be repaired quickly for trains later that evening.  The four crewman who were running the mail train were not injured.  Lancaster City and Manheim Township police department were kept busy keeping the crowd away from the accident scene.  On page 2 of the newspaper was another story with the headline: "All Mail on Derailed Train to Be Delivered."  

Sorting through the mail that was found.

After viewing the photo- graphs in the newspaper, I thought the headline to be rather humorous, since much of the mail was strewn around the edge of the river and how much lost in the river was anyone's guess.  This is one event that I had very little memory of, since I must have been no more than a mile away working at the Lancaster Shopping Center at the time.  Reading the story in the newspaper today gave me a first-time glance of that train accident years and years ago. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Laughing My Way Through Adversity" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Walking through the grocery store with my wife doing our weekly grocery shopping.  We were told that the shelves may be empty in some areas of the store, but we weren't prepared for what we encountered.  

Pasta shelf has very little left on it.

Almost all the pasta was missing from the shelves as was the sauces on the opposite side of the aisle.  The next aisle we entered was not quite as empty, but the canned vegetables were over half gone and the majority of my favorite soups were gone.  The next aisle looked untouched, but that was the pet food aisle.  

Pasta sauce was also empty.

I must admit I took the last big plastic tub of cat litter, but most of the types of cat food we buy were over half filled on the shelves.  But...when we turned the corner into the next aisle...it was almost void of EVERYTHING!  Absolutely no toilet paper, only a few boxes of tissues and even the paper plates were mostly gone.  

Toilet paper and paper towels are non-existent.

There were about a half-dozen rolls of paper towels, but that was one item we had plenty of at home already.  The next aisle was filled with plenty of greeting cards, magazines and Easter candy.  Actually we didn't encounter anyone in the aisle; as they were rushing to buy other needed items before they were all gone.  The frozen food aisle was missing quite a few types of frozen vegetables, but the ice cream and popsicles was well stocked.  Drugs, shampoo, bandaids, etc. were filled, but there was a totally empty space were the hand sanitizer had been last week.  

Most of the cans of our favorite soups were gone!

The final aisle was filled with bread and rolls, but the yogurt was getting empty and the only carton of eggs had two missing and a few broken in it.  The meats and fish aisle across the back of the store was nicely packed as were the store-made cookies and muffins.   A final stop at the salad bar found it fully stocked with all my favorite ingredients.  After checking out and heading home, the phone rang and Carol's good friend Marg was on the other end of the line.  

Another part of the soup aisle was also empty.

They had just returned home from their grocery store to the north of our grocery store and reported it was well stocked except for the toilet paper and hand sanitizer.  All that you have just read happened two days ago.  Yesterday we made a trip to the grocery store to our north where Marg and her husband had been shopping.  To our surprise we found it fairly well-stocked.  There home made items such as baked oatmeal and donuts were very low, but we found everything we wanted.  The deli counter was filled except for a few types of lunchmeat.  We found the eggs we needed, but after checking the first box found one broken.  The next box had two missing, but after a bit of rearranging the boxes, I had the full box of good eggs in the cart.  Plenty of produce as well as other items and we left with the few items we hadn't found the day before.  Then as Carol and I sat in our lounge chairs watching a few new TV shows, since there was no NCAA basketball on TV, she held her iPad up for me to see...it was a photograph taken on the island of Sint Maarten at a jewelry store we visit from time to time when on the island.  There was a half-filled bottle of Purell hand sanitizer.  The little black note next to it read: buy this half full bottle of Purell Hand Sanitizer for $1,099 and get this DIAMOND RING FREE!  Great advertising!!  I'm glad we are not currently on the island or we may have taken that back to our rental. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Great bit of advertising!

PS - I found this a few minutes ago at a nearby house that has flamingos all over the yard.  Pretty funny!

The "How About Yelling Out 'Pickles'"! Story

It was an ordinary day.  Sitting in the dark, waiting along with quite a few others for the movie to begin.  Then, it hit me; that little tickle in my nose, knowing that I was going to have to sneeze.  And, for those readers that know me quite well, you know the volume of my sneeze.  And, at times it is more than one sneeze.  I try to sneeze into my handkerchief or a tissue if at all possible, but sometimes the crook of my arm is all that is handy.  Seems that its one of those annoying things that I, or perhaps you, have to deal with.  

So, exactly why do we have to sneeze and is there anything we can to to prevent or stop it.  The main reason we sneeze is to remove irritants from the nasal passage. Irritants such as dust, dirt, pollen, smoke or even cat or dog hair could become stuck in our nose.  Blowing it out works best, but at times we don't get it out fast enough and that's when our brain takes over and sends a command to our body to sneeze it out.  When you sneeze you automatically shut your eyes, your tongue moves to the roof of your mouth and your muscles contract to brace for the pressure of the sneeze.  This all happens in a matter of seconds.  Your tongue redirects the majority of the air through the nasal passage, but still leaves some air to come out through your mouth, much like an air pressure valve.  The force of air through the nose clears out anything, or is supposed to do so.  If not, another sneeze may happen immediately after.  Have you ever sneezed and shortly after, sneezed again?  Some people, when they sneeze, have a specific number of sneezes that they produce each time.  Could be when they sneeze, the amount of air going through the nose isn't as much as needed, thus another sneeze or two occurs.  And, did you ever notice that you sneeze more when you are sick?  Seems that the body's natural reaction to that sickness is to produce mucus to trap bacteria.  Once trapped, it has to expel it from the body and what better way then through a sneeze.  Also, the best way to spread that sickness is by sneezing, so you must remember to cover your nose!  Even when there aren't irritants or bacteria present in your nose which may make you sneeze, your nose produces mucus to catch irritants before they can get into your lungs.  To help rid the nose of that mucus you may have a random sneeze to reset your nasal passage.  Now, to get to the unexplained reasons people sneeze.  About one of every four people sneeze when they look into a bright light!  This is called photic sneeze reflex and is an inherited trait.  Seems the optical nerve causes the same sensation in your brain that an irritant does, thus leading to a sneeze.  Perhaps you are allergic to animals.  You too may sneeze even thought you normally wouldn't sneeze if not around animals.  Many people, when feeling a sneeze coming on, pinch their nose to avoid the sneeze.  Not a good idea!  All the bacteria and irritants that were supposed to exit the nose are still in the nose and can cause problems.  And finally, I read that some people believe if they say "pickles" when they feel a sneeze coming on, it will relieve the sneeze.  You gotta be kidding!  How idiotic is that...but, you know, that if it works for you, maybe I should give it a try the next time I'm at the movies and have the need of a loud sneeze.  Ether I'll sound stupid when they hear me yell out "pickles" or feel stupid if I actually let out a loud sneeze.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Say A Prayer For All Those In Need!" Story

It was a ordinary day.  Just received my online mailing from my church, St. James Episcopal, in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  The mailing that arrived covers just about everything going on at St. James from the time of services offered to information about speakers who will give presentations during the month on important church issues.  

The newsletter is titled "Headlines and Happenings" and always includes an article from our rector, Fr. David Peck.  The latest issue's "A Letter From Fr. David", dated March 13, 2020, is somewhat different than most letters he sends to the parishioners of the church.  He began the letter with "Dear People of God, Again I begin my letter to you with the words of Jesus: "I am the vine, you are the branches." (John 15:5) Please memorize this verse and make it a common prayer with me.   He then added that his letter handed to the congregation last weekend needs to be amended, since the Bishop has issued a directive to close churches beginning this weekend.  So he writes: I HAVE MADE THE DECISION THAT, EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY, WE WILL WORSHIP TOGETHER ONLINE ONLY because of the size of congregations at Saint James.  PLEASE DO NOT ATTEND SERVICES AT CHRUCH UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.  

Fr. David Peck, St. James Minister

He then continued saying: As far as technology and staffing allow, Saint James will put as much of its ministry online through Livestream as possible.  Beginning this weekend Saint James will provide a choice of two beautiful livestreamed liturgies, a contemporary one Saturday night at 5 PM and a traditional liturgy Sunday at 10:30 AM.  We will also Livestream some midweek programs such as our Tuesday night teaching series, the urban Well's Mercy Seminar and the March 23d 275th Anniversary Lecture, among others.  In addition, we well support CYF ministries by ensuring that families, children and youth have access to formational material.  He also talked about the Coronavirus and said: Most generations in human history have had to deal with times of epidemic.  That we also have an easy means of accessing times of worship, meditation and study that bind us together in a great blessing.  He pointed out that Lent is exactly the season we need in which to meditate on where our treasure is; what we value most; and to free ourselves from anxiety by remembering the reality of Ash Wednesday that we are dust and dust shall return.  From here, we look with joy all the more to an Easter that will more surely come and for which we must more surely long.  He ends with, Thanks be to God!  Yours in faith, hope and love.  It seems that worldwide Coronavirus has affected all of us in our lives, with schools closing, sports being canceled and now church services being called off.  But, We Will Overcome!  So be it!  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.