The "Global Market" Story

It was an ordinary day. My son Tad stopped by the house early this morning on his way home from work. Had a few things to pick up and also hit me with the big news that was on the front page of the local newspaper; "High honor for Central Market." Seems there is a global website, CNN GO, that is a global travel and lifestyle website of the Cable News Network. On the listing of the top 10 fresh markets in the world, Central Market in downtown Lancaster, PA was ranked #8. Wow! Central Market is a historic farmer's market located in Penn Square. It was established in 1730 and is the oldest, continuously-operated farmers market in the United States. Most of the market stands are held by food sellers, with merchants selling fresh fruits and produce, flowers, meats and cheeses, fish and seafood, baked goods and other foods. The first permanent building was erected in 1757 and the current building was built in 1889. It is brick with a hipped and gabled terra cotta roof, in the Romanesque Revival style and features twin towers measuring 72 feet tall. The interior structure has wooden pillars supportingthe roof with a grid of steel rod trusses. In 1972 it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The city-owned market fell between Singapore's Kreta Ayer Wet Market and the Marche Provencal which is located in Antibes, France. Only one other US market, The Union Square farmer's market in New York City, made the top 10 list. Years and years ago, my mom would push me from the 600 block of South Prince Street to market in a baby carriage when I was too young to walk. I can remember visiting both the central and the southern market at least one time a week to get fresh fruits and vegetables, especially in the summer months. After my kids were born I would do the same with them on market days. My wife often told me that her mom would force her to go to market with her and therefore stays away from the place unless it is absolutely necessary. I still love the place. Often would come home with fresh flowers for Carol or a sticky bun or "long john" for myself. Most days when I drop off my artwork at Strawberry & Co., which is located adjacent to the market building, I will walk through just to see if I can find any friends to talk with. One of the contributing factors to being on the top 10 list is the Amish. People flock to market to buy their fresh goods as well as just to see their straw hats and long black clothes. Matter-of-fact, I made a trip to market today just so I could snap a few pixs for this story. Picked up a box of tomatoes, corn on the cob, red beets and a peach pound cake. All from my favorite Amish lady. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

One of the many entrances to Lancaster's historic Central Market.

View of Central Market from the platform on the second level.

Willow Valley baked goods are sold at this Central Market stand.

Flowers for my honey!

Variety of cheeses line the aisle in the market.

Herbs and spices in Mason Jars. Lined up alphabetically.

Mr. Long and his famous Horseradish. Really smells good!

The "Making Every Day A Sunday" Story

It was an ordinary day. Just finished printing 55,000 window envelopes and am headed home to eat and take a nap. I can do that whenever I want, since I am partially retired. Matter-of-fact, I don't even have to go to work if I don't want to, but then Carol and I can't take vacations, so I head to school to print or head to the gallery to do a few matting and framing jobs. Well, I'm listening to the radio in my '96 Protege (LDub's truck) with over 86K miles on it. Have a sports call-in show tuned in, listening to everyone ripping up the Phillies. Then someone calls and asks if everyone heard that Norman Sas died yesterday. OK, who is Norman Sas? Show host asks the caller the same question and I soon find out that he was the inventor of the electric football game. He based it on an electric race car game by Tudor. Ah, Yes! I had one of those games and played it for years. Used to have my friends over and we would pick our favorite team and play against each other. The green metal board was printed to look like a football field and the little plastic players would run up and down the field. No matter what your favorite team was, it was either the red guys or the yellow guys in the board game. The bottom of each player had two prongs on it that I believe were angled rigid plastic. When the board vibrated, it made the players move, allegedly. Only problem was that the players would sometimes go the wrong way or would fall over or would .......... Get the idea. Didn't matter if the players went a different direction than what you had planned. The game was still fun because back then there weren't too many other electric games that you could play. Sometimes I would paint the helmets on the players different colors, to match my favorite team at the moment. I often wondered if the race car game worked any better than the football game did. There was also a special player called the Triple Threat Quarterback that you could attach the ball (piece of foam) to and attempt to pass, punt or kick field goals. I kind of remember maybe having a complete pass one or two times in the couple of years that I had the game. Mr. Sas designed his game using the vibrating race car game as the base for the game technology. Mr. Sas invented the game in 1947, but didn't put it on the market until the following year. It eventually was manufactured and sold by the Tudor Company. I probably had my game when I was 10 or 12 years old. At first it wasn't a real big success but in 1967 Mr. Sas signed a contract with the NFL and every kid had to have one. Ask any sports fan who was growing up in the 50s, 60s, or early 70s if they remember the electric football game and I bet they can attest that it was probably the worst board game ever invented. I must agree, but I still loved my game! When video games emerged on the scene, the Madden NFL game probably sent the Tudor electric game into the attic. At times I see one at flea markets or antique shops and often wonder if that may be my game that my mother gave away. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

The "Sweet Dissection" Story

It was an ordinary day. Checking some other blogs to see what other people are writing about. Stumbled upon a rather strange blog in www.tumblr.com and found a neat quiz that I took and did pretty well on it. Thought I would let you see how well you can do on it. In this quiz, Willis Chen examines the inside of candies to see if you can guess what candy is really being dissected. I got all but three. Can you beat me? Answers are at the end, but no cheating! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

#1 This uses the same formula as #14

#2 A 1941 Broadway show called Junior Miss inspired this one

#3 Formerly called Opal Fruits

#4 Sales spiked after E.T. went gaga for them

#5 My favorite

#6 Abbreviate the description of this bar, Twin Sticks, to find its moniker

#7 Takes 15 hours to make one strand of this treat

#8 Everyday a Bethlehem, PA factory makes 4.2 million of these

#9 Everyone gets a golden ticket when they unwrap this one

#10 Gimme a Break!

#11 US Senator hands out this treat to fellow members of Congress

#12 Chocolate milkshake anyone?

#13 Clumsy customer submitted the name for this bar

#14 Easy one

#15 First version included 3 mini-bars in one pack: vanilla, chocolate and strawberry

#16 Best selling candy bar in the world



Answers:
1. Sour Patch Kids, 2. Junior Mints, 3. Star Burst, 4. Reese's Pieces, 5. Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, 6. Twix, 7. Twizzlers, 8. Peeps, 9. Ferrero Rocher, 10. Kitkat, 11. Jelly Belly Beans, 12. Milky Way, 13. Butterfingers, 14. Swedish Fish, 15. Three Musketeers, 16. Snickers

The "Very Pinteresting" Story

It was an ordinary day. Carol made shrimp for supper that were fantastic. I asked her where she got the recipe and she told me on Pinterest. Ever hear of Pinterest? I didn't until a few months ago. Carol wanted to join Pinterest and since she didn't have a photo of herself that she liked, she used my photo and joined under my name. Pinterest is a virtual pinboard. Little pins, something like thumbtacks, allow you to select photos in many categories and pin them to your personal pinboard. To get started you need to go to http://pinterest.com and request an invite. A day or two later you will get an email telling you you have been approved and you will have to fill out a page about yourself and list a few of your interests. Then it's time to start pinning. If you click on "Explore" you will see a fantastic array of photos in all different categories. At first all the pins on my board were food photos, photos of fingernails, jewelry photos, wedding gowns and photos featuring recipes. These were the photos that Carol pinned. Then I started getting emails telling me that so and so re-pined one of my photos that they liked. I had no idea what the emails meant, but I had a sneaky suspicion. Asked Carol and she showed me my board that she was using. In no time at all I was hooked. Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes. You can post your own photos if you care to or you can browse pinboards created by other people. This allows you to discover new things and get inspiration from people all over the world who share your interests. There are about a million new pins added a week, so you are constantly viewing some of the neatest and most interesting photos you can imagine. I started a few categories of my own such as Cars, Seaside Treasures, Beaches, Thoughts, Reptiles, Photography and Vacation. These go along with Carol's categories such as Recipes, Food, Pets, Jewelry, Decor, Nails and Fun. You do have to watch that you don't spend hour after hour re-pinning others photos. Time really flies when you start to look at all the new photos. You may end up re-pinning a photo in the main "Explore" board and that will open the pinboard of the person who submitted it. Then you can click on their board and start to see the other photos they have on their board. In no time you have viewed photos from people all over the world. I have posted a few photos from each of the different categories I have started. It will give you an idea of the variety of photos that you can find on Pinterest. Type in the http address and give it a try. You have nothing to lose except a few hours a week to one of the most interesting sites on the web. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Photography Category

Automobile Category

Seaside Treasures

Reptile Category

Beach Category

Thoughts Category

Vacation Category

The "Makin' A Change" Story

It was an ordinary day. Just returned from the William Ris Gallery in Stone Harbor, NJ with some of my artwork that didn't sell. About 10 years ago, after retiring from teaching and starting to make my Polariod manipulation prints and stained glass window panels which incorporate sea shells, beach glass, and river rocks, I needed to find places that would sell my artwork on commission. The Tag Shop in my home town of Lancaster was a natural, since a good friend of mine, Barry, was the owner. I did quite well in his shop and thought I may be able to sell my art in other locations. Within a year I had my work in shops in North East, MD, Chestertown, MD, Rock Hall, MD, Chesapeake City, MD and Havre deGrace, MD. Did quite well with my Polaroids in all those locations, but the stained glass was too expensive an item to sell in these small shops. About a year later I was on vacation in Stone Harbor and stopped in the Wm. Ris Gallery to see their artwork and knew I had the right place to sell both my photos and stained glass. I talked to the owner, who happened to live nearby in Harrisburg, PA, and she agreed to look at my work. I took samples to her and shortly was making a delivery to Harrisburg. The next few years I did quite well, especially with the stained glass window panels. Even had to travel to a few homes to make custom fit units. Then all of a sudden the business stopped. No more sales. A few weeks ago I emailed the gallery in Stone Harbor and told them I would like to stop and pick up the remaining artwork they had of mine. I stopped today to collect the unsold artwork and noticed they brought all the pieces from their rear storage. Ah ha! No wonder my items weren't selling. They weren't on display. Didn't even question them, since it really was too costly for me to make deliveries to the Jersey shore all the time and it certainly was too expensive to mail the items. I now am preparing the two dozen photos and two glass panels for delivery to Strawberry & Co. in Lancaster to see if they will sell in a shop closer to home. Strawberry & Co. has replaced The Tag Shop as my seller, since my friend Barry died a little over a year ago. Hope someone enjoys what I have made enough to make a purchase. Time will tell. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - photos from the top show the Wm. Ris Gallery in Stone Harbor, NJ and a stained glass panel. The dark mass in the panel on the bottom left are several river rocks which are leaded into the design. Tough to tell that unless you are looking at the window in person.

The "Midget-Midget, Jr. Midget and Midget" Story

It was an ordinary day. And, I knew this was coming. It has been a summer staple since I was two years old. Generation after generation have participated in it. The event that I am writing about is the Lancaster New Era Tournament which is held in mid-summer every year since 1946. It is the "World Series" of baseball in Lancaster County for boys age 8-16. League champions from all over the county play against each other to see which team was the best for that summer. I have written about the tournament before, but there are certain aspects of the tournament that I didn't know about before. In the early 40s baseball was the most popular summer past-time for boys. Any field in the county probably had someone playing ball on it during most of the day. There were many county leagues and the New Era Tournament was started to determine the best team in the county at the different levels. Boys 8-12 years old played at the Midget-Midget level, boys from 13-14 played at the Jr. Midget level and those who were 15 or 16 were classified Midgets. The tournament was for all levels and was sponsored by the evening newspaper in Lancaster, The Lancaster New Era. Lancaster was so proud of it's baseball players and it's tournament that when the national Little League Baseball arrived in the county, it was looked upon as minor league stuff. It was every baseball player's supreme dream to play in The Lancaster New Era tournament. I know, because I played in it and it was my biggest thrill as a young boy playing midget-midget baseball. Then, when my boys played summer baseball, it was again one of my biggest thrills to coach teams in The New Era Tournament. Not only coach in the tournament, but win the Midget title in 1990 coaching the Manheim Township team which my youngest son was a member of. My teams had played in the tournament for 5 straight years, finally winning it one time. Tough to do in Lancaster County with all the great baseball players. The national Little League World Series will start soon with teams from all over the world, but the New Era Tournament pre-dates that tournament by one year and there were no Little League endorsed teams in Lancaster County until Solanco (Southern Lancaster County) established an entry in Little League Baseball in the late 80s. Ages are the same for both Little League and Lancaster County midget-midget league teams, but the quality of play and interest in Lancaster County leagues was so great, that Little League didn't seem necessary. I guess with the TV broadcasts of the Little League World Series, some felt the boys would get better coverage if we played in the Little League sponsored leagues. As of today, Solanco's entry into Little League baseball is still the only league in the county that is affiliated with Little League. The New Era Tournament is so popular with youth baseball that Lancaster still considers it the major league of baseball. My sons and grandson, who has just started his journey into my passion, will soon visit a few venues to take in a tournament game and talk about when .......... The memories never fade! It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - photo show LDub when he played for the midget-midget team sponsored by Schick.

The "Black Dream" Story

It was an ordinary day. Thinking about adding another item to my bucket list before it is too late. Back in the mid-90s I purchased a bright-red, 4-speed, 1987 Corvette, which had been on my bucket list for years and years. I had that car so clean and shiny from hours of rubbing and scrubbing. Carol and I had years of fun driving the Vette in parades, traveling to the shore and riding on the Ocean City, MD boardwalk with other members of the the Lancaster Co. Corvette Club, winning trophies at car shows, racing the car around the plastic pylons in autocross races, and picking up a ticket or two while cruisin' the country. Well, I sold "Big Red" a few years ago when it started to sit in the garage more than it was on the road, but never totally got over the thrill of riding in the vette with the top off on those summer evenings. Well, today I picked up a magazine and saw the most gorgeous car ever. The 2013 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1. Going to be the pace car in the Indy 500 this year, the 60th Anniversary of the Corvette. Wow, beautiful black on black with red-line tires and black spoked wheels. Some of the stats for the ZR1 are: 6.2-liter engine with 638 horsepower at 6,500 rpm's, 6-speed manual with overdrive ( I'd prpbably opt for the more expensive automatic), rear-wheel drive, 0-60 mph in 3.4 seconds, and carbon-fiber body parts. You know, the black makes the car look really MEAN, as I'm sure it must be. Neck-snapping acceleration, ear-bleeding noise, and potential dismemberment, according to Sam Smith who writes for Wired Magazine. Suspension is supposed to be like riding in a Cadillac. Naturally, you will need high-octane at the pump. Starting price will be a reasonable $113,500. So, you know what I'm going to do? Sure, put one on my bucket list! Hey, why not! I'll come as close to getting it as I will doing a few of the other items on my bucket list. But, then again, you never know, do you!! I'll post a story about it when I get it. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.