Thanksgiving 2011 #134

Where Will Our Mail Go Now? Small Area Post Offices Face Closings

On the cover: Happy Thanksgiving!

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By Marc William Gruber for Hometown magazine ou don’t have to have a degree in economics to understand that the United States Postal Service is planning to shut down post offices in small towns across America in an effort to reduce operating costs.

The current post office deficit sits at a hefty $10 billion and, according to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, drastic measures must be taken to curb the debt.

However, this is not the general consensus of all parties involved.

Sure, the Postal Service will save a little money,” said Steve Hutkins, a blogger at “save the post office,” told Hometown magazine recently. “The average post office closing will save about $50,000 a year, and closing all of the 3,600 they’re looking at right now might save $200 million. But that is about 0.7% of the USPS annual expenditures, and a tiny portion of its annual deficit. So, in the big scheme of things, the postal service will save a very small amount of money while it inflicts a huge amount of harm on the country.”

Post office closings are the grim reality that residents of small towns in Western Pennsylvania, including Gipsy, Hamilton, Timblin and Valier, must face. Over 200 post offices are under consideration to be closed in Pennsylvania.

Numerous emails regarding the possible closings of these area post offices to the USPS went unanswered over the past several weeks, and phone inquiries to the Timblin and Hamilton post offices resulted in “no comment” responses with employees from both locations, stating that their employees are not permitted to speak with the media.

A late October visit to the Timblin and Hamilton post offices yielded the same results. A Timblin employee denied a request to speak with customers on the premises.

Despite the “no comment” policy, the recent closing proposals are part of a “post office study” that generated a list of post office branches to be shut down.

The list, according to Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe, contains nearly 3,700 proposed closings across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. 126 of these proposed

Y

Timblin Post Office

post office closings affect the Western PA district of the USPS, including Indiana and Jefferson Counties, according to Tad Kelley, a patron of one of the small post offices.

“The majority of these offices do not serve customers through delivery, rather by post office box,” said Kelley. “Most are very small post offices and underutilized for the hours of operation prescribed for them.”

“I don’t agree with that assessment at all,” said Hutkins. “The postal service has a very limited view of what it means to utilize a post office. They don’t consider activity that doesn’t bring in revenue a form of use. Even going to get your mail at your post office box is not considered utilizing the post office. Their notion of utilize is limited to how much money the post office brings in as revenue, from stamp sales and walk-in customers mailing things.”

Hutkins added that the USPS doesn’t consider the fact that the post office is helping with the distribution and delivery of mail that entered the system at another location.

“Much of the bulk mail, for example, enters the system at bulk mail units, and they get all the credit for bringing in the revenue, even though the post offices are doing much of the work of getting that mail to people,” Hutkins explained. “According to the way the postal service calculates revenues, 80- 90 percent of post offices run at a deficit.”

“Our customers’ habits have changed over time,” said Kelley. “Nearly 30 percent of our revenue comes from alternate access points other than a traditional post office, such as stamps sold in hardware, grocery, card, and gift stores. ATM’s and banks sell stamps often. We have agreements with Office Depot to sell our products and, of course, our website usps.com accounts for a large por- Continued on page 18

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Give your turkey a chance to be a star at Thanksgiving T

for that matter, chicken) simply means imBy Daniel Neman mersing the bird in salt water for several Toledo Blade hours before cooking it. The salt seeps into he family comes together for one of the meat in a more thorough and flavorful the two biggest meals of the year. way than just sprinkling salt on it before Old, simmering resentments and jealcooking. And properly brined meat needs ousies abound, barely kept in check. no salt later.

It’s the one big chance for the host cook to Brining basics are simple: Use one cup of make an impression, or maybe to redeem salt for every gallon of liquid, use enough himself. liquid to cover the bird entirely, and be sure Thanksgiving is fraught with peril. A misto keep it chilled — brining does not keep step could mean social disaster. the meat from spoiling. For turkey, a good And with so much riding on it, the whole rule of thumb is to brine it one hour for thing inevitably comes down to: turkey. every pound. Brining a 12-14-pound bird It’s often bland. Often dry. And never reovernight is always fine; you can do it ally what anyone would ever call fancy. longer (some people do it for two hours per The meal is so important, and yet there are pound), but it is betso many different ter to underbrine ways to fail. Not all than overbrine, mistakes wind up which results in the with the house meat being much burned down, but too salty and tough.

Thanksgiving is You can just stir the quite possibly the salt into the water day when the most until it dissolves, kitchens fill up with but a more effective the most amount of method of creating smoke, when ingrethe brine is to boil dients are left out of one cup of water for side dishes, when every cup of salt rolls are forgotten you use. Add the in the oven. salt, stir until it disBut the biggest solves, and then add problem is that the that mixture into the turkey just tastes remaining cold ...blah.

Turkeys are easy Thanksgiving can be fraught with tensions, but the water. to overcook, easy to most overt problem tends to be bland turkey. Creativity If you want to get make dry and taste- can solve all these issues. (SHNS illustration by Sean fancy, you can create additional flavor less. And if you’ve McKeown-Young / The Toledo Blade) in your brine by ever had underadding a tablespoon of chopped sage and cooked turkey, you’ll know it’s not just chopped thyme (if you boil the water with blah, it’s bleh. the salt, that’s the best time to add the Fortunately, there are ways to combat the herbs). You can also add a half-cup of sugar whole uninspired turkiness of Thanksgivper gallon of brine, stirring to dissolve it. ing. Foolproof recipes. Unusual ingredients.

And the liquid doesn’t have to be all Even different ways to prepare the bird. water. You can goose the flavor of the Let’s start with the basics. The most imturkey, so to speak, by substituting half of portant step you can take to improve the the water with a vegetable stock. You can taste of your turkey and keep it moist and either use store-bought vegetable stock or delicious is to brine it. Brining turkey (or,

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rom the Chamber of Commerce and the Community Calendar at Punxsutawney.com, here is a list of events and happenings coming up in our

area. n Mistletoe Madness will be held on Saturday, Nov. 26 from 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. at gift & specialty stores in Downtown Punxsutawney. Enjoy special promotions, music, food, giveaways and holiday decorations. n DIVA DAY 3! Saturday, November 26 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Punxsutawney Area Community Center. All direct sales vendors in one place.

Some of the participants include, Thirty-One Purses and Gifts, Lavish, Willow House, Signature Homestyles, Beauticontrol, Silpada, Jewels by Park Lane, Cabi, Premier Designs and more. Apx 20 vendors including a Gold Buyer!

Cash and Carry, Giveaways, prizes, free cookies/punch. A lunch cafe offered also! Orders placed will arrive before Christmas so come do your Christmas shopping with us! n Home for the Holidays Parade will take place at 6 p.m., Saturday, November 26 along Mahoning Street in downtown Punxsutawney. The parade is the traditional entrance of Santa Claus into town. Children can see Santa following the parade in the window at the Agape Student Housing building on West Mahoning St. Parade winners will also be announced. For more information or to enter the parade, call the Chamber of Commerce. The Home for the Holidays parade is sponsored by Femco Machine Co., Burkett’s PAWS, Punxsutawney Dental, M.J. Weaver Electric, Kuntz Chevrolet-Buick, Smatlak & Gigliotti, DMD, and John Quatroche. n Circle of Trees and the Community Tree Lighting, a Punxsutawney Rotary Club project, will be held on Saturday, November 26 following the Home for the Holidays parade at approx. 7 p.m. in Barclay Square. There is no charge to attend. Come

out to enjoy the beautiful Circle of Trees display and see the lighting of the Community tree. n The Wildcat Regiment Band is coming to Brookville on Saturday evening, December 3 at 7 p.m. at the Jefferson County Court House. Using authentic 19th century instruments and music, this unit reenacts the civil war regimental band of Jefferson County’s 105th PA Volunteers. Sponsored by the Jefferson County History Center as part of Brookville’s Victorian Christmas Celebration, tickets to this event are available at (814) 8490077 or at the door Adults $10, Students $5 and children 12 and under are free. This performance is supported in part by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. n Punxsutawney Phil’s Holiday Bash Come join Phil and the Inner Circle for a holiday party on Saturday, Dec. 10 for children and their parents that includes a free lunch, games, crafts, cookie decorating, and presents for children 12 and under.

Don’t forget your camera - Punxsutawney Phil will be there! Please pre-register at 814-938-7700x3 or at events@punxsutawney.com or by stopping at the Chamber of Commerce at 102 West Mahoning St. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Punxsutawney.com is maintained by the Chamber of Commerce for the community.

Any area business or organization is invited to become a member of the Chamber of Commerce for as little as $75 for the year.

For more information, visit Punxsutawney.com/chamber or call 938-7700.

To submit an event for the calendar, visit Punxsutawney.com/calendar and fill out the form.

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Recipes and Other Tips for Cozy Holidays, Winter

Best Thanksgiving Wishes

‘If I Remember to Write Them Down’

By Melissa Salsgiver of Hometown magazine he best way to winterize your kitchen and to warm up for the holidays, I’ve found, is to bake more. If you already bake, you can just winterize your recipes by substituting one-half of the sugar in a recipe with brown sugar, adding any combination of cinnamon, allspice or nutmeg, ginger, cloves etc. to warm up the flavor. Try mixing in regular or golden raisins or chopped walnuts or pecans.

T

Melissa in the kitchen. (photo by Amy Salsgiver)

Since you’ll be using your kitchen more, you might as well buy a new smoke detector or replace the batteries — if you haven’t already done so during the daylight savings change as recommended. I’ve also heard that you can reverse your ceiling fans to push the hot air down. I would try this one, but my American Bulldog mix, Gimpy, is terrified of the ceiling fan. He barks if you even touch the air near the ceiling fan.

It occurred to me that one of the reasons I like to try new recipes is that my aged recipe collection is a disaster, but the new recipes I want to try are all in one folder.

Some of the recipes I’ve been playing with are still on top of the dreaded pile, which has started to spill over behind a row of books on a shelf, possibly to never be seen again.

The ones I use, almost weekly, are splattered and stained and hanging on the fridge.

My dumpling, biscuit and pancake recipes, should have been memorized by now. If there was a quiz or performance at the end, instead of food, I would be able to rattle off the answers as fast as a fifth grader. I memorized Bach and Beethoven compositions for piano competitions, yet I can’t remember how to make pancakes? Maybe I should make flash cards, which, after all, is one step closer to a neatly organized recipe box.

Then, there is the three-ring binder that is semi-organized. Categories in there include main dishes, vegetables, breads, desserts, and drinks. I need to add a canning section

one day, as my canning recipes are currently found within the pages of my Ball blue book of canning, which is slowly finding its way into the back of a bookshelf.

My favorite cookbook, however, is my Joy of Cooking 1943, a reprinting of the 1931 edition. For a wedding gift, I received a 1990’s version, but the pages are falling out, so it got shelved, too. Anyway, I just love how my 1943 copy feels in my hand.

1943 must have been before the disposable era.

For some reason I can’t just follow a recipe? I have to make it my own from the first batch. So I have cryptic notes that only I would understand, and sometimes even I don’t understand what I scribbled from year to year. Here are some recipes I’ve been working on in recent years that I have managed to keep track of and decipher. I should write them out neatly on index cards and file them, but, of course, I won’t, and I’ll just continue to search for the right combination of ingredients.

Banana (or Pumpkin) Oat Bread 3 mashed bananas (or 3/4 cup pumpkin) 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 large egg 1/4 cup milk 1/4 cup applesauce, apple butter OR oil 1 cup oatmeal 1/2 cup raisins 1 cup of flour 2 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. baking soda 1/2 tsp. salt Crump Topping: 1/2 cup brown sugar 1 tbsp. flour 1/4 tsp. cinnamon 2 Tbsp. margarine 2 Tbsp oatmeal

Sift the dry ingredients then mix in the wet ingredients. Pour into 3 mini loaf pans or one large loaf pan. Pans should be filled approximately 2/3 full.

Sprinkle on crumb topping.

If pan seems fuller, place a cookie tray or foil underneath the pans in the oven to catch any melting topping.

Bake 400 degrees for around 25 minutes (this time is for mini loaf pans) or til browned. Check often as different size pans will cook at different times.

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Give your turkey a chance Continued from page 3 make your own (chop and simmer four stalks of celery, four peeled carrots, two large onions and one-half bunch of parsley in one gallon of water for an hour; then strain out the vegetables). If you don’t have all the stock you need, you can also add apple juice to the mix of water and stock.

Just keep the general proportion of one cup of salt to each gallon of liquid.

To brine the turkey, first remove the giblets and neck. Put the rest in a large stockpot, a clean and food-safe plastic paint bucket or a turkey-size resealable plastic bag (Reynolds makes them, among other companies. Do not use a plastic trash bag, which has unhealthy chemicals).

During the brining process, be sure to keep it in the refrigerator, if you have room. If it is going to be cold enough during the whole time you are brining — under 40 degrees at the warmest — you always can store it in Nature’s Refrigerator: the great outdoors.

And if it is too warm outdoors, you can put the pot, bucket or bag in a large cooler with plenty of ice. Don’t forget to add more ice if needed.

Or you can skip the whole brining process altogether and still get the same great flavor in one simple step: Buy a kosher turkey.

They may be expensive for turkey (though it’s still cheaper per pound than hamburger), but they are so easy and are guaranteed to make the best turkey you’ve ever had.

You’ll get a much better flavor from a fresh turkey than a frozen one, but you’ll pay for it. If you do buy a frozen bird, don’t forget that it will take two to four days to thaw in your refrigerator, depending on the size — figure on six hours per pound (that’s one full day for every four pounds). It must be thawed before you can brine it, which adds additional time. Under no circumstances should you try to thaw it at room temperature; that’s only inviting bacteria and an unpleasant stay at a hospital. If you don’t have time to thaw it in the refrigerator, you can thaw it under cold running water — but that takes a lot of time, too, and wastes a great deal of water.

Now that you have the turkey ready to cook, how are you going to cook it? Most people roast it, but that’s just so predictable.

Nevertheless, if you insist, cook the turkey on a rack in a roasting pan at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Lower the temperature to 350 degrees and roast for an additional 2-3 hours, depending on the size, until a meat thermometer registers 165 degrees. Tent with foil and let rest for 20 minutes before serving.

If, however, you want to try something new, you will get the most flavorful and moist turkey of your life by grilling it. All you need is a grill big enough, and with a lid high enough, to fit a turkey.

If using charcoal, burn the coals until they have turned ash gray. Put half as close to one side as possible, and half as close to the other side. If you plan to make gravy, place an aluminum-foil roasting pan in the middle to catch drippings, but you should be aware that the drippings often boil off or get ash in them. Place the grate with the hinged edges directly over the coals so you can add more coals later.

Place the brined or kosher turkey (giblets removed, and don’t stuff it before cooking) in the center of the grill, making certain no part of it is over the coals. Keep the vents open. Cover the grill and try to keep it covered as much as possible. Every hour, add a

handful of coals to the glowing coals on each side. Cook for 11-13 minutes per pound until a meat thermometer registers 165 (if it is a cold or windy day, the cooking time may be longer). Remove from the grill and rest under tented foil for 20 minutes before serving.

If you have a gas grill, preheat on mediumhigh heat. If you have a three-burner grill, light the two burners on the side and place the turkey in the middle, making certain no part is directly over a flame. If you have a two-burner grill, light a burner on one side and place the turkey on the other side. Cook for 11-13 minutes per pound, until a meat thermometer registers 165. Rest under tented foil for 20 minutes.

Surging in popularity over the last decade has been deep-fried turkey. For people who want to try this method, we have two rules: Use a commercially produced turkey-frying kit, and follow its instructions to the absolute letter. All too often, people who fail to do one of these wind up with their house burned down, a trip to the emergency room or, at least, a very, very burned turkey. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

If you like the idea of going against the grain and cooking a completely alternative Thanksgiving meal — but you still want to serve turkey — try cooking it in an unexpected way. Turkey Osso Bucco, for instance, is a bit exotic, a bit intriguing and completely delicious. Your guests may look at you oddly when you bring it out on a platter. Then, when they bite into it, they will sing your praises as a daring and original cook. They will call you ambitious and talented, able to bring a complex and rich flavor to so humble a dish as turkey.

But they may still look at you funny.

TURKEY THIGHS OSSO BUCCO-STYLE 2 turkey thighs, 1-1/4 pounds each 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 2 teaspoons vegetable oil 2 medium onions, finely chopped 4 carrots, peeled, and cut into 3/4-inch pieces 2 stalks celery, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) tomatoes in puree OR tomatoes in their juice 1/2 cup dry red wine 1 bay leaf 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle salt and pepper on turkey. In nonreactive 5-quart Dutch oven, heat oil over medium-high heat until very hot. Add 1 turkey thigh and cook, turning occasionally, until golden brown; about 5 minutes. With tongs, transfer thigh to plate; repeat with second thigh. Discard all but 1 tablespoon fat from Dutch oven.

Reduce heat to medium. Add onions to Dutch oven and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add carrots, celery and garlic; cook, stirring frequently, 2 minutes longer.

Stir in tomatoes with puree (or juice), wine, bay leaf and thyme, breaking up tomatoes with side of spoon; heat to boiling. Add browned turkey; cover and place in oven.

Bake until turkey is tender, about 1-1/2 hours. Discard bay leaf. Remove turkey meat from bones and cut into bite-size pieces; return meat to Dutch oven and stir well. Serve over white rice or polenta.

Yield: 4 servings.

— “The Good Housekeeping Cookbook” (Contact Daniel Neman at dneman(at)theblade.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)

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The Tale of Clayville Ancestry

By S. Thomas Curry Punx’y in the early 1880s and ended at of Hometown magazine Clayville. Also, an extension of the Bell’s Gap Railroad (later P.R.R.) passed through eaders of Hometown magazine a few years later on the south side of the have become familiar with town to enter mines at Horatio and FordClayville, Punxsutawney’s neighham. With the influx of new residents to boring town in the 19th century. work the mines and provide service to the In 1907, when Clayville officially was industry, the town grew rapidly toward incorporated into Punxsutawney as the West End section, the former Clayville residents would begin to gradually meld the history of their community into that of Greater Punxsutawney.

As a village, Clayville was a quiet settlement along the Mahoning Creek, nestled among the hills. It was a mile-and-a-half west of Punxsutawney. It was of no note until about 1858 when William E. and James U. Gillespie bought land from G. A. Mundorff, a son-inlaw of Jacob Hoover.

Hoover, an early pioneer, had died in 1853.

The Gillespie brothers were principal landowners A Senior Project by Tasha Story was recently completed to restore cemetery in West End where family members were buried in the of that territory. They were the 1890s. Left to right are Kristen Story Goulish (Tasha’s aunt), Tasha also the first members of the Story, Aimee Story, sister, and Tanner Goulish, a cousin. Also helpCatholic faith in the Punx’y ing was a friend Samantha Athey. area, and the first members being a “manufacturing” town. celebrating Mass in the home of “W. E.” To the workers in the area — lumberon West Mahoning Street near Saw Mill men, carpenters, mill workers, foundry Run. Father Wienker conducted the servmen, machinists, blacksmiths, general ice. store merchants and butchers — the railFrom a population of 150 in 1860, the roads brought railroaders, miners, engipopulation of Clayville would multiply neers, brick masons, contractors, teachers, nine times by 1890, the number reaching a hotel owners and numerous business little over 1,400 people. Among the new shops to its own “downtown” on Main residents were immigrants, with “foreign” Street. A new school would be built, as languages and a contrasting culture to that well as a municipal building and fire hall. of the first settlers of German and ScotchToday, among the many things Clayville Irish heritage. once had, gone is the post office estabWhen the Rochester and Pittsburgh Raillished in 1882 and named Lindsey (instead road built its rail line south from along of Clayville) after Lindsey Gillespie, a son Lake Erie in New York into Pennsylvania, to the mines nearby, the line entered - Continued on page 10

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8 – Punxsutawney Hometown – Thanksgiving 2011 - Issue #134

TUNES FOR TOTS & AUCTION Benefiting local children at Christmas

Sat., December 3, 2011 6 pm to 12 Midnight Walston Club

Donation: $10.00 plus an unwrapped new Toy donation would be appreciated at the door.

For more information contact Shelly Fait at 814-938-5368

Featuring Music by: Steve Duffalo, Bruce Walker, Admit 21 and over G3, Joe Pascuzzo Lounge Lizards, Tickets courtesy of Mark Gagliardi, Riding Shotgun, Richard L. Fait Funeral Home B&B, Sound by Rob Strawcutter

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Recipes and Other Tips Continued from page 5

In a bowl, beat margarine and 3/4 cup sugar. Beat in egg and egg yolk and 2 Tbsp. reserved brandy liquid. Add in flour and spices. Beat til combined and stir in cherries.

Roll dough into balls then roll them in sugar.

Bake on a cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

butter.

Blend cranberries and walnuts in a food processor. Mix in sugar and cinnamon.

Spread a layer over the phyllo dough in the pan. Repeat layers. End with a layers of phyllo on top. Cut about halfway through the layers with a knife to make a diamond pattern. Bake at 325 for about an hour.

With a few minutes of cooking time remaining, heat honey in a small sauce pan.

Pour over baklava while still warm. Cool completely before slicing the diamond shapes all the way through.

This recipe can easily be doubled, but I usually use the remaining phyllo to make spinach rolls.

While you have these recipes in hand, you should try, one or clip it and file it. Hopefully your system is better than mine.

By the first of winter, you should have

some food stored away, either by canning or stocking up on baking supplies at local grocery stores. Of all the vegetables I grew and canned this past growing season, the number of free apples I picked pale them by comparison. I put up 20 quarts of apple pie filling. I just refuse to can any more apples. I have one bag left and just received a free bag of pears.

A storeowner took pity on me when I stopped to buy lemon juice and corn starch for the second time. She let me borrow her apple peeler/corer after I mentioned running warm water over my hands to keep them from hurting as I peeled each apple.

In my opinion, that device is the best invention ever. I bought my own apple peeler that week. I opted for an antique one, to be sure it will last, unlike my cookbook. The antique peeler I brought home uses a razor

and doesn’t waist any of the flesh of the apple, like the newer version did.

So this winter, brew a cup of tea, grab a sweater, a book and a homemade dessert.

In my warm kitchen, I’ll be working on a pear scone recipe to rival my Twinning of London tea obsession. If I can read my writing and remember to write down my final changes, you’ll be the first to know.

• • •

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Winter Peach Pie 6 peaches 1/4 cup flour 1/4 cup brown sugar 1/4 cup sugar 1/8 cup margarine 1 Tbsp. cornstarch 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. almond (or vanilla) extract 1/8 tsp. nutmeg 1/8 tsp. salt

Mix sliced, peeled peaches in a bowl with a lid. Add all other ingredients except the margarine and shake lightly. Let stand 15 minutes. Fill a pie shell with the filling, cut small pieces of the margarine and place on top of filling, then top with another pie shell.

Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes then for 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Turn off oven and allow to cool inside the oven.

Brandied Spiced Pears 6 pears, peeled and cored 3 cups of red wine 1/2 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. nutmeg 1 cup brown sugar 1/2 cup brandy 1 Tbsp. lemon juice 1/4 tsp. salt

Cook pears in red wine, sugar, lemon and spices til tender.

About 25 minutes, turning the pears several times. Remove the pears. Boil the remaining liquid til reduced by half.

Add the brandy then pour over the pears.

Cranberry Walnut Baklava 8 oz. phyllo dough, thawed 1/2 cup butter 3/4 cup fresh cranberries 1/2 cup walnuts 1/2 cup sugar 1 rsp. cinnamon 1/2 cup honey

Grease an 8x8” pan, Trim phyllo in half to fit in pan. Layer six sheets at a time in the pan, brushing each layer with melted Punxsutawney Hometown – Thanksgiving 2011 - Issue #134 – 9

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Continued from page 8 of J. U. Gillespie. Gone, too, is the Gillespie Spring, once a convenient place where travelers along the road could quench their thirst. It was located at one time along Main Street where is now Comet Market. Gone are the Lindsey Hotel and the Lindsey Flour Mill, often called Gillespie’s Mill by residents. Also lost to history are the two Brick Works, the Planing Mill, the railroad depot, the West End school building, and the coke ovens at the end of Foundry Street.

But, at the end of Foundry Street there remains a token of C l a y v i l l e ’s long ago past.

Located there is the old Clayville C e m e t e r y.

Through a labor of love this past summer, the historic spot was given a restoration through the dedicated efforts of young people, who had gained respect for family members buried there. With thankful hearts and respect to their forefathers, they devoted hours of digging, cutting, raking, hauling, planting, laying mulch, planting flowers, and resetting tombstones The work was undertaken as a senior project by PAHS senior Tasha Story. The project began from a suggestion from her Aunt Kristen (Story) Goulish. Joining in the summer project was Tasha’s sister, Aimee Story, a cousin, Tanner Goulish, and a friend, Samantha Athey. And, of course, Aunt Kris joined the team.

Growing up in the neighborhood of the cemetery, and attending the West End Elementary School, the family members were aware of the cemetery, though it was isolated from the general public. As children in the school, some of their classes would often visit the cemetery to place flowers on the graves. But more importantly, the Story children and grandchildren had learned stories from their older

“Carved in Stone”

relatives of the family members buried there.

It was the Fanning gravestone, in the west portion of the grounds, that had special memories, and was the focus of Tasha’s senior project for restoration at the cemetery. The gravestone marked the burial spot of young James Fanning and his father Thomas Fanning. Thomas was the great, great, great grandfather of Tasha; and the great, great grandfather of her mother Kristen.

Thomas Fanning was born in 1841 of Irish Protestant parents. His wife, Hanora O’Herin, was born of I r i s h Catholic parents in 1836.

As a young girl she beThomas Fanning was a came orstonemason who followed a New York state phaned and railroad company to did housePunxsutawney to build work. And bridges. Mr. Fanning while workcarved the gravestone of his son, James, seen ing as a here in the Clayville housemaid, Cemetery. He was a she met g r e a t , - g r e a t - g r e a t young Tom grandfather of Tasha Fanning.

Story.

Tom was a stonemason when the two married. They eventually moved to England. When a new law was passed in England in the 1870s, Tom and his son James made the trip to the United States. The law required that all boys over 17 years of age enter the military, but the father did not want his sons to fight for England.

As stonemasons, the two men settled on an Indian Reservation in New York to help build bridges and railroads. Settled in his work, Thomas sent for his wife and other children to join them. In 1882, the family moved to the Kinzua area and lived with a Seneca tribe on the Indian Reservation there. Tom Fanning was a foreman for the construction of the famed Kinzua Bridge that was built 300 feet above the Kinzua Creek. It was over 2,000 feet in length.

The bridge was destroyed by a tornado in 2003.

As stonemasons in bridge construction, the Fanning men had numerous falls that resulted in head injuries, with Tom having had a steel plate inserted in his head fol- Continued on page 12

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10 – Punxsutawney Hometown – Thanksgiving 2011 - Issue #134

Thanksgiving in Coal Town Homes T

By PRIDE for Hometown magazine hanksgiving is a time when we think of families gathering, grown children bringing their children to visit grandparents and other relatives. It is a time to remember the “good old days.”

Family gatherings are often held at the old home place, the place where the adults lived when they were children.

The people who lived in the coal towns surrounding Punxsutawney developed sentimental attachments to their homes. Company houses became home to those who came from foreign countries and they were the only home their children knew. Many of these children were born during the time

the use of the miners and two fine residences for the use of the superintendent and auditor and a model store and office, and numerous other improvements that the curious may see upon inspecting our lively town. Punxsutawney News, October, 1887 The Berwind-White Coal Company was also building company houses at Horatio.

“A little town is springing up on J.H. Morrison’s farm west of Clayville. The houses will be occupied by miners.” the News reported on October 11, 1887. The following week the News carried an article detailing a visit to the mine site at Horatio and reported: …”Soon we arrived at Horatio, which, by the way, is a beautiful mining town, recently erected. It now consists

While we enjoy the turkey and all its dressings, We’re reminded of our many blessings – like the goodwill and the friendship, too of the many kind folks like you, Who have visited us throughout the year From many places far and near, So we’d like to thank you if we may, and wish you a happy thanksgiving day!

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P.O. Box 123, DeLancey, PA 15733 3 Miles N. of Punx’y - Off Rt. 310 (In the village of Adrian next to the Church) Company Houses drawn by Heather Heitzenrater as part of her Girl Scout Gold Award Project. Superintendent’s House, Kramer Mine; Handyman’s Special, Kramer and other Mines; Company Houses at Cascade Mine, Sykesville; Double House, Adrian, Eleanora and other Mines; Bungalow, Kramer and Rossiter.

their parents lived in a company house.

This sentiment was captured in the lyrics

by John Howard Payne, written about 1823 and set to music by Sir Henry Bishop, in a song entitled Home, Sweet Home!” The opening lines to the song “Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam, Be it ever so humble, there’s no place like home;” captured the way many feel about their home.

The company house was modest, yet adequate to meet the needs of the miner and his family. The advantage of living in a company house was the low rent and the close proximity to work. These were important in an age where pay was marginal and transportation was not readily available.

Each mining company had their own style of housing. The Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal and Iron Company, which constructed its first company town at Adrian in 1886, used a double house structure for miners and a single house model for managers of various levels. The Punxsutawney News in May 1887 reported on the development of Adrian, “The town in itself is fast assuming quite a city-like appearance, being laid out in squares of ten blocks of twenty houses each, which affords plenty of room around each house.”Larger houses were constructed for the professionals, doctors, superintendents, and others in the mine work force.

By October 1887, the town had grown considerably and the News reported: “Adrian is a little over one year old and has sprung from a wilderness into a model mining town. It contains 156 houses for

of substantial buildings—twenty in number—each of which gives shelter to two families. Its streets are wide and regularly laid out. This will, when completed, be a town of no small dimension….”

As soon as the houses were available, miners were renting them. The first person to sign a lease for a house at Adrian in 1886 was W. Wolfe. He and his family moved in. They were soon followed by families named Horning, Fleming, Zuby, Ryan, Chappell, Ellsman, Griffiths, Mark, and Kingorsky. Several of these families were still living in company houses and creating memories of Adrian in the 1940’s.

The arrival of families changed the houses to homes and created communities.

The residents began developing social organizations such as schools and churches.

The families at Adrian petitioned for a school in 1887 because there were so many children the nearest schools did not have room for them. Instead of one school, the directors of Young Township decided to establish two schools at Adrian. The agreement was that the people at Adrian furnish the rooms and the township would pay for the teachers. Miss Annie McQuilkin and Miss Renie Hauck were the teachers.

In 1888, a contract for building the new school house at Horatio was awarded to Yocum & Dellbaugh. The building was finished in time for the winter school.

There was also a Catholic high school established. The St. Adrian’s Catholic High School graduated its first class in 1908.

Class members were: Winifred Embert, Louis Smelko, Jack O’Leary, Anna - Continued on page 16

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814-938-3235 12 – Punxsutawney Hometown – Thanksgiving 2011 - Issue #134

Gravesite

Main Street, was reserved for the Catholic population and the eastern part was to be used for burials of the general public.

Among its nearly 250 burials were the earliest settlers of the area, several Civil War veterans and many of the immigrants who settled in that section to work in mines and industries. In 1890 the Roman Catholic congregation purchased land to establish the Cavalry Cemetery.

Continued from page 10 lowing one of the accidents. The entire Fanning family worked their way through New York and into Pennsylvania, following the railroad to Punx’y.

Shortly after arriving in the area, young James died of Brights Disease at he age of 26 in 1890.

He was buried in the Clayville Cemetery. James’ stonemason father carved the tall stone that marks his grave.

When the family came to Clayville, they lived in an old shack on Perry Street, high on a hill. According to the family history that was shared with the Story children, Tom’s wife Hanora “looked out across Mahoning Creek and said to her husband, ‘This is as far as I go, I want a home built across the water.’”

The Fanning home was built in 1893 on Cleveland Street on the South Side. In August 2010, Doris (Ott) Story, great-granddaughter of Thomas Fanning (and mother of Kristen (Story) Goulish, was the fourth generation to pass away in the family home.

The family’s account for Tom and Hanora’s life in the former Clayville includes the following contributions of (top) The area that would become Clayville, west of Punxsutawney, Thomas Fanning to Punx’y’s was settled in 1814. From a population of 150 in 1860 it grew to by 1890. In 1873, land was donated outside the town for the history: “He built railroads 1400 town’s cemetery. (bottom) One half of the Clayville Cemetery was bridges, the first (red-brick) for the Catholic population and the other half for the Protestants.

SS.C.D. Catholic Church, As with many smaller graveyards, such Horseshoe Curve near Altoona, and the as Punxsutawney’s historic old North longest Coke Ovens in the world (Walston Findley Street Cemetery, and many church coke ovens). “ and countryside cemeteries in the area, Thomas Fanning died in October 1897 as when there was not regular and adequate a result of an accident at the former Lindcare, the overgrowth of small trees and sey (or Phillips) Hotel located at the corshrubs, fallen tombstones from the actions ner of Foundry Street and West Mahoning of nature and weather, and vandalism, left Street. the Clayville Cemetery an eyesore.

Prior to 1890, the burial ground for Frequently, many volunteer hours of Clayville’s residents was the Clayville labor have been organized to restore these Cemetery in woodland outside the town, smaller gravesites, often by only a few and on land along “Pig Alley” that was dosurviving family members of those buried, nated in 1873 by J. U. Gillespie. Over the or groups of individuals of all ages who years some residents would call the comhave developed respect for the past repremunity’s burial yard the Coke Oven sented in each burial.

Cemetery because of its proximity to the A large effort to restore the Clayville Walston coke ovens that ended nearby. To Cemetery was undertaken in October others, after Clayville was incorporated 1963. In a project led by Clifford into Punx’y, it was the old West End Schenkemeyer, a local funeral director, Cemetery. People in the neighborhood members of the VFW Teener Baseball were also referring to it as the McHugh League cleared and leveled the land, reset Avenue Cemetery. tombstones and carried away debris.

At different times in its first years, events In July 1984, members of Punxwere held to raise funds for a fence around sutawney’s National Guard unit revisited the cemetery. A Clayville Cemetery Asthe Clayville Cemetery. Led by Sgt. Roger sociation was formed to arrange for buriSteele, the unit completed restoration that als and maintain the grounds and its fence. included cutting away tree branches, trimNotices were published frequently to anming the perimeter of the burial land, and nounce to the public the committee’s plans improvements to nearly four dozen grave for “more uniform interment of bodies in sites and grave stones. the graveyard than has heretofore been One thankful and concerned family comfollowed.” Graves had been dug and the pleted the most recent renovation. They bodies buried without regard to any plan. accomplished their work to respect a famThe public was warned to stop the pracily member from four generations past. tice - “Read the notice and be posted on They celebrated a quiet thanks to for the this matter,” it was advertised regularly. giving of time and strength. It was truly a In the original plan the western portion family “Thanks” giving. of the Clayville Cemetery, toward North • • •

Five worst home fixes for the money

By Dana Dratch bankrate.com t’s the magic phrase uttered by almost anyone who’s ever considered the cost of home remodeling: “We’ll get it back when we sell.”

Unless you keep those projects practical, you might just be kidding yourself.

For example: Steel front door: Good.

Master suite addition costing more than the average American home: Bad. Every year, Remodeling magazine looks at the hottest home upgrades and calculates just how much owners get back when they sell.

Upkeep is more popular than upgrades these days, says Sal Alfano, editorial director for Remodeling.

These are the projects that often recoup the biggest slice of expenses at resale.

Ever wonder what brings the lowest return when you plant that “for sale” sign? Think high-dollar, highly personalized add-ons like a tricked-out garage or a super luxe master suite addition.

Here are the five improvements that rank dead last nationally when it comes to getting those renovation dollars back at resale.

The standard home office renovation is this year’s biggest loser in the resale value sweepstakes. Nationally, homeowners spent an average of $28,888 and can expect to recoup 45.8 percent at resale, according to the Remodeling report.

Alfano offers two tips for home-office remodelers when they sell. First, opt for something that can easily be converted back into a bedroom.

Second, when you’re selling, call it a study, den or hobby room. Don’t use words that invoke images of actual work.

Real estate agents will tell you that potential buyers want square footage, pristine condition and lots of light. So a brand-new room that has the word “sun” in it, it has to be great for resale value, right?

Not necessarily.

I

Your first clue: The word “addition” — which means expanding the footprint of your home — indicates that this is not a renovation for the faint of heart.

While it seems simple enough, the national average for a sunroom addition is $75,224, according to the report. Homeowners can expect to recoup 48.6 percent when they sell.

That doesn’t mean that adding a sunroom is always a bad move.

If your home needs another common area, a sunroom could be the answer, says Katie Severance, co-author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Selling Your Home.”

Who doesn’t want to wake up in a five-starthotel-quality suite with an attached spa bathroom and a kitchenette that affords you coffee and pastries before facing the world?

Once you see the price tag, it won’t just be the coffee keeping you up at night.

For a super-deluxe master suite addition — which adds square footage and uses top-dollar materials — the average cost is $232,062, according to the report.

In years past, this project was “sort of a trend in vacation homes” that migrated to primary dwellings, Alfano says. Sellers can expect to recover 52.7 percent at resale.

Your buyer can purchase a newer house with the same features as part of the original floor plan that “probably lays out better anyway,” says Loren Keim, author of “How to Sell Your Home in Any Market.”

So while the next buyer may appreciate your luxury accommodations (which could even tip their decision in your home’s favor), chances are they won’t want to pay the full tab for your remodel.

Unless you’re a hermit who never entertains, you’ve probably wished for an extra bathroom now and then.

But bathroom additions require serious coin. For a moderately outfitted addition with synthetic stone or plastic laminate surfaces,

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14 – Punxsutawney Hometown – Thanksgiving 2011 - Issue #134

“We have had a tremendous loss in funding and it is going to hit hard this season,” said Major William H. Bode, the organization’s Western Pennsylvania Divisional Commander. “We have decided to increase our overall goals by 20 percent.”

The Christmas Campaign is comprised of three distinct funding streams: red kettles; direct mail appeal; and social media.

“Donors should know that kettle dollars stay where they give them. Mail appeal money stays where we live. And social media contributions go where the need is

greatest,” explained Major Bode. “The Salvation Army is grateful of any gift, no matter the size. And, if a donor’s budget is stretched too thinly to give, please contribute your prayers. ” Donors may give online by logging onto www.OnlineRedKettle.org. The Salvation Army will also allow donors to support the Christmas Campaign directly through their mobile phone.

Contributors can text the words “GIVE PGH” to 80888 to make a $10 donation to support the campaign.

The gift will appear as a charge on the donor’s next mobile phone bill.

The Salvation Army also offers a free update for the iPhone virtual “Bellringer” application by logging onto bellr i n g e r. s a l v a t i o n armyusa.org.

The update includes new video content and also enables donations to The Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign via text message. This free app enables friends and supporters of The Salvation Army to share in the tradition of being a Salvation Army bellringer by ringing a virtual bell right on their phone.

Volunteers of all kinds are desperately needed. For more information in either volunteering at a kettle, or providing a site, contact your local Salvation Army. Families are encouraged and welcomed to volunteer.

To learn more about The Salvation Army in Western Pennsylvania, log onto www.salvationarmy-wpa.org or contact the local Punxsutawney office at 229 W. Mahoning Street 938-5530.

• • •

“Their therapy helped me get better, they are good people.”

“I

hate to leave, but I want to be closer to home.” Donald Bennett said of his stay at Mulberry Square Elder Care and Rehabilitation Center. Recently, Donald was discharged from Mulberry Square to an Assisted Living environment.

Bennett spent many days at DuBois Regional Medical Center.

The recommendation was for him to go to a Skilled Nursing Facility for therapy. He decided to come to Mulberry Square, with the support of his friends, for his rehabilitation. Bennett received Physical and Occupational Therapies 6 days a week to increase his functional independence. Mulberry Square offers Physical, Occupational, and Speech Therapies to help residents return to their prior level of function. They use Accelerated Care Plus (ACP) products to achieve maximum results.

Bennett gives credit to the therapy staff at Mulberry Square for his progress. “The therapy helped me get better, they are good people,” Bennett stated of his therapists at Mulberry Square.

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Michael Cherian’s Canoe Trip Honors Grandfather

By Hilary Daninhirsch for Hometown magazine

M

ichael Cherian rowed his boat gently down the stream to raise money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation.

Actually, the boat was a handmade canoe, the stream was several rivers and his trip wasn’t always gentle.

The 29-year-old medical school graduate and resident of Punxsutawney grew up in a household with his parents and grandfather, Edward Burroughs, the latter of whom suffered from Parkinson’s disease. Michael is the son of Punx’y residents, Dr. George and Lorraine Cherian.

Michael says of his grandfather’s disease, “It wears on you every day, knowing that they are going to slowly deteriorate. It’s hard. In the end

rivers, particularly after reading Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn.

So the young doctor built a canoe, nicknamed it the “Steady Eddie,” in memory of his grandfather, and in May set sail down the Allegheny River. “I turned a canoe into a rowboat,” he said of his 17-foot long craft. “I put on a tail, pontoons and an outrigger system. I tore apart a rowing machine, used the seat and built oars.”

Cherian followed the Allegheny into the Ohio River in Pittsburgh, turned down the Mississippi River in Cairo, Illinois and reached New Orleans in late August. “I spent an hour or two a day on a rowing machine but when it came down to it, there’s not a lot that prepared me for being on a canoe for 12 hours

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Michael does, however, have fond memories of tossing a stick into the Mahoning River and asking his grandfather where he thought the stick would end up. “New Orleans,” his grandfather replied. The pair looked at maps and saw the progression of the country’s rivers. Cherian believes that this was the start of his fascination with

a day and rowing,” he explained. “Most of the problems I had physically weren’t muscle aches. They were problems with joints in my fingers and knees; it took almost a month for them to go away.”

Cherian covered 1,800 miles. He slept in his boat most nights, though he sometimes found a marina, or was invited to stay with people he met along the way.

Things generally went smoothly, though

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16 – Punxsutawney Hometown – Thanksgiving 2011 - Issue #134

provided many memorable evenings and other social events, filled with music and song.

Sports especially baseball, was enjoyed by the people living in the houses in the mining towns. Heroes were made with a home-run, or the winning run. Some of the heroes went on to play professional ball.

In the communities memories were made.

By 1908, Quite a number young people,

Continued from page 11 Nevrela, Richard Guilfoile, Ethel Connelly, and in abstentia, Teresa Neverla, who died shortly before graduation. In all of these school rooms memories were made.

The Adrian Presbyterian Church was organized by twenty one members in June 1888. A Union Chapel was dedicated at Walston was dedicated in September 1888.

The chapel was used for Sabbath school and occupied by ministers of different denominations on alternating Sundays.

St. A d r i a n ’ s Band — Music, a universal language, brought townspeople together and Catholic Church Adrian’s created good memories of home. Two persons who have been identified are: First was dedicated Row #4 with drumsticks is a Mr. Joseph Lesnick; #8 with horn is Cataldo Scaranon November tine. (Photo courtesy of Helen Morris.)

24, 1889. The who had been born and grown up in comWelsh Congregational Church of Horatio pany houses, had begun to move on to was dedicated in 1890. In these churches other areas. In January 1909, the News rethe people of the towns were baptized, porter for Horatio listed a number of forconfirmed, married and their deaths were merly residents who had come home to commemorated. They celebrated feast spend the Christmas holiday. Among them days and religious holidays. They made were Misses Margaret and Harriet Evans, memories.

Elizabeth Jones, Bessie Williams, Mrs. The people also participated in recreCharles O’Neil, David Williams and wife ational activities. Music, sports, and social and daughter, Thelma, Ambrose Nichols clubs soon followed. and wife, Mandus Olson and family, The News reported on the Lindsey Messrs. Daniel Evans, Joe Branch, Arthur James, Robert Chapman, George and John Richards, Robert Jones, Thomas Corley, Jr., and John Johnson.

They came home to be with family over the holiday.

Today, community homecoming celebrations are celebrated during the summer. At Thanksgiving and family A baseball game takes place at Romantic Park near Cascade Mine, Christmas Sykesville, PA. (Photo from the collection of Shirley Sharp.) homecomings take place. During these times many, who were born and grew up Eisteddfod, a Welsh festival of literature, in the Punxsutawney area, return to their music and performance, which was held on roots in the mining communities. These March 1, 1898. Horatio residents took a places are considered home. good portion of the prizes. Among the (Editor’s Note: The resources used in the winners were: S.J. Woodhouse and party preparation of this article are available the won the quartette; John James, the tenor Punxsutawney Memorial Library and the solo; David T. Evans, baritone solo; Misses Punxsutawney Area Historical and GeHattie Evans and Sadie James the duet; nealogical Society. Photographs are as atMiss Jennie Williams, children’s solo, and tributed. This article has been prepared by Miss Hattie Evans won one of the prizes PRIDE – Punxsutawney Revitalization: Infor the solo also. The many hours of pracvesting, Developing, Enhancing. PRIDE is tice before the performance and winning a nonprofit organization which brings tothe prize created memories. gether residents, business people, commuSome of the communities established nity leaders and civic organizations, to bands. On warm evenings in Adrian, you improve the business districts in Punxcould hear beautiful music resounding sutawney. PRIDE is working to develop a throughout the town and across the hillCoal Memorial and Welcome Center for tops. In Adrian there was a Band Hall, lothe Punxsutawney Area. Comments on this cated near the center of town, where the article may be directed to PRIDE, P.O. Box band practiced. With the doors and win298, Punxsutawney, PA 15767, or by calldows opened and the band members seated ing 814-938-2493 and leaving a message. on the benches that lined the outer walls, A PRIDE volunteer will return your call.)

Mr. Joseph Lesnick, the conductor, would • • • lead the band as it practiced. The band

Use these tips to beat rising food costs

I

By John Ewoldt Minneapolis Star Tribune

f you’ve been to a grocery store lately, you know that meat, dairy products, cereal, coffee and soda have all had double-digit price increases in the past 12 to 18 months. Even worse, there are more hikes predicted.

This year’s wild weather and roller-coaster oil prices are partly to blame, and unless things stabilize, shoppers are looking at food prices being 3 percent to 4 percent higher next year, said Michael Swanson, an agricultural economist at Wells Fargo.

When prices climb too high, thrifty consumers can always find alternatives, said Bea Krinke, a registered dietitian in St. Paul, Minn. But quitting a favorite food is rarely easy, even if you treat yourself once a month as Krinke suggests.

If deprivation isn’t on your menu, supermarket gurus — Carrie Rocha of Pocketyourdollars.com, Karen Gunter of Creativecouponing.com and super shopper Kim Crumb of Bloomington, Minn. — suggest how to save on five budget-busting foods.

Their best tip? Track the prices of 10 to 15 staples so you can recognize a good deal when you see one. Here are other tips: BACON Why so high? With the price of feed rising, the hog industry has cut back on production to prevent losses. Fewer pigs, less bacon.

How to save: • Choose other pork products that are on sale, such as pork loin, or skip it all together.

• Buy on sale at stores with double coupons.

• Stock up when it’s on sale, typically before Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter, and then freeze excess.

Substitutes: • Buy cheaper sausage or breakfast links.

• Try turkey bacon, Bacon Bits or soybased bacon pieces.

BEEF Why so high? “The export market is on fire in China, Korea and Mexico,” said Swanson. Less inventory here means higher prices.

How to save: • Look for items with a “reduced for quick sale” sticker. Ask the meat department when it puts out reduced items. Freeze or cook

immediately.

• Embrace smaller portions. You’ll reduce beef consumption and eat more healthfully, said Krinke.

• Buy better cuts of meat for less at warehouse food stores or other sites.

Substitutes: •Chicken, pork and turkey are often cheaper. Stock up on turkey at Thanksgiving and freeze.

• Tenderize cheaper cuts of meat with acidic marinades, such as Italian dressing, or chop meat into small pieces and put in a slow cooker.

• Get protein from whole grains such as quinoa or soy and dairy products.

CEREAL • Why so high? A large portion of corn supplies is now being diverted to ethanol. Oats and wheat prices are higher.

How to save: • Clip cereal coupons that are featured in the circulars, or print coupons from Smartsource.com, C o u p o n s . c o m , Bettycrocker.com, Pillsbury.com or other company websites.

• Buy in bulk at warehouse clubs or co-ops.

Substitutes: • Experiment with store brands, especially corn flakes or other standard fare • Mix cheaper store brands with brandname cereal.

MILK Why so high? Exports are at an all-time high, said Swanson, because of an expanding middle class in countries such as Mexico, the Philippines and Egypt.

How to save: • Try neighborhood gas stations, convenience stores and pharmacies that use milk as a loss leader.

• Freeze milk for use in cooking. Substitutes: • Check the price on powdered milk. It’s often cheaper, and it’s fine for use in recipes.

• Gradually train yourself and your kids to drink a mixture of powdered and regular milk.

CHEESE Prices have doubled in the past year and coupons are scarce.

How to save: • Buy in larger quantities at warehouse clubs.

• Shred and freeze cheese when on sale.

Shredded cheese tends to freeze better than blocks.

• Shop for cheese in the dairy case, not the deli or the specialty-cheese case, where prices are higher.

Substitutes: • Experiment with reducing the amount of cheese on a pizza, for example, to what’s palatable for you, said Krinke.

SODA POP Why so high? It’s the higher cost of corn syrup, aluminum, plastic and transportation.

How to save: • Watch for Pepsi coupons. Now that Coke is - Continued on page 18

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Punxsutawney Hometown – Thanksgiving 2011 - Issue #134 – 17

Small Post Offices Continued from page 2

tion of this business.”

Kelley added that with the financial crisis the USPS is facing, they can no longer sustain a network of over 30,000 offices and that it’s simply a business reality.

“The postal service is closing thousands of post offices because it doesn’t want to get out of the retail end of the postal business,” said Hutkins. “It wants to turn that over to private businesses, like Wal-Mart, Staples, CVS, supermarket chains, etc. For every traditional brick-and-mortar post office, there are two counters in a big box store or supermarket doing postal business and the postal service just wants to increase those alternatives and get rid of post offices.”

“It’s not just western Pa,” added Hutkins.

“It’s the whole country. And it’s not just the list of 3,650 that they’re working on now. The deputy postmaster general said another list of 4,000 is coming soon, and the postmaster general said he expects to close 16,000 over the next six years. What we’re seeing now is just the beginning.”

In many of these small towns such as Gipsy, Timblin, Hamilton, and Valier, all in the Punxsutawney area, as well as many other areas of Western Pa, one of the echoing, burning questions is simply, where will our mail go now?

According to both Kelley and Hutkins, the USPS is and will continue to attempt to utilize the concept of cluster boxes and rural mail carriers, which are like a post office on wheels, in that they can sell stamps, money orders and accept packages for posting.

The cluster boxes, according to Hutkins will make it difficult for people to receive their mail, especially the elderly, who will now have to deal with driving, if they have the luxury, at least ten minutes to the nearest post office, or deal with snow and ice piling up around their cluster box.

“The postal service is basically just passing its costs onto its customers,” said Hutkins. “What the postal service saves will come out of the pockets of American citizens, the very people they are supposed to be serving. Remember, the postal service is a government institution, not a private business. We own it, and it should serve us — all of us.”

A list of all post office closings and information, as well as Mr. Steve Hutkin’s blog can be found at: www.savethepostoffice.com.

• • •

rising food costs Continued from page 17 winning the soda wars, Pepsi is fighting back with discounts.

• Stock up around the holidays, when discounters and supermarkets sell 12-packs for less than $3 and 24-packs are about $6.

• Mix cheaper generic colas in 2-liter bottles with brand-name stuff.

Substitutes: • Make your own at home with the do-ityourself kits from SodaStream at Amazon or Bed, Bath & Beyond.

— Mix sparkling water with flavorings or apple, lime, orange or grape juice.

(Contact John Ewoldt at jewoldt(at)startribune.com.) (Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)

• • •

Providing Joy, Beautiful Flowers to the Community for Four Decades Roseman’s Florist & Gifts, Downtown Punx’y

By PRIDE for Hometown magazine

A

sk Beverly Roseman Lingenfelter what they sell at Roseman’s Florist & Gifts and she may reply, “We sell joy.” And they do. The shop at 126 West Mahoning Street, is a full service florist as well as a unique gift shop.

“This shop was a-dreamcome true for our parents, George and Millie RoseSome of the many angels available in the gift area of Roseman’s Florist man,” said Diane Roseman & Gifts. Note the special angel for a Steeler Fan on the left.

Lellock, as she pointed out Beverly Lingenfelter prepares to wrap a bouquet flowers for a customer on one of the large work the variety of gift items on of tables at Roseman’s Florist & Gifts. the shelves. Mom and Dad purchased the Parise Greenhouse on Cleveland Street in 1972, and in 1982 they bought this, the former Lorelli Building, and transformed it into a Florist and Gift Shop called Roseman II. It was a unique one of a kind store, offering just about everything in gifts from Fostoria Glass and Noritake China to clocks and furniture, Diane Lellock, Debbie Parise, and Beverly Lingenfelter, the three Rosein addition to flowers.” man Sisters who operate Roseman’s Florist and Gifts at 126 West Mahoning Street, showing some of the items available in their shop.

“As soon as we were old enough and responsible enough, we began working at the greenhouse and then in the store,” said Debbie Roseman Parise, “We have pulled together to continue the busi- Custom created silk flower arrangements are a ness. After the passing of our specialty at Roseman’s Florists and Gifts. parents, we decided to we deliver right here in streamline and bring both businesses toPunxsutawney. And cusgether under one roof at the downtown lotomers can be assured our cation. We sold the greenhouses … to our flowers are fresh, as we rebrother (Steve) … so he could operate a roses from the well stocked cooler is one of the services apceive deliveries three Choosing garden center.” preciated by customers at Roseman’s Florist and Gifts. times or more a week.”

The shop is set up with in an open work“We do a lot of custom as our flowers. I’m not too sure what Mom room concept which enables customers to designed arrangements in both fresh and would say about that,” she quipped. select the flowers and watch as their floral silk flowers,” added Diane, “especially the “One thing Mom would approve of is that arrangement is being created. special requests for black and gold for we still have the hometown family feel to “Customers really enjoy being able to Steeler Fans. At Christmas, we host the business. She used to work long hours, choose their own flowers from our large ‘Mistletoe Madness’ and go all out decoand we knew that if we wanted to talk with walk in coolers,” said Debbie. “We create rating the store for the holiday season. We her, we had better head to the store. Well, custom flower arrangements for weddings, keep our prices low because of all the comthe store is still the gathering place for the as well as special corsages for the prom. petition in our line. This year, the whole family. Lunch time is when family and We take orders over the phone and on-line. downtown will be participating on Saturfriends drop by and visit and share lunch To make it easy for our out of town cusday, November 26. We hope customers with us. That is what is nice about having tomers, we have a toll-free telephone numwill come downtown and enjoy all of the a business in a small town.” ber, 800-205-6662. We also prepare flower great holiday offerings.”

“We are proud to be a part of this amazing arrangements for funerals, which always “We will be celebrating our 40th year in community and thankful to all of our custake first priority with us. One of our spebusiness,” observed Beverly, “and we have tomers who have supported us throughout cialties is the Rainbow Rose which is popgrown and changed with the times. We do the years,” Diane summarized, and everyular with the younger set and is often offer unique items including Pandora style one agreed. requested in a bud vase for patients at the beads and Coobie Bras in colors as vibrant • • • hospital. We send flowers world wide and

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Punxsutawney Hometown – Thanksgiving 2011 - Issue #134 – 19

Holiday Breakups

By Barton Goldsmith Scripps Howard News Service hat do you do if you are in a relationship with someone who you know isn’t a keeper, but there really isn’t any reason to break up?

Many folks in this unenviable position just coast along until something rattles their cage and reminds them that they may not want to form lasting memories with someone whom they are planning to forget.

Anecdotal research has shown that many people who are dating and are planning to breakup time it so that they don’t have to go through the holidays with their current partner. On the other hand, according to an Internet survey, a small percentage of people stay in failing relationships through New Year’s just for the gifts and parties.

Being by yourself at holiday time can be scary, and I am sure that many people avoid leaving their current paramour because the idea of doing the holidays alone — or of not having someone to kiss at midnight on New Year’s Eve — can be discomforting. I have had my share of going through the holidays solo, and although it’s not the end of the world, the experience is mostly a hollow one.

Unfortunately, if you have made the decision to leave, staying for the holidays is not going to help you or your partner. In this case, the seasonal celebrations can only serve as a temporary distraction from your real problems. It’s never too early to get a fresh start.

If you are alone during the holidays, I suggest you find some friends and/or family to hang with, or volunteer to help the less fortunate. Wallowing in your own pain is an uncomfortable way to spend your time.

It’s a fact that most divorces are filed in January. I believe that’s because, in many cases, people don’t want to disrupt their family holidays, and many still hold on to the hope of having some joy or of things changing.

The holidays are a hopeful season, and we all want to believe in the magic and miracles that this time of year represents. Sometimes in the spirit of the season, people’s hearts may be a little more open, and I have known many couples who have chosen to have a deep, relationship-saving conversation because they were inspired by the love that gathered around their holiday table.

Still others see that their decision is the right one and they move apart. If this is your path, I advise that you make the season as

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bright as possible for you and your loved ones. If your heart is broken, you need to summon up the strength to make it through the holidays with a smile on your face even if there isn’t a song in your heart.

Breakups are hard. If you are going through one currently or see it coming, know that you will survive and that you are not alone. Although I am a proponent of relationships, if they become unhealthy, my best advice is to move on — no matter what the time of year.

Dr. Barton Goldsmith, a psychotherapist in Westlake, Calif., is the author, most recently, of “100 Ways to Boost Your SelfConfidence — Believe in Yourself and Others Will Too.” E-mail him at Barton(at)BartonGoldsmith.com.

• • •

Worst home fixes

Continued from page 13 figure parting with $21,695, according to the Remodeling report. Go upscale, with premium marble or fine tile, and you can easily spend $40,710. Either way, you get about the same return: 53 cents on the dollar.

While additions usually cost more, pros might be able to reconfigure your existing space to add a bathroom for less, Alfano says.

Instead of cleaning out the garage, how much would you pay to have a new one built? This time, it would have all the organizational built-ins and windows for natural light, and you could store a couple of cars.

The price tag for a well appointed, detached two-car is $90,053, according to the report.

You can expect to recover 53.6 percent of that when you sell. “It’s a dream garage,” Alfano says.

Mortgage rates dropped again this week as investors remained worried about the European debt crisis.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 10 basis points to 4.23 percent. A basis point is one-hundredth of 1 percentage point.

The 15-year fixed-rate mortgage fell 9 basis points to 3.48 percent. The average rate for 30-year jumbo mortgages, or generally for those of more than $417,000, fell 8 basis points to 4.81 percent.

The 5/1 ARM fell 4 basis points to 3.18 percent. With a 5/1 ARM, the rate is fixed for five years and adjusted annually thereafter.

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service.

Reach the author at editors(at)bankrate.com) • • •

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Women who admire their mothers-in-law

By Betsy Hart Scripps Howard News Service don’t know of any father-in-law jokes.

Nor, for that matter, do I remember ever hearing someone complain about his or her father-in-law.

Ahh, but mothers-in-law. They are the stuff of legend. And of situation comedies. Who can ever forget Endora on “Bewitched” or countless other such stock characters? Letters to advice columnists are filled with plaintive cries, primarily from wives, asking what to do about the “difficult” mother of their spouse. The stereotype of the overbearing, meddling mother-in-law translates across cultures and apparently eons. An ancient Roman author even said that one cannot be happy while one’s mother-in-law is still alive.

This backdrop is why I was so surprised to be in a gathering of women recently, and when asked, “Whom do you most admire in this world?,” hear not one, not two, but three sharp, young, professional women answer: their mothers-in-law.

Three wives proclaiming that in this world they most admired their husband’s mother?

Really? I had to find out more. Maybe not least of all because I hope to be a mother-inlaw to four spouses someday.

We hear all the time about what meddling mothers-in-law are doing wrong. What are the mothers-in-law of these young wives doing right?

So, I asked each to tell me more. One spoke of how her husband’s mother, who lives only a few houses down the street, is incredibly loving and encouraging. She doesn’t pry, but does appropriately open up about how she is handling struggles she is facing in her own life. And when my young friend asks for her mom-in-law’s input, then and only then it is offered in a way that is constructive. Even though this mom lives close by — maybe especially because she lives close by — she never drops by unannounced or even on short notice. But, she will occasionally do “acts of service” that she has reason to know will be welcome. Cleaning a bathroom or delivering flowers before a party as a surprise to her daughter-in-law, for instance. But even there, only when she has cleared it with her son ahead of time.

Another young wife told me how she has watched her mother-in-law live faithfully and have integrity over time, not just in her mar-

I

riage, but in all her relationships. This young wife has, she shared, watched her husband’s mother face real adversity. But she does it so well and so humbly that she is an example of a wise woman my young friend wants to emulate. And, she said, she and her mother-inlaw are able to be very intimate and have open conversations without my young friend ever feeling judged. She said her mother-inlaw has a way of focusing in relationships on what is lasting and significant, not what is shallow. She also happily takes the view that her son belongs to his wife, not his mom!

Still another of these women shared that her mother-in-law is encouraging in every way. as well. My friend feels loved and accepted and also able to have an intimate relationship with her husband’s mom. Her mother-in-law is nonintrusive, but makes herself available to listen. When asked to, she will speak truth, my friend said, much of it from her own experience. But she does it in a way that isn’t critical, yet with compassion and gentleness calls a person to examine her own actions and motivations first.

And every one of these young wives volunteered to me that they were so blessed their mothers-in-law intentionally pray for them, their marriages, their family lives — and they let their daughters-in-law know it.

I have a feeling these moms think their daughters-in-law do a lot of the right things, too.

Note to (future) self: such relationships may not be the stuff of sitcoms, but they sure are a beautiful result of grace.

(If you have a story about a special daughter-in-law, feel free to share it for a future column at the mailbox below.)

(Betsy Hart is the author of “It Takes a Parent: How the Culture of Pushover Parenting is Hurting our Kids — And What to do About It” (Putnam Books). Reach her through hartmailbox-mycolumn(at)yahoo.com. For more stories, visit scrippsnews.com.)

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call (724) 349-4500 or 1-800-442-8016 Punxsutawney Hometown – Thanksgiving 2011 - Issue #134 – 21

1956 - when Elvis Presley first shook up rock ‘n’ roll

By Sean McDevitt Scripps Howard News Service ore than 55 years have passed since Elvis Presley’s first single topped the pop charts in 1956.

“Heartbreak Hotel,” the nation’s No. 1 Billboard hit for eight consecutive weeks, along with subsequent successes like “Don’t Be Cruel,” “Hound Dog” and “Love Me Tender,” marked the beginning of a revolution that changed the trajectory of popular music. By the end of that pivotal and remarkable year, the 21-year-old Presley was already a global sensation.

The young singer’s dramatic rise is exhaustively chronicled in a new five-CD box set, “Young Man with the Big Beat” (RCA/Legacy), which includes all of Presley’s 1956 master recordings, in addition to studio outtakes, live recordings and several extended interviews, among other extras.

For producer Ernst Jorgensen, who has been charged with the care of RCA’s Presley archives for more than two decades, it was a chance to reassert the true size and scope of Elvis’ impact on the world he knew.

“He was No. 1 on the singles chart for half of that year,” Jorgensen explains.

“This was totally unique, and it changed the record business forever. And I thought that the idea of just picking one

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year to demonstrate how significant the early success of Elvis Presley was would be a fun task to do. We thought it would be wonderful to tell this story again, because there are so many people out there who have forgotten how big Elvis was.”

Presley’s rise was sudden and dramatic.

Born in Mississippi in 1935, he’d moved to Memphis, Tenn., with his family by 1948.

Imbued with a love of music, including rhythm & blues, country and gospel, his first recordings for Sam Phillips’ Memphis-based Sun Records were issued in 1954.

By late 1955, already a big regional hit, Elvis was signed to RCA Records, which spent $35,000 — a figure that was simply unheard of at the time — to buy the young singer’s contract from Sun. While Presley today remains Elvis performed "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You" as his opener on "The Steve Allen Show" at New York s Hudson almost singularly identified Theater on July 1. (SHNS photo courtesy Magic Collection / with rock ‘n’ roll, that was RCA / Legacy) B/w photo. hardly the case back then. The from legions of country-music DJs at young singer’s rise into the commercial Southern radio stations. stratosphere actually received a big boost Those same DJs named Presley “Most Promising C&W Artist” in November 1955, and they’d kept his Sun singles — including tunes like “That’s All Right” and “Mystery Train” — in heavy rotation Photos from the beginning. from the Past “Heartbreak Hotel,” Elvis’ first RCA single, received enormous benefits as a Miners at the bottom of the shaft readying a coal car to result. be lifted. One of these may The country DJs — many of whom actuhave been a checkweighally had a sense of ownership in Presman. Note the chalk board on the right where they are ley’s success, according to Jorgensen — keeping track of informaplayed the single incessantly, despite the tion. Also note their lunch fact that it bears no resemblance to what buckets on the shelf. Altoday is considered country music. though the site of this mine is unidentified, Rochester “In a broader commercial sense, and Pittsburgh Coal and ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ was a strange Iron Company had shafts record,” Jorgensen said. “It was a No. 1 mines at Eleanora and Adrian. Photograph courcountry hit for 17 weeks... Yet the countesy of the Punxsutawney try environment ended up having serious Historical and Genealogical misgivings about Elvis in that Elvis and Society. his music basically stole their audience.

Elvis stole the show when he was performing on country shows with Hank Snow and other big names. Nobody wanted to follow Elvis anymore.”

It was just as well, because Presley had entered a universe all his own. The hits kept coming. And a generation of young the talents of local artists & more!

Americans — already enamored of cLASSeS: artists like Chuck Berry and Little Richard, and ready to make a transition Stained Glass • mosaics • Kaleidoscopes from their parents’ music to their own — just couldn’t get enough.

Stop in and sign up for “It didn’t even matter much to them the mistletoe madness whether Chuck Berry’s ‘Maybellene’ or Basket Full of Goodies Little Richard’s ‘Tutti Frutti’ were sung by black artists, something that would conSiGnmenT SHop Featuring Local Artists have been called ‘race records’ the year before,” Jorgensen said. “They were excuSTom STAined GLASS cited about the new music. Fats Domino WorK And repAirS and Elvis Presley tied exactly into that. A Located in the new iup Fairman centre

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- Continued on page 24

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Continued from page 22 lot of people didn’t know whether Elvis was white or black. I think it was a generation finding its musical voice.”

The madness of 1956 is documented in an extensive 80-page book that accompanies the “Young Man with the Big Beat” box. Including many previously unpublished photographs, it offers a complete discography and a day-by-day account of those pivotal months.

Jorgensen says he continues to discover new things in the Presley archives. The “Young Man with the Big Beat” box, for instance, includes two radio ads Elvis did for RCA Victrolas, in addition to a recently discovered performance in

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Shreveport, La., on Dec. 15, 1956.

“The audio is a bit rough, but it gives you a very good idea of what an Elvis Presley concert was like with 7,500 screaming teenagers there,” Jorgensen said. “To get a full concert from back then is, to us, a miracle.”

To grasp the impact Elvis had in 1956, it’s instructive to digest that year’s sales tallies: Ten million singles sold, 3 million EPs and 800,000 LPs — all racked up in a matter of months.

“Forgetting about the artistic value of it for a minute, the success of Elvis Presley was so extraordinary, so staggering, that they had nothing to compare it to,” Jorgensen said. “When Elvis’ first album came out, it outsold anything RCA ever had before. And it was an album from a total unknown. It sold more than 300,000 copies — 100,000 more than the best they’d ever had at RCA.” Jorgensen said that besides revisiting a remarkable year in the history of rock ‘n’ roll’s premier icon, “Young Man with the Big Beat” also serves as a reminder that factors like a fragmented music market, a diversified global marketplace and an array of entertainment alternatives conspire to make a 21st-century Elvis inconceivable.

“We don’t have the same world, where people can agree on anything on this kind of level,” Jorgensen said. “He came through as a musician in a way that’s not possible any longer.”

(Reach Sean McDevitt, features editor of the Evansville Courier & Press in Indiana, at mcdevitts(at)courierpress.com.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com) • • •

Canoe Trip Continued from page 15 he did have a couple of mishaps. “The canoe was pretty much fine for the most part, but it was showing more wear on the Mississippi,” he said. “I snapped off a back supporting arm. Then in middle of the Mississippi, before Memphis, I snapped an oar.” On top of that, Cherian lost cell phone service and broke his radio.

He says that the scariest moment of his trip was the next day, when he was surrounded by a line of barges that caused him to be caught up in a series of seven-foot waves, his paddle only held together by duct tape and rope.

Cherian did get a chance to explore America as he traveled down the Ohio and the Mississippi. He particularly enjoyed exploring the history of such places as New Richmond, Ohio. “I developed a new respect for American history during this trip.

The route I took was the route that everyone took in the 1800’s. This was the highway that formed our country,” he said.

Cherian, who plans to specialize in Family Medicine, hopes that his efforts will help even one family that will not have to go through what his grandfather endured.

“I chose to raise money for the Michael J. Fox Foundation because I like that 90 cents on the dollar goes directly toward research,” he explained. “Some of the research that they are doing is really interesting and I wanted to support it.”

To date, Cherian has raised about $6,000.

To donate or to read more about his journey, view his blog at http://www.rowingforparkinsonsdisease.blogspot.com/.

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The Hunt for Roy Bernard: Hunter, Fisherman, Collector

By Bill Anderson of Hometown magazine ho was Bernard?”

I asked that question many times on a recent Saturday in October, but no one could come up with an answer.

I never met Mr. Bernard. He passed away at the age of 76 years.

My story started two days earlier, on a Thursday, when I had the arbitrary impulse to take a road trip. Searching on the Internet, I found an inviting destination, an estate auction in Virginia. I talked my nephew into making the journey with me and we loaded up the van, venturing three hours south to a sale advertised to contain thousands of hunting and fishing items.

Reaching our destination, we entered the doors of a large warehouse that was divided into three massive rooms. The first area contained hunting and shooting items, including guns, ammunition, literature and hundreds of related objects. The second was overflowing with fishing collectibles, fly rods, reels, lures and art. And the last space was stacked with household items.

Looking at the immeasurable amount of outdoor-related items, it was apparent to us that every object that a person, or family, had accumulated throughout their lifetime were up for sale.

We noticed a bulletin board. Several zip lock bags were thumb tacked to it. One was loosely filled with military badges, pins, ribbons and nametags. On one of the tags,

“W

there was a name: Bernard.

“How could a family sell this man’s military history and honors,” my nephew asked.

“He obviously didn’t have a family. And his wife, most likely, preceded him in death,” was my somber response.

Bernard’s life’s was laid out before us — in boxes, on tables, in glass cases, on racks, strewn about the floor, and hanging on the warehouse walls.

Over the next six hours, as the thousands of articles that made up his life were auctioned off in lots, I learned more about Mr. Bernard than most everyone, or anyone, in his community knew of him prior to his death.

He was an avid hunter, shooter, and fisherman. He loved and respected the outdoors. Through his years, he collected and acquired quality items, and he took great pride and care in what he owned.

Perhaps he was thinking that an estate auction would be the best choice to dispose of his collection, as it would provide a unique opportunity for others to acquire his property that they desired and would appreciate. Or maybe he died suddenly with little thought as to what would happen to his belongings.

Throughout the morning and early afternoon, Mr. Bernard’s life was dismantled, piece-by-piece and box-by-box.

A dealer left the auction with several cardboard trays of antique gun catalogs. He paid $240 for the hundred-plus pamphlets.

Each booklet was valued at $10 or more.

- Continued on next page

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Continued from previous page A young man had his sights on Bernard’s customized .22 target rifle and scope. He paid almost $2,000. A determined bidder purchased two century-old .22 caliber pistols for $550 each.

In the adjacent room, a high-quality and rare fishing collection was being sold off, bringing only a small fraction of its worth.

One woman, looking for a Christmas present for her fisherman friend, purchased a rare and complete framed and matted set of 1930 tobacco cards, featuring 50 different fish, for only $35. She asked me if I thought she got a “good deal.”

“The matting and frame is worth $100,” I replied, shaking my head in disbelief as to the “steal” she received, considering the time and effort Mr. Bernard must have put into not only collecting the cards, but explaining to the framer that 50 spaces would need to be cut out of the matting, so that both the front and back of the cards would be visible.

Scores of antique lures were displayed in beautiful oak and cherry display cases. Old bamboo fly fishing rods were neatly organized on several tables, while dozens of antique reels were lined up in rows on another. Dispersed among them were badges and pins from the National Fishing Lure Collectors Club, which Bernard was most likely a member and a dealer.

In a custom-built frame in the gunroom, Bernard had his Stevens Target No. 10 pistol mounted with an accompanying early1900 advertisement. It sold for $420.

Boxes full of ammunition brought high prices. One cardboard carton, containing a

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selection of .22 ammo, with a near complete box of .25 rim fire, brought $90. I was the lucky bidder on that lot, knowing that the single box of .25-caliber ammo was valued at more than $100 by itself. This scarce ammunition was phased out of production by the early 1940s.

Then came Mr. Bernard’s war medals.

“I can’t let someone buy those and split them up,” my nephew remarked. “I am going to get those and keep his military career together.”

He dropped out of the bidding at $350. A World War II memorabilia dealer purchased those and another bag of German decorations, perhaps taken off a dead soldier. The buyer said that the German Iron Cross, included with the clusters, was rare and worth $3,000 by itself. The other stuff he was going to put on eBay. We politely suggested to him not to destroy Bernard’s military record, and, of course, insinuated that he was nuts if he thought the Iron Cross was worth $3,000.

Later in the afternoon, after I placed the highest bid on a framed full-page, color 1902 newspaper ad promoting an arms company, we checked out with our purchases and headed towards Pennsylvania.

Our trip home was filled with talk about the fun we had that day, but also focused on, “Who was Bernard?”

Two days later, I began my search to find out.

His obituary in his local newspaper consisted of just two lines, “Roy (L. Bernard) was born on March 5, 1935 and passed away on Friday, August 26, 2011. Roy was a resident of Edinburg, Virginia.”

“That’s it,” a spokesperson at the funeral home that handled his arrangements said.

It was then that I realized the reason why those attending the auction could not answer the question, “Who was Bernard?”

The brief obituary showed that Mr. Roy Bernard was not a soldier or veteran of World War II, as he was ten years old when the war ended. The medals, ribbons and badges in the plastic bag, most likely, were those of his father. How proud Roy must have been of those!

I made a few more phone calls and learned that no one in Edinburg knew much of anything about Bernard. He had no children, his wife preceded him in death six years earlier, and his nearest relatives lived out of state. He had instructed the executor of his estate to initiate an auction to dispose of his life’s possessions.

Then on the Internet, I found a photo of Roy Bernard. He was a member of the American Single Shot Rifle Association and following his death, a memorial shoot

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Instantly awake (not a frequent state of affairs for me), I wondered at first if I had dreamed the scream or if she had been having a nightmare, something she rarely does.

“Get out of here,” she screamed as I rounded the corner coming out of the bedroom. “Get off me!”

Mentally gauging the distance from where I was to the knife rack in the kitchen, I knew instinctively that all of the big ones would be in the dishwasher, and a subsequent newsstory headline would say something like, “Aging Retired Columnist Attacks Intruder With Paring Knife; Services Wednesday,” so I looked toward the couch to see what I was up against.

My wife was standing on the couch and shouted, “Opossum!” OK, that’s not all she said, but this is a family newspaper, and newsprint and ink aren’t cheap, so you can fill in the adjectives and other expletives.

All of the fuss, it would seem, was because the categorical and territorial imperatives had clashed somewhere in the middle of my wife’s chest, and she had awakened feeling sharp claws and looking into beady eyes surrounded by a furry face. That, in itself, isn’t unusual at our house, but she could tell right away, I guess, that it wasn’t wearing cologne or wheezing.

I mention the clashing imperatives because Kant’s belief that right actions are (or, I guess, should be) part of our innate behavior without regard to social mores or even personal inclination bespeaks in part a lack of desire to do anything harmful to animals whenever it can be avoided. Robert Ardrey’s “The Territorial Imperative” indicates that all animals are sensitive about what they consider their territory and will defend it at all costs.

This wasn’t the first opossum incursion into our home. We had one about a year ago, and we finally trapped that after substantial garbage rummaging and sightings of what my wife swore was a really big rat and I thought might be a really small Volkswagen.

All that was handled quickly with a humane live trap and a bag of gelatin candy orange slices. (Those orange slices are like crack cocaine to opossums.)

I knew this wasn’t the same opossum, because this one was much smaller and has a habit of issuing a disconcerting cross between a snarl and a hiss while baring his teeth. (I am using the generic “his” here. I’m not sure I know how to determine the gender of an opossum, and he or she acted as though I

should expect resistance to any of the standard methods of checking.)

A night later I had placed the trap on a k i t c h e n counter, and my wife moved it to the floor but left it disarmed. Before I went to bed I baited and armed it, and was awakened the next morning by screeches of “OH MY GOD!” from the

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Punxsutawney Hometown – Thanksgiving 2011 - Issue #134 – 27

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Outdoors Notebook

Opossum invasion

Continued from page 26 was held in his honor.

“He was highly respected as a shooter and as one who always ‘pitched in’ to help with whatever needed doing. He will be greatly missed,” one of the ASSRA members posted.

Another said of him, “Roy had a booth in the local flea market in Edinburg, the town my parents live in … He sold old shooting items and mining equipment there…”

“He ran the hunters safety classes in the Shenandoah County area for many years and passed my son, Frank, thru one of those classes,” another added.

I discovered, too, that following the death of his wife, Bernard devoted his time to the local Area Agency on Aging, working eight-hour days in which he drove nearly 150 miles a day.

In a 2006 newspaper article telling of Bernard’s volunteer work, it was revealed that he was a retired mining engineer, who wore a Green Bay Packers pin on his jacket because of his Wisconsin roots. He relocated to the area following his retirement.

Through it all, I found that the many thousands of items that Roy accumulated — the antique reels, catalogs, fishing lures, boxes of old ammunition, or the guns that he shot often — each told a tale of an enjoyable moment in his many years.

I witnessed, too, that a man’s life, his work, his obsessions, his relationships and his stories vanish when there is no one left to remember. Memories of someone last as long as you share them. For Mr. Bernard, there was no one left to tell the story.

But the written word is always there.

After all, when so many good times are spent in the great outdoors, why not pass those memories along to those who will appreciate them? Put a note with your old deer rifle, telling your favorite hunting tale.

Put a picture with that old fly rod, noting the day when you netted the beautiful trout.

It’s only stuff, but your items will tell a good story that will be enjoyed by those left behind.

Roy Bernard, even though he is no longer with us, made a friend on October 22. I will remember him for the enjoyable day when we made our ambitious road trip to Virginia. I’m pinning this story on the back of his framed newspaper ad, so that future owners can remember his story, and know the origin of such a great little piece of outdoors art and history.

Rest in peace, Roy. You had a great sale!

• • •

Continued from previous page

kitchen. I bolted in wondering if she had gotten bad news on the phone or if CNN had torn itself away from the trial of Michael Jackson’s doctor long enough to report some real and frightening news, like Sarah Palin entering the presidential race.

I asked what was wrong, and she answered, “There is an opossum in the trap.”

Perhaps a little grumpily, I explained to her that the juxtaposition of trap, bait and opossum was pretty much the intent of the whole operation, and the capture probably could have been announced calmly over a cup of the morning decaf (which I know does me absolutely no good, but when a placebo is all you have, you have to go with it).

I did the best I could to block up the hole in the wall through which I am pretty sure the critters were gaining access — prompting my wife to point out that my carpentry skills are right up there with my ability to play Bach on a banjo or to perform neurosurgery ... to wit, not impressive.

I responded by saying that I was pretty sure that I had been successful and that we would never hear from or see the creature after I took him outside and released him.

“Besides,” I said, “what is the worst that could happen? He gets back in, and you wake up again with an opossum on your chest.”

My wife is not without a sense of humor.

She actually smiled at that.

Well ... anyway ... her teeth were showing.

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service www.scrippsnews.com) • • •

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Serious Snow Control www.westernplows.com 28 – Punxsutawney Hometown – Thanksgiving 2011 - Issue #134

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HuNtING AND OutDOORS

Pet disappeared?

Don’t blame the coyote

I

By David Holahan The Providence Journal

f I had a rose for every person who insisted that their missing cat -- or Pekingese, or miniature schnauzer -was gobbled up by a coyote, I'd have a room full of roses. My first question is always, "Did you see a coyote in the act of consuming the irrepressible Chuckles?" Of course not, but they are no less certain that Wile E. was the culprit. Indeed, bereft pet owners are quite put out by my line of questioning.

It is enough that coyotes are allegedly in the neighborhood and that their pet is missing. Take the nice family from Colorado who let their indoor cat, Willow, slip out of the house five years ago. She vanished. They assumed, naturally, that wild and carnivorous canines were lurking nearby, just waiting for their sequestered feline to make a break for it as if predators had nothing better to do than surveil their raised ranch 24/7.

Willow turned up in New York City the other week and has been reunited with her owners thanks to an embedded identity chip.

Her cross-country adventure was not financed by coyotes with credit cards (there's a scary notion), but by New Yorkers who were on a skiing trip to Colorado. Isn't it funny how many of the things we know for certain turn out to be dead wrong? Or how we arrive at firm conclusions based on the thinnest of gruel, and stick to them in the face of mounting evidence?

Many of our intellectual constructs are emotional rather than rational. There is drama and closure in asserting that poor de-

fenseless Fluffy was torn limb from limb by a blood-thirsty pack of crazed killers. It enhances our grieving, that delicious sense of victimization. We are more sinned against than sinning.

Heaven forbid that Mr. Peaches depart this vale of tears in some mundane fashion that might not reflect well on his owners or make zippy cocktail party fodder. For example, could he have been flattened by a Hummer? Frozen or starved to death in the woods? Perhaps he ingested some weed killer or leaking radiator coolant in the garage? The most disturbing possibility of all is that Chairman Meow simply relocated to a post-modern domicile across town that serves Fancy Feast every night.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry killed a coyote last year while jogging in a gated community near Austin. To clarify, Rick was the one jogging, with his security team; his victim was lurking and allegedly threatening his daughter's puppy.

Rick was packing, of course, and dispatched the varmint with hollow-point bullets. Why the future presidential hopeful was jogging with a pistol and a puppy is beyond the scope of this rumination.

Perry is not alone. I know people in Connecticut who will shoot coyotes that are not threatening puppies, or anything else. Is it our need for dominion? Or is it macho bluster to veil some primal fear? I must confess that the existence of wild canines does make a walk in the nearby woods more exciting. I don't mean to disparage Texas coyotes, but our Eastern variant is larger.

Migrating here from the West and North, they have interbred with both wolves and - Continued on next page

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Punxsutawney Hometown – Thanksgiving 2011 - Issue #134 – 29

Don’t blame coyote Continued from previous page domestic dogs. The latter puts a dent in their pet-killing cred.

One morning, our dog Sophie went noseto-nose with a wild cousin. They both blinked. I was nearby wielding a Wiffle Ball bat in case detente failed. Another time, she charged out to confront two coyotes luxuriating in the middle of our hayfield in broad daylight, like they owned the place. One ran away and the other led Sophie on several large loops before retreating into the woods.

There is no question that coyotes are opportunistic and will take certain pets under certain circumstances. I know people who have witnessed attacks. If I owned a Bichon Frise, I would not let it wander outside unescorted. But not all, or even many, of our wayward pets have fallen prey to coyotes, however oddly reassuring that notion may be.

What coyotes eat mostly are critters we should thank them for ingesting, such as woodchucks, other rodents and fawns -yes, fawns. Without this predation, deer would be even more numerous hereabouts and cause additional accidents on our roads. A coyote may have saved your life. ˜ Our cat, Chuckles, rest his soul, lived to be blind, deaf, lame, shrill and dotty. He would spend much of his time in the middle of our hayfield yowling at no one in particular. The resident coyotes never laid a glove on him.

(David Holahan is a freelance writer who lives in East Haddam, Conn.)

(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)

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Winning Hometown magazine’s monthly Steelers contest was Ed Chesnoka of Rossiter. Ed correctly predicted that the Baltimore Ravens would defeat the Steelers and was perfect with the total points scored in the game, 43. He will redeem his $25 gift certificate at Comet Market.

You, too, can enter to win a merchandise certificate. Complete the coupon in this issue found on our Steelers contest pages and forward it to Hometown magazine. It’s fun and it’s easy. Here we go, Steelers.

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2011 SteelerS SCHedule Sunday, Sept. 11 ......at Ravens ......L 35-7 Sunday, Sept. 18......SEAHAWkS....W 24-0 Sunday, Sept. 25......at Colts ..........W 23-20 Sunday, Oct. 2..........at Texans ........L 17-10 Sunday, Oct. 9..........TITANS............W 38-17 Sunday, Oct. 16........JAGUARS ......W 17-13 Sunday, Oct. 23........at Cardinals....W 32-20 Sunday, Oct. 30........PATRIOTS ......W 25-17 Sunday, Nov. 6 ........RAVENS..........L 23-20 Sunday, Nov. 13 ......at Bengals ......1:00 p.m.

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Sunday, Dec. 4 ........BENGALS ......1:00 p.m.

Thursday, Dec. 8......BROWNS ........8:20 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 19 ......at 49ers ..........8:30 p.m.

Saturday, Dec. 24 ....RAMS..............1:00 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 1 ........at Browns ......1:00 p.m.

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30 – Punxsutawney Hometown – Thanksgiving 2011 - Issue #134

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November 24, 1897 — The Punxsutawney High School foot ball team is to play the return game with the DuBois team on Thursday, November 25. Quite a large crowd will accompany the local team to DuBois where the game will be played. The first game was won by our High School team. (The Punxsutawney News)

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1. Complete the coupon on this page.

2. guess the winning team and the total number of points you think will be scored in the Steelers vs.

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(Editor’s Note: ‘From Our Past,’ researched by S. Thomas Curry, features items of interest from past editions of Punxsutawney and area newspapers.)

3. enter one of the participating advertisers on these contest pages in the space provided to redeem your coupon should you be the contest winner.

Hometown magazine ‘Steelers football Contest’:

4. Clip and forward the coupon to: ‘Steelers Football Contest,’ c/o hometown magazine, P.O. Box 197, Punxsutawney, PA 15767.

Name ________________________________ Address ______________________________ Zip __________________________________ Phone ______________________________ Coupon for Game of Dec. 4 Step 1: Guess the Winning Team: __ Steelers vs. __ Bengals Step 2: Guess the Total Points that will be Scored in that Game: _______ Total Points Step 3: Should I win, I would like to redeem my merchandise certificate at: (List business from these pages) _____________________

5. All entries must be received at the hometown magazine post office box by 4 p.m. thursday, Dec. 1.

6. no purchase necessary to participate. All entries must be original magazine coupon (no photocopies).

7. in the event two or more contestants correctly pick the winning team and total number of points, one winner will be randomly selected and awarded the winning prize. in event two or more contestants tie for closest to the total score, one winner will be randomly selected to win the $25 certificate. each issue we will give one $25 certificate.

8. Hometown magazine retains the right to make any final decisions regarding the contest, and by submitting an entry, contestants agree to abide by the rules of the contest.

Complete, Clip, Drop off or Mail to: Steelers Football Contest c/o Hometown magazine, P.O. Box 197, Punxsutawney, PA 15767

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November 30, 1887 — The Clearfield & Jefferson railroad at present is completed as far as Polecat Run. At this point fifty coke ovens are already finished and a powerful two-boiler engine is being placed there. The water tank is built and the plant is beginning to assume a definite shape. A number of houses are being built on the Morrison farm, from which point a fine view of their neighbor’s houses at Sportsburg can be had. [Note: The reference to the railroad in this news note is to below Punxsutawney, to Sportsburg, what is now a portion of the Mahoning Shadow Rails-to-Trails.] (The Punxsutawney News) December 9, 1907 — All day Saturday a large crowd assembled in front of Keltonik’s Music Store, where a string orchestra, composed of three violins, a viola and a base viol, rendered many pleasant selections. The musicians are Austrians who live in and about Punxsutawney. (Punxsutawney Spirit) December 11, 1895 — A mule met death at Adrian mines yesterday. It was crushed between two cars, had its leg broken, and had to be shot. There is perhaps an average of a mule a week killed in the mines hereabouts. When a man gets a leg broken it can be fixed up, and in a few weeks he is as good as new, but when a mule meets with a misfortune of that kind it is done for: That is one of the advantages a man has over a mule. (The Punxsutawney Spirit) December 14, 1906 — The Tribune announces that John G. Anthony has been awarded the contract of carrying the mails on the new rural free delivery route (RFD) established at the Big Run postoffice. Clyde Rugh as substitute will carry the mail until Mr. Anthony’s school closes in the spring. (The Big Run Tribune) • • •

Punxsutawney Hometown – Thanksgiving 2011 - Issue #134 – 31

32 – Punxsutawney Hometown – Thanksgiving 2011 - Issue #134