DICEY ICY
|
|
Dear Mr. & Mrs. Stumpf, It was so kind of you both to help us out during the bad weather on Wednesday. You don't know how those kids were driving me crazy because they all had to go to the bathroom! I thought you were so thoughtful to put salt across the road so the kids could cross! You'll never know what a blessing you both were to us that morning! May God Richly Bless you for your Kindness! Thank you so much, |
After breakfast one frigid winter morning, we became aware that a
school bus full of kids was stopped on the road out front. No other
traffic was moving. We soon found the culprit for the shutdown was a
glaze of hard ice on all outdoor surfaces. With a bucketful of calcium
chloride in hand, I slowly "melted" my way to the bus to offer any help
needed. The lady driver had a cell phone on board by which she had
reported her status, so she advised that she would just wait it out
until the road crews caught up. I slowly shuffled back to the house
with her thanks.JACOB'S LADDER
|
Jacob's Ladder...we are climbing Jacob's ladder...It's a part of the marvel of modern communications. This Verizon tower, 300 feet high, was constructed in November 2001 on a leveled patch of land eight hundred feet down the road from our place. Since we have no cell phones, this monstrosity is looked upon here as visual pollution. It may be that we will resort to planting a few well-situated evergreens to give us the illusion of countrified living. |
The Tale of a Real Horse's Ass
When I saw that Mr. Dodds seemed in fair shape, I phoned the State Police to report the accident. I then drove back to inform the Bylers. It happened that the Harvey Bylers were away, but I eventually woke up Urie and Martha. They searched for the horses while the State Police made out their report. Being of no further use, I went in and went to bed. I later learned that the horses had returned to their own pasture. The black pregnant one had a severely broken leg and was shot. |
'Twas the dark of the moon on that May 3rd.,in '02 when, as I was about
to retire for the night, I heard a knock on the outside door to the
closed-in front porch. It was a young man who advised me he had just
hit a horse with his car just up the road.FAIR ENOUGH
|
piece of currency. When they looked to the sky, it was readily deduced that the fortune had fallen from the Ferris wheel. Not wishing to wait until the ride stopped, the other two people added their finds to that in Amy's hand, and departed. When the patrons unloaded from the Ferris wheel, a long-haired teen-age boy approached our heroine with the hopeful query, "Did you see twelve dollars fall around here?" When presented with the prodigal prize, the young rider thanked Amy and left, tightly clutching the three bills. |
LOSS OF LIVING LANDMARK
Each time we drove to town, we'd look to see if the little horses were out. Now, due to a heat lamp mishap in the barn, two-thirds of them perished.|
TOTAL LOSS
By: Staff, New Castle News, April 02, 2004 At least 13 animals are killed when an overnight fire destroys a barn at a horse farm in Mercer county, causing $60,000 in damages ANIMALS PERISH: About a dozen miniature horses and a pig died in a fire this morning that destroyed the barn of the Wee Little Horse Farm on Orchard Road in Wilmington Township, Mercer County. Several animals, though, did get out safely, according to Gary Wagner, assistant chief of the New Wilmington Volunteer Fire Department. LATE NIGHT BATTLE: Wagner said the call came at 12:45 a.m. today and that firefighters remained at the scene until 5:13 a.m. Wagner said the barn was a total loss. Damages were estimated at $60,000. "That includes the structure, animals and contents," Wagner said. HELPING OUT: The New Wilmington department was assisted by volunteer departments of Pulaski Township, Volant and Mercer East End of Mercer County. THE AFTERMATH: The owner of the horse farm could not be reached this morning. Wagner said the Pennsylvania State Police fire marshal has been called to investigate. �New Castle News 2004  15
miniature horses die in barn fire Saturday, April 03, 2004 By Pohla Smith, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- Karen Francschini, a breeder of miniature horses, awoke to the nightmare of every livestock owner: Her backyard barn was on fire. Darrell Sapp, Post-Gazette Karen Francschini leads one of her miniature horses to another stall. The horse is expecting a foal soon. Francschini, a breeder, lost 15 of her 24 miniature horses in a fire yesterday. Donations sought Donations can be made in care of Sky Bank, 108 S. Market St., New Wilmington, Pa. 16142. By the time Francschini, a news assistant at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, ran out to the barn early yesterday, it was engulfed in flames and too late to save the 15 horses inside. Not that Francschini and the local fire department didn't try. "I couldn't get in," she said. "My neighbor wouldn't let me. He was holding me back. "Within three minutes the fire department was here. But it was totally out of control." The horses who died at Little Wee Horse Farm in Wilmington Township, Mercer County, included a 4-day-old foal, four pregnant mares and all four of her working stallions. Her pet Vietnamese pot-bellied pig, Petunia, also died. Francschini estimated the value of the dead horses at $25,000, not counting the foals still in utero. They were not insured. The 8-year-old barn, which a friend described as state-of-the-art, was worth about $40,000, Francschini said, but insurance would cover only about a third of the cost. State police Deputy Fire Marshal Robert Ryhal was investigating. He did not return phone calls, but Francschini said he told her he was looking at an electrical outlet in the barn. In foaling season, she used a heat lamp to keep the babies warm. Seven mares who were outside in the paddock survived. So did two mares in stalls in the garage. Four of the nine survivors are pregnant. Francschini's barn is near a deck on her house, so it was fortunate that her neighbor, one of many Amish farmers in the vicinity, saw the reflection of flames in a window of his home around 12:30 a.m. Without a phone, the farmer traveled down a long hill, got a neighbor to call the fire department and knocked on Francschini's door to awaken her. Francschini didn't know which he did first. "I was asleep. Someone was yelling, 'Karen, wake up, wake up,' " she said. "I looked out the window and I just saw the barn on fire. I threw on my clothes, took her [dog, Pru] and went out. "The only reason I didn't go in was the Amishman." Along with the horses and the barn, Francschini lost all the supplies she needs to care for the remaining stock, from halters to feeder pans to buckets. But friends and neighbors came in a steady stream, some carrying supplies, some offering cash, all offering sympathy and support. The Civic League and a councilman were among the donors. Help pours in for barn fire victim Thursday, April 08, 2004 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette A Mercer County woman who lost 15 miniature horses in a barn fire said she has received condolences and donations from all over the county and abroad. Karen Francschini, a news assistant at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette whose primary business is breeding "minis," described herself yesterday as overwhelmed by the response of friends and strangers. "I got this card in the mail, printed in a primary hand by a little girl. She said she felt so sorry about the horses. She said she liked it when her parents drove by so she could see them. She wrote 'This card is for the horses. Katie, 7 years old,' and she drew a horse." Another breeder has offered Francschini her choice of three different stallions for free. Francschini lost all four of her working stallions in the fire, which State Police Deputy Fire Marshal Robert Ryhal said was started by a heat lamp. Yesterday, Francschini learned that someone had stopped at the nearby Agway and anonymously paid for new rail fencing she has ordered. Friends and relatives helped to build a three-sided structure onto the side of her garage, which contains a couple stalls. A crew of Amish farmers is going to rebuild the shell of the barn out of lumber that has been offered to her at a discount. 2005 FOLLOW-UP Anyone approaching New Wilmington on Route 158 from the north in late December would travel between two related but contradictory signs. On the left, a full-blown billboard trumpeting Suzuki motorcycles with the big red words, "REAL HORSE POWER." On the right, a small unobtrusive sign reading "Little Wee Horse Farm." |
|
NIGHT VISIT
Last evening, just after dark, my Amish neighbor, Harvey U. Byler,
stopped by, sporting a wide grin. He asked if we had a camera. Being
assured that we did, he revealed that his son-in-law, Jake, had just
shot a whitetail buck which brandished a 24-point rack!
This event surely merited photographic coverage. But alas, our only
camera was a little throw-away type which might lack a capacity to
properly record such a prize. When offered the loan of the instrument,
he reminded us that he was not allowed to take pictures. Since he knew
of another fellow up the road whom he felt sure had a more complex
camera, he would try him. So we missed the opportunity to document this
local trophy. |
ORV - 2006On Tuesday afternoon February 14, 2006, we noted that several emergency vehicles had been heading south on our road. Being a bit nebby-nosed, I went outside to take a look. Down by the bridge were a few cars, pickups and first-response vehicles parked aberm. Flashing dome lights and a row of local Amish looking east from the bridge indicated that something was amiss. Curiosity won out, so I headed downhill. Joining my Amish neighbor, Emma, and a nebula of kids standing on the overpass, I gazed eastward and recognized a tanker truck nestled in the scrub-bottom of Harthegig Run. It had been heading west and simply sliced through a stretch of guard-rails and blazed a path down the embankment to the stream. We were too far from the rescue trucks and ambulance to learn whether the trucker had survived. I did note that the door to the ambulance was left open for minutes at a time. The weather being fairly cool, I deduced that the rescuers knew no draft would affect the corpse inside. And then a bystander gave me the second-hand word that the driver had died. That evening and the next day, I checked different news sources and found no mention of this accident. All day Wednesday a recovery crew spent righting the cab and tanker, then inching them by cable to the foot of the very steep bank adjoining a township road. This effort was duly witnessed by an appreciative audience of several Amishmen and an occasional passerby.
On the afternoon of the third day, I invested in a copy of the The Herald of Sharon. I was surprised to see on page two a photo of workmen placing cable. In the background appeared the luckless truck. A reading of the article showed the event to be, not a tragedy, but a delivery. The driver AND a passenger had been safely removed from the wreck. They were hospitalized with no serious injuries. Happily, still another rider in the cab survived unhurt. The lucky PUPPY was put up at the local humane society quarters until its owner could take over its care. The last time I looked, the Amish spectators had gone home. |
Thursday
morning opened with a windy wet aspect along with the arrival onsite of
a medium-sized crane truck. With deliberate care in the placing of
their cables, the clean-up crew succeeded in dragging and hoisting the
ill-fated vehicle. Once on the road, the tanker was taken away to its
fate - repair or scrap. All of this activity, even in the wind and
rain, was viewed with steadfast approval by the loyal cluster of Amish
onlookers.
BUGGY POOLIt had been several weeks, or maybe months, that I had noticed something down our road that surely mystified me. There seemed to always be a gathering of empty Amish buggies beside an unheated shed located just off the highway. There never seemed to be any people around when I drove by. I speculated on what a group of Amishmen would be doing in that structure all day. I discarded the idea of butchering activities as there were no adjoining pens. With no clues in sight, I was truly baffled. It then occurred to me that in these perilous times, what better cover existed for subversive and atrocious activities than this innocent-looking locale. What agent of the CIA, the FBI or the NSC would ever suspect that terrible deeds would be fomented in this pastoral locale? If I told them that the Amish Secretive Society (ASS) was preparing to take over all of the buggywhip factories in America, would I be believed? I pondered for some time whether to report such possible activities to the authorities. Luckily, before I moved on this, I learned the truth. As I drove an Amish neighbor to town one day to pick up some sausage casing, I off-handedly asked him about the band of buggies. His answer was as new as the 21st. century. It seems that so many Amish work off their farms these days that a modern suburban concept has been adopted......car-pooling, or in this case, buggy-pooling! Of course. A meeting place where some workers can leave their horses in the shed and their buggies parked outside.
Since
this revelation, I have turned my attention to the patterns of airhorn
blasts between passing semis down on Interstate 80. Are some of these
truckers sending coded messages this way to evade the existing
electronic surveillance of our government spywatchers? I hope to find
the answer someday before I lose all of my hearing.
Everyone around here knows that the local Amish people have no electric or gas clothes dryers. Depending on weather conditions, they hang clothes to dry in their cellars or outside on their porches or on lines strung in their yards. On washdays the open-air displays consist of the muted colors used by this religious order ----black, grey, white, blue, purple and maroon. Nothing showy is countenanced by the bishops in charge. One fair day in mid-December, we were driving to town and noticed something amiss blowing in the wind. We recognized that it was definitely Amish washday but with a twist. Had the housewives revolted and opted for a more garish look? But WILD ORANGE? Our shock lasted not long, for as we approached close enough to define the new additions hanging in the breeze, a clear reason was apparent. Blame it on the PA Game Commission! Of course. Today was only a week or so after deer season. Those eye-popping intruders from the washtub were BLAZE ORANGE safety vests legally required to be worn while hunting big game. This wardrobe change in this law-abiding society was just a temporary imposition on these plain people by the outside world. SENTRY RIDGE "The story behind Sentry Ridge - Standing back in 1949, high on Beechwood Road, looking down over New Wilmington and up to the ridge beyond, I was fascinated with the way the ridge would disappear and as the air cleared reappear in different shades. I called it Sentry Ridge because I fancied it as keeping watch over the valley. For over half a century it has been known by that name in our family, and perhaps among a few friends. Now at age 96, I am moved by the view from my window in Shenango Senior Care to express in poetry my feelings for Sentry Ridge." Has it disappeared? Or is it hiding? Slowly the air clears - There it is! Like a long low cloud on the horizon, Like a faraway mountain range, Clearing continues And Sentry Ridge moves closer, Now a distant hilltop covered with trees. Rising from the church, up over the treetops, It stands in hallowed glory. Now you see it, now you don't. But it is always there, Like a sentry keeping watch Over the valley below. by Paul Gamble, August 2007. And here's one from Melinda's husband, Martin. It happened April 8, 2008 at a nature preserve in northern West Virginia: "WEIRDER AND WEIRDER"
Yesterday I rode the bike thru Greenland Gap. There was a toothless old
man beside the road who waved me down. His large (300# by his
count) grown son with Parkinsons fell trying to climb up the bank after
fishing. Even after I was there, the old man tried to wave down
cars which only speeded up. The son was shaking like a leaf and telling
us to just leave him there and that he was tired of being a burden to
everyone. After what seemed like an eternity of this, I
climbed down the bank and pushed him half way up. I propped him on
a rock and his father held him by the hand while I climbed to the top
of the bank. I then pulled him to the top. Now two
hillbillies think I'm pretty strong for somebody my age and my back
hurts. THE YEAR THE TRASH MOVED INTO OUR NEIGHBORHOOD Within 550 feet! We didn't know this "neighbor". Never saw him outside. Never met him. It turns to be our blessing not to have been associated with such an entity. Following is the story from the Sharon, PA Herald. September 12, 2008 08:44 pm - The state Attorney General announced Friday 23 arrests in a sophisticated, $1 million meth lab organization spread mostly through rural Mercer and Venango counties. 23 charged in meth ring Underground lab found last April By Matt Snyder, Herald Staff Writer, MERCER, VENANGO COUNTIES — The state Attorney General announced Friday 23 arrests in a sophisticated, $1 million meth lab organization spread mostly through rural Mercer and Venango counties. The alleged ring leader in the meth lab and pill-shopping operation is Rockne K. "Rocky" Barber Sr., 62, of 271 Henderson Road, Stoneboro, which is in Venango County. "Barber is accused of producing methamphetamine, using an underground lab located in a manmade cave that was hidden in a hillside near his home," Attorney General Tom Corbett said in a news release. The drug organization produced and sold about $1 million worth of meth over four years, Corbett said. Agents from his office searched Barber's property April 24 and seized the fully operational lab in a cave at the rear of Barber's home. Agents found about $15,000 worth of "meth oil," the final production step before the drug is finished. They also found chemicals, supplies, $20,000 and 63 weapons, including an automatic machine gun. A grand jury accused Barber of receiving help from Roland W. Rodkey, 52, Franklin, and James Lawrentz, 40, of 119 Fairgrounds Road, Sandy Lake Township. They recruited and directed addicts to shop for meth ingredients at pharmacies on a careful schedule to avoid attracting attention, Corbett said. The main ingredient for meth, pseudoephedrine, is kept behind the counter in stores because federal law limits how much of the drug can be purchased each day by any individual, Corbett said. To get around those limitations, he said Barber used a "no pills, no meth" policy and refused to sell drugs to anyone unless they brought packages of pseudoephedrine along with their money. Barber, Rodkey and Lawrentz are charged with participating in a corrupt organization, drug law violations and conspiracy to break drug and meth laws. Barber and Lawrentz are also charged with criminal use of communication devices. Others involved in buying, selling or passing out meth or meth-related items are charged with conspiracy to violate drug and meth laws, said Corbett. The 10 other Mercer County suspects charged by the grand jury are: • Thomas W. Beighley, 40, of 3551 Sandy Lake-Lebanon Road, Sandy Lake Township. • Glen E. Bennefield, 41, of 295 Patton Road, Mill Creek Township. • Keith A. Bence, 42, of 21074 Hendersonville Road, Sandy Lake Township •.Dennis J. Clark, 42, of 791 Orchard Road, Lackawannock Township. • Machelle Lynn Hoover, 40, of 24 Windsong Trail, Coolspring Township. • Constance Joy, 39, of 55 Wengler Ave., Sharon. • Ray E. McCool III, 31, of 513 N. Broad St., Grove City. • Tracy Puglusch, 37, of 360 N. Foster Road, Jackson Township. • Stephen Ira Slater, 46, of 590 Billy Boyd Road, New Vernon Township. • Slater's wife, Ronda Claire Slater, 47, of 137 Obitz Road, Mill Creek Township. The grand jury also charged these 10 people: • Barber's son, Clarence "Clint" Barber, 37, same address as his father. • John Leroy Kellner, 44, of 1749 Raymilton Road, Venango County. • Steven Ray Malone, 38, of 3583 Old state Route 8, Venango County. • Ray McCool's brother, Shawn T. McCool, 29, of 1820 Slatertown Road, Venango County. • Tracey Lynn Lewis, 40, Ashville, Tenn. • Michael Owens, 33, Kennerdell. • Justin Bradley Walker, 29, Oil City. HIGH-TECH PHONE SERVICE, 2008 Foggy history tells me our telephone is connected to an old land-line which was an artery of the New Wilmington Telephone Company. In the 1950s it was owned by Mrs. Elizabeth M. Totten, a rather forceful lady, who resided on a 370-acre property in Plain Grove Township, Lawrence County. Verizon Corp. absorbed this relatively small outfit several years ago. Over the 41 years of our customerhood, there have been a few short-lived normal interruptions which were rather quickly corrected. No complaints here. But, last Wednesday morning our phone was dead, d-e-a-d, dead. I took a phone out to the box outside and found upon connecting it to the jack that there was no dial tone to be heard. I immediately called Verizon and reported the line out of order. After providing details to them, I was informed that a repairman would be scheduled to attempt repairs on the following Monday. Parrying my protests about the tardy timing, I was assured that Monday was the earliest date that they could offer me. I continued to give the poor clerk my new-found opinion of Verizon service. Maybe intuiting that I was verging on profanity, the lady offered the phone number of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission in Harrisburg. Politely thanking her, I hung up and dialed the PUC. After providing that office with the data it required, I was given a case number. I have heard not a peep from them as yet, this being the Monday following. But, I did get a call this morning from the Verizon repairman on the very phone which had been so silent these past five days and nights. He said he was calling from a cornfield somewhere down the line. He explained that he had just located 'the trouble'. A mouse had taken up winter residence in a junction box adjacent the cornfield. The little varmint had redone the decor by nibbling a few wires..With the rodent's eviction and a bit of soldering by the technician, I was assured the telephone was fixed until 'next time." Really, is this any way to run a business? Moral: All of the resources of a giant corporation seems to be incapable of protecting my rented telephone line from being incapacitated by a single hungry determined mouse.
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
||
| previous page |
|
|
|
|
||