On the cover: At home behind the keys of a piano, Doug Temchulla uses his love of music and his faith to lead the Community Choir and Orchestra. The photo inset shows a behind-the-scenes image of Londondale Farms as they prepare their livestock for the World Dairy Expo.
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Full choir at a Wednesday rehearsal. The orchestra rehearses Tuesday evenings, except for drummer Sam Cavallo who attends all rehearsals; he is the rhythmic heartbeat of the entire group. The full cantata group rehearses together only four times in the weeks right before the public performance. Hometown staff photos.
Doug Temchulla’s Work with the Community Choir and Orchestra
By Gloria Kerr for Hometown magazine ouglas Temchulla, Worship Director at the First United Methodist Church (FUMC) at 301 West Mahoning Street, has been directing his tenth annual Community Choir’s Easter cantata. Performances were scheduled for April 3, 4, and 5 at the church. However, the coronavirus crisis has forced the group to cancel those dates. They hope to reschedule performances for the first weekend in June, but no one can make any concrete plans until the fluid situation with the current health crisis stabilizes. Performing in the cantata are the Community Choir and Orchestra, an all-volunteer group of singers and musicians from the area. Those volunteers come from seventeen different area churches to be part of Temchulla’s inspiring choir performances. Churches represented in the cantata are Punxsutawney First United Methodist, Clarion United Methodist, Frostburg United Methodist, Burnside United Methodist, Clearfield Presbyterian, Albion United Methodist, New Washington United Methodist, St. John’s Lutheran Church in Clearfield, Punxsutawney First Church of God, Mt. Tabor in Oliveburg, Chestnut Grove Independent, Purchase Line United Methodist, Revelry Nondenominational Church in Indiana, Old Mahoning Baptist Church in Home, Summit Nondenominational in Indiana, Dixonville Wesleyan Methodist, and Calvary Evangelical. How Temchulla Became a Music Man “Ever since I was little,” Doug Temchulla says, “I was mesmerized by the piano.” As a child, he would pretend to play the piano on the window ledge, so his mother bought a piano and signed him up for some lessons. Doug learned basic music note-reading in school from second to fourth grade, but he hated practicing, so his mom sold
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2 – Punxsutawney Hometown – April 2020 - Issue #234
the piano. Then, while he was in high school, Doug worked on a dairy farm where the farmer’s wife played piano. He’d ask her, “How did you do that?” and she would show him. At that point, he
learned to play piano by ear. While Temchulla was working for that farmer and his piano-player wife, he talked his mother into getting another keyboard - Continued on next page
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This men’s quartet, sounding like a snappy “barbershop quartet,” will perform “An Ordinary Man." (Left to right) Randy Degenkolb, Pastor Paul Ritchey, Pastor Joel Fugate, and Ken Moyer.
Doug Temchulla’s Continued from previous page
instrument. However, their house was too little to accommodate a piano, but they could fit a smaller electric organ in the living room. He played and practiced so many hours each night on that organ that he was annoying, so his mom got him headphones to use while he played so the family didn’t have to hear him. Asked how
Drummer Sam Cavallo and Pastor Paul Ritchey, also a choir member, at the sound board.
he learned to manipulate the organ pedals and teach himself to play an instrument more difficult than the piano, he answers, “I just did.” Temchulla was born with the gift of music-making in his soul, and he really is a self-taught musician. He says, “I read music to an extent and play a lot by chord association.” Temchulla got his first music job by answering an ad St. John’s United Church of Christ in Punxsutawney posted for an organ player and choir director in the mid‘90s. After two years with that church, he became choir director at the Clearfield Presbyterian Church where he stayed for eleven years. At that church in Clearfield, he started putting together cantatas for the Christmas and Easter seasons. The Community Choir’s Evolution People came and heard the beautiful, inspiring music and harmony of Temchulla’s choirs and wanted to be part of that spiritual uplift. As Pastor Ritchey says, “It’s amazing how music truly touches the
soul,” and Temchulla’s high quality, uplifting cantatas have drawn a loyal following of volunteers. Pastor Ritchey adds, “We are privileged to have Doug.” About 350 people were expected to attend each of the three performances of the cantata titled Grace That Amazes. After over a decade at the Clearfield Presbyterian Church, Temchulla says, “God called me to Punxsutawney” to the First United Methodist Church where Rev. Jim Pond hired him as Worship Director in 2010. “Some of those choir members from my Clearfield church followed me to this church choir,” he adds. How does Temchulla proceed to plan and execute a cantata? All year he listens to cantatas, picking music that is basically upbeat, and he tries to appeal to both traditional and contemporary tastes. He chooses music that will work with both his band or orchestra and choir. His choir attests that Doug is a very motivational leader who always encourages the orchestra and the choir. At the end of each practice, he takes joys and concerns that cantata participants want to share, and they close the evening with a prayer. The band/orchestra practiced on Tuesdays at 7 p.m., while the choir practiced on Wednesdays at 7 p.m. with Doug being the director of both groups. Temchulla’s programs are an hour and fifteen or twenty minutes long. He plans a prelude to the cantata with some specials, including a congregational sing-along, a Praise Band number, a hymn and some especially talented choir member solos or small ensembles. Among those this April will be Brenda Weber performing “Is He Worthy?” and a number by a women’s trio that includes Judy Bowser, Carolyn Ellison and Sally Emhoff; the three of them started singing together in churches as teenagers in what they called the Melody Trio. The cantata itself is forty minutes in length. A snappy number that’s sure to be an audience favorite is “An Ordinary Man,” performed by the men’s quartet with tenor Randy Degenkolb, lead melody Ken Moyer, baritone Pastor Paul Ritchey and bass Pastor Joel Fugate. The Temchulla Family Doug and Joy Temchulla live in the Mahaffey area, and they have two daughters, Ashton and Brooke. In his day-time job, Doug is Recruitment and Training Coordinator with Quality Life Services in Northern Cambria. His evening and weekend
uring this time of reticence as the Coronavirus Pandemic continues to progress and affect our community, our state, our country, our world, we at Punxsutawney Hometown magazine wish to take an opportunity to let our valued readers and advertisers know that we will do our best to bring you the feature stories, happenings and history sketches and stories of our area while respecting the fact that many aspects of our daily lives are subject to change as the virus continues to infiltrate the very fabric of our existence. As you know, news is timely; thus, we have done our best to have current information available when we went to press with this issue. However, as COVID-19 and its effects develop, many scheduled events in our community are likely to be cancelled or rescheduled until the bans and restrictions are lifted and a sense of normalcy returns. Therefore, we advise you to double-check on happenings as the planned date of each approaches. Likewise, we remind you that the well-being of you and your family is foremost, so remain focused on being healthy by
practicing protective measures recommended by the World Health Organization like social distancing, frequent hand washing, staying home if you are feeling unwell and seeking medical attention if you are experiencing a fever, cough or difficulty breathing. Such precautionary procedures could be the key in successfully weathering this storm. While at home during this unfamiliar situation, make the most of this chance to spend quality time with your loved ones, something that our busy schedules don’t usually allow. In closing, our thoughts and prayers go out to all those who have been marked by the Coronavirus Pandemic in one way or another, especially to those around the world who have lost their lives to this illness. We will remain committed to our mission of serving our community by delivering news and happenings of our area, as well as by bringing our readers the messages of our advertisers. Although this adverse event will challenge our community on all levels, by banding together and being proactive, we can persevere and stay “Punxsy Proud.” •••
- Continued on next page
Punxsutawney Hometown – April 2020 - Issue #234 – 3
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4 – Punxsutawney Hometown – April 2020 - Issue #234
Ashton Berkey and Louann Patrick Reid (left) and Sue Barr and Janie Davie (right) rehearsing “If Not for the Old Rugged Cross.”
Doug Temchulla’s Continued from previous page jobs are with the First United Methodist Church as Worship Director, piano player for the choir, and church janitor. Wife Joy has been a special education teaching assistant at Purchase Line High School for the past twenty-one years. She is his unofficial secretary for the cantata. The Community Choir is a family affair for the Temchullas. The two girls have been part of their father’s cantatas from the beginning. Now their fellows are, too. Both daughters live and work in the Pittsburgh area. However, they and their partners both travel to Punxsutawney from Pittsburgh on most Wednesday nights for choir practice. Brooke, a first-grade teacher with Pittsburgh Public School District, and fiancé Dylan Humenik, an alternative energy engineer, will marry this coming July. Daughter Ashton works for the Department of Revenue. Ashton’s husband Corey Berkey is the choir’s sound man. In Pittsburgh, he is the Vice President of Human Resources at JazzHR. Corey can play the cello, but his most important choir responsibility is operating the sound board. “Corey makes us sound good,” the choir leaders assert, by ensuring the group’s “successful sound balancing, setting up boom mikes, and balancing the monitor mix.” In music performances, Pastor Ritchey explains, the choir is “at the mercy of the sound guy who affects the entire performance.” A perfectionist, Berkey makes sure that the orchestra behind the choir can hear what that group, in front of them, is singing and sounds like so they coordinate their sounds. He’s even gone to the Pittsburgh Symphony’s rehearsal hall to collaborate with its sound engineers to tweak his skills. Choir participation is truly a family affair for many of its members. Also making music together are Pastor Paul and wife Suzanne Ritchey, Pastor Joel and Kim Fugate, Keith and Ruth Cooper, Mike and Deedee Venturini, Ken and Shelly Bishop, and Kenton and Sandy Scott. Other related singers are brothers Doug and Denny Temchulla, sisters Judy Bowser and Carolyn Ellison, sisters Shelly Bishop and Melody London, mothers-daughters Rebecca and Chloe Welder and Lorelie and Kristina Beichner, father-son Dave and Adam Bev-
eridge, and Jane Patrick and her three daughters Lori Limrick Blose, Denise Green and Louann Reid. Sam Cavallo and the Instrumentalists Drummer Sam Cavallo is literally the heartbeat of the band. He joined the First United Methodist Church in 2008 when the church music was transitioning from traditional to more contemporary music under Reverend Jim Pond’s leadership. On the second Sunday he attended the church, he brought his drums to play in the church’s new Praise and Worship band. He was making music at the FUMC for two years before Doug Temchulla came in 2010 and started directing cantatas. Like the choir, the band is all volunteers. For the cantatas, the band becomes an orchestra as a variety of other instruments are added to the mix, including trumpets, flutes clarinets, saxophones, trombones, the euphonium, and acoustic, electric, and bass guitars. Sam Cavallo says he doesn’t know everyone in the orchestra, but “what’s nice is that I get to play with people of all ages,” and they play really well. Kurt Cessna, Punxsutawney Area High School band director, comes to play clarinet. Cavallo, with his rhythmic drumbeat, is the only orchestra member who attends both Tuesday evening instrumental practices and Wednesday evening choir rehearsals. Cavallo has been playing drums since he was in fourth grade. Throughout his entire school career, he was involved in all aspects of music—Marching, Pep, and Jazz Bands, singing in choir and even attending District Chorus. He loves music, and he is a really talented drummer. Sometimes he has to improvise his own music scores because the cantata package Doug Temchulla orders doesn’t include drum parts. Married to Melissa (Defelice, daughter of Joe and Ruth), he has a grown daughter named Emily who lives near Brockway. Cavallo’s wife Melissa is nursing supervisor and Infection Control Preventionist at Mulberry Square. In his day job, Sam Cavallo is a train conductor for the Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad out of Butler, Pennsylvania. He doesn’t wear the traditional conductor uniform; he says, “My coolest outfit is a neon green vest.” He can tell you all about the reason the locomotives pulling hundredplus-car-long trains coming out of Rikers hold up traffic so long when you’re trying - Continued on page 10
Opened in 1889, the Adrian Hospital at the Adrian mines became inadequate and a new hospital was built on Jenks Hill in Punxsutawney. It opened in 1898 and served the Punxsutawney area, developing its own history of events until the Punxsutawney Area Hospital was opened in 1977. (Architect’s 1897 drawing,1907 and 1910 post cards courtesy of Punxsutawney Area Historical & Genealogical Society)
Patchwork of Punxsutawney “Firsts” By S. Thomas Curry of Hometown magazine or several months, Punxsutawney area history has been presented in this publication with a series of stories along the theme of “firsts” that have occurred through the many years of people’s lives in the area’s past and events that have had a major influence on community life - piece by piece, two or three at a time each month, these stories have been presented. Though each “first” was unique, together they present a “big picture” of local and area accomplishments and influences over years of the area’s development and change. The experience for the writer in gathering local “firsts” as a personal fascination with historic firsts could remind one of the earlier custom of creating patchwork quilts. Quilting was a popular American pastime, usually by women, with its beginnings as a necessity to provide warm covers on beds or as hangings for doors and windows during cold seasons. The quilts were made by piecing together individual swatches or patches of material recycled from personal pieces of material into something useful for the family or to give as a gift. The writer’s pieces of Punxsutawney area “firsts,” shared over many months with readers, is similar to a quilt, a patchwork of history when pieces are seen together. Soon, the “quilt” will be finished.
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First Born in Punxsutawney’s Adrian Hospital When the Adrian Hospital was opened in 1889 in Delancey, where the Adrian Mines was located, it was the first miners’ hospital in the area. Historical records are clear about who was the first superintendent of the new miners’ hospital and who was the first nurse for the hospital. Dr. T. R. Williams was the superintendent and his wife Elizabeth, a former New York nurse, was the first nurse. That information was shared with Hometown readers in July 2019. The hospital services grew to such an extent that the small cottage hospital building was inadequate. A larger Adrian Hospital was built in Punxsutawney on land purchased from the Jenks family between Jenks and Park avenues in the Jenks Hill section. When all the beds, supplies and equipment, etc. had been moved from the Delancey site, the “new” Adrian Hospital was opened on November 30, 1898. Who was the “first baby” born in the Adrian Hospital built on Jenks Hill, a site
that also became known as Hospital Hill? The answer to the question was provided by Clyde Barnett, Jr. several years ago. With an interest in local history, the details were shared with the writer by Sue (Hill) Barnett. Clyde, Jr., Sue’s husband, died in 2010. He had been employed by Kendra Moving and Knisely Transfer & Moving companies in Punxsutawney. As a young man he worked for the Barnett Brothers Foundry, owned by his father and two uncles, Bill and Rubin. According to the family records, Clyde’s father, Clyde Adrian Barnett, was the “first baby” born in the Adrian Hospital after it had opened in 1898. Sue shared about the arrival, recorded by the family, “He weighed 1 pound and a half, and they carried him around on a pillow.” His middle name of Adrian is self-explanatory. The family story also makes note that Clyde’s father made the eagles that are mounted on the bandstand in Barclay Square. Barnett Bros. Foundry became affiliated with the Punxsutawney Foundry & Machine Company, a company, organized in 1906, that operated two large machine shops and a foundry in Punxsutawney. When the Memorial Bandstand was completed in Barclay Square in 1932, the two large bronze eagles were dedicated by the Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Association with the words, “There is no doubt that these two eagles, if made by an out-oftown concern would have cost us one hundred fifty or two hundred dollars.” (The Punxsutawney Spirit, October 21, 1932). Clyde Adrian Barnett died in 1967. Left behind is a family record that he was the first baby born in the Adrian Hospital in
The Langan & Chambers building in downtown Punxsutawney was built in 1897 on East Mahoning Street, across the street from the Pantall Hotel. In the basement of the building was Punxsutawney’s Rathskeller. Opened in 1903, the restaurant was the first eating place in Punxsutawney to have booths.
rial Bandstand since 1932. Punxsutawney’s Rathskeller - A First in Town Among favorite eating places from Punxsutawney’s past that can be remembered by current Hometown readers might be Hester’s Restaurant, Carlino’s Restaurant, Ruth & Harry’s, the Elk Run Bakery or the Pantall Hotel Dining Room. For another
generation it would be a different list. On that list could be Punxsutawney’s “Rathskeller.” The general public learned about the new eating place in a news story in The Punxsutawney Spirit of March 25, 1903. John Langan had completed the construction of the dining room in his building on East Mahoning Street. - Continued on next page
The Memorial Bandstand in Barclay Square was completed in 1932. Dedicated with it were two large bronze eagles made by an employee of the Punxsutawney Foundry & Machine Company. The man who made them was also the first baby born in the Adrian Hospital after it opened in 1898, Clyde Adrian Barnett. (photo courtesy S. Thomas Curry)
Punxsutawney. Also, he was the employee of the Punxsutawney Foundry & Machine Company who made the two eagles that have adorned the Barclay Square Memo-
Punxsutawney Hometown – April 2020 - Issue #234 – 5
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In the early 1900s, a number of novel inventions became available for public use and enjoyment. Among them was a new “dictation device.” Called a Dictaphone, Punxsutawney attorney W.B. Adams purchased one and introduced it to his business friends as “the busy man’s best friend.” (images copied from internet Wikipedia)
Patchwork of Continued from previous page When Langan built the two-story brick building in 1897, his building permit gave directions for disposing of the dirt from the construction of the basement on the site. The dirt was to be moved to “the public square” as fill for the improvements of the park. (This action was before the major improvement completed in 1902 through the funding by the Punxsutawney Iron Company.) The completed basement in the new Langan building would become the Punxsutawney rathskeller, below Langan’s Keystone Cigar Store. Expected to open April 1, 1903, it was delayed for several weeks until all the fixtures and equipment were received. It opened in July 1903, with C.B. Gleckler the proprietor. A mental picture of the area can be made from the description of the three areas of kitchen, private dining room and restaurant that filled the length of the building underground. A marble topped counter extended the entire length of the restaurant and dining room sections. Behind the marble counter were cupboards, refrigerators and steam counters. On the opposite side were six “private eating stalls” and a private dining room with three tables. The private dining room was for family and party dinners. Those areas had large mirrors set in the walls above the tables. Besides being the first rathskeller in Punxsutawney, other references to it include the statement, “…the first public eating place in Punxsutawney to have booths.” Originally called The Rathskeller, the name was changed to Keystone Restaurant in 1907. The dining area was located in the basement of the building that many Hometown readers will remember was the Jordan Store. For Punxsutawney residents of 1903 who enjoyed eating out in local restaurants, the word “rathskeller” was defined in the Spirit news story reading, “Rathskeller, which is a German word, means an underground eating house.” Merriam-Webster dictionary defines rathskeller as “usually a basement tavern or restaurant.” It has also been learned that underground dining areas were popular in the years of the late 19th and early 20th century for providing comfortable eating quarters during warm weather. Did you know? C.B. Gleckler came to Punxsutawney in
1900 to manage Punxsutawney’s first rathskeller that opened in 1903, and perhaps the only rathskeller. In 1910, Gleckler joined with John Langan and Timothy Sullivan to form a company in Punxsutawney to distribute cigar vending machines exclusively in an area that included Pennsylvania, New York and Maryland. Thousands of cigar vending machines were placed in towns and cities, each bearing a sign on it saying: “Pennsylvania Cigar Vending Machine Company, Home Office, Punxsutawney, Pa.,” giving the town a little bit of advertising. “Gleck,” as he was called, later opened his own Hotel Gleckler on North Findley Street. In 1946, he sold his hotel to Jack Grossman and Dick Blatt, who operated it as the Hotel Punxsutawney with its popular dining room. Another Marvel of the Early Twentieth Century Nearly a year ago, Hometown readers were presented pieces of Punxsutawney area history about the introduction of new inventions into Punxsutawney life in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, namely, the phonograph player, silent movies and talking pictures. Another marvel of the twentieth century appeared in Punxsutawney in December 1910 when the Dictaphone was purchased by attorney W.B. Adams. It was advertised as “the busy man’s best friend.” When Adams purchased his Dictaphone, he visited his friends around town to show them how it worked. The “dictation device” was created a few years after Thomas Edison created his first phonograph recording machine. Promoted as a machine “for recording speech for needs of future transcribing or for playback,” the Dictaphone company was founded by Alexander Graham Bell and the name Dictaphone was trademarked in 1907. Attorney Adam’s enthusiasm for the invention was evident in his message in the Spirit story titled “Dictaphone Makes Its Appearance in Punxsutawney.” He explained, “A busy man need not wait until one letter has been transcribed to dictate the next to his stenographer. He tells the machine what he wants said and the stenographer takes the record and writes the letters.” With a bit of humor, he added, “The speed of dictation with the Dictaphone is limited by the activity of the busy man’s tongue.” - Continued on page 8
Jordon London of Londondale Farm Shows Dairy Cow at the World Dairy Expo uncle, Dennis London. The four of them Holstein whose full name is Londondale By Molly Shepler work on the farm daily, milking fifty-eight Apjack Sally—placed high in her age group for Hometown magazine cows twice in a twenty-four-hour period at at the Expo this year, earning a ninth-place uring the first week of October title. three in the morning and three at night. 2019, Jordan London of Punx“Anything that comes from her goes back Having grown up on his family’s dairy sutawney showed a cow from the farm, London has been involved in the rais- to the farm,” said London about Sally. He Londondale Farm at the World Dairy Expo ing of swine and cattle from a young age. explained that it was his father who origiin Madison, Wisconsin. According to The He participated in 4-H for ten years during nally got the family to take an interest in World Dairy Expo’s website, the showing animals at the Expo, event provides opportunities for but it was Jordan who primadairy producers, organizations, comrily raised her—who panies and other dairy supporters to “molded” her—from the time compete, but also to share knowlshe was a calf. edge and ideas about the dairy inAs you can imagine, one of dustry. People bring their animals the first challenging tasks asgreat distances to contend at the sociated with going to a liveExpo for respected titles and awards. stock show so far away In 2018, over 2,300 cows were exwould be the issue of transhibited by more than 1,700 owners portation; for Sally, the comfrom 8 provinces and 37 states. mute to Madison, Wisconsin, “It’s the biggest dairy cow from Punxsutawney, Pennshow…it’s a combination of the best sylvania, was long and comcattle in North America from the plicated. Typically, a United States and Canada,” London livestock trailer behind a explained. pickup truck is enough to The Londondale Farm, located near transport large animals from Cloe, just a few miles outside of one place to another, but bePunxsutawney, is a family-run farm Jordan London leads his dairy cow around the arena at The World Dairy cause Sally had to travel so that is owned and operated by the Expo. The event is held annually in Madision, Wisconsin, bringing in comfar, the Londons knew it London family. Jordan London is a petitors from all over North America. would be better and more full-time employee of the Londonhis childhood, which gave him experience comfortable for her to travel in a larger dale Farm where he also lives, along with showing animals and competing with them trailer. his parents, Jim and Jody London, and his To accommodate this, the farm paid a in shows. Londondale’s cow, Sally—a red
D
Steve Wood (left) is a cattle classifier who visits Londondale Farm every 7 months in order to evaluate the cows and give them a score from 1 – 100. This evaluation helps Jordan London (Right) prepare his dairy cow Londondale Apjack Sally Red for competition.
trucking fee to have Sally transported by semi in a double-decker trailer called a “pod.” After driving Sally in their own livestock trailer to Millmont, Pennsylvania, about two-and-a-half hours east of Punxsutawney, she was loaded onto the pod, and she traveled from there to Madison. “It’s a lot smoother of a ride for the animal,” London explained, “And with a trailer that big, you won’t make great time…there were twenty-two other animals on there with her, too.” The ride in the pod - Continued on page 22
Punxsutawney Hometown – April 2020 - Issue #234 – 7
GENERAL DENTISTRY
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Attorney W.B. Adams began his law practice in Punxsutawney in 1898. In 1906, he built a beautiful stone house on East Mahoning Street in East End, Punxsutawney. The familiar house was also the residence of the Orvis Hoffman family and the Anthony Barletta family. It is now owned and maintained by Dr. Jonathan Jack. (photos courtesy of S. Thomas Curry)
938-4210
Patchwork of Continued from page 6 Over time, the early Dictaphone, of three separate machines, has been replaced by other recording devices that transmit messages. In 1898, 25-year-old W.B. Adams began his law practice in Punxsutawney in a second-floor office in a building on the corner of West Mahoning and South Gilpin streets. Readers will remember this as the Mahoning Hardware building on the cor-
Nearby the new Punxsutawney Area Hospital in Young Township, a housing project of new houses in Hillcrest Estates introduced to residents the first “condominiums” in the area. (photo courtesy of S. Thomas Curry)
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8 – Punxsutawney Hometown – April 2020 - Issue #234
ner. In August 1906, Adams purchased property on the south side of East Mahoning Street and built a new residence of stone that was quarried from a Graffius Avenue hillside in Elk Run. The restored W.B. Adams house at 910 East Mahoning Street remains in Punxsutawney area history. Once the Orvis Hoffman house and then the Anthony Barletta house, it is now the residence of Dr. Jonathan Jack. The word Dictaphone is still in use in reference to smaller dictation devices, but the early dictation machines are antiques. The First Condominium in the Punxsutawney Area The years of the 1970s in Punxsutawney, and the area surrounding it, saw major projects that actively sought to bring the area into the “modern times” of the late twentieth century. Most notable was Punxsutawney’s federal redevelopment project that demolished four squares of older buildings and replaced them with new structures, such as the Civic Complex, Mahoning Towers and Groundhog Plaza. At the same time, the Adrian Hospital Association recognized that the hospital services at the Adrian Hospital were inadequate in 80-year old buildings on Jenks Hill. A decision was made to build a new hospital on a 20-acre site in Young Town-
ship, west of Punxsutawney and north of PA Route 36. The land was donated by J.C. Enterprises. Construction was started in 1975. The Punxsutawney Area Hospital was dedicated in July 1977. Nearby the new hospital, new housing projects were begun. The project was identified as Hillcrest Estates. Completed among them was a complex of four housing units, each unit separately owned on the same property. The unit was a new concept for housing. Though the properties were not within Punxsutawney Borough limits, the headline of The Punxsutawney Spirit in December 1979 announced “Punx’y’s First Condominium Opens Today.” For three years, the idea of building condominiums in the Punxsutawney area was in the minds of Carl and Jim Doverspike, owners of J.C. Enterprises and owners of the land. They had observed the popularity and success of condominiums in Florida and nearby in the Pittsburgh area. Taking a gamble that Punxsutawney people would be interested in “condo” living, they began the project. In a condo arrangement, each housing unit is owned by the buyer, except the buyer does not own the land. Each of the two-floor units in the new ”Punxsutawney condominium” contained two bedrooms, a den, kitchen, living and dining rooms, bathroom, laundry room, full basement and a two-car garage among its features in the wooded area near the Punxsutawney Country Club. In the arrangement with Hillcrest landowners, yard maintenance was the responsibility of the individual unit owners. Punxsutawney’s First Female Police Officer In the early history of Punxsutawney, after its organization in 1850 as a borough, a constable was a man to provide public service as “guardian of the peace” and to enforce the laws. Night watchmen were hired to patrol the dark streets to provide protection and “good order.” In the years of the 1880s the town’s population increased greatly, from 774 people in 1880 to 2,760 in 1890. In 1887, Punxsutawney’s Borough Council, by recommendation of its Committee on Safety and Good Order, appointed a chief of police and two policemen “to do their duty without fear or favor.” (The Punxsutawney Spirit, June 15, 1887) Ephriam Kirkpatrick was the first chief of police. The two policemen were John Coon and John Colkitt. - Continued on page 10
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Punxsutawney Hometown – April 2020 - Issue #234 – 9
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Doug Temchulla’s Continued from page 4
to get in or out of town quickly at Punxsutawney’s intersection on Route 119 with Jenks and Hampton Avenues. He says, “A hundred-car train is a mile long, and Rikers is only three quarters of a mile from Punxsutawney.” A perk of his fifteen years on the job is running trains through Benezette where he routinely sees bears and all kinds of elk—some of which do occasionally get on the track and stop his train. Pastor Paul Ritchey Pastor Paul Ritchey came to the Punxsutawney First United Methodist Church in 2013 from Purchase Line. He and wife Suzanne have two grown children. Daughter Kate Almasy lives in Pittsburgh, while son Austin Ritchey lives in Cranberry Township. The pastor’s wife Suzanne is a medical records risk and adjustment coder who works remotely from home for a company in Baltimore, Maryland. The family likes Punxsutawney’s “homey, small town atmosphere. It’s just great,” Ritchey says. Pastor Ritchey, a member of the Community Choir himself, is very proud of the fact that the choir’s music reaches so many people. In addition to the approximately one thousand people who would have seen the live performances on April 3, 4 and 5, the church has the ability to live-stream the performances on YouTube where another fifteen hundred could see and hear it. To find this church’s videos, type Punxsy FUMC in the YouTube search bar and press “enter.” On the FUMC homepage, viewers can click on “Playlist” and see all the cantatas the Community Choir has performed since the church gained that capability—which resulted from an Eagle Scout project a few years ago. Pastor Mark Heckman, who’s been moved on to serve in the Blairsville area, has a son Luke who was looking for a worthy Eagle Scout project. The project he chose was upgrading the First United Methodist Church’s live-stream technical capabilities; thus, for the past three years
Patchwork of Continued from page 8 In a long, documented history of police protection in Punxsutawney there were many policemen. Then, in June 1999, an event was made in that history. The Punxsutawney borough police department made history by hiring Punxsutawney’s first female police officer. Lisa Lusk was the young lady who joined the police force on June 14 as a part-time officer. At that time, William Clement was Punxsutawney’s Chief of Police who interviewed the candidate for the recommendation to borough council. The pioneer female officer in Punxsutawney had special training in narcotics and domestic violence at Butler Community College, from where she graduated with an associate degree. She was a police officer for four years in Butler, also serving as a member of North Apollo’s drug task force.
10 – Punxsutawney Hometown – April 2020 - Issue #234
every Sunday service and every Christmas and Easter cantata has been live-streamed. All those are catalogued and available on the church’s YouTube homepage. The Community Choir and Orchestra Family Pastor Ritchey observed that, surprisingly, for a group with approximately fifty-five singers and fifteen orchestra members, “There are no personality issues.” Temchulla’s wife Joy adds that participants have formed wonderful relationships: “We go to the hospital” to visit those ill and “we send cards” and share stories and news about family. The group’s leaders agree that “Wednesday night practices were the highlight of most of our weeks.” With instrumental practices on Tuesday and choir practices on Wednesday, the whole choir and orchestra, in fact, were to have only about four rehearsals together before performances of their program this year called “Grace that Amazes.” The choir started rehearsals January 8, while the orchestra began their preparation February 18. On the last Sunday before the Community Choir’s cantata performances, the entire group involved sits down together for a communal dinner. At that time, Temchulla gives out the Christmas cantata music so that the performers from the farflung seventeen different churches have their music and their invitation to come back. Drummer Cavallo sums up the cantata experience for all: “It is a lot of work. It takes a lot of time, but the feeling you get when you’re done is so rewarding.” When the Community Choir and Orchestra can schedule their cantata, they invite everyone to come to one of their performances. Of course, admission is free, although donations are appreciated. After each performance, the audience is welcomed to hang around for cookies, refreshments and fellowship. Church and cantata members donate about three hundred dozen cookies for the event, so there are lots for everyone. Watch for future details to learn when the cantata is rescheduled at the First United Methodist Church at 301 West Mahoning Street in Punxsutawney. ••• After a few weeks on duty, she shared her experiences in an interview for The Punxsutawney Spirit. She found her gender as a female to be an advantage in certain circumstances. “There are times I’ve gone into situations that a male officer was handling, and an individual who was excited and out of control found it easier to deal with a woman, particularly a sexual assault,” she shared. She added that she enjoyed working among the public and dealing with children. With her hiring, the position of an officer for enforcing the law was no longer identified as a “policeman,” but became a “police officer.” Twenty years later, on March 10, 2020, Punxsutawney Borough Council hired Brittaney Gray as a full-time police officer. She previously worked as a part-time officer with the Brookville Borough police department. More pieces of “firsts” in Punxsutawney area history remain, to be added to the “patchwork quilt” of local history. •••
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(814) 939-8999 Pictured is a view of Mahoning Creek as a public highway. Note the rafts on the water and stacks of lumber to be sent to markets in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and beyond. From the Henry Brown illustration from Caldwell’s 1878 Atlas of Jefferson County at PAHGS.
A Railroad for Punxsutawney
By Coal Memorial Committee for Hometown magazine efferson County was nineteen years old and Punxsutawney was approaching its third year as a town when the Pennsylvania Legislature, on February 28, 1825, heard a report from the Committee on Inland Navigation. The committee was responsible for reviewing canal petitions for the purpose of creating connections between the eastern and western waters of the state. At the same session, the committee presented a bill for the state legislature to consider which would repeal the law of the previous session. The reason for the committee’s request was the large number of petitions it received requesting authorization to construct railroads in designated places, instead of canals. From the earliest settlement of America, water had been the main means of transporting goods to market. Pennsylvania had a number of navigable rivers which made communities along them economic hubs. The early settlements in Pennsylvania were along the Delaware River. In the central part of the state the Susquehanna River connected with the Chesapeake Bay and the Allegheny River served as the connector to markets in Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and those on down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans. In 1792, Pennsylvania acquired the Erie Triangle, providing the state access to the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River. Canals were a means of connecting these water ways and increasing opportunities for trade for the developing communities. The Mahoning Creek was declared a public highway in 1808, providing Punxsutawney with a connection to markets in
J
Kittanning and those further down the Allegheny River. The removal of obstructions in the creek, except for mill dams and other waterworks, and the building of slopes at the dams provided an efficient means of transporting goods to market. Having this form of transportation sparked the first wave of local economic success: the lumber industry. These improvements made it possible for local timber to be transported by water to Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and beyond. By 1825, Punxsutawney had become an economic hub for southern Jefferson County. As Pennsylvania’s population increased, there was a demand for better means of transporting goods to and from the hinterlands. Canals were developed to connect land-bound population centers with the rivers to make transportation more available. The Canal Board continued to oversee the development of these canals. The terrain in the Punxsutawney area was not conducive to the construction of a canal. There was, however, a new mode of transportation beginning to emerge. In England, George Stephenson built the first successful steam engine locomotive in 1814. The main purpose of this engine was to haul coal. The engine could haul up to eight cars, each holding thirty tons of coal, while traveling uphill at four miles per hour. Coal was essential to fuel the industrial revolution, which was taking place at the time. This invention of steam power on rails gave Pennsylvania property owners and investors hope that they would have greater access to markets if they had overland railroads. By the 1850s, a network of railroads was being constructed to reach the rich coal fields in the hinterlands of Pennsylvania. - Continued on page 15
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Punxsutawney Hometown – April 2020 - Issue #234 – 11
“Check out the many great digital resources the Punxsutawney Memorial Library has to offer.”
THE DEPP-HUTCHINSON FAMILY
Digital Resources Available to the Punxsutawney Area By Jessica Church, Director of Punxsutawney memorial Library for Hometown magazine
A
re you searching for information resources that are reliable and accurate? Maybe you’re looking to relax with an eBook or to take a long commute and could use an audiobook. April is National Library Month, and Punxsutawney Memorial Library would like to celebrate by highlighting the ever-growing list of free (yes, free!), online resources accessible to library card holders.
OverDrive / Libby by OverDrive: These great apps offer eBooks and audiobooks to library card holders. If you are an Amazon Kindle user, we recommend that you visit oilcreek.overdrive.com to login with your library card and optimize your experience with your Kindle app. If you’re using an Apple or Android product, we recommend the Libby by OverDrive app. Both OverDrive and Libby share the same collection of digital content, so you’ll have access to an awesome set of materials no matter which app you use. What’s new with these resources? You can now access the eBooks and audiobooks
12 – Punxsutawney Hometown – April 2020 - Issue #234
available through Seneca District Libraries using your Punxsutawney Memorial Library card number. At oilcreek.overdrive.com, you can click “Partner libraries” at the top of the screen to get started. In the Libby app, you can go in as if you’re adding another library card, search for Seneca District Libraries and mark “Visiting from another library.” You’ll still search for Punxsutawney Memorial Library in the list of options when prompted. Another recent addition includes easier access to OverDrive and Libby for those who may not have library card numbers yet. You can now register through these resources using your mobile phone’s billing address for verification of address. It’s quick, easy and gives more people access to reading materials. What kinds of books are available? These collections are host to bestselling authors, niche genre content and so much more. Borrow items for two weeks at a time, and the content deletes from your account when it expires—so no need to worry about fines! If you finish early, you can return it early so the next patron may enjoy it. Power Library: Power Library offers 25+ online resources with reliable, accurate information and covers topics in business, health, science, education, research and reference, and more. Look for the PA-shaped logo on our homepage and use your library card number for access. A sample list of the resources available within Power Library includes (but is not limited to): Auto Repair Source for authoritative, upto-date service and repair diagrams, maintenance schedules, recalls and more for thousands of domestic and imported vehicles. Interested in small engines? Power Library also offers Small Engine Repair with guides and maintenance information for small engines of all types. BookFLIX and TrueFLIX for fiction and nonfiction eBooks for kids that also include fun, comprehension activities Gale Business Insights: Essentials with full-text articles, statistical data, SWOT analyses and interactive charting capabilities for comparison Gale Health & Wellness Resource Center with up-to-date health articles, guides and research - Continued on next page
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Once you’ve read this issue of Punxsutawney Hometown, put your knowledge to the test. Correctly answer the following questions about the stories and be entered into our trivia contest.
1.
A display at the Bennis house is a wedding dress made by Velma Scherer. What material was used to fashion the gown?
a. Silk from Japan b. A parachute from c.
2.
For what in Punxsutawney history is Clyde Adrian Barnett famous?
a. Being the first baby born at
Adrian Hospital in Punxsutawney
World War II Lace from Belgium
b. Opening the first cigar store c. Owning an eating place called “The Rathskeller”
3. Enter one of the participating advertisers on this page in the space provided to redeem your coupon should you be the contest winner.
Mon.-Thur. 5am-7pm • Fri. 5am-8pm Sat. 5am-7pm • Sun. 7am-2pm
119 South, Punxsy (Next to Dairy Queen)
938-2570
4. Clip and forward the coupon to:‘Hometown magazine trivia giveaway’ c/o Hometown magazine, 129 Aspen Road, Punxsutawney, PA 15767. 5. All entries must be received by 4 p.m. Thursday, April 16.
Name ________________________________ Address ______________________________ Zip __________________________________ Phone ______________________________ Coupon for April Giveaway Step 1: Answer all three questions above:
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.
1. ______
2. ______
3. ______
Step 2: Should I win, I would like to redeem my merchandise certificate at: (List business from this page) _____________________ Fresh Homemade Dough & Sauce Made Onsite Daily For All Our Dinners & Pizza!
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6. No purchase necessary to participate. All entries must be original magazine coupon (no photocopies). 7. In the event two or more contestants correctly answering all three questions, one winner will be randomly selected and awarded the winning prize.
a. The banjo b. The piano c. The violin
Hometown magazine “Trivia Giveaway”
1. Complete the coupon on this page. 2. Correctly answer the trivia questions in the spaces provided on the coupon.
What musical instrument did Doug Temchulla begin to play in elementary school?
Complete, Clip, Drop off or Mail to:
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Punxsutawney Hometown – April 2020 - Issue #234 – 13
D
Who Is This? - Be a Mystery Solver!
o you recognize any of the faces in these pictures from family photos that may be in your possession? If so, we want to hear from you! The Punxsutawney Area Historical & Genealogical Society has in its possession hundreds of glass photo negatives from early, turn-of-the-century photographers of the Punxsutawney Area,
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between the time period of about 1860-1920. As part of the 2020 “Who Is This?” (Discovering Local Identities & History through Glass Negatives) project, we’re looking for your help to identify as many of these subjects as is possible! Please help us by letting us know if you recognize anyone in any of the photos that will be posted each week.
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Call us at 814-938-2555 or email us at: punxsyhistory@outlook.com or hometown@punxsutawneymagazine.com. Please include the number located in the bottom left of the photo. Please forward/share these pictures with other Punxsutawney friends, relatives, acquaintances and past residents, who may
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14 – Punxsutawney Hometown – April 2020 - Issue #234
have Punxsutawney past or present connections. Whether or not you recognize anyone in these photos, our hope is that you’ll enjoy these photos for the insights they give us into the times, fashions and interests of Punxsutawney people from an era in the late 19th and early 20th centuries of Punxsutawney history! •••
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Live the Life You’ve Been Missing!
The original Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad Passenger Station was built about 1883. In 1904, the new brick passenger station was built immediately to the west of this building. This building later served as the Coach Yard Office. Courtesy of the Brian DeVries Collection, PAHGS.
A Railroad for Continued from page 11
The Allegheny Railroad and Coal Company had connected the area east of the Allegheny Mountains with Philadelphia. The northern section and southern section connected at Tyrone and, from there on, to markets in the eastern part of the state. In western Pennsylvania, plans were underway to build an Erie and Pittsburgh railroad, which would follow the course of the Allegheny River. The Pittsburgh Post of November 1, 1851, carried an article about the proposed road and the intent to connect it with Rochester, New York, reading: “This road has been contemplated for some time past, and is now beginning to excite no small degree of interest, and from the manner in which the matter is agitated at present, there is a very fair hope that the construction of the road will be commenced at a very early day—although at present many are disposed to view the undertaking as a thing only to be thought of in the future, and by many too, as altogether improbable, yet we venture to predict that but few years will roll by, until the iron horse will rush snorting through the valley of the noble Allegheny, carrying the rich productions of its mines and forests to new and heretofore remote markets. There is a wealth, immense wealth lying embedded in this valley, which only needs a proper mode of conveying it to market to enhance its value and insure a fair remuneration to the owners of the soil. We are convinced that if our citizens would consult their own interests, they would take hold of this work with a determination to secure their share of the profits arising from its construction.”
On November 24, 1851, a meeting to organize the Allegheny Railroad Company was held at the Board of Trade Rooms in Pittsburgh. Attending the meeting were several gentlemen from Armstrong, Clarion and Jefferson Counties. A report of a meeting of the citizens of Clarion and Jefferson Counties was given. Plans for a survey of portions of the route of the Pittsburgh and Olean Railroad from the mouth of the Mahoning River northward were made. Five months later, on March 24, 1852, the Allegheny Valley Railroad Company ordered surveys of three principle routes between Pittsburgh and Kittanning. They also ordered surveys to be made north of Kittanning, by way of the
Clarion, Redbank, Mahoning and Cowanshannock routes to the state line. This news excited the people of Punxsutawney. It appeared that they could soon have a railroad. These surveys of the Mahoning and the Redbank most likely are the reason that two railroads were included on the 1857 Gillespie Map of Jefferson County. The proposed Allegheny Valley Railroad would enter the county on the Redbank Creek, run through Brookville, follow Mill Creek, and eventually exit the county on the west side of Toby Creek, above Brockway toward Ridgway. This road would serve the communities in the middle of the county: Brookville, Reynoldsville and Brockwayville, before exiting the county to the north. The Mahoning and Susquehanna Railroad would enter Jefferson County following Mahoning Creek, running through Punxsutawney, following Stump Creek, and exiting the county near Falls Creek, northeast toward Benezette. This road would serve the coal and lumber interests in the southern part of Jefferson and the northern part of Indiana County. In 1853, the Jefferson County Commissioners subscribed $90,000 to purchase stock of the Allegheny Valley Railroad. The county sold bonds which would pay six percent interest. Punxsutawney residents were among the Jefferson County investors in this railroad. They had high hopes that the Mahoning River survey would be developed into an actual railroad. Residents of Jefferson County followed the developments of the railroads with interest. The Allegheny Valley Railroad had progress to Kittanning, as was reflected in this article from the Brookville Jeffersonian of July 21, 1855: “We are credibly informed that a regular line of hacks (closed in wagons used to haul freight and passengers) will soon be placed on the road between this place (Brookville) and Kittanning, there connecting with the packets (river boats) to Pittsburgh. The railroad will be in operation as far as Kittanning in six or eight weeks, when, with the good line of the stages this will be the shortest, quickest and best route to Pittsburgh.” The hope of having a railroad which would serve Punxsutawney was crushed when the Pittsburgh Daily Commercial, on August 5, 1871, provided an update on the status of the railroad. The update included the annual report of J. Edgar Thompson, President of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The report stated that a plan for the Philadelphia and Erie Railroad to build a connecting railroad from the Susquehanna River, by way of Bennett’s - Continued on next page
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This 1963 picture shows the original freight station. When this picture was taken, the station had evolved into an express building. In its final years, it was used to store maintenance-of-way equipment. Courtesy of the Brian DeVries Collection, PAHGS.
A Railroad for Continued from previous page Branch, to the Allegheny River along the Mahoning Creek was determined to be too costly. The report concluded that they would not continue to develop the railroad from Bennett’s Branch via the Mahoning to Kittanning. This left the people of Punxsutawney with the realization that they possibly would never have a railroad unless they took matters into their own hands. According to the Punxsutawney Plaindealer of December 8, 1870, the people of Punxsutawney organized a railroad company which would attempt to create a branch railway from Punxsutawney to intersect the Allegheny Valley Road at or near Reynoldsville. The company books were opened, and the stock was purchased in an incredibly short time. In August 1875, it was again announced that Punxsutawney was to have a railroad. The Sandy Coal and Iron Company would be the builders. The road would extend from Holden’s Eddy, also known as Rocky Bent, on the low-grade division of the Allegheny Valley Railroad, four miles below Reynoldsville. Plans were to have it completed to the farm of D.B. Straitiff, about six miles from Punxsutawney, near to where the Adrian mine would be located in 1886. A meeting of citizens was held for the purpose of securing stock subscriptions to raise the money to complete the road into Punxsutawney. W.P. Jenks headed the list with a cash subscription of $1,000 and other considerable amounts were subscribed. Unfortunately, there was no action toward the building of this railroad. Again, a railroad to Punxsutawney was announced on July 20, 1876, in the Elk County Advocate. The article was reprinted from the Harrisburg Patriot, saying, “It is said that the Buffalo, Warren & Mahoning Railroad Company have completed their arrangements to build a railroad from Warren to Punxsutawney, connecting at Warren with the Dunkirk & Pittsburgh Railroad, thence south east through Forest and Jefferson counties (via Brookville) through the Reynoldsville coal basin and Punxsutawney, a distance of fifty-five miles. The object of this road is to secure a short communication to New York, via the Central, Jamestown & Great Western Railroads. The distance to the last two named is less than seventy miles, and only about one hundred and ten miles to
Dunkirk. The coal has been, and is now extensively used by gas companies, and is said to be of excellent quality, equal to the best Pittsburgh gas coal. The company has entered into contract to complete the road to Punxsutawney by January 1, 1878. It is said that the lands necessary to complete and stock this road have all been provided for, and a contract has just been closed with a party for twelve hundred coal cars.” A meeting of the stockholders of the Mahoning & Susquehanna Railroad Company, for the purpose of electing a president and directors, was called on January 23, 1880, at the office of Jenks & Winslow, in the borough of Punxsutawney. P.W. Jenks was president and R.C. Winslow, secretary. The company had obtained a charter to build a railroad beginning on the Allegheny River, at the mouth of Mahoning Creek, and up that stream to the Susquehanna River. The editor of the January 28, 1880 Clearfield Republican opined, “There is no question but that this road will be built in the near future. It is the only bee-line for a western connection from this section of the State, and it will penetrate a coal field equal to that of the Moshannon, or Sandy Lick Valley.” The Punxsutawney promoters searched for an investor and found Walston H. Brown. The Elk County Advocate on August 4, 1881, carried an item stating: “Walston H. Brown, President of the P. & N.Y. RR Co; Geo. E. Merchant, General manager of the Rochester & Pittsburgh R.R.; ZA Latcha, Consulting Engineer, and Wm. E. Hoyt, Chief Engineer of the Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad, were in Ridgeway last Thursday and Friday.” The same issue of the paper included the following advertisement: “WANTED By the Rochester & Pittsburgh R.R. Co. 250,000 CROSS TIES to be cut and delivered this coming winter along the line of their road between Bradford, McKean Co., and Brookville Jefferson Co., Pa. Ties to be of Hemlock, Chestnut, White Burr Oak, or Cherry, to be cut from live timber smoothly hewn, to be straight, free from rotten knots and other imperfections. All ties to be 8 feet long with square ends to average 8 inch face, none to be less than 7 inch face, and 6 inches thick. Address all proposals to J.E. Miller Superintendent of Construction” - Continued on page 20
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110 SOUTH GILPIN STREET • PUNXSUTAWNEY 18 – Punxsutawney Hometown – April 2020 - Issue #234
Brookville Glove Manufacturing employee making protective face masks. Photo by Alexandra Wimley Videography, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Small Jefferson County Manufacturer Pivots Production to Meet COVID-19 Outbreak By Kris B. Mamula Pittsburgh Post-Gazette lant manager Emily Walker came to work Friday, March 20, ready to furlough production workers at Brookville Glove Manufacturing, casting a global pandemic’s pall over a rural part of Pennsylvania. The previous day, Gov. Tom Wolf had ordered the closure of all nonessential businesses in the state. Brookville Glove, which has made work gloves and other gear since 1883, was considered nonessential — about 20 people would be furloughed. But at 10 a.m. Friday, March 20, before the layoff announcement, Ms. Walker got a call from a big senior care provider, asking whether Brookville Glove could rejigger its production line to make protective face masks for health care workers. There is a nationwide shortage of the N-95 masks, which provide the best protection against the new coronavirus. The virus had been confirmed to have infected 479 Pennsylvanians as of noon Monday, March 23, but none yet in Jefferson County. The result: Brookville Glove is humming with orders for a new product that may offer front-line health care workers some protection from getting COVID-19. “It’s not anything we’ve ever done before,” Ms. Walker said. “They’re doing everything they can to prevent the virus from coming in their doors and they needed protection yesterday.” Guardian Elder Care of Brockway, Jefferson County, ordered 20,000 of the washable and reusable masks for its employees. CEO Barmi Akbar did not return calls Monday, March 23. What’s happening at Brookville Glove is an example of how private enterprise is trying to help to meet the shortages of what’s needed in battling COVID-19, a highly contagious respiratory disease that emerged in China in December. Businesses are responding in other ways as well. In Butler County, Saxonburgbased II-VI Inc. said Monday it was ramping up manufacturing capacity for components used in detecting the new coronavirus and a wide range of other ge-
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netic material. II-VI said it was adding coating machines to meet polymerase chain reaction testing platforms while expanding assembly manufacturing capability at II-VI facilities in Dallas, China and Vietnam, which are Food and Drug Administration approved. “We’re committed to do what it takes to support our customers who are on the front lines of finding treatments and vaccines to fight COVID-19,” Mark Lourie, vice president of corporate communications and brand development, said in a prepared statement. Also on Monday, March 23, the Hospital and Healthcare Association of Pennsylvania joined the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry and the state Department of Health in seeking protective masks, gloves, goggles and other hospital and lab supplies for medical institutions in need. “There hasn’t been a need like this before,” said Christopher Molineaux, president and CEO of Life Sciences Pennsylvania, a Wayne Pa.-based trade group for biotech companies. “This is unprecedented. Some hospital systems are seeing shortages in their own supplies.” The business community is stepping up in different ways. On Sunday, March 22, Highmark Health partnered with Cranberry-based MSA Safety to acquire 65,000 donated N-95 respirators, which will be distributed to health care providers in the Pittsburgh area. The respirators protect against the new coronavirus through air filtration and a tight fit to the face of the wearer. On Monday, March 23, Massaro Construction Group of O’Hara added to the number of N-95 masks by making a donation to Allegheny Health Network. Shortage of the N-95 masks has prompted a search for substitutes nationwide, which meet a critical need in protecting health care workers from the virus, said David J. Dausey, an epidemiologist, provost and vice president of academic affairs at Duquesne University. “Our lack of personal protective equipment is very similar to not having the appropriate number of lifeboats on the Titanic,” he said. “It’s a shame and it’s dis- Continued on page 20
Hometown Community Happenings By the staff of n April 21: Blood Drive, 12:30 to 6 p.m., Hometown magazine at SSCD Church. Benefits the American rom the staff of Hometown magazine Red Cross. and the Community Calendar at n April 22: Administrative ProfessionPunxsutawney.com, here is a list of als’ Day. Treat your assistant to something events coming up in our area: special from one of Hometown’s advertisAt press time, some events were being ers! cancelled or postponed due to the Coron April 25: Chicken BBQ, 11 a.m., at navirus restrictions. Please check with SSCD parking lot, sponsored by the the host organization, website or FaceKnights of Columbus. book to see if these events are still happening. n April 25: Girl Scout Cadette Space Science Researcher Day, 9 a.m. to noon, n April 2: Cancer Support Group at Weather Discovery Center. Register by Meeting, 6:30 p.m., at One Life Church. April 17 at 814-938-1000 or email n April 3 & 4: Grange’s Helping Hands, info@weatherdiscovery.org. free clothing at Grange Church of God, n April 25: Spaghetti Friday, noon to 4 p.m., Dinner, 4 to 7 p.m., at Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 The Punxsutawney Grange Church of God. p.m. Please call the Area Hospital Call Center Cost by donation. church at 814-938-2050 Hotline, 814-938-4955, is for information. n April 25: 19th Annual accessible for people 24 PCS Spring Auction. n April 4: Kids Funday hours a day. This number Concessions open at 5 Event, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., is to be used for people p.m., auction starts at 6 at Grange Church of with questions about p.m., at the PunxGod. Free event. symptoms and those sutawney Christian n April 4: Chamber presenting to campus School gym. Cash Bash, 6 p.m., at with potential symptoms. n April 26: HunterPerry Township Fire Trapper Education Hall. $50 tickets availClass, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Sigel Sportsable at the Punxsutawney Chamber of men’s Club. Presented by the PA Game Commerce. Must be 21. Commission. Go to www.pgc.pa.gov for n April 5: Hello Spring Hoppy Easter information. Event craft & vendor show, 11 a.m. to 2 n Every Friday during Lent: Catholic p.m., at The Warehouse Event Center. Daughters Fish Fry at SSCD Auditorium. n April 5: Body, Mind & Spirit Fair, 11 Place order from 3 to 6:30 p.m. and pickup a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Kovalchick Center, from 4 to 7 p.m. Take-out only. $12 for Indiana. $5 admission. adults and $5 for ages 12 and under. Call n April 7: Blood Drive, 1 to 5:30 p.m., at 814-938-6540, ext. 218. Punxsutawney Christian School. Benefits n Community Action offers free income the American Red Cross. tax preparation. For eligibility guiden April 10: Good Friday Sensory lines, call 814-938-3302, ext. 236 or 800Prayer & Worship, 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. 648-3381, ext. 236. Self-guided prayer stations at The Salvan The Punxsutawney Festival in the tion Army, Punxsutawney. Park will be June 27-July 4 at Barclay n April 11: Free Community Easter Square, presented by the Punxsutawney Egg Hunt, 10 a.m. to noon, at Barclay Chamber of Commerce. Go to www.punxSquare. Hosted by FCOG Punxsutawney. sutawney.com for information. n April 12: Easter Sunday! n The First Church of God offers a Celen April 15-18: Spring Quilt Retreats at brate Recovery program. Contact the Mahaffey Camp. Visit www.mahaffeychurch or visit its Facebook page for more camp.com for more information. information. n April 16, 17 & 18: “A Million n Jeff Tech offers several Adult EducaDreams,” PAHS Class of 2020 Variety tion classes. Visit www.jefftech.info for Show, benefits the Margaret C. Boles information on what courses are available Foundation & the senior class. and starting dates. n April 18: Trout season opens in Penn••• sylvania. Don’t forget your fishing license! n April 18: Girl Scout Daisy Flower Garden Journey Day program, 9 a.m. to noon., at Weather Discovery Center. Register by April 8 at 814-938-1000 or email info@weatherdiscovery.org. n April 18: Tom Siple Foundation Benefit Spaghetti Dinner, 5 p.m., at Alliance Church. n April 20-23: Spring Quilt Retreats at Mahaffey Camp. Visit www.mahaffeycamp.com for more information. n April 20: Coping with Loss Support Group, 7 p.m., at First Church of God.
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20 – Punxsutawney Hometown – April 2020 - Issue #234
Continued from page 16 The opening of the Rochester and Pittsburgh Railroad was reported, as follows, in the Elk County Advocate on August 31, 1882: “More than a week ago those incredulous people who believed that the Buffalo Branch of the R. &P. Railroad would never be built were vanquished by the evidence of their eyes and ears; now it would seem as though those also who has not believed that it could be finished within the specified time, must cease their incredulity; if they have not, a trip over the route must, at least, show some very rapid work. Work is being pushed still faster on the most southern division. The L. M. & D.C. Co., which Superintendent J.E. Miller recently joined, are working 800 men besides sub-letting small lots about 20 miles between Ridgway and DuBois. “President Walston H. Brown, of New York, General Manger Geo. A. Merchant, of Rochester, and Chief Engineer C.A. Wilson passed over the Buffalo Division Friday. They were accompanied from Springville to Buffalo by Division Engineer H.B. Baylor. “The names of the stations of the R. & P. R.R. below Bradford are very odd.—From Bradford south they will be: Custer City, Big Shanty, Crawfords, Alton Summit, Ormsby Mill, Wilcox, Rolfe, Johnsonburg,
Small Jefferson County Continued from page 18
appointing. Health care workers have to have this protection.” Back at Brookville Glove on March 20, a staff administrative assistant and graphic designer came up with three or four mask prototypes within an hour. Pictures of the cotton-polyester blend mockups were then emailed to Guardian Elder Care. By 3:30 p.m. on March 20, a deal was inked. Brookville workers stayed at the plant until 8 p.m. creating a new assembly line for the masks, which are held in place with two elastic bands, Ms. Walker said. The staff was back at work at 8 a.m. Saturday, March 21 ramping up production.
Miss Humblebee’s Academy for online, Pre-K activities appropriate for ages 3-5 Gale Courses to improve your skills set by learning more about accounting, graphic design, a new language and more. For a limited time, Punxsutawney Memorial Library is trying out a new method for getting a library card online to access these online resources. For those who do not already have a Punxsutawney Memorial Library card, this form can be found on our homepage. We would also like to note that if it’s been a while since you’ve used your library card and the number on your card doesn’t seem to be working to access these resources, please send us an email as we may just need to update your account in our system. For questions or for more information about using any of Punxsutawney Memorial Library’s free, online resources, send us an e-mail at info@punxsutawneylibrary.org. ••• Whistletown, Ridgeway, where the forces are now working, Little Toby Creek, Brockwayville, Rattlesnake Junction, Beech Tree Mines, Bells Mines, DuBois and Punxsutawney, a distance of 140 miles south of Bradford and 182 miles from Buffalo.” Jefferson County was seventy-six years old, and Punxsutawney had grown from a small town to a borough during the 60 years before the railroad arrived. This article has been prepared by the Coal Memorial Committee of the Punxsutawney Area Historical & Genealogical Society. Resources used in preparing this article are from Newspapers.com, the Mengle Memorial Library, The Punxsutawney Spirit at the digitalcollections.powerlibrary.org, and the Library of Congress at http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov. Comments on this article may be directed to PAHGS, P.O. Box 286, Punxsutawney, PA 15767. Individuals desiring to honor a coal or coal related industry worker in 2020 are encouraged to purchase their tile by June 30, 2020. A Coal Memorial tile may honor persons who worked in any aspect of the coal industry including railroads and ancillary services. Additional information and forms may be found online at www.punxsyhistory.org or may be picked up at the Lattimer House, 400 West Mahoning Street, Punxsutawney. Forms may also be requested by e-mailing: punxsyhistory@outlook.com, or calling 814-9382555. ••• Between Saturday, March 21, and Monday, March 23, word of the turnaround at the plant spread by social media, resulting in a crush of new orders from other health care institutions, Ms. Walker said. “I’m not allowed to manufacture work gloves, so this is a way to keep our doors open,” Ms. Walker said. “I’m so grateful; the response has been overwhelming.” These are not the higher-level masks that are needed to provide the most protection, as the N-95 masks do. At a news conference Monday, March 23, state Department of Health Secretary Rachel Levine questioned the effectiveness of masks like the ones being made at Brookville Glove. “It’s wonderful to have homemade masks,” she said. “They’re not the masks that will be most necessary.” •••
Asking and Answering Questions By Marty Armstrong for Hometown magazine edia reporters are encouraged to answer the five “W” questions: Who? What? When? Where? and Why? Publicists need to do the same if they want to boost attendance at scheduled events and the historian’s story must include answers to these questions if the context of past events is to be understood. A pre-Groundhog Day visit to PAHGS by a group of scouts prompted the addition of a number of simple signs in the Bennis House asking the question, “What Is This?” Several more signs asked thoughtprovoking questions. Flipping signs over revealed answers and more. Readers should enjoy the examples which follow and be motivated to visit the Bennis House of the Punxsutawney Area Historical & Genealogical Society to answer these questions about what they see. It’s a bit of a scavenger hunt. What is it? ● When was it used? ● Who used it? ● Why was it used? ● Where in the museum is it?
M
House basement with other items from early farms and homes.
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WHO Early peoples, such as the Woodland tribes, crafted cone shapes out of birchbark to create moose calls, which is what this item is believed to be. Like other game calls used by hunters, the sound produced by blowing through the megaphone-like shape would attract the attention of the animal being hunted. This item is displayed in the Bennis House first floor Native Peoples exhibit.
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CRW Home Center WHAT This is believed to be a decorative diaper cover. In the days of cloth diaper use, an additional thick “soaker” cover was added, sometimes having a pretty covering. This was often hand knitted or crocheted by a baby’s mother for use when going out or receiving visitors, occasions when a baby’s diaper was likely to be visible. This particular item was unidentified and had no ribbon; the top area was made for the inclusion of ribbon or cord, generally described as ribbon lace. The bottom corner would have been pinned up. Such covers were certainly in use in the late 1940s, if not later. It is displayed in the Bennis House first floor room with other items crafted by homemakers.
WHEN In the years before the advent of wall-towall carpeting and carpet sweepers, families had rugs of all sizes—from small area rugs to room-sized rugs—in their homes. Those keeping house would, as needed and as weather permitted, take up these rugs, too heavy to shake, place them across a sturdy clothes line outside and beat them to cause imbedded dust and dirt to loosen and fall away. It was a big part of spring cleaning. This is displayed in the Bennis
Cabinetry for any room in your house WHY To corral sales slips when general or company store customers ran up tabs, merchants used devices such as this mousetrap-looking contraption to secure each family’s bills prior to eventual payment. It was used during the “mining boom” period when miners lived from pay to pay so that they could have the necessities needed for daily life. This is on display in the Bennis House basement in the Mining exhibit.
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WHERE Found in the Bennis House second floor Gentlemen’s Office exhibit, this cigar cutter played a significant role during the turn of the twentieth century when cigar smoking by gentlemen was ubiquitous. Cigars needed to be clipped before smoking to provide a smooth opening for smoking without disturbing the cigar’s shape. Part of the cap leaf is cut away while the rest remains glued around the end to hold the interior tobacco leaves in place. Other signs ask questions requiring thought. One recently added is this: - Continued on next page
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Punxsutawney Hometown – April 2020 - Issue #234 – 21
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This wedding dress was made by Velma Scherer out of parachute provided by fiancé Glenn C. Bowers, who served in the Pacific during WWII. Silk was unavailable in the U.S. then as it was controlled by Japan. Donated by the couple’s sons, the dress is displayed in the Bennis House first floor exhibit of items made or crafted by homemakers.
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After the Museum's COVID-19 closing is over, it might be well for readers to stop in to visit both the Bennis and Lattimer Houses with a mental list of the five “W” questions to be answered. •••
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22 – Punxsutawney Hometown – April 2020 - Issue #234
Continued from page 7 from Millmont to Madison ended up being about fifteen to sixteen hours in total. Once at the Dairy Expo, the judging began. Although this process is very broad and complex, London explained a few of the main qualities the judges look for when evaluating the animals. Generally speaking, a dairy cow with good mobility and the ability to handle her milk properly are among those characteristics which suggest the animal is healthy, an efficient milk producer, and, therefore, possibly eligible for a prize. Judges study the quality of the animal’s udder; smaller, more compact udders with protruding veins suggest good milk flow and production. “In a normal situation, cows are milked every twelve hours. When you show them, they have to hold more milk than they would normally,” London explained. Having to hold more milk is what produces that “veiny” effect in the appearance of the udder. The judges are interested to see how well the cow can “handle” its milk, especially when it hasn’t been milked within that twelve-hour time frame. “She handled the milk better this year,” he recalled. That
played a big part in her higher placement by the end of the 2019 Expo. Milk flow and udder quality aside, London explained another characteristic the judges look for: good mobility. If the animal has a smooth stride as they walk around the ring, that is a great sign. They watch to be sure there is no hint of a limp or any other abnormality that might suggest a sickness, a deficiency, or another physical complication. To compete at the Expo, dairy cows are separated into groups based on their age. Sally placed ninth out of twenty-two cows in her age bracket of senior three-year-old cattle from throughout the country. “All the cattle there are top of the line,” London said, which makes Sally’s award rather impressive. Her placement in the top ten—considering the wide variety of cows that go through the judging process—is noteworthy. Like many local dairy farms, London estimates that his family’s farm has been around for more than fifty years. In that time, they have only shown a cow twice at the World Dairy Expo, the first time having been last year in 2018 when they showed Sally as a two-year-old. He said it was exciting to witness her improvement from one year to the next, since she placed much higher this year. He said that seeing her improve was very rewarding: “There’s not a whole lot of money in dairy farming but having animals that do well in shows like that definitely helps with marketing all the animals on the farm.” Owning a dairy cow deemed to have some of the most ideal milk-producing qualities that are pursued by dairy producers has a positive influence on the farm and its owners. By placing at the Expo, Sally positively represented the operations at Londondale Farm and upheld the London family’s collective reputation as good dairy farmers. Her involvement and her placement reflect the care Londondale Farm gives to its animals, as well as their continuous efforts to ensure that their cows are strong, healthy and efficient milk producers. When asked whether he’d want to continue showing animals at the Expo, London replied, “I’d love to do it every year…the shows are kind of like my vacation from the farm.” He hopes he will be able to show Sally again next year, and, in the future, he wants to show Sally’s daughters at the Expo as well. Within the next eight months, she will have five daughters; one has been born already, and four are on the way. Jordan London’s older brother, Justin, has two young children, both under the age of two. Despite their young ages, the family hopes, of course, that they will choose to be part of the next generation of Londondale farmers when they grow older. “I’d like to see them involved,” London said about his niece and nephew. For now, it is far too early to tell what their interests may include, but the Londondale Farm will undoubtedly be present in their lives as they grow up. As for the future of the Londondale Farm, it looks as though all those involved plan to continue their life’s work—dairy farming—for years to come. They will likely continue showing their animals at the World Dairy Expo to learn ways to improve the care of their cows and to remain a successful, respected dairy farm in the Punxsutawney area. •••
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Punxsutawney Area Hospital Visitation Restrictions
unxsutawney Area Hospital is committed to the health, safety and wellbeing of the communities we serve. In doing so, we will be limiting the number of people in our facility through the following visitation restrictions, effective Saturday, March 21, 2020, until further notice.
Visitors for hospitalized patients at Punxsutawney Area Hospital will no longer be permitted, except for special circumstances.
In addition, one caregiver may accompany patients at the emergency department, Hospital campus physician offices and all hospital outpatient departments. Please be aware that depending on the circumstances, you may be asked by our staff to find an alternative place to wait, such as your vehicle. COVID-19 is a real issue and we are committed to keeping our staff and patients safe.We understand the importance of the support of friends and family to the healing
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(“From Our Past,” researched by S. Thomas Curry, features items of interest from past editions of Punxsutawney and area newspapers.) March 20, 1907 — Orders were received at the post office today to stop the mailing of all postal cards decorated with mica, tinsel or any foreign substance which might injure the machines or the eyes of those handling the mails. Nothing was said in the order against the mailing of leather or colored postal cards as was at first reported in the newspapers. (The Punxsutawney Spirit) March 26, 1890 — A special train on the B., R., & P. railroad will be run from Walston to Adrian on next Sunday, March 30th, for the accommodation of those desiring to attend services at the latter place. The train will leave Walston at 11 o’clock, a. m., stopping at Lindsey (Clayville) and Punxsutawney. Fare for round trip, from Walston, 25 cents; Lindsey, 20 cents; Punxsutawney, 15 cents. (The Punxsutawney Spirit) March 28, 1888 — Theo. Pantall is in Pittsburgh completing plans for the new hotel. He writes home that he will be home in a few days to let the contract for the excavation. He says that the building is to be 150 x 140 feet, containing five store rooms and 110 sleeping rooms. (Punxsutawney News) March 30, 1887 — The necessity of extending the borough limits is becoming more apparent every day and is becoming
the leading topic of conversation among those who take an interest in the welfare of our growing town. There is no doubt but that the borough is now pinched up and confined within a ridiculously narrow space. Men living within a few rods of the main boulevard are out of the borough and are compelled to send their children over into the neighboring township to school. It would be better for all concerned if the lines could be extended so as to take in M. M. Graffius on the northeast, Daniel Doncaster on the northwest, Bush Depp on the southwest, and Geo. Torrence on the southeast. The borough could then be divided into three school districts. (The Punxsutawney Spirit) April 13, 1887 — The baseball mania is again to the front and the public square is now used by the ball tossers. (Valley News) April 15, 1869 — ACCIDENT. - On Friday last while working on the Mahoning Street bridge a piece of heavy timber slipped out of one of the workmen’s hands and fell a distance of about eight feet, striking Mr. A. J. Monks on the head and hurt him so badly as to confine him to his bed for several days. (Punxsutawney Plaindealer) [Note: Until 1890, when an “iron bridge” was built to reach the East End section across Mahoning Creek, there was a covered wood bridge across the creek. There was also a wood bridge across the creek on Indiana Street.] •••
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Punxsutawney Hometown – April 2020 - Issue #234 – 23
24 – Punxsutawney Hometown – April 2020 - Issue #234