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HZ_STANDSPEAK/PAGES [A06] | 05/15/13

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A6 Standard~Speaker

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Revisiting the popular Standard-Speaker feature of two decades ago, we celebrate with pride the spirit of ...

Our

Towns

Jim Thorpe

ERIC CONOVER/Staff Photographer

A view of Jim Thorpe from Flagstaff Mountain.

Old Mauch Chunk rich in history, beauty

By JIM DINO

T

StaffWriter

he origins of Jim Thorpe borough date back to the beginning of the anthracite coal industry in eastern Pennsylvania.

In 1791, Philip Gimber discovered anthracite in Summit Hill. But miners had to find a way to get the coal to market.

In 1818, Josiah White, Erskine Hazard and George F.A. Hauto created a shipping port to deliver the mined coal to Philadelphia. This port became known as the town of Mauch Chunk, which is Lenape Indian for “bear mountain.”

Mauch Chunk became a railroad and coal shipping center, with the Lehigh River nearby.

In 1827, the Mauch Chunk Gravity Switchback Railroad was built between Summit Hill and Mauch Chunk. It helped move coal from deep mines in the Northeast mountains to market.

Used until 1877, the 18-mile railroad, later acknowledged as the first roller coaster in the United States, employed mules, then steam engines, to pull the cars up Mount Pisgah and Mount Jefferson. After

A postcard from the early 1900s shows a view of Upper Mauch Chunk and Mount Pisgah from Flagstaff Mountain.

1877, it became a passenger rail line used until 1933. Its tracks were sold for scrap in 1937.

The same year the Switchback was built, construction of the Lehigh Canal began. It took two years to build the canal on the eastern side of the Lehigh River, connecting Mauch Chunk and Easton.

The canal was built under the supervision of Canvass White, a relative of Josiah White, who also supervised construction of the

Erie Canal.

In 1843, Mauch Chunk became the county seat for newly formed Carbon County. The courthouse and jail were built on Broadway, the town’s main street, on land donated

by Lehigh Coal and Navigation Co. The jail, built in 1869, became a museum when a new county prison opened in Nesquehoning in 1995.

The original jail became part of local folklore for the “handprint on the wall” that was supposedly left

by one of two Molly Maguires who were hanged at the jail for murder and other crimes committed by the clandestine miners’ group.

On June 21, 1877, four Mollies — Alexander Campbell, John “Yellow Jack” Donahue, Michael J. Doyle and Edward J. Kelly — were hanged in the Carbon County Prison for the murders of John P. Jones and Morgan Powell, both mine bosses, following a trial. A scaffold was erected for the hangings; state militia with fixed bayonets surrounded the prison and the scaffolds.

Just before his execution, Campbell allegedly slapped a muddy handprint on his cell wall, stating it would remain there forever to shame the county for hanging an innocent man. That “handprint” has made the former jail a tourist attraction.

Six men also were hanged that day in the Schuylkill County Prison in Pottsville. Ten more were hanged at Mauch Chunk, Pottsville, Bloomsburg and Sunbury over the next two years.

In 1850, Mauch Chunk was incorporated as a borough of Pennsylvania, and four years later, East

&

See HISTORY, A7

Then Now Mauch Chunk Opera House

2013

1976

The former Capital Theater was sold in September 1976 for $5,000 to Now called the Mauch Chunk Opera House, it is owned by the two New York men involved in theatrical work. It was built in 1881 and Mauch Chunk Historical Society of Jim Thorpe and is leased and opened as the Mauch Chunk Concert Hall on Feb. 4, 1882. It would serve operated as a musical performance venue by JTAMS Inc., a Jim Thoras a marketplace and concert hall before becoming a movie theater, pe company. Dan Hugos and Vincent DiGiosio operate the opera house, which ceased in 1959. It was then used as a warehouse. which has hosted about 350 performances in the past 10 years.

More “Then & Now” photos on A9

TIMELINE A timeline of the history of Jim Thorpe: 1791: Anthracite coal was discovered by Philip Gimber in Summit Hill, nine miles west.

1818:JosiahWhite,Erskine Hazard and George F.A. Hauto established Mauch Chunk as a shipping port to deliver mined coal to Philadelphia.

1827:Construction of the Lehigh Canal began.Also, the first railroad in America, the Switchback Railroad,was built between Mauch Chunk and Summit Hill.

1843:The borough became the county seat for newly formed Carbon County.

1850: Mauch Chunk was incorporated as a borough of Pennsylvania.

1854: East Mauch Chunk, also known as“The Kettle,”was incorporated as a borough.

1860: Asa Packer Mansion was built.

1869: The Carbon County Jail, home of the famous “handprint on the wall,” was built.

1877:The Switchback Railroad ceased operation as a means of transporting coal, and became a passenger line.

1881: The Mauch Chunk Concert Hall was built.

1888:The Jersey Central Railroad was built.This building now houses the Carbon County Tourist Promotion Agency,the C&S (Carbon and Schuylkill) Railroad,and Switchback Railroad.

1894:The present Carbon County Courthouse opened.

1901: Flagstaff Park, atop Flagstaff Mountain to the north of town, was opened to the public.

1954: The boroughs of Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk voted 2,205 to 199 to merge as Jim Thorpe, exactly 100 years since their separation into two separate communities.

1957: The Jim Thorpe Mausoleum was built to house the remains of the legendary athlete.

1989: Jim Thorpe becomes the backdrop for a national television commercial for AT&T. 2010: The youngest son of Jim Thorpe, Jack Thorpe, petitions a court to move his remains back to Oklahoma. Earlier this year, a judge agreed.The borough is appealing the ruling.

HZ_STANDSPEAK/PAGES [A07] | 05/15/13

22:39 | SUPERIMPSC

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Standard~Speaker

A7

Revisiting the popular Standard-Speaker feature of two decades ago, we celebrate with pride the spirit of ...

Our

Towns

Jim Thorpe

History

(Continued from A6) Mauch Chunk, also known as “The Kettle,” was incorporated as a borough.

In 1888, the Jersey Central Railroad Station was built.

This building now houses the Carbon County Tourist Promotion Agency, which is run by the Pocono Mountains Vacation Bureau, the C&S (Carbon and Schuylkill) Railroad and the Switchback Railroad group.

Carbon County Commissioner Tom Gerhard said the county recently completed a $100,000 renovation of rest rooms in the building, and in 2014 intend to have the interior repainted and its floors refinished.

In 1901, Flagstaff Park, atop Flagstaff Mountain to the north of town, was opened to the public. Trolley cars first brought tourists to this scenic spot. During the Big Band Era, the famous Dorsey Brothers, who hailed from nearby Shenandoah, played Flagstaff’s “Ballroom in the Clouds.”

It was in 1954 — when the boroughs of Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk were going to merge, and were looking for a new identity that would boost business — that the new borough renamed itself after Jim Thorpe and built a memorial site for the Olympic athlete some 100 miles from the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, where the athletic prowess of the Native American first showed itself.

Thorpe’s third wife, Patricia, became angry when Oklahoma officials would not erect a memorial to honor Thorpe. So she made a deal with Pennsylvania officials, and they renamed the new community for Thorpe — exactly 100 years after they were separated.

Ironically, Thorpe’s heirs have fought over returning his remains to Oklahoma.

STAFF FILE PHOTO

Mauch Chunk and East Mauch Chunk merged into a new borough named after legendary athlete Jim Thorpe in 1954.

school band and a welcoming parade.

Getting there is no problem. Jim Thorpe is a mere five miles from the Northeast Extension (Interstate 476) of the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

In this community of outdoor recreation and artisans, Michele Varaly, a nutritionist, decided to put a small store on Broadway.

“It’s very cultural,” Varaly said. “You have your museums, your nice restaurants, different shops that carry a variety of different things that you don’t see at the malls.

There’s a lot of local crafts.”

Originally from St. Clair, Varaly moved to New Jersey for 13 years before returning.

“I looked all over Schuylkill and Carbon counties for a location for my business, but I kept coming back here,” Varaly said. “I searched for over a year, but kept coming back here.

There’s a certain kind of energy going on here. It’s more of a community than a shopping excursion.”

She acknowledges her store is different than what is around it, but she likes that The town idea.

“It’s (her store) not a tourIn 2012, Jim Thorpe was voted the fourth most beauti- ist attraction, but I do meet a ful small town in America in lot of people,” she said.

“From that point on, they tell the Rand McNally/USA other people. I have some Today Road Rally series. that do come back, but I have In a poll conducted by a lot that I educate, and they Budget Travel magazine, Jim Thorpe was ranked No. move on. And that’s fine. I’m 7 on a list of America’s Cool- all about educating people. est Small Towns in 2009. The I’m not going to get rich doing what I’m doing. I love town registered 3,920 votes. helping people.”

As a tourist destination, Where her store does fit in Jim Thorpe has many busiwith the neighborhood nesses that cater to white around it is that they are all water rafting, mountain biksmall businesses that cater ing, paintball and hiking. to the individual.

Located near downtown Jim “It’s all about getting back to Thorpe, Lehigh Gorge State Park has hiking trails that peo- the basics and supporting small business,” Varaly said. ple from all over come to use.

Jim Thorpe is home to the “It’s nice to support families.

You may be helping someone Anthracite Triathlon, an go to college, instead of a big Olympic distance triathlon open to amateur and profes- corporate official having anothsional triathletes. People can er house in another country.” swim at Mauch Chunk Lake, which also has camping cab- The attractions Along with sports, Jim ins and boats. They can ride Thorpe is popular among a bike along a course through the mining towns of railroading fans and is Summit Hill, Nesquehoning, known for its extraordinary architecture.

Lansford and Jim Thorpe.

Sites listed on the National Runners also have a course Historic Register include the that is generally along the former alignment of the his- Switchback Railroad, Asa Packer Mansion, Harry toric Switchback Railroad.

There is also skiing, white Packer Mansion, the original Carbon County Jail, Central water rafting, kayaking, Railroad of New Jersey Stafishing, hunting, and virtually every other kind of out- tion and St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. door recreation available Asa Packer Mansion, built year-round. in 1850 for the founder of the As the Gateway to the Lehigh Valley Railroad and Poconos, it is part of the Lehigh University, is a museregion’s 2,400 square miles um that has been hosting tours of mountains, lakes, rivers, since Memorial Day 1956. waterfalls and woodlands.

Harry Packer Mansion, And with other recreational pursuits such as minor league baseball, NASCAR Bear Mountain auto racing and casino gambling, the Poconos has become a one-stop playground for the world.

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The original Carbon County jail became part of local folklore for the “handprint on the wall” that was supposedly left by one of two Molly Maguires who were hanged at the jail for murder and other crimes committed by the clandestine miners’ group. built for Asa’s son, is a bedand-breakfast. The haunted mansion at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., is modeled after the Harry Packer Mansion.

Both mansions sit next to one another on a hill overlooking downtown Jim Thorpe.

Jim Thorpe is the home of a vast array of architectural styles including Federalist, Greek Revival, Second Empire, Romanesque Revival, Queen Anne, and Richardsonian Romanesque.

In 1881, the Mauch Chunk Concert Hall was built. It would serve as marketplace and concert hall before becoming a movie theater, which ceased in 1959. It was then used as a warehouse. It is now owned by the Mauch Chunk Historical Society of Jim Thorpe and is leased and operated as a musical performance venue by JTAMS Inc., a Jim Thorpe company.

On entering the opera house, visitors can see it has been remodeled closer to the floor. But the 25-foot high ceilings still have old-fashioned wallpaper that gives away the building’s age.

Dan Hugos, who operates the opera house with partner Vincent DiGiosio, said they’ve worked with the Mauch Chunk Historical Society (MCHS) to preserve the landmark venue.

“We have long managed all the improvements in partnership with the MCHS, repainting the outside, the new steel roof, seating, electrical, and a host of other changes and improvements,” Hugos said.

“It was all done without the benefit of any big individual benefactors, which are few and far between here in Carbon County. Rather, we’ve done it one $25 membership at a time.”

Hugos said JTAMS works closely with MCHS, offering any member $5 off every show they attend during their membership year.

He and his partner operate the opera house because they feel it is a special entertainment venue.

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“Our interest in the building can be clearly defined as not being about the money,” Hugos said. “We wear a lot of hats. For example, I work two other jobs, finance the place, emcee, market, work the box office and mop the floors.

And I’m happy to do it.

“The main reason we do it is that it’s a special place that transcends our involvement.

As a performance venue, we think it’s one of the best in the United States. We’ve had tributes, various big bands, classical, dance, and lots of other phenomenal artists.

We cover more musical territory than anyone, and we are up to about 85 performances a year. Our bands, all nationally touring acts, always play like the place is sold out.”

In the 10 years the two men have operated the opera house, it has hosted about 350 performances, including artists like Richie Havens, Aimee Mann, Paula Cole, Max Weinberg, Cowboy Junkies, Billy Cobham and Tom Rush.

“There’s something here in the walls that artists connect with and makes them perform like they just started. They never fax it in,” Hugos said. “This is why my business partner and I do this. We hope it works as a business, and it slowly is, but it’s also an honor.”

It’s not just Hugos who has that opinion. The Wailin’ Jennys recorded their live album there.

“If you look at Amazon and search for Live at the

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when the Olympics gave him the medals back. Anybody who can do the pentathlon and triathlon both, that’s something, man.”

Martin, who now lives in Marion, Ohio — near Larue in the middle of the state — told how Jim Thorpe’s legacy stretches to those two Ohio communities.

“He played football for the Oorang Indians,” said Martin, a maintenance planner and scheduler at a Whirlpool dryer manufacturing plant in Marion.

“It’s the smallest town to ever have an NFL franchise.

It was less than a thousand people then, and it’s still less than a thousand people now.

They never played any games in Larue, where the team was from. They played their games in Marion, which was the closest city.”

“It was the first all-Indian professional football team,” Lizzie said.

The tourists “The team was owned by Ron Martin grew up in the Lingo family, Oorang Larue, Ohio, the home of a Kennels,” Ron said. “They football team Jim Thorpe raised airdales. Jim had a played for and coached. teammate, Longtime Sleep, When Ron and wife Diana’s who used to run the railroad daughter, Lizzie, decided to track from Larue to Marion, attend Cedar Crest College in get drunk, they’d give him Allentown to study chemistry something to sober up, and with a concentration in foren- he would run back to Larue. sic science four years ago, It was about a 15-mile run.

Ron told the family they had They used to have a festival, to go to see Jim Thorpe. called the Oorang Bang, in But Lizzie’s four years went town every year until the fast, and they faced their last guy that started it died, and trip to Pennsylvania for nobody took it over.”

Lizzie’s graduation on May 11.

On a bronze plaque on one “I’ve been telling her of his statues, Thorpe’s play (Diana), we gotta go one of for the Oorang Indians was these times,” Martin said listed — as well as him playduring his visit to Jim Thor- ing against a future presipe on May 9. “This is our last dent, Dwight Eisenhower. chance to do it.

“Eisenhower played against “When I was in high him when he was in college,” school, we had a subject Ron Martin said. “He got hit called Famous Americans,

by Thorpe one time. I think it and (Jim Thorpe) was one of after that, he pretty much gave them we studied,” Martin up football They said he said. “I remember a lot of would run right smack over the stuff from there, plus me you. He didn’t care.” and some other kids like to jdino@standardspeaker.com read up on him. I was glad Mauch Chunk Opera House, you’ll hear why they recorded their live album here,” Hugos said.

And in its decade of operation, the opera house has boosted the Jim Thorpe economy, Hugos said.

“It’s an undisputed economic engine for the town as a result: hotels, restaurants, attractions, shops all benefit from what we do,” he said.

“However, in turn, we benefit from what they do as well. We all work together hand-inhand. We’re good for the borough, too. In 2012, the borough collected $18,000 in amusement taxes, of which $17,000 came from us. The county benefits from the parking revenue, and in general we attract the type of people that might want to stay here, residents and visitors, that may also start businesses here in the future. That’s a tangible and real impact.”

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HZ_STANDSPEAK/PAGES [A08] | 05/15/13

22:39 | SUPERIMPSC

A8 Standard~Speaker

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Revisiting the popular Standard-Speaker feature of two decades ago, we celebrate with pride the spirit of ...

Our

Towns

Jim Thorpe THE LIFE OF JIM THORPE

Jim Thorpe, above, is buried in Memorial Park, right, where statues honor the legendary athlete. The borough is appealing a judge’s ruling that threatens to remove Thorpe’s body to his native Oklahoma.

ERIC CONOVER/Staff Photographer

Battle brewing over borough namesake

By JIM DINO

In 1989, a lawyer representing Jim Thorpe’s estate, Irwin Owen, wanted Thorpe Has Jim Thorpe become a returned to his native Oklatourist mecca because of its homa. But three of Thorpe’s great natural assets, or 11 heirs wanted the estate because people wanted to dismissed. visit the gravesite of the legIn 2001, Jack Thorpe, endary athlete?

Thorpe’s youngest son, That is the question that wanted to return his father’s will be answered, once and remains to Oklahoma. On for all, if Thorpe’s family June 24, 2010, Jack got the members move his remains favorable court ruling to his native Oklahoma after In 2011, when the newest a judge ruled they could. statue of Thorpe was While Jim Thorpe may unveiled at the memorial have been the original draw site, Thorpe’s grandson, for tourists, they are now Michael Koehler, from coming to enjoy the many Minocqua, Wis., said he supoutdoor activities the area ports keeping the remains in ERIC CONOVER/Staff Photographer Jim Thorpe. offers.

Jim Thorpe Mausoleum Because of Jim Thorpe’s Years ago, Koehler noted, natural beauty — it has been Thorpe’s daughter, Grace gets 500 to 1,500 visits a day, back because it’s more of a of Lehighton, who reprecalled the “Switzerland of Thorpe, performed a Native community,” Varaly said. sents the borough and has America” because of its pic- at least four festivals per American burial ritual for Eileen Metro of Lansford, handled this case since its turesque scenery, mountain- year, and nearly daily promoher father. tion and marketing efforts.” who has worked at the Trea- beginning on June 24, 2010, ous location and architec“My grandfather has Hugos’ opinions are sure Shop along Broadway when grandson Jack Thorpe returned to Mother Earth. ture — merchants believe echoed by others in Jim for 16 years, also doesn’t filed the latest action, said nothing will change.

He lies on sanctified ground.

Thorpe. think there will be an effect. there are actually three facDan Hugos, who runs the My half of the family doesn’t “I don’t think it’s going to “I don’t think they (tourtions of Jim Thorpe’s family see any reason whatsoever to Mauch Chunk Opera House ists) come just to see the stat- with differing opinions on with partner Vincent DiGio- affect people coming to the change any of that — to distown at all,” said one womue,” Metro said. “It’s a shame the matter. sio, doesn’t think Jim Thorinter his remains and to take if they move it, but it won’t Schwab said one faction pe’s presence means much to an, who did not want to be him to some obscure plot in identified. “I think most peo- affect anything. There is opposes the current litigatourists.

Shawnee, Okla.,” Koehler tion and repatriation; the “I don’t think if Jim Thor- ple come here for the beauty enough here to do.” said to a rumble of applause One man who asked not to second initiated the litigape’s body is removed to Okla- and the activities.” at the statue dedication.

Michele Varaly, who has a be identified said he’s tion, and the third, Jim homa, that it would have any Hugos thinks Thorpe nutrition store on Broadway, against the move because Thorpe’s surviving spouse, impact at all on the tourist should stay where he is — feels the same way. “the financial effect will be has a contract with the bortrade,” Hugos said. “We voland has some special insight “Once people are here and great.” The borough would ough that conflicts with unteer for Jim Thorpe tourinto the issue. they experience Jim Thorpe, have to pay to move the repatriation. ism. There is a glossy Visi“My view on Jim Thorpe I think they keep coming remains, and no one has put The current plaintiffs tors Guide, a website that is that most of his own famia price tag on it. have admitted to waiting ly thinks he should stay here, The U.S. Middle District decades to file the court and with good reason,” Court ruling backs the action until certain family Hugos said. “He’s been honNative American Graves members passed away. How- ored here for 60 years. When Protection and Repatriation ever, the debate on whether no one else wanted him, we Act (NAGPRA), a law signed to move the remains has kept his memory alive and Taking phone orders for special occasions! by President George Bush in been going on for years. grew it, because he was a Wedding Cakes plus much more!

1990.

In 1979, Thorpe’s son, great sportsman — really the Open Friday, Saturday, Sunday 7 am to 1 pm Middle District Judge A. Richard, an employee of the first of his kind. He made Richard Caputo found for the Oklahoma Senate, said sena- sports in general what it is plaintiff in the lawsuit filed tors were doing research to 529 North Street, today. He was also a great Jim Thorpe

by Thorpe’s family seeking see if Thorpe’s body could be human being. His own to have his remains moved moved back to Oklahoma grandson, John Thorpe, told back to his native land in because there was an effort me personally that his Oklahoma. to change the name of the grandfather would have The court did not decide if town back to Mauch Chunk. loved it here.” the remains should be reloPatricia Thorpe’s agreement But if Thorpe has to leave, cated back to Native Ameriwas that his remains would Hugos said it should be hancan land of Sac and Fox be buried there if the town dled gracefully “because New Age Expo & Psychic Fair Nation of Oklahoma for were named after him. that’s what Jim Thorpe Jim Thorpe Memorial Hall repatriation. That issue will In 1982, Charlotte Thorpe, would have wanted. Perhaps th 101 E. 10 St. (across the Bridge) Jim Thorpe, PA 18229 be decided by NAGPRA pro- his daughter, and son, Carl we could have a delegation June 1 & 2 – 10am-6pm cedures in the future.

Thorpe, said his body should of people accompany his Attorney William Schwab be buried in Oklahoma. body on a train ride to OklaNational Psychics * Shamans Palms, Hair, Cards & Spirit homa, and shake their hands Readers, Mediums & Animal Communicator when the formal transfer is Energy Workers * Holistic Services, Bio-Mat, completed.

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A time line of the life of Jim Thorpe: 1887: Jim Thorpe was born May 22 in Prague, Okla. His father, Hiram G. Thorpe, was half-Irish and half Sac and Fox Indian, and his mother, Charlotte View, or No-ten-o-quah, was half-French and halfPotawamani Indian. She was the granddaughter of Black Hawk, the famous Chippewa chief. His mother died when he was 13, his father when he was 16.

1904: Thorpe entered Carlisle Indian school, scene of his brilliant college football career.

1911: Named first-team All-American at Carlisle.

1912: Named first team All-American. On Nov. 9, Thorpe and his Carlisle teammates defeat Army and West Point halfback Dwight Eisenhower.

1912: Jim Thorpe won the pentathlon and decathlon at the first worldwide Olympic Games in Stockholm. Sweden.

Thorpe scored 8,412 points in winning the pentathlon, a score that stood for 15 years.When King Gustav of Sweden presented the gold medals to Thorpe, he said, ”Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world.”

1913:Jim Thorpe’s medals were taken away when the Olympic Committee learned he had played two seasons of semi-pro baseball in 1909 and 1910 in Rocky Mount and Fayetteville,N.C., while he was in school.

1913: Jim Thorpe won the pentathlon and decathlon at the Amateur Athletic Union National Championship Trials in Boston.

1915: Jim Thorpe began his pro football career with the Canton Bulldogs.

1920: Selected as the first president of the National Football League.

1922: Organized, coached and played for the Oorang Indians, an allNative American pro football team.

1929: Jim Thorpe played his last professional game on Thanksgiving Day for the Chicago Cardinals.

1950: Named the“Greatest Football Player of the Half Century”and“Greatest Athlete of the Half Century.”

1953: Jim Thorpe died at Lomita, Calif.

1954: When the state of Oklahoma refused to erect a memorial to Jim Thorpe, his third wife, Patricia, made a deal to have the Carbon County borough take her husband’s name and remains. Almost since the time Thorpe was interred in Carbon County, family members have been trying to get his remains moved back to Oklahoma.

1963: Named a charter member at the founding of the National Professional Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.

1999: Grace Thorpe, the athlete’s daughter, visited Jim Thorpe to help the Jim Thorpe Sports Hall of Fame launch the campaign to have her dad named the Greatest Athlete of the 20th Century.

2000: “ABC’s Wide World of Sports”names Thorpe “Greatest Athlete of the Century”after thousands of school children wage a letter-writing campaign on his behalf.

2001: General Mills, the manufacturer of Wheaties, “The Breakfast of Champions,”unveils cereal box with Thorpe’s picture on it.

2010: Thorpe’s grandson, Jack, asks a court to return his remains to Oklahoma.

2013: After a court ruling in their favor, Jim Thorpe’s two surviving sons, Bill and Richard Thorpe, said they would begin the legal process to have their father returned to Sac and Fox land in central Oklahoma.

Jim Thorpe Borough Council voted to appeal the court ruling.

HZ_STANDSPEAK/PAGES [A09] | 05/15/13

22:53 | SUPERIMPSC

Thursday, May 16, 2013

Standard~Speaker

A9

Revisiting the popular Standard-Speaker feature of two decades ago, we celebrate with pride the spirit of ...

Our

Towns

Jim Thorpe

&

Then Now

Carbon County Courthouse

Civil War monument

circa 1900 The original gazebo in the downtown park marks the foreground of the Carbon County Courthouse.

The Navigation building, left, contains a platform at the corner of the building, complete with a flagpole.

For many years, there was a signal horn there that marked the end of each workday. The courthouse opened in 1894.

2013

The streets are no longer paved with brick and horsedrawn carriages have been replaced with automobiles in front of the 36-foot-high monument.

Source: Mauch Chunk Historical Society

circa 1910 Dirt streets in front of the Civil War monument honoring veterans of that and other wars were changed to brick around 1910. The monument was dedicated in 1886.

2013

Source: Mauch Chunk Historical Society

This view of the courthouse is now quite different.

Gone are the gazebo and the platform. The building to the right of the courthouse is gone and in its place now sits a restaurant.

ERIC CONOVER/Staff Photographer

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HZ_STANDSPEAK/PAGES [A07] | 04/24/13

22:49 | SUPERIMPSC

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Standard~Speaker

A7

Revisiting the popular Standard-Speaker feature of two decades ago, we celebrate with pride the spirit of ...

Our

Towns

Conyngham/Sugarloaf

Tree-lined Main Street is a staple of Conyngham and host to parades on holidays and other occasions.

JAMIE PESOTINE/Staff Photographer

Valley communities share history, identity

By KELLY MONITZ StaffWriter

D

awn Whitfield’s family moved to a 40-acre farm in the Smoketown section of Sugarloaf Township in 1926 — the year before she was born.

The family installed modern conveniences, such as indoor plumbing, electricity and phone service, in their home off Rock Glen Road, she said.

Neighbors, most of whom still didn’t have such amenities and relied on outhouses and kerosene heaters, thought her family, the Fichters, was wealthy, Whitfield said.

Her father actually worked for PPL, but wanted to try his hand at farming due to a health condition, she said. The Great Depression and inexperience cut his career in agriculture short, and he returned to PPL, she said.

Still, the Fichters stayed in Sugarloaf and for 85 years, Whitfield has called the township home.

—––—––— Sugarloaf Township traces its roots back 229 years to the Sugarloaf Massacre, a bloody engagement during the Revolutionary War in which Indians and Tories slaughtered 15 American soldiers who set aside their weapons as they rested at a spring near Conyngham.

A burying detail led by Lt. Col. Stephen Balliet came a week later. Despite the grim task appointed to he and his men, he noted the beauty of the area and richness of the land when he returned to Northampton County.

His brother, John Balliet, was the first to settle in the area in 1784 — four years after the massacre. The area where he and his wife settled and built a log cabin was a mile west of the village of Drums, across from where Krapf & Hughes Funeral Home in Butler Township stands today, according to Sugarloaf Township historian Helen Roth.

Roth’s great-grandparents, Peter and Susanna Roth Sr., bought land from Balliet, coming to the area after the birth of their 10th child, Sarah, in 1821. Their land encompassed Fritzingertown and the Keystone Job Corps Center in Butler Township.

Butler, Hazle and Black Creek townships were all part of Sugarloaf Township, which formed from Nescopeck Township in 1809.

JAMIE PESOTINE/Staff Photographer

The Valley Country Club sits at the base of the mountain that overlooks the Conyngham Valley.

With a creek cutting through the middle, Whispering Willows Park in Conyngham can be a relaxing place, but it also appeals to those who are active in sports such as baseball and basketball.

See VALLEY, A9

&

JAMIE PESOTINE/Staff Photographer

Then Now

CONYNGHAM FYI

Bridge on Butler Avenue facing west

1906 The first house on the left was later the home of John Busch, electrical contractor; the second house on the left was later the home of Bob Thomas, Conyngham police chief.

Source: “Celebrate Conyngham: A Centennial History of Conyngham Borough, 1901-2001”

2013

■ Conyngham Borough Council meets on the third Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. at the municipal building, 215 Main St. Members include: Rose Hart, president; Ron Schadder, vice president; Richard Sebring, Gary Gregory, Jim Susa, Jill Hawk and Lou Rizzo.

Conyngham’s mayor is Joseph Carrelli, and the borough secretary is Maureen Schramm.

■ Conyngham’s emergency provider is Valley

Regional Fire and Rescue, which has a station in the borough and one in neighboring Butler Township.

The borough has its own police force, which is headed by Chief Robert Hoats.

■ Frontier Communications is the phone provider, Service Electric is the cable television provider, PPL provides electric service and UGI is the gas provider. The borough does not provide trash collection, and residents hire the hauler of their choice.

SUGARLOAF FYI

Today, the bridge over Little Nescopeck Creek remains one lane, but cars and trucks rather than horse and buggy cross it. The boundary line between Conyngham and Sugarloaf Township falls just before the bridge when heading west.

More “Then & Now” photos on pages A8 and A10

■ The Board of Supervisors of Sugarloaf Township meet on the second Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. at the municipal building on North Main Street in Sybertsville.

Supervisors are John Wittig, chairman; Rick Weaver, vice chairman; and Earl Miller, secretary/treasurer.

The office manager is Judy James.

■ Sugarloaf Township Fire Company is the emer-

gency provider, and the township maintains its own police force, which is headed by Chief Josh Winters.

■ Frontier Communications is the phone provider, Service Electric is the cable television provider, PPL provides electric service and UGI is the gas provider. Like Conyngham, trash collection is provided by private haulers.

HZ_STANDSPEAK/PAGES [A08] | 04/24/13

23:01 | SUPERIMPSC

A8 Standard~Speaker

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Revisiting the popular Standard-Speaker feature of two decades ago, we celebrate with pride the spirit of ...

Our

Towns

Conyngham/Sugarloaf

&

Then Now Looking west from Butler Avenue to Main Street

1920s

2013

Ahead is the Bicking Store, which was rebuilt after fire destroyed the original building. Movies and dances were held on the second floor of the first store. The building then became the Bainbridge Gas and Electric store. The old Bainbridge home is at left.

Source: “Celebrate Conyngham: A Centennial History of Conyngham Borough, 1901-2001”

The intersection is now known for its single blinking light and as the gateway to Conyngham’s downtown business district.

Looking south on Main Street

1930s

A look south down an unpaved Main Street show’s that Conyngham’s most recognizable road was tree-lined even in its early days, and many of its buildings still stand today.

Source: “Celebrate Conyngham: A Centennial History of Conyngham Borough, 1901-2001”

2013

One building in this portion of Main Street once housed the Patriotic Order Sons of America lodge. The original building at 385 Main St. remains and is now a four-family apartment house.

Source: “Celebrate Conyngham: A Centennial History of Conyngham Borough, 1901-2001”

Early Valley life simple but not easy

By HELEN ROTH Sugarloaf Historian

What defines Sugarloaf Township? It is peaceful, tranquil, and quiet for most of the time. At one time everyone knew each other who lived on East County Road.

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Around Christmastime everyone visited homes to see their tree and presents. I remember my grandmother made homemade candy for the holidays and stored it in a cold room. I was warned not to sneak in and take any, as she had every one of them counted. “Not allowed until Christmas,” she would tell me.

Nature is at its best with all kind of birds, deer roaming in the fields, groundhogs digging holes throughout the farmland and around the barns and sheds. A casual walk can uncover nests of baby rabbits around the house. We pick fresh fruit from the trees, including apples, pears and peaches, as well as walnuts, cracking them with a hammer to use them to make cookies or other baked goods.

And there is nothing more breathtaking than a sunset with beautiful Sugarloaf Mountain in view.

When I was 12 years old I learned to drive an old farm truck with the gear shift on the floor. The men loaded hay on the truck and my mother stacked the hay. I was told I could not jerk the truck or I would upset the load of hay. I was not tall enough to reach the pedals; they had to put pillows behind me so I could reach. I picked all kinds of fruits and vegetables for a $1 a day from 7 in the morning to 5 at night with an hour lunch.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s a family used an outhouse for bathroom facilities, and an outside pump served for getting water out of the well. A farmer would take his grain to a grist mill to have it ground. I remember we had mush to eat until it came out of our ears.

We didn’t have to shop much at a grocery store, as everything was raised on the farm and preserved and canned for the winter

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months and kept in the cellar. Hogs were butchered, and chickens had their heads chopped off. After the chickens died you would put them in a hot bucket of water and pluck the feathers off. Cows were milked on the farm and thus, much of the food was right there on the farm.

Later many dairies in the Valley delivered milk to a door step with an outside wooden box to put the glass bottles in. Later they changed to cardboard milk containers. When I was a teenager there was a store truck that came around one day a week to the homes in the Valley; the man’s name was Gus Fink. I remember walking through the aisles with mother and grandmother to shop for things we didn’t raise or preserve on the farm.

As for school, I walked a mile and a half by myself each way in all kinds of weather. I walked through snow drifts, as the roads were not cleared like they are today. When I reached school, my teacher, Mary Fink, would take me near a large coal stove to warm me up and rub my hands. It was a one-room schoolhouse with no running water. When we got in the higher grades we carried water from a neighbor’s home that we pumped from an outside well.

It took two to carry the bucket on a broom stick. My friend Susan and I would go together most of the time and sometimes we would spill the bucket of water so we would have to return for another bucket — and we could stay out of class longer.

Mischievous, I guess you would say.

Now the buses pick children up at their door steps. I

See LIFE, A9

HZ_STANDSPEAK/PAGES [A09] | 04/24/13

23:13 | SUPERIMPSC

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Standard~Speaker

A9

Revisiting the popular Standard-Speaker feature of two decades ago, we celebrate with pride the spirit of ...

Our

Towns

Conyngham/Sugarloaf Life

Valley

(Continued from A7) —––—––— Earl Miller remembers picking corn as a teenager from a farmer’s field, where the Sheetz gas station and convenience store now stands.

“Route 93 wasn’t there,” he said, explaining the highway wasn’t built until 1944. “All of that section, there wasn’t a thing there.”

Businesses such as Gould’s, Stewart’s, Conyngham Builders and Tom’s Kitchen came later — after the new highway diverted traffic from Conyngham and Sybertsville, he said.

“Traffic went through Conyngham, right down Main Street,” Miller said.

Route 29 came down the Conyngham Pass, down Main Street in the borough, past today’s township municipal building in Sybertsville and past Sunny Knoll before ascending the Nescopeck Mountain, he said.

“It was all farms at one time,” said Miller, a farmer all of his life. “A lot of ground that I farmed are housing developments now. Brookhill — that was my grandfather’s farm years ago.”

And the farm stood in Sugarloaf, as Conyngham annexed the development, he said.

The Millers were among the only farmers in the valley that didn’t keep dairy cows, he said.

“Everyone had dairy cows to ship milk. We were the ones that didn’t,” he said, noting that now the only dairy farm remaining is in Black Creek Township.

—––—––— One-hundred fifty-three years after the Sugarloaf Massacre, a monument commemorating the historic event was dedicated on Sept.

9, 1933, along Walnut Avenue in Conyngham near the spot where Capt. Daniel Klader and 14 of his men were slain.

William T. Stauffer, who was president of the Thomas Nels Jr. Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, gave the main address.

—––—––— Carol Turnbach grew up on her family’s farm, the Bachman Orchard, along the Conyngham-Rock Glen Road, learning to drive a tractor when she was nine after her father gave up plowing with horses, she said.

She drove a tractor on the property, now owned by the Maylath family, right up until she married in 1953 — moving from one farm to another.

This one, Turnbach’s Dairy, is where she helped her husband, Theodore.

“We had cows and grew potatoes,” Turnbach recalled. “We used to ship our milk to Farmer’s Dairy (in Hazle Township.) When Farmer’s went out of business, it was the end of us.”

Her husband, a skilled carpenter, began building homes to bring the family out of debt, she said, noting that she’d seen many changes in her 84 years.

She remembers walking to a one-room schoolhouse,

the White Oak Grove School.

One day, she crawled on her hands and knees to school because the hill was so icy, and sometimes, her father would take her and others along the way to school on a horse-drawn sleigh, she said.

Now, children ride buses to new modern schools, Turnbach said.

Other changes come from development, bringing more people — some who worked in the Valmont Industrial Park in West Hazleton — to the valley, or the amount of businesses that sprung up along Route 93, she said. She understands why they chose to settle here, she said.

“It’s a beautiful and historic spot,” Turnbach said. “I’m very happy to live in our area.”

—––—––— Sugarloaf’s population today stands at 4,211, according to the 2010 Census. People age 50 and over make up the majority of residents at 38.7 percent, with those between 20 and 49 years of age make up 32.3 percent of those in the township. Twenty-nine percent are those age 19 and under.

—––—––— Ron Wolfe was born in Conyngham nearly 80 years ago and recalls a simpler time when people weren’t always rushing one place to another — and even stopped for children sledding down Main Street, he said.

“When they plowed the street, they plow to the gutter,” he said. “The kids would start at the top of Main Street on our sleds and come down Main Street and go to where the post office is now.

We had people at Walnut and Butler avenues stop traffic.

“Nobody complained about it,” Wolfe said. “You couldn’t do it today.”

He and his friends didn’t have the facilities the community provides for the children today, such as Little League which started after the war, he said.

“We used to make our own fun,” Wolfe said, recalling how they would walk over to the former Kis-Lyn School for Boys in Butler Township, now the Keystone Job Corps Center, for a pickup baseball game.

Back then, neighbors looked after neighbors, he said.

Wolfe remembers leaving windows open when the family went away for a week, and neighbors coming into the house to shut them — or his father learning about him smoking before he got home on the other end of town.

“People lived altogether different. People were more laid back and would help each other,” he said, adding that everyone knew each other in the borough.

The community spirit still exists in Conyngham, Wolfe said, though he may no longer know everyone in town.

“Everyone says ‘good morning’ or ‘good afternoon’ or ‘how are you’, whether or not you know them,” he said of his daily trips to the post office, still a gathering place

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—––—––— Conyngham broke from Sugarloaf Township in 1901 — incorporating as a borough. The first election of borough officers was held Nov. 12, 1901. Charles H. Knelly served as the first burgess, or mayor, while Emil Frederich, William F. Tressler, Frank Hutton, A. Reisenweaver, Peter Hetler, Otis Smith and George Osborne comprised the council.

Oscar Schaefer, one of the later burgesses, left office to serve in World War I, dying before returning home, said Jacque Wetzel of the Conyngham Valley Historical Society. His photograph hangs in the borough building, she said.

—––—––— Conyngham Mayor Joseph Carrelli can’t say enough good things about his town, which is all of one-square mile with some 900 homes.

The borough maintains its own police force and streets department, and offers amenities other communities don’t, such as a nature trail, the CVCO swimming pool and Whispering Willows Park, he said.

“You have the nicest park in the area. The park is gorgeous,” Carrelli said. “It’s a beautiful place to be, and it’s well used and maintained.”

A new basketball court serves as a gathering place for the area’s youth when classes end for the day, he said.

Carrelli, like most mayors, would like more progress in town, such as the completion of a connector path between Whispering Willows and the nature trail, or growth in the town’s business district.

—––—––— Conyngham’s first business was the Conyngham Hotel, built in 1815 along the LehighSusquehanna Turnpike — now the Brass Buckle Restaurant. One of the tollhouses was located in Conyngham, helping the area to grow. A second tavern, built by Samuel Harmon, opened shortly thereafter at the present site of Cuz’ n Joe’s at Main Street and Butler Avenue.

In 1820, a tannery was built on Main Street and Sugarloaf Avenue, and 18 years later, a windmill factory was opened by the Drumheller family. An iron foundry, making plow points and grates, opened four years later.

A distillery, the Hess and Robbins Distillery, which

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was across the street from the present day post office on Main Street, sold whiskey as far away as Mahanoy City. It closed in 1875.

By 1880, Conyngham’s population reached 400, and the town boasted three doctors, two blacksmiths, numerous other businesses, including a milliner for the ladies.

Charles Robbins opened a shirt factory around the turn of the century on Main Street, where the tea shop operates today. Fire consumed the factory, along with a Valley Herald newspaper plant, a candy shop, the general store and post office, in 1907.

—––—––— Llewellyn F. Dryfoos III wouldn’t live anywhere but Conyngham. He cites the strong community pride and sense of history the town preserves.

Dryfoos grew up in Sugarloaf, but many of his childhood memories occurred in the borough, where all of his friends lived.

“I’d ride my bike into Conyngham,” he said, recalling times at the CVCO pool, Little League, trick or treating and the Patriot’s Day pageant in 1976. “I was 12. I remember everyone setting out chairs where the gazebo is. They reenacted the Sugarloaf Massacre. It was fantastic.”

The entire community still shows up for events, such as the Memorial Day parade, Valley Day and the opening day of Little League, Dryfoos said.

“I wouldn’t miss (the events), because they’re such a part of the fabric of our community,” he said. “You go because it’s what everyone does.

“For Memorial Day, everyone puts a chair out to watch the parade and you go to hear the speeches. The kids recite the Gettysburg Address … and I know the Boy Scouts have been pulling that cannon down the street for 100 years, because there are pictures.

“My hope is one day my grandchildren will do the same,” he said.

—––—––— Conyngham’s population today is 1,914. Nealy half — 47 percent — are aged 50 and over, according to the 2010 Census. Those between 20 and 49 make up 33.5 percent of the population, while those 19 and under come in at 19.4 percent.

—––—––— John Cara’s business,

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Gould’s Shur-Save, and home are in Sugarloaf, but he doesn’t see the boundary lines through the valley nestled between the Buck and Nescopeck mountains.

“Conyngham and the Sugarloaf Valley are one tightknit community with all the capabilities, and easy access to big cities and shopping,” he said. “It’s a wonderful place to be. Everyone is friendly. We don’t have the problems you see in other areas.”

Gould’s, founded about 40 years ago by John and Ruth Gould, Cara’s in-laws, has always been committed to the community it serves — especially its children. The Goulds gave the CVCO the money to build the recreation center that bears their names and funded any number of youth programs in the valley from basketball to football, he said.

“It was always about the kids,” Cara said. “We haven’t changed that. We feel the same way. We’ve had kids grow up and end up being our employees. It extends the family.”

—––—––— Even though, Whitfield’s father wasn’t successful as a farmer, giving away produce to people who couldn’t afford to pay even a dime for a basket of tomatoes, the family enjoyed life in their Smoketown home — so named for two homes that burned on the land, she said.

She attended a one-room school, went sleigh riding in the fields in the winter and walked everywhere, including Sunday school at the Lutheran Church, she said.

“We had a wonderful life,” Whitfield said.

Jacque Wetzel, Helen Roth and the Conyngham Valley Historical Society contributed to this article.

(Continued from A8) didn’t ride a bus until I went to junior high school in West Hazleton. The eight years I walked every day no matter the weather — I was there.

Around 1968 and 1969 and several more years after there was a firemen’s bazaar held jointly by the Conyngham and Sugarloaf fire companies to raise funds to operate the firehouses and afford equipment. The companies always supported each other and everyone got along well. They had free bus service from parking areas in Conyngham to bring people to the Sugarloaf Fire Company grounds in Sybertsville, near the red light on East County Road.

For recreation as a teenager, we had a black-and-white TV with an antenna on the house roof. Every time a strong wind came up someone had to go up on the roof to change the direction of antenna for a clear picture.

In the summer a neighbor farmer had his grandsons come to stay for the summer to help out on the farm. So there were only around four or five of us and I was the only girl. If I wanted to play I had to play football or baseball with them, but I kept up and it made me tough. There were no public swimming places around then so Keller’s Creek was the summer hangout. On a warm day, it would be jammed with cars and people.

In winter time when we had snow storms, the road was not kept clear and we would sleigh ride from the top of of the hill. We often did this at night so we could see headlights coming and veer our sleighs toward the side of road or into a ditch.

Luckily, not many cars traveled the road back then. Too bad, because we could have used a ride back up the hill.

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HZ_STANDSPEAK/PAGES [A10] | 04/24/13

22:49 | SUPERIMPSC

A10 Standard~Speaker

Thursday, April 25, 2013

Revisiting the popular Standard-Speaker feature of two decades ago, we celebrate with pride the spirit of ...

Our

Towns

Conyngham/Sugarloaf

A map compiled by Ruth Heffelfinger for an early Luzerne County atlas

Businesses in Sugarloaf and Conyngham in 1873

In 1873, Sugarloaf Township and the village of Conyngham, which was part of the township before incorporating as a borough in 1901, had a variety of businesses, according to list provided by Helen Roth, the township historian.

They included: Benner, Samuel — Manufacturer and dealer in plows, stoves, iron railing, kettles of all kinds, castings, land surveying and promptly attended to. Conyngham P.O. Barlet, Stephen — Carriage and wagon manufacture, and blacksmithing. All orders done with dispatch. Conyngham P.O. Bird, H.F. — Merchant and milliner. Seybertsville P.O. (Note: Seybertsville was named after Henry Seybert, and the spelling of the vil-

lage’s name was later changed to present-day Sybertsville.)

Charles, William — Manufacture and dealer in all styles of light and heavy harness, whips and blankets. Conyngham P.O. Cresler, A.L. — Physician and surgeon. Conyngham P.O. Drum, Geo W. — Justice of the Peace, and dealer in harness. Conyngham P.O. Distelhurst, Francis — Cabinet manufacture. Conyngham P.O. Fisher, A. — Butcher and dealer in meats. Seybertsville P.O. Hetler, Abraham — Proprietor of Conyngham House. Conyngham P.O. Kester, O.P. — Carriage manufacture, and Justice of the Peace. Seybertsville P.O.

&

shoes. Seybertsville P.O. Senn, Jas. M. — Farmer. Conyngham P.O. Seiwell, William — Farmer. Seybertsville P.O. Smith, John — Manufacturer and dealer in lumber, lath and shingles. Seybertsville P.O. Snyder, Nathan — Farmer. Congyngham, P.O. Thomas, Aaron — Farmer. Seybertsville P.O. Turnbach, John — Merchant, milliner and farmer. Seybertsville P.O. Turnbach, S. — Carpenter and farmer. Seybertsville P.O. Yost, S.D. — Manufacturer and buyer of lumber. Conyngham P.O. Yost, Nathan — Farmer. Seybertsville P.O.

Then Now

City’s roots in Sugarloaf Two months after Abraham Lincoln’s birth in 1809, Sugarloaf Township separated from Nescopeck Township, forming a new 20square-mile township, according to a narrative prepared by Sugarloaf historian Helen Roth.

Sugarloaf, at the time, encompassed Hazle, Butler and Black Creek townships.

Tomhicken is the oldest village in the township, referenced as Tomhichen and

Linder, David — Farmer and stock grower. Seybertsville P.O. Miller, W.S. — Dealer in dry goods, groceries, boots and shoes, hats, caps. Country produce taken in exchange for goods. Seybertsville P.O. McMurtrie, E. & Son — Merchant and milliner. Seybertsville P.O. McMurtrie, J. — Farmer. Conyngham P.O. Ottenz, William — Tailor.

Pettit, Geo D. — Carpenter. Seybertsville P.O. Robbins, John F. — Resident.

Conyngham P.O. Santee, Philemon — Farmer and merchant. Seybertsville P.O. Santee, A.W. — Dealer in dry good, groceries, hardware, queensware, glassware, hats, caps and

“old town” in 1805 tax lists.

Seybertsville, now Sybertsville, was settled in 1811 or 1812 and named for Henry Seybert. The village was also known as Frogtown.

In 1839, both Butler and Hazle townships formed out of Sugarloaf, and in 1848, Black Creek formed. Hazleton Borough incorporated out of Hazle in 1851 and 41 years later, became a city – the second formed in the state.

Conyngham Pass

1900s A rough path into the valley gave travelers a clear view of Sugarloaf Mountain, the landmark conical hill that rises 1,677 feet above sea level. The mountain was first referenced by a colonial surveyor in 1787.

Anthony Weaver, a former ranger of the Revolutionary War, came to Sugarloaf in 1806, and bought 250 acres of land including the mountain for $400 in 1811.

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2013 Today, Route 93 is a threelane highway that winds into the valley, but the familiar view of Sugarloaf Mountain remains.

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We Are Open 7 Days a Week serving

Breakfast • Lunch • Dinner Mon.-Sat. 7am-8pm • Sun. 8am-8pm

Come Check Out All Our Homemade Foods & Desserts

Freshest Most Inexpensive Made to Order Breakfast in the Area!

656 Rt 93 Sugarloaf TomsKitchenpa.com 570-788-3808

HOT BUY

MIRACLE GRO POTTING MIX 2 cu. ft. for

$7.99

91 Welsh Road, Sugarloaf, PA

788-2361

Monday-Friday 8-5 Saturday 8-12

History lives here The Conyngham Valley Historical Society, at 470 Main St., is an ode to the early days of the two communities linked by history.

The museum is open Fridays from 6 to 8 p.m. and Saturdays from 1 to 4 p.m. Tours are available by appointment; call 570-788-8301.

Society meetings are held on the second Tuesday of every month at 7 p.m. Enter through the museum side entrance.