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Our Butternut

Book 1 Volume 50

Founded December 17,1912    Ceased Publication Thursday February 1, 1951
    The masthead appearing above and below is not an accident nor is it meant to be a gimmick. My dad, George R. Elliston was the owner, founder, editor, and publisher of the Palmerton Press. I am trying in my own way to keep that banner visible.
    First and foremost this thing makes absolutely no attempt to be a real newspaper. For that one must read the Times News at http://www.tnonline.com/news/ . I write this for my own enjoyment. I hope others will enjoy it also.
     Below is the actual lead slug masthead of the Palmerton Press in it's days of operation.
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 It now resides with son George R. Elliston 2nd.Here it is shown reversed to read.
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          At this time I want to acknowledge the deep debt of gratitude to all those who have supported me in this endeavor. My wife, Queen is my inspiration and greatly augments my efforts. She is my proofreader and censor and the one that attempts to keep me on the straight and narrow! Ha!  I realize that I sometimes drive her nuts with my ravings and antics. Sometimes the blue smoke emitting from my ears is not pretty. However, her love, support, and help have been indispensable. She surely has a way of cheering me up when I get too discouraged.     
    I am particularly interested in reaching not only current Palmertonians, but also former Palmerton residents, who may still find the old town a source of comfort and the remembrances of happy days.
        My son George, grandsons, Andy, and Jason, have been instrumental in making these things appear at all. They supply the technical expertise to put and keep it on line. I can type the words, but they keep the press running!
    Don’t expect much in the way of earth shattering events to appear here. This is how Queen and I live. Oh an occasional “Bobby’s” rant will appear. This is run as an autocracy not a democracy. Hey there is always the delete key. 
           At least with the addition of pictures these pages don’t have to stand on their literary merits alone. I also thank God for my mentors. They all suffer a now 78-year-old fool well. I wish to express my thanks to everyone. I also deeply appreciate the responses from my readers who seem to enjoy our view of life, as well as the pictures of our town and home.      
   Grandson Andy says this is basically a letter with pictures. Actually it is more of a diary with pictures.
  

dog   Saturday, October 30, 2004 8:41 AM 51 deg at Slatington E.S and 52.1 in the bus stop
    This is the beginning of a new week for these pages. This morning is certainly not any kind of a lovely day. It is damp dreary and foggy this morning. We went for our regular walk any way. My blood glucose was 131 and my weight was 195.
    This morning after breakfast as I started out the back door with my last cup of coffee it looked gloomy and damp. However I took a cushion with me and sat on garden chair up at the "tent" area. I was astounded at how beautiful it was sitting there under that magnificent maple canopy. Only now instead of green it is becoming a brilliant yellow. Even on a dull day such as today it is wonderful.
 
     This morning I took time to read three of my favorite columnists in the Saturday Times News. Saturday is my favorite edition of the entire week. I like their columnists. Admittedly I tend to read my favorites first but all of them are worthy of reading.
They can be found at, http://www.tnonline.com/news/columns

    I always read Pattie's column "Warmest Regards" first thing. This week she writes of the joy she had as she and her daughter Maria shared a short vacation together. She has the most wonderful manner of expressing some of our most human feelings and experiences. It is all written in basic terms to which we all are able to relate. I certainly wish I could write like she does. Hey she can even spell and has excellent grammar and proper sentience construction! <Sigh> You should see some of the stuff that Queen corrects!!  We both know we don't get them all. Perhaps our new joint proofreading method of editing will help a bit. One of the things that frustrates me is that this new medium has so much one needs to know to be able to do a proper job. For example, this new program I am learning to use to produce this page is something that needs to be mastered. Digital photography is another excellent example. I could do so much with my pictures if I knew more about it but I am so busy doing all the rest of the stuff needed to compose and configure this thing I learn just enough to do what I need to get along. I suspect that a strong streak on laziness has manifested itself. The last thing I want to do is to go back to school. I had a bad enough time the first time!! The thing that worries me is perhaps my standards are getting higher. Ha!!

    Apparently I must be doing something correctly because here is a message from George Ashman, who has consistently had problems viewing any or not many of the photographs.

"Bob - Thanks for your leaf cleanup at the Little White Church (as you reported this week).  Bob Borgia's name isn't nearly as complicated as you made it.  This time all your photos came through, and promptly, at that.    George"
 In spite of the dreary day with no sunshine these digital pictures still turned out very well.
  
  This first picture was taken from the corner of fist street and Columbia Avenue. The second picture a day or two before in the sunshine but before sunrise at the building.
 
   Next on my list is Virginia Smith, if she happens to have a column in the paper. I never met her but I really feel as though I know her. I suspect she is much like my Queen. A wealth of common sense and she seems like a very warm and caring person.She probably was the teacher I needed long ago in school to teach me proper punctuation, grammar, and sentence structure. <double sigh>

   Now, it is interesting to explain how these web pages are proofread. Gone is the old system of my printing a copy for Queen to read and mark errors in red. Queen sits next to me at the computer and points out my manifest glaring errors and I correct them as we go. Besides sometimes I can sneak a little kiss. <snicker>
 
Then there is Bob Urban's column. If I were he I would worry he thinks too much like me! We both agree on a lot of subjects. His column on the attributes and nature of Pennsylvania and Pennsylvanians is superb as the election nears. It is good stuff.

Often other staff writers have a column on a rotating basis. I like both Sharon and Linda' insights into whatever subject  They are writing about that week. Often Joel has a column in there. The Saturday paper is always an interesting read.
 
Tonight I made the supper. I had turkey balls [don't laugh] ground turkey that I steamed and cooked in a pan with baby carrots, two small potatoes, onion, celery, a few mixed veggies, and fresh mushrooms. After the veggies were al-dente.  I add a can of cream of chicken soup. That with some fresh tomato, cottage cheese,and a roll finished the meal. A cup of coffee and the very last of my birthday cake. It was still very good!!
 
Sunday, October 31, 2004 7:22 AM 56.6 at Slatington E.S and 55.9 in the bus stop
    It certainly looks like a great day this morning. The extra hour felt good.  It must have felt good to Butternut also. When Queen got downstairs he had stolen a graham cracker pie crust that was placed on the back of the kitchen table. We just bought it last week. He ate every crumb of it. He even chewed the pan and destroyed the plastic liner as well. Honestly!!. That damn beagle's nose causes more trouble. We really must be extra careful about things like chocolate for that could kill him.
    This morning is a beaut of a day. We went for our walk and I got some more foliage pictures. They are mostly the maples with their vivid yellows now. Most everything else is down. Today we are to have wind and that should pretty well finish the show. It has been spectacular though this year. The digital camera has really been a blessing.
    The colors were very good this morning. I took some pictures of  the cherry tree in front of the hospital.The first picture is as it appears today, the second is the same tree that was taken this spring. I prefer the spring!!

   

As we got up to the end of Columbia Ave, we saw a couple and their dog walking the pathway to "The Village" Then as we got down Columbia we were impressed with the picture of former Judge Heimbach's house. For those of you even older it used to be the Hendrickson house, across from George Ashman's present home. I have taken quite a few pictures of that place.That red maple is gorgeous. Timmy DeSousa also has a red maple that is simply a joy to behold. It is seen  in some of these past volumes

 

After we got back I went over in the church yard to get these pictures.

    

  

 After our walk I went up to the park bench area and took these pictures.The marvelous vibrant colors on a beautiful sunny day such as this makes all the difference in the world.

 

 I felt very fortunate to be sitting on that chair taking these photographs enjoying the beauty all around me. I am particularly grateful that I am not under one of those tombstones looking up at the tree roots!!  God's beauty is all around us but we must look for it.
 
This morning we went up to Lehighton for a few items we forgot the other day. We didn't  do anything spectacular, but it was mostly a chance to get out on a lovely day. On the way home, we stopped to get our prescriptions at Rite- Aid.
    
This afternoon after our naps I went out and ran the gas leaf blower up near the park bench. Queen came out later and raked a bit. Those loverly yellow leaves are now a royal pain in the.patootti!!
   
This evening we had guests for dinner. Belva and Fritz stopped by on their way home from a meeting Fritz had in the New York City area. He was speaking there today. So they broke up the trip stopping here and shared our meal. It was good seeing them again. We always enjoy all the kids visits.They both seem very well.

  .
Monday, November 01, 2004 7:07 AM 50 deg at Slatington E.S. and 49.4 in the bus stop
This morning  I was up at the park bench with my 8 O'clock jump start for my heart and sat there watching the rest of the world heading off to work. It occurred to me that as often as I am up there in the morning, I often hear migrating geese flying north in springtime but I don't recall seeing or hearing geese flying south in the fall. Perhaps they all take the train!!   

This morning my blood glucose is 138 and my weight 194. Today is the "dreaded sheet day". I changed my bedding last night before I went to bed. At least this usually means God's restaurant will be open serving Queen's spaghetti, Ahh!!

 We just got back from our morning walk. It is great to be able to walk and talk with someone you love. You can carry on some pretty important conversations. Since the loss of the tent area we no longer have a good place to keep in touch with each others thoughts and ideas under such lovely circumstances.
We noticed that the new house has a railing installed around the front porch.  
      

 I presume that I will be outdoors this morning on the leaf detail. It really is kind of nice to be out there particularly if the weather isn't too cold and raw. This should me a nice day for it.

This is what was ready for us this morning as a leftover from yesterday.
    This morning after I got back from downtown I started with the leaves. As I progressed a young lady who had been doing the wash appeared with a rake. I took her advise and we raked them onto a tarp and I dragged it down to the street via Mike and Jeans steps. The next time I took an old piece of metal clothesline and snaked it through all the grommets on the tarp, then dragged it to the swale and pulled it down. Finally on the last one I did the same thing but I used nylon cord. I had problems getting the damn thing open using  the metal wash line. Now when I had it down there I simply pulled out the nylon cord and Eureka, it all came apart nicely. By that time my back gave out and I had to quit. Just about the time I stopped I had finally figured out how to do the job more easily, <figures>

 After the third load Queen came down to the street with the rake to properly "arrange" them in the gutter. In the meantime I went up to sit and rest. Suddenly as I looked up I saw Queen being interviewed by TV 13. So now she is famous.
     

This afternoon after lunch the old man went up for his nap but first took a HOT shower. That really helped but I knew I had enough. Queen was dog tired also. Not only did she help me but that meant she was was neglecting the wash. She finally got that done.

This evening we dined in God's restaurant with Queen's spaghetti. As usual it was wonderful. Once again with great restraint I saved half of it for a lunch later in the week. I love leftovers like that. Some her casseroles meet the same fate.

Earlier I had written to son George about a couple of problems which he solved for me easily. In his reply was a wonderful site which I am including.

He and Grandson Andy are avid railroad fans. Andy even takes a personal interest in the trains themselves with active participation with the railroad authorities down at the rail yards.
Since they both are so active in it, George took his camera down to the yards and photographed a movie of the re-built Pennsy E-8 locomotive.

Queen appeared on the TV 13 news tonight as the lead off person being interviewed in Palmerton about political campaign literature.
Tuesday, November 02, 2004 7:11 AM 43.6 at Slatington E.S and 46.2 in the bus stop, Election day
This morning it looks like the beginning of a nice day. However showers are expected as the day goes by. I am heading out with my coffee now!!
   
This certainly turned out to be an interesting morning. We went for our usual walk and when we returned to the house, Butternut injured himself in greeting Queen. He jumped up to greet her, missed her, and caught his paw on the door frame and tore a claw almost off. This meant an emergency call to Dr. Squires at the Forest Inn Veterinary Hospital. We had breakfast and then it was a quick trip there and we were back about 10:30 AM.
   
Butternut just loves Dr Squires. She says he is a very lovable gentle dog with a very good disposition.
 
We all like her a lot
   

She has him all fixed up now. He is having some problems getting around but he isn't in any apparent pain

We got back put him in his crate and then went to vote.
The polls were quite busy this morning but  there was no line at our voting place. The picture on the left below was sent me by Steve Jensen who was there to vote about 7 AM.
When we got there Suzy Arner, in yellow, was waiting for voting authorization.
    
Our district polling place is at the Palmer House on Delaware Avenue
             
    Francis Binder and Serena Berlow where in attendance.  Serena is the person in charge for the voting in this district.

The entire operation  ran very smoothly


Joann and Steve Takas


This afternoon we worked on the leaves a bit more. Not as hard as yesterday but since the nice day was a bonus we availed ourselves of the chance.

Tonight for supper Queen had sauerkraut, pork, and mashed potatoes. I think it will be a first for the fall season. It was very good.

Butternut seems quite low key today. He has some difficulty walking but he is in no apparent pain and seems quite good.


Wednesday, November 03, 2004 8:02 AM 46.8 at Slatington E.S and 50.5 in the bus stop
BUSH BREAKS ALL-TIME POPULAR VOTE TOTAL, SURPASSING REAGAN...
 I saw the above on the Internet this morning. Needless to say I am pleased.


This photograph I took off the wires of President Bush accepting Senator John Kerry's concession call.

I am sure that anyone who reads my web page with any frequency must know my feelings about the political scene. At times I thought after viewing television and reading some of the prominent newspapers that Queen and I were probably the last vestiges of what I saw as a vanishing breed of conservative voters left in the entire world. CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, the New York Times, and the Allentown Morning Call not withstanding. Thank God for Fox news!!! It now appears that even the exit polls were rigged to provide misleading indications so that others would be discouraged to vote and stay home. Well, it didn't work!!

 I am pleased that in this world of "spin doctors", it appears that many of the citizens of "The United States of America" saw the same things we saw in George W Bush. A decent honorable man. As I was resting in bed this afternoon I saw the President's acceptance speech. Oh to be sure there were all of the usual praises for his supporters and close associates. I was impressed by his special request to speak to all of those Americans who voted for his opponent. He was reaching out to mend old wounds.
 
 It was my understanding that in Mr. Kerry's phone call to President Bush this morning, Mr. Kerry told the president that this country is far too divided and that it must stop. Then he stressed the need for bringing us closer together. I give John Kerry credit for taking that position.
 However at the beginning of his speech President Bush spoke of his friends and relatives but when he called his wife Laura, "the light of my life", it brought tears to my eves because those are my very feelings for my Queen. I often call her "the light of my life".That really tugged at my heartstrings!! I hope and pray that this country will now come together.
May God bless The United States of America.

This morning my blood glucose was 137 and my weight was 194.
 
We went for our walk this morning. It is not cold but there is a brisk north westerly wind blowing.
   
On our walk we met Mrs Carl Kegel. She said a bear was in her bird feeder and earlier it got into the garbage cans at the Episcopal Church from the day care center's garbage.   
 
Later Queen went down to Spillane's store to deliver two copies of the"bottle" picture I took last week to April, the young lady who is the bottle's owner, but primarily she went to get a repair for the bandage on Butternut's paw that he tried to remove. After a quick fix we decided after calling the Vet's office to get him a pair of baby socks for his foot. She said just keep it clean and do not get it wet. Then we stopped in at the TN and spoke briefly with Pattie and headed home
.
 

    After we got back it was off to the leaves and more raking and blowing of them. It is very windy today and if you want to move them the way the wind is blowing it is great. Unfortunately that was not the case. It was like spitting into the wind. Sometimes looking at the huge carpet of them can be very discouraging. I feel it is more like peeing into the ocean because there seems to be no end of them.<Sigh>  After a session with the tarp I finally had to go back to the old system of getting them to the swale and blowing and raking them down to the street. They were too awkward and hard to manage efficiently in the tarp. Once again my back gave out and I had to quit. Helen Hayes said, "Getting old is not for sissies". Very true!!
 
Tonight for supper we finished the ham slice, a small yam each, broccoli for her and brussels sprouts for me. It was accompanied by applesauce, cottage cheese and a sliced tomato. We had coffee and ice cream for dessert. At lunch time I had my spaghetti from Monday. Wonderful!!

 Thursday, November 04, 2004 7:31 AM 30.8 at Slatington E.S. and 32.6 in the bus stop    
 It is a cloudy day this morning. Rain is predicted. We went for our walk and after I got back, I took the garbage to the alley and got out the leaf blower. Then I re-arranged the leaves down at street level. Supposedly the super sucker crew will be by today to pick them up,

In the course of our walk I did see one sign that I considered very appropriate. I strongly suspect that many good Democrats saw the same things in the president as we did. In many respects George W reminds me of a famous Democrat who was the right man at the right time in our history, namely, Harry S Truman. An ex-haberdasher who also had his business failures and compared with the patrician, FDR, was a very much plain spoken and unsophisticated man who was not universally respected for his intellect.
I understand his wife Bess had a hard time to finally get him to say "manure" instead of my favorite expletive.

I can think of several good Democratic friends whom I suspect did as we did. I may not always agree with the public's decisions but we must respect them.

I was interested to see in the Times News that Carbon County which has an overwhelming Democratic registration went solidly for George W Bush. The electorate is NOT stupid. Well that is enough politics!!

Good news this morning in the US post Queen got her report from her Pap test from her gynecologist's visit. All was well. That is always great news.

After I moved the leaves around this morning, Queen was out cleaning up the yard and she took some more of them to the street before the super sucker came by or the predicted rain started.  I also pulled out my tomato plants, bagged them and took them to the alley. Then I planted two plants Queen had in pots before the weather turns cold..

After my nap I looked out the bathroom window and saw much to my disdain the beautiful brilliant yellow maple in the church parking lot is rapidly becoming a skeleton of its former grandeur. <sigh>
 

Golly it won't be long before I will have to drain the gas and run the lawnmower dry and place it in the back of the garage basement and get out the snowblower!<Groan>

I see in tonight's Times News that the Little Gap Historical Society will be opening an office in the building that once housed Tommy Goodrich's coffee shop at 410 Delaware Avenue. Peter Kern, head of the Chamber of Commerce, was instrumental in bringing this about. They certainly now have a choice location for their office. Below is the complete story.
 
Betsy Burnhouser, Dr. Howard Cyr, and Peter Kern (Times News photograph)

By MARY TOBIA

"Wishin' and hopin,' thinkin' and prayin', plannin' and dreamin'" are the few opening words of a 1965 Dusty Springfield hit song.

"Wishin' and hopin,'thinkin' and prayin,' plannin' and dreamin'" are the same words that The Lehigh Gap Historical and Museum Society members may have used in referring to a heritage center in Palmerton.

Ever since the society was organized in 1990 its dream for the future was to some day open a Heritage Center. Through this the Palmerton and surrounding areas could learn and understand more about the town's historical past.

This endeavor will soon come to pass with the help of Peter Kern, president of the Palmerton Chamber of Commerance and from Horsehead Community Development Fund and the Julius and Katheryn Hommer Foundation.

The building, that was once "Tommy's," the town's popular coffee shop at 410 Delaware Ave, will be leased and will become known as, The Palmerton Area Heritage Center, as of the first of the year.

"Betsy Burnhouser, (long time historical advocate and secretary of the historical society) and I have been talking about this project for the last two years," said Kern. "We have been looking for the appropriate place. We [JUMP]found this in what was Tommy's.This is a great location, with store front access, convenient location between the library and Berts and the building itself has plenty of history surrounding it".

The center has hopes of drawing more tourisium to Palmerton. That may in turn bring economic stimulation, but most of all the center will be for educational purposes and enjoyment of reliving "those good old Days"

Although Kern has promised to secure the initial funding, it will be the responsibility of the Historical Society to maintain the center. The Historical Society will be working hard to open the center but once it is opened they are hoping for the support of the different churches, clubs and organizations in the area to help out with volunteer staffing.

"This is not just our Heritage Center. This will benefit the whole community of Palmerton.We want this to be a community project,"said Burnhouser.

So far the clubs and organizations have been very receptive to the opening of a Heritage Center in Palmerton. Projected days to be open are Wednesday ­ Saturday, hours will be discussed later. The Center could also open for special events or planned programs, such as school tours, etc.

"The Heritage Center has been in our vision since 1997. The repository in Borough Hall was just the first step we took in the right direction," explained Jane Borbe, president of the Historical Society.

The repository and archives will still remain in Borough Hall. Artifacts and displays from the repository and exhibits from area churches clubs or organizations will be set up on a monthly rotation basis. A small area will be sit up for the sale of the Historical Society's merchandise.

Work on the Heritage Center is slated to start in earnest in January. The historical society is hopeful that a grand opening will take place in early spring

I know Betsy has long lamented the lack of a convenient spot in a specific location where the public had ready access. This is a big step forward for them.They are are hard workers and valued members of the community.

Friday, November 05, 2004 7:06 AM 42.4 at Slatington E.S. and 41.7 in the bus stop    
  It is a windy chilly but clear morning today. We will be going for our walk shortly.

<8:01 am> we are back. It is a great day outside but it is really windy. As usual I took the camera along but the good foliage pictures are just about done. There are a few yellow maples and some red maples and oak but almost all are now bare.
  
They are really past their peak
  
This morning we plan to go shopping.

<Later> All went well and were returned about 11:30 AM. The stores were very busy and crowded this morning however that is nothing unusual for a Friday.

 Butternut is coming right along in his recovery. We think by Sunday the bandage will be removed. He seems very well.
 Here is the latest shot of him.
 

    After we jointly proofread this page it is about ready to go on line.
    Please Love one another, Mom and Bob [Queen and Bobby]

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