"FAMILY"
November 5, 2004
Church on the hill By Linda Kohler
St. Matthew's United Church of Christ in Kunkletown celebrated its 225th anniversary on October 31, 2004. I have been a life-long member of St. Matthew's. As have been my parents, my grandparents...
My ancestor, Abraham Schmidt, arrived in the New World from Germany around 1759. When he landed in Philadelphia, he heard about the lush and beautiful valleys across the Blue Mountain range. Trekking there by horse and cart, he bought land in 1774, built his farm in the area of the Moravian mission station, Meniolagomeka, which means, "fat land among the barren." This area is known as Smith Gap.
Early settlers often met in each other's homes or barns to worship. I imagine they finally decided they wanted a "church" where Sunday services could be held and could act as a school for their children. Abraham donated a beautiful tract of land for the church/school. It was a lush green hill overlooking a valley facing the Blue Mountain.
I picture Abraham as one of the men who cut down the trees for the clearing of the land and that he had a hand in the making of the logs needed for the church.
But the project was abandoned when the American Revolutionary War broke out. As the downed logs aged, men and women fought for independence of a new nation.
When the war was over a few years later, I envision Abraham as part of the work crew of dedicated German Lutheran and Reformed Christians as they erected the 26 by 34 foot log church on the hill. St. Matthew's was consecrated on October 27, 1779 as a union church.
As the area grew, so did the congregations. A new church was built in 1846. A 40 by 60 foot stone structure replaced the little log church. Still on the hill. And again, I believe members of Abraham's family were on hand to help lay the stones.
Now this is the really neat part of the story.
Somebody must have made the suggestion that a part of the log church should be incorporated in the new church. So a log was included somewhere in the construction.
In 1900, a wooden structure replaced the stone church after a fire ravaged it. Without written documentation, I'd like to believe that it was one of Abraham's many descendants who found the log, and suggested that again it should be placed in the new church.
In 1955, Hurricane Diane tore off part of St. Matthew's roof, destroyed the pipe organ with other additional damage. The log was found. Fear of losing this bit of St. Matthew's heritage, it was decided not to incorporate it in the actual structure anymore.
Instead, the pastor of the Reformed St. Matthew's, the Reverend Adan Bohner, and a friend, Harry Boyer, took the beam and made a cross, two candlestick holders and a baptismal bowl out of it. Now the log was no longer in jeopardy of being damaged or lost. It would be forever preserved in another form for future generations to look at in wonder.
All of these facts came alive for me the year I was carrying my first child, another descendant of Abraham Schmidt. Suddenly my family tree became very important to me. I realized that Abraham and his descendants have been a part of St. Matthew's history from it's inception. I grabbed hold of my heritage and found it something to be very proud of.
When it came time for my daughter to be baptized, circumstances arose that allowed another of Abraham's descendents, the Rev. Perry Smith, to officiate at the ceremony. He used the baptismal bowl made out of the log from the first original St. Matthew's church, built on the land that my great-great-great-great-great grandfather donated.
On the day we celebrated the 225th anniversary of St. Matthew's, the church was filled with many descendants of people who were part of the first log church, not just Abraham's. Over the years, new members joined St. Matthew's and planted roots, adding their logs to our growth. We are one family in God's name.
We are still growing. And we will continue to build, spiritually and figuratively, one log at a time. I'd like to believe Abraham would approve.

    I often see articles in the Times News that I would love to place a link here where anyone could open and read them on this site. A good example is Reverend Canon Doris Bray's weekly religion column. I always read it but there is no link to it. I would have to scan the newspaper, edit it, size it, copy it, and paste it here. That is way to complicated a process to do with the time and labor constraints that have happened with this new web page..Perhaps sometime that too will be available.

    Queen already thinks the this web page is out of hand for me. She tells me that I spend way too much time at it. I realize it and am going to try to do better. I do have to keep things in perspective. If I get her mad at me I am in big, big trouble!!I am not that stupid!!

his morning I presume it will be another shot at raking the leaves. By the time they are all gone the old man will not be getting as sore in the shoulders. Next it will be training for snow shoveling. <Sigh>

<11.15 AM> That is it. I must quit. We really made a lot of progress this morning. All of the dogwood leaves are down and 3/4 of the maples are down and for the most part removed. Queen is still working but has promised to quit soon.

We went for our walk this morning and I got some pictures, The first are some interesting colored leaves Queen saw them in the wooded area at the Donald Behler's home. It is a very interesting color display. The telephoto lens does a good job.
OOPS!
Apparently I goofed in last weeks story and I must provide a correction to my article on the new office in Tommy's coffee shoppe! This was sent to me by Betsy Burnhauser!

"The society is not opening an office in Tommie's. It will be the Palmerton Heritage Center. There is no connection between it and our repository except that the items on display will come from some of our collection in the archives. Part of it will be permanent displays in addition to some displays which will revolve periodically. We will also be doing some "special" events at times. It will serve as a place to sell our wares - sweat shirts, tee shirts, plates, videos, brochures etc. We have received positive responses
from other community groups who will volunteer to help staff it once we have decided on the days and times during which it will be open. Although the society is the driving force, it should be a  community effort once it is established. Our headquarters remain in the "Hood House".

Sorry about that!!
 Man it is going to be a nap for this old geezer this afternoon. I must say for an 87 year old woman and a whippersnapper 78 year old "old" man, we do quite well. However when I complain Queen just laughs at me!!

 I am sitting here this afternoon reading my favorite websites for news. One of them is Drudge. He certainly is not always right, but his web page offers links to virtually any viewpoint. From Al Jazeera to the rightest of right wing stuff!! I see they are virtually all discussing the eminent demise of Yassar Arafat,.Now the Palestinians are now accusing  the Israelis of poisoning him. "Arafat's doctor, Ashraf Kurdi, told the Al Jazeera satellite TV network that, "Arafat's health condition makes poisoning a strong possibility."Israelis, who gave Arafat safe passage from his West Bank compound to a French military hospital last week, denied the charge."  My God the Israelis could have killed him long ago. I remember a way back when that noted philosopher and wise man, Mr Alfred P Davies said," My God is Arafat still alive, I thought they killed him long ago".  I guess that it is human nature to look for conspiracies. Somehow it  seems kind of fitting to me that the French have him. They deserve each other!!

This evening Queen took the dog outside and called my attention to the evening sky. So I went  out and got this.



It is interesting to note that most of those structures are still there but in use far differently than in those days. At the location of the hotel on the right side of the picture is a new business called Dynamite Woodworking. They sell and install kitchens and home renovations in general. On the left side the buildings have been renovated into the Sportelli professional and medical complex. On the same side of the street, unseen in this old picture, is Dr Nicholson's medical practice. It was built on the site of Paul Smith's Sunoco gasoline station.
Sunday November 07,2004 42.7 at Slatington E.S. and 34.8 in the bus stop
    It is a nice day out there this morning. Butternut and I went out with my coffee and sat a bit up at the glider area. There isn't much activity this morning as we were sitting there. I saw that some more leaves fell over night but there are not too many more left to fall. We both overdid it yesterday and are not up to speed today. We both plan to take it easy.
 
It is with much sadness I note one again the sun streaming through the east side door window is almost out of range here at my work station. I always look forward to it in springtime but not so in fall. This happens only twice a year and lasts for about a week.

We went for our walk this morning but cut it about a half a block short. It is a beautiful day without a cloud in the sky.
  
This morning we went to Walmart and Giant. Once again mostly just to get out on a wonderful day. We are just taking it easy. We are both done in from all that physical labor!! We are OK but just tired.

I got this from Dave Engler :
Bob:
     I have recently been given a number of newspaper clippings (circa WW2) by a former SSPHS classmate (1939).  Sadly, no identification of exact dates nor newspaper(s) from which they were taken, exist.  I have "scanned" and cropped a few that may be of interest to you and/or your readers.  The first is of the Palmerton Band of 1924.  Perhaps some of your "older" readers might recognize a few of the members, or at least some of the names.  
Next is self-explanatory.  Is that the "Bob" Silliman who still lives in town (600 block of Lafayette when a member of Boy Scout Troop #42)?  And is he the cousin of Charlotte Silliman, formerly of 544 Franklin Ave?  Also the cousin of Sheldon Silliman, a classmate of mine who lived on the 600 block of Franklin?  Incidentally, Harold Elliott in this picture was the brother of John Elliott, my H. S. class president.
 
Now, was the "Palmerton Star Press" an "overseas" version of your family's newspaper?  Herewith, a clipping that refers to it.

                                                                              Sincerely,  - Dave Engler

Monday, November 08, 2004 38.1 at Slatington E.S 40.2 in the bus stop     
 It is a clear chilly morning today. The blood glucose was 135 and the weight 195. We were off to an early start this morning. Now we are back from our walk at 8AM. We met Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Haydt on our walk. They too are readers of these pages.

Queen has a wash this morning and after a few chores downtown I will be out in the yard with the leaves. The job is not nearly as daunting as before we started. Queen has strict orders not to come out to work at the leaves. It should not be too hard now. I will do what I can and that will be it for the day.

10:40 AM. I have done as much as I am going to be doing today. I raked and blew most of what was down since the last "work party". It was not too bad. I corralled them to the swale, blew, and raked them to the bottom. Then I raked them out to the gutter.

Before I started working I had to take last week's epistle to Dr Nicholson's office. Then I got some bananas at Country Harvest, stopped in at The Times News office and gave some stuff to Sharon.

 I got this this from Barbara Shepherd. It is good reading her articles.
Subject: A Little Clean Humor After putting her grandchildren to bed, a grandmother changed into old slacks and a droopy blouse and proceeded to wash her hair.  As she heard the children getting more and more rambunctious, her patience grew thin.  At last she threw a towel around her head and stormed into their room, putting them back to bed with stern warnings.  As she left the room, she heard the three-year-old say with a trembling voice, "Who was THAT?"
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A mother was telling her little girl what her own childhood was like: "We used to skate outside on a pond.  I had a swing made from a tire; it hung from a tree in our front yard.  We rode our pony.  We picked wild raspberries in the woods."
The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this in.  At last she said, "I sure wish I'd gotten to know you sooner!"
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My grandson was visiting one day when he asked, "Grandma, do you know how you and God are alike?"
I mentally polished my halo while I asked, "No, how are we alike?"
"You're both old," he replied.
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A little girl was diligently pounding away on her father's word processor.  She told him she was writing a story.
"What's it about?" he asked.
"I don't know," she replied.  "I can't read."
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I didn't know if my granddaughter had learned her colors yet, so I decided to test her.  I would point out something and ask what color it was.  She would tell me, and always she was correct.  But it was fun for me, so I continued.
At last she headed for the door, saying sagely, "Grandma, I think you should try to figure out some of these yourself!"
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A Sunday school class was studying the Ten Commandments.  They were ready to discuss the last one.  The teacher asked if anyone could tell her what it was.  Susie raised her!  hand, stood tall, and quoted, "Thou shall not take the covers off thy neighbor's wife."
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Our five-year-old son couldn't wait to tell his father about the movie we had watched on television, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." The scenes with the submarine and the giant octopus had kept him wide-eyed.
In the middle of the telling, my husband interrupted Mark, "What caused the submarine to sink?"
With a look of incredulity Mark replied, "Dad, it was the 20,000 leaks!!"
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When my grandson, Billy, and I entered our vacation cabin, we kept the lights off until we were inside to keep from attracting pesky insects.
Still, a few fireflies followed us in.
Noticing them before I did, Billy whispered, "It's no use, Grandpa.  The mosquitoes are coming after us with flashlights."
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When my grandson asked me how old I was, I teasingly replied, "I'm not sure."
"Look in your underwear, Grandma," he advised.  "Mine says I'm four to six."
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A second grader came home from school and said to her mother, "Mom, guess what?  We learned how to make babies today."
The mother, more than a little surprised, tried to keep her cool.
"That's interesting," she said, "How do you make babies?"
"It's simple," replied the girl.  "You just change "y" to "i" and add 'es'".
(What English teacher wouldn't love that one)
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"Give me a sentence about a public servant," said a teacher.
The small boy wrote: "The fireman came down the ladder pregnant."
The teacher took the lad aside to correct him.  "Don't you know what pregnant means?" she asked.
"Sure," said the young boy confidently.  "It means carrying a child."
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A grandmother was surprised by her 7-year-old grandson one morning.  He had made her coffee.  She drank what was the worst cup of coffee in her life.
When she got to the bottom, there were three of those little green army men in the cup.
She said, "Honey, what are these army men doing in my coffee?"
Her grandson said, "Grandma, it says on TV, "The best part of waking up is soldiers in your cup!"
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A nursery school teacher was delivering a station wagon full of kids home one day when a fire truck zoomed past.  Sitting in the front seat of the fire truck was a Dalmatian dog.
The children started discussing the dog's duties.  Do they use him to keep crowds back?" asked one youngster.
"No, said another, "he's just for good luck."
A third child brought the argument to a close.  "They use the dogs", she said firmly, "to find the fire hydrant."

Since the leaves are now well past their prime here I have some shots son George took the last time they were here. They are just too good to not show.


The above were all taken from the environs of his Lafayette Avenue house. The woods above and the entire area was at it's absolute best.
Tuesday, November 09, 2004 6:46 AM 30.2 at Slatington E.S. and 29.3 in the bus stop
I am up a bit earlier this morning. The blood glucose is 127 and the weight 195. I was sitting up on the park bench drinking my 8 O'clock coffee in a snow shower. What is left of the leaves on the maple tree are falling like rain.

     As I sat there I recalled that it has been a week since the election and I see that those who hated George W before now hate him even more if that is possible. However there are some exceptions.
    Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley, one of the nation's most prominent Democrats, compares President Bush to Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.
   " Mr. Daley said the 2004 election reflects a political change on the order of what occurred under those legendary Democrats.
    "You talk about Roosevelt. You talk about Kennedy. And you have to talk about Bush. You have to give credit to his discipline, to the message he stayed on line. People made fun. They underestimated him all the time. He showed them all,"
Mr. Daley complained that Washington's Democratic insiders let Republicans "become the party of average Americans" and relegated the Democrats to being the party of large donors.
    Mr. Daley blamed the defeat on "elitists" inside the party for having, "too long ridiculed people of faith."
    "They don't like people who have different beliefs than they do," Mr. Daley said. "They were shoved out, not to be respected."
 A momentous shift "One of the biggest surprises in the presidential election may have been the ground shift — a momentous one for Democrats — in how Hispanics voted: namely, in enormous numbers and, very often, Republican," New York Times editorialist Carolyn Curiel writes:
    "Now, even though they claimed a majority of the Latino vote, Democrats suddenly find themselves in real danger of losing one of the biggest pieces of their base, one that had been counted on for loyalty approaching that of African-Americans. This happened, in part, because the Republicans went to church," the writer said.
    "In making their gains, the Republicans exploited a largely unheralded fact: Among minority groups, Hispanics rank with the most religious. About one-third told pollsters they consider themselves born-again Christians. The vast remainder are Roman Catholic, often devoutly so.
    "As part of their larger strategy of appealing to pastors and other church leaders, the Republicans, in effect, franchised their product, President Bush, through the pulpits. In the process, they found an especially receptive audience in Hispanics. Their ties to the Democratic Party traditionally have been though labor unions, which have diminished in strength and influence."  'Jorge' Bush
    "Democrats are rubbing their eyes in disbelief not just at President Bush's success across America, but also about the fact that a major group they thought would stay on the liberal plantation forever is making a getaway. As they escape out the back door, members of this group are saying 'hasta la vista, baby,' " Michael Gonzalez writes in the Wall Street Journal.
    "This was the election when Hispanics came of age. Two were famously elected into the Senate, providing a powerful symbol of their political advent.
    "To Ken Salazar in Colorado, and to my fellow Cuban-American Mel Martinez in Florida, I send congratulations. But to my mind, much more important are the following numbers from pollsters: 72, 62 and 54. These are, respectively, the percentage of Hispanics that voted for Clinton in 1996, Gore in 2000 and Kerry last week. Two more figures, 50 percent and 40 million, are, respectively, the increase in Hispanic voters in 2004 over 2000, and the number of Hispanics now in the U.S., a country of 280 million," said Mr. Gonzalez, editorial-page editor of the Asian Wall Street Journal.
    "Two more stats are really important ... . The first is that 22 percent of Hispanics told pollsters they were voting for the first time. Of these, the party split was even. This might be the most ominous number for Democrats, since party loyalties are cemented early.
    "But for the Republicans this is unadulterated good news. It vindicates 'Jorge' Bush's hunch that aggressively pursuing the Hispanic vote would pay off. His familiarity with Mexican-Americans in Texas formed in him an instinct. Here was a people who believed in family members looking after each other, who shook their heads in disbelief at the thought of homosexual marriage, and who saw flying the flag as noble. As they owned homes and became middle class, the lure of affirmative action dimmed. And they were still voting Democratic?"   

 I saw Barbara  Streisand's web page along with many others. She and her ilk all seem to reaching for the intellectual moral low ground.

 I notice that the opposition party at least has stopped referring to him as the appointed and not really elected president. His popular vote shut that one down!!

 I was very interested when I saw in this past Saturday's Times News, Pattie's column, a portion from which I will directly quote.
"Here's one statement I never thought I would ever make in print: I believe Bill Clinton.
My belief in his words has nothing to do with politics however.
I believe Bill Clinton when he says he's a changed man.
    In interviews after his sudden and serious heart surgery, Clinton, indeed, did sound like we've never heard him before: More than a bit vulnerable, more than a bit introspective, and extremely focused on more than the presidential election. Now, he says, he's more focused on the meaning of life. The meaning of life, he concludes, has nothing to do with politics. He says he changed his entire viewpoint of what is important in life after he came so close to death. After his heart surgery, he says he finds himself seeking a more meaningful life, trying hard to make every day count by "giving back."
 
I hope this is true because I always thought as much as I abhorred his policies and many of his programs I thought that he was an extremely intelligent charming  person with great potential but with what I considered no moral compass or scruples, but a political man who simply would do absolutely anything to win. For me this provides new hope. Unfortunately so many of his former supporters still harbor much of the hatred and vituperation. I do see that many thinking folk, both Republican and Democrat, are looking at this election with a much clearer vision of reality!! We may really be in the midst of a political seismic shift!  

<later 10:15 AM> I was out working on the leaves. It didn't take too long. I blew them into a pile packed them into a large trash pail and took them down to the street with the others. The super sucker should be around this side of the street on Thursday. The job in no where near as formidable as it had been. This way I can stay ahead of them besides the exercise was good for me. Poor Queen is busy going through the cupboard weeding out unneeded or old stuff it is a job she hates!!

We went downtown this morning. Queen went to Spillane's store and I had to go to Rite-Aide for more diabetic test strips. Then we put the car away.

Wednesday, November 10, 2004 7:42 AM 20.4 at Slatington E.S.and 25.9 on the east patio
    This morning the blood glucose is 121 and the weight 195. It is mighty chilly this morning. We shall be headed for our walk.

<Later> We are back. It really wasn't bad walking this morning. It was darn cold but there was no wind. That would have made it impossible. After it warms up outside I will be heading out to work on the few leaves are left.

 <11:15> Well that is enough. I think that may very well be it for this year. I moved the leaves down at street level and finished the yard. With the wind blowing it is nearly impossible to get them all. I took Queen's suggestion and installed a lattice barrier under the trees to prevent the worst of them from blowing back on the lawn.

I just got this from Sharon Minnich:
A man was sick and tired of going to work every day while his wife stayed home.  He wanted her to see what he went through so he prayed:
"Dear Lord, I go to work every day and put in 8 hours while my wife merely stays at home.  I want her to know what I go through, so please allow her body to switch with mine for a day.  Amen"
God in his infinite wisdom; granted the man's wish.  The next morning, sure enough the man awoke as a woman.  He arose, cooked breakfast for his mate, awakened the kids, set out their school clothes, fed them breakfast, packed their lunches, drove them to school, came home and picked up the dry cleaning, took it to the cleaners and stopped at the bank to make a deposit, went grocery shopping, then drove home to put away the groceries, paid the bills, and balanced the check book.  He cleaned the cat's litter box and bathed the dog.  Then it was already 1pm and he hurried to make the beds, do the laundry, vacuum, dust, sweep and mop the kitchen floor.  Ran to the school to pick up the kids and got into an argument with them on the way home.  Set out milk and cookies and got the kids organized to do their homework, then set up the ironing board and watched TV while he did the ironing.  At 430 he began peeling potatoes and washing vegetable for salad, breaded the pork chops and snapped fresh beans for supper.  After supper he cleaned the kitchen, ran the dishwasher, folded the laundry, bathed the kids and put them to bed.  At 9pm he was exhausted and though his daily chores weren't finished he went to bed where he was expected to make love which he managed to get through without complaint. 
The next morning, he awoke and immediately knelt by the bed and said "Lord, I don't know what I was thinking.  I was so wrong to envy my wife's being able to stay home all day.  Please oh please let us trade back." The Lord in his infinite wisdom replied, "My son, I feel you have learned your lesson and I will be happy to change things back to the way they were. You'll just have to wait nine months thought. You got pregnant last night.

I have been taking it easier today. We both have been going at it pretty hard the past week or more so I suspect more rest is needed by us both.

Tonight for supper Queen had some chicken parts, stewed potatoes, green beans, cranberry sauce, and ice cream for dessert. She is trying to use up odds ans ends of things that she sees in the freezer.
Thursday, November 11, 2004 7:18 AM 30 deg at Slatington E.S  and 35.6 in the bus stop
 The blood glucose is 134 and the weight 195. It looks like a beautiful morning today with lots of sunshine.
<8:32> We are back from our walk. The sunny skies have changed into a scattered cloud state now. We saw Gail Nonnemaker and Shirley Neff as we were just about home. It is cold but not windy. We will be heading for our shopping soon.

 
This morning as we were finishing breakfast, I witnessed our neighbor the Kechs, storing his heavy duty snow blower on the front porch in preparation for the real winter! Golly!! I will soon have to get ours ready!

We did our shopping  and were back by 11:30 AM. The stores were crowded. I practically had to park down near Radio Shack when we shopped at Giant this morning. Of course the Post Office was closed as was Uncle Ed's heart medicine store.

Well they are gone now!! I raked the leaves away from our property line and installed the rest of my leaf fence. I figured it works for farmers as a snow fence so it should do a similar function for us with the leaves. Gone are the days when I would pile the majority of the leaves on a tarp and pull it down to the church yard. I just don't have the steam for it anymore.

Friday, November 12, 2004 7:19 AM 37.4 at Slatington E.S. and 40.2 in the bus stop
 This morning my weight is 193 and the blood glucose is 140. I turned up the heat and restored the fridge down at the Lafayette Avenue Elliston residence. The Delaware Elliston's are expected to arrive today. It looks like an all day cold rain is on hand this morning. Snow is possible in the higher areas today. Honest to God I just got the snow blower ready yesterday, but so soon??? I am glad we got as much done this past week as we did outdoors. Since it was so nasty with the cold rain this morning Queen and I decided to forgo the walk. We miss it though.

This morning I go to Dr. Nicholson's office for a check up and tire kick!

 <10:40> I am back from the Doctor's office and all is well. I lost three pounds on his scale which is good news. He seems to think I am doing the right things. My golly he cleaned out enough ear wax in my "good ear" that I could start a candle factory! It isn't the most pleasant of feelings as he digs inside the ear canal but it certainly needed it.
I spoke to him of our mutual complaint about our recent health problems as a result of our yard work. He thought we both probably over did the work stuff. It really is hard to tell when you have done too much because by the time I can really feel it I  is likely too late!!. Golly!! It is amazing what a couple of days of taking it easy watching what I eat seems to do to clear a lot of problems. I feel much better than I did for the last few days.



"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted" Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
"There are  two  theories to arguing with a woman...neither works” Will Rogers!!.