NOVEMBER 21 - NOVEMBER 27, 1998
NOVEMBER 27, 1998
The day after, today and yesterday
Good morning. It's 35.4 degrees at seven A.M. I went back to sleep after I
initially woke up. It was easy, believe me, after the feast that Sharyn put on for us all.
It was all I could do just to get into bed. It was plain uncomfortable!
I think of the affluence we have. Even our poor have government programs that give them
food and support. Our elderly have Social Security, such as it is, and other retirement
programs. However, there was a time when none of that existed. My pretty Canadian niece,
Katie, reminded me of that when she e-mailed me a questionnaire to pass along to my mother
and father-in-law regarding the depression.
The Great Depression began in Europe following World War One.
Germany, defeated by the Allies, was forced to repay the victorious countries the cost
of the war that it had started. Nations like France built an economy around the expected
windfall that they were to receive from Germany. Their currencies, formerly backed by
gold, were now backed by promissory notes that were as worthless as the money that they
began to print. By 1922 there was high inflation, unemployment, and chaos was beginning to
spread across the continent.
The United States was relatively unaffected. The nation was experiencing an economic
boom. The stock market was making individuals overnight millionaires and everyone got one
the band wagon. Even the local banks began to invest depositors life savings in the
booming market in an effort to make windfall profits. On a Monday in October in the year
1929 all that came to an end. Black Monday gave us the largest single drop in the history
of public trading and the dark days of the depression came to America. What immediately
hit the speculators and the rich in 1929, by 1930 and 1931, nearly the entire nation was
affected.
The depression affected most everyone. Katie asked a list of questions of my wife's
parents. We discussed them at the dinner table after Thanksgiving Dinner. Let's look at
them.
-How old were you during the depression? Were you the oldest? the youngest? Where did
you live? Were your parents employed and how did they maintain a budget?
George and Winnie, my in-laws, were children living in Warren County and while they
remember the times, their parents isolated them from the hardships that were imposed.
My Aunt Rose was a 24 year old working woman in New York City. George's parents ran
a hardware store and Rose worked for the State of New York. While there was no money
available in Warren County, the hardware store tightened its belt and lived off the
inventory until government programs kicked in. Rose received her checks every week without
fail as did her father, my grandfather, who also lived in New York City and worked for the
Long Island Railroad.
In the rural areas, time were tough. My mother's father had several business ventures
and a home that he lost in Clarksville, PA. My mother and her sister, Helen, went to New
York City and took work in an ice cream factory so they could help support the family back
in PA. It was there that my mother met my father who was driving a truck during the years
of the depression. The phrase "making ends meet" was said over and over
and over. Many people could not and the financial depression took over as a mental
depression and despair was common place.
In rural McKean County oil was being produced. There were jobs. Many men came north
from other parts of Pennsylvania to find work in the oil fields and the refineries. These
men soon were called down homers because their conversations always centered
around the families they left behind and the place from which they came.
However, there were millions who were unemployed. Factories had closed and the banking
system had just about collapsed. Those entrusted with investing money for normal every day
people had taken chances in the stock market. When that person went to the bank to draw
out their savings, all their money was gone in the crash of the stock market. People lost
everything. Bread lines and free soup kitchens grew out of the poverty that ensued. Many
people gave up.
Things stayed the same in America until 1932 when Franklin Roosevelt was elected
President and promised a New Deal for the people. He created the WPA (Works Projects
Administration) and began rebuilding America. The Government paid men to work on public
projects like parkways and bridges and Hoover Dam and the Grand Coolie Dam. Men like
Robert Moses of New York City used government funding to create a gigantic infrastructure
that survives today in the form of bridges, parks, and highways that were all begun in the
thirties in an effort to put a nation back to work.
Katie asked other questions.
Was your spiritual life deepened by the events of the depression? What nourishment did
you receive during the depression? Do you think that experiencing the depression deepened
your respect for materialistic objects? What change affected you the most?
Aunt Rose, now ninety-three, was very vocal on these questions.
"I always believed in God, Harold. I saw all the suffering around me. I did
what little I could to help people. But, I realized how lucky my family and I were to have
jobs and I never forgot it." She didn't either. She worked for the State of New
York for 50 years and retired at the Governor's Mansion in Albany in 1973.
She also said: "Some of the food we used to be able to get just wasn't
available. Many farmers lost their lands and others didn't have money to buy seed to
produce food. We made do with what was available. It was nourishing and you did not dare
waste any food." That is evidenced today by the way Rose attempts to eat
everything that is given to her at each and every meal. She also pointed out that on many
Thanksgivings there were shortages of turkeys in the markets so people had to make do with
what they could.
As for a respect for materialistic objects, Rose and her generation, the people who
were adults during the depression, saved. Now the government insured their savings and
protected them from catastrophes like the depression. "I appreciate everything I
have been fortunate enough to be able to earn in my lifetime." she said when
asked that question. As for the change that affected her the most, she also says: "It
is good that the government sends old people like me checks for their retirement. It is
good that they get medical care. There was none of that during the depression. People had
nothing and suffered greatly."
Katie, your grandparents can tell you more about World War II than the depression. We
are lucky to have Aunt Rose who still remembers those times.
One thing is for certain. It made for an interesting discussion at the dinner table on
Thanksgiving Day. It showed us that we do have an awful lot to be thankful for. Thank you
for the questions, Katie. It was great.
Comment on this article at editor@www.mlrmag.com.
NOVEMBER 26, 1998
Happy Thanksgiving
It is 40.6 degrees at 6 A.M. in Marshburg on a rainy Thanksgiving morning.
If your house is like ours, we were preparing for this day since last weekend. I had a
two page typed grocery list that I carried around since Monday and finally bought it all
yesterday afternoon with thousands of others doing exactly the same thing.
This is the first Thanksgiving we have been home in a while. In recent years we have
traveled to Ohio to baby brother Bob's for the traditional family dinner. This year he is
going to Detroit to have dinner with his wife's family and we will have Sharyn's parents
and our daughter and husband in, and the Gateser of course.
Everyone has memories of Thanksgiving. Mine break up into segments of my life. The
first being at home growing up with my parents in the little house on Highview Road. It
seemed that we had the same people over every year. My godparents, Zora and Tony Kaplak,
were standard fixtures at our table. Zora had lovely white hair, even as a young woman,
and Tony always beat the pants off of anyone who dared take him on in a game of checkers.
I remember that we could not play that first game until the Lions and the Packers ended
their annual battle. Then, and only then, did the struggle for the championship of the
house begin.
That was a tradition. Many years my father worked in the day. He was the Township
Police Chief and pulled his 8 to 4 shift with the turkey served after he came home. Zora
and Tony were always there it seemed; and then my sister and her family came making the
dinner and the table larger. Then there was college and the service and I was gone for six
years.
I don't remember many of those Thanksgivings. Turkey and stuffing in a chow hall some
where. Phone calls home, wondering what you were doing, and just being young and confused.
Then I was married and then I was alone with my son.
Geoff and I used to travel to Pittsburgh for Thanksgiving from all over. Usually we
drove and most of the time there was a blizzard on one leg of the trip. Those were lonely
and confusing years. It was always good to get home to your anchor. My parents lived in
the same house that I came home from St. John's Hospital to and there was comfort in that
fact.
Then I was married again with a Brady Bunch family living far away in Texas. We only
had each other and our kids. That was probably why we made it. There weren't any
distractions to take away from the new family and we were busy establishing our
traditions. While we were not conscious of what we were doing, we were giving our children
the same base that our parents had given us. We were happy and we shared with others.
It seemed that every year we had people in for the day or down for several days. We did
turkey and ham and we had a spread that never seemed to end. We opened our home to all of
our friends and employees that had no place to go. Thanksgiving in Texas was the true
feast that the Pilgrims must have had. If it wasn't, we didn't know the difference. We
were happy and that was all that counted.
Coming home to Pennsylvania brought us back to the more traditional dinners. We have
had our small family circle at the table in the years that we have stayed here, and have
been truly thankful for the many blessings we have had.
It is at holidays like Thanksgiving that you appreciate your family. It at holidays
like this that you have an opportunity to step back away from your busy life and look at
the world you have objectively. It is a time to reflect on yourself and those you love and
evaluate. Thanksgiving has always been that for me. Today is no different.
I will calmly reflect and then I will viscously root for the Steelers and after they
beat the living hell out of the Lions ( I hope and pray!) I will stuff my face with all
the turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, candied sweet potatoes, corn, biscuits,
and pie and then sit like a lump until I go to bed.
All of you who faithfully read this everyday - have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving
with those you love.
Comment on this article at editor@www.mlrmag.com.
NOVEMBER 25, 1998
Have your say
Nursing a NyQuil hangover, it is 29.3 degrees.
Ever have a cold that just won't go away? I do. It has come and gone three
times since early September. Just about the time I think it is gone, its back, I lose my
voice, and then get the head cold all over again. What a pain!
About the Monday Commissioners' meeting where elected officials were asked to
justify a pay raise:
-Judge Cleland said he needed time to evaluate and consider in the paper. What time
did he need? Wasn't he asked to submit a budget? I would assume that he included pay
increases. Does he expect them to be automatic? I agree with the Commissioners that
officials should justify how and where they spend our money. I saw nothing wrong with the
9 o'clock notification.
-Sounds to me like you got old Jocko's goat. Keep it up. It is about time someone
held him accountable instead of him passing judgement on everyone else.
-It seems to me that the commissioners were doing their jobs when they asked other
officials to justify pay increases. I work for a living and pay increases are not
automatic. Why should public employees expect any different treatment than the people they
are supposed to serve?
-What a novel idea! Government in front of the people instead of behind closed
doors. It is about time that someone has the courage to ask the tough questions and then
take a tough line on spending. Keep it up.
-As a former employee in one of Judge Cleland's departments I can honestly say that
pay increases are not given out in a consistent or meritorious way. He was being
hypocritical when he took the commissioners to task when they asked him to justify why his
people should get pay raises. Ask him about the pay increases he passed along in the
middle of the year in addition to the annual 4% increase. I wish I could have been in the
room to see him squirm.
-I support you guys. Keep up the good work! Hold Cleland's heels to the fire.
We had no e-mail comments that dissented with what we did on Monday regarding the
budget and the justification of pay increases for elected officials and non-bargaining
employees.
On another issue:
Well, I've been in B-town for a little over six months now, and I must say it sucks
to be here. Don't get me wrong, I love McKean County and the surrounding areas. It's just
a shame that they had to put Bradford, with its self-important people, in the middle of
all of this majestic beauty.
As you know, I am very good friends with Mary Jo, Pete, etc. from the Downbeat.
They are a few of the tolerable B-fordians. Naturally, I've been thrust in the midst of
the McKean Theatre issue (my brother thinks it should be renovated for XXX movies since
the Palace in Olean is no longer). I had the displeasure of attending the Scopes Monkey
Council meeting where Pete orated his presentation to an inattentive crowd of elected
statures.
I thought that when Pete finished there would be some sort of crossfire, or, at
least banter on the issue. But Frau Connie's talking head, Peggy C. quickly asked for the
next presentation, which was an old woman with a stop sign complaint. I should add that
she also was treated with disrespect and indifference.
I could babble on about the theatre, etc., but the amazing thing I witnessed at
this meeting was the stuffing of King Ray's coffers. Pages upon pages of payouts in the
name of the OECD. When the Talking head read each one off for payment, all of the
Councilteers replied "yes" in their droll monotone. No questioning, not even a
batted eye.
Now this is the one that really got me. Dave Lunden, King Ray's protege and cabin
boy, introduced the Nickels couple who own the paint store next to the police station. It
seems there is some sort of loan fund, perhaps secreted from all the businesses, that is
going to give these people $2500 for inventory so they can open an unfinished furniture
store next to the paint store. Do all B-town merchants know that this money is available,
or is it only for businesses within 100 feet of City Hall? And, if these people are in
business, why do they have to borrow city cash at a ridiculously low interest rate for
INVENTORY? forget the fact that the unfinished furniture craze died out about four years
ago. Who gets stuck with this crap when it bellies up?
When the Talking Head asked for approval on this expenditure, the Council Clones
all replied "yes". I had some questions about this but was not given any
opportunity to speak. What kind of government is that? By the way, someone whited out
"Mutant Beach Forever" on the concrete beach; however, I am happy to report a
shopping cart sighting below the Mechanic Street Bridge in Tuna Creek. Bye for now, I am
going to go play in the snow.
What do you expect? Isn't that the way government is supposed to run? Heavens! Why
would anyone do something as stupid as discussing expenditures in public
before they are made? By the way, isn't it two weeks yet and shouldn't we have exciting
news about the Theater? And, maybe Pete could use some inventory, too.
Comment on this article at editor@www.mlrmag.com.
NOVEMBER 24, 1998
Working in plain sight
Good morning. It is 37 degrees in Marshburg.
In spite of my article about bear hunters yesterday, there was a marked absence of gun
shots from the air as I worked outside. It seems that the snow we got on Saturday sent
some of the bears to their winter retreats, while the others may have sensed increased
activity and held up for the day. Nevertheless, the dumpster at The Rainbow Inn
was raided and garbage strewn across the ground.
Without the benefit of reading The Bradford Era today, I took it upon
myself to invite Judge Cleland and elected Row Officers to the weekly commissioners'
meeting yesterday. The purpose was for them to justify to us an increase for themselves
and their employees who are not covered by union contracts.
Judge Cleland took exception to the whole idea. I very nearly titled this
article Johnny, I hardly knew ye'.
My motive and purpose was very simple. I believe that government should be
conducted in the sight of the people. The budget, how we spend taxpayer dollars, is the
single most important part of government and don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise.
When Larry, Jim, and I took office nearly three years ago, Court House employees were
underpaid and had not received a pay raise in three years. We immediately set aside the
budget passed by the former board, instituted spending controls, and gave employees a 3%
pay raise that also included raising the minimum salary in the Court House to $6.00 per
hour. In successive years we passed along similar increases including raises to elected
officials.
Yesterday, I asked those same elected officials to justify any further raises. What
happened? Who attended?
I am sure that Jim and George, both capable reporters for The Era, will
capsulize and give a slant to the story I had not anticipated, however, I heard no
justification for raises for elected officials except "I work just as hard
as anyone else and I deserve a raise if everyone else is getting one."
That is all well and good but elected officials knew what the job paid when they ran
for it. I have not agreed with giving elected officials raises, but I have gone along with
them, not because I need the money, but more in the interest of doing the budget and
getting it done with as little dissention as possible.
Judge Cleland was obviously miffed at the intrusion on his time.
He was not in the Court House when the memo inviting everyone to the meeting was sent
(8:30 A.M.). I had forgotten that he generally stays home on Mondays (a widespread fact
known to the lawyers of the county) and was probably not planning on coming in at all.
He attempted to spar with Mr. Weaver and myself over semantics and fairness, attempting
to make it seem that we were favoring the union employees (we have two different unions
with four different bargaining units) over employees not covered by a union (most
generally, department heads and people under the court system, who I am told, were
forbidden to join for some reason or another). When that didn't work and when we explained
that we were attempting to conduct county business out in the open, he smirked and laughed
with Joann Bly, the Court Administrator.
It is unlikely that any of the media will report that he continued to smirk, laugh, and
shake his head through the entire meeting. His comment chastising us for not having a
consistent pay system was reported and will continue to be reported. Had we been behind
closed doors, I would have jumped at the challenge and certainly would have pointed out
that the greatest offender of changing pay scales and creating titles and programs is he,
himself. Never have we completed a budget process that he has not come in with his
department heads and asked for more after the fact.
Judge John Cleland believes one thing about his spending. He should be allowed
to spend whatever he wants and tax the people to pay it. He feels that it is the County's
obligation to pay his freight, whatever that may be, including bringing in his friends to
do studies and institute new programs. History shows that to be true and we have stood in
his way since taking office.
Because he does not like the janitor who cleans his offices and empties his trash, he
has requested an $11,000 cleaning service in 1999. With a full time janitorial staff and
with prisoners from the County Jail, why should the taxpayers buy him a private service?
John Cleland criticized us for the short notice given. He felt time should have
been given to prepare and ponder the question posed to the people, including himself,
entrusted with the good of the county.
What he really disliked was being put on the spot in public. He could not get away with
saying "Let the taxpayers pay for it. You will have to do what is necessary to
get the money."
In other words, he says: "Raise taxes and the hell with everyone else."
That isn't the way it works and I will oppose raising taxes even though our
property tax revenue has dropped $350,000. I believe that government needs to tighten its
belt and work more efficiently with less. Here is your chance to speak up.
Comment on this article at editor@www.mlrmag.com.
NOVEMBER 23, 1998
Just a little of everything for bear season
Good morning. It is 40.3 degrees and it is the first day of bear season.
At two this morning there were hunters on my road shining spotlights around
looking for the great and dangerous black bear. For those of you who are not
familiar with the ferocious black beast of the north, let me fill you in on their habits
as well as the habits of some of the heroes who hunt them, protecting the rest of us from
the great scourge.
Bear season is a good excuse to get drunk and make yourself, if you are so inclined,
feel like you are a real outdoorsman, great hunter and slayer of dangerous and despicable
beasts. The black bear of the Alleghenies generally harms no one except for dumpsters.
However, if you are a receptacle for trash, you should be aware that you will be visited
on a continuous basis from late March until late November. The main diet of these
dangerous and hunted animals is garbage. They are the pigs of the great northern expanse
of Pennsylvania.
They do cause a tremendous mess. No garbage bag within smelling distance is safe. They
will, with great agility, walk the edge of a large metal dumpster and carefully eye the
bag they want and then pick it up and carry it off to feast on the contents.
Bears can be dangerous at times. Never get between a mother and her cubs. You are
asking for trouble and could easily end up on the wrong end of a massive and deadly claw.
Give them a wide berth. Also, stay away from pregnant females. They are much meaner than
the human variety and you need not get yourself involved with that. At the same time,
never try to compete with a bear for food. When you are picking blackberries, very common
up here in the north woods in the summer, and a bear shows up, there is no ownership or
land rights. The blackberry patch belongs to the bear. Go find another one.
I recognize that left alone the bear population will increase to a point that they
could progress beyond the pest stage. While I do not care for the practice of hunting bear
(certain parts of my body get frost bitten), I do recognize the important service that it
performs. Until you have come face to face with a 500 pound male standing up on his hind
legs, you cannot understand the reasoning behind killing some of them off.
Six different bears have regularly visited the dumpster at The Rainbow Inn
this season and they all are exceptionally large-300 pounds or more. It makes you wonder
sometimes just when the dumpster will become boring and the bear will decide to climb the
steps and have a piece of prime rib, or just take the whole roast and whatever else it
wants?
Still, watching the trucks coming past my house on their way to my neighbor's, who will
put twenty-five men in a row and mount a drive with three killers at the other end, makes
me feel sorry for the pesky beasts that I enjoy watching but hate to clean up after. I
remember coming to the mountains with my dad for bear season and I remember being with him
and other men when they killed bears. They were just beasts to me then.
They were not personalities that wandered across my front yard in the middle of the day
giving my 93 year old Aunt Rose enjoyment at their sight. No, they were just something
that we hunted for sport. Even though they are a huge pain and need to be respected
because they can be dangerous, I fail to see sport in hunting these beautiful animals in
mass like a pile of African natives going after man eating lions. If I hunted bear (and
didn't care about being frost bitten) it would be one on one. That is sporting and it
could especially become more sporting if we told the bear it was okay to hunt back and eat
the hunter if it got the chance. That way the bear could leave the dumpster alone and the
hunter would especially appreciate the trophy, if her were lucky enough to survive and get
one.
While venison is good to eat, I cannot understand how anyone would eat a bear unless
they were starving. A bear, as I have pointed out, eats garbage. I have also known of a
bear eating dead skunks that I shot in my back yard. Bear meat sounds as appetizing to me
as eating a vulture that eats road kill. Anyone who thinks twice about eating bear meat
should keep in mind the old saying - You are what you eat. With bears, that is exactly
what it means.
Nevertheless, as I write and dawn is only 30 to 40 minutes away, the great white
slayers from Pittsburgh and the flat lands of Ohio are already in the forest armed to the
teeth with Magnum rifles capable of dropping a herd of charging elephants with a single
shot. By noon, the war stories of how the fierce thirty-seven pound cub was killed at
great risk to the heroes who have come for miles to save us from this scourge.
The story will be told and re-told. It will grow until the little cub will turn into a
salivating maniacal menace. Then, as I come home, I will see the little cub propped up in
the back of a pickup with a Steelers ballcap on it, wearing sunglasses, and a cigarette
sticking out of its mouth. Once more I will enter the bar and calmly ask:
"Who's the hero who shot the baby bear?"
With that I will take away his drink and tell him to get out.
NOVEMBER 21 - 22, 1998
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