The Hidden Contents of Barns

I was looking at some old photographs the other day and came across this one, which I took on a barn tour in June. I was surprised to see the old sign; I was even more surprised at how orderly the space was, given that a lot of barns, especially ones no longer used for farming, became junk pits.

This is a working barn, though, and I believe the owner also collects signs. Note the sign in the upper left corner.

I was in another barn filled with stuff and the stuff included a one-horse sleigh. Over the fields and through the woods ...

Some barns house old equipment that no longer works, but you can't always get a good photograph because you'd have to venture into the barn and you're not sure the floor is that solid. I've heard stories of people falling through what was a rotted floor. Fortunately, they lived.

The next time you pass a barn, think about what might be inside. 

Review: The Wild Duck Chase

The Wild Duck Chase. Inside the Strange and Wonderful World of the Federal Duck Stamp Contest. Martin  J. Smith. Walker and Company, New York. 262 pp. $25. 

Despite a resemblance to the subtitle of Hunter S. Thompson’s Hell’s Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga, this is an uplifting and positive book about a program aimed at preserving and “ensuring the future of wetlands habitat conservation in America …” And the way to do it is buy a duck stamp for a mere $15. According to www.duckstamp.com, 98 cents of every dollar goes toward the purchase of wetlands. 

What the author, Marty Smith, has done is provided not just background on the program, but given us some nitty gritty as he follows several artists in their quest to win the annual contest. For example, you will learn about the Hautman brothers, who combined have won the competition at least 10 times since 1989. I know that because even though the story is based on the 2011 competition, Smith was able to include a list of winners through 2012. And even if he hadn’t, you would have Googled “duck stamp contest” to find out.

Smith has written a good book at about the right length. He was one of my students when I was a beginning journalism instructor. It’s nice to see that I did no harm.

My Mother's Life in 364 Words

Ethel Williams' graduation photo

Ethel W. Berner died Saturday, October 6, in the Rehabilitation Center of Albuquerque, where she resided since January of 1998.

Born November 14, 1914, in Tamaqua Pennsylvania, she was the fifth child—and fourth daughter—of the late Tom Fred and Tillie Mae (Malick) Williams. A 1932 graduate of Tamaqua High School, she worked  at Brobst  Bakery, Seligman’s Hardware, and Meredith’s Stationery stores before being hired by the Tamaqua School District as secretary to the high school principal, a position she held for 26 years before retiring at age 68.

Ethel had four children, seven grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren, and one great-great-grandson.

A member of Bethany Evangelical Congregational Church, Tamaqua, since 1929, she sang alto in the senior choir and directed Children’s Day activities and plays in the ‘50s and ‘60s.  Many other church activities occupied her time before she relocated to Albuquerque in 1997. Blessed with an inquiring mind, she was a voracious reader and a wordsmith. Her favorite book was To Kill a Mockingbird.  She also enjoyed Rosamund Pilcher books and movies, crossword puzzles, and creating garments and gifts with her “million dollar” sewing machine.

Predeceased by her eldest daughter, Sally Jo (Berner) Skeath, and her former husband, Ralph E. Berner, both in 1998, and her siblings, Mildred Klein, Lanah Penzi, William A. “Buddy” Williams, and Myfanwy Swoyer, she is survived by daughters Judith Berner Jackson and Ethlyn M. Berner, both of Albuquerque, and her son, R. Thomas Berner, and his wife, Paulette L. (Vetter) Berner, of Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. In addition, she is survived by her grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and a great-great-grandson in Florida, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, California, and Pennsylvania.

A memorial service will be scheduled in the Rehabilitation Center of Albuquerque. Her cremains will be returned to Tamaqua at the convenience of the family for a service in Bethany Church and burial with her parents.

In memory of Ethel, contributions can be made to Bethany Evangelical Congregational Church, 223 E. Broad Street, Tamaqua, PA 18252; the activities department of Rehabilitation Center of Albuquerque, 5900 Forest Hills Drive NE, Albuquerque NM 87109; or Ambercare Hospice, 2129 Osuna Road NE, Albuquerque, NM 87113.

Local arrangements have been entrusted to Daniels Family Funeral Services.

The Great Triscuit Breakdown

It’s strange the things that get me going. Besides coffee.

A lot of times in the evening I like to cut slices of cheese, usually Irish or Basque, and put them on crackers. But not just any cracker; I like Triscuits with a hint of salt, made by Nabisco, part of Kraft Foods and probably some place in Bain Capital’s food chain.

But anywhere from a third to a half of any box is useless for my purposes because the crackers are so broken up that they couldn't even hold the shavings of cheese, let alone a slice. Just look at the photo on the box versus the slivers on my plate.

I suppose I could spread something on the slivers, but the effort I’d exert versus the return would not be worth it.

I sent a complaint via the Internet. That was an experience. They wanted all kinds of information from the box, some of which I could not find. They even wanted to know what I paid for the box and how many boxes were affected.

This all points to refund, but I don’t want a refund. I want my boxes of Triscuits to come with the crackers intact. No more slivers. No more breakage.

I’ll add a postscript to this when I find out. 

Postscript:

We appreciate you taking the time to visit us at http://www.nabiscoworld.com and for letting us know about your experience.

I am sorry your Triscuits were broken. The product you purchased is certainly not up to our high quality standards. The breakage you're describing may have been caused by improper handling during processing, packaging, and/or distribution.

I will bring this to attention of our Quality Control and Production staff. I will be sending coupon reimbursement to you via first class mail which you should receive within 7 to 10 working days.

Please know that we've taken steps to minimize the possibility of this happening again.

Kim McMiller
Associate Director, Consumer Relation

The Historic Egg Hill Church

After more than 30 years, I finally found the historic Egg Hill Church and photographed it.

The story begins in the late 1970s when it appeared the church was going to be torn down. The CDT was filled with stories and photographs about the church and I set out with my first single lens reflex camera (a Minolta) to record the church before it disappeared.

Mind you, the best photographs had already been done by Dick Brown, then the lead photographer for the CDT, who is still an active  photographer and whose work is exhibited at, among other places, the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts. One of Brown's most dramatic photographs looks up the road to the church.

Lo those many years ago, I never found the church. Fortunately for me, the church was saved and is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Inspired by some Facebook friends, I decided to try again. This time, though, I had Google maps and a GPS to guide me and it was an easy find, even though the church is on a dirt road named Egg Hill Road off Skunk Road off Sinking Creek Road.

Now I know why Dick's most dramatic shot looks up the road. The church is on the crest of a hill and backs onto woods and leaves you little room to photograph from the high angle. Besides, on the low side there's a cemetery and capturing a tombstone or two in your photographs makes for a better shot.

The church is not as elegant as I remember it from Dick's photographs. It needs paint  and the property is now surrounded by an inelegant chain link fence. There are gates to let you inside the perimeter, although I took one of my better shots from the low end outside the fence and managed to keep the fence out of the frame. When I processed my photos, I converted them to black and white, which seemed to fit the mood of the foggy day.

I'm going to return when autumn's colors dominate and shoot again. Two of my current photos are in my online gallery.

The State's Oldest Barn

The state’s oldest barn can be found in Chester County. It has been there, according to research, since 1753.  There is a gable stone that says 1724, but the owner believes that comes from a barn that previously occupied the site and was incorporated into the new barn. The date stone in the brick farm house says 1724.

Unlike most barns that survive today in Pennsylvania, this one is a one-level barn or a ground barn. And unlike most barns in Pennsylvania, this one is of English ancestry rather than German. And the owners, Wynne and John Milner, keep Sicilian donkeys as pets.

A tornado heavily damaged one side wall and the roof and that required major repair. The owner managed to salvage some of the original rafters and shows them to visitors. The rebuilt wall faces the road and contains a single door. Its opposite side has two single doors while the wide sides of the barn have double doors, which are built to accommodate wagons. The inside has lofts on both sides which are accessible by portable ladders. Typically, in the German barns, ladders were built in as part of the internal structure.

Primary ventilation is provided on all sides by slits in the stone walls that are narrow on the outside and wider inside, reminiscent of a design found in military forts and castles.

According to Gregory D. Huber, a barn historian, remnants of older barns exist around the state, but not in the condition of this one. Huber determined the date of the current barn by testing one of the original rafters, using a process called dendro-dating. Think tree rings.

The Updike Barn

Many readers of John Updike know that Updike used pieces of his life in his fiction. One particular short story that interests me is "Pigeon Feathers," which was inspired in part by a barn on the Updike farm in Berks County.

Updike lived for years in Shillington just outside of Reading. But at some point his mother wanted to move to the farm near Morgantown, south of Reading. She had grown up there. And so Updike spent about four years there before graduating from high school and going to Harvard.

Mrs. Updike continued to live there until her death in her 90s at which time Updike sold the farm. It was purchased by Emerson and Marlene Gundy. Emerson is Updike's second cousin; their grandmothers were sisters. Gundy and Updike were school mates and Gundy recalls the boys being driven to school by Updike's father.

The short story deals with a young person's questions about death. In the story, he, with his Remington .22 rifle, is sent into the barn to shoot pigeons. "A barn, in day, is a small night," Updike wrote. Of course, he had to wait for his eyes to adjust to the darkness before he could begin shooting the pigeons, who would gather at one of the two round gable vents "about as big as basketballs."

The barn was built in 1840. I'll save the rest for the book Pennsylvania Barn Stories, which is proceeding slowly.