There's an article in Newsweek this week that talks about the difference between Thanksgiving turkeys from way-back-when to the modern "factory grown" birds.

That got me thinking about other poultry.

Growing up in York City in the 1940s, my grandparents -- who operated a store/home across the street from our house -- raised their own chickens in the backyard. A wire fence surrounded a concrete patch and there was a hole cut in the wall of an adjoining shed so the chickens could either be inside or outside.

It wasn't exactly the Life of Reilly for the birds. They were being raised for the dining table a few feet away. Because of religious reasons, they had to be dispatched in a certain manner.

I can still recall the air filled with chicken feathers as the deceased chickens were plucked and cleaned for a Friday evening dinner.

We were warned not to get too attached to any of the chickens in the coop. Easier said than done for a youngster.

Chicken is still one of my least favorite foods.

The sudden death of retired Judge Emanuel Cassimatis leaves a hole in the fabric of York.

Judge Cassimatis was a familiar face in Downtown York; always greeting people with a smile.

I last spoke to Judge Cassimatis about three weeks ago when I was researching a column on the Masonic Lodges of York. George Hay Kain, III, had given me his name as someone who would have some insight into the Masonic Lodges topic. I placed a call to his home and left a message on his answering machine. A little while later, my phone rang and the familiar voice said, "This is Mike Cassimatis. How are you doing?"

True to form, he was able to provide me with some valuable information for the column, especially the time period when the Masonic Hall was located in the old Post Office Buidling at Philadelphia and Beaver Streets.

His death removes an outstanding cititzen from our midst, leaving a hole in the fabric of York.

"The North wind doth blow and we shall have snow,
"And what will poor robin do then, poor thing?
"He'll sit in a barn and keep himself warm
"and hide his head under his wing, poor thing."

So goes a 500-year-old, English nursery rhyme.

This summer has been unusally wet, which -- in turn -- caused the trees to be in full leaf.

Very pretty. Very restful the sound of the rustling leaves. Until they started falling to the ground a couple of days ago. With the rain and the wind, it was more of a leaf avalanche than a leaf fall.

Immediately after the leaf pick-up truck made its first stop at our house and went on its way, the leaves continued to fall. Within an hour, it appeared all our raking had been for naught.

But then came the winds. Lucky for us, most of the winds picked up the leaves and deposited them on other properties. Much as many other leaves came to rest on our lawn.

We'll be out raking for the next couple of weeks, trying to keep ahead of the leaf pick-up truck and the winds blowing around our house.

The North wind doth blow -- but not far enough.

With the opening of the new film, "Amelia," about the life and flights of world famous aviator Amelia Earhart, thoughts turn to York's early aviation history.

In 1931, six years before Earhart's mysterious disappearance on an around-the-world flight, two men planned to fly from the old York airport -- on Haines Road, near Mt. Rose Avenue -- to Buenos Aries, Argentina. The convoluted round trip would have been 7,700 miles.

But it never happened.

Because of mechanical problems, Martin Jensen and Charles H. d'Ardussey were grounded and the plane, named "The York, Pa." never took off.

A program booklet for "the greatest flight that never was" still exists. So does the home along Haines Road that was the original control building for the airport.

It looks as if York City and the York City School Board are at it again.

This time, the traditional York High Homecoming Parade hangs in the balance.

York City has told the school board that it will have to pay up to $900 for a permit to hold the parade on October 23. The dispute centers around the school district not hiring York City Police to provide security at York High football games.

And who is caught in the middle? The York City taxpayers. If City Hall and the York City School Administration were not aware of the fact, the taxpayers of York City fund both the city and the schools. Is this a d'oh moment?

If this were kindergarten, both York City and York City Schools would take home report cards that state: "Does not play well with others."

Why is it that the seemingly easiest tasks are the most difficult?

The knob on the door between our garage and home hallway came off in my hand the other day, which made it impossible to open the door.

Not exactly known as a "Handy Andy," I figured: How difficult can this be to replace?

After going to the store and puchasing a new lock set, I found out the answer to that question.

An hour later, I was still fiddling with the bolt, knobs, and striker plate in attempt to get them to work.

The directions -- even with pictures -- were of minimal help. All the directions were printed in English -- and Spanish, and Portugese, and Chinese, and Japanese. I would have appreciated fewer foreign language lessons and more detailed instructions.

Did I solve the problem? Let's just say: At least the door opens and closes.

Within 24 hours this week, two York men received awards for their work.

Tom Wolf received the York County Chamber of Commerce's 2009 Business Achievement Award. The honor was given as much for his civic and philanthropic activities as for his business acumen.

The next day, at a Rotary Club of York meeting, Dr. Robert Davis was presented with the Four Avenues of Service Award, one of the highest recognitions in Rotary International. He was honored for his volunteer work in the York community and his many church-Rotary mission trips to Ghana.

In his acceptance remarks, Tom Wolf talked about what makes York a great community in which to live, pointing to the businesses, healthcare, arts, and people.

Tom Wolf and Dr. Bob Davis are two of the reasons York is a great place in which to live.

Julie Hopple is a hero. Plain and simple.

Anyone who faces cancer and says, "I'm taking you on and I'm going to win," is a hero.

In the October 4 Viewpoints section of the York Sunday News, I wrote about Julie -- President of VNA Home Health -- and how a healthcare professional faces her own healthcare crisis. In Julie's situation it was breast cancer.

Julie has undergone surgery and chemotherapy and has kept her humor throughout the past several months.

Sporting a baseball cap to cover her head, since she lost her hair during chemo, she echoes what a doctor told her: "Baseball caps are very in now."

Julie's a winner ... and a hero.

Comedian Bob Newhart opened the 30th anniversary season of the Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center on Friday, October 2. (A disclaimer here: I'm a member of the Board of the SCPAC.)

For an hour he had the audience of more than 1,000 people laughing along with him. He was topical (explaining why Chicago was not selected for the 2016 Olympic Games), self-deprecating, and spot-on about some of his observations. He was also "not blue," a welcome relief from some other comedians.

What caught my attention, however, was when he noted that he will soon be celebrating his 50th year in show business (following a career as an accountant). Was it really 50 years ago when we gathered around a record player in a dorm room in college and listened -- for the first time -- to "The Buttoned Down Mind" of Bob Newhart?

One of Newhart's final routines in his Strand show was his classic bit about a driving instructor giving lessons to a new student. It was as funny that evening as it was 50 years ago.

It just goes to prove that good humor doesn't melt with age.

Despite the sound of the power mower, there is a serenity that comes with cutting the lawn in the fall.

The grass is a richer shade of green; the criss-cross mowing pattern is more evident; the cooler air makes it feel like a brisk walk, rather than a chore; there is a different smell to the newly-cut grass. With the first chill of autumn, even the stubborn crabgrass is receding (if not re-seeding).

It's a time to enjoy the summer-long labor of fertilizing, weeding, seeding, tending, edging, watering. Fall grass cutting is nature's way of saying (in York County-eze), "You done good."