June 2006 Archives

Last York Town Square post, I wrote about a recent letter to the editor writer who called the York Daily Record/Sunday News a commie newspaper.

Now, we’re accused of running too much good news.

A letter writer wondered why we would devote two pages in our 92,000-circulation Sunday newspaper to a teen’s bat mitzvah.

“We have young people dying every day for this country in a bogus war, and a president who has a below-average intelligence. I could go on all day. Where are your priorities?" she asked. ...

A letter published in the York Daily Record this week criticized us for not supporting Geno's Steaks for posting a sign requiring English when ordering.

"The York Daily Record will never change," he wrote. "You are still the same commie newspaper as your predecessor, The Gazette and Daily."

It's been a while since I've heard the "commie" claim levied against us. (Maybe people think it, but seldom say it.)

That label stuck to J.W. Gitt's Gazette and Daily even though the FBI could not connect the Cold War publisher with the Communist Party. And his biographer says he resigned the Progressive Party because of Communist infiltration.

It was 10 years ago that I wrote about the lack of true evidence linking the leftist York County publisher and his newspaper with the Communist Party.

I'll repeat it here:

York County Congressman Jimmy Lind probably winced partway through a letter from a constituent in July 1950.

"I am sick and tired of the pussy-footing that has gone on in York with the hotbed of local Communists maintained, led, and sponsored by Josiah W. Gitt ... ." the letter said. ...

York County's Balloon Fest, held for the third year at John C. Rudy Park, is growing in popularity.

To tie into this hot air balloon festival, former York County Heritage Trust achivist June Lloyd wrote about some of the quirky early lighter-than-air efforts from the 1830s on Sunday.
I took my turn a few years ago in "Never to be Forgotten:"

George Elliott prepares himself in 1954 to ascend in a balloon over Hanover. A newspaper reported that arrangements are made with the "intrepid Aeronaut" for the public-pleasing stunt. Elliott is one of many itinerant balloonists to tour the county in the mid-19th century. An added crowd pleaser comes when the aeronauts toss dogs or cats in parachutes from balloons... .

I pressed my view that the York-area is stronger because of its growing acceptance of its Civil War heritage in a Sunday column. http://www.ydr.com/search/ci_3982907

For example, the more we come to grips with York's surrender to the invading Confederates, the more we grapple with issues of race. (That comes on the heels of a similar discussion about how the York area is progressing on race by evaluating the Murals of York. http://www.ydr.com/editor/ci_3848541)

Now more evidence emerges that the Civil War is coming more into the community's view. Scott Butcher has made many contributions through his writings, photography and Web site http://www.yorklinks.net/ to the community's understanding of its past. Just recently, he has put forth "Civil War Walking Tour of York, Pennsylvania." www.yorkcivilwar.com

Here's what he says about it:

Bob Maynard, the York Daily Record/Sunday News' most illustrious alumnus, continues to make the news years after his death. http://www.poynter.org/column.asp?id=71&aid=102950

Maynard started his newspaper career in the 1960s when the Daily Record was known as the York Gazette. No other daily newspaper would hire the young black reporter, but he and J.W. Gitt connected, and the rest, as they say, is history... .

Well, you learn something every day.

Wrightsville Bridge No. 4, crossing the Susquehanna River from 1897 through the early 1960s, was equipped to handle a never-built second deck.

That information comes from a booklet marking the Columbia Civil War Centennial, published in 1963.

The lower deck was designed for trains and the upper deck, had it been completed, would have accommodated vehicles. The vehicles in the late 1890s would have been horse-drawn conveyances... .

Late June has marked several hinge events in the York area.

This weekend’s Patriot observance in York http://www.ydr.com/newsfull/ci_3952025 focuses on the Civil War.

Consider the following tightly bunched moments:

York’s Patriot Days this weekend might raise the question for some about what actually happened in York County in those days before the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863.

The following is a quick overview, taken from 'East of Gettysburg' :

A York Daily Record/Sunday News publication "100 Days of Summer" provides numerous opportunities to learn about York County and the city of York.

The publication lists special exhibits at area museums plus intriguing events in the field:

-- A Gold Panning Seminar is set for Spring Valley Park from 9 a.m.to 2 p.m., July 29. To pre-register, call 428-1961. ...

I wrote about writing and journalism and history in the York Sunday News on June 18 with the following lead-in note:

"I hate to write," a sage managed to pen, "but love to have written." ...

Reminder that this upcoming weekend marks perhaps the most aggressive York-area celebration of the Civil War since the Confederate invasion of York County on June 28, 1863. http://www.ydr.com/newsfull/ci_3952025

Jubal Early’s rebels left York on June 30 and made it to Gettysburg for the first day of fighting there. Early’s division of more than 6,000 gradclads operated in and east of the town of Gettysburg fronting Cemetery Hill.

Two stories to view before heading to weekend festivities:

I was checking the Web to write the previous “York Town Square" post about actor John Baer, when a surprise actor’s name popped up: York County’s Jacob Loucks Devers.

He’s better known as Gen. Jacob Loucks Devers, the highest ranking military officer in a long list of county military achievers. http://w2.ydr.com/story/ww2/71924

Jakie made his Hollywood debut — and finale, except for an Ed Sullivan appearance — by playing himself in “Flying Fortress." http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0222411.

Actually, Devers is just about as little-known in York County... .

Class President Dan Meckley's York Sunday News piece takes note that actor John W. Baer graduated in the William Penn High School Class of 1941. http://www.ydr.com/search/ci_3898204

Baer, off the screen in the 1970s, had a long list of screen credits including TV credits for "The Adventures of Superman," "The Green Hornet" and "Mission Impossible." http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0046359/

(IMDb has screen credits achieved by other York countians, http://www.imdb.com/BornWhere?York,%20Pennsylvania,%20USA.

A 50th anniversary booklet for Bill Penn’s Class of 1941, edited by Jeffrey C. Bortner, says this of Baer:

This turbine, also known as a runner, was manufactured at Voith Siemens Hydro's West Manchester Township plant in 2006. (See related photo below.) Background posts: Glatfelter, Smith top industrial legacy list, How come few in York know about S. Morgan Smith anymore? and York made big, heavy things - and was immensely proud of it.

S. Morgan Smith might have looked on York County with pride this week.

The Moravian-pastor-turned-washing-machine-pioneer would have witnessed a 292,000-poud turbine runner leave a company that grew from one of his enterprises.

As the story goes, Smith left his pastorate because of a voice condition after the Civil War. As he recuperated, he observed his wife laboring with the laundry. This inspired him to begin work on an early washing machine... .

This panel, part of the Murals of York series, features two York-based Olympic weightlifters, Tommy Kono, center, and John Grimek, right. That's York Barbell's Bob Hoffman, four-time Olympic coach, at left.

Angela Grimek's grandchildren want to recognize their grandmother's June 24 birthday.

The wife of the late Mr. America and Mr. USA weightlifter John Grimek is turning 90.

This is a reminder that York County is not long past those days when it billed itself as Muscletown USA.

John Grimek was among the most successful of the musclemen training under the tutelage of Bob Hoffman, founder of York Barbell Co.... .

York County connections run deep.

Vacationing in my Brandenburg, Ky., hometown recently, I ran across a Devers Youth Center advertisement in a newspaper from nearby Fort Knox.

The ad flagged a number of summer camps at the center: Wilderness enrichment, fine arts, Native American Week summer enrichment programs, among other things.

I wondered whether the youths at the center -- tagged as a "place for Middle School Teens grades 6-12 to hang out" -- had an idea about the center's namesake.

Jacob Loucks Devers, a York native, was commander of Fort Knox early in World War II and later went on to earn four stars as the commander of an Army group invading France and Germany... .

The village of Sticks is York County’s Podunk, but it’s not the only community in the county with a colorful name. (See previous post: "Vermont promotes Podunk, but York County has its Sticks.")

Consider the following from “Never to be Forgotten:" http://w2.ydr.com/news/ntbf

Some say Lucky in Chanceford Township comes from a rural mail carrier who claimed "you were lucky to get into it and lucky to get out."

That’s an improvement over its previous name — Pond... .

York County is, indeed, changing.

Notice all the Civil War activities planned for the June 23-25 weekend at www.patriotdays.net.

Consider these advancements:

First, a lot of these activities center around the city of York. This is the third year for this observance of Civil War events in and around York.

For decades, the Civil War was not high on local civic promotional agendas, in part, because of a simmering controversy that started after York surrendered to the Confederates in the days before the Battle of Gettysburg in 1863... . http://w2.ydr.com/story/eastofgettysburg/97087

The Washington Post profiled Podunk, Vt., this week. As our headline said: “It’s a real place. And it’s really in the middle of nowhere — or, at least, it used to be." http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/05/AR2006060501174.html

York County has its share of wonderful names: Lucky, Glades, Castle Fin. But Sticks is the county's most revered podunk name.

The Codorus Township hamlet was named after a prominent family.

“In fact, the Sticks area wasn’t really the sticks even in the 1800s," I wrote in Never to be Forgotten. “It boasted at least two doctors, including Wesley C. Stick, and the Glenville Academy, complete with science laboratory and library."

And today, Sticks is not in the sticks. It's a crossroads, particularly used by commuters heading back and forth from Maryland and traveling to and from Interstate 83.

For years, the go-to place to see the Murals of York on-line, with descriptions and walking tour, has been http://w2.ydr.com/history/murals.

Well, try the following link to see the highly readable, high-tech murals presentation: http://ydr.inyork.com/ydr/murals. This new presentation covers all 18 murals, plus it includes updated descriptions.

This large-scale panels dotting the sides of buildings in York are enthralling no matter what technology is used to present them.

And, if you want something to hold in your hands as you tour the murals, I wrote a booklet called "The Murals of York," available at the York County Heritage Trust, www.yorkheritage.org.

Our history Web site of the fortnight is one of our own.

The Associated Press is offering a daily feed with the self-explanatory title “Today in History."

Click on the following to see a different story each day: www.ydr.com/history.

That link takes you to what we call our history node, an aggregation of stories, photos, videos and virtual exhibits detailing York County history.

Teachers will find curricula for use in county history instruction there too. For example, see http://w2.ydr.com/nmf/db-ref/files-db/74.pdf.

Monica Sattazahn, a Red Lion letter writer, reinforced the achievements scored by William Penn High School’s Class of 1941 :

"I truly, truly have to say how much I enjoyed the re-print of “The Remarkable Class of 1941, William Penn". What a beautiful tribute to the “Greatest Generation". I don’t believe I saw it the first time it appeared ten years ago. We must all stop and recall how many classes of 41 – 45 will be celebrating their anniversaries over the next four years. We must not forget these wonderful people who shaped our nation in the last half of the 20th century. Thank you again for calling to mind their gifts and sacrifices that have given new generations a better, stronger nation."

That guest column from June 4, 2006 follows: