Rob, I had started telling you about summer vacations in Mehoopany, where my family stayed at least two summers during the mid '70's. My earliest memories go back to the late 1960's, when we visited from Allentown going north on the turnpike to Wilkes-Barre through the Lehigh "tuntel", as I pronounced it. (The tunnel was put through in 1957 to create an efficient route past Blue Mountain. Below is a picture of the tunnel from 1989, as construction of a second tube was in progress.)
So here's what sticks out in mind about summer visits to the greater Wilkes-Barre area.....
South Franklin St, Wilkes-Barre: I remember the rectory immediately next to the St Stephen's church (where my Grandad was the minister from @ 1948 - 1972) being a beautiful home, with handsome woodwork and including a stair lift that could be used for rides or sending luggage up/down. This was directly across from the Boston Store, now Boscov's. It had a large kitchen, a lovely shady backyard (adjacent to the Westmoreland Club side entrance/parking area), and I got to sleep in a four poster bed. I also remember pushing myself on a ride-on toy train engine down the concrete walkway next to the church. Aunt Julie and I were taken on outings to the River Common a couple blocks away, where I remember playing Ring Around the Rosie* and London Bridge is Falling Down. We also had visits to The Boston Store across the street, which had a coin operated carousel kiddie ride in the basement (as older girls, I remember how much Aunt Julie and I liked the escalators - and getting a stern talking-to by the store clerks after going the "wrong way" by running up the Down escalator). Yes, we could be quite bad. We also had many visits with Aunt Mary and Uncle Bob, a couple blocks away at their home on S. Franklin Street next to the Wilkes campus (as little girls, I remember getting "horsey" rides on the backs of cousin Bruce while Julie rode on cousin Brian). Here is what the rectory looks like a recent photo of the rectory, which is now the Luzerne County Historical Society library, and of a stair lift complete with kitty.
Mehoopany: As you noticed yesterday, this town is up Rt. 6 then past a huge Proctor & Gamble plant that I remember being called the Charmin plant. I believe the cabin was available to us due to the kindness of the Weatherly family (my impression is that Mr. Weatherly was also a minister). It was very close to a dairy farm, with an enclosed area for the cows on our side of the barn. Here we got a first-hand view of what must be done if Mama cow needs a bit of help from a farmer (or was it a vet?) delivering Baby calf. It was also smelled rather unpleasant depending on which direction the wind blew. I remember staying up almost all night reading a book I found on a cabin book shelf, The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe - what a great book! We swam in the Susquehanna River, at a nearby "beach" which was actually just rocks similar to the river front by the bridges in West Pittston - this necessitates wearing sneakers. Also, Grammie had Aunt Julie and me swim across the river with her (and back), I assume to prove that we had perfected our swimming skills. You asked me yesterday Rob, did you wear a life jacket? Of course not! After dark one night, Grandad took the kids on a snipe hunt up the road, which involved taking brown paper grocery bags and flashlights. We wandered around in the woods for a while, needless to say no snipes were caught. In downtown Tunkhannock we got treats at Gable's bakery and went to the Dietrich theater, where I remember seeing Herbie the Love Bug. As an evening activity, we sometimes drove over through Tunkhannock to watch local bears eating garbage at the dump. The dump (which was on Rt. 92) has been covered over and is now a sports complex that I pointed out to you yesterday, Rob. Here's a fairly recent photo of the town of Mehoopany including the bridge. Our cabin was on the left side, up the river. Based on what we saw yesterday, it appears it's been remodeled/expanded to become a year-round home and is part of the farm property.
As an aside, do you remember when a bear took a snooze in West Pittston in a tree on Exeter Ave? It was just a couple years ago, you can read about it here: Bear Visit to WP
Beaumont: Well, my grandparents had lived in the rectories of churches where my Grandad served (in New Haven, CT; Johnson City, NY: and finally at St Stephens). When thinking ahead to retirement and to give themselves needed time away from work/home obligations, they bought land from Dr. Farley who was the president of Wilkes College at the time. It was the lower portion of his property in Beaumont - about 15 minutes outside of Dallas. Rob, yesterday we turned off Rt. 309 at the Nulton/Kopca Funeral Home and drove up Butternut Hill Rd and then partway down to see the house. Without foliage, we could see the garage, the side and front of the house with picture windows looking out over a beautiful valley. It's a split-level home with a flat roof, which I believe was a Frank Lloyd Wright design. Here are some memories from this home.... When Aunt Julie and I visited, one of the highlights was breakfast when Grandad often had a fried egg. Julie and I would watch carefully as the meal progressed, since Grandad would eat the egg white first and then would eat the entire yolk in one bite. I'm sure he took his time and made this somewhat of a production, knowing that we were fascinated with the fork being carefully aligned under the yolk, which he then then raised slowly and neatly up to his mouth. On hot days Nana took us to a swimming hole a few times, down the hill then right on to Buckwheat Hollow Road - the swimming hole was to the left on South Run. We would hike up the hill to the Farley's property and into the woods where there was a large rock to picnic on. There were family dinners on the patio; I remember the dinner we had there after Grandad's funeral, when Nana said it was a lovely get-together but there was one person missing. Nana lived there for a few years after Grandad passed in 1979, though it was isolated and quite difficult for her in the winters (which were colder and much snowier then). It was hard to say goodbye to their dream home, but in the early 80's she sold it and moved into a small home in Dallas. It was on Lehman Ave, near Davenport St where Aunt Pam lives. Dad and I helped her with packing and getting ready to move toward the end of my high school years. I then lived with Nana on Lehman Ave while going to King's College.
Harvey's Lake: Harvey's Lake was and still is a great spot for summer fun. As a young girl, I remember stopping at a nearby farm to watch very large and menacing-looking bulls on the other side of a substantial fence. We also swam at Sandy Bottom Beach, which was a public beach though 1984. It had a food stand, where I remember Grandad getting french fries with vinegar. I found a nice photo - see below.
The best thing about Harvey's Lake, though, was Hanson's. Our family did not have much extra money, and as a special treat we could ride the rides at Hanson's Amusement Park once a year. We kids would be SO excited to do this - as I imagine you were for rides on the Boardwalk at Ocean City MD, at the New York State Fair and at local carnivals & fairs. This was long after the Park's heyday, and the place was in some disrepair (it closed in 1984). But we didn't really care. Aunt Julie and I rode the wooden roller coaster many times, and I also enjoyed the small kiddie roller coaster and especially the Merry-go-Round (which I still enjoy very much). I found this fascinating in-depth story that you might enjoy: History of Hanson's Amusement Park Also, here are three pictures from the glory days of the Park and a roller coaster photo which seems to be a later one.
Not too far away.... in Shavertown, we also had swimming and picnics at the Valley Tennis & Swim Club with Aunt Mary and Uncle Bob, who were members. They were good tennis players, I remember watching some of their matches. When you took tennis lessons at Wyoming Valley Indoor Tennis a few years ago, I recognized it and realized Aunt Mary had brought me there with her as well.
Camp Lackawanna: St. Stephens Church sponsored a camp for many years, Camp Sterrett located west of Tunkannock near Vosburg. Next door was a sister camp, a YMCA Camp. The Presbytery of Lackawanna acquired the properties and established Camp Lackawanna in 1962. There was a cooperative arrangement by which kids connected with St. Stephens were included in camp programs. This led to Aunt Julie and me going to Camp Lackawanna over summers for a week at a time when I was in 5th-7th grade. I remember being very homesick the first year, then afterwards it was fine. We had a good time - with bible study in the mornings, crafts, hiking, swimming at the pool, canoeing on the Susquehanna etc. It is truly wonderful to be out on the river.
Our first year, Cindy Clauser from Slatington was in our cabin. She and I became pen pals, and have stayed friends ever since. She married Dennis Reitz, and as you know they live in Palmerton and have two kids older than you are - Mike and Becky. Rob, yesterday we took Sugar Hollow Road to the top of Doll Mountain on the opposite site of the river - if we had a clear view would have seen this, the Vosburg Neck where camp is located.
Red Rock: After the Mehoopany cabin days, we switched over to tent camping near Ricketts Glenn State Park. We stayed at Goods Camp Ground, which is at the bottom of the mountain. From there, we could head over to visit Nana & Grandad and get together with the Kerr family. I will say that camping was not my fave thing to do - I was not so fond of outhouses, the possibility of sleeping on top of rocks & tree roots, or rainy weather then camping (for multiple reasons). I distinctly remember being encouraged to make toast using a stick held over the campfire, which was spectacularly unsuccessful - the bread ended up limp and smokey. But there are some interesting and memorable things to mention. Grandad liked to fish, so we would sometimes go out on a boat with him at the lake next to the campground - it had plenty of stumps, and I called it Mosquito Lake (an on-line search has just revealed that its actual name is Beaver Pond). We did shopping and laundry most often in Benton. We went for drives at twilight to see deer along the edges of open fields. We hiked the falls trails (up and down) at Ricketts Glen. And best of all we spent many wonderful days at Lake Jean, in the park at the top of Red Rock mountain which has boating, a great beach for swimming, bath house with hot showers, and a snack bar. You will remember this from a couple summer picnics we had at the beach and from winter walks when we are staying at the Ricketts Glen family cabins which are near the beach parking lot. Here is the Goods Campground sign, looking relatively better than I remember it. And a nice picture of the Lake Jean beach.
* Ring-Around the Rosie has pretty gruesome origins involving symptoms of the plague. Seems a little ironic to think of it now, while there's another epidemic. We sang it this way (of course, at the end you collapse on the ground):
"Ring around the Rosie
A pocket full of posiesAshes, ashes
We all fall down"
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