Clifford – Some of our good patrons of our school being convinced, apparently, that our school directors are not doing their duty, have hauled them to court this week to show cause why they should not be removed from office. also Ralph Bennett, Miss Janet Tuthill and Glen Wells were delightfully entertained at the home of Miss Ellen Decker, South Gibson, Sunday. Some say Glen did not come home with the rest.
Forest City – The stone crusher is now doing good service on South Main street. That section of our main thoroughfare has been for sometime in a wretched condition, and the borough authorities are to be commended in giving it attention. Also Rosario Franceski and Miss Pauline Maurich were married on Monday morning at 9 a.m. by Rev. Joseph Tomsic in St. Joseph’s church. They will reside with the bride’s mother on Susquehanna street.
East Ararat – At the dedication of the M. E. church, some forty years ago, a subscription was pledged which for some reason remained unpaid, the subscriber long since having died. A few days ago an official of the church received a cashier’s check, not from the grave, but from a near relative of the deceased, requesting that it be accepted as payment of the obligation to be used for the benefit of the church.
Thompson – Upon the return of Mr. and Mrs. Milton D. Kingsley from their wedding tour, Mrs. Kingsley found awaiting her, in addition to her wedding gifts before mentioned, two elegant clocks, one a gift from Theo Borgstrom, of Susquehanna, 13 pieces of choice linen, consisting of a lunch cloth and napkins, a gift from the several teachers where she is teaching and a beautiful picture from her class, tokens of the love and esteem in which she is held. Mrs. Kingsley is a very gifted and accomplished lady and will be an ornament in any circle in which she moves.
Jessup – Undertaker F. A. Bedell was butchering for F. E. Bertholf and Mr. Fargo the first of the week. By the way Francis knows how to handle the knife.
South Montrose – Jerome Shannon, who had the misfortune to shoot his foot, is doing nicely.
Fowler Hill, Auburn Twp. – Mrs. N. B. C. Bennett passed over the hill Friday after her daughter, Hazel, who is teaching at the new school house at Pine Glen.
Springville – C. H. Young, the hustling Maxwell agent, informs us that he has just received a car load of Maxwell 25’s. Mr. Young took the editor out for a little spin and the new “25” did all that any well behaved car could possibly do. It takes to the road as naturally as a duck takes to water, and takes the steep hills with speed, quietly and with no effort.
Montrose – Under the direction of Prof. Young and Neil Chesley the M. H S. football squad has developed rapidly. Much interest is being shown for the game on Saturday, Nov. 1st, with Binghamton, and a good game is expected. Come and encourage the boys. Tickets may be purchased from many of the High School boys at 15 and 25 cents.
South Gibson – On Friday, October 24, occurred a happy event at the home of Thomas Anderson, the event being Mr. Anderson’s eightieth birthday. The day was happily spent by a party consisting of the Grand Army men and their wives.
Howard Hill, Liberty Twp. – Elmer Bailey, who has been in poor health for the past year and a half, was pleasantly surprised, Tuesday, when a number of his neighbors and friends gathered at his home and cut him a nice pile of wood for winter.
Welch Hill, Clifford Twp. – Surveyor Wells surveyed several roads here making measurements in regard to distances that the Welch Hill school children had to travel in going to and from school.
New Milford – Tracy Hayden, 91 years old, was found dead in his bed Oct. 23, at the home of his son, Chas, in Binghamton. Coroner Wilson gave old age as the cause of death. The surviving sons, besides Charles F. are, James S. of New Milford and Maurice B. of Asbury Park, N. J. The deceased was a former resident of New Milford and formerly the county treasurer. The funeral was held at the Episcopal Church here.
Hallstead – Charles Tierney, who was connected with the Lackawanna railroad company as a brakeman and conductor for a period of 49 years and who was a brakeman on the train formerly run by W. F. Hallstead, who later rose to the position of general manager of the road, died at his home on Oct. 23. He was the oldest conductor in point of service on the road. Mr. Tierney was a member of the Knights of Columbus, the Order of Railway Conductors, and the D. L. & W. Railroad Mutual Association. The deceased was a consistent Catholic and was born in Ireland in 1845. He is survived by his wife, six daughters, two sons, two sisters and three stepdaughters.
Lawton/Montrose – D. J. Donovan, proprietor of Hotel Haire, Lawton, has leased the Tarbell House and will take possession Feb. 1, when Landlord B. C. Horton’s lease expires. Mr. Donovan has had considerable experience as a hotel man in the city and country and will doubtless be in a position to serve well the public.
Hopbottom – A very sad accident occurred at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Halsey Pratt, who live about two miles from Hopbottom, on Wednesday of last week, when their four-year old daughter, Laura, was fatally burned by a lamp which exploded in the room where she lay asleep. Dr. Taylor was summoned but inhaling the fumes had paralyzed the nerves and she died the next morning.
News Brief: Pennsylvania Day, the biggest day of the year at Pennsylvania State College, is to take place Friday, Nov. 7. Mizra Ali Kuli Kahn, Persian Minister to the United States, will give an address and one of the special attractions on the program will be a football game between State College and Notre Dame. ALSO To avoid accidents from backfiring, when cranking [an automobile], place the thumb against the index finger and take the handle between the four fingers and the palm of the hand. The hand thus opens readily should a back kick occur. Always crank up, never down.
The United States Senate Committee on the Budget (Republican) webpage has a calculator that can provide you with your lifetime share of the national debt by simply entering in your birthdate. I stumbled upon this interesting calculator as I was searching for an article I had recently read concerning per household federal debt obligations. In any event, I decided to enter my birthdate into the calculator – and found out that my lifetime share of the national debt was $293,531. My wife’s share was $391,947 as she is five years younger than me. Then, I put in my almost 6-year old daughter’s birthdate and her lifetime share of the national debt was $1,323,071. For some reason, I could not stop myself and I followed up with my almost 4-year old daughter’s birthdate – and her lifetime share of the national debt was $1,434,235.
There was a link to the U.S. Debt Clock webpage, so I clicked on it. This is a really cool (and severely depressing) tool. It shows a running “clock” of the debt being racked up – the numbers are moving so quickly that it is hard to even comprehend. It listed the national debt at over $17 trillion. This instrument listed debt per taxpayer as being $148,896. Perhaps even more disturbing was the “unfounded liability” section – which includes deficiencies in future funding of the social security trust fund, the Medicare prescription drug program and Medicare itself – which the Debt Clock contends exceeds $126 trillion. As to the liability per taxpayer for the “unfunded liabilities,” the amount listed was $1.1 million. The Debt Clock has not yet listed the unfunded liabilities that will arise under the Affordable Care Act - but the number will only increase the taxpayer obligation. I suspect that the unfunded liabilities are the reason that the lifetime debt calculator referenced above sees the debt obligations skyrocket for the younger generations. By the way, I have not even referenced the debts held by some states and local municipalities – or the unfunded state liabilities – and we have to figure out a way to pay for them as well.
In fairness to the Democratic Party, I attempted to find a version of a debt calculator similar to the one that the Republicans have created – and I could not locate anything. I wanted to provide a balanced picture not slanted in any manner. I am not sure that I really trust the numbers provided by the debt calculator or the debt clock – except to the extent that it represents more money than the whole economy can likely sustain – let alone individual taxpayers.
A few weeks ago, I listened to President Obama advocate increasing the debt ceiling – and he compared it to a family household not defaulting on a mortgage payment. President Obama also stressed how a default would impact on our credit rating. I like the analogy to a family household – and I have used it before – but the rest of the argument did not hold water. A family household would never – and could never – sustain itself by simply taking out new credit cards every month to pay the mortgage payment. In the real world, your credit rating does not increase with every new credit card that you charge to the limit. In fact, a family would not be able to get credit cards to keep making mortgage payments if they were in the position that the United States finds itself.
Responsible households find themselves in difficult financial situations – and it requires difficult and painful decisions to make things right. It means eliminating things or changing things in a sequential order of importance such as cable television, eating out, delaying big purchases, vacations, telephones, food choices, clothes, and the list can be extended by the frugality of the household. It often requires household members to get additional employment to increase the family revenue. The idea that our creditworthiness as a Nation is improved by increasing the national debt and not addressing unfunded liabilities is like a strapped household that decides to get another credit card so they can add HBO to its cable package and continue buying Lobster every night for dinner.
The bigger question we should be asking ourselves is why are politicians who suggest that we make some little financial sacrifices – not even big ones – lampooned and derided. We all know that our current financial situation is unsustainable over a long period of time. We also know that we are saddling our children and grandchildren, and their children and grandchildren, and probably uncountable successive generations with an insurmountable debt burden. Is there any parent out there who would sacrifice their child’s college education in return for dinner and a movie? Sadly, as a Nation, we are doing a lot more than simply jeopardizing their education by our financial recklessness – we are sacrificing their very standard of living and potentially their liberties and freedoms. It’s long past time for leadership on this issue – no more talking points, no more empty promises, no more kicking the can – we need leadership and solutions – not pandering, grandstanding and deception.
Please submit any questions, concerns, or comments to Susquehanna County District Attorney’s Office, P.O. Box 218, Montrose, Pennsylvania 18801 or at our website www.SusquehannaCounty-DA.org or discuss this and all articles at http://dadesk.blogspot.com/.
“The witches fly Across the sky, The owls go, "Who? Who? Who? " The black cats yowl and green ghosts howl, "Scary Halloween to you!" ~ Nina Willis Walter
Have you picked out your costume yet? Time’s a-wasting! Halloween is just around the corner. Donning costumes is one of the most beloved traditions in America. Long before it became an event for children, the tradition started many years ago with adults dressing in ultra-elaborate costumes and attending masquerade parties. This developed as an annual event in the twentieth century. The first store bought Halloween costumes were not available until the 1930’s. The holiday is loosely based on old Celtic legends and the Celtic holiday “Samhain”—when the “Veil” between the “real” world and the Spirit world was considered to be very thin. That is one of the reasons why Halloween costumes have, for the most part, a creepy, spooky, or downright frightening appearance. Witches, blood thirsty vampires, moaning ghosts, vicious werewolves and many other frightening monsters have become the popular choices of trick or treaters everywhere. Thus the American idea of a creepy Halloween was born. Dressing in costumes gives one the opportunity to "let your hair down" and be someone else for a while, all in good fun, of course.
Why don’t you take a moment from your pumpkin-carving and visit your local Library Branch? They have many Halloween titles that are sure to keep the children entertained until trick-or-treating time. Some examples are:
“Just Say Boo!” by Susan Hood,
“Fancy Nancy Halloween or Bust” by Jane O’
Connor, “Six Creepy Sheep” by Judith Ross Enderie and Stephanie Gordon Tessler,
“Scaredy Cat, Splat!” By Rob Scotton,
“Five Little Pumpkins” by Dan Yaccarino,
“Beneath the Ghost Moon” by Jane Yolen,
“The Bumpy Little Pumpkin” by Margery Cuyler, “Pumpkin Jack” by Will Hubbell, and
“Pooh’s Halloween Parade” by Isabel Gaines, just to name a few.
The Susquehanna Branch Library Book Club met on October 17th and had a lively discussion about October’s selection; “Brooklyn” by Colm Toibin. If you were unable to join in this month, perhaps you would like to check out November’s title--“Second Glance” by Jodi Picoult--an intricate tale of love, haunting memories, and renewal, “Second Glance” begins in current-day Comtosook,Vermont, where an old man puts a piece of land up for sale and unintentionally raises protest from the local Abenaki Indian tribe, with supernatural repercussions. The group will be meeting on November 21st at 4:00 pm for discussion. Please make a note that there will be no meeting in December—the December selection will be discussed at the January 2014 meeting.
Just in case you missed it, the “Susquehanna County Reads” Program is in full swing. The selection for 2013 is “The Hobbit”, the classic fantasy novel by J.R.R. Tolkien and prequel to the Lord of the Rings series. There are still some exciting events for you to enjoy. Mon. Oct. 14th to the 22nd, you can tune into WPEL AM 800 for a radio reading of the first six chapters of “The Hobbit”. The Reading will begin at 12:30 pm each day or you can listen online at www.wpel.org
***Also, each library branch (Montrose, Susquehanna, Forest City, and Hallstead-Great Bend) will be featuring a riddle contest each week during October. Stop by and try to guess the riddle for a chance to win a Hobbit-worthy prize!
Sat. Oct. 26 - Gala Finale Hobbit Dinner at the Stonebridge Inn and Restaurant, 206 Sugar Hill Road Uniondale, 6pm - 9pm. $25 per person – An excellent buffet dinner, complete with desserts, a chocolate fountain, live entertainment by Carl Hagstrom, and Corky Staats, and “Reader's Theater “ (scenes from the book) create a full menu, sure to please.
Don’t forget to find us on “Facebook”: (Susquehanna County Library) and look us up on “Pinterest” for lots of interesting nooks and crannies to explore and now, if you “Tweet”, follow us on Twitter (@susqcolib) to check out event information, local scoops and much more.
As I roast pumpkin seeds for a delicious snack, I leave you with this thought:
“Shadows of a thousand years rise again unseen, Voices whisper in the trees, `Tonight is Halloween"~ Dexter Kozen
Candy Corn—Glowing Pumpkins—Black Cats
ENJOY!!
