September 11th, A Dark Day In American History

When terrorist picked this day in 2001 to ram hijacked airliners into symbols of American power and prosperity, what they did not know is the significance September 11th has in American history.

Aside from the terrorist attacks 10 years ago today, three other significant historical events happened on this day, one in our back yard, another in our neighborhood, the other, far away in a meadow in what is now southern Utah.

Here's in chronological order, is a quick summation of those events and links to learn more about each event:

The Battle Of The Brandywine:

Also known as the Battle of the Brandywine or the Battle of Brandywine Creek, was a battle of the Philadelphia campaign of the American Revolutionary War fought on September 11, 1777. It was fought in the area surrounding Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania and the Brandywine River. The battle, which was a decisive victory for the British, left Philadelphia, the revolutionary capital, undefended. The British captured the city on September 26, beginning an occupation that would last until June 1778.  Learn more here, here and here.

 

The Christiana Riot

William Parker, a former slave from Roedown Plantation in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, was renowned in the Christiana, PA area for his activism against slavery and his bravery in the protection of his and other blacks' civil and political rights. He assisted many runaway slaves and was one of many people in the area involved in the underground railroad.   Parker, and other members of Christiana community, became well known for using whatever force necessary to prevent the recapture of blacks in the area.  One such incident of resistance occurred on September 11, 1851 when Edward Gorsuch, a slaveholder from Maryland came to Christiana bearing a warrant to recover his slaves. There are conflicting stories of why and how the shooting started but in the end Gorsuch was dead and his son severely wounded.  The event, regarded by many historians as the first battle of the Civil War, brought the attention of the country to the perils and challenges of attempting to enforce the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850.

Watch a video here, or read more here or here. 

The Mountain Meadow Massacre

On September 11, 1857, some 50 to 60 local Mormons in southern Utah, themselves recent immigrants to the area, aided in small part by American Indian allies, massacred about 120 emigrants who were traveling by wagon through Utah to California. The horrific crime, which spared only 17 children age six and under, occurred in a highland valley called the Mountain Meadows, roughly 35 miles southwest of Cedar City in southern Utah.

Learn more here, here and here.

Christana Lions Announce Sub Sale

This from LancasterOnline:

Christiana's Lions Club continues to hold fresh sub sales on the third Saturday of each month at the Lions Community Building on North Bridge Street in Christiana.

Proceeds from the subs, which are $4 each, help fund club charitable activities.  Fall sub sales are scheduled for 7 to 11 a.m. Saturdays, Sept. 17. and Oct. 15.   

To order, call 610-593-7134 at least three days prior to the sub sale, leave your name and phone number and the number of subs requested, and show up at pick-up day.

The Lions Club welcomes new members.  Anyone interested in visiting a Lions Club meeting or learning more about the international service organization may call Steve Shivery at 610-593-6945. 

Christiana Church To Host Gospel Singer

Marianna Esworth

This from last week's Community Courier:

Latta Memorial Presbyterian Church invites everyone to a Sunday evening music program on Aug. 28, featuring Marianna Esworthy of Rejoice Ministries. 

The 7 p.m. program will take place in the prayer garden, and attendees should bring lawn chairs.

In the case of rain, the program will be held in the church sanctuary. 

The church is located at 23 Green St., Christiana. For more information, call the church at 610-593-5467.

Kirby Kopp brought his hot air balloon to Lancaster County libraries this summer, including the Moores Memorial Library in Christiana.

This from the Community Courier:

The theme for this year's summer reading programs in the Lancaster County Library System is "One World, Many Stories."

One of the many programs appearing throughout county libraries is "Adventures Aloft," presented by Ephrata hot air balloonist Kirby Kopp.

Kopp appeared at the Moores Memorial Library in Christiana on July 13 to provide all kinds of information on hot air balloons, from their history and development to balloon racing and record setting.

He recounted how ballooning history began in 1783 with the first flight in France that took a sheep, a rooster and a duck up 8,000 feet in the air. The flight was a complete success, except for the rooster, who was kicked in the wing by the sheep.

Kopp also recalled his first experience with ballooning in 1982, when he was a helper for the balloonist at Creation Ministries.

He eventually moved to Florida to learn balloon maintenance, repair and piloting, then returned to this area to start his own company, giving hot air balloon rides.

While he could not offer balloon flights to the children, Kopp did bring a small-scale balloon into the library and inflated it on the floor, allowing the youngsters a chance to climb inside.

He also brought along his balloon basket and burners so that everyone could come outside
to see the scale of the basket and hear the burners come to life.

The children's summer reading program runs through Wednesday, Aug. 10, and encourages children to use their local library.

In addition to the ballooning presentation, each library in the county system offered additional programs, including Around the World with Yurtfolk; Critter Cultures with Jesse Rothacker; People Who Eat Bugs; Seven Continents of Science; Native American Games; Drum Fun; Lancaster Barnstormers mascot Cylo; One World, One Song and "A Lancaster Story: Coming to Penn's Woods in the 1700s."

"More kids were signing up this year than last year," library director Claudia Roun said. "I think that we have some really good programs this year - they're fun and educational."

In Christiana, the programming goes hand-in-hand with new additions to the children's collection, which was made possible by a Libri Foundation "Books for Children Grant" in the amount of $1,400 and a $2,500 Preschool Connection Grant funded by the federal Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) Funds, and administered by the Pennsylvania Office of Commonwealth Libraries.

Moores Memorial Library is located at 9 W. Slokom Ave., Christiana. For more information, readers may call 610-593-6683 or visit the website at www.christianalibrary.org .

Parkeburg Train Service Profiled in Video

The railchannel.com posts a 34 minute video of Amtrak train service between Parkesburg and Bird in Hand with stops in Christiana and Gap in between.

While the video is well documented, it is not the most exciting video ever made.  All in all, a decent 'snapshot' of train service in, through and beyond Parkesburg.

A Drive Along The Scenic Octoraro Creek

Bob Taylor of Christiana posted this video of a leisurely drive Along Creek Road south of Atglen, back and forth over Mercer's Mill covered bridge and then continuing further down Creek Road towards West Fallowfield on Facebook this morning.

Its not clear who the creator of the video is but it looks like Rick & Rosie Woodhouse, proprietors of Gabriel's Hill Bed and Breakfast in Christiana, deserve the credit.

Here's the description accompanying the video on YouTube:

Down the hill, through the bridge, up the hill to the park and back again. The drive along the Octoraro Creek has been designated as a Pennsylvania Scenic River. The creek borders a large portion of Wolf's Hollow Park. Mercer's Mill Covered Bridge is just over a mile from Gabriel's Hill.

Enjoy the scenery and the relaxing music!

More Headlines For Christiana Lions

Everyone is getting on the Christiana Lions' bandwagon writing about Jim Groff's trip to Joplin, Missouri.

The latest, Lancaster Online with this money quote from Leslie Reese who made the signature quilt Jim took with him:

"A signature quilt is very old. When you were moving on the Oregon Trail, your church would provide you with one. The congregation would make one with their signatures to remind you of them because you may never see them again.  I had made this quilt two weeks beforehand when Jim came in. I said, 'I have the quilt for you.' It really just blossomed from there.  This community and the communities around us are some of the most generous people I have ever met. No matter how hard it is, they did deep into their pockets and give."

Read the entire article here.

On Thursday, Parkesburg Today's cub writer Maggie Stuehrmann wrote about Christiana's Lions Club raising money and traveling to Joplin, Missouri to aid families and businesses devastated by a tornado on May 22nd.

Not to be outdone, local journalist Debbie Wygent wrote about the Lion's activities in Lancaster Online.  Debbie's article describes his work to get the ball rolling on a $4,000 fund raising drive:

Money quote:

Lions volunteers began to put their plans into action less than a week earlier. One call led to another, with Christiana's historic quilt shop donating a pastel work of hand-stitched beauty, warmth and art, and the food bank contributing practical sustenance.

Read Debbie's entire piece here.

Christiana Lions Headed To Joplin

The handmade quilt created by local crafters to raise money for Joplin, MO. tornado victims is unfurled at Monday evening's school board meeting.

By Magdalena Stuehrmann

On May 22, 2011, at about 6 o’clock in the evening, a massive tornado tore a devastating path through the town of Joplin, Missouri. 

St. John’s Regional Medical Center, a major hospital located in Joplin, was so badly damaged by the tornado that it could not be used to receive the injured in the aftermath, and patients and staff were forced to evacuate the hospital. 

Early reports estimated that about 40 people had been killed, and many more were left homeless after the tornado destroyed homes and apartment buildings throughout the town.

In the aftermath of the tornado, reconstruction efforts began to try to restore the town to its original, livable condition. Two months later, however, the job is not complete and the town and its citizens are still struggling to rebuild.

Organizations from across the country have sent teams to the area to assist in the effort. Among these organizations is Lions Club International and a team from a Lancaster branch of the Lions Club.

Mr. Jim Groff, the president of the Christiana Lions Club, is leaving today to go to Joplin Missouri to assist the Lancaster team that is already there. As he told the Octorara School Board at their meeting on July 11^th, he has already received much support from local organizations and individuals as our community reaches out to the citizens of Joplin. 

Members of the community created a beautiful, traditional Lancaster area hanging quilt (pictured above) for Mr. Groff to allow members of the community to sign for a donation of at least 5 dollars to shop their support to the citizens of Joplin. 

Mr. Groff brought this quilt to the board meeting to make more members of the community aware of the effort that was being made and give them the opportunity to show their support. 

The local group, the Chester County Foodbank also gave Mr. Groff two skid loads of survivor kits to take with him on his trip to Joplin for him to distribute to the residents.

Mr. Groff is leaving today and is planning to be back around July 24^th. 

We wish him and the residents of Joplin the best of luck with their rebuilding efforts and hope that Joplin will soon be back to normal.

The Weekly Wrap

A week ago Sunday readers were treated to a video of the beautiful fireworks in Minch Park, a great catch-up for those of us who were unable to make the real show. We were re-introduced to Ryan Vogelsong, a former Octorara student, in his new role as a Major League Baseball All Star player after having pitched for the World Champion Giants this past year with resounding success. We began the day with a Friday pre-fireworks photograph from Jack Mariano, taken from his mother’s front lawn on Fourth Avenue, and were introduced to the new “Report an Issue” feature of the Parkesburg Today that allows residents to report minor, non-emergency problems such as potholes or graffiti on the Internet to alert the rest of the community.

This Monday, we were able to read a piece from The Daily Local News, which finally gave Ryan Vogelsong his due in an article about his achievement in making the National League All Star team this year. Readers were introduced to one of Chester County’s hidden gems, the new Wolf’s Hollow County Park, with a review and photographs of the park. We were given an Independence Day special feature with the lyrics of the national anthem interspersed with photographs of Parkesburg flags in honor of the occasion, including the often ignored second verse of the song.

This Tuesday we found a winner of the Where in Parkesburg contest, Evelyn Townsend, who correctly guessed the identity of the gas station in the photograph (the Turkey Hill now stands in its place) and won two tickets to the Lion’s Club Circus. Taxpayers were alerted to an upcoming Taxpayer Cyber Coalition meeting with keynote speaker, Mr. David Baldinger. Mr. Baldinger proposes to remove the school property tax. We saw notable June 5^th’s throughout history, including the introduction of Spam to the world, the creation of the bikini and the kick start of Elvis Presley’s career. On a tragic note, the Parkesburg community mourned the loss of Collin McElroy, age 16, who was killed in a car accident on Sunday. Our hearts are with his family, and the families of the other boys who were also killed that day.

Wednesday saw the introduction of the Rocco and Anna’s Monday special, an offer that gives, with the purchase of one dinner, the second at half price. Readers were introduced to Miss Abigail Butler, a graduated senior readying herself for an exciting college experience. Other graduates in the news were those from the Canine Partners for Life in Cochranville. The dogs in this program are specially trained to assist individuals with serious impairments due to illness or injury and are now ready to begin bringing light and assistance to many residents’ lives. We also celebrated the 60 years of service provided by Mr.Brayton Hershey to the Christiana Fire Company, who has been working with the company since the age of 18. We also saw the invasion of the Parkesburg Today by a Coatesville filmmaker, Mr. John Hutelmyer, a graduate of Temple University’s Department of Film and Media Arts, and, as it was a very good video, we are willing to overlook this transgression. Tom Houghton, a frequent and successful champion for the reduction of Octorara’s high property taxes was also featured on the blog. Past July 6^th’s were featured as well, including the test of rabies vaccine, the establishment of the dollar as the United States monetary unit, and the day that Anne Frank went into hiding from the Nazis.

On Thursday, we were introduced to Lancaster General Hospital’s plans to build a new outpatient facility at the intersection of Routes 10 and 30. We also learned about Rainbow International, a company that provides water, fire and smoke damage cleanup and restoration to those who need it after disasters. Readers were invited to participate in another “Just for Fun” identification of an old Parkesburg signpost, and Kerry Glenn was disqualified automatically due to his well-known expertise, (though he later answered any way . . . and we're glad he did!).

Friday saw a possible end to the construction in the Octorara High School with photographs of the progress and plans so far. Mr. Kerry Glenn weighed in with his answer to the “Just for Fun” identification process with a well researched, well informed answer and background on the sign and the highway near which it stood. Readers were alerted to a community breakfast on Saturday morning at the Parkesburg United Methodist church (wait, free food?!?!), and to a new recording by local singer/songwriter, Mr. Kevin Patrick.

On Saturday, we learned about a significant past July 9^th, the day in 1868 when the 14^th Amendment to the Constitution was ratified, a great step toward the equality of African-American citizens. The upcoming Lions Club Circus on July 14^th was advertised and the Octorara Summer Theater Program, taught by Octorara Alum Ms. Saskia Blaha, an accomplished performer, was highlighted. Readers were introduced to the newest member of the Atglen Fire Company, a brand new fire engine, a highly sophisticated piece of equipment. Readers saw in writing what most of us already suspected – traffic in the area is getting worse. For those who missed the July 3rd Fire Company Fair, a video was posted which included the fireworks display.

Longtime Fire Company Member Honored In Christiana

Bryton Hershey stands beside Christiana's new ambulance

Christiana Community Ambulance held an open house Saturday to house its new ambulance and celebrate 60 years of service by longtime member Brayton Hershey.

Hansen Poole, who has been with the company since 1975, was helped along in his training by Hershey.

"As the ambulance has evolved we're doing more and more patient care," he said during the dedication ceremony. "Equipment is fine, but to have the equipment you also have to have the people."

Before members of the ambulance company pushed the new Ford diesel ambulance into the building to formalize the housing ceremony, they honored Hershey, placing a plaque in the vehicle dedicating it and all future ambulances numbered 5-22 to him.

"As soon as I was 18 years old I joined the fire company. The ambulance was part of the fire company at that time," Hershey said.

Read the entire article on Lancaster Online here.