A Field of Dreams (2)

In the movie, Field of Dreams, Kevin Costner builds a ballpark in a corn field. Here in Allentown, Lanta is proposing to tear down a ball park, Bicentennial Field, to build a garage for hybrid buses, which will burn corn oil. I don't think much of Lanta. I saw their arrogance in action when they sacrificed the Hamilton Street merchants to justify their new Transportation Terminal. My fellow blogger, Bernie O'Hare, has more respect for government, authorities and boards. His journalistic, researched posting * on a recent board nominee, Steve Schmitt, credits the bike racks on the front of the buses to this individual. Here is where Bernie and I turn off on separate paths; Now, if those bike racks were for half-wits,** as portrayed by Pee Wee, I would have no problem. Now, if those bike racks were intended for the poor, who owned no car, I would have no problem. But Schmitt's motivation was neither poverty or mental infirmity; He is one of those alternative transportation, spandex wearing, starbuck drinking cyclists, who know it all, and justify taking the buses off Hamilton Street and tearing down a ballpark. To set the record straight, although Schmitt is Mr. Bike Rack, I'm using him to stereotype the board of directors who generally have too much self esteem and not enough common sense. If they insist on hybrid buses and recycled Starbuck cardboard cups, fine; but find someplace else for the garage. Don't tear down a field of dreams for generations of little league, don't tear down an icon which would cost millions to replace. Please join me this coming Saturday and speak out against this pending mistake.

* http://lehighvalleyramblings.blogspot.com/2009/05/schmitt-unfiot-for-lanta.html

** not an official term of the American Psychological Association

reprinted from May 25, 2009

Lanta announced yesterday, 13 months after this post, that the hybrid garage would be built on their existing property, sparing the stadium.

The Last Jews of Egypt

There are only a few dozen Jews still living in Egypt, all in either Cairo or Alexandria. The number of remaining synagogues outnumbers the remainder of Jews. Many of these synagogues are magnificent structures, and to the credit of the Egyptian government, they are protected and some are being restored. Prior to 1948, well over 80,000 Jews lived in the two cities. The current Ben Ezra in Cairo dates from 1892. The site, once a Coptic Church, became a synagogue in 882.. Tradition marks this as the spot where the prophet Jeremiah gathered the Jews in the 6th century after Nebuchadnezzar had destroyed the Jerusalem temple. The adjacent spring is supposed to mark the place where the pharaohs daughter found Moses in the reeds, and where Mary drew water to wash Jesus. It was here that the famous Philosopher Maimonides studied. Last century a collection of ancient manuscripts was discovered in the compound.

When You Wish Upon A Star

As a little boy in the early 1950's, I would watch Jiminy Cricket sing When You Wish Upon a Star. I thought of Jiminy the other day, when I watched Johnny Callahan swoon about the new Sands Casino Hotel. It occurred to me that Johnny should be careful about what he wishes. I'm concerned that Bethlehem cannot support two large center city hotels. My fear, is that the success of the new Sands Hotel will be at the expense of the classic Hotel Bethlehem. Just as the Hotel Bethlehem's van currently takes guests to the casino, a new modern hotel could shuttle guests to and from historic Main Street. How sad to watch a talking suit clamor about some temporary construction jobs. I wouldn't bet on how many permanent jobs Sands Corporation provides, the casino always has the winning hand. Well, Donny Cunningham rode to Harrisburg and back on empty press conferences on empty steel land, so why shouldn't Johnny try chirping a little?

Transportation in the Valley

Two of my fellow bloggers currently have posts on subjects near and dear to me. Andrew Kleiner, from Remember, documents cars driving on the new Cedar Park Drive. Who would have guessed? Only the naysayers.


The blog known as Lehigh Valley Clancularius, examines what Easton's Sal Panto can't accept; Perhaps New Yorkers won't take a train to come see the Al Bundy Museum.

photo of Pawlowski/Weitzel Drive courtesy of Remember
photo of the Panto Express courtesy of Clancularius

On The Waterfront

Many consider the 1954 classic, On The Waterfront, the best picture ever made. The history of the film is interwoven with the realities of that era. The screenplay, by Budd Schulberg, was loosely based on a Pulitzer Prize winning expose about organized crime on the docks. The film's director, Elia Kazan, had testified at the House Un-American Activities Committee, naming a few associates who had attended meetings with him years earlier.





In the film, Marlon Brando, is slowly convinced to testify against the crime boss who employed him. Kazan and Schulberg insisted on realism for the production. The movie was shot in black and white on the docks of Hoboken. Bodyguards of the crime boss, played by Lee Cobb, were actual former heavyweight fighters.
Tami Mauriello ---------------- Tony Galento --------------Abe Simon

Timber, Again

In an incredible act of fiscal desperation, the Pawlowski Administration is preparing to justify harvesting timber on the South Mountain Reservoir. It is being filtered through the Park Department as woodland management, blah, blah, blah, but make no mistake, they're selling the tree's because they need money. Currently the timber is being surveyed. I must have missed the public announcement for the meeting on that plan. Our heritage, our parks, are being threatened by the perfect storm. The Parks and Recreation departments have been administratively combined. The director's background and training is in recreation. The administration has created no less than two cover groups; The Environmental Advisory Council and Friends of the Parks. Both groups have unwittingly failed in their own mission, as stewards of the parks. In the first phrase of the Cedar Park Plan, the structural integrity of the Mirror Ponds has been compromised by under digging the stone walls. A contractor now will apply gunite in an attempt to stabilize the walls. The Administration and Parks Department is using surveys and studies to justify the pre-determined master plan; for example a survey taken on the east side of Cedar Parkway of young people at the basketball courts may be used to justify extending recreational venues into the traditionally passive Rose Garden side of the park. Press conferences will be held, awards will be won, resumes will be enhanced, but what kind of park system will our grandchildren inherit?

above reprinted from July 2, 2009

Although there is an article in today's Morning Call, what has been lost in the forest, is that the newspaper learned of the contract FROM THIS BLOG.
related posts:
from this blog; Timber, Blogs and MSM
from Morning Call; South Mountain Forestry Study