New Graveside Tears

In August of 08, after about a year of blogging on conditions at Fairview, The Morning Call ran the story shown above. I did manage to organize a small meeting between the cemetery operators and the public later that fall. Yesterday I received the following comment, submitted to a posting from that period.

Patti from California has left a new comment on your post "New Graveside Tears":

My family is buried at Fairview and 2 weeks ago I visited and was appalled at the horrible conditions and total lack of maintenance throughout the cemetery. I have been trying to reach Loretta or David most of the summer and was told they had taken an extended trip out of the country. (business must be good) They seem to be back now - but still no way to actually talk to them.

My mother is 97 - plans to be buried there with her parents and my Dad. I could cry at the thought ....

I googled Fairview and was led to your blog. Loretta told me in May I could get our plot maintained if I invested in their endowment for $1000. After seeing the total lack of care there, I feel like I would be throwing the money away. What do other people think or do about this appalling condition?

I feel sorry for this family, Fairview may have been a well maintained place when the father was buried there many years ago. I believe the cemetery is in better condition than it was two years ago, but that's not saying very much. I will occasionally revisit this topic, to at least continue a small noise on behalf of these families.

reprinted from September of 2009

ADDENDUM: Over the years I have published numerous posts about Fairview Cemetery. Today and yesterday, I revisited the cemetery to cast light on a problem; Allentown's orphan cemeteries. Although Fairview isn't really an orphan, it shares the same issues as the West End Cemetery, in center city. Our esteemed mayor took it upon himself to purchase two unnecessary parcels, ostensibly to add to the park system. In addition to their cost, $1.5 million dollars, there will be upkeep expenses by an already underfunded park system. City hall should instead concentrate on these cemeteries, which have been problematic for decades.

A Blog and A Cemetery

About ten years ago, I began searching for the grave of a young Jewish woman, who died around 1900. Among several Jewish cemeteries no longer in use, I searched Mt. Sinai, a small section of the sprawling Fairview Cemetery on Lehigh Street, just west of the 8th Street Bridge. The cemetery is the history of Allentown past, including the graves of Harry Trexler, John Leh, and Jack Mack. As one proceeded deeper into the cemetery, away from sight on Lehigh Street, conditions worsened. As is the case with many old cemeteries, fees paid for perpetual care, 100 years ago, were long gone. Complicating the situation, the current private operator wasn't particularly assessable. In addition to extended family members upset about conditions, the situation was compounded by his refusal, with few exceptions, to allow private upkeep. My early posts on the situation drew response and phone calls from people with no interest in local political blogs; They were just exasperated relatives, with a family member buried long ago at Fairview. After beginning a series of posts, and letters to the editor, I prevailed upon The Morning Call to write a story one year later. The Call's story appeared on August 11, 2008. Within two weeks, the cemetery operator agreed to a public meeting I had organized at a local church. Arrangements were made between the operator and several parties. As with several of Allentown's older cemeteries, the issue of maintenance will be ongoing. This would be a worthwhile project for City Hall.

I have reprinted this post because of some inquiries about the conditions at Fairview.   

The Photography of K Mary Hess

K Mary Hess is an extraordinarily gifted landscape photographer, whose soft, sensitive use of color gives her images a painterly quality. Her page on Facebook, Photos Of Lehigh Valley, receives thousands of views each week.

Photos of Lehigh Valley Open House! 

This coming Thursday, November 3rd, the Bake Oven Inn in Germansville will be hosting a limited exhibit of Ms. Hess's work from 5:30 - 7:30 pm

Hosted at Curious Goods at the Bake Oven Inn
7705 Bake Oven Rd Germansville 18053
Come for fun ~complimentary hors d'oeuvres~beverages

Directions

Photography Page of K Mary Hess

Wehr's Dam Referendum

Readers of Bill White's Sept. 29 column learned that he felt that having two referendums on one ballot was in itself a problem for both of those questions.

South Whitehall residents will be asked to approve a new library and alsorenovations to Wehr's Dam. White wrote that bringing the dam into state compliance will cost close to $600,000. That's not true, but in fairness to White, that's how the township is presenting the issue.

The state inspection cited only a few minor issues and concluded that overall the dam is in "good condition." Throughout the decades, the township itself would make any required repairs to the dam. Under such an in-house procedure, the current repairs might cost $6,000. Allowing for a professional contractor, the dam repair could cost $60,000 to meet the state requirements.

However, the engineer hired by the township presented three options. Option No. 1 repaired the dam to meet state guidelines. Option No. 2 replaced one-third of the dam for $600,000. Option No. 3 would replace the entire dam at close to $2 million. While the three options allowed the township commissioners to present option No. 2 as a reasonable compromise, it is actually a deception that could do away with the dam. There is nothing in the state report even remotely suggesting that any portion of the dam itself needs to be replaced. It was the township's intention to come up with a price high enough to justify a referendum. Already, four years ago, the township's Park Master Plan, mostly formulated with input from the Wildlands Conservancy, recommended that the dam be demolished, but not for any structural problem. The cost to meet the state requirement should not be confused with some contrived replacement recommendation.

White went on to write that the dam rehabilitation would stretch over five years, and that it would add $76 to the average homeowner's bill. Once again, he was led astray by ambiguous information put out by the township. With over 8,000 properties in the township, that amount would generate $3 million over five years.

However, over a five-year period, it would cost homeowners only $17 a year to generate the $600,000 — something the township later acknowledged in a long note — a series of 13 questions and answers — to property owners inserted in their trash bills. With that note, I believe the township attempted to intimidate the voters against preserving the dam. The note does not state that it would cost $17 a year for five years until the 11th question.

South Whitehall chose an unnecessarily expensive option to repair the dam. It did this so residents would vote the dam away. The dam, considered low-hazard by the state, is a massive concrete structure, 6 feet wide at the bottom and sitting on an even more massive concrete platform. Unattended, it will last for another century. While no longer providing water energy for a grain mill, it is now a historical structure of charm, providing a beautiful sight as water flows over the dam and under the covered bridge.

South Whitehall's park policy is being driven by the Wildlands Conservancy and its general objection to dams, regardless of their significance. Wehr's Dam has been a destination for generations of residents and is the heart of the township's Covered Bridge Park. Although the recently released township magazine has a picture of the covered bridge on the cover, there is not one word about the dam or referendum. The township hopes that residents will reject the contrived, inflated price and tax assigned to preserving the dam and relieve the commissioners of any political consequence for that decision.

Ironically, White's column explains that the new library would contain a local history room. I can tell readers after attending all the township meetings for almost a year that the commissioners could care less about history. History starts with saving local structures, not misleading the public about preservation costs to justify unnecessary demolition. I urge South Whitehall residents to vote to keep the beauty and history of the dam, and then challenge the commissioners about the real cost of any necessary repairs.

Above is my op-ed piece, as it appeared in the Morning Call on Saturday.

ADDENDUM: An article in today's Morning Call on the referendum serves the Wildlands Conservancy well, as do the South Whitehall Commissioners. It doesn't mention that there was an economical third option,  to just repair the dam.

Welcome To The Vendig

In 1933, with the end of Prohibition, my grandparents(maternal) started operating the Vendig Hotel. They were the working partners, another immigrant family, here longer, were the silent backers. The hotel was directly across from the current Main Street Depot Restaurant in Bethlehem, which was the old New Jersey Line Terminal. With my grandmother cooking, they became well known for crab cakes and other shelled seafood. What wasn't known, was that she was strictly kosher, and never even tasted anything she prepared. As some may recall, my grandparents came from Hungarian Transylvania (now Romania) in the early 20's. Family lore* says Bela Lugosi visited the hotel. Lugosi was born in the same area of then Hungary, and started his acting career playing Jesus in Passion Plays. In 1931, after immigrating to America years earlier, he got his big break playing Dracula. Typecast as a villain, Lugosi was reduced in later years to drug addiction and playing in low budget monster films. He died in the mid 50's and was buried in his Dracula cape.

* My surviving uncle, who as a boy lived above the hotel, has no recollection of Lugosi. The partner families would later merge through marriage and 40 years later come to own the old vaudeville theater in South Bethlehem known as The Globe. It too is gone.                                                      reprinted from June of 2008

South Whitehall's Backscratchers

South Whitehall, as a consequence of uncontested elections for commissioner seats, now has a government of exchanged favors.  While Wehr's Dam demolition is being put to a disingenuous referendum to accommodate the Wildlands Conservancy,  they are wasting money repaving streets that were in good shape. They paved in front of Temple Beth El on Yom Kippur, and even came into the synagogue to tell the worshippers to move their cars.  Because a truck parked in front of a commissioner's building,  they banned on street truck parking.  They then created a truck parking zone, by permit only, in front of the new state enforcement building behind K Mart.  When it was revealed that the State Police will not allow parking there for security reasons, the commissioners went ahead and passed the new truck parking ordinance anyway;  Talk about Catch 22!

If you're a South Whitehall resident and would like to complain about any one of these absurdities, be prepared to wait several hours at the meetings. South Whitehall is the only municipality in the valley which puts courtesy of the floor at the end of the meeting.

BONUS POST THIS EVENING AT 5:03 PM

Election 2016, Foaming At The Mouth

A reader stated at a recent post that he thought things would be dull here, if I didn't allow commenters to banter back and forth.  What I think is dull is seeing a long comment section of two people having their own conservation, especially when they're anonymous.  But, on the topic of dull, I present my 17th post on the incivility of this election.

I have a facebook friend who can't stop complaining about Trump.  She couldn't be more offended if he had grabbed her crotch.  What she will do with that outrage come November 9th, who knows?  She might have to become a blogger.  What started me off for this new post was Morgan Freeman and Colin Powell's endorsement of Clinton.  Morgan narrates Hillary's latest campaign ad, with his iconic voice.  Colin, describing himself as a Republican, came out for Clinton.  Of course, he also came out for Obama in 08 and 12.  He seems to be a Republican in registration only.

Pictured above,  college educated soccer mom thinking about Donald Trump.

LCA's Drinkable Blend

Long time readers of this blog know that I have been raging against the valley's sacred cows for decades. I complained when Donny Cunningham  pimped our water. We now have multiple bottlers, which steal our water, but provide few jobs. I complained when he invited Ocean Spray and their highly acidic discharge here. They couldn't even meet New Jersey's pollution standards. I raged against the sewage overflowing into Lehigh Parkway, and documented races and marathons, held in feces and toilet paper infested areas next to the creek. I criticized the hypocrites called the Wildlands Conservancy, for tearing down scenic dams, but remaining silent about the sewage.

It turns out now that the silent yuppies are finally stirred up. Joyce Marin, who has made a career out of farmland preservation and other popular environmental fads, is upset because the LCA wants to blend a little sewage into the Little Lehigh. The LCA has been on a program to save a drop of waste water, here and there. The thinking is that if you save enough drops, perhaps they can avoid a real fix, like properly sizing their pipes and treatment facilities. For that reason, South Whitehall just made all their homeowners close off their floor drains, which were a required safeguard when the houses were built. LCA's scientist, shown above, has determined that you can drink a few parts of sewage per million, and not drop dead. A drop here and a drop there, will save an expensive pipe replacement.