Obama Preaches To The Choir In Philadelphia

On  Sunday morning, a black power broker from Philadelphia stated that Pat Toomey has done nothing for the black community in Philadelphia. A journalist present, explained that Toomey has been the leading conservative Republican for gun control, while shootings have taken the lives of almost three hundred  blacks a year in the City of Brotherly Love. The black broker replied,  but Toomey hasn't come to their churches, and spoken directly to them.

President Obama came Monday night, and not only spoke, but preached to the choir.  His sermon even had a well rehearsed amen in the background. His supporters claim that he is a legal scholar, but all I heard was a  politician, promoting another one. Obama started out at the Democrat convention twelve years ago, as an eloquent speaker promising hope and change.  Last night, he ended his career by wrongly claiming that United States is more respected now than before,  and that its workers are better off.  Although, he certainly remains as eloquent of a speaker as ever, and he may still even inspire hope,  he certainly brought no change.  In addition to Hillary, his sermon gifted McGinty, who besides being one of ten children, appears to have no qualifications.

There will be free rides in Philly today, just call Uber, and say that you're a cog in the vote machine. Additionally, a settlement was forced upon the SEPTA board, to maximize the turnout.  Last night, Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen weren't the only showmen in Philadelphia.

Hillary Workers In Allentown

A facebook friend relayed the story that Clinton campaign workers, while canvasing the neighborhood, stopped in the church at 6th and Tilghman on Friday.  The workers, some Jewish and from as far away as California, found the former synagogue, turned church, architecturally interesting. I find it interesting that suburban liberals, from all over United States, end up at 6th and Tilghman, trying to squeeze out votes for Hillary. On Sunday, I bumped into a few of them myself.  They were from NYC, and one issue centric; Supreme Court appointments in regard to abortion.

The Clinton campaign had also hired professional firms nationwide to register the unmotivated to vote. Not exactly grass roots.  Hillary is hoping that Obama helps encourage the blacks to vote, and that Katy Perry and Beyoncé help encourage the millennials.  Meanwhile, while the celebrities are filling the arena for Clinton, Trump is attracting his crowds on his own. CNN,  trying to temper the weekend surge for Trump in the polls, has even speculated that there is hidden Hillary support, that will appear on election day.  I think that the early voting, essentially bought and paid for by the Clinton campaign, was their surge.

Getting back to 6th Street in Allentown, this time 6th and Linden.  The Morning Call/Muhlenberg College Poll has Clinton ahead by 6 points in Pennsylvania. While that figure is pure liberal wishful thinking,  which has become the wheelhouse of newspapers and colleges, it may prove to be embarrassingly inaccurate.

photocredit: The Morning Call, August 2016

For My Gun Rights, But Against The NRA

As a gun owner, I'm a supporter of the 2nd Amendment. Although, that is a right which I defend, as an engaged citizen I appreciate living in a society of laws. There are rights and laws, and we can all live within them. I do not blindly consider every regulation as a curtailment of my rights, or as a slippery slope which will erode them. I can exercise my rights in a responsible manner, without purposefully provoking those who feel differently about this issue.

Each November the NRA sends it's current and former members a card telling them whom they should vote for in their district, to protect their 2nd Amendment rights. Although, their member magazine often features hunting rifles, the organization must also think of their members as sheep, who should only care about one issue. As Americans we should guard our right to own firearms,  but never tolerate being told how to vote.

reprinted from December of 2014. Shown above is a 38 special, gifted upon Frank Sinatra by the Miami Beach Police & Firemen's Association.

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