Old
CHESTER
in Delaware County, PA

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10 Newest Entries:
[Go to newest posting]

Harvey Martin
8/31/2010 2:10:00 PM
Green Shutters 1951

Dave Andrews
8/26/2010 10:34:01 PM
Phoenix Steel

mark
8/26/2010 7:34:58 PM
Phoenix Steel

Harvey Martin
8/25/2010 10:07:52 PM
Take me out to the ballgame

Harvey Martin
8/16/2010 6:08:57 PM
Chester Rural 1910

Dave Andrews
7/18/2010 2:28:07 PM
Table Gambling

Harvey Martin
7/14/2010 8:38:50 PM
St. Michaels Parish

Harvey Martin
6/25/2010 3:11:34 AM
Photo of Bert Piscotty

Harvey Martin
6/11/2010 10:14:06 PM
Sun Village Reunion

Harvey Martin
5/19/2010 3:37:46 PM
John's Doggie Shop

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Most recent postings:

Name: Harvey Martin

Residing: Parkside

Time: 8/31/2010 2:10:00 PM

Subject: Green Shutters 1951

Comments:

Name: Dave Andrews

Residing:  

Time: 8/26/2010 10:34:01 PM

Subject: Phoenix Steel

Comments:

Mark,Phoenix Steel in Claymont, Delaware sold out to a Chinese firm which makes steel under the name Citi Steel in 1987.You Might find info on disasters in the 1960's by browsing old copies of the Chester Times at: delawarecolib.newspaperarchive.com---Good Luck.

Name: mark

Residing:  

Time: 8/26/2010 7:34:58 PM

Subject: Phoenix Steel

Comments:

Does anyone have any information on deaths at phonenix steel in 1966-1969? There were some alleged electrocutions? Names of victims,anyone still alive who worked there? Is the company still around? Any iniformation or leads would be helpful and most appreciated. Thank you!

Name: Harvey Martin

Residing: Parkside

Time: 8/25/2010 10:07:52 PM

Subject: Take me out to the ballgame

Comments:

Name: Harvey Martin

Residing: Parkside

Time: 8/16/2010 6:08:57 PM

Subject: Chester Rural 1910

Comments:

Name: Dave Andrews

Residing:  

Time: 7/18/2010 2:28:07 PM

Subject: Table Gambling

Comments:

Table gambling atatrtd today atChester Harrahs Now they have 2 big attractions to get people to Chester.The other being PPL stadium,home of the Phila. Union soccer team.I remember when they brought the casino into Chester,many people said it would not work.

Name: Harvey Martin

Residing: Parkside

Time: 7/14/2010 8:38:50 PM

Subject: St. Michaels Parish

Comments:

Thanks to Dave Andrews!

Name: Harvey Martin

Residing: Parkside

Time: 6/25/2010 3:11:34 AM

Subject: Photo of Bert Piscotty

Comments:

Name: Harvey Martin

Residing: Parkside

Time: 6/11/2010 10:14:06 PM

Subject: Sun Village Reunion

Comments:

Name: Harvey Martin

Residing: Parkside

Time: 5/19/2010 3:37:46 PM

Subject: John's Doggie Shop

Comments:

12/8/1972
Ed Gebhart

My Kind
of Town

 

YOU COULD WALK within a few yards of John's Doggie Shop on E. 7th Street in downtown Chester and never see the place. But you can hardly walk within a block of it and not be aware of its presence.

For what you can't see, you certainly can smell as the aroma of John's "secret sauce" wafts over the main business Intersection of the city with an invisible impact known to stop pedestrians in their tracks is they lift their nose and try to determine its source.

"John" is John Eleutheriou, a native of Greece who's been dispensing one of Chester's most famous products for almost 25 years, ever since March, 1948, when he purchased the little hole-in-the-wall business from Jimmy Carella.  The place has been expanded since then . . .if you want to call an 11-stool establishment expansion . . . and the old shop now is used as a storeroom.

AND THOUGH IT is small, the place has clout.  John, his son Pete and two helpers dispense an average of a ton of hot dogs every month, about 24,000 Medford dogs.  At a time when some town merchants are struggling to hang on, John's Doggie Shop is breaking all records. Stop in any day between 11:30 and 1:30 and you might think they were giving the things
away.

"Business is beautiful," said young Pete who, at age 35, displays the dark good Mediterranean looks he inherited from his father, still a robustly handsome man at 73. "It's as good or better than it's ever been." 

Part of the reason, of course, is the product.  The hot dogs, almost always with "the works" mustard, onions and the sauce) aren't anything like those 45-cent jobs you get at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.  For one thing, they only cost a quarter (plus tax). For another, John Eleutheriou somehow has blended the hot dog, heated roll and "the works" into a taste treat that is the most distinctive eating experience this side of a good hoagie.  You also can get a hamburger (30 cents, plus) at John's, but hardly anyone ever does. Here, the hot dog is king,

THIS IS NOT TO Imply that everyone should — or can — eat one of John's spicy specials. The last time I had one, I no sooner walked out of John's than I emitted a mammoth burp that rattled Speare's display windows and scorched the paint off the corner mail box. That was in 1949. I'm still tasting it.  Others, however, seem to thrive on the doggies.

"WE'VE HAD three from one family in here at the same time," Pete said. "Grandmother, mother and granddaughter. Maybe the grandmother came in here when we first took over, then her daughter and now her granddaughter. It's a nice thing to see.  "Some kids were practically weaned on our hot dogs. Who knows? Maybe someday one of my kids Pete has four) will be serving their kids.

"We used to have a lady come in here all the time. You've heard about people only weighing 90 pounds? I don't think she weighed 75. She never wore a dress, always slacks, because her legs were so slim,  "But could she eat!  "One day she ate six hot dogs, two hamburgers,
two Cokes and a whole Boston cream pie. The whole pie! Look," Pete said pointing to a solitary slice of Boston cream pie in the counter case.  "See how thick that one piece is? Well, she ate the whole damn pie.  "When she got up, she said, 'I have to go home now and fix supper for my husband.' She was going to eat again."

JOHN ELEUTHERIOU admits he doesn't eat one of his products every day.  "If I tell you something, you believe it?" he asked.  "I don't eat a hot dog very much, but when I do, I have to eat four."

John was bom on the Greek Island of Chios, in the Aegean Sea near the coast of Turkey. He came here as a lad of 13 in 1912.  "When the Immigration authorities asked Pop how long he lived in this country, he told the guy, 'Longer than you have,' I think the guy got a little angry," Pete said.

The senior Eleutheriou eventually opened a restaurant in North Philadelphia at Somerset and
Kensington, then came to Chester. He first lived on Morton Avenue, now makes his home on 'Melrose Avenue in Sun Hill.

HE IS A DELIGHTFULLY outspoken man.  Does his only child, Pete, ever give him any
trouble?  "He better not give me any trouble,", John said.  Pete smiles.
Why doesn't he retire?  "Can you sit around all day and do nothing?  Neither can I. I come down to the shop whether anyone is here or not. I collect the money. Pete does the work.
"Wiil you believe it if I tell you something?  "When I had my restaurant, I worked 20-24 hours
a day. Even when I came here, I worked as much as 17 hours. That's when we were open until 2 o'clock in the morning. A kid would call and say he can't come in. I have to work a double shift.

"You believe in God?  "God has been good to me and I been good to God. If God helps you, you gotta help Him, too. An' that's no joke. You gotta live a good life . . . or else.

I ASKED JOHN about his sauce. Is the recipe a secret?  "Don't ask too many questions about the sauce," he said, ending the inquiry. "We make it better now than it was. Pete, he makes up 20 quarts every day.

"Hey. how much this interview worth," he demanded.  I jokingly said he could give me a hot dog sometime on the house.  "No, I mean how much you pay me to talk with you," he replied. I'm not sure he was kidding. A tough old guy, John Eleutheriou, but he makes a great hot dog.

PETE ELEUTHERIOU prepares two hot dogs "with the works" under
watchful eye of his father, John, proprietor of John's Doggie Shop

Name: Harvey Martin

Residing: Parkside

Time: 5/13/2010 6:06:00 PM

Subject: Rescue of Viola Rivers by Ted Cartain

Comments:

Chester Times 4/29/1933

In February. 1932. Edward "Ted" Cartain rescued Mrs. Viola M. Rivers from, a burning oil tanker at Marcus Hook.

Edward J. Cartain. was a hero before he was awarded the Carnegie medal this morning 4/29/1933. The emblem of valor did not add to his heroism, but it stands for this country's recognition of his willingness to lay down his,own life that another person might live.
There is nolhing of the hero type about Cartain. (There never is about men who give service to humanity.)

He lives in a modest home at 1226 Pine lane in Buckman Village. Twenty-nine years old. he appears to resemble most young men of the same age. He wouldn't attract atention if he walked down the street.  No one would pick him out of the crowd and label him a hero.

Fifteen months ago he faced a test.  He passed with flying colors. Others had the same test, but it was Cartain who came through. That is why he is receiving today, the highest honor
the United States can ofler her citizens for bravery.

It was on the morning of the fourth of February, 1932, that Cartain distinguished himself. The tanker Bidwell Sun had been wrecked at the Sinclair Oil Company's dock at Marcus Hook, by a series of terrific explosions.  The ship was torn asunder and its interior was liked to a raging
inferno. It was early in the morning, but thousands of men, women and children for miles around left their warm beds to gather at the river's edge and hopelessly watch the blazing boat. While they watched drama was being enacted.

Viola Rivers, 33, wife of Captain Joseph R. Rivers, of the Bidwell, was in her berth in the superstructure of the steel tank ship. As the violent explosion took place in the tanks beneath the superstructure, the side of the ship which formed the outside wall of the tanks, was broken apart and blown against the dock, and water filled the tanks to a depth of eighteen feet.  The wrecked side sloped from the top of the dock at an angle of fortyfive
degrees. The superstructure, which was chiefly of wood construction, was wrecked and began to burn.

Mrs. Rivers placed a life preserver on each of her arms, descended a line for twenty feet below the superstructure, and then dropped into the water in one of the tanks at a point forty feet from the dock.  Mrs. Rivers was engulfed in a prison of fire and water. Oil blazed on the side beams and the top covering of the tank. Mrs. Rivers screamed for help. It seemed impossible that anyone could hear or answer her cries.

Standing on the dock was a stillman's helper, one Edward J. Cartain.  His heart was heavy for the tragic victims of the disaster. He was doing his little bit to aid in extinguishing the flames. Suddenly he heard Mrs. River's cries for help. In response to the cries, Cartain descended the sloping wrecked side of the ship a.nd plunged into the water of the inferno. Swimming sixty feet or more, partly under the burning superstructure, he came upon the wife of the Bidwell's captain. She was unconscious when he arrived.  Holding the brave woman, with one arm, Cartain began his perilous return voyage. With great exertion he swam against a current for fifty feet towards the dock, held to the hawser briefly and then swam ten feet farther to the side of the ship against the dock. A line was lowered and Mrs. Rivers was drawn up. She was badly burned but Cartain's heroism, had been rewarded and Mrs. Rivers recovered. The still-man's helper sustained a badly gashed foot in his sensational effort that kept him out of work for six days.

Men that had witnessed the rescue were astounded. No praise was too much to give to the man that had done so noble a task, They sought him to bestow their flattering remarks, but Cartain. with true modesty, had disappeared.

Coroner J. E. Scheehle, who investigated the explosion for the county said afterward: "His was the most startling example of bravery. His action was instantaneous and came just in the nick of time. If ever a man deserved a medal it is Cartain."

Authorities of the Sinclair Oil Company were instrumental in securing the Carnegie Medal for Cartain.  They realized the true worth of their employe and the whole-hearted, unselfish, dramatic bit of life saving he had accomplished. It has been their sincerest hope that Cartain
would receive the medal and they rejoice in the award now that it has been made.

The Bidwell Sun was being cleaned at the docks of the Sinclair Company preparatory to being loaded with oil. It had been chartered from the Sun Oil Company. Investigation failed to reveal the exact cause of the tremendous blasts but it was believed due to an accumulation of gases contacting the air when the cover of one of the tanks was lifted to clean the inside
Twenty persons lost their lives and a score or more were injured. Windows were shattered of glass in all the nearby homes and as far away as Linwood. Fire companies in wide radius answered the general alarm and fought to prevent further explosions and subsequent loss 'of
lives.  The captain of the ship and husband of the Mrs. Rivers saved by Cartain was himself killed by the blasts.

 

The official citation for Cartain reads:
"Cartain; aged twenty-nine, a stillman's helper, saved Viola Rivers aged thirty-three, from drowning at Marcus Hook, Pa., February 4, 1932.

At night, Mrs, Rivers was in her berth in the superstructure of a steel tankship, which was moored at a dock in the Delaware river, arid a violent explosion in oil-tanks beneath the
superstructure wrecked the ship. The side of the ship, which formed the outside wall of tanks beneath the superstructure, was broken apart and blown against the dock, and water filled the tanks to a depth of eighteen feet. The wrecked side sloped from the top of the dock at an angle of forty-five degrees. The superstructure, which was chiefly of timber construction, was wrecked and began to burn. Mrs, Rivers placed a life preserver on each of her arms, descended a line for twenty feet below the superstructure, dropped into the water in one of the tanks at a point forty feet from the dock. Oil burned on thc side beams and ceiling of the tank, and the heat was intense. In response to Mrs. River's cries, Cartain who was on the dock, descended the sloping, wrecked side of the ship to the water and swam sixty feet partly under the burning superstructure to Mrs. Rivers. Holding Mrs, Rivers with one arm, with great exertion he swam toward the dock, held to a hawser briefly, and then swam ten feet farther to the side of the ship against the dock. A line was lowered from the dock and Mrs. Rivers was drawn up. She sustained serious burns but recovered. Cartain suffered, a gash on his right foot, which disabled him for six days."

Name: Harvey Martin

Residing: Parkside

Time: 5/13/2010 5:15:48 AM

Subject: Mystery Singer

Comments:

Well done, Frank!

Name: Frank D

Residing:  

Time: 5/12/2010 10:55:13 PM

Subject: la trombetta

Comments:

That beautiful trumpet playing is the clue

Name: Frank DeMaio

Residing:  

Time: 5/12/2010 10:41:58 PM

Subject: who singing

Comments:

Betty Grable, with Harry James on trumpet.

Name: Dave Andrews

Residing: Delco

Time: 5/12/2010 12:48:43 PM

Subject: FREE Concert

Comments:

For any one who is interested, the Philadelphia Orchestra will be perfoming a free concert at the Upper Darby Performing Arts Center on June 18 at 7:30 P.M.

Name: Harvey Martin

Residing: Parkside

Time: 5/12/2010 9:44:05 AM

Subject: Mystery Singer

Comments:

Name: Barbara M

Residing: Sullivan County

Time: 5/6/2010 6:30:46 PM

Subject: OCP

Comments:

Dave, I sure would like to see OCP to keep going on and on. Miss the time spent here with all the people.

Name: David Andrews

Residing:  

Time: 5/5/2010 9:12:38 PM

Subject: Happy Belated Birthday

Comments:

March 27 marked the 10 anniversity of Old ChesterPa. I know that OCP has beeen a little slow for a while, but from what I read now, it is going to be revived and be better than ever.I believe.

Name: Harvey Martin

Residing: Parkside

Time: 4/23/2010 11:24:57 PM

Subject: Ethel Waters Comes Home

Comments:

35000 Welcome Ethel Waters Home to Chester!

5/1/1972
By JANE GATTONE
Daily Times Staff Writer

CHESTER - The city belonged to Ethel Waters Sunday.  Thousands of persons thronged the streets to see her in the Law Day Parade and about 400 attended a tribute in her honor in the evening at PMC Colleges.

Miss Waters said she talked with the Lord about the weather Sunday, and it was obvious He was on her side.  The weather was perfect for the parade: overcast and cool, with a slight breeze. And the evening was mild.

SHE ENDED the day in a perfect way as she sang "His Eye Is On The Sparrow," a song she learned here as a child and made famous in the broadway production of "Member of the Wedding."

What made it even more poignant was Julie Harris, the actress who starred in the play with Miss Waters, was on the stage with her at the PMC tribute in the Bernard Lee Schwartz Physical Education Center.  "I Love you Ethel." she said.  "I love you with all my heart."  The tiny Miss Harris resembled a little girl in a long, flower print, dress and red patent leather buckle shoes.

A CRUSH of spectators, estimated by. police at 35,000, watched the parade. The crowd, perhaps largest ever to line the city streets, at times gave police a problem as spectators spilled into the streets near the reviewing stands at 5th St. and Avenue of the States.

 

Miss Waters was seated in the VIP area of the stands and a press of people moved in to look, wave, smile and take photographs.  Throughout it all, the 75-year old maintained her composure and good humor; She wore a red, white and blue print dress and matching hat for the occasion.

AFTER THE parade units had passed, Mayor John H. Nacrelli took her to view the Ethel Waters Park, named in her honor by city council last week.  The former pedestrian park at 3rd St. and Edgmont Ave., was in the former C-West Urban Renewal Area.

The "This Is Your Life" format at the evening festivities began when Miss Waters entered the physical education center by a side door and spotted 'Miss Harris sitting in the front row seat. Miss Harris ran to her and they embraced.

There was entertainment and telegrams from notables, including evangelist Billy Graham, actor Ossie Davis and his actress wife, Ruby Dee, television star Mike Douglas, actor William Lundigan and California Gov. Ronald Reagan.

Edith Wilson, a long-time friend of Miss Waters, who used to portray Aunt Jemima, was here. So was George Finola of New Orleans, a long-time Ethel Waters fan who took eight years of research, to compile the only known  complete list of her recordings. Most of the 259 records Miss Waters made are now collector's items.

CITY ATTORNEY;William C. Archbold Jr., co-chairman, with attorney Nicholas D. Vadino Jr., of the Chester Bicentennial Committee, presented to her gifts to remember her visit here.  "It has been thrilling, just thrilling," Archbold said. "You have that rare quality that touches everyone. After you've been around, something happens to many of us."

He gave her a Lucite cube with a gold medalion in the center 'bearing the legend;
"Ethel Waters, humanitarian.'  The reverse side has a relief of the Chester 1724 Courthouse.  She was also given a watch and a single medal that she can hold. 

Dignitaries, including County Commission Chairman Harry A. McNichol, Delaware County Commissioners and Mayor Nacrelli spoke. A personal message from President Richard M. Nixon was read by Mrs. Ruth Tabron of Chester who arranged the tribute to Miss Waters. 

:
MISS WATERS, wearing a black dress, appliqued with purple flowers, a purple hat and carrying a purple shawl, smiled throughout the entire evening.  She received several standing ovations. 

Clayton Carlson, managing editor of Harper & Row, New York publishers of her latest book, "To Me It's Wonderful," said, "This was all much more than she expected."  She knew how to say thank you. As she sang "His Eye Is on The Sparrow," the crowd sat breathless.  "If I don't see you again here," she said, "I'll see you in heaven."

By Jane Gattone
Daily Staff Writer
CHESTER - Ethel Waters left a Chester Bridgeport Ferry about . 3:25 p.m.

Saturday and faced 200 people, mostly children, with a beaming smile.

As Clayton Carlson, managing editor of the New York publishing firm of

Harper & Row, drove the yellow car off the ramp, Miss Waters smiled and waved. She was warmly greeted by Mrs. Ruth Tabron, the woman who worked for ten years to have the city honor Miss Waters who was born here 75 years ago.  The beautiful smile stayed on her lace, only fleetingly replaced by fatigue and once,tears.

 

SHE WAS PART of a motorcade which wound through the city and as many as 200 persons waited at each intersection to wave and call out to her. Once the motorcade halted and a former schoolmate, Mrs. Eatha Richardson, was brought over in a wheelchair to say hello and receive a kiss.

 

Two:city patrolmen, Gordon Shoates and Richard Conway, Miss Waters' official escorts and were by her side the two days she was here.  She arrived for a press conference at the Colony Hotel at 5th and Welsh Sts., where a crowd of 500 waited. Two youths on the fringe of the crowd were recruited to roll out the red carpet for her arrival.  They were Michael Hunt and Joshua Whitaker, both staff members of the Chester High School Paper, "The Welcome."

 

She entered on the arms of her police escorts, beamed at the crowd and said, "There's, just no use fightin it, when you've got sex appeal, you've got it."

 

IN THE ROOM for the press conference, she occupied a plush, red chair of honor. Mrs. Doris Nacrelli, wife of Mayor John H. Nacrelli, pinned a corsage of white orchids on her. Mayor Nacrelli presented her with a  bouquet of red

roses.  She received a multitude of flowers during her stay.

 

City attorney William C. Archbold Jr., welcomed her "We have never reached the people with Law Day," he said, "and by your example, your great personality, you're bringing new significance to the observance in the city and in Delaware County.

 

MISS WATERS chatted freely about her philosophies and her early life in the city, and emphasized people should be judged as individuals.

"I've never been sorry I'm colored.  I love being what I am," she declared. ''When I worked in service, I did dishes, was a waitress, did all kinds of things. It's honest work, it's hard work. I know all about it. . . there's nothing

wrong with hard work."

 

Miss Waters also discussed attitudes and expressed pleasure that so many children lined the route of the motorcade.  "You're not a square to be

respectful to people. . The children still like me, regardless of my square, old fashioned traits," she-said. 

 

"I HAD FAME, I'm grateful for it. I had my share of fortune. I did everything. I

wasn't displeasing Him, but I wasn't pleasing .Him either.  'My personal life was empty.  You can only find peace when you completely relinquish

yourself to Him."

 

Humble Gospelaires move Miss Waters

Gospel songfest revived my soul' 

 

CHESTER — Ethel Waters entered the Murphy AME Church at 7th and Yarnall Sts. Saturday night and the people tood and applauded.  This was a songfest in her honor and the first song on the program was '"His Eye Is on the Sparrow." Chester Evangelist Rev. Henrietta Countee  dressed in white, sang the hymn, which Ethel Waters learned as a child in Chester

and sang in more than 500 performances on Broadway in "Member of the Wedding."  It was an emotional beginning to a super-charged religious evening.

 

MISS WATERS, dressed in a dark green dress with light green and orange print Sleeves, and wearing a matching cap, nodded her head and silently repeated the words. "Beautiful," she told Mrs. Countee.

 

Chester businessman John L. Lewis acted as master of ceremonies. The church, which seats 400, had nearly 500 persons listening.  The most emotional moment came when the Humble Gospelaires of Chester, three women and two men, sang. The hymn, "When The Road Gets Rough," was prefaced by an original composition of the lead singer, Bonnie Norwood of Chester, who presented Miss Waters with a single red rose.

 

Her composition was ''an open, letter to Ethel Waters," and Ethel Waters listened and wept.  After the song was completed Miss Waters and the petite Miss

Norwood embraced. During the evening, Miss Waters threw a kiss to each one of the Gospelaires as they sat at the front of the church.

 

OTHER FEATURES of the program were the presentation of flowers by tiny Dana Paige Clarke, 3, of Philadelphia, songs by a quartet from Eastern Baptist Colege, the Pierce Singers of Chester, The New Sons of Harmony of Chester, a solo and an encore by Arlington Northern of Chester, a solo by Mrs. Joyce Cotton an of Chester and a harmonica solo by Mrs. Morcedes James of Chester.

 

"This music revived my soul," Miss Waters told the assembly.  "It's a beautiful thing to see the wonderful children who are so sincere and devout. That Bonnie, she touched my soul."  She then recruited an accompanist and got the. crowd humming, "Oh, How I Love Jesus," then thrilled the people by singing a few phrases. The beauty, the range, the feeling, were there, if only for a minute.

 

JUST BEFORE going to the church, Miss Waters visited an open-house at the West Branch YMCA, across Yarnall Street from the church. There she met Valarie Thomas, a 7th grader at Douglass Jr. High School.  Valarie was winner of the essay contest conducted in city schools during Ethel Waters Week. The youngster read her winning composition, "Why I Admire Ethel Waters" to Miss Waters with poise and confidence.

 

Name: Harvey Martin

Residing: Parkside

Time: 4/22/2010 9:57:37 AM

Subject: Bris Lord

Comments:

Local Player is Just Now in the Limelight
by His Sensational Work in Left Field.

8-8-1911

Sensational fielding by Bris Lord of the Athletics in a game played between the House of Mack and the Baltimore Orioles allowed the Champs to win the game by the score of 4-3.  In the latter part of the game with two men down a line drive was sent into left center and by cood fast sprinting and a sudden .leap in the air the fast left garden tender was able to nab the ball as it sailed over his head. Had the ball gotten away from Lord the score would have been tied as it was good for a two sack knock.

 

Bris Lord

 

Lord has been playing the best game ot his career and many of the folks in Upland are looking forward to another pennant winning team by the Athletics which will give "Bris" another opportunity to participate in a worlds series.  His alround work last year in the series of games with Chicago was of high order. Throughout the "at home' frames many Upland as well as Chester fans visit Shibe Park and watch the local player work out.

 

Name: Harvey Martin

Residing: Parkside

Time: 4/20/2010 10:38:23 PM

Subject: Into Upland Park

Comments:

 

 

 

Redwood Community Playhouse

 

Inside Redwood Playhouse

 

Crozer Carraige House

 

Approaching Marine League

 

Gwen's House

 

At the Marine League

 

Name: Frank DeMaio

Residing:  

Time: 4/19/2010 8:51:33 PM

Subject: Upland

Comments:

Interesting stuff about Upland, Harvey. I never knew there was so much history there, and I live only a few blocks away from it. A cousin of my father's, same name as mine, was mayor there for a long time, way back when. He owned several rental properties in the borough, including some of those old milltown rowhouses. Another cousin lived in the village near the firehouse for many years. My family used to shop at Merton Price's market in the 50's and 60's.

Name: Harvey Martin

Residing: Parkside

Time: 4/19/2010 6:06:16 PM

Subject: Schoolhouse Museum

Comments:

on Race Street in Upland, Pa.

 

Name: Harvey Martin

Residing: Parkside

Time: 4/19/2010 12:55:28 PM

Subject: Chester Rural 4-19-2010

Comments:

Name: Harvey Martin

Residing: Parkside

Time: 4/18/2010 7:32:09 AM

Subject: Delco Fly Club to AC - 1950

Comments:

 

7-11-1950
By BILL AHLSTROM

Have you ever been awakened on a sunny Sunday morning by the drone of small planes overhead?  If you have, you probably wondered who would be up early on their day of rest to fly about the countryside.  Well the answer to this is the Delaware County Flying Club, a group of pilots with headquarters at Buckman airport.  On Sunday, I was an invited guest of the group to a breakfast flight to Atlantic City. And that is just what it was.

 

BRIEFING BEFORE FLYING—One of the most important phases of a flying trip is the checking of
maps previous to takeoff. Pictured above are members of the Delaware County Flying Club shortly before a flight to Atlantic City from Buckman Airport Sunday.

 

Previous to the takeoff of the seven planes, Club President Frank Spor of 113 Ash rd., Garden City, briefed the pilots on their route and directions.  Unlike driving along a well marked highway, flying over unfamilar land requires constant checking with a map and compass to make sure that an Atlantic City trip doesn't end up at Long Branch or Wildwood.

 

AIR VIEW OF ATLANTIC CITY—A rear seat passengers view-of Atlantic City Airport is pictured above. In the background is the city skyline, while the landing strips are in the foreground.

 

THE GOAL—BREAKFAST—At Atlantic City, the Delaware County Flying Club members and guests gathered at the restaurant of an oldtime flyer, Charlie Zitzel, for breakfast. Pictured above (left to right) are: Around table—Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Macario; Mrs. Eleanor West, Mr. and Mrs. Pete Yacek, Frank Spor, Mr. and Mrs. Gracen Moreland jr., William West, Charles Garifales; standing at left, two unidentified waitresses and Bob Jackson; standing at right, proprietor Zitzel, Lorraine Price
and Joe Kissel.

 

Before the flight, pilots check the planes, fill gas tanks (gasoline costs 35c a gallon) and clean windshields.  Because of the varied type of private planes, no attempt was made during the flight for formation or group flying. The air speeds varried from 65 mph for the small Cubs to 175 for the ex-airforce trainer flown by Bob Jackson and Spor.

My host pilot for the day was William G. West of Perkins St., Highland Gardens. Also with us was West's wife, Eleanor.  After a brief warmup, we were skybound over the misty Delaware River. Soon the patchwork quilt of ths Garden State was ahead, as we took a bearing on Atlantic City.

Forty-one, minutes after takeoff, we were dropping in at Atlantic City Airport.  The group assembled and taxied into the town for breakfast. As can be guessed, airplanes and flying formed the general topic for the morning meal.  The rendevous for the meal was Charlie's, a restaurant operated by Charlie Bitzel, on S. Tennessee av.  The reason for the choice of restaurants was that the proprietor is an old-time flyer. He,helped grease and oil the Wright Brothers No. 4 plane at Harrisbuig in 1912. Since that time Charlie has been an aviation fiend.

After the breakfast, the pilots and guests split up into small groups.  Some headed for the beach, some
for the boardwalk, and others for friends' homes.

Shortly after 1 p. m. the Wests and I took off for Chester. The return flight was made with the help of a tailwind in 31 minutes. We were at our home in time for an early Sunday dinner.  The total flying time was an hour and 12 minutes. We had spent the morning at the shore and were back in time for an afternoon of leisure. We had suffered, no long waits at ferries or bridges, nor did we suffer the heavy shorebound traffic.  My only comment is—"It sure beats driving to the shore."

 

Minshall-Shropshire-Bleyler
Funeral Home, Ltd.
Media, PA

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