The Hemlock  

Volume 3, Issue 6 (April 2010)

"Though the forest fires and lumbermen are busy devastating the verdant heights, and the fauna is decreasing, the story stands out all the more boldly, as strong and imperishable as the High Top or Tussey Knob.  Fortunate indeed is a commonwealth to possess such a pristine wonderland; it will grow in appreciation as the mercenary, mechanical modern life wrecks the altars of the primitive and the picturesque." --Henry W. Shoemaker (1913)
 

This is our last issue of the academic year, and one of our focal points is the culture and history of central Pennsylvania.  We have two articles in honor of that long-established Pennsylvania tradition, trout fishing, as well as an article and hike that introduce you to Henry Shoemaker, the collector and author of many of Pennsylvania's legends.  There is also an article on what we hope will be an annual event--the Pennsylvania Culture Festival.  In addition, you'll find our usual variety of articles, creative works, and updates on events of interest.

We'd like to thank all of our outstanding contributors, as well as those of you who have sent messages of encouragement over the past year.  We hope that your support will continue so that we can resume publication next Fall.  Enjoy the Pennsylvania summer!

Pennsylvania Culture Festival
On April 15th, the Environmental Focus Group of Lock Haven University will be sponsoring a celebration of Pennsylvania Culture on the LHU campus.  Events include the following:

Pennsylvania Folklorist Jeffrey Frazier will read from his Pennsylvania Fireside Tales book series on April 15th, at 7:00 p.m. in the PUB MultiPurpose Room.  The Pennsylvania Fireside Tales feature folktales and legends whose roots date back to the Civil War and beyond, including episodes from the Civil War and tales about the early hunting days in Pennsylvania.  The narratives also include tales from the Indian era in Pennsylvania, with actual Pennsylvania Indian legends told to early settlers by the Indians and never-before-published oral histories of how peoples' ancestors sometimes escaped from their Indian captors or sometimes married them. There are also stories of lost treasure, hidden gold, gypsies, moonshiners, enormous snakes, and other exaggerated animals as well as a heavy dose of supernatural-related tales about ghosts, witches, haunted houses, and other strange episodes.  This event is part of LHU's Pennsylvania Authors' Reading Series.  For more information contact Professor Marjorie Maddox Hafer.

Pennsylvania artist Jeremiah Johnson will exhibit works from his series "The Story of Job" in the PUB MultiPurpose Room on April 15th, from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.  "The Story of Job" is the work of Johnson's alter ego, Job Johnson, a fictional/historical artist who lived in central Pennsylvania from 1860 to 1937.  Jeremiah notes that with this project, he is "interested in blurring the lines between fact and fiction through art, history, and folklore."  Job's works are graphite drawings on hand-made paper and they are beautifully framed with branches.  One central theme is the environmental history of central Pennsylvania, and Johnson is also fascinated with the folklore of this area, including ghost stories.

On April 15th, from 12-1 p.m., Melissa Becker and Friends will present a concert of folk music on Russell Lawn.

On April 15th, from 1-3 p.m. in PUB #4, students will be reading creative works that reflect Pennsylvania's culture and heritage.  Students from Professor Marjorie Maddox Hafer's Pennsylvania Authors class and from Professor Dana Washington's Creative Nonfiction class will be reading original narratives, essays, myths, folktales, and monologues that focus on Pennsylvania.

The Art of the Natural World Series will present "Recycle, Reuse, Renew" from April 6th to April 30th.  The show will be in the lower Bentley gallery, and hands-on activities will be in Bentley 5.  This year's exhibition celebrates the connection between manmade and natural resources and our environment, and the positive impact an artist can have on the environment by using these resources wisely.  This alternative approach to art will utilize components that are recycled, reused, or renewed.  This show attracts visitors from surrounding communities and local school districts.  Docent tours and "hands-on art" activities will be featured for scheduled school groups.  For more information about showing your work, contact Prof. Melinda Hodge at mhodge@lhup.edu.  If you're interested in bringing a school group, contact Prof. Loretta Dickson at ldickson@lhup.edu.

Earth Day
On April 24th 2010, from 9 am to 4 pm The Biology Club will be celebrating Earth Day on Russell Lawn (rain location--Rogers Gym).  There will be displays, music, speakers, raffles, nature films, and activities for children (face painting, bird feeder making).  If you are interested in participating, or have any questions, email Cody Bliss at bbliss2@lhup.edu.

The Growth Of A Tradition: Pennsylvania Trout Season Opening Day
     --Marty McCaulley (LHU Police Officer)

It’s February, and the last chance for my son and me to take our shotguns for a walk was yesterday--it's now time to start preparing for Pennsylvania’s opening day of trout season.

My father got me involved in fishing and hunting at an early age. I caught my first fish in 1978. I was 4 years old and pulled a “trophy” bluegill out of the canal along Rt. 150 just outside of Dunnstown. Mom took a picture, and you can tell from the look on my face that, like my bluegill, I was hooked. The following year, dad introduced me to the opening day of trout season in Pennsylvania, and a tradition was started.

I can’t tell you about every opening day. Fortunately, dad or mom always had a camera and captured the memories on film. Most of my early opening days were spent on Big Pine Creek. Dad would find a spot where the stream was close to the road. I loved fishing, but I still got bored quickly. There are a lot of people on the stream for the first day of trout season, and a bored kid throwing rocks into the water does not sit well with most of them. That’s one of the things I remembered when I started taking my two children fishing: be sure to park close to the stream. When they have had enough, the worst thing you could do to add to their boredom is make them walk any further than about 23 feet. Why 23 feet? Because when they reach 24 feet, they start reminding you about how bored they are, how bad their legs hurt, and how much they need a break. Often my kids will complain the whole way back to the car, only to decide when we get there that they want to fish more! But I suck it up and we walk back to the water's edge and fish for another twenty minutes. I do it because it’s fishing, we’re outdoors, and we’re together.

When I turned 12, dad started taking me to Upper Pine Bottom. Our first opening day on Upper Pine Bottom was also the year I got my first pair of hip boots. I loved those things. By about the second hour of the opening day, there is well-worn path along the stream. But that didn’t stop me from walking in the water as much as possible just because I could. I remember finding many deep holes that day and testing my boots in every one of them. They worked and I felt like a million bucks. I was secretly hoping that other people were watching me fish and thinking how dedicated I must be because I was taking such a big risk by going so deep into those holes.

Through the years, I’ve only missed one full opening day due to work. There were a couple others that I had to work, but I was able to get out afterwards. When I was younger, if dad couldn’t take me, I’d either walk up the road to the neighbor’s pond or go behind the house and fish Big Plum Run. I’d always end up catching a few native brook trout in one of those places.  I remember years where it was so cold that ice formed on my rod and my hands were so cold that I couldn’t bait my hook so I fished a spinner the whole time. And I remember getting in dad’s old Scout and covering up with a blanket on the back seat to warm up. Sometimes I would go back to the Scout because I was starving and would stand there looking through the window at the cooler because the door was locked. Of course my dad didn't give me the key because he KNEW I would have lost it. Then there was the year I fished by this girl. I was probably 14 or 15 years old. I didn’t say one word to her, but pretended I was fishing behind her and stayed close enough so she could see my “skills” and hoped the whole time that she would ask me how many I caught. We never spoke and I never saw her again.

By 1996, our opening-day group had grown to my dad and me, my brother, and a few friends. That was also the year we decided to camp for the whole weekend. We were going to fish the left branch of Young Woman’s Creek and spend the weekend in a tent. That was also the year we kind of lost dad. Nothing happened to him. He just told us he was not going to sleep in a tent so he stayed at his friend’s camp. That turned out to be a smart decision. It only stopped raining long enough for us to catch our limits of trout. The tent was soaked so we slept in our cars. We were young and adventurous, and we were able to rig a tarp and three umbrellas in a way that kept most of the rain off of us. That was the second worst weekend our group has ever had and we loved every minute of it.

In 2002, my brother got a camper, and we started taking our kids with us. Quiet Oaks campground is located between Tamarack and Cross Forks. They have sewer, water, and electric hook ups and we had two youngsters with us so we figured we’d make it easy on all of us. Two friends brought their sons along, too. We had a great time. We sat around the campfire at night telling the kids about some of our past outdoor excursions, watching jets fly over, and looking for meteors. We caught enough trout that year to have a wonderful fish fry. We also made our own beer battered onion rings and hand-cut fries. All of which have become an annual camp meal along with a trip to Cross Forks after dinner for ice cream. That’s also the year the kids came up with a camp name. We were now known as The Tamarack Fishing Club.

Not much has changed since 2002. We did have our #1 worst weekend. In 2008, it rained and snowed Friday and Saturday and the weather report was calling for a major snow storm to hit on Sunday. We lost a tent and canopy to the wind Friday night. We did fish the first day and caught a few, but we didn’t stay out long. The weather kept us inside the camper, but again, we still wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else.

My dad gave me what’s necessary to ensure that our photo albums and memories will continue to grow every year. My brother and I have given this tradition to our children, and we are confident it will be passed down through many more generations. 

Clinton County CleanScapes
Clinton County CleanScapes is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping citizens cleanup our waterways and landscapes.  Each year numerous volunteers get together and participate in Clinton County CleanScapes's cleanup efforts.  The first clean-up of the year will be the banks of Fishing Creek, near Mill Hall, on April 10th, from 9:30-11:30.  If you're interesting in participating, please contact Project Director Elisabeth Lynch McCoy at 570-726-3511 or clintoncountycleanscapes@yahoo.com.  For more information about Clinton County CleanScapes, visit their website.

The Great Region
     --Paul Leah (LHU Elementary Education Major)

Lilacs
     --Zach Fishel (LHU English Major)

I take in the morning air like the partridge does her children.
It carries the scent of fishing worms,
The earthy musk of the Lazarus blooms,
bolstering once dead seedlings to life.
At the first cracking of soil,
the bell-shaped mouths of daffodils
crane their green necks skyward,
to collect the first mist of the rain that has come to replace the flurries.

The trees begin to move again
like the Ents, arousing from their lethargy with purpose to
end the grip of winter once again.
No matter how harsh the winter’s abuse,
The spirit of the blossoms will not break.

Above all comes the lilacs,
looking as if purple smoke has lit the world ablaze.
It dances like geishas in the roar of the lion’s wind
and works like a hot coal into the most skeletal of branches.
They carry us into summer with their honey perfume,
reminding me of baseball and lemonade.
How we shan’t forget the lilac,
delicately composed as the fife of summer,
and the eye shadow of April.

Toll Route 80?
     --Greg Walker (LHU Sociology Professor)

Tolling is a terrible way to pay for roads.  It is very costly to build the infrastructure and to staff the booths.  It also discourages people from using the road and thus damages small businesses.  I-80 is tolled in Ohio.  It is like a tube where very large corporations repeat themselves to a captive consumer.  MacDonalds, Starbucks.  MacDonalds, Starbucks.  A traveler through Ohio never knows the little towns along the way.

Some attack tolling, however, because they feel that mass transportation in large cities are the main beneficiaries of toll revenue.  They argue that to subsidize mass transit with revenue from motorists would not be fair.  This is, however, an incomplete picture. 

Mass transit, especially passenger trains, died largely because people chose automobiles.  But automobiles have benefitted from intense subsidization.  We poured tax money into roads so motorists could use them. Yet there was no federal tax on gasoline until the 1950s.  Since that time, the gas tax has never been nearly enough to cover the construction and maintenance of roads.  In fact, when crude oil prices rise, so does the cost of road maintenance and oil-based asphalt.  It is political suicide for politicians to raise gas taxes at these times. The difference comes from all sources, including property and income taxes. 

Compare this to the lowly railroad.  It actually pays local taxes everywhere it stretches.  When its rails need maintenance, it pays for it and passes the costs to the consumer--which is what freight haulers are supposed to do.  It insures every crossing.  In spite of this relative lack of subsidization, a truck would need to get 60 miles per gallon to compete with the train (without factoring the cost of wages and insurance for each truck).

Trains used to carry people.  Riders bought a ticket that supported the train.  Trains were very common.  Dig through the main streets in any city you would find old rails.  I remember seeing an old photo of the Market House building here in Lock Haven.  A rail line would bring shoppers from Renovo to fill the streets. 

In a city, there are more taxpayers per mile of road.  Economists call this a “donor region” because tax revenue from there comes to rural areas like ours where that taxpayer/roadmile ratio is reversed.  Many hardworking, red-blooded Americans who ride the train in Philadelphia pay taxes so that public snowplows can dig out our hobby farms.  We are the welfare queens.  But our politicians won’t tell you this.

There are other costs of our car culture.  Do gas taxes pay all of the volunteer efforts to save lives after a pile up?  The answer can be found where they sell Christmas trees at the hose company.  Who pays for our health problems that come from cars?  Michael Friedman studied Atlanta during the 1996 Summer Olympics.  Atlanta restricted traffic at that time and Friedman found “asthma acute events” dropped more than 40% by two measures.  Other studies show walking to public transit in urban areas makes you thinner.  One wonders what heart disease did not happen. 

There would be sticker shock if motorists had to stand alone without subsidies and pay for the consequences of their addiction.  I don’t think we should toll Route 80.  But I do think motorists should pay their way.

Mountains
     --J. M. Price (LHU Exploratory Studies Major)

“I will try to tell you what they are.  They are portions of the heart of the earth that have escaped from the dungeon down below, and rushed up and out.  For the heart of the earth is a great wallowing mass, not of blood, as in the hearts of men and animals, but of glowing hot, melted metals and stones.  And as our hearts keep us alive, so that great lump of heat keeps the earth alive: it is huge power of buried sunlight-that is what it is.” - George MacDonald

Mountains: bits and slices
            Portions and dices
Of the heart

Heart of the dark, fiery dungeon
            Of our Earth-a great, wallowing

Bloody mass of heat and stone and
            Molten desires and vices
                                    Burning, churning, turning

 ‘Neath our icy, frigid planet’s façade
            Molten, mottled metals
Buried burning light
                        Burning, churning, turning
Keeping our earth blooming

Wastewater
     --Cliff Harmon (LHU Communication Media Major)

Every day across the world, billions of gallons of water are used and recycled.  It is important to know the process in which this water goes through because believe it or not, you may be using it again in some way, shape or form.

Not all wastewater is the same.  There is domestic wastewater, which includes water from homes, hospitals, schools, and businesses disposed through toilets, sinks, washer machines showers etc.  Then there is industrial wastewater, which comes from the operation of manufacturing plants and industries.  There is also storm water runoff from roads, roofs, drains and excess groundwater.  Wastewater from all these sources travels through sewage lines, eventually ending up at a wastewater treatment facility.

Wastewater treatment facilities process wastewater to separate trash and other material particles from the wastewater until just sludge and contaminated water remain.  The trash and material particles are removed and disposed of while the sludge and water are treated through several separate processes to remove harmful bacteria.   

Wastewater treatment facilities remove the sludge from the water and process it to improve the quality of the material. One common method of treatment is the use of good bacteria that feeds on the harmful bacteria and other dangerous microorganisms.  For example, “Acid Formers” are bacteria which eat the sludge and give off acid.  “Methane Formers” are another bacteria that eat sludge and give off methane.  Chemicals are sometimes added depending on amount of contaminates in sludge.  Once sludge is tested and meets EPA (Environmental Protective Agency) requirements, it is then deemed as bio-sludge, and can be used in fields as a conditioner for example.

Once the sludge is removed, the remaining water is referred to as liquid effluent.  At this point, the liquid effluent is still contaminated with pollutants, dangerous bacteria and possible chemicals.  It must be processed to remove any of these harmful additives before it can be returned to the environment.  Once effluent passes test, it is stored momentarily to allow harmful microorganisms to die off, and then released back into the environment.  Effluent is commonly used in farmland irrigation operations. 

The Lock Haven Sewage Treatment Plant was built from 1947 to 1954.  The plant serves all of Lock Haven City, Woodward Township, Castanea Township, Flemington, Mill Hall, Bald Eagle Township and the East Nittany Valley Joint Authority.  The plant uses approximately 40 million gallons of water per year and receives six million gallons of waste.  Currently, there are only 10 employees at the STP, but a new facility is in the planning process and will start being built relatively soon.  “Because the new plant is significantly larger than the one we have now, we will hire a few new staff, exactly how many we don’t know,” said Mike Glantz, superintendent of Lock Havens STP.  

It is expensive to run a wastewater treatment facility.  The Lock Haven STP has an annual average operating cost of $650,000.  However, this operation cost only covers treatment of the sewage, nothing else.  “Annual cost varies upon the amount of flow the treatment plant sees,” said Jason Dershem, Lock Haven’s City Engineer.  “If the influent increases, the cost to treat will increase.”  Currently, the average flow per day is about 2.25 million gallons.

People can assist in the treatment of wastewater simply by conserving water.  Water conservation essentially helps in regard to the amount of water that needs to be processed at treatment facilities.  People can also help by not putting harmful chemical solutions into drains, toilets, and sinks.  Residue from chemical solutions can remain in water after it is processed, eventually ending up back into the environment.

Henry Shoemaker
     --Bob Myers

Anyone interested in the history of central Pennsylvania will sooner or later come across the name Henry Shoemaker.  If you've ever read one of Pennsylvania's roadside historical markers, or if you've ever head the legend of Penn's Cave, in which the lover of Princess Nita-nee is drowned by her brothers, you have been affected by the work of Henry Shoemaker.  Over the break I read Simon J. Bronner's Popularizing Pennsylvania: Henry W. Shoemaker and the Progressive Uses of Folklore and History (available at Stevenson Library).  I found the story of the man some called "Mr. Pennsylvania" fascinating.

Born in New York City in 1880, Shoemaker spent much of his life in nearby McElhattan, at his family home Restless Oaks (now the Madison Restaurant and Wellington Bed & Breakfast).  While at Columbia University, he began writing up the central Pennsylvania folklore stories that he had been collecting, and in the first two decades of the twentieth century he published over twenty books of folklore.  Stevenson Library has fifteen of these books, and several can be found online.  One of Shoemaker's most interesting books is his 1917 tourist's guide to central Pennsylvania, Eldorado Found: The Central Pennsylvania Highlands.  He points out that even though most of the roads in central Pennsylvania are unsuitable for automobiles, "even Fords," the scenery of the area is especially well-suited for tourism.  An early environmentalist, Shoemaker often voices his fear that the lumber industry would destroy the Pennsylvania woods that he loved.

A supporter of Theodore Roosevelt's Progressivism (thus Bronner's subtitle), Shoemaker was close friends with Gifford Pinchot, Roosevelt's Chief of the U.S. Forest Service.  When Pinchot became Governor of Pennsylvania in 1923, he appointed Shoemaker Chair of the Pennsylvania Historical Commission.  It was during this time that Shoemaker wrote approximately 4,000 of the state's historical markers.  In 1948 he was appointed Pennsylvania's first state folklorist, a position he held until 1956.  Bronner points out that in the 1940s there was a new emphasis on "heritage" as a way of building the cultural unity that was necessary to fight World War II. 

In the 1950s scholars in the new field of folklore attacked Shoemaker for the literary enhancements in his legends, and for his belief that there is a unique Pennsylvanian culture.  The surprisingly mean-spirited nature of the attacks after Shoemaker's death in 1958 perhaps can be attributed to the insecurity of a new academic discipline.  In any case, Shoemaker's legacy lives on through reprints of his books, and in the memories of anyone who has ever taken the boat ride through Penn's Cave.

Hike/Drive of the Month: Henry Shoemaker's McElhattan
One of the things that drew me to Henry Shoemaker was his interest in erecting monuments to commemorate local history.  As a result, McElhattan has more monuments per square mile than most small towns.  This approximately 6-mile hike takes you to Shoemaker's home, and visits some of the places he commemorated.  The hike is entirely on pavement, so it could be driven, but most of it is a walk on little-used roads.

To get to the trailhead, take Route 220 North to the McElhattan exit.  Turn left and go .2 miles on McElhattan Drive to the Bald Eagle Travel Plaza.  Park your car and cross McElhattan Drive to Fritz Road (parallel to McDonalds).  A few feet down Fritz Road is a monument erected by Henry Shoemaker to honor his ancestor, Michael Quigle, one of the earliest settlers of McElhattan.  Return to McElhattan Drive and turn left, towards Rt. 220.  Go .3 miles to the Madison Restaurant/Wellington Bed and Breakfast.  This was the Shoemaker family home (Henry's ancestors were among the earliest settlers of this area).  If you continue up this road, you can visit Zindel Park, which is described in an earlier Hemlock hike.

Return to the stop sign and take a right onto Pine Mountain Road, and at the first fork take a right onto Shoemaker Road.  After 1.2 miles, cross Pine Mountain Road and continue onto Spook Hollow Road.  Believe it or not, you are now on the ubiquitous Mid-State Trail.  After about .1 mile (just past the junk yard) you will see a gravel road that leads to a monument near the railroad tracks.  This is the former site of Fort Horn, part of the chain of forts built by the early settlers in the 1770s (the next fort in the line was Fort Reed, which was located in Lock Haven, near the Jay Street Bridge).

Return to Spook Hollow Road and continue to the right.  Shortly after crossing the railroad tracks, you will see a gravel road to the left.  This road leads across the railroad tracks to the Quigle burial ground (beyond the yellow gate), which has some Revolutionary War tombstones.  Return to Spook Hollow Road and continue to follow it along the Susquehanna River.  After 1.8 miles, just before the overpass, you will see a small monument to the Lenni Lenape Indian settlement Canasorgu.  This monument was erected by Shoemaker in 1913.

Continue on Spook Hollow Road and take the first left after the underpass onto Old Bridge Road.  When you reach McElhattan Drive (.1 miles), turn right and go .1 mile to Linwood Drive.  Turn right and follow Linwood for .2 miles to the Linwood Cemetery, which dates to 1898.  In the cemetery is a large column that is a tribute to Wayne Township soldiers who have died in various wars, dating back to the Civil War.  The column is one of the original pillars of the 1820 Pennsylvania State Capitol Building before it burned in 1897 (see Lou Bernard, "Haven History" The Eagle Eye [3/4/10]).  Near the column is a rough-hewn boulder, the grave of John H. Chatham (1846-1923), whom Shoemaker called "The Bard of Central Pennsylvania."

Continue on Linwood (.4 mile) until it ends at McKinney Road, and turn left.  After .1 mile, continue straight onto Stabley Road and follow it for .2 miles until you see a monument to the West Branch Camp Meeting, which commemorates the religious revivals that were held here from 1869-89. 

Continue on Stabley, curving left until it ends at Youngdale Road, and turn right.  After .3 miles it will return to your car at the Bald Eagle Plaza.

Environmental Focus Group
Bob Myers (Chair), Md. Khalequzzaman, Lenny Long, Jeff Walsh, Danielle Tolton, John Crossen, Sandra Barney, David White, Tom Ormond, Ralph Harnishfeger, and Barrie Overton.  The committee is charged with promoting and supporting activities, experiences, and structures that encourage students, faculty, and staff to develop a stronger sense of place for Lock Haven University and central Pennsylvania.  Such a sense of place involves a stewardship of natural resources (environmentalism), meaningful outdoor experiences, and appreciation for the heritage of the region.