"It is the east, and Joliett is the sun"

Looking for a romantic getaway that is not too far away? Why not Joliett, located in Porter Township? Most of you probably are unaware that this romantic rural community was named after the better half of those two famous ill-fated Shakespearian lovers featured in a recent Leonardo DiCaprio movie. I am talking about Romeo and Joliett and the village named after the latter is easy to get to. Just hop on your all terrain vehicle and head west when you leave Tremont.
Much of the film’s tragic love story takes place in the west end of Schuylkill County. The story centers on a feud between rival factions of one warring family. I think the feud has something to do with a Rumpf Match that went haywire. During this Rumpf Match, Romeo falls in love with Joliett, a fifteen year old second cousin which enrages the bartender, Escalus, who wants to hook-up with Joliett also.
What happens next is anyone’s guess, as the film is in authentic Pennsylvania Dutch and those English sub-titles move too fast for my nearsightedness, especially when multi-tasking with my buttered popcorn. In the end the tragic couple heads over to Hegins where Joliett is struck down by stray bullet by a participant in the annual shoot who mistakes her for a pigeon when her feet turn inward as she walks towards the funnel cake stand. Romeo then hooks up with Lady Capulet, the manager of the funnel cake stand, who had come to Joliett’s assistance. Romeo and Capulet live together happily for a few weeks, surviving on the profits from the funnel cake stand, her child support payments as well as Romeo’s black lung check. Meanwhile, the grief-stricken townspeople name a village after the fallen heroine.
So much for the story of Joliett.
I highly recommend a Valentine Weekend visit with your significant other to this quaint village. It will certainly get your heart pumping. Yes, you can stroll hand in hand at the edge of a scenic coal bank or illegal dumping site, or sip Porter Ale at the nearby Pick ‘n Shovel bistro, or take off your overalls and boots to soak in an ash tub layered with rose petals in one of the several bed and breakfasts.
Joliett and romance have been synonymous forever and you will discover why. You'll think for a minute that you've been caught in a time warp or you are on a movie set and that you and your love are the now stars of the show. Make sure to take lots of pictures to prove that you really were in Joliett.
If you are interested in a candlelight dinner for two (or three or four if you really want to spice things up) then Joliett is the place to dine, as it is world renowned for its appetizing tastes of Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine, such as sumptuous pig’s stomach finished off with lip smacking Shoofly pie desserts. Having a little wet bottom shoofly will certainly be appropriate to start off your Valentine’s Day evening.

Yes if you are in love (or maybe you just want the little lady to think that you are in love) then come to Joliett and you will go home with memories that will keep "that lovin feeling" alive for years to come. Picturesque Joliett is simply a delight; one of the most attractive towns that give you an instant vivacious feeling of love and romance – as if Cupid just hit you in the behind with one of his arrows. I guarantee you that just one visit to Joliett is a more powerful aphrodisiac than any of the drugs now on the market, with or without a prescription. In fact, if the sensation you get lasts for more than four hours, you should seek immediate medical attention to avoid long term injury.

Remember, the village of Joliett, nestled in the hills of Porter Township, is sure to have a lasting impression on you forever. It did for Mammy and me and someone we met online.

"Good Night,Good night! Parting is such sweet sorrow,

that I shall say good night till it be morrow. Now pass the shoofly pie."

- William Shakespeare, Romeo and Joliett, 2.2

Groundhog Day Truce

Extra! Extra! Read all about it!
Controller’s Office and County Commissioners Office called an unofficial truce on February 2nd!

Yes, on the dark, cold eve of Candlemas Day the chimes from the courthouse clock tower sounded in the City of Pottsville….something extraordinary and unexpected was about to occur. Employees of both the Schuylkill County Commissioners’ Office and the Controller’s Office spontaneously made peace, ceased hostilities and started celebrating. They visited each other through their trench tunnels, and exchanged cigarettes at the designated county smoking station. While at the smoking station the shivering employees stamped their feet in a vain attempt to keep warm and then headed inside to share the traditional holiday meal of Lebanon bologna, pig’s stomach, and chicken corn noodle soup at the Courthouse Canteen -all washed down with some fresh birch beer by the way.

Afterwards their jovial voices started to sing in harmony the traditional Ground Hog Day carols and songs.

“how much would would a wood chuck chuck if a wood chuck would chuck wood….”

At first it appeared that tensions would erupt as each side kept a shoofly pie within easy reach in case self-defense was necessary. Just a few days ago peaceful co-existence was unthinkable, but now it was reality. The employees from both offices gathered together laughing, sharing both Groundhog Day gifts and Pennsylvania rub-off lottery tickets, and exchanging the traditional Pennsylvania Dutch bawdy jokes.

The hostilities had been going on for years, under the Gary Hornberger administration and continuing unabated during the current Katner command. With so many years of warfare some were now calling this truce “the miracle in the trenches” and hailed it as a shining episode of sanity. Yes, the Groundhog Day’s magic that covered the county also enveloped these two adversarial offices. The friendly feelings were inspired not only by a strong desire for a lull in the fighting but for a desire to partake in the goodies that every Courthouse office shares openly on the joyous occasion of Groundhog’s Day.
Yes, the holiday began quietly with the furry marmot once again seeing his shadow. Six more weeks of winter should have dismayed everyone, but only a few court house employees actually threw themselves from the Clock tower; far less than the prior years.

Yes, for hours, throughout all of the colorfully decoratated court house offices, Groundhog songs were sung while funnel cake was shared. The stairway between the Controller’s Office and the Commissioners Office, long considered a ‘no man’s land” became something of a playground with the rousing chorus of employees all singing in harmony:

“Let the scientific fakirs gnash their teeth and stamp with rage-
Let astrologers with crystals wipe such nonsense from the page-
We hail the King of Prophets, who's the world's outstanding Sage-
TODAY THE GROUNDHOG COMES! Glory! Glory! to the Groundhog, Glory! Glory!
to the Groundhog, Glory! Glory!
to the Groundhog, TODAY THE PROPHET COMES!”


The truce lasted all day. It was considered by some to be just a blip - a temporary respite induced by the Candlemas season.
But in these trying times of uncertainty, it is comforting to cynics, such as me, to believe that employees of the rival offices could put aside their fear and loathing of one another and extend the hand of goodwill, peace, joy, love and Groundhog Day cheer.

“Oh why can't every day be like Groundhog Day

Why can't that feeling go on endlessly.

For if everyday could be just like Groundhog Day

What a wonderful world this would be.”

Gott segen eich.

letter in response to "Another bites the dust"

Dear Mr. Trout:
The building on West Laurel Boulevard in Pottsville, Pennsylvania that was recently demolished was certainly not the old Marsden Potato Chip factory, nor was it a cabaret that featured Pearl Bailey. No, Mr. Trout, it was one the best examples of “organic architecture," which is a philosophy of architecture promoting harmony between human habitation and the natural world. This is accomplished through design approaches which totally integrates its site – building, furnishings and the surroundings become part of one unified composition.


Architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright were proponents of this architectural philosophy. Look carefully at the geometries of the building and you definitely discover a central mood and theme; everything relates to one another, reflecting Pottsville's true hidden nature. The building unfolded from the earth like a seed sprouting in the rays of the summer sun. To me it signified “the continuous presence” and was almost zen-like as it sat along Laurel Boulevard, only to be torn apart and discarded like so many Minersville Street cheap one-night stands.

The building also signified the city’s spirit of adventure and surprise. Just look at the whimsical bright blue plastic roof. If you remember that plastic roof would flap with the wind expressing both the rhythm of music and the power of dance. There are not many buildings with bright blue plastic flapping rooftops and now the world is mourning the loss of one of the best. Sadly, the building (which had no name) was a masterpiece for its dynamism. The architect was a genius for blending every detail of his design. Your photographs can only give a mere glimpse of its magnificence. I understand that the building was partially the inspiration for Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead” but if this is true then Miss Rand also failed to give justice to the structure.
It is for these reasons that so many people were outraged when the building was leveled. The Historical Architectural Review Board should have taken immediate action to protect such a valuable architectural gem now extinct.
Sincerely,
Dean Jonas Wright
Architecture & Design Department
University of Pottsville, Jalappa Campus

Another bites the dust

Another historic building has been leveled in Pottsville, this one in the historic Minersville Street area, which had been renamed as Laurel Boulevard in an attempt to become more upscale and fashionable like Knob Hill or Rodeo Drive.
Yes, the building is gone, taken apart board by board. While Pottsville had undergone a feeding frenzy on historic buildings in the past several decades, this latest building to disappear has particularly stunned nearby residents. But at first I thought their concerns were unjustified.

I was told that it was not just a building made of wood and nails. No it was a social and architectural landmark within the city. It harkens one back to the forgotten era when Minersville Street was the social hub of the east coast; back to the gilded age when Pottsville was the center of the booming potato chip industry.
By the Civil War, the potato chip was king in the United States, and Pottsville was the heart of this prosperity. The Union Army needed potato chips and this area would supply them. Soon Victorian mansions sprang up and breweries were built. Potato chips make one thirsty and thereby created the need for beer. Plenty of beer.

Anthracite coal was dug and brought in by railroad to heat the chip ovens, while canal boats would float up the Schuylkill and unload their shipment of lard, salt and, of course potatoes, all to be taken up by mule team to the Potato Chip factory. On the return trip to bring the potato chips from the factory to the markets in far-away London, Paris and Rome, the workingmen would stop and enjoy the cultural delights that the city of Pottsville had to offer.
Did you know that in 1839 there were over 290,600 tons of potato chips that made their way down the canals to the ports in Philadelphia? Most of these were regular potato chips but at least 30,000 tons were of the bar-b-que variety.

Some historians believe that the leveled building (as seen in the photo at the top of this blog) was the long lost potato chip factory and it may have contained some potato chip fossils as well as other artifacts of the Minersville Street era, such as beer bottle caps.
“It was shocking that the building was knocked down without a field team of archeologists being permitted to sweep the floor first” said one self-proclaimed historian, a resident of Laurel Terrace Apartments across the street.

“It is a disgrace that the City permitted it to be torn down. There was so much history there. Young immigrant men were recruited and came from Europe to find employment in the local potato chip industry.”

Again, I thought that these people were wrong. I continued my investigation at the County Historical Society and researched the potato chip industry within the county. Lucky for me the Society had a special exhibit on fast foods eaten by early settlers. While most attention of the exhibit was devoted to the soft pretzel, I did find many learned treatises on potato chips. I sat in the reading room browsing through the dozens of books on the potato chip industry that made Pottsville an economic powerhouse in the 19th century. However I could find nothing on the old maps linking the leveled building to the potato chip industry or the entertainment industry on Minersville Street. The irate populace was misguided. The Marsden potato chip factory was located several blocks to the west. This building was also not a nightclub that World War II servicemen flocked to on weekend forloughs. Pearl Bailey never performed there.

But I was shocked to discover that the building leveled to the ground was indeed historic, but not because of the potato chip. No, it had been the inspiration for German author Herman Hesse when he wrote “Steppenwolf.” It was his so-called Magic Theatre. It was his theatre for madmen only. It was the theatre of the soul. Now it is gone forever.
Where is the Historical Architectural Review Board when we need it? If you come up with an answer, pass me the chips and another cold beer.