MB-TW 'hioM vebiufa'} Hasans 1
810-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 1, 1897
,
The Jacob Tice family from Panama are vacationing In Grantsville, Md. They are
Jonathan and Joseph, the pet Toby, Salome and mother, Marlene. Jacob, a dairy far
mer stayed in Panama.
Panama, Pennsylvania,
Maryland Are All Home
GAY BROWNLEE
Somerset Co. Correspondent
GRANTSVILLE (Garrett Co.,
Md.) Panama in Central
America has been home to
Salome, Jonathan, and Joseph
Tice, for almost seven years.
They used to live in Somerset
County, Pennsylvania. Then the
farm their parents owned was sold
so they lived for awhile near
Grantsville, Maryland. After that
the family moved to Panama and
began farming there.
Their parents are Jacob and
Marlene Tice.
When it is wintertime in the
north, people in Panama are hav
ing their summer season. So all
the children have school vacation.
That is why Salome (nick
named Sally) and her brothers,
and her mother can spend two
months with relatives whom they
seldom see. On February 25 they
will fly back to be with their
father.
Mr. Tice stayed in Panama. He
milks lots of cows and is the boss
of seven workers who help him.
Sally is 15 and very pretty.
Jonathan is 12 and very tall.
Joseph is 10 and very talkative.
“Sally always has her head in a
book,” says Joseph.
This is true. Sally and her
mother are like bookworms. They
just love to read. Sally says her
favorite kind of book is the
mystery.
Unlike most kids here, Sally
ids &
t
For Tice Children
doesn’t have a lending library near
her to borrow the latest books.
“My hobby is fishing,” says
Joseph.”
Jonathan, too, enjoys fishing.
He isn’t fast enough to fish the
way he has seen the locals do it
‘This is how the locals fish,” he
explained. ‘They put on a snorkel
mask (goggles); they go under the
water with a machete (knife); they
see a fish and take a quick move
and cut it. They put their head up
from the water and throw it to the
person on the shore and that per
son cleans it”
Then the one with the machete
goes down again for another fish.
The boys find worms to bait
their fishing lines.
They can go swimming often.
All year long, even in the winter,
Panama stays warm. Winter is the
rainy season.
“In winter there’s lots of rain,”
says Sally. “I get tired of rain,
especially when I want to go
swimming,” she says.
Spanish is the language spoken
in Panama. The Tice children
speak it and understand it as well
as they do English. They also
understand Pennsylvania Dutch,
Jonathan said.
In the town of Concepcion, the
children attend schools run by the
Seventh Day Adventists. Their
mother said the schools are
excellent.
Joseph agrees to wear his shoes
to go to school, but he would
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rather go barefoot all the time.
“When we are out of school we
feed calves,” says Joseph. He says
they also have a mare and a colt.
“We have cows in pasture year
’round," Jonathan said. “A person
has to round up the cows, milk
them and put feed in troughs,” he
said. Before they are milked the
cows stay in a holding area.
It is easy for people in the coun
try to go to town because every IS
minutes there is a bus going by.
Their parents let the children go
on the bus by twos, not alone.
When they ride the bus to town,
it costs less only 25 cents, if
they are wearing school uniforms.
Riding the bus costs more money
for people wearing regular
clothes.
There is no television in their
home. Many programs are not
wholesome to watch so the Tices
do other things for fun.
“In some ways I’m glad we
don’t have television,” says Sally,
“Because I wouldn’t have time to
do all the other things I do. But
sometimes I wish we did have it
because life gets so boring.”
Panama is a little country
between the Atlantic Ocean and
the Pacific Ocean. Salome,
Jonathan and Joseph like swim
min in the Pacific waters better
than in those of the Atlantic
Ocean.
Jonathan says: ‘The Atlantic is
further. It isn’t as comfortable to
or*net**
Salome “Sally” Tice is from Panama and is visiting her
grandmother Salome Yoder In Grentsvllle, Md. Her favorite
spot when reading, is a rocker by the windows.
Md. are very entertaining for brotL—
Joseph (foreground) Tice. The boys are on a long vacation
from life in Panama, Central America. They and their
mother and sister will return there on Feb. 25.
swim there because of coral and
stuff like that.”
“From the highest peak in Pana
ma, on a clear day," said Joseph,
“You can see both oceans.”
A volcano named “Volcan
Barn” is also on the mountain
where they live. Volcan Bam has
not erupted for many, many, many
years. The people believe it won’t
erupt again.
There are no other kids their
own ages for the Tices to play
with when they are at home.
Sometimes the adults joined them
to play softball or volleyball.
“Someone hit the softball and it
went into the pasture and they
couldn’t find it,’’ said Jonathan.
After that, their dad bought a
volleyball net for them.
Jonathan has enjoyed playing
computer games on his Uncle Joe
Yoder’s computer. Mr. Yoder is
also a farmer.
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His mother suggested to Uncle
Joe that Jonathan should do bam
chores during vacation to earn
time for computer games. She
wans’t sure that Uncle Joe fol
lowed her advice.
Vacation for Salome has meant
having new books to read.
Joseph enjoyed the good food at
other people’s houses, when the
family was invited out for meals,
he said.
In Panama people eat rice and
beans almost every day. The Tices
raise a steer for their own meat
“When we get back,” said
Joseph, “We’re gonna’ have to
butcher a steer, break the colt, and
go to school.”
They enjoy flying in a big jet
airplane. It will take about four
hours to fly to Panama from the
east coast. When they land in
Panama City, they will drive eight
more hours to reach their home.
, 4P*