810-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, April 28,2001
LOU ANN GOOD
Food And Family
Features Editor
LEBANON (Lebanon Co.)
“It was hard. I felt like giving up
near the end,” Alyson Wattai
said of the counted cross-stitch
sampler, which required several
hours of work everyday for three
weeks.
Fortunately Alyson finished
the project just in time to enter it
in a contest sponsored by the
Lebanon Historical Society. Her
perserverance resulted in a red
ribbon for the sampler that
placed second in the hand
crafted category.
That accomplishment is quite
notable. Alyson was competing
against students one to two
years older than her. Students in
most Lebanon County schools
were assigned projects of their
choice for a social studies grade
and to enter in the contest.
Students could choose to com
plete either a report, timeline,
diorama, or handcraft associ
ated with Pennsylvania history.
Handcrafts needed to use mate
rials that were used for similar
projects during the 17th-19th
century. For that reason, Alyson
used linen, which isn’t the easi
est material for sewing projects.
Although the sampler was
also her first cross-stitch project,
Mixed-uP pLo^e^
smi aH- <£ %»f
2,L6o^E
Historic Railroad Stays On Track
(NAPS) —For a trip back in
time, many travelers say, a great
place to start is the Pocono moun
tains of Pennsylvania.
In the early 1800 s, Honesdale,
PA was the center of the coal
industry in the area. A gravity
railroad was constructed to trans
port coal from the Lackawanna
Valley, over the mountains and
into the small-but-growing town
where it was transferred to canal
barge.
In 1828, a young engineer,
Horatio Allen, went to England to
commission a locomotive. In 1829,
he floated back up the canal with
what was to become known as the
Stourbridge Lion. It was the first
locomotive to travel on tracks in
the United States, making
Honesdale the birthplace of the
American railroad.
Today, you can still ride those
historic rails behind a 1949 BL-2
Kids
- -
Eleven-Year-Old Wins Prize For Cross-Stitch Sampler
Alyson is quite competent with a
needle compared to most girls
her age.
“She begged for a needle and
thread when she was 3-years
old,” her mother Karen said.
That’s because she saw her
mother, an accomplished nee
dlecrafter, enjoying the craft.
Karen has won numerous
awards for tatting and needle
craft projects.
Now, that the project is fin
ished, Alyson is eager to start
another cross-stitch project to
enter in competition at the Leba
non Area Fair.
“The alphabet letters are
harder to stitch than the flo
wers,” Alyson said of the project
that requires counting the
threads to know where to stitch.
Alyson’s sampler was dis
played at the Lebanon Commu
nity Library for several weeks.
Now it holds a place of honor in
the Wattai home.
Alyson said that she was in
spired to try cross-stitch after
watching her mother work on
projects. Now Alyson’s friends
are intriqued after watching
Alyson work.
“Some of my friends want me
to teach them how to do it. I
might teach them this summer,”
Alyson said.
46AP1Y
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S.C&PTVETOP
Visitors to the birthplace of
the American railroad say they
can feel the history in the air—or
maybe it’s just the wind as the
50+-year-old-englne passes.
.Korner
v*S
Eleven-year-old Alyson Wattai, Lebanon, won second-place in a contest sponsored by
the Lebanon Historical Society for this counted cross-stitch sampler.
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diesel locomotive, the only one of
the 54 manufactured still operat
ing. Five vintage cars follow as
the train meanders along the
shimmering Lackawaxen River.
The Stourbridge Line Rail
Excursion is now in its 21st year
of operation and features Easter,
Halloween, Christmas and
Winterfest rides. Train Robbery
Runs, complete with masked “rob
bers” depart on Sundays in sum
mer. Other summertime specialty
runs include Bavarian Festival
and Dinner Theater and Rail and
Raft. Autumn means Fall Foliage
tours.
Each ride hugs the riverbank
and affords views of the Poconos
that can only be seen by riders on
the Line. An accordion-playing
“engineer” and two talented fid
dlers help keep things lively.
For more information or to make
the required reservations, call the
Wayne County Chamber of Commerce
at 800-433-9008, or log onto www
stourbndgerail.com. To learn more
about the Pocono Mountains, call 1-
BQO-POCONOS (1-800-762-6667) or
else see 800poconos.com. Pennsyl
vania Memories Last a Lifetime.
t * *
■ •*.