by Rev. Charles H. Gilbert Christmas is gone, but not the memories nor reminders of it. For many Christmas greetings could well be answered just on the basis of friendly touches. For instance, a greeting came addressed to Mrs. C. V. Gilbert, and I think last year also, with the name of Pfeiffer enclosed. I wondered who by that name was unaware that my wife had died back in 1967. Perhaps I should striaghten out that mistake. And so I wrote to that name at the address given. A most kind and friendly letter came in reply explaining the mix-up. ‘My mother,” writes the daughter, Bernice Pfeifer Thomas, '‘is 83 and lives here in our home, and she relates back to when she courted my father.” A family named Gilbert made a home for him and they were very good to my mother also. The sons of these people, who are still living, send my mother a Christmas card each year, some of the boys names were Smiiey, Forrest, Earl, and I think William. Forrest lives in Michigan and this C. V. Gilbert (I thought) was the wife of Earl (who is dead) and the C. stands for Cordia.” Well, 1 thought this a very friendly letter and I am going to put the family on my mailing list. It all makes one realize how inter-related people are. Even though we may not establish any kinship there is certainly a kinship of interests. All of which reminds me that when I was a boy I got to wondering about my father's family. I was acquainted with many aunts, uncles and cousins on my mother’s side of the house with Stowell backgrounds. My father's father I felt I almost knew, because my father’s mother lived with us as a much- loved ‘grandma Gilbert’’, who in her last years could do little clse than sit in her broad-armed rocker and knit. But when I inquired about grandpa Gilbert's folks it was all quite vague. My mother used to tell me that he had some brothers and half brothers but they had moved out west years ago and we never knew what became of them. And then about 25 years ago I got word from a William H. Gilbert {rom the neighborhood of Washington, D.C., who was busy trying to place the family tree together. It happened that I had some writings in journal form that grandfather Hiram Gilbert had penned through many years. There were names in his writings that linked with the family of this Washington, D.C., Gilbert, and ‘lo and behold” this was a distant cousin with whom now a con- siderable correspondence is carried on. And out of it has come quite a complete genealogy of the family for nine generations back. And so it is worthwhile writing a reply to this daughter of a lady who has been sending to my address Christmas cards to “Mrs. C. V. Gilbert”. No telling about those Gilberts she mentions who were very kind to her mother. To turn away from this bit of chance correspondence to things more immediately at hand. The birds! After per- sistent watching, there is a new feather around here which Catherine has finally identified as the Pine Siskin. It is a bird smaller than most sparrows, and comes in flocks similar to the way the much larger bird, the Evening Grosbeak comes. For this year the Grosbeaks have been with us in large numbers. Some years it is that way, and some years they just don’t come. But when they do come, for a time at least they monopolize the feeder and others of our little friends stand off to watch for openings for their chance at the sunflower seeds. These Pine Siskins have white stripes across their little wings, speckled breasts similar with not too much shyness to the feeder. I would think the sun- flower seeds are too big for them, but they and the sparrows keep coming, so they must get something. We can see how the ubiquitous chickadee fares with the big seed. They love them! Seizing a seed in their bills, they will usually fly to some perch, there to hammer the shells open as they hold it between the toes, devour the inner meat, and fly back for more. Grosbeaks and cardinals with their thick bills almost like a set of teeth, sit there on the feeder and simply deliberately chew the seeds apart, spit out the shells and take another! We have had a problem this past year—woodchucks raiding the young garden, eating blos- soms from the young pumpkin vines. Catherine did so want to grow her own pumpkins from seed labeled New England Pie! But how could a pumpkin de- velop with the blossoms being eaten off? And we have no de- “sire to kill woodchucks, they like living, too! But if we could somehow bar them from the garden, we knew there was enough other stuff for them to cat. There's clover among the grass! After awhile we had kept the little people from the jungle out of the garden some of the time until a few blossoms had a chance to mature. But it was so late in the season. By the time pumpkins should have been vellow on the vine it was near frost time. What Catherine wanted to know, ‘Has anyone ever ripened pumpkins in- doors? None of our farmer friends knew, because normally no one has to do that. So Catherine with her creative nature decided to try it. She brought little green pumpkins in to the back porch where the freeze time is long delayed. Some yellow began to show on the green. Finally as a last step she brought a few right into the kitchen, and then the green began to fade and the gold to show through. Then one day she tried a tiny pumpkin that had got quite yellow. It made a cupful of pumpkin to cook. Lo, it became our de- licious pumpkin pudding, enought to each of us a dish! The rest began to ripen in order. They were the New England pie variety. So we had each of us a bowl and a half of pumpkin pudding for supper! We never bothered much with making pies, for the pumpkin stuff is just as tasty from a bowl as from a crust. And since my diverticulitis is forbidden spices she cooks things without spices. And delicious too, substitutuing brown sugar and lemon juice and our imagination. Please, Cathy, can I have a second help- ing? Why not? Come spring and garden time, we are better prepared to ask the little people to eat other things the dear Father provides and let our special plantings grow to maturity. Publicity Information Deadline Due to a tightened deadline schedule. no publicity informa- tion can be accepted later than 4 p.m. Monday unless the event takes place that day or night. DRUG STORE Quick Service 675-5121 Easy Parking 675-3366 Youngsters who own bikes —and especially those who ride them back and forth to school—should be provided with a “‘safety code’ by their parents, advises the Ameri- can Automobile Association. The AAA says that as the number of cars on the road increases, the number of bi- cycle mishaps also soars. In 1963, 573 deaths resulted from these accidents —in 1969, there were 820. A recent study by the Na- tional Safety Council found that the bicycle-motor vehicle accident rate is about 50% higher among youngsters from 10 to 14 years old than below the age of 10. A bicycle driver should: Think of himself as a driver, and responsible for his own safety and the safety of others on the road. Signal for turns and slow- ing and stopping with the same hand motionsthatcar drivers use. Learn and obey all traffic signals as well as the direc- tions of officers guiding traffic. Always keep both hands on the handlebars unless signaling. Never drive at dusk or after dark unless the bike is equipped with a horn or bell, a strong headlightand a red taillight reflector. i SIZE Lb. 39c HAM FRESH CRISP 1-1b. bags 2-1b. bag 25° 2 SAVE 50¢ 8-0z. pkg. 25° ® = Lancaster Brand u Lean Store Sliced : BOILED 3 n HAM . BROWN u 1-LB. LESSER RE = AMOUNTS OR Lh. $409 OS RAR SEP MORE LB. S| hs Coupon Worn WHOLE OR RUMP HALF Lb. 79¢ ig HICKORY) (OSCAR MAYER) 75¢ ». 990 WHITING FROSTING MIX => MEDIUM THIN WIDE SAVE 17¢ — 1-Lh. 6-0z. Lvs. 3 SAVE 10c—FRESH BAKED BLUEBERRY PIE BIRDS EYE FROZEN AWA KE “AVE 10:-—iDEAL FROZEN SAVE 10c—IDEAL SLICED FRESH BAKED $400 9-0z. Pkgs. 89¢ 2-Lb. Box 99¢ (WITH COUPON) (WITH COUPON) q19 1 00 1 00 29° 39° 29° 10-0z. $ Jar 13-0z. to % 19-0z. Pkgs. 1-Lb. % Pkgs. 2-Lh. Pkg. 15-0z. Cans 103-0z. Cans MFG. LIST 39¢c VIRGINIA LEE, AND SOLVENT 100% NYLON BUY NOW! SAVE 6c—COOPER 50 S&H GREEN STAMPS With purchase of 2 |b. or more CHICKEN EXPIRES: Jan, 25, 1972 U| This Coupon Worth 25 S&H GREEN STAMPS With purchase of any size pkg. GROUND MEAT eJ| EXPIRES: Jan. 25, 1972 PRICES EFFECTIVE THRU SAT., JAN, 22, 1972 SE EEE EEEEN MN ENGL BBLS eo ¢ | T| This Coupon Worth | 50 S&H GREEN STAMPS With purchase of any (6) 1034 oz. cans IDEAL SOUPS (All Varieties) Cl! EXPIRES in ED Jan. 25, 1972 \4 This Coupon Worth 50 S&H GREEN STAMPS With purchase of any (3) pkgs. IDEAL CAKE MIXES FROSTING MIXES (13Y2 to 18 oz. pkg.) EXPIRES: «<D Jan. 25, 1972 W| This Coupon Worth 25 S&H GREEN STAMPS ".:. With .purchase_of any size jar IDEAL Instant Coffee «5 EXPIRES: Jan, 25, 1972 25 S&H GREEN STAMPS With purchase of a 13 oz. | BAVARIAN BAR CAKE | EXPIRES: Jan, 25, 1972 “WORTH 33¢ | With this coupon on purchase of a 10-0z. jar of NESCAFE Instant Coffee EXPIRES: 1-22-72 WORTH 10c With this coupon ) on purchase of a 3-lb., 3V2-0z. box INSTANT FELS Laundry Detergent EXPIRES: 1-22-72 MFG. § “WORTH 200 . With this coupon on purchase of a pkg. 10 (30 gal.) EXPIRES: 1-22-72 MFG. 5 @> | % X| This Coupon Worth 25 S&H GREEN STAMPS With’ purchase of any (2) pkgs. gf FRESH DONUTY (10 oz. to 12 oz.) EXPIRES: Jan. 25, 1972 This Coupon Worth I 50 S&H GREEN STAMPS With purchase of of a CAPITOL STEREO RECORD ALBUM EXPIRES Jan. 25, 1972 This oupon Worth 25 S&H GREEN STAMPS With purchase of any 10-lb. bag /4 \ POTATOES WORTH 17¢ 1 With this coupon > =| EXPIRES: Jan. 25, 1972 on purchase of a l-pt.,, 12-0z. bottle MR. CLEAN Liquid Cleaner WORTH 10c With this coupon on purchase of a 1-lb. can of 1) CHASE & SANBORN COFFEE (Reg., Drip or Elect) EXPIRES: «D 1-22-72 TR ST MEG. § z ag * 2 89¢ CHEESE ,5, he-83c ($Y 49 Ju o SAVE 10c—LANCASTER BRAND ony . : SouroN t. : E THIS WEEK! Ctn. 29¢ SLICED BEEF yin. ZL *1 2 “The Best of the Great Hits — SAVE 6c—SWANSON’S FROZEN From Brondwey & Hollywood” 50 49 DINNERS "Coif, Suit 149% 3QE | uckic lesen: Fi Lo & otter Rd het php eget yd I py CD Ct PETES oO —_ ~~
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers