Page 16 - SUSQUEHANNA TIMES
Letters
Fans blitz sports editor
Dear Sports Editor:
How disappointing to
pick up the ‘‘local’’ paper
and see headlines ‘Why
Indians may lose on Friday
Night.’ I could expect to
read this type of headline
in the L-S School News-
paper. But certainly not in
our local paper.
Donegal’s football team
has a lot going for them
this year and they are
working together as a team
and need the support of
our towns in the district,
not put-downs.
Dear editor:
After reading the article
in your Oct. 19, 1977
edition about our local
football team, the Donegal
Indians, we found it quite
evident that the Susque-
hanna Times is not a
supporter of the team.
The article had many
impressive things to say
about the Lampeter-Stras-
burg and Annville-Cleona
football teams, however,
the Indians were clearly
downgraded.
Editor, caught in backfield, tries to throw
assessment before the
I’m
The sports editor replies;
On top of these letters
our office was bombarded
with half-a-dozen angry
phone calls after last
week’s football story ap-
peared.
Donegal fans, we learn-
ed, are every bit as
formidable as their football
team. Their defensive
speed rivals the Indians’,
their criticism is as
accurate as Ney’s passing,
and their school spirit is as
powerful as Splain’s legs.
I must admit that the
fans were right: 1 laid the
gloom and doom on a bit
too thickly in last week’s
story.
L-S may have won the
game, but penalties and
occasional, but unfortun-
ately timed mistakes had a
lot to do with the loss.
L-S did outclass the Indians
on Friday, but not by a big
enough margin to prove
that they are the consis-
tently better team.
My honest opinion is that
the teams are evenly
matched — and that’s what
I thought when 1 wrote the
story. The reason we
printed such an unhappy
Playground
Editor;
Over 150 children regis-
tered for the playground
activities sponsored by the
Maytown Civic Association
this past summer. Ages
ranged from five to
eighteen. Facilities used
were those of the former
American Legion Home.
Playground hours were
9:00-12:00, and 1:00-3:00,
weekdays for the six week
period beginning the last
week in June through the
first week in August.
Who are the ‘‘experts’’
referred to on the back
page??? Donegal really
doesn’t get big writeup in
the Lancaster Papers but
on the other hand I haven't
read any Lancaster articles
quite like the one in your
paper.
Let's start letting these
kids know we are behind
them and we do care about
our players. Quite frankly,
I didn’t care who played for
“L-S, or statistics about any
player. It takes 11 players
to make a team and I feel
each an every one are
Statements such as;
‘Underdogs at the top of
the ladder; Indians lead
section, but experts think
they'll crumble next
Friday,’ ‘‘In short, most
football experts think L-S is
going to win,”’ ‘“‘In spite of
their less-than-par per-
formance, the Indians won
the game 22-16,” were un-
necessary. They showed no
support of the players, who
are having a fantastic year,
their coaches, and Don-
egal’s many loyal fans.
The Donegal Indians are
game is simple;
superstitious.
I admit that only fools
are superstitious, but,
unfortunately, I can’t help
it.
Ever since the season
began, I’ve been reading
Mac Rutherford’s predic-
tions about Donegal’s foot-
ball games, and they were
almost always wrong. He
said they’d lose to Catholic
E-town, Manheim Central,
and Elco. They won.
He said they’d slaughter
Solanco. They lost.
Last week, an informed
source told me that
Rutherford considered the
game a toss-up.
I was panic-stricken.
‘““What if he finally decides
to favor Donegal?’ |
worried. ‘‘It might jinx the
team. They always play
best when they’re sup-
posed to lose.”
I decided not to take any
chances. If Rutherford
wouldn’t predict a big loss,
I’d have to do it. At the
time, it seemed like the
best way to insure an
Indian victory.
The most popular feature
swim
session at the Mount Joy
Pool with swimming les-
sons for beginners. A full
bus load of about sixty
children were taken to the
pool each week. On non
was the weekly
The $1625.00 spent was
considered to be a well
-swim days, forty to sixty
children were supervised at
the playground by two full
and
time supervisors
others.
important.
I do realize that teams do
have some outstanding
players and deserve extra
credit and this is great but
but let’s not forget it takes
11 to make a team click
and Donegal has what it
takes this year —a team
that works together as a
team.
Thank you for listening
to me and printing this
letter. Good luck to you,
Indians!
sincerely,
Richard J. Hoover,
Mount Joy
fortunate that not every
resident of the school
district expresses the same
lack of enthusiasm for the
team that the Susquehanna
Times has displayed.
sincerely
Mr. and Mrs. Steven R.
Hoover
Dear sports editor;
Your paper should be
called ‘‘The Susquehanna
Traitor.’’
— A Loyal Fan
ball away
I called my local experts
[they do exist, but, since
they try to be objective
when they talk to me, I
won’t reveal their identi-
ties], and learned that they
were frightened, too.
“There’s no telling what
Rutherford will do,’’ one
expert said, ‘‘but if he
predicts an Indian win,
we’re in trouble.”
[As it turned out,
Rutherford predicted that
L-S would win by 2 points.]
Anyway, my plan didn’t
work, because Donegal
lost. That’s the trouble
with superstitions — they
don’t work.
I admit that the article
was lopsided, but I really
was trying to help the
team, in my own strange
way.
Next week, Rutherford
will predict an Indian
victory. He will also predict
that L-S will trample
Lebanon Catholic, cata-
paulting the Indians back
into first place.
I hope he’s right.
signed
Rick Bromer
worthwhile investment in
our youth. If there are any
thoughts for the improve-
ment of any of our ser-
vices to the community, let
us know. We are your
Association.
You are invited to attend
our full membership meet-
ing at 7:30 on Tuesday,
November 1, at the East
Donegal Municipal Build-
ing, when our officers will
be elected.
Ivan Hess
Publicity Chairman
Horology
is thriving in our area
The top part of this clock is a two-wire rack. Balls are
ejected at the top of the column and roil down the
15-foot rack one after another.
October 26, 1977
Lancaster County has
been a center of clock and
watch making since Colon-
ial times, and the Donegal
area has had a lot to do
with it. Here is a report on
timekeeping in our corner
of the Garden Spot County.
While Lancaster County
has Bowman Tech Clock-
making school and Hamil-
ton Watch Co., as well as
HMW, the nation’s center
of horology (clock study)
lies just over Chiques Hill
from Marietta, in Colum-
bia: the National Associa-
tion of Watch and Clock
Collectors.
The Association’s nation-
al headquarters there, at
Sth and Poplar, house a
library, a public museum
(which rivals the exhibits at
the Smithsonian and the
Metropolitan Museum in
New York), and the editing
offices of a bi-monthly
magazine for the 30,000
members of the group.
The Times last week
visited Mr. Stacy Wood,
[continued on page 8]
Stacy Wood poses with the old and the new: He holds a
sundial, first made in prehistory, and on his right is the
atomic clock, which loses one second every 30,000 years