Adam & Eve Sandy and Dick Peters Met in Newark, Del. When we asked Dick and Sandy Peters of Mount Joy if they would be ‘*Adam and Eve" in the Bulletin, they consented but warned that they were ‘‘very ordinary people’ and that they didn’t think anyone would be interested in reading about them. Their ‘‘ordinary’’ romance began when Dick, whose family lived in Maytown, graduated from Donegal High School during the recession of 1962 and couldn't find a job around here. His cousin, who was a minister in Newark, Del. told him he could get a job at Howard Johnson's down there, and Dick went to live and work in Newark. Since his cousin was a minister, most of Dick’s social life was centered in the church. He hadn’t been in Delaware long before he was specially attracted to a tall brunette girl. It wasn’t just the appearance of this girl that appealed to Dick. It was her fearless and hard- working personality, too. Sandy climbs church roof The young people of the BAVA TTV AST VOLT VAST 0d VT BTV COSTS church were putting new shingles on the high, steep roof of the church. While the young men were hesitating and debating about climbin up on the roof, this tall brunette girl came by with a pack of shingles strapped on her back and climbed right up the ladder to the roof. The name of this girl who “didn’t mind getting dirty’’ was Sandra Curtis. Sandy ‘‘too young’’ Dick mentioned his at- traction to Sandra to his preacher-cousin, but his cousin cautioned him a- gainst dating her. She was too young, only 16, for Dick who was 19, said Dick’s cousin. Dick started dating an- other girl who attended his cousin’s church. Before long he and the other girl were going steady. New Year’s Eve At the end of 1962 Dick took his girl-friend to a New Year’s Eve party. On the way she told Dick she wanted to break up with him. When they got to the party she started talking to another fellow. Dick looked around. There was young Sandra Curtis, standing alone. Dick went over started talkng to her. Dick and Sandy have been talking ever since. They really hit it off and became good friends. and They didn’t have a date untii a month later, in February, when Dick drove Sandy down to Rehobeth Beach. They had good times together that spring of 1963, at church socials and going bowling. They weren’t lov- ers so much, however, as very, very good friends. Dick says he treated her ““like one of the boys’. Separation That summer Sandy went to Boston to stay with her sister, and to work in the hospital where her sister was a nurse. It was that separation that revealed to Dick and Sandy how much they meant to each other. They wrote to each other every day. In July Dick went to Boston to see Sandy. By then they both knew they were for each other, for good. Dick was working at duPont now. While Sandy was away he frequently visited her family in New- ark, did a lot of things with Sandy’s brother. At the end of the summer, not without some fear and trembling, Dick asked Sandy parents if he could marry their daugh- ter. Asks to marry daughter He was a little afraid for a number of reasons. Sandy’s parents had married rather late in their lives. Dick was now 20, and Sandy only 17. She was a member of National Honor Society and had planned originally to go SSS Dr. Richman conducts Penn.-German tour A one-week study-tour of Pennsylvania German Cul- ture has just been complet- ed under the direction of Dr. Irwin Richman, Bainbridge, R.D. 1. Dr. Richman is Professor of American Stu- dies and History at the Capitol Campus of Pennsyl- vania State University, Middletown. Many nearby places of local cultural importance were visited, including Abe and Betty Groff's Farm Restautant, Mount Joy. The students, of varying ages from New York, Virginia, as well as distant parts of Pennsylvania, tra- velled in a chartered Trail- ways bus to see: ‘‘Hackberry Hill’’., the home of Dr. and Mrs. Richman and Rev. and Mrs. E.O. Steigerwalt, Bainbridge, with its German and English gardens; Old St. Peter's Kierch, Middletown, National His- torical Landmark, built in the 1700's under the super- vision of Lutheran patriarch Henry M. Muhlenberg; Ephrata Cloisters; Mennonite Historical So- ciety where Rev. Ira Landis introduced the students to the history of Amish and Mennonite docitrines and practices. The students also heard a lecture by Dr. John Frantz, Capitol Campus, on the Pennsylvania German Church People; An Amish school, the Hans Herr house, a Men- nonite farm; La - Pennsylvania Farm Mu- seum at Landis Valley (also lectures by Claudia and Carroll Hopf, directors of the Museum); The private restored homes of Dr. Rife Gingrich, and of Samuel R. Slaymak- er, ‘‘White Chimneys’’, celebrated in Slaymaker’s book, Captive’s Mansion: The churches and build- ings of Moravian Bethle- hem, Pa. Along the route the students ate heartily of box lunches and of the plentiful Pennsylvania Dutch cooking at Plain and Fancy Farm and Dining Room, Shatlesville Hotel, as well as Groff’s Farm. Dr. Richman pointing out architectural features of restored colonial house near Mount Joy. They enjoyed shopping at flea markets and at On- cher’s cheese market in Gap. Those making the one- week tour were:Carol Ber- man, Reston, Va.; Shirley Branner, New York City; Ruth S. Burkhart, New Cumberland; Dale Darkes, Harrisburg; Alexander, Ann, and Elizabeth Drozda, Pottsville; Albert Dudrear, Jr., York; Madeline Ferra- rotti, Leechburg; Raymond Higgins, New York City; Joan Mauer, McLean, Va.; Margaret Metzler, Man- heim; June Morroni, State College; Ruth L. Myrick, Levittown; Carol Stapp, Philadelphia Museum of Art; Erma Stull, Leechburg; and Patty Williams, Phila- delphia Museum of Art. Last Saturday afternoon at the end of the tour Dr. Richman told the Bulletin at his home, ‘‘Hackberry Hill’’, that the project had been a ‘‘fabulous success’’ and that ‘‘everyone had gone away in a glow’’. He pronounced the week as “‘a grand educational experi- ence’’ which will be repeat- ed next year. He also announced that he will conduct one-day spe- cial interest tours this fall; one on October 25 centered on Windsor chairs and clocks and another in November, ‘Antiquing through the Dutch Coun- try’’. More information about these upcoming tours can be obtained from George E. Bell, Assistant Director, Continuing Education, Penn State, Capitol Campus, Middletown, Pa., 17057, Telephone (717) 787-7753. on to college. Also, says Dick, ‘‘Sandy’s father was a big man.”’ Sandy’s parents gave the two young people their blessing ‘and they announ- ced their engagement in the fall. Also, that fall Dick re- turned to Maytown to take a job with Howmet Corp. in Lancaster. Weekends he drove down to Newark to see Sandy. They were married in the spring of 1964 in the Newark Presbyterian Church. Sandy works as waitress In the first years of their marriage Dick and Sandy moved around quite a bit. For a while they lived in Johnson City, N.Y. where Dick studied at a Bible training school, and Sandy worked as a waitress. In the spring of 1965S, however, Sandy was preg- nant; Dick left school, and took a job in Wilmington, Del. There their first son, Phil, was born. Move to Mount Joy In 1967 they moved to Mount Joy, a place both Dick and Sandy preferred to the urban environment. of Wilmington. Soon after the move to Mount Joy their son Mark was born. In 1968 Dick took a job with NCR and they settled down in their house at 620 Water Street. Dick went to work impro- ving the house, tearing down partitions, building closets, finishing walls. He uncovered the log wall of the original house on the inside wall of the living room, stained it and left is attractively exposed. He refinished antiques to furnish the house. Enlarge house As the children grew and needed more space, he added an entire new two- story wing at the rear of the house. The rebuilding of the house begun in 1967 goes on August 27, 1975 today. Sandy and the kids, instead of minding the unfinished rooms, actually ‘enjoy living in them and seeing them improve from day to day. Dick and Sandy met in the church, and their lives go on centered in Calvary Bible Church, Mount Joy. Sandy plays the piano at services and participates in the Christmas and Easter can- tatas. Dick is secretary of the Boy’s Brigade Commit- tee. Sandy also works part-time as a secretary at Messiah Children’s Home at the Cross Roads Church. Marriage grows Their marriage grows. They were very young when they were first married and have done a lot of growing up together since they have been married. Some people who marry young grow apart, but not the Peters. Always they have had common goals toward which they strive. The house, the children, bring them closer. If they disagree they abide by a rule:disagree- ments must be settled before they go to bed. If they discover they are following different policies toward their children, they never disagree in front of the children. They talk over their differences privately and always present a united front to the childdren. “Every year is better” Different in temperment, Dick being more excitable and talkative, Sandy more placid and quiet, they have grown more like each other. Sandy talks more, Dick contains himself more than when they first met. ‘‘Each year of marriage is better than the preceding,” says Dick. The Peters’ had said their marriage was ‘‘ordinary.”’ How ‘‘ordinary”’ is it for a marriage to get better every year? Dr. Irwin Richman, Bainbridge, descending stairway in restored German colonial house near Mount Joy
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers