Threshing Festival Dayv- Missing

It was a hot, steamy August Saturday and Pa woke me early to tell me that we weren't working in the fields today. Seems that we were going to a big get together over in Shirktown, the annual Threshing Event. I had forgotten all about this big day which we attended every year. The summer was flying by so fast and the thought of school coming soon was almost unbearable. The good thing was that I would be in eighth grade and this would be my last year of school. But that was next month - for today, we had a lot of fun ahead of us. We hopped into the wagon and started off down the road to Shirktown. Here the action was limitless and everywhere I looked, I saw members of our family - aunts, uncles, cousins, my sister Rachel and her four kids, brother Elam and his new bride, Barbara. My favorite cousin, Samuel, and I quickly found each other and went to watch Uncle Daniel and Uncle David demonstrate their new thresher. Then we moved on to see the thresher from the Stoltfus family who lived over in Morgantown. From there we went over to see Aunt Mary and Ma at the home made ice cream demonstration and sampled the chocolate AND the vanilla! Tiring of all of this farm stuff, we decided to look for girls and went to the wool making demonstration .....and we weren't disappointed! The tallest one actually smiled at me! By this time cousin John had joined us and we decided to walk down the big road to the old forge there. The Conestoga River flowed through it and we wanted to cool off on this hot summer day. Cousin John's father, Uncle Amos, worked at the forge so we had the freedom to go anywhere we wanted there. Sensing that we were up to something, Cousin Rebecca headed to us and insisted on going with us. We had to let her, she was bigger than us and could beat any of us at wrestling so we always let her have her way. And when my little sister, Katie, saw us headed out, she ran to catch up to us too. Oh well, the two girls could keep each other company.

It was a long walk to the river and the road was very hot on our bare feet but we soon arrived. The old covered bridge had just gotten a fresh coat of paint and was looking pretty spiffy. One of Cousin John's grandfathers on his mother's side, Elias Mellen had worked on this bridge in 1859 and a member of his family had worked at the forge ever since. Cousin John would probably end up here too since his dad AND his uncles worked here. Once we got on the other side of the covered bridge, we noticed that there had also been work done to the Amish parking lot and it was looking fresh and new. But the place that we were after was on the east of the road through the bridge - the river! We boys rolled our pants legs up and prepared to go running and splashing in the water but the silly girls didn't want to get wet and played on the two rocks under the trees beside the river a little south of us. We could hear them giggling and whispering. Girls are so stupid sometimes, the water was so refreshing, what could be so wonderful about hiding in the brush.

As the girls continued to do girl things, we caught polywogs and minnows and built dams. Pretty soon we noticed that it was getting close to sunset and we had to walk back to Shirktown. So we went after the girls and found them fast asleep on the rocks between the speckled tree and the rough barked tree. A little further away there was another tree with peeling bark. We woke them and they groggily joined us in the walk back to the Thresher festival, arriving there just in the nick of time. Our parents were loading things into the wagon and gathering the rest of our brothers and sisters for the ride home. As Katie and I got in the wagon, Katie's eyes got big and filled with tears. "Oh, Daniel, I left my doll back at the river!" Pa heard her cries and made a promise to her. "Tomorrow I will excuse Daniel from his chores on the farm and he can take the buggy back to the forge to find your doll." Katie happily laid her head on my shoulder and fell asleep knowing that her big brother would save her precious doll. So if you happen to be in the area and see Katie's doll, please leave it there till I can get back!

Training Camp

We made our annual trek to our favorite football team's training camp. This year, the team just happened to be the reigning Super Bowl champions. We saw Ben Roethlisberger, we saw Troy Polamalu, we saw Duce Staley, we saw Hines Ward, and I was getting restless. So I started walking around the beautiful campus.

First I headed to our car to drop off all of the goodies I had purchased at the team store. Shirts and hats and towels and lanyards. Once I was unburdened, I started up the steps at the basilica but headed to the left of the buildings and walked past "venite, filii, audite". After passing a little red fire hydrant, I then walked through a set of arches and spotted a second set of arches.

But before I got to those arches, I noticed that to the left of them, there was a really neat little alcove. As I walked into the alcove, I could see a wooden gazebo straight ahead of me. And when I was standing IN the alcove and facing the training fields, I could see a meditative garden below me. And I also saw a white statue a bit further downhill. But I couldn't quite make out what the statue was so I headed back out the way I came into the alcove.

Just as I passed through the doorway, I dropped my backpack and since it had been open because I had just pulled my notebook out, everything scattered every which way. I picked up all of my belongings and walked downhill to view the statue closer. I then made my way back to the field and refreshed from a little exercise, enjoyed watching the rest of the practice.

However, once we got home, I discovered that I had NOT picked up all of my belongings. I had left a little film cannister laying somewhere around that doorway into the alcove. I thought that I had checked all around the area but it slowly dawned on me that there was one place that I hadn't checked - in the ivy at the base of the little lamppost which was about two feet away from the door. Would someone please check there for me and let me know if it is there? If so, I will retrieve it when we visit the area again next year at the same time.

Too Hot to Hike in Berks County - The Hidden Door - Retired 2018

Location: Berks County
Hike Length: Driveby
Date Planted: August 5, 2006

Once upon a time there was a beautiful young girl named Melinda. Melinda had a beautiful mother and a handsome father and they all lived happily together in the county of Berks. One day, the beautiful Melinda was walking along the road to Morgantown on the south side of the shire of Reading. She was on her way to see the swans on Swan Lake after visiting her friend, Angelica Angel. A handsome young man on a large white horse stopped her along the way and asked her if she wanted a ride to Swan Lake. Not remembering anything her mother and father had taught her about talking to strangers, she climbed aboard. They soon approached the building where Melinda’s grandfather had stayed while he was recovering from his fall out of the apple tree and the young man pointed out this nearby tower to the beautiful, young girl.
“Would you like to see the shire of Reading from the top of this tower?” he slyly asked Melinda. She excitedly agreed and the handsome young man led her to a hidden door on the north side of the tower. He pulled a key from a pocket, unlocked the hidden door and they climbed the stairs to the top of the tower. While Melinda was busy looking for the home that she happily shared with her beautiful mother and handsome father, the young man quickly slipped back down the stairs, locking the door behind him. The next thing Melinda saw was the handsome young man galloping away on his white horse. “Oh, no!” Melinda thought after realizing her foolish mistake, “how will I ever get out of here? My beautiful mother and handsome father will be so worried!”

Melinda looked down from the windows at the top of the tower and saw the hidden door. When she moved to the windows on the south side of the tower and looked down, she saw another little building. Between the little building and the tower was a pile of items that gave Melinda a great deal of hope. If someone were to come close to the tower, she could direct them to this pile and they could build some stairs to the top and rescue her. But she saw something under the pile that gave her more hope. If only someone would come and find this, she could escape and return to the home that she shared happily with her beautiful mother and handsome father.

Last found: July 13, 2008

7/23/09 - I just checked on this box and it is alive and well. Just be careful, there is a bit of poison ivy beginning to make an appearance near the box but it is not necessary to touch any of it to retrieve the box.