PGRS JUNE MEETING
Hi, everybody, Jill
Fallecker here. Cub reporters don’t always get a second
chance to write feature articles but in this organization,
there isn’t much competition for the Roving Reporter’s job
so I am at it again. This time I want to tell you about the
June meeting of the PGRS at Chuck and Dee Christ’s home.
It seemed like a long
ride to Avella. Well, actually, I am geographically
challenged and I admit I had NO idea where we were going.
South of Pittsburgh, Bill told me and that’s all I knew. We
had Dee’s directions printed out and available over the
visor as well as our GPS, “Chatty Kathy”, set with the
street address.
It was a long ride and
it was beautiful. But the weather was not great. We kept
moving between rain and gorgeous blue skies as we went up
one hill and down another. We passed through a really
quaint village called West Middletown and we knew we were
close. The town was much more like those we have seen in
the eastern part of the state. Two story brick houses with
porches and balconies. Federal style, I guess and all built
close to the road.
There was a clearing
in the sky and the rain stopped; then we saw Dee and Chuck’s
house on the hill ahead of us. What a setting. The vista
had such eye appeal. It was obvious that a lot of care and
consideration was given as to where to locate this home on
its lot. Those who were interested took a quick house tour
while we waited for late comers and then we got down to
business…LUNCH!
Dee’s dining room is
huge and held the Christs, Mark Mamros and his 2 children,
Carol Hendzel, Bill and Claudette, Malick, Clark and Kathy
Kemmerer, Keith Baggus, and Bill and I quite easily. We had
a nice lunch and plenty of conversation. We talked about
the past (the week end trip to Cumberland), the present
(where will Chuck put his railroad at this new house) and
the future (next month’s annual picnic at the Mamros’
estate).
The rain held off as a
group of people walked with Chuck outside to look for a
great spot for his new railroad. He says it will probably
be a lumber or ______railroad.
There seemed to be a
consensus that the railroad should be built where it was
visible from someplace inside the house. The land behind
the dining room gave good access to the garage for the
rolling stock and plenty of opportunities for interesting
landscaping including at least one bridge. Chuck was a
little baffled why on his large level lot we picked this
uneven terrain, but in the end agreed with the site
selection. If he invites us back for a work session, we
will know he was serious!
It is this reporter’s
observation that we spend a lot of time in life worrying
about whether what we are doing (or planning) is the “right
thing to do”. Sometimes we just have to jump in and DO
something. Dee and Chuck are at that point now. They have
got the location, they have identified a variety of choices,
and now it’s time to JUMP IN! We wish them the best of luck
and also offer the support of the club, where possible.
The weather cooperated
for the rest of the afternoon. If we hadn’t done so much
site seeing along the way, we could have been home without
getting wet!
Next month will be our
annual picnic. It will be Sunday,
July 26 at 2:00 p.m.. The club will provide
hamburgers and hot dogs; the rest of us should all bring a
dish to share. More information will be available soon. I
anticipate this well-attended event will have lots of
reporters so next month you may not be hearing from me!