Summary

The voices of America's past and present live on in this timeless portrayal of small-town America, which, through two hundred years of letters to one town's newspapers, evokes the most memorable moments in our history and the passions they engendered.Since the days of the Founding Fathers, the citizens of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, have recorded their impressions of such dramatic events of national significance as the ratification of the Bill of Rights, the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, the rise of Andrew Carnegie, the assassinations of President John F. and Senator Robert Kennedy, and the Clarence Thomas hearings -- as well as their opinions on genuinely local concerns like building good schools and roads, seeing the sights at the Bloomsburg Fair, romantic intrigue in a trailer park, and finding a home for a lonely puppy.By turns hilarious and contemplative, here is a book so genuinely representative of the American experience that each page will bring memories of home and family, friends and neighbors, and our own hometowns sharply -- and honestly -- into focus. Beneath it all,Letters to the Editoris about how a community negotiates with itself, how it talks and how it listens.

Author Biography

Gerard Stropnicky, Tom Byrn, James Goode, and Jerry Matheny are members of the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble, whose stage version of Letters to the Editor provided the impetus for this book. They live and work in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania.

Foreword
Prologue
This Gentle Hint
New Nation/New Ideas: 1790-1810
Kids and Dogs
Setting the Record Straight
Flights and Fancy: The 1840s
""30 Seconds""
Women and Men: Courtship
Thanks to the Fair
Crime Log
Women and Men: Marriage
""30 Seconds"": Trailer Court
The Breaking of the Bounds: 1861-1865
Thy Sons and Thy Daughters
""30 Seconds"": Karaoke
Last Act/Last Hope
John Q. Timbrell
Boss K
Happy Holidays
Gumption
The Constant Tramp o
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Excerpts

CHAPTER 1

This Gentle Hint

THE HAND OF ART

Mr. Ingram,

There are few villages more beautifully located than Bloomsburg, and very few, I imagine, of the same size and population, in which more business is transacted. But what matters the delightful situation, unless the hand of art be employed in giving a cheerful and neat aspect to its streets and dwellings?

There are but few, very few dwellings, whose fronts have been touched with the brush of a painter; and but few also who have the advantage of pavements. This is certainly nothing but sheer neglect. The cost would be trifling to each owner of property, when compared with the advantages; and I sincerely hope that this gentle hint may have the desired effect.

A CITIZEN

Columbia Democrat

July 22, 1837

THE NORMAL SCHOOL

What business has Bloom to be continually growing and increasing, and wanting to lay out more lots, and build more houses, and open more streets and alleys? Some people thinks the more the town increases in population, and size, and beauty, and schools, and churches the better it is for the whole county. I don't see it.

It makes us all work a great deal harder to keep the town supplied with provisions than it used to. I know the time when I could hardly sell a bushel of potatoes for forty cents, now I could sell a wagon load of them at two dollars a bushel. I used to sell my butter at eighteen cents, now you pay fifty cents a pound for it. You see we can hardly keep you going now, and if you keep on growing, it will be worse yet.

They say you're going to get a Normal School at Bloomsburg; and that will bring about five hundred more people there to help eat up meat and bread, and potatoes and butter, etc. If we have to keep you all in provisions, I don't know what will happen.

A Countryman

The Columbian

May 8, 1868

THE CARPET WHISTLE

Dear Sir:

I recently spent a few days in Bloomsburg, after a long absence. The thing I missed the most was the Magee Carpet whistle. I hope to be in Bloomsburg for the Fair. I was just wondering if the whistle will be in operation for the Fair?

Yours truly,

Franklin Sherman, Cleveland, Ohio

The Morning Press

September 17, 1971

THE TRAFFIC LIGHT

I think the traffic light at Route 487 and Central Road should be timed better. On Dec. 1, 1982, I timed it for 15 minutes, from 1:50 to 2:05 p.m. and again on Jan. 4, 1983, from 12:05 to 12:20 p.m. I was at the same place and used the same watch, which may not keep perfect time, but not too far off.

On Dec. 1, the times varied from three seconds to 17 seconds. Again on Jan. 4, the variation was anywhere from three to 16 seconds. As you can see, the time was nowhere even. I am a local resident who must use this intersection.

J. E., Bloomsburg

Press Enterprise

January 11, 1983

Excerpted from Letters to the Editor: Two Hundred Years in the Life of an American Town by Gerard Stropnicky, Tom Byrn, James Goode, Jerry Matheny
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