POPHAM BEACH, MAINE

Many newspapers now take their feature articles from the news wire services. Even small local newspapers are turning to these news services rather than having freelancers—who are familiar with the nuances of their communities—write their feature stories.

For example, when I first contacted the newspaper I’d freelanced for about writing a travel article on the Moxie festival in Maine, they told me to submit the article for review. ( MOXIE: LOVE IT or HATE IT & SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIANS DRINK MOXIE: Do They Like It?) By the time I completed the article, they had started using the wire services for this genre.

The Buffalo (N. Y.) news is no different. While visiting Buffalo, I was pleased to see their headline MAINE ATTRACTIONS. To my disappointment,

THE HOLOCAUST STORY OF A TEENAGE VICTIM (Part 7)

To read previous segments of Bob Mendler’s story of being a Holocaust victim, click on:

THE HOLOCAUST STORY OF A TEENAGE VICTIM (Part 1)

THE HOLOCAUST STORY OF A TEENAGE VICTIM (Part 2)

THE HOLOCAUST STORY OF A TEENAGE VICTIM (Part 3)

THE HOLOCAUST STORY OF A TEENAGE VICTIM (Part 4)

THE HOLOCAUST STORY OF A TEENAGE VICTIM (Part 5)

THE HOLOCAUST STORY OF A TEENAGE VICTIM (Part 6)

Today’s post is a little different than my usual writing.

The remainder of Mendler’s story isn’t written for the Beanery Online Literary Magazine (BOLM), because he is not well enough to help edit the final copy. He is very discouraged. He had knee surgery in January 2007, and is still experiencing a lot of pain.

“I’m so miserable, so unhappy,” he said several months after the surgery. “I just don’t want to do

QUECREEK MINE DISASTER: A 21st Century Historical Site in Somerset County, PA

United Airline Flight 93 Temporary Crash Site Memorial; United Airline Flight 93
Memorial Chapel and the Quecreek Mine Rescue Site

       Visitors flock to three isolated, tranquil Laurel Mountain Ridge sites, each commemorating recent rather than past history. Two involve the crash of United Airline Flight 93, Sept. 11, 2001; the third, the Quecreek Mine rescue, July 2002.
      The evolving sites have different sponsorships—two are private; the third involves the government. Regardless, their sentiments are similar, predominated by mourning, hope and remembrance; love of God and country; appreciation and gratitude for heroic actions. Missing are references to the hijackers, four of the fatalities, and messages of anger, revenge, hate or politics.
      The temporary sites are constantly reshaped with memorabilia left by visitors. Leaving a part of themselves may be the only way visitors can weave their own story into these historical events.
      The following post is on the Quecreek Mine Rescue site, where the ground was recently broken for a museum building.

QUECREEK MINE RESCUE SITE

Photo Illustrations:

     Several miles from the September 11, 2001, Flight 93 crash site near Somerset, Pennsylvania, is the 212-year-old Dormel Farm, site of the Quecreek Mine rescue. The sacred land just off State Route 985, is owned by Bill and Lori Arnold.
    It took only a moment for miners to break a wall releasing over 55 million gallons of rushing, chilly water; it took 77 hours

http://www.flickr.com/photos/beaneryonlineliterarymagazine/901481887/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/beaneryonlineliterarymagazine/901481823/

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HIKING THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY Part 1 of 2

What better way is there to celebrate summer than to hike the entire Lincoln Highway (route 30 through Pennsylvania), which extends from New York City to San Francisco.

One man did that a few years ago. I caught up with him as he entered Laughlintown, PA., after descending Laurel Mountain. After interviewing him, the story of his adventures was published in two parts in the Lincoln Highway Journal. Below is the first segment.

HIS DREAM
Andy Olson yearned to take a long walk—somewhere. But where?

“I was in college, age 20-21 and was driving on the Highway when I heard a Woody Guthrie song, ‘Hard Travelin’,” he said:

KEEPING PEACE IN SOUTH AFRICA Part 3

On April 24, 2005, I was privileged to attend the Myers Lecture at the Church of the Savior United Methodist Church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio (I happened to be in the community for my grandson’s birthday). The guest speaker was the Rev. Peter Storey, a renowned peace advocate and former Methodist bishop of South Africa. The following is taken from his notes, which he so graciously gave me.

This is the third of a three-part article. To read Parts 1 & 2, click on  KEEPING PEACE IN SOUTH AFRICA Part 1 &  KEEPING PEACE IN SOUTH AFRICA Part 2

This third part of KEEPING PEACE IN SOUTH AFRICA was excerpted from the February 29, 2008 United Methodist Reporter, titled Peace conference urges church to find its voice, by Kathy L. Gilbert, United Methodist News Service.

The Rev. Peter Storey asked participants 2008 Lake Junaluska Peace Conference to consider the God they serve. If He is the God of Jesus, any response to violence must be examined through the cross, Storey stated, setting the tone for the three-day conference held in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina.

While participants grappled with the question “How can the United Methodist Church find its voice in a world of violence?”, Storey asked “Why our silence? Why no clear, bold challenge? Why is the way that leads to peace still apparently hidden from our sight when

SHOULD I REVEAL OR BURY THE FAMILY SECRET?

At the end of this post there is a question, which you can respond to. Thanks!

My head shot up as I unsuccessfully tried to hide my shock at my aunt Julia’s statement.
Had I heard her right? Noting my surprise, she repeated her statement.

“You know, Gary isn’t really John’s father,” she repeated.

I collected my thoughts by numbing my swirling emotions. I wanted to rehear the story my aunt just told me about my mother Melissa, my father Gary and my brother John.

“Your mother, Melissa, came barging into our house one day, chasing after Gary,” she began.  “She yelled out at him

A BLUE BUTTERFLY and STAR GAZER LILIES

The temperate summer evening, that last day of July, was perfect for a stroll. I’d been sitting at my computer most of the day writing, and the exercise was a welcome relief. As was the brief encounters with my neighbors, who were also enjoying the evening.

One neighbor, seeing my camera, suggested I snap a photo of her lilies for the community newsletter. I thanked her, thinking “Lilies. They’re all over the place, and I already posted an excellent photo of a deep red one.”

Regardless, I walked by her house to check out the situation, and I was pleasantly surprised. The shot that was successful portrayed lilies of three

BRAMBLES (Brief RAMBLES) 1-6 July 1, 2008

In a world where there is so much to complain about, a good attitude is a welcome relief. However, on a couple of occasions I’ve found that a bad attitude produces surprising results. Two sections of this issue of BRAMBLES— SOMETIMES IT PAYS TO BE SELF-CENTERED AND OBNOXIOUS…. and SASSINESS WORKS AGAIN…— report these occasions. TREASURES AMIDST CHAOTIC CLUTTER is the third piece in today’s offerings.

SOMETIMES IT PAYS TO BE SELF-CENTERED AND OBNOXIOUS….

KEEPING PEACE IN SOUTH AFRICA Part 2

On April 24, 2005, I was privileged to attend the Myers Lecture at the Church of the Savior United Methodist Church in Cleveland Heights, Ohio (I happened to be in the community for my grandson’s birthday). The guest speaker was the Rev. Peter Storey, a renowned peace advocate and former Methodist bishop of South Africa. The following is taken from his notes, which he so graciously gave me.
This is the second of a three-part article. To read Part 1 click on  KEEPING PEACE IN SOUTH AFRICA Part 1 .  It explains how peace after apartheid was accomplished. The third part, KEEPING PEACE IN SOUTH AFRICA Part 3,  speaks about the 2008 Lake Junaluska Peace Conference.

The question still remained: HOW SHOULD SOUTH AFRICA COUNTRY DEAL WITH ITS (APARTHEID) PAST?

There were so many persons involved in the culture of apartheid, guilty of its sins. How should the guilty be dealt with?

There were options.

Prosecute and punish? The number of guilty persons would make this difficult, as would

BRAMBLES (Brief RAMBLES) 1-5 June 15, 2008

All three pieces of this BRAMBLES issue are about jigsaw puzzles: NEW BLOG ABOUT PEACE ISSUES TITLED “PEACEPUZZLE,” ABOUT JIGSAW PUZZLES…, and CREATE A JIGSAW PUZZLE PIECE (CHRISTMAS) ORNAMENT

NEW BLOG ABOUT PEACE ISSUES TITLED “PEACEPUZZLE”
     A Beanery Writers Group member, Joe, has a passion for developing peace. As a member of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Ligonier, PA, he leads a small group of others who also have an interest in issues of peace.
     His latest endeavor is a blog, which is designed to engage its readers in a dialogue on peace issues.
     He presents the concept of approaching peace like one approaches a puzzle, starting the process somewhere, it matters not where, and finding