The following was written by Clair Hoffman to Leah Michlatcher, daughter of
Luella (Ziegenfus) Smith after Luella passed on.
------------------------------------Sunday, June 2, 2002
Dear Leah and George,
Thank you for your recent letter received this past week.
By coincidence, I also talked to cousin Mary Parsons yesterday! I
always
call Mother Hilda at about 10 A.M. every Saturday. When I called
yesterday
Mother said here is Mary who wants to talk to you! I thought Mother
was
kidding, as she does at times, but she was not this time. I told Mary
we had
your letter noting that Alma had sent a letter about "Growing up with
Luella". I told Mary that I too had a few memories of Aunt Luella and
Uncle
Stanley. They are as follows.
1. About 1928--Aunt Luella going to Kutztown State Normal School. Pop
and
Mom Ziegenfus (grandparents) purchased a big steamer trunk in which
Luella
packed her clothing. It was so BIG that I could stand erect in it!
Pop
loaded it on the trunk rack of his car and off we went to Kutztown, Pa.
It
was in "old Main" building that I had my first elevator ride.
2. Upon graduation Luella taught in a one room country school in
Aquashicola, Pa. which had an outhouse and a big pot belly stove to
heat the
room. Luella and Stanley, years later, purchased a new home in
Aquashicola,
located on land which included that old schoolhouse!
3. In the early 30's Luella went to East Stroudsburg College for
additional
teaching courses. I recall visiting her with Mom and Pop, and it was a
hot
day.
4. About 1934 Aunt Alma and I accompanied Luella and Stanley (plus
Stanley's
brother and wife) on a trip to the New England states in an old Essex.
One
of our stops was Plymouth Rock and I still have a 10 cent salt shaker
souvenir purchased at the "Rock". I note today that it was imported
from
Germany for a Willard H. Parson in Plymouth, Mass.
5. Parryville, Pa. in the early 30's. Stanley was the school
principal and
Luella was one of his teachers. My best friend, Renny Andreas, and I
rode
our bicycles from Palmerton to Parryville to fish. We stayed overnight
and
slept in the living room so we fished two days. Luella fed us well,
but we
did not catch many fish.
6. Luella and Stanley lived on Main Street in Parryville next door to
Mr.
and Mrs. Rinker. Mr. Rinker had a slaughter house in the back of his
property and
he owned a well-known butcher shop. Luella showed me a broken wrought
iron
fence in back of her home where a cow had bolted through supposedly.
That
impressed me. I also recall Mary in her white crib located during the
day in
the living room.
7. In 1936 Stanley was my ninth grade science teacher at S.S.P.H.S.,
that is
the Palmerton High School. By the way, Luella was a member of the
first
class to graduate from that school. It was during one of my first
science
classes that Stanley corrected one of my erroneous scientific thesis
which
noted: baby chicks are born only from eggs laid by roosters! I well
remember Stanley noting that I certainly was not a farmer.
8. When Luella and Stanley moved to Palmerton they lived in the four
hundred
block of Lafayette. (Leah--they first lived on Franklin. Charles was
born
when they lived on Franklin and I when they lived on Lafayette). Mom
and Pop
(our grandparents) and my parents also lived in that block. I recall
family
parties in that house and as I recall, Charles and Leah were born
there.
Stanley attempted to make a clarinet player out of me, but I was not a
good
student. He did, however, make beautiful fishing flies up in the attic
of
that home and was an excellent fisherman.
ALL GOOD MEMORIES!!
------------------------------- Love, Lillian and Clair
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