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D D Here’s to a New Year of new ideas, new challenges and new goals achieved, as we celebrate 1985, and the hope of peace and progress ahead. T H E R E R E S S S E R I Ï \ 0 THE WARWICK AREA EOR MORE TH A \ A ( E M I R Y 108th Year ESTABLISHED APRIL 1877 AS THE SUNBEAM CONSOLIDATED WITH THE LITITZ RECORD 193 7 Lititz, Lancaster County, PA. 17543, Thursday, December 27,1984 2b CENTS A COPY: $7.00 PER YEAR BY MAIL WITHIN LANCASTER COIJNTV 18 Pages-No, 38 Federal Mogul May Build Multi-Million Dollar Plant Here An early morning fire Sunday completely destroyed a two-story garage to the rear of 305 S. Broad St. and damaged three other buildings. Record Express Photo'Stan Hall About 50 firefighters from the Lititz, Rothsville and Brunnerville fire companies responded to the 3:30 a.m. call. Interrupts Telephone Service Early Morning Fire Damages Four Buildings A fire of undetermined origin completely destroyed a tw o -sto ry g a r a g e , damaged three others, and burned through a Denver and Ephrata telephone cable in the 300 block of Raspberry Lane early Sunday morning. Damage to the garages were estimated at $10,000, according to Lititz Fire Chief H. Richard Neidermyer. According to Neidermyer, 45 to 50 firefighters from Lititz, Brunnerville and Rothsville fire companies were on the scene from 3:39 to 6:10 Sunday morning. The Warwick Ambulance also stood by, he said. A garage located to the rear of 305 S. Broad St., owned by Jack Hartz of 7 Neil Drive, was completely destroyed in the fire. The garage is rented to Carl Stone of Lancaster, but Neidermyer said Monday fire officials have been unable to contact Stoner. Neidermyer said it was believed only lumber, old chairs, and “nothing much of value” was stored in the Hartz garage. Damages to that garage were estimated at $5,000 to $6,000, Neidermyer said. Record Office To Be Closed New Year’s Day The Lititz Record Express Office, 22 E. Main St., will be closed Tuesday, Jan. 1, in observance of the New Year’s Day holiday. B e c au se of the holiday, deadlines for news and advertising will be . changed as follows for the Jan. 3 issue. Press releases should be submitted by 10 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 31. The deadline for display advertising will be noon on Dec. 31. C la s s ifie d a d vertisements will be accepted until 10 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 31 for the Jan. 3 issue. Have a safe and happy holiday. Also damaged in the fire were garages owned by Richard Tshudy, 301 S. Broad St.,; Michael Mishler, 307 S. Broad St.; and M.V. Fleischmann, 309 S. Broad St. The Tshudy b a rn sustained about $1,000 to $1,500 damage to the roof and side, Neidermyer said. The Mishler garage was “half-destroyed” in the fire, Neidermyer said, and a car parked in it was slightly damaged. He estimated damages to that property at $2,000. Neidermyer said the siding and roof of the Fleischmann structure were scorched but had no damage estimate on the property. Lititz police reported a car owned by Goldie Heiss, 307 S. Broad St., which was parked near one of the garages, suffered damage on the driver’s side from the heat of the fire. The fire also burned through a Denver and Ephrata telephone cable which ran along the alley close to the barn, cutting off the 911 emergency service between Lititz and Lancaster for about two hours, until it could be re-routed, Neidermyer said. According to Roger Gehman, repair service supervisor of D&E at least 1500 customers were affected when the fire burned through three cables carrying lines between Lititz and Lancaster. Gehman said the three cables were on the same pole (Turn to Page 5) In This Issue Editorial 4 Sports Section 6, 7, 8 Social 9 Church 14 Business Directory 15 Federal Mogul Corporation, a producer of all-steel ball bearings, may be building a multi-million dollar plant in Lititz which would consolidate their other facilities in Lancaster and employ more than 550 persons, Philip Herrman, F ed eral Mogul plant manager confirmed last week. Herrman said Federal Mogul has an option on a 30- acre site on West Lincoln Avenue, across from the Warner-Lambert plant. The site is currently owned by Clair Brothers Audio, Herman said. The board of directors of the Michigan-based corporation will meet Feb. 4 to decide whether or not to go ahead with plans for the building, Herrman said. He said that local Federal Mogul rep re sen ta tiv e s would be giving a presentation to the board of directors of Southfield, Mich., at that time. Federal Mogul has been considering the construction of a new facility plant for about a year, Herrman said. The new slant would consolidate manufacturing facilities located on the Harrisburg and Manheim Pikes and the storage facility located on in the Fulton Warehouse, on Frederick Street. The proposed plant would be about 250,000 square feet and would be an expansion as well as a consolidation, Herrman said. Federal Mogul has been looking at numerous sites and narrowed the choices to two, a site in East Hempfield Township, now the site of the Hodecker Celery Farm, and the Lititz location. Herrman said construction of the building would begin immediately if the board of directors approves it on Feb. 4 and would take about 18 months. Herrman said the site m Lititz is under construction because "we like the borough, we like the location, we like the town, we like the city fathers and we.like the school board.’ Representatives of the borough council and school board met with those from Federal Mogul about two weeks ago, according to Dr. John Bonfieid, superintendent of the Warwick School District. "We discussed the relative merits of the Warwick Community,” Bonfieid said. The conversation dealt with a number of topics, Bonfieid said, such as the " c h a ra c te ris tic s and character of the community” and the resources that would be available to Federal Mogul if they located in Lititz. Bonfieid said Federal Mogul has an excellent reputation in Lancaster County and is known to "want to be a real part of the community.” He said he felt the Federal Mogul representatives had a "positive view of the Lititz community and the Warwick area as a result of the meeting.” Bonfieid said there would be mutual benefits to both the community and the corporation if Federal Mogul would locate here. The community would benefit from an expanded industrial base which would give a better balance between the residential and industrial tax bases, he said. C. Wendell Hower, president of borough council, said that the council would be "very receptive” to having "any industrial growth within borough boundaries.” He cited an increased tax base and inc r e a s e d use of the wastewater treatment plant as two possible benefits to industrial growth. The site under consideration by Federal Mogul is already zoned industrial, Hower said. The company would have to go through the normal channels of submitting land development plans through planning commission and borough council, Hower said. The local division of Federal Mogul began business in 1898 as the Star Ball Bearing Retainer Co., and produced ball bearings for bicycles, and later cars. It later became the Bearings Company of America and was purchased by Federai Mogul in 1953. Locally the company brings in $45 to $50 million in sales annually, Herrman said. On a national basis, Federal Mogul is "in anything associated with transportation,” he said, and does $900 million dollars worth of sales annually. For Auxiliary Building, Organ, Landscaping $100,000 Fund Drive Underway For Old Zion Church Projects Council Report To Appear Next Week L ititz Borough Council met Wednesday evening a fte r the Record had gone to press. A complete story on Council’s December m e e tin g will be published in the Jan. 3 issue. An auxiliary building to house restrooms and other modem facilities is the primary focus of a $100,000 restoration and development fund drive now underway for the historic Old Zion Church of Brickerville, according to Lynn Rossi, secretary of the Old Zion Board. The funds will also be used to acquire a small organ for the church gallery, either a reproduction or a replica of one which would have been found there originally. “ One of the more challenging tasks will be to paint the interior walls of the edifice with the hope of hiding unsightly cracks, but retaining 19th century graffiti,” Mrs. Rossi said. In addition the trustees of the Old Zion hope to landscape the property, add fencing, a driveway to the cemetery, a wooden pump, a new sign, and connect a wood-burning stove. The drive was begun in July of this year with the Russell Markert Memorial Fund and will be conducted through 1988, the 175th anniversary of the church, Mrs. Rossi said. Russell Markert was one of the original church board members who for more than 25 years helped maintain and preserve Old Zion until his death this summer. His wife created a memorial fund in his honor. Some of the Russell Markert memorial funds have already been used to finance the painting of the wine-glass pulpit, a task recently completed by conservator Peter Deen of Nottingham, Pa., at a cost of $5,000, Mrs. Rossi said. People who have visited Old Zion recently received the latest issue of “Old Zion’s Trumpet,” the board’s newsletter, and a donation card requesting funds for the projects, according to Mrs. Rossi. The auxiliary building has been deemed a necessary addition to the Old Zion grounds in order to provide restrooms, a small kitchen, storage facilities,a nd a preliminary area for brides who are about to be married in the historic church, Mrs. Rossi said. ' ‘F u r th e rm o r e , the modern additions will facilitate food preparation at the Strawberry Sodai and the Christmas Carol Sing,” she said. (Turn to Page 5) T h e W e l s h o f e r F am i l y - H om e For T h e H o l id a y s mÊÊÊmSmÊSmSË M Kathleen King When he got off Route 283 and headed toward East Petersburg, Dave Welshofer knew he had almost reached his destination - home. Home for the holidays. It’s a phrase dear to every serviceman and woman and even dearer to the parents and family who wait for them to come home. To Mr. and Mrs. John Welshofer of 16 Green Acre Road, it is an especially nice phrase. With son Dave in the Navy, daughter Barbara leaving the day after Christmas to take a job in New Jersey, and youngest son Jay in his last year of high school, time together is more and more scare. But for a few hours this week the Welshofers had some time together - time to exchange gifts and smiles, time to re c a ll other Christmases, and time to talk about where life is taking them. Dave was last home exactly a year ago at Christmas, but it was one of those “hello, goodbye” type holidays that lasted less than a day. "I was home for Christmas morning and back on the boat for Christmas dinner,” he explained. “I had about 14 or 15 hours of leave, and came home on a train,” he said. Till he got in it was 1 a.m. Christmas morning, but the surprise on his parents faces was worth it. This leave will be much more relaxed for the 1979 Warwick graduate. He’ll have 25 days to see friends from high school and college as well as visit with his family, he said. Although it’s a relaxing and fun time, it does take some coordination of schedules, he said. With some friends in town for only a few days and other friends scattered, Dave says he tries to arrange his leave to see the greatest amount of people. “There’s people you’ve lost touch with that you didn’t want to,” he said. “You want to see them.” “ And there’s people you’ve maintained contact with, there’s still a lot of catching up to do with them, too,” he said. “And I want to sit down and eat dinner with my family at least once,” he adds. Dave has been in the Navy since October of 1981. The first two years were spent in training in the nuclear program. And recently he earned his “Dolphins,” which indicates that he is now a full-fledged “submariner.” He is stationed a b o a rd the USS Albuquerque, a fast attack nuclear submarine based in Connecticut. He also just completed his longest underwater run / 61 days. He laughingly admits that life aboard a submarine is “surprisingly like the old World War II movies.” He said the captain does go through the “up-periscope” routine, and that diving submarines do make that “ ah-oo-gah, ah-oo-gah” warning just like in the movies. The service has its advantages and disadvantages, like anything else, Dave said. Being away for long stints, you tend to lose track of other people’s lives, he said. “But you realize you’re trying to work and develop yourself,” he said and that helps balance out some of the loss. "Besides, it’s nice to be in a job that you can take off for a month,” he adds with a laugh. Coming home for the holidays now is different than when he was in college, Dave said. “The absences get longer and you tend to skip the idle chit-chat. ’ ’ His mother agreed. “You don’t take so much for granted,” she interjected. “When they’re at school you know you’ll see them in a couple months.” But when her children leave now after being home, she said, it may be a long time until the next hello. With long absences, it’s little things that give the homecoming a sense of reassurance, Dave said. “I knew when I came home the stockings would be lined up on the mantle and the Christmas tree would be set up in a certain place,” he said. “And they were.” “It’s the little memories that make the difference,” he said. “When you find them the same, i t ’s reassuring. The simple act of g e ttin g h e re is reassuring.” The differences he does notice are not the physical differences so much as differences in the lives of his friends, how they have changed, matured, married, had children, he said. “It makes me think about myself, where I am,” he said. And seeing the difference in his “little” brother is both pleasurable and poignant, he adds. “Last year he was just starting to date, and he was really excited about that. Now he’s more mature, he has a steady girl...” Seeing the changes in others is fun, he said, but you “look back and see that you’ve missed it, and you feel sorry for yourself, that you’ve been missing that part of their growth. ’ ’ Having his big brother home is “excellent” in Jay’s mind. “I’m really proud of him, I look up to him,” he (Turn to Page 18) ¡|¡§|Í|g S118IBI m. Ê. ËÊÊÊÊËÊÊmVB Ë■Kmm ■ S I iSIiP w-V* — B H W The John Welshofer family of Green Acre Read enjoyed their Cnristmas together with Dave, on left, home on leave from the Navy. Brother Jay, in rear, is thinking about a career in the navy as well.
Object Description
Title | Lititz Record Express |
Masthead | Lititz Record Express 1984-12-27 |
Subject | Lititz (Pa.) -- Newspapers;Lancaster County (Pa.)—Newspapers |
Description | Lititz newspapers 1877-2001 |
Publisher | Record Print. Co. |
Date | 1984-12-27 |
Location Covered | United States;Pennsylvania;Lancaster County (Pa.);Lititz (Pa.);Warwick (Lancaster County, Pa. : Township) |
Type | Text |
Original Format | Newspapers |
Digital Format | application/pdf |
Identifier | 12_27_1984.pdf |
Language | English |
Rights | Steinman Enterprises |
Contact | For information on source and images, contact LancasterHistory, Attn: Library Services, 230 N. President Ave., Lancaster, PA, 17603. Phone: 717-392-4633, ext. 126. Email: research@lancasterhistory.org |
Contributing Institution | LancasterHistory |
Sponsorship | This Digital Object is provided in a collection that is included in POWER Library: Pennsylvania Photos and Documents, which is funded by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries of Pennsylvania/Pennsylvania Department of Education. |
Description
Title | Page 1 |
Subject | Lititz (Pa.) -- Newspapers;Lancaster County (Pa.)—Newspapers |
Location Covered | United States;Pennsylvania;Lancaster County (Pa.);Lititz (Pa.);Warwick (Lancaster County, Pa. : Township) |
Type | Text |
Original Format | Newspapers |
Digital Format | application/pdf |
Language | English |
Contact | For information on source and images, contact LancasterHistory, Attn: Library Services, 230 N. President Ave., Lancaster, PA, 17603. Phone: 717-392-4633, ext. 126. Email: research@lancasterhistory.org |
Contributing Institution | LancasterHistory |
Sponsorship | This Digital Object is provided in a collection that is included in POWER Library: Pennsylvania Photos and Documents, which is funded by the Office of Commonwealth Libraries of Pennsylvania/Pennsylvania Department of Education. |
Full Text | D D Here’s to a New Year of new ideas, new challenges and new goals achieved, as we celebrate 1985, and the hope of peace and progress ahead. T H E R E R E S S S E R I Ï \ 0 THE WARWICK AREA EOR MORE TH A \ A ( E M I R Y 108th Year ESTABLISHED APRIL 1877 AS THE SUNBEAM CONSOLIDATED WITH THE LITITZ RECORD 193 7 Lititz, Lancaster County, PA. 17543, Thursday, December 27,1984 2b CENTS A COPY: $7.00 PER YEAR BY MAIL WITHIN LANCASTER COIJNTV 18 Pages-No, 38 Federal Mogul May Build Multi-Million Dollar Plant Here An early morning fire Sunday completely destroyed a two-story garage to the rear of 305 S. Broad St. and damaged three other buildings. Record Express Photo'Stan Hall About 50 firefighters from the Lititz, Rothsville and Brunnerville fire companies responded to the 3:30 a.m. call. Interrupts Telephone Service Early Morning Fire Damages Four Buildings A fire of undetermined origin completely destroyed a tw o -sto ry g a r a g e , damaged three others, and burned through a Denver and Ephrata telephone cable in the 300 block of Raspberry Lane early Sunday morning. Damage to the garages were estimated at $10,000, according to Lititz Fire Chief H. Richard Neidermyer. According to Neidermyer, 45 to 50 firefighters from Lititz, Brunnerville and Rothsville fire companies were on the scene from 3:39 to 6:10 Sunday morning. The Warwick Ambulance also stood by, he said. A garage located to the rear of 305 S. Broad St., owned by Jack Hartz of 7 Neil Drive, was completely destroyed in the fire. The garage is rented to Carl Stone of Lancaster, but Neidermyer said Monday fire officials have been unable to contact Stoner. Neidermyer said it was believed only lumber, old chairs, and “nothing much of value” was stored in the Hartz garage. Damages to that garage were estimated at $5,000 to $6,000, Neidermyer said. Record Office To Be Closed New Year’s Day The Lititz Record Express Office, 22 E. Main St., will be closed Tuesday, Jan. 1, in observance of the New Year’s Day holiday. B e c au se of the holiday, deadlines for news and advertising will be . changed as follows for the Jan. 3 issue. Press releases should be submitted by 10 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 31. The deadline for display advertising will be noon on Dec. 31. C la s s ifie d a d vertisements will be accepted until 10 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 31 for the Jan. 3 issue. Have a safe and happy holiday. Also damaged in the fire were garages owned by Richard Tshudy, 301 S. Broad St.,; Michael Mishler, 307 S. Broad St.; and M.V. Fleischmann, 309 S. Broad St. The Tshudy b a rn sustained about $1,000 to $1,500 damage to the roof and side, Neidermyer said. The Mishler garage was “half-destroyed” in the fire, Neidermyer said, and a car parked in it was slightly damaged. He estimated damages to that property at $2,000. Neidermyer said the siding and roof of the Fleischmann structure were scorched but had no damage estimate on the property. Lititz police reported a car owned by Goldie Heiss, 307 S. Broad St., which was parked near one of the garages, suffered damage on the driver’s side from the heat of the fire. The fire also burned through a Denver and Ephrata telephone cable which ran along the alley close to the barn, cutting off the 911 emergency service between Lititz and Lancaster for about two hours, until it could be re-routed, Neidermyer said. According to Roger Gehman, repair service supervisor of D&E at least 1500 customers were affected when the fire burned through three cables carrying lines between Lititz and Lancaster. Gehman said the three cables were on the same pole (Turn to Page 5) In This Issue Editorial 4 Sports Section 6, 7, 8 Social 9 Church 14 Business Directory 15 Federal Mogul Corporation, a producer of all-steel ball bearings, may be building a multi-million dollar plant in Lititz which would consolidate their other facilities in Lancaster and employ more than 550 persons, Philip Herrman, F ed eral Mogul plant manager confirmed last week. Herrman said Federal Mogul has an option on a 30- acre site on West Lincoln Avenue, across from the Warner-Lambert plant. The site is currently owned by Clair Brothers Audio, Herman said. The board of directors of the Michigan-based corporation will meet Feb. 4 to decide whether or not to go ahead with plans for the building, Herrman said. He said that local Federal Mogul rep re sen ta tiv e s would be giving a presentation to the board of directors of Southfield, Mich., at that time. Federal Mogul has been considering the construction of a new facility plant for about a year, Herrman said. The new slant would consolidate manufacturing facilities located on the Harrisburg and Manheim Pikes and the storage facility located on in the Fulton Warehouse, on Frederick Street. The proposed plant would be about 250,000 square feet and would be an expansion as well as a consolidation, Herrman said. Federal Mogul has been looking at numerous sites and narrowed the choices to two, a site in East Hempfield Township, now the site of the Hodecker Celery Farm, and the Lititz location. Herrman said construction of the building would begin immediately if the board of directors approves it on Feb. 4 and would take about 18 months. Herrman said the site m Lititz is under construction because "we like the borough, we like the location, we like the town, we like the city fathers and we.like the school board.’ Representatives of the borough council and school board met with those from Federal Mogul about two weeks ago, according to Dr. John Bonfieid, superintendent of the Warwick School District. "We discussed the relative merits of the Warwick Community,” Bonfieid said. The conversation dealt with a number of topics, Bonfieid said, such as the " c h a ra c te ris tic s and character of the community” and the resources that would be available to Federal Mogul if they located in Lititz. Bonfieid said Federal Mogul has an excellent reputation in Lancaster County and is known to "want to be a real part of the community.” He said he felt the Federal Mogul representatives had a "positive view of the Lititz community and the Warwick area as a result of the meeting.” Bonfieid said there would be mutual benefits to both the community and the corporation if Federal Mogul would locate here. The community would benefit from an expanded industrial base which would give a better balance between the residential and industrial tax bases, he said. C. Wendell Hower, president of borough council, said that the council would be "very receptive” to having "any industrial growth within borough boundaries.” He cited an increased tax base and inc r e a s e d use of the wastewater treatment plant as two possible benefits to industrial growth. The site under consideration by Federal Mogul is already zoned industrial, Hower said. The company would have to go through the normal channels of submitting land development plans through planning commission and borough council, Hower said. The local division of Federal Mogul began business in 1898 as the Star Ball Bearing Retainer Co., and produced ball bearings for bicycles, and later cars. It later became the Bearings Company of America and was purchased by Federai Mogul in 1953. Locally the company brings in $45 to $50 million in sales annually, Herrman said. On a national basis, Federal Mogul is "in anything associated with transportation,” he said, and does $900 million dollars worth of sales annually. For Auxiliary Building, Organ, Landscaping $100,000 Fund Drive Underway For Old Zion Church Projects Council Report To Appear Next Week L ititz Borough Council met Wednesday evening a fte r the Record had gone to press. A complete story on Council’s December m e e tin g will be published in the Jan. 3 issue. An auxiliary building to house restrooms and other modem facilities is the primary focus of a $100,000 restoration and development fund drive now underway for the historic Old Zion Church of Brickerville, according to Lynn Rossi, secretary of the Old Zion Board. The funds will also be used to acquire a small organ for the church gallery, either a reproduction or a replica of one which would have been found there originally. “ One of the more challenging tasks will be to paint the interior walls of the edifice with the hope of hiding unsightly cracks, but retaining 19th century graffiti,” Mrs. Rossi said. In addition the trustees of the Old Zion hope to landscape the property, add fencing, a driveway to the cemetery, a wooden pump, a new sign, and connect a wood-burning stove. The drive was begun in July of this year with the Russell Markert Memorial Fund and will be conducted through 1988, the 175th anniversary of the church, Mrs. Rossi said. Russell Markert was one of the original church board members who for more than 25 years helped maintain and preserve Old Zion until his death this summer. His wife created a memorial fund in his honor. Some of the Russell Markert memorial funds have already been used to finance the painting of the wine-glass pulpit, a task recently completed by conservator Peter Deen of Nottingham, Pa., at a cost of $5,000, Mrs. Rossi said. People who have visited Old Zion recently received the latest issue of “Old Zion’s Trumpet,” the board’s newsletter, and a donation card requesting funds for the projects, according to Mrs. Rossi. The auxiliary building has been deemed a necessary addition to the Old Zion grounds in order to provide restrooms, a small kitchen, storage facilities,a nd a preliminary area for brides who are about to be married in the historic church, Mrs. Rossi said. ' ‘F u r th e rm o r e , the modern additions will facilitate food preparation at the Strawberry Sodai and the Christmas Carol Sing,” she said. (Turn to Page 5) T h e W e l s h o f e r F am i l y - H om e For T h e H o l id a y s mÊÊÊmSmÊSmSË M Kathleen King When he got off Route 283 and headed toward East Petersburg, Dave Welshofer knew he had almost reached his destination - home. Home for the holidays. It’s a phrase dear to every serviceman and woman and even dearer to the parents and family who wait for them to come home. To Mr. and Mrs. John Welshofer of 16 Green Acre Road, it is an especially nice phrase. With son Dave in the Navy, daughter Barbara leaving the day after Christmas to take a job in New Jersey, and youngest son Jay in his last year of high school, time together is more and more scare. But for a few hours this week the Welshofers had some time together - time to exchange gifts and smiles, time to re c a ll other Christmases, and time to talk about where life is taking them. Dave was last home exactly a year ago at Christmas, but it was one of those “hello, goodbye” type holidays that lasted less than a day. "I was home for Christmas morning and back on the boat for Christmas dinner,” he explained. “I had about 14 or 15 hours of leave, and came home on a train,” he said. Till he got in it was 1 a.m. Christmas morning, but the surprise on his parents faces was worth it. This leave will be much more relaxed for the 1979 Warwick graduate. He’ll have 25 days to see friends from high school and college as well as visit with his family, he said. Although it’s a relaxing and fun time, it does take some coordination of schedules, he said. With some friends in town for only a few days and other friends scattered, Dave says he tries to arrange his leave to see the greatest amount of people. “There’s people you’ve lost touch with that you didn’t want to,” he said. “You want to see them.” “ And there’s people you’ve maintained contact with, there’s still a lot of catching up to do with them, too,” he said. “And I want to sit down and eat dinner with my family at least once,” he adds. Dave has been in the Navy since October of 1981. The first two years were spent in training in the nuclear program. And recently he earned his “Dolphins,” which indicates that he is now a full-fledged “submariner.” He is stationed a b o a rd the USS Albuquerque, a fast attack nuclear submarine based in Connecticut. He also just completed his longest underwater run / 61 days. He laughingly admits that life aboard a submarine is “surprisingly like the old World War II movies.” He said the captain does go through the “up-periscope” routine, and that diving submarines do make that “ ah-oo-gah, ah-oo-gah” warning just like in the movies. The service has its advantages and disadvantages, like anything else, Dave said. Being away for long stints, you tend to lose track of other people’s lives, he said. “But you realize you’re trying to work and develop yourself,” he said and that helps balance out some of the loss. "Besides, it’s nice to be in a job that you can take off for a month,” he adds with a laugh. Coming home for the holidays now is different than when he was in college, Dave said. “The absences get longer and you tend to skip the idle chit-chat. ’ ’ His mother agreed. “You don’t take so much for granted,” she interjected. “When they’re at school you know you’ll see them in a couple months.” But when her children leave now after being home, she said, it may be a long time until the next hello. With long absences, it’s little things that give the homecoming a sense of reassurance, Dave said. “I knew when I came home the stockings would be lined up on the mantle and the Christmas tree would be set up in a certain place,” he said. “And they were.” “It’s the little memories that make the difference,” he said. “When you find them the same, i t ’s reassuring. The simple act of g e ttin g h e re is reassuring.” The differences he does notice are not the physical differences so much as differences in the lives of his friends, how they have changed, matured, married, had children, he said. “It makes me think about myself, where I am,” he said. And seeing the difference in his “little” brother is both pleasurable and poignant, he adds. “Last year he was just starting to date, and he was really excited about that. Now he’s more mature, he has a steady girl...” Seeing the changes in others is fun, he said, but you “look back and see that you’ve missed it, and you feel sorry for yourself, that you’ve been missing that part of their growth. ’ ’ Having his big brother home is “excellent” in Jay’s mind. “I’m really proud of him, I look up to him,” he (Turn to Page 18) ¡|¡§|Í|g S118IBI m. Ê. ËÊÊÊÊËÊÊmVB Ë■Kmm ■ S I iSIiP w-V* — B H W The John Welshofer family of Green Acre Read enjoyed their Cnristmas together with Dave, on left, home on leave from the Navy. Brother Jay, in rear, is thinking about a career in the navy as well. |
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