It's been a little more than two months since the 2009 Juniata Valley edition "I Remember When" was published, and I'm still hearing positive comments about it - mostly from people who want to know when Volume 2 will be published.
Our readers really enjoyed the stories and photos submitted from people throughout the Juniata Valley, reminiscing about bygone days and sharing a wide variety of photos.
People called me, sent notes in the mail, e-mailed and stopped in the office to talk about their favorite "I Remember When" story or to share some memories of their own,.
I was particularly pleased to learn that the stories in the special section sparked what may be a new friendship.
You may recall that Paula Diven, of Honey Grove, wrote about her daughter's collection of a specific type of brown pottery. She explained how a little girl in pigtails fell in love with the pottery and how the collection grew bigger as the girl grew older. When Ruth Hower, of Mifflintown, read the piece, she realized that she owned a soup tureen that matched the girl's collection.
"I realized she was referring to the early brown drip glaze Pfaltzgraff tableware,"Ruth said. "In 1973, my mother bought me a huge soup tureen with ladle and tray in that pattern, and all these years it's remained in its box."
The next day, Ruth contacted Paula and the next thing you know -the brown pottery tureen was packed up to be sent to Paula's daughter!
Many other stories sparked fond memories for other people, especially the descriptions of downtown Lewistown in the the '40s, '50s and '60s. A number of people enjoyed my description of the big house on Academy Hill where my family once lived. Several people told me that it is for sale, but after checking out the realtor's Web site, I discovered that the house that's for sale is next to the one where I lived (they look similar from the outside).
Perhaps the most remarkable reaction to the "I Remember When" edition is the fact that several people came into the office, entirely unsolicited, with items they wished to submit "just in case" we decided to publish a second volume. There are incredible, never-before-seen pictures from Juniata County submitted by Dick Cramer, awesome photos from Reedsville from John Rodgers and a very interesting newspaper clipping from Thomas L. Fletcher now sitting in a safe spot on my desk.
I won't tell you any more about these items because, due to the amount of interest shown from our readers, we have decided to publish another edition of "I Remember When." The photos and stories from Cramer, Rodgers and Fletcher will be included in "I Remember When: Volume 2," which will be published on June 24.
I'm hoping lots of other people will contribute, too.
Once again, we're asking readers to submit special memories, suitable for a family publication, to be considered for inclusion in the special edition. Your memories can be in the form of a simple sentence or two, a complete essay or poem. You may also submit more than one entry. We're also accepting photographs or other artwork depicting your favorite memories to help illustrate the edition.
The deadline for submission is Friday, May 29.
Submit items to: Jane Cannon Mort, c/o The Sentinel, P.O. Box 588, Lewistown, PA 17044; e-mail them to: jmortlewistownsentinel.com (send JPGs as attachments); or post on www.lewistownsentinel.com (click on "Submit 'I Remember When'" link under the Special Sections heading on the left side of the home page).
Jane Cannon Mort is The Sentinel's special projects editor.
