It's not as easy as it appears providing the only critique of city government in Allentown, and doing it for eighteen years. The established news agencies want to keep their access lines open, and bite their tongues... And I'm only referring to the few reporters with enough institutional knowledge to know the difference between the bull and the reality.
Needless to say I'm not a popular guy, and I'm not even compensated:) There are no ads here, and no begging for donations, I don't even dance for comments. Anywho, I do occasionally need a break from the establishment's admiration for me. Because I take some pride in having something printed here every weekday, my vacations are the archeological pieces.
The photo above is from the former Wentz tombstone company at 20th and Hamilton. My own great grandmother's first marker lay on the grounds there, after it had been replaced many years earlier. A good portion of the new Allentown doesn't even know the place was ever there.
So what happened with all the old monuments that were there?
ReplyDeleteWere the monuments just buried under the Dunkin Donuts parking lot with no bodies?
If so, that’s kind of the opposite of the way the mafia works.
Off topic, but I saw that the pool in Emmaus that was closed last week was reopened on Saturday. The pool had been flooded during last week's heavy rains, leaving a large amount of mud and what was reported to be a large water moccasin (otherwise known as a cottonmouth snake).
ReplyDeleteThat got me thinking, if the mayor in Allentown really wants to cut down on swimming in our creeks and waterways, he should post signs with pictures of a water moccasin or two on them. Photos have no need for bilingual printing and could be quite effective in solving the problem of swimmers, particularly younger ones.
By the way, water moccasins (like several snakes) also prefer areas of poor drainage - like swamps, bogs and ditches. In Allentown, we call those areas...riparian buffers.
anon@5:51: I do not know what became of the many stones on the property.
ReplyDeleteI received another. anonymous comment announcing a new blog, but I cannot find it. If the author comments back with more information, I'll be glad to promote it.
Wentz has a large faciity in Breinigsville where they produce most of their stones and its likely they consolodated their Hamilton Street facility there. Although they face signiciant competition from Red China who produces a significant number of stones these days for cemetaries around the country.
DeleteIt seems that a significant number of people who live in Allentown have little or no knowledge of the area from before their lives here
Brent@10:49: Although a related family, I believe they were separate businesses.
DeleteNew Blogger: I'll kept my eye on your blog, and mention when there is more content.