Walking On Water

Sundays are a favorite day for park lovers to visit Covered Bridge Park, and enjoy the majesty of Wehr Dam. This particular Sunday, July 13th 2014, provided one of nature's tricks, geese walking on water. Because of the porous limestone creek-bed, during dry periods, the Jordan turns into a Disappearing Stream. Slightly downstream from the dam, the stream bed becomes completely dry, with the water only reappearing past Wehr Covered Bridge. A number of environmentalists have criticized the Wildlands Conservancy for the misinformation they provided to the South Whitehall Commissioners, concerning their plan to demolish the dam. With or without the dam, fish will not be migrating up the Jordan during dry periods, they don't swim well without water. Without the dam, the Disappearing Stream area would be significantly larger, and more pronounced. Please join me next Saturday, July 19th, as we Picnic To Save Wehr Dam, between 12 and 2:00pm at Pavilion #2, Covered Bridge Park.

The Middle East, A Quick Course

Radio Free Molovinsky

Yesterday was a difficult day with the broadcasting equipment. Although the usual channels are still out, the blog is back up with emergency equipment.

Yesterday, Bernie O'Hare and I were guests on Alan Jennings' Lehigh Valley Discourse radio program. Next week the program will be available for download from WDIF.

The list of supporters to save the Wehr Dam continues to grow. Various scientific and environmental types have come forward to support preserving this icon. Mary Ann Bungerz, creator of the Covered Bridge Tour and other promotions as Director of the County's Visitor's Bureau, has come forward to support the dam. The first pavilion at Covered Bridge is named after her devotion to the park.

Although I tried to rent Bungerz Pavilion for next week's Save The Dam picnic, that pavilion was already booked for the summer. Please join us in Pavilion 2 next Saturday, July 19th, between noon and 2:00pm.

Contributing To Change

I have no allusions concerning the amount of work and expense that it will require for me to go to Harrisburg. The incumbent sent no less than three expensive mailings against her primary opponent. However, if the residents of the 183rd District, and the greater Lehigh Valley, are to benefit from change, I'm willing to do the hard work, but must ask you to make a monetary contribution. If you live in the 183rd, the need for the change that I can bring is apparent, your town has been stagnating for years. I also ask for contributions from everybody in the Valley. Your representative is complacent. Many go unopposed, election after election. It's time to shake up Harrisburg, it's time to think independently. I ask that you make a check or money order payable to:

                                       Michael Molovinsky, Designated Account
 and mail it to:
                                       Michael Molovinsky
                                       1636 N. Cedar Crest Blvd.
                                       PMB 145
                                       Allentown, Pa. 18104

or contribute through paypal

Thank you!

The Biology and History Of Wehr Dam

The Wildlands Conservancy is fond of telling municipalities that mill dams create warm water above them, and serve no purpose. Also obsolete, by modern design, in Wehr Dam Park, now know as Covered Bridge Park, is the covered bridge. A recent writer to The Morning Call noted the beauty of the water flowing over the dam and under the bridge. The Wildlands Conservancy has said that the dam has no aesthetic value, but they're also wrong even about the biology. Not far downstream from the dam, the creek disappears into it's limestone bed during dry periods. This natural disappearing stream phenomenon makes the dam a moot point in regard to upstream fish migration. What we're left with then is extraordinary beauty and history,  that needs to be preserved. Since mill dams and wooden covered bridges are obsolete, and they're not making any more of them, let's defend this irreplaceable legacy with which we were entrusted.
photograph by K Mary Hess

Saving South Whitehall's History

In 1952, South Whitehall lost Wehr's Mill, constructed in 1862. Last week, on July 2, 2014 the Commissioners signed the township's historic overlay ordinance, designed to provide protection for historical structures and sites, by cooperating owners. When Wehr's Covered Bridge was designated a National Historic Site in 1980, the application specified 1.45 acres. Whether or not the dam is included in this area is unclear, but the historical significance of the dam is unquestionable. It was the most elaborate dam built for any mill, on either the Jordan or Cedar Creeks. A concrete slab, inscribed and dated by none other than William Wehr himself, remains near the former mill site. In their haste to harvest another dam demolition grant, the Wildlands Conservancy told the Commissioners that the 1904 dam is neither historic or aesthetic, but the public knows that their iconic dam has both those attributes, in abundance.

undated photograph of the former Wehr Mill

In Defense Of The Irreplaceable

Yesterday, residents of South Whitehall received a well designed card promoting concerts in The Covered Bridge Park. In a recent letter to the editor, Dale Heffelfinger wrote; The Jordan Creek flowing over Wehr's Dam and then under Wehr's Covered Bridge is an often-photographed location that has appeared on calendars and in literature touting our wonderful lifestyle. To remove Wehr's Dam is unconscionable. This weekend as we celebrate our country's history, let us hope that the South Whitehall Commissioners decide to defend the historic dam.
photograph by K Mary Hess

Dam Hard Convincing South Whitehall

Last evening I again tried to convince South Whitehall Commissioners that Wehr Dam must be saved, for both historical and aesthetic reasons. Visiting that dam has become a generational tradition for thousands of valley residents. Although the Wildlands Conservancy has not been given explicit permission to demolish the dam, the commissioners have allowed them to continue planning for it's removal. Ironically, last night the commissioners also passed an ordinance creating an historic overlay district, including Wehr Covered Bridge. Had they been willing to add two simple words to the ordinance, and dam, they would have been fulfilling the spirit of the ordinance, not just the letter. At their meeting with the Wildlands Conservancy the commissioners asked how to deal with the residents who might want to keep the dam. The Conservancy replied that they must be educated about the fish and natural habitat. I believe that the commissioners must be educated about the values and traditions of their constituents.

Ezekiel's Tomb

Ezekiel's Tomb is south of Baghdad, in Al Kifl. The tomb dates back to the 6th Century B.C., during the Babylonian exile. Prior to creation of Israel in 1948, 100,000 Jews still remained in Iraq; Today, there are eight.

Last year Hebrew lettering was covered over in fresh plaster, in a process to turn the ancient Jewish shrine into a mosque. Fortunately, word leaked back to Israel and to the Jews of Iraqi descent. That community's history in Iraq spanned 2,700 years, 1,000 years before the birth of Islam. The renovation is now under international scrutiny, and hopefully the Jewish elements will remain. The photo shows Iraqi Jews in front of the tomb in 1932.

Conflicting reports: There are conflicting reports, both about the condition and intentions for the shrine. Here is an article from The Jerusalem Post, dated May 2010, which claims that there has been no damage (recent) to Jewish inscriptions.
NY Times recent article, Oct. 19, 2010

reprinted from September 2013

Whose Your Worm In Harrisburg?

It doesn't matter where you live in the Lehigh Valley, or whether your representative is a Republican or Democrat, either way, you have a worm representing you. Yesterday, they passed a budget with no pension reform. Two bills, one from the house, the other from the senate, offered a path away from the state's biggest problem, the pension liability. Both bills would have honored the current pension with existing employees, but would have gone to a 401 type plan for all new hires. The Democrat excuse was that it did nothing to alleviate the liability for existing employees, estimated to be as high as $50billion, for their pension life. They instead favored issuing more bonds and again deferring the state's full contribution. The Republicans also ignored the bills, also pandering to the strong unions, especially the teachers. Corbett is not an attractive candidate this year, but credit him for standing behind pension reform. The Republicans in the General Assembly, both representatives and senators, had enough seats to pass pension reform, but chose not to. The union pandering Democrats never considered it. Whose your worm?

St. Matthew's Monastery

St. Matthew's Monastery in Kurdish Iraq, one of the oldest Christian Institutions in the world, was built by Christians fleeing persecution in 363 AD. Today, 16 centuries later, Christians are once again seeking shelter there. In the last decade it has been estimated that half the Christians have left Iraq. Since the Baghdad Church bombing in October, some Christians are afraid to be seen wearing a cross; Others have fled with little more than the clothes on their back. Pray for them.

St. Matthew's is part of the Syriac Orthodox Church

reprinted from December 2010. Things have only gotten worse for the Christians in Iraq, many more have fled.

reprinted from May 2013.   The situation in Iraq has become even more perilous. Those Christians unable to leave Iraq have mostly taken shelter in north section of the country, under control of the Kurds. 

Morning Call Features Two Letters On Wehr Dam

The Wildlands Conservancy has noble goals. In Whitehall Township on the Jordan Creek, the group recently removed several small nuisance dams that were of little historic and aesthetic value. Wehr's Dam, however, is of high historic and aesthetic value and is at the center of a park in a tranquil setting in South Whitehall Township. The Jordan Creek flowing over Wehr's Dam and then under Wehr's Covered Bridge is an often-photographed location that has appeared on calendars and in literature touting our wonderful lifestyle. To remove Wehr's Dam is unconscionable. The Wildlands Conservancy should switch from Plan A (dam removal) to Plan B (remediation). Plan B is to pump the silt from the upstream side of the dam and build a fish ladder, which possibly could be incorporated as part of the original mill race. Fish are not stupid. Given the opportunity, they will find their way up the fish ladder. Residents of South Whitehall and the Lehigh Valley should get involved with this issue and make sure you get what you want. Perhaps the decision should be decided by a voter referendum rather than by a small group of people.
Dale Heffelfinger
Whitehall Township

 South Whitehall Township is usually good at communicating with its residents. Notices regularly arrive, announcing new township policy and initiatives. As an advocate for keeping Wehr's Dam and not allowing the Wildlands Conservancy to demolish it, I'm shocked at how few township residents know that the dam is in jeopardy. If township officials would notify the residents of their deliberation allowing the dam's destruction, they would quickly find out how near and dear this historic icon is to the people of South Whitehall. The commissioners and township have a duty to disseminate this information.
Michael Molovinsky
South Whitehall Township

The Morning Call featured Wehr Dam today in their letter section.  They coupled two letters with a photograph of the dam by Harry Fisher.  

State House of Cowards

Pennsylvania is a State House of cowards. Rather than pass the Tobash Amendment, which would address the state's biggest problem, the underfunded pensions, they will instead sell off the liquor system for a quick one year fix. Simply put, the Tobash Amendment honors all existing pension agreements, but changes the formula to a 401 contribution style for new employees. Your cowards in Harrisburg would rather offend one union, the liquor store employees, than all the public unions. Your cowards in Harrisburg will find a few extra dollars for the public schools after their sellout, and once again be greeted as returning heroes at home. Your elected cowards, and their local partisan supporters, will once again put their talking points for November's election ahead of real solutions for Pennsylvania.

UPDATE: The Republican controlled State Assembly is seemingly cobbling together a budget more cowardly than I predicted, adapting neither of the options mentioned above. Watch them even find a few extra dollars to bring back to their local school districts, but much less than really needed.

Park Follies and Misappropriations

Over the years this blog and myself have established credibility and expertise on Allentown's traditional park system and the WPA. I must report what I consider to be a major shenanigan by the mayor. $1.3 million dollars was taken to purchase two heavy industrial areas, to supposedly add to the park system. This $million plus dollars was taken from the water/sewage lease, which is being used as the mayor's discretionary fund, instead of the dedicated pension relief,  promised at the time. $950,000.00 was used to buy the parcel at Union and Basin Streets, near the city sewage plant. This is one of the oldest industrial areas in the city, and certainly not needed for more park land. Allentown has not been able to maintain the existing park land, or the features within it. The Fountain Park Pool has been abandoned, and the WPA structures are crumbling. The other just purchased parcel is the old fertilizer plant location,  along Martin Luther King Dr., west of the crumbling Schreibers Bridge. We have an administration with no memory or knowledge of Allentown's past. Anybody who knew what went on at the fertilizer/rendering plant, would not want their grandchildren playing there. The city's rationale for these purchases is to expand the biking paths and connect the parks. That's the folly, and now the misappropriations. Allentown has supposedly allocated money to engineer the repair of the leaning WPA wall in Lehigh Parkway. I know why the wall leans. Years ago, the stone shoulder between the park entrance and wall was blacktoped. As cars and city trucks drive around the curve, pressure is exerted against the wall. That strip of asphalt needs to be removed, and the stone buffer restored. The problem with the engineering study is that it's the third time it has been appropriated. In the last two budgets money was actually budgeted to repair the wall, now the process begins again. What happen to the previous appropriations? Must molovinsky on allentown now also establish expertise in forensic accounting?

The Train of Lehigh Parkway

With the 15th Street Bridge closed, as people detour over the  Schreibers stone arch bridge,  few will be aware of the industrial past surrounding them. The Barber Quarry railroad branch line crossed the road, just south of the bridge. On the left was the Union Carbine's Linde plant, the concrete loading dock is still visible. Although the last train ran in the early 1980's, the wooden railroad trestle is still there, to the west and south of the bridge. The area is now used as part of the disc golf course. The photograph was taken by Dave Latshaw in 1976, and is part of the Mark Rabenold Collection.

reprinted from April 2013

UPDATE: Although the 15th Street Bridge reopened this past winter, long overdue repairs to Schreibers Bridge have not yet begun.

The Sabaean Mandeans Of Iraq

I'm glad that the plight of Christians in Iraq is starting to attract main stream media attention, but there is another persecuted group you may not hear about. The Mandeans predate Christianity, do not believe in Christ, and are believed to have been followers of John the Baptist. Accepting no converts, their numbers have always been small. Apparently, they migrated to the swamps south of current Baghdad after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Their writings are in Aramaic, the language of the Bible in the time of Jesus. Their rules and ethics are similar to Jewish tradition. Baptism is their central ritual; they call the water Jordan.

reprinted from March of 2013

Peanuts For The People

While the NIZ Tax Incentive will provide almost a $Billion dollars in paid for real estate for a few men, the potential neighborhood workers will get only peanuts, as made official on Friday. This blogger maintained, early on, that there would be no jobs of substance, beyond selling peanuts at the arena. The banking and health care jobs, associated with the new office buildings, are far too sophisticated for any training programs or local unemployed. Friday's job fair, the first of two, attracted hundreds of locals, never the less. The potential employer, the arena, was upfront about the offerings. All but a few dozen will be part time with no benefits and most will pay $8 to $10 per hour, including the food service, event staff, operations and even supervisor jobs. Our experience is that they're good jobs for young people just getting started and good second jobs for adults looking to supplement their first job," said Jacque Holowaty, PPL Center assistant general manager. So, while they're only offering peanuts, as I said last year, we have created a new task force and bureaucracy, to delude the desperate.

Molovinsky On State Store Privatization

Local State Representative Justin Simmons has recommended selling the State Stores to meet this year's budget shortfall. Although perhaps privatizing liquor sales 95 years ago wasn't the best idea, it now is a steady revenue flow for Pennsylvania. Over the last two decades the state's retail venues have been modernized, and match or exceed private retailers elsewhere in selection. At this point in time, to sell a dependable, inflation proof, producing asset for a very short term gain, makes no business sense, what-so-ever. Although Simmons is straight party line, and wrong on this topic, at least he takes a stand. That is much more than can be said for my opponent, Julie Harhart, who only offers smiles, handshakes and birthday cards. Think independently.

photograph from Pennlive

Presentation To South Whitehall Commissioners To Save Wehr Dam

In their full court  press campaign to demolish the dam, the Wildlands Conservancy stated that the dam is not aesthetically pleasing. This would be a big surprise to the photographers who regularly use the dam as a backdrop to photograph couples and families. It would also be a surprise to the many people who regularly visit the dam to enjoy it's beauty, as generations have done. The Wildlands Conservancy said demolishing the dam is their highest priority, because it's dangerous and detrimental to fish. It's no more dangerous or detrimental than it was 5 months ago, before it became their highest priority. There always have been fish, both above and below the dam. You (the commissioners) have authorized the Conservancy to present options concerning the dam, but their statements reveal that they cannot function as an honest broker in presenting such recommendations.

During the King George Inn controversy last year, the Commission acknowledged the need to protect private historic property. It goes without saying that historic public property deserves the same protection. The park and dam commemorate the history and beauty of the township. I believe that you're entrusted with preserving the traditions of South Whitehall, not facilitating the agenda of the Wildlands Conservancy.

remarks made by Michael Molovinsky to the South Whitehall Commissioners on June 18, 2014

coverage of presentation by The Morning Call

photograph by K Mary Hess

Molovinsky For State Representative

Saving The Spring Pond

As a small boy growing up in the twin homes above Lehigh Parkway, I would go down the steep wooded ravine and cross the Robin Hood Bridge. The stone lined spring pond and miniature bridge was just the first in a series of wonderful WPA constructions to explore. Last year, when I organized the reclamation of the Boat Landing, my memory turned to the pond. Although overgrown with several inches of sod, I knew the treasure was still savable.





In the spring of 2010 I met Mike Gilbert of the Park Department, and pitched the idea of a partial restoration. On May 26th, I posted A Modest Proposal, which outlined my hopes for the pond. By July, Gilbert had the Park Department clear off the remaining stones, and clean up around the miniature bridge.


Park Director Greg Weitzel  indicated to me that the pond features uncovered will be maintained. Any further clearing would be at the discretion of Mike Gilbert. In our conversation he also stated that there are virtually no funds available for the preservation of the WPA icons.







I will attempt to organize a group and contributions for this most worthy cause. Between the Spring Pond and The Boat Landing there was once a bridge to the island. Wouldn't it be nice if a small boy could go exploring.
reprinted from previous posts
UPDATE August 2113Mike Gilbert has retired, and the Park Department has a new director. Although grass and sod are starting to again cover the remaining stones that surround the pond, the miniature bridge is still visible. I will make it my mission to again pitch the new personnel.

UPDATE June 18, 2014. The grass and sod has reclaimed the stones that surround the pond. Only the very top of the miniature bridge is still visible to those who know that it's there. Unless there is an immediate intervention, it's days are numbered.
HISTORY IS FRAGILE

Trexler Smiles, Landing Revealed

I believe that today, for the first time in decades, General Trexler had something to smile about. Most people never understood why three steps were near the lower entrance of Lehigh Parkway; they seemed to lead nowhere. This morning eight people joined a grass root effort to unveil, for the first time in decades, the structure I called the Boat Landing.

Buried under the dirt and grass were several more steps leading to a landing. Chris Casey was the first to arrive and cleared these steps and the first landing himself. A second set of steps led from the landing to the main landing on the creek. These second steps had a foot or so of ground and plants.

The quality and condition of the stonework is excellent, as was all our WPA icons. I will be polite and say only that it was a crime to have let this neglect occur. On the main landing the accumulated earth was two and half feet thick. The crew dug out the curving retaining wall several yards in each direction, and cleared off the top of the wall.

Eight people working four hours managed to reveal about one third of the landing at the bottom of the steps. It was a thrill to realize we were standing at creek's edge as the WPA architects had envisioned. I stood there often as a boy. There still remains a large portion of dirt to remove at the steps base, but you can now experience the Boat Landing.

The retaining wall and the landing continue for fifty feet or so in both directions. Unfortunately a huge tree has grown on the landing to the right, but the left appears reclaimable.

We who worked there today, hope to return and clear off the remainder of the dirt at the bottom of the steps.

Perhaps others will be motivated to clear off the remaining portion of the landing to the left. Now that might even be an idea for the City; imagine restoring an irreplaceable icon instead of buying something from a catalogue. I'm most grateful to all those who helped today, and will reveal their names with their permission.

ADDENDUM:Michael –

I just wanted to thank you for organizing today’s cleanup at the “Boat Landing” in the Lehigh Parkway. It’s not often that one gets to help unearth a treasure while barely leaving home, but that’s exactly what happened today.

It was truly impressive what big difference a small group of people can make. I can’t even estimate the amount of dirt that was moved with nothing more than a few shovels and a lot of hard work.

We can only hope that the City and the Trexler Trust will become aware of this location and start giving all the great structures in the Parkway the care they deserve.

However, the best part of the story for me came after we all left. I got home and my daughter Lucy (age 7) wanted to know how things went. We hopped in the car and soon we were walking up to the stairs leading to the landing. The sun was shining, and the sunlight trickled through the trees and onto the freshly-exposed stairway.

Lucy asked if she could go down to the landing by the water and next thing I knew we were both there at the waters edge, standing on what had been buried only a few hours earlier and marveling at the beauty of the location.

We spent a few moments there - a father and daughter both enjoying something completely “new” to us (even though the landing is over 70 years old). We talked briefly about what was – and more importantly what could be again.

Thank you for making that moment possible, and I hope many others take the opportunity to visit the landing in the near future.

Mike Schware

P.S. – After visiting the landing, Lucy and I walked further upstream and saw the remnants of the bridge to the island (near the water fountain). The remaining supports of the bridge confirmed what you
had told me earlier about the island being much smaller years ago.

reprinted from March 2013

UPDATE: The dig described above occurred in 2009. We came back and removed the reminder of the dirt at the bottom on the landing, and a few more feet in either direction on the landing. Although I had conservations with both the previous and current park directors, the city has not keep up with the site. History is fragile.

History of Lehigh County, Wehr Dam

Wehr Dam figures predominately in the history of Lehigh County, particularly in South Whitehall's history. William Wehr was born in 1871 and worked at H. Leh and Company in Allentown. While there he attended the American Business College in the evenings, graduating in 1894. By 1903 he began working at Sieger Mill, and purchased it in 1905. He remodeled the operation with the most modern rolling equipment, and soon the renamed Wehr Mill was producing his famous White Rose Flour. The concrete mill dam, considered the best constructed in the area, still delights residents of Lehigh Valley, and ties them to our agricultural and milling history.

photograph by Cyber X Ref

South Whitehall's Dilemma

The photographer and her assistant were photographing the newlyweds by Wehr Dam. She told me last Sunday morning that it is her favorite backdrop. Besides myself watching her work, was an elderly couple, who visit the dam every Sunday, to relax and appreciate the beauty. Unbeknown to them, their sanctuary is being threatened. The Wildlands Conservancy has targeted Wehr for their next dam removal project. I had seen the elaborate presentation they gave Allentown City Council, about the little dam in Lehigh Parkway. They used a professionally produced power point presentation, and brought in expert witnesses. They even had Allentown's brand new park director testify, although he had yet to even explore the park himself. Dam removal is fashionable, the only problem is that it destroys history and beauty, which you can't buy in a catalog. In South Whitehall's case, the township history is essentially that of the mills, which were built along both the Jordan and Cedar Creeks. I visited the dam again this week with a committed environmentalist. Although an advocate of dam removals, he agreed to survey the dam and adjoining covered bridge. He told me that in this case, the beauty and history trumped any environmental benefit, and that this was one dam that certainly should remain.

It's Not Enough To Just Campaign

It's not enough to just campaign for an office, you must work and advocate for those things that are important for the district's future. Please sign the petition to save Wehr's Dam, in Covered Bridge Park. The petition can be found on my facebook page, thank you.

Translating Molovinsky

My WPA walk this weekend was held in conjunction with Friends of the Allentown Parks, a city affiliated organization. Although I could organize and publicize the walks without Friends, we have a mutual interest. It's director, Karen El-Chaar, appreciates my knowledge and advocacy for the WPA, and I appreciate her potential influence to move the stone structures to a higher priority in the city's budget. This year, as we moved from site to site on the tour, I was rather blunt about the city's failure to maintain or appreciate the various structures. On each occasion, Karen politely rephrased my words more diplomatically. By the end of the tour, I was referring to her as my translator.

A Rewarding Weekend

molovinsky on allentown had a rewarding weekend. Pride badge number 1 is my pleasure to announce that the young woman who was bullied, and consequently lost her chance to achieve membership in the National Junior Honor Society, is now a member. Because of the girl's tenacity, and her mother's unwavering support, they did finally prevail upon the school system to revisit her tests for that marking period. Needless to say that girl aced them, and now has her certificate, truly earned under adverse circumstances.

Several years ago on this blog I printed excerpts from a 1920 journal, on a very long shot that some details might be heard out in cyberspace, and resonate with someone. Long and behold, out of nowhere, came a reply this weekend.

On Saturday I once again had the pleasure of showing a new group the former WPA structures in Lehigh Parkway. It remains a shame that the park department doesn't recognize the treasures with which it was blessed between 1935-1937.

Special Invitation To South Whitehall Commissioners

I'd like to especially invite the South Whitehall Board of Commissioners to my WPA tour tomorrow afternoon. Unfortunately, it's mostly a tour and history lesson about wonderful structures which previous park directors and officials allowed to be destroyed or filled in, for someone else's agenda. Tomorrow's tour is a repeat of the tour I gave last year, minus one feature. Last summer the Wildlands Conservancy gave the exact speech to Allentown City Council, which was used again on you this past Wednesday. Although the companion dam for the Parkway's WPA bridge was only 14 inches tall, demolishing it reaped the Conservancy a sizable grant, and administrative fees used for their salaries. The tour starts at the Robin Hood Bridge Parking Lot at 1:00pm, Saturday June 7, and ends up back there, in less than an hour.

photocredit: Wehr Dam by Gregg Obst

Endangered Site's Tour

On Saturday afternoon, at 1:00pm, I will lead the endangered WPA Site's Tour. The dam shown above, will not be on the tour this year. It has joined several other previous gifts by the WPA to the City of Allentown, which have been either discarded or destroyed. The tour takes less than an hour, and is a leisurely stroll along the creek, starting and ending at the Robin Hood Bridge parking lot.

The Park's Poor Priorities

About five years ago I started advocating for the WPA structures throughout the Allentown park system. Three years ago I organized a group which surveyed the structures in all the parks. At that time, I published a picture of the top wall at the Union Terrace Stairwell, on St. Elmo Street, which showed one stone missing. In the last two years, as you can see from the current picture, several more stones came loose, and mortar is missing from entire stone cap of the structure. In these past five years not one cent has been spent on the stoneworks. Two expensive patterned concrete walkways have just been completed on Trexler Blvd, leading from the west end to Cedar Park. The new park director, John Mikowychok, informs me that about $30 thousand has been allocated to repairs on the Fountain Park Stairwell. Unfortunately, over half the funds will be used for a consulting engineer. Needless to say, the park would be better off with all the money used for a stone mason. No disrespect to the engineer, but these structures are way beyond his paygrade; Just fix the things like they were.

This Saturday at 1:00pm, I will lead a tour of the WPA Structures in Lehigh Parkway. This is a repeat of last year's tour. I hope some city officials take the opportunity to join us and learn about these irreplaceable structures, with which they have been entrusted.

J. Molovinsky, Part 3, Wenz Company

This past weekend there was an auction at the former Wenz Company monument factory in the 1900 block of Hamilton Street. This facility has played several parts in Allentown's history, besides having produced thousands of tombstones. Enormous blocks of granite still remain from when it was the last stop on the Quarry Barber railroad branch line. Sculptures remain from the Phil Berman era, when artists used the Wenz equipment for monumental art. lastly, there are hundreds and hundreds of old tombstones, which were replaced over the decades, in local cemeteries with replacement markers. As mentioned in Part 1 of this post series, part of an old tombstone led me to discover my great grandmother's grave on Fountain Hill. That sculpture was made at Wenz, and Jennie Molovinsky's original stone also lies at Wenz's.

My grandfather came to Allentown as a young man in 1893. After working and saving for a number of years, he brought his parents over from the Old Country. The former synagogue on 2nd. Street had just acquired their cemetery off Fullerton Avenue when his mother died. Jewish tradition dictated that a man was the first burial in a new cemetery, so she was buried in an old Jewish Cemetery, on Fountain Hill. Several years later her husband, my great grandfather, was killed while being robbed on Basin Street. He is buried on Fullerton Avenue.

J. Molovinsky Part 2, Mt. Sinai

Jews have been buried in a small section of Fairview Cemetery, called Mt. Sinai, for over 138 years. Although the markings on several stones have worn away, Hannah Dreifuss was buried there in 1868. The September 10th Chronicle in 1875 reported that two members of the Jewish faith, prominent Hamilton Street merchants, Joshua Schnurman and Simon Feldman, purchased a section from Fairview Cemetery and applied for a charter for Mt. Sinai Cemetery, thus creating the first Jewish Institution in Allentown.
Fairview Cemetery itself was not formally laid-out until 1870, when the renowned architectural firm Lathan of Buffalo was hired to create the premiere resting place in the Lehigh Valley. The giants of Allentown would be buried there, among them Harry Trexler, the Leh's, and the Mack's of truck fame.
The History Lehigh County, published in 1914, notes Mt. Sinai contained 29 graves. Among them was Julia Wolf, who died in 1907. Her husband Morris served with the local regiment in the Civil War, and lived to be 98 years old. Feldman and Schnurman were among the earliest Jews in Allentown, immigrants from Germany who practiced the modern "Reformed" Judaism. These gentlemen and their extended family members would go on to form the "Young Ladies and Men's Hebrew Society" in 1883, a predecessor to the Keneseth Israel Congregation organized in 1903. Mt. Sinai remained the resting place for Reformed Jews till 1928, when Keneseth Israel established its own cemetery. Burials continued at Mt. Sinai through the 1940's as spouses and passing family members joined those previously departed in family plots. Today there are 78 graves. In July of 2006, thirty years after the previous burial in 1976, Joseph Levine was laid to rest at the age of 103.  The cemetery is not affiliated with any synagogue.

Editor's notes: The above is reprinted from 2009.  My search to find the grave of M. Azrilian led me to Mt. Sinai.  At the time,  the entire Fairview Cemetery and Mt. Sinai were in terrible shape.  Numerous posts on this blog led to story on the situation by The Morning Call.  Subsequently, I organized a meeting between the cemetery operator and the public.

Jennie Molovinsky, Part 1

I was at a party where the host recently acquired a lawn sculpture. Unknown to him, a section of it was comprised of an old Jewish tombstone, of a wife and mother, M. Azrilian, who died at the age of 25 in 1918. It's a beautiful carving of a branchless tree trunk, symbolizing a life ended prematurely.
I became concerned as to where this stone had come from. Who would know if their great-grandmother's stone was taken? I had no idea even where my great-grandmother was buried. I searched for this young woman's grave. Finally, Rabbi Juda from Bethlehem directed me to the old Agudath Achim Cemetery in Fountain Hill. There I found the woman, M. Azrilian, with a new grave marker. Next to her I discovered Jennie Molovinsky, my great-grandmother.

My thanks to Rabbi Juda and M. Azrilian (1893-1918)

I  wrote the above paragraph in July of 1997.  In searching for M. Azrilian, I first became aware of Mt. Sinai, the small Jewish portion of Fairview Cemetery on Lehigh Street in Allentown. Early posts on this blog deal with my advocacy for that cemetery, and the history of the Mt. Sinai portion.  When Jennie died in 1913, the former Agudath Achim Synagogue on 2nd Street in Allentown had just consecrated their new cemetery on Fullerton Avenue. Jewish tradition requires that the first burial be a man, so Jennie was buried in the old cemetery, on Fountain Hill.

A Thorny Issue With Old Allentown

Although I'm friendly with a number of people who live in Old Allentown, I must once again take their Association to task. Their current press release: Please come out and help us beautify our neighborhood and meet your neighbors... The Old Allentown Preservation Association is planting roses bushes along the Union and West End Cemetery's fence on Chew St. from 10th St. to 12th St...We have cleared a 3 foot rose bed along the whole Chew St. fence and will be planting 142 3 gallon roses along the fence. Partially funded by a grant from the City of Allentown and by the United Way. The last thing that cemetery needs is more plantings to take care of. It's been well over a decade since that cemetery has been properly maintained. Even as the group prepared a bed for the rose bushes, large sections of the cemetery, and the area around the tombstones, have yet to be mowed this year. I made this observation on Facebook today, and a member replied, There are plans in the works to assist with dealing with weeds and mowing the grass. OAPA has not finalized them yet. OAPA has been in existence for 30 years, the cemetery, in the middle of the district, has been in distress for 20 years. Time for you folks to finalize those plans.

UPDATE: Perhaps the true intention of the roses is to be a sight barrier between Old Allentown and the reality of the cemetery's neglect.

The Forever Bridge

As the recently departed city engineer, Richard Young, was giving his blessings to the Wildlands Conservancy phonies to demolish the Robin Hood Dam, supposedly for ecology, the Cedar Creek, just south of the Taking Forever New Union Street Bridge, was disastrously eroding it's banks. In the destruction, caused by the coffer dams and resulting creek rerouting for bridge construction, the trees are dying and the pedestrian bridge has been virtually destroyed. This bridge served the parking lot and children of Hamilton Park for decades. Another casualty of the Taking Forever Bridge, is that both the Union Terrace baseball fields are out of commission. Save for this blog, where has the Park and Engineering oversight been hiding?

The $10 Million Dollar Man

There is an interesting letter to the editor in today's paper, where the writer regurgitates the image that Madison Avenue put in his head about Tom Wolf. The writer thinks that Wolf is a folksy guy, as portrayed in the television commercials. I don't know much about the real Tom Wolf, but neither does he. I do know that he's no outsider, having served under Rendell. I suspect that he didn't come back to his family business to save the worker's jobs, but because he stopped receiving payments on a note that he was holding. The letter writer speculates that this marvelous guy went from last to first place because he's such a champion of the people. I marvel about how oblivious people are to the influence of a good commercial.

Power Outage Idles Blog Production

molovinsky on allentown has just gotten back on line, after about 13 hours of another PPL outage. Customers have come to expect disrupted service when wind reaches beyond 6 miles per hour. Although the PPL automated message system first reported that power would be restored by 8:00pm last evening, the message was then changed to 7:00am this morning. As a veteran of these power interruptions, let me translate. A tree or branch fell on a line, and the contracted tree service doesn't start work until daylight. One would think that after all the recent outages, the utility might have considered an in-house tree service. According to an article in The Morning Call, PPL showed some favoritism in 2011, dispatching crews to special customers. We know that I'm not one of them.

Historic Visit To Israel

Although Pope Francis' visit to Jerusalem captured world headlines, the real history was made by Cardinal Bechara Ra'i, Patriarch of the Maronite Catholic Church, centered in Lebanon. While over 11,000 Maronites live in Israel, it was the first visit by a leader of that church since 1948, when Israel was created. The Patriarch felt compelled by faith to greet Francis in Jerusalem, but while there met with no Israeli officials. Never the less, the visit has been criticized in Lebanon by Hezbollah, for humanizing the enemy. They said that the Patriarch's visit to Jerusalem cannot pass quietly. Let us pray that it does. Here in the Lehigh Valley, there is a Maronite community in Easton.

the Cardinal at a church in Jaffa