A 94-year old bottle of energy at the Salvation Army

Fifty volunteers descended on Salvation Army of York Wednesday to fill 2,000 boxes to be sure York's most needy families have a Christmas dinner. Among the volunteers was Ruth Schrom, a vibrant 94-year old woman with more energy than people half her age. Ruth was one of a group of AARP volunteers and retired teachers who will be at it again Thursday to finish the job. Students from the Christian School of York joined the fun, and their job was to break down the truck load of cardboard boxes.  The food that fills these boxes is not donated, but purchased with the loose change you drop into the Salvation Army kettles. The number families asking for the boxes is up, so officials are hoping for more donations this year.

Eagles at conowingo dam

If you're a bird lover, or a photographer with a big lens, now is the time to head to Conowingo Dam in Maryland to photograph the 100 or so bald eagles there. Weather forecast for this weekend is for sunny skies and high temperatures in the 40s.

Was there over the weekend and the viewing platforms looked like a used camera shop. There must have been 40 big lenses, that is, from 300 to 800 mm lenses. Apparently, Conowingo is becoming the place to be to photograph the eagles on this side of the Mississippi River. Even if you don't have the big lenses, there are enough of the birds around that even a 200mm lens can capture an image worth saving, like the mug shot of the pair of eagles sitting in the tree below. The eagles are huge and relatively slow moving, so don't be intimidated. They are easy to photograph-- getting close enough is the key.

Also, there is almost always someone there displaying scrapbooks or photographs who can answer your questions about shooting or equipment.

My 20x spotting scope caught eight eagles in one stationary single view Sunday. Sweeping the east side of the river, I counted 47 eagles at one time. Aside from eagles, there are as many great blue herons and hundreds of vultures (mostly black, not turkey).

To find the largest concentration of eagles in the world, take a trip to Haines, Alaska, where 3-4,000 of the birds congregate in early winter before the rivers freeze over and close off the food supply.

Some fabulous photographers make a chunk of money there, and some teach the rest of us how to become better photographers during the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival, which will be held November 14-18. While seeing 100 eagles at Conowingo is certainly impressive, imagine the masses in Haines. I counted 20 eagles in one tree when I was there a few years ago. There are so many birds that, after a while, one must be careful not to be desensitized to the scene.

Birds by Kim offers some interesting suggestions and displays wonderful photos from Conowingo. Also, you might check Learn to Take Horse Pictures (trust me) or Wildlife South.


To reach the dam (about an hour's drive from downtown York) and the viewing platforms from which to photograph the birds, drive south on state route 74 into Maryland, left on state route 136, and left again to U.S. route 1. Just before reaching the dam, turn right on Shuresville Road, and then left on Shuresville Landing Road, a narrow, winding road that takes visitors down to the river. Once at river level, take another left and drive to the dam.
For information concerning water release, which normally attracts more birds, call this automated number--  1.888.457.4076
 The Visitor Center, located just south of the Dam on Route 1 at 4948 conwingo Road, is open year-round on weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., on weekends from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and is closed on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas and New Year's Day.  To learn more about Conowingo, please visit www.exeloncorp.com/conowingo. 

Downtown York tree lit

Friday's downtown York tree lighting went well, with a large crowd hiking to the square to listen to a chorus, the William Penn High Pep Band, watching a dance troupe, but most importantly, to see Santa.

The tree was actually lit earlier than the 6:30 p.m. scheduled time.  It was only about 7-10 minutes early, but many Yorkers who have rarely seen anything government-related start on time-- much less early-- missed the lighting. But the most important appointment of the evening was two blocks down the street at Martin Memorial Library, where Santa took a seat and welcomed hundreds of eager kids-- and some very patient parents.

Macy's shopping spree for the blue-collared

Randy Phillips and his co-workers at York Wallcovering were expecting Thursday to be told that their health insurance was going to be cut. Instead of that depressing news, all the workers were awarded a $200 shopping spree at Macy's in the West Manchester Mall. Things are going well at York Wallcovering.

One of the rules concerning the shopping spree was that all gifts had to be purchased by the employe and for the employe. It was interesting seeing Grandmas and Grandpas buying stuffed toys (helps them sleep at night?) and the men buying perfume.

The topper was all the men in the housewares department who were getting tutorials from the sales staff about what all that kitchen stuff does.



Workers were bussed in, and the store added a party atmosphere with balloons, and a welcome committee.

The workers came straight from their work stations, so if they get dirty at work, those were the clothes in which they rushed the Macy's doors. Phillips works in the surfacing department, and his outfit might be setting a new trend in casual clothes. It's not often you see Phillips' attire in a classy store like Macy's.

Black Friday kicks off holiday shopping-- video

Could never understand why someone would wait in line for hours or days for anything, much less a Christmas gift, or the lure of the same. Four hours before the West Manchester Target store opened at midnight, the line had already wound to the back of the store. Shoppers brought lawn chairs, radios and even heaters to the event.
And it's truly an event. A group of sisters and cousins were first in line. "'First in line, or go home' is our motto," said one. They lay siege to different stores every year, and sometimes renew acquaintances with shoppers from the year before. It's more than shopping, it's a battle against other people, the clock and the number of items available -- wide screen TVs were the big ticket. They-- mostly women-- wait for hours and then rush the door at opening, load their carts with merchandise. They are finished in 20 minutes.They insist that if they had waited until -- heaven forbid-- 9 p.m., many of the items on their lists would have already been purchased and unavailable forever.  Really?

Target kept the shoppers smiling, keeping late-comers away from the door. They had to put in their share of waiting. The store offered snack bars, coupons for merchandise and had security personnel everywhere-- everywhere. Very impressive.

Singing birds

Where do you park 100 cows?

In the overall scheme of things, the fire at Perrydell Farms in York Township wasn't that big. No cows, cats or people were injured. The barn where the cows lived was untouched.

According to the experts, an electrical problem started the fire in the milking parlor where there is very little burnable material. All the machinery is made of stainless steel for milk processing and storage. The parlor walls were concrete block. Only the roof beams and trusses were wood, and that's what caused most of the damage.

The milking parlor, what Michael Saylor called the 'heart of the farm' is dead-- for now. It'll be rebuilt in coming days or weeks. But in the meantime, what to do with over one hundred 1,500 pound Holstein cows that must be milked twice a day or risk injury or even death?

It's simple. Call a few of your friends. They jump into their Monster Trucks with even Bigger Trailers, race over to your place before the fire departments finish rolling up their hoses. Forget that the drivers have to wake up in two or three hours to milk their own herds. So they pack up the beefy critters and take them to, um, where?  It's not like you have a dozen kittens or a few guinea pigs. Bossie and 99 of her friends can't squeeze into just anyplace.

Enter the York County wing of the Pennsylvania Animal Response Team-- what, you didn't know there was such a group?--with Linda Spahr and Cindy Johnson leading the charge and making telephone calls. Within minutes, they found a newly vacated dairy farm just six miles away. It was ready to go, and all it needed were some cows. Perrydell Farm was just the ticket.

So, while a fire is rarely a good thing, all the pieces to this puzzle worked out. All evening, the Perrydell folks were saying, "Amazing. Look at all these people. We're grateful for all the support."

They shouldn't have been surprised.  What goes around, comes around. For years, the friendly Perrydell families have opened their farm to schools, churches and other various groups to show people that milk and ice cream isn't manufactured in the back of a grocery store.  Everyone leaves with a smile on their face.

The Perrys have been offered donations to help in the rebuilding effort, but they have declined, suggesting instead that the money be given to the fire departments that worked the fire. How can you top that?

If you get a chance, stop by the farm's retail store--it's open for business as usual. Grab a bottle of chocolate milk. Yep, it's awesome.