Mountain Laurel & Coal

  Three little pins that were found tucked inside a little cardboard box represent my Grandfather Vance Ross’ lifetime of service. The first is his Deacon Emeritus pin presented to him for years of dedication to the Clarksville Christian Church in Clarksville, PA. He did everything at the church from making sure the pipes didn’t freeze, filling the baptismal pool, to serving communion. The middle pin honors 40 years of commitment to the United Mine Workers of America, specifically Local 668 of Fredericktown, PA. He was a big union man who went over each contract with a fine-tooth comb. Just the thought of crossing a picket line was, in his opinion, a cardinal sin. And the third, a tie tack, recognizing over 40 years of service to Republic Steel, where he worked as a coal miner and later as an electrician. He was on-call at all times, often leaving the dinner table to drive to the shaft so he could fix the fan or get the elevator running. He never complained, he just put on his hat ...

  I love photos like this - a little slice of life, a random moment frozen in time. I’m not sure why it was taken, but the people sitting around my grandmother’s Formica table are very familiar to me: my aunt Janet Ross, Jerry Kowalczyk, my grandmother Ruth Ross, my grandfather Vance Ross, me, my uncle Ken Ross, and my grandmother’s friend Ada Shumaker. It  looks like we are celebrating something because there is a cake on the table, along with some Nescafe’ Instant Coffee, and an empty punch bowl. The photo says February 1972, but it looks like there is a Christmas wreath in the window. Maybe it was Janet’s birthday, which is at the end of December, or New Years Eve. I’m thinking the photo was taken in 1971 and the film was developed in February of 1972. This photo leaves me with so many questions. Like, why did Nana have summery paper plates on the table if it was winter? Why didn’t she make a real pot of coffee or was instant coffee all the rage? Did we drink the punch or w...

My Aunt Janet sent me this photo and it’s just too precious not to share. I believe it was taken at an outdoor church service on Market Street in Clarksville. That’s my dad Wayne Ross (blocking the sun with his program), my mother Roberta Ross, and my grandfather Vance Ross, with my cousin Nikole Kiralis sitting on his lap. That’s Hackney’s Hardware store in the background. I think this was taken during the Bicentennial Celebration in 1976. 

Here’s a lovely photograph of my Great Grandmother Mary Brown holding on to her friend Leota Nyswaner of Clarksville, Pa. I'm guessing this photo was taken in the 1950s. Leota was a dear lady who lived on Market Street, just a block from the home of Mary and her husband Isaac and my Grandparents Forest Vance and Ruth Brown Ross.  When we were young, my friends and I would visit Leota at her little house often. She would invite us in, give us treats, and tell us stories.  She told me about the day she sat with my Grandmother and helped deliver my father, Wayne Ross, who was born at home on August 13, 1942. She was very proud of this, but I was too young to think about asking any questions. Was she a midwife? Did my grandmother have a difficult time? Did the birth take a long time? Was my dad a big baby? Nope, I didn't ask a thing. I was about 7 years old, so I was probably thinking, “Wow, that’s interesting, Mrs. Nyswaner. May I have another cookie, please?”  I also rememb...

Forest Vance & Ruth Elaine Brown Ross with their sons  Forrest Wayne and Kenneth Isaac Ross Eighty-four years ago today, on April 28, 1937, my Grandparents Forest Vance Ross and Ruth Elaine Brown traveled 90 miles from Clarksville, Pa. to Cumberland, Md., to get married. They were young and in love and I’m sure it was a lovely day for a drive! Ruth’s sister Margaret and Vance’s friend Mike Barnek went along to serve as witnesses.  Elopement must have been the thing to do back then, and apparently it was easier to get married in Maryland than in Pennsylvania. Twenty-six years later my parents went to Lavale, Md. to tie the knot. My maternal grandparents George and Blanche Shipley Phillians drove a little further east on their wedding day and said their vows in Hagerstown, Md.  My grandmother told me a sweet story about how my grandfather wanted to name my aunt April when she was born. Grandma didn’t care for the name, so she dismissed the suggestion and they chose the ...

“You are the nosiest person I have ever met.” Those were the words of my Great Grandmother Ross in 1979. She was 94 and apparently didn’t like the question I just asked. I wasn’t nosy, I was just a 13-year-old kid who had been gifted a blue and gold trimmed book titled Our Family Story. It was a workbook to help you build a family tree. It included tips to start the process and the main suggestion was this: interview your older relatives. So, that’s what I planned to do. I decided to start with Great-Grandma Ross, my oldest relative. Lelia Levine Sanders Ross of Scenery Hill, Pa. had recently moved in with my grandparents: her son Forest Vance Ross and daughter-in-law Ruth Brown Ross. Vance and Ruth lived in Clarksville in Greene County, Pa. and I lived on the other side of town. I already spent a lot of time at their house, so this gave me the opportunity to get to know my great-grandmother. One day I grabbed my new family tree book, a notebook with a list of questions, and...