Mountain Laurel & Coal

  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...

The Duvet Cover The Double Wedding Ring These quilts from Clarksville, Pa. have been tucked in with my belongings for about 35 years. One was given to me by my grandmother Ruth Brown Ross, who lived on Market Street, while the other was purchased at the estate sale of her neighbor Jean Fowler. Unfortunately, I’m not 100% sure which quilt is which.  When my grandmother gave me one of these quilts she told me that it belonged to my great grandmother Lelia Sanders Ross. At the time, I only had this one quilt, so I didn’t mark it. So, now I’m hoping Jean’s son Gerald Fowler will be able to tell me if his mother’s quilt is the double wedding ring quilt (a design that was popular in the 1920s) or the duvet cover with buttons. I’m thinking the duvet cover is from the Ross family, but I can’t be sure. Maybe one of my Ross cousins, Lelia’s other great grandchildren, can help clear this up.  Either way, these quilts are both beautiful works of art made by talented women with a connectio...

Always keep a box of Bisquick in your kitchen. That was the advice my Grandmother Ross gave me as she prepared dinner one day. I don’t remember what she was making, but I remember this suggestion. This morning, I was running short of ideas when I spied a box of Bisquick. I gathered up some basic staples and whipped up some cheddar biscuits and a coffee cake. I thought of Nana as I baked.  Ruth Brown Ross wasn’t a gourmet cook; I’d describe her as more of a Depression Era cook. She made delicious apple pies, stuffed peppers, ham and bean soup, meatloaf, scalloped potatoes, vegetable soup, and chili. The good stuff. In 1937, she married Vance Ross of Clarksville, Pa. when she was very young. At the time, she knew how to cook one thing: scalloped potatoes with some onions and a slice of ham on top. Her young husband grew weary of potatoes and ham, so he rolled up his sleeves and taught her how to make an apple pie. After that, she made it all the time.  If you want to make the Bi...

Today would have been my Nana's 100th birthday! Ruth Elaine Brown was born June 17, 1921, in Fayette City, PA, the second daughter of Isaac and Mary Balsis Brown. I remember her as a devoted and caring grandmother, who would do anything for her family.  She also had a strong and lovely singing voice. She sang when she washed the dishes and she sang when she folded laundry. She also sang beautiful old-time hymns in the church choir. When she was a young woman she attended the Clarksville Christian Church, where she met and fell head over heels in love with a handsome young man named Forest Vance Ross. They eloped and made their home in Clarksville, PA, where they raised three children: Kenneth Isaac, Forrest Wayne, and Janet Lea Ross. She was the matriarch of our family and her home was the gathering place for picnics, Christmas Eve dinners, Thanksgiving feasts, and plain old Sundays. Things just haven't been the same since she passed away on December 8, 2014, at the age of 93. ...

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 ...

The first time I visited this beautiful cemetery was in early November of 1979 for the funeral of my Great-Grandmother Lelia Levine Sanders Ross. I remember walking down over the hill to attend the graveside service. I've been back to visit her grave a few times since but I don't ever recall the sky looking as blue and as stunning as this.  My memory served me well and I was able to easily find her grave. One of her sons Guy and his wife Gertie are buried beside her. Lelia (on the right) with her daughter-in-law Ruth Brown Ross The Bethlehem Lutheran Church sits on the hill just above the cemetery at 21 Church Road in Scenery Hill, Pa. My paternal ancestral line to Lelia Sanders Ross: 1. Randi Lee Ross; 2. Forrest Wayne Ross; 3. Forest Vance Ross; 4. Lelia L. Sanders by Randi Ross Marodi - randileeross@gmail.com  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfwtC7Flj18&feature=em-upload_owner This video features my paternal Grandmother Ruth Elaine Brown Ross of Clarksville, Pa. It was created with the help of my aunt Janet Ross and cousin Shannon Ross Davis. It’s a treasure that I’m so happy to have and I’m posting it here where it will be safe, waiting for me to add more information. I’m also including the link to the story that appeared in the Washington Observer-Reporter. https://observer-reporter.com/news/localnews/former-clarksville-grandmother-fulfills-dream/article_3a0126f0-431c-5a29-948a-08636bc92460.html Here’s the link to the WTAE story about her graduation! https://www.wtae.com/article/dropout-no-more-92-year-old-graduate-fulfills-her-longtime-dream/7466467 My paternal ancestral line to Ruth Brown Ross: 1) Randi Lee Ross 2) Forrest Wayne Ross 3) Ruth Elaine Brown by Randi Ross Marodi - randileeross@gmail.com

“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...