Family Picnic at Reservior Park
Returning to my roots at 100 Springs
Visit to historic site of Fort Roberdeau in Sinking Valley
Fun at Bland's Park (Delgrosso's)
Old and New at Reservoir Park
-Cascade Bill Mooseker
Date(s): August 2003. Album by Cascade Bill. Photos by WHM. 1 - 91 of 91 Total. 766 Visits.
enlarge 132KB, 533x800 1 p001 Parker throwing "Fort Pitt" rocks into the creek at the bottom of Miller's property. The term comes from the family saying "That's it, Fort Pitt", meaning that you stop what your doing, so a "Fort Pitt" rock is akin to going out with a bang!
enlarge 100KB, 800x533 2 p002 Ian, Parker, Julian, and Janet.
Janet is amused that Parker wanted the catsup put on his hot dog "in a straight line".
enlarge 97KB, 800x533 3 p003 The picnic was held at Reservoir Park, a truly beautiful park that is little changed from when Sue and I were Parker's age.
enlarge 101KB, 533x800 4 p004 Plenty of good food for all.
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enlarge 140KB, 800x533 9 p009 Kids today have no idea what a "Peanut Scramble" is. The peanuts were totally ignored by all the kids except Evan who is checking his loot here, a peanut, two rocks, and a piece of candy!
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enlarge 106KB, 800x533 11 p011 Parker was very impressed with this black sword David made him. During his battles with Ian and Julian, Parker unfortunately found out that Ian was a follower of Von Clausiwitz theory of war.
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enlarge 127KB, 533x800 13 p013 Julian's Balloon has popped, much to Parker's satisfaction.
enlarge 129KB, 800x536 14 p013a The start of the "balloon" wars - Parker & Ian.
enlarge 118KB, 533x800 15 p014 David working on a "hat" for Abby. "As Abby holds on tight to her bag of candy from the c..." View Comments...
enlarge 126KB, 533x800 16 p015 Evan had a lot of fun with this little balloon. He would stretch it out and let it go, like a big rubber band.
enlarge 138KB, 533x800 17 p016 Julian is back in action.
enlarge 130KB, 533x800 18 p017 Abby's hat
enlarge 104KB, 533x800 19 p018 Betsy, Virginia, and Matt.
enlarge 94KB, 533x800 20 p019 Evan stayed pretty close to David until the balloons ran out. Then he went up the hill to the next pavilion where some girls were having a party and he got some balloons from them.
enlarge 94KB, 800x536 21 p019a Everybody at the picnic for a group photo.
enlarge 122KB, 800x533 22 p020 One of the things I have to do when I visit Tyrone is go to 100 Springs. Many good time were had roaming the woods back of the dam here.
enlarge 145KB, 800x640 23 p021 The dam still has a lot of trout, but it is pretty choked with weeds as you can see. Back in my youth, the highlight of the summer was when the Paper mill crews would come down and clean out the dam.
enlarge 146KB, 800x640 24 p022 Another ritual for me when visiting 100 Springs, is to "walk the dam" or walk the length of the dam on the concrete wall across the way. You are about 6 feet above the water on one side and about 10 or 12 feet above the concrete on the other. It's about 8 inches wide, but cracked and spalled and probably as stupid now to do it at 60 as I was at 6, but the element of risk adds a thrill that makes it worth it.
enlarge 137KB, 800x640 25 p023 A hundred years ago, 100 Springs was a park and visitors would get off train and stroll through the shady woods and marvel at the many pure springs such as this one.
enlarge 103KB, 800x533 26 p024 This spring was enclosed in concrete and a falls created. Over time, the water has found other paths to the surface. There seems to be much more flow now than when I was a kid.
enlarge 126KB, 800x533 27 p025 The kids had fun throwing a few stones into the pool.
enlarge 144KB, 800x640 28 p026. There used to be a watering trough down on 100 Springs road and I always would make it a point to take a drink. About 10 years ago, the trough was removed and I now get a drink from this spring (my personal fountain of youth)
enlarge 132KB, 533x800 29 p027 As you can see there is a small stream flowing outside of the pool that wasn't there 50 years ago. On the other hand, there is another pool 50 feet away that had water in it back then but which is now almost empty with no flow. I guess the limestone dissolves over time and the flow goes somewhere else.
enlarge 152KB, 533x800 30 p028 "The Pipe" - someday I'll write a story about the Pipe and the fun we had on it. Once I would crawl thru it but now have to settle for walking it on top, still a daunting process.
enlarge 165KB, 800x640 31 p029 Walking the Pipe - one of my rituals for connecting with my childhood.
enlarge 164KB, 800x640 32 p030 It's slippy, and there are corrugations and bands you have to negotiate.
enlarge 148KB, 800x640 33 p031 Taking a last look at the spring.
enlarge 135KB, 800x533 34 p032 We lived in the upstairs apartment, the Snyders in the lower apartment on the right, and the Strohms in the left side.
enlarge 151KB, 800x640 35 p033 I have so many pictures taken during various stages of my life in front of this door, this is just the latest. When the house was built about 200 years ago it was a Mill with a water wheel to grind flour.
enlarge 156KB, 800x640 36 p034 The house belongs to the paper mill and is sadly now vacant. I went up the stairs to the porch and tried to peer in but couldn't see anything because of the curtains. Maybe it is just as well that I couldn't
enlarge 82KB, 533x800 37 p035 In our day, our sewage went directly in the river along with everybody elses and the Juniata was a foul polluted cesspool back then. Now it has been cleaned up and is one of the best trout fishing streams in the country. (Enlarge picture and read sign)
enlarge 142KB, 800x640 38 p036 Fort Roberdeau is a reconstructed fort in Sinking Valley, depicting it as it was during the Revolutionary war. On weekends, re-enactors recreate fort life from that time but we were the only people there. Here Parker is on "Guard".
enlarge 129KB, 800x640 39 p037 The buildings have nice displays and make it possible to imagine what life would have been like.
enlarge 145KB, 674x800 40 p038 In this building are bunks covered with straw. Parker told me it was the chicken coop. I told him that was where the soldiers slept. (he is very serious about hsi guard duty)
enlarge 118KB, 529x800 41 p039 In the storeroom, there is a barrel with a bunch of "muskets" someone has made for the kids who visit the fort. Parker and Evan had a great time with them.
enlarge 127KB, 800x640 42 p040 We had to get the hats for the kids as souveniors.
enlarge 151KB, 533x800 43 p041 Parker in the "Ready" Position.
enlarge 136KB, 800x640 44 p042 Somehow, I don't think that the Revolutionary war soldiers had ET tee shirts as their uniform!
enlarge 129KB, 533x800 45 p043 Mel Gibson has nothing on this "Patriot"!
enlarge 135KB, 800x640 46 p044 Maybe ET's ship is coming in.
enlarge 146KB, 800x640 47 p045 Evan gets in on the act.
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enlarge 188KB, 678x800 49 p047 Evan likes to manipulate objects - one of his favorite toys is a broom. He had fun with his "musket".
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enlarge 131KB, 800x640 51 p049 Grandpa & Parker.
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enlarge 95KB, 800x640 53 p051 Grandma & Evan.
enlarge 132KB, 800x640 54 p052 Evan, your barrel seems a little Crooked.
enlarge 101KB, 800x640 55 p053 The blacksmithy. Evan liked spinning the grinding wheel.
enlarge 137KB, 800x640 56 p054 Parker as Sentry on the main gate. Nana resting nearby.
enlarge 143KB, 800x640 57 p055 Parker is really into his "role".
enlarge 142KB, 800x640 58 p056 Poppa telling Parker about the fort.
enlarge 86KB, 800x640 59 p057 View of the fort from the visitor's center.
enlarge 123KB, 800x640 60 p058 The barn (dating from the mid 1800's) has been used as a playhouse.
enlarge 85KB, 533x800 61 p059 Bland's Park - one of the best and well run small amusement parks there is. It just keeps getting better and better, yet it still has some of the same rides as when I was a kid (carousel and dodgem cars -my favorite).
enlarge 103KB, 800x640 62 p060 This boat was the only ride that even liked - it was fairly quiet and didn't go up and down. I put him on a bouncy "fish" ride next and he screamed bloody murder and wouldn't try anything else.
enlarge 117KB, 800x640 63 p061 Evan didn't even like the Merry-go-round.
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enlarge 146KB, 800x640 66 p064 He like this heliocopter ride because you could make it go up and down.
enlarge 121KB, 800x640 67 p065 A nice shot of Parker.
enlarge 122KB, 800x756 70 p068 Nana, Evan, and Grandpa Bill.
enlarge 109KB, 734x800 71 p069 Greg took Parker on this "indy" style cart ride - He said that he could do this all day.
enlarge 87KB, 800x533 72 p070 I like the Dodgem cars better, but Greg and Parker had a ball on this ride.
enlarge 140KB, 800x640 73 p071 Parker trying out the "slide" monkey bars. It through him for a loop the first couple of times but he soon had it figured out.
enlarge 148KB, 800x640 74 p072 They don't get rid of the old stuff, they just move it up the park. This spider could never be built today (you might fall off) but Parker liked the excitment of climbing up an over.
enlarge 148KB, 800x640 75 p073 Parker asked me if the "spider" was there when I was a kid. I told him no, it's pretty new - just 30-40 years old. They still have the old merry-go-round, swings, see-saws, and slide from my youth.
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enlarge 83KB, 800x640 85 p076 Note- Evan's expression hasn't changed. He's keeping his eye on Vince, N & P's helper, who he is not sure of.
enlarge 94KB, 800x640 86 p075 The obligatory "farewell" picture. I should make an album with me holding Greg, then Andrew, Greg holding Parker at one year, and now Evan.
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enlarge 91KB, 800x640 89 p074 Nana & Poppa with their Great Grandchildren.
