Category: Family Album

  • Mother’s Day

    I have always known my Mom is unique, but I never imagined she would be one of only 36,000 people this year diagnosed with the rare blood cancer called Multiple Myeloma. What began as elevated protein in yearly blood work around new year turned into more in-depth testing, turned into a referral to a Hematologist/Oncologist,…

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  • Happy Father’s Day

    Happy Fathers Day, Dads! Special shout out to my own, who wrote the article below about raising two girls back in a March 2000 edition of the Reading Eagle. I was the eight year old mentioned. You may recognize his name; my Dad worked at the Reading Eagle for the majority of my lifetime, starting…

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  • Dear Buyer: What makes a house a home?

    What is nostalgia? A feeling inspired by a place or an image? A fleeting moment where we look at the past as if it was more desirable than the present. Better? I’m not convinced. Simpler, most definitely. Simpler in the sense that the responsibilities and hardships of adulthood make it seem like a time and…

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  • Happy Mothers Day

    Happy Mothers Day to all the Moms, Grandmoms and Great-Grandmoms out there. I have been blessed to come from a long maternal line of strong women who filled those aforementioned roles for me. This Mothers day is the first without one making it bittersweet. Its been nearly 4 months since my Grandmother died unexpectedly. There…

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  • Santa Photo Mystery Location – From the Family Album

    My Mother and Aunt are in the process of going through my Grandmother’s possessions and cleaning out her house. They came across these photos of children and their mothers waiting in line to sit on Santa’s lap. My Grandmother is the young woman in the white coat and black hat, holding the hand of my…

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  • The Great Transition: Losing a Grandmother

    When I wrote my new years editorial a few weeks ago I was hopeful and optimistic. It seemed like the light was visible at the end of the tunnel. I was naively unaware of the darkness that awaited. This is my reality along with millions of other Americans since last March. As I have mentioned,…

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  • The Blizzard of 1996 – 25 Years

    A quarter century ago this week we were hit with the biggest blizzard on record for the area. Snow started falling on January 6th 1996 and stopped on the 8th. Parts of Berks County recorded 34 inches of snow, but the raging winds caused major drifts which made the snow pile up to 100 inches…

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  • Meckley’s Hat Shop

    If you ever visited Sinking Spring to purchase a hat from Meckley’s Hat Shop, you may have been acquainted with my great-grandfather, Ernest Meckley. He grew up in Fritztown and his career began in 1938 at Bollman Hat Factory in Adamstown. Ernie’s career with hats didn’t begin in retail but the manufacturing of the product.…

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  • Monday Mystery: The Hot Air Balloon

    Found this image in my family’s album, but no one seems to have a recollection of what, where or when this image was taken. It was likely taken in the late 60s/early 70s, and appears to be summertime by people’s apparel. It looks to be some sort of fair or carnival at a local park.…

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  • Reading Municipal Memorial Stadium

    Municipal Stadium hosted it’s first baseball game in 1951. On March 28, 1945, Reading City Council voted unanimously to purchase 27 acres of ground known as Cathedral Heights at a cost of $64,491 for the purpose of building a municipal stadium. In 1947 the grading of the land began and by 1949 the initial stages…

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Berks Nostalgia