Through An 'Old Timer's' Eyes
By Howard 'Mac' McDonald

An integral part of this community for eighty five years, A.J. Kautz Plumbing, Heating and Electrical has been carrying on a family tradition. I would say that just about every permanent Cameron County family and most of the people with camps has had some kind of contact with them.

A.J. Kautz was a visionary who saw in 1921, that the era of the outside privy was on its way out and that there was a need to provide assistance to the public to get into the 20th. century. When his son, Arthor E. "Bub" became of age, he joined his dad and this partnership lasted until Mar. 1965. Author J., passed away in Mar. 1965 and Bub continued on.

Bub had some employees that you might remember: Ed Dynda, Red Barnhart, Earl Barnhart, and after his education was completed, Bub's son John.

In 1978, Bub decided he had been in enough crawl spaces and he sold the business to his son John and Earl Barnhart. This partnership lasted until 1997 when earl was cut down before his time. Earl's wife, Georganna continued on helping in the business until she sold her half to John.

History will prove this old saying, "that behind every good strong man, there is a women with the strength of Hercules". Bub's wife Lurline stood behind him for so many years and will always be remembered for her catching smile.

In the new office today you can find John's wife Pam or Sharon Pearson manning the books or everything else if none of the guys are around. Their knowledge of plumbing and electrical parts is as good as they come. Even a devastating fire two years back could not put them down.

Jeff Pearson and Larry Legersky make up the rest of the work force and their help to the public measured on a scale of one to ten would be clear off the top of the scale. If John Kautz charged for all the technical information he disperses, he would have more money than Bill Gates, but it all boils down to, "Its A Family tradition".

Hank Williams Jr. turned that saying into a very popular country western song. Just about every family that I know has a family tradition. As I recall, Harry, retired from the U.S. Navy and his son Butch also made the Navy his career. The tradition goes on and Butch has a son in the Navy.

One tradition that has faded away is the tradition that every Wednesday afternoon just about every guy in town went to camp. Shoot the moon, hearts and even horseshoe pitching made up some of the activities that wiled away many hours. The food and drink was also on the agenda and some times it became quite interesting. This part of going to camp gave some of our best chefs a chance to show off their skills.

In August, the high light of the summer season is the Rotary Picnic. The tradition of this even is known far and wide. It use to be an all-male function and I think the best thing that happened to Rotary was when women became an intricate part of this organization; for some strange reason I am a great admirer of the opposite sex. The days of the fruit cake and halfcooked chicken at the picnic have passed into history and now the bill of fare is no doubt gourmet.

At 534 East Allegany Ave. stands Charley's Friendly Tavern. An eatery that is steeped in tradition, the tradition of good old fashion home cooking. Charley and Pearl worked very hard to build this reputation and after Charley passed, Pearl, the trooper, carried on. Now Barb is in the drivers seat and is keeping this tradition going straight down the right road.

My family has a military tradition that I am proud of. It started in 1918 when my Uncle Bill Feree went to France to fight the dreaded Hun.

The war that was suppose to be "the war to end all wars," didn't cut the mustard and along came W.W.II. In 1939 my older and only brother joined the Army and when we decided to help England, he was off to North Africa and then on to Italy where he spent the remainder of the war. He retired from the Air Force in 1965 and resides with a daughter in Philadelphia.

My turn came in 1950 and to escape the draft, I enlisted in the Air Force. After Korea and 89 Combat Missions in Vietnam, I retired. While stationed at Dover Air Force Dover, Delaware, my oldest son Howard R. joined the Air Force. After three tours in South East Asia, he called it quits. My wife and my two youngest sons came to Emporium in June, 1971. Bill, my middle son graduated in 1972 from CCHS, and after a brief career as a dye setter at PPM, he joined the Air Force. He stayed eight years and decided he wasn't a career soldier.

After graduating from CCHS in 1976, my youngest son David enlisted in the Air Force and retired after 22 years. David's oldest son has been in the Navy for seven years and just returned from Iraq.

My son Howard R. has a son, Howard J. who went to school here for five years and now lives in Arizona City, Arizona. He is a K-9 Officer with the Arizona Highway Patrol. He is also a member of the Arizona National Guard and his Guard Company just got back from 535 days in Iraq where he was wounded and received the Purple Heart. My two grandsons have male children but maybe our military tradition will end here.

In Cameron County, outdoor recreation is a tradition. The turkey hunters of this area could show the rest of the country how it is done. Stalking the white tail deer is an art that is passed down from generation to generation.

The native brook trout streams are one of the best kept secrets that are hardly ever shared by the local fisherman. I can understand their secrets as this whole article has been about tradition and that is the tradition.