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

On the Thursday before Easter, my wife and I headed toward Dallas, Ga. As soon as we hit Interstate 80, we hit all kinds of snow showers. It got to the point where you could hardly see the road. We could have turned back, but we wanted to see our grandkids and our son too bad to turn around.

I hooked up with a tractortrailer with lots of lights on the back and he had a hot foot, so we moved right along for a while.

By the time we hit Clarion, though, there was a spot with heavy snow on the highway and all of the sudden, five different cars started sliding and spinning. One ended up on its roof.

We got to Lodi, Ohio, by 11:00 p.m. and it was time to call it quits for the night. Sarge wasn't ready to go to bed, so I had to take him for a walk. He is definitely a creature of habit.

The farther south we got, the more the vegetation changed. In Kentucky, the dogwoods were blooming. In Georgia, the trees were in full leaf but it was cold and it never did warm up.

One thing I can say about this old U. S. of A. is that it's a beautiful piece of real estate. No matter which direction we looked, there was something interesting to see. The horse ranches in Kentucky with their white fences and green scenery really stick in your mind. They must spend a fortune to maintain those places.

My son, my grandson and I headed to the New York Mets at Atlanta Braves baseball game on Easter Sunday afternoon. For the first five innings, we were in the sunshine and it was almost comfortable. After that, I was glad I had on a sweatshirt and my heavy jacket. When we got home, Easter dinner was on the table.

After dinner, my son got out his high school souvenirs and one item he showed me was a program from the Cameron County vs. Otto-Eldred basketball game of Jan. 6, 1976. I was real interested to see who the sponsors were and it was alarming to realize how many of those businesses are no longer with us.

Here's a partial list of the places that played such an important part in our lives in days gone by: Our Homestead Hotel, Robert Mallory Lumber, Emporium Hardware, Pennsylvania Pressed Metals, Lyon Brothers Fuel Oil, The Record Shop, Park Service, Burkland Pharmacy, Market Basket, East End Exxon, Carl Kelly Insurance and G & G Auto Parts.

Also, Don's Cafe, Jax Pizza, American Hotel, The Fabric Shop, J. R. Auto & Truck Repair, Pearson's Dry Cleaning, Brown Boot Shop, Tenity's Jewelers, Sylvia's, Stoltz Motors, The Coffee Shop, Emporium Beverage, James P. Bacot, Mike's Quaker State, Prospect Lounge, Big G Department Store and Hillside Furniture.

Also, Coppersmith Furniture, The Little Shopper, McManigle Market, Dave's Arco, Montgomery Ward, Phil's Shoe Store, Sears Catalog Sales, Phil and Tommy Tompkins, Cliff Greene Motors, McDonald's Plumbing, Morris Clothes, Jasper Harris & Son, Emporium Service Center, Wert's News and Gifts, Joe Fragale Ford, Miglico Enterprises and Bucktail Broadcasting.

This is a pretty impressive list of what we had 30 years ago. I hope that Coudersport doesn't suffer the same fate Emporium did when Sylvania left.