FINALLY!

Well, Ferndale and surrounding communities, rejoice! On Thursday, the bridge rehab in front of the Ferndale Inn on Church Hill Road was FINALLY completed. Okay, don't everyone have a heart attack at once. Just breathe...that's right...okay. So now we can finally return to our normal traffic patterns (though it may be some time for those not from around here, since PennDOT, in its infinite wisdom, is taking its sweet natured time about removing all the detour signs...

But, till then, how about we all stop in for a drink or two, or a scrumptious dinner, to let Karen know we're aware she made it through that long, lonely haul. Okay?

Pidge and Denny Smith asked me to let y'all know that they're hosting a little "get to know ya" party at their house tomorrow (Sunday, Oct. 4) at one o'clock for Bob Mensch, who won the state Senate seat recently vacated by Rob Wonderling. Yer all invited. Beer and munchies and Pidge promises not too much politics...

Ferndale author/editor Curt Herr, Kutztown University Professor

Hey, y'all should be proud of our Ferndale homeboy, Curt Herr, who's got two new books out. Watch the Herald for my upcoming articles about Ziska and Danesbury House. If anyone's a Gothic lit fan, this boy's tearin' up the pea patch in that genre. And tell him congrats when you see him again: he was recently asked to serve as Co-Editor of the JOURNAL OF DRACULA STUDIES, an academic journal of the Transylvanian Society of Dracula. Pretty hefty credentials for a small-town guy who can often be seen just hangin' in the backyard... You go, Curt! And nice job, you guys, on the beautiful new flower beds in front of your house. Sure does add some color to the corner.

Another homey makin' some waves is Kintnersville's Louise Caughey. Louise has become a public insurance adjuster with Metro down in Bristol. If you've never heard of a public adjuster, don't be shy -- most folks haven't. But I guar-on-tee you'll wish you had next time you need to make an insurance claim. Find out before you need one how this kind of professional will fight on YOUR side to get you everything you deserve in your next claim. Anyone who wants to know more, contact me at community AT thewordforge.com and I'll forward to you a one-page explanation of what these folks do. When I found out myself, I was floored. I will NEVER again file an insurance claim without doing it through a public adjuster.

You're probably aware by now that we have a supervisor race coming up in November. Nancy Alessi and Terry Fritz want to thank everyone who attended their barn dance last month. I hear they raised the roof along with some campaign funds with a foot-stompin', hand-clappin' good time. Near 80 folks showed up and do-si-do'ed with the best of them to a fantastic caller, and a good time was had by all.

Okay, I'm gonna end with a bit of shameless self-promo here: My book, "Devastation on the Delaware" about the 1955 record-holding flood, is down to its last 200 copies of the first edition. That means that by about Christmas, these books will become collector's items, because I'm not reprinting the first edition (which will have then sold 5,000 copies!). I will be offering it via print-on-demand until the new one, but those won't count as true first edition copies. I'll be working on a revised, updated edition to come out next August for the flood's 55th anniversary, but second editions are rarely collectibles.

So, if you wanna own a piece of local history to maybe hand down to your kids or up to a parent who lived through it, we're discounting these last remaining copies to $15 -- tax included -- until Christmas -- or until they run out. You can ONLY get this deal by finding us at Durham Community Day next Saturday, Oct. 10, catching me at one of my upcoming appearances, or contacting me directly via email at floodbook AT thewordforge.com. Give me your phone number and I'll call you to arrange a special sale. But when they're gone, they're gone, so don't wait.

Till next time...