Down River: Spring House Cleaning 4/1

By John Lipez

Spring House Cleaning:
It’s April Fool’s Day, the publication date for this week’s print edition of The Record, what better time to catch up on some spring house cleaning, in no particular order…
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The Dickey School Sale:
The Dickey School auction last Saturday was something of a unique event. A lot of memories for a lot of people in that fortress of a school. Mega-memory-dittos for its predecessor, Lincoln School. Who can ever forget going out the back door and pounding erasers to rid them of the chalk dust? Not me. Who can ever forget learning to play “Oh Susan Blue” on the fluta-phone in fourth grade there? Not me. So, you know, Lincoln is gone and Dickey will soon be gone; but life goes on.

So what do you think new owners Bobby and Micah have in mind for the Dickey building? They were coy when questioned on the topic after submitting the successful bid last Saturday. They know they will need to find some use that will pass muster with City Hall, given the site is zoned for a residential use.

And let’s turn this into a quiz. We know that Lincoln School was named for our 16th President. But what about Dickey School? Here’s a multiple choice test for the school built and named in the mid 1960s:

A) John Sloan Dickey, a Lock Haven native and president of Dartmouth University from 1945 to 1970.
B) Adam Dickey, a Lock Haven car dealer and Lock Haven school board president.
C) Gretchen Dickey, sister of John Sloan Dickey, and a beloved and creative English teacher at Lock Haven High School.
D) James Lafayette Dickey, appointed American Poet Laureate in 1966; author of Deliverance; born in North Carolina.

The correct answer is “B,” Adam Dickey. He was a mover-and-shaker in local politics and operated a car dealership at the north end of Vesper Street, the site taken for the Lock Haven flood protection project; you could also get a free turkey with a car purchase there at Thanksgiving time.
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A Uniform No-No:
Did you catch the picture from a few weeks back, the one where Phillies outfielder Bryce Harper was spotted pumping gas into his vehicle during a stop while traveling from the Phillies’ spring training site in Clearwater to an away game across the bay in Tampa? He was wearing his uniform!

No self-respecting ball player would ever be seen about town in his ball suit. One of my very best sports’ coaches, the late Junior League baseball coach Hack Henry (father-in-law of noted Clarion University wrestling coach Bob Bubb) always told us, ”Don’t wear your uniform to the festivals.” He also said, “Don’t go swimming on game days.” Two dictums I’ve carried with me my entire life.
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Churlish Indeed:
A Record reader recently wrote that he takes exception to a Down River comment in a column last month that expressed some concerns/questions about the pending “integration” of Lock Haven University into a three campus configuration among LHU, Bloomsburg and Mansfield.

The column described the local university as located in a “charming small town along the Susquehanna river.” The reader took issue with that description, asking “Would it be too churlish of me if I said you should have written ‘a formerly charming small town along the Susquehanna river that was charming prior to when the town was put in the penitentiary’”?  Oh, a little churlish, I would respond. This same reader is a Lock Haven native who elected to flee the area about the same time they stopped using Boom Island to separate logs as they came down river for the saw mills.
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One Year Later:
In this column one year ago, it was noted that Clinton County was still without its first confirmed case of COVID-19. Here we are, one year later, and over 3,000 of our fellow county citizens have come down with the virus, 58 among us succumbing to COVID over the past 12 months.

No one knew a year ago the ultimate magnitude of the virus here at home and around the world, but the county commissioners said at the time it was just a matter of time until Clinton County would have its first confirmed case. Commissioner Jeff Snyder said, “We’ll get through this together.” And Down River wrote, “Yes, we will,” adding at what cost? We know a year later the cost has been staggering at so many levels. Who would have guessed that a year later COVID is still among us and, even with the development/administering of a vaccine, we’re seeing a resurgence of cases in many parts of the country, including in Pennsylvania?

It’s not over. Stay the course, folks. Follow the CDC guidelines. Get the vaccine for the wellbeing of those around you. We’re not done yet; we’re getting there; please do your part. A year later, this is no time to go backwards.