Out There: Stories From The Woods

By Christopher Miller

So for this week’s Out There column, I am taking you way out there; about 150 miles, to be exact. Out There to my hometown which is not quite in the middle of the woods or the PA Wilds. Instead, welcome to the Lehigh Valley.

Those who know or realize the Borough of Coopersburg in southern Lehigh County may know it as that small town with 3 gas stations and an annoying 35 mile per hour speed limit on PA Route 309. Others may know it as a quaint village with roots back into the 1700s when it was a stopover between Philadelphia and the Moravian settlement of Bethlehem.

Today most people know it as a suburb of Allentown (or Quakertown – depends who you ask) where there is still some sort of resemblance of rolling fields and PA Dutch farms.

For me, Coopersburg will always be home.

It was first settled in the early 1700s when it used to be known as Freyburg, named after a local tavern owner and Judge (which to be honest sounds like a pretty good day and night job: by day I pursue justice, by night I enjoy a pint and a ham sandwich).

Eventually the borough was renamed Coopersburg by, you guessed it, another Judge by the name of Peter Cooper. It was also famous for cattle sales.

Until recent years, with many sarcastic thanks to the march of progress, you still knew your neighbor and kept your doors unlocked. The COVID pandemic helped to spur a mass exodus from nearby Philadelphia (40 miles) and New York City (95 miles) into my lovely little hamlet of small town life.

Growing up was fun here! You could always look forward to the annual Sunday afternoon mid-October Halloween Parade, the late-August antique car show, and high school football games on Friday nights. I had the distinct pleasure to attend high school where both my mom and aunt went to and to encounter some of their old teachers, now acting as substitutes. Southern Lehigh was, and still is, the “high school surrounded by corn field” with major highways circling it.

I grew up outside of the borough limits on top of a great big hill (everyone in the area knew this hill) that seemed to make its own weather in the winter. It wasn’t unusual for it to be snowing on top, and a rainy-mix on the bottom.

At one point my grandparents owned a great portion of the hill and engaged in farming along with many other pursuits to supply a stable income for the family. My mom is the farmer’s daughter and my father, the city boy.

I always had the pleasure to be able to navigate through Allentown thanks to my dad’s upbringing in the “big city.” To this day I can continue to point my car in the right direction of Allentown’s biggest secret: an 80 year old, continuously owned by the same family Cheesesteak Shop.

Zandy’s Steak Shop hadn’t moved far from their humble beginnings in the early 1940s when they were serving their iconic cheesesteak from a small window of what I believe to be their family basement. Relocating later on to an old Vaudeville theatre only a couple of blocks down the road, they continue to serve the best cheesesteak that Allentown has to offer. You see, around here true cheesesteaks are served with meat, cheese, grilled onions, pickles, and something that is like marinara sauce but more watery. It’s just the Philly way.

My dad’s family was very known in the neighborhood since he grew up with 5 other siblings. To this day I can still walk into Zandy’s, though they may not remember my name, and still ask how my dad and the family are. That is some awesome customer service.

If you haven’t gathered it yet, I am spending Independence Day with my family in Coopersburg where I hadn’t been in almost a year, thanks COVID. I bring my wife into Zandy’s where she is now one of “the iconic Miller’s,” I drive too fast around all of my most favorite curvy roads, and I remark at how much has changed since I formally moved away from home in 2006 for college at LHU.

Do not ever forget your hometown. Visit it often. Celebrate your heritage.

It’s time to outen the lights and throw up the window. You guessed it – PA Dutch through and through.

Happy Independence Day, Clinton County. See you after the 4th.