GOOD QUESTION: Pat Timblin has an insightful question: “After
reading all the comments about ‘good old Bradford,’ why are all
these people living in far away places? After retiring, why do they
not move back? I lived 30 years in Bradford and could not wait to
get out. Delaware is the place to be.”

Actually, Pat, some people have moved back to Bradford after
retiring.

But even for those who have not been back to Bradford in years,
there is an astonishing connection to our little town. Maybe it’s
so in every small town in America where people’s nostalgia about a
hometown is linked to the simpler pleasures of youth.

And while we acknowledge Bradford is a place that has its share
of problem, we must ask: Delaware?

ZIP-O: Wayne Caskey of State College tells us about a Bradford
connection that wasn’t: “Parked recently at Boalsburg Post Office
was bright red Chevrolet with Pennsylvania license plate, ‘ZIP-O.’
I asked driver if he’s from Bradford. ‘No,’ he said, ‘Zippo is my
dog’s name.'”

GAS PAINS: Martha Marsh of Smethport writes Tuesday, “I just
returned home from Lexington Park, Md., where I attended my son’s
wedding and gasoline was 2.34 on Sunday. But in Washington, D.C.,
it was $3.24. As soon as I got past Johnsonburg, Pa., the gas
prices started to really go up, as they were $2.59 there; Smethport
was $2.89; and today it was $2.71 in Olean. Maybe we will have to
go back to the horse and buggy days. The good old days.”

And we also had a note from Tom Ewell: “If any of your readers
will be traveling to the Hudson Valley for football games – Army,
Marist etc. – be ready for gas price shock. Our prices are coming
down, but they are anywhere from $2.80 to $2.95 as of this writing
(9/12/06).”

“In northwest New Jersey, Exit 1 off I-84 in New York and just a
minute or two from I-84, the prices are around $2.50 a gallon, plus
they pump it for you as ‘Joisey’ is one of two states that does not
allow self-service stations (I believe Oregon is the other). Some
places on the eastern end of I-84 in Pennsylvania are also in the
$2.50 range.”

TODAY’S QUOTE: “Opportunity is missed by most people because it
is dressed in overalls and looks like work,” said Thomas
Edison.