1954 LION: Roy L. Gomes of Bradford says mountain lions have
existed in Bradford – at least, years ago.

“When I first came to Pennsylvania over 50 years ago, I saw my
first mountain lion sighting. My wife and I always took a car ride
in the Rice Brook Road leading off Seaward Avenue going towards the
Indian reservation from Limestone. I always looked to hunt grouse
there, as they always would be perching on some tree or on the pine
trees in that area. One day, while driving on the Rice Brook Road,
something to my right caught my attention.

“As I turned to look in that direction, I saw an animal leaving
the brush and going into the woods. I thought it was a dog. To my
surprise, it was a mountain lion. It was no mistake. It indeed was
a mountain lion. You’d better believe it!

“I pointed it to my wife who was sitting next to me. She was
also very much surprised!

“I have never seen any since that time in 1954 while deer
hunting in the woods of Pennsylvania and some time in the state of
New York.”

TOP 10: We had perused the current edition of Pennsylvania
magazine, thinking we wouldn’t see anything about the old hometown.
But wait!

On the inside back cover is a quiz, “Our Nicknames of Notable
Cities.”

“We have identified 10 Pennsylvania cities/areas with nicknames
that we at the magazine have given them, and your job will be to
identify the cities. The challenge for you is that the nicknames
consist of just one word.”

“Note that our nicknames refer to each city in question in terms
of the special attachment or significance to Pennsylvania as
opposed to other places in the United States,” it continues.

We matched up most of them correctly (Who couldn’t know,
“sweetest” as Hershey; and “battle” as Gettysburg?)

And Bradford, of course, matched up with “lighter.”

This is the kind of publicity that money cannot buy!

Other cities? OK: It was “slippers” and “Philadelphia,” since
that’s where the Mummers parade is held annually and its unofficial
theme is, “Oh, Dem Golden Slippers”; “baseball” and Williamsport;
“crayon” and Easton, home of the Binney and Smith Co. which
manufacturers them; “island” and Middletown, home of Three Mile
Island nuclear plant; and “creamery” and State College.