GOOD JOB: A proud mother called after reading about a man stuck
in his Hoveround on a patch of gravel on South Avenue. Her son is
the individual who got out of his vehicle and helped him get going
again.

“I’m so proud of my son,” said mother Johanna Korb of Cyclone.
Her son is Todd Korb of Coudersport who was driving through
Bradford with his kids in the car when they happened upon Steve
Thompson struggling to get his motorized chair across the roadway
where gravel had been spilled.

Mr. Thompson had called us to pass his thanks along to his
anonymous helper and, so, we’ve done our job!

OIL 150: Becky Yunkun of Laurel, Md., writes: “I have happy
memories of walking the oil leases with my grandfather John R.
Hannon. He was a foreman for many years on the oil fields for
Quaker State Oil. His family were early oil drillers and he told me
many tales of his experiences as I learned about power houses and
pumping jacks.”

“He sadly told me of how he lost a brother while using
explosives in drilling. He and his other brothers carried their
brother’s body from atop a mountain overlooking High Street. I
think we forget how dangerous the early oil drills were. It is
amazing to me the courage and hard work these early oil pioneers
exhibited.

“In the celebration of the Bradford Oil Industry let us remember
to celebrate the spirit and vision of these men!”

FLOOD 1999: Pat Franco, Rew, writes about the flood of 1999:
“How well I remember that day. I was working at Steve Hvizdzak’s
that day. It rained in the morning but had quit by noon. So in the
afternoon, I decided to mow a big field behind the house. I was
using a sickle bar mower. I went across the field. As I got to the
other side it started raining so I hurried back to put the mower
under some trees. Just before I got to the trees, I looked up and a
four foot fireball came down. It blew up about 10 feet in the air
about 10 feet from me. When I could hear again, the thunder echoed
off the hills across the valley. If it would have hit me, would
have been a pile of ashes. It poured for about three hours.”