OH, ZIPPO: Bob Henretta called with an unusual Zippo sighting in
the book, “On Hallowed Ground,” a book about Arlington
Cemetery.

In it, the author recalls a time when a splash of holy water
extinguished the eternal flame on the John Kennedy monument. A
National Guardsman whipped out his Zippo lighter, re-lit the flame,
and reportedly told the nearby person, “If you don’t tell, I
won’t.”

Incidentally, Bob tells us the book is well worth the read —
even without the Zippo mention.

Martha Knight, who covers the Port Allegany area for us, also
passes along a Zippo reference — a bit different, too.

“Zippo sighting heard by me this morning on a Library of
Congress audio book service tape of  the comic novel ‘Spanking
Watson’ by Kinky Friedman. ‘Winnie set fire to her cigarette with
her Zippo …’”

PEARL HARBOR: We received a note from a pair of veterans, Wade
E. and David E. Confer, 82nd Airborne, about a special program held
at Floyd Fretz to mark Pearl Harbor Day.

“The 8th grade Enrichment Class presented a program to honor the
military men and women of our country, particularly those of the
Bradford area,” they tell us. “It was a well-planned and smoothly
run program. The students participating did a great job. All the
students behaved well — even with the balloons bursting at the
finale.”

“We were pleasantly surprised at the number of veterans who were
able to attend, from World War II to the present Iraq/Afghanistan
conflicts. To the school administration, the Fretz faculty, all the
students, and especially all American veterans, we say
congratulations and thanks.”

GET THIS: Carolyn Duvall of Houston, Texas, writes: “My husband
and I transferred from Bradford in 1971. I still miss the four
seasons and the hills. I wish you would put a pretty snow picture
on the home page of your online Bradford Era. I also miss the
snow!”

We’ll certainly try to accommodate Carolyn. Heaven knows, we
have quite an archive of snow photos to choose from!

TODAY’S INQUIRY: Joe Marasco of Bradford tells us he recently
saw the movie, “Jersey Boy,” the story of Frankie Valli and the
Four Seasons and it promoted a question. “Did the Four Seasons play
in Bradford (or near here) in the early ’60s?” he wonders.