HAPPY 100: One of our frequent contributors over the years has
been Jim Piscitelli who marks the Big 1-0-0 with a huge party
today. We’d be remiss if we didn’t pass along our congratulations
to this remarkable man.
REDMEN’S CLUB: That Redmen’s Club lived up to its name in a way
that defies understanding in this day and age.
Bill Ayers of Bradford tells us his father, A.G. Ayers, had been
the head of the organization at the time it disbanded — and that
was many years ago. Its clubhouse was on West Washington Street at
one time, now torn down for commercial development.
One of the most notable things about the club was its
participation in local parades, Bill reports.
A particularly memorable display was when one of the “Redmen”
pulled a woman from the crowd, “cut” her hair off and held up the
“scalp” for all to see. The scalp was rigged with some red fluid to
simulate blood and, Bill reports, a woman in the audience
fainted.
“They always put on a nice display,” Bill says. Obviously, it
was a pretty realistic demonstration.
When the group disbanded, Bill was left with a couple souvenirs
including a watch fob.
’65 BARKER: A couple people have dropped by to show us the
photograph of the Four Seasons concert in the 1965 Barker which
took place the preceding year. Our thanks to Lance Begin and John
Peterson for stopping by.
Colin Heron also stopped by to show us a letter he had written
May 11, 1964, in which he mentioned this concert. “A couple weeks
ago we saw a group equal to the ‘Beatles.’ The Four Seasons. They
were really good.”
Colin told us that he had to dispute a report we’d carried that
the acoustics had been bad for the concert. “It was the best and
loudest band I ever heard,” he reported.
LOCAL ANGLE: Someone mailed us a little clipping from a Florida
newspaper that covers the Village of Del Mar that included a
mention of former McKean County commissioner Harold “Bud” Beck.
The article noted that Beck had formed a literary consulting
service to help Villagers get their books published.
The story listed a Ph.D. after Beck’s name so he’s obviously put
the years since he left McKean County to use in furthering his
education.
