ABOUT JIM: We received this nice letter from Frances Ohman of
East Smethport about a recent story in The Era:

“My late husband, Carl, and I raised produce on our farm in East
Smethport for a good many years. About 20 years ago, Jim
Piscitelli, the centenarian, called and asked if he could watch us
plant the garlic. We planted it in the latter part of September. I
was amazed at his enthusiasm. We started to plant it early in the
morning until darkness.

“My husband drove the tractor, and attached to the back of the
tractor is a planter that seats two people. Each person has a
basket of garlic cloves. Between the two seats, in the middle, is a
rounded-type pipe about 8 inches in diameter, and the two people
alternatively throw in the garlic cloves. The tractor digs the
ground and covers the garlic. It is a quick process. Jim was so
fascinated that he spent most of the day outside watching it being
planted and taking lots of pictures.

“Jim brought over our dinner, which consisted of spaghetti and
meatballs (homemade), tossed salad and a loaf of Italian break. I
wrote a song, ‘Reach out to Someone.’ Boy, he did reach out! What a
great man!”

BIG BIRD: Keep your eyes peeled when driving down East Main
Street for a very large woodpecker. Al Campbell dropped by with a
photo of this bird — we’d guess it’s a pileated woodpecker — taken
behind Fisher Avenue off of East Main Street. We’re pretty sure
that this species is the model for Woody Woodpecker which is why we
recognize it. Beautiful and very big bird.

FLORIDA NOTE: Denise Soyke of Zephyrhills, Fla., includes a note
with her bill: “Cold winter here, frost this morning. Snow yes, but
no shovels.” As of this writing on Thursday we can say we’ve had a
pretty good winter for Bradford but not enough for us to feel sorry
for people in Florida. Sorry, Denise.

FOUR TOPS: A reader called quickly to tell us it was the Four
Tops — not Jay and the Techniques — whose hits included “Apples,
Peaches, Pumpkin Pie.”