TASTEE-FREEZ: Jim Belardia noticed a story last week in The Era about a new Shults Auto body shop being built on the site of the former E-Z TV and Appliance store on East Main Street in Foster Township.
Jim said he recalled that spot as being the site of the Foster Brook Tastee-Freez ice cream stand in the 1950s, when he was growing up in the area.
He said his recollection was that the Tastee-Freez was a double of the Custer City Drive-In, which dates to that era and is still operating. He believes both might have had the same ownership back then.
“On a hot summer’s night, it was a nice treat,” he said.
That same area looked very different back in the ’50s, Jim said, before the Bradford Mall was built and decades before anyone ever thought about putting a Walmart in the area.
“That was the edge of town” back then, he said.
A grocery store, the Market Basket, occupied the corner plot where the Worth W. Smith hardware store is now, and the long-gone Bradford Coca-Cola Bottling Co. sat where the Toyota car dealership is now, Jim recalled.
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60 MINUTES: That’s how late the historic ESB clock along Main Street in front of the Option House and Northwest Savings Bank has been since Daylight Saving Time started on March 9.
ESB clock for RTS photo here (please crop in and run type around)
Observant reader Chuck Cutlip noticed the discrepancy and called us about it on Wednesday.
City Clerk John Peterson said the city’s Electric Department takes care of the clock and that he would call it to that department’s attention to bring it up to date.
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BIRD WALKS: With the Pennsylvania Society for Ornithology holding its state meeting here in June, it might be a good time for all of us to brush up on our bird knowledge so we can be conversant with our visitors.
Bradford resident John Fedak, who is the president of the group, is spreading the word about four Saturday bird walks that the Allegheny Highlands Bird Club is sponsoring in April and May.
All the walks start at 7:30 a.m. and are meant for all ages and for novice or more-experienced birders.
The walks on April 12 and May 10 will start at the library in Smethport and go along Hamlin Lake and Goosechaser Trail.
On April 26 and May 24, the walk will start at the Shawmut Trail parking lot near the Dollar General store. Binoculars and field guides are available for those who need them.
