ONE TRILLION: Larry Fay of Anchorage, Alaska, wrote back to let us know he read Denny Ordiway’s response to his oil industry suggestion.

“He, his twin sister Denise, and I were classmates in Smethport (Class of ’65),” Larry tells us. “Another classmate of ours, Ed Anderson, worked for Halliburton in the Bradford area using the same process. Haven’t seen them in eons; hopefully I will the next time I’m back ‘home.’”

Larry had been telling us about a process that could potentially help local oil producers get more oil out of the ground. He shared an estimate for how much oil could still be under our feet.

“Bradford produced more than 630,000,000 barrels of oil from 1871 to 1967. According

to modern technology, only 30 to 35 percent of the oil was recovered during those periods,” said Larry.

“Over a TRILLION barrels may be waiting to be recovered in the Bradford area. I hope

the producers and leaseholders in the area explore all modern processes in a concerted effort

to not only help themselves, but also rejuvenate the local economy and put Bradford on the ‘oil

map’ again.”

AVIATION: Oil and gas is not the only industry for which the Bradford area is known.

While many businesses have come through this region, we’re going to talk in an upcoming column about travel improvements that were possible because of technology that was developed right here in Bradford.

The general aviation industry has some important history here.

In the meantime, we’ll leave you with this quote about flight from aviator Amelia Earhart: “The stars seemed near enough to touch and never before have I seen so many. I always believed the lure of flying is the lure of beauty, but I was sure of it that night.”