Longing for an outhouse

Sandy Mansmann, a preservationist from Nottingham Township, Pa., sizes up a double outhouse behind the closed Mt. Zion Church near her farm.

By Scott Beveridge

Sandy Mansmann's restored 1870s farmstead includes many original outbuildings, from the old chicken coop to a spring house.

But, there is one building missing: the outhouse. And, she has been on a difficult journey to find a replacement to move to her farm in Nottingham Township, even though she has an indoor toilet.

"It was probably the first thing to go when they got indoor plumbing," said Mansmann, a preservationist and member of Washington County History and Landmarks Foundation.

Oddly, outhouses have become a hot, trendy landscaping decoration – maybe because so few of them have survived and people are longing for nostalgia, Mansmann said. They also make great conversation pieces, she added.

"They can be charming little buildings," she said.

To keep them was a sign that homeowners "were not modern enough," she added.

Retired antiques dealer Lorys Crisafulli said she knows a guy who wants an outhouse so bad he is willing to pay $500 for one.

"All of a sudden, everybody wants one," Crisafulli said.

The buildings are featured annually in outhouse calendars, and replicas come in all sizes and shapes, from Christmas ornaments to birdhouses.

"They are real popular. I have no idea why," said Stan Fidorek, manager of Over the Garden Gate greenhouse on a century-old farm complete with a sagging outhouse in Richeyville.

He found it amusing that a stranger stopped at the store one day inquiring about purchasing the outhouse, which has the traditional crescent moon carved out of its door.

"He never came back," Fidorek said.

The customer would have been out of luck, though, because the owner of the farm on Route 40 – Bunny Waleski – wants to keep her outhouse.

"She doesn't want to destroy anything," he said. "She wants to restore everything, even the chicken coop."

Preservationists who have old farms believe the outbuildings – including barns and summer kitchens – help to tell the story about how the property was originally used, Mansmann said.

"Placement was very important," she said.

The outhouse needed to be erected away from the spring so as not to contaminate the water supply, and downwind from the kitchen, she said.

Not everyone remembers them so fondly.

Bill Miller said he was "glad to see them go" when public sewerage arrived in 1990 in his hometown of Beallsville.

"If you had to go in the night, you had to run through the yard or find a stream," said Miller, 72. "You'd sit there at night with the door open and see the skunks run by."

"I hated using them at night. Sitting out there alone was scary," added Crisafulli, 84. "It made me think twice before I ate or drank much after dinner."

But, Fidorek believes an outhouse is a "good standby" in case something goes wrong with the modern plumbing.

"It's good forever," he said.

(This story first appeared in the Observer-Reporter newspaper in Washington, Pa.)

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A old door stands out in Annapolis

The front door to the Hammond-Harwood House is supposed to be the loveliest entryway in the United States, so they say.

By Scott Beveridge

ANNAPOLIS – It's possible the carved roses above the fan light were responsible the claim that an old Colonial entryway was the most-beautiful door in America, an honor that stuck to a house as tightly as its mortar.

Or, maybe the perfect symmetry of the double doors flanked by stately columns were the reasons behind the title applied to the entrance to Hammond-Harwood House in Annapolis, Md.

No one has ever known exactly where the story originated, according to The Capital newspaper in that Atlantic Coast city, where the wealthy 25-year-old tobacco planter, Mathias Hammond, built the fine Georgian mansion in 1774.  It's also doubtful he ever lived there, the newspaper reported.

We breezed past the place last Sunday, when the house museum was closed. But, it's other claim to fame arrived in 1940 when the Hammond-Harwood House Association set out to convert the house into a "premier museum of decorative arts and paintings," the newspaper further reported in 2006.

Without a doubt, though, this old house was planted in what would become one of the best-preserved historic districts in the United States. That was my call after that too-brief visit there.

The downtown and waterfront areas have been converted into a sprawling tourist area lined with interesting shops, pubs and restaurants. The summer traffic, though, was too congested on streets built for horses and buggies.

My only other criticisms involved a streetscape with too many overhead wires atop utility poles also topped with lights dating to the 1960s. It would be much prettier there if city officials had spent the money to bury the utilities and improve public transportation to the tourist areas.

The two photos, below, are scenes from the downtown waterfront area:

Police at their finest

Members of the Annapolis Police Department Honor Guard at the funeral today for retired Officer Pete Medley. Scott Beveridge photo.

Over the years, I've had to report from the perimeters on several funerals for police officers and firemen, and they always were extremely sad and emotional affairs. Even strangers were sorrowed, possibly over the shear number of men in dress blues holding back or wiping away tears.

But, over the past two days, I've had the opportunity to witness such an event from the inside after my cousin Celeste's husband, Pete Medley, died unexpectedly at 56, shortly after retiring from the Annapolis Police Department.

Another officer in that Maryland police department spent all of his off-duty daylight hours one day at my cousin's side, dispatching help for her every need. It came in the form of perfectly prepared food delivered for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The guy went as far as promising to find a babysitter for her sister that Saturday night.

This detective who they called Ben had a way of making everyone smile at just the right moments at the Medley home, when Medley's closest relatives were still in shock over his death from a blood infection that occurred within just about 24 hours of his taking ill.

It was impressive to see such a display of dedication and comfort to members of that police family.

A clown urinal?

Funny Bathrooms - Forward to friends - http://forward2friends.blogspot.com, originally uploaded by Forward2Friends.

Good for a laugh

Given Ground

Echo Lake, Plymouth, Ludlow, Vermont, originally uploaded by luanyoung.

 by D. Hart
--for my Dad

What we need, you and I, are tall pines.
Tall pines and a cold Vermont lake.  Copper wisps carpet granite
Outcroppings to the shore.  We sway and talk, in the pool
To our knees.  We like this and the water we lick from our fingers.
It tastes, more than anything, green.
We laugh and the ducks snicker with us, Hah Hah Hah.

Later, long, preposterous cries detach the hush from the dusk.
In our cabin beds, we lie there listening. 
Listening, always, for the loons.

(D. Hart is a writer, poet and artist in Minneapolis, Minn.)

The U.S. flag tugs at their souls

Edsel Bryner of Chartiers Township, Pa., hold a photo of himself when he was in the Merchant Marines during World War II. Jim McNutt photo.


Writer Barbara Miller asked a number of veterans from Washington County, Pa., one question: "What does the U.S. flag mean to you?" Here are their answers published in the June/July issue of the Observer-Reporter newspaper's magazine, Living Washington County:

Edsel Bryner said the flag reminds him that he was "born into a loving family, I went to school and my family taught (me) good moral values and respect for our country."

"I take those three and I wrap the flag around them. Together, they make a great country," said Bryner, of Chartiers Township, who served in the Merchant Marines during World War II.

Herbert Hermann said the flag following veterans until the day they die, and beyond.

"It's laid on the coffin of the veteran who fought to protect it. It's the last cloth of their coffin before their body is interred. It also flies over their graves. I believe it's one of the most important symbols of our great country," said Hermann, of Fredericktown, who served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam War.

U.S. Army Col. Lewis Irwin said the flag reminds him of the U.S. Constitution.

"Every member of the U.S. military swears an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, and to bear the true faith and allegiance to the same. With this oath in mind, our flag represents the core values of our nation," said Irwin, of Peters Township, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Dan McPoyle said the flag represents the freedoms Americans enjoy because of the efforts of veterans.

"Let us never forget the veterans who gave the ultimate sacrifice, their lives in protecting our country," said McPoyle, of Lawrence, who on the USS Niagra Falls during the Vietnam War.

Sally Stephenson said her feelings about the flag are personal.

"My deepest emotional reactions to the flag are not necessarily demonstrated at organized public rituals, but instead at private encounters that suddenly remind me that I am an American," said Stephenson, of Monongahela, who taught instrument flying with the Navy WAVES during World War II.

U.S. Army 1st Lt. John A. Terminato said the flag is a symbol of life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness, the commitment to self-determination and the will to achieve.

"But even more than that, the flag symbolized an ageless connection between past, present and future Americans who choose to defend those very same ideals," said Terminato, of Burgettstown, who is serving in Afghanistan.

Barry Grimm said "mixed feelings tug at my soul" when he looks at the flag, some of which involve thoughts of being blessed for having freedom.

"The memories of fellow servicemen who cannot be here to celebrate our veterans' holidays with us and to enjoy the liberties we share is a heavy burden to bear," said Grimm, of Monongahela, who served in the Army National Guard during the Vietnam War.