An Introduction to Saucon Secrets, Volume II

As a child of elementary age, I had a reoccurring dream that I was an archaeologist digging for old artifacts like coins and pottery. This dream has come true in a figurative sense in that I have dug for local history stories for more than a decade, not with a shovel but by speaking to people.

Langston Hughes, noteworthy black American poet, wrote: "Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird, unable to fly." My dream continues to this day--to seek out stories of local history. This has become a passion.

Soren Kirkgegarde, Danish existentialist, said that being a Christian demands a "leap of faith." Very true. Just read the New Testament Book of Hebrews.

I continue to believe in God, but also have faith that very much history remains secret. As the African proverb reads, "When an old man dies, a library burns."

Frustration occurs when you have a cold and you reach for a tissue and it's the last one, leaving the box empty and you just don't feel like going to the pantry to get another. , a good family friend and fortunately mine, recently died. Three years ago he called me saying that he had a couple books for me because he knew I'd find good use for them. I had no vehicle at the time, so I walked several blocks with a plastic bag to carry them home. I entered and saw stacks of books, all history oriented, sitting on his sofa. I was overwhelmed with his generosity, for we had spent hours in his basement library discussing local history. To make a short anecdote long, I called Chuck Hampton, who drove over with empty boxes and took the hoard of history to my apartment.

I have since not run out of tissues or local history stories.

Roger did not allow his library to burn. Anne Morrow Lindbergh in "We" wrote that even if The Spirit of St. Louis--her husband's plane--had crashed, he would have pursued his dream to cross the Atlantic from New York to Paris solo as the first pilot to do so.

My dream shall continue by recording Lower Saucon Township and Hellertown history as long as I am able. Roger Shaffer built wonderful local landmark model buildings according to exact scale. I try to replicate his work by pen and ink. As Hemingway said, "The writer must write it down, not speak it." So I try, as builders build or painters paint, to "write it down." Thus endeth the introduction.

Any questions about Volume II of "Saucon Secrets?"