What to do with an old caboose?

This is a good example of a reporter generated story. I covered the West Hanover Township supervisors for several months one summer and behind the township building was this rusting caboose. I wondered what the heck it was doing there, so I asked and this is the result.

BY ALAN FOSTER
The Patriot-News

The caboose. Drawn by elementary school children everywhere. The object of pulp fiction, and depression era lore. The vehicle dedicated to the crew of industrial America on the move. All pleasant images, but what do you do when the cabooses’ time is through?

West Hanover Township has such a problem. A decade ago it acquired a caboose from the now defunct Pennsylvania Railroad and, after much fanfare, it is still there. The display got some help from Rep. Ron Marsico when he used some of his WAM (Walkin’ Around Money) aka. Legislative initiative grant (also now defunct) to build a display, a sign, deck and later repaint the rusting shell.

From the outside it looks pretty good, a deep maroon with sharp white letters proudly stating its origin. The inside is another story. It has become a haven for bees and spiders, and the child size holes in the floor would make a personal injury attorney drool.

Looking at the galley and table with small benches, and closets do make you wonder where this caboose has been. How many quick naps it accommodated. How many poker games took place on payday and all the stories that floated in the room. It really is history. It really is a piece of Americana.

As is the case with most municipal projects it comes down to choices and money, but more that is the lack of a shared vision. Most members of the Parks and recreation board would rather have a community center than spend more on the old caboose.

This past summer the Board of Supervisors decided enough time had passed and it was time to say goodbye to the landmark, and instructed Township Manager Michael Rimer to explore numerous options for disposal. The top of the list is to sell it or E-bay it. “My mission is to find a good home for it. We don’t want to scrap it,” Rimer said.

“Our township pledged we would take care of this vehicle. If we turn our backs on it, it would be a real shame,” Eric Bugaile said. Bugaile is a member of the West Hanover Parks and Recreation board and was instrumental in acquiring the caboose back in the early 90s. He wants it used as a “static display” and not discarded. “There is not much maintenance and it does not hurt anything by sitting there,” he said. He is concerned that no one on the current board shares the dream of those who brought the car to the Township in the first place. As recently as 2002 Bugaile prepared an options plan for the board that detailed almost 30 different uses for the car that included everything from a place for birthday parties to a concession stand.

The fate of the caboose behind the township building is still uncertain. It may reside where it is for a while, it may end up somewhere else. It may end up as part of a frame on the 2006 cars that GM produces.

Rimer summed up the experiment this way, “It was the little caboose that could, but just didn’t.”

I Wanna be a Football Star

One of the few pieces I wrote that drew hate mail.I got a letter critical of the story saying I had been duped. Who knows. I use this one because I used a song title in the lead to make a point and it works here.

By ALAN FOSTER
Daily American

There was a band in the 80’s, one of those one-hit wonders called Timbuck3. They had an easy song with a line in it that said, “The future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades.”
Matthew Streng needs shades.

Streng was the senior starting quarterback on the Somerset High football team and, while the team did not do so well (3-6), Matt has the statistics that just might put him on television in a few years.

On the field he looks much smaller, but he is 6’2”, 195 pounds, can do a 4.4 forty and has a solid arm. He has something else that make college coaches smile, a 3.0 grade point average and he scored 1050 on the SAT. It’s a winning combination that has big schools like West Virginia and little ones like East Stroudsburg giving him a second look.

Being an actively recruited high school athlete is a blessing and a curse.
“At first I liked the calls, but I’m getting a little tired of it now. It was slow at first, now it is hectic. I get called six or seven times a night,” Streng said at a recent interview at the Somerset Eat n’ Park.

Among the colleges taking a look at Streng are; North Carolina, WVU, Maryland, Lafayette, Tennessee, University of Buffalo, Northwestern, Cincinnati, The Naval Academy, East Stroudsburg and Rhode Island. He has already ruled out Northwestern and Navy. The Rose Bowl team because he didn’t like the coaches and the academy because of the six-year commitment after graduation.

If he could go anywhere, it would be Florida State, but he says that is just a fantasy, because they aren’t interested. He says he will look closer at Lafayette in Easton, Pa, and the University of Buffalo because they are close enough for his parents, Terry and Fran Streng of Somerset Township to see him play now and then. And they are also the most interested. He is scheduled for official visits to both schools next month.

“I liked Buffalo. The head coach in Craig Cirbus, is a former assistant at Penn State,” Streng said. He also said he would get to play earlier at Buffalo and the school is scheduled to move to division one in two years.

“I want to go where I feel the most comfortable and where I can play ,” Streng said.
The recruiting process starts when players get a look from scouts and are then listed is recruiting guides, a little like tip sheets at the race track. One place scouts visit are football camps. Streng went to football camp at West Virginia University and North Carolina. The school then calls for film and after they take a look, they either call again, or if there is no call the player knows the school is not interested. This happened to Streng with the University of Pittsburgh and Tulane. Players are then encouraged to make an unofficial visit to get a look at the school. In January players are called for official visits. These visits are paid for by the schools and they include travel, meals, lodging and a banquet for the players parents. Players who are asked for official visits can usually expect some kind of offer, either a partial or full scholarship. He hopes to play football and study education or pre-law. The national letter of intent signing day is in early February.

The recruiting process is not all locker rooms, coaches and meetings.
“Some schools have coeds show you the campus. And they (the girls) are very friendly,” Streng said. He said he heard from players that they are even friendlier on official visits. It’s probably good that mom and dad will be along on these official visits next month.

Streng was not pushed into football.

“If not for my mom, I would never have played football. She suggested I try it and I enjoy it. Dad taught me to be a quarterback. There has been nothing new at the camps that he didn’t already show me,” Streng said.

Streng is confident, yet realistic about his college football chances. He might end up in a big stadium or 1,500 seat field, either way he will play, get a degree, and move on to the next challenge.

Keep those shades handy.