Bisonalities, Again
Welcome to the Bisonalities, Again, a newsletter dedicated to the alumni (students, teachers, and administrators) of Waterford and Fort LeBoeuf High Schools. This newsletter will be issued quarterly. New issues will be posted for viewing on the Web site on, or about January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1.
The Bisonalities, Again Web site may be viewed by going to:
www.bisonalitiesagain.com
The success of this newsletter will depend on you. I need contributors. Do you have an interesting article, a nostalgia item, a real life story, or a picture you would like to share with other alumni? Do you have a snail-mail or an e-mail address of one of your former classmates? If you do, please send it to me at the following e-mail address:
candoercat@gmail.com
or at my snail-mail address:
Robert J. Catlin, Sr.
2670 Dakota Street
Bryans Road, MD 20616-3062
Tel: (301) 283-6549
Fax: (301) 375-9250
Please, NO handwritten submissions.
The Bisonalities, Again Newsletter is available to any and all alumni, teachers, and administrators of Waterford or Fort LeBoeuf High Schools on the Web site, free.
If you know an alumnus, teacher, or administrator who would be interested, tell them about the Web site. None of the material in this newsletter has a copyright unless otherwise noted. If you wish to make copies of this newsletter and distribute it to other Alumni or friends, please feel free to do so.
If you are reading this newsletter on-line and would like a printable version of it, a PDF version is available on the web site. That is, a file that can be read and displayed by the FREE Adobe File Reader. This will allow you to print the newsletter exactly as if you had received it by snail-mail. If you would like a PDF copy of the newsletter, it is located on the Main Menu under as "Past Issues Bisonalities Again."
Cat's Corner
Our trip to Erie for the Catlin family reunion over the 4th of July weekend went very well. We had GREAT weather. We spent one day at Waldameer Park for a picnic and tried the new Ravine Flyer II for the first time. It was about the same caliber as roller coasters at King's Dominion, near Richmond, VA. According to a report published in the New York Times, it is ranked in the top 10 among wooden roller coasters. If you have not had a chance to ride this coaster, make plans to do so.
As you probably know, there is NO fee to enter Waldameer Park and if all you want to do is ride the Ravine Flyer II, it costs $4.50 for one 60 mph, 90-second ride. It is well worth the price. If you want to ride other rides, you can pay $20 and ride as many rides as you want.
We made a quick trip to the area this time. We normally stay for a week to ten days, but this trip we only stayed for five days. Our youngest son, Tim, was injured in an accident in March, and had to have surgery. On the 2nd of July he had to have an Endoscopy of the esophagus and then on the 9th of July he was scheduled to have surgery on his left knee. We squeezed the Erie trip in between the Endoscopy and the knee surgery.
Both the test and the surgery went well. As you read this issue of the Newsletter, he has fully recovered from both.
In addition to spending a day at Waldameer Park, we spent a day at Presque Isle State Park. We had a picnic at the picnic area on the West Pier where the kids could do some fishing.
After the picnic we took a pontoon boat ride on the inner waterways. The ride was free. If you have not had the chance to do this, it is another fun thing to add to your schedule. The pontoon boat ride leaves from the Graveyard Pond Pontoon landing at 10 a.m., 1 p.m., and 2 p.m. It is an hour long environmental excursion into the Lagoons. You usually have to schedule the ride ahead of time because of its popularity. We went out to the Park early in the morning and scheduled it for 2 p.m. The pontoon boat ride is located in the park just past the Perry Monument, across what, used to be called the “Whispering Bridge,” and turn left into the Graveyard Pond area where you can rent Kayaks, small boats, and canoes.
Alumni, I am out of stories. I need stories to keep this publication going. PLEASE, send me stories of your adventures in life. There has to be a million stories out there, please, share them with the rest of us.
The Bisonalities Again web site (www.bisonalitiesagain.com) contains information on most classes from 1947 through 1980. Recently I expanded the alumni pages to include the years 1981 through the present graduating class, but I have been unable to contact anyone from these years to furnish information so I may complete their web pages. If you know anyone from the years 1981 through the present, please have them contact me with the information I need to add their class to the web site. Thanks!
The one-liners in this issue were received from my oldest brother, Ernie, Waterford High School class of 1947 and are titled, “Ponderisms.”
The following letter was received from Nancy Prososki Austin, class of 1955.
Bob,
The next time you are in the area you may want to try the Freeport Restaurant in North East.
The Freeport Restaurant, as their advertisement states, is Pennsylvania's Northern most restaurant located in the heart of wine country USA at routes 5 and 89.
I have passed by it many times through work and now riding my motorcycle. It is a neat place to go. They have an extensive menu which, believe it or not, they have deep fried pickles, which are hand battered.
A great breakfast special, which gives you some to go, is their Freeport Sampler. It includes two eggs, ham, bacon, that is smoked by them, their own home made sausage, home fries with onions and toast, with jelly.
They also have many home made pies, steaks, seafood, and other tasty delights.
They have a nice selection of wines, coolers and domestic and imported beers.
It is a great ride by car or bike and not too far away.
In 1850 two men named Hammond and Griffith planted the first vineyard in the area. They thought that the combination of soil conditions and Lake Erie climate would be right for growing grapes. They were correct, and in 1869 the South Shore Wine Co. was formed. Other wineries eventually followed.
The area has quite a bit of history and is very interesting.
The food is great and so is the scenery. If you are ever in the neighborhood, stop and try them out.
Nancy