Hi Gang, I thought I would post that story again about my ventures along the Tully, in Glenside, for all the new Berks County folks on the list. This is part of my over 600 page book I'm writing for my daughter to enjoy when I am no longer here to tell the stories of my life. This was something I had wished Mom would have done for me. Enjoy :o) Lynn THE OLD SHACK ALONG THE TULPEHOCKEN CREEK/UNION CANAL A childhood friend, and I had a situation of innocent breaking and entering. We, almost daily, would walk along the Tully, in Glenside leading to Greenfields and the Reading Airport, near Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania. This was before the bike trail was blazed, when it was an old, I imagine, "Indian" toe-path. A little ways along the path, we had to climb over a HUGE pile of rocks, that formed a wall that wasn't quite as tall as we were. There were said to be all sorts of snakes and other varmints living in and under these rocks. We were brave kids_or maybe just dumb <grin> Along the way, we saw a very old, run-down shanty/hut? There were weeds and all sorts of things growing up around it (I especially remember the itch-weed, which was very abundant along the narrow path), yet there was still a slightly visible pathway, to this shanty/hut. We approached the rundown shack, and looked in the windows. It definitely looked like an abandoned, back-hills kind of place.really hillbilly looking; and it sat alone in those woods_no other buildings were near the place. We were certain that no one could presently be living there, and hadn't been for a long, long time, though the old table and chairs, in the kitchen, looked as though they were used recently, by their placement. My friend and I talked it over, and being use to seeing old dilapidated structures along the Tully, which were all VERY obviously unoccupied, decided to enter the shanty/hut by the door to the big room, which actually was the only door to the place, as far as we could see. This room was a combined kitchen/eating area/living room. Looking around the place gave us the creeps, at 12 years old, and a feeling that we really SHOULDN'T have ventured in, but that didn't stop us. I really had this weird feeling that, just MAYbe, someone still lived there; but, we convinced one another that, NO, no one lived like that, anymore, around those parts, so we kept up our adventure. We found very old, farming/rustic looking stuff...old boots, buckets, harnesses, tin cups, and something that I know went around a horse's neck for when it pulled something very heavy...not a yoke, maybe a special type of harness? It was a somewhat heavy, oval. leather thing. We found, OLD lanterns hanging from a wooden beam in the center of the all-in-one sitting room/kitchen. In short, it was a whole lot of old, rusty, dusty stuff, which looked as though it hadn't been touched for a VERY long time, seeing all the heavy cobwebs all over them. These heavy cobwebs were another hint to us that no one lived there, or even used the place. So we felt safe, and didn't feel anything wrong about our adventure. The shack had no second floor, or even a loft...but, it did have one other room. When we were headed for the other room, we came across a door in the floor. Opening it, we found a ladder (steps?) leading down to a very dingy cellar; the ladder definitely being one made by hand. The only light that we had was the daylight, which was peeking through from the cellar door being lifted. We ventured down the ladder/steps, and halfway down, we could somewhat see more of the same kind of stuff hanging around, and there were also wooden bins almost completely lining the base of the walls. The walls and floor were just dirt. We had second thoughts about completing our descent, because we knew, from finding snakes in the pile of rocks along the trail, that they liked dark, damp places. Just as we decided not to go down any farther, much to our horror, we had no choice which way to go!!!! Whoever was using the place came home. We scrambled the rest of the way down, almost falling over one another. We made it to a cobwebbed corner, and huddled there. We could hear them walking overhead; and we could hear them talking. It was a man and a woman. Then it happened, total darkness...right before which, the man said, "Oh, we left the cellar door open. I'll close it." My thoughts were the fear of the dark, and the unknown; and, yet, for some reason, this made us feel safe. We whispered to one another of how much trouble we would be in if someone found we had entered their "house", and we started immediately to plan our escape...the only problem was when. How long were we going to have to stay down there!!! We knew the ONLY way to get out was the way we got into the shack !! We were so glad that it was very early in the morning, because we definitely didn't want to be walking the trail home in the dark. It was VERY spooky along the trail even in the full light of day. We figured, with it just being early morning, it would give these people time to leave for a while, because there was absolutely NOTHING there that they could do, and they had to eat. But, what if they brought food back with them? Plus, we didn't know what was in that other room, it could have been kept nicely, for all we knew. Well, we were thankful anyway, because we had a lot of time before nightfall, to get out of there. We heard the scrapping of the chairs at the kitchen table, and clattering of things...running of water...sort of an old pump sound...at least it sounded like the old water-pump at my friend's grandmother's house, which was also along the Tully, but about a mile and a half down stream, next to the old paper mill, where her dad worked, right at the point where the Tully meets the Schuylkill River. We don't know how long we were down there, but it sure did feel like forever!!!!! We sat there for quite a while, until it sounded as though they left. We had no light, and were really hoping to find the ladder again. It was exciting, scary, and funny at the same time; but we had to control our emotions, and be VERY quiet. We made sure we kept hold of one another, as we crawled across the floor. Remember, there was absolutely no light!! It was pitch black down there. We found the ladder, and when we got to the top of it, we slowly opened the overhead trap-door eveeeer..soooo..slowly and slightly, and peeked around. No one was there, THANK GOD, but it looked as though, whoever was there was coming back, and soon, because they left the door to the shack hanging open. We quickly got out of that cellar, and without shutting the cellar door, we ran out of the place and up the path. We didn't look around us nor did we look back, but ran straight to the trail. When we got there, we gave the biggest sighs of relief, and headed home, talking about our adventure all the way, and tearfully, very nervously laughing about it. We never told my mom, and my friend never told her family, what we did...at least I don't think she told hers. It definitely was a day of adventure I will never forget. Thinking back on it, I bet those people wondered how that cellar door opened up again_they are probably still telling ghost stories about it, to this day <grin> LOL !!!!! Did it stop our Tom-boyish ways? NOPE, not a chance. We had many weird things happen in a day's time, and many of them had to do with our favorite place...the Tully.aka Tulpehocken Creek.along which ran a part of the old, well-known Union Canal. Lynn Arlene (Andrich) Vondran

Great story Lynn Loved reading it sherry Lynn Vondran <lynnvondran@att.net> wrote: Hi Gang, I thought I would post that story again about my ventures along the Tully, in Glenside, for all the new Berks County folks on the list. This is part of my over 600 page book I'm writing for my daughter to enjoy when I am no longer here to tell the stories of my life. This was something I had wished Mom would have done for me. Enjoy :o) Lynn THE OLD SHACK ALONG THE TULPEHOCKEN CREEK/UNION CANAL A childhood friend, and I had a situation of innocent breaking and entering. We, almost daily, would walk along the Tully, in Glenside leading to Greenfields and the Reading Airport, near Reading, Berks County, Pennsylvania. This was before the bike trail was blazed, when it was an old, I imagine, "Indian" toe-path. A little ways along the path, we had to climb over a HUGE pile of rocks, that formed a wall that wasn't quite as tall as we were. There were said to be all sorts of snakes and other varmints living in and under these rocks. We were brave kids_or maybe just dumb Along the way, we saw a very old, run-down shanty/hut? There were weeds and all sorts of things growing up around it (I especially remember the itch-weed, which was very abundant along the narrow path), yet there was still a slightly visible pathway, to this shanty/hut. We approached the rundown shack, and looked in the windows. It definitely looked like an abandoned, back-hills kind of place.really hillbilly looking; and it sat alone in those woods_no other buildings were near the place. We were certain that no one could presently be living there, and hadn't been for a long, long time, though the old table and chairs, in the kitchen, looked as though they were used recently, by their placement. My friend and I talked it over, and being use to seeing old dilapidated structures along the Tully, which were all VERY obviously unoccupied, decided to enter the shanty/hut by the door to the big room, which actually was the only door to the place, as far as we could see. This room was a combined kitchen/eating area/living room. Looking around the place gave us the creeps, at 12 years old, and a feeling that we really SHOULDN'T have ventured in, but that didn't stop us. I really had this weird feeling that, just MAYbe, someone still lived there; but, we convinced one another that, NO, no one lived like that, anymore, around those parts, so we kept up our adventure. We found very old, farming/rustic looking stuff...old boots, buckets, harnesses, tin cups, and something that I know went around a horse's neck for when it pulled something very heavy...not a yoke, maybe a special type of harness? It was a somewhat heavy, oval. leather thing. We found, OLD lanterns hanging from a wooden beam in the center of the all-in-one sitting room/kitchen. In short, it was a whole lot of old, rusty, dusty stuff, which looked as though it hadn't been touched for a VERY long time, seeing all the heavy cobwebs all over them. These heavy cobwebs were another hint to us that no one lived there, or even used the place. So we felt safe, and didn't feel anything wrong about our adventure. The shack had no second floor, or even a loft...but, it did have one other room. When we were headed for the other room, we came across a door in the floor. Opening it, we found a ladder (steps?) leading down to a very dingy cellar; the ladder definitely being one made by hand. The only light that we had was the daylight, which was peeking through from the cellar door being lifted. We ventured down the ladder/steps, and halfway down, we could somewhat see more of the same kind of stuff hanging around, and there were also wooden bins almost completely lining the base of the walls. The walls and floor were just dirt. We had second thoughts about completing our descent, because we knew, from finding snakes in the pile of rocks along the trail, that they liked dark, damp places. Just as we decided not to go down any farther, much to our horror, we had no choice which way to go!!!! Whoever was using the place came home. We scrambled the rest of the way down, almost falli! ng over one another. We made it to a cobwebbed corner, and huddled there. We could hear them walking overhead; and we could hear them talking. It was a man and a woman. Then it happened, total darkness...right before which, the man said, "Oh, we left the cellar door open. I'll close it." My thoughts were the fear of the dark, and the unknown; and, yet, for some reason, this made us feel safe. We whispered to one another of how much trouble we would be in if someone found we had entered their "house", and we started immediately to plan our escape...the only problem was when. How long were we going to have to stay down there!!! We knew the ONLY way to get out was the way we got into the shack !! We were so glad that it was very early in the morning, because we definitely didn't want to be walking the trail home in the dark. It was VERY spooky along the trail even in the full light of day. We figured, with it just being early morning, it would give these people time to leave for a while, because there was absolutely NOTHING there that they could do, and they had to eat. But, what if they brought food back with them? Plus, we didn't kn! ow what was in that other room, it could have been kept nicely, for all we knew. Well, we were thankful anyway, because we had a lot of time before nightfall, to get out of there. We heard the scrapping of the chairs at the kitchen table, and clattering of things...running of water...sort of an old pump sound...at least it sounded like the old water-pump at my friend's grandmother's house, which was also along the Tully, but about a mile and a half down stream, next to the old paper mill, where her dad worked, right at the point where the Tully meets the Schuylkill River. We don't know how long we were down there, but it sure did feel like forever!!!!! We sat there for quite a while, until it sounded as though they left. We had no light, and were really hoping to find the ladder again. It was exciting, scary, and funny at the same time; but we had to control our emotions, and be VERY quiet. We made sure we kept hold of one another, as we crawled across the floor. Remember, there was absolutely no light!! It was pitch black down there. We found the ladder, and when we got to the top of it, we slowly opened the overhead trap-door eveeeer..soooo..slowly and slightly, and peeked around. No one was there, THANK GOD, but it looked as though, whoever was there was coming back, and soon, because they left the door to the shack hanging open. We quickly got out of that cellar, and without shutting the cellar door, we ran out of the place and up the path. We didn't look around us nor did we look back, but ran straight to the trail. When we got there, we gave the biggest sighs of relief, and headed home, talking about our adventure all the way, and tearfully, very nervously laughing about it. We never told my mom, and my friend never told her family, what we did...at least I don't think she told hers. It definitely was a day of adventure I will never forget. Thinking back on it, I bet those people wondered how that cellar door opened up again_they are probably still telling ghost stories about it, to this day LOL !!!!! Did it stop our Tom-boyish ways? NOPE, not a chance. We had many weird things happen in a day's time, and many of them had to do with our favorite place...the Tully.aka Tulpehocken Creek.along which ran a part of the old, well-known Union Canal. Lynn Arlene (Andrich) Vondran ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to PADUTCH-LIFE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message --------------------------------- Choose the right car based on your needs. Check out Yahoo! Autos new Car Finder tool.

Yikes! It is 1;02AM and I just read this story! Now how am I going to go to sleep!! That was just a tad bit scary!!!!! Great Story!!! Don't you ever have the urge to go back and see if its still there?? ----- Original Message ----- From: "sherry kramer" <bigbandnana@yahoo.com> To: <padutch-life@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, August 31, 2007 12:30 AM Subject: Re: [PD-LIFE] A Glenside Story_Adventures Along the Tully > Great story Lynn > Loved reading it > sherry > > Lynn Vondran <lynnvondran@att.net> wrote: > Hi Gang, > > I thought I would post that story again about my ventures along the Tully, > in Glenside, for all the new Berks County folks on the list. This is part > of my over 600 page book I'm writing for my daughter to enjoy when I am no > longer here to tell the stories of my life. This was something I had > wished Mom would have done for me. > > Enjoy :o) > > Lynn > > > > THE OLD SHACK ALONG THE TULPEHOCKEN CREEK/UNION CANAL > > > > A childhood friend, and I had a situation of innocent breaking and > entering. We, almost daily, would walk along the Tully, in Glenside > leading to Greenfields and the Reading Airport, near Reading, Berks > County, Pennsylvania. This was before the bike trail was blazed, when it > was an old, I imagine, "Indian" toe-path. A little ways along the path, we > had to climb over a HUGE pile of rocks, that formed a wall that wasn't > quite as tall as we were. There were said to be all sorts of snakes and > other varmints living in and under these rocks. We were brave kids_or > maybe just dumb > > > > Along the way, we saw a very old, run-down shanty/hut? There were weeds > and all sorts of things growing up around it (I especially remember the > itch-weed, which was very abundant along the narrow path), yet there was > still a slightly visible pathway, to this shanty/hut. We approached the > rundown shack, and looked in the windows. It definitely looked like an > abandoned, back-hills kind of place.really hillbilly looking; and it sat > alone in those woods_no other buildings were near the place. We were > certain that no one could presently be living there, and hadn't been for a > long, long time, though the old table and chairs, in the kitchen, looked > as though they were used recently, by their placement. > > > > My friend and I talked it over, and being use to seeing old dilapidated > structures along the Tully, which were all VERY obviously unoccupied, > decided to enter the shanty/hut by the door to the big room, which > actually was the only door to the place, as far as we could see. This room > was a combined kitchen/eating area/living room. Looking around the place > gave us the creeps, at 12 years old, and a feeling that we really > SHOULDN'T have ventured in, but that didn't stop us. I really had this > weird feeling that, just MAYbe, someone still lived there; but, we > convinced one another that, NO, no one lived like that, anymore, around > those parts, so we kept up our adventure. > > > > We found very old, farming/rustic looking stuff...old boots, buckets, > harnesses, tin cups, and something that I know went around a horse's neck > for when it pulled something very heavy...not a yoke, maybe a special type > of harness? It was a somewhat heavy, oval. leather thing. We found, OLD > lanterns hanging from a wooden beam in the center of the all-in-one > sitting room/kitchen. In short, it was a whole lot of old, rusty, dusty > stuff, which looked as though it hadn't been touched for a VERY long time, > seeing all the heavy cobwebs all over them. These heavy cobwebs were > another hint to us that no one lived there, or even used the place. So we > felt safe, and didn't feel anything wrong about our adventure. > > > The shack had no second floor, or even a loft...but, it did have one other > room. When we were headed for the other room, we came across a door in the > floor. Opening it, we found a ladder (steps?) leading down to a very dingy > cellar; the ladder definitely being one made by hand. The only light that > we had was the daylight, which was peeking through from the cellar door > being lifted. We ventured down the ladder/steps, and halfway down, we > could somewhat see more of the same kind of stuff hanging around, and > there were also wooden bins almost completely lining the base of the > walls. The walls and floor were just dirt. We had second thoughts about > completing our descent, because we knew, from finding snakes in the pile > of rocks along the trail, that they liked dark, damp places. Just as we > decided not to go down any farther, much to our horror, we had no choice > which way to go!!!! Whoever was using the place came home. We scrambled > the rest of the way down, almost falli! > ng over one another. We made it to a cobwebbed corner, and huddled there. > We could hear them walking overhead; and we could hear them talking. It > was a man and a woman. > > > Then it happened, total darkness...right before which, the man said, "Oh, > we left the cellar door open. I'll close it." My thoughts were the fear of > the dark, and the unknown; and, yet, for some reason, this made us feel > safe. We whispered to one another of how much trouble we would be in if > someone found we had entered their "house", and we started immediately to > plan our escape...the only problem was when. How long were we going to > have to stay down there!!! We knew the ONLY way to get out was the way we > got into the shack !! We were so glad that it was very early in the > morning, because we definitely didn't want to be walking the trail home in > the dark. It was VERY spooky along the trail even in the full light of > day. We figured, with it just being early morning, it would give these > people time to leave for a while, because there was absolutely NOTHING > there that they could do, and they had to eat. But, what if they brought > food back with them? Plus, we didn't kn! > ow what was in that other room, it could have been kept nicely, for all we > knew. Well, we were thankful anyway, because we had a lot of time before > nightfall, to get out of there. > > > We heard the scrapping of the chairs at the kitchen table, and clattering > of things...running of water...sort of an old pump sound...at least it > sounded like the old water-pump at my friend's grandmother's house, which > was also along the Tully, but about a mile and a half down stream, next to > the old paper mill, where her dad worked, right at the point where the > Tully meets the Schuylkill River. We don't know how long we were down > there, but it sure did feel like forever!!!!! > > > > We sat there for quite a while, until it sounded as though they left. We > had no light, and were really hoping to find the ladder again. It was > exciting, scary, and funny at the same time; but we had to control our > emotions, and be VERY quiet. We made sure we kept hold of one another, as > we crawled across the floor. Remember, there was absolutely no light!! It > was pitch black down there. We found the ladder, and when we got to the > top of it, we slowly opened the overhead trap-door eveeeer..soooo..slowly > and slightly, and peeked around. No one was there, THANK GOD, but it > looked as though, whoever was there was coming back, and soon, because > they left the door to the shack hanging open. > > > We quickly got out of that cellar, and without shutting the cellar door, > we ran out of the place and up the path. We didn't look around us nor did > we look back, but ran straight to the trail. When we got there, we gave > the biggest sighs of relief, and headed home, talking about our adventure > all the way, and tearfully, very nervously laughing about it. We never > told my mom, and my friend never told her family, what we did...at least I > don't think she told hers. It definitely was a day of adventure I will > never forget. > > > > > Thinking back on it, I bet those people wondered how that cellar door > opened up again_they are probably still telling ghost stories about it, to > this day LOL !!!!! > > > > Did it stop our Tom-boyish ways? NOPE, not a chance. We had many weird > things happen in a day's time, and many of them had to do with our > favorite place...the Tully.aka Tulpehocken Creek.along which ran a part of > the old, well-known Union Canal. > > Lynn Arlene (Andrich) Vondran > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > PADUTCH-LIFE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > --------------------------------- > Choose the right car based on your needs. Check out Yahoo! Autos new Car > Finder tool. > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > PADUTCH-LIFE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message