Donald Gross Sr.

Donald Helsman 
Nov. 15, 1992 
Donald A. Helsman, 77, Of Allenwood, Rd 1, Died Sunday In The Evangelical 
Community Hospital, Lewisburg.

Thursday, November 19, 1992 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 10A QUICK WORDS: FARMER'S ALMANAC 





Farmer's Almanac is an American institution &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 There's something mighty reassuring about The Old Farmer's Almanac. Just
seeing the slim volume at a newsstand strikes a warm chord: The wheat-colored
cover, with its 18th-century logo and line drawings of "Spring," "Summer," &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; "Autumn," and "Winter," stands out amid the skin magazines like an Amish
farmer in Trump's casinoThe sight evokes a wry smile and a brief, all-too-rare
feeling. It's a feeling like the one inspired by the scent of the fresh-cut
Christmas tree now lingering over Wilkes-Barre's Public Square. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Call the feeling -- call the almanac --"Maybe there's hope after all." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 This American institution is as faithful as an old friend. Every year since
1792, the almanac has brought to American households "a variety of new, useful
and entertaining matter," as the title page puts it. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Few people read it in one sitting. But thousands keep it on the bedstand or
night table, to be thumbed through at leisure whenever one seeks to learn
"Secrets of the Zodiac" or "The Case for Weeding in the Dark." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The 1993 edition has these and other nuggets of useful lore. On page 159,
for example, you learn that a St. Louis chemical company will pay you one cent
for every firefly you send it, dead or alive. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The chemicals provoking the "fires" in the flies turn out to be quite
valuable for scientists. For example, "In North Carolina, Dr. Joseph
Bonaventura found that firefly extract paralyzed Atlantic sharp-nosed sharks
and ultimately killed them." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Something to consider the next time you hit the beach at Atlantic City. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 (Incidentally, plenty of people take the St. Louis company up on its offer.
One Pennsylvania family even caught and mailed 30,000 fireflies in the course
of a single week.) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Another story marks the centennial of the great Chicago World's Fair, the
"1893 World's Columbian Exposition." The fair covered two miles of the city's
Lake Michigan shoreline. Visitors gawked at the first Ferris wheel, the first
motion picture, the first -- a demonstration we dearly wish we'd seen --
zipper. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Down the midway from Annie Oakley and the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show,
fairgoers found the first large-scale demonstration of electricity. Around the
corner from a display of covered wagons, engineers marveled at the first use
of a material that would revolutionize American transportation: concrete
paving. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 "Hello and goodbye, hail and farewell!" Henry Adams would say, capturing
the fair's presence on the cusp between the 19th and 20th centuries. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Pigs are the subject of "A Modest Collection of Pigorabilia." Sample: "To
get a pig up a ramp into a truck, put a bushel basket over its head and guide
it by the tail, backing it up the ramp." &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 And "Satchell Paige's Six Guidelines for Good Health and Long Life" reveal
the legendary pitcher's rules for living. "Avoid running at all times" and "If
your stomach disputes you, lie down and pacify it with cool thoughts" are our
favorites. We plan to begin practicing them immediately. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The house with 640 cats... the origin of the term, "Harvest Moon"... the
Pennsylvania Dutch recipe for Schnitz Pie... they're all here, along with the
almanac's famous weather forecasts. (Today in Northeastern Pennsylvania should
bring "Rain," the almanac states.) &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The almanac may indeed be as unrealistic a portrait of America as a Norman
Rockwell painting. But as in all of Rockwell's works, a strand of truth may be
found throughout the almanac, too. And it's that strand that makes the book
such fine reading. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The America of The Old Farmer's Almanac is the America of state fairs,
doting grandmothers, and fireworks on the Fourth of July. There's no doubt
that America exists. There's also no doubt that it doesn't exist for enough of
our citizens. A renewed conviction to help extend the American dream to others
is not the least of the book's treasures. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 As the almanac itself states in its closing words, "Be kind, for everyone
you meet is fighting a hard battle." Mighty fresh wisdom from a book that's
been around for 200 years. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Americana

Farmer's Almanac Is 
An American Institution 
There's Something Mighty Reassuring About The Old Farmer's Almanac. Just 
Seeing The Slim Volume At A Newsstand Strikes A Warm Chord: The Wheat-colored 
Cover, With Its 18th-century Logo And Line Drawings Of "spring," "summer," 
"autumn," And "winter," Stands Out Amid The Skin Magazines Like An Amish 
Farmer In Trump's Casino.