Ask Joan: Lingering questions edition
Today’s edition of Ask Joan features a variety of lingering questions from my email inbox, ranging from Pennsylvania dutch story-telling to rodeos!
What’s inside
1. Looking for Aunt Min’s stories
2. What became of Academy of Arts?
3. Details on Cohen Bros. Sporting Goods
4. Seeking information on Rosemount Days
1.
I am a Pennsylvania Dutch Storyteller and I live in Manchester. I was born and raised in Mount Wolf. My question is that I am trying to find other Pennsylvania Dutch storytellers that may still be around. Many of the humorous stories that I tell were written in 1933 and were performed on WORK by a 12-year-old girl by the name of Elizabeth Schuster. She married Galen Buraw and she performed for many years at many events/banquets, etc. Her mother used some articles from a newspaper that was either from Wrightsville or Columbia.
The articles were written by Aunt Min and they were titled “Aunt Min Sez.” They were the blog of the ’30s. Anyway, I’ve tried to find other articles by her but have not been able to find anything like that. Can you use your magic and see if you can find any other story tellers or other articles? By the way, I have been entertaining for over 42 years now. My stage name is Sophie Glutz!
– Pat Anderson
Pat, that’s incredible – I hope I can hear you some day! If you ever get over to Lancaster County, their historical society has, in their archives, a scrapbook of more than 50 Aunt Min Sez scripts. You can find out more about the Research Library and Archives at LancasterHistory.org. And if any readers know of any other sources for such material, I’d love to hear about it!
2.
I went to York Academy of Art ’67 to ’69… what happened to it? It seems to have disappeared. I worked at the Yorktowne Hotel while I was in school. Is that still around? (I’m in San Francisco, wondering).
– Ray Schreiber
Ray sent this note about a year ago and I never shared an answer, so I want to be sure not to let it wait any longer!
It turns out that the York Academy of Arts, which was founded in 1952, then became the Bradley Academy for the Visual Arts in 1988. It finally became The Art Institute of York-Pennsylvania in 2003, but is no longer accepting students and will close once all current students graduate. You can see more at www.artinstitutes.edu/york.
In good news, the Yorktowne Hotel is still around, though it’s closed temporarily for renovations. You can see photos and read more about the renovation plans at www.yorktowne.com – planned reopening is 2018, the last I saw!
3.
Hi! I’m from northern York County… Several years ago I made a purchase of a lot of old vintage, new still in the boxes and on-display cards of fishing equipment from a gentleman who was a relative of the Cohen Bros. Sporting Goods store in York, Pa. Would love to know more on the history of Cohen Bros. I sell and buy old vintage fishing equipment and like to share the history of the vintage fishing equipment I sell, for there is a story behind everything and anything in life that seems to make it more interesting when I sell or buy.
– Ron Brown
Ron, that’s a great question. Our editor, Jim McClure, has tackled the Cohen family (who were notable not just for the sporting-goods store) in a profile that you can find by search for Cohen Brothers at www.yorkblog.com/yorktownsquare.
The sporting goods were actually a later edition – the Cohens began as pawnbrokers, then transformed their business into a jewelry store and added sporting goods to the inventory later, before the business closed in 1968.
4.
Hello, I am trying to find information on the Rosemount Days held in 1965. I know that it was a rodeo because my grandfather won several ribbons and a trophy in 1965. He passed away a few years ago. He lived in York County all his life so it was a local rodeo and small when it started. I tried researching online but had no success. If you have any information, I would greatly appreciate it.
– Rachel Hollingshead
This is another older question, this time saved because I had no good answer and was hoping to turn one up. But I have not been able to find anything, so I turn the question over to you, loyal readers – any information on a rodeo known as Rosemount Days? (I’m especially wondering whether anyone tied to Wellsville Frontier Days, which still runs a local rodeo every Memorial Day weekend and which was originally established in 1961, might remember some details!
Have questions or memories to share? Email me at joan@joanconcilio.com or write to Ask Joan, York Daily Record/Sunday News, 1891 Loucks Road, York PA 17408. We cannot accept any phone calls with questions or information.
