USA > Pennsylvania > Lycoming County > Picture of Lycoming County, Vol. 2 > Part 11
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One of the oldest ecumenical groups of lay people in the county is the Friday Night Club which has met at the Young Men's Christian Association in Williamsport since 1926. In that year the Billy Sunday revival in Williamsport resulted in many conversions to the Christian faith. The Friday Night Club was founded at the YMCA after the revival to provide a time for Christian men to study the previous week's Sunday School lesson. After about a year, the club added a dinner and guest speaker following the Sunday School lesson. During the Depression the meal was so cheap and well prepared that the regular attendance climbed to over
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200. The club continues to meet two Friday nights a month from October through April, using the same traditional pro- gram.
Perhaps the most unusual ecumenical organization in Lycom- ing County today is the Yokefellows, an affliate of Yoke- fellows International. The Yokefellow Center for Pennsyl- vania was opened at the First Church of Christ (Disciples of Christ) on Almond Street in Williamsport in 1972. The Rev. John Mostoller is its director. The Yokefellows is a loosely organized group of Christians of many denominations who personally commit themselves to some form of Christian discipline, witness, ministry and fellowship. The Yoke- fellows have no regular meetings or membership rolls, though the Yokefellow Center does provide retreats, counseling, a book store and other social and spiritual resources orient- ed towards personal growth for use by individuals and or- ganizations.
One increasingly important aspect of the Yokefellows work has been the establishment of Yokefellow Spiritual Growth Groups in prisons and correctional institutions, with em- phasis on the personal renewal and spiritual development of prison inmates through a "redemptive fellowship." Such Yokefellow groups have been established in Lycoming County at the Muncy State Correctional Institution and the Allen- wood Federal Prison Camp. Local Yokefellow participants have volunteered their time to work with these prison groups.
The Yokefellow prison ministry is concerned not only with prisoners while they are inmates but also with their suc- cessful return to society upon completion of incarceration. Halfway houses for such individuals are being set up throughout the country to aid prisoners in their transition back into society. The Yokefellows have also become in- volved in penal system reform and the improvement of cor- rectional methods.
CHURCHES FACE DISASTER
The churches of Lycoming County have faced their share of tragedy and disaster. At various times floods have ravaged church buildings, inflicting heavy losses on hard pressed congregations. The 1946 and 1972 floods were especially cruel to many churches in the county. Even more destructive than the floods have been the church fires. Two devastating fires ruined major and beloved Williamsport churches in 1972 and 1977.
Early on the morning of December 5, 1972, St. Boniface Ro- man Catholic Church on Washington Boulevard, a large red Brick structure, was gutted by fire. All that remained was
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a charred, hollow shell. The fire, attributed to internal causes, was discovered in the early morning hours by several Lycoming College students, but too late for the building to be saved. Immediately after the fire, activity got underway for construction of a new church on the same site. In 1975, just 100 years after the destroyed building was dedicated, the new St. Boniface Church was given its blessing. The architecture of the new church, with its modern design and sweeping lines, was a radical departure from the traditional cruciform style of the former building.
A second major church fire struck Williamsport early Sunday morning, February 13, 1977, when the Pine Street United Methodist Church across from the old City Hall on Pine Street, burned to the ground. Hundreds of people attempted a close look at the fire and had to be kept back by police to protect them from flying debris when the enor- mous church steeple and cross collapsed into a formless pile of rubble.
The same morning another fire was discovered and contained in a chapel at Trinity Episcopal Church on West Fourth Street; damage there was minor. Both church fires were attributed to arson. The famous grey, stone pseudo-gothic Pine Street Church was utterly destroyed and the adjoining parsonage was damaged beyond repair. Despite this extra- ordinary loss, the congregation of the Pine Street Church voted in September, 1977, to continue its ministry and to build a new church on the same site.
CHURCHES SUBJECT TO EVENTS
Like all other institutions, the church is subject to the vicissitudes of events. During World War II, for example, attendance in Sunday Schools in the county declined notice- ably as hundreds of young men left the county for wartime activities. More subtle social changes also affect reli- gious institutions. From 1926 to 1949 -- a period of de- pression and war -- church membership in the United States increased 51.5 percent, while the nation's population rose only 30 percent, according to statistics of the National Council of Churches. By the late 1950's and early 1960's, this trend reversed and church membership in the major denominations declined.
The prosperity of the 1950's and 1960's gave rise to leisure activities which diverted people from the churches. Also, a loosening of social habits and attitudes, especially among the young, has created a disaffection in many people for or- ganized religion. On the other hand, the same social trends have caused other people to seek refuge in the security of fundamentalist churches whose theological and moral positions reject modern attitudes.
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The economic downturn of the 1970's has been felt by the churches. Inflation has eaten heavily into church budgets, while giving has not managed to keep pace. Thus, the church and religious bodies of whatever persuasion face many challenges today, and those in Lycoming County are 'not exempt from these trends. Even though these changes in the social, moral and economic conditions of our modern world affect the status and strength of the church, its position as a continuing part of life in Lycoming County is in little doubt.
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QUESTIONS CHAPTER 11
1. Describe religious trends that have taken place in Ly- coming County since the 1930's.
2. What evidence of "Ecumenism" exists in Lycoming County?
3. Tell how disaster has struck some churches.
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Chapter 12
SPORTS AND LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL
BASEBALL
Williamsport played minor league baseball in the Eastern League from 1940 to 1976 with the exception of 1943, 1957, and 1969 through 1975. Being the smallest city in AA Base- ball, it was a distinction to be a member of the Eastern League, the top of the minor leagues. From 1938 to 1970 the headquarters of the Eastern League was in Williamsport, making it the hub of the league. From 1968 to 1972, William- sport dropped to a lower classification league, the New York Penn League.
Williamsport was a farm team for the former Philadelphia Athletics, the former Washington Senators, the Detroit Tigers, the Pittsburgh Pirates, the Philadelphia Phillies, the New York Mets, and the Cleveland Indians. From 1968 to 1972, the New York Penn League sponsored the farm teams of the Houston Astros and the Boston Red Sox. The teams were brought to Williamsport through the Baseball Corpora- tion of Major League Baseball. Bowman Field makes Williamsport one of the few cities in the United States with a baseball park designed exclusively for baseball.
BASKETBALL
The only professional basketball team to play in Williamsport was the Williamsport Billies that played Eastern League pro- fessional basketball in Williamsport for 18 seasons ( two years constitutes a season) from 1947-48 to 1963-64. Games were played at Curtin and Roosevelt Junior High Schools and the Williamsport Area Community College's Bardo Gym. Pro- fessional basketball was brought to Williamsport by Paul Green who owned the team until 1955 when it was sold to William Pickelner. After the 1964 season the team was dis- banded due to dwindling interest in the games. William Pickelner still owns the franchise for the team.
LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL
In midsummer of 1938, Carl E. Stotz was playing baseball with his two nephews James and Harold (Major ) Gehron in the yard of his half-double house on Isabella Street in Williamsport. As Stotz attempted to field a ball, he tripped on a newly- cut lilac bush, hurting his ankle. Resting on the steps of the half-double house, Stotz asked his nephews if they would like to play with real bats and balls and uniforms. The boys were enthusiastic and the idea for Little League Baseball was formed. Several evenings later Stotz and a group of neighborhood boys went to Memorial Park which is now known as the birthplace of Little League Baseball -- and began to scale-down the dimensions of a baseball diamond to
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a boy's size.
Stotz walked the streets of Williamsport, approaching 56 lo- cal businessmen before Floyd Mutchler of the Lycoming Dairy finally contributed $30 to sponsor a team. Lundy Lumber Company and Jumbo Pretzel Company then also contributed. Stotz bought playsuits at Kresge's for $1.29 each and a dozen balls for $2.00. Over the first year Little League had exceeded its income of $131 by eleven dollars. Stotz made up the difference. The first official game was played between Lycoming Dairy and Lundy Lumber Company on June 6, 1939.
On March 7, 1940, the first constitution of Little League Baseball was signed by Carl Stotz and three other managers and co-founders: Bert Bebble, George Bebble, and John Lindemuth. The wives -- Grayce Stotz, Eloise Bebble, Anna Belle Bebble, and Margaret Lindemuth -- also signed.
By 1946, there were 28 teams in seven leagues in Pennsylvania. The following year Stotz organized a tournament among teams from Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The Little League was growing too fast for Stotz and volunteers to manage so he approached the U. S. Rubber Company to sponsor the teams. In 1948, the U. S. Rubber Company contributed more than $5000 and backed a larger tournament. Nationwide publicity through newsreel and national magazines shot the number of teams to more than 500 in 22 states. By 1953, there were 11,496 teams in 46 states. Hundreds of magazine articles appeared quoting experts about the merits and demerits of Little League Baseball.
The organization was growing fast. In 1950, Stotz was made the first paid commissioner of Little League Baseball. He traveled over the entire nation organizing Little League teams. In that year, Little League Baseball became a cor- poration. Around this time, very deep philosophical dif- ferences developed between Carl Stotz and Little League, Inc. Differences festered until in 1955, Stotz filed a writ of foreign attachment against Little League Baseball, Inc. to prevent the New York-based business from leaving the state. Stotz also filed a $300,000 law suit against the business charging breech of contract. In the face of a countersuit, Stotz dropped his suit against Little League, Inc. and ended his affiliation with the organization.
In 1959, the 10,000 seat Lamade Field in South Williamsport was opened. During Little League World Series, another 15,000 to 20,000 people sit on the banks surrounding the stadium.
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In 1974, girls across the country petitioned in courts to be admitted to Little League teams. Little League, Inc.
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1
First Little League Baseball Board of Directors, 1950 Seated L to R: Charles Durban, Paul Kerr, Carl Stotz, Ford Frick, Tommy Richardson; Standing L to R: John Lindemuth, Bernie O'Rouke, Howard Lamade, Ted Husing, and Emerson Yorke.
Lamade Field
A
Final game -- 1949 Little League World Series
refused to admit girls saying it was in violation of the federal charter which allowed boys to play. After much pe- titioning and court action, the girls were finally admitted to the League under an amended charter in 1974. The same year softball teams were organized which siphoned off the girls from hard ball teams. The softball leagues were 99 percent female in 1977 while the hardball teams were one percent female.
Stotz's earlier fear that the World Series would become political began to materialize in 1964 when Little League Baseball, Inc. was granted a federal charter giving tax- exempt status. In return, the organization was to act as a goodwill ambassador from America promoting good relations among nations. At the 1974 World Series violence erupted between American and Nationalist Taiwanese from China. Little League Baseball, Inc. banned Taiwan from playing in the World Series in 1974 in an effort to calm international- ism but a public outcry followed, charging that the ban was aimed at ending Taiwan's four-year winning streak. The ban was rescinded in 1975.
Little League Baseball now has 11,000 leagues in 31 countries, another 5,000 leagues for older boys, and a growing number of softball teams, totaling 1,500 in 1977.
In May of 1974, the Little League diamond at Memorial Park was renamed the Carl E. Stotz Field. The following year Stotz was inducted into the West Branch Chapter of the Sports Hall of Fame and the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame for founding Little League Baseball.
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QUESTIONS CHAPTER 12
1. What professional sports teams have played for William- sport?
2. Who founded Little League Baseball and in what year?
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Chapter THE ARTS 13 When one thinks of Lycoming County and its resources for leisure and pleasure, one most normally associates it with hunting, fishing and other outdoor sports and recreations. But the arts, including music, theater, the visual arts, and literature have contributed to the quality of life in the county virtually since its founding. Among its artis- tic heritage, the county claims credit for several well known musicians and artists who were either born here or who lived and worked here over the years.
The hymnals of our churches, for example, have been greatly enriched by the works of James M. Black, who wrote such favorites as "When the Roll is Called Up Yonder" and "When the Saints Go Marching In." Mr. Black moved to Williamsport in 1881 from New York state and lived here until his death in 1938. Another hymn writer who lived in Williamsport was The Rev. Dr. John Henry Hopkins, rector of Christ Epis- copal Church from 1876 to 1887. He wrote the world famous Epiphany hymn, "We Three Kings of Orient Are."
WILLIAM CLIFFORD HEILMAN
A more recent composer and native of Lycoming County was William Clifford Heilman, son of Abraham and Catherine Heilman who owned the Heilman Furniture Company in Montours- ville, and for many years, a retail furniture store at West Third and Pine Streets in Williamsport. William Clifford Heilman was born in Williamsport in 1877 and died in 1946. He was well known as a professor of music compo- sition at Harvard University from 1905 to 1930. Among his students were Walter Piston, Arthur Mendel, Randall Thomp- son and Virgil Thompson, all famous composers. Mr. Heilman composed music for piano, voice, chamber instruments and orchestra. As part of Williamsport's Bicentennial celebra- tions, a group of local artists performed a concert devoted entirely to Mr. Heilman's compositions. Works for chorus, piano, violin and violoncello were performed in several different combinations.
OTHER WILLIAMSPORT COMPOSERS
Williamsport has been the home of two modern composers of church music. Frederick Snell, a native of Lebanon, Penn- sylvania, served for many years as director of music at St. Mark's Lutheran Church. Mr. Snell published works for choir, organ, and piano, and wrote numerous articles on church music for a number of musical journals. A native of Williamsport, Dixie Wilhelm, has published many sacred choral pieces and has served numerous churches in William- sport as organist and choral director.
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Besides church and classical music, Williamsport has pro- duced a composer of popular music and songs in Richard Wolf, a graduate of Williamsport High School and Lycoming College. Mr. Wolf has had a varied career as a song writer, producer of records, band leader, author and performer. Among Mr. Wolf's hit songs are "Go Buy the Ring" and "After School." Many of Mr. Wolf's songs have been recorded. He was a top song writer for Nat King Cole and worked with Arthur God- frey, Mary Martin, the Kingston Trio, and Danny Kaye, among others. Today Mr. Wolf is a free-lance song writer, per- former and author, and lives at Point Pleasant, Pennsylvania.
THE REPASZ-ELKS BAND
Much of the musical history of Lycoming County is centered in Williamsport which is the birthplace of the Repasz-Elks Band, the oldest continuously existing band in the United States. Founded in 1831, the band is referred to as the "Grand-daddy of American Bands." Originally named the "Williamsport Band," it was renamed the "Repasz Band" in 1859 as a tribute to its revered leader from Muncy, Daniel Repasz. The band was distinguished in its early history when it played for the Whig convention at Baltimore in 1841 at which Henry Clay was nominated for president. During the Civil War the band enlisted as a group in the Union Army. During much of the war, the Repasz Band was part of the Eleventh Regiment In- fantry. The band was at Appomattox when Robert E. Lee sur- rendered to General Grant.
From 1903 to 1912, the band was the official band of the Pennsylvania National Guard. In this capacity it played at the presidential inaugurations of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft. In 1917, the band went to France with the Pennsylvania Cavalry Regiment. Among the significant directors of the band was the nationally known cornetist, John Hazel, who took over that post in 1910. He played for a time in John Philip Sousa's Band.
In 1936 the Repasz Band merged with the Williamsport Elks Band. Renamed the "Elks-Repasz Band," it performed for all Elks functions along with other community events. In about 1960 the Elks Club was forced to end financial support for the band, though the band continues to perform at Elks' functions. Upon termination of Elks Club support for the band, it was renamed the "Repasz-Elks Band" and has re- tained this name to the present.
The national fame of the band was due partially to the "Repasz Band March," composed in 1896 by one of its members, Charles C. Sweeley. Upon the 100th anniversary of the band in 1931, the "Repasz Band March" was performed over the radio by the United States Marine Corps Band. The Repasz- Elks Band remains active to this day and performs for many
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public functions throughout the region.
The band currently has about 60 members under the direction of George Calapa and Albert J. Nacinovich. A few years ago the band voted to admit women players, which added consider- ably to its membership. One of the band's most recent pro- jects was initiated in 1962 by its business manager, Earl Williams. Area high school band members were invited to attend a Repasz-Elks Band rehearsal for an evening of fun. From this developed an annual "Youth Concert" held in the Brandon Park bandshell on the second Tuesday of June. Band students from schools and colleges from throughout the re- gion participated as players, and these concerts lasted until 1966.
THE IMPERIAL TETEQUES BAND
Another local band active over the last 20 years is the Williamsport Consistory Band, begun in 1957 under the direc- tion of J. H. Campbell. In 1962 Donald C. Berninger be- came director. The band was formed to provide entertain- ment for Consistory members, though today, its 64 members include non-Masons. In 1963, the band took the name of the old "Imperial Teteques" Band of the late 1800's and early 1900's. The Williamsport Imperial Teteques were the orig- inal all-Masonic music organization in the U. S. and were known throughout the country. By World War II, the only function of the original Teteques was to escort each train- load of draftees to the Park Hotel Station. In 1944 it dis- banded.
From its first public performance in the early 1960's, the new Masonic band performed to consistently large audiences in the Roosevelt Junior High School auditorium. In 1967 the new Scottish Rite Auditorium was completed, providing 1,200 seats. Since then, the Consistory band, along with numerous other local and outside groups, has used the Scot- tish Rite Auditorium to great advantage.
WILLIAMSPORT DANCE BANDS
In the 1920's, Williamsport spawned one of the top three dance bands of the period: The Dave Harman Orchestra, which ranked in importance with the Paul Whiteman and Fred Waring bands. Dave Harman's band originally got started in 1920 when it played at the Danso Dance Hall above the Key- stone Theater (later the State Theater ) on Third Street. In 1924, the group went to New York City where it played for two years at the Cinderella Ballroom. After that, it tour- ed leading hotels around the country under the management of the Orchestra Corporation of America. The Dave Harman Orchestra was one of the first bands to broadcast -- initially over station KDKA in Pittsburgh. The band also made
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numerous recordings with Edison, Columbia, and Gennett (Victor subsidiary) recording companies. Symbolic of the band's stature were the gold instruments it purchased, the only band to do so except for Fred Waring's.
The Dave Harman band was a forerunner of several other dance bands that got their start in Williamsport. Joe Vannucci of the city played for Dave Harman from 1923 to 1926. Later he formed his own band which came to be a big favorite on college campuses around the state. Many of Joe Vanucci's pieces and arrangements were published and recorded. He died a premature death at the age of 34.
Other local dance bands of the period included the George Lewis Dance Orchestra, which played at the Sunset Park Pavilion many times during the mid-1930's. Sunset Park was an amusement park situated just north of the city along Lycoming Creek. Then there were the Capitolians which played regularly at the Capitol Theater and for local dances. During the 1940's several men, including Gerry Kehler, Bill Seitzer and Roy Griess formed a band which played at the Teen Canteen, later renamed Handy Haven, located in the former Blackstone Garage at the corner of Hepburn and Ly- coming streets. Though this group played for many high school and college dances around the region, none of the band members made a living at it. In the 1950's the Johnny Nicolosi Band was popular throughout the area. This band had a trailer and traveled a two-hundred-mile radius in Pennsylvania and New York, playing at colleges, country clubs and private parties.
THE WILLIAMSPORT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
From time to time efforts were undertaken in Williamsport to establish a symphony orchestra for the performance of clas- sical music. The first such orchestra was organized in 1915, and performed its first concert on May 20th of that year. The conductor of the orchestra was E. Hart Bugbee, who for many years owned a violin shop in Market Square and gave violin lessons. The symphony orchestra was active about ten years and gave regular concerts annually. Over the years, Mr. Bugbee also conducted the regional Works Projects Administration orchestra during the Depression, and revived the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra in the late 1930's, which then survived until 1945. Mr. Bugbee also directed the Elks Chorus for 16 years and later, the Elks Club Band. Finally, he directed the third Williamsport Symphony Or- chestra for a short time after the death of its conductor, Osborne House1.
After 1945, interest in a local symphony orchestra remained strong . In 1947 the music department of the Williamsport Area School District conducted a survey in the city and
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discovered enough public support to launch a third orchestra. In response, the school district sponsored the project as an adult education program and provided all the equipment. The first rehearsal was held February 20, 1947, with Osborne Housel, the high school band leader, serving as conductor.
Later, Frank Ziegler and Mr. Housel sought to rally greater community support for the orchestra by forming the William- sport Symphony Society to secure patrons for concerts and to provide other types of assistance. The orchestra's first concert was held November 30, 1948, when it performed Hay- den's "Surprise Symphony," just as the first Williamsport Symphony Orchestra had done at its initial concert 33 years before.
During its ten years or so, the orchestra performed four or five regular concerts each season. It brought many well- known guest artists to Williamsport and provided a chance for local soloists to gain experience. As services to the community, the orchestra held regular Sunday afternoon young peoples' concerts, provided scholarships for orchestra members for further training, and offered free summer concerts in the Brandon Park Bandshell. Except for the brief period under the baton of E. Hart Bugbee, the short but auspicious life of the orchestra came to an end soon after the death of Mr. Housel in 1957.
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