Weigelstown Elementary students will be working from home for three days this week after the Dover Area School District saw a spike in COVID-19 cases linked to the building.  The school closed Monday after recording six COVID-19 cases within 14 days according to the district's online dashboard Superintendent Tracy Krum said the building will reopen to students Thursday The cases at the elementary school make up more than half of all the cases recorded across Dover in the last two weeks the district has recorded 10 cases total over its seven buildings in the last 14 days.  The Pennsylvania Department of Education recently updated its guidance on school closures shortening the amount of time buildings must close after a recording enough COVID-19 cases Whereas before schools in areas of substantial spread were instructed to close for three to 14 days depending on the number of cases and the size of the building now the recommended closures are between two and five days.  More: Pa. Department of Education updates guidance to allow more in-person learning More: West Shore School District to reopen high schools and middle schools for more in-person instruction Several local school districts have already taken advantage of this change Lincolnway Elementary in the West York Area School District and Fishing Creek Elementary in the West Shore School District both closed over the weekend and opened for in-person instruction Monday after each recorded two new COVID-19 cases according to separate district announcements.  Gary Heiland shared this photo of students and teacher Mabel Smith at Airy Hill School in October 1947 Dean Rinehart and Clement “Skip” Billet; and back row I have two memories of neighborhoods in the greater Dover area to share – one from the Picketts area as you go out Davidsburg Road to Washington Township and the other of the Weigelstown area of Dover Township  I hope you’ll enjoy these memories; as I grew up spending a lot of time in both areas Longtime reader and commenter Gary “Pappy” Heiland shared the photo seen today, and wrote, “In your column … about the Picketts referring to the bridge on Davidsburg Road as the Conewago bridge stirred my thoughts I lived in the Picketts from 1941 to 1949 at the intersection of Cedar Lane and Pickett Road I attended the Airy Hill one-room school that was located at the intersection of Pickett Road and Davidsburg Road.” “The bridge you called the Conewago bridge was known as Shady Nook bridge when I lived in the area and a few hundred feet below the bridge was Shady Nook dam; I think it is a low-head dam I used to walk across it when I was 6 to 12 years of age.” I remember this area very vividly; in high school, my best friend lived on Cedar Lane, and we spent many days wandering around that area, hanging out on the creek banks and telling stories about the dangers of the dam is one of the low-head types that have caused a number of deaths in York County over the years On a happier note, however, I also had a nice note from reader Bonnie Slagle, who replied in response to an earlier question about the B&B Garage in Weigelstown “The following information was given to me by my brother who worked at this garage for 18 years before it closed The garage was built around 1946 by two men who married sisters from Dillsburg The primary function of the garage was the repair and inspection of automobiles “My brother began working there in 1956 and stayed there until it closed It was a very busy small garage with mostly local residents as customers Baker was test driving a car he had just repaired or inspected and was involved in an accident on Davidsburg Road Bollinger sold the garage sometime in the 1970s and it was torn down to make room for the parking lot of Spangler’s Supermarket.” My name is Joan Concilio and I’m a lifelong Yorker I swore I was getting out of here as soon as possible I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be connect with me and let’s share what makes life in York County great I’m here to help you enjoy this place as much as I do Contact me at joan@joanconcilio.com Students at Weigelstown Elementary School have been learning a lot about giving lately and one of the ways they’re giving back to the community is by honoring someone who gave a lot to them and some of Weigelstown Elementary School’s fourth graders had her for nearly the entire school year as a long-term substitute when they were in second grade Fourth grade teacher Ashley Shetter said Wilson was a “phenomenal” teacher who made a great impact on students and Wilson requested donations to the SPCA be made in lieu of flowers at her funeral Many of Shetter’s students wanted to give back and do something special for Wilson and so they worked with the PTO to organize a school-wide donation drive Fourth-grader Tyler Mabeus had Wilson for second grade “She was one of my favorite teachers,” Tyler said He remembered her bringing gummi worms to class and that she helped him calm down when he needed it and Wilson was particularly sensitive to that They recently hung an ornament from her on their Christmas tree "I hung it right in the middle," Tyler said She gave up her lunchtime to play with him when he had no one to play with “When I was sad she tried to cheer me up,” he said Other ways of giving: The SPCA drive is just one way students at Weigelstown, in the Dover Area School District The school changed its typical fall festival into a week of events around the theme of being thankful and giving back Here’s a look at what else the school has been doing: Each student in the school wrote something they are thankful for on colored paper acorn creating a “Thankful Tree” in the lobby.Students have been creating artwork for Providence Place including notes on things they are thankful for and their wishes.The school has been collecting donations for victims of Hurricane Sandy Some ofthe students have family members who were affected by the storm The school has mostly been collecting cleaning supplies and gift cards to help families rebuild "We’re trying to build better citizens," said Principal Davonna Rickard PA — Police in York County are investigating after they say two people spray painted lewd pictures and obscene language on the Weigelstown Elementary School Authorities say it happened just before 4:30 AM on June 16 at the school on Carlisle Road in Dover Township The Northern York County Regional Police Department is asking for the public's help in identifying the two people pictured in the above photo I have a letter to share from longtime reader and commenter David F who now lives in York Township but noted he'd lived in Dover Township off and on since 1938 he shared with me some memories starting in the 1950s and continuing to the '60s and '70s "Our travel will begin at the little stone school house is where I started school in 1942 during the height of World War 2 Sometime during the 1950s the school building and grounds were sold to Al Kuhn more commonly known to everyone as a "junkyard," also spread into an open field across the highway that was later acquired by the salvage yard owner was Lloyd Crone's farm supply store operated by the Crone family and is the present location of the veterinary office and animal hospital." I'll just add a note here to those who remember another Crone's store in the borough proper.. and we'll work our way south to the other one presently on the same side of the highway and at the intersection of Route 74 and Harmony Grove Road and there was always at least one or more state police cars parked outside as well as a long list of other sundry items known in today's market as junk food The Y was a typical hangout for the locals spitting tobacco juice and spreading local gossip." "A short distance back Harmony Grove Road was Jim Straley's farm implement business Years ago the business relocated to East Canal Road across from Dover Elementary School," he wrote "Next we come to Jim and Nena's restaurant being at that location since the late 1950s or '60s once the location of the old Dover Auction House The building alone sat on a sizable parking area This unpaved piece of ground was literally a large mud puddle during heavy rains a large-one story unpainted wooden structure however it had electricity and indoor plumbing The heat during the winter was supplied by a number of 50-gallon oil drums converted into homemade heaters Not only was this a place to buy just about anything you could think of This was also a gathering place for the community every Friday and Saturday night." Across the street was Miller's Barber Shop; this was just across the alley from Gentzler's Meat Market like so many of the other alleys in Dover borough the alley where the meat market was located apparently was named for Lewis Herrold His office was across North Main Street next to this un-named alley that crossed North Main looking through the large plate glass windows at the employees making cigars." was Lester Crone's Grocery located on the southeast corner of the square depending on the season." That's a location that I remember a bit later on My father and the namesake Ralph were friends and Dad would take me there on Saturday mornings while my mother was working at the Market & Penn Farmer's Market "Raymond Lankford's Barber Shop was next door to Lester Crone's grocery store I and my brothers often had our hair cut by Mr Lankford; the price was 25 cents at the time and this also included a few verses hummed in your ear of a church hymn The AMACO service station was on the opposite side of the barber shop This was one of many full-service gas stations at that time The windows were cleaned and tire pressure checked Service station employees always wore uniforms included was a patch sewn on the shirt pocket with the oil company logo of the particular service station The attendant usually handed you a piece of tableware and some S&H Green Stamps All this and gas was only a few cents a gallon Across the square on the southwest corner was Bertha Linebach's restaurant and grocery store At the bottom of the hill on the right side was Quickel's Lumber Yard "Past the present high school and across the street was Beck's Dairy a favorite hangout for the high school students Past Beck's and across a small bridge on the opposite side of the road was Dover Township's polling location David then jumped back to Route 74 and added a few memories going farther south into Weigelstown "Where the Davidsburg Road branches off of the Carlisle Road was located one of my earliest recollections after moving to Dover named for the green hedge that ran across the front side of the building Used cars and garage work were their mainstay including the traditional set of gasoline pumps The Baldwin family owned the business and continued into the late '50s or early '60s Weigelstown Roller Rink was located to the left of Route 74 behind a patch of woods on what is now Alta Vista Road Across the road was the Weigelstown Bowling Lanes I grew up north of Dover on Blackberry Road and then later moved into Weigelstown first back Fox Run Road on Fox Chase Drive then right off Carlisle Road on Locust Road before moving to West Manchester Township when my daughter was in kindergarten So all of these places are very familiar to me and Have questions or memories to share? Email me at joan@joanconcilio.com or write to Ask Joan We cannot accept any phone calls with questions or information Around July of last year, I started sharing some reader memories about the former Garfield school in York following a request from a reader named Greg I’m going to be sharing even more Garfield school memories Today’s memories and photos came to me from reader Curvin E “I spent the first 13 years of my life living across the street from Garfield looking out my front window at that building all those years I’m fairly certain the date on the building was either 1898 or 1896 I am sending pictures of the demolition of the building taken in May of 1961.” You can see some of those photos with today’s column “One of the unique things about Garfield was the ramp they built on the North Street side of the building for children with physical disabilities I believe this was the only school in York that these children could attend.” “The kids in our neighborhood always used the playground to play all types of games including softball When I was about 13 we moved around the corner to Park Place… One summer when I was in senior high school we were playing a game of three-man softball I got ahold of one and drove it through a second-story window of a house on North Street I did not realize it then but the ball landed in an empty (thank God) baby crib I left the people that lived there know that I did it.” “The next morning,” Curvin continued “a picture of my softball laying in the crib was on the front page (I think) of the morning paper To top it off no one was allowed to play ball in the school playground any more I would love to find that newspaper article but I have no idea how to find it in the archives It was in one of the summer months of ’57 Curvin also sent a copy of a newspaper letter to the editor written by Bill Schintz noted York County photographer who passed away in 2018 Bill shared his memories of York in the 1960s “We were called the ‘Garfield Kids,’ those of us grow­ing up between Newberry Street Roosevelt Avenue and Market and Lincoln streets Many of us attended Garfield School.” “Bill lived about two blocks away from me on Elm Terrace and Bill was a year or two younger.” I was very happy to hear your memories and to see those photos of Garfield’s demolition Next week I’ll get to share some more memories and photos from other periods in the school’s history This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Today, I'd like to follow up on last weeks' post about The North Pole (not the Santa version!) You can read many earlier memories of the North Pole here there was a North Pole at the corner of Carlisle Road and Emig Mill Road (Weigelstown) in Dover I moved to Weigelstown in 1962 and it was there at that time I am not sure when it was torn down and replaced with a Turkey Hill Reader Tim Roelke wrote after reading one of the previous articles about the North Pole and Florida Room at Sherman Street I grew up 'across the street' on Canterbury Lane and when I was 16 (1964) I applied for a job at the Sherman Street location but Ernie said he didn't have any openings there but that he had an opening at his other store which I'm pretty sure was located on the corner of Carlisle Road (Route 74) and Emig Mill Road in the Weigelstown area The Grandview Golf Club was a little south of the location but pretty much "across the road." As I recall there was a small transmission shop across the street Turkey Hill had a very small store where the North Pole Drive in was located in the early to late sixties I only worked there one summer and really can't say when this sub shop closed I remember spending hours cleaning the ice cream machine slicing veggies for the subs and especially remember slicing the top of my thumb while cutting tomatoes I walked up the road a little ways to a doctor's office who patched me up so I walked back to work and when I asked about the tomatoes I was slicing my co-worker told me she put them in the cold-trays and even made a couple of subs with them I threw out the remaining tomatoes but worried all day about the subs that were sold in my absence." Yikes, Tim! This reminds me of our restaurant health inspections.. "I once worked at the North Pole Drive-in for two summers Usually I worked in the back part filling customers' orders of burgers there were no child labor laws like there are now I was a very mature young lady and looked older than my years No one ever questioned my age as I got the job done He was usually on the premises to supervise us youngsters We were allowed as much ice cream as we could eat he knew we would get tired of eating it and we did sometimes Ernie would have to leave for a very short time for an errand and I would be the only one there for a time I was so proud that by then he trusted me enough to take care of the very few customers we had at the times he left I would run to the front to dish out ice cream or run to the back to cook a burger but it sure did make me feel grown up and very responsible He said he would be back shortly and always was I loved working there and it taught me so much I was never in the Florida Room as I was too young to be in there but the memories of working there are happy ones." With regard to that location at Sherman Street "I do believe the North Pole turned into the Florida Room I remember my parents doing nights out at the bar there." "It opened about 1958 on the corner of Emig Mill Road and Carlisle Road on the corner where the Turkey Hill is now Ernie McCall opened it after he opened the North Pole Drive In on Loucks Road While I worked in Weigelstown he also opened the Florida Room on the Loucks Road property He had liquor license for the Florida Room I worked at the Weigelstown location from 1959 until September of 1961 after I graduated from high school during my whole senior year in high school at Dover which was quit a bit for a high school student." pizza burgers and other sandwiches (before McDonald's) and lots of frozen custard and shakes and sundaes I think that the first McDonald's was on East Market across from the original York County Shopping Center The building in Weigelstown was sort of an oversized garage which actually had two regular roll-up garage doors in the front I actually went back to work there for a short time after I married in 1963 It was the go-to place in Weiglestown for fast food and good ice cream About these same years there was another hot spot in Weigelstown - Beecher's Drive In What was famous about that place was the jukebox and pinball machines in a pavilion which served as a teen hangout and dance floor in the summer It was literally the 'Al's Place' of the Fonzie Happy Days generation as my teenage daughter is a huge Happy Days fan And I also heard from Barbara Brunner Small "I was at this one approximately three times during the time it was open It was owned and operated by Ernie and Ethel McCall and I used to work at the Sherman Street location when we were in high school In the summer my Aunt Ethel would come over to the restaurant around 2 p.m and tell my brother and I we could go swimming next door at the Florida Room which they also owned When I turned 21 my Uncle Ernie gave me my first legal drink and my Aunt Ethel had a birthday cake for me." Finally, I owe a huge thanks to Stephen H. Smith of Yorkspast. Not long after I shared memories from my third-grade teacher, Shirley (Coble) Hite, about the Weigelstown North Pole location in this 2014 post Stephen found the 1959 ad you see at the top of today's post while doing an unrelated search Talk about York County history serendipity Jim Wiest supplied some neat insight about Hilton Airfield and Hilton Trolley Station I struck out finding more details via a George F Therefore Jim’s memories were an unexpected bonus while helping him with some family history research Jim Wiest’s Memories and Map Research Details Quoting the memories Jim Wiest has about Hilton Airfield and Hilton Station: Discovered your post about the Hilton area of Dover Township but Hilton Station was along Hilton Avenue Occasionally my parents left me stay overnight in the summertime to visit cousins in that area We’d spend many-an-hour playing in the Little Conewago We’d always take the across-the-fields shortcut from Fox Run Road crossing to Hilton Avenue and then to Poplars Road I remember one time crossing the ridge between Fox Run Road and Hilton Avenue I heard the tale about the Wright Brothers using this ridgeline for takeoffs and landings of their airplane Telling me that airstrip was used by someone owning a Wright Brothers airplane to give rides Just another thing I wish I’d ask Dad for more details I immediately utilized a topographic map to see where a ridgeline was located between Fox Run Road and Hilton Avenue I selected the following 1920 USGS Topographic Map since it includes the Dover Trolley Tracks besides zooming-in and annotating the highlighted Topographic Map area I’ve also placed a 2016 Bing.com Aerial Photo of the region ghosted in the foreground The dark roads are the ones that existed in 1920 while the ghosted roads are the additional roads that exist today I’ve annotated the illustration with road names I’ve estimated the location of Hilton Field; it does make sense to have an airfield on the relatively level ground along this broad ridge Aviator Eugene Heth vouched for the “first-rate flying field conditions with hanger” at Hilton Field along the Dover Trolley Line in York County Heth was the pilot of a Wright Brothers Model B Flyer during several days of free flight demonstrations and the selling of rides in the Flyer; next to the Hilton Trolley Stop during June of 1914 I’ve pointed to the building standing in 1920 that might be the Hilton Field Hangar The double dashed line back to this building from Hilton Avenue indicates this is an unimproved road I’ve also pointed out Hilton Station along the trolley line Hilton Station was located along the east side of Hilton Avenue between the more recent crossing roads Brookside Avenue and Staunton Avenue The United States Geological Survey (USGS) tended to place their elevation markers on public use property The 466-feet USGS Elevation Above Sea Level marker was likely placed very near the Hilton Station; which served trolley passengers from 1901 to 1933 Airstrips generally did not show up on topographic maps until after the first United States Air Navigation Maps started to appear in 1925. Hilton Field does not appear on the earliest Air Navigation Maps, therefore this grass airfield, while established in 1914, likely only had a very short lifespan.  More on Hilton Field in the coming week. Reading the HEADLINES; A Quick Index to ALL YorksPast Posts Smith retired as a Manager of Design Engineering at York International Corp He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from Penn State He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and chairman of the Springettsbury Township Historic Preservation Committee He wrote an award-winning family history and continues to write and give family history and local history talks Reach Stephen at stephen.smith4@comcast.net A reader commented to my post on a Photo Comparison of Weigelstown’s North Pole Drive-In I remember Ernie’s wife as Ethel and definitely not Mary Jane Are you confusing hosiery knitter Ernest McCall with Ernie McCall of North Pole Drive-In fame I encourage readers to comment to my posts; especially when they disagree I strive to correct any inaccuracies in my posts and Ernie of the North Pole Drive-Ins are one in the same person This is based upon a little family history research and personal experience Ernest McCall married Mary Jane Dellinger in 1938; they divorced in 1947 The second marriage of Ernest McCall was to Ethel M later married Hilton Murray; they were our neighbors for many years along Witmer Road in Springettsbury Township I’m going to tweak an Ernie McCall post that was already written for this coming Friday and post it a few days earlier; likely on Tuesday In the 1930 and 1940 United States Census records McCall lists his occupation as a hosiery mill knitter Sutro & Son Company; located at Pine Street and Boundary Avenue in York is the hosiery shop that he opens months after marrying Mary Jane issue of The Gazette and Daily suggests McCall’s Hosiery Shop at 46 North George Street opened a short time prior to this “Getting Acquainted” ad Hundreds of York women have become acquainted in a short time with the folks at McCall’s Hoisery Shop They sell the smart and lovely Sutro’s hose Ernest McCall—who knows hosiery as only a knitter can know it—opened the shop because York women wanted the “Sutrite” line And a special oh-so comfortable s-t-r-e-t-c-h type if you need it full of “life.”  Sutro hosiery is noted for its long wear—to prove it yourself Note the large “MADE IN YORK” on the wall of the shop Ernie McCall was definitely proud of selling a product Made in York Continue reading for a compilation of Ernie McCall’s business ventures This compilation of Ernie McCall’s business ventures comes from information in the Collection of York Directories at the York County Heritage Trust records at the Office of York County Recorder of Deeds Mary Jane McCall owns the majority interest in the shop The shop continues to be called Jane McCall’s even after Mary Jane married Hilton Murray in 1949 When Mary Jane Murray decided to leave the business in 1953 Ernie buys her out and takes full ownership Ernie McCall moved the shop and operated it as McCall’s Hosiery Shop for a final two years before closing the business in 1955 The following Classified Ad in the September 4th is probably his earliest submarine sandwich advertising; to which Ernie McCall lays claim to being The ORIGINAL SUBMARINE SANDWICH MAN of York The York City directories continue to list the address of Ernie’s deli at 44 North Beaver Street until he moves to the 7 West Philadelphia Street location in 1951 Ernie continued to hold a delicatessen market stand in Central Market although it appears to be a continuation of McCall’s Delicatessen; this may have been a partnership between Ernie and Charles McCall McCall was the five-year younger brother of Ernie 1954-1954 … North Pole Candy & Nut Shop 1225 North Sherman Street (Southeast corner of North Sherman Street and Whiteford Road in Springettsbury Township) North Pole Candy & Nut Shop probably came first maybe even starting in 1953; however it did not last long The North Pole Drive-In at the corner of North Sherman Street and Whiteford Road operated until 1969 The construction of the 4-lane Route 30 resulted in the demolition of the Drive-In 2820 Carlisle Road (Southeast corner of Emig Mill Road and Carlisle Road in Weigelstown) Ernest and Ethel McCall are listed as the owners The least details are known about this North Pole Drive-In location who resided at 8 East Canal Street in Dover What was Charles McCall’s connection with the Carlisle Road location Please comment if you can help; I’m especially interested in seeing a photo of the Weigelstown North Pole Drive-In 1225 North Sherman Street (Southeast corner of North Sherman Street and Whiteford Road in Springettsbury Township; The Florida Room was located more on the Whiteford Road side) Ernest and Ethel McCall are the owners and the following listing in the 1967 Suburban York The construction of the 4-lane Route 30 resulted in the demolition of The Florida Room in 1969 Reading the HEADLINES; A Quick Index to ALL YorksPast Posts I'm digging back into some older emails to share a few reader memories about some restaurants of the past Tally HouseWe'd last talked about the William Tally House in a column about a year ago when reader Cecil George shared memories of working there Local Realtor Wade Elfner read that and wrote to me "My friend and I used to go to the mall on Friday evenings to walk around while a neighbor lady worked the evening shift at Montgomery Ward The highlight of the evening was to eat at the Tally House and get the sliced roast beef." he was cleaning out a house in Pleasureville and found an original sign from the restaurant North PoleWe've talked many times before about the North Pole on Sherman Street in York, owned by Ernie and Ethel McCall. This has been a frequent topic in past columns, but I did have a few more replies to share, including one from the McCall family!Shirley Shiller wrote I worked at the North Pole Drive-In on Sherman Street from 1951 when we opened until 1968 when it closed My husband and I bought and worked at the North Pole Drive-In in Weigelstown from my parents in 1964 and sold the property to Turkey Hill in 1968 We still miss our submarine sandwiches (even though we have made them at home) and our delicious frozen custard." My new house is less than a mile from where the Weigelstown North Pole had been and I only wish I could have overlapped for a good sub I grew up in this area and my bus stop was the North Pole The Florida Room was beside it but two separate businesses I always thought it was pretty cool to tell people my bus stop was at the North Pole the Florida Room pool was filled in and the buildings were taken down." Reader Jodie Wimer wrote asking for more memories of The Old Homestead Inn in West Manchester Township She said her great-grandmother used to work there and her mother has been trying to find out some information Earlier this year I was able to share some Homestead information courtesy of the West Manchester Township Historical Society According to Harvey Loucks of the Historical Society subsequent owners of the property included York Auto Parts and recently Divas West (a beauty salon/spa) And finally for today, I have a short follow-up on Jay's Subs, which operated for a fairly brief time at the corner of Philadelphia Street and Roosevelt Avenue in York and which we last talked about just a few weeks ago Reader Jen was reading that column and recalled how good the restaurant's subs were at the Y between Roosevelt and West Philadelphia St. kind of diagonally across from that fancy restaurant on the other corner," she said "I ate there with my mom once that I remember and I remember that she really liked the subs because they were dusted with cornmeal on the bottom I haven’t thought about that place for years." getting people to think about places they haven't in years is one of the best parts of getting to write this column We cannot accept any phone calls with questions or information.