As the Phillies took a 3-1 lead in this year's World Series, this seems like a good time to look back at the last time the Philadelphia saw a baseball championship in 1980. Fans took to the street following the Phils victory over the Royals 4-1 in the sixth game to win the title.
Thanks to Dick Shearer from the Lansdale Historical Society for bringing this copy of the paper out of their archives for us to share.


These photos were taken by Reporter photographers Bob Martin and Geoff Patton. Patton is currently the Chief Photographer at the The Reporter.

According to the Reporter on October 22, 1980, one of the officers injured while subduing revelers was 23-year-old Joseph McGuriman, now Lansdale's police chief.

From the article: "The Philadelphia Phillies captured teh heart of the region and the world championship of baseball at Veterans Stadium last night, sparking celebrations and midnight madness throughtout the area."
"In Lansdale, police blocked off the intersection of Broad and Main Streets to allow residents the luxury of milling aabout the streets, dancing, whooping, crying and paying tribute to the team that brought hime its first world title since the birth of the franchise almost a century ago."
"And this morning nearly half of North Penn High School's student body - 45 percent or more than 1,000 youths - failed to show up for class today as they swarmed to center city Philadelphia for the 11:30 a.m. parade to honor the baseball champions. At the district's junior high schools, 20 percent of the classes were missing but some stduents were appearing late, apparently because they could not get transportation to Philadelphia."

And we now know all about one student who missed classes at Souderton Area High School to watch the parade...Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer. Hopefully, all is forgiven.

Today’s photo, submitted by Paul Clayton of Lansdale, takes us back to a day when firefighting was quite a bit different.

Since Fire Prevention Week was observed earlier this month, Clayton thought it might be fun to show how the art used to be practiced.

The photo, he said, shows the Fairmount Fire Company of Lansdale practicing at the old Green Street School in town.

He believes the photo was taken sometime in the 1920s or 1930s.

He notes:

“My mother, Erma Weachter, said my grandfather, Hiram Weachter, was president of the fire company at that time. He also was burgess (now known as mayor) of Lansdale.”

We certainly appreciate seeing that our firefighters were just as devoted then as they are now.

Of course now, Jay Daveler and the Fairmount Fire Company have a fleet of equipment that is quite different, and more expansive, than what we see here.

During August, The Reporter printed a special Remember When section that centered on the general theme of transportation.

And today, thanks to Lansdale’s Robert Linden, we have three photos to share with you that harken back to earlier times here in Lansdale.

One photo shows the outside of the former Reading Railroad switching tower, and you may note the letters “MA” on the outside of the building. According to Linden, these are telegraph letters; station letters were “DA.”

Off in the distance, you’ll see a locomotive steaming into town.

Another photo shows Bill Walters, the tower man, manipulating the big levers inside the tower, which were used to throw the switches in the tracks to properly route the trains.

If you check the clock, you’ll note, as Linden did in the information provided, that it’s 9:13 — a.m., according to Linden.

The other photo shows the large call letters, the same type as the “MA” on the outside of the switching tower.

The call letter signs are part of Linden’s railroad collection.

LANSDALE – Dr. Frank Boston, the physician who founded the hospital that today is Central Montgomery Medical Center, found his way to Lansdale in 1931 as the result of a camping trip and a broken leg.

A World War I veteran with a practice in Philadelphia, Boston enjoyed camping on the banks of the Perkiomen Creek, a summer respite from the city’s heat and humidity.

On one of these outings, the doctor was summoned to assist a man from Lansdale who had broken his leg. While treating him, the two began a friendship that eventually led Boston to open an office in the Dresher Arcade building on West Main Street.

It was the beginning of a long, distinguished medical career that led Boston to establish Elm Terrace Hospital and form the Lansdale First Aid Corps, which later became the Volunteer Medical Service Corps.

The life and times of Boston will be the subject of a Lansdale Historical Society Community Program Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at the Lansdale Parks and Recreation Building, Seventh Street and Lansdale Avenue.

The show, narrated by the society’s Dick Shearer and Steve Moyer, will feature more than 100 images of the doctor, his hospital and the medical corps, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.

“When he first came to Lansdale there’s no question that Boston was looked upon as an outsider, especially by some of the other doctors who probably feared losing business,” Shearer said.

“He stepped very lightly at first, but within three years he had the medical corps up and running and the hospital followed closely behind. In both cases he used his own money – some from his military bonus – to fund the efforts.”

Elm Terrace had a humble beginning. Boston rented, then bought, a house at Seventh and Broad streets and converted it into an 11-bed facility.

Within two years, he purchased another house on the same corner as more and more patients were brought in.

Then in 1941, he sold it to the community so that it could be run as a nonprofit facility. In 1953, it was renamed North Penn Hospital at the start of a major expansion project.

“Most people around here who remember Dr. Boston speak of him in exemplary terms,” Shearer said. “Not only was he considered an outstanding surgeon, but he often gave freely of his expertise, especially to those who needed an operation but could afford it.

“There are countless stories of him performing surgery without compensation or offering other medical services where he would refuse payment. This was especially true during the Depression and immediately after World War II, when money was hard to come by.

“He is said to have operated in dimly lit farmhouses when patients could not be transported. And there are stories of him performing surgery on animals when a veterinarian wasn’t readily available.”

The medical corps was a reflection of his Army experiences. From the very beginning, his Lansdale unit trained with military precision and a loyalty to the unit developed that carried from generation to generation. It was the only emergency and rescue squad of its kind at the time.

For all of his accomplishments there is another side to Boston’s story. Because he had non-Caucasian facial features, it was assumed by some that he was in part African-American.

According to Shearer, Boston speculated that his mother, who came from Canada, was part Native American. Whatever the case, it was cause for rumor and unspoken discrimination in the predominately white North Penn area of that era.

Evidence of this is the monument in his honor placed on the corner of the First Baptist Church Property at Seventh and Broad Sts., where the original hospital once stood.

According to Shearer, after Boston was diagnosed with bone cancer in 1958, a group of his supporters lobbied to have a portrait of him hung in North Penn Hospital.

The board of directors refused and a public fundraising campaign was established to build the memorial across the street, where his detractors had to look at it when they entered or left the hospital.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t built until after he passed away in 1960,” Shearer added. “But it’s another important chapter of his legacy that is still talked about today.”

Tuesday night’s program is free and open to the public, but donations are appreciated. For more information, call the society at (215) 855-1872.

Since we’re just starting autumn, it seems a bit early to be thinking about winter ... and snow.

But we thought it would be fun to show you these two photos, submitted by Frank Schlegel of Harleysville, that shows a blizzard of yesteryear and the same house today.

According to Schlegel, the old photo is a picture of him, in the front of the sleigh, and his father, Nicholas Schlegel, a few days after the blizzard of late February 1941.

“The roads were drifted shut and we needed groceries and supplies (kerosene). We were able to drive through the fields with our freight sleigh from our farm on Keeler Road to our neighbors, The Lawers, on Troxel Road, to get their grocery order.” Schlegel said.

“Mrs. Lawer took this picture,” Schlegel said. “The second picture is the same house today.”

OK, we’re not ready for a blizzard, or any snow, just yet.

But it’s interesting to see how they got around in this area during the blizzard of 1941.