The year is rapidly winding down ... seems like just yesterday we were fearing the start of the year 2000, and now we’re closing out 2010.

And yes, winter has started. The cold days and the snow we’ve already had won’t let us forget that.

So today we pulled a few photos from Reporter files to see how things looked back in the winter of 1979.

In one photo, students are bundled up against the cold and the snow as they walk to what was then Hancock Elementary School on Hancock Street, Lansdale.


This photo was shot in February 1979, and Hancock Elementary has since been transformed into the district offices for North Penn School District.

In the other more “artsy” photo, you see the freight yard off Fifth Street, Lansdale, near Walnut Street.


This photo was snapped in January 1979 and the tracks make for an interesting pattern in the snow.

So what weather are we facing in 2011? Maybe we should ask the groundhog.ctive caps.

With the holidays upon us, it seems only fitting to feature two photos today that show the nurses at the former North Penn Hospital gathering for a little holiday cheer.

Mary Ellen Palermo of North Wales shared these photos with us, and noted that they were taken during the 1970s.

She also noted that, back then, nurses always were in uniform and their caps were reflective of the school of nursing where they had graduated.

She was able to supply some of the names for the photo that shows the nurses gathered in front of the Christmas tree.


They include herself, in the back row, second from right; and two other nurses in that row named Kitty and Samogie. That’s all the information for that row.

The women in front are identified as Jackie Gilkie, Maggie Mulhearn and Mary McCoach.

The nurses in the other photo, shown with “Santa,” are not identified. But we wonder just what it is that Santa is receiving in that IV...

So when you gather for your holiday parties this week and next, think back on these nurses who worked at North Penn Hospital, in their crisp uniforms and distinctive caps.

The holidays are a time when many of us gather as families.

And this photo shared by Ellis Kriebel of Harleysville shows a family gathered together — but we don’t know if it was for a festive reason.

According to Kriebel, it probably was the last group photo taken of this Kriebel family, sometime before the end of World War I.


Seated are his great-grandparents, Eliza Snyder Kriebel and Aaron Bergey Kriebel.

The daughters are Mary Ann, at left, and Ida K. Nase of Almont, Bucks County, who died during the flu epidemic of 1918.

Four of the sons lived in Lansdale. They are, from left, Arthur of Green Street; Oscar of York Avenue; Jesse of Terre Haute, Ind.; Abram of Doylestown; Irwin of Derstine Avenue; and Cyrus of Mount Vernon Street.

In addition to Aaron and the eight children, Ellis reports that both he and his father were born on the farm on Kriebel Road at Anders Road in Towamencin Township.

There was a time when you could stop by at Santa’s special house in Lansdale and spend some time with the jolly old elf, detailing your Christmas list and having your photo snapped.

Lansdale is even trying to bring that tradition back to the borough.

But surely these boys — now men — remember when Santa was easily accessible in Lansdale.


This photo was snapped in 1951 and shows Santa with William Morris, 6, at left, and his brother Richard, 4.

Santa’s headquarters were on Main Street, near the former Feldi’s building.

The photo appeared in The Reporter back in the day, and noted that the boys were the sons of Mr. and Mrs. William Morris of Allentown Road, near Lansdale.

It also noted that Santa was inviting children to stop by until Christmas Eve, to share their holiday wish lists.

Hope these two “boys” have been good this year, and are ready for a Christmas Eve visit!