The students who graced the fourth-grade classroom at the old Towamencin School in 1939 are featured in this spot today.
Ellis Kriebel of Harleysville was kind enough to share this photo — and provide the names of the children shown.
In the front row, you see Ernest Ziegler, Donald Dager, Clair Clemens, Harrison Metz and Willard Detwiler. Those are some snazzy socks on the young men.
In the second row, we have Frances Maksen, Janet Weaver, Gladys Troxel, Irene Metz, Betty Swartly, Irene Kriebel, Lola Gehman, Betty Reinford, Dorothy Garis and Cora Tregea.
In the third row you see Loraine Kriebel, Doris Hendricks, Thelma Kriebel, Betty Allebach, Marian Lackner, Eva Rittenhouse, Elsie Cook, Marie Hendricks and Esther Clemens.
Featured in the fourth row are Robert Alderfer, Carl Hoepfl, Harold Fritz, Harold Rittenhouse, Eugene Schlegel and Charles Rea.
If you’re counting, that’s 30 students in that class.
The teacher, Louise Schlumberger, is not shown in the photo. Maybe she escaped for a well-needed rest.

Steve Bucher from Harleysville is sharing a family photo with us today of his greatgrandparents.
He notes that his mother’s grandparents are on the left: the Rev. James B. Shisler and his wife, Sarah.
On the back of the photo, Bucher’s mother wrote: “James was an early Church of the Brethren preacher.”
Bucher’s father’s grandparents are shown on the right of the photo. They are Jacob and Anna Shaner Bucher.
Apparently everyone had gathered for an “in-law” shot.

It’s too bad we didn’t have this photo in time to run it before the Super Bowl, but we thought it was cool enough to run it this week regardless. John Nolen of Lansdale dropped off this photo, that was taken by former Reporter photographer Ken Zepp in 1989.

The caption for this photo noted that “a group of men who preferred their names not be used — perhaps for obvious reasons — enjoy Sunday Super Bowl halftime in 3-D glasses provided as part of a Diet Coke promotion.”

According to Nolen, the 1989 Super Bowl party was held at Rod Rodger’s Barbershop in Lansdale and that some of the men shown include himself, Rod Rodger, Larry Funk, Joe Molinari, Jeff Morrow, Sonny Derscavage, Spencer Reynolds, Larry Morgan and Chas Zepp.Hey, with the popularity of 3-D today, this guys would fit right in.

And by the way, according to a clipping also dropped off, the San Francisco 49ers won the Super Bowl that year with a 20-16 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.Joe Montana’s 10-yard touchdown pass to John Taylor with 34 seconds left provided the winning margin.

The North Penn area didn’t always look this way ... of course.
But if you’d like to see how it once did look, and what might be in those spots today, your chance comes on Tuesday.
The changing face of North Penn area will again be featured at the Lansdale Historical Society’s Community Program, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Lansdale Parks and Recreation Building, Seventh Street and Lansdale Avenue.
“Then You Saw It, Now You Don’t, Part 4” is the latest in a series of shows that uses past and present photographs to show how the region’s landscape has evolved over the past century.
Society photo archivist Steve Moyer uses digital technology to match old and new images of many familiar local scenes, leaving no doubt which sites have stood the test of time.
More than 100 pairs of photographs will be included in this all-new program.
For example, many area residents remember that Hager’s Men’s Store and Woolworth’s 5&10 occupied the Hager and Schultz Building on the northeast corner of Main and Wood Sts. in Lansdale.
But few folks can go back 90 years to 1920, when the tract was occupied by the old Couter homestead and Hartley’s printing shop. Now, Molly Maguire’s holds down the corner spot.
You’ll see those featured in today’s photos on this page.
There is no admission charge to the program, but donations are appreciated.
Also, remember: The January Community Program, “World War II Trunk Show,” which had to be postponed due to bad weather, has been rescheduled for Tuesday, May 10.
For more information, call (215) 855-1872.