Fun With Dick and Evie

Hi Blog! Today we drove out to Lititz, PA - America's coolest small town.  (At least that's how they bill themselves on their website.)  Our drive took us through miles and miles of Lancaster County farm country. Our destination was the home of our good friends and fishing buddies, Dick and Evie Bergey. Great White had a great time going up and down the rolling hills, all the while avoiding the Amish horse and buggies, and Amish women on scooter bikes. The farms were all very picturesque, but my favorite was one farm with miniature horses.  The mares had little foals with them. I tried to take a photo, but it didn't turn out.  I found on on the internet that most looks like the little guys we saw.

The property that Dick and Evie own used to be Zartman's Mill.  The prior owners had sold off all of the old mill equipment, but the mill building still stands. Evie and Dick tried to learn as much as they could about the property and the milling process.

After a scrumptious breakfast, we drove over to the Mascot Roller Mills and Ressler Homestead. Touring this remarkably well-preserved water-powered grain mill is like stepping back in time. We learned about the history of milling all along the banks of the scenic Mill Creek. The adjacent 1855 miller's house, home to three generations of Resslers, gives you a sense of early 20th century housekeeping and family life. The home is preserved just as it was when brother and sister Franklin and Anna Ressler offered their neighbors the finest flour, along with neighborly hospitality. They had a phone installed on the back porch for neighbors to use (which they still do to this day).

The first mill on the site was constructed in the 1730's. The original mill used large wooden overshot water wheels to turn the millstones. The mill was updated in 1906 with water powered turbines and chilled iron roller mills.  Here is a look at the original rollers that were used to grind wheat into flour.

Here the docent is demonstrating the attrition (feed) mill by Robinson Manufacturing Company of Muncy, Pa., which is used to mill corn for visitors and neighbors. The corn is ground, falls down to the basement is then carrie up the conveyor to the second floor where the corn meal is separated from the husk. The final meal falls down the wooden chute into the white bucket.

Since the corn is slightly roasted before being ground, the mill smelled just like popcorn. Here is the finished product. We learned the most common use of corn meal in Lancaster County is not corn bread, but for corn mush. Mix corn meal with a little water, put in fridge to set, then slice down and fry.  You can serve it with butter and syrup, just like pancakes or fried oatmeal. In the winter months, pork products and spices were added to the mush and thus scrapple was invented!

We got to see samples of the different types of wheat that can be ground using the iron rollers. Coolest fact we learned today:  How Graham Crackers got their name.  Turns out that Graham flour is a type of whole wheat flour named after the American Presbyterian minister Rev. Sylvester Graham (1794–1851), an early advocate for dietary reform. Graham despised the discarding of nutrients and bleaching with alum and chlorine involved in making white flour and white bread, and believed that using all of the grain (without adding chemicals) in the milling of flour and baking of bread, was a remedy for the poor health of his fellow Americans during changes in diet brought on by the Industrial Revolution. Imagine how healthy we all would be now if people followed this advice back in the 1800's.

The mill is completely powered by water from Mill Creek.  A small dam forces water down the mill race where it is used to power the turbines.  Here is the back of the mill with the stream in the distance.

After running through the mill and powering the turbines, the tail race runs behind the miller's house and back into Mill Creek.

We also took a tour of the Ressler Family House, but, unfortunately, they don't allow photos inside.

After the tour, we went to lunch. Since no visit to Lancaster County would be complete without a covered bridge, we made Dick stop the car so we could take this photos.

For lunch, we stopped at Reflections in Leola, PA. The restaurant was named after the previous owner discovered an old well inside the house and put a light down the shaft to see how far it went. They could just barely see their reflection in the water. Here is Kathy trying to see her reflection.

Here we all our getting ready to enjoy our lunch. Did you notice we were wearing our new Broad Street Run t-shirts.  :)

After lunch, we bade Evie and Dick a fond "fare well" for their upcoming trip to Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Our time in Pennsylvania is coming to a close. We weren't able to see as many people as we would have liked, but we'll be back in November.