Going to a country church in Oley Township from Kutztown, my wife and I appreciated the warning by a member of our church who also traveled a distance to attend Salem UCC Church on Covered Bridge Road. This woman, a careful driver, said that walnuts are dropping from walnut trees along the country roads, and a large walnut had dropped on her car window shield and broke it, which made for a potentially dangerous situation.
Although it is the time of the year for walnuts to be falling, there are plenty of walnut trees along country roads to watch out for! But, unfortunately, there are no road markings to alert unassuming automobile drivers of their presence, like the white curb lines along country roadsides painted for safety. Thank God, at least for these white curb side lines to show you where the macadam ends and the forest begins.
Modern vehicles drive faster than old time carriages, and our townships have not yet realized the need for modern traffic patterns. Ironically, a good friend, Oliver Kindig-Stokes, was killed on a country road outside of Lobachsville on Oct. 18, 2015, which made me very distraught.
A very bright 22-year-old Oley Township Board member of the Oley Valley Heritage Association, he was a gifted historian that I had the pleasure to work with and know. I pray that all citizens are alert driving the picturesque country roads of the Oley Valley, the heart of the Americana culture of the United States. God bless him and his family! He will be missed by the Oley Heritage Board of Directors.
Richard H. Shaner is director of the American Folklife Institute in Kutztown.