Thoughts

By BOB URBAN

rurban@tnonline.com

You have to go back some time, but a lot of pre-baby boomers who live in Tamaqua will remember The Rev. Milton Detterline, who recently passed away on April 6 at the age of 80.

He was a great guy funny, articulate, personable. As pastor of St. John United Church of Christ for eight years, from 1961 to 1969, the best way you could describe "Rev. Milt" was that he made religion fun.

A prolific writer, it was only natural that Detterline was attracted to the old Tamaqua Courier, the paper where I was serving my apprenticeship as a sports and cub reporter. We became friends. I looked forward to his frequent visits to the newsroom.

When I moved to Pottstown it wasn't that much longer when Rev. Milt moved to that area also, to the tiny St. Peter's Village in Chester County where he became pastor of St. Peter United Church of Christ, Knauertown. He came to St. Peter's on a temporary assignment, and became so enamored with the place that he never left.

Milt was much more than a pastor. He was an author, poet and philosopher. But what I remember most about him was how he always cheered up a newsroom when he visited. The man was constantly upbeat. And he was interesting. How many other clergymen do you know who loved mountain climbing?

He also took on the assignment of being a cruise ship cleric so he had an opportunity to travel.

And travel he did. He traveled throughout the world on personal adventures, according to his obituary, as well as leading guided tours in 62 countries in five continents.

It has been many years since I last saw or spoke with Rev. Milt. But I never forgot him. He was one of most interesting and entertaining characters that I have met in this profession.

He's going to be missed by the many people he touched in his 80 years.

We know George Hydock is proud. And so should the rest of the residents of the tiny village of Brockton.

In a few weeks, on May 15, the community is going to house a new, $300,000 fire truck. The funding came from grants and fundraisers. This is a great tribute to a small community.

Aside to my friend and loyal reader, Mike Terry. Thanks for always remembering "the lad's" birthday. You never forget.

Here's hoping you're hitting the little white ball straighter and farther this year than you ever have.

This column would be nothing without readers responses. There never seems to be a shortage of quizzes or lists. The following list is named "Puns for Educated Minds".

Hope you have some fun figuring them out.

1. The roundest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.

2. I thought I saw an eye doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.

3. She was only a whiskey maker, but he loved her still.

4. A rubber band pistol was confiscated from algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.

5. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.

6. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.

7. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.

8. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.

9. A hole has been found in the nudist camp wall. The police are looking into it.

10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.

11. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.

12. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: 'You stay here; I'll go on a head.'

13. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.

14. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'

15. The short fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.

16. The man who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.

17. A backward poet writes inverse.

18. In a democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.

19. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.

20. If you jumped off the bridge in Paris, you'd be in Seine.