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Aug. 11, 2010
HARTINGTON — It all began when a letter written by an 11-yearold girl living in New York ended up in the hands of a soldier who was stationed halfway around the world.
The correspondence, which started in 1952, continued for close to 58 years before the two came face to face a few weeks ago.
Sgt. First Class Orville Schumacher, Hartington, was serving on the front lines in Korea when he received the first letter from a fifth grade student at a Catholic School in Brooklyn.
“The Chaplain brought the letters and laid them on the table,” Schumacher remembered. “I picked up the one from her.”
Letters between the two continued throughout the conflict, sharing news from their lives and building a bond that lasted longer than the conflict.
The letters kept coming even after Schumacher shipped back to the states. It was sometimes just a Christmas card although a year has never gone by without a note between the two.
This year the decision was made for Schumacher, who is now 80 and Barbara (Goralski) Rohl to finally meet one another.
Schumacher and his wife, Shirley, along with their daughter, Patricia Sedivy, flew into the Philadelphia International Airport where they were met by Rohl and her son.
Schumacher and his family spent five days at the Rohl home in Pennsylvania getting to know one another and taking in some of the sights, including the Crayola Factory, the Martin Guitar Company, a scenic train ride while visiting the town of Jim Thorpe and a show at Shawnee Playhouse.
Rohl was happy to finally meet the soldier, who she only knew through letters.
Aug. 11, 2010
HARTINGTON —Plumbing and Electric began knocking down the 99-year-old Holy Trinity Catholic Church rectory at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
It was decided to tear the old structure down after the parish underwent an extensive study comparing the cost of repairing and reworking the building compared to building a new structure.
The new rectory will be built approximately where the current rectory had stood since the building was officially completed in 1914.
