A really worthwhile documentary on Centralia for anyone who is interested..

The movie was put on VIMEO by Joe Sapienza II.. 

A stroll down memory lane for me..

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m6lkDmyy9s?feature=oembed&enablejsapi=1&origin=http://safe.txmblr.com&wmode=opaque&w=500&h=374]

A YouTube user Amy Bessler made a pretty cool documentary on Centralia, PA, my hometown and site of the famed mine fire that forced thousands of people out of the area..I know the fine folks who were interviewed in this presentation, and they are good, actually GREAT, people. It’s also a good oratory history of what happened in the town and how the government eventually ended up telling residents they needed to move.

I have written on here before that I recall many memories of my early childhood, sitting on my grandmother’s porch sipping hot chocolate—while homes across the streets were knocked down by heavy machinery. As a child you really don’t comprehend what is occurring right in front of your eyes..

No one was killed by the mine fire, but many died from broken hearts as they watched their once beloved town become an ash heap of rubble..

This documentary is worth the watch, should you have a spare 13 minutes. Worth the time.. 

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

Centralia 'still burns'

Here we go again. Another story from major media on the quaint little town of Centralia, population almost no one. Population once was Over a thousand.. a mine fire changed that, and destroyed a road or two in the process.

The fire started 50 years ago this weekend, a Memorial Day somewhere in time. 

And this year, another news article portrays the town as “macabre.”  It is not macabre. It is a tragic story, of course. However, the typical yearly media portrayal that occurs, or the occasional blip on the radar that it gets in AP news alerts due to constant court cases, always gets me irritated. No one ever really wanted the attention that they got, even today. No one really appreciates that their little home town is now home to explorers and travelers from around the world—people who seem shocked that zombies aren’t walking around the street and fires aren’t smoldering. Instead, now and then, smoke rises. 

Nonetheless, it’s a story. News media come and go. And they did in the 1980s, when NIGHTLINE broadcasted live (complete with a smoke machine for the effect.) And they come and go yet again. 50 years of this.. interesting.