My morning was interrupted by a telephone call from an enthusiastic young man looking for some Bill Campbell pottery pieces. Luckily I was at the computer and could check our inventory for him; unfortunately I had none of the items he needed. He said he was having trouble because there was no gallery outlet near where he lived. And where was that? Billings, Montana! He had Googled Bill Campbell and The Bare Wall came up as a source. Do you think I might advertise the business as "nationally famous" after this? (I was able to direct him to Bill's studio and he was very grateful.) . . . It is amazing how much people can learn about you on the Internet. If you never have done so, Goggle your own name. You will be surprised by what you find . . . Thanks to a loan from Jacquie Kirby Hensel Bob and I are reading The Blue Orchard. Bob is finished and I am halfway through. Based on fact this is the story of a poor Perry County lass who becomes a nurse to a black abortion doctor in Harrisburg. Street addresses, stores, hotels, influential politicians and the like are all mentioned by name. It is virtually a history of the city through the Great Depression, World War II and beyond. It is exceptionally well written and a must read for anyone interested in our area's past . . .

Well, it must have been a swinging birthday party. I am afraid our honoree lost some of the dignity she had shown in yesterday's post. One too many mimosas, I suspect. Girls just wanna have fun . . . It will come as no surprise that the month of February was a disastrous one for The Bare Wall. Too much snow and too little traffic . . . Have never figured out how to include a discount coupon on this site that you can print out, so I urge you to grab a copy of TheBurg when you see one. Clip the advertisement therein and save yourself 15% when you spend $15 . . .

JJ's sister Cecilia will be one year old tomorrow. Uncle Bob will represent us at her celebratory brunch . . . the noon to midnight musicale at the Maennerchor to benefit a Haitian hospital that was snowed out has been rescheduled for tomorrow; $20 donation is recommended . . . was truly saddened to learn that Jeff Bruno of Dauphin has left us. Jeff was always upbeat, cheerful and enthusiastic; a really one-in-a-million guy who will be missed by many, many people. Our condolences to his family and friends . . .

City controller Dan Miller has created a website to make the workings of his office and city government more accessible to the public. This is an admirable first step that hopefully will be duplicated by the new mayor. I believe everyone will find the information interesting and enlightening. http://harrisburgcitycontroller.com/ . . .

Was sorry to hear that plans for a luxury hotel at the corner of Third and State have been terminated. And a proposed high-rise hotel for Second and State also seems iffy at the moment . . . When I came here from Johnstown in 1962 Harrisburg was known as “Convention City” and hosted dozens of statewide conventions. We had many hotels of varying quality all grouped closely together . . . First and foremost was the Penn-Harris at Third and Walnut (featured prominently in the Mae West movie Go West, Young Man) where Strawberry Square stands today. The Penn-Harris had the Esquire Bar, a little French bistro overlooking the lobby (the Rue de la Paix I think it was called), the Commonwealth Room for formal dinners and banquets, the basement Pennsylvania Grille for breakfast coffee and fast lunches, and the Harris Ferry Tavern, a treasure trove of Harrisburg memorabilia. Its demolition went terribly astray, and the dynamite sent it tumbling into a line of Third Street shops that had to be torn down . . . across the street (now the Fulton Building) was the Harrisburger Hotel with its Pickwick Club for lunches and the basement Tack Room that served the best steaks in town (though the flames were so high in the open grill pit that one feared the building might go up at any minute) . . . the Governor stood at Fourth and Market and had a wonderful restaurant for lunch and dinner . . . the Senate was on the Square facing Market and featured a bar frequented by politicos (Durbin’s, I think, but I’m not sure) . . . Lesser accommodations could be had at the William Penn on Market about where Rite-Aid is today, the Plaza next to the train station which burned (the hotel, not the train station!), and the Warner on Market Square where Charles Dickens stayed during his tour of America. The last served wonderful corned beef sandwiches for lunch and the bar entertained a mostly-gay clientele in the evenings. It also provided space for the Arena House theater, our own professional "New York" playhouse. The Warner deteriorated badly in its last days, a haven for drug users and ladies-by-the-hour it was rumored . . . Zimmerman’s Holiday Inn at Second and Chestnut joined this group later and waged a war with the franchise company before becoming Holiday Inn Town (now the Crowne Plaza). It was noted for its portholes in the bar that looked into the swimming pool and for a rooftop revolving restaurant which was never open when I was there and I doubt that it ever revolved (though that would have been a nice sales pitch, I would imagine) . . . Gone are the glory days when a thousand or more visitors flooded the city for a few days, crowding restaurants and shopping up a storm at Pomeroy’s, Bowman’s and Mary Sachs’ . . . (Tried to find you a picture of the Penn Harris on the ‘net but was rebuffed—all those that I found were copyrighted by some brilliant entrepreneur . . .

A gray day, and nothing more to say today. More snow is on the way?

The agony of the old man in the tree at 711 Green during the height of the blizzard mirrors my own anguish as the snows melt and I discover that the bushes in front of The Bare Wall have been severely crushed, so much so that they may have to be removed. Of course this flattening happens after even moderate snows and the shrubbery bounces back but it looks a bit reluctant this time around. Our thanks to Bob Coldren for the photo (click to enlarge) . . . Some of the Spring merchandise arrived today. Cute bunnies, tin chicks, and woolly sheep; hope this is a harbinger of better weather . . . For Bob Deibler it was Bette Davis eating at the Harris Ferry Tavern in the old Penn-Harris Hotel; for Larry Kirkhuff, it was a nice chat on the train between New York and Philly with Pearl Bailey. I am talking about those totally unexpected encounters with notable people that just happen to occur when you turn a corner . . . I have had a few of these celebrity sightings in my life that were not job related . . . shared an elevator ride at Wanamaker's in Philadelphia with Oscar winner Jose Ferrer who was in town to promote a new Broadway-bound show . . . stumbled into and wasted a lot of time in New York City watching Mia Farrow film a scene for Rosemary's Baby; was doubly-pissed when that scene didn't make the final cut . . . almost got struck down by a sporty Mustang on Broad Street in Philly; the driver was Sammy Davis, Jr . . . went looking for an evacuee at William Penn High School during the Agnes flood and got shoved aside for Richard Nixon . . . but the big shock of my life occurred at Expo 67 in Montreal when, on a visit to the Ethiopian pavilion for the best coffee I ever tasted, I was truly manhandled to make way for Halie Selassie, the Emperor . . . my impression? "Boy, is he tiny!" . . .