As I remember it, 1986 was a good year. Wooden floor model television sets debuted the odd yet intriguing California Raisins, a Japanese company was advertising something new called the Nintendo Entertainment System, and herculean boom boxes were blasting Bon Jovi and The Bangles.

On May 8th of that year, my Gram, Dorothy Harman, began writing a column for The Luminary entitled Montgomery Locals. I will never forget when my Mom opened the newspaper to show me Gram’s column. I was awestruck to see my Gram’s name in the newspaper. It was mind-blowing to think her name wasn’t in the paper for any old reason she actually got to write part of the newspaper!

For the next eighteen years until the end of her life, my Gram continued to write the Montgomery Locals. I have many memories of visiting her house and seeing her column written out in long hand on a yellow legal pad in her immaculate penmanship, and watching her taking calls on her rotary phone from townspeople wanting her to include announcements of birthdays and anniversaries. Gram also loved collecting quotes and she would close each column with one, humorously referred to as a “THOT.” Every week she would make a trip to Muncy to deliver her handwritten column, and sometimes I got to go along.

They say life comes full circle, and in my case it has. It’s hard to believe that thirty years have gone by since Gram first began writing for The Luminary. I consider myself fortunate to be taking over the column she loved so much.

THOT – “Some people make the world brighter just by being in it.” Mary Dawson Hughes

Montgomery Events

Registration for Pre-K and kindergarten will be held on Tues. Mar. 8 from 8:30-11:30 a.m., and 1:00 -3:00 p.m. at the District Office on Schoolhouse Hill Road. Pre-K is for children who will be four before September 1st, and kindergarten is for children who will be five before September 1st. The registration process is expected to last about thirty minutes. Required records include proof of residency (driver’s license and utility bill), birth certificate, social security number, and immunization record.

A Summer Alive planning meeting will be held at the Montgomery Borough Office on Thurs. Mar. 10 at 6:00 p.m. The summer program to benefit local children will run June 6th through July 15th, Monday through Thursday, with meals and activities from 9:00-12:30.