This Was Doylestown, 1952

School officials visit new high school -

Many school boards, accompanied by school superintendents, have made recent trips to the new Central Bucks High School [which opened in September 1952; today it is known as CB West] to discover what aspects of it might fit their own needs in an extensive building program.

From Corry, Erie county, Superintendent Lawrence Douglass, with members of his school board, came to study the school as a model for a joint school similar to it which is being planned. They brought with them architects from Allentown.

The school board from Norristown and Superintendent Elwood A. Geiges also were recent visitors. They are planning a new building.

J. Paul Burkhart, county superintendent for Cumberland county, brought members of several boards to study the layout of the school and its equipment. They are making extensive building plans.

From Buena Vista, N.J., Superintendent Dominic Garafalo and members of the school board made a survey of the high school with a view to building a joint school for two districts.

Fifteen teachers from christmas flowers germany , who are studying at Temple University under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State, made a tour of the building as part of their educational course. They were impressed by the enthusiasm of the students at a "pep" rally and called the school a "students' paradise." They explained that the German schools have very meager equipment.

East Court street being widened -

Doylestown borough workmen are now widening a bottleneck portion of East Court street between Broad and Church streets.

This improvement was authorized some time ago by Borough Council as one of the numerous street improvements being planned by the borough's street committee.

One large tree is being removed in the East Court street widening. The street will be widened by four feet in front of the Robert Poole property at 91 East Court street. New curb and gutter will be laid along that improved stretch.

Other improvements are expected when certain parking meters are removed near the corners of dangerous intersections, a suggestion that was made at the last meeting of Borough Council. The police committee was directed to make a survey of the intersections where driving is dangerous because of parking meters being too close to intersections.

No effort has been made yet to eliminate a bottleneck along South Pine street where cars still jam both sides of the street, making two-way driving next to impossible.

Kiwanis auction raises $1,500 for needy children -

The hundred men and women who attended the sixteenth annual auction of the Kiwanis Club of Doylestown at the Doylestown Country Club Tuesday night displayed a spirit of enthusiasm for a worthy cause.

When the last article had been sold by Auctioneers E. Newlin Brown and his son, Morrell Brown, the final tally sheet showed that over $1,500 was cleared to the club's "youth service and underprivileged child fund."

Three hundred articles donated by the folks of this and nearby communities were sold "under the hammer" to the highest bidders, and bargains were few and far between.

Items auctioned included apparel for men and women, fruit, dinners, shrubbery, turkeys and chickens, theatre tickets, shoes, horse meat, cigars, legal advice, hosiery, furniture, insurance policies, concrete blocks, hams, coal and fuel oil.

A six-month-old puppy, donated by a Doylestown nurse, found a new home in the Furlong section for $40.

Dental care and medical care for a year for children selected by the club's underprivileged child committee was donated by a number of the local doctors and dentists, and purchased at the auction, with individual bids as high as $75.

Auction proceeds also will assure enough milk for the community's underprivileged children.

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American Legion post to aid wounded veterans -

At a meeting of the Albert R. Atkinson, Jr. American Legion Post 210 Monday evening, plans were made to participate again this year in the annual Valley Forge Christmas Story.

This Christmas cheer movement, which has enlisted the help of the entire community, is a result of the combined efforts of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Military Order of Cooties and the American Legion 40 and 8.

Robert Brugger will head the community drive, and donations for the purchase of television sets, small radios and individually wrapped gifts will be requested.

Gifts will go to the Valley Forge General Hospital, where 1,400 boys [soldiers] from the Korean theater are hospitalized, and to the Coatesville Veterans Hospital, where veterans of World War I and II and Korea are confined.

Prior to the meeting, the monthly dinner of the past commanders of the post was held at the Doylestown Inn, with 12 past commanders present.

Presbyterian men hold Ladies' Night -

The Doylestown Chapter of the Presbyterian Men entertained 60 wives and friends at a Ladies' Night dinner held in the recreation hall of the church Friday evening.

Raymond Buck and his kitchen committee prepared and served a meal of soup, chicken salad, peas, fried oysters, rolls and strawberry sundaes.

Jack Champion led the devotional period and gave a short talk on family life. He stressed the fact that the ministry of the home is fundamental in the religious life of the nation.

A men's double quartet composed of Harold Haldeman, Albert Goulding, Earl Frick, William Yerkes, Stanley Hellerman, William Liebig, Charles Liebig and Robert Pool entertained with songs and Christmas carols.

"The Trial of Mr. Everyman," a comedy which took Mr. Everyman to task for not engaging in church activities as much as his wife and children, was presented.

Election of officers followed the evening's entertainment. Howard Smith, Jr. was elected president for the coming year. The outgoing president, Walter Stump, was thanked for his work during the past year.

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Doylestown Town Notes -

A surprise baby shower was given for Mrs. Charles Fairchild, of Mechanics street, by Mrs. Joseph W. Howe at her home on Linden avenue. The biggest surprise of all was a large cake decorated in pastel colors and with four tiny baby dolls.

Perry Erclena, son of Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Erclena, has been ill at his home for over a week with a throat infection.

Ernest J. Keyser and daughter Gloria, of Union street, attended the Army-Navy game at Philadelphia on Saturday.

Mr. and Mrs. Wilmer A. Lownes and son Wilmer, Jr., of Harvey avenue, spent Friday and Saturday hunting near White Haven [Luzerne County]. Their son is home on a two weeks' leave from the Navy.

Robert Dunston, of South Clinton street, is in the Emergency Hospital for a tonsillectomy.

General William McCain and daughter Elizabeth, and grandson, of East Court street, have returned from Mississippi, where they spent two weeks in the general's native state.

Eleanor Elizabeth Stillwagon celebrated her third birthday Wednesday at her home on North Hamilton street.

The annual Junior Woman's Club ball was held at the Doylestown Country Club on Saturday night with a good attendance. Simple decorations of ferns and flowers were used.

Peggy Sue Tutt, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth R. Tutt, of Maple avenue, is improving from the injury she received about two weeks ago when she fell from a moving car.

Miss Barbara McEvoy, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. William J. McEvoy, of East State street, was home for the week-end from Alfred University in Alfred, N.Y.

Mr. and Mrs. Claude Fellman, of East Court street, announce the birth of a son Tuesday at the Emergency Hospital.

The Melinda Cox Free Library will be closed for two weeks, from December 3 to December 17, for interior decorating. There will be no overdue penalty for books which become due during that period.

From the Doylestown Daily Intelligencer, Week of Nov. 30-Dec. 6, 1952

About this column: We plumb the rich depths of the Doylestown area's 250-plus years of history, discovering quite often that the more things change, the more they stay the same...

German-born goldsmith carving out business in new surroundings

Glorious sunsets. Grey, moody days. The pearly whiteness of a seashell and the soft curve of a beach rock.

Jan Peterknecht finds inspiration in his natural surroundings, and pounds, pulls, etches and melts it into metal, one intricate detail at a time.

Peterknecht is a native of northern Germany, where he originally started his career in woodworking, as a boatbuilder. Once dust allergies forced him to stop, he decided to study metal work in Munich, metal dust being heavier and thus less airborne.

After completing internships doing repairs and custom metal work with various jewelry studios in Germany, Peterknecht opened his own small business, selling his own jewelry designs at craft fairs and markets.

On a whim, Peterknecht — deciding he’d like to explore the world a bit before settling down — applied for a few jobs in jewelry stores in Canada before accepting one in St. John’s.

“I had once seen the movie ‘The Shipping News’ and, coming from the Alps and loving the shore, I thought I would stick with what I knew,” Peterknecht said of his move to Newfoundland.

He arrived in St. John’s in November 2007, and since then, has been one of the country’s few master goldsmiths.

Nowadays Peterknecht works for himself, in a small shed workshop in the back garden of the home he shares with his wife, Kelly, and 16-month-old son, Magnus.

He built the workshop himself, from the window frames to the maple bench on which he practices his craft. He also uses what he calls a European-style bench: a piece of leather, attached to the underside of the wooden bench to form a sort of pocket, which he says enables him to catch the metal dust and melt it down or send it away to be processed and made reusable.

His tools, he said, came from Germany — causing customs officials some wonder when he first arrived by air — and some of them are improvised.

He works in silver and gold: he buys the silver in sheets from the mainland, and sources the gold from different sources, including commemorative coins from the bank or post office, which he melts, mixes to make 14- or 18-carat,  flattens and rolls out. Though he often works with stones for custom jewelry, he doesn’t much like it, feeling it takes away from the rest of the piece.

He does sometimes add small diamonds to his work, which give the pieces a bit of sparkle without too much distraction, he said.

“Right now I like the idea of working with just metal; I think it’s a pure way to express myself,” he said.

His work consists mainly of rings, earrings and necklaces, usually with a natural theme, he said. He often travels around the area with his camera, taking photos of the landscape.

A current favourite design of his represents the stacked slate walls he’s noticed around people’s homes and gardens, and he’s used tiny slivers of gold to create the design on silver rings and pendants.

“There are a lot of grim days here, but some days when the sun comes out, everybody says, ‘Isn’t it beautiful?’ and you find something in it that really stays with you,” Peterknecht said.

“One day I was walking near Cuckhold’s Cove, looking at icebergs and there was so much fog it was almost impossible to see them. All of a sudden I noticed some grass from last year poking up, and flowers coming up in little drips. I thought, ‘I can work with this.’”

Peterknecht uses different techniques to project a mood onto his pieces, either by polishing them, pickling them to erode the copper in the metal, making the piece white or etching them in a certain way.

The trick is to get an appearance people can feel, he said.

“To me, that’s the art,” he explained.

“When people can say, ‘I don’t know what it is, but this piece makes me feel this way. That’s what I want.”

Peterknecht has considered doing sculptures, adding mediums like driftwood or certain stones to his work, but recognizes it would have to be something special in order for him to put the time in.

“I have to watch what I’m doing, or people will say, ‘You want $500 for beach rocks?’ he said, laughing.”

Peterknecht is displaying and selling his designs for the first since he’s been in St. John’s, at the Craft Council of Newfoundland and Labrador’s Christmas Fair at the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre, running until 5pm Sunday. The prices of his pieces start at $80, he said.

Though Peterknecht has been offered jobs in B.C., Saskatchewan and South Africa since arriving in St. John’s, this is where he plans to stay, he said, finding the people as inspiring as the landscape.

“Of course, life always goes in different directions, but I like it here a lot. There are a lot of little things that make it interesting.”

Those who don’t catch Peterknecht at the fair and are interested in seeing his work can contact him by email at janpeterknecht@gmail.com.

tbradbury@thetelegram.com

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