Favorite Radio Story Programs From My Childhood

During my childhood years in the 1960s and 70s, Mom and Dad had Christian radio stations playing during just about all our waking hours. Us children looked forward to hearing the many Christian radio stories and dramas that were aired throughout the week. Below I am highlighting a few of the old time radio story programs we enjoyed.

Big John and Sparky

Big John and Sparky was aired on Saturday mornings. Big John was a mild mannered dad that loved and cared for Sparky who is a puppet. Adventures followed Big John and Sparky as they met up with a variety of characters. Big John voiced most of the characters and planned the sound effects and music. Sparky's voice was created by speeding up the tape to create his high pitch. Occasionally they did some music together, too. Below is The Little Red Caboose. More programming can be heard on Internet Archive - Old Time Radio.

Ranger Bill

Ranger Bill, Warrior of the Woodland, struggling against extreme odds, traveling dangerous trails, fighting the many enemies of nature. This is the job of the guardian of the forest, Ranger Bill. Pouring rain, freezing cold, blistering heat, snows, floods, bears, rattlesnakes, mountain lions. Yes, all this in exchange for the satisfaction and pride of a job well done.

Ranger Bill, Warrior of the Woodland, struggling against extreme odds, traveling dangerous trails, showing rare courage in the face of disaster, in the air, on horseback, or in a screaming squad car. Ranger Bill, his mind alert, a ready smile, unswerving, loyal to his mission. All this in exchange for the satisfaction and pride of a job well done.


One of the above two opening lines were used at the beginning of each episode. This was a Saturday afternoon program that I listened too as a child. Naturally, this radio drama series drew me with my love of nature and adventure. A number of Christian radio stations still carry repeats of this radio drama series. These stories can also be purchased on CDs from Moody Audio.

Sailor Sam

I loved following the adventures of Sailor Sam on both land and sea as a kid. Since I grew up on a farm, I had farm chores to do; but when this story came on, I was allowed to come into the house to listen to the program and then when it was over I went out and finished my chores. Unfortunately, I could not locate any sound file for this program to embed here. But there is a Sailor Sam blog that describes many of the episodes in this series. These also can be purchased at Moody Audio.

Youth Couch Derby

Yesterday, my wife and I went to watch the seventh annual youth couch derby that was taking place in the large parking lot of Franconia Mennonite Church in Montgomery County, PA. It was being sponsored by Franconia Conference and Eastern District Mennonites. For this derby, the youth turn couches into hand pushable vehicles and race to see who can get through the curvy course the quickest while accomplishing several different tasks. Below are some photos from this race.

At the starting line

Coming round the curve

Energetic youth

Approaching youth leader water dousing station

A more traditional couch on wheels

The back row and the person at the wheel have all the hard work

Some youth show a lot of spirit with painted faces

Others show spirit by enthusiastically preparing to douse their youth pastor

The youth in this last photo were from my home church Perkiomenville Mennonite.
You can see many more photos of this team at the church's web site.

More Memories of Dad

Yesterday some digital memorabilia pertaining to Dad was distributed to family members including some older photos. It brought back many good memories. So I thought I would share a small portion of them here.

 

One of a very few pictures of my Dad as a child

My Dad and Mom were married in 1954 in a double wedding.

Dad and Mom are respectively second and third from the viewer's left.

 

My Dad and Mom with their first three toddlers

A family picture with all the children; I am the one in the red suit coat.

Here Dad is operating a tractor-powered saw to cut firewood for the wood stove. The chicken house that held 6,000 chickens in cages is in the background. Directly in front of the chicken house was an orchard containing sour cherry, sweet cherry, apple, peach, and apricot fruit trees.

Dad and Mom making apple cider

Dad butchering a chicken while one of us finishes a late supper after work

Dad enjoyed hiking with us kids

Dad reading bedtime stories

A Walk Through Lenape Park

This past Thursday my wife and I took a walk in Lenape Park near Perkasie, Bucks County, PA. It was a delightfully warm mostly sunny day. Below are a few sights from that walk. It was peaceful and renewing to my soul. In one picture, you will see a creek; it is the East Branch of the Perkiomen Creek.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the last picture below was a drawing by a sixth grader

in a Sunday School class at our church. We had filled in as

substitute teachers and this was her gift to us. I love it.

Signs of Spring

This past Thursday I went for a walk around my home town enjoying the many sights of Spring. Here are some of the highlights from that walk.

Along the hedgerow where we live

This tree is the first one to bloom every Spring.

There's something special about this clump of daffodils.

I love the blue of these blossoms.

A beautiful row of forsythias along an old barn

Even a few tulips blooming already

One of my favorite spring wildflowers

Reflections Past and Present

My thoughts have been somewhat in a jumble not totally sure where I want to go with this post. Perhaps it's in part because of a number of events - my dad passing away on March 6, my last uncle on my dad's side passing away on March 27, and several other acquaintances experiencing similar losses in the past month along with important decisions needing to be made yet not hurried. But I'm going to start by sharing an aerial photo of my dad's farm from the early 1960s. It brings back many childhood memories for me.

 

In this picture to the far left are five chicken coups in a row that were used to house chickens before my time. Next to them are two red buildings side by side. The one closest to the driveway was used to raise chicks for laying hens. I'm not sure what the red building furthermost from the drive was used for. The next red building along the driveway was a combination equipment and corn shed. Then of course comes the large red barn which during my life time was used to house farm equipment, straw, chickens, and sometimes a few other livestock as hobbies by us children. Beyond that was another corn crib and a gray colored chicken house that can't be seen in this picture. The red shed between the barn and the house was mostly a storage shed and at times a garage. It also contained an outhouse where Dad recalls old Sears catalogs were used. As for the farm land Dad grew mostly corn and wheat though he occasionally also farmed oats and barley. Of course, we also had a very large farm patch in which we grew most of the vegetables we ate. Dad also grew lots of fruit trees and harvested some raspberries and blackberries that grew wild in hedge rows and woods.

A beautiful sign of Spring
Bright spots in the midst of lostness

Lastly, but not least, I want to highlight a book that I just recently read. Especially in light of the experiences I and my family have had recently, it is an encouragement to push on and to remember that we'll all be reunited again some day in the future. As I'm writing this I'm thinking of the song "I'm so glad I'm a part of the family of God." So while I'm experience some feelings of lostness right now, I'm ultimately a part of a much larger family that I'll experience in  a much greater way when I get to Heaven. And that larger family will include my more immediate family that I'm missing now.

And if you have 15 minutes this is worth watching.
Eric Whitacre is a talented composer and director.

Playful with Nature

Once in a while I like to play around with images. The original image was photographed in a swampy area of Whites Mill Preservation Area in Salford Township, Montgomery County, PA back on the first day of March. The modified image had a plastic wrap filter applied to it. Notice how it highlights the edges already present in the original photo. Take time to view each image separately for full aesthetic effect and appreciation. Take in both the real and the abstract. Its common name is Skunk Cabbage and its botanical name symplocarpus foetidus.

Original Image

Modified Image