Then and Now: A Tour of Schnecksville, Pennsylvania with Paul Schneck

[@betsylaub6697]

This is priceless! Hard to believe your Dad is 91- he is amazing.

[@jessicajones6032]

Thank you for making this video! I love history like this. Your father is a treasure ❤

[@lynncronomiz97]

Darlene this was great. I remember riding my bike through downtown and going to Moyer’s Store and Stuber’s store. I never knew that Roy and Ann Kern owned the Schneck house and donated it.

[@Nhrafan2608]

Found your videos because of a post on facebook. I could listen to him talk about the history of this area of PA for weeks!!! I grew up in Ironton, went to kindergarten in Schnecksville and then Ironton elementary, troxell and then the high school in orefield. I put countless miles on these roads when I learned to drive and hearing about the history is the greatest thing. I would love to know if he knows any history of Ironton. I have been collecting every photo and map I could get my hands on from the Ironton railroad and the local history has always interested me. Thank you SO MUCH for these videos!

[@darleneschneck]

It’s great to hear from you! My dad is a treasure for sure! Be sure to check out our other videos. My dad and I talked about Ironton last year when I was contacted by the school for any history we could share. Last year was the 100th anniversary of the school. My dad didn’t spend much time in Ironton back in those days. When he was growing up, Ironton was the school for many first and second generation kids from Eastern Europe, whose fathers worked in the industries in Ormrod and Cementon. Schnecksville school was mostly Pennsylvania Dutch farm kids. I was able to find some fascinating newspaper articles from the early days of Ironton school, if you would like those, send me a message through Facebook Messenger and I’ll send them to you. Thanks again for watching!

[@user-David-Alan]

Wow, great family history. Grew up in Emmaus in the 60's. Built a house in Neff's in the 70's and loved living up there. It has change so much since then. Thanks for making this documentary of your family. Live in Florida now for the last 37 years. Stay well and be safe. Constu mega funga are some of the very few words I know in Dutch.

[@darleneschneck]

Thank you for watching and commenting! Glad you enjoyed this. You certainly lived in the Dutch parts of Lehigh County, it was so rural back then. I miss that too. Be sure to watch the other videos I did with my dad of the area. We did a walking tour of Neffs!

[@bbreeze57]

We lived a couple homes down from Jeff Schneck, Played with the Bachman boys, David George, Cindy and Randy Smoyer, Freddy Danigar (spell?) Bobby lived across the street by the grange. Our home is still there but everything has changed.

[@darleneschneck]

The Bachmans are my second cousins, and I remember Jeff. Yes, the area sure has changed from the ‘70s.

[@joshbingham9170]

Very well done!!!!

[@michaelkingon7154]

This is so good to see this tour video! I also happen to be long time dear friends with the Shankweiler family! I've known John for over 40 years now and also knew his parents Henry and Joyce who I terribly miss so much!

[@darleneschneck]

Thank Michael, so great to hear from you! Joyce was my dad’s cousin (we are actually related on both sides of her family). I call John and his siblings my double cousins! I spent so much time at their house when I was young. Joyce was like the pied piper of Schnecksville, she got our family up on the stage for music and skits, we were always practicing at her house. I miss her too. So much energy and creativity. Great family. Thank you for watching, glad you enjoyed it!

[@michaelkingon7154]

@@darleneschneck Wow that's quite a family! Sounds to me like Joyce was either the Ambassador or President of Schnecksville! From what John tells me Katie is going to move into the house and they're in the process of fixing it up now. I wonder what's going to happen to that grand piano in the house.

[@lindacollar7683]

Enjoyed your video. Lived in Schnecksville from 1958-1963 on Main Street. Believe the addresses were changed and maybe no longer Main St. Went to the Elementary school for 4th and maybe 5th grade. Attended Sunday School at the old church in town. Thanks of the memories.

[@darleneschneck]

Thank you for watching and commenting! Yes, the addresses were changed in Schnecksville some time ago. We are glad we could bring back some happy memories!

[@barbaraedgley2634]

thank you for this delightful video. God bless both.

[@kevinmiller5915]

Great video. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

[@Arch-uu1oj]

Very cool video

[@jiminthecountry3849]

great video - thank you for sharing this!

[@brianwalbert4175]

Darlene ,you and your father are so delightful to listen to ,he is sharp and full of life for a man his age , some of our biggest regrets are not talking or asking our parents and grand parents about there lives growing up Thanks for sharing ,and a shout out to Rick Wright the gentlman you bumped into for wearing a Henry Lumber tee shirt , from Neffs ,they are a long time buisiness that I'm sure supplied lumber to schnecksville and many others in the lehigh vally .

[@darleneschneck]

Thank you, Brian, for your kind comments! I'm glad you had the opportunity to meet my parents last year. My dad is really incredible, he works in the yard every day, and when I was up last month, he was trimming a tree! Yes, Henry Lumber has been around a long time, my dad actually knew Arthur Henry, who started that company in the 1930s!

[@brianwalbert4175]

@@darleneschneck I was wondering if he knew of Arthur Henry ! Thanks for that information , my next visit there i will bring that up I,'m sure they will be delighted to hear that , keep up the good work !!

[@suehoffman4707]

Don't forget - the bicycle store was Stahley Landscaping.

[@marjoriereagan5604]

I grew up in Emmaus in the 60s and often went to the Game Preserve and Trexler Orchards. What a great memory your Dad has! I especially like the visit to the Schneck Log house!

[@darleneschneck]

Thank you!!

[@terryllenhart5331]

I live up in leather corner post, I love your videos remembering the past. God bless your Dad's memories of the past. Incredible.

[@darleneschneck]

Thank you so much!! He really is a treasure, taking us all on these time-travel trips! I have more videos on the way! (Already recorded him in Neffs, Rising Sun, and at his family barn.)

[@bobsampson8155]

I grew up in Orefield, and sooo enjoyed watching this! Thank you!!! Debbie Sasara Sampson

[@alison4446]

Wow.... what a fantastic job documenting our Schneckville. My husband and I have lived here in Crestwood Heights for almost 31 years. We really do hate to see all the construction that is going on in "our little piece of paradise".

[@wardman21]

I'm obsessed with this stuff. Do you have any more old pictures and videos of the area?

[@darleneschneck]

Yes! Check out my KZbin channel for all my videos, and subscribe to see new ones! www.youtube.com/@darleneschneck

[@sallykershaw4837]

Thank you for the memories. I grew up in Allentown. We didn’t get a car until I was a teenager. Almost every Sunday my dad would drive us through the Game Preserve and we’d look for the buffalo and wild horses in the fields. This was my mom’s favorite place. Mom always had a spot in the preserve that she always said she wanted her ashes spread when she died. We got special permission to spread both my parents ashes there. We had a memorial bench put on the hill overlooking the valley...her favorite spot. Unfortunately someone stole the bench.

[@darleneschneck]

Thank you so much for sharing your story. What a beautiful place return to the earth. I too have sweet memories of visiting and picnicking there as a child. General Trexler gave us all a marvelous gift.

[@peterkesseler9898]

"Zweimal abgeschnitten und noch zu kurz". This funny sentence I heard also from my father here in Germany where I am living. Unbelievable, that this figure of speech was used by the PA dutch people too. Wow 🙂

[@darleneschneck]

Peter, what town are you from in Germany? This is unbelievable to me too to think that this saying was brought to Pennsylvania in the 1700s and passed down. My dad is a 7th generation American! Have you heard anyone else use that phrase besides your father?

[@peterkesseler9898]

@@darleneschneck Hi Darlene, I will ask my father today about this phrase. Maybe it is an coincidence that he used it too. I live 45km away north of the city Koblenz in an area called Westerwald (it is a low mountain range in the northern part of the state Rhineland Palatinate.

[@darleneschneck]

@@peterkesseler9898I will be interested to hear what your father says. My dad laughed and was amazed when he read your comment. Many of the German-speaking immigrants to colonial Pennsylvania were from the Rhineland-Palatinate. Others were from Switzerland and Alsace. I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that this expression goes back many generations to Germany. The area in Pennsylvania where I am from (Lehigh County) held onto their German dialect until the First World War, and it was common to hear it in public up through the 1970s. All four of my grandparents needed to learn English when they went to first grade because their first language was Pennsylvania Dutch. They were born between 1895 and 1905. All had very strong accents when they spoke English. Both of my parents are fluent in the dialect. They were not encouraged to speak it, but they picked it up by listening to their parents. In colonial Pennsylvania, more than 90% of the dialect speakers were of the Reformed or Lutheran faith. The rest were Anabaptists such as Mennonites, Amish, and Dunkards. A third of colonial Pennsylvania was German-speaking! There are few dialect speakers today among the first group (most in their 90s) -those who speak this language today are from the conservative Mennonite and Amish communities.

[@peterkesseler9898]

@@darleneschneck Thank you for explaining those items! I am intereseted in this topic and know some historical backround, because of other youtubers such as Douglas Madenford. Probably you know him personally? I asked my father and my hairdresser today. It is or was a common phrase, used more in an funny way... So, it might be, that it has its origing here in the region where I am living. Greetings to your father. I hope he is still doing well!

[@darleneschneck]

Hi Peter! I am familiar too with Doug and his videos, however I have never met him in person. My parents and I are fascinated by what you told me about your father and that funny phrase. Thank you for asking your dad and your hair stylist about that. It does appear to have originated in the Palatinate. I have not heard of anyone connecting a funny phrase from the 18th century Palatinate to a 21st century Pennsylvania Dutch person. That’s almost a three century span of time! I would like to make a short KZbin video about this phrase, telling the story of how this humorous phrase was passed down and made it across the ocean. Would you be ok with me doing that? What would make it even better is if you could send me a video of your dad or another person saying that same phrase. Would you be willing to do that?

[@thirzapeevey2395]

I'm glad to see that they saved that house. It makes me so sad to see so much of our history being lost into generic modern life. He would have been a brave man to have acquired that land and built that house in 1757, on what would have been pretty much frontier. I had my daughter to the Trexler Nature preserve when she was little. Is it not there anymore? She's sitting across the room right now, and she just supplied the answer to "kanst du mikka fonga" before your dad did. My job here is done. She grew up in Kentucky, and she's only 19, but she knows the PA Dutch jokes, can make Moravian Sugar Cake and salt cookies, and loves scrapple, ring bologna and Lebanon Bologna. I haven't been able to teach her about hog maw. Can't get them anymore. We are working on learning to make corn pie. You know, when I used to ask Grandma why people weren't learning Dutch anymore, she would say that German speakers were so persecuted in WWI. I had no idea what she was talking about, but years later I learned about the Hutterite martyrs. They died the year my grandmother was born. My great grandparents could read and write in German, but my grandparents could only speak it. My mom and uncle could understand it, but not speak it. That kind of explained to me why it died out so fast. Their story got out in the news, and people were afraid to teach German to their kids.

[@darleneschneck]

Thank you for watching, and for your interesting stories! The nature preserve is still there. I'm glad your daughter still knows a bit of Dutch!

[@SkepticCat-pz1zz]

It’s not Pennsylvania Dutch it’s Pennsylvania Deutsch .........Deutsch means German! The language is poorly spoken German Americans mispronounced it for decades.

[@darleneschneck]

Respectfully, that’s not true. When German-speaking people started arriving in colonial Pennsylvania, the English people called all of these people “Dutch.” While the English term originated from the German word, it was spelled “Dutch” by the English and this spelling has been around for 300 years. If you have an issue with this, you’ll need to travel back in time and tell the English people that! I proudly identify as Pennsylvania Dutch.

[@batkat0]

Yeaaaa, that's not true.

[@darleneschneck]

@@batkat0 I have seen original handwritten documents from the 1700s calling Palatinate German-speaking immigrants to Northampton County, Pennsylvania "Dutch." They were not from the Netherlands. There was no nation state of Germany in the 1700s, the term "Dutch" back then compassed a wider swath of people than today. Today in English, the word Dutch is confined to a much smaller region of Europe.