Nov 24, 2003 4 min read

It was with much pleasure and nostalgia that I read the Nov. 16 article about Mildred Prosser celebrating her 105th birthday. My sister, Dorothy Krone, from Uniontown sent the article to me. We were next-door neighbors with the Prosser family, and Bill Prosser and my dad, Ed Barcheck worked together at the Bridgeport Mine at the end of Water Street in Brownsville in the 1950s.

Our house was the first one at the top of 18th Street in Brownsville, right on the corner of the road leading to Maxwell. The Prossers lived in the second house from the top of the street.

We moved there from Leisenring 1 right after I graduated from Dunbar Township High School in 1949. My sister, Dorothy and my brother, Bill Barcheck of Springfield, Va., attended Brownsville High School. Then my dad was transferred again, and my youngest brother, Ed Barcheck Jr. of South Union, graduated from Georges Township High School.

With all the moving around from one mining town to another, graduations and marriages, sometimes we lose track of our friends and neighbors.

I speak for my sister and two brothers in wishing Mildred Prosser God’s choicest blessing for many more happy birthdays and to her family, good health, good luck and much happiness.

Catherine Barcheck Zdanek

Garfield Heights, Ohio

Unsportsmanlike conduct

I would like to respond to the letter written by Eliza Billy regarding the recent little league championship football game. I, too, would welcome a review of the tape, but for entirely different reasons. A review of the tape might reveal a lot that she wouldn’t want to see. As a parent of a cheerleader, I was there to cheer on the team and support my daughter, not to be cursed at.

While watching the game, several grown men, and I use the term men lightly, preceded to climb the fence, yell obscenities, not only at the referees but our children. At one point I told one “man” to watch it, as he referred to our cheerleaders as an expletive. My exact words were, “Watch your mouth, those are 12-year-old girls you’re talking to” and was greeted with a middle finger in the air and an obscenity as he was walked away.

At another time, we had a player who had been injured on the field, although it turned out not seriously. While this boy was lying on the field, the other team could be seen giving high-fives and patting each other on the back for a job well done. Talk about poor sportsmanship.

I was also able to hear one gentleman, and again I use this term lightly, tell our kids to do something obscene with their trophies. How is this teaching your children any form of sportsmanship or respect for your fellow man? And one young girl was threatening to beat up our cheerleaders because they were cheering. Sorry, but that’s what cheerleaders do.

At the beginning of the season, when the Colonials handed us a huge loss, we were disappointed, but we did not yell at the children, fans or referees. It was a game. No lives were lost. Get over it.

I do have to commend one person who was there that night. I do not know his name, but can only refer to him as the man in the green sweatshirt. This man, and I say that this time with sincerity, had enough decency to come up to me and apologize for his actions, while letting me know he was upset about the loss. That, I can respect.

What I have a hard time accepting is that this is normal behavior. What are you teaching your children? I am teaching mine to respect people.

Ramona Mills

Waynesburg