geocaches as simulacra, or spontaneous shrines

Geocache, a box or container, placed on a location and hidden from public view. Similar to letterboxing, the finders look for it using hand-held GPS, using coordinates found online on the web. The container has a logbook for finders to sign and write a brief note, and small items and trinkets to exchange.

Some geocaches are placed in memory of people that have died on that location.

In this case, the geocache is a form of memorial, or spontaneous shrine.

western PA

1944 plane crash

Sherri Memorial

memorial cache

Flight 93 memorial

Simulacra definition

Similar to roadside crosses found along a road after an accident, or in a dark alley after a crime has occurred. There is a book on spontaneous memorial shrines, it describes the location as acting as conduit to pass messages from one person to another. Some become actors in mass grieving.


Santuario del Divino Amore, about 15 km south east of Rome, Italy (not far from the Via Appia). This church is also visible in the end of Federico Fellini's film "The Nights of Cabiria". The most important "shrine" in this sanctuary are the earphones of the radioman of the airship "Italia", that crashed in the artic sea in 1936. The wood panel has carvings depicting the various episodes of the drama. Eventually, a Soviet icebreaker reached and rescued the survivors, including its leader, Generale Nobile. During the ordeal, the radioman prayed and pledged that should he survive, he would make an offering to this sactuary, a pledge which he followed up.

Santuario del Divino Amore. Many expressions of thanks are by survivors of horrific traffic accidents, as shown with pictures and newspaper clippings.

The stone plaques of "grazia ricevuta" as Thank-You notes, placed on the walls of the sanctuary.






In a street of San Marzano sul Sarno, provincia di Salerno, near Naples, Italy. A small memorial in memory of a deceases in a traffic accident (most likely someone on a moped or small motorbike).



Via Fani, Rome, Italy. Location where former prime minister Aldo Moro was kidnapped by the terrorist group Brigate Rosse. All the seven members of his security detail were killed.


Small marble plaque ("lapide", from "lapis", which means stone in Latin) in honor of a judge that was killed by political terrorists in the late '70s or early '80s. Trionfale neighborhood of Rome, Italy.

Spontaneous shrine in memory of a teenager that was killed in a motorbike accident. Via Garibaldi, Trasterevere neighborhood in Rome, Italy. The red and yellow colored memorabilia reflects the fact that the memorialized was a fan of the soccer club A.S. Roma.




In a back alley siding the railroad tracks near the Via Tuscolana, southeast of Rome, Italy, a small shrine in memory of a young "Carabiniere" police officer, who probably died in the line of duty, probably killed in a fire-arm exchange with drug dealers at a night-time security check. Because of the improvised quality of the memorial, this "lapide" was probably placed by the family of the deceased (and not by an institutional governmental body).


Plaque in the Tiburtina train station, Rome, Italy, in memory of the deported to Nazi concentration camps. Placed on location fifty years after the event occurred.

Burial location and grave site of pets, probably dog or cat, made by a homeless person living in the "tufo" caverns in the Parco della Caffarella, Rome, Italy.


A staple of catholic countries, a form of saying thanks for a miracle is to place a note of "grazia ricevuta", or G.R. Sometimes these plaques are accompaigned by objects, such as crutches (person walks again), eye-glasses (person sees again), or photographs and/or newspaper clippings describing a horrific traffic accident.





book description
"Once again, editor Jack Santino shows his gift for seeing the extraordinary in the ordinary. Spontaneous Shrines and the Public Memorialization of Death
reveals an emerging, globalizing language of loss and memory that can deal with the unassimilable fact of unjust, untimely death. The new traditions documented here are moving, powerful and potentially subversive."--Susan Davis, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
“It is a sad fact of our times that we should have so many reasons to mourn collectively. Wherever that may be (Madrid, Buenos Aires, Oklahoma, Derry, New York, Pouch Cove), for whatever reason (a car crash, assassination, terrorist attack, natural disaster, genocide), grief materializes itself in public in the most extraordinary ways. Just how that happens--and what it tells about who we are--is the subject of this life-affirming book, which examines spontaneous and self-organizing forms of mourning. These grassroots expressions offer an important alternative--and sometimes even resistance--to the formalities of church, funeral home, and civic commemoration. Ephemeral, tactical, and interstitial in the ways they locate themselves in public space, the spontaneous shrines examined in this book are worthy of the careful documentation and analysis provided by this important book.”--Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, author of Destination Culture: Tourism, Museums, and Heritage

“This volume fills the need for sustained attention to the ethnographic and aesthetic details of spontaneous shrines, and situates these observations within a broader theoretical framework for understanding public memorialization of death. Readers will be moved by integrity of those who mourn and provoked by the implications of public acts of mourning we often overlook.”--Peter Tokofsky, Education Specialist at the J. Paul Getty Museum and Adjunct Associate Professor of World Arts and Cultures at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Praise for Jack Santino's Signs of War and Peace:

"Santino shows great evenhandedness in treating the sides in the conflict, and his study is informative, thoughtful, and thought-provoking."--Choice

This extraordinary ethnographic work sheds a fresh light on the capacity of popular tradition to create public space, and collectively fashioned art-driven by passion and intellect-to articulate what is unsayable in politics. Santino's superbly written work illuminates the range of ways in which popular artistic traditions in Northern Ireland make visible what is too often hidden from the view of politics: the personal impacts of political decisions.--Mary Hufford, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Santino provides a rarely available perspective on violence. He presents the perspectives of the people of Northern Ireland through their creative uses of traditional forms of expression. Responding to the threat and reality of death, present in their neighborhoods at all times, they respond with efforts to maintain their humanity and identities with shrines that memorialize specific individuals yet also serve to draw attention to the consequences of the conflict. Understanding the tragic consequences of violence for other human beings offers an alternative to the frustrations of diplomacy. Perhaps such an approach could prove to be a more fruitful route to peaceful solutions.--Beverly Stoeltje, Indiana University

Signs of War and Peace offers a fascinating excursion into the politics of popular art in an embattled land, where two incompatible versions of history coexist. In refreshingly readable prose, Jack Santino shows how public displays like drum-beating, litter-can rattling, handshaking, flag flying, and curbstone and mural painting operate symbolically to perpetuate a state of war. By so doing, he teaches us not only about the anguished inhabitants of Northern Ireland but also about ourselves.--Stanley Brandes, University of California at Berkeley

Signs of War and Peace is an impressive look at the range of display events associated with the war in Northern Ireland. As far as I know, there has been no other work on this particular side to the conflicts in Northern Ireland. Santino is an established scholar who has devoted a great deal of his time in the last several years to fieldwork in Ireland, and the manuscript that he has produced as a result is filled with important ethnographic data and revealing interviews with many people in Northern Ireland who have participated in the display events he seeks to analyze. I truly enjoyed reading this manuscript.--Meg Brady, University of Utah

Book Description
Spontaneous shrines have emerged, both in the United States and internationally, as a way to mourn those who have died a sudden or shocking death, and to acknowledge the circumstances of the deaths. The contributors to Spontaneous Shrines and the Public Memorialization of Death address events such as the Texas Aamp;M bonfire collapse, the Pentagon and New York City after 9-11, roadside crosses, a memorial wall in Philadelphia, and the use of Day of the Dead altars to bring attention to deceased undocumented immigrants. The first comprehensive work to examine and theorize the phenomenon as a whole, this book explores the origins, types, uses, and meanings of these shrines.

careful on when you trade with this geocache

There is a geocache at the Flight 93 memorial, and one must be careful when trading items. Others watching may be irked in seeing you "taking" items away from the improptu spontaneous shrine the place has become.

---
Date: 12/21/2006 12:51
Subject: question on objects left at Vietnam Memorial
I’ve read your website, and I have this question:

What happens if a visitor picks up an item left at the Wall by another visitor, and pockets it ? is there a law that prohibits someone from taking an object left by someone else ?

Reason I ask is because there was a complaint recently at the Flight 93 memorial future site in Pennsylvania. Visitors at that location have left hats, stuffed bears, coins. Other visitors may have picked items left by others or “traded” with other items.

---
Thanks for your email. Property left at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial (VVM) is considered abandoned property and is reclaimable for 30 days under our property laws. It is picked up nightly by the Park Rangers and after 30 days, it is entered into our museum property system. It is not illegal to pick things up at the Memorial, we just hope if people pick things up, that they put them back. We know of many things left at the Memorial that have never made it out here to our museum storage facility.

In the beginning, many people left things at the Memorial thinking they would be picked up by others or didn't really think about their final disposition. Throughout the years, visitors have heard about the collection and now leave mementos for that specific purpose. The NPS only accept things that are physically left at the Memorial which means we don't take things through the mail. Sometimes we are notified by the donor if the object is valuable and the rangers either pick it up or watch it.

I am very familiar with Flight 93 and began working with their curator shortly after 9/11. They began working on the collection using our VVM guidance and technical processes but have refined them to meet the needs of the Flight 93 collections. The same is true of Oklahoma City and Columbine, as well as many other similar memorials.

These types of memorials are very fluid. In the case of VVM, which is a memorial to promote healing, a person taking something left at the Memorial may assist in that persons healing process. Granted, their will be some people who that take objects for monetary or other reasons. The most important thing about Memorials like this is the communication and interaction between the Memorial and the visitors. Without that interaction, there would be no objects, no collection. The collection helps tell the story of the Memorial and the event that it commemorates, honors, is in tribute to, etc. It is not the main story itself.

Please let me know if you have any other questions.

---
Thank you for asking these questions and contacting VVM curator. She is the right person to ask! She has been a tremendous help to the Flight 93 National Memorial in guiding our decisions about taking care of the many tributes that have been left near the crash site from the very beginning...actually within hours of the crash.

We also consider anything left by visitors at the temporary memorial to be abandoned property. However, we made a decision within just a few weeks after September 11, 2001 to leave these items in the place they were left for as long as weather would allow, taking them in only when they were in danger of being destroyed. Therefore, some tributes have been left for weeks, months or in some cases, years. Part of the healing process for our many visitors is the chance to see what others have written, what they feel about this event or related events since 9-11, and how those thoughts and feelings are expressed in words or by the type of object that they leave.
Visitors spend a great deal of time looking at all the messages and incredible objects that have heartfelt meaning to the one who left it.

We have, upon occasion, noticed some items missing, but so far only patches that were tacked to a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood on the fence placed there for that particular reason. However, it is the within the practice of police, fire and emergency responders to trade patches as a sign of comradery and friendship, so we don't know if that is the reason why we sometimes see them missing. Other than those items, we have not really noticed anything else taken. People are very respectful of what has been left. I have noticed countless parents who gently pull their children back from the fence and explain that the items are not to be touched (although we would welcome that if people just wanted to see them better). We hope these tributes bring some comfort to those that are struggling to understand why September 11th happened. And it is precisely that reason why this collection is preserved for future generations to know how Americans and our many international visitors responded to this world changing event.

We appreciate your concern and if you have any other questions, please contact me.

Geocache

Interesting plaque found at the site:

United Flight #93

We will never forget when the call came.
For a trip that would return us never the same.

The journey though anzious, was filled with much dread.
For none of really knew what lay ahead.

In a remote part of a small little town.
In an old strip-mine a plane had gone down.

Oh, we knew the enemies, they thought they had scored.
But they hadn't planned for the heroes on board.

The refused to give in, and they gave it their best,
And there on that ground, the plane laid to rest.

So we made our way to this small patch of land,
And gathered our rakes and sifted through sand.

We walked miles and miles around ponds and lakes,
Searching for anything someone could take.

Something, anything, small we could find,
to give some sort of closure and provide peace of mind.

It became a mission by the end of the day,
to find a small token, a watch, or a chain,
That someone could look at and place with a name.

In the center of this, one thing stood true,
Old Glory kept waving her red, white, and blue.

We would look up at her often with tears in our eyes
and remember with reverence those who had died.

We all were connected to those on that plane,
we helf wallets, or purses bearing their name.

And our wish as we pray, some quietly, some loud,
was that we hope we did well and that we made you proud.

Sandra Greene
Knoxville FBI
Evidence Response Team

Rogaine medal

Rogaine is a long-distance endurance orienteering event, usually lasting 8, 12, or 24 hours. The medal pictured below reflects the 24hour-ness of the event by showing both daylight and nighttime.



Latvian Rogaining

some advice: wear a helmet, and ... choose your neighbors well

A successful Fox Chapel resident rode a bike near his home without a helmet, and was found unconscious on the pavement. It is assumed he fell and hit his head. He died four days later. He was not wearing a helment.
Post-Gazette news article.

He was a strong bicycle rider. Obituary

Five months later, in an effort to help the widow and her three children, obviously in emotional distressed, the next-door neighbors purchased their home for the sum of One Million Dollars, a nice number with lots of zeros. Sounds like a nice fairy tale, the kind you find on the Disney Channel, but this one is true.

Dirt Rag 2007 Punk Bike Enduro

The annual Dirt Rag punk bike enduro took place as usual in the area surrounding the Dorseyville Fire Hall. About 140 people showed up, despite a consistent cold rain. There was one rider dressed in a Superman costume, one in a "best man wedding" light-blue suit. On the last descent of stage 1, spectators were watching as riders where descending the steep trail. One rider fell over the handle bars and required some light first aid (he was able to continue riding). At stage 2, the Derby took place, in the parking lot of a school.



Stage 1:


Stage 4:


stage 6, first half:


stage 6, second half:


classic photo of 2005 enduro

Mid-Atlantic Orienteering Meet 2007

The annual Mid-Atlantic Orienteering championship took place on Thanksgiving weekend in a county park near York, Pennsylvania. The event was organized by SVO, and it was open to club members of DVOA, QOC, SVO, and WPOC. Runs offered were White, Yellow, Orange (4.3 km), Green (4.9 km), Red, Blue (8.3 km). Sunny day with mild temperatures, participants could sign-up anytime between 10 AM and 1 PM. A relay was scheduled for 2 PM.

The DVOAers showed up with their uniforms, the SVOers donned their O-suits, but the QOCers looked really really stilish with these modern design uniforms.

Noticed a Honda mini-van in the parking lot with a personalized license place.

Compared to last year, when the event was held in early December, this year there were slightly less participants, probably due to the fact that it was Thanksgiving weekend and would-be participants were probably tied up with family travels.

Nice playground right next to the shelter kept alot of small children busy. Potluck food entrees were on the tables. It was a very nice event, and perfectly located near highways that made it a good stop in-between on my return trip from a long weekend out-of-town.

In blue, 5 was a little difficult to locate, 6 as more difficult to locate due to the mountail laurel bushes, 7 was also difficult due to the laurel bushes. 8 was easy to spot when approaching from the North and following the faint trail as handrail. 10, 11, 12 were all challenging due to the large rocks immersed in thick mountain laurel vegetagion. 13 was very easy to visualize. 16 was difficult to spot, due to the many rocky outcroppings in the same area. Lots of opportunities for route choice. Map of great quality, great detail. Terrain was somewhat rocky, but not too bad. The mountain laurel definitely scratches skin, and the sun rays towards the end of the day in these late fall days are definitely a nuisance when trying to "see the orange" when locating a control.

Here is another writeup on the event.










One control symbol that was new to me was "Charcoal Terrace", a brown triangle inside a circle. Here what it is:

"What are all those brown triangles?" The reply is that each one is a charcoal terrace, also known as a platform, kolbotten, charbonniere, kohlenmeiler or terasse in other corners of the earth. The puzzled expression of the newcomer usually continues. To clarify: charcoal terraces are circular, flat areas, approximately 10 to 12 meters in diameter, excavated on hillsides to provide a level area for the making of charcoal. In fact, scuffing the ground reveals the telltale carbon-black soil, noticeably different from the common red-brown soil of the area. Many of these terraces have small borrow pits nearby, sometimes mapped as a brown "u."
During this past winter (1999-2000), two visiting Russian mappers--Vladimir Zherdev and Alexey Zuev--asked, "Why use a brown triangle to represent a charcoal terrace?" That's a fair question, since the feature is not triangular but round, and other countries use black or brown circles to depict these same features.
There are several reasons, but the simplest is that Steve Templeton, who gets credit for "discovering" this feature at French Creek, chose to symbolize it with the brown triangle, and subsequent mappers have followed suit. Why did Steve use the brown triangle? Steve, being British, was almost certainly familiar with the British tradition of using the brown triangle for terraces.
There is a rationale to this tradition as well. The charcoal terrace is an earthern feature and, therefore, should be brown and not black. Certainly it is a man-made feature but not a man-name material. Many features of all types are man-made, but in orienteering mapping, the material generally dictates the choice of color, e.g. water features are blue, vegetation features green, etc.
The most intuitive symbol would probably have been a brown "O," but such a feature could easily be confused with a small-contour knoll.
Another rationale for the triangle relates to the perfect flatness of the terrace required for charcoal making. In order to establish a level plane, geometrically it's necessary to establish a minimum of three points of the same elevation in a triangular, not linear, relationship.
One more point: The IOF control description (number 6.8, 1990 edition) for the charcoal terrace is a triangle inside a circle.

-
Charlie: To answer Sam's question from the other thread: A charcoal terrace looks different on a steep slope from the way it looks in a flattish area. In steep areas, charcoal platforms (or charcoal terraces) appear as flat areas, generally around 10-15 meters across, that have been cut and filled into a slope. That is, they are dug in on the uphill side, so there is a wall there, and the material dug out is piled on the downhill side. They were in active use in the mid-to-late 1800s and early 1900s to make charcoal primarily for the very active steel industry. In the 19th century, all the railroads in the world ran on Salisbury steel wheels, made in Salisbury CT, and the CT steel industry imported charcoal from as far away as Michigan to keep the furnaces going. The general technique was to cut cordwood in four foot lengths and stack it in a sort of tepee arrangement on end. A hole was left in the middle of the stack for a chimney, and the whole stack covered with dirt. Burning logs were thrown in the chimney, and the pile of wood cooked for about two weeks to turn it to charcoal. The size of the charcoal terrace reflects that these stacks were generally about 30 cords of wood, and the flat, level character was required to keep the whole pile from sliding down the hill as it cooked and settled. At the height of the charcoal industry, most of the land in these parts was cleared, and it looked and smelled like hell.
Today, charcoal platforms are discernible by the flattened cut out shape, by the relative lack of vegetation because of remaining charcoal in the soil, and because if you dig down a bit (an inch will do generally), you'll find bits of charcoal. In my terrain, they make awesome campsites, as it would be a major hassle to pitch a tent anyplace else in steep rocky woods.
At Gay City, which is relatively flat, they are built up higher than the surrounding area, and generally recognizable by a little moat around them. I guess they are built up to keep rain from pooling there, but I'm not sure. I think they are harder to see there than they are on a steep slope.
They are often good point features for control locations because of their relatively small size, and because they do stand out in the terrain if they are on a steep enough slope and haven't eroded into the surrounding terrain. Sometimes they are vague enough that they shouldn't be mapped. In my opinion, if you can't decide if something is or is not one, it should be left off the map.
Re: Charcoal platforms (2005-09-14 18:56:28.0 PST)
EricW: (from the other thread)
Oh yeah, the Silver Mine "camping platforms". I pulled out an old map. These were actually shown with a brown square, a decision I won't try to defend. At the time ('79), I was obviously not well acquainted with charcoal terraces, although I had probably already learned about the British "terrace" symbol the year before. I learned about Norwegian "kolabanner" shortly afterwards, but these struck me as a "nothing" feature.
At the time of mapping, I thought these Silver Mine features were an abandoned (depression era?) public works project, like many of Harriman's facilities. Given that this was a public works feature, I didn't worry about a rational. :-)
These features might indeed be charcoal terraces, however their occurence here is a bit perplexing. This is the only place I know of, in or near Harriman, with this feature. They occur here in relatively small clusters, unlike other charcoal terrace regions where the networks cover many sq. miles. I think the amount of "charcoal forest" needed to support a forge was very large. Maybe this charcoal was for another purpose?
Also, these terrace clusters are on some of the steepest and rockiest slopes, certainly not a first choice for the operation. Then again maybe this was the only remaining forest at the time.
The local distribution of the terraces looks plausible for charcoal, but the network is denser than what I am used to in PA. Are the networks in "nearby" CT denser?
Re: Charcoal platforms (2005-09-14 21:15:02.0 PST)
Swampfox: They're definitely charcoal terraces; there are some on the West Point maps too (though unmapped). There were a number of forges or "furnaces" in that area during Revolutionary times, including one on the old Turkey Hill map with remnants still visible and marked today.
Re: Charcoal platforms (2005-09-15 02:23:06.0 PST)
Charlie: The ones I have are reasonably spaced out - maybe a dozen or so on 1/2sq km. Many (but by no means all) of them are near roads, which makes sense for the wagons transporting the charcoal away. A surveyor I've used told me that he often finds them near property lines. Making a bunch of them close together might be useful if you wanted to supervise several piles at once. On the other hand, you probably would want to make the charcoal near where you cut the wood. Once you make one, you can use it over and over. I've looked for evidence of a collier's hut, but haven't seen anything.
Re: Charcoal platforms (2005-09-15 04:19:14.0 PST)
cmorse: EricW wrote I think the amount of "charcoal forest" needed to support a forge was very large. Maybe this charcoal was for another purpose?
just an unsupported guess, but charcoal was also a component of gunpowder, could their occurence near west point be for something along these lines rather than stoking forges? Or perhaps smaller specialty forges? I don't know the history of West Point etc, so the dates could be all whacked...
also, these terrace clusters are on some of the steepest and rockiest slopes
although I suspect eric's suggestion that the easier to access forest might have already been cleared, it could also be that there were different tree species on the steeper slopes which may have resulted in a different quality of charcoal - perhaps certain applications of charcoal required different 'grades'?
Re: Charcoal platforms (2005-09-15 07:23:58.0 PST)
Charlie: I understand that american chestnut was the preferred wood: better quality charcoal, and faster sprouting and re-growing, so you can do it again. Charcoal was generally cooked in mixed hardwood batches and separately in chestnut-only batches. Softwoods were not generally used. Hemlock was used for tanning.
Re: Charcoal platforms (2005-09-15 07:29:42.0 PST)
Swampfox: One thing for sure: you never saw Tangerine trees used for charcoal making, not even near West Point, which does, incidentally, sit in Orange County, just like Disneyland and Disneyworld.
Re: Charcoal platforms (2005-09-15 08:55:14.0 PST)
cmorse: so are you saying those that come out of West Point have something in common with Mickey Mouse?
Re: Charcoal platforms (2005-09-15 12:08:41.0 PST)
eddie: Here is a photo of an Italian charcoal platform from the Italy WC page. This particular one looks very much like a French Creek style terrace.
Interestingly, it appears that Janos Soter has done the updates on all the Italy WC maps. Janos made SVO's Rocky Ridge map (York, PA) and lived with Brad Whitmore while he was working on it. He's from Hungary, I believe. Here's a link to the Italy WC map and course-length page. Check the 1:4000 scale for the sprints, and the "non-decimal" expected winning times of all the races.
Re: Charcoal platforms (2005-09-15 14:09:13.0 PST)
j-man: Does this imply that they are mapped with brown Xs? (What's with that map inset?)
Anyway, since this is like the Italian FCE, you and Randy better do really well at this WC or I'll beat on you.
Re: Charcoal platforms (2005-09-15 14:29:22.0 PST)
dness: Brown Xs -- hmm. I was going to suggest brown discs with a black X (man-made circular topographical features)
Re: Charcoal platforms (2005-09-15 15:00:47.0 PST)
jjcote: Janos has also done other mapping in the US, including work on the WOC93 maps (Rockhouse, and part of Surebridge). Very nice fellow, I commuted with him in the fall of 1991. Doesn't speak English very well, though... :-)
Re: Charcoal platforms (2005-09-15 15:03:17.0 PST)
eddie: From the "other" charcoal discussion in the mega thread before it split off here:
QOC's Mont Alto (in PA) also uses black circles for Kolbottens, but thats the only other place I've seen that symbol used. I was expecting a Cairn on arrival, but there's no dot in the middle of the black circle. It was a strong platform as platforms go. One of the maps (Monte Livata) for the upcoming WC in Italy uses brown X's on the map for Kolbottens. There are millions of them. Like French Creek times 3. "piazzola per carbonaia"
Yeah, brown X for platforms in Italy. The forest even looks a little like FC, but its mucho steeper. Livata is the long and relay map.
Re: Charcoal platforms (2005-09-15 15:05:39.0 PST)
eddie: :) Brad said the same thing about Janos. Apparently he'd come home from mapping at Rocky Ridge, spread his arms wide and say "BIIIIGGGG rocks"
Re: Charcoal platforms (2005-09-15 15:18:19.0 PST)
j-man: Steeper, schmeeper. You got the legs ready for that out at Lake George. This, along with honed charcoal platform hunting prowrress will make Italy a breeze. And when you're all done, you will have truly earned a pizza - with or without citrus fruit.
Re: Charcoal platforms (2005-09-15 17:14:12.0 PST)
cedarcreek: I was on map in the Czech Republic that a special symbol defined for little terraces---I don't know if they were charcoal platforms or just little terraces. They mapped them with Symbol 115, "Small Depression", except they rotated it to point up the slope. I assumed it would point downhill, like the contour just below the platform, but they did the opposite: They mapped the contour above the platform, which was U shaped as if someone dug out a little reentrant to make the terrace. There are only a couple of instances of it on the map---I can't figure out why they bothered with the special symbol. It's called a Plosinka, which means "little platform." I do like it as a representative shape (rather than an X, especially), but I do favor having it point downhill rather than up. It wouldn't be representative on flat areas, though.
Re: Charcoal platforms (2005-09-16 05:13:55.0 PST)
cjross: I came across charcoal platforms this summer at both the O-ringen and Switzerland. They were a bit more obvious in Switzerland, as they were flat spots in a slope. At O-ringen, however, they were flat spots in generally flat areas. Most of the Canadians thought they were imaginary, although we were assured by a Swede that there is some vegetation difference on them, and besides, if you dug, you would find charcoal. Nonetheless, I would never use them to navigate. It was far easier to find to control on them than to actually find the feature.
From a mapping point of view, in Switzerland charcoal platforms were a brown x, and in Sweden they were a black circle. I thought the black circle was a bit misleading as I kept expecting to see some obvious rock feature, when in reality there was nothing.
Re: Charcoal platforms (2005-09-16 12:58:27.0 PST)
JimBaker: Of course, black doesn't necessarily mean rock feature, it can mean man-made features (which charcoal platforms are, if not imaginary). (Or even if imaginary I guess.)

Nun cemeteries

Recently, have been touring several nun cemeteries, with directions generously provided by the Pittsburgh Hash House Harriers. Here is a sample of them:

Sisters of Charity


Sisters of the Holy Family of Nazareth


Mount Averna

Sisters of S. Francis in Millvale


Sisters of the Divine Providence


...These nuns live long lives...

Sister Juliana Palya

Sister of Charity

Sister M. Juliana Palya, 101, a member of the Vincentian Sisters of Charity of North Hills, died Nov. 10, 2006.

Sister Juliana was in the 86th year of her religious life and entered the Vincentian Sisters of Charity from St. Mary Parish, Uniontown. She earned a bachelor's degree in education from Duquesne University and was a primary teacher for 53 years in the dioceses of Greensburg, Pittsburgh and Youngstown. She then spent eight years at the Vincentian Child Care Center, before retiring from the host department at the motherhouse.

She was one of 11 children and is survived by brother, Frank Palya of Uniontown; niece, Donna Marie Palya, also a Vincentian Sister of Charity, and many other nieces and nephews.

Friends will be received 9 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. today (Wednesday) at the motherhouse, 8200 McKnight Road. Mass will be in the motherhouse chapel following Wednesday's visitation. Interment will be in the sisters' cemetery on the motherhouse grounds. Donations may be made to the Vincentian Sisters of Charity or their charity of choice. Arrangements were by English Bertucci Funeral Home in Oakmont.


--
Sister M. Gerard Hurka
Vincentian

Sister M. Gerard Hurka, 90, a member of Vincentian Sisters of Charity of North Hills, died Feb. 28, 2006, in UPMC Passavant hospital, North Hills.

She was in the 76th year of her religious life.

Sister Hurka entered Vincentian Sisters of Charity from St. Matthew Parish, South Side. She attended Duquesne University, earning a bachelor's degree in elementary education, and also attended Carlow College for two summers, studying guidance and leadership training in religion.

Sister Hurka taught in elementary schools for 35 years in the dioceses of Pittsburgh, Greensburg and Altoona-Johnstown and for one year in Welland, Ontario, Canada. She then served in social services in Montgomery, Ala., for 16 years before returning to Pittsburgh to serve as a pastoral minister at Vincentian Home for eight years. She retired to the Motherhouse in 1995 and became a member of the prayer ministry group.

Surviving are her sisters, Mary Kowalski, Betty Wesolowski of Pittsburgh and Irene Chervinka of California; brothers, John and George Hurka, both of Pittsburgh, and Joseph Hurka of California; and nieces and nephews.

Arrangements were handled by English-Bertucci Funeral Home Inc. Friends will be received at the Motherhouse on McKnight Road, Pittsburgh, from 1 to 8 p.m. this Friday, March 3, and from 11 a.m. this Saturday, March 4, until celebration of Mass in the Motherhouse Chapel. Interment will be at Sisters' cemetery on the Motherhouse grounds.

Memorial contributions are suggested to Vincentian Sisters of Charity.

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Sister of Charity

Sister M. Germaine Molnar, 94, a member of the Vincentian Sisters of Charity of North Hills, died April 19, 2005, in the Motherhouse infirmary.

The sister was in the 75th year of her religious life, she had entered the Vincentian Sisters of Charity from Holy Name Parish in Monessen.

She attended Duquesne University and earned a bachelor's degree in business education.

She then attended Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., graduating with a master of arts in the school of social science.

Sister Germaine also took post-graduate courses at Dayton University in Ohio and Scranton University in Pennsylvania.

She taught at St. Matthew School in South Side Pittsburgh for three years and at St. Matthias School in Youngstown, Ohio.

Sister Germaine taught business courses at Vincentian High School for 30 years. She served as congregational secretary for 16 years.

During that period, she served on the general council for four years and was elected vicar, a position she held for four years.

Surviving are nieces and nephews.

Friends were received at the Motherhouse on McKnight Road, Pittsburgh.

Mass will be offered in the Motherhouse Chapel.

Interment was at the sister's cemetery on the grounds.

Donations are suggested to the Vincentian Sisters of Charity.

Arrangements were by English-Bertucci Funeral Home.

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Sister M. Gerard Hurka
Duquesne graduate

Sister M. Gerard Hurka, 90, a member of the Vincentian Sisters of Charity of North Hills, died Feb. 28, 2006, in UPMC Passavant hospital, North Hills.

She was in the 76th year of her religious life. Sister Hurka entered the Vincentian Sisters of Charity from St. Matthew Parish, Southside. She attended Duquesne University and earned a bachelor's degree in elementary education. She also attended Carlow College for two summers, studying guidance and leadership training in religion.

Sister Hurka taught in elementary schools for 35 years in the dioceses of Pittsburgh, Greensburg and Altoona-Johnstown and for one year in Welland, Ontario, Canada. She then served in social services in Montgomery, Ala., for 16 years before returning to Pittsburgh to serve as a pastoral minister at the Vincentian Home for eight years. She retired to the Motherhouse in 1995 and became a member of the Prayer Ministry Group.

Surviving are sisters, Mary Kowalski, Betty Wesolowski of Pittsburgh and Irene Chervinka of California; brothers, John and George Hurka, both of Pittsburgh, and Joseph Hurka of California; and nieces and nephews.

Arrangements were handled by English-Bertucci Funeral Home Inc. Friends will be received at the Motherhouse on McKnight Road, Pittsburgh, on Friday from 1 to 8 p.m. and Saturday until 11 a.m. Mass will follow in the Motherhouse Chapel. Interment will be at Sisters' cemetery on the Motherhouse grounds.


Memorial contributions are suggested to Vincentian Sisters of Charity.
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Sister Carmelita Alvero
64 years of service
Sister M. Carmelita Alvero, 89, a member of the Vincentian Sisters of Charity of North Hills, died June 21, 2007, in the Vincentian Home.

She entered the Vincentian Sisters of Charity from Sacred Heart Parish, Quincy, Mass., and was in the 64th year of her religious life. Sister Alvero attended Braddock Hospital School of Nursing, became a registered nurse in 1951 and graduated from St. John Hospital School of Anesthesia in Springfield, Ill.

Before serving as an anesthetist, she was a social worker at Mother Mary Mission, Phenix, Ala., and in Savannah, Ga., for nine years. Sister Alvero worked as a registered nurse and an anesthetist throughout the country, including in local nursing homes in the region.

Surviving are a sister, Kathleen Malley of North Easton, Mass., and nieces and nephews.

Friends were received and a Mass held at the motherhouse in the North Hills. Interment was at the sisters' cemetery on the motherhouse grounds. Donations may be made to the Vincentian Sisters of Charity.

Arrangements were by English Funeral Home & Cremation Services Inc., Oakmont.

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Sister M. Germaine Molnar

Taught business

Sister M. Germaine Molnar, 94, a member of the Vincentian Sisters of Charity of North Hills, died April 19, 2005, in the Motherhouse infirmary.

The sister was in the 75th year of her religious life. She entered the Vincentian Sisters of Charity from Holy Name Parish in Monessen.

She attended Duquesne University and earned a bachelor's degree in business education, then attended Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., graduating with a master of arts in the school of social science.

Sister Germaine also took post-graduate courses at Dayton University in Ohio and Scranton University in Pennsylvania. She taught at St. Matthew School on Pittsburgh's South Side for three years and at St. Matthias School in Youngstown, Ohio.

She taught business courses at Vincentian High School for 30 years and served as congregational secretary for 16 years. During that period, she served on the general council for four years and was elected vicar, a position she held for four years.

Surviving are nieces and nephews.

Friends were received at the Motherhouse on McKnight Road, Pittsburgh. Mass will be offered in the Motherhouse Chapel. Interment was at the sisters' cemetery on the grounds. Arrangements were by English-Bertucci Funeral Home.

Donations are suggested to Vincentian Sisters of Charity.