Crestmont (42 page)
“Take it back to the car and I’ll meet you there in a few minutes.”
Gracie strolled back to the laundry porch, enjoying the mountain air one last time. She pressed the ticket into Peg’s hand.
“What’s this?” Peg asked.
“Your grandfather’s desk. I want you to have it. It needs to stay in the family, don’t you think? He was the one who started it.”
“William Warner, Creator of the
Crestmont
dream,” Peg smiled.
“He helped us all.”
Something caught Peg’s eye. “Gracie, look.”
An eagle soared above the big house and graciously dipped one wing.
THE END
Afterword
Current day
Crestmont
Inn owners Fred and
Elna
Mulford
uniquely defined their mission as innkeepers on their wedding day. The
Crestmont
Inn is normally closed on Christmas day, but in 2004, its rooms were packed. Twenty relatives of
Bill
Pass
, a resident in the condos where the original
Crestmont
Inn stood, had come to be with him in his final days. The family expected Rev. Pass to end his suffering within a day or so, but he surprised them all by living until January 2
nd
. Because the relatives stayed so much longer than expected, the Pass and
Mulford
families had time to develop an unusually strong bond. Little did the
Mulfords
know that their wedding day would take an unexpected turn because of this man.
Bill
Pass
, a minister and resident of Eagles Mere,
Pennsylvania
, had battled his cancer a long time. His family poured into town from all over the country, needing a refuge while they cried, reminisced and laughed with him until the end. Fred and
Elna
opened the doors of the
Crestmont
, sensitively caring for the Pass family—providing beds they could sink into for comfort at night and delicious meals to sustain them. Days before his death, Bill, who shared a love of waterfowl with Fred, asked his family to prop him up and hand him his favorite photograph of a redhead duck. Laboriously, he inscribed the back:
Dear Fred and
Elna
,
You have become very special to the Pass family recently. You’ve opened your house and rooms to my clan guys—a brave thing to do. Mostly, you’ve opened your heart of love. There is very little in Eagles Mere of this kind of kindness, especially to take in my gang so we could all be here for this particular occasion. The Lord bless your Christian ministry, full of consideration and thoughtfulness! You made our day, our night and the happiness of our friends. The Lord bless you and your business—You are a wonderful asset to Eagles Mere,
Bill
P.S. I’ll train your dog any time. 12/26/2004
Notes of thank you from many of his family members were added underneath.
On January 2
nd
, Fred and
Elna
stood before a minister in front of the fireplace in their beloved
Crestmont
pub. It was a simple ceremony, attended only by close family and friends.
Afterwards, arm in arm, they strode happily out into the Fouquet dining room, expecting to break open champagne and celebrate their marriage. The winter chill ushered in the Pass family when they poured through the front door of the
Crestmont
, oblivious to the “Closed” sign on the door. Having no idea that the
Mulford’s
had just been married, the relatives crowded around them, needing and giving hugs, because Bill had just died. Fred and
Elna
said nothing about their wedding, but instead, shared moments comforting them. To this day, they believe the family didn’t know they had been married that afternoon.
Although this was an unusual and poignant occurrence, the tone was set for the graciousness with which the
Mulfords
have treated their guests ever since. It is a reflection of the legacy of William Warner, who built The
Crestmont
Inn in 1899, as well as Margaret and William Woods and those who followed.
Acknowledgements
I am deeply indebted to Fred and
Elna
Mulford
, owners of The
Crestmont
Inn, for their enthusiasm, generosity and willingness to share personal anecdotes as innkeepers as well as their knowledge of the hotel’s history. Bush and Barbara James graciously gave me permission to research their publications about the original
Crestmont
, replete with floor plans, menus, contracts, family history and other fascinating details. These sources are listed in the bibliography for the reader’s interest. My husband, Ernest L. Whitehouse, gave me patient, tireless support and wrote the poetry of the Paper Bag Poet. I thank T.C. McMullen and Janet Elaine Smith of Star Publish LLC for their expertise and patience. Catherine D. Brown’s brilliant cover design brought a depth to the book words could not express. My cousin, Nancy, and friend, Jean, read every word of the manuscript, giving me encouragement and feedback. Tina, Deb, Sarah, Mary, Sally, Roberta, Laurie, Janet, Laurel, Joyce, Ralph, Bruce, Alice, Ann, Jane, my book group, my voice students and others, encouraged, prayed and contributed in their own unique ways.
I could not have completed
Crestmont
without the help of the Eagles Mere Bookstore, the Eagles Mere Museum, and the people who shared their stories about Eagles Mere and the
Crestmont
;
Cooie
Klotz, who gave me her pink applesauce recipe, Louise
Reighard
, whose grandfather owned the Lakeside Hotel, Bonnie Adams, Charlie Gardner, Paula Holcombe, Fred Holmes, Edwina
Vauclain
and Kay Wilson. You know how you fit into the puzzle that became
Crestmont
,
and your help was invaluable.
Lastly, I am indebted to the visionary people of Eagles Mere, past and present, who have endeavored to preserve the heritage of a special town, the purity of the lake and the wholesome spirit of life in a unique place.
Endnotes:
Author’s Note:
*See Distinguished Inns of
North America
on www.selectregistry.com and the
Crestmont
Inn’s own website, www.crestmont-inn.com .
*James, Barbara and Bush.
Mere Reflections.
Montoursville
,
PA
:
Paulhamus
Litho, Inc., 1988, preface. Used by permission.
Quotes Page:
*
Non
fatuum
huc
persecutes
ignem
.
*
The Holy Bible,
The Living Bible Translation.
Wheaton
,
IL
: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2002.
Prologue:
*Yeats, William Butler. “The
Lake
Isle
of
Innisfree
.” Untermeyer, Louis.
Modern British Poetry.
New York
: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1922, p. 257.
*The author chose to deviate from the actual Native American legend as stated in
Eagles
Mere and the Sullivan Highlands
. J. Horace and Robert B. McFarland, J. Horace McFarland Company,
Harrisburg
,
PA
, 1944, p. 1, which reads: “… the site of the lake was then a deep valley with many springs on its floor. The east side of the valley consisted of ledges of rock, and under the present Lover’s Rock was a vast cavern. By enticing a beautiful Indian maiden into this cavern, an Indian chief, Stormy Torrent, angered the Great Spirit, who caused a great storm to come, with torrents of rain which blocked the former outlet of the stream flowing from the springs and thus filled the valley to the present lake level.”
The
Haudenosaunee
Confederacy, or People of the Long House, is made up of the Mohawks,
Oneidas
,
Ononodagas
,
Cayugas
and
Senecas
. These tribes originally lived along the Genesee and
Mohawk
Rivers
and in the Finger Lakes region near
Lake
Ontario
. Founded by the
Peacemaker
with the help of Hiawatha, it is one of the longest enduring democracies in the world. The French term assigned the derogatory term “Iroquois” to the
Haudenosaunee
, probably as an insult.
The
Crestmont
Inn
1910 – 1911:
*Isaiah 41:13, King James Bible.
Bethlehem
,
Pennsylvania
1925:
*Cather, Willa.
Song of the Lark
, 1915.
New York
: Houghton Mifflin Company, forwarded copyright, 1988.
*The
Crestmont
Inn consistently hired only African-American male chefs because they were considered to be the most qualified.
*This jewelry box sits on the dresser in the French Country Cottage room of today’s
Crestmont
Inn.
En route to Eagles Mere
1925:
*Dreiser, Theodore.
Sister Carrie.
New York
: Barnes and Noble Classics, 1900.
The
Crestmont
Inn
Summer 1925
IV
*
Paperbag
poems “I’ve fallen in love, again,” “Ticklish Rock,” “I long for the gentle caress of your hand,” written by Ernest L. Whitehouse, husband of the author.
V
*A revised version of “Homemade Ice Cream” from
Mere Tales
by Barbara and Bush James,
Paulhamus
Litho, 2005. Used by permission.
VI
*
Gruelle
, Johnny.
Raggedy Ann Stories
.
NY
,
NY
: 1918.
VII
*Wharton, Edith.
Age of Innocence
, 1920 D. Appleton and Company.
New York
: Collier Books, 1968.
Woodshed on
Crestmont
Hill
September 1925
II
*The
Delaware River
Bridge
, linking
Camden
and
Philadelphia
is now known as the
Ben
Franklin
Bridge
. It was constructed jointly by the
Commonwealth
of
Pennsylvania
, state of
New Jersey
and the city of
Philadelphia
between 1919-1926. For purposes of the flow of the novel, I have moved the date of its completion from 1926 to 1925. The opening of the bridge was delayed because neither side could agree on how to cover construction costs.
New Jersey
wanted to use a toll system, while
Pennsylvania
wanted the use of the bridge to be free, using tax money to cover costs. Eventually, the toll system prevailed.
www.aviewoncities.com/philadelphia/benjaminfranklinbridge.htm
Camden
,
New Jersey
1914
*Warren W. Sloan, maternal grandfather of the author, invented a version of the automatic pinsetter, along with his partner, Joseph Clark, in Clark’s basement in
Camden
,
New Jersey
. They later sold the patent to AMF. An article, “Bowlers Soon May Kiss the Pin Boys Goodbye” by Mike
Devitt
, sportswriter for the
Courier Post
of Camden, NJ, dated Wednesday, April 9, 1941 states that
Devitt
attended the first demonstration of the automatic pinsetter, “the brainchild of Warren Sloan.” The machine, which was distributed by the Automatic
Pinsetting
Machine Company of
New Jersey
, was constructed to conform to American Bowling Congress regulations. The article states, “It sets the pins accurately and can set as many as nine games per hour, per alley. It returns the ball to the bowler; it clears the alley of dead wood after the first ball in each frame and returns the remainder of the pins to exactly where they stood after the first ball had been delivered.”