Wednesday - Short Day in Albuquerque NM - Visiting With Some Coal Crackers

Judy Berner (Tom's sister) - Paulette Berner (Tom's wife) - Tom - Harry - Lyn Berner (Tom's sister) - and Lulu. After lunch at The Flying Star

Tom Berner - former sportswriter for the Tamaqua Evening Courier and later a journalism professor at Penn State University - met us in Albuquerque for lunch. Tom and I have been corresponding on the Internet for years. Tom graduated from THS in 1963 and went into the navy. After his stint in the service he got his journalism degree thanks to the GI Bill of Rights. While working for a newspaper in State College an opening came up at Penn State. Tom applied and got the job.

After retiring Tom and his wife Paulette built a home in Santa Fe.

Tom's sisters - Lyn and Judy - live in Albuquerque. Lyn attended Kutztown State College with me. She lived and worked in Reading PA for 20 years - for both the intermediate unit and the Muhlenberg School District. She presently works for the Holocaust & Intolerance Museum of New Mexico in Albuquerque (www.nmholocaustmuseum.org)

The Berner's and I were members of the Bethany Church along the Schuylkill River in Tamaqua.

Presently Tom has his home on the market for sale. He plans to move back to Central Pennsylvania to be closer to family. They will move when the house sells.

Tom's masters thesis dealt with the closing of the Tamaqua Evening Courier. In the paper Tom contended the Courier still had plenty of life in it - but had management problems. It was bought out by the Times News and Record - and changed its name to The Times News Record and Courier. Today it is shortened to Times News.

Three hours flew by and it was time to catch our plane. We are now off to Tucson AZ for three nights - then will jet home to Tallahassee.