If You Ask Me/By Martha Knight

Do you get lots of emails offering you home equity loans or easy mortgages or credit, from lenders, most of which have “tree” in their names?

Maybe we are meant to think of money trees. Free money, or the next best thing. What could be wrong with that?

I have looked at some of the contracts people have signed with that kind of lender. Forget the “plain language” requirements that are supposed to be followed these days. These agreements were replete with bafflegab. But then, sometimes borrowers don’t want to look too closely. Or they have been turned down by close-at-hand financial institutions, but are trying to get a handle on credit card debt.

A local bank might well turn down mortgage applicants because there’s a high probability the applicant would not be able to keep up with the payments. The local bank is not in the real estate business, and is not anxious to acquire property through foreclosures. Better to invest in good mortgages and other loans, earn some interest, get the money back in the standard way, and lend it out again!

When we look at the many sheriff’s sale notices in the paper, the lenders that have foreclosed tend to be other than our downtown banks, don’t they? We have seen the ads for the lenders, noticed their commercials and received junk mail from them. They seem really anxious to help us, don’t they? Friendly lenders, ready to approve very quickly? Or predatory as sharks?

One thing about the local banks. If it could come to pass, in spite of indications of credit worthiness being favorable for a particular mortgage, that a local bank winds up owning some property in the community, due to foreclosure, it is not at all likely that property will sit abandoned and neglected. But a bank without a base in the community might not give a hoot about the local ordinances, or being good neighbors.

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Which reminds me. I still don’t know just how a file name I used for a photo, so I would be able to find it in my photo library, was interpreted as a caption in your favorite weekly paper. New personnel handling layout elsewhere, not used to how I send photos? The caption I provided did not mention the name of a local family that used to own that property. It certainly isn’t their fault that later owners, such as a distant lender, have not kept it up. When it WAS their home, it was attractive and well cared for. Mulauskis were and are salt of the earth folks, and I would never suggest otherwise.

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Losing local or area landmarks brings pangs of nostalgia tinged with sadness. A while ago we read that Casey’s Limestone Restaurant, closed for some time, was about to be torn down. No! How could they! Think of its history! It had been featured in Life! Think of the bands that played there, the sing-alongs around the piano! And that’s where I met my first husband!

Oh, well. Limestone changed. Route 219 shifted. Part of the restaurant building was moved across the street. How and where we socialize undergoes seismic shifts, quite often. Probably by now the building is gone. The Landmark Society may have salvaged some artifacts, from the time of the Renners, the Caseys, the Burkes.

Adapt of perish, hm?

Once the building is gone, there is no way to resurrect the businesses it housed, is there? And once the building reaches the point of no return, it seems unlikely anyone will be interested in restoring and using it.

But it looks as if one area landmark will not wind up on the rubble pile of history, anytime soon! The new owners of Lynn Hall seem to know what they are doing. The many questions and comments that have come my way show that local interest in and affection for the place are strong as ever. I am working on a piece about the new developments.

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The community experiences other losses, from time to time—predictable, except for the timing or the exact circumstances, but the impact is felt. When we lost Howie Johnson,  no obituary, no wake or viewing or oration could have covered the influence he had had, in his community, or all the qualities he had.

I know only a tiny fraction of Howie’s accomplishments, but some of them had to do with his service to the Port Allegany Asbestos Health Program. He and the medical director were responsible for the operation of that vital program from its inception on.

They had to invent the asbestos health program, for it was the first such program in the country, and maybe in the world. It was of vital importance to the people it served, and their families. I remember interviewing him when the program was being set up, and on some other occasions later on. Howie was determined to see that people who needed to be monitored for tell-tale signs of emerging asbestos-caused damage, would receive the tests they needed, and were referred for any treatment that was indicated.

Hard worker, supervisor, executive, Howie could have been expected to be tough, all business. But he was also a gifted craftsman, good at wood carving. Foam glass was another carving material he used, producing some amazing pieces. And he was a kind, caring, warm-hearted person.

Peace.

Drymar@gmail.com. 596.7546.