I stand by that, though I realize sometimes in the day-to-day it can get lost.

That’s why you should take two hours.

You should go gleaning.

Photographer Brett Berwager and I were out with Jerry and Jan Althoff and their Adams County Gleaning Network last week. We spent the evening in a rutted field full of bugs and toads and string bean vines.

It was great.

Not that I was surprised. It’s been a few years, but I’ve done stories on the Adams gleaners before.

Still, I’m always amazed at such a simple idea, and just how effective and important it can be.

The Althoffs are in touch with farmers from all over Adams County and a little beyond, and farmers know that when they can’t or don’t need to harvest all of their crop, they can call Jerry.

In a day or two, Althoff will be there with a caravan of volunteers to pick what they can from the field (usually there aren’t enough people to get it all) and then deliver it to SCCAP or one of several other Gettysburg-area charities.

Voila.

Good, free food for the less fortunate.

And all it takes is a few hours in the field and a little effort.

You can look for the story and pictures from the string bean field likely over the weekend, but I thought it was important enough to make a plea here on the blog, too.

Get in touch with Jerry and Jan.

Email them at acgleaning@pa.net. Or call them at their business, Countryside Gardens, in Gettysburg, at 334-8321.

This is prime season, and once you’re on the Althoffs’ email list you’ll get regular updates with nights and times they’re going out to the fields.

You don’t have to go to them all, of course. And actually I’d say just resolve to go once, and see what happens.

I can tell you I decided the same thing last week. I told Jerry I’d be back without the iPad and the notebook, and instead with my wife and daughter. With such a produce-rich area all around us, we’d be silly not to help.

I’m usually the last person to spout off about what we “should” be doing for this cause or that. Your time is your own.

But I’m the first person to tell that little daughter each night to clean her plate, and to not waste food.

And, too, to help people when she can.

Seems to me that in two hours in a field at sunset — one beautiful fall night in Adams County – you can glean a lot more than beans.

In the years I’ve spent at The Evening Sun I’ve covered a number of beats and visited much of the area. But when it comes to the ins and outs of Gettysburg, I readily admit I’m behind the curve.

Good thing that sometimes, the story writes itself.

I’m speaking of course of the day last week a photographer and I spent wandering the battlefield with licensed guide Jim Tate. The Gettysburg native has been giving such tours since 1951.

He turned 94 later in the week.

We were out to tag along with an afternoon tour group in honor of that birthday milestone, and just because it seemed like the kind of thing that could be a lot of fun.

What an honor last week to spend a few hours listening to the stories of licensed battlefield guide Jim Tate.

It was.

There were hours worth of stories.

Tate talked to us and a group of tourists from Colorado about everything from the men who fought on those historic fields to the silent movie he watched in the borough as a boy. He talked about his family, and about the time he spent serving his country in the cavalry.

On horseback.

I took pictures and tweeted much of it under #tatetour.

And I scribbled it all down as fast as I could. When we got back to the office I was faced with one of those nice dilemmas — no way to fit it all in a short story.

But I sorted through it, and chose a few tidbits I thought were particularly unique.

Anyway, most of the story was already written two minutes after I saw him.

Picture us there, a young photographer, and a reporter braving for only the second time that hulking visitor center south of town. We scanned the crowd, waiting, trying to pick out our guide.

Then here was a man in an old straw hat and a shirt with a guide’s patch, walking with a cane across the room. Before we could get to him — before we were sure it was him — the man stopped at the information desk.

As we watched he whispered a few words, took the hand of the woman behind the counter and gave her a soft kiss on the hand.

Boy, what a smile she had.

As he walked on to meet the tour party, I hurried over and asked that woman if this was something new. No, she said, he’s been doing that for years.

Anyway, if you read the story you heard all that described already.

But I remember thinking at the time, that was a first. Never before has a feature been so instantly clear. Never before has it written itself so quickly.

I worried, actually, the rest of the story wouldn’t live up to that moment. But for me it did.

What a honor, I thought later, to spend a few hours with Jim Tate.

And if this is Gettysburg, maybe I could get used to it.

Severe weather is a prime example.

And last night, we got some great shots from Ryan Taylor, of Aspers. He sent them via our Facebook page, though you can also always email to news@eveningsun.com.

Check them out.

These were sent in the midst of what was quite a nasty storm, one that affected thousands of people in several states before it was done.

We’re constantly monitoring weather and other potential news in the area, but of course we never know where it’s going to strike.

So for folks to take the time to get some great shots like these, and to send them to us…. well, it’s a big help.

Keep ‘em coming.

Granted, these events are usually not all that grand, which is probably reassuring to local taxpayers. There’s a ribbon cutting, some speeches, maybe some student comments or music performances to kick things off. But it’s still pretty grand to the people who make the projects come together.

A view of the new Adams County Tech Prep building. Photo by Brett Berwager.

And that’s the sense I got while covering the dedication of the new Adams County Tech Prep building, which was built on the Gettysburg Area High School campus to house the Culinary Arts, Diesel Mechanics, Allied Health and Law Enforcement career and technical education programs.

A lot of people in the small crowd spoke about finally having a facility dedicated to career education in the county and how that facility would help in the program’s mission to make students career and college ready.

And the best part of my night was talking with the program’s students. Though most of those in attendance were seniors and wouldn’t benefit from a larger and more modern building than the old Keefauver Center, the students spoke about how much the Tech Prep

Students talk about their experience in the Adams County Tech Prep program during a dedication event. Photo by Brett Berwager.

program did for them. Some became more motivated in school. Others realized that they could and would go on to college. And still others discovered what they wanted to do as a career, or even what they didn’t want to do.

As the programs grow and develop, Director Jim Cramer said they’re trying to reach out to younger students to make them aware of the courses offered.

He said parents often realize they want their kids enrolled in Tech Prep when it’s too late – when the kids are struggling in high school or when their schedules won’t allow it.

With a new and modern facility right next to the high school, I’d expect there to be even more interest in the Tech Prep programs, and Cramer agreed.

“Going from rented space to a dedicated facility is a huge leap,” he said.

The senior class will be holding a zombie run Saturday morning. More specifically, there will be an obstacle course throughout the high school and onto school grounds. And of course, around every corner will be a zombie – well, a high school senior – ready to catch you.

The idea started a couple months ago, according to senior adviser and English teacher Jennifer Yutzy. The Littlestown High School senior class wanted to give back to a charity. After many discussions, students finally agreed on giving to the 9/11 Memorial Fund.

The Littlestown High School senior class will be holding a zombie run this weekend.

On May 24, the Littlestown High School senior class plans to visit New York City. First, the class will be visiting NBC’s Today Show, and then they will go to the 9/11 memorial and present a check to the charity.

The class is hoping to raise about $2,000, Yutzy said. The money raised from the zombie run will help a bit with expenses to New York City, but for the most part, it will all go toward the 9/11 Memorial Fund.

After the students present their check, they will have a few hours to spend in the city before coming back to Littlestown that day.

Registration is $10. For that $10, participants will be able to run in the obstacle course and have three belts (or “lives,” in Zombies-talk). Those who want to purchase more “lives” can buy more belts for $5. The same rules that apply in flag football apply to the zombie run. And participants must be 11 years old or older.

The senior class will also be selling baked goods and other souvenirs, like T-shirts that say, “I survived the Littlestown Zombie Run.”

So far, about 50 people have registered, and there are about 40 zombies. Those who are planning to attend Saturday’s zombie run, which starts at 10 a.m., should wear old clothes, Yutzy said. They will get dirty.

So, how did students decide on a zombie run as a way to raise money?

“We have a lot of kids who like “The Walking Dead,” I guess,” Yutzy said.

Council thought of the memorial after United Hook & Ladder Fire Company volunteer Brandon Little was killed on his way to a fire in Abbottstown in January.

The memorial is still being planned in the square, and council hopes to move forward soon. Borough council member Jim Zero recently said he and council president Dorothy Robinson will be meeting with Eastern Adams Regional Police Chief Robert Then and United Hook & Ladder Chief Steve Rabine in late March to decide on more details.

More details should be available at the next borough council meeting in April. And hopefully, the memorial will be ready by late spring, early summer.

I can see it placed there on the spur of the moment by a local guy one morning earlier this week.

And I can see Clint Hammond ease his way down into it as the rest of us gathered around like school children, and fell silent.

Stories?

“Oh I can tell you some stories,” the 92-year-old WWII veteran said, “if you want to hear them.”

No objections. So he began.

Hammond was born in 1920 in Baltimore, where he grew up and eventually registered for the draft. He was 21 in 1941.

While he waited for his number to be called, he worked as a mechanic for the Baltimore Transit Company.

Eventually he was called, and tested his way in to the Army Air Corps, where he got on as a mechanic and eventually worked his way up to pilot.

This found photo online shows a B-17 bomber, though I'm not sure it's the exact model Clint Hammond flew during World War II. But I bet he'd tell you, if you asked.

Hammond flew more than a dozen combat missions at the helm of a B-17 bomber in World War II, then was recalled for Korea. He retired as a recruiter in Pennsylvania.

Along the way he had some close shaves, found love, had a boy who went on to become a state trooper, and shared more than a few laughs with the guys.

Hammond told that and more one morning this week to a few of us who were lucky enough to be gathered in the parking lot of a local auto shop.

We sat there in the early spring sun, the wind in the trees, and listened.

And what a privilege, I thought.

At one point in the morning I remembered a news report from earlier this year about the last-known WWI veteran dying at 110 years old. Her name was Florence Green, and she was a member of Britain’s Royal Air Force.

I recall reading that story and thinking about just what that meant — the closing of a chapter, never to be reopened. Certainly, these days the media and others do a fine job of chronicling our not-too-distant history.

But when the people who tell those tales are gone, there’s no turning back.

The stories will never be quite the same.

So it was with extra care that I approached the memories, in-brief, of Clint Hammond.

Photographer Shane Dunlap and I spent the morning in Irishtown, me scribbling furiously to the tap-tap-tap of his camera shutter. Hopefully, what we came away with — likely to run in print and online this weekend — will pay some small homage to one more American hero.

Sometimes, I’m still amazed how many are out there.

What I’m never surprised by anymore, though, is their unerring willingness to sit down and talk about the days they lived so long ago. It seems bravery turns, with age, to grace.

So keep an eye out for the full version.

And by the way, we were there all of us — gathered for a few hours around a folding chair on a spring morning — because the owners of that local body shop had a special surprise of their own for a man they call their hero.

I won’t get into all that here, but suffice it to say the gesture is one more example of the kindness native to this area.

And, for what it’s worth, the story is one of those I won’t soon forget.

That was the question this weekend, as the clock hands spun. As messages went unanswered.

Punxsutawney Phil? Dover Doug? Never a problem.

Marmots are famously obliging when it comes to their responsibility to the press.

But it seems with just a little publicity, Ratatouille the Snowboarding Opossum is already getting too big for his britches. Or his designer board.

If you haven’t seen this sweater-clad marsupial — marauding his way down Liberty Mountain’s slopes and across the Internet — it’s probably only fair I give him a fair shake here.

After all, the little guy’s clearly doing something right, with 200,000-plus views on YouTube.

That’s not bad for a quadruped.

Ratatouille, in action on the slopes of Liberty Mountain in Carroll Valley.

Ratatouille’s minute-long video, uploaded to the Internet video site by the folks at Liberty Mountain Resort in Carroll Valley on Wednesday, opens on the pint-sized opossum sporting a tiny sweater and a season pass, primed to hit the slopes. The wind is in the pines behind him and he wiggles his prehensile tale. He seems to yawn.

Cut to that nocturnal notable, shredding the slopes. He sniffs with his little nose and holds tight with his clasping claws and at one point even seems to check out a female boarder, swooshing away in the other direction.

He poses for some face time with the camera, and then walks off the set.

That’s real cool and all, but why leave us with so many questions? Why act the rat?

I mean, come on.

How did you learn to snowboard, Ratatouille?

What’s with the questionable fashion choice? Do you like watersports, too?

And it’s daytime — aren’t you sleepy?

Nope. Nothing. Calls made; messages left. But no answers.

Yet for all the mystery, no one seemed particularly bothered.

Those tens of thousands of You Tube views came with comments like, “That’s one cool opossum,” and “Soooo cute.” And apparently, hysterics: “Watch him as he tears up the slopes… CANNOT BREATHE.”

A link to the video posted on The Evening Sun’s Facebook page brought more of the same.

“I wish all possums wore sweaters….they would look so much cuter,” one woman wrote.

Seriously, people?

The thing’s florescent yellow, for Pete’s sake.

Anyway, after all the hand wringing, I finally got an email from a Liberty Mountain official, which provided brief comment.

“What was just a bit of end of season fun has certainly gotten a lot of attention!” she wrote. “We are happy we have made so many people smile!”

Apparently, for now that will have to do. Liberty Mountain is closed for the season, and we’re not likely to get too many answers. Ratatouille can slalom off into the sunset — and presumably stay up all night, celebrating his success.

So be it. These are the days of instant Internet stardom, after all, for both man and beast.

And what can I say? The little guy is pretty cute, and why begrudge any well-mannered mammal his 15 minutes. Especially if he brings with him a little happiness.

So if you’re reading this, Ratatouille, I’m not really mad at you.

I’m just playing, opossum.

We learned that the school’s auditorium is going to be the venue for the Rock for Angels concert, a five-band show that will donate all of its proceeds to the families of five teens lost in a devastating car accident this past December.

The concert will kickoff at 5:30 p.m., with doors opening at 4:30 p.m., and tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for students with proper I.D. Tickets can be picked up at the high school office this week, or at Reader’s Cafe in Hanover, and they will also be sold at the concert.

The organizers say it’s a show for all kind of rock fans and music fans, with the bands Quiet Life Rebellion, Boomers, Strive and Trailer Park Cowboys joining headliners Smokin’ Gunnz to play a mix of everything from contemporary rock, to southern rock, to rockabilly (I’m still not sure what that is, but I’m going to Google it soon).

And what’s more, the concert will be a chance to reflect once again on the five lives lost that day, to keep the promise of remembering them, always. There will be memorial tributes and a few words shared from those who knew the students well.

Those students – Diego Aguilar, Oscar Banda, Anthony Campos, Chelsea McFalls and Casey Sheridan – were kids that Gardy Lawrence didn’t see in his office, the recently retired assistant principal of New Oxford High School said.

But he was close with some of their families, he saw the students in the school’s hallways and on the soccer field. And he knew they were good kids.

As I talked with him about the concert and the goal of helping the students’ families, he told me that joining the lineup with his band, Boomers, was a no-brainer. The four local bands all have ties to New Oxford High School, with some band members being graduates of the high school and others being former or current employees of the school.

Alll of the bands love to play and perform, but more importantly, all of them wanted to show their support.

“It’s a good opportunity to support those families – that’s number one,” Lawrence told me. “Number two, I think you have five quality bands contributing time to that cause and it would good to have people out to rally around those families one more time.”

I couldn’t agree more. I love to see that the fundraisers started the day after the accident have continued in New Oxford and the surrounding area. It never fails to amaze me how this community looks out for its own, when it matters most.

I will never forget being at the accident, or witnessing the candlelight vigil that followed the next day. And I will never forget that even in the worst situations, in terrible loss, there is comfort. It comes from other people, from those who help us try to pick up the pieces. It makes this life a sweet and stirring song – a rock song, this weekend.