The year was 1966. The Vietnam War was escalating. Ronald Reagan was elected governor of California. “Star Trek” made its television debut, and John Lennon sparked outrage by declaring The Beatles were “more popular than Jesus.”

To just a bit less fanfare, this very magazine was born that year, too. In October, the maiden issue of Penn Lines rolled off the printing presses and began a 60-year journey, making its way today to some 168,000 co-op homes and businesses.

Penn Lines was born from a mission to update, educate and inform — and, yes, to connect on a personal level with rural residents, many of whom have been saving and collecting the magazine for years.

So when we asked them to share their oldest issue with us, we weren’t surprised by the response. Issues surfaced from nearly every decade, but we could have only one winner.

And the winner is ...

Meet Dolores Pry, 81, of Cherry Tree, who has a special Penn Lines story to tell about a 100-year legacy, a life well-lived in Indiana County and a long-standing family homestead, powered today by United Electric Cooperative.
 

Dolores found her 59-year-old edition of Penn Lines among a sheaf of papers left behind by her parents, Alden and Violet Beck, who bought the family farm outside of Cherry Tree in 1925. The cover of the winning entry — from February 1967 — features an open letter to Penn Lines readers from then-editor William F. Matson. In it, he encouraged readers to “lift out and retain” a special Pennsylvania Legislative Directory that was inside the magazine.

“Political leaders need and want your opinions in order to make wise decisions,” Matson implored.

Also found among her treasure trove of family archives was a copy of Watts on the Line, dated May-June 1965 and published by United Electric’s predecessor, Clearfield Electric Cooperative, Inc. The newsletter featured a piece of cover art warmly reminiscent of Mark Twain’s famous characters, Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. The crisp black-and-white photo features a young boy, barefoot in a straw hat and rolled-up britches, fishing in a rocky Penn’s Woods creek.

“I just sort of liked it … that boy standing and fishing in the middle of the creek,” Dolores says. “It caught my eye. I always thought that was so cute, so I kept it and set it aside for all these years along with the Penn Lines issue.” 

For many years, Dolores enjoyed Penn Lines with her husband, Sam. The couple made their home next door to the Beck family homestead for 42 years. Sam Pry passed away March 2 at the age of 85.

“He was a very good man,” Dolores says. “He loved the Lord, and I know where he is now.

“We had a good life,” she adds. “We weren’t rich by any means, but the door here was always open to visitors for a cup of coffee.”
 

'Part of our lives'

Dolores says she and Sam looked forward to receiving Penn Lines in the mail.

“We really liked seeing if we knew anyone each month,” she says. “It (Penn Lines) was part of our lives. We both scanned it often.”

Dolores particularly enjoys the magazine’s recipe section and the reader-submitted photos featured in Rural Reflections. She proudly points out that her great-niece, Lindsay Mulhollen, had a photo published in the magazine and also was a recipient of United Electric’s Shine the Light scholarship.

These days, Dolores shares her home with one of her daughters, Darla, “which makes things easier.” Darla has worked at the little country store in downtown Cherry Tree for 33 years. Next door, Dolores’s brother, Alden Beck Jr., lives in the family homestead with his wife, Bernie.

“I absolutely love where we all live … out here in the country,” Dolores says with a lilt, adding she’s already looking forward to Penn Lines’ 70th anniversary. “Maybe they’ll have another contest in 10 years, and I can enter again!”