Pike Days once more than a flea market
I was recently sitting in the waiting area of an office in Bridgeville. I have a friendly face, so people naturally kick up conversation with me. This sweet, well-meaning lady said to me, “Where are you from?”, and I replied, “Scenery Hill.”
She said, “I don’t know where that is.” I told her it was on Route 40, east of Washington, between Washington and Brownsville. “Maybe you have heard of the Century Inn?”, I volunteered. She said, “No, I haven’t heard of that.” A few minutes later, she said, “Is that the town that has the big flea market every year?” I answered yes, as I sat there silently hating that she just said that about Scenery Hill. She was talking about Pike Days, which is also known as the National Road Festival.
My mind drifted back to Pike Days when I was a child. I remembered the ladies and men of Scenery Hill walking around in Colonial-era clothing. The buckskinner’s group setting up a traditional Indian camp behind the old schoolhouse. A police officer standing in front of the Century Inn, managing traffic and helping the young and old cross safely across Route 40. We had funnel cakes and rested on a blanket on the lawn of the Century Inn.
The entire town seemed to come out to help teach others what Colonial life in Scenery Hill was like. There was square dancing, and games that were once played by children in the 1700s. The old schoolhouse was loaded with educational materials. Very few people held flea markets, and those who did were confined to one area. The Lions Club rented a barn and cooked chicken dinners, or you ate at the Century Inn. You could get a fruit kabob or ice cream in the yard near the Chillingworth Antique shop. As a child, I learned so many things about Pennsylvania history at Pike Days.
I sat there silently wondering how we got to this point, where Pike Days is known mostly for flea markets? I turned to to my waiting-room friend, and I tell her about the Scenery Hill that I remembered. At this point she had to be thinking, “Please, take me next.” It was my time to introduce her to Scenery Hill, and I took full advantage.
Annual flea market mecca, my foot!
Pamela Bottorff-DeCesaris
Scenery Hill