Society

Ruth Jones of Thorndale remembers when trains rumbled through Caln Township and stopped at the tidy cream-and-brown freight station off Route 30 in Thorndale. The trains took on coal for their steam engines and, in later years, the station was the place where farmers from the surrounding area loaded their cattle on special freight cars. The station was demolished about 1942. And for many years it seemed as though it was only longtime residents such as Jones who could bring it back, at least in memory.

Moo was the most important word. Whenever it was uttered, the people spoke quietly and bowed their heads. "Moo means peace in our society," said Emily Bosk, 14. "It's very important to our people. " Bosk and some of her classmates at the Friends Central School created a city-state, with its own language, as part of a nine-day interdisciplinary project involving English, social studies, science, math and other subjects. "We're trying to get kids to see their learning is not in little compartments," said Mark Fifer, one of the teachers.

The Bensalem Historical Society's long search for a new home is about history. In more ways than one. A dozen members of the society last week persuaded the Township Council to lease them the site of the present Bensalem Rescue Squad facility at 3800 Hulmeville Rd. - a building that had been set for demolition by the fall. The society's new headquarters in the center of town is planned to become a showcase of the 300-year-old municipality's storied past, said society president Edward Driscoll.

The Delaware County Historical Society is entering the new year with more members, new programs and new vigor, but with the same old lament: "If I only had a good home. " Since its founding in 1895, the society has been without a permanent address, forced by circumstance over the years to make do in donated or low-rent facilities. The board of directors hopes to change that problem in 2000. It has rewritten its bylaws, hired a director of development to help raise funds, and issued a call for more volunteers.

Even when the 59-year-old Upper Darby man lost his job as a conductor, he kept his dignity. Even when he feared losing his home. Even when he felt mired in hopelessness. Through it all, he still kept his dignity. He was able to hold his head high before family and friends because of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and its gift of charity. The society provides everything for those in need, from bags of groceries to proper burials. In this case, it paid the man's mortgage for more than a year.

Shafik Asante, 49, a community activist and organizer, died at Graduate Hospital on Friday after a long fight with bone cancer. Mr. Asante, also known as Shafik Abu-Tahir, was born in West Philadelphia. His grandfather, Emmanuel Wyatt, was the president and cofounder of the Haddington Leadership Organization, an organization that Mr. Asante later chaired. Mr. Asante attended West Philadelphia High School, Wilberforce College in Ohio, the Philadelphia College of the Bible, and Antioch University.

Are you in an interracial relationship? If so, how has the reception been among friends and family, and in the wider society? Are attitudes really changing in American society? Send your answers to jt@phillynews.com .

The Camden County Historical Society has received a $13,000 grant from the Institute of Museum Services in Washington, D.C., the only South Jersey museum to receive such a gift this year. Margaret Weatherly, the society's director, said the grant was awarded in recognition of the high quality of the museum's operation, collection and community service. The money will be used to support the society's day-to-day operations, its three buildings and its many community services, she said.

Society has the right to know The registration and notification laws are not retributive laws, but laws designed to give people a chance to protect themselves. They do not represent the slightest departure from our state's or our country's fundamental belief that criminals, convicted and punished, have paid the debt to society and are not to be punished further. They represent only the conclusion that society has the right to know of their presence not in order to punish them, but in order to protect itself.