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I was home 2 weeks ago and saw Ziggy walking on the corner of 4th & Regan Street. It's a shame Schraders corner store is gone, now there was the place for a cheeseburger and a coke!
I remember Schraders well. It was the place to buy Estes Rockets in the late '60s and early '70s. Even though I lived in Lewisburg at the time and was too young to drive , we always found a way to get our rockets and parts.
There's not much left at the 4th St Plaza anymore. The Old Grandway Building is now occupied by the McCann School and an LPN school which just relocated to Lewisburg. Monkey Wards is now Beiter's Home Center. Sunbury Motors took over the old Super Saver building. The Donut Connection closed several years ago. There is still A Dollar Store and a small restaurant. Of course, Radio Shack is long gone.
Weis dropped the contract with Holsum to make their house brand of bread and rolls. I know several people who work at Holsum and lay-offs are a strong possibility. Weis gave the contract to Strohmann. Holsum also lost their contact with Sheetz.
There was also a S & H Greenstamp store off of Shikellamy Ave, that was gone a long time ago. Remember going to the grocery store, getting those green stamps on check out lol.
Sears store on Market Street was the place for catalog orders but I admit I forgot a lot of the stores that once lined Market Street, I remember the two theaters, The Rialto which burned down and The Strand, N&L Sports and whatever it was was called before that? Banana Mart on the outskirts of town near the creek. Wolfy's Arcade on Market St, I think it was called? Squeeze In is still going amazingly.
Last time I was there, I was amazed at the decline and all the places that are gone. They even ripped out the scale model of Fort Augusta!
Quote:
Originally Posted by nativesunburyian
I was home 2 weeks ago and saw Ziggy walking on the corner of 4th & Regan Street. It's a shame Schraders corner store is gone, now there was the place for a cheeseburger and a coke!
You sure it was the Ziggy? Was he hunched over with his hands behind his back? I remember his real name was Philip Bilbay I beleive, I know they called him "Phil" not sure on the last name?
I remember on the corner of Reagan and 4th right across from Schraders, was a house where some mentally challenged guy would stand on the street and play with a rope or string and dance around he was out there for hours.
I remember Schraders, but I do not recall them selling food, just toys, hobbys and crafts and also illegal fireworks. I know one year he got busted and the cops destroyed his inventory of illegal fireworks up by the Armory.
There was also a S & H Greenstamp store off of Shikellamy Ave, that was gone a long time ago. Remember going to the grocery store, getting those green stamps on check out lol.
Sears store on Market Street was the place for catalog orders but I admit I forgot a lot of the stores that once lined Market Street, I remember the two theaters, The Rialto which burned down and The Strand, N&L Sports and whatever it was was called before that? Banana Mart on the outskirts of town near the creek. Wolfy's Arcade on Market St, I think it was called? Squeeze In is still going amazingly.
Last time I was there, I was amazed at the decline and all the places that are gone. They even ripped out the scale model of Fort Augusta!
Eat-A-Bite bought the old S&H store and turned it into a bar. Once in awhile they have a band. When I was kid, for 6 books I could get a 5'x7' Coleman canvas pup tent. I must of had 3 of them.
I can't remember what was in the old sports store either. I remember buying a few things there when I played softball at the old Sun Bowl field which has been gone since the late '70s.
The Banana Mart is closed too. Pop Snyders is still open. Back in the mid '80s, the Strand was having concerts for awhile but that fizzled out too. I think Wolfie's is closed. That big piano and organ place also burned down .
They actually had two music stores at one time. Haines and The Music Mart which was near the old Penny's.
Fort Augusta has been gone for nearly 40 years if not longer. I used to stare it when I was a kid as my parents drove by.
At least Moyer's Electronics is still there. That's about all that's left.
I'm afraid Sunbury is finished. It seems to be turning into Detroit and that's a darn shame. I remember the real Sunbury.
No no! This is horrible news. My father works at Holsum, he has worked there since I was a child. Holsum was literally our bread and butter. This is very sad news. I know that during the beginning of this year work there was very slow and he even had his hours reduced, he was getting worried. Then again, business for them is a bit slow at that time of year, but apparently it had been worse this year. He hasn't said anything to me lately though, so I hope all is well. Since I live in Texas now, I only get to talk to him by phone every so often.
The 4th Street Plaza really is a shadow of it's former self. That was one of the places to go for shopping. I remember the days when my family would go to Montgomery Wards during Christmas Time. I went there myself later on and bought my first video game with my own money. I used to go to McCorys ( I had forgotten that name!) for a milkshake and french fries. Now all you have is Beiters, which has a meager selection of items, Sunbury Motors consuming the entire area little by little for their huge dump of vehicles, and the dollar store (which was the only reason I went to the plaza anymore, it's a nice place.).
Coming from some of the things said in this thread, it seems people are scared of Sunbury way more then what reality would dictate.
One thing that always interested me about the town, it seems to have a high population of mentally ill/off people. They are harmless sorts and I realize this isn't a Sunbury-only thing, but then, why do they become such figures in the town? I don't quite know how I can word this paragraph without sounding insensitive, but it is an honest curiosity of mine.
You bring back so many memories for me. I believe that Weis and Holsum still provide the majority of jobs for those who live in the city.
Sunbury does try to bring new job opportunities, but it's usually very risky/niche things like a skateboard shop or a Halloween costume shop or just a fast food joint which they only make one bathroom for both genders and make a fuss about it then close because the restaurant was too small and had more customers then they anticipated.
The large number of individuals with mental illness is not exclusive to Sunbury. I used to work for Northumberland County and there are as many individuals with mental issues all over. I believe we see more on the streets because several years ago the county seat was moved from Shamokin to Sunbury and these would be the individuals who do not own cars or just do not drive and therefore need to live close to the county offices for appointments.
I would think that rent under $750 would be the norm in Sunbury. I've only passed through the town, but it is isolated, you'd have to travel an hour or so to Harrisburg or Williamsport for any real entertainment. Employment opportunity is not good there, and I have heard there is a pretty sizeable drug problem there. From everything I've heard from people in that area, you would want to avoid Sunbury, you'd be better off in surrounding towns. Northumberland, right next to Sunbury, always looked OK to me. And Danville is a nice town.
Having lived in Sunbury for most of my life I can tell you the drug and crime element is all over, not just here. Sunbury, not unlike other towns, has it's better sections and any realator can assist you on that info. We do not have drive by shootings.... not to say there is no crime, but times have changed all over. I would also recommend buying a house for the difference in cost between a morgage and rents.
I was born in Sunbury, but that was a long time ago. It use to be a nice place in the 40's and 50's. Not too bad in the 60's & 70's but started declining after that. We use to call it Scumbury because of the element there, especially around Memorial Acres. Sunbury also had a lot of people with severe mental illness walking the streets, if anyone remembers Philip Bilbay aka ZIGGY the guy who use to walk around hunched over with his arms behind his back or that crazy lady who use to walk around with makeup smeared all over her face yelling and screaming. Kids use to torment ZIGGY and the Cops started cracking down on it, he was harmless but creepy.
Back in the 80's some other guy flipped out and walked down Market Street shooting a pistol all over the place, a Sunbury cop took him out with a 12 gauge right on the steps of the Edison Hotel, I still remember the picture in The Daily Item of him laying on the sidewalk. Luckily he didn't kill anyone.
I remember the day when Sunbury was the place to go, Strand and Rialto Theater was it, no Mall across the river then. Had a small town/city feel to it with all the stores they even had Minor League Baseball in the 50's for a few years but that was short lived. Those days are over. Last time I was through there I wouldn't call it scary compared to the places I have been since but it's not that great either, no jobs with little or no prosperity.
News Fash.... Phillip (AKA Ziggy) is alive and well. His hair is gray and not as slicked as in previous years, but he has recovered nicely from his accident a few years ago. I think he was actually mugged/beaten up by a bunch of kids (native to Sunbury not immigrants). The woman with all the make up is Romona. Romana did pass away quite a few years ago. Hers was a sad story the wife of a local doctor who just couldn't cope with his death.
The shooting in the 80's... I remember it well. I walked my little sister downtown to meet my mom at her office, we were going to go to Raub's back to school shoe shopping. She made us walk to Mel Co Printing across from the park with her (Thank God), if not we would have walked right through his shooting spree. I do believe out side of what is now 20/20 Video on the metal part you can still see the bullet holes.
Don't forget the Shikellamy vs Steele High post football game stabbing by the high school in the 80's by a Sunbury Native. The Realto Theater burned to the ground, arson in the late 70's or early 80's another Sunbury native. See not all crime is due to the increase in minorities.
Wow what a trip down memory Lane.....
Not all Sunbury memories are bad ones. We never locked our doors until the population explosion. We still go to church and know many of the people, the same people we grew up with. I meet people that were ahead of or behind me in school and know relatives and they comment on how much we all look alike and ask how they are doing. I like walking into places in Sunbury and seeing the faces of children I used to babysit with thier children. We have some restaurants in town, and many close by, a pool, a YMCA with up to date work out & fitness facilities, a lot of history and some really great people who will pull together when someone is in need and really show what a community can do for it's residents. Sunbury is as nice a place to live as any of the wonderful surrounding towns.
the young man you recall from that corner was named Tink, he always had a string he played with. I asked a relative about ziggy and they said yes that was him.
The scale model of Fort Agusta was purchased by a private individual from Northumberland, it was not destroyed, I believe he has it reassembled on his property. The renovations to Cameron Park have me confused, I think the money could have been used elsewhere. The large stone with the boyscout plaque on it came from my family farm I was glad to see they didn't toss that when relocating the cannon the other end of the park. Although the significance of the cannon pointing the way it originally did is now lost.
I moved to Sunbury recently from Hartford, CT. It is SO much safely and cleaner than Hartford (which I loved). I do not have kids in the school system, so I cannot speak to that, but there are lovely walks, great places for simple meals (amazing fries at this one mom and pop place we love) a SUPER new library. It is also very close to Bucknell and Susquehanna university where we see lots of musical performances and hear lectures. They have a decent bicycle shop in Sunbury and lots of alleys where one can bike. There's a great farmer's market and Amish market.
Personally I love it. This talk about "illegals" disturbs me and sounds ignorant. The one regret I have is that it lacks diversity with over 95% white population. I am white myself, but would love to connect folks from Mexico and Central and South America and we could use a decent Mexican restaurant in the town.
I don't know about the rental market, but we bought a wonderful old house in very good shape and are very happy with it. My quality of life has improved considerably since moving here.
Pop Synders, that's the name of the place with hand cut fries and killer good breakfasts (try Pops Slop--killer)
Sunbury has suffered what many towns of it size has with the mall/supermarket boom that started in the 1970s and wiped out Main Streets as well as the end of industry in many of these places. So far I have only met really nice people who care about the community and are committed to the place. Are there other sorts? Sure, Sellinsgrove has its own seedy part of town (and per capita more crime than Sunbury). Will it ever be what it was? NEVER. The same is true of Wilkes-Barre, Scranton and even bigger cities like Columbus, OH and Hartford, CT. They have bright spots and depressed spots. They are old in places and sagging and established families move away (then drive by and trash the places for being something different than they once were while forgetting the troubles that existed in the past).
If you decide to come to Sunbury, contact me at [email]p2son@earthlink.net[/email] and I will give you a walking tour and introduce you to some wicked good fries.
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