. Volume 2 Jump to Page Number 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Go Back to Index TOGA NEWS Issue 9, September, 2002

We were all excited when Bev began firing up the metal detectors. We were hoping to find a pot of gold, perhaps, or maybe an old family heirloom, but this was not to be the case. The ground around the house was so heavily impregnated with ore bearing rocks that finding anything other than ore was virtually impossible. The one item of significance we found was a cooking pot. It was buried under about 4 inches of sod, right outside the door of the house. Although crushed when we found it, the pot was very thin and we were ably to bend it back into it's original shape with our bare hands. It appeared to be a small cooking pot about 5-6 inches in diameter and about 4 inches high. It may have had a ceramic or porcelain handle as we found a white ceramic like substance in the same area, that registered on the metal detector.
After awhile we just stood around soaking in the ambiance of the area, each of us lost in our own thoughts of the good old days and ancestors long gone...........
 
 

       Our next stop, although unscheduled, sounded really exciting. Ken asked us if we'd like to visit the Casparis Quarry. Emanuel's son, my Great Grandfather, worked in the quarry and we have a photo of him and other workers standing by the quarry, so, of course, we all agreed we'd love to visit the quarry. (He's third from the left in the photo.) We started back down the dirt road and soon enough made a turn and began climbing up the mountainside.

    Now, I must tell you that, being from Amherst, Ohio, sandstone capitol of the world, I'm used to seeing quarries. Their huge open expanses cut deep down into the earth, that are usually filled with water, and make exceptional fishing and swimming spots. So, expecting a similar type of quarry, I was totally shocked with when we arrived to find huge mountains of solid rock rising straight up out of the earth. This wall of rock was hundreds of feet tall, several hundred feet wide and who know how many feet or miles deep. In the face of this rock cliff were several large carved out openings or doorways, if you will. Each opening was probably 100 feet tall and 50 feet wide.

    Our next surprise came after we parked and exited the vehicles. It was another hot day. It was 98 degrees and the humidity was approaching 100%, so it was miserable sticky out as soon as we got out of the truck. I remember telling Dorothy, "I'm not going too far in this heat without water." We stood there by the trucks for a few moments gathering up gear, preparing for our trek into the bowels of this cavernous quarry.......