In this third column, I am speaking to my good friend Mr. Stephen Hayden, former manager of the Keystone Cement Company, where he and his father gave dedicated service to the firm for 68 years. We are remembering some of the history of the company.

One of the ladies who gave us a look back at the early days of the plant was the late Mrs. Betty Rohn, whose grandparents sold some of their farm to Keystone in 1925. Her father, Clarence Lerch, was a superintendent at the plant.

"My father was one of the first employees at the new plant," she said. "With his machinist skills, the future looked bright." Her parents built a solid brick home on Chestnut Street in Bath in 1929, the year that brought the greatest depression to the United States and the world.

"Times were difficult. My father would say we hoped we would not lose our home, but by determination my parents held on to our home. The Keystone, as our neighboring plants, only worked a few months each year."

The Lerches, as most people, did everything possible to economize. To save coal, only a section of the home was heated. Their grandparents had a bountiful garden, along with chickens and eggs. Those were the days when people could not rely on supermarkets to supply one's food needs. Money was in short supply and self reliance was practiced by many families until good times returned to America.

Mr. Lerch returned to the Keystone machine shop and took courses in engineering at Penn State Extension in Allentown. His hard work was rewarded when he was promoted to machine shop foreman. Hard work has its rewards, for one day, officials of Keystone summoned Mr. Lerch from his machine shop and told him he was now plant superintendent. An employee since April 2, 1928, he was now in charge of the entire operation.

"My father was always outgoing and friendly. He was firm but fair, he remembered when he was a regular employee," Mrs. Rohn remembers. "He had great pride in the plant and wanted it to be clean and neat. Many times when he would hear the plant whistle he would go to the plant and check if there was any problem."

Mr. Lerch retired on May 1, 1962. His last comments to the employees ended with these words: "Take care of yourselves and each other."

Mr. Hayden's father worked with Mr. Lerch. He was chief engineer at the plant during Clarence's last years at Keystone.

During Mr. Lerch's tenure at the plant, a major modernization project evolved so Keystone could remain competitive. Mr. Steve Hayden Sr., as chief engineer, was highly involved in the update. A new kiln measuring 9 feet 6 inches by 10 feet 6 inches by 350 feet was installed by the FL Smidth Company which would succeed the Fuller Company of Catasauqua as a major manufacturer of cement industry equipment.

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In our next column, we will have some early photographs of Keystone Cement being used on construction projects.

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To spend an afternoon enjoying additional cement industry history, visit the Atlas Memorial Cement Museum, 1401 Laubach Ave., Northampton. It is open 1-3 p.m., on the second and fourth Sundays of the month, through September