Awhile back, I received some interesting historical information from Mr. Blaine Hoffmeister, a Bath resident who was a fine student of this writer at Northampton High School, graduating in 1970. He still remembers his old teacher from more than 40 years ago.

Of special interest was information on the former Penn Dixie Cement Company. This company provided gainful employment for thousands of residents. The company traced its roots back to 1926. In that year, the Pennsylvania Cement Plant, which dates to 1900, merged with Dixie Portland Cement Company of Chattanooga, Tenn.

The company included the Penn Allen Cement Company of Upper Nazareth. The new company operated three plants: Penn Dixie No. 4 in Nazareth; Plant No. 5, the Penn Allen; and Plant No. 6, Pennsylvania Cement, Bath. Some of the buildings remain today. One of the most notable is the white house; the former Penn Dixie office in Bath is an office for Heidelberg Materials.

To bring an old cement company back to life, I interviewed some former employees of the company. Our readers might recognize some of these names from the past. In 2002, I was fortunate to meet with former employees from Bath. Mr. Raymond Houser was a 50-year veteran of the company. His daughter, Margie Rehrig, was a friend of this writer and was also well known in the Bath area. Mrs. Rehrig was very involved in community activities from the Bath Museum to the food bank.

Another veteran employee was Mr. George Maureka. His son, also named George, was a stellar student at Northampton High School.

Sadly, George’s father and Mr. Raymond Houser are no longer with us. I was grateful they shared some of their memories with me.

Kathy Unger, another former Penn Dixie employee, called me in 2001 to relate her Penn Dixie experiences. Mrs. Unger donated numerous valuable photographs and artifacts to Atlas Cement Company Memorial Museum. In future columns, we will share their memories of the famous company, which closed operations in 1979.

Raymond Houser’s father, William, started work as a water boy at the Pennsylvania (later Penn Dixie) plant. The company was organized in 1900 in Bath. Mr. Houser spent his youth carrying water from the company spring to hardworking cement workers, who were mighty thirsty. From these humble workdays, William would progress to foreman and plant superintendent during his tenure of 50 years.

Ray Houser, William’s son, attended the new Wolf building in Bath, recalling, “During the sixth grade, I missed a month of school during the great flu epidemic. I studied all my spelling words and reading, so I didn’t have to take the examination at the end of the year.”

While I interviewed Ray, he showed me some of his tin toys in their original boxes; they were more than 80 years old at the time. Antique Road Show — where are you?

There were no computers or TVs, so as a youth, Ray was a trapper of muskrats, raccoons and skunks. On one of his trap checks, a surly skunk struck with all his vengeance.

He recalled, “My mother was very unhappy. I took a bath in vinegar and baking soda, but it didn’t help much. I went to school, but the heat brought out the odor, and I was sent home.”

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In two weeks, more memories from a former Penn Dixie employee.