|
|
|
|
After a life filled with ups and downs, Cunningham continues to push forward |
|
|
|
Front Page -
Front Page Story
|
|
Written by Mike Ishman
|
|
Monday, 26 October 2009 |
Jane Cunningham spent most of her life working at the Pantall Hotel in varying capacities. Currently, she is involved in various organizations around Punxsutawney. (Photo by Mike Ishman/The Punxsutawney Spirit)
PUNXSUTAWNEY — When Jane Cunningham moved from her former residence to her new home July 15, it might have been the lesser of two changes in her life at that time, considering in July, she was let go from the Pantall Hotel after being involved at the hotel for 39 years in one capacity or another.
Cunningham was born in Blue Ball, now known as West Decatur, located near Philipsburg. The daughter of a miner, Robert Bush, and his wife, Nioma, Cunningham spent much of her early childhood in the woods surrounding her house with her brother, Robert Morris Bush.
"There was one section of woods behind us where there were birch trees that I thought were huge," she said. "I would climb them and travel — we all could — from birch tree to birch tree, for what seemed like a mile. It was probably only an acre, if we were lucky. I had a fun childhood in that sense. (It was) real creative."
Cunningham recalls a particular childhood activity that she wrote about later in her school years.
"We would climb this big mountain, which I wrote a paper about when I was in high school," she said. "My teacher insisted I go back and look and of course, the mountain wasn't as tall as I was."
When she was 10, a great blow to her family occurred. Her mother was diagnosed with cancer.
"When she was taken to Pennsylvania University Hospital in Philadelphia, my brother and I moved in with our grandparents, Joseph and Mabel Bean, which was not a big thing," Cunningham said. "Every weekend, we called granny asking if we could come for the weekend, so we were very comfortable there."
Her mother's condition worsened for several months, and she was moved back home shortly after Christmas to be more comfortable.
"We had saved some of our Christmas things to share with her when she got home," she said.
Her mother passed away Feb. 2. After Cunningham moved to Punxsutawney, it was very difficult for her to celebrate Groundhog Day, as it falls on the anniversary of her mother's death.
"It took a long time to get used to celebrating on the day that my mother died," she said.
Following her mother's death, she moved in with her grandparents and began reading a great deal as a way to cope.
"When mother died, I took it very hard," Cunningham said. "We were very close, and I told her everything that happened to me. We had a library of sorts at that time. It was small and you could only get books out three days a week — Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. So I read two books each time, six books a week."
Cunningham credits her grandparents with giving her the work ethic she has today.
"I loved living with my grandparents," she said. "They were hard workers and never had nothing to do. They were always doing something. They made their own bread and jelly; we all picked berries before the dew was off the bushes. We were all soaked. It was a lot of fun. They gave me a work ethic that has made me very happy and I've been quite successful at just about everything because of that."
Cunningham recalls many experiences in high school, including when she was in the school band as a french horn player. As a member of the state band, she was selected to the special All-State Band, a combination of the Western and Eastern State Bands.
"Richard Nixon was going to address the NEA in Philadelphia at the Convention Hall, and they put a band together to play for him. It was quite an experience," she said.
After developing a love of reading, Cunningham graduated from high school and went to Indiana University of Pennsylvania to earn her Secondary Education English Degree. While in college, she had to use her work ethic to pay for school, and came up with solutions to not being able to afford everything she needed.
"Instead of living in a dorm, which was more expensive, I rented a room in a house," she recalls. "It was supposed to be 10 dollars a week, but after I was there a couple weeks, the people really liked me, so they gave it to me for five dollars a week. The mother got me a job at the Elks Club, waiting tables, and I did pretty well there."
When she was a junior, Cunningham ran into trouble paying for school. Having exhausted her funds, she didn't have any options left.
Her grandfather called her and told her that the Elks, who had previously given her a scholarship as a senior in high school, were going to award her another.
"We had to go to Pittsburgh to pick it up," she said. "Since he didn't drive — no one in the family did until I did — he and his friends picked me up on a Sunday afternoon and we went to Pittsburgh."
Once there, it was revealed that the scholarship was offered through the state, which covered her schooling for that year.
"I stood there and cried," she said. "The guys had done this on their own. They took the information I used to apply in high school and organized it a little differently, so I had nothing to do with it."
Following graduation from college, she landed a teaching job in Maryland. After living in Philipsburg for most of her life, she moved to Rockville, Md., and began teaching.
"I was most happy when I was teaching in 1961," Cunningham said. "I really loved it there. I just happened to find really nice people. It was a great place to live and I made friends really quick. I was there for two years, and just loved it."
Two years after starting off in Maryland, Jane moved back to Pennsylvania to get married. Only a short time after teaching English at the junior high in Indiana, Jane became pregnant.
"In those days, if you became pregnant, you couldn't teach," she explained. "It was just a terrible thing to have the students know you were pregnant. We had a very strict person in charge, and had he known I was pregnant, he would have insisted I quit right away."
After one term, Cunningham could hide the pregnancy no longer.
"When I told my classes I was leaving, I had one student who said, ‘Oh my God, you're pregnant! I knew you were gaining weight, but I didn't know you were pregnant!' I left there after one semester, but I really liked teaching there," she said.
After having three children — Gene, Joe and Barbara — and moving to Punxsutawney, Cunningham's marriage dissolved and she needed a new job, being unable to get back into teaching in the area. With health issues requiring medication and to support her children, she took a job at the Pantall Hotel as a part-time waitress.
"I started every night at 4 p.m., and was usually home by 9," she said.
That did not last long, as she was named dining room and kitchen manager after four months.
"When the manager was fired, I was asked to step in," she said.
Eventually, Cunningham became the General Manager of the hotel and is still serving as president of the board.
She recalls her years at the hotel with fond memories.
"I always had a great staff. If you were having a bad day, someone would come over and say, ‘What do you need done? I'm finished.' It worked out beautifully. I miss that," she said.
Of course, the busiest time of the year for a hotel in Punxsutawney is Groundhog Day. When the season came along, Jane had to get creative with lodging the visitors.
"We only had 62 rooms. Obviously we needed so many more," she recalled. "The third or fourth year I was involved in the housing, I rented rooms out of town. The year Groundhog Day landed on Feb. 2, 2002, I rented 210 rooms out of town and I had Krise bus them from the various hotels. It was really neat."
To make up for the visitors not being able to stay in town, Jane would arrange for souvenirs to be placed in their rooms.
She remembers some specific visitors of the hotel very vividly. There were people that came every year.
"One man came until he died," Cunningham said. "He was from the Bronx and was an attorney. He knew all of us by name and he knew all the business people. Before Mahoning Hardware was torn down, the New York fellow and Bud were buddies," she said. "All down the street, he would go down and greet everyone by name. It was just amazing when people came over long periods of time. It was fun. So many nice people.
As for working at and managing a hotel, she explained, "You always have problems, but basically, we have had the nicest people working for us and that's really important in any business."
She credits where she is in life to her mother, who has served as an angel for Cunningham since her passing. "There was always a miracle," she said. "My life has been filled with miracles. I had terrible kidney stones and it will be seven years Dec. 10 that Joe gave me one of his kidneys. I have no problems now. I've just had a whole series of miracles. It's kind of nice."
She attributes her junior-year scholarship, as well other fortunes in her life to her mother. "I always say that my mother became an angel for me," she said.
Cunningham said she loves the Punxsutawney area.
"This is a great place to raise a family," she said. "That's probably one of its greatest features. We have a good school system with good teachers. The churches are wonderful in Punxsy, and they get along. That's not always true in towns. Between the churches and the schools, it's a great foundation for kids."
Since being let go, Jane has remained involved with aspects of the Pantall, where she is still president of the board. She also serves as the Public Relations Director for Career Women's Association and Secretary of the Concert Association.
She attends SS.C.D. Church, where she serves as a lector, usher and Eucharistic Minister, and is part of a number of bands.
"When you become part of a band, you are just one voice," she said. "When they all play together, it's just wonderful."
Jane also enjoys spending time with her grandchildren, Brenton, 16, Mason, 13, and Benjamin, eight.
"They are my life," she said.
As for what else she can accomplish, Jane replied, "I'm not finished yet."
|
|
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 27 October 2009 )
|
|
Click to Compare Cards online for special deals on the business credit cards that meet your needs. |
|
|
|
