Richland has had a tradition for as long as I can remember of the annual Richland Alumni Banquet.

I don’t know when it started, but certainly long before we moved into town. Anyone who graduated from the Richland School was entitled to attend, and their spouses, of course. So my mother (Class of ’42) and father had been going as long as I can recall.

And even after Richland consolidated into the Eastern Lebanon County school district (Elco), the alumni banquet tradition continued; anyone who graduated from Elco who lived in Richland at the time of graduation was qualified. Although I was therefore qualified, I never attended. I think my sister went at least once, just to catch up with old classmates. My parents continued to attend regularly as long as their health allowed. As far as I know, the tradition still continues.

It’s usually quite a gala occasion, and the banquet on Saturday June 6, 1959, in Annville was probably no exception, although strangely absent were the Geiss family, Roy, Olive, and daughter Sally Ann. This was especially unusual because Roy Geiss had been one of the organizers of the Richland Alumni Banquets, and he and his family were always there.

The following day we found out why.

The family had set out for the banquet with Sally Ann behind the wheel, and as they were driving along Route 422, a vehicle operated by 19-year-old Charles Edward McCarty was headed in the opposite direction, jumped a lane, and plowed head-on into their car.

All three family members were admitted to the Good Samaritan Hospital with Roy suffering from lacerations of the face, possible fractured nose, fractures of the right upper arm and left hip, and chest injuries. His condition was listed as critical according to news reports.

Sally Ann was in satisfactory condition with injuries to the right eye and foot, abrasions of both legs, and minor chest injuries.

Olive was listed in fair condition with fractures of the left elbow and thumb and a laceration of the lower lip.

The 19-year-old McCarty, who caused of the crash, was also taken to the hospital, but does anyone care about his injuries? I certainly don’t.

I won’t drag this out.

Although Olive and Sally Ann survived, Roy died a few days later.

I don’t really recall those days and weeks after the crash.

Somehow, Olive and Sally Ann bounced back. Olive eventually became a focal point for the neighborhood again. I remember my sister used to spend a lot of time over in Olive’s house, as did some of the other neighborhood girls.

Sally Ann continued with her theater troupe and continued to meet with her handsome young men.

Richland got a new barber when Howard Stoltz and his family moved to town.

Things returned to normal, as they seemingly always manage do after a tragic event.

I’ve tried to find out more about the McCarty kid. Was he ever held responsible for the crash? I can’t find anything, and I don’t recall. In general I don’t believe people ought to be remembered just for the worst thing they did, but if that worst thing they did involved causing another person’s death, then all bets are off. Searching the web all I can find out about him is that Charles Edward McCarty was born in 1940 in Kleinfeltersville, PA, to Arch and Pearl McCarty, he had several siblings, Merle, Robert, and Carl, and that’s about it. Should anyone know anything about him, I’d be happy to hear it. And if he was ultimately cleared of responsibility for the crash, I’d certainly like to hear that as well, and I would update this post.

The clippings below are from the Lebanon Daily News of June 8 and 11, 1959.

To be continued