Random Thoughts from a Random Memory

By Edward Master

I had a great Easter dinner with my sisters and their families last week. Easter at one time meant fund raising at A-C Valley High School with Char-Val chocolate candy. Tiny foil-wrapped eggs, solid chocolate rabbits, white chocolate, and solid nut eggs were just some of the choices. In my mind, this was the Cadillac/Rolls Royce of chocolate; the absolute best!

But first a little background on Char-Val. After my wife and I moved from Glassboro, NJ, to Indiana, PA, we were making the trip home one time to Turkey City through New Bethlehem (this time on purpose) so I could introduce her to Char-Val chocolate, specifically the showroom on route 66 north. Upon arrival, we entered the store/showroom and I began a conversation with a clerk (she may have been a Char-Val owner or family member). Our talk came around to my hi school fund raisers and then to me buying chocolate 'Wilbur buds' from a store up street from RCA in Camden, NJ, where I had worked.

I remarked that it was the best chocolate I had eaten since Char-Val and that the chocolate Wilbur buds were made with chocolate from Lititz, PA. She replied and said that was from where the Char-Val originated. The family who owned Char-Val when I was in school had sold to new owners. Our idea was to pick up some 'meltaways' for my mother. I know I stocked up on a personal candy collection for myself.

Mom would invariably hide her stash from my father and dole out a piece or two for guests. She may or may have not given a piece to my two sisters. We switched to Daffin's meltaways when we moved to Grove City for which she continued the hoarding.

My wife was not to be considered a 'candy' person. She vehemently denied having a sweet tooth. Ergo, I had it mostly easy at birthdays, anniversaries, etc., as she was allergic to roses and I passed on the box of candy (mostly). I did substitute jewelry and plants for the outside.

However, not so with the Char-Val. She too took a real affection to the Wilbur buds and later to anything Char-Val and meltaway. She also took to Daffin's. I took a real likeing to Daffin's also since Daffin's was a popular fund raiser with their candy bars (multi flavors).

The Wilbur buds have a side tale behind them though. When I worked at RCA Camden, the Wilbur buds shoppe was but a short stroll up Market street in Camden. For the most part, there weren't many streets to take a stroll on in Camden. Rutgers U. had a branch campus a couple of blocks off Market, but I didn't do that.

The Wilbur buds came in three 'flavors': mint chocolate, regular milk chocolate, and dark chocolate. At Christmas time, I would buy each flavor, mix the three equally, and give a baggy with the three types of buds to my mother, two sisters, and wife. Simple gift and it was a big hit.

A few years before Dunkin world replaced CVS in Clarion, the CVS store was a source of Char-Val candy at Easter. I remember being home for the holiday and making a run to Clarion specifically to gather in some solid nut eggs, solid bunnies, or foiled-wrapped treats. I admit to the sweet tooth.

I have no shame in admitting I enjoy chocolate rabbits at Easter. I was ultimately spoiled by Char-Val. Those solid chocolate candies from the Lititz treasure trove were about an hour and a half away from Glassboro, but I don't remember Hershey being big on the Easter-type confections. I don't recall neither when the Cadbury eggs became popular nor when the Reeses's peanut butter eggs hit the market. I have a soft spot (besides my belly) for both Cadbury and Reese's.

Easter brings back more than chocolate memories. My mother would invariably make an evening out of coloring hard-boiled eggs and then dying them different colors. I believe we had 'egg hunts' for my sisters outside and in later years for my nieces and nephews. I don't ever recall much in the way of gift-giving, but once my older brother and I each got a 'motorcycle' cap for Easter, like the one Marlon Brando wore in the movie "Wild One." That was about it for gifts. We may have received a silver dollar or two from my Kittanning grandparents.

Mom made a ham and yams. I think in later years, she may have even pickled some of the hard-boiled eggs. My wife became infamous for her deviled eggs, the whites of which she often colored.

Speaking of sports

Buccos looking hopeful, especially if they get some pitching. How about those Dukes, with Duquesne notching a tourney win Pitt has to take a back seat.