Leadership Styles and Arrowheads

Who was “Had” Yeager?

And, What was his Leadership Style?

That’s a great question. And the answer might take many forms. If you were an AFL-CIO Local 285 member between 1935 and 1955, you knew Had Yeager as the Secretary of the local. Had wrote and published the newsletter each week, which he edited and typed personally. Then the “mimeograph” copier was utilized to run 100 copies for distribution among the membership. Had Yeager was a tireless advocate for the “working man” against management.

If you were a member of the Communist Party in Lancaster during the late 1940 and early 1950’s, (remember Joseph McCarthy’s hearings, in the House Un-American Activities Committee?) you remember Had Yeager too.

But, if you’re reading this HOPKINS of VIRGINIA blog today, you probably remember Had Yeager, (Harry Smith Yeager 1890 – 1974) as “Haddie”, he was our Grandfather. Our Forefather, to use Fogelberg’s label.

Haddie was like a father to Lydia and Johnny Hopkins, and myself. From the late 40’s until we all graduated from High School, left Lancaster, or got married to a Kreider…he was everything to us. He was Nana BeBee’s advocate, personal shopper at Rutz’s sale, and he was Nanny Yeager’s estranged husband.

Haddie lived at 240 West Liberty Street with his two sisters, Mim and Floss, (Miriam and Florence). Their Aunt Mary lived there too. She died in 1952 at the age of 90. She was the sister of Anthony Yeager, who was the father of these Yeager siblings. Mimmie’s Husband Sam Cliff also resided there at 240. He chain-smoked, and “bet the ponies” as Haddie would often remind us. Uncle Bobby lived on the second floor of the house, across the hall from Haddie’s room. Bobby was wounded at the battle of the Argonne Forest, in France in 1918. So, Mim, Floss, Had, Bobby, Aunt Mary, and Sam Cliff all lived there.

But, in 1959, Bobby, the Marine veteran of the Great War, (WWI) bushwhacked Haddie one Friday night, as Haddie was going up the stairs to bed. Bobby hit Haddy over the head with a “home made black jack”. It looked like a “darning” ball used for patching socks. This was the “last straw” for Had. He decided to try to leave 240 and move into an attic bedroom 4 doors up, at 248 West Liberty Street. So, Nana BeBee and Nanny Yeager agreed to let Haddie move (back) into our house. This was like a major event, and a major source of joy for Lydia and Billy (that’s me). We loved being around Haddie, and couldn’t imagine a better outcome of the Bobby-Haddie conflict.

But, having given you all this background, I MUST GET TO THE POINT of this blog entry. I want to tell you of something Haddie and Billy used to do. I’ll bet the young men who are descendants of my Grandfather, Had Yeager, would also love to do what Haddie and I used to do. This activity demonstrates his LEADERSHIP STYLE better than any other anecdote from his life.

It was called ARROWHEAD hunting. Usually in the summertime, Haddie and Billy would walk from Liberty Street on a warm afternoon, down the mile long street, (Liberty) till we got to ‘CONSUMERS’, where farmers brought produce for processing. Then we followed the Pennsylvania RR tracks toward the New Holland Pike and finally turned left there and walked up a sloping hill, by RCA, where Nana Beebe worked for some 20 years, as a Laboratory Technician. Beyond the RCA parking lots, there on the New Holland Pike... was the Conestoga Creek. Have you ever heard of the Conestoga Indians? Or, perhaps the Conestoga Wagon? Of course you have. If not, “google” them and get the story.

Well, Haddie and Billy had walked more than 4 miles that warm summer day, let’s say in 1956 or so…and we got to the ARROWHEAD hunting grounds. There in a freshly plowed farmer’s field, adjacent to the Conestoga Creek, Haddie told Billy, the story of how the Indians always lived near the creeks, and how they planted corn, and actually “made” arrow heads by heating the stones, and dripping cold water very carefully onto the edge of the stones, creating a “chip” where the flint would snap off in response to the temperature difference, between the hot stone and the cold water.

But on this day, Haddie’s intention was to find something 200 years old, in a farmer’s plowed field near the Conestoga Creek. Haddie was very methodical, and very patient. ‘FAT CHANCE”, I thought….but I was with my Grandfather…my Haddie, and this was precious time…and who’s to say that we wouldn’t find that “needle in a haystack”, a real artifact from the Conestoga Indian culture there in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Now…we walked along the plowed rows of young corn plants, up and back, up and back. Rain had washed the ground the day before, which Haddie indicated was fortuitous, as more stones were exposed because of the “wash”.

I looked and looked and Haddie looked and looked, until it was obvious to me that our “ARROWHEAD HUNTING” adventure for that day was going to leave us empty-handed. I was hot, tired and thirsty, and beginning to weary of the hunt. I watched Haddie for a signal that he, too, was ready to begin the long walk home.

But, as, I watched him, he seemed to be looking down intently at something on his row. He called me over…and pointed to something. “What?” I asked…and Haddie said, “Look there…right there…do you see it?" He didn’t bend down and move the object, and he didn’t even point his finger close to it…he just said, “Look, there it is…” As I looked closely at the two foot square area of the field which was the object of Haddie’s intention…I saw something that “might” resemble the back end of an arrowhead. Looking closer, I saw this stone object, almost white in color. It was buried in the reddish soil at least half way…It was about 2 and 1/2 inches long. It looked like the “back” of the arrowhead was exposed, and the “head” or tip, was buried…Haddie didn’t touch it…he only directed me to it…he kept pointing, patiently. HE WANTED ME TO DISCOVER THE ARROWHEAD, for myself! He might have reached down, pried it up with his finger, and handed it to me…

And THIS IS THE POINT OF MY STORY. Leaders love to set others up for success. And, they take great pleasure watching them do it. I didn’t call it his LEADERSHIP STYLE then. But I know my love for my Grandfather, grew that day. This demonstrated Haddie’s unselfish focus on these children of his daughter, Bertha Mary Rodkey Hopkins. He loved us as his own children. Haddie married our “Nanny Yeager”, (Edna Belle Yeager) in 1915, when Bertha was 7 years old. Haddie and Nanny Yeager were married and Beebe was no longer without a Father. What a FOREFATHER he became to all of us.

I’ll never forget that moment in time, there in the farmer’s field, with my Grandad. I found an arrowhead. I pried it up, lifted it close and showed it to Haddie. I think he was happier than I was! What a moment! What a coincidence! And what a treasure that arrowhead would become! The story was told and re-told over and over.

But before we walked all the way home, (4 miles) on that hot afternoon. Haddie and I had a spot pre-selected to stop for a soft drink…there was a tall metal, refrigerator like machine dispensing drinks, near the RR tracks on the New Holland Pike. I can still see the thing standing there. And, I can see Haddie putting the nickel into the slot…opening the door to reveal the vertical stack of metal caps of the bottles. He always chose the same brand…UPPER-TEN. Yes, it was a seven-up clone that tasted fruity and fresh. I would watch as Haddie lifted his bottle to drink, and saw him (usually) spill some of the drink down his chin, onto his sleeveless T-Shirt. He was not a “big” man, 5’11’ and about 180 pounds. But he had what I call a “bull neck”, very muscular and always exposed in the summer time, as he wore that tee shirt. (I don’t think he bothered to wipe the soft drink away).

So Haddie always got himself an Upper Ten, and I got a root beer, or an orange. Then, we walked the last 2 ½ miles home. This time, we were beaming with pride when Haddie announced to everyone, how “Billy found his arrowhead!”

THE BIG LESSON HERE, perhaps for you, is that Haddie was totally unselfish as a father/grandfather….he wanted me to have the joy of discovery…he was thinking of how he could give me joy….We found several others during those days, and put them in a box beside Haddie’s bed there at 240 West Liberty. And where are those arrowheads now? Ask sister Lydia!