YOU KNOW YOU'RE A POCONO NATIVE WHEN...

Are you a "true" native of the Poconos? Perhaps, but, for what it's worth, "sez who?" We were just wondering, given the many indistinct "they say" qualifiers used out there. Take the new arrivals or "transplants," for instance, who, as some area "natives" believe, don't count because moving to the Poconos is hardly the same as being born here. End of discussion, right?

Well, not according to those who descended from prior generations; they insist that ancestry can be the only authentic standard. OK, but by how many generations, then? One, three, or beginning with the time of The Depue's settlement? Or must one need a trace of Indian blood in order to be considered native born?

If so, of course, it wouldn't end there, because even the American Indians were "transplanted" migrants from Siberia, and before that they.... Catch our drift? That's why we decided upon a more objective way to measure the depth of your roots in the Poconos -- a pop quiz that tests your knowledge. So, if you're prepared to put your facts where your mouth is, here goes (and no peeking at the answer key below until you've finished):

You're a native of the Pocono Mountains when...

1. ...you can tell the difference between a "Deer Crossing" & a "Yield" sign

2. ...you can find the "cold air cave"

3. ...you can name the Poconos' original Indian tribe

4. ...you know when not to bother waving at a passing car

5. ...you know the original settler & founding name of Stroudsburg

6. ...you know where to buy a six-pack of beer

7. ...you know what a "turkey mound" is when you see one a mile away

8. ...you know the best time to grocery shop

9. ...you know how to escape the Rt. 209 Flea Market nightmare

10. ...you know where the "West End" begins (nobody knows where it ends)

11. You know who was dubbed the "Avenger of the Delaware" & why

12. You know exactly where to go for great bagels on Sunday morning

13. You know the original name of the Snydersville Diner

14. ...for extra credit, you can name the locations of the other three former Beseckers Diners.

15. You know when summer has officially begun

16. You know where to buy your used car

17. You know where to find your neighbors on a hot summer weekend

18. You can name the community where Mr. Greenjeans lived

19. ... you know the town where "The Honeymooners' " Ralph Cramden played pool

20. You know the town after whom a famed Olympic athlete was named, as well as its former name

21. You can pronounce Analomink and Sciota correctly

ANSWERS

1. One stops traffic for safety and the other isn't a traffic stop for a National Geographic photo shoot.

2. On Rt. 611 two miles south of the Delaware Water Gap.

3.The Lenape tribe (meaning "common" or "ordinary.") Pronounced Len Nap

4..When it bears New York plates.

5. Daniel Brodhead--who settled Dansbury

6. Bars ONLY

7. That unsightly, fickle albatross of an aboveground septic system

8. Any time but weekends

9. Through Shawnee (River road or Hollow Road)

10. After Linden Court by Business Rt. 209 in Sciota

11. Tom Quick, for killing Indians indiscriminately in what is today the Milford area to avenge his father's death in 1756.

12. New York

13. Beseckers

14. N. 5th St. & N. 9th St., Stroudsburg and in Portland.

15. Opening day at Lewis', Big Star & Hilltop ice cream parlors.

16. Colonial Auto

17. Beltsville State Park

18. Shawnee-on-the-Delaware

19. SURPRISE! Shawnee-on-the-Delaware --again.

20. Jim Thorpe--formerly the town of Mauch Chunk.

21. Anne-a-low-mink and Sy -o-ta