WEATHERVANE: Nearly a year ago, in April 2016, the Hume family talked to The Era about a historic Bradford weathervane that is in their possession.

Sally Hume Besgrove got back in touch because the weathervane is now for sale. She lives in Wisconsin, but her family is from Pennsylvania.

Sally tells us, “My parents are both originally from Bradford; Graham W. Hume and Janet (nee Kellogg) Hume. My grandmother, Helen Hume, ran a successful painting/art business located on (Route) 219 in South Bradford from 1941 to 1983 when she sold the business and moved here to Elm Grove, Wisconsin, to be with our family.”

Here is how the Erie Train Station weathervane came into Helen’s possession, according to Sally:

“In 1953, the Erie Passenger Train Station was partially destroyed by fire and torn down. My Grandmother had her eye on the beautiful weathervane that was made for the station and sat atop it from 1890 right up until the fire. Fortunately it was not destroyed. When she found out there was no plan for the weathervane, she spoke to the men in charge of tearing down the station and told them if the weathervane made it to her front yard, there would be a case of bourbon waiting for them. And to her delight, it did make it there.

“She had it installed on top of her shop on Hwy 219 and it was proudly displayed there for 30 years.”

An auction for the weathervane is set for April 13 at Leslie Hindman Auctioneers in Chicago. Readers can find the auction online by going to auctions.bidsquare.com and typing into the search bar “American weathervane.”

Sally passed along a poem — from the viewpoint of the weathervane — that a friend of her grandmother wrote. We’ll share that Wednesday.

CHERRY TREES: After reading our column Monday about the cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C., Bob Rusiewski wanted to give a heads up to people traveling there that it might not be a the best year to see the famous trees.

Bob writes, “I was in Washington, D.C., March 19-22 and took a walk around the tidal basin.

“The color and numbers of blossoms was very poor. I think the combination of early budding and a frost singed them pretty good. Many blossom remnants were on the ground near the MLK Memorial walking toward the Jefferson Memorial. Even from a distance the color was dull and disappointing.

“Unless a recovery is in place this week those going to that area will not witness a robust color or numerical blossom explosion like prior years. It is a beautiful area, yet this year will not be up to par in my view unless the trees somehow recover quickly.”