Former Bethanna Residents Return for Reunion

Most people don’t remember what was like in its early years, but there are some who will never forget.

On Saturday, a small group of people who spent part of their lives at the former residence on Second Street Pike made their way back to reminisce and remember.

“When I came here, it was old fashioned,” said Linda Hyotte, the brains behind the reunion. “As time progressed, children had social workers...(and they) were being adopted."

Hyotte, who lived at the home from age 9 to 16, said back then Bethanna was more like a haven for children whose parents couldn’t take care of them for whatever reason.

Hyotte and four of her siblings came to live at Bethanna after her mother passed away. She said her father found Bethanna in the phone book and put his children there in order for him to support the family.

“It was probably a daily prayer that I went to live with my dad,” Hyotte said. “I wanted to leave and eventually I did, then I realized that a part of me remained." 

Hyotte came back to Bethanna when she was 21 and worked doing various jobs before becoming a house mom to nine boys, ranging in age from 9 to 11.

All the while, Hyotte was snapping photos.

Eventually, she created a Facebook page to find the children she was a house mother to, as well as others who lived there during the time she was involved.

Hyotte uploaded as many photos as she had. She even gathered additional photos from Bethanna and uploaded them to the Facebook page.

“I have at least one for everybody,” she said.

Most of the people who spent a number of years at Bethanna have this undocumented gap of their lives, Hyotte said.

Cindy Strong said she values being able to see the photos — especially so her family can see what her life at Bethanna was like.

"It was very hard, but it was a part of my life,” said Cindy Strong, who attended the reunion. “I wanted my husband and children to see pictures of me when I was young."

Strong came to Bethanna at the age of five, because of parental instabilities.

“From coming here, I understood that even though I didn’t feel loved that Jesus Christ loved me,” she said. "That was the biggest blessing of being here.”

Strong said Bethanna also taught her responsibility.

Another former resident, Harry Hill, said he came to Bethanna after spending time in several orphanages.

Hill said Bethanna was the one place he felt like he belonged and where he could be a kid.

"It was very different here,” he said. "You got to do more things."

Hill remembers trips to Hershey Park and spending two weeks at summer camp every year.

“They treated us like family,” he said.

When Hill, Strong and Hyotte lived at Bethanna, several children lived on the premises and there were no adoptions. Currently, there are no children living on the premises in Southampton and Bethanna offers adoptions as well as foster care services.