FARRELL Name draws Briton to area

The visitor from England said he was most impressed by the friendliness here.
By HAROLD GWIN
VINDICATOR SHARON BUREAU
FARRELL, Pa. -- English Magistrate Graham Farrell said he was intrigued when he learned there was a town in the United States that shares his name.
Farrell of Liverpool, England, said he first heard about Farrell, Pa., when his oldest son found it on a map more than 20 years ago.
His son wrote to the police department and got a reply from then-Sgt. Joseph Timko, who sent him a police patch and information about the Mercer County city.
Several years later, Farrell decided to write his own letter and this time struck up a regular correspondence with Timko, who by then had been named chief of police.
He thought of making the trip here for some time and first broached the subject last year with Timko, who encouraged him.
Made the trip: His plan became reality when he was able to combine a little tourism with business on a trip to New York.
He spent much of the past three days with Timko and his wife, Carol.
They saw a lot of the local sites, Carol Timko said, rattling off a series of tourist stops including the county courthouse, Westminster College, Wendell August Forge and, although it's not on most tourist maps, the crossroads community of London.
"I've been on a whistle-stop tour," Farrell said Monday.
He even got a chance to try some skeet shooting, something he doesn't get to do in England.
He had the most difficulty with the American practice of tipping for services, which is much less common in England. Farrell said he relied on Timko for advice in that area.
"I think the place is great. What impresses me the most is the friendliness of the people," Farrell said, noting he hasn't experienced that attitude in previous visits to Boston, New York and Florida.
"I'd like to come back with me wife," he said.
Background: Farrell, 53, is a magistrate/justice of the peace which is a part-time, Crown-appointed post similar to the district justice (magistrate) in Pennsylvania law.
He is also a manager for a public relations consulting company.
He's done a bit of research on the Farrell name, learning that it originated in Longford, Ireland, and that there is a Farrell clan, complete with a coat of arms, that gathers at different spots around the world every two years.
He noted that there is a Farrell, Farrell and Farrell law firm in Venezuela and a branch of the family in South Africa.
This city was named after a man of Irish descent, Joseph Farrell, in 1901.
"The whole thing just intrigued me," Farrell said, admitting that there was a bit of ego involved in visiting a town bearing his name.