Season’s Greetings!
It’s that most wonderful time of the year again. Whether it’s decorating the tree, singing along to the classic songs that fill the air, munching on some scrumptious Christmas cookies, or just chilling out with those most close to us, the spirit of the season would not be complete without the arrival of the Santicola & Company Annual Report. Now in its 29th year of publication, we bring our devoted readers all the news events that are not fit to print anywhere else. July 16 marked our 30 year wedding anniversary. Now, as back then, life’s adventures never seem to stop, and we are blessed to still have good health, the mental acumen, and love of each other to keep on rolling. We don’t take any of it for granted. On that note, we extend our very best wishes for a joyous holiday and Happy New Year to all our family and friends.
Movin’
Arolling stone gathers no moss could be our motto when it comes to staying put. We hadn’t planned on moving at the time of our last Annual Report but by January 29 we were the new owners of a 4-level condominium just outside the village of Sewickley. Sprouting into prominence in the late 1800’s with massive summer “cottage” homes for the wealthy industrialists of Pittsburgh’s iron and steel heyday, the village expanded west of the smoking mills allowing those with enormous fortunes to escape the blackened skies with clean air to breathe and the newly constructed Allegheny Country Club to play golf. Our condominium, one of nine in the association, was once part of a single estate owned by a railroad baron from that earlier era. Subdivided and later sold by his descendants, the condos were built in 1987. Drawn by picturesque Victorian, Colonial Revival, and Tudor style architecture with flat sidewalks extending for several miles outside the village, Sewickley has long had a curb appeal few other neighborhoods can match in western Pennsylvania. While our 3-story carriage home in Nevillewood offered scenic views and had been significantly upgraded, it lacked a first floor master bedroom and bath that becomes an increasing priority proportional to one’s advancing age.
Scenes from an Italian Restaurant
“Abottle of white, a bottle of red, perhaps a bottle of rose instead” as the 70’s song by Billy Joel goes. We must have imbibed a few too many glasses when deciding on moving to a home with 45 steps from ground to top floor to rectify encroaching decrepitude. But at least this one came with an elevator! After a couple of visits to size up the badly neglected property, we concluded it was a true diamond in the rough and could be salvaged. Deal done. Without hesitation we turned to the trustworthy RAMCO Renovation crew of Roy Faust and Mark Giovannitti who estimated we were looking at a 4 month overhaul project. With so many design decisions to make we were guided to the multi-talented Anne Willoughby for help. In addition to working for Porchlight Home Staging, Anne also serves on City Council and is the accountant for the condominium association. Talk about doing it all! Lastly, we had some great suggestions on construction of a wine room and flooring from our former next door neighbors and longtime friends Mik and Patty Dudevszky, as well as our winemaking buddy Rino Miglioretti. Sometimes it takes a village, but in our case, just a few good men and women who really know what they are doing.
You Picked a Fine Time to Leave Me Lucille
TWhere I Lay My Head is Home
As the renovation picked up steam and cost estimates grew, we decided that listing our Nevillewood home much earlier than planned at a seemingly ridiculous price would be a way to weed out the merely curious and attract only serious buyers hellbent on golf course living. We gave this a very low probability of success but from day one the siege of requests for showings began. Within a week we were made an offer we couldn’t refuse. That good news was tempered by the reality that we would now be homeless for a month while work continued on the Sewickley condo. We begged the buyers for an extended closing date and wrestled out a few extra days to June 10. But then, where to go? Beverly scouted out extended stay lodging in between the two properties and we booked ourselves into the Staybridge Suites. Tight quarters for sure, but it beat living in a cardboard box on the sidewalk!
hat well-known Kenny Rogers song from the 70’s about being left alone with a mountain of responsibility could have been the theme song for a trying summer. Being homeless and still having a houseful of possessions meant renting offsite storage in mass quantity. Our heavy furniture was placed into pods and stored in a warehouse while business records, clothing, kitchen & bathroom items, over 100 bottles of wine, and countless personal belongings went into no less than 4 storage lockers varying in size from 10’ x 10’ up to 10’ x 25’. That was A TON of heavy lifting and hauling in our vehicles on a daily basis to empty out the house before the closing. With all that strenuous activity, Marc needed surgery and a long, painful recovery period to repair a hernia incurred about 80% into the move out. Good thing he married a farm girl because Beverly had to manhandle the last 20% alone and then haul much of it out of the storage lockers to the condo a month later! Just before the July 4 holiday we said goodbye to Staybridge Suites and moved into the Sewickley condo after the pod people delivered our furniture. As with any move, there are always holes to fill which afforded Beverly the opportunity to visit boutique shops for decorative items, rugs, and more furniture, an unsurpassed pleasure for her and anguish for Marc who had to pay the bills. But at the end of the day, a house becomes a home little by little, and we can honestly say we have not looked back with any regrets.
Food of the Year
On a trip to Indiana this summer we stayed a couple days with Dolly Milo and her son Mike, longtime close friends of Beverly’s family in the small town of Knox. We hadn’t seen Dolly for a number of years and, at 94, it was time to make time because who honestly knows what tomorrow will bring? We certainly didn’t know what the breakfast menu would bring but Mike does all the cooking, and he is vegan. No bacon, eggs, and buttery flapjacks to stick to the ribs on this trip. Instead, we were seated and served the daily special: a heaping, mixed porridge of seeds & nuts, fresh & dried fruit, cooked oatmeal, and most notably, hemp hearts. For those readers wondering if we got buzzed from ingesting a mounded bowl of THC, let us assure you, that did not occur. The heart is the soft, inner part of the hemp seed, with a sort of nutty, granular consistency. It can be sprinkled on or blended into yogurt, cereals, baked goods, or whatever application you can imagine. High in protein with zero cholesterol, bursting with key vitamins and minerals, we like them for all that and they taste good too. But what was most astonishing to learn was that after several months of adopting a strict vegan diet liberally infused with hemp hearts, Dolly, at age 94, no longer needed ANY of her medications. We are talking about a DRUG FREE nonagenarian! As Mike reminded us, numerous times, all protein originates from plants. After seeing the results, we strongly recommend adding this item to your pantry shelf and diet.
The Gold Standard
That is what a representative from the U.S. Department of the Interior called the Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) document that we helped author and publish on behalf of the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe. Building on the Native National Partnership Retreat in 2023 where the 3-day event was attended by 50 funding agencies at the federal, state, and private level, the resulting publication was singled out as the type of in-depth document all Tribes should strive to have. Working closely with Planning Director Bernadette Cuthair on several major infrastructure projects, a total of $64 million in grants has been submitted this year with $19 million already awarded. And these successes are leading to new opportunities as the Blackfeet Nation in Montana is looking to contract with us next year to replicate the 3-day retreat and CEDS document for them. It looks like another busy year coming up! Click on the QR code to see the winning CEDS publication.
There’s a New Man About Town
Everyone was excited with the newest addition to the family when Harrison Richter was born on April 9 to our great niece Mackenzie and her husband Nic. Weighing in at 8 lb. 4 oz, both Harrison and Mom are doing great. The very first thing we learned about this little fellow is that he prefers to be held in awkward positions. Turn him sideways or even upside down and he’s happy as a lark. Maybe Harrison will be a future gymnast, we don’t know yet. All we do know for sure is that he, along with his one year old first cousin Lucy, will be the centers of attention at family gatherings for the foreseeable future.
Harrison Lucy
CONNIE
Shocking, profoundly senseless, unbelievable. The search for adequate words ceaselessly fails to convey the full realization that your own sister was the victim of a brutal home invasion that ultimately took her life. In the early morning hours of August 3, while Beverly’s sister Connie Bailey and her husband slept, a local drug addict looking for money gained entry, maced, and repeatedly beat them demanding the combination to their safe. The assault left Connie so badly injured that she was life flighted about 80 miles to a hospital in Fort Wayne, Indiana. We arrived later that day with Connie stabilized but nearly unrecognizable. Doctors feared most about the damage from brain bleeding and over the next two weeks, with sons Tom and Scott at bedside, her condition deteriorated markedly from several strokes until she passed on August 16. No person, and certainly not Connie, deserves to have their life end in such a violent, horrible way. And for what? A drug users next fix? Those who knew Connie will remember her for the many acts of kindness, selfless giving, strong work ethic, and devotion to family that defined her life. She is, and will continue to be, missed in ways that words cannot convey.
GUILTY In a case not all that dissimilar to “round up the usual suspects” the police were already following leads when we talked to Chief Clint Norem the day after the attack. We offered to put up reward money for anyone who would come forward with information, but the Chief stated straight up that may not be necessary. In his small, rural community the list of would be perpetrators is not a long one. Within 3 days an arrest was made, and David Campbell was charged with 13 felony counts. A murder charge was added following the coroner’s report. By the time of the trial, the police had gathered DNA evidence, cell phone records tracing the whereabouts of the suspect, and the plea bargain testimony of Campbell’s girlfriend who acted as the getaway driver. It took the jury only one hour of deliberation to reach a guilty verdict and subsequent sentencing was set at 100 years in prison. The family is extremely appreciative of the excellent work by Chief Norem, his staff, and other law enforcement agencies who assisted in the investigation. Justice was served swiftly, but any sense of closure will feel hollow for a long time with the whole affair absurdly pointless.
