• GreeneScene Community Magazine
EXTRASFEATURESILOVETHISPLACE
Historic, heroic East Waynesburg GREENESCENE OF THE PAST Ganiear Building PUBLIC SERVICE PROFILE Xander Bunny Project GREENE ARTIFACTS A collection of old locks COOL AT SCHOOL HONEY Program GOOD NEWS IN GREENE Awards & acknowledgements within our community MESSAGE BOARD Community announcements and opportunities GOING GREENE Wild and wonderful Greene HOMETOWN HERITAGE Current and vintage local sports highlights GHOSTS OF WAYNESBURG The Denny and Huffman houses welcome ghost tours THE HUFFMAN HOUSE Learn more about the history of the Huffman House ON THE ROAD TO MYSTERY The United Way mystery road rally returns TALES OF TERROR Local author Brad A. Braddock’s tales of terror PET PORTRAIT EXHIBIT At the Benedum Fine Arts Gallery WHEN DREAM TAKE FLIGHT Pennsylvania’s nut trees GHASTLY GREENE A guide to the spooky in Greene County 4 6 8 9 15 26 28 30 32 10 12 14 16 18 20 24 Happy Halloween
2 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022
3OCTOBER 2022 • GreeneScene Community Magazine Over Exhibits230from12States!#1ChristmasShowinPA! 28th Annual ALL EXHIBITS INDOORS IN 6 HEATED BUILDINGS!!! Santa & Mrs. Claus Sat’s 10–5, Sun’s 11–4 American Pie Oldies Band Oct. 22 & 23 • 12–2:30 Part Time Cowboys Oct. 29 • 12–2:30HandmadeUniqueJewelry PARidesTrolley ShellyDuoMcCombieBand Oct. 30 • 12–2:30 Buy Tickets at the GATE OR ONLINE FamilyFestivals.comat Redeem ad for 50¢ Off ONE Adult or Senior Admission SAVE 50¢ 724-863-4577info@familyfestivals.com 2 Great Weekends! Oct. 21, 22, 23 & 29, 30 2151 N. Main St. • Washington, PA 15301 Washington County FairgroundsFri 10–5, Sat’s 10–6, Sun’s 10–5
If anyone remembers when the county tennis courts got relocated here, it’s Jake Blaker, retired director of the county Parks and Rec program, only a phone call away in Florida. He is a cheerful refresher course in how we got here.
We sat surrounded by a who’s who of sunflowers, from spiky splashes of red and white to tall nodding heads filled with seed. Breathe in. Dragonflies danced against a backdrop of petals painted gold against blue sky, a living Ukrainian flag. Breathe out. Lori has been planting sunflowers here and at her home, giving seeds away to friends and strangers ever since her son Daniel “left this earth in a car accident” in 2019. I came to catch one of the last weekly meditations she and yoga teacher Crista Turner had been offering all summer to bring good vibes – especially the healing energy of acceptance of what life brings – to themselves and those who might join them.I
I Love this Place
Sometimes
By Colleen Nelson
When I finally caught up with Master Gardener trainees on their Friday morning harvest detail, September was bring ing an end to the season but the peppers and tomatoes were
HISTORIC, HEROIC EAST WAYNESBURG
was just over COVID-19, out of isolation and ready to reconnect with friends, ready to find a story here in this place where decades of volunteer neighbors and friends have gathered, playing tennis for health and camaraderie, doing good work at the Greene County Historical Society Museum, getting involved making monuments to veterans and helping the Greene County Food Pantry grow into the hunger fight ing force it is today. I looked at the Community Garden sign on the fence by the pantry across the road and made a mental note to stop by and get an update. The sound of laughter on the courts below was a backdrop as we sat, taking it all in and
breathing it all out.
has been part of the Corner Cupboard Food Bank’s commitment to fighting hunger since 2016. Director Candace Webster and Waynesburg University dean of stu dents Kelli Hardie were inspired to turn WU student commu nity service hours into the help needed to build the first five raised-bed boxes for the garden. The project used lumber do nated from Wayne Lumber; county prisoners and others did their part to create the growing space and a hefty grant from Nobel Energy helped make Candace’s dream come true. By the next spring the raised beds were bursting with plants, do nated by Central Greene FFA. Converting the neatly trimmed lawn beside the food bank building into fertile garden space has also given Greene County’s Master Gardener trainees and graduates a place for hands on learning and a chance to fulfill their commitment to 50 hours of volunteer service a year once they graduate.Nowthat the growing season is almost over Candace is looking forward to the pumpkin patch that will be planted outside the garden fence next spring to grow jack o lanterns for pumpkin pies and toasted seeds for the families who visit the county’s seven food bank pantries. The view from the gar den is an amazing overlook of the courts and the new pavilion in the Greene County Veterans Memorial Park. This stately place to gather and remember has curving walkways, mono lithic pillars filled with names of those who served and granite benches for reflection. Dedicated in 2021, this park was the
Bret Moore, who now heads Parks and Rec gave an up date: “Ron Headlee and Dan Bazzoli approached us in 2020 about adding additional pickle ball courts. With the explosion of the sport’s popularity, we thought it was a great idea.” This healthy get out and play initiative got support from Iron Syn ergy and WVU Medicine, Moore added. “The public-private effort worked perfectly for that project.” The county has also renovated the small schoolhouse on the property to be used for a military museum, with Greene County Historical Soci ety creating the displays.
4 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022
I discovered this one evening in late August when I came to meditate with Lori Paletta-Davis in her sunflower patch above the tennis courts on Rolling Meadows Road.
The old courts across from the fairgrounds were built in 1971 and by 2006 “were in need of major work,” Jake tells me. The decision was made to move the courts and “Gene Lee and I hunted for the right property.” What the county owned around the Greene County Historical Museum became the Goldilocks spot that would begin attracting others to this woodsy corner, tucked beside Garards Fort Road, beside the old county owned schoolhouse. For the year it took to move the courts, the public was invited to play at Waynesburg Col lege. In 2019, as Jake prepared to retire. “we saw people mov ing towards pickle ball, so we converted one court.”
Lori Paletta-Davis in her sunflower garden.
it takes a moment of silence to allow a story to emerge, bright and beautiful, between one breath and the next.
still coming on strong. Produce gets weighed and added to the pantry’s stash of fresh produce to give out, a welcome addition to localThefamilies.garden
The Master Gardeners care for the gardens as part of their volunteer hours.
The veterans monument and benches.
Glenn Toothman and the WWI monument.
them together to dig into this almost forgotten bit of history. Their search took them to France in 2017, looking for the towns and the battles that took so many Greene County lives. They were surprised and impressed that the villagers they en countered were getting ready to celebrate the end of WWI’s Centennial the next year. Inspired, they headed home and got to work creating this monument on county land beside the tennis court. The site includes Memory Medallions standing guard between memorial trees to help all who visit remember the lives of the 58 Greene County soldiers who died in that “war to end all wars.”
5OCTOBER 2022 • GreeneScene Community Magazine
Pickle and tennis courts offer a great opportunity to get out and play.
told me that he and fellow history lover Candice Buchanan, who now works for the Library of Congress in Washington DC, discovered that each of them had two rela tives among the Greene County soldiers who died on or near Rain Day - July 29 1918 - in France. That curious fact brought
The Greene County Legacy Association held its dedica tion services at just the right time: on the eleventh day and eleventh hour of November 2018.
dream of Vietnam Veteran Rick Black (1946-2021), brought to life by the tireless enthusiasm and volunteer work of vet erans, neighbors and friends. I’ve scrolled through group’s Facebook page that documents just what it took to create this place to honor those who protects us and strolled the pathway that connects it to the World War I memorial near the ten nis courts. Which is where I met up with Glenn Toothman on a shady afternoon to swap stories and be quietly amazed that the old adage “before the reality comes the dream” has been proven true so many times in this little corner of Greene County.Glenn
on the first floor and artist loft apartments on the second and third“Wefloors.pitched the plan to the Benedum Foundation for funding to acquire and renovate the building but they did not bite,” Pastorious remembers. Undaunted, Creative Industries rented the former Corner Shoppe on Church Street and cre ated Artisans as a non-profit, showcasing and selling work by approximately 65 local artists for the next three years.
town.Plans for saving the building began percolating in 2007 when Pastorious returned to her hometown and saw the po tential for a creative downtown business district with historic buildings worth visiting. Waynesburg Prosperous and Beauti ful, a community nonprofit that borrowed its name from the publication Fred High sold in 1907 to celebrate Waynesburg’s gas and oil boom days, was already promoting the message that historical preservation helps create a tourist economy along with boosting hometown pride. Local artists and busi nesses were banding together to rejuvenate the downtown economy with street festivals and farmers markets. 50s Fest was an instant hit and Sheep and Fiber Festival, which got its start in 2002 on High Street was now bringing in crowds ev ery third weekend in May to the Fairgrounds. Pastorious and others helped organize Creative Industries of Greene County, with plans to acquire the Ganiear building and turn it into retail space for artists, along with classroom and office space
groups, Fuller noted. The support group Team Hope is already here to help parents who have lost children to suicide and the CCR website lists the many programs and referrals for those experiencing personal crisis.
6 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022
GreeneScene of the Past
It would take the county’s Redevelopment Authority to save this important piece of Waynesburg’s nationally recog nized historic past.
So there it stood, its sturdy brick and limestone shell scooped clean and ready for what would come next. Plywood soon replaced the back wall and vulnerable front windows and a happy mural drawn by school kids let the world know some thing good was on its way. But when was anyone’s guess. In the coming years, workmen would install the infrastructure every modern building is required to have, from wiring to the res toration of three stories worth of rooms and stairways. Water damage and mold had claimed the nineteenth century nice ties of pressed tin ceilings, fancy trims and hardwood floors. This had been a furniture shop for more than 100 years, back when furnishings and furniture were made on site by skilled cabinetmakers and the store’s beautiful interior showcased the fine work that could be yours for the most competitive price in
“We don’t describe anyone’s crisis,” Fuller said. “There are so many reasons people find themselves in need. We’re here to help.”For more information about CCR services including joining Team Hope, call Brean Fuller 724-852-5276. For the crisis hotline, call 1-800-417-9460 .
I’ve
Once brought up to code, the Ganiear building went on the market and was sold to Nonprofit Develop ment Corporation in October 2021. Happily, its use as a community resource, as Creative Industries once imag ined, have been real ized. Plans are in the works for Center for Community Resourc es to use it to serve Greene County resi dents dealing with cri sis, County of Greene Mental Health Admin istrator Brean Fuller told me. These services are already available through CCR, which is located in the Ft. Jack son Building. Having three stories of elegant elbow room on High Street will allow for even more options, in cluding interim hous ing, affordable rentals and enough space to do programs and ac commodate support
talked to more than one friend who remembers driving up High Street and seeing the crane tearing off the back section of the Ganiear building – aka old Waynesburg Flo ral - on an early spring morning in 2016. It was a heart stop ping moment as the thought hit home – are we about to lose another historic part of Waynesburg?
Mary Beth Pastorious used this photo she took the morning of April 6, 2016 in her Waynesburg Matters column in the May 2016 issue of GreeneSPEAK! Tucked into her arti cle about the Ganiear family and their business, she was happy to report that despite all appearances the county had plans to refurbish the original brick structure to keep its historic pres ence on High Street intact.
By Colleen Nelson
7OCTOBER 2022 • GreeneScene Community Magazine
the past two years, children in the local foster care system have been the recipients of gifts of stuffed animals, thanks to the work of a Michigan business and a local children’s advocate.
8 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022
By Micah Leith
The costs of shipping that many stuffed animals were covered by a donation from her son in law’s company, New Way Exca vating. CASA of Greene County assembled and stored the individual care bags, which include a stuffed bunny, a lavender aroma therapy spray and a card with information about the Xander Bunny Project.
Public Service Profile
For Watson, the project offers everyone a way to get involved and help foster chil dren
The Xander Bunny Project is helping foster children in Greene.
XANDER BUNNY PROJECT
According to Watson, the stuffed ani mals can represent a small piece of stability for children in the foster care system. They also assist workers in connecting with chil dren.“The bunnies are such a great icebreak er for children in foster care when a case worker is meeting with a child,” she said.
For
“For every bunny we sell, we could place one in the hands of a child in the fos ter care system,” they said in a blog post ex plaining the project. “As we fill each bunny, we pray for the little “Xander” that may someday receive it; we pray for families in trauma, that they can get their feet back un der them; we pray for families to consider fostering to provide a safe temporary home: and we pray for some to open their hearts to adopt.”The project’s connection to Greene County dates to March of 2020, when Tam my Watson, an employee at Greene County Children and Youth Services, was searching for stuffed animals to gift to her grandchil dren. During her shopping, she came across the Lavender Life Company and watched a video explaining some of the charity work they do through their business.
“Iteverywhere.startedwith a grandmother looking for stuffed bunnies and ended with a part nership with an organization that walks the walk,” she said. “Everyone can be a part of this project. If you buy one a child in foster care gets it.”
Almost all the stuffed animals from the most recent shipment have been delivered to various local agencies. Only one batch remains, and that one will be sent to Fayette County Youth Services.
The Xander Bunny Project is named after Xander, the adopted son of Vic and Vickie Bennett, the founders of Lavender Life Company, which is based in western Michigan. Their experiences motivated them to start the Xander Bunny Project.
bunnies.“Iassumed that meant a lot of them needed more,” she says.
“The video touched my heart and mo tivated me to reach out to the owners Vic and Vickie Bennett of Lavender Life Farms in West Michigan to see how we could get these Xander bunnies to our child and youth agencies that deal with children in foster care in Greene, Fayette and Washing ton counties,” Watson says. “I also reached out to two other agencies in Morgantown, WV.”
“I couldn’t get that in my garage or driveway,” she says.
In total, the Xander Bunny Project partnered with five local agencies. They started by sending a shipment of bunnies, which Watson stored in her garage and distrib uted to the individual agencies. Two years later in early 2022, Watson heard from an agency that said that they were beginning to run out of
Watson reached out to the Xander Bunny project, and they sent even more than they did in 2020. This time, they shipped a tractor trailer full.
By Matthew Cumberledge, GCHS ExECutivE DirECtor
9OCTOBER 2022 • GreeneScene Community Magazine
A COLLECTION OF OLD LOCKS
Greene Artifacts
The photo here shows a series of five locks/locking mechanisms, and a board of keys. Starting from the far left, and going clockwise, we have a very old wooden lock. Upon the surface of this aged and worn lock we find a brittle and browned label pasted, that states “Smokehouse Door Lock Made and Used by James Barnes, Cumberland Twp, Greene Co, PA 1812... Got by Isaac Patterson, Sept. 19th 1911.” (1911 is our best guess, the writing is very worn and faded.) Upon first glance, and a member of our staff here initially thought, it looks like a puzzle box of some sort, and in a way it is. A simple mechanism of sliding wooden keys, with slots cut in them, are made to align with matching slots in the actual wooden lock itself by way of the wooden key. When the key is inserted and lifted, it lifts the pins and then releases a wooden latch which can then be removed, allowing the door to be opened.
come upon a very interest ing collection of items tucked away here at the Greene County Historical Society, a few of which have been hidden in a drawer for many years. It may just be the former corrections officer in me, but these are among some of the most unique artifacts I’ve found here to date.
As the backdrop, we have a display of keys graciously donated by Tom Headlee. Two of the keys on that board operate the large lock that was part of the courthouse annex.
We’ve
It’s a fascinating piece of local history, some thing that would have likely once been com mon, but a rare survivor today when many of our outbuildings are now gone or decay ing. You can’t go many places to see items like these, and we are lucky to have such a collection showing the evolution of hard ware, especially when it can be so nicely related to specific people and places in our history.Above this first lock, sitting atop the suitcase, is a very special lock. It’s difficult to see in the photo (so please feel free to come visit us, for a closer look...), but it is a lock from the first jail in Greene County, dated to about the year 1800. It still works and has its original key! Next, we have another wooden locking mechanism, nearly identical to the first. Continuing clockwise, we have a lock from the jail annex of the Greene County Courthouse that was taken down several years ago when the courthouse was renovat ed. And last, we have one simpler wooden lock.
“We started off with visits to the Denny House, once a week, maybe twice a week, just getting a profile of the place and build ing its story,” Damon says. “We got the his tory from Pam and Farley [Toothman], as well as the articles of Colleen [Nelson]. Over time, we started to build the paranormal profile of the house, thanks to lots of inves tigating. In this case, the investigation was extremely beneficial. It yielded more results than our research did. We were often getting answers to questions we hadn’t asked, only to discover the relevant information when doing more historical research.”
During their investigations at the Den ny House, the groups contacted multiple fe male and one male spirit through the portal box, witnessed a woman in white upstairs, glimpsed shadows, caught light anomalies, heard disembodied voices and unexplained sounds, and more. They’ve spotted a hairy black shadow and later learned that there was a little black dog that was on the proper
Ghosts of Waynesburg
A situation that occurred multiple times were mentions of “fire” and the “barn”. (The Denny House has a carriage house as opposed to a barn.) The confusion over the answers they were receiving was cleared by Farley when he shared that the Denny sisters referred to the carriage house as “the barn.”
Huffman House, located a short walk from the Denny House, is also a grand piece of historical architecture, although in a more advanced state of decay. Thomas Jef ferson (T.J.) Huffman had the house built in 1907. Adding to the atmosphere of the house, Huffman was organizer and CEO of Huffman Furniture and Undertaking Com pany until his death in 1937. The house passed to his daughter Inez and her hus band C.W. Parkinson. The Parkinson would own the home until the Toothman family
By Danielle Nyland
The Denny House
10 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022 SouthwesternPennsylvania,especiallyGreeneCounty,isnostrangertothingsthatgobumpinthenight.Theareaisbrimmingwithlegendsandtalesofghostlyencounters,creatureconfrontations,andothersupernaturalactivity.ManytalesofGreeneCounty’sparanormalactivityhavebeencoveredinKevinPaul’sHauntedHillsandHollowsbookseries,aswellasotherauthorsandhistorians.Andsittingamongstthelegendsandstories,ongroundthathasseenbattleandbloodshed,arethemanyhomesandbusinessesthatmakeup
The Denny House has been a part of Waynesburg since before the Civil War. Its stately lions guard its entrance along High Street, and its unique architecture catches the eye of drivers and pedestrians alike. The house of Elezear and Louise Denny, and the couple’s three daughters – Mary, Josephine, and Helen – has recently been restored to its full glory thanks to new owners.
The Marisas opened first the Denny
No expense was spared – trim, stair ways, balusters and wainscoting throughout the house were rare, quarter-sawn tiger oak; parlor walls were covered in hand painted canvas and hand painted motifs decorated the ceilings. There were one-of-a-kind terra cotta fireplaces, and the ornate chandelier
The much simpler two-story house grew into the three-story Victorian land mark we see today, thanks to the additions of its original owner, Eleazer Luse Denny, funded by the gas and oil boom of the 1890s. The additions and renovations made the house a one-of-a-kind beauty.
“By 1902, workmen were busy add ing the three-story facade with its Flemish design… Its parapets were appointed with terra cotta and opened into a vestibule tiled in hand done mosaics, then on to rooms and rooms of Victorian finery.
The founders of Outsider Paranormal, Damon Keys and Fred Tennant, had their interest in the paranormal sparked by indi vidual experiences in their youth. In 2011, the cousins investigated Hill View Manor in New Castle and, after an encounter there, formed their own investigation team. Since then, the team has gathered over a decade of experience and expanded to include new members, as well as merging with Chuck and Kim Kruezer of Pursuit of Paranormal SWPA to become Outsider Paranormal SWPA. “They knew it would be hard to do it with just the two of them, and we were looking to expand and get a more diversified team,” Damon shares. “We’re better for it.”
Renovations on the Denny House were carefully completed to maintain the proper look and feel of the house’s original period. The furniture and fabrics of the newly re stored home bring the feel of the period alive. “It’s like a museum and we want to keep the history of the Denny family alive,” Pam Thesays.
The Huffman House
was a stunning feature in the front parlor.” (GreeneScene Magazine, “I Love This Place”, July 2021)Eleazer
Is it any wonder that homes built and remodeled during the turn of the century might have some otherworldly anecdotes of their own? Wanting to learn more about their new houses on a deeper level, the Mari sas connected with local paranormal inves tigators Outsider Paranormal SWPA during the spring of 2022.
bought it and turned into law offices. The house sat vacant after the law offices moved, falling into disrepair. The Marisa’s saw an other opportunity to revitalize downtown Waynesburg and purchased the house in 2022. “While our vision is still evolving, we plan to restore it to its former elegance. We hope this adds yet another element to the re vitalization of the west end of High Street in Waynesburg,” Pam says.
the county seat of Waynesburg. Many of these locations have their own ghostly apparitions and activity to tell, and the Denny and Huffman houses of Waynesburg are no different.
died in 1910, leaving his family to maintain the estate. The last Denny in the home, his daughter Josephine, died in 1992. Over the next thirty years, the estate changed ownership multiple times, serving at times as a bed and breakfast, a private home, and a business. The newest owners, Pam and Kent Marisa, purchased the house in May 2021 and began immediate renovations to restore the house to its former glory. “As soon as we walked in, my husband and I fell in love with it. We had to have it!” Pam says.
House and later the Huffman House to the investigators. Upon their first visit to the house for a tour, while visiting the wine cel lar, the group picked up a disembodied voice saying, “We don’t serve water here.”
The Outsider Paranormal SWPA team has been investigating the Denny and Huffman houses since spring. Photo by Colleen Nelson.
the Denny House at the Huffman House, it’s the same,” Chuck says.
The Waynesburg Estates Ghost Tours provide three-hour tours of both the Denny and Huffman houses on most Fridays and Saturdays starting September 30 and going through the end of October. There will also be a Halloween Party on Saturday, October 22.
ty. There also seems to be a little boy named Jack that plays in the basement.
11OCTOBER 2022 • GreeneScene Community Magazine
The houses, built during the same era, also seem to share a connection. “If we bring up the Huffman House at the Denny House, we get good activity. If we bring up
Interested in exploring and possibly experiencing your unearthly encounter? FMI about the tours and either houses, please find The Denny House on Facebook, email pam@directresults.us or call 724998-0243.
They also investigated the falling can delabra/sconce story that had been told to them. While on a visit to the house to in terview Farley, they heard a bang, and the candle was laying on the floor. They at tempted to recreate it but could not. Once they fixed it so that it wouldn’t fall out, the other candle fell out.
place has a feel. There are days that you are here that you feel that you have a draw to this place. There are times that we’re just driving through when we’ll feel the need to stop and have a spur of the mo ment investigation,” he adds.
“[The Denny House] recharged my batteries. I felt supernaturally dead with investigating and coming in here made me feel like I had something in me again,” Da mon “Thissays.
“It’s haunted, it’s exciting, maybe a little spooky. Buy a ticket and come out and have a good time!” Damon says.
“This house feels busy,” Damon says. “I feel there is so much untold history that we don’t even know, that we’re just discov ering.”During their first investigation at Huff man House, Damon moved an object from the basement and placed it on a shelf where it would take force to move. He went out side to answer a phone call while the oth ers continued to set up for the investigation. While he was outside, the others came out, alarmed, and asked if he was okay. They had heard a bang inside the house. They went down to the basement and the object had been moved across the shelf. They also cap tured what they believe to be a boy playing peek a boo in the steps on the second floor.
of slow disrepair. A leaking roof did major damage to the interior but the sturdy brick building with its handsome stone facade was worth saving. Purchased by the county Redevelopment Authority in 2016, the rear additions were removed and the original building was renovated with new windows, up to code infrastructure and put on the market - another Hail Mary save for history.
Through decades of boom and bust economic cycles, a gratifying number of the grand old houses and buildings of Greene County’s county seat are still with us, thanks to conscientious family business owners, citizen historians and county offi cials who value the handprint that history leaves on a Pastoriouscommunity.notes that Waynesburg’s historic district was recognized in 1982 as part of the National Register of Historic Sites, with architecture dating from the founding of the county in 1796 to the be ginnings of World War II.
Saving history depends on the right people doing the right things, sometimes just in the nick of time.
After the law offices closed, Huffman House gradually disappeared into a tangle of vines, waiting for a new generation to see its value and be inspired to save it. Pam and Kent Marisa became the new owners in 2021 and the fixing up has begun. This October Huff man House is celebrating its ghostly “before” condition as it is readied for restoration. Let the memories of all who lived, grew up and sometimes died in this old house be sum moned once more. Outsider Paranormal SWPA has been on site for months, explor ing every nook and cranny, letting their ma chines, devices, rods and cameras pick up on the chatter and misty imagery of things that don’t quite have a name in the world of dayto-dayThere’sliving.pencil
“This sliding door with the heavy velvet curtains can be pulled, cutting this part of the house off from the rest. You see that in old funeral parlors,” Damon Keys noted. Stand ing in the high-ceilinged front room with its exquisite stained glass accents, he pulled a chrome-plated crucifix from a shelf. “We found this here. You can see the holes where it would have been fastened inside the casket during the viewing. Families usually took them home as keepsakes.”
When James Ganiear died in 1864, Re becca and sons John Hayes and David contin ued his work. John Hayes replaced the frame shop between 1896 and 1900 with a hand some three-story brick building faced with rusticated sandstone and a cast metal cornice bearing the family name. His son Charles Hedge was now managing the business and the new building would be expanded in back beginning in 1902 as Waynesburg and the rest of the county continued to prosper.
any century – building furniture and coffinsand embalming the dead.
As we stepped through the front door onto the intricately tiled porch with its tow ering columns, Keys gestured to the group’s wide array of devices to measure what can only be described as “What is it?”
marks on the wall to be seen, the last traces of some of the children who grew up here. Where are they now? What are their names?
The Ganiear family and its furniture building business had been on the corner of High Street and Whisky Alley since 1847. Mary Beth Pastorius has done extensive re search into the family and first wrote about their life and times in the May 2016 edition of GreeneSPEAK! Cabinetmaker James Ganiear and his wife Rebecca Johnson bought a lot from the estate of William Crawford, an orig inal town survey lot 60 feet wide and 160 feet deep, enough room to build a business and raise a family, 19th century style.
When skilled craftsmen and artisans finished creating the Huffman family’s dream home in 1907, T. J. and son G. Edward were ready to do business on High Street. They would soon be doing the profitable work of
The Ganiears added rooms with a front façade you can still see today to the small colonial brick home on the western corner of the lot that became their home. They also added a frame shop on the east side of the lot next to Whisky Alley and opened for busi ness. Cabinetmakers of that day also built coffins and Pastorius notes that the Ganiears did embalming on the premise as well.
Whenimagine.Thomas Jefferson Huffman, (1849-1937) and his family took up residence at the foot of Richhill Street in 1907, he was already wealthy and a bit of a trendsetter for what was about to change our world forever.
“This is a pretty amazing place. I think people are going to love exploring with us.”
12 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022
According to G. Wayne Smith, on May 29, 1902 the Waynesburg Republican re ported “The first auto-mobile to appear in Waynesburg was on exhibition here last week.” By August 1903 T.J. and son G. Ed ward were off in their automobile to vacation at Deer Port Maryland and the new word had lost its hyphen. Not to be outdone, “Shortly thereafter, T.J. Wisecarver, a Waynesburg businessman, became the owner of an auto mobile.”T.J. was a successful farmer turned busi nessman when he moved from Ruff Creek to Waynesburg in 1900.
At some point, the Rice family opened shop in the Ganiear building and Waynes burg Floral was born. The building was al most lost when Waynesburg Floral closed its doors in 2000 and the building fell into years
manufactured and sold on the first floor, cas kets were crafted and embalming was done “in the lower level” in the middle of the build ing and accessed from the alley.
Their new business venture would pick up where another family business, sadly, left off.
A professional photograph of the busi ness taken by “Babbit, Waynesburg” de scribes the untimely death of Charles Hedge, at age 37 in its cutline: “Following a family tragedy in 1908, Ganiear sold the furniture and undertaking business to G. Edward Huff man who is shown here with his family.” The Ganiear family would continue to own the building until 1953. Today, Mary Beth Pasto rius owns their family home next door
These glory days are captured in “Waynesburg Prosperous and Beautiful” a publication by Fred High, who photographed and identified all the fine houses and busi nesses in town in 1906. The photograph of the Ganiear building shows J. Hayes, son Charles Hedge and grandchildren standing in front of the plate glass windows on High Street, cap tioned “the oldest furniture store in town.”
The people who once called this stately house home have a tale to tell about life in Greene County as the 20th century came knocking. Look around at the beautifully carved staircases, the stained glass windows and hand painted wall coverings. This was once the height of social standing, when the riches of an extraction boom allowed some families to build the most amazing home they could
If you take one of the ghost tours of the old Huffman home, now known as Huffman House this October, let that little shiver of the season lead the way and let the spell of history be your guide.
Pastorius tells us that according to de scendent Charles Ganiear, furniture was
When T.J. died at the respected age of 87 his obituary in the Washington Observer states he was organizer and CEO of Huffman Furniture and Undertaking Company until his death in Daughter1937.Inez Huffman and her hus band C. W. Parkinson took over the family home and a generation of neighbors grew up calling it the Parkinson House. In 1987 Glenn Toothman Sr. bought the house and turned it into a family legal practice.
13OCTOBER 2022 • GreeneScene Community Magazine
Looking for some adventure and mystery close to home? Then check out the up coming Mystery Road Rally organized by the Greene County United Way. During the pandemic, many nonprofits were unable to hold the usual fundraising events, and the United Way was no exception. They needed a fun event for the community that would help with their mission, while maintaining a safe atmosphere for those involved. And so, the mystery road rally was born in 2020.
14 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022
This year, they worked with local historians Pat Fitch and Matt Cum berledge for planning the mystery story based off real-life Greene County true crime history. Early in the planning stages, MaChal reached out to Matt, Greene County Historical Society’s Mu seum director, for his input on major historical events in the area. One of the items he suggested was the last hang ing, and he connected MaChal with Pat, a local expert on the event. The final story for the rally was shaped, utilizing
This year’s event focuses on a Clue-like murder mystery theme loosely based off the last hanging in Greene County. Each team will head to the locations to gather evidence and interview witnesses. The winner will be decided by participants correctly guess ing “who done it.” There will also be a 50/50 and Chinese auction at the end.
fictional aspects to keep the mystery, well, a mystery.“Matt and Pat have been instrumental in planning the event with us. They’ve attended the event committee’s meetings, and have been very involved in the storyline,” MaChal says.
Second place receives a $50 Sheetz card, and third place receives a $25 Sheetz card.
The event will be held the morning of Saturday, October 22. The cost is $55 per car.
The event takes approximately two to three hours to complete and tours its par ticipants throughout Greene County. All par ticipants finish at the same last stop, where a gathering is held. “Last year the event ended up at Rocky Ridge Acres and it was really nice. Rocky Ridge Acres had their Fall on the Farm event with a pumpkin patch, hay rides, bake sale, food and other activities,” says MaChal Forbes, United Way director
To register, visit greenecountyunitedway.org or callThe724-852-1009.eventrelies on generous sponsors and volunteers to provide the best experi ence possible. Current sponsor EQT has been instrumental in providing the event, and the United Way is looking for additional sponsors that would like to donate cash or items. They also welcome volunteers that would like to as sist with the planning and execution of this and future events.
Edie Young, the first place winner of the 2021 Mystery Road Rally.
When planning the event each year, they event committee tries to focus on a Greene County-based mystery. Last year, the road rally’s theme was ghost stories and spooky legends in Greene –perfect for the dreary, rainy October day on which the event was held.
Participants travel by vehicle to special stops along the route where, after completing an activity or challenge, they are given direc tions to their next mystery stop. Also at each stop, one of United Way’s partner agencies will be set up.
“We love providing more information about Greene County to our participants, as well as promoting the agencies we work with in an exciting way,” she adds. “We’re very ex cited for this year’s event. It’s going to be a lot of fun!”Winners of the event will receive a $50 Sheetz card, $25 GetGo card, and a $25 gift certificate to a business in Greene County.
On the Road to Mystery R E G I S T E R A T G R E E N E C O U N T Y U N I T E D W A Y O R G O R 7 2 4 8 5 2 1 0 0 9 GREENE GCOUNTY REENE COUNTY Mystery ROAD RRALLY OAD RALLY $55 per vehicle Sponsored by: Representing Beaver, Greene and Washington counties PAID FOR BY CAMERA FOR SENATE H STATE SENATE H
To improve youth and adolescent health, all school districts in Greene County will teach the CATCH (Coordinated Approach to Child Health) curriculum from kindergarten through eighth grade. CATCH is committed to assisting children with getting more physi cal activity and nutritious foods and aligns with the CDC’s Whole School, Whole Com munity, Whole Child (WSCC) model. It was
Several wonderful after-school options are offered for area students. Students can take cooking lessons where they learn to cook healthy food and about reading food labels, food groups, serving sizes, calories etc. In ad dition to the value of the knowledge obtained from the cooking lessons, the food is brought to the school and is completely free. Students also have the potential of after-hours gym classes available.
port, medical visits from the mobile medical unit to monitor your health journey, prizes, and more. We aim to make this program fun, enjoyable, and helpful.”
Students in grades sixth through twelfth can join HONEY by asking their school’s front desk for an intake packet. Cornerstone Care patients interested in the enrolling in the HONEY program should consult with their Cornerstone Care medical provider.
CORNERSTONE CARE’S HONEY PROGRAM
By Michelle Church
For more information visit our web site at 724-852-1001.resources/outreach-programshttps://www.cornerstonecare.com/orcallusat
Cornerstone
15OCTOBER 2022 • GreeneScene Community Magazine
Care’s HONEY Program offers a lot of sweet opportunities to Greene County residents. HONEY - Healthy Options, Nutrition, Exercise, and Youth - is offered to all five Greene County school districts, Blueprints and Cornerstone Care patients who live in Greene County. It will be offered to 50 adults and 250 adoles cents in grades 6 through 12.
as well to accommodate all individuals in all areas of the county.”
specifically chosen because of its proven ef fectiveness over the past 30 years. Emma says, “CATCH shares knowledge about the impor tance of eating a healthy, balanced diet and emphasizes playing (exercising) every day.”
Cornerstone Care and their partners are providing exciting new ways to promote a healthy lifestyle. The HONEY Program is brand new and stems from a federal grant to improve health in rural communities and Cornerstone Care’s dedication to serving those communities. The program is designed to aid adolescents and adults in leading a healthier lifestyle and meeting their fitness goals.One of the services that the HONEY Program offers is exercise classes. Exercise classes are offered as a group or individually. Community Health Workers Emma Larson and Dillon Shields explain, “The classes ac commodate each individual and their fitness goals. These classes can be held in an easy ac cess area near the enrollee. Exercise classes may be available for students after school in their school’s gymnasium or fitness center. The program allows for virtual fitness classes
There are so many benefits and perks to the HONEY Program that it’s hard to share them all. Dil lon says, “The HONEY program has many benefits! This program is completely free and works very closely with the community. You receive multiple free services which include: a Fitbit, cooking classes, fitness classes, personalized nutri tion/fitness plan, one on one sup
Cool at School
The HONEY Program also offers coun seling and nutrition services. Cornerstone Care is consulting with registered dieticians from Washington Health Systems Greene and the Area Health Education Center in Pitts burgh to create nutrition lessons which will help HONEY Program participants develop and meet their nutritional goals. Cooking classes will be presented by Cornerstone Care Community Health Workers. Participants will prepare healthy food and learn about reading food labels, food groups, serving siz es, calories, and other tips for making meals at home. Program enrollees will also have ac cess to virtual cooking classes.
Braddock is a local author, his torian, and film buff with a love for classic horror. He currently is the agent/owner of a Goosehead Insurance branch in Carmichaels, but he's had a myriad of other jobs: he spent twenty years as a deep tissue massage thera pist (and still maintains that license), and he raises elk with his father in the West Greene area. He's also a log cabin enthusiast and has re stored a couple buildings. He's even been a writer for GreeneScene Maga zine in the past, sharing folklore and area history.
love movies, espe cially old movies. I would have loved to have been an actor or a director or something similar," Brad says. "I like to be able to create, and it would have been fun to craft a film. The writing is a way to create without being in film, with a pen and a pad."“I've written a story based on the movie The
By Danielle Nyland
The most rewarding thing for Brad has been being accepted by those that enjoy clas sic horror, "Feeling like you’re adding to a genre you love is so rewarding," Brad says. "To see people, like the Lugosi scholars, that really enjoy my books has been super rewarding to me. Being accepted into that niche has been better for me than anything."
Masontown,amedisys.com PA 724-583-2680 724-583-2685
Vampire Bat that has that shadowy feel to it. The pre-code period really influenced my writing,” he adds. "I've written a lot about Bela Lugosi. I've probably written the most fiction about Bela Lugosi of anyone in this country," he says with a laugh. "He has inspired me. I really like his films and his work."
The most surprising thing? "That I can write," he says with another laugh. "You don't know when you first start that you can com plete something from start to finish and it be good. I surprised myself. I wasn't really any thing in school, with English classes. It just kind of came, the passion that said 'I want to do this.'"Brad currently has another anthology in the works with stories based on Ed Wood's works. The anthology will showcase stories with fiction take offs, prequels, and sequels of Wood's films. The book will premiere at the June 23, 2023 Monster Bash. "There will be some historians involved with that one, and some great writers.” He's also working on an historical fiction book based on Minnesota Fats, a professional billiards player. Brad's books are available on Amazon as well as creepyclassics.com.
Brad A. Braddock
Brad has written three novels, one no vella, and assembled two anthologies. His first full length book, The Village of Eben Hol low, was written with friend Jason Pacy. The pair came up with the idea and began writ ing the story together in 2005, and the book was picked up for publication in 2015. It had a two-year run with that publisher, but Brad didn't keep the work with that publisher when the contract expired. Like many of us when looking at our early creations, Brad wasn't pleased with the final product and has recently began reworking the story into se rial form. His latest novel, House of Ygor, was published this year.
"Amazon has a beautiful platform for publication. They offer eBooks, paperback and hardback options and it's free to publish. It's pretty easy to manipulate the program, and they have a nice product. "
platform to get his books to their audience, as well as attending conventions like Monster Bash Conference in the Pittsburgh area.
"It makes you feel really good [to finish a novel]. That type of length, to get it out there and be happy with it... You feel accomplished when you complete that," Brad says.
Brad A. Braddock‘s
Brad found that the most difficult part of being an author, especially at the beginning, is trying to find the right publisher and get the right agent, without help navigating those new waters."There are a lot of sharks in the industry," Brad says. "I got tied with a few bad people in the beginning, but it was a good learning experience. You want to get published with someone to feel like you're legit. If you have someone that you can trust in that world, get guidance from them.”
Brad now self publishes his work, and collaborates with a team of other authors, freelance editors, and artists to complete each book. He takes advantage of the Amazon
He also sees the benefits in Amazon's Kindle Unlimited program. Although the paid subscription plan doesn't pay the au thors a lot per read, the platform provides an author's books to a broader audience, intro ducing the work to new readers. "As a writer you want people to read your stuff, whether you're making a lot or not. We don't do it for the money, we do it because we love it."
Author
His anthologies Chiller: Tales Inspired by Classic Horror Films and Bela Lugosi: The Monogramthology merged top-notch authors with legendary historians to create one-of-akind stories based off classic horror.
"I think the latest one has been some of my best work. It's based on old classic horror characters from the 1930s and is called House of Ygor. I feel like it turned out really good. I've had the best response on that book so far, it’s been very positive."
Looking
for the perfect Halloween sea son read this October? (Or September if you start spooky season a little early!) Then it’s time to head over to your local li brary (or Amazon) and check out awardwinning Brad A. Braddock’s “sometimes se rious… sometimes quirky… but always fun” books.Brad
Tales of Terror
16 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022
Brad’s passion for movies, especially classic horror films of the 1930s to 1960s, has a heavy in fluence on his writing. He writes primarily hor ror, although he's written some historical fiction and nonfiction. He also enjoys reading nonfic tion, especially biogra phies."I
17OCTOBER 2022 • GreeneScene Community Magazine
Pet Portrait Exhibit at the Benedum Fine Arts Gallery
This autumn Waynesburg Univer sity is celebrating local artists and their closest companions – their pets. An open call exhibition is currently being held at their Benedum Fine Arts Gallery.Members of the community, alumni, and current faculty and staff of the University have submitted work to honor their faithful friends. Each par ticipant was able to submit up to five works in their choice of medium. A va riety of mediums are showcased, includ ing painting, drawing, photography, and sculpture.Judging was held with prized for first ($100), second ($50), and third ($25) places. The jury consisted of Emily Wiedner and Maggie Merow. Emily is an adjunct professor with the Waynesburg University Department of Fine Arts. Maggie is an alumna of the Waynesburg University Fine Arts Department.
The exhibit opened September 19 and runs until October 14. The gallery is also open Monday to Friday from 8:30am to 4:30pm. All are welcome to attend the exhibit during its run. Their next show will open on October 24 and feature Katherine Volpe, a New York-based art ist.
18 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022
“We try to have at least one opencall exhibition every school year,” Em ily says. “With these shows, we try to do something fun and different that a lot of people can take part in. My pets are my closest companions. I know a lot of peo ple who feel the same way. It’s just a fun exhibition to appreciate these creatures that bring us so much joy!”
been a great year at the GCHS, with several ongoing projects being completed and many new ones beginning. A great deal of work has been done to the museum and grounds, and at the Harvest Festival you just may get to see some of the recent cosmetic restoration to Historic Locomotive #4 from the Waynesburg and Washington ReenactmentsRailroad.”willbe held during the weekend and there will be camps set up across the grounds, with demonstrations that reflect the daily and military life of those during the Colonial and Civil War eras. Visit the Civil War encampment and get a glimpse of mili tary life in the 19th century – don’t miss the skirmishes! Or visit the Native American en campment and learn about Native American life. The 52-room museum will also be open for tours. Cost this year is by donation. FMI, visit greenecountyhistory.org or call 724-6273204.
an overcast day in the high 70s predicted, the 21st Annual 50s Fest & Car Cruise was presented, as always, on the second Saturday of Sep tember – this year September 10 – in down town Waynesburg. Around 150 classic and hot rod vehicles were registered, and, over the six-hour timeframe, hundreds of specta tors turned out for the event coordinated by Waynesburg Prosperous & Beautiful, Inc.
the air gets crisper and the leaves change color and fall, autumn festival season gets into full gear in Greene County. One of the staples of fall activities is the annual Harvest Festival at the Greene County Historical Society Museum. This year marks the 51st anniversary of the much-loved weekend full of history, music, food, re-en actments and more. It’s the perfect October weekend activity for the whole family!
“We are extremely excited to announce our 51th Annual Harvest Festival, as always it will be the highlight of our season. 2022 has
Robert Headlee
Each year the committee honors the driver of the vehicle that traveled the most miles to get to the cruise with a prize supplied by sponsors WANB Radio & GreeneScene Community Magazine. Robert Headlee won
the furthest traveled award this year - travel ing 450 miles from Elizabethtown, Kentucky in his 2016 Dodge Challenger Hellcat. And, even luckier for him Robert was also the win ner of the 50/50 drawing, taking home $200 cash.“It was a great day for the event and a beautiful day to be outside,” says Danielle Nyland, Co-Chairperson of WP&B’s 50s Fest Committee. “The committee continued some of the precautions implemented during the years of the pandemic to ensure a safe and fun time for our participants, and it was fan tastic to be able to continue the event on High Street. It was a great 21st year!”
As
The 2022 Harvest Festival will be held on October 8 and 9 this year from 10am to 5pm. The event features artisan vendors recreating homespun crafts such as woodworking, art, photography, crafts, jewelry, soap, candles and more. Live demonstrations will be held throughout the day and the all-day live per formances are sure to entertain. A variety of food will be available.
19OCTOBER 2022 • GreeneScene Community Magazine
With
Whenever John would develop a plane, he would start to build it from the blueprints, and take pictures of every step of the plane until it was finished. He would use those pic tures to create an instruction book that would
John opened his first hobby shop in his mother’s grocery store, in a cor ner of the gas station in Car michaels, and later organized the Carmichaels Flying Club. He and Coral married in 1960 and moved to Washington, PA where he worked as a machin ist. Shortly into the marriage, John noticed an empty store front. “I remember I was tak ing the Christmas tree down in our little two-room apartment, and he came in and said, ‘We’re going into business,’” Buzz says. “He had found an empty place for rent, and so we moved all his airplane stuff there and opened Brodak’s Hobby Cen ter. He kept working as a ma chinist and I ran the store.”
go in with the plane. “That’s the way he did it, so that anyone could build a plane,” Buzz says.
own adventure. They found a model air plane while on the trip, and John bought and brought it Hobbyistshome.had gone to radio control and John struggled to find control line airplane accessories. John started contacting various control line small businesses, and he accu mulated a catalog listing them. He began his own advertising, and as business and demand grew more than the small businesses could handle, John purchased those businesses, started Brodak Manufacturing & Distribut ing, and began producing items himself.
On a trip to England, while Coral and their daugh ter went shopping, John and their son Joe took off on their
In 1997, he decided, as a way of thanking his customers, that he would have a fly-in, a multiple day gathering of flyers competing in various classes. People came from all over the world for John’s fly-ins each year, with attend ees sometimes numbering around 300. When COVID-19 hit, the fly-in was suspended for two years, but resumed in 2022 with the John G. Brodak Memorial Fly In.
Theyit.’” traveled to New Hampshire and discovered the seller had an entire two-sto ry, full basement house full of airplanes and memorabilia. “You couldn’t get another air
A recreation of the original hobby shop. The original shop is pictured below.
“He liked to come home and shock me, and then go out to the garage,” Buzz says with a smile. “This time he came home and told me ‘We’re going to New Hampshire. I know a guy that has some airplane stuff, and he wants to sell
When
he was younger, John Brodak was a disc jockey and he often played at class reunions in the area. He enjoyed baseball and he eventually created his own baseball game and sold it na tionally. But the interests that would grow into a lifelong passion and steered a large part of his life were flying and building things with his own“Johnhands.never stood still,” says Coral “Buzz” Brodak, his widow. “He built stores. He was the guy with the hammer up on the roof and down there laying the floor tile.”
20 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022
He purchased his first plane at the age of 13 and became so enamored that he was building two to three planes a week. John lat er would purchase his first real airplane kits and motor and taught himself to fly by trial and error.In1955,
When Dreams Take Flight:
plane box in if you had to. You walked side ways in there, between the wooden shelving he had set up. John asked if he wanted to sell it all, he said he did, and that was it. John drove me home, picked up a big truck and a helper, and they went back and loaded up his entire collection. Once he got home, John told me ‘We’re going to build a museum.’”
John started with his kits that he had put together and got that wall display completed and began working on the hobby shop display when he was diagnosed with esophageal can cer. After an operation, he aspirated stomach acid and was on a respirator for four and a
John was an award-winning builder with a love for detail, winning a national scale competition with a plane he had built.
With John’s collection and the extensive addition of the new items, the museum had almost everything that it needed. They broke ground on the museum on June 8, 2016 and the building was completed in 2019. A small snag prevented an immediate opening, but work continued inside.
Their first child was born in the early 1960s, and the fam ily moved back to Carmichaels. As his family grew and John began to be more involved in his parents’ grocery store, air planes were far from his mind, and he let the lease run out on the store in Washington. “Once things settled down, he ended up with three grocery stores and a couple of other business es. He told me one night that he needed something to focus on at night other than business, and he decided he would build airplanes again.”
A visit to Brodak Tower 1 Aviation Museum
The Brodak Tower I Aviation Museum opened in June 2022.
ByNylandDanielle
21OCTOBER 2022 • GreeneScene Community Magazine
We’re also going to try to coordinate with the events going on in the area, like the Covered Bridge Festival, so that we are open when people would want to visit.”
“The big question at the fly-in this year was, ‘Hey Buzz, are we going to do this again or this it?’ I said ‘you know what, I’m 80 years old, I only have another twenty years. I’m go ing to be here next year; you be here too.’”
The museum is located at 100 Park Ave nue in Carmichaels. It’s open by appointment. FMI or to make a reservation to visit, email flyin@brodak.com or call 724-966-7335. You can also visit their website at www.brodak. com.
“If there are any teachers that would like to bring their class in, that can certainly be arranged,” Buzz says. “We’d love to get the younger generation interested, to build stuff with their hands and spur their interest. John believed in teaching a child to build some thing with their hands that will actually fly to give them confidence, and the satisfaction of seeing that plane fly.”
half months until he passed away on April 25, 2020. With John ill, all work at the museum had stopped. After his death, the Brodaks re lied on flying friends to organize and finish the displays.Thecommissioners approached Buzz about having a 2022 fly-in and possibly mov ing it to the airport. The man that ran the fly-in for the Brodaks came out and looked at the airport and advised Buzz that the air port wouldn’t work due to limited time con straints, so they decided to have it in the field near their house where it had always been held. It was held on June 13 to 18, with a strong turnout of approximately 150 attend ing. During the fly-in, a ribbon cutting was held for the museum.
“This was his dream. To have someplace that people who are interested in air flight can come,” Buzz says. “He was very proud of his town, and he was always involved in Car michaels. I remember him saying, I want to bring people here.’ He was president of the Chamber 17 times, donated to Carmichaels light up night, and assisted organizations in the area. He was born in Fairmont, West Virginia, but he had been here since he was a baby.”Currently the museum is open by ap pointment only, but that may change in the future. “Eventually we hope to see if there is some opportunity to be open for set hours.
22 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022
23OCTOBER 2022 • GreeneScene Community Magazine
Horseshoe Bend, Rices Landing
Ghastly Greene
Friendship Hill, Point Marion
The museum was once the coun ty’s almshouse. . The county poor and mental ly ill were homed in the building and its ad ditions, and it is believed that more than a thousand people have died on the property. Various paranormal phenomena has been re ported by visitors, paranormal investigators, and employees of the museum. Footsteps, items moving, sounds, and eerie feelings have been reported.
The Gates of Hell, Uniontown
a guide to the spooky in greene county
The Denny & Huffman Houses, Waynes burg
placesvisitto
Because of it’s tragic backstory, Crow Rock is thought be part of Greene County’s
Hartley Inn, Carmichaels
The Denny House
haunted history. On May 1, 1791, four of the Crow sisters were walk ing along the banks of the nearby creek, when they were brutally attacked by a group of Indi ans and a renegade white man referred to as Spicer; only one survived. Para normal activity in the area in cludes spectral figures of Native Americans, the apparition of a little girl, disembodied screams, and lights or glowing orbs in the trees. Those visiting the site have encountered phantom scratches, hair pulling, and other strange sights and sounds.
24 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022
Nemacolin Castle
CountyGreeneHis
In the 1820s, Paci’s Lounge & Dining Room was a stagecoach stop. Paci’s Lounge was featured on the Biography Channel’s My Ghost Story in a 2010 episode called “Spirits of a Stage Coach Stop”. Paranormal phenom ena experienced by employees and visitors includes a shadow man, uneasy feelings, orbs, and moving objects. The former inn nearby has also had various paranormal activity.
torical Society Mu seum, Waynesburg
Crow Rock, Richhill Township
The building that would become the Hartley Inn was built in 1847 on the south east corner of Carmichaels town square. The property was purchased by Noah Minor Hartley in 1901; he then moved his family into town and began running the hotel. After Noah’s death, the Hartley Inn was sold and it passed through multiple hands and renova tions. Activity includes an unknown man that has appeared to multiple employees in differ ent areas of the Inn, disembodied voices that are impersonations of Hartley Inn employees, strange puffs of air, and moving objects.
Nemacolin Castle is located alongside the Monongahela River in Brownsville. The castle, once known as Bowman’s Castle was
GCHS Museum
Nemacolin Castle, Brownsville
Both the Denny and Huffman houses of Waynesburg have a long history. This season they are teaming up with Outsider Paranor mal SWPA to offer the Waynesburg Estates ghost tours. This is your chance to explore two icons of Waynesburg, one fully renovated and the other still feeling a little spooky.
Along the mighty Monongahela, sits the town of Rices Landing and Pumpkin Run Park. Besides being known for its history and scenery, the area is also notorious for its resident ghost. The legend of Stovepipe has taken many forms over the years, but the ba sic premise remains the same; a young man loses his head to a grisly accident, leaving his ghostly form to haunt the woods of Rices Landing. Gather your courage, take a trip out to Horseshoe Bend on one of those very dark and rainy nights and call for him by yelling, “Stovepipe, Stovepipe, Stovepipe! I’ve found your head!”
built around a trading post near the site of Fort Burd The castle is said to be the home to almost a dozen ghosts, both benevolent and malevolent. These ghosts include women, children, an old man, a dog, and something in the basement. Reported activities include apparitions, disembodied footsteps, strange lights, and more.
Paci’s Lounge & Dining Room, Brownsville
The historic home of Albert Gallatin, built in 1789 and called Friendship Hill, is situated just outside of Point Marion. It is said to be haunted by the ghost of his Albert’s wife, Sophie. Less than a year after the couple had moved to their new home in western Penn sylvania, Sophie died. Sophie was buried on the property. Rumor has it that a later home owner may have relocated her grave, but there is no official record of this. However, they story says that the grave was moved, and dur ing that process some of Sophie’s bones were lost. Sophie’s presence manifests in her for mer home as disembodied footsteps, pillars
of cold air, and a family dog that barked at nothing the eye could see.
At the start of an old, overgrown drive way branching off Tent Church Road, sits a metal gate painted blue. Behind it, the rem nants of an even older wrought -iron gate guard the driveway. This innocuous blue farm gate is said to the “Gates of Hell.” Long ago, a farmhouse sat at the end of the long driveway. Legend says, a man killed his wife in the house, lit the house on fire, and then killed himself. Before the gates were put into place, strange activity occurred at the remains of the house and barn. Once the gates were installed, activity began to be reported from those that spent time near them. Phenomena includes voices crying or talking, growling sounds, echoing laughter, strange lights, a shadow figure, faces in the fog, and a mysteri ous black dog.
Spirits Dwell (Kris Hoge) is a book of fictional ized ghost stories based on facts from Greene County. Stories include accounts of a crying baby, a mysterious red light and other spinetingling stories.
leading back to the same church.
Whatever Happened to Rose? (Kris Hoge) is a fic tionalized account based on the author’s ghost hunting and paranormal experienc es in Greene County and at the Greene County Histori cal Society.Interested in explor ing more spooky seasonal reading set in southwestern Pennsylvania or by local au thors? Check out these ad ditional options: The Unex plained Stories, Folklore and Legends of Fayette County Pennsylvania by Viktoria, Dutko Leonelli; Hauntings of Pittsburgh & the Laurel Highlands by Marci Lynn McGuinness; Ghosts of Southwestern Pennsylva nia by Thomas White; The Witch of the Monongahela by Thomas White; Aston ishing Encounters: Pennsyl vania’s Unknown Creatures, Casebook 3 by Stan Gor don; Betty Knox by Jason Pokopec; By the Light of the Moon by Larry C. Kerr.
House of Ygor (Brad A. Braddock) har kens back to the classic horror movies of the 1930s with the story of Ygor, servant of Baron Von Frankenstein. Follow Ygor through this wicked tale of classic horror that ties events from Bride of Frankenstein to Son of Frankenstein … and don’t be surprised if you find some old familiar faces along the way.
authorslocal
The Haunted Hills and Hollows: What Lurks in Greene County, Penn sylvania series (Kevin Paul) explore the otherworldly side of Greene County. The books compile years of re search and word-of-mouth narratives organized by topic and covers, UFOs, cryptids, ghosts, local folklore, and other paranormal activity.
25OCTOBER 2022 • GreeneScene Community Magazine
Death Doth Hold Name (Brad A. Brad dock) is set in a haunted Pennsylvania wood land, where the Great Raven and his flock are engaged in a feud with the last of the great Owls, who is protected by a loner living in a log cabin with the ghost of John Adams.
Memoirs of Murder: A prequel to the 1932 classic, White Zombie (Brad A. Brad dock) tells the story of Murder Legendre be fore the film White Zombie. Legendre leaves Europe and travels to Haiti where he is drawn into the world of voodoo.
The Blackwell Mirror (Michelle Bowser) shares the tale of Lana and her friends on a mission to stop unholy preacher Billy Bob Devlin. During Lana’s adventure, she goes back to the now abandoned amusement park and discovers a mirror in the funhouse that leads her down meandering paths through different realms all
Murder in Greene (John Rich Dorean) is the first part of a mysterythriller trilogy set in Greene County. Set in peaceful and pastoral Greene County, where a murder rocks the town and leaves a small child orphaned and a wheelchairbound pastor may have the only lead. Witness in Greene returns to Greene County as tensions between coal min ers and developers of natural gas reach a critical level. In Justice in Greene, the pastor is caught up in the war on drugs as some of his church families battle addiction.
The Hags of Black County (Michelle Bowser) tells the story of Black County, ruled by a committee of Hags, and fueled by tooth less rivalries. Its inhabitants have been men tally warped for generations and the land itself seems to have the power to drive any one unlucky enough to visit into madness. A twisted charm goes to work and every aspect of already bizarre Black County life takes a gory turn for the hysterical.
Spooky Tales Volume 1 (edited by Janet Boyer) includes five entertaining short stories that have five things in common: each contains the words tooth, rust, cope, ghost and whip persnapper.
To view a complete list of Waynesburg University rankings, or to learn more, visit waynesburg.edu/value.
4-H Member Donates to Helping House
Local Business Supports School Projects
emerges, and empathy for another living thing cultivates. Sophie has already learned this at her young age, donating money from the sale of CC to give back to her community, her school district, and her friends. She do nated $500 from her Market Lamb proceeds to The Helping House located in Nemacolin, PA.
Waynesburg U. Again Named a U.S. News & World Report Best Value School
Wbg VFW Donates $10,000 to Nonprofit
The U.S. News & World Report’s 2023 Best Value Schools Ranking examined the fol lowing four variables: ratio of quality to price; need-based aid; percentage of need-based aid recipients awarded scholarships or grants; and the percentage of a school’s total costs for 2021-22 covered by the average need-based scholarships or grants to undergraduates.
hours of Sophie teaching CC earned her a Champion Trophy in the Light weight Division. This award judged CC against other lambs in her weight class. Sophie also won a first place trophy in Jr. Showman ship, a competition in which she was judged against other 4-H children her own age.
WU Information Sessions & Open House
Waynesburg University will offer Sat urday Information Sessions this fall for pro spective students and their families Oct. 22 and Dec.These3. sessions will serve as additional opportunities to visit campus for those unable to attend the University’s Fall Open House events scheduled for Oct. 1 and Nov. 5.
With all the countless hours that 4-H children spend on their projects, a work ethic
On July 16, the Waynesburg VFW Post 4793 Auxiliary held its fifth an nual Freedom Car Show. Each year, the VFW Auxiliary has been able to donate to programs that support veterans and their families with proceeds raised at the car show. This year, the VFW Aux iliary chose the Pennsylvania Wounded Warriors Inc. non-profit organization as the recipient of the donations and funds raised at this year’s car show. Because of our generous sponsors, the outpouring of donations from local businesses and individuals, support of the public, the car show participants and the hard work of many volunteers, they were honored to present a $10,000 check to Pennsylvania Wounded Warriors Inc.
Sophie’s parents, Darren and Natalie Crouse, talked to Sophie about the impor tance of giving back to the community. So phie, who is in 5th grade, decided that she wanted to donate $500 to The Helping House because she has several friends who attend. She hears stories from her friends and knows it is a worthy cause and that her money will make a Thedifference.Helping House is a place that provides tutoring/homework help, child care, meals on site and meals to go, laun dry services, grooming (showers, brushing teeth, hair care, skin care and cleanliness), social/emotional learning, and counseling services. Students learn how to cook, clean, and the general skills to take care of a house. Various outside agencies also come to teach skills, and most importantly, children know that they have a warm, safe place to visit.
“We are proud that Waynesburg Uni versity continues to be recognized nationally for its value and outcomes,” said Waynesburg University President Douglas G. Lee. “We take seriously our ability to consistently offer a private, Christian education that is afford able andWaynesburgaccessible.”ranked No. 3 among the 14 Pennsylvania schools listed. Seventy-eight schools in total across Connecticut, Dela ware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont earned the best value ranking.
During these Information Sessions, pro spective students will sit in on a presentation by the offices of Admissions and Financial Aid to review the admissions process and information on financial aid. They will also receive a tour of campus with a Student Am
bassador followed by lunch in the Benedum DiningInterestedHall. students can register online at waynesburg.edu/groupvisit, or by contacting Barnhart at rdbarnha@waynesburg.edu or 800-225-7393.
Waynesburg University was once again named a Best Value School among both pri vate and public universities in the northern United States by U.S. News & World Report for 2023.This marks Waynesburg’s fifth consecu tive year on U.S. News & World Report’s Best Value Regional Universities North list, which recognizes schools for their high-quality aca demic programs combined with low costs.
Sophie Crouse labored over her 4-H Market Lamb Project all year long. Lovingly naming her lamb Chocolate Chip (CC for short), she formed a special bond with her by spending several hours each day taking care of her.Endless
Teacher Brittney McIntire shares about the great commu nity partnership with a local business to support her classes, “I’m a Life Skills/ASD teacher for grades four to six in the Jefferson-Morgan School Dis trict. One of our culminating class projects is a class coffee cart. Sheetz in Waynesburg (by Walmart) has been generously donating coffee supplies on a monthly basis since 2019. They are the reason we have been so successful, and their generosity needs to be noticed by all in our community.”
was also included on U.S. News & World Report’s Best Regional Uni versities North list, as well as the Top Per formers on Social Mobility Regional Univer sities North list.
26 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022
Congratulations, Sophie! You are mak ing a (CCdifference!wasdonated back to Sophie, and will continue to be very loved by Sophie and her brother, Levi, for a long time.)
Tuition, room and board at Waynesburg is now more than $13,000 below the national average for private, non-profit, four-year col leges, and more than 90 percent of Waynes burg students receive some form of financial aid eachWaynesburgyear.
27OCTOBER 2022 • GreeneScene Community Magazine
The 18th Annual Musical Mikes Holi day Craft Show will be held on Sunday, December 4 from 10am to 4om at the Car michaels Elementary School. The event is entirely handmade items from local crafters,
The Nemacolin Volunteer Fire Depart ment will be holding a weekly flea market every Sunday from October 16 to February 19 (except on Christmas and New Year’s). Sellers may begin setting up at 6am that morning, and the doors open to the public at 7:30am. The day ends at 1pm. The cost to be a vendor is $5 per table with two chairs. Entry for the public is 25 cents. Anyone wishing to reserve tables, call 724-317-7911 between the hours of 9am and 4pm Monday through Friday.
Fun at the W.A. Young & Sons Foundry & Machine Shop
The Greene County Department of Recreation will he hosting a Greene County Outdoor Sports Show at the Greene County Fairgrounds on October 1 from 10am to 6pm. Scheduled participants include Cabe las, Bears Birds Taxidermy, Rustic Timbers Delux Deer Blinds, G&H Sporting Goods, Wild Turkey Federation, Michael’s Auto, 4 Seasons Lawn & Garden.
Come see the Waynesburg Miniature Railroad (a work in progress). The railroad is open to the public from November 1 to January 1 (hours vary). It is located at 137
registered to participate. Those children not registered will have a delayed entry so those who were registered have treats available. This is a public event, not for profit, funded by those who are participating. Registration closes on Friday October 28. Trunk or Treat is a Legendary Conventions community event, being held at the Carmichaels Vol unteer Fire Department 420 W George St Carmichaels, PA.
Yard Sale/Craft Fair
New! Nemacolin VFD Flea Market
Vendor space is $10/space, with a 9am setup
Mon View Roller Rink will be open Saturdays ONLY un til November 4, 2022. Saturday hours are from 7pm to 10pm. The cost is $7/person. Saturday and Sunday hours are also available for skating parties. FMI, visit co.greene.pa.us.
28 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022
with concerts, Chinese auction, and conces sions available. Free admission! Proceeds benefit the Carmichaels Elementary Music Program. FMI or to become a vendor, con tact Erin Drury at edrury@carmarea.org.
First Christian Church at the corner of Morris and Franklin streets in Waynesburg. FMI, call 724-627-5355.
WINNERS Lottery Tickets: Chelsea Smith, Emma Walk, Judy Tollan, Brenda BusinessRoachSpotlight/Waynesburg Estate Ghost Tour: James LippencottKoast Alpacas: Carol Keys
Explore the metal casting process and step back in time at Young and Sons Foundry and Machine Shop! This workshop is a great way to explore the metal casting process and try some thing new. No prior experience or artistic background neces sary—just bring your creativity and a friend or two. Sand mold and tools are provided. Rivers of Steel’s experienced metal-casting team will help you create your own design, then step back and watch as the metal team pours molten aluminum into your mold. You’ll be able to take your casting home at the end of the workshop. The cost is $15 per person and the last session of 2022 will be held on October 30 from 3pm to 5pm. FMI or to buy tickets, visit riversofsteel.com/ and check out their upcoming events.
Greene County Outdoor Sports Show
Vendors Wanted for Festival
Mon View Roller Rink
Carmichaels Trunk or Treat
Divorced or separated? Find help at the Divorce Care weekly divorce support group. The group meets weekly at 7pm starting September 19 and is held at the
Musical Mikes Craft Show
New Support Group for Divorced
Ozie’s Sport Shop, Waynesburg Sports man’s Association, Venture Outdoors, Ryerson Station State Park, River Valley Gourmet Dips, Shipley’s Firehouse Grub, Pa Poppers, and many more! FMI or to be come a vendor, call 724-852-5323 or email bmoore@co.greeene.pa.us.
See the Waynesburg Miniature Railroad!
Huffman Street in Waynesburg. Donations are accepted and benefit breast cancer re search and the Greene County Humane So ciety. FMI, call 724-807-3613.
Oh My Gourd! The Fall Arts & Crafts Festival is look ing for food, art, and craft vendors for their upcoming event on October 15. The event will be held from 11am to 4pm at the Greene River Trail. Call the Greene County Department of Recreation at 724-852-5323 or email krus citti@co.greene.pa.us if inter ested.
Proceedstime. go to the Max Jordan Cun ningham DPIG Fund at the Children’s Hos pital of Pittsburgh.
The Carmichaels Trunk or Treat event will be held on Sunday, October 30 at the Carmichaels Volunteer Fire Department from 3pm to 5pm. Individuals and busi nesses can now register trunks, by visiting TrunkOrTreatCarmichaels.com. Fami lies, please register your children by going through the link on our website or directly to or-treat-carmichaelshttps://www.showclix.com/event/trunk-Eachchildmustbe
There will be a yard sale/craft fair/Chi nese auction at the Springhill Community Building on October 2 from 10am to 3pm. There will be food and drinks, a 50/50 raffle, a quilt raffle, and lots of wonderful vendors. The auction will be drawn at 2pm, and the winner does not need to be present. Prizes must be picked up by 10/8/22.
29OCTOBER 2022 • GreeneScene Community Magazine
All geared up and ready to go, I walked towards the other guys to catch up with them. There was an old farm gate along the side of the road, and the Gumps were just beyond it by about 20 feet. I approached the gate and tried to open it, but the chain that held it was old and rusty and was frozen to the gate with rust, rendering the gate inoperable. Not hav ing paid attention to the others, I assumed they had simply climbed over it to get to the otherNotside.being very tall at my young age and wearing a very large and heavy light with sev eral battery packs, it was a challenge climbing over the gate. I kept getting caught on it, and my gear kept getting tangled up in the process. My dear, dear friends heard my struggles and watched with a fair amount of amusement.
the world progresses around us, towns get larger, cit ies get grander and the world advances in every way imaginable, Greene County remains a beacon, and a stronghold, of a simpler and more rural lifestyle. Active farms dot our landscape, woods abound on the hills and in the val leys, and traditional ways of life remain supreme.
After several minutes of struggling, I had finally succeeded in my venture, and made it to the other side and walked up to my friends, who by that time were laughing heartily. It was at that time, that Terry pointedly said, “Matt, I have no idea why you decided to go through all the effort of climbing over that gate, and getting tangled in it, when you could have just walked around it.” I walked back over to the gate, and realized that the fence that had once met the gate on either side was now long gone, and yes, I could have simply walked around the gate and saved myself a ton of embarrass ment.But,
By Matthew Cumberledge
I remember waiting at home for sunset, knowing that shortly thereafter, the Gumps would be down to pick me up, and soon enough there they were. I hurriedly grabbed my gear and hopped in the old Ford pickup truck with them. Eddy’s run was a short distance from my house, so it was a quick ride to where old Sam Eddy’s corn field was up on Eddy run. We parked, got out and started getting ready.
Youth brings with it an enthusiasm that can often misdirect us from our best perfor mance, and our need to impress can at times hinder our ability to realize our intention. Such was the case for me that night. Tim and Tom were already geared up, having donned their briar proof jackets and their hunting lights, and Terry was ready as well. They un loaded the dogs and cut them loose while I got all my gear on.
On this specific fall evening, we had gotten together and were going to turn some hounds loose on Eddy’s run, just outside of Brave. I don’t remember exactly what dogs we had at the time, but I recall that we may have had two young dogs, Blossom and Lily, who were pups of a Ranger, champion hound that Tim and Tom had trained.
looking back a quarter of a century later, that minor embarrassment paid off with a stunningly wonderful memory that me and my friends will talk about for years to come. It’s events like this, that are always the most fun to look back on as we progress though life.
Mona Moore, a Greene County Native and now a resident of New Jersey has shared another hunting story with us here at the GreeneScene, a tale of a Thanksgiving bear hunt from 1927 as related by her relative Eliza beth King Smith. This is a really fun and excit ing tale, written in the form of a poem, but un fortunately we do not have the time or space to include it here… however, keep an eye out for the next edition of the GreeneScene Magazine to read this incredible story!
Hunting tales have long been a part of that local lore. In October of 2022, the GreeneScene Magazine shared an early 20th century hunting tale “A Cold Night of Fishing”, and later in January of 2022 a follow up was shared, “Barking Up the Wrong Tree, Jesse’s Hunting Tail”. Both of these stories relate tales of Jesse, a young veteran of World War I and his ad ventures, or perhaps “misadventures” Coon Hunting with his friends.So
Tim Gump and Ranger father of Blossom and Ugly.
30 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022
Going Greene
WILD AND WONDERFUL GREENE
Perhaps most bountiful here in wild wonderful Greene is our wildlife. Bobcat, white tailed deer, beaver, even bear and bald eagles can be found roaming the hills and flying the skies over our peaceful corner of Pennsylvania. Coyote, too, are found all over the area, and can often be heard yipping and howling on the ridges, adding an eerie atmosphere to an otherwise quiet evening.
many families retain these stories, recording some in memoirs and journals, but most are solely a part of our unique portion of Appalachian oral history. Thinking of these tales reminds me of all the time I spent in my youth running the hills chasing raccoon with a trusty old hound dog and my cousins and friends.
As fall begins to surround us with cooler weather, color ful leaves, and crisp air, many are getting ready for hunting season. It’s a time of excitement for many, a time for parents to bond with their children in teaching them the ways of the hunt and old family traditions that relate to the season. Hunting clubs and groups have events and dinners, and many churches and restaurants will have a hunters’ breakfast. These traditional ways are still a hearty part of our local culture, and likely will be for some time to come.
Terry Gump and Matt Cumberledge about 1999.
As
A young Matt, in full hunting gear. The photo was taken around the time of the story.
One incident from the mid 1990’s when I was about 12 or 13 years old stands out as a comedic episode; it’s a story that is still shared when we have get-togethers even today. Tom Gump and his son Tim had been very good friends of my family for many years; our families had been close for well over a century. Both Tom and Tim were avid coon hunters, and as Tom’s youngest son Terry and I, who were about the same age, got old enough to be introduced in the sport, we often joined the older Gumps for evenings in the woods lis tening to a good chase.
31OCTOBER 2022 • GreeneScene Community Magazine DOUG MASON For State House District 50 Paid for by Friends of Doug Mason VoteDougMason.com Elect
team. However, he eventually transferred to Indiana State because the Jacket football coaches did not like his long hair. He was se lected in the 8th round of the 1970 draft by Pittsburgh as a wide receiver. Although he led the Steelers in touchdown receptions in 1971, he is best remembered for prematurely celebrating a touch down during the inaugural season of Monday Night Football. He held the ball over his head in celebration and fumbled at the oneyard line before crossing the goal line. After three seasons with the Steelers, he played one season each with the Oilers and Chiefs.
Last
The Carmichaels Mikes produced Larry Hribal (Notre Dame), Bob Orlosky (Navy), Fred Stuvek (Navy), Joe Lencewicz (Rutgers), Frank Cerqueuira (Ball State, Co-Captain), Joe Burvan (Ball State), James Stewart (Princeton) and Bill Groves (WVU). 1966 graduate Terry Jackson was pursued by many schools; how ever, he ended up at Yale. He started at guard his junior and se nior years, including the famous 29-29 tie with Harvard in 1968. The Crimson made a miraculous comeback, scoring 16 points in the final 42 seconds to tie the game. The moral victory inspired the Harvard Crimson to print the famous headline, “Harvard Beats Yale, 29–29.” Joe Taffoni (WVU and Tennessee – Martin). was named to the All-Mountaineer Team of the 1960s. At Tennes see-Martin, he was named First Team All-Conference and Second Team All-American. After college, he played 78 games over eight seasons in the NFL after being drafted in the third round in 1967 by the Browns. He finished his career with three seasons with the Giants.Mapletown had Robert Taylor, who played at the Air Force Academy. He started at linebacker for the Doc Blanchardcoached Falcons. Francis “Rich” Nickler and John Billetz both played at WestWVU.Greene’s Jerry Yost earned the WVU Mountaineers’
Don Hermann was on Waynesburg College’s national cham pionship team and was drafted in the 15th round in the 1969 NFL Draft by the Giants. In his last game with the Jackets, he caught 18 passes for 328 yards and 7 touchdowns against Lock Haven. In his NFL debut, he caught two touchdowns from Fran Tarkenton in the final five minutes of the game to give the Giants a 24-23 win over the Vikings. He played in New York until 1974 and finished his career with the Saints from 1975-77.Dave Smith played defen sive back on Waynesburg Col lege’s national championship
Coach Mo Scarry left Waynesburg College to serve as a de fensive line coach for the Redskins (1966-68) before winning two Super Bowl rings doing the same job with the Dolphins (1970 – 1985). After going 19-1 in his two seasons at Waynesburg, Coach Carl DePasqua left the Jackets to be an assistant for the Steelers. The following year, he accepted the head coaching job at Pitt. Finally, in 1966, former Jacket All-American Bob Gary was drafted in the ninth round by the Philadelphia Bulldogs of the Continental League. The league lasted from 1965 to 1969. Suc cessful alumni of the league include Hall of Famers Bill Walsh, Ken Stabler and Doak Walker.
Fredericktown’s Joe Righetti was an NAIA All-American defensive tackle for the Yellow Jackets from 1966- 1969. The big tackle was drafted by the Browns in the 6th Round of the 1969 NFL Draft. He appeared in 23 games during the 1969 and 1970 seasons before injuries ended his career.
starting quarterback job as a sophomore. He was named an AllAmerican as a junior in 1962. That year, he led the Mountaineers to wins over Pitt, Virginia Tech and powerhouse Syracuse. He led the Southern Conference in passing and total offense. In 1964, he signed a free agent contract with the New York Jets.
ATTENTION PARENTS AND COACHES!
At Waynesburg College, Harry Theofiledes was named First Team NAIA All-American as a defensive back and second team as a quarterback in 1965. While at Waynesburg, he lettered in football, basketball, track and baseball. He made the Washing ton Redskins roster, serving as a back-up to Sonny Jurgensen. He appeared in five games and completed 11 of 20 passes for two touchdowns. After spending time in the Atlantic Coast League, he made the New York Jets during the football strike of 1970.
Do you know of an achievement in sports and would like to see it shared in Hometown Heritage? Email it to: sports@directresults.us.
Intentional Walks
By Bret Moore
32 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022
month, I revisited the glory days of the County’s football teams of the 1960s. Those teams produced a bevy of players who went on to success at the big-time collegiate level. In addition, Waynesburg College claimed the NAIA national cham pionship and saw several of their players go on to professional careers.The Waynesburg Raiders who played Division I included Bill Buchanon (Pitt), Jerry “Monk” Phillips (Cincinnati), Jim Meighen (Virginia), Bill Reed (VMI), Jim Husk (Xavier), Jim “Bud” Chastian: (Michigan State, two-year starter at tackle), Mike George (WVU), Joe Watson (Army), Paul Wright, (Michigan), and Chuck Reed (George Washington). In addition to football, Phillips, Meighen and Husk also started for their universities’ wrestling teams.
Pride Goeth Before the Fall
Belisten.ever vigilant. Don’t let your guard down when it comes to the safety of your self or others. Complacency is the enemy of safety.
BANG! My gun went off! Was anyone hurt? How could this happen to me? Remember, I just got back from…?
Iknew
Upon my return, and hearing of a local IDPA competition (International Defensive Pistol Association), I took it upon myself to register for this, my first competition ever, entering the novice bracket. After complet ing the first volley, one of the officials called me over and spoke some of the most flatter ing words ever offered… “Sir, you don’t have to shoot everyone in the head!” It was about this time that my head grew to approximately the size of an overinflated beach ball. Feeling quite smug, I continued through the course of fire until completion of the third station where disaster was waiting. It is procedure that after finishing a station, prior to moving off course, to “make safe.” This ensures that all weapons are unloaded or “empty” when not engaged in shooting. The participant un loads the weapon, racks the slide, and shows the course safety officer that the weapon is in unloaded/safe condition. The official con firms, the contestant points the pistol down range (which is empty and unoccupied) and pulls the trigger to ensure safe/empty status.
body got hurt. The course was empty. I got a second chance. The best part is that I can no longer pick up a weapon without double and triple checking it. I look, feel, and look again to make sure that the weapon is made safe. There’s an old saying that “Pride goeth before the fall.” This is exactly the point of this month’s article. Complacency is our big gest enemy. Just about the time we think we have it all figured out, disaster is waiting just around the corner. If I hear the phrase “I’ve been around guns all my life,” one more time I may scream. I have been around a piano for years and yet I cannot play it. I am constantly watching folks handle guns and evaluating their poor skills. At the risk of sounding like a gun snob, I see way too many people point ing their muzzles at others when handling weapons. Too many fingers on too many triggers for my liking. When confronted with their poor weapons handling skills, they al most assuredly blurt out the ridiculous state ment, “Well, it’s not loaded!”
RULES OF FIREARM SAFETY
1. Keep your finger off the trigger (until sights are on target.)
First, one of the cardinal rules of fire arms safety is treat all guns as if they are always loaded. Always! The ensuing bang scared me, nearly as badly as it did the course official who had confirmed the weapon had been made safe. Upon discovery that steel cased ammo had been used and the dark cas es do not glow like brass cases in the cham ber, concession was made. Normally, this kind of safety infraction would result in re moval from the course. It didn’t matter to me. I was so shaken up by the safety breach that was directly my fault, I exited the course and departed for home. It was a year before I felt I could show my face again at a competition.
The good part of this story was that no
33OCTOBER 2022 • GreeneScene Community Magazine
a not so young man (okay, it was me) who had just arrived home, fresh from Gunsite Academy in Paulden, Ari zona. I received a scholarship to train there. For those who are not familiar, Gunsite is the largest, most comprehensive, and arguably, best civilian firearms training facility in the world. Classes are thorough, intense, and taught by an amazing cadre of instructors. Most classes are a week long and the United States military thinks enough of Gunsite that many of its military branches train there, in cluding several special forces groups.
2. Never point the muzzle of a firearm at anything you are not willing to destroy.
3. Treat all guns as if they are always load ed… Always!
4. Know your target and what is beyond.
If the average Joe/Josephine Gunhan dler spent as much time on learning and im plementing safe gun handling skills as he/she does coming up with excuses as to why they don’t handle weapons very safely, we’d all be a lot safer. I am routinely impressed by folks who seek out training. Not because they put money in my pocket, although I do appreci ate it. Those that show up at my Alpha Ome ga Shooting Solutions school arrive with no predisposed ideas. They know they have a lot to learn and they are willing to learn it. Care fully. Alas, my best students are women with very little gun handling experience and kids. They
Riley Pekar is the daughter of Rich and Allison Pekar of Dilliner. The senior is a four-year starter for the Maples’ vol leyball team and has earned multiple recognitions throughout her career. She is in numerous clubs at school, includ ing Future Teachers of America, Student Council, and the National Honor Soci ety. Riley enjoys spending time with her friends and family. She plans to become a pediatric dentist.
Wyatt Wilson is the son of Mike Wilson and Leigh Ann Faulk. He is a senior de fensive lineman for the Rockets football team. He has been on the honor roll every nine weeks. In his spare time, he enjoys playing video games and lifting weights. Upon graduation Wyatt plans to attend Slippery Rock University to pursue a ca reer in engineering.
34 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022
Macie Kraynak is the daughter of John and Michelle Kraynak of Rices Landing. She is an Assistant Captain for the volleyball team and also plays softball and basketball. In addition, she serves as a drum major for the band. Ma cie is vice president of National Honor Society and participates in Spanish Club, Debate Team,
Evan Griffin is the son of Tim and Tam mie Griffin of Dilliner. The junior is a three-year letterman and two-year starter on the Maples’ football team. Griff is an integral part of the team and currently holds the record for interceptions. When not on the gridiron, Evan enjoys rid ing dirt bikes and hanging out with his friends and family.
Alec Anderson is the son of Paul and Amanda Anderson of Carmichaels. The senior plays football, basketball and base ball for the Mikes. Alec is the president of the Leo club and is involved with Esports and the school broadcasting program. He enjoys spending time with family and friends and plans to attend college to ma jor in business.
Jackson Grimes is the son of Jeff and Kim Grimes of Holbrook. He is a fresh man member of the varsity cross coun try team. Jackson plans to participate in baseball in the spring as well. In his spare time, he enjoys helping his “Pap Terry” on the family farm.
MONTHTHEOFGIRLsandBOYs
Ella Scott is the daughter of Chad and Alanna Scott of Nineveh. The junior par ticipates in volleyball and softball. Ella is currently ranked second in her class and is a member of the National Honor Soci ety. She also participates in the Ski Club and Science Club.
The Smash Fastpitch 14U team won the Angry Chicks Road to Glory Tournament in Uniontown PA. The team was coached by Hethe McCollum and Lou Giachetti. Kallyn Novak was the winning pitcher and allowed only seven runs in five games. Ava Wood received the Tournament MVP trophy. Breanna Kerr and Aidan Snider contributed grand slams.
The annual Labor Day pickleball tournament at Waynesburg’s Veteran’s Park raised $2,500 for the Colby Starts Foundation. Pic tured are the winners of the Women’s 3.0 Division. Left to right: Third Place, Nancy Faiete and Leah Balazick-Bialowas; First Place, Donna Clarke and Carol Houser; Second Place, Karen Headlee and Julie Clayton.
Isabelle Bazzoli is the daughter of Dan and Jessica Bazzoli of Jefferson. She plays volleyball and softball for the Rockets. She also plays for the Morgantown Vol leyball Club. In school, she is a member of the National Honor Society. In her spare time, Isabelle loves attending country music concerts.
35OCTOBER 2022 • GreeneScene Community Magazine NMLS#458729 Don’t fall behind on your home improvement projects! Let First Federal of Greene County help you with the heavy lifting before winter with our variety of loans. We offer: • Home Improvement Loans (FHA Title I) • Home Equity Loans • Construction Loans • Owner-Builder Loans With offices in Greene, Washington and Fayette counties, your loan stays here. Visit with a Loan Officer, or apply anytime online! Givingallyoutheyoutoolsneed www.ffgc.bank Check out our NEW website!
36 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022
On June 22, Caldwell stepped into a Muy Thai ring for the first time taking on an op ponent. He competed in the tournament’s C Class, which was for fighters with 0-4 fights of experience. When the bell rang, Caldwell got in the zone and ended up knocking his oppo nent out in the first round. With the early suc cess, Caldwell had the confidence he needed going through the rest of the tournament.
“After that second fight, it gave me an overwhelming sense of I could do this,” Caldwell says. “It was the first time I thought I could really win this whole thing and I started to fully believe in myself.”
Back then, Caldwell would have never dreamed that he would have the opportu nity to compete on the national level. How ever, seven years later he can call himself a Muy Thai Champion after competing in the 2022 Muy Thai Championships in Des Moines, Iowa. During those seven years, he spent countless hours training and learn ing the techniques necessary for success, working with trainers Edson Freitas and Jenny Freitas. He learned a lot along the way, and it all came to a head when he competed in this championship event.
JACOB CALDWELL MOTIVATED BY STRONG PERFORMANCE AT 2022 MUY THAI CHAMPIONSHIPS
After a third knockout, Caldwell would advance to the championship fight as he prepared to face his toughest challenge. He would not get a knockout in this round, but he was able to beat his opponent to win the C Class. Caldwell received his belt and had his hand raised in the middle of the ring in front of thousands of fans. But his success didn’t re ally hit him at that moment.
After the win, Caldwell plans to compete at many more championships in the future as he continues in Muy Thai. His next goal is the compete in the B Class, which is for more experienced fighters, and win that competi tion as well. It was a big start to his Muy Thai career, and he looks forward to more success to come.
burg Central Graduate Jacob Caldwell was in seventh grade, he was taking a Jujitsu class to help him learn self defense from the local play ground bullies. One day after class, his in structor invited his classmates and him to stay after and see a demonstration of Muy Thai. Caldwell immediately fell in love with the sport and his career in Muy Thai began.
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“My Jujitsu coach told us to stay af ter class for a demonstration of Muy Thai,” Caldwell says. “So, I stayed and watched and they let us try it out. As soon as I got to punch and kick pads I immediately fell in love and had a lot of fun with it.”
His second fight brought him back down a little bit as he went through a tough three rounds on Friday. The two competitors went back and forth, both landing big blows, but late in the third round, Caldwell would earn his second knockout of the tournament to move him to 2-0. It was this fight where he learned that he could overcome adversity.
For Caldwell, it was a brand-new experi ence as he was traveling farther than he ever had to do something he had never previously done. This was his first championship event, and he was nervous heading into his first fight.“This was the first time I was compet ing in Muy Thai,” Caldwell says. “I had been training for seven years under the same coach and the pressure was on. It all happened so fast, I flew out to Iowa and weighed in that day and my first fight was on the next day. I was nervous but excited at the same time.”
When Waynes
By Zack Zeigler
“The moment it all really hit me was after the match when I got to hug my train ers,” Caldwell says. “They had been there for me for the past seven years and I knew them from when they first came over to America. The coaches came over and hugged me, and I don’t like to cry but we all cried. It was the culmination of years of training and determi nation all coming out in that moment.”
37OCTOBER 2022 • GreeneScene Community Magazine Trusted pediatric care FOUND RIGHT HERE. 855-WVU-CARE 451 Murtha Drive • Waynesburg, PA 15370 • WVUMedicine.org/Waynesburg To schedule an appointment call:
A. Surber (WC) 3 21 0
C.Brady (WG) 58 708 8 95
PASSING
J. Gilbert (JM) 63 355 0 22 D. Huffman (WC) 32 188 1 C. Fox (WC) 32 145 1 J. Lampe (WG) 21 124 1 39
E. Jamison (JM) 5 150 1 80
C. Brady (WG) 2 79 1 74 C. Pauley (WC) 2 49 0 H. Guesman (JM) 2 48 0 40 S. Burns (WG) 3 45 0 35
Margaret Bell Miller’s Railey Bochna makes a move against Thomas Jefferson during a junior high match.
Congratulations to Carmichaels Area 6th grade student, Kennedy Martin, for earning a third place ribbon at the World Champi onship Horse show! Great job!
RUSHING
L. Stevenson (M) 5 91 0 25 B. Evans (M) 5 85 1 21
L. Stevenson (M) 31 506 13 81
Congratulations to Carmichaels Area 7th grader, Cara Jones, and WC Princess Lara on their World Championship at the 2022 World’s Championship Horse Show!
StatsFootballCountyGreene
A.J. Vanata (M) 22 90 3 23 E. Griffin (M) 2 62 0 37 B. Woods (WC) 19 62 0B. Whitlach (WG) 10 49 0 15 W. Downs (M) 9 39 0 12 C. Stout (M) 4 19 1 10 B. Evans (M) 5 16 1 8
Player Comp. Attempts Yards TDs Long
RECEIVING
38 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022
Player Attempts Yards TDs Long
Player Rec. Yards TDs Long
J. Jacobs (JM) 4 21 0 8
C. Jones (JM) 16 45 319 2 80 B. Jones (M) 14 23 227 1 22 C. Chambers (WG) 8 21 141 1 74 C. Fox (WC) 6 38 89 0
J. Lamp (WG) 3 17 0 9 D. Cowell (WC) 1 19 0
The event will be filled with information al tables of agency representatives, treatment facilities, case manager and care center repre sentatives for anyone wanting to talk directly with someone. Several presentations will be given throughout the day by guest speakers talking about their journey through recov ery. Speakers like George “Bly” Blystone will be sharing the story of their road to recovery and let others know there is community sup port. Sober for 43 years, Bly hopes this annual event brings awareness to those who feel like they don’t know how to take that first step but want help towards recovery. An event like this according to Bly, “provides an opportunity for those wanting to change a chance to talk with people embraced in a community that under stands what you’re experiencing. It’s hard to realize you have problem when you feel like somebody else.”
proach. One that John and Tracie hope will provide added support to those struggling to stay sober and clean.
of car lovers supporting those in alcohol and drug recovery is the story behind Revved Up for Re covery’s first annual car show. The car show will be held at the Greene County Fairgrounds on September 24, 2022, from 10am-2pm. September is the month, nationwide, dedi cated to those in alcohol and drug recovery, or those seeking help with substance abuse.
Acommunity
According to John Fox, director for Hu man Services in Greene County, PA, and Tra cie Sypin, the car show was created as a way for those in recovery to connect with others through the love of cars. As John states, “It’s a way to let people in recovery know that life can get back to normal. A way for them to take pleasure in activities that bring joy back into their lives.” Tracie calls it “the road to re covery”
recovery story is their own personal journey. Providing a place that’s not judgmental for people to connect and make relationships, or possibly work on projects to gether can provide the lifeline that someone in recovery may need to stay strong on a chal lenging
39OCTOBER 2022 • GreeneScene Community Magazine
Getting Revved Up For Recovery
John and Tracie are excited to be bring ing this event to the Greene County Commu nity and hope this leads to greater awareness for those struggling with recovery to know “life can still be abundant and filled with joy through the love of a rev of an engine.” Come join the fun and see what the classic or latest hot rod project looks like. It just might lead to a fun day out filled with new friendships.
Everyone’sliterally.
By Rochelle McCracken
Food vendors like ‘What’s Smokin Bar beque” and Willow Tree Farms, baked goods, will be there to fill the tummy.
Johnday.is a passionate advocate for those in recovery. He believes relationships play a vital role in a person’s ability to be successful with their recovery process. This car show is a way to connect those with their love of cars and offer them the opportunity to get added support in a fun environment. Saving lives by building relationships through common interests makes this event unique in its ap
On the gridiron, Fritz was named to the All-State Team in both his junior and senior years and went 25-2 as the team’s quarterback. As a sophomore, he inter cepted 13 passes, including a game saving pick to seal the win and conference title against Wash High. He was named the Observer-Reporter’s Player of the Year for 2000. Fritz became the first quarterback in WPIAL history to rush and throw for more than 1,000 yards in the same season.
He also became recognized as one of the world’s top hunter-conservationists.
Ron Headlee’s stellar career as a wrestler and a coach has spanned over four decades. At Waynesburg Central, he was a three-time section champion and WPIAL runner-up. After graduation, he attended Messiah College, where he be came a four-time All-American (NAIA 1979-81 and NCAA III 1982). His colle giate record was 101-14-1. He went on to coach at Jefferson-Morgan High School (1988-97), where he led the Rockets to five WPIAL Championships. The program’s record during his tenure was 111-25-1.
pion Brookville. They faced Sto-Rox again in the state semi-final. The result was an other 2-0 win. In the championship game, the Mikes went on to captured a 5-2 vic tory and the title. Gasti went on to a suc cessful career at Pitt. Upon graduation, she was the career leader for the Panthers in innings pitched (686.2) and shutouts (17). She tossed two career no-hitters in college.
His wrestlers won seven individual PIAA titles, 24 individual WPIAL titles and brought home 15 additional PIAA medals. In 1998, he became an assistant at Waynes burg Central for the opportunity to coach his sons Drew and Ethan (Both of whom had highly successful high school and col legiate careers.) He moved on to Waynes burg University in 2008 and brought the program back to relevance. The Jackets won seven Presidents Athletic Conference Championships and produced nine Divi sion III All-Americans and one National
It was just the third year of Waynesburg’s program. He was the first to accomplish the rare feat. Only twelve other wrestlers have done it since. Only five have finished their scholastic careers undefeated as he did.
Carmichaels won four section titles from 1995-98 with Nikki Gasti on the mound. They also claimed back-to-back AA WPIAL titles in 1997 and 1998. Dur ing the latter season, the Mikes also won the first PIAA State Title by a Greene County girls’ team. They finished the sea son 26-0 with 20 shutouts. Gasti went 24-0 with 293 strikeouts in 146 innings. She had 18 shutouts and five no-hitters. Her ERA was an astounding 0.14 after she gave up only three runs all seasons. She was named the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Player of the
The WPIAL championship game was a 2-0 win over traditional power Sto-Rox. The PIAA playoffs began with a no-hit 5-0 win over District 5 champion Tyrone. Gas ti remained dominate in the next round with an 8-0 shutout of the District 9 cham
After high school, he joined the U.S.
went on to lead the Mountaineers in bat ting for three consecutive years. His soph omore year, he led the entire Big East in hitting with a .407 average and set a WVU record for hits in a season (88). He was named to the All-Big East Second Team that year. Fritz followed that with FirstTeam Big East accolades in both his junior and senior years. He was also a two-time Academic All-American due to his 3.8 GPA. His senior year, he struck out only four times in 80 at bats. That season, he finished in the top 10 in the Big East in nine hitting categories and did not com mit an error in the field. His .378 career batting average ranks eighth on WVU’s all-time list.
40 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022 AnnouncedInducteesFameofHallSportsCOuntyGreene2022
Army Air Corps and served as a naviga tor during World War II. He returned and wrestled at Indiana University of Pennsyl vania for two years and won all but two matches. He transferred to Pitt Medical School and wrestled for the Panthers for two more years. Because of his medical studies, he did not participate in post-sea son tournaments, but he won all but two of his matches. He served as a coach in the program until he completed his medical degree. Conklin became one of the most successful plastic surgeons in the country and a famed big game hunter.
He won the 85-pound title as a fresh man after beating senior Bob McDonald of Phillipsburg 5-0 in the finals. Earlier in the season, he avenged the only tie of his career in the WPIAL finals when he beat Canonsburg’s Ed Stanley. The next three titles came at 95, 112, and 120 pounds.
He went on to a successful baseball career at West Virginia University. Al though he hadn’t played baseball in two years because of surgery on his shoulder after a football injury, he walked on and made the team at WVU. That first year, he batted .330 and earned a scholarship. He
That championship season, the Mikes scored 257 runs on the season and surren dered only seven. Early in the season, they defeated traditional AAA power Connells ville 5-0 as Gasti tossed a perfect game.
Lee Fritz came on the local baseball scene in 1998 as a sophomore at Waynes burg Central. He dazzled that year in the WPIAL playoffs as a hitter and relief pitch er. After winning the WPIAL, his team be came the first County boys’ team to play for a PIAA title in any sport.
Champion under Headlee.
James Conklin won the first of his four PIAA State Wrestling titles in 1940.
In addition to his wrestling career, he coached the Rocket’s volleyball team to five section titles and a third-place fin ish in the WPIAL. For the last four years, he has also coached the Waynesburg Uni versity tennis team. During the 1980s and 90s, he was an outstanding softball player in the Greene County Church League. He has also been instrumental in introducing the fast-growing sport of pickleball to the county.
His junior year, he led the Raiders back to the WPIAL Championship game at Three Rivers Stadium and finished with a 10-1 record. In both 1999 and 2000, he was named First Team All-State. He had a 16-3 pitching record during that stretch and a .475 career batting average. He also tossed a perfect game his senior year against Beth-Center. In that game, he struck out 15 of 18 batters and allowed only one ball to be hit in fair territory.
Year. Her senior class finished their careers with a 79-7 record.
He collected 250 different species of ani mals from all six continents, most of which he donated to the Pittsburgh Carnegie Museum.One of the three main halls in the In ternational Wildlife Museum in Tuscon, Arizona, is named the Dr. James E. Conk lin Hall and the main lodge of the Wild life Leadership School in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, is named the Dr. Jim Conklin Lodge. He was inducted into the Washing ton-Greene County Sports Hall of Fame, the Pennsylvania Wrestling Hall of Fame and the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
After graduation, Murdock entered Waynesburg College and won two 4-I Confer ence titles. He and fellow state champion Dan Abraham of Canonsburg led the Yellow Jackets to wins over WVU, Bowling Green, Kent State and Akron in 1941-42. Murdock finished the season undefeated and won the Tri-State Inter collegiate Championship. In the finals, he beat an opponent from Michigan State. However,
Bucky Murdock was Waynesburg High School’s first WPIAL and state wrestling cham pion in 1939. He won the 85-pound titles in only the program’s second year of existence. He lost only one dual meet match in his high school ca reer.
Paul Stanley finished his career in 1985 as the Waynesburg College Yellow Jackets’ all-time scoring leader with 1,916 points (Still third on the list today). After his stellar career with the Yellow Jackets, he played in the Australian Na tional Basketball League for the Melbourne Tigers and averaged 33.8 points a game. On a 1986 tour of America, the Tigers took on the famous Pitt team that featured Charles Smith, Jerome Lane and Demetreus Gore. Stanley put up 35 points against those future NBA stars. He also scored 30 against Georgetown, which
his career with a 32.6 career average (highest in league history). He also reached 2,000 points faster than anyone in league history.
was one of the premier programs in the coun try at that time. In 1987, he moved on to play with the Hobart Tasmanian Devils and led the league in scoring with 35 PPG. When the Dev ils toured against the Big East that season, he scored 30 against Connecticut, 40 against Se ton Hall, and 17 in a victory over Georgetown. He reached 1,000 points faster than any player in ANBL history. After a one-year stint in 1988 with the Youngstown Pride of the World Basket ball League, he returned to Hobart for two years. He was a three-time ANBL All-Star and ended
41OCTOBER 2022 • GreeneScene Community Magazine
World War II interrupted his college career. He served in Southeast Asia as one of the first heli copter pilots in the Air Force from 1942-45.
Butch Brunell has coached track and cross country at Waynesburg Central for over half a century. He started his coaching career as the Raiders’ head coach in 1970. After his retirement, he continued to coach the team’s pole vaulters. He coached five PIAA pole vault champions and 16 medal winners. Brunell saw his fifth vaulter claim gold when Taylor Shriver cleared 13 feet in Shippensburg in 2021. In addition, he had 13 vaulters claim WPIAL titles.
the pole vault where his proteges have really ex celled. Charles Baker won the Raiders’ first PIAA pole vaulting championship in 1972 with a jump of 13’6”. In 1973, Bob Alberts won the WPIAL championship and went on to finish 5th at the PIAA Meet. He had set a WPIAL record of 13 feet 6 ¼ inches when he used a fiberglass pole for the first time.
one of his wrestlers, Tony Gizoni, was name the Outstanding Wrestler in the 1949 NCAA finals.
PIAA Meet. The following year, Travis Conklin grabbed the gold at the WPIAL (13’3”). In 2009, Nick Patton won WPIAL gold for the Raiders (13’6”). Marissa Kalsey won three WPIAL gold medals and PIAA gold and silver medals in 2012 and 2010, respectively. She went on to become an eight- time Division III All-American (In door and Outdoor) at Westminster College and captured the NCAA title her senior year. Randi Patton also won a WPIAL silver medal for the Raiders in 2004. In 2018, Will Behm won the WPIAL title with a record jump of 15 feet. In addition to her PIAA gold medal, Shriver won WPIAL championships in 2019 and 2021.
Dry Tavern’s Dave Palone won his first harness race in 1983. He had started training for veteran Her man Hylkema at the Waynesburg Fairgrounds six years earlier when he was only 15 years old. His breakout year came in 1989 when he won 319 races. On April 21, 2008, he became the first driver to ever win 11 races on a single pari-mutuel card. He accomplished the feat at The Meadows in Washington. On November 14, 2014, he set the world record for wins when he crossed the finish line for his 16,754th career victory. As of June 25, his win total stands at 20,000 victories. He was in ducted into the Harness Racing Hall of Fame on July 4, 2010. His career had numerous highlights includ ing being voted the Harness Tracks of America Driver of the Year in 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2009 and 2013. Palone has also won two of the three legs of the U.S. Pacing Triple Crown races, the 1996 Messenger Stakes and the 2005 Little Brown Jug (HarnessRacing.com).
While in high school at Carmichaels, John Men hart earned letters in football, basketball and baseball. In 1973, he was a running back and linebacker and was selected as the WPIAL Class B Most Valuable Player. He went on to be a three-year starter in the backfield at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and was named captain his senior year.
After graduation, Menhart started his teaching career at Carmichaels in 1978 as a gym/driver’s educa tion teacher. He was named head coach for the Mikes in 1989 and remained until the 2002 season when he stepped down as head coach so he could watch his son, Jonathan, play football at Carnegie Mellon University. After his son graduated, Menhart took a job at Waynes burg University coaching linebackers for three years. In 2009, he returned as the head coach for the Mikes and compiled a 21-18 record in four seasons. His teams made the playoffs in three of those four years. Menhart is the winningest coach in Mikes’ history with 101 wins.
Upon his return, he finished his education and resumed his coaching career at Waynesburg College in 1947. In his 16 years at the Waynes burg helm, he had six undefeated teams and 16 4I Conference champions. His teams compiled a record of 120 wins, 21 loses and two ties. In 1948, the Jackets shared the Interstate Team Championship with Michigan State. His teams regularly defeated Pitt, West Virginia, Ohio State and Purdue. In fact, his teams never lost a match to a Big 10 school. Murdock’s men won three NCAA Division I individual championships and
The Waynesburg College team was selected to the collegiate “Top Ten” four times in Murdock’s career.He put his career on hold for a second time when he enlisted to serve in the Korean Conflict from 1950-52. Murdock was also a talented base ball player and coach for decades throughout the county. He has been inducted into the Waynes burg College Hall of Fame, the Southwestern PA Wrestling Hall of Fame, the Western PA Sports Hall of Fame, the PA Wrestling Coaches Asso ciation Hall of Fame, the Helms Foundation Na tional Hall of Fame and the NAIA Hall of Fame.
During Brunell’s involvement with the pro gram, the Raiders produced state champions on the track such as Carlos Gibbs, Ben Baumgard ner and Daniel Layton. However, it has been in
In addition, he is one of the most success ful professional slow-pitch softball players of all time. He has played on 31 National and World Championship teams. Stanley was selected to the All-World team 40 times and was named the MVP of the World Tournament three times. He is a Senior Pro Staff member of DeMarini bats and has a model named after him.
The AA WPIAL girl’s pole vault record has always been held by one of Brunell’s students. Jocelyn Lindsay (Vojcsik) was a four-time WPI AL champion from 1999-2003. She also won two PIAA titles and finished as runner-up twice. In 2002, Nathan Freedman won silver at the
AnnouncedInducteesFameofHallSportsCOuntyGreene2022
The 1943 Waynesburg High School wrestling team won the county’s first state championship of any kind and claimed four individual PIAA titles. The Little Jackets ended Clearfield’s streak of eight consecutive state titles. During the regular sea son, the team had seven undefeated wrestlers. Earl Fuller, who went on to claim a state title that year, lost a close match to Can onsburg’s returning state and national champion Elias George, or they would have had another.
Buzz Walters graduated from Maple town High School in 1952. He was a twoyear wrestling starter for the Maples and compiled a 20-2 record on the mat. He was awarded most valuable honors as a senior.
Walters also played football and baseball for the Maples. After high school, Walters entered the Marine Corps for three years and served 22 more years in the Pennsyl vania Army National Guard. After his time in the Marines, he entered Waynesburg College. He tried out for the football and wrestling teams and got a half scholarship for each. His wrestling coach was Ray mond “Bucky” Murdock.
Upon his retirement in 1990 he had a career mark of 284-134-3. Before finish ing his coaching career, Walters was also a head coach at Beth-Center and ClayBattelle. His overall high school coaching record was 300-143-4. He has been in ducted into the West Greene Hall of Fame, the PIAA Coaches Hall of Fame and the Washington-Greene County Sports Hall of Fame.
qualified for the NAIA Tournament his ju nior year. Walters was a monster man on the Waynesburg defense in football and also played a little bit as a running back. He weighed 155 pounds. After graduat ing from Waynesburg in 1961 Walters was hired by West Greene. He served as wres tling coach and social studies teacher for the next 32 Waltersyears.took over the varsity wres tling program in its second year of exis tence. After an initial losing season, he went 28 years without another. This suc cess came despite limited practice facili ties. The team sometimes practiced in the band room, on the stage, and even the library. Despite that, he produced 32 sec
The 1988 Yellow Jackets basketball team reached the NAIA Final Four, which was broadcast nationally on ESPN (when there was only one ESPN). During that era, Waynesburg College basketball was the biggest thing in town. People lined up for hours before tip-off to get a seat. Fans from around the County joined the student body in the stands to create an electric atmo sphere for every game.
Coach Rudy Marisa’s team was led by three-time All-Amer ican and the team’s all-time lead ing scorer Darrin Walls. With play ers such as Walls, Harold Hamlin, and Rob Montgomery leading the way, the Jackets were a national powerhouse. Other key contribu tors to the team were Sean McCal lister, Ron Moore, and Kevin Lee. Between 1983-1988, Waynesburg went 131-21 overall and 70-1 at home, winning five straight Dis trict 18 championships, with a sixth coming in 1989.
Waynesburg College for the third year in a row. The Little Jackets qualified seven boys for state. The feat is even more impressive when one considers only champions and runners-up advanced at theAttime.the
by a 15-point average to get to the Final Four. To say the Jackets were a fast-paced team is a drastic under statement. The goal, according to former assistant coach Larry Mar shall, was to get a shot off within three seconds if the other team scored. The semi-final game came down to a dramatic shot by Walls with eight seconds left. Unfortu nately, the star’s jumper bounced off the front of the rim, ending the Jackets’ dream season just short of their goal.
42 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022
PIAA Tournament at State College, James Conklin claimed his fourth state championship at 120 pounds. Team mates Matt Gusic (127), Earl Fuller (145) and Keith Moore (165) also brought home gold. Charles Patterson (103), Dan Corwin (138) and Nick Osso (154) also provided valuable win points to give the team its two-point margin of victory.
The climax of that era of Jack et dominance was in March 1988. Waynesburg took a 32-game win ning streak into its NAIA semifinal matchup with Grand Canyon, led by head coach Paul Westphal, who would soon be leading the Phoenix Suns in the Twenty-threeNBA.
In his four years on the Jackets wres tling squad, Walters had a 24-5 record and
tion champions, six WPIAL champions and one Southwest Regional Champion. He also took 21 different PIAA qualifiers to the state tournament and garnered two PIAA place winners
Coach Harry McHenry’s team had won 82 of 96 individual bouts on the season, with 45 coming via pins. The team also won their second consecutive WPIAL team title. Canonsburg finished second, and Jefferson finished third in their first sea son as an official team. The WPIAL tournament was hosted by
of their 32 straight wins had come by double digits. The streak led Waynes burg to its fifth straight District 18 championship with an 85-72 win over Westminster. At the national tournament, the Jackets soundly beat Franklin Pierce (N.H.), Min nesota-Duluth and Dordt (Iowa)
continue to serve military members, veterans and their families,” she said.
Dr. Michelle Steimer, assistant professor of counseling for the Graduate and Professional Studies Counseling Program, will serve as the director of Veteran and Military Student Services and Initiatives, and Charles Stoddard, grant program manager and training coordinator, will serve as assistant director.
Through this initiative, Dr. Steimer and Stoddard will work as liaisons for the veteran and military student population and provide resources for information related to financial, health and wellness, and community benefits from the Department of Veteran Affairs, Department of Defense, and other local, state, federal or private organizations.
as director of Veteran and Military Student Services and Initiatives, Dr. Steimer will be responsible for the review of University policies to create and implement military-friendly changes on behalf of veterans, active-duty military personnel, reservists and dependents.
“I have loved serving my country and see this new initiative as a way to
University develops new initiative to serve veteran, military member students
Her ability to recognize the specific needs of the military community stems from her extensive military background. Dr. Steimer has served in the United States Army and Army Reserve for more than 22 years. She has been both enlisted and an officer, and currently serves as a lieutenant colonel in the Army Reserve in Pittsburgh. Her husband, Drew, also serves.
Waynesburg University recently launched the Veteran and Military Student Services and Initiatives to serve the needs of veteran and military member students and their families.
our
Inmembers.herrole
In his role as assistant director of Veteran and Military Student Services and Initiatives, Stoddard will assist Dr. Steimer in the review and development of policy and programming. He will also serve as a primary point of contact for Waynesburg University military and veteran students.
43OCTOBER 2022 • GreeneScene Community Magazine learn more at waynesburg.edu
“The purpose of this initiative is three-fold: to serve our veteran and military students, to serve the veteran and military populations in our area through community collaboration, and to enhance veteran and military student recruitment and services in both our undergraduate and graduate programs,” said Dr. Steimer.
Dr. Steimer has also worked for the Department of Defense, served as president for the Pennsylvania Military and Government Counseling Association and served as an expert and consultant in military and veteran culture and mental health on both national and international levels as a counselor educator.
They will also work collaboratively with existing campus services and programs to further develop, streamline and grow the University’s already established and successful veteran and military services. This will increase access, utilization and continual improvement related to service to veterans and military
“I am intent to establish strong relationships with veteran and military students serving as a student organization advisor, mentor and role model as they enroll, progress, succeed and graduate,” said Stoddard. “I want to help our veteran and military students feel a deep sense of belonging to Waynesburg University.” impact.
44 GreeneScene Community Magazine • OCTOBER 2022 PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID Pittsburgh, PA Permit No. 1219
