May 2011 #127

Page 1


Keeping Music in the Pennsylvania Schools

On the cover: Remembering the Civil War: Punx’y Goes to Battle

PAHS Grad Spreads Awareness about the Importance of Arts Education through Beauty Pageants By Jade Emhoff of Hometown magazine

(Cover photo by S. Thomas Curry)

‘Punxsutawney Hometown’ magazine © Copyright 2011 — All Rights Reserved.

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or Autumn Kunselman, a 2003 graduate of Punxsutawney High School, pageant life is not about image and fame but rather about advocacy and awareness for something she has been passionate about all of her life – music. “Growing up, my grandparents and parents  filled  our  house  with  all  sorts  of music,” Autumn said. While surrounded by music all her life, Autumn first became involved with theater and musicals when she landed a role in a local performance of The Sound of Music when  she  was  ten  years  old,  which  was

Throughout  middle  school  and  high school, she was involved in music and theater as much as Punx’y’s school and community programs allowed. “Visual arts, music, and theater programs were  unpopular,  understaffed,  and  were usually met with a tiny voice of community  support,”  she  said.  “However,  the fighting few were an inspiration to me. My love of music and theater took flight under the nurturing guidance of a small and unlikely  arsenal  of  individuals  –  my  piano playing  next  door  neighbor,  my  church choir, caring family and friends.” Having  much  experience  with  the  performance  aspect  of  music  and  theater, when Autumn  started  college  at  Clarion

We are the only Punxsutawney-owned media! Punx’y Proud — Boosting our Hometown! Publishers William C. Anderson Mary L. Roberts advertising Mary L. Roberts Tracey Young

Miss Pittsburgh Autumn Kunselman (Photo taken by Courtney Katherine Photography)

Contributing Writers S. Thomas Curry Marty Armstrong Marsha Lavelle Jade Emhoff Bill Anderson

2005.” This is when Autumn’s perception of pageant life began to change, and she realized there  was  much  more  to  it  than  looking good in a swimsuit. “I saw all of these girls serving as role models in their communities. They all had platforms in which they were advocating for  good  causes,  and  they  were  all  very well-rounded people,” said Autumn. Although she said going to a pageant was a great experience, she was not yet convinced about putting herself out there in

art Director Melissa Salsgiver Graphic artists Melissa Salsgiver Carol Smouse Nicole McGee Emily Altomare All material submitted becomes the property of Punxsutawney Hometown magazine.

How to Get in Contact With Us: Mary Roberts ................................(814) 938-0312 Bill Anderson ................................(814) 472-4110 Tracey Young ................................(814) 938-9084 Our Office......................................(814) 938-9141 Our Fax..........................................(814) 938-9507 Our email address: hometown@mail.com Our business mailing address: P.O. Box 197, Punxsutawney, PA 15767 With our office located in: Railroad Building, Suite 100 North Penn St., Punxsutawney, PA 15767 yearly Subscriptions: $36 — First Class Mail

- Continued on next page Autumn Kunselman with students from Longview School. (Submitted photo)

performed by the Punxsutawney Theater Arts Guild (PTAG). “My mom saw an ad … and encouraged me to try out for a part. I got it, and this sparked my interest for music and theater even more,” Autumn said. One musical led to another, and Autumn become an active member in the PTAG for many years, securing roles in Meet Me in St. Louis, Raggedy Ann & Andy, Oliver, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Nunsence, and the leading role in Snow White.

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University,  she  grew  an  interest  for  the business side of music, which led her to major in music business. Clarion is where Autumn was introduced to the idea of pageants by one of her sorority sisters, Anna, who frequently competes in them. “When Anna  told  me  she  did  pageants and suggested I should too, I had a negative perception of them and thought that it may work for her, but it’s not for me,” she said. “But then she talked me into going to one  of  her  pageants,  Miss  Mid  State,  in

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The cover for Autumn's album "Autumn Leaves." (Photo by Courtney Katherine Photography)

policy makers and community leaders, and she  sits  on  the  Board  of  Education  and Community  Development  for  the  Pittsburgh  Symphony  Orchestra  to  engage local students and connect the symphony at a community level. “Statistics have shown that music and the arts in general prove increased team work, persistence, creativity, and critical thinking. Music makes you smarter,” she said. Since 2006, Autumn also has shared her passion, knowledge and advocacy in the Punxsutawney area. She has been holding music  programs  for  grades  K-3  twice  a year  at  Longview  School,  where  her mother is a teacher. “I  am  able  to  speak  with  students  and their  parents  about  the  importance  of music each year at the Spring Sing,” Autumn said. The majority of Autumn’s involvement and drive for SmART has been a result of her involvement with pageants. In 2009, she  was  first  runner-up  in  Miss  Three Rivers/Miss  Golden  Triangle/Miss  Allegheny  Vally  and  in  Miss  TriCounty/Miss Presque Isle. She was then crowned Miss Jewel of the West in April 2009,  which  allowed  her  to  compete  in Miss Pennsylvania American in June 2009. “After competing in Miss Pennsylvania, I aged-out of the of the American system, so I then began competing in Miss Pennsylvania International pageants, where I am eligible to compete until age 29,” she said. Autumn has achieved Miss Pittsburgh International titleholder for 2010 and 2011,

Music in Schools Continued from previous page

front of hundreds of people and performing and competing in pageants herself. A couple of years passed and after graduating college Autumn began working parttime  at  the  Center  for Young  Musicians located  in Wexford  and  Sewickley,  both near Pittsburgh, and part-time at a restaurant as well. “I really started to miss singing and the performance  part  of  music,  so  when  another  friend  I  was  working  with  at  the restaurant mentioned pageants, we decided we would begin doing them together,” she said. A  great  deal  of  preparation  is  involved before competing in pageants, and one of them is choosing a platform. “Each  contestant  chooses  a  platform,  a cause, belief, or philanthropy that she is passionate about. Many girls choose something that is close to their heart or a part of their life, and I have chosen arts education as mine,” Autumn said. “I chose to call it SmART to imply the necessary role of art being fully educated.” After  Autumn  chose  her  platform,  she took off running with it and began getting involved in her local community schools, where she advocates for the importance of music education at school board meetings. She has also participated in Arts Education: a Community of Inquiry in Pittsburgh (AE:  CIP)  to  advocate  arts  education  to

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Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127 – 3


The Call to Arms in 1861 Punx’y’s Involvement in the Civil War

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By S. Thomas Curry of Hometown magazine century and a half have passed since the Civil War began in April 1861. Over the next four years, states and local  groups  will  be  marking  the 150th Anniversary of “the War” with a variety of events.  Organizers for the national “reflection” on this troubling time in U. S. history will refer to the programs and events as a “commemoration,” not a celebration, of that period. There is no question in the minds of historians that the Civil War was the most important event in the life of the nation. It saw the  end  of  slavery.  It  brought  the  nation back together as united states.    From that conflict, and its sufferings, its fatalities, political divisiveness, family separations, and physical destructiveness, there are family stories from North and South, including Punxsutawney, that have kept the War and its history alive over many generations.    The War isn’t really past.  Whether we read the facts, or read the stories, whether

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A burial spot for many local men who had fought in the Civil War from its beginning in 1861 to its end in 1865 is the little town cemetery on North Findley Street. (Hometown file photo)

by farmlands.  It had grown to include small frame houses and shops and mills that supported farming and lumbering.  In the census  of  1860,  the  population  of Punxsutawney was 415 people, with around 100 of them listed as “taxables.”   The  surrounding  townships  had  a  total population of around 3,500 with nearly 700 “taxable” adults.  Perry Township was the largest in number of residents (1,073) and Young Township second highest (776). The native forests of pine and hemlock in this hilly area of Jefferson County had been cleared for the settlements and farmlands. No  longer  were  the  sun’s  rays  kept  out where  people  desired  to  live  and  work. When the ground could not be planted and harvested, lumbering was still the biggest industry.  At this time the roads were rough, but people were arriving and buying their little plots of land.  Then when lumber became cheap, plank streets came to the village. The town could boast of having flouring and  saw  mills,  a  blacksmith  and  wagon shop,  a  carpenter  shop  and  a  tin  shop,  a spinning wheel and chair factory, shoe and boot makers, general stores, a gunsmith, a post office and a few hotels.  This growth primarily centered around the “square” that Rev. David Barclay had designated for public use in his town plan.   On the four corners of property facing the “Public Square” would be the Washington

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House,  The  Eagle  Hotel  and  Tavern,  the Weaver  Hotel  and  the  Mahoning  House, (local people would call it The Campbell House).  In 1860, Henry Jennings bought the hotel and began remodeling it as his Jennings Hotel.  It had become apparent then that there was a need to provide accommodations for the traveling public, or temporary lodging for new settlers until they could establish a place, or business, of their own. The Forest House, was located on the corner of Union Street at South Gilpin Street, (just outside the western boundary of Findley Street of the town).  It was a popular stopping point on a road that was heavily traveled into Punxsutawney from Indiana. By 1860, four church denominations had been  established  in  town,  three  of  them sharing the same “meeting house” built by the Presbyterians in the park.  The Presbyterians had shared space with the Baptists and the German Lutherans.  With a growing membership, the Methodists were worshipping in their new red brick church on West Mahoning Street that had replaced a little one-story frame building on the spot.   In the fall of 1860 the Presbyterian congregation began construction of their own new red brick church on the corner of Mahoning and Findley streets and the Baptists were beginning construction of their first worship house on North Jefferson Street. Construction of both buildings was delayed - Continued on page 6 A true feeling of home... • new Chapel • Beautiful countryside location • Continuing Care retirement Community • Personal Care • two Dementia Care Units Private rooms/suites • adult Day Care Home Support Services

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Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127 – 5


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6 – Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127

Following the Civil War, many area war veterans of the “Grand Army of the Republic” became members of the E. H. Little GAR Post #237 that was chartered in 1888 in Punxsutawney. The group posed for a Memorial Day photo, 1911, during the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War. (Hometown file photo)

Call to Arms

sworn in and after.  Fort Sumpter (sic) was fired on and the call for troops followed immediately.” Continued from page 4 That  there  were  strong  feelings  on  the slavery issue can be found in his personal through the years of the Civil War. statement  on  the  subject.  Recalling  some The  undeveloped  land  of  the  “public old-time Methodist preachers, he rememsquare” would have many uses over a quarbered one of them with these words, “... Mr. ter  of  a  century  that  included  baseball Wheldon commenced to preach.  At a later games, circuses, political rallies, a militia day he allowed his politics to interfere with training ground, fireworks, growing grass his  usefulness.    He  was  on and hay, and letting the cows the losing side politically in and pigs to roam, until it was the North especially among transformed later into a more the  Methodists.    The  last beautiful “public park.” time that I talked with him Some  of  the  new  settlers he acknowledged that he had would build their new frame made a mistake.  He said he houses  beyond  the  eight should at least have kept his squares of the original plan mouth shut on politics.  He of  Punxsutawney,  in  areas took the wrong side during west  of  Gilpin  Street  in  a the  war  (1861  to  1865)  in wooded area where are now reference to Slavery and Sethe “mansions’ of West Macession and etc.  Nearly all honing  Street.    East  of  the of the Methodists were AboMahoning Creek, by way of litionists.  Most of them that the  framed  covered  bridge were  not  Abolitionists  left built near the previous fordthe church and some joined ing spot at the end of Union other churches.” Street,  the  Clawson  and In the years before the war Wood  families  would  be among  the  first  to  build  in In 1897 two Civil War cannons was declared in 1861, it was what  is  now  the  East  End were presented to the local GAR Pennsylvania law “that every and placed in the park. After able  bodied  man  of  proper section.  To the north where post the park was redesigned in 1902. the  Jenks  Homestead  had In a ceremony to “Peace” in 1910, age to be enrolled in the milibeen  built  on  “farmlands” the cannons were relocated in tia and at least once a year to there  would  be  new  neigh- corners of the park fronting Ma- meet for roll call and drill,” honing Street. Since1976, they as recalled by another Punxbors, too. have been in the Heritage Area of Back in those days, it took park. (Detail from circa 1915 Post sutawney  man,  George Slaysman,  about his youth. a  long  time  for  the  latest Card) John Bair would remember news to get to the citizens of when these were held, “It was a great day rural towns and villages.  People could get when they turned out to muster for us boys,” their  news  from  mail  delivered  by  stagehe wrote in 1919. “They had fancy uniforms coach, or the passengers visiting town, or and wore high hats with plumes of feathers by  the  postman  on  horseback.   The  local colored red, white and blue.”   population was no doubt following the news He could remember the playing of “Yanabout the United States presidential camkee Doodle” by the fifers and drummers in paign of 1860 that resulted in the election the military company.  “They trained on the of Abraham Lincoln as president.  And they public  Square  and  on  the  streets,  and  in would have picked sides on the campaign marching around they made it convenient to issue against slavery.  The news about South stop at the tavarns (sic).  In training they Carolina  declaring  a  secession  from  the went through a great many manuvers (sic). “Union” would surely be discussed among In my mind’s eye I see them yet.  They had local patriots.  And when six more Souththe old flint lock muskets with other accouern states also seceded in late 1860 to form terments to match.”  He would also remema “confederacy” of Southern States, there ber encampments, with the last one held at must have been serious concern. Punxsutawney in the fall of 1859 on land That feeling was expressed in 1919 in the near Gaskill Avenue that would later be the words of John Bair in his “Early RecollecNordstrom Brick Works.   tions  of  Punxsutawney.”    Bair,  a  retired As  he  recalled  it,  “It  was  considered  a businessman, had recalled years of the Civil great  event  then.    It  was  a  gala  time  for War.  He and his brother Lorenzo had eneverybody, especially the boys as it was a listed in the War in 1863.  In a portion of his holiday time for all.  Peanuts, Ginger Bread writing he shared, “I remember the strain and small beer for the young and plenty of that was on everybody and everything just fire water for the men and soldiers.” before the war, especially from the time that - Continued on next page Abraham Lincoln was elected until he was


Call to Arms

Price HQuality HSelection HService H

Continued from previous page Military companies were formed and the young men of the area were prepared for any hostility and threat to the Union of the States.  When  Confederate  forces  bombarded Fort Sumter in South Carolina on April  12,  1861,  one  of  a  few  remaining Union-held forts located in the south, President Abraham Lincoln sent out a call to the states to send troops to recapture the fort and “preserve the Union.”  With what appeared to the President as only a small “rebellion” he called for volunteers to serve for three months. When the call to arms was sounded by the President,  Punxsutawney  contributed  its share of able-bodied men.  Initially, in April 1861 nine young men left Punxsutawney and vicinity as a part of the Pennsylvania volunteers,  enlisting  in  Company  I,  8th Regiment.  In his “Early Recollections...” John  Bair  listed  the  men  to  leave  Punxsutawney:  John  Hastings,  Alexander  C. White,  Steal  S.  Williams,  William  Bair, Samuel  Depp,  Samuel  Hibler,  Joseph  N. Walkup, Arch Hadden, and John Stiver.    A meeting of citizens was held to make arrangements for entertaining the volunteers in  Punx’y  before  they  left,  and  also  to arrange for their transportation by wagon to Brookville, on to Kittanning and then down the Allegheny River to Pittsburgh. There were worship services in each of the churches  in  town.   And  when  the  drums began to beat at 11 o’clock, the small group of first volunteers assembled.  The congregations rose and passed out of the buildings, leaving the ministers preaching.  “The old men as well as the youth of our town joined in the procession and marched with us to our neighboring town, Clayville,” recalled another of the “old men” in the early 1900s in  his  own  account  of  “Early  Punxsutawney.”  To send family members and some of the community’s youngest off to “preserve the nation” would be an exciting moment for many. Among the courageous folk bidding goodbyes, there would be tears, too.  The young men were mustered in on April 24th, 1861.  For comfort, it was remembered this first call to serve would be for only 90 days. The  War  did  not  end  in  three  months. These men returned home safely and began to enlist men for the 105th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Volunteers.  And the War continued on until April 1865. (The Civil War stories will continue in future issues of Hometown magazine.) • • •

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Music in Schools which  enabled  her  to  compete  in  Miss Pennsylvania International 2010 and 2011, where she was first runner-up and second runner-up respectively. Currently, Autumn is investing her time and  talent  in  a  fundraiser  for  the  VH1’s Save  the  Music  Foundation,  which  is  a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring instrumental music education in America’s public schools, and raising awareness about the importance of music as part of each  child’s  complete  education (www.vh1savethemusic.com). “I just recently recorded my first album, ‘Autumn Leaves’ to honor the memory of my grandfather while ensuring that children still have music education available to them,” she said. “It is full of old favorite standards  like  ‘At  Last,’  ‘Moon  River,’ ‘Green Eyes,’ and ‘I Left My Heart in San Francisco’.” A portion of the proceeds raised from the release  of  the  album  will  be  donated  to VH1’s Save The Music Foundation. Autumn said, “Advocating for arts education to me is giving back to those individuals who helped me grow and find my path, paying tribute to their generosity and guidance.” To learn more about SmART and “Autumn  Leaves,”  visit  Autumn’s  blog  at http://misspittsburghintl.blogspot.com. • • •

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Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127 – 7


3Vote May 17, 2011

Paul A. Bishop Jefferson County CoMMissioner

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On the Ballot • 36 years in family Business • 20 years Coaching Little League & teener League Baseball • 20 years Board of Directors and Counselor for youth for Christ • Currently a Make-A-Wish Volunteer • supporter of 4-H for Many years Paid for by the candidate.

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8 – Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127

F

Community Happenings

rom the Chamber of Commerce and the Community Calendar at Punxsutawney.com,  here  are  list  the events and happenings in our area. n Commissioner Candidate Forum will be held on Tuesday, May 3 at 6:30 p.m. in  the  main  courtroom  at  the  Jefferson County  Courthouse.  The  forum  will  be moderated by Randy Bartley and is hosted by TURN, PA Freedom Fighters, and local Chambers  of  Commerce.  Sponsored  by TURN and PA Freedom Fighters. Call 814938-4193 or 814-503-8337 for more information. n The Red Shoes will be performed by VanDyke & Co. and the Mahoning Valley Ballet on Friday, May 20 at 7 p.m. at the Punxsutawney Middle School. For ticket information call 814-938-8434. n Drawing Workshop with  Marianne Fyda will be held at the Lattimer House, 400 West Mahoning Street from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. for ages 15 and older. Free admission, class size is limited to first 25 people. Call for mandatory reservations. Sponsored by Punxsutawney Arts Association and Historical & Genealogical Society. Call 814275-1204 for information and reservations. n Punx’y Phil Fighters 5K Run / 1 Mile will be held Saturday, June 4, 2011 on the Rails to Trails located just of Route 36 South behind Prushnok Drive. Registration opens at 10 a.m.  and the race begins at 11 a.m. All proceeds go to the American Diabetes Association. For more information or to pre-register please contact Kelly Ferrent at 938-0495.  n Interested in Attracting Marcellus Shale Business? The Punxsutawney Area Chamber  of  Commerce  wants  to  attract Marcellus  Shale  companies  to  our town…and to your business. Help us help you by contacting us about how you can be listed on our web site. Our goal is to create a web site that will have everything a Marcellus-related business might need to know when looking at Punxsutawney as a possible community in which to locate. Businesses  of  all  kinds  can  have  their information  listed  on  the  site.  Types  of businesses that could be of interest to Marcellus  Shale  companies  include  machine shops, auto repair shops, excavation, trucking/hauling, sand & gravel yards, laundry services, catering, and rental housing, including hotels, motels, and RV rentals, to name  a  few.  Call  the  Chamber  of  Commerce today at 814-938-7700 x2 or visit www.punxsutawney.com/marcellus  for more information.  n Blessing of Bikes Set for May 22 If you are planning to ride the highways on  your  two-wheel  motorized  vehicle  or your  classic  car,  you  may  want  to  visit Grace United Methodist Church.  Blessing of the Bikes and Show Cars will celebrate its  third  anniversary  on  May  22  in  the church parking lot. Bikers and show car enthusiasts may begin arriving at 1 p.m. with the actual blessing taking place when the participants have arrived. Pastor  Paul  Thompson  of  Cloe  United Methodist Church will welcome the riders and drivers and will provide music for their enjoyment.  Grace  United  Methodist

Church  members  will  provide  a  picnic lunch for all who attend. You do not have to ride a motorcycle or drive a classic show car to come.  Everyone is welcome. Pastor Al Kimmel was the originator of the idea in 2009.    With  the  economy  and  high  gas  prices, there are more and more motorcycles on the highway.  Many motorists do not take the time to notice the riders.   “We want everyone to enjoy the benefit of God’s blessing, said Pastor Kimmel.  “Join us for the wonderful time of fellowship.” n Punxsutawney Country Club announces that the dining room is now open to the public! Two special nights in the club dining  room  are  Thirsty  Thursday  with pizza, wings, and dinners and Early Bird Dinner Specials on Friday from 4-5 p.m. with dinners being served until 8:30 p.m. Reservations are strongly recommended for Friday nights. In the bar, stop by and wel-

come  new  manager,  Doreen  Astorino! Doreen and her husband Ron, who owned and operated the Blue Tavern/Astorino’s in Walston for many years. Finally, it’s golf season, so talk to Dan at the Country Club Pro Shop about becoming a member! For more information on the dining room, bar and golf, call the club at 938-8243. n Punxsutawney.com is maintained by the Chamber of Commerce for the community. Any area business or organization is invited to become a member of the Chamber of Commerce for as little as $65 for the year.  For  more  information,  visit  Punxsutawney.com/chamber or call 938-7700. To submit an event for the calendar, visit Punxsutawney.com/calendar and fill out the form. • • •

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Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127 – 9


23 Ways to work smarter in 15 minutes or less By Sarah Welch and Alicia Rockmore getbuttonedup.com ow  many  times  have  you  caught yourself thinking, "Well, I just have five minutes, so it's not worth doing X, Y or Z"? Make use of those short windows of time and you'll suddenly feel like you've been handed extra-long days. Sitting  in  the  doctor's  office?  Skip  the

H

A proven Conservative team for Jefferson County Commissioner our goal is to change the direction of the county from fiscally irresponsible and excessive debt to a fiscally conservative, responsible and growth oriented county that works for all the people. We will always keep you fully informed.

ira sunderland

We Are Here for you, tHe tAxpAyers. your Vote WiLL Be in your Best interest. the reason we’re running again: sunderland Black Administration

Mcintyre Corbin Administration

increase

Budget $11,530,772* $22,429,269** 99.995% Debt $3,447,680* $17,000,000** 358% Tax $6,017,026* $8,767,450** 46% they also voted for an increase in their salary while in office (December 2010)

David Black sr.

taxable value of your home was increased 333% by the current administration. 1 mill of tax now collects $876,000. *Information obtained from the Federal Audit. **Information obtained from Jefferson County’s 2011 budget.

Vote for the team that Listens — Cares — Acts Paid for by the candidates.

10 – Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127

magazines and do one of the following. Got 10 minutes before the next meeting? Cross one  of  these  off  your  list.  You'll  be  delighted at what you can do in small windows of time. Here are 23 ways you can work smarter in short bursts to maximize your time: 1. Make a to-do list. What  you  write down gets done. 2. Keep a reading file and catch up on articles. If you keep handy a file of things you  want  to  read  eventually,  you'll  have something productive to do whenever you find yourself waiting. 3. Clean up your inbox. If you're the kind who holds on to emails and have hundreds, or even thousands, in your inbox, use those random  blocks  of  five  minutes  to  set  up folders and clean it out. 4. Keep a running phone-call list and return calls. Keep a small log with you or on your desk at all times to keep track. 5. Pay bills. If you haven't already signed up for e-statements and electronic bill payments, take a few minutes to do that, too. 6. Track your budget. Download a free budget-tracking form -- visit www.getbuttonedup.com and click on "tools & giveaways." Keep it in your to-do notebook and write down where you've spent your money when you have a few minutes to spare. 7. Order gifts for your gift closet. Stock up on gifts you can stash away in your gift closet for later use. 8. Make a list of doctor appointments. Do  you  let  years  pass  between  appointments? Stop. The next time you find yourself twiddling your thumbs, call and make checkup appointments, even if they're six months out. Ask the receptionist to email or phone a confirmation. 9. Go for a walk to clear your head. It's

amazing the difference a five- or 10-minute stroll can make. 10. Sort through snail mail. The  vast majority is likely junk. You can probably zip through a big stack in just a few minutes. 11. Organize your gift cards. Get a wallet like Buttoned Up's GiftCard.log that enables  you  to  keep  track  of  cards  and  the amount/expiration date on each one. 12. Make maintenance appointments for your car. When was your last oil change? Is your inspection  date coming  due  soon? Don't wait until it is too late or your car breaks down. 13. Make a list of the things that bug you at home (such as loose drawers or missing  handles) and a shopping list of what you need to fix them. Then the next time you're out and  about,  buy what  you  need  at the  hardware  store  so  you  can  deal  with them once and for all. 14. Tackle the junk drawer(s). Set the egg timer for five minutes and go to town on each one. Be ruthless about tossing stuff. 15. Organize takeout menus. Grab  a folder or binder from your home office if you have one to spare and use that to keep them.  If  you  don't  have  one,  keep  the menus together with a clip or rubber band. 16. Order prints of digital photos. Organizing photos can seem like a massive job. Rather than stressing over putting together a perfect album or scrapbook, just order prints of a few great shots. 17. Order frames to display those prints. They don't have to be perfect or expensive. 18. Research a vacation or project. 19. Water the plants. 20. Make a birthday list and set up ecards. 21. Make a cheat sheet of fun things to do or places to go on rainy days. 22. Pick up five things and put them in their correct spots.  Pick  a  room  --  any room -- and take this small step. The bigger the items, the greater the impact. 23. Do something thoughtful for someone else! Send an email letting the person know how much you care, or call -- or even stop by and give a hug. Your day will get a whole lot brighter, too. (The writers are co-founders of Buttoned Up, a company dedicated to helping stressed women get organized. Send ideas and questions to yourlife(at)getbuttonedup.com. For more columns, go to scrippsnews.com.) • • • Hometown magazine ... online, all the time www.punxsutawneymagazine.com


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Mary A. Fletcher PT, DPT, MSPT, OCS ATC Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127 – 11


W indgATe Vineyards & Winery Windgate wines, gift baskets, wine-making supplies & wine-related books & merchandise New Wine Releases: Chocolate Covered Cherry

and Late Harvest Vignoles & as always the Eye of the Shadow

The Shop aT The Winery open Daily 12-5 1998 Hemlock Acres Rd., Smicksburg • (814) 257-8797 The CounTry CupboarD, SmiCkSburg inDiana mall • piTTSburgh millS • riDgWay

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Punxsutawney Community Center Revitalized:

Open House Saturday, April 30

Caterina’s Dolce Cucina Gluten Free Paninis, Muffins, Biscotti Desserts and Salads

Wireless Internet Mother’s Day Gifts Arriving Daily Gifts Under $10 Downtown, Punx’y • 938-8781

R.D. Brown Memorials All Cemetery Needs

Large Indoor &

314 N. Findley St.,Punx’y • 938-2100 Outdoor Display Daily 9 to 5; Sat 9-12 • Sun & Evenings by Appt.

“Carved in Stone”

White’s Variety Area’s Largest Selection of Work Shoes and Boots • Wolverine • Red Wing • Timberland • Rocky • Carolina • H&H • LaCrosse • Muck Boots • Fishing Boots

Carhartt Work & Casual Clothing for Men & Women 1845 Philadelphia St., Indiana

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AuTO • HOME • BuSINESS • LIFE

JACquE PERRY INSuRANCE

T

By Jade Emhoff of Hometown magazine

he Punxsutawney Area Community Center would like to invite you to an Open House to experience their improved and advanced Fitness Center on Saturday, April 30. Stop in anytime from

8 a.m to 5 p.m. to check out their six new treadmills, five new bicycles, four new ellipticals and other body building equipment.  Prizes  will  be given away every hour, and you  can  enjoy  a  free  work out on this day. Aside from additional  and  improved equipment, the fitness  center  also has a revamped atmosphere  with various  murals provided  by  the Punxsutawney High  School  8th and 9th grade students. Fitness  Center rates  are  $5  per day  or  $30  per month,  and  they offer a family rate of $55 per month. Their  normal hours are Mon.-Thurs. 7 a.m. – 9:30 p.m.; Fri. 7 a.m. – 8 p.m.; Sat. 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Sun. 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. The center is staffed at all times to provide you with instructions about the exercise equipment. For more information call 938-2320. • • •

Hometown magazine Online — All the time

P

unxsutawney Hometown magazine can now be read and enjoyed by anyone around the world. The entire edition, as it appears in print, is available by going to our new website at: www.punxsutawneymagazine.com and clicking on the magazine icon appearing in the middle of our home page. Every page, every story, every advertisement is now there for you to read at your convenience.  You  can  flip  through  the pages, enlarge and move the pages around

to  make  reading  easier,  and  even  print them. In addition, you will find information about our staff, back issues and special sections. More features will be added in the future. Readers are reminded to let their families and friends outside the Punxsutawney area know of our new website … especially nice for  the  PAHS  spring  athletes  who  have family and friends living out-of-town.  Hometown magazine, online, all the time. • • •

richard l. Fait

Darlene Stuchell

Funeral Home

Call for a free quote today!

938-7110 31 Universal Dr. Punxsutawney PA

12 – Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127

“We Serve As We Would Be Served. . . Because We Care” 117 n. Jefferson St. Punxsutawney

938-8200

year-round service

Come dine at the

North Main Street, Punxsutawney

938-8243 • 590-4034 Visit us at www.PunxsutawneyCountryClub.com

EVERYONE WELCOME No Membership Required

Wed., Thur. & Fri. for Lunches & Dinners

Mother’s Day Buffet Sunday, May 8th from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. adult: $16.95 • 8-12: $8.95 3-7: $5.95 • 2 and under: Free Lamb, Roast beef, Stuffed chicken, Ham, Baked Italian Cod, Parsley potatoes, Mashed potatoes, Sweet potato soufflé, 2 vegetables, Penne w/ red sauce, Penne aglio et olio, Italian tomato salad, Tossed salad, Desserts

Reserve your 2011-2012 wedding or party today! new management: tony “Jiggers” Gigliotti is in charge of the food service offering his years of experience in family dining and featuring homemade recipes. doreen Astorino is now running the bar $25 social membership required to purchase alcohol.

• non-Smoking atmosphere • Handicap Parking • 4 high-def big screens • Outside deck for dining • Competitive pricing • Happy hour 6-8 • Daily specials and legal gaming tickets. • golfing memberships & specials available

Reagle's NOTARY See Us for Your Registration Needs. Auto, Boat & ATV LET US DO YOUR

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NEW LOCATION - 203 E. Main St., Big Run KATHY D. WYMER

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Thur., Fri. 12-8 p.m. Sat. 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Sun. 12-5 p.m.

TAX PRACTITIONER

Electronic Filing • Notary Public Bookkeeping • Accounting 76 Harvest Lane ~ Punx’y Please call for appointment:

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814-845-7853 • Western, Work & Hunting Boots

• Athletic Shoes• Jeans• Casual Wear

Quality Name Brands at the Lowest Prices!


Printed 04-11

Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127 – 13


TRAilhEAD

Gallery

WE FEATURE LOCAL ARTISTS’ WORKS

CUSTOM FRAMING

Let us frame that special keepsake or photo 124 West Mahoning St. Downtown Punxsutawney

Clean Affordable Apartments

Reynoldsville Office 1039 Grant St., Reynoldsville

653-7804

Part I: Securing the Iron Works

938-1004

Jefferson County Housing Authority (814) 938-7140 1-800-585-5303 TTy/Tdd 711

Coal Brings the Iron Works to Punxsutawney

Management Office 201 n. Jefferson St., Punx’y

A

By PRIDE for Hometown magazine

panic, as it was called then, or a depression  as  we  might  call  it today, brought the Iron Works to Punxsutawney.  Beginning about 1893, the economy which had rapidly expanded during the late 1880’s due to  extensive building of railroads had stressed

look is growing brighter,” Punxsutawney News, March 1, 1893 Mining companies rotated  available  work  among  all  the miners in attempt to keep them working. This enabled each family to have some income.  When unemployment peaked at about fourteen percent, the May 27, 1896 issue  of  the  Punxsutawney Spirit reported:    “No. 12 mine, Anita, was shut

Rental Assistance provided Section 8 Housing by the U.S. department Choice Voucher Program of Housing & Urban development

Dr. Nathan C. Stebbins

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232 hampton Avenue 814.938.1101 539 West Mahoning Street 814.938.1125 stbank.com

MeMBeR FDiC

Bernard P.

Snyder coroner of Jefferson county

Mahoning Creek west of Punxsutawney about 1900. The site selected for the Iron Works may have looked similar to the visitors who came to view it in 1895. (S.J. Sharp collection photo)

the country’s banking system to the point of financial collapse.  The McKinley Tariff Act of 1890 placed 48 percent tariffs on imported goods, increasing prices and further slowing the economy.  The United States, at that time, was operating on currency  backed  by  both  gold  and  silver. The  economic  panic  triggered  a  run  on the nation’s gold when foreign governments and American citizens demanded gold for their paper money.  This slowdown  of  the  economy  lasted  for  about seven years.  Only the Great Depression, as a result of the stock market crash in 1929, was greater than the panic of 1893.       As the economy crumbled, the Philadelphia  and  Reading  Railroad  went  bankrupt,  beginning  the  declines  in  the railroad and mining industries.   Unemployment was reaching double digits in 1893 when the Punxsutawney area began to feel the impact.  Articles in the newspapers attempted to put a positive spin on the  situation:    “Work at the BerwindWhite Company’s mine No. 4 below Horatio, is reported to be improving. The lack of work has been seriously felt by the miners of that slope and we trust the out-

THE PLACE WHERE greAt mEALS BEGIN

Specializing in the finest quality Beef, Pork, Chicken & Smoked meats

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• PACkAGE DEALS AVAILABLE • DAILY SPECIALS We accept Visa, Mastercard and Access Card

Mon.-Thurs. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Fri. 8 a.m. -7 p.m. Sat. 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. John Biggie, Jr.

14 – Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127

down last week. About 150 men were employed there. There were also 26 men taken out of No. 11 and 19 taken from No. 10. A number of the men, perhaps half, were given employment elsewhere. Just at this time the coal business is extremely dull, but it is expected to brighten up pretty soon.”      At  this  unlikely  time,  a  proposal  was made to locate an iron smelting works in the Punxsutawney area.  E.M. Parrott, of Rochester,  New  York,  came  to  Punxsutawney in March of 1895 to look for land  on  which  to  place  an  iron  works. While in town he met with a local committee who showed him some available properties. In early November 1895, the committee took the proposal to the public.  The Punxsutawney News, in its November 13th issue carried two articles on the proposed iron works.  The first article reported on the public meetings that had  been  held  to  inform  community members of the possibility of locating an iron works in the area.  The need for the community  to  provide  some  financial support was stressed.  It was estimated that $25,000 to $50,000 would need to be

raised locally to bring the iron works to Punx’y. The second article stressed the benefits the to the people of Punx’y and asked for contributions:   “If the operating of an iron plant such as Rogers, Brown & Co, propose building would mean anything for Punxsutawney and vicinity it would mean a great deal. The proposed plant it is said will cost $200,000 and the circulation of a part of that sum among the workmen who will put up the plant will be of incalculable benefit in the William Arthur Rogers, senior way to stimu- partner of Rogers, Brown & lating busi- Co., Iron Manufacturers. Mr. took advantage of the ness; but that Rogers opportunity to open an iron would not be works in Punxsutawney. all in the way (Photo courtesy of Chuck of monetary LaChiusa) - Continued on next page

Dr. rick Bishop Tel: 814.938.3111

Fax: 814.618.1037 rick@drrickbishop.com www.drrickbishop.com neW lOCatiOn 119 West Mahoning St., PuNx’Y

Sandy's

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109 Main St., Big Run

Shop online: www.standardpennant.com


Iron Works Continued from previous page

circulation. It is stated that such a plant would give employment to from 200 to 300 men. That means daily wages ranging from $1.50 to $3.00 or about $1500 a month would be put in circulation in our midst all the year round. It would also mean 1000 to 1500 mouths to feed and people to clothe, besides hundreds of other mechanics and laboring men that would flock to this place in the advent of such an industry being located here. That would mean that the farmer would sell more produce and a greater demand for such produce would bring better prices. The merchants would also come in for his share of increased trade. It would mean a jump in real estate. Building lots that cannot now be sold at any price would find ready buyers. Houses that are begging for renters would not long be idle. If you own property in this vicinity which you would like to sell or rent would it not pay you to help get this work here? Most assuredly it would. Then be as liberal as you can, for if the plant goes to a neighboring town there will be a great number of empty houses and store rooms in this place and Clayville than there are at present. There will be fewer people to feed and clothe, and consequently a lack of demand for produce would bring prices down. The bottom would drop out of real estate values and rents; while if it is possible to get the plant here the state of affairs would be the reverse. We would ask that property owners think of this matter in the

Engineer J. Kennedy’s concern about low-lying land was validated in October 1911, when the Mahoning Creek flooded West Mahoning Street and the Iron Works. The building in the center of the photograph was the business office of the Punxsutawney Iron Company. (S.J. Sharp collection photo)

proper light and decide for themselves who is to be benefited by such an industry.” The  people  of  the  Punxsutawney  area were not the only ones who would benefit from the iron works.  Bion H. Butler, in  an  article  in  the  Pittsburgh Times, reprinted in the Punxsutawney Spirit in the January 8, 1896 issue, gave more reasons for the relocation.  In 1895, Rogers, Brown & Co. was one of the largest producers of pig iron in the world.  Rogers and Brown had been monitoring the eco-

nomic  situation  and  began  talks  with Adrian Iselin, of the Buffalo, Rochester and  Pittsburg  Railroad,  who  had  large mine holdings in Jefferson County.  An iron works at Punxsutawney would make economic sense.  The smelting operation, which had been purchasing coke from the Punxsutawney area and paying to have it transport to Buffalo, could eliminate the freight cost by having the smelter closer to the coke ovens.  The railroad, would still haul coal and coke to Buffalo for the foreign market, however instead of haul-

ing empty cars from Buffalo back to the mines, the cars could be loaded with iron ore for the smelter.  The freight cost for the  ore  would  be  at  a  reduced  rate  because  any  amount  would  be  more  than the  railroad  was  currently  making  by hauling  empty  cars.  The  iron  company and the railroad would both profit from this arrangement. In  early  December  1895,  Mr.  Rogers and Mr. Brown, and their engineer, Mr. Kennedy, came to Punxsutawney to look - Continued on page 18

Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127 – 15


Happy Mother’s Day!

West End

1028 W. Mahoning St.

938-6961

JefferSon wholeSAle grocery

Elk Run Ave., Punx’y • 938-8660

Jody D. McMullen 938-8942 JodyMcMullen@allstate.com 133 E. Mahoning Street, Punxsutawney

©2006 Allstate Insurance Company

100 YEARS mAHONING VALLEY OVER IN BUSINESS mILLING COmPANY 1909-2011

328 Indiana St., Punx’y • 938-8850 • OPEN DAILY 8-5 ~ FRI. 8-7 ~ SAT. 8-3

For all your Lawn and Garden needs Complete Line of Animal Feed Over 800 Guns in Stock Fishing License and Supplies Propane Fill • Boots & Clothing

try All your Favorite treats to Keep Cool.

Ice Cream Cakes and Pies

Walmart Plaza Rt. 119 North Punx’y

OVER 35 DIFFERENT FLAVORS

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Daily Specials • Hot Sandwiches Combo meals • Side Orders • Shakes Floats • Cones • Beverages & more!

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938-2058

Mother’s Day Giveaway

allstate.com

Great Daily Specials!

Enter Mom on the coupon below to win one of these great gifts listed on page 17. REGISTER BY WEDNESDAY, MAY 4

Route 36 N, Stanton

849-6396

Mon, Tues 6:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. Wed, Thurs & Fri 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sat 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sun 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Punxsutawney Hometown magazine’s Mother’s Day Giveaway. register to win the great gifts on next page. One winner per participating listing on next page. 21920 Rt. 119 N. Punxsutawney

KOrner KUPBOarD 9 Rooms of: Antiques • Collectibles • quality Furniture • Refinishing Products

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653-2178 • 502 Main St., Reynoldsville Tues.-Sat. 10 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.; Closed Sun. & Mon. Owners: Pat & Doc Gordon

Contest rules: 1. No purchase necessary. Clip and complete coupon on this page and mail to: Mother’s Day Giveaway, Punxsutawney Hometown magazine, P.O. Box 197, Punxsutawney, PA 15767. 2. All entries must be received by Wednesday, May 4, 2011. 3. One entry will be selected for each participating business through a random drawing from all entries to be held in our Hometown office on Thursday, May 5, 2011. 4. By participating in the contest, all entries are subject to contest rules. 5. One entry per envelope please. 6. Winners will be announced in the June Issue.

Happy Mother’s Day!

All you have to do to register to win is clip, or photocopy, and complete the coupon and mail to:

Mother’s Day Giveaway Punxsutawney Hometown magazine P.O. Box 197, Punxsutawney, PA 15767 Punxsutawney Hometown magazine’s ‘Mother’s Day Giveaway.’

Mother’s Name____________________________________ Entered by________________________________________ Address___________________________________________ City______________________ State_______Zip_________ Phone___________________________________________

The way banking should be.

E-Mail___________________________________________

559 W. Mahoning St., Punx’y

938-2615 Find a large selection of your favorites for planting

Brooke’s

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Tues. - Sat. 10.a.m. to. 5 p.m.

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punxsutawney phil’s

“OFFICIAL” SOUVENIR SHOP

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Ridge Ave. • 938-7100

Christian Book & Gift Shop

Thistle & Pine Celtic & Country Collectibles Distinctive home decor & accents

Gimmick’s

Roseman's Florist & Gifts hanging Baskets for Mother's day, fresh Arrangments & Gifts 126 W. Mahoning st., punx’y ◆ 938-7364

16 – Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127

Books • Bibles • Cards Music • Gifts • Jewelry Precious Moments Collection Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Graduation, Wedding Gifts 191 Main St. BROOkvILLE

849-7800

(LOCAteD in ChAMBeR OF COMMeRCe)

stuff.com www.groundhog (814) 938-7700 Great 1-800-752-PHIL Gift Ideas t-ShiRtS • MUGS • COLLeCtiBLeS for Mom

or


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Reagle's NOTARY See Us for Your Registration Needs. Auto, Boat & ATV

The Pool Guys POOLS • SPAS ACCESSORIES

INCOME TAX PREPARATION

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HOURS: Mon.-Fri. 9-6 Sat. 9-? • Sun. Closed

indiana St., Punx’y

We now issue over the counter registration cards and stickers.

Owner - Lesa Walker

NEW LOCATION - 203 E. Main St., Big Run

Independent Auto Parts of America

938-9396

232 hampton Avenue 814.938.1101 539 West Mahoning Street 814.938.1125 stbank.com MeMBeR FDiC

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Mon.-Fri. 7:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Sat. 7:30 a.m. - Noon

814-427-2361 Fax: 814-427-5291

Enter Mom to Win One of These Great Gifts

Solid Oak & Cherry Furniture made by amish Craftsmen “Quality Doesn’t Cost...It Pays!”

Rt. 119 between big Run & Sykesville Hours: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 427-2720

Wal-Mart Certificate Allstate - Jody D. McCullen 133 East Mahoning St., Punx’y 814-938-8942 $25 Gift Certificate Christian Book & Gift Shop 191 Main St., Brookville 814-849-7800 $50 Savings Bond CNB Bank 559 W. Mahoning St., Punx’y 814-938-2615 $25 Gift Certificate Comet Market W. Mahoning St., Punx’y 814-938-6961 $25 Gift Certificate for the Grocery Store of Your Choice Christ the King West Long Ave., DuBois 814-371-3180 $10 Gift Certificate Country Cone Rt. 36 North, Punx’y 814-938-2058

Relaxation Basket ($25+ value) Gigliotti Chiropractic & Naturally Healthy 217 W. Mahining St., Punx’y 814-938-7851 Dinner for Two Gimmicks Restaurant 208 Ridge Ave., Punx’y 814-938-7100 $20 Gift Certificate Grandma’s Kitchen Rt. 36 North, Stanton 814-849-6396 Hanging Basket Hanzely’s Garden Center Rt. 119 South of DuBois 814-375-0305 $25 Gift Certificate Joyce’s Greenhouse Rt. 119 S. of Punx’y 724-286-9722 $25 Gift Certificate Korner Kupboard Antiques 502 Main St., Reynoldsville 814-653-2178

$25 Gift Certificate Double M. Ceramics 333 W. Main St. Reynoldsville 814-653-2792 $25 Gift Certificate Fairlady & Company 100 W. Mahoning St., Punx’y 814-938-1255

Cozy Blanket Kengersky Nationwide Insurance 52 Notary Lane, Punx’y 814-938-3092

Abundance Songbird Feeder with bird feed and gardening gloves Mahoning Valley Milling Co. 318 Indiana St. Punx’y • 814-938-8850

Hanging Basket Gift Certificate ($25 value) Reagle’s Notary 203 E. Main St., Big Run 814-427-2361

$25 Gift Certificate The Medicine Shoppe 132 West Mahoning St. Punx’y • 814-938-3011

Mixed Flowering Hanging Basket ($30 Value) Roseman’s Florist & Gifts 126 W. Mahoning St. Punx’y • 814-938-7364

15 Tanning Sessions (Valued at $40) The Pool Guys 119 Roberts St., Punx’y 814-938-9396

Golf Shirt S&T Bank 2 Locations: Hampton Ave. & Mahoning Office

Gift Basket Posh Pets Grooming Salon 542 S. Main St., Punx’y 814-938-8921

$25 Gift Certificate Thistle & Pine Celtic & Country Collectibles 7570 Rt. 119, Marion Center 734-397-2442

Gift Basket ($25 Value) The Official Punxsutawney Phil’s Souvenir Shop Downtown • 814-938-7700

$20 Gift Certificate Walker Auto Parts Indiana St., Punx’y 814-938-4235

$25 Gift Certificate Pizza Hut Rt. 119, Punx’y • 814-938-2400

Lovely Gift Basket Wal-Mart Supercenter 21920 Rt. 119, Punx’y

$25 Gift Card Punxsy Hometown Pharmacy Groundhog Plaza, Punx’y 814-938-9150

$25 Gift Certificate Yoder's Furniture Paradise Road Punx’y

A true feeling of home... • new Chapel • Beautiful countryside location • Continuing Care retirement Community • Personal Care • two Dementia Care Units Private rooms/suites • adult Day Care Home Support Services

Christ The King Manor Dedicated to a Life filled with Purpose and Happiness

1100 West long ave., DuBois

814-371-3180 • www.christthekingmanor.org

Auto Home Life Business Kengersky Insurance Agency Matthew E Kengersky kengerm@nationwide.com • (814) 938-3092 52 Notary Lane, Punx’y, PA 15767

HANZELY’S nursery and Garden Center

Trees, Fruit Trees, Shrubs, Bulbs, Bagged Mulches, Garden Supplies, Silk Flowers & Much More! Rt. 119 South of DuBois

• 375-0305

Mon.-Sat. 9 to 8; Sun. Noon-5

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Carries a full line of products to meet your gift giving or personal needs.

Weekly Classes: Mon., tues., thur. 7-9 p.m. Wed. 1-3 p.m. & 7-9 p.m.

Store Hours: Mon. - thur. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. & 6-9 p.m.; Fri & Sat. 10-5 p.m.; Closed Sun. 333 W. Main St., Reynoldsville

653-2792

www.doublemceramics.com

local registered Pharmacists

Michael Horner, Kim Horner (missing from photo)

Joe Presloid & Jennifer Moore Open: Mon.- Fri 9 to 7; Sat. 9 to 2 132 West Mahoning St. Punxsutawney

938-3077

Punxsy Hometown Pharmacy Gift Shoppe at the Punxsy Plaza Yankee & Swan Creek Candles Majesty Bells Windchimes Joan Baker Designs stained glass art Candle warmers New Spring items Have Arrived!

938-9150

Large selection of gift items including

uPS Shipping Center gift cards, gift baskets & greeting cards

Gigliotti Chiropractic

invites you to attend Mayflower trunk Show! Wednesday, May 4, 2011 to Saturday, May 7, 2011 PReSeLeCt YOUR BeADS nOW!

and Naturally Healthy WE OFFEr a COmplETE sTOCk OF QualITy nuTrITIOnal supplEmEnTs • Ear CandlEs • aCaI • spIru-TEIn • TEas • FIsh OIl • BIOFrEEzE • VITamIn d • hEalThy hands & FEET CrEam • plus muCh muCh mOrE 217 W. mahoning st. punX’y

938-7851

Buy a Silver Decorative Clasp, Get Silver or Leather Bracelet FRee! Buy 3 Beads, Get the 4th Bead FRee!

Fairlady & Company 100 West Mahoning Street Punxsutawney, PA 15767

$50 off Gold or Gold/Silver Bead worth $250!

Call 814-938-1255 for more information Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127 – 17


Fresh Air Fund Looking for Punx’y Families

S

pring is here and that means summer is  just  around  the  bend.  You  can enjoy a perfect summer this year by inviting a Fresh Air child into your home. Approximately 5,000 New York City children visit host families  in  the summer. Hosting a child does not take much  —  a  little room in your heart and  home  —  the experience creates and friendship  memories that will last a lifetime. The idea  of  the  program  is  to  show the kids that there is  another  way  of life.  Many  hosts have said the experience is as enriching  for  their  own families as it is for inner-city children. The  program began  when  Rev. Williard  Parsons, in  a  small  rural  parish  in  Sherman,  PA, asked his congregation members to be hosts for children from New York City. Residents  in  and  around  Punxsutawney

area can help light up the faces of a child this summer by hosting a low-income resident of New York City. Children coming the first time are 6 to 12 years of age. Children who have visited here before can come until 18  years  of  age and  stay  longer than  two  weeks. The  children  are covered  by  medical insurance and liability  insurance.  They  also have  a  medical examination  before  leaving  new York.  The  Fresh Air  Fund  provides  transportation  to  the  area. This  summer  the children  will  be coming  to  Punxsutawney  July  5 to July 19 and to Indiana  August 10  to August  19. If  you  are  interested  in  the  program please call chairperson Celine Tersine at 814-938-8416. An application must be filled out to process hosting a child. • • •

d.e. LiMiTed FAMiLY PARTneRSHiP

We Buy old Coins, Coin Collections & Gold Jewelry

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938-0800

• DEVELOPERS AND PRODUCERS Of NATURAL GAS

Winter Hours: tuesday 12-5 449 Main St., Reynoldsville (under the Elk’s Club sign)

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328 Indiana St., Punx’y • 938-8850

Jefferson County Register & Recorder

at the proposed site for the iron works. They  met  with  a  contingent  of  citizens and  they  discussed  the  proposal.  Mr. Rodgers  found  the  friendly  attitude  of Punxsutawney’s citizens reassuring.   Mr. Brown and Mr. Kennedy visited the proposed  site  for  the  iron  works  near  the Clayville Depot.  They found it to be convenient to railroads and the mines.   The site was an old bed of the Mahoning  Creek  which  had  developed  into  a long winding swamp. It was situated between the two boroughs, Punxsutawney and Clayville.  According  to  Sydney  Smith  in  his  “I Remember” column in the Punxsutawney Spirit in May of 1953, it had once been a wild  area  filled  with  butter  nut,  water maple,  birch,  oak  and  spruce  trees  and eider bushes.  It was a rustic place where children of Punxsutawney and Clayville explored and played.  A run, or stream, which  began  at  a  spring  near  the  Jehu home meandered through a huge culvert under West Mahoning Street, into the old creek bed, and contributed to the swamp. A  dance  platform  had  been  built  there and  young  people  from  Punxsutawney, Clayville,  and  the  developing  mining communities came to dance to the music of accordion players. Today this land is the site of the Punxsy Plaza. The  company  was  concerned  that  the land was low lying and would need to be raised to keep the iron works from flooding.  Engineer Kennedy estimated that it would cost an additional $25,000 to fill in  the  site.    The  Punxsutawney  people were confident that the site could be adequately  filled.  Although  the  company did not reject the site at this meeting, the concern was noted and an inquiry about

OPEN DAILY 8-5 ~ FRI. 8-7 ~ SAT. 8-3 FISHING SUPPLIES AND LIVE BAIT OVER 100 YEARS IN BUSINESS

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(Editor’s Note: The resources used in the preparation  of  the  February  2011article, “The Early Story of Mass Transit in the Punxsutawney Area,”    were:    “Trolleys from the Mines: Street Railways of Centre, Clearfield,  Indiana  &  Jefferson  Counties Pennsylvania,”  by  Richard  C.  Albert; “Pennsylvania’s Street Railways,” by Benson W. Rohrbeck, and the local newspapers of the time period.  These are available the Punxsutawney  Memorial  Library  and  the Punxsutawney  Area  Historical  and  Genealogical Society.  Resources used in this article may also be found at these two community facilities. This article has been prepared  by  PRIDE  –  Punxsutawney Revitalization: Investing, Developing, Enhancing. PRIDE is a nonprofit organization which  brings  together  residents,  business people, community leaders and civic organizations, to improve the business districts in Punxsutawney.   PRIDE is working to develop a Coal Memorial to enhance the economy of the Punxsutawney Area. Comments on this article may be directed to PRIDE, P.O. Box 298, Punxsutawney, PA 15767) • • •

WACHOB’S

DeCKer’S COinS & JeWelry

mAHONING VALLEY mILLING COmPANY DiAne MAihle Kiehl

Iron Works Continued from page 15

the possibility of another site in the area was made. On December 24th a telegram was received by W.W. Winslow, the chairman of  the  local  committee  stating  that Rogers, Brown & Company accepted the Punxsutawney proposition, subject to a few changes of minor details.    Punx’y celebrated  with  the  blowing  of  the  fire whistle and bold headlines in the Christmas  Day  edition  of  the  Punxsutawney Spirit. The news sparked speculation that Punxsutawney was destined to become a manufacturing center with many spin-off industries. W.O. Smith wrote in his editorial, “When such men as Adrian Iselin and Rogers, Brown & Company, take an interest in Punxsutawney it augers well for her destiny.”

local registered Pharmacists

Market

Michael Horner, Kim Horner

427-4211

Joe Presloid & Jennifer Moore

(missing from photo)

100 W. Main St.• Big Run

Made-to-Order, Homemade

FRESH DOUGH PIZZA DAILY

GROCERIES LOTTERY

Open: Mon.- Fri 9 to 7; Sat. 9 to 2

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938-3077

TOnell’s JeWelry We Buy Old Gold Platinum & Silver

Your Black Hills Gold Headquarters

Brookville

849-7135

Hometown Magazine ... Online All The Time...

www.punxsutawneymagazine.com 18 – Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127


Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram are registered trademarks of Chrysler Group, LLC

Printed 04-11

Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127 – 19


On each new day, we have new chances

By Sharon Randall Scripps Howard news Service long time ago, I was friends with a young  woman  I’ll  call  Becky.  She was  18,  I  was  21.  We  had  little  in common except for the fact that we were both newly married and looking forward  to  a  lifetime  of  happily  ever  after. At 17, Becky had lost her mother to cancer.  Within  a  year,  she  was  pregnant  and married. I remember visiting her soon after her baby boy was born. She was so proud of him, so

A

in love with him, so determined to be a good mother to him, just as her mother had been to her. But  things  don’t  always  go  as  we  plan. When her marriage broke up, Becky took off, left the baby with his father’s parents. The next time I saw her, her little boy was almost 3 years old and I was nine months’ pregnant  with  my  first  child.  She  needed somewhere to stay until she could find a job and a place to live. She talked about getting her son back and making up for lost time. So for several weeks after I came home from

the hospital with my newborn, Becky slept on our couch, cooked our meals, washed our clothes and did her best to be helpful. I was sorry to see her  go,  but  I  was proud  of  her  for wanting to make a home for her child. mother What  doesn’t want that? What  mother doesn’t  dream  of the  person  her child will grow up to be, and want to give him every chance in life? Becky tried. Despite struggles in her life,  rocky  relationships  and  failed  marriages, she tried to do right by her boy. We  lived  150  miles  apart  and  saw  each other only once or twice a year. Our boys

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REGULAR Hours: Mon.-Thurs. 7 a.m. - 9:30 p.m.; Fri. 7 a.m. - 8 p.m.; Sat. 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Sun. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. 20 – Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127

played together on occasion when they were small, until they were teenagers, doing their own things. Once  when  I called, Becky said her  son  had  been arrested  on  drug charges. It was the first  of  many  arrests to follow. You  know  how some people never seem  to  catch  a break?  Ten  years ago,  Becky’s  husband — the love she spent a lifetime looking for — died suddenly of a heart attack. And her health went from bad to worse. Over time, it became harder to reach her. I didn’t call often — not nearly enough — but there was usually no answer and no machine to leave a message. I can’t remember when we last spoke. Yesterday, when I tried to call, I let it ring a long time, hoping she would answer. I wanted to tell her how truly sorry I am, how  it  broke  my  heart  to  hear  the  awful news that her son had died. I wanted to say I’ll always remember him as a sweet-natured, well-mannered, easy-tolove boy, always quick to smile. I wanted somehow, yes, to ease my guilt at not having done more, or been more in his life. But that was not to be. When  she  didn’t  answer,  I  hung  up  the phone, wrote a long note and mailed it to the last address I had for her. Today, while at the market, I struck up a conversation,  as  I  am  wont  to  do,  with  a young woman and her infant daughter. (“What’s her name?” “How much does she weigh?” “Are you getting any sleep yet?” All the usual questions.) We talked at length, trading stories, where we were from, how long we had lived here. Suddenly  I  realized  she  was  in  a  place where Becky and I had been once — young mothers with babies and no family nearby. Lucky  for  me,  unlike  Becky,  I’d  had friends I could count on. So I gave the young woman my card and told her to let me know if she ever needs a break or just wants to talk. And something in her laugh made me think she just might take me up on it. We can’t go back and correct old wrongs. We have to live with our regrets. But the great thing about today is, every day that we’re  alive,  we  get  a  new  chance  to  do something right. (Sharon Randall can be contacted at P.O. Box 777394 Henderson NV 89077 or at randallbay(at)earthlink.net.) • • •

3 re-Elect

JEff PisarCik

for JEffErson County CommissionEr • Experience • Qualified • Dedicated paid for by the candidate


Special Thank You from Run or Walk for Someone Special

Dr. Nathan C.

STEBBINS Comprehensive Eye Care E DELED OFFIC NEWLY REMEROvE OUR PATIENTS

Your Center for Quality, Advice and value

TO BETTER S

hAnzelY’S nursery and Garden Center

“A

mazing”!  That is what can be said about this year’s Run or Walk  for  Someone  Special. The past few years, the event keeps growing and growing, but this year we  had  100  more  participants  than  last year!  Over 400 people raised more than $45,000  to  help  those

within Jefferson County and the DuBois area with disabilities.   All these funds are used to provide services  at  Camp  Friendship  which  is  sponsored  by  the  Arc  of  Jefferson  County. Camp Friendship holds 2 summer camps and an Autism camp each year.  The average cost to hold these camps is $100 per

week per child.  This event makes it possible  for  the  campers  to  attend  for  free. They receive healthy meals/snack, certified teachers providing them with activities, and a time to make new friends! We  would  like  to  give  a  very  special thank you to Flatirons Development, LLC for  being  our  major sponsor!    We  would also like to thank our top money collectors; Josh  Golembiowski; $4688.00,  Michael Tattersall  $1826.66, and  Linda  Lyons $1381.00.    The  top money  collecting schools  were: SSCD;  $1654.00, Luthersburg  Elementary;  $783.75, and  Punxsutawney Area  Middle School;  $320.00. The top money collecting groups:  Wills Walkers; $4164.31, Team  Came  So  Far;  $1210.00  and  Erin Cameron’s Group Daycare; $907.31.  We also want to give a very big thank you to the businesses and people in our community  and  those  from  out  of  town  who came, donated, and supported our event! Without you;  the Run or Walk for Someone Special would not be a success. • • •

What’s more beautiful than a hanging basket for Mother’s Day?

Seasonal Bedding Plants Vegetable Plants • Herbs Expanded Line of Perennials Unique Selection of Pots & Planters 4 Miles South of Punx’y on Rt. 119

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ThAnK YOU from

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO THIS YEAR’S SPONSOR:

CHOOSE FROM THE BEST SELECTION AROUND. • • • •

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• 724-286-9722 • Mon-Fri 9-8; Sat 9-6

Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127 – 21


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22 – Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127

814.938.3111

rick@drrickbishop.com www.drrickbishop.com

Bronze in cemeteries luring new-age ‘grave robbers’

I

By Bill Straub Scripps Howard news Service

t was still warm in Milwaukee last October  when  a  young  couple  pushed  a baby carriage through quiet St. Adalbert Cemetery  in  what  appeared  to  be  a leisurely, peaceful, mid-autumn stroll. But  it  was  more  than  that.  The  couple, caught on a surveillance camera, was using the walk to steal bronze flower vases that families had attached to the crypts of their loved ones — vases that go from $120 to $200. The baby stroller was used to conceal the stolen items —  seven  vases  in  all.  The cameras were in place as a security measure as a result of  similar,  earlier  thefts numbering more than 100 at St. Adelbert and Mt. Olivet Cemetery on the city’s south side. Authorities  surmised  the bronze items — made of an alloy  that  contains  copper, which is commanding astronomical prices these days — were sold as scrap. That  incident  was  part  of  a  nationwide spate of cemetery heists now unfolding, as crooks make off with bronze headstones, pry bronze plaques off the graves of veterans,  yank  up  decorative  bronze  urns  and even steal half-ton bronze sculptures and heavy bronze doors from crypts. According  to  local  news  accounts,  in March alone, a man was charged with stealing 158 cemetery vases in High Point, N.C., worth  a  total  of  $30,000;  a  cemetery  in Nashville, Tenn., lost 140 vases to thieves; and in Washington, two sculptures — one weighing 800 pounds — with a total value of  $250,0000  were  stolen  from  historic Rock Creek Cemetery. Centuries ago cemeteries often were popular sites for thievery, although it was more of the grave robbing sort as physicians and others — think “Frankenstein’’ — sought fresh bodies for experimentation. These days the honored dead remain generally undisturbed but items adorning their burial plots are illicitly removed and often sold to recyclers or fenced. Copper theft has long proved to be a lucrative profession for crooks, particularly when the price is elevated as it is now. Scrap copper is going for about $4.50 a pound and scroungers will go to great lengths to grab and fence it. Decorative pots at gravesides are an easy target. Bryan Jacobs, executive director of the Coalition Against Copper Theft, based in Washington, said cemeteries provide easy access, open spaces and limited security beyond simple fencing. “They  can  get  in  and  out  of  cemeteries very easily,’’ Jacobs said. “This has been a problem for four or five years. These guys will get copper from anywhere they can. It’s absolutely appalling.’’ Robert Fells, executive director of the In-

ternational Cemetery, Crematory and Funeral Association in Sterling, Va., said the bronze vases and urns, often used to hold flowers, are a regular target because they are easily moved. Last  February,  for  instance,  police  in Robertsdale, Ala., arrested a brother and sister team and charged them with stealing almost  200  bronze  cemetery  vases.  Police said the pair acted indiscriminately, removing the pots from the plots of children, veterans  and  a  former  city police chief. The value of the vases  was  placed  at  $300 each. “There’s  a  rash  of  these things  that  come  and  go  in different  areas,’’  Fells  said. “It’s  an  on-again,  off-again kind of thing. I don’t know what triggers it. From time to time cemeteries try to police their grounds because these things  usually  occur  after dark.’ Ruthie Shapleigh Brown of the Connecticut Gravestone Network  noted  that  the bronze vases aren’t the only items that turn up missing. “With such profit to be had, is it a wonder that our cemeteries are such vulnerable targets?’’  she  said.  “How  many  cemeteries have you been to where you’ve seen large portions of iron gates and fences — maybe up to 80 percent - already missing? Statuary urns, lambs and angels are disappearing at alarming rates and being purchased by garden lovers, unaware that this old statue probably came from someone’s gravesite.’’ Anything  containing  the  precious  metal appears ripe for the picking. In Brookline, MA, last September, two bronze plaques, valued at $1,200 and $1,075, disappeared and were assumed stolen. The plaques were big and heavy — one measured two feet by eight inches while the other was 18 inches — and bore the names of families buried on the grounds, one dating as far back as 1899. Jacobs, of the anti-copper theft coalition, said the cemetery thefts “are as low as these guys get’’ but asserted that the problem is “much wider and deeper’’ than graveyard pillaging and it appears to be growing. Efforts are underway to eradicate the problem. “One reason the situation is not as bad as it was in 2008 - the last time copper prices jumped — is because a lot more states have done really good work at putting some basic laws on the books that we think are deterring the crime,’’ Jacobs said. About  30  states  now  have  some  sort  of copper theft law, Jacobs said. “Even some of the most basic ones that just make the scrap yard ask for identification for material, that is the primary deterrent,’’ he said. The coalition is hoping for federal legislation to set minimal requirements for scrap yards dealing in copper and other precious metals. (Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com) • • •


Lyme disease is more prevalent, due to better reporting, diagnosis By Pohla Smith Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

I

n  retrospect,  Jennifer  Mankoff,  now 37,  believes  she  was  infected  with Lyme  disease  either  during  a  trip  to Ligonier, Pa., in 2005 or while hiking in Frick Park in Pittsburgh in the fall of 2 0 0 6 . She  got  a  rash,  one  whose  cause  was never  diagnosed,  after  the  Ligonier  trip, and she actually picked a tick off her leg after the hike in Frick Park. Either way, the Shadyside, Pa., woman, an associate professor in Carnegie Mellon University’s Human-Computer Interaction Institute, got sick later in 2006. She’s not exactly sure when the symptoms started, but she was so ill that she had friends come stay  with  her  when  her  husband  had  to travel in December. Lyme disease is caused by a bacteria carried by ticks most commonly referred to as deer  ticks,  although  entomologists  now identify them as blacklegged ticks. They have been infected as larvae and nymphs, which  feed  on  birds  or  small  mammals. Adult ticks prefer deer. Any stage can feed on humans, potentially passing on the disease. It is the most common tick-borne illness in North America and Europe, and, says Lyme disease researcher Andrew J. Nowalk  of  Children’s  Hospital  of  Pittsburgh, it is a “devastating disease for patients who have it.” The infection, once located primarily in New  England  and  the  mid-Atlantic  and north-central states, is moving westward through Pennsylvania. In 2009, according to a state-by-state report  issued  by  the  Centers  for  Disease Control and Prevention, Pennsylvania had 4,950 confirmed cases plus 772 probable ones. That’s up from 3,985 cases in 2004. But  those  numbers  are  deceptive,  say both Stephen Ostroff, director of the Pennsylvania Bureau of Epidemiology and acting  state  physician  general,  and  Kevin Griffith, medical epidemiologist officer in the CDC’s Division of Vector-Borne Diseases. There are several reasons for the statistics besides a simple spread of the Lyme bacteria. They include a change in the CDC reporting  procedure  that  has  led  to  increased  surveillance,  Griffith  said;  what Ostroff calls “a greater recognition and appreciation” that has led to more testing and identification of Lyme; and an increase of people  moving  into  previously  wooded, high-risk areas. The CDC also has recently changed the definition of a positive Western blot, the test used to confirm the presence of Lyme antibodies in the blood, which also could lead to more reported cases. Nevertheless, Ostroff sees a geographic spread of the Lyme bacteria. “When you look at it nationally, the numbers are increasing, and we also see ... a westward movement,” he said. Similarly,  Nowalk  cites  both  greater awareness  of  Lyme  and  a  spread  of  the

Lyme bacteria as reasons for an increase of two to three times the number of cases — he estimates a total of 60 or 70 — seen by Children’s Hospital last year. He also said experts believe the “true number” of Lyme cases is two to three times greater than that reported. Symptoms  of  Lyme  disease  can  range from  a  rash  that  looks  like  a  bull’s-eye (erythema migrans) to flu-like complaints to  nervous  system  problems  like  facial paralysis and cardiac ailments like heart block, as well as arthritis. If diagnosed early, the disease is easily cured with antibiotics. “The later the diagnosis, the longer the duration of antibiotics you’ll need,” said Nowalk, a specialist in pediatric infectious diseases  and  assistant  professor  of  pediatrics at Children’s and the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. How long a duration is a matter of some controversy that can be traced to the fact that some symptoms can linger for a very, very long time. “There can be a lot of damage or symptoms that can last months or even years,” Nowalk said. Some  doctors  believe  those  lingering symptoms mean the treatable form of the disease has developed into an untreatable autoimmune disorder they call post-Lyme disease syndrome. Other physicians and groups call the lingering ailment chronic Lyme disease, and some of them advocate very long and varied courses of antibiotics. In some cases, insurance companies have denied coverage of that treatment. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention  recommend  two,  two-  to  fourweek  courses  of  antibiotics,  citing  three federally  funded  studies  that  showed longer courses were not beneficial and had been linked to serious complications. Most of the doctors contacted for this article said they use the CDC guidelines. (Contact Pohla Smith at psmith@postgazette.com. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.) • • •

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Roethlisberger talks wedding plans, media scrutiny By Ed Bouchette Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

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www.punxsutawneymagazine.com 24 – Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127

vided an NFL lockout of the players is lifted by  then),  Roethlisberger  and  Harlan  will marry. “I think a small part of her is hoping we hold out for a week so we can honeymoon,” Roethlisberger said Wednesday. “I told her I was laughing with coach (Mike) Tomlin; he said ‘You guys might have to have the honeymoon suite at Saint Vincent.’” The 29-year-old quarterback spoke for the first time publicly since Super Bowl XLV during  an  interview  with  the  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.  He  confirmed  for  the  first time the news that broke of his engagement to Harlan over Christmas and talked about his future wife and their summer wedding plans. “I was surprised at how much media attention it was getting — it’s just an engagement. I never expected it to be on the front pages of all the papers and websites. There was speculation what our invitations would look  like  and  who  is  coming!  It  almost seemed surreal, it was like a movie or something, it was weird.” Some of those stories detailed a “wedding” gift registry at various department stores, which in reality was a registry for Harlan’s bridal shower. Because of the publicity, she has received packages from unknown people who have bought gifts for a shower they will not attend. “We’ve gotten a lot of gifts from people we don’t know,” Roethlisberger said. They expect more than 500 people at the wedding that will be in the Pittsburgh area. The guest list includes all of his teammates along  with  coaches  and  team  executives. They’re still looking for somewhere to hold the reception after trying to rent the Consol Energy Center, which is booked for a World Wrestling Entertainment show. Guests will be asked not to bring gifts but make donations  to  Roethlisberger’s  foundation.  He will  give  any  gifts  to  Ronald  McDonald House and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. “I don’t know if it’s ever been done before, but it’s something I wanted to do and she’s on board. We’re just hoping that people who come to the wedding give a dollar or a thousand dollars or whatever it is, and at the end

we’ll  put  it  all  together  and  write  a  big check  to  Ronald  McDonald  House  and Children’s  Hospital  and  put  everyone’s name who donated.” It may be a relatively short engagement but the relationship was much longer in the making. After finishing practice in August 2005, Roethlisberger walked through part of the Saint Vincent campus, ran into a fan and started talking to him. The guy had a sister, Ashley Harlan. “We were kind of on and off for five years — almost six years now — so I’ve known her for a while. It’s not like a random new person. We dated awhile ago; we have been friends ever since.” Roethlisberger said he was determined to not only change his image but also change his ways since he was publicly humiliated — but never charged — after a female college student claimed he sexually assaulted her in a Georgia bar 13 months ago. Players say he has become a better teammate and friend, and many from the media covering him  to  those  working  in  the  front  office have noticed a change in attitude. He has stayed  out  of  the  limelight,  intentionally, and avoided talking even after news of his engagement first leaked in January. Some of the reaction to his engagement coming so soon after his personal problems last year was met with skepticism. “People  will  always  have  opinions  of everybody and me, and that’s fine, they’re entitled,” Roethlisberger said. “But people who know her, know me, know us ... it’s funny because I’ve even had lot of fan mail through my website and stuff; people will write in and say — even before any word came  out  about  an  engagement  —  ‘Ben, you  look  like  something’s  different  with you. You look like a happier person, you play happy, you smile more on the field.’ Part of that is because I’m a happier person, I’m in a happy place, but a lot of that has to do with her, too. “People  can  say  that  it  is  whatever,  but people  who  know  and  can  see  and  are around  us  and  know  me,  know  that  it’s something special when you find that person, and I’m extremely lucky.” Harlan, a physician’s assistant who turns 27 in July, lives at home with her parents. Roethlisberger cited the couple’s religious faith and beliefs as the reasons for not living together until marriage. He also hopes she can continue to live her life out of the spotlight. “I try to protect her as much as I can. People (in the media) have gone to her parents’ house  and  have  been  doing  some  things. That bothers me a little bit because it’s what I do for a living, I have to deal with it, but her  parents  and  her,  that’s  not  what  they have to do. I understand it’s going to happen a little bit, but I’m still going to try to be very protective of the people I love — my family, my sister, my aunts, uncles, grandparents and now her. I try to be very protective of them because I don’t want her to have to be scrutinized over every little thing she does.” (Contact Ed Bouchette at ebouchette@post-gazette.com. Follow him on Twitter@EdBouchette. Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.) • • •


The rules of hunting, d.e. LiMiTed FAMiLY PARTneRSHiP ethics of a ‘free chase’ DEVELOPERS AND

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By Terry Tomalin St. Petersburg Times

y 9-year-old son loves the opening  scene  in  the  movie  “The Last of the Mohicans.� In case you  haven’t  seen  it,  the  film adaptation of James Fenimore Cooper’s novel begins with three hunters running through the woods. Chingachgook,  a  Mohican  chief,  his heir, Uncas, and his adopted “white� son, Hawkeye,  chase  an  elk  through  the woods. Hawkeye fires his long rifle and the  animal  stumbles  down  an  embankment. The three men kneel, in thanks and prayer, by the dying elk’s side.

“We  are  sorry  to  kill  you,  Brother,� Chingachgook  says.  “We  do  honor  to your courage and speed, your strength.� My boy had probably watched that sequence a dozen times before he finally got the nerve to ask me to take him hunting. I agreed, but told him I had a rule: “You shoot it, you eat it.� Knowing that spring turkey season was nearing, I logged on to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s website  and  looked  for  the  nearest hunter-education class. Florida law requires anyone born after June 1, 1975, 16 years or older, to pass a FWC  hunter-safety  course  before  they

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can purchase a hunting license. The law allows a youth to hunt with a licensed adult for up to a year on a trial basis, but sooner or later they must take and pass the class. The course, which is designed for 12year-olds  and  older,  takes  two  days  to complete. I took it 20 years ago, but decided to retake it with my son, thinking that when it comes to firearm safety you can never have too much training. I was prepared for a certain amount of backlash from friends and family who do not  understand  why  I  would  want  to catch or kill my dinner. “If you are hungry,� my wife told me, “go to Publix.� As my hunting-safety instructors would  later explain,  my son  and  I  are in  the  minority. Roughly  5 percent of the population  is hunters. Roughly  5 percent of the population  is against  hunting.  (These are  the  folks who  are going  to email  the newspaper and complain that I let my son watch the previously mentioned elk-hunting scene again and again.) The remainder, roughly 90 percent of the  population,  doesn’t  hunt,  but  those folks also don’t actively oppose hunting. That is why it is critical that the next generation of hunters, boys and girls my son’s age, learn the finer points of being a  responsible  hunter.  The  first  things young hunters learn are ethics, conservation  and  respect  for  both  land  and property. They’re also introduced to more complex  issues,  such  as  the  rules  of  “fair

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Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127 – 25


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hometown@mail.com 26 – Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127

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ewly  discovered  jailhouse  notes written by assassin James Earl Ray seem to underscore an old question — did Ray get paid for the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.? An  Oct.  18,  1968,  report  by  deputies monitoring Ray at the Shelby County Jail discusses a single sheet of notepaper that Ray wrote on and then tossed in the trash. “There are several interesting statements on this paper, one in particular which mentions $10,000 and promises,” says the report by cellblock supervisor B.J. Smith. The report says the notes were turned over to prosecutors. A copy of the notes, attached to the report, suggests they may be related to Ray’s infamous  “20,000  Words,”  an  inventive alibi he wrote for his lawyers and sold to author William Bradford Huie. The notes mention  Huie  along  with  elements  of Ray’s alibi. The key passage that piqued jailers’ interest says, “I got a murder charge instead of  10,000  for  listening  to  promises.  No more fool pants.” Re-examining King’s murder in 1977-79, a congressional committee found that Ray shot King, and that “his predominant motive  lay  in  an  expectation  of  monetary gain.” James  Beasley,  85,  one  of  the  original Ray prosecutors, said he doesn’t recall the sheet of notes. However, he said that at the time  he  and  fellow  prosecutor  Robert Dwyer, now deceased, weren’t focused on a conspiracy but on preparation for trial. Beasley said he cannot dismiss the pay-

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off theory, believing Ray fled to Portugal hoping  to  catch  a  ship  to  the  white-supremacist nation of Rhodesia in Africa. “Our whole idea was he wanted to be Mr. Big Man,” Beasley said. “And I really believe if he would have got to Rhodesia, beyond extradition, he would have written his memoirs.” (Marc Perrusquia is a reporter for The Commercial Appeal in Memphis, Tenn.) • • •

‘free chase’ Continued from page 25

chase,” a concept that had been around since  the  Middle  Ages.  Even  then, hunters  understood  that  there  must  be balance in the pursuit of game. In the late 1800s, the Boone and Crockett Club, founded by Teddy Roosevelt, established the “Fair Chase Principle,” which, according to the club’s website, “... is the ethical, sportsmanlike and lawful  pursuit  and  taking  of  free-ranging wild game animals in a manner that does not give the hunter an improper or unfair advantage over the animal.” My  son  and  I  have  since  had  many  a long  and  spirited  discussion  over  the concept of fair chase, and what it means to be an ethical hunter. We  both  agree  that  three  guys  armed with  flintlocks  chasing  a  large  animal through  the  woods  equals  fair  chase. More often than not, the elk gets away. Occasionally, the hunter’s shot flies true and the whole village eats for a week. We also agree that there is nothing fair about  a  “hunter”  with  a  high-powered rifle hanging out of the window of an airplane taking shots at wolves. Unless, of course,  the  plane  banks  unexpectedly, the  hunter  falls  out,  lands  in  the  snow and finds himself face-to-face with some angry canines. Then it’s game on. However, all this talk about “chasing” could be a moot point. Turkey hunting, you see, doesn’t involve much moving around. Successful turkey hunters can sit for  hours  in  a  blind  just  hoping  that  a gobbler  will  come  wandering  by  their hiding place. Turkey hunting takes patience. And that is one thing you cannot learn in class. (St. Petersburg Times fitness/outdoors editor Terry Tomalin can be reached at tomalin@sptimes.com.) (Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service www.scrippsnews.com) • • •

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Eastern cougar formally declared extint

By Morgan Simms Scripps Howard News Service or decades, many have believed the eastern cougar to be extinct. Now, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has made it official. During a recent study, the agency found no evidence to support the existence of the  eastern  cougar,  a  subspecies  that once roamed from Maine to Georgia and parts  of  the  Midwest.  As  a  result,  the agency  will  recommend  the  eastern

F

cougar be removed from the endangered species  list,  where  it  has  been  listed since 1973. The decision does not affect the status of  the  Florida  panther,  another  subspecies of cougar that’s listed as endangered. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted  the  status  review  as  required under the Endangered Species Act. Leading the investigation was biologist Mark McCollough,  who  spent  the  last  five years  combing  through  historical records, scientific reports and reported sightings to piece together the story of the eastern cougar’s demise over the past 200 years. “I took the job thinking it would be relatively simple and straightforward,” McCollough said. “Little did I know what I was getting into.” Fish and Wildlife received almost 600 responses in answer to a request for scientific information on the subspecies. Of the 21 states included in the review, none expressed  the  belief  that  the  eastern cougar still exists. Scientists attribute the eastern cougar’s downfall in the late 1800s to the decline of  whitetailed  deer  —  one  of  their  favorite  prey  items  —  as  well  as  bounty hunting.

The last report of a cougar killed in the Smoky Mountains was in the winter of 1920 when a farmer named Tom Sparks was attacked by a cougar while herding sheep. Sparks fought odd the cougar with a knife, and several months later, when a cougar  was  found,  a  deep  cut  was  appeared on the animal’s shoulder blade. Some  believe  the  eastern  cougar  may have held on until the 1930s in remote areas  like  the  Smokies  and  parts  of northern New England. Yet even today, sightings  of these  large cats persist. In its review, the  U.S.  Fish and  Wildlife Service  concludes  that most  of  these sightings  are of  captive cougars  that have  escaped or  been  released  in  the wild.  The  report says people  typically are seeing the South  American  cougar,  a subspecies that’s  preferred in the pet trade, or wild cougars from the western U.S. that have migrated eastward into parts of the Midwest that were  once  part  of  the  eastern  cougar’s range. Sifting  through  all  of  the  records  of cougar sightings in the eastern U.S. since 1900,  McCollough  came  up  with  110 cases that were well documented by evidence such as photographs or tracks. In cases where DNA testing was done on an actual carcass, the animal often proved to  be  the  South  American  subspecies, McCollough said. “You are what you eat,” he said. “With isotope  techniques,  we  can  determine whether an animal was raised on whitetailed deer or cat chow.” Biologists  say  that  in  recent  decades wild  western  cougars  have  established breeding populations in North and South Dakota, and that these animals now are migrating  farther  east  into  states  like Minnesota and Wisconsin. Pete Wyatt, regional wildlife program manager for the Tennessee Wildlife Resources  Agency,  said  he  believes  it’s only a matter of time until wild western cougars find their way into Tennessee. “The  prey  base  is  out  there,”  Wyatt said.  “There  are  plenty  of  whitetailed deer, and we have large, unfragmented

tracts of land where they could repopulate.” Down  through  the  years,  people  have used the 800-square-mile Great Smoky Mountains  National  Park  as  an  illegal dumping ground for all manner of exotic pets  —  everything  from  monkeys  to emus. Last year the park had seven reports of cougar sightings — the average

annual number, according to park officials. The park maintains that these sightings come from released pets and are not the result of a wild, self-sustaining population. (Morgan Simmons is a reporter for The Knoxville News Sentinel in Tennessee.) • • •

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Printed 04-11

Hometown Magazine ... Online All The Time...

www.punxsutawneymagazine.com Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127 – 27


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Isn’t that what neighbors are for? By Sharon Randall Scripps Howard News Service hen the doorbell rang, I almost didn’t answer it. It was early (for us nocturnal types) and I looked bad. I don’t mean a little bad. I mean seriously, plug-ugly bad. I hadn’t showered, dressed  or  put  on  any  makeup  and  my hair looked like a wig for Edward Scissorhands’ grandmother. But I was expecting a delivery I didn’t want to miss. So I took a swig of coffee, pulled  on  ratty  sweats  and  ran  to  open the door. It  was  my  neighbor,  Brett.  I  didn’t know that until he told me. He said his name and I blinked a few times until he pointed to the house across the street and I remembered. Four years ago, when my husband and I moved here, Brett was the only soul on the block who welcomed us to the neighborhood.  In  time,  we’d  meet  others  on the street or over the fence, but he was the  only  one  who  came  to  our  door  to offer a neighborly hand. Isn’t that what neighbors are for? Brett scored big with me for that. He told me that he and his wife had bought the place across from us as a second home, but seldom got to use it. She was suffering from Alzheimer’s, he said, so they spent most of their time at their home in Arizona. I wanted to hear more of his story and hoped  for  a  chance  to  talk  again.  At times,  I’d  see  a  car  in  the  driveway  or lights that suggested someone was home. But  four  years  passed  and  I  never  saw him again until today. Four years is a long time. Given how I looked,  I’m  sure  he  thought  I’d  aged considerably. “I  want  to  thank  you,”  he  said,  “for watching out for my house.” When I shook my head, he grinned and said his nephew had told him what I’d done. Oh, that. One evening, I spotted a truck in Brett’s driveway. Someone who was not  Brett  was  cleaning  out  his  garage. Without giving it much thought, I stuck my  head  out  the  door  and  yelled, “Hello?”

W

Turns out it was Brett’s nephew, who swore to me he was acting with permission. I’m not sure what I’d have done if he had said, “Actually, I’m robbing this guy blind, and when I finish with him, you’re next.” I  grinned  back  at  Brett.  “It  was  nothing,” I said. “Isn’t that what neighbors are for?” I was about to ask about his wife, when he  told  me  she  had  passed  away  some months ago. “Oh,” I said, “I’m so sorry.” “She was ill for 10 years,” he said, “so I had plenty of time to grieve. I still miss her, but it’s not like a sudden loss.” I nodded.  “My  first  husband  died  of  cancer.  He was ill for four years,” I said. “Grieving is hard. But it’s easier in some ways than living in dread.” We talked for a while, saying more with our  eyes  than  with  our  words,  the  way people do when they share in common something sacred. He’s  in  town  for  only  a  few  days,  he said, but plans to be back soon and stay longer. I hope we have a chance to talk again. He can tell me his story and I’ll tell him mine.  I’d  like  to  share  with  him,  if  he wants to hear it, the advice a friend once gave to me: “The challenge for you now, having lost your loved one, is to live a life that is honoring to his memory, but at the same time, that life moves forward so that  only  one  person  has  died  and  not two.” Those words, for me, have been a life raft.  Maybe  he  will  find  them  helpful, too.  Maybe  we  can  be,  not  just  neighbors, but friends. Maybe his nephew will help me clean my garage. “Next time you’re here,” I said, “we’ll have you over for dinner.” “You don’t need to do that.” “I know,” I said, laughing, as I hugged him goodbye, “but it would be our pleasure.” And isn’t that what neighbors are for? (Sharon Randall can be contacted at P.O. Box 777394, Henderson NV 89077 or at www.sharonrandall.com.) • • •

R.D. Brown Memorials 314 N. Findley Street • Punxsutawney • 938-2100

We have a full line of monuments, decorative stones, benches and more!

28 – Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127


Homefix: A mysterious roof leak By Dwight Barnett Scripps Howard News Service

Q:

I  have  a  two-story  home  with an attached garage, and where the garage roof meets the second-story wall of the house I've had a persistent roof leak that no  one  seems  to  be  able  to  solve.  The home  is  brick  with  vinyl  siding  on  the second story. The leak occurs down low where  the  siding  meets  the  brick.  Have you heard of this before and do you have any  idea  who I  could  call for  my  problem? A:  Anytime there's  a change in elevation  of  a roof or a penetration of the roof, with examples  being a  chimney,  a plumbing vent,  a  roof vent or a skylight,  the  potential for a leak is high. To prevent leaks, flashings are installed to direct water away from the penetration or away from the vertical wall and back onto  the  roof  shingles.  When  you  have vinyl siding resting on a roof, the bottom trim that installers use is called a J-channel. When water runs down the siding, it collects inside the J-channel and can get in behind the siding and the flashing and drip down onto the ceiling below. The solution is to put half-inch notches in the J-channel about every 3 to 4 feet to allow the water to drain rather than to collect in the J-channel. The same problem can occur at the edge of the siding where

a vertical outside corner rests on the roof. It, too, needs to be notched at the bottom so water doesn't collect in the cavities of the outside corner. And finally, kick-out flashing needs to be installed at the bottom of the roof next to  the  vertical  outside  corner  to  direct water  away  from  the  wall  and  into  the gutter. A qualified roofer should be able to solve this problem. Anyone  simply  wanting  to  caulk  the joint  between  the  J-channel  and  roof  is looking for an easy  way  out and,  in  the long term, this will not solve your problem. In  extreme c i r c u m stances,  it may be necessary  to  remove portions of  the  siding and  the  shingles  and  install a product called Ice and Water Shield. It is a rubber-based self-adhesive  material  that  forms  a  watertight barrier between the wall and joint. Once it's installed, you reapply the shingles and siding and you should never have to worry about a water leak in that area again. (Dwight Barnett is a certified master inspector with the American Society of Home Inspectors. Write to him with home-improvement questions at C. Dwight Barnett, Evansville Courier & Press, P.O. Box 286, Evansville, Ind. 47702 or e-mail him at d.Barnett@insightbb.com) • • •

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Printed 04-11

Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127 – 29


HAPPy MOTHER’S dAy

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Take Rt. 36 North of Punx’y 11 miles, at Stanton Dynamics take a left & go 2 miles. on the Pansy-Ringgold Road

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(Editor’s Note: ‘From Our Past,’ researched by S. Thomas Curry, features items of interest from past editions of Punxsutawney and area newspapers.) April 3, 1889 — Covode has four blacksmiths, one shoemaker, one harnessmaker, one  wagonmaker  and  several  carpenters and  they  all  seem  to  have  plenty  to  do. Covode also has four school teachers, three of whom have finished their winter terms and  the  other  has  a  few  weeks  to  teach yet.  (Punxsutawney News) April 13, 1911 — Mrs. Jas. S. Gray, has quite fully recovered from what was believed to be cancer of the face.  From the left side there have been twelve of these tumors taken and the wound is now healed. She is rejoicing accordingly.  They were removed  by  plaster  and  not  by  the knife. (Big Run Tribune) April 20, 1904 — The Captain Hastings dwelling which was torn down recently, on West Mahoning Street, was one of the first frame buildings erected in Punxsutawney, but  one  dwelling,  that  now  occupied  by Mrs. Mary Monks, of Union Street, antedating its construction.   According to the statements of the oldest residents of the town the house was built

in 1844, by whom, it is not known.  After being disabled in the War in 1862 Captain Hastings returned home and during his stay remodeled the building which remained as he had constructed it until it was recently torn down.  (Punxsutawney Spirit) [Note: The mansion of Davis Goheen was built on the lot. The house is where Jesse DeChurch’s Salon is now located.] April 22, 1896 —  Henry  Wingert,  of Marchand, is having built at Sutter Bros. wagon shop in Clayville the first wide-tired wagon that will be seen in this community, and will receive the reduction in road taxes allowed by law to all those using such wagons.  The tires will be four inches wide. Mr. Wingert says he is going to set the example for  his  neighbors  to  make  better roads. (Punxsutawney Spirit) April 28, 1870 — A NEW DEVICE  for swindling the unwary has lately been put in operation  with  considerable  success.    It consists of a circular announcing that the party addressed has been awarded one hundred and sixty (160) acres of land as heir to a deceased soldier, and requesting that $30 be forwarded to the writer for expenses of sale and transmission of the proceeds.  It is a “sell.” (Punxsutawney Plaindealer) • • •

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938-2555 (general) or 938-5536 (genealogy) 30 – Punxsutawney Hometown – May 2011 - Issue #127

Workers at nordstrom Brick Works Established in 1864 by O.H. Nordstrom, an early settler in the Punxsutawney Area, the Nordstrom Brick Works produced bricks for many buildings in town. In 1897, Mr. Nordstrom purchased an Eagle re-press from the American Clay Working Machinery Company, Bucyrun, Ohio and began to manufacture vitrified paving brick. This machine enabled the production of 10 to 28 thousand bricks per day. Nordstrom bricks were used for paving the streets in Punxsutawney. After Mr. Nordstrom’s death in 1909, his son-in-law, S. Charles McQuown, operated the company until it was closed. (Photograph courtesy of the Punxsutawney Historical and Genealogical Society.)


Marriage is about love, but divorce is about money

By Tim Grant Pittsburgh Post-Gazette lthough love is said to be the most important part of a successful marriage, money is often a leading cause of divorce. “The time to talk about money is not after you walk down the aisle and say, ‘I do,’” said Linda Descano, president and CEO of Women and Co. in New York. “It should become part of the conversation as soon as you realize you are in a serious relationship. “When you talk about money, it can be an emotionally charged subject,” she said. “The emotions are not about money, but what it represents  —  security,  independence  and quality of life.” Family law attorney Karen Ackerman said she is often surprised by the number of people who have no idea how much debt their partners have. “There are people who don’t even know how much their spouse makes because their checks  are  not  deposited  into  a  joint  account,” said Ackerman, a sole practitioner in Pittsburgh. “They don’t know how much iss available  to  their  families  or  where  it’s going.” While researching his book, “Money and Marriage: A Complete Guide For Engaged and Newly Married Couples,” Matt Bell interviewed several divorce attorneys who told him that when marriages are on the rocks, couples are usually living separate financial lives. “One  person  will  take  the  couple  to  the edge of a financial cliff by racking up a lot of debt,” he said. “By the time the other finds out, there’s a lot of debt, and all respect and trust is lost as well.” Recently married himself, financial adviser Anthony Criscuolo of Palisade Hudson Financial Group in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., is convinced that full financial disclosure is the most important policy future married couples can have toward each other. “The biggest mistake newlyweds can make is avoiding the money conversation completely,” he said. “Money issues will come up ... so by avoiding the money conversation, your marriage is essentially starting off against the odds.” Couples should tell each other before the wedding  about  all  debt  obligations  rather than waiting until the bills start coming in. Each person should make a list of all student loans, car loans, credit card debt and even personal loans that he or she has received from  family  and  friends,  said  Bill  Hardekopf,  CEO  of  LowCards.com,  an  online consumer resource for comparing card rates. “Get copies of credit reports to verify all open  accounts,”  Hardekopf  said.  “One  or both of you may enter the partnership with debt, but debt payments drain away money you could be saving to help reach financial goals. “If either partner has problems with credit, your rental or mortgage application may be denied, or you may have to pay more money on loans with higher rates.” Combining  finances  is  no  simple  matter when people marry. They may be just starting out in their careers and making a low income, or it may be a second marriage and one partner may owe

A

child  support  and  alimony  to  a  former spouse. Will you have one bank account for all income and expenses, or will you start with three accounts — his, hers and ours? Financial planners say a joint account is easier to manage  and  will  prevent  some  disagreements  over  dividing  bills,  but  decisions should be shared. “Money affects every decision you make as a couple,” said Scott Palmer, co-author of “First Comes Love Then Comes Money: A

Couple’s Guide to Financial Communication,”  which  he  wrote  with  his  wife, Bethany. “Money will affect the grade of gasoline you put in your cars, even the brand of cereal you eat. There’s a financial component in every decision.” (Email reporter Tim Grant at tgrant(at)postgazette.com.) (Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.) • • •

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J. KIPP LUKEHART JEFFREY LUNDY JAY P.LUNDY Punxsutawney • Phone: (814) 938-8110 email: lukehartandlundy@comcast.net

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