OCTOBER 2014 | ISSN 2330-6629
LAUREL MOUNTAIN
FREE
POST
An anniversary is a time to celebrate the joys of today, the memories of yesterday, and the hopes of tomorrow ... 1 - LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST, September 2013
October 10, 11 & 12, 2014 – Ligonier, Pennsylvania
Schedule of Events Friday, October 10 9:00 AM 9:00 AM 9:00 AM 10:00 AM NOON 12:30-3:30 PM 1:00-2:30 PM 3:00-4:30 PM 5:00-6:30 PM 6:00 PM 6:00-7:30 PM
Community Food Booths open Craft Booths open at all locations Fort Ligonier Museum and Gift Shop opens Ligonier Merchant Sidewalk Sales begin OFFICIAL OPENING CEREMONY on the Diamond, Col. Henry Bouquet Col. Henry Bouquet at Ft. Ligonier Silver Sky - Oldies, Bandstand The Abilene Band - Country/Rock, Bandstand Ole 97 Band - Johnny Cash Tribute, Bandstand Craft Booths Close The Vogues - Classic Hits, E.Main Street Stage
Saturday, October 11 9:00 AM 9:00 AM 9:00 AM
10:00 AM 11:00 AM 1:30 PM 2:00 PM 2:00-3:30 PM 3:30 PM 4:00 PM 4:00-6:00 PM 6:00 PM 6:30-8:30 PM 8:15 PM 8:30 PM
Community Food Booths open Craft Booths open at all locations Fort Ligonier & Museum Store Open Encampment, Living History Demonstrations Throughout the Day Ligonier Merchant Sidewalk Sales begin COMMUNITY PARADE East and West Main Streets Artillery Demonstration - Ft. Ligonier Reenactment: 1758 Battle of Ft. Ligonier Full Kilt - Folk Music, Bandstand Artillery demonstration at Ft. Ligonier Reenactment: 1758 Battle of Ft. Ligonier John McDonald Band Country, Bandstand Craft Booths Close Jimmy Beaumont & The Skyliners Classic Hits, E. Main St. Stage Forces of Fort Ligonier Parade Fireworks - following parade
2 - October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years!
Sunday, October 12 8:00 AM 8:30 AM 10:00 AM
10:30 AM 10:30 AM 10:30 AM 12:30-2:00 PM 1:00 PM 1:30 PM 3:00 PM 2:30-4:30 PM 3:30 PM 5:00 PM 5:00 PM 5:30 PM
Kid’s Fun Mile - Ligonier Valley High School 5K Run/Walk - Ligonier Valley High School Fort Ligonier & Museum Store Open Encampment, Living History Demonstrations Throughout the Day Community Food Booths open Craft Booths open at all locations Ligonier Merchant Sidewalk Sales begin Ragged & Wrong - Country/Rock, Bandstand Artillery demonstration at Ft. Ligonier Reenactment: 1758 Battle of Ft. Ligonier Artillery demonstration at Ft. Ligonier Flood City Brass - Rock, Bandstand Reenactment: 1758 Battle of Ft. Ligonier Craft and Food Booths Close CLOSING CEREMONIES Carillon Concert from Calvary United Methodist Church. Shirley Benner at the Keyboard
FREE SHUTTLE BUS SERVICE will be provided from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM Friday and Saturday and from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM Sunday picking up from the parking lot at Ligonier Valley High School on Springer Road and the Laurel Valley Golf Club lots on Route 711 South. The handicap equipped shuttle service will also be available. CRAFT LOOP SHUTTLE BUS service will run among the craft display areas from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM Friday and Saturday and from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM Sunday. See map inside program for bus stops. A REMINDER – We all love dogs, but due to local ordinances, NO dogs (pets) and no backpacks are permitted in the festival areas.
JOIN US FOR FORT LIGONIER DAYS 2015 OCTOBER 9, 10, & 11
LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST
LAUREL MOUNTAIN
POST
Proudly serving the Laurel Area Valleys and Highlands of Westmoreland County since 2004.
The Laurel Mountain Post is an independent, monthly publication produced at Fairview Farm in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. All material printed herein is subject to copyright and permission to reproduce in any format must be obtained in writing from the publisher. This publication is registered with the US Library of Congress, ISSN 2330-6629.
Cathi Gerhard, Editor & Publisher editor@laurelmountainpost.com
Joe Walko, Managing Editor joe@laurelmountainpost.com
Megan Fuller, Web & Calendar Editor megan@laurelmountainpost.com
Nancy A. Clark, Contributing Editor nancy@laurelmountainpost.com
Gregory Susa, Co-Publisher & Circulation Manager Carol Gerhard, Copy Editor Publisher cannot and does not guarantee the accuracy of the matter represented in the advertisements herein published. Please contact the advertiser to verify details.
Phone: 724-537-6845 Fax: 724-558-9548
Laurel Mountain Post 189 Fairview Lane Derry, PA 15627
www.LaurelMountainPost.com
“Quest for the Best” Best Lunch in Ligonier
CONNECTIONS CAFE 109 South Market Street in Ligonier 724-238-9611 M-F, 9-5; Sat, 11-3; Closed Sunday
Ft. Ligonier Days: Grilled Pizza All Weekend! Healthy Salads • Homemade Soups Grilled Cheese Sandwiches • Desserts
Fair Trade Gifts from Around the World Every Story Begins At Home.
The Joys of Today, The Memories of Yesterday, and The Hopes of Tomorrow It is hard to believe that ten years have passed since Briana Dwire and I walked the streets of Ligonier during Fort Days, handing out the very first issue of the Laurel Mountain Post. We used tabloid-sized newsprint back then, and only featured a few pages of color. Today, the Post is printed in full-color on glossy magazine stock – and later this month, we are launching a brand new interactive website to keep pace with a growing digital audience and marketplace (see story on page 5). We have also partnered with the revitalized Greater Latrobe-Laurel Valley Community Chamber of Commerce to become one of the centerpieces of their new Visitor and Information Center, opening later this fall (beneath Sharkey’s on Route 30). So many readers comment on how valuable the LMP is to their daily lives: they use the The first issue of the Laurel community calendar to find Mountain Post – Fall 2004. leisure activities, scan the ads from cover to cover looking for retail and business recommendations, and read our inspiring, original stories every month. Some people turn to Ruthie’s Memory Lane column right away, re-living their youth and laughing out loud with her nostaligic stories. Others look to see what The Ligonier Chef recommends – restaurants and recipes full of local flavor. And our advice columnists are all real experts living and working right here in the community. I never imagined the impact my little magazine would have as it was realized and continues to evolve, reaching the valleys on both sides of Chestnut Ridge and the Laurel Mountains, which are always in view. I am proud of how far the LMP has come – on roads both rocky and smooth– and continuously grateful to everyone who played a part in our successes so far, no matter how small. Because of you, I get to do my favorite things each month – reading, writing, editing, creating and imagining – then put it all together just before press time. As always, we welcome your comments and suggestions. Please write to us, on paper or electronically. Like us on Facebook, Follow us on Twitter, and most importantly, bookmark our new website and sign up for updates as we add new material throughout each week. Printed editions can sometimes be limited, so consider purchasing a subscription to guranteee you never miss one - or give as a gift to an out of town friend or relative who likes to keep in touch! I’m looking forward to all the stories yet to be told and shared, hopefully for another 10 or even 20 years, at least! – Cathi Gerhard October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 3
Table of Contents
October 2014 5
How Do You Tell A Story in 2014? by Joe Walko
6
24 A Few of Our Favorite Covers Celebrating 10 Years of Great Storytelling
Images of America: Mount Pleasant Borough by Friends of the Mount Pleasant Public Library
7
LVW Flash Fiction Winners
9
Gem Theatre
26 For the Taste of It “Down on the Farm” by Gregory Susa & Cathi Gerhard
28 Post-Revolutionary Years in SW Penna. 2014 St. Clair Lecture
“Memory Lane” by Ruthie Richardson
13 Don’t Be A BUTT–Put it Out! by Hayley Chemski Horwat
16 Confusing Fall Warblers “Off Trail” by Joe Walko
30 Fix It Up “Home Study” by Brian Mishler 33 Mutual UFO Network Announces Fall UFO-Creature Conference 36 Journaling and Thomas Merton “That’s What The Say” by Rev. Marjorie Rivera
18 Ethanol Debate by Earth Talk 20 Send in the Clown by Nancy A. Clark 22 “I Have Always Loved the Stories” an interview with former LMP founder, Briana Tomack
23 Casting the Iron Garden
Advertising Deadline for November: October 20 Call the Laurel Mountain Post Editorial Office at 724-537-6845 or visit www.LaurelMountainPost.com for complete information.
37 Cucumber Falls, October 2014 by Mary Fowler
39 Oct-Nov Community Calendar 46 End Notes by Cathi Gerhard
Psychic Medium Rev. Marjorie Rivera Pittsburgh’s Premiere Psychic & Party Reader 412-884-7788 • pittsburghmedium.com My mission is to prove the continuity of life past the transition we call death.
Print subscriptions are available for $30/year for 12 issues ($2.50 each), and will arrive via 1st Class US Mail. To order, please complete and return this form with payment: NAME: ____________________________________________________ ADDRESS: __________________________________________________ CITY: _____________________________________________________ STATE: ___________________ ZIP: _____________________________ EMAIL: ___________________________________________________ Laurel Mountain Post Print Subscriptions 189 Fairview Lane • Derry, PA 15627 Secure Online Ordering in Our Web Store: www.LaurelMountainPost.com
4 - October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years!
Where did you pick up this copy of the magazine? ________________________ Your subscription will start with the next issue following receipt of this order form. We only use your information to contact you regarding the Laurel Mountain Post. It will NOT be shared with outside parties or added to any other list. September 2014
LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST
How Do You Tell a Story in 2014? by Joe Walko Ten yeas ago, the Laurel Mountain Post started telling your stories. Back then, we sat down with you, put pen to paper, wrote or typed it up, sent it to press, put it on your newsstand, and you picked it up and read it like a book. We still do that. We still believe there is a place, a valuable place, for print and magazines and something you can pick up and touch and share over dinner and pass on to your friends. We always hope to have a hard copy of your story in front of you, in high gloss full color, just like life. But nowadays, the medium is changing – fast. The internet and email and texting and smart phones have revolutionized how we communicate, and how we tell our stories. The town crier and coconut telegraph is being replaced by email chains and facebook comments, vines and twitter feeds. Jeez, sometimes that seems a bit incomplete, like we are missing part of the story trying to cram it into 140 characters. It’s like running into a long lost friend as they are boarding a plane, not having the time to really talk, only get the headlines and a few pictures. But that doesn’t mean that these new electronic means of communicating don’t have their place, too. Indeed, the ability to quickly share your story around the world is revolutionary, and the opportunity to reach an entire new audience, or remain connected with friends who have moved away is exciting, too. So we dismiss these new tools at our peril, too. So what to do? The world of technology changes blazingly fast, while the world of print Every Story Begins At Home.
tries to keep up. At the LMP, we are going to continue with our bedrock and backbone of a “real” print magazine, but we are also going to embrace the new platforms that allow us to reach out in new ways and grow our audience. Our first step is the launching of our new and improved website.
www.laurelmountainpost.com
Check it out. Click around, read your favorite columnist or author online, share it with a friend, find the dream home you are looking for in real estate advertisements, then share it on your phone with your spouse at work. Pin or tweet something from LMP, share it on facebook, or use one of our stunning photographs as your wallpaper. New features include scrolling headlines and feature articles, lots of great pictures, a page for each of your favorite topics, and all your favorite social media links, shares and tweet features. Search for back articles from your favorite LMP conributors, share them with your family and friends, and find links to the products and services you need by simply following the links. Get in and click around! There is no right or wrong way to communicate. Because one thing has not changed – the desire to share our stories. Whether it is in print or in con-
versation around a campfire, we all just simply want to be heard. And today, there are more ways than ever to be heard. There’s no right or wrong way, just a whole bunch of new ways. Some of these new ways will stick around; some will go quickly by the wayside. Maybe our new website will be perfect, maybe we will need to replace it in two years (let’s hope not!) or maybe it will be replaced by a new platform not even envisioned yet. But our stories - and the need to tell them - will remain. I am sharing one of my stories on a new blog, another child of technology sharing tools (get the link at the new LMP website). Our story and my blog was picked up by the Huffington Post, and viewed by thousands of people from around the world. I hope it provides inspiration and support to others, and I hope we find advice and support from people who have been through our challenges. That’s why we share stories; we just have a much bigger tribe nowadays. I’ve quoted Reynolds Price before, but it bears repeating: “The need to tell ours stories is essential to the human species – second in necessity after nourishment and before love and shelter. Millions survive without love or a home, almost none survive silence.” Stories transform our common sufferings, too. “What transforms the merely sad into something saving is…the telling of the story. It’s what makes us human. Everybody was put here to do this,” says James Carroll. Added Isak Dineson:“All suffering is bearable if it is seen as part of a story.” continued on page 19
October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 5
New Photographic History of Mount Pleasant Borough Mount Pleasant is a small borough in the Laurel Highlands of Westmoreland County with an immeasurable history. Originally a Native American trail, Main Street was settled in 1770 and used by Gen. Edward Braddock in 1755 on his journey to his 16th encampment. In 1793, Michael Smith erected the first house, and opened the first tavern in 1798 on Glades Road. Located along a bustling route between east and west, the log tavern was full of notorious customers, and the lawless town – known for its whiskey production and distribution – was soon known as “Helltown.” Generations have lived here since the town was incorporated in 1828. Many immigrants from Poland, Italy, Germany, and Ireland came here to work in the coal, coke, and glass industries, which were growing quickly and spurring successful businesses. The coke works of Henry Clay Frick was established in 1881. Bryce Brothers Glass began in 1896 and became well known for blown stemware and tableware. L.E. Smith Glass Company manufactured handmade American pressed glass in various colors and styles beginning in 1907. The success of these industries led to the Glass Festival, held annually in September. Today, in the center of town is Diamond Memorial Square, the quintessential symbol of Mount Pleasant, where the World War I doughboy was erected in 1924. Mount Pleasant Borough, Westmoreland County shares photographs and stories that illustrate the strong community ties of the area. Highlights of this new book include: • Pictured on the cover, the Mount Pleasant public swimming pool, 19101920, is now a residential development. • One of the town’s oldest living citizens, Anne Karaffa, class of 1931, is now 102. The book includes a photo of her attending her Ramsay High School Class reunion (page 119). 6 - October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years!
• Profits from the sale of this book will support the local library and its programs. Author Bio: Inherently interested in history and literacy, the authors gathered material from the community. Photographs were obtained from a diverse group of collectors. The Images of America series celebrates the history of neighborhoods, towns and cities across the country. Using archival photographs, each title presents the distinctive stories from the past that shape the character of the community today. Arcadia is proud to play a part in the preservation of local heritage, making history available to all.
MOUNT PLEASANT BOROUGH, WESTMORELAND COUNTY Author(s): Friends of the Mount Pleasant Public Library ISBN: 9781467122191 # of Pages: 128 Publisher: Arcadia Publishing On Sale Date: 10/20/2014 Binding: Softcover # of Images: 200 Black and White Available at area bookstores, independent and online retailers or through Arcadia Publishing.com (888)-313-2665.
LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST
Ligonier Valley Writers to PerformWinning Flash Fiction Stories Ligonier Valley Writers' tenth annual Flash Fiction Contest yielded stories that will scare and amuse Halloween celebrants. Once again, we received entries from around the world. LVW is pleased to announce the winners: First Place "A Beer for Mike O'Shay" by Jim Busch Second Place "A Scary Place" by April Serock Third Place "Who's Doing the Booing?" by Cindy Bartolotta
On the Diamond
ANTIQUES Multi-Dealer Shop
110 East Main Street Ligonier, PA 15658 (724) 238-2226
This advertisement sponsored by Antiques On the Diamond in Ligonier.
SPOOKY HOOT– Saturday, October 18: 11 am - 4 pm Spooky surprises await those who explore our former stagecoach stop. Dress up and trick-or-treat during this fun family event. You may meet a creepy cook, an unlucky blacksmith and other ghostly characters along the way. Price: $9 adult, ($8 senior 62+), ($6 student 10-17),(8 yrs. of age and under free.
Honorable Mentions (in alphabetical order): "Headstones" by Chester Gracchi. "A Bridge to the Past" by Candace Kubinec. "Dead Zone" by Alicia Stankay.
1382 Route 30, Laughlintown 3 miles east of Ligonier
724-238-4983
www.compassinn.com
Winning Stories Will Be Read Aloud October 18 You are cordially invited to attend a reading of the winning entries at Ligonier Tavern on Saturday, October 18, beginning at 7:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Some of the winning authors will be present to read their stories. The others will be read by experienced performers. Come if you dare to the haunted third floor of Ligonier Tavern. This year’s topic is spooky, creepy, and weird places, so who knows? The Tavern’s ghost may belly up to the bar and join us for a few chills and thrills. Don't miss a single pounding heartbeat. As an added treat, published LVW authors will have their books on hand for perusal, purchase, and signing. The Ligonier Tavern is located at 137 West Main Street in Ligonier. If you desire dinner before the readings, call (724) 238-7788 for reservations. Keep an eye on Ligonier Valley Writers’ website, www.LVWonline.org, where the six winning entries will be published soon. Up Next for Ligonier Valley Writers
Mary Jo Culbertson Proprietor (724) 238-0497
Ligonier Valley Historical Society
Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. – Les Brown
Second Chapter Books New and Used Books • Children’s Gifts Jewelry • Greeting Cards • Neat Stuff 139 East Main Street Ligonier, PA 15658
724-238-7933 fb.com/secondchapterbooks
• November 9, 3:00 to 5:00pm: Karen Dietrich will present a talk on how to get an agent and submit your writing to literary magazines. St. Michael's of the Valley Church in Rector. • December 7, 3:00 to 5:00 pm: LVW Christmas party, potluck and readings. St. Michael's of the Valley Church in Rector. http://www.prittylilockets.origamiowl.com/parties/LaurelMountainPost452499 Ligonier Valley Writers has been serving writers and readers throughout western Pennsylvania since 1986. For more about LVW events, publications, and writing contests, visit www.LVWonline.org
Every Story Begins At Home.
A percentage of all sales will support the Laurel Mountain Post nonprofit advertising fund!
October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 7
Jo Vernon
Westmoreland Financial Services of Pennsylvania Inc. Phone: 724-995-8297
Email: jvernon@westmorelandfinancial.com
Licensed by the Department of Banking, NMLS 136138
8 - October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years!
LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST
MEMORY LANE by Ruthie Richardson
Gem Theatre Ten years ago, at age 56, I discovered a talent I never knew I had – the ability to tell a story and put it on paper. While talking to Briana and Cathi about the creation of their new venture, The Laurel Mountain Post, I made the suggestion that I thought folks would love to read about the old time Derry, the one people of a ‘certain age’ remembered so fondly. Briana laughed and said, “Ruthie, why don’t YOU do it?” At first I just giggled at the idea. I had never written anything in my life. But Briana convinced me to give it a try, and the Memory Lane column was born. It took me two agonizing months to come up with 800 words for my first story. I thought that on this special anniversary of the magazine, it would be fun to go back to that topic and see what else I can add to those memories. Let’s call it a toast to my first creative endeavor, and a ‘chapter two’ of my Gem Theater story. Thank you, Briana and Cathi, because without you, I never would have known the joy of writing, of re-calling those blissful days of my childhood and hearing how much they also mean to so many other folks. It is still a delightful surprise to me every time someone stops me and says, ‘Ruthie, you lived my exact life. Thank you for bringing back those long forgotten days and reminding us of how it used to be.’ Believe me, it has been my pleasure.
***** Ah, the entertainment industry. It has the magical ability to educate, to touch our hearts, to make us think, to laugh, and to cry. It decides what is ‘cool’, who is the next heartthrob, and what issues should be at the forefront of society. I remember a time when those responsibilities were taken very seriously. I also remember when my middle school daughter, Nicole, stomped her foot and tearfully questioned why she was not allowed to see the movie “Porky’s.” She even employed the everfamous line “All of my friends are allowed to go!” And then she demanded to know how old I was before I was alEvery Story Begins At Home.
lowed to see an R-rated movie. I laughed and informed her there were no R- rated movies when I was her age: everything was rated G. And that got me to thinking how much the movie industry, and life in general, has changed.
boot camp? Here’s an idea for those ‘comedy geniuses’ – try to complete a sentence and be funny without profanity. The Smothers Brothers did it brilliantly, and so did Don Rickles and Rowen and Martin, and countless others. Then there are the controversial political ‘docudramas’ that love to pit us against each other even more than we already are, and stir the pot. None Of These Things Entertain Me! Where is Doris Day? Can no one be the new John Wayne? I long for the days when the controversy rating of any movie was found in the Catholic Accent. While not a Catholic myself, my best friend, Kathy Maus, was. Every Friday she and I would scan the Latrobe Bulletin for what was playing at Derry’s Gem Theater, and Mrs. Maus would scan the Catholic Accent for the movie ratings. My friend, David Seremet, reminded me of the categories: 1 - Morally Unobjectionable, 2 -Morally Objectionable for some, 3 - Morally Objectionable for all, and, lastly, the granddaddy of all ratings – CONDEMNED. Which I guess meant that’s what we would be if our eyes were to gaze upon such filth! My mom always deferred to Mrs. Mr. Piper on the right in the projection room. It must have been his day off, no necktie!! Maus’ judgment regarding what And on the left is the projectionist, Mike Pakarene, I think ... was fit for our innocent little souls since our church, the EUB church in West Derry, didn’t have a movie While trying to find a movie for ratings system. I am sure the Gem Doug and me to see on a recent evenTheater never showed a movie that ing, I looked online to see what was would get a black mark from the playing. Another Disney cartoon saga Catholic Accent, but in those days, our – what are we, 10 years old? Next parents couldn’t be too careful. Lucky selection looked like blood and guts, for us, The Gem only offered wholesin violent graphic detail – isn’t real life ome, family viewing. If it had been sometimes scary enough? How about a comedy that probably has more fourcontinued on page 10 letter words than you would hear in October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 9
continued from page 9
otherwise, I’m sure St. Joe’s top gun, Father Hungerman, would have marched down South Ligonier Street himself, followed by a procession of frowning Italian nuns to knock some heads together and dole out some penance. Not to fear, Fred Piper was very careful about what was shown on his screen. The one scandalous movie my friends and I had heard about was “Blue Denim.” We had read about it in Modern Screen magazine. It starred Carol Lynley and Brandon De Wilde who got into some sort of mysterious and horrible trouble. We never really knew what kind of trouble it was, and we would certainly never find out at our local movie house. That movie was banned! Mr. Piper was also very watchful concerning our behavior while we were guests in his theater. Derry was such a small town, and since most of us were in school with Mr. Piper’s kids, he knew who we were. And he would personally reprimand us, loudly and by name, during the movie, for acting in an inappropriate fashion. Sometimes this reprimand was accompanied by the bright beam of his ever-present flashlight, illuminating the guilty face for all to see, with the reminder that any one of us could be next, so pipe down or hit the bricks! Or the even worse fate, his threat to tell our parents! Saturday afternoon was the best. 25 cents bought you 52 cartoons in a row. Since the T.V. cartoons ended at noon, and no one I knew was allowed to sit in front of the television all afternoon anyway, this was the place
My favorites!
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to be. When you added in Dots, JujuBees, and those warm cardboard boxes of freshly popped corn, it was a blissful way to spend a Saturday. Some ornery kid (probably my husband) discovered that if the candy boxes were flattened they made perfect projectiles to spin toward the screen, an act that would command the wrath of Mr. Piper and assure that you would be removed from the premises (probably by the scruff of your neck). I can still see Mr. Piper standing at the back of the theater in a suit, tie, and freshly starched shirt with his arms crossed. He would scan his adolescent audience for the errant little troublemakers, his famous flashlight in hand, ready to call them out. And woe the precocious 12-year-old in the back row who tried to steal a kiss in the dark. That light could forever scar a young man who dared to make such a bold move. And adding to his mortification
Scrunch down, you might be able to get the 12 and under discount price!
was the chorus of giggles coming from the little faces staring back over their seats as they witnessed his humiliation. Saturday nights were much more ap-propriate for this sort of thing. That was when the balcony was open. Once you bought your tickets at the box office you had to go back outside to the stairway leading to the balcony, since there was no access from inside the theater. This setting was the ‘first date’ destination for many a Derry teen. First loves were discovered here– and first kisses, too. I recall the ticket price being 35 cents if you were under 12 and 50 cents if you 13 and older. I can still picture some of us scrunching down as we approached the ticket booth to try and pass as a younger kid, which would leave us with an extra, whopping 15
The out of town kids had to take the Chestnut Ridge bus to the Gem!
cents! Betty Kondrich was the ticket seller and would sometimes give us a break. Not to worry, though, Betty knew that all the money in our pockets would be spent before we headed home, if not on our tickets, then surely at the concession stand where Mr. Piper’s daughter, Eileen, waited patiently for us to make our selections. The rest rooms at the theater were just inside the doors to the left. I remember descending the stairs to the ladies room. Red naugahyde seating and a big mirror greeted you in the ‘powder’ room. My girlfriends and I would meet there to fix our hair, touch up our lipstick and giggle and laugh. The walls were adorned with posters advertising the coming attractions. What I would give for a few of those posters today. I wonder if any of them managed to survive? Those Piper girls could have supplemented their retirement on eBay had they saved a few of those! At the top of the ladies room steps, beside the boy’s bathroom was a little white porcelain drinking fountain. This is where I would quench my thirst since I had spent all of my money on candy. If you remembered ahead of time, you could buy a bottle of Pepsi or Yoo-hoo from Sophie Vitale’s store, just down the street on First Avenue and sneak it in under your coat. What a lovely sound the bottle would make after you finished it and rolled it down the slanted wooden floor toward the screen. The bonus was, no one could tell who sent it rolling down, so your risk of getting caught was quite small. We had our shocked and innocent look down pat! In addition, the loss of the 2-cent deposit was a small price to pay for the amusement of our peers. We also learned very early on to never LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST
touch the bottom of the seats. The amount of gum stuck under there could have paved South Chestnut Street the whole way down to the tracks. I remember, like it was yesterday, watching movies in that old theater. Some of the most memorable for me were Troy Donohue in ‘A Summer Place’. I also loved the original ‘Gidget’, starring Sandra Dee and James Darren. And I remember a movie starring Dick Clark, our favorite from American Bandstand. It was called ‘Because They’re Young,’ and he played the high school principal. But those teenage epochs aren’t what I remember most. Love and romance was all well and good, but what we really wanted back in those days, was to have the bejeebers scared out of us. And The Gem Theater was famous (at least in my mind) for that. I remember shrieking in fright at ‘The Blob’, featuring a very young Steve McQueen. And I remember Vincent Price in the ‘Tingler.’ We all were just positive that the monster was lurking in the aisles of our very own theater in Derry, or, worse yet, under OUR seats! We screamed out our terror because our screams were the only thing that
would save us, Vincent Price told us so. As wonderfully scary and bloodcurdling as those selections were, our biggest thrill came in 1960 when we found out that the most hi tech, space Every Story Begins At Home.
age film ever was going to be playing in our town. The posters of coming attractions in the theater lobby, and the billboard at the bottom of the bridge told us that we, too, would be in on the latest movie-going technology – 3D, and we couldn’t wait. The movie was ’13 Ghosts.’ My biggest fear was waiting in line to buy my ticket and worrying that by the time I got to the front of the line they would run out of 3D glasses. I was not dis-appointed when I took my seat and perched my very own white cardboard glasses on my nose. I looked around the theater and was quite amused by the appearance of all my Derry pals. We each had one red eye, one blue eye, and the accompanying look of abject terror on each adolescent face. As far as we were concerned, the subsequent spec-
tacle was a masterpiece of filmmaking. I don’t remember a single actor in that movie, or one detail of the plot. Was there even a plot?? But that didn’t matter. The effect was complete heartstopping, fright-inducing joy. It was everything we had hoped, and more. A triumph, which in our minds was sure to win every category at the Oscars! I long for the simplicity, the camaraderie, and the simple pleasures of a 50’s childhood. Derry was much like the fictional Mayberry, and all of us who gathered there, in that wonderful dark old theater on an autumn Saturday afternoon will smile as we recall those wonderfully innocent days. The Gem Theater, at least the one I remember so fondly, has long since gone the way of most small town continued on page 19
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12 - October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years!
LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST
Don’t Be A BUTT–Put It Out! by Hayley Chemski-Horwat, MSN, CNRA As a Nurse Anesthetist I find one of the most self-destructive behaviors my patients take part in is smoking. In the realm of anesthesia smoking poses many untoward risks that are not faced by nonsmokers. Also as a fitness trainer and gym co-owner smoking leads the list as one of the biggest contributors to an unhealthy lifestyle. In fact, cigarette smoking is the number one cause of preventable disease and death worldwide! Yes, it is true, smoking will slowly kill you and also those breathing second-hand smoke nearby. Although terribly difficult to quit, evidence proves that smoking cessation can save your life. Cigarette smoke contains over 7,000 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer, it is also a known contributor to nearly 90% of lung cancer deaths. Smoking eventually leads to the diagnosis of COPD (emphysema and chronic bronchitis) which can be miserable and extremely limiting. Sure, cigarettes were “cool” during those influential teenage years; among adults who have ever smoked, 70% started before the age of 18 with another 16% beginning before 21 years of age. That said, less than 2 out of 10 long-term smokers chose to start during adulthood. Does maturity or ongoing education play a role in this trend? Many Americans wonder why cigarettes are legal if they are so deadly. The United States government has a strong vested interest in tobacco production and sales. In recent years, federal excise tax has been increased on packs of cigarettes to $1.01/pack to pay for unrelated federal programs. But, the government does acknowledge one fact — the evidence is profound that nicotine is deadly. The chemicals in cigarettes slowly kill the entire body. Aside from lung cancer and COPD, smokers are at an increased risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, vascular abnormalities, and other diseases. Nicotine is the ingredient in cigarettes that causes addiction and any lifelong smoker will tell you that aside from the behavior of smoking, the substances in the cigarettes place a lock hold on the body. Cessation can prove to be a monumental task. Counseling and medications such as nicotine gum/patches, Zyban, and Chantix are now marketed for smoking cessation. Morever, companies sell “smokeless cigarettes” to aide in the behavioral modifications needed to quit entirely. For smokers that quit “cold turkey” this is what is to be expected ...within 1 day of quitting blood pressure, pulse rate, and the temperature of hands and feet are normalized, nicotine levels drop nearly 94%, and body oxygen levels improve. Anxiety and irritability peak within 1-2 days and last as long as 2 weeks post-cessation. Damaged nerve endings regrow and the sense of smell and taste improve within 2 days. Cravings decrease to 3 times/day over the course of a few weeks. At that point in time most behavioral responses to addiction start to subside, withdrawal lessens, and the body’s physiological “normal” begins to return. Breathing improves, energy levels increase, heart function returns to normal levels and the body rejoices! Finally, the risks of diabetes, stroke, heart attack and lung disease begin to decrease over the next 3-20 years. Smoking is an ill habit that many have suffered with for ages. Today may be the time to consider changing your life habits and create a happier and healthier you. Smoking cessation will save your life. SOURCES: • Wikipedia, “Cigarette Taxes in the United States.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette taxes in the United States. • “Why I Quit Smoking.” http://whyquit.com/joel/ntap.pdf.
Join me for
“Open Your Heart – Become Love” ***** Hayley is a Certified Fitness Trainer and the co-owner of Building Bodeez Fitness Center, located at 154 Pandora Rd in Derry, PA, as well as a full-time Nurse Anesthetist with the University of Pittsburgh Physicians, currently based at St. Margaret’s Hospital in Fox Chapel, PA. Hayley offers a wealth of fitness and health knowledge, serving as the Group Fitness Coordinator and Wellness Programs Director at Building Bodeez. She has developed several programs at Building Bodeez including initiation of the first ZUMBA classes in the area, as well as AerobaDANCE and Yogilates (her unique creations), and the wildly successful Building Better Bodeez weight loss intensive program. Building Bodeez is located at 154 Pandora Road in Derry Township. 724-739-0105. www.building bodeez.net.
Saturday, November 8: 10 am - noon 3E Learning Center in North Huntingdon $30 - please register in advance • • • •
discover your soul’s voice cleanse your soul/nourish your spirit clear the blocks/open your heart tune into your soul/find your passion
Private individual sessions available after event
Building Strength • Building Community • Building Bodeez Every Story Begins At Home.
October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 13
Indiana Office: 724-349-8500 957 Philadelphia St. Indiana, PA 15701
New Alexandria Office: 724-668-5080 412 W. Main St. New Alexandia, PA 15670
Blairsville Office: 724-459-9200 213 E. Market St. Blairsville, PA 15717
New Florence Office: 724-235-3062 213 Ligonier St. New Florence, PA 15944
Blairsville
#1022045 – Country living near Routes 22 and 119, this lovely home offers kitchen w/granite counters/ appliances,beautiful oak woodwork. French doors to 15'x31' covered Vermont slate patio. Heated 5 car garage; Professionally landscaped. Blacktopped circular driveway. Survey in office. 3.4 acres. Offered at $299,900
Indiana
#994532– 4 bedroom, 3.5 bath brick home in Brookwood Estates. Home features, living room, dining room, family room, sun room and a finished basement. Laundry is located on main floor and home also includes a large mud room. Enjoy the warmth of the 2 fireplaces, sit on the deck or relax on the back porch. Offered at $275,000
Blairsville
#1027319 – Elegant home offers vaulted ceiling in living room and gas log fireplace. Custom white kitchen with island, electric cooktop, wall oven, pantry, breakfast area,and French doors to large covered patio. First floor master, bath has jet tub, shower, vanity, walk in closet. First floor laundry. Huge family room. Attached garage. Lots of great landscaping. Offered at $235,000
Armagh
#1011621 – Quiet country living close to Rt 22! Lovely perennials. Open living room and dining room, new maple laminate floor,sliding door from dining room to enclosed side deck. Updated bath. Huge family room with wall of storage,double deck, 6' fence enclosed yard,brick patio, large pavilion with lighting, swing set, nice shed, grape arbor, fruit trees,extra lot. 3 acres mowed. Offered at $175,000
Fairfield Township
#1010823 – Country living with privacy and peace, beautiful views and magnificent view of stars and constellations, olde farmhouse with greatroom addition, open kitchen,dr,lr, finished apartment downstairs, generator, well and spring water, 4 outbuildings, Amish cook stove, gas rights negotiable, agent owned.Bring your horses, fenced in pasture...home warranty. Offered at $299,000
Derry Township
#1011943 – Country Living! Farmette property with almost 6 acres and no zoning. Features 3 bedrooms, 3 full baths, w/ updated kitchen. Hot tub room, pool, barn, garage outbuilding. Lots of room and storage - must see!! Offered at $254,900
Fairfield Township
#1003746 – Brick farmhouse on 18 acres, with barn. Excellent views, detached pole building for garage or horses.# bedrooms on Main floor, nice location in country. Pasture is sloping and gas rights not included in the sale. Offered at $199,900
Loyalhanna
#1029570 – 1.5 story brick home w/ 4 bedrooms, 2 full baths. Gas fireplace, hardwood floors, finished basement. Walk-in closet. 2-car garage, 12x16 shed. Enclosed rear porch and deck. Living room hutch included. Offered at $159,900
Penn Run
#1014231 – Beautiful 2 bedroom log cedar home, Located on a 12.92 +- acre lot surrounded by woods. Included is a two car garage with bonus room above. Plenty of space outside to entertain friends and family. Near Yellow Creek State Park. Offered at $289,000
Blairsville
#1011285 – Beautiful 3 bedroom 2.5 bath ranch w/stone fireplace, oak kitchen and trim thru out. Inviting deck & pool with shed & playgym. Move-in ready.Huge finished lower level w/bar & plenty of storage. Complete with 2 car garage, on a double lot in the Walnut Hills area of Blairsville. Easy access to Rt. 22. Offered at $239,900
Brush Valley
#1028218 – Enjoy the view of this 2 bedroom, 1 3/4 bath ranch home situation on 4.05 +/- acres. Potential for 3 bedrooms. Home also includes a deck overlooking a nicely landscaped yard. Use the barn for extra storage. Located close to Yellowcreek Park for all your outside adventures. Offered at $185,000
Salem Township
#1025635 – Move-in condition, full basement. Master w/ full bath and garden tub. Fenced rear yard, oversized det garage w/ storage. New windows, newer roof, provate. New furnace, updated electric. Small barn. Must-see property! Offered at $159,900
www.HewittRealEstate.net 14 - October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years!
LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST
Indiana Office: 724-349-8500 957 Philadelphia St. Indiana, PA 15701
New Alexandria Office: 724-668-5080 412 W. Main St. New Alexandia, PA 15670
Blairsville Office: 724-459-9200 213 E. Market St. Blairsville, PA 15717
New Florence Office: 724-235-3062 213 Ligonier St. New Florence, PA 15944
Blairsville
#1004806 – Beautiful all brick ranch. Move in ready.First floor laundry and sunny family room. Lovely landscaped yard with privacy fence. Huge oversized 2 bay garage with attic storage above. Offered at $149,500
Blairsville
#1003880 – Immaculate 2-story features large living and dining room with burled wood style paneling, sunny kitchen w/appliances, nice kitchen eating area, and newer first floor bathroom with ceramic tile and skylight. Three bedrooms on second floor. Huge clean basement with additional bath and shower, plenty of storage also. New roof and furnace. 2- car garage and carport. Offered at $114,000
Blairsville
#1008461 – Remodeled 3-unit near downtown Blairsville features new windows,insulation, drywall, kitchens, lighting, flooring, doors, water tanks and more. Two units currently rented. Third and largest unit just completed to rent for $550. Tenants pay some utilities. Offered at $105,000
Blairsville
#984494 – Cozy all brick two bedroom home offering newer windows, roof '04, furnace'12, nice cozy kitchen w/appliances, family room addition, full basement and one car integral garage. Basement, storage room and garage painted '13. There is a covered front and back porch and nice rear yard. Shed included. Offered at $74,900
Blacklick
#1008231 – Inviting and cozy this updated ranch features new windows,plastered walls, George Bush kitchen with Corian counters, updated bathroom,knotty pine paneled family room w/wood burning fireplace, plenty of storage in basement w/workbench and cabinets,new electric panel. Near RT 119 & 22. Offered at $136,900
Blairsville
#983841– Come home to this spacious cape code in Blairsville. Relax in the large living while you enjoy the warmth of the gas fireplace or cozy up in the sunroom. Looking to entertain, the dining room has enough room for friends and family. You'll be pleasantly surprised by the closet sizes in this house. Offered at $110,000
Blairsville
#1019621– This well maintained duplex features 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, eat-in kitchen, dining and living room. Relaxing front porches, off street parking and good rental history are all included with this property. Each side has 1190 sq.ft. Offered at $99,900
Homer City
#988383 – Lots of bedrooms in this two story home along Route 119 in Center Twp. Homer City Schools. Newer furnace. Possible investment property. Offered at $74,900
Blairsville
#1029343 – All brick 3 BR ranch home close to schools and shopping. Plastered walls, Gorell windows,eat in kitchen, hardwoods. Central air, oil forced air heat, nice basement, 4 garage spaces, nice coated driveway and outdoor parking as well. Offered at $115,000
Derry
#1012354 – Beautiful corner lot home ,With original wood working detail. Remodeled Kit & Bath. Back yard fenced in and porch replaced with maintenance free deck boards So much has been done - move in ready home waiting for your family. Offered at $105,000
Derry
#1015636 – Gorgeous home with 3 bedrooms, full bath on each floor. Large living, dining, kitchen. Full walk-up attic used as private bedroom! Tastefully decorated and painted. Nice private back yard with newer fence and landscaping. Move right in! Offered at $89,900
Blacklick
#1026828 – 3 bedroom ranch with country kitchen and large living room. Property includes 2 parcels with 1 car garage. Offered at $74,500
www.HewittRealEstate.net Every Story Begins At Home.
October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 15
OFF TRAIL by Joe Walko
“The birds are molting. If only man could molt also – his mind once a year its errors, his heart once a year its useless passions.” – James Allen
Confusing Fall Warblers The sun wakes me after a rare restful night’s sleep, the promise of a new day, a new beginning. It looks like the perfect autumn day, the burgeoning light filtering through the red, orange and yellow hued leaves. From my bedroom window, looking down on the dogwoods loaded with blue berries and the cherry trees at eye level dripping with their purple ripe fruit and the white barked birches hanging low with catkins, I realize there is a massive wave of migrating birds moving through my backyard nature preserve. Without even leaving my deck, the list of warbler species is impressive – black-throated blue, black-throated green, bay breasted, Cape May, palm, yellow-rumped, chestnut-sided, American redstart, with a few ruby-crowned kinglets and goldfinches thrown in, and hundreds of elegant cedar waxwings plucking cherries from the tops of the trees. Most of the birds are just passing through, on migration to warmer climes in the southern latitudes, some going as far as central and South America. “Our” summer birds – the neo-tropical warblers and tanagers and orioles, all just here to take advantage of summers’ bounty – are leaving. Most have probably flown all night, and are just stopping now, to refuel, perhaps rest a bit before pushing on again tonight. I am glad they have found a safe haven full of energy rich food for their stopover in my backyard, the culmination of over a decades’ worth of landscaping and planting and just letting these acres return to a natural state. The dividends are being paid now. I need these dividends now. My life is in a huge state of flux, too – a new career, soon a new family and a new house. Nothing is guaranteed, certainly not success in any of these areas, and my destinations and directions are vague and often muddy at 16 - October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years!
times. I have been struggling lately with this, with the fear of the unknown, with the constant uncertainty of journey, because I have always had a safety net with a good paying job, no matter how miserable it was. But I have new destinations in mind, beautiful destinations; I can clearly see them, where the fruits of my labors and dreams pay off, where a house becomes a home, and a family whole again. I am following my heart even though I don’t quite know where it is leading. I do understand it will
Cape May Warbler, Magee Marsh, 2008. Photo by Thomas J. Moeller
take a lot of work, and at times that seems daunting – much like the journey these tiny creatures are on. For many of these birds, it is their first migration, their destination just a vague concept, an innate feeling. Yet they take flight nightly, following instinct, following the flock, following the stars, following some unknown internal guidance mechanism – science cannot fully explain how birds navigate these incredibly long journeys.
Maybe there is a drive inside them that cannot be contained, that needs heed paid, that creates a fidgety uneasiness and uncomfortableness that wakes them in the middle of the night, that prods them until action must be taken, just like dreams. Dreams and migration cannot wait until winter – so chill of the fall forces action. How do they know where to go, having never been there? Maybe they simply follow their heart, too. On this glorious autumn morning, overloaded with color and light, I feel their energy, and I share in the alertness and aliveness of their epic adventure. I want to see these travelers up close, so I grab my binoculars and set to identifying all of these marvelous creatures. The birds have molted into much more cryptic colors now, in the fall, shedding the brilliant reds and oranges and yellows of breeding season for greens and muted yellows that will provide more effective camouflage on their wintering grounds. Funny isn’t it, that now those brilliant colors are in the trees, the opposite of spring migration, when the birds come through the barren branches in their spring colorful best. Now, though, the drabness and sameness to these tiny birds makes identifying them difficult – the field guide even has a four-page spread dedicated to “confusing fall warblers.” But I notice something as I look for the minute differences between these species. To most observers these birds all look the same – drab, olive-green birds with slight streaking and maybe a wing bar or eye ring if you look close enough. But that is not how I see them – in my minds’ eye, they are still the vibrant gorgeous creatures of red and orange and blue and yellow that they were this spring, in their mating plumage. The woods warblers that inhabit the Pennsylvania forests (over 20 species LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST
breed here, and many more might be spotted moving through at spring and fall migration) are some of the most colorful and sought after birds – entire books are dedicated to just this special family of birds. Yet most don’t notice – because they are small, they inhabit the treetops or undergrowth, you have to work to find them, and you need good binoculars to really see their incredible beauty. Once you see this spring beauty, though, once you spy them in their glory - that is the vision that stays with you. Even though they spend over half their annual time in the muted greens of fall, the Cape May warbler that flits amongst my birches this morning is glowing orange and yellow in my mind, just like he did this spring. I have seen his true colors and talents, and cannot forget that it will return, soon. This is my choice. The bird really is not that exciting right now, and if I put the binos on this bird for a stranger, I would probably get a shoulder shrug and ho-hum. But this bird is extraordinary to me, and not just for its potential color, but also for its story. It flies twice a year between the tropics of Central America and it’s breeding home in the Canadian forest, despite weighing about as much as a dime. The all-nighters they pull on migration are an inspiring journey of endurance and perseverance, the impetus to keep going, to move forward in pursuit of destiny and dreams. And they do it with an incredible amount of grace and beauty. The Cape May warbler in its breeding plumage is stunning, it will stop an unknowing observer in her tracks. Perhaps we all travel most of the time in the drab garb of journey, of work and utilitarian necessity, sleeves rolled up and sweat on our brow. Certainly I do, especially now, as I dig in and attempt to re-make a whole new life. But that is okay, I am not afraid of sweat, and work clothes and perseverance are required for this type of journey. I carry a certain faith, too, an instinct, that at some point my brilliant colors of spring will return, when appropriate, when I am on firmer footing. Maybe there will even be the occasion to celebrate some successes someday, in my dashing spring colors, even if just for a bit. The freshness of a molt, even into work clothes, brings the opportunity for new life, new directions. I am lucky enough to be traveling now with a flock of old and new, many of whom have seen my brilliant side, who believe in me, who trust that this daunting workman’s journey requires rolled up sleeves and drab work clothes now. And even when the destination seems so far away, well, they still carry with them in their mind’s eye the glory of the brilliance to come.
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Madeline Nagy is a 5-year-old girl who has endured many challenges including physical impairments, surgeries, and many nights spent in hospital beds instead of her own. She has been diagnosed with Turner Syndrome and Trisomy 7. Because of her disclocated hips and knees, Madi uses a wheelchair to get around. Please consider making a donation for Madi’s family to assist in getting a wheelchair-accessible van. This will make Madi’s trips to the hospitals and doctors a little less painful. It would be amazing for Madi to be able to go to the hospital in comfort. Please give as little or as much as you can – every little bit helps, and the family of this precious little girl would be very grateful.
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Off Trail is a monthly column devoted to exploring our diverse and beautiful natural heritage, especially the the hidden gems and special places off the beaten path. ***** Joe Walko is a full time widowed parent to two beautiful but challenging boys, now unemployed by choice after a 25-year career in corporate finance. He is a writer and blogger search-ing for his voice, a seeker of his truth, a nature and adventure junkie discovering whole new worlds and beauty in the glorious struggle, in the ordinary, in his own backyard, and mostly, in his heart. Visit his website at joewalko.word press.com and contact him at jwalko1019@ gmail.com.
Every Story Begins At Home.
October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 17
I thought that putting ethanol in our gas tanks was going help fight climate change, but lately I’ve heard reports to the contrary. Can you enlighten? – Bill B., Hershey, PA Ethanol and similar “biofuels” made from corn and other crops seem like a good idea given their potential for reducing our carbon outputs as well as our reliance on fossil fuels. But recent research has shown that the federal government’s push to up production of corn-derived ethanol as a gasoline additive since 2007 has actually expanded our national carbon footprint and contributed to a range of other problems. U.S. corn producers started ramping up ethanol production in 2007 as a result of President George W. Bush’s Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS), which mandated an increase in the volume of renewable fuel to be blended into transportation fuel from nine billion gallons in 2008 to 36 billion by 2022. Ethanol now makes up 10 percent of the gasoline available at filling stations. But environmentalists now say that the promise of ethanol has turned out to be too good to be true. For one, there is the issue of net energy produced. According to Cornell University ecologist David Pimentel, growing and processing corn into a gallon of ethanol requires 131,000 BTUs of energy, but the resulting ethanol contains only 77,000 BTUs. And since
fossil-fuel-powered equipment is used to plant, harvest, process and distribute ethanol, the numbers only get worse. The non-profit Environmental Working Group (EWG) warns that continued production of corn ethanol is not only “worse for the climate than gasoline” but also bad for farmers, the land and consumers: “It is now clear that the federal corn ethanol mandate has driven up food prices, strained agricultural markets, increased competition for arable land and promoted conversion of uncultivated land to grow crops.” Additionally, the group reports that previous estimates “dramatically underestimated corn ethanol’s greenhouse gas emissions by failing to account for changes in land use,” citing a 2012 study documenting the conversion of eight million acres of Midwestern grassland and wetlands to corn fields for ethanol between 2008 and 2011. “These land use changes resulted in annual emissions of 85 million to 236 million metric tons of greenhouse gases,” says EWG. “In light of these emissions, many scientists now question the environmental benefit of so-called biofuels produced by converting food crops.”
Given the potential negative impacts of so-much corn-based ethanol, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is reportedly weighing a proposal to cut the amount currently required by law to be blended into gasoline by 1.39 billion gallons. If the federal government decides to do this, it could lower U.S. carbon emissions by some three million tons—equivalent to taking 580,000 cars off the roads for a year. Meanwhile, researchers are trying to develop greener forms of ethanol, but none are ready for market yet. “The lifecycle emissions of ethanol ‘from seed to tailpipe’ depend on how the ethanol is made and what it is made from,” reports the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). The best ethanol, they say, can produce as much as 90 percent fewer lifecycle emissions than gasoline, but the worst can produce much more. So there still may be room for ethanol in our energy future, but not if we keep doing it the way we are now. CONTACTS: Renewable Fuel Standard, www.epa.gov/otaq/ fuels/renewablefuels; David Pimentel, vivo.cornell.edu/display/ individ-ual5774; EWG, www.ewg.org; UCS, www.ucsusa .org. EarthTalk® is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E - The Environmental Maga-zine (www.emagazine.com). Send questions to: earthtalk@emagazine.com.
PEVARNIK REAL ESTATE, INC. pevarnikrealest@aol.com • janetpevarnik@aol.com
Newly-Renovated Home on the Lake in Derry Boro MLS#: 987116. Welcome to this 3BR, 2BA brick ranch: totallyupdated,newroof,windows,kitchen,appliances,bath/ laundry room in basement, interior doors, and outside doors, freshly painted, new lighting fixtures, new gutters/downspouts, front porch railings, sidewalk, back deck railings, new ceramic floors, original hardwood refinished, all w/plenty of storage; workshop area in basement. Pull-down steps in hallway to attic which could be bonus room. $134,900. Listing Agent, Elaine Cermak-Harris (412-554-4147)
Call 724-539-9100 18 - October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years!
LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST
How Do We Tell A Story in 2014? continued from page 5
So we hope to continue telling your stories in the pages Laurel Mountain Post and on our new website for another ten years, for another hundred years, for as long as there are stories to tell. It might not be chiseled in rock or painted on caves or printed on pages or displayed on phones in the future, but it will get out, no matter the medium. For “Stories have to be told or they die, and when they die, we can’t remember who we are or why we’re here,” says Sue Monk Kidd, in “The Secret Life of Bees.” And here at the Laurel Mountain Post, Every Story Begins at Home…
Margaret S. "Peggy" Kinter mkinter@howardhanna.com • Cell: 724-388-4739
Barbara Kozar bkozar@howardhanna.com • Cell: 724-422-2500
CHESTNUT RIDGE REALTY Independently Owned and Operated
BLAIRSVILLE OFFICE 246 S. Walnut St Blairsville, Pa 15717 Phone: 724-459-0200
INDIANA OFFICE 2015 Oakland Ave. Indiana, Pa 15701 Phone: 724-465-0185
BEAUTIFUL FARM, WEST WHEATFIELD TWP $339,000 #1009739 – Many cleared fields Crops grown the last five years Wooded areas James Way barn (50'x46') Horse stalls Small milking parlor Milk house (13'x11') Utility building (40'x24') Chicken coup (30'x16') Root cellar Fenced fields Great hunting area K, LR, DR, 1/2B MR on first floor of house Pine floor Public water near Gated fields Easy access to Ligonier, Johnstown,Altoona and the Conemaugh Valley. Timber select cut five years ago NO GAS, OIL OR MINERAL RIGHTS TRANSFER. Call Barbara Kozar at 724-422-2500.
BLAIRSVILLE AREA ESTATE $1,150,000 #1022439 – Nestled on 56+ beautiful acres with three stocked ponds and 300,000 cf of free gas! Very private estate with amenities too numerous to list. Upgraded 7 years ago to over 5,400 sq ft and 7-car garage! 1st floor master suite w/ 20’x9’ walk-in closet; great room w/ vauted ceiling and stone fireplace, showcasing an 18’ x 13’ custom wet bar near gourmet cherry kitchen w/ center island, all enhanced by granite tops and ss appliances. Outside served by 3 porches, builtin gas grills, enclosed pavillion. Call Peggy Kinter at 724-388-4739.
A, B, C GEORGE LANE, E/W WHEATFIELD TWP $249,900 #1002658 – 66.32 Acres located in the Chestnut Ridge. Subdivided. Perc tested. Wooded area of beautiful homes and farms. Private setting. Close to Johnstown, Altoona and Indiana. Easy access to Route 22. Call Barbara Kozar at 724-422-2500
Gem Theatre continued from page 11
theaters, replaced by the multi-plex at the mall. Although the old yellow brick building still stands, with the GEM trademark securely in place on its facade, the projector flickers no more. No smell of fresh popcorn wafts through the air, and the whispers and giggles of my friends echo only in my thoughts. Mr. Piper lives on in our memories, along with those sweet, sweet moments of youth that I would love to travel back to and experience ... for just one more precious afternoon. ***** Ruthie grew up in an idyllic and magical place – a 1950's childhood, and she loves to share these memories with you. Stay in touch: email her at: Ruth-Elaine@comcast.net, and look for her on Facebook.
Every Story Begins At Home.
October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 19
Send in the Clown by Nancy A. Clark No sooner had I made a 5:00 pm Wednesday appointment to have our family photo taken for the new church directory when a parish sister known for her charity pulled me aside. “Why don’t you hightail it down to your hair salon and get some color in your hair before that appointment, honey?” she suggested. “All that gr…uh, plain ole salt-and-pepper hair? It doesn’t do a thing for you.” Her furtive glances fell everywhere in the room except upon my head. She obviously couldn’t bear to glare at my hair. “You’re waaay too young to have all that gr….uh, plain old salt-andpepper hair,” she said, gagging on the “gr…” word for the second time in 20 seconds. “You want to stand out in that picture.”
Her charitable opinion regarding my antiquity sliced and diced to the core. “Look at your hubby,” sister continued. “No gray hair there.” (As if I hadn’t noticed.) She leaned into me, lowered her voice and slowly twisted the knife. “Pardon me for saying so, but that hair makes you look old 20 - October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years!
enough to be his…” she hesitated be-fore dropping the “M” bomb, “…mother.” Leave it to a ‘sister-n’ in the church to tell it like it is. She called it “Brotherly Love.” I called my hairdresser. “You have to color my hair before 4:30 tomorrow afternoon,” I wailed into the receiver when Cecilia picked up her phone on Tuesday morning. (Even back in the Stone Age, most “transformation stations” were closed on Monday.) “It’s about time,” Cil muttered. “One o’clock tomorrow, and don’t be late. It’s gonna to take more than Quick and Easy to wipe out all that plain ole salt and pepper ya got goin’ for ya.” Until then, I’d resisted coloring my premature plain old salt and pep… – ah, let’s just call it what it is – Gray Hair. Had it since I was 27, and at the ripe old age of 33, I was good with it. Hubby didn’t complain – at least not to my face; and with three youngins’ and one income, there was little time or spare change to address the “roots” of my decrepitude. One week prior to Color Day, I sat in Cil’s lone salon chair and pondered the wisdom of getting a “perm.” Before wisdom could speak, Cil rolled my straight, aging hair around pink curlers and doused them – and my scalp – with a foul-smelling, eye-watering chemical, ultimately frying my crowning glory to an imperfectly singed “Frizz.” The fashionable Do-of-the-Day was … electrifying. Now I pondered the wisdom of “coloring.” It was one thing to suffer the I-Stuck-My-Finger-in-aLight-Socket Frizz; it was quite another to suffer Frizz in living color. Sometimes we look back at a crossroads event and say, “I should have listened to my gut.” Wish I’d listened to mine that day, especially when Cil stepped up to the battalion of bottles on her crowded shelves and asked, “Which one of you little darlin’s has the muscle to tackle Nancy’s plain old gray stuff?”
Cil donned a pair of rubber gloves and proceeded to knead a thick, dark glob of the selected goop into my hair. “With the new perm and all that gray you got goin’ for ya, there’s no guaranteeing what shade we’ll end up with, here.” With that, all hope of seeing even a hint of my birth hair color – chestnut, with auburn highlights – teetered on the brink of doubt and disaster. But time was fleeting, and I was running out of “fleet.” Well, friend, talk about transformation! I may have resembled hubby’s mom when I walked into Cil’s shop, but I was a main contender for the Barnum and Bailey Circus when I walked out. No clown in BB’s repertoire had a Frizz so wild – or so orange – as was mine that day. I needed only a pair of size 22 wide-toed shoes and a redball nose to enter the ring. I crawled out of Cil’s electric chair, drowning in my own tears. Working up an ounce of passion for my paralyzing pain, Cil placed her ungloved hand on my heaving shoulders and said, “It’ll tone down. Just give it a few weeks.” The photographer reached deep into his bag of magic tricks that evening to “transform” my horrificorange to radical-rust and make the photo fit for a church directory; but we never framed the finished print. And I never re-visited Cil’s shop. The fact is I never again considered coloring my hair. The way I figure it, if God wanted me to stand out, He would have blessed me with longer legs and seasoned me with something other than just plain ole salt and pepper.
***** Nancy Clark and her husband, Tom, rejoice in 50 years of marriage, three children and three grandchildren. She dabbles in freelance and memoir writing when she isn’t baking, knitting, reading, or building a jigsaw puzzle.
LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST
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Every Story Begins At Home.
October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 21
“I Have Always Loved the Stories” Back in October 2004, Cathi Gerhard and Briana Dwire Tomack (Derry Area High School Classes 1987 and 1988) turned a fun idea into a reality when they published the first issue of the Laurel Mountain Post magazine. Cathi was more introverted and creative, working on the concepts and design from home in North Carolina. Briana was gregarious and business-oriented, and hit the streets to sell the idea to potential advertisers and gather local story ideas from everyone she knew and met along the way. Their partnership formula was an instant success, and the LMP grew year after year. However, the economic crash of 2008 and growing global financial insecurity led Briana to take a fulltime job opportunity in her former field of hospitality management in 2010. Many LMP readers still ask what Briana is up to these days, so we decided to catch up with her for our 10th anniversary issue.
I spend much of my time meeting and talking to people and trying to find solutions to problems. Many times that means connecting those individuals with other resources I have available to me. I most enjoy meeting new people, getting to know them, and helping them achieve success. Since everyone has a unique situation and unique needs, each situation has different paths that can be followed. You know
Sam, Briana, and Alex Tomack at Lake Ethel near their home in Derry, PA.
me; I love just talking with people, hearing their stories, connecting the dots. There is always additional personal learning happening, which is also something that keeps me going. Plus, I have smart, capable and fun coworkers, which makes for a pretty good work situation. Are there any significant life events you’ve experienced in the past few years?
I am currently the assistant vice president and office manager at First Commonwealth Bank in Ligonier. What do you like best about your new job?
How has western PA changed during this decade?
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I love the bike trails, the walking path at Ethel Springs Lake, going to church in the same church where I grew up, and running into friends and neighbors at Mastrorocco’s Market.
I most miss the downtown Derry I grew up loving and family and friends who have passed on or moved away. (As I wrote that sentence I thought "that sounds like something my Mom would say.")
Losing my Mom suddenly and unexpectedly last year at age 67 has been difficult for me in so many ways. Trying to adjust to life without her, and help the boys deal with their grief as well, has been a daily struggle.
What are you doing now?
What are some of your favorite things about our area now?
Are there things you miss?
So many of our readers want to know, where did you go after you left LMP in 2010? I went to work for Horizon Hospitality as a general manager at The Hampton Inn & Suites in Blairsville. After 4 years there, I accepted a promotion to be the general manager of Cambria Suites Pittsburgh at Consol Energy Center. Shortly after taking that position, it became clear that the demands of that particular job, combined with the drive and time away from my boys was not something I was able to balance. It was then that an opportunity came available to manage a branch of First Commonwealth Bank in Ligonier, so I made the decision to make a change.
Western PA seems to grow by leaps and bounds. There is so much now in the way of activities and things to do, especially for young people. I love looking for weekend activities. There seem to be so many choices!!
What are you looking forward to – do you have any future plans? I envision enjoying time with my boys, and helping them togrow and be the best that they can while being the best mom I can be. I would like to try to create new traditions with our family and friends, while still remembering my Mom daily and during special occasions. For myself, I look forward to learning new things and growing in my professional life. What is your favorite thing about LMP? I have always loved the stories about the PEOPLE in our area doing things that I never knew about...working, creating, volunteering, teaching, and making the most of life in our little neck of the woods! LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST
Casting the Iron Garden Rivers of Steel is partnering with the Penn State Master Gardener Program, Carbon Arts, and local Pittsburgh artisans to create an Iron Garden Walk at the National Historic Landmark Carrie Furnaces site in Rankin/Swissvale, PA. The Casting the Iron Garden event is Saturday, October 25th at 2:00 PM to 7:00 PM. The iron pour will provide a first-hand look at the process and skills of casting molten iron into pattern molds. This same process produced the iron that built our nation and many of the world's largest structures during Pittsburgh's legacy era as "Workshop of the World." The event includes the casting of ten interpretive plaques to be installed on site in the new Iron Garden Walk. The plaques will guide visitors through the surrounding fields and structures, providing a narrative of the wild gardens that share the former industrial landscape of the Carrie Furnaces. The plaques will allow visitors to take rubbings and include botanical illustrations of the local The iron pour process produced the plant community, high- iron that built our nation and many of lighting features such as the world's largest structures during bark, fruit, and leaf form Pittsburgh's legacy era as "Workshop for easy identification. His- of the World." torical and garden tours of the site led by Rivers of Steel and Master Gardener guides will take place from 2PM- 4PM. The furnaces will be tapped at 4:00 PM. Admission is $10.00 (rain or shine). Ticketing: advanced sales: http://www.showclix.com/event/3874091 or call: 412-464-4020 x32. Tickets are available at the gate.
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About the Iron Garden: In 2014 The Penn State Master Gardner Program of Allegheny County partnered with the Rivers of Steel to develop a comprehensive plant survey of the lands in and around the Carrie Furnaces in Rankin, PA. The Master Gardeners set out to learn more about the succession of native, aggressive and/or invasive plant species that are surviving, and even thriving, in these disturbed soils. Funding for the event and the plaques has been secured through Rivers of Steel, The National Park Service, and The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Funding for the installation has been secured with a Seed Grant from The Sprout Fund, and a grant from Awesome Pittsburgh. About Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area: Created by Congress in 1996, the Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area is committed to preserving, interpreting, and managing the historic, cultural, and natural resources related to Big Steel and its related industries. Encompassing over 5,000 square miles in the eight counties of Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Greene, Fayette, Washington, and Westmoreland, Rivers of Steel is building on this area's remarkable transition from heavy industry to high technology and diversified services as well as bolstering the new regional economy by promoting tourism and economic development based on this region's historic industrial saga.
October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 23
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LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST
CoverMontage.pdf
Every Story Begins At Home.
October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 25
DOWN ON THE FARM by Gregory Susa & Cathi Gerhard
For the Taste of It It’s ten on a Saturday morning; the orange-yellow and crimson-striped fruit hangs tantalizingly just a few inches out of reach. Leaning into the fragrant somewhat itchy vine, it’s plucked and placed with the rest of the Mr. Stripey, Cherokee Purple, German Pink and Homestead varieties of tomatoes … one hundred pounds off to the kitchen. This batch is destined for quart jars of crushed tomatoes. In the house Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman and Gene Krupa are playing on the stereo — greats from the past, a perfect accompaniment for a day disconnected from being too connected. On the stove sits the black and grey specked enameled processing pot, just a little too big for the burner it rests on. Two eight-quart stock pots, bowls, knives, glass jars, and lids are all strategically placed waiting their turn. As water boils and tomatoes are peeled, quartered, crushed and boiled, we dance a little, reminisce a lot, and remark how wonderful the hard, hot work is. It’s eight in the evening, and the last seven jars now rest with the others, cooling on the counter. The tell-tale metallic ‘klinkpops’ can be heard down the hall. The kitchen is humid and hot from the long boils for each batch, and the counter tops are full of garden fresh goodness to be enjoyed all winter long. Today many people can for the fun of it, but when my grandmother was a girl it was essential to survive the winter. She often spoke of times when they would use the outdoor kitchen to dehydrate peas and other vegetables. Pressure canners were not as reliable or safe as today. If you wanted it later, you had to can it, dry it or ferment it. Meats would be smoked, cured, jerked or made into sausages for winter –some may even be canned. We enjoy the canning and preservation of home grown produce for its unique genuine flavor. Our goal is to grow or raise unique foods such as emmer wheat, barley, millet, sorghum, heirloom tomatoes, beans, eggplants, root vegetables, chickens for eggs and meat, and eventually some baby doll south-down sheep, goats and more.
26 - October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years!
It is just within the past few generations that people get most, if not all, of their food from a retail store, many not knowing or caring where it was grown or what variety of pea or carrot it is. In fact, most produce in your store is a specific variety grown for its shelf life and appearance. This has caused many original varieties of produce and breeds of livestock to almost completely disappear. Sadly many people today have never experienced some of the delightful flavors that long ago regional varieties and breeds had.
Modern food science has come a long way. On average, the ingredients in a typical meal on an American table have traveled an average of one thousand five hundred miles to get there. Early on, that can of crushed tomatoes, would be filled with brownish liquid — not the brilliant red you expect today. The flavor of canned peaches today only varies by the amount of fructose sweeteners in it. Time, money and science give you perfect color and texture, but muted flavor. You can get fresh vegetables and fruits from all climates any time of year now. Before modern transportation methods, much of the produce you see in winter coming from Chile like
grapes, strawberries, and plums were missing from the markets until next year. Now, the produce from South America or other countries is actually picked green, and later exposed to toxic ethylene gas to trigger ripening. Today, however, there is a new resurgence in knowing your food. The farm to table movement is everywhere these days. Numerous farmers markets are springing up everywhere, benefitting local farmers, gardeners and the host municipality, as well as eager shoppers. They offer opportunities to try long-forgotten varieties, artisan cheeses, wild flora such as mushrooms, and expertly crafted smoked meats or sausage as well. During the great depression, home vegetable gardens were encouraged to help people provide food for their families and to instill a sense of confidence that one’s efforts could yield a reward. Later the victory garden or war garden helped the country feed itself and our troops abroad. Relatives of ours remarked on our raised bed kitchen garden, inspiring them to build one of their own. Having sampled some of our home canned goods such as pickles, salsa and jams, they started experimenting on their own. At a recent family gathering they remarked that when they make something, it is often exclaimed “we can CAN that!” This year they’ve made barbeque sauce, salsas, pizza sauce, apple sauce, pear sauce and fruit butters: all this from their parents’ little orchard and a small twelve by ten foot plot of ground tucked beside their own patio and hot tub. Here at Fairview Farm, we have 35 acres under cultivation — this year its corn. While the corn hasn’t been harvested yet, the calculated yield is 4,375 bushels or 122.5 tons. From our garden we have harvested 350 to 400 pounds of tomatoes, 14 pounds of raspberries, 10 pounds of carrots, 45 pounds of potatoes (first try at these), 70 to 80 pounds of cucumbers, 50 pounds of peppers, 20 pounds of onions, 40 quarts of snap peas, 40 quarts of green beans, and 2 bushels of apples and pears (from our neighbor’s orchard). We are in the process of developing our new elderberry and black currant patches, as well as continuing to LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST
fend off deer from our new fledgling orchard. Additionally, we are preparing to rebuild fencing for our pastures in order to add livestock. We hope to grow, thresh and mill to flour our own wheat, rye and other grains. Sorghum is another plant we wish to try. Its grain is high in protein, and the stalks – when pressed – yield a sweet, dark molasses. You need just a few tens of square feet to grow grains, and sorghum makes a great hedge-type wall. Chickens will be our first reintroduction of livestock to the farm, followed by sheep and goats. Cattle may not be an option as pasture and hayfield yield may not support more than a few of them. You don’t need vast acres to enjoy home grown or raised food: resources are everywhere to help you. Dirt doesn’t hurt, green growing things are good stress reducers, and if you’re adventurous, chickens can be raised for eggs and meat right in your back yard. Goats are good for milk and cheese, and if you’re daring, a free lawn mower guaranteed — no pushing required. While driving or walking if you’ve ever seen an old orchard with fruit on the ground, try to find the owner and ask if you can pick the trees. They can only say yes or no, but I’m sure not having to rake and dispose of rotten apples or pears would be an encouragement to say yes. Use the rewards to make jellies, jams, apple sauce. The yield can be frozen or dehydrated into chips. Let your imagination and palate be your guide. Realistically, you don’t need to preserve for survival today. You can, however, contribute to your own wellbeing and save a few pennies. You can savor your own creations, grown by you or from a fresh air market. That special variety of tomato that you can’t get anywhere else awaits you. America’s farming history is still young. Unlike Europe where farming practices were necessitated by lack of space for many centuries, here if your land went bust you picked up and moved west. The many superb regional cuisines of Europe are a result of using everything you grew in your diet: not just that delicious emmer wheat, but the barley, mustard greens, and legumes you used for rotation to keep the soil rich and vibrant for the emmer wheat. If you are truly looking for new flavors, search out the farmers who are growing a diverse array of heirloom crops — or better yet, start your own garden or reinvent it to offer more than salsa ingredients. Go grow it!
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A complete online guide to canning and preserving can be found at:
www.freshpreserving.com
Every Story Begins At Home.
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“We have neglected the truth that a good farmer is a craftsman of the highest order, a kind of artist.” – Wendell Berry
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October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 27
2014 St. Clair Lecture:
Post-Revolutionary Years in Southwestern Pennsylvania GREENSBURG, PA – Terry Bouton, PhD, author of “Taming Democracy: ‘The People,’ the Founders, and the Troubled Ending of the American Revolution” (Oxford, 2007), will present this year’s St. Clair Lecture, “Was the Whiskey Rebellion really about Whiskey?”. The event, which is open to the public without charge, will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 16, in the Ferguson Theater (University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg, 150 Finoli Drive, Greensburg, PA 15601). To ensure a seat, please call 724-836-9911 no later than October 9. Now in its 15th year, the St. Clair Lecture is sponsored by the Westmoreland County Historical Society and the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg. Bouton is an associate professor of History at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), where he is a Presidential Teaching Professor and an Organization of American Historians (OAH) Distinguished Lecturer. He teaches courses on the American Revolution, the Early National Period, and the Atlantic Revolutions of the late-18th to mid-19th centuries (The American, French, Haitian, and Latin American revolutions), and his research examines the meaning and practice of democracy during the era of the American Revolution. In particular, he looks at the connections between economics and politics in the American Revolution. His book, “Taming Democracy: ‘The People,’ the Founders, and the Troubled Ending of the American Revolution” (Oxford, 2007), won the 2008 Philip S. Klein Book Prize and was an Honorable Mention for the Fraunces Tavern Museum Book Award. Described by one reviewer as a book that breaks new ground, Bouton centers on Pennsylvania, the symbolic and logistical center of the American Revolution. He points out that the Revolutionary elite seemed as determined to squash democracy after the war as they were to support it before the war by using their political power to pass laws to enrich their own estates and hinder political organization by their opponents. Re-enacting many of the same laws they had gone to war to abolish, the elite returned Pennsylvania to a state of economic depression and political hegemony that led directly to the Whiskey and Fries rebellions, uprising put down by federal armies. Bouton brings forth the unsung heroes of the time, farmers, weavers, and tailors, who fought to save democracy from the forces of “united avarice,” while providing a stark, new look at Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and George Washington. Bouton shows these historic characters as real, flawed people, blinded by their own sense of entitlement. He is working on a new book, “Foreign Founders: How European Financiers Helped Write the Constitution,” that explores the influence of foreign investors in shaping the nation’s founding moment. Founded in 1963, the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg is a publicly assisted, four-year, liberal arts college in southwestern Pennsylvania. PittGreensburg offers 24 baccalaureate degree programs, including new majors in Education and Spanish, as well as 19 minors. More than 13 percent of Pitt-Greensburg’s full-time faculty—the highest percentage of any University of Pittsburgh campus—have received the prestigious University-wide Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award.
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LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST
upmc
Every Story Begins At Home.
October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 29
HOME STUDY by Brian Mishler
Fix It Up As a home inspector and a 203K consultant, clients frequently share with me how they’re going to “fix it up”, referring to a room or even an entire house. Or, they have been watching a reality TV show and are prepared for their home inspection/purchase/ renovation process. On the surface three easy words: fix it up. But look a little deeper and these simple words are about as simple as “lets’ have kids”. As any of my clients can tell you I’m no fan of “reality” TV. In so far as the supposed home shows go, I can tell you they are fantasy; and little more than entertainment. Underestimating the amount of time, labor expense and skill necessary to complete a project can often lead to incomplete or incorrectly completed projects, rooms and sometimes entire houses. It’s not at all uncommon to find incorrect wiring, gas and water piping, and even structural modifications made without the consultation of a contractor or engineer. In one home, the master bedroom had a floor shaped like a soup bowl; the load bearing wall below had been removed to expand the kitchen! Another instance found the entire left side of the second floor of a newly renovated home without power; they had forgotten to connect the wiring from these circuits to the electrical panel. Oops. Typically people tend to underestimate the cost of a project by 100%, and time by at least 50%. As labor is (or should be) the most expensive portion of a project, time is quite literally money. As has been mentioned previously in these pages, planning for a project is critical, especially planning for the unexpected. For example a project I’d been involved with was a house whose roof 30 - October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years!
had collapsed, water flooding into and through the structure, creating an ice skating rink in the basement. Two of the four foundation walls were bowed significantly. What appliances remained in the house were damaged, and the only bathroom was at best, salvageable. The planning stages included pulling the two bowed foundation walls straight with wall anchors, and demolishing two of the four first floor exterior walls. Once the first floor was re-constructed, a full second story would be added, the roof exterior, etc., and then completion of the living space. At the very start of construction, it was discovered that the footers (the concrete slabs upon which the foundation is built.) for the two bowed foundation walls were absent; the walls would have to be demolished and replaced. This required supporting the house on temporary posts and beams while the foundation was torn down, the new footer poured, and the walls reconstructed. (Imagine putting a car on jacks in a very big way!) This took the cost of the foundation repair from $7000 to over $16,000. Ouch! Once the foundation and its footers, drains, etc. were complete, demolishing of the first floor commenced and it was discovered that two additional walls needed to be removed - an additional expense of nearly $7000 over budget. So to recap, what is left with our original project house is two foundation walls and one frame wall, and an unforeseen $16,000. How does one contend with, what by any measure would be defined as a disaster? In this case we had established a contingency fund equal to 20% of the total anticipated cost. This allowed the project to proceed without interruption. Why such a large contin-
gency fund? The age and location of the house, the significant amount of work to be done, and the risk of what couldn’t be seen during inspection. Most of us in our lifetimes will not take on such a large project. However, these types of examples as well as new construction can teach us how to prepare for our smaller renovations. “Expect the unexpected” is a cliché so often abused as to cause people to ignore whatever follows; if it’s unexpected, how can we possibly plan? First and foremost it’s important for us to have a working knowledge of history. In construction it’s history of our home – when was it built, what materials and methods were common at that time? In the 19th century and earlier in this country, it was pioneers building homes from materials gathered on the land upon which they were building. They would cut down trees, manually square the logs, or at least one or two sides of the log, and lay them on a loose stacked stone foundation, but frequently right on the dirt. (Most of these log cabins are gone now; lost to insects, fire and rot, but our area has a number of survivors.) Folks chose where to place the house much in the same manners as setting up a camp; close to water, far – but not too much from the pasture/barn. While we knew we didn’t want our waste – or the animals near our drinking water well, common folk had no idea how far the bacteria could “commute” through the ground – or what bacteria was for that matter. In the latter 19th century and early 20th, it was rare to have a “contractor” in the conventional sense. Unless they were wealthy, most folks built the homes they were living in themselves, with the help of their friends and neighbors. Most of us today are familiar LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST
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with the Amish “barn raising”; this was how many of the homes we’re still living in today were raised. Construction methodology, materials and tools were all over the map; it was not uncommon for a worker to “borrow” (many companies provided materials to their workers to build homes near the plant) materials from his workplace and use them to build the home his family would live in; even to this day it’s not uncommon to come across railroad track serving as a beam or other support. Many poor folk used their coal (straight blade edge) shovel as a square. How “square” that corner ended up being was directly dependent on the age / use of that coal shovel! Electricity in homes was non-existent, and many did not have central heating; they used fireplaces or wood – coal stoves. If “insulation” was installed in the walls, it was probably newspaper. A rubble stone foundation, many “dry stacked” (without mortar) was common, and being we were hand digging, most houses were lucky if they got an 18 inch high crawlspace. If we did dig out a basement, it wasn’t a basement as we think about one today; it was a “cellar”; – dirt floor, perhaps 4 or 5 feet high, (the average American male was 5’4" tall at the time.) and had no drainage outside; pipes still were not available for the common person, Every Story Begins At Home.
and perforated pipe wasn’t even a thought yet. These basements and cellars were intended to permit water entry, and frequently had a means for it to escape as well. It wasn’t until the 1940’s that we started seriously thinking of using basements as additional living space, and it was the 1950’s that saw us having the tools and material to actually accomplish it. But they were still damp and often “funky”. World War I and the 1910’s 1920’s, with the need for commercial power to build munitions, saw the advent of knob and tube wiring in homes courtesy of Thomas Edison, (electricity for commercial machines and public lighting were introduced but only in large cities in the late 1800’s) installed behind wood lathe and horse-hair plaster walls. If we were lucky enough to afford indoor plumbing, we used galvanized steel supply piping, and clay pipe for the main waste drain, and clay or the new “cinder” block for the foundation. If we couldn’t afford these luxuries, we had an outhouse and a well; indoor plumbing and electricity were often added later; and usually as part of an addition; ever wonder why your kitchen is directly below the bathroom on the back of the original house? Much like the thickness of tree rings shrinking during a drought; the
great depression of the late twenties and early thirties saw a regression in conventional construction; we temporalily went back to stone foundations, and recycled other building materials; labor was cheaper than material. We’ve heard about the postWorld War II baby boom, but little about the building boom that accompanied it; those returning soldiers and their new families needed places to live, and the United States saw a building boom unlike any other. This created prefabricated housing - the “mobile home” was born. Many think the “mobile” meant portable – which they were, but in actuality, they were invented and built in Mobile, Alabama. Sears Roebuck, Gunnison and others had “kit” homes; they were ordered out of a catalog, delivered in pieces to your job site and either you or your con-tractor built it. The hills in Latrobe are covered with these homes built on concrete slab-ongrade. From the 1940’s our housing technology has advanced at an ever increasing pace; electrical components once thought to be state of the art are no longer considered safe, lead main water supply plumbing pipes were once common, and can still be easily continued on page 32
October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 31
continued from page 31
found in our region, narrow stairs, non-tempered glass windows, the list is endless. In the 1960’s copper waste plumbing was common, (it doesn’t play well with Draino® and other such chemical de-clogging agents.) Unless the house is less than 20 years old, it’s likely we’ll find repairs, replacements and patches from several generations of homeowners. Location of the home is equally important; not just its location on the home site, but it’s location in the country and the region. Generally speaking, the more rural a location is, the less tightly enforced the building standards are. This is still true to this day; big cities tend to have better enforcement of their construction than smaller cities and rural areas. Today construction technology is advancing nearly as fast as the computers that are creating new products, construction methods and tools. Just a few years ago copper piping was the “best” option although there were plastic piping available. Now there is “PEX” tubing, a simpler, faster and less expensive alternative to copper that has better durability in freezing environments. How it holds up in the long run, has yet to be seen, but it’s expected to last twenty five years give or take – and, it doesn’t get stolen from vacant homes! Some earlier generation of plastic pipe Polybutylene – a solid grey color – failed; sometimes in dramatic fashion.
So with our renovation we must not only consider the history of the house from where it’s been but where it – and we – are going. We should consider the plethora of new space saving and convenience items at our disposal, and how we can use these as we age. Most of us - especially the younger baby boomers – will not have the option of assisted living; we will have to age in our homes; the nursing homes will be full. Perhaps it would be prudent to add a guest suite so a live in caretaker of the future will have a place to stay? Should we install universal fixtures – those that can be operated easily by a physically capable person as well as one who is physically challenged? We can’t merely shop the big box hardware stores and think they have all the products that are available – they carry what is popular and what will sell. We need to do research, talk to our contractor, and make sure that they, too, are up to speed on the everchanging construction trends and technology. Should we add wiring where it will be accessible for future gadgets / appliances? It’s also a great idea to talk to our health care professionals about our current medical situation and how it is likely to evolve. Just like a meteorologist, they can’t predict the future, but can give us a potential outlook. If we already have some limitations, a visit from an occupational therapist can not only help us modify the home, but teach us new skills to compensate for abilities we may have lost.
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So, we’ve done our research; how do we turn this knowledge into an approximate cost of renovation? Contractors typically use a standard of measurement called a “square.” On the interior this square represents 1 square foot. As an example, the open magazine you are holding right now is probably about one and a half square fee. The average cost in our region to hire a competent contractor for interior remodeling is $110 per “square” to include demolition. On the exterior, a “square” is generally equal to a 10 foot by 10 foot area – 100 square feet. Roofing right now is about $325 per square. However, these prices are generic; roofing prices will go up depending on the height, slope, difficulty of access and complexity. Interior prices will go up based on history - age and existing condition; asbestos, lead and other commonly used materials now have to be treated as hazardous waste, and measures must be taken to ensure their dust is not spread throughout the house – or neighborhood! Rooms with water in them are more expensive to renovate than say a living room. Additionally, local municipalities’ may require the addition of safety devices; i.e. hard wired smoke detectors, GFCI outlets, handrails, etc. if our renovation plans include bedrooms, hallways, stairs, bathrooms, etc. which has the potential to “snowball” into the need for say a new electrical panel. All of this can seem like a daunting task, but it can be lots of fun, and very educational. How do we know how old * * * *next month … our home is? See* you Brian Mishler is the owner of HomeStudy Inc., and a 20-year veteran home inspector. He began performing home inspection after 15 years in the construction industry convinced him that his body wasn’t made for hard labor. Brian is the former president of the Pittsburgh Regional Organization of the American Society of Home Inspectors (PRO-ASHI), and currently sits on the board of Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh, a nonprofit that rehabilitates homes for disadvantaged seniors and veterans, assisting them with prerenovation inspection and selection. Brian also teaches a variety of real estate related classes, and has mentored other seeking to become home inspectors. He currently resides in Latrobe, with his better half Carol, their Boston terrier Gizmo, three cats, and three transient college students. When spare time is to be had, Brian can be found on a motorcycle, in a kayak, or hiking in the area. He can be reached at brian@homestudyinc.com.
LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST
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2790 Mosside Boulevard Suite270 Monroeville, PA 15146 412-858-9090 Fax 412-856-8433 Direct 724-493-9473 (Personal Office) 2016 Highland Avenue Greensburg, PA 15601 724-493-9473
The Mutual UFO Network (MUFON) of Pennsylvania is pleased to announce the 7th annual 2014 Pittsburgh UFOCreature CONFERENCE to be held Saturday Nov 8 2014. The location will be at the Westmoreland County Community College in the Science Building, 145 Pavilion Lane, Youngwood, PA, 15697. For those who are fans of Ancient Aliens, Hangar 1: The UFO Files, or just wonder about the possibility of intelligent life in the universe or unexplained creatures, you now have a chance to meet and mingle with real-life professionals who scientifically investigate these things. An organization called MUFON and their highly qualified experts, who include individuals from all the sciences, go about quietly investigating reports of unusual sightings and experiences that possibly involve the extraterrestrial or ultraterrestrial. Join us for a full day packed with informative speakers, interesting discussion and vendors on today’s hot topics in Ufology and Cryptozoology. Events start on Saturday November 8 from 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. The Pittsburgh UFO-Creature Conference will feature an illustrious group of speakers including: Journalist Nick Redfern who appears in Ancient Aliens on the History Channel, Derrel Sims who appears in Uncovering Aliens on the Discovery Channel, PA MUFON State Director John Ventre who appears in Hangar 1 on the History Channel and Alien Mysteries and Close Encounters on the Discovery Channel, author and Attorney Terry Ray on Red Orbs, Brian Seech on Cryptozoology who appears on Monsters and Mysteries on Destination America and WV MUFON State Dir. Fred Saluga on Bigfoot. On Saturday evening there will also be a special meet and greet dinner buffet with all of the speakers. Registration starts at 8:30 a.m. Special rate packages are available on the conference website, www.mufonpa.com or phone John Ventre at (724)-836-1266.
Ligonier Artwalk: The Affordable Art Stroll Saturday, November 1, 10 am to 7 pm featuring affordably-priced artwork perfect for gift giving. Participating galleries include:
Allegory Gallery • Conte Design Dovecote Ligonier • G Squared Gallery Jaime Cooper Gallery • Main Exhibit Gallery Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art
Receptions at each gallery from 5-7 pm. Every Story Begins At Home.
October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 33
Vernon Realty Ad - page 1
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LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST
Vernon Realty Ad - page 2
Every Story Begins At Home.
October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 35
THAT’S WHAT THEY SAY
Thought-Provoking Insights on Common Quotations by Rev. Marjorie Rivera
“Keeping a journal has taught me that there is not so much new in your life as you sometimes think. When you re-read your journal you find out that your latest discovery is something you already found out five years ago. Still, it is true that one penetrates deeper and deeper into the same ideas and the same experiences.” – Thomas Merton I read somewhere (somewhere meaning the bathroom wall at one of my friend’s homes) that Georgia O’Keefe said “If you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it’s your world for the moment.” I seriously contemplated before adding where I had read the quote, but in my commitment to being transparent, I had to share. When I was in Seminary school, each morning we would spend time in group meditation and at some point during the meditation we would be given a concept dropped in to our thought fields, such as “peace” or “harmony” or “love” that would ripple across our streams of consciousness and then inspire a wave like understanding. Meditation time became like this fertile ground for thought expansion. When in meditation you are cultivating a silence and serenity that make your awareness sort of like a calm pond surface. When you begin to drop in thoughts again, they are like a droplet of rain touching the surface of your awareness, creating a ripple effect and expanding outward to touch all areas of
your consciousness. That’s the power of one thought. One thought … My question to you is, how much of your awareness is being occupied by one thought? If you were to keep a journal of your musings, you would be able to go back and see what you are focusing on. What you focus on, becomes your world. If you are not aware of what the currents are, “the topics” for lack of anything better to say, they are your world and you may not even understand why. If you had a running tally of the top ideas of the day, you could go back and see what has been consuming your awareness and decide if you want to change it. Journaling can help you pay attention to the currents of your thoughts. If you find yourself thinking about the same things over and over again, these are your currents. These currents are in fact what we mystics would call your “intentions”. Your intentions are your driving force in this world. They are the thoughts that are existing and driving your decisions. If you
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keep making decisions and are not pleased with the outcome, then perhaps you would benefit by looking at the currents that may actually be running the show. If you are running a current of “ I am not good enough” then you may very frequently make decisions that defer to someone else’s expertise because you do not see yourself as qualified enough or smart enough, or good enough to handle any certain responsibility. If you allow others to run your life because you don’t feel good enough to handle things on your own, you will reinforce your own erroneous belief. If you don’t have any idea that you really think you aren’t “good enough” but you believe it on some other than conscious level, the cycle will never be unbroken. We can never heal what doesn’t come to light. Bringing things into the light is what will allow us to claim our healing. Sometimes we just believe things about ourselves that just aren’t true. That’s where the journal comes into play. If you can start a small journal where you review the main topics, or currents of the day for several weeks, so that you can begin to see patterns emerge. Once you get the patterns, you might want to see them as an opportunity to embrace change. To grow, to change, to become a more enlightened person. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither were you, change is sometimes slow, and yet very rewarding. If you need help, see a therapist or a life coach, or a clergy member. We are so thankful to help! Suggested Reading: The Voice of Knowledge - Don Miguel Ruiz Connect with me: Tweet tweet https://twitter.com/PGHmedium Like me on Facebook www.facebook.com/PGHmedium Visit my website www.pittsburghmedium.com
LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST
“Cucumber Falls, October 2014” Mary Fowler of Mary's Photography maryjim7596@gmail.com 724 757 0070 cell • 724 879 4630 home
Every Story Begins At Home.
October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 37
LOYALHANNA REALTY 201 S. Market Street Ligonier, PA 15658 (Across from Fort Ligonier)
BUYER & SELLER AGENCY JEAN M. CASE
Owner/Broker, GRI, ABR
Susan Ransel McBroom: 724-309-3395
SALES & APPRAISALS
Colleen Pritts: 724-493-7734
FAX: 724-238-0317
www.loyalhanna.com
Amy Stoner: 724-217-6610
MUST SEE! $559,000 #1024802. 4-bedroom, 3-1/2 bath home w/fenced pool on 1.5+ acres in Ligonier Twp. Sun room, cherry kitchen cabinets, stone fireplace, finished basement. Office or mother-in-law suite above 3-car detached garage. Agent owned. COLLEEN LOYALHANNA REALTY 724-238-3663
ING LIST W E N
SIMPLY STUNNING! $774,900 #1025744. Four-bedroom, 3-1/2 bath Williamsburg-style colonial in Donegal Twp. 27+ acres w/great views! 1st & 2nd floor master suites, sun room opens to courtyard, wet bar, pool w/ bathhouse, gatehouse. MANY AMENITIES! COLLEEN LOYALHANNA REALTY 724-238-3663
ING LIST W E N
GREATER LATROBE SCHOOL DISTRICT $109,900 #1027030. Newly-painted 4-bedroom, 2-story home in town. New kitchen w/new appliances, updated electric, central air, & 2 remodeled bathrooms. SUSAN/LORRAINE LOYALHANNA REALTY 724-238-3663 Price
LOVELY COUNTRY SETTING $265,900 #1022196. Four-bedroom, 2 bath Cape Cod in Cook Twp. 3 mostly level acres w/fruit trees, central air, deck, & garage. Agent related to Seller. COLLEEN LOYALHANNA REALTY 724-238-3663 Redu
Lisa Davis: 412-596-1028 Lorraine DiCecco: 724-953-2356 Associate Broker Kathy Johnston: 724-995-1013
724-238-3663 ING LIST W E N
Price
Jean Case: 724-600-5182 Tracy Case-Pelesky: 724-510-4010
ction
VICTORIAN-ERA HOME $229,000 #1012525. Classic woodwork throughout, 3 bedrooms plus nursery, 2-1/2 baths, galley kitchen, dining room, pocket doors, lovely closed-in sun porch, & garage in Ligonier Boro. JEAN/LORRAINE LOYALHANNA REALTY 724-238-3663 ING LIST NEW
Redu
ction
PARK-LIKE SETTING! $349,900 #1020141. Four-bedroom, 2-1/2 bath home w/workshop/barn on 7 acres. Tastefully decorated, screened porch, & spacious rooms. Stocked pond, stream, & gardens. Ligonier Twp. TRACEY LOYALHANNA REALTY 724-238-3663 ING LIST W NE
WONDERFUL COUNTRY SETTING $325,000 #993333. Four-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath, 2-story in Derry Twp. Well-constructed home w/wraparound porch, 2 master suites, & grand entrance. Gorgeous views, beautiful landscaping! TRACEY LOYALHANNA REALTY 724-238-3663
GORGEOUS COUNTRY COTTAGE $194,900 #1027245. Four bedrooms, cathedral ceilings, stone fireplace, 2+ car garage, small pond, & fantastic landscaping. Laurel Mt. Boro. MUST SEE! JEAN LOYALHANNA REALTY 724-238-3663
LAUREL MT. BORO GEM! $137,500 #1028101. Great room, 4 bedrooms, 2 baths, in-law suite, screened-in porch, & oversized lot. KATHY LOYALHANNA REALTY 724-238-3663
LIGONIER BORO COLONIAL $89,900 #1024627. Two-bedroom home with double lot convenient to everything. Potential for office. JEAN LOYALHANNA REALTY 724-238-3663
HISTORIC HOME $549,000 #1010514. Nestled in green rolling hills of Ligonier on 4 acres w/ maple & walnut trees. 6 bedrooms, 2-1/2 baths, hardwood floors, remodeled sunny kitchen, dining room, 2 fireplaces, gameroom, garage, & English garden. Public water, spring, & well. Panoramic view of Laurel Mtns., yet just a mile from town! LOYALHANNA REALTY TRACEY/JEAN 724-238-3663
LINN RUN STATE PARK $88,000 #1020240. Two-bedroom furnished cottage w/screened porch, stone fireplace, new carpet, electric baseboard heat, storage shed, & fire pit, along creek. Leased lot. LORRAINE LOYALHANNA REALTY 724-238-3663
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LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST
OCTOBER - NOVEMBER COMMUNITY CALENDAR “October’s poplars are flaming torches lighting the way to winter.”
Monthly, 2nd & 4th Mondays Latrobe Central Chapter The Women’s Business Network 11:30 am, Coffee Bean Cafe 3804 Route 30 in Latrobe An organization open to area women business owners and those in sales seeking networking opportunities to expand their network of contacts and share ideas to help grow their business. The mission of the organization is to provide personal and professional resources to advance the presence of aspiring and successful businesswomen. For additional information contact Karen Carota at 724-532-2877 or visit www.wbninc.com. through 11/15/2014 Somerset County Farmer’s Market 800 Georgian Place Drive, Somerset, PA 814.279.5620 www.somersetcountyfarmersmarket.com Somerset County Farmers’ Market is a producer-only tailgate market at Georgian Place in Somerset PA. The market opens the end of May and is on Saturdays and Wednesdays throughout the summer until the end of October. through 10/21/2014 Latrobe Farmers’ Market Latrobe Community Revitalization Program 816 Ligonier Street, Suite 307, Latrobe, PA 724.805.0112 www.latroberevitalization.org The Latrobe Community Revitalization Program (LCRP) is a community-driven, comprehensive effort to encourage and strengthen economic development, prevent downtown deterioration and promote a sense of community within the historic preservation of our downtown business district while advocating a return to community self-reliance, local empowerment and rebuilding based on our unique assets for the benefit of the greater Latrobe area. through 10/29/2014 Bikes, Bites, & Beats Morguen Toole Company 130 Center Street, Meyersdale, PA 15552 814.634.9900 morguentoole.com Every Wednesday from 5 to 9 pm. through 12/4/2014 Biophilia: Pittsburgh Schenley Park: Phipps Conservatory & Botanical Gardens One Schenley Park Dr., Pittsburgh, PA 15213 412.622.6914 phipps.conservatory.org Are you a creative thinker who cares about the environment? Join the club! Biophilia: Pittsburgh is a meet-up group dedicated to strengthening the bond Every Story Begins At Home.
between people and the natural world — and it all starts with good conversation. The group meets over small plates and a cash bar to discuss an environmental topic, share ideas and identify opportunities for creating change. Advance reservations are required: www.meetup.com/biophiliapittsburgh. through 12/10/2014 Conversation Salon Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh 4400 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15213 412.622.3114 carnegielibrary.org Conversation Salon is a forum for active participation in the discussion of the meaningful and interesting events of our time and an opportunity to connect with, participate in and contribute to your community. through 10/27/2014 Springs Historical Society Public Programs Folk Meeting House 1711 Springs Rd., Springs, PA 15562 814.442.4594 springspa.org Programs of interest, including old-time music, history, local events led by qualified speakers. Check www.springspa.org for listing and calendar. Recurring monthly on the 4th Monday. through 11/8/2014 Insiders Tours of Meadowcroft Rockshelters Meadowcroft Rockshelter and Historic Village 401 Meadowcroft Rd., Avella, PA 724.587.3412, heinzhistorycenter.org On select dates throughout the 2014 season, visitors can enjoy exclusive Insider Tours with James M. Adovasio, Ph.D., who achieved international acclaim with his archeological excavation of the Rockshelter in 1973. Dr. Adovasio will present a lecture and lead a special tour of the site. through 11/1/2014 Haunted Hillside 7209 Route 819, Mount Pleasant, PA 15666 724.547.2693, hauntedhillside.com You will pass through a rift between worlds where the stories of forgotten times live and roam free to torment you on this walking trail of Halloween. through 11/1/2014 Huston’s Haunted Hallow 126 Woodland Rd., Rockwood, PA 15557 814.926.3133, hauntedhallow.net Western PA’s premier haunted attraction, completely redesigned. Experience the Haunted Boarding House, Twisted Barn in 3D, Toxic Swamp, Haunted Hayride / Toxic
–Nova S. Blair
Swamp Walk and Dead End Cornfield. Meet “Mad Mae,” the evil landlady who makes sure that all of her guests “sleep like the dead.” through 10/12/2014 Midlife! The Crisis Musical Mountain Playhouse 7690 Somerset Pike, Jennerstown, PA 15547 Three men and three women make up the cast of this wacky musical that takes a comic look at the inescapable changes faced in mid-life. From reading glasses and mammograms to weekend warriors and proctology exams – all are lampooned with a Saturday Night Live non-sensibility. Everyone will relate to this hilarious, and at times, touching musical about the curiosities and inevitabilities of middle-age. through 10/26/2014 Pop-Up Exhibition: Gabe Felice and Jacob Stempky Westmoreland Museum of American Art 4764 State Route 30, Greensburg, PA 15601 724.837.1500, wmuseumaa.org 10/2/2014 to 10/31/2014 Night at the Zoo Living Treasures Wild Animal Park 288 Route 711, Jones Mills, PA 15646 724.593.8300, funindonegal.com Observe the wild and interesting behaviors of our animals at night. 10/2/2014 to 11/1/2014 Allen’s Haunted Hayrides Smock Dairy Farm 2430 Pittsburgh Rd., Smock, PA 15480 724.677.2589 allenshayrides.com For the month of October, a Smock dairy farm changes its focus from cows to haunted hayrides. As many as 15 scenes populate a one-mile, wooded area visible only from a wagon seat, cushioned with straw. Campfires cast an eerie glow, as folks roast hot dogs and marshmallows. 10/3/2014 to 11/1/2014 Haunted Hayloft The Hayloft 3321 Copper Kettle Highway, Rockwood, PA 15557, 814.926.2779 bishayloft.com Will you escape the Haunted Hayloft as you witness the terrifying night of the Umberger tragedy, experience the fate of the murderers and follow them to their home in hell? And even if you do, will you ever be the same? more on next page!
October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 39
10/4/2014 to 10/12/2014 Bedford Fall Foliage Festival Downtown Bedford PO Box 234, Bedford, PA 15522 814.623.0048 bedfordfallfestival.com “50 TH Anniversary”, 4 Fun Filled Days in HISTORIC downtown Bedford .FEATURING OVER 400 CRAFTSMEN, festival food, great entertainment, antique car parade Saturday Oct 11th 2pm children’s activities through 10/26/2014 HallowBoo Idlewild Route 30 East, Ligonier, PA 15658 724.238.3666, idlewild.com It’s the Idlewild you know and love...with a fun, family-oriented, happy Halloween twist! Noon to 6 pm weekends. 10/9/2014 Bike Night Finale! Stone House Restaurant & Inn 3023 National Pike, Farmington, PA 15437 724.329.2020, stonehouseinn.com Join us as we say goodbye to summer at our BIKE NIGHT Finale! Bikes, BBQ, Beer and Live Music! 10/9/2014 to 10/11/2014 Children’s Consignment Sale The Learning Lamp & EcoKids 2025 Bedford St., Johnstown, PA 15904 814.262.0732 thelearninglamp.org Shop high quality, gently used clothes (newborn to 16), toys, books, games, baby equipment, nursery items, kids furniture, and more! 10/10/2014 to 10/12/2014 Fort Ligonier Days Fort Ligonier 120 E. Main St., Ligonier, PA 724.238.4500, fortligonierdays.com Fort Ligonier Days, one of the American Bus Association’s “Top 100 Events in America”, is a 3-day festival that commemorates the Battle of Fort Ligonier, a key engagement of the French and Indian War, fought on October 12, 1758. This out-standing outdoor festival is celebrating its 55th year in 2014. See event schedule, page 2 10/11/2014 to 10/13/2014 Beyond Backpacking Basics Laurel Ridge State Park 1117 Jim Mountain Rd., Rockwood, PA 15557 724.455.3744 dcnr.state.pa.us A two-day, one night backpacking trip on the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail. This program is designed to introduce backpacking skills and techniques using modern equipment. The trip will begin at Laurel Summit State Park and end at Seven Springs Resort. We will be staying at the Rt. 31 Shelter Area overnight. 10/11/2014 Oktoberfest at the Stone House! Stone House Restaurant & Inn 3023 National Pike, Farmington, PA 15437 724.329.2020, stonehouseinn.com Join us as we welcome Fall at The Stone House – bring the whole family! 40 - October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years!
10/11/2014 RocktoberFest Nemacolin Woodlands Resort 1001 Lafayette Dr., Farmington, PA 15437 866.344.6957, nemacolin.com 10/11/2014 to 10/11/2014 Spirts on the Summit Tour Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site 110 Federal Park Rd., Gallitzin, PA 16641 814.886.6150, nps.gov This is an evening walking tour of the Summit area of Allegheny Portage Railroad NHS and includes the Engine House and Lemon House. Costumed guides share the darker stories of life along the Portage Railroad. Tours last 50 minutes, leaving approximately every 20 minutes. Reservations required. 10/11/2014 The Clarks The Palace Theatre 21 W Otterman St., Greensburg, PA 15601 724.836.8000 thepalacetheatre.org Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Laurel Region present The Clarks. 10/11/2014 Legends of Fort Necessity Fort Necessity National Battlefield 1 Washington Parkway, Farmington, PA 15437 724.329.8124, nps.gov 10/16/2014 Westmoreland Jazz Society Concert featuring RML Jazz Westmoreland Museum of American Art 1 Seton Hill Dr., Greensburg, PA 15601 724.837.1500. wmuseumaa.org 10/16/2014 to 10/19/2014 “A Young Frankenstein” Dinner & a Show Miss Martha’s Tea Room & Gifts 165 Pittsburgh St., Scottdale, PA 15683 724.887.6574, missmarthastearoom.com For the ticket price of $25 per person, enjoy dinner at Miss Martha’s Tea Room and “A Young Frankenstein” at Scottdale’s vin-tage theater, the Geyer Performing Arts Center. 10/17/2014 Twin Lakes Park Haunted Hobgoblin Hike Twin Lakes Park 724.830.3959 co.westmoreland.pa.us A half-mile outdoor hike through the haunted woods of Twin Lakes Park from 7pm to 9pm. Recommended for visitors 8 and older. Volunteers are needed for scare stations and trail guides. 10/17/2014 to 10/19/2014 20th Annual Pennsylvania Arts & Crafts Christmas Festival Washington County Fairgrounds 2151 N. Main St., Washington, PA 15301 724.863.4577, familyfestivals.com Get an early start on your Christmas decorating and holiday shopping!!! Explore
an abundance of arts, crafts and foods at over 230 booths in six heated buildings! 10/18/2014 AutumnFest Latrobe Community Revitalization Program 816 Ligonier Street, Suite 307, Latrobe, PA 15650 724.805.0112 latroberevitalization.corg 10/18/2014 Chili Oktoberfest 12:00 Noon to 6:00 p.m. - Murrysville Fire Department Pavilion - 3235 Sardis Road Come and join the fun at this annual event! The Chili Oktoberfest will be held on Saturday, October 18, from 12:00 Noon to 6:00 p.m. at the Murrysville Volunteer Fire Company Pavilion at 32351 Sardis Road, Murrysville. There will be ten entries from local restaurants, punkin' chunkin', and much more! Tickets are available through the Recreation Department at 724-3272100, Ext. 131. Cost is $10 per person and proceeds will benefit the Rotary Miracle Complex at Murrysville Community Park and the Polio Foundation. 10/18/2014 The Revels: The Grand Finale of our 75th Anniversary Season! Mountain Playhouse 7690 Somerset Pike, Jennerstown, PA 15547 814.629.9201 mountainplayhouse.org The Grand Finale of our 75th Anniversary Season! Jump, Jive & Wail with Dr. Zoot, Pittsburgh’s Red Hot Swing Band Gourmet Food Stations Cash Bar Silent & Wine Cellar Auctions Tuscany Room, Green Gables RSVP by Oct. 10, 2014 10/19/2014 Pittsburgh & the Cotton Industry Baltzer Meyer Historical Society, 642 Baltzer Meyer Pike, Greensburg, PA 15601. 2-4 pm www.westmorelandheritage.org Presented by Gary Link, detailing the significant role Pittsburgh played in the cotton industry in the 1840's. Free and public. 10/25/2014 Hands-On Glass Cutting Mount Pleasant Glass Museum, 402 East Main Street, Mount Pleasant, PA Opportunities for people of all ages to learn about cutting glass and have a chance to cut their own Mother's Day ornament. Cost: $15 a session. Children are welcome, so are Grandma & Granpa! Two sessions: 11.00am & 2.00pm. To reserve your space please call the museum, 724-547-5929. Events must be pre-paid. 10/23/2014 Haunted Illusions Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center 450 Schoolhouse Rd., Johnstown, PA 15904 814.269.7200, upjarts.org Master illusionist David Caserta will captivate you with dazzling spells and uproarious comedy in this family-friendly thriller. You will be stunned and amazed as LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST
Caserta makes people levitate, disappear, and reappear right in front of your eyes! You will witness never before seen illusions that have been created just for this show. Families will thrill, laugh and possibly vanish from sight at a magic spectacular like no other. Sponsored by: Lee Initiatives 10/24/2014 Cedar Creek Park Haunted Hobgoblin Hike Cedar Creek Park 724.830.3950 co.westmoreland.pa.us A half-mile outdoor hike through the haunted woods of Cedar Creek Park from 7pm to 9pm. Recommended for visitors 8 and older. Volunteers are needed for scare stations and trail guides. 10/24/2014 to 10/26/2014 Forever Plaid Greensburg Garden & Civic Center 951 Old Salem Rd., Greensburg, PA 15601 724.836.3074, ggccevents.org The Plaids, with a program of beloved songs and delightful patter, keep audiences rolling in the aisles when they’re not humming along to great nostalgic pop hits of the 1950s. 10/24/2014 to 10/26/2014 Halloween Hauntings Storytelling Tours Compass Inn Museum 1382 Route 30 East, Laughlintown, PA 15655 724.238.4983 compassinn.com Held the last full weekend in October, you will be entertained with spooky stories in an equally spooky setting. Parents will be advised beforehand which story locations may be unsuitable for young participants but there will be stories for every age. Join us for a night of ghostly entertainment. 10/24/2014 to 10/25/2014 Spirits of Fayette County Ghost Tours Fayette Chamber of Commerce 65 W. Main St., Suite 107, Uniontown, PA 15401 724.437.4571, fayettechamber.com 10/25/2014 The Murrysville-Export Rotary's Halloween Parade 11:00 a.m. It will follow a parade route along Old William Penn Highway from Mother of Sorrows Church to Town Center where it will turn onto the access road to the VFD and Medic One. Registration begins at 10:30 a.m. at the Mother of Sorrows Church lower level parking lot. For children under 6, there's a shorter route that begins at the Presbyterian Church, Laird Hall, on North Hills Road. Registration begins at 10:30 am at Laird Hall. 10/25/2014 Family Fall Day at Historic Hanna’s Town 809 Forbes Trail Road, Greensburg, PA The Westmoreland County Historical Society will present a day of special programs at Historic Hanna's on Saturday, October 25th. Every Story Begins At Home.
Ghosts Waiting at the Tunnel: Staple Bend is open as a separate area of Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site since 2001, near the town of Mineral Point, 5 miles from Johnstown. It is a two-mile walk from the area parking lot to the Staple Bend. Bicycles, but no motorized transport on limestone dust surfaced trail. Fall Family Day will feature 18th century toys & games, including 'hands on' activities, candledipping and crafts, dressing up as Colonials, and an open hearth cooking demonstration. The site is open for guided tours from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., including a tour of the Hanna's Town cemeteries at noon and 2:00pm. Admission for the tour and programs is $5 for the day. 10/25/2014 to 10/26/2014 Sand Hill Berries Annual Open House Sand Hill Berries 304 Deerfield Rd., Mount Pleasant, PA 15666 724.547.4760 sandhillberries.com Our Open House is a long standing tradition on our farm when we celebrate fall with our community. Enjoy live music all weekend in the Nectar Garden, food booths & fresh cider stands, special family recipe Cookie Booth, farm walks, storytelling, visit the Apple Barn, Gooseberry Theater, and more! 10/25/2014 Spirits of the Staple Bend Tunnel Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site Beech Hill Rd., Mineral Point, PA 15942 814.886.6150, nps.gov Join the staff and volunteers of Allegheny Portage Railroad National Historic Site for our popular fall program, “The Staple Bend Tunnel Ghost Tour.” The tour will take place on Saturday, October 25. Visitors will meet park staff at the Staple Bend Tunnel parking lot in Mineral Point, PA. 10/25/2014 to 10/26/2014 Fall Open House Glades Pike Winery 2208 Glades Pike, Somerset, PA 15501 814.445.3753 gladespikewinery.com We’d like to offer a big ‘ol, ‘THANK YOU,’ to some of the best customers ever. (We mean you.) So come in, grab your wine, and enjoy some food and music on us!
10/31/2014 Halloween Party Greendance-The Winery at Sand Hill 306 Deer Field Rd., Mount Pleasant, PA. 6-9 pm 724.547.6500, greendancewinery.com Join us for our First ever Halloween Party! 10/31/2014 to 11/1/2014 Rocky Horror Show Stage Right! 951 Old Salem Rd., Greensburg, PA 15601 724.832.SING Rocky Horror Show Stage Right Theatre Company is proud to present the tenth anniversary edition of The Rocky Horror Show Live Onstage! at the Greensburg Garden Civic Center, with shows at 8pm and midnight. 10/31/2014 Halloween Party at the Stone House Historic Stone House Restaurant 3023 National Pike, Farmington, PA 15437 724.329.2020, stonehouseinn.com Join us at the Stone House for our annual Halloween Party. Festivities to be announced! 10/31/2014 to 11/1/2014 Jumonville BRPA French & Indian War History Seminar Jumonville Christian Camp & Retreat Center 887 Jumonville Rd., Hopwood, PA 15445 724.439.4912, braddockroadpa.org The French & Indian War Seminar at Jumonville features a Bus Tour to Braddock, Pa. & a Reception on Fri. night, and top historians & museum directors, slide shows, music presentations, artifacts exhibits, rare book & print dealers, & Nat. Park displays on Sat. 10/31/2014 to 11/2/2014 Smicksburg Old Fashioned Country Christmas Smicksburg Specialty Shops 105 E. Kittanning St., Smicksburg, PA 16256 814.257.0192, smicksburg.net October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 41
11/1/2014 Marathon on the Mountain Seven Springs Mountain Resort 777 Waterwheel Dr., Seven Springs, PA 15622 800.452.2223 marathononthemountain.com Choose the marathon or half marathon to get the distance that is right for you. Both races will take you past multiple ponds, along charming country lanes and through some of the most scenic woods in Pennsylvania. 11/1/2014 and 11/6/2014 Wilderness Scavenger Hunt Latrobe Parks & Recreation This is a great family activity! Be amazed at the diversity & complexity of the various habitats in Creekside & Unity Park. Your challenge will be to find 50 items in 40 minutes! Fee: $5 per person. Phone: (724) 5374331. Email: jeannelpr@msn.com Website: www.latroberecreation.org Session 1: Group will meet at the Creekside Pavilion - at the end of E. Harrison Ave. on Saturday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. (registration due by Oct. 24) Session 2: Group will meet at the Unity Township Building on Thursday, Nov. 6 at 6 p.m. (registration due by Oct.31.) 11/1/2014 4th Annual Noe’s Night of Light DiSalvo’s Station Restaurant. 325 McKinley Ave., Latrobe. 412-441-4884 or info@ chomepgh.org. childrenshomepgh.org/ special-events/noes-night-of-light This year, proceeds from Noe’s Night of Light will benefit the Pediatric Specialty Hospital at The Children’s Home of Pittsburgh & Lemieux Family Center. 11/1/2014 Stamped- Saturday Art Class for Children Westmoreland Museum of American Art @rt 30 4764 State Route 30, Greensburg, PA 15601 724.837.1500, wmuseumaa.org In this studio class, we will be inspired by viewing some of the museum’s permanent collection. After our gallery tour, we will go back into the studio and use drawing, design, printmaking, and some unique techniques to create an unusual piece of printed art.
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11/1/2014 Tchaikovsky Festival The Palace Theatre 21 W. Otterman St., Greensburg, PA 15601 724.837.1850 thepalacetheatre.org, 7:30-9:30 pm 46th season opening night: Westmoreland Symphony Orchestra presents Tchaikovsky Festival. Conducted by Artistic Director Daniel Meyer with guest cellist Mark Kosower. 11/1/2014 to 12/14/2014 Candlelight Tours Compass Inn Museum 1382 Route 30 East, Laughlintown, PA 15655 724.238.4983 compassinn.com Saturdays and Sundays, reservations rqr’d 11/5/2014 Holiday Market Preview American Marketplace-The Shop at @rt 30 4764 State Route 30, Greensburg, PA 15601 724.837.1500, wmuseumaa.org The shop at the Westmoreland Museum of American Art @rt 30 is transformed for the holidays! Featuring one of a kind items created by contemporary American artists, craftsmen and designers, the shop is the perfect place to find unique gifts. Enjoy discounts, refreshments and free gift wrapping. 11/6/2014 Mad for Style Greensburg Garden & Civic Center 951 Old Salem Rd., Greensburg, PA 15601 724.836.1123 westmorelandculturaltrust.org Following the runway event, attendees will gather to sample delectable desserts while enjoying an opportunity to do some early holiday shopping in at our merchant emporium. 11/7/2014 Commemoration of George Washington’s Friendly Fire Incident Fort Ligonier, 200 South Market Street, Ligonier, PA 15658. 6-8 PM An evening program presented by noted artist, Chas Fagan. A Ligonier native, and a graduate of Yale University, Chas Fagan has gained national prominence and recognition as an accomplished and gifted portraitist, sculptor and painter.
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11/7/2014 2014-2015 Classic Film Series: Full Metal Jacket State Theatre Center for the Arts 27 E. Main St., Uniontown, PA 15401 724.439.1360 statetheatre.info Play a crazy game at every movie sponsored by The Herald Standard for a chance to win prizes! 11/7/2014 to 11/9/2014 Holiday Healthy Eating Wellness Workshop Nemacolin Woodlands Resort’s Spa Collection 1001 Lafayette Dr., Farmington, PA 15437 724.329.8555. nemacolin.com Spend time with health experts and Nemacolin Chefs to learn the secrets to healthy eating during the holiday months. Part of Nemacolin Woodlands Resort’s Wellness Workshops, enjoy everything from cooking classes to holistic massages... and time to unwind. 11/9/2014 Pests and Pathogens of Wild Game Powdermill Nature Reserve Sunday Lecture Series, 1 pm, Parker Rm Join us in the Parker Room of the nature center on the second Sunday of every month at 1 p.m. for a seasonally relevant nature talk. Weather permitting, each lecture will be followed by a brief foray into the field for an interpretive hike. Free; registration not required. 724) 593-6105 11/8/2014 Princess Tea Party Miss Martha’s Tea Room & Gifts 165 Pittsburgh St., Scottdale, PA 15683 724.887.6574. missmarthastearoom.com In addition afternoon tea, each child will make a special craft to take home. 11/11/2014 Veteran’s Day Fort Necessity Battlefield 1 Washington Pky., Farmington, PA 15437 724.329.8124 nps.gov/fone In honor of Veteran’s Day, enjoy free admission to National Parks 11/13/2014 Close to You Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center 450 Schoolhouse Rd., Johnstown, PA 15904 814.269.7200, upjarts.org Close to You: The Music of The Carpenters brings these classics back to the stage with spot-on renditions performed by singer Lisa Rock and her six-piece band.
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Every Story Begins At Home.
October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 43
11/22/2014 23rd Annual Holiday Parade City of Greensburg - Noon. Beginning at the top of North Main Street by the Middle School to 4th and Main Streets at City Hall
11/13/2014 to 11/15/2014 Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe Saint Emma Monastery & Retreat House 1001 Harvey Ave., Greensburg, PA 15601 724.834.3060, stemma.org Runs Thursday, November 13 (Early Bird Evening 4-7 pm, $5/person admission), Friday, November 14 (10-7) and Saturday, November 15 (10-3). 11/14/2014 Art on Tap 5.2.7 Westmoreland Museum of American Art @rt 30 4764 State Route 30, Greensburg, PA 15601. 724.837.1500, wmuseumaa.org Experience happy hour and the latest Pop-Up Exhibition at Westmoreland @rt 30! Enjoy beer from All Saints Brewing Company, wine, music by Detention, a scavenger hunt and fun with friends! This month’s sponsor is Mountain View Dental. 11/15/2014 Hike Murrysville Duff Park Hike. 9 am. Please meet at the Pavilion in Duff Park. For information, please visit www.murrysvilletrails.org. 11/14/2014 to 11/16/2014 Christmas Open House Neubauer’s Flowers & Market House 36 E. Church St., Uniontown, PA 15401 724.437.5500, neubauersflowers.com Neubauer’s Flowers & Market House is kicking off the Christmas season with their Annual Open House at the Market House. During the event there will be a special preview of their holiday collection. Refreshments will be served. 11/15/2014 Taste of Italy Wine Tasting BARC Flatiron Building Heritage Museum & Visitor Center 16 Race St., Brownsville, PA 15417 724.785.9331, barcpa.org The event showcases talented local vintners’ who provide their homemade wines for tasting & an array of appetizers to compliment the experience. There is also a Chinese Auction & a Grand Auction of Wines. 11/15/2014 Colonial Teas at Historic Hanna's Town 809 Forbes Trail Road, Greensburg, PA. 11:30 am - 4:00 pm Back by popular demand, Historic Hanna's Town will be hosting two sittings of this annual event. Guests will be served tea in the Klingensmith House, original early 1800's house, by servers dressed in Colonial period garb. Refreshments include sandwiches, scones, cakes and dessert with lashings of tea! Reserve your seat now! 2 sittings -11:30 am and 2:00 pm. The Gift Shop will also be open from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. Tickets $20.00 each. Call Westmoreland County Historical Society at 724-532-1935.
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11/15/2014 Hands-On Glass Cutting Class Mount Pleasant Glass Museum 402 E. Main St., Mount Pleasant, PA, 724.547.5929 Come join us and listen to Peter O’Rourke discuss how to cut glass and then do a little cutting of your own and take it home. The class is two hours long and the cost is $15. This is a family friendly activity suitable for all ages! 11/15/2014 to 12/20/2014 Snowflake Showcase Greensburgh Art Center/Rowe Gallery 230 Todd School Rd., Greensburg, PA 15601 724.837.6791 greensburgartcenter.org Shop an exciting selection of hand-made crafts, paintings, prints, jewelry, ceramics, textiles, ornaments, and other type handmade items for your holiday gift list. 11/16/2014 Holiday Arts Open House Glades Pike Winery 2208 Glades Pike, Somerset, PA 15501 814.445.3753 gladespikewinery.com Local artisans bringing their works together for a holiday shopping experience encouraging you to have a glass of wine while checking off that list! 11/21/2014 - 1/1/2015 Overly’s Country Christmas 116 Blue Ribbon Lane, Greensburg (724) 423-1400, www.overlys.com/ Celebrate the season at Overly’s Country Christmas®, a nonprofit committed to creating holiday memories with a Christmas Village that’s filled with an array of oldfashioned traditions and treats. Sing carols ‘round the bonfire, revel in the model train display, have your picture taken with Santa (in the days before Christmas), take a horse drawn wagon/sleigh ride or shop for gifts in the C. Edgar & Sons General Store plus much, much more as you experience the beauty of this traditional winter wonderland! Gates open at 5:30 p.m. For your best holiday experience in Christmas Village, arrive early or at least 1 hour before the scheduled closing time. Inclement weather such as high wind, ice and rain may result in an early closing or complete closing. By the Carload. $12, M-T. $15, F-S. $22 commercial vans. Call for group pricing. 5:30 - 9 pm daily.
11/22/2014 Three Centuries of Coffee at Historic Hanna's Town Historic Hanna's Town, 809 Forbes Trail Road, Greensburg, PA. 11:30 am - 4:00 pm Escape the inevitable hustle and bustle that comes with preparing for the holiday season by indulging with a friend or two in the ambiance of Historic Hanna's Town. Sample delicious fare and learn about the popularity and social role tea, coffee, and chocolate played in early America. Hot, 'stimulating' beverages like tea, coffee and chocolate were first introduced to Europeans in the early 1600s. These drinks were exotic and prohibitively expensive for everyone but the elite. It was primarily the aristocracy who could afford the ingredients, refined sugar, and special equipment, as well as the leisure time needed to enjoy these beverages. By the end of the century these hot drinks were enjoyed by the broad spectrum of society. In America, the popularity of coffee and chocolate increased during the Revolutionary War when many boycotted English products like tea. Coffee and Chocolate will be served on Saturday, November 22nd with seatings at 11:30am and 2:00pm. Guests will meet in Hanna's Tavern for a sampling and a brief history of the beverages. Heartier fare will be served in the Klingensmith House, and dessert in the Museum Shop. Tickets are $20 per person. Seating is limited and advance booking is a must. Please call 724-532-1935 x210 for reservations. A special Open House will be held at the Hanna's Town Shop during the teas from 1:00pm – 4:00pm. www.westmorelandhistory.org 11/28/2014 Santa's Arrival & Diamond Lighting Ligonier, 6:30 pm. visitligonier.com 11/29/2014 25th Annual Festival of Lights Braddock Trail Chapter, NSDAR Warden Mansion - Mount Pleasant, PA Trees and lights are given to individuals and organizations that in turn decorate the trees and donate them back to the Festival. (724) 423-3275
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Every Story Begins At Home.
October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 45
END NOTES by Cathi Gerhard
“The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become visible.” –Vladimir Nabakov
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LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST
Valley School ad “7 reasons to consider valley�
Every Story Begins At Home.
October 2014: Celebrating 10 Years! - 47
Promoting the Chamber Event
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LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST