Thevalley april2018online

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Serving Mifflin County and the surrounding area.

The Valley A free newspaper dedicated to agriculture, self-reliance, frugal living, and modern homesteading.

Take a Break From the Mainstream Madness Volume 9, No. 4

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The Valley, April 2018

Organic Lawn Care For The Health Of It

Recent studies have indicated that our bodies are being inundated daily with chemicals that are causing us numerous health problems. These are chemicals that were not present 30 years ago and chemicals that were never properly tested for safety due to industry lobbyists and greedy politicians.

Now exposure to these chemicals varies depending on lifestyle, as farmers may obviously be the most exposed, but the fact that the presence of Glyphosate in the urine of humans in the last 20 years has increased 1,200% on average can not be a good thing.

Glyphosate has been linked in studies to certain cancers, and in some cases, it is being sprayed on your food! Glyphosate, in case you aren’t aware, is the widely used product called Round-up.

Glyphosate isn’t the only exposure we humans face on a daily basis, some of it is unavoidable. Wouldn’t it be nice to create a chemical-free sanctuary at your home, that you, your children and pets can enjoy without being fearful of what potential hazardous chemicals they are in contact with?

Organic Lawncare is the answer to the chemical merchants that most lawncare services have become. Even better is the fact that organic lawncare is not only affordable, but over time will cre-

ate a lush paradise at your home due to the practice improving and feeding your soil.

Harsh chemicals that have become the industry standard are sterilizing your soil, killing essential microbes and resulting in the need for more chemicals to support growth. Have you ever noticed how thick and lush the forest is? No one adds anything to produce growth, it is a natural process that works quite well and as intended.

Along with organic lawncare, we should also look at how pests are managed. Certainly everyone is aware that there are plenty of poisons available for controlling pests. But what about your children and pets that play in your yard? Are you OK with them contacting the poisons sold in stores to control bugs?

Years ago I figured out that after applying the over the counter flea treatments to our cats and dogs, they would seem lethargic for a day or two afterward. In my mind, these treatments are hazardous to your pet’s health. No one wants a flea infestation, or worse yet, ticks carrying Lyme disease (extremely preva-

lent here in central PA) to infect their children, so spraying poison was the “go to” method.

Several years ago, our organic lawncare professional, Job Swarey of Swarey’s TLC Lawncare informed me of Organic pest treatments that also included control of fleas and ticks. I was skeptical at first, but not wanting to ap-

Veritas vos Liberabit

ply poison on my dogs, I figured it was worth a try. Our dogs spend almost all day outside from April to October and I am happy to say, we have been flea and tick free since we started with the organic program. Not having to worry about my pets’ health or our own was a great relief, so when Job informed me that he was about to make a drastic life change by moving to Alberta Canada to take on a position that he most couldn’t turn down working in his wife’s family business, I instantly became concerned about our wonderful flea and tick program. There was no reason for concern, Job had brought family into his business that is remaining here in order to continue the service he started in this area.

Christopher Peachey, owner of the newly named Premier Lawn Solutions, assured me that the transition will be seamless and provided the following.

“Premier Lawn Solutions is a locally owned company in Mifflin County PA. Our primary focus is first,

to provide residences and businesses with thick, green and weed free lawns. It is well known that healthy turf grass can; • Provide a natural and safe setting for families, sports and activities • Releases oxygen that cools the environment • Acts as a buffer to purify our water supply • Acts as a natural air conditioner to create a cooling effect on hot summer days and • Increases the value of our homes and businesses

I am also happy to announce I have partnered up with BeeSafe to offer you an organic alternative to the conventional 4-step lawn treatment. Our BeeSafe programs create healthy lawns without the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides as control products. Our goal is to fertilize appropriately, improve the soil without all the harsh products that tend to sterilize the soil from which your grass grows.

All BeeSafe products feed the soil through the introduction of select beneficial microbial species allowing them to facilitate the natural process inherent to healthy plant growth. We blend a diverse array of beneficial soil microorganisms with natural plant

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The Valley, April 2018

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Editor’s Corner Wayne Stottlar

The drums of Civil War are beating louder and louder, can you hear them? There is a Revolution coming.

Our rights are something we are born with, government does not grant us our rights! Our rights came before there was any government, and our rights were affirmed in our Bill of Rights, not granted. The Bill of Rights, (the first 10 amendments to our Constitution) were purposely protected and can NOT be changed or amended, otherwise there would not even be a country. Founders like George Mason, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and

a Virginian, along with another Virginian, Edmund Randolph, and Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts, refused to sign the Constitution until those 10 Amendments were guaranteed in a protective cover of a “Bill of Rights.”

So while the media and leftist activist like the poster boy for socialism, David Hogg, are whipping the ignorant into a frenzy, gun owners or supporters are counting on our founding documents to save the day. Be warned, however, these kids marching are NOT spontaneous. They are being manipulated by anti-American, liberty and freedom hating adults.

The media is being dishonest (I’m shocked) in their reporting making it look like there is wide spread support for something that can NOT happen without igniting another Civil War. Hogg has no clue about what is in our

Constitution, they don’t teach that in our public schools anymore, so it is blatently obvious that this agenda is much more than just some ignorant kids who have zero knowledge of what they are asking for. The 2nd amendment is clear as day to an honest inquisitor, “.....shall NOT be infringed .....” means just that, so, other solutions must be found. If you do not feel ready to debate one of these clueless media stars, I suggest getting involved and sign up for KrisAnne Hall’s “Liberty University” advertised in this issue. Knowledge is power, and the best weapon to combat those who dont’ have a clue. I know one thing for certain, as an owner of guns, I for one, WILL NOT turn anything in regardless of the laws passed, because those laws are null and void according to the “fathers of the Constitution,” Thomas Jefferson and James Madison: ‘All laws which are repugnant to the Constitution are null and void.’

Switching gears to election integrity, is it any wonder government produces fixes that are just going to cost more money and be just as ineffective? With digital and electronic voting, you will always have vulnerabilities. The fix is to go back to paper ballots, and an X in the box of choice.

Then human counters with watchers from either side. It may take longer for results, but they will be more accurate than now, or is that not the goal? a

Contact Info Editor/Publisher Wayne Stottlar Graphic Artist/ Co-Publisher Lynn Persing The Valley PO Box 41 Yeagertown, PA 17099 (717) 363-1550 E-mail: thevalleynewspaper@gmail.com Web: www.thevalleynewspaper.com ©The Valley. All Rights Reserved.

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The Valley, April 2018

A Set Apart Occasion

by Mark Ostrowski

In a previous edition of The Valley, I shared how our congregation, Lev Y’shua Messianic Congregation, was proceeding with a construction project to update our Assembly Hall. I am pleased to report that all renovations are complete and the building was dedicated on the Sabbath of March 24th. As lead Elder, I was blessed to be able to share the following prayers and remarks with all who were present that day.

Brothers & Sisters, this is a day of celebration, as we recognize the work of our great Elohim within our midst. Blessed be His Name, who does wondrously, exceedingly, great and mighty works on behalf of His people, Israel.

On this Shabbat, a week into the biblical new year, we mark a new beginning for Lev Y’shua.

A beginning exemplified by the renewed surroundings in which we find ourselves. A building that was once essentially a shell, has been outfitted, equipped, and fortified to now be boldly used for Kingdom purposes. So too are we, when we enter into the new birth spoken of by Messiah.

We were once shells, but are now being outfitted, equipped, and fortified to be boldly used for Kingdom purposes.

Now today, as we formally dedicate this place today to the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth, we ask that He not only fill these four walls with His Spirit, but more importantly, the vessels that will occupy these premises.

For today we are not simply dedicating a building, but also a place and a people. Therefore, let us dedicate this place to unity. Unity in the body of Messiah. A place where love for the brethren is cultivated. A place where zeal for Yahweh permeates all that we do.

Let us commit to be a flourishing fellowship emblematic of the Kingdom.

It is no mistake that we are established here in the middle of Big Valley. Geography is important to YHWH. Consider what is revealed to us in Acts 17:25-

27: He is not served by human hands, as if He needed anything.

Rather, He himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one

of us.

In Genesis 12:1, The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household to the land I will show you”.

We also see in scripture that Israel, Jerusalem, and the Temple Mount are important places to the Almighty.

Likewise, YHWH has appointed our time and place. And here we stand today. We just celebrated Purim and in the wise words of Mordecai, paraphrased for us today, we have been called for such a time as this. Our Great God makes no mistakes, our time in history and the places we inhabit have beforehand been established. Indeed, even the location of our Assembly Hall is important to Him. While we await His ingathering here in the dispersion, (the galute in Hebrew), as a congregation, we have a hub from which to engage in good deeds, things that are good and profitable for mankind. A place where we can settle and tend to Kingdom matters, shining forth the light of our Redeemer’s love and Truth.

As Anne Frank noted: “Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.” From this tiny hill, we have opportunity to shine forth His light to the communities of this valley and beyond.

Before we dedicate this build-

ing, let us dedicate ourselves to the mission which the Elders previously discerned: that we would devote ourselves to be a body of believers who desire to nurture a holistic community of love and encouragement, honoring both the written and living Torah, our corner.

Messiah Y’shua, through worship, corners and porticos of this meet• Next, we name the East Door inghouse, taking our cue from the Davidic dance, study of His word, Binah, Understanding; reprewisest man who ever lived, Solooutreach, and individual accountsenting the feast of The Feast of ability, being led by the Ruach ha- mon. In 1Kings 7:21, Solomon Unleavened Bread. named the pillars of the Temple, Kodesh (Holy Spirit) as revealed • SE Corner, we shall call “He erected the pillars at the through the Etzah, Counsel; representing portico of the temple. The pillar word of EloFirst Fruits or Yom haBikto the south he named Jakin and him (God). As kurim. the one to the north Boaz, which we live out our • Our South Facing Door will translated means, :He shall estabmission, we lish and in its strength”. No doubt be Ruach Yahweh, Spirit of God; will then experepresenting the middle, supportconveying the idea that YHWH rience a thriving branch of the menorah which ing, safe, Torah will establish His purposes in also recalls to mind Shavuot, the His strength. We also note that Observant, central feast in YHWH’s annual Acts 3:2 states: …the gate of the Spirit-Filled feast cycle.

Temple, which is called beautiful.

Community • The South Facing Door Therefore, it seems only right and of Believers fitting that we consider names for on the porch, will be known as in Central PA, the supporting posts and porticos Gvurah, Power; and relates to the grounded upon of our building. feast of Trumpets.

The Rock, The

In this spirit, we choose to • The SW Corner will be Lion of Judah, name the: known as Daat, the spirit of Y’shua The Messiah, living out • NE Corner, Chokmah, Knowledge; also representing lives rooted in His right rulings Wisdom; representing Passover, Yom Kippur. and commandments, functioning which comes early in the year • Our NW Corner, we will as a light to the nations, focused when the sun rises closest to that on Yahweh’s Kingdom to come.

Continued on page 5

And, so, today, Father, we commit ourselves and dedicate ourselves to , inc. you and to the mission YOur mEtal rOOfiNg & and vision You have set sidiNg suPPlY cENtEr before us.

HalleluYah! Now, as Roll Forming Metal Roofing we turn our & siding in smooth & textured attention to this wondersnap-loc standing seam in smooth ful environ& textured ment in which we find stOcKiNg: ourselves, we seek to trims & accessories dedicate this place and all Soffit that matches that goes on all colors & cut to size herein to our great Elohim, lumber the God of Avraham, sliding door accessories Yitzak, & Israel. As a Windows • Doors sign of our commitment 31 iNdustrial rOad insulation to our King, we chose to m-f 6 a.m. tO 4:30 P.m. name the four

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The Valley, April 2018

4

Something horrible happened.

I missed the chili cookoff that I was raving about in last month’s column. I had the date set in my mind, and didn’t bother to make a calendar reminder. Well, my mind failed me as it so often does these days, and the cookoff came and went without me! All that delicious chili and I didn’t get to taste any of it. I was NOT happy with myself when I realized it!

As I write this, I’m seeing reports of snow tomorrow on April 2. Those who stopped watching the weather so closely because it’s “Spring” may be a little surprised when they wake up tomorrow morning and see a

blanket of white on the ground.

My daffodils are starting to bloom and I’m not sure they are going to appreciate being covered in snow either. I will say, however, that this Easter weekend’s sunny and somewhat warmer temperatures were a welcome treat from the dreary, drizzly weather we’ve had the past week.

I live in Mifflin County, but I work in Centre County.

As I make the drive back and forth, I’m disappointed at the vast amounts of trash along our roadways. I notice it especially on the stretch of 322 eastbound from the base of Seven Mountains all the way to the Reedsville

Mustard pickled eggs. A twist on the more traditional pickled red beets and eggs.

exit. When I read Pam Sechrist’s article in this issue (Page 19), I have to agree that litter enforcement either needs to be put at a higher priority or we need a better plan to keep our county clean. It really is appalling to see all that trash.

I’m thinking about organizing a cleanup for a stretch of that road this spring and if you’d like to join me, then please contact thevalleynewspaper@ gmail.com. If I can come up with a few volunteers, I’ll contact the PA Department of Transportation and see how we go about getting bags and vests for safety. I’m really sick of looking at it!

Changing subjects entirely, I recently saw a controversy about whether pickled beets and eggs should have sugar added to the recipe (my recipe does) and so while I was searching recipes online just out of curiosity, I came across a unique recipe for pickled eggs—Mustard Pickled Eggs. These might be really good to make into deviled eggs after pickling. Hmmmm.... I haven’t tried these yet, but maybe I’ll give it a whirl this summer. If it has mustard, I have a feeling my Dad will be a fan, but I can already see Wayne wrinkling up his nose.

Pickled Eggs with Mustard —from gazette.com 2 C white vinegar 2 Tblsp mild mustard--I used plain yellow prepared mustard 1/2 C water 1 C sugar 1 Tblsp salt 1 Tblsp celery seed 1 Tblsp mustard seed 6 whole cloves--the spice 1/8 tsp turmeric--optional-my addition to bump up the yellow color naturally 2 onions, sliced thin 12 hard boiled eggs, peeled

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Add everything except onions and eggs to sauce pan, bring to a boil, mix well (I used a whisk), reduce to simmer for 10 minutes.

Remove from heat and cool.

Layer onions and eggs in jar, cover with pickle brine.

Cover with lid, place in fridge, let marinate at least 24 hours.

I guess that’s a wrap for this month. I can’t wait to start seeing my daffodils and tulips blooming in the weeks ahead. Spring will come despite the forecast for tomorrow! a

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The Valley, April 2018 A Set Apart Occasion from page 3 name Yirat Yahweh, Reverence; and is a reminder of Sukkot. • Coming back to the overhead door, we will name it Keytsi Ruach, Fruit of the Spirit; representing Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness, & SelfControl, attributes that we all must work toward by the power of the Holy Spirit to properly equip us for His Kingdom purposes.

Let these names always serve as a

reminder that as we enter herein, we enter the full counsel of our mighty Elohim and have access to all the Kodesh Ruachim (Holy Spirits) that flow from His throne.

Now, Abba, Father, we dedicate this building to you and anoint each of these porticos and corners with oil as a symbol of its set apart use for your set apart people. Thank you for Your loving kindness in allowing us such a comfortable, welcoming environment in which we can study, worship, praise, and fellowship with You and each other. We ask

that you will bless our going out and coming in from this day forth and forever more, in the name of our mighty Messiah, Yahshua of Nazareth, in whose name we pray.

Amen.

Founder and President of The Stewardship Group in Bel-

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leville, Mr. Ostrowski earned his Master of Science Degree in Financial Services from The American College in Bryn Mawr, Pa in 2007. He currently serves as Congregational Chairman and Lead Elder for Lev Y’shua Messianic Congregation. His articles

ponder various contemporary topics evaluating them from a political, economic, and scriptural point of view. His complete remarks may be viewed and shared online at www.levyshua.org a

The Valley, April 2018

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About Faith

by Rev. Robert Zorn, Visitation Minister, Lewistown Presbyterian Church

At the time of this writing, snow still covers most of the fields of the nearby farms. As we are getting along toward the time of planting, some of the fields have already been plowed, albeit this activity had been done in the late fall or winter. “there is a time to plant and time to pluck up what is planted” (Ecclesiastics 3::2 b). In anticipation of the planting of the grain and other crops, it is understood that a rich and fallow seedbed must be prepared. For most of the preparation, much labor is involved and repetitive actions are required to break down the

rough furrows with the use of harrows, drags and other machines to pulverize the soil so that it may provide a suitable environment for the seeds to germinate and grow.

This writer has spent enough time between the handles of a horsedrawn plow to know that freshly plowed ground is not always so hospitable to seeds. Nothing can properly grow so long as there are coarse, rough untilled areas.

Sometimes ground that has been plowed too wet makes clods, which will not provide a place where plants may grow, nor can ground containing bothersome

rocks and roots. And there is the troublesome snow, which keeps the earth from warming to the temperature for germination.

My father, a lifelong farmer and the most wise person I have ever known, was familiar with all the legends and folklore of rural living, often quoted some of his predecessors in the practice of agricultural husbandry. One such quotation, which he said he often heard from his father, was this: “snow is the poor man’s fertilizer.” In a way it was. It retained the moisture in the ground instead of washing out the best soil by

My Percyving Eye

by Percy R. Wilson, Jr. Evangelist, The Church of Christ at Milroy Only Fools Deny The Resurrection Of Jesus

Our month of April this year began on a Sunday. Some calendars mark the day as “Easter Sunday” and/or “April Fool’s Day,” As the resurrection of Jesus our Lord may be in our thoughts, I wanted to consider a few things regarding it, because believing it is not foolishness.

Many modern thinkers, and theologians, have attempted to disregard the miracle of the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the most significant event in human history. To not believe in it is as futile as to not believe in God himself. Note the inspired words of the psalmist David,

“The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.” (Psalm 14:1, NKJV)

God’s word has many comments about fools, much of it in the book of Proverbs. What is known about fools from the Bible is that they do not accept God, nor do they live by His counsel.

In the first century, the apostle Paul, in writing of the Lord’s crucifixion said: “but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness,” (1 Corinthians 1:23, NKJV)

The crucifixion of Jesus may seem to be foolishness to man, but the crucifixion of Jesus was in the Father’s plans for man’s redemption. The apostle Peter said this in the first gospel sermon: “Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death;” (Acts 2:23, NKJV)

Jesus, Immanuel, God with us, came to this world to give himself for sinful mankind. As He said, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45, NKJV)

Jesus came to serve, and serve He did! He predicted how He would die on numerous occasions. One of these, just days

before He entered Jerusalem: “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.”(Matthew 20:18–19, NKJV)

Jesus predicted His betrayal, crucifixion and resurrection. Yes, He predicted that He will rise again on the third day. And that He did! If He did not do as He predicted, He was and is the biggest liar and fraud of all time, and not the true Son of God.

The chapters of Matthew 28, Mark 16, Luke 24 and John 20 and 21 are filled with eye-witnesses’ details of at least ten post resurrection appearances by Jesus.

He arose, and only a fool could state otherwise. The message of the bodily resurrection of Jesus was proclaimed by the Gospel writers such as Paul.

“For I delivered to you first of all

erosion. Also, the freezing and thawing of the earth would make the soil more mellow and malleable so that mechanical treatments would be easier and more rewarding at harvest time.

With patience and hard labor for both man and beast (horses), the fields would finally be ready for planting. The Psalmist of ancient time was aware of the necessary annual cycle : Psalm 65: 9-11 states : “You visit the earth and water it; you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it. . You water its furrows abundantly settling its ridges, softening it with showers and blessing its growth.’ This seemingly endless cycle of plowing, soil preparation, and seeding is reminiscent of our Lenten study guided by the book entitled Sacred Rhythms written by Ruth Haley Barton, which guides us through steps of preparation for the awareness of God in our lives. To be sure, even the rough furrows of life; sickness, trials, hardships, seem to let us become

more aware of the providence of God by softening the sharp edges of trials and hardships, which happen to all of us. The Prophet Isaiah states it this way: ( Isaiah 55: 10,11) “For as the rain and snow come down from heaven and do not return there until they have watered the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that goes out from my mouth”

For many of us, our lives resemble a cold fruitless field. But before us there lay the opportunity to be blessed and to be a blessing to others. The experiences of our lives as we grow and learn from them, enables us to become fruitful. Our Lenten season of preparation encourages us to smooth the furrows of life and to find the fallow field as portrayed in the parable of the sower (Mark 4:3) who sought and found good soil from which came abundant harvest. So may we allow the good seed to be fruitful among us. a

that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, (1 Corinthians 15:3–4, NKJV)

Belief in that resurrection is absolutely necessary if one desires to be a Christian. We ascertain this from a conversation Jesus had with Thomas, yes the doubting apostle Thomas: “Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”

And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:27–29, NKJV)

It is this resurrection that

showed the power of God to raise one from the dead, and declared Jesus to be the Son of God. “concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead.” (Romans 1:3–4, NKJV)

Instead of foolishly explaining away the bodily resurrection of Jesus, the greatest event in human history, we should accept it as the fact it is. Hallelujah! Christ arose!

Percy R. Wilson, Jr. Evangelist, The church of Christ at Milroy preacherpercy@comcast.net 717-667-7346 My Percyving Eye a

Family Hospice, Part of UPMC Home Nursing Agency, Offers Free Grief Support Group in Lewistown Family Hospice and Palliative Care, Part of UPMC Home Nursing Agency (HNA), is offering a free Grief Support Group on the third Tuesday of each month from April to December. The group will meet from 11 a.m. to noon at Home Nursing Agency’s Mifflin County office, 129 South Main St., Suite T, Lewistown.

Facilitated by Family Hospice Social Worker Mark McLaren, this support group is free and open to all members of the community grieving the loss of a loved one. Grief can be very difficult and painful at times, so those grieving are invited to come and share their thoughts, express their feelings and discuss how to work through the grieving process.

For more information, please contact McLaren at 1-800-445-6262.

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The Valley, April 2018

Dave Wilson

Coins, Precious Metal and a Little of this and That

Economic Crisis

Thirty years ago, we started to warn customers about the “possibility” of a severe liquidity crisis, due, in part, by the (at that time) “whopping” 2+ trillion dollar National Debt that the US had started racking up during the Reagan administration. Two trillion dollars was simply an unthinkable amount and such extreme deficits just couldn’t be maintained for very long. Lou Dobbs, then the anchor of a nightly television show called “Moneyline” on

CNN, would talk about our everincreasing National Debt, and the huge monthly trade imbalances we were continuously experiencing. All of this, we were told, would certainly, at some point soon, create a world-wide credit squeeze that could bring down the entire world’s financial system!

Had normal (old-fashioned, but real) accounting principles still been adhered to, such an economic meltdown would certainly have occurred as expected.

Still, the extreme borrowing continued, and the US National Debt mushroomed 500% to a paltry 10 trillion dollars by 2008. Finally, the liquidity crisis we had expected years earlier came to pass, and the world’s financial system started to crash to the ground.

That financial crash should have been allowed to happen, but for reasons we still have not figured out, the Federal Reserve refused to allow it, and began

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pumping huge amounts of freshly created cash into the markets to stop the meltdown in its tracks.

While their efforts did spare us all from extreme financial hardship at that moment, their efforts have set up an even worse situation now, nearly ten years later.

Nothing has been rectified, and any collapse now will be multiples worse that what we would have experienced in 2008!

Since that time, it is believed that the FED has created as much as 15 to 20 trillion new dollars that are sloshing around out there somewhere, ready to come back to the US and create mega inflation. If another situation, as we experienced in 2008, were to happen again, and experts are expecting just that (and soon), the Federal Reserve would be powerless to ride in and save the day as they did in the fall of 2008.

Most experts agree that we are very close to a new breaking point. Stock market “insiders”

(Corporate Presidents, Boardsof-Directors, C-E-O’s, etc) have been running for the exits and dumping their shares for nearly a year. Global Central Banks are massively accumulating gold for what they see as an imminent Debt Bubble collapse. The US retail community is crumbling before our very eyes. The new tax cut plan will add trillions to an already out-of-control (21 trillion plus) National Debt, and new tariffs will probably ignite a nasty trade war that will further cripple an already weakened US economy.

If you do not already have your financial house in order, there is little time remaining to make those preparations.. Even if you have been vigilant in your planning, the coming economic calamity is going to be a very drawn-out and nasty affair. a

The Valley, April 2018

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Fear “He has not learned the lesson of life who does not every day surmount a fear.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson Fear can only result in one of two diametrically opposed outcomes: Stagnation or Growth.

Fear is often left with a bad rap, but it is not the problem, it is rather the negotiator. People negotiate poorly with it. Fear presents us with endless opportunities to overcome, charge forward, awaken, and take back control.

Why should we blame it when we willfully choose to let it reign over us? We let it encompass us, silence us, stall us, we let it force us into retreat and envelop us in

our own self-made prisons.

The media, (some forms of) government, and coercive entities at large operate by continually spoon-feeding fear to the masses.

Fear is a powerful debilitating force; it renders otherwise logically sound men/women to accept the cost of promised security no matter how high. This is where poor negotiation comes into play.

Instead of allowing fear to motivate us into preparing ourselves to overcome any and all adversities that lay ahead, we instead allow it to drive us into a stand-down, when we really should be standing up. When blinded by fear, down in a hole, any hand reaching down is readily and enthusiastically

grabbed.

However, maybe if we would have grappled in the dark just a little bit longer, we would have been able to locate the ladder right beside us.

It’s a hard realization to make that the hand laid out to help is not always done so in good faith. It’s easy to forfeit personal responsibility and accept the ready made solutions. It’s also more comfortable—it’s so much easier to just go along for the ride, why drive? (I will assume it’s a given that at times everyone needs the aid of family, friends, and community. This is not the nature of the argument. In the presented scenario the manufacturer of fear is also posing as the savior.)

Public schools are becoming increasingly perceived and/or portrayed as violent places, larger and larger percentages of students are being treated with anti-depressants, anti-anxiety, and “mellowing” medications, and the quality of education is on a downward

slide and we are becoming less and less competitive in comparison with other developed countries. Does it make more sense to look at the institution itself or an object that relates to only a fraction of the large-scale issues? One is a harrowingly complex and an ingrained necessity, the other is an easy scapegoat, which will be replaced over and over again down the line, as needed. Does it make more sense for parents to seek alternatives (home, private, charter, cyber) or to continue to increasingly model education after another failed venture—the prison system?

There is a massive problem with our public school systems, and we SHOULD be afraid. What

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we should not do is let that fear back us into a corner and accept the outstretched hand offering restriction after restriction masquerading as sound solutions. We’re smarter than that and braver than that. We can take that fear and use it as the first stepping stone to overhaul a failing educational system. Fear is not the end, its the beginning. a

9

The Valley, April 2018

Understanding the Constitution

by David Molek

Don’t Take The Blame

Although I have written about the 2nd Amendment on numerous occasions, the Florida school tragedy has the mainstream media in a frenzy for gun control. It is time for a reminder and reality check.

Our Declaration of Independence sets forth our essential American principles. Every person is endowed by nature or God with fundamental rights. These include life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Therefore, given that peoples’ rights are God-given and natural, they preexist government. In plain words, the rights come first and the government comes second. The purpose of our government as stated in our Declaration of Independence is to protect the existence and exercise of peoples’ God-given natural rights.

Since the Florida gun massacre, progressives and liberals inevitably respond that it is time to repeal the 2nd Amendment. Their

idea is that if the 2nd Amendment is gone, so will the right to own guns in the United States..

However, that position is wrong.

If you read the 2nd Amendment, it is like the 1st Amendment and it does not give anyone any rights.

Instead, it prohibits the federal government from infringing on rights that are God-given, natural and preexist government.

Thus, people do not have the right to own guns because of the 2nd Amendment, just as people don’t have the right of free speech because of the 1st Amendment.

They exist whether the Bill of Rights, our Constitution and the federal government are there or not.

Everyone would like to prevent school shootings. However, it is important to look at facts for possible solutions. The issues, in my opinion, to focus on are mental health, our culture, family breakdown and the fake news of

the main stream media. Political agendas are suppressing true efforts to enhance school safety.

It is obvious that even some of the children are being used and manipulated with little awareness of the real issues.

Firearms are used in self-defense hundreds of thousands times per year; but you hardly ever read or hear about those uses. Most gun-related crimes are carried out with illegally acquired firearms.

Well over 90% of public mass shootings take place in “gun-free zones” where civilians are not legally permitted to carry firearms. An estimated 60% of mass public shooters were diagnosed with a mental disorder or had demonstrated signs of serious mental illness.

Lawmakers should not blindly rush to create new laws that violate Godgiven natural or constitutional rights while ignoring the root

The Truth Has No Agenda

causes of complex, societal problems that deserve the attention. Many of us believe that far from being the source of violence, guns are often the solution. New laws will not keep guns from criminals any more than current ones have. New laws will only make it more difficult for law-abiding people to protect themselves, their families and their homes.

The rule of law is the foundation of America. However, it is appropriate to keep in mind that although the power of our federal government is vast, it is expressly limited. Government cannot assume authority beyond its lawful mandate. It is quite obvious in listening to many gun control

advocates too that few American citizens know and understand the details or history of our Constitution or our Declaration of Independence. Just because a personal or political policy changes, our Constitution does not. It was made to last and has done quite well so far even with constant liberal, progressive and judicial activist attacks.

Our Constitution comes with a condition—you need to keep it, just like we used to “keep the Sabbath.” Proponents of the socalled “living” Constitution aim to transform our nation’s supreme law beyond recognition. Social media is going berserk. Entities are using tax dollars to promote gun control, contrary to our Constitution. We need to speak up. We need to be heard loudly and clearly. The NRA is not the enemy. Don’t let the main stream media and gun control activists blame you and I for the actions of criminals. a

The Valley, April 2018

10

Spring Cleaning With Essential Oils

YAY! Spring is here and that means SPRING CLEANING. YES: I am excited spring is here.

NO: I am not excited about cleaning at all. But, I do like when it is all done and my house is clean.

The last few years I have moved to using pretty much all natural cleaning products that I make.

Not only is it MUCH cheaper, it is better for the wood, granite, linoleum and plastics that I clean AND better for the air my family breathes. The Environmental Protection Agency ranks indoor air pollution among the top environmental dangers, and much of this pollution comes from common cleaning products (or what we’ll call “indoor pollutants”)!

The disinfectant properties of essential oils make them a natural substitute for the harsh chemicals used in many commercial cleaners. Essential oils can inhibit or kill various types of bacteria, mold spores, and even viruses.

Essential oils also emit a fresh clean scent that works as natural deodorizers, without the artificial fragrances used in some products.

Here are three great essential oils you can use for cleaning and some recipes to follow. These essential oils are ones I use in my home and they are the three essential oils that make up Shade Moun-

tain Naturals new Clean & Green blend! They are: lemon, tea tree and pine.

CLEAN and FRESHEN with LEMON

Lemon essential oil has multiple benefits and uses. Lemon is a powerful cleansing agent that purifies the air and surfaces, and can be used as a non-toxic cleaner throughout the home. Naturally antibacterial and antiviral, lemon essential oil is commonly used to degrease stubborn stains as well as freshen the air. When diffused, lemon essential oil is very uplifting and energizing and has been shown to help improve mood.

Plus, it makes your home smell clean!

CLEANING USES: • Add Lemon essential oil to a spray bottle of water to clean tables, countertops, and other surfaces.

• Lemon EO makes a great furniture polish: simply add a few drops to a cup of olive oil to clean, protect, and shine wood finishes.

• Lemon EO is a great remedy for the early stages of tarnish on silver and other metals.

• Put lemon EO on a rag to help remove stubborn, sticky residue from surfaces.

• Add a drop or two to a dry erase board to remove marker residue.

• Add to baking soda to clean toilets, tile, and tubs.

• Diffuse to help neutralize odors.

• Use with a dish soap recipe to help cut grease.

• Add drops to white vinegar and use as a natural laundry softener rinse.

CLEAN and DISINFECT with TEA TREE

Tea Tree Essential Oil has over 92 different compounds and limitless applications. Is there anything tea tree oil can’t do? It fights germs, bacteria and viruses!

CLEANING USES: • Diffuse to cleanse and purify the air.

• Add a few drops to a spray bottle with water and use on surfaces to protect against germs.

• Add a couple of drops to soiled laundry loads to help remove odors.

• Use with vinegar to help cleanse

and purify dirty floors.

• Add to peroxide, water, and vinegar-soaked rags to clean high chairs and baby toys.

• Mix with lavender, carrier oil (e.g., fractionated coconut oil), and water to put on paper towels for great natural baby wipes.

• Add to equal parts water, peroxide, and alcohol. Stir in with rags.

Use as a natural cleansing wipe.

• Apply a drop to inside shoes for a refresher.

•Tea tree oil is a handy weapon against bugs, too. Add tea tree to a spray bottle with water, shake well, and spray outside and inside the home to deter lice and other pests.

CLEAN and DEODERIZE with PINE

Already a common ingredient in cleaners, pine oil is effective at killing yeast spores, E.coli and other household germs. Pine is perfect for ridding the bathroom of mold and mildew and cleaning hard floors while leaving a natural fresh scent.

CLEANING USES: • Makes a great furniture polish: add a few drops to olive (or any vegetable oil) to clean, protect and shine wood • Great for floors: mix a few drops in your bucket of hot water and mop away!

• Deodorize the air by diffusing.

• Saturate a few cotton balls with the oil mixture. Then hide them in bathrooms or any other odiferous locations around your home to naturally freshen the air.

• Not only will pine help produce

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purer, fresher air quality; but it can help you feel more alert and even be more productive, as well!

Vinegar for cleaning:

Vinegar is effective in reducing microbial contamination than the other alternative cleaners, but was least effective in removing soil. However: Do not clean natural stone, granite and marble with vinegar.

RECIPES

Let’s get started with some awesome cleaning recipes for around your home!

AIR FRESHENER 1/4 cup baking soda 5-6 drops essential oil (e.g., Lavender, Lemon, Cinnamon) • Place the jar around your home.

• You can use the same recipe as a carpet freshener. Vacuum after 10 minutes.

WOOD POLISH 1/4 cup white vinegar 1/4 cup olive oil 10 drops Lemon Essential Oil • Add ingredients to an 8oz glass spray bottle.

• Spray to protect wood furniture and wood floors.

HOMEMADE BLEACH 1/4 cup filtered water 1/4 cup hydrogen peroxide (3% solution) 1/2 TBS lemon juice 3 drops lemon essential oil • Add lemon essential oil to a 4oz

Continued on page 22

11

The Valley, April 2018

R. O. F. F.

Rescue Our Furry Friends

by Patricia Lawson

Organic Lawncare from front page extracts and organic nutrients to create microbial systems. These natural systems simultaneously feed the soil and plant, which allows plants to grow to their full potential.

A soil that is alive with biological activity creates the perfect environment for consistent growth and color, resistance to disease, a deeper and stronger root system and incredible resistance to pest and environmental extremes like heat and drought. Here at Premier Lawn Solutions we also offer other additional services like core aeration and over-seeding to help your lawn and landscape to look its best.

Above and beyond the products we use and the commitment to the environment and the health

by Patricia L. Bird

“That’s The Grange Way” April is Grange Month 2018

Dog gone it, we have not one, but two pooches to feature this month. They both have very appropriate names too—“Junior” and “Pop.” Yes, they also live up to their names since “Junior” is only one and “Pop” is around eight to nine years old.

Let’s meet these two cuties:

“Hola! That’s hi in Spanish. You see I’m one of the smallest dog breeds, a Chihuahua mix, and I’m named after the state of Chihuahua in Mexico. My name is ‘Junior.’ I’m only one year old and I’m neutered, crate trained, up-to-date on my shots and I’m working on getting house trained. It won’t be long now. I can be a bit shy at first, but I warm up quickly and speaking of warm, I love a warm lap to snuggle on. I like other dogs and cats just fine and as long as little humans are good to me, I’m good to them. Stop by for visit soon and see for yourself how perfectly I would fit into su casa, I mean your home.”

Home at the Grange

“Yep, I may be older than ‘Junior,’ but I still have some spunk. My name is ‘Pop.’ I’m a Jack Russel mix and I’m about 8-9 years old. I’m sharp as a tack and I love to go for walks, but a nice cozy lap works for me too. I am neutered, crate trained, vaccinated and doing well on house training.

Now I will tell you that I’m not fond of cats or other small animals, but I’m fine with respectful older children. These two tidbits were also put on my resume: ‘he warms up quickly and is very food motivated,’ but aren’t we all? Let’s set up a meet and greet soon, please? I really want a home to call my own.”

If you are interested in adopting “Junior” or “Pop,” please fill out our on-line application via our website of www.roffrescue.com or call 1-877-933-ROFF (7633).

We understand that not everyone can adopt a pet, but would you please consider making a donation to ROFF? Checks may be made out to ROFF and mailed to: Burnham, PA 17009. Thank you so much.

Until they all have homes… www.roffrescue.com; rescueourfurryfriends@yahoo.com a

of our families is our commitment to excellence. The appearance of turf is a subjective issue to say the least. There are times when your lawn will look wonderful and there are times, especially during difficult weather, that your lawn may not look its best. This is a natural process that at times is difficult to manipulate, but one thing we will always have control over is the commitment to treat our customers with respect.

Please see ad on page 31. a

Every year the Grange at all levels declares April as Grange Month. This year is no exception.

The National Grange is celebrating the Sesquicentennial Year of the Grange. This means that the Grange has been around for one hundred fifty years. It means that members have been working in America to support agriculture for one hundred fifty years. Celebrations will be held not only in Central Pennsylvania, but all over the state and the country.

Rural America will never be the same due to Grange. Grange has given rural Americans the ability to receive an education, opportunities to learn a career and has supported and fought for government regulations to make their lives better. Grange is one of the longest lasting organizations in America and it is time for Grange to celebrate all its accomplishments. In the small office of William Saunders, Superintendent of Propagating Gardens in the Dept. of Agriculture in Washington, DC, on December 4, 1887, the Order of Patrons of Husbandry (P of H), more commonly known as the Grange, was born. This meeting included the seven founding men, who are credited as the fore-fathers of Grange. They are Oliver Hudson Kelley, William Saunders, Aaron Grosh, William Ireland, Frances McDowell, John Thompson, and John Trimble.

Mr. Ireland and Mr. Grosh were both from Pennsylvania.

When National Master Betsy Huber made the comment “That’s the Grange Way,” she asked what members thought she was talking about. She stated that she thinks of American values, hometown roots, traditions and history, honesty, trustworthiness, fidelity, caring for others, helping communities, civic participation, legislation and local to national government. She further went on to state that Grangers hold leadership positions as senators, congressmen, local government members like commissioners and township supervisors, doctors, lawyers and so many other positions. A few of the well known Grange members include, Harry S. Truman, Eleanor Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and famous artist, Norman Rockwell.

The Truth Has No Agenda

Grangers use their hands to prepare not only the good food they are known for, but also quilts for the brave, throws for the sick, caps for small infants, mittens and so much more. Grangers are teachers, not only in the true occupation of educators, but as Sunday school teachers, 4-H leaders, Boy/ Girl Scout leaders and general volunteers. Grangers are DOERS. Grange members are proud of our history, but also very loyal to the group and stay true to our heritage and roots.

So as the title of my article implies, the Grange theme for Grange Month 2018 is “That’s The Grange Way”. After such a successful year last year as DOERS, the Grange family as they are usually known has proven that are DOERS. They volunteer their time and efforts to support not only the Grange but also their local community, but also at state and even national events. Grange members are elementary citizens.

They believe in the motto of Grange which states that we place our faith in god, nurture hope, dispense Charity and are noted for Fidelity. Grangers want the whole world to know that by learning the Grange Way, you are going to find grangers working to improve the lives of any and all that they meet.

Philip Vonada

Last November the National Grange Session was held in Spokane, Washington. Pennsylvania was represented by many from Pennsylvanians. Not only is the National Master, Betsy Huber from Chester County, PA, but the PA State Master and his wife Debbie served as the official representatives from PA and the two Young Patrons, which included Jenn Nauss and Centre County’s

own Philip Vonada. Also, the PA Junior Grange Matron, Lurae Benzio and her daughter Sara, were asked to be part of the official intern and press team.

Lastly, Amanda Brozana-Rios, who is the National Grange Communications Director who grew up in Orwigsburg, PA was also there along with several Pennsylvania Grange members. Jenn Nauss nudged Philip out of being named National Young Patron after a highly competitive contest.

Philip Vonada grew up as part of Penns Valley Grange #158 located in Spring Mills. During his junior years he served as the PA Junior Prince when he was fourteen years old. He also served as the PA State Youth Ambassador. Philip has attained all seven degrees of the Grange and has served on the Youth and Junior Committees.

Throughout the last several years, he has served as an officer on the PA State Grange Youth Drill team and has been the Overseer and Master on the National Youth Drill Team. Philip also likes to participate in the Sign-A-song competition, which he won, and also in Grange Jeopardy, along with doing public speaking.

Philip has been a Grange member since 2003, joining the Grange at the age of 5.

Today you can find Philip living and working in Williamsport in Lycoming County at the Community Theatre League. He will be preforming in the local community theatre show of Into the Woods at the Community Theatre League.

There are many DOERS in the Centre County Pomona Grange. Philip is just one of them. Like Philip, there are many times that you can find people doing just as it is said “The Grange Way. If you are looking for great meals, fun activities that are demonstrated with family values, speaking contests, wonderful crafts or food contests and knowledgeable juniors and youth members, then you are at the right place with Grange. This coming year you will find Grangers doing it by hosting community dinners at Union Grange, Progress Grange will be holding its 2nd annual

Continued on page 19

The Valley, April 2018

12

Kitchen or Bath Remodel Both Increase Your Homes Value

by Kim Rickert

Many home owners are looking for ways to increase their home’s re-sale value, and nothing adds more value than an updated kitchen or bathroom. But what is the cost? This article will explore that question and more so you can make the best choice for your house.

Working with buyers over the last twelve years, I can guarantee any seller that the first thing the buyers will comment on at a showing is the “out of date” kitchen. What does that mean exactly? The kitchen that looks like it was last remodeled in the 1980’s or earlier is a problem not

because it is probably worn and dreary, but because it doesn’t meet the expectations of buyers who are watching HGTV or dreaming about their ideal kitchen on Pinterest. Not only that, but a kitchen remodel makes the buyers see dollar signs, and they will start trying to negotiate the sale price of a house downward so they can afford a new kitchen. A kitchen with old vinyl floors, light colored wood laminate cabinets with plain knobs and pulls, laminate counter tops and bisque colored appliances does not appeal to the majority of today’s buyers, so it’s best to do some updates if you plan to sell in the near future.

But with an average kitchen remodel costing $20,000 to $25,000how do you make the most of the budget?

One way to be sure your money stretches is to hire a professional designeryes, that can actually save you money!

Interior Before and after remodeling, which appeals to you? designers,

like Cherie Miller of CDH Designs, can work with any budget and guide you on the best items to spend money on. A designer will plan your kitchen to make it work practically as well as appeal to the eye. Cherie says that most consumers do not really know what their style is, so her first step is to help them decide on their style. She asks them questions about their tastes, the decor of the rest of the house, and what the client’s needs are for the kitchen.

Websites like Houzz.com or Pinterest allow anyone to browse style, get color ideas and save their favorites on boards that can then be shared with their designer.

The designer can create a rendering using software to show how the kitchen will look with the same colors and finishes that the homeowner chooses. It’s a great way to envision how the finished project will look.

What does a typical kitchen remodel include? Depending on the kitchen layout, the new kitchen could be similar or you could choose to move walls, plumbing and appliances. The latter would entail a larger budget, but you can help by doing some of the work yourself. Removing old appliances and cabinets can be done by the home owner, or with the help of a contractor. Cherie has resources to

help you find the right contractors to tackle the project, and can help you act as the “general contractor” if you have the will to do so.

Typically a kitchen remodel will include new cabinetry, new countertops, new appliances and new flooring.

Cabinets will make the biggest statement and can be custom or ready-made, which will affect the budget. Cherie works with Ram-Wood Cabinets or Big Valley Cabinets for her Before and after the upgrade, working with a designer custom designs, can actually SAVE you money! both of which are of popular tops ranges from granlocal businesses. She has recently ite, quartz, solid surface laminate become a dealer for Fabuwood, and concrete- with the cost ranga manufacturer of stock cabinets ing from hundreds to thousands that can be used in many spaces for new counters. This is an area that do not require custom work. where a designer can advise on She is setting up a show room in which types of counters will work Emporium, where she lives. On best for your home, for example: trend now are painted cabinets, granite vs. quartz. Granite is a which tend to be a little more solid, porous, natural stone that expensive than wood cabinets, but can actually become stained and they give the homeowner the opit requires daily maintenance and tion of using color or going pure resealing once a year to look it’s white in a kitchen. Cabinets can best. Quartz is man-made, at least be dressed up with a wide variety as hard as granite, but non-porous of drawer pulls and door knobs to and requires less maintenance. match the style that the owner is These are kind of things that you working with. need to know before deciding

Counter tops and backsplashwhich material to put in your new es make the second biggest statement in a kitchen, and the variety Continued on page 19

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13

The Valley, April 2018

Around Town With Carole

by Carole Lokan Moore Guinea Pigs For Easter

When you plan to have animals, you must think ahead, long and hard, before you jump into the feed store and pick out your new flock of hens, ducklings, rabbits, etc. Remember, animals are not just for “bright warm sunny days,” but they also need fresh unfrozen water, nutritious food, in the midst of the raging rain storm or the ice and blizzard of the recent northeast of America. All this must be considered for you, as the adult, but also the child who will be tending to the animal.

With Easter just gone by, it is truly a consideration for all animal lovers, not only for the peace and quiet of the home, but also for the safety of the animal.

Every year around June I begin getting the “left over Easter chickens,” who were so cute and cuddly in April and who learned lovely tricks like jump on my finger, etc., but when the weather warms up and the reality of “poop stink” comes in to play, even the

best chick needs to go outside.

Kids get attached and are good at cleaning out the box, cage, etc. inside their room when the animal is small, but with time, it happens to all of us....the manure seems to grow and grow. The first heat wave of summer has the parents driving over to Moore’s Home for Wayward Farm Animals, and depositing a young hen or rooster for Mrs. Moore, the animal lover to take care of for the forseeable future.

We do okay with hens (girls), but there can only be one rooster for each flock of three dozen hens, or they get nasty and fight, and thusly, that makes the roosters aggressive as they think they have to fight for each hen. Meanwhile, the kids get in the way and get spirred by a maturing rooster, who really isn’t vicious, but just wants to “strut his stuff.” So, long before this happens, and you leave a nasty memory on the child, take the animal to a farm shortly after

their fluffy yellow/tan “pre feathers,” turn to the stiff hard feathers of adult hood.

Ducks are the same way, they are cute and cuddly, but oh my goodness; the baby ducklings not only jump in their water bowl, but mix it with the ground up corn and then throw it over the walls of the box, cage or your room.

Believe me, get it off quickly, because it turns to a cement quickly.

Baby chicks are easier cause they are not swimmers, but both are adorable as babies.

If you get them from a hatchery, some states require a minimum of five babies and the breeders don’t want to ship less than 45, so you are stuck buying them at a local feed store like my Burlington Agway store, but again, you must buy at least 6. Why that figure? I’m not sure, but you should know the “odds” of getting hens and not all roosters is pretty high.

My father used to hope they were roosters, so he could have some good fresh fried chicken. Truth be known, of all my years of living on the farm, some 18, I never eat fried chicken unless I saw mother open the grocery store package.

Invariably it was one of my rabbits, pet hens, or pet ducks. I am not a vegetarian and I do believe in eating meat, but not when I know their names....there I

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The Truth Has No Agenda

draw the line.

One spring, I got five lovely yellow sucklings from the Agway store, only to find out shortly after they got their hard white beathers, that each one had a “curl” on his tail. If you don’t comprehend this meaning, think of the 1950’-60’s when along with the black jeans pegged with white down the sides, went the hair cut called “A D.A.” Nick name for “A Ducks Ass.” Yes, the little one feather that curls at the back was replicated in the hair cut of guys, who swooped back the sides of their hair, leaving a “curl” down the back...the history of the “D.A. haircut” is examined.

That particular year the odds were against me and I ended up with five drakes (name for boy ducks), who beat the heck out of our poor hen during the spring.

One duck, always named Donald, cause they all look alike being totally white and that’s as good a name as any other (Thank you Mr. Disney). I chose the drake with the thickest neck, figuring “survival of the fittist,” and hauled the four brothers over to the lake where they hand a grand time entertaining the dudes who played checkers and poker in the park on a daily basis.

Last year, 2017, I ended up with three roosters and each was so nice I had to find a way to keep them from going into the Chinese soup pot. One was put into the dog kennel we use for a chicken pen. The other two boys were left free range to live in the yard, but outside the pen. I just didn’t have the heart to “wack their heads” when their dispositions were so pleasant. Remember they were pleasant for one reason; they had no hens. The big red rooster inside the hen pen became aggressive as soon as it was time for mating in the spring. He jumped at any thing that moved and tried to “spir” you with his 2” long “high toe,” which really scratches, pokes, and leave a nasty boo boo.

As seems to always happen to us on the farm, someone brings us babies who have outgrown their space. Out of the clear blue, a lady arrived at my café with a station wagon and three young hens.

Wow, what a treat. Someone has taken the time to raise the little peeps, play with them, tame them, and now just before egg laying season, they are giving them to me. This is unusual. Usually they bring them to me 3-4 years

Continued on page 30

The Valley, April 2018

14

“On the top of this - O Another! Another, & still higher!”

Into the Seven Mountains

The Mifflin County Historical society receives an occasional inquiry about the names of the Seven Mountains. It has been a point of discussion over the years, the names of “The Seven,” with articles printed in the local daily newspaper from time-to-time .

There has been some doubt or speculation about the name SEVEN MOUNTAINS itself, and also which mountains compose THE seven. But more on the names in a bit.

Two aspects of this complicated sequence of northeast-trending mountain ridges, jointly referred to as the Seven Mountains, are not in doubt—their beauty and their danger.

Motorists on US 322 between Milroy and Potters Mills acknowledge the natural splendor and magnificent views in autumn when fall foliage abounds. Those same motorists know the winter snow-covered highway can be hazardous, even deadly.

An eighteenth century traveler was extremely fearful of his journey through the then roadless forest on his way to spread the word of God to the settlers of early Mifflin County. His writings represent the earliest published accounts of colonial Mifflin County.

The Rev. Philip Vickers Fithian, Presbyterian missionary, journeyed through the Kishacoquillas Valley in August, 1775.

His observations were recorded in his often-quoted journal. Fithian’s passage from Penn’s Valley over the Seven Mountains lacked a “good wagon-beaten road.” The first mountain he crossed was the highest he had ever traveled. On ascending it he found “On the top of this - O Another! - Another, & still higher!” He was astonished at the summit, “the rough romantic Prospect, the highest Tops of very Tall Trees are apparently, two or three hundred Feet below us & within Gunshot of us.”

Fithian’s constant apprehension: a miss step by his horse, “...which would be of more consequence than miswalking a Minuet.” Warning those who

might follow on this journey, he implored them to be “armed with an uncommon share of patience & perseverance, for if they are furious & hasty they may, like the Israelites of long ago, commit sin on these American high places & swear.”

The journey of the missionary likely followed what has been described as Kishacoquillas Path, as he traveled from Eagle’s Nest (Milesburg) to what would become Lewistown. In fact, Fithian described the path as “blind and unfrequented.” Another Indian trail, Logan’s Path, coexisted with the Kishacoquillas Path from Potter’s Mills through the mountains to Lewistown.

Paul A. W. Wallace, in his book, Indian Paths of Pennsylvania, also describes Fithian’s journey and the Seven Mountains area. Wallace’s interpretation is that rather than seven separate ridges, the true name should be Seven Mile Mountain, “now more romantically, but less accurately called the Seven Mountains,” noted Wallace, “the distance being plotted over the seven miles from Potter’s Mills to Milroy.”

The roadless plight of Rev. Fithian was corrected a few years later. In 1789, a route was laid out across Kishacoquillas Valley starting at Reedsville (Brown’s Mills) following more or less old US 322 to Milroy, and due north

a stage line commenced operation after 1817 and by 1828, three regularly scheduled stages a week between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, crossed through the Seven Mountain area, but no specific naming of the mountains occurs in these references.

The Historic Souvenir of Lewistown, Penna. published over eighty years ago, recalls a stagecoach-era episode from the Seven Mountains. The colorful tale describes a grizzled old stage driver. Although no specific “seven” are mentioned, this excerpt reflects the local color of the mountain route.

“In a quiet and old-fashioned village located in the heart of the Seven Mountains of Pennsylvania, noted for their legends of Indian stories...there existed a stage-coach line… Wild flowers and shrubbery, with a background of virgin timber formed a setting of scenery magnificent, that made each trip delightful and without monotony.”

“Starting out from a point where Bellefonte now stands, this stage line wiggled and rolled over the Seven Mountains to the town of Milroy… Six horses dragged their burden over the rough roads, sometimes carrying a capacity crowd, and other times not a single passenger…. At a certain place, midway between Bellefonte and Milroy, the company had constructed a small watering trough for watering the horses. It was the daily duty for the driver to stop at

Author’s vintage postcard dated 1939 showing old US 322 over the Seven Mountains

to a gap in the Seven Mountains near Centre (then Northumberland) County. Referred to as the North-Western Turnpike in the 1846 State Book of Pennsylvania,

this receptacle and replenish the saliva of his faithful horses.”

Modern highways followed the stage line, but a writer I’ve mentioned many times before,

Henry W. Shoemaker (1880 1959), encouraged hiking rather than motoring to best appreciate nature’s beauty here. Consider Shoemaker’s description of the vista of the Seven Mountains in his 1917 Eldorado Found - The Central Pennsylvania Highlands, A Tourist’s Survey:

“The most impressive entrance to the scenic grandeur of Mifflin County is through the rocky gorge of Jack’s Mountain north of Lewistown. Beyond this savage defile, there is a hill-girt valley, behind which loom the lofty camel-backs of the Seven Mountains, with Sample Knob in the foreground like a stalwart sentinel and, the entire scene culminating in Milliken’s High Top, a height which seems to pierce the clouds.”

Henry W. Shoemaker, publisher of the Altoona Tribune and the Reading Eagle, was Pennsylvania’s first state folklorist, the first in the nation, and a tireless promoter of “selling Pennsylvania to Pennsylvanians.”

Shoemaker asserts that THE Seven Mountains are: Path Valley Mountain, Shade Mountain, Bald Mountain, Thickhead Mountain, Short Mountain, Sand Mountain, and Tussey Mountain.

Of course...where is Path Valley Mountain? With our state crisscrossed with trails originated by native people, the name “Path Valley” is found in Juniata, Union, Franklin, and Huntingdon counties. Two Shade Mountains are shown on a state topographical map, one in Juniata County and

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another in Huntingdon County.

Shoemaker’s list seems to encompass much of Central Pennsylvania. Actually, mountain counting wasn’t the purpose for Shoemaker’s catalog of the Seven Mountains, rather his consuming passion for preserving Pennsylvania’s natural and cultural heritage.

He painted his interpretations with a broad brush.

Simon J. Bonner, Shoemaker biographer and author of Popularizing Pennsylvania: Henry W. Shoemaker and the Progressive Uses of Folklore and History explains, “Eldorado Found had the Seven Mountains at its heart, and by Shoemaker’s definition included the source of the Juniata and West Branch of the Susquehanna, the two highest mountains in the state, and the Black Forest (North central Pennsylvania).

If Shoemaker’s “seven” remain more poetic than precise, what could be more bona fide and factual than the renderings of a division of the United States government, the U.S. Geological Survey?

The Lewistown Sentinel grappled with this concept in a 1964 article. Using topographical maps from the U. S. Geological Survey of the northern part of Mifflin County and the southern part of Centre County, the newspaper drew this major conclusion: Whoever named The Seven Mountains must have counted them!

The article draws a minor conclusion: They could have been called The Eight Mountains,

Continued on page 30

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The Valley, April 2018

Did you ever notice the first three letters of the word diet spell DIE? Because that’s what you feel like is happening to you after a few days on any one of the crazy new fad diets.

If I hear about one more outlandish, unreasonable diet, I may lose something, but it won’t be weight. Just to name a few there are: all liquid diets, juice diets, macrobiotic diets, high protein diets, no carb diets, all carb diets, alkaline diets, lectin free diets, gluten free diets, vegan diets, non-GMO, vegetarian diets, all organic diets, grass fed meat diets, fasting diets. On top of all the diet craziness, we have the food documentaries out there to scare the appetite out of all of us about the things that happen to our food supply before it reaches our tables.

The list could go on and get more and more confusing and

even scary. But here’s the thing, life is WAY too short to become obsessed with our diet. One day a study says a certain food is killing us and the next day a new study says that same food will cure us of all our ailments. The stress we can cause ourselves over what to eat and what not to eat can probably be as bad for us as trying to figure out which crazy diet to be on.

We should focus on being moderate in everything and realistic about food. Eat things that are real, even better try growing some of your own food! Eat a little bit of everything, meat, veggies, fruits, grains. Buy local when you can!

Simple things like drinking water and getting out and enjoying exercise everyday along with that moderate healthy diet may go a lot further towards our good health then trying to do some crazy juice diet. Let’s be real, who

is actually going to eat a diet that has little flavor or variety?

There is no magic diet that will make us immortal. We are all going to face death, no matter how super strict we ate.

However, I am not saying live on fast food, cookies, soda and chips, if there is anything we should cut from our diets those would be the things, but we must be smart enough to figure out a realistic eating plan that makes sense for our lives. We don’t need to go over the top with it.

Because fast food and processed food is so full of sugar

Embassy Fair At Kish Park

The 22nd annual Embassy Fair is coming this month at Kish Park in Lewistown. Come out and enjoy spring with rides, games, activities, and entertainment.

Details are still being worked out, and you can get the latest on our Facebook page www.Facebook. com/embassyltwn. Entertainment confirmed at this date includes Kenzie McCarter on Friday, April 20, Steel Horse on Saturday, April 21, Junkhouse on Friday, April 27, the Chris Ruble Band on Saturday, April 28. Also, the Juniata River Valley Idol competition will take on stage on Saturday, April 28 from 4 to 6 pm.

We are still looking for local businesses and vendors to set up and display at the fair. Forms are

available on our Facebook page for download, or you can contact our Event Coordinator Dave Campbell at 717-348-0185.

Looking to summer, our annual Libertyfest will be held Friday, June 29 and Saturday, June 20. The event kicks off with the Let Freedom Ring concert featuring the Lewistown Community Band and the Let Freedom Ring singers. Saturday is filled with music through the day, and finished off with the Juniata River Valley finals. Then be sure the end the day with the community fireworks display, brought to you by the Juniata River Valley Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Bureau and the support of many local businesses and individuals.

The Truth Has No Agenda

making a marked effort to eliminate it from our diets, is wise and will make a difference. Americans are eating insane amounts of sugar everyday because they don’t look at labels and consider how much sugar is in the drinks and food they are consuming. The American Heart association recommends woman have no more than 25 grams or 6 teaspoons of added sugar and men 37 grams or 9 teaspoons. Currently Americans are eating almost 82 grams or 20 teaspoons of sugar a day!

Real food is not what is causing all our weight gain and health

problems, sugar is! Not only will you lose weight just by cutting sugar and processed foods, you will feel so much better. Give it a try. Forget all the crazy diet fads.

Cook real food and enjoy it with family and friends. Have a date night with your special someone at your favorite diner and eat the burger!

DISCLAIMER: I am not a dietician. I just think eating should be a part of life that brings enjoyment and fellowship and should not be a source of stress! a

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The Valley, April 2018

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The Valley, April 2018

The Truth Has No Agenda

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18

The Valley, April 2018

In Our Own Words...

Butterfat: A Valuable Component By: Chris Baldwin

Do you know the most valuable component of your milk? Currently it’s butterfat.

Dairy fat has been given a clean bill of health in human diets and consumers are now turning away from margarine and vegetable substitutes. What’s become clear is the demand of butter is not only growing in the U.S. but also worldwide. Butter usage LV WKH ODUJHVW IDFWRU D྾HFWLQJ WKH LQFUHDVH LQ WKH YDOXH RI GDLU\ IDW ZLWK ZKROH PLON consumption coming in second. While consumption of all milk is declining, the consumption of whole milk between 2014 and 2016 has increased over a billion pounds. An increased in whole milk consumption means less butterfat is available for products like butter which, in turn, increases the butterfat price.

Cheese production is also a driving factor for butterfat prices. Consumption of cheese continues to increase DERXW \HDU DIWHU \HDU &KHHVH XWLOL]HV D VLJQLÂżFDQW SRUWLRQ RI EXWWHUIDW PRVW FRQWDLQ WR SHUFHQW milkfat. With an increase in demand of cheese, this will also help drive butterfat prices.

Though there are seasonal variations in butterfat production, feeding management, cow comfort and heat abatement in summer can go a long way in preventing or at least mitigating butterfat depression. It’s pretty simple: Keep cows eating and they’ll keep producing.

8 Tips To Improve Butterfat:

1. Feed quality forages. We should always strive to have the highest quality forages. This will impact butterfat.

2. Alter your feeding sequence if you are component feeding. To ensure the best rumen functionality your feeding sequence should be fed in the following order: feed forages before grain mixes, energy feeds before protein and protein feed fed close to the times low protein forages are fed.

3. It’s best to chop CS and haylage to 5/8�- 3/4�. Proper forage length will improve digestibility and DM intake.

4. Check the accuracy of your scales. If your ration is calling for 15lbs are you really feeding 15lbs? Check what your “shovel or scoop� really weighs from time to time and be consistent.

5. Chop dry hay to muzzle length of 3� long to help with reduction of sorting and improve rumen pH. 6. Stay on a feeding schedule. Keep feed fresh and in front of the cow. Pushing feed up more often will limit the amount of sorting. We want to avoid slug feeding as much as possible.

7. Breed for components. Talk to your AI representative about selecting for high components. This is a long term solution but will have an important role in targeting for a high butterfat.

8. Talk to your nutritionist about using supplemental fats, there are additives that can be added to help boost butterfat yields.

We cannot predict future milk prices with total accuracy, but all indications are that the demand for butterfat will remain strong. Luckily from a nutritional stand point there are ways to increase butterfat pounds produced in our herds. Talk to your R&J consultant, because butterfat should continue to drive our mailbox prices.

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The Valley, April 2018

It’s the first day of spring and it’s snowing. While going through some old paperwork I found an essay I did in 1989 while going to night classes at Penn State in Lewistown. It was surprising how things have changed in nearly 30 years and some have stayed the same.

It was a letter to Governor Bob Casey at the time concerning an imposed moratorium to bar landfills on their expansion from receiving more than 30 percent of neighboring states trash coming in. At the time, Pennsylvania was disposing of 9 million tons of trash a year with only 1.5 million going out of state, while 3.5 million was coming in from neighboring states annually. This would have been a serious threat to Pennsylvania’s environment in a few short years.

Every year the state spends money on bags and trash removal, when thousands of volunteers take one Saturday in April to help cleanup roadside litter, but wouldn’t it help if the $300 litter fine was more strictly enforced? It certainly would help cut costs.

Governor Casey had also helped to enact a law for big cities to separate their trash for recycling.

But wouldn’t it help to put a five cent deposit on beer and soda cans

and bottles such as the Northern New England states have done?

This has cut down on their litter problem considerably.

Also wouldn’t it help to push legislation to enact more laws concerning biodegradable plastics and encourage Washington to get funds for research grants started for the plastic manufacturers for such products?

Consider lowering the cost of curbside pickup so that lower income families can afford to pay a refuse hauler to pick up their trash, so that they do not haul it out to the woods somewhere to dispose of it possibly ruining our water supply.

Consider pushing for stronger enforcement of litter fines, so that people traveling through our state see our beautiful roadside scenery instead of our $300 litter fine signs with litter scattered all around them.

Fast forward 30 years and the litter fine is still $300 and still hard to enforce. Only now volunteers cleanup from March 1 to May 31. Recycling is now state wide, but there is still no deposit on bottles and cans, which is a lot of the road side trash and can be recycled. People pull into convenience stores for gas, have to get out and pump their own gas, and

can dispose of their bottles and cans and fast food bags and wrappers since they are out of the car.

I’m not sure why more people do not take pride in their communities and make them more attractive for visitors who come into the area. Thirty years ago I had to use a typewriter to do my essay and send it by snail mail; today we can use our computers with auto correct and can send a letter by email the same day. I was amazed at how long I have had the passion for this issue and my hope is that more people would get involved to make our state beautiful again.

Consider going to the keeppabeautiful.org web site and sign up to do a cleanup in your neighborhood through the Great American Clean Up, Pick It Up PA Days from March 1 to May 31 and let’s make our countryside beautiful again. If you would like to join us on any cleanups please go on line to the Keep PA Beautiful web site and see where we might be doing a cleanup or put one of your own in.

Pam Sechrist Affiliate Coordinator a

Home at the Grange from page 11

Kitchen Or Bath Remodel from page 12

WUI? What is that? The WUI is the Wildland Urban Interface. Google refers to the transition zone between unoccupied (forest) land and human development. Communities within ½-mile may be included.

These lands and the communities adjacent to and surrounded by wildland are at an increased risk of wildfire.

The WUI has become more populated as the demand has increased for quiet country areas to habitat. These areas are a beautiful and peaceful place to live as long as we are careful with fire in and around these areas.

Why is the WUI more of a concern when it comes to wildfire? The WUI is surrounded by or adjacent to large forested areas with the vast availability of fuels for a wildfire to consume and spread rapidly.

So how can I live happily ever after in my home located within the WUI? Be careful with fire, protect your home and property, and be prepared for a wildfire. Here are some tips to help: • Keep your chimney clean, install a spark-arresting screen, and keep trees 10 feet from the chimney; • Keep woodpiles 25 feet from the house and fuel tanks; • Prune dead branches on trees to within 8 feet of the ground; • Maintain and mow grass 30 feet around the house; • Ensure your driveway is wide

kitchen.

Appliances are probably one of the areas that most homeowners have an opinion about, and the decision on styles, cost and function is a personal one. Do you have a large family and need the largest refrigerator available? Is having a gas range or cooktop important to you, or do you just want a great microwave? A kitchen designer can help you decide on what the priorities are, find the best prices, and work them into your kitchen design.

As you consider all of the options and decisions that need to be made, having a plan is the most important decision. Working with a designer like Cherie Miller of CDH Designs can help you put a plan and a budget together, for a surprisingly reasonable cost. Once the plan is in place, you can decide if you want Cherie to take the reigns and be the project manager, or if you have some experience and want to take on that responsibility. Either way, you can be sure that investing in an updated kitchen will increase your home’s overall value when it is time to sell.

To get your design started: CDH Design Owner Cherie Miller Phone: 717-320-4684 Or Message her on Facebook: CDH Design a

The Truth Has No Agenda

Children’s Fair in July 2019 and also opening it’s hall during the Townwide Yard Sale in June.

Several others Granges like Bald Eagle, Victor, Logan and Penns Valley will have several members doing clean up work at the Boal Mansion in May and ringing the bells for the Salvation Army in December. Port Matilda will once again be handing out snacks and goodies to students taking their PSSA tests at the Bald Eagle School District. Walker Grange puts together Jared Boxes for the community. Baileyville’s team of walkers will help fight cancer through their Relay for Life Team, Halfmoon and Marion help with a Community Christmas Party each year. One last thing that makes all the Pennsylvania Grange members DOERS is the fact that as of end of February, they have

donated almost $7,000 to the appeal for Walker Grange/Pomona Grange Member Justin Kline who continues to fight in his battle with cancer.

Grange is made up of Hometown Roots and Family Values as its motto suggests. Don’t be afraid to ask a Grange member for good suggestions for where to find a quilt, where to learn about old country agriculture or even legislative issues concerning rural life and agriculture.

You just might learn enough information to become excited enough to become a “Granger.”

So if you are a Grange member in any of the counties that this paper reaches, don’t be afraid to go ahead and promote April as Grange month like I’m doing. Remember the theme is “That’s the Grange Way” and I am personally proud to be a small part of it. a

Welcome to the WUI enough for emergency vehicles, including EMS. Make sure your street is labeled with the street name and your house number is visible; • Avoid outdoor burning. Keep burnable materials away from structures; • Keep fire tools available (shovel, rake, ladder, etc.); • Keep a 30-foot garden hose connected; • Keep roof and deck clear of leaves, needles and debris; • Dispose of stove or fireplace ashes and charcoal briquettes only after soaking them in a metal pale of water for 24 hours; and, • Propane gas tanks should be far enough away from buildings for valves to be shut off in case of fire. Keep area clear of flammable vegetation.

For more information, contact your local fire department, Forestry District Fire Warden, or Forest Fire Warden.

•

•

•

There was a total of 430 wildfires in Pennsylvania in 2017. 430 fires burnt 10,410 acres with a total of $212,448 in suppression costs.

PA wildfire season is in the spring, March through May, and in the fall, October through November.

Visit www.smokeybear.com for games, videos and information pertaining to wildfire safety.

Only You Can Prevent Wildfires

The Valley, April 2018

20

A Key To The Constitution

When a woman asked Benjamin Franklin, a founder of our Constitutional Republic, what kind of government the States created, he answered, “A Republic, if you can keep it.”

The key to keeping that Republic exists in the understanding how the Constitution was designed to function.

The Constitution of these United States is not arbitrary.

It is a document of standards established to keep the GOVERNMENT from becoming arbitrary.

These standards were not invented by the men who wrote the Constitution. These standards were axiomatic truths that had proven themselves for over a millennium.

Many of these truths can be found in five historic liberty charters, the very liberty charters that gave birth to America’s founding documents. The US Constitution is not an invention, it is an inheritance.

Those who claim that America’s Constitution is vague, arbitrary, or even irrelevant do so because they are uneducated about where our Constitution came from and why it was formed.

The US Constitution and the govt it created was designed to protect Liberty. This purpose is declared in the Declaration of Independence. It is recorded in the Pre-amble to the Constitution.

And The Bill of Rights (the 1st 10 amds) was incorporated into the Constitution to trigger an alarm when this liberty is being threatened. And yet, nothing in either of these three documents is an invention of the men who wrote them. Everything, every principle of government, every security to Liberty, and even at times the very language itself was taken from lessons learned from over 700 years of history and five essential Liberty Charters. It is this history

principles of liberty, but embraces it with the knowledge that Liberty was the stated goal of the designers of the Constitution. Originalism is not only the correct legal way to apply the Constitution, it is the only way that guarantees and secures Liberty.

Originalism declares, “we don’t care what the mob says, we don’t care what the powerful say, we will ensure that all are treated equally with dignity. We are not ruled by mob mentality, but by the principles of Liberty because we know our history.”

government to say since there was no internet in 1789, we can define who is a journalist and what can be said.

A living breathing constitution gives power to the oppressor through interpretation by the powerful, the majority, or the deceptive who distort history. So if the majority or the powerful decides that one group of people deserve less or more protection, less or more property, less or more liberty, then there is no recourse for the powerless or the minority.

A living breathing constitution is slavery.

If we ignore that history and the Constitution in its proper context ceases to be the fixed standard for govt, then we are left to be ruled by the powerful or by the whim of the majority or by those at the controls of information who would distort history and truth. If we do not know these essential principles of liberty and where they came from, we cannot

However, a living breathing that proves that the Constitution is the essential principles of liberty, constitution is arbitrary. It creates to ignore the origin of our constinot an arbitrary, living breathing government that is dependent tutional principles is to invite the document, but a document deupon current social trends and the same threats that prompted the signed from blood-bought lessons will of the powerful. It is just annecessity of their protection. To in the historic struggle between other name for a Banana Repubthrow off the lessons of history liberty and tyranny. lic. A living breathing constituinvites despotism and inequality,

Once this history is underapathy and corruption, slavery and tion allows those in government stood, today’s claim that the to say there were no cell phones oppression.

Constitution is irrelevant falls in 1789 so we have the right to away and we begin to see not only Originalism is the shield arbitrarily control your comhow the Constitution is designed against slavery, masters, and munications. The living breathto limit government and preserve oppressors. Originalism not Continued on page 28 ing constitution allows those in Liberty, but why we must adhere only understands these essential to this standard.

The living breathing deception can only exist by eliminating these historical truths and isolating men from their own history.

Originalism or original intent means looking at the history that gave us our founding principles and realizing why they are important, it means understanding the ConstituHealthSouth Nittany Valley is proud to offer inpatient and outpatient programs for patients with Parkinson’s tion in its disease. These comprehensive programs allow the therapist and patient to create personalized goals historical for all levels of fitness and disease severity. For more information, call 814 359-5630. context.

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21

The Valley, April 2018

Modern Energy and Alternative Heating with Curt Bierly

The Contractor Customer Team

Ok, your looking to upgrade your heating/cooling system this year and you’re looking for a contractor to do the work. You have certain expectations in mind like even temperatures throughout the house summer and winter, good humidity control and a good filtration system. It’s all about providing a healthy, comfortable place for you and your family to live where you can breathe clean air containing the proper amount of humidity. Once you choose the contractor, keep in mind that you need to be a part of the “Team” to make the project a complete success.

There are articles about customer satisfaction in the trade magazines, on the internet, on TV and in the newspaper. It is certainly a good thing and needs to

be the focus of any successful organization, but customer satisfaction is a two way street. It takes a “good” customer and a “good” contractor working together to effectively install, operate and maintain a new or existing HVAC system for customer satisfaction to be achieved from the customer’s perspective and from the contractor’s perspective. Below are a few thoughts for consideration.

My worst nightmare is a potential customer that doesn’t want to see a brochure, doesn’t want to visit our showroom to view and discuss the equipment, doesn’t read the proposal we carefully prepare, looks at the price and accepts it based on price and reputation alone, gives us the keys and says “Do it, I’ll see you later

and will call you if someabove freezing and we open thing goes wrong.” You the “It takes a “good” daily at 8am. Once I got my customer needs to listen to senses together, I told the customer and a “good” the presentation, read and customer to call our busicontractor working understand the proposal and ness at 8am and they will ask lots of questions so you schedule a service call. I together to effectively can envision the system that later discovered that this cusinstall, operate and is about to be installed. It tomer had electric baseboard, is important the contractor maintain a new or which could have easily been explains the system and it utilized to keep the house existing HVAC system is important the customer up to temperature until we for customer satisfaction arrived. understands the system that’s proposed, so once installed, To install a, HVAC systo be achieved from the there are no surprises. Betem successfully and achieve customer’s perspective yond that, you the customer true customer and contractor needs to operate it responsiand from the contractor’s satisfaction, everyone needs bly by keeping filters clean to be involved. You count on perspective.” and alerting the contractor of the contractor’s design and anything that appears abnorinstallation expertise and he through the night so they can call mal. counts on your partnership in the during regular business hours.

If a “good” customer is project.

This is the most effective time away from home for an extended for contractors to help, because period of time, they always have Curt Bierly is president of the should they not have the part in a trusted neighbor or relative bierly group incorporated of stock, supply houses will be open. check the system occasionally which Stanley C. Bierly is a diviAlso, if your system is beyond the depending on the temperature sion. He graduated from Penn labor warranty period, you won’t and weather conditions. They State with a BS in Mechanical incur any extra overtime charges. may also choose to purchase an Engineering and is the chair of

I can remember recently a optional WiFi thermostat that can the Penn College HVAC Advisory customer woke me out of a deep be checked and adjusted remotely Board. You can contact him at sleep at 4am in the morning. It from a computer or cell phone. cbierly@bierlygroup.com. a was If a problem develops and it is a concern, they know where to shut off the system until the contractor can be contacted. Many contractors have “emergency only” service after business hours, but a “good” customer has backup electric space heaters to get them

Nearly 75% of patients aged 70 or older with Heart failure(HF) have hearing loss, according to letter pub online Jan 25 in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery.

Visit Uhring’s Hearing to have a Base Line Hearing Test completed.

Call 814-641-4327

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The Valley, April 2018

22

Spring Cleaning with Essential Oils from page 10

Back Talk

by Dr. Joseph Kauffman

colored glass bottle.

• Add peroxide and lemon juice.

• Add water. Shake well.

• Lasts 2-3 months if stored out of sunlight.

Natural Born Drillers

This comes up quite often in the office. It’s a good read. Check it out:

“’I don’t need a Chiropractor.

I can adjust myself.’ You should NOT try to adjust your own subluxations for the same reason that you wouldn’t use your Black and Decker drill to fix your own teeth!

The next time that you have a cavity, why not get your Black and Decker out of the garage and drill your own teeth? It makes the same noise as a dentist’s drill!

Crazy! Right? It is even crazier to think that you or anyone other than a Chiropractor knows how to examine and precisely adjust your neck or back without hundreds of hours of specialized training!

Chiropractors themselves go to other Chiropractors to be adjusted on a regular basis because we know that the nervous system and spine are way too important to play around with. And yet we are always running into people who proudly say, “I don’t need a Chiropractor, I pop my own back!” or “My Osteopath knows how to pop my back.” or “My physical therapist does it for me.” or “My husband cracks me.”

But a professional Chiropractic adjustment has very little to do with simply getting your spine to pop or crack. The popping noise is incidental (at best) to a thorough Chiropractic examination and specific adjustment of ONLY THOSE VERTEBRAE that are actually misaligned and subluxated. With care for not disturbing those vertebrae that are in proper alignment, the Chiropractic adjustment

respects the spine for good reason; your spine protects the nervous system which controls everything in your body.

Trying to “adjust yourself” or letting anyone other than a Chiropractor adjust your spine, is a lot like drilling your precious teeth with a family drill; it’s a very bad

idea!

Safe and specific care of your spine and nervous system is a Chiropractor’s only business and we take it seriously.

Friends don’t let friends mess around with the spine! They send them to a highly skilled Chiropractor who has had years of training to properly analyze each vertebra and make a specific adjustment ONLY at the level and precise direction where a subluxation is interfering with the nervous system.

Share with others and stop the madness!”

Call in to our office at Kauffman-Hummel Chiropractic Clinic to find out how Chiropractic can help you live a fuller life, by adding life to your years and years to your life!

717-248-2506 Dr. Joseph Kauffman Kauffman-Hummel Chiropractic Clinic drjosephkauffman@comcast.net Don’t Let Your Spine Get On Your Nerves! a

GLASS CLEANER 1 1/2 cups white vinegar 1/2 cup filtered water 8 drops lemon essential oil • Add ingredients to a 16oz dark colored, glass spray bottle.

FOR THE LAUNDRY

For hard water or rust, add 1/2 cup Epsom salt to the laundry soap or softener recipes SHADE MOUNTAIN LAUNDRY DETERGENT

This detergent is what we use for our spa sheets and towels. We have used this same recipe for years. Nothing gets the oil out better than this recipe! You can make this recipe at one of our Make & Takes at Shade Mountain! You will leave with 1.5 gallons of ready to use laundry detergent!

1 cup soap shavings 1 cup Arm & Hammer washing soda to remove dirt and odors 1 cup borax to whiten and disinfect Blend in blender and then stir in: 1.5 teaspoon of Shade Mountain Natural’s Clean & Green essential oil blend OR: 1/2 t. Tea Tree EO to disinfect 1/2 t. Lemon EO to whiten and brighten 1/2 t. Sweet Orange EO, also to whiten and brighten use 3 Tbls. per load.

LARGE BATCH LAUNDRY DETERGENT One box of each washing soda and borax 10 cups soap shavings 1.5 Tablespoons each: tea tree, lemon, orange. OR one 2 oz bottle of Shade Mountain’s Clean & Green essential oil blend!

FABRIC SOFTENER One gallon white vinegar: a natural softener and will remove soap residue and reduce static in dryer 40-50 drops essential oils, Citrus

oils will brighten clothes and fight stains Add ¼ to ½ cup to dispenser DRYER BALLS

Drop three drops Shade Mountain’s Clean and Green essential oil blend onto wool dryer balls per load

Besides my all time favorite cleaning recipe, Shade Mountain’s laundry detergent, the next three are ones I use often. These three are ones that we make at Shade Mountain for our Make & Take Cleaning Class. This class is so much fun to take!

ORANGE PEEL SOFT SCOURING SCRUB RECIPE ¼ cup castile soap 1 cup baking soda ½ cup orange peel ground few drops SMN Cleaning Blend EO 1 Tbls. hydrogen peroxide Mix together castile soap and baking soda in a small bowl until a paste forms.

Scoop out the paste with a sponge, rag, or your hand.

Rub over the surface you’re cleaning and then let sit for a few minutes.

Scrub to clean and rinse surface off with water.

CLEANING SPRAY 1 tablespoon baking soda 1 teaspoon castile soap

3-5 drops SMN Cleaning Blend EO Water in 4 oz bottle Add the baking soda, castile soap and essential oil to a spray bottle.

Fill the rest of the bottle with water. Shake or stir to combine.

The baking soda is a great degreaser, the castile soap has excellent cleaning power, and the tea tree oil is a natural disinfectant.

It’s a simple but super effective combination that works!

DISINFECTING SPRAY 1/8 cup of white vinegar 1/2 cup of distilled water.

Add a few drops of SMN Cleaning Blend EO Put into spray bottle.

There you have it! Now you can make up some great all natural cleaning products, wait for a nice spring day and CLEAN!

Thank you for reading and thank you for your support. Please come visit us on Jack’s Creek Road in Lewistown, or now at The Barn in Lemont (next door to Happy Valley Brewery). We love visitors at Shade Mountain and we LOVE to chat about essential oils, so if you have questions: bring them in! If you are interested in learning more about essential oils: we teach classes and do make & takes! Join us on Facebook to view our schedule and sign up, or give us a call at 717-248-8847. ~Tamela a

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The Valley, April 2018

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The Truth Has No Agenda

The Valley, April 2018

24

Mushroom Cultivation As A Value Added Crop

Permaculturists everywhere have a love affair with mushrooms. Some even include it as part of the guild stories to include in a garden. There are good reasons, too. They are pretty easy to include in your garden. Some are very high in protein, giving you an additional crop to eat so your harvest is more robust. Some are medicinal. Finally, depending on the species, they break down cellulose and lignin, which is pretty tough for other microorganism to tackle. We won’t get into the molecular structure of those things but we know fungi is important for our ecosystems.

Fungi are also incredibly diverse. Different species thrive in different locations and have varying benefits. Because of this reason, we have to consider that not all permaculture plots are going to have access to the type of mushrooms we want to grow.

However, here in PA, we have some great candidates!

(Here’s my obligatory bit about making sure you know what mushroom you are eating before you eat or sell it: Don’t eat strange mushrooms. Only grow mushrooms you can easily identify.

Know all of the look-alikes of the mushroom varieties you grow so you can rule out any potential wild spore contamination. For this reason, trust your supplier with information about which species are not good for beginner mycologists. Be smart about it!)

First, we’ll have a very brief explanation of what mushrooms are. Mushrooms are simply the fruiting body of the entire fungi network. Whenever you see a mushroom, you can think of it like an apple. There is an entire network of branched mycelium underground or throughout the decaying wood in which the or-

ganism is growing, like the apple tree. Mushrooms exist simply to release spores—kind of like an apple is simply the vehicle for delivering apple seeds. (Amazingly enough, some mushrooms can project their spores MILES into the air!) Fungi send mushroom primordial—or baby mushrooms—up whenever it reaches the linear extent of its food source. For example, if a shiitake mushroom mycelium has inoculated an entire log, it will send up the fruiting bodies—but not until then. You can think of this as the fungi reaching maturity.

The fungi life cycle is complex and, sadly, it hasn’t been given as much study as we’d like until fairly recently. (Or perhaps I should say it hasn’t been given as much study as I’d like!) In addition, they can be a little finicky about their growing conditions.

That doesn’t mean that we can’t

still grow our own mushrooms, though.

The most important part of growing your own is knowing what the particular fungi you want to grow ‘eats’.

One of the best mushrooms to incorporate in your garden is the King Stropharia. Even more so than the typical ‘intro mushroom’, shiitake, King Stropharia is the easiest to grow in my opinion. It’s so easy because you can grow it directly in your garden mulch—assuming you use the right mulch. All you need is hardwood chips (not tree bark, but the wood itself) that is 2-3 weeks old, some spawn, and some shaded garden space. In truth, we’ve grown this species in bark mulch, but it didn’t produce much and the harvest only lasted a year.

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You can actually even grow these in cereal mulches (like straw), but again, the mycelium will expire much more quickly as there isn’t enough to keep it around for multiple harvests.

To inoculate a bed, you simply spread cardboard with spawn purchased from a reputable supplier. Then, spread your new wood chips on top of the spawn, water, and keep it moist throughout the year. You should be able to harvest anywhere from 3-6 Continued on page 25

25

The Valley, April 2018 Mushrooms from page 24 months.

When you do this method, you will sometimes read about a “Microbial casing soil” which is a sterilized soil that you place on top of a fully inoculated bed to encourage primordial formation.

I have found that, while it increases your harvest, it’s not really necessary to get mushrooms. I am not a mushroom farmer, so I am okay with getting a meal or two here and there rather than an entire bed of mushrooms!

There are plenty of other mushrooms you can experiment with, too. (I’m not talking about the kind you experimented with in college. I really don’t want to get the blame for that.) Some are more suited to an integrated

gardening technique than others.

For example, ones which need a sawdust bed to fruit are likely not your best choice for a garden because sawdust makes pretty terrible mulch.

However, you can also do what I have done and use cut logs to line your garden. This is pretty common in permaculture, too. In this method, you use spawn plugs, rather than loose spawn, and some are pickier about water and shade than others. At our home, we have tried King Stropharia, Shiitake, Brown Oyster, Reishi, and Lion’s Mane. Sadly, only King Stropharia and Shiitake were any true success, Reishi was a complete failure, and Lion’s Mane take years to slowly inoculate a log, so we don’t know if it will fruit yet.

Happily, I see the white mycelium throughout the log, though, so I am holding out hope. (Why do all of the most delicious things to eat take the most work to grow?!)

Adding fungi is a great way to increase diversity both in the ecosystem of your yard as well as your harvest. There are many mushroom varieties that are expensive to buy, so if you have the time and talent, you might even be able to sell some of your surplus.

Goodness knows if you’re at the Belleville sale barn with a few species, I’ll buy them.

So, if you know me in two

years, I’ll let you know if we ever got to eat a delicious lobster flavored mushroom. I won’t tell you which ones they are, though, so I don’t have anyone coming over and helping themselves!

If we ever move, I’m taking my mushroom logs with me.

For further reading, see The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms by Stephen Russell; Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation by Tradd Cotter and his store and research center www.mushroommountain.com (Tradd Cotter gives workshops on many different mycology topics

and is leading the industry with some really amazing research. I have had the pleasure of meeting him and he is full of information!); Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World by Paul Staments and his store and education center www. fungi.com. Mycelium Running gets a bit more political than I would like, but it does have some fantastic information. Paul is considered the father of the mycological movement.

Good luck and Happy Mycological Landscaping! a

Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra to Perform “The French Connection” in State College

Music Director Yaniv Attar yar, Aldo Parisot, Alan Harris, and forms both rare and well-known will conduct the third season conJanos Starker. She was Principal music by the greatest composers cert of the Pennsylvania Chamber from the Baroque period to the Cellist of the São Paulo SymphoOrchestra entitled “The French present day. More information ny under the direction of Eleazar Connection” on Sunday, April may be found on the orchestra’s de Carvalho, and taught at New 22, at 3 pm at the State Theatre website at www.centreorchestra.

Mexico State prior to her posiin State College. The concert will org. tion as Distinguished Professor of feature music by French comTickets may be purchased at Cello at Penn State, where she has posers Ravel, Saint-Saens, and the State Theatre box office by served for 25 years.

Couperin, ending with the “Paris”

The Pennsylvania Chamber calling 814-272-0606 or online at Symphony No. 31 by Mozart.

Orchestra is Central Pennsylvawww.thestatetheatre.org. All seats Guest artist Kim Cook will join nia’s all-professional chamber are reserved. a the orchestra as cello soloist. orchestra founded in 1991. Based in State College, the orchestra per Ms. Cook has performed to critical acclaim as a soloist in 28 Our 2017– 2018 Season countries and has THE toured as Artistic Ambassador for the U.S. State DeYaniv Attar, Music Director partment. At her Carnegie Hall deSunday, April 22, 3:00 pm but, critics admired her “ravishing colors and textures” (New York Concert Review).

With In Europe, she Kim Cook, cello was hailed as “the superb American cellist” (Die Rheinpfalz, Frankfurt).

Recent performances include Couperin- Five Pieces for Cello recitals in New and Orchestra York, Baltimore, Ravel- Le Tombeau de Couperin and the University Saint-Saens- Cello Concerto No. 1 Mozart- Symphony No. 31 “Paris” of Cambridge, and concerto perforAdult tickets $36, $39, $45 mances with the child/student $8 with ID Splitski Virtuozi in Tickets sold through Croatia, the VolThe State Theatre’s ticket office. gograd Symphony www.TheStateTheatre.org in Russia, and the 814-272-0606 Ukrainian State All seats are reserved!

Orchestra in Kiev.

Concert Sponsor: Nancy Eaton

A graduate of Guest Artist Sponsors: Yale and the UniGlenn Fleming versity of Illinois, Ms. Cook studied 119 S. Fraser St., Suite D, State College, PA 16801 814-234-8313 CentreOrchestra.org with Gabriel Mag-

Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra

“The French Connection”

The Truth Has No Agenda

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26

The topic of this month’s Hanky Panky Report is CENSORSHIP.

On Thursday, March 22nd, Penns Valley Area School District held a Community Safety Meeting to brainstorm changes that can be made to protect our children.

It was a well-attended event. On Saturday, March 24th, rumors started flying on Facebook that the school district spent over a million dollars to purchase the farm adjacent to the property on March

23rd. I prefer facts over hearsay, so I checked the school district website and Facebook page for an announcement. There wasn’t one.

I monitored Facebook all day and finally submitted a Right-to-Know Request to the school at 6:20 PM. At 7:05 PM, the school made an announcement on Facebook.

The post exploded with comments. Unfortunately, the comments are “hidden” from the public. It is not immediately clear that comments are being hidden

from the public, because the commenter and their “friends” can see them. I submitted another Rightto-Know Request for all of the comments. My husband also sent an e-mail asking about this.

Superintendent Brian Griffith informed him that they “attempt to block all public comments.”

I don’t think it was a bad idea to purchase the adjacent property, but people generally don’t like surprises like this.

I think it is a terrible idea to censor the taxpayers on a public forum. I hope the school will reconsider their position on this.

The Centre County Sheriff’s Office does something similar on their Facebook page. I recently obtained hidden Facebook comments through a RTK Request.

I will post the results of my Right-to-Know Requests to the school district on www.greggtownshipunofficial.org so that we can all be informed..

Here in Gregg Township, the Hanky Panky is ongoing. I have several RTK Requests out that I will be reporting on

soon. Subscribe to e-mail updates at www.greggtownshipunofficial.

org to stay in the loop. a

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The Valley, April 2018

Mail Pouch Books

by Carleen B. Grossman A DOG’S PURPOSE: A Novel for Humans

By W. Bruce Cameron Copyright 2011 333 pages

The story is told in first person, by the dog and it is absolutely brilliant; the dog lives several lives and you will

Every single dog lover should read this book! I did not know it would be humanly possible for me to love the dog that is currently in my life and those that have been in my life any more than I already do. But after reading this book, I discovered that this type of love is one of the greatest kinds of love and that it keeps growing throughout the years....at least for me!

This book is a MUST READ for anyone who has lost a dog.

“Game Night” sees its characters playing one of those elaborate role-playing games that’s spread out over several miles and involves a full company of actors. I’m weary of movies with this kind of premise because of the inevitable twist: at some point, we’re going to learn that everything that’s been happening is all part of the game. It’s the same thing with movies about con artists, magicians, or people who meddle in dreams. It’s not that I necessarily mind being played for a fool, I can enjoy some wellplanned manipulation, but it just seems like a waste of time when

the movie practically announces its intentions so early the way this one does.

Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams star as Max and Annie, a couple who love to play games.

They meet during pub trivia, court each other through a series of competitive dates, and now live for their weekly game night with their friends. That circle is slowly getting smaller, as more and more of their friends are starting to have kids. Max and Annie are trying to have a child of their own, but Max isn’t sure he wants to leave Game Night behind, and seems to be subconsciously sabotaging conception efforts.

One day, Max’s brother Brooks (Kyle Chandler) comes to town and invites Max, Annie, and their friends to Game Night. Max is so envious of his more-successful brother that his jealousy and anxiety are cited as reasons for his impotence. Also invited are Kevin and Michelle (Lamorne Morris and Kylie Burbury), a couple whose relationship is tested when he finds out she slept with an unidentified celebrity, and Ryan and Sarah (Billy Magnussen and Sharon Horgan) who barely know each other, but have come

find yourself remembering your special companion/s during each of the dog’s lives. You will laugh and you will cry - and you will find some comfort for your ‘doggie loss’ of recent times or past times. You will be reminded that a dog loves people just as much people love their dogs.

I know there is a movie of this book. I have seen it and I have mixed feelings about it; it does not follow the book exactly.

In my view, the book is priceless as it not only follows various dog’s lives but also follows some

to Game Night together because he needs a partner. Not invited is Gary (Jesse Plemmons), Max and Annie’s divorced cop neighbor who desperately wants to do things with the group, but is shunned because he is the creepiest human being on the planet.

Think of the human equivalent of a ventriloquist dummy, then have fun trying to sleep ever again.

Brooks arranges for a kidnapping-mystery game where the grand prize is Max’s dream car, then he gets kidnapped. Max and Annie are into the game, given the prize and how it’s fun to see Brooks get roughed up during the kidnapping portion. Except the kidnapping might not have been part of the game. Brooks is mixed up in some shady business dealings, and the lines between the game and an actual kidnapping overlap. A madcap adventure ensues that includes guns, blood, gangsters, an underground fight club, a Fabergé egg, a WITSEC list, a different set of gangsters, death, and having to spend time with Gary. In other words, they might not make it through the night.

“Game Night” provides an entertaining ride as it saunters

The Truth Has No Agenda

The author and his dog

of the humans into old age. This old age part is priceless and the movie does not include old age for the humans, but rather middleaged humans! Also, from viewing the movie, I saw that some of the dogs in the story were of different breeds and that set my mind ajar as per my perception of the various dogs I had visualized as I read toward a somewhat predictable ending (it’s evident early on that it’s going to be more than just “it was all part of the game,” but the film can’t resist working that in at least a little). Bateman and McAdams have good chemistry, especially during a scene where he gets shot in the arm and she has to treat the wound. Both are very scared and they’re trying to calm each other down and it really speaks to their loving relationship that they’re so concerned not just for the other’s well-being, but for their feelings as well. There’s also a neat sequence where the characters duck and dodge their way through a mansion playing Keep

the book.

This is one book that I recommend you read rather than opting for the movie version of it.

The author has an uncanny sense for knowing and putting into words exactly what dogs must be thinking! For a great interview with the author of this classic book, go to this website and watch the second video on the page--http://www.brucecameron.com/ books/a-dog-s-purpose a Away with a Fabergé egg that appears to be one unbroken shot.

And on top of all of that, you’ll be checking under your bed at night for Jesse Plemmons. I wouldn’t go so far as to say that “Game Night” is a “winning” movie, but it puts in a good showing.

Grade: B“Game Night” is rated R for language, sexual references, and some violence. Its running time is 100 minutes.

Contact Bob Garver at rrg251@ nyu.edu. a

The Valley, April 2018

28

Life in the East End

by Rebecca Harrop

I hope everyone enjoyed a wonderful Easter this year. I also hope you found time in all the festivities to remember our Lord, Jesus Christ, and the sacrifice he made for us all on Easter so many years ago.

March was a pretty cold month, and windy, and snowy. At least the snow didn’t hang around long, but it was still a pain. We had over 8 inches of snow on the 21st. It was so pretty hanging on the trees and stuff. My nieces, Emily and Nicole, wanted to go sled riding the next day, but most of the snow had melted by noon.

They got a couple rides in, but then they just wanted to play in it. Emily was scraping the snow up and piling it on her sled. She said she wanted to save it. Nicole decided she was going fishing in the little spring in the yard with her “fishing pole.”

Between the “fishing” and trying to catch one of the barn cats, they put in a full afternoon. I’m not sure who was more tired at the end of the day, the girls or my mom.

These warmer days have got me thinking about gardening. We started some tomatoes indoors already.

I’m going to start some other seeds soon. I’m in the process of deciding what I’m planting this year as I’m sure most of you gardeners are. Mom said they have shallots and garlic at the Mifflin Agway now. I’ve never grown shallots, so I want to try them. I’m hoping to find some

fingerling seed potatoes again. I liked those. I’m hoping I can get my garden started earlier so I have lots of veggies to enter in the Open Show at the Mifflin County Fair this August. I encourage all you gardeners out there to consider entering your veggies as well. You have the opportunity to win premiums and it’s just fun to see all the entries.

I’m going to take some time now to talk about a difficult situation going on in the dairy industry. I don’t know how many of you are aware but milk prices are very low now for farmers.

Dairy farmers are having a hard time of it. I don’t want to get in the debate of large versus small dairy farms. The one thing I will say about that, just because you see a large farm does not mean

it isn’t a family farm. There are many family farms today that have more then one family living off that farm as the family has grown. Of course, the farm has to grow also to be able to support the multiple families living off that one farm. I’ve heard many people saying they are no longer going

to buy Walmart milk because they are opening their own processing plant. Please do not do this!

The milk supplying that plant is still coming from family farms, just from a different part of the country. By boycotting that milk you will still be hurting family farms. Think about that before you decide to boycott a brand. I just want to ask you all to consider using more dairy products.

All real dairy products are full of calcium, vitamins, and nutrients that we need to be healthy. I hear so much talk of cutting out dairy products because of “all the fat” in them. Really?? Whole Milk is 3.5 or 4% out of 100% fat. That isn’t much fat, but of course, there are those who say it’s the type of fat. If you are eating a healthy, well balanced diet and are active, all the more fat that is in whole milk is never going to be a problem. If you are really concerned about that little bit of fat, then by all means buy low fat or non-fat dairy products. Just please buy dairy products! If you are able, also buy an extra gallon of milk and donate it to a food panty or a homeless shelter, it is one of their most requested items.

A whole way of life is in the balance right now as many dairy farmers have sold out already or are considering selling out. It will be a sad day when you drive out in the country and not see a heifer or cow meandering in a meadow or barnyard, or just knowing that the barn you like to see is empty. I know I would be devastated if my family had to sell our cows. I can’t even imagine what those families are going through and I pray for them and the dairy industry.

That’s all for this month.

Please pray for dairy farmers everywhere. a

Dairy - Good - Truth

by Gretchen Little

With the current state of dairy industry, the easiest way to show your support is to buy and use dairy products! From cheesesteaks and cheeseburgers to pizza and strombolis, and obviously ice cream; it’s easy to get your three every day and support the industry. Of course, with all the tasty options, choosing a dish can be difficult so I’ve picked one of my favorites for you to share with your family. Enjoy!

Milk Braised Pork Loin Ingredients 1 boneless pork loin (3 1/2 to 4 pounds) Kosher salt and black pepper 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided, • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil • 1/2 cup shallots, thinly sliced • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage • 1/2 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme • 2 tablespoons lemon zest (zest of 2 medium lemons) • 1 tablespoon orange zest • 1 tablespoon minced garlic • 1/8 teaspoon freshly-ground nutmeg • 2 cups whole milk • 2 cups heavy cream • Several whole thyme and sage sprigs (added to pot and for garnish) • Directions Preheat oven to 325°.

Let pork loin come up to room temperature for about an

A Key to the Constitution from page 20 evaluate and ensure the solutions are proper and not tragic. Some call these unseen consequences, but when you can see through the lenses of history you know that they are no unseen; they are proven facets of human nature.

There is no magic pill. History and truth tells us there is no quick fix. If we truly want to make America great, we must reacquaint ourselves with some essential truths. Without these foundational building blocks, we cannot achieve the successful ends we are all looking for and we continue to spin our wheels, haphazardly maneuvering government, sometimes to good ends, sometimes to destruction. Our problem is that our policies are not driven by these foundational

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hour. Season pork liberally on all sides with kosher salt and black pepper. Melt 1 tablespoon butter and olive oil over medium-high heat in a heavy-bottomed pot, like a cast iron Dutch or French oven, that is it just large enough to fit pork.

Add pork and sear on all sides, 10-12 minutes. Remove pork from pot and set aside on plate.

Place remaining 2 tablespoons butter in pot and melt over medium heat. Add shallots, cooking until just translucent. Add herbs, garlic, citrus zest and nutmeg and cook until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Add milk and cream, stirring to combine all ingredients.

Return pork to pot, along with any accumulated juices and whole springs of thyme and sage, bring up to a slow simmer. Cover pot and place in preheated oven.

Cook 2 hours, turning it half way through cooking. Uncover and cook an additional 30 minutes.

Transfer pork to a carving board and let rest at least 15 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove the larger curds if any from the sauce and discard any herb stems.

Place pot back on the stove over medium heat; bring to a simmer.

Cook 12 to 15 minutes until reduced by half, stirring frequently so milk doesn’t scorch. Cut pork into 1/2-inch-thick slices and arrange on deep serving platter.

Ladle milk gravy over pork and garnish with any remaining fresh thyme, sage and zest. principles, but instead are driven by the phantoms of prosperity or security.

Our Constitution is not arbitrary and neither are the solutions.

They are time tested and essential.

The designers of our Constitution put these solutions in our hands.

It was the greatest gift they gave us…the opportunity to self-governance. It’s time we remember who we are and the power that we hold. I am convinced that Reconnecting with this truth will reignite the lamp of liberty. Let’s learn from history so we will not be doomed to repeat its mistakes.

Let’s stand for liberty today so our children will not have to bow tomorrow.

Reignite the lamp of liberty today with the knowledge our founders expected us all to know: www.LibertyFirstUniversity.com a

The Valley, April 2018

The Truth Has No Agenda

29

The Valley, April 2018

30 Around Town with Carole from page 9

old when they look ratty, are at the end of their laying cycle, usually in the fall. I get stuck feeding them all winter in the hopes that come spring they will lay an “old hens” cycle of one egg every two or three days....not much return on your money when feed is so expensive.

But this time, they were lovely, never ruffled their feathers, never ran away from you, obviously they were raised by children. Adults just don’t have the time or the patience. So as to have fertile eggs in the spring (fertile eggs have half the cholesterol as unfertile eggs), I brought one of the “extra” roosters into the pen to “service” the new ladies.

So far, he is not nasty, probably because he has no one challenging him for her harem. They are

Our Yesteryears from page 14 because you don’t have to strain very much to count eight mountains with names along Route 322 between Potters Mills and Milroy.

The order then is, according to this Sentinel article:

“Beginning at Potters Mills and traveling south, the first mountain on the east side is Kohler Mountain, in Centre County. The other mountain on that side of 322 is Front Mountain in Mifflin County.”

“On the west side of the highway two mountains are in Centre County. They are First Mountain and Triester Mountain. In Mifflin County there are three, Long Mountain, Spruce Mountain and Little Mountain.”

“There is a fourth mountain on that side - the last mountain before the flat leading to Milroy.

It is called Straley’s Knob and perhaps was not important enough to be called an extra mountain to make it ‘The Eight Mountains’.”

The article was written with thoughtfulness and, it seems, an eye to be acute, but the publication date is intriguing to say the least—April 1, 1964.

Consider the possibility that the “seven” has no local origin at all. Jeffrey R. Frazier in his book, Pennsylvania Fireside Tales (Origins and Foundations of Pennsylvania Mountain Folktales and Legends) puts forth another proposition about the name.

Frazier notes that the 1700s saw the emigration of German settlers to Central Pennsylvania, many from the Valley of the Rhine, an area of legends, castles and awe-inspiring scenery. An

off the ground in a nine nest box pen that we call the gorilla cage.

It took Bill so long to make it, I chided, “What are you making a gorilla cage?” and thus it stuck.

One loan rooster, who is indeed a year old now and quite beautiful with mixed colors and a very large plume of white from his tail. We have named him “Stripe.”

Now let’s proceed from hens and ducklings and talk bunnies.

Please know that the teeth on a rabbit are so sharp I have seen the finger of a three year old bitten off. Yes, remember that childrens’ bones don’t become filled with calcium for a couple years and hard cartilage is similar to their make up. Razor sharp are a rabbit’s teeth and children just don’t understand that although a lizard’s tail might grow back, a child’s finger does not. The tragedy and horror of a disfiguration is to be avoided at all costs.

A rabbit has to be housed outside when warm weather comes and that changes the relationship of the pet for the child, who now, avoids going out in the yard when it was so very convenient to play with the baby bunny when he was in a terrarium/pen next to her bed.

I have had dozens of rabbits in my life and indeed wait each spring for the inevitability of getting a new one from some one who wants to abandon the critter. For a child, I do not recommend them.

What I do recommend is a Guinea pig. My Henry came to me three years ago as an abandoned animal from a girl at church whose teenager got tired of cleaning the pen. Yes, they are rodents just like rabbits, white mice and rats, but these animals actually have personality. They won’t outgrow their cage and won’t have to be placed outside in the summer, but can live permanently in the

ancient Germanic story of the Rhineland tells how seven principal hills in the Westerwald, today a nature preserve near Bonn, became known as the Seven Mountains. The German tale involves giants and superhuman feats, but is significant to that part of Germany, according to Frazier.

“With such a capacity to inspire as well as to capture a permanent place in a person’s heart, it is not unreasonable to assume that the memories of the Seven Mountains were always present and clearly remembered in the heads of any early German pioneer who came from this area in Germany to settle among the Pennsylvania mountains we now know as the Seven Mountains.

This area would have reminded these settlers of the familiar scenery they had known back home,” Frazier explains.

Certainly an intriguing thought to those of us who live here now. This explanation focuses on the “mystery and romance” of legends in ascribing the name.

One point could be made that early maps show the term “Seven Mountains” already in place prior to the greater influx of German settlers locally. The early area land warrants went to Scotch-Irish settlers. The 1790 census reveals seventy-five percent of the population locally were Scots-Irish, with the other twenty-five percent either Welsh, English or German.

Draw your own conclusions, although the Rhineland connection remains an interesting assertion.

which seven—or eight? Or does the name originate in Germany?

We haven’t even touched upon the Indian legends of the naming of the Seven Mountains promoted by Henry Shoemaker. I personally like the list from the ‘64 Sentinel, but other explanations could well be out there just waiting for us to consider.

Regardless of the names or their origins, the Seven Mountains is an area of beauty and legend, frequented in our past by American Indians, wilderness hunters, settlers, lumbermen and even a reputed hermit. It’s been the source of stories both fact and fiction, even ghost stories have these mountains as a backdrop. So, the next time you journey to State College on US 322, look around and appreciate this natural area.

It’s rich in our early history and is part of Mifflin County’s colorful heritage.

SO WHAT ARE THE NAMES OF THE SEVEN? Is there just one mountain seven miles long or are there seven—but

house, in your child’s room.

Because Henry lives here at the Organic Green Café (don’t tell the Board of Health), he is treated with a cucumber slice, small carrot, or slice of green pepper, every time I leave the dining room, walk thru the hallway and into the back kitchen. He’s as nice as my “Irvina” guinea pig who was though first to be a boy and had the name of Irving because he looked like a Jewish friend of mine. He had tiny legs and large upper body/ torso. Irvina, once we saw she was female, lived in my kitchen for several years at home where she learned the sound of the refrigerator and each time it opened she started singing her song. Yes, she was rewarded with a piece of lettuce, asparagus, or apple and learned her “trick son” very well.

Guinea pigs, rabbits, and other rodents, who I have not had personally, all live about three to six years, but don’t tell that to Evelyn who accepted a baby one Easter when our mother rabbit delivered two weeks before we left for Myrtle Beach. My 8 year old twins had a great time carrying the mother and her 6 or 8 babies, around the camp ground at Apache on Easter morning taking reservations. By the end of the two week visit at the beach, the babies were old enough to go to their new homes.

Friends Evelyn and Barbara each took one who names were Cotton and SunTan. Barbara kept her rabbit in the laundry room on paper towels, which were changed every time a little turd rolled out of the creature. Evelyn kept hers inside a rabbit cage in winter close to the house and in summer moved to the shade of a big tree. Each lived over 8 years, but I determined they just were taken

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There is one location that can trace the entire history of Mifflin County from its founding to the present, all in one location. Any idea where that might be? Hint: What was Mifflin County, and any new county for that matter, required to do when it was established in 1789? Answer: Name a county seat and provide for administration of the laws including a courthouse and jail, to name a few. The site of Mifflin County’s jails have occupied the same site for almost 230 years. In May, “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time…” - The Jails of Mifflin County.

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such good care of by these two motherly women, that the rabbits just didn’t dare to die. Evelyn lost her husband who wanted “Sun Tan” and when Peter passed away, she wanted to put the rabbit in the coffin, but it lived another six years. She many times asked me again.... “And how long did you say this rabbit would live?”..... dah.....

So there is your choice.

You have the pros and cons of each animal and grand children waiting, so it’s up to you, Pop Pop. Yes, raising an animal is a parenting skill that your kids will use later in life, but let’s choose wisely. Consider all factors and get a Guinea pig. Don’t cringe when you look them up on the internet to see how they live wild in the Himalayan mountains, in caves, and rest, hundreds of them on the hillsides, such to be “bonked” on the head and used as fried chickens. I can see their lovely fat, fleshy “breasts,” but again, no Guinea pig in my life, and certainly not “Henry,” whose name I know well, will be eaten by this old Grandmother. Choose Wisely, Carole Lokan Moore, Television Peresonality/host/writer “Around Town With Carole” (is both the name of the TV show and the byline) www.RVNTV.TV “CAMP WITH MRS. WHITEBRIAR (MyFarmAnimalsAreOnTheShow) 609-871-9555 or cell 609-4337979 any time whitebriarbb@Hotmail.com Comments always welcome! a

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The Valley, April 2018

The Hottest Food and Drink Trends of 2018 Are Here in Mifflin County

At Brisco’s Coffee House in Burnham, PA, we’re always on the lookout for the best new bites and beverages—we continually research markets all over the country to check out buzzy new food and beverage items and taste the latest and best products on the market. We are constantly experimenting with many ideas and ingredients to bring the best of the best to the good people living in and traveling through Mifflin County. Spoiler alert: It’s shaping up to be a delicious year.

Our upcoming releases of our always growing menu will provide customers with natural, tantalizing, and unexpected textures from chewy beverages to cakes with pies baked inside.

The first big trend hitting the area by storm is bubble tea, also known as bobo tea. Traditionally, this is a tea served with milk and black tapioca pearls, but after some experiments, we found our customers wanted something a bit more exciting, so we broke the traditional rules and elevated this drink by using our organic Darjeeling iced tea and adding fruit filled bubbles known as poppers.

We have three incredible flavors to add to your tea, Blueberry, Mango and Strawberry (no milk).

The customer response has been overwhelming; You don’t want to miss out on trying one of these great drinks.

The next exciting beverage is known as Thai Tea. Thai Tea is made from strongly-brewed black tea spiced with orange blossom, crushed tamarid, and Pandan.

This brew is then sweetened with sugar and sweetened condensed

milk and served over ice. This tea will be available April 7th and will be offered with our without milk. This tea has a slight creamy/vanilla taste. We tested a few batches with our customers to get their feedback and now they are demanding this go on our menu asap. For tea drinkers and chai lovers, this combination of tea and spice is very exotic and refreshing.

The next beverage to hit our menu on April 14th is our refreshers. This is one of our most exciting drinks ever! We refer to it as the bevolution (beveragerevolution) of coffee. We are now able to give our customers a whole new way to enjoy caffeinated beverages. Unlike traditional coffee drinks, these are handcrafted from strawberry and acai juice and pure cane sugar, plus lightly caffeinated with green coffee bean extract. This is a clean label product made with premium products with no artificial colors, flavors or preservatives. You won’t believe this drink has coffee in it. We are seeing more and more customers interested in a reduced caffeine energy beverage that can offer a boost of caffeine without the crash. Brisco’s refreshers will give you just that and you won’t believe this is made from coffee.

We will be offering free samples of this beverage on April 14th from 10am to 1pm.

Ok, off of drinks for a sec, and let’s talk about the hottest new pastry in the area, Piecaken!!!! It’s exactly what it sounds like, pie and cake in one dessert. We were inspired by the pastry chefs at David Burke Fabrick in New York and came up with our own version of the Piecaken that would be more versatile to give our customers more variety.

We basically take a pie and bake it inside of a cake.

So far, we have made a pecan pie inside of a German chocolate cake topped with a caramel pecan and coconut icing, Blueberry pie baked

inside of a lemon pound cake and topped with a butter cream icing, Peach pie baked inside of a buttery yellow cake and topped with a whipped icing and a coconut custard baked inside of a French vanilla cake and topped with a toasted coconut butter cream.

We can not bake enough of these cakes and we are always running out, so hit us early in the day to make sure you get a piece of this incredible dessert.

We have many more exciting items coming up, but I do want to list at least one more and that is our tea infusers or gourmet lemonade. These drinks combine the awesome combination of our Darjeeling iced tea with lemonade and invigorated with one of our premium flavor shots such as peach, raspberry or your choice of over a dozen other flavors. These infusions are refreshing and quite interesting and we can customize this to your liking.

If you haven’t heard of Brisco’s Coffee House in Burnham, then you must top by and check us out. Although we have some of the best baristas in the area

The Truth Has No Agenda

handcrafting some of the best coffee available on the market, we offer so much more than just coffee. We have a nice light breakfast/lunch menu and offer many unique beverages. You don’t have to like coffee to come to Brisco’s Coffee House. We are located at 309 South Logan Blvd.

Burnham, PA between Vince’s Pizza and Four Star Jewelry. For more information on new items

and samplings, check out our Facebook page at Brisco’s Coffee House and DP Gifts. a

The Valley, April 2018

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