Community
UPDATE: Planners OK cash for Trout Island Trail
SHENANGO VALLEY — Shenango Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization has granted the Mercer County Trails Association $229,000 to help build the Trout Island Trail.
The money allows PennDOT to accept bids for the project, and work could be completed this year, said Matthew Stewart, senior planner for the Mercer County Regional Planning Commission.
PennDOT should advertise for bids in the next few weeks, said Edward Winslow of Winslow Engineering Inc., Hermitage, which handled design of the project.
Plans for the trail, which have been about 10 years in the making, were bogged down in setting the path and getting rights-of-way from property owners, most notably the Army Corps of Engineers, which owns most of the land.
“The administrative work is done,” Winslow said.
PennDOT recently estimated the work would cost $409,000, more than the $180,000 the association has from a PennDOT construction grant. The association asked the MPO for a share of its discretionary funds set aside for urban areas, and the MPO approved the allocation in a telephone ballot June 22, Stewart said.
“Hopefully, this will cover it,” Stewart said of construction. “PennDOT wanted to make sure the trail association had the money before it went to bid.”
The association wants to build an eight-foot-wide, paved trail from Mercer Avenue in Sharpsville to Orangeville along the abandoned Pennsylvania Railroad and Erie Railroad lines.
The first phase, which is subject to the upcoming bid process, will start in Sharpsville, curve along the south side of the Shenango River past the Shenango River Lake dam in Hermitage, and then run along Trout Island Road into South Pymatuning Township and to the lake, across from the Shenango Recreation Area. This segment will measure 2è miles.
In a subsequent phase or phases — all contingent on getting funding — the trail would head northwest along the lake to Ohio, and also could extend to Transfer and Greenville.
The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources also awarded the association a $103,000 grant, from which Winslow was paid for design.
If all goes as hoped, construction on the first phase could finish this year, although there is a chance it will carry over into next year, Stewart said.
Information: www.mctrails.org
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Sisters pretty accomplished
The most nerve-wracking moment in a pageant is when it comes down to the last two girls on stage, and 17-year-old Caroline Collins has stood in that spot three times in her life.
After two first-runner-up places in the National American Miss Pennsylvania Pageant, the pressure was really on for the Shenango Township girl the third time — her younger sister, Lexi, had taken the pre-teen crown in Harrisburg the day before in her first pageant run.
But Caroline wasn’t disappointed this year. In August, the Collins family celebrated the crowning of two daughters when the older sister was named Miss Pennsylvania Teen, and they all couldn’t be happier.
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‘Rat Packer’ pays homage to friend
When Jerry Chiodo was in the hospital, shortly before he died, Sirjio the Entertainer, his friend for 40 years, stole into his room one night after Chiodo’s family had left, and sang “New York, New York,” to him.
“I promised him right then, ‘I won’t let people forget you,’ ” Sirjio said.
Sirjio, of Farrell, has made good on his promise by creating the Jerry Chiodo Memorial Scholarship, a non-profit charity that plans to present music scholarships to high school students interested in careers in music.
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Pet project
There are two new faces at Strayhaven Animal Shelter in Hempfield Township, but they don’t belong to any cats or dogs.
Greenville-area residents Kristen Weaver and Todd Dunlap have been working as the shelter’s new managers since May, and they’ve already completed some upgrades to the property at 94 Donation Road.
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Car club hosting national antique car event here
Antique and classic cars are no strangers to local roads this time of year as old car enthusiasts cruise on sunny days.
Next week, expect to see not one or two cars as you drive around town, but dozens.
The folks who put on the Father’s Day Car Show will be hosting a national classic car tour Wednesday through Aug. 27 that will be based in the Shenango Valley.
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Flying fortress
“I can’t believe it. I can’t believe it,” 88-year-old John Grosbeck said in a weak voice that was filled with emotion.
It was the first time Grosbeck had been on a bomber since 1944, he said. The local stop was part of the Experimental Aircraft Association’s “Salute to Veterans Tour,” and on Tuesday and Wednesday people had the chance to buy a seat on a flight aboard the “Aluminum Overcast” B-17G.
The Aluminum Overcast is at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Latrobe, Pa., through today and will be at the Akron-Canton Regional Airport Sept. 14 and 15. Ground tours are offered for a small fee but are free to all veterans. -
Teen wins two World Open baton twirling titles
Brianna Colbert, daughter of Steven and Melissa Colbert, Hermitage, won World Open Three Baton Twirling and World Open Flag Twirling titles at the National Baton Twirling Association’s America’s Youth on Parade at Notre Dame University, July 20-23.
This National and World Open baton competition held in South Bend, Ind., had thousands of twirlers from all over the United States, Canada and representatives from other countries as well. While there,Simone Esters of Hermitage and Marissa Pierce of West Middlesex, members of the Shining Star Competition Team, represented Pennsylvania in the Miss Majorette of America Pageant, founded in 1945.
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Blues will fill air
The Sharon Arts and Music Initiative’s inaugural Sharon City Blues Fest, like its headliner, is “The Real Deal.”
Grammy Award nominee John Primer will take the stage along with local and regional blues musicians on Sept. 11 in downtown Sharon.
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Teaching with technology
Technology in the classroom is always changing and one Greenville teacher has spent the last three summers learning new skills through a program limited to a select few.
Jan Abernethy, a fifth-grade teacher at East Elementary School, was one of 75 teachers nationwide chosen to attend the Discovery Educator Network Summer Institute, which is held at a different location each year.
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Actors visit Camelot
The magic and mysticism that abounds in the King Arthur legend has been just as prevalent in the life of a woman who has written a three-part play chronicling the history of Camelot’s famed ruler.
Youngstown native Carol Weakland said she’s been working for 12 years on the play that premiered last weekend: “The Arthurian Trilogy Part One, Arthur and Merlin: The Making of a King.” She was never able to assemble a cast to play the demanding roles or “whittle down” the lengthy script into a compact but complete show. But this year, everything came together.
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Annual senior fair is Friday in Sharon
State Rep. Mark Longietti will hold his fourth annual free Senior and Health Education Fair from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday at the Sharon American Legion, 1395 E. State St., Sharon.
The fair will feature farmers market coupons, free health screenings, about 50 vendors, door prizes and free information and services.
For more information, call 724-981-4655. - More Community Headlines
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Sisters pretty accomplished
