Community
FHS grad urges healthy lifestyle for diabetics
FARRELL — Farrell native DeWayne McCulley learned the hard way that he had Type 2 diabetes.
In March of 2002, the 59-year-old engineer spent almost a whole day in a near-death coma that doctors believe was triggered by McCulley’s sky-rocketing blood glucose level, common in diabetics, but he didn’t even know he was carrying the disease.
“The doctor said I should have died three times over,” he said, adding he later realized he had experienced diabetes-related symptoms.
McCulley, who graduated from Farrell High School in 1967, lives in Rochester, Pa., and spends much of his time researching diabetes and traveling the country to share his experiences and discuss his book “Death to Diabetes.”
He attended Pennsylvania State University’s Shenango Campus in Sharon and main campus in University Park, where he earned an electrical engineering degree in 1971.
After college, McCulley moved to California to work as an aerospace engineer and later for Xerox Corp., where he was employed until three years ago.
His career as an engineer helped him learn more about collecting data and doing research, which he applied to learning more about diabetes after recovering from the coma.
Type 2 diabetics usually prick their finger three to four times a day to measure their blood sugar levels, but McCulley did it eight times a day to collect as much data as possible.
He soon learned his diet made a big difference and he started eating green vegetables for breakfast instead of cereal and ate healthier in general. He also went on a strict exercise program and lost 70 pounds.
He said he was quickly beating the odds that diabetes would make him go blind, lose his legs, shut down his kidneys or kill him like some doctors had predicted.
Just 3è months after the coma, McCulley weaned himself off the insulin he took to control his diabetes. He no longer requires any medicine and considers himself a former diabetic.
Through his book and travels, McCulley wants people to know that diabetes is a common health problem that people can control, but it’s not discussed as much as it should be, especially among family members.
Until McCulley got sick, he didn’t know his grandmother and father had diabetes and it contributed to their deaths.
“This disease is running rampant in the United States of America. It’s an epidemic,” he said.
He urges diabetics to talk more with their doctors, examine their lifestyles, change their bad eating habits and exercise more.
He credits his success to God, church, family, his high school and college professors and growing up in a small town like Farrell.
For more information about McCulley or his book, call 800-813-1927 or visit www.deathtodiabetes.com
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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. -
Dolata carves time for local fest
Walter Dolata shows and sells his wood carvings at arts festivals — sometimes large ones — in New York, Maryland and Ohio.
But he always makes time for the arts festival in his back yard: the Hermitage Arts Festival, which runs this weekend at Rodney White Olympic Park.
“I like it,” said Dolata, who lives in Hermitage. “It’s a local festival. It’s a nice little festival.”
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Farmers market vouchers for seniors available
Mercer County Area Agency on Aging Inc. is again offering the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program to eligible Mercer County Seniors.
This program is made possible through the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Food Distribution.
The purpose of this program is to encourage older adults to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables produced by local growers.
Eligible seniors can pick up vouchers at locations in Greenville, Grove City, Mercer, Sandy Lake/Stoneboro and the Shenango Valley . -
Victorian Weekend begins Friday evening
Step back into a gentler era during the 22nd annual Victorian Weekend Festival, planned for Friday through Sunday on the historic Mercer County Courthouse Square.
The weekend begins with “A Victorian Concert” by the Mercer Community Band at 7:30 p.m. Friday at the bandstand on the east side of the county courthouse; the warmup concert starts at 6.
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Girl Scouting gold goes to RHS grad
Lorrie Lehman, daughter of Dave and Rosemary Lehman of Reynolds and sister of Tommy, was recently awarded the Girl Scout Gold Award from Girl Scouts of Western Pennsylvania.
The Gold Award recognizes leadership, hard work and service to the community and for exemplifying the ideals of the Girl Scout Promise and Law. Only five percent of Girl Scouts nationwide earn this recognition annually.
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Public invited to annual Farm Safety Day
Our annual Mercer County Farm Safety Day will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday at the Leslie N. Firth Learning Center, home of Mercer County Cooperative Extension, and the adjacent 4-H Park, 483 N. Perry Highway, 1 1/2 miles north of Mercer in Coolspring Township.
Our staff, along with event sponsor, the Agricultural Health and Rural Safety Advisory Committee, invite you and your family to attend and actively participate in a full day of safety demonstrations and open dialog on an issue which affects us all. Our goals are to make rural residents more conscience of common hazards, risky behaviors, and cultural traditions which often contribute to farm and rural accidents.
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Urban League offers outdoor movie series
It’s been decades since movies have been shown on a big screen in Farrell.
The Shenango Valley Urban League is changing that this summer, with its “Films in the Square” series, to be held Friday nights at Veterans Square.
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Fourth of July activities
There's no lack of Independence Day celebrations planned in the area.
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League levels the playing field
It might not look like a traditional baseball game at first glance, that is, the baseball game one would see in the Brookfield Community Park on summer Sundays.
Some of the players are in wheelchairs, others use walkers and canes and most are mentally challenged, but they all come out every week for the same reason: the chance to play baseball, and it’s an opportunity they might not otherwise have.
It’s called the Challengers League, a baseball league for the mentally and physically challenged. - More Community Headlines
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Actors visit Camelot
