Special event
• Ken Springirth, author of “Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad” will be part of Greenville Heritage Day at the Greenville Railroad Park and Museum, 314 Main St., for a book signing from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. This is the 140th anniversary of the beginning of the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad, which started out as the Bear Creek Railroad. The first line was completed from Shenango to Pardoe during October 1869. Andrew Carnegie obtained ownership of a series of railroads which in 1900 became the Bessemer and Lake Erie Railroad, connecting the Lake Erie ports of Erie and Conneaut, Ohio, south to North Bessemer near Pittsburgh. Over the years the railroad played an important role in many western Pennsylvania communities. Springirth, author of seven rail books published by Arcadia Publishing, has a vested interest in rail history; his father was a trolley car motorman in Philadelphia and his grandfather was a trolley car motorman in Washington, D.C.
Fundraisers
• UPMC Horizon employees will hold their fourth annual Motorcycle Poker Run Aug. 1. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. in the upper parking lot of the hospital in Greenville. The ride begins at 10:45 a.m., with stops at Fatboys Saloon, Conneautville; Hunter Jacks, Girard, Pa.; and Lake Tavern, Mecca, Ohio. The ride ends at about 4:30 p.m. at Fishermen’s Cove, Orangeville, where dinner will be served. Tickets are $20 for drivers and $15 for passengers. Anyone who registers before July 17, will receive a free T-shirt. Proceeds benefit the hospital’s Community Health Foundation Patient Transportation Fund. Registration: Alyson Fisher, 724-589-6347, or Kristan Eastlick, 724-589-6328.
• Stoneboro Historical Society, 6 Railroad St., holds a flea market from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
• The next Community Clothes Closet at Central Christian Church will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. July 10 at 44 S. Main St., Hubbard, across from Handyman Hardware. There is no charge for the clothing and quantity is not limited. If you have a need, come and help yourself. Donations may be dropped off at the church from 9 a.m. to noon Tuesday through Thursday. Summer clothes are being accepted; there is not a large storage area to keep out-of-season clothing.
• The Annual Ride 2 Provide, all-wheels poker run and chicken roast, is July 12 at the Clark House. Registration is 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.; dinner served at 5 p.m. and FX Project live begins at 5 p.m. Cost is $15 a person. There will also be a Chinese auction and 50/50 raffle. Proceeds benefit medical appointment transportation for the community. Details: 724-981-2875, ext. 204; 724-962-2095; www.phnfoundation.et or www.paclarkhouse.com
Reunions
• Wolf Creek Township School annual reunion for Gordon Montgomery and Patterson schools will be at 5 p.m. July 12 in the pavilion at Ebenezer Presbyterian Church, Scrubgrass Road, Grove City. Take food to share and your own table settings. Coffee and cold drinks will be provided. Pictures to share are welcome. Info: 814-786-9375.
• The 93rd Ligo reunion will begin at noon Saturday at White Chapel Church in New Wilmington. Beverages will be provided. Please take a dish to share.
• Mercer High School class of 1994 holds its 15th reunion July 18 at 1866 Restaurant, 3333 Sharon-Mercer Road, East Lackawannock Township. Optional dinner at your own expense in the restaurant from 5 to 7 p.m., followed by reunion from 7 to 11 p.m. in the upstairs loft. Cost is $10 a person and is due by July 10. Addresses are needed for these classmates: Hemant Desai, Lacy Dugan, Ron Foy, Cindy Hoffman and Candida Trouterman. Registration: Debbie McClay-Daugherty, 412-401-3235; or these Web sites: Classmates.com, Mercer High School Alumni Web site and Facebook under Mercer High School Past and Present.
• Farrell High School class of 1945 meets at noon July 7 at Red Lobster, Hermitage.
Community
Things to do - July 1, 2009
- Community
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Extension offers ‘Dining with Diabetes’
Back by popular demand, Penn State Cooperative Extension is offering a low-cost series of classes, “Dining with Diabetes: A Program for Adults with Diabetes and their Families,” to teach those with type 2 diabetes how to manage their disease.
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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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Extension offers ‘Dining with Diabetes’
