Community
Related Photos
-
Tom Davidson/Herald
-
Tom Davidson/Herald
-
Tom Davidson
Discussion
All tricked out
Vintage decorations adorn Victorian home for Halloween
It was a cold, damp eventide on the Ides of October. It was the kind of night that makes arthritic bones ache and fogs up rain-spotted windows.
The road from the Shenango Valley to Mercer was dark and windy: U.S. Route 62 is an old road that is East State Street in Hermitage and becomes Mercer Road if you’re headed east -- or Sharon Road if you’re westbound.
On this night — Oct. 15 for those who don’t know the early Roman calendar — a fortnight before All Hallow’s Eve, a steady drizzle dampened the blacktop of the road, giving it a spooky sheen that reflected the red glows of a cavalcade of cars making the trek from the well-lighted businesses of Hermitage to the county seat.
Once past Keel Ridge, the way is lit only by the vehicles on the road. The road seems to dim headlights, and the houses on the road are cloaked in darkness.
Deer feed along the roadside and the fright of a potential encounter with a buck or doe out of season prompts taps of the brake pedal that travel like a chain reaction from vehicle-to-vehicle in the motorcade. After Wallace Hill there are few chances to pass, so the cars bunch up and travel in unison over hill and dale until the clock on the courthouse dome comes into view.
On this night, it looked like a numbered full moon, glowing in the black sky.
Turning north through town then northwest on state Route 58 toward Greenville, the darkness overtook the land again.
Browning cornfields cast shadows and nearly naked tree branches formed silhouettes on the roadside.
Line Road juts at a queer angle at Route 58 at the Jefferson-Delaware Township line, a quaint rural lane.
The two-story Queen Anne Victorian house wasn’t visible from the road. It came into view at a fork in the lighted driveway, looming large in the distance, its windows bathed in light and shadows like a country manor conjured by Thomas Hardy on the English heath.
Sharon George waited inside, excited to show off her exquisite collection.
It’s heavenly for those who hallow All Soul’s Day.
For Miss George, Halloween is better than Christmas.
“It’s probably my favorite holiday,” she said. Her house is decorated with all manner of orange, brown and black items and an upstairs room holds her priceless collection of Halloween memorabilia.
An antique rolltop desk is brimming with collectibles, many not made to stand the test of time. There are paper-maché pumpkins and Gypsy Witch fortune-telling cards, black cats and skeletons and remnants of old parlor games.
Most were long ago sold for seasonal parties and meant to be used once then thrown away, Miss George said. There are lamps that cast orange light, jack o’lanterns with frightful expressions and formal party invitations that recall a different time. Much of her collection was made by the Beistel Company, a Pittsburgh firm that manufactured all manner of festive frivolities.
It was a pioneer in “honeycomb tissue” production and many of the collectibles in Miss George’s collection are fragile because when paper ages, it becomes brittle and rots away.
During World War II the company halted its Halloween production and produced human and bomb parachutes, according to a book in Miss George’s collection.
While impressive, she said others have larger collections and that hers grew exponentially when she bought “most” of a very large collection a few years ago.
She’s planning her annual party for children of friends.
“It’s really great for kids,” she said.
They play replicas of some of the games in her collection, like “Ring the Spider Leg,” and enjoy the sights and scents of the season.
Miss George remembered the hint of hauntings in the air at Halloween. The darkness. The cold.
“The air was always brisk and it was exciting,” she said. “I think everybody gets a thrill out of being scared when it’s not for real.”
- Community
-
-
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.
-
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.”
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
Fourth of July activities
There's no lack of Independence Day celebrations planned in the area.
-
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
-
Actors visit Camelot
