The third weekend in September presented a challenge to local festival-goers. Close to home was the Bridgeville/South Fayette Rotary Chili Cook-off at Fairview Park. Traditionally this weekend is reserved for the Washington-Greene Counties Covered Bridge Festival; this year they had events scheduled for nine different sites. It also is the weekend for Canonsburg’s very popular Pennsylvanian Bavarian Oktoberfest and Stahlstown’s Flax Scutching Festival. Overwhelmed with difficult decisions, I chose to go instead to Beaver for Fort McIntosh Days, and was rewarded with a delightful experience. The Festival was located on a long, linear park between River Road in Beaver and…

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I have been aware of the Deprecation Lands Museum for a number of years, but never was able to visit it until this summer. Located in Hampton Township on South Pioneer Road, it is an impressive collection of historic buildings staffed by enthusiastic, knowledgeable docents. The complex is owned by the Township and maintained and operated by a volunteer organization, the Depreciation Lands Museum Association. It replicates a local settlement in the early 1800s, in a locale that was known as Talley Cavey. Access to the museum is through the original 1837 Pine Creek Covenanter church building. The Covenanters were…

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I had the opportunity to tour the historic Samuel T. Brownlee House late last month when the Washington County Community Foundation sponsored a rare Open House there in honor of the 175th anniversary of its construction. Located in Eighty Four, Pa., on the southwest side of Route 519 just north of the roundabout with the Thomas-84 Road, the mansion is a well-known district landmark. The Brownlee family moved to this area in the period between the French and Indian War and the American Revolution and quickly developed a prosperous farm on this site. Twenty-one year old Samuel T. Brownlee took advantage…

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August 20 was “Native American Day” at Woodville, and visitors were treated to an excellent presentation by authentic re-enactors “Ghost in the Head” and “Otaes”. “Ghost in the Head” is the Huron name for Todd Johnson, a resident of McKeesport who has been educating the public regarding Native Americans of the Late Woodlands period for several decades. I have seen him numerous times previously and am properly impressed with his knowledge and sincerity. “Otaes” is the Cherokee name for Dianne Anestis, a biomedical researcher at Marshall University, and a legitimate expert on the use on native plants for food and…

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Bridgeville is in the process of updating its long range Comprehensive Plan, for the first time since 2005. I have been involved in long term planning in both the commercial and academic worlds, and am a firm believer that it is a constructive concept, assuming it is updated regularly. I have been following Bridgeville’s efforts in this area for several years, dating back to the Covid era when Bridgeville Planning Commission meetings were available via Zoom. The foundation for the  process was laid then, and it is interesting to me to see how it has progressed. The current effort began about…

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Last week while listing the many pleasures of my life, I included “watching the seasons change in our woods”. “Our woods” is a block of land directly across the street from our house. One hundred years ago it was part of a farm; since then it has attempted to follow the laws of natural succession and revert back to the forest it was before the settlers arrived. It runs east and west for about half a mile and averages about one thousand feet wide, north to south, all told, about twenty-five to thirty acres. For the past fifty-five years I…

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Every birthday is a milestone, but somehow ninety-two seems to have been an extra special one for me. When I was born, conventional wisdom suggested that I would be fortunate to achieve the anticipated life span of “three score and ten”, and here I am the happy recipient of twenty-two bonus years! It is very easy for me to realize that every additional day I live is a special gift. This realization brings with it a profound sense of gratitude ranging from the tiniest mundane example to much grander ones, from the sound of my mantle clock tolling the hours…

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I am back home after a very pleasant week at Chautauqua in what is becoming an annual tradition for us. Daughter Sara and granddaughter Claire flew in on Saturday morning; I met them at Elizabeth’s house and rode with them in the first vehicle of our caravan. Mike loaded the sailboat and kayaks into my van and followed us. Rachael arrived from her six weeks Study Abroad experience in Avignon, France, around dinner time; she and Elizabeth completed the parade in a third car. We rented a house at 8 Judson Avenue, about halfway between the Amphitheater and the Main…

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I had the privilege of being invited to the reception celebrating the opening of a new, month-long exhibit at the Bridgeville Public Library and rubbing elbows with the leading lights of the local cultural art community. The exhibit is a joint project of the Library, Public Art Bridgeville, and the Bridgeville Area Historical Society, focusing on artists and artisans working with glass. Both the exhibit and the social contact were rewarding. Dominating the exhibit are sixteen individual pieces by seven different Pittsburgh area artists. Veteran devotees of previous Public Art Bridgeville exhibitions will immediately recognize the work of Dan Droz;…

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I recently had an interesting visit to the Allegheny Observatory, initiated by a request from Pitt Professor David Turnshek for some advice from the School of Engineering regarding mechanical problems with one of the observatory’s large rotating domes. After reviewing the resumes of a number of engineering professors in the department, he concluded that Professor John Sebastian was his best bet for a contact. Professor Sebastian referred the request to me, with the comment “Looks like it’s right up your alley!” And, he was right, or at least would have been fifty years ago when I was heavily involved with…

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