For its November “Second Tuesday” workshop the Bridgeville Area Historical Society continued its series on George Washington’s exploits in western Pennsylvania by focusing on the 1758 Forbes Expedition. Its mission was to capture Fort Du Quesne and expel the French from the Ohio Country. Immediately following Braddock’s defeat in 1755 the frontier was left defenseless against Indian attacks. Washington, as commander of the Virginia Regiment, was left with the responsibility of protecting the settlers over a wide area stretching from the Potomac River to the North Carolina border. Archives of newspapers from the colonies as well as from Great Britain…

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The Andrew Carnegie Free Library and Music Hall is a major cultural asset in this local area, regularly offering a wide variety of outstanding entertainment and historical programs. It was my privilege recently to attend one that combined both genres. In commemoration of the Centennial of the Armistice that ended World War I, the Allegheny City Ragtime Orchestra presented a program of World War I era music, largely focusing on compositions by James Reese Europe. Born in 1880 in Mobile, Alabama, Europe was “the leading figure on the African-American music scene of New York City in the 1910s”. His Clef…

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The Bridgeville Area Historical Society welcomed back one of its favorite speakers, Todd DePastino, for its October program meeting. Known primarily as the Director of the popular non-profit Veterans Breakfast Club, an activity focused on helping veterans “ensure that this living history will never be forgotten”, Dr. DePastino is a historian and writer specializing in the United States in mid-twentieth century. His specific topic for this presentation was the Home Front in World War II. He began by quoting President Roosevelt in a statement that the war would not be won because of the valor of our troop nor the…

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I recently made a quick weekend trip to Colorado to check up on the activities of my grandchildren – Ian, Nora, and Claire McCance. My daughter Sara and her husband Jim McCance live in Fort Collins; it is always a treat to go visit them. Each time I visit Colorado I am impressed with the difference between that area and ours in western Pennsylvania. Driving north from the Denver airport the Wyoming slogan “Big Sky” seems particularly appropriate. You feel as if you are in the center of a hemisphere with the entire sky visible to you in every direction,…

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I had the pleasure recently of giving a presentation to the Collier Township Historical Society in the township’s magnificent Community Center. My subject was the industrial complex between Kirwan Heights and the Pennsylvania Railroad, that thrived from the early 1900s through World War II. When Sal Sirabella, the acting president of the Society, first discussed the possibility of this presentation, I suggested I discuss the J. B. Higbee Glass Company. We jointly concluded that the whole industrial complex of which Higbee was a part would be a more appropriate subject. Its story begins with the arrival of C. P. (Casper…

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The Bridgeville Area Historical Society October “Second Tuesday” workshop was a review of the Bridgeville High School classes of 1954 and 1955. As could be expected, it was a nostalgic trip back to an era when life seemed much simpler. Once again the football team had a new head coach; this time Cyrill “Night Train” Lane fresh from four years at Kiski Prep as head basketball coach. Coach Lane’s credentials included playing for Paul Brown on the undefeated 1942 Ohio State football team. In addition, Pat Malarkey had been announced as head football coach at the Pennsylvania Training School at…

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The Bridgeville Area Historical Society kicked off its 2018/219 program meeting sequence with a presentation entitled “History Hounds – Preserving and Saving Local History Through Metal Detecting” by two hobbyists, Rob Hilt and Rob Best. Mr. Hilt had given a talk on the same subject last Spring; this time Mr. Best provided some additional information. The two speakers discussed their hobby and their commitment to local history. The audience was duly appreciative and asked numerous questions following the presentation. In Mr. Hilt’s presentation last March he mentioned the fact that his colleague, Mr. Best, had found an interesting artifact in…

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Sixteen members of the Bridgeville High School Class of 1948 and an equal number of friends and family gathered at the Walnut Grill in Heidelberg last month to celebrate the seventieth anniversary of their graduation. I was unable to visit with them but have been able to piece together a second-hand account of this very special event. Our Class of 1949 followed these folks through school all the way from first grade till they graduated. They were our honorary big brothers and sisters, our role models. We looked up to them then and still do. The organizer of this annual…

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One of the nicest things about this time of year is the number of festivals scheduled throughout the area each weekend. It has been my habit to take in the Washington and Greene Counties Covered Bridge Festival each year whenever possible. Usually their website was full of information on activities at each of the numerous locations and detailed instructions on how to get to each one. This year they have switched to FaceBook, a format better suited for social interaction than for communicating such relevant facts. They should check out the Ashtabula, Ohio, covered bridge festival website for an example…

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The recent passing of my high school classmate Arlene Scola Ellenberger has initiated a virtual time travel trip for me back to the summer of 1948 when she, Bob Baldwin, and I worked as soda jerks at McMillen’s Drug Store. Dolores “Debbie” DeBlander, another BHS alumna, was a full-time employee and being two years older than the three of us was heavily involved in the management of the store. I am sure we were very impressed with ourselves at that point. Come September we would achieve our goal of being Seniors, “top dogs”, at Bridgeville High School. Arlene had just…

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