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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My dear friend Don Toney died on the Fourth of July, another sad reduction of the remnants of the fabled Class of ’49 at Bridgeville High School. His daughter Diana invited me to join the family and Don’s large network of friends at a Celebration of his Life, at Cefalo’s Restaurant in Carnegie, following the funeral. She also suggested I say “a few words”, as his “Best Friend”. My memories of Don date back to third or fourth grade, when I remember him, Ray Fagan, and John (Yunner) Rosa as being a local version of the Dead End Kids. To…

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The Bridgeville Area Historical Society ended its 2022-2023 program season with an interesting, entertaining presentation by retired Pittsburgh Press Drama Critic Ed Blank, entitled “The Greatest Movies and the Best/Worst Celebrities”. Mr. Blank is a Pittsburgh native who served as an officer in the Signal Corps in Vietnam following graduation from Duquesne and then initiated a career spanning thirty-nine years as an entertainment critic with the Pittsburgh Press and the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. Mr. Blank came across as a down-to-earth person who was fortunate to spend most of his life performing his dream job, a drama critic focusing primarily on…

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