Every Story Begins At Home. Summer 2010 - 1

LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST

SUMMER 2010

Take A Walk on the Wild Side

I Eat Right and ExerciseBut I Still Can’t Lose Weight!

Mold Is A Four-Letter Word

You Can Be SureIf It’s Westinghouse

How A Little Makes A Lot

FREE

Never Say You’re Sorry

Too Hot for Soup?Not If It’s Chilled

The Helping Handsof Neighbors

Warm Summer Meadows

Cover Photo © TJZ Creations: Confluence, PA

2 - Summer 2010 LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST

"We're Saving a Great Deal for You!"Rt. 711 N. 2 mi. North of Diamond Ligonier, Pa. 15658724-238-9577 • www.townandcountryligonier.com

We Love Having You Here.TM

BOOK YOUR PARTIES EARLY!SEE OUR SALADS AT NATURE’S WAY MARKET

WWW.EARNESTGOURMET.COM

LINDA EARNEST

MARGARET DIVIRGILIO646 S. URANIA AVE.

GREENSBURG, PA 15601724-834-2020

A unique menu of Seasonal and Fresh Foods made dailyCafe Room available for Lunch, Takeout or After Hours Gathering

Hors D’oeuvre to Full Course Meals prepared to your request

Weekdays: Mon-Fri 8:30-3:00; Sat-Sun: Catering/Pick-Up • Mastercard/Visa Accepted

Courtyard by Marriott Greensburg700 Power Line Drive • Greensburg, PA 15601

Phone: 724-834-3555 • www.courtyardgreensburg.com

Managed by Concord Hospitality Enterprises.*Quality *Community *Integrity *Profitability www.concordhotels.com

Find your oasis on the road at the Courtyard PittsburghGreensburg hotel, perfectly situated in the Greengate

Centre featuring retail shops and a variety ofrestaurants – all conveniently within walking distance.

Start your day in our Courtyard Cafe offering areasonably priced, healthy breakfast buffet. Host yournext successful event in one of our 2 Meeting Rooms.

We invite you to experience the Courtyard Greensburg,one of the newest and friendliest of Greensburg hotels!

August 20 – 28, 2010For 2010 ticket information,

events, concerts, directions and more log onto:

www.westmorelandfair.com724-423-5005

Every Story Begins At Home. Summer 2010 - 3

elcome . . .MOUNTAIN VIEWS

Cathi Gerhard

SUMMER 2010(Volume VII, Issue 2)

The Laurel Mountain Post is a quarterly pub-lication designed to focus on the people,places and events from the heart of westernPennsylvania. We print stories about realpeople and their daily lives; feature localmerchants, craftsmen and professionals;present short pieces of art & literature; andnever lose sight of what makes this area agreat place to call home. Most of our writersare not professional reporters, but accom-plished local practitioners with years of ex-perience in their respective fields who bringcredibility and personality to every article.In October 2006, the BBC News quoted usas “the voice of Pennsylvania.”

Laurel Mountain PostP.O. Box 227

Latrobe, PA 15650

724-537-6845www.LaurelMountainPost.com

PROFESSIONAL STAFF

Cathi GerhardEditor & Publisher

Jason AmentAdvertising Director

Megan S. FullerManaging Editor

Brian ZupancicIntern

THANKS TO:Our writers, as well as those

who help out behind the scenes:Carol Gerhard, Heather Haines,

Chris Kantorik, Pat Kintigh,Doug Richardson, Elizabeth Srsic,Briana Tomack, Robert Williams,

and spouses everywherewho help us do what we do!

Special thanks to our advertisers forsupporting this community publication.

W

Our distribution of 15,000 reachesbeyond Westmoreland County into the

neighboring counties of Allegheny,Washington, Armstrong, Bedford,

Cambria, Indiana, Somerset and Fayette.Every day, more and more readers and

advertisers across western Pennsylvaniaare discovering the Laurel Mountain Post.

We Don’t See Things As They Are,We See Them As We Are

You can’t be suspicious of a tree, or accuse a bird or a squirrelof subversion or challenge the ideology of a violet.

– Hal Borland, Sundial of the Seasons, 1964

My husband gives a great excusefor not fully giving up his 20-some-year smoking habit: “If I didn’t takethose breaks throughout the day, Iwould miss all the little things thathappen in the world,” he explains.While I will never be a smoker,encourage the habit, or stop wish-ing he could quit, I can appreciatehis point of view.

He shares observations al-most every day about birdsbuilding creative nests, or antscarrying food. Spiders are ex-tremely detail-oriented crea-tures, while apparently chip-munks dance like Fred Astaireand Ginger Rogers across thegrass. And he’s always accu-rate with tenuous impendingweather after a close inspec-tion of the leaves on trees orthe cloud patterns in the sky.

I remember the brilliantsummer skies of youth quitewell. Today, I’m not even surewhat color they are. A familiarquotation (often attributed toAnaïs Nin) aptly explains why:“We don’t see things as theyare, we see them as we are.”

As a child, boredom was mybiggest enemy, but even thatwas easily defeated by watch-ing, listening and learning. Isaw everything around me as anopportunity, not a threat. At middleage, I am really busy, and so filledwith worry about where I’m goingthat I often miss life’s carnival. Ifsomething gets in my way, I typi-cally take only enough time toevaluate the immediate impacton myself rather than consider alarger, much more multi-facetedpicture.

In high school we never under-stood our social studies teacherwho had a serious infatuation withJohn Lennon. She made her stu-dents memorize the lyrics to Imag-ine, then encouraged us to climb ahillside and contemplate daisies.We rolled our eyes and called heran old, whacked-out hippie back

then. But now I can say I totally getit – and I dig her!. The message shewas cultivating in our brains is grow-ing slowly along with us; the dawnof realization will open up like thepetals of a flower when we are readyto listen, smell, taste, touch andfeel it.

The more we comprehend allthe things around us, the more webegin to understand ourselves. Of-

ten things are not as they seem;that’s because our first assessmentis always based on who we are andhow we want things to be. It’s a lotharder to look for all the evidencebefore delivering our verdict – es-pecially when it might also changesome secure definition of our-selves, the one we hide behind. I’m

addicted to shows like Law &Order and Bones, yet somehowI struggle to balance my de-sires for both vanity and thetruth. District Attorney JackMcCoy, the resolute mind of jus-tice, and confident TemperanceBrennan, a forensic anthropolo-gist, remain merely escapistfantasy characters rather thanpractical role models for mydaily thought processes.

There are many articles inthis issue that I hope will in-spire you to take another lookat things you think you alreadyknow. No story is ever blackand white. The human eyecan see only a small portion ofthe colors in a wavelength oflight; but we have clues whichtell us the others exist – thingslike sunburn. Many species,such as bees, can see a muchbroader spectrum. I can’t imag-ine spending a day in which all

things glowed with a sci-fi ultravio-let hue, but it might be quite in-sightful if I could.

POSTSCRIPT:

My husband has cut down from 2-3 packsto 4-10 cigarettes a day. With time andpatience, I’m confident he’ll succeed inbeating the habit. But I hope he neverstops taking those small, peaceful breaksthroughout the day.

“ ”

4 - Summer 2010 LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST

DOWN ON THE FARMPractical Advice & Stories from Old Dad’s Agricultural Library

The Helping Hands of NeighborsEvery day, over 200 million Face-book users log in to see what theirfriends and relatives are doing.Sixty million of them live righthere in the United States. Overone third of my 267 friends playFarmville, and the news boardsoverflow with entries that read“Kimberly just sent you a cow,” “Davidgave you some olives,” and “Maryjust watered your garden.”

What a wonderful world it wouldbe if these kinds of news storieswere real! Growing up, I neverknew how much money my fathermade as a heavy equipmentoperator for Penn DOT. I remember

More than one in eightpeople in the United Stateslives below the poverty line,which is $21,756 for a familyof four in 2009. One in fivechildren in the United Stateslives below the poverty line.

Source: Income, Earnings, and Povertydata from the 2008 American Community

Survey, U.S. Census Bureau, 2009.

• Most Americans (51.4percent) will live in povertyat some point before age 65.

Source: Urban Institute, TransitioningIn and Out of Poverty, 2007.

• 84 percent of low-incomefamilies have at least oneworking family member, and75 percent of single motherswho head households work.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau,Current Population Survey, Annual

Social and Economic Supplement, 2007.

• In most areas, a family offour needs to earn twice the“poverty line” to providechildren with basic necessities.

Source: National Center forChildren in Poverty, 2008.

• Nationally, more than 30percent of children live inlow-income working families(families who earn less thantwice the poverty line).

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007,Working Poor Families Project.

family of three—one parent with twochildren—is $17,285 (U.S. CensusBureau). I’m not very good at math,but even I can see where numberslike that can leave people in a prettybig financial lurch.

We haven’t even begun to seemost of the true labor or povertystatistics following the stock marketplunge of 2008. Most of the facts Igathered while working on this

article probably apply to many morepeople now than I can imagine.

We are living in a countrywhere the working poor are forcedto feed their children a 99-centbag of processed and nutritionally-vacant Doritos from WalMartbecause a fresh bunch of greengrapes costs $3.99– three dollarsmore than we have in our pocket.Most often, the people producingthe US products (Americanworkers) that the rest of us CANafford to buy, are the ones who arestarving, or sacrificing adequatenutrition to pay the rent.

We love to talk about the “GoodOld Days.” Most of us consider themto be the times following World WarII, when we emerged a stronger and

my Mum saving up to buy this andthat, but we always had plenty offood because we lived on a workingbeef farm with an acre-sizedvegetable garden. Hardly a daypassed by in the summer thatfriends and neighbors didn’t stop byto pick up paper bags full of sweetcorn, tomatoes, green beans,apples, squash and dozens of otherfruits and vegetables we grew. Wedidn’t charge for them; wesimply gave away what wedidn’t need for ourselves. Itreally wasn’t much more workto plant a really big gardenthan a smaller one.

When she wasn’t tending toher garden, my Mum loved tobake cookies. And usuallythere was a container of sugarcookies, nutrolls or chocolatechip brownies tucked into thetop of those paper bags that leftthe farm each day.

A family friend recentlyshared a story with me aboutthose child-hood days of mine.He recalled being laid off fromhis job on the railroad and nothaving enough to make endsmeet for his family. But withfood from my parents, andthose nutrolls that he warmedup over their kerosene heaterfor dessert, they made itthrough. As bad as things were– financially, emotionally, andphysically – he still calls those“the good times,” when familyand friends gladly pulled to-gether to meet a need.

For much of America, the struc-ture of the labor industry has failedto provide stable jobs capable ofsupporting families. It’s hard notto make comparisons with theyears following the stock marketcrash of 1929. FDR’s New Deal grewfrom courageous concepts like the“Glassford wage,” a practical guide-line issued (although illegally) inCalifornia by the US Departmentof Labor in 1934, following inter-views across small towns so that arealistic minumum wage could laterbe established. Yet the currentminimum wage standard forAmerican workers is a cruel riddle.Today, a person working full-time atthe minimum wage earns $14,500a year. The official poverty line for a

united nation following 20 years ofextreme crisis. The New Dealpromised livable wages and fairworking conditions. We plantedVictory Gardens in our yards andpublic parks to feed our troops, ourneighbors, and ourselves. Sow theSeeds of Victory! (1918) and PlantMore in ’44, were popular slogans.

Lately, there have been lots ofmarketing campaigns touting

phrases like “Home FarmingMovement,” and “Global UrbanFarming.” But our media-saturated and contrariant gen-erations have become prettyskeptical and resilient to theinfluence of such commun-ication. We think everyone issimply out to sell us some-thing, and try our best to ignoreit. Effective advertising tendsto target the selfish pleasurecenters of our brains thatrepeatedly ask “what’s in it forme” instead of appealing to ourpractical, compassionate, orempathetic hearts. Growing agarden and sharing your harvestwon’t make you a fashionableyuppie – or a communist hippie.But here’s what it could do:• Save Money: A tomato plantcosts $2.90, plus a bit of waterand 15 cents worth of fertilizer.From it you can harvest 30pounds of tomatoes valued at$2 per pound.• Improve Your Health:Fresh food is healthier food, andit doesn’t contain pesticides or

other chemicals from processing.• Feed Another Family: “Foodinsecurity,” or the lack of continuousaccess to food has doubled in theUnited States since 2000. Considerdonating your produce to a localFood Bank or a friend in need.• Teach Self-Sufficiency: Climatechange is expected to cause a globaldecline in agricultural output,making fresh produce increasinglyunaffordable.

In short, growing things togetherand sharing the fruits of that laborwill actually make us Healthy,Wealthy and Wise – a good old adagefrom one of America’s foundingfathers, Benjamin Franklin.

– Cathi Gerhard

Every Story Begins At Home. Summer 2010 - 5

Take A Walk on the Wild Side

Hunger in Westmoreland CountyIn 2005, the Westmoreland County Food Bankparticipated in a study called “Hunger in America 2006”.This was the fourth in a quadrennial series of studieson the status of hunger in America sponsored by FeedingAmerica, the Nation’s Food Bank Network. This wasthe first time WCFB had participated in this study.WCFBstaff and over 20 volunteers conducted surveys withagencies among its own pantry network. Nearly 300individual clients were surveyed using questionnairesand statistic sampling methods developed by MathmaticaPolicy Research, Inc.Below are some of the findings ofthat study:

Who We Serve• 27% of the members of households served are childrenunder the age of 18.• 13% are seniors.• 79% of our clients are females.• 1% of our clients are homeless.• 27.3% have less than a high school education.• 39.2% received a G.E.D.• 64% have incomes below the official federal povertylevel. We serve anyone in need whose income is 150%or less of the official poverty level.• 55% of the households receive Food Stamps.• 16% receive General Assistance (Welfare).

Household Income• 61% of all households report a monthly income lessthan $1,400.• The average monthly income per household is $920and the median is $880.• 34.5% of clients report at least some income fromemployment.• 44.8% receive income from Social Security.• 24.8% receive income from Supplemental SecurityIncome (SSI).• 21.6% receive income from Disability (SSDI) orWorker’s Compensation.• In 2004, 47.1% of all clients lived in householdswith a total annual income less than $10,000.• The average household served has 2.2 members and

a household income at 13% less than the official federalpoverty level.

Living Situations• Half of our clients live in single family homes butonly 25% own their homes.• 40% live in apartments and 10% live in a mobilehome or trailer.• 68% rent the place they live.• 15% report difficulty paying theirrent or mortgage.• 22.4% of households receive Section8 or Public Housing Assistance.• 80% have a working motor vehicle.

Food Security

“access by all people at all times to haveenough food for an active, healthy life”• Among all households, 36.1% feltthey are food secure. The other 63.9%felt food insecure.• 30% reported food insecurity with the presence ofhunger.• Among adult clients, 24% report that in the last 12months, they have had to cut the size of meals or skipmeals because there was not enough money for food.• Among households with children under the age of18, 21% report that their children had to go hungry atleast once during a twelve month period because therewas not enough money for food.• In a twelve month period, the following percentageof client households report having to choose at leastonce among: food and utilities (or heating fuel) 45.6%;food or rent/mortgate 33%; food or medical care/medicine 32%.

Food Stamps• In 55.1% of households, at least one member of thehousehold receives food stamps.• 60% of clients that receive food stamps state thatthey last for 2 weeks or less.• 98% state they never last a full month.• Many clients have never applied for Food Stamps,even though they may be eligable because: think they

are not eligable because of income or assets (47.2%),hard to get to Food Stamp office (8.3%), applicationprocess too long (1.8%), no need for benefit (16.5%),think others need it more (3.3%).

Client Health and Health Care• 51% of adults who pick up food at pantry report thatthey are in fair or poor health.• 42% report that one member of their household is in

poor health.•42% report that they have MedicareInsurance.•48.5% report that they have MedicaidInsurance.•29% have private health insurance.•5% report having no health insurance.•39% of adult clients report having

unpaid medical or hospital bills.

Operation Fresh Express (OFE)

In 2009, over 600,000 pounds of perishable food wasprovided to over 8,900 needy individuals throughOperation Fresh Express (OFE). 2,400 were childrenand almost 900 were seniors. Without OFE, much ofthis nutritious food would be discarded due to lack ofrefrigeration capacity. Each week, groups andindividuals sponsor OFE distributions where from10,000 to 20,000 pounds of perishable food (frozen,dairy products, and fresh produce) is directly distributedto needy families by WCFB staff and volunteers at sitesthroughout Westmoreland County. Sponsorship is $350.OFE distributions are held Monday-Thursday once aweek. If you would like to volunteer, donate or sponsoran OFE, please contact Deana at 724.468.8660 ext. 29or e-mail her: deana@westmorelandfoodbank.org.

“each town should havea park, or rather a

primitive forest … wherea stick should never be

cut for fuel, a commonpossession for ever,

for instruction andrecreation.”

Henry David ThoreauJournal, 15 October 1859

People born during the Baby Boom and fu-ture generations often ask How ChestnutRidge got its name. Take a walk throughthose little mountains or the surroundingfoothills of the Laurel Highlands, and youwon’t see any native Chestnut trees – theydied out from our neck of tthe woods between1904-1940. A blight, believed to be intro-duced by Asian chestnut trees imported toNew York Zoological Garden as nurserystock, spread rapidly as a fungus. Despiteefforts by researchers funded by Congress,the blight proved unstoppable.

Once considered to be the Queen of theAmerican forest, these magnificent shadetrees spread through Appalachia and grewto be 100 feet. To the south it supported thelocal economies through timber, nuts, andtannic acid for leather. Now, all that remainare stumps and small seedlings that soondie off from infection.

Plants and animals evolved together inways that best suited their environments.Taking one away or introducing a new spe-cies sends the whole system into shock. Re-move one plant, and the insect has nothing toeat. Without that insect, certain birds mustmigrate. Replace the missing plant with an-

other that is not “native” or natural to the area,and one has to add even more new elements inorder for it to survive.

Fortunately, there are more and more placesthese days where the wild sides of nature arebeing carefully restored and tended. The WinniePalmer Nature Reserve at St. Vincent College (thebig red barn - www.wpnr.org) is the perfect example.The grounds have been plantedwith various natural areas. Mean-dering gravel paths have been de-signed for visitors to visit one eco-system and then another.

Along such routes as The But-terfly Loop, Cattail Trail, and Gar-den Path, plants and trees includeswamp milkweed, butterflyweed,New England aster, New Yorkaster, false blue indigo, thousandflowered aster, turtlehead, purpleconeflower, Joe pye weed, hyssopleaved boneset, boneset, sneezeweed, thinleaved sunflower, woodland sunflower, falsesunflower, dwarf gayfeather, gayfeather, greatblue lobelia, wild bergamot, sundrops, Jacob’sladder, green headed coneflower, blackeyedSusan, wild petunia, Virginia cup plant,bluestem goldenrod, Pennsylvania spiderwort,

blue verbain, upland ironweed, New Yorkironweed, golden Alexanders, switchgrass, littlebluestem, Indiangrass, white spruce, lowbushblueberry, elderberry, paw paw, Alleghenyserviceberry, cranberry viburnum, black gum,trumpet vine and trumpet honeysuckle,spicebush, white wood aster, foamflower,blackhaw viburnum, ironweed, wild bergamot,

false sunflower, blackeyedSusan, switchgrass, purpleconeflower. Herbs includesorrel, fennel, lovage, oregano,burnet, chives, rosemary,lavender and sage.

Stop by for a leisurely walkon the wild side of Latrobe.From Route 30, turn onto SaintVincent Drive and look for agravel driveway on the east(right) side of the road. Thisleads to an eighteen-car park

and walk lot. This parking area has a restroomarea with a water fountain designed for use byvisitors when Barn facilities are not open. Theten trails on the reserve property total 8837feet or 1.6 miles. Walkers can increase theirmileage to 2.1 by also hiking along both en-trance driveways.

Every Story Begins At Home.

HOME STUDYBrian Mishler

Mold Is A Four-Letter Word

SALES ASSOCIATE, RECS/ASR

Heather & Bob Kuban136 East Main Street

Ligonier, Pa 15658724-238-2930

Greensburg, PA 15601

724-834-4688

271 Frye Farm Rd.

Brian Mishler is a 15-year veteran of home inspection and is a past president of PRO-ASHI, the local chapter

of the American Society of Home Inspectors. You can get more information about home inspection at www.

pro-ashi.com

Few words can strike fear into the hearts and minds of folks, especially those buying or selling a home, like mold. Urban legends, myths, hoaxes and lawsuits abound and surround mold. Some “reports” say that mold can’t grow on Twinkies because of all the chemicals in them. (Not so) Others say that “black mold” will cause a slow painful death. In actuality, it’s really not quite so exciting. According to the EPA, “Molds are part of the natural environment. Outdoors, molds play a part in nature by breaking down dead organic matter such as fallen leaves and dead trees, but indoors, mold growth should be avoided. Molds reproduce by means of tiny spores; the spores are invisible to the naked eye and fl oat through outdoor and indoor air. Mold may begin growing indoors when mold spores land on surfaces that are wet. There are many types of mold, and none of them will grow without water or moisture.” The real story is in that last sentence; “…none of them will grow without water or moisture.” If moisture is controlled, so is mold. On the surface it would seem moisture control would be a simple proposition, however, as we human beings consist of 93% water, it can be tricky. A vast amount of research and reports exist about mold, its causes and solutions. But what does the average person do who won’t go to the trouble of reading the assembly instructions for their new IKEA cabinet? When dealing with mold, one must deal with moisture. Typically, when a person thinks about moisture, it is in the form of water. Floods, hurricanes, basement water leaks, and other “events” all come to mind. More often than not, moisture enters from a “process.” A gutter leaking over a period of time wears a hole in the soil next to the foundation, the hole in the soil ponds water, the water seeps into the soil, and moisture, water or vapor, seeps through the basement foundation wall. Or, moisture vapor from the soil is trapped inside a crawl-space, much like the condensation on the inside of a pot lid with warm water. Another common source of moisture in homes is the vent fans and ducts for bathrooms and kitchens. In many homes, these are improperly vented into the attic, or improperly ducted, which can cause water to lay and or leak. Either way, these can cause signifi cant moisture/mold issues in the attic and or ceiling. So, what can you do to determine and minimize the impact of moisture on your home, thus avoiding mold? As we are dependant upon water for life, it’s a matter of management, and following the water (droplet). As creatures who are predominantly water, we ourselves give off a great deal of water vapor, which can be a source of odor, and other issues. Don’t believe me? Go fetch your teenagers’ sneakers … That horrifi c odor is caused by moisture, and bacteria. What to do about the house? Try to keep (interior) doors open, and air circulating through the house, especially in the humid summer months. Showering also puts a signifi cant amount of water vapor in the air, if you don’t have a bath fan installed, consider doing so, and instead of

having it on a conventional switch, have a timer installed. The fan should run at least half an hour after you exit the bathroom. Most importantly, make sure the fan vents to the exterior of the house, the duct is properly run, and insulated. In the kitchen, it is best again to have a fan that vents to the exterior, and run it not only when you’re cooking, but when the dishwasher is in operation, etc. Outside, have your gutters and downspouts

cleaned, and make sure they are directing roof water at least 6 feet away from the house. Trim vegetation away, and ensure your yard slopes away from the house. Roof leaks and ice damming can also create water entry points, and generally these can be discovered by inspecting your attic/roof space. All this excitement about mold, and all we have to do is manage moisture? What, no magic bullet? What to do if one day you enter a room and bang! A big honking wet spot with gasp- black mold!! First of all, the color the mold is irrelevant; it needs to be dealt with. The very fi rst thing to do is fi nd and eliminate the source of the moisture that the mold MUST HAVE to live. Once the moisture source is eliminated, then the mold must be addressed. There is no point cleaning up the mold until the moisture is dealt with; otherwise the mold will just grow back. According to the EPA, smaller mold issues can be cleaned up with a cleanser containing bleach. However, if the moisture was/is inside a wall, ceiling, fl oor or other cavity, I recommend hiring a mold specialist to determine the extent of the contamination, and perform mitigation of the mold, then have the damage repaired, and an air sample mold test performed to make sure the air in the home has an acceptable amount of spores. (Zero spores are not possible; mold is naturally occurring.) Why not just scrub it down? Out of sight, out of mind, right? If you or someone you know has asthma, or is allergic, mold spores in the air can cause nasty allergic reactions. The EPA has more information available at http://www.epa.gov/mold/

Cosmetic & Family DentistryCEREC: 1-Appointment Crowns/Inlays

Frank G. Novak, Jr. DMD483 Frye Farm Road

Greensburg, PA 15601724-537-2337

Day, Evening & Saturday Appointments

Summer 2010 - 6

Every Story Begins At Home. Summer 2010 - 7

Barkley’s

Named Best Hot Fudge Sundae by The Ligonier Chef!

Derry KingRoute 217 Derry • 724-694-8552

Swim!Bike!Run!

Calling All KidsAges 7-12

The Central Westmoreland Habitat forHumanity (CWHFH) is holding its 8thannual Kids Triathlon August 14, 2010.This event will be emceed by Y108’s ownMonty from Monty & Zeke in theMorning.

This event promotes a fun andhealthy way for kids to achieve a feelingof accom-plishment and encourage self-esteem. The triathlon is also a greatactivity for the whole family – from thekid’s involvement, to the parent’s supportand help with training.

The swim/bike/run event will beginat 8:00 a.m. at Lynch Field, Greensburg,PA. All kids from around the Pittsburghregion are encouraged to participate. Forages 7-9, the swim is 50 yards, bike ½mile, and run ¼ mile. For our olderparticipants, ages 10-12, the swim is 100yards, bike 1 mile, and run ½ mile.

The day will be filled with enter-tainment, door prizes, refreshments andgifts for all our talented athletes. Toregister, visit active.com, or visit theGreensburg YMCA anytime duringregular business hours.

In addition to the CWHFH, proudsponsors include S&T Bank, Means &Vance PC, Molyneaux Carpet, Westmore-land Dermatology Associates, Habitat forHumanity ReStore, Promotional items arebeing supplied by the Greensburg YMCA,Road ID, Excela Heath, Home Depot, StateFarm Insurance, Laurel Mountain Post,TJZ Creations, The 2 of Us Massage,Pittsburgh’s Best Country Y108, and KatieMahoney Media.

Take 4-6 stems of fresh lavender, or 2four-inch pieces of fresh rosemary, andsubmerge in a one-pint jar of honey.Screw the cap on tight and put in asunny window for two weeks. Every dayor two, invert the jar several times. Tasteafter two weeks and see if the herbalflavor is strong enough for you. If not,repeat for one more week. You may re-move the herbs before using the honey,or leave them in.

For more ideas and information onbuying locally-produced honey, lavenderor any other farm product, please visitwww.LocalHarvest.org. People world-wide are rediscovering the benefits ofbuying local food. It is fresher than any-thing in the supermarket and that meansit is tastier and more nutritious. It isalso good for your local economy—buy-ing directly from family farmers helpsthem stay in business.

How toMakeHerbalHoney

8 - Summer 2010 LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST

Stahlstown Flax Scutching FestivalSeptember 11 - 12

See the all-but-forgotten art of making linen cloth from the flax plant.

Enjoy a variety of foods including buckwheat cakes with whole hog sausage,antique equipment, working demonstrations,

live continuous entertainment, children’s entertainment,Civil War encampment, and on Saturday an exciting mock Indian raid!

Route 711 in Stahlstown, PA • www.flaxscutching.org • For more information, please call 724-593-2119

STUDENT SPOTLIGHTGreater Latrobe Girls Tennis

Looking For LoveShe is your typical local teen-

ager. She likes to read, listen tomusic, and hang out with her familyand friends. And she’s looking for“love”… on the tennis court. ForJoelle Kissell, outscoring heropponents on the tennis court is hernumber one priority. Kissell isranked No. 2 in Pennsylvania andNo. 41 in the nation.

I met this young superstar whenmy daughter joined the GreaterLatrobe Girls Tennis team last fall.They had been school friends for awhile when my daughter expressed aninterest in trying out for the highschool team. That’s when Kissell tookmy daughter under her wing and spentthe three months of last summerteaching forehands and backhandsand volleying with her endlessly.Because of Kissell’s expert andpatient training, Maria made the highschool team and lettered!

Kissell has had a racquet in herhand for as long as she can remember.

“My mom is a tennis teacher so I havealways been around it,” states Kissell.“My Mom has always been a greatcoach and inspires me the most.”

Tennis is truly family pastime forthe Kissells. Her older sister, Mich-aela, is the No. 36-ranked women’scollege player in the ITA preseasonrankings, and her younger sister,Stacia, also an accomplished player,will lead the High School team thisfall. “We are really close and have funtogether all the time.”

Her fondest memory so far wasduring a tournament in Hershey.“When we went to Chocolate World, Isaw the largest chocolate bar and Itold my High School Coach that if Iwon, that’s what I wanted. He musthave really believed in me because hewas holding it out for me when I cameoff the court after winning my game.”

“One of the things I love mostabout tennis is how all you have torely on is yourself.” That’s why youcan catch Kissell practicing at leastthree hours every day. “And thenshe stays afterward to help othersperfect their game,” states MariaRossi. “She is a good friend, a great

team player, and sure to be a tennissuperstar!”

A recent graduate of GreaterLatrobe, Kissell is now focusing onher college career. She has decidedto attend North Carolina StateUniversity because it is in the ACCConference, the toughest collegiateconference. “Plus the coaches aresuper nice and the girls on the teamare great,” said Kissell.

While she has had a successfulHigh School career, Kissell’s lonefocus is now on her future goals. “Ihave a lot I want to accomplish yet,”said Kissell. “I have always dreamedof playing professionally, so I amgoing to keep practicing to improvemy game.” The future looks quitebright for this young intense tennisplayer. She’s looking for “love” and Ithink she’s going to find it. Kissellis truly a star on the rise!

– JB RossiMaria & JoelleGreater Latrobe Girls Tennis Team

Every Story Begins At Home. Summer 2010 - 9

THE LIGONIER CHEFScott Sinemus

Too Hot for Soup? Not If It’s ChilledI adore soup no matter what theweather, but most people don’tseem to want a scorching hot bowlof anything when it’s swelteringoutside. Of course soup doesn’talways have to be hot, in factsome of my favorite soups are ofthe chilled variety. Not every soupis as tasty when it’s chilled as itis when it’s hot; for instancesitting down to a congealed bowlof barley soup would put off eventhe hungriest diner.

If you ask someone what theirfavorite chilled soup is, more thanhalf will reply with the classicalstandards vichyssoise or gaz-pacho, which are wonderful andrefreshing for lunch or a firstcourse at dinner. But thereare so many others: theinfamous Chippewa at theRolling Rock Club, water-cress, jellied consomme,carrot & ginger bisque, bingcherry, etc. One quicksearch for a recipe onGoogle and you’ll get tensof thousands of hits. I don’tknow why the idea of achilled soup really neverseemed to catch on here inthe States, but thepopularity seems to be onthe rise…hallelujah!

My hands down favorite isprobably the bing cherrygarnished with large pearltapioca, it is also perhapsthe most involved save theChippewa. Watercress,however, is the one I findmyself making most often,it’s a la minute nature andrich flavor make it an easydecision.

When I told Cathi I was thinking ofwriting my article about chilledsoups she came across a fact sheetabout watercress that had somuch information regarding theplant I had never known before Iknew that I was definitely inclu-ding the recipe for that soup.

When I was growing up the onlywatercress we usually ever got tohave was what we could collect instreams or springs that Dad saidwere safe to harvest from. Now it’sso widely available I can’t re-member not being able to find itwhen I’ve needed it. My friend Hollystarted a patch of her own this yearin the spring fed stream at herhouse. It took off beautifully andneither of us can believe it tookher that long to put one in.

Some of the watercress facts Ithought were most interesting:

• Hippocrates, the father ofmedicine, is thought to havedecided on the location for his first

hospital because of its proximity toa stream so he could use only thefreshest watercress to treat hispatients.

• The Egyptian Pharoahs servedfreshly squeezed watercress juiceto their slaves each morning andafternoon in order to increase theirproductivity.

• Watercress is believed by manyto be an aphrodisiac. In Crete,islanders swear by its powers andancient recipes are handed downfrom one generation to the next.In the 1970s, an Arab prince wasreputed to have had specialconsignments flown out from theUK, presumably to help him satisfyhis harem! And in Hampshire itsspecial powers are part of folklore.

• Eating a bag of watercress issaid to be a good cure for a hang-over

• Victorians thought the plantwas a cure for toothache, hiccupsand even freckles!

• It is a well-known fact thatLiz Hurley was a follower ofthe watercress diet, butmore recently Sex Pistol starJohn Lydon was seen toenthuse about watercresssoup recipes with fellowparticipants of ‘I ’m aCelebrity…Get Me Out ofHere!’

• Romans and Anglo Saxonsate it to prevent baldness.

I’m not sure how muchwatercress one has to eatto prevent baldness, but ithas to be an extraordinaryamount…I’ve eaten quite abit in my lifetime and myhair has still vanished lol!

As with all of my recipesplease use this as a springboard for making your ownsignature dish all yourfriends will plead with you forthe recipe.

ChilledWatercress Soup

SERVES 4

2 tbsp olive oil or butter

1 sweet onion, peeled andfinely chopped

1 small potato, about 150g,peeled and diced

3 large bunches of watercress,washed and thicker stalksremoved

3-4 cups vegetable or chickenstock

Sea salt and black pepper

3-4 tbsp crème fraîche, toserve (optional)

1 Heat the olive oil in a largesaucepan and add the onionand potato. Sauté gently,stirring frequently, for about10 minutes until thevegetables are soft but notbrown.

2 Add the watercress, thenpour in enough stock to coverthe vegetables. Bring to a boiland season with salt &pepper. As soon as thespinach and watercress havewilted, remove the pan fromthe heat.

3 Purée the soup in twobatches, using a blender. Pourinto a wide bowl and leave tocool completely. Cover withclingfilm and chill for a fewhours or overnight.

4 To serve, pour the soup intochilled bowls and garnishwith a small dollop of crèmefraîche if you wish, and grindover some pepper.

from the kitchen of

The Ligonier ChefThe Ligonier ChefThe Ligonier ChefThe Ligonier ChefThe Ligonier Chef

Scott Sinemus is a Chef with adegree in Culinary Arts from the

Pennsylvania Institute for Culinary Artsin Pittsburgh. He’s continued his

education with classes from theCulinary Institute of America atGreystone and The Greenbrier;

and has travelled internationally insearch of authentic cuisine.

10 - Summer 2010 LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST

DERRY REMEMBRANCESRuth Richardson

You Can Be Sure If It’s WestinghouseOnce upon a time there was ayoung girl who lived on a beautifulfarm in Meigs County Ohio. Thefarm was nestled on a mystical-sounding hillside called SilverRidge, just north of the banks of themighty Ohio River. The girl, namedVeda, lived happily on the Tuttlefarm with her mother and fatherand five brothers and sisters untilshe reached the age of 19. Vedarealized there wasn’t a lot of oppor-tunity for an adventurous soul likehers in rural southern Ohio, andshe longed to explore other places.She found an advertisement in thelocal newspaper that announceda search for factory workers atthe Pittsburgh High VoltageInsulator Company in a far awayand exotic-sounding place calledDerry Station. The year was 1916.

Veda answered the ad, andsoon got word that she had beenhired. With her parents’ reluc-tant approval, she packed up herthings for the big move. Thecompany helped her find a roomto rent in a lovely boardinghouse in her new hometown.She boarded a train and headedeast with great anticipation forthe start of her new life. Thatyoung farm girl was myGrandma Veda (Tuttle) Parrish.When she arrived in Derry, Vedawas met at the train station byanother young lady, HelenBaumgardner. Helen’s motherowned the boarding house onFifth Avenue where Veda wouldrent a room. The girls were thesame age and became instantfriends. I can remember mygrandma telling me this storyfrom when I was very young. Shesaid she and Helen would sit onthe big front porch and talkabout their lives and theirdreams. One day, Grandmarecalled, a young man walked upthe street as the girls sat on theporch chatting. Grandma said hewas the most handsome man shehad ever seen. The story alwaysended the same way. She wouldsmile at me, with a twinkle in hereye, and say “that man was yourgrandfather.” Grandma Veda

married that handsome youngman named Ralph and they livedhappily in West Derry and raisedthree children together until hisdeath in 1945 at the young age of48. The Pittsburgh High VoltageInsulator Company that hadbeckoned to my grandmother fromfar away Ohio eventually becameDerry Westinghouse, a companythat had figured into my life, evenbefore I was born.

My other grandfather, CaseyStewart, also worked at DerryWestinghouse his entire life. Heand my grandmother raised four

children (including my mother),bought a house and lived a good liferight up the street from where Ilived in West Derry. He retired fromthe plant in 1960. The nextWestinghouse employee in my lifewas my dad, who started there asa young man and worked invarious departments over the

years, until retiring in 1984.Daddy always seemed to like hisjob at Westinghouse, and I don’trecall ever hearing him complain.He worked in different depart-ments throughout the years,starting out in the grinding depart-ment and ending his career in theshipping and receiving depart-ment. I think this was his favoriteposition.

Back in the 1950’s, the Derryplant employed over 600 workers.I would guess most of those menand women worked there all theirlives. The experts say that it isn’t

unusual today for people tochange jobs more than 10times before their retirement,with some having even morejobs than that. Those statisticsdidn’t apply to my parent’sgeneration. Whether it wasWestinghouse, the railroad,any of the steel mills or othermanufacturing plants in ourarea (and believe me, therewere a great many of them),those workers searched for a‘good-paying’ job, and once theyfound it, they stuck around.They knew if they worked hard,showed loyalty, and were willingto learn, they would have anopportunity to work their wayup and be promoted to thehighest levels of employment.Derry Westinghouse was animmeasurable asset to our littlecommunity. Not only did it employa great many residents of thesurrounding area, it evenboasted its own fire department,complete with a beautiful oldwhite fire truck and a verydistinctive fire alarm, that couldbe heard all over town. Westing-house would allow their in-house firemen/employees toassist in firefighting outside of

the plant if the need arose, and paytheir firefighters wages while theywere helping in the community.Earlier in the plant’s history, ittouched world events by playing avital role in World War II. Westing-house’s greatest and most spec-tacular contribution to the wareffort was the manufacture of

special porcelain for the develop-ment of the atomic bomb.

My memories of Westinghousewere on a much smaller scale.While the results of my dad’s jobdidn’t directly affect world events,that same job played a huge role inthe events of my little world. Daddywas up every morning at 6 and offto ‘the shop’ by 6:45. During theschool year, we would all share ahearty breakfast together, duringwhich he would force us to listen tohis favorite morning radio programon Greensburg’s WHJB. Much to mybrother’s and my dismay, daddy wasnot a fan of Porky on WAMO or thetop forty rock and roll hits of KQV. Wehad to endure what we describedas the rantings of a ‘hick’ and thevile music selections of CowboyPhil, who played the likes of EddieArnold and Slim Whitman. And asmy daughter used to say, “When youhear Slim, you know it’s him!” It wasan agonizing ordeal for us, since wewere avid fans of our “Daddio of theRadio, Pork the Torque!,” and weknew the sound of all that yodelingfirst thing in the morning wasenough to make our ears bleed. Butdaddy was the breadwinner, thehead of the household, and heruled the radio – at least until 6:45.After he left for work, mom allowedus to choose the station. I thinkshe secretly liked rock and roll.

Every summer, Westinghouseheld a company picnic at IdlewildPark. They had a big drawing forprizes in that first huge pavilionbeside the parking lot. The em-ployees were issued tickets andcould win all sorts of Westinghouseappliances, from washers anddryers down to the smallesttransistor radios. They also held anopen house at the plant every yearor so, where the families of employ-ees could tour the factory and seehow all those insulators were madeand what their function was afterbeing shipped all over the world.During those open houses, adisplay of Westinghouse appli-ances was available for purchaseby the employees, and I think theywere offered at huge discounts.

Grandma Veda shortly beforeshe left for the big city life of Derry.

Every Story Begins At Home. Summer 2010 - 11

I remember on Fridays at 3:30daddy would pull into the driveway,park the car and stroll into thekitchen. I can still see him givingmy mom a quick kiss and handingher his paycheck as she finishedgetting supper ready. Our parentswere children of the depression, andthey knew what it was like to live inhouseholds with no money, acommunity with no jobs, anda country on the brink. Theyknew full well the blessingof a secure job, and weregrateful for the opportunityto work for a stable company,earning a fair wage andreceiving benefits likemedical insurance and aretirement plan. I realizetoday just how hard my dadhad to work for that littlepaycheck and how much itmeant to our family. We hada wonderful life, but it wasalways a financial struggle,even if my brother and Ididn’t know it. Most of themoms back then didn’t bringin a second paycheck; theystayed home and took careof the kids. They made dowith one salary, whichmeant there weren’t a lot ofextra luxuries. But our liveswere very similar to most ofour neighbors, and we were allpretty happy with our lot in life. Ithink we measured our wealth byour blessings of health and familyand the ability to provide forourselves, not by the amount of‘stuff’ we had accumulated.

I remember the big labor strikeat Westinghouse in the 1950’s. Idon’t remember exactly when itwas, but I seem to remember itlasting for five months. Duringthose months, there was no in-come, and no government assis-tance. The only help I rememberour family getting was free cheeseand corned beef. Daddy woulddrive mom ‘down street’ to thecommunity center to stand in linefor it. I was too young to reallyunderstand how bad things werefinancially, I just knew we hadcorned beef, cabbage, and potatoesa lot. My brother and I thought thatwas great because it was one of ourfavorite dinners. To make a fewextra dollars, daddy would borrow atruck from his cousin, JackProvost, drive out to Losier’s coaltipple in New Derry, pick up a loadof coal and hand shovel it into folks’basements to heat their houses.He cleared brush and did anything

he could to make a few dollars tokeep food on the table.

Westinghouse was the anchorof our little community of Derry, butmore importantly, it was theanchor of my family. Those Fridaypaychecks provided the food forevery wonderful meal my momcooked for us, and for all the onesin my Grandma and Grandpa

Stewart’s kitchen, too. It bought ourKeds sneakers, our school clothesand our Sunday best. It bought myprom gown and our class rings.Every birthday surprise and everyChristmas gift under our treecame from the bounty supplied byWestinghouse Electric Company.It even helped to purchase mywedding gown. It not only put gasin our car, but supplied the car, andpaid for our house. But more impor-tantly, it gave my dad, and so manyother folks in our little corner ofthe world, the pride that comes witha job well done and the ability totake care of their families. Thatlittle neighborhood factory was thebeating heart of our community.

Although the plant had beenlong closed and was in variousstages of demolition, Doug and Irented an old brick lab building onthe Westinghouse grounds severalyears ago, to use as the warehousefor our construction company. Itwas located just west of the originalexecutive office building on ThirdStreet. This was a sturdy oldstructure, and I loved the idea thatmy family still had some con-nection to the place that had meantso much in my life, a continuity of

my family’s work history. But lastwinter, those record-breakingsnowstorms did their worst, andthe roof on that beau-tiful oldstructure couldn’t hold the weight foranother season. It all came tumblingdown. That building was the lastremnant of the old Westing-housecomplex that was still being used.For me, it represented the one

remaining shadow of thesprawling and bustlingindustrial center of mylittle town.That plant had been the

anchor that drew my familytogether and sustained usfor three generations. Asthey cleared away the last ofthe debris from our fallenwarehouse, I sneaked downthe hill, past the ‘No Tres-passing’ signs, and wanderedthrough the remains of thefactory. The sounds of themachinery had been still formany years and as I wan-dered through it, the shell ofthe last remaining structureseemed more like a tomb.The only sounds were thecooing of pigeons as theyfluttered to their nests inthe open rafters and therustle of weeds growing upthrough the damaged ex-

panse of concrete floors. Brokenglass crackled under my feet as Iwatched the afternoon sunslanting through the jagged panesof the few remaining windows.

It made me think of the goldendays of production and prosperitythis old place had afforded myfamily. I thought of all the familiesin all the little towns across the

Daddy giving his family the grand tour of 'the shop'on one of Westinghouse's open houses.

country, who had been a part of theroaring giant that was onceAmerican industry. I rememberedall the photos I had seen ofabandoned and shuttered plantsacross our great nation. What asad tribute to those proud, hard-working Americans that we let itall slip away. And when I read thestories of foreclosure, and unem-ployment and struggle, I pray for allof today’s young daddies andmommies, and their little girls andboys. I pray for the vanishing spiritof the sleeping American indus-trial giant; and I pray that it willcome roaring back to life. I refuseto believe that those days are over,that we will allow the light ofAmerican industry and ingenuityto be extinguished. From the wordsof Dylan Thomas … Do not go gentleinto that good night. Rage, rageagainst the dying of the light.

Ruth loves to share memories with you.Email her at: Ruth-Elaine@comcast.net

or look for her on Facebook!

Daddy on his last day of work,in his office at the shipping department.

A 1950’s Christmas in the Grinding Department.

12 - Summer 2010 LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST

TECH TALKBob Appleby

Never Say You’re SorryYou have all probably been in thesituation where you have lost a fileon your computer, either becauseyou accidentally deleted it, had asystem crash, virus attack or thesuper catastrophe, a drive failure.Recently, on my blog site, I hadwritten about a virus that goes inand encrypts all your music,picture and document files so theydisappear and if you try to run avirus removal program to fix theproblem, it actually causesirreversible damage to those filesso that they cannot be recovered.

So if you are like me, and yourwork and family memories have allbecome digital… You need to startconsidering how you’re going toprotect your digital treasures frompermanent loss.

Local Backup

Let’s begin by discussing thecheapest ways to get a backup. Idon’t like archiving things ontoCD’S or DVD’S but this is thesimplest and least costly method.CD’s in bulk now cost less than aquarter and a rewritable CD is notthat much more. DVD’s have alsobecome inexpensive and pur-chasing a couple of rewritableDVD’s will cost you less than $7 fora 5 pack. Why don’t I like thismethod? I find that this type ofmedia is easily damaged. It will failif the surface of the disk isscratched and the media isinvolved. So I tend to move towardsmore expensive media as mychoice for protecting data.

Flash Drives are much lessexpensive and are small and a bitmore resistant to damage thanoptical media. There is a limit tothe number of times you can writeto them though, and if you are notcareful with how you insert theminto a USB connection then youcould damage the drive and lose allof your data. So even though thisis a better option it is still not thebest.

We find that the most fre-quently used excuses for not doinga backup is that you forget or thatyou don’t have time to do one, so

how do we eliminate these twohurdles? You can do so by using ahard drive backup system thatcomes with software that can beused to schedule the backup.

Hard Drive Storage has becomeso inexpensive that there isn’t anyexcuse not to use this method.

Remember, if you don’t haveat least two copies of a file,

it is not backed up!

If you copy something to a backupdevice and then erase the originalto make room for more data, youhave only moved that original fileand it is still in a state of singlepoint of failure. So, when youdesign your backup strategy, thinkabout the need to have multiplecopies and possibly having multiplecopies in multiple locations.

Why do I like these externalhard drive backups? It takes the “Iforgot” and “I don’t have time” excuse and throws it out thewindow. Most hard drives youpurchase today come with auto-mated scheduling software as partof their package. So once you haveset it up, you can almost forget it.You should periodically check thatthe areas you want backed up arebeing backed up and that thescheduled backup did run.

There are two primary types ofhard drive interfaces to pick fromand the one that is best for you willbe determined primarily by yourcomputer environment. If you havemultiple computers in your homethen you may want to consider anetwork drive, or what is calledNetwork Attached Storage (NAS).This interface type allows the drive

to be available independently fromany computer on your network. Ifyou were to attach a drive directlyto a computer using a USBconnection, you would have toshare the drive with the othercomputers on your network tomake it available to them. If thiscomputer is not turned on then theattached drive is not available. Ifyou leave your systems on all of thetime this is not an issue, if youdon’t then it is.

If you have a single computerthat you are backing up, a USBdrive is a good fit. An interestingside note is that many new routersavailable today have a USBconnector on them that will allowyou to attach a printer or hard driveto the router to make them anetwork accessible device.

Buffalo Networking now has agreat home drive that has both anetwork interface and a USBinterface on it so you have the bestof both worlds. A typical 500GBdrive can be found for as low as $79on special and the Buffalo drivewith the network interface as lowas $149.

Offsite Backup

I had mentioned earlier that youshould consider having yourbackups at multiple locations. Youcan do this by sneaker net, bytaking a copy of your data toanother physical location (afamily member, a friend or to youroffice). You can also use one of themany on-line services that areavailable as well. Some of theseon-line services are free (MS LiveMesh, MS SkyDrive, Google Docsand Dropbox to name a few). Theyusually have storage limits. If you

need more storage you can use oneof the pay services for home usersthat vary from a fixed fee per yearfor unlimited storage to a modelwhere you pay per gigabyte for thestorage you use. If you decide youare going to use a paid service youshould take a hard look at yourenvironment and what you wantto backup. If you have opted forbacking up locally and you want tobackup that drive’s data, then youshould probably consider JungleDisk, Carbonite or Mozy services.Carbonite gets a lot of press and isoffered by many computer manu-facturers as one of their installedproduct offerings when you buytheir machines.

Carbonite is a great product ifyou are only going to backup thefiles located physically on yourmachine. If you want to backupattached or network storage youhave to subscribe to their ProVersion.

I use Mozy for myself at homebut I also have used Jungle Disk. Ihad initially gone with Jungle Diskbecause it would allow me tobackup any of my PC’s to oneaccount and it didn’t matterwhether the source was aninternal drive, attached storage ora NAS device. But for personal useit became expensive when yourtotal storage size gets large. I amcurrently at over 380GB’s storedoffsite and with Jungle Disk’sconsumer pricing this would costme $59/month. There are somebenefits to this I will talk about ina moment. Staring at this pricemade me reconsider how much Iwas willing to pay and I decided thatI really only wanted my critical databacked up so I went back to lookingat Mozy and Carbonite.

Every Story Begins At Home. Summer 2010 - 13

I chose Mozy primarilybecause it would allow me to backup an attached (USB) drive as wellas internal drives. So I attached a1TB drive to my primary systemand I am now able to backup all mycritical data for a cost of $54.45/year instead of $59/month. Thisis over $600 in savings each year.I have both NAS and USB drives onmy network though and if you arein this situation as well, then youmay want to view a video that Icreated that shows how I amgetting around this Mozy limi-tation. (http://www.youtube. com/watch?v=pxYvHtLeBAk)

Why did I include Jungle Diskif it is so expensive? Well if youhave multiple machines at mul-tiple locations that you want tobackup, you can do this with oneaccount. Why? They charge by theamount of storage you use. If youare in this situation, then you maywant to pay the few extra bucksbecause it is more flexible. It alsohas a network drive feature thatallows you to designate a driveletter for storage in the cloud (aservice that is accessed throughthe Internet) that can be accessedby all of your computers and youriPhone as well. I still have myJungle Disk account but it isprimarily used for its offsite storageaccess now, not as a backupsystem.

So the bottom line is if you area home user, I would look at eitherMozy or Carbonite for your offsitestorage. If you are a businessowner, then consider Jungle Disk

I would love to be able to usesome sort of locally made or sustainable

version of sugar. What’s out there?

It sure would be nice if we couldobtain all of our food and drinkitems from local sources, but sugarprovides an excellent example ofwhy such a desire may remain apipe dream in the United Statesfor a long time to come. The sugarwe consume that is produceddomestically comes from sugarcane grown in Hawaii and theSoutheast and sugar beet from theUpper Midwest, Pacific Northwest,

California and elsewhere. However,it is likely milled and refinedhundreds if not thousands of milesfrom where it is harvested, andthen shipped all over the country—causing untold greenhouse gasemissions—in various sized pac-kages for our consumption in ourcoffee, on our cereal and, for someof us, in our cocktails.

Massive government subsidiesand land giveaways to the sugarindustry in the American South-east beginning in the early 18thcentury established a market forAmerican-grown sugar despite thefact that the region’s climate wasnot tropical enough to grow caneefficiently. To add insult to injury,the rerouting of south Florida’sfragile water table to irrigate thirstysugar plantations contributed tothe decimation of the Everglades,one of the nation’s most uniqueand diverse ecosystems—and nowthe subject of a multi-billion dollarrestoration effort.

While you might be hardpressed to find commerciallyavailable local sugar anywhere inthe U.S., you could make your own.“Years ago, when sugar was anexpensive commodity, many peopleof lesser means made their own

EARTH TALKQuestions & Answers About Our Environment

®

sugar from sugar beets,” reportswriter Kat Yares on the eHow.comwebsite. “Every farm and everyhome garden had a spot reservedfor beets, and a day was set asideto cook the beets down intosugar.” While very few of us growour own food these days, growingsugar beets and making sugar fromscratch can be a fun, educationaland tasty project for parents andkids or for foodies intent on local

sourced, preservative-free ingredients. Yaresexplains the wholeprocess in her “How toMake Sugar fromBeets” article on e-How.com. If that all soundslike too much work,perhaps you can settlefor store-bought organicsugar, which may notbe local but which is atleast pro-duced withoutchemical pesticides andfertilizers. Florida Cry-stals, Hain, C&H,Domino and otherseach offer organic sugarvarieties in many tra-

ditional grocery stores coast-to-coast. There are even more choicesat natural foods specialty stores(like Whole Foods). Believe it ornot, there are even vegan sugarsout there—that is, sugars notprocessed with animal-derivedbone char in the refinementprocess.

While sugar itself may be astaple item for many cocktails,some interesting alternativenatural sweeteners, some of whichmay be locally sourced in yourregion, do exist. Agave nectar,honey or even maple syrup aresome options that might just givethat Tom Collins the extra kick itneeds to make it stand out fromthe other bartender’s drinks downthe street—or in your breakfastcereal, for that matter.

CONTACTS: eHow, www.ehow.com; FloridaCrystals, floridacrystals.com; Hain,www.hainpurefoods.com; C&H, www.chsugar.com; Domino, www.dominosugar.com.

SEND YOUR ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONSTO: EarthTalk®, c/o E – The EnvironmentalMagazine, P.O. Box 5098, Westport, CT06881; earthtalk @emagazine.com. E is anonprofit publication. Subscribe: www.emagazine.com/subscribe; Request a Free TrialIssue: www.emagazine.com/trial

because it can become more costeffective in a business use case. Ifyou need a combination onsite andoffsite solution come to us for someproducts that we have that supportmore mission critical networksystems.

I hope that this informationhas given you some ideas and thatI won’t be seeing you any time soonwith lost data and tears in youreyes because you haven’t backedup. If you have more questionsabout designing a total backupsolution for your home or businessbe sure to contact us.

Bob Appleby is a partner at ComputerConnections which is located inGreensburg, PA. He has been workingwith computers and technology in somecapacity since 1973 and has been withhis partner, Jude Daigle, at ComputerConnections for over 29 years. Be sureto visit http://BobsTechTalk.com forall sorts of technology news and reviewsand visit our website at: http://www.localsupport.com.

Buffalo Linkstation

14 - Summer 2010 LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST

3804 Route 30 • Latrobe • 724-539-1900

Michael J. Brownfield, O.D.Matthew A. Christianson, O.D.

DERRDERRDERRDERRDERRY RAILROY RAILROY RAILROY RAILROY RAILROAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DAAAAAYYYYYS FESTIVS FESTIVS FESTIVS FESTIVS FESTIVALALALALALSaturday, September 25th - 10:00 am - 7:30 pm

Parade 10:00 amFree Onstage Entertainment 11:00 am - 7 pm

(Including Saddle Up Band and Jake Break & The Gears)Information Booths, Craft & Food Vendors, Civil War Re-enactors,Juvenile Junction, Hay Rides, Pony Rides & Miniature Train Rides

and Much More!

Don't forget to visit the Railroad Museum Caboose!

Both events held in Derry Borough Business District, Westmoreland CountyFrom Greensburg - take Route 30 East to 217 North and travel approx. 4 miles

From Ligonier - take Route 30 West to 217 North and travel approx. 4 miles

DERRDERRDERRDERRDERRY RAILROY RAILROY RAILROY RAILROY RAILROAD DAD DAD DAD DAD DAAAAAYYYYYSSSSSCelebrating Our Railroad Heritage

“Bac“Bac“Bac“Bac“Back on Track on Track on Track on Track on Track No. 4”k No. 4”k No. 4”k No. 4”k No. 4”

HOBO PICNICHOBO PICNICHOBO PICNICHOBO PICNICHOBO PICNICThursday Evening, September 23th - 6:30 pm

At the Caboose Museum (Donations Accepted)

Campfire, Hobo Stew, Dirt Cookie & DrinkHobo Contest & Live Music by "Dark Hollow"

For more information call Chuck at 724-694-9884.NO PETS, SKATEBOARDS, ROLLER BLADES OR BIKESNO PETS, SKATEBOARDS, ROLLER BLADES OR BIKESNO PETS, SKATEBOARDS, ROLLER BLADES OR BIKESNO PETS, SKATEBOARDS, ROLLER BLADES OR BIKESNO PETS, SKATEBOARDS, ROLLER BLADES OR BIKES

PBS has announced that THE TENTHINNING, a new two-part, four-hourdocumentary by Ken Burns and LynnNovick that picks up where Burns’slandmark 1994 series BASEBALL leftoff, will air Tuesday-Wednesday,September 28-29, 2010, 8:00-10:00 p.m.ET on PBS, locally on Pittsburgh’s WQEDTV. The program is directed by Burnsand Novick and written and producedby David McMahon, Novick and Burns.

THE TENTH INNING tells thetumultuous story of America’s nationalpastime from the early 1990s to thepresent day, introducing an unforget-table array of players, teams and fans,celebrating the game’s resilience andenduring appeal, and showcasing bothextraordinary accomplishments — anddevastating losses and disappointments.

The film highlights dramatic devel-opments that transformed the game: thecrippling 1994 strike that left many fansdisillusioned with their heroes; theincreasing dominance of Latino andAsian players who turned baseball intoa truly international game; baseball’sskyrocketing profits, thanks to newstadiums, interleague play, and the wildcard; the rise of a new Yankee Dynasty;the Red Sox’ historic World Seriesvictory; the astonishing feats of MarkMcGwire, Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds;and the revelations about performance-enhancing drugs that cast a shadow onmany of the era’s greatest stars and theiraccomplishments.

Combining extraordinary highlights,stunning still photographs, popularmusic of the period, and insightful com-mentary by players, managers, expertsand fans, Burns and Novick’s THETENTH INNING interweaves the storyof the national pastime with the story ofAmerica. In an age of globalization, de-regulation and speculation, the filmdemonstrates that baseball has con-tinued to be a mirror of the country — atits best and at its worst. The film alsomovingly shows that when America feltmost threatened, following the terroristattacks of September 11, 2001, baseballoffered common ground, providingAmericans with solace, distraction, andthe hope that things could one day returnto normal.

The film will air 16 years after theoriginal Emmy Award-winning, nine-partdocumentary series BASEBALL debutedin 1994 during the players’ strike. Theoriginal series was seen by more than43 million viewers, making it the most-watched program in PBS history.

“Baseball has changed so much inthe last 15 years, but at the same time,the reason that the game is so enduringis that it is timeless,” said Ken Burns.“Like the original series, this film paystribute to one of our nation’s greatestinstitutions. We celebrate tremendousathletic achievements and examine thehumanity and diversity of the players,the dynamic relationship with the fans,and all the layers and nuances that makea seemingly simple exercise of hitting aball with a stick infinitely fascinating.”

“We have worked hard to provide ahuman dimension to the recent historyof the game — to appreciate the greatathletes who have given so much joy toso many, and to understand the real-world forces shaping their decisions,”Lynn Novick said. “For us as filmmakers,it has been tremendously exciting, andchallenging, to try to do justice to this

complicated story, and to try to under-stand what it says about who we are.”

“BASEBALL is one of the mostpopular series that PBS has everbroadcast, and ever since fans have beenasking if there would be more,” said JohnF. Wilson, PBS chief TV programmingexecutive. “We’re extremely excited thatKen, Lynn and the team at FlorentineFilms and WETA have taken to the fieldagain to deliver another outstandingchapter to the ongoing saga of baseball.”

A number of familiar faces from thefirst nine installments of the series addtheir welcome perspectives on events ofthe last 15 years, including writers RogerAngell, John Thorn, George Will, GeraldEarly and Doris Kearns Goodwin, as wellas broadcaster Bob Costas. The film alsofeatures revealing interviews with MajorLeague Baseball commissioner Bud Selig,managers Felipe Alou and Joe Torre,players Pedro Martinez, Omar Vizquel andIchiro Suzuki, broadcaster Keith Olber-mann, writers Marcos Breton, TomVerducci, Selena Roberts, Mike Barnicleand Howard Bryant, and other players,writers and fans from across the country,as well as overseas.

Fans of the series will be able toexplore even more of THE TENTHINNING online at pbs.org/tenthinningby watching online video; traveling withKen Burns on an interactive Google mapas he treks to ballparks around thecountry this summer; downloadinglesson plans; and sharing their ownbaseball stories. Fans can also connectto Burns and Novick on Facebook(facebook.com/kenburnspbs) and Twitterfor behind-the-scenes footage, discountsfrom PBS Home Video and other fan-onlybenefits.

Ken Burns during productionof THE TENTH INNING, 2010Credit: Al Karevy Photography

Directors Ken Burns and LynnNovick are crossing the countrythis summer to visit ballparksand throw out the first pitch.

They’ll be in Pittsburgh onSaturday, August 21

to cheer the Pirates as theyplay the Mets – 7:30 PM.

Follow their adventures and shareyour own stories on Facebook and

Twitter, or visit www.PBS.org

Baseball Returns to Pittsburghin Ken Burn’s “The Tenth Inning”

Every Story Begins At Home. Summer 2010 - 15

The Wickets of Westmoreland

All Photos © TJZ Creations. To view more photos and order prints from this event, visitwww.TJZCreations.com by August 24. Click on Client Photo Viewing and enter code: WCCT610.

Heart Of A Photographer: Tiffany J. ZiegenfusPhotography is not just my business, but my passion. At TJZ Creations my aspiration is to capture the essenceof not only the moment, but the most important part, the uniqueness and beauty of you! Whether you are abride on your wedding day, a senior ready to graduate, a young child growing-up, or someone just looking for aportrait, my goal is to show forth the grandeur of each and every person I photograph. The eye of my heart, thetechnology of my camera, and you – fused together creating a complete memory. A moment in time, capsulatedforever that you can look back on and smile, share, and treasure for generations to come.

Contact Tiffany for more information about photographing your special moments: www.TJZCreations.com • 724-552-6751

Croquet is a game that anyone can play.It doesn’t require physical strength orendurance, expensive equipment or alarge playing field. Young or old, big orsmall, croquet is a game for all to shareand enjoy together on an even playingfield. Players navigate the small courseby smacking a ball through arched doors,called wickets, and continue on towardthe next as friends and family cheer themon. At least that’s the way it goes at theannual Westmoreland Croquet ClubTournament, a fundraising event mostrecently held June 13 at the Universityof Pittsburgh campus in Greensburg.

Dressed in garden party white, attend-ees gathered to play in the tournamentand host themed tents filled with foodand positive energy. Money was raisedthrough the sponsorship of tents by busi-nesses and individuals, raffles and aduck race. These funds will open sev-eral doors for projects in human services,conservancy, and art & education.

Sponsored by First CommonwealthBank, this year’s event drew some 1800guests (both local and national) andraised $70,000 to support nonprofitsthrough the Community Foundation ofWestmoreland County. Six organizations

were invited as guests and will receivesupport from the proceeds: Bushy RunBattlefield, Powdermill Nature Reserve,CASA of Westmoreland County (court-appointed volunteered who advocate forabused and neglected children), ExcelaHealth Hospice, The Blackburn Center (forvictims of physical, sexual and emotionalviolence), and Visionaries: Young Philan-thropists Impacting Westmoreland County.

Developed in 1990 by Georgia Smith andErnie Vallozzi, the first Greensburg Cro-quet Club event, to benefit the YMCA, washeld at the Greensburg Garden & CivicCenter with one playing field. Over 20years, they raised hundreds of thousandsof dollars as the event continued to grow.

In it’s 21st season, this year’s tournamentincluded 20 fields and 34 tents.

Giving back to the community “seemedlike something we should be doing,”Vallozzi explained. He opened his Greens-burg restaurant in 1978, and it was suc-cessful from that start, which he calls “ablessing.”

Over the past 30 years, Vallozzi has alsoraised over three million dollars for West-moreland Hospital through themed din-ner events. He also organizes a private,multi-generational men’s gathering eachwinter, called Old Joe’s Club, at Pike Runon Laurel Ridge Mountain. Together, fewerthan 100 men raise $250,000 in a singleday with a trap and skeet shoot, black tie

dinner and silent auction. The moneyraised is conserved and utilized as com-munity needs emerge and are identified.

This year, the croquet club was officiallyrenamed the Westmoreland Croquet Clubto better communicate and widen the scopeof funding support for the county ratherthan just the city of Greensburg.

Westmoreland Croquet Club CommitteeMembers include: Ernie Vallozzi (Presi-dent), Amy McDivitt (Event Coordinator),Keith Gjebre (Advisor), Rick Versaw (Advi-sor), Tom Luscombe, Jim McNair, PaulNickoloff, Judy Riehle, Carl Rossman,Georgia Smith, Jack Smith MD, and DonnaUhrinek.

– Cathi GerhardThe Inner Circle Tent

16 - Summer 2010 LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST

The Paper HouseCards & Collectibles

Polish Pottery • Loova Glycerin Soaps • Poo PourriLocally-Made Pure Maple Syrup • Sandhill Berries Products • And More!

On the Diamond • 121 W. Main St. in Ligonier • 724-238-3160

On the DiamondANTIQUES

Distinctive Children’s Clothing & Giftsand Something for Mom as Well!

134 West Main Street

Ligonier, PA 15658

724-238-4608

BAGGALLINI PURSESBEAUTIFUL SCARVESNEW OKAb SANDALS

203 E. MAIN ST • LIGONIER, PA • 724-238-8545

AMICA~OPEN SUNDAYS!

A• •

• •

110 East Main StreetLigonier, PA 15658

(724) 238-2226

Mary Jo CulbertsonProprietor

(724) 238-0497

Multi-Dealer Shop

Equine ChicFor Horse, Home & You!

On the Diamond100 E Main St in Ligonier

724-238-7003

You don’thave

to owna horseto find

a great gift!

Ligonier Valley Chamber of Commerce 120 East Main Street • Ligonier, PA 15658 • 724-238-4200 • www.ligonier.com

Band Concerts: 7PM every Sunday through August

Summer in Ligonier Arts and Craft Show: July 23 & 24 9AM-5PM

The Stroll: August 13, 5-9PM (classic car show, live band and dance contest)

Antiques on the Diamond: August 28, 8AM-4PM

Think Thursday - Think Ligonier : Shops open til 7PM

Summer in Ligonier

Ligonier has been a source of constant attraction for over 250years. Located at the intersection of Routes 30 & 711 in

Westmoreland County, it is separated from the outside world bytwo massive, but not spectacular mountains. Laurel Mountain

to the east and Chestnut Ridge to the west make Ligonier Valleya clearly defined entity; the two mountains permit very few

roadways so that the Valley, in effect, is protected by two greatwalls, ten miles apart and about twenty-five long.

The Ligonier Diamond offers a quiet respite or interestingshopping in our quaint shops. Natural beauty and clean air

make for a healthy atmosphere in which to live, work and play

www.EquineChic.com

Every Story Begins At Home. Summer 2010 - 17

Ligonier Sweet ShopPathfinder Photo

Ligonier Outfitters Rustic Country TreasuresRustic Country TreasuresRustic Country TreasuresRustic Country TreasuresRustic Country Treasures

Shorts • Knit Polos • Sport JacketsSlacks . . . And More

“When How You Look Matters”

Men’s Shop

104 East Main StreetLigonier, Pennsylvania 15658

Telephone: (724) 238-9235

On the Diamond • Ligonier, PA 15658 • (724) 238-6060

Fine ChocolatesBetsy Ann Truffles • Wilson Fudge

Ligonier Souvenirs

127 W. Main StreetLigonier, PA 15658

724-238-4900

FREE UPS SHIPPING with catalog orderswww.ligonieroutfitters.com

Men’s and Women’s ApparelHome & Gift Ideas

Where Country Has Old-Fashioned Flair!Johnston Benchworks FurnitureHandmade PrimitivesLamps/Country PrintsBerries/Twigs/GarlandWood SignsFlags/StarsDenims/Pursesand a whole lot mroe!

Mon-Thurs 11-4, Fri-Sat 10-5, Sun 12-4231 East Main St • Ligonier, PA • 724-238-3376

Shop Thursday til 7:00 pm

Joanne Grace Hartman, MT220B West Main Street

Ligonier, PA 15658Phone: 724-858-6271

A massage relaxes muscles,easing and soothing your aches

and pains. It rejuvenates –restoring balance to our body

and being, making us betterfor all the things

life throws our way.Now certified to treat

TMJ conditions!

Everyone deserves a great massage!

Martin’s Specialty Shop

116 East Main Street • Ligonier, Pennsylvania 15658Mon - Sat 9-5; Closed Sunday 724- 238-6811

Men’s & Women’s Casual Clothing and FootwearOn the Diamond in Ligonier Since 1900

Woolrich • Columbia • Hush PuppiesRockport • Born • Eliza B/

Full Line Dealer

The Toy Box

and

3700 Route 711 North (formerly Roadhouse Pizza)

Mon-Thurs, 11-9 • Fri-Sat, 11-10 • Sun, 12-8

G Squared Gallery, 138 East Main Street in Ligonierwww.gsquaredligonier.com • 724-238-8083

108 South Market Street • Ligonier, PA 15658Open 7 days a week • www.toyboxligonier.com

724-238-6233

SIX ROOMSof Quality Toys, Games andPuzzles for “kids” of all ages!

Excellent selection from more than400 manufacturers . .

and you ARE allowed to touch!

YES, we have Frogs, Rubber Bandz, and Japanese Erasers!

See the lifelike puppets in our Indoor Forest!

BumperStickersfor a

HappyPlanet

18 - Summer 2010 LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST

TOY SOLDIER GALLERYSt. Petersburg Miniatures • Dioramas • Books • Games

Delprado • John Jenkins • Dragon • GAMES WORKSHOP

235 West Main StreetLigonier, PA 15658

724-238-0324norm@toysoldiergallery.net

The Mountain Laurel Chamber ofCommerce is very pleased toannounce that the 2010 $1000Eleanor G. Morris CommunityService Scholarships have beenawarded to three local studentswho have provide valuablecommunity service activities.

Emily Pompelia, who lives in CookTownship and is graduating fromLigonier Valley High School, bringsa high degree of enthusiasm to themany kinds of service she offersin her school, her church, her com-munity and in far away placeswhere needs are many. And shehas also found time to help throughthe school’s mentoring program.Emily will attend Syracuse Uni-versity and study journalism.

Jacob Hauger, a Donegal Townshipresident, will graduate from the Mt.Pleasant High School. For severalyears he has used his love forbluegrass music and banjo skillsto offer entertainment at benefitevents directed toward raisingfunds for many worthwhile causes.Jacob has been accepted into theTwo Year Mining Technology pro-gram at Penn State’s Fayettecampus.

Jerry Cramer, Jr. lives in SaltlickTownship and graduates fromConnellsville Area High School. Hehas demonstrated his ability to findopportunities to help others notonly in his school but also in hiscommunity and has offered avariety of services to elderly resi-dents. Jerry will study elementaryeducation at Thiel University inthe fall.

This is the fourth year the MLCChas sponsored the Eleanor G.Morris Community Scholarship.The program seeks out studentswho live in Cook, Donegal, Saltlick,and Springfield townships and whohave outstanding records of com-munity service. Applications werereceived from all eligible areas andall students who applied describedworth community service activi-

Eleanor G.Morris

CommunityService

ScholarshipsAwarded

ties they have accomplished. Ourarea is extremely fortunate toreceive the help and support theseyoung people are providing.

The Scholarship program is madepossible through contributions fromcommunity residents, from specialfriends of the late Dr. Morris, andfrom local business members ofthe MLCC.

Every Story Begins At Home. Summer 2010 - 19

SpringsFarmersMarket

A wide selection offresh produce,

home baked goods(fresh donuts made

Saturday mornings!),quilts, antiques, crafts,

plants, tools, etc.

Saturdaysthrough Sept 11

8 am - 1 pm

www.springspa.orgRoute 669

Springs, PA

WHAT’S COOKING IN FITNESSMark J. Rullo, MS, CSCS, MES – My Fitness Kitchen®

I Eat Right and Exercise –but I Still Can’t Lose Weight!

How can that be? It just doesn’tmake any sense. If I am eatingright and exercising, why am I notlosing any weight? In order tofigure it out, you need to keep onething in mind: all weight gains orlosses are determined by thedifference between the number ofcalories one consumes and thenumber of calories one expends.

To simplify I like to use ananalogy. Managing your weight islike managing a check book. Thecalories you burn can be likenedto your income. The calories youeat can be likened to yourwithdrawals. At the end of the dayif your income (calorie burn)exceeds your withdrawals (calorieintake) you will lose weight.Likewise, if your withdrawals(calorie intake) exceed yourincome (calorie burn) you willgain weight. Losing weight is likesaving money – you can’t spendmore than you make.

In order to be financiallyhealthy, one must know whattheir income is and adjust theirspending accordingly. Similarly, tomaintain a healthy weight, onemust know what their calorie burnis and adjust their consumptionaccordingly. So what is the magicequation? How does one lose apound of fat?

One pound of fat equals 3,500calories. In order to lose a poundof fat in a week, a person has tocreate a 500 calorie per day deficit(500 calories x 7 days = 3500calories). It doesn’t matter how youdo it, whether by eating less orexercising more or a combinationof both, you just have to createthe deficit.

Sounds simple, right? Well ifit’s so simple why do we have anobesity epidemic in this country?In my experience, the problem istwofold. First, people tend to grosslyUNDERESTIMATE how manycalories they are taking in.Whether it is not knowing howmany calories are in the food theyeat or not accounting for everythingthey eat (including the food you eat“a bite here and a bite there”),people tend to err on the low sidewhen it comes to estimating their

intake. Second, people tend togrossly OVERESTIMATE how manycalories they are burning. Unlessyou are a superhero, it’s a good betthat you are not burning 1000calories per half hour on thetreadmill.

How can one get around the“estimation” problem and get someconcrete numbers with which towork? On the intake (caloriesconsumed) side of the equation,food logging is a great way to keeptrack of your calories. Logging yourfood forces you to pay attention towhat you are eating and how muchyou are eating. There are aplethora of books with calorieinformation on common foods andthere are websites with similarinformation. Every packaged foodin the grocery store has a food labelwhich contains calorie infor-mation and many restaurants andfast food places have onlinenutrition information whichcontains calorie counts. Make nomistake, food logging can be tediousbut it is the only way you are goingto be able to get a true number ofcalories consumed.

On the output (calories burned)side of the equation there are anumber of tools you can use. Youcan calculate your Basal MetabolicRate (the number of calories youburn just to stay alive) using anynumber of online calculators. Tothat you can add any calories youburn doing daily activities (again,you can find calorie calculatorsonline). These calculations will getyou close to figuring out your actualcalorie burn for the entire day, butthey still involve a certain amountof guesswork.

For those who want to removeall guesswork, technology existsthat can tell you an actual numberof calories expended through aspecially designed armband. Thearmband has sensors that collectinformation about the body; likemotion, galvanic skin response,temperature and heat flow. Usingthis information the armbandcalculates an actual, accuratecalorie burn. There is noguesswork. Referring back to ourfinancial analogy, having the

armband is like getting a bankstatement. It tells you exactly whatyour balance is so you know exactlyhow much you can spend.

If you still aren’t convincedthat an accurate calorie count isimportant, consider this: if youconsume 10 calories a day (theequivalent of 3 M & M candies)more than you burn, it will resultin a 1 pound weight gain over thecourse of a year. How many of uswould only consume 3 M &Mcandies? What if that handfultotaled 30 M & M candies? Thenyou are looking at a 100 caloriesurplus. If one would average thatsurplus for a year, you now can seehow one could easily add on 10pounds in one year. This infor-mation is not here to say you shouldonly eat this or that, but rather, soyou now are aware and know thecost of what you eat. As long as youknow your income (caloric expen-diture) and your expenses (caloricintake) you will be in the bestposition to manage your weight.

As a thank you to the readersof Laurel Mountain Post, My FitnessKitchen® would like to extend aninvitation to allow us to calculateyour personal caloric formula andanswer any questions you mighthave including whether anarmband would be valuable to you.For those readers who areneighbors of the Kitchen, pleasestop by for a free, no obligationconsultation. For those readerswho are out of town, feel free tocall 724.879.8523 or email me(mrullo@myfitnesskitchen.com)and we can make that calculationthrough a phone consult.

Mark Rullo is an Exercise Physiologist, CertifiedStrength & Conditioning Specialist, MedicalExercise Specialist, certified Golf FitnessInstructor and owner of My Fitness Kitchen®www.myfitnesskitchen.com 724-879-8523.

Something far from your traditional, intimi-dating gym, My Fitness Kitchen® in Latrobe 30plaza is Where Fitness & Nutrition ComeTogether. From the moment you enter MyFitness Kitchen® regardless of your fitness levelit’s all about “You.” The supportive staff,welcoming atmosphere, and friendly memberscombine to create the most unique and com-fortable environment for your fitness success.Whether it is Fitness, Nutrition or both, you canbe confident My Fitness Kitchen® is the solutionto a healthier you.

Deadline for the Fall 2010 Issueof the Laurel Mountain Post is

Wednesday, September 15

HELP WANTEDAdvertising & DistributionThe Laurel Mountain Post is currentlyseeking to expand its advertising anddistribution throughout southwesternPennsylvania. Available territories in-clude: Allegheny, Armstrong, Bedford,Greene, Somerset, Fayette, Washington,Cambria and Indiana counties.

If you are interested in working withus through these part-time, flexible,and self-guided earning opportunities,please email a letter of inquiry to ourAdvertising Director: Jason Ament,ads4lmp@gmail.com, or phone 724-309-3090.

20 - Summer 2010 LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST

In April at Shakespeare’s Birthday, a well-attendedwine and beer tasting fundraiser that benefited theMountain Playhouse, the 2010 Mountain Playhouseseason was announced to applause. The 71st

anniversary season will be shorter, smarter and fullof laughter for audience members to enjoy. Theseason lineup includes a modern day rock musical,two world premieres, a favorite comedy ofShakespeare and a Southern classic whichdemonstrates the value of trying to understandpeople with different beliefs and backgrounds.

The Mountain Playhouse season will kick offJuly 6-25 with Altar Boyz, written by Kevin DelAguila with music and lyrics by Gary Adler andMichael Patrick Walker. A rock musical, whichrecently closed a five-year run Off-Broadway, spoofs boy bands fromthe 1990s. The story follows thefate of 5 small-town boys –Matthew, Mark, Luke, Juan andAbraham – who unexpectedly endup in New York with their piouspop act, one that worked wonderson the Ohio bingo-hall circuit, butrisks falling flat in the big apple.Or does it? Audiences shouldcount on Angelic voices andspectacular dancing that will rockthe masses of all ages anddenominations!

Farce is no stranger toMountain Playhouse audienceswho often attend farcicalproductions in greater numbersthan any other style of play. Thewinner of the Mountain PlayhouseInternational Comedy PlaywritingContest in 2009 Who Maid Who?written by David Lassig tells thestory of Joe and his secret plansfor a quiet weekend retreat withhis would-be-mistress. His bestfriend serves as an unwitting alibiwhich provides Joe the makingsof a worry free weekend, until hiswife shows up and catches himwith a suspiciously-clad “Frenchmaid.” Then, Joe’s parents show up, with a weekendof their own planned. Not to mention an inquisitivecop, the chef, the gardner, the old maid and thealibi’s wife? The madcap farce runs from July 27-August 8.

One Golden Moment tells the story of amiddle-aged American man who is seeking refugefrom his workaholic life on a secluded Greek Island.Though Ted is trying to disconnect from the worldand live a peaceful, solitary existence, his Zorba-like Greek landlord interferes by sending a strikinglybeautiful young Austrian woman to tend house forhim. A romantic interlude in an exotic mountaintopvilla comes to life for the two as they romp throughlanguage misunderstandings and culturaldifferences. Just when life couldn’t get better, Ted’sex-boss finds him and makes an enriching,compelling, employment offer which will cause Tedto choose between his dream job and his new-foundpassion for life. The romantic comedy by William S.E. Coleman won the Mountain Playhouse Play-writing Contest in 2008 and will make its worldpremiere August 10-22.

The lyrical comedy Twelfth Night has alwaysbeen one of Shakespeare’s most accessible andpopular works. In the play, a love triangle resultsfrom shipwrecked Viola disguising herself as theboy Cesario who finds employment with the Duke

of Illyria, a gentleman who longs for the love of aneighboring countess. Then Viola/Cesario falls inlove with the Duke and the countess finds herselfsuddenly smitten with Viola/Cesario. To add to thefarce, Viola/Cesario’s twin brother arrives on thescene. The plot illustrates jealousy, mistakenidentity, cross-dressing and features an array ofcolorful characters (including Toby Belch) as well asfights and duels. Twelfth Night will run September22-October 3 (after a four week season hiatus).

The 2010 season will conclude October 6-17 withthe Pulitzer Prize-winning Driving Miss Daisywritten by Alfred Uhry. An elderly Jewish widow livingin Atlanta can no longer drive. Her son insists sheallow him to hire a driver, which in the 1950s meant

a black man. She resists anychange in her life but, Hoke, thedriver is hired by her son. Sherefuses to allow him to drive heranywhere at first, but Hoke slowlywins her over with his native goodgraces. The play covers over twentyyears of the pair’s life together asthey slowly build a relationshipthat transcends their differences.

Tickets, Season Subscriptionsand Group Sales

Individual tickets for the 2010 sea-son, Season Subscriptions, Flex-Passes, Corporate Flex-Passesand group sales are now underway. Subscription plans range from$68-$140 per person depending onseat location, the day of the weekand matinee or evening perfor-mance. A smaller Pick 3 Pass is amini season sub-scription whichoffers theatergoers the opportunityto choose three productions theywould like to see. Regardless of theday of week or seat location, thePick 3 Pass costs only $76 formatinee or $86 for eveningperformances. FlexPasses offersthe most flexibility, giving theater-

goers the opportunity to purchase 6 admissions thatcan be used at any time and in any quantitythroughout the season. FlexPass prices rangefrom $151- $211. A special three-admission YouthFlexPass costs only $30.

Businesses or corporations who wish to givetickets to employees, friends or customers canpurchase Corporate FlexPasses with their name andcompany logo included on the ticket voucher.

For information or to place ticket orders,audience members may call 814 629 9201, option 1to reach the Box Office.

Groups (as small as 10) may reserve tickets now.Groups enjoy special services during their visit andsave up to $4 off the ticket price. Special group ratesare also available for dining and theater packages.For reservations, groups may contact the GroupSales Coordinator at 814-629-9201 x105.

The Mountain Playhouse is Pennsylvania’soldest professional, resident summer theaterentering its 71st anniversary season in 2010. TheMountain Playhouse also sponsors an InternationalComedy Playwriting contest, an annual competition,which helps encourage the development of newcomedy for theater. The Mountain Playhouse islocated on Route 985, one-half mile north of thehistoric Lincoln Highway (Route 30) adjacent toGreen Gables Restaurant.

The Show Will Go Onat the Mountain Playhouse

An ensemble cast will star in the upcomingMountain Playhouse production of Altar Boyzwhich opens on July 6th. The band membersare (from left to right) Justin Packard, Todd

Stern, Todd Adamson, Michael TimothyHowell and Christopher Sergeeff.

(fee per item)

40th Annual Antique& Road Show

Berlin BrothersvalleyCommunity Fair

September 12, 15-18 2010

Berlin Brothersvalley High School1025 East Main Street - Berlin, PA

Exhibits, Tractor & ATV Pulls,Pet Parade, Fair Queen,

BBQ, Public AuctionJudged Entries Include:Baked & Canned Goods,

Fruits & Vegetables, Maple Products,Honey, Flowers, Hand-crafted Items,

Needlework, Original Paintings(Entry Day: Sept 15, 8-6)

Every Story Begins At Home. Summer 2010 - 21

SHOPS AROUND THE CORNER PRIZESLocal Businesses Sponsor Quarterly Giveaways for Our Subscribers Only!

With each issue, all current subscribers (both print and online) are automatically eligible to win a prizepackage from local businesses. It’s our way of thanking you for being loyal readers, as well as supporters

of local commerce! All winners will be listed on our website. Register as a new Laurel Mountain Postsubscriber by August 31, 2010 to be included in our Summer 2010 drawings for the following prizes:

1. 2. 3.

4.

Congratulations to OurSpring 2010 Winners:

Charlotte Smith - McDonald, PA

Jamie Mattson - Duquesne, PA

Leslie Gottschalk - Pittsburgh, PA

Linda Powers - Derry, PA

Mary Brewer - Derry, PA

Joe & Kristen Mucci - Greensburg, PA

Marie McCandless - Derry, PA

Tom Patts - Latrobe, PA

William Ehman - Derry, PA

Shopping SpreeRetail Value: $100

Mary Kay CosmeticsVanessa Stiltner: Greensburg, PA

http://www.marykay.com/vstiltner

Free TeethWhitening438 Pellis Road, Suite 100

Greensburg, PA 15601724-219-0812

www.cavalierdentistry.com

Fandango Movie Gift CardRetail Value: $25

Redeem for movie ticketsto local theaters on

www.Fandango.com

Theater in the Mountains Package: Dinner for Two, 2 Theater Tickets,

and Overnight Stay in Huddleson CourtRetail Value: $350

Mountain Playhouse: Jennerstown, PA814-629-9201

www.MountainPlayhouse.org

Catch Pennsylvania’s Colonial Spirit !

Sept. 18, 19 & 25, 26 Saxonburg, PA (So. Butler Co.) Rte. 228 E.

30 min. from Pittsburgh or PA Turnpike via Harmer Exit 48 to Rte 28 N, Exit 16

® Voted The

#1 Traditional

Show In America !“It’s A Family

Tradition.”

Shop Over 190

Booth Exhibits

724-352-9922

pennscolony.com

French & Indian

Re-Enactments

Hear Ye!

Hear Ye!

American

Folk Artists

Master

Craftsmen

Strolling & Stage

Music & More

Grand Colonial

Entertainments

Living History

Pipes & Drums

27th Annual

Keystone State Park is looking forvolunteers to help staff our BeachHouse and our James Kell Visitor’sCenter. This is such a great placeto volunteer you will have beautifulscenery, plenty of sunshine andfresh air. Both of these positionsare very important to the operationof the park. You would be requiredto interact with the public, handout information and answerquestions.

If you are looking to help outeven more then you can join the

Friends of Keystone State Park.The Friends group is an all volun-teer group who help to providerecreational opportunities, protectthe natural beauty of the park aswell as pursue big projects such asour recently constructed children’splayground.

If you are interested in becominga volunteer please contact theKeystone State Park office at:Keystone State Park, 1150Keystone Park Rd., Derry, PA 15627724-668-2939.

Do You Love the Outdoors?

Free Oil ChangeRetail Value: $47L&L Quik Lube

102 Depot Street in Latrobe, PA724-537-9329

5.

22 - Summer 2010 LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST

Marsh related. “The excitingopportunity to study journalismin England really propelled meto apply.”

She credits support andassistance from Bessy Bennellick,director of the Saint VincentCollege study abroad program, ascrucial to her success. “Ms.Bennellick was a big help in thelengthy application process andhas already helped with manyof the details that have to beworked out before I leave andwhile I am there,” she said.

“As a communication major, itis fitting that Carly will participatein the academic program calledMedia and Journalism: Writing forthe Media,” Ms. Bennellickcommented. “This program letsstudents try their hand at puttingtogether a news report, resea-rching and writing a featurearticle, editing copy and designingpages for publication. She willalso participate in training withthe British Press Association,Britain and Ireland’s nationalnews agency. Staff from the PressAssociation training section alsotrain journalists working withinternationally-known news-papers such as the Daily Telegraph,Daily Mail and Daily Mirror as wellas many of Britain’s leadingprovincial newspapers.”

Ms. Marsh explained that onepart of the application requiredher to write an essay on some-thing that she had experiencedthat had a significant impressionon her. “I wrote about a series oftragic deaths of friends of mineand my family,” she explained. “Itwas really shocking and it haschanged the way I view life. I seethings in a different perspective.”

Ms. Marsh has been an activestudent at Saint Vincent as awriter and production editor forThe Review student newspaper,as a work-study student in theArchabbey and Seminary Public

Comprehensive exam & x-raysfor only $71 ($105 savings!)

$15 annual subscription$25 for international orders

Please make check payable to Laurel Mountain Post,and return with mailing information to:

Laurel Mountain Post SubscriptionsPO Box 227, Latrobe, PA 15650

Don’t Miss An Issue!

LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST

NAME: _______________________________________________________________

ADDRESS: _____________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________

PHONE: ______________________________________________________________

EMAIL: _______________________________________________________________

IS THIS A GIFT? ______________ If so, would you like a gift card sent? _______________

Subscription will begin with the next new issue after order is received.

Latrobe Student AmongFulbright Commission

Summer Grant Recipients

St. Vincent Collegejournalism student Carly Marsh

Congratulations to Carly MarshSummer Institute, Newcastle University

jCarly Marsh, a sophomore com-munication major at Saint VincentCollege, has been awarded aprestigious Fulbright Commissiongrant – the first Saint Vincentstudent ever to do so – to studyand travel in the United Kingdomthis summer.

Ms. Marsh, a 2009 graduate ofGreater Latrobe High School, willarrive in London in July andspend her summer taking classesin journalism at Newcastle Uni-versity in the area of North-umberland and traveling theEuropean countryside.

The grant is part of the US-UKEducational Commission, createdin 1948, that offers the only bi-national transatlantic academicawards program between the twocountries. They are part of aninspirational global programconceived by Senator J. WilliamFulbright in the aftermath ofWorld War II to promote leader-ship, learning and empathybetween nations through edu-cational exchange. Since itsinception, nearly 300,000 extra-ordinary young men and womenfrom all over the world have hadtheir lives changed profoundly bythe Fulbright program. The US-UK Fulbright Commission offersthis special summer program forU.S. citizens to go to the UnitedKingdom. This program providesthe opportunity for outstandingU.S. students who have com-pleted no more than two years ofcollege or university study to goto the UK for a four-week academicand cultural summer program. Par-ticipants will get the opportunityto experience an exciting aca-demic program at highly regardedNewcastle University, explore theculture, heritage and history ofthe UK and develop their academicability by improving presentation,research and communicationskills. The award provides fullfunding to awardees to coverairfare, tuition, room and board.

“I want to be a journalist,” Ms.Marsh explained. “This grant willprovide me with an extraordinaryopportunity to get hands-onexperience with members of theBritish Press Association. I wantto learn how to inform the publicby giving them clear informationthat is relatable to them. I want tomake a difference with the workthat I do.”

Ms. Marsh said that earlier thisspring she had never even heardof the Fulbright program. “I didn’tknow that it existed until I got anemail from Saint Vincent Collegestudent Taylor Guido, presidentof the Alpha Lambda Delta honorsociety, suggesting that themembers of the club considerapplying, and I decided to be-cause I was disappointed that aninternship I was pursuing forthe summer didn’t work out,” Ms. continued on page 28

Every Story Begins At Home. Summer 2010 - 23

by Travelli McFarlandfrom the Wallflowers Collection of Stories

Complete serialization available exclusively onlineto subscribers of the Laurel Mountain Post

ueen Anne’s LaceQand the

Cornflower Blues

Warm Summer Meadows

FLORIOGRAPHYThe Language of Flowers by Travelli McFarland

The more the things of nature are mixed

up with our own spiritual being the more

interesting, the more enjoyable, the more

beautiful the world will appear. Connect

things with thoughts, then things are truly

valuable . . .

So begins the article “What theFlowers Say” by James Mason fromThe Girl’s Own Paper, 1880-1881,(Vol. 2). The language of flowers(floriography) dates back to ancienttimes and many cultures. TheJapanese call it “hanakotoba,” andthe Turkish “Salem”, or languageof objects, was developed to com-municate any message withoutthe need to write. The western ver-sion, popularized in the VictorianEra, originated in the Turkish Em-pire. Lady Mary Wortley Montague,the wife of the English ambassadorto Constantinople in the 1717, iscredited with bringing the art of“secret” language to the modernworld through the publication of

her letters, in which she wrote:

There is no color, no flower, no weed, no

fruit, herb, pebble, or feather, that has

not a verse attached to it; and you may

quarrel, reproach, or send letters of pas-

sion, friendship, or civility, or even of news,

without ever inking your fingers.

With so many origins of flower sym-bols, the only way to effectively com-municate is through a standarddictionary. In the romantic Victo-rian age, many volumes were pub-lished, and information was passednot only through the combinationof blooms in a bouquet, but by theirpresentation as well.

Place a flower upon the head,and its meaning applies to themind; on the chest, to the heart;and so on. Invert a bloom, and theopposite expression is given. Tostrip a stem of its leaves signifiesfear; remove the thorns, and youconvey without consequence.

In learning the language of theflowers, a new layer of comprehen-sion is added to a scientific, natu-ral and romantic world.

CornflowersCentaurea Cyanis

Cornflowers have several relatedmeanings including: celibacy,devotion, purity, single blessed-ness, hope in love, and delicacy.

Named because they often grew asweeds in cornfields, they are alsocalled bachelor’s button, basketflower, basil flower, star thistle andboutonniere. Cornflowers are blueand have been prized throughouthistory for their enduring pigmentcalled cyanin. The deep blue flowerswere among the treasures foundin King Tutankhamen’s tomb. Asmall wreath of cornflowers andolive leaves, still blue afterthousands of years, was left to aidthe pharaoh in the afterlife.

In folklore, cornflowers wereworn by young men in love; if theflower faded too quickly, it wastaken as a sign that the man’s lovewas unrequited. A Russian talesays a handsome young man calledBasilek who wandered into a fieldwhere a nymph saw him and fellin love with him. She couldn’tmarry a mortal, so to keep him withher forever in the cornfield sheturned him into a flower as blue ashis eyes.

Greek mythology often referesto cornflowers and its healingproperties. An infusion made bysoaking the flower petals in waterwas used as an eyewash to refreshtired eyes and restore sight. It isalso used as an astringent mouth-wash to help heal mouth ulcersand to clean and disinfect wounds.The cornflower gets its name fromthe centaur, Chiron, who is oftencredited with teaching mankindthe healing power of herbs.

Cornflowers are also a commoningredient in Earl Grey Tea, whichwas oft requested by the famous fic-tional bachelor Jean-Luc Picard(Star Trek: The Next Generation):“Tea. Earl Grey. Hot.”

It grows quickly, blooms heav-ily,and dies with frost. Cornflowers areeasily cultivated and often rebloomin fall. It regrows the following year if

seeds fall on bare ground.

Queen Anne’s LaceDaucus Carota

Queen Anne’s lace is a prolific

wildflower that symbolizes: deli-

cacy, femininity, complexity, fan-

tasy, sanctuary or haven

continued on page 28

24 - Summer 2010 LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST

ueen Anne’s LaceQand the

Cornflower Blues

2. 3.

The announcement reached

him just in time.

He usually finished up with

the morning paper and

headed across the street to the

library, where he spent most

of his summer days searching

through scientific, literary and

religious texts for the cures to

a lifetime of existential angst

and doubt. But today those

books had no words that could

compare to the wistful

scrapbook now flashing

through his mind.

He had a long drive ahead of

him, but if he pushed straight

through, he could make it in

time for tomorrow’s gathering.

Somewhere along the prosaic

highway east, just past the

exit for Bowling Green, he

began to notice the landscape.

Days as an art teacher found

him naming the colors for

everything he saw. Above this

particular stretch of road,

sandwiched between aisles of

clover and corn fields, the late

afternoon sky was a familiar

shade of blue somewhere

between azure and cerulean.

In a memory’s moment he was

15 again and in love for the

very first time. On the last day

of school, she agreed to go

with him, and he gave his

wrestling sweatshirt to her.

Only a freshman, he had yet

to earn his varsity letter and

the coveted leather and wool

jacket that came with it.

He couldn’t believe the coolest

girl in school was now his

girlfriend. They were from

different social cliques, the

hierarchies that govern and

define adolescence. It had

taken him months to even

talk to her, asking her best

friend to the spring dinner

dance, just to get that much

closer to her. He wasn’t proud

of that, but shy boys have to

work harder. At least around

smart, beautiful and popular

girls. She was always

surrounded by older, more

stylish guys – the kind who

would kick your ass for

staring too long. They already

had their jackets.

But there she was, wearing

his sweatshirt as she wrote

her phone number in his

yearbook.

He called her every evening in

June. It was new and fun in

this world where everything

seemed possible. They talked

for hours about television,

books and philosophy, and

even managed to play Boggle

over the phone. They

exchanged mix tapes of their

favorite songs: his filled with

The Doors, Janis Joplin and

classic rock, hers with an

eccentric collection of new

wave pop and punk. He was

always “on” with her, always

clever, and more confident

each day. They saw movies,

ate ice cream, and went

rowing on the lake. Once she

wore trendy plastic shoes that

pinched her feet and looked

silly, so he tossed them

overboard and made her

promise to never again

sacrifice comfort for style. She

found him adorable, and the

sound of her laughter was a

joyful and addictive energy,

sustaining him for endless

summer days.

On the Fourth of July they

spent the afternoon at the

community picnic with plans

to stay and watch fireworks in

the park. His sweatshirt was

tied around the waist of her

red and white plaid sundress,

and she sported Chuck Taylor

sneakers in homage to Elvis

Costello. To offset the practical

shoes and complete this

festive ensemble, she wore

white gloves made of lace.

“Because I’m crazy for you, “

she had laughed, “Like the

Madonna song.” Just as the

day’s many colorful

illuminations to come, she

glowed with a powerful,

creative beauty; and shot him

right between the eyes with it,

though the enduring wound

lodged in his heart.

Determined to find a better

view for fireworks, they set out

through the park on the dirt

road along the gentle ridge

hugging the end of town. It led

to an old-fashioned church

that probably once doubled as

a one-room schoolhouse.

Definitely closed and deserted

now, he seemed to remember

that it opened only for

holidays like Easter and

Christmas when people

wanted to feel a little more

nostalgically religious. Behind

it lay a forgotten cemetery

Every Story Begins At Home. Summer 2010 - 25

4. 5. 6.

filled with trees and moss-

covered stones. A trip through

the broken gate at the other

end revealed a meadow of

flowers.

The blooming field of the

hillside was nestled like a

small terrace, overlooking the

town. With balcony seating

now secured, he presented

her with an impromptu

bouquet of freshly-plucked

clover, Queen Anne’s Lace,

and cornflowers - which he

noticed were the same color as

her eyes.

The world would never seem

more alive with

grace and

possibility than it

did at that

moment.

It was an ideal

offered only to the

innocence and

liberty of youth.

The day began

with a warm sun

sparkling simple

promises over a

girl and a boy, and

ended as the

moon showered a

wilderness of

enigmatic stars

upon a woman

and a man.

Each day after became more

confusing than the last. There

was growing doubt in a glance,

apprehension around every

word, and agonizing silences

quickly followed. Before long it

felt impossible to maintain or

even reach a standard that

suddenly seemed so high, so

close to the heaven they had

touched. Absolute freedom

had led to chaos, and by

August their cornflower sky

quickly faded to a murky gray.

They never said good-bye or

spoke the right words to

officially fill the obscure space

between them. By the time

school started again, each

went looking for someone else,

a black and white photograph

to fill a vanilla frame. While he

earned that jacket and gave it

to a sweet and meek little

thing, he watched as she

moved on too – with Mr. Tall,

Dark, and More-Handsome-

Every-Day.

As the years

turned into

decades, he lost

track of her. First

they grew up,

then moved away.

For a while,

friends of friends

would share

stories about who

was where and

doing what.

Eventually some

people simply

forgot each other.

But she had

remembered, and

today she found

him.

He smiled when he read the

note again: “festive attire and

practical shoes requested.”

She had obviously planned

this celebration for a long

time, carefully selecting the

most meaningful details. It

was still a few hours before he

would reach Pennsylvania and

his hotel room that was waiting

in the twilight of the small

town where they grew up

together, and then apart.

The next morning he left early

and made a few discreet stops

along the way. By the time he

arrived, the party was just

getting started.

As always, she was surrounded

by an intimidating collection of

admirers, and he really didn’t

want to mingle with any of

them. The bloom of his heart

left no room for repartee. There

were many familiar faces: he

had been a wrestling

teammate, and she sat next to

him in English class. Several

people he recognized from the

town, others he had never met

before. Then there were the

ghosts he felt he had, though

never did; the ones with much

younger eyes the color of

cornflowers.

He made his way through the

crowd, deaf to the chatter of

greetings and questions from

people long lost to the years so

far behind them. He never had

found the words, but didn’t

need them now, realizing that

other things spoke the truth

better than eloquent yet

misunderstood words ever

could. Trembling with equal

parts age and utter solicitude,

he lifted the clutch of specific

blue and white wildflowers and

placed them on her freshly-

covered grave . . . in the

cemetery of the little church

on the hill next to their secret

garden with the lovely view.

26 - Summer 2010 LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST

SUMMER 2010COMMUNITY CALENDAR

Saturday, July 3 – Sunday, July 11The Kutztown Folk FestivalKutztown Fairgrounds, Kutztown,Route 222 between Allentown/ReadingFree brochure: 1-888-674-6136WWW.kutztownfestival.com

Saturday, July 3 – Monday, July 5Celebrate Our Countryin the Country138 E. Kittanning St., Rt. 954,Smicksburg. 814-257-0192 or visitwww.smicksburg.net

July 6, 8, 9, 13, 15, 16 @ 11 amOh, Jack!Johnny Appleseed Children’s TheaterApple Hill Playhouse in Delmontwww.applehillplayhouse.org724-468-5050

July 6 - July 25Altar BoyzMountain Playhouse, Jennerstownwww.MountainPlayhouse.org814-629-9201

Wednesday, July 7 @ 7 p.m.Weird Al YankovicReturns to the Palace Theatre21 W. Otterman Street, Greensburg

Thursday, July 8 @ 6 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.Thank Goodness It’s SummerFundraiser Event

Lovebettie performs alternative rockmusic as entertainmentThe Palace Theatre Courtyard21 W. Otterman St, Greensburg

July 8-10, 15-17, 22-24 @ 8 pmJuly 14, 21 @ 2 pmWorkingApple Hill Playhouse in Delmontwww.applehillplayhouse.org724-468-5050

Friday, July 9 @ 7 p.m.Summer Sounds Free ConcertsDr. Draw performs Fusion rock musicRobertshaw Amphitheater at St. ClairPark, Greensburg

July 9-10 @ 7:30 pm, July 11 @ 2:30 pmExcess Cashfeaturing Eric Harris as “Our Man inBlack” and Kasey Zemba as JuneCarter Cash. Ligonier Theaterwww.valleyplayers.org, 724-238-6514

July 10 - August 2, 10:30 - 11:15 amOutdoor Aqua AerobicsSaturdays at Veteran’s Memorial PoolAerobics Center, Lynch FieldGreensburg, 724-834-2153www.aerobiccenter.org

July 11-17Derry TownshipAgricultural FairRt. 982 North, 724-459-7018www.derrytwpagfair.com

Thursday, July 15 @ 6 p.m.Thank Goodness It’s SummerFundraiser Event

BookEndz performs acoustic musicThe Palace Theatre Courtyard21 W. Otterman St, Greensburg

July 16-18Somerfest at Laurel ArtsPhillip Dressler Center for the ArtsSomerset, 814-443-2433www.laurelarts.org

July 16-18Cauldron of Steel:A Historical DramaFreeport Theatre Festival. 2498 WhiteCloud Rd, Leechburg. 724-295-1934www.freeporttheatrefestival.org

Friday, July 16 @ 7 p.m.Summer Sounds Free Concerts7 Bridges performs Eagles tributeRobertshaw Amphitheater at St. ClairPark, Greensburg

Saturday, July 17, 4-8 pmRockin in West Newton50s Dinner and DanceWest Newton Gymnasium, $10www.dwni.org, 724-872-0100

Saturday, July 17American Big BandArcadia Theater, Windber, 814-467-9070www.arcadiatheater.net

July 17-18Living History WeekendCompass Inn, Laughlintown724-238-4983, www.compassinn.com

Saturday July 17 – Sunday July 18@ 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.Craft Show and CommunityDays at Keystone State ParkPavilion #1(724)-668-2566 or kpnature@nb.net

Saturday July 17 @ 5 p.m.Lobster and ClambakeChristian W. Clay Winery, Chalk Hillmeal and wine tasting is $58 /personReservations required: (724)-439-3424www.cwklaywinery.com

Monday, July 19First AnnualLigonier Golf TournamentThe Ligonier Country ClubThis event benefits Action for AnimalsFor more information: (724)-516-5806

Monday, July 19, 11 am - 5 pmBlood Drive:Free Tickets & Free DinnersLigonier Theater. 724-238-6514

Monday, July 19 – Friday July 23 @ 8:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.Children’s Summer Art Camp:Pencil, Brush, and Beyond (ages 10-12)Westmoreland Museum of American Art221 N. Main Street, GreensburgFee: $125/week for members;$140/week nonmembersRegistration required: (724)-837-1500Or by email: education@wmuseumaa.org

July 20, 22, 23, 27, 29, 30 @ 11 amCharlotte’s WebJohnny Appleseed Children’s TheaterApple Hill Playhouse in Delmontwww.applehillplayhouse.org724-468-5050

Wednesday, July 21, 10 and 11 amMonarch MagicWinnie Palmer Nature ReserveSt. Vincent College, Latrobe724-537-5284, www.wpnr.org

Thursday, July 22 @ 6 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.Thank Goodness It’s SummerFundraiser EventJames Boggs performs saxophoneThe Palace Theatre Courtyard21 W. Otterman St. Greensburg

July 22 - August 15Almost, MaineSt. Vincent Summer Theater724-805-2229, www.stvincent.edu

July 23-24Summer in LigonierArts & Craftswww.ligonier.com, 724-238-4200

July 23, 24, 30, 31 @ 7:30 pmJuly 25 & August 1 @ 2:30 pmNunsense A-MEN!Valley Players, Ligonier Theaterwww.valleyplayers.org, 724-238-6514

Friday, July 23 @ 7 p.m.Summer Sounds Free ConcertsAzucar performs Latin Jazz musicRobertshaw Amphitheater at St. ClairPark, Greensburg

Saturday, July 24 @ 8:30pmMovie Night: “Planet 51”Keystone State Park. Free Admission,Shown at beach house.

Saturday, July 24Murder Mystery Dinner TheaterChristian W. Klay Winery, Chalk HillTickets: $38/person includes dinner,wine tasting, and showReservations required: (724)-439-3424

July 24-25Battle Reenactment WeekendArtillery: 1 and 3 pmBattles: 1:30 and 3:30 pmFt. Ligonier, www.ftligonier.com724-238-9701

Saturday, July 24 @ 5 p.m. – 9 p.m.Music In The Mountains:Jackson MonsourGlades Pike Winery, SomersetEntrance is free with purchase ofwine, or a $10 cover

July 25-31Bedford County Fair814-623-9011, www.bedford-fair.com

Sunday July 25 – Sunday September 19Cutting Our Own Paths:Contemporary Worksby Paper ArtistsWestmoreland Museum of American Art221 N. Main Street, Greensburg(724)-837-1500 ext. 27 orwww.wmuseumaa.org

Sunday July 25 – September 19Rooted in Tradition: Art Quiltsfrom the Rocky Mountain QuiltMuseumWestmoreland Museum of American Art221 N. Main Street, Greensburg(724)-837-1500 ext. 27 or visit:www.wmuseumaa.org

Every Story Begins At Home. Summer 2010 - 27

August 14Lynch FieldGreensburg

Monday July 26 – Friday July 308:30 a.m. – 3 p.m.Children’s Summer Art Camp:Mixed Media and SensationalSculpture (ages 10-12)Westmoreland Museum of American Art221 N. Main Street, GreensburgRegistration required: $125/week formembers; $140/week for nonmembers(724)-837-1500 ext. 10 or 19

July 27 - August 8Who? Maid? Who?Mountain Playhouse, Jennerstownwww.MountainPlayhouse.org814-629-9201

Thursday, July 29 @ 6 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.Thank Goodness It’s SummerFundraiser EventBad Boys Blues Bandperforms Rock and BluesThe Palace Theatre Courtyard21 W. Otterman St. Greensburg

July 29-August 1Fort Armstrong Folk FestivalRiverfront Park, Kittanning724-543-6363www.armstrongfestival.com

July 29-August 7Fayette County FairDunbar, 724-628-3360www.fayettefair.com

Friday, July 30 @ 7 p.m.Summer Sounds Free ConcertsLaurie Morvan performs blues musicRobertshaw Amphitheater at St. ClairPark, Greenburg

Saturday, July 31 @ 8:30pmMovie Night: “Cars”Keystone State Park. Free Admission,Shown at beach house.

August 3, 5, 6, 10, 12, 13 @ 11 amThe Tale of the Frog PrinceJohnny Appleseed Children’s TheaterApple Hill Playhouse in Delmontwww.applehillplayhouse.org724-468-5050

August 5-7, 12-14, 19-21 @ 8 pmAugust 11 @ 2 pmCash On DeliveryApple Hill Playhouse in Delmontwww.applehillplayhouse.org724-468-5050

Thursday August 5 @ 6 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.Thank Goodness It’s SummerFundraiser Event. Perigo and EvenStephen perform Rock and Roll music.The Palace Theatre Courtyard 21 W.Otterman St. Greensburg

Friday August 6 @ 7 p.m.Summer Sounds Free ConcertsThe English Channel performs BritishOldies, Robert Shaw Amphitheater atSt. Clair Park, Greensburg

August 6-8Flood City Music Festivaljohnstown, 814-539-1889www.floodcitymusic.com

Saturday, August 7 @ 10 amThe Magic of MonarchWinnie Palmer Nature ReserveFREE. St. Vincent College, Latrobe724-537-5284, www.wpnr.org

Sunday, August 8Lammas Day FestivalFulton House, New Derry.724-694-8808, www.derryhistory.org

Sunday, August 8Murder Mystery Dinner TheaterChristian W. Klay Winery, Chalk HillTickets are $38/person and includesdinner, wine tasting, and showFor more information: (724)-439-3424

August 9-14Greene County FairWaynesburg, 724-627-4752www.greenecountyfair.org

Mon-Thur, August 9-12, 8 am - 5 pmKids Summer Camp, ages 7-10Aerobics Center, Lynch Field$100 for sports, swimming, yoga,nutrition, games, hiking. Greensburg724-834-2153 www.aerobiccenter.org

August 10-22One Golden MomentMountain Playhouse, Jennerstownwww.MountainPlayhouse.org814-629-9201

Thursday August 12 6 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.Thank Goodness It’s SummerFundraiser EventGary Pratt performs country musicThe Palace Theatre Courtyard21 W, Otterman St. Greensburg

Friday, August 13Stroll Through Ligonierwww.ligonier.com, 724-238-4200

Friday August 13 @ 7 p.m.Summer Sounds Free ConcertsBronze Radio Return performs rockmusic. Robertshaw Amphitheaterat St. Clair Park, Greensburg

August 13-15Bertha and Bailey’s CircusFreeport Theatre Festival,Leechburg, 724-295-1934www.freeporttheatrefestival.org

Saturday August 14, 8 am - 1 pm2010 Kids TriathlonLynch Field GreensburgSponsored by Habitat for Humanity

Saturday, August 14 at 6 pmWild West ChuckwagonBBQ & RevueLigonier Theater, 724-238-6514www.valleyplayers.org

Saturday, August 14 @ 8:30pmMovie Night: “Princess Bride”Keystone State Park. Free Admission,Shown at beach house.

Saturday, August 1440th Annual Antique& Road ShowStreets of Somerset, 814-445-6431www.somersetpa.net

August 14-15Bread Baking DemonstrationsFt. Ligonier, 724-238-9701www.ftligonier.org

Saturday, August 18 @ 10 and 11 amSummer Singers and SpinnersWinnie Palmer Nature ReserveFREE. St. Vincent College, Latrobe724-537-5284, www.wpnr.org, Reg reqd

Thursday August 19 6 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.Thank Goodness It’s SummerFundraiser EventThe Usual Suspects (New Orleans Jazz)The Palace Theatre Courtyard21 W. Otterman St Greensburg

Friday August 20 @ 7 p.m.Summer Sounds Free ConcertsMoonalice performs Jam musicRobertshaw amphitheater at St. ClairPark, Greensburg

August 20-28Westmoreland County FairGreensburg, 724-423-5005www.westmorelandfair.com

August 21-28Somerset County FairMeyersdale, 814-634-5619www.somersetcountyfairpa.com

Saturday, August 21 @ 8:30pmMovie Night:“Night at the Museum”Keystone State Park. Free Admission,Shown at beach house.

August 21-22Laurel Hill Bluegrass FestivalLaurel Hill State Park, Somersetwww.friendsoflhsp.org, 814-445-7725

Tuesday August 24Murder Mystery Dinner TheaterChristian W. Klay Winery, Chalk HillTickets are $38/person and includesdinner, wine tasting, and showFor more information: (724)-439-3424

Thursday August 26 6 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.Thank Goodness It’s SummerFundraiser EventSugar Mountain performs countrymusic. The Palace Theatre Courtyard21 W. Otterman Steet Greensburg

Friday August 27 @ 7 p.m.Summer Sounds Free ConcertsElizabeth Cook performs alternativecountry. Robertshaw Amphitheater atSt. Clair Park, Greensburg

August 28Antiques on the Diamondwww.ligonier.com, 724-238-4200

Saturday August 28 5 p.m. – 9 p.m.Music In The Mountains:Herb & HansonGlades Pike Winery, Somerset

Weekends, August 28-October 3Pittsburgh Renaissance FestivalWest Newton, 724-872-1670www.pittsburghrenfest.com

Saturday, August 28Fallingwater Twilight TourSelf-guided tour, gourmet picnic, jazzconcert in the meadow. Mill Run724-329-850, www.fallingwater.org

Saturday, August 29 @ 8:30pmMovie Night: “Cloudy With AChance of Meatballs”Keystone State Park. Free Admission,Shown at beach house.

August 29 - September 4148th Indiana County Fairwww.indianacountyfair.com

Sept 2-4, 10-11, 16-18 @ 8 pmSept 12 @ 2 pmThe Kitchen WitchesApple Hill Playhouse in Delmontwww.applehillplayhouse.org724-468-5050

Thursday September 2 @ 6 p.m. to9:30 p.m.Thank Goodness It’s SummerFundraiser EventKenny Blake performs Jazz and Popmusic. The Palace Theatre Courtyard21 W. Otterman Street Greensburg

Friday September 3 – MondaySeptember 617th Annual Pennsylvania Arts& Crafts Colonial FestivalWestmoreland FairgroundsAdmission charged: Adults $5.50;Children (6-12) $1.00; Sr. Citizen(65+): $5; Under 6: Free

Saturday September 4 @ 8:30pmMovie Night: “Tooth Fairy”Keystone State Park. Free Admission,Shown at beach house.

September 5-11Cambria County FairEbensburg, 814-472-7491www.cambriacofair.com

September 8-12Farmers and ThreshermansJubileeNew Centerville, 814-926-3142www.ncvfc.com

September 10-12Mountain Craft DaysSomerset, 814-445-6077www.somersethistoricalcenter.org

September 10-12West NewtonCommunity Festival724-872-0100, www.dwni.org

continued on page 28

28 - Summer 2010 LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST

Try Our New OnlineCommunity Calendar!

Relations office and the Office ofStudent Affairs and Residence Life,and as a member of Alpha LambdaDelta freshman honor society, thedean’s list, and the ski club. Amember of the Saint VincentEquestrian Team, she has beeninterested in horses all of her lifeand has actively participated inWestmoreland 4-H, Mountain View4-H and Southwest Pennsylvania 4-H activities.

Daughter of Mr. and Mrs. RonaldMarsh of Latrobe, Ms. Marsh has twosisters, Chelsea, 16, a sophomore atGreater Latrobe, and Cristy, 14, inseventh grade. She is a member ofSacred Heart Roman Catholic Churchin Youngstown. Her mother, Tammy,works in the Registrar’s Office at SaintVincent.

“This Fulbright program is myopportunity to learn, my chance togrow,” Ms. Marsh concluded. “It willgive me a chance to start exploringthe world and experiencing newcultures. It will give me a chance tosharpen my research, presentationand writing skills and give me theopportunity to expand and enhancemy career potential.”

continued from page 22

continued from page 23

The common name Wild Carrot wasgiven by William Turner in 1548. QueenAnne’s Lace is an American name, but italso refers to a plant in England, cowparsley - anthriscus sylvestris. Thepopular title of the Wild Carrot “QueenAnne’s Lace” comes from several sourcesnone of which is definitiveOne legend claims that Queen Anne, thewife of King James I, was challenged byher friends to create lace as beautiful asa flower. While making the lace, shepricked her finger, and it’s said that thepurple-red flower in the center of QueenAnne’s Lace represents a droplet of herblood. It is also called Wild Carrot(because it is the wild progenitor of today’scarrot), and Bishop’s Lace or Bird’s Nest(for the nest-like appearance of the brightwhite and rounded flower in full bloom).English botanist Geoffrey Grigsonsuggests that the name of the plantcomes not from a Queen of England butfrom Saint Anne, the mother of theVirgin Mary and the patron saint oflacemakers.

Tea made from the root of QueenAnne’s Lace has been used as a diureticto prevent and elim-inate kidney stones.Its seeds have been used as a cure forhangovers and as contraceptive. Firstprescribed by Hippocrates over 2000years ago, women in parts of India, stillchew some dry seeds every day to reducetheir fertility. The root of Queen Anne’sLace can be eaten as a vegetable or insoup. North African natives chewed itas protection from the sun.

This plant blooms from May toOctober. It is a biennial plant, whichmeans it lives for two years. It will spendthe first year growing bigger, and thenbloom the second year.

Additional installments in the series onFloriography will appear in future issues.

A complete catalog is being compiledonline at www.LaurelMountainPost.com,

and will be available to subscribers.

Please verify all event details as it mayhave changed since press time.

To submit your listing to this calendar,please email complete information to:

editor@LaurelMountainPost.comQuestions? Call 724-537-6845

Saturday, September 11Ligonier Highland GamesIdlewild Park

Saturday, September 11Coal and Coke HeritageMusic FestivalPenn State Ebery Campus, Uniontown724-430-4101www.coalandcokemusicfest.org

September 11-12Flax Scutching FestivalStahlstown. 724-593-2119www.flaxscutching.org

Saturday, September 11 @ 5 p.m.Lobster and ClambakeChristian W. Klay Winery, Chalk HillDinner is $58/personFor more information: (724)-439-3424

Wednesday, Sept 15 @ 10 am or 1 pmIn Our Vegetable GardenTiny Wonder Time programWinnie Palmer Nature ReserveFREE. St. Vincent College, Latrobe724-537-5284, www.wpnr.org

September 17, 18, 24, 25 @ 7:30 pmSeptember 19, 26 @ 2:30 pmBlythe SpiritValley Players, Ligonier Theaterwww.valleyplayers.org, 724-238-6514

Saturday September 18th from 10am to5pm and Saturday September 19th fromNoon to 5pmSmicksburg Apple Festival138 E Kittanning Street Smicksburg

Sept 23-24, 30, oct 1-2, 7-9 @ 8 pmSept 26 @ 2 pmRabbit HoleApple Hill Playhouse in Delmontwww.applehillplayhouse.org724-468-5050

Friday September 24, 25 from 11am to11pm- Sunday September 26 from11am to 7pmMt. Pleasant Glassand Ethnic FestivalOld Town Mt. Pleasant

September 22 - October 3Twelfth NightMountain Playhouse, Jennerstownwww.MountainPlayhouse.org814-629-9201

Thursday, September 23Hobo PicnicDowntown Derry Borough724-694-9884

September 25-26Whiskey RebellionHeritage FestivalBerlin, 814-733-4077www.berlinwhiskeyrebellion.com

Saturday September 25 @ 5 p.m. – 9 p.m.Music In The Mountains:Blue James BandGlades Pike Winery, SomersetEntrance to show is free with apurchase of wine or a $10 cover

Sunday September 26 @ 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.12th Annual Mountain Harvest& Chili Cook-OffChristian W. Klay Winery, Chalk Hill$5 donation for local charities at gateFor more information: (724)-439-3424

October 1-2Springs Folks Festival814-662-9202, www.springspa.org

October 2-3, 9-1046th Annual BedfordFall Foliage Festival814--624-3111www.bedfordfallfestival.com

October 1-321st Annual SmicksburgCommunity Fall Festival814-257-0192, www.smicksburg.net

October 1-3Confluence PumpkinFest814-395-5080www.confluencepumpkinfest.org

Saturday, October 2nd 10 am - 6 pm& Sunday, October 3rd 11 am - 5 pmDelmont Apple ‘n Arts FestivalShields Farm, E Pittsburgh St, Delmont

Saturday, October 2 @ 10 amHalloween Fun DayWinnie Palmer Nature ReserveFREE. St. Vincent College, Latrobe724-537-5284, www.wpnr.org

October 8-10Ft. Ligonier Dayswww.ligonier.com, 724-238-4200

October 6 - October 17Driving Miss DaisyMountain Playhouse, Jennerstownwww.MountainPlayhouse.org814-629-9201

Friday October 15- Sunday October 2416th Annual Pennsylvania Arts& Crafts Christmas FestivalWashington County FairgroundsAdmission Charged: Adults: $5.50; Sr.Citizen (65+): $5.00; Children (6-12):$1; Under 6: Free

There are SO many things that we’d like to list in ourCommunity Calendar, but can’t! We only go to print fourtimes a year, and many of the details for events are notavailable at press time. On the other hand, there just isn’troom to fit all the news about what’s happening across theLaurel Highlands on only a few pages. We’re lucky to squeezein the bare essentials like who, what where and when.

That’s where our new online version comes in. We’ve beenworking on this feature for the past few months. It’s loadedand ready to go with events that are cross- indexed bylocation as well as type. So you can quickly find the kinds ofactivities that suit you in categories such as: Kids,Educational, Sports & Recreation, Cultural & PerformingArts, FREE and more.

Please take some time to browse through our list of categories.(We do have a single master list, but it is so extensive theloading time might crash some computers!)

We’re adding features and content on a daily basis. If youwould like to submit a local event for consideration to thiscommunity calendar, please send all information (includingpromotional artwork) to: editor@laurelmountainpost.com(include “calendar” in subject line) or Laurel Mountain PostCommunity Calendar, PO Box 227, Latrobe PA 15650.

Every Story Begins At Home. Summer 2010 - 29

Hanna Insurance Agency

Weatheringthe storms of lifewith you . . . since 1959!

3838 US Route 30Latrobe, PA 15650

Phone: 724-537-2881

We’ve all heard the adage to “thinkglobally, act locally.” Usually, thisis associated with being greenerin our actions. Don’t get me wrong– I love the environment. Beinggreener makes great sense, andmy favorite TV show is Living WithEd on the channel Planet Green.But when it comes down to it I’mall about the people. I want to dowhat I can to help people reachtheir fullest potential. My missionis to do this on both the local andglobal level, so I was very excitedwhen Frontline (another favoriteshow) profiled an organizationcalled Kiva.org.

Kiva.org is a 501(c) (3) micro-lending organization founded inNovember 2005 with field partneragencies all over the world. Kiva (aSwahili word meaning “unity” or“agreement”) connects regularfolks like you and me with entre-preneurs in third world countries(and in the US, too!) who needloans to help them improve theirbusinesses and standards of living.The loans range from around $100up to a few thousand ($10,000 in theU.S.). The great thing is that lendersonly need $25 to participate!

When you go to Kiva.org youget to see the real people who areasking for loans and read a littleabout them. Then, if you want tohelp, you join together with a groupof other lenders and fund the loan.The borrowers and the field partneragencies can post updates andeach month your part of the loanpayment is deposited back in yourKiva account. It’s a simple process;and getting to learn a little abouthow people make a living in otherplaces is fun.

As of June 12, 2010, Kivastatistics show that 459,983lenders have loaned $141,407,235out to 365,010 small businessowners in 199 countries. Over 82%of them are women. The averageamount loaned to an individual is$390.46, and the average amount alender loans is $196.05. Currently,lenders do not earn interest on themoney they loan.

My family has been lendingsince December of 2006. We havehelped fund 65 different businessesaround the world just $25 at a time.For over a year we invested $25each month. That $400 has beenloaned and re-loaned several timesover. It’s true that some borrowersmay not pay back the loan, inwhich case you lose your money.We have had two loans default fora total of $30.83, but according tothe Kiva.org June statistics thereis an overall repayment rate of 98%.

We made loans to entrepre-neurs in 18 different countries, butwe especially like to loan to peoplein Mexico, Central America, andGhana. We also like to support pigfarmers and women who sell usedclothing. One time we lent to alady in Azerbaijan because shewas wearing pink slippers whileshe fed her chickens. The pointis, that you can focus on a geo-

How a Little Makes a Lotby Megan S. Fuller

Rosario Cristina is 24-years-old, single, andhas a small business buying and selling

traditional women’s clothing. She has workedin this field since she was young, thanks to

loans that helped her family get ahead.Rosario lives in the Chichaclan neighborhood

of the Poxlajuj district of Totonicapán,Guatemala, and is very well-known there.

(PHOTO CREDIT: Uncornered Market)

graphic area, or support folks whoengage in a particular business, orlend to people who dress like you(my pink slippers are bunnies, ofcourse!). Lenders can also join alending team and communicatewith like-minded individuals abouttheir Kiva experiences.

To sign up for a Kiva accountall you need is an email. To becomea lender you need to be able tomake a payment via credit card orPayPal (who will process thesetransactions for free). Kiva.org

makes it easy to support smallbusinesses and people much likeyou around the world. So we canthink and act globally in smallways, yet make a huge differenceon an individual level.

If you look at Kiva.org, people with a very modest amount of money can make ahuge positive impact all around the world. There are so many people who want togive but don’t really know how to do it. Through Kiva.org, people around thewould can become micro-bankers to developing world entrepreneurs, who havetheir own ideas, so we can give them a chance to raise their kids with dignity,send their kids to school, and in troubled places like Afghanistan we canmarginally increase the chance that peace can prevail, because people will seethere is a positive alternative to conflict.

– President Bill Clinton

Hanna Insurance Agency

John Hanna, OwnerPHONE: (724) 537-5140 • FAX: (724) 537-0687

www.hannainsuranceagency.us

Weatheringthe storms of lifewith you . . . since 1959!

Shields FarmEast Pittsburgh Street in DelmontMinutes from Routes 22 and 66!

Saturday, October 2nd 10 am - 6 pm& Sunday, October 3rd 11 am - 5 pm

More Than 100 Arts, Craft,& Food Vendors

Fresh Pressed Apple Ciderand All Kinds of Apples for Sale

Apple Baking Contest - Sunday12 Noon (pre-registration required)

Baby Apple Cheeks Contest, Saturday12 - 1:45 pm (pre-registration required)

Local Talent ProvidingLive Family Entertainment!

Children’s EntertainmentPony Rides and Petting Zoo

Antique Gas Engine,Operating Saw Mill & Antique Tractors

Horse-drawn Wagon Train& Old-Fashioned Hay Rides

danadelmont@yahoo.com724-325-8867 (voicemail only)

DELMONTAPPLE 'N ARTS

FESTIVAL

30 - Summer 2010 LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST

Our Best CustomersCome from Referrals

Like Yours!

“I truly have not felt this good in years.Thanks to the Pro adjuster and Dr. Senuta

I am free to continue to do the things Ilove without the worry of back pain. ”

– JACQUELINE A. HOOPES

Dr. Nicholas J. Senutawww.drnicksenuta.com

PROADJUSTER CHIROPRACTIC CLINICS2300 Cedar Avenue • Latrobe, PA 15650 • (724) 537-52002163 State Route 119 • Greensburg, PA • (724) 853-8200

“With a progressive eye on the future,Lindsay is one of the brightest youngbusiness minds in Pennsylvania. Herenthusiasm, energy and optimism areindispensible.”

– MR & MRS GREGORY SUSA

LindsayLindsayLindsayLindsayLindsay TurchettaTurchettaTurchettaTurchettaTurchetta2016 Highland AvenueGreensburg, PA 15601

724-493-9473lturchetta7@yahoo.com

Indulge your inner diva at this year’s YWCA annual fashion show, “Girls in Pearls: ABlack & White Night.” We’re adorning the beautiful Greensburg Garden & Civic Cen-ter in black and white elegance and gratifying your desires with movie-star qualitycocktails and hor d’oeuvres. Experience exclusive Bellini’s and Berries in the Black &White Lounge. Dressy or casual, with or without pearls, there’s only one rule for yourattire: it must be black & white.

Dress up lke classic beauty icons Audrey Hepburn, Lena Horne, Marilyn Monroe orPearl Bailey for your chance to win some great prizes in the celebrity look-a-like con-test. Plus, our raffle and auction items will be simply divine!

Following dinner and cocktails at the cash bar, our elegant evening will be high-lighted with our annual fashion show. New this year – become a member of the“Pearls of Wisdom” circle with a gift of $100. You will receive a ticket to the event,VIP runway seating, a complimentary Bellini, $20 worth of raffle tickets, listing in theprogram and a special strand of “pearls” for your generosity. Darling, please join us.

Low income homeowners, particularly the elderly often have noplace to turn when the roof begins to leak or the furnace breaks orthe front steps crumble. Our goal is to insure the elderly homeownercan remain in a warm and safe shelter for the remainder of theirlives. In addition we believe by preserving these houses byproviding critical home maintenance and repairs, neighborhoodscan grow stronger and stay safer. Homeownership stabilizes andstrengthens communities.

Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh provides repair, renovation andmodifications services for these homeowners including carpentry,plumbing, electrical, plastering, painting, concrete, weatherization,lock repair, safety modifications, trash removal and cleaning. Oftenthe work done in the home helps to restore their dignity andimprove living conditions

Club Noir is Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh’s annual fundraisingevent. Funds raised through this annual effort are used to supportOperation Urgent Care’s year round emergency home repair

services for low-income senior homeowners in Allegheny County.Club Noir is set as a speakeasy of sorts with a swingin’

cabaret and casino that folks come to from miles around to enjoythe music, sights, and sounds. There is plenty of good food toenjoy and loads of gifts, prizes and artwork for bid and auction.

Thanks to our Presenting Sponsors Meyer, Unkovic & ScottLLP and Reed Smith LLP for their ongoing support of the 2010Club Noir fundraiser. Won’t you please join us for an evening offun, food, gaming and entertainment while raising funds tosupport our free home repair program for low-income seniorhomeowners?

The event is Friday, July 30, 2010 from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PMat The Westin Hotel and Convention Center Grand Ballroom.Reservations are $75 per person and includes two drink tickets,strolling buffet, entertainment, silent and live auctions, raffles,and art gallery. For more information call 412-922-0953 or visitwww.rebuildingtogether-pgh.org.

Every Story Begins At Home. Summer 2010 - 31

www.highlandhd.com

Indiana CountyPennsylvania

CCCCCome fome fome fome fome for For For For For Fun, Tun, Tun, Tun, Tun, Takakakakake He He He He Home a Meome a Meome a Meome a Meome a Memory!mory!mory!mory!mory!• Fairs & Festivals• Hiking & Biking Trails• Amish Countryside• State & County Parks• Covered Bridges• Bird Watching• Wineries & Artisans• Farmers’ Markets• Wineries• Antiques• Golf• Historic Downtowns• Museums

www.VisitIndianaCountyPA.org1-877-746-3426

www.highlandhd.com

BNI Inner Circle Chapter Meets Every Wednesday morning at 7:00 amCourtyard by Marriott in Greensburg • Visitors are ALWAYS welcome!

Come Grow YourBusiness with Us

through the Power ofReferral Marketing!

32 - Summer 2010 LAUREL MOUNTAIN POST

We want to hear from you!

Dear Editor,I am writingto tell youabout . . .

We want to hear from you!We are always looking for new ideas . . . sometimes the simplest things turn into the best stories.

Send us suggestions for articles, information about events, press releases, or just a note to say hello!Laurel Mountain Post, PO Box 227, Latrobe PA 15650. editor@laurelmountainpost.com