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Headed to the principal’s office

MIFFLINTOWN - Andy Kinzer can't wait to go the principal's office - his own office.The Juniata County School District principal for three of the eastern elementary schools is speaking out about the liver transplant that saved his life.Kinzer has been on medical leave from the district where he oversees Fayette, Monroe and Thompsontown elementary Schools, since March, 2015. However, Kinzer did help in the school offices just before students returned for the 2015-2016 school year.It is likely he will not return to work until this summer.Kinzer underwent a liver transplant courtesy of his ...

Mifflintown couple gets together with former Fresh Air child in New York

NEW YORK - Dana and Craig Van Horn, of Mifflintown, reunited with their former Fresh Air child, Quentin, on Feb. 6 at the Friendly Towns Conference in New York City.The Van Horns hosted Quentin for six years."It's always fun getting together with him. He's so fun and loving and silly and goofy. I also have a son who is funny and goofy, so we just have good times. He knows how to make light of all situations," Dana said in a press release from the Fresh Air Fund.Fresh Air summers are filled with children running barefoot through the grass, gazing at star-filled skies or swimming for the ...

Julianne Cahill: Lita

"I watched quietly as the truck and trailer rolled down the long lane away from the barn. Gravel crunched beneath its tires as it left."That moment evoked more emotions than I could identify at the time. Some good, some bad. But they were all much different than the emotions that played in my memory of the day the truck and trailer first arrived."I thought back to the numbered card I grasped tight in my hand as the auctioneer called for lot 3. I felt my heart speed up the same way it did when bids raced through the room, and I heard its beating slow gradually as he called for the final ...

Kiernan Schalk: With Dad

"I can still picture Look Park as it was when I was just a wee lad. My brother and I would spend summer and winter breaks with our father in western Massachusetts, and Dad was always good about finding things for us to do."We spent a lot of time at Look Park; some years Dad would enroll us in a summer camp there."There was, at one time, a huge community swimming pool, and just down the hill across the road from the entrance there was a large barren hill, flanked on both sides by acres of rhododendron, which we would play hide and seek in with other kids during the summer."In the winter ...

Kiernan M. Schalk: a dapper selfie

By Katy DiVirgiliusEducation/Religion editor"Is it real?"According to two doctors, I have lupus."It started almost six years ago - I woke up on a chilly March morning to go to my college class, and my hands felt like they had cotton stuffed in every joint."I knew it wasn't right. I was 21. College kids in their early 20s do not get stiff, achy hands."Six months later, the symptoms did not cease. My primary care physician was stumped, and he sent me to a rheumatologist, Dr. Hamilton (who wore leopard-print heels)."She poked at me, asked me many questions and ultimately sent me to have at ...

Brian Cox: Uniformity

"For as long as I can remember remembering, I have always loved sports. I loved playing them, watching them and, as many of my co-workers can tell you, passionately discussing them."But there is one specific aspect of sports that has always fascinated me and it's something you might not expect - the uniforms."Many people turn on their TV to watch a sporting event and will maybe notice what colors the teams are wearing but then not give it much thought after that."Not me."I don't know why, maybe it's just the overwhelming sports nerd in me, but uniforms have always piqued my interest like ...