When the minors almost came to Milroy

May 22, 2023

Long before the State College Spikes and the Altoona Curve, there were the Central Penn Railraiders. Well, that was supposed to be a minor league baseball team. Don’t remember them? Not surprising, they never played a ballgame. Back in the 1990s, a group of businessmen wanted to bring an independent team to Armagh Memorial Field in Milroy. A pipedream? Possibly. The reality of their pitch – the business plan and not the ones made by ballplayers – was that Armagh Field would be renovated while still being shared with the Mifflin County Babe Ruth League. The prospective owners ...

Are tickets really worth the money?

May 15, 2023

Ah, it’s concert season. You’ve scored tickets to see your favorite artist perform live. Maybe it’s Taylor Swift, or possibly it’s Bruno Mars. Or you’re headed to see Metallica or Aerosmith. You’ll probably buy a $70 sweatshirt or $45 T-shirt and two drinks and nachos at the concert. You scream for whatever it’s worth. Afterward, with your adrenaline still pumping, you’ll sit in traffic for what seems like hours waiting to leave. Life is good. With summer approaching, it’s time for the concert season to blast into high gear with music festivals and artist tours ...

Never Have I Ever…

May 13, 2023

I am sure that most of us at one time or another participated in playing the game, Never Have I Ever. The premise of the game is simple. Each player gives a scenario they have never done. Such as, Never Have I Ever been run over by a bicycle or perhaps Never Have I Ever been sent to the principal’s office. Both, unfortunately I cannot truthfully say Never Have I Ever to either one of those things! When I was in second grade, I was indeed run over by a boy coming down the hill on his bicycle when his brakes went out. I ended up with my leg broken in several places. There was also my ...

Finding a topic isn’t always easy

May 1, 2023

I sat down to write this column and I couldn’t settle on a subject. A lot of different ideas filled my congested head (thanks to the extreme temperatures of the world we live in where it’s 80 degrees one day and 43 the next, I caught a cold. I’ll raise my plastic Dayquil cup to toast to Mother Nature and global warming). I could write about self-improvement and personal development. I’ve started a new takeout-free diet and fared well the first week. Being a single guy, I’m not the best cook. I also realize that ordering out gets expensive and packs on the pounds as a nasty ...

The “Maine” Event

April 29, 2023

This is what my daughter-in-law, Katie, and I called our recent impromptu trip to Maine. I casually mentioned to her that I had a pressing desire to see Maine. A friend had planted the seed a few years ago, telling me that Maine was a must-see state, and his contagious enthusiasm for its beauty left an indelible impression on me. My desire to get there was then heightened last summer when it seemed as though every person I spoke with had either just gotten back from Maine or was on their way there. This turned my desire from “I would like to see it someday,” to “I must see it ...

Always remember Journalism 101

April 24, 2023

I graduated from college at the University of Maine more than 30 years ago, and I admit most of the sage advice my college professors gave me is collecting dust in a box in the corner of my basement. But there is a tidbit that one of them told me that I use each and every day when I sit down at my computer to write this and other stories. It was, “Don’t make yourself part of the story; you are just there to report it.” Of course, on this page, I am entitled to interject my opinions. But on the front page or the others, it would break his golden rule. His words also ring ...