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Jenny

Revisiting Somerset and Bedord Counties: The Whiskey Rebellion

by Jenny 20 July 2009 History

Back in 1994 when I was still in high school, my hometown of Berlin, PA decided to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Whiskey Rebellion. Plans were made for a big festival. The event was to include, among other things, an essay contest for the school kids, a race, and of course a parade. I was in the Berlin Brothersvalley High School Marching Band at that time, so I would march in it. This was to be a very big deal.

Tagged as: American Studies, History, Pennsylvania, Western Pennsylvania

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Revisiting Bedford County: Shawnee State Park and the Ship Hotel

by Jenny 20 July 2009 History

Bedford County, PA still looks pretty much the way I see it in old pictures and in my mind. At Shawnee State Park, the little swing still sits in its secluded picnic area at the top of the hill overlooking Shawnee’s lake and beach. I have a 30-year-old picture of that same swing set, with me and my sister and my dad posing in front.

Tagged as: American History, American Studies, family, History, Pennsylvania, Summer, Western Pennsylvania

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Nice Things that Jonathan Did; Frabel Glass at Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh

by Jenny 16 July 2009 House and Home

Last weekend, Jonathan took me to see flowers and butterflies and shop for shoes.

Tagged as: family, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Western Pennsylvania

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Dreaming About My Day Job

by Jenny 11 July 2009 House and Home

Do you ever dream about your job? I do, sometimes. I work in the insurance industry. One night I dreamt that my office insured a bunch of employees who were bitten by vampires. In my dream, my office provided Workers Compensation coverage for the affected employees, but the policy had a Vampire Exclusion. Therefore, all of the claims related to the vampire incident were being denied. I woke up just as my office was being sued over the lack of coverage due to the Vampire Exclusion.

Tagged as: Career Moves, Horror, Insurance, Wal-Mart

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The Lighthouse Keeper’s Wife; Absorbing Lighthouse Website; Shipwrecks

by Jenny 10 July 2009 History

Jonathan’s Facebook entry about lighthouses today reminded me of this website that I found on Lighthouses of Australia Project.
True to its title, it contains some decent photos of Australian lighthouses. Scroll down the site a bit, and you will find “Corrugated Lighthouses,” a memoir by a Lighthouse Keeper’s wife. Part 4 of this piece provides an engaging description of the aftermath of a shipwreck.

Tagged as: History, Lighthouses, Shipwrecks, Travel, Water

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The Oregon Trail

by Jenny 8 July 2009 History

My sisters and I spent entire summers when we were kids playing with an Apple PC. The computer was from my dad’s classroom (he is a retired teacher), and in the summers he was permitted to bring it home. We spent hours generating Print Shop banners on the loud, slow dot matrix printer. We also were enchanted with putting together wagon teams on The Oregon Trail.

Tagged as: American History, American Studies, History

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Anybody Need a Hug? They’re Free Now.

by Jenny 5 July 2009 Outdoors

I like to collect free stuff when I go to special events. Even when the admission to a festival is free, there is usually a parking charge, plus the expense of food from usually overpriced vendors. I somehow feel better about the entire outlay when I bring home things that I didn’t have to pay any money to obtain.

Tagged as: Hugs, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Summer, Western Pennsylvania

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Ghosts of Fourths of July Past, Part 2: State College, 2003

by Jenny 4 July 2009 History

My Grandma Gaffron and my Aunt Sue had a prime piece of real estate. At least, they had use of it for 24 hours, time enough to watch of the State College Fireworks in 2003. A new hotel had been built on the edge of town, less than a year previously. Gram and Aunt Sue had rented a room on the side that would face the massive fireworks celebration that was to take place that night. Since the hotel was so new, we could not be assured of our vantage point for the show, but it looked promising.

Tagged as: American Studies, family, Pennsylvania, Summer, Travel, Western Pennsylvania

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The Ghosts of Fourths of July Past, Part 1: Pittsburgh, 1987

by Jenny 4 July 2009 History

I was about ten years old the first time that I celebrated the Fourth of July in Pittsburgh. Back then, my late maternal grandfather was still a city motorcycle patrolman. My sister Katie and I were staying with my grandparents that week, and I remember my grandfather dressed in his police uniform, returning in the late afternoon to the house in Carrick where my grandparents had raised six children.

Tagged as: American Studies, family, Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, Summer, Western Pennsylvania

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Get Your Wal-Mart Flip-Flops Now

by Jenny 2 July 2009 House and Home

If you are planning on buying Wal-Mart flip-flops, you should probably buy them now. Another week, and your size (not to mention preferred color and style) could very well be gone, not to be seen again until next March. How do I know this? I’m an expert because I worked in the shoe department of a Wal-Mart during the summer of 1999.

Jenny at Age 21: My First Post-College Job

Tagged as: American Studies, Career Moves, Pennsylvania, Summer, Wal-Mart, Western Pennsylvania

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