From the category archives:

New Kensington

Come Visit “The Parnassus Pen”

by Jenny 20 March 2018 History

This is Jenny, and I have a few items to discuss. First: Happy birthday to my youngest sister, O.S.G! Sis, if you are reading this, I want you to know that it was so much fun to watch you grow up! Second: Happy spring to everybody else. Now for the meat of this post: This […]

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The Parade

by Jenny 2 February 2018 New Kensington

So tonight I went through the photos that I took in New Kensington in 2017. Most came from the parade on the weekend prior to July 4. This was the 2nd year in a row that New Kensington donned a parade on the holiday weekend. The 2016 parade celebrated our city’s 125th anniversary. The 2016 […]

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Four Angry Mobs

by Jenny 30 November 2017 History

Today is November 29, and I still listen to ghost/history/lore podcasts during each work commute. This week, I found the American Hauntings Podcast. I think highly enough of it to write this essay right now, and right now it is 10:40 PM on a “school night.” (Ghost hunter Cody Beck and ghost hunter / author […]

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Where’d You Go, Bernadette?

by Jenny 12 September 2017 New Kensington

This isn’t actually a  book report of “Where’d You Go, Bernadette?” Maria Semple published her novel in 2012. Goodreads and Amazon is already clogged with such reviews. However, the motion picture (with big name stars!) for this story (which actually takes place mostly in Seattle) is being filmed in Pittsburgh – and also New Kensington! […]

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Halloween Memory #1

by Jenny 21 September 2016 New Kensington

This photo is why I want to write about Halloween now. I saw it last week as I searched for something else on my hard drive. This is a picture of me, my sister E., my mother-in-law Fran, my sister-in-law Marissa, and Baby A. We posed for this photo on Halloween 2014. Baby A. is […]

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“Pokémon Go” to Parnassus

by Jenny 11 July 2016 History
Thumbnail image for “Pokémon Go” to Parnassus

“There’s a Mewtwo in the backyard. #PokemonGo” (Twitter.) So I found out about Pokémon Go this past Saturday. I read about it on Twitter. Then we went to Point State Park, and saw a bunch of people walking around the Point staring at their phones the whole time. “Yeah, they’re playing Pokemon,” Jonathan said. I don’t […]

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Here’s what the New York Times Thinks about Western PA

by Jenny 5 July 2016 New Kensington

The New York Times just printed this article about Monessen, Pennsylvania. Now, I know that Monessen is NOT New Kensington. From reading this article, though, it sounds as if some Monessen residents have the same hopes and dreams for their city as we have for ours. Part of that is getting past the idea that big […]

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Hey “Hamilton” Fans: Here’s a Novel about Aaron Burr’s Daughter. Happy Father’s Day, Aaron Burr!

by Jenny 19 June 2016 History

So I just wanted to let you know that historical fiction about Theodosia Burr exists. Has existed for decades. Let me show you My Theodosia by Anya Seton. Yes, it has a copyright date of 1941. Yes, I own a library copy from the 1960’s.   This work of fiction is still in print, though. With an […]

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The Time Capsule

by Jenny 4 June 2016 History

Many old buildings are actually time capsules. The thing is, they often don’t reveal their secrets all at once. For example, our first contractor found this bottle when he dismantled our porch nearly two years ago. What’s this? you say. A broken bottle?     Well, as I tried to show above, we saw the […]

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I Live in Their House

by Jenny 27 May 2016 History

“Do you have family buried here?” I stood in front of a row of graves when I heard this. Such a logical question. But no. I have no actual family buried here, in this cemetery. I even have to Google the correct cemetery name whenever I try to write about it. This cemetery belongs to […]

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