Hey, Westmoreland County Leaders

by Jenny 13 February 2018 Uncategorized

Trib articles rarely spur me enough to post in the Woytek blog. So this is your lucky night. Tonight I respond to the article Westmoreland County needs more, better branding, leaders say, by Joe Napsha. According to this article, the “Economic Growth Connection of Westmoreland annual luncheon” held today at Saint Vincent College discussed ways […]

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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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Snakes on a Plantation

by Jenny 14 January 2018 History

I listened to a few episodes of The Nod last month. The Nod, by Gimlet Media, is a podcast about Black life hosted by Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings. I highly recommend The Nod‘s 2 part series The Hairstons. This focuses on the life journey of Ever Lee Hairston, who grew up picking cotton as a […]

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“A Season with the Witch”

by Jenny 13 January 2018 History

So, I read this book: “A Season with the Witch: The Magic and Mayhem of Halloween in Salem, Massachusetts,” by J.W. Ocker. J.W. Ocker lived in Salem, Massachusetts with his wife and two young daughters for the full month of October 2015. The author claims an interest in the occult, which is amusing because the […]

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The War On Christmas. Also, Happy Solstice!

by Jenny 20 December 2017 History

People get outraged over how other people celebrate December.  Centuries ago, people got outraged over how other people celebrated December. Here’s an episode from New England Legends Podcast which explains all this: When Boston Banned Christmas See, back in the 1600’s, the Puritans persecuted non-Puritans (and also other Puritans) over religious beliefs. Sound familiar? I’m […]

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This Year’s Tree Adventure

by Jonathan 10 December 2017 House and Home

This year’s tree adventure was a little… different. We have traditionally cut down our own tree, from the same farm my parents went to when we moved back to this area and started to get a live tree again. This particular farm up by Butler had always been a great place to get a tree. […]

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3 Après-Halloween Folklore Podcasts

by Jenny 10 December 2017 History

Today I read on Facebook that “marriage is just sharing the same germs” or something to that effect. Anyway, I’ve been laid up with a cold since Thursday night. I spent these days sleeping, screwing around on the internet, and listening to podcasts. Now that Halloween is over, it’s harder for me to find “new” […]

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All My Life’s a Circle

by Jenny 9 December 2017 Photography

  This is a photo of my maternal grandfather’s own grandparents. With their children. So, the married couple are my great-great grandparents, and one of the boys is my great-grandfather. This branch of my family was from the South Side of Pittsburgh. In fact, the studio stamp under this photo says: Fallert 1207 Carson ST. […]

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Departure Eve

by Jonathan 5 December 2017 Travel

I just found a short story snippet I wrote in 2013. I was looking for something else (that I didn’t find). I feel like there was supposed to be more, but I didn’t write it. I wish I left myself some notes about the “boring reason” that I didn’t take the boat to St. Ignace […]

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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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