There's No Place like Home for the Holidays
January 23, 2025
Oh, there’s no place like home for the holidays, ‘cause no matter how far away you roam. When you pine for the sunshine of a friendly gaze, for the holidays, you can’t beat home, sweet home. How often we mindlessly sing familiar Christmas carols without thinking about the messages within them. This was often the case for me, until it wasn’t. Several years ago, 34 to be exact, on November 6th, I welcomed two adorable little boys into the world, twins. One was healthy and strong, the other not so much. My boys had twin-twin transfusion syndrome while in utero which caused an unequal sharing of blood. This led to a variety of problems for one of the twins, including low birthweight. He was born just over three pounds, nearly half his brother’s weight. Learn More
Presidential Footprints in Mifflin County
January 23, 2025
Well, we have survived this election cycle! Our mailboxes are no longer stuffed with political advertisements, my incoming texts have dropped by 90 percent, and the television commercials have returned to the usual fare of laundry soap, insurance ads, and medications. No matter which side of the aisle you are on, I'm sure you too are glad it’s over. I hope your candidates won, but even if they didn’t, we still live in one of the greatest places on earth. Now, as we move forward, I hope we can stitch our communities back together using the needle and thread of our shared values. While we’re on the topic of politics, let’s take a look at some of the notable U.S. presidents and candidates who made stops in Mifflin County over the years. These stories are adapted from an article by our well-known local historian and former educator, Forest K. Fisher, who has done so much to preserve our area’s unique history. Learn More
Portable Magic
November 1, 2024
Not the kind of magic you might be thinking of with Halloween approaching, but I must confess, I have a long-time addiction to a certain type of portable magic that has followed me throughout my life—books. This addiction began when I was just a child and has only grown more intense over the years. Like many of us, I blame my mother. She was the one who opened the door to this magical world for my brother and I when we were very young. Each week, she took us to the public library, encouraging us to wander the aisles, carefully selecting the books that would come home with us. I can still recall the musty, earthy scent of those library books as I navigated the seemingly endless rows. Each one promised a journey—some to real places, some entirely imagined, but every single one offered an adventure. Some of my early favorites were the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books. This series revolved around children's bad habits, with Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, a tiny woman living in an upside-down house, using creative methods to correct them. Another childhood favorite was Amelia Bedelia, the housekeeper who hilariously misinterpreted instructions. When told to “draw the drapes,” she took out pencil and paper and did just that. When told to "dust the furniture," Amelia dutifully sprinkled powder over every surface. Her literal-mindedness exasperated her employers, Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, but her pies—especially her lemon meringue—were so delicious that they quickly forgave her. Learn More
What's Good for the Goose is Good for the Gander
November 1, 2024
It’s Goose season in the Juniata River Valley—and no, it has nothing to do with hunting! Our office, home to both the Chamber of Commerce and the Visitors Bureau, welcomes many out-of-town visitors. If I had a dollar for every time someone asked, "What’s with all the geese around here?" I could retire comfortably. As if on cue, another visitor just walked into my office asking about them. And they’re hard to miss—we have large fiberglass geese (47 of them to be exact), brass geese guarding our downtown Lewistown fountain, goose T-shirts, hats, stickers, a goose neon sign, goose races, and even a goose festival and drone show. Goose everything! But want to know the best part? This holiday belongs to us and only us! That’s right, the Juniata River Valley is the one place in the United States where you can celebrate Goose Day—a holiday that is truly ours. If you look around it doesn’t take long to see that our communities take it quite seriously! Many homes and businesses are decked out in all their Goose Day splendor. For those new to the area or the uninformed locals who obviously must live under a rock, let me take a moment to share the history of Goose Day and how it arrived here in our beautiful Juniata River Valley. Learn More
