Making Spirits Bright: Our Community's Christmas Magic
January 24, 2025
Making Spirits Bright: Our Community’s Christmas Magic Like so many things in life, creating a special hometown Christmas holiday requires hard work, sacrifice, and determination. Much of this effort is carried out by unsung local heroes who do it simply because they love their community and cherish the Christmas season. They don’t seek recognition or accolades—the joy they feel seeing others enjoy this magical time of year is thanks enough. But I believe they deserve more. For starters, there wouldn’t be a holiday tree in downtown Lewistown without the dedication of one local business owner’s wife. Every year, she takes it upon herself to secure the town’s tree, coordinating with Lewistown Borough and others to ensure it is placed and lit just in time for the downtown festivities. Then there are the streets of downtown Lewistown. This year, a local group, Deck the Downtown, decided to elevate the holiday atmosphere. They recently spent one of their precious days off work gathering and arranging garlands, lights, and snowflakes along Market Street—all just because they wanted to spread a little extra cheer. In their words, “We have big dreams of making our quaint little town come alive for the holiday season,” and they have done just that. Learn More

Christmas Memories: A Season of Simple Joys
January 23, 2025
Every generation thinks they grew up in the best era, but I’ll argue that the 1960s and 1970s were truly the golden years—especially around the holidays, Christmas in particular. Life was simpler back then, with fewer distractions vying for our attention, which made the Christmas season feel monumental and eagerly anticipated. For us kids, the excitement started the moment the Sears and Roebuck toy catalog arrived in the mail. My brother Ritchie and I would spend hours poring over its pages, carefully circling the toys we dreamed of finding under the Christmas tree. Our wish list included everything from a mad scientist chemistry set, to Barbie, G.I. Joe, Slinky, and the iconic Etch A Sketch. Everyone wanted the game Operation, and judging by how often our patient’s nose lit up with failure, it’s safe to say most of us weren’t destined to become surgeons! And, of course, no sleepover was complete without a round of Twister or dreaming of our future boyfriends while playing The Dating Game. Learn More

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