Many interesting tales shared in Community section in 2023
After reading up on all the news in the Eagle each day during 2023, readers turned to the Community section from Sunday to Wednesday to take in an interesting, touching, amusing or uplifting feature story.
In January, the Community section announced that the Rev. David Maitland, pastor of First Baptist Church of Butler and director of the Slippery Rock Baptist Camp, was presented the 2022 Service Award from the Milton Hershey School in Hershey.
This award is given annually to an alumnus of the school who had been nominated and approved by the board of directors of the school's alumni association. It was presented at the homecoming banquet at the Hershey Lodge, which was attended by nearly 2,000 alumni, as well as teachers and house parents of the school.
Other stories that appeared just after New Year 2023 included a couple collecting Christmas trees to feed to their goats in an inventive means of tree recycling; the announcement that Fred Caesar and his one true love, the Saxonburg Museum, would be featured in a movie on John Roebling titled “The Brooklyn Bridge: An Engineering Masterpiece”; and that three new bird species — the long-eared owl, tundra swan and gadwall duck — were spied during the Audubon Society of Western Pennsylvania’s 11th annual South Butler Bird Count.
Also in January’s Community section were stories on Kevin Golden, a 2022 Knoch High graduate, marching in the Tournament of Roses Parade; the DJ trivia craze; and a man whose knowledge of CPR saved his father’s life when he suffered a heart attack while shoveling snow.
The short and frosty month of February saw many interesting stories posted on the Community page.
Singing valentines by the Cranberry Men’s Chorus, the final bow of Butler County Symphony Orchestra conductor Matthew Kraemer, the Winterfest at Moraine State Park, a young couple running an alpaca farm, a chicken rental business, Josh Brenneman of Prospect earning his Eagle Scout badge, and animals visiting delighted seniors at Lowrie Place in Butler Township kept readers entertained in February.
March saw the Community page apprising readers of preparations for the Lenten fish-fry season, eighth-grade authors at Ryan Gloyer Middle School, the Community Meal Gala and Art Show, the 100th birthday of Dick Craig of Chicora, a Technology Merit Badge Academy for Boy Scouts and a Cub Scout STEM exploration even at BC3, a woman who was crowned for losing the most weight in the state through the Take Off Pounds Sensibly program, and maple sugaring at Succop Nature Park.
In April, readers looked forward to exiting winter while reading Community stories, including those on the music box collection of retired Evans City dentist Al Zamba, the Winfield Township Community Park’s Easter wonderland for children, county native Amanda Skidmore’s participation in an all-female refueling flight, six Moniteau High School students who competed in an academic decathlon in Texas, and a Cranberry Township 9-year-old who has had two liver transplants.
The arrival of spring flowers and warmer temperatures in May saw the Community page sharing the 72-year marriage of Ray and Jean Kohler of Zelienople, celebrating diversity at the annual Cranfest, a party for the Rev. James Murphy's 22 years of service as pastor at St. Conrad Roman Catholic Church in Butler Township, an invitation for bikers to raise funds in the Ride for Homeless Vets, and Donegal Township resident Jherek Christy pursuing his dream of serving as a park ranger at Katmai State Park and Preserve in Alaska.
Eagle readers welcomed warm breezes in June as they perused the Community pages stories on the retirement of longtime Butler Catholic School principal Sister John Ann Mulhern, the first Guys Who Grill fundraiser at Butler Township Community Park, local historian Bill May’s Historic Mansions of Butler walking tour, a novel about the 1965 murder of Butler Township teen Patty Desmond, a Butler senior citizen who survived a Kansas tornado at age 22, growing free produce for the needy at St. John Lutheran Church in Mars, and the return to Slippery Rock University of Bob Jones, the original Rocky the Rocket mascot from the late 1970s.
Readers lounging on a patio or porch in July noticed Community articles on the South Butler County Garden Club’s annual Garden Tour, the killing of three osprey chicks at Moraine State Park by a great horned owl, the Buhl Frog created by the Zelienople Historical Society, the raising of a huge American flag in Slippery Rock, a car show in Butler that included only station wagons, an art class at Passavant Retirement Community in Zelienople, the appearance of local food truck owners on the Cooking Channel’s “Carnival Eats” program, the 90th birthdays of twin musicians Jack and Jim Chiprean, the 100th anniversary of the Boehm family reunions in Evans City, and the 12th annual Riding for the Cure cancer fundraiser.
The dog days of summer in August saw readers trying to keep cool while reading Community stories on the handbell choir from St. John Church of Christ in Evans City playing the national anthem at a Pittsburgh Pirates game, former Connoquenessing Valley Elementary School student and professional tenor Michael Pegher’s return to his school to thank his childhood music teacher, turning flax into linen in Harmony, a commencement ceremony for those who earned their GED certification through Butler County Community College, the Butler Machine Knitters Club, and Karns City Area Jr./Sr. High School graduate and pilot Peyton Turner’s victory at the cross-country Air Race Classic.
As students settled in for another school year, Eagle readers learned about various events and people who appeared on the Community page. Danny Seraphine, the original drummer for the band Chicago, appeared with the Butler County Symphony Orchestra at the Big Butler Fairgrounds. Other stories in September included the donation of old Dutch handbells by Covenant United Presbyterian Church to Hill United Presbyterian Church, the new Minglefest and Sprankle’s Octoberfest in Saxonburg, the Evans City Pumpkinfest, and a Butler man who wrote a book about the button accordion.
The bewitched month of October included Community stories on the Butler County Symphony Orchestra’s Beatles tribute concert; Butler native Jack McGrogan’s journey to the top of Mount Whitney in California; Dave Fox’s restoration of the 1971 Pontiac Lemans driven 40 years ago by the late Butler High athletic standout, Ed Hartman; the retirement of the popular Mary Pataky as director of Butler Meals on Wheels; and the Kelly/Mangel family’s annual tradition of making apple butter.
The month of Thanksgiving included many Community articles on the fascinating people, programs and events in Butler County. The 176th anniversary of Branchton Community Church in Slippery Rock Township; Veterans Appreciation Day at HIS Kids Christian School; the experiences of 99-year-old Navy veteran Dennis Bogan of Penn Township; the free medical and dental services at the Remote Area Medical pop-up clinic at Butler Intermediate High School; the master’s thesis of Butler native Marlana Dunn, who created a film about growing up in Butler County with a single mother; the emotional last call of the late Prospect Volunteer Fire Department firefighter, Ken Wilson; the recollections of notable county residents on the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963; and the triumphant return of the Saxonburg Turkey Trot 5K.
As the county began merrily shopping for Christmas and Hannukah, the Eagle Community pages continued reporting on interesting stories, including a massive donation of various foods to the Southwest Butler County Food Cupboard, the return to Butler High School of former exchange student Nicholas Bogs after almost 40 years, the brave perseverance of the Houtz family as Kora Houtz, 8, faces a rare and incurable illness, former Butler resident Bernice Nicklas going strong at age 106, and the year-old Butler chapter of New Horizons, a group that teaches those over age 50 to play an instrument.
