Arriving at Nerdville

The other day I reached into a jacket pocket and pulled out a USB cord that confirmed one of my biggest fears: I have become a nerd. And yes, there were two ink pens in the unprotected breast pocket of the starched white shirt I was wearing at the time.

There is no dodging this attribute because I am about to learn how to operate a vintage trolley, one not too different than Line 69 to Kennywood. That restored streetcar is shown in the above photo taken at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Chartiers Township, Pa., where these driving lessons are offered.

Step aboard.

51 Things in the Newsroom

The publisher, writers, editors and young reporters known as Flipsiders at the Observer-Reporter newspaper in Washington, Pa., share their favorite things in the newsroom in this silly video.

Inn pampers around the clock

By Dawn Keller

SHARON, Pa. – When we saw photographs online of Buhl Mansion Guesthouse and Spa, we thought we wanted to get married there.

As soon as we walked in the doors of the bed and breakfast in Sharon, Pa., we knew it.

It's not just that the bed and breakfast looks like a castle on the outside. Or that each room has a Jacuzzi.

It's the classy yet ornate detail throughout the whole building that creates a unique
atmosphere. The antique globes they have downstairs are fabulous.

We were amazed at everything from the beautiful artwork to the grand stairwell.

My fiancé and I can't wait to get married with this castle in the background as the sun shines over our ceremony, and its staff to take care of everything for us.

Buhl is not just for weddings and elopements. It also can be used for conferences or vacations, said General Manager Laura Ackley.

"Whatever you want – 24 hours a day," Ackley said the philosophy of how they take care of guests. "You can almost visually see the stress relief."

Perhaps that's why Buhl was chosen as one of the 2008 Top 10 Romantic Inns by IloveInns.com, a partner with American Historic Inns. These 10 romantic inns have been selected for their many attributes – luxurious decor, hospitality and overall romantic mystique, plus a sense of history, according to the Web site.

"The desire to escape and get pampered speaks to everybody," Ackley said.

"You can escape reality."

Buhl's day spa offers luxury and pampering, and the rooms have Jacuzzis and fireplaces. The spa offers 100 treatments, including massage therapy, facial skin care, and body treatments.

Entrepreneurs Jim and Donna Winner opened the bed and breakfast Dec. 31, 1997. A room package includes lodging, bell and valet service, a welcome tray with fresh fruit, cheese and champagne, evening turndown service, breakfast and discounts for dinner at Buhl's sister property, Tara – A Country Inn. Tara is six miles away, and the staff at both properties work together to give guests what they need, Ackley said.

The building took six years to complete by 150 stonemasons.

The bed and breakfast is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Romanesque stone castle was built in 1896 by steel baron Frank H. Buhl as a wedding present for his wife, Julia.

Jazzy duet at Cal U.

Members of the California University of Pennsylvania Jazz Ensemble, lead by Max Gonano, let loose a nice rendition of The Isley Brothers' 1966 hit, "This Old Heart of Mine."

Remembering the first couple of Harley-Davidson, Ernest and Oliva Cerini

There was nothing more fascinating than having a river beyond the front porch while we were growing up in America’s industrial heartland.

Ours was the Monongahela, where, during the 1960’s, a steady stream of powerful towboats pushed barge after barge filled with coal to power plants and steel mills.

Hugging both banks in Webster and Donora, Pa., were rails that carried trains hauling iron ore pellets to a coking plant or more coal from the mines to unknown destinations.

But nothing was more thrilling than seeing an older couple cross the Donora-Webster Bridge into Webster nearly every Sunday afternoon on their Harley-Davidson motorcycle attached to a sidecar. At every opportunity, we rushed there at the same time to witness the spectacle with wide-eyed wonderment.

It wasn’t until years later that I learned the man and woman were Ernest and Oliva Cerini, Italian immigrants who established what went on to become Pennsylvania’s oldest Harley-Davidson dealership in Donora. The Cerinis went everywhere on that cycle because they never owned a car, as they were extremely loyal to the Harley-Davidson name. He went as far as to tell non-Harley owners to park their rides across the street from his shop at 1507 Meldon Ave.

The business dating to 1920 passed to a son, August “Babe” Cerini, and then to the third generation while the motorcycle brand went from something for renegades to a favorite of yuppies who pretend to be bad boys on weekends.

All the while, the Cerini name became a brand in the Harley industry almost as popular as fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers are to the National Football League.

That’s why bikers are stunned by the news that the family decided to sell out to its competition, Triple S Harley-Davidson Buell in Morgantown, W. Va., a deal that is expected to be finalize this week.

“Everywhere I go, they ask me what happened,” said Jim Cerini, a cousin to the Cerini brothers, Eric and Ernie, who ran the Rostraver Township and Uniontown dealerships, respectively. He can only speculate.

The brothers haven’t said a word in public about their decision to move on, paving way for a flood of rumors about the split to spring up as fast as a noisy Harley on the open road.

"It wasn't just a business. Every rider felt they were part of the place," Jim Cerini told the Observer-Reporter two weeks ago.

He purchased the old shop in Donora two years ago, and plans to turn it into a museum. It’s a lofty goal because the place needs a lot of work, and the rundown Donora isn’t exactly a tourism destination.

Although the building at one time was so important to Harley-Davidson that it wanted to dismantle and relocate its facade to the corporate museum in Milwaukee. The family declined the offer.

"That's how much it meant to us," Jim Cerini said.

So we are left with our memories of that shop at the north end of Donora. And Harley-Davidson has a fading photograph of the Cernini shop at its museum, one showing local police officers on their motorcycles outside the two-story brick building.


(Captions: Ernest and Oliva Cerini on their Harley-Davidson, top, circa 1925, and their dealership in an undated photo when local police purchased cycles in Donora. Photos courtesy of Jim Cerini)

Snapshots from the funeral for three slain police officers

Blogger Jason Togyer sent this photo along to announce that Monongahela Police Department showed up today at the funeral for the three Pittsburgh police officers who died in the line of duty.

Officers from the small Pennsylvania city were among the "sea of blue" that gathered to say final goodbyes to Paul Sciullo II, Eric G. Kelly and Stephen J. Mayhle who were shot during a family dispute Saturday in Stanton Heights.

Togyer shot the photo on Forbes Avenue near McKee Place, and he also noticed cruisers from the Washington County sheriff's office and Cecil and Peters townships police departments.

"More than 1,000 units supposedly were in the procession," he said. "They were parked for blocks on both Forbes and Fifth, from roughly the Carnegie Museums all the way to Eye & Ear Hospital."

The Post-Gazette, meanwhile, posted an interesting slide show today of shots the newspaper's photographers captured during the funeral. Click here to take a look at its best shots of the day.