Hot for soft-served custard stand

CANONSBURG, Pa. – Three Pennsylvania boys have found a creative way to spend part of their summer vacation and also attempt to impress the girls who work at an unusual ice cream stand.

The guys accomplished that by producing the cute video, above, of the Turtle Twist, a quirky roadside attraction along Route 980 in Canonsburg, Pa. The owners found the Fiberglass building in the shape of a giant ice cream cone in more than 20 pieces on eBay, and had it reassembled five years ago for their start-up family business.

The actors in the video are Alex Chips, Corey Draganovsky and Nick Carper in a desperate trip to see ice cream girls Victoria Bernardi and Breanna Bakaitis. OK, I admit the video made me chuckle.

The heart of a closed bridge still beats in the night

My niece Casey Beveridge near the Donora-Webster Bridge during the summer of 2008 when traffic started to come to a crawl on the old span.

By Scott Beveridge

WEBSTER, Pa. – Tonight I walk to the middle of the closed steel truss bridge near my home, stand completely still and feel the old span move under my feet.

The historic Donora-Webster Bridge, absent of traffic, has a steady bounce almost like a beating heart suspended over the Monongahela River in southwestern Pennsylvania.

For a moment, the creepy pulse seems to be a metaphor for the livelihoods the span has supported over the past 101 years by offering people mindless shortcuts to work or visit friends and relatives.

The beat, though, began to slow a year ago.

Looking out the windows of my house in Webster, I noticed a stark decline in the amount of traffic coming off the bridge immediately after gasoline prices spiked out of control in the summer of 2008. The smaller number of cars remained steady after gas prices began to drop a few months later. The parade of vehicles seemed to decline even further after the stock market crashed last fall, retail sales tanked and unemployment rates began to soar.

When the economy suffers in New York, Dallas and Los Angeles, it often becomes more difficult for the folks to make ends meet in a struggling, former steel town such as Donora south of Pittsburgh. The downtown storefronts there just continue to rot under the depressed weight of leaking roofs, awaiting investors who never come along.

Now, the bridge is dying, too. The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation closed it last week one month after a routine inspection revealed badly rusted support beams under two decks. So we await a determination on whether the span can be repaired, while preservationists line up to fight for a restoration plan because this bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The bridge earned the designation because it was fastened together with pins in an engineering style borrowed from the Pennsylvania Railroad to ensure it could support the weight of locomotives.

And while PennDOT engineers determine the bridge’s fate, traffic has come to a near-dead stop on the adjoining roads in the now-isolated village of Webster.

The quiet is almost as eerie as the bridge that sways while no one else is feeling its vibration.

Amanda’s Musings: A conversational generation gap

CI-Live-Oak, originally uploaded by daverice.

By Amanda Gillooly,

Scooter came back from the press conference with shocking news: One of Washington County’s It-boys was going to be a baby-daddy.

My response: "Uh oh."

I thought it might be the biggest scoop I’d heard in a while. Young, powerful, good looking and sporting a band on his left-hand ring finger, the news that this politician had gotten someone other than his dear wife in the family way was pretty juicy.

So I asked the natural follow-up question: “Oh my God. Who is the baby-mamma?”

That’s when Scooter, my 52-year-old friend and fellow newspaper geek, looked at me with quizzically.

“Come on Amanda, who do you think? His wife.”

These kinds of misunderstandings happen when you try to use vernacular you don’t really get.

While Scooter was merely trying to let me know Mr. and Mrs. Washington County were expecting their first child, he made the mistake of referring to the dude as a baby-daddy, which is a blatant misuse of the term.

The Associated Press Stylebook doesn’t address the subject, and neither does Webster's, but Maury and Jerry have. And from my experiences with on-screen and real-life baby-daddies I know this is a suitable definition:

Baby daddy - n. Referring to a man who has impregnating a woman who is not his wife. The man could be married or single.

For Scooter, what followed was a 10-minute Ghetto Gal lecture about the proper use of the term. I used baby daddy in a sentence and cited several examples in popular culture.

But at 28, my smaller range of reference has made me look like quite a fool, too. I know this because Scooter made fun of me for my less-worldly vocabulary. Once he asked me a question about a live oak tree for a travel story he was writing. I gave him fodder for weeks when I arrogantly smirked, “Are there any other kinds, as opposed to dead oaks? God.”

That’s when this Yankee learned about those eerie-looking southern trees.

Such is life, I suppose. And for the record: That’s the beauty of May-December BFFFships. They might make a complete (bleep) of you for a verbal snafu, but they help you get your learn on.

Her papa's dandelion blossom wine

A sample of pages in a recipe book published by graduates of the old Point Marion High School in Pennsylvania.

By Scott Beveridge

POINT MARION, Pa. – If you’re looking for a nip of homemade dandelion blossom wine, a graduate of the old Point Marion High School is handing down a recipe to follow to make the beverage.

Mary Jo Uphold has published the ingredients for her papa’s best use of the common lawn weed in a new recipe book listing the favorite dishes of the alumni of all classes that attended the school in southwestern Pennsylvania.

This book is special because its recipes are hand written in the penmanship of the rural people who supplied them for a fundraiser to benefit the Point Marion Public Library. Attached to each page is a high school photo of the contributor, making this a great way to immortalize Point Marion grads who like their food and want to help the local library.

They are proud of their library because it was one of the first in Pennsylvania to be part of a high school. It’s still in the same building, even though the school has been converted into assisted living apartments.

The folks who put together the recipe book remain fond, too, of their alma mater.

For instance, Helen McCluskey Vereen’s fixings for chilled asparagus with mustard dressing appears in the cookbook beside photos of the Point Marion High School brass band and the school’s majorettes. Dolores Mocniak Walcek’s recipe for beef with gravy appears with class photos of meat-and-potato boys who played football in 1958 and their game schedule when it cost students 35 cents to enter the gates.

And who wouldn’t want to know how Beverly Bowers Ritchie, the 1962 homecoming queen, tosses together her potato salad with bacon and barbecue sauce?

You’ll just have to inquire about purchasing the $15 book to find out how she makes magic with potatoes, and hope there are still some available. The first printing sold out quickly and a second is on order.

But so you know, here is how Uphold’s father matured his wine:

To each gallon of cleaned dandelion blossoms, add 1 gallon boiling water. Use as may gallons as your stone crock allows, filling it to within 1” of the top. Let stand 24 hours, then strain. Return juice to crock, adding 3 pounds sugar and juice of three lemons for each gallons of blossom juice. Allow to ferment at least 4 to 5 days, covering with cloth to keep out insects. Skim and bottle, corking lightly so corks will not pop out or leave uncorked if you wish, so any scum can still rise and be poured off. Cork tightly then; wine will be ready in about three months.

For more information, contact:

Point Marion Public Library
399 Ontario St
Point Marion, PA 15474
(724) 725-9553

Drained lock exposes Ohio River bed

Work continues on repairing an aging lock along the Ohio River, the bottom of which has been exposed during the project. Photo: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Pittsburgh

By Scott Beveridge

EMSWORTH, Pa. – Emergency repairs to an aging lock chamber are providing a rare glimpse of the bottom of the Ohio River.

The rocky riverbed has been exposed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers while its workers make urgent, critical repairs to the row of emptying valves near the base of the main chamber used to lock boats through the dam at Emsworth, Pa.

Once drained, the workers discovered the valves are in worse condition than they originally thought, requiring the lock closing to be extended through July 26, said Jeff Hawk, a Corps spokesman in Pittsburgh who forwarded along the photo, above, of the work in progress.

It’s interesting to see the many scuff marks left behind on the wall by the many towboats and barges that have navigated through the locks that were built more than 80 years ago.

Hawk says the corps is working 24-hour shifts to complete the repairs and return navigation to normal along Pittsburgh’s three rivers.

Towboat crews have been experiencing 12 hour delays while moving their hauls along the river in the Emsworth area, about 8 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. The delays are compounded by similar work downriver on the Ohio at Dashields Locks and Dam.

The navigation industry responded by creating stockpiles of coal and other goods at various sites along the rivers before the repair work began, Hawk said. This is the reason there has been much less barge traffic in recent weeks, he said.

"We realize that this will be an additional inconvenience to river users and we are pulling all available resources to focus on the task of repairing these severely deteriorated valves," said Col. Michael Crall, district engineer.

The corps isn’t experiencing any shortfall in the money it needs to complete this job and several others in the Pittsburgh region that is home to the oldest and most-fatigued locks and dams in the nation. The President Obama Administration is giving the corps $4.6 billion in federal stimulus money to modernize the navigation system.

Raised on the trolley line

Laura Wells is qualifying for certification to operate the lines at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum in Washington, Pa.

By Scott Beveridge

WASHINGTON, Pa. – Laura Wells is at ease at the controls of an old trolley car, even though she’s just 20 and attending college.

The California University of Pennsylvania student has been hanging around the streetcars at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum before she knew how to walk.

Her parents met there, and her grandfather is among the founders of the Chartiers Township attraction where adults go to play with big toys.

“I’m a third-generation nerd,” said Wells, who must still complete trolley training to become a certified operator, even though she could easily teach new recruits how to maneuver the vehicles.

“The hardest thing is remembering which one you are in because they are all different,” said Wells, of Pittsburgh.

The air brakes in some cars have to be applied slowly while others have self-adjusting braking systems. The brakes also work differently depending on the weather and condition of the rails. When it’s warm and foggy, oil can form on the lines and make them especially slippery.

“You can lock up the brakes and just skid,” said Wells’ grandfather, Art Ellis, who works the ticket booth at the museum entrance.

Wells is among a handful of trolley enthusiasts who signed up for the class in mid-April.

George Hrabchack of Wilmerding, a retired Ringgold High School teacher, is among the students.

“This is the closest I can get to the streetcars that went past my house as a kid,” Hrabchack said.

“There is nothing to be nervous about,” said Walt Pilof, operations manager at the museum.

The museum hosted some 6,000 riders last year, most of whom came aboard during the Washington County Agricultural Fair. Nearly 24,000 visitors stopped by last year from around the globe.

The average age of the volunteer operators is 60. There are two 18-years-olds on the roster, and the oldest operator is Frank Reese, 91, of Erie.

New operators spend three days in training and then must complete 15 full days under the supervision of a senior operator before they can work on their own.

“The cool thing is anybody can do it,” said Lisa Stout-Bassioum, visitor services coordinator. “I’m actually waiting my turn.”

Meanwhile, a new exhibit at the museum begins near a black and white photo of Pittsburgh’s first horsecar that made its debut in 1859.

If visitors stay a while, they can actually board a different vintage trolley for a short ride to the carbarn and touch a similar horse-drawn rail vehicle known as Pittsburgh 101.

“It’s an amazing immersion experience. You don’t get that very often,” said Nancy Cain McCombe, educator at the Chartiers Township museum and another student operator.

“Other museums try to re-create the experience, but it’s not the same,” she said.

The restored Car 101 is the oldest in the museum’s collection of nearly 50 vehicles used in public transportation and in various conditions, ranging from the pristine to an old, rotting wooden car that survived a flood.

The horsecar was part of the old Federal Street & Pleasant Valley Street Railway that ran on the South Side and later ended up on display at South Park and Station Square. It’s similar to those that were used between 1859 and 1923 in Pittsburgh.

“This is a rare bird,” museum executive director Scott R. Becker said.

One of only a half-dozen remaining vehicles of its kind, the car traveled just 4 mph from downtown Pittsburgh to Allegheny Cemetery. Its driver sat in an exposed cab in all types of weather for long shifts with barely a small canopy above his head.

The museum was conceived in the 1940s when streetcars were being replaced by buses and automobiles. By 1946, three cars had been acquired while the group looked for a suitable location to store them.

The museum opened in June 1963 as Arden Trolley Museum, and since has continued to expand.

The museum has received a $271,000 state grant to install solar energy panels on a roof to help power streetcars, signals and lighting before the end of the summer.

“So we’re breaking some new ground by having these old vehicles using modern technology and the sun to power them,” Becker said.

On a recent visit, an older gentleman was in a garage restoring a government surplus front loader that will be used to put down new trolley tracks.

It’s a nice companion piece to a streetcar that was designed to sweep snow off tracks with a roller brush made from rattan. It was painted bright yellow to make it more visible during snowstorms.

Jim Herron of nearby Canonsburg has been putting a new finish on wood trim native to South America that was used to adorn the 1911 Rio De Janeiro No. 1758, an open-air trolley the museum acquired.

“It’ll be a big hit,” Becker said.

Also known as a breezer, the car is similar to the one used as a backdrop in the 1944 movie, “Meet Me in St. Louis,” starring Judy Garland.

The singer and actress popularized “The Trolley Song” in the movie while riding in one of the cars that traditionally was used during the summer months to take people to amusement parks. That’s why it looks as if it belongs in a circus, Becker said.

This one started out as a kit sold by the J.G. Brill Co. of Philadelphia that included parts cast by the Cambria Iron Works of Johnstown.

Then it was shipped and assembled in Rio and eventually mothballed before being purchased in 1965 by a group of museums in the United States.

The car returned via a coffee freighter to North America, was rebuilt and put in service on a trolley line at the Magee Museum of Transportation in Bloomsburg. Car 1758 was put out of service again after that museum was inundated by floodwater during Hurricane Agnes in 1972. From there, it sat in a Florida warehouse until being purchased by the trolley museum in Chartiers.

When restored, it will be the oldest car in operation at the museum.

(This story originally appeared in Living in Washington County, a publication of the Observer-Reporter. It was reprinted with permission.)