Slavic immigrants to the Coal Region brought this age-old art form with them as they settled into patch towns and began to work in the […]
Life’s Musings
Groundhog Day and The Pennsylvania Dutch Connection
On February 2, 1887, Groundhog Day, featuring a rodent meteorologist, is celebrated for the first time at Gobbler’s Knob in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Groundhog Day is perhaps one […]
It’s Polka Time
Block parties, fire hall weddings, church picnics, Sunday radio shows…what ties these all together in the Coal Region of Northeast Pennsylvania? Why, the polka of […]
Dropping In For The New Year
or, what goes up must come down. Revelers first gathered in Time Square on New Year’s Eve in 1904 thanks to Adolph Ochs, owner of The New […]
Legend of the Bayberry Candle
In homes throughout the Coal Region, flames flicker on bayberry candles both Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. This generations old tradition stems from the […]
German (Froebel) Stars
Every year when the time comes to decorate the Christmas tree, unwrapping each ornament brings back fond (and sometimes melancholy) memories of special people, places, […]