David Melesky, attorney and author will be attending The Maple Syrup Festival and selling his books. Born and raised in Connecticut, David grew up in the small town of Bethlehem where he attended local schools. He earned a BA degree from Franklin Peirce College in New Hampshire and he also studied overseas in England. He then graduated Vermont Law School with a Juris Doctor Degree. After this he moved to Maine with his family and traveled to most of the United States and numerous foreign countries. He now lives in Greenville, Pennsylvania and divides his time between his legal work and his love of writing.

Some of his books include: I Remember Bethlehem; A Nostalgic Look at Connecticut’s Christmas Town. Practice, not Perfect, the first in a series about a fictional attorney B.G. Wumpkey(Comedy). The second two books in the Wumpkey series are: One Bar to Another and The Reluctant Lawyer.

To do full justice to this story, let’s step back to the evening before the festival, when the celebrations actually began. Friday night, the festival commenced with ‘Ceilidh’, a Gaelic term meaning “a social gathering with traditional music, dancing, and storytelling” at 7pm. Johnathan Shegog played the bagpipes to welcome visitors to downtown Foxburg for the event held in the grassy nook between Foxburg Free Library and Foxburg Wine Cellars. Throughout Ceilidh, Carl Peterson and Robert Murdoch sang folk songs joined by Melinda Crawford on the fiddle and her husband Dan Crawford accompanying on piano. It was a joyous open air concert interlaced with the sounds of the bagpipes up and down the valley.

Saturday’s events started with the opening ceremony by MacDonald Pipe Band from Pittsburgh and was followed by various events including athletic performances wherein athletes displayed their strength and skills with the Caber Toss and Stone Put, sheepdog herding demonstrations by Tom Conn & Pam Gardner, and a variety of live music by the MacDonald Pipe Band and other performers. There were many craft vendors selling their wares ranging from pottery to kilts to hand pulled wool. Foods of the Highland included traditional Scottish delights such as meat pies, sausages, homemade cookies or folks could even have a slice of pizza by Foxburg Pizza. Other businesses in Foxburg also joined in the festivities with wine from Foxburg Wine Cellars, and Chocolates by Divani Chocolate Boutique to give the visitors a taste of the town. Inside the Events Center, kids enjoyed stories and songs by John Mickle and also had an opportunity to learn some Gaelic from Harry Webb. Popcorn, chocolate and ice cream were some of the tasty treats readily available for snacking… a kid’s dream come true! Visitors awaited horse carriage rides given by the Hovis family of Emlenton and Segway Tours promoted a new kind of “leisure sport” with a team of Segways, giving demonstrations and trials. Other attractions included various Scottish clan organizations who lined their tent along the roadway near the Galloway and Highland cattle. There, they shared their history and offered genealogy study and memberships.
The festival was interluded with announcements from the management, one of which was for the band to play the surprise ‘Happy Birthday’ tune for Dr Arthur Steffee, the owner of Riverstone Farm, who hosted the festival on his premises. Incidentally, during the closing ceremony, Dr. Steffee announced that he discovered at the festival that he is about a quarter Scottish.

A special “Moran taing!” goes out to all of the volunteers for ARCA in making this wonderful event such a success, after all it was a great day for Scotland and Foxburg!

[flickr-gallery mode="photoset" photoset="72157621942617291"]
[flickr-gallery mode="photoset" photoset="72157621942706621"]

A few days before July 24th, 2008 I had been trying to capture the “best view” of the old Foxburg Bridge that my modest Minolta Dimage Z1 would afford. Then I noticed this little flower planted among the bushes on the edge of the river. After assuming some awkward positions in an attempt to include the little flower within composure, I managed to take several shots from the perspective of someone who must have witnessed the Foxburg Bridge throughout the season leading to it’s end.

A year ago today, a very special event was about to take place. Everyone was looking forward to it – some were very unhappy about it, a few were relieved and the rest I’d say, pretty neutral. We all knew it had to happen…and finally after putting in over a year of planning and construction, they imploded the historic Foxburg Bridge into the Allegheny. A legacy was blown up within moments!

There were lots of rumors surrounding the then Foxburg Bridge. I heard, “They are going to keep it and put little shops on it” and “They’ll just leave it there. After all it’s a piece of history”. Despite all hopes and anticipations, the authorities appeared to be fairly clear about what needed to be done. Someone said the old bridge could have collapsed anytime in future without warning and was simply a hazard given that it would not have been maintained. This would have rung the bells to anyone who used the old bridge or the Allegheny for work or leisure. So, inspite of all the controversy, finally the big day arrived and the town took a moment to pause, reflect and await the judgement.

Foxburg had been busy earlier in the season with not only visitors but also the crew responsible for constructing the new bridge. There were construction signs everywhere warning users of the bridge to expect delays and intervention by construction machinery. But that day there were more – the Discovery channel decided to capture the moment with their own sophisticated gear, there were emergency services sprawled all over as close to the bridge as possible, ready to intervene “just in case”, then there was the audience – both locals and visitors. Earlier, the town folks were asked to evacuate the town for safety reasons – although the authorities were confident that the implosion would go smoothly without damage to any structure or life, they wanted an extra layer of protection. A policeman patrolled the town and verified that the houses were actually vacated before the scheduled time for implosion. This, of course, gave the town-folk an opportunity to step out and witness the “big event” in its entirety.

Some people flocked to the bike trail and climbed down to the river-bank to secure a nice view. Others boated over on the Allegheny to peek at the scene from atop the river. There was an excitement about in the air – the kind you don’t experience in mundane life. Everyone was awaiting the spectacle and yet most of us wished it would never happen. All of us were deliberately quiet as if sitting in an opera or a movie theater. The last siren blew from the Foxburg Fire Hall to mark the beginning of the implosion. Soon, as we waited patiently with our hearts pounding, a spark was seen starting at the far right of the bridge travelling swiftly to the left followed by the blasting sound that had found its way through our earplugs. A series of clapping and cheering followed from the audience – pleased or upset, the people seemed to have come to terms with the reality of the moment.

[flickr-gallery mode="photoset" photoset="72157621848873985"]

For those interested, the bridge identification plate and foundation stones of the old Foxburg Bridge can be found at Foxburg Free Library on Main Street in Foxburg.

Soon after the implosion, the old Foxburg Bridge, a piece of history as it was, made its way to the HistoricBridges.org website. A stream of amateur videos appeared on YouTube.com capturing the demolition scene. Please see one of my favorite videos below.

]]> http://gofoxburg.com/2009/foxburg-bridge-is-falling-down/feed/ 0 http://gofoxburg.com/2009/summer-reading-at-foxburg-free-library/ http://gofoxburg.com/2009/summer-reading-at-foxburg-free-library/#comments Mon, 06 Jul 2009 14:00:20 +0000 Go Foxburg Admin http://www.gofoxburg.com/?p=271 Opportunities for kids to have fun continue this summer at the Foxburg Free Library. In addition to having thousands of children’s and young adult books and dozens of movies on VCR or DVD available for free borrowing, kids are invited to attend two programs designed to promote reading and eliminate summertime boredom through fun and educational activities.
All children are invited to attend either or both programs; preregistration is not required, nor does one have to be a member of the Foxburg Free Library. Visitors to the area are invited to attend. The programs are conducted on Tuesday evenings and Friday mornings.
Through July, the Summer Reading program will take place at the library each Friday morning from 10am until 11:45. Each week a book or two will be read aloud — often with each listener participating through actions or with puppets. There is also a craft activity conducted each week. Projects so far this summer have included stringing necklaces, making paper bag puppets, and decorating patriotic magnets and pictures. Participants are kept busy playing various games; songs are identified and sung, and memory activities performed. A snack is also served.
Regular attendees of the Summer Reading Program are challenging each other to read a certain number of books; progress is visually tallied on the side of library bookcases with each reader’s personal cardboard cone topped by paper ice cream scoops labeled with each book read. (It’s a good thing the scoops are made of paper; based on the enormous quantity of scoops some achieving readers have acquired, it would be quite a melted mess on the floor had scoops of real ice cream been used!)
Each reader is encouraged to meet reading goals on a near-daily basis: to read aloud for at least ten minutes, to read silently for at least ten minutes, and to listen to someone read to him/her for at least ten minutes. As a reward, each week, several names are drawn, and those children get to choose a prize from the Treasure Chest of goodies.
The last meeting of the Friday Summer Reading Program will be July 31st.

Summer Reading Program

Jason Eustice developed an affinity with music as a boy growing up in western Pennsylvania. Inspired by the variety of sounds which filled his youthful ears, from country/folk music and popular rock bands on the radio to his mother’s piano playing for family and friends, Jason was able to derive a signature style and presentation blended with the subtle traits of his own personality. His lyrics range from ‘soft and heartfelt’ to ‘sharp and well humored’, which integrate uniquely  with his soulful voice. Surprisingly contradictory to his current status, Jason recalls, “I was a shy little kid. Heck, when I was 5 years old, my mom would play the piano for some friends and family, and I would go into the other room and sing–so afraid to be seen singing in front of anybody–well, look at me now!”

Perhaps to overcome his boyhood modesty, Jason received classical voice-training at Clarion University for two years. Throughout college he began singing in show-choirs and college chorus all the while writing his own songs. After college, Jason worked at a car dealership to save money for the soon to be big move to Nashville, Tennessee. Once in Nashville, Jason performed at many different clubs and writers nights. He also began singing for several professional demos, collaborating with other songwriters, and entering highly challenging competitions such as Nashville Star, a country music talent contest broadcast on USA Network. In 2006 and 2008, Jason entered the Annual COLGATE COUNTRY SHOWDOWN National Contest, where he won the State Finals both years and placed in the top 5 at the Regional Level.

Currently, Jason has one of his songs, “You’re One of Us”, on hold with Country Music Legend–Hank Williams Jr., with the same song being pitched to KID ROCK for a possible collaboration.

Even though I myself could never claim to be devoted country music fan, I recognize talent and perseverance when I see it and I have already purchased tickets to this event. Any impressions I may have held in regards toward the country music genre have been somewhat washed after listening to the clever and catchy tune “Enjoy The Ride” written and sung by Jason Eustice.  I’ve since become one of his fans!

Tickets to see this energetic performance are available for $10.00 at the Foxburg Wine Cellars and the Foxburg Free Library, with proceeds benefiting the library. So, if you weren’t planning on venturing out in this direction on the evening of May 29th, you may want to consider reworking your schedule now. Just be sure you give yourself enough time to check out all there is to see in Foxburg before the show!

Find out more about Jason Eustice at www.myspace.com/jasonaeustice