Putting cows on the front page since 1885.
Putting cows on the front page since 1885.
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The Williamsburg post office is ready to take your letters to Santa. The post office is participating in Operation Santa, a nationwide program sponsored by the United States Postal Service. Kids are encouraged to bring letters addressed to Santa to the post office and drop it in the special mailbox. The letters do not need a postage stamp, but those that do will be entered into the Operation Santa program. The stamped letters will be sent to a specific postal location, where personal...
Cove residents have taken to social media in the past few days to ask about strings of bright lights they’ve seen in the night sky. They reported seeing balls of light lined up on the horizon, moving across the sky and wondered what they were. So, what are they? They are a Starlink internet satellite train. According to the company’s website, starlink.com, the Starlink satellite constellation “uses low earth orbit to deliver broadband Internet, capable of supporting streaming, online gaming, video calls, and more.” The satellites are only vi...
On Thursday, April 20, Cori Bolger Shirk and Jodi Stouffer presented a program on the Martinsburg Indian School at the monthly meeting of the Blair County Genealogy Society. Shirk and Stouffer were accompanied by Frank Vitale IV, a historian and archivist from Millersville University, who joined the pair through an online connection. For the past few years, Shirk and Stouffer have been researching the school and its role in shaping Martinsburg history. Using back issues of the Martinsburg...
Williamsburg Lady Pirate Basketball fans have been entertained this season by Jill (Tate) Norris' livestream of the games on the team's Facebook page. Norris' broadcast commentary is a mix of play-by-play, devoted fan and proud mother. The latter was especially evident when her daughter, Senior forward Kendel Norris, sank her first three-point basket ever in the District 6 semi-final game against Bishop Carroll. "Kendel for 3! Kendel Norris for 3 points," Jill screamed as Bishop Carroll took...
The Morrisons Cove farming community lost a legend when William England of Williamsburg died on Jan. 6 of this year. England, son of the late Foster and Frances England, was born into a farming family, but growing up, didn't want to remain on the farm. Instead, he entered Penn State, studying geophysics and geochemistry. The summer before graduation he went to Redding, Calif., to work for the Phelps Dodge Corporation. The mining company had a subsidiary in Douglas, Ariz., and the company...
Richard Brantner Sr. remembers it well. He was Williamsburg's police chief for just a few months when the rain and flooding began. He was 24 years old and had just gotten out of the Navy when he started as Chief of Police for Williamsburg in February of 1972. He was living on Spring Street in the borough at the time. "It was bad back then," he said of the days following the storm. The storm that brought the rain was named Agnes. It began as a tropical depression in the Atlantic Ocean, but...
The Williamsburg Blue Pirates and Lady Pirates both qualified for the PIAA District 6 Class 1A Championship games at Mount Aloysius in Cresson on Friday, March 4, but neither was able to come up with a victory. The Lady Pirates started strong against the Portage Mustangs, ending the first quarter ahead by 6 points, but were outscored by Portage in the remaining quarters. Portage was able to hold off Williamsburg for a final score of 52-47. Portage faces WPIAL fifth place finisher West Greene Hig...
Customers of the Mid Penn Bank branch in Williamsburg received good news in a letter from Mid Penn President and CEO Rory G. Ritrievi on Monday. In the letter, Ritrievi announced that the bank would continue to operate on a limited basis for the next year in Williamsburg as the Williamsburg Financial Center. The bank will be staffed four hours a week to accommodate customers who are not able to travel to the bank’s other branches. In addition, Ritrievi said the bank will offer, at the present location, an Interactive Teller Machine (ITM) that w...
It looks like Williamsburg is losing another institution. In a letter sent to customers dated Dec. 3. 2021, Mid Penn Bank, a Millersburg, Pa., based bankcorp that now controls Riverview Bank’s assets, announced the closing of the Williamsburg branch effective March 4, 2021 [sic]. In June when Mid Penn Bank announced the merger, Mid Penn said the acquisition of Riverview was a chance for their corporation to get a foothold in the State College area market. The press release touted the merger as creating a “premier Pennsylvania community ban...
On the evening of Dec. 3, the residents of Homewood at Martinsburg and their guests were treated to a Christmas concert by the Altoona Symphony Orchestra called Home for the Holidays. The live presentation was held in the Givler Cultural Center on the Homewood at Martinsburg campus and broadcast throughout the facility via Homewood’s in house closed circuit video system. The program was sponsored by Allan and Judy Hancock. Mr. Hancock, a board member of Homewood at Martinsburg, kicked off the program by welcoming everyone in the audience. He g...
On Monday Nov. 29, Blair County Prison Corrections Officer Rhonda J. Russell was remembered by friends, family and coworkers at a service at the Blair County Convention Center. Russell was shot on Nov. 17 by a law enforcement officer at the Central Court Building located in Altoona at 615 4th St. Russel was overpowered by a prisoner from the Blair County Prison who took her gun. As the two struggled, a police officer who was in the building responded, and subsequently discharged his weapon at the suspect to keep him from harming Russell. Someho...
Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding visited Clover Creek Cheese Cellar in rural Williamsburg on Nov. 17. Secretary Redding was there to celebrate National Apprentice Week and to meet with the Rice family, who owns the farm, and their Pasa apprentice Williams Benitez. David Rice and his wife Terry operate the cheese production facility as well as a dairy farm on the site. The milk from the farm is used for their cheeses and raw milk production. David Rice is a Master...
The late Donald E. Witherspoon, the longtime president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Blair County chapter, was honored at the First Annual Blair County NAACP Freedom Fighter Gala held at the Casino at Lakemont Park on Oct. 27. Witherspoon, who was raised in Claysburg and graduated from Claysburg-Kimmel High School in 1962, died at the age of 77 on Dec. 26, 2020. One of those remembering Witherspoon at the podium was his brother, Jeremiah. Jeremiah...
Happy Halloween! It's something we hear and say every year at this time, but what does it really mean? It's believed Halloween originated with the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts, whose tribes were scattered over Western Europe, celebrated their new year beginning Nov. 1, when summer and the harvest were over and the cold weather and long dark days of winter were approaching. The Celts believed the boundary between the living and dead thinned and the ghosts of the dead...
On Oct. 22, representatives from several state government agencies gathered to dedicate the new trail connector that joins the Lower Trail to Canoe Creek State Park. The connector extends the trail from the Flowing Springs trailhead to park property located on the northern side of Route 22. Cindy Adams Dunn, Pennsylvania's Secretary of Conservation and Natural Resources was the keynote speaker. Secretary Dunn praised the efforts and cooperation of the organizations involved in the project,...
Football The Juniata Valley Hornets continued their undefeated season by beating the Everett Warriors 42-0 on Sept. 24 at home in Alexandria. Seniors from both Williamsburg and Juniata Valley were honored during the pregame. Volleyball The Williamsburg Lady Pirates Volleyball Team lost to Juniata Valley Lady Hornets by a score of 0-3 on Sept. 23. Proceeds from the game, held at Williamsburg, benefited those in the community dealing with a cancer diagnosis. Golf Williamsburg Sophomore R.J....
Flooding like the Cove experienced last week can cause serious damage to farmland and homes. While most damage is very visible, one area that might be overlooked is damage to private wells and sewer systems. Flooding can damage and contaminate those systems, and the Penn State Extension office wants rural Pennsylvanians to be aware of possible problems with their systems. After a flood, homeowners with private wells should inspect those systems for damage and test their drinking water for bacteria. Signs of well damage may include a cracked or...
I’ve never been an ardent high school sports fan. I grew up in (and still live in) Williamsburg, and them’s fightin’ words here, but it’s the truth for me. I’ve never been one to go out of my way to attend a game. That might be because I never really had to – I live near Williamsburg’s school campus and could always hear the home football games being announced from the football field nearby. But no more. With the Williamsburg School Board’s decision to cooperate with the Juniata Valley School District for varsity football, the field and my fall...
