Ol' Rockin' Chair's Got Me

That song, made popular by the Mills Brothers, might set these chairs to rocking and tapping to the music. From the porch of the old Kepler Hotel, Meadville, Pennsylvania. This building overlooks the Market House next door and has been converted into apartments.

My Corner Of Pennsylvania: Meadville's Market House

Perhaps some of you from P. A. remember shopping the Market House. Frequently, I was assigned to walk down from Limber Road, early Saturday morning. Then, buy two pounds of butter from the Miller Brothers who backed their panel truck under the eaves and sold whatever was in season. "Get there early before they're sold out."

Meadville's Market House

Established in 1870, the Market House of Meadville, Pennsylvania, perseveres as a community focal point for decades. Saturday is the busiest when local farmers and crafters bring their wares to market. Special events are frequently staged honoring the area's rural foundations and traditions plus arts and crafts of the region. The local cafe is a favorite offering a variety of specialties throughout the week.

Summers Run, the series (what is a "run"?)

Those who know rural Pennsylvania, explain “runs” as those streams coursing down the ravines and winding across the waiting meadows before they empty into lakes or rivers.

This is the story of one, Summers Run, a neighborhood where two families are linked by history, marriage, war, and contemporary life. Narrated by Claude Kinkade, at age twelve and from his perspective of twenty years later, Return to Summers Run continues his journey begun in Summers Run: An American Boyhood. The fortunes of Shadeland, his departed father’s ancestral home, loom large as the Kinkades face the economic realities of living on the land. 

As a newly-minted farm boy, Claude senses the shadow of his father following his. Then, leaving crops and cows behind, he samples life in Las Vegas where his mother deals with a new marriage and its expectations. Little League Baseball there proves disappointing but offers important lessons Claude exploits once he returns to “P. A.”, Summers Run, and the Pickett Township Panthers. 

As the Panthers climb the pinnacle of their second season, Claude and his teammates experience the magic of baseball plus the mysteries of life and loss surrounding them.

The fishing and covered bridge scene above graces the cover of Summers Run: An American Boyhood, book one in the series.  "Friends", the woodland scene, will appear on the cover of Return to Summers Run, to be published in the spring of 2012.

Still in service

Seldom seen in today's farming, this hay loader from an Amish farm is horse-drawn and functioning as expected for decades. It pre-dates most balers and serves its roll in putting up loose hay for those preferring such. From Crawford County, northwestern P. A., near Springboro.

Trees and Leaves . . .

have provided many an eighth grader with his or her science project. Pennsylvania is home to nearly 20 different species of conifers and close to 100 deciduous hardwoods. Almost all are natives.

Getting Together in "P. A."

Rural demographers tell us P. A. ––in spite of its major metropolitan areas––remains one of our nation's most rural states. Maps list hundreds of little crossroad communities sprouting the names of  "corners," "hill," "valley," "creek," "run," "falls," "springs," and so forth. Neighbors often meet in churches or meeting houses such as this one for elections, political airings, benefits, local talent shows, dances, benefits or suppers where ham loaf or swiss steak dinners are often served. Near New Richmond, Crawford County in northwestern P. A.