More Lifestyles category, Page 53
Region’s churches spread Holy Week message online
A number of the region’s churches will livestream Holy Week services as the state’s stay at home order remains in effect through the month’s end. • Catholic Diocese of Greensburg’s virtual Holy Week services will be streamed at dioceseofgreensburg.org, facebook.com/dioceseofgreensburg and youtube.com. • Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik...
Edgewood residents invited to decorate windows with paper eggs
With Peter Cottontail likely under stay-at-home orders just like everyone else, people in Edgewood Borough are planning their own Easter egg hunting fun. Neighbors are being encouraged to decorate paper eggs and place them in windows, on doors or in other places where passersby can see them. Eggs can go...
‘Priceless’: 97-year-old Latrobe woman’s Facebook baking sessions go viral
It started with a live Facebook baking session as a way to connect with some socially distanced friends. Like a yeast dough left untended, it grew and grew and grew. Suddenly, Lucy Pollock, a 97-year-old home baker from Latrobe, became a social media sensation. A couple of weeks ago, Mary...
Coronavirus taking big bite out of Easter candy sales for region’s makers
Coronavirus-related business closures are taking a hefty bite out of area confectioners’ Easter candy sales. With chocolate bunnies, eggs and other seasonal sweets accounting for about half of annual revenue, it’s a situation that could put some companies out of business. “It’s devastating, actually,” said John Mandak, owner of Valos...
Have gardening questions? Master Gardeners’ hotline has answers
Home gardeners can have their questions answered beginning April 1 via the annual garden hotline sponsored by Penn State Extension Master Gardeners of Westmoreland County. The hotline is a free service offered through the Penn State Extension Office to help Westmoreland County residents with various gardening questions and concerns, including...
Living with Children: More on picky eaters
Per the old Chinese saying, “May you live in interesting times,” it may be that the most interesting of times are those when people do not want to hear the truth — as in the present, or so it would seem. I did not intend to write a follow-up to...
Couples in quarantine: Stress, anxiety, fear of the unknown
The 60-something husband works in the food industry and still insists upon leaving every day for work, saying he needs to keep his business afloat. His frightened wife desperately wants him to stay home. For another couple, in the midst of a separation, the bitterly fought issue is the kids...
How communities are staying connected while respecting social distanceVideo
There are plenty of sayings to inspire us in these trying times: “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Or, alternatively, “When life gives you lemons, take out the salt and the shot glasses and fill them up with tequila.” So...
Veterinarians, pet owners forced to adjust during coronavirus outbreak
Medical professionals treating humans aren’t the only ones having to adjust the way they practice in response to the coronavirus pandemic. Veterinarians have made similar changes in asking pet owners to postpone routine appointments and elective surgeries. They’re also reassuring pet owners that, though animals are the likely original source...
Living with Children: Time for parents to keep calm and carry on
Vital to a child’s sense of well-being are parents who act competent to provide adequate provision and protection under any and all circumstances. I often refer to that obligation as “acting like a superior being.” It requires, under the most trying circumstances, keeping one’s cool, projecting a sense of having...
It’s National Puppy Day … let’s celebrate
Today is National Puppy Day. It began in 2006, and there’s little doubt we’ve never needed it more than we do today. We are going into our second week of coronavirus quarantine, practicing social distancing holed up in our houses. We are missing our friends, our jobs, our teachers. You...
Remember When: March 23
A look at the Valley’s past in the language of the times as compiled by George Guido. 100 years ago Pittsburgh Plate Glass to expand The Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. has announced it will acquire the 37-acre Wainwright plot in Creighton for $100,000. This will allow the adjacent glass plant,...
Living with Children: The best cure for picky eating
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) said there is no idea so bizarre that a philosopher has not advanced it. These days, the philosophers in question are psychologists and the bizarre ideas are their explanations of human behavior. Said explanations are bizarre because (trust me on this, I am one) psychologists wear, as...
Couples scramble to revamp wedding, honeymoon plans amid coronavirus pandemic
After their August engagement, Greensburg couple Gregory Mertz and Janelle Stayt planned a dream wedding. They were going to marry March 21 in Montgomery County, host their reception at Stateside Vodka Bar in Philadelphia and then depart on a European honeymoon. As the fast-spreading coronavirus raced around the globe, the resulting...
Flight 93 National Memorial tree planting postponed until 2021Video
The annual Plant a Tree at Flight 93 event has been postponed until next year. Held at the Flight 93 National Memorial each spring, it typically fills its volunteer slots early. Many organizations and individuals return year after year. The 2019 event drew about 400 people planning to plant more...
Bored kids? Online resources to keep them happy (and learning)
“There’s nothing to do.” What parent hasn’t heard that sad lament from a bored child? Unfortunately, it’s more true now than it actually ever was in the past, as we socially isolate and shelter in place to avoid contracting or spreading covid-19. Luckily, we still have the world at our...
A garden is a respite through the bad times
The garden has always been my safe place. For more than three decades of good times and bad, it’s a space to reflect and gain perspective. Regardless of what happens outside the garden, crocus flowers push through the cool soil as winter fades, followed by daffodils, the harbingers of spring....
There’s no toilet paper or hand sanitizer, but here’s what we’re not buying
Call it stocking up or panic-buying, the first wave of coronavirus-driven shopping seems to have subsided. While toilet paper is still on the endangered species list, a survey of Greensburg-area supermarkets, big box stores and pharmacies reveals limited supplies of paper towels, napkins and facial tissue. The demand for canned...
Help Lincoln Caverns celebrate 90 seasons of underground fun
Ann Dunlavy is inviting visitors to “Come to the Dark Side.” Dunlavy is president and general manager of Lincoln Caverns in Huntingdon, a tourist attraction that has been a part of her family since it was discovered in 1930 and purchased by her grandfather, Myron Dunlavy Sr. of Buffalo, N.Y....
Work from home and avoid distractions — it’s a challengeVideo
As people are advised to stay home and avoid crowds during the coronavirus outbreak, many suddenly find themselves working remotely. According to Business Insider, 43 percent of Americans work from home at least part time; 20 percent are primarily home-based. For many, though, telecommuting is a new way of working....
Take to the wild in one of Western Pa.’s parks
Spring officially arrives March 19, marking the end of a cold Western Pennsylvania winter and the beginning of warmer, sunnier days. If ever there was a good time for swapping the “winter blues” for blue skies, this is it. With schools canceled and many parents working from home during the...
Bored kids can take a virtual field trip via zoo websites
Spring is the time for school field trips and outdoor activities — but maybe not this year. How to replace those favorite activities for the kids while they’re on their extra-long “spring break”? One idea comes from zoos around the country. Kids can take a virtual animal safari via various...
Bringing it home: Find inspiration in public spaces’ decor
Sometimes, sitting in a public place like a hotel lobby, you notice a mix of colors you’d never considered using in your own home — and you realize you absolutely love it. Or you see furniture that’s much more modern than you thought you liked, but it’s just what your...
Remember When: March 16
100 years ago County farmers against daylight saving system Westmoreland County farmers are against any attempt to revive the daylight saving system. The county farm bureau said previous daylight savings “worked more hardships on the farmer and his family than other thing that could be devised.” 75 years ago Lt....
Living with Children: From a proud mom-shamer
I’ve learned a new word! My daughter informs me that according to some mothers I am guilty of “mom-shaming” and should be ashamed of myself. I am a unashamed mom-shamer because I happen to believe that just as there is one proper way to go about training a dog (of...
