Grinding Stone: Part 1
Archaeology Find: Metate in Lycoming County, PA I’m taking advantage of the sunshine (aka coronavirus killer). I went fishing and foraging. I was a hunter-gatherer. See the first picture. These are ramps They are not spring onions although many people call them that. These are leek and you can use the entire
Bird Points
Archaeology Find: Bird Points for Arrows The weekend was pretty busy with interaction via email. We are inspiring conversations on typology, archaeology, local history, and artifact identification. Covid19 time indoors has been an opportunity for learning. This morning, how about bird points as a topic? They are also called jewel or gem
Surface Collecting in the Montoursville
Archaeology Finds: Miscellaneous Points, Adze, Etc. The shared artifacts were found locally by Hunter Duffield. Hunter has been surface collecting in the Montoursville area and Dick Snyder called me and asked that I give him a hand. So let's look at the pictures. Picture 1 is a couple of Archaic points the
Plum Tree Massacre and Iroquois War on Colonial Expansion
The date was June 10th, 1778. In the east, the Revolutionary War raged and colonial forces under General George Washington were seeing key victories producing a turning point in the conflict. People living here in what would become Lycoming County PA were also part of that war. They were fighting for their lives against an
The Widaagh Monument in Antes Fort
So, what does a forty-five-foot tall, forty-one-ton monument on private land, the Susquehannock Indians, an ex-bank president in Indian dress-up, and a magical place called Lockabar have in common? Well, historian Carl Becker once said it best, "history is an imaginative creation" and that tongue-in-cheek remark never bore more truth than the story of the
The Road to Williamsport
The road to Williamsport is heavily traveled, despite the fact that this small city in northcentral Pennsylvania is home to only 29,000 people. That's because Williamsport is home to the annual Little League Baseball World Series, which attracts more than 40,000 people to its final game, and millions of viewers to all 32 of
Honoring the Story with Janice Ogurcak
Janice Ogurcak is the Director of Public Programming and Outreach at the World of Little League Museum. This museum is to Little League what the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown is to Major League Baseball. It's filled with significant artifacts that range from serious to frivolous. There is a piece torn from
Reading the News with Publisher Kathy Kolb
Kathy Kolb is the (former) publisher of NorthcentralPA.com, a news outlet that’s been online since 2009, which she steadily grew by personally connecting with her readers. I know, this sounds impossible — how do you connect with thousands of people? She accomplished this by building an amazingly loyal Facebook following, which total tops out
Get ‘On the Bus’ with Wendy Dean
Wendy Butler Dean is the owner of The Omnibus Publishing, a boutique publishing company that specializes in children’s books, Young Adult novels, and some non-fiction. The Omnibus is a hybrid company, combining a unique blend of older, traditional book publishing and new, digital publishing. She produces ebooks and print on demand paperbacks. Wendy’s a
A Guide to Being Alone
Today I try out a new software platform for recording podcasts, Anchor, and experiment with recording smaller audio clips, and transitions, and putting together a show on the fly. I also discuss an amazing book, "How to Be Alone," by Sara Maitland, a handbook on solitude and why it's important for people, particularly those
Be Larger than Life with Steve Altier
Steve Altier is the author of the books for young people and is best known for his children’s books, the Gabby and Maddox adventure series. Not content with lessons for little ones, he’s written a Young Adult novel, “Lizardville, the Ghost Story,” and he’ll soon release a sequel. Steve grew up in Mill Hall,
A Poem Every Morning with Marjorie Maddox
I tried to imagine an early morning drive with poet Marjorie Maddox, whose creative suitcase is crammed with metaphors. I was enveloped in fog, which occluded my vision, on this particular day. My surroundings became the murky sea, and my auto a submarine. The tall, stark silver maples along the roadway became the kelp
Mary Woods’ Change of Heart
Mary Woods is an artist, a poet, and the author of "The Heart of the Matter,” which guides the reader to becoming wholeheartedly happy. I know Mary through her service work with Beloved Community Council and Heart of Williamsport. We've worked on the HoW project for three years, and it's amazing to see the change
Dave Bellomo’s Passion for Kettlebells
Dave Bellomo is a fitness expert, personal trainer, and author of two fitness manuals on Kettlebells. I met Dave when he worked as a personal trainer and worked with Dave after he opened his own gym, Maximum Fitness, and his manufacturing company, Cardiobells Incorporated, which he owned and operated for eight years.
Lou Hunsinger’s Legacy of Local History
Louis E. Hunsinger, Jr. labors for posterity. He does this as a historian, preserving Lycoming County's heritage as a writer for newspapers, magazines, programs, and books, working as the co-author of eight books on local history.His publishing career began with his good friend, Dr. James P. Quigel, and in 1999, the duo published the paperback, "Williamsport's
Joseph Smith’s Cure for Hipocrisy
Joseph W. Smith is a teacher, speaker, film critic, journalist and author living in Northcentral Pennsylvania, with his wife. The son of a professional journalist, Joe wrote his first book when he was 12, "... an ambitious and profusely illustrated sci-fi opus called Project Jupiter." Then, 37 years later, he wrote "The Psycho File.”