Clarion University APSCURF 2012-13 Memorial Scholarships

For the past fourteenth years the Clarion University Chapter of APSCURF, The Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Retired Faculty, has awarded scholarships through Clarion University Foundation honoring their deceased colleagues.  At their Fall Dinner and Meeting on October 23rd the tradition continued for its fifteenth year.  The Memorial Resolution is as follows.

Whereas, The Clarion University Chapter of APSCURF approved on April 21, 2005, two annual memorial scholarships of $1,000 each;

Resolved, That the 2012-13 scholarships be designated memorials for our deceased colleagues

Frank Battista 01/03/12 Education

Dolph O. Cook 07/28/12 Biology

Alastair T. Crawford 04/02/12 History

Robert E. Crawford 07/14/12 Geography

Kenneth F. Emerick 11/24/11 Library

John W. Hach Jr 02/19/12 Mathematics

Nancy Shaw McKee 01/15/12

John Mellon 04/06/12 English

Lawrence L. Penny o3/23/12 Psychology

Donald Wilson 02/10/12 English

Robert M. Yoho Sr 12/06/11 Education

Read Full Post »

The Cricket Inn

Hail to the chef, The Cricket Inn on Rt 322 between the Marianne Estates and Shippenville PA is a great soup-and-sandwich shop.  For the old timers, it’s where Judy’s Motel once stood, that later became The Keg & Crate, and then burned down.  The Cricket is in a section of the old motel, with bright yellow doors.

Dave Woolslayer, graduate of Clarion University and Community College of Allegheny County, opened last June, and keeps hours 7 to 7, Tuesday through Saturday.  You can order takeout at 782-3355, but you will miss the fun of eating in.  The decor has a little bit of everything for a friendly, funny atmosphere.  Just when have you dined under Picasso’s Guernica?  Never, I bet.  If you plan ahead, he does cakes and pies to order.

I can personally attest to the tasty Crabby Club that could hold its own on the East coast.  I also enjoyed the Grilled Meatloaf sandwich on dark, marble bread with spicy Dijon mustard.  I have had three of his own soups: Potato, Ham & Pea, and Mulligatawny, each excellent.

If you really plan ahead you can order the Cricket Special.  The organic, cage free crickets are shipped live, dipped in a very light batter, then lowered into hot oil with an Asian strainer for less than a minute.  I am not allowed to say how he lifts the fragile cluster out of the strainer on to paper towels and then to an arranged bed of fancy lettuce on a presentation plate, dressed with drizzled pomegranate sauce.  If there are crickets separate from the cluster, they are arranged as though guarding the cluster.

 

 

If you like to eat in local spots where you know who does the cooking and serving, you can talk to the big one who brings your minus because the big one is Dave.  Charles Marlin

Read Full Post »

Clarion University APSCURF 2011-12 Memorial Scholarships

For the past thirteen years the Clarion University Chapter of APSCURF, The Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Retired Faculty, has awarded scholarships through Clarion University Foundation honoring their deceased colleagues.  At their Fall Dinner and Meeting on October 11th the tradition continued for its fourteenth year.  The Memorial Resolution is as follows.

Whereas, The Clarion University Chapter of APSCURF approved on April 21, 2005, two annual memorial scholarships of $1,000 each;

Resolved, That the 2011-12 scholarships be designated memorials for our deceased colleagues

Bernard L. Bienio 10/23/10 Business Administration

Bruce H. Dinsmore 12/09/10 Biology

Ronald E. Ditz 08/10/11 Administrative Science

Daniel Fecko 05/01/10 Mathematics

William J. Karl 12/11/10 English

Mohammad I. Khan 04/05/11 History

Robert G. McElhattan 04/20/11 Education

James Rex Mitchell 03/05/11 Music

Hugh Park 12/30/09 English

Joseph Richard Spence 09/12/11 Art

Read Full Post »

Mary E. Shaner Scholarships For 2011

 

The Mary E. Shaner Scholarships for 2011 were recently awarded; and they went to Katie Kohlenberg who plans to attend Clarion University, Bryan Botts who plans to attend Clarion University, and James Gillen who plans to attend Penn State Erie, The Behrend College.

In the photograph, from left to right, are Katie Kohlenberg, KHS Principal Vicky Walters, Bryan Botts, and James Gillen.

Mary E. Shaner was a life time resident of the Knox area.  Her career was spent first in local classrooms, and then as librarian at Keystone High School, Knox PA.  A bequest in her will established the scholarship fund at Keystone that bears her name, entrusted to the Clarion County Community Foundation, an affiliate of Bridge Builders Community Foundations.  Charles Marlin

Read Full Post »

Two Hundred Years And Counting

On April 12, 2010, The Derrick  featured four of the seven Benedictine Sisters of Erie who are celebrating their 50-year jubilees this Saturday and who have ties to Clarion County and our area.  When I see one of these announcements in the paper I am blown away.  I could never rack up fifty years of serving others, and being nice to them, and never making a low comment about anyone’s ancestry.  If I had chocolate tiaras to give each sister, I happily would do so.  Every reward and recognition is fully deserved.

Our celebrants are Jean Wolbert, Karen Kosin, Miriam McMullen-Pastrick, and Judith Bohn.

Jean Wolbert earned a bachelor’s degree in music from Clarion University, plus every resident in Clarion County knows one Wolbert and some know a lot of Wolberts.  She taught at IC in Clarion and St Michael’s in Fryburg.

Karen Kosin studied at Clarion University, and taught at IC in Clarion.

Miriam McMullen-Pastrick continues to teach at Penn State Erie–The Behrend College.  The newspaper article skipped over her early career so I hope those mystery years include a little time with us.  The bottom line is if you don’t get to enjoy Clarion County, why bother with Western Pennsylvania?

Judith Bohn taught at St Michael’s in Fryburg.

Finally in tribute to their home base and to the many places they have served, we include a scene from Presque Ile State Park.  Charles Marlin

Read Full Post »

Clarion University APSCURF Memorial Scholarships

For the past eleven years the Clarion University Chapter of APSCURF, The Association of Pennsylvania State College and University Retired Faculty, has awarded scholarships through the Clarion University Foundation honoring their deceased colleagues.  At their Fall Dinner and Meeting on October 15th the tradition was continued for its twelfth year.  The Memorial Resolution is as follows.

       Whereas, The Clarion University Chapter of APSCURF approved on April 21, 2005, two annual memorial scholarships of $1,000 each;

       Resolved, That the 2009-2010 scholarships be designated memorials for our deceased colleagues

Paul E. Beck  01/12/09  Chemistry

John B. Cliff, Jr.  11/25/08  Mathematics

Vincent J. Curran  08/05/09  Health and Physical Education, Athletics

Robert Dean Hobbs  06/19/09  Art

Kristin Linda Marshall  07/26/09  Mass Media Arts, Journalism, and Communication Studies

John M. McLean  10/07/09  Music

Suzanne Louis P-Jobb  05/23/09  Modern Languages and Cultures

Roy H. Schreffler  05/22/09  Special Education

Dana S. Still  07/23/09  English

Norman Tannehill  01/05/09  Computer Information Science

Silas Townsend  02/05/09  Library

Read Full Post »

Do You Want To Play House?

When I read the announcement for a poverty simulation at Clarion University it seemed a quarter turn off or maybe just hairbrained.  Of what use is a faux empathy roll playing exercise?   A professional poverty chaser has a set idea of what poverty is all about.  Their paycheck depends on their knowing.  The non-professional willing to go to a daytime workshop is surely not clueless.  As for what it is to be poor, no workshop can begin to demonstrate better than past experiences.  When a kid weighing 90 pounds picks 300 pounds of cotton in a day, he knows poor.

So what follows is the full announcement plus three short postings I googled on the definition of poverty stricken and being poor.

Community Action, Inc. (Serving Clarion and Jefferson Counties) & The Clarion County Rural Family Economic Success (RuFES) Team cordially invite you to attend a POVERTY SIMULATION Thursday, May 21, 2009, 1:00pm to 3:00pm at Clarion University Gemmell Student Center, Multi-Purpose Room.  To RSVP contact: Robert Hanley at (814) 226-4785, extension 208 by Monday, May 11, 2009.  Pre-registration is required.  The Poverty Simulation experience is designed to help participants begin to understand what it might be like to live in a typical low-income family trying to survive from month to month.  Please join us in gaining an understanding of the realities faced by low-income people in your community.

I thought these three postings were the better of the lot available and you can read them in minutes.  You’ll know the difference between living in poverty and being poor before you get to Clarion University even if you still don’t know why poverty is so infectious and intractable.  If they call for questions, ask that one.

Asymmetrical Information: The poor really are different by Jane Galt is yours at www.janegalt.net/blog/archives/005450   Lana Evans has posted The difference between being poor and being Poverty Stricken at www.helium.com/items/619071   Dr. Davis, poor thing grew up without a first name, has a second posting Poor versus Poverty: Two Different Cultures at www.teachingcollegeenglish.com/2009/02/23   Charles Marlin

Read Full Post »

Names Hidden At Clarion University

I can not claim to have found this tidbit on my own as another university retiree pointed out to me that Wikipedia gives and perhaps withholds unique information about the university.  Under Notable alumni, there are seven graduates associated with athletics, one deceased legislator, and one talk radio personality, but there is no one from science, business, academia, armed services, literature, philanthropy, or the arts.  Doesn’t that make for a rather strange picture?

Nothing is said of any past or present faculty who have distinguished national accomplishments.  Perhaps Wikipedia does not allow such listing or perhaps someone thought we had none to list.  Who knows?

No one has ever found Joe Grunenwald, our CU president, short on an answer to any question within a hundred mile radius of the university, so where are the answers Joe?  We’ve been around since 1867.  Ain’t we got’em?  Charles Marlin

Read Full Post »

A Clarion County Collection: Post Cards & Photographs

Kevin D. Beichner has self-published a runaway best seller for the holiday season in Clarion County. His A Clarion County Collection: Post Cards & Photographs sells for $20 at locations scattered through out the county. By soliciting help from many residents he has images of every town and township. There are great shots of buildings and bridges, rivers, streets and stores, and Clarion University through its early years.

On page 167 he claims to have an early photograph of the Wayside Inn but if you use a magnifying glass the third man from the left looks like Chris Kurtzhal. Judge for yourself.

On page 75 he has a great early photograph of Seminary Hall, perhaps earlier than the post card reproduced here. When I came to the campus Seminary Hall was still in use. I didn’t teach in the building but I did administer final exams there. When the dunderheaded administration decided it was in the way, appeals did no good as administrators know best because they are administrators. Al Pfaff made a great photographic record of their effort over several unscheduled days to bring down the “unsafe” building. What they put on the site was and remains ugly.

A later administration erected a faux bell tower near the site but even students’ whose parents were not born when Old Seminary came down can sense that the faux tower neither stands nor rings in a league with what was lost. The faux tower will serve a purpose if it reminds the present and future administrations that heritage is not a commodity and that savaging heritage is antithetical to the being of a university. Charles Marlin

Read Full Post »

Hermie’s Corner Grocery In Its Heyday

Clarion, PA’s loved and admired printmaker Mary Hamilton has taken a step back in history to show Hermie’s Corner Grocery in its heyday. Long a landmark at Wood Street and Eighth Avenue, Hermie’s was the gateway into the Clarion University campus for generations of students, faculty, and townspeople. In the beginning Hermie’s was a community grocery that also sold sandwiches to hungry students on very tight budgets. Its latter days were as the nearest source to campus for cigarettes, gum, candy, and soda. The store is empty now and the property has been sold so the future for the corner is unknown.
The linoleum block print is 10 x 16″, in seven colors, signed, in an edition of 54, matted for $60 or framed and matted for $120. Shipping and tax additional. Contact the artist directly at skyflower@penn.com   Charles Marlin

Read Full Post »