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Creating Memories

Last weekend my family and I traveled south for my granddaughter’s wedding. She married a man she met at PSU. He grew up south of Pittsburgh. They have dated more than six years. When she graduated, he followed her to Texas while she went to Texas A&M Veterinary School. He worked in Houston, while she went to school. Carly chose to honor family memories during her wedding. She chose to wear my wedding gown which I walked down the aisle in more than 58 years ago. She had it professionally cleaned to whiten it. Her mother also wore the same dress more than 30 years ago. For pictures ...

Lessons From The World Of Sport

This past weekend was highlighted by the 153rd occasion of a golf tournament—the British Open or, more correctly, if you live in the U.K., “The Open.” If you were an American, you had to be proud as the top four finishers were Americans, the winner being the current number one golfer in the world, Scottie Sheffler. But, golf is not just an American sport—it is a world sport. And, guess who was in the final pairing on Sunday? Yes, a player by the name of Haotong Li, from China. The lesson here was obvious: competitors don’t have to be enemies. The world of sport teaches you ...

Keeping Our Cool When Talking Climate

Ignorance, like history, repeats itself when people refuse to learn from it. One lesson we should have learned is that science and ideology do not mix. We saw this during Biden’s disastrous COVID response, which gave the U.S. the worst COVID death rate in the world. Yet some people still cling to COVID Vax/Lockdown Ideology. So it is with Climate Ideology. Last September, Hurricane Helene tracked north into southern Appalachia, bringing massive flooding to western North Carolina. Immediately the Gnostic cry went up: Climate change! Of course, people making this claim couldn’t be ...

County Trails Perfect For All Seasons

Chautauqua County is home to a wealth of year-round outdoor recreation opportunities. Whether you like to swim, fish, hike, bike, ski, or find one of the many other ways to enjoy the natural world surrounding us, there are plenty of places to find exactly what you want in a thoroughly enjoyable setting. Some of the very best places to go include the more than 250 miles of recreational trails available throughout the county. Most of us take these trails for granted and don’t fully appreciate what an important economic development driver these trails are. In addition to providing low ...

Attend Sacred Song Service At Chautauqua

CHAUTAUQUA—If you haven’t read John Whittaker’s page-one story on Chautauqua Institution in the July 19-20 edition of this newspaper, please pull it out of your recyclables. This well-written story is worth reading. Twice, maybe thrice. Chautauqua Institution is an extraordinary place. People from all over come to Chautauqua Institution during the nine-week summer season, and we’re fortunate to have the institution in our backyard. Yet Chautauqua Institution has challenges to meet. What’s striking about the Whittaker story is that Kyle Keogh, the institution’s ...

Memories Of Camping With Family

Last week when I wrote about making coffee with lemon water it reminded me of the times when the family camped and had campfires. The campfires came first. Often, we went up on our hill. There was a spot where the trees opened up into a nice spot for a campfire. I remember when Todd had a friend come with animals for him to treat and we went up on the hill for a fire. What a nice evening. At that point we all came down to go to bed. The children camped with friends up on the hill too. They cane down for breakfast. I recall one morning when I made pancakes because that was all I had ...