Cheers & Jeers
Cheers: Brownsville’s Jolena Quarzo and Ringgold’s Ryan Pajak won individual titles last week at the WPIAL Class AA Cross Country Championship. The gold was Quarzo’s second and Pajak’s first. Cheers also to Uniontown’s Hope Trimmer for winning bronze in the same classification. Kudos also go out to Ringgold’s Nick Whaley and Charlee Leach, California’s Kolby Kent, Anastasia Georgagis and Alina McClafin, Uniontown’s Mason Stewart, Leyton Maust and Emily Angelo, Belle Vernon’s Viva Kreis, Southmoreland’s Lexi Ohler, Elizabeth Forward’s Laci Schwirian and Connellsville’s Zach Bigam for also qualifying for Saturday’s PIAA Championship.
Cheers: Agriculture is a big deal in Pennsylvania. There are more than 50,000 farms in the commonwealth, which generate almost $11 billion in earnings each year. Local students are getting the opportunity to learn more about this important part of the state’s life through the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture’s Farm to School Grant Program. The East End United Community Center in Uniontown was among area recipients, as were the Intermediate Unit 1 and Washington and California Area school districts in neighboring Washington County. EEUCC is putting its $15,000 grant to use by planting a school farm and taking agriculture-themed field trips. “We had the Farm to School grant over the summer. It went really well,” said executive director Steve Strange. “(The kids) loved the hands-on assignments. It’s one thing to talk about gardening, but when you can walk outside the building and pick the vegetables and taste the vegetables … see exactly how the entire process comes about, I don’t know if there’s any substitute for that.”
Cheers: George “Bly” Blystone of Waynesburg recently received honors by the Greene County Tourist Promotion Agency and Greene County Chamber of Commerce for his volunteer work. Last month, the tourist promotion agency presented Blystone with its 2021 Hospitality Volunteer of the Year award for his work with the W.A. Young & Sons Foundry and Machine Shop in Rices Landing, a historic landmark where he has volunteered as caretaker for 30 years. He also recently received the chamber’s 2021 Distinguished Service Award for his volunteer work in recovery; his work as a committee member for the ’50s Fest and Car Cruise; his service to the foundry, and his 50 years of volunteering at the Greene County Historical Society. He also received recognition and special citations from U.S. Rep. Guy Reschenthaler, state Rep. Pam Snyder, state Sen. Camera Bartolotta and the Greene County commissioners. Blystone is a shining example of community spirit whose many contributions are worthy of deep gratitude and respect.
Cheers: The outcome was preordained, but Pittsburgh made history Tuesday night by electing Ed Gainey mayor. Gainey, a Democrat who defeated incumbent mayor Bill Peduto in the May primary, trounced his Republican opponent Tony Moreno, a retired Pittsburgh police officer. Pittsburgh does not have a spotless record when it comes to race relations, and Gainey took note of the city’s history of segregation in his victory speech Tuesday. He also pointed out to his supporters that his victory “proved we can have a city for all. You proved that everybody can change.” History was also made in Boston, which elected its first female and first Asian American mayor, and in Cincinnati, which elected its first Asian American mayor. These are all signs of a country that is growing more diverse and inexorably changing.
Cheers: The Atlanta Braves won the World Series Tuesday night, defeating the heavily favored Houston Astros in six games. The Braves’ march through the playoffs and the World Series left egg on the face of many prognosticators – the team limped through the first half of the season, only coming alive in July. Even then, National League powerhouses like the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants were predicted to make short work of the Braves in the playoffs. And yet the Braves are 2021’s champions of baseball. It goes to show that it can be foolish to discount underdogs, and that ultimately all the confident predictions made by experts are ultimately of little value. You have to play the game, whether it’s in sports, politics, or any other endeavor.