History

(Monday, March 17, 2025) by Ann Silverthorn with Jim DeDad It was cool, but the rain held off as we met with our group at 9:00 a.m. on St. Patrick’s Day. Our coach driver took us on a sightseeing tour of the city with Guide Cam narrating. Here are some interesting takeaways: The Crown Promenade, where we…

(Saturday, March 15, 2025) by Ann Silverthorn with Jim DeDad Our long bus ride departed at 7:30 a.m. for the Stuart Highway, then the Lasseter Highway going west toward Uluru, the Aboriginal word for the huge monolith most of us know as Ayers Rock and what I was most excited to see on this trip. I…

(Friday, March 14, 2025) by Ann Silverthorn and Jim DeDad Those who opted for the pre-dawn, hot-air balloon ride were being picked up at 4:55 a.m., while the rest of us, who like their feet on the ground, enjoyed breakfast in the hotel restaurant, before everyone was picked up from the hotel at 8:45 a.m. for…

(Thursday, March 13, 2025) by Ann Silverthorn with Jim DeDad We were up at 3:00 a.m. for a 4:15 a.m. transport to our 6:00 a.m. flights to Brisbane and then to Alice Springs. It was nice that they gave us boxed breakfasts while we waited for the coach. No coffee, though, so that was a…

(Sunday, March 9, 2025) by Ann Silverthorn with Jim DeDad As mentioned in yesterday’s post, we had the day free until 4:30 p.m., when we would leave by coach for our dinner cruise on Sydney Harbour. Our tour manager, Cam, had provided many options for Sydney activities in one of his frequent, informative emails, and we…

Note: I am a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution and wrote this article for my chapter’s newsletter. The Daughters of the American Revolution has a complicated legacy regarding American contralto, Marian Anderson (1897-1993). Raised in Philadelphia, Anderson showed her musical talent early on, but because she was black, she was turned down…

There was once a telephone service in Erie, Pennsylvania, that was subscription based, designed so that a sole interest could not direct the future of the company. Well, that was the plan. As early as the 1870s, telephones were in use in Erie, but they were rare and very expensive. The Bell Telephone Company held…

My writing friend, Sue Henninger, had a great idea recently to visit the National Comedy Center in Jamestown, NY, for a break from the editing of our novels, neither of which are funny. She learned that the center has a new Carl Reiner exhibit that shares his creative process, career highlights, and also sketches the type of human…

Just outside Erie, Pennsylvania, in Millcreek Township, a former one-room schoolhouse sits smack in the headlights of “progress.” Located on West Eighth Street near Presque Isle State Park, the structure has a long history that possibly dates back more than 150 years.  The schoolhouse is not currently listed on the National Register of Historic Places,…

More than a dozen citizens spoke on both sides of the contentious Presque Isle Gateway Project in the crowded assembly room at the Millcreek Township Municipal Building on February 28, 2023. The agenda for the Millcreek Township Board of Supervisors meeting, which began at 5:00 p.m., and included firearms purchases for the police, a computer…