A & E

Zachary Kochis, 8, of Latrobe waited patiently while his brother Braden, 3, checked out all the fun crafts at the 13th annual Ice Cream Blast on Saturday in Greensburg's Nevin Arena at Lynch Field. But after about five minutes, he was ready to get down to business. "I'm here for the ice cream," Kochis said. His father, Andy, chuckled and moved the boys to the back of the arena, where five Dairy Queen flavors and Giant Eagle cakes were waiting to be tested.

The event is sponsored each year by ParentWISE, a child abuse and neglect prevention agency, recently merged with Family Services, that focuses on mental health and foster care. ParentWISE program coordinator Julie Cawoski said more than $13,000 was raised Saturday, which the groups will use to educate parents.

Sponsors picked an ice cream flavor and renamed it. Visitors voted for their favorite. Lynch Field Dairy Queen assistant manager Nicole Airhart said the store will feature the winner on its marquee during the month of August. Dollar Bank's Moreo for Your Money took home this year's title.

Children waited in line for a caricature by artist Randy Bish. Entertainment on the main stage, pizza and popcorn in the back, and craft booths in the middle had 6-year-old twins Christopher and Matthew Cox of Unity Township dizzy with excitement. Their parents, Anita and Mark, said they bring the boys to the Ice Cream Blast every year.

Volunteers helped the day run smoothly, including members of Westmoreland County Community College's retired senior volunteer program, Hazel Rugh, Dawn Ritter and Kathy Onusko. Chris Venzin and her husband, Dave, also help out every year, because they love to see the kids having a great time.

-- Jennifer Miele, WTAE

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Living History

Think about a long, jarring, dusty ride in sweltering temperatures.

Add a bed shared with four strangers (who bathe maybe twice a year) and the possibility of bedbugs, a second-floor room with no open windows, and a community chamber pot.

Such was life for 19th-century travelers, said Jim Koontz, innkeeper at the Compass Inn Museum, on Saturday during Living History Weekend.

"You rented a place to sleep, not a room," Koontz said during a tour of the 1799 stagecoach stop along Route 30 in Laughlintown. "You can imagine a nice, August evening. It could be a smelly place."

Lucas Waugaman, 10, and his brother, Paul, 7, with their mom, Niki, all of Harrison City, chuckled and wrinkled their noses when Koontz said the innkeeper's children were responsible for emptying the chamber pots each morning.

Nearby was a small room where dignitaries such as President Zachary Taylor got a bed to themselves, and a women's chamber, with a replica of a nosegay -- a bouquet females carried to mask odors.

Thankfully, an unattached cookhouse helped to keep the heat down, and protected the log-and-stone structure from blazing cook fires, said guide Kathy Koontz.

Peggy Shepler, president of Ligonier Valley Historical Society, which maintains the inn, said Living History and its demonstrations drew visitors from Pittsburgh to Connecticut.

Even a 60-something Ligonier resident, who had been passing by for years, couldn't resist.

"He couldn't believe what we had here. He was so happy when he left," Shepler said. "We don't want to be the best-kept secret, so come see us."

Also seen: Doug and Brenda Lansbery of Harrison City; Angelo and Norma Lettiere of West Mifflin; Louise Weimer Riffle, a Laughlintown native from Piedmont, S.C.; and Donna Smithley of Ligonier, who enjoyed numerous artifacts and docent stories spiced with etymology.

-- Dawn Law

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Giving Hope to Cancer Patients

The third annual Hope Gala, which benefits cancer research, was a lovely Saturday evening at Seven Springs Mountain Resort. But it also was packed full of emotion, as just about every guest had some tie to the disease.

Event co-chair Elisabeth Carlson-Scott of Champion lost her husband, George, to non-Hodgkins lymphoma when he was 46.

Co-chair Dr. Bennie Harsanyi McClure of Champion said her sister has breast cancer. Both she and her husband, Jim Scott, former CEO of the resort, lost their fathers to cancer.

Greeting guests at the entrance to the event were the Coffman brothers, Chris, 19, James, 17, Robert, 14 and Adam 16, of Indian Head, whose father, Dennis, died of a brain tumor at the age of 39.

After cocktails and entertainment, 70 guests enjoyed dinner at Helen's restaurant. Then they heard a moving speech by Washington County funeral director Michael Neal, whose tireless efforts to help cancer patients will become state law early next year.

His wife, Sherrie, suffers from stage 4 neuroendocrine pancreatic cancer, and had to change prescriptions just days after a $16,000 dose of medicine arrived at their home. "There was nothing we could do with it. The doctors told us to just throw it away," Neal said. "I decided there had to be a way that people can surrender their unopened, unused drugs so that people without insurance can use them."

By next year, repositories across the state will be open.

More than $7,000 was raised by guests including Robert and Karen Bruce; Jack Keslar; Clifford and Nancy Forlines; William and Linda Klein; Ernest and Joann Long; Karin and Robin Martin; Jerry and Cherie McAllister; James and Connie Nassif; Paul and Melodie Phillips; Roger and Diane Quigley; Chris and Valerie Resh; and Brian and Marsha Younkin.

-- Jennifer Miele, WTAE

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