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Winnie's legacy - a nature reserve
Winnie's legacy: Arnie and daughters
Kim Stepinsky/for the Tribune-Review
Winnie's legacy: Belli
Notre Dame pride: Bernie and Dolly Lynch with the Rev. Monsignor Roger Statnick
Kim Stepinsky/for the Tribune-Review
Stories from beyond: Nancy Egan and Tom Crytzer perform
Kim Stepinsky/for the Tribune-Review
Dawn Law is a stringer for the Tribune-Review.
After her death in 1999, Palmer, with his daughters, Peg (Palmer) Wears, of Durham, N.C., and Amy Saunders, of Orlando, Fla., spearheaded development of her vision.
A trust funded the purchase of 25 acres of the 50-acre sanctuary for plants and wildlife, with the remainder from St. Vincent College, which will operate its environmental-education center from a structure constructed from the beams and limestone of a 19th-century barn.
At an opening reception Saturday, Palmer said he was overwhelmed by support for the project.
"I'm sure Winnie's watching us. This is something everyone in this community is going to enjoy."
Other family present: Palmer's wife, Kit; (Palmer) Wears' husband, Peter; and their children, Will, Anna and Nicki; Saunders' husband, Roy; and daughter, Annie; Winnie's brother, Marty Walzer and his wife, Cindy; and Palmer's siblings, Jerry, with his daughter, Amanda; Lois Jean Tilley; and Sandy Sarni, with Vin.
Education-center director Angela Belli revealed reserve goals: land enhancement, connecting with St. Vincent's wetlands, gristmill and campus, and conducting tours, environmental programs and classes.
"The possibilities are endless," Belli said. "We need to reach out to nature to give us a sense of our place and our natural environment."
St. Vincent chancellor and Archabbot Douglas Nowicki said part of Winnie's legacy was reconnecting young people with nature.
It reflects "not only the wonderful person and tremendous spirit that Winnie was," Nowicki said. "It reflects that vision, that commitment she had to this community."
Seen at the reception: former head of Homeland Security, Tom Ridge; St. Vincent president Jim Towey, with his wife, Mary; Doc and Bunny Giffin; Unity Township supervisor Jake Blank, with his wife, Jennifer; Douglas and Laura Dick; retired USX Corp. chairman David Roderick; Becky Fisher; The Rev. Earl Henry; Pete and Mary Luster, and children, Tara and Logan Jamieson; Tim Neher, president of Seminole Golf Club in Juno Beach, Fla., with his wife, Molly; Dick and Ann Marie Connolly; Spider and Kathy Miller; and Brian Mills.
| Notre Dame pride |
Members of the Notre Dame Club of Greensburg/Uniontown attended an annual state of the university address Thursday at DeNunzio's Italian Chophouse at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity Township.
Introductory comments were by club president Milt Munk, with a pre-dinner blessing by Monsignor Roger Statnick.
Each year, ambassadors from the University of Notre Dame meet with similar clubs, which number in the hundreds around the world, to answer alumni questions and provide updates on admission, costs and, of course, the Fightin' Irish.
Guest speaker was Thomas Harvey, director of the special master's-degree program for nonprofit leaders at the university's Mendoza College of Business.
The 1,250-acre campus of Notre Dame, founded in 1842 in Indiana by a priest with the Congregation of Holy Cross, offers four undergraduate colleges, as well as the School of Architecture, the Law School, graduate school and 10 research institutes.
Of 14,501 applications for the fall semester, only 3,366 were accepted, and the average SAT score for incoming freshmen is 1,378.
"It's an incredible campus of talent," Harvey said.
Alumni and guests: Murrysville Magisterial District Judge Charles R. Conway, with his wife, Diane, and their daughter, Maureen, Iva Munk, Bill and Kathy Pfouts, Bob and Ellen Pishko, Karen Heasley, Ed and Chrissie Gieselman, the Rev. Donald Conroy, Eric and Michele Bononi, with their daughter, Nicole, B. Patrick and Lou Costello, Bernie and Dolly Lynch, Chris and Cristina DeDiana, Andy and Jeannette Bury, with their grandchildren, Josh, Jenna and Jared Zaldonis, Gerry and Faith Cano, Karen Rudy and her daughter, Becky Galley.
| Local artists summon stories from beyond |
When you walk into the distillery at the West Overton Museums along Route 819 in Scottdale, there is no denying the feeling that you are not alone.
The history of the pre-Civil War village is rich with ghost sightings, presumed to be spirits of the family who, more than a century ago, made whisky there.
The village also is the birthplace of Henry Clay Frick, the coke and coal magnate who rose from working class to millionaire by age 30, helping to fuel the steel boom in Pittsburgh.
Local authors say the history of the place is strange but true, just like the ghost stories in their books.
On Saturday, the authors gathered with artists at the distillery for the annual "Authors' and Artists' Tea and Book Signing."
"Weird West Overton" is a collaboration between Mary Ann Mogus, museum board president; Ed Kelemen, board member; and Brendan Kelemen, his young son and a poet.
Kate Bannon, of Scottdale, said, "I'm very interested in local history, and I came here to see something I haven't seen before."
She did. She saw a video of orbs the artists claim to have captured floating around the museum grounds.
For the event, 150 people joined Bannon to get a sneak peek of other books, such as "Country Chronicles: A Vivid Collection of Fayette County Histories," written by Ceane O'Hanlon-Lincoln.
Guests enjoyed 19th-century music sung by a group called The Home Front and had an opportunity to pick up a CD compiled by a local women's group called The Remnants. "Bits and Pieces" features the autoharp, dulcimer and bowed psaltery.
Artists and authors seen at the event were Tom Crytzer, Nancy Egan, Karen Lihan, Ann Baltich, Lonnie Rittenour, Linda Cotelli, Barb Miller, Ron Shafer and Marge Burke.
-- Jennifer Miele, WTAE
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