Top Community stories of 2015
Roberto M. Esquivel|Herald-Standard
In this file photo, Bob and Louise Jameson are pictured outside their Penn-Craft home. The home was purchased by Louise’s father in 1943 for $5,000 and was the last stone home to be built. Penn-Craft was one of the towns featured in the Small Town Life series.
Roberto M. Esquivel|Herald-Standard
In this file photo, Army veteran Glenn Nielsen stands vigil during the Vietnam Veterans Inc. annual vigil in Hopwood. Nielsen was 17 years old when he enlisted in the U.S. Army. At 18, he was assigned to Tan Son Nhut Airbase in Vietnam where he served as a mechanic and operator of heavy equipment.
Amanda Steen | Herald-Standard
Above: In this file photo, Julie Michaels gives her daughter Sydney her medication while waiting for a doctor’s appointment at Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh in August 2014. Sydney has an intractable form of epilepsy, and Julie has been lobbying the Senate to pass a bill to legalize medical marijuana.
Right: In this file photo, Corporal Brandon Rumbaugh sits on his cot at the George C. Marshall Memorial Plaza at Five Corners in Uniontown, where he lived homeless for the month of November to bring awareness to the 20 percent of America’s homeless who are veterans.
Roberto M. Esquivel|Herald-Standard
In this 2014 file photo, Fred Saluga, a former police officer and now state director of the West Virginia chapter of Mutual UFO Network (MUFON), holds a cast of a large, four-digit track made in 1979 in Pittsburgh’s North Park.
By the Herald-Standard
News is much more than murder and mayhem, and that’s evident by the heart-warming, sensitive stories that highlight the Herald-Standard Community section.
It’s the place readers learn about each other, connect with one another, cry and laugh together. It’s the place readers can come to remember, amid any negativity surrounding them, the people who strive for unity, for purpose, for good and for community.
Here are some of the top Community stories of 2015:
Small communities dot the landscape of Fayette County
A series of articles highlighting the small towns that dot the landscape of Fayette County began in 2015 as a way to introduce readers to the people, culture and history within those communities.
The series, which will continue throughout 2016, has so far featured the close-knit community of Smock, a small coal patch town that has endured because of community pride.
We’ve learned about the Karolcik Theater on Liberty Street in Perryopolis, and we’ve met Mary Markley Hinebaugh, great-granddaughter of the founder of Markleysburg.
There was Confluence, where residents balance a quiet community and tourism mecca, and the town of Cardale took us back to childhood days, riding bikes until sunset.
Residents of Penn-Craft taught us the rich history of the town’s experiment, and the people of the bedroom community of Whitehouse say they are content with solitude.
We’ve heard the story of the changing landscape of Adelaide over the years, rode along the windy Main Street of Vanderbilt and up and down the hills of Grindstone.
Most recently, we learned about the people of Tower Hill 1 and 2, where community officials say they are positioned well for the future.
Injured veteran lives on Uniontown streets for a month
Uniontown native Brandon Rumbaugh paid a hefty price while serving his country in Afghanistan. Though he returned to the states with his life, the marine’s legs were left on the war-torn sand of the Middle East.
Through the generosity and attentiveness of others, Rumbaugh was the recipient of good fortune last year in the form of a specially designed home, modified for his disabilities. But as he enjoyed the comfortable new commodities, he couldn’t help but think about those who were less fortunate. This past fall, Rumbaugh wanted to do his part to raise awareness and funds for his fellow servicemen and -women who are homeless.
For 30 days in November, Rumbaugh camped out on the streets of Uniontown in an effort to simulate homelessness to draw attention to the cause. Rumbaugh ended his mission on the anniversary of the day he lost his legs.
During his time on the streets — a time that was marked by cold, rainy weather — Rumbaugh met with thousands of students in local schools, veterans from the area, and passersby as they stopped by to see how they could help.
Overall, Rumbaugh said he was encouraged to find that people in his hometown genuinely want to help — they just might not know how to do so. By providing guidance and insight, Rumbaugh hoped he could motivate a new generation to help those in need, especially servicemen and -women.
By the end of his monthlong mission, Rumbaugh had helped to raise nearly $25,000 for the cause that means so much to him.
Connellsville mom continues push for legalized medical marijuana
Medical marijuana isn’t legal in the state of Pennsylvania. But a family in Connellsville has made it their mission to raise awareness for the drug’s positive medical benefits and to fight lawmakers for its status, all for their young daughter, Sydney, and thousands of others who suffer from seizures.
The Michaels family have struggled with Sydney’s catastrophic diagnosis, Dravet syndrome, since infancy. The six-year-old suffers from roughly 3,000 seizures in a week due to the rare form of intractable epilepsy.
During the past year, her mother, Julie, has traveled to Harrisburg to meet with lawmakers and ralliers to share their story and communicate why medical marijuana could mean life or death for her young daughter.
Julie Michaels has argued that medical marijuana cannot only treat children with seizures — which would offer young Sydney a better quality of life — but also those with PTSD and dementia.
This year has held positive milestones for young Sydney, like entering kindergarten — a milestone that her parents were worried she would never meet.
The family was cautiously hopeful as the bill entered the state House again, not long after a previous version of the bill was shot down.
But there have also been setbacks, notably after the vote for medical marijuana failed in June.
Julie Michaels even commented on her daughter’s seizures this past summer, saying they’ve gotten worse and more serious.
They remain hopeful, however, that the bill will make it out of the House and into a tangible dream for Sydney, and countless others who suffer from debilitating seizures.
Fayette County Vietnam veterans remember the war
The United States involvement in the Vietnam War marked its 50th anniversary in 2015. More than 2,000 soldiers from Fayette County alone served in the war, according to VVI President Glenn Nielsen, a charter member of the organization that was founded in 1984 to answer a growing need.
Fifty names are etched in a granite wall in Hopwood — the names of Fayette County’s fallen heroes of the Vietnam War.
The Herald-Standard began a series telling the stories of some of the soldiers who made it home to Fayette County — a series that will continue into next year.
Some spoke through the pain, remembering their time in war. Some held tight to reminders and memories of time served and friends lost. There were stories of fear, bravery, pride and triumph.
Those who didn’t make it home are also remembered in the series, with a special section listing their names, branch of service and other information.
Bigfoot surfaces in Fayette County
Bigfoot and the paranormal surfaced in stories throughout 2015, sometimes calling national attention to local legends.
They began in January with the national broadcast of an episode of Animal Planet’s “Finding Bigfoot” television series that was filmed in Fayette County in 2014, titled “Paranormal Squatchtivity.” The hourlong show included segments from a town hall meeting at Uniontown’s State Theatre where residents discussed personal encounters as well as local field work.
Series researcher James “Bobo” Fay noted, “This is good territory with lots of food, sustenance, water, cover woods and caves, so people shouldn’t be surprised they’ve got Squatches here.”
In February, Uniontown songwriter Walter Shrum released a CD called “Tribute to the Stars of Bigfoot” that included 10 songs about Bigfoot and Bigfoot enthusiasts.
“I’m still learning about this stuff. All this opened up when I started writing these songs in 2012 and the doorway just kept opening, and I got into their world,” Shrum said.
Benefiting the county Humane Society, the April Ghouls Weekend Event in Waynesburg was billed as the largest paranormal event ever held in Greene County.
Presentations included “Black Mirror Scrying to Contact the Afterlife and Spirits,” “Haunted National Parks of Fayette County” and “Ouija: Tales From the Talking Board.”
Coordinator Kevin Paul stated, “If you’re willing to think outside the box, it’s a lot of fun.”
In June, California University graduate Jared Show saw the film he co-wrote, produced and starred in with Curt “Pittsburgh Dad” Woolton called “Bigfoot, the Movie” released on DVD, Blu-Ray and digital download. The comedy horror movie was filmed in Show’s native Ellwood City and set in the 1980s with mullets, quads and chewing tobacco as well as a distinct western Pennsylvania accent.
Show said, “”We always wanted to make a movie in Pennsylvania. and we always thought Bigfoot was funny.”
Study of the unexplained continued in October with the first Fayette County UFO, Bigfoot and Paranormal Expo, held by Project Talent Theatre Workshops in the Greater Connellsville Community Center.
Nationally known investigators spoke, including Stan Gordon of Greensburg, who said he always looks for rational explanations behind reports but noted, “Every year, there are things you can’t explain and can’t dismiss.”
Staff reporters Olivia Goudy and Frances Borsodi Zajac contributed to this report.