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Professor addresses historical society meeting

The Bradford Era — by Fran De Lancey

Dr. Richard Frederick presented a seldom-seen and often humorous look at our 16th president Thursday to the McKean County Historical Society. The annual fall dinner meeting was held at the United Christian Church in East Smethport. Frederick, professor of history and director of the history/political science program at University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, said that 75 years ago, noted historian James Randall, posed the question, “Has the Lincoln theme been exhausted?” The answer came back, “No.”  Read more »

Is There Anything We Still Do Not Know About Lincoln?

Smethport Web – by Nathan Muller

The McKean County Historical Society held its annual fall dinner on Thursday, October 15th at the East Smethport United Christian Church. The event featured guest speaker Dr. Richard Frederick, Director of History at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, who is known for his insightful and entertaining lectures.

In this year of the Lincoln Bicentennial — and noting that some 16,000 volumes have been written about the 16th president since his death in April 1865 — Dr. Frederick pursued the theme, “Is there anything we still do not know about Lincoln?” Dr. Frederick reviewed some of the ways in which Lincoln’s legacy has been reshaped over the generations, both from the discovery of new evidence and through new interpretations.

Listen now or download to your MP3 player.

New survey finds Pennsylvania rattlesnake populations waning

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette — by Terry McCormick

The buzzing was loud … and close.

Matt Wilson quickly glanced downward and spotted the source. A timber rattlesnake lay curled only a few feet away in the knee-high, wild huckleberry patch where he and his wife Paula were hiking.

“I heard another buzz and looked down by my boot,” he said. “One was right beside it. Two more were right in front of me. We decided to move into the woods. We almost never see snakes without nearby rocks for them to escape under. It was very unusual. Just when you think you know everything about them, they confound you.”

Despite the occasional confounding, the husband and wife team from Smethport, Pa., had a busy summer this year fulfilling assessment requests from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission’s Timber Rattlesnake Site Assessment and Inventory Project. The project’s goal is to check the nearly 600 known rattlesnake den sites in the state, while assessing the health and status of the overall population of the reptile, which in Pennsylvania is a “candidate species’ for listing as threatened or endangered.  Read more »

Reinventing Smethport

Penn State Agriculture — by Steve Williams
Arriving in Smethport from any direction, you can’t help but be awareof the trees. You wind along a narrow, two-lane highway where the mountains creep right up to the road. The pavement runs miles through tunnels of trees until finally opening onto a small valley.

You’re in McKean County, the state’s most heavily forested county, where the Borough of Smethport, population 1,684, lies within 5.2 million acres of federal, state, and privately owned forest. It’s a small town with a history of creativity—a toy industry developed more than 100 years ago is still going strong with toys like Wooly Willy. But that’s not all that’s unique about Smethport.  Read more »

Horses used in movie “Unstoppable” boarded at Smethport farm

The Bradford Era — by Joellen Chesnut

The recent influx of stars and camera crews for the filming of the 20th Century Fox creation “Unstoppable” also brought in stars of the four-legged variety.

“Houdini” and “Finder” may not be known by name, and “Houdini” may not even be known by sight, but the two horses are recognizable by film credits.

Nancy Dart who, along with her husband Ray, owns Rainy Day Farms outside of Smethport, confirmed that they had two boarders for roughly a week that had notable acting experience.  Read more »

Charlie Company Honored in Smethport Ceremony

Smethport Web — by Les Jordan, Jr.

The Smethport Fire Department and the Smethport Veterans of Foreign Wars, Post #2497, combined forces on Sunday afternoon, Oct 4, to honor National Guard members of Charlie Company, who recently returned from service in Iraq.

Members of the unit, the 1/112th Infantry, Stryker Brigade Combat Team were carried in a special “Welcome Home Charlie Company” parade down Smethport’s Main Street to a ceremony at the Courthouse.   Read more

Mobile Vet Center on Display in Smethport

Smethport Web — by Les Jordan, Jr.

The Department of Veterans Affairs had their new Mobile Vet Center on display in Smethport in front of the American Legion Bucktail Post on Main Street, Thursday, Oct 1. The van is one of 50 new trucks purchased by the department for use throughout the United States.

The satellite equipped van was in Smethport to offer services to veterans and their families. While aimed primarily to provide counseling and support services for combat veterans and their families, the services also extend to all veterans who can receive recommendations for specific services offered at other Veterans Administration Centers across the country when visiting the van.   Read more