Around town: May 2009 Archives

Thanks to the good example set by Pat over at The Southpaw, I've figured out how to use polls on the ol' blog.

If you don't vote, though, I'll feel silly. So please vote!

Today's poll is in honor of this week's Weekly Record feature on the best recipes for local fruits.

So, pick your favorite, and also feel free to leave me a comment telling me where you buy your local fruit. We often get ours at the Farmers Market, or at either Brown's in Springfield Township or Whitceomb's in West Manchester Township, but I am always open to new places!

Another pop quiz! Can you guess where I was in York County today, that I came upon this nice family? I'll give you a hint, though you probably won't need it - We had a nice lunch and did a little shopping at one of Hubby's favorite stores.

Leave your guess in the comments!

Note from Joan: I asked one of the coolest people I know in the newsroom, Matt Kinnear - one of our assistant sports editors - to guest-blog for me today. Hopefully, this will be the first in a series of posts by various people who have completely different "York experiences" than I do!

Memorial Day weekend marks the passing of what has been the biggest year of my life -- getting a new job, moving out of state and living by myself for the first time, buying my first new car, getting my first promotion -- and my first year in York.

While shopping at Macy's this past weekend, I sat in the shoe department near some lovely older ladies for a while, and had the privilege of hearing them talking. First of all, they were great. Very friendly, which I appreciated.

Second of all, they were full of Yorkisms, which I loved!

In one case, they were talking about shirt sizes, and one woman told the other, "You don't want that! It's an extra-large!"

Now, here's your two-part pop quiz. First, how did this awesome York County woman pronounce "extra," and second, what is the most famous example of that same type of pronunciation with another word?

I'll give you a hint: I doctored the image below, but if I hadn't, you'd see it!

One unusual hobby that Hubby and I share is the love of decrepit places. We love nothing more than going for a drive and finding buildings falling down. One of our best finds was an abandoned mini golf course - that was amazing!

Anyway, we love to take pictures of these things, mostly all around Pennsylvania. Our dream is to start a photo gallery Web site with a name like "Pennsylvania in ruins" to chronicle all these, in which we'd post ours and also take submissions or suggestions.

Well, on Sunday, while Chris was leaving Heritage Hills, where his family had a scrumptious Mother's Day brunch, he snapped this photo at Mount Rose Avenue and Route 24.

We think it's a shame that this intersection - one of the county's most congested, I'd wager - has such a falling-down building on one of its corners. I was talking to my boss about it; his wife works at a facility inside the HardKohr gym there (formerly Yorktowne Racket & Fitness), and he said the problem is that it's possible they could want to widen the road there to allow for turning lanes. So, of course, all the business owners are worried about how much of their property would be taken for that, and that means this lot likely won't sell.

I can definitely see why that's a problem. But, come on. Only in York County do you have a building that still has "Vote Kerry" graffiti in 2009.

Today was just a gorgeous day.

And, guess what? Occasionally, the bosses trust me enough to let me out in public to represent the company. Those who know me in person know this trust might be misplaced; I'm the sort to spill my chicken marsala on my lap and all over the tablecloth during a big dinner meeting, or to accidentally send my kebab of chicken flying onto the plate of the newspaper's publisher, sitting immediately to my left at the Chinese restaurant. (Hypothetically. Of course.)

The good news is, I was able to go with my boss, our managing editor Randy Parker, today to meet with the folks from the Southern York County Business Association at the Pleasant Valley Golf Course outside Stewartstown, and nothing bad happened!

We were there to share with the group how they could get their news items published in the paper, a service we provide both by going out and by hosting seminars in the office several times a year. (If you're ever curious about that very topic, e-mail me at jconcilio@ydr.com.)

I got to see a beautiful area of southern York County while riding in a convertible with the top down (Randy's car, not mine) - but best of all, I met some great people with great stories to tell, and I got to put some faces with some names I've "met" only by e-mail.

I know I'd miss someone if I tried to name them all, but thanks to all the members of the organization who welcomed me, and especially to those who took the time to talk to me afterward, including Demi Fair from the Paul Smith Library, Brenda Leisinger from Wellness Designs, Tracy Lau from Tastefully Simple, "Dr. Ben" Rothstein from Centers for Healing and Gwen Newman from Milestones Communications. Your warm welcome was great!

As it turns out, many of my friends are involved in some local theater productions in the coming week or two.

My friend Adam Jones is one of the leads in "Lend Me A Tenor" at the Hanover Little Theater, 360 Blooming Grove Road. Shows are 8 p.m. May 7, 8, 9 and 14, 15, 16. Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the Readers' Cafe, 125 Broadway in Hanover, or by calling 630-2524

Adam is a professionally trained actor who's done tons of shows in New York City - and we're lucky enough to have him back in the area, so definitely go see him.

Another friend, Dan Stief, co-runs an arts group called OrangeMite Studios, which, among its other endeavors, stages theater performances at "The Barn" in Dover Township.

They've got a production of "As You Like It" coming May 15 and 16, with a Renaissance Fair-like set of events included.

Details from their poster below:

Both Adam and Dan went to Dover High with me, and they're both exceptionally talented - much more so than I am!

If you plan to attend either of these productions, let me know, because I'd like to go and would like someone to go WITH!