Looking back: March 14-22
A look at some of the headlines gracing the pages of the Observer-Reporter and Waynesburg Republican this week in Greene County history:
New Greene Arc program
to help mentally ill
For many years Greene Arc Inc. has provided services to help people with mental retardation live successfully and independently in the community.
The nonprofit corporation now plans to take another step by offering the types of support and services it currently offers people with developmental disabilities to those with mental illnesses.
Greene Arc received a license in January from the state Department of Public Welfare to operate a new “psych-rehab” program. Developed with the assistance of Chestnut Ridge Counseling Services in Fayette County, the program will begin accepting referrals Monday.
“The primary population we have served are individuals with developmental disabilities,” said Cynthia Dias, Greene Arc executive director. “We will now expand our services to assist those with functional disabilities resulting from mental illness.”
The new program, the first of its kind in the county, will be a “nice fit” for Greene Arc, Dias said. That is because the types of services the corporation now provides are the same needed by people with mental illnesses who are trying to adjust to life in the community.
The program will not include psychiatric counseling or medication, services normally offered by the individual’s doctor or by a hospital.
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Waynesburg officials discuss
major park improvements
WAYNESBURG – Borough officials want to tackle major improvements to the cluster of parks known as the commons, but they also want to preserve the area’s character and history.
The borough held a public meeting Monday to find out what kinds of changes residents would like to see in the commons. No one from the community attended, but six people affiliated with borough government discussed the parks nonetheless.
The commons, composed of West, Richie, College, Monument and East parks, are surrounded by the Waynesburg University campus, but the borough owns and maintains the parks. Borough officials plan to apply for a state grant to help pay for the improvements.
Mayor Blair Zimmerman said he loves seeing children sledding, tossing Frisbees and playing kickball in the parks. The area is perfect for those types of spontaneous activities, but Zimmerman said he couldn’t imagine erecting playground equipment there.
“That belongs in a different type of park,” he said. “It is such a beautiful place. We need to preserve it.”
Many of the improvements discussed Monday concerned repairs to existing features in the parks. A gazebo, which is the main feature in Richie Park, has fallen into disrepair, and borough leaders are considering repairing it or constructing a new one. Suggestions also include installing new sidewalks to encircle the commons; adding lights, benches, trees and shrubs; and refurbishing Lake Juanita, the small, man-made pond in College Park.
Corner Cupboard to close
Jackson Township pantry
The 30-plus clients of the Jackson Township food pantry will be required to choose from three other pantries when the rural facility in western Greene County shuts down next month.
Corner Cupboard Food Bank, which distributes food boxes monthly at 15 sites in the county, notified the Jackson Township pantry’s clients and volunteers Saturday that the closing will take effect in April.
“We are just trying to fine tune our operations,” said Jan Caldwell, director of Corner Cupboard Food Bank. “There are four pantries out there within a five-mile radius.”
Jackson Township residents can select from pantries in Center, Gilmore or Springhill/Freeport townships.
But the decision to shut down operations is not sitting well with Ellen Weaver, who has worked at the Jackson Township pantry for more than 10 years.
“We are a very rural area, and we need the pantry out here,” Weaver said. “It is going to be very inconvenient for our clients because they will have to travel almost twice as far to pick up their food baskets,” she said.
Jackson Township distributes its food from 6:30 to 8 p.m. the second Tuesday of each month.
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New Meadowlark Park
dugouts a team effort
WAYNESBURG – Just like a well played baseball game, the work to construct new dugouts at Meadowlark Park in Morrisville was a team effort.
“I’m glad we live in a small town, where we can work things like this out,” said Roy Barnhart, vice president for finance at Waynesburg College.
Barnhart said the college cooperated with Waynesburg Borough and Central Greene School District to build the 40-foot-long, concrete block dugouts. The construction project wrapped up about two weeks ago.
Borough council donated $5,000 to the dugout project and Central Greene contributes annually for the facility’s upkeep. The college footed most of the total bill of $25,500.
Both the Waynesburg College Yellow Jackets and the Waynesburg Central Red Raiders use the field for baseball games in the spring. Other local teams can play at the diamond in the summer, and the outfield plays host to soccer games at other times during the year.
The old dugouts were in rather poor shape and too small to house all the team members.
“They were in terrible shape,” said Jed Howard, borough manager. “But now, the dugouts look very nice. They did a real nice job.”
The new dugouts are the latest improvements made to the facility in recent years. Last summer, the college purchased a tarp to protect the infield in the event of inclement weather.
Council votes to eliminate
parking meters
WAYNESBURG – Street parking meters will be a thing of the past in Waynesburg Borough in the next week or so.
Upon the recommendation of Police Chief Timothy Hawfield, borough council voted unanimously to remove remaining meters from as streets as soon as it can be done.
The action was taken because of the high incidence of vandalism that has made inoperable all but 108 meters. Hawfield said that a couple of weekends ago 32 meters were destroyed by thieves breaking into them for the coins they contain, and estimated that it would take more than $7,000 to repair all of the accumulated damaged meters.
Police will continue to monitor meters until the clocks and heads are removed after which the two-hour parking limit on streets “will be strictly enforced.”
WPIAL gains five
state mat champs
Washington County wrestlers hold two state scholastic titles as a result of Saturday’s PIAA tournament at Penn State University but the big story is about the one the county doesn’t hold.
McGuffey High School sophomore Tom Teagarden won the 95-pound title and Canon-McMillan senior Lester Peterson took the 120-pound toga.
In the most talked about outcome of the tournament, Trinity’s John Chatman, 145-pound state champion last year, who was in the 154-pound class this year, was pinned by Wade Schalles of Hollidaysburg in the finals to set off a demonstration which has seldom been equaled at Penn State.
The Southwest Region wound up with five champions, more than any other, as New Castle’s 103-pound Rich Panella, Carnegie 138-pound Kevin Love and Mt. Lebanon’s 180-pound Ron Smith joined Teagarden and Peterson in the winner’s circle.