Letter
As I was putting this issue together, it occurred to me that we take for granted how much of an impact things that start in Washington County have on the Western Pennsylvania region as a whole – and beyond. Case in point: Rivendale Farms in Bulger. Thomas Tull, and his wife, Alba, own the property – more than 150 acres – that sits in between Burgettstown and McDonald. Tull is a movie producer and part owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and Rivendale caught my attention when I read a piece in the Los Angeles Times about Tull selling his palatial, 33-acre compound in Thousand Oaks, Calif., for $85 million. The reason given for the sale? To move here, to his “adoptive hometown.”
So, my interest was piqued.
In Andrea Bosco Stehle’s story on Rivendale on page 18, she found that the young farm is sourcing herbs, organic and rare produce, as well as its dairy products to local restaurants. The milk, higher in fat, protein and calcium, makes it perfect to be used in ice cream – and the farm’s senior dairy specialist is Tom Palchak. You might know him from a little spot in State College called The Creamery. Moreover, the farm is developing seed varieties for vegetables to be used by James Beard award-winning chef Dan Barber of Blue Hill at Stone Barns in Pocantico Hills, N.Y. Talk about an impact!
Also in this issue, you’ll read two interesting local history pieces. On page 22, staff writer Barbara Miller talks to a brother and sister who were raised in the Henry House, which sits in present-day Mingo Creek County Park. The siblings, 92 and 82, respectively, looked back on their childhood in the stone home, which never had a real, functional bathroom, and didn’t always have heat. In fact, Ann Henry Ballein recalls scraping the frost off of the inside of the windows with her fingernails.
And on page 26, staff writer Brad Hundt travels to Norvelt, Westmoreland County, for our Beyond the Border. Norvelt was initially called Westmoreland Homesteads, and it was one of the first planned communities as a result of President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. In fact, the name Norvelt comes from the last syllables of the name of first lady Eleanor Roosevelt – it was renamed after her 1937 visit.
Finally, cool off on our back page, as we have a few historical snapshots from local swimming pools.