Letter
Winter 2018 was the winter that would not end. An early – albeit brief – warm spell in February gave me a glimmer of hope, but by the time the mid-April snowfall came, I was beginning to think that spring never would. I tried to look on the bright side, that it was the price we had to pay for 80-degree days well into last October. But the constant cold weather had implications far more reaching than a severe case of cabin fever – it wreaked havoc on plans for this very issue of Mon Valley Magazine.
First, there was the piece on Master Gardeners Hazel Murray and Peggy Brown, who play big parts in the Donora Community Garden and the Monongahela Pollinator Garden. Of course it made sense to photograph the gardens, but with the end of April – really, even the very beginning of May – looking nearly identical to January, that posed a bit of a challenge. Thankfully, once spring hit, things blossomed quickly … for the most part. And for the things that didn’t, the ladies supplied us with some photos of how things looked in bloom last summer. On page 16, writer Kristen Emery explains how the gardens came to be, and how they’ve impacted the communities in which they are located.
The second problematic piece was Rick Shrum’s golf feature on page 24. It’s kind of hard to grow lush green grass when the nighttime temperatures are regularly below freezing. Again, we pushed things as late as we could – and again, we had to rely on some photos from previous years (I just couldn’t bear to give you images of dead trees and brown grass at the end of May!). But, I think you’ll find Shrum’s story interesting, as he serendipitously ran into members of the Holy Ghost Golf League, in its 50th year, on the greens at Chippewa Golf Course, just outside of Bentleyville.
In our March issue, we published some mystery photos on the back page. No sooner did the magazine publish did my phone start ringing. I was incredibly encouraged by the number of responses that we got from all of you – some in agreement, many not. It is a testament to the Mon Valley that there are so many folks interested in reading its continuing stories – and that there are so many folks who are part of its history.
Thanks for reading,