Pennsylvania State Parks: Shikellamy

Looking Down on Northumberland from
 Shikellamy State Park 

Shikellamy State Park consists of two different areas divided by Route 11 and the Susquehanna river. To visit one we traveled north from Shamokin Dam, took Route 15 at the traffic circle, and soon turned right at a park sign. The entrance road winds to the top of the mountain where the 78-acre park is located at the edge of a 360-foot cliff overlooking the river, Northumberland, and Sunbury.

Looking down read more

Three Generations of Pennsylvania Quilters

Zola Junk's Flower Garden Quilt

My grandmother, Zola Junk (1891-1980), made tons of quilts in many different patterns. From the time I can remember, her sewing machine occupied a spot in her dining room. In the early years, she saved every piece of cotton fabric left from the clothing. At some point, our neighbor near the farm I grew up on  read more

From the Archives: Juniata Hosiery Mill

The Nestler family opened the Juniata Hosiery Mill in 1913. Located in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania between North First and North Fourth Street along the Westminster Presbyterian Cemetery, the mill made women’s silk hosiery. Nine years later read more

A Community that Loves Kids!

The wisp of a girl fell down in front of me, fussed a little, but got up and ran on. Her mother commented, “Don’t you just love this surface?” Yes, I did like the soft rubber floor; in fact, I enjoyed everything about the read more

A Little Boy by Del Hart

I’m always interested in books about Pennsylvania so naturally I felt drawn to Del Hart's A Little Boy  about his childhood experiences growing up on a farm in Central Pennsylvania. I found not only a wonderful time capsule of a past era, but became read more

PA State Parks: Cowans Gap

The number of people at the beach on a Friday at Cowans Gap State Park in Fulton County, Pennsylvania surprised us. We had driven for an hour and a half to nearby Harrisonville, Pennsylvania, to look at read more

The Juniata Valley Quilters Guild Show

Quilting has been a part of our family as long as I can remember. As a child, I played under the quilt frame with my cousin while our mothers worked together on a quilt. As a teenager, I enjoyed watching my grandmother who lived with us make crazy quilts. In her old age by then and needing my mother to thread her needles for her work, she had already made read more