Our Hometown | The Beauty Around Us

Posts from the ‘Our Hometown’ category

Independence Day at Home

Our July 4th activities began shortly before 11:00 am, when we met my stepdaughter Stacey, our twin granddaughters, and Chris (Stacey’s mother) to watch Warren’s 4th of July parade. We met at the intersection of Pennsylvania Avenue and North Carver Street, at the start of the parade.

Harper and June did not stay in those chairs for very long.

The parade lasted 2 hours, and I spent most of that time sitting on the ground, cross legged, with Harper on one knee and June on the other. Stacey, Chris and Bob stood for the duration of the parade.

See the man and boy who are wearing patriotic hats?

That man, his wife and son were already at this parade location, when we arrived. They moved their chairs over to allow room for Harper and June’s chairs. Harper and June pushed their chairs back because they didn’t want to sit at the front, alone, beside strangers. I sat down where the chairs had been. Harper and June liked that seating arrangement.

Brett Fallon

A highlight of Warren’s 4th of July parade is the candy that is tossed (and handed) to the children. The older children in this picture went out of their way to make sure Harper and June got candy.

Neither Harper nor June like loud noises. June is even more sensitive to loud noise. The fire trucks hit their sirens in the parade. You could count on June holding her hands to her ears, whenever that happened.

Harper and June liked the Zem Zem Hornets and their Go-Karts.

This was the first year Bob and I saw the parade with Harper and June. The girls liked the parade, and I am so happy that we were able to share the experience with them.

Adam’s Big Surprise

Bob and I are members of a local motorcycle group called 2 Scoop CycleTherapy. We get together on Tuesday evenings, go for a ride, and stop for ice cream along the way. We get together for rides other times during the week as well.

We met up with our 2 Scoop CycleTherapy friends at 5:00 pm yesterday at the North Warren Playground parking lot. At 5:20 pm we departed from the parking lot and rode together to Betts Park. The purpose of going to Betts Park was to surprise a teenage boy named Adam, who has special needs. Adam graduated high school on Friday, and his graduation party was held yesterday at Betts Park. Adam loves motorcycles. His mother had asked Donna, who is a member of our motorcycle group and who works with Special Needs students, if she knew anyone who rides. Boy! howdy! Does Donna know people who ride! Donna invited members of the 2 Scoop CycleTherapy group to help her surprise Adam.

This was Adam’s expression, when he saw all the motorcycles.

Paul gave Adam a couple rides in his sidecar. The first ride was just Paul and Adam.

Adam, getting into the sidecar

Look how happy Adam is!

I captured a short video clip, as Paul and Adam returned from the first ride around the parking lot.

On the second ride Adam was part of a ride, as members of 2 Scoop CycleTherapy joined in on the ride around the parking lot.

Once again I captured a short video clip, when Adam returned back from the ride.

Adam, his parents and 2 Scoop CycleTherapy

It warmed each of our hearts to see how excited and happy Adam was to have received such a wonderful graduation present.

In Search Of … Loons

I wasn’t feeling my usual chipper self yesterday morning. I don’t know what made me feel down … the colder than usual temperatures perhaps. It has felt more like Winter than Spring the past few days. Getting out of the house in the afternoon, though, revived my spirits.

I accompanied Bob on a few errands (taking cardboard to a recycling center, purchasing fluorescent tube lighting at Howe’s True Value and buying whiskey at the liquor store), and he drove me around town in search of loons. According to a Facebook post by the Allegheny Center for Arts, loons have arrived in the area and were seen in downtown Warren on the Allegheny River. We didn’t see any loons downtown along the Allegheny River.

There wasn’t much activity at Crescent Park, on the Allegheny River. We didn’t see any loons, but we did see these three ducks.

We found more interesting ducks across from The Point on the Allegheny River.
No loons, but the Red Headed Merganser Duck was cool to see!

We even drove to the Big Bend Recreation Area, just below Kinzua Dam, in search of loons.

I didn’t see anything to photograph on the Allegheny River at Big Bend Recreation Area. There were lots of robins, though, flying around.

Can anyone please tell me if this is a photograph of a robin or could it possibly be a catbird?

We drove on River Road in Starbrick (western part of Warren), along the Allegheny River, in search of loons.

Again, we didn’t see any loons. We did see a bird I hadn’t seen personally though, when we turned around at the end of River Road. Bob chased this killdeer bird out of a mud puddle.

We saw a swan, too, while driving on River Road.

Swan on Nest

We gave up our search for loons. It turned out to be a pretty nice day, so we drove to Washington Park before returning home.

Washington Park provides a bird’s eye view of Warren.

Hometown Christmas Parade

Bob and I attended Warren’s annual Christmas parade yesterday evening. The parade route ran from the south end of Market Street, along Pennsylvania Avenue West, and disbanded north on Hickory Street.

Photograph obtained from Times Observer newspaper
(Please click on image for larger size)

There was a very good turnout for the parade. Weather reports called for rain during the evening. The “parade angels” must have been watching over us, as the rain held off until the end of the parade. A very light rain began to fall shortly after the end of the parade.

We watched the parade at “the point”’ in front of the Heritage Fountain (Special Event #3 shown on map above). We watched the parade with friends.

Some of our friends

I took both of these photographs, while we were waiting for the parade to begin.

More friends

The parade began at 6:30 pm and reached our location approximately 20 minutes later.

John Gertsch Memorial Post Color guard

Youth Connection

Warren Area High School Marching Band

Relay for Life parade float

Girl Scouts

Brett Fallon (dancer)

Here comes Santa Claus
and Mrs. Claus!

This year’s parade was sponsored and coordinated by the Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry (WCCBI) and the Warren Times Observer. A big thank you to both organizations, as they did an excellent job with the parade.

As soon as the parade ended the Christmas tree was lit. The Christmas tree stood in front of the Heritage Fountain, located near from where we watched the parade. There was no tree lighting ceremony, as was expected. The tree lights just came on, with no fanfare. The Christmas tree was the only night’s disappointment, not only for the lack of a tree lighting ceremony. I, along with others who were standing around me, felt that whomever decorated the tree could have done a better job.

the lit Christmas tree

Our friends dispersed after the tree lighting. We returned to our car and drove home.

A Walk in the Park

I conducted a family photo session at Crescent Park in my hometown of Warren PA late yesterday morning and into the early afternoon. The photo session lasted about 1 ¼ hours.

The photo session was easy going, little more than a walk in the park.

The main subjects for yesterday’s photo session were my friend Mandy and her son Addison, along with Mandy’s cousin and her cousin’s daughter. Accompanying Mandy and her cousin were Shawn (Mandy’s boyfriend), Mandy’s mother and Mandy’s aunt.

After our walk in the park, we went to the playground where I took even more pictures.

As you probably noticed in the photographs that I shared, sweater weather has returned!

A Mommy and Me Photo Session

On the morning of July 25th I met our friend, Mandy, and her 17-month-old son at Pioneer Arboretum for a mommy and me photo session. The arboretum is located at the northern end of the Warren-North Warren Bike/Hike Trail in Warren PA.

I had a lot of fun photographing Mandy and her young son.

Here Comes Santa Claus

Bob and I attended Warren’s annual Christmas parade and walk yesterday evening. Weather reports called for an ice and snow mix during the evening. The only precipitation that fell was a little bit of snow. The snow began, as the parade started. What a magical feeling! This year’s parade was sponsored and coordinated by the Warren County Chamber of Business and Industry (WCCBI) and the Warren Times Observer. The two organizations did an excellent job.

Bob and I watched the parade and the lighting of the Christmas tree. We then went home. Many people stayed after the parade, enjoying the many special events held in the downtown area. Special events included live music, refreshments, horse-drawn trolley rides and, of course, visits with Santa Claus.