NEWS

BRADFORD, PA  – Open Arms Community Church is hosting a special Family Fun Christmas event on Saturday, December 14th from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM. The community is invited to join in an evening of fellowship, festive activities, and holiday cheer.

Have fun learning about animals in winter with an educator from Lyman Run State Park! In January 2025, Lyman Run State Park is partnering with two Potter County libraries to offer short programs for preschoolers featuring stories, songs, and crafts.

Bring young children to Preschool Storytime: Animals in Winter! We will read aloud stories about animals surviving the winter, sing songs about winter animals, and make a craft to take home. Best for kids under 6 years old, but older siblings welcome. We’ll be reading Over and Under the Snow by Kate Messner, Hibernation by Margaret Hall, and Snack, Snooze, Skedaddle by Laura Purdie Salas.

The annual meeting of the CARE for Children Board of Directors was held Friday, December 6^th at the Pennhills Club in Bradford. 

Leslie Kallenborn, Development and Marketing Coordinator, welcomed the board members and staff in attendance and provided an overview of CARE’s 100^th anniversary celebration of ‘Shaping Childhoods since 1924.’

Board President, Tyler R. Hannah, provided a review of CARE’s 2023-2024 fiscal year and highlighted the organization’s continued growth, steady increase in philanthropic support, start of an ambitious 5- year strategic plan, change of venue for the annual golf tournament, and the start of CARE’s 100^th year of helping local children as they grow.

• Oil and Acrylic Painter Gary Perkins will be hosting a ‘Painting Night’ on the first and third Thursday of the month starting at 6:30pm.  Bring your in-process paintings and supplies to enjoy an evening of creativity with other painters from the area.   Price is $10,00.

• The Coudy Santa and photographer Curt Weinhold will be at the Potter County Artisan Center for Santa Pictures on Tuesday, December 10 and Tuesday, 17 from 4:00-7:00 pm.  Price of pictures is $30.00.  Choose any two of these photo sizes: (4) 4×5, (2) 5×7, (1) *x10.  Add a second package for an additional $20.00.  Cash or check only.  Price includes sitting fee with jolly Santa.   First come first serve basis.

• Young Artisan class will be meeting on Thursday, December 12, from 3 – 4:30 to paint and decorate ‘Christmas in a Box.”.   Price of the class is $25.00.  Snack and supplies provided. Recommended for grades 2nd on up. 

• Artist, Laurie Angood, will be teaching an Adult Watercolor Class on Friday, December 13 from 6-8 pm.  Students will be painting Christmas ornaments and cards with watercolor.  Artist quality watercolor paper, paint and other supplies provided.  Gift bag of take-home supplies included. The price of the class is $35.00.

• Basket maker, Cathy Snyder, will be teaching three basket classes in December. Register to make ‘Matching Utensil and Napkin Basket’ on December 12 at 1:00pm, at 5pm or December 14 at 9am.  One of each basket is $45.00.  All supplies included.  Students are welcome to bring a snack. 

• Quilter, Brenda Bonczar, will be teaching Braid Pattern Quilted Table Runner Sewing Class on Sunday, December 15, from 10:30am to 3:00 pm.  Materials and template provided.  Sewing machines on site.  Class is restricted to 5 students and recommended for students 15 and up.  Price of the class is $45.00. 

To register for these classes or events, please call the Potter County Artisan Co-op on 814-274-8165.  The co-op is located at 227 N. Main Street. Hours are open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Saturday.

Events and classes are supported in part by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and the Elk County Council on the Arts, state agencies funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.   

City Transfer, Inc., located at 900 Brusselles Street in St. Marys, PA, has been a cornerstone of the community since its establishment in 1923 by Frank Salter. For over 100 years, the company has provided reliable trucking services and maintained a strong commitment to giving back to the local community.

 
 
Saturday, December 7
All Day
             Area Merchants Sales & Discounts
All Day
             Department 56 Dickens Village
             Display
             Deane Center Windows

                BRADFORD, Pa. – The Friends of Hanley Library will present its annual “Season’s Readings” program live at 11 a.m. Dec. 12 in the Harriett B. Wick Chapel at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.

                This is the first time that the traditional radio program will take place in person. Dr. Don Ulin, professor of English, will read from “Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants” by Robin Wall Kimmerer.

                The chapter he will read is titled “Witch Hazel,” and it is about a Christmas season during which Kimmerer and her family helped an elderly neighbor fulfill her dream of returning once more to her family home.

                The presentation is part of a year-long exploration of “Braiding Sweetgrass,” culminating with a visit from Kimmerer on March 18, 2025.

The annual “Season’s Readings” program began when Dr. Robert C. Laing, professor emeritus of English at Pitt-Bradford, read selections from “A Christmas Carol” during the Christmas season on Bradford’s WESB radio station.

Laing was a board member of the Friends of Hanley Library, which has sponsored the event ever since Laing founded it. Since 2001, Ulin has coordinated this popular program.

Following this year’s in-person event, refreshments featuring some indigenous ingredients will be served. The program, which is free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by the Friends of Hanley Library and the Braiding Sweetgrass Committee.

The Friends of Hanley Library was founded in 1990 to strengthen relations between the community and Pitt-Bradford’s Hanley Library. The Friends also acquaint area residents with what the library has to offer by sponsoring cultural and educational programs, usually related to books and their authors.

BRADFORD, PA/OLEAN, NY – Bradford Regional Medical Center (BRMC) and Olean General Hospital (OGH), Kaleida Health facilities, brought some holiday cheer to the patients who could not be home with their families for the Thanksgiving holiday. 

Wellsboro, Pa., December 5, 2024 – UPMC unveiled its new Mobile Health Center, a cutting-edge clinic on wheels, designed to bring high-quality health care directly to rural communities across northcentral Pennsylvania. This innovative initiative ensures that individuals facing transportation barriers, or other social determinants of health, receive the care they need without compromise.  

The annual Purse Bingo hosted by the Port Allegany Rotary Club will be held Sunday, December 8 at the VMI.  Doors will open at 11;30 and games will begin at 1 p.m.  Tickets are available from any Rotarian.  There may be some tickets sold at the door.  Pictured are guests enjoying the 2023. 

UPDATE: we believe that what people have experienced today was a slug of dirt passing through the line. If you are one of the ones that happened to once it clears your water is perfectly fine to drink. For those that don’t have dirt in your line the water is absolutely safe for you to drink. Thank you

ATTENTION ROULETTE WATER CUSTOMERS: We are getting reports of dirt in the water and are actively out looking for a leak now. We ask that you don’t drink the water until we figure out what’s going on and if we don’t find a leak we will probably have to do some line flushing. If you are experiencing dirt in the water please contact the office and if we don’t answer please leave a message of who you are and what street you live on. Thank you 814-544-7549

Hamilton-Gibson Productions offers their annual Messiah: A Community Sing on Sunday, December 15 at 2:30pm at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Wellsboro. This well-loved piece of music was composed in 1741 by George Frideric Handel. It was first performed in Dublin on April 13, 1742, and received its London premiere a year later as a benefit event for children in need. After an initially modest public reception the oratorio gained in popularity, eventually becoming one of the most frequently performed choral works of Western music. 

Life Changes

By

Pastor B.J. Knefley

Life, in case you haven’t noticed is in constant flux. Every breath we take gets us that much closer to our last. I know we don’t want to think about it, but it’s true simply because it’s life. You would think that we’d be more mindful of how we spend today knowing that it might be our last today.

One of my granddaughters recently learned that she was expecting their second child. It wasn’t planned or even considered as a possibility. One was enough, or so she thought. The question of whether it was going to be a boy or girl became a hotly discussed topic. Her son wanted a brother, but it seems that there were other plans. When it came time to reveal the gender, it was quickly found to be that of a girl. Although I’m excited for her, I know that it will be an adjustment for her and her family. Such is life.

Even I and my wife are facing life changes. For the past year I have been serving as an Intentional Interim Pastor at a church in my area. It has been a great ministry over this past year, full of life challenges and struggles. Excitingly, they have called a new pastor who is expected to take over the first part of 2025. My life will change as I will settle into new routines, some of what will mean traveling to different parts of the country and visiting family and friends who I haven’t seen in a while. I will get up in the morning without a place to go, another new experience., Life changes for all of us.

Some fear the changes of life. Although many of these changes we can’t control, we will always have the power of how we respond to these changes of life. It is always about our view of life and our responses. Too often we don’t respond but rather we react. React with fear, worry, anxiety and other such emotions that will only cripple us from learning and growing through the experience. Personally, because I see my life as having a purpose, I will even understand the changes of life as having a part in that greater purpose. Doing so gives me hope in the moment. Think about it.

December 14, 12pm-3pm–Santa in the Shay: Santa will be in the cab of our Shay locomotive to listen to all your holiday requests. Take an instant pic with St. Nick and make a special ornament for your tree. Cookies and hot cocoa will be served in the museum program room.