Montoursville, PA – Motorists are advised that the Columbia County Rest Areas on Interstate 80 eastbound and westbound, located at mile marker 246, are opened to traffic.

The rest areas were closed on Thursday, February 20, 2025, to accommodate renovation and construction efforts. Work on the project included updating utilities and bathroom fixtures, installation of a new generator, and the construction of a new sewage treatment plant and buildings. Work on the project was completed under four contracts totaling $6.7 million.   

Montoursville, PA – The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) is advising motorists in Sullivan County that the entire length of Ellis Road (Route 4006) in Fox and Elkland townships will be posted with a permanent, year-round, 10-ton weight restriction.

The posting is being made based on a traffic-and-engineering study indicating that this highway may be damaged by vehicles that exceed the restriction. School buses, emergency vehicles, and local-delivery trucks are exempted from the postings.

The restriction will be in effect once the required signs are erected by a PennDOT maintenance crew in the upcoming weeks.

We’re pleased to announce that our Citizens of Tomorrow program in which students from Coudersport High School join us for lunch and tell us about themselves and their future plans has resumed.

At our November 17, 2025, meeting, our first group of students joined us at a special luncheon coordinated by Rotarian Julie Jeffers at Sweden Valley Manor. Past Rotary President, Walter Baker, resides at the Manor and was happily able to join us.

Students Alex Duell, Aidan Sandersen and Landin Pekarski, joined us for a pizza and wings lunch and told us about their current activities and future plans.

We look forward to meeting more Citizens of Tomorrow at our future meetings!

(Pictured: Citizens of Tomorrow [not in order] Alex Duell, Aidan Sandersen and Landin Pekarski)

Montoursville, PA – Motorists are advised that Route 61 is closed in both directions between Eighth Street and Coal Street in the city of Shamokin, Northumberland County, due to a vehicle crash with downed utilities.

A detour using local roads is in place. The roadway is expected to be closed for several hours. Motorists are urged to drive with caution in the area.

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) is giving an inside look at how it keeps one of its most unique fisheries going strong year after year.  Today, volunteers helped to collect hundreds of steelhead (a large form of Rainbow Trout) from the PFBC’s Trout Run nursery water along Lake Erie in Fairview Township.  The stream is protected from fishing, but it’s filled with huge steelhead trying to get upstream to spawn. Once netted, male and female fish are separated and sedated so that eggs and milt can be collected.  The adult fish are unharmed in the process and are returned to Lake Erie, while the eggs will be taken to the nearby Fairview State Fish Hatchery, where they will hatch.  After about a year, the small steelhead, known as smolts, are then stocked into the many tributary streams along Lake Erie, where they will imprint on the water as if they were born there naturally.  They will then swim out to Lake Erie to grow into adults, and after about 2 to 3 years, the large steelhead will follow their natural instinct to return to their home stream to spawn, which is what creates the world-class steelhead run each fall and winter.  The PFBC aims to produce about one million steelhead annually to sustain the fishery and ensure good numbers of fish return to the tributaries each year.  It is estimated that steelhead fishing generates about $11 million dollars in economic impact annually for Erie County.

More information on Pennsylvania’s steelhead program is available on the PFBC website.

Change is a constant in everyone’s life. Although we might not like the change we’re currently experiencing, it is still with us. Some change happens because of our own actions or those of others. Sadly, we can find ourselves victims of others’ choices and behaviors. Whether it involves our own actions, the choices and behaviors of others, or even our pets, our lives are always shifting to adapt to what is happening around us. Because of this, I wonder if we all might be better off with anchor points in our lives. 

Anchor points are things that keep us centered. You’ll find them in many areas of life. If you’re building any kind of structure, you’ll have anchor points. These points keep the building square and also provide structural stability and strength. Without them, a strong gust of wind can cause the structure to crumble. Perhaps you’ve read about buildings and bridges collapsing because their foundational anchor points were not secure. Often, it’s because they were not anchored into the bedrock. When change causes our lives to crash or our emotions to crumble, it’s because our anchor points are not solidly attached to bedrock.

Youngsters ages 3 to 12, their parents and grandparents are invited to participate in a free Deane Little Beans event at noon next Saturday, Nov. 29 in the lobby at the Deane Center for the Performing Arts at 104 Main Street in Wellsboro. Featured will be Ron Bianco, who has lived in Wellsboro for the past 18 years as well as in Greenville, South Carolina.

“From 1968 to 1975, The Band was one of the most popular and influential rock groups in the world,” wrote Bruce Eder in an article published in the “All-Music Guide.” “Their music was embraced by critics as seriously as the music of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones,” Eder continued

Next Friday, Nov. 28 at 7:30 p.m. in the Coolidge Theatre at the Deane Center for the Performing Arts at 104 Main Street in Wellsboro, 14 musicians will recreate The Last Waltz, the 1976 Farewell Concert of The Band, a Canadian-American roots rock group formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1968.

One of the most spectacular events in rock history, their concert was on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25, 1976 in the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco, California. The Band’s show began at 9 p.m. and ended at 2 a.m.  It was not only a celebration but also the last time they would ever all perform together live.

The Seneca Highlands Career and Technical Center is offering a Pennsylvania State-approved motor vehicle inspection course for passenger cars, light trucks, motorcycles, medium/heavy trucks, and buses. This program includes classroom and hands-on instruction. Participants must provide a valid driver’s license to register for this program. This course will be held on December 3, 4, 8, 9, and 11, 2025, from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. The Tactile Exam is scheduled for Saturday, December 13, from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. For more information or to register, call the Education Council at (814) 274-4877.