Octorara /townlively
OCTOBER 7, 2020
SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITIES SINCE 1954
VOL XXX • NO 34
Parkesburg Seeks To Restore Field Of Dreams Minch Park - upper and lower. The upper field is where the Ironmen During the early 1900s, Parkesburg played,” Naggy explained. According to www.septba.com/ had its own professional baseball team created by Horace Beale Jr., president historic-pico-field, Beale was a of the Parkesburg Iron Company See Field Of Dreams pg 2 (PICO). His team, called the PICO Ironmen, played at PICO Field, known today as Minch Park, where they faced players like Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb and Casey Stengel. Hoping to recreate history and make the ballpark look as it did from 1917 to 1921, when the Ironmen were in action, is the goal of Chad Naggy, president and commissioner of the South Eastern Pennsylvania Travel Baseball Association (SEPTBA). SEPTBA teams currently use the baseball diamonds at Minch Park. “There are two fields at BY FRANCINE FULTON
Octorara Community Band To Present Debut Concert The newly formed Octorara Community Band will present its debut concert on Sunday, Oct. 11, at 6 p.m. at the Parkesburg VFW, 406 W. Fourth Ave., Parkesburg. Admission is free, and concert attendees are asked to bring their own chairs and blankets for seating and to practice social distancing. The concert will be held rain or shine. The band is composed of both graduates and current students from Octorara Area High School and other local high schools. The group has been gathering for socially distant outdoor practice every Sunday for the past several months at the Atglen Community Park, located behind Penningtonville Presbyterian Church. More than a dozen musicians are currently in the band. According to band member Cathy Wilde Christ, one day in late March her cousin, Jim Wilde, and his son Joey were
reminiscing about Jim’s days in the Octorara Area High School marching band. They mentioned that to Christ, and she immediately thought of forming an alumni band. Christ then contacted friends who she believed would be interested in forming the band. “Jimmy and I were in the high school marching band together; he played the trumpet and I played the flute,” said Christ. “I gathered some people who were also in the band that we know, and we had a couple of Zoom meetings. At our first practice in July, we only had four people. We had 16 (musicians at practice) this past weekend.” The band is not limited to Octorara band alumni. Alumni from Avon Grove and LampeterStrasburg high schools have already joined the band, along with a few current Octorara stud e n t s a n d s o m e fo r m e r h i g h school band members from out of the area. Rebecca Olson of Parkesburg, who is a middle s c h o o l b a n d d i r e c t o r fo r t h e
Hempfield School District, has volunteered to direct the group. The band welcomes new members. “We would love people who have an interest and love of music to join,” said Christ. “If they don’t have an instrument we can try and gather one for them. The more the merrier.” The upcoming concert will have a patriotic theme to honor the veterans at the VFW. “ We will start with the national anthem and have some good patriotic marches,” said Christ. “ We are doing a song with all the branches of the military, and we will have the veterans stand up when their branch is represented. My cousin, Jimmy, will be the (master of ceremonies). He will talk about how the band started and (introduce) each song.” For more information about the band and the upcoming concert, readers may search for “Octorara Community Band” on Facebook. Musicians who would like to join the band may contact Christ at c2n2j2@gmail.com.
Parkesburg resident Thaddeus “Bud” Wilde, shown with his daughter Cathy Wilde Christ, owns a photograph album depicting players from the PICO Ironmen, a professional baseball team that played in Parkesburg in the early 1900s.
Dancing In The Living Room BY FRANCINE FULTON
On select Saturdays from now through March of 2021, youths with special needs and their families are invited to take part in dance parties, which are currently being held virtually via Zoom. The dance parties, themed “Everybody In,” were previously held at Grove United Methodist Church in West Chester, and they were hosted by Lizzy Stahelek, who organized the events in order to earn her Girl Scout Gold Award.
INSIDE THIS ISSUE VIRTUAL RACE TO BENEFIT NATURAL LANDS . . . . . .3 COMMUNITY CALENDAR . . . . . . . . . . .4 HOLY LAND CENTER PLANS CONCERT . . . . . .5 HOUSE OF WORSHIP . . . . . . . . . .7 CLASSIFIEDS . . . . . . . . .9
See Virtual Dances pg 6
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Current members of the newly formed Octorara Community Band are (from left) Logan Thompson, Jim Wilde, Terri Linnenbaugh, Garrett Olson, Karen Thompson, Scott Cullen, Lisa Rudisill, Harley Ludy, Ryan Linnenbaugh, Cowan Hahn, director Rebecca Olson, Danielle Cullen, Maya Hahn, Cristi Hahn, Nelly Christ and Cathy Wilde Christ.