Mary Pickels stories, Page 5
Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau releases destination guide
If you’ve got some free time and enjoy exploring the Westmoreland, Fayette and Somerset counties region, the Laurel Highlands Visitors Bureau is releasing a free, 72-page brochure packed full of ideas for everything from winter fun to dining, hiking to history. The bureau’s 2020 Destination Guide serves to promote the...
Fort Ligonier reenactors recall being extras in ‘Last of the Mohicans’Video
Erica Nuckles, Fort Ligonier’s director of history and collections, will kick off the museum’s 2020 speaker series with “History and Hollywood: A Talk and Movie,” featuring “The Last of the Mohicans.” The program will run from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m. Jan. 19 at the Fort Ligonier Center for History Education....
Matchbox Twenty tour heads to S&T Bank Music ParkVideo
More than 20 years ago Matchbox Twenty burst onto the music scene with hits including “If You’re Gone,” “Bent” and “3 A.M.” The band is touring for the first time since 2017. The tour will begin July 17 in Bethlehem, Pa., and come to Burgettstown’s S&T Bank Music Park on...
Charlie Daniels, Marshall Tucker to make Pittsburgh-area stopVideo
Southern rock will heat up Western Pennsylvania this spring, as the Charlie Daniels Band and the Marshall Tucker Band bring their “Fire on the Mountain” tour to Pittsburgh. Blending Southern rock and country music, the two bands will take the stage at UPMC Events Center at Robert Morris University, Moon...
Foreigner, Kansas, Europe bring ‘Juke Box Heroes’ tour to BurgettstownVideo
The band Foreigner turned out hit songs including “I Want to Know What Love Is,” “Cold as Ice,” “Hot-Blooded” and “Juke Box Hero” throughout the 1970s-80s. Right alongside was Kansas, with “Dust in the Wind,” “Carry on Wayward Son” and “Point of Know Return,” and, soon, Europe with “The Final...
SAMA teaches children art of making pop-up cards
The Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art in Ligonier Township will host a paper pop-up sculpture card workshop for children. The 2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 15 event is to teach children ages 8 to 12 to create the cards. Participants will learn how to turn a flat sheet of paper...
Pittsburgh Creative Arts Festival offers classes and crafts
Editor’s note: Due to coronavirus concerns this event has been postponed. New dates will be announced. The Pittsburgh Creative Arts Festival will return March 20-22 to the DoubleTree by Hilton, Green Tree, 500 Mansfield Ave. The festival features classes, demonstrations, exhibitions, a marketplace, a creative open studio and a maker...
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort calls ‘foodies’ to Restaurant Week
Fine diners who also enjoy getting a good deal can check out Nemacolin Woodlands Resort’s annual “Restaurant Week.” The resort, located at 1001 Lafayette Drive, Farmington, Fayette County, will host its own version of the popular event Jan. 12-17. The resort is offering a package including a 25% room rate...
Pittsburgh Cultural Trust invites all to winter ‘crawl’
You might need to pick up the pace a bit for the Pittsburgh Cultural District’s Gallery Crawl. The free, quarterly, multi-venue event showcases the city’s downtown art and entertainment scene. There is a lot to see, do and hear from 5:30 to 10 p.m. Jan. 24, as the city’s Cultural...
5 things to do in Westmoreland County this weekend: Jan. 10-12Video
Baby, it’s … well, warm outside. Along with the unseasonably warm temperatures, this weekend’s entertainment options include warming soup, hot music and heated drama. Full stomachs, warm (he)arts The Westmoreland Museum of American Art will hold “Art on Tap: Soup Du Jour” from 5 to 8 p.m. Jan. 10 at...
Derek Hughes will open ‘Bag of Tricks’ in Liberty Magic showVideo
When Derek Hughes was 10, he swapped a chemistry set for a magic set with a friend. His first trick was placing a penny in the center of someone’s open palm and covering it with a matchbook. “Then, through the magic of alchemy, it transforms into a dime,” he says....
Red Cross blood donors can qualify to win Super Bowl trip
With a post-holiday, critical need for donations, the American Red Cross is asking donors to begin the new year by giving blood or platelets. As a sign of appreciation and a special incentive, those who donate blood or platelets through Jan. 19 will be entered in a chance to win...
It’s Girl Scout cookie time — get your Thin Mints and new Lemon-UpsVideo
It’s the most wonderful time of the year for cookie lovers. The annual Girl Scout cookie sale kicks off Jan. 10. Cookies will be $5 a box, according to Stefanie Marshall, spokeswoman for Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania. Tanya Schwab, who leads Girl Scout Troop 20216 in Irwin, says profits from...
Leather-making workshop set at Fort Ligonier
Master shoemaker Brett Walker will conduct the winter quarters workshop series “Leatherworking 101 Document Case” at Fort Ligonier. The program from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Jan. 25 is a hands-on opportunity for students to learn basic leather-working, hand-sewing and simple decorative skills, according to the museum. Walker, a re-enactor and historian,...
Gordmans conversion begins, hiring events planned
Area Peebles stores, including those in Belle Vernon, Mt. Pleasant, Ellwood City, Allegheny Township, New Castle and Somerset, will hold hiring events this week as the locations transform into Gordmans stores. The stores will open under the new name on Feb. 18, the company says. The apparel and home décor...
Yough principal joins alma mater’s inaugural ‘Under 40’ classVideo
Amy Larcinese remembers playing “school” as a child, writing on her chalkboards and instructing a classroom of stuffed animals, baby dolls and cousins. “I just knew that I always wanted to work with kids and try to make a difference,” she says. She also recalls riding along with her firefighter...
National Park Service’s $1.2M project preserving Johnstown Flood historyVideo
After returning home from an enlistment in the Civil War, Mt. Pleasant native Jesse Lippincott pursued interests in various industries, achieving great financial success. “He owned the exciting company known as the Rochester Tumbler Co. He made the tumblers for all the beverages in all the railroad cars, everywhere. He...
5 things to do in Westmoreland County: Jan. 3-5Video
Happy new year. The champagne corks have been popped, the party hats worn, the horns blown, the countdown over. Done hibernating? The big holiday parties may be over, but the good times are still rolling in Westmoreland County. Run off the calories, the cold No doubt those cookies, that eggnog...
Klavon’s selling ice cream for pennies to celebrate return to ’20s
Remember that diet resolution you swear to uphold in 2020? Press pause for a day or two. Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor, at 2801 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, is offering to help you spend a little less money on a tempting calorie splurge Jan. 2-3. For two days only, the 1920’s-era ice...
WQED seeks storytellers for annual PBS KIDS Writers ContestVideo
Young authors are invited to take up their pens, or fire up their devices, and spin yarns for WQED’s annual PBS KIDS Writers Contest. WQED has partnered with the EQT Foundation for 11 years to present the contest to children throughout the region, encouraging them to submit original stories and...
Nora Roberts pens tale of survivors after shooting
Nora Roberts has crafted a chillingly timely piece of fiction with her book “Shelter In Place,” released in 2018. The prolific author has taken on an active shooter scenario, with a plot frighteningly reminiscent of the 2012 theater shooting in Colorado. That’s where all similarities end. Roberts sets her book...
Ring in the new year with a (proper) glass or 2 of bubbly
In just two days, we can kiss 2019 goodbye and put a lip lock on 2020. Many of us look forward to ushering out the old year, and raising a toast as the new one arrives. If your plans include enjoying a glass of sparkling wine, you want to be...
Bummed about a Christmas gift card? Sheetz offers trade-ins
Holiday gift cards can offer fun outings, restaurant meals, shopping excursions to one’s favorite places. Or, they can leave the recipient confused or even disappointed. Sheetz is among companies offering a gift card exchange program, giving patrons the chance to trade in unwanted/unused gift cards for Sheetz products including food...
Cat cafe ushers in new year with head scratches, belly rubs
If you find the idea of welcoming in the new year by cuddling cats appealing, Greensburg’s Cattfeinated Cat Cafe has a party for you. With a speakeasy theme, the new cafe, which opened in November at 159 E. Otterman St., will celebrate New Year’s Eve from 10:30 p.m. Dec. 31...
Handmade Arcade Winter Market debuts in Market Square
Handmade Arcade will extend the holiday shopping season, hosting its first open-air market in the Peoples Gas Holiday Market site in Pittsburgh’s Market Square. The winter market will be open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Dec. 28-31. The holiday market closed for the season on Dec. 23. According to Handmade...

