Farewell

     This will be my last blog post for this class. College is a totally new expierence for me. My last classes for the semester were today. Next week I have finals. I am relieved the semester is almost over and am glad for the break I will have before the spring semester starts.
     Creating this blog was suprisingly fun. This is the first blog I have ever attempted. Although I did enjoy this blog, I'm not sure if I will create others in the future. However, I am proud that I can now say that I do have my own blog.

Here Comes the Holiday Season

   Christmas is almost here. It's crazy to think it is only 18 days away. I haven't even started wrapping gifts, although my shopping is finally finished. My Christmas trees are up, and the decorations have been put up outside. Soon the Christmas wreaths will be put up on the town street lamps. Everyone else has put up their outdoor decorations, too. I always love driving through Penn Street at night and looking at all of the lights.
   There is an obvious change in people, too. Everyone is in a hurry and rushing from place to place.  People are already stressed out about the upcoming holidays and are letting it affect their everyday lives. Slow down. We need to remember Christmas isn't supposed to be a stressful holiday. It is meant to be a celebration and a joyful day.

Two Very Different Towns

     When I was little, we used to go to a live nativity scene every year around Christmas. It was originally right outside of Broadwood Towers. It has now moved to the Presbyterian Church parking lot. At the nativity there were animals, shepherds, wise men, Mary, Joseph, and of course a baby Jesus. There was even the wooden stable and hay on the ground. I loved looking at the nativity and watching the people and animals interact. We always went at night, so that made it feel even more realistic.
     I remember asking once if that was the exact spot where Jesus was born. I thought New Bethlehem was the Bethlehem of Israel. I thought it was so cool that out of all of the towns in the world my town was where Jesus was born. I, of course, realized later that the real Bethlehem was actually very far away from my town. That made more sense because in all of the picture I'd seen there was no grass, and it seemed bigger than my town.
     This post has reminded me of a song I sing around Christmas every year at my church. The song is called "Not that Far from Bethlehem." I think one of the phrases fits this post perfectly.
"We're nor that far from Bethlehem where all our hope and joy began. For when our hearts still cherish Him, we're not that far from Bethlehem."

Hunting Season

       It's here. The most awaited "holiday" in New Bethlehem and other local towns. People have been gearing up for this event for weeks. Preparations included spotting at all hours of the night to find that perfect hunting spot and shooting guns in. Over the weekend, traffic was steady as people traveled through town to get to their camps. Evermoore's restaurant, which opens early to accomodate hunters, was completely parked full this morning. Our schools have two days added to their Thanksgiving break to allow for hunting. Facebook has exploded with pictures of the big bucks shot. All day I could hear shots ringing out around my house.
       There's three main types of hunters. First, there is the one day hunter. This hunter hopes to get a deer on the first or second day of the season so they don't have to go out in the woods the rest of the season. Usually they will shoot one of the first few deer they see. There's the waiter. This hunter will wait all season for that perfect deer. In the end, they usually pass up all of the good ones and end up shooting a less desirable deer. Then, there is the hoarder. The hoarder is usually the farmer that is allowed to hunt on their own land. They will kill around 15 deer in the season. I personally do not hunt, and I have no desire to go out and sit in the cold waiting for an animal to walk by. I'd much rather sit on my couch and watch them come to my yard to eat the feed we put out.

My Future Town

          In 100 years from now, New Bethlehem will be a thriving town. Old businesses will be flourishing, and new businesses will be able to open up. The Smucker's Peanutbutter Factory will be even larger and able to produce more products. Of course by then my ski resort idea will have been approved. The ski resort will be located on the mountains just outside of town. It will bring in customers from all over the nation and be making millions of dollars in profit.
          Overall, New Bethlehem will look pretty much the same other than the addition of the ski resort. It will always have the small town feel to it. But I really hope we get more food places. I personally would like a Taco Bell, Arby's, Panera, and iHop to be added. As far as I'm concerned, anything can replace the Burger King we have now. Perhaps by then  the road will be built that bypasses New Bethlehem for the people traveling from Brookville to Kitanning. Or maybe by then we won't even need cars. We will fly every where in mini jets. Basically, I can't imagine New Bethlehem not being here.

Winter

        This colder weather has me anticipating the snowfall that is soon to come. Before we know it, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years will be upon us. I know none of these holidays seem complete unless there is a bit of snow on the ground. Even though I love the beauty of waking up to a fresh coat of snow, living in a small town has its disadvantages when it comes to clearing the snow.
        I remember last Winter a snow storm was blowing in one Sunday night. I was at my boyfriend's house which is in Armstrong County. He lives about four miles back a country road. I left his house that night amid the storm. The roads were completely clear. That all changed when I got into New Bethlehem which is Clarion County. I had to lock my car into four wheel drive just to get up one of the hills in town. Come on Clarion County... Armstrong keeps their back country roads in better shape than you keep your town streets.

Peanut Butter Factory

Tonight our local Smucker's Peanut Butter Factory has caught on fire. Apparently the fire is really bad with flames coming through the roof. Fire companies have been called to battle the flames from all over. We may lose the only real attraction left in our town tonight.

Local Slang

Here is a list of local slang used in and around New Bethlehem.
Gumbands (rubber bands), crick (creek), beside himself (upset), he is not all there (dumb), warsh (wash), younz (you guys), restrant (restaurant), and sweeper (vacume).

Fishing

My dad and I love to fish. I remember always going to the New Bethlehem Dam on Fish for Fun Day when I was little. On these days parents could fish with their kids even if they didn't have a fishing license. It always would draw a huge crowd. Since the new dam was put in, people are no longe allowed to fish, wade, or basically even look at the new dam. I feel it is very sad that the tradition of Fish for Fun Day has ended because of the new dam.

Waiting

Waiting for the group of golfers ahead of me to finish playing the hole so I can hit my next shot... 5 minutes 48 seconds.

Race Portrait

My town of New Bethlehem is very small and very rarely sees any other race but Caucasian. I would say about 98% of my town is Caucasian. The remaining 2% consists of African Americans and foreign people. In my school we only have a handful of African Americans and usually our foreign students are foreign exchange students. For the most part my community accepts people of different races.

Proverb

The river rushes steadily through the mountians.

New Bethlehem

My home town is New Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. It is located about 60 miles north of Pittsburgh. Local small towns are Distant and Hawthorn. It has an area of one half of a square mile and a population of about 1,000 people. I live just outside of town, away from all of the buildings and people. My house is nestled between beautiful lush green hills and forest. New Bethlehem is very small and closely knit. It is an old railroad town, though recently the railroad tracks were taken out and made into a walking trail. The railroad had been built to navigate through the mountains and was often used to haul coal or even people. There is also evidence that Indians once inhabited the area along the creek. A local archaeologist uncovered artifacts including pottery at a site called Fishbasket which is just out of town. New Bethlehem is made up of working class people. My town is very friendly. I love being able to go to town and see familiar faces.

New Bethlehem Flood

This is a picture of me after becoming Girl's District 9 Champion in golf last year. I plan to base my memoir on my expierences I have learned from golf.

Hi there!