Vacation in "Cow Deer Sport" PA Wilds

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Aaron Faust Now in Tennessee on Hike For Cancer Cure

Aaron Faust, a former Williamsport, Pa. resident is hiking the 2175 mile Appalachian Trail to raise money for a cure for cancer. Solomon's Words is following Aaron's progress in this marathon hike. Click on the title of this article to go to Aaron's website to read his day to day adventures or use the link on the bottom right margin to go to his website anytime. Donation instructions are available on that website.

Taking a Half-Day (at least) in Erwin, TN and...My Trail Name!!!
Hello all! It hasn't even been a week since my last post, but I have been moving a long the trail really well. I last wrote from Hot Springs, NC, but now I am in Erwin, TN about 70 miles further north on the trail. As I said in the last update I was shuttled in to Hot Springs for the Trail Fest activities, which cut about 30 miles of trail. So, I had to go back to where I got shuttled and hike back into Hot Springs.

In an email received today, Aaron writes:

Hey James! Thanks so much for the link to your blog. Your site is really great and I appreciate you wanting to follow my status. I am currently in Erwin, TN taking a half-day to do laundry, get cleaned up and check e-mail. I also hope to write another installment of the Gazette column at some point today too. Thanks again and maybe when I get back to PA for good we could meet up!
Cheers!
Aaron

Potter-McKean Red Cross Turns 90 Years Old

WFRM Reports:

The McKean-Potter Chapter of the American Red Cross will be 90 years old on Saturday, May 5 and in recognition of its service to the area, the Potter County Commissioners during their regular meeting April 26, issued a proclamation proclaiming the day as American Red Cross Day in Potter County.

Steve Minor, representing the Red Cross said the organization will be around for a long time because of its volunteers.

Potter-Tioga Maple Festival Schedule for Saturday

Saturday, May 5, 2007:

Vendor Setup.......Courthouse square..............6 am to 8 am

Pancake Dinner.....Consistory...........................7 am to 3 pm

Crafts, Collectibles, antiques, bake sales and
More...........................Courthouse square.........9 am to 9 pm

Live Music, The Jacksons..Gazebo...................9 am to 10:30 am

Fine Arts Council Art Show at Park Methodist
Church...East Third St........................................9 am to 6 pm

Quilt Show...Christ Episcopal Church,
North Main Street...............................................9 am to 6 pm

Kiddies Carnival and Games.......East
Third Street.........................................................9 am to 9 pm

Live Demonstration...Sugar Shanty...
Courthouse Square.............................................9 am to 6 pm

Great Duck Race Registration
Courthouse Square.............................................9 am to 2 pm

Robert Merten "Circle of Fifths" Music
Awards Competition...High School Aud...........10 am

Great American Used Book Sale
Library..........Park Avenue.................................10 am to 3 pm

Great American Red Cross Duck Race
Allegheny River Channel......Start at
Carp Park..finish at Chestnut Street Bridge....2 pm

Arden Burdick 10th Annual Car Show
Registration...Consistory grass lot.....................9 am to noon

Car Show Judging...Consistory lot......................1 pm

Potter County Historical Society Tours
North Main Street.................................................10 am to 3 pm

Live Music, Jacks Little Big Band..Gazebo.........10:30 to 1:30 pm

Chicken Barbeque..Coudersport Volunteer
Fire Hall, Rt.6 West................................................11 am

Maple Sweetheart Final Judging...Gazeba..........1:30 pm

Crowning of Potter-Tioga Maple Sweethearts
at Gazebo in the Courthouse square.....................2:30 pm

Maple Festival Parade..Main Street.....................4:00 pm

Third Annual Potter-Tioga Maple Festival
Idol Karaoke Contest Featuring "Shockwave
Experience"..........Gazebo...................Youth..........6 pm to 7pm
Adult...........7 pm to 9 pm

Variety of Food Booths and Maple Products
Displays and Sales........Courthouse square...........All Day

YARD SALES ALL OVER TOWN..........................ALL DAY

Spring Brings Birds And Bears

From WFRM:
Spring may indeed be here. Greg Doane of Roulette tells WFRM that he saw two male Rose-breasted Grosbeaks at his feeders Monday afternoon and the Bradford Era reports a reader saw a hummingbird Sunday near that city.

The game commission is advising bird watchers that bears are out now in search tasty treats left for feathered friends. They suggest removing feeders for about two weeks if you are frequently visited by a bear or, if you can, put the feeders out during the morning and bring them in at night.

Doane also tells WFRM that a bear has visited his yard every night for the past week and sightings have been reported at several locations on Fishing Creek.

Click the wfrm radio link in the lower right margin of this site for the rest of todays news from wfrm.

$118,000.00 Reward In Athens, PA Murders

The Elmira Star Gazette reports this morning:

Members of the Bradford County Bar Association announced Tuesday they have increased the reward to $118,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the murders of David and Carol Keeffe.

On Nov. 17, the Keeffes were found shot to death in their home on Michael's Lane, a private road behind a locked gate, by Athens Township Police, who had been asked to check on the couple. The case was ruled a homicide, and few details have been released by police.

Click on the title of this article to go to the complete story in the Star Gazette.

Bill Walks Backwards Across US For Kids

Roulette, May 1, 2007--Bill Kathan Jr. attracted attention on Route 6, in the Potter County area today, as he walked backwards toward Port Allegany and then turned around and walked backwards back to his van parked by the lower entrance to Roulette. Cheryl Clarke writes this in the Williamsport Sun Gazette. cclarke@sungazette.com

MAINESBURG — They call him Wild Bill, or Super Bill or even Mr. Bill, but no matter what you call him, Bill Kathan Jr., 54, is on a mission to help kids, and he‘s doing it backward.

Kathan, also known as the “World Exercise Champion,” was on Route 6 last week as part of a backward walk from coast to coast to “encourage young people to make better decisions.”Starting April 5 in Hartford, Conn., Kathan, who is from Brattleboro, Vt., started the Youth Development Foundation and will accept donations to “make a difference for today’s youth” from folks he meets along the way.

According to his Web site, http://www.mrbillydf.com/, Kathan holds several world exercise records, is in the Guinness Book of World Records and has been on the Today Show with Ann Curry.He plans to walk backward all the way to Los Angeles, Calif., and said he thinks it will take him about six months to do so. He averages between 15 to 20 miles per day depending on the weather

.“I could walk further if I had someone to drive the van,” he said.A friend who had planned to make the trip with him had to drop out because of illness, he said.A Seventh Day Adventist, Kathan walks every day except Saturday and sleeps in his van sometimes.He might stay in motels, depending on where he ends up at the end of each day, but sometimes people he meets offer him meals and a bed.

Most everyone he meets offers him a smile and a word of encouragement.Kathan said he has had nothing but good treatment from Pennsylvania law enforcement in every town through which he has passed.“In Troy, the police chief came right out to shake my hand and offer me a ride back to my van,” he said.

He said though it is hard to walk backward, “you have to keep looking backward all the time,” he said it is worth it to see the goodness in people, though he does miss his nine-year-old daughter Eva, who called him the other day on his cell phone to tell him she misses him, too.“She doesn’t really understand why I am doing this, but she will someday,” he said.

Bill can be contacted at billkathan@hotmail.com

41st Annual Potter-Tioga Maple Festival Event Schedule

Friday, May 4, 2007

Coudersport High School Choir...Gazebo....5 to 6 pm,
Kiddie Carnival & Games......E 3rd Street..5 to 9 pm,
Pet Parade...Registration 6:30pm..Square.6 to 7 PM,
Coudersport High School Steel Drum Band
at the Gazebo..................................................7 to 8 pm,
Live Demo..Sugar Shanty..Square...............6 to 9 pm,
Artist's Reception...John White's Gallery...
Artist Ann Murray.........................................6 to 9 pm,
Maple products displays and sales a variety of food
vendors and crafts will be available all day on the
Courthouse square.

Also in Coudersport Friday is a music concert, featuring
Charles Billingsley, at Coudersport Gospel Tabernacle,
starting at 7:00 pm, Doors open at 6:00 pm. A free
will offering will be taken. Public invited.

Leek Dinners, Festival, May 5, 2007

The Port Allegany Vets Club is sponsoring a Ham & Leek Dinner Saturday, May 5, 2007, from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm at the club, located on Route 155. The event is open to the public and the cost $7.00.


Bradford Stink Fest
The 6th annual Stinkfest is scheduled for May 5, 2007 in Bradford, Pa. The annual leek festival is set and ready to go from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on East Main Street between Penn and South Kendall avenues. The street will be closed from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.


If the previous years are any indication, this Stinkfest will be the largest ever. Last years attendance was about 6000. New this year, is the Lil' Stinker parade at 3:30 p.m., when the contestants will proceed down East Main Street to the gazebo, where winners will be announced and prizes awarded.


The annual event includes extensive leek cuisine, a leek dip contest, 'Kiddy Land' family entertainment, live musical entertainment, a dunk tank and - the infamous outhouse races.
A band will perform in the gazebo with bluegrass music. Parking will be available at Dresser Manufacturing Co. at Fisher Avenue - and at Phillips Auto depot on South Kendall Avenue. "

Jacksons At Gazebo--Saturday--9:00 am to 10:30 am

The Jacksons, a Potter County music group, will perform on stage at the Gazebo, on the Courthouse Square in Coudersport on Saturday, May 5, 2007 from 9:00 am until 10:30 am, as part of the 41st Annual Maple Festival. Spectators will enjoy their unique lively style of music. Put this on your must see list of things to do this weekend.

The Jacksons introduced a new gospel CD in February with a performance at the Coudersport Gospel Tabernacle. The album, which features 12 gospel songs, is dedicated to Doctor David Minor, Senior Pastor of the Coudersport Gospel Tabernacle, who has guided them spiritually for 45 years.

The CD was produced at Frosty Hollow Studios, a new recording studio, on Cherry Springs Road, in Coudersport, PA.

Vocals are done by Sue Porter, Gail Ayers, Mikki Vargas, Judy Hannon, Cathy Lent, Lori Nagel, and Vivian Jackson. All are daughters and granddaughters of Clarence and Vivian Jackson.

Musicians are Lori Nagle,Glenn Wasser, Collin Ingalls, T. J. Wright, Andrew and Noah VanNordstrand and Arthur Metzger.

CD's are available for $15. and a second CD of strictly instrumental christian organ music by Sue Porter is $12.

The Jacksons can be contacted at Frosty Hollow Studios, 814-274-7419.

Men's Prayer Breakfast at Coudersport Gospel Tabernacle Saturday

The monthly men's prayer breakfast at Coudersport Gospel Tabernacle is this Saturday, May 5, 2007 starting at 8:00 am in the Sanctuary. The church is located on the Port Allegany Road.

Pastor Jason Alvarez at Coudersport Gospel Tabernacle Sunday

Pastor Jason Alvarez, pastor of the Love of Jesus Family Church in Orange, New Jersey will be ministering at the Coudersport Gospel Tabernacle this Sunday morning, May 6, 2007, at 11:00 am. The public is invited to attend.

He has traveled extensively ministering throughout Latin America and Europe where he has been mightily used as a pioneer to share on the revelation of Praise and Worship. The Love of Jesus Family Church is prayerfully and financially involved in Missions Work throughout all of India, Central Africa, France, Philippines and Latin America and recently Guatemala and Cuba.

We have built a 24 track state of the art recording studio where over 70 albums have been produced and release worldwide. The Love of Jesus TV program reaches millions for the Glory of God and we give God all the Praise.

Pastor Jason Ministers under a tremendous apostolic and pastoral mantle, which he attributes to his extensive time spent in prayer and bible study. Pastor Jason is a loyal and dedicated husband, father, overseer, songwriter, producer and artist.

Pastors Jason and Gale Alvarez are the founders of The Love of Jesus Family Center located in the Catskills Mountains, where the body of Christ comes to be refreshed and uplifted by the Power of God. Pastor Jason's music has been translated into ten Foreign languages and distributed around the world.

Click here to listen to Pastor Alvarez weekly sermon.

To watch a webcast featuring Pastor Jason Alvarez, click on the title of this article.

Hike to Ole Bull State Park

COUDERSPORT — The Susquehannock Trail Club will celebrate its 40th anniversary with a series of weekend hikes.

A two-day hike on May 5 and 6 will lead participants from the fire tower to Ole Bull State Park on the first day.

On May 6, hikers will go from the park through Spook Hollow and down Morgan Hollow to the bridge over Young Womans Creek at Twelve Mile Road.

All hike legs will be about 10 to 14 miles. Hikers 12 years and older in good physical condition should be able to complete them.

For more information, call (814) 848-7944.

Ole Bull

Former Williamsport Man Hiking 2175 Miles for A Cure for Cancer

From the Williamsport Sun Gazette:

Appalachian Trail: One state down, 13 more to go!

Editor’s Note: This is the first installment of former Williamsport resident Aaron Faust’s account of hiking the Appalachian Trail. He plans to hike the 2,175-mile trail while raising money for the American Cancer Society. For more information, visit www.hikingforacure.com. To contact Aaron while he is on the trail, e-mail afaust@hikingforacure.com.

Eight days into the A.T. trip and I am 106 miles in! Running out of fuel forced me into Franklin, N.C., on April 18. However, the previous seven days were quite memorable. The journey began on April 10 with cloudy skies on Springer Mountain in north Georgia. My father made the short hike to the top of it with me, which was a very special moment. We then descended to the parking lot where he and my mother waved goodbye as I strolled into the Georgia woods alone.

I made great time that first day, hiking about 16 miles to Gooch Mountain shelter. I felt great. Legs were sore, but good. No blisters. Not bad. The shelter was quite full with thru-hikers from all walks of life. Veterans of the trail sprinkled in with the greenhorns made it an interesting camp dynamic.

The next day it rained all day, but I forced myself to hike 15 miles to a hostel in Neel’s Gap, Ga. From there I hiked another 15 miles to a random tentsite, where I stayed with a nice newlywed couple from Boston. They were hiking the A.T. as their honeymoon.

The hiking wasn’t too hard. I was feeling good physically, but I was a little lonely. The next several days went by and finally I met a few people to hike with. A group of three from New England kept me company. They hiked a bit slower than me, but it’s nice knowing that we were both going to be camping in the same spot. So, that has been a blessing. The weather has been variable to say the least! I think I have already experienced it all and I’m only a week or so in. Wind, rain, sleet, snow. It has all happened within the past eight days. Fortunately, I have stayed fairly dry and warm.

The people I have met thus far have been amazing. Fellow hikers have always been willing to help me out at any point. Also, the generosity and hospitality of those you meet at where the trail crosses roads has been unbelievable. Coming into Hiawasee, Ga., I figured I’d have to hitch 10 miles into town, but as soon as I got to the road, a 2000 thru-hiker name Tater offered me a cold Coke and a ride. Trail magic they call it. On the trail into Franklin, N.C., a group of retirees had set up an umbrella and had a spread of sodas and snacks. It really makes me think that, for the most part, people are indeed good and genuine.

Unfortunately, the news when I got to Franklin, N.C., about the Virginia Tech tragedy questions this observation. Well, more to come soon. I hope that week two was as fun as week one. I am sure it will be filled with unexpected occurrences, positive and negative. That’s the trail.

Solomon's Words has provided a link in the lower right margin to keep daily track of Aaron's progress in this 2175 mile hike for a cure for cancer.

Feel The Burn--Cross Country for Burn Victims

by Mike Manning who is bicycling across the USA for burn victims. Mike will be coming through Potter County.

Sunday, April 29

I get asked the same question by people everyday, and the majority of people have the same puzzled look on their faces when I answer it, followed by little to say and a lot of fidgeting. To the minorities' defense, they feel a connection with me and are uplifted knowing that there are many people besides themselves who find pleasure in giving all they can to others. Thank you for standing with me.

The question is "WHY?"--- "Why are you biking that far Mike?", "Why do burn survivors need help?", "Why doesn't the health care system provide burn masks to ALL burn survivors?"

A general answer could be - "Well, the degradation of society is accelerating everyday. We have socially stalled and dare I say regressed a bit lately as a species. We are surrounded by advances in medicine (but not everyone can have access to what they need, there is a pecking order.

If you are poor or have maxxed out your benefit allowance, well, sorry, better luck next time. Oh, your not a citizen (member) of our country (club), we can't help you. There is a cure for what you have but for Reason X, you can't have it.) and incredible advances in technology (3D imaging for burn treatment, pressure therapy burn masks, airplanes that can fly mach 3 and drop more megatons in a single bomb than were released in all of WW2 (on people we don't even know), growing food w/o soil, and satellite TV. Gotta have satellite TV right?, what would I do/think/buy if I didn't have a large multi-media corporation telling me what to do/think/buy?

"The cures, treatments, and technological advances are already in place folks, have been for a while. Why wouldn't someone want someone else to have it if they needed it? Personal Gain selfishness, greed, call it what you want.I'm biking across a continent because not all burn survivors have access to the help they need, be it medical or emotional. I am supporting the PS in filling that need, and will continue to do so until all burn survivors have what they need from the moment they call 911.

A more specific answer to the why question: Because it's the right thing to do.I don't buy into the "Save everything for retirement but at the same time consume. Good Americans consume right? Explain that dichotomy. Gotta buy more stuff, he's got more stuff than me, he's got newer stuff. Do you possess your material items or do they possess you? Mike, waiting 7 weeks to use your college degree is costing you $8000 right now, that's $40,000 in retirement money."

How does retiring on a golf course next to 50 million other plastic molds of the same Joe citizen help anyone? What good are we if we live our material celluloid dreams, which never fully satisfy us anyway, while we neglect fellow inhabitants on this planet in need of help in the process? Savage behavior. Prove to me it isn't.

Waiting around for the system to fix itself is futile, it's never going to happen. We can fix it, we have to fix it. Chance is the only thing between those who need help and those who don't.

A poet once said "Success is knowing that because of you, one life has breathed easier."Let's be successful together. Let's help those who need it no matter the burden. Maybe in the process we'll have a little fun, expand our compassion to include all people, move forward as a species, and live truly authentic lives.

Click the title to go to the Feel the Burn website for complete information. Solomon's Words has established a link in the lower right margin to check on Mike's Progress.

Charles Billingsley Concert Friday at Coudersport Gospel Tabernacle

The Family Life Network of Bath, NY and The Coudersport Gospel Tabernacle present Charles Billingsley in Concert on Friday, May 4, 2007 at 7:00 pm in the sanctuary on the Port Allegany Road in Coudersport, PA. The doors will open at 6:00 pm.

Billingsley is the former lead singer of the group "Newsong."

There is no admission charge. All are invited. A love offering will be taken.

Click the title to go to Charles Billingsley's web site.