Punxsatawney, PA

One has to mention the weather in Punxsatawney. When we arrived winter was in the air and when we left it was spring!
Punxsatawney is in the middle of coal country and Amish country and natural gas country. The community has a lot going for it in addition to Phil, the most famous groundhog in the world.
On our way to Punxsatawney (Punxsy is what the "locals" call it) we ascended over the Allegheny Mountains. At one time, there was a train that portaged canal boats over the top. Before the railroads, goods were tranported throughout the region via canals. I found it all very interesting. There were many tragic and fatal accidents that occurred when ropes snapped pulling the heavy-laden rail cars up the steep slopes of the mountains.

We stayed at the Hotel Pantall in the center of town in Punxsatawney. We were generously given the Michael Suite which is the size of two rooms. It is a bonus when two harps fill the hotel room. We were pleasantly suprised at the low cost in Punxsatawney for meals. The hotel serves chicken and bisquits all day for $2.95!
We were happy to present a program for the middle school music students on Friday morning. Katherine and I had the rest of the day to explore the region. We visited an Amish bakery.
A highlight for me was a visit to a private persons coal mine. Being made of Welsh blood, I was intrigued by the Pennsylvania coal. Many Welsh immigrants who worked in the coal mines in Wales settled in Pennsylvania. Residents of Pennsylvania have heated their homes and lit their lights by the power of coal energy. I brought a box of coal home. I'll either burn it in the fireplace or give it out as presents at Christmas!


We gave our concert on Saturday night after having dinner with Tom Curry, the community concert board president and Ruth Gordon who is the representative in the region for community concerts. We had a marvelous reception after the concert program in Shirley's home. My 401 song seems to be a hit everywhere we go. Here is a link to the song on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2gB5p3keq8
We appreciate being able to meet the local volunteers who make community concerts possible.

On Sunday we had an opportnity to go to church at the First Presbyterian church next to the hotel. It was a very good sermon. And was a privilege to worship there. That is by far the biggest negative for us in our travels is not beig able to attend Sunday church services on a regular basis.
We loaded our harp after church with the help of Matt. Tom and Matt were a big help all weekend.