On Centre: Penns Valley

Volunteers take care of cemetery

By Ed Mahon

Joshua Smith and other volunteers have shoveled dirt, sprayed grave markers and done their best to give the Brungart Cemetery a makeover.

Photo provided

Joshua Smith, left, and his uncle Harry Ward work to level a headstone at Brungart Cemetery in Miles Township. Ward has been serving as an adviser for the project.

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Before a May 24 Memorial Day service, they mowed the grass and planted flowers in front of the tombstone of Civil War veteran William Long. They cut down three trees the same weekend. “They were uprooting the tombstones,” Smith explained.

In the weeks since, the volunteers have done other landscaping work, including resetting the tombstones.

Smith’s leading the effort for both his Eagle Scout project and the senior project required for him to graduate from Penns Valley Area High School. The topic was a natural choice for him.

“I love history,” said Smith, who’s especially interested in the Civil War.

He’s received assistance from uncles, aunts, cousins, friends and members of Boy Scout Troop 88.

One of those volunteers is Josh’s mother, Mary Jane Smith.

“It’s amazing the people who have stopped while he is working at the cemetery,” she wrote in an e-mail. She said residents have stopped by and called not only to thank him but to ask advice on how to clean and restore tombstones.

Night at Medlar Field

Penns Valley Area High School’s varsity cheerleading squad and band will perform before the State College Spikes game at 7:05 p.m. Aug. 13 at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. Penns Valley students will also sing the national anthem. The singers include Evan Heiser, Clarissa Keller, Ashley Pinamonti and Andrew Seely. Tickets cost $9 each, and there will be a special section for Penns Valley community members.

To buy tickets, contact Crystal Bierly at cbierly@pennsvalley.org or 360-6241 by Aug. 1. Buyers need to include their name, address, phone number and number of requested tickets. Penns Valley cheerleaders will also sell tickets during the summer.

Educators recognized

Gretchen Fetterolf, a fourth-grade teacher at Centre Hall-Potter Elementary, and Tammi Black, a paraprofessional at Penns Valley Area High School, recently were honored by the Centre County Association of School Retirees.

Fetterolf and Black received the first Lauretta Woodson Recognition Award, which honors an outstanding employee in each of the two categories. The association plans to present the awards to employees of a different Centre County school district each year.

Ed Mahon writes about news from the Penns Valley and Brush Valley regions. He can be reached at 231- 4619 or emahon@centredaily.com.