Relatives reunite in Osceola Mills

By Lori Falce

OSCEOLA MILLS — The Fourth of July might be America’s birthday, but it’s Osceola Mills’ family reunion. And here, everyone is family on the Fourth. Even if you’ve never been here before.

“I’ve heard about nothing else for two weeks,” said Jessica Ritchey, of Greencastle. A friend brought her to the porch of a cousin, and just like that, she was part of everything, celebrating the day with dear old friends she’d never met.

Leah Donnell, of Pennsylvania Furnace, missed last year’s festivities but has been regaled with stories of the boroughwide party that moves from yard to yard and porch to porch as the parade winds its way through town. She had to make it this year.

“I’m really impressed with the town,” she said, having a drink with the natives who brought her to the shindig, meeting new friends on the front steps of someone’s dad’s house. A couple hours later, she was hanging out two blocks down the street with more new friends watching fire trucks and marching bands strut their stuff.

For Hayley Marie Johnson, 2, granddaughter of Jim and Marie Johnson, of Philipsburg, it’s the start of a new tradition, with a prime seat at the corner of Curtin and Stone streets, a blue plastic shopping bag to collect candy, and a backyard picnic with ice cream and watermelon when it was all over.

The parade has been a staple in town, one of the few remaining shining stars in what was once a prosperous brick and lumber town, for a hundred years. And for many, that makes it an indelible part of the holiday.

“We thought of moving to another corner,” said Julie Jo Johnston, of Philipsburg. “But then how would anyone find us?” And for some, it’s even more personal. Tara Kent is an Osceola Mills native who grew up knowing just how special the Fourth was. For her, every parade was a birthday present.

“And now I can share it with my daughters,” she said, decked in red, white and blue with her clan, staking out the spot that has been hers as long as she’s been alive.