Under the baobab: After LLWS, new stars move into central PA championship constellation
In necessarlis unitas, in dublis libertas, in omnibus caritas. – Grange Fair motto
Move over Katie Schumacher-Cawley, Saquon Barkley and Coach James Franklin. Make room, Carter Starocci, Cael Sanderson and the Eagles. There are some new stars moving into the central PA championship constellation. Open the trophy case and add a new seat at the table: Reagan Bills and the girls from the West Suburban Little League softball team from Johnstown are the new world champions.
They defeated the Indiana team 1-0. They also set a television record in the process. With a peak of almost 3 million viewers, it was the most watched Little League Softball game ever. West Suburban, as the only sanctioned Little League in Cambria County, put together the championship team with players from the Blacklick Valley, Cambria Heights, Central Cambria, Conemaugh Valley, Forest Hills and Holy Name school systems.
In Johnstown on Friday, a celebratory parade and a rally at Point Stadium honored the team.
Around town
State Rep. Paul Takac, D-College Township, held his fifth annual fundraiser at Boal City Brewing in Boalsburg. Almost 200 constituents showed up. The usual suspects were in attendance, cheering on Paul’s rousing speech on the state of things in Harrisburg and Washington, D.C. Several significant state representatives were present: Rep. Joanna McClinton, the first woman selected as Speaker of the House; Rep. Johanny Cepeda- Freyitz, chair of the Latino Caucus and the chair of the Subcommittee on Arts and Entertainment; Education Committee Majority Chair Pete Schweyer; Ryan Bizzarro, House Democratic Policy Chairman; Representatives from the Agricultural Committee, Eddie Day Pashinski, Tarik Khan, and Emily Kinkead; from the Education Committee Paul Friel; and Rep. Steve Malagari from the Tourism and Recreational Development Committee.
They all spoke on the importance of maintaining the one vote Democratic majority in the state House election this coming fall.
Governor Josh Shapiro was in town to meet with folks at Penn State’s Ag Progress Days at the Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center. PSU College of Ag Dean Troy Ott welcomed over 400 exhibitors and thousands of participants to the events. U.S. Rep. GT Thompson, R-Howard, chairman of the House Agricultural Committee, and PA Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding were also keynote speakers.
Another important event in our central Pennsylvania region is the Grange Fair, which opened Friday and will close Saturday, August 23. The Grange dates back 151 years. For a week it is home to families living in 1,000 tents and 1,500 RVs. The privilege of occupancy is as cherished as Nittany Lion season tickets and is passed down in families from generation to generation. The Grange is the only remaining tenting fair in the country.
In addition to exhibits, livestock and home econ competitions, along with a rodeo, free entertainment is presented nightly in the grandstand. Featured this year will be: Darryl Worley, Neal McCoy, Caleb and John, Chris Woodward and Shindiggin, Bryan Martin, Consumed By Fire, Erich Cawalla & The Uptown Band, and Terry Lee Goffee, with a tribute to Johnny Cash.
The Racial Healing Alliance met to discuss and plan the annual State College Day of Racial Healing, while the Community Diversity Group, led by Carol Eicher and Naana Nti, held a potluck picnic Friday. The Blair County African American Heritage Festival, hosted by the African American Project, will be held this Saturday and Sunday at Heritage Plaza, Altoona.
Sisters and brothers, we are on a precipice deciding whether our nation can endure as a democracy. We have been here before and survived. Our future rests upon collective will of the people not the whims of an oligarch. We are the people; we are not alone. As the Grange motto translates, “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials liberty; in all things charity.”
Charles Dumas is a lifelong political activist, a professor emeritus from Penn State, and was the Democratic Party’s nominee for the U.S. Congress in 2012. He is a Lions Paw honoree. He lives in State College with his wife and partner of over 50 years.