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John M. Fray, Webmaster:
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John M. Fray Ellwood City, Pennsylvania Telephone: 724 494-6569 Retired from Practicing Law

Monday, October 7, 2024 Seasonal Weather! All Smiles After Mowing the Lawn.

October 5, 2024. Contact Me About Spooky Stories

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The thoughts of the Halloween season conjure in me scary tales, two of which are the fictional, but nonetheless hair-raising, stories from the television series "The Twilight Zone" and "One Step Beyond." The entry from the first-mentioned series is the episode "The Howling Man" which was aired November 4, 1960. The story unfolds in the current day (which at the time of the episode was, of course, in 1960) and features a man in his home relating a fantastic story to his housekeeper. It seems that there is an unusual captive being held in his closet. The scenes of the episode then flash back to the rampaged terrain of Europe sometime between the two world wars. The narrator of the story is at that time younger, of course, and seeks shelter at night during a storm. He winds up at a monastery headed by a Brother Jerome who has a secret he is guarding (literally). As you may have guessed the monastery is holding an unusual captive. If you want a good scare, check out the episode on the web. The second tale is an October 4, 1960, episode from "One Step Beyond" and features the lovely Elizabeth Montgomery" in a ghostly tale from the Old West.

A Shout-Out To WFEM, Ellwood City's First Radio Station. In 1968, the Ellwood City community was pleasantly surprised to behold a newly-constructed radio tower overlooking the segment Conoquennessing Creek valley in which the borough is situate. The stunningly tall tower rose to a height of 400 feet, and was topped with a 16-foot broadcast antenna. The broadcasting studio was located along Fifth Street near the railroad overpass. The call letters of the station were WFEM which signified an instrument-only music broadcasting format, one which could be characterized as gentle and nurturing, a la the female spirit. Local news coverage and high school sports broadcasting were part of the mix. Fine on-air personalities added flair to the daily informational broadcasts. In 1973, when I was in my senior year of high school, the format changed to country music, and the station's moniker became "C 92" in reference to country music at 92.1 on the FM dial. I can still recall listening to certain country music recordings which I have not been able to track down to this day. The Saturday evening country music retrospective slot was pure elegance. That was before the "Outlaw" movement of country music arose, but its subversive origins were apparent in some of the new releases which the station offered and which remain dear to my heart.

Saturday, September 28, 2024, at 11:00 PM, John Fray Wrote: Lincoln High School Class of 1974 50th Year Reunion Here are the St. Agatha Elementary School Alumni The Class at Large. Two St. Agatha Alumni.

Saturday, September 28, 2024, at 11:00 AM, John Fray Wrote: Today is the 2024 Ellwood City Fall Fest and Car Cruise! Here are a few photos from the 9:00 AM hour:

Fri. Sept. 27: Delicious Fish Dinner at Chippewa Twp. Eat-n-Park.

Here is my 2021 post re the Fall Equinox date:

Friday, September 20, 2024, at 11:00 AM, John Fray Wrote: Handgun Homicide in an Ellwood City Steel Forging Facility Thursday, September 19, at 6:30 PM. One fatality resulted in the targeted event. The victim was a thirty-six-year-old male resident of Ellwood City. He resided in my neighborhood. The person who has been arrested and charged in the shooting is a thirty-one-year-old male from Wayne Township. He is a former employee of the facility. He is charged with first-degree-homicide and with carrying a firearm in violation of the concealed-carry statute. About a year ago, in the borough of Ellwood City, a woman was shot to death with a handgun by an acquaintance of her daughter. The daughter was shot in the head and survived. About four years ago, in the Borough of Ellwood City, gunfire was exchanged by two groups of males. One male struck in the exchange of bullets died shortly thereafter in Wayne Township as the result of his injuries. At the time of his death, he was being transported via a motor vehicle which was apparently on its way to a hospital in New Castle.

In the year 2013, a 29-year-old male was shot to death at a Loop Street address. The victim was attempting to stop the assailant when the gunfire erupted. The assailant may have been enraged at the victim because the victim was looking out for the safety of a young single mother who lived at the address. In or around 2009, a body of a one-year old was discovered by police. The discovery led to charges being filed against the unmarried parents who lived in the Loop Street area. Around that time, another like discovery occurred in an apartment on Franklin Avenue. I am not sure about what if any charges were filed. In or around 2005, a murder suicide of a married couple occurred in the northern Fifth Ward area. In 1983, a young woman from North Sewickley Township was murdered. Her body was discovered two days later in Perry Township. She was of the same extended family as was the 2013 murder victim.

On Tuesday, September 17, at 10:20 PM, John Fray Wrote: SUPER MOON! BLOOD MOON! HARVEST MOON! It is too bad that clouds are obstructing the view to the Super Moon / Blood Moon /Harvest Moon. During two intervals every year, the moon makes its closet approach to the earth. The times of the year in which these closest approaches take place gradually shift as the years go by. This year, the intervals of closest approaches occurred/occur in March and September. The full moons during these closest approaches are termed Super Moons. Tonight's Super Moon is also the Harvest Moon, which means that it is the full moon which is closest in days to the autumnal equinox which will occur about September 21. On top of all that, there will be partial lunar eclipse tonight. The Moon at the time of a lunar eclipse is termed a Blood Moon. The coinciding of these three events (Blood Moon, Super Moon and Harvest Moon) does not occur often. The next such coinciding will occur over twenty years from now.

Tuesday Morning, September 17 Chippewa Township Eat-n-Park:

John Fray, Sept. 18, 2024: I remember some discussions a few weeks following the April 17, 1966, "86-Mile Early Morning UFO Police Chase" from Ravenna Ohio to Conway, PA. I am uncertain of the accuracy of some of the details contained in the news stories. Most of details reported in then-current news stories and in retrospective web stories could be true. The last detail about the light ascending quickly and out of sight matches what anyone with good vision can see on a video posted on NUFORC regarding an Ellwood City sighting a few years ago after the borough's annual summer fireworks display. The Ellwood City area was the site of a few UFO reports in the mid-1960s. The description of the Ravenna-to-Conway UFO matches the some of what was reported in those Ellwood City area sightings.

September 14, 2024, 1:00 PM, John Fray Wrote: The Ellwood City Wolverines senior football team defeated its opponent from the Mohawk School District last evening at Ellwood City's Helling Stadium. Running back Isaiah Parker-McCane scored two late-game touchdowns to put the score out or reach. I watched portion of the game on the YouTube live stream.

September 13, 2024, at 7:15 AM, John Fray Wrote: Last Night WTAE TV Pittsburgh Reported About The EC School District Meeting : The report covered last evening's contentious school board meeting wherein parents voiced their fears over a threat spoken on Tuesday by a student in the Lincoln High School cafeteria. The student has been suspended but will likely be permitted return to the school next week. WPXI Report September 12, 2024, at 1:30 PM, John Fray Wrote: Ellwood City's Lincoln High School was one of about a dozen area schools which, over the past two days, received threats of violence. The Ellwood City Area School District immediately conducted a full investigation and determined the threat to Lincoln High School was not credible. Here is link to a news story from WPXI TV Pittsburgh about the area threats:

September 12, 2024, at 8:00 AM, John Fray Wrote: This morning on CNN, a live stream informed viewers with the latest happenings from the spacecraft which is currently in orbit at a greater distance from earth than any human-containing craft has been since the 1970s. Here is a screen shot from the stream which shows our planet, specifically the Pacific Ocean west of the Baja peninsula: UPDATE: Saturday, September 15, 2024, 3:20 PM: The capsule of the Polaris Dawn spacecraft returned to earth with its crew safely aboard. The mission set a record for the highest orbit of a human-occupies spacecraft and for the largest number of astronauts simultaneously engaged in space walking.

September 11, 2024, at 8:00 AM, John Fray Wrote: In the mood for some hair-raising UFO stories from Ellwood City? If so, check out these historical reports files with the National UFO Reporting Center: The July 2022 video of the white light hovering above Ewing Park after the fireworks display, and then suddenly departing, is convincing. As far as spine-tingling stories go, the 1979 account of the hunter in the woods rates highly as a frightening encounter.

Tuesday, September 10, 2024, 9:00 AM, John Fray Wrote: LINCOLN HIGH SCHOOL MURALS Sometime in the 1950s (I think) Four murals were introduced to the midway landings of the two sets of steps to the balcony of the Lincoln High School auditorium. The murals were affixed to the wall at each landing, and they represented the four seasons. Each mural was painted on a disk with a diameter of approximately five feet. The murals were present until the auditorium was renovated in 1973. Thereafter, I am not sure of their display there. I think I recall seeing them around 1990. At one point (according to a newspaper story about thirty years ago) they had been removed, were absent for a few years, were later discovered in storage, and thereafter were restored to their original locations. If anyone knows more about the murals or their present location, please contact me via my Facebook page. Click the image below to visit my Facebook page:

Monday, September 9, 2024, 9:00 AM, John Fray Wrote: REROUTING THE RAILROAD When Ellwood City was incorporated in 1892, the plan was for the railroad to be rerouted so that it would pass through the borough. The line which existed at the time had the Pittsburgh-originating trains pass through Franklin Township, cross the Slippery Rock Creek over a bridge, and enter Wayne Township. From there the trains would proceed a few miles west to the Borough of Hazel Dell, which comprised the area now known as the Fourth Ward of Ellwood City. From there, the trains proceeded west and eventually followed a path along what is now the Ellwood-Wampum Road and joined the tracks which are located a mile east of Rock Point, where the Conoquennessing Creek flows into the Beaver River. The rerouted train line, established in the late 1890s, takes the trains from the Frisco area in Franklin Township across the Conoquennessing Creek by means of bridge which leads to a tunnel in the Second Ward of Ellwood City. Thanks to that revised route, trains are able to pass through Ellwood City and make a second crossing over the Conoquennessing Creek at the west side of the borough. After that second crossing, the trains are in Wayne Township and on the rails one mile east of Rock Point.

Sunday, September 8, 2024, 10:00 AM, John Fray Wrote: Early Saturday, Morning, September 7, 2024, Ellwood City Police and Pennsylvania State Police arrived at the scene of a multiple shooting which had occurred at a bar and restaurant business located in the Borough of Ellport, one mile east of the Ellwood City Borough line. One person died and four more were injured, one seriously, by the shooter who was apprehended and placed in the Lawrence County Jail. The shooter discharged a hand gun and a rifle at the business, Breakers Pub, and also at other neighboring businesses. The above link is to the news story at WPXI TV Channel 11 Pittsburgh

John Fray on September 8, 2024, at 8:00 AM: My favorite musical recording is "You Were on My Mind" (1965) by We Five. (Actually, there were six in the group.) The group gave us a remarkable live performance on the ABC television show "The Hollywood Palace" shortly are the recording was released. No lip-syncing was involved. The staging of the number is exceptional, the drummer is behind the camera. If you are in the mood for a musical treat, check YouTube for a video of that magnificent performance. Click the above image for the video.