She is fast becoming an accomplished singer/songwriter. Here is the music video for a song that she recently wrote and recorded.

After years of collecting photos, the site owner has posted some great images online.

The municipalities, along with Foster Township, all utilize the Bradford Sanitary Authority (BSA) system for their sewage disposal. For years, the sewage collection system has been carrying more flow than the system was designed to handle and the BSA sewage conveyance system has experienced raw sewage overflows and the sewage treatment plant has been compromised.

Read the Complete Story on the 1490 News Blog

The workshop is free and open to the public. It will be held from 9 to 11:30 a.m. in the Mukaiyama University Room of the Frame-Westerberg Commons at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.

The workshop is being co-sponsored by the McKean County Collaborative Board, the Northern Tier Community Action Corp. and the Pitt-Bradford master of social work program as part of their activities for Child Abuse Prevention Month. Also, as part of the groups’ activities the Children’s Memorial Flag is being flown at Pitt-Bradford to focus attention on violent child death in efforts to reduce child mortality.

The workshop will begin and end with a resource and networking fair to take place from 9 to 9:30 and 11 to 11:30 a.m.

Feikema’s talk on short- and long-term ways agencies can help families during changing economic times will take place from 9:30 to 10:15 a.m. and will be followed by a panel discussion of how these ideas might be implemented locally.

Feikema is director of programs and community initiatives at the Parental Stress Center, a child abuse prevention agency in Pittsburgh. His special interest is in poverty and the need for human service agencies to support people with low incomes, encouraging them to take a leadership role in changing community conditions. He helped establish the Citizens Leadership Initiative, a multi-agency collaboration that trains low-income individuals to become civic leaders on poverty-related issues.

Feikama will also help facilitate the discussion with the local panel, which will consist of Ken Straub, executive director of Northern Tier Community Action Corp.; Robin Kulek, a home economist with Penn State Cooperative Extension; Harry Solarek, chairman, McKean County chapter of Habitat for Humanity; and Lee Beckes of First Presbyterian Church, the Bradford Ministerium and The Friendship Table.

“We congratulate this year’s nationally accredited Main Street programs for meeting our established performance standard,” says Doug Loescher, director of the National Trust Main Street Center, “Rebuilding a district’s economic health and maintaining that success requires broad-based community involvement and support, in addition to establishing a solid organization with sound management that is committed to long-term success.”

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Photo submitted by "citizen" on Talkaboutbradford.com

Local residents will be working together to help clean up Bradford this Saturday, thanks to some initiative from a local church and Bradford Mayor Tom Riel.

Complaining about the trash along the sides of the road was not an acceptable solution for Open Arms Media Coordinator Josh Hatcher, “I decided rather than complain about the trash strewn along the roads, that it would be better to just pick it up. But to be honest, it’s a much bigger job than I can do.”

“No one of us can do it all, not as a person or an organization,” said Open Arms Pastor Mike McAvoy. “but together we all can accomplish a much bigger work in our community to make it a great place to live.”

Hatcher contacted Mayor Tom Riel about a clean up of some problem areas. “Tom had already been in touch with area residents about their concerns, and he took my on a drive to show me what areas need to be cleaned up,” said Hatcher.

Hatcher invited members from Open Arms Community Church to join him for the clean up efforts, as well as extending the invite to the greater community as well. Members of the City Police Department, and the Special Crimes Task Force will also be helping with the project.

“I think it’s great that the police and the mayor have taken an interest in making this happen,” said Hatcher. He says that a few volunteers from other churches, including Grace Lutheran have stepped up to help as well.

Hatcher says he also wants to clear up a few misconceptions about the project, “We’re not just going in and cleaning up after irresponsible landowners. A lot of this trash is in right of ways along the roads and railroad tracks. There are a couple yards that have been covered in trash by irresponsible neighbors as well, and we are working with the current landowners to clean up that trash. They will be working to help us on this project. It’s not just a free bailout. It’s a cooperative effort to clean up the trash.”

Wal-Mart has also donated supplies needed for the clean-up.

McAvoy said, “It’s our privilege to serve our city. We believe in Bradford– both the people and the community, God’s plan for Bradford,  and believe that God loves us and wants to bless us and this is our opportunity to be a part of that blessing.”

Volunteers wanting to help should meet in the parking lot at Grace Lutheran Community Church at 8:30 AM Saturday.

The Option House has been renovated, and

The website “Paint My World” has posted some before and after photos of the restoration work at the Option House.

I know this may seem like advertising for them, but really, I just think the renovation of this historic building is noteworthy, and was glad to see pictures from the inside.

Click here to see more photos.

Wow! Not sure that’s entirely the smartest thing I’ve ever seen. What do you think?
Interact Here at Talk About Bradford.

The Open Arms Mission Team arrived safely in Bradford, PA late Tuesday night. The team, comprised of Open Arms Pastor Mike McAvoy, Shawn Murphy, Josh Hatcher, Dr. Brad MacNeill, and his two daughters, Bethany and Jennifer MacNeill were in Conakry, Guinea for a week working with New Family Church and Gateway International School.

The team worked throughout the week assisting with a Pastor’s conference, which equipped ministers from across West Africa to be able to meet the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs within their communities.

The team also worked students from the school, bringing gifts to the students, and encouragement to the school staff.

“Sometimes you never know what to expect on these kinds of trips. I guess I thought our work would be even more humanitarian, and our work turned out to be more spiritual in nature,” said Hatcher, “This is a city racked by poverty, prejudice, and corruption. A lot of the work that we wanted to do would have been like band-aid on a chest wound. What we did have to offer was a hope that the world can be a better place, and we equipped pastors to bring hope to their people. You would be surprised how valuable hope is to them, and how much they appreciated it.”

The Open Arms Mission Team will be presenting their stories and sharing their experiences this weekend with an informational and question and answer session during the regular worship services at Open Arms Community Church, Saturday at 5:30 PM and Sunday at 10:15 AM. The public is invited to attend.