The laurelight JTH Festival Gallery
Jackson Township Home
Jackson Township Heritage Festival Home

One of the best things about living in the Johnstown area is, on any given weekend between May and October, there’s always some kind of festival, or jubilee, or carnival going on. Jackson Township is no exception. I’m especially fond of the Jackson Township Heritage Festival because the picturesque Veterans Park is a setting right out of Meet Me In St. Louis or Life With Father. I always feel like I’ve been tossed back a hundred years when I wander through the festival: friendly, enthusiastic vendors and patrons, good music, and, of course, great food. The JTHF is on my short ‘A’ list of “There’s Too Much to do Around Here.”

I’ve also got a soft spot in my heart for Jackson Township itself. Back in the Stone Age, JT was the first, and may still be the only, municipality to link to laurelight on its website. Thanks, guys. Anything I can ever do for you… And the rest of you, try to catch up, would you?

And, so, the photos. I like to plan my visit when TREE is playing. If you’re not an aficionado, check them out here, and you will be. So, we’ve got photos of the band, some fine folks, a little Sal’s pizza, some Pie Shoppe baked goods and a few other odds and ends. Check out the 2012 Festival link above and make your plans. Enjoy.

By the time Valentine’s Day rolls around, I’m already salivating like Pavlov’s dog knowing that Lent is just around the corner. Forget chocolate roses and candy hearts. My taste buds yearn for Fish Fry! I was out of town for 30 years. The 10 years in Boston wasn’t bad, but the 20 years in Amishland were unbearable. Oh yeah, they love their crabs. They think they invented steamed crabs and crabcakes down at the head of the Chesapeake, but you can’t find a decent lump of breaded haddock anywhere between Bryn Mawr and Carlisle. And fresh cut fries? Forget about it. It’s good to be home.

You know how I hate to promote the local provincial rag, but the fact is, the Friday edition of the daily fish-wrapper is the best thing in town for finding fish fry info. The local sources will have their ads on the back page of the Tribune Democrat, or in the Weekend supplement, or both. I’ve had most, and I have my personal favorites, but they’re all good, so I’m not going to try to influence anybody’s opinion here. Listed below are the ones I know about, and check the paper every Friday, because many of these places offer fish frys at various times throughout the year:

Visitation Church – Eighth Ward
St. Nicholas Serbian – St. Clair Road
St. Francis – West End (took over for SS Casimir & Emerich)
St. Patricks – Moxham
SS Gregory and Barnabas – Daisytown
St. Benedicts – Geistown
Church of the Transfiguration – East Conemaugh
Holy Cross Lutheran – Cambria City
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton – Windber
Immaculate Conception – New Germany

Fire Halls:
Conemaugh Township – Tire Hill
Jackson Township – Vinco

Restaurants, etc:
the Pyramids – West End (often declared the best around)
Aces – Cambria City
Crows Nest – Tire Hill
Oakwood Restaurant @ Laurel View Village – Conemaugh Township

Pictures are from St. Nicks, St. Pats and SS Barney & Greg. Dig in and enjoy.

Related Links
The Laurelight Wheels and Wings Gallery
Ebensburg’s Wheels and Wings

Don’t let the sparseness of the crowd in the photo to the left fool you. I haven’t seen a crowd this thick since the 1987 Boston Ice Cream Festival. Behind me, on the wing block, it was “shoulder to shoulder, backs to the wall.” You couldn’t slip a sheet of paper between any 2 people there. But it was all good. It gave me an excuse to try my first slice of Clark Powell’s pizza. And that led to my second. And so on, and so on… Anyway, I was in town to shoot cars, meet folks and have a good time, not to eat wings. And they had some real pretty cars in Ebensburg, including the sweetest ride I’ve ever seen: Chris Ryan’s, of Ninety Six, S.C., 1948 Cadillac Series 62 convertible. Oh, what a beauty car. Check out the photos.