Old Log Church, Schellsburg, Bedford County

Happy Halloween! Well, almost. 

This time tomorrow I'll be heading north with the BFF Andrea, to collect as many of the remaining markers as I can in Columbia and Montour Counties. We'll be stopping in Bloomsburg at the Columbia-Montour Visitors Center, to say hello to my contact Shane (the one who very carefully reproduces my posts about their counties in their quarterly newsletter).

Meanwhile, my most recent contribution to the Mainly Museums collective went live early this morning. Kevin and I visited the famous Horseshoe Curve when we were in Altoona last year, and I enjoyed having the chance to tell readers all about it. You can find my piece here.

We're closing out October here on the blog with another county debut. On our way to Latrobe last week, my sister Liza very patiently pulled over whenever possible to allow me to collect other markers, and I came home with a total of nine, including this - my first for Bedford County. We couldn't stop to view this wonderful old church building up close, but I admired it from a distance and I've been looking forward to telling you all about it.

Fred McFeely Rogers, Latrobe, Westmoreland County

I'm very pleased to report that yesterday's mission was a complete success - thanks to my 'baby' sister Liza, I was able to collect nine markers, including all three of those in Latrobe. So hello to the good people of Westmoreland County, and welcome to the blog! And a particular hello to David Newell, aka Mr. McFeely (Speedy delivery!), my mutual on Twitter and a truly lovely gentleman.

This has actually turned out to be a somewhat difficult post to write. Not because of a lack of source material - goodness knows, there's an abundance! No, it's a little difficult because there is so much information about the beloved topic that it's been a challenge to cut it down so the blog post doesn't go on forever. But I'm doing my best. 

Rhoads Opera House Fire, Boyertown, Berks County

Next week, if all goes according to plan, I'll have something really special for my readers. My sister Liza and I are finally following through with something we had discussed before the 2020 lockdown. On Tuesday I'll be getting up way earlier than my body normally likes to do, getting into her Jeep, and traveling four hours to Westmoreland County. We're going to pay our respects to the legendary Mr. Rogers and bring back pictures of his marker. 

(Among others. His hometown is also the birthplace of the banana split, so I mean to get that marker too, and I think we're kind of required by law to have ice cream while we're there.)

But first, this week's quest. This is a sad one. The events of this marker led to profound overhauls in fire safety regulations, which is good, but those changes came at a terrible, terrible cost.

Rocky Glen Park, Moosic, Lackawanna County

We're finally in my favorite month of the year, the one with the pretty leaves and cooler temperatures. This weekend my husband Kevin and I will be heading up to Knoebels Amusement Resort, hopefully to get a couple markers along the way, and that makes it strangely appropriate that this week's blog post is about a different amusement park which actually has a minor connection to Knoebels.

As you might guess from the topic of my first history book, defunct amusement parks are very interesting to me. Not many of them have historical markers, however, so discovering that there was one in Lackawanna County which does took me by surprise. Let's dive into the history.

11/3/2023: Made a few edits after hearing from Mary Ann Moran-Savakinus of the Lackawanna Historical Society. Thank you, Mary Ann!