ROMAN VILLA: Judy Keenan of Elkton, Md., writes about the inside
of the old Roman Villa.

“After reading the article about the Roman Villa, I thought I
would mention that my brother, Richard Keenan Jr., who recently
passed away on May 20 in Berlin, Germany, painted the murals in the
main dining room at the Villa.

“He was just a teen-ager, still in high school at BAHS at the
time. The Villa was still under construction and the electric had
not been turned on yet in that area.

“He purchased his own candles and painted by candlelight to
complete his chalk and pencil works of art. And works of art they
were. …

“I am quite sure a lot of folks will recall these beautiful
murals. Unfortunately, he drew them directly on to the walls and
they couldn’t be saved when the Villa was torn down for the
University of Pittsburgh campus.

“The Class of ’63 celebrates its 45th year reunion on July 19.
It amazes me to think that he did these murals before he graduated
in 1963. I wish I could recall the exact date but as you all know,
old age creeps up on all of us and we tend to forget some
things.”

Jim Flynn of Erie dropped us a line about this restaurant:
“Before it was the Roman Villa, it was the Glass Bar. Not that I
stopped there often, but they did have good pizza.”

Finally for today, we had a note from Robert M. Fox in Florida
about the creation of some sort of repository for information on
old Bradford establishments, a suggestion made by Tom Costello: ”
We agree. Tom’s idea is a good one. Although, Bradford Landmark
Society and several other organizations in Bradford have excellent
websites, there’s always room for such a project.”

IN PRINT: Rocky Holland of Kane is old reliable when it comes to
wildlife photography. His shot of beautiful painted turtles not far
from Lantz Corners in McKean County took an honorable mention in a
photo contest sponsored by Pennsylvania magazine. It was included
in the July/August edition.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “Daily journalism, when done responsibility and
when done with care, makes a difference. It makes a hell of a
difference,” said Ed Kelley, managing editor, the Oklahoman,
Oklahoma City, 1996. As always, our quote is gleaned from the
Freedom Forum calendar.