Round the Square

LETTER 3: And now for the last part of the letter from oil man S.A. Whipple, who wrote to The Era from Kentucky in November 1901. He’s shared his surp...

LETTER 2: More of the letter from oil man S.A. Whipple, who wrote to The Era from Kentucky in November 1901. “This is certainly a very wild country an...

LETTER: Back in November of 1901, an oil man, S.A. Whipple, shared his experience in the Hazard, in the Kentucky mountains, with the folks at The Era....

AMERICAN: Did you know nachos and fajitas originated in America? CNN has a list of 50 foods that came from America, with a few surprises along the way...

LIBRARIES: How do you use your library? That’s a re-wording of the question that was recently on social media, which was “Does anyone use a library an...

VAMPIRE: National Geographic is asking readers if they are having a “vampire summer.” In a subscriber-only story online July 22, author Meryl Davids L...

SUPERSTITION: Do you avoid walking under ladders? Do you knock on wood? Say ‘bless you’ when someone sneezes? Where do these superstitions come from? ...

FOSSILS: We learned something new, and had to share it. We hadn’t heard of “fossil words” before. These are words that were once in common use, but ar...

ROOSTER: Why are roosters on weathervanes? Did someone at some point in time have an affinity for roosters and it stuck? We turned to the Farmers Alma...

OLYMPIAN: The Olympics are going on now in Paris, 100 years after the summer Olympic games were held there in 1924. Turns out that a Bradford boy, Ada...

LIFE: There are times in life when it feels like we ought to have a user’s manual. While that’s not something humans were given, we were given men lik...

PB&J: Did you know the ever popular peanut butter and jelly sandwich is uniquely American? The National Peanut Board has a pretty long story featuring...

ROAD TRIP: Where do you like to go for a road trip? U.S. Route 6 made a recent list, “Starting in Milford and ending in Erie, this drive across northe...

FELINES: There’s not much that equals a cuddle from a warm and fuzzy cat, but when your yard is overrun with strays or feral cats, what can you do to ...

PETS: We know this is ground we’ve covered before, but it’s important for people and for animals, too. It’s the power of pets. We’re not talking about...

TICKS: Yuck! Ticks are nasty parasites that can cause all kinds of serious illnesses in people. Farmers’ Almanac offers a list of natural tick repelle...

ACTIVITY: Looking for a rainy day activity with children? Good Housekeeping offers directions for making felt flowers. You’ll need felt sheets in asso...

ODD: The last two entries on the list of weird and wacky places to visit in Pennsylvania certainly fit the list. Goose Day is celebrated in Lewistown ...

STILL MORE: We’re still on the list of the weird and wacky places to visit in Pennsylvania. Number 11 is Playthings Etc., in Butler. “Housed within a ...

MORE ODD: Continuing our weird trip through Pennsylvania, we’re at Mister Ed’s Elephant Museum & Candy Emporium in Harrisburg. We’ve heard of this pla...