Bernard A. Oravec, Town&Gown

August is a funny month, part summer and part fall. While the temperature remains extremely hot throughout, by mid-month attention has already turned to school and football.  As a boy, I enjoyed many carefree August days exploring the woods near our Johnstown home. Drinking from cold mountain streams, hiking foot-worn hunting paths, balancing on…

Fifty years ago, on July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed the first men on the moon, accomplishing a monumental and unifying close to a turbulent and divisive decade. When astronaut Neil Armstrong stated, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” he eloquently summed up the human experience – that we are…

D-Day, June 6, 1944, was the beginning of the end of Hitler’s Third Reich. On that day, the largest military armada the world had ever known set its sights on Nazi Occupied France. From the air and from the sea, Allied soldiers stormed the beaches and small towns of Normandy, paying for every inch of…

Drumming is in my blood. It’s been 45 years since I first picked up a pair of drumsticks. Rhythm was introduced to me at a very early age, through the pounding beat of the steel mills and railroads near my Johnstown home. Every night I would fall asleep to the thunder of the hydraulic hammer.…

It’s April! We welcome more daylight and warmer weather to Happy Valley. The annual Blue-White Game, previewing this year’s football team, will take place on Saturday, April 13. That night, the Penn State Glee Club will be celebrating with a special 130th anniversary concert, solidifying it as the oldest student organization on campus. From…

As we enter the final weeks of a brutally cold and downright bizarre winter, our thoughts turn to spring. To most residents of central Pennsylvania, St. Patrick’s Day marks the end of winter. While snow likely will occur after that date, the threat of extreme cold will have passed. Warmer weather is ahead. When…

It has been only about a month since I was officially named publisher at Barash Media and Town&Gown. In this very short period of time, I have learned just how much I don’t know. Having served for the past 10 years as publisher of the Williamsport Sun-Gazette, a daily newspaper, it was only natural…