Liberty Bell Unveiling
David Landis
Cliff Clark
Jeff Weidow
Our next cycling enthusiast is Jeff Weidow. Jeff is a Bike Fitter and an Endurance Cycling Coach. He has completed a 30 day unsupported trek across the United States, which entailed of completing about 100 miles per day. He started an organization called ‘Project Pedal’ back in 2018. Project Pedal is an organization that focuses on mental health and well-being through cycling. At Project Pedal, they have a clear and powerful mission: to ignite a passion for cycling outdoors while prioritizing mental health. Jeff travels all over learning new routes and trails. In past years he competed in the Sinnemahone Bike Race and loved the area here and the people. He shared with us the features that he feels makes Cameron County stand out compared to other places he has been. We have rolling hills, amazing scenery, great climbing routes, and remoteness. He talked about the camaraderie of the cycling community here in Cameron County and how it is a welcoming environment for all people. His advice to people new to cycling is to enjoy simple routes and to just get out there and away from everyday busy life without worrying about having the best gear or overthinking it all. Just ride.
The Mercantile
Denyse and Horacio are the proud owners of The Cameron County Mercantile in downtown Emporium. Denyse graduated from Cameron County High School and went into the United States Navy after. She and Horacio met in Dallas, Texas, and after just a few visits to Cameron County, they decided they wanted to relocate here. They found a house for sale on Facebook, and bought it, planning to return on vacations to work on its restoration. The stars aligned during Covid, and they were able to take up permanent residence here, as well as buy the old “Bigg” building. This building became The Mercantile. The purpose of The Mercantile is to help residents put a little money in their pockets by selling their vintage treasures on consignment.They research items thoroughly to understand the full history and value of an item. Denyse says her favorite part about owning The Mercantile is talking to people and hearing their stories. She likes that people are able to trust her with their heartfelt items. You will see many different items in the store such as homegoods, crafts, collectibles, memorabilia, and antiques. Mostly everything in the store for sale comes from Cameron County locals. Denyse values consignment with customers and has very clear communication with her customers. The Mercantile is open for any of your vintage or antique goods! I was very happy to learn about their business and hear how they contribute to Cameron County!
Cameron County Gravel Cycling Routes
Recently, Cameron County and Village to Village Press, LLC, a Virginia corporation, have created an agreement on Gravel Cycling Routes. Cameron County received a grant to fund cycling routes in Cameron County. Village to Village Press has 15+ years of experience with international trail development as well as guidebook publication experience. Gravel Cycling is adventurous, and gives you more freedom to ride than when you are on a public roadway. It is better for your safety and allows you to be surrounded by nature during your ride. Gravel cycling is growing fast and is expected to grow 13.5% annually from 2023-2030. With this new agreement in place, Village to Village Press LLC. will research and map out unpaved roads and cycling routes, as well as design 15 day routes with points of interest for the community. These routes will vary in difficulty of levels and lengths. Each route will be described with content of history, culture, and heritage that is involved with each specific route, as well as information about equipment that will follow safety regulations. They will conduct field work and testing, written and visual drafts of routes, and finally create routes pages, GPS guidelines, and provide photos of cycling routes. In total, this project will cost $35,000. This cost will be broken into three phases within one year. The data of this project will be tracked every two years to follow its growth. Gravel Cycling can be explored in many different ways; alone, guided tours, with friends, or with family. Gravel Cycling will be a great new addition to Cameron County to enhance our biking experiences and our biking routes.
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The Knights Wand
Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with Amanda Knight, who is the owner of The Knights Wand, and who is a crochet extraordinaire! Amanda Knight has been in Emporium for almost a year and she is an active member of our community already! She has been attending the Farmer’s Market since last July, and has had her work submitted in the Cameron County Fair.
Amanda grew up in Lancaster Pennsylvania, where her love for crocheting began. Her interest really peaked when she won her first blue ribbon at a Manheim Farm show for a blanket. When the pandemic happened, she needed something to pass the time, so she began scrolling through social media to find that there were accounts full of crocheted clothing. This inspired her to begin making her own clothing. In less than one year, she had an article of clothing for each season. She began to work with designers all over the world and The Knights Wand took off. She owns her own crochet business, she is a Level lll crochet instructor with the American Crochet Association, and she teaches classes locally. She is an artist with the Elk County Council on the Arts, she has her work shown locally and globally, and she continues to participate in RAOCKs.
Before moving to Emporium, she and her family lived in Philadelphia, PA. She started The Knights Wand in 2021 and had little to no sales. One day while in Saint Mary’s, PA, she left a small crocheted Emotional Support Chicken outside the Subway and her work went viral. In a matter of days, she had orders from all over the county.
Amanda felt a connection with Emporium each time she came to visit her family here. She described it as a “hallmark” town feeling. She appreciates the community for welcoming her with such open arms. She loves being able to meet community members at the Farmer’s Market and she can see herself and her family being happy here for many years to come. I was so glad I was able to hear about her story and I am happy to welcome her to our community!
remote work opportunity turns into family moving to Cameron county
I recently had the opportunity to interview Jared, CiCi, and their daughter Essy, who have been involved in the Remote Workers Program for the Summer of 2023. Jared, CiCi, and Essy were a pleasure to interview, and I was happy to hear their story. Jared and CiCi grew up from two backgrounds. Jared grew up in a small town and CiCi grew up in a large city. Both were looking for that small town feel. They lived in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, which they thought was going to give them that small town feel. Jared found an application online from the PAWilds, that was offering families to come to work remotely in Cameron County. He filled out the application, and found out later on, that they were chosen. They would come to Cameron County for the month of June. The family was ecstatic about the opportunity. When they arrived here on Father’s Day, they were immediately welcomed by such a great community. Savannah Comfort housed them while they were here, and people in the community welcomed them with open arms. They met Tina Solak, the Zucal family, and other community members who became fast friends. The family described Cameron County as green, beautiful, and community oriented. They found a fast connection to the area and CiCi went to look at one house with Essy, and they fell in love, made an offer, got the house, and decided to change their lives and move to Cameron County. They felt a strong sense of home and community here and have been here full-time since Christmas. Their goals for their future here are to help the community and to help Cameron County thrive and grow. I was glad to interview this wonderful family and we are happy to welcome them to our wonderful town!
Bikepacking Routes
Flowers ‘N Things
Recently, I interviewed Sheila at Flowers n Things. Flowers N Things has been in business for 26 years. She couldn’t pick just one thing she likes most about Emporium because she loves everything here. She absolutely loves the area. The peacefulness and sense of community make it the perfect place for her and her business. Flowers N Things sells decorations, signs, home goods, Cameron County gifts, wax melts, body care, plants, flowers, windchimes, garden flags, O’Shea’s Candies, and more! There is a little something for everyone. They have Emporium signs and sayings that would be a perfect gift for someone or an addition to your home! Sheila told us what makes Emporium special to them is that the community is always there to help and back you up. To her, our community is one big family. They are currently transitioning from their Christmas items to their Valentine’s Day items. They have a table with Christmas decorations that is marked down. Head over to find the most unique gifts and things at Flowers N Things!
Cameron County Historical Society
The Cameron County Historical Society is our town’s greatest source of historical information. The historical society consists of the Little Museum in Driftwood, PA, but also the Historical & Genealogy Research Center in Emporium on 125 West Greenwood Street. The Little Museum was created in 1921. After visiting both of these places, I was able to gather information from Susan Hoy who is Vice President on the board at the Historical Society. She was able to tell me all about the resources that the Historical Society provides. You are able to visit and research information on your family that you may not have known about. They have business files as well as individual family files. The Historical Society gets pieces of history or documents sent to them from all around the country that somehow ties to Cameron County. Some of these things are displayed in the Little Museum. Below are some images of both the Little Museum and the Historical Society. Susan was able to share with me how passionate she is about history and how she wants people to know that the Historical Society has so much to offer. Even if you think you are not very interested in history, or you think you have no ties to Cameron County, you may be surprised if you take a visit to the Research Center. You are able to become a member of the Cameron County Historical Society by paying an annual fee of $12.00, or paying a one-time fee of $100.00 that makes you a member for life. The Research Center is open on Tuesday’s at 10:00am-12:30pm. The Little Museum is open from Memorial Day to mid October on Saturdays, Sundays, and Wednesdays from 1:00pm-4:00pm. The Historical Society is completely non-profit and is a volunteer organization. The members of the Historical Society depend on the help of the community for their continued support through memberships and donations. If you have never taken a visit to either of these locations, I would highly recommend it! It was very interesting to learn about some of the history in Cameron County while interviewing with the Historical Society.
Valerie – Calder Wilds
Valerie is an active member of our community here in Cameron County. She was born in the Netherlands then moved to New Zealand where she went to school. She attended college there to study Mammalian Physiology and after college, she did years of traveling. She lived in London, Thailand and Vancouver, BC. She met her husband, Steve, in 2018 on a trip to the United States and moved to Emporium in 2019 to be with him. Valerie began The Cameron County Farmers Market with Josh Zucal as a voluntary activity to help the community in 2022, and she loves doing it. She enjoys meeting new people in the community and she loves the vibe the Farmers Market brings to the community. Everyone is happy to share and sell their goods and make friends in the community. Valerie is glad that she is able to bring everyone together to create new friendships in the community. The Farmer’s Market has a wide range of vendors and goods. They have fresh produce, crafts, crochet items, painting, woodworking, syrup, honey, bakers, and more! Something newly added to the Farmer’s Market is Theme Days! There will be a new theme to follow for each market day. This upcoming market theme is Music and Dance! Bella Rose Fenby, Essy Brackbill, and Mountain Melodies will be performing and then there will be an open mic! Head down to the Farmers Market to check out the awesome vendors and music!
Hunter Prosper
Hunter Prosper is a native from Cameron County who is currently famous on social media for his videos. His videos contain clips of a conversation he has with strangers.They can be talking about things such as their greatest love story, a happy memory, or a painful one. He currently is a sensation on TikTok with 210.3 million likes, and 6.4 million followers. He is a 2014 graduate of Cameron County High School. Hunter moved on from Cameron County to attend Lock Haven University to pursue a degree in English. While starting at Lock Haven, he was given advice by his mother to look into Nursing. He took the advice and transferred to Indiana University of Pennsylvania and fell in love with Nursing. He graduated IUP with a degree in Nursing and moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to become an Intensive Care Unit Nurse. His first social media post was of a patient he had in the hospital. While being in the ICU, he was beginning to feel burnout. He realized that in making these videos, and talking to strangers he meets, was a good outlet for him. It was like his own therapy. The most fulfilling part about making these videos for him is the therapy he is able to gain, and the therapy someone else may get from talking to him. Transparency in his conversations and interviews has helped him in his success on social media. He will talk to someone for a couple hours before he will even take out his phone for a video. If he wasn’t able to take out his phone and it just was a conversation, that would be just as fulfilling for him. Hunter mainly started making these videos as an outlet for himself, but he soon realized that the conversations also helped the other person he was talking to. In the future, Hunter plans to continue exploring longer videos with his social media, and he is currently working on a novel. He is currently a traveling ICU nurse and he plans to always keep nursing as his priority. He likes to help others, which he is able to do through Nursing, but also through social media. His advice to our community is “Don’t hesitate to listen, we are far more alike than we are different.” I was grateful to have had the opportunity to interview Hunter and hear more about his story! Thank you Hunter!
Cameron County Native Nate Sestina
Recently, I had the honor to interview Nate Sestina, a Cameron County native who went on to excel in basketball after playing at Cameron County. Nate shared his timeline after high school and what challenges he faced in his career. He is very grateful for the opportunities he has had and where he is currently able to play. I am glad I was able to hear his story and share it.
Nate’s love for basketball came from a very young age. From playing in the living room with his brothers on a small hoop, to watching games in the gym, he was always around basketball. His father, Don Sestina, had a great influence on him. Nate stated that his interest in basketball grew because it was never forced on him. He loved being able to sit courtside and watch the Red Raiders play. He mentioned he was grateful for the community that surrounded him as he played. The Cameron County fans were a big part of his success. He said the fans were at the far away games just as much as the home games. Many people helped him along his path to success such as coaches, friends, and family. When he graduated Cameron County, he attended Bucknell University. He was nervous to leave home, but he was excited to continue basketball. He was awakened when he first arrived. The training was a lot more physically intense than it was in high school. The transition to Bucknell was not easy, but he pushed through all the adversity that came his way. After graduating Bucknell, he had the opportunity to continue basketball at the University of Kentucky. He was taught a lot and this is when his career really catapulted. He currently plays in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague for Fenerbahce Beko. He travels all over Europe to play in different gyms. He lives in Istanbul, Turkey which he says is amazing and he is grateful he gets to have this experience. He extends his gratitude to our community for all their continued support. He is happy to be able to put on a summer camp here in Cameron County and to be able to give out scholarships each year to graduating students. His advice to young players is to live in the present. Don’t wish it away, enjoy it. For the future, Nate plans to continue playing basketball until he can’t anymore. After that, he may consider coaching. I was grateful to have the opportunity to interview Nate and to be one of the Cameron County locals who cheers him on!