By Edward Master
I did not plan on resurrecting any part of my writing (read newspaper) career when I moved from Indiana, PA, to Grove City. I do not remember if I got an 'itch' or whether the itch came from a wife suggestion. Regardless, somehow, someway, I contacted Corey Corbin a sports writer at the Allied News in Grove City.
Brad Isles was the sports editor and Tina Horner was the chief editor of the whole newspaper. At present, Corey heads up sports, Brad moved to Grove City College as a website manager/developer, and Tina relocated to Penn West U (she actually went to Clarion U first, prior to the merger), working/editing alumni publications. I was working at USIS (a contractor for the US government on security investigations).
Eventually, many of us at USIS were absorbed into the Office of Personnel Management at the vacated limestone mine in Boyers, PA. The Boyers facility was secure housing for documents, even climate controlled. I retired working in investigation review. I had come almost full circle as I was reviewing paperwork obtained from a field investigator, just like the ones who did my first security clearance for PRC out of Philadelphia wayback when.
My first assignment for the Allied was a high school football contest at Mercer High School. I mostly covered football, basketball (girls and boys), wrestling, baseball, and softball in Mercer County high schools. I also found myself on campus at Grove City College. Women's softball and men's baseball were each short strolls from my house. The gymnasium and natatorium were short drives by car. Robert E. Thorne Field was just a long forward pass or punt from my backyard for football. I covered enough athletic events at GCC for the sports information director at GCC, Ryan Briggs, to refer to me as GCC's "beat writer."
I also covered some "away" GCC games, especially with football. I rode back and forth with Briggsy in the college-provided van. I got a chance to visit a few new places (campuses) such as Westminster (Wilmington), Thiel (Greenville), Carnegie-Mellon, Waynesburg, and Bethany (WV). I once was a guest on a radio basketball broadcast from Allegheny College in Meadville.
I proved again that 'it's a small world' as a once ran into a fraternity brother whose son was a linebacker for Geneva College and then a former teammate on my Indiana County softball team whose son was a running back at Seton Hill College.
Speaking of sports
Not sure about a Pirates resurgence just yet. But they're much more fun to follow. I like what I'm reading on the Steelers, too. Lots of new faces and consequently new blood. Not sure what's going on at the igloo.