Home - Sweet - Home

Well, the Pittsburgh Steelers won their Sixth Super Bowl … The most of any NFL team.

It brings back so many fond memories and reminds me of how lucky my life has been in my younger years … There is no place like Home.

I grew up in a small town in Western Pennsylvania, DuBois; went to Penn State University; came back to work, down the road, at Brockway Glass Company for 28 years; met and married my wife, Carole, and raised our 6 kids there … It is a great place.

I feel we were so fortunite to spend all the early years of our lives in Western Pennsylania … DuBois and Brockway were home … I was 45 years old when we moved away to Atlanta, Georgia.

From this small town of 2,000 people, I traveled all over the United States, Canada, Cental and South America and Europe, working for Brockway Glass, a Fortune 300 Company … Brockway’s headquarters were there until the late 80’s. We would boost that Brockway was the largest Fortune 500 Company in the smallest town … We used to joke that Brockway employed 2700 people in a town of 2000. When I started in 1960, the company did $50 million a year in sales … by the late 70’s, I managed one of the plants in Brockway and we alone did $50 million in sales … By the time my career ended 28 years later, Brockway was doing One Billion in sales dollars.

It was such a great place to live, work and raise a family. Kids went to the park and stayed all day ... swimming and ball games … no one worried.

The whole town used the park a lot. It was a place to socialize and see friends and neighbors ... cause everyone was there sooner or later.

Where else could you spend every summer evening with your family and most of the rest of the town … Let the children walk the mile home after dark and not worry about them … no traffic lights and everyone knew everyone else Everyone helped keep their eye on each other's kids.

It was Paradise.

Speaking of Paradise, Brockway and DuBois are in Western Pennsylvania about 10 miles apart … DuBois is close to Punxsy [Punsxytawney – home of Punsxytawney Phil the famous weather pronosticating Groundhog.]

To get to Punsxy from DuBois you have to drive through …Paridise, Desire and Panic … hamlets made famous in Ripley’s “Believe it or Not.”

Sports were a “big deal” in Western Pennsylvania. Teams like the Steelers, Pirates, Penguins … High school rivaries were “live or die.”

Sports meant so much to the youth of Western PA. It meant being from a corner of the world unlike any other. It meant being from a place where the people are so tough minded that they have survived the Homestead strikes and the Johnstown flood. These people have the DNA of hard work in mills, glass plants and mines, without the necessity of complaint. They live simply, with few frills.

Western Pennsylvania is so tough, even the towels are "terrible".

They had simple traditions like kielbasa, Picnics and celebrations. They live in distinctive neighborhoods like “Polish Hill,” “The Flats,” “Denigal Hill,” “Swede Town,” “The East Side,” “The Bottoms,” and “The Hill District.”

The people are genuine. They didn’t have chic internet cafes and cappuccinos, but they do have The Original Hot Dog Joint, Primanti's, Eat n' Park, Nick’s, Baileys and “IC Lite” from Iron City Beer.

People from Western PA don't have sunny beaches or fancy boats, but the rivers roll gently, connecting the small towns of people whose histories have been built on strength and humility.

People from Western PA don't have the biggest shopping malls or the best nightclubs, but they'll take Friday night high school football, Penn State Football “White-Outs” and Steeler Sunday over anything.

Sports meant so much more than you think. It symbolizes a cherished past for generations who had the best childhood they could imagine. They ran free without a care or concern in the valleys of those Allegheny Mountains. Their blue-collar world was easy. There was no one to tell them that they lacked material things. There was no one to tell them that they needed more.

As the steel mills closed and the jobs disappeared, some of these people had to leave. While the world benefits because they spread their Western PA “wings.” they long for their home where things were simpler and more pure. They teach their kids about Jack Lambert, Bob Prince, Lynn Swann, Ralph Kiner, Terry Bradshaw,Willie stargall, Roberto Clamente, Franco Harris, Joe Paterno, Jack Ham, Rosey Rosewell, L.C. Greenwood, “Mean” Joe Greene, and Myron Cope in hopes of imparting not just the knowledge, but the feeling that they represented.

They are everywhere, those "Terrible Towels." They wave, not just for the team, but for the hearts they left behind. They wave in living rooms in Fort Lauderdale and in the bars and stadium of Washington , D.C.

Make no mistake that Steeler football is not just about football. I could not be prouder to be from the Pittsburgh area than I am right now!! Even if you no longer live in the area, you have Western Pennsylvania in your blood no matter where you go. And deep down in your heart of hearts, you can still hear the Super Bowls of times past, the excitement in everyone's voices especially our fathers, cousins, uncles, and anyone else who gathered around the TV on Steeler Sundays!

It is not just about rivalries and who is better than the other, it's about family, tradition and roots! It's more than football! If you now live in Arizona, Colorado, Ohio, Indiana, Indiana, Florida, California, Maryland, Nevada, or Texas, be assured that Western PA will always be home.

Remember, you grew up in Western Pennsylvania if:

You didn't have a spring break in high school but you did have the first day of deer season off.
You walk carefully when it is "slippy" outside.
You often played down by the "crick".
You've told your children to "red up" their rooms.
You've gotten hurt by falling into a "jagger bush".
Your mother or grandmother has been seen wearing a "babushka" on her head.
You've "worshed" the clothes.
I ask you to hand me one of those "gum-bands" and you actually know what I'm talking about.
You know you can't drive too fast on the back roads, because of the deer.
You know Beaver Valley , Turtle Crick, Mars, Slippery Rock, Greentree, Mundorf, Roulette, Degus Cohonda, Paradise, Desire, Panic and New Castle are names of towns. And you've been too most, if not all, of them.
You see a girl walk up to three of her girl friends and say, "HEY, YUNZ GUYS"!
You hear "you guyses" and don't think twice. Example: "you guyses house is nice".
You know the Three Rivers by name and understand that "The Point" isn't just on a writing instrument.
Someone refers to "The Mon" or "The Yough" and you know exactly what they're talking about.
You remember not being able to go outside because the snow was over your head and you would have suffocated.
Someone starts the chant, "Here we go Steel-ers!" or “We Are … Penn State” and you join in the proper cadence, waving the appropriately colored towel or Pom, Pom.
Bob Prince and "there's a bug loose on the rug" or Rosie Rosewell saying, “Raise the window, Aunt Minnie” hold special meaning for you.
The “Terrible Towel” and “The Green Winnie” were real.
A “White Out” was what you wore to the Penn State football game not a “snow blizzard.”
You know what a “Babushkas” is.
You've either eaten a Farkleberry Tart or know someone who has. You drink “pop,” eat hoagies, love perogies, and one of your favorite sandwiches actually has coleslaw and French fries ON it.
You know what a "still mill" is.
You know what Eat 'N Park is and frequently ate breakfast there at 2:00 AM after the bar closed.
You order "dippy eggs" in a restaurant and get exactly what you wanted.
You went to the Heinz Plant or the Isaly's Plant with your Cub Scout Troop.
"Chipped ham" was always in your refrigerator when you were growin' up. You refuse to buy any condiments besides Heinz.
You know what the “Immaculate Reception” was.
When you call the dog or the kids you shout, "kum-mere" and they come.
Franco, Roberto, Mario and JoPa don't need last names and you can recite their exploits by heart.
We would “skip” down the sidewalk.
We would play “Mumblety-peg” or “Hopscotch” instead of Video games.
Food at a wedding reception consisted of rigatoni, stuffed cabbage, sauerkraut and Polish kielbasa.
Beer at a wedding reception consisted of 7 oz. Stoney's, Fort Pitt, Iron City, Rolling Rock, Duquesne “Duke,” Straub, DuBois Export or DuBois Budweiser ...
You know that a "butt" is a very close friend ...
If you didn’t know how to Polka or Obedic, you couldn’t dance.
You "did" dishes.
Referring to a door ... could mean a drawer.
Giving the time was simple, like "its something to" or "its something after"
You knew where the "trap house" was.
Your first swearing was calling a sibling "poopy face"
You wore shoes in the summer … only to church.
You stole farmer’s corn for a "Corn Roast" … even though it was boiled.
You would see how far you could "skate" on the icey spots on your way to school.
Home made Italian Wine, "Dago Red," was common with meals.
Beer was bought at a distributor's house and liquor at a State Store only.
You knew how to make a slingshot...and could nail a bird within 100 feet.
Home made bread was all you ate and pitsafritz was bread cooked in oil.
As soon as you got back home you would go get some HOT “Zappas” Bread.
You predated pizza with homemade bread, with sliced tomatoes (from the garden) olive oil and garlic.
You know what a “bon fire” was before the big game.
You went under the Toby Crick Bridge to hang out.
You had an account at Franco's, Augie’s, Danny’s or Murones.
You knew where Riley Town was and also Red Peak.
You knew where the " hot end" was at the glass plant.
You called Rigatoni "sewer pipes"
· You knew of people like: Bubbles, Babe, Toad, Pets, Peanuts, Gamba, Boom-Boom, the Tino, Gino and Fino brothers, Scats, Pepe, Joe the watchman, Float Work, Captain “Nemo,” Big and Little Chew, Ceech, Skinny, George Felt, Teat, Mouse, Joe Guts, Augi, Twila, Smoky, Wimpy, Geo Moody, Rosie Rosewell, Aunt Minnie, Chick Grecco, and Dr Kilgus.
You listened to "the Polka Party" on Sunday, after mass, before you had your weekly spaghetti.
You made a "U" turn on Main Street at Humphrey’s furniture.
You had a feast and played cards all night after Midnight Mass.
The pizza from Chick's was made by Mrs. Grecco and it was a thin pastry-like crust with a sweet sauce on it and you could keep eating it until you were sick … unusual and wonderful!!!
What about Bailey's hotdogs … Ever taste anything else like those … I'll take one with "Everything" oh, make it at least two
People put things in a 'poke' [not a bag]
We dusted the 'mopboards' .
We put clothes in a 'clothes press'
A banana was 'yella' not yellow.

Of course, I knew all of these wonderful things and experienced them with my “family.”

In 1984, I moved my family away from Brockway to the “Big City” of Atlanta, Georgia.

I jokedly told people that it was time to “move on” when they put the first traffic light in Brockway and did away with the “turn-around” at the end of town on Main Street.

We had a good 14 years in Atlanta … Eventually, all 6 children lived there for a period of time.

But, soon the family started to branch out and move away from Georgia. We had a good “run” there.

If you ask anyone in my family where is home, I am confident they will say, “Western Pennsylvania … A little town you never heard of called DuBois or Brockway is my home.”
How fortunite we were … Home-Sweet-Home.