Wild Game Feast returns to Altoona

February 11, 2023

It’s a real pleasure to announce once again the popular Wild Game Feast hosted each year by the Altoona Alliance Church located at 3220 Pleasant Valley Blvd. next to Planet Fitness. After a hiatus because of COVID, the 16th annual installment of this worthwhile event will be held on Saturday, March 18. The buffet style meal will include a variety of delicious wild-game dishes, including elk, moose, bear, deer, rabbit, pheasant and fish, along with sides, desserts and drinks. And there are always some “regular” foods like store-bought turkey and hot dogs. The featured speaker ...

Nature can be enjoyed, even in cold weather

February 4, 2023

The groundhog told us to expect six more weeks of winter the other day. I imagine that put our moods in a state of euphoria — I am sure! Actually, I try to use the time during the winter period to do some scouting for upcoming seasons. A light snow on the ground is perfect. Ice is not. There is much to see and hear at this time of year. Shed deer antlers lying wherever they fall off a buck’s head is one treasure to find. I was deer hunting about 15 years ago in Alabama and found a great looking shed, and I brought it home and still have it. It’s a time to pay attention to ...

B-A banner a nice touch for program

February 1, 2023

During a recent visit to Bellwood-Antis High School to cover a basketball game, I noticed a banner honoring the 2019-2020 girls basketball team for making the Elite 8 in a season that was never completed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was hanging next to the Lady Blue Devils’ two state championship banners from the two previous seasons and the same size and just as prominent. Obviously not all the teams that were still playing when the PIAA shut down the season in 2020 would have won a PIAA championship, but I would like to see all of them honored the way B-A and some other ...

Annual seedling sale underway

January 28, 2023

As January winds to a close, it becomes reasonable to consider we are over the hump of another winter. I say that guardedly and knowing full well that February is entirely capable of serving up a stint of the harshest winter weather we can get in Pennsylvania. But February is also the shortest month, and as the days grow steadily longer over its duration, a small measure of cautious optimism for winter’s demise is in order. It’s not the end of winter that most of us yearn for, however, but rather the return of springtime weather and the chance to do more things outdoors. For ...

Opening day still up for debate

January 21, 2023

There was so much opposition to changing of the opening day of deer season from the Monday after Thanksgiving to the Saturday after that most hunters knew the issue would rear its head again. And so it has! Most decisions about opening days, bag limits etc. are made by wildlife professionals who have the good of the wildlife at heart. This issue, however cannot be determined by the wildlife. After all, if they could talk or vote, they would go for no opening day at all, obviously. So what are the problems for hunters? For starters, some people just don’t like change for any ...

Momentum for PSU building for 2023

January 20, 2023

Sorting through some Penn State related notes while coming to the realization that college football has no offseason: You have to go back a long time — probably since 1994 — to recall Penn State being in a better position to contend for the national championship than the Nittany Lions are right now. In the way-too-early Top 25 preseason rankings, Penn State currently sits anywhere between No. 5 and No. 7. Georgia, of course, is No. 1 and will be until it’s dethroned. Ohio State and Michigan remain ahead of Penn State, which is in the mix with Alabama, Tennessee, USC and LSU, ...