Allegheny Almanac

Former Akeley garage releases the 2010 Studebaker

Copyright 2009 by Madd Doodler Publishing

by Chris Lareau
A former automotive shop and gas station in Akeley, Pennsylvania has released the new 2010 Studebaker, but it's a calendar, not a car. Those old enough to remember, may recall the Studebaker car, many of which were years ahead of their time (in 1963), especially in design. The classic American auto company, run by 5 brothers from Indiana, has long gone out of business but their contribution to U.S. manufacturing and car lovers around the country lives on.

Publisher Steve Grant, of 221 Akeley Road, Russell has assembled a treasure trove of Studebaker photography and put them together in a useful format that fits well in any garage, den, hunting or fishing camp, and even corporate office for those who are tired of ho-hum displays of months and days. And he's been doing it every year since 1998, with each year a cornucopia of new and exciting shots of the cars he loves.

Grant is a collector himself, and may own the oldest Studebaker in existence in the state. It's an 1881 model. No motor or steering wheel. It's a grain wagon. Other notable items in the Grant collection include a 1951 Champion Starlight Coupe, a 1959 Lark Regal 2-door sedan and a 1963 Daytona hardtop. He's been a member of the Studebaker Drivers Club since 1988 and helped found the Kinzua Region Chapter in 1995.

If you are looking for your own Studebaker, Pennsylvania may be the best state to look with more Studebaker Drivers Clubs than just about any other place. The Kinzua Region Chapter, which holds a big meet each Labor Day at the Studebaker home in the Chautauqua Institute, already has 70 families who enjoy it, according to Grant.

You can get a copy of the 2010 Studebaker Calendar at Madd Doodler Publishing online or copies can be purchased in Warren at The Allegheny Book Mart on Second Avenue at The Point. Whether you choose to put a 2010 Studebaker in your garage nor not, it is worth your time to look at a copy of American automotive history.

Home For The Holidays

This business has been in town for 14 years without a permanent location, but now Warren residents Michael and Shannon Yahn have found a place to settle down, right in the middle of Liberty Street, heralding a resurgence of Warren, Pennsylvania's downtown retail district. It's a bookstore.

Authors Books & Music bookstore is fully stocked with quality books you won't find anywhere else. Vist this business on the web at Authors Books & Music.

Photos and article by Chris Lareau, copyright 2009

Before E-Bay and since the days when Amazon.com was just a one-inch ad in the New Yorker, Michael and Shannon Yahn have been honing their business model of literary pursuit. They still own the domain name for their first venture, Books By Bid, an online search and sell website that pre-figured E-Bay on WarrenPA.net. They helped turn the old Warren Emporium on Second Avenue into the now vibrant Allegheny Bookmart. On November 16 this year they opened Authors at 227 Liberty Street with the help of a few volunteers from GroWarren.

There wasn't much fanfare. No ribbon cutting or brass bands. But that's the style of the Yahns, a couple of book mensches who have the know-how to find any book you want. They take care of books and let the books sell themselves. Slow and steady seems to be their motto, starting off with a book signing Saturday by local writer Reg Darling. Darling is a fifth generation Warrenite (and before that an Onondogan descendant) whose cosmic writing chronicles the most unusual times of growing up here on the Allegheny High Plateau. He will be signing copies of his books, Coyote Soul, Raven Heart and his latest tome, Hartwell Road. If you thought living around here was boring, read a few pages of these books.

Opening just in time for the Holidays, Authors' contribution to the Christmas Walk on Friday night will be a live four-string quartet right inside one of their large display windows. Not much of a grand opening, yet a grand way to run a business.

 If the launch of Authors is any indication, passersby on Liberty Street should start seeing more lights on through the short winter days in 2010. Window shopping may yet again become a favorite pastime for pedestrians in this Victorian city.




Indeed, a progressive architectural firm has already been hired to restore the entire block that contains the new bookstore. See related story.

As a city of not quite 10,000, Warren might start to lay claim to the same upscale development seen in some Adirondack towns. There are now four bookstores within walking distance of each other: Authors, Allegheny Bookmart (314 Second Avenue), The Book Rack (309 Hickory Street), and New Life Christian Bookstore. Authors owner and Warren Area High School alumna Shannon Yahn thinks this is terrific. If you want to buy someone a book for Christmas, Warren is the place to visit. You're sure to find exactly what you want, she says.






Keeper of the books. Authors owner Shannon Yahn inspects acquisitions at her newly opened shop on Warren's Liberty Street.
Authors Books & Music,
227 Liberty St.,
Warren, PA

Books About Hiking The Allegheny National Forest

Backpacking below the Rimrock Trail stairs.  See more photos of hiking in the Allegheny National Forest. photo by Chris Lareau, copyright 2009.

For the million hikers who come to our woods
every year, choosing a trail might be a
burdensome process, even if you grew up here
like I did. Instead of wandering around in the forest,
readers of Jeff Mitchell's new book can easily pick
and choose at their leisure, ahead of time.
Camera buffs can find out which trails have the
best views. Biologists can ponder over the four
trails with the most wildlife. Like waterfalls? If you
have read Hiking the Allegheny National Forest,
Exploring the Wilderness of Northwestern
Pennsylvania, you'd know there are five different
spots that have waterfalls or cascades. (And I
thought we only had three! I'm such a dope.)
Mitchell, an attorney from Tankhannock, breaks
down 201 miles of hiking trails for those of all
interests: for people who want to see old-growth
forests (we have some of the oldest in the East),
for parents with kids, even for hikers interested in
caves, rock outcrops, and large boulders or rock
cities. Mitchell even gives his opinion on which
places have the most to see.

In spite of its title, Hiking the ANF also includes
important descriptions of trails in contigous state
parks (including Cook Forest, the Akeley Swamp,
and Chapman State Park. For the first time,
someone has finally put all this in one book. The
state parks are a tremendous asset and so far
they have been grossly overlooked. Cook Forest is
highly developed for outdoor enthusiasts and
Chapman State Park, a long-time favorite of locals,
will be undergoing a big makeover this year including enhanced
amenities.

With this book, if you can find a town, you can find any trail you're
looking for. Every description gives easy-to-follow directions so
you won't get lost in the woods before you get to the woods. For
example, 19 different trails are easily accessible form Warren
(attention Dept. of Civic Pride: this is the largest number of any
town in the area). From the south, Mitchell leads you from
Interstate 80 to Cook Forest and from the east he take you from
Smethport and Bradford to the North Country Trail and Handsome
Lake.

Hiking the ANF features 64 different trail systems, starting with
Kinzua Bridge State Park and finishing with the well-established
Tanbark Trail south of Warren.

All a hiker needs now is to find Route 62, Route 59, Route 219,
or Route 6, some light gear (which Mitchell gives specific
recommendations on) and a day off. With this paperback you get
all the details you need to pick the day-trip you'll enjoy most. It's a
long drive up here and you don't want to waste it on the wrong trail.
The title of the book is much too long. It should have been
shortened to "Hiking Pennsylvania's Wilderness," because this is
the only place in the state where you can find it. At least you can
say that in one breath and, really, there are more woods up here
than just the ANF. An index should be added to the book so you
can read it in the car on the way to the trails. To really enjoy the
book the way it is now, you have to sit down in an easy chair in a
quiet room somewhere, something most hikers don't do, folks.

Despite its unwieldy title, this book is
the first of its kind--a monograph on all
our hiking trails in northwestern
Pennsylvania. I know it would have
taken me a lifetime to acquire all this
information first-hand, so I am grateful
that Mitchell has done it for me. It will
mean less time wasted on finding trails
and fewer days on trails that that don't
particularly interest me. I also found
there are quite a few trails I don't want
to miss.

According to Lisa Gensheimer, the
author of Pennsylvania Wilds, this
book is "...the most comprehensive
guide ever compiled on the forest." It's
also the first one a hiker can really use.

  For more info, see the Amazon.com listing at this link:

Hiking the Allegheny National Forest: Exploring the Wilderness of Northwestern Pennsylvania

Another book that gives specifics on local trails is depicted below. It's not as detailed because it is more broad-ranged: