The Legacy of Fire Truck Santa: West Mifflin

The third weekend in December meant more Advent candles, school winding down, and Fire truck Santa. Those of us who grew up with volunteer fire companies often enjoyed a tradition of someone’s Dad/Uncle/Cousin playing Santa. This while they circled every street, distributing lovely treats. The full sized Clark bar was my favorite. For me this […]

Sled Riding the Pipeline in West Mifflin

Sled Riding in the 1970s

And though he never would wave goodbyeYou could see it written in his eyesAs the train rolled out of sightBye-bye In this cold snap, I drive to my cat colony even though it is faster to walk. Not so much faster now sliding on the snow and exerting myself to get the gate unlocked and […]

Santa Claws Magic for Al and Karen in West Mifflin

For the holidays, we are asking you to adopt a community cat caretaker to thank them for their year round work. Al and Karen are retirees living in West Mifflin. They are in their early 70’s. Over the years, they have TNVRd eight cats out of their own pocket. Currently, their colony has five cats. […]

West Mifflin School Districts Expands Nondiscrimination Protections to Include Gender Identity

West Mifflin High School Class Reunion

I lived in West Mifflin from age two through college. It was a rather brutal environment. I ended up with a decent education. I’ve written about some of those experiences.  One of my high school friends was openly gay. Others were suspected, but it was not an environment where such disclosures were encouraged or well-received. […]

Those Times When Santa Came to Visit on a Fire Truck in West Mifflin

Santa Claus West Mifflin

When I was a child growing up in West Mifflin, a blue-collar suburb of Pittsburgh, there were a few consistent holiday rituals. These included: making Advent wreaths at CCD; watching the Charlie Brown Christmas special; and fire truck Santa. Each year the local volunteer fire department would drive around the neighborhoods with Santa on a […]

How I Remember My West Mifflin School Teachers (1974-1988)

West Mifflin Area School District

Some blog posts are more for me, than for you. This is one such post. I’ve decided to make a list of all of my teachers and what impression they made on me.  I include my age when I began that grade – I was very young in my class and probably should have been […]

Welcome to Our New Blogger, Trish Mifflin

Welcome to Our New Blogger, Trish Mifflin

We want to offer a heartfelt welcome to the newest member of the blogging team, Trish Mifflin. Trish is not a lesbian. In her own words, she is transgendered male-bodied crossdresser who identifies as female, but is not pursuing full-time transition, either socially or medically. So that’s out of the way. Well, it is actually part of the […]

Request For Rides, Please

Hi friends, I need a few essential rides. I can’t ride with strangers yet due to trauma from a police interaction in 2023. Happy to cover gas. It is good for me to interact with multiple people so I don’t want to ask one person or burden one person. All requests are to and from. […]

We Established a Pet Food Pantry to Honor Your Favorite Veterinarian Dr. John Ruffing (1966-2007) Here’s How to Donate

The Story of John Ruffing Some of you remember John Ruffing WMS c/o 84. During the 80’s, he worked in the mall food court for years, hiring many of us. He went to Cal U then Penn to become a veterinarian. Then he worked in Dravosburg and Pleasant Hills among other spaces. In addition, he […]

I Don’t Know How My Mother Did It

I don’t know how my mother did it. Her entire life, she relied on other people for rides. When she was younger. she was an avid public transit user, zipping from Bethel Park around the region on trolley and bus. Once she had kids and moved to West Mifflin, things got trickier. The bus was […]