Learning about my homebase

In the Fall of 2020, I became involved in the Long-Range Plan Review Committee for my community. It will be a joint long-range plan with a neighboring community. From the start, it was suggested that all committee members read up on local history. Two resources were suggested: Fox Chapel: A History of an Area and Its People by Francis C. Hardie and Portrait of An American Community: O’Hara Township by The Township of O’Hara. After browsing these books on and off for a year, I took the time to list some of the highlights on the history of O’Hara Township. The page numbers referred to here correspond to the pages in Portrait of An American Community: O’Hara Township.

I hope that more adults living in this area learn about this local history, and we must teach this history to the children of the area, there is so much to be proud of.

I wish that I could have seen this community 100 years ago, with more open land. The current efforts to preserve the remaining natural beauty are admirable. I would like to see more efforts toward allowing locals to be able to effortlessly connect with the outdoors, honoring it, being in it, and remembering it. Looking forward to a mini-renaissance of sorts. We still have connections to our past living among us.

Finally, cheers to the book creators, Francis Hardie, Tom Powers and the entire book committee. You have really achieved something incredible.