Down River – April 30, 2015
Let’s Think About This:
Have any strong feelings on the state plans to move its longstanding downtown Lock Haven state store (Wine & Spirits, I believe they are called now) to Hogan Boulevard?
I support the view from Clinton County Commissioner Jeff Snyder when he says he’d like more information before rendering a final judgment.
Meanwhile we can all appreciate the City of Lock Haven’s concern about losing another downtown player, one city official calling the state store a business district anchor, along with the post office on the other end of Main Street.
But hey, it’s 2015 and Grants and J.C. Penney and Montgomery Ward are no longer downtown or even barely existing at all, for that matter. Retail is ever evolving here in central Pennsylvania and unless you’re a State College or a Lewisburg your downtown is likely less than what it once was.
Customer convenience is a key in today’s world of retail, parking and consistent reasonably long hours key factors. One can easily see how someone from the state Liquor Control Board would take a look at Millbrook Plaza, its proximity to a couple highways, its location just off the heavily traveled Hogan Boulevard, and make the decision to “move out of town.”
It’s a decision, if it holds, that won’t make or break downtown Lock Haven of and by itself. While the city has lost much of its retail luster, it has been able to continue to fill the void with the occasional professional office and an ever-expanding run of dining spots.
You had to like this week’s comment from man-about-town, Democratic commissioner candidate Richard Morris. Always good for a quote, he said that if another vacant storefront appears in the downtown he’d prefer that the movers and shakers locate a replacement where “one can actually buy a pair of trousers.” Well put, Richard.
(A bigger question here could be ‘why is the state still in the liquor business?’ I read somewhere that Pennsylvania and Utah are the only post-Prohibition states to continue to control the sale of spirits. Do we want Orin Hatch deciding what we can purchase to drink?)
In the meantime we need more information as to the ramifications of a state store switch from the downtown to Hogan Boulevard. We’d be curious to know what the state has paid for its downtown location and what it might be paying if and when it relocates to the Boulevard.
At first glance that old empty Fashion Bug storefront would seem to make a better choice for the imbibing consumer than him or her trying to find a parking place in Lock Haven’s downtown.
Woe-ah!:
It was written here a week ago about the rave reviews from critics who had been to opening night earlier this month for “Fun Home,” the much acclaimed musical based on the graphic memoir of Beech Creek native Alison Bechdel.
And then on Tuesday of this week came the announcement of the Tony Award nominees, the Tony the Broadway equivalent of the movie industry’s Oscars, and “Fun Home” was right at the top with a staggering 12 nominations.
We hear folks talking about “Fun Home” all across Clinton County (although, strangely, it has received virtually no coverage in the more traditionally conservative, really conservative “main stream print media” in the county) and we know of at least one bus trip crammed with locals heading for the Big Apple later this year.
It has to be a great ride for Alison Bechdel, arguably the most notable female Clinton County (and Bruce and Helen Bechdel) ever produced. Alison has made Clinton County proud.
They Call Him Butch:
Butch Rooney looked like Arthur Godfrey in his prime (does anyone remember Arthur Godfrey?) when Renovo’s gift to the first floor of the court house sauntered behind the microphone to wrap up last week’s Clinton County Democratic dinner.
Auditor Rooney brought a laconic, low key style as he took his three minutes of allotted speaking time and never mentioned his candidacy, but instead did an amusing number on the names of many of the candidates running in this year’s local election.
You can tell Butch is originally from Renovo because everyone from there, at least until very recent times, had a nickname.
Maybe in the interest of brevity in this social media era of rapid-fire communication we should all go to shorter names. The New York Daily News has chosen to go that route, a recent story on Hillary Clinton and her family’s charitable foundation presented us with some great shortcuts, as in these headlines referring to Hillary, President Obama, and former President Bill Clinton:
“Hil lashes fund-flap foe”
“Bam backs her vs. millions in uranium loot to foundation”
“Bubba dumps edu. job”
I’m just not sure what can be done creatively relative to local officials when it’s time to a cut a headline.
“Satch bounds defendant over to court” “Chet retained as principal” “Punkin’ retires from bank”
No, I don’t think The Record is ready to go in that direction.
