The National Weather Service in Pittsburgh has confirmed that two tornadoes touched down in Indiana County over the weekend. Reports state that one hit Burrell Township and another touched down in Homer City – both on Saturday night. No reports of injuries or damages at this time. This coming after reports heading into the weekend that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has already hit its’ yearly average for total number of tornadoes.

Hundreds of Good Samaritans paid their respects to a Korean War veteran who was buried without any immediate family at his funeral.

Hezekiah Perkins, 90, was laid to rest at Spring Grove Cemetery in Cincinnati on Saturday.

The cemetery posted notices asking members of the public to attend Perkins’s funeral since he did not have any immediate family who could attend.

Lynay Straughn, an employee of the cemetery said once she learned his daughter and other family members would not be able to attend – his daughter due to health issues – she felt it was very fitting that this soldier receive long overdue honors.

Spring Grove also arranged for soldiers from nearby Fort Knox, Kentucky to give Perkins full military honors.

DETROIT (AP) — Billionaire businessman and majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers Dan Gilbert is recovering after suffering symptoms of a stroke and seeking hospital care.

Officials with Detroit-based Quicken Loans said in a statement that Gilbert “received immediate medical attention and is currently recovering comfortably” after going to a hospital early Sunday. Gilbert is the company’s founder and chairman.

His hospitalization comes a month before his Rocket Mortgage is to host Detroit’s first PGA Tour event. It also follows his launch of a ballot drive just days earlier to push auto insurance reform in Michigan. The state Legislature passed a landmark insurance reform bill Friday.

The company said Gilbert’s family requests privacy at this time.

The American Gaming Association will host a panel discussion this Wednesday at the Meadows Racetrack and Casino in Washington, PA. Our Christina Sainovich has the story. Click Play to listen…

PULLMAN, Wash. (AP) — Traffic was disrupted in a Washington state city when boxes holding thousands of bees fell off a truck.

The Moscow-Pullman Daily News reports the boxes fell off a Washington State University truck on Thursday morning in Pullman.

Pullman police took a call on the accident shortly after 7:30 a.m.

Police Chief Gary Jenkins says an officer at the scene described thousands of bees buzzing through the air while university employees put on protective gear and picked up the boxes.

The WSU Department of Entomology has a breeding program and research lab to study and protect bee populations.

The road was closed until just before 10 a.m.

TODAY

A mix of clouds and sun. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 76F.

TONIGHT

Partly cloudy skies early. Thunderstorms developing late. Low 61F.

TUE

Thunderstorms likely. A few storms may be severe. High 82F. Low 62F.

WED

Scattered Thunderstorms
High 78F

The Aliquippa VFW will conduct a service at 11 a.m. Monday at the war memorial on Main Street.

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The Ambridge American Legion and auxiliary will host a Memorial Day service at 11 a.m. Monday in P.J. Caul Park on 11th and Merchant streets.

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Baden’s parade at 10 a.m. Monday will be staged at Ba’Runi Hotel and Grille on Duss Avenue in Harmony Township. The parade, hosted by American Legion Post 641, will begin at 10:15 a.m. and proceed along State Street to the legion for a memorial service, then to Baden Memorial Library for a second memorial service.

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The Beaver parade will begin at 10:30 a.m. Monday at Beaver and Third streets and proceed along Third Street to the Beaver Cemetery, where a memorial program will take place at the chapel.
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The Beaver Falls parade will begin at 10 a.m. – the parade will travel down Seventh Avenue to 10th Street and conclude at the newly rededicated Lt. Calvin Smith Memorial Veterans Park on 11th and Sixth Avenue for a service.

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The Conway parade will start at 11:30 a.m. Monday at the municipal building, Second Avenue and Ninth Street – the parade will proceed down Second Avenue to Fowler Street then onto Third Avenue to Conway War Memorial Park for a service.

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Members of the Keith-Holmes VFW in Coraopolis will perform commemorative services from morning to late afternoon for veterans at 10 cemeteries in the Coraopolis area.

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At 9 a.m. Monday, Economy’s Memorial Day service will commence with a flag presentation by the fire department and Boy Scout Troop 414 at the Veterans Memorial near the police station at 1000 Kenneth Campbell Way.
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Ellwood City Memorial Day parade will begin at 10 a.m. Monday off Todd Avenue and will proceed through the borough to Legion Park for a memorial program at 11 a.m. featuring remarks by local veterans and leaders, the borough’s civic chorale and a flag-raising ceremony.

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The Freedom parade will begin at 9:30 a.m. Monday in the 500 block of Third Avenue and proceed to the Veterans Memorial, where a ceremony is scheduled for 9:45 a.m. Participants include the Freedom Area High School marching band and Cub Scout Pack 444.

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The Hopewell Township parade, sponsored by VFW Post 8805, starts at 10 a.m. Monday at Hopewell High School, 1215 Longvue Ave. The route follows Maratta Road to Brodhead Road and ends at the memorial at the junior high school, 2354 Brodhead Road.

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Hookstown Fire Department and American Legion Post 952 will conduct a Memorial Day parade at 11 a.m. Monday beginning at the Free Methodist Church on Main Street and follow Route 168 to the Legion, where a memorial ceremony is planned.

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Memorial Day in Midland will begin at 9:30 a.m. Monday with a wreath service at Veterans Memorial Pool. Another wreath service will follow at 10 a.m. at the World War I Cenotaph, concluding with a wreath ceremony outside the municipal building on Midland Avenue.

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Monaca’s parade, hosted by American Legion Post 580, will begin at 10:30 a.m. at 15th Street near St. John the Baptist Catholic Church continuing along Pennsylvania Avenue to War Memorial Park at Sixth Street, where a service is planned.

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Moon Township will have commemorative services at 10 cemeteries and honor rolls throughout the area.

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The New Brighton parade will begin at 10 a.m. Monday at Third Avenue and 15th Street, and will then proceed on Third Avenue to Sixth Street, where a service is planned at Townsend Memorial Park.
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The Rochester area’s Memorial Day parade will begin at 10 a.m. Monday along Virginia Avenue and Adams Street to Memorial Park, where a service is planned.

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The 127th annual parade in Sewickley will begin at 10 a.m. Monday on Broad Street and proceed along Thorn and Beaver streets.

And now it’s time for Beaver County Memories, a daily feature presented by St. Barnabas, where we take a look back at some of the people and events that have been part of Beaver County history.  As we enter the warmer months of springtime, and baseball season is underway, in today’s segment, appropriately enough, we will sit back and tell a few baseball stories, specifically, a few baseball radio announcer stories, that you may or may not have heard before.

 

In the early days, after tower construction was completed at the WBVP transmitter site in Pulaski Township in 1948, the vast expanse of flat land surrounding the tower was converted into a baseball field.  Many community based teams played there, sometimes there were several games scheduled back to back that would last an entire day according to neighbors who live nearby. One of those neighbors, Steve Procovich, reported in a discussion in 2016, that one of the games was indeed special.  Though he could not recall the occasion, or who was playing, he did recall that Pittsburgh Pirates play by play radio announcer at the time, Albert “Rosey” Rowswell, announced one of the games. Procovich couldn’t say for sure if Rowsell’s voice was broadcast over WBVP, or if his colorful description was simply amplified for those on site through a public address speaker. Not much verification exists of Rowswell’s visit to call a game in Beaver County, but Procovich remains steadfast in his claim that legendary Pittsburgh Pirates radio announcer Rosey Rowswell called a community baseball game in Beaver County back when.  Most likely in the early fifties, as Rowsell served as the Pirates announcer until his passing in 1955.

 

Speaking of the Pirates, In those early days, The Pittsburgh Pirates hosted contests for young aspiring announcers.  Prominent local historian and author, Kenneth Britten, in a 1990 publication called “Local Radio”, wrote about a senior at Beaver Falls High School who had participated in one of the annual competitions.  “In 1959. Jim Reynolds had just won the yearly Pittsburgh Pirate Sports casting contest and had broadcast a number of Pirate games on KDKA with veterans Bob Prince and Jim Woods. (WBVP General Manager Frank) Smith (then) hired him immediately.  Though no one would realize it (then), Reynolds would (eventually) go on to become the longest hired veteran (up until that point in time) in the station’s history. He would last (over) 28 years at WBVP.  

 

Back then, just as nowadays, Beaver County residents loved their Pittsburgh Pirates, and loved their local radio station, WBVP.  One of the great traditions that the radio station organized every year was when WBVP would co-promote Beaver Falls-New Brighton Night at Forbes Field along with the local town newspaper, The News Tribune. WBVP and WMBA sportscaster and show host Greg Benedetti fondly recalled in 2017 that WBVP executive, Tom Price, and Jim March, Publisher of The News Tribune, worked together on a promotion to take local fans to watch the Pirates.  This became a huge event, and in 1966 those fans reportedly filled up fourteen buses lined up outside of the Brodhead Hotel to go to Pittsburgh to watch their beloved Pirates. Benedetti mused “Tom and Jim stood at attention with a great deal of pride, as if inspecting the troops, as the baseball fans boarded the buses.”

 

And in one more unique baseball story . . . In the late eighties, no sports event was too far or two obscure for WBVP to cover.  In June of 1986, Jimi Miller and Tom Stein loaded up the WBVP radio station van and headed east to Shippensburg State University to broadcast Hopewell High School’s baseball team state championship game which saw Hopewell defeat Montoursville at Grove Stadium that day under the guidance of legendary head coach Joe Colella. The game was memorable for a couple of Reasons.  It was Beaver County’s first high school baseball state championship. Secondly, due to the lack of available press box space, Stein and Miller had to improvise and, according to Stein, drove the radio station van over near the edge of the field. The duo then hooked up some microphones and broadcast equipment, climbed up on the roof of the van so they could see what was going on, and then called the action from that unique vantage point.

 

We hope you enjoyed these few baseball radio announcer stories in today’s edition of Beaver County Memories presented by St. Barnabas. Tune in Everyday to Beaver County Radio for a another memory. You can also view transcripts of this and other archived  Beaver County Memories at Beaver County Radio dot com