(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

“Chamber music is almost like a musical conversation.”

That description by Lincoln Park Chief Academic Officer Dr. Todd Goodman sets the stage for the fifth concert of seven in the “Midland Music Mondays” series presented by Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center and Beaver County Radio. Tonight’s show is a jazz trio led by Grammy Award-winning saxophonist Eric DeFade.

Hoshi will be opening up their food truck at 4:30 in lieu of the 6:30 start time for the concert. The concert will be held rain or shine at Lincoln Park, and admission is free to the public. Tonight’s 50/50 drawing will benefit the Midland American Legion.

To hear a full preview of tonight’s show, click on the play button below!

On Monday’s edition of A.M Beaver County, Matt Drzik will speak again with Dr. Todd Goodman at 8:10 about that evening’s “Midland Music Mondays” concert featuring the Eric DeFade Trio.

Frank Sparks starts the morning with news at 6:30 on Beaver County Radio.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

Back in February, it almost looked as if there would be no MLB games in 2022. Now the season is halfway over.

At the halfway point, the Pittsburgh Pirates are 39-54 and sitting in third place in the NL’s Central Division. Beaver County freelance sportswriter John Perrotto joined Matt Drzik on the July 21 edition of A.M. Beaver County to talk about the Pirates’ second half of the season, along with how they got to this point with everything that happened in the first half of the 2022 season.

In Perrotto’s eyes, the strength of the Pirates so far this year is their offense. He noted that the Pirates had the fewest amount of home runs in the 2021 MLB season with 124–20 fewer than the 29th-best Diamondbacks (144), and that they have nearly matched that with 97 in the first half. But on the other hand: “I think where they fall short is pitching,” he countered. “I don’t think they still have enough quality starting pitching to be a contending team. The bullpen has been okay, the starting pitching needs work.”

The Pirates aren’t the only team struggling in Major League Baseball this season; twelve of the 40 teams sit below the .500 mark with eight of those twelve having yet to reach 40 wins in the first half. Perrotto points to the system of financial success as the main culprit: “Unless you really feel you can make the playoffs, there’s no incentive to even try and put a good team together because you gain more from losing than you do from being just okay,” he added. “That’s something that neither the players nor the owners fixed in the collective bargaining agreement that they signed in March.”

The Pirates open their second half hosting the Miami Marlins on Friday night (July 22) at PNC Park. Coverage begins on Beaver County Radio at 6:40, and first pitch is at 7:05.

To hear the full interview with John Perrotto, click on the play button below!

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

“I think you have both–a variety of different ways of being involved, and also allowing kids to just explore on their own.”

Both will be on display on Saturday, July 23 as Neighborhood North: Museum Of Play will be hosting a “Community Play Day” at their facility on 8th Avenue in Beaver Falls. Executive director Christine Kroger joined Matt Drzik on the July 21 edition of A.M. Beaver County to preview the weekend fun.

The event will be from 10:00 AM until 2:00 PM, and feature a variety of activities and activity tools for kids and participating adults to work together on. There will be outdoor and indoor activities, and there will be plenty of water for everyone participating to stay hydrated on what looks to be a humid summer day.

For the full preview with Christine Kroger, click on the Facebook feed below!

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

“It’s a calling for most people, and a lot of people aren’t seeing or feeling the calling to get into that line of work.”

One week after displaying his feelings on the situation regarding the declining numbers of essential service members–police officers, EMT, firefighters among them–in Beaver County, first-term Commissioner Jack Manning dove deeper into the conversation with Matt Drzik on the July 20 edition of A.M. Beaver County. Manning said that the lacking numbers are “not a severe crisis, but it’s getting there.”

Manning noted that there was a decline in traditional jobs that affected industry back in the 2000s, but an upward trend in the trades came in Beaver County with an invested interest in the Shell Cracker Plant in Shippingport. “I think we need to take a similar approach for people that want to get into the public safety realm. We need to convince people that being a police officer is a great career,” Manning stated. “So we’ve got to start reaching into the schools at an early age; having those kinds of career counseling and job fairs that promote that, and fire departments, and all of the medical opportunities that come out of that…those are good honorable jobs.”

A step in that direction came later that day with the grand opening of the CCBC Center For Public Safety, but Manning acknowledges that the turnaround will be a multi-year process. “I’m hoping that we’ve bottomed out,” he added. “I think we’ll be on the rise, but I’ll be honest–everybody’s competing for the same talent…and it’s gonna be how quickly we respond…I think it’s going to take a while. It may take five or ten years for us to get to the fully staffed level again.”

To hear the full, uncut interview with Jack Manning, click on the play button below.

Beaver County Commissioner Jack Manning joins Matt Drzik on the Wednesday edition of A.M. Beaver County at 8:35 to talk about the staff shortages in major areas of essential services, such as police departments and firefighters.

Frank Sparks starts the morning with news at 6:30 on Beaver County Radio.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

The first day of hunting season is several months away, but the preparations for the season are already in full swing.

Tags for doe hunting in Beaver County are currently available by mail through the Treasurer’s Office. Treasurer Sandie Egley joined Matt Drzik on the July 19 edition of A.M. Beaver County to talk about the licenses that have already been administered, the processes in which to obtain a hunting license, and changes that have been made and possibly could be made in a few years.

One of the biggest changes to doe licensing has been the slight price increase for purchase. “The [Gaming] Commission raised its rates for the first time in twenty years or so,” Egley stated, referring to the raise in 2021 from $6.90 to $6.97. Regardless of fee, licenses must be purchased each year, and they must be purchased for each county that a hunter wants to participate in.

Currently, the licenses are available by mail through the Beaver County Treasurer’s office. The current processing period for a license by mail is roughly two weeks because, as Egley states: “I keep them for two weeks because I wait until the check clears.” Those who have used the mailing process can track the progress of their tags at the Gaming Commission website, and on September 12 they can begin to purchase hunting licenses in-person.

To watch the full discussion with Treasurer Egley, click on the Facebook feed below!

On the Tuesday edition of A.M. Beaver County, Beaver County Treasurer Sandie Egley will join Matt Drzik to talk about the availability of doe licenses in Beaver County at 8:35.

Plus, another chance for you to win in our “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” contest and get registered to win a 4-pack of tickets to see the Pirates and the Marlins at PNC Park on July 22!

Frank Sparks starts the morning with news at 6:30 on Beaver County Radio

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

“I hope the people realize how blessed we are in Beaver County.”

The reason for being “blessed”, as Scott Tady puts it, is the ever-expanding number of restaurants that feature outdoor dining in Beaver County. The entertainment editor of the Beaver County Times (and co-host of Notes On Entertainment with Eddy Crow) joined Matt Drzik on the July 18 edition of A.M. Beaver County to break down the best traditional places, new places, and unorthodox methods when it comes to embracing outdoor dining in Beaver County–and the surrounding area as well.

Tady acknowledges that the expansion into outdoor dining became a necessity in response to the pandemic, but has caught on regardless of economic circumstances. There are a variety of outdoor styles–picnic, patio, even beach setting–but all of them have managed to add to the atmosphere to each facility, whether it’s been done for decades or just the last couple of years.

“I tell my friends in Pittsburgh,” Tady said, “that we have something in Beaver County that you do not have–side-by-side-by-side riverwalk restaurants.” Tady refers to the outdoor patio areas located in Bridgewater along Riverside Drive, but has also described places far away from scenery such as the Wooden Angel in Beaver and El Paso in Monaca as places that have taken to outdoor dining to “feel relaxed, want it to be casual, and have a nice view…tables not too crowded,” as Scott puts it.

Which places are Scott’s favorite to visit in Beaver County? Click on the play button below to find out.

(Matt Drzik/Beaver County Radio)

The stages are set…even though only one stage will be used tonight.

“Midland Music Mondays” will take place once again tonight, featuring the sounds of the Monaca Cornet Band at the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center. The concert is set to be outdoors as it has been for the prior three weeks of performances in Midland, but if the weather becomes inclement the show will be moved indoors.

Along with the Monaca Cornet Band will be the culinary provider for the evening in Beaver’s own Los Gingos Tacos food truck, who will also be operating regardless of the weather forecast. Tonight’s 50/50 will benefit the Carnegie Free Library of Midland. “Midland Music Mondays” are presented by Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center in conjunction with Beaver County Radio.

Dr. Todd Goodman joined Matt Drzik for a preview of tonight’s show, and you can click the play button below to hear the full preview!