During the spring and summer months, Pennsylvania plays host to transient criminals who travel great distances in search of victims for their various money-making scams, state police say.

Spring book sale is May 21-24 at SV library

SHARON — Friends of the Library are holding a spring book sale May 21-24 at the Community LIbrary of the Shenango Valley.

Meetings

• Sharon High School class of 1960 meets for brunch at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at The Cookery, Hermitage.

Jennings Center teaching navigation techniques

SLIPPERY ROCK — Pennsylvania Hike Week will be celebrated at 1 p.m. May 31 at Jennings Environmental Education Center, near Slippery Rock.

Fundraisers

• Volant Volunteer Fire Company holds a ham dinner from 4 to 7 p.m. May 22.

By Joe Zentis
Life Stories

Sharon old-timers will remember Ed Murchie as the owner of Murchie Flowers in Sharon, as well as a couple of greenhouses. He worked long hours, often seven days a week. Asked whether the work would hurt his health in later years., his stepmother replied, "Maybe not. It might make him stronger."

By Wally Wachter
The Way We Were

It’s almost graduation time for seniors who have spent the last 12 years of their lives preparing for their adult lives in the professions they have chosen to follow.But in future days, the memories of school days will always be pleasant ones. At least they were for us who faced the same dilemmas decades ago.

Whether it’s a cross-country ride or just a cruise through Buhl Farm park, Parke Wentling said there’s something open and communal about bicycle riding.

Special events

• A craft show is set for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at Legacy Banquet Center, 1946 Mercer-Grove City Road, Grove City.

The Penn State Master Gardeners of Mercer County are available from noon to 4 p.m. on Tuesdays at the extension office to assist you in finding answers to your lawn and gardening questions throughout the growing season. 

Grove City Area School District students attended Academic Games League of America’s National Academic Games held April 24 through 25 in Kissimmee, Fla.

Meetings

• Mercer County Christian Coalition will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Lakeside Evangelical Congregational Church, 3203 N. Hermitage Road (Route 18), Pymatuning Township.

When Arthur Dale Likens was growing up, he knew his family was poor.

Dancers rock the jailhouse during rehearsal for an Elvis Presley-themed tap dance number in ViBe Dance Academy’s recital, which is at 6 p.m. Saturday at Thiel College’s Passavant Center, Greenville. The show, “Kickin’ It Old School,” features jazz, tap, ballet, lyrical and hip-hop routines. Tickets: $7 at the door.

Alexa Magnotto of Hermitage plays the title role in “Leader of the Pack: The Ellie Greenwich Musical” as presented by Lincoln Park Performing Arts Center in Midland. Ellie Greenwich is an American pop music singer, songwriter, and record producer who wrote some of the most recognizable songs of the 1960s, many in collaboration with Phil Spector and her husband Jeff Barry. The two dozen pop-rock songs in the score include such hits as “Chapel of Love,” “Da Doo Ron Ron,” “Look of Love,” and “And Then He Kissed Me.” Performances in the 750-seat theater are Friday through Sunday and May 16-18. Friday and Saturday shows are at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday shows are at 2 p.m. Tickets are $10, $15, and $20.

Cancer Society sets two free screenings

The American Cancer Society, American Academy of Dermatology and Humility of Mary Health Partners will have two free skin cancer screenings this month.

If you walk into a cave, write something on walls in spray paint, the end of a charred stick or whatever, and leave, it’s considered vandalism.

Art

• “Life As We Know It,” including paintings by local artists Kathy Acker, John W. Carlson, Shirley J. Dobler and John Graham and jewelry artisan Dana Deissler, shows through May 31 at Meadville Council on the Arts.

Annual Asian American film fest opens Friday

PITTSBURGH — The Silk Screen Asian American Film Festival opens Friday at various theaters in Pittsburgh.

Special events

• Pass it on Day will be from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. May 17 at Emmanuel Christian Church, 4495 Greenville-Sandy Lake Road, New Vernon Township. 

The annual Survivor Dinner for Mercer Relay for Life featured the director of Womancare Center of UPMC Horizon, who talked about plans to construct a $4.6 million comprehensive cancer center in the rear of Womancare Center in Hermitage.

Meetings

• Northwest Democrat Alliance will meet at 7 p.m. Monday at Greenville Veterans of Foreign Wars, Conneaut Lake Road (Route 18). 

Bridge Lessons for Kids set in Hermitage

HERMITAGE — Bridge Lessons for Kids is set for June 16 through 20 in Hermitage Schools Parks and Recreation Summer Program in the Hermitage municipal building.

Since 1968, the Shenango Valley Urban League has been a “light on the hill” for the downtrodden of the area.