Some Old Photos

Do you like local history? Enjoy some old Altoona photos at a webpage called Altoona Archives. I haven't spent a lot of time on that site lately but they have some interesting shots. Check it out!

How Was Memorial Day Weekend?

Good morning Altoona PA! Hopefully you had a great Memorial Day weekend. Sunday, my family and I, as well as relatives visiting from out of town, were able to spend a lot of the day at Delgrosso's Park in Tipton. Yesterday, I was able to take part in the Juniata Memorial Day parade. The ceremony afterward, held next to the Juniata Ballfield, was brief but was, as usual, a pertinent reminder of the fact that our freedom has not been, and is not, free. I am thankful to God for providing our freedoms: to live, to have a fair trial, to own property, to travel, to worship without fear. I am thankful to the men and women who have served so faithfully to protect these freedoms.

As you know, summertime brings a great season to enjoy Altoona PA. I hope you will keep in touch with us at ILoveAltoona.com this summer. We are hoping to soon bring back some great features of the website that some of you are missing. Thanks for hanging in there with us as we remodel and reorganize.

Have a great day!

Matt

Amtran

Did you know that public transit is considered an important component of making cities attractive for young professionals who are looking for places to locate? While many residents don't take advantage of their services, AMTRAN continues to enable many people to work, shop and enjoy the community. Today, WRTA.com reports on progress on a major effort AMTRAN is making to use capital money (money that has to be used for infrastructure) to redevelop the old Roaring River Mills building. Parts of this project will be used to provide bus storage and part will be used to lease retail and/or office space to generate additional revenue for AMTRAN.

- Matt

Blair County Arts Festival

The Blair County Arts Festival, my favorite local event of the year, was this past weekend. My daughter and I enjoyed hours of free entertainment. We watched dance performance after dance performance. We had our fill of scrumptious festival food. We made crafts at the kids tent until we couldn't carry any more. And we marveled at all of the amazing artwork from both young and old. We filled up on festival memories to last us until May 2009.

- Christina

Gateway Project

If you follow local news, you may have seen Wednesday that the Blair County commissioners denied a funding request for the City of Altoona's Gateway Improvement Program. Last year, there was a tremendous outpouring of support from the community -- citizens, churches, community groups, businesses -- helping low-income residents repair their properties along some of one of Altoona's main corridors. The money given by the county's fund last year (over $35,000) went very far because it was used for supplies while labor and skill was donated by the volunteers.

Wednesday night, City Council discussed the issue of this year's program. Council wants to continue the program and asked City management to find a way. They also appealed to the local community to help. Donations can be given to the Gateway fund (they are likely tax deductible) -- supplies, equipment, money, etc. Volunteers are still needed. The City is planning to move forward and Councilmembers are calling on the community to help make an impact. To find out how to volunteer, go to the City webpage to learn more, or call Mary Anne Pellegrine or Paulette Cornet at City Hall at 949-2470.

- Matt

Calling Volunteers!

As we rebuild ILoveAltoona.com, we're going to begin asking a few community members for help as we maintain the site, expand it, and help turn the ideas we've collected for the community into useful conversation leading to action. For you "oldies" (as in reading this site for 3 years), you may remember that ILoveAltoona.com (or "ILA" as we call it for short) was initially launched as a political campaign website. But with all of the good ideas on the website contributed by members of the community, and with other potential of the site, the team didn't want to just take it down. So rather than become a dormant has-been -- ILA is being prepared to be the center of some great conversation about how to serve Altoona, PA.

So... stay tuned. If you are interested in helping us make ILoveAltoona.com a pivotal hub for community ideas and action, please contact us and let us know.

- Matt

Keith Photos

Lori, one of our most avid contributors, sent us these pictures of Keith Junior High School that she took during the recent open house. Enjoy!

Also, for you last minute Mother's Day shoppers, check out McIntyre's Candies downtown or on the Diamond in Hollidaysburg. They have a great selection of hand-made chocolates, candies, fudge and other yummies.

- Christina

Downtown Cleanup

This morning is a downtown business cleanup effort meeting initially at 9am at Heritage Plaza. Downtown has become a hub of many events throughout the summertime in thanks to the Greater Altoona Economic Development Corporation, the Community Action Agency, private citizens who have initiated, sponsored and coordinated events, and many others. Keeping the 11th and 12th Avenue areas tidied up is important for the attractiveness and future of our downtown area.

-Matt

Junior High Schools Artwork... and Win Every Day

Have you checked out Paul Stauffer's artwork for the junior high schools? Some of you have found it through his ad on the home page, but I wanted to take a minute this morning and mention it here. Mr. Stauffer is an accomplished local artist who has drawn some exceptional portraits of Keith Junior High School, Roosevelt Junior High School, and some other local landmarks. I would encourage you to check out his site.

In the meantime, a quick update about ILoveAltoona.com. We are going to begin adding some things to the site now that we have completed our basic website remodeling. Soon to come: Win Every Day prize patrol back "on the street". Actually, we might be able to use a couple of volunteers to help us with this program, so if you are interested in helping us out for a couple hours every week or so, give us a holler.

Have a great day!

- Matt

Yard Sales

Hello Altoona, are you having a yard sale or garage sale at your home this summer? Contact us with the date, time, location and general info on what you'll be selling. We'd be happy to post your yard sale at no charge. Maybe you could give out free ILoveAltoona bumper stickers for us or something. (Yeah, we're angling for a way to spread the word about our site!) If you want a lot of extra exposure for your yard sale, we can post basic info on the home page for only $30 for the week leading up to the sale. (We don't mind a little money to help us keep it running either!)

For those of you who have been wanting ILoveAltoona.com bumper stickers (now that there's no snow on our cars blocking the view), we're planning to "refill" at some of the retail locations who were making them available... soon. We're mostly a volunteer team so hold your horses. We know you can't wait to sport those bumper stickers and get a chance to Win Every Day.

Happy Monday!

(Posted by Matt)

May starts out great!

Were you able to make one of the National Day of Prayer gatherings Thursday? It was also the first official "Altoona Day of Prayer". I was able to be a part of a gathering at Heritage Plaza late Thursday afternoon. Gathered there were a number of residents, pastors, and local government leaders. I was really encouraged and moved by the prayers lifted to God for our City. The gathering focused on 10 different needs or opportunities of the community, including things like youth, safety for City workers, drugs & crime, a return to God's moral direction, and renewal of the people of Altoona. Many of those speaking or praying seemed to agree that each of us taking responsibility for our own failures and turning to truth was one of the keys to renewal of our community.

Unfortunately, I didn't make the other events. One of the events is a 3 day event which continues Friday and Saturday. For information check out our What's Going On page.

I'm hopeful and encouraged about the future of our City.