"My friend came over and asked if I wanted to go for a walk and I said yeah. We're just walking and talking."

"We're going for a walk. We just like to walk down the main street and kinda browse. If any shops are open we might walk in and look around."

"What flavor of ice cream is that?" "Superman!"

"What brought you into Beaver today?" "To eat dinner at Beauco Bistro. I'm meeting my wife". "Is it a special occasion?" "No, it's just Tuesday."

"I'm from Columbia but I now live in California. I came to visit my Father-in-law. Where I come from it is very rural and we don't have internet or much for phones. Coming here is nice."

"We do theory work upstairs, we have to do 800 hours before we're allowed to work on people. We're cosmetologists so we pretty much do everything: facials, manis, pedis, hair. It's really cool because it's hands-on and I feel like I learn better with hands-on stuff than reading from a book. Being able to work on an actual person is so much better than working on a mannequin because you can talk to the clients and get the feel for what a real salon is like." "I'd like to get intro braiding and weave because there's really no one around where I live that does ethnic hair. So we have to go to Akron, Cleveland, Youngstown. So if I get licensed in PA and open up a shop close to East Liverpool, I think there'd be a good market there. Every state has their own licensing requirements and boards test you have to pass before becoming a licensed cosmetologist." "I'm almost at 900 hours. I'll be done in July!" [Rebekah of Monaca, Sierra, and Dorothy of East Liverpool, OH talk about what they're learning at the Beaver Falls Beauty Academy and how they plan to use it.]

"What a cutie! Can I get a picture of you two together?" "Sure! Hopefully she doesn't shy away. I take so many pictures of her myself." [Alexa playfully hides from the camera] "Are you hiding?" "We had so much fun today. She's mad we're leaving!" [Carly with her daughter Alexa after playtime at Brady's Run Park]

"Tell me something interesting about you..." "Well... we're getting married on Friday!" "Wow, congratulations! "Yeah, we're all excited!" "I've lived here for 30 years, my kids both moved to New Jersey. I lost my wife a couple years ago. But I've always appreciated all the things you can do here in Beaver County like Fort McIntosh and the museum down by the railroad bridge. There's a lot you can do and enjoy yourself without spending money -- like the park here." "I started photographing the local churches in Beaver Falls -- there's some really beautiful ones. And the library -- they do a great kids program: reading, arts and crafts. That's one place that still offers a lot to people. I work at a clinic in town and we get a lot of people who are going to the halfway house or are on probation and lot of them use the library for job hunting. It's nice to see the patients move toward recovery." [Rose and Dennis of Chippewa discuss life and what's special about Beaver County]

"This is Spirit, he sheds really bad. He's a great dog! He's a Corgi. That's what the Queen has -- she has a whole litter of them. They just did a story on CBS about how she's had Corgi's ever since she was a girl. Spirit and I collect cans around Beaver County and then donate the money to the Humane Society. We picked up a few here today. As a joke last time, I put the donation in an envelope from and signed it 'from Spirit the Corgi.'" [Rose, Dennis and Spirit stop to talk at Brady's Run Park]

"I bought this farm myself in 1991, and really, none of what we have today was here. There was no pasture, no fence, no barn, no fruit trees. I went to Penn State for animal science, and then I worked in the steel industry. I wanted to do that so I could buy a farm. So I bought this place, which is 43 acres. We started with 10 sheep back in 1996. Now we have 46 sheep, 1 ram, 7 lambs (from last year, the new babies will be born in late April/early May), a llama -- Snow White -- and Glenda, the donkey. She's supposed to protect the other animals from predators, like coyotes. Unfortunately, Glenda is a a defective donkey. She bites the sheep. So she has to stay where the sheep aren't. You notice her ears -- they can't help it, but a donkey's ears are always swiveling, looking for everything, everywhere. She can see you, but she can't see what's happening behind her. That's just pure instinct: animals that have eyes in the front of their face are predators; animals with eyes in the side of their face are prey. So donkeys aren't predators, they're prey. Their first thought all the time is 'what's trying to kill me,' like a rabbit. With her, she can see you, so she knows where you are, but what's happening behind me, what's happening over there. Her ears never stop moving. The llama's the same way. Glenda patrols where the...

"Hold on tight!" "Wheee!" "You having fun?" "Yeah!" "He's two. Loves to play! Especially this swing." [Grayson gets a push from his dad, Christopher on the swings at Brady's Run Park]

"I'm with the Beaver County Historical Research and Landmarks Foundation. I'm here promoting History Weekend. It's the first weekend in May, the 7th and 8th, all throughout the county. This year, we're focusing on industrial history and featuring some industrial sites in Darlington, like the McCarl Industrial and Agricultural Museum and the Little Beaver Historical Society. We're focusing on the Darlington area this year, but we want to promote all the great sites in the county. The Air Heritage Museum in Beaver Falls will be showing the movie about the Tuskegee Airmen. Southside Historical Village is another great place for people to go if they're interested in the history of the county -- it's down by the Hookstown Fairgrounds. And of course, Old Economy in Ambridge. We really want to use history weekend to bring people into the county." [Ron Bruce of Ohioville, part of the Sons of the American Revolution, Anthony Wayne Chapter, talks about Beaver County History and what's being done to promote it at the 39th annual Maple Syrup Festival held at Brady's Run Lodge.]

"She's been here longer for me. This is 15 [years working at the Maple Syrup Festival] for me." "17 years for me." "I used to come down, and then one day I asked, 'how do you help?' Been here ever since." "For me, somebody was back here [cooking at the grills] that was my friend. They said: can you help out? We're short-handed. I said sure. They said, put an apron on, I'll be back in half an hour. Then he never came back! But I stayed." "1700 pounds is what we did today. We've been here since 5:00am." "We do 12 hour shifts. Cooking the sausage is hard. We have a pretty rock solid crew though." "The grease gets in your eyes, in your hair. By the time you're done, you're so disgusted with it you're like totally finished." "But come time for it next year, you're looking forward to it!" [Donna of New Brighton and Heath of North Sewickley talk about what its like behind the scenes at the Maple Syrup Festival. The annual event benefits parks, recreation and conservation in Beaver County.]

"I've been working at the Maple Syrup Festival for 36 of its 39 years. When my wife was living, she and I worked it together. She started in 1979, I started in 1980, down at the flour mill. They'd ground the flour and we'd bag it, tape it and sell it. I was a machine shop foreman for 15 years. I had 33 and a half years at P&W. I retired about 5 years ago because I always say 'the hills got steeper and my knees got weaker.' I retired, but I still do the tours. This is my station [the Sugar Shack]. See this? It's a refractometer. You put a drop of cold sap on there, hold it up to the light and you can get a reading. There's a scale in there and it'll tell you the content of the sugar in the sap. This is what they call bud sap. It stinks! Smell it. After a certain period of time, Mother Nature says: I've given you enough for the festival, I need the rest for my trees." [Paul Farkas takes me through the Sugar Shack at the Maple Syrup Festival, held every year since 1977 at Brady's Run Lodge. Proceeds benefit parks, recreation and conservation in Beaver County.]

"My Mom, Boots, ran the kitchen here for 30 years. That's why this patch is in the shape of a boot. They honored her last year." "Everybody knew her as Boots. When she passed away, they put me in charge of the dining hall. It's a huge job! I'm not sure, but I think we get about 15,000 people through the weekend. It's non-stop! Everything we raise goes to support conservation in Beaver County." [Penny and Glenn from Beaver Falls talk about their Mom, "Boots" at the 39th annual Maple Syrup Festival held at Brady's Run Lodge.]

"We're all volunteers -- practically family now. We've been working at the [Maple Syrup Festival] for years. We started down at the main Lodge helping out in the dining hall, serving coffee, clearing tables. I used to take my Girl Scout Troop. I always recruit friends, people that I know to come and help. We always have a great time!" [Pam Laughlin, aka Mommy Pearl of New Brighton works a booth at the Maple Syrup Festival with her friends and family. Proceeds from the annual event benefits parks, recreation and conservation in Beaver County.]

"I still have the warrant for my arrest in 1970 when the postal workers went out on strike. I was president of the local down here. Scared the hell out of me, but I stood on that picket line! I'm 85 years old, and when I was able to stand, I was a union person. My Dad was a union guy and I grew up that way. My first job was up at B&W and the first thing I did when I walked in was ask 'where can I sign up for the union?' When I was president of the Letter Carriers Union, we had 12,000 guys in the local. Everybody has a fundamental right to sit down and talk. I'm not saying you have to give in, or get everything you want. But everyone has the right to sit down and discuss your problems. If someone won't give you that, they're in the wrong." [Charlie Hamilton, a longtime member of the Letter Carriers Union and Beaver County resident joins a rally with members of SEIU Local 668 outside the Human Services Building in Beaver Falls on April 1st. At that time, the workers had been working without a contract for nearly a year and negotiations with the county commissioners were at a standstill. Since then, a tentative agreement has been reached and will be voted on in the coming days.]

"I think it's important that we have a fair contract because when we go into communities, we're on the front lines. Probation officers can't go into homes without a partner. We go into all kinds of situations alone, without police officers. And fair is fair. It's not about pay raises, it's about our medical insurance. Our work is important and we deserve a fair contract." [Ashley Gill of Ambridge rallies with members of SEIU Local 668 outside the Human Services Building in Beaver Falls on April 1st. At that time, the workers had been working without a contract for nearly a year and negotiations with the county commissioners were at a standstill. Since then, a tentative agreement has been reached and will be voted on in the coming days.]

"It's always important for people to come together. Power comes in masses, and power concedes nothing without demand." "Everyone should have the right to negotiate the terms of their employment. You see people in corporate level jobs, they negotiate contracts all the time. They get an employment contract that has benefits and perks. All the workers here want is a fair contract, good wages and decent health care. This is very important to our economy and economic growth -- keeping wages up. Organized labor sets the standards for what the rest of the wages people set are, so that's why it's really important that they bargain collectively to keep up those levels and support a pro-growth economy. Ultimately, it's about people being able to represent themselves, being able to support their families, and having a fair workplace contract." [Lynnwood Alford of Beaver Falls joins Erin McClelland, candidate for Pennsylvania's 12th Congressional District, which includes Beaver County, at a rally in support of SEIU Local 668 outside the Human Services Building in Beaver Falls on April 1st. At that time, the workers had been working without a contract for nearly a year and negotiations with the county commissioners were at a standstill. Since then, a tentative agreement has been reached and will be voted on in the coming days.]  

"The majority of funding for our work comes from the federal and state government, not the county, so we're not a burden on them. Two weeks ago, we got a regressive offer via email, one with a decrease in wages and an increase in our health care costs -- it was worse than the one they offered in February. "My concern is this: we perform an invaluable service to the community. And in a society which says that they value children, the value they place on the work we do does not indicate that. People who fix cars make more than we do, have better benefits that we do. I believe that everybody who comes to work in this building is dedicated to improving the lives of families and keeping children safe. We're proud of the work that we do and just want to be treated fairly." [Leah Bayer of Beaver Falls and Debbie Anderson of Ambridge, members of SEIU Local 668 rally outside the Human Services Building in Beaver Falls on April 1st. At that time, the workers had been working without a contract for nearly a year and negotiations with the county commissioners were at a standstill. Since then, a tentative agreement has been reached and will be voted on in the coming days.]