Thanksgiving Day 2023 dawned sunny and chilly in Johnstown.
The traditional turkey has given way to lasagna in the Ross household this year, for reasons both curious and tortured. But family will gather nonetheless and enjoy part of the holiday together.
No doubt many of you will perform similar rites today – with turkey, not lasagna, as the centerpiece.
Here’s one man’s list of the many blessings for which residents of the Greater Johnstown area might wish to give thanks today.
We ought to be grateful to State Rep. Frank Burns and others who exposed the secretive plans of Myopia 2025 before we were knee-deep in unvetted Afghan refugees to add to our ongoing Philly problem.
Perhaps the attention of Burns kept the Myopia people from casting their net to pull in similar mystery people from Ukraine or the Gaza Strip with a “trust us, we will check to make sure they won’t be undesirables” disclaimer.
Southmont residents can give thanks that the Dahlia Street trailer infestation has been eliminated.
Steelers fans in this area — and they are legion — might pause to thank the NFL gods for gifting their team with a pathetically easy schedule, made even more so by the reality they now twice will play a Cincinnati team soldiering on without star quarterback Joe Burrow due to his season-ending wrist injury. NFL legend Tom Brady was talking the other day about NFL mediocrity and the poster team for that is the Steelers, who easily could finish 12-5 and dash (not far) into the playoffs with an offense that thinks hitting double digits in scoring is a watershed event.
Along that line, Steelers fans can be grateful that the organization bid adieu to offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
Penn State fans can be grateful their guys won’t have to lose again to Ohio State and Michigan – until next season.
Pitt fans can rejoice in the reality that only one more game – and potential loss – remains in what already is a miserable 3-8 season.
Fans of Johnstown’s Central Park supposedly should be grateful about the latest plan at revitalizing downtown, that being to pave over most of the green space, throw out traditional statues and monuments, and string a few thousand more lights in the futile pursuit of retail re-invigoration.
People wanting to flee the area should celebrate their opportunity to sell out at unrealistically high real estate prices that continue to levitate despite mortgage interest rates that have more than doubled in the past year and change.
Most of all, we can celebrate that despite the efforts of our elite masters to worsen the place, this still is a relatively good area in which to live, just not nearly as good as it was, say, 40 or 50 years back.
Sam Ross Jr's site 