the almanac J A N U A RY 26, 2025
SOUTH HILLS COMMUNITY NEWS
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Changing fashions
COURTESY OF TOM BLUEMLING
Mt. Lebanon native Rear Adm. Katie Bluemling Sheldon
A new rank
Lebo native promoted to rear admiral By Paul Paterra Staff writer OBSERVER-REPORTER
Ties were once standard for men in leading political or business roles, such as when President John F. Kennedy visited Washington in October 1962.
Neckties are no longer ubiquitous accessories for men By Brad Hundt Staff writer
bhundt@observer-reporter.com
One of tales most often repeated about the Beatles’ earliest days is when they were in London in June 1962 being shown the basics of a recording studio by their urbane producer George Martin, he asked them if there was anything they didn’t like. George Harrison, who was then just 19, is said to have replied in a thick Liverpudlian drawl, “Well, for a start, I don’t like your tie.” Sixty years ago, ties like the apparently disagreeable one Martin was sporting were standard gear in recording studios and just about any other white-collar work setting. In fact, they were largely the rule and not the exception into at least the 1980s. Over the last couple of decades, however, the necktie has lost its ubiquity. Workplaces that once
mandated ties have shed those requirements, and there’s less of an expectation that they should be worn in situations where they once would have been de rigeur. For example, when former President Barack Obama stopped at the University of Pittsburgh in October to stump for Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, he went tieless – and went without a jacket, too – throughout his talk. U.S. Sen. Bob Casey was also without a tie, as was Gov. Josh Shapiro and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis. Not all that long ago, such informality would have been considered an eye-opening breach of etiquette for public officials. Now, no one bats an eye. Once an obligatory gift, there were likely many fewer ties under trees this past Christmas than there once were. In fact, Washington County Commissioner Larry SEE NECKTIES PAGE A2
BRAD HUNDT/OBSERVER-REPORTER
Washington County Commissioner Larry Maggi went tieless at an event for U.S. Sen. Bob Casey in Scenery Hill in December.
ppaterra@observer-reporter.com
Mt. Lebanon native Katie Bluemling Sheldon was recently promoted to rear admiral in the U.S. She currently serves as vice commander of the U.S. Seventh Fleet, based in Yokosuka, Japan, an hour-and-a-half south of Tokyo. When promoted to rear admiral in October, Sheldon became just the third female admiral in the Navy Reserve’s surface warfare community. “It’s very humbling,” Sheldon said. “To have the Navy recognize my hard work and leadership to promote me to that rank is very humbling because there’s not many people that make that rank. I’m honored to be able to serve in this capacity and have the responsibility that I now have as a rear admiral, leading the Navy and representing the Navy around the world.” In a recent assignment, Sheldon represented the Navy as a rear admiral in Brunei at the 30th annual Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) maritime exercise. “I was able to represent the U.S. Navy and command the U.S. Seventh Fleet during this exercise, which was pretty awesome and inspiring,” Sheldon said. “Being the senior ranking Navy officer there was pretty humbling.” The 1995 graduate of Mt. Lebanon High School has an extensive military career. She is a 1999 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, earning a Bachelor of Science in oceanography. SEE RANK PAGE A2
Bethel Park native launches first feature film By Brad Hundt Staff writer
bhundt@observer-reporter.com
With a horror movie under his belt and the last name of Poe, it’s perhaps inevitable to ask Josh Poe if he’s related to Edgar Allan Poe, the ultimate forefather of the macabre. “I get that a lot, actually,” Poe said. Because Edgar Allan Poe fathered no children, Poe is not a direct descendant, but “we might be distant cousins,” the 25-year-old Bethel Park man explained. Poe’s possible cousin brought the world “The Fall of the House of Usher,” and Poe is bringing it “House of Tears,”
a murder mystery that has a maniacal slasher, a creepy abode and a cold, stormtossed evening. Inspired by the board game “Clue” and the 1985 movie the game spawned, “House of Tears” is Poe’s feature filmmaking debut. In the Pittsburgh region, it has screened at both the Lindsay Theater in Sewickley and the Parkway Theater in McKees Rocks, and Poe hopes to get it entered into film festivals that are coming up this year. Made for $10,000 over 15 days, directing “House of Tears” was not necessarily a natural step for Poe. When he was a student at Denison Uni-
SOUTH HILLS Coin club to celebrate 65th anniversary with annual show PAGE A3 What’s happening, B3
versity in Ohio, Poe dropped a film production class because “I hated filmmaking.” However, his interest in the medium remained and his major, which he was able to craft himself, combined economics and film history. Though the mechanics of filmmaking may not have been his cup of tea, Poe penned a script, “really liked it,” he said, and started to look around for a director. However, after some urging, he decided to take over directing chores himself, and “I found out I was pretty COURTESY OF JOSH POE good at it.” “House of Tears,” which was inspired by the movie “Clue” and the board game of the SEE FILM PAGE A2 same name, is set in a creepy house.
SPORTS BP preps for WPIAL team wrestling tournament PAGE B1 Real estate transactions, A6
SIGHTS & SOUNDS Little Lake Theatre shares new season PAGE B3 Classifieds, B4-6