the almanac J A N U A RY 11, 2026
SOUTH HILLS COMMUNITY NEWS
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Mercy Melo of Lehighton leads her sheep to its pen during a previous Pennsylvania Farm Show.
CELEBRATING AGRICULTURE
110th Pennsylvania Farm Show is open By Rick Shrum
For the Observer-Reporter
It’s showtime! The 110th annual Pennsylvania Farm Show opened this weekend in Harrisburg with a full complement of events, exhibits, demonstrations, competitions and food selections. And to be sure, there will be more than a full complement of animals (an estimated 6,000). The 2026 extravaganza cow-kicked off on Friday, Jan. 10, and will run through Jan. 17 at the PA Farm Show Complex & Expo Center at 2300 N. Cameron St. This year’s theme is “Growing a Nation,” celebrating America’s 250th anniversary. General admission is mostly free, although some events and attractions will require tickets or paid entry. – certain fundraisers, Showmen’s
Association events and the First Frontier Circuit Rodeo finals (Jan. 15 to 17). Parking is $15 per vehicle. The show will operate from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily with two exceptions: 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Jan. 11 and 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the final day. A number of younger participants will be showing their animals, with the hope of winning prizes. Some will likely be from rural areas of Washington, Greene and Fayette counties. Perhaps the most visible attraction every year is a literal heavyweight: the 1,000-pound butter sculpture, a testament to dairy farmers. This year, artists Marie Pelton and Jim Victor of Conshohocken (suburban Philadelphia) used nearly 1,000 pounds of donated butter to sculpt a life-sized cow. SEE FARM PAGE A2
COURTESY OF SOUTH FAYETTE SCHOOL DISTRICT
COURTESY OF PENNWEST CALIFORNIA
Haylie Goforth started the @CrowdedMindProject in When Addison Gregory started her college career this fall 2024. The campaign tries to help students with their men- she was already a sophomore. The Coal Center teen took college courses during high school. tal health.
High-achieving students can have struggles, too By Jennifer Garofalo jgarofalo@heraldstandard.com
Academically ambitious high school students often spin a lot of plates. Along with advanced placement classes and college courses, many take part in extracurricular activities, volunteer or have part-time jobs. But since they’re excelling academically, many think there’s no cause for worry. Oftentimes, that’s not the case, said Dr. Mary Jo Podgurski, founder of the UPMC Washington Teen Outreach, a program that trains peer educators and mentors young parents. “I think sometimes high achievers get lost,” she said. That’s something 17-year-old Haylie Goforth has seen at South Fayette High School. “They’re drowning in stress, but they want that academic validation, so they … keep going,” said Goforth, who founded the mental health-focused @Crowded-
MindProject on Instagram and TikTok in 2024. The project was initially meant to be short-term and focused only on eating disorders, but when it gained momentum on social media, Goforth expanded it. The high school senior started using her posts on Instagram and TikTok to foster open conversations about all facets of mental health. She encourages her followers to seek out mental health help if they need it, even if that seems hard to do. “I think it’s difficult for some people to sit face-to-face with themselves,” she said. “It takes a lot of courage to do that.” Goforth said she’s heard from peers struggling in many different ways, including those trying to balance advanced academic classes with extracurricular activities and the normal challenges of being a teenager. That balancing act is something school officials have seen and are trying to address.
“We found a couple of years ago, being a small school, our honors and AP students are the ones playing sports and (taking part in) activities,” said Jefferson-Morgan School District Superintendent Dr. Brandon Robinson, and finding time to study adds to their stress. Discussions with students led to personalized learning time, a period during the school day for students to do anything from decompress to catch up on homework. Podgurski said whether a high achiever has mental health difficulties is dependent upon the student. Addison Gregory said she “took every AP course I was offered” and started dual enrollment her sophomore year of high school. When the 19-year-old graduated from California Area High School this past May, she had enough college credits to start at PennWest California as a sophomore. SEE STRUGGLES PAGE A2
McMurray native unveils second feature film By Brad Hundt
bhundt@observer-reporter.com
Calling himself “an October baby,” Dean Jacobs says horror movies have been a fixture of his life ever since his father introduced him to the Pittsburgh-made, low-budget horror classic “Night of the Living Dead.” Aside from admiring “Night of the Living Dead’s director George Romero for his virtual creation of the zombie movie subgenre, the 42-year-old Jacobs has looked up to Romero for how
he was able to craft memorable movies without massive budgets behind him. Jacobs, a McMurray native and 2002 graduate of Peters Township High School, has put Romero’s lessons to work in the two independent movies he has made – 2023’s “The Trip,” and now “Water Rites,” which was given its East Coast premiere last week at the Lindsay Theater in Sewickley. For both movies, Jacobs acted as the director, star, producer and writer. “Water Rites” tells the story of a couple taking a sum-
LOCATION Fabrics of Perception art exhibition PAGE A6 What’s happening, B3
mer sabbatical at a seemingly idyllic lakefront retreat in the California mountains. However, once they learn some local secrets, the whole experience turns into something less than relaxing. Along with Jacobs, the cast of “Water Rites” Includes actors who have made names for themselves in high-profile horror flicks: Dee Wallace, whose credits include “Cujo” and “The Howling”; Michael Berryman, who was in “Weird Science” and “The Hills Have Eyes”; and Lynn Lowry, who
was in “Shivers” and “The Crazies.” All told, “Water Rites” cost about $70,000 to make, $40,000 of which was raised in a Kickstarter campaign. Still, it’s a bigger budget than Jacobs had for “The Trip,” and he said he wanted to “raise the bar” with “Water Rites” and “I knew I wanted every aspect to be bigger and better.” Jacobs also said that with a low budget, it’s necessary to write the story with an eye SEE FILM PAGE A2
SPORTS Mt. Lebanon’s Gibbons enters Century Club PAGE B1 Classifieds, B4
COURTESY OF DEAN JACOBS
Dean Jacobs is a native of McMurray and now a wrestling coach in the Upper St. Clair School District.
SIGHTS & SOUNDS ‘Wicked‘ actor gets hometown welcome PAGE B3 Real estate transactions, A3