Remembering the collapsed Pa. bridge
Many things in my life have concerned the very bridge the nation is commenting on — the Forbes Avenue bridge — that recently collapsed in Pittsburgh.
I used to cross that bridge to go to church. I crossed it in a streetcar and later in a bus. I sometimes walked across it coming home from high school. I walked out to the middle of it one day and dropped a model airplane off it, then hiked down into the hollow to retrieve it. All my life when I picture a parent telling a child, “And I suppose if your friend jumped off a bridge, you’d do it too!” the Forbes Avenue bridge is the very bridge I picture for that. Sometimes I would go down under the bridge. We would be up high above the creek where the underside of the bridge is not far above our heads. We would play there and listen to the loud traffic clamoring just above us.
That bridge was within sight of the corner of Forbes Avenue and Braddock Avenue. My grandfather built the first house on Celeron Street just two blocks away.
Once, in 5th grade, I headed for school without my $3 for my violin lesson. I crossed Forbes Avenue just as a streetcar was coming. I looked down in the slot on the streetcar track and saw some money. I had time to scoot back and pick up the bills. When I unfolded them, I found that there were three $1 bills. Just the amount I needed.
For the last three decades in West Virginia, I have taught my history students about that same corner when we learned about Gen. Braddock and Gen. John Forbes marching to attack Fort Duquesne.
It seems I cannot get away from Forbes and Braddock and the Forbes Avenue bridge. It is a part of all of us who grew up near Frick Park. One of the last times I crossed that bridge was following my brother’s casket to the cemetery.
Yours for a fond remembrance of the Forbes Avenue bridge,
Dan Manka
Fairmont
Pamela Ball makes Motown Museum great
The recent Senior Post article on Pamela Ball’s many achievements with the formation and growth of the Morgantown History Museum celebrated her varied talents in supporting both Morgantown’s past and future.
Many know that she labored long and hard to assure the creation and operation of a quality museum. Exhibits on the early settlement, the glass industry, Don Knotts and other topics reflect a unique community enhanced by its connection to our state’s flagship university.
Pamela’s professionalism and creativity are obvious when touring the museum. She was working full time when the museum first opened and then was moved to a larger location, all the while volunteering her time to make sure the museum was the best it could be.
Very few volunteers could have maintained such a demanding schedule. Thank goodness she did.
Deb Miller
Reedsville
Accessing licensed providers in time of need
In an emergency, you rarely know the qualifications of the provider who treats you. Licensure assures the public that practitioners meet qualifications and competencies required for practice. HB 3035 currently threatens licensure in West Virginia by terminating the Board of Licensed Dietitians, one of our essential licensing boards for health care practitioners.
Luckily, I have been healthy — until recently, when my physician grew concerned about my blood work. My liver function tests were increasing. I was referred to a gastroenterologist and additional testing was done. Did I have liver failure, cirrhosis or something else?
I was diagnosed with Celiac disease. My gastroenterologist and I discussed treatment. The only effective treatment is a gluten-free diet. No medication was going to cure this; I had to learn how to eat differently. Gluten is a protein found in wheat, barley and rye, and it damages the lining of my small intestine when I consume it. My health was seriously at risk.
What is a gluten-free diet? I could have “done my own research,” but my doctor recommended I see a licensed registered dietitian. Dietitians go through rigorous academic undergraduate and graduate programs, supervised internships and pass a competency exam. Once qualifications are met, the state of West Virginia issues a license so people know they are qualified to provide medical nutrition therapy.
My dietitian taught me food sources of gluten, how to read labels, decipher ingredients and read for allergens. We discussed food preparation to avoid cross contamination (you cannot see gluten). She showed me tools for my phone, taught me how to eat out safely and helped me be confident in my food choices.
Now my blood work is back to normal, and my intestine is healing. If I continue a gluten-free diet, I will remain healthy.
I rely on licensure to find experts to meet my needs, whether I need a doctor or a dietitian. I urge our policy makers to oppose HB 3035, so dietitians can continue to provide excellence in care for the people of West Virginia.
Eric Shaw
Fairmont
In support of Charles Hartzog for commission
Charles David Hartzog, who has a background in economics from WVU, will be running against Sean Sikora in the May primary.
Charles has a commonsense approach to the county commission. As a citizen, I appreciate a common sense approach. His approach is to spend money on more basic necessities: clean water, roadway maintenance and upgrades and funding a business that will ultimately bring into the county more money, more jobs and more tax revenue.
A shift in priorities could benefit more county residents and become an economic windfall.
As county residents and taxpayers, we have had the current sitting commission far too long and have seen little progress. It is time to start new and bring an updated commonsense approach. A candidate with a recent economic education can help steer Monongalia County in a new direction!
Jennifer Turner
Morgantown
Overcame eating disorder with dietitian’s help
“We call this controlling what you can when things feel out of control.” — Olaf the snowman.
Life feeling out of control is crushing. I experienced this in high school. I’ve always been hard on myself, so I coped using disordered eating behaviors: counting and limiting calories to watch my weight decrease.
I developed an interest in medicine, science and improving health care in underserved communities, like West Virginia. My journey to learn about nutrition and healthy lifestyles, like many other aspects of my life, went to the extreme.
I was never diagnosed with an eating disorder. I don’t think I wanted to be. I didn’t want to admit I was not okay, or for the people that loved me to feel like it was their fault — it wasn’t.
However, I was able to confide in a registered dietitian. RDs are an often overlooked but vital component to health care systems.
When I was 16 and suffering from an eating disorder, I was lucky enough to have access to an RD who understood my desire to be healthy. She taught me to be healthy and happy by using scientific facts to dispel easily accessible “diet culture” talk. I’m now a successful medical researcher with a Ph.D. My relationship with food is something that I celebrate. I love cooking and ordering takeout with my husband. Food — “healthy” or not — is a joyful part of my life. If not for an RD, holidays would be filled with dread and anxiety, not fun memories with loved ones.
Currently, West Virginia HB 3035 will greatly restrict RDs’ ability to provide their life-saving services by terminating the West Virginia Board of Licensed Dietitians.
Without licensure, West Virginians’ ability to receive care provided by RDs will be negatively impacted. RDs won’t be able to practice independently as health care practitioners with expertise to assess nutritional status and implement nutrition care plans to meet and maintain an individual’s unique nutritional needs through oral, tube or IV feeding.
We’re urging citizens and policymakers to oppose this bill.
Savannah Sims
Fairmont
If Joe Doakes existed in today’s world …
Joe Doakes was a rather buffoonish, head-strong guy who appeared in short-subject movies in theaters during the 1940s and 50s. He was a misogynistic young man who would tackle any subject, usually a repair job that would invariably end in a humorous disaster. He was funny because we could see some of our own situations and attitudes in his buffoonery.
Joe remains an important symbol for me today. He represents the good-hearted American who, despite his foibles, is interested in improving himself and his family and wants to help his neighbor. He volunteers, because he wants to help his community and, above all, he is patriotic.
He was there at Valley Forge during the Revolution and at Appomattox during the Civil War. He is the same guy we called GI Joe during the Second World War; he went to the Yalu River with the Marines in Korea, and despite lack of public support, he fought for his buddies in Vietnam. He fought the Taliban and for the young girls in Afghanistan, so they could attend school. He won some and lost some of his noble causes.
I can tell you with certainty what he was not, is not and what he would not do. He is not one of the ex-servicemen who stormed our Capitol on Jan. 6, and he never would have sat and watched this atrocity without taking action to stop that seditious attack.
Robert Shumaker
Morgantown
