February 2025 Top 10

Snow. Ice. Sleet. Slush. Freezing rain. Power outages. 

All of these did not make my Top 10 for February 2025. Without further ado, and to march into March, my gratitude list for the shortest yet most treacherous month on the calendar. In no particular order, the small businesses in our community that helped my family conquer the winter grog and combat the cabin fever that is February:

#10 - Whoever Operates a Plow 

Technically, not a small business, but a huge difference maker in our winter existence. Thanks to any human who has cleared a war path on our streets. It has been a formidable February after a January that seemed to be the longest month in the history of mankind. To all those community members who have cleared the way and probably used profanity while doing so (like I have been toward all forms of precipitation). Many a February day, I have sat in my Subaru and sworn in solititude. It is therapeutic. 

And I don't need any more therapy. Enough, winter. Enough. 

#9 - Local Newcasts 

Specifically, underpaid reporters standing in the cold @ Gobbler's Knob. We have a family tradition in our humble abode where we tune into the Punxsutawney Phil pageantry. While watching any sort of news broadcast can be deflating, I love a good weather update in the present conditions. And the apex occurs on Groundhog Day. College educated media members are assigned to the knob of all knobs. It is celebratory. It is weird. It is theatre. 

It is not therapy, but I imagine some of the reporters will be in a session soon. 

Bless their hearts. 

Curse you, hog. 

#8 - Tap 814

On Valentine's Day weekend, the weather was, you guessed it, terrible. But, the steak tips at Tap 814 - tremendous! Forecast cupid, you may have shot an arrow through my heart yet a perfectly cooked set of tips, well that is paradise. Steak, you seized the day. Nice work, Tap 814 chef. 

#7 - Saturday Night Live

Again, stretching the term "small business", the 50th anniversary special was enjoyable for so many reasons. First and foremost, it was not live on late night Saturday. It was on Sunday at a Dad friendly time and I stayed awake for the entire event, which is a feat in itself. As a humorist and dreamer, I have great admiration for SNL and the process of live comedy. If I had to add one more woman to my household, I think it would be Kristen Wiig. 

#6 - Boulevard Grill

Each February, The BLVD celebrates the life of Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish astronomer and mathematician with a historically bad hair cut. It is a bizarre birthday party that my family has embraced for almost a decade. Their is Polish grub, accordions, and my 85-year-old uncle proudly supporting his heritage. 

A sincere thanks to The BLVD staff who made this year's celebration another silly success. The 2025 Copernicus theme "Keep your friends close, and your pierogies closer" was on point. My 7-year-old went one step further, keeping the chocolate cake even closer than the pierogies. 

She was unconcerned if the chocolate cake had Polish roots. Her great uncle also went to town on the chocolate cake, because above all, they are Americans. 

God Bless the USA.

And Poland.

And Ireland (thank you, Guinness).

#5 - Ryan's Artisan Goods

#4 - Stackhouse Park 

Shared recognition for these two all-seasons-stalwarts. Despite winter's wrath, I combined a Stackhouse Park hike with Ryan's nourishment multiple times this February. As a Stackhouse Park board member, I am grateful to all the volunteers and the Park Ranger who make Stackhouse what it is. I do not believe there is a board for Ryan's, but I would like to believe I am on it. Remember, I'm a humorist and dreamer. This Cambria City small business has provided us a gauntlet of good times grub. 

On one particular February day, I took a Stackhouse hike and observed a deceased deer that was absolutely devoured alive by a pack of coyotes. I did not see the attack, just the remains. I would share the picture, but some of you would never eat again. 

It was wild. I love Mother Nature. 

I ate a Ryan's smash burger directly after this Planet Earth experience. 

#3 - BOLD Athletics 

I am not just smashing burgers this winter. I am crushing Crossfit. Two months into this new exercise challenge, I am having a BOLD blast and my whole family has had the chance to crossover into this fitness realm. Sure, you get sore and some workouts are torturous, but the rewards have been plentiful. 

Take for instance, the Bad Ass Open (which my 7-year-old calls the "Bad A Open" because she is pure). I participated in this final day of February event where one specific workout is completed worldwide in uproarious Crossfit unity. BOLD divided humans into teams and I was destined for Team Purple. Ridiculous costumes were encouraged so I used a Donatello ninja turtle number for the royal and the ridiculousness. I did not keep the costume on while completing the workout because burpees, dumbbell hang clean-to-overheads, and lunges are hard enough. I do not need to impair my vision and add costume weight to the experience. 

I did add my 10-year-old and she was in beast mode. I went from Bad Ass to Proud Dad in a 15-minute grueling workout. She was pumped to do the workout by my side. At one point, my oldest daughter and I were moving in synchronized burpee. While the gym was a loud frenzy, I was locked in a moment that I will carry for awhile - the joy of exercising with her, separated by 30 years of life, but together on this mat and giving it all we got. 

And as I grew sentimental in my heart she was pumped to leave my side and lunge out ahead of me. Dad burpees evolved from young smiling dolphin to beached solemn whale. 

When time was up, I was covered in sweat and gave my Crossfit partner a big squeeze. 

And that was the best muscle tension of the night. She commented on how sweaty I was. 

I know how lucky I am. 

Thanks to the BOLD community and the inspired exercise. The madness extends now into March. 

Damn you, burpees, damn you. (swearing in solitude).

#2 - My Aunt 

She owns a hot tub and lives down the street. Since starting Crossfit, I have used it weekly.  

Thank you, Patty, thank you. (muscle and joint applause). 

#1 - Spring 

Think of this upcoming season as a small business. Appreciate it, visit it, and believe in it. There were so many reasons to pack up or pack it in this winter. Instead, we told winter to...

(use your own profanity)

We persevered and pushed through. We laughed out loud and slid across the ice without falling. And if you fell, you got back up. If my daughters remember anything from this winter, I hope it is the smiles stretched across the community. From a kind waittress on Copernicus night to a competitor on the Crossfit mat, kindness remains undefeated. 

Take an attitude of gratitude into March and recognize the strength in numbers starts with you. 

And if Old Man Winter tries to knock down your door...

Knock....

Him...

OUT. 

(Mic drop)

Big and Bold

"Go big or go home" is a reference that often puts emphasis on a decision. It was over 10 years ago now when a group of community members talked about investing in a big artifical Christmas tree and plopping it down in Central Park of Johnstown. When retold as legend, lampoon, or act of lunacy, no matter how it is remembered, it is just that - remembered...

to order big and bring it home. 

As a guest to Discover Downtown Johnstown Partnership's 10-year celebration of the Christmas tree, I learned about the party's shining star, the tree, which is a credit to a small army of Yuletide yahoos. And this characterization is not an offense to them. As many of them summarized, this was a Christmas crazy, going out on an evergreen limb decision. Word got around that money was being raised to ship a 36-foot-high tree out of some elf factory in the Pacific Northwest and light up Johnstown in a Chevy Chase brand of spiked eggnog, holiday fervor. 

And that is exactly what happened. 

My oldest daughter, who turned 10 this month, has celebrated all her Christmases with that downtown tree. Traditions often start when an absurd idea takes flight...

Right after this Christmas and before the New Year, I had my most significant "This is 40" moment. I decided to just walk into a Crossfit gym and declare that my athletic career was not going to go quietly into the night or at least I was not going to sink any deeper into the couch. Like the spark that led to the downtown tree, I sprung into action. 

And a month later after joining Bold Athletics, once again, I have been rewarded by community strength. At the core, and my core is quite sore from planks earlier this week, the tree and Bold are all about community. About people coming together and working toward a common goal. For anyone who has walked around the tree during the holiday season, the strength is in the numbers - of volunteers showing up winter after winter, of children singing and dancing, and of small business owners working together to make a big difference. For anyone who has trudged through snow @ 5:30 AM to complete a work out, I am proud to be in your pack. 

In my Crossfit community,  I have not been tested this much in terms of language since Spanish 2. There is the WOD, and kipping, and EMOM... I personally like the box and the assault bike because I can easily identify what a box is and I know exactly what is going to happen when I get on that bike - I am going to assault my legs. It has been a challenge and I am appreciative of the men and women who have been a part of the exercise. They have provided encouragement, motivation, humor and have helped me overcome my language barrier. 

By the time the downtown tree lights up for Year 11, I plan on being a Seasoned Crossfit Understanding Human (SCUH). I'll be 41 by then, accelerating toward Girl Dad greatness. My daughters will be getting closer and closer to teenage life and I will be pedaling harder and harder on the assault bike. 

I will have benefited from all those community members who have frozen their butts off putting up the tree and to those who have been working their asses off on the Bold mat. Hard work shines on and pays off. 

Cheer on that groundhog this Sunday. If you had to take down the tree this year or braved the subzero terrain to get to a workout, there is only one way to root. Spread an attitude of gratitude for all the risk takers, squat jumpers, and anyone willing to show up and shake it up when necessary. 

Phil, box jump us into Spring. 

Goodnight, Johnstown.  Dream big dreams. 

Adios, Invierno!  (Goodbye, Winter!)