New Kensington – The Parnassus Pen

Santa Claus and Krampus Come to New Kensington

*Mural by Bernie Wilke and Other Artists. Fourth Avenue, Downtown New Kensington. December 3, 2022. (Photo: Jenny Gaffron Woytek)*

New Kensington’s Christmas / Holiday Parade took place downtown today. (Here is last year’s Santa Claus fire truck photo.)

Enjoy two new Santa Claus photos and a new Krampus photo.

Krampus appears in folklore from central Europe. Krampus is half-goat and half-demon. The German word “krampen” means “claw.”

Per Britannica.com, Krampus predated the spread of Christianity to Europe. He belonged to Pagan tradition. He was the son of the Norse god of the underworld.

Later, European Christians established December 6 as the Feast of St. Nicholas.

The folklore evolved to explain that St. Nicholas and Krampus both visited families on December 5, the Eve of St. Nicholas. St. Nick brought treats for obedient children. Krampus terrified naughty children. Some refer to December 5 as Krampusnacht, the Night of Krampus.

Here in Western Pennsylvania, Krampus enthusiasts gather in Pittsburgh on December 5 to commemorate Krampusnacht.

The Krampus in this photo belongs to the New Kensington Volunteer Fire Department.

*Krampus.*
*Fourth Avenue, Downtown New Kensington. December 3, 2022.*

Many thanks to the New Kensington Volunteer Fire Department and all of the parade contributors!

“Revival” by Shane Pilster

“BeYOUtiful” Mural by Juliandra Jones & Dejouir Brown

“BeYOUtiful” by Juliandra Jones & Dejouir Brown. *Downtown New Kensington. May 8, 2022.*
*(Photo: Jenny Gaffron Woytek)*

Final Friday

I took this photo at the “Final Friday” event held in New Kensington on April 22, 2022. Organizers schedule “Final Friday” in downtown New Kensington for the final Friday evening of every “warm weather” month. The Hoffman Road Band performed at this particular “Final Friday” event.

Valley High School Color Guard; Mural by Shane Pilster

*Fifth Avenue, Downtown New Kensington. December 4, 2021. (Photo: Jenny Gaffron Woytek)*

Here’s another photo of Valley High School’s marching band at the December 2021 Christmas Parade in downtown New Kensington.

I didn’t grow up in New Kensington. I grew up in Somerset County. However, I was in my own high school’s marching band for four years. Well, first I was in my elementary and junior high concert bands. I wanted to quit before high school. The high school band seemed like too much work. My parents didn’t want me to quit band because they had already invested money in my music interests (or lack thereof). My parents had a handful of other kids. (There are five of us!) They realized that I had a better chance of getting college financial aid if I had “high school marching band” listed as an extracurricular on my applications. Also, I have never been accused of being “too physically fit.” Most likely my parents figured that participation in the marching band would force me to get some exercise. So, four years of marching band it was!

It worked out well for me. Almost all of my high school friends were also in the band. I’m old. I remember stuff differently than how it actually went down. However, I remember all of the fun stuff about band and very little about the unpleasant stuff. (For instance, band camp.) I’m trying to work on a lifestyle change. I get discouraged about all of the extra walking. I remember that I actually walked much further during four years of football games and parades and practices. (All while blowing through a woodwind.) I can totally up my walking game now!

I recently Googled my old band director. He retired from teaching. He now performs professionally with other professional musicians. He didn’t just put in his time and then let his art atrophy. He’s still going strong. I find this inspiring.

Little Miss Italy; “Rising Phoenix” Mural by Shane Pilster

Anne Frank Mural by Christian Miller

Mural by Christian Miller who is from New Kensington. Thanks to Westmoreland Community Action and Marvin Birner.

Who Painted These Dog Murals?

*Fifth Avenue, Downtown New Kensington. December, 2021. (Photo: Jenny Gaffron Woytek)*

First off, thanks to everyone who sent me condolences on the death of my grandmother (my late mom’s mom) last month. I greatly appreciate the cards and emails.

Grandma reminded me a little bit of Betty White. Grandma was 90 years old and Betty White was 99. To be honest, it kinda hurt when, right after Grandma passed away, I saw Betty White appear in a television commercial. Then, a few weeks after Grandma passed away, Betty White also passed away. I also lost one of my favorite uncles in 2021 – my dad’s brother. My family greatly appreciates everyone who reached out to us.

Here’s another “mural” photo for you. I don’t know who did this one. My Google skills fail me today. So, if anyone knows who painted these dogs in these windows, please reach out to me. I would love to credit the artist.

Sunsets and Sunrises

*Mount Saint Peter Roman Catholic Church. New Kensington, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. May 7, 2021. (Photo: Jenny Gaffron Woytek)*

So, a little bit over a week ago, my maternal grandmother died. Grandma Margaret.

Grandma celebrated her 90th birthday this past summer. In fact, she celebrated her birthday during the week between my birthday and my sister’s birthday, and several other family birthdays occurred during this same week. Grandma left behind a lot of people who loved her. However, I understand that all or almost all people who live to the age of 90 lose much. My grandfather died several years ago. And, as Grandma reminded me, she herself had only one sister, named Shirley. Shirley died of cancer in her 20’s. About two years after the first Shirley died, my grandmother had my mom and she named my mom Shirley. My mom, the second Shirley, died of cancer three years ago. Grandma wondered about this to me. She wondered about the odds of losing both of her Shirleys to the same disease, decades apart.

But, I remember something completely different now. After my mom died, I sat and looked through Grandma’s photo albums with her. We looked through an album consisting mostly of photos that Grandma herself took. Grandma took A LOT of photos of sunrises and sunsets. She took some of these photos when she visited my uncle in Florida. She took other sunset photos over the winter countryside after my grandparents retired and moved out to farmland in Beaver County and raised goats. She took them with her point-and-shoot camera. She paid to develop them, then put them into her photo albums along with her photos of her family.

I learned that day that when I enjoy a sunrise or a sunset, I owe this at least in part to Grandma Margaret.

Sunrises are beautiful. Sunsets are sad but also beautiful. Neither exists without the other.

Mural: “Rising Phoenix” at Voodoo Brewery by Shane Pilster

If you Google “New Kensington” and “Voodoo Brewery,” you can find a lot of photos of Shane Pilster’s “Rising Phoenix” mural. In fact, here are photos that I took last December, a week after Krampus brought me my camera.

You can also find a lot of information about New Kensington’s Voodoo Brewery / Voodoo at the Ritz and Old Town Overhaul with a quick Google search. Here’s such an article from the Trib.

So, for this blog post, I took a bunch of photos that showed the “Rising Phoenix” mural in the background as the community gathered for New Kensington’s Christmas Parade.

I felt really defeated last spring over the setbacks that Jonathan and I had encountered in trying to rebuild our front porch. I wrote a snarky post on this very blog about how murals weren’t going to solve New Kensington’s problems. The murals weren’t solving any of MY problems. My sister Elizabeth is a hero because she read the post right after I published it. She told me that I was harsh. I took the blog post down about an hour after I published it. The post now resides for eternity in blog post hell. Or, maybe it resides in blog post purgatory because with my luck it’s cached somewhere.

But, now our porch is almost complete. I feel much more hopeful about my future here in New Kensington.

These marchers arrived on a bus from Valley High School in New Kensington. I watched the bus arrive. It travelled past me and unloaded on the next block over from where I sat waiting the parade to begin. I saw kids sitting next to the windows, holding their trombones.

I have a soft spot for the high school marching band. I marched in a high school band when I grew up in Somerset County. I played the clarinet.

I don’t remember getting to march past any cool brewery murals, though.