Coudersport PA stuff

Learned some interesting stuff at Coudersport PA today. Their town used to be home to the headquarters of Adelphi Cable, but that went under five or so years ago when the founder was jailed and his successors mismanaged the company. The building, easily the grandest downtown, is still unoccupied, but brokers are going to sell it soon to clear up the company's estate, probably. Also the big Queen Anne's -style Victorian villa in town used to be a restaurant, inn, and bar connected to the bowling alley. The alley is now in different hands, the house is in new hands as well but has not yet been refurbished. The town often caters to tourists who visit for the nearby Cherry Springs state park, acclaimed for the best night sky in the east (least light pollution). Denton hill is a hill we climbed on our bikes today, also home to a downhill and crosscountry ski center ran by members of the Alliance Church, which was kind enough to give us accomodations, dinner, and breakfast for tomorrow. The ski center also runs some sort of mountain biking operation in the summer. Denton hill additionally serves as the starting point for the Susquehanna trail - couldn't find out much about it but I'm interested. Pretty area. Apparently the area is pretty economically depressed; some residents hope that the new money from the gas found in the Wysox area will come in to Coudersport. there is also not much for young people in the area to do if they are not interested in the outdoors or the pace of smalltown life. We passed eight middle or high school aged students doing community service during an hour or two in town...

Really enjoying getting to learn about all of these towns. They all have such personalities. Also it is interesting to spend so much time in religious buildings and see what active, in-use religious buildings are like...they seem to serve a lot of a community organizing purpose...and I guess it is nice but definitely pretty foreign for me to hear that my group has been in people's prayers from sometime this spring, before our trip started. Regardless, the people we meet on there towns could not be kinder or more hospitable, they all do an exceptional job of making me feel welce in these new environments. A big thanks to Ann at the Alliance Church for answering all of my questions about Coudersport!

Location:See above