Kittanning.com

To my former neighbors and co-volunteers in Kittanning, I am finally at a point where I can try to help Kittanning more through my Kittanning.com website and a completely new business, Carl’s Idea Hatchery and Business Incubator. I have many ideas of my own and I’m willing to help you with yours. If your neighbors have ideas that could be successful in the marketplace, let’s all have fun together. Do you believe in win-win? Let’s talk!

My new business card was just approved today. I highly recommend Richard Hines if you need a new calling card for yourself or your business. You may or may not know I am the owner of Local4All Placemats which has placemats in Garda’s and other local restaurants. Richard designs those ads and does the overall layout too.

If you need help in any way, I am well connected to over 1000 people through LinkedIn. If I can’t help you enough by myself, I’ll do my best to get you connected, too. Call 724-548-7249 or email me at carl.e.bromley@gmail.com with subject line “Need help”.

From Carl: Laura, sorry for my/our online glitch. I’m copying your post and sincerely hope you have success getting in touch with your friends.

From Laura: I couldn’t find a place to start a new thread… I left Kittanning in 2004 for Atlanta, and have lost touch with 2 friends I’d like to communicate with again. If anyone knows the whereabouts of Diana Bauer or Bob Winter (or either of his sons, Ryan and Evan), please let me know. Bob used to work at Armstrong Microelectronics, which also became Beyond Wire, but it seems they have moved or gone out of business. You can email me at laura@laurafranklin.com or laurafranklin86@gmail.com. I don’t know if I’ll get notified if someone responds to my comment. Thanks! Laura Franklin

Mike DiLauro is one of our loyal placemat advertising customers in the Kittanning area. Jane and I think of Mike a lot, not just for our own computers but for helping others with their computer needs, too. You may have seen his ad on our placemats in local restaurants. If not, here is his ad for your enjoyment AND hopefully a lot fewer computer problems in your future.

Update: As of 3/12/23, Mike has 10 reviews on his website https://mikescomprepair.com. All 10 rate Mike’s Computer Repair at 5 on a scale of 5.

The past few years have gone by so fast some of us older adults lost track of time. For those with young grandchildren, you might wonder how they grew so TALL so FAST. For those with new businesses, you might have done very well for yourself or you might be still struggling. We want to help.

Watch for new advertising tools on our sister website Local4all.com (same owners) and opportunities to earn credits toward a free ad that you can use yourself or give to a friend if you don’t need it.

We’re planning an online store with Kittanning merchandise, too.

Changes worth mentioning:
Carl has invested a significant amount of time putting together “Carl’s Spotlight” that ties in with Local4All Advertising and “Spot Color or Spotlight, Your Choice”. Businesses and nonprofits making a significant contribution to the community will be eligible to participate at no cost. Call 724-548-7249 with your suggestions.

Update: If you haven’t seen it yet, check out the post from March 2023 “Help for Kittanning”.

Clarification: My goal is to help where I can with western PA at the center of my heart but I’ll help on any project if it seems like God put me there for a purpose.

Nov 2019: It seems like many days and nights have passed through the calendar since our last post. Recently we have taken a fresh look at our content, deleted a bit, and now we’re adding back. If possible, we’ll introduce a new style calendar that is easy to read, easy to post, and easy to duplicate an event’s content with a new date OR in a different town nearby.

Note from Carl, 2023: Looking in back office records, I found out it was one year and two days since my last post. There’s a story to it but I’ll leave that for another time. There are too many exciting things going on right now.

2019 again: Today I’d like to thank Google for archiving links on KDC to the days and nights of Mothman Prophecies filming in Kittanning in 2001. It was a time of excitement (the filming itself) and foreboding, as in “When will we be able to get Richard Gere’s autograph?”

If you’d like to revisit that content, do a Google search with “Mothman site:kittanning.com” as your search string.

For those of you who have recently come back for a visit, welcome!

For those of  you who remember the four seasons of the year in western PA, we have just passed a pivotal moment…  from waiting for the first snow of 2018 to “It’s here!”

For those of you who are doing your “remembering” of Kittanning from an armchair in sunny Florida or any of several other southern states, we don’t envy you too much.  Home is where the heart is.

2023 comment from Carl: Today might be the last snow of 2022-23.

As I scan the website content for pages and posts to update or delete, I have fond memories of the Message Board that used to have visitors and comments from all across the USA. One in particular was from Fred Klugh who remembered sitting in the grass above the Kittanning bridge just watching the cars and trucks go back and forth. What a life that would be if we could do that now!

11/11/2019 update:  Jane and I continue to have a strong marriage and praying together is one of the keys.  We are both active in our church (Scrubgrass Stone Church in eclectic Eau Claire, PA) and in community activities.  This Friday we plan to attend a marriage retreat in New Castle, PA where the main presentation is “Laugh Your Way to a Better Marriage” by Mark Gungor.  Pastor Mark has a lot of videos posted on YouTube but I can point you to the best ones and can send you clickable links in email.

11/12/18 update:  Jane and I have now celebrated 14 ‘monthiversaries’ and we are still going strong.  She has semi-adopted a neighborhood cat (treats, cat-food, litter box, sleeping on the end of our bed, etc. ) named Ginger and all was well until Saturday night when Ginger’s legal owners brought all their cats inside for the night, including Ginger.  It was really cold outside, so it was good that Ginger was indoors somewhere.  Jane went through some mild withdrawal/depression and grieving until Ginger reappeared at our door the next afternoon.

Nov 2017:  Jane and I have attended two family weddings in the past two months besides our own and it’s all ‘good stuff’.  Nephew Lucas Reddick married his long-time sweetheart Fawn up in Mercer County at Lake Latonka exactly one week after Jane and I tied the knot, then Jared Holmes married another long-time sweetheart Jenna last weekend on October 29th down in Lanexa, VA.  It was a long drive but we stopped and saw friends both going and coming… even attended church in Hagerstown, MD, where Jane used to live.

Re News, hoping to add more soon.

Carl

Thanks in part to new commissioner Jason Renshaw, I was able to have a sit-down with all three commissioners and talk about economic development ideas which would include tourism and storytelling.  I was amazed when none of the three could answer a question I asked them about local history.

For this one-question quiz, let’s describe local as “within 20 miles” of Kittanning.

Question:  What was the FIRST EVER military medal awarded in what would become the United States of America?

If you know, leave a comment below but DON’T give the answer, ok?

Clue #1:    The awarding of this medal occurred 20 years before the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Clue #2:  Benjamin Franklin was involved.

The internet is the happy hunting ground of the future.  Yes, you can find the answer there with a good.  For fun and maybe getting the answer, NOTHING beats asking your friends.  See how many of them are stumped, too.  Compare stories.  HAPPY HUNTING!

I posted in 2016 about crowd-sourcing and it either didn’t grab too many listeners or everyone went their own way and QUIETLY thought about it.  Here is something new and I’m absolutely certain we need it in Armstrong County and all the surrounding counties, too…  crowd-funding expertise which might make or break a small company starting out on a shoestring budget.

A little bit of what I know:

1. A lady in Erie County, PA, launched a Kickstarter campaign and it reached its targeted dollar amount in only TWO HOURS!  She was assisted by a professor and several students from Mercyhurst College.
2. IUP’s Tony Palamone said not long ago their SBDC has more demand than they can handle.
3. An innovative shower fixture targeted $100,000 and used the headline “70% less water, better shower experience.  It raised over $3.1 MILLION!
4. A local elementary school wanted a “maker space” where students could make things and learn job skills.  With the help of mostly sixth graders, they targeted $15,000 and raised more than $19,000 to buy the equipment they needed.

Links to my Kickstarter research:

• Lisa in Erie:  see http://humbleelephant.com
• Shower Appliance:  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nebia/nebia-shower-better-experience-70-less-water
• Maker Space:  https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/169546454/kiski-area-upper-elementary-makerspace?ref=5pxb1u

I’d like to hold some brainstorming sessions here at the office to see if ‘collectively’ we might be able to help local entrepreneurs build local jobs.  I have quite a few ideas of my own, too!

Carl  724-548-7249
 View Carl Bromley’s profile

2021 Update from Carl: I’ve decided to make this photo available framed or unframed, your choice. Until the e-commerce pages are set up, you can call my cell phone and ask for pricing. I am willing to barter, set up a licensing agreement, or engage in profit-sharing (fundraising) with the right person(s) or nonprofit group.

Kittanning as seen from Applewald

Posted by Carl:  This photo was taken in 1997 when I was brand-new in Kittanning.  I had a decent digital camera for its time, an Epson PC-10, now a relic up on a shelf somewhere.  Don Toy of Toy Bros Photography printed me two, maybe three copies, then asked me how I shot this picture which was 7 1/4″ tall x 20″ wide.  To the best of my knowledge, panorama photography had not yet been invented!

I remember smiling just a little bit as I reenacted my photo shoot.  Holding my Epson camera up nearly at eye level, I said “click” while my right index finger pretended it was taking a picture, rotated about 10 degrees left, “click”, rotated again, “click”, and my last 10 degrees of rotation and click included the bridge.  There’s a bit more to it that that, you can ask me in person.