Notice is hereby given that the regular meeting of the SEDA‑COG Board of Directors has been scheduled for Wednesday, August 26, at 1:00 p.m. This meeting will take place virtually, with the option to join via teleconference. To attend this public meeting, please click on the following link: https://meetings.ringcentral.com/j/6124697268 and follow the prompts. To access via telephone, please call +1(470)869-2200 and enter Meeting ID: 612 469 7268. The meeting will be recorded.
Category: News
Shamokin restaurants: We’re open – eat local
Shamokin restaurants and breweries want the public to know that even with the pandemic’s restrictions, they are open with outdoor and indoor dining options.
SEDA-Council of Governments (SEDA-COG), a community and economic development agency, has an office in Shamokin to coordinate revitalization efforts. SEDA-COG Revitalization Coordinator Betsy Kramer reviewed some restaurants’ outdoor seating expansion plans for the city to help ensure the aesthetics meet a revitalization plan that is being finalized.
HERITAGE RESTAURANT
Heritage Restaurant’s outdoor expansion fits with the revitalization plan and adds 13 outdoor tables at 52 N. Market St. and live music every Saturday night.
They offer “great food” like Bangin’ Shrimp, scallops, poutine, steaks, seafood, and more, said owner Kathy Vetovich.
“It’s a really cool vibe outside with plenty of atmosphere on our patio including signs from old Shamokin businesses,” Vetovich said. “It’s a destination.”
On display inside are vintage artifacts of days gone by of Shamokin like posters of a theater and a faux brick wall of the Fun Shop, a building that burned down several years ago.
She’s “born and bred” in Shamokin and a mural of her grandfather and her husband’s grandfather – both miners – is painted on her restaurant.
Vetovich started “rebuilding Shamokin one ugly building at a time” in 2014. She’s rejuvenated six buildings so far. The Heritage Restaurant was dilapidated, but she saw its potential in its tin ceilings and size. “It was an eyesore, but it had to be a gorgeous restaurant,” she said.
“I saw the demise of my hometown and I really couldn’t stand it,” she said. She wanted to stay and reinvest in the area where she knew people and people knew her.
One of the buildings she bought was the former Trinity Episcopal Church at 150 E. Liberty St. One of several offerings it will house is BAMSE Coffee and Roasters, a dog-friendly coffee shop. Its grand opening is 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. this weekend, Aug. 15 and 16. Regular hours will be 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.
“This dog-friendly coffee shop is another opportunity for Shamokin to be a little distinct,” she said.
MAURER’S DAIRY AND ICE CREAM SHOPPE
Maurer’s Dairy and Ice Cream Shoppe at 34 S. Market St. offers daily outdoor barbeques of smoked chicken wings with picnic table seating.
“We put the wings on the grill, and they taste like no one else’s,” said owner Ken Bethge.
Besides the bar inside, they offer a pared down menu of freshly made sandwiches, burgers, soups, baked beans, coleslaw, and more.
Their ice cream features unique flavors like Bittersweet, their version of chocolate chip. They top it with a decadent 14% butter fat.
“We melt chocolates together and dump them into the hopper. When it splatters into the hopper, it gets into little pieces and you get a lot of chocolate in every bite. It’s a unique chocolate with a unique taste and it’s delicious and rich,” Bethge said.
Their ice cream cake sales have increased because of people celebrating more at home, he said.
From March to June, he offered free breakfast to serve the people of Shamokin. He started by delivering milk to schools, then expanded it to serving food to anyone in need thanks to donations.
“I always knew there was good people in this town, but it really hit home when we did the free breakfast here when people came out of the woodwork and dropped food and cash off – including other businesses,” Bethge said. “I’m totally shocked what the Coal region and people out of the area did.
“I want to keep thanking everybody who has kept helping us throughout this. They keep coming here – we’ll deliver curbside or outside. People are still supporting us and I’m thankful and without people, we wouldn’t be in business,” Bethge said.
Love drew Bethge to the area. Originally from the Bronx, he met a Shamokin woman and moved to Trevorton. He bought Maurer’s in 1993.
LOST MINED BREWING COMPANY & RESTAURANT
Dennis Kaleta has poured himself and his family’s mining heritage into his business, the Lost Mined Brewing Company & Restaurant at 100 S. Market St.
His grandfather worked in the Shamokin mines and was a bootlegger. Some artifacts in the restaurant are from his family with many others from the area.
“Nothing is fake; it’s all actual items that were used in the area,” Kaleta said. “Some are from ruins; others were given by customers.”
His outdoor dining seating has a planter made with an old tin roof he found in the area. They offer live music every Sunday night, supporting local artists.
They have a 30-tap system they made themselves and plan on putting 20 of their own beers on tap starting before year’s end. They have freshly cut French fries and homemade sauces and dressings to complement their full restaurant menu.
He started out in the home-brewing business 18 years ago and wanted to add variety to the local market. Now, he wants to add to the city.
“I believe in rebuilding this city,” Kaleta said.
COVERED BRIDGE BREWHAUS & TAPROOM
Covered Bridge Brewhaus & Taproom at 506 N. 8th St. also has outdoor and indoor dining. They offer about 25 new original beers a year like strubarb, a strawberry rhubarb beer; bragot made with local honey; cherry triple; and their flagship beer, coconut porter. They have 12 beers on tap along with wine from Kulpmont Winery, local spirits, and mixed drinks. Customers can take out beer in growlers, cans, and bottles.
“It’s my passion for beer and to try to create a European setting,” said owner Eric Kuijpers, who is originally from Holland. “My favorite beer is the next one; I always like to experiment.”
The Brewhaus has about 10 rotating food trucks that come and offer a variety of food like burgers, grilled cheese, BBQ, Mexican, and more.
It has three connected storefronts made into a taproom, a Speak Easy, and a parlor.
Originally from Neeritter in southern Holland, coming to Shamokin was “just a little adventure that turned into a longer stay,” Kuijpers said. “I started with some friends in the PA-Alers, a local homebrew club, maybe 15 years ago. I enjoy making different beers and sharing it with people.”
Bloomsburg East Street railroad crossing work delayed
BLOOMSBURG – East Street’s railroad grade crossing construction will be delayed due to an accident that caused injuries to a construction worker working to prepare the railroad grade crossing work.
The work had been scheduled from Aug. 22 to 26 on East Street/State Route 487 adjacent to State Route 11. The SEDA-COG Joint Rail Authority (JRA) will alert the public when the rescheduled construction date is known.
The Market Street railroad grade crossing work between Sixth and Seventh streets will reopen Aug. 14, two days later than planned, due to paving delays. It had closed Aug. 8.
Jannotti Rail Consulting Inc. of Russell is the track engineer and Chesapeake Thermite Welding of Virginia is the contractor. The SEDA-COG JRA owns the track and North Shore Railroad is the operator.
The SEDA-COG JRA was formed in 1983 by the forward-looking efforts of its eight member counties to save rail lines and service abandoned by Conrail. The JRA’s public-private partnership was recognized by the World Bank as a model for public-private partnerships to stimulate rural economic development. Since 2004, the JRA has invested or leveraged over $46 million in rail capital projects with over 40 public and private partners. For more information, visit www.sedacograil.org.
Shamokin revitalization refreshed by youth
Shamokin is seeing revitalization with younger residents helping to lead the charge – and they’re asking more youth to join them.
Danielle Hinkle, 18, and Marshall Buggy, 19, both graduated from Shamokin Area High School and are committed to reinvest in their community even amidst the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic and college plans.
They’re part of a group called Future Leaders and Achievers of Greater Shamokin (FLAGS) that Kathy Vetovich, a Shamokin business owner, started early this year. Vetovich is heavily involved with and is president of Shamokin Area Businesses for Economic Revitalization (SABER).
A key piece to reengage youth is the Skye Loft Youth Center that Vetovich is opening to teach life skills and give youth a positive and productive place to hang out. Youth will learn how to change a tire, write checks, learn about finances, have sessions on personal development, cooking classes, learn about Shamokin heritage, and more.
One room will be a meeting room for kids after school; another will be a quiet reading room. Another will have desks and computers along with games like shuffleboard and ping pong.
Vetovich bought the former Trinity Episcopal Church at 150 E. Liberty St. to house the youth center as well as a city welcome center, the Anthracite Heritage Museum, the Shamokin Music Mart, and a dog-friendly coffee shop.
It’s expected to open by year’s end.
Hinkle is helping to paint a mosaic in the Skye Loft and wants other youth to get involved with FLAGS. While she “made the best” of her youth in Shamokin, she sees today’s kids going down a different path.
“That’s why I’m really involved with the youth. We need to give kids more to do. Right now, they just hang in Dunkin or walk around Wal-Mart,” she said.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) held a series of workshops in conjunction with SEDA-Council of Governments (SEDA-COG) earlier this year to create its Shamokin Community Rebuilding Action Plan. SEDA-COG supports and coordinates revitalization efforts in Shamokin with an office in the heart of the city.
Hinkle attended the EPA meetings and, as part of that plan, is leading a group to increase community involvement and partnerships.
Hinkle coordinates metal and clothing drives, collecting the community’s unwanted items. She’s also part of SABER and is on Mayor John Brown’s advisory board, and she got other kids to participate on his board, too.
“When I was little, my dad would drive around Philly and show us the work he did as a contractor on buildings. Now I get to drive around Shamokin and say I was involved in things, too,” Hinkle said.
When one of Hinkle’s high school teachers asked her class if they were going to stay in Shamokin after they graduated, the question hit Hinkle like a ton of bricks.
“I hadn’t thought about it before. I told her, ‘yes,’” Hinkle said, who graduated this year. That’s when she joined FLAGS. She and her family moved to Shamokin from Philadelphia at age 7, and now she wants to stay near her family here.
Buggy, a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, was born and raised in Coal Township. In February, a friend told him about FLAGS and he was immediately interested. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, the college sent students home and he participated in the FLAGS virtual Zoom meetings.
As part of his community involvement efforts relating to the EPA workshops and involvement in FLAGS, he’s promoting community service and helping to create a welcome packet with the city for new residents to introduce them to local businesses.
“We don’t want them to move here as outsiders and stay outsiders for five years. We want them to be welcomed, integrated, and become valuable members of our community,” Buggy said.
Shamokin was a booming city during the coal era, Buggy said, but as that shifted, so did its population, lowering the tax base.
“The quality of life did decline, but irreparable damage has not been dealt to Shamokin,” Buggy said. “People get too stuck in the idea that we aren’t as great as we once were – but we can be a different type of great. That’s the danger of nostalgia. It’s good to want to be as great as you were, but it’s not necessarily productive to be the exact same as you were.”
He loves how close-knit the community of Shamokin is.
“Everybody knows everybody. Whenever anything big happens in the community, everybody feels it. It’s not the town that’s bad – it’s the attitude toward it,” Buggy said.
Hinkle wants to be a forensic pathologist and perform autopsies. Buggy wants to be an astrophysicist and work for NASA. Both want to make a lasting impact.
“I want to make some sort of impact. If everyone thought like that – what small mark can I make on this city – it could build to something huge,” Buggy said.
Youth can get involved with FLAGS by joining the Facebook group at FLAGS – Future Leaders and Achievers of Greater Shamokin. For business owners or managers that want to be involved with SABER, join that Facebook page, or contact Kathy Vetovich at kvetovich@gmail.com.
To learn more about Shamokin’s revitalization, visit goshamokin.com.
As a community and economic development agency, SEDA-COG enhances the quality of life and economic advantage for residents and businesses in 11 central Pennsylvania counties through its vital partnerships and initiatives. SEDA-COG also is an advocate for the interests of its communities at the state and federal levels. For more information, visit www.seda-cog.org.