Karen the Cougar waxes patriotic;

Roseanne quips, "You want your burgers how?!"

I hope everyone exercised their right to vote in the May 18 Spring Primary. One of the candidates mentioned that he thought the turnout was decent.

I think everyone should vote; women did not have this right in the 19th century, and it was only through Suffrage Movements that Pennsylvania allowed women the right to vote in 1920.

In the 1400's, there was an English law that said a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker that his thumb. From this, comes the term, "Rule of Thumb." Later on, in Scotland, a new game was invented. It was ruled, "Gentlemen Only–Ladies Forbidden," and so the name GOLF was given, and a new word entered into the English language.

It was in Babylon, around 4,000 years ago, that for a month following a woman’s wedding, the bride’s father would supply his new son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey-beer and because the Babylonian calendar was lunar-based, this time period was called the "honey month," which later became known as the "honeymoon."

No honeymoon, ever, for the NSVFD, 17 House. About a month ago, the McDonald’s in Andover, Ohio, reported a fire.

17 House was on assist with the Andover Volunteer Fire Department. Upon arriving, there was smoke reported in the dining area of the restaurant.

A ladder was put up on the roof to help Andover in searching for the source of the smoke.

An HVAC unit had malfunctioned and burned a belt, causing smoke. Crews ventilated the inside of the restaurant and the smoke was cleared.

McDonald’s in Andover closed for the evening, but re-opened the next day.

This among other calls, such as a vehicle fire on Rt. 285 on May 6, a trailer fire on the 7th and a choke victim on the 11th.

Please remember the NSVFD in your monetary donations; they assist vehicle and boating accidents, medical emergencies and fires.

I know they appreciate all the help they receive from the local community, and you’ll be glad you gave if you should ever require any their services.

The station also houses the siren for tornado alerts. A one minute blast, followed by one minute off, then another minute on, followed by one minute off, and then another minute on, followed by one minute off, signals a tornado and citizens should seek shelter.

The only other Siren Alert in NST is the regular Fire Department Emergency Calls.

Watching the sky earlier in the month, and staying in touch with Tom Atkins of Channel 24 up in Erie, still didn’t bring much comfort, as several sheer markers were spotted on the weather radar just to the west of Andover, headed straight for Espyville.

Perhaps the Lake gods in Pymatuning sat up and gave a mighty huff-and-puff, and sent the bad weather on its way.

EMA coordinator for NST, Lonny Sowers, reported wind damage and trees down. There were also some electrical outages and Bill Petronio phoned in with his famous Pittsburghese, "Yins got ’lectric dahn -‘nere?"

To which we responded with, "No, yins got ‘lectric up- ‘ere?"

Spotted at the NST Supervisors Board meeting were Mike White and Alan Graczyk. Their next meeting for 17 House will be on June 1, 2010, at 7:00pm. The public is invited and is also invited for tours of the station.

Not sure what is going on with the Pymatuning Lake Association, as the website is still behind. It looks as though there is a habitat project on June 10 and 11, 2010 and a Walleye Tourny on May 22, 2010.

Some area birthdays are for John Susko on April 11, Margaret Sebak on April 13, Karen Echement on April 19 and Edna Richter on April 22.

For May, Eric Andrew of 17 House fame on the 7th, Bill Morrow on the 9th, Judy Baxendell on the 11th, Ralph Anlauf on the 12, Dan Praskavich on the 23rd and Connie Urban on the 23rd, also.

Some changes to the Parks and Rec Board, with the NST Supers accepting the resignation of Bill Lee and the appointment of Ralph Anlauf to the Board. Thanks go out to Bill Lee for his many years of work and service to the Parks and Rec.

Seems like old Ralph just can’t get enough; I guess some people just like to volunteer and the world needs more of them.

We will be flying the flag over at the trailer for Memorial Day, while Karen the Cougar gives a mighty roar in salute, to remember all of the fallen service men and women who gave their lives for our country.

It really is Stars and Stripes Forever. Remember, nowadays it is all-volunteer, but it wasn’t always like that.

The service people who fought and died were little babies once; they had Mothers or Sweethearts who sent them off to fight in a war in a strange land, and some of them never came home.

They are buried in fields of white crosses, that seemingly stretch for miles.

They had hopes and dreams, just like you. They played hopscotch and had baby dolls or slingshots, and worried over tests at elementary school.

If it wasn’t for them, none of us could enjoy Steelers games on lazy Sunday afternoons, or go to the races with our buddies or play a friendly game of horse shoes at a summer BBQ.

Take a moment this Memorial Day to pause and think about what it really took for all of us to be here today.

Fly the flag; it’s more than a patriotic thing to do. Rather, it is a blessed reminder and a thank you to service men and women we have never met, whose names become obscure in the sands of time, to somehow let them know how appreciative we really are.

Despite all the problems and dilemmas we face, the United States of America is still the best place on the planet to reside, especially here in Espyville.

Enjoy your freedom, good people of Espyville, where the fish are bigger, the beer is colder, the people are friendlier, the cows give more milk and old Steelers fans never die.

That’s a wrap for this time around. Keep the bugs off your bumper and the mud off your tail.

Thanks for reading the Espyville Buzz and keep on buying the Community News.

Leaving you in a patriotic state of mind, to the immortal sounds of the Glenn Miller Band and a little "Moonlight Serenade," sponsored by Chesterfields.