Anna's Alcove

Let's do life together!

Tag: writing (page 2 of 2)

Local Restaurant Face New Competition

Little Caesars Pizza has returned to Edinboro, with new foods such as Crazy Bread and custom made pizzas. The question is whether or not the chain restaurant will bring competition for the family-owned pizzerias in town.

“We really just focus on ourselves and don’t worry about other competition,” said John Bellucci, owner of John’s Wildwood Pizzeria, which is located at 105 Erie Street. in Edinboro.

Having been in business for 33 years, Bellucci has seen several restaurants come and go, including Little Caesars. 

“Little Caesars was in Edinboro for five or six years and then they left for a while,” Bellucci said. Now that they’re back, Bellucci still isn’t too worried about losing many customers.

Ed Davis and his wife each own half of Norman’s Deli and Pizzeria, which is located in College Park on 103 Brora Drive. Davis says that he’s not too worried about the new pizza place in town because he doesn’t rely completely on selling pizzas at his restaurant.

“It’s not our bread and butter,” he said.

Davis came to own Normans’ nine years ago and his customers consist of 50 percent college students and 50 percent town folk.

I can’t really say that college students are our steady customers because not all of them have a consistent income, Davis said. 

The beginning of the semester and the end of the semester, he explained, is when Norman’s gets its largest flow of college students.

“But that’s what college life is all about,” said Davis. “The average college student is busy counting their dollars and cents.”

Several students on Edinboro University’s campus seem to think that, while Little Caesars is affordable and may have some good deals, it won’t persuade them to stop ordering from the family-owned businesses like John’s Wildwood Pizza and Norman’s Deli.

“I usually order from Norman’s and occasionally from John’s,” said Brettaney Duck, a senior majoring in sociology. “John’s late hours are what make it one of the best pizza places because you can order anytime of the night,” she explained.

Kathleen Pobe, a sophomore Spanish major, and Kersten Schloder, an undeclared freshman, both said that they get their pizza mainly from John’s. “It’s open a lot later and the food always tastes good,” explained Schloder.

Delivery is also a big factor in the pizza business. Allie Yeckley, a junior majoring in psychology, said that if students don’t want to venture out into the cold and snow to pick up their pizza, delivery is always a welcome option. Both John’s and Norman’s deliver, unlike Little Caesars, she said.

According to John’s Wildwood’s website, it has been providing Edinboro and Erie with good quality pizza since 1979. John’s has a huge online community that consists of locals and Edinboro students who are currently living in the area or have moved away, but still crave the taste of John’s pizza.

“We get emails every month asking if we can freeze a pie and send it to Hawaii or Arizona, which we don’t do,” said Bellucci on John’s website.

Davis said that Norman’s also has several loyal customers that give his business the support it needs. From donating pizzas and sandwiches to a lot of different charities and causes on campus, “it comes back to us ten times over,” said Davis.

“We’re definitely grateful for what we get,” said Davis.

Anna Tielmann (Taken from EUP’s The Spectator Vol. III, Issue 14)

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

Sparrow in the Snow

Weather-worn fence posts, a blanket of white
Envelopes the fields in the darkness of night.
A lone sparrow thought a feather coat would suffice,
Bravely suffers the small, sharp shards of ice.
 A miniature creature of life,
Even amidst hailstones and strife,
Remembers the dawn, only hours away
And the warmth of the sun that comes with each new day.
– Anna Tielmann
(Written for Creative Writing)
Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

Don’t Smother Me!

DSCN2399Jessie Schwartz grew up in a non-Christian home, where she witnessed what drugs, and drinking did to people she loved. Unlike some of her friends, who grew up in the protective bubble of a Christian community, Schwartz wasn’t surprised by the influences and temptations she found on a secular college campus. But her friends had no way of knowing what they were up against.

Many young adults raised in the church are growing up isolated from the world around them. Their parents might think they are creating a safe space for their children’s faith to grow, but a new study reveals they might be setting them up for disillusionment and failure.

According to the findings of a research study recently released by the Barna Group, 59 percent of young adults disconnect from the church in their teen years. Many study participants told researchers they stopped attending church because it was not always open to discussing how to relate faith to real world issues.

Of those who listed the church’s isolation from the culture as a problem, almost one quarter complained that Christians were too quick to “demonize everything outside the church.” Twenty-two percent said the church ignored the problems of the real world, and 18 percent said “my church is too concerned that movies, music, and video games are harmful.”

David Sanford, a freshman at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania said churches too often refuse to step out of their comfort zone to test their faith against the modern world. “They seem to have their own safe bubble that they stay in,” he said.

Micah Reed, a sophomore at Edinboro, agreed that some churches don’t do enough for the younger generation. “People don’t seem to venture out,” he said. Churches aren’t always welcoming to outsiders, much less a place to discuss what’s going on in the world, he said.

Schwartz, who also is a sophomore at Edinboro, said churches and parents should do more to prepare their children for what they will encounter in the “real world,” instead of keeping them solely in a Christian community.

“The only way to rectify this is to get out of our holy huddle and start reaching out to the lost,” Schwartz said. Churches hold plenty of Bible studies and dinners for their members, but in reality, it’s just “a place where we can all get together and be friends,” Schwartz said.

Sanford also encouraged churches to spend more time reaching out to the communities around them.
“They should train the people that they are sending out in order to better equip them to take on the world,” he said.

The Barna Group’s study suggests that some church leaders ignore the concerns and issues of teens and those in their twenties because they think the church disconnect will end when young adults are older, said David Kinnaman, president of the research organization based in Ventura, Calif.

In his latest book, You Lost Me, Kinnaman says the concerns young Christians raise about church and culture could lead to revitalized ministry and deeper connections in families.

“In many churches, this means changing the metaphor from simply passing the baton to the next generation to a more functional, biblical picture of a body – that is, the entire community of faith, across the entire lifespan, working together to fulfill God’s purposes,” Kinnaman said.

This is the first in a series of six stories exploring the major themes of the Barna Group study about why young adults leave the church. Coming tomorrow: Just skimming the surface – Young Christians who want more of God say the church is too shallow.

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

The Jewish Christmas Tree Seller

It was the day before Christmas Eve in New York City. Blaring car horns traveled through the alleyways and down the streets, while the sounds of Frank Sinatra’s “White Christmas” drifted out of store entrances, beckoning to the passing shoppers. White flakes danced on the wind as they swirled down from the thick, gray blanket of clouds. Children’s faces were turned up to the sky with their tongues hanging out in an attempt to catch the small, cold morsels, while parents and grandparents held tight to their coat sleeves so as not to lose them in the stampede of Christmas shoppers.

Amongst all the hustle and bustle of the city, a small, round man shook his head as he watched passers-by scurry from door to door as if they could keep the cold at bay by moving faster. Sitting in a little run-down shack, surrounded by racks of soon-to-be Christmas trees, Elias watched as young Islamic women made their way up the stone steps of the new Islamic Cultural Center across the street. Elias rolled his eyes, “America; the land of the free,” he muttered with a harsh laugh. “I guess that makes New York the city of diversity.”

Elias looked like your stereotypical Jew: a gartel was hanging from his waist, a kippah was perched on his head, and he was sporting a thick, curly beard. But, while he looked the part, Elias certainly didn’t act the part of a devout Jew. While other Jews didn’t observe the Christmas holiday, Elias could be found every Christmas season on his little portion of the sidewalk, surrounded by rows upon rows of trees.

Turning, he straightened his cloth belt and glanced around at the mixture of prospective buyers wandering among his blue spruce and white pine trees. Moms and dads stood in small groups while their kids ran helter skelter, pointing out various trees they thought would be the perfect size for their house. Elias heard their giggles and laughter ringing through the air as the wind whipped toward him. Pulling his coat closer around him, he burrowed his face down into his beard, trying to defrost his nose.

As he watched a small boy in an oversized blue winter coat, wearing a fluffy coonskin cap pulled down low over his ears, bouncing around like a jumping bean as he pointed out the perfect tree to his chuckling father, Elias thought. “This is the life I want for Tina and me.” Just then he caught the disapproving glance of the Jewish rabbi as he hurried past on his way to the synagogue to pray. Every year, during the Christmas holiday, Elias always felt like throwing his head back and screaming to the wind, “This is America; the land where anyone can be anything they want to be!” So what if his girlfriend, Tina, was a Christian and believed that Jesus was the Messiah? So what if the Jews and Muslims that surrounded his little Christmas tree stand didn’t agree with his beliefs?

Yet, Elias acknowledged the rabbi with a nod, all while grumbling under his breath, “Judgmental old coot.”

Facebooktwittergoogle_plusredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather
Newer posts

© 2024 Anna's Alcove

Theme by Anders NorenUp ↑