It was a long day yesterday–Alex and I, after going to the safety parade, went to the Delmont Apple and Arts Festival in Delmont, PA. There was cider(!), a tractor pull, apples for sale, crafts and an antique farm equipment show.

One of the most disturbing things we saw at the show was the proliferation of manufactured crafts. Almost all of them had UPC tags that said “Made in China”. Even crafts without the tags were assembled from manufactured pieces. The closest we came to handmade were some wood crafts made on a laser cutter. Not exactly a craft per-se, if you just load the software and watch a machine cut.

The whole thing was a fun time, but it left us wondering: “Doesn’t anybody make anything by hand anymore?”

Yesterday, Alex and I stopped by the “safety parade” in Munhall, PA. What *is* the safety parade, you ask? The safety parade is an event to promote the neighborhood’s block watch program. There were appearances from the Steel Valley Marching Band, a Lutheran after-school ministry group, the police, the EMS and the volunteer fire department. There were roughly 40 people there, and everybody looked like they were having a good time.

Since Munhall is such a small community, local businesses pitched in and donated cups, iced tea, lemonade, goodie bags for the kids and even pizza. Whether the block watch program gains more participants through the parade, I’m not sure, but either way, I think everybody had a good time, and the event can’t hurt in framing the police force as a friend as opposed to a foe in the eyes of residents.