Summer update: The Sweet Spot Remains the Best restaurant in downtown Johnstown Pennsylania

Good morning everyone. I hope your summer is going well and starting off smoothly.

A new sign at 145 Franklin Street welcomes patrons.

Back in March I dined at The Sweet Spot in downtown Johnstown Pennsylvania. Located at 145 Franklin Street, the Sweet Spot replaces the series of pizzerias that tried and failed to thrive in the space. Specializing in burgers, bubble tea, and now milkshakes, the Sweet Spot offers very high quality food at a middle range price. On 7 June 2024 I stopped by to take some photos and find out what has changed now that they have finished setting up shop officially.

Games! The Sweet Spot now has a Pac Man video game and two claw machine games to play with.

Improved signage above the counter makes it easier than ever to find your perfect meal.

This was one of the areas I specifically asked the owners to improve upon back in March. Being excellent small business people, they were happy for the feedback (along with the feedback from any patron) and have made great improvements in this area.

The bubble tea and milkshakes finally have menus.

When I was dining there in March I saw dozens of people getting these to go but couldn’t see any information about them. These signs help you a lot if you aren’t a regular customer.

The tables now have more condiments on them.

When I was there in March there was ketchup and some sugar on the tables, but really nothing more. You had to ask them for mustard, coffee creamers, etc. On 7 June 2024 they had shelf-stable coffee creamers: plain, vanilla, and hazelnut. This fluctuates a bit, so if your favorite is not on the table when you sit down, it helps to ask. They may have refrigerated choices you can’t see.

In addition I saw Tabasco sauce and ketchup on every table. Aspartame and sugar as well.

They also have more beverage options than before if you want a traditional soft drink.

Outside the hours are much clearer than before. Monday through Thursday they open at 10 am and close at 9 pm. Friday and Saturday they are open from 10 am to 11 pm except on specific nights with special programming either in house or downtown – then they are sometimes open as late as 1 am. On Sundays they are open from 11 am to 6 pm.

On June 22nd I noticed they added a green neon sign in the front window that says “The Sweet Spot” and faces Central Park.

The staff at The Sweet Spot remain very friendly and helpful. If you are a dine-in customer they bring your order to you. Tips for this service are not mandatory, but appreciated and can be offered at the front counter.

Overall the Sweet Spot remains the best restaurant in Johnstown for a quality burger. They recently were nominated for awards which are well deserve. Whether you live in Johnstown or are visiting town, make a point to get a snack or a meal at the Sweet Spot. You will be very happy you did.

Spring Flowers Bloom in Johnstown

After writing about some of the beautiful places in New York City, I thought I would take a stroll through my “neck of the woods” as Al Roker puts it and take a few photos of the flowers and quiet places just a few blocks from my current apartment.

Central Park Johnstown

Essentially Johnstown’s town center square, Central Park is lush with flowers at this time of year. These photos are likely the last for the park as it is: plans are in the works to completely renovate the space and modernize it to make it more friendly to young families.

Pedestrian Walk

Nestled about a block and a half south of Central Park is a beautiful Pedestrian Walk and gardens with benches and planted flowers.

Prayer Garden at First Lutheran Church (415 Vine Street)

Located about three blocks from my apartment, I’ve passed the front of First Lutheran Church hundreds of times – but never approached from the north to visit its Prayer Garden. Here is the view facing south; the church wall seen here is its western wall facing towards Market Street.

Wherever you are, I hope you will take the time to walk through some of the beautiful green spaces in town you may not normally visit. Literally take time to smell the flowers and enjoy some time outdoors.

Politically Homeless: Pro-Choice Gender Critical Voters face new challenges as Culture Wars rage.

It’s May! Hard to believe the Pennsylvania Primary for 2023 is only two weeks away!

I already voted via mail in ballot. This time around I searched the web to find out who is running and what her or his positions are so I made an informed set of choices. For anyone presently gender critical (a term used to refer to people believing that sex is both binary and immutable), the democratic party is increasingly a hostile place to be. NBC’s Meet the Press most recent polling (https://twitter.com/MeetThePress/status/1652776580970688515?s=20) shows just how unfriendly the Democratic Party has become towards the Gender Critical with 89% of Democrats favoring trans ideology – compare to just 21% of Republicans.

Republicans are likewise supporting more and more austere restrictions on abortion, often without exceptions for rape, incest, viability of the pregnancy, and/or health of the mother. Polling this weekend did not address abortion, but we know from numerous polls in previous weeks that Republicans overwhelmingly consider themselves “Pro-life” to some degree or another, even after several mid-term 2022 setbacks such as the Kansas referendum and recent elections involving judicial elections in the upper Midwest this spring. There are absolutely efforts across the United States to protect a woman’s right to make her own decisions when it comes to her pregnancies. Even so, the GOP platform and legislative agenda aggressively pursues banning abortion – not only in a person’s home state, but on the Federal level as well.

Abortion and transgenderism are the two primary focal points of what is being called the Culture Wars. Both issues polarizing and both misogynous for reasons I feel are better explained by other people rather than myself. I’m a historian and I don’t have the political science training that I feel would be helpful in truly explaining these specific positions. Or put another way: I’m no Margaret Bayard Smith!

But the end result I do understand: people who are pro-choice are increasingly not welcome in the Republican Party. People who are Gender Critical are increasingly not welcome in the Democratic Party, especially the Pennsylvania Democratic Party.

But what if you actually do hold both positions? What if you believe that decisions about pregnancy should be between a woman and her doctor? If people need the freedom to make their own healthcare decisions without interference from strangers? What if you do believe that sex is immutable, that there’s a difference between saying you are something and being that? What if you reject the idea of a gender spectrum and that people can be born in the “wrong body” as so many people claim?

Increasingly people holding both positions are finding themselves without a political party – political homelessness. This is true in not only the United States, but also Canada, England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland and North Ireland, and even Australia. Especially among women, there’s a true sense of being abandoned by our politicians, our political leaders, and our political parties. Parties and politicians with whom we might agree with on other issues such as wages, jobs, Scottish and/or Welsh Independence, and so forth are often taking very hard line positions in the Culture Wars. Many of us feel abandoned, that our human rights are being given away by those most entrusted to protect our civil liberties.

It is a hard time to be alive, especially if you are politically engaged.

But we can make things better. The first step is researching candidates. If your country allows you to, don’t vote based on party, but on individuals. Look up what each candidate has stated as her or his position on specific issues – then vote for those whose values match your own.

I cast my ballot this Saturday after looking for everything I could find about these candidates’ position. That sort of research did take time – but it is worth it. Democracy depends on it.

Post Script: How do I stand on these issues? American Patriarchy explores the history of Patriarchy and my own experiences with many of these issues. It is the sequel to American Poverty which highlights experiences in Johnstown Pennsylvania, the poorest community in all of Pennsylvania. American Poverty focuses on real solutions to problems created by American Poverty culture, as well as offering an international perspective through comparative analysis. Both books are available in your choice of digital, paperback, and audio editions.