The “Mr. C” here is Perry Como; we’ll get to him shortly.

It’s Monday morning; the world is going back to work and I’m headed home. I woke up this morning in Washington, Pennsylvania in a hotel next-door to a very large casino that I stoutly resisted! Thanks to a more than helpful attendant at the Pennsylvania welcome center, I learned I have things to see – like covered bridges, statues, and yes, another county seat.

This imposing edifice is the county courthouse in Washington, Pennsylvania, the county seat of Washington County – all of it named after, well, you know who. It was built in 1900 and is on America’s national register of historic places. Solid place – but there is rebellion just down the street!

You’ve been taught, of course, that the American revolution in the late 1700s was ultimately a tax revolution. It did not take long for the new-born federal government to face rebellion of its own. That’s because the young treasurer, Alexander Hamilton, still looking for ways to pay off debts incurred by war and nation creation, imposed Americas first tax on, wait for it, whiskey! Out here in western Pennsylvania, farmers and others were accustomed to distilling their own spirits from a variety of grains and they resented the new tax. And as it turns out, the most virulent elements of this rebellion centred in this neighborhood. The history of this is worth looking up, because it shows that the fledging government was prepared to forcefully put down rebellion of this type type.

This statue on the main street of Washington, Pennsylvania shows a pair of locals molesting the federal revenue agent- the man collecting the whiskey tax. This scene would be early in the play; things got so bad that the president, and remember, this was still the beloved George Washington, wound up sending 13,000 troops to put down violent revolt. I love this history!

I’ll spare you the histories of these covered bridges, except to say one was built during the First World War; the others go well back into the 1800s. Washington County, about a half hour south of Pittsburgh, has a third or more of all the covered bridges in Pennsylvania. The county puts out a marvellous trip brochure taking you on four different route trips to see the bridges in various neighborhoods. But, as they used to say on TV, “Danger, Will Robinson, danger!” About the only way to see these bridges economically, timewise, is to follow exactly the route laid out – starting with number one, progressing to number two, and so on. I did not, because the first bridges were just too far away, given my day’s plans. I found my first bridge, Number 10, with relative ease, and then got lost, and then got lost again. And again.

I did enjoy a very great deal of the southwestern Pennsylvania countryside, but little else, until I found the singing barber.

My wretched routes over hill and dale – very high and very deep – took me to Canonsburg, a town built on coal mining…and by the way, down these back roads, the vestiges of a giant coal industry remain, some still active. Canonsburg is the home of Bobby Vinton (who is apparently represented by a singing rock outside a Dairy Queen), members of the Four Coins, a 50s singing group……and Perry Como (and many more, but Mr. C. is who they celebrate).

Perry Como’s dad was a barber, and Perry helped in the shop. But by the age of 13, he had his own chair! His ambition was to be the best barber in Canonsburg; he wound up with a musical career from 1932 to 1997. He sold millions of records and had a TV variety show in the early days that set the standard for the genre.

This statue is supposed to be singing, but it does not. Apparently it will sing occasionally, rarely, when it sings at all anymore. The statue in front of the municipal building and the police station is part of a larger memorial area, with monuments to various wars. And then, Canonsburg does something very nice, reasonably unique, i think:

Here are just three of maybe 100 banners gracing the length of the main street of Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. The town wanted to honour his hometown heroes; families purchase the banners and supply the photos. The proceeds go to downtown revitalization. The banners will remain up three Labour Day. I’ve not seen this kind of solution before; I like it, and I would have to say it is a uniquely American form of celebration.

From here, I hit the highway; overnighting in Buffalo, home tomorrow. “Home” won’t mean the end of the blogs; I’ve left a lot of things out and I’ve targeted a couple of things I specifically want to mention when I have time after the actual trip is done.