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EDITOR’S DESK
The Comfort of Community
When I first started working for Penn Lines — almost 20 years ago now — I thought it was just a magazine. But from visiting a turkey farm to sitting down with co-op members for a turkey dinner, I soon learned this was more than just a magazine. It was something bigger. Penn Lines connected me to a wider cooperative world, and that was a comfort.
With a history that stretches back nearly 60 years, Penn Lines is a collaborative effort of 12 rural electric cooperatives in Pennsylvania. Just in the same way these co-ops joined together to bring electricity to their communities, they pooled their resources to produce this monthly publication to inform their consumer-members.
Today, Penn Lines is one of 32 magazines in the National Electric Cooperatives Statewide Editors Association (SEA). Together, these publications reach 12 million readers in 42 states served by cooperatives. Combined, cooperative statewide magazines are the third-largest consumer publication in the United States.
SEA provides a network that allows co-op publications to share resources and best practices, bringing savings to the magazine production process. Penn Lines is also a member of American MainStreet Publications (AMP). Formed as a cooperative advertising agency, AMP exists exclusively to provide advertising support to cooperative magazines, helping to further reduce publication costs. Together, SEA and AMP help magazines like Penn Lines tell local cooperative stories — while providing the benefits of being connected to a wider cooperative network.
The past two issues of Penn Lines featured stories about cooperative lineworkers and their families. We’ve seen that electric cooperatives not only work to support their local communities, they also help each other out in times of need — even if it means traveling out of state to assist their sister cooperatives in responding to major events like hurricanes. We’ve seen how cooperative families manage the home front, networking with each other to take care of things locally so that line crews can assist residents in these storm-ravaged communities put their lives back together.
As a member, you are part of a local cooperative, but you’re also connected to a wider cooperative community. It’s a community that can gather for a turkey dinner, or gather the resources to help folks recover from a storm. As a member, you’re part of something bigger. And that’s a comfort.
PETER A. FITZGERALD
EDITOR
'FROM CUTE TO BRUTE'
'Megalodon' goldfish found in Erie County, raises environmental concerns
Someone’s pet goldfish has gone from “cute to brute” after being released in the wild and later discovered in the waters off Erie County’s Presque Isle State Park.
The discovery was recently reported on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Facebook page. The agency said experts spotted and retrieved a “megalodon” goldfish during a recent electrofishing survey, a process that stuns fish for easy capture.
“Goldfish grow massive in the wild, where they can turn lakes and waterways into murky messes, steal food from native fish and wreck water quality,” the agency wrote. “If you can’t keep your fish, re-home it. Just don’t let it loose.”
According to the agency’s website, a single goldfish — without a tank to limit its size — can grow up to 4 pounds and 16 inches long. Goldfish also multiply quickly in the wild, creating what the agency called “an invasive problem that can last decades.”
SEEING IS BELIEVING: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service employees found this massive goldfish recently in the waters off Presque Isle State Park in Erie County. Officials caution against releasing these pets in the wild, where they grow unchecked and become a nuisance to native fish.
WANTED: NEW NURSES
Proposed state program would cover tuition for nursing students
Among the proposals in Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s 2025-2026 budget is a plan that would train nurses to increase the Commonwealth’s health care workforce.
The governor’s proposed spending plan includes $5 million to create the Nurse Shortage Assistance Program, which would provide funding to hospitals that partner with nursing schools. The program would cover tuition costs for students who commit to work at a Pennsylvania hospital for three years after graduation. This initiative hopes to boost retention, limit turnover, and help maintain a skilled health care workforce in the state.
“We need to take action now to address Pennsylvania’s nursing shortage,” Shapiro said. “We know this model of tuition assistance works, and for the first time ever, we are proposing to help nursing students with an investment of state dollars that not only gives them peace of mind but creates a pipeline of new, highly trained nurses for our communities.”
HELP FOR AN ICON
Leaking Fallingwater undergoes $7 million in renovations
In an ironic twist, Fallingwater, the iconic Fayette County home designed by architect Frank Lloyd Wright in 1935, is being damaged by the very element it celebrates.
The building, poised on the edge of a waterfall in the forest along Bear Run, is nearing the end of a $7 million renovation project that started in October 2024. The flat-roofed home, which originally cost $155,000 to build, has had several major leaks from rain, snow and its proximity to the waterfall and stream.
Contractors are replacing the waterproofing assemblies on the roofs and terraces, conserving steel, and repairing deteriorated reinforced concrete, officials said. Fallingwater turns 90 this year, and the project is expected to preserve it for another 20 to 25 years.
STOCKED AND READY
State expects to release almost 3.2 million trout this spring
The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC) has posted its adult trout-stocking schedule at fishandboat.com.
Searchable by county, the schedule lists stocked waterways in alphabetical order along with the dates and the species that will be released at each location. This year, the opening day of trout season is Saturday, April 5.
The PFBC will stock approximately 3.2 million adult trout in 691 streams and 130 lakes open to public angling. These figures include approximately 2.4 million rainbow trout, 693,000 brown trout and 125,000 brook trout. The average length of trout produced for stocking is 11 inches and the average weight is .58 pounds.
The commission also plans to stock approximately 72,000 trophy-sized brood fish, measuring 14 to 20 inches long.
CONTEST TIME!
Help us celebrate Penn Lines’ 60th anniversary
Penn Lines has a big birthday coming up, and we want you to be a part of our 60th anniversary celebration. Before the confetti flies in 2026, though, we’re kicking off a handful of photo contests this year; enter one — or all three.
CONTEST NO. 1 – LONGEST-LIVED PENN LINES! If you have an oldie but a goodie around the house, take a photo of it with you. Please make sure the publication date is visible.
CONTEST NO. 2 – MOST WELL-TRAVELED PENN LINES! We'll be honest: We like it when we get to go to some place nice. Take your favorite issue of Penn Lines to some place special in your community and take a photo of yourself with it.
CONTEST NO. 3 – A DATE WITH PENN LINES! We’ll be honest: We like it when we get to go to some place nice. Take your favorite issue of Penn Lines to some place special in your community and take a photo of yourself with the magazine.
FOR ALL CONTESTS, WE WILL NEED: your name, address, daytime telephone number, the month and year of the magazine, and the name of the cooperative that serves your home, business, or seasonal residence.
PRIZES: $50 gift card; the photo will also be featured in Penn Lines in 2026
DEADLINE: Friday, Oct. 31
SEND ENTRIES TO: PennLines@prea.com (put “60 Years of Penn Lines” in the subject line) or Penn Lines Editor/60 YEARS OF PENN LINES, P.O. Box 1266, Harrisburg, PA 17108-1266.
TIME LINES — April 2015
A decade ago, Penn Lines was celebrating the Commonwealth’s rich farming history with a feature on its Bicentennial Farms. At the time, 165 had been in the same family for 200 years or more. Three farms, located in Bedford, Bradford and Juniata counties, were highlighted in the article. The state also recognizes the owners of Century and Tricentennial Farms. These programs date back to 1977, and since then, more than 2,340 Century and Bicentennial Farms and two Tricentennial Farms have earned the distinction.
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