oddly enough

oddly enough

Sewer plant helps create snow for small slice of town

STATE COLLEGE, Pa.

A sewer plant helped create a winter wonderland for a 3-square-mile area in central Pennsylvania.

The National Weather Service in State College says a layer of dense fog mixed with condensation from a local sewer plant overnight Monday, creating a dusting of light snow in a small section east of State College.

The snow fell over roughly 3 square miles near Nittany Mall.

The weather service calls the process a “microscale event” – too isolated to be captured by local weather-reporting stations.

The dusting was a rare, if brief, winterscape for a region in the midst of an unseasonably warm and snowless fall.

Driver again converts transit bus into Christmas wonderland

PITTSBURGH

A Pittsburgh-area transit driver again has transformed his bus into a Christmas wonderland.

Bill Sanfilippo has been decorating his bus since he became a driver 10 years ago for the Port Authority of Allegheny County.

This year it took him more than 10 hours to put up lights, a life-size Santa, a red-nosed Rudolph and more holiday doo-dads than he’s ever installed before. He also plays holiday music.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Sanfilippo loaded his brother’s pickup with decorations and drove to the lot where his bus was stored. It took him until 2 a.m. the next day to install a faux chimney, and hang stockings, figurines, pictures and other items that blanket the interior of the bus.

Sanfilippo is also known as “The Candy Man” because he used to hand out treats. He has resumed offering candy canes during the holidays.

Sanfilippo said he simply loves Christmas. But he’s hoping his passion rubs off on his passengers.

“There’s a lot of bad things going on around the world, so if they get into the spirit, it gets their mind off all the bad things,” Sanfilippo said. “That’s what I see; it’s only once a year, so hopefully they celebrate it.”

It worked for Marcus Thompson, who boarded Sanfilippo’s bus Friday for the ride home.

“I had a bad day at work today,” Thompson said, as he snapped smartphone pictures of the bus for his 7-year-old son. “I’m feeling better now.”

Associated Press