Coal Region Campfire

9th District Congressional Candidate and Schuylkill County Commissioner George Halcovage stopped by today. He talks his campaign, turning a complaint from a Thanksgiving dinner into a positive change, and what made him a good point guard (he was a lefty, but people thought he was a righty)

Another great and generous episode this week from Pottsville native (East Side) PAT FLANNERY who had an amazing coaching career, most notably at Bucknell, where he knocked off #2 Kansas, in what was considered the biggest upset in March Madness till this year. Also he won a D3 national championship with Lebanon Valley back in 1994. Real interesting to hear how he almost become a plant manager at Stouffer's chicken in Ohio.

This week St. Pat's CYO Alum and ESPN's fantasy guru takes the time to talk to us about how he turned a passion of sports stats into a career. Mike is now enjoying a career at ESPN as their fantasy football guru. Great story and lesson on how to turn a passion into a career. Hint: it's a lot of hard work.

This is one of those podcasts where I don't feel like I did it justice. It was amazing to visit Todd in his element carving blocks of wood into truly amazing pieces of art with a chainsaw. Check out the pics on our Facebook page

This week we take a visit to space (kind of) by going to the Pottsville Area High School Planetarium, one of the only kind in the area. An amazing resource for the community, and truly incredible to see in person. Mr. Adrian Portland, the Planetarium's director leads the way and flies the spaceship. This is one of those podcasts where I don't feel like I did it justice. It was amazing to visit Todd in his element carving blocks of wood into truly amazing pieces of art with a chainsaw. Check out the pics on our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/coalregioncampfire/

You've all seen Joe Bosack's work whether you realize it or not. He's created some of the most iconic logos in sports including the Final Four logo, Boise State, Mississippi State, and was part of the team that designed the Colorado Avalanche logo. These are just a few, as his resume is expansive. Crazy to think he creates all of this living in Pottsville!

This week Blue Mountain Alum Jimmy Spence takes the time to talk to us about autograph authentication. An incredible insight into the niche market of autograph authentication. If you have a piece of memorabilia with a signature there's a great chance James Spence Authentication did the verification.

In this episode we travel north of the mountain to Shenandoah and talk with Jessica, a fourth generation owner of the famed Kowalonek's, which you've probably been saying wrong for some time now. Don't be an amateur man/woman!

Mike Sofranko has been the mayor of Jim Thorpe since 2009 and today he took the time to talk to us about the challenges and triumphs of being a mayor. We also talk about the origin of the nameJim Thorpe (hint Jim Thorpe never set foot in Jim Thorpe)

Derek Flail, the general manager of The Jungle in Schuylkill Haven, just completed the Empire State Building tower run. And incredible feat and experience. Today we stopped by to talk to him about the challenge of taking on this huge endeavor.

Lazarchick's is one of the most famed bars in all of the coal region. In this bonus episode Ellen, who's worked there for 51 years, took the time to give us a tour.

Jake Figueroa of Brodero, and formerly of Crobot, took the time to chat with us today about starting his new band, life on tour, and the feeling of playing in front of 20,000 screaming fans ... hint: its orgasmic

Travis Blankenhorn, a Pottsville alum, is on his quest to become a professional baseball player. He's currently in the Minnesota Twins organization, playing Single A ball in Cedar Rapids. More importantly, I ask him what he likes more Palermo's or Roma.

This week Steve and Kim from Eastwick solutions stopped by to talk about the Pottsville revitalization and the next steps in the process. A must listen for any Pottsville or Schuylkill county resident.

Ron Stabinsky is a world traveling professional piano player hailing from the Coal Region. Just recently, he was on the Late Show with Steven Colbert and Jack Black. This week he stopped by to talk about his interesting career.

This week we visited the Muhammad Ali camp in Deer Lake and talked with Sam Matta, the camp's general manager, about the past and future of the camp.

This week we take the show on the road and visit Centiole's Pizza in Girardville, PA

This week Matty Fresh from "Skook State of Mind" fame pays the Coal Region campfire a visit.

We kick off 2018 with Nick Schlitzer talking European basketball and his body double in the Skook Life video

This week legendary high school wrestling coach Joe Cesari stops by to talk his days being coached by Buddy Ryan at University of Buffalo and building the most dominant wrestling program in the country.