October 14, 2023
Storytellers & Guests
Mike Romigh - Host
Long-time local radio broadcaster, on-air personality, and podcast host Mike Romigh will host the 2023 Pig Lady Fall Folklore Celebration.
Mike is a seasoned talk show host, having first worked for Beaver County Radio (WBVP) during the early 1980s. He since went on to host radio shows in Youngstown and Pittsburgh, most notably at the venerable KDKA radio studio. Back at WBVP, Mike currently hosts the popular “Live Mic with Mike Romigh” morning talk show. In addition to his on air work with Beaver County Radio, Mike selflessly lends his emcee and voice talents to many local charity events and community activities.
A Musical Conversation with Tony Sorce
Appalachian Folk Music
Tony Sorce is a notable local singer and acoustic guitar player with a passion for both traditional and contemporary Americana music. Tony regularly performs throughout Western Pennsylvania with the Z-Town Street Band, a collaborative partnership with noted fiddle player Mark Bergfelt and other local mucians.
Joseph Shahen: Appalachian Tarot
The Mothman, The Squonk, The Burning Bride of Conneaut, 13 Bends Road, The Pig Lady of Cannelton, Raymond Robinson aka The Green Man, Madame Bartell the Millvale psychic, The ghosts of the different Carnegie libraries, The spirits from the Homewood massacre, The urban legend of killer clowns, and more . . .
Appalachian Tarot
What is Tarot?
Tarot is a visual narrative system that uses large concepts and broad stories, shuffled and combined in infinite ways, to be interpreted by the reader for personal reflection. Much like journaling or other creative processes, tarot cards are a communication tool to inspire reflection and personal growth.
Inspired by Appalachian folklore and urban legends from Southwestern Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Eastern Ohio, Genevieve Barbee-Turner and Sarah McKenzie created HAUNTED: An Appalachian Tarot Deck.
Their work celebrates the ghost stories, urban legends, and other mysterious folklore from our northern part of Appalachia in the hope to connect the unique people, places, and history of Appalachia to universal themes of life, love, and death.
“Ghost stories are a lens into history, a way for history to preserve stories that aren’t typically told in history books, especially stories about women, people of color, and queer people,” says Barbee-Turner. “They reflect what we don’t want to discuss in the daylight. Shedding light on this history opens up our connections with humanity.”
Joseph Shahen joins us to discuss Appalachian tarot and the some of the creative stories and legends found in the HAUNTED Appalachian Tarot Deck.
Joseph is a Licensed Massage Therapist and Certified Reiki Master who, for 15+ years, has been teaching and using his gifts to help others on their journey using a new style of readings called Therapy Tarot. His readings differ from any other not only to delve into your subconscious and deal with root issues, but on occasion can give messages from those that have passed on.
Practicing a mix of Pennsylvania Dutch magick, Joseph relies on the blending of earth and heavens, God and spirit to give you the answers not just that you see, but those you need to know.
Genevieve Barbee-Turner, a tarot card illustrator and 2D artist based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Combining illustration, history, and a socially informed practice, her work tells stories about contemporary Appalachia and queer / femme identity with a splash of gothic aesthetic. Barbee-Turner earned her BFA from Carnegie Mellon University. Since creating Bridge Witches in 2016, Killerpancake Illustration’s tarot decks exploring mental health, queer identity, imposter syndrome, and income inequality have been popular with readers across the United States, Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.
Sarah McKenzie, also known as Sora the Intuitive, is a generational intuitive tarot reader and teacher in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Sarah has been reading tarot most of her life, taught by her mother and her mother’s mother, and following the traditions passed down from her family. She has been reading and teaching the tarot professionally for five years, during which time past life readings have become her staple.
Melissa Rhodes Hornbeck: The Barbara Davidson Investigation
Melissa Rhodes Hornbeck of East Liverpool, Ohio is a founding member of the Ohio Paranormal Investigation Team (OPIT), which has a social media following of several thousand paranormal enthusiasts.
Over the years, Melissa has participated in hundreds of paranormal investigtions ranging from private residences to public spaces, including the notorious Bobby Mackey’s Music World in Kentucky, the Bellaire House and Gretchen’s Lock in Ohio, West Virginia Penitentury, and the old Rochester High School in Pennsylvania.
In the late fall of 2019, at a location kept secret, Melissa and the OPIT team joined paranormal author Tony Lavorgne to explore the site of the Davidson family’s 18th century homestead –the location where young Barbara was murdered. Melissa will be sharing details from this revealing ghost investigation seeking the actual woman many Beaver Countians claim to be the Pig Lady of Cannelton.
Movie: Night of the Living Dead
Field Reporter: Are they slow-moving, chief?
Sheriff McClelland: Yeah, they're dead. They're all messed up.
It’s been called the greates horror film ever made, and it started the zombie genre.
A deceptively simple tale of a group of strangers trapped in a farmhouse who find themselves fending off a horde of recently dead, flesh-eating ghouls, George Romero’s claustrophobic vision of a late-1960s America literally tearing itself apart rewrote the rules of the horror genre, combined gruesome gore with acute social commentary, and quietly broke ground by casting a black actor (Duane Jones) in its lead role.
For more information, contact Kevin Farkas, Kevin@thesocialvoiceproject.org
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