Mill Run, a small mountain village in Fayette County, can boast of an international attraction in its own back yard. Fallingwater, the Frank Lloyd Wright house built on a waterfall, has a Mill Run mailing address and is just a few miles from the center of the village. The community, which straddles Route 381, is a gateway both to Wright's architectural masterpiece and Ohiopyle State Park. Mill Run also has landmarks all its own. Among the most visible are the new windmills on Ray Steyer's family farmland three miles east of the village. Erected as an environmentally friendly way to generate electricity, each of the 10 windmills has three blades 110 feet in length on pedestals that tower 230 feet. 'They make the mountain look a lot littler,' said Dave Gillespie, a driver for Arsenberger Trucking, which is based in Mill Run. Most of the other attractions and attributes of Mill Run are on a smaller, more personal scale. The unincorporated village in Springfield Township has no formal boundaries and no firm population count. It is located near Normalville, another Springfield Township village of about the same size. Although members of the same extended families populate both communities, there has always been an underlying rivalry between the two. 'It's kind of amusing,' said Don Bowser, a Springfield Township supervisor who was born on the Normalville side of the divide, but who married Mill Run native Meriel Bigam and settled in that community 42 years ago. Although outsiders might have a difficult time determining where Mill Run begins, residents are quick to point out that it's on the southern side of the Route 381 bridge at the Mill Run Reservoir. As for the population count, the Mill Run Post Office maintains 180 boxes for village residents and delivers to 395 rural Mill Run addresses. COMMUNITY BEGINNINGS

According to the town history, published by the Mill Run Socialite Club in 1970, the Catawaba Indian Trail and the Turkeyfoot Indian Trail (from Confluence, Somerset County) ran through or nearby the village long before the arrival of European settlers in the 1700s. The first permanent settlement was known as Bigamtown after a pioneer family with a name still prominent among current residents. It changed to Mill Run after a series of gristmills were established along the stream that runs through the center of the community (parallel to Route 381.) The Kooser Gristmill was built in 1851, and operated continuously until the 1940s, but burned to the ground in a July 1, 1965 fire. By the early 1900s, Mill Run had blossomed into a bustling mountain center, with farming and lumber the mainstays of the economy. The village had several grocery stores, a blacksmith shop, a railroad station, a tannery and a bank, as well as a number of other businesses. COMMUNITY TIES

Although the number of village businesses has declined, with a corresponding decline in the hustle and bustle, much has remained constant in Mill Run. The community is close-knit with a large network of extended families, according to its residents. Newcomers are advised to watch what they say about anyone, because everyone is related. The Rev. Thomas Bonomo, the pastor of the Mill Run United Methodist Church is originally from Beaver Falls. He said that, in addition to the aesthetic beauty of the area, the thing that struck him about Mill run when he moved here is 'the basic care the people have for each other.' That caring attitude is a long-standing tradition. When she was a child, Florence Shearer, 83, said all the village's one-room schools closed on days of funerals so everyone could pay their respects. Mill Run Postmaster Barbara Erlich, who hails from Dunbar Township, exclaims over the number of greeting cards village residents send to one another on special occasions. 'It's amazing when someone has a birthday,' she said. While Americans became restless moving all over the country in recent decades, most of the residents of Mill Run seemed content to stay put. 'If they leave, they come back,' Shearer insisted. The odyssey of Jim and Dottie O'Donnell is a case in point. The couple grew up in Indian Creek Valley, in neighboring Saltlick Township. They lived in the Mill Run area until the Volkswagen plant Jim O'Donnell worked at in New Stanton closed and he moved to a new job with the automaker in West Virginia. He then worked for a joint Mazda/Ford venture in Michigan for 10 years. When he retired from that job, he and his wife decided to return to Mill Run, where their grown children had already established homes. 'I love the mountains; that's what I missed in Michigan,' O'Donnell said. The O'Donnells purchased the Lester Dull farm five years ago.

They converted a barn, where cows were once housed, into their Homestead Pizza Shop. O'Donnell said longtime Mill Run residents stop in periodically and talk of how they used to shovel out the area where the pizzas with the special Wisconsin cheese are now made. '(The interior) still looks like a barn side,' O'Donnell said. Newcomers are welcomed to village as well. 'They usually fit right in, and become involved,' Bowser said. The Rev. John Davis, pastor of the Indian Creek Baptist Church, is a prominent example. A native of the greater Boston area, Davis was assigned to Mill Run 15 years ago, after serving as pastor at a church in the Scranton area for eight years. While he and his wife Kathleen, retain their Boston accents, Davis said their children, Andrew, 22, and Pamela, 17, grew up in Mill Run and talk like western Pennsylvanians. Davis said he felt at home in Mill Run from the beginning. 'There's a basic community spirit, it's more congenial here,' he said. Agriculture and the lumber industry remain important to Mill Run's economy. 'There are some pretty good farms around here,' noted Bowser, a part-time farmer himself. Most of Mill Run's residents have to commute to their jobs. Bowser said that a number work at the Seven Springs Mountain Resort near Champion. Former longtime resident Mary Stickel also pointed out that the village has produced more than its share of doctors, lawyers, a large contingent of teachers, and numerous other professionals. For recreation, residents of Mill Run take pleasure in outdoor pursuits. Hunters can buy their supplies at Peck's Shooting Service. Mill Run continues to be stocked with trout for anglers.

Gardening is also popular. Hughey Bigam, 68, boasts of the giant pumpkins growing in his patch. His secret, he said, is the compost he makes himself in 55-gallon barrels. But perhaps the favorite pastime is baseball. The mythical Mudville, where the mighty Casey struck out, has nothing on Mill Run. The game has been an important part of the village's culture since the early 1900s. In the past, Bigam reminisced that the late Henry Kooser used his lathe to turn out wooden bats 'with big heavy barrels,' for the team's sluggers. Mill Run uses aluminum bats now, but it remains a power in the Fayette County League. (There was no joy in Mill Run when its team lost this year's championship to an arch rival sponsored by Bud Murphy's Sports Bar in Connellsville.) The team includes players as young as 17, to boys of summer in their 50s. Ray Orndorff Jr., 34, said two of the oldest players are his father, Ray 'Bugs' Orndorff, 56, who is also coach, and Donnie Shearer, 53. 'They can both still swing the bat,' the younger Orndorff said. In 1970, the Mill Run Recreation Authority built a complex along Route 381 that includes two baseball fields, one of which is under lights for night games.

Although baseball has had a head start, an organized youth football program has also taken hold in Mill Run over the last decade. Mill Run's elementary school-age children compete on the Indian Creek Valley team in the Connellsville Booster Football League. Other communities involved in the league include Bullskin and Dunbar townships and South Connellsville Borough; East End (Connellsville); and Tri-Town (Dawson, Vanderbilt and Dickerson Run). Half the league's games are being played at the Mill Run complex, where the baseball fields were recently reconfigured and a goal post added for the football season. The recreation complex also includes a tennis court, an area that is used for street hockey and some hoops for shooting basketball. The Baptist church also built a gym for recreation on its property. In addition to sports complex, there are a number of other institutions and facilitates that give Mill Run its own flavor. JELLYSTONE PARK A giant statue of Yogi Bear carrying a picnic basket beckons motorists to Yogi's Jellystone Park in Mill Run.

Randy Work converted family land into a camp and resort featuring the Hanna-Barbera cartoon character. During the summer season, there are visits from a costumed Yogi Bear and his sidekick Boo Boo. Although 'Yogi has hibernated for the winter,' according to longtime park worker Patty Show, other park attractions remain open on weekends, including the Yogi Bear railroad, a line of cars pulled by a 'locomotive' around the scenic grounds. The park also sponsors special events, including Halloween programs this month. The campground is open year-round, and Show pointed out that cool autumn nights are conducive to camp fires. The facility also features a Ranger Smith Park Station open daily that includes a store that sells - among other things - Yogi and Boo Boo memorabilia, and a dining room. Like other stops in Mill Run, Show said people from all over have found their way to Jellystone, often on return trips from Fallingwater. She said members of the Royal Air Force used to come all the way from Great Britain, renting cabins at Jellystone for survival training in the mountains. ANTIQUE STORE

The F.B. Livingstone Estate General Store was once the most prominent village emporium in Mill Run. Gladys Livingstone, 92, moved into the store at age 3 when her late father opened the business, and she continued to operate it until 1970. Livingstone said in its heyday the store offered everything from clothes to harnesses for horses and produce harvested on area farms to ginseng gathered in mountain forests. There are a few retail establishments today that offer an equal selection of goods, Livingstone acknowledged. 'They're called malls,' she said. William Bigam now operates an antique store in the historic building with partner Bob Pritts, a Saltlick Township native and retired school administrator from Columbus, Ohio. The antique business retains the ambiance of the general store with its hardwood floors and board ceiling. A sampling of the thousands of items for sale inside - plates, glassware, antique coffee pots, statues and innumerable knickknacks - can be viewed through the store's large display windows. VILLAGE MARKET

As the sole remaining village market, Dull's Grocery occupies a crucial place in Mill Run. Lester Dull founded the store in 1933 and worked there until shortly before his death in 1992. Richard Broadwater, the current proprietor, started at the store in 1958 after marrying Dull's daughter, Patty. He said he first met his future wife at the old Mill Run School when she was in the fifth grade and he in the eighth. In addition to running the store, the couple drive school buses for Colborn Bus Lines, also based in Mill Run. The most prominent furnishings in the store are a huge metal adding machine and an even-bigger mechanical cash register that occupy a countertop. There is a surprising variety of items at Dull's Grocery. Jean Shipley, a Mill Run resident who has worked at the store for 14 years, said prices are competitive. While Shipley acknowledges Mill Run residents shop at supermarkets too, she pointed out they don't want to have to drive down the mountain when they run out of something. VILLAGE RESTAURANT

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Darlene's Sugar and Spice is the place to dine in Mill Run. The old-fashioned eatery has a lunch counter with nine swivel stools and a scattering of wooden tables for groups. Darlene Conn has owned the diner for 20 years, but its history in Mill Run goes back decades with different owners and under names such as Chips and Ducks. The daily special marked on a board one recent day was barbecue and breaded cauliflower. When the lunch rush slows, Conn makes baked goods. 'I make all my own pies,' she said. The diner opens at 6 a.m., and Conn said she serves meals until customers stop coming, usually around 7 p.m. While Mill Run residents have patronized the diner for decades, Conn said she has also served homestyle meals to an international clientele returning from tours of Fallingwater, SCHOOLS At 96, Edyth Bigam is among the oldest residents of Mill Run; that also puts her on top of the seniority lists for former township school teachers. One recent day she relaxed in the front room of the home she shares with her daughter and son-in-law, Meriel and Don Bowser, showed a quilt she had made recently and reminisced about teaching in one-room schools. A native of Smithfield, she married the late J. Foster Bigam in 1928 and accompanied him to his hometown, where they both taught school. Bigam said the teacher had to do everything to get the school ready for students each day. She also noted that snow was waist deep on occasion. Bigam taught in the Clay Run and Fairmont one-room schools, as well as the Mill Run school, now occupied by the Mill Run Grange building, and the Springfield Elementary School in Normalville. The Connellsville Area School District is planning to replace the Springfield Elementary School with a larger building at the same site. Fayette County Head Start also has a center located in Mill Run to serve preschool children from low income families in the mountain area. RELIGIOUS LIFE The Baptist and the United Methodist churches work together closely with alternating services during the summer and on special occasions. The Hampton Road Church of God has also been an important part of the community's spiritual life for 60 years. The Rev. Carl D. Ritenour has been pastor at the small church building for the past 20 years. He said a number of the members of his congregation who have moved elsewhere in southwestern Pennsylvania drive to Mill Run to continue attending services at the church. CAMP CHRISTIAN Camp Christian is another institution that underscores Mill Run's religious tradition. The facility, which includes a conference center, cabins and dormitories spreads out over 73 acres and has been in operation for 61 years, according to camp director Gerald Lowe. He said that 65 churches provide financial support to the nondenominational camp and resort center. Events include father-and-son camps and youth programs, as well as guest speakers. Lowe said the camp will hold a Christmas banquet for the first time this year. FIRE DEPARTMENT

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The Springfield Volunteer Fire Department is housed in a building along Route 381. Franklin Miller is president of the department; Robbie Orndorff is fire chief. Springfield works closely with the surrounding departments in Normalville, Indian Head and Ohiopyle, according to Ray Orndorff Jr., who is also a volunteer firefighter. GOVERNMENT The Springfield Township government is headquartered in the basement of the fire station. In addition to Bowser, current township supervisors are Kenneth Johnson and Marshall Clark. But there will be a new member of the board after the November election. Bowser has decided to retire from office. In addition to his civic duties, and running a farm, the Rev. Bowser has been an ordained minister and pastor of the Star Junction Baptist Church in Perry Township for 15 years, and he said he wants to concentrate on his church work. Jerry Storey is a staff writer for the Fay-West Tribune Review.

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