The main veins of Armstrong County commerce flow with a broad brand of thriving local businesses. The Market Streets of Kittanning and Leechburg and Ford Street at Fourth Avenue in Ford City provide a mix of retail establishments for the daily wants and needs of patrons from myriad walks of life. KITTANNING ATA Karate Academy took root near the intersection of Market and Water Street 25 years ago and has since serviced the hometown community and beyond. "It's probably one of the oldest businesses still in the borough," said Dave Crawford, owner of the local ATA for the past five years. In regard to exposure, Crawford said the location of the academy has been incremental. "It does make a difference to have some parking available and in the evenings we have that," said Crawford, who added that the majority of his clientele hails from the Kittanning area. While presenting students young and old with extensive training and knowledge in the martial arts, Crawford said he and his instructors make it a top priority to weave the ideals of self-discipline and respect for others into their daily outlook. For younger students, the benefits of such multifaceted teachings are clear. "As (students) progress and the longer they're in the program, the greater their attention span becomes," said Crawford. "And they carry the courtesy their taught to have here out of here into their personal lives." Before opening Health House 28 years ago, Worthington native William Hodak was a body-builder who hobnobbed with the likes of a then-obscure Arnold Schwarzenegger, and he said his best friend won Mr. Pittsburgh and National Mr. America Over 40. So dealing in healthcare products and supplies while offering advice on weight-lifting and nutrition comes naturally to Hodak, who graduated from Slippery Rock University with a bachelor's degree in health and physical education. Many of the customers he sees are familiar faces. "We have our regular customers and we work with about four doctors in town, too," said Hodak. At Jen's Used Book Den, owners Jen and Leo Whiteford supply their literary stock with books from auctions, thrift stores, flea markets and library sales across western Pennsylvania. "Books oftentimes find themselves," said Leo with a chuckle. The Whitefords bought a house in Rural Valley in November of 1997 and moved the store here. "We felt Kittanning was good for us," said the Whitefords. "We've got a great selection here, the main things are mysteries and romances, but we have craft and cooking books, genealogy, poetry, a good mix." Customers both young and old frequent the store to not only feed their literary cravings, but also to see the Whitefords' store mascot, a daschund mix named Lucky. And as for Jen's rarest book of late? "I just sold a (first edition copy) of 'The Old Man and The Sea' for $275," said Jen. "It wasn't in that good of a shape so it would have drawn a lot more. They can go up to $2,000." Kittanning Beauty School (KBS), run by licensed instructor Diana Mitchell for the past seven years, was opened in 1981 by Gerald G. Camp with a mission: to give women skills to make a life with their own hands for themselves and their children. That carries on today, according to current executive director Jan Crawford. "The first day of school, we have (students) write out their goals, and 90 percent of them want to make a better life for themselves and their children," said Crawford. "When I was raised, women were taught that they could either be a mother and stay home, a nurse, a secretary or a teacher. That's not how we think today." With the 1250-hour, 10-month program offered by KBS, students are taught the ins and outs of everything from manicures and pedicures to cosmetology and hair styling. "Everything you can have done in a salon, they'll be taught here," said Mitchell of the roughly 25 students currently enrolled at the school. "Over the years, we've probably graduated over a thousand students," said Crawford, who added that a wide variety of employment opportunities await graduates in the field. "It isn't just working behind a chair," said Crawford. While KBS draws students from a wide area, Mitchell admitted the school's location along Market St. has helped in reigning in a local crop. "You have to try to keep (young professionals) in Armstrong County (to work)," said Mitchell. LEECHBURG For 2 1/2 years, meter maid Billie Jo Ferrick, 29, has kept motorists in check along Market Street in this borough hugging the Kiskiminetas River. And Ferrick said she has more reasons than the obvious for writing citations for those who let their meter run out. "I try to keep the traffic moving to keep the businesses going, that's why the meters are here; a lot of people don't realize that," said Ferrick. "But what they need to understand is that the businesses still need to go, that's what's keeping our town flourishing." Two such businesses are Electric Line Tattoo and Murphy's Music Center. Walter Minor, who along with wife April owns Electric Line, has drawn a clientele as colorful and imaginative as the ink-based designs he artistically needles into the canvas of their flesh. It's also one with no distinct age bracket. "I tattooed a 72-year-old lady on her 72nd birthday, it looked like we were having a bingo party in here. A lot of my clients now are older people, not too much like younger kids and stuff," said Minor, who adorned that particular client with a rose on her chest. "With any business when you first open it takes a while to build up your clientele and everything, but that actually picked up pretty quick up here. Most of the people I tattoo are repeat customers, basically the same 20 guys all the time. I try to do a lot of other people, too." According to April, who handles all piercings, winter draws a more mature clientele to Electric Line, whereas in the summer a younger group more interested in getting their first tattoo come around. "We'll get somebody that comes in here saying they just want one because they saw a picture they really wanted, but usually by the time that tattoo's finished, they've picked out their second or third tattoo," said April. So it's like an addiction? "I think it's the same as like skydiving and stuff, because of the adrenaline rush you get from it, you do get addicted," said Walter. "That's what people really like about it." In the late 1950s at Murphy's Music Center, original owner Jay Murphy gave instrument lessons to Ted Yajko. Today, Ted's son Eric, 22, is the manager of the store first opened on Market Street in 1953. And both he and fellow employee Kim Shipman agreed that many more generations have passed in and out of the doors there with instruments in hand. "I've been here eight years, and some of the customers have been coming in and out longer than that, you know there's generations and generations," said Shipman. "We rent instruments to the kids in schools that are just starting out. We cover all the local schools, and a lot of the schools up north toward Kittanning and Clarion." As store manager, Eric gained much of his musical knowledge through working under the store's previous owners, and now helps current owners Jim Caporali and Mark Carino with the store's instrument rental program. "The bread and butter of this place is the rentals," said Yajko. At the beginning of each school year, Yajko said the store crew loads up instruments and travels from (school) district to district and holds clinics for interested students and their parents. "The kids come by and fill out a contract and take a horn home with them. We go up to an hour and a half away," said Yajko. For instrument repair, Yajko said the orders start accumulating in the summer. "Mostly it starts in August, and then September, October and November are the absolute busiest, crazy months here," said Yajko. FORD CITY To Janice Paul-Onofrey, proprietor of both Paul's Flower & Gift Shoppe and the Hallmark Store along Ford Street, they are lovingly known as the "Walking Widows". Working at the stores' present location for the past eight years, Paul-Onofrey has come to know many of her customers by this moniker. "We're downtown and a lot of the people who don't drive any longer walk to us in good weather," said Paul-Onofrey. "We always sort of joke about it, but they're the people that have lots of kids, lots of grandkids, and they send of lots of cards." And a card for any occasion is what Paul-Onofrey supplies at the borough's Hallmark Store, while she deals in flowers and similar gifts at the flower shop. But they're two different businesses for several reasons, according to Paul-Onofrey. "I thought they were the same when I first got into the business, but truly they're totally different animals." For one, Paul-Onofrey said that more in-store manufacturing of bouquets and such occurs in the flower shop, whereas more merchandise is ordered and delivered to the Hallmark Store. "With the (Hallmark Store) it's a matter of inventory and stocking and placing, so it's a different ballgame completely," said Paul-Onofrey. Also, employees of the flower shop must possess a keen background knowledge of the product they peddle. "In the floral business, you have to be a trained person to be able to do flowers, it's not something where we get somebody off the street to help us, it doesn't work that way. You have to know the names of all the flowers, and you have to know how to assemble them." Herself a teacher of the craft for 35 years, Paul-0nofrey currently employs 10 individuals ranging in age and background. "We have a high school senior who comes in after school, a young substitute teacher who comes in after teaching and a couple of college kids," said Paul-Onofrey, who added that Francis "Pete" Klingensmith has worked at the location that previously was known as Ford City News for around 50 years. For 37 years, Ford Jewelers owners Justin and Gloria Miska have provided jewelry of all kinds to customers from Worthington to Elderton, Kittanning to Freeport. Through their family, the two also have helped establish a number of experts in the field of watchmaking, gemology and goldsmithery. Justin, who originally started out as a watchmaker in the borough, made a point of getting his children around the family business as much as possible when they were young, according to Gloria. "He was a watchmaker, he started with a little business selling toy racks, then he started getting a little bit of jewelry, and it just went from there," said Gloria. Their son, S.J., started learning about jewelry when he was 15. He now owns a jewelry store in State College and is a licensed gemologist, goldsmith and jeweler. Both their daughter, Tami Stuebgen and her husband, Alan, learned from Justin and currently help in the business. "Tami went to school (for gemology) in Pittsburgh and Justin taught Alan watchmaking," said Gloria. "Tami does all the goldwork." For their steady customers, Ford Jewelers offers opportunities to save money on accumulating purchases. "And we don't sell (repeat customers) items at their marked price, because they come to us all the time." So from engagements, to weddings, to anniversaries, the Miskas get a chance to see their customers progress in their lives together, a quality of the job Gloria said she finds particularly appealing.

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