Piqua Rocks!

Tonight we celebrate Piqua, Ohio, a city with a population of just over twenty thousand, located about a half-hour's drive north of Dayton.

The name of the town is most likely derived from a Shawnee Indian expression: “Othath-He-Waugh-Pe-Qua” which means “He has risen from the ashes!” It claims among its favorite sons such notables as Bill Lear, founder of the Lear Jet Company and inventor of the 8-track cartridge (which we'll try not to hold against them), as well as the jazz and pop vocal quartet known as The Mills Brothers.

Piqua was once famous for its annual "Underwear Festival." That would seem odd, except that the city was once the home of the Atlas Underwear Company, a major producer of underwear for the late 19th and most of the 20th century. (FAMILY FOOTNOTE: My paternal grandmother and her sister both worked in that factory about a hundred years ago.) Small wonder that it is the fictional home of George Beard and Harold Hutchins, the two main characters in The Adventures of Captain Underpants.

Fortunately, they can do better than that, as we are about to see.

I'm here to report to my loyal readers -- and you both know who you are -- that my Close and Personal Friend Father Martin Fox needs our help. Piqua Catholic School needs $50,000 for a new gymnasium floor, and they have entered the Pepsi Refresh Challenge to win the big kahuna. We've just gotta help these kids, who had to have worked so hard to put on a show like this. Watch the video, and then click here.

“Watch your step! Can we fix it with gum?” Good one.