Vote for Rhonda Laughlin for Greater Latrobe School Board

Latrobe Turkey Trot

2009-11-27T14:09:00.000-05:00

184 6 Rhonda Laughlin, 42, Greensburg, PA 24:53 8:02

Not bad. 6th in her age group.

Fall Sports Recognition

2009-11-16T22:34:00.003-05:00

The Greater Latrobe High School recognized their fall athletes tonight. It was nice to see the coach's pride in their athletes. It was also fantastic to see that our student athletes are also excellent students.

Mix It Up At Luch Day at the Greater Latrobe Junior High

2009-11-12T09:29:00.002-05:00

was featured in the Tribune-Review.

Follow this link to the Trib's story.

Official campaign photo?

2009-11-05T11:29:00.002-05:00

Why is it so hard to get your family to cooperate to take a photo? Here is the best I could do and we used it for the poll cards. Must have worked.

Notice the tongue sticking out of Elizabeth's smile? We are going to the orthodontist to get that fix today. He is going to put some "appliance" in there with her braces.

Greater Latrobe Art Gala tonight.

2009-11-05T09:53:00.001-05:00

If you don't know about the Greater Latrobe High School art collection, check out the video link below.

OnQ OnDemand: Latrobe High School Arts Conservancy

Thank You!

2009-11-04T00:35:00.000-05:00

THANK YOU!!!!

Greaterlatrobe.net's video of Rhonda

2009-10-28T15:59:00.001-04:00

Greaterlatrobe.net removed the election videos. I want to thank them for the opportunity. With almost 200 views, I am certain it helped us win when the margin was 77 votes. People mentioned it to us.

Rhonda Laughlin fights for the tax payer

2009-10-27T11:27:00.000-04:00

At last night's board meeting, some directors wanted to raise taxes. Rhonda did not. Read for yourself from the Tribune-Review.

Director Susan Mains said without a state budget in place, the district doesn't know for sure what it willbe receiving as its basic education subsidy. And the state has other changes proposed that could affect the district's bottom line, she said.

Mains said she feels more comfortable having small millage increases yearly, rather than one, large millage hike in a given year. The small increases give the district some cushion for unforeseen expenses, she said.

I'm fearful we're digging a hole that we shouldn't be digging," Mains said.

Director Kathryn Elder agreed that slight yearly increases put her more at ease than one large hike.

"We're kind of getting squeezed," Elder said. "I"m very concerned."

But Director Rhonda Laughlin said directors couldn't increase real estate taxes this time based on what might occur.

"Just to raise taxes 'just in case,' I think, is wrong," Laughlin said.
Tribune-Review July 1, 2009

Congratulations Wildcats football!

2009-10-24T14:54:00.001-04:00

From today's Trib:

With the win and Penn-Trafford's loss to Erie McDowell, Latrobe clinched a berth in the WPIAL playoffs for the first time since 2006.

"This is one of the great victories. It's really big," Latrobe first-year coach Ray Reitz said. "I'm just so proud for these kids. They played for 48 minutes. They got knocked down. We had an 11-point halftime deficit. They rebounded, showed a lot of heart and toughness. It was just a great tribute to our kids."

Greater Latrobe Junior High

2009-10-09T16:14:00.004-04:00

Rhonda and I attended the Jr High Parents' night on Thursday. That school is awesome. The teachers were energetic, engaging and caring. They had this really cool interactive "chalk board" in the math and science classes. I was very pleased.

Just another reason to...

Vote for Rhonda! She and the board are doing a good job! Since Conrad Lazor and Rhonda Laughlin have been president/vice president of the board:

Hired a new superintendent
Hired a new football coach to help build the program
Have not raised taxes.

On top of this, we have excellent schools!

Rhonda Laughlin is active in the United Way

2009-10-08T19:34:00.000-04:00

Rhonda is active in the United Way of Westmoreland County. She is the co-chair of Children and Youth Impact Council.

Elizabeth is in the Choral Cats!

2009-10-07T16:05:00.001-04:00

Congrats to Lizzie!

Congratulations to Ray Reitz and the Wildcalts for their first win.

2009-09-05T13:57:00.003-04:00

The Greater Latrobe football team played aggressively last night earning their first win in a 21-0 victory over Derry. The school directors should be commended for hiring Ray Reitz to build the football program.

My wife is so cool...

2009-08-10T11:16:00.004-04:00

She let me travel to my 25th High School reunion with a friend I hadn't seen in 15 years. We arranged the whole trip via facebook. We had a great time. Fortunately, the trip did not end up like the film, Hangover.

Rhonda with the kids on the ocean

2009-08-02T13:36:00.001-04:00

No reason. Just posting because I thought they were cool pics!

Last night at the Mt Carmel 5K in Crabtree

2009-07-18T11:49:00.003-04:00

First, I beat Rhonda. Yea, me. I am not old yet.

Rhonda ran very well. The Rhonda Laughlin for School Board running shirts looked great!

The pie was awesome. I had peach and pumpkin. Yum!!!!

The rain was HEAVY!!!!

See you in Crabtree this Friday night...

2009-07-13T23:42:00.001-04:00

For the Mt. Carmel 5K. They have awesome shirts and Rhonda and I won sauce from Rizzo's and Carbone's last year.

Rhonda beat me at the Bushy Run 5K!

2009-07-12T17:44:00.002-04:00

They all did well. I ran like crap. I need to start training again. Although I don't mind the view, I don't want to spend anymore 5Ks behind Rhonda.

Rhonda volunteered at St Benedict's church festival.

2009-07-11T23:40:00.001-04:00

She helped sell 50-50 tickets. That is such a nice parish.

Rhonda and I stayed up late last night...

2009-07-11T11:56:00.001-04:00

and watched the new Wilco concert film. Cool wife!

Rhonda placed third in her age group at the Woodruff 5K

2009-07-09T09:24:00.001-04:00

Great job. Anyone who has ever run this knows that it is a tough race! And yes, they all wore their Rhonda Laughlin for School Board running shirts!

We are running the Woodruff 5K tonight

2009-07-08T16:08:00.002-04:00

In Connellsville. It is hard! Lots of hills. Here she is at last years race. Hopefully, I will get a new pic for comparison after a year of running.

Everyone did fantastic at the Latrobe 5 mile run!

2009-07-04T20:10:00.002-04:00

Thanks to everyone who wore the shirts! The shirts were out at the Greensburg Fourth of July run today. I was going to run that this morning too, but I stayed up too late watching the new Wilco concert film.

See you tonight in Latrobe...

2009-07-03T10:35:00.000-04:00

for the 5 mile run!

Rhonda is already registered for...

2009-07-02T12:12:00.001-04:00

the 2010 Pittsburgh Half-Marathon. Early registration is now underway. Don't get shut out this year.

Rhonda is an awesome scuffed knee healer!

2009-07-01T15:08:00.001-04:00

Olivia!

I have been on vacation.

2009-06-28T10:22:00.002-04:00

I will start posting again regularly. We had a great time at the beach. I will say that the running has certainly paid off for Rhonda!

Rhonda ran Yasso 800s with me!

2009-06-26T19:43:00.002-04:00

Don't know what that is? Read about it. She ran them at my pace.

Happy Anniversary Rhonda!

2009-06-19T00:44:00.004-04:00

Here we are on our honeymoon in 1993.

Rhonda has lots of good skills

2009-06-15T16:49:00.000-04:00

We need someone with lots of good skills on the school board.

Rhonda ran the Pittsburgh Half Marathon

2009-06-14T00:27:00.003-04:00

After months of telling me she couldn't do it, Rhonda ran a half marathon. Originally, she was going to run the Marathon relay. I told her it wouldn't be as fun. Finally, her friends decided to run the half marathon. They all did very well.

Rhonda and I competed in the Rogers-McFeely Sprint Triathlon

2009-06-13T00:56:00.002-04:00

We competed as a team. She swam (this is before I learned to swim), I biked (I sucked) and ran (did decent). Overall, we were awful due to my horrible time on the bike. Seems I did not understand how to use the gears on my new bike. You can't go up hills in the wrong gears.

Regardless, Rhonda would like to see Latrobe-Unity Parks and Recreation bring back the triatholon. This time we would compete as individuals against each other.

Two great things

2009-06-13T00:48:00.002-04:00

Penguins win the Stanley Cup in a very entertaining series.
Iron City Beer to be brewed in Latrobe.

Rhonda graduated from the University of South Carolina

2009-06-12T01:08:00.003-04:00

Rhonda graduated with a degree in psychology. With all the emphasis on standardized testing in education today, a board member with training in standardized test through her psychology background is very useful.

If any of you know anything about the University of South Carolina Gamecocks, then you know that she wore some pretty interesting USC shirts when I met her.

Rhonda is a good mommy!

2009-06-11T01:12:00.002-04:00

Happy Birthday Elizabeth! 12 years old today!

I really like this song a lot.

2009-06-10T15:35:00.004-04:00

This isn't a reason, just one of my observations, but it does relate to the theme of this blog.

Glen Hansard talks about what the song is about. This exact thing happened to me the other day at Idlewild.

Rhonda thought that was a fantastic hockey game!

2009-06-10T00:10:00.000-04:00

Go Pens!

Rhonda met the President of the United States at the White House

2009-06-09T09:30:00.003-04:00

It was certainly a cool event.

Rhonda Laughlin favors low property taxes

2009-06-08T10:59:00.002-04:00

Rhonda has consistently been a voice for keeping property taxes low. Since Conrad Lazor has been board president and Rhonda has been vice president, property taxes have not been raised.

Rhonda's first date with me was a 10,000 Maniacs concert

2009-06-07T12:28:00.003-04:00

Featuring Natalie Merchant. Rhonda denies this. Rhonda claims we went "as friends" Clearly, this was not the case. September 15, 1989. Rhonda looked great that night.

Rhonda met the former Speaker of the House of Representives

2009-06-06T10:57:00.003-04:00

Newt Gingrich

Rhonda is a huge Bruce Springsteen fan!

2009-06-05T00:36:00.001-04:00

As a matter of fact, she just saw him at Mellon arena. If I am not mistaken, she has seen Bruce 4 times.

Rhonda swam in a Greater Latrobe Aqua Club meet

2009-06-04T14:01:00.002-04:00

In August 2007, she even placed and won a medal. The West Newton meet is open to parents too.

Congratulations to Greater Latrobe graduates!

2009-06-03T10:18:00.004-04:00

Rhonda is a 1985 graduate of Greater Latrobe High School. Here are a couple of scans from her yearbook. By the way, I need better scanning software. Suggestions?

Rhonda volunteered at Olympic Day for the elementary kids

2009-06-02T22:20:00.003-04:00

Now I don't know what you will think about this and I am still torn about how I feel about it, but wanting her daughter Elizabeth to look cool, she let her wear my vintage 1987 U2 Joshua Tree Concert Tour shirt to school. For olympic day!

It is cool to have a school board member who has kids in the school and actually volunteers to help with stuff.

Rhonda is volunteering for the 6th grade party

2009-06-01T10:50:00.003-04:00

Can you believe it? Our Elizabeth is in her last days at Mountain View Elementary. She is off to the junior high this fall.

Rhonda is a long time resident of Unity Township

2009-05-31T09:54:00.002-04:00

Here we are on our wedding day. Our reception was at Mountain View Inn in Unity Township, June 19, 1993.

Rhonda has run the Latrobe-Unity "Rabbit run..." two years running

2009-05-30T09:11:00.004-04:00

This year, Rhonda placed.

Today's tidbit: Rhonda saw a major league no-hit shut out

2009-05-29T09:15:00.004-04:00

When we were in Optometry school at the Pennsylvania College of Optometry, Rhonda and I went to a lot of baseball games. We were lucky enough to attend on August 16, 1990 for Terry Mulholland's no-hitter. The only runner reached base on an error and I believe Mulholland erased that runner with a double play. It was a very exciting night! I have the ticket stubs around somewhere.

She is a good kisser...of...

2009-05-28T13:06:00.001-04:00

fish!

Rhonda has seen Frank Sinatra perform live!

2009-05-27T00:02:00.004-04:00

How could I marry a girl who hadn't seen Sinatra? So she hasn't seen Damien Rice, Sinatra makes up for that! For the record, I have seen him twice. First time was at a small venue outside on the beach in Atlantic City. It was really cool. All the seats were close and there was an ocean breeze and a starry sky. I barely had the money for tuition, but I came up with the money for Sinatra tickets. Rhonda and I saw Frank at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. Seats were good at that show too, but no stars or ocean.

Want to see a great video of Frank? Follow this link to Youtube. I love this song and performance.

Wow, I was just thinking...

2009-05-27T00:00:00.000-04:00

June, July, August, September and October. Those are a lot of thoughts for me to post. I guess I will be constantly thinking about my wife until then.

Rhonda wins a medal (places 2nd) in yesterday's 5K

2009-05-25T23:29:00.005-04:00

She was second in her age group and I was first in mine. The Ligonier YMCA's Tour de Park at Idlewild Park.

Rhonda's grandfather was a decorated World War 2 Vet

2009-05-25T12:48:00.004-04:00

Thanks to him, Rhonda is here today. Actually, we all owe who we are today to a vet. On Memorial Day, remember that (remember that always) and thank a vet! You should always thank a vet for their service. We owe our freedom and way of life to them.

Rhonda is teaching 3rd grade Sunday School today

2009-05-24T09:42:00.003-04:00

Rhonda is leading the 3rd grade sunday school class at Charter Oak Church today in Unity Township.

A clarification...

2009-05-24T09:40:00.002-04:00

Rhonda is not allowed to see these posts until they go live on the blog. She also is not allowed any input on the posts. She sees them for the first time when the rest of you do. It is more fun for me that way.

She can recite "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb" from memory

2009-05-23T10:06:00.004-04:00

dum ditty, dum ditty, dum, dum dum!

Reason #3 for those of you keeping score. That is also one of her favortie books to read to Olivia at night. Rhonda or I read to Olivia every night when we put her to bed. My favorites are the Olivia the Pig books.

Reason # 1 to vote for Rhonda Laughlin for Greater Latrobe School Board

2009-05-21T18:32:00.004-04:00

Reason #1. She skipped the Damien Rice concert because she had a school board meeting. While this is a reason for me not to vote for her, it certainly qualifies as a reason for the rest of you to vote for her. An extreme example of dedication because it was an incredible show and I had GREAT seats!

This is probably not only my favorite Damien Rice song, but may be my favorite song of all time. In Cleveland, Damien unplugged his guitar, turned off the microphone and sang the song completely unplugged. It was really cool.