Welcome to another Feelgood Friday!
One thing that has always made me feel very good is music. And growing up just outside of Philadelphia, I was exposed to the city’s rich heritage of soul and R&B music from a very young age.
Some of the earliest records I can recall hearing came out on Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff’s Philadelphia International Records label. The songs from artists like the O’Jays, the Spinners, Teddy Pendergrass, Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, the Jacksons, and Lou Rawls were instantly identifiable—meticulously produced with strings, sweet backing vocals, and a strong emphasis on melody.
New Orleans may be known as the birthplace of jazz, Detroit and Memphis as pillars of rhythm and blues, and the Mississippi Delta to Chicago as the spine of the blues. But Philadelphia holds its own as a major force in the evolution of Black music across genres.
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The snack formerly known as Animal Crackers is now Simply Animals. Provided by D.F. Stauffer Biscuit Co. (USA Today Network via Reuters Connect)
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A York County classic is getting a fresh look—and a cleaner recipe. Stauffer’s, the longtime maker of Animal Crackers, is rebranding the snack as “Simply Animals” while removing high-fructose corn syrup and artificial coloring from the recipe. The crackers are now made in a peanut-free facility, too.
The change comes after a rocky moment for the company, when rising cocoa prices briefly altered another product and sparked backlash. This time, Stauffer’s says it listened to families who wanted simpler ingredients without losing the familiar taste and crunch. The updated snack rolls out nationwide in April—just in time for National Animal Cracker Day.
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• Pittsburgh-area museums scored big in USA Today’s 2026 10BEST awards. The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, Heinz History Center, and Pennsylvania Trolley Museum each took first place in their categories, while several other local institutions ranked in the top 10 nationally. Read more here.
• In other museum news, the Shriver House Museum in Gettysburg ranked fifth nationwide in USA Today’s 2026 10Best Small Town Museum list, marking its third consecutive year in the top tier. The restored 1860s home recently served as a filming location for the upcoming movie “Gettysburg 1863.” Read more here.
• The 62-mile Pine Creek Rail Trail has been named Pennsylvania’s 2026 Trail of the Year by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. Stretching from Jersey Shore to Wellsboro Junction, the former rail corridor draws more than 44,000 users annually and generates an estimated $5 million in local economic impact. Learn more here.
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This is an undated image of the Hotel Pope at East 13th and French streets in Erie. (USA Today Network via Reuters Connect)
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Long before the modern civil rights movement, Jessie Pope was speaking out for equality in Erie. In the 1910s and ’20s, she challenged segregation, housing discrimination, and the rise of the Ku Klux Klan as an early leader of the local NAACP.
She also ran the Pope Hotel, a cultural hub on French Street that welcomed Black and white patrons alike and hosted national performers who couldn’t stay elsewhere in the city. A century later, her advocacy and entrepreneurship remain a powerful chapter in Erie’s history.
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