Our favorite PA Local stories of 2023

Last year we asked you to name the Pennsylvania town that drops a bologna on New Year's Eve (it's Lebanon). This year we're asking you to name the town that drops a pair of pants when the clock strikes 12:
 

A. Lower Allen Township
B. Mechanicsburg
C. Dillsburg
D. Bethlehem

(Keep scrolling for the answer, but don't miss all the good stuff in between. Like what you read? Forward this email to a friend.)

Editor's note: This space is being used this week to recall our favorite PA Local subjects of 2023. A Pa Local Wrapped, if you will. Send us ideas for 2024 here.

» Canceled by beavers: In January, we told you about the finale of one of Pa.'s best wildlife shows — a webcam on a log that produced incredible animal sightings before beavers did what beavers do.

» Symbolic struggles: In March, we took a rule-of-three look at efforts to reimagine Pennsylvania's official state song, flag, and license plate design. We even had a lawmaker sing to us over the phone.

» Crying town: In April, we wrote about Easton's very slow-going search for a town crier and tracked the last one down for pointers. We also covered Erie's big plans for 2024's total eclipse.

» Rat queen: In May, Spotlight PA's Danielle Ohl interviewed podcast icon Sarah Marshall about Marshall's Philadelphia rat awakening and how roads so often lead back to Pennsylvania.

» Mushroom MacGyver: In June, we introduced you to William Padilla-Brown — a renaissance woodsman who says the cure for what ails us might just be living on the floor of your nearest Pennsylvania forest.

» Small drinks: In July, we went to Pittsburgh and inside the self-proclaimed smallest bar in Pennsylvania. We found that what it lacks in raw square footage, it makes up for in religious history.

» Club renaissance: In August, we watched Beyoncé fans in Pittsburgh console themselves over her canceled concert with a lively dance party where everyone was the star of the show.

» Cats and cannons: In September, Sara Stewart wrote about a most unusual Gettysburg museum where Civil War history is told via handmade, clay cat figurines — 8,000 of them and counting.

» The firewomen: In October, we told you about a century-old Centre County fire department's first all-female attack line and how women are becoming more and more common in the field.

» Making waves: And in November, we went to one of the last-remaining waterbed stores as it rode the wave of a viral TikTok introducing a whole new demographic to the concept of sleeping on liquid.

 "I once spent a year in Philadelphia. I think it was on a Sunday."

—A quote (and NYT crossword clue) attributed to comedian and native son W.C. Fields, who frequently ribbed Philly in his act — and his fictional epitaph

Lower Allen Township in Cumberland County drops a four-foot sculpture of yellow pants or "breeches" on New Year's Eve. Billy Penn reported last year that "the ritual pays homage to the nearby Yellow Breeches Creek."

As for the other options at the top of this page: Mechanicsburg drops a big wrench, Dillsburg drops a pickle, and Bethlehem drops a Peep. 

Thanks for reading. We'll see you back here next year.