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TRIBUNE-REVIEW (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) 18 June 06 Turtle returns (Jerry Storey)
All is right in Fairbank.
Mike has returned.
The snapping turtle first made his appearance below the drainage grate at the Barbush Service Station about 15 years ago.
Stephen Barbush, 78, started throwing hot dogs down the grate to Mike in the early afternoons.
Year after year Mike returned to the spot, located near the traffic island at Fairbank and Herbert roads.
Barbush knew the snapping turtle was Mike, because he had dabbed some red paint on him.
After decades of operation, Barbush was forced to close the service station and to clear out his trove of Fairbank memorabilia a little over a year ago.
He continues to wear his Amoco cap. "That's how people know me," Barbush said.
The service station was one of last businesses to close in the once-booming coal community that now counts about 200 residents.
Once the center of town activity, the service station is now a crumbling storage building.
But Barbush didn't abandon Mike.
Each day he tied a wiener to a wire and suspended it on the grate so Mike could grab the hot dog at his leisure.
Another tradition continued this summer with Barbush and his old friends setting up a table under an umbrella to play cards.
"Pinochle is the only game the boys will play," Barbush noted.
But something was missing -- Mike.
The turtle was usually a harbinger of spring, showing up in April, but he was a month late.
There had been some channeling work done earlier in the year in Dunlap Creek, and the boys were concerned about Mike's welfare.
"I thought he got knocked off," said Albert Apicella.
Another speculation among the card players was that maybe Mike had grown too large to fit through the drain pipe.
"You'd be surprised how many people want to know if the turtle is back," said Barbush.
He said he's seen people looking down the grate for him.
The concern lifted when Mike showed up last week. None of the card players had any idea why the turtle had been tardy, but they all said they're glad he's back.
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/tribunereview/news/fayette/s_458284.html