Ever wish you could pop in a time machine and be plopped down in the middle of a bunch of screaming girls to watch the mop-headed Beatles sing at the Ed Sullivan Show? Or be-bop and splash splash in a colorful world we usually only see in old black and white tv clips and the only king that really mattered was Elvis?

How about breaking out the old lingo to talk about with your grandkids who might not realize that you once were once "lit" or "cool" or "dope" or "groovy?" 

They might think that is "sick."

​Well the Barrow-Civic Theatre this week is just the place for fly hipsters getting down to some keen tunes of yesterdalio. And it is far out man.

Heise, along with long-time collaborators Rodriguez, Kelly Zerbe and Angie Carothers, give their campers the full experience of being in theater. They even have many other past member come back to volunteer. They beam with pride then they talk about former youth theater members who came up through the ranks and currently work in the field. Each year's camp is different and the kids learn different things about theater, themselves and even life lessons.
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This year’s cast gets to not only learn important lessons about what it takes to be in a production, but they are learning music from many decades of the past. “Time Machine Jukebox” is a songfest including tunes from “Splash Splash” to “Breakaway.”
 
They even get to learn some of the slang of the times. “Far out” and being 'hip to that jive” may not be things these kids have heard before other than something grandma said to grandpa while they were reminiscing, but now they get to not only learn what they mean, based on Tuesday’s rehearsal, they be able to say them just like grandma too.

Franklin Area School District superintendent Dr. Eugene Thomas said Tuesday that he is confident that "we have all the right people in the right positions."

The school board met on Monday to approve naming KC Miller and Tom Holoman as Franklin High School's new co-principals. Thomas said they posted the position and the decision came down to the qualified personnel already in the Franklin family. "Sometimes it is better to look internally," he said adding that the talent in the school district was very good and that the co-principal model was a good fit for the high school. 

Franklin Principal Christina Cohlhepp recently moved to the position of Curriculum Director for the district, a position that had be vacant for years after Ann Black left the position. 

Miller has been the Victory Elementary School principal since 2020 and Holoman has been the Sandycreek principal since 2019. Holoman also recently filled in as interim superintendent beforre Thomas was named the new permanent superintendent this spring.

​Thomas said that they were able to handle all staffing internally which ultimately ended up saving the district $20,000 in the process.

Franklin Junior high principal John Bianconi was moved to become the principal of Victory Elementary School.

Former Franklin dean of students Joe Keenan had left his position to return to teaching, but was promoted to principal at Sandycreek Elementary School.

Gary Canfora remains the principal at Central.

Also Denise Phipps was named the Director of Student Support Services.

"We're excited for the new school year," Thomas said. "We have high expectations."

As a photojournalist I often find myself thinking the words I have to describe an event fall short of the possibility of explanation that the moments capture. Some things are subtle in what resonates from them, others are smacking us up side the head. But we live a life of strung together moments and when we can share in one of those split seconds with others we feel even closer to the community we cover.

We take this seriously.

​These are some of our favorite observations from this week in Oil City at the Chamber's annual Oil Heritage Festival.

The Neighborhood Sidewalk Pilot Program for Franklin residents is difficult to pin-point exact costs to homeowner, however, under the program eligible property owners will split the cost with the city of Franklin. Amanda Power, community development director, shared the following numbers from a project in 2020 but cautioned that the current costs in this period of inflation may be different.

The price by square yard and thickness of the concrete:
 4"   $84.60/square yard or $9.40/sqare foot
 6"   $92.70/square yard $10.30/sqare foot
 8"   $110 /square yard $12.22/ sqare foot

The thickness required would depend on the location. There are other factors involved as well including heaved areas from tree roots etc. 

​Learn more: https://franklinpa.gov/sidewalkprogram

See more photos at: ​https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p670450954​.

See more photos at: ​https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p670450954​.​

It is an elimination style event so each week a performer is "voted off." "I hate that part," said events coordinator Ronnie Beith, who has been known to shed real tears when one of "her" contestants isn't voted back the following week.

Emcee Tammi Dahl said that Titusville's Maesa Burns' rendition of "Someone to Watch Over Me" was amazing, but she did not get enough votes to return next week. Burns was the last performer of the evening.

Returning next week for the quarter final performances will be Iris Callahan, Tim Craver, Shanay Jackson, Madison Wakefield, Alexander Karg, Kaleb Beichner, Ruth Herrick and Christian Agnew.

The night kicks off a 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

The following week the event moves to Saturday night for the semi-finals beginning at 7 p.m.

The event finals follow the next day beginning at 4 p.m. where the final four performers will get a chance to show off two songs to win over the crowd.

With only a couple weeks remaining the question is, who will finish number one?

​After reading over and practicing her lines in her room, Fleeger says she finds a parent and gives it a try, noting with a giggle that her mom likes to do voices and read the script notes. 
“I’m way better than them,” she said with a bit of a smirk sneaking through her timid personality.

“I know it’s not easy being a democrat in Venango County,” Pennsylvania attorney general Josh Shapiro told a small crowd gathered in Oil City’s Pipeline Alley. 

​The event wasn’t highly publicized Tuesday but about fifty registered ahead according to John Kluck The Venango County Democrat chairman. He noted that some others not registered also showed and not all were democrats. “It was a nice crowd,” he said.

"Visibility matters, our voices matter," said local activist Ashley Zaccari Smith. She and a group of others were planning a rally but decided to join the one already listed on the database website. "This is a moment of crisis for our community and our democracy," she continued. "I urge you to turn your outrage into action. We must fight back together and make our voices heard. Democrats, Republicans, Independents, non-affiliated voters, we need to join forces and mobilize. Our voices matter and we need to show this in November."

A new facility is being built to help area veterans with their healthcare needs. The Erie Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center is in the process of constructing a brand new outpatient facility on Route 322 in Cranberry in front of the Home Depot. 

“This will expand and modernize what we have in Venango County,” John A. Gennaro, the medical center director, said to a small group of veterans and government officials gathered Wednesday morning for a ceremonial groundbreaking. As he spoke, a crew from the Cleveland-based Downing Construction was busy working on the concrete flooring for the building, which is expected to be completed in the spring 2022.

​Titusville’s longtime veterans advocate Charles Castelluccio asked to address the crowd after the ceremonial gold shovel turning of the dirt. Chaplain for the northwest Pennsylvania 28th District of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Castelluccio walked to the podium to praise Gennaro and the new facility. “No one mentioned the traveling,” he said. “We can get here in 10 to 15 minutes. Can you imagine waking up on January 5 with a few inches of snow on the ground and needing to get to the clinic in Erie which has 24 inches? Would you want to go to Erie?”

This show marked the last time Olson will play in Titusville - he and his wife will be moving to Erie. But the keyboard player with a lot of energy in his fingers and life in his eyes said assuredly, "We'll be back, we'll be back." 

The part the organizers and emcee Tammi Dahl hates about the Taste of Talent vocal competition is when someone is eliminated from the competition. Reji Exley was the first victim of not enough votes at last night's event in Bandstand Park.

The competition now moves on to just nine competitors with another being eliminated next week. 

​Below are more images from last night and a link to all images saved from weeks one and two

The show opened Wednesday with a visit from the cast of "Something Rotten" which opens tomorrow night at the Barrow-Civic Theatre.

How to enter:
1. Must be following @barrowcivictheatre on Facebook.
 2. Like this photo of the ad on that page
3. Tag who you want to bring along with you in comments.

Sharing also helps.

The contest begins now and ends tomorrow at 9 am. The winner will be randomly selected tomorrow morning and will be notified via direct message.

Tickets $14 – $20. The show runs July 8, 9, 15, 16 at 7:30 p.m. and July 10, 17 at 2p.m.

For tickets: Call 814-437-3440 | 10a-4p | M-F or go online ticket  at
https://barrowtheatre.org/event/something-rotten/all/

​“Something Rotten!” is rated PG13.

​See more photos at: https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p871478933

Franklin finished off its weeklong celebration with their Thunder over Franklin fireworks display over the Allegheny. Many watched from Riverfront Park where the music and food trucks entertained before the fireworks got started after dark.

​More photos coming later.

Every July 2 the Cranberry Mall parking lot that seems to giving the moon a run for its money on the number of craters each has, gets filled with folks, fireworks and a mini-carnival with rides and bouncy houses for the kids.

Saturday was no exception, crowds began gathering early in evening all around Cranberry to get a view of the fireworks display once it gets dark.

A tailgating atmosphere is established early with folks bringing their own fireworks to get things started early.

Families with little ones ventured over to to the sectioned off carnival area with several activities. Food vendors were also set up and a band played on one side and a radio blasted on the other side.

Across the street in the other plaza where Walmart is many many others set up their chairs for the best views they could get. 

I once introduced a photographer as a professional photographer who is also a hobbyist photographer. The photographer didn't quite get what I was saying, or try to say, with those words.

As I struggle to make a living doing what I love I think about this a lot. For some photography is life. It's not something we turn on and off. We live and breathe it so when I think of my "professional" photographs they are ones that are done for a purpose beyond just the enjoyment of making a photograph.

​But sometimes, I like to just simply make photographs for only the sheer pleasure of it.

The funny thing is, even in my "professional" work, I find incredible joy in making the images, really crafting the compositions and being aware of the best way to capture a moment or story when it happens.

I have been having discussions with photographers lately and been mulling over creating an advanced storytelling workshop designed to help photographers up their results from consistently good photographs to consistently special moments captured.

My friend Greg Knox at Bright Ideas Learning is already teaching a solid introductory class on how to use photography basics to improve ones use of the camera. This would be for those who are comfortable with their equipment and know how to expose and capture action already. More focussed on how to see and compose for telling a story and then using all that knowledge from Greg to take your pictures to that next level.

I guess I need to sit down to work up a curriculum with some assignments and see who might be interested.

​But for today I needed a breather and have fun with my hobby.