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Franklin still accepting Light Up Night parade entries

10/31/2022

The City of Franklin is hoping to look for additional holiday enthusiasts to help brighten up the seasonal kickoff as participants in the annual Light-Up Night parade.

This year’s theme is “Feel the Love of Christmas.” Let the love of Christmas fill your heart! Decorate your float with anything that brings love and joy to your heart at Christmastime.

The parage will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday, November 19. Line-up for vehicles will be 5 p.m. and for walkers at 5:30 p.m.

Prizes will be given to the top three entries in each division. First place is $200, second is $125 and third is $100. The divisions are Churches and Schools; Business, Industry, Retail Division; Service Organizations (Non Profits, Clubs, etc.); Miscellaneous; Decorated Vehicles and/or Walkers. There will also be a $300 prize for the entry with the brightest lights and most sparkle.

Registration packets are available on the city’s website.

PLEASE NOTE: The parade highlight is Santa Claus on Tower 9 at the end. Please refrain from using Santa on your float so the children are not confused.

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Sobina named new ORA VP

10/26/2022

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Debra Sobina has been named the new executive Vice President of the Oil Region Alliance replacing long-time VP Daniel Twombly who has retired.
Twombly officially retired September 30 after 17 years where he oversaw the finances and managing the long-term project of rehabilitating the Downs Building in Oil City.
Twombly said he began his career at Pennzoil and has been trying to help preserve the history of the oil region with his work at the ORA. “For the past 17 years I’ve been privileged to manage the finances of this organization," Twombly said in the press release.
ORA president and CEO John Phillips said "...e wish him all the best in this next phase of his life and thank him for his 17 years of dedicated service to the ORA.” Phillips noted that Twombly's expertise and friendship will be missed but is confident in Sobina's abilities as she takes over
Sobina was a founding board member when the ORA was formed in 2005 through the merger of the Venango Economic Development Corporation, Oil Heritage Region, Inc., Oil Heritage Region Tourist Promotion Agency, and Oil City Community Development Corporation.
She has served numerous terms on the board and worked closely with Twombly as treasurer on financial reports.
“I am so genuinely happy to return to work in Venango County and the Oil Region National Heritage Area, and pledge my best efforts to the board, staff and members of the Oil Region Alliance, and to all the constituents of the Oil Region,” Sobina said in the release.
Sobina’s experience in clues years in the banking industry as well as administrative and academic positions at Clarion University.
Sobina can be reached at dsobina@oilregion.org and 814.677.3152 x 109.

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Two Mile Run Halloween event draws 1,000s

10/22/2022

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Two Mile Run County Park was overrun with ghosts and pumpkins, princesses and superheroes, cats and clowns, and lots and lots of candy Friday during its first Halloween celebration.

"It was a good time... It was exciting," said park manager Luke Kauffman. He estimates more than 3,000 people attended the three-hour, multifaceted event.

"We've talked about doing it for a while," he said. COVID and other factors held up the idea for a few years, then a little over a month ago, Kauffman and crew decided to give it a go. They put out a call for groups and businesses to participate in the trunk or treat activities and it grew from there.

While the park hosted the event, it took several groups to pull everything together. Oil Valley Jeeps helped with the 5K fun run. Eight Jeeps were set up through the wooden trail offering light and a little haunting to "spook things up," Kauffman said.

Cooperstown Volunteer Fire Department added some spookiness of its own. The group set up a mini haunted house in the basement of the park office, which was a huge hit will visitors. "The line for that was ridiculous," Kauffman said. "They stayed until close to 9:30 p.m. to get everyone through."

More than 30 businesses and groups set up trick-or-treating stations in the office parking lot and handed out candy to more than 1,000 kids. Many of the stations included elaborate, themed decorations. "Some people showed by at 3 p.m. to start setting up," Kauffman said.

While many of the attendees were interested in the candy, sometimes waiting in line for 45 minutes, others just wanted to be part of the fun. "A lot of people... just came to hang with us," Kauffman said. He also noted that community members also showed up just to donate candy for the kids.

The event also included pumpkin painting, autumn-inspired treats, including caramel apples by Danielle Benson of Homegrown Kitchen, a Halloween movie and a s'more station.

The variety of activities helped keep the crowd entertained.

"I was expecting a couple hundred kids," Kauffman said of his early plans. The closer the organizers got to the event, the more it became evident the interest was much higher. "I called some of the vendors and asked if they could bring more candy (than previous requests," he said.

Shortly after 5 p.m., almost an hour before the official start, the cars began arriving. "At one point, we had cars backed up to Pioneer Flats," Kauffman said. "We had over a thousand cars here last night. It was nuts, the cars just kept coming." The Oakland Volunteer Fire Department assisted with handling the parking to keep things moving along as much as possible.

By the end of the night, most of the treats were gone and all the candy had been handed out, and despite, the wait at times, visitors clearly had a good time.

"Everyone had a smile on their face all night," Kauffman said. "That was the best part of me."

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Veteran suicide awareness has helped, according to the VA

10/15/2022

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Shane Carry walking laps around the parks in Franklin last year in the first Ruck Walk in honor of his son and all veterans who commit suicide.

Suicide among veterans and active duty personnel have been over 6,000 a year since 2002. A local father has had to deal with this reality face to face as his son was one of those 6,000. And he is not sitting back hoping something is done to bring awareness, he is putting the issue in front of our eyes each year,

Shane Carey's son Tyler, a Franklin High School graduate, committed suicide while serving in the United Staes Marine Corps. Since then Carey, and his family has been dedicated to spreading awareness to the overwhelming number of veteran and active service veteran suicides - around 22 each day.

This number may seem staggering and almost unbelievable, but a report after report shows that suicide among American veterans and active duty personal are almost four-times greater than that of Americans killed in combat worldwide.

Carey, since his sons death, has made it his personal mission to increase awareness to this epidemic.

Carey carries hi own sons memorial marker to be placed at St. Patrick's Cemetery where his son was buried.

Next weekend he and others are holding a two day event to not only increase awareness, but to help raise funds to combat what is happening to service members and veterans. A Ruck/Walk with laps around Franklins downtown parks that is supposed to encompass 22 miles on Saturday, for one suicide death each day. On Sunday they ride hoping to attract the attention of even ore folks.

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'This is the town coming together'

10/4/2022

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Applefest relies on volunteers to pull off annual celebration

(The following was provided by the Franklin Area Chamber of Commerce, organizer of Applefest.)

Applefest is known for a lot of things – arts, crafts and food as well as the Friday pancake breakfast, the Saturday foot race and the Sunday car show.

But perhaps its most notable attribute is its display of community.
“This is the town coming together,” said Jim Williams, the chairperson of the Applefest CORE committee – the planners of the three-day event.

He is among the long-timers in the group and has served as the chairperson for about 30 years, so he knows a thing or two about planning a large festival. He says successful, large-scale festivals have “two ingredients that are absolutely essential” – a good, working relationship with the city and a “deep bench” of volunteers.

For Applefest that means hundreds of hands are needed to pull off all the different aspects of the festival from the dedicated planning committee to the volunteers who shine the free apples available at the gazebo. “This little town really gears up to put on this big show,” he said.

Without fail and sometimes without reminder, volunteers start showing up at the chamber Wednesday morning before the festival starts and “instantly stuff starts coming out of the basement,” Williams said. “Everyone kind of gets coffeed up and off we go.”

(Picture by Valley Grove School District)

That first wave of volunteers handles marking the park and setting up the traffic control with the help of the city police force. But they are just the beginning of the helping hands involved in each year’s Applefest. Students from the Venango Technology Center pay an annual visit to the parks with teacher Tim Lyons to assist Steve Holtz in getting the numerous electrical boxes ready for use. Chris Taylor and volunteers from Oil Region Recovery will be assisting vendors on Thursday.

When the festival starts, the volunteers are fully in action. Williams estimates it takes 30 to 40 people each for the apple pancake breakfast and the pie tent, along with 20 to 30 for the information booth, and 15-20 to set up, maintain and tear down the park.
Then there is the car show.

“Getting all those cars into town and getting them parked… so they can get out again… it takes volunteers with experience,” Williams noted.

Accumulating such a devoted crew of helpers came over time and with the help of the organizers of the smaller events within the festival. As different activities were added to the festival over time, different committee members stepped up to lead them. “We individually started recruiting friends and kindred spirits as needed,” Williams said.

And those directly involved with the festival planning and execution are only the start of the overall volunteer headcount as far as Williams is concerned.

“Many of the vendors and booths scattered in the parks are non-profit organizations… staffed by volunteers,” he said, noting that there is an entire section of the festival map specific to those groups. “We call it non-profit row,” he said in reference to the area of Fountain Park that runs parallel to 12th Street. “This is a huge volunteer effort.”

The historical tours offered throughout the long weekend are all led by volunteers and many of the fundraising activities taking place throughout the city rely on those with a mind for service.

While many of the volunteers can be found doing the same jobs and tasks year after year, the festival is always looking for new ways to collaborate with the community as well. For first the time a contingent of Rocky Grove High School students will be counted among those aiding with setup.

Last year teacher Beth Proper and guidance counselor Tracy McBride were trying to find community service possibilities for the school’s sophomores and juniors to do during the newly establish RG Gives Back Day.

“We had the (Franklin) Chamber of Commerce listed and when looking at dates for the event it aligned perfectly with Applefest,” McBride said. “Beth contacted (chamber director) Jodi (Lewis) and asked if she would be in need of and receptive to having student volunteers on October 6 to help with set-up for Applefest. She was and thus that connection was established.”

Williams said the teens will work with vendors to unload their tents, tables and merchandise, and deliver everything to their sales spots. This will be extremely helpful because it will mean the vendors can get off the road faster and lessen traffic delays and hang-ups.

Beyond simply logging some of their required service hours, the school is hopeful the experience will give the students greater knowledge of teamwork and how their community functions. “We hope it provides them with a better understanding of all that is involved in such a large event. Most have attended the event but how many truly know what goes on to put it into action? Setting up is just one small part of "behind the scenes" but we believe it will give them a great experience,” McBride said.

That collaboration highlights the importance Lewis plays in pulling all the volunteers together into a cohesive event. “The volunteers sew all the pieces together, but she brings all the pieces (to the table),” Williams said.

Set up is well on the way

A funny little thing happened Thursday during set up - more than a couple thousand apple dumplings had to make their way to a tent inside of Fountain Park. But they were all individually packaged and not put in larger boxes. So thanks to an abundance of volunteers and some quick thinking, they formed an old-fashioned bucket brigade style line to hand them down one by one. Miles of walking were saved to get the dumplings ready for purchase by the Chamber volunteers this weekend.

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