Last night we were among a select group of people invited to watch the final dress rehearsal of “Space Cadets.”

Attending dress rehearsals isn’t something new for us. We enjoy an ongoing partnership with the Barrow-Civic Theatre. This has afforded us the opportunity to get sneak peaks for several productions throughout the years since Eight & 322 was founded. 

Last night was a little different.  
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Last night was the first time an audience watched “Space Cadets,” a one-act youth theatre musical written by locals Emilee Weaver (script) and Aoife Salusky (music).
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Writing is hard work.

It is more than just sitting down and punching out some words into the computer or jjotting some sentences down on paper.

It takes imagination.

It takes invention.

It takes a little of yourself.

​It takes guts. 
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Sharing that writing with others takes courage to another level. It is opening yourself up to feedback that can lift you up or slam you down.
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Does the plot make sense? Will others find the jokes funny? Are the lines cohesive? Is there value in what has been written?

Now take that courage and push it further by asking others to interpret your words in action, on a stage.

​You have to trust others to see between the lines to find the intent.

Their interpretation, their understanding will become the audience’s interpretation and understanding.

It's trusting others to understand your soul.

​What if it differs from what you envisioned?

Will it be better?

What if it is worse? 

And did we mention that everyone involved is very young, mostly teenagers?

Congratulations to the cast and crew of Space Cadet on a sold out run at the Barrow Little Theatre.

​More importantly, congratulations to Weaver and Salusky for having the courage to write, the courage to share, and the courage to put their heart and soul out on display for us to share in their creative journey.

​To share in their courage.

The holidays have arrived. And it seems not a moment too soon. 

With Thanksgiving being on the later end of the calendar this year and the weather being unseasonably warm, it seems like the holidays hadn't really hit yet.

But boy, did it ever come in with a bang on Saturday in Franklin. 

The rainy forecast didn't put a damper on the schedule's earliest events at the Barrow-Civic Theatre.

The kiddos did a great job of spreading cheer both through their performances on the stage as part of the youth theatre and with Holey Jeans later in the Christmas tree filled lobby. 
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Over at the First Presbyterian Church, teens from all four Venango public high schools put on a choir concert worthy of the sanctuary full of folks gathered to hear them. 

Along Liberty Street, with crowds gathering for a parade, songs rang out from the judge's stand. 

These musical preludes really set the stage for one of Franklin's most memorable Electric Light parades.

More than 70 "Songs of the Season" entries, some from as far away as Warren and Grove City, demonstrated how this event has become a regional destination for holiday celebrating.

​Many of the larger floats were full of creativity, craftsmanship and merriment that left watchers astonished and delighted. 

The tree lighting, despite the premature lighting mix-up the weekend earlier, still carried a moment of magic as hundreds of voices joined together to countdown from 10. 

And the fireworks that followed were perhaps the greatest show ever done for Franklin's holiday kick off. 
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The cheers that went off as the final firework faded above Fountain Park really echoed between the Liberty Street buildings reinforcing the appreciation thousands were feeling Saturday night.

All that was missing was a little snow, but there's lots of time for that this winter. And plenty of time to visit downtown to make some memories.

The Franklin Fine Arts Council and the City of Franklin have planned their usual Light-Up Night for next Friday, November 23 that will include Santa, songs, the parade with a twist, the lighting of the tree and one of the best firework's displays the area experiences.

This year, Santa will arrive in a different ride than the traditional firetruck, according to Fine Arts Council president Pat Dolecki who said it's a secret, but there will be bells and an olde-timey feel.

​11 a.m. to 3 p.m., Cookie Walk at the Franklin Public Library.

11 a.m. and 2 p.m., The Great North Pole Bake-Off youth theatre, Barrow-Civic Theatre.

11 a.m. to 9 p.m., Christmas Tree Extravaganza, Barrow-Civic Theatre.
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3:30 p.m., Venango County chorus festival concert, First Presbyterian Church.

4 to 9 p.m. Food vendors on 12th Street.

4 p.m., HOLeY Jeans concert, Barrow-Civic Theatre lobby.

Schools represented were:

• Oil City 
  
• Franklin 
• Titusville 
  
• Keystone 
• ​Lakeview
  
• Cambridge Springs
  
• Warren
  
• Conneaut Area
  
• Fort LeBoeuf
  
• Brockway
  
• West Middlesex
  
• Sharpsville

“I’m not going to let people forget about him. Not only was he mayor, he gave so much to the community,” Alex Zinz said about Charlie McDaniel, the late Sugarcreek mayor.
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On September 9, 2023 McDaniel, a Marine Corps veteran, took his own life at age 50.
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“It sucks to say, but I don’t want anyone to forget how he died --
because mental illness is huge. There are so many people you don’t know are suffering. I mean we were his best friends and we had no idea,” Zinz said.

Zinz, who considered McDaniel a second father, decided to honor him by raising money to help others who may need it. 

To do so, the 2023 Rocky Grove graduate turned to an area of expertise - sports.  Zinz, a member of the Point Park University golf team, organized a scramble at Mt. Hope Golf Course. He hoped to raise about $3,000 for two groups, the Franklin Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Marine Corp League. Both groups that help veterans in need.

To his surprise, 144 golfers signed up and through the scramble, raffles and other donations he raised $8,000 to be split evenly between the organizations.
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Zinz isn’t stopping there. He plans to make it an annual event and is looking into other organizations that help veterans and ad work to prevent to veteran suicides.

As the rains came down, the scores went up at the Pennsylvania Stone Skipping Championship Saturday afternoon in Riverfront Park, Franklin.

Keisuke "Firefly" Hashimoto of Japan captured the trophy with a toss of 43 skips. It is the second title for Hashimoto, who also won the championship in 2018. 

Hashimoto was among the competitors who struggled early in the contest when the summer breeze caused continual ripples across the confluence of French Creek and the Allegheny River. He threw a 17, 18, 15 and 4 through the first two rounds. 

By the start of the third round, the skies had opened up and the rains started falling, at times quite heavy. To fans, it seemed skippers were rejuvenated by the rain. This included Hashimoto, who threw a 43 and a 28 in his final turn. 

He was one of eight of the 24 professional skippers who threw their only 30 plus toss of the day while standing in the pouring rain at that edge of the river.

Father and son duo Brian and Alex Ferry of Warren each tossed a 37 in their final turns. Alex Lewis of Stirling, Scotland, who started the contest with a kerplunk, skipped a 36 in the storm. Also slinging 30 plus skips in the rain were Ryotara Kimono of Japan with 31; Jon "Green Giant" Jennings of Louisville, Kentucky with 32; Aiden Woosley of Buffalo, New York with 33; David "Spiderman" Ohmer of Erie with 34; Connor Transky of Columbus, Ohio with 36; and Drew "The Canadian" Quayle of Hamilton, Ontario with 40.

Quayle's toss, his last of the day, was good enough to take second in the championship and beat last year's winner, Andy "Big Rock" Severns of Tidioute, who placed third with a two 38-skip tosses.

Severns was the day's most consisted thrower, accumulating 195 skips to win the special honor for the highest total score. Honorable mention in this category went to Kyle Graff of Soquel, California, who had four of his six tosses skip at least 30 times for a total of 170. Kimono was third in the accumulative contest with 168 skips. 

Noteworthy: The professional competition had 24 throwers representing eight states and five countries. There were only two Franklin locals in the mix, Nate Beggs and Greg Winger. 

Franklin is on the stone skipping map because of the late Russ Byars, who at one time held the Guinness Book of World Record for the amount of skips and brought recognition to the competitive sport with being featured on television news programs and a documentary.