The Franklin Public Library has developed quite a checklist of goals for area teens – learn lifelong skills, explore job options and create connections within the community. Fortunately for the youth, the Adulting 101 program covers all three.

One of the newest additions to the library’s offering, Adulting 101 branches out from the walls of the 12th Street building and into the surrounding businesses and community organizations. And it offers any age 12 to 18 the opportunity to explore and learn along the way.

“The overall goal is to equip teens with a wide array of life skills to take with them into their adult lives while also introducing them to different career options and building relationships between the teens and their community,” said Diadre Green, teen services coordinator for Oil Region Library Association.

She developed the program and its curriculum to touch on an array of topics covered that can be paired with trade career possibilities. The program will offer a mix of workshops, hands-on activities, local field visits and expert instruction all under the umbrella of a common theme specific to the month.

As an example of what the program will offer, Green explained the three sessions planned for March, which has the theme Cooking Essentials. “The first workshop will be a presentation put on by Bethany from Kontaxes Nutrition on March 10 at the library,” she said. “The following day will be a hands-on workshop about grocery store and cooking skills held at the library and also Sanders Market, and the third workshop for the month will be held at Benjamin's Roadhouse so the teens can tour the restaurant.”

Themes for the remainder of the year include the following:

• April – Mending & Caring for Clothing
• May – Car Maintenance
• June – Knowing Your Body & Communication (Learning about vitals, CPR, and the correct way to communicate with your peers)
• July – Budgeting & Handling Money
• August – Lawn Care & Power Tool Safety
• September – Connecting to the Arts & Your Community
• October – IT & Technology
• November – Electricity & Plumbing
• December – Safety

To determine the themes, she researched similar programs at other libraries, reached out to coworkers and talked with community members. Green believes one of the things that will make the program strong is how it can be adapted month to month to reflect the overall theme, so the types of activities, speakers or field visits can vary.

“Also because we are tying in careers with each theme, we are trying to have at least one workshop a month where the teens actually go to a place of business to see what it's like to work in that establishment,” she said.

Allegheny professor James Niblock is this year's guest conductor for the PMEA Region II Chorus Festival at Meadville Area Jr/Sr High School auditorium.

"It is going amazingly well," said Niblock during a break in rehearsals Thursday afternoon. Forty-eight schools are represented in the ​RegionaI Il chorus made up of the qualifiers from their respective districts.

Of the 160 singers, only four from each section were selected to move on to the all-state chorus. In Venango County, only Cranberry's Devin Dulaney was selected as a bass 1. His teacher Preston Yoder said it will be his first time taking a student to the state competition. His student Trevor Gladin qualified in 2020, but because of COVID they didn't get to experience the in-person state chorus. 

Dulaney will join singers from all over the state in the Poconos beginning April 19. The four-day festival will be held at the Kalahari Resort near Mt. Pocono.

​"It is very difficult," said Hoover about advancing to states. Along with Swartz, she had three other district qualifiers at regionals. Senior Logan Boyle earned the seventh chair. "The students represented Rocky Gove very well," she added. "Every kid here is very talented."

"It is very tough competition," added Franklin's director Sarah Gilbert. She boasted that three of her sopranos made it to regions. That is a high number in a very competitive field. "That is pretty cool," Hoover chimed in.

Oil City also had four regional qualifiers who will perform with the rest Friday at 7 p.m. in the MASH auditorium. 

Titusville teacher Andrea Fenske brought seven singers to regionals. Junior Alexis Banner was chosen as one of the top four alto 2s and will head to states along with Dulaney. ​

Meadville's Cooper Breckenridge made his instructor Molly Moyer very happy advancing as a tenor 2.

Conneaut Area will send two singers, Pasquale Mattera, a bass 1, and Katie Gillette, an alto 2, along with their instructor Elizabeth Heckman.

Cochranton did very well. Three singers to states - Spencer Freysinger, bass 1; Kyran Miller, alto 1; and Alison Merritt soprano 1 - will be headed to the Poconos for a lifetime experience.

Regional host instructor Molly Moyer said having this level of competition at Meadville High School is amazing. "It’s so rewarding hearing these kids sing," she said. "It's fun."

The performance of the regional chorus will be at 7 p.m. today at the Meadville High School auditorium. It is open to the public. Tickets are $6 for adults and $5 for senior citizens, military and students.

​Attendees are reminded that there are also district basketball games at the school tonight, so allow time to navigate parking.

The ORB company was formed in 2009 by Deb Femovich to "provide greater options for dancers with the skill level to perform on a pre-professional level and pair them with professional dancers in an environment of support and discipline," according to the group's website.
​
Two dancers in this year's performance exemplify this goal while overcoming some obstacles that could've prevented them from ever dancing again.

​Coincidently another dancer in the troupe had to deal with issues involving surgery on his brain. Brian Murphy is a professional dancer from Akron, Ohio who has come to be a regular part of the ORB family.

​Murphy suffered a traumatic brain injury from a bicycle accident. His road to recovery was also fast taking into account that soon after his accident he stopped breathing. He credits the science of medicine, his doctors and the science of dance for his recovery. While recovering in the hospital he was up and dancing as part of his own therapy. "Deb never gave up on me; they have trusted me," he said of his return this year to ORB. "I just love the concept of (ORB)," he said.

Other cast members include Bellina Devine, Caleb Waybright, Christopher Warner, Elijah Stewart, Kyran Miller, Justus Lind, Audrey Frazier, Cole Devine, Sylvia Cagle, Kennedy Dawson, Lillian Devine, Josie Stout, Rachel Brunot, Lucy Murphy, Madolyn Williams, Londyn Fink, Marley Plowman, Addison Murphy, Maryan See, Abigail Williams, Lissa Murphy, Maddi Phillips and Molly Carswell.

Below are a few more photos from a recent rehearsal at the former Studio 22 building in Franklin.

Learn more about the Oil Region Ballet at https://www.oilregionballet.org.

The Venango Area Chamber of Commerce got a chance to say thank you to its members and recognize a few of the difference makers in the area.

The Oil Region Library Association was named the Partner in Business of the Year by the chamber. It was one of four awards given out during the chamber's annual dinner Wednesday night at Cross Creek Resort.

"We are beyond fortunate to have this organization," chamber president Susan Williams said about the library. 

ORLA was chosen for the honor based on its commitment to engage local communities and enhance literacy. This includes modernizing of the way people can use its services and expanding well beyond book loaning. ​

Business of the Year

Klapec Trucking Company was named the Business of the Year by the chamber Wednesday evening as well. Greg Lander accepted the award on behalf of the family business, which was started by his grandfather Bert Klapec in 1949 and expanded under the guidance of his mother, Cindy Urban.  

​"If you haven't seen them in our community, you aren't driving our roads," Williams said. 

"They genuinely care about their employees," Chris Loll said of Klapec.  "They want to see their employees grow cause it helps the business grow." 

Lander gave examples of how the company has grown from one truck to a fleet of dozens and a staff that includes drivers with 32 years or approximately 4 million miles of safe driving.

"Our team is what makes Klapec Trucking," he said. "... we know that the best is yet to come."

Jones was acknowledged as the chamber’s Citizen of the Year at the annual awards banquet Wednesday night at Cross Creek Resort. 

“I was humbled that my community service was noticed enough… to win this award,” Jones said as she addressed the large crowd. 

“She carries herself with grace and class that I admire,” said former Venango County commissioner Bob Murray.  “She is one of the best people I know.”

​Murray nominated Jones for the award after working alongside of her in county government and more recently with the Northwest Hospital Foundation. He offered his comments as part of a video presentation about Jones made for the evening.

Morrison was surprised by the honor, but not shy about sharing how long she has been rooting for the Orioles. "I started here watching the games in '49 when I was just in tenth grade," she said. If you are doing the math, that's heavy on the plus side of the "50 plus" years Mulholland mentioned. In fact, it is 74 years since the 89-year-old watched her first game at Rocky Grove. ​

"I missed a few years and things because of raising my children (but) I've been here most all these years," she said. "It seems like forever in my life."

She said she tells players now that she watched their parents and grandparents play. And she has watched  her own children and grandchildren too.

Venango County commissioner Mike Dulaney said Wednesday that he will not seek reelection. In a letter he expressed personal reasons and his own political philosophies for his decision. "This was never meant to be a career path for me, it's always been about public service," he said Wednesday afternoon.  "When
the year is up and my term concludes, I will have been in an elected seat for nearly half of my
professional life. With that said, I do not choose to run again," he wrote.

​Prior to being elected commissioner in 2019, the 35-year-old Dulaney served a Franklin City Councilman. He also served many years as the Franklin Area Chamber of Commerce assistant director.

Dulaney said he is a believer in term limits and ran on not serving more than two terms as commissioner, but felt given where the county is currently, this is a time to step back. "The county is in the best shape it has been in for some time. The wages have been lifted to a more livable income; the infrastructure has been updated; the savings account is full; and the taxes kept level," he said.

When he, Sam Breene and Chip Abramovic were sworn in in 2020 the news of the pandemic was just starting to hit America. Within a couple months the state was forcing shutdowns. Dulaney isn't shy saying he disagrees with how it was handled regarding the delineation of essential and non-essential businesses.
"What the state governments failed to realize was that all jobs are essential from the employees' perspective. It was for that reason that I advocated for the distribution of our CARES Act money to those who were shutdown and deemed "too small" for federal assistance. This quick response enabled some of our small businesses to avoid an untimely closure."

That was just one thing he felt county government stepped up to the plate on in the last three years.

"As I look back on the accomplishments of my term, I know I've implemented some lasting changes. 2022 saw the start of the Venango County Infrastructure Bank, a program to help municipalities acquire funds for vitally necessary but exceedingly expensive infrastructure projects," he wrote in his letter. "Venango County started its first 911 Advisory Board, which enabled members from various emergency service agencies to have a say in the operation of 911 and Emergency Management Center. The county is also in the middle of upgrading the 911 radio system. These updates will not only provide a clearer quality of sound but also increase the coverage and efficacy of the signal."

Dulaney said improving emergency response services and increasing broadband upgrades will likely be a priority of the next four years for the commissioners. He favors moving all of the 911 services to the old Oil City Armory near the Hasson Heights swimming pool. For a $1, the county could purchase the property then have all their emergency operations and equipment at one location, according to Dulaney. 

​But he is leaving that job for the next body of commissioners.

"I'm forever grateful for the opportunity to serve you all these last seven years as councilman and commissioner. In the words of Benjamin Franklin, 'In free governments, the rulers are the servants, and the people their superiors . . . . For the former to return among the latter does not degrade, but promote them.' While I will miss the service and the people I've worked with, I look forward to my promotion to private life."

He isn't sure what is in his future after January 2024 looks like. He joked about the cold not really being for him, but gave no indication on moving. "Maybe if I get a job that let's me afford two homes," he joked, adding that perhaps he was always meant to be a snowbird living here in the warm weather and in the south when fall and winter hit northwest Pennsylvania. "Wherever life takes me, Venango County and it's residents will always have a cherished place in my heart."

While Mike Dulaney has announced he will not seek relection for Venango County commissioner, his counter parts, Sam Breene (R) and Albert "Chip" Abramovic (D) had both indicated they will. Franklin businessman Mathew Beith (D) announced his candidacy last month. The Derrick reported that Jim Speth (R), who is serves as president of Sugarcreek Borough Council, is also running in the primiaries.

Click here for our intial story on the Venango County Commissioner race. The primary election will be held May 16. 

Hundreds of people hit the beach on Saturday, many to watch. The terms used by Luke Kauffman, director of Two Mile Run County Park, were "bears" and "chickens" for those who registered for the annual event. It's not hard to decipher what that means, but those who registered for the icy plunge were dubbed "bears," while those who donated money by registering but decided to remain warm-ish and dry were called "chickens."

Kauffman said that just under 200 people registered for the plunge, bringing in somewhere around $ 5,000 to the park for use during its many activities throughout the year.

​Sometimes it pays to be crazy.

Downtown Franklin may not have been quite so crazy, but it too was frigid. The many shops and restaurants offering a warm respite from the cold were comfortable bookends for viewing the many ice sculptures in Fountain Park. The 27th annual Franklin on Ice festival brought hundreds of people into Franklin throughout the course of the day and evening to view the artistry of the DiMartino Ice Company sculptors. The cold weather was perfect for their creations to stay exactly as they intended them to be viewed. 

Sadly, the weather is expected warm considerably with rain in the immediate forecast. This means the winter cultural wonderland will likely only be a weekend long event this year.

Below are more photos that prove Franklin's motto of being always eventful. 

What's a trick to carving ice in the snow - layers. Lots of layers. 

On Friday, members of the DiMartino Ice Company of Jeannette braved the low temperatures and windy conditions to create the final three sculptures for Franklin on Ice. The cold weather was good for carving but hard on the body. It required, according to one worker, lots of layers of clothing. His list was at least 10 items long and that didn't include anything to shield his face from the bitter cold. 

Layers were also a must for the Franklin Fine Arts Council volunteers in the park putting up sponsorship signs. Besides that, Fountain Park had few visitors Friday morning, despite the intrigue of a sneak peek at this year's sculptures and the opportunities to watch some of the large ones go from stacked blocks to interactive pieces likely to be popular with tomorrow's festival crowds. ​

The ice sculptures are just one of the many things happening in Franklin tomorrow. The Franklin Public Library, Barrow-Civic Theatre, Two Mile Run County Park and many downtown businesses will be holding family-friendly events throughout the day. Find a detailed list of activities in our earlier preview article uned the News from You tab. ​

Bullying is nothing new. "Kids will be kids" attitudes toward teasing can shape how young people learn to trust others and develop their personalities when it is by becoming the aggressor, the victim or even the turn and look the other way type. We take these lessons into adulthood too whether we realize it or not. Often these "little things"  are how we act as leaders and or members of society.

The stereotypes happen because they perpetuate themselves over time and learned experiences. In recent years bullying in the form of racism has been brought to the attention of the Franklin School Board and administration. Several parents have spoken up at school board meetings and several community members took note.

A program in Erie several years ago brought volunteers from the community into Erie schools to be proactive. The initiative called the "Blue Coats" placed individuals in the hallways of schools to be eyes and more importantly ears on what was going on.