"This is live theater folks," Nick Hess said as he scurried across the stage to thank everyone who participated in the spring version of Red-Eye Theatre, a 24-hour experience where auditions precede writing of one act-ish plays that get created and performed the next night.

Everything from memorizing lines to blocking and props is done in chaotically beautiful choreography in order to put on a six-play show for an audience.

​Red-Eye Theatre is a testament to the Barrow-Civic's commitment to community theatre and development. This year they had a 7-year-old cast member. This youngster got a chance to work with seasoned actors and others who, like her, are getting their feet wet. 

Hess said this cycle's cast was the biggest yet - 46 - in the history of the five-year, twice-a-year program. He estimated that it took nearly 70 people to make the 24-hour experience happen. Folks traveled from as far away as Bradford to participate. 

It's awesome for those involved and though not all the shows will make it to Broadway, no one ever gets to Broadway without going through processes very similar to this. Though it could be argued that there is nothing truly similar to this.

Click here to view more photos: ​https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p1071742902

This four-legged weapon of mass destruction (if you know me you know my cars are in a losing battle with these cute creatures of God) was casually eating some of my prized hosts when I pulled in the driveway the other day. So I calmly got my camera out a made a few pictures when I noted another furry critter in the backyard. 
​That cat is a pretty good hunter I've noticed, but I think the deer is fine as long as it stays near the cat and doesn't get in my way when I head out down the road again.

Last year a reader of The Derrick, Darlene Suttle, sent a photo of a nearly white robin to the paper and they published it. Wednesday evening we were around the Venango County Courthouse listening to Oil City's Mitch Littler playing on the corner when this robin seemed to be flying around gathering insects to eat or feed a young one.

​It was a beautiful thing to witness, though other than the coloring or lack of typical pigmentation, it was no different than any other robin. Seems there is a lesson here.

Littler is bringing back his summer Good Vibes tour hoping to reach over 200 of these impromptu sidewalk shows. The lone troubadour posts his location on his Facebook page.

A leucistic albino robin isn't known to be too many places, but apparently, the Venango County Courthouse is a good place for this one - assuming it is the same one documented a year ago in the same spot.

When Sam Breene watched his sister go out on a date with Andrew Tabler more than 20 years ago, he had no idea that day would lead to hosting an ambassador from a country on the other side of the earth.

Tabler, a 1990 graduate of Oil City High School, has gone a long way from his days running around Oil City and visiting with the Breene family. "He has always stayed very close with us," Breene said of Tabler, who spoke fondly of Breene's mother Marty.

Tabler was in Turkey recently and mentioned he always wanted to visit Baku, the birthplace of oil in Azerbaijan. The city on the Caspian Sea almost due north of Tehran, Iran discovered a means of extracting oil around the same time as America did. Their Edwin Drake was Ivan Mirzoev. 

The early histories are very similar, though Baku is still producing large amounts of oil today.

When Tabler, who has done extensive work in the Middle East, returned to Washington, D.C. from his Baku trip, he talked with Khazar Ibrahim, the ambassador of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the United States, about his experiences. Ibrahim then wanted to visit Tabler's hometown to see the history of the oil industry in America. "We drilled first, but you set the price," Ibrahim joked as he met with several dignitaries, including the Venango County commissioners.

The ambassador spent the day touring the Drake Well Museum, meeting with students at Oil City High School, seeing where Standard Oil once conducted business, visiting the courthouse and Trails to Ales in Franklin. He met up with many of the regions movers and shakers including members of both area chamber of commerce and the Oil Region Alliance.

Ibrahim also met with Oil City Mayor Bill Moon, who presented him with the key to the city and several other Oil City mementos including a 150th-anniversary coin. Moon is hoping to establish sister city status with Baku. The tentative plan is to do proclamations when the ambassador returns for a proposed second visit this fall to see the fall foliage. "The ambassador will meet with his officials in Baku to confirm being sister cities with Oil City," Moon said. "Petty cool." 

Six years ago a little girl was in tears because her prized bottle of One Direction perfume was accidentally buried in the Sandycreek Elementary School sixth-grade time capsule. She had placed the aromatic prize on the table of items for the container, and Mrs. Amanda Walters didn't know it was left unintentionally.

When the former Sandycreek students from the Franklin Class of 2022 gathered behind the elementary school Tuesday to unearth the capsule, the perfume incident was the talk of many students and parents. One of the first items found in the unearthed plastic container was the bottle of perfume intact still in the box. The owner, Halle Plowman, lifted it and sprayed it into the air in more than one direction so everyone could get a whiff of One Direction and remember the once-popular boy band.

Apparently, some of Plowman's tastes have changed. "It smells quite bad," she admitted now. "But I still love the band."

Mrs. Walters, who is now Amanda Heller, was the teacher in Sandycreek who organized the class time capsule back in 2016. Her son Scott was also a sixth-grader that year.

Heller said she had almost forgotten about it, but was able to get the word out to the seniors that they were going to dig it up Tuesday if anyone wanted to come.

Then they went outside to try to locate the buried treasure. Heller knew approximately where it was but it took a little searching and several boys and girls taking turns with the shovel to unearth it. Sadly, the items were soaked. Though care was taken to put items in plastic bags and taped, six years of northwestern Pennsylvania weather cause a fair amount of seepage. Not everything was ruined, Plowman's perfume bottle almost looked new and still sprayed, but papers were soaked and mushed together.

"Gangnam style, Emojis, Bae, Peppa pig, Little Einstein song, OMG and LOL, the iPhone 6 came out...." Heller read through the list of about 100 items for the time the capsule was created.
​
Some of the items seemed to delight the seniors and some made them roll their eyes.

Hittle was looking over his wilted paper, "It said 'describe your perfect meal' and I wrote one word and one word only - Arbys. He also put in an Imagine Dragons CD.

Skylar Shields, who is the senior class president, read her prediction of who she will be when she is a senior. "I will still be as picky." Her mother Tammy shook her head,  "well that’s true." Skylar retorted "well I’m not as picky." 

Franklin Area School Board publicly voted unanimously at Monday's formal business meeting to hire Dr, Eugene Thomas as the district's new superintendent. 

"Welcome to the Knight's family," board president Sabrina Backer said after the vote. She asked if Dr. Thomas, who prefers to be called Geno, had any remarks.

"Yes I do, thank you. I'll always have an open door," he said as he addressed those in attendance. He thanked the board for their support and the crowd for attending.

Thomas attended the meeting with his wife Lisa and daughter Gianna. Prior to the meeting Thomas talked with some of the district's staff. He also painted some of the Franklin art department mural that will be hung on the side of the Barrow-Civic Theatre.

While the vote from the board was unanimous, there were some in the crowd who preferred another choice. During the public participation, Jessie Reavis asked the board to consider a candidate more familiar with the school and its students. She praised acting superintendent Tom Holoman as an excellent choice. "No external candidate can know what we need."

Board member Misty Naleppa later thanked Reavis for her comments adding that Holoman is important to this district.

Backer said the Pennsylvania School Board Association provides the district with vetted candidates that they can interview. She wouldn't comment on who or how many candidates they looked at, but said Thomas rose to the top. "His credentials, his background, his experience," she listed as the reasons. "He's been at all different size schools."

"Every district I've been at has been a positive experience," Thomas said after the meeting. "Right now I'm in a position in my life I can choose where I want to be. This place is the place I want to retire from."

Thomas is currently the superintendent at Lowellville Public Schools in Ohio. Late last year, he told the Lowellville school about his intentions to seek a new position as his contract is set to expire on July 31. 

On Monday night, he said he will start as soon as he can, but has to meet with his lawyer and school board to know if he'll be allowed to leave his position before his contract is officially up. "I want to make sure they're ready for the transition," he said about leaving the district of about 500 students. 

Backer said Holoman will remain the acting superintendent until Thomas is fully in place with Franklin.

She hopes Thomas will provide leadership to help the students and school excel. "I want him to be a strong leader that propels our district to be the best it can be."

​Thomas said he was impressed during the interviews that all the school board's questions were centered around the students and their needs. "I'm looking forward to becoming a Knight."

In other school business, the board approved the 2022-23 budget with no tax increase. The general fund budget anticipates revenues of $37,819,921 and expenditures of $39,035,587. The budget includes a final balance drawdown of $1,215,666. 

All other items were approved with the exception of two leave requests. The entire agenda can be found here.

​​The Franklin Area School Board is expected to vote Monday on naming Dr. Eugene "Geno Thomas as the new district superintendent.

The agenda, posted Friday, is crammed full of items from approval of extracurricular activity advisors and coaches to who they are hoping will lead the next chapter of the Franklin schools as superintendent after a few years of tumultuous times in the administration.

​To view the entire agenda or to see any school board agenda from the last year go online to
​sites.google.com/students.fasd.k12.pa.us/franklin-area-school-district/school-board/boe-agendas

The vacant Franklin Area School District music position that was facing elimination has been reposted for applicants.

The position opening came after the death of Victory Elementary's part-time music teacher earlier this year. At that time the district posted the job, but received no applicants.

​A little more than a week ago word got out that the administration was planning to staff the position with current music teachers who would split their duties to cover the needs at Victory.

That would effectively cut the .6 part-time position from the music program, which led to a bit of an uproar from parents and community members, mostly over social media.

​In the meantime, the superintendent position was in flux with acting super Pat Gavin stepping down for personal reasons and a new acting super being named at Monday's school board meeting. Tom Holoman was named to the position and took his seat at the table in time to hear several members of the public speak passionately about not cutting the music department position.

After the meeting, Holoman said he would look into the possibility of reposting the job upon hearing there could be interest from recent music teaching graduates. He and many members of the school board spoke highly of district's music program.

On Wednesday, Holoman released the letter on the district's website. It is publicly open to internal and external candidates with a note that internal interest would be considered first.

​Applicants must submit all required paperwork to the district office prior to 3:30 p.m. May 30.

Dogs were the clear landslide winner in Tuesday's most important election results, defeating cats nearly three to one.

Blue also defeated its closest color competitors two to one and pizza won a decisive victory in the Venango County Kid's Ballot race.

The most contested race of the day was between chocolate and vanilla ice cream. With only one vote separating the two, the automatic recount might have to be put in place, according to Venango County Director of Elections Sabrina Backer. (Or did she say that about the Oz/McCormick race?)

Perhaps if chocolate declared themself the winner things would be wrapped up by now, leaving vanilla to blame strawberry for not dropping out of the race and splitting the party. One write-in for mint-flavored ice cream seemed to indicate not every voter was happy with the choices.

NOTE: Backer said they were careful to have the Kids' Ballots purple and a different paper altogether from the regular ballots. "Even if they had been put through the machine, they would've been spit back out," she said.

Sandycreek Elementary School principal Tom Holoman was named acting superintendent of the Franklin Area School District, replacing Pat Gavin, who had been acting in the position since February.

The FASD board unanimously accepted Gavin's resignation, which was submitted Friday for personal reasons. Then immediately voted, again unanimously, to name Holoman to the position.

"Tom is a proven leader," said school board vice-president Andy Boland after Monday evening's work session. School board president Sabrina Backer had to leave the meeting early. Boland said Holoman has put several initiatives in place and has accomplished everything he set out to do. "He has earned the trust of the board," he said.

Franklin has been without a permanent superintendent since Mark Loucks abruptly left the position earlier this year. Holoman was approved to serve in the acting spot for up to a year or until a permanent candidate is appointed. 

Holoman, who also applied for the full-time superintendent position, said  "I will help the district in any way I can until a superintendent is hired. Franklin is a great community and I am honored to serve." He was unsure how his job as principal will be handled during this time as acting superintendent.

​One of the first actions he will have to address is what to do about the vacant music department position at  Victory Elementary. The possible elimination of the position caused a bit of a community uproar last week. Holoman said he supports the music program and will look into whether the job should be reposted or not.

Music was a major topic at Monday's meeting. The jazz band played prior to the meeting to warm-up and then by request when the board went into executive session. They then played a few songs during the meeting. Band director Steve Johnston showcased songs from the upcoming Jazz band performance scheduled for Wednesday. He also spoke about the diverse talents of the music program before pulling out Gracia Riddle from behind her saxophone to sing "Respect", made popular by Aretha Franklin. Johnston said he didn't realize how well Riddle sang until he heard her perform the song earlier this spring the the school's "Broadcast" show.

Then several parents got up to speak about the music program, urging the board and administration to look into keeping the part-time music position instead of dividing up the teachers' time between multiple schools.

"When you cut schedules bit by bit, you are wearing away the foundation of the program," said Brenda May to the board. "Franklin is unique. They stand out. Continue to stand out." She was among several parents who spoke in favor of the music program and keeping the position.

Boland reiterated after the meeting the decision is not for the board to make, but agreed the music program at Franklin is special. "They are the best band in the whole state, At football games the other schools give them (marching band) standing ovations," he said. 

​Though he hasn't really started his duties of acting superintendent, Holoman, who formerly served as principal at Victory Elementary School, said he appreciated everyone coming out to the meeting and will look into the options. "I value our music programs."

Other highlights from the meeting were Anna Emrick's eighth-grade English class presenting on their virtual tour of author Ernest Hemmingway's house and thanking the board for the opportunity. The student's expressed how it helped them better understand Hemmingway's classic "Old Man and the Sea."

A vote was taken to moving forward with $206,972 in roof repairs to Sandycreek Elementary School. Work will be done by Strongland Roofing Systems and the vote gets the project underway sooner than previously expected.

Other items discussed were

• The final general fund budget with anticipated revenues of $37,819,921, expenditures of $39,035,587, and a $1,215,666 fund balance drawdown with no tax increase;
  
• A recommendation to approve Metz Culinary Inc. to remain as the food service provider;
  
• The presentation of the graduating class list of 146 students; and
  
• A list of supplemental contracts for coaches, clubs and other positions for the 2022-23 school year.

The formal school board business meeting will be at 7 p.m. May 23 in the high school library.

Gus and Clem, members of the Nature of Things' gang, managed to get a hold of the same stick. Photo by Anna Applegate.

Check out Anna Applegate's column The Nature of Things for more.

Earlier this week Eight & 322 reported on a music teacher position in the Franklin Area School district that was not going to be filled in the 2022-2023 school year. As with many things shared via the World Wide Web, speculation and conjecture ran amuck.

According to one school board member, the situation is more about lack of applicants and trying to save the music program at Victory Elementary School. 

Franklin school board vice-president Andy Boland reached out to clarify a few things after reading and hearing comments that misrepresented how the decision was made by the administration - and some that implied that the administration was trying to cut the program all together.

It is not.

Boland indicated that the brouhaha over the social media posts last week was a source of frustration. "It was based on a lot of misinformation," he said adding that the efforts made to move staff to cover Victory was an effort to save the program at the school, not cut it.

​In February, Victory Elementary School music teacher Robyn Lohr passed away after a battle with cancer. The school board soon after posted the part-time job internally as well as externally, looking for a replacement.

​Meanwhile, the district teachers and administrators worked together to figure out schedules to cover Victory's music needs while they waited for the position to be filled.

"We posted the position, but no one applied," said Boland. He said the school board supports the music department, citing many of the board members having children who have benefitted from the strong program.

Franklin High School choir teacher Sarah Gilbert said she knows of some candidates who were interested in the position, but they weren't able to start in the spring - but are now. She and music teacher Steve Johnston indicated graduating music majors are potentially ready to enter teaching after completing their schooling/certification this month, but were not ready or certified when the job was posted in late winter/early spring. They believe now is the time for the job to be posted.

Boland said that if there are candidates interested they should contact the school and indicated it is an administrative matter to fill the position.

Board president Sabrina Backer said other than the superintendent, the board members are not involved in the hiring process until the final stage of accepting the position. Hiring is an administration issue.
​
​Boland also said parents with questions, concerns or ideas need to call the district office or a school board member, emphasizing that decisions are not determined on social media.

​"My email address is listed, Just ask and I'll get you an answer," Boland said.
​
Boland mentioned the lack of applicants for teaching positions is a growing problem across the board. In years past they would have many to choose from, but increasingly fewer and fewer are applying each year.

With the acting superintendent position resignation Friday and the new acting super expected to be named on Monday at the school board meeting, Eight & 322 has not been able to get confirmation whether or not the decision is final or if the administration will consider opening the position up for bid again now that college graduation is completed for many students.

To read the earlier story you can follow this link:
​http://8and322.weebly.com/eight--322/franklin-considers-not-filling-vacant-elementary-music-spot

Franklin Area School District acting superintendent Pat Gavin submitted his letter of resignation Friday. Accepting it, effective May 13, is listed as an "action item" on the agenda for Monday's school board meeting.

Franklin School board president Sabrina Backer would not give a reason why Gavin resigned, but confirmed the resignation. No additional details were made public, though there was no indication that it was anything other than Gavin's personal choice. 

​"I cannot thank Pat enough for all that he has done for Franklin Area School District,"  Backer said Saturday. "He has stepped in twice in the last few years to help us when we most needed it. Pat’s dedication to public education and all those involved in it has been evident since the moment he first walked through our doors."

Gavin, who had retired from his superintendent job in Oil City in 2018, first stepped up to help after the resignation of Pamela Dye in January 2020. He was acting superintendent until the hiring of Mark Loucks in April 2020.

When Loucks left abruptly in February of this year, Gavin stepped in again.

"He was a savior for us," said board vice-president Andy Boland. "Pat Gavin showed us what a superintendent can be."

The second action item on agenda will be voting on Gavin's replacement, but neither Backer nor Boland would say who that will be at this time. These items will be voted upon after an executive session during Monday's meeting.

The board meets at 7 p.m Monday in the Franklin High School library. ​

The weather forecasters for Saturday tried to kick the organizers' of the first FAM JAM in the backside, but Mother Nature was on their side.

Standing for Food, Art and Music, the FAM JAM was an early season festival to really kickoff the downtown activity for the season.

Art work was created on the spot by several area artists and crafters. People came and went all afternoon during the 2 to 8 p.m. festival. According to on of the organizers and "connected" helpers, it was a good turnout though she admitted no attendance records were broken.

The event got off to a rough start when they showed up to find the electric was not turned on and Woods scrambled to find someone to remedy the situation in Justus Park. Also one of the event organizers was stranded by a cancelled flight in Florida.

But the perseverance of good food vendors and eager artists made it all work.

The event was sponsored by the Oil City Arts Council.

“FAM Jam is a great opportunity to bring the community and the arts together,” stated Christine Manning, Vice President of the Oil City Arts Council and one of the event organizers in a pre-event press release.
To learn more about the arts council visit them on Facebook at www.oilcityartscouncil.org, or call (814) 678-3017.

Martha Heise's HOLeY Jeans performed last week at the Fox Street Church of God. "If it was rainy we'd have twice as many singers" she told the small crowd. She said that all the rescheduling of sports and other outdoor activities meant that many in her choir were busy elsewhere. But the long-time professional that she is, she still cobbled together a performance worthy group. She said the performance was for a mother-daughter banquet at the church that she hasn't been able to do since 2019

"It was nice to be back," she said.

​She takes this group into many venues to give the gift of song. It is a community treasure really, and something not every community is blessed with.

Below are some more photos from their recent performance.

It was appropriate to have the politicians on hand for the announcement, according to commissioner Sam Breene. “If you are going to run for state office, you (apparently) have to go to the Main Street Market and kiss the ring of Jimmy Miller,” he joked.

The Millers’ daughters, Amy Servin and Sally Miller, were on hand for the announcement. “Both of these girls worked in the store from the time they could work,” Jimmy Miller noted proudly as they all came together for a picture.
​
“We’ve done well. We’ve been blessed with a great staff. We have great people,” he said.

(Editor's Note: Eight & 322 has a partnership with the Franklin Chamber of Commerce to assist with communications, including the newsletter and photos for social media.)

Franklin Area High School presented their spring band concert titled "Masterworks" on Tuesday night featuring several complex orchestral pieces including a somber tribute to Ukraine with the playing of "The Great Gate of Kiev" by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky. ​

Band director Steve Johnston recognized th hard work and dedication of hi seniors and those who made a difference all year for the program - including the parents.

And the students recognized him for his dedication to music and the students.

Johnston has two more big shows featuring the elementary and junior high band on may 17 and the high school jazz band on the 18th. both performance are at 7 p.m..

Tuesday evening Franklin Area High School was filled with the sounds of the spring band concert.

A flyer was posted at the school, photographed and posted to Facebook.

With a tool kit, a few syringes, tubing and a bunch of small pieces of wood, 12 teams of seventh- and eighth-graders in STEM (Science, Technology Engineering and Math) programs from eight schools made pneumatic contraptions capable of  moving an object from one point to another. In only a few hours in the morning, they had to make this device ready to perform by 1 p.m. This was the annual (without a pandemic) Komatsu Fluid Power Challenge at the Rocky Grove fire hall on Tuesday.

The STEM based contest is just as its name implies - a challenge.

Each team worked together to design a hydraulic device from scratch, document their work, discuss their work in an interview, demonstrate teamwork, and finally build and prove their machine could do the job.

The winning school had to show excellence in all those steps along the way.

The participants started thinking about the challenge a few weeks ago when they received an introduction to the program, the materials to make a prototype and the challenge guidelines. At their schools, the students and teachers figured out how to turn a box full of stuff that could be used for countless other purposes into a robotic device run solely on the manipulation of water pressure to create useful movements.

The object was to pick up a stubby little dowel that was about a foot away. The machine had to carry or swing the 2-inch dowel to the right to place on a three-tiered platform with each section earning points. They moved as many dowels as possible in just a couple minutes.

It was as easy as that... not.

Despite the team's work ahead of time and preparedness, they still had to build their design from scratch with the possibility of things going wrong at anytime. But that is part of the lesson said Hailee Amos, a mechanical engineer for Komatsu. "That’s what engineers do; they think on the fly," she said. 

​"Their portfolio wowed us," Amos said.

Winning the competition was fun for the Wilmington Middle School team, who called themselves the Greyhounds.

But Roy Schmoultz, one of the challenge organizers and Amos agree the entire reason for this competition is to teach teamwork, problem solving and engineering skills. Winning the competition and trophy for their school is just a bonus.

​ "It went really well," said Amos. "All you saw was smiles on their faces."