Blog Archives - Eight & 322/Eight & 27

Rocky Grove Fireman's Fair, still got tonight and tomorrow to ride

6/30/2023

The fair continues tonight with half-off rider armbands for the first 50 sold.

There will also be lawn and garden pulls. The fair will be open from 6 to 10 p.m. today. There is an indoor vendor show from 6 to 9 p.m.

Closing day on Saturday, the fair opens an hour early and runs 5 to 10 p.m. Tonight group hosts its first-ever demo derby, which is being organized by GSP Productions.

The cost to attend the derby is $10. It is $40 to register a vehicle and $20 to be in the pit.

The day also includes live music by Rurally Bankrupt from 7 to 10 p.m.

It is free to attend the fair. Parking is available on the fairgrounds for $5. Airbands for the Bartlebaugh Amusement rides are $20.

Won't rain on Franklin's parade

6/24/2023

As if on cue, the rain stopped right as the Liberty Fest Parade kicked off Saturday. "Ronnie made it stop," a teary Pat Dolecki said of her friend Ronnie Beith, who passed away earlier this year. Dolecki, the president of the Franklin Fine Arts Council, is one of the primary organizers of this year's July 4th events that Beith took care of for many years.

All summer long, people familiar with Franklin events will enjoy them bittersweetly. They will revel in carrying on Beith's work in her memory and honor but will shed a tear or two because they miss her. Beith always said it takes a village to put on these events, seldom taking any credit for her work. Now her "village" carries the torch onward - as she would want.

Below are a series of photos from the parade and ice cream social event today.

To see what else is happening this week in and around Franklin visit here.

To see what else is happening this week in and around Franklin visit here.

Silver Cornet has space for all musicians

6/19/2023

Community bands can only survive as long as there are volunteer players to fill the seats. For more than 160 years, the Franklin Silver Cornet Band has managed to do that on a fairly consistent basis, but this is not without continual efforts to recruit new members.

This year, those efforts included getting back to their annual Junior Silver Cornet Band program and hosting an upcoming "Meet the Band" night

On June 15, the 14 youngest members of the band, along with a few special guests, played a short set of songs. It capped off a week of rehearsals for the group, which included members from Cranberry, Franklin, Lakeview, Oil City and Valley Grove school districts.

"A band like ours relies on school music programs and probably wouldn't have lasted 167 years without them," group historian Peter Green said during the concert.

Near the conclusion of their set, the eighth-grade members were recognized and invited to join the full band, which then took the stage to perform alongside their junior players.

Musicians age ninth grade through adult are welcome to play with the band. Potential members can learn more about the group by attending a meet and greet with the instrumentalists from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Franklin High School band room.

The full band plays just about every other Thursday at 7 p.m. in Bandstand Park. They practice the Wednesdays at 7 p.m. at the high school. The next concert is June 29, when they will perform their annual "Mostly Marches" show as part of the city's July 4 Festivities Week.

Additional information on the band can also be found through the band's Facebook group or by emailing [email protected].

Blues & Barbecue: What is it for?

6/18/2023

What a weekend of top-notch Blues, cajun and zydeco music in Franklin's Bandstand Park. The weather was near perfect and the crowds were certainly big. With the hundreds or thousands who came, spent money on shirts and cold drinks, they got more than just a nice outdoor festival od music, they got a chance to make a difference.

Money raised by the Franklin Blues and Barbecue committee is doled right back out into the community in the form of gifts to help local music programs. According to Chip Abromovic they've handed out around $40,000 since they began. They gave around $10,000 out just this weekend.

Even a call made just a few days before the festival from a local band director led to the purchase of a French Horn for the Valley Grove School District.

They also gave money to the Franklin High School Jazz Band who performed Sunday afternoon with local blues guitar player Max Schang sitting in with them as well as Pittsburgh Blues singer Miss Freddie.

A common thing from organizers is the phrase "that's why we're doing this." Each year the festival, now in it's eighth year, they try to answer the needs of music programs with shrinking funds from school boards.

The importance of music education is echoes by the performers and the crowd seems to agree. Around 250 t-shirts were sold. Every dollar from the sales goes towards to pot of money they have to give to local programs. Organizer Jeff Hufnagel told the crowd that a sponsor buys the shirts upfront so the profits can go to the kids.

They also sell pop and water during the festival in order to give even more to the kids.

Hufnagel said they really hope to help all music programs in Venengo County in some way. He said they have been happy to help three of the four school districts so far.

Below are some more photos from Sunday's performances.

Joyous Blues

6/17/2023

Temperatures were mild, but the music (and some of the barbecue sauces) were hot for the first day of the weekend long Franklin Blues and Barbecue music and food festival.

Several bands from near and far performed to a crowd of easily over a thousand lawn chair sitting, blanket sprawled out lounging and some hip shaking music fans.

The festival continues Sunday with more money given away to local school and civic music programs by the Blues and Barbecue organizers and much more music.

There is even some gumbo promised at the end from one of the musicians who cooks on more than just his guitar on stage, he also prepares his own special recipe.

Saturday a group of fans danced most of the afternoon and Max Schang, The Jeff Letterman band, Laurie Morgan Band, Zydeco Kings, Las Cru and King Solomon Hicks brought the blues to Bandstand Park.

Local singing group HOLeY Jeans, a recipient of Blues and Barbecue funding kicked of the weekend showing off their talents.

Junior Cornet rebuilding after COVID years

6/14/2023

At one time, the Junior Silver Cornet Band camp was up to 50 kids enjoying the summer day camp experience that culminated in playing with one of the oldest community bands in the United States. This year, after a three year layoff because of the pandemic, they had 14 students sign up - a similar number to when Becky Greene and Dan Cartwright started the program in 2006.

"It is what it is, we're all dealing with it," Cartwright said about lower participation in many activities and organizations.

The small number of kids doesn't diminish Cartwright's enthusiasm for the program.

Every morning this week, he and a few other adults have spent their mornings playing with the group of young musicians from throughout the area. Move than simply hitting the right notes, Cartwright has worked has taught the band made up of fifth- through eighth-graders music vocabulary, musicality and pacing of the songs.

The group is preparing five songs to play Thursday night (June 15) at Bandstand Park. Four they will play on their own and the fifth they will perform along side the Franklin Silver Cornet Band.

The Junior Silver Cornet Band Camp can be a feeder program for the community band but more so it is a chance for kids interested in music to work into the summer and play with other more experienced instrumentalists, according to Cartwright. Several members of the band volunteer to help with the camp, which only costs $20 and including snacks and a t-shirt. Cartwright said it's really great that kids from different schools can come together and play in a new band and learn from each other.

"I'm really excited about tomorrow," Cartwright said Wednesday about seeing the 14 kids Thursday night play for the community in Junior Silver Cornet Band blue shirts.

The concert is free to the public and will start at 7 p.m. at Bandstand Park. It will start with the junior players and then the adult group will join in and perform an equal number of songs on their own as well. Audience members should take chairs, as the park has a limited number of benches.

If raining, the junior band will play at the First Baptist Church on Liberty Street, but, due to lack of space, the adult band will not perform.

Franklin Elks mark 100 years of Flag Day celebrations

6/14/2023

The Franklin Elks Lodge #110 marked Flag Day in a similar manner that they have for the last 100 years - a ceremony celebrating old glory and living a history of the many variations over the years.

The event in Bandstand Park drew a meager crowd, but maintained its regal ambience.

Several members of the lodge participated in the ceremony.

Gary Leyda, a 30-year veteran of the U.S. Navy, was presented a flag by the V.E.T.S. Honor Guard.

Madalyn King of Gardinier-Warren Funeral Home read a poem.

The Franklin Silver Cornet Band provided patriotic music. A certificate of appreciation was presented to John Flick and the V.E.T.S. group. The Boy Scouts were not present this year to retire flags. The Franklin chapter of scouts disbanded last year. Elk member John Phillips said after the ceremony that they'll have to look into alternative solutions for flag retirement.

The Franklin Elks Lodge held its first Flag Day ceremony in 1923 and has held one every year since. Flag Day became a national observance in 1949, when then-President Harry S. Truman, an Elk member, proclaimed June 14 as its official date.

Oil City held its annual flag retirement ceremony. According to scout leader Paul Myers that event was also not heavily attended.He said other than the scouts only about 10 to 15 people attended. The scouts did retire several hundred flags at their ceremony.

PHOTOS: Oil City graduates 128

6/9/2023

Oil City invited back 2008 alum and Emmy Award film editor John Rockovich to deliver a humorous recounting of his school days and career path. He spoke of his failures turned into opportunities, turned into let downs, turned into successes, all in the roller coaster of life. His speech preceded the presentation of diplomas.

This year the valedictorian was Rebecca Spanish and Salutatorian was Brea Fennick. 158 ended their senior year with certificates of graduation

Below are more photos from the graduation and even more can be viewed at: https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p509114506

Photo of the day: Major fundraiser for the American Cancer Society

6/9/2023

The Relay for Life fundraiser for the American Cancer Society got underway this afternoon at Franklin High School. It continues through the night and ends tomorrow at 4 p.m. with events for the whole family. Relay celebrates survivors, supports those currently battling and remembers those lost to cancer.

Rust Belt to the Smart Belt: Innovation summit comes to Franklin

6/9/2023

“Real quick story,” Tim Heffernan said to the crowd gathered at the Innovations Institute for Tomorrow late last month.

It was the final night of a series of community conversations the program held as a lead-up to their PA Rural STEM Innovation Summit on June 12 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. for a workshop for teachers, guidance counselors and administration from IU5 & IU6 and June 13 from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. for a STEM Design Studio for local business and community leaders.

While Heffernan can fill a whole night with “quick stories” related to STEM education, the best is how far the group has come so fast.

Started in 2018, Heffernan assembled a board with the same vision for the area—change the Rust Belt to the Smart Belt by teaching children how to use cutting-edge technology in a way that pairs fun with learning.

Early efforts focus on the Pennsylvania Rural Robotics Initiative and VEX competitions as well as a drone program.

“It’s really turned into an amazing opportunity for our kids,” Heffernan said.

He credits a lot of that success to the partnerships the Institute has created during its brief existence.

“We got the most amazing partnerships you could ever imagine,” he said.

Among the partners is the Immediate Unit 6, Carnegie Mellon University, the Venango County Commissioners, and the Franklin Area Chamber of Commerce.

In 2022, the institute was looking for a place where it could put down permanent roots and grow. About that same time, the chamber was informed the Masons would be moving out of their upstairs space. It did not take long to match the two needs.

Since moving it, the institute was transformed the second floor into a training space for students and teachers and continues to add to its repertoire.

They painted a specialty computer room, updated the first flight of steps, created a virtual reality learning area, and put in new electric and computer network capabilities.

This has allowed them to create a space for 10 E-sport computers. Soon kids and teachers will be able to use the space to play games while learning about the industry as well as coding.

Most recently they started an overhaul of a room on the third floor that will eventually become a media lab for recording training videos and other topics related to the Institute’s purpose of making STEM education available for all kids.

“I want to create a YMCA for geeks,” Heffernan said. That means offering kids a way to get technology training from several perspectives and through an ever-growing list of cooperative efforts. “It’s all about the relationships, and we’ve built the relationships,” he said. The goal of the upcoming summit is to build those relationships even stronger. And to do that, Heffernan and his team needed to hear directly from their audience of parents, educators, non-profits and area industry leaders.

He asked attendees to think about a series of questions and give feedback as they went around the room. “Collectively as a group, what can happen and what needs to happen?”
That information will help shape the topics covered during the summit, which is co-sponsored by Carnegie Mellon’s Robotics Institute Summer Scholars.

Just as the institute has grown its free school cooperatives to more than 65 across the region, they are ready to grow their industry relationships toward the ultimate goal of supporting Franklin and Venango County—attracting businesses, employers and residents, and giving youth the ability to have careers in technology in their hometown.

“It’s really turned into an amazing opportunity for our kids,” Heffernan said.
To learn out more about the summit contact Heffernan at 814-673-5072 or [email protected].

Editor's note: This story was originally published in the Franklin Area Chamber of Commerce newsletter and written by Jill Harry.

Rocky Grove graduates 54

6/9/2023

The overcast cooled down day seemed the perfect weather for Rocky Grove's graduation Thursday night. Parents, friends, relatives, teachers and more got themselves positioned on the soccer field at Valley Grove Elementary School, the graduating class made the walk from the school down the steep steps to their seats in front of the crowd and as the music from the processional stopped, rain drops began to fall.

Fortunately for everyone who did not carry an umbrella, which looked like nearly everyone, the drops were light and before Principal Kelly Hart was done welcoming all to the proceedings the drops stopped falling.

It was, in fact, perfect weather. Cool, dry and no pesky sun blinding the crowd try to see their graduate or take their photo against a backlit stage.

Rocky Grove welcomed 53 graduates to the stage out of 54 diplomas issued to a class who recognized 55. One student could not attend to receive her certificate. Another student, Nathan Luzier, their classmate who was killed two years ago in a car accident was recognized and given a place with the class. A chair was placed with a yearbook, cap and gown with the graduates. Principal Hart asked for a moment of silence.

The class was recognized for what it had to endure losing one of their own and a global pandemic and for its many talents in academics, athletics and the arts. Class President Alex Zinz, Valedictorian Baylee Cutchall and Salutatorian Brianna Barnett all gave speeches acknowledging their journey together and their hopes for everyone's future.

Below are more photos from the event.

To see even more photos from graduation click here:https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p715707181

To see even more photos from graduation click here:https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p715707181

Editor's note:

Last night the young man on the left walked up and handed me a card in an envelop.

I have photographed these two in the photo many times over the last few years and each has appeared in my favorite photos of the year at least once. I truly enjoyed following their growth and occasional antics.

I always feel like, and try to be, an on the sidelines observer of the life I document. I admit that I do sometimes get closer than an objective observer should. I get choked up when something doesn't go right for the people I document, feel pride when they accomplish something great, revel in happiness when they laugh and cry a little when they cry. I see how their lives help make up the fabric of the community and that is my hope for my work as a whole - to show that. I really do love what I do and try to make authentic photographs of scenes as they would happen whether I was there or not.

So when I receive a thank you card and a gift for doing what I do, I stand there at a loss for words (which is weird for me) and get a little emotional. There have been many people over the years who have thanked me for covering the community and I'm always taken aback, but I am truly thankful for what people do for me. Thank you Alex Zinz for the very kind words and gift. I've enjoyed getting to know you and your family a little over the years. And D'Andre (Highlight Reel) Whiman for the entertainment of watching you play, especially when you were in the zone. Good luck to you both and everyone in the class of 2023.

Buck this!

6/8/2023

A young buck wades through the tall weeds. Thought you'd all like to see this young fella.

I'm not much of a wildlife photographer, but we have a prolific wildlife photographer/writer who has a column on our website. Check out The Nature of Things for more nature and interesting information.

Franklin honors those making a difference for the kids

6/7/2023

Edited to add names of other awardees of district and school awards.

When someone walks into Franklin Area High School they are likely to be greeted by Sally Carr, the front office go to person who can answer just about anything. Carr, is the Franklin principals' secretary and the 2023 recipient of the Support Staff Member of the Year Award for her efforts helping the school.

There was a ceremony earlier in the day, but Carr was out with a bum leg so she missed it and had to watch a video sent to her. Later her daughter Jennifer arranged for her to visit the school and the principals to get her award.

Carr, standing between the co-principals KC Miller and Tom Holoman for a picture called them her "two boys," as she grinned ear to ear with her award.

"They young enough to be my kids," she said.

Also receiving recognition's music director Steve Johnston who was awarded the Franklin High School and Franklin Area School District teacher of the year award. He stopped back later in the day to have his photo taken with Carr.

Johnston said he was humbled and grateful for the recognition.

Challenges after COVID, and the changing landscape of education has made him reevaluate and learn new approaches to reaching his students, he said.

He feels he was a better teacher this past year as a result. As they move into summer, Carr will be nursing her leg back before tackling some summer-time school issues like helping decide what to do with an over abundance of crayons at one of the district elementary schools. Johnston is looking forward to a little break to reenergize for next year, he was already hitting some golf balls with his daughter and is hoping to be playing some trombone duets with her too.

Also awarded was the district Support Staff Member of the Year Karen Van Horn. Support staff members of the year from the elementary school's were: Angel Day from Sandycreek, Kelly Dunkle from Victory and Sharon Reddick of Central.

Elementary teachers of the year were: Danielle Webb from Central, Jackie Anderson fromSandycreek Meredith Riddle from Victory.

Editor's Note: For some reason that neither of us can remember, back in 2015 when I started at the Derrick and visited Franklin High School for the first time, Sally and I began taking selfies together.
We did not let this opportunity pass us by today. I thank Sally for always letting me know important things going on in the school that would make for a good story and for her warm response when I walk into the office.

PHOTOS: Gotta ❤️ Franklin Graduation

6/4/2023

Franklin Area School District Superintendent Eugene Smith asked 125 graduates sitting on the football field Sunday evening "what's next?"

In his first official class, he drew from the speeches of the class president Sydney May, Salutatorian Arika Songer and Valedictorian Ryleigh Henry in his address mostly spoken while looking at the graduates.

Without a commencement speaker, their ceremony really focussed on the talent's and thought's of the students. Three seniors showcased their singing voice: Grace Freer sang "We will meet again," Moravia Beach sang "Landslide," and Makenna Reavis gave a powerful rendition of "This Time."

May addressed her classmates encouraging them to "Grow and Blossom" in her speech that kicked off the ceremony.
Songer talked about how they wondered about growing up over the years ending with the affirmation that they have indeed grown up.
Henry's painted a colorful picture of a world using all the diverse colors of the rainbow to create a mosaic of this Franklin High School Class of 2023.

Co-principal K.C. Miller mentioned some early on shenanigans by this class when he first came to the district as a vice principal when the seniors were ninth-graders, before presenting the class on behalf of himself and co-principal Tom Holoman to Thomas.

After the awarding of the diplomas and quick and not very organized mortar board toss was performed by about half the students before they exited the field to start the "what's next?' segment of their lives which Thomas emphasized should be focussed on the things that make them happy in life.

Below are more photographs from Sunday's ceremony. View a couple hundred more photos at https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p174776132

One special class "prank" to top off their high school experience, several seniors carried golf balls to give to principal Miller who apparently told the students on more than one occasion that he is not golfer. Now he has well over 30 golf balls if he decides to take up the game.

View a couple hundred more photos at https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p174776132