All Nathaniel Licht wanted for his birthday was for folks to come along with him on a community restoration journey. Licht bought the old YMCA building in downtown Titusville with plans to clean it all up and restore the 1912 building to as close to original as he can. He then wants it to once again become an important fixture in the community for people to frequent offering mixed commercial/retail spaces.

On Saturday, Licht's 26th birthday was celebrated with more then 30 volunteers coming into the building and putting in gallons of sweat equity to help him get one step closer to making the building a thriving center for downtown business opportunities. Cracked paint chips flew everywhere as 70s era paneling and 80s era drop ceilings were eradicated exposing the 1912 era architecture. 

It won't be an overnight project, but Licht was thrilled people wanted to celebrate his birthday by busting hump to help him get a step closer.

Here are a few photos from the day. 

Editor's note: I even managed to help scrape a small (very small) section of a wall but it emphasized why I tell the same joke over and over again - "I became a photographer so I wouldn't have to work for a living."

Here is a link to the first story about Licht's efforts - http://richardsayerphotojournalism.weebly.com/eight--322/demo-saturday-part-1

As August winds down I went searching for a few more of Anna's photos to share as the last installment of the the artist of the month for August. This photo above really grabbed my attention for humor. Is the goat trying to help with yard work on the other side of the fence?

​Anna's columns will continue long past this her artist of the month feature. Her column, The Nature of Things is already a popular feature on our website. It is fun to read. Applegate's inspirations each week lead to great observations about the world and I love her sense of humor and cool images. She also peppers in great information about what she writes about and photographs.

Caption: "Wait.... what?....  There's more?
Yes, this is the last artist of the month post featuring Anna's photographs but she has graciously agreed to keep sharing her adventures with you all with her blog The Nature of Things that you can find on this website or by clicking here!

​Thank you Anna!

Visitors to Town Square Park Thursday night got to tap their toes, clap their hands an even dance despite storms in the area threatening to cancel it all. Not so much in Oil City, where the storms seemed to skirt around them or were short lived. But south, somewhere out on Route 8 not to far from Grove City, a tree impeded the forward progress of a truck carrying "The Hip-Waders" equipment.
Yep, a tree fell on the truck and luckily there were no injuries.

Well except for the roadies truck.

"Actually it was my truck,"  Mike Fitzgerald, of the band, said not looking particularly happy as he scrambled to set up equipment.

The band members were already in Oil City waiting for their gear when they got the call from their roadie. So they hopped back on the road heading down the detour-riddled Route 8 to get their gear. All-in-all, despite the misfortune of nature and machinery, the Wexford based band were only about a half hour late getting the tunes rolling in Oil City.

By the time they began kicking it into gear, the Elks dinner, the Flex Bike and Brew pick-up and the Republican rally were winding down and the participants began filtering into the park for the show of classic rock tunes. It might have been the perfect storm for the occasion.

"We're all fishing fanatics," Fitzgerald said of where they got their name.

I saved this one out of last night's coverage of the Republican rally in Oil City because I just want it to stand alone. It made me laugh seeing the "President" tweeting. To be fair I'm just guessing the guy in the Trump mask was texting someone while standing on Seneca Street with the other rally goers. But in my head I was thinking what might be getting put out to twitterland. "This rally is great, it's huge, biggest ever in history of Oil City."  

In actuality, he was probably telling his wife he'll pick up milk on the way home. This would make a good "caption this" post.

Hopefully it makes for some laughter today.


See last night's story by clicking here.

The crowd was then told to hang tight for a very special guest at 7 p.m. Sam Breene showed up with microphone in hand on the hour to announce that Representative Glenn Thompson was in the White House with the President but took time to call and address the crowd. Via the microphone held up to Breene's phone Thompson spoke to his constituents huddled near the Republican headquarters.

Supporters cheered GT's remarks and went back to the rally-like atmosphere after Sam Breene's closing remarks.

Oil City was a busy place Thursday night with Elks offering up food, the Bike and Brew pick-up for the FLEX fundraiser and the Thursday night concert series in Town Square park all happening at the same time.

In the end, Trump supporters got a chance to really show their pride and support for the president together in a rally atmosphere where petitions were passed around and voter registration forms were handed out. Martha Breene said she ran out of campaign signs again despite ordering an additional 600 for the event. She said they have handed out over 2,500 yard signs to date at the headquarters.

Audrina Daily-Jarzenski, 10, said she is pretty particular about her hair so when she sat down in the chair in front of stylist Jeanette Kooser-Yag she really gave the veteran stylist a challenge. But Cranberry Elementary student was smiling as Kooser-Yag worked.

The United Way of Venango County held its second annual Back to School Hair Affair at the Cranberry Mall. Several stylists set up shop socially distanced in the former Bon-Ton store. 153 were able to get back-to-school cuts and walk away with school supplies and more. The Salvation Army dental team gave free screenings and the Venango County Blind Association provided vision screenings as well. 
​One gentleman, Bill Baker, donated back packs filled with school supplies donated by the Salvation Army. The mall donated use of the space for the one-day event and stylists from Siverly Barber Shop, Designing Concepts Hair Salon and Nirvana Nails and Boutique all gave time for the effort. The Oil City Vineyard Church donated many hair supplies. Aetna Healthcare also donated several masks that were included in the back to school supplies.

Audrina and her siblings will all be styling when they go back to school next week thanks to this volunteer effort.

Audrina's sister Brooklyn sat nearby getting some added curl to her hair from stylist Traci Guthrie, owner of Designing Concepts hair salon in Franklin.

I'm not sure I've ever photographed this many bugs. Oh, I've photographed monarchs before sure, but I've never noted so many insect photos as often as I have lately. I got a call at The Meadville Tribune in the late 90s, this couple said the monarchs are incredibly numerous in their back yard. It was pretty cute, they were an elderly couple and they were in awe of the butterflies. One of the people I worked with laughed at me when I said I was going to check it out. I hated sitting in the office listening for the scanner to go off, so I went.
​And I had a blast talking to this couple and making photos. Of course when I got there they said I should've come earlier because there was twice as many. I truly only remember seeing one and I made a nice photo that went on the front page the next day with this couple in the background. I love my job.

This monarch was flittering about the Franklin High School Monday. I wonder if he/she will make it to South America.

Positivity was on display Monday during the first day of practice and heat acclimation at Franklin High School. Longtime head coach Tom Haynes stepped down after his son's senior season to focus attention on watching him play college ball. So this year begins a new era with a new head coach - Matt Turk.

Turk is a positive rambling speaker shifting from lesson to quips in mid-sentance but always supporting improvement over putting someone down.

"Come here son," he hollered out to a skinny, tiny player hobbling around the field after finishing every drill dead last. He brought the youngster in front of the whole team. He told the team to show this young man some respect and support. Despite being slower than everyone else, Turk singled him out as a positive influence the team should embrace. "Three claps for this young man who is out here with a bum ankle every day working just as hard as the rest of you." 

tTurk shifts from traffic cop to ball buster in the blink of an eye. He had everyone run a few sprints, sprints that were scheduled anyway, but he claimed one of the players called him fat so he was making everyone run. Heat acclimation with a twist.

He also bet a young man he could out sprint him, the loser had to wear the shirt of the other's favorite college team. So one Ohio State fan now has to wear a Penn State shirt at practice this week because he lost the race and bet. Hint on who won the race - coach Turk is a huge Nittany Lions fan.

In the middle of practice he had the team huddle around. "Spread out guess remember the distancing," he said before telling them how impressed he was with their effort and abilities in the first half of practice drills. He tried to correct a few things too. "You're heads are down in these drills. That's because you're tired, I get it, but it's also not acceptable. Keep your heads up," he told the team.

Turk said he has nothing but respect for those who came before him but emphasized it's a new program. "We're gonna surprise some people," he said.  He told his team on the first day of practice that "we are going to set the standard of living today." He stressed working hard and improving every day. While working with the lineman he told them to hit the sled "like it is Friday night, hit it like you're playing [Route 8 rival] Oil City every single time."

His encouragement seemed to filter through the team and staff who kept up a high energy first practice despite the heat. Turk seemed to feed off his players enthusiasm and he just kept the digs coming, praising his big men and calling the backs and wide receivers "skinny unskilled players" which no one took seriously, though the challenges back at the coach kept coming to see if the coach was all talk. But remember the earlier story about who is going to wear a Penn State jersey at practice to see whether it's all talk.

​Below are a few more frames from the first day of practice.

The teams around the region have safety protocols in place for COVID-19. Plays are to socially distance and are to be masked if proximity is an issue when not playing.
The players bring their own water bottles and maintain their own equipment.

The Knights are expected to open their season on Sept. 11 if nothing changes.

Good luck Knights on the upcoming season. I hope to be on the sidelines for at least most of your home games.

Borland, who is a sports editor for The Titusville Herald, took the lead on the discussion since he covered it so closely for the paper. Daugherty asked Borland what he would do if he was on the school board. Without flinching Borland described the vast differences between school districts across the state and that it's smart for each to be able to determine what is safest for their students.

After the segment, however, Borland ribbed his co-host. "Thanks for putting me on the spot with that question." Daugherty laughed. "That's what makes for good content," he replied.

The two have three podcasts completed now and invite guests to the show. They are still working out some technical bugs but each week they see improvements. Only around 30 people have tuned in so far but they expected a modest start as they build. They haven't started a social media presence yet, though they said at the end of Saturday's cast that is in the near future.

​Daugherty who is a public relations specialist for the Child Development Center in the Northwest Pennsylvania has wanted to do play-by-play and have a career in sports casting, though he says he loves his current job. Borland was three years into a college degree in Chemistry before his sports calling became too much for him to ignore.

On Saturday they recored their podcast on Daugherty's back deck.  Amid the sounds of cars going by, birds chirping and a next door neighbor's toddler riding around the yard in toy fire truck, Daugherty launched into his plea for Major League Baseball to "grow a pair" after an incident this past week involving a pitcher hitting a batter and erupting into a brawl and a series of fines. "Just stop whining," he said. 

Daugherty and Borland remembered something from their youth baseball days. "Make it hurt on the scoreboard." They both seemed to want the league to act like adults and just play the game without the theatrics and what they described as arbitrary unwritten rules.

Then they took on the hockey's playoff season and the NFL West, where physicality is more a part of the game. Each making supporting arguments for their predictions on who will take home the trophies this year. [Editor's note: They somehow think the Tom Brady-less Patriots won't be very good this year despite the coach still being with the team so we're not sure how much they can be trusted in their analysis? They do think the Tom Brady Tampa Bay squad will do just fine.]

Their podcast offers analysis, opinion and plenty of banter back and forth between Borland and Daugherty. "We feed off each other," Borland said. They also try to have invited guests when they can to add voices to the chorus.

When they need a brain break, they conjure up their 9-year old selves and toss around a ball in a game of catch. But they don't stop talking about sports.

With eyes clenched tight and hands feeling each bead, Catholics have long spent time in deep prayer as they recite the Rosary. For visitors of the St. Thomas More House of Prayer in Cranberry Township experiencing the Rosary can include a walk in the woods. A path winds through the wooded area near the chapel and stones dot the path to mimic the beads of a Rosary.

These stones have weathered in time.

Up steps Franklin Boy Scout Andrew Rugh who was looking for a project to complete his requirements for Eagle Scout. "Obviously as parents, we're proud of the work he did. We're also proud of the fact that he chose [a project] based on faith. I think in these times, not a lot of teenagers are keen on the idea of organized religion," his mom, Christina Rugh said.

Andrew found casts and made his own pavers to replace the ones along the walk. He also had built wooden structures depicting the fourteen Stations of the Cross along the Rosary path. The idea is a place of meditation and prayer.

​The St. Thomas More House of Prayer is a Catholic retreat tucked away off Hill City Road in Cranberry, Venango County. It is a part of the Erie diocese.

Andrew's mom found out about the place years ago on a retreat. "I appreciated the concept of being faithful in nature," she said. Andrew said he glad to be able to create something in the quiet place for others to enjoy and find helpful in their religious practices.
"Setting the posts," Andrew said was the hardest part though he admits it was a bit of trial and error getting the pavers made.  

"I'm just impressed we came out of it with all of our appendages intact," Christina joked describing how neither she nor her husband Chad are "builder types" and how looking up how-to videos was their go to for this project. Several hours of research, arranging qualified help and making the pavers has led to finished project for visitors to the retreat to use as a means for spiritual reflection for years to come.

Once his project is reviewed Andrew joins the storied history of scouting and a member of a brotherhood. 
Over 50,000 Scouts earned their Eagle Award in 2018, one of the largest classes in the Scouts 110 year history. Each Eagle logs on average about 150 hours in their qualifying projects. Of all Scouts who begin early in life, only about 65 go on to get the Eagle certification, which is the highest honor in the Boy Scouts. In 1912 only 23 scouts earned the honor - a hundred years later they reached their highest total just 331 shy of 60,000. Pennsylvania consistently ranks in the top four states for number of earned Eagle Scout projects completed. 

I love humor and one of the things I love about Anna's photographs of her critters and the critters she finds in her travels is that they often just make me chuckle. I'm not sure what it is about this frog, but I laughed, literally, out loud when I saw it. Beyond that it's a great photograph with color harmony, solid design and a story that I want to know.
Awesom. 
As I've said before I couldn't be happier that she is a featured columnist for Eight & 322 and I'll be posting her latest blog soon about some slippers left behind in the forest. And she says she has two more in the works. What a gift to us to see her natural world through her eyes and observations. 

​That's one thing I love about journalists and storytellers, their ability to observe.

Please check out her blogs at http://richardsayerphotojournalism.weebly.com/the-nature-of-things

He has been overwhelmed with the response from the public in just a few short days. After posting he bought the building, word spread like wildfire with many people sharing it and offering support. Comments on his social media post range from congratulations to inquiries about renting space.

​"You've started something magnificent, labor intensive, and worth the struggle that lies inside those walls. I have no doubt this will be one of your greatest achievements. You are a natural visionary," one Facebook response read.

​Story contributed by Jill Harry

VIABLE (Venango In Alliance with Black Lives Empowered) seeks to work in several areas of local society to bring about awareness and change in how we treat each other. The group will facilitate discussions through subcommittees dealing with the issues of race in education, justice, community and through faith based initiatives. Michelle Jones and Angela Wofford hope the name and organization becomes a resource for positive change.

Jones comes from a long line of community leaders. Her grandfather was a well-known and respected police officer and her mom has been in charge of elections and basically ran Venango County for several years. Wofford, a white woman with bi-racial children has experienced the full-force of racism through her children growing up in an overwhelmingly white county.

Make no mistake, Venango County is overwhelmingly white. The schools employ few if any people of color. According to Jeff Polley, another local activist and educator, there are very few people for students of color to turn to who look like them. Jones, Wofford and Polley see this as a problem and perhaps one of the reasons "subtle" racism exists in the halls still. Racial slurs and jokes are bantered around in locker rooms and hallways as if it is OK. Black students generally accept the banter because it's supposedly meant in jest, according to Polley. But it is a systemic problem that has never gone away.

"Some people are just so clueless of their white privilege that they think what they are saying is alright," Jones said.  She said getting people to understand white privilege is a hard sell. "People think they always need to go on the defensive," she said. Saying things like "I'm not racist, but..." usually leads to saying something racist, Wofford pointed out.

VIABLE is hoping to do something about this.

The group seeks to build relationships with schools, civic organizations and law enforcement to bring about systemic change. The fact that some people are listening is hopeful, Wofford said. She has already met with the new Franklin School superintendent, who comes from another more diverse school district. The hope is to get diversity training in the schools in order to affect permanent change.

Wofford has presented a plan that focuses on ending racism in the hallways through continuous training and support, focusing less on "Holiday and Heroes" teaching such as delegating teaching of Blacks in history to Black History month. Making Black history part of the ongoing curriculum, recruiting and retention of people of color within the schools and stricter policies on the uses of racial slurs in classrooms and hallways... these are all the goals and means to overcome racism, according to Wofford.

She said she hopes to connect the schools more closely with parents and students. She hopes these connections lead to better planning throughout the school year. She also believes starting at the elementary school level is important for long-term change.

"Nothing grows in the comfort zone," she said.

The rallies are good for awareness the organizers say, but they are focused on the bigger picture.
 "Rallies are like a wedding, but, we want to now focus on the marriage," Jones said.

Last week I joked about posting a bug of the week. I really didn't think this was going happen, but here I am again with phone in hand, risking my life to photograph pollinators in the backyard. And check out the little guy hiding too. I'm really not a nature photographer, but maybe I'm inspired by our new columnist Anna Applegate whose words and photographs are already a big hit on Eight & 322. Check out her blogs which will have something new soon that will brighten your day.

http://richardsayerphotojournalism.weebly.com/the-nature-of-things

Even though Saturday's event had to be dubbed "unofficial" by all accounts it wasn't a kerplunk.