Blog Posts - Eight & 322/Eight & 27

Pride in Meadville

7/29/2023

"Here in Meadville we are spreading love and acceptance," Northwest Pennsylvania Pride President Alex Sphon told a crowd of more than 100 Saturday afternoon in Diamond Park in Meadville.

Allies and members of the LGBTQ+ community gathered for the annual event that has grown from just over 50 people five years ago for a march in Conneaut Lake to an afternoon festival with street vendors along Chestnut Street.

Sphon told the crowd that action is needed to move the Pennsylvania Fairness Act through congress though it's stalled. He also said the federal Equality Act is also not making much progress through the system. He urged those in attendance to contact legislators and get others involved in doing the same.

"We need to get these (pieces of legislation) moving. There are people who want to erase us from culture," Sphon emphasized.

Meadville Mayor Jaime Kinder urged action to change employment rules and more telling the crowd that votes can also be used with dollars urging people to support businesses that support equality. She emphasized that as mayor, she has their backs and will keep fighting for equality in Meadville.

Kinder was one of a half dozen speakers calling for more action towards equality. The event kicked off in Diamond Park featuring informative speakers and some drag performances. The crowd then marched around the park before heading down Chestnut Street for a street festival with vendors and informational tents.

There was no shortage of rainbow colors and support for one another. Below are more photos from the event.

Bus hub and paving updates for Franklin

7/28/2023

Some severe weather predicted for this weekend has the A1 Construction and the City of Franklin changing the work schedule that was originally posted earlier this week. Basically everything will shift a day and there will be no work done on Saturday.

The work on Buffalo Street will affect the CATA bus transfer stop. Franklin City Manager Tracy Jamieson worked with the Crawford Area Transportation Authority to address the matter.

CATA's Assistant Director Kristin Hauser said the Buffalo Street bus stop will be moved the corner of 12th and Buffalo Streets on affected days.

Street milling and paving in Franklin continues into next week. The work, begun Thursday is expected to continue next week beginning at 7 a.m. each day weather permitting and continue all day until dusk according to a press release from the City of Franklin.

Work on the follow roads will done:

Friday, July 28
Elk Street from South Park to Washington Crossing, Otter Street from South Park to 12th St., Elk Street from West Park to 13th St.

Saturday, July 29
Work has been postponed to Monday.

Monday, July 31
Buffalo Street from 12th St. to 14th St., 14th Street from Buffalo to Liberty, 14th Street from Liberty to Elk.

Tuesday, August 1
15th Street from Elk to Otter, 13th Street from Chestnut to Eagle, Eagle Street from 15th to 13 th ;

Wednesday August 2
Evergreen Drive from Alder Lane to Gurney Rd., Brown Avenue from Grant to Atlantic, Monroe Street from Washington to End, and Madison Street from Washington to Adams.

The work is being done by IA Construction Corporation of Franklin.

Final top coat paving will follow.
“Keep in mind this schedule is fluid and many factors can change or extend it” said City Manager, Tracy Jamieson, "A little neighborly patience during this temporary inconvenience will go a long way.”

Before the rains came Bandstand Park was full of talent

7/26/2023

The organizers of Taste of Talent rolled the dice and decided that in 2023, meteorologists, with the help of sophisticated radar, are pretty darn accurate.

Phew!

They rolled a Yahtzee .

Earlier in the day the weather folks were calling for a deluge, starting around 8 p.m.

That would give them an hour to get in ten performances.

Well the weather people were wrong, but luckily they were wrong in the positive direction for Taste.

Rain held off until about 8:30 p.m. giving them time to count the votes, announce who would not be returning next week and get most of the equipment picked up in the park.

Votes were being counted as Joey Lillard, a 2019 co-winner of the event, started entertaining the remnants of the crowd just after 8 p.m. Of the over 650 voters and likely another 100 or so additional spectators, only a few dozen elected to brave the wind, and small falling branches to listen for the result.

It wasn't long after Jacob Kunselman was announced as the one not coming back next week that Franklin got hammered with rain and thunder.

But they got it in and now they move into the home stretch down to nine of the original 12 contestants.

Returning for next Wednesday's line up are Tim Craver of Franklin, Ruth Herrick of Greenville, Alexander Karg of Pittsburgh, Lindsey Crabtree of Oil City, Iris Callahan of Vowinkel, Jessica Gahr of Utica, Lexie Gilson of Mifflintown, Mathew Myers of Oil City and Alexis Jack of Franklin.

After Wednesday the field will be down to eight and everyone will have just three days to prepare for the semi-finals on Saturday, August 5 where four will be eliminated.

The four return less than 24 hours later where they will have to have two songs at the ready for the finals.

Then the 2023 Taste of Talent champion will be added to this impressive list.

2010 Lyric McCommons
2011 Kevin Downey
2012 Rachel Mellor and
Hunter Cook
2013 Lauren Snyder
2014 Nathaniel Licht
2015 Bailey Jones
2016 Randy Morehead
2017 Lauren Skelley
2018 Connor Raynond
2019 Joey Lillard and
Joni Zacherl
2020 Gloria Mancilla-Balog
2021 Ian Best and
Scott Gressley
2022 Kaleb Beichner

The Sunday performance on August 6 will be gin at 4 p.m.

All the events are free and open to the public.

More photos from 2023 Taste of Talent can be viewed and purchased at https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p966379420. (Tonight's photos will be added to the folder as soon as possible.

Just one more.

Youth theater has a strong future, 30 new players taking the stage

7/25/2023

You may never get Martha Heise to admit that what she does in organizing and running the annual Youth Theater Summer Camp, with the help of others is remarkable. Herding cats remarkable if you're not an elementary school teacher or a mom of nine or more kids.

Even then.

Others will admit it for her, but she'll deflect and talk about how she couldn't do it with out Kelly Zerbe who does the choreography, Jess Rodriguez handling tech with Angie Carothers, Andrea Penske and youth theater alums Alex Webster and Jim Amero.

They all wear many hats during the intensive five day camp.

Pulling off the camp is only a small part of the remarkableness.

There are so many in area high school musicals, performances at the Barrow-Civic and other community theaters that have benefitted from the experience of those who have come through the Summer Youth Theater Camp and other youth theater productions Heist et al have put together.

"To build up the theater you need to start young so they kind of learn the ropes," said Zerbe, the youth theater's choreographer for the last 18 years. "Here, they learn all the different aspects (of putting on a show.)

This is not only important for keeping youth theater going, but community theater as well. Youth shows fill seats. "We only had a bout 60 seats left last I checked," said Heise.

Filling seats keeps the lights on for even more shows.

"I think there have been more shows with children (in recent years), and I think it’s because we have this base here with the youth theater," Zerbe added.

And alums are getting major parts in other productions. Webster, who is helping out with this year's summer camp, also recently played the lead in Cinderella at the Barrow..

Both Heise and Zerbe know the importance of having kids grow up with the youth theater program. They engage the older kids to help the younger kids on things like stage presence and what is expected of them. This helps them build communication and teaching skills. "There are a lot of teachable moments," Zerbe explained.

August 4,5 and 6, 2023

Heise and Zerbe are also looking toward the future hoping some of the younger adults who got so much out of the program, like Webster and Amero, will eventually take the torch and carry it into the long-term future.

"Things in our lives are always changing," Heise said Tuesday as she was directing her 23rd season. "I couldn't do this without Kelly, really, it's the dance that makes the show."

She also praised the others who are always there making sure everything runs as smoothly as it can with over 80 kids from seven to 16 years of age, 30 of who are first-timers.

They have been working hard since Sunday to memorize lines, choreography and blocking. They will perform "Off their Rockers," a tale of older folks connecting to their youth through the music of their time, a roughly hour-long show in front of a packed house Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

Besides just the actors, young people will be in charge of the set, props, lighting and sound.

"Blessed with such perfect weather" Oil Heritage Festival had big crowds

7/25/2023

The 46th annual Oil Heritage Festival in Oil City drew thousands for nearly perfect weather over it's four days.

Venango Atea Chamber of Commerce director Susan Williams said that other than the storm that sent tornado siren echoes across the Valley, the only things affected were the Oil Heritage Queen crowning and Echo Valley which were more to inside the Episcopal church for everyone's safety.

"It was good to be blessed with such perfect weather," she said about the overall four days.

On Saturday, The Clarks performed to a packed Justus Park. "We had a huge crowd for the Clarks. I have to believe that's the biggest crowd since I've been at the chamber," Williams said. "The parade was about the same size as usual but we got rave reviews for it. I think the theme made it really easy for people to have great floats and entries. Let the games begin, with a focus on board games, was easy for them to plan around. The feedback has been great."

"The food vendor seemed happy and they are usually a pretty good judge of how the crowds were. Sunday was great for the car show as well," Williams said

Below are more photos from the weekend plus event filled with several events for the family to enjoy.

Oil Heritage Festival crowns a queen

7/20/2023

With sweat pouring off of nearly every brow of the folks crowded into the standing room only auditorium of Christ Episcopal Church, Kennedy Liederbach was crowned the 2023 Oil Heritage Festival Queen. The event, which normally takes place on Central Avenue plaza, was wisely moved inside as the skies opened up dumping copious amounts of water on the plaza. Jordan Montgomery was named runner-up.

Before that the festival was moving along smoothly. The kids' parade went off without a hitch and the plaza was filled with family activities. Mostly Brass entertained early on and Mitch Littler got in his set outside. With the clouds darkening everyone began packing up and other than a few wet tents getting put away most things were packed up before the rain.

The annual Flex ice cream social seemed to be a big hit with folks eating cream all over the plaza.

Also moved inside was Echo Valley who played through the Tornado warning sirens.

Below are more photos from Thursday evening at the festival.

Oil Heritage Festival kicks off with annual art show

7/20/2023

Hundreds of area art enthusiasts crowded into the National Transit building in Oil City to get a view of the over 300 works entered in the annual Oil Heritage Festival Art Show.

The work will be on display throughout the festival where thousands of people participate in the four days of activities.

For the complete activities of the festival please visit: https://venangochamber.org/ohf-2023-schedule-of-events/

Taste of Talent down to 10, adds performance

7/19/2023

After a week off due to rain, Taste of Talent returned to Bandstand Park with 11 contestants and more than 800 audience members.

Along with the typical opening announcements, emcee Randy Moorehead also had the pleasure of informing the ever-increasing crowd that there will be an additional night of performances in order to make up for two early season cancelations - thebfirst due to wildfire smoke from Canada and the other due to a Mother Nature deluge of wind and water.

The Franklin Fine Arts Council added another Wednesday night performance to the schedule.

The remaining regular concerts will now be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesdays, July 26 and Aug. 2. The semi-finals will take place at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 5, with the finals at 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 6.

During the last night's concert, 11 remaining vocalists performed their choice of songs, which included a mix of country, pop, classic rock and adult contemporary music.

At the end of the night, one singer, Reji Exley of Oil City, was eliminated based on audience votes.

Approximately 770 votes were cast from a crowd that swelled above 800 people before the performances ended.

The remaining 10 contestants are Iris Callahan of Vowinkel, Tim Craver of Franklin, Ruth Herrick of Greenville, Lindsey Crabtree of Oil City and Alexander Karg of Pittsburgh, Mathew Myers of Oil City, Jacob Kunselman of Ridgeway, Jessica Gahr of Utica, Lexie Gilson of Mifflintown and Alexis Jack of Franklin.

See photos of all the contestants from the first week of the competition by clicking here.

Franklin's city manager to retire at the end of the year

7/17/2023

Tracy Jamieson during a City Council meeting during the pandemic.

Franklin's city manager, who saw the city through the trials of a global pandemic, has announced her plan "to ride quietly off into the sunset of retirement.” But not right away. She will finish out the year.

Tracy Jamieson recently let the mayor and city council know of her plans early in hopes they could find a successor while she is still on staff to help ease that individual's transition. Based on her personal experience coming in as the new manager eight years ago, being able to have someone there showing the ropes is invaluable.

Jamieson said she was named deputy manager while she was still serving as the community development coordinator under long-time city manager Bill Gabrys who involved her in the process. So when she took over in 2015, she was ready.

City council at that time elected to stay in-house with Jamieson and it appears they might do the same now.

Though he wasn’t ready to announce who they are considering for the job, Mayor Doug Baker said they are talking with a current employee very familiar with the city operations.

“We’ve had some lead time to decide how we wanted to proceed,” Baker said. “It’s a personnel manner, so we (the mayor and council) discussed it in executive session. We decided we wanted to stay in-house.” He said they expect to be able to announce Jamieson’s successor at the August 7 council meeting.

He added that he is confident the candidate will do a good job. “I tell the other council members, 'if the manager is not doing a good job, it is our fault.' I think we’ll make the transition and not miss a beat, though it will be a different flavor, it always is,” he said.

Baker said that Jamieson, who has worked for the city since 1989 when she was hired as the community development coordinator, has been great for the city. “I think she has done an excellent job, I haven’t really heard anyone say otherwise. She is honest, smart and very dedicated. She has worked very hard for us.”

He pointed out how Franklin is often celebrated for its downtown character. “It looks pretty good down there,” Baker said. “I do credit a lot of that to (Jamieson) over the years, even her work before (becoming city manager).”

Under her tenure, they only raised taxes twice, a 1 mil increase in 2016 and a .2 mil increase in 2022.

What is a city manager?

According to the City of Franklin website, the city manager position is as follows:
“The City Manager of the City of Franklin is appointed by the City Council and reports directly to the Mayor and City Council. As the City’s Chief Administrator, the City Manager implements policies, programs and services, as directed by Franklin City Council.

The City Manager provides professional management and executive leadership, direction, and coordination of all City Departments with a common goal of providing excellent service to the community.
The City Manager collaborates with numerous City organizations and community partners and maintains positive and cooperative inter-governmental relationships.
The City Manager prepares the annual budget and has direct oversight of all City funds.
Acting as City Clerk, the City Manager serves as archivist for City records and proceedings.
The City Manager is also the designated Open Records Officer for the City of Franklin.”

Jamieson, left, and Community Development Coordinator Amanda Power show Eight & 322 some of the proposed plans for the Liberty Street Rehabilitation Project in this 2022 file photograph.

The recent improvements to Miller-Sibley’s basketball and tennis courts and the restoration of the downtown lights are a couple accomplishments she hopes will have a lasting impact.

There are a few things Jamieson is hoping to square away before she leaves, and some she knows her successor will have to see to the end.

Among the things on her to-do list is finding a solution for the Franklin Events and Marketing position after the death of its long-time guru Ronnie Beith this past year.

Things like the Liberty Street Betterment Project, which relies on the PennDOT, will be concluded after she leaves, as well as the necessary upgrades to city hall including the installation of a new HVAC system. Many other projects she feels are in a good place with the right people in the city working on them. The neighborhood sidewalk project is in motion and she hopes that more residents will take advantage of the program once they see the work being completed.

“The people who work here really know what they are doing. I feel good these projects are in good hands.”

“The basketball and tennis courts at Riverfront Park and the Miller-Sibley pool need to be upgraded,” she said. She also sees that a regional effort to organize fire and police will be important. She noted that Franklin taxpayers fund 24/7 police and fire who respond to outside areas when needed. “It’s not fair they (Franklin taxpayers) pay for the services and others don’t,” she said adding, cooperation between everyone would be an overall cost savings and a solution for the growing difficulty to fill positions. “It’s a matter of (efficiency) and fairness.”

Jamieson listens to a presentation during a City Council meeting earlier this year.

Mayor Baker said hiring someone familiar with these projects already will help them ease into the new role.

Jamieson said these future projects will be important to her even though she is retiring. “I’m still a taxpayer (of this city) too,” she said. “I’ll always be available to answer questions. It’s important to me that things go smoothly.”

She doesn’t have any direct plans for her retirement other than spending more time with her grandchildren and enjoy things she didn’t have time for before.
“I’m thankful for my co-workers over the years. The hardest part has been losing the ones we lost. They are like family,” she said

She does admit it wasn’t an easy decision for her to accept the city manager position back in 2015.

“I really loved my job (as the Community Development Coordinator),” she said, adding her successors, Sheila Boughner and Amanda Power, and the quality of their work made looking back on that decision easier.

“I’m glad I did.”

The show must go on

7/14/2023

After three nearly flawless performances, the cast and crew of "Cinderella" were energized heading into the second week of shows at the Barrow-Civic Theatre.

Then Friday morning, roughly 12 hours before the curtain was to open of week two, musical director, Almi Clerkin was awakened by Lord Pinkleton yelling to her from another room... “I have COVID.”

Lord Pinkleton is a character in "Cinderella" who happened to be played by her husband.

Not something a wife wants to hear from her husband. Not something a director wants to hear from a cast member.

Beyond concern for her husband’s well-being, she also had to worry about a cast and crew of over 50 folks. Not to mention the financial well-being of the theatre that depends on these shows to keep its doors open. Though cancelling one show wouldn't shutter their doors, they can’t really afford to lose ticket sales.

“I met with the leadership right away to begin devising a plan,” Clerkin said.

Even in the early morning hours, her mind was already at work on how they could shift some lines and solos, and determine what they could do without interrupting the plot.

Multiple plans were swirling around in her brain.

To view and purchase additional photos from the show, visit: https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p715987680

An early thought was could the show be postponed a week? Phone calls determined the costume rental and the show’s contract would allow it, but what about the cast? Vacations - some of the cast wouldn’t be able to attend performances if they were delayed a week.

So she shifted back to how can they make it work without a cast member.

The Lord Pinkleton character was seldom on stage by himself, so others could pick up lines and songs, and one scene could be played in such a way that a fill-in could read the lines off a script on a clipboard.

In stepped the guy who perhaps was the most nervous about the prospect of having to cancel the show - Barrow-Civic executive director Zachary Covington.

During the course of Friday's discussions about production needs, Covington thought he might be helping in the orchestra pit, but then he was requested elsewhere. "I nearly choked," he said was his reaction to the suggestion that he play Lord Pinkleton.

Covington is comfortable as a singer and a teacher and prefers behind the scenes work. But he knew there were a lot of people expecting the performance and agreed to take on the role. “I’ve done enough shows in the past that I thought I could pull it off,” Covington said. “... I crammed. I had three hours.”

In that time, he had to meet with the costumer for alterations, rehearse blocking with key players and learn lines, so he was not overly dependent on the script on a clipboard his character could use to make his announcements. “It was kind of like an episode of the Twilight Zone,” he said. “My goal was to not screw anyone else up. They all worked so hard for weeks and I just wanted them to be able to have their moment.”

Covington, who as been the executive director of the theatre since 2015, is not a stranger to the show. He was musical director when the Barrow-Civic hosted performances in 2002. So he knew the importance of the show to the cast and to the Barrow. “It would’ve been a very expensive hit for the theatre,” he said.

Now they had a possible plan, but they still had to be sure everyone in the cast was ok with the new developments.

Fortunately the cast had not been together since the prior Sunday, so exposure wasn’t as much of a concern. Each cast member, stage crew and musician was informed of the situation and asked offered accommodations or the right to decline participation.

One cast member wore a mask on stage and a few in the pit either did not play or used precautions such as masks and face shields. “We put up plexiglass partitions,” Clerkin said. Crew and cast were also asked to wear masks whenever behind the scenes.

A brief announcement prior to the show let the audience know of the unforeseen changes.

At 7:30 p.m., the curtains opened and the show went off without a hitch. Covington handled many of the Lord Pinkleton parts with fellow actors stepping in at designated times for certain lines and songs.

“We were very lucky to have people step up,” said Clerkin, who noted that small theater productions oftentimes don’t have understudies or a lot of “pool talent” to cover key roles.

Ryan Carter, who played Sebastian, took over a key song and many in the ensemble took on additional lines to pull it off. “Everybody really stepped up,” Clerkin said.

That was Friday. They still had two more shows.

Saturday brought with in its own set of obstacles.

Additional adjustments had to be made among the pit musicians.

One of the ensemble members wasn’t feeling well and elected to step out for the good of himself and others.

This left a gap in the show's grand dance numbers.

Clerkin, who was also the choreographer, elected to step into that role herself.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had two actors and (so many) pit members have to (drop out last minute) before,” Clerkin said.

For the second day in a row she had to ask cast members to arrive on set early to adapt portions of the show and keep things moving forward.

“They really put in extra time and were so professional. They are just so good,” she said.

The professionalism extended to the off stage production team as well.

“Maria Koman is just amazing,” Clerkin said. Koman was the costume director who altered Covington and Clerkin’s outfits which had been previously altered for the original actors. Unfortunately, she couldn’t alter Clerkin’s shoes.

“I fell on Sunday,” Clerkin admitted. “I looked like I was wearing clown shoes.” During both Saturday and Sunday's performances, Clerkin wore her husband’s shoes that were two sizes too big. “It was all good, not too many people (in the audience) saw. It was fun. I got to do the waltz,” she said laughing about the overall last-minute acting experience.

Both Covington and Clerkin said that this is what community theater is, though both admitted this was perhaps a little more extreme. Big metropolitan theater companies pay actor and have understudies. “We rely on volunteers (who love theater),” Covington said. “Safety was priority. I appreciate the people who made it happen. I felt it worked out.”

It may not have been the ideal way to put on a production, but they got through it and entertained a near capcity crowd on the final day.

Overall, the show exceeded expectations with the show with ticket sales, according to Covington.

“(Zach and I) stepped in, but it is the cast and orchestra who are the real stars,” Clerkin said. “I feel so tacky saying the show must go on… but…”

To view and purchase photos from the show, visit: https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p715987680

Taste of Talent kicks off month-long vocal competition

7/6/2023

Editors note: Interested in purchasing and photos from Taste of Talent this year, we will be placing all photos at https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p966379420

After one week's delay, Franklin's popular Taste of Talent vocal competition kicked off last night in Bandstand Park with a large crowd. 670 votes were cast. "Good kick off for Taste of Talent," said event organizer Pat Dolecki.

Last week, dangerous air quality from the Canada wildfires, caused event officials to think more about the contestant's vocal chords and the audience safety than putting on a show in the park.

On Wednesday, 12 constants began vying for the month-long elimination championship. One was eliminated by crowd vote, the least favorite part of the event for event organizers.

Prior to the performances, Randy Moorehead and judges Rachael Mellor and Tammi Dahl gave tear laden praises and remembrances for Ronnie Beith, who began this competition over 14 years ago. Beith passed away earlier this year.

"She was our musical mom," said Mellor. "We love you Ronnie." She was mentioned many times during the evening.. Dahl said that this event was a favorite of Beith's and that she was very much missed. The warm summer night was even credited to Beith. "Ronnie is shining down on us," Mellor added.

There was a slight change to the original lineup announced late last month.

Reji Exley of Oil City returned to the competition to replace Tabatha Pelletier of Enola, who had to drop out due to the travel distance, according to Dolecki.

Wednesday's performances started with returning competitors Tim Craver of Franklin and Ruth Herrick of Greenville.

They were followed by newbie Lauren Clarke George of Lucinda, then returnees Alexander Karg of Pittsburgh, Lindsey Crabtree of Oil City and Iris Callahan of Vowinkel.

Then there was a string of first-timers - Jessica Gahr of Utica, Jacob Kunselman of Ridgeway, Lexie Gilson of Mifflintown (who traveled three hours to compete), Mathew Myers of Oil City, Alexis Jack of Franklin.

While volunteers sorted and counted the votes, former winner Joey Lillard entertained the crown with a few popular cover songs.

He was joined on stage by other past winners, Rachel Mellor, and Nathaniel Licht for the last song prior to the final announcements.

Not returning next week is Lauren Clarke George who sang an adaptation of Neil Young's "Love is a Rose."

Area singer Tammi Dahl and Mellor are this year's judge commentators, advice givers and cheerleaders of the performers. They don't cast a vote, but give insight to the crowd and singers after each performance.

Former Taste champion, Randy Moorehead took over as emcee, which includes the unenviable task of announcing who is eliminated each week.

Additional singing, voting and eliminations will start at 7 p.m. on July 12, 19 and 26. The semi-finals will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5.

And the audience will vote on the $1,000 winner during the finals at 4 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 6.

All the performances will be held in Bandstand Park and are free and open to the public.

Happiness over Franklin

7/4/2023

It was the moment of the night where the crowd exploded with excitement.

The smiley-face firework seemed to look down and spread its happiness acrosss the crowd.

The cheers competed with the sound of the next blast from across the Allegheny River where the colorful spectacles were being catapulted into the sky.

It wasn't just the one blast thrown into the mix of the show that smiled on Franklin's Fourth of July celebration, the weather too grinned and gave Franklin a good final day of their week-and-a-half long list of festivities.

The forecast last week for Thunder over Franklin was not good, but come showtime it was dry and clear. It may have been a bit warm, but, it wasn't sweltering.

Many folks helped entertain by bringing their own fireworks and sparklers to the river's edge, while the Route 8 band played music for a couple hours and food vendors filled bellies. It was full on festival with people crowding into the park and coming outside their homes all over the city.

It was a fitting end to a weird week of weather and wildfire smoke cancellations that made the eleven days of activities seem a little less full than usual. But between Cranberry, Oil City and Franklin, folks sure did get a good dose of pyrotechnics and music. And Franklin got in their parade and ice cream social, the Penny Carnival, and the Silver Cornet concert, all with good size crowds.

And lots of family fun. Which is the Franklin way.

Jolly good time

7/4/2023

Hundreds of folks headed to Oil City's Justus Park Monday to listen to music from Mostly Brass and a Foreigner tribute band, Blue Mountain, get some good food truck grub and checkout a fireworks display out over the Allegheny River.
Kids got a chance to run around the playground and even get immortalized in caricature.

During the fire works even people found their was to their favorite viewing spot, which, for many, meant on one if the city's bridges.

If you missed the fireworks in Cranberry or Oil City, there is still a chance see more tonight in Franklin's Riverfront Park.

Penny Carnival draws huge crowd

7/3/2023

The weather and Canada wildfire smoke wreaked a bit of havoc on some of Franklin's weeklong July Fourth celebration. Luckily for hundreds of children, the Penny Carnival went ahead as planned Friday.

Both downtown parks were packed with kids as well as their parents, grandparents and guardians not to mention dozens of volunteers running games and craft stands. There were also food vendors, bounce houses, touch-a-truck, Marty and his bubble machine and performers from the local dance studio.

Franklin's festivities wrap up tonight with the annual Thunder over Allegheny fireworks. Things start at 7 p.m. with a Route 8 Band concert and food vendors in Riverfront Park. Fireworks over the Allegheny River start at dusk.

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 franklinsilvercornetband@gmail.com.

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.