As the rains came down, the scores went up at the Pennsylvania Stone Skipping Championship Saturday afternoon in Riverfront Park, Franklin. Keisuke "Firefly" Hashimoto of Japan captured the trophy with a toss of 43 skips. It is the second title for Hashimoto, who also won the championship in 2018. Hashimoto was among the competitors who struggled early in the contest when the summer breeze caused continual ripples across the confluence of French Creek and the Allegheny River. He threw a 17, 18, 15 and 4 through the first two rounds. By the start of the third round, the skies had opened up and the rains started falling, at times quite heavy. To fans, it seemed skippers were rejuvenated by the rain. This included Hashimoto, who threw a 43 and a 28 in his final turn. He was one of eight of the 24 professional skippers who threw their only 30 plus toss of the day while standing in the pouring rain at that edge of the river. Father and son duo Brian and Alex Ferry of Warren each tossed a 37 in their final turns. Alex Lewis of Stirling, Scotland, who started the contest with a kerplunk, skipped a 36 in the storm. Also slinging 30 plus skips in the rain were Ryotara Kimono of Japan with 31; Jon "Green Giant" Jennings of Louisville, Kentucky with 32; Aiden Woosley of Buffalo, New York with 33; David "Spiderman" Ohmer of Erie with 34; Connor Transky of Columbus, Ohio with 36; and Drew "The Canadian" Quayle of Hamilton, Ontario with 40. Quayle's toss, his last of the day, was good enough to take second in the championship and beat last year's winner, Andy "Big Rock" Severns of Tidioute, who placed third with a two 38-skip tosses. Severns was the day's most consisted thrower, accumulating 195 skips to win the special honor for the highest total score. Honorable mention in this category went to Kyle Graff of Soquel, California, who had four of his six tosses skip at least 30 times for a total of 170. Kimono was third in the accumulative contest with 168 skips. Noteworthy: The professional competition had 24 throwers representing eight states and five countries. There were only two Franklin locals in the mix, Nate Beggs and Greg Winger. Franklin is on the stone skipping map because of the late Russ Byars, who at one time held the Guinness Book of World Record for the amount of skips and brought recognition to the competitive sport with being featured on television news programs and a documentary. |
Mike "Airtight Alibi" Williamson, a crowd and thrower's favorite, announced Saturday would be the last time he would add any more stones to rivers, at least not competitively. Each year Airtight makes it a point to remember to those skippers who have passed away by holding an en masse toss with all the competitors lined up on rivers edge.
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"I have nothing" sang Aiden Quinn Sunday. It was his choice of an encore song moments after winning the 2024 Taste of Talent competition in Franklin. It was the song he led off the competition where he wowed the crowd immediately with his ability to belt and put emotion into a song. He had "something." And now the Sligo native has a little pocket change and goes down in the history of Franklin along side the other past champions of its premier summer vocal competition. Last year's champion, Lexie Gilson, who was on hand to perform as well Sunday showed that it is the strength of voice that makes a difference, no matter where you're from (she lives out near State College) that rises you to the top. Quinn was infectictious on Sunday trying to get the crowd up and dancing as he sang Frankie Valli's "Can't take my eyes off of you," and though the shy crowd of 600 didn't indulge him, he did garner a partial standing ovation from a dedicated front row crowd. Sunday's finale had Madison Wakefield, Tim Craver and Aoife Salusky joining Quinn to give a pretty impressive line up of strong performances across many genres. The crowd truly got their money's worth in entertainment value. Especially with the four song performance from last year's winner who again delivered a vocal performance not many small towns ever get a chance to witness. This put a cap on the most recent season, but the competition remained a strong example that talent can be found even in the most remote reaches and that we should always be on the lookout of it. Then help to nurture it. Below are more photographs from Sunday's performances. To see more photos from Eight & 322 covering this year's Taste of Talent please visit sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p703039581
Shiver me timbers, the Barrow-Civic Theatre was invaded by a hardy group of young performers as part of the 19th annual Youth Theatre Summer Camp. The camp offered 90 kids a chance to understand what the theatre has to offer, including singing, dancing, dialogue, scenery, props, and technical support. Blimey! After only 3 and a half days of rehearsal, the young buccaneers performed a full, though short, around 45 minute-long production of "Pirates The Musical." And they did so to a nearly full house of hearties.
The enthusiastic crew of little scalawags included 30 kids who who walked the plank as first-timers to the stage. There were students from many local and regional school districts involved as well as a handful of stowaways who "sailed" in all the way from Pittsburgh, Penn State, and Philadelphia. ROILity Crowned"I knew she had it in the bag," said Kelsey Hanna said Thursday night after her twin sister Kayla was named the 2024 Oil Heritage Festival Queen. She wasn't being smug, she was legitimately proud of her sister.
"I have firsthand experience in this event(Oil Heritage Festival) and have vivid memories of riding in the parade as a little girl with my gymnastics team," Kayla wrote in her essay to the OHF Queen committee. Her resume is loaded with community service and extracurricular activities include her and her sister being top-notch cross country runners for Cranberry High School. OHF kicked off for its multi-day festival earlier this week. The annual art show is loaded with regional art at the National Transit Building and the Graffiti Gallery on the north side. Thursday Central Avenue Plaza was full of people enjoying music from Mostly Brass, Mitch Litler and the Wyllis Street Band as well as games, ice cream and much more. To view more photos from this and previous weeks visit: sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p703039581 Taste of Talent's field was narrowed to the final eight for the 7 p.m. August 3 semi-finals. The Taste veteran, and often a big crowd favorite, Ruth Herrick was eliminated from this year's contest. Entering the final week are Matthew Myers, Alexander Karg, Jacob Kunselma, Aiden Quinn, Madison Wakefield. Aoife Salusk, Lauren Clarke George and Tim Craver. There will be no Wednesday evening show next week as the competition finishes off with a Saturday evening show where the field will be narrowed to just four for the Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. finals where each performer will sing two songs. To view more photos from this and previous weeks visit: sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p703039581
August 15-18
Michael Craig channeled Rick Astley with his singing of Never Gonna Give You Up. Lauren Clarke George took the audience to the heavens with Ava Maria before another Taste regular Tim Craver brought us back into the country with Broken Wing by Martina McBride. The final act of the night was Jake Kunselman's own song title Wanted Memories. Then the hardest part of the night for the host Joey Lillard came when he had to announce the elimination of a contestant. Craig, last week was the low vote getter. and therefore won't be among the nine returning performers next week. Only a couple more weeks of the competition remain with the finals set for Sunday August 4. Below are more photos from Wednesday's performances. View more photos at sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p703039581 View more photos at sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p703039581 View more photos at sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p703039581 View more photos at sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p703039581 Opens Friday July 19 at 7:30 p.m. Also tickets on sale for Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sanday at 2 p.m.
![]() The dinner part of the dinner theater is sold out, but there is still plenty of good seats available for the show that features some powerful singing, a little bawdiness and colorful costumes in this variety musical performance at the Barrow-Civic Theatre this week. Selections from Tony Award-winning musicals "Godspell," "Pippin," "Company," and "A Chorus Line," are performed by 14 regional actors in a show titled "A Taste of '70s Musicals." This is the Franklin Civic Operetta Association's 65th anniversary. Visit https://barrowtheatre.my.salesforce-sites.com/ticket#/events/a0STN000003yG3N2AU for tickets. Shows run Friday July 19 and Saturday July 20 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, July 21 at 2 p.m. To view more photos visit: sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p1008164378 Humity still air made the fireworks display a bit different to enjoy, but the hundreds of folks packed on to the lawn last Riverfront Park for the Thunder over Franklin display didn't seem to mind. The twenty-minute show capped off Franklin's week of activities.
The annual Taste of Talent vocal competition brought 11 singers to the bandstand in downtown Franklin Wednesday a week late, due to opening night storms last week. The weather again threatened, but the organizers thought they could get it in and they did.
No contestants were eliminated this week. The votes taken this week were tallied and will be held to be added to next week's votes. The contestant with the fewest votes will exit the competition.
The remaining contestant will perform each Wednesday at 7 p.m. with one being eliminated each week until the semi-finals which will move to Saturday, August 3, at 7 p.m., and the competition finale is on Sunday, August 4, at 4 p.m.
Thunder over Franklin concludes the celebrations Thursday at Riverfront Park.
The weather forecast isn't great for the weekend, but what a day for the Penny Carnival. Thousands enjoyed the games and fun in the downtown parks.
The annual Rocky Grove Fireman's Fair has drawn thousands to the area this week. This year's festival had some new rides, but most importantly the sausage sandwiches were flowing.
It was a very sweaty hug, but it wasn’t the sweat that made this a moment one I won’t soon forget. With wars being waged in very dangerous parts of the world and two out of touch old guys running for president in a country so divided politically, my usually optimistic outlook has been getting pretty dim. Add in social media where we learn more about how our neighbors think about the issues than we ever wanted, it scares me where we are exisingt as a society. Cynicism infiltrates when we aren't paying close attention. Then a complete stranger extended a hand with a beautiful smile and drew me in for an embrace. Even though temperatures were hovering around 90 degrees and we were in bright sun, it was a soothing moment that was much needed. It wasn’t a fake gesture. It was an engulfing hug filled with kindness and love that one this man, Sutham Nateetong, a Thai Buddhist monk, has given thousands of times. Image courtesy of Phra Supalak It was a split second, but it was infinite. It was beautiful. It was type of hug that allowed me to hug back and actually feel from within me my ability to give him back my love. What a gift this was to me. Sometimes we don’t know what we need until the universe brings it to us. On Thursday, the universe brought me this. This embrace actually began on March 31 in Key West, Florida when Sutham Nateetong and nine other monks and four lay people set out on a walk to Niagara Falls by passing through many big cities, including our nation's capitol, and many more small towns. Their message is for world peace and they are practicing a discipline of meditation through walking and awareness. “A walking pilgrimage is my preferred way to meditate,” Sutham Nateetong said five years ago during a Voice of America story of when he walked solo from California to New York. “If I take my pilgrimage walk to promote peace, it will benefit even more people.” Though there was a language barrier, we shared a few thoughts when I met up with them on Route 428 in Venango County. I was there to learn about them so I could explain to my readers what they were about and why they came through our area. It was difficult as English isn't fluent for them, though a few have enough of a vocabulary to get their point across. One monk reached his hand to touch my belly when I didn’t really understand him. He said “walk, walk, walk” and indicated that all the monks were skinny. I looked down at his hand touching what I swear was my dad’s belly and not my own and I began to laugh loudly. That laugh was a second very nice gift this group of people gave to me. I also learned my choice of words made it difficult to communicate. I have a slang-riddled, sometimes snarky joke-like communication style. Those not fluent have a very difficult time understanding. But these monks were patient and helped me learn. Image courtesy of Phra Supalak These beautiful kind interactions made it hard for me to later read comments from people on social media saying that they wasting their time and should "get a life," while some thought they were up to no good and possibly dangerous. One member of our community said we shouldn’t engage with them because “… they are promoting through a false and pagan religion. As Christians we should not support this.” Really? These are caring souls on a walking mission of peace and love and kindness. Doesn’t that actually sound like Christ? I just couldn't fathom such negativity and I caught myself getting angry. During a car ride, I ranted out loud to no one because I was alone, as if I were confronting these people directly. I’m guessing if anyone saw me, they'd think I was either crazy or listening to angry death metal on the radio. Then I remembered the calmness from a stranger's embrace, and his words of peace and kindness I heard only a few short hours earlier. "We can make world peace from inner peace. When we have inner peace we send loving kindness to everybody in family, in community... (if) every family, every community can have peace, the whole world can have peace." Again, what a gift to give me on that day. It is hard not to find disappointment in my fellow humans sometimes, but my feelings of disappointment add to the negativity going around. I must constantly remind myself of this. Christ taught us to pray, to reflect and to seek our wisdom through God. Prayer, if done in the way Christ did when he’d go off into the dessert for days, is meditation. Praying for our own actions of kindness and love instead of praying for forgiveness seems to be a better pathway towards positivity and progress in the world. That has always been what I got out of Christ’s teaching. That is what I've gotten from casual study of other religions and philosophies from Black Elk's teachings, reading about the Zen practices and understanding that nirvana or heaven must be sought individually through personal inner goodness. It is easy to loose this in a society when negativity and judgement become a collective. Image courtesy of Phra Supalak This group of strangers has given me hope that maybe if I can catch myself before my negative thoughts turn to actions, maybe I can get closer to achieving a lasting peace. If I can achieve this then maybe so can my neighbor and so on. The monks are very nearly at the end of their trek - their Facebook group page says they are in Buffalo, but they are not even close to the end of their journey. With tensions rising steadily all over the world these monks could really use our help. What they are saying and doing in this walk isn't some novelty act - it is a prayer, it is a plea, it is an unwavering energy to react a positive and lasting peace. Sutham Nateetong said, “Peace is not (the) duty of only the president, not only the government ... peace is (the) duty for everybody.” I will try to dig deep to find the strength to do my part. I hope I remember that sweaty hug and the lessons it contained when confronted with negativity and I hope I can find the inner peace to remain within the realm of hope. Below is an updated version of a story written for the June 28 edition of Titusville News-Journal. A message of world peace came through the area last week
In his solo journey five years ago, he learned of people’s kindness and willingness to engage. He has also walked across several countries in Europe. This walk he is not alone. The group of ten don’t typically all walk at the same time. Six or so at a time will cover approximately 30 miles a day on foot, some wearing only sandals. They share the duties as they go, such as carrying flags, taking photographs and videos and walking at the end of the single-file group. As they came through the area last week, the region was experiencing the first real heat wave of the summer season. Sweaty and hot, the monks didn't waver they just kept on moving at a steady pace, looking for areas of shade when possible. “Sweat out each drop for world peace,” said Kamron Yaemyue, one of the monks on the journey. If sweat could achieve world peace alone these monks have certainly done their part.
Stopping in Foxburg, Two Mile and Union City, they encountered hundreds of people who came out of their houses to greet and talk with them. Many offered water and food to the travelers. They arrived in Buffalo Tuesday night. Phra Supalak, one of the monks who handles photographing the journey and communications said “Our group of monks would love to thank you for all your hospitality, warm smiling photos with us, water and snacks and thoughtfully offering things that are beneficial to our walking long distances. Truly thank you.” Their Facebook group “Walk for World Peace” shares their journey through words and hundreds of photographs of their encounters. As of June 25, they had walked 1,794.7 miles. "Walking is meditation," Sutham Nateetong said. "I send loving kindness for everybody. Peace is not (the) duty of only the president, not only the government ... peace is (the ) duty for everybody.”
The Spongebob Musical opens Friday at the Barrow-Civic Theatre. The show will run through June 30 with performances at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays.
Below are more images from Wednesday's dress rehearsal. A little eye candy from the fountain that makes West Park in downtown Franklin more commonly referred to as Fountain Park. It's quite a piece of sculptural waterworks. Thousands of prom goers have made this the destination for their photos over the years. Wedding parties have ventured here and even a wedding or two has taken place with this grand centerpiece as a backdrop.
According to the Smithsonian Institute The fountain was erected in memory of Albert G. Egbert (d. 1896), a local physician and one-time member of Congress. It has undergone many repairs over the years, including basin repairs (1928 and 1995); repairs made after a 1929 wind storm broke off Venus' arms and the foot of the maiden facing West Park Street); and repairs made in 1979 under efforts spearheaded by the Franklin Jaycees. The fountain was repainted in 1995. It's captured many a photographer's eye, including this one from time to time.
Below are photographs from last week's band camp performance.
No shortage of things to do in Franklin. Another player on the music scene are the folks at Outdoor Allegheny River Services, better known as OARS Allegheny. Jeff Brunton has made his kayak business venue down off Elk Street into an intimate outdoor performing venue and held their first concert a couple weeks back with Best Intentions entertain a couple hundred people sitting around the campfire and chillin' on the vibes.
Brunton, who everybody call JB or the "kayak guy" has a summer line up scheduled featuring In Harmony on June 21, Mike Leslie on July 26, Alyssa Hankey on August 3, Truly Kin on August 9, Acoustic Earl on August 23 and Max Schang on September 6. "We love live music, " Brunton said. "We started a few years ago with a few friends playing and now we have musicians calling us because of the venue, the vibe and crowd size." Saturday officially kicked off the annual Franklin Blues and Barbeque two-day music festival in Fountain Park, however, the organizers and many musicians got a head start on the weekend Friday night with a special Flag Day all-star jam at Trails to Ales. A lot of talent drew a large crowd with more expected on Sunday.
Saturday saw performances from the Franklin High School jazz band, which has been a recipient of some of the funding given away by the Blues and Barbeque committee, The Memphis Honey Blues Band, The Bell Jumpers, Max Schang and his friends, the Wallace Coleman Band, Greg Piccolo and Heavy Juice and Eliza Neals and her Detroit band. Sunday the event continues with another recipient of the committee's funds, HOLeY Jeans at noon followed by Dan Bubien and the Delta Struts, Billy the Kid and the Regulators. The day is capped -off with Bywater Call before the sun sets on another year. Blues and Barbeque raises money for music education throughout Venango County. Since they began in 2015 they have given out over $50,000. Last year they were able to help Rocky Grove's music department get a French horn and they have establish a strong artist-in-residence program that helps the Franklin Jazz Band program immensely. Below are a few photos from Saturday's performances. |
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