“Mom made me promise her before she died that I would sing,” said Jamie Bastello, an opera singer who bought a house a couple years back in Oil City through the artist relocation program.
And that is exactly what she is doing. The singer who once sang in the shadows of the Collosium in Rome is giving a performance in Franklin at 3 p.m. on May 19 titled “Jamie Bastello and Friends. She will be joined by Kristen Craido, Rebecca Liopuh, Caleb Thompson and Eli Busch at the historic Franklin’s First United Methodist Church at 1102 Liberty Street. “When you hear opera up close it is breathtaking, it’s shocking,” Bastello said. “Digital music is not the same as hearing live music. We are electromagnetic waves and we need nature, and we need interaction and connection with each other, and we need music… we need live music. It is a completely different experience singing in front of someone. It makes people feel good and that is really because of the resonance of the sound and the electromagnetic analog waves. It’s good for us.” To purchase tickets visit eventbrite.com and search “Jamie Bastello. They are $20. Bastello also mentioned you can purchase them from her if you come across her around town “P’opera-ing,” which she is known to do when she goes shopping or to grab a coffee. Her mom wanted her to sing and she is determined to honor her mom’s wishes. |
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In the wake of releasing the findings of the ATV trail feasibility study, the Oil Region Alliance is looking for potential members of the newly created Oil Region ATV Association. The 15-member association, which was formed in January, is a standalone organization that will provide technical assistance for the possible development of an ATV trail using public roadways in Venango County. Potential board members, especially those with expertise and skills such as financial, legal, and marketing experience can contact Kim Harris at kharris@oilregion.org, 814-677-3152 or send a letter of interest to 217 Elm St., Oil City, PA 16301. The creation of the board is the first outcome of the Oil Heritage Valley Trail Feasibility Study, which was commissioned by the ORA.
"The study confirmed that this is a highly desired form of outdoor recreation. Most (respondents from the region) are current riders and over half report 15-plus years of riding experience. Yet ATV/UTV trails are among the most underserved and underdeveloped trail systems within the commonwealth," according to the executive summary of the study. The full summary is available on the ORA website.
“This has taken a great deal of time to go through, and we need to move forward positively,” said Harris, Oil Region Alliance Outdoor Recreation Program Manager. She emphasized incidents or riders traveling on private property can hinder some of the progress being made in developing a trail. Despite the large support for creating a trail, no private landowners have come forward to have trails developed on their property. Therefore, public roads are being identified to create a “trail” that would allow ATV users to traverse the county. “We have wanted to develop an ATV trail in Venango County for quite some time and recognize the potential economic impact it could have on our region,” said John Phillips, ORA president. Any landowners interested in learning more about ATV trail development can contact Harris. There are different means of partnering for the trail, including easements and sales of portions of property or entire parcels that private individuals may not be aware of when considering allowing trail development on their land. File photos from 2022 and 2023 events In stark contrast to last year's bitter cold, the 2024 Franklin on Ice forecast is expected to be very welcoming with unseasonably warm and sunny temperatures for Saturday's popular winter event. The forecast calls for 30s and lower 40s throughout the event, which includes ice sculptures in Fountain Park, a magic show and art display at the Barrow-Civic Theatre, and free carriage rides around a portion of the downtown. This year’s event will be one of the largest with 98 blocks of ice are on order to make up dozens of frozen art, according to a press release from the city. Live carving will return for the first time since 2020 and will be done from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. “Live ice carving has always been a crowd favorite. Seeing the DiMartino team bring life to seemingly plain blocks of ice is fun for all ages,” said James Shreffler, Franklin’s Events & Marketing Coordinator. “We will see the return of favorites that the kids enjoy, including the slide and throne, and we have many interactive sculptures for great photo opportunities."
Photos of Franklin Flyers provided by Brian Smith "So the Franklin Flyers Club represented Pennsylvania and the Franklin area very well (recently)." wrote Brian Smith letting us know of some great accomplishment of our talented local swimmers. The Poseidon Championship Series are high level YMCA regional competitions where athletes get to test themselves atgainst other state and national level swimmers. The Franklin Flyers took tenth-place overall agains 18 teams. This was an impressive placing considering they only had 12 competitors. Five podium place winners of the twelve is a pretty good percentage. Below are the listings and a link for the full results.
Reprinted with permission from the Franklin Area Chamber of Commerce After last year’s successful hosting of the event, Franklin Moving Forward signed on to collaborate with the Barrow-Civic Theatre again to hold this year’s screening at 3 p.m. on January 27.
There will be one change from last year’s schedule. “The pre-show expo will be at the Barrow. Doors will open at 1:30. The showing of the Fly Fishing Film Tour will be at 3 p.m. Then there will be an informal after-party at TrAils to Ales Brewery II after the showing,” said Chris Simms, chairman of Franklin Moving Forward. The annual film tour is a traveling roadshow that includes the best fly fishing films in the world, according to the F3T website. The F3T aims to create community, inspire, encourage and support conservation efforts. The event includes a live emcee, raffle and door prizes from premium sponsors and regional fishing supply vendors, and opportunities to talk with other fishermen. The theatre will also be operating its concession stand throughout the event. For Franklin, it means bringing in visitors during what has traditionally been a quiet time in the city’s normally busy events schedule. A move that Franklin Moving Forward hopes will build on last year’s success and attendance numbers. “Hopefully more people have cabin fever in January,” Simms said. According to the national schedule listed by F3T online, the Franklin stop is the first opportunity for people to see the tour on the East Coast this year. “It brings a lot of people in from out of town. We draw people from Ohio, NY, the Mercer and Clarion areas,” Simms said of last year’s Franklin F3T event. Franklin Moving Forward took the lead on bringing the tour to Franklin in 2023 and again this year as part of its overall efforts to support outdoor tourism and recreation. “Franklin Moving Forward has a part of its mission to preserve and improve our outdoor experiences. The rivers, creeks, and woods. The film tour brings attention to that, while also operating as a fundraiser,” Simms. The F3T was founded in 2006 and has run for 18 consecutive seasons predominantly in the US and Canada. In 2023, the F3T merged with the Rise Fly Fishing Film Festival which operates in Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France and Argentina. The combined Fly Fishing Film Tour visits more than 14 countries, putting on more than 300 shows annually, making it the biggest community fly fishing event in the world. Tickets are $12 for one, $20 for two, and free for ages 12 and under . They can be purchased online at flyfilmtour.myeventscenter.com or by calling the chamber. Online Voting Open for Paint the Plow Program in Northwest Region Ten area schools including two from Venango County took part in the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation's annual Paint the Plow contest, which is a statewide initiative to partner with schools to showcase the student's creative ways to get the message of winter driving safety out to the public.
School's in Forest, Mercer, Venango, and Warren painted 10 plows that will likely be in use this weekend. The program started earlier this school year when PennDOT invited students in the northwest region to come up with a design and then paint it on the plow blade left at the school. PennDot gave the students the theme “Seat belts are always in season” as a prompt. "The theme was chosen to remind motorists that seat belts save lives and should be worn year-round," the PennDOT press release said. The two local schools that participated were Rocky Grove and Venango Catholic High Schools. Youngsville, Eisenhower, Commodore Perry, Mercer, West Middlesexl, Tidioute Charter, West Forest, and East Forest High Schools also participated. The public is invited to vote through an online survey posted on the PennDOT website at www.penndot.pa.gov/PaintthePlow. The voting form can be found by clicking on the county names within the table. Additional Paint the Plow art programs were held throughout the state and the public may vote on their favorite from each participating district. Participation is limited to one vote per person per district. The plow in each district that receives the most votes between January 8 and January 15, 2024, will be deemed the “Fan Favorite” for that area. Along with the “Fan Favorite” award, the blades are also eligible for the “Judges’ Pick” honor that will be determined by PennDOT personnel. The winner in each category will be announced in connection with Winter Driving Safety Awareness Week on January 21 to 27, 2024. The Oil Region Alliance add three new members to the staff - Stevette Rosen, Oil City Main Street manager; Bryon Huyett, broadband project manager; and Kody Ealy, custodian at the Crawford Center in Emlenton. “The ORA is growing and seeing successes across its programs that are making positive impacts in our region,” said John Phillips, ORA president and CEO. “Expanding our capacity is vital to the continuation of progress.”
Rosen said she is excited to learn about the city and the region's history and to support “all kinds of wonderful changes” in the works, such as the effort to restore the Lyric Theatre.
She has a mass communications degree from Clarion University and graduated from the Regional Vision in Leadership Development program. Relocating to the Oil Region moves Rosen closer to her daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren in Titusville as well as her son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren in Ohio. The Oil City Main Street program is a partnership between the ORA and the City of Oil City. The manager has been vacant since Kathy Bailey passed away in August. “I’ll never be able to fill her shoes, but I’ll try to make her proud,” Rosen said of Bailey. Rosen starts in the position on January 16 and can be reached at srosen@oilregion.org. Other Hires Huyett, a telecommunications expert, will be charged with executing a $500,000 Appalachian Regional Commission Area Development Grant on behalf of Venango County. The project includes building two towers that will distribute broadband signal to un- and under-served portions of Cranberry Township. “He is instrumental in getting the design up and running,” said Debbie Sobina, ORA executive vice president. Ealy is serving as a part-time custodian for the Crawford Center, a property owned by the Borough of Emlenton but maintained by the ORA. Through a press release, Ealy said he is very fond of the Emlenton community and excited to be a steward for this property. File photos from First Night 2021 and 2022 Oil City Arts Council’s annual New Year’s Eve celebration, First Night ® Oil City, will take place on Sunday, December 31, 2023 with entertainment or activities taking place from 6 to 11 p.m. with fireworks at midnight. The theme for this year’s gala event is “Back to the Future”. This fun-filled, family-oriented, non-alcoholic New Year’s Eve festivity will again offer an array of wonderful live entertainment at multiple venues on the north and south sides of Oil City. During the evening’s celebration, a shuttle bus will run between the north and south sides of town from 5:30 to 11:30 p.m. Admission to First Night Oil City venues requires a specially designed First Night admission button. The button cost this year is $10. Those age 10 and younger are free. The buttons can be purchased at the Oil City Public Library, Gates and Burns Realty, Inc., Transit Arts Gallery & Gifts, and Venango Museum. That evening buttons are available at Trinity United Methodist Church or Christ Episcopal Church. A special FirstNight SnapChat filter sponsored by HOLeY Jeans will be available during the event to share photos. Use #firstnightoilcity2023 to help spread the word and share photos on social media posts. Further information is available online and on Facebook or see the list of performers below.
On the North Side of town
On the South Side of town
Editor's note: We inadvertently called Camden Smith a wrestler in the first post. We have corrected that.
They are also accepting submissions to be considered for the collection. The guidelines are: "Two-dimensional artwork that is representational of life in north-western Pennsylvania. This includes drawing, painting, photography, graphic design, and printmaking. Submissions may be refused if deemed inappropriate for a K-12 setting. Artists must be 18 years of age or older to submit work." The deadline to submit these pieces is Jan. 31 More information: https://sites.google.com/students.fasd.k12.pa.us/fasdartcollection/home To submit work click here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdbJ3V6OhIdwjgHZA2PT_rd0BUC77MvUCPtjJ7t_CMCj1CFBw/viewform?pli=1 The selected art work will be revealed during the school's spring art show in May and installed before the end of the school year. The school's website lists the importance of this collection.
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