NEWS

On Wednesday, Dec. 14 at 7 p.m., Robert Gleason will take the stage as Thomas Paine in the Coolidge Theatre at 104 Main Street in Wellsboro. Following his performance will be a question and answer session with the audience.

This is the fourth of seven History Comes Alive shows being presented by the Deane Center for the Performing Arts during the 2022-2023 series.

Committed to social equality, Paine was outspoken, controversial and articulate. With the help of Benjamin Franklin, he emigrated to the British American colonies in 1774, arriving just in time to participate in the American Revolution. In 1776 Paine helped inspire the Patriots to declare independence from Great Britain.

This English-born American political activist became the revolution’s mouthpiece, writing two influential pamphlets, “Common Sense” and “The American Crisis.” In “Common Sense,” Paine wrote: “These are the times that try men’s souls.” His words inspired a tired and disheartened Colonial army of 4500 to continue fighting against a British army that numbered 30,000. 

His radical writings also included “The Rights of Man”, a work urging political rights for all men because of their innate equality, and “The Age of Reason.” The impassioned author championed the causes of the individual and of the mind. 

Gleason lives near Lansdale, Pa. with his wife of 35+ years, and a large stock of costumes, props, and books.

He has a degree in Theatre Arts from West Chester University and has performed on stage, screen, television and radio. While serving in the U.S. Army, he toured Europe with the 7th Army Soldiers Chorus.

In 1991, the Bicentennial for the Bill of Rights, Gleason  joined the American Historical Theatre in Philadelphia as James Wilson. He had been portraying Wilson, a Founding Father, for the Freedoms Foundation of Valley Forge since 1985. 

Gleason termed his meeting with AHT’s William and Pamela Sommerfield as a turning point in his personal and professional life. In-depth historical research and interaction with audiences have become hallmarks of his historical portrayals.

He has presented programs featuring nearly 150 historical figures, stretching over 2000 years of history. These programs have taken him to 21 states so far, from Washington D.C. to San Diego, California, and from El Paso, Texas to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

Gleason has performed at the White House Visitors Center, The Smithsonian Institution, Constitution Hall, George Washington’s Mount Vernon, Ford’s Theatre, Independence Hall, The National Constitution Center and many others. He has been especially popular at schools, museums, historic sites and libraries throughout the United States.

The remaining History Comes Alive performances are in the Deane Center’s Coolidge Theatre at 7 p.m. on the following Wednesdays in 2023: Feb. 8, Bill Robling as Benjamin Franklin; March 15, Kim Hanley as Betsy Ross; and April 12, Robert Gleason as William Penn. 

Tickets for each show are $15. Children 12 and under accompanied by a paying adult are admitted free. For information or tickets, call 570-724-6220 or visit www.deanecenter.com. 

Cliff Lane was recently elected as the North East Region Representative to the National Association of Conservation District’s (NACD) Executive Board. He will take office in early 2023.

“I look forward to representing Pennsylvania and the entire North East in my new role with the national association,” said Lane. “I know that my experiences here have positioned me to enact change on a national level with this association and I am committed to working with our next generation of leaders.”

Cliff has spent that last 4 years as Pennsylvania’s representative to the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD).    For the past 9 years, he has been serving as the Northwest Regional Director of the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts (PACD) and is a member of the PACD executive board.  Since 2004, Cliff has been a director for the McKean County Conservation District as the Commissioner Director and Secretary/Treasurer for the District.

At 1 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 13, “A Harp Holiday with Friends” featuring Cheryl Hein Walters, flutist Peggy Morehart and harp students, will be in the lobby at the Deane Center for the Performing Arts at 104 Main Street in Wellsboro.

This one-hour Golden Afternoons program is free for people 55 years old and up. Light refreshments will be provided.

A harpist, singer, poetry and story lover, Walters will intersperse light, classical holiday pieces and audience sing-alongs with her favorite holiday poems and stories. Those attending will be invited to pat, clap, sing or stomp along with gusto.

“I find myself reading aloud a lot,” said Walters. “Poems or stories followed by a harp piece gives your imagination a chance to rest, digest or chew on what you have heard. When I sing or read to others, I try to recreate the same magic of music and story I knew when I was growing up. “

Walters taught elementary music in the Dallas-Fort Worth area of Texas for 11 years before moving to Mansfield in 2007.

For the past 15 years, she has been teaching harp, voice and piano to private students and substitute teaching as well as doing public relations work. Walters is a church musician, playing many Sundays at St. James Episcopal Church in Mansfield. She also plays the harp for dinner parties, weddings, funerals or any special occasion and is the director of Hamilton-Gibson’s Choir, Too.

For more information about this free program, call the Deane Center at 570-724-6220.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) today announced the many highway improvements that took place across the region during the 2022 construction season, in Cameron, Centre, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Juniata, McKean, Mifflin, and Potter Counties.

Overall highlights in the 2022 construction season for District 2 included:

• approximately 157 miles of paving
• approximately 49 bridges were repaired or replaced
• approximately 440 miles of roadway were seal coated

District Executive Tom Zurat said, “This year District 2 funded over $112 million on over 80 construction projects in our region.” “We appreciate the patience our customers show us as our staff works hard to maintain, improve, and enhance state-owned roads and bridges across our 9 counties”

Notable projects that have been completed this year include:

• I-80 bridge replacements at the 123/Woodland interchange and reconstruction on SR 970 in Clearfield County, $18 million;
• Route 322 widening, safety improvements, and addition of a turn lane near Philipsburg  in Clearfield County, $8.1 million
• I-80 local interchange for SR 26/I-80 in Centre County east of I-80 exit 161, $52 million;
• Safety improvement project for Routes 64/550 intersection realignment in Centre County, $3.7 million;
• Route 150 City of Lock Haven signal upgrades in Clinton County, $2.8 million
• Safety improvement project for Routes 26/45 near State College; $5 million;
• Winslow Hill Local Roadway Paving project/T-520 in Elk County; enhancement of pedestrian movements, emergency vehicle accommodation, drainage, and guide rail through elk viewing area; $2.8 million;
• SR 3023/A03 in Juniata County; bridge replacement over Tuscarora Creek in Lack  Township; $2 million; BIL funds directed to other projects made this one possible.

• SR 219/537; Highway restoration in the City of Bradford, Bradford Township, and Foster Township; $5.7 million; $1.3 million came from the BIL;
• SR 22/721; Highway resurfacing in Oliver Township, Granville Township, and McVeytown Borough in Mifflin County; $1.3 million; $1 million coming through BIL;

•  SR 144/A03; Bridge replacement over Ives Run in Abbott Township, Potter County; $998,000;
  
   Notable projects that will continue next year are:
  
• SR 3014/153; highway restoration and drainage of Atherton Street in State College; $30 million ($2.5 is BIL);
• SR 322/P50; bridge preservation over Clearfield Creek east of Clearfield; $1.2 million, totally covered by the BIL;
• SR 255/N47; Safety improvement at 11 signal locations in City of DuBois and Sandy Township; $1.2 million;
• SR 120/325; Paul Mack Boulevard Highway lighting improvements to replace existing, deteriorated lighting and incorporate LEDs; $2 million funded by BIL;
• SR 219/ST5/2-22/ST52; Resurfacing in McKean County, stretching from SR 59 intersection north toward Lewis Run (including Lantz Corners intersection); project made possible when BIL funding went to other projects;

•  SR 1011/A05; Bridge replacement over Genesee River in Bingham Township, Potter County; $1 million, with more than $837,000 covered by the BIL;
•  SR 1005/720 Highway resurfacing/betterment project from Electric Avenue to Market Street in Lewistown Borough, Mifflin County; $5.4 million; 

Information about infrastructure in District 2, including completed work and significant projects, is available at www.penndot.pa.gov/D2Results.

Find PennDOT’s planned and active construction projects at www.projects.penndot.gov.

Pay off your library fines and help your community!

Do you owe fines for overdue library materials at S.W. Smith Memorial Public Library in Port Allegany?

$1 will be deducted from your library fine for each nonperishable food item that is donated during Food for Fine$ week, December 5-10, 2022. Patrons without fines may also donate food to help a child patron pay down their fine. Please bring donations to the S.W. Smith Memorial Public Library at 201 E Maple St. in Port Allegany. All food collected will be donated to local food pantries. Bath, body, and hygiene items will be donated to the Port Allegany High School Gator Closet.

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The Tiadaghton Audubon Society, a group of local birders based in Wellsboro, is asking citizens to help with two Christmas Bird Counts this winter. The Cowanesque Circle bird count will be on Saturday, Dec. 17 and the Wellsboro-Mansfield Circle bird count on Sunday, Jan. 1, 2023. 

“We would like more people to get involved by counting the birds at their own feeders on their own properties either on Dec. 17 or Jan. 1,” said Sean Minnick, who is coordinating the two bird counts. “We would also like to know who is interested in taking part in person in either the Cowanesque Circle or Wellsboro-Mansfield Circle bird count.”

The deadline for people to register to count birds on their own properties or to go on the road and count is no later than Monday, Dec. 12 for the Dec. 17 Cowanesque Circle Bird Count and by Monday, Dec. 26 for the Jan. 1 Wellsboro-Mansfield Circle Bird Count.

“If people living in either the Cowanesque or Wellsboro-Mansfield bird circle areas want to participate but don’t want to leave their homes, they can count the birds at the bird feeders in their own backyards,” said Minnick. 

“If backyard birders call or email me, I can tell them how to do a count and whether they are in one of our circle areas and should send the data to us. If they live outside our circle areas, they will be referred to the appropriate place to report their bird data,” he said. 

Those interested can sign up by emailing tasmember@yahoo.com or calling Minnick at 570-948-9052. “Anyone interested is welcome to call me for more information.” Bird count volunteers will get their area assignments or confirmation of their participation from their own properties via email.

Both the Cowanesque and Wellsboro-Mansfield counts are performed in a “count circle” with a diameter of 15 miles. At least 10 volunteers are needed per circle. Each participant will count every bird they see as he/she/they follow their assigned routes.

The Cowanesque Circle is centered on Cowanesque Lake and has a radius of 7.5 miles, which covers the following areas: North – Pinnacle State Park in N.Y.; South – Ives Run Campground; West – Osceola; and East – East Lawrence Road and Woodford Road. 

The Wellsboro-Mansfield Circle is centered on the intersection of Whitneyville and Charleston roads with a radius of 7.5 miles, covering the following areas: North – Ives Run Campground; South – Arnot and South Elk Road; West – Route 6 and Heise Run Road; and East – Mansfield University. 

People who have never participated before but are interested and comfortable with going out on their own are welcome to help,” Minnick said. “It might be fun for a family or people living in the same household to participate together.”

The Christmas Bird Census, a community science project is an important resource and tool for conservation. 

It is not necessary to be a member of either the Tiadaghton or the National Audubon Society to participate in the Audubon’s Christmas Bird Count, which occurs across America between Dec. 14 and Jan. 5 every year. Tioga County, through the Tiadaghton Audubon Society, has been represented in the count every year since 1968.

At 7:30 p.m. next Friday, Dec. 9, the Wellsboro Community Concert Association is presenting its third concert of the 2022-2023 season in the Coolidge Theatre at the Deane Center for the Performing Arts at 104 Main Street in Wellsboro. 

Featured will be Charm City Junction and special guest Ken Kolodner, renowned hammered dulcimer player and old-time fiddler,

Charm City Junction will perform songs from their albums, including holiday tunes.

From dance inducing old-time rhythms to foot stomping Irish melodies and hard-driving bluegrass, the Baltimore-based quartet of Patrick McAvinue on fiddle, Brad Kolodner on clawhammer banjo, Sean McComiskey on button accordion and Alex Lacquement on upright bass are blazing new trails in acoustic roots music while keeping an eye on tradition.

Since forming in 2014, Charm City Junction has taken the acoustic music scene by storm performing around the country and garnering national attention and praise for their high-energy, captivating and dynamic performances. 

Called “phenomenal instrumentalists” and “excellent singers,” these top-notch musicians not only draw on their separate musical backgrounds as a bluegrass fiddler, old-time banjo picker, Celtic accordionist and jazz bassist but have also found common ground on which to develop their own unique approach.  

Described as “refreshing” and “smartly done,” their self-titled debut album released in the fall of 2015 is a mix of their styles beginning with a lively take on Bill Monroe’s “Frog On A Lily Pad” and continuing with “Margaret’s Waltz” from Pat Shaw, Anders Osborne’s “I’ve Got A Woman,” “The Torn Jacket” from Connie O’Connell and Ian Stephenson’s “Return from Helsinki.”  The other nine tracks are traditional, such as the old-time classic “Last Chance,” and Irish tunes like Joe Bane’s “Barndance.”

The group released their second full-length album, “Duckpin” in the summer of 2018. It debuted at #6 on the Billboard Bluegrass charts.

Their third album “Snowball” was released in 2019 and includes holiday favorites, such as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” “We Three Kings” and “Silent Night” along with “Jingle Bells/Breaking up Christmas.”

Children 12 and under accompanied by a paying adult are admitted free. Admission per student, 13 to 18, is $5 and $25 per adult for the Charm City Junction concert. 

Information and tickets for individual concerts are available by visiting www.wellsborocca.org or by calling the Deane Center at 570-724-6220. If available, tickets can be purchased at the door on Dec. 9 beginning at 7 p.m.

G2 Gymnastics of Shinglehouse, PA hosted their annual Pink Out Flip Out in-house competition to kick off their 22-23 competitive season. The local club uses this as an opportunity to raise money for the Pink Pumpkin Project through various fundraisers such as a large basket raffle, event clothing order, 50/50 raffle, and Warrior Wishes Balloon release to honor all cancer fighters and those battling terminal illness. G2 was able to donate $3,000 to the Pink Pumpkin Project to assist with emotional and financial support to local families fighting breast cancer and undergoing treatment. Representatives Jill Cygan and Paula Ketchner were there to receive the donation. G2 Gymnastics is honored and humbled to be even a small part of such an amazing project. 

SANTA’S COMING– SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2022 AT 12 PM – 3 PM. Santa will be in the cab of the museum’s Shay locomotive to listen to your holiday requests. Take an instant pic with St. Nick and make a special ornament for your tree. Cookies and hot coco will be served in the museum program room. Shop a holiday bazaar of local artisans. Admission: $5 Adult/$3 Youth, Free for Museum Members