Performances of “Mary Poppins,” an enchanting musical that mixes an irresistible story with unforgettable songs and dance numbers is being brought to Straughn Auditorium on the Mansfield University campus by Hamilton-Gibson Productions at 7:30 p.m. this coming Thursday, Friday and Saturday, July 13, 14 and 15  and at 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, July 16.

Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s “Mary Poppins” is based on books written by Pamela Lyndon Travers and the classic Walt Disney film released 59 years ago on Aug. 27, 1964 starring Julie Andrews as Mary Poppins and Dick Van Dyke as Bert. 

This musical delighted Broadway audiences and received nominations for seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical. 

Isaac Fessenden and Chloe Cramer, both 2023 graduates of Port Allegany High School, were presented with the June Dunn Memorial Scholarships awarded through the Port Allegany Women’s Club. The presentation was made during a recent Concert on the Town Square hosted by PAWC. June Dunn was a long-time music educator at Port Allegany High School. The first scholarship was awarded to Maria Mantz, Class of 2000. Isaac will be attending Mansfield University and majoring in Music Technology. Chloe will be attending Ithaca College and majoring in Music Education.

Pictured: The $500 scholarships are being presented to Issac and Chloe by PAWC President, Joyce Stehle.

One of several summer camps offered by the Education Council was the Cake Baking Challenge held at the Seneca Highlands CTC Culinary Arts Classroom with instructor Chef Paul Farmelo.  Students each baked their own cake and decorated it as well.  Chef Paul assisted participants with the making and baking of the cakes and participants used their creativity for decorating.  The camp was open for students entering grades 5 – 8.  Chef Paul was assisted by former CTC Culinary Arts graduate, Makayla Alcorn. 

Pictured are the Cake Camp kids with Chef Paul and his assistant. 

Other camps offered this summer included Minecraft, Video Gamers and Gaming Design, Intro to Drones and Video Games, Exploring Careers in Healthcare and Dungeons and Dragons.  For information on future opportunities offered by the Education Council serving Potter and McKean Counties go to their website at www.pottercountyedcouncil.org.

No Fooling, It Was Ladies Day Out on Saturday April 1st, at Eddie’s ON MAIN in Port Allegany, PA. Seventy plus women gathered in an effort to raise funds in support of CASA… McKean County’s Court Appointed Special Advocates For Children. Curated by Kimball Nelson of Howard Hanna Professionals and hosted by Ed Vicic of Eddie’s ON MAIN this delightful afternoon proved to be profitable as well as enjoyable. The presentation of the proceeds was done recently in Port Allegany. 

Shown in the picture above are  CASA Advocate Jennifer Tanner, CASA Advocate Supervisor Margaret “Peggy” Luck, Kimball Nelson and Ed Vicic.   

The event featured music by local guitarist John Meade, wine tasting by the Little Mountain Winery, appetizer stations by Eddie’s on MAIN, all part of a Treat Yourself Day for the ladies. Jewelry, Glassware, Artwork, Gift Baskets, and Raffles merchandised raising $1500.00, shown donated by the presentation check in the photo.

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) announced a start date of Thursday, July 27, for a box culvert replacement project in Potter County. The box spans Tyler Hollow Run along Route 244 approximately two miles east of Oswayo and replacing it will improve the structure’s overall condition from “poor” to “good.”

Starting Thursday, PennDOT Potter County Maintenance crews will close Route 244 between the intersections of Route 4025 (Brizzie Hollow Road) and Route 4011 (Peet Brook Road). They will implement a detour that will see drivers use Route 44, Route 49, and Peet Brook Road to reconnect with Route 244.

PennDOT Potter County Maintenance will complete all work associated with this project and anticipates wrapping up the project in mid-August. All work is weather and schedule dependent.

Dr. Nancy McCabe is entering fresh territory with her seventh and newest book, “Vaulting Through Time,” a young adult novel that will be published July 25, when the Bradford Area Public Library will host a book launch party.

            The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford professor of writing found success with five of her books authoring autobiographical stories. In 2016, she published her first novel, “Following Disasters.” Now she’s tackling young adult fiction and time travel simultaneously.

            “I wrote fiction for many years – often very autobiographical stories, McCabe said about her leap into a new genre. “Then, I started writing nonfiction because I realized that those stories were already dramatic enough and gained power from the fact that they were true. But there’s also something freeing about telling stories in which you can make things up, too, and some essential truths that are easier to get at in fiction, so I’ve gradually come back to fiction, too.”

            She said her college students were one of her inspirations for exploring time travel.

            “I have been inspired by and learned from many students over the years who are interested in speculative work. And I’ve always been fascinated by time travel as it occurs across genres, its potential for social and cultural commentary and historical recreation, the way it can explore the effect of the past on the present and the present on the future.”

            McCabe was teaching a class on time travel fiction when her daughter was a teenager competing on the YMCA gymnastics team, the Bradford Flames.

“So, I thought, what if I brought all these things together and wrote a YA novel about a time traveling gymnast?”

            The protagonist of McCabe’s new book for young people aged 13 to 18 is Elizabeth Arlington, a 16-year-old competitive gymnast with fear issues when it comes to throwing herself over a vault table. But then Elizabeth finds that she has much bigger problems when she discovers a mystery surrounding her birth.

            With the help of a watch that turns out to be a time machine, she catapults into the past —through her family history and great moments in gymnastics history — to solve that mystery and stop a fellow time traveler whose actions may prevent her from being born at all. Her quest takes her to the 1988 Olympic Trials, where she’ll have to perform the vault of her life to save her loved ones — and herself.

            “There’s really not much difference in complexity and sophistication in YA novels versus adult novels,” McCabe said. “It’s just that YA novels deal with younger characters and are more likely to focus on issues related to identity and independence, which is also true of ‘Vaulting through Time.’”

            Publisher CamCat Books will release “Vaulting through Time” July 25 in hardcover, large print and digital formats as well as in an audiobook narrated by voiceover actress Sura Siu.

The Bradford Area Public Library will hold a launch party that day at 6 p.m. The party is free and open to the public. Copies of the book will be available at the library. Additionally, McCabe will be at the Good Neighbors Bookstore in Lakewood, N.Y., from 1 to 3 p.m. Aug. 26.

            McCabe noted that much of the story takes place in Bradford in 1929, 1972 and 2018.

            McCabe’s next two books are already in the works. “The Pamela Papers,” a comic novel with speculative elements about a small college campus during the pandemic, will be out from Outpost 19 next year.

            “Fires Burning Underground” is a contemporary middle-grades novel with supernatural elements that will be published by Fitzroy/Regal House in 2025.

            In addition to her books, McCabe has published essays in numerous magazines, received a Pushcart Prize and been selected for annual lists of the most notable American essays nine times by Best American anthologies.

            To learn more about McCabe or her writing, visit www.nancymccabe.net.

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford is one of 208 colleges and universities in the nation named to Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society’s Transfer Honor Roll in honor of the pathways it has created to support transfer students.

                The Transfer Honor Roll is decided by 40 key metrics related to the support and success of transfer students, including college cost and financial aid, campus life for transfer students, admission practices, and bachelor’s degree completion.

The Transfer Honor Roll was based on analysis from the National Student Clearinghouseand on data submitted through the four-year institution’s profile on PTK Connect, Phi Theta Kappa’s online tool designed to help students find their best-fit colleges and career pathways. 

Colleges completing the PTK Connect profile are given a Transfer Friendliness Rating. The Honor Roll is chosen from among the top 25 percent highest-rated colleges.

This is the third time Pitt-Bradford has been recognized. It was the only campus in the Pitt system and only one of two public universities in Pennsylvania that was recognized.

“We are proud to recognize exceptional colleges and universities that go above and beyond to create accessible pathways to bachelor’s degree completion for community college transfer students,” said Phi Theta Kappa President and CEO Dr. Lynn Tincher-Ladner.

Phi Theta Kappa is the honor society for students at two-year colleges and universities. It recognizes four-year colleges and universities considered most friendly to transfer students. 

Pitt-Bradford provides an extensive database of courses at other universities for students to find potential transfer credits. It also has specific transfer agreements with 15 other universities and offers merit scholarship for transfer students.

“We do our very best to be transfer-friendly, knowing that students are looking to us to help them earn a Pitt degree without losing out on credits they have already earned at other colleges,” said Bob Dilks, director of transfer and nontraditional student recruitment. “Our goal is to make the transfer process as seamless as possible.”

For more information on transferring to Pitt-Bradford, contact Dilks at dilks@pitt.edu.

The Allegany County Democratic Committee invites you visit its booth at the Alegany County Fair.  Volunteers will be on hand to greet you from 10:00 a.m. through 9:00 p.m. each day of the fair, which runs July 20-26, 2023.  

Stop by to chat or to register to vote. Get information on local candidates, on becoming an Elections Inspector, and on early voting for the November election. For fun, you’re invited to play a game of “Citizen Bingo”– every player wins!

“We are deeply committed to community service and outreach,” said committee Vice Chair Martha Sabato, “and so our theme this year is “Serving Our Community.” The booth design features framed photos of county Democrats engaged in activities that benefit our community. 

Special guests this year include:

• Bill Cox (Alma Town Council) Monday between 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
• Cindy Appleton (Western Region Vice Chair, Democratic Rural Conference) Tuesday at 2:00 p.m.
• Quinn Bushen, Bonnie Kane Lockwood, and Karen Mahony (Office of Governor Kathy Hochul, WNY Region) Wednesday between 12:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m.
• Linda Cash (Angelica Village Trustee) Thursday between 3:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

** Other invited guests had not confirmed at the time of this publication. Learn more on our website at www.alleganycountydemocrats.org, or contact us on FB, Twitter or at info@alleganycountydemocrats.org.

Four recent area graduates received awards this year from the Burt Scholarship Fund, managed by the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation.

Allegany-Limestone Central School’s Karly Bruton, Francisca Childs of Hinsdale Central School, Nathaniel Martinelli of Olean High School and Portville Central School’s Malachi Galmer each received the Burt Scholarship for $1,250.

Established by the Burt Committee of the First Presbyterian Church of Olean in memory of Dr. Rudy Burt, the scholarship is given each year to one student each from Olean High School and Portville, Allegany-Limestone and Hinsdale Central Schools.

Bruton plans to study nursing at Mercyhurst University. Childs will attend Washington & Lee University to study biology/economics.

Martinelli will study political science at Chatham University. Galmer will attend Alfred State College to study digital media and animation.

The Burt Scholarship Fund has supported over $70,000 in scholarship awards to area students since it was established at CRCF in 2004.

Donations can be made to the Burt Scholarship at CRCF, 301 North Union St., Suite 203 or online at cattfoundation.org.

The Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation is the area’s supportive, responsive and trusted community foundation. Established in 1994, CRCF is growing good by connecting donors to the causes they care about most in the region. Grants from the foundation support many areas, including education, scholarships, health care, the arts, community development, human service, and youth development. To learn more, call (716) 301-CRCF (2723), email foundation@cattfoundation.org, or visit online at www.cattfoundation.org. CRCF is also on Facebook (facebook.com/cattfoundation) and Twitter (@CattFoundation).