Anne's Arts & Activities Blog

Charlottesville, VA – The second annual “Drink Outside the Grape” competition took place in Charlottesville, VA on August 9, resulting in 95 medals for fruit wines, meads, ciders & fruit brandies. Drink Outside the Grape is a truly International Competition, with entries from the U.S., Canada, Estonia, & India. “Beverages in these categories are often misunderstood or not given the same respect as is given to traditional table wines,” explains Richard Leahy, Competition Chair & Conference Manager of the Eastern Winery Exposition. “This competition gives fruit wine, mead, cider, & fruit brandies a place where they can be judged fairly without being compared to traditional graped-based table wines. The growth in this competition shows that producers of these beverages want to get the word out about the good products they are making.” FLICKERWOOD WINE CELLARS of Kane, PA won medals with all 6 of their entries: The Competition was judged by industry professional...

( From CNN ) Glen Campbell, the upbeat guitarist from Delight, Arkansas, whose smooth vocals and down-home manner made him a mainstay of music and television for decades, has died following a battle with Alzheimer's disease, his family announced on Facebook. He was 81. Campbell is best remembered for a string of country-inflected hits that ran from the mid-'60s to the late '80s: "Gentle on My Mind," "Rhinestone Cowboy," "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," "Wichita Lineman," "Galveston," "Southern Nights" and "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle" among them. They fit in neatly on both pop and country radio, with two of them -- "Rhinestone Cowboy" and "Southern Nights" -- hitting No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. He was also famous for "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour," a TV variety show that ran from 1969 to 1972. In 2011, he announced he had Alzheimer's. Despite the diagnosis, h...

The radio station's website has been kind of wacky lately so I haven't been able to upload everything on a timely basis. And, even if I could have, you might not have been able to get there because we were getting "400" and "500" errors/messages. So, while it seems to be somewhat normal right now I'll let you know you can go to the "on-demand" page at wesb.com . You can check out Fiona Barton, Mary Higgins Clark, CJ Box, Joseph Finder, Steve Berry, Christina Baker Kline, Reed Farrell Coleman, Robert Knott Alex George, Brad Taylor, and more. I have more that have to be uploaded, including Ace Atkins and Linda Fairstein. Stay tuned.

Less than twelve weeks after opening to the public, the Marilyn Horne Museum and Exhibit Center has reached its first 1,000 visitors. While the majority of museum patrons are from the local region, visitors have come from as far away as British Columbia. The museum has been tracking attendance and collecting visitor data since mid-May. A dedicated website, marilynhorne.org was launched in June to help promote the museum and its programming. Those searching online for things to do in the region are finding the museum and coming to Bradford’s historic downtown district to visit. “We are thrilled with the interest in the museum,” said Matthew Hileman, the museum’s manager. “The museum is already fulfilling its mission by providing a quality educational experience to those living in the region while bringing much-needed tourism and interest to Bradford.” In addition to attendance, the museum is building its presence online with followers on social media outlets such as Twitter and Fac...

John Heard, the actor who portrayed Kevin McCallister's father in a pair of Home Alone films, has died at the age of 72. The Santa Clara Medical Examiner’s office confirmed Heard's death, Variety reports. TMZ adds that the actor was found dead in his Palo Alto, California hotel room, just days after Heard underwent minor back surgery, his rep said. Read the full story here: http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/news/john-heard-home-alone-actor-dead-at- 72-w493618

Now that you've got Melanie on your mind, did you know her new book "The Girls is the Picture" comes out in January? Check it out on Goodreads . The Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin (Goodreads Author) 4.04 · Rating Details · 24 Ratings · 13 Reviews An intimate portrait of the close friendship and powerful creative partnership between two of Hollywood’s earliest female superstars: Frances Marion and Mary Pickford. An enchanting new novel from the New York Times bestselling author of The Swans of Fifth Avenue and The Aviator’s Wife. Hollywood, 1914. Frances Marion, a young writer desperate for a break, meets “America’s Sweetheart,” Mary Pickford, already making a name for herself both on and off the screen with her golden curls and lively spirit. Together, these two women will take the movie business by storm. Read more at Goodreads .

Mashmellow Overcoat will be performing tonight (Friday) at The Corner Bar & Restaurant in Bradford. Mick Marshall's band Marshall Law has been added to the lineup for the Kids & Cancer Benefit Block Party Saturday on Mechanic Street. Their special guests will be members of Smokin' Section from Pittsburgh. Also at the block party, Jim Ronan will be joining the No Name Trio. The No Name Trio is performing from 3 to 7 p.m.; Marshall Law from 7 to 11 p.m. From 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Vapor will be performing at The Downbeat for its grand re-opening.

by Sean Kirst, Buffalo News The plaque, a replica of a gift to the people of Dunkerque, France, hangs in the second floor corridor of Dunkirk City Hall, a couple of blocks from Lake Erie. It has been there for decades, a gesture to emphasize a bond of deep affection, and Dunkirk Mayor Willie Rosas sees it as a daily reminder of civic purpose. "We need to remember," he said, "great things can happen here." The movie blockbuster of the summer, "Dunkirk," opens this weekend. It portrays the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of Allied troops from the French city, under dire threat from Nazi forces, in the early days of World War II. The film also resonates in the Chautauqua County city of Dunkirk, where an economically wounded Great Lakes community recalls how a collective effort to aid its staggered sister city, more than 70 years ago, gave it a moment of brilliant international attention. Read the full story here: http://buffalonews.com/2017/07/21/se...

by RACHEL ELBAUM In a case as eccentric as the man at the heart of it, the remains of the famed surrealist Spanish artist Salvador Dalí were exhumed on Thursday night following a paternity claim by a tarot card reader. Dalí, who died in 1989 at the age of 84, is buried under the crystal dome of the Dalí Theatre Museum in Figueres in the north of Spain, around 90 miles outside of Barcelona. His tomb lies where the theater's stage used stand. Read the full story here: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/salvador-dal-s-remains-be-exhumed-paternity-test-n784721

by JAMES GAVIN QUEEN OF BEBOP The Musical Lives of Sarah Vaughan By Elaine M. Hayes Illustrated. 419 pp. Ecco/HarperCollins Publishers. $27.99. For Ella Fitzgerald, jazz singing was a way to wallow in joy; Billie Holiday used it to confront her grief. And to Sarah Vaughan, it was a nirvana where everything was possible and nothing went wrong. Read the entire review here: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/20/books/review/queen-of-bebop-sarah-vaughan-biography-elaine-m-hayes-.html?smid=tw-nytbooks&smtyp=cur New York Times photo

Friday Pack your camp chair and bring your friends to Red House Beach for an evening of FREE live music. This is a family friendly event. For more information please call 716-354-9101 ext 236 www.facebook.com/alleganystatepark Bradford Little Theatre's Kids Camp culminates with performances of "We Are Monsters" at Togi's Playhouse. Saturday The 20th annual Kids & Cancer Benefit Motorcycle Run ends with a block party on Mechanic Street featuring music from the No Name Trio. "We Are Monsters" at Togi's Playhouse Sunday Solid Rock Festival at the Bradford Township Community Club on Irving Lane from 1 to 9 p.m. featuring several Christian rock bands.

The McKean County Arts Council is holding its first-ever official, sponsored event. The organization is sponsoring the "Let There Be Art" show opening reception at the Landmark Cafe in Bradford from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday, August 3. Three local artists -- Rick Minard, Greg Souchick and Ashley Wilson-Rew -- will be displaying their work. You can meet them as well as members of the newly formed arts council. The event is free and open to the public.

World Emoji Day on Monday 17 July 2017 marks the first time that the Royal Opera House has teamed up with a digital platform like Twitter to tell the stories of some of the world’s best-loved operas and ballets, engaging new audiences at giant scale for the first time. Throughout World Emoji Day, the Royal Opera House will share a series of tweets via its Twitter handle @RoyalOperaHouse, each one telling the story of a famous opera or ballet using only emojis. Twitter will support the Royal Opera House’s content, encouraging the initiative to trend. The Royal Opera House will support with additional activity on Instagram and Facebook throughout the day. The public will have the chance to win a pair of tickets if they identify any one opera or ballet told as emojis in any one of the tweets. With a new tweet for a new ballet or opera every 30 minutes throughout the day, there will be many opportunities to enter. Jeremy Paul, Head of Marketing Communications, Audiences ...

Maureen Ryan Griffin will take you on an exploration of the benefits that writing can provide—physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Our time together will be ideal for beginners as well as for seasoned writers as we explore the renewal and deepening of our relationship with God, self, others, and the world. 814-945-6512 17 East Main Street, Ludlow, PA 16333 www.olmstedmanor.org/writing-workshop.html

The Allegheny National Forest Visitor’s Bureau has designed an exciting 18- page brochure- A Walking Tour of Bradford's National Historic District. The brochure features architectural and historical highlights of 25 buildings within Bradford's National Historic District with a detailed, numbered map of building locations. The Bradford Walking Tour Brochure encourages visitors to “look up” to experience a sampling of Bradford's beautiful architecture and rich history. As the brochure's beginning text describes, "If you listen carefully, you might be able to hear the steady hammering of nails on a makeshift mercantile, an investor plunking down a gold bar at the Option House as he throws back a shot of whiskey, and oil producers passing out cigars to celebrate a successful deal." Each building featured includes a photo and a short history. One of the buildings highlighted on the walking tour is 9 Kennedy Street home of Graham’s Florist & Gifts. This ...

Dr. Megan Walsh’s newest book takes a look at literature in Colonial America — and the focus isn’t just on words. In “The Portrait and the Book: Illustration and Literary Culture in Early America” (University of Iowa Press), the St. Bonaventure University English professor argues that colonial-era author portraits shaped readers’ conceptions of American literature. In the 19th century, new image-making methods like steel engraving and lithography caused a surge in the publication of illustrated books in the United States. Yet even before the widespread use of these technologies, Walsh says early Americans had already established the illustrated book format as central to the nation’s literary culture. Through an examination of readers’ portrait-collecting habits, writers’ employment of ekphrasis (a vivid, often dramatic, verbal description of a visual work of art), printers’ efforts to secure American-made illustrations for periodicals, and engravers’ reproductions of Briti...

Little monsters are invading Bradford Little Theatre (BLT) when the cast of 24 campers take the stage at the conclusion of the second annual kid’s camp later this month. Directors Mandi Droney and Hannah Leposa are thrilled to be working with the talented group of children and teens from the area. “Camp last summer was such an enriching experience. I am thrilled to be back for a second year. Seeing the camper numbers grow by almost ten just shows us that we are doing something not only educational, but enjoyable,” says returning camp director, Leposa. The campers are working each day to put together the one act musical, “We Are Monsters.” The show takes place deep in a cave where monster emcees, Targoyle and Fargoyle, are hosting a monster cabaret filled with werewolves, vampires, and an ooze monster. Targoyle and Fargoyle are played by Hayden Yanik, 11, and Lillian South, 8, respectively. Yanik is a first year camper while this is South’s second year. The ooze monster, Oozy L...

1.I'll actually be posting again. 2.It will be different from WESB news.

Sarah Dessen, the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen novels for teens, will speak April 11 at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford. Dessen will share stories about writing and her books, read, and sign books at 7 p.m. in the Harriett B. Wick Chapel. The program is free and open to the public. The Pitt-Bradford hospitality management program will provide refreshments. A community forum will be held at 5 p.m. in the chapel to discuss how young adult novels can spark conversations about adolescent development and common concerns faced by teenagers. The interactive discussion, “Talking about the World of Teenagers Using Novels They Read,” will be led by Dr. Rebecca McHugh, assistant professor of psychology. Teens, parents, teachers and anyone else interested may attend. McHugh will be joined by Mary Anne Polucci-Sherman, a psychologist at Bradford Regional Medical Center, and Suzy Meyer-Page, a counselor at Deerfield Behavioral Health. Earlier this year, ...

As a tribute to the renowned opera star and Bradford native, Marilyn Horne, the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford changed the name of its six-story downtown property from the Seneca Building to Marilyn Horne Hall. The University of Pittsburgh Board of Trustees approved the name change Friday in Pittsburgh. In May Pitt-Bradford will open a 3,400 square-foot museum in the hall dedicated to Horne, who donated her archives to the University of Pittsburgh. “Ms. Horne is beside herself with joy and excitement that a building in the place of her birth is being named in her honor,” said Dr. Livingston Alexander, president of Pitt-Bradford. “She is truly humbled by the honor and looks forward to joining us on May 6 for the dedication and opening of the Marilyn Horne Museum and Exhibit Center in Marilyn Horne Hall.” Horne, who is Bradford’s most famous native daughter, was born in 1934. Her father, Bentz Horne, encouraged her to pursue her musical dreams. She moved with her family to L...