http://richardsayerphotojournalism.weebly.com/the-nature-of-things/feeder-frenzy
And be on the look out early next week for a great photo her bloodhound Clem and several birds and bees checking out her sunflowers.
Eight & 322/Eight & 27 |
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I'm only going to post this wonderful photo of a hummingbird by Anna Applegate this week and immediately send you to her column this week title "Feeder Frenzy." Her column, "The Nature of Things" will be a regular feature here at Eight & 322. Please visit this week's column at:
http://richardsayerphotojournalism.weebly.com/the-nature-of-things/feeder-frenzy And be on the look out early next week for a great photo her bloodhound Clem and several birds and bees checking out her sunflowers.
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Polk Center staff and families gathered Friday at Bandstand Park in Franklin to mark one year since the state announced they would be closing the more than one century old facility.
A crowd of around 50, mostly donned in red, and many wearing Polk Strong shirts and masks came to hear some speeches by area politicians such as state Representative R. Lee James and the county's three commissioners - Sam Breene, Mike Dulaney and Chip Abromovic. Several thank yous were handed out and vows to keep up the fight to keep the center open for the people who call it their home. Below are a few of the photos I took at the event. Ribbons were strewn out on posts and trees and Tracy Stonesifer gave impassioned cries of "Together We Are Polk Strong." Click on the photos to enlarge. Featured photograph of the day Venango County Democrat Ed Scurry stood alone Friday night in front of the courthouse pledging his support for presidential candidate Joe Biden. Scurry said rain or shine each Friday he will be out with his sign up until Election Day.
Fire destroys building, equipment, but not businessAll employees showed up to work Friday morning as the rubble smoldered Clint Hepler said he has had this dream before where his business caught on fire, "but I always woke up." Standing with his brother and friends looking at the wreckage from Thursday night fire, Clint, a third generation owner of Seneca Hardwoods in Rockland Township knew Friday afternoon this was no dream. His grandfather, the late Clinton Hepler, bought the company 60 years ago and the family has since turned it into strong national hardwood floor manufacturer. When Hepler got the call around 8 p.m. Thursday, he hoped he would be able to get to the business and put out whatever fire he found. "When I got over the hill I saw the mushroom cloud of smoke," he said at that point he knew he was at the mercy of the fire departments. He watched helpless for 20 or so minutes before the first trucks arrived, he said. Water was an issue out at the remote business a couple miles off Route 322. Ponds and streams were used as dozens of tankers rotated in and out of the scene. Hepler said the fire departments did an amazing job to save as much of the business as they could. Hepler lost several pieces of machinery and the large building is a total loss, but several buildings were saved. "We're very grateful for all the firefighters sticking around all night, it could've been much worse." he said. He said no one was in the building at the time and no one was hurt. Friday morning all of his employees showed up for work. "It shows the quality of workers we have," Hepler said. "We'll be up and running as soon as possible." Hepler said he employs around 15 full-time workers.
Hepler said he has some equipment coming Monday and as soon as he can get it hooked up safely, the business will be up and running. He says no one will be laid off and there is work to be done."Everybody needs a paycheck," he said. Featured photograph of the day I'm beginning to think I need to start a new feature "the bug of the week," haha. Today I snapped this photo with my phone of this curious white faced black 'bee.' To me it looked like a bumble bee but not. After posting it on social media it appears it might be a Black Tachinid Fly. I was hoping I discovered a new bee that would then be named after me. No such luck.
By all accounts I found these are pretty good to have around, unless youre a leaf damaging caterpillar. This fly actually lays its eggs on or inside certain catepillars and the larvae eat the host until full grown. Yikes. This one seemed to like flowering Apple Mint. To learn more about the fly visit https://wimastergardener.org/article/tachinid-flies/ The scuttlebutt on the street, in the parks, during conversations at Benjamin's or Bossa Nova or over coffee and old uncle Pete's breakfast table was that a roundabout was going to be put in at the intersection of 12th and Liberty Streets in front of the iconic courthouse in downtown Franklin. In a meeting several months ago the whole room was abuzz with arguments on the merits or disdain for the circular traffic pattern intersection. Scattered about the room on easels were several plans to discuss on display, not all of them were roundabouts. Feed back was welcomed. On Thursday PennDOT, in coordination with the City of Franklin, announced a plan to upgrade the exisiting intersection with improved designated turning lanes, the addition of a turning lane on to South Park Street and the addition of bike lanes between 13th Street and Washington Crossing. Improvements to pedestrian movement will also be included. No roundabout. The anticipated work will happen in 2023. More information:
Look for updates on Twitter at www.twitter.com/511PAErie or Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/groups/northwestregionpenndot. Featured Photograph of the Day The day after presidential candidate Joe Biden picked a running mate in Kamala Harris I was wondering how long it will be before the President, who is also a candidate, will keep his vice president before dumping him for another candidate in hopes it will help him win in November. And as I was thinking this I saw this man walking out of the Republican headquarters carrying a giant sign. A lot of money has gone into signs and flags and it will be interesting if any of them will be worth anything in the coming months? I also wonder how many people will still support the president if he does drop Pence. I don't think its a dumb move politically, however he hasn't had stability in too many other positions in his white house so it could be looked upon as a final betrayal of those who have shown him support. If nothing else this is going to be an interesting couple of months coming up.
Over the last couple days I haven't been posting much on my new website blog Eight & 322. I took a couple days off to have "other" fun. I know many of you don't think I know how to do that, but lo and behold there I was doing nothing but playing a silly old game that I've played or over 40 years. Lawn bowls. This weekend I had fun playing old friends and meeting new friends. I got to thinking about grampa Sayer when I saw a feather on the ground and knew if I put it in my hat I would see his smile up in the clouds. I told stories of playing with my grandmother as a kid, my dad and, as always, with my brother. It was great to be on the green. It was great being lost in play. But it was challenging. COVID-19 makes everything more challenging. On top of COVID, I don't play often so that I'm as keen as I could be, my partner, Veronica Sum, had torn her Achilles tendon a couple months ago, it was a recipe for failure. But...... well a little more of the story first. Veronica didn't intend on playing. Neither had I really, though we both chatted about it months ago. With her injury I hadn't given it another thought. When I heard she was going to attend the event anyway to watch her mom, I sent her a quick message - "Hey, are you able to at least chuck the bowls up the other end?" She replied she thinks she could. We then said we should still sign up and play then. It was at Frick Park in Pittsburgh. So there we met on Monday to start the two-day COVID-19-restrictions-in-place Northeast Division Open doubles tournament. Masks and all. Social distancing and no sharing of equipment. No handshakes or high-fives. Just bowls as best we can during a time we feel lucky to be able to just leave the house, never mind play. Our division and Frick Park LBC were smart enough to develop the rules we needed to ensure as safe an environment as possible for play. So we did. So, back to our little story here. As you can see by the top photo, masks cause some issues. For one, I couldn't see Sh!t. My glasses fogged up all the time. Day one was hot and humid. Temperatures were likely in the 90s. We had some players fighting heat issues, but we all just tried to stay calm and deliberate and if we needed a few minutes, we took them. It was grueling, but we played. We played! Win! Veronica, who lives in New Jersey used a kneeling scooter to get around and to bowl from. The tournament directors kept it so we were on the end rinks the entire time to ensure minimal damage to the green or rutting from the tires. She would sit on the little kneeling seat and deliver her bowls. Not ideal. She bowled terrific. We joked that maybe even after her ankle heels she should still use the cart. We actually wondered if we should all get one. We laughed a lot about all of this. Because we just kept winning. Our first two games we just clicked and ended up winning them by wide margins, though both games were better than the score showed. The third game was a real challenge. Our opponents were just playing very well especial Tony DeCarolis who was the skip, or teams captain. It came down to my last bowl and i needed to make the shot to win. I said jokingly before I delivered it, "This is why I get the big bucks." Thankfully I did it. No big bucks. Day two we just rolled again in the first game even though it rained and was so muggy I could barely see through my fogged up glasses most of the time. But we were able to play! I want to emphasize this, we were very lucky to be able to play during this very difficult time. So a little fog - who cares. Suck it up buttercup! Our last game was quite a challenge and we where struggling from behind. We caught up near the end. We had only a couple ends to go in a very tight game and unfortunately our opponent's back gave out on her and she was in a great deal of pain requiring a substitute in the last end. We ended up prevailing and were the only undefeated team. What fun. Lawn bowls is a game where people from a very young age can compete against people almost a century older than them on equal terms. Veronica and gentleman named Howard prove over and over again that people with disabilities or ailments can play this game for fun and even at a championship level. Our win Tuesday was a division championship. And Veronica did it sitting down. I'm so proud of her for trying and playing so well.
For those of you who do not know what lawn bowls is - here is a brief description. It is not Bocce, though it is closer to bocce than say football. It is a moveable target sport played on a flat, usually grass, surface with balls that curve. The object of the game is to have the closest ball to the target than your opponent. And you can can score multiples if you get more than one closer than your opponents closest. The playing surfaces is roughly 15 feet wide by 120 feet long and there is a ditch and something called a hogline that I won't describe to see how many of you look it up. This game has a rich centuries old history with tales of Sir. Francis Drake not willing to deal with the Spanish Armada until he finished his game of bowls, to the sport being banned in Enland for awhile because too many people were playing it rather than honing their archery skills, to the famed Walt Disney deciding that bowls was his relaxation between running the Disney empire. It is a great old game that is unfortunately not played by too many in the states. It is growing in population in Australia and New Zealand and is holding steady in Scotland and England. Here in the states we have in the neighborhood of a hundred clubs with the most active clubs being in Southern California or in retirement communities in Florida and Arizona. Here in the Northeast we have about a dozen clubs from Connecticut to Virginia and out to Pittsburgh. Frick Park LBC in Pittsburgh is one of the largest clubs in the division. I have played since I was 12 and am a third generation in four generations who play this game. I was a partner with my grandfather when I was younger and for that alone, I owe this sport everything. Franklin Girl Scout seeks top honor showcasing hometown "Covid has been our biggest obstacle," said Hometown Pride Festival originator Jordan Ace who had to make the difficult decision to postpone her even for a second time. Ace said the recent spike in cases in the county led her to make the decision with her team. "People's safety is our highest priority," Ace said Wednesday evening. She mentioned the high number of elderly in Franklin and people at risk along with the Governor's mandate of crowd size as being primary reasons for her decision. She said the city of Franklin was working with her, but she and her team felt its was in the best interest of public health and safety to postpone the event until the spring or early summer of next year. Ace was putting on this event to showcase what her hometown has to offer. It is her Girl Scouts Gold Award project. She is hopeful that her documentation and working with the scouts will not impede her ability for this event, once it is completed in 2021 now, to still suffice as her Gold Award project. She had said in an earlier interview that "... if we have to postpone it again, I promise, it is still going to happen." She is still very determined and with her team they are now shifting their focus on planning a bigger and better festival for next year. "My team and I are very dedicated to still doing this," she said. EDITOR'S NOTE: Below was the original story that showed Jordan's tenacity and gives background on the project, please still have look. This is what young people can do for our future if they are supported. I applauded Jordan's difficult decision. She has something to lose in this decision, but she decided other's well-being was far more important. This story below was originally published 7/27/20
Jordan Ace has been working for her Girl Scout Gold award her whole life. She is dedicated to Scouts and her community and has a lot of stick-to-itiveness. For her Gold award project, Ace planned to hold a "Hometown Pride Festival" in May to showcase the business and community offerings of her beloved Franklin. COVID-19 had other plans and for everyone's safety Ace and the city agreed canceling it was the best option. Disappointed but undaunted, Ace, with her eye on the prize, retooled and set a new date for the end of August. As of this weekend, it is still on despite other major summer and fall events being cancelled in Franklin. "It's been a little stressful because of COVID, but if we have to postpone it again, I promise, it is still going to happen," Ace said. The Gold Award is the highest achievement in Girl Scouts. Those who receive it are considered remarkable by the organization and have proven they are capable of making a difference and in fact already have with their work in achieving the honor. Ace has been a Girl Scout since she was in kindergarten and has earned every recognition in Scouts preparing herself for the Gold Award. Completing a large community project is all that stands between her and this achievement. And maybe COVID-19. The Franklin High senior has assembled a team to help her organize the many details of throwing a large-scale community event in Bandstand Park to highlight area businesses, community organizations, artists, musicians, and local veterans. Prior to the pandemic, Ace worked closely with Franklin's event coordinator extraordinaire Ronnie Beith, who helped the teen figure what it would take to do such a lofty endeavor. "I even had to learn how to use a fax," Ace laughed. When the May event had to be cancelled, Ace was undeterred and began looking at dates to reschedule. "We thought June was too risky," she said. She said the city manager Tracy Jamieson was very helpful in picking a new date. The end of August seemed like the best bet since school was looking like it might open back up. Taking on a leadership role is a key component to reaching the Gold award. Ace has coordinated a team of people who have helped with posters and organizing vendors. She said right now it is important for local businesses to be promoted and a chance to showcase their goods as COVID has hit small businesses hard. She wants to help. She plans to showcase local artists and musicians as well as provide information on Scouting. "We have so many entrepreneurs and talented people here," Ace said. She also wanted to honor her grandmother and other veterans during the festival, so the V.E.T.S. Honor Guard and other organizations will be honored. So, barring COVID rearing its ugly head, Franklin's Bandstand Park will be abuzz with socially distancing activity from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday August 29. (August 30 is a rain date.) If the pandemic alters this plan Ace says she'll find a way. "There is no other place like Franklin. It is special and unique and there is a lot more to it than people realize," she said. The Girl Scouts say the Gold Award recipients have tackled issues that are dear to them and drive lasting change in their communities and beyond. For the daughter of Carrie and Jason Ace, change comes through making sure others know about Franklin's best qualities one way or another. "We all have the capability [to achieve our goals] if we are passionate enough," she said. Featured Photograph of the Day I was heading around the barn to avoid the crowd at the Venango County Fairgrounds Friday when I witnessed this young man blowing with all his might on a chicken wing. My thought was the poor guy dropped the wing and was trying to get dirt off. He looked bothered by it.
I took his photo and stopped to chat with him. This moment was exactly what I needed. This dude was delightful. He didn't drop his wing, he just didn't like the chunks of sauce that was on what appeared to be garlic wings. At least that's what I could decipher by sniffing through my mask. He was at the fair with horses from what I could gather by our brief conversation and he appeared ready to head home after he finished his boat of wings. I had noticed he was down to his last wing and I wondered if he had been blowing the excess off each one? There were easily six stripped clean wings in the boat...I was guessing he must've been exhausted. Now I'm hungry for some wings! Grand Champion hog brings in thousands for Venango County family Earlier this year Scott Snyder was awarded a Heart of Gold scholarship from Oil City High School. At Friday's Venango County Round-Up livestock auction it became evident why. Snyder, whose 11-year-old cousin Gabe Sobina was recently diagnosed with a rare brain tumor, donated the auction sale proceeds of his grand champion pig Friendly Frida to help with the Sobina family's expenses. "I want them to be able to have something," Scott had told his mom, Jessica, Thursday when he decided that he would donate his swine auction proceeds. She reminded him college is coming up and maybe he might need the money. "I can always get a job for that," he told her. After he made his intentions known to his family, he posted it on social media. "It was shared over 300 times," Scott said prior to the auction. Behind the scenes a group of community members were getting the word out and gathering donations. Jodi Baker-Lewis said when they made it up to $5,000 she said "we can go higher." Baker-Lewis said they kept networking all day and in the end had over $11,000 from 50 different donors. And they still expect more to come in after. The winning bid made on behalf of the group of donors ended at $40 a pound, ten times higher than the typical price for a market swine. As the bids continued to rise the arena filled with applause and many tears began to fall. "Thank you. You just can't say enough," Scott said as he struggled to find any words at all to say following the auctions outcome. It was an emotional experience for Scott, who at one point just sat crying and petting Frida in the middle of the corral as the bidding soared. Earlier he learned his cousin received some bad news about his treatment. Originally Gabe was going to attend the auction, but it was a draining day on the family, Jessica said. So Scott carried a picture of Gabe in his pocket. "Our community is awesome," Jessica said after the auction. "They all rallied together. We're just speechless." Scott also hoped to donate the pig to a local food pantry in order to help out even more people. The community group agreed, so around 150 pounds of meat will go to help the areas hungry. Jodi Lewis said people can continue to donate though the auction is over and they will see to it the money gets to Gabe. Anyone who would like to make a donation can call Scott's uncle Will Price at 814-673-2064. About Gabe Three weeks ago Oil City student Gabe Sobina was suffering with headaches, nausea began also experiencing double vision. After a trip to the doctor they discovered he had a mass on his brain and ended up in Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh a few hours later. The Sobinas stayed in Pittsburgh for nine days. Gabe was hooked up to tubes and machines and had an operation to get a biopsy. "It was pretty terrible to see (Gabe) going through this," Gabe's Dad, David said. They learned Gabe's cancer was a High Grade Gliomas, and aggressive inoperable cancer. Gabe's treatment plan is to try to shrink the tumor through 33 bouts of radiation over the next six weeks likely to be followed by chemotherapy. Friday they learned that chemotherapy won't work on this aggressive cancer and are now looking at possible other treatments. Jessica said they were told this cancer is rare and it doesn't even have its own name yet or a treatment. This was a follow-up to yesterday's story that you can find here.
http://richardsayerphotojournalism.weebly.com/eight--322/down-with-thanos A little more than five years ago I began working at The Derrick and The News-Herald as a photographer. I would walk into the newsroom and chat with everyone to see what was happening that day. Well not everyone. Sitting at a desk back in the corner was a quiet, yet incredibly gifted journalist and designer. I called her Amanda for about three months before I finally learned her name was Anna. Over the course of the next few years we'd really only chat briefly about matters to do with the paper. Then one day Amanda (another woman at the paper who I apparently might have thought was Anna at one point) showed me Anna's really incredible nature photos posted online. I'm not much of a nature photographer, but I love beautiful images and truly good photography. I immediately approached Anna and asked her if she would share here stuff on a blog at the paper. Mind you I had no authority to do this, but I was savvy enough to know her photos would be a big hit on the paper's website. I was not wrong. I had been blogging a little for the paper and was gaining a good following and generating a lot of clicks for the website. When Anna started blogging too, it wasn't long before we both had people clicking away to read our stories and look at our photos. We were told over and over again that our blogs were the most popular things on the website. Anna's work really brought the area home to people. Her dogs and gardens were a delight to look at and she was always incredibly informative describing what she had photographed. We could learn to tell the difference between viceroy and monarch butterflies by reading her blog. Neither of us are currently at the paper, but we both continue to make our work. When I asked her if she wanted to return to her blogging days and post it on our Eight & 322 website she said "give me a month" and I said OK. I am proud to announce Anna Applegate is my featured artist of this month and introduce her new column. It will be a regular feature where we can enjoy her dogs and goats and their escapades that are sometimes worthy of Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer tales. I just couldn't be happier she is willing to share this work with us. Check out her blog at http://richardsayerphotojournalism.weebly.com/the-nature-of-things/welcome-to-the-nature-of-things
and in the next few weeks I'll share some of her work I've enjoyed over the last few years. She is a gifted writer and photographer. Thank you Anna for sharing “I worked by her side for 20 years, and this year is hard” -Brad Deeter about the loss of Rainy Linn Remembering RainyStory and photographs contributed by Sydney Herdle The tone at the Venango County fairgrounds turned somber Thursday night as a crowd gathered to remember the life of Rainy Linn. Linn was a founding member of Venango County Fair and “well-respected” by the entire Venango County community for her numerous other endeavors, fair board president Brad Deeter said during his remarks over the loud speaker at the memorial held in the Kiwanis Bowl. Linn died last October at the age of 85. Linn did not intend to stay in the area long when she joined the Venango County Penn State Extension team in the 1950s, but she eventually became “the face of the Venango County Fair and the 4-H program” through her decades of service to the programs, Deeter said. “I worked by her side for 20 years, and this year is hard,” Deeter said. The Round-Up this year is dedicated to Linn, which Deeter said is fitting because the modified set-up due to the COVID-19 pandemic is similar to what Linn’s demeanor was - “laid back and reserved.” Although her accomplishments were many during her lifetime, Deeter intentionally did not list all of them because he said Linn “would not want all the fuss about her.” But he did mention that in 1987 she was recognized as the Woman of the Year from the Franklin Area Chamber of Commerce and also the 2018 Citizen of the Year from the Venango Area Chamber of Commerce, To help preserve Linn’s legacy, the fair board placed a memorial bench next to the fairground’s playground, as well as a tombstone next to a tree planted for Linn in front of Rainy Linn Hall. “Rainy, we miss you and certainly feel the void as we attempt to carry on your legacy,” Deeter said. During the memorial, state Senator Scott Hutchinson and Venango County commissioners Mike Dulaney and Sam Breene also offered their memories of Linn to the audience. Hutchinson shared personal thoughts on what Linn meant to his family and the Venango County community. Dulaney said Linn was “like everybody’s grandma,” and Breene said meeting Linn for the first time was “like meeting a legend.” Activities at the fairgrounds continue Friday with the last of the exhibition shows, as well as the livestock auction beginning at 6 p.m. in Phillips Arena. Grand Champion Swine to help local family"You're supposed to help people out when you can" -Scott Snyder Eighteen-year-old Dempseytown farmer Scott Snyder entered his animals in the Venango County Round-Up with a super size thought on his mind - doing something for his 11-year-old cousin Gabe Sobina. Sobina is battling an inoperable brain tumor, which he has nicknamed Thanos after the Marvel Comic supervillian. Snyder knew he wanted to donate the proceeds of selling an animal at Friday's livestock auction to Sobina's family to help with medical costs. He really didn't know what animal he was going to donate but after his lamb and pig both took home top honors logic seemed to reign in his final decision. "Not everyone likes lamb, but I don't think I've met a single person that doesn't like bacon or ham," he said. Snyder is hoping the 276-pound prize swine will be able to help out Gabe and his family. Snyder said there is a group of people planning to bid on the pig. If they win the bidding the pig will then be donated to a local food bank once it is processed, further adding to helping others. If someone else wins the bidding battle, it will be their choice what happens with the animal. Regardless of the outcome, the money will be a donation to the Sobinas. Synder knows the Oil City family has a lot of expenses coming up with treatments and traveling back and forth to Pittsburgh five days a week. "A penny is a penny, a dollar a dollar. Anything to them will be helpful," he said. To generate interest in the effort, Snyder posted the above image on social media Thursday afternoon. The post also include pictures of Gabe smiling with the award-winning hog as well as two phrases that have become synonymous with Gabe's battle - #downwiththanos and #GabeStrong. Photograph by Sydney Herdle Gabe Sobina participating in the Barnyard Olympics milk drinking contest Thursday. About three weeks ago Gabe, who had been suffering with some headaches and nausea began also experiencing double vision. His mother Kerri took him to the doctor as her husband David prepared to photograph a wedding for a client. "To get that phone call is every parent's nightmare," said David Sobina. His wife called him to say Gabe had to be taken to the Pittsburgh Children's Hospital because he had a mass on his brain. David called the bride and apologized but he had to be with his son. She was understanding. "I was a basket case," he said. The Sobinas stayed in Pittsburgh for nine days. Gabe was hooked up to tubes and machines and had an operation to get a biopsy. "It was pretty terrible to see (Gabe) going through this," David said. They learned Gabe's cancer was a High Grade Gliomas, and aggressive inoperable cancer. Gabe's treatment plan is to try to shrink the tumor through 33 bouts of radiation over the next six weeks likely to be followed by chemotherapy. This means the Sobinas will be travelling back and forth to Pittsburgh every day of the week for Gabe's treatments for more than a month. "The first five hours of every day will be spent getting Gabe what he needs," David said about the round-trip process needed for the daily 20-minute treatment. The family, which also includes 16-year-old Grace, has made adjustments to help Gabe keep his treatment schedule. Kerri took a leave of absence from her job and David will continue to work his photography studio as much as he can. David Sobina said the outpouring from the community has been overwhelming but much appreciated. People he doesn't know have shown up with meals and started fundraisers. Several people have shared stories of encouragement and hope. "It's amazing how every is so good-hearted to help strangers," David said. "It really changes your perspective." All the support is helping the Sobina's keeping their focus on their young superhero. "Our mindset has shifted from 'why is this happening to us,' to taking it one day at a time and keep fighting for Gabe," David said. "He has been so incredible and brave," David said of his son. "He is on a mission to beat this." As for Snyder, he recognizes many people are facing scary times right now and what the Sobinas are going through is even worse. "You're supposed to help people out when you can," he said. Anyone who would like to make a donation towards the sale of Snyder's pig can call United Way of Venango County director Will Price at 814-673-2064. Price is helping Snyder who is his nephew in this effort. Snyder says your name or business name will be read at the auction for your donation. Photo by Sydney Herdle Sydney Kent, right, the 2020 Venango County Round-Up queen, pets her Himalayan rabbit Tim, held by Elise Wilson, during the rabbit show at the Venango County fairgrounds on Wednesday. Story by Sydney Herdle Among the fairgoers keeping busy this week is Venango County Round-Up queen Sydney Kent, who is both fulfilling her roles as queen and participating in the fun. She has participated in the Barnyard Olympics while helping to pass out ribbons and showing her rabbits and lambs during her last year of 4-H eligibility. Although the fair royalty is normally called the Venango County 4-H king and queen, 4-H is not associated with the fair events this year due to coronavirus-related restrictions. As a result, Kent said the fair volunteers allowed the name change so she and Round-Up king Jordan Armagost could still fulfill their roles this year. “It’s really great that they got to have a place for us to still perform the things we would have been able to do through 4-H,” Kent said. Photo by Richard Sayer Kent hands out a ribbon at the Barnyard Olympics nail driving competition Wednesday. Kent lives in Hermitage and recently graduated from Grove City High School, but she said her whole family has been involved in Venango County 4-H her entire life thanks to her grandfather, former fair board president Ronald Hogue. She began showing after buying a rabbit when she was young and later acquired lambs as well. After realizing what the 4-H queen is, Kent said she geared her 4-H career to help with the queen selection process in hopes of wearing the crown one day. Kent said she is grateful to still be able to fulfill her duties as queen, which include assisting with exhibition shows and emceeing the livestock auction at the end of the week. “It takes a lot more than wearing the crown,” Kent said. Photograph by Richard Sayer Kent participated in the Barnyard Olympics pie eating contest Tuesday winning a ribbon herself. The highlight so far this week for Kent has been handing out grand and reserve champion awards to two brothers at the swine show. Kent said she thought the brothers, who she is friends with, reminded her when she and her sister competed with their sheep. it was a nice moment for her, she said.
Overall, though, Kent said her favorite part of being in 4-H has been helping younger 4-Hers with their animals and projects. Round-Up events continue today with the beef show and ongoing Barnyard Olympics. The Friends of the Fair presentation and memorial for Rainy Linn will also be held at 5:30 p.m. tonight at the Kiwanis Bowl. Also look for this story and more in The Titusville Herald, our good friends are allowing us to share Sydney's fine work as well. "When life puts you down, just hit it straight on the head" -Bryce Best of Emlenton If I had a hammerNot a lot of future carpenters showed up Wednesday afternoon for the Barnyard Olympic's nail driving contest, but over 60 people participated in the multi-aged event. "It was fun," said the day's first blue ribbon winner 7-year-old Alem Macaroon, who lives in Pittsburgh and spends summers in Venango County. He was the returning peewee category champion and proved once again he is the best. He says he practiced at his grandpa's house. After Macaroon finished hammering in his nail, he concentrated on helping his sister Nada, 5, who had a little difficulty once her nail bent a little bit. He helped her straighten it out over and over again until their time was up. The competition challenged participants for hammer 3-1/2 inch spikes into railroad ties. As the older kids took their turns to hit each round ended quicker but the bent nails really weren't any fewer. Some just hammered the bent ones flat into the board seemingly out of frustration. Girls won a fair number of the ribbons and in the results of adult division indicate moms do a lot of the hammering at home. "You just gotta hit the nail straight on the head," said Bryce Best of Emlenton, who employed the tongue-out-of-the-mouth technique to win his round with a quick five shot throw down. "Two hands and hit hard," he said. His fast finish was later bested by another teen competitor who earned her blue ribbon with just three hardy swings of the hammer. The 2020 Barnyard Olympics participation seems to be up a little, both spectators and competitors. "There is less to do this year," Abby Brockett the event coordinator guessed as a possible reason. "I think they are just excited about the events." Two more Barnyard Olympics events are slated for Thursday with the Frog Jumping Contest at 1 p.m. and a milk drinking competition at 5 p.m.
Quote of the day "It's really just the kid with the biggest mouth" - Abby Brockett answering the question "Is there a particular pie that is strategically better for winning the pie eating contest?" We used to call covering the Crawford County Fair "Hell Week" when I worked at The Meadville Tribune. It wasn't the subject matter at all, it was just a long week. We would go to the fair, go back to the paper to put in some pictures and then go back to the fair a second and sometimes third time in a single day. We used about 20 photographs a day in the paper. It was grueling and I remember covering the final day each week and just being whooped. Each year I went into the week with optimism and thought "I'm going to cover this sucker like I've never covered it before" and each year I found myself being assigned to same stories, but trying to tell it differently. Some years I was better at it than others. And each year, lo and behold, I'd get three or four pictures that would end up in my favorites folder and make the final cut of the pictures of the year features we put out around Christmas. I truly loved covering hell... I mean the fair. When I came down to Venango County to work at The Derrick and The News Herald I was anticipating the fair being the same. It wasn't. Instead of needing to get between 10 to 20 photographs each day, I was only asked for around five or six. The fair is considerably smaller than Crawford County, which really lets me get to know it even better. I love covering this fair. The families that make the one giant Venango County Fair family are very nice and I really enjoy capturing the moments of their experiences showing animals, caring for the animals and playing games all over the grounds. It's great fun for this old community photographer. This year the fair had to be modified due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It has become the Round-up with mostly animal shows and events for the fair kids and families. The Barnyard Olympics is still going on and it seems more popular than usual with less going on at the fairgrounds. Over 50 participated in Monday's hay bale toss and over 60 in the pie eating contest Tuesday. Organizer Abby Brockett said it's a good thing there weren't too many more because she only bought 60 pies (the little kids only eat half a pie.) I had fun watching the antics of the kids and even more so the adults participating in the gluttonous activity. "It is harder than it looks," one participant said. The object is to speed eat the little pie but no one can use their hands. Several people had to blow chunk of pie crust and filling from their noses afterward. The intensity of the activity was short but fierce. There was pie flying everywhere. One person quipped "I just entered so I could enjoy a nice pie." That person didn't win the competition but did win at her goal of enjoying a little dessert. I even had to scape a little pie off my lens, but must admit it's because I was offered a leftover sweet potato pie and some got away from me as i tried to eat it without a fork. Despite the crowd at the pie contest, the fairgrounds didn't look the same as years past. On Tuesday, there were not many cars to park and my fire police friends weren't needed to direct cars. Almost everybody there is there to show animals. There are not as many food vendors or the usual fair folks selling their wares. It felt a little more like a well organized giant family reunion on Tuesday afternoon. The rain also didn't help with attendance and the night horse show was postponed because of the weather. Wednesday the weather is expected to be dryer for the horse shows in the morning and evening in the Kiwanis Bowl. The swine shows will be under cover in the Phillips Arena beginning at 9 a.m. There will be more Barnyard Olympics with a nail driving contest, so any carpenters wanting a blue ribbons might want to give this one a shot. It starts at 4 p.m. on the Scrubgrass Stage. There is a Lego contest at 3 p.m. in the Foster Bullock Building, but you must bring your own Legos. If you know a lot about the Venango County Fairgrounds, you might be want to give trivia night a shot starting at 5 p.m. on the Scrubgrass Stage or scoot over to new rabbit barn for the rabbit show. A versatility horse show will begin at 6p.m. in the Kiwanis Bowl and the crowd favorite Pedal Tractor Pull will take place at 7 p.m. in the Phillips Arena.
Photographs and text by Sydney Herdle Kids of all ages broke into age groups to see who could throw a bale of hay the furthest. Hay was flying and snow cones were dripping everywhere Monday as the Venango County Round-Up got into full swing. As the afternoon August heat baked the fairgrounds on Monday, a frequent sight among fairgoers was hands full of snow cones from the Sweet Shivers stand. Owner Samantha Buzzard said this year's opening day was as busy as ever. Sweet Shivers sits in the middle of all the activity near the Phillips Arena. The family business has been a popular spot at the fair for about 26 years now, according to Buzzard who has been selling snow cones in the booth for the last six years. Buaazerd said one of the best parts is the sense of community associated with the fair and 4-H. She knows a lot of the kids by name or by their snow cone flavor, blue raspberry and the unique “Tiger’s Blood” being among the most popular. Buzzard also owns and operates the Pine Rustique gifts and décor shop in Cochranton, but closes the shop during the fair every year to spend the week at the fairgrounds. “She stops her life to come out here for these kids,” said Charity Palmiero, who was helping in the Sweet Shivers booth on Monday. Jason Kennedy and Rita Joy Kennedy of Cochranton take a selfie in the dairy barn at the Venango County Fairgrounds on Monday. Participants and volunteers have been preparing for today's opening over the last couple weeks. Sunday and Monday they were getting settled into the fairgrounds and preparing their exhibitions for the modified fair. This week is a bit different then past fairs. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, some of the traditional fair events were cancelled or moved to the Motorsports Weekend planned for later this month. Others, such as the exhibition shows and the Barnyard Olympics, will still be held this week as scheduled. Monday’s Barnyard Olympics event of hay bale throwing brought a few dozen youth competitors to the pulling track.The furthest toss wins in each age category. Activities at the fairgrounds will continue Tuesday as the dairy goat show kicks things off at 9 a.m. followed by the market meat goat show at 11 a.m. Both events are in the Phillips arena. Sheep take over the arena in the afternoon at 1 p.m. More barnyard olympics events continue with a pie eating contest at 4 p.m. followed by Trivia on the Scrubgrass stage. A memorial for Rainy Linn, a long-time fair staple who passed away over the winter as well as a presentation from Friends of the Fair will be held at 5:30 p.m. the Kiwanis Bowl. The day ends in the Kiwanis Bowl with a youth horse show and the popular animal dress up contest. Kaylie Bruce leads Paisley Micco on her pony during a ride in the Kiwanis Bowl on Monday. Summer Fertig, 8 of Utica, throws a hay bale during the Barnyard Olympics hay bale throwing contest on the track at the Venango County Fairgrounds on Monday. Brendall Deeter, 2, plays with some baby goats in the newly-built goat barn at the Venango County Fairgrounds on Monday.
Feature photograph of the day I love what I do and I love when folks are curious about it. These youngsters were so curious that their mom actually felt bad for me. She told them to leave me alone, but I just kept engaging with them. They were super curious why I was wearing a mask. "There ain't no coronas round here!" the boy on the right told me. I told him I wasn't sure and I wore the mast because I don't know if I have it. He shrugged his shoulders and that was it.
I'm not sure if I'll die in a week or two weeks, but I do know if I am going to die, I want to leave behind everything I witness... including these two kids. Life is good! (I'm pretty sure I have a t-shirt that says that!) |
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