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1. “NEIGHBORHOOD TOURS” COMING TO WILD SPACES AROUND WELLSBORO
2. WELLSBORO IS COMPETING TO BE QUARTERFINALIST IN INDEPENDENT WE STAND’S 2019 AMERICA’S MAIN STREETS CONTEST
3. HG YOUTH CHOIRS & MARYLAND CHOIR TO JOIN IN SONG ON SATURDAY, APRIL 13 IN WELLSBORO AND SUNDAY, APRIL 14 IN WILLIAMSPORT
4. REGISTER ON OR BEFORE APRIL 18 FOR SATURDAY, MAY 18 HGWP ACTING WORKSHOPS
5. UPPER PINE CREEK TROUT TOURNAMENT IS MAY 18 & 19; ENTRY FEE IS $20 UNTIL MAY 1
6. PLANT A WAVE PETUNIA TO GROW AT HOME WITH TIPS BY YOLIE CANALES AT GOLDEN AFTERNOONS ON TUESDAY, APRIL 9
7. SATURDAY MORNING BIRD WALKS IN APRIL AND MAY TO BEGIN THIS SATURDAY, APRIL 6 AT HILLS CREEK STATE PARK

Diane Eaton
dianetn@ptd.net
(570) 724-3800

“NEIGHBORHOOD TOURS” COMING TO WILD SPACES AROUND WELLSBORO; REGISTER NOW

How well do you know the wild animals and plants that live near you? Rich Hanlon, outdoor enthusiast, founder of the Best Life Community Network website, pastor of the United Methodist Church of Wellsboro and member of the Tiadaghton Audubon Society, will be leading small groups on “Neighborhood Tours” this spring and summer.

Those who would like to find out more are invited to visit www.bestlife.community, look for “Contact Rich to schedule a Neighborhood Tour near you” and fill in your name, email address and message.

In celebration of Wellsboro Borough recently being named a “Bird Town” under National Audubon Society guidelines, Hanlon is already planning a couple of Neighborhood Tours of The Muck during the month of May. The Muck, three miles north of Wellsboro, is designated as an important Bird Area. Groups of five to ten people will go on each tour. Registrants will have the opportunity to choose the date and time that work best for them.

To register for a Neighborhood Tour, contact Rich Hanlon at (412) 992-6648, RHanlon@susumc.org, or leave him a message at www.bestlife.community.

Photo by Rich Hanlon
Blending into its surroundings is a “Sora,” a relatively rare species of marsh bird. It can reliably be found in the springtime at The Muck foraging for seeds, insects, and snails as it makes its way through the thick marsh vegetation on foot.

WELLSBORO IS COMPETING TO BE QUARTERFINALIST IN INDEPENDENT WE STAND’S 2019 AMERICA’S MAIN STREETS CONTEST; CAST VOTES UNTIL APRIL 21

Wellsboro, Pennsylvania is competing in the Independent We Stand 2019 America’s Main Streets contest. The grand prize is $25,000 in cash for downtown revitalization and “buying local” activities.

Voting for the top 25 quarterfinalists is now underway and will end at 11:59:59 p.m. on Sunday, April 21.

According to contest rules, an individual who is at least 18 years old as of Feb. 25, 2019 can cast an online vote for Wellsboro once every 24 hours now through April 21 from his or her IP address by visiting www.mainstreetcontest.com, clicking on the Wellsboro Main Street photograph and then on “Vote.” Or, people can vote once a day by going to the Wellsboro Area Chamber of Commerce Facebook page or the From My Shelf Books Facebook page.

“During the inaugural contest in 2016, Wellsboro was named one of the top 10 semifinalists but did not win,” said Kevin Coolidge, a member of the Wellsboro Area Chamber of Commerce who with his wife, co-own From My Shelf Books, an independent bookstore in Wellsboro. Coolidge nominated Wellsboro for the 2016 contest as well as the 2017 contest and this year’s. “I am voting for Wellsboro to win $25,000 to invest in our downtown,” said Coolidge. “People can help Wellsboro by voting online every day.”

If Wellsboro is named one of the top 25 vote getters on April 22, people will be invited to help the town become one of the 10 semifinalists by voting daily online in the second round being held from 10 a.m. on Monday, April 29 to 11:59:59 p.m. on Sunday, May 26. The grand prize winner will be selected from the top 10 and told of the win on Sunday, June 2. The public announcement will be made on Monday, June 3.

The grand prize is a $25,000 check; a $1,000 certificate for STIHL equipment; Do it Best Corp. $500 shopping spree; PPG $500 shopping spree; $500 Nationwide Marketing Group shopping spree; Free One Day Downtown Assessment from Flip This Town, a special plaque ($100 value) and recognition on Independent We Stand social media channels and public relations outreach.

Initiated in 2016 by Independent We Stand, the national small business movement, the goal of this contest is to promote the importance and strong economic benefits of Main Streets and the small businesses that help them thrive and how communities can educate their neighbors about the many benefits of “buying local.”

For more information, contact the Wellsboro Area Chamber of Commerce at (570) 724-1926.

HG YOUTH CHOIRS & MARYLAND CHOIR TO JOIN IN SONG ON SATURDAY, APRIL 13 IN WELLSBORO AND SUNDAY, APRIL 14 IN WILLIAMSPORT

The Hamilton-Gibson Young Women’s and Young Men’s Choirs from Wellsboro, Pa. and the Eleanor Roosevelt High School Chamber Choir from Greenbelt, Maryland will present two concerts. The music will be the same at both.

“We met the Eleanor Roosevelt chamber choir on our performance trip to Washington, D.C. last May and sensed a powerful bond,” said Thomas Putnam, HG choir director. “Their choir can sing like you’ve never heard. We’re looking forward to our weekend together.”

The first concert will be at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 13 in the Auditorium at the Wellsboro Area School District Administration Building at 227 Nichols Street in Wellsboro. It is sponsored in part by the Penn Wells Hotel & Lodge. Tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for children,18 and under. For tickets, visit hamiltongibson.org or HG’s Facebook page and via links go to TicketLeap or buy tickets at the door.

The second concert will be at 2 p.m. on Sunday, April 14 at the Faxon-Kenmar United Methodist Church in Loyalsock Township. The church’s GPS address is 1301 Clayton Avenue, Williamsport, PA 17701. Admission is free.

During the concerts, the choirs will join in singing a few numbers including the rousing “Glory” from the film “Selma.”

The Maryland-based chamber choir, composed of 10th through 12th grade students and directed by Michele Fowlin, will sing five selections. The beautiful and stirring arrangement of “There is a Balm,” a beloved African-American spiritual, will “make the wounded whole.” “O Clap Your Hands” with lyrics from two Psalms is a rousing call to praise the Creator. “The Tortoise and the Hare” by Darmon Meader is a clever recounting of the familiar Aesop fable of the slow but steady victory of the tortoise over the vain and assuming Hare. “Reincarnations No. 2 – Anthony O’Daly,” composed by Samuel Barber, has intense, rich harmonies and is based on a poem by James Stephens. It has been selected by the National Endowment of the Arts as one of the American Masterpieces of choral music. “I Can Tell the World” is a traditional spiritual. It is arranged by Moses Hogan, one of the most prolific and sung arrangers of this genre in the world.

The chamber choir is in high demand and performs for numerous political and social events throughout the Washington metropolitan area. Among the choir’s more memorable performances were two at the home of Vice President Joe Biden for Christmas and Black History Month and with award-winning gospel artist Yolanda Adams. Fowlin is currently the director of choral programs at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, including the chamber choir, and also the artistic director for the Washington Performing Arts Society’s Children of the Gospel Choir.

Ninth through twelfth grade students in the Hamilton-Gibson choirs under Putnam’s direction will sing four different selections, including the haunting “Sure On This Shining Night”, a poem by James Agee set to music by Morten Lauridsen. They will also sing the pop tune “Brave” by Sara Bareilles; “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which has become known as the Black National Anthem; and “Please Stay” by Jake Runestad, a powerful song with lyrics based on tweets using #IKeptLiving – expressions of hope from those who battle depression and chose to live.

This August, the HG Children and Youth Choirs are entering their 25th Season. Putnam founded the choirs in 1996. The HG choirs were designated as Tioga County’s Singing Youth Ambassadors by the Tioga County Commissioners and Pennsylvania’s Singing Youth Ambassadors by the Pennsylvania State Legislature. On April 28, 2015, the HG choirs completed their never-before-attempted goal to sing in all 67 counties in Pennsylvania.

For more information about these concerts, call (570) 724-2079 or email hamgib@gmail.com.

Photo provided
The Eleanor Roosevelt High School Chamber Choir is shown.

Photo by Jean Cummings
Pictured are the Hamilton-Gibson’s Young Women’s and Young Men’s choirs.

REGISTER ON OR BEFORE APRIL 18 FOR SATURDAY, MAY 18 HGWP ACTING WORKSHOPS

The Hamilton-Gibson Women’s Project is offering two acting workshops for women and men, and their daughters and sons, ages 12 to 17. The deadline to register is Thursday, April 18 or until both workshops are filled, whichever comes first.

The workshops are for beginners to veteran actors and will be given on Saturday, May 18 in the Warehouse Theatre at 3 Central Avenue in Wellsboro by David Hugo, a professional actor and university professor.

Since 2007, Hugo has been a professor in the Theater Department at Long Island University’s C. W. Post campus in Brookville, N.Y. He teaches freshman acting and all of the musical theater acting courses. In 2005 and the years before, Hugo had performed regionally, on national tours and on Broadway in shows such as “Jekyll and Hyde”, “Iolanthe” and “Into the Woods”. He also had a stellar 12-year career with “Les Misérables” as Grantaire in the final Broadway cast. He holds an M.A. in Theater from Long Island University’s C. W. Post, a B.F.A. in acting from Syracuse University and an Associate Degree in Music from Onondaga Community College.

The Fundamentals of Acting workshop will be from 10 a.m. to noon. Participants will work on an improv and an open scene to develop a way to approach text through the Stanislavsky system. Those taking part will learn how to achieve an acting objective through physical and psychological action. From 1 to 3 p.m. will be the Character Tool Kit workshop. Participants will continue to work on an improv and open scene while looking at creating a character through the use of body centers and physical choices. This will involve techniques in physicality, voice, text analysis, and backstory work.

The cost to attend is $10 for one workshop and $15 for both. Youth 12 to 17 attending with a paying parent will get in free. Parents are encouraged to attend with their children. There are five free scholarships available for adults and youth not accompanied by a parent.

To register for one or both workshops or to request a scholarship to attend for free, call (570) 724-2079 or email hamgib@gmail.com.

UPPER PINE CREEK TROUT TOURNAMENT IS MAY 18 & 19; ENTRY FEE IS $20 UNTIL MAY 1; REGISTER IN PERSON ON APRIL 13

Successful anglers who catch tagged fish during the 29th Annual Upper Pine Creek Trout Tournament can win up to $14,000 in cash, merchandise and gift cards with each prize valued at $50 or more. The top prize is $1,000 in cash. There are also four $500 cash prizes.

The Pennsylvania Grand Canyon Snowmobile Club tournament will be on Saturday, May 18 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, May 19 from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. along a 13-mile stretch of Pine Creek between the Ansonia Bridge in Shippen Township and the Mill Street Bridge in Galeton Borough. Each of the 250 fish float stocked in that section are tagged. The entry fee for adults is $20 through Wednesday, May 1 and $25 beginning May 2. The entry fee for youth under 16 is $15 now until the tournament.

Between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 13, the opening day of the statewide trout season, register in advance and pick up bags, badges and maps at the snowmobile clubhouse at 4814 Route 6, 12 miles west of Wellsboro. Or, download a registration form any time by visiting www.pagrandcanyonsnowmobileclub.com. Registration forms can also be found at many businesses in the area.

The clubhouse will also be open for registration on Friday, May 17, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. as well as during tournament hours on Saturday and Sunday, May 18 and 19.
All fish must be legally caught. Those fishing before or after the stated times on May 18 or 19 will be disqualified. No fish will be accepted at the check-in station (snowmobile clubhouse on Route 6) one hour after the cut-off time.

Those competing in the tournament must have a valid Pennsylvania fishing license and must observe and obey landowners’ rights. Trespassing on private property is not allowed, nor is littering.

What an angler wins is based on the luck of the draw due to a lottery-type system implemented in 2015. The angler has to bring his or her tagged fish in “live condition” to the check-in station. There, the angler will randomly draw a numbered Ping-Pong ball for each tagged fish he or she catches. The number on the ball is then matched to the corresponding number on the big prize board on the club’s front porch to determine what the prize is. That gives everyone a chance to win the $1,000 cash prize rather than the angler who happens to catch the “right fish” as was done in the past.

Funding for the tournament comes from donations made by local and out-of-the-area businesses and individuals. These donations include cash, merchandise, gift certificates and promotional items. The donation to sponsor a fish is $25. Businesses from Coudersport to Mansfield, Lawrenceville to Morris, Elkland to Westfield and Germania are asked for their support.

Money raised through the tournament is used to help cover the club’s operating costs; to provide three college scholarships to selected graduating seniors from the Galeton, Wellsboro, Mansfield or Cowanesque Valley high schools; and monetary donations to food banks at Wellsboro, Galeton and Osceola and other local charities and organizations.

For information, call 1-717-881-9358 or the club at 570-724-2888 or visit the club’s website at www.pagrandcanyonsnowmobileclub.com or its Facebook page.

photo provided
Alan Burton of Woodhull, New York holds the only tagged trout he caught during last year’s Upper Pine Creek Trout Tournament, but that was all he needed to win the $1,000 cash prize.

PLANT A WAVE PETUNIA TO GROW AT HOME WITH TIPS BY YOLIE CANALES AT GOLDEN AFTERNOONS ON TUESDAY, APRIL 9

During the free Golden Afternoons program at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, April 9 in the Deane Center lobby at 104 Main Street in Wellsboro, men and women will each plant a wave petunia plug in a 4.5-inch square black plastic flower pot to take home. Anyone who is 55 years of age or older is welcome to participate. Free refreshments will be provided.

Yolie Canales of Wellsboro is donating the flower pots and preparing them with soil, fertilizer and water in advance. For 15 years, she and her husband ran Tioga Nursery, a business, growing plants and flowers in greenhouses on their property in Charleston Township along Route 6, just outside of Wellsboro.

Canales will talk about how much to water and fertilize a wave petunia plug as it grows and when to replant the flowers in an outdoor pot or hanging basket along with other gardening tips. She will also give each participant some fertilizer to take home.

Since its introduction in 1995, the wave petunia has been a gardening favorite. The spreading, trailing wave petunias bloom like crazy at the first breath of summer and grow incredibly fast giving new meaning to the term “flower power.” Most importantly, they are easy to care for. The blooms self-clean and never need deadheading.

The Wave petunia plugs are from Leister Sunny Acres on Route 287 in Delmar Township, near Wellsboro. For more information about this Golden Afternoons program call the Deane Center at (570) 724-6220.

Photo by John Eaton
Yolie Canales (shown) is preparing 4.5-inch deep square black plastic flower pots with moisturized soil and fertilizer in which Golden Afternoons participants will each plant a wave petunia plug to grow at home.

SATURDAY MORNING BIRD WALKS IN APRIL AND MAY TO BEGIN THIS SATURDAY, APRIL 6 AT HILLS CREEK STATE PARK

This Saturday, April 6, Sean Minnick and Gary Tyson of the Tiadaghton Audubon Society will lead the first Saturday Morning Bird Walk at Hills Creek State Park located on Hills Creek Road in Charleston Township, about seven miles northeast of Wellsboro.

All of the eight walks will begin promptly at 8 a.m. on Saturdays, April 6, 13, 20, and 27 and May 4, 11, 18 and 25.

The birding walks are free and open to the public. Registration is not required. Meet at the Hills Creek State Park office at 111 Spillway Road, Wellsboro a little before 8 a.m. to drive to the nearby starting location. Everyone is invited to participate, including birders of all levels, first timers to experienced. Bring binoculars and cameras and wear warm, subdued clothing and sturdy walking shoes.

For those who do not own binoculars, the Tiadaghton Audubon Society has purchased 20 pairs of Opticron Savanna R PC 8×33 binoculars that will be available for use on all of this year’s bird walks. The purchase was made possible by a substantial discount from Opticron and funds provided by a National Audubon grant, an anonymous donor and the Tiadaghton Audubon Society itself. “We purchased this type of binocular because it is relatively small in size, has a low weight and is ideal for all ages, particularly younger users, ages 7 and up,” Minnick said.

“Walks may last two hours depending on how many birds we are seeing. They are slow-paced and cover a limited distance. When it is cold, we walk pretty fast,” said Minnick.

The walks will provide an opportunity to see the many varieties of water and woodland birds that live in or migrate through the Park. Bald eagles and ospreys are often observed on Hills Creek Lake.

“More often than not the weather for the first couple of bird walks will be cloudy, blustery and cold,” Minnick pointed out.

“We usually see waterfowl that are migrating through on Hills Creek Lake at this time of year. Cloudy and rainy weather tends to ground migratory species that might just fly over our area otherwise,” Minnick added. In case of inclement weather, the group may opt for a driving tour with several key stops nearby to keep participants dry.

“There should be a variety of diving ducks and puddle ducks on Hills Creek Lake during April. Also I would expect to see some horned grebes, pied-bill grebes, loons and possibly some tundra swans,” Minnick said. “We’ll also be looking for the birds that wintered here, such as the northern cardinal, blue jay, black-capped chickadee, nuthatches, both white and red-breasted, woodpeckers – downy, hairy, red-bellied and pileated, and golden-crowned kinglet, just to name a few.

“I suspect some bluebirds are hanging around the nest boxes near the amphitheater. We may also see some of the newly arriving spring birds like robins, red-winged blackbirds and, if we’re lucky, maybe a pine warbler. eastern phoebes, and several species of sparrows,” he noted. “Later in the month we should start to see rough-wing swallows, tree swallows and barn swallows, and several species of shorebirds. The variety of birds will increase dramatically as spring progresses,” Minnick said.

The park will also have many wildflowers for walkers to enjoy.

For updates on birds that have been seen in the area and helpful local birding information, visit tiadaghtonaudubon.blogspot.com or www.facebook.com/TiadaghtonAudubon/ or email tasmember@yahoo.com. For information about Hills Creek State Park, call the park office between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays at (570) 724-4246.

Photo by Gary Tyson
Those who go on the first Saturday Morning Bird Walk on April 6 at Hills Creek State Park may see a ring-necked duck (shown).