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1. Sweely Brings Variety of Goods to Wellsboro Growers Market Every Thursday (July 16, 23, etc.)
2. Scott Turner & Friends to Perform Free This Friday, July 17
3. Last Three Performances of “Almost, Maine” are This Friday, Saturday and Sunday, July 17, 18 & 19
4. Free Stage Fright Concert on Friday, July 24 is Tribute to the Music of The Band

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

SWEELY BRINGS VARIETY OF GOODS TO WELLSBORO GROWERS MARKET EVERY THURSDAY (JULY 16, 23, ETC.)

Linda Sweely brings fresh baked goods and other foods to the Wellsboro Growers Market every Thursday from 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. She is up and baking by 5 a.m. that day.

The Wellsboro Growers Market is on the front lawn of the First Presbyterian Church at 130 Main Street in Wellsboro, weather permitting.

Not only does Sweely start each day by baking but also runs a farm store on her 10-acre property at 9578 North Elk Run Road in Rutland Township, selling foods from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily during the summer.

She grows fruit and nut trees and vegetables. In her greenhouse, she uses aquaponics to grow basil and her own gourmet lettuce blend in water using nitrates from fish as fertilizer.

“I grew up on my family’s 125-acre North Elk Run Road dairy farm,” she said. “As a youngster, I had a roadside stand and loved to interact with customers when selling sweet corn and other quality produce grown on our farm.”
In 1976 she went to work at Dairyland in Mansfield for Lois and Bill Wert. “The first week, I washed dishes for a dollar an hour and the next week was promoted to waitress.”

In 1982, immediately after graduating from Williamsport Area Community College with a Food and Hospitality Management degree, Sweely started Sip ‘N’ Dip bakery in Troy and opened another bakery in Canton. She sold the businesses, after her ex-husband began operating a radio station in Ithaca, N.Y. in 1986.

From 1989 to 2007, Sweely worked in Williamsport as the food service director for her alma mater, known as the Pennsylvania College of Technology. “I had been in that job for 18 years when I quit. I had seen too many of my colleagues retire and not get a chance to live their dreams. I had always wanted to travel so my partner and I became full-time RVers.”

Sweely promised her mother that she and her partner “would come off the road” if her mom could not care for herself. “When it looked like that might happen, I decided to do a six-month farming internship from August 2013 to February 2014 with nuns in a Catholic convent at Terre Haute, Indiana. My project was to see if their seven-acre farm could provide enough food for all of the retired nuns living on the property. I concluded they could use hydroponics to grow a lot of food in a small space with no weeding required.”

In February 2014, Sweely was in Texas when she got the call. Her mother was in the hospital. She caught a flight and brought her mother home.

“In 1986, my parents sold the farm, including their house. They kept 10 acres and moved into a doublewide on the property. In 1987, my dad passed away.

“My partner and I purchased my mom’s property, named it New View Farm and built a greenhouse. When doing research for the nuns, I had learned about a growing concept new to me. Aquaponics is a high density, low water usage way of growing a lot of food in a small amount of space. I felt that might be the way I could earn an income while taking care of mom full-time,” Sweely said.

“I built this business around my passion for food. When I was growing up, I never thought I would come back here. I wanted to duplicate the experience I had at my roadside stand.

“What we sell is what I love to produce and eat, from jellies to artisan breads to my mom’s tomato relish, a 50-year-old recipe she passed down to me. Most of the jelly and candy recipes are ones that she used and taught me how to make. She had a candy business for many years working out of her licensed kitchen on the farm.”

At the market, customers are asked to wear face coverings and practice social distancing. Vendors interested in participating are asked to call Thomas Putnam at (570) 439-2000 or email him at wellsborogrowersmarket@gmail.com.

Photo by John Eaton
Linda Sweely of New View Farm is shown with some of the fresh baked goods and other products she brings to the Wellsboro Growers Market on Thursdays.

SCOTT TURNER & FRIENDS TO PERFORM FREE THIS FRIDAY, JULY 17

This Friday, July 17 at 6 p.m., Scott Turner & Friends will perform a free concert on the outdoor stage at the Deane Center for the Performing Arts at 104 Main Street in Wellsboro.

The group will play and sing original music from Turner’s new album “Soup.” “The notion of soup is that you never know what you’re going to get until it’s done,” said Turner. “These songs represent my reflections on life and blur the lines between country, rock and other traditional genres.

“We will also be covering music written by John Prine, one of my musical heroes,” he said.

Turner sings and plays guitar, harmonica and drums. Marlo Malletz will be on banjo, Gorden Allen on guitar, Dave Driskell on saxophone, and Charles Klinger on bass guitar. All are from Wellsboro. This is the first time they will be playing together in public.

“I met Dave when I was 15 years old. He and Timothy (Walker) of Sadie Green Sales were influential in developing my love of music. I later became their producer. Dave and I have been playing together for decades,” said Turner.

“I met Charles when I was 12 years old and he was playing in a rock and roll band with my uncle,” Turner said. “Gordon has been a friend of mine for years. He retired from his job with the state liquor store and since then has pursued his passion for music. The newest member of our group is Marlo. She has really grown as a musician and fits in well with our personalities,” said Turner.

“Soup was in production for about three months. I wrote the songs in early January prior to the pandemic,” Turner said. “Based on the subject matter you would swear I had written them to comfort listeners in the midst of these troubled times.”

Among the other Turner originals the band will be playing from “Soup” is “At the End of the Day.” “It’s a sentimental look back at the times when people gathered together, did acts of kindness and laughed, and the good feelings that generated,” said Turner.

“Sometimes when things seem dismal, you have to ‘Make Your Own Luck’,” Turner said referring to the title of another of his originals. “It Could Be Better” will also be performed. “What happens might be good or it might be bad but it always can be better,” Turner added.

Those with smart phones or tablets can listen to Turner’s new album for free, or can purchase it. His album is available on all major platforms, such as YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play and Amazon among others. For more information, visit ScottTurnerMusic.com.

Bring lawn chairs and sit on the grass in front of the outdoor stage or on Central Avenue, which will be closed to traffic between Main Street and the Warehouse Theatre to provide space for social distancing. All donations are appreciated.

For more information about the free Friday concert series, call the Deane Center at (570) 724-6220, email office@deanecenter.com or visit deanecenter.com.

Photo by John Eaton
Scott Turner & Friends will perform at 6 p.m. this Friday, July 17. On stage will be (from left to right) Marlo Malletz on banjo; Gorden Allen on guitar, singer Scott Turner on drums, harmonica and guitar, Dave Driskell on saxophone and Charles Klinger on bass guitar.

LAST THREE PERFORMANCES OF “ALMOST, MAINE” ARE THIS FRIDAY, SATURDAY AND SUNDAY, JULY 17, 18 & 19

“We had a full house for each of our first three performances of ‘Almost, Maine’ on July 10, 11 and 12,” said Sarah Duterte.

The last three performances of this romantic comedy will be at 7:30 p.m. this Friday and Saturday, July 17 and 18 and at 2:30 p.m. this Sunday, July 19 in the Warehouse Theatre at 3 Central Avenue in Wellsboro.

“It was fun to be on stage again,” Duterte said. “My husband Ramon and I are in different scenes in ‘Almost, Maine’. My sister Laura and her husband Ryan Mullins act together in another scene.

“The audience’s reactions to the scenes throughout the show were very positive. They were very responsive, laughing in all the right places, quiet during the moments that make you think or are sad.

“What was interesting to me was everyone in the audience seemed to be in good spirits, chatting with each other and laughing more than they normally do before a performance starts,” said Duterte. “I don’t know if that was because this was the first play Hamilton-Gibson has done in quite awhile and they were excited to be there or if the seating arrangements created a more relaxed atmosphere or a combination of both.

“I think this Hamilton-Gibson production of ‘Almost, Maine’ is pretty special because of the way Thomas (Putnam) cast it. Instead of choosing two men and two women to play all of the roles, he cast a different actor for each one. That presented a range of storytellers to share the universal human experiences included in this play from heartbreak to love, loss, and wonder. Some of the couples are older and some are younger, which also gives the audience a sense of the breadth of Almost, this mythical Maine community.”

“Thomas’ casting choices also made this the perfect play to produce during a pandemic,” Duterte said. “Because he had decided to cast a different actor for each role before knowing about the coronavirus, Thomas was able to hold separate rehearsals with each scene’s cast beginning in June, after Wellsboro had entered the green phase. Our first dress rehearsal was the first time we got to see each other perform. Since most of us have worked together before, we quickly all got on the same page under his direction to make scene changes and create a cohesive tone for the show. “We can’t talk a lot when we are backstage because the audience can hear us but we were cheering each other on,” said Duterte.

Seating for this show is COVID-19 style. Although the Warehouse Theatre seats 110, only 30 people, less than one-third, are seated for a performance to allow Hamilton-Gibson to assign seats to meet coronavirus social distancing protocols; the 90-minute play goes straight through with no intermission to keep the audience from mingling; and all audience members are asked to wear facial coverings. Before each performance, the theater undergoes an extensive cleaning and disinfecting process.

Those who want to attend must order and prepay for tickets in advance online at hgp.booktix.com or by calling the HG office at 570-724-2079 with credit card information. No tickets are sold at the door.

Admission is $14 for adults and $6 for youth, 18 and under. For more information, to purchase a flex pass, or to reserve and prepay, call (570) 724-2079 or email info@hamiltongibson.org.

Photo by John Eaton
A woman (Michelle Lockwood) holds a map as she tries to figure out where she is while a stranger (Sean Bartlett) looks on.

FREE STAGE FRIGHT CONCERT ON FRIDAY, JULY 24 IS TRIBUTE TO THE MUSIC OF THE BAND

On Friday, July 24, at 6:30 p.m., Stage Fright joined by several guest musicians will perform a free tribute concert to The Band, a Canadian-American roots rock group formed in Toronto, Ontario in 1968. They will be on the outdoor stage on the Central Avenue side of the Deane Center for the Performing Arts at 104 Main Street in Wellsboro.

Members of Stage Fright are: Joe Callahan of Wellsboro on guitar; Sean Monroe of Horseheads, N.Y. on bass guitar; Mike Watkins of Addison, N.Y. on piano, organ, accordion, mandolin and fiddle; and Mike Nickerson of Corning, N.Y. on percussion. The four share vocals and do a lot of harmonies. Watkins, Nickerson and Callahan grew up in Tioga County, Pa.

Joining them for this performance will be Josh Sperrick of Corning, N.Y., a member of the band Hilltop Revelry, Karin Knaus, who starred in Hamilton-Gibson’s 2019 production of “Mamma Mia” and Wellsboro’s own Brandon Lusk.

“We’re playing songs from the Band’s entire catalog, including their three biggest hits – “Weight” (1968), “Up On Cripple Creek” (1969) and “The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down” (1969), along with some of their deep-cuts – their under-appreciated gems we love,” said Callahan.

“We have been doing this for almost five years,” Callahan said. ‘”Our first tribute concert to The Band was in August of 2015. Sean had wanted to start this tribute group for a long time and recruited us. We rehearse at Mike Watkins’ house, which is on a lake in the woods in Addison N.Y. The Band actually rehearsed at a home in the woods in Woodstock, N.Y.,” Callahan noted.
Stage Fright’s name came from The Band’s third studio album, which included “Stage Fright” as its title track.

“From 1968 to 1975, The Band was one of the most popular and influential rock groups in the world,” according to Bruce Eder who wrote about them in an article published in the “All-Music Guide.” “Their music was embraced by critics as seriously as the music of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones,” Eder stated. “Their albums were analyzed and reviewed as intensely as any records by their one-time employer and sometime mentor Bob Dylan. And, for a long time, their personalities were as recognizable individually to the casual music public as the members of the Beatles.”

The five members of “The Band” in 1968 included Rick Danko on bass, Levon Helm on drums and guitar, Richard Manuel on piano, Garth Hudson on organ and Robbie Robertson on rhythm guitar. In 1973, the group played “one major show at the race track in Watkins Glen, N.Y. before the largest audience ever assembled for a concert — it was a demonstration of their place in the rock pantheon that the Band was booked alongside the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers Band,” Eder wrote.

The Band produced the following albums, “Music From Big Pink,” “The Band,” “Stage Fright,” “Cahoots,” “Rock of Ages,” Moondog Matinee,” “Planet Waves” with Dylan, “”Before the Flood,” “Northern Lights — Southern Cross,” a best-of album in 1976, “Islands,” and their last, “The Last Waltz.”

For this concert, bring lawn chairs and sit on the grass in front of the outdoor stage or on Central Avenue, which will be closed to traffic between Main Street and the Warehouse Theatre to provide space for social distancing. Donations are appreciated.

For more information about this concert and others, call the Deane Center at (570) 724-6220, email office@deanecenter.com or visit deanecenter.com.

Photo provided
Stage Fright is a four-member band formed as a tribute to “The Band” of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Shown are (from left to right): Mike Nickerson (foreground on left), Mike Watkins, Sean Monroe and Joe Callahan (foreground on right).