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1. Aunt Lulu’s Embroidery to be at Wellsboro Growers Markets This Thursday, Sept 3, Sept. 17 and Oct. 1
2. This Friday, Sept. 4, Dave Brown and the Dishonest Fiddlers to Perform Free Concert
3. 29 Register by Aug. 31 for Step Outdoors TRYathlon and 5K; Last Day to Register Online is Tuesday, Sept. 8
4. Take2 & Friends to Give Free Concert Outdoors on Friday, Sept. 11
5. Fern is Focus of Hamilton-Gibson Comedy “The View from Here”

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

AUNT LULU’S EMBROIDERY TO BE AT WELLSBORO GROWERS MARKETS THIS THURSDAY, SEPT. 3, SEPT. 17 AND OCT. 1

In the aftermath of life changing events, Laura Driesel and her husband Gerard built a new house and a handicapped accessible shop for her home business, Aunt Lulu’s Embroidery and on Nov. 11, 2019 moved to 431 Cummings Creek Road in Middlebury Center from Lyndonville, New York.

Laura, known as Aunt Lulu to her nieces and nephews, has been attending this season’s Wellsboro Growers Market on alternate Thursdays and will be there this Thursday, Sept. 3 from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. as well as on Thursdays, Sept. 17 and Oct. 1, weather permitting. The market is on the front lawn at the First Presbyterian Church at 130 Main Street in Wellsboro.

She will be bringing to the market samples of the custom embroidery work she can do on her 15-needle commercial embroidery machine along with digital printing, magnetic and window signage. “My focus is on small businesses and indivIdual orders. No order is too small or too large for me to handle.”

Laura has been running Aunt Lulu’s since 2001. “It grew and grew and is still growing,” she said. “I can print or embroider business logos, monograms, sports team names, on awards for 4-Hers and FFAers, for groups and clubs, and gifts for all occasions, I offer a vast embroidery and graphic library to choose from. If a business wants a logo but doesn’t have one, I will work with the owner and create one.”

Laura has a supplier for undecorated garments, such as T-shirts, sweatshirts and hats and puts decorations, words, and/or photos on them as well as on work coats, camp chairs, director chairs, leather products and glass. I can add rhinestones, take a photo of a dog or cat or a fire company’s brand new truck and create a heat transfer for clothing or make a sticker.”

Among her projects has been embroidering toilet paper and bridal tule to create unique wedding decorations. “I am not a seamstress and do not do alterations,” she said. “I do work for dog and livestock shows, county fairs – you name it, I’ve done it,” she laughed. “For a livestock show winner I have embroidered the name of the show, the grand champion class, the date and the winner’s name on a blanket, chair or duffel bag,” she said.

“My husband and I were operating a 77-acre farm in Lyndonville, located between Rochester and Buffalo, when we decided to sell our home, farm, beef cattle and equipment,” Laura said. “He wanted to retire. It was getting harder for us to run the farm and there were other issues, such as the freezer trade and the sudden market drop. It just wasn’t worth it any more.

“On top of that, both of our moms and a special aunt and uncle passed away in a four-month time period between November 2016 and February 2017 and then 18 months later in June 2018, my dad passed away. It was horrific for us.

“We had never been to this area before but selected it because it is midway between our kids. One lives in Reading, Pa. and the other in Niagara Falls, N.Y. We are now located right, smack dab in the middle so it is easier for them to visit us and for us to go and help them if they need us,” Laura said.

“We chose Brookside Homes to build our home and my shop on pastureland we had purchased. The work began in 2018 and meant we had to travel back and forth between Lyndonville and Middlebury every three days or so. This was the right decision for us.”

To learn more about Aunt Lulu’s Embroidery stop in at the Wellsboro Growers Market or visit AuntLulu.com or call 570-376-5858.

Other vendors at the market are New View Farm, Between Two Rivers Maple Products, Yorkshire Meadows, Udder Merry Mac Farm, Keeney Farm, Bakery 303, Shortsville Green Growers, Scentillating Creations, Staggering Unicorn Winery, Hillstone Farms, Pinafore Run Farm, and WindStone Landing Farms with non-GMO and chemical-free foods.

Customers are asked to wear face masks and maintain six feet of distance between themselves and others.

Vendors who want to participate are asked to call Thomas Putnam at (570) 439-2000 or email him at wellsborogrowersmarket@gmail.com.

Photo by John Eaton
Laura Driesel prepares to start up her 15-needle commercial embroidery machine. On the wall behind her are scissors and spools of thread in more than 100 colors.

Photo by John Eaton
Laura Driesel holds up the back of a pink, poly-filled quilted vest to show the embroidered image of the owner’s rare, special breed puppy with the words “Merlin The Magician.” “I sent a photo of Merlin provided by the owner to be digitized for embroidery. When it was finished, it was the perfect replica of Merlin,” Laura said. Pictured on the table are a selection of T-shirts, towels, etched glasses, stickers and other items Laura can finish with words and/or pictures at Aunt Lulu’s Embroidery.

THIS FRIDAY, SEPT. 4, DAVE BROWN AND THE DISHONEST FIDDLERS TO PERFORM FREE CONCERT

This Friday, Sept. 4, at 6 p.m., Dave Brown and The Dishonest Fiddlers will perform original Americana/folk music from their newest CD for the first time in public.

The band’s most recent studio album, entitled, “Based on a True Story” features 10 original tunes. It was released at the end of March during the pandemic. “We were not able to hold a release party due to COVID-19,” said Brown. This will actually be our first public performance since the lockdown in March. It’s our first chance to play together and we’re going to give it everything we’ve got.”

This free concert is centered around Brown’s songwriting influenced by musicians such as John Prine, Bob Dylan, Jim Croce, and David Bromberg. It will be on stage outdoors on the Central Avenue side of the Deane Center for the Performing Arts at 104 Main Street in Wellsboro. Donations are appreciated.

Based in Northeast Pennsylvania, this six-member band includes Brown as lead vocalist on guitar and harmonica; Shawn Caden on mandolin and banjo; Brendan Gosson on fiddle; Stephen Faubel on keyboard; Jami Novak on percussion; and Stan Vitz on upright bass.

The band’s debut album “The Whistle Missed the Train” was released in March 2016 and “No Deeper Shade of Blue” in February 2019.

For this free 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.

Visit deanecenter.com, email office@deanecenter.com, or call (570) 724-6220 for more information.

Photo provided
Dave Brown plays and sings a Bob Dylan selection on his acoustic guitar.

29 REGISTER BY AUG. 31 FOR STEP OUTDOORS TRYATHLON AND 5K; LAST DAY TO REGISTER ONLINE IS TUESDAY, SEPT. 8

By 11:59 p.m. on Monday, Aug. 31, 29 people had registered for the COVID 19 Special Edition of the Step Outdoors TRYathlon & 5K Trail Run/Walk.

At 11:59 p.m. this coming Tuesday, Sept. 8, online registration will officially close. Registration to guarantee an event T-shirt in the size ordered.ended on Sept. 1.

Of the 29 registrants, 12 will solo in the TRYathlon and there will be two teams of three members each trying to complete the 5K, paddling a canoe or kayak around a 1.75-mile course on Hills Creek Lake and biking 8 miles on roads in and around Hills Creek State Park at 111 Spillway Road, near Wellsboro. In addition, 11 people registered to compete in the 5K only.

Due to the coronavirus, registrants get to choose the day and time between Saturday, Sept. 12 and Sunday, Sept. 20 they want to do the TRYathlon or 5K There is no in-person registration, no check-in time, no electronic timing and no aid or water stations. Participants are encouraged to bring friends and family as supporters and to become familiar with the TRYathlon and 5K routes in advance. Course maps and other information is available online and in the park office lobby at 111 Spillway Road.

Registrants who self-time can share their time and pick up their T-shirts and medallions at the park office at specific times each day.

Each person who registers online for either the TRYathlon or the 5K will pay a $20 entry fee. Checks should be made payable to the Step Outdoors TRYathlon.

To register online, for more information about the Tryathlon or 5K, or about renting bikes, kayaks or canoes, or to download course maps, visit www.stepoutdoors.org or use this link: https://www.stepoutdoors.org/index.php/annual-events/tryathlon-5k. Questions? Call Tim Morey at (570) 724-8561 or email tmorey@pa.gov.

TAKE2 & FRIENDS TO GIVE FREE CONCERT OUTDOORS ON FRIDAY, SEPT. 11

At 6 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 11, Take2 & Friends will perform an eclectic mix of American standards from show tunes to pop tunes and all around favorites along with several originals on the outdoor stage on the Central Avenue side of the Deane Center for the Performing Arts at 104 Main Street in Wellsboro. This concert is free and open to the public. Donations are appreciated.

Take2 is a duo composed of Bob Rubin on mandolin and Steve Ziemak on acoustic guitar. Joining them on several selections will be guest artists Daria Guelig on hammered dulcimer and Dave Driskell on clarinet. All four are from the Wellsboro area.

They will perform instrumental and vocal pieces, including at least four Beatles tunes, like “Michelle”, two originals, and songs such as “It Had To Be You”, “Tea for Two”, “Memphis, “Autumn Leaves and a host of others, including medleys. “We’re doing our favorite songs,” Ziemak said.

Rubin and Ziemak began performing as a duo six years ago, playing songs from Stephen Foster to the Beatles to Linda Ronstadt’s “Blue Bayou.”

“We call ourselves Take2 because there are two of us and because when we are in a recording session and mess up, we say ‘take2’ and do it again,” said Ziemak.

“Bob and I have known each other since we were kids growing up in Levittown in Bucks County, Pa. in the early 1960s. We were neighbors and would spend time at each other’s homes. I was 16 and learning to play the guitar and Bob was 12 and already playing a harmonica and a washtub bass he built. We both loved playing music by the Beatles, Tom Paxton, Peter Paul and Mary and other singer-songwriters at the Cellar, a coffee house in Levittown. That’s where we developed our musical consciousness. When we thought of a sound, we thought about it in the same way. That’s still true today.”

In the mid-1960s, things changed. Ziemak went to school to become a respiratory therapist, began working and traveling to see the country. He and Rubin lost touch.

From the late 1960s through the 1970s, Rubin was a third generation glass glazier at Levittown Glass, his parents’ business; married; learned how to play the mandolin and became a member of Bucks County Grass, a bluegrass band that played weekly in venues around the Philadelphia area.

Bob and his wife moved to Tioga County in 1980. They opened Whitneyville Glass; lived in a trailer on the property until their home was built in 1983; and, in 1988 added a recording studio where Bob did master recordings for country, bluegrass and rock and roll bands and solo artists in the area.

In 1980, Rubin was one of four founding members of North Fork Alliance, a bluegrass band that played at 80 to 90 different bars in the region.

In the meantime, Ziemak and his brother purchased adjoining land in Charleston Township and by 1984 were both living in the Wellsboro area.

“After we came here, I performed mostly with my brother as a duo,” Ziemak said. “My brother was the lead singer and guitarist and I sang backup and played harmony guitar and wrote a couple of original songs. I’ve always enjoyed playing music with other people,” he said.

“My brother and I formed the four-piece Dirt Road Band and played rock and roll tunes from 1990 to 1997 until he and his wife moved to Virginia,” said Ziemak.

“From 1997 to 2000, I started working as a respiratory therapist on a locum tenens basis at different hospitals in the United States, including a Navajo reservation in Arizona. I retired in 2010,” Ziemak said.

Over the years, Rubin and Ziemak had played together on and off through their work with other bands but in 2014 made the decision to form Take2. Each has been playing music for more than 50 years.

For this free 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.

Visit deanecenter.com, email office@deanecenter.com, or call (570) 724-6220 for more information.

Photo provided
Bob Rubin and Steve Ziemak play a tune.

FERN IS FOCUS OF HAMILTON-GIBSON COMEDY “THE VIEW FROM HERE”

In Hamilton-Gibson’s production of the comedy “The View from Here”, the main character is Fern Arbor played by Johna Neal of Mansfield. Fern is a single woman with agoraphobia, a serious anxiety disorder. She has not left her house in six years after an incident in a grocery store. The thought of stepping outside her door terrifies her.

“Fern is full of life and personality, watches neighborhood infants in her home, and enjoys the people that come to visit her,” said Neal. Her visitors include: Maple, her sister, who has experienced years of infertility; Carla, a neighbor who brings groceries and newspapers to Fern and is addicted to tabloids and her police scanner; and Arnold, her golf playing neighbor whose wife moves out on him leaving him with an empty house and their infant daughter. Fern has an interesting relationship with her mama, whom the audience only meets via phone calls.

“I like Fern’s sense of humor, quick wit, caring nature and her spirit,” said Neal. “I don’t like that she hasn’t sought help for her self-diagnosed agoraphobia and is waiting for a sign from ‘the man upstairs’ as to when to leave her house,” Neal said.

“I enjoy playing Fern. She is warm and funny and so well meaning, with a depth of life experiences some like and some unlike any I have experienced. I don’t think there is anything I don’t enjoy about playing her. She stretches me as an actor to explore my limits and play a range of tones, sound volumes and feelings.”

Neal’s first experience with Hamilton-Gibson was playing Sheila in “The Boys Next Door” in 2007. “I was pregnant but not showing at the time. We performed on the Arcadia Theater stage. I took a break from acting in full-length plays after my daughter was born, but did perform in a number of short play festivals and Shel Silverstein short plays.”

Her next full-0length play with HG was “Dancing at Lughnasa” in April 2014. “I was a Mundy sister. I had seen this play performed in 1995 as a freshman in college and had wanted to be in it someday and play Maggie. I’ll never forget my excitement and hopefulness when I saw it was in HG’s lineup. Lughnasa came at a time in my life when dreaming was replaced with facing the realities of each day. This role brought me a welcome ray of light in a shadowy time.”

In November 2014, Neal played Ruth in “Miracle on South Division Street.” Hamilton-Gibson entered the play in the March 2015 Pennsylvania Association of Community Theatre Festivals state competition and in the April 2015 Eastern States Theater Association Festival regional competition. It was a wonderful experience for me,” she said.

Neal as the cruel and sadistic Nurse Ratched in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” in March 2017 was booed by the audience at curtain call. “It was a first for me and an interesting experience.”

Performances of “The View From Here” will be at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays, Sept. 11 and 12 and 18 and 19 and 2:30 p.m. on Sundays, Sept. 13 and 20. A limited number of seats will be available for each performance in the Warehouse Theatre at 3 Central Avenue in Wellsboro.

The play will be performed without intermission. Cleaning and safety measures will be followed before, during and after each performance to meet COVID-19 state protocols.

Prepaid reservations allow HG to assign and group seats to meet state social distancing protocols. All tickets have to be ordered in advance and prepaid online at hgp.booktix.com or by calling the HG office at 570-724-2079 with credit card information.

Tickets are $14 for adults and $6 for youth, 18 and under. Also available are FlexPasses for $60. For more information, call (570) 724-2079 or email info@hamiltongibson.org. This production is rated PG but may not interest youngsters 13 and under.

Photo by John Eaton
Fern, played by Johna Neal, keeps tabs on the goings-on in the neighborhood using her binoculars and phone.