Celebrate Erie 2006 kicks off this evening with a Taste of Erie beginning at 5 pm. Bertrand’s Bistro, Colony Pub and Grille, Latino’s, Papermoon, Pufferbelly, Theodore’s Restaurant and the Walnut Creek Grill will all have meals available. They’ll be set up on the West side of Perry Square. The Taste of Erie hours are: Thursday at 5-10 pm, Friday and Saturday noon-10 pm and Sunday noon-9 pm.

Here’s the Celebrate Erie music schedule of events for Friday:

South Stage at 11th and State:
5 pm Heather Rosso
6:30 pm Money Shot
8 pm Chocolate Starfish

9th and State Stage:
4 pm Roy Hollis
5:15 pm Blues Beaters
6:30 pm Tennesse Bach Porch

Perry Square Stage:
11:30 am Marty O’Conner Duo
3:45 pm Sam Hyman
5 pm Katie Kryst

Main Stage at 4th and State
4 pm Man’s Room Band
6 pm The Fabulous Thunderbirds
8:30 pm The Beach Boys Band

This weekend at Celebrate Erie, the Penn State Behrend Alumni Society will hold its fifth annual Penn State Creamery Ice Cream Sale to benefit its scholarship fund. The Penn State Behrend Alumni Society booth will be located on State Street in Perry Square.

John Gallagher, the popular Erie area DJ, has started a new venture called MyErieWedding.com as a centralized location for brides to shop for vendors in all facets of wedding planning. Good luck John.

Welcome home Paige. Missed ya buddy. She will making camp at the Plymouth Tavern through the weekend for friends and family that wish to see her.

Lynn Barrett has joined the Carlynton School District as a as district-wide psychologist. She is a graduate of Allegheny College with an MS from Duquesne University.

The US Brig Niagara from Erie, Pa is joining the Pride of Baltimore II; the 1928 Picton Castlefrom Lunenburg, Nova Scotia; and Highlander Sea at the Acheson Ventures’ Sail Port Huron Maritime Festival in Port Huron Michigan August 18-20.

The Erie SeaWolves took both ends of a doubleheader from the New Britain Rock Cats 5-0 and 6-2. Kody Kirkland left the SeaWolves as he was called up to Toledo. Nick McIntyre from Class-A Lakeland has replaced Kirkland on the Erie roster. The SeaWolves take on the New Britain Rock Cats again at 7:05 pm tonight on a Family Buck Night sponsored by Star 104. Admission will be $1.04 and popcorn, Smith’s Hot Dogs, Pepsi products, and Cotton Candy are only $1. In addition, the first 750 fans receive a free SeaWolves Cap courtesy of First Energy and all fans will receive a scratch-off card for a chance to win $5,000 on Ladies Night at the Uht.

The Edinboro men’s basketball team will play an exibition game with Penn State on November 1 at the Bryce Jordan Center.

Seton Hill, in Greensburg PA, is starting the transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II this fall.

Ashley Astemborski of Erie, Pa has been named to the Who’s Who All-Academic Bowling Team. She is a recent graduate of Northwest Pennsylvania Collegiate Academy.

The AIFL announced two more teams have joined the league – Springfield IL and Danville IL. The teams will play in the Northern Division along with the Erie Freeze, Reading, Pa; Johnstown, Pa; Pittsburgh; Canton, Ohio; and Huntington, WVa. This year the season schedule runs from the start of February to the end of the May.

Family First Sports Park is hosting the 2006 Hoops Classic 3-on-3 Streetball Tournament on Saturday August 18.

Celebrate Erie takes place Aug 18-20 in downtown Erie. The Clarks, Seven Mary Three, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Povertyneck Hillbillies and the Beach Boys are a few of the musical acts. This event was formerly called ‘We Love Erie Days.’ It’s been 5 years since the name change.

The 4th Annual Erie SeaWolves Family Fun Run/Walk for Epilepsy will be held Saturday morning August 19. Proceeds of the event will benefit the Epilepsy Foundation Western/Central Pennsylvania.

The 2006 Hamot 10k Mayor’s Cup and 5K Walk/Run takes place on Sunday August 20.

The 10th annual Erie German Heritage Festival will be held September 2-3, 2006 from 11-8 daily at St Nick’s Grove, 5131 Old French Road (Route 97).

Erie’s last blast of summer, the second annual Erie Heritage Festival, featuring a special Erie Philharmonic Pops concert on the Bay, will be held on Saturday, September 9, at Liberty Park’s Pepsi Amphitheater.

Former Mecyhurst College basketball great Brent Swain is organizing a Mercyhurst Laker Alumni Basketball Game which is scheduled for September 9 at 7 pm in the Mercyhurst Athletics Center (MAC)..

Barbara Hurd will open the 2006 Creative Writer’s Speaker Series at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, with a reading on Thursday, Sept 14. Hurd’s reading will begin at 6 pm in the worship space of the Smith Chapel. A reception for her at 4:30 pm in the chapel living room will precede her appearance; both are free and open to the public. Hurd is the author of two literary nonfiction books, Stirring the Mud: On Swamps, Bogs, and Human Imagination, which was named a Los Angeles Times Best Book of 2001, and Entering the Stone: On Caves and Feeling Through the Dark, and a book of poetry, Objects in This Mirror.