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Erie PA News and Events for the First Day of Summer Wednesday June 21, 2006

The Erie Community Foundation is one of Erie’s best organizations. Where would we be without it? The founders were way ahead of the curve and through the years it’s been very well managed. Other, larger cities wish they had what we have. The Erie Community Foundation’s 70/70 Anniversary Event will be held at the Warner Theatre on Monday June 26 from 4-6 pm. The Erie Community Foundation’s annual meeting is extra special this year as they are celebrating cumulative grants in excess of $70 million and their 70th year of service to the community. This year, the Edward C Doll Community Service Award will be presented to Mr James B Spiegel, and the Charles H Bracken Excellence in Nonprofit Governance Award will be presented to the Eire Philharmonic. At the 70/70 Annual Meeting, Mike Batchelor, president, will announce that in 2005, The Erie Community Foundation: Created a record 47 new charitable endowments Launched an Earned income Tax Credit project that could bring another $14.5 million into the hands of low-income Erie County residents Enhanced the capacity of nonprofit partners through direct grants and the Nonprofit Partnership Earned a total return of 9.2 percent - beating their benchmark and hurdle rate Received gifts of $6.99 million and made $7.5 million in grants from both unrestricted and donor advised funds The Erie Community Foundation is tremendous community resources not only for nonprofits seeking grants or for community leaders trying to solve community issues, but also for donors wishing to establish an endowment whereby donors can support their favorite charities in a very cost effective manner.

Another small eathquake hit eastern Ohio yesterday about 4:11 pm. The magnitude 3.4 quake occurred 19 miles NE of Willoughby, OH which is 65 miles from Erie. This was the 7th quake in NE Ohio this year.

Photo by Phil Dennison of the KFC sign at 5933 Peach St. Guess to work there you don’t have to know how to spell. This KFC is owned by Morgan’s Foods, 24200 Chagrin Boulevard Suite 126, Beachwood, OH 44122, 216-360-7500.

The US Census Bureau reported their population estimates for 2005. Erie PA was ranked at the 245th lagest city in the US with a population of 102,612 which was down from the 2004 estimate of 102,739. Millcreek Township gained 9 people to 52,666, Harborcreek gained 70 to 16,810 and Summit Township grew by 189 people to 6,040. Another small shift from the city to the suburbs. The US Census Bureau only counts people every 10 years. ALL other figures are estimates.

A Califonia law firm commenced a securities fraud class action lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania on behalf of those persons and entities who owned the securities of Erie Family Life Insurance Company (“EFL”) (Nasdaq:ERIE) between March 21, 2004 and March 24, 2006. This lawsuit alleges an effort by Erie Indemnity Company (“Erie Indemnity”), Erie Insurance Exchange (“Erie Exchange”) and EFL’s board of directors to “freeze out” EFL’s minority shareholders at an unreasonably low price. As described in the Complaint, defendants artificially depressed the price of EFL shares to as low as $26.50 per share even though they had traded at above $32 per share for nearly two years. Defendants then announced that a “third-party” purchaser would pay the minority shareholders $32 for their shares. The purchaser was not a “third party” at all, but rather a shell entity owned and controlled by Erie Indemnity and Erie Exchange. If you purchased EFL securities between March 21, 2004 and March 24, 2006, you may, no later than August 21, 2006, move the Court to appoint you as lead plaintiff to act on behalf of the other class members in directing the litigation. Your ability to share in any recovery is not affected by whether you serve as lead plaintiff.

Tollgrade Communications (Nasdaq: TLGD), a leading supplier of network service assurance products for the cable and telecom industries, announced today that its CheetahXD(TM) OSS and DOCSIS®-based CMD product family have been approved for use by the National Cable Television Cooperative (NCTC). Tollgrade was founded and based in Erie and later moved to the metro Pittsburgh area.

Educators and scientists from around the Great Lakes Basin are currently touring Lake Erie as part of the first Center for Ocean Sciences Education Excellence (COSEE) Great Lakes Shipboard and Shoreline Science workshop. Made possible by the Great Lakes National Program Office of the US Environmental Protection Agency, the weeklong cruise aboard the 180 foot research vessel Lake Guardian is designed to promote interdisciplinary learning opportunities among teachers, informal educators and scientists about the Great Lakes and ocean systems research. From this Thursday evening until Friday morning, the Lake Guardian will be docked at Dobbins Landing in Erie PA while participants study local areas.

Erie beat Reading 4-3. Philadelphia Phillies LHP Randy Wolf will make a rehab start for Reading today against Erie.

I didn’t realize that Mercyhurst College has the largest NCAA Division II program in the nation with 25 sports.

The Mahoning Valley Thunder, the new Arena Football 2 franchise slated to play next year, have hired Adam Tokash as General Manager. Tokash is a graduate of Mercyhurst College where he played volleyball, not football.

Keith Naylor has signed a professional free agent contract with the St Louis Cardinals and has been assigned to the Johnson City Cardinals in the Appalachian League. Naylor played at Allegheny College before transferring to New Jersey City University.

Erie Otters forward Christian Olsen has been rated 91st overall in The Hockey News Hot 100 Prospects for the 2006 National Hockey League Entry Draft. The 18 year old Herlev, Denmark native completed his rookie season with the Otters in 2005-2006 registering three goals and 10 assists for 13 points in 53 games. The Otters did not have a player listed in the NHL Central Scouting Final Evaluation for the 2006 Entry Draft. Eleven Otters are eligible for the 7 round selection process including Derrick Bagshaw, Justin Hodgman, Andrew Hotham, Patrick Lee, Chad Loikets, Tyler McKinley, Sean O’Connor, Olsen, Ronnie Rogers, Vince Scott, and Josh Vatri. The 2006 NHL Entry Draft will be held in Vancouver, BC this Saturday (June 24th) beginning at 6 pm Eastern.

Join Szymanski Consulting (SCI) for a dynamic event featuring the Microsoft Across America Mobile Event Experience. The Mobile Event Experience technology bus provides business leaders and professionals the opportunity to learn more about essential technologies that help small and medium-sized businesses operate more efficiently and successfully. The technology bus will be located at the Inter-Modal Center today, June 21st, 2006 from 2-4 pm. This state-of-the-art bus is loaded with technologies from Microsoft, Cisco, HP, and Intel. It has been transformed into a hands-on interactive environment complete with: Workstations, Tablet PC, Software, Server Solutions such as Virtual Server and Small Business Server. Szymanski Consulting, Inc., a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, is proud to be presenting this Microsoft Across America event in partnership with the Erie Regional Chamber and Growth Partnership and the Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority. While enjoying fun, food and networking with area business professionals, you will have the opportunity to win an Xbox, receive discounts on Microsoft software, talk with Microsoft experts, and attend brief overview presentations on Small Business Server, Virtual Server and SharePoint.

The Sprint Presque Isle State Park Sunset Concert Series for 2006 begins today and takes place Wednesdays from June 21-July 26 from 6:30 pm to sunset. Admission is free. These six entertaining nights of a variety of music, concessions, and kid’s activities will be fun for the whole family. Kid’s activities will be held during the first hour for children ages 6 - 12 and will be guided by a Presque Isle State Park Naturalist. Bring your family down for six fabulous summer nights and enjoy great music along with breathtaking sunsets at Beach 1. The Sam Hyman Band opens the free concert series June 21.

Meet with people and God over a cup of gourmet coffee Saturdays at 6 pm at Kingsley United Methodist Church (9th and Cranberry). Rather than pews, organ music and a sermon on Sunday morning, The Haven at Kingsley United Methodist Church will offer small tables and an intimate setting for you to drink gourmet coffee. Desserts provided. Testimonies shared. The house band will play your favorites plus requests. A brief talk will be followed by casual discussion.

Dr Roger Knacke, director of the School of Science and professor of physics and astronomy at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, will host a Summer Night in Astronomy event on Thursday, June 22. Knacke will speak on “Jupiter, The Giant Planet” beginning at 8:30 pm in 101 Behrend Science Building. Weather permitting, astronomical viewing from the college’s Mehalso Observatory will follow from 9:30 until 11 pm. Summer Night in Astronomy is free and open to the public, and is intended for a non-technical audience age 6 and up. For information, call the School of Science at 814-898-6105.

The 2006 Erie Summer Festival of the Arts takes place June 22-25 at Liberty Park. This year’s fesl features demonstrating artists, crafters, a song contest, award winning children’s area, ethnic foods, student video and digital media competition, juried panorama art show, computer intruction programs for children and adults as well as strolling musicians.

On Friday, June 23 the Erie Art Museum Board of Directors will host “Une Soiree d’Enchantement” in celebration of the opening of “Charting a Century of Change: French Nineteenth Century Drawings and Sculpture from the Collection of Herbert and Carol Diamond.” The evening includes a 6:30 pm Champagne Reception at the Museum where guests will get the first look at an exhibit of French Art from masters like Rodin, Cezanne, Delacroix, Matisse, Gauguin and many others. Dinner follows the reception at the Erie Club at 8 pm. The night’s main event is a fine wine auction. Featuring world famous wines with a 93 rating or above, the auction boasts an exclusive list assembled for the delight of Soiree attendees. A complete list of wines is available on their website. The event is by reservation only and benefits the Erie Art Museum’s ongoing Capital Campaign.

During the 1920s and early 1930s, commercial fishermen along the Lake Erie shore unloaded thousands of pounds of a cargo they called “midnight herring.” These “herring” weren’t pickled, but the people who bought the precious cargo surely were. “Midnight herring” was alcohol smuggled across the lake from Canada during Prohibition. This colorful era is recalled at the Erie County History Center with an exhibit called Midnight Herring, a cooperative venture between the History Center and the Port Dover Harbour Museum. It opens June 23. Through photographs, objects and memorabilia, the exhibit brings the colorful characters of the era – the Semple family, the Sisters of St. Benedict and Westfield Jimmy – to life. The exhibit opens in conjunction with the publication of Dr David Frew’s newest book about the cross-lake traffic in contraband, also titled “Midnight Herring” (the cover of which was designed by Eric Armbruster of Bensur Creative).

Performing in Erie on June 25th, 2006, Tanglefoot, Lake Erie’s most exciting maritime musical group, will perform In conjunction with the Midnight Herring exhibit opening and book release, Tanglefoot returns to Erie after ten-year absence to celebrate the Erie County History Center annual History Makers event. Tickets for the concert are $15. Call (814) 454-1813.

GalapaZOOza is an inaugural adult-only fundraiser taking place at the Erie Zoo on June 24th from 7-11 pm. Tickets to GalapaZOOza are $75 each and must be purchased before June 16. The event includes drinks, appetizers, silent auctions, live entertainment and special animal presentations. All proceeds from the event benefit the Erie Zoo’s nearly 500 animals and 700 species of plants. Bensur Creative Marketing Group went “wild” over this event working closely with Ainslie Ulmer, Erie Zoo Community Relations Assistant, to market GalapaZOOza.

The Peek n’ Peak Classic takes place June 26 – July 2. The Golf Channel will provide live coverage of the Nationwide Tour event.

Here’s the line up for the 8 Great Tuesdays free concerts at the Liberty Park Pepsi Ampitheater. All concerts begin at 6:30 pm and end around 9 pm. July 11 - The Gem City All Stars, July 18 - Jakes Blues and Blue Fire, July 25 - The Yardbirds, August 1 - Key West Express, August 8 - Jefferson Starship/Jefferson Airplane “Galactic Reunion Tour 2006”, August 15 - Dave Stevens Big Band, August 22 - The Fabulous Gunslingers, August 29 - Rick Derringer. Eight Great Tuesdays is the free concert series produced by the Erie - Western PA Port Authority.

Posted by Dennis at June 21, 2006 7:06 AM

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Posted by: Eden at June 21, 2006 9:08 AM

Posted by: Tracy Y at October 5, 2006 1:49 PM

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